9. June 2010 by Gore Wehner.

Literary Agent Scott Treimel gave a wonderful lecture about Characters, Conflict and Pacing. Let me throw out a tidbit from his speech and discuss it. Something I find difficult to get across to writers is how easy it is to mess up the imaginative process for the reader. Scott mentioned how there is no need to describe everything in vivid detail. In fact, being somewhat vague with the description of the main character helps the reader identify more fully with that character. The reader is, essentially, that character, because the reader can imagine that character looks like them.

I found that so interesting, and tried to think back on the last few YA books I’d read. True enough, no flowing blond ringlets like a halo around a heart-shaped face. No freckles across a narrow nose. No bright green eyes framed by long, black lashes. I’d made up what the character looked like based on the character’s personality. And yes, perhaps the character did resembled myself a little.

He also stressed that mentioning, for example, that the surrounding lockers are orange, bogs the story down. How important is it for those lockers to be orange? And, I might add, how important is it to know the character’s locker is the third one down from room 123? Yet these appear in first drafts of stories over and over again. Because that’s how we, as writers, see it.  And we want to reader to imagine it exactly as we do,to experience it the way we are experiencing it.

I once read an article where two fictional men are discussing this very topic. One reads the other the beginning of a scene, giving only a small amount of detail, and even simplifying the action. He then asks the other man to relay what he’s read, describing the details his imagination has filled in.The second man does so, and adds what was never actually written into the scene, because his imagination has done all the work. The writer has merely made suggestions.

Try this: cut out a room from a department store’s advertisement. Now write about a character who enters the room, rushing to pack a suitcase before her abusive husband comes home drunk from his friend’s house. Do this now before you read on. Go on, I’ll wait.

Now that the scene is written, take a look. How much room description did you use? How about her actions? Did you detail everything she did, from opening the suitcase to pulling out articles of clothing? Did you use internal dialogue? Does she think a lot about what she’s doing?

Okay. Now, keeping the scene for the most part intact, take out half the words. Get rid of what the bed or rug looks like, if you’ve added it. Keep her thoughts sparse. Use short, clipped sentences for her inner dialogue. Only use necessary action.

Does the second scene have more immediacy to it? Does the tension feel stronger? It should. And guess what? Your reader will have filled in what the room looks like, how she moves from dresser to suitcase, and the fear that presses against her heart…all on his/her own! Isn’t that amazing?

Now, that’s not to mean you shouldn’t describe anything in your novel. The reader can also benefit from scene descriptions and character descriptions. But keep these observations from your character’s point of view. Do we really walk into a party and describe to ourselves what kind of light is being emitted from the wall sconces? Or do we note the activity going on instead? Maybe your character is an interior designer, and she/he’s drawn to wall sconces. If so, then describing them may make sense. But if not, leave out those details.

After all, do you want to spend your time reading ten pages about locks of gold ringlets and long dark eyelashes?

I didn’t think so.

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31. May 2010 by Gore Wehner.

I’ll be attending the New Jersey SCBWI conference June 4th and 5th, and hopefully gleaming tidbits of information about the publishing market as it stands, now. If you’ve never attended a writing conference, I encourage you to do so. SCBWI stands for Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. They have conferences all over the United States (and other countries as well).

The reason I recommend attending a conference such as this is that you’ll learn up-to-date firsthand information about the marketplace, what editors and agents are currently looking for, writing advice, and sometimes for an extra nominal fee you can have a portion of your manuscript critiqued by a professional in the industry.

Published authors as well as people new to the craft of writing (and in this case, illustrating) attend these conferences. And it’s a great place to pitch your book to an agent or editor you’ve admired for awhile.

When I come back from the conference, I’ll outline some things I’ve learned.

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21. May 2010 by Gore Wehner.

First off, to all the writing newbies out there who feel lost in a sea of ambivalence, you will probably want to join a critique group at some point. Why? Because there’s only so far you can go on your own. Eventually you’ll want feedback on what you’ve written…if you want to become a published writer, that is. Why? Because you’ve probably at some point lost the reader, been too vague, been too specific, made no sense, forgotten about a character, or messed up in grammar, spelling , or punctuation. And that’s just a small example of what might be wrong in your manuscript.

Friends and family do not count as good critiquers. For one thing, they’ll read your work out of obligation (or not read it and pretend they did), then not be completely honest for fear of hurting your feelings. Or they might be too blunt, thereby leaving you frustrated and too angry to write again. Not to mention, if they aren’t writers, they don’t understand the craft enough to care to help you make your work better. You need other writers–people you’ve never met before. Although acquaintances will do in a pinch.

Finding a critique group isn’t easy. They’re often “underground” ventures. Sometimes they’re offshoots from writers conventions, or a one-time posting at the local library.

Check with local bookstores. Some of them host writing groups. But if you can’t find one it’s  time to take matters into your own hands and start one.

See if your local coffee shop, library, or book store will allow you to use their facility to have a writers group. Most will be thrilled for the extra business, and you can see if they’ll even fork over the money for an ad in the paper specifying where and when your group will meet and what your group is all about. Once or twice a month is good for busy people. Very dedicated writers may want to meet every week on the same night.

At the first meeting, decide with the other members how everyone wants the group to work. It’s best to get feedback at this stage because when other members weigh in, you end up with a tighter group that tends to stay together.  Ask if they want to split off into smaller groups for critiquing based on genre. Or have everyone take turns critiquing all members work each week. (This works better in small groups.) Should people bring copies of the work they want critiqued so everyone can read it on their own? Or would they rather read it aloud to the group? Or should people send their work via email first? How many pages should people critique at a time? 5? 15? (Critiquing by page works better than by chapter because some people write very long chapters while others write short chapters, and it won’t be fair for everyone.)

Then you must lay ground rules:

1) No one is allowed to be cruel-everything must be put in a kind way.

2) If you have a problem with something in the story, you must be able to explain why you feel that way. “I don’t like it,” is not good feedback. “I feel the character isn’t sympathetic enough because she shrugs his problem off,” is good feedback.

3) The recipient of the feedback should remain silent and listen, even if if they don’t agree. Arguing wastes time. If you don’t believe someone is right in their feedback, then don’t make the change. But disagreeing is often counterproductive. The only time a recipient should explain themselves is when they need clarification on a point, or want to see how they can make their point more clear to the reader. Have this be agreed upon by other members, or you’ll find arguing will chew up precious minutes of time.

4) If someone does not care for someone’s choice of writing style or genre, they are allowed to be silent and not participate. Forcing people to share feedback never works.

And most important:

5) Everyone who critiques the work must share what they feel has been done well  in the story. Writers need to know what is working as well as what’s not working.

That’s it in a nutshell. Good luck, and have fun with your group!

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