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Extreme Book Makeover: 7 Twists and Turns to add to your novel!

By on April 21, 2014 in 1. Discover your story, 6. Search by Series:, Brainstorming Strategies and Tips, Editing Basics, Extreme Book Makeover, Susan May Warren

A great story is plotted by looking inside your character, figuring out what his lie is – and how this journey will somehow set him free – and then putting him in situations that make him confront his lies, his flaws and his weaknesses until he takes a good look at himself, figures out what he wants, and charges forward into a new future.

I know, that’s a bit oversimplified, but a story, boiled down, is simply about a character’s inner change, brought about by the external circumstances.
However, how do we make those circumstances intriguing enough to keep our readers’ attention?

At My Book Therapy, we have a character change chart/questions that helps us generate ideas on this journey. However, if you’ve already plotted this journey, and are still stuck, here are 7 ways to add more “trouble” or Twists and Turns into your plot.

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Rachel Hauck, Princess Ever After, royals, royalty

The Solution of Tension

By on April 10, 2014 in Editing Basics

We’ve also been watching the TV show Nashville on iTunes. It’s a night time soap opera set around country music.

Hubby and I make a game of “calling it.” What’s going to go wrong, when and how.

It’s almost NOT fun to watch TV shows where you know, just know, someone is going to do something stupid to mess up a budding romance or promising job.

Husband hates it. He doesn’t want to watch people be so stupid.

I get why the TV show writers do this… to drag the viewers along. To create a “Oh no, what’s going to happen?” curiosity.

In television, the writing goes from episode to episode and the writing is “episodic.”

Meaning from week to week, the tension and threads change to fit that show while carrying story threads forward.

For example, twenty years after they first toured together, country great Rayna James and Luke Wheeler get together. They’ve been married to other people and have children.

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Tips to Create and Maintain a Successful Group Blog

By on April 8, 2014 in Edie Melson, Learn the art of Social Networking, Social Media Primer

Many authors I talk to are frustrated by trying to grow and maintain a solo blog. My suggestion for a lot of them is to either find an established group blog to join or to start a group blog. Today I’m going to share my tips to create and maintain a successful group blog.

There are several advantages to a group situation

Shared responsibilities.
Reduced time commitment.
Flexibility.
There are also some disadvantages

Shared responsibilities. Yes, I know it’s in the list above. But sharing isn’t always easy. None of us is perfect and trust me, people will let you down. If you have serious control issues a group situation may not be the best answer for you.
Reduced visibility. With a reduced time commitment also comes less time you’re in the public eye. It’s a trade off. The more popular the site though, the less this becomes an issue.

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Rachel Hauck

Extreme Book Makeover: Widen your plot to keep your middle from sagging!

By on March 31, 2014 in 2. Create Your Story, 6. Search by Series:, Editing Basics, Extreme Book Makeover, Susan May Warren

Do you feel like the tension in your story has started to sag?

That you are simply rehashing old plot problems? It can be a challenge in Act 2 to keep the reader caring, the story filled with enough tension to keep the pages turning.

I watched Saving Mr. Banks this weekend. Wanted to love it. But it had a few problems. The main character (Pamela) suffered from a fatal case of unlike ability, even with her backstory – and got redeemed too late. But that’s another topic. Bigger was the issue that, aside from Walt Disney wanting to keep a promise to his daughter (the stakes of the story), we simply stopped caring about the character, mostly due to her obsessive need to get the story right.

Thankfully, the story tension is resuscitated by the backstory, and the fear of young Pamela losing her father.

In other words, Peripheral Plotting saved the day.

If your story seems to be going in circles, or worse, dying…this trick just might give it the life it needs to hang on.

Peripheral Plotting is the technique of pulling in ancillary elements and using them to create more tension in your plot. Ideally, it will push your character along their journey, creating more sympathy for your character – and even motivation for their next choices.

How does Peripheral Plotting work?

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