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No matter what the genre, a good writer needs to set the mood for readers. Whether it’s a creaky old house or the tense moments leading up to a final confrontation, atmosphere can make or break the experience in any piece of writing. It makes the story believable.
In the following excerpt from The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction, author Jeff Gerke walks us through (withexamples) using specific word choice and description to paint the kind of picture that keeps readers turning the page or glancing over their shoulder. Moreover, he shows us how we can use the same setting for three different places, but, by adding and changing detail, create drastically different moods. In this sense, the settings become different because the mood and atmosphere have changed.
* * * * *
Here’s an example in setting mood through word choice. I’m going to describe the same place three times but set three different moods. The place: a house in the suburbs.
Example 1
A shadow lay over the yard like a grave cloth. The grass was long and unkempt. Against the bole of a withered oak lay a child’s ball shrouded by the creeping Bermuda. The features of the house shimmered in the blaze of the afternoon, blurred beyond recognition to the unwary stranger.
Okay, a bit cheesy, maybe, but you get the point. Not a fun place to go.
Example 2
Zinnias blossomed against the cherry tree beside the front porch, their sun-kissed inner circles wreathed in bashful pink. At the base of the grand oak, a mother rabbit led her furry litter out from the shade of a rhododendron’s lacy leaves. She sniffed the breeze with delicate nostrils, brushed her eye with a paw, and bounded into the sun.
Ah, a more pleasant place, yes? A Disney moment.
Example 3
The dirt showed through the grass in brown scars. The grass that remained was brittle and sharp, like a smoker’s eyebrows. Signs remained of the home’s luxuriant past—the garden path, the children’s toys, the “Home of the Week” sign out front—but they lay wasted. An American flag still fluttered on its pole, but the sun had washed it out to a milky translucence, and its trailing edge was shredded. It hung from only one tether, twisting in the wind like a castaway’s last cry for rescue.
Depressed yet?
I was describing the same place in all three passages: A yard, grass, some trees, and stuff on the lawn. But I created vastly different feelings for the scene that could then take place there.
I did this by means of three tricks. First, I selected different details to point out each time. All the things I mentioned could be there in the yard each time—the flag, the bunny, the child’s ball—but by plucking out specific details that supported the mood I was after, I was able to construct different images in your mind.
Second, I made heavy use of word pictures and comparisons. You’ll notice I never resorted to personification, in which I could’ve brought inanimate objects to life (“the weeds tried to choke the joy from the yard,” that sort of thing). The similes were sufficient.
Third, I chose my vocabulary carefully. In the first one, I used words like grave cloth, bole, shrouded, withered, and creeping. In the second, I used blossomed, furry, bashful, and bounded. (Plus a bunny—you can never go wrong with a furry bunny if you want to paint a happy mood.) In the third, I used wasted, brittle, and cry, plus images of regret and loneliness.
Actually, I did a fourth thing to create the mood I was after. This one’s so subtle I didn’t realize I was doing it until I stepped back and took a look. I used words that “sounded to the eye” like other words that helped paint the picture I was going for. For instance, I used shimmered when I was thinking shivered. I used cherry to sound close to cheery. And I used lacy to sound like lazy, as in relaxed.
Pretty cool, huh? I’ve gone a bit overboard to illustrate, but you can achieve the same effect with a less heavy hand simply by being mindful of the mood you’re trying to create.
You can do this to convey the narrator’s mood, too. Indeed, you could combine both advanced techniques in this book into one. You’ve got a viewpoint character who is the narrator, and now you want to illustrate his mood, so you do so by having him describe things in ways that reveal his inner state. Now we’re really at heady altitude.
The same house and yard might look all three of these ways at different points in the story depending on how the viewpoint character is feeling at the moment. We all see things we want to see—or fear—and your characters are no different.
So try it. Do you have a scene you want your reader to perceive as happy, frightening, or sad? Do you want the reader to arrive at the scene feeling wary, disarmed, or flush with young love? Then take out your paint kit (your thesaurus) and begin selecting your palette.
It should work the other way around, too. If you’re about to write a scene that is supposed to be scary, be mindful of the images and vocabulary you use to describe the setting. You should probably remove the happy family of bunnies, in other words.
Your words are setting a mood for your scenes, whether you think about them or not. I’m just asking you to think about them. You want your descriptions to help set the mood you’re after, not work against you.
Descriptions are like paintings. An artist will choose her tools carefully. The brushes, the canvas, the paints, the colors, and more. All of these help her convey the image and feeling she wants to create in the painting.
So it is in your fiction. It’s the words and images you choose in your description that convey the mood you want to create for your scenes. Be mindful of your tools, and paint away!
* * * * *
For more useful tips and instruction, Jeff Gerke’s The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction is available now! And with instruction on the hero’s inner journey, flashbacks, showing vs. telling, POV, and dialogue, it’s more than just a book for the writer of Christian fiction. There’s something in this book for everyone.
Cris Freese is the associate editor of Writer’s Digest Books.
By: Rachel Scheller,
on 3/21/2014
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Hi, WD community! Today we’re sharing a guest post from J.E. Fishman, a former editor and literary agent turned author. He has penned
Dynamite: A Concise History of the NYPD Bomb Squad and the novels
Primacy, Cadaver Blues, and
The Dark Pool. His
Bomb Squad NYC series of police thrillers launches this month with
A Danger to Himself and Others, Death March, and
The Long Black Hand. In September comes
Blast from the Past. He divides his time between Chadds Ford, PA, and New York City.
Today he shares a somewhat unconventional decision to publish four—yes, four—books in less than a year. Here he is:
–
This is the story of how I decided to publish four novels in six months. It begins with a general principle, which is that writing in any form—and certainly storytelling—is a means of communication. I have never subscribed to the belief that writers write solely for themselves.
Even Emily Dickenson, so reclusive that she rarely left her room, sent poems off to be published (although only a dozen or so appeared in print during her lifetime). This proves to me that she must have imagined a reader out there somewhere on the other side of the window for the 1,800 unpublished poems that she also wrote. Shyness couldn’t stop her voice from crying out through the tip of her pen. She wanted to be heard.
It is the same for all who write successfully, I think. (By success, I mean creating what we set out to create, not necessarily raking in the bucks.) We deeply desire to give voice to something within us, and we want someone out there to read our stories. How do we accomplish these twin goals?
As anyone knows who’s attempted to write, while stories still reside solely in our heads, they contain a kind of perfection that we rarely manage to preserve when we attempt to express them in print. And it’s the same with our efforts to bring them out into the light of day. In the perfect world, we can write whatever we want whenever we want to write it, and readers yearn for every word we produce. In the real world, we operate with constraints and may never get discovered.
As a novelist, I think it pays to be aware of the three aspects of the storyteller’s endeavor. First, every story begins with something that interests the author. Second, if storytelling is a form of communication, we must take account of the reader. Finally, an increasingly disrupted marketplace challenges us to find our audience — or, more to the point, to induce them to find us.
Inspiration
Sometimes I feel as if I have a new story idea every day. These stories might float up to me unbidden while I’m driving in the car or dozing off on the couch. But most of the time something instigates them. It could be an item in the news or another work of art or an experience I had. I’ll think, “That would make a great story,” and then I’ll mull over how I might go about telling it.
And then, most of the time, I don’t write that story. I could plead limitations of time — life intervening or some other writing project currently claiming my efforts — but the real reason most of these stories don’t happen is that they’re not ripe. Their day may come, but not yet. Some story ideas marinate this way for years.
Once in a while, however, a story idea comes along that I personally find so compelling I can’t get it out of my head. So it was with my new series, Bomb Squad NYC
.
Five years ago, my wife, my daughter and I left the New York area for the Brandywine Valley outside Wilmington, Delaware, not far from Philadelphia. We left, but we didn’t leave with both feet, as we decided to buy a smaller house and throw in for an apartment in Manhattan’s West Village, which we visit with some regularity.
We love going to the theater in New York, seeing independent films, window shopping, and the whole foodie scene. Admittedly, we’re pretty spoiled, although the apartment is a petite one-bedroom, and when we’re all in town my daughter sleeps on a pull-out couch.
To the occasional visitor, New York must appear to be an overwhelming agglomeration, but it’s really a collection of distinct neighborhoods, each with its own personality and its quirks. The West Village has become known for its restaurants and access to the Hudson River park, but one of its less remarked-upon features resides in a pair of nondescript garages at the rear of the local police precinct.
When we walked past those closed garage doors we noticed painted shields upon them indicating the headquarters of the NYPD Bomb Squad. One summer evening, as we returned from dinner, we found the doors open wide with a number of cops (all detectives, I’ve since learned) hanging out with a dog in front of the response trucks. We had a nice chat, and they showed us the robots they use. I learned that this wasn’t any old bomb squad, it was the Bomb Squad — the one that strives to keep all of the city safe from explosive devices.
As we walked away from the garage that night, heading for our apartment, it hit me: These guys deserve their own series. Not, I hasten to add, because they’re heroes — although they are. But because, from my perspective as a novelist, their existence carries with it a motherlode of storytelling material that has largely remained untapped.
Lots of bombs go off in thrillers and other novels, of course, but the bomb guys typically get only subplots, if any acknowledgment at all. Few novelists have attempted to crawl inside their heads. I wanted to explore not only what these guys do—which can be highly technical—but how they think, the challenges they face, how they experience life.
For many months I couldn’t get the NYPD Bomb Squad out of my head (news flash: I still can’t!), and the more I thought about it, the more compelling the material looked to me. I decided to pursue the subject with all the vigor I could bring to it.
Creation
I began this series the only way a writer can ever begin anything: with an interest in the subject matter. But then, if writing is primarily a means of communication, how would I connect to the reader? It soon occurred to me that these novels should take the form of thrillers.
The ticking time bomb is the essence of suspense. (Remember Alfred Hitchcock’s explanation: “Four people are sitting around a table talking about baseball or whatever you like. Five minutes of it. Very dull. Suddenly, a bomb goes off. Blows the people to smithereens. What does the audience have? Ten seconds of shock. Now take the same scene and tell the audience there is a bomb under that table and it will go off in five minutes. The whole emotion of the audience is totally different … Now the conversation about baseball becomes very vital. Because they’re saying to you, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Stop talking about baseball. There’s a bomb under there.’”) But it needn’t be an actual time bomb. In some sense any bomb that has not yet detonated is a time bomb. As Hitchcock suggested, the fact that a bomb might soon go off at any moment engages the audience’s attention. Therefore, I concluded, these books called for the thriller genre.
I also concluded pretty quickly that the novels should have a “police procedural” element to them, which is to say that they should give readers a level of technical detail about police work that goes beyond what they’d get from less immersive sources. But here I faced a daunting challenge. I didn’t know any cops, let alone bomb technicians, and I could hardly spend my research time standing on the street and waiting for those garage doors to open again.
Fortunately, by pursuing the proverbial six degrees of separation (the details are a story for another day—but it only required three degrees, to be honest), I eventually hooked up with the commander of the very squad I wanted to write about, Lieutenant Mark Torre. Mark already had some experience providing feedback to novelists, among them Patricia Cornwell. We met and hit it off, and he agreed to act as my technical consultant for the entire series, giving me insights and a degree of accuracy that I was unlikely to achieve any other way.
With my novels roughly using the storytelling conventions of thrillers, and with Mark looking over my shoulder, I set about plotting and writing the first book, A Danger to Himself and Others
.
The more I learned about the real world and about my characters, the more ideas I had for other stories and plot points. Using an ensemble cast, I could see a whole series stretching before me. I’d write two more, however, before rushing into print, because a final consideration remained: How best to bring this series to the public.
Publishing
We all know that book publishing faces forces of massive disruption. Online sales … ebooks … the power of Amazon … publishers consolidating … bookstores closing … the rise of indie publishing … All of these factors can be summed up thusly: It’s easier to get your work out there than ever before, but harder than ever before for a given work to get noticed.
Depending upon personality, one might take the changing landscape as an exciting challenge or a soul-crushing obstacle. I look at it this way: A writer’s gotta write and—eventually—a writer’s gotta publish. It’s just what we do.
In that context, it’s worth noting that we’ve sort of been here before. Mark Twain is reputed to have said (he probably didn’t really say it, but never mind), “History doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme.” When it comes to publishing, ebooks are relatively new, but disruptive technology isn’t.
Perhaps one can hark back to what the monks thought of Gutenberg’s printing press, but I have something much more contemporary in mind. The publishing consultant Mike Shatzkin, among others, has observed
that there are many parallels between the introduction of mass market paperbacks and ebooks.
Without rehashing the entire history of mass market paperback publishing, let’s acknowledge three important elements that impacted the market then and are doing so again: (1) new means of distribution; (2) discount pricing; and (3) binge consumption.
First, neither the distributors of mass market paperbacks nor those of ebooks were content to distribute through old channels. In both instances they realized that new customers could be found for books outside the bookstore. In the case of mass market, that meant newsstands, drugstores, and grocery stores. In the case of ebooks, it meant cyberspace.
Second, technological advances allowed both of these media to set price points well below the price of a hardcover. In fact, the sweet spots of original mass market and current ebook pricing share a ratio. They both correlate closely to approximately 10 or 15 percent of the price of a hardcover book.
Third, as prices drop and novels become more accessible, the average reader can consume with more intensity.
It’s interesting to see all of the press lately about “binge” watching of television series, because binge consumption of genre fiction has been around since the advent of so-called dime novels and continued through the introduction of mass market paperbacks. I distinctly recall my wife discovering mystery writer John D. MacDonald in the ’80s and almost immediately purchasing every Travis McGee mass market paperback she could find. (In those days she had to comb multiple bookstores.) She wouldn’t have behaved the same way for books priced ten times higher.
But many authors who made a name for themselves via mass market publishing encouraged binge reading from the early days. Consider that MacDonald published four Travis McGee novels in 1964 alone. Ed McBain, whose 87th Precinct series is something of a model for my own, published 54 of those books in 50 years, but 13 in the first five.
Yet by the standards of a few other novelists, those guys were slackers. Louis L’Amour, the legendary writer of westerns, published 100 novels in 37 years. The great science fiction novelist Isaac Asimov published 506 books in 32 years. When I was at Doubleday, just managing Isaac was nearly a full-time job for one of my colleagues.
To take another example, romance author Nora Roberts has published more than 200 books in 31 years and is still going strong. The British mystery author John Creasey, writing under several different pseudonyms, published 600 novels in 41 years.
And in a career spanning 75 years, Barbara Cartland, the mother of all romance writers, published 722 novels. Think of it. That’s almost ten novels a year. In 1983 she published 23 novels!
Does that sound like madness? In a sense, of course it is. But my subject today isn’t what kind of mind it requires to be so so! so!! prolific. It is simply to say that this stream of material made great business sense in the mass-market-paperback age, and it makes great business sense at the dawn of the ebook age.
All of the authors mentioned above wrote genre fiction, and all of them wrote at least a few series. That’s not a coincidence.
Reading novels is an investment not so much of money but of time. Through their buying habits genre readers have told us that they’re more inclined to purchase the books in a series that’s well established. (If the series is working, sales build over time.) But these days, when so many things compete for an audience’s attention, how many opportunities does an author get to establish that series? The answer is: not many.
The triumph of mass market houses in the last century, combined with the rise of mall bookstores and superstore chains, led to the mass marketization of hardcover fiction, whereby authors like Sue Grafton, Lee Child, and John Grisham—to name but a few—could make their names with a single book and subsequently release one title a year to great fanfare.
But if ebooks are the new mass market paperbacks—and I think they are—we’re in a time when newer writers will have to resurrect the old mass market approach to establishing their brand. It isn’t easy, and I won’t be catching up to John Creasey anytime soon. But four books in six months makes a start.
3 Myths About Copywriters (And Why You Should Consider Joining this Noble Profession)
Editor’s Note: The following content is provided to Writer’s Digest by a writing community partner. This content is sponsored by AWAI
.
—
By Rebecca Matter, Writer and Co-Managing Partner, American Writers & Artists Inc.
As a writer, you are in a unique position to make a great living as a copywriter — even if it’s just part-time — so you’re able to spend more time focusing on your true writing passion.
The challenge, however, is deciphering what’s “real” when it comes to the opportunity.
So today, I want to dispel three myths that may be keeping you from a well-paid writing career as a freelance copywriter.
Myth #1 — Copywriters only write hype-filled “junk mail.” Myth #2 — Copywriters prey on people’s emotions of fear and greed.Myth #3 — Copywriting is a closed profession for “Madison Avenue” writers only. copywriting course
in 1997, the industry had a strong negative reaction to what we were doing. They told us we were way out of line for presuming we could teach people who weren’t pros how to write persuasive copy.
You see, they treated copywriting like a closed profession … that it was meant for only a select few oddball geniuses with years and years of experience.
Of course, we were worried … what if they were right?
Fortunately, our doubts didn’t last long. Within just months of launching the Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting
, we started hearing from our earliest members that they were getting paid assignments. And, we’ve helped thousands of members launch writing careers since then.
If you want to make a living as a writer, copywriting is definitely worth looking into. Along with giving you more time, freedom, and control over your life, it will allow you to spend your days writing, and help you start living the writer’s life
of your dreams.
By Karen CioffiWhether your a book marketer, freelance writer, or online marketing, keeping visible is a priority. That means writing content on a regular basis for your blog, article directories, and possibly guest posts.So, how do you keep up with all the content you need to supply?Recently, a writer/marketer, who always has valuable information, recommended outsourcing as a means of
How to Make Money Marketing Articles
Guest Post by Evelyn Y. VargasOnline entrepreneurs are using articles to generate leads and to increase their conversion rate. Writing is a very effective way to capture customers' attention. By distributing such write-ups in the internet, the chances of a business to get a bigger number of audience are high. Company owners are also hiring freelance writers to spread the word about them. The amount of compensation depends on the person's skills and years of experience. If you have a passion in writing, this could be your opportunity to make money online.Education and experience
In truth, you don't have to be a professional writer to penetrate this industry. As a matter of fact, employers won't even require you to have a formal education in publishing or to attend a 4-year course for this particular job. As long as you can express your thoughts and opinion in English - with acceptable grammar - you can easily succeed in this endeavor. In addition, relevant experiences such as having a personal blog and contributions to online publications are also of huge help.
Writing style
When blogging for a specific company or product, you have to remember that simple words are much more appreciated than encyclopedia-type articles. Think about your audience. Most likely, they are ordinary people who want to understand your point immediately, Don't make them search a dictionary for word meanings because this will turn them off. Avoid also very long sentences that may confuse the reader. Create a unique writing style of your own and consider topics that would be interesting to readers.
Topic or niche
DIY (do it yourself) and other helpful information are much preferred today. People want to learn new things so share your knowledge about cooking, baking, gardening, blogging, web designing, etc. Informative articles and blog posts are very much in-demand because internet users are looking for reading materials with focus on a specific topic or niche. Submit your blog to major article directories, forums, blog networks and web magazines to drive visitors to your web page.
Tools and software
If you have a website, set up a plugin that will allow your followers to subscribe to your posts. In this way, they will automatically receive a notification every time you have a new published article. There are plenty of free tools out there but you can also buy a software or hire a programmer to customize one for you. Finally, don't forget to install FaceBook, Twitter and other social networking buttons to let your visitors share your articles fast and easy.
Make Money Check is designed to give you honest reviews straight from the mouth of people who have tried and made money online themselves. Every single post aims to give you insight about the proven methods and techniques to earn online. Learn more about how to make money online by writing articles and other recommendations by visiting this link http://makemoneycheck.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Evelyn_Y_Vargas
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6688550~~~~~
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MORE ON FREELANCE WRITING
Freelance Writing Work: The PossibilitiesFreelance Writing: An Additional Path to Income7 Steps to Freelance Writing Success Through Positive Thinking~~~~~
To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).Karen Cioffi
Award-Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter
Author Online Presence Instructor
Create and Build Your Author Online Presence
http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-presence-ecourse/
Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/~~~~~
Last week, in Part 1 of this article, we discussed the importance of article marketing and of having your articles properly formatted and search engine optimized. Today we're on to Part 2 (steps 2 through 6).
Article Content Properly Formatted and Search Engines Optimized Part 22. Include Keywords in the Body of Your ArticleUnless you don’t care if the search engines pick up your article, or if it gets more distribution in the article directories, you need to include keywords throughout your article. But, don’t overdo it. It’s important for your keyword to be in your topic headings (if applicable), the first and last paragraphs, and in a couple of other paragraphs.
3. Spacing Your Article ContentEvery paragraph in your article should have an extra line between it and the next one. If the formatting calls for it, the beginning of each paragraph should be indented.
You should also keep your paragraphs relatively short. Readers like plenty of ‘white space.” This ‘white space’ allows for easier and quicker reading.
Notice my formatting in this article.
In addition, it’s necessary to use proper grammar and punctuation. (517 without lead-in)
4. Include Your BioYou’d think every writer would make sure they receive credit for their article content, but if you read some blogs, even those with multiple contributing authors, there are some with no byline. Even if it’s your own blog, at least end the post with your name.
For article directories, each service has its own resource box instructions. For guest blogging you don’t want your byline to be too long – make it short and effective. You can include your name with a couple of sentences letting the reader know why he should click on your link.
5. Article Content Marketing Tags Including keywords or tags where allowed is essential to article marketing and its SEO effectiveness. Most hosting services and article directories provide specific areas at the bottom of the article for keywords or tags. Take advantage of this SEO tool.
These tags should be relevant to the content and will allow the search engines to categorize and index your content. This in turn will allow your article to be found by people searching for your topic.
There you have it, five article content formatting and SEO ready tips to get your articles doing what they should be doing: getting read, going viral, and bringing traffic to your site.
6. Link to More Article ContentThis step is simple. In any article you publish on your own blog or submit for a guest post link to other articles or a landing page on your site. You can do this within your article content, just hyperlink a relevant word or phrase to a relevant article on your site.
You can also include a “Related Articles” section at the end of your article and list a couple of titles with hyperlinks to the actual articles on your site. Or, after a bit of information within the article add, “For more information on this check out” and add the link.
This allows you to get even more ‘juice’ out of your articles. You may not be able to do this with article directories, but for your blog posts, it will keep visitors on your own site longer and draw them further into your pages, and will bring visitors to your guest posts back to your site. Search engines like th
Gee, time seems to be slipping away. The Muse Online Writers Conference begins this coming Monday, October 3rd, and Maggie Ball and I are conducting a week long workshop on establishing an author platform and some marketing basics.
The Workshop Title is: Creating and Building Your Author/Writer Online Presence:
From Website Creation to Beyond Book SalesAnyway, next week will be a bit overwhelming, time wise, so I'll only be posting on Monday, October 3rd, and Friday, October 7th.
For today though, I have 5 great writing articles that will be worthwhile taking a look at:Physical Descriptions Put Readers in Your PlaceImagery and Your StoryA Writers Main ObjectiveUsing Multiple Domain Names for Your Landing Pages5 Simple Font Changes to Boost Readers, Comments, and Shares on Your BlogI hope you find these article useful.
For those of you who are attending the Muse Online Conference, please be sure to stop by my workshop. Attendees don't have to register for specific workshops, so you can visit any you like. I hope to see you there!
Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos - Photographer: Francesco Marino~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Until next time,
Karen CioffiAuthor, Ghostwriter, Freelance Writerhttp://KarenCioffi.comhttp://DKVWriting4U.comKaren Cioffi Writing and MarketingLinkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventriceTwitter:
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http://facebook.com/kcioffiventrice
Considering dialogue from a book proposal standpoint. by Jeff Gerke Poor dialogue is something you must not have in your submission package if you want agents and editors to keep reading and … Read more
By: Brian A. Klems,
on 8/16/2011
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Writers on social networks are reaping professional benefits—but sometimes at a cost. Here’s how to stay open to opportunity while keeping some doors closed to business. Read more
THE SATURDAY EVENING POST
http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/about/submission-guidelines
Our focus has broadened to include well-researched, timely and informative articles on finance, unusual photo/story packages, home improvement, humor, transportation, travel, fashion, entertainment, personality profiles, technology, communication with a healthy emphasis on medical breakthroughs, promising new treatments, prevention, and fitness. Publishes content that provides additional perspective on the ever-evolving American scene. In addition to feature-length articles of 1,000 to 2,000 words, the Post buys anecdotes suitable for “Post Scripts,” as well as cartoons, illustrations, and photos.
Payment ranges from $25 for Post Scripts to $400 and up for feature articles.
Our nonfiction needs include how-to, useful articles on gardening, pet care and training, financial planning, and subjects of interest to a 45-plus, family-oriented readership. For nonfiction articles, indicate any special qualifications you have for writing about the subject, especially for technical or scientific material. Include one or two published clips with your query. We generally buy all and/or first serial rights, as well as online rights. We also welcome new fiction. A light, humorous touch is appreciated.
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
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A while ago I devoted Fridays to writing and markting information links writers can use. Since it's a great way to provide very useful writing information to my readers, I'll be trying to do this at least every other Friday; I hope you find it helpful.
10 Great Writing Article LinksWriting Tips- Sentenceshttp://4rvreading-writingnewsletter.blogspot.com/2011/03/writing-tips-sentences.htmlGreat info about different types of sentences by Vivian Zabel
Writing with Variety - Grammarhttp://4rvreading-writingnewsletter.blogspot.com/2011/03/apparently-no-new-article-today.htmlTips about subjects, verbs, clauses, and conjunctions
Where Should You List Your Manuscript’s Word Count?http://blog.writersdigest.com/qq/Where+Should+You+List+Your+Manuscripts+Word+Count.aspxCashing in on Anthologies Crazehttp://penandprosper.blogspot.com/2011/02/cashing-in-on-anthologies-craze_21.htmlDo not Use Adverbs and Adjectives to Prettify Your Prosehttp://writersdigest.com/article/nobles-writing-blunders-excerptCreating a Writer’s Resume http://www.writing-world.com/rights/resume.shtmlRewriting a Folktale http://www.karencioffi.com/2011/02/rewriting-a-folktale/Aim for Writing Successhttp://www.karencioffi.com/2010/09/aim-for-writing-success/Storytelling vs. Writing a Storyhttp://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com/2011/03/storytelling-vs-writing-story.htmlGiving Basic Writing Advice http://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com/2011/02/giving-basic-writing-advice.htmlI hope you benefit from these links!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing, Publishing, and Marketing - You Can Do It This 34 page e-book is full of writing, publishing (traditional and self-publishing) and marketing information. Kind of a GPS for getting where you’re headed: published and selling books.
Click on the link for more details and a great review:
http://www.karencioffi.com/writing-publishing-and-marketing/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for my FREE monthly newsletter, A Writers World, and get TWO FREE eBooks:The Self-Publisher’s Guide, 2nd Edition
The Blogger’s Checklist
(The books offered may change periodically)In fact, check out the sidebar for two free gifts just for stopping by!
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Among marketing strategies, writing for article directories is certainly up there. It offers a large readership with the advantage of having those readers click back to your site.
While it is writing for free, it should be considered a part of your business expense, at least your time aspect of it. Just like any other form of marketing it is used to create and increase your visibility. It’s an investment.
I know it can get tedious having to write and submit articles to the directories, but the articles don’t have to be long. Here are 7 steps to writing for the directories:
1. Create a title
You want your title to be search engine friendly. Be sure you have your keyword/s in it–make it specific also.
2. Write an outline
This is optional, because there are many writers who can write with the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants method. But, if you are more comfortable with an outline, that’s fine. It does provide structure.
3. Create List, How-to, and Step-by-Step articles
This is a popular way to go. Readers love to see simple 1, 2, 3 lists of what they should do or should Not do.
Be sure to include your keyword/s in the first paragraph and a couple of times throughout the article. Just don’t overdo it.
4. Parts of the article
Your first paragraph should be interesting and let the reader know what the article is about, but don’t give away too much–you want the reader to continue reading.
Your second paragraph or section should inform and elaborate on the first paragraph. This part should fulfill the reader’s expectations.
Your last paragraph should sum up what the article is about and conclude with a lead-in to your resource box.
5. Write the minimum word count or just above
Check the guidelines for each particular directory. The minimum word count is usually around 300-400. But, check the site to make sure. Burn-out is easy with article marketing, especially when you’re writing for your own sites also. Keeping the articles short and to the point helps in this area.
6. The resource box
Some sites allow you to include a resource box which is about you and what you can offer the reader. Check the site’s guidelines because they may have specific requirements for the length of the resource box in relation to the length of the article.
7. SUBMIT
Once your article is complete, submit to a number of article directories. A couple of the most popular are Ezine Articles, Associated Content, Suite101, and Helium.
Note: If possible change the title of the article and at least the beginning content a bit. This will make the search engines think it’s new content.
That’s about it. Write, write, write . . .
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Articles you might find of interest:
Article Directories and Ghostwriting
Private Label Rights: Time Saving Strategy
6 Stepping Stones to Publication
Great Writing Tools and Programs:
Writing, Publishing, and Marketing - You Can Do It
Writing for Children One Step at a Time
The Self-Publishing Guide, 2nd Edition
The Children's Writers' Coaching Club
Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program
Fairy tales, no matter how young or old you are, captivate an audience. The 'Once Upon A Time' beginnings told you some moral and dilemma would unfold. Readers love and continue to enjoy these tales, disappointed when they come to "and they lived happily ever after" part.
But how many writers out there have considered or used an outline from a fairy tale to come up with your own storylines? For example, let's take The Three Little Pigs:
3 little pigs = 3 upcoming musicians
wolf = their agent who swindles them at some point of their earnings
straw hut = their small apartment
brick house = their mansion when they make it big
You've now used a fairy tale to come up with your own storyline by altering the characters, their setting, and added a motive for a conflict with the antagonist-the agent. Let's dig deeper.
The three musicians are childhood friends or brothers a la 'three pig' theme. They've been playing as a band since high school. During college an agent signs them up and takes them on a tour. The boys are inexperienced in finances and trust their agent explicitly. During the story, however, seeds are dropped that this agent is a bit on the shady side prompting the readers to wait for the bomb to drop eventually on the boys. Although the readers have an inkling what's going to happen, the questions keeping them posted to the book are:
- How will the boys react?
- What will they do?
- What's going to happen to the agent?
- What's going to happen to their musical careers?
- Will the band ever make it?
Readers love drama, action, happenings that take protagonists to a lower level of no return, especially when they can identify with a crisis relevant to their own life. That's not to say we need to be musicians to understand the characters plight, but as general people we've had someone who may have disappointed us in one way or the other. When you can connect a social issue or relevant emotional event to a reader, enough so they can place themselves in your character's shoes, then they are drawn deeper into your story world.
Using the same fairy tale above, you can come up with literally tons of good storylines to expand and use.
*-3 spinsters on a road trip to get away from the stress of work
-1 man comes into their lives
-1 cheap hotel fling with one of them causes a rift between the ladies
-1 secret the man is guarding will have these women on the run
*3 lawyers defending 3 men for the same crime
-1 lawyer bribes a witness to lie for his client
-1 house holds the key to this crime
-1 twist near the end will have the witness charged with the crime
As you can see from the examples above, one simple fairy tale has now the potential for three different storylines, characters, and settings.
So...Once upon a time when I had nothing to write about, I sat down and remembered my childhood fairy tales...
And my page filled with story ideas...
And my Muse lived happily ever after.
Author's Bio: Lea Schizas is an award-winning author and editor, Submissions Editor for Red Rose Publishing, and founder of two Writer's Digest Top Writing Sites since 2004 and recipients of several Predators and Editors awards, The MuseItUp Club and Apollo's Lyre. She is the author of the Young Adult paranormal/thriller "Doorman's Creek", and the middle grade novel, "Bubba and Giganto: Odds Against Us." She is also the editor and co-author of "The Muse On Writing" a writer's reference book, and the fantasy novel "Aleatory's Junction".
Lea Schizas along with Carolyn Howard-Johnson are founders of the annual Muse Online Writers Conference where over 2000 Attendees and Presenters take part each year.
For more information on Lea Schizas, link here:
http://editingservices.tripod.com/
http://www.leaschizas.com
Kari-Lynn Winters' book, Jeffrey and Sloth
, illustrated by Ben Hodson, was just short-listed for the BC Book Prize (out of a list of 300 submissions). Congrats Kari and Ben! If you haven't read my interview with Kari, you can check it out here...
Author Interview with Kari Winters
You can also visit Kari at her website.
See the other 2008 BC Book Prizes.
Don't get your lions crossed! Author/ Editor Lea Schizas is hosting the Writing for Children Blog Fest at The Writing Jungle, from March 31st- April 5th, so don't miss it. I'm happy to be one of the contributors who will be guest blogging at her site!
What's the Writing for Children Blog Fest? A fantastic opportunity to find out more about children's books, children's authors, writing tips, and recommendations.
Be sure to leave a comment that week at The Writing Jungle blog to be eligible for one of the doorprizes on April 5.
Find out more about some of the other contributors:
Betty Cain
Diana Symons
Joyce Moyer Hostetter
Kim McDougall
Lea Schizas
Lila Guzman
Margot Finke
Vivian Zabel
When writing for children, one of the first things you need to consider is who is your reader? Different age groups are at different stages in their lives and are experiencing different things. The story you tell must relate to a specific age group. Determine the age of your reader, and make your story appropriate to that age group. Children could be doing many other things with their time such as watching television, listening to music, reading comics, playing video games, sleeping, and playing with toys, so a book must entertain and keep their interest.
Word count is important when writing for children, so publishers have set certain guidelines. Each publisher is different, so be sure to always check submission guidelines at a publisher's website.
Generally, books are usually classified into 6 categories that are determined by age level.
PICTURE BOOKS
- When writing picture books, one has to write tight. The shorter the better. Children this age have short attention spans, so you need to tell your story quickly. Most people suggest aiming for 500 words or less. The target age for picture books is often 4-8 years old. Older picture books can have more words, but a good rule of thumb is to stay under 1000.
EMERGENT READERS
-These are a good tool to teach kids how to read. They're really short and could have as little as 32 words.
EASY READERS
- These are for kids that are beginning to read on their own. You'll want to keep the language simple and easy to understand. Imagine a child sounding out each word. These books are often classified into reading levels. Level 1 might only have 200 words, whereas a Level 4 reader can run up to 1200 words.
CHAPTER BOOKS
-Chapter books vary depending on how many chapters and word count can range from 5,000- 25,000.
MIDDLE GRADE NOVELS
-At this age, children are becoming more independent. Novels for this age can run up to 30,000 words, however there are some novels that run longer.
YOUNG ADULT NOVELS
-These readers are almost considered adults, but not quite yet. Books run about the same as Middle Grade Novels, but could be slightly higher around 40,000.
You'll also find that age level is often broken down into five groups.
PRESCHOOLERS
-up to 5 years old
PRIMARY GRADERS
-5-7 years old, but they like to read about characters a little older than themselves. Usually around 8 or 9 years old.
MIDDLE GRADERS
-8 - 11 years old, but they like to read about characters around 12 or 13 years old.
YOUNG ADULTS
-11- 14 years old
TEENAGERS
-14- 18 years old
As soon as you get an idea, think to yourself...Who am I writing for? This will help you know how long your sentence structure needs to be, the topics and subjects you can confront, and the word choice you can use.
Children's books are a tough market because you'll hear others comment that you're not only writing for the child, but you're also writing for the parent (after all, they're the ones buying the book, right?), and the editor (they're the ones publishing the book). Some writers will say to only write for the child because it's truly a book for them. When choosing a subject, and writing about it, age targeting is so important, but I have to admit that I've always liked the suggestion to write for yourself! Chances are, if you're entertained, someone else will be, too!
Another popular question from children's writers is, "Do I need an agent to sell my children's book?" The answer to this lies solely with you. Many writers are successful on their own without an agent. When you're trying to break in as a new writer, it's just as hard to find an agent to take a chance on you as it is to find a publisher. Many say that it's even easier to get published than it is to find an agent! Many agents have reputable client lists, so it's hard for a new writer to prove that you're going to make them money.
Many writers are capable of handling all the business aspects that come along with writing (researching publishers, mailing and marketing your manuscripts, negotiating a contract, etc...) There are many resources on the internet and how-to books that can help you along the way if you have any questions. You need to ask yourself if you're that type of person. There are writers who can't stand being bogged down with the business aspect and would rather spend their time on their writing. If you're this kind of person, it might be wise to find an agent.
Some tips on finding an agent. . .
-Find one who specializes in children's literature.
-Check out the Preditors & Editors website to research an agent's reputation.
-Just as you would query a publisher about your manuscript, you need to query an agent as well. Include your publishing experience if any, the type of writing that you do, and mention specific manuscripts that you would like them to market for you. Just as you would sell these manuscripts to a publisher, you need to sell them to an agent. Another thing to consider since it just might be easier to go straight to a publisher if you're doing the work!
-Get all the information you can on the agent's terms. Do they charge reasonable fees? (Most agents require 10-15% of what they make for you) Do they submit your work to houses that don't accept unsolicited manuscripts?
-Some agents charge fees to read new writer's manuscripts while others do not. Are you willing to pay up to $50 to have an agent consider you?
Books that will help you find an agent. . .
2008 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market (Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market)
2008 Guide to Literary Agents
Websites that will help you find an agent. . .
AgentQuery
Preditors & Editors
Query Tracker
Be sure to visit these other articles for information on agents. . .
Resources about Agents for Writers and Illustrators by Harold Underdown.
Finding and Choosing Literary Agents by Harold Underdown.
Literary Agents on Writer Beware
How to Find a Great Children's Book Agent by Cynthea Liu
How to Interview a Literary Agent by Cynthea Liu
Cynthia Leitich Smith's official author site- click on agents for tons of articles and information.
I was going to post this topic today and funny enough, it also came up as a discussion on one of the Yahoo Group writing lists. This question often comes up a lot and it's one of the most common questions asked by a new children's writer- " Do I need to find an illustrator for my picture book?" The answer is no. Unless you are a professional-quality illustrator, do not submit illustrations. You'll clearly come off as an amateur, and the publisher may shy-away from you because of it. Sit back and concentrate on your writing. It's hard enough to sell your writing; imagine selling both your writing AND pictures! The publisher's job is to match an illustrator with a book. They all have illustrators that they like to work with and will pick the illustrator that they think has the best style for your book.
As a writer of picture books, your job is to imagine the illustrations in your head as you're writing the story. You become attached to the illustrations in your mind and would like to convey these, however, a publisher is the one that knows what will help a book sell. When you're lucky enough to land your contract, discuss your thoughts of the illustrations with your editor, but leave it up to them to do their job and find the perfect illustrator. If it's not what you had in mind, you have to decide if you want to turn down that offer and find another editor that has the same ideas as you. An illustrator's job is take somebody's story and put their edge on it. That's the magic of a picture book.
One of the hardest things for an author to do is to find the right publisher for their book. It takes researching publishers' catalogs to find the place that your book will fit in. That includes looking at the illustrations and style that each publishing house has. If you think the illustration style for a certain house is amateur and not up to your standards, don't send your manuscript in to that publisher.
I've heard of authors that have had no contact whatsoever with their illustrator and I've heard authors that have some say in the design. It depends on the editor, your experience, and the illustrator, but mainly, do not describe how you see the illustrations except in cases where the illustration is required for the story, but not indicated in the text. Only experienced authors with many published works can put a clause in their contract to approve or oversee the illustration process.
If you're one of the few that has the talent to write and illustrate, then go for it! Why split your royalties in half when you don't have to? It's a no brainer! Put together a dummy book with your text and illustrations and submit with 2 or 3 completed illustrations. Be sure to emphasize in your cover letter whether or not you want the text and illustrations to be considered separately. There is that chance that an editor likes your story, but not your illustrations. Are you willing to search around for that publisher that wants both or are you willing to sacrifice one for a contract? You have to decide.
Some other articles to visit on this topic are. . .
To draw or not to draw by Cynthea Liu.
Picture Book Manuscripts and Illustrations by Harold Underdown.
Children's Book Council's FAQ page
There's a lot of confusion about self-publishing and POD publishing. Some will say there is no such thing as a POD publisher. They say that POD is a technology used by self-publishers, subsidy publishers, and traditional publishers, however, self-publishers use this technology more.
POD does describe the technology used, but many companies are basing their business around this technology exclusively so they refer to themselves as POD publishers. Many traditional small presses have replaced their traditional printing equipment with POD equipment. Print on demand (POD) is the commonly-used term for the digital printing technology that allows a complete book to be printed and bound in a matter of minutes. POD technology makes it easy and cost-effective to produce books one or two at a time or in small lots, rather than in larger print runs of several hundred or several thousand.
Some of the benefits of POD are that you don't need to keep large inventories of a book, and the set-up is quicker and less expensive than offset printing. The initial investment for POD services is usually less expensive for small quantities of books when compared with self-publishing that uses print runs. Print-on-demand services offered by these providers often include other services such as formatting, proof reading and editing, but they usually don't offer help with marketing. Commercial and academic publishers use POD to print advance reading copies and to keep backlist books available.
For more information on POD technology and POD publishers visit Writer Beware.
A few days ago, I posted an article listing the 3 things that you'll hear over and over again if you want to be a writer. This one could be considered number 4! Join a critique group. Every writer will tell you the importance of joining a critique group. When we receive critiques on our work, we're looking for suggestions to make our work better so it will inevitably be published. There are many things that a fresh eye can see in your work that you can't. In order for us to receive critiques, it's important that we give critiques, right? Fair is fair and critiquing others' work will help your writing. It will teach you what to look for when self-editing your own work, and give you a sense of what you like and don't like to incorporate in your own writing.
So you need to do a critique? Where do you start?
First, know that we all are human beings and we have feelings. We're not critiquing the person, we're critiquing the work. It doesn't hurt to begin by pointing something out that you like about the manuscript. A little encouragement goes a long way!
However, critiques need to be brutally honest. A writer would rather hear these notes from his/her critique group instead of an editor giving a flat out rejection with no reason why!
1. Did you like the story? Why or why not? Does it flow? How is the pacing (too fast, too slow, just right)? Is there a beginning, a middle, and an end and are they logical?
2. Does the beginning set up a problem or conflict? Did it catch your attention? Did you want to keep reading?
3. Are the characters' behavior consistent? Are the character's believable? Do the characters have good names?
4. Consider the audience- is it age appropriate?
5. Can you restate the story in a single sentence?
6. Does the author show instead of tell?
7. Technically, point out bad punctuation, incorrect grammar, misspelled words, formatting
8. Is the dialogue realistic? Does the dialogue help move the story along? Is there a perfect blend of dialogue with narration?
9. Is the title a good one?
10. Does the ending make sense and is it rewarding? Was the conflict or problem resolved? Does the main character undergo some sort of change?
11. Does the point of view work or would the story be better if it was told by another character?
12. Is there variation in sentence length? Too many short, too many long, or just right?
13. Excessive use of Passive voice? ex: Emily was running to the store is passive voice. Should be...Emily ran to the store.
14. Is the story original and creative?
15. Does the setting work? Do you get a sense of when and where you're supposed to be?
16. Did the writer make use of all the senses?
Some examples of critique notes that you might give/ receive:
-Paragraph or chapter needs tightening - give examples of where the writer can cut out necessary words and sentences.
-Verbs are weak—verbs to watch out for are. . . is, as, was, were
-Plot lacks focus—give a suggestion for the writer to consider.
-Dialogue is not age appropriate—show an example that is right for the age..
-If the overall concept and writing is weak—suggest classes, how-to books, and online articles that can help.
General Tips:
-Tell the writer if the work is not your genre or favorite type of story
-Don't be afraid to critique if it's not your favorite type of story.
-Don't read other critiques of the work yet. Give your own critique, then read others. You don't want others to sway you! Everyone has an opinion, so give your own- don't steal!
Everyone points out the advantages to a critique group, but not many address the disadvantages. When you have your work critiqued, your exposing your work to others. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world and there are dishonest people out there. When you put your work out there, yes- there is a chance that it can be ripped off- stolen! Ugh- can you imagine all that work and somebody else reaps the benefits? It's just not right! There's no need to copyright your work because once it's written, it is copyrighted. However, you can't put a copyright on ideas and that person that just critiqued your work can go out and write another story with your idea! You need to weigh the advantages of a critique group with the disadvantages and you have to be selective with who you show your work to!
Writers need to encourage each other and realize that writing is a craft. It takes a long time to master a craft and it doesn't just come to us. It takes work and revision after revision to get a good story! A good rule of thumb when it comes to critiquing is. . .
Critique as you would want to be critiqued!
My mom.
Just to avoid confusion, this is my mom. My mom, my mom, my mom.
And here's your shot of poetry for the week.
From New Poems from the Third Coast: An Anthology of Michigan Poets [Wayne State University Press, 2000]
Aftereffects of Bell's Palsy
Having a good and bad ear comes in handy.
My bad ear, victim of a surgeon's saw
screaming through bone to free a facial nerve
has lost the very highest range of sounds--
bats, telephones, sirens at a distance,
mosquitoes if they're male, small children whining,
regret, ambition's wheedlings, most tactful hints.
Banshees can keen on my ridgepole all night long
and, exhausted, watch me leave for work,
brisk and refreshed from sleeping good ear down.
My undiminished left ear can perceive
the beginnings of nightmare in a sleeping child
two rooms away behind a closed door, hear
the click of covert glances at a party,
the first drop on the roof of the first rain
of April, surmise the maiden name and color
of the eyes of the grandmother of the boy
my daughter sits thinking of, based on her breathing.
It can hear loneliness seven lamp posts down
the street, slamming like a screen door in the wind.
[Aftereffects was also included in Primavera, Volume 21 ]
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Wow, a magazine that still accepts fiction!
I know that several years back I had the notion to submit a short story to a women’s magazine. When I did the research, I found out that the magazines I used to buy no longer published fiction or poetry of any kind. I was truly saddened. It’s nice to hear “The Saturday Evening Post” does!