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“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison

I’ve always loved Morrison’s saying. The idea that everyone has the potential to write his or her own favorite book is an appealing one, and it’s natural that writers will want to write the kind of books they like to read. But it’s not always as simple as that. What if you enjoy reading about courtroom dramas, and you’re not a lawyer or a judge? What if you love the idea of creating layers to your novel by using architecture, but you’re not an architect?

How do you write the book you want to read if you’re not an expert in the field? Here are a few tricks I learned while writing my debut novel, THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES:

Column by Sally Hepworth. A graduate of Monash University, Melbourne,
Australia, Sally started writing novels after the birth of her first child. She has
lived around the world, spending extended periods in Singapore, the U.K.,
and Canada, and she now writes full-time from her home in Melbourne,
where she lives with her husband and two young children. Her debut US
novel is THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES (St. Martin’s, Feb. 2015), a novel
about three generations of midwives that author Liane Moriarty described
as “women’s fiction at its finest.” Connect with Sally on Twitter.

1) Start by making a list of ALL the elements in the book you want to read

The book you want to read is more than just ‘courtroom drama’ or ‘architecture’ or ‘midwives’. While planning your novel, think about all the things that excite you when you read. Do you like a bit of romance? Some mystery? An unforeseen plot twist? (Remember: It’s okay to have more than one of these in your novel, in fact, it’s a good idea). Look at your favorite books and see what they have in common. Ask yourself: what drives the plot in the books I like to read?

Once you have your answers, make a list.

It will look something like this:
–    Mystery
–    Menace
–    High stakes – death?
–    Romance

This list will become your roadmap to writing the book you want to read. And once you have your roadmap…

2) If you are not an expert in your chosen topic, read widely

The best way to sound like you know what you’re talking about is to know what you’re talking about. In preparation for writing your novel, read as widely as you can about your topic—fiction and non-fiction—until the terminology and practices become second nature. As you read, keep your list (point 1) at the forefront of your mind, making notes of how you can incorporate what you’ve learned to create mystery and menace, heighten the stakes, and test the romances you’ve created.

(When can you finally call yourself a writer?)

3) Enlist an expert

Books are a wonderful start when researching a topic, but nothing will ever beat a flesh and blood expert. If you already know that person, wonderful. If not, don’t panic. I’ve found that when I tell people I am writing a novel, they are generally happy to answer my questions as long as I am respectful of their time. I always follow up with a small gift or note of thanks (particularly important if you want to ask them again.)

4) Stop talking to your experts

When it’s time to start the actual writing, focus on the story. If you’ve immersed yourself in enough research you’ll be surprised by how much knowledge you’ll bring to the page. Now is not the time to double-check the type of gasoline your protagonist’s car would take or what kind of plants would grow in the garden at this time of year. Write the scene as best as you can and mark areas with an X that need to be followed up on or fact-checked. And remember, when it comes down to it, you’re writing a novel not a text-book. Readers will forgive you for making a few mistakes if your novel is gripping enough.

5) Don’t lose sight of what your book is really about

Sometimes, in an attempt to jam everything on your list into your book, your plot can start to feel random. But the book you want to read should be bigger than its topic, or the sum of its plot points. The theme is what your book is really about…in effect, it is the glue that holds your novel together. Sometimes the theme presents itself right away, and other times you don’t see it until the second or third draft. Regardless of timing, when your theme emerges, grab it and use it to add meaning and layers to your plot. And when your plot is more than what happens next, guess what? You have a novel. Maybe even a great one. Maybe even the book you want to read.

(Should You Sign With a New Literary Agent? Know the Pros and Cons)

This guest column is a supplement to the
“Breaking In” (debut authors) feature of this author
in Writer’s Digest magazine. Are you a subscriber
yet? If not, get a discounted one-year sub here.

I (Chuck) Will Instruct At These Great Writing Events Soon:

• Oct. 24, 2014: Atlanta Writers Fall Conference (Atlanta, GA)
• Feb. 6, 2015: Kentucky Writers Conference (Louisville, KY)
• Feb. 7, 2015: Tennessee Writers Conference (Nashville, KY)
• Feb. 20, 2015: Portland Writing Workshop (Portland, OR)
• Feb. 21, 2015: Seattle Writers Workshop (Seattle, WA)
• March 27-28, 2015: Chesapeake Writing Conferences (Baltimore and DC)
• April 17-18, 2015: Carolina Writing Workshop Conferences (Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC)
• May 15, 2015: Milwaukee Writers Conference (Milwaukee, WI)
• May 16, 2015: Chicago Writers Workshop (Chicago, IL)
• June 25-28, 2015: Jackson Hole Writers Conference (Jackson Hole, WY)
• July 31- Aug. 2, 2015: Writer’s Digest Conference East (New York, NY)
• October 2015: Books by the Banks Book Festival (Cincinnati, OH)

Your new complete and updated instructional guide
to finding an agent is finally here: The 2015 book
GET A LITERARY AGENT shares advice from more
than 110 literary agents who share advice on querying,
craft, the submission process, researching agents, and
much more. Filled with all the advice you’ll ever need to
find an agent, this resource makes a great partner book to
the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.

I’ve been selling books for more than fifteen years and learning to write novels even longer. Of all the author readings and Q&A sessions I’ve hosted (and attended), one of the most common questions among beginning writers, even curious readers, is this: Do you start with an outline?

You’ve heard the pros and cons. An outline helps organize your thoughts and prevents you from spinning your wheels and traveling down dead-end storylines. The flipside, of course, is that constructing an outline boxes you in and limits the possibility of discovery, which is the most creative and rewarding part of writing.

Column by Jamie Kornegay, author of SOIL, to be released March 10,
2015, from Simon & Schuster. The book, a combination of literary suspense
and Southern gothic, was called “gripping” and “haunting” by Kirkus Reviews.
He lives in the Mississippi Delta, where he runs an independent bookstore,
Turnrow Book Co. Connect with him on Twitter — @JamieKornegay.

First, it’s important to note that there are no ironclad rules to novel writing. Every writer works differently and stumbles upon his or her preferred method through trial and error. The novel, rather than writing advisers, should tell you what it needs.

The traditional term paper outline, with its Roman numerals and letters, is helpful to organize a finite amount of information, but a novel is more amorphous. I couldn’t begin to collect a novel’s potential in an outline, though I certainly understand the impulse. There’s something terrifying about the blank page and its stark white emptiness. What could you put there that anyone would want to read?

It’s only natural that a writer would wish to escape such a daunting task. If an outline is a way to get the paper dirty, then go for it. Just remember that those first scratchings are exploration. Don’t lock yourself into a story that you haven’t discovered through hard work. The wheel-spinning and dead ends and wasted time are part of discovering what your book is about, and if you bypass that, you’re opting for ease and convenience over depth of storytelling. Nothing worthwhile comes easy.

After the spark of an idea, the fuel for your story is character. If you don’t yet know the character as intimately as you know your best friends, then how can you decide what that character will do when matched with the conflicts of the novel?

While imagining your characters, you will naturally develop scenes and storylines and bits of history. Once these begin to accumulate, then you have something to attach to an outline. For me, an outline is an expression of the novel’s structure, which gradually reveals itself, like hacking a totem out of simple log.

My first published novel, Soil, began like many other books – with a single image. I was driving past flooded farmland and saw a stump sticking out of the muck. For a fleeting moment, I thought it was a corpse. What if it had been? That would be a nightmare to deal with. I began to imagine a landowner happening upon the body, growing scared and paranoid.  He might worry about becoming a suspect. What if he didn’t tell anyone, just got rid of it? How would he cover it up completely, taking every precaution so that no trace of it would be discovered? This kind of morbid daydreaming is the stuff of novels.

I reasoned out creative answers to my own tough questions. I slowly began to understand the main character, his motivations and obsessions. I wrote wasted pages and dead ends galore. Eventually I found the right path. I could feel the story gaining traction as new characters arrived and ideas poured forth. It was time to make the outline.

I kept my outline informal, intuitive. I used the outline almost like flypaper to trap scenes and ideas that were coming quicker than words, as my characters were finally alive and could make their own decisions about the story.

The outline helped me negotiate the tricky framework of Soil, which is told somewhat out of sequence. It’s one of my favorite aspects of the book. The structure came out of a desire to maintain that initial sense of mystery I felt after discovering the “body” in the field, all the hows and whys and the slow discovery of my characters’ secrets and motivations.

The novel is divided into five sections comprised of several chapters each. Each section opens with a strange, hopefully compelling episode, and then goes back in time to reveal how the characters reached this point. I thought this looping effect generated a nice suspense, and it also informed the deeper themes of Soil, specifically the cycles of nature and our inevitable return to the earth. If I did my job right, then the complicated structure should not present a stumbling block to the reader. It took careful planning, and my own specially designed outline.

The book I’m currently working on has a linear structure, told over the course of a week. Each chapter is a day, and understanding that from the outset allows me to work out of sequence easily, depending of what inspiration strikes me or what I find during my day-to-day life to steal and apply to the novel.

Just remember that an outline shouldn’t decide the story, your characters do that. An outline is where you string up the pieces to see the big picture and make your novel is a coherent whole.

This guest column is a supplement to the
“Breaking In” (debut authors) feature of this author
in Writer’s Digest magazine. Are you a subscriber
yet? If not, get a discounted one-year sub here.

Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:

• Ask Not What Your Readers Can Do For You.
• 3 Good Things About Disturbing Fiction.
• Happily Ever After: Romances Aren’t Meant To Be Reality TV.
• Agent Spotlight: Cate Hart (Corvisiero Literary Agency) seeks YA, MG, Romance and select Erotica and LGBT.
• Follow Chuck Sambuchino on Twitter or find him on Facebook. Learn all about his writing guides on how to get published, how to find a literary agent, and writing a query letter.

Your new complete and updated instructional guide
to finding an agent is finally here: The 2015 book
GET A LITERARY AGENT shares advice from more
than 110 literary agents who share advice on querying,
craft, the submission process, researching agents, and
much more. Filled with all the advice you’ll ever need to
find an agent, this resource makes a great partner book to
the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.

There is nothing that jolts a reader out of a sense of place and time more effectively than using a modern voice for a Victorian heroine, no matter how richly detailed the description of her gorgeous crinoline and pantalets.  “I need my own space,” certainly informs the reader that your heroine is upset, so upset she must be alone.  But any young woman from the 1800s was more likely to murmur: “I have some letters to write.” And before her startled beau has a chance to respond, has left the room back rigid with outrage.  Authenticity enhances atmosphere and keeps the reader in the world you have created for them. Otherwise you are writing a costume drama set in 21st century America. Here are five ways to take your readers back in time and keep them there…

GIVEAWAY: Tessa is excited to give away a free copy of her novel to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before. (Please note that comments may take a little while to appear; this is normal).

Column by Tessa Arlen, the daughter of a British diplomat, who lived
in or visited her parents in Singapore, Cairo, Berlin, the Persian Gulf,
Beijing, Delhi and Warsaw by the time she was sixteen. She lives in
Washington. She now lives in Washington, DC. Her first novel is
DEATH OF A DISHONORABLE GENTLEMAN (Minotaur, Jan. 2015),
which Publishers Weekly described as “Lively… Mystery fans eager for
yet another look at the quasi-feudal system that prevailed in England before
WWI will be most rewarded.” Library Journal said “Readers of this debut
set in Edwardian England will feel as though they’ve stepped into an
episode of Downton Abbey, complete with murder and intrigue
upstairs and downstairs.” Connect with Tessa on Twitter.

1. A passion for the period. Become familiar with the time you are writing about: eat, sleep and breathe it. What time in history is popular for fiction?  It doesn’t matter. There are thousands of historical novels about the Tudor period, but there is always room for one more if you are prepared to dig to find other perspectives on Henry VIII’s reign – other than his interminable love-life and his tendency to execute wives that disappointed. Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies are a testament not only to her diligent, painstaking research but to her decision to reverse our perceptions of two of the Tudor court of Henry VIII’s bad-boys: Thomas Cromwell and Cardinal Wolsey. She made them sympathetic, loyal men who struggled to do their best for their monarch in trying times, while keeping the events that took place contextually accurate. Mantel created an entirely new perspective on a well-used period in history.

(What are the BEST writers’ conferences to attend?)

2. Complete Immersion is the name of the game. When you are compiling your reading list for research add several works of fiction contemporary to the time you are writing about. This will help you tune in to the way people expressed themselves and what they were interested in.  If possible listen to music that was played at this time, read the plays that were performed and find out about the period’s pastimes and hobbies.  English Victorians for example loved to play parlor games that were often rowdy and boisterous with names like Clumps and Dumb Crambo! The politics of the age are a huge indicator as to what was going on in the world you want to your reader to experience. Find out what people ate according to their station in life.   Nothing makes mediaeval history come alive more vividly than describing a feast in sumptuous detail:  “They feasted on roasted swans, geese, heron and quail. A peacock was cooked and then reassembled in its feathers. There were meat pies and fish tarts, and thick soups of Egerdouce and Bukkeanade.”  From Aliki’s Mediaeval Feast. Far more exotic than another description of the dress your heroine wore to the banquet! Collect photographs and prints of the time period, the houses they lived in, the clothes they wore and have them around you as you plan your story.

3. Homework before play. No matter how intriguing the plot you are cooking up and you can’t wait to tell this wonderful story, do your research before you start writing. Once you are a master of your subject you are less likely to commit horrendous mistakes like inadvertently describe someone happily pedaling their bicycle down a lane in 1830. Not everyone will know that you mistakenly invented the peddle-bicycle in 1830 instead of 1869 – but those who do will be infuriated and they might write a review in Goodreads telling everyone that your knowledge of the 1830s is sketchy! It took me days to find out how fast a motor car could go in 1912, and I am sure no one really cared that the top speed for a two-seater Bugatti was 60 mph, but I cared and it kept me on point.  Accurate research is a habit.

4. On writing Brit-speak. If you are writing about English history subscribe to the Oxford English Dictionary on-line and you will be able to check the first usage of a word and whether it is of N. American origin or English or Scots. So much less in keeping to say:  “He landed his Farman airplane on a grassy field, four miles outside of Oxford.” When the English referred to these contraptions as aeroplanes in 1912.  Or: “He ran up the steps to the stoop of a London row-house.” Rather than: “He ran up the steps to the portico of a terraced house in London.” And be aware that in Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales they use the same basic vocabulary but often use different colloquialisms. If you are writing about the British aristocracy two very useful books to have in your library are Burke’s Peerage and Debrett’s. This way you can research the ranks of the aristocracy for accuracy when creating your upper-crust characters and not call a baron: Sir Esmond.

(9 Tips on How to Write a Query Letter)

5. Real people. A wonderful way to keep your time period authentic is to include both historical and imagined people, places and events without informing the reader which is real. Try including a historical figure if he or she was involved in whatever kind of situation or political movement the novel is about. This will help create a strong sense of time and place and allow the reader to see the issues that were relevant to the time you are writing about. If you have several historical figures you can give each of them a brief bio at the back of your novel under Historical Notes.

Beware! Historical research is addictive! In the years it took me to research and write the first book in my Lady Montfort historical mystery series: DEATH OF A DISHONORABLE GENTLEMAN, I began to find the other-world of the early 1900s a far more attractive place than the one we inhabit today. But that is the delight of writing historical fiction.

GIVEAWAY: Tessa is excited to give away a free copy of her novel to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before. (Please note that comments may take a little while to appear; this is normal).

This guest column is a supplement to the
“Breaking In” (debut authors) feature of this author
in Writer’s Digest magazine. Are you a subscriber
yet? If not, get a discounted one-year sub here.

Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:

• How I Got My Literary Agent: Steve Weddle (Literary Fiction).
• Between Acceptance and Print: What Happens After You Sell Your Book.
• Agent Spotlight: Katie Reed (Andrea Hurst & Associates) seeks YA, Fiction and Nonfiction.
• Successful Queries: Agent Adriann Ranta and “Not A Drop To Drink.”
• Follow Chuck Sambuchino on Twitter or find him on Facebook. Learn all about his writing guides on how to get published, how to find a literary agent, and writing a query letter.

Your new complete and updated instructional guide
to finding an agent is finally here: The 2015 book
GET A LITERARY AGENT shares advice from more
than 110 literary agents who share advice on querying,
craft, the submission process, researching agents, and
much more. Filled with all the advice you’ll ever need to
find an agent, this resource makes a great partner book to
the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.

How many emotions do you experience in a week? A month? If someone told your story, what emotions would they put on the page? Think about your lowest moment and your best experience. I know it’s scary, but if you want your stories to have power, you have to be willing to be vulnerable. You have to be willing to translate your emotions and experiences into ink and paper.

Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” This is true for life and fiction. Emotion is what will carry your story to the end and leave your readers with a lasting impression. If you can make someone laugh, cry, or ache, you have done your job as a novelist. You have made them feel.

*                                

Column by Brandy Vallance, author of the acclaimed historical inspirational debut
THE COVERED DEEP (Worthy, Oct. 2014). Brandy fell in love with the Victorian time
period at a young age, loving the customs, manners, and especially the intricate rules
of love. Since time travel is theoretically impossible, she lives in the nineteenth century
vicariously through her novels. Unaccountable amounts of black tea have fueled this
ambition. Brandy’s love of tea can only be paralleled by her love of Masterpiece
Theater Classics, deep conversations, and a good book. Brandy is the 2013
Operation First Novel winner and the 2012 winner of the ACFW Genesis Contest
for historical romance. Find Brandy on Twitter and Facebook.

Suspense author Brandilyn Collins says, “You should never apologize for human emotion.” I think as writers sometimes we’re afraid to let people know that we feel as deeply as we do. We’re tempted to write half-truths in the fear of being judged. But you have to decide what kind of writer you’re going to be. If you truly want to write fiction that is unforgettable, you have to be willing to go deep.

Think of your favorite novels. Why do you love them? Did they portray real, raw, deep emotion? It wasn’t until I embraced this that I began to succeed as a novelist. My critique group partners started saying my scenes made them laugh or cry. Shortly after, I began placing in writing contests.

(Definitions of unusual literary terms & jargon you need to know.)

As you’re writing, remember that to be human is to feel. So get all that on the page—all that anger, hope, passion, love, rage, despair, anxiety, and shame. Go toward the subjects that scare you. As Ernest Hemingway said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed.”

If a scene I write doesn’t make me feel, then I know I need to work harder, go deeper, explore more. My particular rule for writing—If it doesn’t scare me, there’s no power. When what you’re writing scares you, it’s usually a sign that you’re being real. When you start to worry about what others will think, that is the writing that will affect people the most. The only way to achieve that is by going to your most vulnerable places.

As most of you know, there is courage needed to finish a book. Sometimes you have to get up early just to write. Sometimes you stay up late. Months go by and people question what you’re doing. This, in and of itself, is a place of vulnerability. You wonder if all the hours you’re pouring into your book will come to anything.

But then, there comes a point when you can’t live without the writing. You look up at the clock and the hours don’t matter anymore. A smile comes when you get a phrase just right. You start to dream your story. It, and its characters come alive. The story is part of you now. You breath it and it breathes you. You begin to believe that someday it will make a difference. Amidst a feeling of unparalleled euphoria, you finally type THE END.

Now comes the scariest part of all, and a step that requires a great deal of courage. You know your story is good. You’ve laughed, you’ve cried . . . In other words, you’ve been vulnerable, your writing has made you feel, and it will do the same for others. You’re going to put your story out into the world and believe that something will happen. You know there’s a chance you’ll get rejected, but hey, you’ve read accounts of how all the greats went through that too. And now, since you went through all those dark hours that required vulnerability and courage, your finger hovers over the send button and you know that you can. So you press it. You feel all happy and light, but then in about 2.5 seconds you’re kind of terrified. And then you have to go gather your courage again.

(Classifying Your Book: How to Research & Target Literary Agents.)

But, this is what we do. We’re the brave ones. By writing fiction, we are vulnerable. We tell stories, and that is no small thing. If you’re on the fence about writing something or submitting, just employ that thing you’re so good at already—courage and vulnerability. Here’s a secret: I almost didn’t enter Operation First Novel, but at the last minute, I hit send.

Yes, being vulnerable is hard. But, it’s the only way to succeed as a writer and have a powerful story. You can do this. Go change the world.

This guest column is a supplement to the
“Breaking In” (debut authors) feature of this author
in Writer’s Digest magazine. Are you a subscriber
yet? If not, get a discounted one-year sub here.

Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:

• Having trouble balancing life as a writer, wife & mother? Grab some tips.
• Meet two new agents who are seeking picture books, middle grade and young adult.
• How to Write Historical Fiction: 7 Tips on Accuracy & Authenticity.
• Read a Successful Young Adult Query that Worked.
• Ever wonder what that one word meant? Literary Terms Defined.
• Need writing ideas & inspiration?: Check your daily newspaper.
• Follow Chuck Sambuchino on Twitter or find him on Facebook. Learn all about his writing guides on how to get published, how to find a literary agent, and writing a query letter.

Want to build your visibility and sell more books?
Create Your Writer Platform shows you how to
promote yourself and your books through social
media, public speaking, article writing, branding,
and more. Order the book from WD at a discount.

The first revision is probably the most important factor in sculpting your novel. One of my favorite quotes to express this idea is by Shannon Hale who wrote: “I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” The first revision is the building of those sand castles. There are numerous tips to a successful rewrite, but I’ve found three that I’ve put at the top of my list to make my novel better.

Conflict check.

On my rewrite, I first do a conflict check. Kurt Vonnegut once wrote that every character in a scene should want something, even if it’s only a drink of water. On my first draft, I will usually focus on the main plot point of the scene. In doing so, I miss opportunities to add tension, great and small, to a chapter. On the rewrite, I ask myself: what does every character in that scene want, and what obstacles are standing in his or her way.

(Classifying Your Book: How to Research & Target Literary Agents.)

                        —       —

Column by Allen Eskens, author of THE LIFE WE BURY (Seventh Street Books Oct.
2014), a debut thriller that Publishers Weekly called a “masterful debut” in a starred
review. Allen has been a criminal defense attorney for twenty years. He honed his
creative writing skills through the MFA program at Minnesota State University as well
as classes at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and the Loft Literary Center in
Minneapolis. He is a member of the Twin Cities Sisters in Crime. Find him on Twitter.

I have an equation taped to my computer; it reads: “The greater the want + the greater the obstacle = greater conflict. Conflict = suspense.”

Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty. Readers have a need to resolve that uncertainty and will forge ahead to find resolution. Adding more tension and conflict creates page-turning prose. Rarely does my first draft take advantage of all of the opportunities for tension and conflict.

Transitions.

Another aspect of a first draft that I skimp on is my transition from one scene to another. In the haste to get the first draft on paper, I tend to jump abruptly from one plot point to the next. During the rewrite, I remind myself that transition paragraphs need to do more than move the reader from plot point to plot point. They should be eloquent and have a weight of their own.

Reading a novel is like kayaking down a river. Sometimes you shoot through rapids, bound up in the excitement of the action. Other times you float along admiring the beauty of the hills and wildlife. The pace of a novel is the balance between those two competing forces (between plot and scene). As I revise, I ask myself, do I want this paragraph to float through the valley or dive over rapids? If I am floating, I spend time on it, maybe go off on a tangent that deepens the character or enriches the scene. If I am heading for rapids, my focus should be on a shorter transition.

This is an opportunity to show your writing skill. The transition doesn’t have to be long, but it should be fresh. Take for example, the opening line from chapter four of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. She writes, “At seven the next morning the telephone rang. Slowly I swam up from the bottom of a black sleep.” A simple transition, beautifully written. In a first draft she might have written: “the phone woke me up at seven the next morning.” The small addition of “I swam up from the bottom of a black sleep” turns it from a standard transition to something enjoyable to read.

(Headed to a conference? Learn how to approach an agent.)

The “was” edit.

The third thing I include in my first revision is what I call my “was” edit. I use my word-find function to locate every time I used the word “was.” On my first draft, I tend to be lazy and describe things using “was.” “He was taller than me.” “She was standing on the porch, waiting for him.” These are passive voice, and they violate the “show, don’t tell” rule. But in the haste of the first draft, I will type “was” and move on.

In the rewrite, I revisit each time I use the word “was” and ask myself if there’s a better way to write the sentence. It could be as simple as changing “he was taller than me” to “he stood three inches taller than me.” Or it could be more elaborate, like changing “She was standing on the porch, waiting for him” to “She found herself pacing back and forth across the same porch planks that her mother walked thirty years earlier, waiting for a man to return from the war.” I could go even further and write a tangent about the mother that gives the reader insight into the daughter’s character. But, then again, sometimes “was” fits just right and no change is needed. At least by doing a “was” edit, I’ve forced myself to examine my choice.

There are so many other considerations to a first revision, and every writer should have their own method, but these three tips have helped me in my writing.

This guest column is a supplement to the
“Breaking In” (debut authors) feature of this author
in Writer’s Digest magazine. Are you a subscriber
yet? If not, get a discounted one-year sub here.

Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:

• 5 Tips For Writing a First Draft.
• Agent Kaylee Davis (Dee Mura Lit) seeks clients.
• Writing inspirational or self-help? See a success story here.
• “What Would Aaron Sorkin Do?”  
• Author Julie Kibler Explains How She Found Her Agent, Elisabeth Weed.
• Sell More Books by Building Your Writer Platform.
• Follow Chuck Sambuchino on Twitter or find him on Facebook. Learn all about his writing guides on how to get published, how to find a literary agent, and how to write a query letter.

Want to build your visibility and sell more books?
Create Your Writer Platform shows you how to
promote yourself and your books through social
media, public speaking, article writing, branding,
and more. Order the book from WD at a discount.

“Rising from a winter’s sleep / Coming right up from the deep / Shallow pleasures beckon me/ Here’s my new life set me free.”

– “Come On Spring” by Kim Salmon

You’ve written a book. You know what it is to work with the elements, to muster something slippery and intangible into something with form. Likely, you’ve sweated on it and dreamt it.

Finishing my first novel, The Untold, felt to me like crawling out of a dark room after a winter that lasted too many seasons. Draft after draft, revision after revision, I had remained in that dark room determined that what was on the page would eventually match the vision I held for it. These things take time, as it happens, so much time. And it must be a solo process. I don’t know any writers that work well with their legs or arms twisted around another. So, aside from the inherent challenges of actually writing a novel, you must also get very good at spending long periods of time with yourself. For better or worse. There are times when I felt that I had aged a year in a day and that the book might actually bury me. But it didn’t. I finished it. The winter ended.

(Querying? Read advice on how to find the most target agents to query.)

Guest column by Courtney Collins, an Australian author. Her first novel,
THE UNTOLD (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, May 2014), has now been sold
in 11 countries. The novel has been nominated for a swag of awards and has
been optioned for a feature film. In a starred review, Library Journal said
“Collins’s gripping debut novel is based on a legendary wild woman . . .
A fast-paced, heart-wrenching story that never loses speed, this
extraordinary first novel is not to be missed.” Courtney is at work
on her second novel. Find her on Twitter.

Completing a book represents a renewal. It’s a chance to live again unburdened until you shackle yourself to your next challenge. However long it lasts, it’s the same sort of all-over tingling feeling that comes from love and long-awaited for sunshine.

Completion may also come with its own surprises. Like, there’s more to life than writing a book.

My first novel, The Untold, was first launched in Australia on the first day of spring. It was a Saturday and I took it as the perfect date to hold a launch party.

Apparently, very few publishers throw cash at book launch parties these days. There’s some rationalist argument that goes along the lines of “friends and acquaintances that you invite to the party are going to buy your book anyway.” I’m not much of rationalist. To me that way of thinking misses the big fat point.

A book launch is not about book sales. It’s a right-of-passage and it sets an indelible pattern for the fate of your book. It’s like the idea that what you do on New Year’s Eve can color the mood of a whole year. Whether or not you take that to be true, with a book launch there’s a chance to throw your book up like a bird in the air, to gather your nearest and dearest to wish that bird well.

In that wintery time of writing the book, in a catastrophizing way, I wondered if there would be anyone left, friend or family, on the other side of it. I feared they might all vanish on me through neglect. But it’s extraordinary how loved ones can hold faith in you, and for how long. For years they’ve seen nothing as proof of your labor and watched you grimace and wriggle at their question, “How’s the book?” If nothing else, having a book published allows you to hand it over to your family and friends to make good on their faith and to account for where you’ve been. A book launch party celebrates their generosity and, on a Saturday night in spring, it seems all absence and neglect can be forgiven.

(16 things to do prior to sending your work out to agents & editors.)

To get to the practicalities of a book launch party without publisher funding, I approached wine makers in my area with the gift of an advance copy of my book. This impressed them enough that six independent wine makers gave me a couple of cases of wine each. So good wine was flowing. Along with the wine, and lots of it, I wanted dancing. I knew my friend’s Dad was itching to get his old-timey bush band back together. I found them a hall and gave them a few bottles of that good wine and soon enough The Stringer’s Creek Bush Band lived again. On the night, half a dozen friends made platters of cheeses, breads, olives and pickles, just because they’re good friends. I got my family onto fruits and flowers and sent out a challenge of a baking competition because I know that, even when it comes to baking, my people are competitive. Despite my pre-party anxieties and thinking, well, I know at least 15 people who will show, about 150 people turned up.

As a surprise for me, a couple of my friends who are talented musicians took to the stage and sang a kind of anthem for the night – a song called “Come on Spring” by Australian music legend Kim Salmon. It’s an age-old combination, this alchemy of wine, music, dancing and feasting. Call it Bacchanalian. Call it Pagan. Why would you ever want to miss raising the roof to launch your book? Why would you ever want to miss singing loudly and badly with your friends:

‘Come on spring, do your thing
You got something for me?’

This guest column is a supplement to the
“Breaking In” (debut authors) feature of this author
in Writer’s Digest magazine. Are you a subscriber
yet? If not, get a discounted one-year sub here.

Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:

• Word Count For Novels and Books Explained.
• Agent Jessica Regel of Jean V. Naggar Literary Seeks New Clients.
• Debut Author Interview: Elizabeth Laban (Young Adult Writer and Success Story).
• Sell More Books by Building Your Writer Platform.
• Follow Chuck Sambuchino on Twitter or find him on Facebook. Learn all about his writing guides on how to get published, how to find a literary agent, and how to write a query letter.

Want to build your visibility and sell more books?
Create Your Writer Platform shows you how to
promote yourself and your books through social
media, public speaking, article writing, branding,
and more. Order the book from WD at a discount.

This series is called “Successful Queries” and I’m posting actual query letter examples that succeeded in getting writers signed with agents. In addition to posting these query letter samples, we will also get to hear thoughts from the writer’s literary agent as to why the letter worked.

The 67th installment in this series is with agent Jim McCarthy (Dystel & Goderich Literary) for Livia Blackburne’s young adult fantasy, MIDNIGHT THIEF (July 2014, Disney-Hyperion).

(Agents share their query letter pet peeves.)

Dear Mr. McCarthy

I noticed on your Publishers Marketplace page that you represent quite a few young adult books with magical elements. Because of this, I am submitting for your consideration Midnight Thief, a 74,000-word YA fantasy that will appeal to fans of Kristin Cashore’s Graceling and Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series.

To Kyra, high walls and locked doors are not obstacles, but invitations. She specializes in nighttime raids, using her sharp senses and extraordinary agility to break into Forge’s most well-guarded homes. Then she meets James, the deadly but intriguing Head of the Assassin’s Guild. He has a job for Kyra: infiltrate the supposedly impenetrable Palace compound. The pay is good, and the challenge appealing. It’s the perfect job for someone of her talents.

But as Kyra establishes herself in the Guild, her “perfect job” starts to unravel. Her assignments become increasingly violent, demanding more than Kyra is willing to give. Then Forge is attacked by Demon Riders — barbarians riding bloodthirsty wildcats — and Kyra suspects the Guild is to blame. When a failed mission lands Kyra in the Palace dungeons, she faces an impossible decision. If she cooperates with the authorities against the Guild, James will kill her family, but if Kyra does nothing, she’ll see Forge overrun by Demon Riders. As the city falls into chaos, Kyra uncovers a secret from her past – a forgotten link to the barbarian invaders that will test Kyra’s loyalties and ultimately challenge the limits of her humanity.

I am a doctoral candidate at MIT doing my dissertation research on the neural basis of reading in children. I also write a blog on the brain science of creative writing, which has been featured by several industry websites, including Science Magazine, Nathan Bransford’s blog, and The Book Deal. My essay “From Words to Brain” was published by 40k books in English and Italian.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Livia Blackburne

THOUGHTS FROM AGENT JIM MCCARTHY

One of my favorite things about Livia is how incredibly thorough and thoughtful her approach is to every aspect of her writing and the business. So it’s no surprise to look back at her original query and see that it’s pretty much flawless.

She starts by doing two things that I love: indicating that she chose to query me specifically for a reason that makes sense (I do represent a lot of YA books with magical elements, and that is what she has written) and then giving comp titles that make sense and are presented in a way that doesn’t feel braggy. So in paragraph one I already know she’s serious and this is a query I will take very seriously.

Then she launches into a description that is concise, clear, and…exciting. That “To Kyra…” line tells us so much about Kyra—that she’s an adventurer, she may have a criminal side, and she’s probably pretty feisty. I was probably already ready to request this. Then the rest of the description deepens that feeling and does something even more impressive: it captures an epic fantasy novel’s story and world in 193 words without being vague OR confusing. MIDNIGHT THIEF is a great novel, and it plays out in an incredibly well-realized alternate world. Here, though, Livia isn’t precious about trying to relay everything her novel does. She strips it down to its core and presents us with a bare bones synopsis that still manages to capture the feeling of the book and the attitude of the main character. I’m all in.

But she still has a couple tricks up her sleeve. This bio fascinated me. A doctoral candidate at MIT? A blog on the brain science of creative writing? Let’s see what this smarty can pull off! I continue to be dazzled and surprised not only by Livia’s creativity and writing but her dedication, analytical mind, and commitment to learning about the business of publishing in addition to sharpening her craft. Her query was just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s a gleaming point that gives great hints to what lies beneath.

(Can you re-query an agent after she’s rejected you in the past?)

Writing books/novels for kids & teens? There are hundreds
of publishers, agents and other markets listed in the
latest Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market.
Buy it online at a discount.

Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:

• What does it mean when an agent says “This isn’t right for me”? 
• Create a Better Novel: Writing with Emotion to Draw Readers In. 
• New literary agent Beth Phelan is looking for clients.
• 8 Rules For Writing in Bed.
• The Writer’s Promise: How to Craft a Book’s Pitch.
• Follow Chuck Sambuchino on Twitter or find him on Facebook. Learn all about his writing guides on how to get published, how to find a literary agent, and writing a query letter.

Want to build your visibility and sell more books?
Create Your Writer Platform shows you how to
promote yourself and your books through social
media, public speaking, article writing, branding,
and more. Order the book from WD at a discount.

Some people don’t place a lot of weight in zodiac signs; they think they’re arbitrary and pointless. But as a typical Leo, I measure my very worth by my sign: we’re generous, loyal and proud. Most of the time, the last trait serves me well; it bolsters my confidence and provides me with an innate sense of ability and optimism. But there’s a reason that pride is one of the deadly sins, often proving more hurtful than helpful.

My first job out of college was as a junior copywriter at an advertising agency. In this entry-level position, I was relegated to the status of a newborn, having to learn everything with a fresh set of eyes, even if I had been told I was a great writer…

(What to write in the BIO section of your query letter.)

Column by Pia Padukone, auther of the debut novel WHERE EARTH MEETS WATER
(April 2014, Harlequin MIRA). She was interviewed about the book by USA Today.
Pia was born, raised and continues to live in New York City. A graduate of
Stuyvesant High School and the London School of Economics, Pia has
worked as a copywriter in healthcare advertising. In their spare time,
Pia and her husband write Two Admirable Pleasures, a blog that
combines their shared passions for books and the culinary
dishes that are inspired by them. Find Pia
on Twitter and Facebook.

After a particularly grueling concept review, in which I’d been told that some of my headlines were banal and cliché, I felt broken. I went back to my desk, deflated and bitter. But my failure had not gone unnoticed; a more senior writer approached my desk as though I were a wounded bear, cautiously but well intentioned. He held out a few stapled pages in my direction. “Read this,” he said. “I think it will help.”

I glanced at the headline: The Art of Accepting Criticism. I rolled my eyes inconspicuously and placed the papers on a burgeoning pile. “Thanks,” I told him. “I’ll take a look.” My pride kept me from reading the essay for a few days, but when I finally did, I couldn’t believe I’d survived even those seventy-two hours more without it.

The pages were filled with exercises and examples, anecdotes and advice, but my major takeaway from that article, which I have held close to my heart ever since, was this: Don’t let your hurt keep you from learning where you need to go. Sounds simple, right? Don’t let your pride, your arrogance, your holier-than-thou-ness, the obdurate need to prove people wrong be your own obstacle in charting out the right route.

As writers, everything we create is personal, whether it’s fiction or non. But we can’t be writers unless there are readers, and everyone always has an opinion. When we’re rated for it – as we will be until the end of time, by reviewers, critics and even Goodreaders – it’s quite difficult to take a good, hard look at the criticism and turn it into an opportunity to make it work for you instead of allowing your pride to rise up against you.

(Adapt your book into a movie script — here’s how.)

Since I first read those words of advice, I have been trying hard to incorporate this way of life (because truly, that’s what it is) into the way I approach everything, whether it’s the physical challenge of training for a marathon, a mental one of learning to drive in my late twenties or even an emotional one, when I worked with my editor on my debut novel, Where Earth Meets Water.

The original editor who acquired my book did so with glowing words of praise that stoked my ego: “I foresee very few edits to this manuscript.” That was it. I’d done it. My beautiful novel, into which I had poured my heart and soul, was perfect as it was. This editor got it; she got me. And now all I had to do was sit back and let the publishing team package it prettily and send it out into the word.

But when I received a rather detailed editorial note back, I immediately displayed a

textbook case of inflated ego: defensive, accusatory, defiant. What did she understand, anyway, about my book and my characters’ motivations? She didn’t get me; she didn’t get us. I wasn’t budging. I put her notes down and stewed for days.

But then I remembered. Don’t let your hurt keep you from learning where you need to go. I asked my agent to take a closer look at her notes along with me. Maybe she was right; maybe that section was extraneous and meandered too far from the plot. Perhaps it would distract readers and dissuade them from reading further. Maybe she was right that the timeline skipped about too much, that it might confuse people. After I’d noodled and reshuffled sections, rewritten and replaced, I had to hand it to her. She was right; at the end of the day, I had a stronger, tighter, more engaging book that even I liked better than the original draft. My editor had been on my side the whole time; she had gotten my story and me; she’d only wanted to make it better. And the only way I could get there along with her was by abandoning my hurt, my knee-jerk defensiveness and focusing on creating a beautiful story that people wouldn’t be able to put down.

That doesn’t mean that it’s easy; I certainly haven’t mastered the art of not letting my hurt get in the way of creating beautiful work. It’s a constant struggle every day. But I try to focus on the fact that the beneficial outcomes usually always outweigh my pride. It’s the only way to move forward, whether you’re a writer, a banker or a chef, to keep on learning, keep on changing, keep on getting better.

This guest column is a supplement to the
“Breaking In” (debut authors) feature of this author
in Writer’s Digest magazine. Are you a subscriber
yet? If not, get a discounted one-year sub here.

Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:

• Writer’s Block is a State of Mind.
• Why Writers Shouldn’t Google Themselves.
• How Deadlines Can Help Your Writing.
• NEW Agent Seeking Clients: Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates. 
• Sell More Books by Building Your Author Platform.
• Making Sense of a Rejection Letter.
• Follow Chuck Sambuchino on Twitter or find him on Facebook. Learn all about his writing guides on how to get published, how to find a literary agent, and how to write a query letter.

Want to build your visibility and sell more books?
Create Your Writer Platform shows you how to
promote yourself and your books through social
media, public speaking, article writing, branding,
and more. Order the book from WD at a discount.

“How I Got My Agent”

Maria Mutch

BE PREPARED(How much money can you expect from selling your first book?)

9 MONTHS LATER(Find out why agents stop reading your first chapter.)

TALKING WITH AN AGENT

“How I Got My Agent” is a recurring feature on the GLA Blog. Some tales are of long roads and many setbacks, while others are of good luck and quick signings. If you have a literary agent and would be interested in writing a short guest column for this GLA blog, e-mail me at [email protected] and we’ll talk specifics. Robin Mellom is the author of DITCHED: A LOVE STORY, a young adult novel released in Jan. 2012 by Disney/Hyperion. Read more

In some books, you scarcely recall where the narrative took place. Others could have unfolded anywhere, at any time. Perhaps this was a purposeful decision by the author – universality, timelessness. But if the story is intended to be a product of its setting, how to render that setting in a living way? How do you take it from backdrop to character? GIVEAWAY: David is excited to give away 10 free copies of his novel to a random commenter. Comment within one week; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the print book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before. Read more

This series is called "Successful Queries" and I'm posting actual query letters that succeeded in getting writers signed with agents. In addition to posting the actual query letter, we will also get to hear thoughts from the agent as to why the letter worked. 

The 45th installment in this series is with agent Jim McCarthy (Dystel & Goderich) and his author, Mindi Scott, for her YA novel, Freefall, which was released in Oct. 2010 from Simon Pulse. The New York Journal of Books said this of the YA novel: "With characters that ring true and a journey that proves honest, Freefall is no doubt sure to be one of the best contemporary young adult books of the year."