Writer 39 S Digest - September 2016 VK Com Stopthepress

AN IN-DEPTH GUIDE TO HELP YOU SALVAGE ANY STORY
Pro Tips &

Techniques
SMART WAYS TO REFINE
BOTH FICTION & NONFICTION:
SMALL TOUCHES, BIG IMPACT
INSTANTLY IMPROVE YOUR
CREATIVITY: 6 LESSONS
FROM ART & SCIENCE
WHERE GREAT IDEAS REALLY
COME FROM (AND HOW TO
MAKE THEM YOUR OWN)
A BETTER APPROACH
TO CRITIQUE GROUPS
The Market for

Science Fiction
& Fantasy
W D I N T E RV I E W
4 AGENTS TALK CRAFT,

TRENDS & SALES
Jane Green
& Freya North
BEST FRIENDS TURNED BESTSELLERS

SHARE THE SECRETS TO WRITING
GREAT SUMMER READS
SEPTEMBER 2016 writersdigest.com
WD2016
August 12-14, 2016 NEW YORK CITY

WRITE BETTER. GET PUBLISHED. BUILD YOUR NETWORK.
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Featuring Keynote Speakersand

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DAVID BALDACCI,
KWAME ALEXANDER and
EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL
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F EAT UR ES
PRO TIPS
& Techniques
24 32
Steal Little, Steal Big
All writers take inspiration from stories,
characters and worlds that have been written before.
Heres how to tap the riches of those undiscovered
countries and make them your own.
BY JEFF SOMERS
Creativity in Color
If a picture is worth a thousand words, it stands to
reason that writers might learn a thing or two from
artists who express themselves more visually. Here
are 6 wonderfully universal lessons.
BY LEIGH ANNE JASHEWAY
Its the Little Things Tweaking Critiquing

he best writers know that every word counts.
Heres how to nail the small stuf
without sweating it.
BY ELIZABETH SIMS
2 I WRITERS DIGEST I September 2016
Looking for a better approach to getting and giving

feedback? Try these 5 keys to making your writing
group more efective.
BY STEVEN JAMES
IMAGE SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: ARI-ARTISTE
28 36
SEP TEMBER 2 016 | VOLU ME 96 | NO. 6
INK W ELL
8 EMOTION VS. FEELING: Recognizing the subtle
40
diferences can help render both more powerfully on

the page.
Science Fiction
& Fantasy Today
BY DAVID CORBETT
10 PLUS: 5-Minute Memoir: Why Love Lucy Poetic
We asked 4 top agents in the speculative genres for their

views on successful pitching, world-building, series
potential and more. Heres what you need to know to
break inand stand out.
Asides: Tricube Free & Easy Tools to Improve Your

Website Scouts Honor
C O LU M NS
COMPILED BY TYLER MOSS & JESSICA STRAWSER
21 MEET THE AGENT: Mitch Hofman, Aaron M.
46
Priest Literary Agency

BY KARA GEBHART UHL
THE WD INTERVIEW:
Jane Green & Freya North
2 2 BREAKING IN: Debut Author Spotlight

BY CHUCK SAMBUCHINO
heyve been bestsellers on opposite sides of the Atlantic

for most of their adult livesbut theyve been best
friends since childhood. Learn why the writing life is
better when its sharedand how great books can bring
readers together, even with an ocean
an between them
them.
5 0 FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK: Submitting
Prematurely; Evaluating Ideas

BY BARBARA POELLE
5 2 YOUR STORY: Contest #72, First hings First
BY JESSICA STRAWSER
R
6 2 STANDOUT MARKETS: Family Tree Magazine;
EPOCH; City Lights Books

BY CRIS FREESE
6 5 CONFERENCE SCENE: Chapter One Young
Writers; Creatures, Crimes & Creativity Con;

Write on the Sound
BY DON VAUGHAN
JANE GREEN COVER PHOTO IAN WARBURG; INSET PHOTO COURTESY OF FREYA NORTH
W R I TER S WOR KBOOK

BOO K
7 2 PLATFORMS OF YORE: Laura Ingalls Wilder
e Yr So
ON THE COVER
5 4 An In-Depth Guide to Help You Salvage Any Story
54 FIRE UP YOUR EDITING BRAIN
2 8 Smart Ways to Reine Both Fiction & Noniction
BY SUSAN REYNOLDS
3 2 Instantly Improve Your Creativity
5 8 REVIVE YOUR STORY WITH DRAMATIC TENSION
2 4 Where Great Ideas Really Come From

3 6 A Better Approach to Critique Groups
BY LARRY BROOKS
4 0 he Market for Science Fiction & Fantasy
6 0 PUSH PAST WHATS HOLDING YOUR STORY BACK
4 6 WD Interview: Jane Green & Freya North
BY DONALD MAASS
PLUS:
4 online exclusives
5 editors letter
6 contributors
7 reader mail
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WritersDigest.com I 3
Right Now at
Coming to America
Dual WD Interview subjects Jane Green and Freya North
(Page 46), best friends and bestsellers on opposite sides
of the Atlantic, talk diferences in publishing in the U.S.
and U.K., and what it takes to expand your market.
Puzzling, Dreaming &

Pursuing Change
Visual artists share their secrets for staying inspired in
Creativity in Color (Page 32), but theres more where
that came from. Our bonus sidebar features even more
tips from even more talented souls.
To find all of the above online companions to this issue in
one handy spot, visit writersdigest.com/sep-16.
PLUS:
Stimulate your inner storyteller with more from WD online!

REWRITE HISTORY
LISTEN & LEARN
Historical fiction takes research, but
Senior Online Editor Brian Klems and
sometimes the facts can bog down
Writers Market Editor Robert Lee
your plot. Author Alison Love shows
Brewer cohost a new podcast of writ-
how to use the details youve compiled
erly tips ingested audibly. Subscribe for
to create a vivid, believable world.
a regular diet of fresh writing advice.
bit.ly/bringhistorytolifeWD
bit.ly/writerpodcastWD
SELF-PUBLISH WITHOUT SURPRISES
Many authors dont realize how much goes into writing, producing and launching
a self-published book that looks professional and draws an audience. Writer Linda
Formichelli shares seven lessons from her own eye-opening experience.
bit.ly/selfpubsurprisesWD
BLOG ILLUSTRATION FOTOLIA.COM: BLOSSOMSTAR; SCI-FI IMAGE SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: ANGELA HARBURN, GREEN (LEFT) & NORTH PHOTO COURTESY OF FREYA NORTH; FLOWERS SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: ORI-ARTISTE
Writing Galaxies Far, Far Away

he agent roundtable discussion behind Science Fiction &
Fantasy Today (Page 40) delved so deep we couldnt it it
on the page! Dont miss these uncut responses relating to
word count, series potential and trends.
EDITORSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2016 | VOLUME 96 | NO. 6
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Jessica Strawser
ART DIRECTOR
Claudean Wheeler
MANAGING EDITOR
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Fill Your Pockets

If Pro Tips & Techniques sounds a little
vague, Ill fess up: hats by design. Our most
reliable contributors have a way of occasionally pitching outstanding articles that
just dont happen to it with any of our issue
themes. And as I was reviewing a batch of
such pieces that had been treading water in
the depths of my inbox, I realized that they all had one very simple thing in
common: Darn good advice from people I trust to give it.
But this issue isnt a kitchen sinkfar from it. Because its illed with the
kind of advice that can be broken down into pocket-sized gems worth tucking into that corner of your brain you reach right into whenever you need a
nudge in the right direction.
Heres a sneak peek at a few of my favorites:
PRO CRAFT TECHNIQUE: he quality of your writing can leap when you
start to break paragraphs as you do chapters, aiming to separate them at a
heart-clutchingor at least signiicantmoment: a thought, an action or
even a realization. (Elizabeth Sims Its the Little hings, Page 28)
PRO COMMUNITY TIP: Instead of thinking of your critique group as a place
where writers come to get advice, think of it as a place where you all
come to get feedback. Its a subtle but crucial diference to pledge that
members arent there to share their opinion of the writers work, but their
reaction to it. (Steven James Tweaking Critiquing, Page 36)
PRO CREATIVITY TIP: If we stop labeling our writing attempts as successes
and failures, and remain open to the possibility of revisiting failed
themes and reinventing stalled works, the possibilities for artistic reincarnation are endless. (Leigh Anne Jasheways Creativity in Color, Page 32)
PRO CREATION TECHNIQUE: Every book ever written is just a torch being
carried into an incredibly deep, incredibly dark cavern of the imagination,
illuminating only a small portion of the potential ideas it contains. Which
is why we canand shouldaim to take ideas from one anothers work
without truly stealing. (Jef Somers Steal Little, Steal Big, Page 24)
Hooked yet? heres so much more where these came from. We hope youll
dive into this issue and ill the pockets of your muse with whatever inspires
you. Because the best thing about pro tips isnt that theyre from the pros
its that they have the power to turn you into one, too, one clever technique at
a time.
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Books), received the Special Storytelling Resource
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York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.
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READERMAIL
I ind the authors subject

matter wickedly truthful.
name, and I certainly wasnt going
to use his!Staring at a clematis vines
purple blooms solved the problem.
When the publishers packetarrived,
my husband read my name on the
check, while I read my credit: By
Clem A. Tisvine. Now we both knew
I was a writer.
CHECK OR CREDIT?
Jessica Allens intro line (he Others,

May/June)When can you call
yourself a real writer?struck a
chord with me.
When Ibegan writing, whenever
I referred to myself as a writer my
husband would chime in, Youre
not a writer until you see that
check. Knowing there were many
non-paying markets, I would reply,
No, all you need is that byline.
hen: my irst sale!It was a tonguein-cheek essay written from a mans
point of view, so I couldnt use my
Nancy Zuk
Parma Heights, Ohio
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midst of all the heavy writing advice,
its refreshing to read a piece like
Millars. hanks for making my day.
Heather Rath
Burlington, Ontario
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Emotion vs. Feeling

Recognizing the subtle differences can help render both more powerfully on the page.
BY DAVID CORBETT
he diference between emotion and feeling is more one

of degree than kind. Feeling
is emotion that has been
habituated and reined; it is understood and can be used deliberately. I
know how I feel about this person
and treat her accordingly. Emotion is
more raw, unconsidered. It comes to
us unbidden, regardless of how familiar it might be. Rage is an emotion.
Contempt is a feeling.
Both emotion and feeling are
essential not only in iction but in
noniction. However, given their
unique qualities, rendering them on
the page requires diferent techniques.
Both rely upon understanding
what readers want. People dont turn
to stories to experience what you, the
writer, have experiencedor even
what your characters have. hey read
to have their own experience. Our
job is to create a series of efects to
facilitate and enhance that experience.
ELICITING EMOTION
Emotion on the page is created
through action and relies on surprise
for its efect. hat surprise is ultimately
generated by having the character

express or exhibit an emotion not
immediately apparent in the scene.
We all experience multiple emotions in any given situation. So, too,
our characters. To create genuine
emotion when crating a scene, identify the most likely or obvious response
your character might have, then ask:
What other emotion might she be experiencing? hen ask it againreach a
third-level emotion. Have the character express or exhibit that. hrough
this use of the unexpected, the reader
will experience a greater range of emotion, making the scene more vivid.
Surprise can also be generated
through unforeseen reveals and/or

reversals. his technique requires
misdirection: creating a credible
expectation that something other
than what occurs will happen
instead.
Types of misdirection include:
Misdirection through ambiguity:
Any of several results might occur.
Misdirection through fallacy:
Something creates a mistaken
belief regarding what is happening or what it means.
Misdirection through sympathy:
Intense focus on one character
lures the reader into overlooking
what another might do.
ILLUSTRATION SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: IGOR KISSELEV
To ground a surprise in emotion you

must develop a belief that some other
emotional outcomeideally, the opposite of the one you hope to evokeis
not only possible, but likely.
For example, to push the readers toward dread, panic or terror,
you need to create the impression
that these emotions are in no way
inevitable. he readers are trying to
avoid the negative feeling. Its hope
that the terrible thing can be circumvented that makes them feel the
dread, panic or terror once its presented, and actually intensiies it.
EXPLORING FEELING
Feeling requires introspection, which
thus necessitates identiication with
the character and empathy for what
she faces.
Remember, however, that the storys
action and its characters are vehicles
through which the reader creates her
own emotional experience. he goal
is not to get readers to feel what the
characters feel, per se, but to use the
characters as a device to get readers to
feel something on their own.
Recent neurological research suggests that feeling and cognition coincide, which is to say that a major factor
in experiencing a feeling is the assessment of it.his means that, despite the
modernist turn toward the objective
mode (Hemingway, Hammett, etc.),
and the constant drumbeat of show,
dont tell, readers need some processing of feeling to register it meaningfully.
his means allowing characters to
think about what theyre feeling, which
accomplishes two things:
1. It makes the feelings both more
concrete and more personal.
2. It creates time and space for readers to process their own feelings.
If empathy for the character has
been forged, this allows readers to
ask themselves: Do I feel the same

way? Do I feel diferently?
Such examination is best accomplished

in sequel scenes, which normally occur
ater a particularly dramatic scene or a
series of these scenes that culminate in
a devastating reveal or reversal. hese
scenes permit characters and readers
alike to take a breather and process
what has just happened.
Within such scenes, the point-ofview character:
registers and analyzes the emotional impact of what has happened
felt as though her shame had created a sunburn from within).

COMPARE THE FEELING: Measure
it against other occasions when it
has arisen. Is it worse this time?
How? Why?
EVALUATE THE FEELING: Is it right
or wrong to feel this way? Proper
or shameful? What would a more
reined, stronger, wiser person feel?
JUSTIFY THE FEELING: Explore
why this feeling is the only honest
response for the character.
EXAMINE THE IMPACT ON IDENTITY:
What does this feeling say
Feeling requires introspection, which necessitates

identication with the character and empathy for
what she faces.
thinks through the logical import

or meaning of what has happened
makes a plan for how to proceed.
Readers process their own emotions

and interpretation of events while the
character is doing so, not necessarily in
parallel or even consciously.
Its typically best to keep this sort
of analysis brief. Going on too long
can bore or alienate readers who have
already ingested and interpreted whats
happened and are ready to move on.
Try to restrict yourself to a paragraph
or two.he point isnt to overanalyze
the characters feelings, but to clear a
space for readers to examine their own.
To accomplish this, the POV character should:
DIG DEEPER: As with emotion, surprise is a key element. You need a
starting point that seems unexpected, because nothing shuts
of the reader like belaboring the
obvious.Instead, seek a second- or
third-level feeling in the scene.
OBJECTIFY THE FEELING: Find a
physical analogy for it (e.g. She
about the character or the state

of her life? Has she grown or
regressed?Does she recognize the
feeling as universal, or does it render her painfully alone?
PUTTING THEM TOGETHER
A character changes through the emotions she experiences, the reinement
of those emotions into feelings, and
the evolution in self-awareness that
this process allows. his gradual metamorphosis creates the storys internal
arc, providing the character an opportunity to move step-by-step from being
at the mercy of her emotions to mastering her feelings. And through the
use of surprise and introspection, you
provide a means for the reader to traverse an arc of her own, expanding her
emotional self-awareness.
he author wishes to thank writer
and agent Donald Maass for his
invaluable insights on these matters.
David Corbett (davidcorbett.com) is
the author of The Art of Character and five
novels, including The Mercy of the Night.
5-MINUTE MEMOIR
Why Love Lucy

BY JOLEE EDMONDSON
On the drive home, it occurred

to me that Balls words warranted a
larger readership. I decided to write a
short article about the interview for my
obscure paper, then query a national
magazine that routinely ran celebrity
features. I would save all the salient
details and best quotes for the latter.
Ater some research, I determined
that Family Circle was a viable irst
choice for a query. Six weeks ater
submitting my pitch, I received a
contract. It was the start of a 46-year
journey as a freelance writer.
Now and then I come across Lucy
in rerun land, reminding me of the
meeting that both shaped my career
path and provided a lesson on the
importance of pluck in the business
of writing.Most of all, Im reminded
of the iconic redheads kindness and
generosity in granting aninterview to
a hopeful, young novice.
To this day, I love Lucy.
Jolee Edmondson has written two books
and numerous magazine articles on a wide
range of subjects.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Submit your own 600-word essay reflection on the writing life by emailing it to wdsubmissions@fwcommunity.com
with 5-Minute Memoir in the subject line.
RECORDER SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: STOKKETE; LUCY STAMP SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: CATWALKER
y life as a freelance writer began with Lucille Ball. It was June 1971.
A recent graduate of San Diego State University, I was breaking in
my green reporting skills at a weekly throwaway when a friend who
worked at the posh La Costa Country Club & Spa invited me to a
cocktail party that was to kick of the resorts annual celebrity tennis tournament.
I was an ambitious little ledgling. Never mind the thrilling prospect of mingling
with Hollywood luminaries. I was going to La Costa to land a celebrity interview.
Entering the cocktail lounge, I tried to play it cool when I literally bumped into
Charlton Heston. he room was ablaze with stars, but it was Lucille Ball who riveted my attention.Wearing cream-colored silk, her laming-red hair impeccably
styled, her posture regally erect, she looked every inch the legend.
My mind was spinning. Should I just go over to her and introduce myself as a
reporter?No, thatwouldnt work.Surely Ms. Ball would think me terribly audacious to request an interview at all, let alone for the puny rag I wrote for. hen
again, maybe. Ater several gulps of Chablis, I slowly gathered my resolve and
approached her. It was a classic just-do-it moment.
Her response stunned me. She smiled and said, Yes.
We set a time for 10 a.m. the next day at her condo. She asked that I record the
interview and not take photos.If shed asked me to conduct the interview in pig
Latin while turning cartwheels, I wouldve obliged. I nodded in eager compliance.
hat night I spent hours composing questions: What makes you happy? How do
you want the public to perceive you? I even jotted down a question about her troubled marriage to Desi Arnazthen deleted it. Too personal, I thought. Ultimately, I
reinstated the Arnazquestion, surprising myself with my newfound boldness.
When I arrived at the condo, it was apparent that I had the great comedienne all
to myself. She greeted me in her throaty voice, then plopped in a chair and grabbed
a pack of cigarettes.here was no hint of her zany alter ego. Here was the real
Lucille: straightforward, somewhat brusque, unafected. I switched on the recorder.
Ball treated me with the consideration reserved for prominent journalists, earnestly and candidly answering my inquiries,
including the one about Arnaz. I also threw in
an impromptu question: Observing the cofee
table was littered with handwritten reminders,
I asked if she ever truly took a vacation. I felt
like Barbara Walters on steroids. here I was,
gleaning an abundance of revealing quotes
from the queen of comedy.
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t Winners name on the cover of Writers Digest magazine (subscriber issues)
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GET
DIGITALLY!
No matter what you write, a bit of poetic license can be a
valuable asset to any writers arsenal.
BY ROBERT LEE BREWER
P OE T I C FORM : TR IC U B E
he tricube is a newer form introduced by acclaimed Sacramento poet Phillip

Larrea. A mathematical poem, the tricube makes up for its lack of history simply by being a fun and addictive form to write.
he math is simple: three syllables per line three lines per stanza three stanzas per poem = one tricube.
Here are two examples by Poetic Asides readers.
Unburdening, by James Von Hendy
he river
runs switly,
his pockets
Tricubes present poetry to the

power of three: three syllables
by three lines by three stanzas.
illed with stones,

one for each
dream deferred.
He skips them,
one by one,
a drowning.
Rhymes are optional, and subject

matter can be about anything, as
long as the poem adds up.
Finished, by Tracy Davidson
I put down
the gold pen
she bought me
Poetic Prompt
my ingers
and eyes strained
with fatigue
at last, her
eulogy
is inished.
he trick with tricubes

is to try to make
concise language
emotionally relevant.
Write a poem that involves a food

establishment. It could be an ode to
a certain restaurant or diner, or simply a list poem of places you like to
eat. Maybe it's not about the eatery,
but the action of the verse happens
there. This prompt may require
be afraid to go back for seconds.
Robert Lee Brewer is the editor of Poets Market and Writers Market (both WD Books) and
the author of the poetry collection Solving the Worlds Problems.
SHARE YOUR POETIC VOICE: If youd like to see your own poem in the pages of
Writers Digest, check out the Poetic Asides blog (writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/
poetic-asides) and search for the most recent WD Poetic Form Challenge.
BREWER ILLUSTRATION TONY CAPURRO
some appetizing researchdont
off
BY
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Discover the Secrets of

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Writing great fiction isnt a gift reserved for the talented few.
There is a craft to storytelling that can be learned, and studying
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of fiction.
From evoking a scene to charting a plot, Writing Great Fiction:
Storytelling Tips and Techniques offers a master class in
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professor at the famed Iowa Writers Workshop, these 24
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techniques you learn. Professor Hynes is an able guide, showing
you what has worked for him and other novelists, and pointing
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Building Fictional Worlds through Evocation
How Characters Are Diferent from People
Fictional Characters, Imagined and Observed
Call Me IshmaelIntroducing a Character
CharactersRound and Flat, Major and Minor
The Mechanics of Writing Dialogue
Integrating Dialogue into a Narrative
And ThenTurning a Story into a Plot
Plotting with the Freytag Pyramid
Adding Complexity to Plots
Structuring a Narrative without a Plot
In the BeginningHow to Start a Plot
Happily Ever AfterHow to End a Plot
Seeing through Other EyesPoint of View
I, Me, MineFirst-Person Point of View
He, She, ItThird-Person Point of View
Evoking Setting and Place in Fiction
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Building Scenes
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Free & Easy Tools to Improve Your Website

BY JANE FRIEDMAN
GET A MAKEOVER
he following tools require little or no
tech savvy to use.
CUSTOMIZE YOUR COLORS. To
make your site feel uniquely your
own, put some thought into its
color scheme. Adobe Color (color.
adobe.com) allows you to explore
and implement popular combinations for some personalized lavor.
Or, create a palette based on your
most recent book or your author
photo by using PaletteGenerator
(palettegenerator.com)just
upload your image and go!
CRAFT HIGH-QUALITY, CUSTOMIZED WEBSITE IMAGES. Some
website design templates feature
customizable header images, or
use default images until you take
the time to replace them. his is
where the free design and layout
tool Canva(canva.com) is invaluable for nondesigners; it helps

you create professional-looking
images at just the size you need.
Both premade design templates
and inexpensive stock images
are availableor you can upload
your own. Canva is also useful
for creating customized headers
for your e-newsletters and social
media posts.
ADD A CONTACT FORM. Rather
than posting your email address
directly on the page (which invites
spam), go professional with a contact form. If your site is built on
Wordpress.com or Squarespace
(squarespace.com), then you can
likely add simple, good-looking
contact pages using the systems
built-in tools. For forms that are
super-customizable, take a look
at Gravity Forms (gravityforms.
com). Its a drag-and-drop form
builder for Wordpress, available as
a plugin for $39.
GET PROFESSIONAL
Particularly for freelancers, its important to elegantly present a polished
portfolio of your work. Here are two
of the best options.
1. For Wordpress.com users, theres
an excellent option awaiting you:
the portfolio functionality under
Settings > Writing > Your Custom
Content Types. Simply turn on
Portfolio Projects, and then you
can start populating your portfolio.
If you have a self-hosted site, youll
have to use a plugin to generate a
portfolio page. here are dozens
available, but take a look irst at
Nimble Portfolio plugin, which
allows for PDF embedding.
2. Regardless of where or how
your site is built, an easy way to
display PDFs is to irst upload
them (for free) to Google Drive
(drive.google.com), then choose
Embed from the File menu
under Publish to Web. It will
give you the right code to paste
IMAGE COLOR.ADOBE.COM
f its common to judge a book by its

cover, its just as common to judge
a writer by his website.
Feeling anxious? Youre not
alone. Its easy for a websiteeven
if its just a simple blogto become
dated, or to descend into disrepair
if you havent revisited its structure
in more than a year. Web design
and development is a mix of fashion
(styles go out of date) and functionality (technology improves).
he good news is that steady
advancements in this arena make it
ever easier for the average writer to
handle updates through ready-made,
plug-and-play tools. Here is a range
of solutions to improve your sites
freshness and professionalism, as well
as its functionality.
into your site wherever the PDF

should appear.
GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY
he following tools arent hard to
implement for the average author
but you should feel conident and
comfortable getting under the hood of
your website. (Alternatively, a knowledgeable friend could help you in 10
minutes or fewer!)
CUSTOMIZE HOW YOUR WEBSITE LOOKS WHEN SHARED ON
SOCIAL MEDIA. Ever notice how
when some links are shared
on Facebook or Twitter, the
presentationimage, title and
descriptionlooks perfect?
hat didnt happen by accident!
To tailor how your websites
pages appear in social media,
Wordpress users can install the
freeYoast SEO plugin (yoast.
com/wordpress/plugins), which
allows you to directly edit the
information associated with your
websites pages and posts. You
can even specify what images and
descriptions should be used based
on the social media site where the
share happens. hat way, youll
always have the perfect-sized
image, plus can adjust your message to the medium.
ALLOW VISITORS TO BOOK AN
If you
do any kind of coaching, consulting or freelancing that involves
clients setting up times to speak
with youor are making yourself available to Skype with book
clubs reading one of your titles
take a look at Acuity Scheduling
(acuityscheduling.com). Its an
automated scheduling system
that integrates with your calendar
system (e.g., Google Calendar or
iCal) and can be embedded on
APPOINTMENT WITH YOU.
your website. You can customize

what hours are available for booking, set up scheduling forms and
reminder emails, and even add
payment options if you charge for
appointments. Its free to start.
SELL STUFF FROM YOUR WEBSITE
OR ASK FOR DONATIONS. hese
days, its not so much a question
of how you can sell your work
directly to readers from your
website, but which service is best
for the job. Patreon (patreon.
com) works well for people whod
like readers to pledge monthly
support for an ongoing project,
such as a podcast, blog or series.
Payhip (payhip.com) is focused
on selling e-books direct to readers. And Gumroad (gumroad.
com) is perfect for selling digital
products of all kindsespecially
bundles of products. None of
these tools requires you to handle
payments directly on your site,
and they cost nothing to set up;
each will take a percentage of
your sales.
GET YOUR GEEK ON

hese tools require you to be comfortable taking responsibility for your own
website design and functionality.
ADD AN E-NEWSLETTER POP-UP.
Want to encourage people to sign

up for your email list? Studies
show that website visitors are more
likely to do so if theres a pop-up
form on your site. I know, you
hate pop-ups! But there are ways
to use them so theyre not annoying. MailMunch (mailmunch.co)
ofers pop-up customizations with
your choice of non-pushy ways
to implement them. One version
appears as a nonintrusive horizontal bar; another coyly slides into
position when visitors scroll down
the page. I use one that appears

only when people leave my
site. MailMunch integrates with
MailChimp as well as other popular e-newsletter services, and can
be added to your website by pasting a few lines of code into your
sites header. he basic version is
free to use.
ACHIEVE ULTIMATE WEBSITE
CUSTOMIZATION WITH A DRAGAND-DROP SITE BUILDING TOOL.
If youre ready to undertake a

full-scale revamp of your website,
and want ultimate lexibility in
how each page is designed, then I
recommend the freePageBuilder
plugin (wordpress.org/plugins/
siteorigin-panels), which works
with Wordpress-based websites and virtually all Wordpress
themes. If youve always wanted
to build Wordpress pages that
look unique (and get outside of
the constraints of your theme), or
build pages that are image-driven
or based on ixed columns and
rows, PageBuilder is for you.
A writers website is always a work in
progress, which is both a blessing and
a curse. Even if you dont have the site
you want today, take a few small steps
every few months or even every year
toward the site you ultimately want.
Along the way, youll gain conidence
with the platforms and learn how to
handle all the little challenges that
come along with website maintenance.
If you need to brush up on your skills,
or solve a speciic problem, try Lynda.
com, which ofers tutorials on just
about every technical topic imaginable,
including Wordpress, HTML, email
marketing and more.
Jane Friedman teaches digital media at
the University of Virginia. She writes and
copublishes The Hot Sheet (hotsheetpub.
com) industry newsletter for authors.
Scouts Honor
What is a literary scout, anyway?
BY STEPHANIE STOKES OLIVER
heers! Youve inished

your manuscript, and are
preparing to begin your
search for the perfect
agent or publisher. But what if someone discovered you irst? Someone
who could shorten aspects of the traditional submissions processvetting
a publishers interest before youve
even signed with an agent, or getting
you a foreign-language deal? his
may be the stuf writers dreams are
made ofbut those dreams are pretty
far-fetched. Or are they?
In publishing circles, a system for
bringing your book directly to the
attention of a publisher by way of literary scout is taking ofso much
so that if you havent yet stumbled
upon the term, you probably will
soon. Heres a brief look at the many
forms scouts can takeand what
they could mean for you.
PUBLISHING HOUSE
SCOUTING
WHAT IT IS: Scouts from these inhouse programs are tasked with
seeking out potential projects and
bringing them to in-house editors.
At Simon & Schuster, for example,
Judith Currthe president, publisher and founder of the Atria Books
imprinthas contracted several
scouts to bring in projects for editorial consideration, much like Atrias
full-time acquiring editors do.
HOW IT WORKS: he literary scouts,
typically hand-selected for their connections to writers and/or agents
through previous career experience,
are groomed to know the editorial

needs and guidelines of the publishing house inside and outand
then tap their contacts for works-inprogress that might be a it. Scouts
proposals get streamlined considerationwith the publisher oten
committing to a 30-day submission
and response periodwhich can be
an asset to agents and writers alike. If
the scouts proposal is accepted, the
scout steps away, and editors then
pursue the deal as usual with the
author or agent. he best part: One
does not have to be agented to have
work considered.
Titles
acquired this way include Life by the
Cup by Zhena Muzyka and he Book of
Doing and Being by Barnet Bain (both
Atria Books).
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN ACTION:
WHERE TO FIND OUT MORE: As of now,

for the most part, these mysterious
and elusive scouts must ind you. (Still,
it never hurts to do a little digging to
ind out if you happen to know someone who knows someone.)
INTERNATIONAL AGENCY
SCOUTING
WHAT IT IS: Some scouts work for literary agencies: hey help discover new
works for agents to represent. hese
scouts are largely reps from European
or Asian markets looking for U.S.
books that have not yet been published overseas.
In a similar vein, there are also U.S.
scouting agencies whose clients are
international publishers, for whom
theyre seeking books for translation

and publication in foreign markets.
For example, New Yorkbased Maria
B. Campbell Associates (MBCA) Inc.
has a team of scouts that serve publishing houses in 19 countries, as well
as some television and ilm markets.
Some markets for scouts are specialized; MBCA meets a high demand for
childrens literature that has appeal
outside of the U.S.
HOW IT WORKS: Such scouts and
scouting agencies make connections
with a vast network of agents, editors,
rights specialists and magazine editors.
hey read newspapers, magazines, literary journals; browse YouTube, book
blogs and e-book bestselling lists; and
attend international book conferences
to see what has a receptive audience
stateside that may appeal elsewhere.
here is also the serendipity of
inding a little gem in a bookstore
and rediscovering a classic that has
never been translated in one of the
languages we work in, Campbell says.
Scouting has become more global, as
has publishing.
MBCA averages a sale of one to two

books per day. Recent sales include
Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman
(Harper), rights for which were
acquired by clients Little, Brown (U.K.),
Fayard (France) and Peoples Press
(Denmark); and he Gene: An Intimate
History by Siddhartha Mukherjee
(Scribner), which was placed with
Mondadori (Italy), Fischer (Germany),
Companhia das Letras (Brazil) and
Albert Bonniers (Sweden).
Most
agencies dont work with unsolicited
submissions, but agents interested in
pursuing a foreign rights push can
contact MBCA vice president Agnes
Ahlander Turner via mbcbook.com.
WHERE TO FIND OUT MORE:
CROWD SCOUTING
WHAT IT IS: In 2014 Amazon launched
the Kindle Scout program, which takes
submissions of books that dont have
traditional publishing contracts. Once
accepted for consideration, a cover and
description are posted for readers to
vote on.
HOW IT WORKS: You submit an
unpublished (but publishing-ready)
manuscript of at least 50,000 words
in the categories of Amazons bestselling genres, such as Mystery and
hriller; Science Fiction and Fantasy;
and Teen and Young Adult. Your
work must be edited, with a cover,
description, and author bio and
photo provided. he books with the
most reader nominations are vetted
by Amazon for a chance at a contract
with Kindle Press, which comes with
a $1,500 advance, 50 percent e-book
royalty, ive-year renewable terms
and marketing on Amazon.
Crowd-scouted titles include Typecast

by Kim Carmichael and Girl on the
Moon by Jack McDonald Burnett.
Visit
kindlescout.amazon.com.
HOW TO FIND OUT MORE:
Remember: Scouts are not substitutes for agents. hey dont represent
you by shopping your project around,
advising you on contracts, addressing production problems or cutting
royalty checks. Publishers typically pay
them a lat rate per book. heir job is
in and out, making sure your project is
submitted for publication, translation,
foreign rights, or TV and ilm, and that
you receive a publishing decision in
3045 days. Scouts honor. WD
Stephanie Stokes Oliver is an author, an
editor, and a scout for Simon &Schuster's
Atria Books. See her scouting guidelines for
authors at stephaniestokesoliver.com.
POPULAR
Annual
FICTION
AWARDS
th
Call for Entries
give genre fiction

respect it deserves.
Its time to
the
Enter the competition that celebrates short

stories in todays most popular genres!
ENTER IN
ANY OR ALL
OF THESE
CATEGORIES:
MYSTERY/CRIME
HORROR
Grand Prize:
$2,500 cash, a trip to the Writers Digest
Conference, a feature about you in
the May/June 2017 issue of
Writers Digest and more.
Stories must be 4,000
words or fewer.
ROMANCE
SCIENCE FICTION/
FANTASY
THRILLER/SUSPENSE
YOUNG ADULT
Early-Bird Deadline:
September 15, 2016
Deadline:
October 14, 2016
For more information or to enter online, visit
writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions/popular-fiction-awards
accelerated online
certificate in writing
the young adult novel
Eighteen months working with
celebrated faculty and a small cohort
to bring your novel to the page
Instructors & Mentors:
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Tom Leveen
Amy K. Nichols
Barry Lyga
Martha Brockenbrough
Varian Johnson
Karen Harrington
Sharon Flake
Kimberley Griffiths Little
Sheila OConnor
Beth Staples
Application Deadline: October 31, 2016
Program and application

information at
piper.asu.edu/novel
A unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Fromms ction debut blends a zany adventure with a

low-key exploration of nostalgia.
Publishers Weekly
. . . Fromms aection for smalltown America, and his skill in
rendering its inhabitants in
great and telling detail, will
remind readers of the best of
Richard Russo.
RON CURRIE JR.,
author of Everything Matters!
Appealing as it is eccentric . . .
Fromm mixes his infectious o beat
humor with a serious undertone.
Booklist
Fromms haunting tale of adults

testing the bonds of youthful
friendships is full of hard-won wit
and unexpected humor.
JIM RULAND,
author of Forest of Fortune
9781440594649 | $24.99 | 304 pages
AVA I L A B L E N O W
Wherever Books Are Sold
A B O U T T H E AU T H O R
DAVE FROMM is an attorney and the author of the memoir Expatriate Games:
My Season of Misadventures in Czech Semi-Pro Basketball (Skyhorse 2008). He
lives with his wife and children in western Massachusetts. This is his rst novel.
MEET THEAGENT
BY KARA GEBHART UHL
Mitch Hofman
AARON M. PRIEST LITERARY AGENCY
hile Mitch Hoffman entered the agenting world only recently, he has
20 years of experience in the industry, having had a hand in publish-
ing more than 200 books, nearly a third of which were New York Times
bestsellers. Hes held editorial positions at Dutton and Dell Publishing
Raymond Khoury,
author of
The Last Templar
(Dutton)
and most recently was vice president/executive editor at Grand Central

Publishing. Through his career, Hoffman has worked with such noteworthy
authors as David Baldacci, Roger Ebert, Harlan Coben, Senator Al Franken
Tom Rob Smith,

author of Child 44
(Grand Central
Publishing)
and Brad Meltzer. So a year after joining the Aaron M. Priest Literary
Agency as a senior agent, hes likely the most veteran new agent youll
find hunting for clients.
AUTHORS HE
EDITED WHO ARE
NOW CLIENTS
Hoffman says hes looking for storytellers, regardless of genre, who

strive to build surprising and singular worlds on the page. In nonfiction,
my dream author is the person able to make rarefied subjects accessible,
Bouchercon World
Mystery Convention,
Sept. 1518,
New Orleans
and who can open our eyes and make connections between experts and
the rest of us, he says. Find him online at aaronpriest.com and on Twitter
@Mitch_Hoffman.
Pre-publishing, I was
an office manager for
a computer store in
London. I knew very little
about computers but the
owner liked hiring people
with American accents.
UPCOMING
CONFERENCES
FUN FACT
AWP Conference &

Bookfair, Feb. 811,
2017, Washington D.C.
thrillers,
suspense, crime
fiction and
literary fiction
FICTION:
NONFICTION:
narrative nonfiction, politics,

popular science,
history, memoir,
current events and
pop culture
SEEKING
FAVORITE
HOFFMAN PHOTO GREG KESSLER; QUEENS SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: TEDDY AND MIA
DRINK:
Coffee. Coffee,
coffee, coffee!
BLOG:
brainpickings.org
PLACE:
PITCH TIPS
QUERY PET PEEVES
Be picky in choosing
your agent. Make
sure that I share your
vision of your work
and your career.
Queens
We must try to
contribute joy to the world.
That is true no matter what
our problems, our health, our
circumstances. We must try. I
didnt always know this, and
am happy I lived long enough
to find out. Roger Ebert
QUOTE:
Typos in the
first line of
your query.
Sending submissions
in categories I dont
represent.
Trying to be too funny/clever.

Unless you are a professional
comedianas in, people pay
you to make them laugh
refrain from opening your
query with a joke.
The pitch is all

about getting your
reader to want to
read your work.
Be as clear and
concise as possible,
so we can get to
what mattersyour
writing.
Kara Gebhart Uhl (pleiadesbee.com) writes and edits from Fort Thomas, Ky.
BREAKINGIN
Debut authors: How they did it, what they learned, and why you can do it, too.
BY CHUCK SAMBUCHINO
Aya de Leon
Uptown Thief
(romantic suspense,
Dafina, July)
Oakland, Calif. PREI was on Def Poetry [Jam];

I had a short essay inEssence; I
had poems and short prose in
various anthologies;I toured the
country with my one-woman
show; I self-published chapbooks,
a DVD of my theater show and
CDs. I put of my dream of publishing long-form iction to do all
those stay-out-late-at-night activities
that would be much harder to do
as a mom. TIME FRAME: I started
in 2008 and sold Uptown hief in
2015. ENTER THE AGENT: I queried
more than 100 agents. Finally, I
found Jenni Ferrari-Adler of Union
Literarythough [actually], I
queried one of her colleagues, who
passed the query on to her. WHAT I
DID RIGHT: I worked with [three different] freelance editors. hey helped
me develop the drat that I sent out.
IF I COULD DO IT AGAIN: I would
have started earlier in educating
WRITES FROM:
THIEF:
myself about the industry. PLATFORM:

From the mid-90s to 2009, I built up
an audience through spoken-word
and hip-hop theater. Ive written
for dozens of online and print
outlets, some with national or international reach. Also, I was thrilled
to be selected for this years class of
the Debutante Ball, a group of ive
debut novelists who blog weekly
throughout the process of getting
published. ADVICE FOR FELLOW
WRITERS: Be ready to wipe out hard
on many occasions. Wear it like a
badge of honor. Youre trying.
NEXT UP: Book two: It follows the
secondary protagonist from the
irst book, and also has a heist plot,
a romantic arc and a lot of family
drama. WEBSITE: ayadeleon.com.
J. Todd Scott
The Far Empty
(crime/suspense, G.P.
Putnams Sons, June)
In the stark Texas

borderlands, an unearthed
skeleton throws a small town
into violent turmoil.
WRITES FROM:
Texas and Arizona.
In college, I published
one short story in a small campus
journal, then spent the next two
decades doing anything but writing.
I went to law school and became a
federal agent. However, a badge and
gun never quite replaced my love
of writing, and in 2011, I sat down
and started writing seriously again
for the irst time in 20 years. TIME
FRAME: he irst book I ever completed was for NaNoWriMo 2011
(and is now tucked in a drawer),
the second got me my agent (but
ultimately didnt sell), and the
third was he Far Empty. ENTER
THE AGENT: Carlie Webber of CK
Webber Associates was one of the
irst agents I queried, and during
the call, I knew it was a great it.
Although that book didnt sell, she
kept reminding me she was representing my career, not just one book.
WHAT I LEARNED: Its all about
timemaking time to write, taking
time to learn the business. WHAT I
DID RIGHT: I stopped making
excuses. I believed real writers
never struggled inding the right
word, never fought their anxieties.
PRE-EMPTY:
SCOTT PHOTO ANDREA SALMON
A sexy modern-day
Latina Robin Hood returns to a life
of crime to save her Lower East
Side womens health clinicfirst
by starting an exclusive escort
service, then by plotting to heist
a billionaire.
he minute writing got diicult,

I made any excuse to bail. But
creating something from nothing
is hard, and as a writer you have
to discover your creative process
for getting that work done, and
then trust it. ADVICE FOR FELLOW
WRITERS: Be your own best audience. Write the book you want to
read. NEXT UP: he sequel to he Far
Empty, due out in 2017. WEBSITE:
jtoddscott.com.
Kit de Waal
My Name Is Leon
(literary fiction, Simon &
PHOTO JUSTINE STODDART
Schuster, July)
In 1970s Britain,
a young black boy seeks to reunite
with his beloved white halfbrother after they are separated
in foster care.
WRITES FROM: Royal Leamington

Spa, England. PRE-LEON: I worked
for 15 years in criminal and family
law, and wrote about the urban
underbellyforgotten and overlooked places where the best stories
are found. I wrote short stories for
a couple of years before this novel.
TIME FRAME: I wrote the entire
book in about a year. his is quite
quick for a book, but I had to do
no research at all. Leons world is
very familiar to [me] so it was more
a question of scene choice rather
than research. ENTER THE AGENT:
Jo Unwin [of Jo Unwin Literary
Agency] was referred to me by
another agent. WHAT I LEARNED:
hat there is still a lot to do to bring
a book to inal drat, even when you
think youve inished. WHAT I DID
RIGHT: I kept going and had belief
OLD HABITS DIE HARD

Scott reveals three habits he had to
break to better commit to his writing
at bit.ly/WDBreakingIn.
that perseverance would pay of. I

also surrounded myself with supportive writers who never told me
to give up and [who] helped me
develop a thick skin. IF I COULD DO
IT AGAIN: I would have worried
less and enjoyed the process more.
ADVICE FOR WRITERS: For every one
hour you write, read for two. NEXT
UP: My second novel, which Ive
almost inished! WEBSITE:
kitdewaal.com. WD
Chuck Sambuchino is the editor of Guide
to Literary Agents and Childrens Writers
& Illustrators Market (both WD Books). His
most recent book is When Clowns Attack.
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Steal
Steal
All writers take inspiration from stories,

characters and worlds that have been
written before. Heres how to tap the
riches of those undiscovered countries
and make them your own.
IMAGE SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: YOUR
BY JEFF SOMERS
arly in Raymond Chandlers 1939 novel

he Big Sleepone of the most popular
noir stories ever published, and a book
thats twice been adapted into ilmthe
chaufeur of the rich family that sits at the
center of the convoluted plot is found dead of a blow
to the head, let inside the family car and pushed of a
pier (when someone dislikes you so much they murder
you twice, you know youre in trouble). Famously, the
chaufeur is quickly forgotten and his murder is never
solved, or even referred to again. When Howard Hawks
was making his ilm version he called up Chandler and
asked who killed the chaufeur, and Chandler admitted
he had no idea.
As a writer, you likely have one of two basic reactions
to that story: 1) You regard it as an amusing anecdote
and wonder how any novel with such an obvious loose
thread ever got published (and are possibly heartened
by the story as you stare into the abyss that is your own
half-woven manuscript), or 2) Youre fascinated by the
possibilities that chaufeur represents and have already
started constructing scenarios to explain his death. In
fact, you might realize you could write an entire novel
about that chaufeuror your own version of him.
Which is exactly how literary thievery at its best is done.
Every single novel owes a debt to books that came
before it. To paraphrase the words of the Bible, there is
simply nothing new under the sun. And thats why good
writers borrow, and great writers steal.
Of course, you can go too far with the great writers
steal bit. Being obsessed with following Chandlers dangling thread and inventing your own doomed driver is
one thing. Reverse-engineering the plot of he Big Sleep
and publishing something called he Very Long and
Restful Nap is plagiarismand universally frowned upon,
to put it mildly. When we talk about stealing from
other writers, its not meant literally, its a bit of hyperbole to get your attention.
Many aspiring writers get the notion that the most
important thing about a novel is that it be absolutely
unique, that it have some sort of mind-bendingly new
idea at its core. But accepting the whole nothing new

under the sun bit above, its literally impossible to have
an utterly original idea for a book (and you cannot, by
the way, copyright an idea). hats not how literary stealing works, anyway.
What great writers do is practice the art of looking for
the Undiscovered Countries inside every storybecause
every book ever written is just a torch being carried into
an incredibly deep, incredibly dark cavern of the imagination, illuminating only a small portion of the potential
ideas it contains. What remains hidden in the shadows
is a rich source of inspiration for your own workif you
know how to mine it.
CASING UNDISCOVERED COUNTRIES

What are Undiscovered Countries? Simply put, they are
the dangling threads like Chandlers chaufeur, the asides
and throwaway lines that another writer never circles back
to, but that for whatever reason strike or inspire you. hey
come in a lot of diferent forms: a minor character who
you dont think gets her due, a plot thread that doesnt
resolve in a way that satisies you, a concept that has an
unexplored inversion or subversion that holds your interest. hose kinds of minor details that call to you may be
begging to be developed into a full-ledged premise.
Evry bok evr writen is just a trch

being cried into an inredibly deep,
inredibly drk cavrn of the imaginatin,
illuminating nly a small prtin of the
potential ideas it cntains.
Lets look at an example of identifying an
Undiscovered Country within someone elses book,
or in this case, a series of them: J.K. Rowlings Harry
Potter stories. In the world Rowling created, its implied
that the Hogwarts school is freeand to some degree
Pro Tips & Techniques

compulsoryfor magical, non-Muggle children.
Dumbledore goes to extreme lengths to ensure Harry
is made aware of his admittance, ater all. Most readers
read that and simply relate to Harrys good luckwho
wouldnt want to be a wizard in the making? A writer
reader, however, might pause and ask what possibilities
Rowling isnt exploring.
A nvel vrstuffed with ideas is also

begging to be unstuffed by smene else,
as it almost always means sme
of those ideas re nevr develped to
ther full potential.
Consider, for instance, that not every kid who is ofered
the chance to attend a mystical school might want tojust
as kids who are born with athletic gits sometimes want to
be molecular engineers, and kids who are whizzes at math
sometimes want to be rock stars. hats an Undiscovered
Country that might inspire a character or a world of your
own. Why would your magical kid not want magic in her
life? Is it because of trauma? Ethics? Or is it the family
business and she simply has an adolescent opposition
to following suit? Wherever the answers to those bigger
questions lead you, when you emerge on the other side
of your story, it wont be Harry Potter with the names
changeditll be a work all your own.
Real-world examples of this abound. A few years ago,
science-iction author John Scalzi started wondering
about those unnamed crew members in the original
Star Trek TV series (always clad in the red uniform
indicating they were security oicers) who always
died while the main characters survived: Scalzis novel
Redshirts introduces his own version of those unfortunate
crew members, set in a world of his own imagining,
and reveals why they were so oten casualties. In the
late 1960s, George MacDonald Fraser wondered about
a briely mentioned bully (referred to only by his last
name, Flashman) who is expelled from school in the
classic 1857 novel Tom Browns School Days: His own
imagined Harry Flashman became the star of Flashman
and the 11 sequels in the series detailing the characters
cowardice, drunkenness and general awfulness as he
lucks into a heros reputation and fortune despite being a
basically terrible person.
In other words, inspiration found in other books

really is ripe for the picking. he trick is in inding
those Undiscovered Countries and developing them on
your own.
FINDING A WAY INAND OUT

As with most things, inding truly story-worthy
Undiscovered Countries isnt always so easy or obvious.
While there will always be occasional cases of efortless
inspiration where you ind yourself tugging at a dangling plot thread and suddenly buried under 80,000 fresh
words, sometimes it takes a little more concerted efort
to unearth story gold. Here are a few approaches to try
whether on a book youre reading right now, or an old
favorite sitting on your shelf.
Kidnapping Minor Characters
Every story has major and minor characters, and sometimes the supporting players are just as interesting as
the starsor even more so. An author might introduce
amazing minor characters for a number of reasons
plot twists, backstory or comic relief, to name just a
fewbut limit their page time to focus on the main
thrust of the story.
When you ind yourself wishing for more of one such
characterwondering what happens to her when shes
not on the page, or what a story featuring her as a main
character might be likethats an opportunity. Consider
the classic play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are
Dead by Tom Stoppard: Two minor characters from
William Shakespeares Hamlet, who are unwittingly set
up for execution through the machinations of Hamlet
and his uncle the king, are given center stage as their
activities and thoughts beyond the original script are
explored to brilliant efect.
Most oten, you wont literally write about the actual
characters. (If you do, be aware that youre treading into a
gray area of having to seek permission.) Instead, deconstruct them, and use whatever you ind remarkable about
them as inspiration for imagined players of your own.
Simply asking yourself a few questions about a minor
character can lead you in wonderfully creative directions.
Picking Up Throwaways
It feels unfair, sometimes, how some authors seem to just
teem with brilliant ideas, throwing down one ater the
other, while others among us struggle for just one idea
we could plausibly describe as brilliant if you squint

a little. Still, a novel overstufed with ideas is also begging to be unstufed by someone else, as it almost always
means some of those ideas are never developed to their
full potential.
Ill own up to this one. Reading Dirk Gentlys Holistic
Detective Agency by Douglas Adams, I encountered the
fantastic idea of the Electric Monk, an appliance invented
to believe in things on your behalf:
The Electric Monk was a labour-saving device, like
a dishwasher or a video recorder Electric Monks
believed things for you, thus saving you what was
becoming an increasingly onerous task, that of
believing all the things the world expected you
to believe.
Certainly a brilliant idea (and a device any of us living

through todays political climate could use). he concept is classic Adams: a little crazy, a little brilliant
and hardly referred to again as the story proceeds.
I picked that idea out, thought about it a lot, and
imagined a darker, grimmer version: In my own science-iction novel he Electric Church, the Monks are
cyborgsrobot bodies with a human brain surgically
transplanted into thembecause the titular church
believes that a normal human lifespan is far too short
to contemplate sin and salvation (which truly takes an
eternity). Note that its not at all the same as Adams
invention; its what came out ater a run through my
own mental machine.
Twisting the Rope
Who doesnt love a good twistthe sort of mind-blowing
revelation that changes everything? Its the reason Gone
Girl by Gillian Flynn was the novel of 2012 (though the
great writing, incisive social commentary and compelling characters helped make it memorable, of course).
When setting out for an Undiscovered Country
within someone elses book, twists are a tool you can use
as wellby imagining the story taking a diferent turn.
Returning to the example of Gone Girl, what if Nick had
realized from the start what Amy was up to, and the rest
of the book was Nick plotting against Amy while she
plots against himand then she igures out he knows,
and things get really crazy?
Twisting the rope that way might reveal other
Undiscovered Countries, too: What if the crime in
question is twisted into a false accusation of some other
kindextortion, inidelity, harassment (nearly all

of which, come to think of it, also played into Gone
Girl on a more minor scale)? A novel that explores
other forms of manipulation inside a marriageor
another kind of relationship (brother/sister, teacher/
student, friend/neighbor)might just hold its own
irresistible appeal.
Catching the Flip Side
Every great idea has an inverse. Take a book such as
he Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. While the story
gets quite twisty, the elevator pitch might boil down to
something along the lines of possibly unreliable narrator thinks she may have witnessed something to do with
a murder at the house she spies on from the train every
day. he beauty of the story is the main characters lack
of reliabilityher depression, alcoholism and denial
about the state of her own lifeall of which has led her
to construct a complex fantasy around the attractive
young couple she sees every day.
An Unexplored Country here might be a simple,
direct inversion: What if the main characters and narrators were the couple, who see a woman staring at
them every day? What would they think of her? What
conclusions would they reach? And how might their
stories intertwine?
When yu find yurself wishing

fr mre of a minr chractr, thats
an pprtunity.
STAKING YOUR CLAIM
here may not be anything new under the sunbut
there are always new ways of looking at things. he
best writers keep their eyes open for opportunities not
to steal, not even to borrow, but to reinvent. Dare to
explore Undiscovered Countries, and you might just ind
yourself stumbling upon a whole new world to charter as
your own. WD
Jeff Somers (jeffreysomers.com) began writing by court order as an
attempt to steer his creative impulses away from engineering genetic
grotesqueries. Hes the author of the Avery Cates novels, Chum and
We Are Not Good People; has published more than 30 short stories;
and writes about books for Barnes & Noble and About.com.
Its the
LITTLE Things
The best writers know that every word counts.
Heres how to nail the small stuffwithout sweating it.
BY ELIZABETH SIMS
PUNCTUATE FOR BEST EFFECT

Using efective punctuation can be as impactful as
using the right word.
Take proper form.
Eschew boldface except for headings, but do use italics
for emphasis in narration or dialogue. Reserve allcaps for fortissimo volume, and be sparing. I remember
arguing with a copy editor about this; he didnt understand the diference between these two:
Mommy.
MOMMY!
But there it is.

Pause for emphasis.
To indicate pauses, use either ellipses or em dashes.
Use the irst to indicate a longer, soter pause:
Alexander
Yes, darling?
I think the voices are back.
IMAGE SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: YIENKEAT
eve all heard the advice, Dont

sweat the small stuf and its
all small stuf. Solid wisdom!
Because sweating anything
means worrying about it, and
worry never did anybody any good.
However, that doesnt mean we should ignore the
small stuf.
Because when it comes to writing, little things
matter. Isnt life that way too? he beckoning aroma
of brewing cofee. he snap of the matadors cape. he
mutterings of a fool. he bite of a stone between sock
and shoe. To which do we respond more strongly:
being told that a bomb destroyed its target, or seeing
a splash of blood on the pavement?
Certainly when youre writing a irst drat, your focus
must be on low and freedom. But as you work with
your material, as you revise and hone and polish it
iction or nonictionthats when you can and should
attend to the little things, both in content and form.
Heres how to nail the most demonstrative
of diminutives.
And the other for more abrupt situations:

He sprinted as fast as he could, butdamn!the
drone was already at the top of the bridge.
Or interruptions.
Ive never heard anything so
Ludicrous?
Add seasoning.
You can impart subtle lavors with commas and em dashes
to set of subsidiary or independent clauses. Commas are
less obtrusive, and em dashes add more emphasis.
I took care of the problem, at some expense.
I took care of the problemat some expense.
Break good.
Savvy writers know that breaking paragraphs is an
art in itself. he quality of my writing leaped when I
started to break paragraphs as I did chapters, aiming to
separate them at a heart-clutchingor at least signiicantmoment: a thought, an action, a realization. Avoid
graphzillas that take up a page or more. his rule, like any,
can be ignored now and then for efect, but you want to
avoid the text-blocks-of-granite look.
Carlos rode Jupiter fast and well to round up the
scattered herd. Finally they were all moving together,
and he heaved a sigh of relief.
But Jupiter was skittish; something was wrong.
Carlos looked at his watch, then the sun.
Uh-oh.
Theyd gotten the herd headed east instead of
north! The cliffs lay just over that rise, and all 500
longhorns were picking up speed.
All of that could have been one graph, but how much better it is with the movement and excitement of shorter ones.
Likewise, you can consciously break paragraphs when
shiting points of view.
President Truman believed that just one atomic
bomb would bring about a Japanese surrender. At
lunch with several members of his cabinet on Aug. 7,
he reasoned that the Emperor would fold instantly.
No, thought Secretary of War Patterson. The
Emperor was considered a god by the Japanese
people. A god might be temporarily stunned at
what had just happened at Hiroshima, but that
was it.
MAKE EVEN MINOR CHARACTERS MEMORABLE

Its easy to hotfoot it over a minor character, whether
in iction or noniction. But if the person is important
enough to exist in the world of your story, let your readers
picture that existence.
Pick a detail, any detail.
How would you describe the last guy who bagged your
groceries? Did you see him? What about the friend of a
friend you met the other night? Or the baby held by the
distant cousin who showed up at that family funeral?
Being observant in your own life helps when the time
comes to characterize someone. For a minor character,
select just about anything, as long as you use something.
The knock-kneed cheerleader pointed and screamed.
Better still, pick two details.

The bosss wife smelled like Jack Daniels and drove
a red Ferrari.
Spare no one.
Even a character who appears only in passing should
exist in the readers eye. For a literally glancing description, make it visual.
The tram operators filthy hands worked the levers,
and we were off.
The buxom croupier sticked the dice over.
Pan the crowd, then zoom in.

Describing groups of people can be challenging, but you
cannot get away with such say-nothing generalities as:
The people at the party had on a multitude of different outfits.
Instead, give one or two overall details, then zoom in on

one person as a representative.
Guests in classic Hyannisport gearsweaters thrown
over shoulders, loafers without sockscrowded
into the refreshment tent. Wheres the champers?
demanded a sunburned young woman in a tight
white tennis dress.
DO MORE WITH DIALOGUE

With dialogue, nimbleness is the name of the game.
Heres the secret: hink of each dialogue exchange as a
scene. Let it speak for itself.

Change the subject.
In real life, we change the subject all the time, sometimes
abruptly, even hilariously, and it works. Characters can
do the same:
I took Evelyns advice and adopted a vegan diet
and gosh, I feel better without meat! My time in the
400 went down by five seconds.
Speaking of Evelyn, whens she leaving for India?
Even if the situation calls for a more moderate change

of direction, try doing it faster than might seem realistic.
Youll likely be pleased with the results.
End conversations effectively.
he trick to ending a conversation well is to end it
slightly before it would end in real life.
Why should he say he was there? Ive got two witnesses wholl swear
Do you?
What do you mean?
Theyre not your witnesses anymore. Just ask them.
Now move to your next scene. You dont need to tell

your readers that the conversation ended, or that the two
characters argued longer, and you certainly dont have to
show them hanging up or walking away.
Have an agenda.
An easy method I oten use to help write a passage of
dialogue economically, or to ix a muddled one, is to irst
list, roughly, what needs to be revealed:
Family meeting, after Jeremys funeral. Mom and
Dad blame the university. Charlie gets Becky to
understand he knows about her abortion. Implied
threat that hell tell Mom and Dad unless she
produces Jeremys suspicious emails. From POV
of Becky.
hen, stick to your list and just write it. Let your characters freewheel, interrupt and push one another around.
For a swit pace, be more sudden and rapid-ire than you
feel totally comfortable with.
Becky made coffee and poured everybody a cup.
Well, said Dad, The family will never be the
same. We all have to accept it.
Whos not accepting it? said Charlie.
Your fathers trying to convince himself, said
Mom. Becky sat there with her secret.
Dad shrugged. I dont have a problem. But

I talked to Hershel today and theres no question
were filing a wrongful-death suit against that college.
Is there any brandy?
We are? said Mom, going to the liquor cabinet.
I think its a splendid idea. Becky couldnt tell if she
was being sarcastic or clueless.
Id like some brandy, said Charlie.
Youre too young, said Dad.
And so would Becky, I bet, now that shes no longer Charlie trailed off, and Becky glared at him.
No longer what? said Mom.
Trying to get on the rowing team, Becky said
quickly. Ann Wright edged me out.
Charlie said, as Becky knew he would, Becky,
Becky. I dont think the university had anything to do
with Jeremys death, do you?
I dont know.
You do. Come on. What can we do to give Mom
and Dad a clue as to what really happened?
Dad put his cup down. You kids know something.
I dont want to hear it. Mom was drinking
brandy out of the shot glass.
Well, said Charlie, reaching for the brandy
bottle, I want to hear it.
Move on as soon as your characters have done what they

need to do.
BRING OUT VIVID SCENIC DETAIL

Every time you face the task of bringing a scene to life,
you need to select from tens, hundreds, even thousands
of possible details. Yikes!
Rest assured that while you have endless options,
theres no one best choice. Would a painter look at a landscape and decide one color is better than all the others?
Simply portray a few that will help readers see it as you do.
Adjust your viewfinder.
Choose a set of eyes through which to reveal the scene.
Diferent characters notice diferent things. A hairstylist
might take note of the ilm producers extensions. A
10-year-old might notice a row of potholes that look like
dinosaur tracks. A killer might hear a siren in the distance. A sailor might sense a shiting breeze.
A good rule of thumb is for narrators to mention a big
detail and a little one. Alternatively, the narration might
focus on one very small detail and dwell on that alone.
Estevez stepped into the bedroom. Blood had

pooled around the body, and for some reason the
detectives attention was drawn to one trickle on the
coverlet that had dried in the shape of a heart.
Play your cards.

Cut a one-inch-square hole in an index card. Hold it
away from your face and look through it. What do you
see? he texture of the brickwork? A screw head protruding from the tire tread? A blue jays crest? A barnacle
on the hull? he thermometer stuck at 20 below? he
vacant eye socket of a discarded doll?
Dont neglect the other senses. What might the equivalent of the hole in the card be if you listened closely, or
breathed deeply, zeroing in on a split second?
The corridor smelled of new carpet.
The escape pod was dead silent: no energy cell.
ZEN IN ON SUBTLE EMOTIONS

Its easy to write a character whos lost in a rage, or transixed in horror, drowning in grief, joyful beyond words.
But oten in narrative prose, subtler feelings get overlooked. What of hope, unease, mild frustration, craving?
hey existwe all feel themand can create depth on
the page. heyre little but theyre big!
So many of us tend to dissociate much of the day.
How did you feel, for example, the last time you were
waiting for an elevator? Who among us consistently
savors the fullness of that experience?
Choose to be aware. Feel the quiet, brief triumph of a
well-inessed freeway entrance. Get in the habit of being
present, of taking note of your own richly varied palette
of emotions, and youll ind opportunities to show your
characters being tuned in.
Fantasize.
A good technique to portray hope, longing and/or dissatisfaction in a character is to give her a fantasy. his is oten
seen as a full-blown element that escalates in scope and
intensity throughout a long story or novel: For example, a
girl who wants to become a zoologist when she grows up
and perhaps, by the last chapter, does. But fantasies can
also be portrayed leetingly in small, spontaneous scenes.
Consider a tennis player who takes a moment during the
inal match to imagine his ex-girlfriend coming back to
him if he wins. You can tell a lot about a character by what
comes to mind at select moments.
Use frustration as a trigger.

Mild frustrationthe kind most of us feel so commonly
that we dont even voice itcan bring a story to fuller
life. For instance, say you need a quick scene to delay or
temporarily foil a character. You can exploit such a scene
for character development as well.
Think of each dialogue xchange as a

scene. Let it speak fr itself.
Perhaps your character is waiting for the home pregnancy test to register, and she accidentally knocks the
test stick into the wet basin. Now shes obsessing: Is it
still valid, or should she run to the store for another one?
Depending on how she feels about the pregnancy in the
irst place, this scene might yield something other than
a tight-jawed drive to the pharmacy. Cue the negative
self-talk. Or might she ind a way to blame someone else
for this inconvenience: he boyfriend who didnt buy a
multi-test pack as instructed? he husband who didnt ix
the broken toilet basin cover? he mother whose clumsiness she seems to have inherited?
Be contrary.
A good way to portray subtle unease, among other things,
is to use the rule of opposites: Tell a little about a contrasting emotion before showing whats going on.
Normally while waiting for her husbands brigantine
to appear at the mouth of the Thames, Clara felt
composed and joyful. But the fishermens news of
the storm permitted that old dread to creep into her
heart, just a little bit.
Everyone can relate to subtle feelings. hey might not be

major plot-drivers, but they bring richness to your prose
and fullness to your characters.
he little things, when done right, become invisible to
casual readers, who take smoothness for granted. But
nothing slips by serious readers and professionals in the
business. Write the little things well, and good big things
just might come your way. WD
Contributing editor and award-winning novelist Elizabeth Sims
(elizabethsims.com) is the author of Youve Got a Book in You: A
Stress-Free Guide to Writing the Book of Your Dreams (WD Books),
one of NaNoWriMos Books We Love!
If a picture is worth a thousand words, it stands to reason that

writers might learn a thing or two from artists who express
themselves more visually. Here are 6 wonderfully universal lessons.
BY LEIGH ANNE JASHEWAY
IMAGE SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: ARI-ARTISTE
Creativity
he notion that we humans can create something out of nothingwhether a novel, a

song, a painting or a recipe for vegan chili
is fascinating and just a little bit magical.
Of course, thats not how brain scientists
would put it. According to people in white lab coats,
creativity is a matter of brain activity and neural connections. Did you know, for example, that research shows
that no matter how you express yourself artistically, the
simple act of using your imagination lights up your
whole brain more than almost any other activity you can
engage in?
I have always been interested in both science and
magic. In retrospect, that is probably because the intersection of the two is art. As a writer who pens humor
and noniction for various audiences and is always
looking to keep things fresh, I wondered what I could
discover if I were to pick the brains of some of my most
artistic friends, in an array of disciplines: a photographer, a recycled artist, a singer/songwriter, a painter, and
a chainsaw artist/sculptor/art therapist (hows that for a
combination?). Id hoped they would be able to provide
ideas that we word-dependent types could use to become
more creativeand they didnt disappoint. he following
are my six favorites.
1. TO FIND YOUR GUIDING LIGHT, SEEK THE DARK.

According to scientists, the imagination network of the
brain is most active when were daydreaming or letting
our minds wander. Unfortunately, these researchers also
note that creative achievers tend to be worse than most
other people at iltering out stimuli and simply letting
our brains run free.
Tracy Sydor is a ine arts photographer specializing
in photos that tell the stories of women who have survived domestic abuse and trauma. As I interviewed
Sydor, it became clear that her brain is always abuzz

with ideas. Whereas many photographers see a perfectly framed image that inspires them to grab a camera,
for Sydor its more oten the other way aroundwith
her camera, she tries to recreate what exists only in her
minds eye. Not only does she picture where to place
her models, what they should wear, how they should
be made up and where they should pose, she also frequently creates background art and props to bring
what she has envisioned to life. For example, she once
sculpted a set of 9-foot by 14-foot horns because she
visualized them on her model and couldnt ind anything that was a close enough approximation.
Sydor notes how much shes come to rely on her
darkroomnot just to develop her ilm, but to develop
her thoughts. Because I spend so much time stimulated
by everything around me, I need to spend time in dark
silence, she says. As a photographer, my outside eye is
always busy. Its only in the dark that my inside eye
can focus.
Reserch shws that no matr hw

yu xpress yurself rtistically,
the simple act of using yur
imaginatin lights up yur whole
brain mre than almost any othr
activity yu can engage in.
Uninterrupted quiet and darkness can be key to creativity and low for writers as well. We may not have our
own darkrooms, but we can ind places to shut out the
world. I was recently turned onto the idea of an isolation
tank, a light and soundproof box in which your body

loats in salt water. Many spas are ofering them now, in
sessions ranging from 45 to 90 minutes or even longer.
As you drit away, your brain works in the theta mode,
which has been shown to spark imagery, enhance memory and create a sense of deep calm. Next time youre
feeling overwhelmed with ideas but struggling to put
them on the page, why not give one a try?
2. ENGAGE IN CHILDS PLAY.

Most of us were much more imaginativeand fearless
when we were young. As adults, we oten approach our
artistic endeavors in a more businesslike manner. Will I
have fun doing this? is replaced by, Will this be a bestseller?
Talk about a way to stile imagination!
We shuld aim to spend at least

prt of evry day with positive and
playful peple.
Noelle Dass is an artist who paints colorful, cartoonlike
animals and landscapes. To stand in her booth at an art
show is to reconnect with your inner child. In fact, many
of her fans (myself included) ind themselves reluctant to
return to their grown-up lives ater visiting her world of
make-believe.
Its itting, then, that Dass approach to the painting
process is itself childlike. I usually dont have a preconceived notion of what Im going to create, she says. Most
of the time I sketch with no goal or objective. My hand
will draw something and then it reveals itself to me: Oh,
look, its a turtle staring at the moon!
To engage your inner child in your writing process, try
making your workspace more colorful and fun. hree colors to consider (all of which are, not coincidentally, oten
present in Dass work): blue, which enhances out-of-thebox thinking; yellow, which increases energy; and purple,
which encourages looking at things from a diferent perspective. What play might you be tempted to engage in
if you stocked your writing space with coloring books,
puppets, toys or musical instruments? My desk is graced
with a windup rabbit, a rubber donkey from Shrek and
a giant dachshund eraserall watched over by a Dass
painting of a goat in sunglasses. Numerous studies have
found that adults who take time to play are more creative
than those who dont.
3. SHARE WHAT YOU LOVE.

A great way to boost your creativity is to encourage the
talents of children. Not only can mentoring kids help
you see your own writing with fresh eyes, but knowing
that youve sparked creative interest in others can help
sustain you through diicult times in the writing process.
Maiya Becker refers to herself as a recycled artist.
She inds artistic inspiration in things that have been
tossed aside by othersand shes not the only one.
Becker is a member of MECCA (Materials Exchange
Center for Community Arts), a nonproit organization
in Eugene, Ore., dedicated to diverting materials out
of the waste stream and into creative endeavors. To
inspire her own art, she helps children learn to
turn throwaway items into something new and fun.
Creativity begets creativity, she says. I always feel
more creative ater Ive helped children explore their
own artistic talents. And todays kids oten dont have a
chance to be creative in school.
Even if you have children of your own, consider sharing your writing talent with kids outside your family
(they might even appreciate you more than those who
know you best). Explaining what you do and how you
do it to the young and enthusiastic, while showing them
how to nurture their own talents, can reignite your own
writing passion. Youll also very likely be helping to ill a
need in your community: No doubt you can easily ind
groups in your town that would love to have you share
your passion and expertise.
4. CHOOSE YOUR COMPANY WISELY.

Psychologists say that when we spend time with other
people, our brain syncs up with the emotions they
express. In other words, we catch the moods of those
around us. If youve ever found your creativity suddenly
sapped and your energy dampened, ask yourself
whether these feelings relect the person you most
recently interacted with.
Austin-based singer/songwriter Sara Hickman is one
of the most positive and creative people Ive had the
opportunity to meet. Her joy and passion for life and
for what she does always leave me feeling inspired and
optimisticbut it turns out thats just one link in a chain
of paying positivity forward. I like working with other
professionals who are fun and who bring up my game,
she says. I walk away with something new and exciting
every time Im in the presence of someone I can play

with. Her love for working with other creative people
has paid of professionally as well: Shes been a guest on
25 other musicians albums.
As a group, we writers tend to spend a lot of time alone
with our own thoughts. But we should aim to spend at least
part of every day with positive and playful people. Rather
than joining another writing group, consider inding a
gathering of fun-seeking artists. Imagine how exciting
and motivating it would be to challenge a group of playful
friends to express one of your writing projects in photos,
sculpture, dance or a mural.
And on a more personal level, consider your closest
friendshipswhen youre feeling drained, spend less time
with those who are more life-sucking than life-giving.
5. TURN MISTAKES INTO STARTING POINTS.

Lets face it: No matter how you express yourself, theres
always a chance you wont love the end result. Or, even
more diicult to accept, maybe you love it, but others
dont. In fact, my irst drat of this article was not my best.
My editor told me so. And she was right! he raw material
was all there, but it hadnt found the right shape yet.
Al Jenkins is an art therapist whose creative talents
range from chainsaw carving to painting to pottery to
bronze casting. He has a lot to say on the subject of failure
and its efect on creativity. here are no mistakes in art,
he says. here are accidentsand accidents can lead to
something new. When chainsaw carving, I will oten set
the wood that didnt work out aside and use it again later
with another vision.
Jenkins approach to being reinspired by what didnt
work initially carries over to his other pursuitswhether
painting over other paintings (his own as well as old prints
he inds at secondhand stores) or revisiting old sketchbooks for ideas that seemed like dead-ends then, but
might inspire something now. he best thing we can do
is give ourselves the git of being free from the fear of failure. Negative thinking can lead to anxiety and depression,
and these are certain creativity killers.
We writers can also sculpt something new from writing
projects that didnt work out the irst time. Perhaps that
unsuccessful short story would be better suited as a childrens book, graphic novel or stage play. In the comedy
writing class Ive been teaching for 22 years, I always do
the writing assignments I hand out in class and I keep
them in notebooks. hese exercises are designed to get
PAINT BY LETTER
For a bonus sidebar of more creativity tips from these and
other artists, visit writersdigest.com/sep-16.
my students to stretch their brains and dont seem to have

much use in real writing projectsyet as I revisit my
notes at the end of every term, I almost always ind a raw
gem I can polish and place into a diferent setting.
As long as we stop labeling things as successes and failures, the possibilities for artistic reincarnation are endless.
6. REBOOT YOUR BRAIN.

It became clear very quickly that while all the artists I
interviewed relied on some form of technology in their work
camera, ampliier, chainsaw, etc.none of them spent
hours on end in front of a computer where the siren song
of distractions (I hear you, Facebook) can be hard to ignore.
We writers, on the other hand, might as well have a USB
port in our heads. And while access to the internet has a
lot of beneits, such as allowing us to quickly look up questions about grammar or order the antidepressants we need
to help us deal with Act 2 of our screenplay, we can easily get
sucked into other sites, other ideas and other distractions.
When it comes to sculptors and musicians and photographers, their creative time is spent mostly in their own
brains, not in the collective brain that is the world wide
web. If online distractions are sapping your creative energy
and your ability to focus, there are a number of tools you
can use to disconnect, at least while youre trying to create.
he app Facebook Nanny, for example, can disable
Facebook, while Self-Control allows you set the amount of
time your computer will remain oline from select sites.
But consider going a step further. Noting that visual artists work with their hands, as I conducted interviews for
this article, I did the same. When I reviewed my notes, they
were illed with scribbles of ideas for possible projects that
the interviews had ignited. Research shows that cursive
writing activates areas of the brain that are not engaged
by keyboardingareas that aid in memory, cognition
and, wait for it creativity. Reboot by pocketing your cell
phone or iPad the next time youre about to tap out some
notes on the go, and instead digging out a pad and pencil.
What if feeling more creative is really that simple? WD
Leigh Anne Jasheway is a humor columnist, author of 21 books,
and winner of the 2003 Erma Bombeck Humor Writing Award. She
teaches comedy writing workshops in Oregon.
Tweaking
Critiquing
Looking for a better approach to getting and giving feedback?

Try these 5 keys to making your writing group more effective.
BY STEVEN JAMES
professional writers, its vital for you to create an environment that facilitates that kind of growth.
he most helpful input will come from the most
experienced people. So, if you ind someone whos a
gited writing instructor, excellent! Consider hiring
her to lead your group.
On the other hand, if you team up with mostly
aspiring writers, their input can still be valuablebut
dont expect expert advice from people who arent
experts yet. hat would clearly be ill-advised and
counterproductive.
heyre certainly qualiied as readers, so construct
your meetings in a way that taps into their experience
with the text rather than their expertise about writing.
Which brings us to the next key ...
KEY #1:
DETERMINE YOUR GOALS.

heres nothing wrong with writers getting together
to have lunch, to encourage each other, to develop
friendships or to keep each other accountable. But
if your group exists to help the members develop as
KEY #2:
FOCUS ON SHARING FEEDBACK

RATHER THAN GIVING ADVICE.
When I was in high school, I had a basketball coach
who would grab the ball from us if we were shooting
IMAGE SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: YIENKEAT
ritique groups can provide encouraging

communities for writers and serve
as a great way to get input on your
works-in-progress.
hey can also, however, steer authors
in the wrong direction, propagate bad writing advice
and become causticeven discouraging people to the
point of tears.
he purpose of participating in a critique group
isnt to get your work ripped to shreds, but rather
to improve your writing. While it might be helpful to
develop a tough skin, you also need a community that
will provide appropriate feedback in a beneicial way.
Here are ive keys to doing that with your group.
poorly. No, no, no, hed say. Do it like this. hen he

would demonstrate how to shoot.
Later, when I played in college, the coach would
watch us closely and then give us input. Your shot looks
lat. Keep an eye on the balls arch. Also, watch that
elbow. Try following through moresee how that works.
I learned a lot more from that second coach than the
irst one.
Sometimes, in their exuberance to help others, critique group members grab the ball and, in essence, say,
No, no, no. Do it like this. But thats never as efective as
giving feedback to the writer so he can ix his own shot.
his might require a paradigm shit.
Instead of regarding the meeting as a place where
writers come to get advice, think of it as a place where
they come to get feedback. Group members arent there
to share their opinion of the writers work, but their reaction to it.
his is a crucial diference.
For example, rather than telling the writer, You
should make the villain scarier (advice), the person
might say, he villain didnt really scare me that
much (feedback).
In fact, it might be helpful to stop considering this
a critique group altogether and think of it instead as a
feedback forum. Group members arent there to evaluate
the writing, but to encounter it and respond. Because
of that dynamic, they wont tell the writer what to write,
or how they would write it if it were their work. Saying
things such as, I think you should or, If I were you,
I would isnt allowed. No shoulds. No woulds.
Also, the partners goal isnt to ind instances where
the writer has broken a rule. Rather, theyll help pinpoint the places where their engagement with the story
was disrupted. Its up to the author to take that input and
use it as he wishes, keeping in mind the broader context
of his work.
hen hell have the information he needs to ix his
own shot.
KEY #3:
AGREE NOT TO DEFEND OR EXPLAIN.

First of all, because no one is attacking your work, theres
no need to defend it. No one is allowed to say, But I was
just trying to or, But that part of the story is true. It
actually happened!
Second, no clariications.
A few years ago I visited an art museum at the

Smithsonian Institution. One of the exhibits consisted of
a canvas that was painted entirely blue except for a small
triangle of red in the upper right-hand corner. he painting
beside it looked like someone had simply dribbled paint
onto the canvas and then framed it.
In wondering how either of these qualiied as art,
I asked myself, What are they even supposed to mean?
hen I noticed small plaques hanging near the base
of each painting. he plaques explained what the
colors represented and what the artist was trying
to communicate.
Well, that might be how the art world works, but its
not the way the literary world works.
heres no place at the end of a novel to clarify your
use of imagery, your symbolism or what you meant by
your word choice. he book either stands or falls on its
ownwithout any opportunity for explanation.
So, while youre getting feedback from your partners,
youll be testing the waters to see if your work-in-progress
communicates what you intended. And that means you
dont get to clarify or explain things. Ban such phrases as,
I wanted to show that or, What I meant was or,
I was hoping to
Be receptive, rather than defensive. No arguing.
No explaining.
No buts. No whats.
KEY #4:
CREATE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT.

When you open your critique group session, tell the
members, his is a safe place. People will likely be writing
in diferent genres, and have diferent views on cursing,
religion, etc. Our role here is to listen, to learn and not
to judge. here wont be any negative consequences
for your writing fumbles. You wont be rejected. No
one will attack your work. We will be direct and honest,
but never confrontational.
hat takes the pressure of.
Focus should be on sharing works-in-progress;
reading published (even self-published) work doesnt
share the groups goals of forward movement, so those
who dont have something new to share that week should
resist the urge to bring something old just for the sake of
reading something.
In order to save time, some writing groups email
the work prior to the meeting so members can read it

beforehand. his can be efective, but inevitably someone
forgets or runs out of time to look over the samples. Also,
it can be harder for the author to provide necessary context (more on that in the next key).
Other groups have writers read their work aloud at
meetings. If you want to use the reading aloud approach,
choose a person other than the writer to read each scene
to the group. he author will naturally know when to
pause and what inlection to give the text, whereas having someone else read it will allow the writer to hear
how the story sounds and identify sections that might
be confusing, or places where readers might stumble
over the wording. his simple change alone can make a
tremendous diference.
KEY #5:
GIVE EVERYONE A CROWN.

Using the acronym CROWN, you and your group can easily remember a system of moving through the feedback
process in a positive, beneicial way: Context, Requests,
Observations, What do you mean? and New Ideas.
Context
Any critique that is given outside of the writings broader
context is bound to send you heading in the wrong direction, so the best approach is to begin by telling the group a
little about your writing sample.
You might say, his is the opening to a thriller that I
expect will be 300 pages long. Or, his love scene takes
place in the middle of my romance novel. Readers will be
ROLE REMINDERS
FOR THE GROUP:
Provide responsive feedback rather than criticism

or advice.
Help the writer understand how readers are experiencing the text.
Target comments toward the writing rather than
the writer.
FOR THE WRITER:
Provide context (Are members reading an essay

you hope to submit to a specic market? A rst
chapter of a new novel?).
Avoid taking feedback personally.
Dont defend or clarify your narrative choices.
familiar with the two characters. Or, In the climax of my

young adult fantasy, the protagonist is getting chased by the
Vapor Monster. Im trying to make it as exciting as possible.
Keep things brief. Dont summarize the entire plot,
just provide the context for the scene youre sharing.
Requests
Be honest and speciic when you tell your group what
kind of feedback you want.
Im having trouble keeping the voice consistent. I
feel like there might be some places where it sounds
too stilted.
he dialogue doesnt seem to work. When we read
it, can you note any places where you get lost or cant
tell whos speaking?
Ater were done, Id like to see if you can predict how
the scene will end. Im hoping to add a twist that
readers wont anticipate in the next chapter.
Im feeling discouraged. I need to keep my motivation up. Can you ind any moments that really work
or that seem emotionally resonant to you?
Dont tell people, Just look for anything that needs to
be ixed. Usually that wont be as helpful. It will eat up a
lot of time, and group members might start disagreeing
with each other and end up giving you conlicting ideas
on what is and is not broken.
NOTE: Typos can become a distraction. Your friends
arent here to proofread your work for you. hats your
job, so provide clean copy.
Observations
his is the heart of the feedback session. Now that everyone understands the context and what the writer is hoping
to focus on, they can encounter the text and respond to it.
How you frame things matters. Most people thrive on
airmation but get discouraged when theyre criticized.
Hold fast to our earlier pledge to direct comments toward
the writing, not the writer. Instead of I hated how you
had the main character insult that homeless man, you
might say, I stopped caring about the main character
when he insulted that homeless man, or, It was hard for
me to relate to the protagonist when he said those things.
While the irst response could easily cause the writer to
feel defensive, the second two examples allow him to
understand how a reader is experiencing his work.
Let me emphasize this one more time: Group members are here to give their reaction, not their opinion.
Avoid value judgments (I thought this scene was weak)

and focus on what confused you, what promises you felt
were being made, what distracted you from the story, or
where your expectations went in the wrong direction.
Im confused. I thought the woman
had decided to break up with her boyfriend. Did she
change her mind?
SETTING: Im having a hard time picturing this scene.
I might have missed somethingI thought there
were four people in the room, not three. What happened to Charlie?
CONTINUITY: Two pages earlier, Francesca picked up
the gun. Is she still carrying it? Did she set it down
and I just didnt notice?
ESCALATION: hat dream sequence made me really
worried, but then when the guy woke up everything
was solved and the tension was gone.
PROMISES/PAYOFF: With so many details about the
womans knife collection, I thought it would be vital
to the story, but then it never came up again.
DIALOGUE: Both characters used the same idioms.
hey sounded the same to me when they spoke.
POLISH: his section at the end seems less leshed
out and detailed than the rest of the scene.
CONFUSION:
Of course, group members can and should also ofer

positive comments:
I thought it was cool how that engagement ring
became such an important clue in the end.
hat description of the mist-enshrouded forest
seemed really vivid to me.
When she was walking alone through the parking
garage, I could really feel the suspense. I didnt want
her to get hurt.
Positive or negative, dont equate the number of comments or the amount of feedback with how good your
work is. he information others provide doesnt necessarily correspond to the quality of your writing, but
rather the clarity of your writing.
What Do You Mean?
Ater people have shared their feedback, the writer can
ask for clariication about any comments she didnt
understand. (Remember, no clarifying your own intent.
he point isnt to make others understand your narrative
choices, its to help you understand what those choices
are communicating to readers.)
Ask follow-up questions that will help you better

understand the readers experience with the text. Here
are 10 key areas you might address:
Based on what you know,
what would you say this character wants in this scene?
2. LOGIC: Did the ending seem contrived to you, or did
it make sense?
3. BELIEVABILITY: Did you feel like this character would
really do these things, or were there times he acted in
a way that seemed unbelievable?
4. CAUSALITY: What step do you think he would naturally take next?
5. ANTICIPATION: What are you hoping will happen?
6. CONCERN: What are you worried about as you take
in this scene?
7. EXPECTATION: What do you expect?
8. ENGAGEMENT: What might disappoint you if it happened in the following pages?
9. CONFUSION: What questions are you let with?
10. AUTHORIAL INTRUSION: Where was your engagement
with the story disrupted?
1. CHARACTER INTENTION:
New Ideas
To conclude the session, if the writer desires, he can ask
for help brainstorming solutions to plot problems. For
instance, Im looking for a way to show how angry this
guy is. Does anybody have any suggestions?
At this point, group members can say, You could
However, the phrases I would or You should are
still of limits.
Time is a git, so be appreciative that the people in
your group are willing to invest some of their precious
time trying to help you become more successful. End by
thanking them for their feedback.
hroughout this process, remember that all writers in
your group have likely invested many hours in their
work. heyre courageously ofering pages for analysis.
Respect that. Rather than viewing the work of others
through a judgmental lens, lets create the kind of writing
communities where growth can happen in a positive,
encouraging way. WD
Steven James is the critically acclaimed author of more than a

dozen novels. When hes not writing or teaching fiction, youll find
him enjoying the mountains near his home in eastern Tennessee.
His most recent book on the craft of writing is Troubleshooting
Your Novel, forthcoming from WD Books.
Science Fiction & Fantasy

TODAY
We asked 4 top agents in the speculative genres for their views on
successful pitching, world-building, series potential and more.
Heres what you need to know to break inand stand out.
There are so many subgenres in this realm. How specific should

writers be in attempting to label their work in their queries?
SCHNEIDER: Calling something an epic fantasy (or steampunk, or magical realism) is more helpful than calling
something a fantasy novel and leaving it at that. But that
doesnt mean digging up some obscure and precise subgenre; its not particularly helpful to know that something
is, say, carniepunk.
I dont think its necessary to pin your work down

to a subgenre. Youre querying agents who specialize in
the ield: It might be best to let the pro make the determination as to where your work will best it.
DIVER:
GOTTLIEB: It is important to consider that certain subgenres of science iction and fantasy have more of a
struggle in the marketplace than others. For instance, if

youre writing in urban fantasy, it might be better to refer
to it as a modern fantasy or contemporary fantasy, since
urban fantasy tends to struggle in the marketplace and
therefore agents and publishers are reticent to take [it] on.
An author might broadly refer to their work as fantasy in
that instance and let the agent or publisher make an inference for themselves. When I pitch publishers, Im careful
to avoid what I refer to as dirty words in publishing.
Writers seeking to break in are oten so concerned with sounding salable that they put it before crat.
Its of-putting. he more the writer seems focused on
selling, the less genuine the crat tends to be. Talk to me
about your ideas, your characters, your worlds: hats
how to excite me.
GALEN:
PHOTO SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: ANGELA HARBURN
COMPILED BY TYLER MOSS & JESSICA STRAWSER
Meet the Agent Roundtable

LUCIENNE DIVER
joined The Knight Agency in
MARK GOTTLIEB ,
2008, after spending 15 years with Spectrum

Literary Agency. She has sold more than 700
list. He is excited to work directly with
titles, worked with every major publisher, and
authors, helping to manage and grow
has a client list of more than 40 authors spanning the
their careers with all of the unique resources that are
commercial fiction genres, primarily fantasy, science fiction,
available to Trident. He has ranked No. 1 on Publishers
romance, suspense and young adult. Clients include such
Marketplace (publishersmarketplace.com) for agents
bestsellers and award-winners as Rachel Caine, Chloe Neill,
Overall Deals, as well as in categories such as Science
Faith Hunter, N.K. Jemisin, Christina Henry, Ramez Naam
Fiction/Fantasy, Childrens and Graphic Novels.
and many others. Visit knightagency.net and her blog,
EDDIE SCHNEIDER
luciennediver.wordpress.com.
RUSSELL GALEN ,
is the Vice President of
JABberwocky Literary Agency, which he

joined in 2008. His bestselling and award-
an agent with Scovil
winning clients include Brandon Sanderson
Galen Ghosh Literary Agency, has made thou-
GALEN PHOTO TESS GALEN
an agent with Trident
Media Group, is actively building his client
sands of book, movie, TV and subrights sales in
(Steelheart) and Nancy Farmer (The Ear, the Eye, and
his 30-plus years as a literary agent. He divides
the Arm). In addition to science fiction and fantasy,
his time between nonfiction (specializing in science and his-
he is interested in YA and middle-grade (both realistic
tory) and fiction (specializing in science fiction, fantasy and
and fantastic), literary fiction and nonfiction, including
mainstream novels that incorporate genre elements). His list
science, nature, history and social science. He is an
ranges from first-time sales for emerging writers to seven-
Iowa graduate with a masters in publishing from New
and eight-figure deals for bestsellers.
York University. Follow him on Twitter@eddieschneider.
How have the sci-fi and fantasy genres evolved in recent years,
in terms of both writers/books and readers/audience?
of such characters. Today, thanks to certain pioneering

authors, some great books, and some great movies and TV
series, the wall between genre and mainstream iction has
become not a wall, but a river. It can be forded or bridged.
GALEN: When I was growing up, being a sci-i/fantasy

reader was like being a member of a secret club. I
remember visiting the home of a college English professor and stumbling on his stash of science iction
and being shocked that we had this in common. It was
understood that regular people found science iction/
fantasy hard to read, pointless, uninteresting.
hat hasnt completely changed, but its changed a lot.
I want my clients books to be read by a wide audience.
hat means one thing: richly individualized characters
caught in a web of conlict and drama. If the setting is a
spaceship or a magical land then well call it genre iction,
but anyone should be able to get caught up in the lives
Primarily, science iction and fantasy has evolved

into more modern sensibilities. For example, I dont
think youll ind many books anymore where the men do
all the ighting and the women are let behindunless
its a period piece or theres a point being made about
such a society. Fiction is ever-evolving to comment on
the timespolitical, social, economic. Writers and
readers of science iction and fantasy have always been
very sophisticated, and I dont think that any of that has
changed, although it might be that modern novels are
quicker to get to the point and faster-paced.
DIVER:
GOTTLIEB:
I am seeing
more hard science

The readership
iction books and
tends to expect a
sci-i thrillers
published since
lot of world-building,
the release of
Andy Weirs
hence why we see so
he Martian.
many maps, glossaries/
In fantasy,
George R.R.
indexes/lists of key terms,
Martins
Game of
dramatic personae, etc.
hrones
On the other hand, the
[series] has
inspired a new
narrative can suffer
readership, [as
well as a] group
from overbuilding.
MARK GOTTLIEB
of writers to create
low fantasy, rather
than something of the
Tolkien milieu.
Most signiicantly,
theyre more diverse. Conservatives
in the genre community are sufering from a [sort of]
identity crisis Its a classic adapt or perish situation,
where the people who used to have the most power are
on the cusp of losing it, and is a relection of the changing demographics here in the U.S. heyve tried to hijack
awards and act like the little brother of GamerGate in a
last gasp, but theyre just swimming against the tide.
his wave of change, by the way, is one you want to
surf as a reader. heres a broadening and deepening of
the genres, a wider variety of writing styles and perspectives, exactly the sort of thing so many sci-i and fantasy
readers come to this section of the bookstore to read.
It feels like there are more epic fantasy novels than
in years past, but also like heroic fantasy has taken a
backseat to grittier fantasy. You can see it in the covers,
with bright colors and fanciful art replaced with greater
realism and more muted palettes. I feel like theres a lot
of good historical fantasy lately, but that could be bias
(I mean, I represent Marie Brennan ). Were seeing
more stuf set outside of Northern European mythology, and a few retro novels, where the 70s and 80s are
being mined (e.g. Ready Player One or my client Silvia
Moreno-Garcias Signal to Noise).
With science iction, space opera is doing better than
it had been. Military science iction continues to be an
SCHNEIDER:
entity unto itselfpublishers are putting it out in mass

market even as they scale back mass-market output in
other subgenres. Most science iction has been treading water, while fantasy has grown to become the more
dominant commercial genre.
And then there are lash-in-the-pan trends, which I
ignore as best I can (e.g., the proliferation of zombie novels about ive years ago).
Can you describe the importance of world-building in

speculative fiction? How pronounced or unique should
a new world depicted by an author be?
GOTTLIEB: Its a ine line. he readership tends to expect
a lot of world-building, hence why we see so many maps,
glossaries/indexes/lists of key terms, dramatic personae,
etc. On the other hand, the narrative can sufer from overbuilding. Such books are sometimes inaccessible to new
readers of science iction and fantasy or just plain take
away from the entertainment of the reading experience.
To stand out in this market, you have to bring

something unique to the table, whether its the point of
view, like in Ann Leckies Ancillary series, the world and
voice, like in N.K. Jemisins he Fith Season, or the most
alien of alien species, like in Blindsight by Peter Watts.
As an agent and as a reader, I want to feel that Im stepping into a world, whether its fantasy, science iction or a
slantwise version of our own (as in urban fantasy), that is
original, intriguing and fully realized.
DIVER:
GALEN: Its the deining characteristic of science iction/

fantasy. No great world-building, no deal. Im not seeking to turn my sci-i/fantasy clients into mainstream
writers. Take me to new worlds or dont take me at all.
But writers dont need to develop outrageous elements to get attention. Oten its the subtle elements that
are most important. A built world should feel lived-in,
complex and inconsistent in the way that the real world
is inconsistent. Im more impressed with a futuristic light
bulb that burns out sooner than its supposed to than I
am with humans who have six heads.
hat said, great world-building is bold. his might
seem contradictory, but great world-building blends the
quotidian details of life with dramatic feats of imagination.
SCHNEIDER: Whatever it is, the world an author creates
for a fantasy or sci-i novel should be clear. Neither genre
requires that authors create a world from whole cloth,
and most dont, but if you do, it shouldnt involve too

many mental gymnastics for readers to get their bearings.
Traditional word count rules dont necessarily seem to apply

here. Whats a benchmark for authors eyeing the tomes on their
shelves and seeing their own pages near those lengths?
DIVER: here are certainly minimum and maximum
lengths to be aware of, though theyre more guidelines
than rules. For example, it would be diicult to tell a
truly epic story with high stakes and fantastic worldbuilding in under 80,000 words. he most important
thing is to tell the story the way it needs to be told without shortchanging the reader or keeping gratuitous bits
that could be streamlined to keep the pace moving.
GOTTLIEB: Among established authors of science iction
and fantasy, you are correct that the normal book-length
conventions (80,000120,000 words) do not apply. On the
other hand, an author making their debut in one of these
genres will seldom get a good result by bucking the system.
A book in excess of 120,000 words costs more to produce, and it also needs to be priced higher to meet those
costs. Conversely, a novella may cost less to produce, but
the price margins are generally too small for major trade
publishers. his is why we seldom see novellas and story
collections unless they are from established authors.
SCHNEIDER: I do think its a good idea to shoot for 90,000
120,000 words for fantasy, and 70,000100,000 words for
science iction, but write the story you want to write and
see where that leaves you. If [it] weighs in at more than
200,000 words or under 60,000 words, its almost certainly
going to need [to be] revised. And if youre an outlier
within your subgenre, there has to be a good reason for it.
So 200,000-word science iction is going to have a harder
time than 200,000-word epic fantasy.
Were seeing less of the extremely long epic fantasy. Certain authors can still get away with 300,000-word
blockbusters, but publishers prefer a maximum of 125,000
150,000. If a story cries out to be longer, were most likely
talking about multiple volumes.
hat said, some books just ly by, and its not necessarily the supposedly fast-paced commercial ones. Some
books you just cant stop reading. Would you tell Patrick
Rothfuss to write shorter or to chop his work into more
volumes? Of course not. Worry more about a gripping
story and an accessible style than about length.
GALEN:
A lot of authors in these genres start out with a series in mind.

How can a writer tell if her idea has the legs to carry multiple
books? And should a query for Book 1 mention series potential?
SCHNEIDER: A quick way to determine this is to try to
force yourself to write a paragraph describing the plot of
the irst, say, three books in the series. You dont have to
be beholden to it, or an author who writes from outlines,
to do this exercise. When you have paragraph synopses,
does each story have its own individual arc? Is it connected to a larger arc that spans volumes? If not, the idea
needs further exploration. But if its there or mostly there,
it probably has legs.
As for queries, yes, mention series potential. hats different from writing a multivolume series before seeking
representation and then saying you have seven novels in
your kaijuhistorical monster epic fantasy Gojira With
the Wind(which, if you put all that in a query letter, is
an example of being too speciic about genre).
I dont think an author should try speciically to

write a series (or a stand-alone) due to any idea of the
market. A concept either cries out to be written over the
course of several books with a story arc big enough to support itsome threads that tie up satisfyingly in each book
with others that demand more time and efort to resolve
or it doesnt. Writing two books where one is called for or
three where a duology would do only means theres a sagging middle somewhere. An agent and/or editor can help
in iguring that out if its not clear-cut. But yes, I think
series potential should be mentioned if the author has
more to say about that world and characters.
DIVER:
Im a huge fan of series both as a reader and as

an agent. I look for books that have this potential. he
problem is that everyone already knows that series are
in demand, so when writers say their books have series
potential, it seems like youre crying series potential
because you know thats what everyone wants.
Its OK to mention series potential because it is the
dominant form of our time, but I would just as soon not
see the actual phrase series potential. Dont talk to me in
market speak. Tell me about your characters and the crisis
they are trapped in, and make it seem serious, big. I will
get the point that this is not going to end in one volume.
As for how to determine whether a story demands a
series to begin with, the funny thing is that in science
iction and fantasy, they nearly always do. he world is
full of stand-alones that wound up having many volumes
GALEN:
(even written posthumously by collaborators) because

readers wanted to return to worlds the writers built.
I assume theres series potential if the book is any
good. Ive never had a sci-i or fantasy author say to me,
Future volumes? No, Ive got no idea how I would go
about doing that.
GOTTLIEB: Every good book should be let open-ended
in order to create series potential within genre iction.
It is always good to replicate success wherever possible.
Publishers like to build brands in authors, and fans are
just as ravenous at digesting these series. Usually something with a sense of the epic has the makings of an
ongoing saga. [Crating] many characters with conlicts
and interwoven lives is another way to go about that.
In my pitches sometimes we let publishers know
that the next books are planned and furnish them with
titles/very short synopses. If Book 2 is written or partially written, I may also let them know that is available
at request, with the caveat that the second book is likely
unedited. his sometimes allows for a multibook deal.
Writers are told not to write to trends, but the sci-fi/fantasy

landscape seems to inspire trendsettersfrom wizards to
vampires. What are you seeing a demand for? What do you have
a demand foror want writers to be wary of?
Im not seeing any particular trend at the moment,
unless its for strong, original ideas with unique voices.
What sets the trends is always something new, not something being done. Id love to see ideas and worlds Id
never considered.
DIVER:
GALEN: Im interested in individuality, not originality for

its own sake. If you have a vampire who drinks only the
blood of octopuses, so what? I see a lot of stunt originality. What is the individual inner nature of this vampire
that means that I will enjoy him, even if Ive read a thousand vampire novels already?
Does your work have ingerprints? Is it something
only you could have written? Does it have a styleis it
about individual passions and situationsthat makes me
feel I am getting to know you, a unique individual? If so
I will want to represent it, even if its about taking a ring
to be destroyed or some cliche like that. Tropes go in and
out of fashion. Just write the stories you want to write. If
you are writing about authentic characters, we (agents,
then editors, then readers) will care.
he biggest entertainment in New York City is not

Broadway, the Philharmonic or the Yankees: Its to go out
to dinner with an interesting writer. hese are the most
interesting people on the planet. When they are able to
decant that personality into a work of iction, the rest
of the world gets to experience for $24.95 what I get to
experience for the going rate for a good meal for two in
Manhattan. If they cant, Im not going to be interested
no matter how original it is.
I enjoy working with authors that play with the
status quo of genre conventions, while avoiding potential
pitfalls of overcrowded genres. he diicult genres Im
inding in fantasy are high fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, cozy mysteries/ghost stories and horror.
Im seeing that sot science iction is struggling. Vampires
and dystopian YA went out of style awhile ago. hat is, of
course, until someone comes along and turns one of those
genres, or another genre deemed dead, on its head.
GOTTLIEB:
SCHNEIDER: Im seeing sustained interest in epic fantasy, growing interest in fantasy and science iction
with thriller elements, and science iction and fantasy
written from non-Western cultural perspectives. hat
said, what I like the best are books that dont it neatly
into preconceived notions of a genre. We saw that with
David Mitchells Cloud Atlas, which jumped from genre
to genre and time period to time period, then brought
everything together with surprising grace. I tend to like
novels that toe the line between literary and genre iction,
and thats a particularly well-known example.
What are the most common weaknesses in your sci-fi

and fantasy submissions pile?
GALEN:
Lack of individuality.
SCHNEIDER: Probably a tendency to be really derivative

without realizing it, lack of awareness of the genre or
proper query format, and overselling, by which I mean
an author might declare their book the next Harry Potter,
or insist that a book is life-changing, contains the hidden secrets of the universe, and Im not entirely kidding
about that last thing.
Myself and others also feel that the roleplaying game community has informed sci-i/fantasy
writing in a negative way by detracting from some of the
literary elements. On the lip side, I see a lot of science
iction/fantasy that reads like what a hippie would consider
GOTTLIEB:
a great acid trip, but is essentially too smart for its own
good to truly get noticed and understood by readers.
DIVER: I see a lot thats competently written, but the characters just dont come alive or invest me enough in their
plight. Or novels where the stakes arent high enough or
the plotlines are too straightforward. I want to be surprised, challenged and entertained, which sounds like a
tall order, but I work with 47 authors already, so many
have managed it!
What about a submission inspires confidence that youll be

able to find the work a home with a publisher?
GOTTLIEB: A well-written query letter is the start of trying
to convince an agent that an author is destined for a publisher, since that indicates to me right away that an author
knows how to speak about their work succinctly and in
an interesting way. Plus it is usually a good indication that
the manuscript will also be a good read. An author with
advance praise from a notable author in their genre is also
an excellent start. his type of street cred is important
for a new author, along with award nominations, previous
publications in journals or literary magazines, and a background in writing such as a Master of Fine Arts or teaching
is great. I also love to see that authors have taken part in
workshops or conferences.
SCHNEIDER: Generally speaking, its in the narrative and
the way authors present themselves. here isnt a magic
formula or a gimmick or even subgenre that really works
for me; Im not someone thats actively looking for the
same thing over and over. hat said, if you have a project
that wouldnt be out of place in the sci-i or fantasy section but skews literary, the odds are in your favor.
Im inspired when I literally cant put a book down.

Ill leave dishes in the sink. Ill bore friends and family
talking about people they dont know and situations
theyve never read. In short, Im pitching to everyone
around me. If a book connects with me to that extent, it
will connect with others. he biggest seller of books is still
word of mouth, and the most successful books are those
people cant stop talking about, agents included.
DIVER:
he elusive quality of readability is the heart

of everything we seek in publishing. Its amazing how
oten I ind myself with a manuscript, or even a highly
regarded published book, that is just hard to read. I read
a few pages, then ind myself checking Facebook or
email. hen there are

other books you pick
up thinking youve
got half an hour
before bed, and
the next thing
you know its
3 a.m. and
youre still
reading.
I could
maybe write
a book about
why some
books have this
readability and
some dont, but
when you encounter it,
its as obvious
and recognizable as a mountain. his has nothing to do with
gimmicks such as clihangers, artiicially
juiced pacing, or crises that are transparently designed
to evoke tension or sympathy. Its a way of writing. Its
sentence structure, the balance between show and tell,
the balance between prose and dialogue, the balance
between narration and interior monologue, the balance
between ideas and action, and many other things.
More than anything, its about telling your story
through the viewpoint of characters who youd spend four
hours with over dinner, then spend four more hours with
the next night. If you can bring characters to life and invent
a voice for them, so that they seem to be speaking in our
heads as we read, you will have a highly readable manuscript. When I encounter that quality of readability in a
book, I know I cannot fail as an agent. Its not conidence,
its certainty. I worry about failing as little as a hawk worries about falling when it jumps of a branch into the sky.
Without that, sure, Ill still take on and submit a wellcrated book that has many things going for it, but Im
never entirely conident.
Readability, man. WD
Im inspired
when I literally cant
put a book down. Ill
leave dishes in the sink.
Ill bore friends and family
talking about people they
dont know and situations
theyve never read. In
short, Im pitching to
everyone around me.
LUCIENNE DIVER
GALEN:
OUT OF THIS WORLD

For select uncut responses we didnt have space to print, visit
writersdigest.com/sep-16.

ALL THE BEST
Theyve been bestsellers on opposite
sides of the Atlantic for most of their
adult livesbut theyve been best
friends since childhood. Learn why
the writing life is better when its
sharedand how great books can
bring readers together, even with an
ocean between them.
BY JESSICA STRAWSER
P
PHOTOS COURTESY OF FREYA NORTH
( PICTURED WITH JANE GREEN, AT RIGHT, THEN AND NOW)
or legions of women on both sides of the pond,

summer is Jane Green season. Books such as Dune
Road, Summer Secrets and he Beach House have
been beckoning from beach bags since Green got
her start in the late 90s, in her native U.K., sharing shelves
with Helen Fielding and Jennifer Crusie when the market
for womens iction was undergoing a youthful transformation. Now in her late 40s, a mother of ive living in
Connecticut, Green remains a consistent bestseller whose
booksand readershave grown with her. his Julys
release, Falling: A Love Story, follows a convert from the
corporate life as she starts over with a new home, a new
family and ultimately a new perspective on life and love.
In a parallel publishing universe across the Atlantic, Freya
North simultaneously climbed the charts in the U.K. with her
own smooth reads that put entertaining, relatable women at
the center. Since her debut, Sally, in 1996, the single mom of
two has enjoyed a steady stream of her titles on he Sunday
Times Top 10. Her latest, he Turning Point, came to the U.S.
in Maywith this summer afording a chance to make what
North hopes will be her irst big stateside splash.
heir books and their publishing careers have so much
in common, it comes as little surprise that the authors do
tootheyve been best friends since childhood.
What are the odds that two girls who never intended
to be writers would grow to share spots on the top charts,
even with an ocean between them? In this exclusive dual
interview, Green and North invited WD into their circle.
In your childhood and teenage years, what role did

storytelling, or a love of books, play in your friendship?
NORTH: My mum absolutely loves Jane and would always
give her great long reading lists, which Jane would devour.
We were at school together and rather naughtyoten
spending lessons not listening to the teacher, instead spinning yarns about our favorite ponies when we were young, or
creating such believable scenarios about the pop stars we had
crushes on when we were older and, a little later, the boys
we fancied from afar. When we went to separate universities wed meet up weekly in the breaks, at a quirky bistro, and
regale each other with tales (probably all rather embellished)
about our adventures since wed last seen each other. We have
always spent a lot of time not simply recommending books
to one another, but talking for hours about what we loved

about them. For Jane and Iboth in the books weve loved
and the books we writestrong characters are fundamentally important. When wed read the same books, those
characters became shared friends. hey still are.
GREEN: I remember Freya always writing stories when we
were at school, passing them round the class to read, and
we all thought she was utterly fantastic. It never occurred to
me to write, other than for English compositions, but I was
always buried in books. Long before we were novelists, we
were bound together by a love of the same books and shows.
We watched hirtysomething and Twin Peaks together,
either in my lat in Pimlico, or her house in Chalk Farm.
As your careers were getting started, how did you support each other in working toward your writing goals?
GREEN: I was enormously proud of Freya when Sally got
published 20 years ago. I so clearly remember her phoning me to tell me irst that she was writing a book, then her
clever marketing plan when she was looking for an agent,
and then a publishing deal. She was the inspiration for me
leaving the Daily Express to write a book of my own.
NORTH: When I gave up a Ph.D. to put pen to paper, Jane
was the irst person I turned to for encouragement because
everyone else thought I was bonkers. It was a hard slog inding a publisherand then a peculiar new world that I found
myself thrown into. I was thrilled and almost relieved when
Jane wrote her brilliant irst novel, Straight Talking, [the following year]it meant we were on our journey together. It
was always fun at fancy functions together because wed look
at each other as if to acknowledge that the naughtiest girls in
school had somehow iniltrated a world wed always so loved.
Have you ever read each others works-in-progress?

GREEN: I never gave my books to anyone whilst in progress.
Id probably be terriied she would think my writing utter
rubbish, so doubt Id ever pass on an uninished book to her!
NORTH: Janes books are terriicnot only is she so
inventive, she is gobsmackingly proliic. I honestly dont
know how she keeps all her plates spinning. Im in awe.
Like Jane, I dont show a soul a word Ive writtenmy editor
and agent read the third drat, but my friends and family
have to wait until its published.
We write about women like us. Ohand if anyone

called me a chick? Id belt them. Freya North
Whats the best writing or publishing advice each of
you has ever received from the other?
NORTH: Jane [helped me learn to] shrug of snide
reviewsfrom journalists or readers. Doing so enables
me not to waste writing time fretting over the opinions
of others.
GREEN: Freya once said if you write your characters
correctly and know them well, they will then tell their
own stories. It was the best piece of writing advice Ive
ever received.
What else have you learned from each other along the
way, even as the distance between you has grown?
GREEN: hat old friends are the very best of all, and
particularly when it comes to seeking support during
tumultuous writing times. We drited apart for a while in
our 30smarriage to the wrong man can get in the way of
friendshipsbut found out a few years ago that we were
both going to be in San Francisco at the same time, so we
arranged to meet. We have known each other since we
were 6 years old, and met up in Golden Gate Park for a
picnic with our own children. It was pure joy, to see someone who has known me most of my life, and have our
children meet and tear around the park like old, naughty
friends. hey were just like us when we were young.
NORTH: You know, this question has made me quite
emotional. In our 30s, when Jane moved to the U.S., we
were both in unhappy marriages and inhabiting very introverted periods of our lives. We lost touch without really
realizing it. Soon enough, social media helped us keep
abreast of each others lives. But seeing our kids mirror us
that day in Golden Gate Park was really special. What Jane
hasnt revealed is that we developed this dat [secret] languagewere still luent in it and oten yabber to each other
to this day! Its rare to have a friend who is woven so deeply
into ones history, a friend who knows all your secrets, who
was there during pretty much every formative rite of passage. Its one of the most precious things to me.
Having writer-friends to share the publishing experience can be such an assetbut I also know of pairs
and groups whove struggled with jealousy when their
careers dont progress at the same rate. Whats your
best advice for setting those feelings aside?
GREEN: Im very lucky in that I have many, many (oh so

many) character defects, but jealousy doesnt seem to
be one. I am genuinely happy for my friends when they
do well, and honestly have come to believe that support,
love and a spirit of generosity and abundance will always
beget more of the same.
NORTH: I absolutely concur with Janethats probably
why were such good pals. When I see her name in the
U.K. bestsellers, Im always so happy, so proud. he U.K.
jacket design for Summer Secrets in 2015 was geniusId
go into bookshops and make sure it was appropriately
displayed because it was a thing of beauty as well as a
cracking story. Because we know and trust each other
and our friendship predates our careerswe have oten
had really open conversations about the industry. I always
trust her judgment and advice. Its invaluable.
Ive always thought that having written a successful

summer read or beach read is a compliment to the
authoryoure the one your readers are choosing to
spend some of their best hours with. What have you
found to be the secret to satisfying this audience?
NORTH: My readers are wonderful and loyal. I have to
say, though, I really dont think about my readers when
I writeI am utterly at the beck and call of my characters and so absorbed in the world of their story that it
becomes my reality.
GREEN: What Im trying to do is write a story that
relects real life, that is emotionally resonant and rich,
that is relatable, whether or not you have been through
similar circumstances. Hitting our late 40s, we have
unquestionably acquired a wisdom that informs our stories and our words.
NORTH: Its so true: [heres] a more searching depth to
our work now. he most humbling thing for me is when a
reader thanks me because my stories have actually helped
them make sense of events or emotions in their own lives.
Making a story seem as if it unfolds effortlessly can

be one of the hardest things of all. What are some
methods youve developed in crafting a story that
make difficult elements look easy?
NORTH: Just because a novel is easy to read does not mean
it was easy to write. hough I wrote he Turning Point
super quick (for me!), the novel before it, he Way Back
Home, was a diferent matter because I was stricken for the
irst time with writers block. It was absolutely terrifying.
Twelve previous novels, and then I hit a wall that seemed
unscalable. I felt ashamed, mortiied. It was then that I
realized how writing deines meif I cant write, then who
am I? If I cant write, then how can I make a living? I suffered in secret for six months before I dared tell anyone.
I went to the doctor, who prescribed beta blockers. I
had hypnosis and CBT [cognitive behavioral therapy].
I gave up cafeine. I almost gave up. he peculiar thing
was that I knew the story and I loved itbut there was
no conduit from my brain to my keyboard, and it was as
if the characters were speaking in whispers in a foreign
tongue. In the end, I took myself to a library (I live in
the countryside, so it was a bit of a trek) and I sat there
and sat there, and sat there. Eventually I found a word (it
was when); a little while later, I had another word. And
thats how the irst third of that novel grewword ater
word. I thought about every single word.
GREEN: he greatest diiculty is the actual writing. It
is always easier to do something else. Dull, awful jobs
like laundry, ironing and weeding suddenly feel like an
urgent priority when youre looking at a blank page that
needs to be illed with a couple of thousand words before
you can sit back and breathe deeply. Writing is my joy,
but not always; much of the time it is my job, and I have
to write whether I feel like it or not, whether inspiration
strikes or not. hat is how you make a story unfold.
Every writers process is unique. In what ways are
yours similar and different?
GREEN: I write in spurts, and when I write, Im at my oice,
which is a tiny room in the bowels of my local theater; I
cloister myself away for three to four hours, and by lunchtime I go back to being mum, wife and friend. Im contracted
to write a book a year, so the pressure is always on.
NORTH: Im very pedantic about my research and I dont
dare write until I feel I know my subject inside out, even if
I dont know quite how the story will unfold. I never write
to a planbut somehow, I know that Ive seen the entire
book lash across my minds eye like a speeded-up movie.
My process is to slow it all down, to start at Chapter 1 and
write down what I see, scene by scene. I tend to start late
morning, as I have dogs and horses to [care for]. hen I
write in a vacuum until its time to collect the kids from the
school bus. As long as Im in that zone, Im happy enough
whether Ive written 700 words or, like one crazy day writing he Turning Point, 7,000.
IMPORTS & EXPORTS

Green and North discuss the differences between publishing
in the U.S. and U.K. at writersdigest.com/sep-16.
So many books and years into your careers, how

do you feel perceptions of chick lit or womens
fiction are changing, and what would you say to
fellow writers who are bothered by these labels?
GREEN: It depends what you think of when you hear the
term chick lit. If you think it denotes a young lufy girl
in designer heels and handbags looking for Mr. Right, Id
be horriied. If you think of it as relective, resonant, real
stories that speak to women today, Id cheer.
When Freya and I irst published, back in 1996 [and
1997, respectively], there were no books about real
women. Commercial womens iction was Judith Krantz,
Barbara Taylor Bradford and Jackie Collins. hey were
fabulously glitzy, and aspirational, but they did not
relect the lives of real women living in 1996. he irst
book to do that was [Helen Fieldings] Bridget Joness
Diary, and a slew of authors came immediately aterwards: Lisa Jewell and Jenny Colgan, to name but two.
Our books led to the phrase chick lit, but as the years
have gone by, I defy anyone to now call me a chick
and given that Im now mostly writing about women
dealing with the things midlife throws at us, I doubt I
still qualify.
NORTH: Almost as soon as that term was coined,
Ive felt it is really quite pejorative. I dont like labels.
I dont like it when bookstores have sections labeled
Womens Fiction because they dont have sections
labeled Mens Fiction. he problem is there was a bit
of a bandwagon in the late 1990s with an endless stream
of lightweight and rather hasty copycat novels. Both Jane
and I had loved the bonkbusters of Jackie Collins, the
fabulous worlds of Judith Krantzbut actually, as readers, we turned to them for escapism. As writers, we were
driven to feature women like us, to tell our stories in a
vernacular descriptive of our own lives, our hopes and
fears, our neuroses and dreams. I think weve both stayed
true to that convictionwe write about women like us.
Both Jane and I have experienced quite vertiginous highs
and lows in our lives; theyre what shape our writing.
Ohand if anyone called me a chick? Id belt them. WD
Jessica Strawser (jessicastrawser.com) is the editorial director

of Writers Digest. Her debut novel, Almost Missed You, is forthcoming in March 2017 from St. Martins Press.
FUNNY YOU
SHOULDASK
A literary agents mostly serious answers to your mostly serious questions.
BY BARBARA POELLE
a handful of agents (none were

interested) before realizing it wasnt
ready yet and needed some major
revisions. Would it be inappropriate
to re-query any of them when my
new-and-improved novel is ready
to submit? Its going through significant changes (Im editing out a
main character), so will be fundamentally diferent from the novel
they turned down.
Sincerely, Query-ous
Dear Query-ous,
I wanted to write a concise and
knowledgeable response to this
question, but that was hard to do
ater my head exploded. Can any of
you out there in the studio audience
guess why my oice has gone from
matte white to matter gray?
Did anyone come up with the
line before realizing it wasnt
ready yet and needed some major
revisions? Oh, great. I retyped it
and now my pancreas exploded.
Im not harping on the fact that
the manuscript wasnt 100 percent
ready yet. Even when Im shopping
a clients manuscript, there may be a
whif of a nuance of unreadiness
one that can be remedied as a matter of process when the project
inds a home with a skillful editor.
he idea that major revisions were
needed to make it fundamentally different is why Im currently wearing

a helmet to hold in the remainder of
my thoughts.
Look, I am not known for being
hesitant. If I ever write a book, Ill
probably type El Fin! and then
send it ofand then realize I forgot
to ix every misuse of afect/efect.
And also that I forgot to wear pants
in running out for a celebratory beverage. Waiting is not my thing. So if
you relate, I get it. But when I read
your question, I fear your situation
could speak to a larger issue: an
absence of the investment in a community of similarly skilled writers
who can serve as partners, who can
catch the major problems that need
to be addressed before you shoot
your work from the trebuchet of your
outbox into the laps of your irstround choices for representation.
Writing may be a solitary
endeavor, but a writers intent is
to tell a storyand storytellers by
their very nature need someone on
the receiving end. Your irst choices
of agents should not be your guinea
pigs. Do you now, if you didnt
before, have trusted readers in
place for your newly revised manuscript? If not, history may be
doomed to repeat itself. Attending
conferences, creating a circle of fellow writers, reading in your genre
and trading feedback on the works
of others who are standing on

your same career step will greatly
improve your odds of having the
opportunity to identify and revise
signiicant issues before submission.
Live and learn. I can speak only
for myself, but if I do not speciically
request that you revise and resubmit,
I would not be interested in seeing
a return to my inbox. Take heart,
however, that a handful of agents is
barely scratching the surface. here
are many wonderful reps out there,
and I hope that you do submit to a
new batch ater you have feedback from trusted partners.
Dear FYSA,
I have an idea for a young
adult book regarding concussions
but when I mentioned it to my iction
workshop teacher, he said it wouldnt
be worth my time. Still, Id really like
to write this book. Could I get your
expert opinion on its viability?
Signed, Eager Survivor
Dear Survivor,
While this question might at irst
glance seem a bit narrow to address
in a column for a wide audience,
I want anyone who has ever had
an idea shot down by a supposed
authority to take heed.
I have to say, my gasted is totally
labbered that anyone would dissuade a student from pursuing
ASK FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK! Submit your own questions on the writing life, publishing or anything in between to writers.digest@
fwcommunity.com with Funny You Should Ask in the subject line. Select questions (which may be edited for space or clarity) will be
answered in future columns, and may appear on WritersDigest.com and in other WD publications.
PHOTO TRAVIS POELLE
Dear FYSA,
I queried my novel to
Storytellers by
their very nature
need someone on
the receiving end.
Your first choices of
agents should not
be your guinea pigs.
something based on an idea alone

unless it was as blatantly of the
mark as, say, revamping 50 Shades of
Grey for a middle-grade audience.
Among the things I bark at my
clients through my headset while
jabbing my inger in the air (e.g.
You taking a break to eat means
my bank account takes a break from

money! or, Sleep is for second
place!) is Obey the muse! hese
authors creative impulses behave
much the way my children do: I can
try to guide them, but I certainly
cannot control them. (Although I
will staunchly guard all of the above
from ever drinking from mommys
juice cup.)
In truth, Ive been known to bring
the hammer down on an idea that
waves a red lag, but only ater I see
actual pages to understand how the
idea is explored. Among those lags
might be:
a narrative depicting a member
of a marginalized group in an
inorganic or insensitive way
a narrative that is so familiar
to its genre that it covers no
new ground
gratuitous and/or inorganic

scenes of violence.
his is also why I personally tend
to prefer sample chapters to pitch
sessions: Talking about an idea is
never an authors best representation
of how he will explore that topic. On
the surface, some ideas are indeed
better than others, but unless this
idea was ofered among potential
story trajectories that shone brighter,
I would not dissuade you from pursuing it. (Also, grab your teacher a copy
of my client Eileen Cooks YA book
With Malice, and I think you may be
able to demonstrate that comparable
titles do in fact exist.) WD
Barbara Poelle is vice president at Irene
Goodman Literary Agency (irenegoodman.
com), where she specializes in adult and
young adult fiction.
GET
DIGITALLY!
YOURSTORY
CONTEST #72
First Things First

THE CHALLENGE:
Write the opening sentence to a story based on the photo prompt below.
In that one moment I knew that I
had made a fatal mistake by leaving
the headlights on.
Rick Meyer
It certainly raised some questions when McCormicks purring

VW appeared in my driveway,
seeing as he had driven it of a clif
in 1976.
Rosemary Rouhana
I thought that looks mattered

when it came to girls and cars, but
it turns out I was wrong about one
of them.
Michelle Mach
Despite the delated tire the engine

still chugged, and in the foggy glow
of the headlights I watched a faceless stranger approach.
Lauren Connolly
When the car circled the block

the second time, I knew.
Maxine Bernreuter
Death came to our town not on

some pale, apocalyptic beast, but in
a red Volkswagen Bug that rolled in
quiet as the evening snow.
Carol Dzambik
It was cold, so the odd noise

coming from under the hood didnt
concern me, until I remembered a
Beetles engine is in the rear.
Alan Schaefer
I always knew a bug would be the

last survivor.
Michael Haugh
Marty McFly got a DeLorean

and I get a VW Bugreal-life time
travel is already disappointing me.
Beth Hatcher
With subzero temperatures

hurting my skin, I rushed to the
car with my smuggled memory
card when the headlights suddenly
looded onto the snow.
Hannah Ava Dahl
PHOTO FOTOLIA.COM: KASPERGARAM
Out of more than 1,000 entries, Writers Digest editors and forum members selected
the following 10 story openers.
ENTERYOURSTORY
FIRST THINGS FIRST: WRITE THE OPENING SENTENCE (one sentence only, 25 words or fewer) to a story based on the prompt below.
You can be funny, poignant, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story.
TO ENTER: Send your sentence via the
CONTEST #76
PHOTO SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: IN GREEN
76
online submission form at writersdigest.

com/your-story-competition or via email
to yourstorycontest@fwcommunity.com
(entries must be pasted directly into the
body of the email; attachments will not
be opened).
NOTE: WD editors select the top 12
entries and post them on our website
(writersdigest.com/your-storycompetition). Join us online in late August,
when readers will vote for their favorites to
help rank the top 10 winners!
The winners will be published in a future issue of Writers Digest.

DONT FORGET: Your name and mailing address. One entry per person.
DEADLINE: August 22, 2016
ou have everything you needand you are everything you needto

do the writing you are meant to do. And yet the path to success can
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Veteran author and writing guide Sage Cohen believes that ferocity
should be your compass for finding your true way forward. She shows
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U
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WRI TER S
EXERCISES AND TIPS FOR HONING SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF YOUR WRITING
e Yr So

FIRE UP YOUR EDITING BRAIN
B Y S U SA N R E YNO LD S
nevitably, self-editing skills play a signiicant role in

crating your novel-in-progress. If the irst drat falls
short, no agent or editor will be able to help you turn
your book into something spectacular. And unless youre
a David Foster Wallace-esque prodigy, if you dont revise
your mediocre irst drat, it probably wont win over
readers, gather lattering reviews or even get published
at all.
Your editing brain is not the same as your writing
brain, which is why you must kindly ask your inner
editor to step outside while your more imaginative and
spontaneous mind writes the irst drat. You call in the
editing brain when youve had a few days, weeks or
months to gain emotional and intellectual distance from
the irst drat. Your more methodical, detail-oriented
let brain is better suited to editing than your more
creative, impulsive right brain. One delivers the goods,
the other crats and perfects them. Lets discuss how
you, as your own initial editor, can go about successfully
revising your manuscript before you submit or even
seek outside feedback.
DISTANCE YOURSELF FROM THE WORK
In order to read and reassess your work with complete
objectivity, its necessary to approach it without emotion
or prejudgment. Ideally, youd pretend that someone
else wrote the novel, and that youre reading it for the
irst time.
he best way to achieve this illusion is to wait awhile
ater completing your irst drat before you begin to edit.
Spend time generating new ideas, plotting new books
or writing something else. Resist the temptation to dive

back into this story too soon.
When you do return to the pages, instead of homing
in on detailsword choice, for exampleread the story
as you imagine a reader might, with a fresh eye. Read
through it as fast as you can (skimming instead of slow
reading), without taking down any notes. You are seeking a nonjudgmental, intuitive feel for the overall story
so you can then determine how well youve captured
what you intended to.
CONDUCT A MACRO-EDIT
Now read the work again, but this time widen your focus
to include assessing how each component works within
the whole. In other words, conduct a macro-edit, directing your attention toward the larger components of
structure, style, tone, theme, pacing, character arc and
so on.
YOUR MACRO CHECKLIST
In this second read-through, sit through the text with a

pen or a pencil in hand so you can jot down notes. Ask
yourself these questions:
Does your novel open with a bang in the irst 10
pages, luring the reader in?
Is your protagonist and his situation someone a reader
will want to follow for 300 or more pages?
Is the protagonist being forced to take action to overcome life-changing challenges?
Does he have a worthy antagonist or opponent who is
unique and fascinating in her own way?
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Is there enough oppositionemanating within the

protagonist or from the antagonistto create and
sustain conlict?
Does the irst chapter of the irst act draw the reader
in to the story by establishing compelling characters,
a gripping story line, a meaningful setting, theme,
tone and so on?
Is the story grounded in a time, place and situation
that are all central to the story?
Does the second act (the middle) relect the growing
complexity of the plot?
Is character motivation, or whats at risk, suicient to
continue propelling the plot forward?
Is your protagonist being constantly challenged?
Do the action, tension and conlict escalate due to
what your protagonist and antagonist do or dont do?
Is the action causative and causal?
Are the stakes becoming higheris your protagonist
in peril?
Does enough action, or rising tension, occur in the
storys middle?
Is your protagonist rising to the occasion and growing as a result of his actions?
Does the third act quickly build toward a climax?
Is the climax the pinnacle of conlict? Does it change
everything for your protagonist?
Does your protagonist prevail largely because of his
own eforts?
Has your character undergone a life-changing experience or epiphany?
Does the story have a satisfying ending?
Remember, you are building and reinforcing your

brains editing skills by gathering information on a macro
level. Soon youll be making actual edits, but at this stage,
its more important to conduct a global assessment.
EYE ON STYLE
As you macro-edit, take notice of the style youve used.

Whether you organically adopted a particular style or
purposefully tried to emulate one, make sure the stylistic
devices employed are consistent throughout the book.
Begin with these questions:
Did I achieve a singular, strong voice? Is it consistent
throughout the work?
Is the entire story written in the same verb tense, or
did I lip unintentionally here and there?
QUICK TIP:
T
Yr
When you create characters, settings, situations

and scenes that resonate or intrigue readers, you
achieve what is called transportation. Neurologically,
the reader is transported from his real world into
your fictive world, in which he feels like he is the
one hanging on the edge of a cliff about to tumble
to his death. When writing a story, imagine that you
have the capability to dismantle and disintegrate all
the particles that make up your readers reality, and
reintegrate or materialize the reader in the world
youve created. Write scenes to accommodate the
fresh eyes of your transported reader.
Is the point of view consistent throughout the book?

If I switched viewpoints, did I do so efectively?
Is the theme fully represented? Is there an evolution,
or revolution, of thought?
GO MICRO
Once youve assessed the work from a broader perspective,
its time to transition to a micro-edit. his is when you
ask your brain to pay attention to all the elements that
create a work of genius: scenes, pacing, conlict levels,
characterization, setting, narrative, dialogue and so on.
NOTES TO SELF
Remember that while engaging your editing brain, you

want to avoid having your emotional brain barge in. It
can therefore help to focus solely on mechanics, reading
with a slow, cold eye. Make shorthand notes in the manuscript to alert your brain to the changes you need to
make when its time to rewrite. For instance, you could
write Scene needed in places with too much narrative,
More conlict for weak scenes, and Delete! for passages that dont add to the story or reveal character.
During the micro-edit, read the way an editor would,
noting what works and what doesnt, what needs additional dramatization or what isnt contributing something
vital. You should begin to see the manuscripts weaknesses,
as well as its strengths, and to develop a much clearer
idea of what you need to do to make it better. If you
insert notes on the pages, you are helping your writing
brain knuckle down to make thoughtful revisions when
you rewrite.
WRITERS WORKBOOK
QUICK TIP:

Readers covet an emotional experience above all else.

When you write scenes, use all the methods you can
to help your readers feel the emotions you want them
to havesadness, anger, confusion, mistrust, love, lust,
envy, greed and so on. If you want readers to hate your
character, show him being despicable to someone
who doesnt deserve his wrath or to someone he supposedly loves. The more you draw readers in to the
emotional experience, the more they will engage, and
the more likely theyll want to read your next book.
SCENE CHECKLISTS
Once youve made global edits and inserted notes for

revision, its time to focus on scenes. Strong scenes are
crucial to your novels success. To double-check that each
scene establishes a particular situation (plot point), ask
yourself the following questions, and be sure the answers
are clear to the reader as the scene unfolds:
Who are the characters involved in the situation?
When and where does this event happen?
What does each character want, and how does it support or clash with what other characters want?
What inner or outer conlict takes place during
the situation?
What is the source of tension between the protagonist and antagonist?
What happens as a result of this conlict?
Why does this event need to happen?
While the irst six questions here will help you set the
parameters for each scene, create new scenes, expand
existing scenes and create stronger characters, the last
oneWhy?is most important, because each scene
must justify its existence. To determine whether a scene
has a purpose within your story, ask these questions:
Does the scene reveal crucial information about the
characters or the plot?
Does something meaningful happen?
Does it propel the plot forward?
Does the action challenge your central characters?
Does it include conlict and rising tension?
Does it carry consequences that determine what
comes next?
Staying focused on whats most important in your

scenes will help you pare them down when needed.
STRAIGHT TALK
Dialogue should be interesting, revealing, focused and at

least somewhat unique to every character. Its one of the
most potent tools youll use to reveal crucial information.
You can almost always strike out any dull pleasantries
(greetings, farewells) or everyday minutiae (what someone is ordering for dinner).
Youve probably heard that dialogue needs to be realistic, but thats not precisely truemost of what people
say in real life isnt sharply focused or dramatic (except
on rare occasions). Its the authors task to crat dialogue,
focusing on whats important within the conversation,
choosing an interesting, revealing or confrontational
way for the characters to say it, and deleting whatever
feels ordinary or boring. In other words, it should
be realistic, but exceptional, and speciic to story or
character development.
Work on making your dialogue more potent, revealing and individualistic. While steadfast rules dont exist
in creative writing, here are a few tips that will help you
reine your characters conversations:
Avoid introductions: Cut right to the essential
information.
Avoid standard greetings: No hellos and goodbyes,
unless something exceptional occurs.
Avoid chitchat about weather or anything that isnt
important to the plot or character: Dialogue needs to
be sharp and focused, as noted above.
Avoid dialect and shortened words. Clipped words or
dialect can be used in dialogue, but keep them minimal and necessary.
GET SCIENCE ON YOUR SIDE
A French research team found that action words (kicked,
stomped, raced) ire up the motor cortex, which governs
how the body moves. Even more speciic, describing
body parts, such as an arm or a leg, activates the part of
the brain that controls arm and leg movement. Using
evocative language also wakes up a part of the brain
called the hippocampus, which activates long-term
memories and plays a signiicant role in how a readers mind turns language into a meaningful experience.
hese are the kinds of efects authors wish to have on
e Yr So

their readers. he primary goal is to establish identiication, achieve a textural layering and evoke emotion.
So how do you use this knowledge? As you review,
reine and rewrite, aim to accomplish the following:
CREATE FULLY ENVISIONED SCENES: Draw readers into
the setting, establish a mood and use sensual (sight,
smell, sound, taste, touch) descriptions that will
engage the key processing areas of the readers brain.
If you crat the scene vividly enough, the reader will
feel like shes there.
CRAFT MEMORABLE CHARACTERS: Creating characters
who are unique (unforgettable) and also familiar
(someone your readers might know) increases the
appeal of your story because reading about them
will stimulate empathy and all the feel-good brain
chemicalssuch as oxytocin and dopaminethat
come with feeling sympathetically toward someone
else. You want to depict someone your reader
will either love or hate, someone hell root for or
against, someone hed long to be or be thankful he
isnt. If you write about someone boring (unless you
do so cleverly), your reader is likely to lose interest early on and stop reading. Make your characters
a lightning rod for positive or negative feelings
someone your reader wants to follow around and
cant stop watching.
GIVE THEM LOTS OF COMPLICATIONS: To sustain
interest, your main characters should be challenged
throughout the story. To keep your readers brain
engaged, throw a curveball at your characters every
chance you get. Make it a habit to ask: How can I
make this even harder for her? Make your characters ight for what they want or need, and litter the
path with all sorts of complications. And then make
sure the resolution comes from within the protagonist (or antagonist), and resist any urge to rely on
coincidence, a deus ex machina or the simple passage of time. Your hero needs to be a conqueror.
MAKE DETAILS SPECIFIC: When describing a character, a setting or an event, the more speciic the
details, the more your reader can picture it in her
brain. Writing Spains premier race car driver sped
a white Porsche through its paces, is not likely to
awaken a readers brain the same way the following
will: Spains premier race car driver throttled a
brand-new white Porsche with scary aplomb, at
speeds that let it careening around curves, the red

and purple stripes blurring, reminding onlookers of
his recent near-death experience. See how the use
of detail creates a visual for the reader and thereby
activates her brain?
CHOOSE ACTIVE VERBS THAT CREATE VIVID IMAGES:
Neuroscience proves that this common writing

advice is sound. Passive writing and nondescript,
static verbs put your readers brain to sleep. If you
want your readers cortex to light up (and you do),
use power-packed, precise action verbs. Studies have
shown that imagining you are doing something triggers the same neuronal responses that are triggered
when you actually do that thing, and the same goes
for your reader. Give his brain vivid images of events
unfolding, as they happen, and his brain will respond
in kind.
USE SENSORY WORDS: Using the ive sensesplus
variant senses such as hunger, thirst, itch, muscle tension, equilibrium, heat and paindraws the reader
deeper into the story. Smell is one of the most powerful faculties for evoking memories, and thereby
encouraging empathy for your characters.
GIVE THEM A SATISFYING ENDING: Your reader wants
to feel something at the end of a novel. he ending is
the emotional payof, and whether its happy or sad
or somewhere in between, it should feel satisfying.
Contrivances tend to fall short, while well-thought,
appropriate endings lures your audience into reading
your next book.
In a market in which standards and competition

are higher than ever, agents and editors expect writers
to submit exceptional work. Once you get through
those doors, they will help you reine your manuscript
further, but theyll never unlatch the door if you dont
ofer truly professional, stunning manuscripts. Dont
worry, you are fully capable of doing so. With the right
approach and a systematic plan of attack, your manuscript is in good hands: your own. Program, nourish
and take full advantage of your brain to develop the
writing genius that will get you to the top of an agents
submissions pile.
Excerpted from Fire Up Your Writing Brain 2015 by

Susan Reynolds, with permission from Writers Digest Books.
REVIVE YOUR STORY WITH

DRAMATIC TENSION
B Y L A R RY BR O O KS
s a story coach I see this all the time: he authors

concept is compelling, her premise guarantees
a great ride and then she steps over the premise to
focus on character almost exclusively. She dwells too
much on backstory and marches the protagonist through
an episodic sequence of experiences that do not clearly
connect to the core story introduced by the premise.
Sure, readers get to know that character intimately, but
until your hero is doing something in pursuit of a goal,
the picture isnt complete.
he engine of iction is not character. Character is critical, but it isnt the main source of energy within a novel.
Conflict fuels a story. You need to give your character a
challenge, a need, something to do, something with purpose, something with stakes. And then you need to layer
in an antagonistic forcea villainwho seeks to block
your heros path or quest. Without that quest your story
becomes a diary-like, episodic sequence. And without
conlict you have overlooked the most important element
in any story, including literary iction: dramatic tension.
What is dramatic tension? Its simple, really. Your
story poses a question. One answer serves your heros
goals, while other answers thwart it. Whatever threatens the heros goals represents an antagonistic force. hat
forceusually a villainproactively blocks the heros
path in any way possible. When the hero ights back
against the antagonist, heroically overcoming obstacles,
that confrontation is fraught with conlict that creates
dramatic tension, because the reader is rooting for and
caring about the heros overall goal and the outcome.
he source of your readers emotional engagement is
dramatic tension that stems from conlict. his conlict
arises from the core story, resulting in a tense ride for
both the hero and the reader. Without dramatic tension,
your story will be static, and before long it will die.
WORK THE CORE STORY

To generate dramatic tension, you must irst understand
your core story: the premise and dramatic spine of your
novel. he core story is not the backstory, the heros inner
demons, the subplots or the various side trips and experiences and dreams. A novel that jumps from one dramatic
question to another, none of which arise from the core
story, will likely get rejected. If this sounds like your story,
you must tighten the spin of the narrative around a single
dramatic pursuit that takes front-and-center priority.
he core story poses a dramatic question: Will the hero
achieve X? X stands for what the hero needs or wants. If X
doesnt happen, this yields dark consequences.
Lets look at a hypothetical example. Lisas daughter
is terminally ill and needs a kidney transplant. he two
have recently arrived in the U.S. from a developing country and have no relatives or friends stateside. In fact,
theyre in the country illegally.
his is a riveting premise because it presents high
stakes and dire opposition to their goal. Readers will
care about this story, especially if the writer has drawn
the characters vividly and sympathetically. hey will
root for a positive outcome and remain captivated
because the route to the end is not obvious. Lisa must
do something to create a positive outcome, and her
eforts will be heroic.
hats the dramatic setup. But were not done yet. Lisa
certainly faces a dark and antagonistic situation, but the
story has no villain yet, no bad guy. So lets create one.
When Lisa goes to a local government agency for help,
the caseworker is by-the-book, cold-blooded and prejudiced against undocumented citizens. She makes it her
personal mission to not only prevent Lisa from getting a
dime of government assistance but also to deport Lisa and
her daughter as soon as possible.
Now you have not just a proile of Lisa and her situation, but something Lisa must do. She has been given an
important missiona questand must eventually overcome a villain who blocks her path. he clock is ticking as
her daughters condition worsens by the day.
he core story creates the primary source of dramatic
tension. In this example, the plotline should focus not
only on Lisas character but also on events that allow her
to face her demons and summon her true strength and
e Yr So

motherly ferocity. he plot becomes the catalyst for Lisas
character to develop.
If you ind that your story focuses so much on character that readers have trouble inding or engaging with the
plot, give them something more to root for. Readers wont
root for the characters backstorythose events have
already happened, and the past cant be changed. But they
will root for drama that engulfs the hero in the present. If
your story is too character driven, or if it lacks a core story
and therefore dramatic tension, then you may have just
found its Achilles heel. Now you have something to ix,
something to revise. Now you have hope.
Its time to deine your core story. What does your hero
want and need? What blocks his quest to attain it?
KEEP THE DRAMATIC QUESTION CENTER
he core dramatic question is inextricably tied to the
core story. It boils down to this: Will the hero succeed in
the quest deined by the core story? Will she defeat the
villain and overcome the odds against her? Will she succeed or fail? In our example, the core dramatic question
is: Will Lisa ind a kidney for her ill daughter in time to
save her? Will she thwart the antagonistic caseworker
and avoid getting deported?
he answer is either yes, no or some surprise-twist
hybrid of the two. he plot is deep and layered, but the
dramatic question is not. It comes down to win or lose.
he magic of a core question is in its unspoken next
step: How will she do this? Your job is to make readers
care about this question. Readers immerse themselves in
this journey as if it were their own. hey feel it. hey fear
and despise the wicked caseworker. hey hear the ticking
clock. hey dry the tears of Lisas frightened daughter. hey
hug Lisa in the dead of night as she weeps into her pillow.
Is your core dramatic question compelling? Does it it
in context with the characters quest, the obstacles and the
stakes? Or is the question smothered in a series of anecdotal documentaries of stuf that happens to your hero?
Anytime you ind your story lagging, stop and redeine your core dramatic question.
UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF STAKES
What is at stake for your character?
If your answer is happiness or another vague or
ambiguous term, its likely not strong enough to carry
an entire novel. Your character needs an external quest,
something to ind and engage with, to defeat or achieve.

When your character overcomes the external quest, then
hell have happiness. Note the subtleties at play: Happiness
is the desired outcome rather than the dramatic stakes.
Internal growth and satisfaction work best as the results of
the quest, not the path the hero treads to get there.
So many writersand newer writers in particulartry
to make the search for happiness the road, when in fact it is
better positioned as the destination. Better stories focus on
the journey itself.
Lisas story quest isnt merely to make her daughter
healthy and happy. hats the ultimate goal, the outcome
she seeks to attain. he stakes, on the other hand, are the
consequences of failure. hose stakes link to the action
as much as to the goal, because the success of the goal
depends on the actions taken. And the story needs to primarily focus on narrative action. You cant spend 400 pages
writing about what she wants, but you can spend 390 of
those pages writing about how she obtains her goal.
If you havent placed a signiicant focus on the journey
that illustrates the heros actions and confrontations, and
if you havent established the stakes vividly and viscerally,
then you may have found a pain point in your manuscript.

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In our example, Lisas quest and the actions she takes
are all connected to inding her daughter a healthy kidney. he narrative should show that journey rather than
dwelling on the reasons behind it. he story should be
about what she must do to save her daughter. he mistake here would be to dive too deeply inside Lisas head
to expose her angst, worry and fear, while downplaying
her proactive eforts to solve the problem at hand.
Understanding this distinction is a huge story-saving
subtlety. Its the diference between writing a story that
works and a story that will disappear in a slush pile.
Excerpted from Story Fix 2015 by Larry Brooks, with permission
from Writers Digest Books.
PUSH PAST WHATS HOLDING

YOUR STORY BACK
B Y DO NA LD M A A SS
ave you ever read a novel that was just OK, or that
was similar to a dozen others? Have you ever found
yourself mentally griping to an author, Dont tell me thats
where youre taking this story! No!
By contrast, there are certainly novels in your collection that youd consider keepersones whose authors
have concocted a plot or characters you remember
for years ater reading them, their twists and turns
cemented in your memory. Such works you might read
over and over again, fawning over a new turn of phrase
every time.
Which author are youthe throwaway or the
keeper? Im pretty sure I know which one you want to be,
but perhaps your current manuscript makes you unsure.
Your story seems to be missing a crucial element, one
you cant quite deine. So lets talk about whats holding
you back. Lets talk about fear.
TURNING FEAR INTO AN ASSET

Its a shame when novels achieve less than they could.
As I read I oten wonder what the author is afraid of.
Do deadlines cut short the creative journey, or are there
paths in the woods that the storyteller fears to walk?
he rush to publish certainly is a factor. Its sad to see
hurried third volumes in trilogies rushed into production by overworked editors. But I dont think thats
the whole story. Ater all, novels are built day by day
in writing sessions that can be either comfortable
or courageous.
I believe in sending characters down fearful paths.
Stories pushed beyond the limits of comfort stick in readers imaginations. hats an impact most novelists want to
make. But that means living with worry. What if youve
gone too far? What if your readers are turned of ? What if
your editor or agent balks? And, heck, pushing a protagonist toward danger and pain is emotionally exhausting.
Who wants to live that way?
On the other hand, consider this paradox: When
other novelists unsettle us, we praise them. Yet when our
own writing unsettles us, we worry.
Can we turn our fears to our advantage? Its imperative if youre going to write high-impact iction.
What gives a story high impact is that which is most
personal and passionate in its author. hat includes your
own fears. hey are your compass. heyre directing you
toward what unsettles. And also to what matters.
SETTING OFF FIREWORKS
Chances are that last Fourth of July you saw ireworks.
he lammable contents of pasteboard tubes soared
into the dark sky, erupting in sizzling blooms of strontium salts, lithium salts, calcium, sodium, barium, copper, cesium, potassium, rubidium, iron, aluminum.
Spectators gasped, surprised every time.
Chances are that sometime recently you also read a
manuscript or novel that launched few ireworks at all
maybe the ofender was even your own novel-in-progress.
he black words lined up in endless rows, an army
attacking on tiptoe and retreating without a shot. he
plot seemed washed out. Characters felt bloodless, dead.
Why is it that when ireworks slash open the night
we cheer, yet as we tenderly arrange our words across a
white screen we fear drawing blood? Perhaps we hate to
make a mess or call attention to ourselves.
Too many manuscripts tell their stories with timidity.
Whats needed instead are explosive bursts of divinity:
Eruptions of insight, booms of self-revelation, scenes that
lare open in the dark, prose that sizzles like sparklers.
How can we light those fuses? heres hidden gunpowder
in every dialogue exchange, every event, every exit.
Douse your main characters in gasoline. Have your secondary characters throw Molotov cocktails. You are a
god hurling thunderboltsor you can be. All it takes is a
delight in shaking things up.
Were happy when others dazzle us but dont feel
entitled to do the same. Sometimes the shells explode by
accident, of course, and were happy when they do. But
how oten do we send up ireworks by design?
To write high-impact iction, thats exactly what must
be done. So do it. Do it for you. Do it for me. he night is
e Yr So

long. he hours of darkness are dull. We need more ireworks. Set them of on purpose, and like Fourth of July
spectators, well be surprised every time.
CAPTURING THE ELEMENTS OF AWE
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studied
data provided by he New York Times that showed
which of the papers articles were most oten emailed.
heir conclusions are important for all writers, including
iction writers, because they reveal which story qualities
generate the most word of mouth.
As you may expect, positive articles were shared far
more oten than negative ones. For us, this means that a
readers excitement is more likely stirred by characters
with positive qualities and by stories that have endings
that are happy.
Not exactly unexpected. If your characters are dark,
miserable and self-loathing, you cant expect readers to
be enthusiastic. Qualities of strength, especially when
we see them right away, inspire readers to care. Downer
endings narrow a novels appeal. But you already knew
that, right?
It also turns out that the stories that get emailed most
frequently tend to be emotional.
Stop. I know what youre thinking. Yes! My novel-inprogress is highly emotional! Not so fast. Every author
thinks his novel is packed with emotion. As he writes,
he feels tons of emotion. But that is not to say that those
emotions are getting through to readers in ways that
move them deeply.
Whats the strongest emotion your protagonist feels:
anger, disgust, shame, betrayal, terror, frustration, elation, arousal, love? You cant expect your readers to
feel what your protagonist feels just because your protagonist feels it. Only when that emotion is provoked
through the circumstances of the story will your readers
feel what you want them to.
Describing sorrow is ine, but its not as efective as
your protagonist saying goodbye to her dying mother
and even that is not as good as saying goodbye ater
a rich exchange of mother-daughter love and even
that is not as good as if that love was hard won. In other
words, emotions arent gold. A story situation that provokes strong emotions is.
he most important factor in generating word of
mouth is an efect the researchers call awe. his they
deined as an emotion of self-transcendence, a feeling

of admiration and elevation in the face of something
greater than the self. It demands of readers mental
accommodation, meaning readers must see the world
in ways they didnt before.
Jonah Berger and Katherine Milkman, authors of the
study, further explained that the efect of awe can come
from the revelation of something profound and important in something you may have once seen as ordinary or routine, or seeing a causal connection between
important things and seemingly remote causes.
hat academic mouthful describes what great iction
does: It creates characters we become, brings us into
their experience and makes that experience real. It then
reveals to us through their inner journeys and themes of
the story what it all means. Great iction opens readers
hearts and, once they are captive and pliant, then opens
their minds.
To open readers minds, you must present something to open their minds to. his is where high-impact
iction gets personal. Its made of characters only you
can create, events only you can devise, settings brought
to life as you see them, changes wrought in ways you
understand, connections you alone perceive, secrets and
mysteries you ache to unlock and a perception of things
so persuasive that it becomes your readers way of looking at things, too.
You cant borrow awe. You cant plot it into existence. You cant provoke it through pretty words. It has
to come from you. Your iction will be awesome to the
extent that you cut loose from convention, go to places
that belong to you alone and embrace your godlike
inner storyteller. How? Bond me to your characters. Put
them through a fearsome story. Force me to feel what
they feel. Show me how they change. Finally, make me
see things your way.
If you think about it, arent the people who have had
the most inluence on you the ones who caused you to
look at things in a new light? Bingo. Be that novelist.
he one who writes a keeper. And you can, now that you
know how. WD
Excerpted from Writing 21st Century Fiction 2012 by
Donald Maass, with permission from Writers Digest Books. Visit
writersdigestshop.com and enter the code Workbook for a 10
percent WD reader discount on this and other books to help you
hone your craft.
STANDOUTMARKETS
An exclusive look inside the markets that can help you make your mark.
BY CRIS FREESE
FOR YOUR FREELANCE WRITING:
Family Tree Magazine

THE INSIDE STORY FROM:
MISSION:
Diane Haddad, editor
Family Tree Magazine provides a wealth of information, inspiration and
community for genealogists who want to discover, preserve and celebrate their
family history.
2000. PUBLISHES: 7
issues per year. FOCUS: Family
Tree Magazine (published by F+W
Media, parent company of WD)
reaches beyond strict genealogy
research to cover ethnic heritage,
family reunions, memoirs, oral
history, scrapbooking, historical
travel and other ways families connect with their past. CIRCULATION:
75,000. PAYMENT: Rates vary widely
on the scope of the project and
writer experience level; up to $800.
NOTABLE CONTRIBUTORS: David A.
Fryxell, Sunny Jane Morton, John
Philip Colletta, Maureen A. Taylor.
KEY TO BREAKING IN: Send us a
well-crated, engaging query letter with an interesting angle. Be
sure to read a few issues before
querying, and follow the instructions in our writers guidelines
about what we dont publish. HOW
TO SUBMIT: Send your query by
email to tmedit@fwcommunity.
com or by mail with an SASE to:
Editor, Family Tree Magazine, 10151
Carver Road, Suite 200, Cincinnati,
OH 45242. DETAILED GUIDELINES:
familytreemagazine.com/article/
writersguidelines.
FOUNDED:
WHAT STANDS OUT & WHY?
Considered a fringe pastime as

recently as the 1970s, today genealogy is the second most popular
hobby in the U.S. (behind gardening),
and continues to grow at a blistering
rate with the popularity of TV shows
such as PBS Finding Your Roots
and TLCs Who Do You Think You
Are? The nations No. 1 family history magazine, Family Tree Magazine
offers ample opportunities to break
inas exploring topics related to
genealogy does not require expertise
in the field. Newcomers best shot at
a byline is via The Toolkit, a section
offering step-by-step tutorials of relevant programs and websites, as well
as resource roundups and one-page
quick guides comparing useful apps,
databases or other tools. CF
What makes a submission stand

out? An engaging introduction and
irresistible hook, a clear structure

and a good low from point to point.
[A solid submission] makes concepts understandable and explains
not only what genealogy records to
look for, but where to ind them and
how to use them.
What topics are you actively
seeking? Articles about researching
ancestors from speciic countries

or ethnic backgrounds, how to
use speciic genealogy websites,
and speciic strategies for solving
research problems.
What are some common mistakes
you see in your submissions pile?
We frequently get queries for the

types of articles we dont publish.
Topics we dont publish include the
writers own research or family history, and overly broad topics such as
how to do genealogy.
What should writers know about
your selection process? We tend
to do a lot of editorial planning in

the summer, so spring is a good
time to query.
FOR YOUR FICTION, POETRY, ESSAYS & MORE:
EPOCH
ABOUT:
Published by the creative writing program at
WHAT STANDS OUT & WHY:
Cornell University, EPOCH is an open forum for literary
EPOCHs archives speak for
fiction, poetry, essays, screenplays, cartoons, graphic art
tthemselvesamong them, the first
and graphic fiction.
1947. PRINT RUN: 1,000. PUBLISHES: hree

times a year. READING PERIOD: Reads unsolicited work
Sept. 15April 15. Reads work submitted by literary
agencies year-round. PAYMENT: Up to $50 per poem; up
to $150 per story. LENGTH: Poetry submissions may contain up to 5 poems. For iction, all forms are considered,
from lash to novella length. HOW TO SUBMIT: By mail
only. Include an SASE and address to the appropriate
editor (e.g. Fiction Editor, Poetry Editor, Essay Editor)
at EPOCH magazine, 251 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell
University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. DETAILED GUIDELINES:
english.arts.cornell.edu/publications/epoch/
submit.html.
FOUNDED:
published fiction of Thomas Pynchon

and Don DeLillo, as well as stories by
Philip Roth, Stanley Elkin, Joyce Carol Oates, Jacob M.
Appel, Annie Dillard, Andre Dubus II, Charles Simic and
Denis Johnson. In 2013, the journal nabbed three prestigious O. Henry Awards, and its stories are regularly selected
for distinguished anthologies, including Road to Nowhere
and Other New Stories from the Southwest, The Best
American Short Stories, The Best American Essays and
The Best American Nonrequired Reading. CF
FOR YOUR BOOKS:
City Lights Books

ABOUT: City
Lights Books is an independent publisher of
WHAT STANDS OUT & WHY:
fiction, essays, memoirs, translations, poetry and books on
An espouser of progres-
social and political issues. The publisher is affiliated with
sive thinking, City Lights Books
San Franciscos City Lights Booksellers, the nations first all-
is championed by a small but
paperback independent bookstoreoriginally opened by
dedicated staff that gives every
Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin in 1953now an
book the utmost care, whether
official historical landmark.
1955. PUBLISHES: About 12 titles per year.

PRINT RUN: Varies. ROYALTIES: Standard royalties. HOW
TO SUBMIT: Considers book proposals only. Proposal
should contain a 12 page letter that describes the book
and includes a list of any prior publications and/or relevant
writing and professional experience, and a sample (1020
pages) of your work. For noniction, also include an outline and table of contents. Mail with an SASE to Editorial
Department, City Lights Publishers, 261 Columbus
Ave., San Francisco, CA 94133. DETAILED GUIDELINES:
citylights.com/publishing/?fa=publishing_manuscripts.
FOUNDED:
its a work of social commentary

or cutting-edge contemporary literature. City Lights continues to have a soft spot for poets and has published works
by Allen Ginsberg, Marie Ponsot, William Carlos Williams,
Jack Kerouac, Philip Lamantia and David Meltzer, as well as
former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herreras latest collection, Notes on the Assemblage. The publisher recently
made its first foray into childrens books with Kate Schatz
and Miriam Klein Stahls Rad American Women AZ, which
became a New York Times bestseller. CF
Cris Freese is an associate editor for WD Books and the Writers Market series.

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C A L L I N G A L L P OE TS !
11 t h A n n u a l
Poetry

AWARDS
The prestigious prizes for top winners include:

r6QUP JODBTI
r:PVSQPFNQVCMJTIFEJOWriters DigestBOEUPBXPSMEXJEF
SFBEFSTIJQPO8SJUFST%JHFTUDPN
r"NJOVUFDPOTVMUBUJPOXJUIPoets Market Editor
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r"DPQZPGUIF2017 Poets Market
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UIBUDPNFTXJUI8%TPOMZDPNQFUJUJPOexclusively for poets!

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EARLYBIRD DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES:

OCTOBER 3, 2016
CONFERENCESCENE
Events to advance your craft, connections and career.
BY DON VAUGHAN
Chapter One Young

Writers Conference
Young authors will love this event
just for them on the outskirts of the
Windy City.
WHEN: Aug. 6, 2016. WHERE: Hilton
Garden Inn, Saint Charles, Ill. PRICE:
$100 until July 31; $125 ater. WHAT
CHAPTER ONE YOUNG WRITERS CONFERENCE IMAGE LYNN BYERS; EDMONDS, WASHINGTON SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: BILL PERRY
MAKES THE CONFERENCE UNIQUE:
Ch1Con is by young writers, for

young writers. Our conference
planners are primarily high school
or college students, all of our speakers
are young, and attendees are preteens, teenagers and young adults,
conference director Julia Byers
says. he advice from speakers is
speciic and pertinent to this audience, and we work hard to make the
conference as safe and welcoming
as possible. WHO ITS PERFECT FOR:
Aspiring authors ages 11 to 23 who
are eager to learn from published
professionals their own age. We
put a strong focus on YA, Byers
says. hats the lens through which
we teach. HOW MANY ATTEND: 60.
FACULTY: Writers Susan Dennard
(Truthwitch), Francesca Zappia
(Made You Up), Jennifer Yu (Four
Weeks, Five People), Jordan Villegas
and Christina Li. HIGHLIGHTS:
Dennard will present the opening
keynote address, and the Ch1Con
team will host a workshop on how
to write an efective query letter, plus
an ask anything panel alongside
conference speakers. In the gaps

between sessions, attendees can
participate in trivia contests for the
chance to win signed copies of popular books. For a small additional fee,
early arrivals can make new friends
at the Friday evening pizza party.
IF YOU GO: Enjoy the Chicago areas
rich literary history with a visit to
the renowned Newberry Library,
located downtown. Or consider a
short jaunt to Ernest Hemingways
Birthplace and Museum in Oak
Park, where the writer spent his
irst 20 years. FOR MORE INFO:
chapteroneconference.com
Creatures, Crimes &

Creativity (C3) Con
Aspiring genre writers learn from
bestselling authors at this fanoriented boutique conference.
Sept. 30Oct. 2, 2016.

Sheraton Columbia Town
Center Hotel, Columbia, Md. PRICE:
$275, includes Friday dinner, all
meals on Saturday, and Sunday
breakfast. Single-day registration is
$130. WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE
UNIQUE: C3 Con embraces genre
iction without focusing on just
one. In recent years, more and
more writers have been combining
genres and crossing genre lines,
conference organizer Austin S.
Camacho says. WHO ITS PERFECT
FOR: Novice writers seeking advice
and tips from well-published thriller,
mystery and science-iction authors.
HOW MANY ATTEND: 100. FACULTY:
Novelists Alexandra Sokolof (Cold
Moon), Reed Farrel Coleman
(Where It Hurts), Donna Andrews
(Meg Langslow series) and Cerece
Rennie Murphy (Order of the Seers
WHEN:
WHERE:
14 S F
W C
CONFERENCESCENE
A Celebration of Craft, Commerce & Community

Keynoters : HEATHER GRAHAM,
JOHN PERKINS &WILLIAM BERNHARDT
100+ presentersauthors, editors,
publishers & literary agents from
New York, L.A. & S.F. Bay Area
February 16-19, 2017

at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel
Substantial early registration discounts & special room rates.
Feb. 16 & 20: Single & half-day classes

Event details & online registration:
www.SFWriters.org
2016 S F
W C
A one-day conference for all writers who want to
change the world through their writing.
September 10th at the Unitarian Center

Susan Griffin
Eco-feminist Author
Marc Allen
Publisher-New World Library
Details and registration:
www.SFWritingforChange.org
San Francisco Writers Conference
is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
series). HIGHLIGHTS: Coleman will

give the keynote presentation during
Fridays dinner, and Sokolof will
keynote Saturdays dinner. C3 Con
also ofers 36 instructional and fanoriented panels and presentations,
to be inalized as the conference
approaches. All attendees will receive
a copy of an exclusive anthology
spotlighting stories from attending
authors. IF YOU GO: Edgar Allan
Poe once called nearby Baltimore
homeits the city in which he
penned his inal poem, Annabel
Leeso devotees will want to visit
the Edgar Allan Poe House and
Museum, as well as Poes gravesite at
Westminster Hall. FOR MORE INFO:
creaturescrimesandcreativity.com.
Write on the Sound

Writers Conference
Gorgeous views of the Olympic
Mountains make the location of this
large conference idyllic for writers
of all stripes eager to learn from
industry pros.
WHEN: Oct. 12, 2016, with a preconference Sept. 30. WHERE: Frances
Anderson Center, Edmonds, Wash.
Special conference rate at the Best
Western Plus Edmonds Harbor
Inn is $99 per night until Sept. 1.
PRICE: $150 through Aug. 29, $170
ater. Pre-conference is an additional $128 for full day, $80 for half
day. WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE
UNIQUE: As a program of the City
of Edmonds Arts Commission,
WOTS strives to be an afordable
conference for writers on a budget.
In addition, the historic Frances
Anderson Center, a former 1920sera elementary school building,
ofers an intimate environment
oten lacking in larger venues,
conference organizer Laurie Rose
says. WHO ITS PERFECT FOR: Writers

at all levels eager to explore a variety of perspectives on crat and
learn more about current trends
in publishing. HOW MANY ATTEND:
275. FACULTY: Humorist and radio
personality John Moe (Dear Luke,
We Need to Talk, Darth: And Other
Pop Culture Correspondences), childrens author L.L. Owens (he Great
Chicago Fire), poet Tod Marshall
(Bugle), novelists Jessica Barksdale
Incln (he Burning Hour) and Boyd
Morrison (the Tyler Locke series),
marketing expert Beth Jusino (he
Authors Guide to Marketing), and
more. HIGHLIGHTS: WOTS ofers
more than 30 sessions over two days,
including panels and workshops
on humor, travel writing, science
iction, fantasy, memoir, creative
noniction, historical research and
poetry-to-prose. Consider the
Friday pre-conference full-day
workshop on Deep Editing Power
and Writing Fresh Body Language,
or the half-day pre-conference
workshop with sessions on dialogue,
personal essays and more. A iction
and noniction manuscript critique
(up to 10 pages) by National Book
Critics Circle Awardnominee Meg
Files is an additional $37. here is
also a writing contest for attendees only. See website for details. IF
YOU GO: Edmonds is located on the
shores of picturesque Puget Sound,
where ferries and whale-watching
are among the areas popular attractions. If you have time for a trip into
Seattle, be sure to visit Elliott Bay
Book Co. to reap its literary spoils.
FOR MORE INFO:
writeonthesound.com. WD
Don Vaughan (donaldvaughan.com)
is a freelance writer in Raleigh, N.C.,
and founder of Triangle Association
of Freelancers.
C ONF E RE NC E GUIDE
CONFERENCE GUIDE
SEPTEMBER 2016
Keep in mind that there may be more
than one workshop in each listing.
These workshops are listed alphabetically by state, country or continent.
Unless otherwise indicated, rates include
tuition (T) only. Sometimes the rates also
include airfare (AF), some or all meals (M),
accommodations (AC), ground transportation (GT), materials (MT) or fees (F).
When you find workshops that interest
you, be sure to call, email or check the
website of the instructor or organization
for additional information.
All listings are paid advertisements.
CALIFORNIA
CENTRAL COAST WRITERS
CONFERENCE & BOOK FAIR, September
29October 1 at Cuesta College, San Luis
Obispo, CA is an essential annual destination
for writers, teachers, students, editors, and
publishers. Each year writers join our community
for three days of insightful dialogue, networking,
and unrivaled access to our staff. The 2016
conference features over 60 presenters offering
workshops, screenwriting, panels, critiques,
keynotes, and craft lectures. The book fair hosts
literary agents, authors, presses, journals, and
literary organizations from around the state. Join
us September 29October 1, 2016.
Contact:
centralcoastwritersconference@gmail.com
www.centralcoastwritersconference.com
Twitter: @CCWritersCon
GENRE-LA SPECULATIVE FICTION

WRITERS CONFERENCE produced by
West Coast Writers Conferences. February
35, 2017 at the DoubleTree Hilton, Los
Angeles West Side, CA. Do you want
to write professionally in the realms of
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Steampunk,
Cyberpunk, Military Science Fiction, Urban,
Historical, Epic Fantasy, Space Opera, and
what has been called, the Genre with Many
Faces? Now you can learn from more than
30 published Masters how to brainstorm
new ideas, use research to develop brave
new worlds of wonder, create compelling
memorable characters, plot and structure
amazing story lines of imagination, and
develop stand-alone award-winning novels,
screenplays and graphic novels. The
conference will feature literary agents, and
publishers, celebrity and bestselling authors,
industry experts, Hollywood veterans,
educators, and publishing professionals who
will meet and discuss your project. You can
also submit portions of your MS through the
Advance Submission ProCritiques program
to be reviewed by professional editors and
literary agents. Early-bird Discount Tuition
pricing with financing available. Open to all
levels. See website for details.
Contact: Lillian or Tony Todaro

P.O. Box 2267, Redondo Beach, CA 90278
Ph: 310/379-2650
info@wcwriters.com
www.wcwriters.com/genrela
MAGIC OF MEMOIR CONFERENCE,

co-led by Linda Joy Myers, PhD, National
Association of Memoir Writers, and Brooke
Warner, She Writes, October 1516, 2016,
Oakland Marriott City Center, Oakland, CA.
Craft and writing sessions. Memoirist and agent
panels with opportunity to pitch to agents.
Check out more details or register at
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