Writers Go For The Gusto!

I often wonder why I sometimes hesitate when it comes to writing. I want to jump right in and go for the gold, but there is this little thing that creeps up inside me and screams HALT! I get jittery because I am not sure that I am ready even though I am achieving so many wonderful writing goals. So what is it? Are we waiting for a pat on the back or perhaps someones permission to dive into the writing pool? Well, maybe. I came across and article from Cathy Stucker that helped me feel uplifted and ready to jump right in and go for the gusto! Enjoy!

Stop Waiting for Permission

March 17th, 2011

How do successful people become successful? They do things. Instead of sitting around waiting for the Permission Fairy to whack them upside the head with her magic wand, they just go out and do what they need to do.

I get a lot of questions from clients, students and others about how to do various things. Sometimes these questions are about the technical details of how to do something, but often the question is about how they go about getting permission to publish a book, become a consultant, create a course, etc. They want to know what course they need to complete, what group they need to join or who needs to give them a title before they can do what they want to do. While that is necessary if you want to be a doctor, in the world of entrepreneurs you do not need a license to succeed.

When someone is waiting for permission it is often because they do not have confidence in their ability to do something. The way to get that confidence is not to look to someone else. The way to get confidence in your ability to do something is to do it.

In the corporate world there are people who hand out titles and job duties. As an entrepreneur, you are the one who decides what your title is (if any) and what responsibilities you have. Want to be a published author? Write a book and get it published. Want to be a professional speaker? Get to the front of the room and start talking. Want to be a consultant? Start lining up clients you can help. It’s up to you.

There are people and educational resources to help with the things you do not know how to do or that you do not want to do on your own. However, there is no one who can give you permission. No one but you. Read more here.

Writing Credentials: Do You Have Any?

Writing (Photo credit: jjpacres)

I follow C. Hope Clark. She is the brains behind the newsletter Funds For Writers. She has been a helpful entity in regards to me learning more about the world of writing. Recently I read a post that actually made me chuckle out loud. It made me realize how far I have come in the writing process. This post talks about writers and what types of credible writing they have done. It also mentions that publishers and agents need to hear from writers who are actively pursuing a writing career. What made me chuckle was that I (years ago) never thought of mentioning when I submitted a manuscript that I am a technical writer. I did’t think that applied because I wanted to be a children’s author. So, I guess if you’ve written anything, published an article, won a contest, that qualifies as experience in writing. Check out the article. It’s short, sweet and to the point.

How would you reply if asked this question? Indignant? After all, everybody has to start somewhere, plus you’ve been writing various pieces for years.

Everybody has to write the first manuscript. But few of them need to publish that first manuscript.

If you went to the doctor, needing an operation, you might ask, “Have you done this sort of operation before?” What if the reply is, “No, but I’ve been studying how to do it.” You’d move on to another doctor, because no matter how long he’s read the books and tested on cadavers, he hasn’t proven himself. Read more here.

Author Exposed: Karin Lefranc

I love promoting authors and their books. I love it even more when a book can teach a child a very important lesson in life. Karin Lefranc has done this with her book “A Quest For Good Manners.” This is a story kids will have fun with while they learn valuable life lessons. Teachers and parents will appreciate the lesson young readers will learn. Karin also shares some insight on her favorite books, authors and writing tips. Please help me in welcoming author Karin Lefranc. Feel free to leave a comment.

TNW: How long have you been writing?

KL: I have been writing since my first job, which was as a reporter for a local newspaper.

TNW: Have you always written for children?

KL: I went from writing for the local newspaper to working as an assistant editor at Virgin Books in London. There I wrote a lot of press releases and book blurbs. I didn’t start writing for children until about five years ago.

TNW: What drives and motivates your writing?

KL: I first excited about a story idea. I am fueled by the creative process, and then I just love to write.

TNW: Do you feel it’s important for writers to use social media? How?

KL: Oh my, I do feel it is important. That’s not to say I am very good at it. Social media is a powerful platform and as writers we have an advantage to use it well. Marketing ourselves and our books is so important and facebook, blogs, twitter are incredibly useful tools.

TNW: Who are some of your favorite authors and why?

KL: I love One by Kathryn Otoshi. A book about bullying but so much more.

Anything by Mo Willems—he gets how kids think. On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillma

is a lovely gift for any new baby on planet earth. Frog and Toad Collection—don’t need any self

-help books when you have this treasure!

TNW: What writing books would you recommend to new writers?

KL: I just finished Stephen King’s On Writing and that was great. Today, I bought Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, which is on everyone’s list of best books on writing. One that isn’t on everyone’s list and is wonderfully inspiring is If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland. It was originally published in the 1938 and it is a real treasure.

 TNW: What advice do you have for new writers?

KL: Read, write, join SCBWI and a critique group and then read and write some more.

TNW: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

KL: With four kids ages 10 and under it’s sometimes hard to find time to write. I hope in five years, I will have more time to write. In addition to more picture books, I would love to write a middle grade novel.

Title: A Quest For Good Manners

Author: Karin Lefranc

Illustrator: Hannah Neale

Publisher: Beluga Press
ISBN: 9780983045908

Review:

Teaching children good manners is a required item on any parents “to do” list. Children can learn to be respectful and courteous at a very young age. Instead of making learning manners a cumberson task, teach them how with a fun, easy to read story that has a princess, a dragon, a fairy and a wizard. It might even be fun for you to send your little ones on a quest of their own for good manners.

Princess Rosalind and her trusty friend Sparkler, a big green dragon, are the slurppiest, sloppiest and drippiest eaters at the Queens table. These two friends over-stuff their mouths with food and then talk while they chew. As a result, food spews and splatters everywhere. The Queen will not stand for this ill-mannered behavior any longer. Of course, Rosalind argues that they really don’t need manners and dragons don’t really know any better. The Queen gives Rosalind and Sparkler three days to find good manners or she will banish Sparkler forever from the kingdom. Rosalind and Sparkler begin their quest to find Percival, an all knowing wizard, for help and guidance.

Rosalind’s first task is to pull a golden fork with a ruby embellished handle from a stone. Rosalind pulls and tugs at the fork until her hands hurt. With the help of Percival she soon realizes its not strength that will release the fork, but knowing how to hold a fork. Once she achieves that goal the fork will glow and be her guide to her next quest. As Rosalind and Sparkle learn more about good manners and what is expected, the two also makes some really nice friends along the way.

Teaching manners can be tricky. Lefranc has done an excellent job of showing young readers how to say please and thank you. This quest can also open up dialogue between parents and children no matter what age. Teachers can also use this as a tool for students in preschool or kindergarten during snack time. Bright and cheery digital illustrations invite readers into the world of the princess and her dragon. Visual expressions of these hilarious characters will bring smiles to all who turn the pages.

Thanks so much Karin for sharing with us today. To learn more about Karin please visit Kristi’s Book Nook and participate in the awesome book giveaway.

www.aquestforgoodmanners.com

www.KarinLefranc.com

twitter: @karinlefranc

www.facebook.com/aquestforgoodmanners

A Quest for Good Manners—“a fun and meaningful way to demonstrate to children that good manners are not just boring rules but a show of kindness and consideration to others.”—New York Journal of Books

Do Writers Need Rules?

In this world there are rules. Plain and simple. When we are born we learn to crawl, walk and speak. Doctors learn procedures, ditch diggers learn to hold shovels and writers learn how to tell stories. If there were no rules or methods of learning we would all be sitting around with our thumbs up our rears. Harsh, but true. Larry Brooks wrote a wonderful article on the subject of writing fundamentals. Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

The Learning Curve That Keeps On Curving

Larry Brooks has written 434 posts on Storyfix.com.You can follow Larry on Twitter, or Google+.

 Email the author

by LARRY BROOKS on MARCH 19, 2012

In all my years as a writer, writing teacher and blogger, I’ve never run into anybody who claims to knoweverything there is to know about storytelling.

That’s because the more you know, the more you realize how complex and deep it all can be.  Stories are like people, no two are completely alike, and therefore each needs to be regarded, analyzed, appreciated and repaired separately.

That said, certain fundamental principles and physics apply. 

Just like they do to people.  And they can be learned.

And yet, while nobody is claiming to know it all, I have run into writers who claim they don’t need to pay attention to those pesky fundamental principles and storytelling physics.  They say something like this:

“Don’t over-think it, just sit down and do it, let the story flow, trust your instinct, do whatever the hell you want, keep working on it and it’ll turn out like it’s supposed to. There are no rules.”

Not long ago I flew into Salt Lake to give a keynote and writing workshop at a major conference.  The young writer who picked me up at the airport was curious about my book (which is all about writing fundamentals and storytelling physics), and in the course of our conversation told me that one of writers who would be attending the conference – an older guy who had been writing for years – said my book was ridiculous, that there are only three things a writer needs to ultimately know, the rest is just hot air: the beginning, the middle and the end.

That’s it?  Who knew.  All these years, I’ve missed that one on the writing shelf.  This is the same guy who claims all he needs in life is “three hots and a cot.”

I asked now many books this guy had published.  The answer was none.

Interesting.  While I have run into writers who line up behind this simplistic belief system, none of them – zero – have been published.

Coincidence?  I think not.

And when it does happen – and I’m sure it does – it isn’t proof of the theory.  Rather, it’s the writer not understanding what just happened.

There are a few Big Names out there who claim to be listening to some muse, that they simply sit down and channel it.  But the truth (IMO) is one of three things: this is a transparent stab at modesty, they have a great editor, or they’re truly clueless and therefore just lucky to be where they are.

I don’t think the last two are it.  Such writers probably write organically, on instinct… but what is instinct if not the expression of something that has been learned?

In essence these writers are saying that they’re some kind of genius.

Diana Gabaldon comes to mind.  As does Stephen King, who is a genius, but in talking about “how to write” laughably discounts the fact he’s published hundreds of stories over many decades, which by definition means he’s learned something along the way, which again by definition means if something can be learned, it can be sought-out and it can be taught, if nothing else through acknowledgement.

Just because you haven’t filed a flight plan, it doesn’t mean you don’t know how to fly the airplane.  No,that part you have to learn. Read more here.

The Opening Scene: Tips for Writers

Image via Wikipedia

What’s one of the toughest challenges for writers? Is it deciding what the cover should look like? How about  the marketing process? How about the outline for your project? If you answered yes to any of these perhaps some or all of these are tough for writers. But what will the reader think? That’s what you should be asking yourself. Can I, the writer, hook  you the reader at the very beginning?

C.S. Lakin has some tips that will get you thinking about your action packed opening scene.

The Crucial Question You Must Ask in Your Opening Scene

The True Definition of a Scene

One of the main points discussed in previous posts involved picking just the right starting place to begin your book. This means the story starts in present action, in the middle of something happening, with your POV character right in the situation and revealing her (or his) fears, dreams, needs, or goals and the obstacle that is in the way and presenting a problem. I like the way Jordan Rosenfeld in the book Make a Scene defines what a scene is: “Scenes are capsules in which compelling characters undertake significant actions in a vivid and memorable ay that allows the events to feel as though they are happening in real time.” I talked before about eliminating back story and starting right in with your protagonist and hinting at her visible goal.

Mind Your MDQs

You’ve now learned why the visible “goal” of your protagonist needs to be revealed in some measure in the first few pages, and what we’ll explore today is the need to establish both the plot question and the spiritual question your book is raising. For the plot question is tied up in the visible goal (they are pretty much the same thing), but the spiritual question is a little different but just as crucial, if not more.

You may not have a deeply themed book, but there must be some reason you are writing this story. We talked about this in an earlier post. What is your story about? If you were asked, “Why did you write this book?” (and spend months, maybe years of your life doing so!) how would you answer? Hopefully, there is a specific thing you want to say to your readers. It doesn’t have to be a “message” or sermon on life, but every story deals with themes on one level or another, and your views as a writer will come through the story, sometimes whether you intend it or not. Better to begin a book with intention—intending to say something and leave your readers with that “take-home” thought when they read the last line and close the book.

This ties in with your MDQ or major dramatic query (or question). I think the most important, mind-blowing material I learned in recent years that helped me in my writing craft was to learn about the MDQ. And I hope after you read this you will feel similarly. Now, with every novel I write, I begin with this. And don’t worry, you can learn about MDQ PDQ (pretty darn quickly). Read more here.

Related articles

• On Writing (bonniedottoewsdotcom.wordpress.com)
• How Do You Create Your Characters? (sallyjenkins.wordpress.com)