Writing a Fiction Story – Walking Through Walls Backstory

 It’s always interesting how writers find ideas when writing a fiction story.

Some may simply come up with an idea, others may see something that triggers a story, and sometimes a story is handed to a writer.

I had never thought of rewriting a folktale until being given a rough outline of an ancient Chinese tale, Taoist Master of the Lao Mountain. This was the inception of middle-grade, fantasy adventure Walking Through Walls.

It was June of 2008 and I belonged to a writing critique group along with a nonfiction writer who had a basic outline of an ancient Chinese tale that he wanted to pass along to a fiction writer. Since writing a fiction story wasn't his cup of tea, he gave me the outline.

After reading the outline, I loved the lessons it could bring to children.

Folktales come from all over the world and usually provide morale messages geared toward doing right, rather than wrong. These tales are a wonderful way to teach children through an engaging and entertaining story.

Since the tale, as with many ancient tales, involved an adult as the protagonist the first step needed was to rewrite it for today’s children’s market. This meant it needed a child protagonist.

As I wanted to stay as close to the original tale as I could, I used some of its flavor, descriptions, and names. That’s how the main character’s name, Wang, was chosen.

Along with keeping the story's flavor, I wanted it to be engaging for today’s child, so I came up with new characters, the dragon, enhanced storyline and plot, and so on.

Having an outline to guide me was a great help; it offered a general direction, like an arrow pointing North. So, as I began to rewrite the tale it was able to take on a life of its own, while still heading North. And, to ensure the story kept its flavor, I made sure to include bits of the original story to keep it as close to the tale’s outline as possible.

Working on the story, I knew it needed to take place in ancient China, so decided to use the 16th century as the backdrop for the story.

To add an element of realism to the story, I researched ancient China, including foods, flowers, dwellings, and clothing. I also contacted the writer who gave me the outline for some additional cultural information.

I worked on the story for well over a year, revising it, having it critiqued numerous times, and revising it some more. I even had it professionally edited before beginning to send it out for submissions.

Fortunately for me, the timing coincided with the 2009 Muse Online Writers Conference and I signed up to have a pitch with 4RV Publishing. As nervous as I was, the pitch went well and the manuscript was accepted.

For the next year, it was more revisions, tweaking, additional elements to the story, and editing to make the middle-grade, fantasy adventure, Walking Through Walls, better than before.

Then, the story was ready for a cover illustration.

Aidana WillowRaven was assigned to my book and although the dragon in the story was described as “a shimmering golden dragon,” Aidana ‘felt’ the flavor of the story pointed to a more tradition Chinese type dragon. We went back and forth a bit about the dragon’s size and shape, but Aidana’s vision of what the dragon should look like was perfect.

Now, the description of the 'golden dragon' in the story needed to be corrected. So, I changed the text to read, “Suddenly a magnificent dragon with shimmering red and silver scales appeared.”

Done. The description of the dragon and the cover matched; we were ready to move forward.

Next came the interior design formatting, which includes the text. After blocking the text it was determined another six pages was needed to make the spine wide enough. So, I had to come up with more content.

As the story was complete, to fill the page count I came up with an Author’s Note page, four pages of Reading Comprehension, an Activities Page, and after more research eight pages of information on the Ming Dynasty time period and the Chinese dragon.

Finally, Walking Through Walls, a middle-grade fantasy adventure, won The Children's Literary Classics 2012 Silver Award.

Writing a fiction story from its inception to publication can take many paths; this is the path Walking Through Walls took.

 

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and a working children’s ghostwriter/rewriter as well as a writing coach. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move as well as an author online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

You can follow Karen at:

LinkedIn  http://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventrice
Twitter  http://twitter.com/KarenCV

Writing – What Areas are You Strong In? Weak In?

By Karen Cioffi

Writing is such a unique journey for each and every writer.

Some find it easy to meld their chapters, one into another. Others find it easy to get just the right ending, with some kind of twist or surprise that gives it a great edge.

There are also other authors who find it easy to jump right into a story, writing a grabbing beginning.

No matter what aspect of the story, there will be some writers who can breeze though it effortlessly while others may struggle. That’s the nature of writing.

I find it relatively easy to start a story. I can create a beginning that jumps into the action, which is what most stories, especially children’s stories need.

But…yep, there’s a BUT… I often found it difficult to end my stories. I have no idea why. I can start it, bring it along toward an ending, but, then I fizzled out. My endings were initially weak and definitely lacking.

I first noticed my weak spot when I submitted a chapter book to 4RV Publishing. I pitched the story to the publisher during an online writers’ conference. The publisher allowed me to submit a synopsis and the first three chapters, which was also a bit lacking, but that’s another story.

The editor who read the chapters and synopsis liked the storyline, but was confused about my ending in the synopsis. As I mentioned above I have trouble with my endings. Aside from that, the editor recommended the publisher request the manuscript so they could look it over. They did advise I edit it first and work on the ending. I created an entirely new ending and sent it to a professional editor to be reviewed . . . and edited.

It’s funny, but I think there are at times some form of inspiration that can take us where we don’t usually tread...that helps us overcome our obstacles or mountains and take us beyond what we think we’re capable of.

In the case of my story, Walking Through Walls, I came up with a pretty good ending that tied everything together and afforded a surprise. I worked on this story for around two years and finally when it counted, I found the right path for the story to take.

We writers must pay attention to our writing weak spots and work on them. I was fortunate that an editor and publisher looked beyond my weak points and gave me the opportunity to improve my story. This is not always the case.

So, what’s a writer to do?

Well, the very basics are simple:

1. Make sure you’re a part of a critique group with new and experienced writers. The critique members may be able to help you over the hurdles. At the very least, they’ll catch a number of mistakes in everything from structure to grammar that you missed.

2. If you have to, write a few different scenarios in the section you’re having trouble with, to help you open up. And, if you’re still having trouble with your story, put it away for at least a week, preferably more, and then go back to it. It’s almost like magic; you’ll see it differently, with a newness and awareness. And, listen when inspiration comes knocking!

3. Read a lot of quality books in the genre you’re writing and even copy sections of them word-by-word. Make sure to include recently published books by top publishers. This is a trick to get your brain to think and write ‘good writing.’ Just be sure to only do this for practice purposes. Never, ever use someone’s work as your own – that’s plagiarism.

4. Practice your writing – hone your craft. I’ve gotten better at my endings through working and practice. This is why there’s a saying, “practice makes perfect.” Well, if not perfect, at least much better!

5. If nothing else works, hire a developmental editor or ghostwriter to help rewrite the sections you’re having difficulty with.

So, the tips of the day: Pay attention to where your writing weak spots are and work on them. You have options to help you get your story right.

And, listen when inspiration comes knocking!

So, back to the title of the post: What's your writing forte?


Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author, children’s ghostwriter, and online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing. For must-know writing and marketing tips, get free access to The Writing World.

You can connect with Karen at:
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Writing a Fiction Story - Walking Through Walls Back Story

It’s always interesting how writers find ideas when writing a fiction story. Some may simply come up with an idea, others may see something that triggers a story, and sometimes a story is handed to a writer.

I had never thought of rewriting a folktale until being given a rough outline of an ancient Chinese tale, Taoist Master of the Lao Mountain. This was the inception of Walking Through Walls.

It was June of 2008, and I belonged to a writing critique group along with a Chinese nonfiction writer who had a basic outline of an ancient Chinese tale that he wanted to pass along to a fiction writer. He asked if I was interested. I said yes, so he gave it to me.

After reading the outline, I loved the lessons it could bring to children. Folktales come from all over the world and usually provide morale messages geared toward doing right, rather than wrong. These tales are a wonderful way to teach children through an engaging and entertaining story.

Since the tale, as with many ancient tales, involved an adult as the protagonist the first step needed was to rewrite it for today’s children’s market, meaning it needed a child protagonist. Wanting to stay as close to the original tale, I used some of its flavor, descriptions, and names. That’s how the main character’s name, Wang, was chosen. Along with keeping the story's flavor, I wanted it to be engaging for today’s child, so I came up with new characters, the dragon, enhanced storyline and plot, and so on.

Having an outline to guide me was a great help; it offered a general direction, like an arrow pointing North. As I began to rewrite the tale it began to take on a life of its own, while still heading North. And, to ensure the story kept its flavor, I included bits of the original story to keep it as close to the tale’s outline as possible.

Working on the story, I knew it needed to take place in ancient China, so decided to use the 16th century as the backdrop. To add an element of realism to the story, I researched ancient China, including foods, flowers, dwellings, and clothing. I also contacted the Chinese writer who gave me the outline for some additional cultural information.

I worked on the story for well over a year, revising it, having it critiqued numerous times, revising it more, and even had it professionally edited before beginning to send it out for submissions. Fortunately for me, the timing coincided with the 2009 Muse Online Writers Conference and I signed up to have a pitch with 4RV Publishing. As nervous as I was, the pitch went well and the manuscript was accepted. For the next year, it was more revisions, tweaking, adding elements to the story, and editing to make the middle-grade fantasy adventure, Walking Through Walls, better than before.

Then, the story was ready for a cover illustration. Aidana WillowRaven was assigned to my book and although the dragon in the story was described as “a shimmering golden dragon,” Aidana ‘felt’ the flavor of the story pointed to a more oriental type dragon. We went back and forth a bit about the dragon’s size and shape, but Aidana’s vision of what the dragon should look like was perfect.

Now, the description of the 'golden dragon' in the story needed to be corrected. So, I changed the text to read, “Suddenly a magnificent dragon with shimmering red and silver scales appeared.” Done. The description of the dragon and the cover matched; we were ready to move forward.

Next came the interior design formatting, which includes the text. After blocking the text it was determined another six pages was needed to make the spine wide enough. So, I had to come up with more content. As the story was complete, to fill the page count I came up with an Author’s Note page, four pages of Reading Comprehension, an Activities Page, and after more research three pages of information on the Ming Dynasty time period and the Chinese dragon.

Finally, Walking Through Walls became available for sale in August 2011.

Writing a fiction story from its inception to publication can take many paths; this is the path Walking Through Walls took.

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Boost your writing and marketing efforts with Karen Cioffi and The Writing World. Get weekly tips and guidance, plus updates on free webinars. Join today and get “How to Create an Optimized Website – 3 Essential Author Website Elements and 9 Must-Have Pages.”

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Yea! Another Book Honor for Walking Through Walls

posted by Vivian Zabel



      The winners of the Children's Literary Classics Awards were announced. 4RV book Walking Through Walls by Karen Cioffi and illustrated by Aidana WillowRaven received a Silver seal in Preteen Fiction.  

       First, Literary Classics awarded Walking Through Walls with a Seal of Approval. Then the book reached the finals. Finally, it received the Silver seal.

       Congratulations, ladies, for a job well done.

Poster created by Aidana WillowRaven

        Walking Through Walls can be found on most online bookstores, brick and mortar stores, and 4RV Publishing Bookstore.

Walking Through Walls Honored with the Children's Literary Classics Seal of Approval

As a 4RV Publishing author, I'm thrilled and honored to announce that Walking Through Walls has been awarded the Children's Literary Classics Seal of Approval!

This is the second award for my fantasy adventure based on and set in ancient China: In January 2012, Walking Through Walls won 1st Place in the Editors and Predators Readers Poll, in the Children's Novel category!

I want to thank Vivian for taking a chance on my MG/YA fantasy adventure book.

To check out the amazing illustrations done by Aidana WillowRaven, reviews and more information on Walking Through Walls go to: http://walkingthroughwalls.blogspot.com

If you'd like to get your own copy for your children at home or in the classroom, click the link:

4RV Publishing Book Store

You can view the Children's Literary Classics Review of Walking Through Walls at:
http://clcreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/walking-through-walls-by-karen-cioffi.html

Contests and Exposure

I recently had a guest post on my site by award-winning and multi-published (80+) author Nancy Sanders. Working with her publicists and publishers, she learned a thing or two about generating exposure for her books, and one great way to do this is through contests.

Obviously, each author will need to determine their individual marketing budget and see if contests can have an allotted amount, but even if you’re on a tight budget, there are things you can do to generate visibility.

Nancy suggests first making a list of those award sites you’d like to submit to, keeping the free ones up first. Then, follow the guidelines of each and enter you book.

Try to keep in mind that it’s not necessarily about winning. Nancy advises that just getting your book “in the hands of judges” is important in itself. Many of the judges are important people in their own literary circles.

To find out more of what Nancy has to say on entering contests go to:
http://www.karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com/2012/01/submitting-for-awards-by-nancy-sanders_25.html

You can also check out Nancy’s site for even more information:
http://nancyisanders.wordpress.com/awards/

Since, I think contests are an important promotional and visibility tool, I allotted as much as I could to enter those contests I thought would make a difference. Contests I entered the end of last year include:

Boston Globe Horn Books Award (No fee, 3 books)

SCBWI Golden Kite Awards (No fee, 4 books)

Newbery Medal (No fee, 2 books)

IRA Children’s and Young Adult’s Book Awards (No fee, 1 book)
International Reading Association

The Eric Hoffer Award ($50, 1 book)

USA 2012 Book Awards ($69, 1 book)

Children’s Literary Classics ($95, 3 books)

Notice that the first four award contests have NO fee. You can definitely be a cost-conscious marketer. And, again, whether you win no awards, or one, two, or three awards, it’s the exposure and having the book seen by influential people that’s as important as winning.

Just a side note: one librarian I spoke with mentioned that the Newbery is one of the 'biggie' awards. After that comes the state awards. So, check these contest areas out!

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Learn about writing and marketing with Karen Cioffi at http://karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com. Sign up for her free newsletter, A Writer’s World, and get TWO free site-related e-books for subscribing. For professional and affordable writing services check out http://dkvwriting4u.com

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