What kind of book do you like to read? I usually start with this question when I’m teaching students how to write. Because, the things you are reading will usually determine the genre that you are most equipped and most interested in writing in. I read a lot of different genres – historical romance, romantic comedy, women’s fiction…but the genre most represented on my shelf is romantic suspense and thrillers. So, that’s what I tend to write. Have I written the others? Yes. But my strengths, the genre I am honing is the one I love the most. Romantic Suspense. Whenever you start a book, you need to begin with the TYPE of book you’re writing…the GENRE. So, go take a look at your bookshelf, and then come […]
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Come write a book with us in 2009!
I’ll bet you’re thinking, hey, where are my Book Therapists? Did they head south for the winter? (Okay, ONE of us did. The other is watching snow drift across her window, wondering how she’s going to get out of her quarter-mile driveway today!) Actually, we’ve both been hard at work coming up with great stuff at My Book Therapy for 2009. Stuff that includes CHATS, and online writing seminars and classes, and a cool new How-To-Write workbook (TBA soon!) and….a fun new project for 2009 called…Blog-A-Book! Write a book with My Book Therapy Voices in 2009! Remember those games you used to play where your friend started the story, and you finished it? Or the “Choose your own ending” books? Ever wanted to be a part […]
Read the RestStrengthening a scene vs. rearranging words?
Now, what is the difference between strengthening a scene and re-arranging the words? Strengthening a scene is discovering the emotional significance to the scene, the way it will affect the overall book, and milking it for the reader. Using setting and dialogue and body language and disappointment and WORDS to cut to the heart of a character. Let’s take a look at the editing process in an actual scene. Below are three excerpts…the original, the edit, and the final product. See if you can see how I applied my editing checklist to strengthen the scene. This is the prologue from In Sheep’s Clothing. Prologue Five more minutes and she would be safe. Gracie Benson hunched her shoulders and pulled the woolly brown scarf over her […]
Read the RestThe Knock on the door: Query Letters!
Now that you are tying up your threads for your synopsis, and packing it with a punch, have written those amazing sample chapters…now it’s time to put it in a cheery, compelling package and knock on the agent’s door. Aka: the Query letter. A query letter is that first meeting, (unless, of course, you meet at a conference!), where you pitch your idea to an editor. It’s what will get your toe in the door, so it has to be something that makes the editor take notice, and shows them how your book will be the Next Hot Thing. What makes a good Query Letter? Let’s take it apart…. 1.. A compelling, succinct first paragraph hook 2.. A summary of your book in 2-3 sentences 3.. Where […]
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