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Career Decisions: Writing for e-Readers

2012-02-01T05:00:00.011-07:00

I’ve done two previous posts discussing some of my decisions for my career. First was committing to indie publishing for my adult genre fiction. Second was writing shorter books. The third decision is pretty simple, though my reasons may not be obvious.

Decision #3: Use shorter paragraphs.

I like to use a lot of short paragraphs anyway, as I think it can help the reader’s eyes move more quickly down the page, helping to give the impression that the story is moving quickly. Short paragraphs are ideal for action scenes and cliffhanger chapter endings. I’ve discussed this technique in previous posts such as Write Better with Powerful Paragraphing and Paragraphing for Cliffhangers and in the Advanced Plotting essay Hanging by the Fingernails.

But of course you don’t want your work to be a string of one-sentence paragraphs. Sometimes it’s more appropriate, or just feels natural, to have a longer paragraph. This often happens with description or introspection. Adult books often use longer paragraphs, on average, than children’s books. Literary titles and fantasy may use longer paragraphs than thrillers. Shorter isn’t always “right” or better.

However, it’s worth keeping in mind that many people are reading on electronic devices today. That changes the way a book is laid out. Forget about all the work a book designer does to make the text readable. With e-books, the users set their preference on their device. The user chooses the size of font and the spacing of the words. Plus, some people are reading on phones or other small screens, so they get only a few lines per “page.”

What does that mean for a writer? Well, it means a paragraph that takes up a few lines on your manuscript might wind up taking an entire page on a small screen or where the user has set a large font size. In my personal experience, a paragraph that takes up an entire page is harder to read – it’s harder for your eyes to track back and forth from the end of one line to the beginning of the next line. This is true regardless of the size of the font (though it’s even worse with a small font and dozens of lines on the page).

I noticed this after publishing Rattled. I went over the print on demand version carefully, making sure the text looked good on the printed page. I broke a few long paragraphs into shorter ones, because what looked right on an 81/2 x 11 manuscript printout seemed unwieldy in the 5 x 8 book. I got it looking pretty.

But when I looked at the electronic version and tested different font sizes, the book suddenly seemed to have huge blocks of text. It almost seemed like I’d forgotten paragraphing existed in some places! I’ve noticed that in other authors’ books as well, and the larger blocks of text are harder to read. Not a lot, but just that little bit.

We live in an increasingly digital world, so it’s worth considering how your books will read on electronic devices. On my blog posts, I try to keep my paragraphs to no more than four or five lines in a Word document, knowing that will become more on the narrower blog post. For my books, if I see a paragraph going more than five or six lines, I look for a natural place to break it.

While this may not seem like a career decision, keeping up with technology and understanding how people read is part of a writer’s career. My goal is to have my work read, understood, and enjoyed. I think shorter paragraphs will help.

See Kris Bock’s books on Amazon or Barnes & Noble

How to Turn Your Idea into a Story: Setting up Conflict

2012-01-27T05:00:00.002-07:00

To develop your story, you'll need conflict. But conflict doesn't just come from dramatic things happening. It comes from the character – what he or she needs and wants, and why he or she can't get it easily.

Start with a premise: a kid has a math test on Monday. Exciting? Not really. But ask two simple questions, and you can add conflict.

• Why is it important to the character? The stakes should be high. The longer the story or novel, the higher stakes you need to sustain it. A short story character might want to win a contest; a novel character might need to save the world.

• Why is it difficult for the character? Difficulties can be divided into three general categories, traditionally called man versus man, man versus nature, and man versus himself. You can even have a combination of these. For example, someone may be trying to spy on some bank robbers (man versus man) during a dangerous storm (man versus nature) when he is afraid of lightning (man versus himself).

Get more tips like these in Advanced Plotting.

Back to the kid with the math test. Let’s say, if he doesn’t pass, maybe he will fail the class, have to go to summer school, and not get to go to soccer camp, when soccer is what he loves most, and all his friends will be going. That’s why it’s important. Assuming we create a character readers will like, they'll care about the outcome of this test, and root for him to succeed.

Our soccer lover could have lots of challenges—he forgot his study book, he’s expected to baby-sit his distracting little sister, a storm knocked out the power, he has ADHD, or he suffers test anxiety. But ideally we would relate the difficulty to the reason it's important. So let's say he has a big soccer game Sunday afternoon, and is getting pressure from his coach and teammates to practice rather than study for his test. Plus, of course, he'd rather play soccer anyway.

We now have a situation full of potential tension. Let the character struggle enough before he succeeds (or fails and learns a lesson), and you’ll have a story. And if these two questions can pump up a dull premise, just think what they can do with an exciting one!

Come back next week for more tips on linking your conflict to your character.

Should You Write Short?

2012-01-25T05:00:00.001-07:00

I’m doing a series of Wednesday posts discussing my career decisions and the reasons behind them. Last week I talked about committing to indie publishing. Now I’ll go into some specific details.

Decision #2: Write shorter books.

When I wrote Rattled, I was planning on submitting traditionally. I targeted 85,000 words, which is on the short end of what most publishers will accept for a genre novel. (The exception being Category Romance, where 60,000 words is standard.)

Now that I’m focused on self-publishing, I’m targeting my books at 60,000 words. Here are the reasons I’m going shorter:

Shorter books are faster to write. When I’m working hard on a novel, I try to write 10,000 words per week (though it doesn’t always happen, especially when I have too many paid jobs). Add in the extra editing time for a longer book, and 60,000 words saves me at least three weeks over an 85,000-word book. More books published equals more potential income. Writing shorter books may allow me to increase my output from three books per year to four. (Don’t bother trying to make the math work – I have to take breaks in between the books to catch up on paid work, and then there’s always delays due to illness, travel etc.)

Shorter books are cheaper to print. For print on demand, my total cost is dependent on the number of pages. It’s not a huge difference, but Rattled has a minimum price of $9.68 (meaning I need to price the book higher than that to make any money on it in certain distribution channels). Whispers in the Dark has a minimum price of $8.65. Shorter books mean I make more profit per book on print on demand copies. (Or I could price them lower if I thought I would bring in more sales.) If I wrote an even longer book – say 110,000 words – I’d have to price it above $9.99, and once you go over that $10 threshold, sales should drop, if you believe that research on shopping behavior.

People like fat paperbacks because they take longer to read. It’s the airport theory – If you’re going to get on a plane for a long trip, you want a book that will last the whole trip. Plus, people feel like they’re getting more for their money with a longer book. These visual cues disappear with digital copies. You don’t want to make the book too short, because if people think they’re buying a full-length novel and they get a novella, they can get angry – and take it out on you in their reviews. But the advantage to writing a very long book goes away.

What if you have a very long story to tell? Or what about genres such as adult fantasy, where incredibly long books are the norm? Even then, you may be better off splitting a long book into several shorter ones, releasing them individually, and then offering the complete trilogy at a discount over buying the three books separately. (For example, release each individual e-book at $3.99, and then release the complete trilogy in one book for $9.99.) With digital publishing, especially indie publishing, people don’t like to pay high prices. They might not want to pay so much for a single title, but they’ll feel like they are getting a deal with a discount for the set.

The last point I want to make is a bit more theoretical. I read some comments recently on how all the time we spend on the computer and digital devices is changing our reading patterns. People are more likely to skim over news stories or blog posts. We expect and like shorter sound bites.

It seems reasonable that this might translate into a preference for shorter books, especially in digital format. With a paperback, you always have the visual cue of how much story you have left. Digital readers may have a bar marking the percent of the story you’ve finished, but it doesn’t seem quite the same. (And for myself, when I glance down and see that I’ve only read six percent, I sometimes get a sense of dismay that I’m only that far along, a feeling that never comes from getting through the first chapter of a paperback.)

As people get used to shorter online news stories, skimming through blog posts, reading Facebook updates and super-short Tweets, a long book might start to feel “too long” and therefore a bit slow and dull, whereas a short book may cater better to our restlessness.

So, those are my reasons for writing shorter. Any thoughts on my logic? What do your own reading experiences tell you? As a writer, do you have a preference?

I should note that given my background in writing for children, shorter books come more naturally to me. I would never cut out important story elements or great plot twists in order to come in shorter. It’s more a matter of not searching for additional plot twists and subplots in order to lengthen a book. (See my post on Making Muscular Action! for advice on how I once nearly doubled the length of a manuscript.)

How Do You Turn Your Idea into a Story?

2012-01-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

People often ask writers, “Where do you find your ideas?” But for a writer, the more important question is, “What do I do with my idea?”

Sometimes, a writer has a great premise, an intriguing starting point—but nothing more. How do you recognize when you have just a premise, and when you have the makings of a full story? And more importantly, how do you get from one stage to the other?

What is a story?

If you have a “great idea,” but can’t seem to go anywhere with it, you probably have a premise rather than a complete story plan. A story has four main parts: idea, complications, climax and resolution. You need all of them to make your story work.

The idea is the situation or premise. This should involve an interesting main character with a challenging problem or goal. Even this takes development. Maybe you have a great challenge, but aren’t sure why a character would have that goal. Or maybe your situation is interesting, but doesn’t actually involve a problem.

For example, I wanted to write about a brother and sister who travel with a ghost hunter TV show. The girl can see ghosts, but the boy can’t. That gave me the characters and the situation, but no problem or goal. Goals come from need or desire. What did they want that could sustain an entire series?

Tania feels sorry for the ghosts and wants to help them, while keeping her gift a secret from everyone but her brother. Jon wants to help and protect his sister, but sometimes feels overwhelmed by the responsibility.

Now we have two main characters with problems and goals. The story is off to a good start. (It became Haunted: The Ghost on the Stairs.)

Tip:
Make sure your idea is specific and narrow, especially with short stories or articles. Focus on an individual person and situation, not a universal concept. For example, don’t try to write about “racism.” Instead, write about one character facing racism in a particular situation.

Next week we'll talk about how to set up those complications through CONFLICT.

Career Choices in Publishing

2012-01-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

Somehow in the past few months I’ve gotten a reputation (at least in certain small circles) as a self-publishing expert. Which is pretty funny, because I’ve been doing this for less than a year and I’m learning as I go. But I’ve been willing to share what I’m learning, and I guess even my minimal experience puts me farther along the path that a lot of people who are in a “wait and see” pattern or still completely dismissive.

Since people seem to be curious about this journey, I thought I’d share some of the decisions I’m making now. I can’t guarantee that these are the right decisions, but I’ll explain the logic behind them. Maybe we can check back in a year and see how they look in hindsight. I’ll be posting and explaining a decision each week, on Wednesdays.

On Fridays, I’ll be reposting some of my craft articles. (Yes, for a while these will mainly be repeats, but craft doesn’t change much, and even if you’ve heard it before, it often helps to hear it again.) So, on to the career decisions.

Decision #1: I’ve committed to self-publishing for my adult genre novels.

I first switched to writing romantic suspense thinking that I would submit traditionally. I’d hoped the market would be better than for middle grade novels. Adult novels aren’t quite as influenced by market trends, since each genre and subgenre has devoted fans. And advances were supposed to be higher.

But the more I heard, about both traditional publishing for adult genre books and about self-publishing, the more I questioned that path.

With traditional publishing, it’s harder than ever to sell a book, and advances are down. It can be easier to sell to a smaller, digital-only or digital-first publisher, but many of these offer no advances, only paying royalties. Genre publishing can have fairly strict guidelines for word count. With romance, each line even has different standards for how sexy they can be. Some imprints won’t allow first-person narration or multiple viewpoints, or else require you use both the hero and heroine’s viewpoint. You could spend a lot of effort targeting one publisher’s imprint, and if they reject the book, it won’t be suitable anywhere else. Authors can also find themselves trapped into writing a specific style determined more by their publisher than by their own tastes.

Traditional publishers can help with marketing, but you never know how much promotion you’re going to get. It takes a couple of years to get a book published, which means you’re not building name recognition yet. Many publishers are unwilling to experiment with pricing or free offers to increase sales. And if the book is suffering from a lousy cover or poor description, they are more likely to go on to something else than to make changes.

And worst of all, traditional publishers are offering increasingly worse contracts, trying to take more rights while holding down royalties. This will change – it has to change – but signing a contract now may mean you suffer financially for years.

Self-publishing has many challenges, but also a lot more flexibility and freedom. You can release books on your own schedule, starting to build name recognition and a least a few sales quickly. You may not sell large numbers, but you make a lot more per book. You can experiment as much as you want with different covers, descriptions, pricing, and promotions, seeing what works best.

And best of all, you retain all rights. Different formats, foreign translations, movie/TV rights – it’s all yours. Granted, you’re unlikely to ever sell most of those rights, but if you do, you won’t have to split the income with a publisher. (Please note, some publishers aggressively sell subsidiary rights, which means you’re more likely to see income from them. But some just sit on the rights and don’t do anything with them until an outside company asks. In that case, they are taking a percentage for doing nothing.)

I waffled over my decision for a while. I even sent Rattled to my agent. An advance sure would be nice. But ultimately, I decided that I don’t have time to wait months to hear back from publishers, when there’s a good chance the answer will be “No.” By publishing independently, I need to do a lot more work on promotion, and of course there’s a learning curve just figuring out how to do all this stuff. But I’m not spending time researching publishers and agents or altering my work to fit specific guidelines.

My decision won’t be right for everyone. Either way, it’s a lot of work. Either way, it’s a gamble. But now that I’ve started down this path, I’m determined to give it a great try. My goal is to get two more books published this year, and then to focus on promotion – but that’s another decision. More on that in a future post.

Whispers in the Dark

2012-01-13T06:10:00.012-07:00

I will get back to craft posts, I promise. And I have a couple more thoughts about changes in the industry. But I'm swamped this week, so I just wanted to share the news that my latest book is now out.

Whispers in the Dark by Kris Bock

A young archaeologist seeking peace after an assault stumbles into danger as mysteries unfold among ancient Southwest ruins. Can she overcome the fears from her past, learn to fight back, and open herself to a new romance?

Kris Bock is the name I'm using when I write for adults. These books could be classed as romantic suspense or southwestern adventures. Whispers in the Dark is available as a $3.99 e-book or $9.99 trade paperback on Amazon or B&N (actually, Barnes and Nobles had the print version for a dollar off last I checked). Smashwords also has all e-formats.

Quick and Easy Steps to Finding Story and Article Ideas

2012-01-10T06:10:00.000-07:00

Some writers have no trouble finding ideas, and only need to find enough time to tackle them all. But a couple members of my critique group have wondered what to write next. Sometimes the wellspring of ideas seems empty.

To brainstorm new ideas, sit down with a few sheets of paper and:
• Make a list of writing genres that you enjoy or would like to try—mysteries, fantasy, nonfiction articles, etc.

•   On a new page, start jotting down your life experiences—jobs you’ve held, hobbies, sports, special interests, places you’ve lived or traveled—from childhood to the present. For example, the summer I spent traveling through Mexico and Central America inspired my Mayan historical drama, The Well of Sacrifice.
•   Add other subjects based on your family and friends’ experiences, anything interesting where you have an "in" for research. Do your kids play soccer? Is your husband a volunteer firefighter? Is one of your friends a graduate student studying lightning? Put it on the list.
•   Now add subjects you would like to explore. If you’ve been meaning to take a Latin dance class or learn about Buddhism, add it to the list.
•   Go back to the list and highlight any subjects that seem especially compelling. For example, my list would include working backstage in high school theater, and working as a glacier guide for a helicopter tour company. Those seem like natural settings for a story, even if I can’t think of a plot yet.
•   Review the list of genres that interest you. Now go back over your highlighted subject list and consider each topic as it could relate to each genre. For example, I could write a fantasy set in the theater, or an action novel about a helicopter guide. Write each of these ideas on a new piece of paper, so you have room for notes.
•   For each of your shortlist ideas, go back through your long list and see if you could add in another topic. Sometimes a single subject isn’t enough for a story or book, but mixing two or more subjects or ideas gives you a more fully fleshed concept. I got this from the late, brilliant children's book author Sid Fleischman. He once read that people born at midnight are supposed to be able to see ghosts. Later, had an idea about pirates who lost their treasure. He put these ideas together into his book The Ghost in the Noonday Sun. So consider moving your interesting subject to a new setting, or making your volunteer firefighter or lightning researcher into the main character.
•   Keep adding to your list. Pay attention to the daily intrigues and surprises, and note them down. One night in Washington state, a friend and I went for a nighttime walk when dozens of little frogs were croaking and hopping along the road. I later sold a story to Highlights magazine about a father and child who explore a rainy night when the frogs were out.
•   Pay attention to news and "human interest" stories as well. I saw an article about a helicopter crash, where everyone survived. I might use that as part of my action novel about the helicopter guide.
•   Don’t neglect nonfiction either. Would any of your subjects make for a lively article? If your kids play soccer, you could write a story about a soccer team. You could also write an article about the history of soccer, a how-to piece about a specific soccer techniques, a profile of a young star, a health article about preventing soccer injuries, or a parenting article about the pros and cons of competition in youth sports.

You might end this exercise with one or more ideas that have you fired up and ready to go. But in some cases, you’ll need more time to develop the concept before you start writing. Next week, I’ll discuss Turning an Idea into a Story. In the meantime, here are two more exercises to get the creative juices flowing:

Think about the most exciting, funny or scary thing that has happened to you. Make it into a story, changing the details to make it more dramatic.
Ask a friend to tell you something exciting or scary or funny that has happened to him/her. Make it into a story, changing the details to make it more dramatic.

No Advances?

2012-01-06T06:10:00.005-07:00

Digital Book World, a highly informative blog which I recommend you follow if you are interested in the changing publishing industry, recently had an interview with Ellen Archer, president of Hyperion Publishing. Here’s something I found especially interesting:

JG: Are you suggesting advances will go away in the future?

EA: I’m suggesting that we need to create a “Chinese menu” for deals. There are lots of different ways of how a deal can be structured and we need to explore what those deals could look like. The one pattern that I have seen is that while there is still big money being thrown around for certain books, there is an awareness that we can’t continue to overpay. Advances are already lowering.

Okay, wow. I had heard that advances have been going down in many areas of publishing. And there are some other publishers doing Digital-only or Digital-first editions that don’t pay advances, but get the book out more quickly (and ideally pay a greater royalty rate). I find it interesting that a major publisher is hinting that no advance may be the way of the future. After all, that is one of the major reasons to go with a large publisher.

Traditional publishers basically offer one thing that you can’t get from self-publishing – money up front. Yes, they offer services such as editing, proofreading and cover design, but you can hire professionals to do that (including some of the professionals who used to work for traditional publishers). Traditional publishers may offer some advantages when it comes to marketing, a point Ms. Archer makes in her interview. But her examples are a nonfiction book about a famous person and a TV tie-in book. As many of us know, an unknown or mid-list author may get little or no marketing.

Again, it comes down to money. What traditional publishers have to offer is the money to pay an advance and pay the people who will work on your book. Without an advance, that really just leaves paying the people who will work on your book. This is still valuable for authors who don’t have the money to hire professionals. But I find it puzzling that traditional publishers are actually talking about getting less competitive.

Although I have been experimenting with self-publishing after decades of traditional publishing, I don’t believe it’s the right path for everyone. I’d really like to see traditional publishers become more relevant and remain powerful forces in publishing. Sadly, I am largely seeing the opposite.

By the way, I’m teaching a class called Explore Indie Publishing, and another on Dazzling Description, in Albuquerque on two Tuesday afternoons, January 24 and 31. Get the full description and find out how to sign up at the SouthWest Writers website.

Creating a Strong Voice: Use Dialog to Show

2011-12-30T06:10:00.028-07:00

I’ve talked about using the five senses to “show” rather than tell. I also talked about using strong and specific nouns and verbs, being cautious with adjectives, and generally avoiding adverbs. All this comes together especially well with dialogue.

Sometimes authors try to avoid the repetitiveness of “said” by using a lot of alternatives. Although writers may notice how the times they use “said,” the word virtually disappears during dialogue scenes. The reader won’t notice it. On the other hand, they may start to notice if you use a lot of fancy alternatives, such as reply, retort, answer, interject, state and questioned. Those words call attention to themselves, without adding anything to the dialogue.

It’s all right to occasionally use dialogue tag verbs that describe the volume or speed of speech, such as yelled, whispered, stuttered. But if everybody is constantly screaming and snorting and sputtering, your characters will look ridiculous rather than realistic, so use these alternatives sparingly.

You should also avoid adding an adverb to “said.” This is almost always telling rather than showing. Instead of using “he said angrily,” make sure the dialogue conveys anger, or add a bit of action that shows the anger.

Here’s an example from my inspirational biography, Jesse Owens Young Record Breaker, written under the name M. M. Eboch:

A month later, JC could barely breathe with the pressure on his chest. He wondered if he would die. He lay down, gasping, unable to sleep. He heard his parents whispering.

“We’ve got to do something, Henry,” his mother said.

“You took one of those bumps off his leg once.”

“But this one’s so big!” Mama said. “And it’s near his heart.”

“Emma—” his father started to say.

“Don’t say it!”

“I’m going to say it,” his father insisted. “If the Lord wants him—”

His mother interrupted again, her voice rising. “The Lord doesn’t want this child.”

Do you get a sense of his parents’ emotions, and even their differing personalities, just based on the words they speak?

To make your dialogue read more smoothly, you can occasionally cut the dialogue tag altogether, if it’s clear who’s speaking. If two people are having a conversation, and you are punctuating your dialogue properly, we know that the speaker is alternating in every paragraph. Identify the speaker roughly every third time and the reader should be able to keep track. (With the youngest readers, you may want to err on the side of identifying the speaker every time, for clarity.)

Coincidentally, the day after I wrote this I read a blog post on Dialogue Nuts & Bolts by Jodie Renner. She says some of the same things I do, so you know they must be true. Plus she offers detailed instruction on the technical aspects of punctuating dialogue, so if you are not sure when and where to use which type of punctuation, check out her post.

Assignment: Write about two people at a party, showing emotion through dialogue. They could be fighting, flirting, planning mischief... you decide. You can use characters from your current work in progress if you like. Don’t name any emotions. If you want to test your work, share the writing with your critique group or other friends. See if people can guess the emotions.

Get more writing advice in Advanced Plotting.

Creating a Strong Voice: When You Might Need to “Tell”

2011-12-23T06:10:00.009-07:00

I’ve been talking about the difference between showing and telling, and made a strong case (I hope) for showing. However, every rule has its exception. For younger readers, you may need to define emotions more, as they may not have enough world experience to always recognize what it means when someone crosses her arms or raises her eyebrows. You can still use specific language and the five senses, but consider your readers age before you get too creative with the showing details. In some cases, you may want to reinforce the showing with a clearly defined emotion.

You may also need to use “telling” adjectives or adverbs when you’re dealing with unexpected reactions. Here’s an example from my novel, The Well of Sacrifice, where the main character is describing her sister:

“Feather was beautiful even as a child. She had reddish brown skin, smooth and glossy like wet clay. Her dark, slanting eyes were crossed, and her high forehead was flattened back in a straight line from her long nose.”

American children today probably don’t know that the Maya thought crossed eyes and a high, flattened forehead was beautiful. If I had just described Feather, young readers might have thought she was ugly, and the main character’s jealousy wouldn’t make sense. Using that “telling” word beautiful shows the different standards of the ninth-century Maya.

I heard author Richard Peck speak at a conference. In his novel Representing Super Doll, a character is described simply as “the most beautiful girl in the world.” Pretty vague. You don’t know her hair color, eye color, height or weight, or even what race she is. And that was his intent. He wanted the reader to imagine his or her own version of the most beautiful girl in the world. The description isn’t specific, but it does exactly what the author wants.

You can also sometimes use “telling” adjectives to show your character’s feelings. Here’s an example in the third person, from the point of view of a girl named Alice, describing her father’s new girlfriend. “She wasn’t as pretty as Alice’s mother. She wore old jeans and a sweatshirt, and her dull brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was thin and talked too loud. Alice’s mother was soft and gentle and elegant.”

There is a lot of telling in there, but it shows us Alice’s opinion. A savvy reader will understand that the girlfriend may or may not be as pretty as Alice’s mother—but Alice doesn’t like her.

Remember, these are exceptions to the rule, not an excuse to ignore the rule. In general, putting effort into showing rather than telling will improve your voice.

Creating a Strong Voice: Show, Don’t Tell Emotion

2011-12-16T06:10:00.003-07:00

Last week I talked about the difference between showing and telling. One of the most common places author slip up and tell rather than show is when it comes to emotion. It’s tempting to explain that your character is happy, sad, angry or whatever. Simply naming the emotion is quick and seems clear. However, it’s not the most successful method.

Telling us that a character is angry, happy, or upset doesn’t give a picture. We can’t see what that character looks like at that moment. Different people express their anger in different ways, from silently seething to screaming and throwing things, so showing the anger through specific actions and words creates a clearer picture—and one that shows much more about that character.

Showing emotion through the character’s action and dialogue, plus using the five senses, also creates more vivid, dramatic scenes—the kind that will have an editor raving about the writer’s voice.

Here’s another quote from Antarctica: Journey to the Pole, a novel by Peter Lerangis:

Colin Winslow ran through the canyon streets of lower Manhattan. He ran even though his chest hurt and the rain pelted him and his feet slipped on the wet pavement. …

His stepmother was dead. It happened while he and Andrew were watching, while they held her hands in the hospital room. She woke from a sleep, called Father’s name, and closed her eyes. Just like that, the pneumonia took her, and Colin felt his heart squeeze, exactly the way it had when his mother had died. Suddenly the hospital walls couldn’t hold enough air for him, so he ran.

Can you tell how Colin feels in that moment, and also how he felt about his stepmother? And yet, notice that no emotion is ever named.

One advantage to showing the character’s emotion in this way is that you evoke a similar reaction in the reader. If you simply have your character see or hear “something frightening/exciting/sad,” the reader won’t necessarily feel frightened, excited, or sad as well. On the other hand, if you describe what the character sees or hears using specific details and the five senses, then the reader can share the character’s emotion.

Here’s a description of the cat Dragon, from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O’Brien:

“He was enormous, with a huge, broad head and a large mouth full of curving fangs, needle sharp. He had seven claws on each foot and a thick, furry tail, which lashed angrily from side to side. In color he was orange and white, with glaring yellow eyes; and when he leaped to kill, he gave a high, strangled scream that froze his victims where they stood.”

Can you imagine how the mice and rats feel about Dragon?

Assignment: Write a page on entering a new setting that evokes a strong reaction (fear, joy, excitement, anger, pity). Don’t name the emotion.

Assignment: Remember a time in your life when you were scared. Describe it, without telling how you felt.

Find more writing advice in Advanced Plotting.

Creating a Strong Voice: How to Show, Not Tell

2011-12-09T06:10:00.038-07:00

Writers often hear the advice “Show, don’t tell.” But what exactly does that mean? At a basic level, showing is really pretty simple.

Showing uses sense data, information perceivable by one of the five senses. Telling interprets or explains that data. If a character sees or hears something “frightening,” the author is explaining that the character should be frightened. To show, draw on the five senses—what the character can see, hear, smell, feel, or taste—so that we sense the fear too.

Here’s an example from the prologue to Antarctica: Journey to the Pole, a novel by Peter Lerangis:

The call of Antarctica is loud and clear: Go away.

You hear it in the groans of colliding ice floes. In the shriek of 200 mile an hour winds hurtling down the Transantarctic mountains. In the thunder of an ice shelf splitting into the sea. In the hostile silence of the darkness that begins in April and ends in June.

You feel it, too, as the temperature drops to -100°F and your breath forms a mask of solid ice inside your hood. Standing still can kill you, and you fight off the urge to sleep, because you know you may never awaken.

That’s a powerful assault on the senses, especially sound and touch, which are often forgotten in favor of sight. (Notice all the specific verbs and nouns as well, like I mentioned in last week’s post!)

Here’s another example, from The Gray King, by Susan Cooper:

Close to, the fire on the mountain was very much more alarming than it had seemed from a distance. They could smell it now, and hear it; smell the smoke more bitter than a farm bonfire; here the soft, dreadful sound of flames consuming the bracken, like paper crumpled in the hand, and the sudden crackling roar as a bush or a patch of gorse went up. And they could see the flames, leaping high, bright red and yellow at the edges of the fire but ferocious and near-invisible at its heart.

You may notice that she uses quite a few adjectives, including some that might be considered vague, such as alarming and dreadful. But these work in combination with specific details and an appeal to multiple senses to bring the scene to life in a vivid, emotional way.

For more expert writing advice, order Advanced Plotting, with two dozen essays that will help you write better.

Assignment: Look at a descriptive scene from your work in progress. How many senses did you use? Rewrite the scene, describing what your character SEES, HEARS, SMELLS, TASTES, and FEELS. Be specific with your language.

You may not want to use this entire rewritten scene in your manuscript, as it might seem like too much. Pick out the sensory details that do the best job of showing the scene in an emotional way, with an attention to detail appropriate for the importance of the scene.

Books make great holiday gifts! Support your favorite authors by sharing their work.

Creating a Strong Voice: Be Specific

2011-12-02T06:10:00.001-07:00

One way to strengthen your writing voice is to make sure you are choosing strong, specific words. In particular, focus on strong nouns and verbs.

Be wary of adjectives, which are often vague and open to interpretation. To me, the term “young girl” suggests a child no more than six years old, but I’ve heard the phrase used to describe a woman in her early 20s. Factual details or clear comparisons are less open to interpretation, so be precise. For example, calling a character “big” isn’t specific. A man who appears average or even small to an adult might still appear big to a child. A Japanese man who is of above-average size in Japan might be smaller than average in Denmark.

If you want to create a clear picture, you can use specific statistics, such as saying that the man is 6’6” and 300 pounds (would that be fat or muscle, though?). Or you could use a familiar comparison. Perhaps he’s built like a pro football player (would that be a quarterback or a linebacker?). Keep your audience in mind. Will they be more familiar with a linebacker or a sumo wrestler?

Specifics are especially important when writing for children, as a child may have a very different idea of what constitutes big or small, young or old. To a kindergartner, a 40-year-old teacher is ancient!

You can even create mood by being careful with specific word choices. Say you have a woman wearing a red dress. If you describe the dress as blood red, it hints at danger. Scarlet and crimson suggest an edgy sexiness. Burgundy, ruby, or garnet evoke a sense of wealth and luxury. Cherry red is cheerful. Rose red is soft and gentle. You can use specific words to create a mood that suits that character, or that point in your story. Or you could mislead your reader, creating certain expectations through word choice and then challenging them with the character’s behavior.

Be specific with your verbs as well. As for adverbs, some writers recommend avoiding them whenever possible. Adverbs may, on rare occasion, have their place, but often they are a lazy alternative to the harder work of showing with strong verbs. If someone walked slowly, did he stroll, stumble, shuffle, or limp? Those are all slow ways of walking, but each looks different to a viewer and has different connotations.

Assignment: write a paragraph about a character or setting, being as specific as possible with your language.

Where Should You Go with your NaNo?: Discount Critique Offer

2011-11-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

How many of you did National Novel Writing Month this year? If you made a good attempt, whether or not you got 50,000 words, I applaud you. It takes a lot of dedication to even attempt writing a novel in a month, especially a month that starts off the holiday season.

One of the big criticisms of NaNoWriMo is that people whip out a novel and then (shudder) actually submit it to publishers. If you are following this blog, I know you know better. You know you need to edit. Probably a lot.

But sometimes the very idea of editing seems overwhelming. How do you take this big mess and turn it into something worth reading? Which direction should you go? Should you target it a bit older.... or maybe younger? Play up the mystery elements or the fantasy or the romance? Cut out some subplots to make this more focused, or expand it into a trilogy? How do you develop your strengths and overcome your weaknesses?

Have I got a deal for you! My normal rate for editorial services is $1.50 per page. In honor of NaNoWriMo, I will critique your novel for just $1 per manuscript page (about $160 if you actually hit the 50,000-word mark).

What’s the catch? Don’t expect a lot of comments on the manuscript itself. Chances are you need to do major content editing, so I’m not going to waste time discussing your word choices. However, you will get a 4 to 6 page editorial letter discussing plot, characters, setting, theme, style/voice, and marketability. As part of style/voice, I’ll point out where you might need to work on techniques such as showing rather than telling, balance of action/dialogue/description, pacing, and so forth. The goal of this critique is to give you guidance, to make the editorial process easier.

And what if you didn’t do NaNoWriMo? If you need direction on a manuscript, you can still take advantage of this offer. It’s available on a first-come first-served basis, until January 15 or until my schedule fills up. $50 minimum.

This is a chance to get a professional review of your work at a bargain-basement rate. Satisfied clients have said:

“Thank you so much for an amazing critique. The good part is that I totally understand your comments. I totally appreciate your professional comments and quick turn-around.” Charlotte, TX

“I love all of your suggestions … You are an excellent editor and critique service. I shall highly recommend you.” Molly, NM

“I am extremely happy that I had you critique the story. You are thorough and took the time to analyze it so well. I know your critique will definitely help me with future writing.” – Alexandra, NM

You can see more recommendations and contact me through my website “For Writers” page.

What Is Voice—And How Do I Get It?

2011-11-25T06:10:00.003-07:00

Spend much time around editors and writers, and you’ll hear a lot about voice. It may be the number one thing editors want to see in a manuscript. But what exactly is voice?

I’ve attended several talks on voice, and mainly the speakers read examples from novels with voice. Or rather, they read examples from novels with poetic voices. Does that mean we all need to be more poetic as writers? And if so, how? Hearing examples doesn’t necessarily translate to understanding how you can improve your own voice.

Let’s start with two basic truths:

All writing has voice. It may be a slow, boring voice, or a clunky, confusing voice, or a straightforward, fast-paced voice, or a beautiful, poetic voice. “Voice” does not have to mean the beautiful poetic language most often found in “literary” novels (even though those are most often used as examples of strong voice).

Different readers like different voices. Few people would like the boring or confusing voices mentioned above, but many people prefer a straightforward, fast-paced voice, many others like a beautiful, poetic voice, and some readers enjoy both.

Personally, I tend to enjoy straightforward, fast-paced novels, with a bit of beautiful description here and there. I don’t like novels where the voice seems to dominate the story and the plot takes second place. That’s my personal taste as a reader, and so that’s what I strive for as a writer. I would say my voice is simple, lively, and brisk, and that’s true whether I’m writing fiction or nonfiction, for children or for adults. My characters have their own individual voices, depending on their gender, age, background, and personality, but my voice ties all my writing together.

Sometimes I have critique clients ask me if I can help them with their voice. My answer: I can’t help you have a great voice, but I can teach you how to avoid having a bad voice. It’s a matter of learning specific techniques, such as:

being specific with your language,

choosing strong, vivid nouns and verbs,

avoiding the overuse of adverbs and adjectives,

showing rather than telling,

using all five senses,

mastering point of view,

varying your pacing appropriately,

And knowing when to break the rules.

For the rest of the year, I’ll be going into these techniques in more detail, so stay tuned.

Penguin Gets into Self-Publishing

2011-11-23T05:00:00.003-07:00

I haven't posted for a while on self-publishing, because frankly I ran out of things to say. But I thought this was an interesting bit of news. Digital Book World blog had an announcement today about Penguin’s Book Country Launches Self-Publishing Service.

A quote: "Penguin’s online genre fiction community, Book Country, has launched a self-publishing service, signaling the intention of big publishers to develop additional revenue streams in the face of a changing book-publishing landscape, even if it means letting authors bypass the traditional publishing process."

That's right, a traditional publisher is figuring out how to get a piece of the self-publishing pie. I haven't looked into details, but it looks like they are simply offering a service to adapt your manuscript to print on demand and e-book formats, without editorial or other services. Presumably one does not get the Penguin name and logo on the spine.

Joe Konrath at A Newbie's Guide to Publishing commented on the setup in a post titled Book Country Fail, where he noted that the company seems to be offering the same services you can get elsewhere, for more money. An excerpt: "If you want to use Book Country to workshop your book and get critiques, that's great. I've heard good things about it. But I would NOT recommend paying them to format your manuscripts."

It will be interesting to see if other publishers start dabbling like this, and if so, to what extent. Right now there doesn't seem to be any good reason to self publish through a traditional publisher, unless they are providing publishing services such as editorial and proofreading at a competitive rate, or you get the respect associated with their name (which I can't imagine they'd provide to self publishers, without thoroughly vetting the manuscripts first).

Some authors may hope to catch the eye of an editor and get a traditional deal, but my guess is the team doing self-publishing services will be completely separate from a publisher's editorial staff. I expect there is room for traditional publishers in the world of self-publishing, but I'm not sure they've found the right set up yet.

Conflicts Aren’t all About the Punches, by Janice Hardy

2011-11-18T09:19:00.001-07:00

I didn't get my usual Friday blog post scheduled this week, but I just read this blog post on Stop That Fighting! Conflicts Aren’t all About the Punches by Janice Hardy at The Other Side of the Story so I thought I'd direct you over there if you need some plotting advice. Janice is one of the best bloggers I know for sharing specific, detailed essays on the craft of writing. She contributed an essay on "Tips on Plotting Your Novel" for Advanced Plotting. If you don't already follow her blog, check it out this week. I'll be back soon.

Tips for Revising Short Stories, with Chris Kelworth

2011-11-16T05:00:00.002-07:00

I have another guest today, Chris Kelworth, talking about short stories. He’s relatively new at writing stories for publication, but he’s learned a few things that can help when it comes to revision. And I think his advice applies whether you’re writing short stories, novels, picture books or anything else. Take it away, Chris:

There’s a lot to think about when you’re trying to revise a speculative genre short story. I’m certainly no expert, it’s not like I’ve been published yet, but I’ve been working on it for nearly a year now, so hopefully I’ve learned something that’s worth sharing.

First, of course, there’s a lot of value in getting critiques of your first draft, to give you some sort of feedback and perspective on what’s good and what needs work. You can get this from friends, (if they know how to be good readers and critiquers,) from local writers at a writer’s circle meeting, from people online that you’ve never met before, or some combination of the above.

The best critiques for a first draft, I’ve found, are the ones that don’t get bogged down too much in the ‘micro-writing’ – the small and sometimes more superficial elements of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word choice. You need to get feedback on the bigger picture - what the story is about, the plot, the characters, and the voice. What is the story trying to say, and how well does it say that?

As an aside, critiquing short stories from other writers is a good way to get a better sense of what will work in your own rewrites. I recommend looking at the Critters workshop – it’s a good place to get some decent feedback on your stories, and a great opportunity to critique other writers.

I had the opportunity to go to Lawrence, Kansas this summer, and participate in a two-week Short Science Fiction writers’ workshop held by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, along with seven other student writers and several established authors. The biggest thing I learned in Kansas was that the core of my story, what I really wanted or needed to talk about, might be something that I had to dig a little to get to. Again, this was something that critiquing the other writer’s stories helped me with; I got some practice in identifying the core of their stories by coming at them without preconceptions, (or not many preconceptions, hopefully,) and was able to apply that skill to my own stories.

Once I’ve gone over the critiques and thought about what the core of the story is, often my next step will be a total rewrite, picking a different take on the opening scene that will fit what I know I’m trying to write. Then I write to that, and to the core and the ending that I have in mind, not trying to edit the old draft until it works but build up something new. But if I get to a point when I’m writing the second draft where I think ‘Okay, this is a point where I can take this bit from the first draft and tweak it, and that’ll be great’, then I do that; usually taking shorter moments and beats as opposed to entire scenes, but whatever works.

A few other valuable lessons that I learned at the Kansas workshop:

* Every scene, and every beat within those scenes, needs to support the core of the story, the big thing that you want to say.

* Be very careful about how much information you dump on the reader and when.

* The main character needs to be proactive and overcome the central problem himself, not have it solved for him by an external agency.

Revising can be hard work, so don’t be afraid to put some effort into it – and don’t get too bummed if you need to put a project aside for a while because you can’t figure out what you need to do with it yet.

Having a supportive community of writers to encourage you on to your goals can be a great help, no matter what goals you’re working towards, from revising short stories to finishing your novel first draft. At Stringing Words forum, we’re looking for new members who want to share their goals and will support and nag us on ours. Drop by for a visit today!

Chris Kelworth lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and works in Burlington as a computer software developer under an assumed name. He writes science fiction and fantasy, stories and novels, and dabbles in the mysterious art of screenwriting. To find out more, visit http://kelworthfiles.wordpress.com/.

2011-11-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

A writer's work is never done. In the olden days (a year or two ago), once your book was published, it was out of your hands. This is largely still true with traditional publishing-- once the book goes to press, you probably won't be able to mess with it, unless someone wants to release a revised and updated version decades down the line.

But the world is different for independent publishers, whether small presses with an e-book first or e-book only policy, or individuals turning to self-publishing. With print on demand and e-book formats, it's easy to upload new cover art, a new book description, and even a new version of the interior text. You found a typo or factual error? Go ahead and fix it. Reviewers complained about a weak plot or poor character development? You can revise and release. You decided the cover didn't give the right impression of the book's content? Tweak it or try something entirely new.

This new world has disadvantages. For one thing, who wants to keep messing with a book forever? But it does mean you can make improvements. I just fixed a few typos and formatting glitches in Rattled. It's taking a few hours to get the new versions updated and to check the formatting, but it's worthwhile for a better product.

Illustrator Lois Bradley and I also went over the cover art again, and she came up with this great new version.

I think it's more eye-catching. Here's the earlier version, for comparison:

What do you think?

I'm also replacing my blurb (based on advice that I think came from Robin Sullivan's Write to Publish blog, though now I can't find the post. Stop by anyway, it's a great place to learn how to market better) and using quotes from reviews. Here's the new version:

Praise for Rattled:

“The action never stopped .... It was adventure and romance at its best.”

“I couldn’t put this book down. You’ll love it.”

Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Adventures

A legendary treasure hunt in the dramatic—and deadly—New Mexico desert....

The lost Victorio Peak treasure is the stuff of legends—a heretic Spanish priest’s gold mine, made richer by the spoils of bandits and an Apache raider.

When Erin, a quiet history professor, uncovers a clue that may pinpoint the lost treasure cave, she prepares for adventure. But when a hit and run driver nearly kills her, she realizes she’s not the only one after the treasure. And is Drew, the handsome helicopter pilot who found her bleeding in a ditch, really a hero, or one of the enemy?

Just how far will Erin go to find the treasure and discover what she’s really made of?

“The story has it all—action, romance, danger, intrigue, lost treasure, not to mention a sizzling relationship....”

Read the first three chapters at www.krisbock.com.

***

It's always hard to judge results, because even if you see sales increase or decrease, you can't be sure what caused that effect. But it's nice to know you can keep revising as you gain skills! I wish I could go back and edit my first novel, The Well of Sacrifice, because I think my writing style has changed since then. Maybe someday....

Getting to Know Me

2011-11-13T14:05:00.001-07:00

This week, I’m part of the Getting-to-Know-You Blogfest, a project from The Romantic Suspense group (#43) in Rachael Harrie’s Platform Building Campaign. After signing up with this blog, I realized I should have signed up with my Kris Bock blog, since that’s my romantic suspense persona. But I couldn’t figure out how to remove the original link, so I decided I’d better do both!

If you are more interested in my Kris Bock persona, you can see my romantic suspense author answers on my website blog.

Now writing as children’s book writer/writing teacher/journalist Chris Eboch, here are my answers to these questions:

1. Name two authors who inspire you.

How do you choose just two? But as I pondered this question, my friend Molly Blaisdell came to mind. She’s worked so hard for so many years, finding some success with work for hire while working on novel after novel without yet selling one. Her perseverance is an inspiration. Sign up for her Seize the Day blog if you need a weekly dose of positive attitude. I could name a dozen other writing friends who inspire me with their hard work, perseverance, and generosity.

2. How did you start writing in your genre?

I originally thought I wanted to write magazine nonfiction for grown-ups, but it turns out my journalism training is good for writing middle grade novels as well, since they need tight writing and relatively simple language. I wrote my first kid’s book, The Well of Sacrifice, for fun while looking for magazine jobs. It sold and is still used in schools when kids study the Maya. If I hadn’t sold that book, I might’ve gone in another direction, but that convinced me to keep writing for children.

3. You've landed a meeting with your dream agent. Write a one paragraph pitch to sell your novel to him/her. (No more than four sentences)

For The Eyes of Pharaoh, a middle grade mystery set in Egypt in 1177 BC:

When Reya hints that Egypt is in danger from foreign nomads, Seshta and Horus don’t take him seriously. How could anyone challenge Egypt? Then Reya disappears. To save their friend, Seshta and Horus spy on merchants, soldiers, and royalty, and start to suspect even The Eyes of Pharaoh, the powerful head of the secret police.

4. Sabotage or accident- which would put your female lead through and why?

Some of each, including some “accidents” caused by the character’s own bad judgment. My characters often get themselves in trouble by meddling where they’re not wanted. But then, you can’t just let the bad guys win without a fight!

5. Plotter or Pantser? Who are you?

My earlier books were more seat-of-the-pants, but as I’ve learned more about how to construct a novel, I’ve found that brainstorming extensively and outlining in advance saves me time and heartache. But I’ve also used my Plot Arc Exercise to analyze completed drafts and find out where they need work. You can download the Plot Arc Exercise from my Kris Bock website, if you’d like to see how it works, or follow the links under “novel revision” in the list to the right.

Visit more authors from the blogfest through the links here.

Set Your Goals, Step By Step

2011-11-11T06:10:00.004-07:00

I’ve been talking about setting career goals. I started by describing my career. Then I quoted some other successful authors. Now it’s your turn.

Exercise: Goal Setting

What is my primary writing goal?

What are my secondary writing goals?

How can these goals work together? Do they contradict each other at all? Do they interfere with other career, family or personal goals?

What steps do I need to take? Do I need to work on specific craft techniques, time management, market research, or submissions?

Which steps come first? How can I schedule the steps to reach my goals?

A regular review of your personal goals can keep you on track, or help you recognize when it’s time to change. Once you identify your priorities, you can take steps to get there. If money is the priority, you might focus on work for hire and market research. If your ideal is winning major literary awards, maybe you need to take more classes to work on your craft. The journey may still be a long one, but you take the first step by identifying where you want to go.

Janet S. Fox says, “When I started writing for children I had one goal: to get published!” She found a critique group to help her on that path. “My critique partners and I shared the goal of publishing—but we also shared the goals of improving our craft, of learning about the nuances of the publishing industry, of understanding structure, character, and voice. We pushed each other, and attended conferences together.” They are all now published.

Large-scale, general goals need to be broken into specific small steps. Sydney Salter, author of My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters and the award-winning Swoon at Your Own Risk (both HM Harcourt) says, “When I decided that I really wanted to make writing a professional career, not just a hobby, I bought an engagement calendar to use just for my writing. Each day I recorded what I had done to work on my writing career, whether it was revising a magazine article, researching a novel, writing 1,500 words, or reading a Newbery winning novel over the weekend. I also recorded goals at the beginning of each month to keep myself on track—things like write 12,000 words, submit teen story to Children’s Writer contest, read three MT Anderson books. This technique kept me focused on my goals and allowed me to have some small successes, such as published magazine stories and contest wins, while I worked toward book publication.”

Each step on the path not only brings you closer to your destination, it also builds valuable skills for when you arrive. Salter says, “When I found an interested agent, I was grateful for the discipline that I’d learned through years of treating my writing seriously. My editor also appreciates my work ethic.”

Writers may benefit from reviewing their goals yearly, or even more often. You may also want to review goals whenever you feel bored or frustrated, as instinct may be telling you that you’re on the wrong path.

It’s good to have big goals, even fantasies, but break them down into shorter-term goals, and lists the steps you need to take to get there. To be a rich and famous writer would be nice. But you may need to start by taking writing classes to build your storytelling skills. Then there’s the discipline of writing on a regular schedule, finding helpful critiques, editing, market research, networking... all the steps along the way. You can’t jump ahead to the end, but you can keep moving along the path.

Make your goals as specific as possible. For example, “Make money from writing” is a vague goal. Will you be happy with $10 from an online poem just so you can say you’ve been paid? Do you want to make a profit so you can claim writing as a business on your tax forms? Contribute a certain amount to the family income? Quit your day job?

You may also need to break down goals into short-term and long-term. Making enough money to quit your day job may be a five-year or 10-year goal. You can then set short-term goals to help you get there.

Goal setting should involve the entire career, from time management to craft to market research and submissions to publicity for published works.

You may not achieve every goal you set. You can’t win a Newbery medal just because you want to, or even because you work really hard. But you can focus on writing books of the style and quality that win Newberys. That puts you on the right path. Perhaps that path will lead to the realization of your dream. At least you’ll be heading in the right direction, and can enjoy the journey.

Tip: If your goals include polishing a manuscript and becoming a better writer, consider getting professional feedback! See my critique rates and recommendations in the right-hand column, or e-mail me through my website.

To Novella or not to Novella? with Jessica Aspen

2011-11-09T05:00:00.004-07:00

I haven’t talked a lot about different length/formats on this blog, so I’m inviting a couple of guests to discuss their experiences. Today Jessica Aspen is here to talk about the novella form. One thing I found interesting – a novella can actually be longer than a middle grade novel! But if you’re used to writing 80,000 to 120,000 words for an adult genre novel, I guess a mere 40,000 words is short. And her advice about keeping a story moving is good for any length.

Here’s Jessica:

Writing a novella is something I never thought I would do. Why? Too short. And besides, I’ve never been a big short story fan. Oh I’ve read a few, and I love certain authors, but truly my heart lies with longer stories and complex plots. So why did I choose to write novellas and how did they snag my heart?

During the process of submitting and polishing and resubmitting my first manuscript, I hit a point where I was in-between projects. At the same time I saw a novella contest. This seemed like something I could try, and if it didn’t pan out, I would have a good start on a full length novel. Seemed like a win-win situation. So I took the plunge.

I knew next to nothing about writing short. The last time I’d actually finished a short story was in high school? College? I couldn’t even remember. But I knew that in order to make a romance bloom in less than 40,000 words the story arc would need to be strong and have few sub-plots.

In fact, novellas really shouldn’t have any sub-plots. At all. You can’t afford it in forty thousand words or less. At thirty-four thousand words Little Red Riding Wolf is stretching close to novel territory, believe it or not. So how to make a novella strong with few words and no sub-plots?

The key is to have strong characters and to set it up fast. The first chapter needs to show your hero, heroine, and initial conflicts and goals. More than any other fiction writing you want to jack up the tension with each page. No one wants a story that drags, but when you only have a short amount of pages, you need to pack in details like you cram extra sardines into a can. Keep your plot brief and your writing tight. But don’t leave out the details. That’s what makes your story yours and makes the readers demand more.

In challenging myself to write short, I found a secret. Writing short improved my writing. It forced me to hone my writing skills and acquire new ones in order to deliver a story that pops. Try something short and you'll find out for yourself how writing novellas can become more than a way to jump into the publishing business. They can become a labor of the heart.

Jessica Aspen writes paranormal romance near the foothills of the Colorado Rockies. Her books are full of elves, were-wolves and sexy men who walk on the dark side of the knife. Jessica loves dark chocolate, walking her dog, hiking and is obsessed with her new laptop. Jessica is also obsessed with writing and learning about writing. Her debut paranormal romance novella Little Red Riding Wolf is due to be released February 18th, 2012 from Passion in Print Press. Please visit Jessica at http://jessicaaspen.com where she blogs about writing, paranormal romance and anything that strikes her fancy.