Keep Your Writing Goals Front and Center

By Karen Cioffi

As a writer, you have to move forward to keep up with the onslaught of books and authors in the book publishing arena. And, you especially need to be sure you're keeping in alignment with your writing goals. This means every now and then you need to stop to evaluate what your core goals are and if you’re actually heading in that direction.

Every marketer will tell you that the beginning of each year you need to create a list of core or major goals. It's important to make your goals realistic and obtainable, and not to burden yourself with too many goals.

Three is a good number of writing goals, not too few, not too many. Then under each goal you can list a few tasks that will you will do on a daily or weekly basis to help you reach your objectives.

In addition to creating and typing your goals down in a document, they need to be printed and kept visible. It's important to put them somewhere you'll be sure to notice on a daily basis. You might put your list on your computer, inside your laptop case, on top of your daily planner, on the inside of a kitchen cabinet you open everyday.

You get the idea, your writing goals need to be visible each and every day. Not just visible though, they need to be read each and every day.

Why is it important to keep your writing goals front and center?

Here's another question to help answer that question: Did you ever hear the expression, ‘Out of sight, out of mind?’

That's your answer.

On January 1st of 'any year,' you may tell yourself, and maybe even write it down, that you will:

1. Write a minimum of five pages of your new book each week
2. Effectively market your published books
3. Submit articles to three paying magazines on a monthly basis

Okay, that's great. But, suppose it's now July and you haven't even written 10 pages of your new book, and you haven't gone past the very basics of promoting your published books.

What happened to your writing goals?

Easy. You didn’t keep your goals list front and center, so you got sidetracked.

While you may have had the best of intentions on January 1st, without keeping those writing goals visible, it’s difficult to stay on course.

Maybe you decided to add the writing of unrelated ebooks to your workload. Maybe you decided to do book reviews and started a critique group of your own. Maybe you devoted too much time to social networking and your online groups.

These additions may not necessarily be a bad thing, but before you continue on, ask yourself three questions:

1. Are these additions to your workload moving you in the direction of your major writing goals?
2. Are they actually keeping you from attaining your goals?
3. Are they providing some kind of income?

If your answers to these questions are NO, YES, NO, then you need to step back, redirect your steps, and get back on track. If you keep your writing goals front and center, you’ll be amazed at how you automatically work toward achieving them.

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The illustrator's obligation to the author.

by Ginger Nielson

A Picture Book is the world in your lap.  It can be an art gallery within 32 pages.  But it is more than that. It is the love and labor of an author. The words may be few or many but the combination of words and pictures must fit the story.

For example: This page from Caelaach McKinna's book, Little Charley Thornpaws, contains few words.  The illustration has been given the job of defining the action. With only one line of text, the illustrator was given an entire two page spread to show the action.  Ample space above the running cat was left for that one line.

Some chapter books require much more space for text and very little room for illustrations.

Here the illustrator is challenged to create a meaningful image in a much smaller space and often in black and white.

The many words in a chapter book are important to the author and they need their space along with any illustrations that accompany them. Some illustrations may run along the side of a page or be located only in the top third of the page. Those are normally in black and white but could be color.

In some cases there may be so much text per page that the illustrator needs to use space creatively and sparingly.  In the case in a chapter book where only a small portion of a page can be used for an illustration the image need not be more than one single item of importance.

Suspense, mystery, humor, delight, beauty, power, danger, glee and even plain foolishness find their way into an artist's interpretation of the story. But all those emotions are the property of the author first.

An illustrator needs to show respect for the author, the author's vision and the need the author has to create their own world of characters, places, things, adventures.

Painting a two page spread with little regard for the importance of the author's words can lead to a page so filled with images there is little room for text.  It may seem like the most basic of rules; the illustrator must leave room for the text.

In addition to the importance of space for the author's words, the illustrator also needs to think of the reader. Leaving room for the text that accompanies an illustration is important.  Leaving some "resting space for the reader" is equally important.  Not every inch of the page needs paint.  White space creates a place for text as well as a rest for the eye of the beholder.

This "resting" space need not be white, but it should be a clam area with not much going on to be defined as true "resting" space.

A well balanced picture book will have illustrations that compliment the author's vision and enough areas of white space or "resting" areas to allow the reader the most enjoyable experience.

The job of the illustrator is to interpret the author's vision, show respect for the words that have been so carefully chosen, and contribute to the journey a reader is about to begin.

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Eavesdrop Your Way To Better Dialogue

by Laurie Boris

Ideally, dialogue in fiction is supposed to be a representation of how people actually speak. (Extracting the polite greetings and chit-chat and such, unless that chit-chat reveals story or character.) How better to learn the way people actually speak than to listen to them conversing with one another?

Before I get arrested as an accessory to violation of privacy, I'm not saying that you should put your ear up to walls (unless something particularly juicy is going on) or hang out outside of people's domiciles with a shotgun mic. I'm talking about a little public eavesdropping. Don't think you can pull it off without blushing, staring, bladder control issues, or otherwise giving yourself away? Try some of my favorite eavesdropping tips:

1. Observe the natives in their natural habitat. Writing a young adult novel and don't think your dialogue sounds authentic? Go to the mall. Hang out in the food court near a large group of kids. Don't act like a stalker. Just hang out. Don't look at them; it makes them clam up and, depending upon how you are dressed, makes them move away. Bring something to read, preferably something stuffy, non-electronic, and unrelated to anything teenage kids are interested in. You will essentially become invisible.

2. Become a fly on the wall while writing everything down. I keep a tiny notebook in my purse at all times. (It's an excellent habit to get into, since you don't know when inspiration or a juicy morsel will strike. However, if this occurs while driving, please pull over to the side of the road first.) But if I'm going someplace where I know I'll have a long wait, I'll bring my "real" journal. This is especially fruitful while I'm waiting to have my car serviced. I'll get a cup of coffee and make myself comfortable in their waiting area, which is usually crowded. I'll take up my journal and start writing...everything people in the area are saying. Why would anybody question me? I'm simply writing in my journal.

3. Learn the art of reading without reading. This is my favorite eavesdropper tool. If I bring a magazine or book on the train, and actually read it, I won't pick up on the conversation the two women are having behind me about a mutual friend's episiotomy. (Hey, you never know when you might need something like that in a scene.) If I focus on the white space between the lines, then unfocus my eyes, I can hear every word. It's kind of like those puzzles where if you look at them just right, you can see the chrysanthemum in the elephant's ear. Don't ask me; I couldn't see it either.

4. Know that most people are very casual about their public phone behavior. I love banks of pay phones, where they still exist. If you act like you're waiting to make a call (pace about, check your watch, jingle change in your pocket, and for heaven's sake, don't check your BlackBerry, as that's a dead giveaway), you can pick up a boatload of great authentic dialogue. Even more fun is guessing at the conversation on the other side of the phone. Use it as a writing exercise. The advent of cell phones has made one-sided eavesdropping even easier. The rule here is not to approach anyone having a cell phone conversation. That scares them off, and it's just plain rude. These opportunities are usually spontaneous. For instance, you're enjoying a double tall cappuccino at your favorite people-watching spot when Beyoncé starts warbling from the cell phone of the twenty-something sitting near you. She starts an animated and very loud discussion with her BFF about her last date with a married celebrity, a certifiable cretin who picked his teeth at the dinner table, said that Hitler was misunderstood, and ordered lasagna for her when he darned well knew she was lactose intolerant. You are under no obligation to move.

Any good eavesdropping tips you've used to improve your writing and add sparkle to your dialogue? What are some of your favorite pieces of authentic dialogue?

(Laurie Boris blogs regularly about writing, novels, and the language of popular culture at http://laurieboris.com)

Seven Keys to Picture Book Winners

by Ginger Nielson

Although no one can predict how your hard work as an author or illustrator will fare in today’s marketplace, there are some keys that can open the doors to success.

THE ILLUSTRATOR

KEY:  A picture book, by its nature and name must have illustrations.  Think of each page as a teaser for the next.  Elements that are not written but implied in the story have an impact but only if they truly belong there.  An unexpected splash of color, an unusual point of view, dramatic perspective, a sense of humor or mystery add interest.

Normally an illustrator is chosen by the publisher or art director of a publishing company.  Their job is to find the best match between the story and the artist and the media the artist is using. 

KEY:  Think of the right side page of any picture book as the entrance to the next.

Are your characters leading you to the next page.  There should be some reason to want to turn that page.  This is where the text and pictures must convey the message together.  It is why artists and editors carefully construct the pagination for a picture book.  Placing illustrations in key points of interest in the story leave the reader/viewer wanting more with each page turn.

KEY:  Have you studied your characters?  In any good picture book the characters must be consistent from page to page. This may sound as easy as dressing them in the same clothes and keeping the hair color the same.  It is more difficult than that if you think about the various actions, emotions, facial expressions, and situations.

Character development sketches are one of the keys to a successful picture book.

Your character whether animal or human or even machine has a personality that was created by the author.  As you interpret the character you need to know what it will look like from any angle and in any position.

THE AUTHOR

KEY: To rhyme or not to rhyme.   One famous author/illustrator has written a number of books in rhyme.  His statement that writing in rhyme works best for him as opposed to straight prose makes sense because his rhyme is close to perfect.

But this is not so for most of us, so unless you are proficient enough to make it work, it is best not to rhyme.  This is not to say that one key rhyme that is repeated throughout a book won’t work.  Children love a book with something they can “READ” page after page.  It doesn’t need to rhyme either… it only needs to captivate them enough for them to want to repeat it as the pages turn.  An example is the

Woman who Swallowed a Fly.   The key phrase, “I don’t know why she swallowed a fly.”  is repeated page after page and children love to chime in with that repetition.

KEY:  Age appropriateness needs to be a  main consideration for the child.   Since picture books for the young are normally read to the child, the story needs to be easily understood from their point of view.  Pictures help, but the manuscript needs to visit the mind of a child in thought and word.  And if the child loves the book it is going to be one that will be read again and again.  So think of the adults who are reading the book, will they be willing to do so over and over?

KEY: It has been said by many and deserves being mentioned here as well.  A good picture book needs a beginning that creates the need for some action on the part of the main character and a resolution that culminates in a satisfying ending.

Characters need personality, a problem to solve and the ability to find ways to solve the problem on their own. They may do this by asking for help or by cooperating with other characters. There are exceptions, however, as in alphabet books or picture books that are primarily non fiction, science related, or a collection of items children want to see in groups, such as animal types, trucks, trains, planes and the like.

KEY:  Although the author does not normally communicate with the illustrator,  a good editor or Art Director will form a bridge between the two so that concerns of the author for his story are transmitted to the illustrator in a positive manner.

If the collaboration is between a self publishing author and an illustrator of their choosing the same cooperation is nescessary .

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Giving a pitch to an agent, editor, or publisher

by Vivian Zabel

I’ve attended several writing conferences and have not only made pitches, but I’ve also listened to pitches. Below are a few points I learned. I’m going to use the pitch I did for my newest novel Stolen as an example.

            Making a 3 minutes book pitch: I had an appointment with an agent, and as I prepared for that few minutes to “pitch” my book in a way that she would want to know more, to read it, maybe to represent it, I wrote notes and practiced my speech so that it flowed smoothly but still seemed spontaneous. 

         Knowing how to prepare and present a three-minute pitch should be a tool in an author’s selling kit, to be used for agents, editors, and public presentations.

1. Start with an attention-grabber. This is a must. If you lose the audience, whether one person or 100, at the beginning, you can’t get them back. Just as the first paragraph in a story, article, or novel must attract the reader, the first words out of your mouth must do the same. 

         I started my spiel with the statement: When life steals something important from a person, she either gives up and dies, or she finds a way to rebuild her life.

2. Don’t give a complete summary of your book. Give just enough information that the audience wants to know more. 

       

             I continued my pitch by saying, “Torri had things stolen from her life over and over including having her marriage destroyed by an unfaithful husband and losing her best friend to cancer. Each time she gathered her courage and rebuilt her life. However, when her children are taken by their biological father and not found, she didn’t know if she could continue or not, or even if she wanted to try.

         I gave a bit more information from the book. For an agent or editor, the ending for the book may be required. For a presentation to a group, the ending should not be revealed.

3. If asked, be prepared to tell why you wrote the book – be sincere and reveal who you think the intended readers are.

4. Rehearse so that you don’t ramble. You don’t want your speech to sound memorized, but you need to know the main points and the order to present them.

5. If the book is already released (which if the pitch is meant for an agent or editor, it will must not be), be sure to let the audience know where and how they can buy your book.

6. If the presentation is for a group after the book is released, be sure to take copies of the book to sell and autograph. 

         Be prepared, practice, then relax.

 Vivian Zabel