Writing Tips

Dear Anne: #2 – You Are What You Read

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Dear Anne, Tennis players watch tennis on TV. Football players study tape of other teams. Musicians listen to the popular trends in music. Chefs watching cooking shows. Writers read. The point is that if you want to excel in anything, you not only have to devote yourself to practicing that thing, you must also study what others have done before you. It goes without saying that writers must spend an enormous time writing. I think the axiom is that you must write a million words before you actually start writing anything good. But in all of that writing, you must also balance reading. My books are mostly paranormal/supernatural, with some fantasy and modern urban elements. What I devour the most, however, is fantasy. I also have an appetite for horror. I’m not into teen paranormals. That’s why my books don’t read like teen paranormals. How I write has become a reflection of what I read. What you write will reflect what you read, too. So you should not just read any random thing. You need to be purposeful in your selections. I think I can break up the categories for you a little. First, you need to read the kinds of things you want to write. If you want to write fantasy, you should read lots and lots of fantasy. If scifi, then read lots of scifi. Get to know the quirks and intricacies of the specific genre you want to specialize in. Each genre is a little different (more on genres another time). So live in what you want to write. Become a part of that world. Learn who the great authors are and what makes them great. Maybe you’re interest is in fantasy, but you find that most fantasy books don’t fully resonate with you. Try something else. Try paranormal, scifi, horror…find what resonates, then read that. You might discover that your sweet spot in writing is a combination of elements, like I did. There are fantasy paranormals, fantasy romances, fantasy horrors, fantasy scifi…you name it, and there’s a “sub-genre” out there. When you find your sweet spot, devour it. Somewhere you’ll find an author that is a true reflection of the writer you want to be. When you find a specific author like that, read as much of them as you can. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and in the beginning your writing will take on the tones of the author you most admire, before you eventually develop your own style and voice. So pick good favorite authors. Don’t pick all classic authors, though. You’re a modern writer and you need a modern style. That was my problem when I was starting. I wrote like a combination of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Edgar Allen Poe. Nobody wanted to read my work until I updated my style. So I read lots of Peretti, Dekker, and good mix of independent writers you may have not heard of. My style changed, because it began to reflect elements of what I was reading. Second, you need to read both classic and contemporary. Writing styles have changed. It’s good to know and geek out about classics like The Hobbit or The Time Machine, but as great as those books are, the sad fact remains that they probably would not have been published today in their current forms. Writing style has changed. So you must also spend a lot of time reading new stories, new authors, new writing. Unfortunately, you may find that some of the new stuff pales in comparison to the classics…but that’s the way this animal called “publishing” works. More on that another time too. Twilight is certainly no Dracula and Eragon is certainly no Lord of the Rings. So it’s good to know the classics and the modern versions of your preferred genre. Study the classics for their story development and creativity. Study the moderns for stylistic construction. Third, you need to at least be familiar with what’s popular right now. You don’t always have to read everything that’s popular…I mean, I don’t. Some of the popular stuff is really bad writing and honestly not worth your time. But these things are popular for a reason. These stories resonate with readers, regardless of the poor quality of the writing. And before I begin to sound too cynical, let me clarify that not all popular writing is bad writing. Some of it is quite good. The point here is that you need to familiarize yourself with the kind of writing that readers are attracted to, with the focus being on learning how story elements resonate with readers. So know what’s popular, maybe read some of it, and try to understand what makes them popular. Things like If I Stay and The Fault in Our Stars resonate because they are honest about life. Twilight resonates because it paints a love story in a new and exciting way. I was trying to get my first book published when Twilight was most popular. So I read Twilight. I wanted to know why it resonated with readers. Readers are fickle though. What is popular right now may change by this time next year. Most people are over sparkly vampires now. So don’t obsess over what is popular. Don’t say, “Holy cow! Dystopian steampunk is really popular right now. I need to drop everything and write about air machines and the end of the world!” Relax. Next year paranormal martians may be popular. Just be aware of what’s going on, and if something really popular comes out that’s close to what you’re working on, it would probably do you good to take a closer look at it. So create a “to be read” pile and fill it with a great mix of books that you know will help you better understand what you want to write and how you want to get there. Go read something. And then go write something! -kn RETURN TO THE “DEAR ANNE” TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Dear Anne #1 – Love It

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Dear Anne, Being a writer is probably one of the single biggest joys a person can have in life. By being a writer you are being a creator. We were created to be in the image of God, and our God is the greatest creative force in the universe. That’s why humanity has this deep need to invent, brainstorm, write, sing, and do any number of creative things. That’s also why I believe writing comes closest to imitating our God than any other creative endeavor, because in writing you get to create entire worlds and races out of nothing but your imagination. And I think the more we strive to create grand and original things, the more God is pleased with us at our human attempts to reflect the very image of God built within us. What you do as a writer should come from the heart. It should come from the essence of what God created you to be. It should come as an outflow of the image of God inside of you. If writing comes from those places, then you’ll always find your joy and contentment in the way your creative process becomes an act of imitation and worship of God. You don’t have to always write “Christian” things…just write excellent things. Because God created you to be excellent. His creative power runs in your veins. Don’t just be happy about that…be excited about that. I tell you all of that because even though writing is one of the single most joyful things a person can do, it is also one of the single most frustrating, discouraging, and disappointing things you’ll ever experience. Sometimes the words don’t go down the way you envisioned. Sometimes you look back and realize just how bad you are at this. It has nothing to do with whether or not you really are bad at writing…all writers look at their stuff and groan, because it’s not always pretty. Sometimes what you write is very, very ugly. It’s okay for it to be ugly, but it’s also very frustrating. It takes a lot of hard work to turn ugly writing into beautiful writing. Doing that may be 90% of what a writer does. So think about that. Ninety percent of being a writer is having to deal with your own ugly and very bad writing, and working hard to force it into something beautiful to read. You will be frustrated. Even if you manage to make it something worth reading, there will always be people out there who just don’t like what you’ve done. Humans can be extremely critical, just because they feel like it gives them power. It’s very discouraging to hear someone, who hasn’t spent the hours upon hours toiling like you have, to come in, flex their critical muscles, and just tear you apart. You will be discouraged. Assuming the best of circumstances, quick publication, easy editing, favorable critics, you may release your baby into the world and…nothing happens. At least not very much. You may check your book sales or blog stats and find that a measly four people actually read what you slaved over. There’s hardly any money in it…it may never pay your bills. Everyone thinks they can be a writer now. Amazon will publish any drivel someone wants to upload. You have to work almost twice as hard at marketing than you ever did at writing. And people just don’t respect the profession like they used to…if it could even be called a “profession” any more. It’s probably more like a hobby to most people. But no matter how much you try not to get your hopes up about your writing career, you’ll get there and realize it’s not nearly as glamorous as you once thought. You will be disappointed. Last week I gave you some quick advice from some writer friends of mine. There was one author I pinged who has had books on the NY Times best seller list, and is one of the most successful writers I communicate with on occasions. He declined to give me advice for you because he has quit writing. In fact, he now works in retail just to pay the bills. Another rather well-known writer in the Christian market once told me that writing is now the “wild wild west.” He said that he knew a lot of fellow writers who were either quitting or were being dropped by their publishers. Feeling a little discouraged yet? Good. You need to. Because if you don’t decide right now that you’re going to love writing for the sake of writing and not for some ambition to be a famous writer, then you’ll most likely burn-out and quit. You need to love the craft and the art. You need to love telling stories. You need to love creating something from scratch. You need to love presenting your work to God as a good steward of your talents and your imagination. If you don’t love those things, then the other stuff will get in the way and ruin it. When you feel frustrated, you can keep going because you love it. When you feel discouraged, you can keep your chin up because you love it. When you feel disappointed, you can push through because you love it. Ultimately your happiness and joy as a writer comes from your love for writing, not from your success. Don’t hang your identity as a writer on whether or not you become famous, you become rich, or anything like that. If that happens…and there’s always a chance that it could…awesome. I’ll be first in line for your book tour. But if you don’t love writing for the sake of writing, it will stop being fun. Forget the other stuff. Just learn to have fun as a writer. Love it for all its worth and you’ll be just fine. -kn RETURN TO THE “DEAR ANNE” TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Dear Anne: An Introduction

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Have you ever had friends for so long and did so much together that your children all call the other parents aunt and uncle even though they are not really? That’s who Anne is. She’s my niece that’s not really my niece. But we were there before she was born. Her father sang at my wedding. Anne is now 15 (as of 2016). She’s the oldest of all the children from both families, the next two being 12 going on 13. Anne has not only fallen in love with the wonderful world of books, but she’s beginning to understand that human creativity is not limited to those worlds created by other people. She’s beginning to have ideas of her own and is writing them down. It’s the beginning of becoming a writer…a moment every writer remembers. I began to write much younger, actually. I was 11 when I first started…fan fiction based on a the old NES video game Dragon Warrior. I spent the next few years piddling around with ideas, writing short stories that never really went anywhere. In high school, I began to write more seriously. I wrote several short stories and a good deal on my first novel. Those writings have never been released to the public, but that novel is on the list of future projects I’d like to revisit. I took a break from writing in college, but picked it up again afterward…writing my first real novel. That too has not been publicly released, but is on deck as needing to be rewritten and released as soon as my currently published series is completed. My first published book came after I spent much time and effort trying to get that doomed “practice novel” published. After I wrote that second book, I again became frustrated trying to get it published. There was an underlying problem with both of those books that I didn’t understand. The problem was simply that I didn’t know anything about real writing. No one ever taught me. No one guided me. I never read a book on writing. I just liked it and I did it. I tried to copy some of the authors I enjoyed most, but I had no concept of modern style or personal voice. It wasn’t until the 11th hour trying to get that second book published that I finally convinced someone to point blank tell me what was wrong with my writing. And they did. I was able to fix the problems and it was finally published. All that to say this…my niece Anne is in a similar situation at the beginning of her writing journey. She wants to write, but she knows very little about it. But unlike when I was getting started, I can be there to help guide her through it all. Anne has asked me to mentor her. It is somewhat fortuitous that she did, because lately I’ve been thinking about my early experiences and that I’m now in a position where I can help and mentor young writers who desperately need it like I did. Hopefully, as I help Anne, I can help others. I’m going to be posting blogs on my website, starting with the very basics all the way to publication, about the writing process. My audience…Anne. Each blog will be in the form of personal instruction directly to her. She’ll read each post and we’ll talk about it privately as she works through her own projects. But I want these blogs public so that other young writers might also take advantage. If there are any other teens that want to be mentored, I’ll do my best to help guide you too. Maybe there are some other authors out there like myself that want to help. Just let me know. I have plenty to write about and a long way to go. I’ve compiled about 60 topics so far, and if I write on one of these each week, it’ll take me over a year to get them all! So, without any further introduction, let’s get started! Dear Anne, I pinged several of my author friends and asked them for some advice. I asked specifically for one piece of craft advice and one piece of practical advice that they might give to a 15 year old that knew nothing about writing. Most of these things I’ll cover later in full blogs, but the advice is important enough that these writers believed them to be the most important things for you to know now. In fact, you’ll notice that several of them repeat similar things. Take these pieces of advice and digest them, until we get to talk about each in more detail. Message me if you have questions. Kat Heckenbach, author of Finding Angel and Seeking Unseen, and one of my editors says: “Read the genre you want to write. A lot. Get to know what’s already out there, so you’re not writing a book that’s already written. At the same time, remember that EVERY book is different. You are going to be inspired by other authors’ ideas. You may find that someone has used almost the very same idea you have come up with as an element in your story, but don’t let that stop you from using your idea in your unique way. Practical advice: Every professional has their own opinion about how a novel should be written. Some say outline, some say don’t. Some push minimum words counts, writing early in the day, working in the same spot every time, whatever. You need to find what works for you. Maybe structuring your day and writing the same number of words each time works, or maybe you need to go days or weeks without writing and slam thousands of words out at once. No one way is “right.”” Morgan Busse, author of Daughter of Light (Follower of the Word series), Tainted, and Mark of the Raven says: “I would advise that if you are serious about writing to get into

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I am a production company…

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The writing industry is changing every day, and many people aren’t sure what to do next. The waves of change are beating upon us and no one knows which way is up. But I think I’ve figured out how to better orient ourselves, and I challenge authors and publishers to consider this and to get on board with this new way of thinking. I, for one, am ready to make the change. It begins with the music and movie industries. I’ve made the parallel between the music and movie industries and the future of the writing industry before. But I’ve been thinking a little more practically about such things recently, and I’ve decided that in light of the obvious parallel’s there’s something we’ve been missing in our approach to the writing industry.

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Story Art: Teaching Young Kids How to Tell Stories

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The other day I needed a home school project for my kids, and being a writer I wanted to do something story related. But my children, and probably most younger children, have difficulty grasping the concept of organizing a story. They do, however, enjoy doodling. So I stumbled upon a very simple way to teach them how to organize and tell a story, which uses kid doodling in a sort of comic book way I call it Story Art. Here’s how.

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The future of indie writing…

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I’ve been drawing the comparison between the music industry and the writing industry for years. In fact, I even blogged about it earlier this year. Recently, I’ve also been watching a little of the movie industry for trends. It has been my observation that the writing industry is about 2-5 years behind the music industry in its development, and now I think I can also say that the music industry is likewise 2-5 years behind the movie industry. What does that mean? It means if one wants to gaze into the future of the writing industry, one need only study the trends of the music and movie industries. I recently ran across an article discussing the difficulties of indie music artists of breaking through the glass-ceiling into big industry presence. This has been a hot button topic among indie writers lately, what the relationship to indie publishers and self-publishing really is, and how will all of this play out in the shadow of the larger mega publishers. I think this article can shed some light on where the writing industry is headed. Read the original article here (opens a new window so you can come back) – http://futureofmusic.org/blog/2013/02/15/can-indie-artist-break-through-glass-ceiling I know some writers out there who are not familiar with the music industry lingo may find this article quite foreign and not really grasp what it’s talking about. Allow me to explain.

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Story Building Mastery 10 – Advanced Complexities

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Advanced Complexities RETURN TO THE MENU ARTICLE So, you’ve made it this far, huh? You’ve taken all the basics of story building (The Tri-Core Substructure, the Five Act Structure, Genre, Genotype, Character Development), you’ve carefully designed your story (Five Stage Plot, The Hero’s Journey, Micro Stories, Episodic Reduction), but that’s not enough for you. You want some tricks and tools to make your story unique…to make it stand out. Most importantly, you don’t really want your reader to figure out what you’re up to. You want to grab the reader by the nose, lead them through your complex, masterful, story weaving, and deliver a climax that will leave them breathless. You want your story to be unforgettable. Welcome to the club. Here are a few common tricks and tools you can use to twist your story exactly the way you want. You’ve probably thought of a few of these things, but for the best effect you should make sure they are implemented properly. Each item has some peculiarities you should remember, otherwise your efforts may fall flat or go unnoticed by the reader.

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Story Building Mastery 9 – Episodic Reduction

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Episodic Reduction RETURN TO MENU ARTICLE If you read the previous article on Micro Stories, then grasping the concept of Episodic Reduction should be very simple. It also helps to remember the Five Stage Plot, though not necessarily required. What is Episodic Reduction? It is the reduction of the overall plot into self-contained episodes. Each episode becomes essentially a micro story, exhibiting the various sections of story development common to an entire story. In other words, each episode has exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement, per the Five Act Structure. But, the resolution of each episode should lead directly into the next episode. Episodes should build on each other and often reflect the Five Stage Plot that I mentioned above. Yet at the same time, each episode builds upon the overarching plot. Let’s outline this a bit to better explain, using the Five Stage Plot as a template.

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Story Building Mastery 8 – Micro Stories

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Micro Stories RETURN TO MENU ARTICLE What is a micro story? It’s a story within the story. This is more common with epics than it is with smaller, self-contained stories, but can still be used effectively when done right. The first and most important point in considering putting this into your story, is that micro stories must always work for the greater story. That is why this is so high up on the complexity list, because the foundational story must be firmly established. Each micro story should reflect or add to the foundational story, otherwise it just becomes a spin-off (self-contained unrelated stories grown out of the original). You don’t want spin-off stories, because they detract and distract from the point of the foundational story. Let micro stories work together to create a weaved tale with one common end goal. There are two major types of micro stories. POV stories and story-arcs. Some writers may equivocate the two into one definition, preferring to call them all “story-arcs.” But I think there’s an important distinction to be made.

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Story Building Mastery 7 – The Hero’s Journey

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The Hero’s Journey RETURN TO MENU ARTICLE The Hero’s Journey, or Monomyth, is a basic pattern for recognizing the major developments in the journey of the main character. It seems that almost every story ever told, from antiquity to modern day, follows this pattern with probably up to 90% completion of every step listed. For the writer who properly understand the hero’s journey, they will develop the ability to predict with reasonable accuracy the outcome of most stories and will have the tools necessary to develop compelling and exciting plots. The rebels out there are screaming, “Not me! You can’t put me in a box!” Don’t be that way. You’re going to write a bad story. This is not a set of rules, per se. It is an observation over time of how stories work, just like the Law of Gravity came about by the observation of something that naturally existed. The reason the hero’s journey is so prevalent in so many stories is because it is simply the story of life. The ups and downs of life, the dreams and fears, the expectations and goals, the adventurous and romantic spirits…these are things that are part of our lives. It shapes us, our families, our ambitions, our careers, our hobbies. And what so many writers over the ages have done is simply to try to record life. Although often glorified or romanticized, these stories resonate because we want to put ourselves into them, to live them out and take the experiences of the hero as our own. We see ourselves in the hero. We recognize our faults, failures, and successes in those pages. A good story is a reflection of life. That is why a good story can almost always be described in terms of the hero’s journey, whether the writer intended it to or not. Because a good writer wants to write good stories. Good stories are about life, and the hero’s journey is  life. Joseph Campbell is recognized for his work in developing seventeen major steps for proper development of the hero’s journey. For those who enjoy the deeper methods of how stories are developed, I’ll include Campbell’s steps alongside my own. But I’ve found that a condensed ten step process is easier to handle while plotting and outlining fiction. Please note that as you begin to use this to analyze your own or some other writer’s stories, that the steps may not appear in the story in any particular order. They might not even all be included. But most stories will have at least eight or nine of these ten steps. On the other hand, keep on the look out for variations of the steps used with multiple characters or even villains and anti-heroes. Genres also make a difference in how it unfolds. A comedy might utilize these steps differently than a tragedy. Here are my ten steps of the hero’s journey, with the Campbell equivalents notated with each.

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