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Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo? Consider this…

By on October 10, 2013 in Editing Basics

This Will Change Your Writing

I’m not kidding. What I’m about to tell you will impact your story. Especially those of you who are studying, writing, trying for publication.

I’ve been judging a contest. I feel like I could cut and paste the same comments in each one.

What does the hero/heroine want?
What is the story question?
What journey are they going on?
The inciting incident has nothing to do with the opening scene.
What is his/her fears? Desire? Give a hint of these in the opening.
What is the dark moment from her past?
Show some sort of competence. Meaning, a superpower (what he/she does well.) Good at his/her job.
Show confidence in the midst of failings and weaknesses.
What is the black moment?
What can the hero/heroine do at the end they can’t do in the beginning.

If you nail down these initial traits, you will have such a strong story.

I was recently reading a budding author’s work where the heroine is called upon for a dangerous task. But there was no leading up to how this would impact her own life. Sure, it’s challenging and exciting to be on a dangerous adventure, but at the end of the day, all of that is just busyness if it doesn’t bring about change in the protagonist.

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Social Media Minute—It’s Time to QUIT Social Media!

By on October 8, 2013 in 7. Search by Author:, Edie Melson, Learn the art of Social Networking, Social Media Primer

Yep you read that right.

The Queen of social media is telling you it’s time to QUIT social media.

NOT permanently (thought you were going to get out of it, didn’t you!), but I’m suggesting you take a break periodically, and re-examine your plan.

I used to keep up with social every single day, whether I was home or traveling. But I’ve learned that I can’t sustain a reasonable social media schedule seven days a week, indefinitely. So I’ve given myself permission to have weekends off and to relax when I’m traveling.

I know it sounds scary, but the truth is—it hasn’t hurt my platform at all—as a matter of fact it has helped it. Here’s two reasons why:

My updates are fresher.
I have time to expose myself to new blogs and new people.

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Rachel Hauck

Nabbing An Editor or Agent’s Attention

By on October 3, 2013 in Editing Basics

One of the things we talk about a lot at My Book Therapy is coming up with a good book hook.

It’s how we nab an editor or agent’s attention.

But it’s a lot harder than we’d like it to be.

In genre novels, we tend to be a bit cliche.

We read a lot of romance or historicals, or sci fi or whatever our preferred genre is and when crafting a story idea, we tend just rewrite what we’ve read.

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Ten Tips to Tightening Your Middle — Your Story Middle That Is!

By on September 26, 2013 in Editing Basics

Lessons from Our P90X The Middle of Your Story. Taught at ACFW 2013. 1. Drop the Bomb! — Don’t hold out on the “big” reveal or what you think is the big story point if your story calls for it to be done now. Otherwise, you’ll write in circles. In Dining with Joy, I wanted the black moment to be when Joy was outed on public TV as a fraud. But by the middle of the book, I knew I had to drop the bomb THEN. So I did. Then I could develop a new black moment fitting the story. 2. Tell the Secret! — Find a juicy secret in your characters you didn’t know existed when you started. When writing Softly and Tenderly with Sara Evans, I discovered that […]

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