Stop Whining, Already!

by Suzanne Cordatos

www.suzannecordatos.blogspot.com


Are your characters a bunch of whiners? Characters who whine are like static blizzards on TV. The white stuff adds a lot of noise, but it sure isn't entertaining.

My critique partners pointed out the static in my work-in-progress after reading a scene with a typical brother-sister spat. The dialogue? Believable. The action? Lifted from life. Well then, I opened my mouth to debate their thumbs-down verdict. What’s the problem? A total lack of value to the story. Ouch!

Look at these similar scenes:

            “Give it back,” demanded Jon. “It’s mine.”

            Julie ran around the room, the key dancing from her fingers. “You’ll have to catch me.”

            “Give it back OR ELSE!” Jon grabbed at her hand and got a fistful of long hair.

            “MOM, Jon pulled my hair!”

            Mom came to the door, an angry expression denting her brow. “What’s going on?”

OR

            “Give it back.”

            Julie danced the key out of reach from Jon’s grabbing fingers. “Only if you show me.”

            “If I open the box,” said Jon, “can you keep a secret? Can you handle the truth?”

            Jon and Julie shook hands. Mom came to the door, eyebrows raised. “What’s going on?”

           

Which story would you keep reading? In the first example, I wanted to tell the kids to settle down--The End. The scene contains “loud” action. Running, grabbing, pulling hair. Yet what does it add but a sibling relationship scene that is already familiar to just about everybody? No surprises. No story.

The quieter example propels the reader into a story filled with conflict and tension. Conflict does not have to involve spectacular car chases and fist fights. I want to turn the page to discover answers: What’s in the box? Can Jon trust Julie? Can Julie keep a secret? Can she handle the truth? What truth? How will they answer Mom? All of that in fewer words than the first example!

The more surprise and tension, the faster readers will turn your pages. Check scenes for these points:

            Is the dialogue a time filler?

            Would it change or harm the story if cut?

            Is there tension on every page? In every paragraph? In every sentence?
            Can the action or dialogue be blended with another scene?

            Does the scene add value on multiple levels? Characterization? Plot? Setting? Mood?

            Does the scene conjure questions that compel readers to turn pages?

Questions for you: 1) Did you ever cut a major scene for the sake of a story? Were you glad you did?
                             2) Any guesses what's in Jon's box? 

Promotion - Why blog?

by Vivian Zabel   

            As far as we are concerned as an author, illustrator, editor, or publisher, a blog is a way to build an audience who will purchase our work, another way to promote ourselves, build our platform.

            Blogging creates excitement. It’s a way to get people interested in what we have to say. As we begin to generate the excitement, we begin to be recognized as a possible authority in the field we write about both in our blogs and in our books. People want to know more about us and our creative endeavors.

            Many of us begin to blog to attract people to our work, readers to our books, clients for our illustrations. However, we can begin to enjoy the process of blogging, since it is a creative way to show ourselves to others.

            Quoting The Internet Writing Journal’s article called “The Authors Dilemma – To Blog or Not to Blog”:  “The business of being an author has changed considerably over the last ten years. No longer is it sufficient to write a brilliant manuscript and manage to get it published. Authors now need to be excellent promoters of their own work. And for the intrinsically shy, that can be problematic. But an Internet trend has the potential to revolutionize author marketing, even for those who despise public speaking: blogging.”

            A few questions pop up, such as how often should we post on our blog, what subjects should we use, or how much advertising should we do?

            Let’s look at how often first: We should blog often enough to keep people interested, but not so often that we allow blogging to take the place of our other creative endeavors. Some people blog once a week; some every day. One suggestion for authors is to use a short blog post as a warm-up for the day’s writing.

            What subjects should we blog about?

1. We can write about an arena in which we excel or know much about. I can write about writing because I’ve studied it for most of my life and taught the subject for nearly 30 years.
2. We can write about a work in progress. We don’t want to give too much away, but enough so that people would be interested.
3. We can share excerpts and/or reviews of a published work. Illustrators can give samples of art work.

      How much should we advertise ourselves or our work? Any advertisement should be subtle. The majority of any post needs to be about something that might lead into promoting a particular work. Aidana WillowRaven and Ginger Nielson explain how they create something, which indirectly promotes a book – the main topic is the creation of the art work. The post should generate an interest in what we’re selling, not make people tired of our “hard sell.”

            Now, where do we find a blog site or platform?

Blogging Platforms

Blogger – http://www.blogspot.com (free, and they have a paid option)

LiveJournal – http://www.livejournal.com (ad-supported & paid options)

MySpace – http://www.myspace.com (free, not recommended for professional blogs)

Typepad – http://www.typepad.com (paid)

Vox – http://www.vox.com (free & paid options)

WordPress – http://www.wordpress.com (free & paid options)

Xanga – http://www.xanga.com (paid)

            Once we have site, how do we add some of the site visits and such, track activity on our blogs?

Blogging Tools

Blog Catalog – http://www.blogcatalog.com

Technorati – http://www.technorati.com

Digg It – http://www.diggit.com

Site Meter – http://www.sitemeter.com

            Yes, we need a website and a blog, unless we have a website that has a blog option. Remember we need to promote ourselves and our work, build and maintain a platform.

Vivian Zabel, author of Midnight Hours 

4RV Publishing 

4RV Catalog