6. September 2010 by Gore Wehner.

I am on another round of edits for my agent. Here is my tip to all of you: outline your novel!

I can honestly say if I had begun writing with an outline, this book wouldn’t have gone through so much rewriting.  And the funny (but not-so funny) thing is, outlines aren’t that difficult to do. I just happen to like the surprise element of not having an outline. I like not knowing what’s coming next. This is great, if you’re embarking on a cross-country trip across the U.S. Not so great when you’ve written a 300-page novel and now see where there are major plot holes and where the character arc is lacking.

Outlines also help you to see where you can have reversals and sub-plots work best. And whether or not you need those extra three people who don’t do much for your story. And if the ending works. That’s a really big advantage to an outline!

One of the women in my on-line critique group writes her outline, then has us critique it. What a great way to find out ahead of time if something seems workable.  You know, before you finish 57,000 words only realize it’s not coming together as well as you imagined.

Go ahead, decide whether or not to outline. It’s a personal choice. But I’m voting for outlining. It might save me a lot of trouble on the draft of the next novel I’m working on.

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21. August 2010 by Gore Wehner.

As a creative writing instructor, I see the same mistakes made by beginning writers. First, let me say as an aside: this is a good thing! Excellent, even. Why? Because unless you make mistakes, you will not learn. It means you are discovering a path towards understanding how to  give your creation legs so it can carry out your intention. My classes are strongest when people who have never written a word in their life attend. It brings about wonderful discussion and I tend to learn from the experience, as well.

That said, here I will list the top five mistakes beginning writers taking my classes make, and how to avoid them.

1) Describing far too much in the first several pages of the story.

What do I mean? Let’s break this down. Most writers want to explain what the characters look like, their main characters’ backgrounds, what the protagonist thinks about the other people in the story, what’s happened in the past to bring about the situation the characters are in, and several paragraphs of environmental description. All in the first three or four pages. Whew!  That’s a lot to absorb, and we still haven’t gotten to the plot yet. A good rule of thumb is to write whatever you feel you need to in order to get the story straight in your head, then reread it to find  where the main action begins. Edit the rest  of the story out. You will probably find your entire first chapter will be gone. And that’s okay. Just hold onto the information in case it comes into play later in the book.

2) Using cliches and ‘ly’ adverbs instead of using creative word play.

My first drafts are full of cliches and ‘ly’ adverbs. Later, I seek these out and find a more imaginative way to reword portions of my story. Some ‘ly’ adverbs are essential for brevity, so I’m not insisting you take every single one out. But use them sparingly. Saying: “She walked happily down the sidewalk” sounds better as: “She skipped down the sidewalk.” Or be inventive: “She traipsed down the sidewalk, a crazy grin decorating her face.”Just keep in line with the tone of your story. One odd but clever sentence woven through paragraphs of less colorful language will sound awkward. As for cliches…unless a character speaks in cliches, leave them out. Overused phrases have lost their spark. (Yes, That was a cliche! Wanted to see if you were paying attention.) In other, and better, words: Overused phrases are like dull knives: they still do the job, but not as well as something shiny and sharp.

3) Write in the genre you enjoy reading.

This may seem out of place, when all my other advice sounds to technical, but it’s very important.  For one thing, you won’t finish writing that novel or short story you aren’t passionate about. If you love vampire stories…I don’t care how saturated editors say the market is…write about vampires. If you love mysteries, learn how to write them and go for it! Trust me, you will be happier in the long run.

4) Give each character their own personality and voice.

I can not stress this enough. Many years ago, I had an agent critique my manuscript (Mark McVeigh, a wonderful person, I might add).  He read the first ten pages of my middle grade manuscript and pointed out he couldn’t tell the difference between my two female protagonists. To him, they sounded one and the same. But they are very different! I wanted to point out. But I held my tongue because I couldn’t back up the claim. Weeks later, when my bruised ego was ready to pick up the manuscript again, I looked at it with new eyes and had to agree…there wasn’t much to differentiate them. So I got busy developing their personalities, and my novel is so much better for it (Thank you, Mr. McVeigh!).

The last and final problem that occurs with the beginning writers I meet is:

5)  Too much telling!

You will see this over and over again in my posts. Why? Because it is the number one thing you can do to bore your reader. I once gave a workshop presentation teaching people how to engage the reader using the five senses: touch, taste, smell, hearing, seeing. With every paragraph you write, make sure there is something there that the reader can identify with. A reader’s eyes will quickly glaze over with the sentence: “He ate the fruit. It tasted delicious. He ate another.” (Yawn.) I’m bored typing it. But what about: “The first bite was an explosion of sweet and sour, the yin and yang of the fruit world. The juices dribbled down his chin, but he couldn’t stop eating. He grabbed the second fruit, its red flesh so sinful he almost felt guilty touching it.”  What sentence tells us more about this character and what he’s doing? I used the senses of touch, taste, and added how he felt. Wham! Instant interest.

So there you have it, the most common mistakes I’ve seen teaching my writing classes. Hopefully you will apply my advice to your own writing, but if not, take a creative writing class.  You, too, can be a teacher’s delight!

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12. June 2010 by Gore Wehner.

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen led a wonderful lecture on picture books. (www.sudipta.com) One of the things she mentioned about writing picture books is keeping the text at 650 words or less. Not an easy feat, by any means. So I’d like to explain how editing makes a much tighter, stronger story.

When you write an introductory sentence for a picture book story, keep in mind a few things. First of all (and every editor, agent and author stressed this at the conference), voice is paramount! Before you even place one word on the paper, know her your protagonist is, inside and out. This will help create a unique voice that belongs to your character alone.

My example: a five year old boy. Likes spiders and frogs. Dark hair and eyes. Has a habit of rubbing his nose with the back of his hand instead of using a tissue during allergy season. Finds things amusing and funny, even when an adult doesn’t, such as another person tripping over his feet. Or missing his mouth when eating, the food therefore landing in the person’s lap. He has an older brother who is good at sports. My character is not good at sports. In fact, he’s the worst batter on his T-ball team. But he finds it more amusing to watch other players mess up anyway. His name is Gordon.

There’s a lot I can do with this. But most of it won’t be in the story at all. However, I know Gordon pretty well, I believe. And I’m confident I know him well enough to understand how he’ll talk, react to situations, and feel about things. In essence, I believe when I write about him, I’ll be able to capture his voice.

Returning to the introductory sentence…I can do one of two things: Introduce the character through action, or  narration.  You see narration all the time. “I am Gordon. I am on the Red Glory Hawks T-Ball team, and I’m really, really good. Except, of course, at hitting or catching. No, I’m actually much better at watching the game.”

What’s the problem with this sentence? Anyone want to take a guess? Okay, there are several. First of all, it’s much too long. I’ve already used up 33 of my 650 words, and I haven’t said much at all! Second, although it hints at a problem, we aren’t sure if there really is a problem because Gordon doesn’t seem to mind not being good at hitting or catching.

So I need a beginning sentence that shows character and delivers a unique voice, is short in text, and gives us the character’s problem.

Easy, right?

Gordon gripped the bat. The pitcher threw the ball and Gordon swung. And missed. “Strike three!” the umpired called. Gordon burst into tears.

Okay. What’s wrong here? I’ve introduced a character, a problem, and his reaction. But do I need so much text? Nope. The illustrator will show Gordon gripping the bat. I can leave that sentence out. And Gordon bursting into tears is a bit too much. First of all, the reader isn’t likely to identify with him. We don’t understand why he’s crying, since we don’t know enough about him yet. (Did he always miss the ball? Was the team depending on him? Did a bee sting him at the last second?) Second, remember my character description? He finds things amusing, right? This doesn’t come across in his tear-soaked emotional display.

Picture book writing is about defining character through action and reaction. It also means leaving much of the description up to the illustrator and knowing your character well enough to have him make natural reactions that are organic to character and plot. The plot must not be forced. Children are smart. They know if something sounds fishy.

Last but not least, there must be a sub-text to the story. A message that isn’t “in your face.” What has the character learned? How has he or she grown?

Picture book writing is, in my opinion, some of the most difficult writing there is. (Besides poetry. But that’s a post for a different day.) If you intend to do it right, study other authors. Look for sites like Sudipta’s to gain an understanding from people who know the genre well. Attend conferences and workshops so you can study the craft. Then write, write, write. Edit and trim, and write some more.

Picture book writing is at the core of storytelling.  By writing picture books you learn how to craft a story start to finish in the most direct way possible. And I admire writers like Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen who do it successfully.

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