Tag Archives: writing craft

Why I don’t read (many) writing blogs anymore

I love reading writing blogs. I love the craft, I love learning more about it, and I love wasting time on the Internet, so writing blogs have been a major time-suck a favorite hobby.

But recently, I’ve noticed a sad trend among writing blogs. For example, yesterday, I was browsing Pinterest and saw a great graphic for an article on a writing craft topic. It happens to be a topic I’ve written a series about in the past, but I’m perennially curious, so I clicked through.

The article claimed to teach “how to write TECHNIQUE.” The actual article consisted of a paragraph introducing the topic, two points refreshing underlying principles, and two edited examples. The conclusion mentions that you don’t always have to use TECHNIQUE.

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Yep. That’s it. Sure, the examples were accurate, but the article covers only one aspect of the technique and spends 200 words on it (and about 300 words on the rest of the article). There are entire books on the subject and I’ve written thousands of words on it myself. And this isn’t the only time I’ve seen this recently. In fact, it seems to have become a prevailing trend: a great headline on an important writing topic followed by what barely qualifies as an introduction.

Granted, a few other factors are in play here. I’ve studied writing craft off and on for fifteen years—mostly on for the last seven—and I’ve learned a lot. Much of the information out there geared toward beginners just wouldn’t interest me. But there’s a huge difference between covering a topic I already know about and not even covering the promised topic in the first place. (And admittedly, part of my frustration also stems from the fact that I’ve often written more extensively and helpfully about the same topics.)

I know that bloggers often have to leave room for commenters to participate and add to the discussion, but sometimes you can say so little that they have nowhere to go with the topic. I don’t know if these bloggers are pressed for time or not terribly interested in the craft (maybe they feel like the have to write about craft—you don’t), or maybe spending most of their blogging time crafting great graphics (which does take time). No matter what the reason, I often feel like the number of writing blogs out there has gone up while the quality, at least gauging by the articles I’ve seen shared, has gone down.

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I’ve gotten so tired of it that I’ve stopped clicking on links that I can see go to certain sites that are particularly bad offenders, or links shared by all but a select few I know and trust.

This article would probably fall into that fairly useless category if I didn’t share some of those trusted resources, eh? So, here’s my top three sources for good, thought-provoking writing articles with practical, actual help:

  1. Jami Gold’s blog and Twitter feed
  2. Fiction University, Janice Hardy’s blog, and her Twitter feed
  3. Writers Helping Writers as well as the Twitter feeds of authors Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

To go along with that: if you ever see me just barely scratching the surface of a promised topic, comment. Say something. Call me out. Heck, even start a fight. Pretending to teach an in-depth topic with two superficial examples isn’t helping anyone learn the technique. Let’s show more respect for the craft—and for our fellow writers’ intelligence.

What do you think? Are you reading fewer writing blogs these days? Has the quality gone down, or is it just the links I’m seeing?

Photo credits: Disappointed manbark; Disappointed childRachel Monroe both via Flickr/CC

Character Sympathy is coming soon!

Character Sympathy is here!

Today, I’ve got two fun things to share. First, my indie author column is running today at Janice Hardy’s Fiction University (formerly The Other Side of the Story). Go learn more about finding your perfect editor and editing level!

Secondly, I’m revealing the cover of my next writing guide today! Character Sympathy is coming soon!

What does it mean to have a “sympathetic” character? Often we think of characters we love or envy or pity, but at its core, what our fiction really needs are characters the reader can root for and relate to.

When you have characters your readers can really care about, even if they don’t love the character, your readers will be fully engaged in your story and beg for more!

Learn what does and doesn’t create character sympathy and see how to use proven techniques for creating character sympathy to really hook your readers.

And here’s the cover!

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More about Character Sympathy

10 tips to become a better writer

This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Becoming a better writer

Is becoming a better writer on your list of New Year’s Resolutions? (No? Want to go add it really quickly? I’ll wait.)

That’s a pretty lofty goal. And like most goals, it’s kind of impossible to achieve without breaking it down into individual steps. Here are a few.

Begin with a benchmark

Pull up a file of something you’ve written recently (first draft or completed project). Save a copy of it in a specific place: your email, online backup, Google Drive, etc. Add a reminder to your calendar on December 31, 2014, to read the file (and include where you put it!). We’ll come back to this.

Quick tip: don’t use a document you’re planning on publishing in that exact form in 2014, unless you like exercises in futility and frustration.

Identify areas you can improve

Most of us are acutely aware of our own weaknesses. What skills do you want to work on?

  • Plotting
  • Writing faster/slower
  • Specific areas: dialogue, description, backstory, voice, character arcs, etc.
  • Structural macro-editing
  • Line editing
  • Critiquing others’ work (or maybe your own!)
  • Publishing workflow
  • Connecting with a community
  • Marketing

Take a class

When you know what skills you want to improve, find a class to help you. You can look at writers conferences in your area or online, or you can seek out classes through websites. I highly recommend Margie Lawson’s classes, but there are dozens of websites and email lists that offer fantastic resources. (As always, do your research before you pay anybody for a class online!)

Find a critique group, partner or mentor

If you don’t already have a trusty group of critique partners, this will probably be the #1 thing to move your writing forward in 2014. If you’re not quite ready to share your work with other writers for critique, then perhaps seek out a mentor to help foster and improve your writing: maybe not even someone who’s published, but someone who you trust and respect. And ask nicely 😉

Read a craft book

Head over to Amazon or your local library and pick up a book on writing craft. Explore another genre, borrow techniques from another medium (screenwriting books rock), or focus on a particular technique (like, say, Character Arcs?), even research a topic or location—no matter what you look at, you’re guaranteed to learn something!

Read a novel

I do focus so much on my own writing and critiquing that I don’t have as much time for reading as I would like. But every time I take the time to read, I always wonder why I don’t do this more often 😉 . Still, reading novels not only refills my creative wells and gives me new ideas, but—because I can’t turn off my internal editor while reading—it also helps me improve my craft, looking at how the story elements affect me as a reader and how they’re executed, and how I can emulate or improve upon those techniques.

That actually sounds horrible and boring. But it’s not.

Practice

All that training and preparation doesn’t do you much good if you don’t take the time to put it into action. WRITE SOMETHING NEW and apply the skills you’ve learned.

Try something new

If you followed my series about my first ten novels, you’ll see that with every novel, I shared the lessons I learned, either in craft or career. And they usually include “this was the first time . . . ”

I have to explore new themes and techniques in my work, or I lose interest. But doing that is also one of the best ways to continue to grow your craft. So try writing from a POV you don’t normally use—first, third, omniscient, etc. Try a new tense. Take a new genre for a test ride. Do something different—challenge yourself and see how much you grow!

Let go of perfectionism

Can you actually get better if you let go of striving to be perfect? Yes, if perfectionism is keeping you from moving forward. Whether it’s silencing the inner editor while you draft, moving past your insecurities to query or publish your work, or obsessing over someone else’s awesomeness and deriding yourself—stop.

Let go of fear

Uh, yeah. I have four small kids, so I never, ever see movies in the theatre (hate paying for tickets, hate paying for food, hate having to leave my house…). However, I have four small children, so I have an excuse to see every Disney film in the theatres. If you haven’t seen Frozen yet, it’s pretty wonderful.

One of my favorite parts happens after newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally reveals her magical powers (manipulating ice and snow), after hiding them for many years. She runs away and gains perspective about her fears and her powers, and sings an awesome song, and has some pretty awesome graphics to go with it:


If fear is holding you back, LET IT GO and create something wonderful

(It was nominated for a Golden Globe, so yeah.)

If fear is holding you back, let it go and create something wonderful. [Tweet this!]

Check back

At the end of 2014, take another example of your most recent writing: whether that’s the polished version of the file you picked out at the end of 2013 or a different piece (though I would suggest not comparing a 2013 finished product to a 2014 first draft). Read through all or part of your 2013 file and your 2014 file. What would you change about your 2013 file? Is it better or worse than you thought?

What do you think? How have you become a better writer? How will you work to improve in 2014? Would you like monthly challenges & assessments here to work on becoming a better writer?

Character Arcs is here!

This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series Subplots

We’ve finished our series on subplots, but we haven’t touched on one of the most important types: the character arc, the character’s emotional journey of growth. And that’s because I’ve been working so hard on the book about that very topic.

Hooray! It’s here!
COVER

On Kindle and in paperback

With more formats coming soon!

“Amid the vast number of books that focus on the what and why of character arcs, Jordan McCollum has created a refreshing guide that demystifies the how. Any writer interested in learning more about how to create a realistic character arc and smoothly add it to their story will benefit greatly from this book.”

—Becca Puglisi
author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression

WHY DOES YOUR STORY MATTER?

CHARACTER ARCS show the events of our story are worth reading about.

In most works of fiction, the major characters don’t just experience the events of the plot—the story changes them. They learn and grow, ultimately succeeding at the climax of the story because of all they’ve gained. Even the greatest plot in the world can ring flat if the character’s internal journey isn’t dramatic enough. For a character to truly resonate with readers, he should change and grow over the course of the story.

CHARACTER ARCS will help you:

  • Give your readers a powerful experience in any genre
  • Discover your character’s arc: their internal, emotional journey.
  • Implement that character arc to make your readers root for your character.
  • Keep your story moving by using external plot events to prompt your character’s internal growth.
  • Revise your character’s arc for maximum impact.
  • PLUS a special chapter on using character arcs in romances, family dramas & other relationship stories.

Far from a write-by-numbers manual, this approach examines the basic mechanics of character change to show you how to apply these principles in your own work, with numerous examples.

Add power and resonance to any story—master character arcs!

More about Character Arcs
Add Character Arcs to your Goodreads

Announcing Character Arcs (the book!)

It’s a big year for me! After speaking at the LDStorymakers Conference this spring, I wanted to get my thoughts on character arcs out there again. so coming soon, it’s . . .

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Character arcs the book!

I’ve already collected all the cool stuff I’ve shared through guest posts, the original blog series, and my presentation, and I’m clarifying, refining and expanding it!

It should be launching on Amazon Kindle as an ebook sometime next month. I’ll definitely keep you posted.

I’m planning more writing craft ebooks in the future, and I think I’ll probably bundle a couple ebooks for print editions as well.

What do you think? What writing series or topics would you like to see a book on?

What series would you like to see next?

I love doing series on writing craft and techniques. This year, I’ve done a series on the secret sauce of writing that I feel took my writing to a publishable level, and a guest series on things other authors feel are part of their secret sauce that we’ve just begun. Secret Sauce Part II will probably run through the rest of the summer (and I’m still taking guest posts if you’d like to share some of your secret sauce!), but after that I have several ideas for the next series.

What topic would you like to see covered next?

Be sure to check the free writing guides page or the list below to make sure I haven’t already covered a topic before you suggest it!

Other previous series (now available as PDF writing guides!)

TBR Tuesday: Writing craft books

Shocker: one of my favorite types of books to read? Writing craft books. Here are a few of my favorites that I reference over and over again (Amazon affiliate links—I get a tiny percent of any purchase you might make within 24 hours of following one of these links; it costs you nothing and helps me out.)

Story Engineering by Larry Brooks I’ve used Larry Brooks’s story structure in every successful story I’ve written since I first encountered it.
Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder Like Story Engineering, Save the Cat! has become a staple in my story structure outline. (In fact, I combined the two to create the plotting roadmap freebie you get when you join my newsletter.)
Scene & Structure by Jack Bickham This model for scene structure is another that I use every. single. time.
How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey This was one of the first books on writing craft I read that went deeper than the basic principles of line editing, and Frey’s books taught me a ton about creating character sympathy. It’ll always have a special place in my heart for that.
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass With a forward by Anne Perry, who gave a PHENOMENAL keynote at the LDStorymakers Writers’ Conference last week, this book of writing advice from an agent/author is a perennial classic. It also comes with a workbook, but having read all of his stuff, I’d actually recommend starting with The Breakout Novelist, as it covers most of the material in his other books.

What do you think? What are your favorite books on writing craft?

Pre-requisites to the Secret Sauce

This entry is part 2 of 16 in the series Spilling the secret sauce

Some ingredients in the secret sauce of taking your writing to the next level are more basic than others. But like any secret sauce, it works a lot better with the right foundation.

So, what kind of foundation do you need to apply the secret sauce?

The extreme basics of grammar, formatting, etc.

Believe it or not, it’s possible to get published—by a trade publisher, even!—without a firm grasp on the grammatical concept of a “sentence.” However, the odds are pretty hard against it.

Grammar is a basic building block of writing. You don’t have to diagram your sentences or understand the definition of a periphrastic tense, but I think it’s a good idea to understand how to write a complete sentence, and how to make your subjects and verbs agree, before you dwell on any other part of your writing craft.

Some craft basics

This list might be somewhat arbitrary, but here are a few of the things that I studied, learned or just formed opinions within my first couple novels. (Yeah, that long.)

Understand telling versus showing

Note that this doesn’t say “always execute telling versus showing perfectly.” It means that you need to understand what both of them are, so that you can catch yourself and understand how to fix it when others catch it in your writing.

Understand POV

I’m a POV purist, but understanding the basics of modern point-of-view is a basic of writing saleable fiction. Know what head hopping is, know who your POV characters are, know how to choose them well.

Understand basic character sympathy

With my first couple novels, I assumed that my readers would automatically sympathize with my main character.

This is not true.

After receiving my first real critiques, I saw how important it is to build character sympathy, so it was one of the first things I really set out to study. (And that’s why it’s also one of the first series I did on this blog!) Without character sympathy, nobody will read past the first chapter.

Critique and be critiqued

Critically examining someone else’s fiction with an eye toward helping them improve it helps you do the same for your own. Similarly, getting quality feedback from someone else helps you see things you couldn’t, look at your fiction through new eyes, and learn more about writing craft in the most personalized and hands-on way possible.

Read

Because, seriously, how else can you write?

Tried to write fiction in any form

The most important prerequisite, though, is that you’ve at least tried to write fiction, any length, any form. Setting that goal and making that effort is the first step that lays the groundwork for everything else above, everything we’ll read in the series, and everything you’ll learn about writing.

Discouraged?

Don’t be! Notice that everything above can be learned—and it can be learned through practice. Despite the myth of the perfect first draft and its naturally talented author, nobody is born knowing every advanced writing technique. All of these “prerequisites,” and even the ingredients of the secret sauce can. be. learned.

And, frankly, the “secret sauce” will vary from person to person. Maybe you’ve grasped several of the concepts I’ll cover in the series, but are still working on the above. That’s okay. We all learn different things at different paces—and that’s fine. There are things we all need to learn and refine and work on, either in drafting or revision or revision or revision (there’s a reason that’s in there three times!).

What my “secret sauce” did for me

So will all this stuff work?

My “secret sauce” recipe base is the steps I took over the course of a couple years, focused mainly on improving one novel. But first, I submitted this one novel to an editor I met at a conference and got a fairly quick rejection (with very useful feedback). I continued to learn and grow and apply and refine, until I was finally ready to resubmit the same manuscript to the same publisher—always a big risk, but even more so when it came directly against the advice of another editor for the same publisher.

I did it anyway.

It was accepted.

My secret sauce took an unpublishable manuscript to a publishable one. Like I said, the ingredients in your secret sauce will probably be different, but pretty much everyone has something new they can learn to improve their writing craft.

What do you think are the most basic aspects of writing craft and the business of writing? Come join the conversation!

Photo credits—secret sauce ingredients: Paolo Valdemerin