Tag Archives: story craft

Top Ten from SCBWI-OK 2014

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Top Ten from SCBWI-OK 2014

Natalie Bright

 

The Oklahoma chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators held a meeting in Oklahoma City. If you aspire to write stories for children, this group is a must. www.scbwi.org

SCBWI hosts a huge con in August in LA and a NYC con in February of every year. If you’re low on funds or time and can’t make the journey, consider attending one of the local workshops close to you. I usually make at least one of the Oklahoma meetings every year, which is just up the interstate from where I live. Time and family are the issues for me, but several nights away is doable. Sure you could go shopping or take a vacation, but how about making an investment in your writing career instead?

You’ll meet creative writers, editors, agents, come away with tons of inspiration, and find new friends who love stories just as much as you do. Now here’s the big secret that only conference goers know: most of the big publishing houses are closed to un-agented submissions but these editors make an exception for attendees when they speak. They’re furnished with a list of names and those people can submit a manuscript and bypass the slush pile. Did you get that? You have to go. It’s only for those who attend the meeting. What a fantastic opportunity!

Here’s my top ten from SCBWI Oklahoma 2014:

  1. Twist the cliché character and turn what we’ve already seen on it’s side. Tricia Lawrence, Erin Murphy Literary Agency.
  2. Have you considered the visual language of comics? They can say one thing and show the opposite. Colleen AF Venable, FirstSecond Books.
  3. Figure out your character’s pain point. Ask them questions, and then torture them. Tricia Lawrence, Erin Murphy Literary Agency.
  4. Use family to create characters. Family dynamics shows a character as who they really are. Andrew Harwell, Harper Collins.
  5. Study the work of craft. Not just reading. Take it apart and look at stories from a writer’s perspective. Melissa Manlove, Chronicle Children’s.
  6. Trend chasing books usually fall flat. Challenge yourself to look outside your day-to-day existence. Which truths would make great fiction? Kristen Miller-Vincent, D4E0 Literary Agency.
  7. Family relationships can bring more emotion to create empathy and sympathy for your character. Andrew Harwell, Harper Collins.
  8. Give your character an objective in each scene. Pit them against an obstacle. Liza Kaplan, Philomel Books.
  9. Use those familiar family conflicts that we’ve all experienced, but amp them by 1000 times for your book. Andrew Harwell, Harper Collins.
  10. Your brain is a machine made for generating ideas and ideas come to writers like lightening bolts. More importantly, it is the lightening bolt that hits somebody who has been habitually cranking the generator. Those are the best ones. Melissa Manlove, Chronicle.

Thanks to SCBWI Oklahoma for a great conference. I can hardly wait until September!

nataliebright.com

Ten Best from Enid

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Ten Best from Enid

by Natalie Bright

www.nataliebright.com

 

Enid Writers Club sponsored a one day seminar on The Story, a Craft of Writing seminar. Based on my notes, here’s the best quotes from Saturday’s workshop.

1)    Things will be tough in your life, but when you get to the other side you still gotta write that book. Dusty Richards, Spur Award winning author and President of Western Writers of America

2)    Anybody can be published in 40 days. We all know there are a million opportunities for writers these days. To rise above the others, you must have a kick-butt story that connects with readers in a unique way.  Lucie Smoker, Enid Writers Club

3)    There’s a time, there’s a publisher, there’s a place on the shelf for your story. Never take no for an answer. Work on getting better.  Dusty Richards

4)    Begin with a commitment to write a chapter every day. Stop whispering, “I’m a writer.” Don’t be afraid to declare it—I write! Tara Hudson, best-selling YA author

5)    Kick that story off like you kick a football to start the game. Get ‘em by the shirt front and grab that reader into your book. Your job as the writer is to intrigue people. Dusty Richards

6)    A reader doesn’t give a damn about all the things the writer thinks we need to know. We want to have an adventure. It’s up to you as the writer to take us on one. Dusty Richards

7)    Let your mind run. That’s when you write your best. Create the book. Don’t listen to anyone during this part of the process. When it’s time to edit, then listen to others. Dusty Richards

8)    Write at least one paragraph on the next chapter before you quit for the day. Don’t stop at the end of the chapter. Dusty Richards

9)    Setting is a character. You may not have thought of it in that way.  Tara Hudson

10)  Develop rules of your world, which is particularly helpful if you are writing a series. Don’t ever break them. Tara Hudson

Very inspiring conference and we made it home before the snow storm hit. Thanks Enid Writers Club for a great day!

www.nataliebright.com

The Art of Friendly; Texas Style

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The Art of Friendly; Texas Style

How traditions can become awkward situations for your character.

By Natalie Bright

As a writer, everything I hear can become a spark in my mind for words on paper. An interesting resource has become people’s comments on current events. It’s fascinating to me how people are so very diverse and will interpret the same situation in so many unique ways, which brings me to the point of this blog.

A post on Facebook has stayed in my head these past several weeks. The blogger said,  “Manners and caring are so rare these days that acts of kindness are misunderstood and considered sexual advance in today’s world.”

Do you think that rings true?

Acts of Kindness

A car bumped me this past week in line at Taco Bell.  I got out of my vehicle to check the damage, which wasn’t anything that I could see. The driver of the other car refused to get out. She gripped her steering wheel with both hands and with a half smile, just starred. She could have at least rolled down her window to say, “Sorry, is everything okay?” I wish I had thought to take pictures of my bumper and of her with my iPhone. That might have generated some kind of reaction.

I have to admit that I’ve been the recipient of strange looks sometimes just for saying “Hello, how are you?” I can see it in the store clerks eyes; Beware, Crazy lady approaching. When did a common greeting and kindness become a reason for distrust? And why are people so scarred of engaging others in conversation? Maybe the statement made on Facebook does ring true in today’s world.

Chit-Chat and Hugging

Here in the Texas Panhandle, for the most part, manners and kindness still rule. Men really do hold doors open for ladies. Most of us chit-chat. A lot. We visit with each other while waiting in line at the grocery store. We visit about the weather in passing at the post office and chat to our waitress at lunch.

And we invade each others space. We hug hello, we hug goodbye, we hug not only relatives and close friends, in addition many of the people we have a working relationship with. Yeah, I know that sounds very awkward, but it’s really not, if you grew up that way. The hug I miss the most is a giant-all encircling hug that came from my Grandmother Williams. She really enjoyed talking to people and always welcomed everyone she knew with a sincere hug of warmth and love.

Hugging and chit chat: regional practices that can have the potential of creating huge conflict for your characters, and not just external. Consider the battles going on inside your character as well.

The What If of a Hug

Utilize the simple act of hugging to create conflict and awkwardness for your characters. It’s only one element of your story, but it can offer readers a glimpse into your characters personality. Here are a few story starters for you.

  1. What if a simple act of kindness is considered to be a sexual advance? How can your character explain his/her action and keep their job?
  2. An affectionate, life-loving southern woman dates a man who likes his space. Does her hugging and friendships with everyone in town create jealousy issues between them? How can he ever trust her? How can their relationship survive?
  3. She’s raised by a cold-distant mother, hard-working, absent father, and is sent to spend the summer with affectionate grandparents and a passel of cousins in small-town Texas.  She misinterprets a hug hello from the neighbor’s boy resulting in a first crush. How does that create conflict for them?
  4. What about the character that is accused of being extremely rude, but in her world she’s just extremely shy, detached and scarred of people?

It all starts with a hug. Happy writing!

Dialogue that Rings True

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Dialogue that Rings True

By Natalie Bright

 

I’m reading an excellent novel this week, however I find myself distracted from the story line because the dialogue between the male characters doesn’t ring true for me.

With two teenage boys and a husband, I know all about guy talk. Let me take that back, I try to understand the chatter around me but honestly, half the time I have no idea what’s so funny. Men don’t chit-chat the same way as women. In addition, teenagers have a whole lingo going that’s all of their own, which is very different from middle graders, for example.

Dialogue is important in moving your plot and story along, but it has to ring true for your character. It’s a distinct part of the character profile, as much as their motivation and personality.

Self-editing check list for dialogue:

1)   Read your work out loud, from beginning to end in one sitting, if possible (as recommended by Stephen King, ON WRITING). This really makes a difference in how you perceive the plot, character motivation, and if the dialogue stays true to moving the story along.

2)   Don’t take away the intensity of the scene on pleasantries: Hello, How are you? I’m doing fine today. What’s new? Get right to the heart of the matter between these characters. In business this is good manners. In fiction it’s just boring.

3)   Be careful about dating your manuscript with trendy jargon.

4)   “Writers who use tag lines other than “he said” or “she said” most often are young in the craft and are trying to spice up the text…the reader hardly notices the tag line at all; he quickly checks with a sidelong glance to determine, almost subliminally, which character is speaking and then leaps back into the story.” Writing Realistic Dialogue & Flash Fiction by Harvey Stanbrough. (This book would be an excellent addition to your writing reference library.)

Happy writing!

I want to be a Writer. What Does it Take?

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I want to be a Writer. What Does it Take?

By Natalie Bright

Being a successful writer takes:

1)    Talent

2)    Perseverance

3)    Luck

And if you have any two of those three things, you’ll make it. Having all three at some point in your career is even better.  JODI THOMAS

This industry moves too slow. I want my books out there NOW so everyone can read them and then I’ll make a lot of money selling e-Books.

1)    A good writer can’t be just writing for money and expect to make it. You gotta be a writer first.

2)    And, knowing what business you’re in.

These two things go together. You gotta put those two things together, if you have any hope at having success at this thing.  JAMES SCOTT BELL via YouTube

The publishing business is too confusing. I just want to write my stories.

There’s no mystique about the writing business, although many people consider me blasphemous when I say that. …to create something you want to sell, you first study and research the market, then you develop the product to the best of your ability.  CLIVE CUSSLER

I don’t have time to learn the business and write and promote my book too because of my job and my family. There’s not enough hours in the day.

“Being goal-oriented instead of self-oriented is crucial. I know so many people who want to be writers. But let me tell you, they really don’t want to be writers. They want to have been writers. They wish they had a book in print. They don’t want to go through the work of getting the damn book out. There is a huge difference.”  JAMES MICHENER

I want to be a successful, published author. It’s a dream of mine. I’ll finish my book someday, when I have more time.

“If it’s important to you, and it’s something you really want, you’ll find the time and it’s up to you to make them understand.”  JODI THOMAS

Happy Writing!

PINTEREST Inspired

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PINTEREST Inspired

By Natalie Bright

 

Have you discovered Pinterest.com?

It began as a sight to assist brides-to-be with wedding planning, evolving into so much more. Boards, which can be described as your own personal bulletin board or scrapbook,  are set-up by you, and these boards can be used to store images of anything that interests or inspires you. Your pins can be shared on your Twitter or Facebook page as well, or you can opt out of that tool.

Estimated to have around 11 millions unique visitors every month, it has quickly become an influence in eCommerce.

Authors on Pinterest 

Pinterest is a useful tool for authors to promote, organize and find inspiration for stories. Here are a few ideas:

  1. Your booklist: pin covers of your books.
  2. Your inspiration: pin the inspiration, faces, places, research for each of your books. Have a separate board for each of your book titles. Give your readers a glimpse into the creative process.
  3. Faces: celebrities, ordinary people, whatever inspires images of your characters.
  4. Research: categorize by time period or topic
  5. Rooms: can’t visualize a scene in your novel? Find the house or room and pin it.
  6. Places: find pictures of settings in your book.
  7. Contests
  8. Favorite Books: what are you reading now? Let your fans know.
  9. Clothing: wardrobes for your characters.
  10. Profile your character: personal articles, hobbies, treasured mementoes.Secret Boards

Okay I admit, Pinterest has become another fun way of wasting time instead of writing, and I admit I’m hooked, but now I really, really love Pinterest even more because of secret boards! You are the only one that can see the content of your Secret Boards. In addition, you can invite anyone you want to view these boards. One of my favorite authors mentioned in an interview that she added her agent and editor to her Secret Boards as she developed a new series and as they worked on edits. They were able to exchange inspiration, ideas and work through plot issues without exchanging a zillion emails.

Two stories are floating around in my head right now set in completely different time periods. I’ve got secret boards for each containing clothing, household items, rooms, settings, hairstyles of the time period, research links to websites, music recordings, videos, and book covers of potential research material. I’m not ready to share my ideas to the world yet. The characters and their stories are really coming alive in my mind’s eye as I research the time period. Another bonus I recently discovered is that viewing the WIP Pinterest Secret board allows me to leave the present world behind more quickly and disappear into that time period. It energizes me and puts me in the mood to write.

One More Thing

Have you found your favorite authors on Pinterest yet? Type their name into the Search bar and look for the name next to their picture. Then you know you’ve found their Home Page rather than something someone else has pinned about them.

Pin Away and Happy Writing!

Fictional Characters with Family Traditions

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Fictional Characters  with Family Traditions

By Natalie Bright

As you develop your characters and identify their quirks and traits, consider their past family experiences and traditions. These incidents shape their personality and can add depth to your story.

Holiday traditions can leave heartfelt memories or tormenting heartache. Is this something that can play into your characters motivations, or become a component of your plot?

Dig Deep and Draw From the Things You Know

Holidays always make me think of my grandparents. I never realized how much I would treasure those memories. For my mother’s family, it was a bustling affaire of preparing the meal, watching football, and opening gifts with cousins. My grandmother planned the menu months in advance, and my aunts and mom arrived early to help.

My in-laws, on the other hand, arrive right at the appointed meal time and leave shortly thereafter. Plans are made at the last minute. The holiday with them seems strange and awkward, leaving me feeling that something is missing. After 28 years of marriage I’m still not used to their way of doing things. The experience only makes me miss the holidays of my childhood even more. So does that past memory affect my attitude? Of course, it does.

What about you and your memories? How can past experiences create tension, either external or internal, for your characters? These past memories might cause resentment, deep depression, intense joy, or a myriad of emotion.

A Past Life

Think about creating a past for your character. Where did their parents come from? How did their parents meet? Where did their grandparents live? Did they even know their grandparents? If not, why?  Maybe the main characters’ mother wasn’t welcome in her family home, and what if your character has to know why. This might not be your primary plot, but it could be a component of your character’s make-up and motivation as to why he/she acts they way they do. You see where I’m going. The possibilities are endless. You may not use even a fourth of this information in your story, but you need to know these details about your main characters and major villain.

You’re on a roll now, so keep going. Childhood experiences? Most frightening time? Most embarrassing time? Childhood friends? Worst enemy? Favorite uncle? Hated aunt? What about that evil sister-in-law who joins a cult and becomes dependent on pain killers? Self-centered brother-in-law? Famous cousin? Wealthy grandfather? How do these people influence your character’s moral fiber?

Write On My Friends!

2013 was a great year. Goals were realized, I garnered a few thrilling publishing credits, and received several devastating rejection notices which means my work is getting out there. I leave you with the most inspiring message for me, one that I heard repeated many times during 2013: keep writing. Finish. Submit.

Thanks for following Wordsmith Six.

nataliebright.com

Goal Setting for Writers

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Goal Setting for Writers

By Natalie Bright

 

Happy New Year!

A New Year-A New Start

It’s a new year which means it’s time to think about your writing career and where you’d like to be professionally in twelve months from now.

For writers, I think visuals are important. Keeping logs on word count or article submissions provides a tangible, measurable accomplishment. Putting pen to paper is only part of the business of writing. Think about promotional and social media goals as well.

Be establishing long term goals, you are able to visualize the big picture of what you hope to achieve.  Can you see yourself as a successful, published author?

Goal Setting Worksheet

Our critique group uses a worksheet. Make your goals simple and specific, things that you can actually visualize yourself achieving. Making the New York Times Bestselling list is probably not realistic if you’re a beginning writer, however it’s a goal that is achievable in the long term.

3 in 24:

Finding time to write is something I struggle with every single day. No, the entire universe did not come together to prevent you from putting words on a page, but it sure seems that way. Identify 3 times in a 24-hour period to Write, and do it.

For example:

1. Wake-up one hour early and write.

2. Skip lunch with coworkers and write only new words on WIP Monday-Thursday.

3. Stay up late at least one hour on Friday, Sat., and Sun. to work on edits or blogs.

Study your list. Can you visualize yourself actually accomplishing these tasks? Can you see yourself with pen in hand or typing at the keyboard at the times and places you’ve chosen? Setting achievable goals equals success.

Realistic Attainable Goals:

Make a list of at least four goals you hope to accomplish within the next year.

Achievable goals would be defined as something you can definitely complete, to measure your progress and give you a sense of accomplishment that your writing career is moving forward. This could be things like writing and polishing an entry for a contest, or completing a submission for an anthology. Be specific; what contest? Don’t know of any? Find one and list it on your goals sheet.

Dreaming Big

Add to your worksheet one “dream big” goal. List something you hope to achieve that seems totally impossible. Go ahead and put the “NYT Bestselling list” here if that’s what you want more than anything.

Expect the Unexpected

Keep an open mind to opportunities that might come your way in the new year that you never expected. Sometimes saying yes opens doors to bigger and better things.  So I didn’t win a SPUR award this year, however I did gain a few publishing credits along with finishing another middle grade novel. All in all it was a productive year, which leaves me with only one option—work even harder in 2014.

What about you? Please tell us about your successes this past year.

Thank You

Write, submit, onward we go! Good luck and Happy New Years, and thanks to all of you who have followed Wordsmith Six during the past year. We really appreciate you.

Sending out our best wishes that you achieve your writing goals in 2014!

It’s Never The End

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It’s Never The End

By Natalie Bright

I typed THE END several weeks ago on a middle grade novel set in pre-civil war Texas. The spark happened years ago from my Uncle Milas telling me about my grandfather Cline’s adventures in Fort Towson, Oklahoma when he was a pre-teen. His best friend was Indian Joe, a full blood Cherokee. My grandfather describes that time as the best years of his life hunting, fishing, and exploring the wilds of the Kiamichi River area. He remembers the day he told his best friend they were moving to Texas. Indian Joe beat him to a bloody pulp. My grandfather asked him, “Why’d you do that for?”. Indian Joe replied, “You’ll never forget me now.” How can you not love those two characters?

As I thought about my grandfather and Indian Joe, the idea for a lower middle grade high-adventure along the lines of Jack and Annie series came to mind. The characters were a white kid and a Comanche kid, brought up to be enemies, but becoming friends. Oh the adventures they could find. I started writing, but what I just typed THE END on the first of this month is nothing like the story I had imagined a year ago. The characters took me along a totally different path.

The book was helped along by my brilliant Wordsmith Six critique partners and is now in the capable hands a small group of Beta readers before going to my brilliant agent. From there, with his insight and expertise, I hope it finds a home someday.

Do you have tunnel vision in the outline you’ve created for your work in progress? Don’t ignore all of the possibilities for your story. It may take you in a direction you’ve never even thought about before. So, in other words, it’s never really the end. This process continues on and on and on.

Happy Writing!

N. Bright

nataliebright.com

 

Sparks, Words, and Longfellow

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Sparks, Words, and Longfellow

by Natalie Bright

 

Longfellow’s Sorrow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem sparked from the depths of his soul on December 25, 1864.

Just three years earlier, his wife Fanny had wanted to preserve her daughter’s hair clippings in wax.  In a tragic turn of events, hot candle wax dripped onto Fanny’s dress, igniting it in flames. She ran into her husband’s study, where Henry tried to extinguish the blaze with a rug. He experienced severe burns to his face, arms, and hands. Fanny Longfellow passed away the next morning and Henry was much too ill to attend her funeral.

“A merry Christmas’ say the children, but that is no more for me.” reads Longfellows’ journal entry for December 25, 1862. His beloved Fanny had left him with small children and a sorrow that he could not recover from.

Tragedy struck the family again in 1863 when his oldest son Charles, who was only 19 at the time, suffered a severe wound as a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac. Charles had left without his father’s blessing, joining the Union cause in March of that same year.

The Christmas season of 1864 must have been a dreadful time for Longfellow, as he carried on to care for their remaining small children; Ernest, Alice, Edith and Allegra. The Civil War was raging, skirmishes had continued throughout the country as they were still months away from Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox, and Abraham Lincoln had just been re-elected.

From the depths of his soul he wrote “Christmas Bells”, what some believe to be a pacifist poem roused by his grief upon hearing about his son. It was first published in 1865 in a juvenile magazine.

In 1872, five stanzas were rearranged by John Baptiste Calkin and put to the tune “Waltham”. Two stanzas referencing the war were omitted, and the poem became the beloved carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”

  1. I heard the bells on Christmas day
    Their old familiar carols play;
    And wild and sweet their tones repeat,
    “There’s peace on earth, good will to men.”
  2. And thought how, as the day had come,
    The belfries of all Christendom
    Had rolled along th’ unbroken song
    Of peace on earth, good will to men.
  3. Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
    “God is not dead, nor does He sleep,
    For Christ is here; His Spirit near
    Brings peace on earth, good will to men.”
  4. When men repent and turn from sin
    The Prince of Peace then enters in,
    And grace imparts within their hearts
    His peace on earth, good will to men.
  5. O souls amid earth’s busy strife,
    The Word of God is light and life;
    Oh, hear His voice, make Him your choice,
    Hail peace on earth, good will to men.
  6. Then happy, singing on your way,
    Your world will change from night to day;
    Your heart will feel the message real,
    Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Sparks and Words

A ‘spark’ for writers is the moment an idea is ignited in our mind. The actual words may morph into a short story, a poem, even a full length novel. A writer never knows what those spark might become.

Writers find sparks in overheard conversations or by reading others written words. Pictures or art can conjure up a story idea. More often than not sparks come from a writers life experiences. Good or bad, joyous or devastating; emotions evolve into wonderful prose.

At this point, writers take it to the next level. We’re not afraid of those emotions that story sparks can evoke. We’re not afraid to dig deep into the joy, the embarrassment, or the unspeakable pain.

Ignore your fears in this New Year and follow your sparks where ever they may lead you. Thanks for joining us at Wordsmith Six.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!