Readers' Discussion Guides--Make Your Own

A few years ago I joined a romance book club because I wanted to study the genre and also because it gave me an opportunity to discover new writers.  The club has since widened its range to include memoirs, the classics, and even the occasional mystery.  What we do prefer though are books that end well and happily, and yes, have an emphasis on a romantic relationship.  For that reason alone we still like to call ourselves the Romance Book Club, but ever since we moved our meeting place to a local Borders Books & Music, the store insists upon calling us the Ravioli Book Club.  Sure enough, once a month a large sign reserves a prime table in the cafe for us:  'RAVIOLI BOOK CLUB."  There doesn't seem to be any way to change the sign or the name, and by now I think we actually enjoy the surreal distinction of being the strangest book club in the store.

Similar to the way the club name "just happened" it also became my job somehow to find, print, and bring to our meetings the publishers' reading discussion guides for each of our monthly choices.  I love these guides.    They're very simple to find--I just Google 'em.  Not every book has one, but I wish they did.  Not only do they liven up our meetings, but they help me to think more analytically and deeply about what I'm reading, which always carries over to what I'm writing.  Which then made me think, I need my own reading guides too!

Several weeks ago I started work on two guides:  one for my Egyptian mystery for middle-grade readers, The Great Scarab Scam and one for my young adult novel, Better Than Perfect. 

Over the weekend I finalized them so you can read or print a PDF copy of each here:  Better than Perfect and The Great Scarab Scam.

While I was writing the guides, I thought that just like making book trailers before you publish, writing up your discussion questions as you work through your drafts could also help strengthen your writing.  Here are some of the points I considered:

• When designing your questions, try to avoid anything that can be answered with a plain "Yes" or "No" without more qualification.
• It's also important to remember there is never any "right answer" to a question, especially when writing a guide for children or young adult readers.
• Characters are usually the most important part of your story.  Search for questions that encourage readers to explore why they could identify (or not) with your characters, for instance through profession, family issues, or personal challenges.
• A good plot should present your characters with troubling choices.  Characters don't always act rationally or sanely when faced with a crisis.  Think of questions (and reasons) that revolve around why this is so for your own book.
• Evaluating characters' choices can lead to "what would you do?" types of questions.
• A good ending should leave the reader wanting more.  Create questions or topics that let readers imagine future scenes or alternative endings.
• What does the book remind you of?  Encourage discussion of other writers and genres that point back to your book.
• How do you want readers to possibly describe the overall mood, tone, or theme or the book?
• Is your theme universal or could it only be true for one part of the world?  Think of questions that explore the locale of your book as well as any unusual bits of information you use to make your story unique.
• What have your characters learned?  Or left undiscovered?
• What would you like your readers to have learned?
• Is the story believable--or not?  (If not, this could be a good time to fix it!) 

Not every guide you create needs to include all of these points, but they are certainly something to keep in mind while brainstorming both your manuscript and your questions.

Tip of the Day:  Search out reading guides for some of your favorite titles and start by answering the questions in your journal.  You might even want take this a step further by discussing the questions with your writing group if you don't already belong to a book club.  It's easier to write your own guide once you know the kind of questions you like to discuss, and which ones you find frustrating and pointless (not that rare of an occurrence, I'm sorry to say!).  And have fun:  discussion guides are meant to enhance the love of reading--readers should never feel they're defending a thesis or trying to pass an exam.

Am Editing

My three favorite Twitter hashtags are:  #amreading, #amwriting, and #amediting.  Whenever I see one of those I always stop to read the tweet.  #Amreading alerts me to great new titles; #amwriting inspires me to write those extra pages, and #amediting reminds me to take the work seriously.

For the past few weeks I've been doing my best to stay in #amediting mode.  It hasn't been easy.  I readily confess to loving first drafts:  the thrill of new characters; speed writing; first thoughts/"best" thoughts (or so they seem!).  Sometimes editing feels too much like doing my homework when I'd rather be eating dessert.

But this week there's been a shift; around Tuesday I found myself starting to enjoy the process of preparing a manuscript for print.  It may have had something to do with passing the "100 page" mark at last.  As it stands now, my manuscript is 429 double-spaced pages, printed in New Courier 12 font (easiest to read, I think).  I figure that if I stay on track editing a minimum of 14 pages a day I'll be finished by August 1.

I waited a year to start this final edit and I'm glad I did.  Enough time has passed to almost convince me someone else wrote the book--a wonderful advantage when it comes to slashing sentences, cutting excess description, and doing my best to wordsmith my way to a clearly-told story.  Often I'll come to a passage and I won't even remember writing it, allowing me to be utterly ruthless.

One of the reasons for my reluctance to start this particular edit was my fear that concentrating on editing would somehow lead to me forgetting how to write.  Absurd, I know!  But I was worried that skimping on my daily freewriting would be like an athlete not staying in shape, or a dancer lounging in front of the television instead of showing up in the rehearsal room.  How wrong I was.  Writing IS rewriting.  Sticking to an editing plan and schedule is where the real magic happens.

Now instead of groaning at the thought of my daily editing quota, I look forward to each 30-minute session (after 30 minutes I begin to read, not critique).  I have my manuscript neatly tucked into a new, large binder that accompanies me most of the day and night.  I don't like to let it out of my sight and it's always ready to work on whenever I have a free moment.  Believe it or not, it's a great way to spend the summer!

Tip(s) of the Day:  I have two:  1) The longer you leave a manuscript between edits the better your editorial eye will be.  Don't rush to edit.  And 2) If you write every day--even just a few minutes between editing sessions--you will build a body of work, which means that you will be able to leave off editing your manuscripts for a year or longer.  That way you will never run out of manuscripts to polish, submit, and, sell.

Get Set With a Goals Jar

The last few weeks have been ridiculous:  unexpected snafus at my day job; summer storms creating big leafy messes and lots of extra yard work; my car needing new tires and other minor maintenance issues…the days just seem to slide by.  Every hour there seems to be yet another new crop of  "things to do" that need my stretched-to-breaking-point attention, including my blog posts (sorry for the recent lapse in posting).

To stay on track with my "main goals" for the year, I try to commit to three daily and essential tasks during the work week: the edits for my new book, Overtaken; attending to my day job (got to pay the bills somehow!); and write/draw/create something new every day—even if it’s just 500 words from a writing prompt.  But sometimes it’s difficult to concentrate when my brain is buzzing with, “gotta re-do the website,” “gotta sew up that couch cushion,” “gotta get a stock of padded mailers.” The annoying part of all this buzz-buzz-buzz is I’m never quite sure just which extra project needs to be the center of my universe and which one I can put on the back burner.  Worse yet is when I go to start one of these extra tasks, I immediately think of yet another thing I’m “supposed” to be doing.  Scattered doesn’t even begin to describe it. 

Sunday night I decided to take control with a trick I learned from the Land of Enchantment Romance Authors:  the Goals Jar. The idea is to write down a goal to accomplish between meetings, put it in a jar with a dollar, and at the next meeting all the people who have accomplished their goals participate in a drawing that rewards the winner with half of the cash (the other half going to LERA for fun things like speakers, etc.).  While I was a member, I was pretty good at winning, often coming home with a nice little stash.  But it's been over a year since I've had the time to attend a meeting and I don't have quite the same incentive to stick to minor goals here at home.  What I do have though is a pottery jar with a wide cork lid sitting on my desk.  I love this jar—it’s from Mexico and decorated with pictures from Mexican lottery tickets and tarot cards. Depending on how I place it, I can have a new picture facing me any time I want.

Remembering the same procedure from the LERA meetings, I wrote down a list of the things I need to do (somewhat appalled at the extent of said list) and then cut it into strips.  I then folded the strips into tiny squares, placed them in the jar, shook it up, and pulled out my first one: “Make picture for blog header.” Yay! I can do that.  (It's now at the top of the page here.  What do you think?)

Instead of putting a dollar into the jar for each of my goals, I rewarded myself by putting $20 into the jar for completing the task.  I get to spend it and all the other twenties I'm anticipating when the task-strips are all gone.  At the same time I'm also going to pretend each task-strip I remove is the ONLY extra task I need to do until it is finished.  I'm not allowed to even think about the other chores waiting in the jar.  Or the money.  Well, it's hard not to think about the money, but you know what I mean!  

Tip of the Day:  Start your goals jar. You might want to make it yourself.  I have a friend who glues collage scenes on old jam jars and they're beautiful.  Add inspiring quotes or pictures of things you want to help keep yourself motivated.

Make Your Book Trailer Today--Even Before You Write Your Book

It’s been a whole two weeks since I released my book trailer for Better Than Perfect and I have to say it’s been a blast. Thank you so much to everyone who’s viewed and commented. Besides appearing on Youtube.com, the trailer is now also on JacketFlap.com, Blazingtrailers.com, and thenybookjournal.com.
Producing the trailer has definitely opened a brand new world for me, one I’ve enjoyed so much than I’m now making trailers for three more of my existing books, with more trailers lined up for next year based on my current WIPs. Sites I want to thank in particular include:  The Savvy Book Marketer for “how-to” info, Dreamstime.com for their great image library, and Musicbakery.com for not only providing an excellent selection of music, but also for being so ultra-helpful when I had trouble downloading the piece I chose (my fault entirely).

I waited a long time to make my trailer, mainly because I was worried I could never master Windows Movie Maker and I thought I’d be wasting my time trying to learn. Now I’m so enthused about the whole process that I think it’s a waste of time to not start on your trailer as soon as possible—maybe even before you write your book. Here’s why:

-  Editors are always telling us to “show, don’t tell.” Making a trailer is about the best way I can think of to “show” your story with a minimum of images and words. Having those images/words clear in your mind will keep your plot—and your pitch—on track.

-  Making multiple trailers will keep your creativity flowing. For final production purposes you want to keep your “real” trailer under two minutes in length; but there’s no law that says you can’t make draft trailers just for fun and for as long as you want them to be. Create a new trailer draft for every chapter or important scene you write.

-  While I was looking for pictures of my characters, I often found collections of other, unrelated pictures using the same models. To really know your characters and their body language, try creating individual trailers showing just your story people in a variety of poses. 

- Your music choices can become “theme songs” for your books, giving you a unique way to express your theme when both writing and/or discussing your books. 

- While you’re writing your drafts, you can use your trailer(s) to design and build your synopsis: simply write your outline image by image and the whole thing will be finished before you know it.

-  Same thing for your query letter paragraphs. Ask yourself what “feeling” you want to convey to an editor or agent. Having the right pictures and music in your mind can help you describe that feeling.

-  Making your trailer before you start submitting or selling your book means you can begin your marketing before your book is on the shelves. Having something readers can actually see—and become excited about—can create an instant buzz.

-  Digital publications and e-book readers are creating a reading revolution. I have a strong suspicion it’s going to become commonplace for all books to be illustrated with videos and other graphics—and you don’t want to be left behind. Even if your trailer is eventually professionally produced by your publishing company, having a ready-made example of the direction you want can hasten the way to a successful production.

Tip of the day: Regardless of whether you know how to use Movie Maker or any other program, start your image library before you do anything else. Brainstorm a list of pictures you think could illustrate your story, e.g., images of your characters, settings, and scenes, as well as a list of emotions: "confused," "angry," "excited." Then visit a site such as Dreamstime.com and start digging.

Added tip: While you’re searching, be open to happy accidents; key words tagging the photos can lead you to search areas you might not have considered but which turn out to be absolutely perfect—better than perfect! (Sorry—couldn’t resist that one!) Don’t forget to bookmark or save links to your favorite images; you don't want to lose what might turn out to be your very best shots.

My First Book Trailer!

Ta-dah! It's here at last, my first book trailer featuring my Young Adult novel, Better Than Perfect. Set in New Zealand, the story follows a crucial turning point in the lives of two young women, Elizabeth Haddon and her cousin, Ravenna St. James.  

Making the trailer was an absolute blast, something I've been working on in every spare minute I could find both day and night. It was also, I have to admit, much more fun than writing the book. (Uh-oh, don't tell my writing clients/students...) Of course there were some difficult moments too, for instance when I could not, could not figure out how to get my text onto the still photos and wanted to smash my computer screen with a shoe, a hammer, anything handy. But perseverance paid off and now I think I've got Windows Movie Maker pretty well figured out--and I love it. In fact, I'm so excited by book trailers and the fun of creating them that I'm making three more. 

My original intention for this post was to share some of the things I had learned along the way, but I think I will have to make that a post for next week; all this excitement has worn me out. So for now, I'd just like to invite you to enjoy my first foray into the world of video production. Thanks for watching! 

Tip of the Day: There are many, many places where you can watch book trailers. A good place to start is at Jacketflap.com where you can see a wide variety of videos on the JF home page. As you watch, start thinking about making your own book trailer(s). You don't have to have a published manuscript to begin producing. In fact, next week I'm going to discuss how and why a trailer could actually help you tighten and complete your current WIP. Don't forget the popcorn!

Writing with the Mythological Voice; Learning from Natalie Reid

One of the best writing experiences I've ever had was the opportunity to take an all-day workshop with author and teacher, Natalie Reid.  Natalie teaches a technique she calls "writing with the mythological voice" and it is, in my opinion, the quickest and easiest way to find your authentic writer's voice. 

The Spiritual Alchemist: Working with the Voice of Your Soul is Natalie's complete presentation of her ideas and exercises you can do alone at home or with a creative group (preferably with people you trust and feel comfortable with).  The book even includes a beautiful CD to guide you along so that you don't have to break out of the creative flow to read about "what to do next."  There is so much I could say about the book:  it is fantastic; it is motivating; it is educational, but I think I would rather just offer one of the myths that I wrote during Natalie's class.  I called it, The Woman Who was Fast.

There once was a woman who was fast.  She could cook in three minutes flat the best of meals.  She could paint the living room before breakfast.  She could type 230 words a minute.  She could speak without breathing, run marathons in under an hour, make the bed with one hand, and listen to her own voice while hearing the problems of others.  She was so full of speed and energy it took the greatest powers of control to keep her feet on the ground and the clouds out of her hair.  There was nothing she couldn't do in record time or better, and soon she found her fame and speedy accomplishments whizzing around the globe and shooting out of the TV and computer screens.  There were instant blogs and short sound bites that praised her efficiency and miraculous abilities to go and go and go and never complain or take time out for rest.  Soon she learned that she could go even faster if she mopped floors with one foot, worked her time-saving generator with the other, dust with her left hand and write with her mouth.  In her right hand she could turn the pages of a book and read separate books with her two different eyes.  Faster, faster, faster she urged herself when she felt herself lag by a minute or two.  Time is money and money is all that matters in the end because without money how could any of the world's problems be solved?  Where would the food come from?  The clothes, the teachers, the houses, the machinery for war?  She couldn't let up for a second.  There was so much to do and she was good at what she did because she was fast.  She was so fast she could speed up her heart and she learned to love and hate and cry and speak with the same breath and all the while her heart pumped and pumped and pounded and thrust until her heartbeats became a distant whir and she woke up from the fastest dream of her life--no more than .002 of a second--in a cold sweat and sudden panicky fear that her heart was so fast she could no longer hear it.

It's been over two years since I wrote this piece in Natalie's workshop.  Unfortunately, like all myths, it is is still rings true.  Oh, dear...

Tip of the Day:  Wondering who your writer-self really is?  Go on the equivalent of a writer's vision quest with The Spiritual Alchemist: Working with the Voice of Your Soul.  The answers will surprise--and inspire--you.  You can also learn more about Natalie at her website, http://www.thespiritualalchemist.com/.  Best wishes on your journey.
 

Adding Depth to Your Writing: Past, Present, and Future

I'm always looking for ways to go deeper into my writing.  Over the weekend I began finalizing my first book trailers--the subject of a whole 'nother post coming soon--and as I searched through my images I realized that to display the full "flavor" of a story, I needed to know the past, present, and future of my characters in an entirely new way.

Usually when I talk about past/present/future with my writing students and clients I'm talking about tense, e.g., try not to switch from past to present tense in the same paragraph, or, maybe 800 pages of present-tense-only is a little tedious.  But this time I wanted to use the concept to explore where my characters came from, where they are in the story, and where I want them (and the reader) to be at the end of the book.  Thinking along these lines has added a fresh new approach to my usual "character biography." For instance,

• Fully examining your characters' pasts can give you the core or real story you are trying to tell. The place they’ve come from is a huge influence on all of their future actions, motivations, and goals. Know that place inside out.
• Knowing where your characters have come from can help with your pitch and marketing materials: “A girl from the wrong side of the tracks…” “Born into the royal family…” Ask yourself what you really know about “the wrong side of the tracks” or what goes on behind closed palace doors. Find out and use those details to enliven and enrich your presentation.
• When you can write about your character's past with a strong degree of empathy, you immediately create a bond with your readers, some of whom can identify with a similar past or birthplace.
• “You can take the girl off of the farm…” We always take a little bit of where we’re from wherever we go. Tiny, telling details your characters carry with them can add volumes to your tale in minimal words. For instance, a habit of liking a certain kind of candy only available in a certain town, or flowers that only grow in the mountains of Tibet…  Speech patterns are especially telling.  Any colloquialisms, small phrases, or accents that can’t be abandoned can and should appear , especially at the most inappropriate times.
• The past, for good or bad, can be something we all cling to.  Despite the need to change, having your characters attached to the past for comfort or out of bad habit will increase their difficult journey toward growth, and will add to your conflict.
• There’s nothing like secrets to enliven a plot. Having your characters do their darndest to keep those secrets from the past hidden in the present can add a lot of literary oomph.
• The present can be (and perhaps should be) a complete contrast to the past. If your character has come from warm and cozy, make sure his or her present life is hard and mean. A character from poverty suddenly thrust into fame and fortune can long for the days of scrubbing pots below stairs. An unfamiliar present can be a great source of misery.
• Future goals are the impetus of your story; characters should keep their eyes on the prize at all times. The future should be a delicious dangling carrot or strawberry bon-bon always just there, in sight, tormenting and goading your characters into action.
• The future can also be a bad place readers don’t want your character to go, e.g., into the arms of Mr. Wrong; that trip to Antarctica everyone knows they shouldn’t take; stepping into a dark basement without a flashlight or baseball bat. Increase readers' fears for your characters whenever possible.
• As much as readers love to agonize and worry for your characters, readers also live for the hope that everything in your story is going to end happily ever after. Keep that hope alive as long as you can. And if you must re-stage Hamlet in outer space, at least make a body-strewn ending literary, satisfying, and “just right."
• Sometimes the best endings fill readers’ heads with all kinds of possible alternatives. In my book club I know we love to speculate: Did Claire and Max get married? Do you think Rosie got the job she wanted? Does the world really end in 20102? Readers like to extend the story in their minds; it's part of what makes a plot “unforgettable.”
• At the same time, don’t forget you can spin out your story into a near-never-ending future with a sequel or perhaps a complete series.

Tip of the day: Go through a manuscript you are still writing or one you have already finished. How can you pump up “past, present, and future” to reinvigorate your pages or to enliven your query, synopsis, and pitch?