Technique

Gearing up for Nano!

This entry is part 14 of 16 in the series NaNoWriMo success and inspiration

All right, it’s official: I’m doing Nano (aka National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo). Feel free to add me as a buddy on the Nano site. You might be able to find me under the enigmatic name of “JordanMcCollum.”

I’m a loose plotter, so I’m spending the month of October preparing. I’m getting my plot outlined, getting to know my characters, researching the facts and the settings, pondering plot points and villains and subplots and schedules (mine, not the characters’)!

As I’ve worked on all these things, I’ve had to review all my favorite plotting methods and character posts—on others’ blogs, and on my own. So if you’re getting ready for NaNoWriMo, I’ll be sharing tips, strategies and advice to help you get the most out of your Nano experience.

We’ll start with some writing resources on my site that I’ve been thinking about and studying, and I hope they might help you prepare, too.

The plot thickens, my series on plotting, highlights plot structures and methods including the three act structure, Larry Brooks’s story structure, the Snowflake method, the Hero’s Journey, and now Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat (also available as a PDF, but it hasn’t been updated to include the Save the Cat posts).

Creating sympathetic characters—while you can edit a great deal of sympathy into your characters, keeping these things in mind as you write can help you get it right the first time.

Character arcs—last year, this was the series I needed most, specifically this post on finding your character’s arc. (Is it awesome or sad when you find the most amazingly helpful resource was written by you two years ago?)

Backstory—figuring out your character’s lifestory, what to leave out, and where to start your story.

And, depending on how you write, you might be able to try out some new techniques with Deep POV or dialogue—or save those for editing.

Although my normal blog schedule is only 2-3 times a week, I’ll be blogging a little extra as we prep for Nano to try to share the resources and inspiration I’ve been saving up!

Are you NaNoing? What are you doing to prepare?

Reposted from Nano 2011

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Marketing

Marketing: finding new readers online

This entry is part 2 of 7 in the series Marketing: social media

The Internet has become a great place to find new readers and potential book customers. A lot of the time, we think about marketing messages that we get to send out on our own platforms: our blogs, our Twitter accounts, our Facebook pages. And that’s a great way to interact with your readers and keep them engaged, but it probably won’t do much to help you find new readers.

Say what? Aren’t new readers supposed to see how awesome we are on the Interwebz and then come to us?

When is the last time that you, as a reader, came to an author’s books through his/her website, blog, Facebook or Twitter? It happens, but it’s extremely rare. So how do you go hunting for these elusive new readers?

Well, the answer is, sort of, you don’t. You have to approach it from a different mindset. You’re not hunting for victims to wrest away their dollars on your book—you’d probably have more luck picking pockets! Instead, we’re building relationships with people who love the same kinds of books we do. If you’re going to go into a community of readers with the attitude of burn and conquer, you’ll crash and burn, and quick.

It’s that darn sincerity thing again

People can see a shill a mile off, and they won’t stand for it. If we come into a reader community looking to take advantage of the people there, it will come through in every post you make, and you’ll be making the opposite of friends.

Please say it with me: don’t join a readers’ community to push your books. Don’t join a readers’ community to push your books. Don’t join a readers’ community to push your books.

But . . . you said . . .

Yes, I know, I said you can find new readers in readers’ communities. But that doesn’t mean you should respond to every “What should I read next?” post with “MY BOOK HEREAREEIGHTY-SEVENPURCHASELINKSHAVEACOUPON!!!!”

Social media—like readers’ communities—is about being social. It’s built on relationships—and not the buyer/seller relationship. Like I also said before, when we approach a readers’ community, it’s with the attitude of building relationships with people who love the same kinds of books we do.

You do read in your genre, don’t you? Your genre is one of your favorites, right? Then you’ve got all the credentials you need to hang out with other people who read in your genre.

Not. Being. Pushy.

In case I haven’t hammered this home yet, let me reiterate that aggressively pushing your book will not sell it. This is true in all media—just like constantly blogging or Tweeting or Facebooking “BUY MY BOOK HEREAREEIGHTY-SEVENPURCHASELINKSHAVEACOUPON!!!!“, attacking a readers’ community and carpetbombing it with coupons is not an effective marketing strategy.

So, then, what can you do?

  • Look around to see how other authors interact. Figure out if you want to mimic their styles, see what works for them, figure out the best way to interact with people here.
  • Mention your book in your post signature—but again, don’t be pushy. The title, the tagline, the cover image, and genre, maybe.
  • Do reply to and acknowledge people who ask you about your book directly.

You might also consider offering a coupon to members of the community (if you have that capability, such as via self-publishing on Smashwords) or other incentive—but only after you’ve made a good, consistent effort to build those genuine relationships and get to know the community.

Reader Community Etiquette

Again, the best first step is to observe the community first. If there are any other authors there, pay special attention to them, how they mention their books, how they approach relationships there. They might not be good examples, but you might learn even more effectively from bad examples.

A few blanket caveats:

  • Do not engage with trolls (belligerent and abusive people) at any time or any place.
  • Choose your battles—and better yet, walk away.
  • Do NOT argue with people who didn’t like your book. Publishing is subjective. You haven’t loved everything you’ve ever read, have you?
  • Even if they get the facts wrong, DO NOT ARGUE WITH PEOPLE ABOUT YOUR BOOK.
  • Never, never, never attack someone for disagreeing with you—especially not about your book.
  • In fact, if there’s a discussion on your book, unless you’re invited to join, it might be best to stay away.

I’ve had this post written for over a month, but I’ve been sick and tired. Sorry about the delay! I hope we’ll be getting back to a more regular posting schedule as I pull out my “gearing up for NaNoWriMo” posts, as well as inspirational posts to help us through everyone’s favorite month!

So, what do you think? Where do you hang out as a reader? What kind of online behaviors from an author have you seen that you like or don’t like? Are you doing Nano?

Photo credits: salesman—Pete Simon; Salesmen seen by appointment only—John

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News & Contests

Gearing Up to Get an Agent Meet & Greet

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Our regularly scheduled Marketing Monday will run on Wednesday.

Hello! For new friends, my name is Jordan McCollum and I blog about writing craft and marketing (usually on Mondays). For old friends, Deana Barnhart is hosting her annual Gearing Up to Get an Agent blogfest, and I’m so happy to join in! Once upon a time, Deana read one of my manuscripts, and I read hers. Little did I know I was the first person to read her writing! Now Deana is represented by Sarah Lapolla of Curtis Brown, Ltd., and I’m sure we’ll hear some good news about her book soon (different book, so I haven’t read it [I wish!], but it sounds great!).

Today is the opening event in her Gearing Up to Get an Agent blogfest, the meet & greet! So here are my interview questions:

Where do you write?
I have two main spots: the loveseat in the family room (where I am now) and the dining room table.

Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?
A towel, a survey with envelope, a lid, a book, two kids’ t-shirts, a pony and a bottle of gun cleaner. The typical mess, usually things my kids bring me to keep me company…

Favorite time to write?
ALL THE TIMES! Usually the answer is night time, especially after 10 PM, but I think I might find a new favorite time since I’ll have two hours where all my children are in school or bed 🙂 .

Drink of choice while writing?
I usually don’t drink anything, and water is probably my most common choice, but caffeine free Dr Pepper is a fave.

When writing, do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?
Yes. Well, not silence, since that’s pretty hard to come by with three kids 6 & under running around (and a TV). If I’m using music, it will usually be a couple songs thematically related to my book, some fitting tracks from a movie soundtrack, and perennial favorites from Queen and Led Zeppelin. My last book was written to ’60s pop and ’70s rock. Iiinteresting.

What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?
It was a ’60s pop song, actually. I’ve heard it dozens of times, but this particular time, I was standing in the Dollar Tree buying Valentines for my kids (the day before Valentine’s Day, naturally). And I thought “What if . . . ?”

What’s your most valuable writing tip?
Just one? Augh. I have so many I started this whole blog about writing tips 😉 . If I had to pick juuuuuust one, it’d be “Keep learning.” I have a book accepted by a publisher and I still take writing classes. Reading craft books recharges me. And number two would probably be “Challenge yourself.” I have to try something new with every manuscript to keep myself interested and growing and challenged. And number three would be check out my free writing guides for lots more tips 😉 !

In honor of GUGTAA, I’ve posted an excerpt of my WIP, I, Spy!

Nice to meet you! Hop on over to Deana’s blog to join in the Gearing Up to Get an Agent blogfest all this month!

Technique

Handling multiple POVs: first person

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This entry is part 12 of 14 in the series Deep POV

Sometimes, using more than one POV in a novel can be tricky. Handling multiple POV styles can be even trickier. Last time, we looked at how to transition effectively between multiple POV characters in third person, and today we’re looking at multiple first person narrators and mixing first and third.

Multiple first-person POV characters

Ooh, now we’re getting tricky! Is that even allowed?

Oh yes. However, you want to be careful in doing this. It’s easy to confuse the reader when both or all of your POV characters call themselves “I.” So here are some quick guidelines on keeping the “I”s dotted straight.

  • Only change POVs at chapter breaks. Absolutely never head hop within a single scene. It might be possible to change first person narrators at a scene break, but it still might be jarring. (One of my books has two first person narrators and I always changed narrators ONLY at chapter breaks—and I didn’t use a chapter break unless I was changing viewpoint characters.)
  • Don’t be afraid of the “idiot light.” Put the viewpoint character’s name at the top of the chapter! (My band director in middle school used this term to describe a dome light that came on when you opened your door, as if you didn’t realize your door was open. He was using it to describe accidentals in music designed to cancel out the previous measure’s accidentals, which are automatically cancelled by a measure bar—just a reminder in case you’re not smart enough to remember those accidentals are no longer in effect.)
  • Make sure your characters have truly distinctive voices. This is important in third person, but critical in first. If they sound too much alike, your POV probably isn’t deep enough—and your readers are going to get confused, no matter what other precautions you take.

Multiple narrators, different persons

Whaaa? Can you even do that?

Yes! You can mix first- and third-person narration. My multiple first-person POVs book I mentioned? It also had some interspersed “scenes” that weren’t “in” chapters—and those were in third person, present tense (vs. past tense for the rest of the book). I needed a more distant POV for the narrator in those sections—and I really couldn’t put his name at the top of his chapters (since it would give away the villain’s identity, a major twist in the novel).

As with everything else we’ve discussed, if you’re going to mix first person and third person, do it on purpose and with purpose. You can even use different persons for the same character (in different scenes)—just be sure you know what effect you’re going for, and make sure it’s working for that effect. Another example would be Heather Gudenkauf’s The Weight of Silence. It has six or more narrators, all in first person except for the character who is an elective mute. But at the end of the novel, <spoiler alert!> the elective mute breaks her silence and concludes the novel in a first-person epilogue.

Just in case you’re wondering, as with multiple first person stories, I think it’s helpful to label the chapters with the viewpoint characters’ names, especially if two or more of your POV characters are in first person. (In The Weight of Silence, the chapters were all labeled with the viewpoint character’s name.) You can do this in third person as well, but I find it a lot clumsier than handling multiple third person narrators organically.

What do you think? What’s the most unusual POV or the most unusual POV combination you’ve ever used? How did you handle it? Come join in the conversation!

Photo credits: couple eating—Mr. Thomas; I-Spy badge by Leo Reynolds; Silent—Jennifer Moo

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Technique

Handling multiple POVs

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This entry is part 13 of 14 in the series Deep POV

Sometimes, using more than one POV in a novel can be tricky. Handling multiple POV styles can be even trickier. Today we’ll look at how to transition effectively between multiple POV characters in third person, and next time we’ll take it to the next level, looking at multiple first person narrators and mixing first and third.

Multiple third-person POV characters

In general, the guideline is that we don’t change POV characters within a scene. I’ve even seen this rule phrased as “you can’t change POV characters within a chapter” but from all that I’ve read and seen, I think that’s far stricter than general publishing guidelines. I’ve also seen some writers state that you can’t change POVs within a chapter, but that’s patently ridiculous, to put it mildly.

When changing between viewpoint characters with all third-person POVs, you will want to use a scene break (denoted by white space or other marks in novels, denoted by centered asterisks or octothorpes in manuscripts) or a chapter break. As with any scene ending, you’ll probably want to give us something to look forward to for the next time we see that character or we get that character’s POV (a hook, if you will).

In the new scene, orient the readers to the new POV character as quickly as you can. You have a number of options of narrative modes to start the scene, but orienting to the POV character can make it a little tougher. Using dialogue can be hit or miss. Thoughts, in general—such as the sequel from the previous scene in this character’s POV—aren’t the best way to switch off the POVs.

I think of opening with thoughts like starting a movie scene with a black screen and a voiceover—without the advantage of recognizing the voice right away. There’s a certain stark effect there, but if you’re not going for that, use the anchor and marble in those thoughts amid the present action.

The easiest way to orient the reader to the new POV character is to begin with a physical action anchor. I do try to avoid falling into a formula, but this beginning is also a good place to orient the reader and character in place and time, include a short sequel from the last scene we saw the POV character in (especially if something important happened and we need their reaction) and state the scene goal (which is often related to the sequel).

Seems like a lot? You can do all that in as little as three sentences.

Another personal rule that I use with multiple POV characters (and this is totally my option, a guideline I gave myself, you don’t have to follow it, but I do) is that any character whose role in the story is important enough to warrant getting their own POV should probably have their POV introduced within the first 3-5 chapters or 30-50 pages.

I find POV characters that jump out of nowhere jarring, especially later in a book (especially if it’s for a single scene—drive-by POV—and most especially if that single scene isn’t needed or didn’t need an additional POV character). They don’t have to come up in a regular rotation, but I try to keep the “minor viewpoint characters” in the loop every few chapters as well.

Multiple third-person POVs within a single scene

Seriously? Didn’t I just say we shouldn’t do this?

All right, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen in published books. At this point, I avoid this (I’m very strict on myself about POV, actually). But if you really, really, really want to do it, here are some tips:

  • Make sure the transition is necessary. Gratuitous changes can feel like indiscriminate head hopping. Limit the number of heads you pop into in a single scene
  • Make sure the transition is obvious (i.e. obviously intentional). The reader needs to feel like we’ve passed the POV baton onto this new character and the character has accepted it, not like “we’re just in this character’s head for a visit, and then we’ll pop back into the real POV character’s head.”
  • Make sure the transition is smooth. (Obvious and smooth? I’m not asking much, right? Maybe this is why this has fallen out of favor.)

This is not quite like omniscient POV, because in omniscient, you don’t have to be quite so strict about transitions. You want to be systematic in omniscient, but once you’ve established your POV expectations (that you can dip into all characters’ thoughts), you can continue to operate in those parameters.

Unless you’re already published, you have to prove you know what you’re doing with POV, so tread carefully here.

What do you think? What “person” do you typically use? How many viewpoint characters do you typically have? What is the most you’ve ever juggled? Come join in the conversation!

Photo credits: couple eating—Mr. Thomas;
anchor & compass (Falkland Islands War Memorial)—Ambernectar 13; leap frog (for head hopping)—TRiver

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Technique

Very special First Page Friday

Earlier this week I mentioned my friend Julie’s awesome feature First Page Friday, and she dared me to join in the fun. And today I did—only not exactly how Julie intended.

Due to some scheduling difficulties, Julie needed an editor to fill in, and she was kind enough to ask me. I enjoyed the first page shared by the brave anonymous-to-me author and fortunately I was able to offer some advice that helps!

So head on over to Julie’s blog to read more about:

  • Filter words and how to fix them
  • The tricky question of simultaneity
  • Showing off your character’s voice, including through word choice

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Marketing

Marketing and networking, networking, networking

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This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series Marketing: social media

Building a Tribe

Which would you sooner believe: Jimmy shouting about how great his book is, or John shouting about how great Jimmy’s book is? I think we’d all value the opinion of someone other than the author of a book or a blog. That’s why we read book reviews, right?

There’s something we can do to help start this buzz or word of mouth. It can be genuine and real and most of all effective—with a little help from your friends.

I hope you already have writing friends. That’s the best part of the online writing community, right? Making friends, finding people who feel like you do. So how do you take those friendships and build a “tribe”?

And wait, what’s a tribe?

A tribe, a clan, a team, a rose

(You know, by any other name . . . ?)

No matter what you call it, a group of like-minded bloggers or Tweeters or Facebookers (or all of the above) can become a valuable resource for all of you. Odds are 100:1 that if you get 4-5 author-bloggers together, even if they write the same genre, their blog audiences won’t overlap.

So what does that mean? If you’re in this group and you write something truly fantastic—a book, a book review, a blog post, etc.—the other members of the group can share that with their audiences.

Looking at it from a mercenary point of view, building a tribe is a great way to increase your audience! But it isn’t purely mercenary: your fellow bloggers (and you!) are always looking for great content and good books to satisfy their audiences.

So, this group you speak of?

Your tribe might be totally informal—just a group of bloggers who happen to hang out together—or you might go so far as to “formalize” your relationship, sending out invitations, setting up ground rules, or even using some sort of social networking site to set yourselves up.

In my opinion, one of the ground rules of a successful tribe is to be sincere. If your friend’s content isn’t right for your audience, no matter how great it is, then you shouldn’t feel pressured to share it. That’s why I don’t particularly care for a program or ground rules that require group members to Tweet/blog/share absolutely everything the other people in the group write.

Because above all, you must be sincere.

It must be sincere!

If a tribe just turns into a retweet machine, and all you ever do is regurgitate and promote one another’s material in an echo chamber, it starts to lose value for the audience—and it starts to ring hollow.

Personally, I would be very careful about what I want to promote through my tribe. Because all blog audiences are different, you have to know what would suit yours. My friend Julie Coulter Bellon has created a fantastic blog and community, and one of her big features (during the season) is responses and reviews of her favorite crime TV shows (and she writes romantic suspense, so that fits well too). Many members of her blog audience also watch the shows, and it attracts new eyes all the time.

But I don’t watch the same shows as Julie, and I don’t really know if you guys would enjoy that. (Want to see me blog about old Law & Orders?!) It doesn’t turn me off her blog at all, but it’s also not the kind of thing that I would envision sharing in a tribe.

On the other hand, I do think another of her weekly features, First Page Fridays, is totally right for my blog audience. She has high-caliber professional editors—Angela Eschler and “Ms Shreditor,” an editor at a publishers—take a look at volunteer submission of the first page. The feedback there is always something to learn from!

Okay, in this context, this endorsement might not sound as true as I really do intend it to be (because FPF truly is great), but I think First Page Fridays is something that would add value to my blog readers, so I’m sharing it here. Sometimes I tweet about it. Because: 1. I like Julie AND 2. I think my readers would like to see things like FPF AND 3. I can be sincere (maybe?) in what I say about FPF.

It’s all about supporting one another

A tribe doesn’t have to just be about retweeting one another’s posts. It’s about supporting one another in whatever way you can: commenting on blog posts, attending or promoting book signings, helping with book launches, brainstorming, answering questions—whatever the group decides you want to cover.

It may not be easy

I kinda made this up as I went along, and I find it hard. Writers are legendarily introverted, and even putting ourselves out there to make friends online can be hard, let alone the subsequent efforts inside a tribe.

One thing I’ve tried from time to time is to set goals for myself in the area of interaction. “Comment on X number of new blogs this week” or “Check on my tribe’s blogs at 2 PM each day” work well, because they give you something concrete to strive for.

What do you think? How do you reach out? Would you use a tribe, or interaction goals? How would you show your support?

Photo credits: Team Spirit—JF Schmitz; Sincere Bank—Chris; Sincere sign—Sam Howzit

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Reading

Focusing on themes & audience expectations: Brave

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This is a post about fiction. I swear. It just looks like a post about the movie Brave.

I have three kids, aged 6 & under. They’re a great excuse to go to animated movies, and last month we went to see Brave.

I enjoyed Brave, but it’s very different from Pixar’s other movies. Wikipedia says that some people have likened it to a Grimm or Andersen fairy tale, and that seems very accurate. Brave hasn’t been quite as universally loved as previous Pixar classics, and the darkness inherent in “real” fairytales might be part of it.

But I have to say, when I see people criticizing the form of the film, I’m very confused. I’ve seen a few people call the movie “unfocused” or even “plotless.”

It’s neither.

To me, focus in film or fiction is defined very simply: do most of the scenes support the central theme and plot? Brave‘s central theme and plot is a mother-daughter relationship: how Queen Elinor wants Merida to behave (like a lady) and how Merida wants to be free.

I think part of the problem starts right there. Viewers have seen variations on the princess who wants to (to quote her father King Fergus’s assessment [behind her back]) “let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen firing arrows into the sunset” before. Several times:

  • Ariel
  • Jasmine
  • Pocahontas
  • Belle
  • Rapunzel
  • Seeing a trend?

It seems like the only kind of princess Disney knows how to write. So let’s look at the trope established by these movies, using another rebellious red-headed princess who wants to be free to follow her heart but her oppressive parent tries to force her to do her duty: Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

In The Little Mermaid, Ariel rebels. She goes to a witch and gets a spell to get what she wants. So far, so good: Brave‘s Merida follows the same path right down to her hair color.

Yeah, Ariel’s rebellion causes problems, but in the end, she wins. She was right and her dad is punished by being separated from her forever (though they still love and forgive one another, at least nonverbally). The trope is repeated in several movies: princess rebels, gets what she wants, was right all along, shows evil parent how wrong they were. (Exactly the message we need to send to our children!)

Dollars to donuts, that’s the movie people were expecting when they walked in, or at least as we approached the end of Act I. But then the story turns very dramatically, and about halfway through, you figure out, Hey, this movie is about mothers and daughters, not finding true love (which is a scary obsession encouraged by a lot of animated movies—do 4-10 year olds really need romance and marriage marketed to them?). One of Brave‘s greatest strengths was the fact that it’s fresh. But violating audience/genre expectations can result in unhappy audiences.

So some dislike the movie for not following a clichéd trope that we’ve already seen at least half a dozen times. (Come on, like they really wanted to see an Ariel Goes to Scotland retread.) But to call the movie plotless or unfocused? No. Just no.

Every event either developed the conflict or moved the story forward, often by showing character changes. An unfocused story features subplots that don’t support or influence the main plot, focus on characters who are superfluous (okay, the younger brothers did kind of seem that way, but weren’t in all that many scenes), and either no theme or competing themes. In my opinion, Brave did none of these.

Actually, it seemed like Brave was an animated version of a character-driven story. I’ve defined character-driven before as “When the basic story is more about the character’s internal growth and change.”

There is an external plot (and external subplot), and they’re resolved in unexpected (and maybe just slightly too-neat, but it’s an animated film, so hey) ways. But at its heart, Brave is about the growth and change in Merida and her mother Queen Elinor, and how they come to love and accept and understand and change for one another. Did it go over my kids’ heads? Yep, most of it. Will they be able to discover new layers of meaning in the movie in ten years? Yep, most likely.

Was Brave the best movie evar? Probably not. It was good and well-told and unique, and no, not everyone liked it. But I think that probably had more to do with its strengths than its weaknesses.

What do you think? How do you define focus in fiction? How can character-driven stories translate to film? Have you seen Brave?