Time to Write

Award-winning writer Christie Watson on finding your voice when writing a novel

At the end of the link below you'll find a BBC interview with Christie Watson, winner of this year's Costa Prize for best first novel, "Tiny Sunbirds Far Away."

The book is set in Nigeria and she talks about writing in the voice of a teen-age Nigerian (and finding the right voice to use), and using fiction to present issues about which you feel strongly. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16587055

The video is six minutes long.

(How would would you like to have Mark Twain as your writing coach? Or how about Anton Chekhov or Jane Austen? You'll find their advice about writing in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite book seller.)

Ask these questions to get to know your character

How much do you know about the characters you are writing about? Below is a series of questions that life coaches sometimes use to find out how much clients know about their partners. It can be useful to do some daydreaming about how you'd answer these for your protagonist or other character:

What do you think their …

• favorite movie 
• favorite band or singer, or type of music
• favorite actor, actress
• favorite season
• favorite TV show
• their hero
• favorite time of day
• favorite activity
• the quality they admire most in others
• favorite activity
• best memory 
• who they are closest to in their family
• their best friend
• favorite color
• worst habit
• best habit
• the hardest issue for them to deal with
• the one word that best describes them
• if they were a car what car would they be?
• the thing they would most like to have (object)
• the thing they would most like to have that is not a material object 
• how do they communicate their feelings
• who do they love?
• how do they show or express their love

Don't force answers, just notice what pops into your mind. If you draw a blank on one, just move on to the next.

It can be helpful to jot these down and compare the lists of your protagonist and antagonist. Sometimes you can intensify conflict by making them more different, but it also works to make them more similar except on one important dimension (which would vary depending on the story you want to tell). 

For example, in a romance it could be interesting (although familiar) for the woman to have to choose between the "bad boy" and the "really nice but kind of boring" guy, but it could also work (and be less of a cliche) for the rivals to be similar. She is more attracted to one...but he has a totally different take on some subject important to her--for instance, religion, and the one to whom she's less attracted is totally in synch with her on that topic. 

(For advice from some of the best writers current and classic, like Twain, Fitzgerald, Austen, and 100 more, get my book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other booksellers.)

 

Basing your screenplay on anybody you know?

The young lady below seems to be letting art imitate life...up to a point. Actually, this post is just a thinly-disguised nudge to sign up for Sunday's Massive Action Day if you're writing a screenplay. Or even if you're not, but I'll be giving some extra tips every hour about scriptwriting because we are going to have some Script Frenzy folks joining us (they're writing an entire screenplay in one month). But first...

 

Time for Another Massive Action Day this Sunday - April 15 2012

The chap in this video has the right idea...well, up to a point. You, too, can sign up for our Massive Action Day, declare a goal online, check back in with me and the other participants, get hourly tips from me via a live video broadcast, and even win prizes. All the details are here: http://massiveactionday.com/new-annual-mad-sign-up-page/

 

 

Another writing contest for UK writers - crime novel with a female protagonist

Faber and Faber and Stylist magazine are sponsoring a contest for UK writers of crime fiction. Your crime novel has to have a female protagonist.

The prize is a publishing contract with Faber & Faber, including a non-returnable advance of £5,000 for world rights in the book. The judges of the prize will decide on a short list of a minimum of three and a maximum of six submissions. These writers will be interviewed before the final choice is made. Here are the basic rules:

WHO IS ELIGIBLE? 

 a) The prize is strictly only open to authors who have not had a novel published before. 

 b) The decision of the judges on the eligibility of a book is final and binding. 

 c) Entrants must live in the UK.

d) All applicants must be over 18. Proof of age may be required. 

 WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SUBMIT?

 a) Each entrant should submit the first 6,000 words of a crime novel or thriller, an outline (no more than 300 words) to show how the story will unfold but that doesn’t reveal the ending and a 250 word biography of their central character. 

They should include their name, contact details and date of birth 

 b) The submission must be original and in English

 c) Writers may enter only one submission

 d) Please ensure that a copy of the submission is made before posting because no entries will be returned

 e) No email entries accepted 

 f) Please submit work double-spaced on A4 paper, single-sided with page numbers 

 g) Please include name/title on running header/footer 

h) Submissions must be received by 12 July 2012. Please post submissions to Stylist Magazine Crime Fiction Competition, Shortlist Media, 26-34 Emerald Street, London, WC1N 3QA

 i) The judges reserve the right not to award the prize if there is no submission of sufficient merit

 j) Each entrant confirms that their entry will not infringe any law or regulation or third party right, including (but not limited to) the law of copyright or trademarks. 

k) Stylist/Faber reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, this competition with or without prior notice due to reasons outside its control.

 j) Faber shall not be liable for any failure to comply with its obligations where the failure is caused by something outside its reasonable control. Such circumstances shall include, but not be limited to, weather conditions, fire, flood, hurricane, strike, industrial dispute, war, hostilities, political unrest, riots, civil commotion, inevitable accidents, supervening legislation or any other circumstances amounting to force majeure.

k) The Competition will be governed by English law.

l) Other conditions may apply

I like contests that don't charge an entry fee, so if you have already been working on a crime novel or have an idea for one that you can develop, this could be worth it. By the way, don't ask me why the stipulation that it has to have a female protagonist, it's not like there's a shortage. 

You'll find the complete information here: http://www.stylist.co.uk/books/get-published/crime-fiction-competition

Yes, American (and other) readers, I'm on the lookout for valid contests elsewhere, too.

(Do you want to get support for your writing, consider signing up for my online Writing Breakthrough Program--60 days of weekly guidelines, bi-weekly phone calls, answers to your writing questions, and more--check out http://www.writingbreakthroughstrategy.com. The next session starts May 21.)

The secret of writing thrillers

Want to write a thriller? Your protagonist better have a secret that somebody knows and is threatening to reveal. For instance, here is how five new novels are described in a recent edition of Bookreporter.com’s newsletter:

“Terrified,” by Kevin O’Brien – Megan Keeler ran away from her sadistic husband years ago and when remains were found near their house he was convicted of murder. She started a new life, but someone knows her secret…

“The Expats,” by Chris Pavone – Kate Moore is a  working mother struggling to make ends meet and maintain an increasingly unbearable life-defining secret.

“Force of Nature,” by C. J. Box – Nate Romanowski was in a secret Special Forces unit abroad when a colleague did something terrible. Now high up in the government, the man is determined to eliminate anyone who knows his secret.

“Dead Low Tide,” by Bret Lott – A page-turner about murder and family secrets…Huger Dillard must come to terms with and confront the truth about his community, his past, and the mysterious place he calls home.

Harlan Coben has pretty much built his career on people having to deal with secrets. The description of his new one, “Stay Close,” reads, "three people living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even those closest to them would never suspect, will find that the past doesn't recede. Even as the terrible consequences of long-ago events crash together in the present and threaten to ruin lives, they will come to the startling realization that they may not want to forget the past at all." 

Of course it’s logical that a thriller or mystery novel would feature events and facts people don’t want to have revealed, but the “secret from the past coming to the surface now” structure seems to have turned into almost a formula. Here’s a typical structure:

• Describe protagonist’s new life
• Quickly hint at a terrible secret
• Someone who knows the secret threatens to reveal it (usually anonymously)
• The protagonist has to figure out who knows the secret
• The secret threatens to destroy the protagonist’s new life
• The protagonist is forced to face the secret
• Confrontation with the person who knows the secret
• The twist: it wasn’t the protagonist’s fault – she has been carrying a false burden all these years
• The defeat of the person threatening to reveal the secret
• Resumption of the protagonist’s life, now freed of the weight of the secret

Obviously, readers like “secret” stories. Maybe it’s because our own embarrassing secrets pale into insignificance compared to the ones we encounter in these books.

Does the popularity of a structure like this mean that you shouldn’t use it because it has been overdone? Well, that depends. Let the story you want to tell develop. If it happens to fall into a familiar structure but you can add a fresh angle as well as good writing, that’s fine; otherwise, dare to write a story that breaks some new ground.

(Do you want tips from the best writers of all time? I've collected advice from Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Vonnegut as well as classic masters like Twain, Dickens and Austen and related it to how to write a book today. It's in m book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other booksellers.)

52 Tips to Writing Success - 3: decide what you want it to be!

This is the third in a series of tips regarding small changes you can make, one per week, to write better, write faster, and have more confidence about your writing. If you implement all or most of these, by a year from now you may have transformed your writing practice.

3: At the start of a project (or now, if you’re already into it) get a notebook and jot down what you hope it will be when you’re done. An easy way to do it is to write the review that you hope you will get. About once a week or once every two weeks for bigger projects, review your notes—are you staying on track? If not, what could you do to bring it back? If you find this too distracting while you’re writing the first draft, do it when it’s time to write the second.

(If you want to see the other tips from this series so far, click on the Category "52 Tips" to the right. And if you want to get some great methods for being more creative, get my book, "Creativity Now!" published by Pearson and available from Amazon and other book sellers.)

Quite Write: next time he'll ask YOU to go in

  The source of this cartoon is Jurgen Wolff's writing blog:                                                                            http://www.TimeToWrite.blogs.com

Prize-winning novelist Andrew Miller on writing historical novels

In the interview you'll find at the end of the link you'll find a BBC interview with Andrew Miller, whose novel "Pure" won the Costa Prize this year.

He talks about how close to stick to the truth when writing historical fiction, symbolism, and why writing shouldn't be a competitive sport.

See the interview here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16612272

(How would it be to have Mark Twain as your writing coach? Or how about Anton Chekhove or Jane Austen? You'll find their advice about writing in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite book seller.)

Date the Author - can the reality show be far behind?

On April first I got this email from Limehouse Books:

    At Limehouse Books we like to put social at the heart of everything we do, whether it's organising events, connecting on Twitter and Facebook, or hosting parties. We've been trying to think how we could be even more social, then we had a brilliant idea: why not let our community of readers make intimate connections with our list of talented authors. And so we created Limehouse Dates.

    All you have to do is visit the Limehouse Books website, where you'll be able to view profiles of the available authors. You can then email [email protected] to begin the process to arrange your date. All Limehouse Books takes is a small management fee. Please watch our promotional video to get a taster of what's on offer.

    Bobby Nayyar, Limehouse’s MD, said, ‘A lot of publishing houses have been creating new ventures, to further utilise the talents they have on their lists. We thought about it carefully and decided to create Limehouse Dates, as we have a list of young, talented and attractive authors. This seemed like the natural way forward. All prospective dates are rigorously vetted, and have so far been completely satisfied with their evenings out, and in.’

Of course the fact that it arrived on April Fool's Day wasn't lost on me, but given the emphasis on sharing everything every moment of the day via Social Networking and the fact that authors are encouraged to do everything possible to market their books, can a real version of this be far behind? Hmm, I feel an idea for a reality show coming on...

(Want to get writing advice from Mark Twain, Anton Chekhov, and Ernest Hemingway? It's in my newest book, Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nicholas Brealey and available now from Amazon or your other favorite book seller.)

 

Video: Hunter Thompson & Kafka make a weird odd-couple bookseller promo

The online book sales site Good Reads donates all profits to Oxfam. They have commissioned a series of animations on great writers and good books. They started with one that promotes the odd couple of Hunter Thompson and Kafka, with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Metamorphosis, respectively. 

I wouldn't put Thompson in the same league as Kafka, nor consider him a "great" writer, but the animation certainly is one of the stranger promotional productions I've ever seen. You can watch it below (slightly unsafe for the office--one f-bomb slurred by the actor channeling Thompson). 

 

(You can order my books from Good Books --the url is www.UseGoodBooks.com; they send books all over the world postage free. You can adjust the currency in which the prices are shown, but using the selector at the top right of their page. Why not get your copy of my newest book there--it's Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nicholas Brealey.)

52 Tips to Writing Success - 2: Keep it handy!

There’s a self-help book out that says you can make a big change in your life by making one small change per week. That got me thinking what a list of small changes like that might be for a writer and I’m suggesting one per week for the next year. Here’s the second in the series:

2: Even if you don’t have a dedicated room for your writing, or even a desk just for that, create a box or file that contains everything that relates to your current project so you don’t have to go hunting for it at the start of a writing session. Take it out at the start, put it away at the end.

(If you want to see the first tip in this series, click on the Category "52 Tips for Writing Success." Want writing advice from the all-time best? I mean Twain, Austen, Dickens, Stevenson as well as contemporary successful authors? It's in my book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other book sellers.)

Quite Write: They don't even light up!

  The source of this cartoon is Jurgen Wolff's writing blog:                                                                            http://www.TimeToWrite.blogs.com

How Moira Young writes her Young Adult novels

In the video you'll find at the end of the link, Moira Young, winner of the Costa Book Award for her book "Blood Red Road," talks about how falling off a bus led to a writing career, her approach to dialogue and description, and why she writes for young adults. 

See the video here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16604528

The video is about six minutes long. 

(Want to write your own novel or children's book? Get advice from the best writers of all time--Dickens, Twain, Austen, Hemingway, Fitzgerald). It's all in my new book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite book sellers.)