Earthquake!

Have you ever taken a class, read a craft book, or discussed your WIP with someone and felt the earth shake under your feet when you realized that you've missed an important facet of your plot? Well, this week has been that sort of week for me. As I understood my pot until this week, I only saw one facet of Samantha's reaction to the abuse she has had to endure. She was a withdrawn child, quiet unto eeriness. Now I realize that her journey is fraught with a much more explosive reaction and, therefore, so is Laura Grace's.

Donald Maass is the President of Donald Maass Literary Agency and a premier agent. He's written Writing the Breakout Novel, The Fire in Fiction, and conducts many writing workshops every year. Last week he lead the member of the WFWA on an intensive look at Writing with Emotional Power. He has a book in process on these very topic and used some of the exercises from it for our workshop.

Don began the week by telling us that our genre, Women's Fiction,  is different from others in some specific ways. For one thing, there are more internal passages in which the protagonist moves through emotional reactions to the events and problems around her. For another, the protagonist's journey will necessitate more telling passages. Women's Fiction feels deeply--character and reader--and it takes telling/showing, inner/outer, and implicit/explicit emotions to do it. Effective WF fires the heart and uses small, throw away emotions and details. Small events can cause big emotions His aim was to teach us how to craft and control the reactions, shape emotional effects, and intentionally get a specific reaction. The MC must have room to have angst, but the proper use of internal narration and telling passages is a must, so that the story will be as griping and intense as any thriller, suspense, or mystery. The question becomes: Will the protagonist grow enough to handle the thrill ride of her life? There has to be room for doubt.

So, how do you accomplish those twin differences without boring your reader to tears? (Unless it's tears you want at that point ;-) Don has specific answers for that question.

• Lesson 1 How to Transform Blah Scenes with Inner Turning Points: Every scene must have change and the protagonist's emotional reaction to that change is the story. How does this change affect the MC? Is it good or bad? How does it affect others in the scene? What does this change mean to the MC's journey throughout the story?


• Lesson 2 How Actions Provoke Or Not and How to Judge: How does your MC react to a difficult choice. Making the choice visible using unique details for the setting and recording the reaction of the MC is key. Once you let external action speak to the internal reaction, you bring the reader into the key turning point moment.


• Lesson 3 Emotional Surprise and How to Achieve It: If your MC always reacts emotionally the way the reader expects, the story becomes boring. So, drill down into the second and third emotional reaction layers to create a strongly felt event. 


• Lesson 4 Constructing Extended Passages of Telling: Telling isn't always bad if it is constructed in a way that pulls the reader in. In places where your MC is stuck, self-doubting, morally offended, etc., the writer should dig down for those interior reactions, the bedrock of the character's life.


• Lesson 5 The Emotional Arc of Your Audience: Finally, a writer must control and direct the reader's emotional journey, too. We took a secondary character and plotted out what we wanted the reader to feel in the beginning, middle, late middle, and end. In one of these stages, we had to go for the opposite reaction than what the reader expected. And this is were FRIENDLY FIRE was rocked off its foundation for me. ;-) Samantha is a little hellion, not all sweetness and light as I saw her before. Now Laura Grace must earn her stripes as a mother against much higher odds. Before I saw the story as Laura Grace vs. the world in her fight to protect Samantha. Now, I realize I must let Laura Grace face  the challenge of mothering a disturbed teen.

To be completely open about this, I have to admit that John has been trying to get me to see this for over a year. Yep. That long and I've been reluctant (he says stubborn) to see the need. Well, now I do.

So, what does that mean to my strive to complete the FRIENDLY FIRE MS this month? It means that I have a complete overhaul coming instead of a celebration of completion. And you know what? I'm good with that. It's going to be a much better story, a more gripping read--one that will stick with the reader longer. Wish me luck!



Don Maass Workshop, FRIENDLY FIRE Update, and a Reminder

It's a busy week and I'm learning so much! This is the week of WFWA's Don Maass Workshop on Inner vs Outer – Writing with Emotional Power. The description is:

What’s the best balance between inner vs. outer, telling vs. showing, emotions vs. actions? This hands-on writing workshop by master craft instructor and agent Donald Maass will equip you with the techniques that give manuscripts high emotional force.

Mr. Maass has retooled his trademark ideas for Women's Fiction specifically, and I'm going to soak it up and then apply the new craft to FRIENDLY FIRE. Just answering the Introduction Questions helped me fine tune my WIP already. Check them out!

1- What do I want my readers to feel most strongly as they read my novel.
Determination, love, and triumph: My MC must overcome depression, grief, and fear of aging. The determination to accomplish this is key to her growth. Love is the reason she finds the determination to reach out and help an abused foster child. And finally, triumph from making a child's life better and facing the wounds from both of their pasts.
2- What do I like best and least about my MC?
I love my MC's ability to rise up out of depression from losing her husband of 30+ years and the long-time grief of childlessness. Even though she is getting older and slower, she still has the strength to put herself on the line--heart, mind, body, and soul--to help a sexually abused foster child. Though she thinks she no longer has the strength to do much, still she tries. Once she has a plan to help, she isn't easily deterred.
3- Pick a blah scene.
Oh, there are many to choose from! I have narrowed it down to her dark hour when she thinks she must give the child up to her newly released from prison father. It's a tough scene where she tries to come to terms with relinquishing her desire to be a mother yet again.

If I'm a bit absent around the blogosphere, you'll know where I am. Working hard on my assignments for this workshop.

FRIENDLY FIRE Update: I'm nearing the halfway mark in my reread/edit/hole filling mission. Some of the scenes have been good, but others are horrid. ;-) That's the way writing is, isn't it?

Easter Reminder: Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. If you'd like a Lenten devotional, AN EASTER WALK is now available as an ebook.

 Here's the blurb from Amazon:

Need to get ready for Easter? Along with the new spring clothes, candy eggs, and lilies, take a walk with Christ to Jerusalem and the Cross. Join the crowds at the Temple and the Last Supper in the Upper Room, and find His message of peace and hope. Preparing for Easter is the focus of the Season of Lent. Many see it as a time of repentance for sins committed during the year and reflection on Christ’s sacrifice. An Easter Walk from Palm Sunday to the Ascension provides forty devotions and is a great way to contemplate Christ’s purpose and mission and to consider the importance of following Christ’s steps throughout the year. An Easter Walk is a companion volume to A Christmas Walk.

Zan Marie Steadham is the author of An Easter Walk and two books on church history. She is a 2009 Georgia Author of the Year Nominee. She writes fiction, devotions, and poetry and is a member of a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and the CompuServe Books and Writers Forum.

I hope you have a fun and productive week of writing, reading, or just relaxing. ;-)

The Creed all Writers Need

Here it is--the Creed we all need to take into if we're serious about our writing.



Writer's Rebel Creed

Thanks to S A Larson, we have not excuse this year. None. Join the crowd, the determined, the writers who will succeed. And check out SA's to-dos to be a Writer Rebel in 2014.

I would be honored for you to join me in committing to this CREED. All you have to do is add your name to the linky list below. There are two optional commitments you can also make:

1. Copy the CREED Badge and paste it on your site, encouraging others to join us.
2. Write one post a month somehow related to your journey in following the CREED. Choose a day and time to your liking. Just include the badge in your post, linking back to this post so others can join in. Share your post via Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or however!

Remember - neither of those are required, only suggested. Best of luck with the CREED and keep in touch! Last year we had 99 writers commit. Let's see if we can double that or even more, this year! 

Now how easy is this! Just join us.

For my sharing I'd like to tell you the two steps I'm taking to up my game, to prove I'm serious about my writing.

• Starting March 2 I'll be taking a Don Maass Workshop sponsored by the WFWA focused on Inner vs Outer – Writing with Emotional Power
• May 1 is the start of the first WFWA contest--The Rising Star Contest for those who haven't previously published a WF novel. I'm working on polishing up my first 35 pages and preparing a 2-3 page synopsis. Wish me luck!

What about you? What are you doing to prove you're serious about your writing this year?

FRIENDLY FIRE Update: I finished editing Part 1 on Saturday. The first thirty-five pages are out with some beta readers and getting good reviews from those who have reported back already. Thea, my big sister, my reader-in-reserve, really liked it and wants to read more. What can I say? I'm excited and gratified. On I go. Next stop, part 2 edited and filled in. ;-)

What's On Your Shelf?

It's nearly 2014. The clock is ticking and tomorrow we'll be in a brand new year. Many writers will begin the year with a new goal--finishing the rough draft (that's me), or revising their novel, sending out queries, or some other goal related to their stories.

What about picking a craft book to read? Have you ever made that a resolution?

I am. Besides finally finishing FRIENDLY FIRE (I promise I will! Honest!), I'm going to try to use the books sitting on my shelf to learn more about making my book better.

I have books of inspiration and craft. My inspiration list are well read.

• The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
• On Writing by Stephen King
• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

I've talked about these before and I still refer to them and their message often. When I'm stuck I remind myself that it's all resistance (Pressfield), and to keep writing every day (Lamott) or any of several truths I learned from King and Cameron.

But when it comes to craft books, I don't have such a good track record. The shelf is full of them, but I haven't finished many. In fact, I haven't started quite a few of them. ;-)

Here's a sampling of what I have on my shelf:

•   The Fire in Fiction and Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass--I know all the reasons to read these two, but tried to before I was a third of the way into FF. I think these will click when I finish goal one (see above).
• The Writer's Little Helper by James V. Smith--This is my first craft book. It's more of a checklist than anything else. It'll be good to click through after goal one is accomplished.
• Write in Style by Bobbie  Christmas and Don't Sabotage Your Submissions by Chris Roerden are much like the Smith with added expertise from the authors--both have professional editing experience. I'll be back for them later.
• Make a Scene by Jordan E. Rosenfeld--This is another early buy. I floundered on the descriptions of scene types. Now I have a clue about them from experience writing and critiquing and I'll be back to read this one later.
• The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler--This is another well-regarded craft book, but it doesn't fit my genre. I'll give it another look if and when I ever get back to my long-worked-on and long-delayed SF trilogy.
• Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell--This is a recent acquisition. I'm over halfway through it. It's hitting the spot as a helpful book probably because I was already 85% done with FF when I got it.

Two new books on my shelf are Writing Subtext by Elizabeth Lyon and Wired for Story by Lisa Cron. Both come highly recommended. I'll get into them when goal one is done. And I have one on order--Nail Your Novel by Roz Morris.This is recommended for its info on emotional beats.

There's a pattern here--Either I tried to read the book way early in my novel, or I've just haven't had time to read them. I foresee more time when goal one is done and FF is out with my beta readers.

Now it's your turn. What's your favorite craft book? Any I don't have yet? ;-)