Time to Write

Questions you should ask the characters in your novel or screenplay

The way to make the characters in your work of fiction come alive on the page is to know them well. One way to get to know them well is to ask them some questions.

I do this all the time, sometimes when I’m out in public, and sometimes my lips move slightly as I imagine this exchange. When people notice, I just tell them I’m testing a prototype of the iPhone 6, which is so small that you can’t see it and it reads your thoughts.

What are these revealing questions to ask our characters? Here are a few:

1: Why do you think you turned out the way you did?

This is a neutral question because you’re not judging how they turned out. Usually even if you think the character is a scumbag, he will explain to you why he turned out to be such a nice fellow. When his perception of himself differs from your perception of him, congratulations, that’s a sign you’ve created a strong character.

2: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Again, your characters’ plans for himself may well be different from what you have planned for them. It’s just as well they can’t see your outline.

3: Who do you love?

Very revealing and many’s the time I’ve been surprised by the answers.

4: What do you really want? No, really, really?

They don’t always give this one up easily. You might have to dig past the first two or three answers you get.

5: What would you change?

See if you can get them to answer this without clarifying the question because their choice of what they’d change is revealing in itself.

Some would change some aspect of themselves or what they’ve done.

Others would change somebody else—in which case, is it to benefit that person, or themselves?

Some will say the kind of thing the Miss American contestants always say: “I’d feed all the hungry people of the world,” or “I’d make it so that we all love each other regardless of race, creed, or color.” Ask them what else they’d change and you’ll get the real answer.

 Have fun, characters are some of the most interesting people.

(There are lots more tips on how to create compelling characters in the new edition of my book, "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other booksellers.)

The secret of hard boiled eggs and how it relates to the secret of writing compelling plots

I’m supposed to be researching some topics for this blog, and what am I doing? I’m reading an email that promises to reveal the new secret of making hard-boiled eggs easy to peel.

The old secret was that you a make a hole on both ends and blow really hard and the egg pops out. I tried that and it didn’t work. I blew really hard. I could feel the veins on my forehead and I feared that my contacts might shoot out. That’s probably why I was drawn by the promise of a new secret.

However, this post isn’t really about eggs. It’s about a non-egg-related secret I will reveal at the end.

By the way, the email that promised this revelation then sent me to the web site, which popped up a window asking me to subscribe in exchange for a cookbook. I don’t want a cookbook, it would only clutter up the shelf above the microwave, so I close the window.

Now I have to scroll down quite a long way past a large photo of a frying pan full of eggs and garbonzo beans…but because I’m writing about it, I have to stop and get on the online dictionary because the spell-checker highlighted garbonzo. It turns out all these years what I have thought of as garbonzo beans actually are garbanzo beans.

More pictures: eggs in a carton, eggshells on a cutting board.

Then a repeat of the old secret…and finally the revelation that there are actually TWO key steps:

Peel only cooled eggs.

I knew that.

And crack the shell all over by rolling the egg between your hands.

Oh.

Then there are 8 further tips, which I read because I am disappointed by the big two. I’m not going to tell you the other eight, it’s not worth it. Then comes a “recipe” for boiled eggs, which is really just a restatement of the previous tips but it reminds you to boil the eggs first. Just in case I still didn't get it, there’s a video.

Below that there’s a repeat of the picture of the eggs on the bed of garbanzo beans and a recipe…which is called “boiled eggs with curried chickpeas.”

I wish I’d recognized that. I know how to spell chickpeas.

At the very bottom there’s a link to an article about the easiest way to make sure your fish is super fresh. Thank god I don’t eat fish.

If you're still with me, possibly you're wondering what this has to do with writing. Well, it demonstrates how easy it is to get somebody's attention and to keep it.

The word "secret," I am embarrassed to admit, still draws me in, just as it did millions of people who bought the book "The Secret." (Even more powerful is "the secret THEY don't want you to know!" which is a hook the lady who wrote The Secret used to good effect.)

Once I'd committed to learning the secret (in this case only the secret of hard-boiled eggs, which I guess nobody is trying to prevent me from learning, other than chickens), I stayed on, past the photos, past the silly "recipe", past the video of the silly recipe.

Again, it doesn't take that much, so are you using that to hook and keep readers?

More specifically, what will a reader want to know after they have read your first sentence?

What about after the first page?

After the end of the first chapter?

Checking for that as you go through your first draft is a very useful tool. It gets you to do something that's hard when you've created something: look at it from the viewpoint of the person who will consume what you've created instead of just from your own viewpoint.

Most books and movies that are not satisfying fail for one of these reasons:

* they don't make you curious early enough

* they do make you curious but then go off on a tangent for too long so you lose interest (or forget the question)

* they make you curious, they keep your attention, but the answer is a letdown. This was my experience with the egg secrets, so I don't think we'll be seeing the movie version anytime soon unless Clint Eastwood comes back as The Egg They Couldn't Boil. 

The ideal time to test your story for these potential weaknesses is right at the start, if you're constructing the story  in detail before you start writing. Then again after the first draft, and again after each major subsequent draft. 

I'm off to boil some eggs. I can't let those secrets go to waste.

(Want to find out what the great writers like Twain, Dickens, and Austen knew about constructing a story that keeps people's interest? Get my newest book, Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other booksellers.)

 

If your writing seems to be moving in slow-motion, read this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Louis Stevenson offered that advice. It's good to remember on those days, weeks, or months when you feel frustrated.

Maybe the words--or at least the right words--aren't coming fast enough.

Maybe agents or publishers are making you wait forever to hear whether they are interested.

Maybe that self-published book of yours doesn't seem to be catching fire despite the fact that you're working hard to market it.

Stay with it. Looking forward, everything seems slow. Looking back, it seems as though it all went by in an instant.

Set yourself a schedule that's ambitious but realistic and stick with it.

On days you begin to doubt whether you're on the right track, keep going.

If that keeps up too long, take a little break, but schedule the resumption of your writing on your calendar. 

Even if the "planting" doesn't pay off in a trip up the best-seller list you may find that you've gained in ways you never imagined.

(If you'd like to learn to write from the best, get a copy of my new book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass." It features writing advice from more than 100 classic and modern writers, plus my guidance on how to apply that advice to you want to write. It's published by Nicholas Brealey and you can get it from Amazon or your other favorite book seller.)

 

How writers get started

In this short (2.5 minutes) video, hear how some of the better-known writers of today got their start, including one who collected 250 (!) rejection slips.

PS: Size of player corrected! 

 

If you have a hard time sticking to your writing, here's a quick method

U.K. Time management coach Mark Forster has an interesting variation of the classic time log that can help you overcome procrastination. As you probably know, the traditional time log has you write down how you spent your time, jotting it down every fifteen minutes or so. The idea is that you will be able to tell exactly how you’re using (or misusing) your time.

Mark’s idea is to use a time log as an achievement  tool by writing down what you are going to do in the next few minutes. Do it, then jot down the time and the next thing you’re going to do. It might look something like this:

10:35 Set up PayPal Account online

10:41 Order office supplies

10:50 Revise chapter titles for new book

As Mark says, this will help you act out of decision rather than impulse. If you are interrupted, jot down the time when you get back to the planned task and continue.

It's important that you do this one at a time--in other words, don't write down a bunch of tasks at one time. Write down one, do it, then write down the next, and so on.

Try this system when you find yourself procrastinating. Be sure to deal with only small chunks at a time. In other words, don’t write:  “9:30 Write new book”—that’s too big a chunk. The more that procrastination is a problem for you, the smaller your chunks should be.

(There's a wealth of help with writing more, writing faster, writing better in my book, Your Writing Coach, now out in a new edition from Nicholas Brealey.)

 

 

The solution to writer's block may be right in front of you

When you have writer's block it's natural to focus on what's not working. 

Often the solution is to focus on what IS working.

For instance, one of the people in my online Writing Breakthrough Program said she's feeling blocked on her fiction project but is enjoying blogging.

My suggestion: create blogs written by the major characters about what they are going through. Obviously you don't have to make them public (but I'd keep them for possible "extras" later on).

It's a good way to get deep into your characters and understand how the story looks from their perspective. 

Naturally at some point you will have to decide how to fit these multiple experiences together into your short story, novel, or script, but you will have plenty of material to work with and my bet is your block will be long gone.

(Want more practical help in writing your book or script? Get my latest book, Your Creative Writing Masterclass, to learn from the best writers of all time. You can order it from Amazon or your other favourite bookseller.)  

 

Writing Prompt: crawling up the wall

Do you want to keep your writing brain active, even if you’re not working on a project at the moment? Once a week I’ll give you writing prompts in three different forms: a person, object or place; a starting point, and an image.

I suggest you use one, two, or all three of these together as prompts for a micro-story (250 words or fewer). On the go? Write it on your smartphone or in a little notebook.

If you are working on a longer project, notice whether any of these gives you a new idea about some aspect of that. 

Don’t worry about making it perfect or whether it’ll get published-–although if you like it, why not publish it on your blog or send it to a friend?

The person, object or place: a silk scarf

The starting point: Your protagonist sees a spider crawling up the wall. 

The image: 

 

 

 

 

(Want to learn what the greatest writers advise about how to write? I've collected advice from Dickens, Twain, Chekhov, as well as modern masters, and combined it with guidance on how to apply it to your own writing. It's all in Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other booksellers.)

 

 

Could you use the Agile Publishing Model to self-publish your ebook?

At Digital Book World Dominique Raccah, chief executive and publisher of Sourcebooks announced that they will be using that they call the Agile Publishing Model. It involves building audience participation before the writing and publication of a new book, a system O'Reilly Media has employed already.

What does this look like in practice? This is my interpretation of how you could use it when self-publishing an ebook:

1. Start a website that relates to the book. If it's a non-fiction book it's easy to decide on the topic. If it's a novel, what aspect do you think people would find most interesting and likely to make them buy the book?

This is not always obvious. For instance, a mystery set in a ski resort will not necessarily appeal more to skiers than others. In fact, sometimes people who know a lot about a topic don't read fiction about it because they know so many authors get things wrong. And people who will eagerly read non-fiction may not read fiction at all. 

Here's a tip: find a successful book similar to yours in a significant way. Look at the author's website, the comments and reviews people have left on Amazon and YouTube, and use Google to track down articles about them, fan sites, etc. You'll get lots of clues about where this author's fans hang out. Go there. Be unobtrusive at first, and then start posting but not about your book. Without spamming or forcing it, let people know you have a blog or site they might find of interest (and make sure it is interesting, of course).

The sooner you do this, the better. This model works only if you start early. 

2. Involve your followers in the writing of the book. For instance, invite their questions. If a lot of people have the same question, that's a great indicator that you should be answering it in your book or featuring the topic in some way. 

3. Let your followers read chapters as you go along. Be clear that these are early drafts and you welcome input. Pay attention to what makes sense, ignore what doesn't. But start with an open mind. If you find that the book you want to write isn't the same one people want to read, adjust accordingly.

In works of fiction, pay attention to feedback like "I got mixed up between Brian and Bruce," or "It' wasn't clear to me whether Samantha knew about John's previous marriage or not." If the reader is supposed to know that, maybe you need to state it more clearly.

4. Let followers vote. Ask them to help you pick the best title, the best cover image, the best copy for the back cover. You can get a lot of useful information. Again, it helps if you are able to put aside your ego. If 80 of a hundred people voting clearly prefer one cover over the other you'd be silly not to listen, even if you like the other one better.

5.Tell about the steps of the publishing process, including a bit of gossip here and there (naturally, nothing that will upset your publisher). Your followers will feel like insiders and at the same time will know when the expect the book.

6. In the book, acknowledge by name any followers whose comments have been helpful. It's a nice thing to do, plus people buy more copies of a book when their name is in it.

7. Have an online launch party. Invite your followers and ask them to invite their friends as well. Do something special, maybe a live video feed from an actual party, or set up a webinar in which people can ask you questions. Give away prizes including copies of your book. 

8. Keep your followers involved after the book is published. Blog about your experiences--did you have a signing and 100 people turned up? Great, tell us about it. Did you have a signing and nobody turned up? Not so great for you, but possibliy a more entertaining story. Put reviews on the site and invite your followers to do their own reviews on YouTube and post links to those (or embed them) on your site. Give a prize for the best review every month (not the most fawning but the most entetaining). 

9. Get their input on what you should write next--hook them early so they'll stay with you.

10. If your book has timely content, update it as often as necessary. With e-books this is simple and costs nothing or very little. Let your followers know that you're keeping up to date and ask them for input on what changes you should make. 

Have I done all these? Nope. But writing this has given me some good ideas...

(You can also get loads of good ideas for inexpensive and innovative ways to market yourself or your work, in my book, "Do Something Different," published by Virgin Books.)

The case of the missing app and the writers' opportunity

This year only 15% of the US publishers at the Digital Book World event think that apps are a good way to make money. Last year it was 37%. Half of the total said apps cost too much to produce. 

I think the reason they're wary is that although there have been a few successes, nobody has come up with an app or enhanced ebook (the line between them is blurred) that has caused people to tell their friends, "You have to get this, it's amazing!" 

That's not necessarily a bad thing. It means there is still lots of opportunity for experimentation and I'm not convinced that the killer app will be one that necessarily cost a lot of money. 

The challenge is to add in a meaningful way to a product that is wonderfully self-contained. All you need is a book (or ebook), a functioning pair of eyes, and a working brain. If you can think of a way to complement that in a way that improves the experience, the other 85% of publishers will join the current 15% in beating a path to your door, bearing large checks. 

(Why not get writing advice from the best: Mark Twain Anton Chekhov, Jane Austen? Yes, they're dead but fortunately they left behind essays, letters, and notes in which they recorded their writing advice. That advice is the core of my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Mastersclass," published by Nicholas Brealey. It's available now from Amazon and other book sellers.)

Should you write about good vs. bad? ( what Tolstoy says)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leo Tolstoy had the key to writing sophisticated stories. In most of our lives the most difficult situations occur when we are torn between options which have both good and bad points:

Take the job out of town and make more money and feel more satisfied, but make the kids move schools in the middle of a school year?

Stick with an unhappy relationship in hopes that somehow it will improve, or give up all hope and split?

Of course the big blockbuster movies don't bother with that kind of thing, it's the noble cop or detective or superhero vs. Dr. Evil, and if that's your cup of tea, that's fine. Certainly there's a lot of money to be made in that genre if you can crack it. 

If your goal is to pull your readers or viewers into a story that resonates with them, Tolstoy's advice is better.

(If you'd like to learn to write from the best, get a copy of my very new book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass." It features writing advice from more than 100 classic and modern writers, plus my guidance on how to apply that advice to what you want to write. It's published by Nicholas Brealey and you can get it from Amazon or your other favorite book seller.)

 

Writing research: how it's like a dominatrix

On the group call for my online coaching group today, one of the members talked about how much research material she had and how overwhelming it was to have to go through it all.

I realized that she was letting the research set her agenda. 

Research is supposed to help you. It's there when you need it.

I suggested that first she write an outline of the book she's working on. It's non-fiction, with elements of how-to, so a good strategy is to write down all the questions that people who want to know about your subject typically ask. 

Also write down the questions they don't ask, but should.

For instance, when I meet very new screenwriters they always ask about how to prevent their material from being stolen. So I tell them what precautions they can take.

What they really SHOULD be asking is how can they get anybody to look at their material in the first place. So I tell them that, too.

Don't worry initially about the order of these questions. Just write them down as fast as you can, as many as you can.

Repeat this over a few days--not writing the same questions, but adding new ones.

Then group them together. If it's a book about raising house plants (which hers isnt') you might have sections about each of the major types of plants, and one about the care and feeding of different kinds of plants, and another about the benefits of having live plants in your home, etc. (I realized, of course, as I was writing this just now that I know nothing about plants, but you get the idea.)

Then figure out in what order these topics--which may make either good sections or good chapters--make the most sense. Usually there's some logic inherent in the subject that will suggest an order.

Then take each group and figure out the logical order in which to answer the questions in it. Often at this stage some more will occur to you and you can add those.

Guess what? You have created the basic structure of the book. You can start writing. When you come to a point that you need to research then you can go and look it up. 

Doesn't it feel good to be the boss? 

(Get writing advice from Dickens, Twain, Jane Austen...impossible? Not if you get my new book, Your Creative Writing Masterclass." It''s published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other book sellers.)

 

Kurt Vonnegut on the shape of stories

An entertaining lecture by Kurt Vonnegut on the shape of stories. 

 

 

 

Kurt Vonnegut is one of more than 100 authors whose writing advice I share in "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," my newest book. Published by NIcholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other outlets.

Writing Prompt: it's a dog's life, wish you were with money

Do you want to keep your writing brain active, even if you’re not working on a project at the moment? Once a week I’ll give you writing prompts in three different forms: a person, object or place; a starting point, and an image.

I suggest you use one, two, or all three of these together as prompts for a micro-story (250 words or fewer). On the go? Write it on your smartphone or in a little notebook.

If you are working on a longer project, notice whether any of these gives you a new idea about some aspect of that. 

Don’t worry about making it perfect or whether it’ll get published-–although if you like it, why not publish it on your blog or send it to a friend?

The person, object or place: a postcard

The starting point: Your protagonist realizes his or her money is missing.

The image: 

 

 

 

(LAST CHANCE FOR THE CURRENT SESSION: Do you want to make this the year you finally write that novel or screenplay or other project? The best way to be sure you'll know how to make time, know how to get started and keep going, and get support all along the way is to join my Writing Breakthrough Program. The best time to sign up is now--WE START THIS WEEK!  Find out more at http://www.WritingBreakthroughStrategy.com)

 

 

What's the perfect writing format for the internet age? Could it be...

If it's true that people's attention spans are getting shorter, will they be drawn back to short stories? Or will short stories still be too long? If so, maybe it's time for poetry to become popular. Maybe something like this one by Charles Bukowski that I happened on today:

 

 

But then, maybe not, because good poetry isn't something to glance it. It may take only a minute to read, but when it's good it demands at least another ten minutes of thought. If it's very good, it distracts you for the rest of the day. Sometimes for the rest of your life. We can't have that, can we? 

What are publishers buying? (including a survey of UK editors' wants)

I get the Publisher's Lunch deal news report, which lists some of the publishing deals made recently. It gives a good peek at what traditional publishers are buying these days. Here are a few recent deals:

* Director and producer Chris Columbus's HOUSE OF SECRETS, co-authored by Ned Vizzini, about siblings who go to live in a creepy old house built by a troubled fantasy writer when their father loses his job;

* National Book Award finalist Ken Kalfus's EQUILATERAL, an intellectual comedy set in 1890s Egypt about an astronomer who sets out to communicate with life on Mars;

* Rosemary Sullivan's STALIN'S DAUGHTER, about Svetlana Stalina's journey from the beloved daughter of a fierce autocrat to her death in small-town Wisconsin;

* Claudia Hammond's TIME WARPED: Adventures in the New Psychology of Time, also to Harper;

* Jim Ziolkowski's WALK IN THEIR SHOES, written with Willie Mays, James Hirsch, recounting the author's life journey from risk-seeking backpacker to the leader of buildOn, helping inner-city kids transform their own neighborhoods and the world.

* An oral history of MTV by the four surviving original MTV veejays, written with contributing editor at Rolling Stone Gavin Edwards;

* Hip hop star Lil Wayne's GONE TILL NOVEMBER, based on diaries he kept during his eight months on Rikers Island;

* Astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell's thought experiment on the scientific knowledge survivors of a global catastrophe would need to rebuild a technological society from scratch;

* Emma Chapman's HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE, a novel following a woman who can barely remember life before her marriage -- until she begins to have eerie visions that make her question her past;

* NYT bestselling author Kate Carlisle's KILLER COOKBOOK and books 8 and 9 in the Bibliophile Mystery series;

* Leah Stewart's WHERE YOU'LL FIND ME, a novel about three adult siblings who return to their childhood home.

WHAT DO UK EDITORS WANT?

The Andrew Lownie Literary Agency website featured a survey of what UK book publishers are looking for. Here are some excerpts:

"What interests me, as always, are books which are focussed on alternative views of how we should live our lives and are also focussed on community and local identity." Hugh Andrew, Managing Editor, Birlinn (publisher based in Scotland).

"It is striking how stories that seem to have waned from people’s memories can have a massive resurgence – so perhaps new takes on old stories might be a vein to mine." Myles Archibald, Associate Editor, Harper Collins.

"We’re especially good at selling entertaining, accessible and informative true stories, and based on what did well for us last spring, these are the areas I’m looking in." - Jennifer Barclay, Commissioning Editor, Summersdale (She also mentions true crime, travel (especially British travel), quirky narrative books about gardening, pets, nature, and sport.)

"My focus is on commercial non-fiction, spanning a wide range of genres from true crime, sport and humour to biography and memoir. In terms of memoir, I’m always looking for original and compelling stories - whether the focus is inspirational, nostalgic, military or otherwise, and whether the subject is a celebrity or just an ordinary person with an extraordinary story to tell." - Dan Bunyard, Editor, Michael Joseph

I won't cover all 20, you can read them here: http://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/2012/01/10/what-editors-want-2012.

Some common elements are:

* more interest in non-fiction than fiction (this has always been true, partly because non-fiction titles are easier to promote)

* books whose title and subject matter will make them stand out

* authors who have a platform and are comfortable discussing their topic in the media

* popular science

* history, especially from a unique perspective, including nostalgia and historical true crime.

* celebrity and sports memoirs (even though there have been some huge flops in celebrity memoirs, a few every year take off and make a fortune)

* and (of course) terrific writing.

I wouldn't advise trying to write to order; rather, see whether a project you are working or would like write fits these needs. Go to each publisher's website to find out the submission process. Some will consider only material submitted by agents, so you may have to start with getting one of those. 

(Need a guidebook to take you through the confusing process of going from ideas through to publication? You're in luck--it's called "Your Writing Coach" and you'll find it at Amazon and other booksellers.)