Tips Gained at Writers Conference, Part 2

Studying a Contract
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Two of the classes I took at the LDStorymakers 2014 Conference are hard to pass along tips. One was a Scrivener writing program demonstration that caught my interest. It could be helpful for you to know that they have a free 30-day trial and half price to Nanowrimo winners. The other was a timely subject for me--Contracts. I'll not bore you with various clauses. However, I highly recommend getting help understanding what a potential contract contains or should contain but might not, before signing one.

My main focus this time was help with plot because the sequel I am writing has me stuck in a few spots. How do I keep the emotion in events and the stakes high for the people of Ammon who are happy and righteous? The following tips are from a combination of plot classes.
1. Each character needs a goal. There should also be a scene goal and overall story goal. Once in a while a character can get what they want if it furthers the story, but most of the time you keep them from their goal with conflict and disasters.
2. Stephanie Black taught that scenes are real-time action with conflict, and sequels are the connectors between them. Take notice of the amount of each so that we are neither bored nor out of breath. Reader need short pauses where characters take time to think and decide. Then get moving again. Make things happen for a reason.
3. Jordan McCollum showed a scene chart spreadsheet to visually see such things as length, who the point of view character is, their goal, the source of tension or conflict, the setting, mode (set-up, response, attack, resolution), etc. Is there smoothness into the next scene or a hole? What does the story shape look like? This could be a helpful tool for me.
4. Rachelle Christensen spoke about the power of outlining, whether strict or loose. Start with knowing your beginning, middle, and end points. Make a timeline, draw a map, or write a scene list. Use beats, point systems or other plot methods you like. Fill in the holes by discovering why, what are your characters' motivations? Anything can be changed. Never put a scene in that you don't love.
5. In Kris Chandler's Emotional Pacing class, she described that the physical plot is separate from the emotional plot. If you overlapped the ups and downs of the two, they may correlate or separate but should come closely together with a punch at the end. The story of the Three Little Pigs is plot-strong. It would scare children if the emotional pacing matched it. Toned down with cute words (like chinney chin chin) and rhyme, the emotional plotline makes it bearable. Identify the primary emotion you want the reader to feel in each scene.

Now let's get writing!

Tips Gained at Writers Conference, Part 1

Progress, or at least consistency, has been made. 
In passing the 200th post mark with this article, I found that learning some fresh ideas for blogging to be a timely topic for me. I gleaned some goodness from the Blogging class taught by DeNae Handy at the LDStorymakers Conference 2014. It's never the same as being there and hearing the fun stories accompanying one's notes, but here are some tips anyway. Enjoy!
Blogging: The Writer's Workroom
1. Everything is searchable and public. You cannot use published blog posts for profit elsewhere, so save your special ones for your memoir.
2. Blogging helps the writer: become a better observer, be creative, learn to be concise/brief (as opposed to writing a novel), develop subplots (as we meander into a different subject than when we began), connect with readers (verses the isolation of a novelist), tell engaging stories, expand your readership, lets you practice, discover, and more.
3. Go back and reread a few old posts to see how far you've come and to refreshen your voice.
Great tips, DeNae. Find her blog with funny stories at http://www.thebackorderedlife.com/ It's the new-to-me blog of the week.

I decided I better sit in on a Romance Genre class since my upcoming novel is being called a Book of Mormon Romance. Here's some of the pointers Krista Jensen shared:
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
1. Never let the hero and heroine be separated for more than ten pages. (Yeah. I broke that one until the climax. But then my story is more about Karlinah's self-discovery journey with romance as a subplot until the end.)
2. Show them in a variety of settings. (Check.)
3. Put them in a setting where they can't escape each other and must deal with one another. (Check.)
4. Romances have happy endings. (Double check.)

I'll share one more class for today, but look for more tips next week. Jeff Scott Savage gave examples and let the class 'fix' them in The Art of Creating Stronger Stories Through Subtlety. He showed us how to step things up and try something different.
1. Write in ways that 'show-don't tell'. Avoid thought verbs, using SO (She was so angry that...), and shortcuts. They 'tell'.
2. Keep foreshadowing subtle enough that readers don't know it's there until later.
3. Use misdirecton. Reader is lead to think a certain thing will happen but changes instead.
4. Avoid the obvious by not writing the first thing that comes to mind. What are the options?

Good stuff, eh? 

What I Gained at a Writer's Conference



Writers usually come away from any writer's conference pumped to implement what they have learned. My experience at the LDStorymaker Conference 2014 takes no exception and I'll give tips from that next week. But knowledge is not the biggest thing I gained this year. It wasn't the author-signed books I bought or conference swag like this cool pen. The biggest thing to pump me up was the people-connections.

Melissa and Rich from my former Face-to-Face Crit Group
 

New on-line critique group meets for first time.

Perhaps my most treasured moments stem from the lack of face-to-face contact I've had with writers since moving to California. What matters most? Those real, live characters in the stories of our lives. People. 

Another missed Crit Group friend, Angela.

Kathleen inspired me to start this blog.








Bolder, Better People-Connections at Conferences

A couple days ago I opened the fortune cookie that came with my meal and read:

 Pretty generic, but decent advice. I want to apply it to something I am definitely enthusiastic about:



This is probably the only writer's conference I will attend this year and it's less than two weeks away! Excitement is building. Enthusiasm--check. But boldness?

I remember the first conference I attended. I carpooled with a friend, we went separate ways for classes, but met up again for meals. She introduced me to a few of her conference friends and I had a great time. In contrast, I attended a smaller conference not long afterward, expecting a similar experience. While the workshops were great, I found myself at a lunch table with equally reserved novice writers. There was more eating than conversing. My next experiences went better and I want this time to be my best yet. But it will take a mindset of boldness. For most writers, being bold takes planning.

Things I plan to do to make better people connections at my next writer's conference:
1. Smile. Be friendly. Say hello. 
2. Write out and practice a couple of elevator pitches to answer the ever-present "What do you write?" and "Tell me about your book" questions.
3. Be on the lookout for and reconnect with old friends.
4. Sit close to the front when that is an option.
5. Introduce myself to my publishing company's rep.
6. Prepare something for a future blog post and ask people to participate or guest post, etc.

That gives me some good things to shoot for. Now let's see if I can walk the walk.

Writing Twists and Turns

Don't you just love a story with a good twist at the end? We like the surprise, the freshness of the path less traveled. But why limit a story to one good plot twist? Readers may not always recognize every Story Turn they happen upon--especially the small story ones. 

A Story Turn is where the reader is set up by the author to expect something dramatic or a change. It could be as simple as having a rough character momentarily show compassion or humor. Okay, so this may not be considered a plot twist, but it is a Story Turn and it affects the pacing of the story. It raises new questions and greater curiosity. Story turns are for the reader, not the characters in the story, sais John Brown in the LDStorymaker conference class I attended last week. "Readers want to puzzle and worry," Brown adds. This questioning or worrying is often triggered by a 1) Threat, 2) Hardship, 3) Opportunity, or 4) Mystery. Brown uses the acronym THOM. Not all Story Turns have to be positive or negative, and they should be varied within the story.

Brown suggests brainstorming for possible twists and turns. Work forward with a Story Cycle or backward with a Step List. What the writer is going for, according to Brown, in planning a Story Turn is to first incite a question or problem. Secondly, a THOM is presented to cause a different action than anticipated. These turns occur at the structural and scene level. We need the main question raised in the beginning to be answered in the end AND we need a turn or mini-turns in each scene to drive the pace. See if this short quiz strengthens your understanding.

Which THOM is used for the main story question in the following book/movie?
     1) Les Miz
     2) Jurrasic Park
     3) Pride and Prejudice
See how well you did? Now that's what I'm talking about! Now figure out the THOM for one of your favorites.

Finding and Fixing the Weakness

My story had a weakness and I needed to know what it was. Was there a problem with the plot, not enough conflict, what? I had my "ah-hah" moment during a writer's conference as the result of two different classes meshing together in my head. Here are some definitions from one class that I wrote in my notes:

Plot: Action that grows out of conflict in a sequence of events leading to the next conflict. Conflict: keeps characters from what they want. I had both of these to some degree, but they really depended on a major consequence.

Here is the tip from the query letter class that jumped out at me:
Consequence: What will happen if the main character doesn't overcome the conflict? State in one sentence the consequence of the MC not getting what he/she wants. Elana's example: Control or be controlled. If you write this out early in your work in progress, it will help you to stick to the main conflict.
I had action growing out of conflict (plot), I had characters who had trouble getting what they wanted (conflict), but I didn't have a strong enough consequence that it mattered to the reader if the MC could overcome the problem. Strengthen the consequence and I take care of my story's weakness.
So, I have been rereading my manuscript, inserting this stronger dimension and hoping it all still flowed. The extra time it takes will make the story better so it is worth it. Anyway, I'm feeling better about getting the story strong enough to submit soon. (I just hope there doesn't have to be another ah-hah moment of which I am not aware.) I do believe that the more knowledge we gain and can put to use in our craft, the better the results. Be not weary in well-doing. Take the time to get it right to the best of your knowledge. Can I get an "Amen"? Who else has a rewrite or "ah-hah" moment to share?