Class Flash & August Q/A By Laurie Schnebly Campbell

Plan your next year of writing courses, blog reading, and virtual retreats!

blog: WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN?

(July 29) writersinthestormblog.com 
If the answer is too obvious, why keep reading? Unless it’s for a prize...

online: BUILDING TENSION
(August 10-21) https://groups.io/g/Tension         

The ticking clock. The infamous day. The elusive stranger. The sizzling glance. The unbreakable promise. The haunting memory. The forbidden love.

Tension is what keeps readers awake far too late at night, and what makes them rave about your book even before they reach the final page. How do you create that kind of tension? Think of a story you’ve already started writing, or are just beginning to plan, and see how to build…build…build….

blog: MORE THAN ADVENTURE & LUCKIEST THIRTEEN
(Aug. 25) originalitybydesign.blogspot & 
(Aug. 26) writersinthestormblog 

What more could readers want besides a free-class prize? Well, let’s see…

online: THE HERO’S JOURNEY, FOR HEROINES
(Sept. 1-26)   writeruniv.wordpress.com/classes/journey-for-heroines            

Christopher Vogler identified 12 steps for daredevil heroes who explore the outside world and return with the elixir. But a character whose emotional journey leads to flowering change instead of physical adventure, as described in Kim Hudson’s 13 steps, will embark on a journey filled with other -- more internal -- challenges. For writers whose heroine faces her own less traveled road to discovery, this class offers a fascinating map.

Zoom: VIRTUAL RETREAT WEEKEND
(Oct. 10-11)
email BookLaurie@yahoo.com

Holler if you’d like to be on the waitlist!

online: GROWING YOUR HEROINE
(Oct. 12-23)  writeruniv.wordpress.com/classes/growing-your-heroine            

This limited-enrollment master class picks up where September’s ends, focusing on the heroine’s journey through everything she needs to overcome from beginning to end. Starting with a “stick figure” and moving to your work in progress, chart the route she’ll use for transcending her weak points -- as well as those of people she cares about -- while avoiding both the false triumph and false disaster of her own story.

online: THE ALPHA MALE, FROM ABE TO ZEUS
(Nov. 2-12)  hearts through history            

Readers love alpha males. (Maybe not for a real-life marriage, but for a book of romantic adventure there’s nothing better.) Yet writers sometimes find it tricky to create an alpha male without falling into stereotypes. What makes an alpha male? (It’s more than just power.) What challenges does he face? (The answers will surprise you.) How can your hero take on solely the alpha-male traits you want? Get ready to find out…and maybe to fall in love.

And, yep, December is always a no-classes holiday. Which seems contradictory.

online: PERFECT PITCH
(Jan. 4-15, 2021, only for members of Sisters In Crime Guppies) sincguppies      

Are you pitching your work at a conference? In an email? By letter, by phone, by chance if you run into someone browsing for a good book? The techniques will be slightly different for each situation -- and while writers tend to feel more anxiety when pitching face-to-face, it’s useful to have a plan of action for every possible scenario. Whether you’re pitching an agent, editor, interviewer, publisher or regular reader, learn how to make it a good experience for you both!

online: NEW YEAR, NEW YOU
(Jan. 18-29, 2021) rwasd com            

Whether it’s the first rejection, the 50th-book slump, or just not getting the story you want, frustration is part of every writer’s life. For some, it’s a nuisance; for others, it’s the end of a career. For anyone determined to make 2021 a Better Writing Year, this class offers both practical and psychological techniques for dealing with rejection, writer’s block, frustration, motivation, and other issues that keep writers from loving their craft.

online: HIS & HERS MYERS-BRIGGS
(Feb. 1-12, 2021) hearts through history

Just about everyone has taken the Myers-Briggs quiz identifying their own personality type. It works equally well for characters who, even with their own individual traits, still show aspects of those various personalities in your novel. Naturally, each type has intriguing and attractive elements that make readers want to see more, as well as some problematic issues that’ll keep their story conflict coming…and going…and coming…

blog: PLOTTER + PANTSER = PERFECTION
(Feb. 26) writersinthestorm blog            

How to combine the advantages of each method…plus a free-class-prize!

online: PLOTTING VIA MOTIVATION
(March 2-27) writeruniv.wordpress.com/classes

Here’s what writers have said about the course in previous years: “I never thought I could plot my entire book from start to finish, but here it is. This is AWESOME.” / “This month has truly changed the way I think about writing. I wish I’d taken Plotting Via Motivation before giving up on my earlier novels.” / “Now that I look back in the notebook where I wrote all my homework, I realize I’ve got my book right here!”

online: FROM PLOT TO FINISH
(April 5-16)writeruniv.wordpress.com/classes

For anyone who’s taken Plotting Via Motivation online or in person at some point, this group gets you plotting a brand new or already-begun book (using your completed 14-point worksheet) from start to finish. No need to prepare a new story idea, character bios, goal charts or anything else, because you’ll see how to plot an entire book -- and actually have it ready to type -- by the end of this hands-on workshop.

online: SHOWING EMOTION
(May 10-21) https://groups.io/g/Emotion            

Everyone knows how important it is to show rather than tell. But when it comes to showing emotion, that can be…well, tricky. How do you keep from going over the top and making readers roll their eyes? How do you avoid not going far enough and sending their attention downhill with every word? Learn the tricks of conveying emotion for readers of whatever genre you’re writing and how to find the right balance between plummeting, purple prose, and perfection.

online: WRITING A SERIES…
(June 7-18, only for members of Sisters In Crime Guppies) sincguppies 

It's one thing to write a stand-alone novel. It’s another to write a sequel, a trilogy, a box set or an open-ended series that’ll continue for as long as you want. While great storytelling is great storytelling no matter the format, there are techniques to keep in mind when writing a series that will not only keep your readers on board through every story, but keep you from burning out while they’re still waiting for more.

As always, July is a vacation month. La la la…

AUGUST Q&A

Q: Should I focus on one specific internal problem, or several problems, while these characters struggle with the plot events (and their relationship)?

A: Either way, you can keep the tension building -- and if those several problems turn out to be connected, that’s all the better. Things will keep getting worse and worse and worse, and every attempt at making them better might SEEM to work out for a while but doesn’t solve the problem after all.

This is what we want happening as your characters struggle with whatever the external situation and their internal conflict/s might be.

And regardless of what's happening on the action front, we can be pretty sure that it'll have SOME effect, good or bad, on their relationship.

* Maybe things look good, which makes them appreciate each other more.
* Maybe things look bad, which makes them realize they need each other.
* Maybe things look good, which makes them suspicious of each other.
* Maybe things look bad, which turns them against each other.

You don't need to use ALL those possible responses (whew!) every time something in the external action looks better or worse. But keep in mind those are handy options for upping the stakes anytime you want to increase the tension -- OR give readers a moment of relaxation -- regarding the characters' relationship.

So you can sure use a relationship as one way of building tension...but if you’ve got a solo protagonist, you can build just as much tension in the ways coming up next!

Laurie, figuring different readers appreciate different kinds of tension which makes it even more handy that they all need the same techniques

Laurie's  Bio:
Laurie Schnebly Campbell published half a dozen romances with Harlequin, including one that beat out Nora Roberts for “Best Special Edition of the Year,” before discovering the only thing she loves more than writing is working with other writers. So she started giving workshops every month, online and in-person, and now has a special area on her bookshelf full of books with acknowledgments from authors who’ve loved her classes.

R&R: Raves and Rants With Multi-Published Author Amanda Cabot

That Pesky Passive Voice

·         Passive voice is weak.

·         Only sloppy writers use passive voice.

·         You should never use passive voice.

I suspect you’ve heard at least one of those declarations, perhaps uttered with such conviction that you were certain you’d be struck by lightning if you dared question the validity of them. I’m here to play devil’s advocate and tell you that all three are wrong. Mind you, I’m not a fan of passive voice, and I try to avoid it, but – and this is a big but – there are times when the passive voice is the best choice.

Let’s start by defining passive voice. After all, it helps to be able to identify this “never to be used” verb construct. My Merriam Webster’s dictionary offers the following definition: “asserting that the grammatical subject of a verb is subjected to or affected by the action represented by that verb.”

While it’s an accurate definition, I was appalled by it, because there have to be easier ways to define passive voice.

·         One is to use an equation:

o   A form of the verb “to be” + a past participle (typically a word ending in “ed”) = passive voice

·         Or you can apply a simple test.

o   Does the subject of the sentence do something; i.e., does the subject act? If so, the sentence uses active voice. “We all enjoyed the event” is active voice.

o   Does the subject of the sentence have something done to it? If so, it’s passive voice. “The event was enjoyed by all” is passive voice.

The second example, by the way, is the reason most people avoid the passive voice. It sounds artificial. Is it weak? Not necessarily, but the phrasing is awkward.

There are, however, times when passive voice is preferable to active.

·         When you want to emphasize the object.

“I was appalled by it.”

Did you notice that I used passive voice when I described my reaction to the official definition?  I could have said, “That definition appalled me,” which would have been active voice, but the sentence wouldn’t have had the same impact. I wanted to make my reaction the most important part of the sentence, and so I used passive voice, putting the word “I” at the beginning of the sentence.

·         When the subject is unknown or unimportant.

“The lawn had been mowed before we arrived home.”

In this case, what’s important is the condition of the lawn, not who did the mowing. Again, passive voice is the right choice.

The bottom line is:

·         Passive voice is not necessarily weak.

·         You’re not necessarily a sloppy writer if you use it.

·         There are times when you should use passive voice.

I won’t end this by saying, “I hope this post was enjoyed by you,” since that would be an example of all that’s wrong about passive voice. Instead, let me say simply, “I hope you enjoyed the post.”

And I hope you’ll return in August, when we’ll revisit commas and some of the more amusing things that happen when they’re omitted or used in the wrong place.

~Amanda

A lifetime of reading and writing, not to mention a host of teachers who believed that good grammar was one of the essentials of life, have given Amanda Cabot such firm opinions about the printed word that I asked her to share some with us in her Raves and Rants posts.  

Although her working career was in Information Technology, Amanda achieved her dream of selling her first novel before her thirtieth birthday and is now the author of more than thirty novels as well as a number of books and articles for Information Technology professionals.  

Her most recent book, A Tender Hope, is the final book of the Cimarron Creek trilogy.

Find all of Amanda's books, newsletter info and social media links here.

Read Aloud: A Fabulous Way To Edit, Now My Go-To Tool

I was intrigued when I read an article in the March 2017 RWR (Romance Writer's Report) by Patricia Watters, entitled Speak: A New Way To Edit. 

I cut the article out of the magazine then put in my towering to-read pile. I finally got to it in the waning months of summer 2018.

Why had I waited?  Aarrrgghhh. 😭x100

As writers, we've been told to read our own work out loud to find mistakes, clumsy wording and left out words.  But I know from my own experience as well as talking to other writers, that we instinctively add those missing words, and add inflections when the prose isn't creating the emotions for us that we assumed were there. We even rewrite verbally ourselves if it's clumsy, yet often the correction doesn't make it to the page.

Worst of all, I HATE READING OUT LOUD. It's embarrassing and boring.

But now a great tool in MS Word Office 365, Read Aloud, has made this completely workable. It's a gem of a find. 

You can hear your rhythm; languid words, staccato beats, and sentence fragments. While the narrators, David, Zira, and Mark, sound like fairly real people, even adding a touch of inflection, they are...well still AI. Yet the program is good enough to allow you to listen without thinking it's a robot reading. 

What they read is exactly what you've written, the good, bad and ugly.  And truly, isn't that what we want.  The best product we can produce.

And as an additional perk, now that I'm just starting to delve into the audiobook world, is that I've found listening to my work is very revealing...finding those sentences that are awkward, even if they didn't read that way on the page! 

Please try Read Aloud and tell me what you think.  I'm sorry I waited so long to try this. Don't make the same mistake 😊

To help you find this in Word, I've taken some screenshots of its location in Windows 10, Word 365. You can click on the image for a magnified view. 

I'll also have it on my website in an infographic under My Writing Toolbox.

Let me know what you all think. ~LA

Scrivener ~ My Choice For Writing Software

Today I formally introduce my partnership with Scrivener.  I've been using this program on Window for years, and while I've been a partner of Scrivener for some time, it's time to blow Scrivener's horn. 

Grow Your Manuscript Your Way 
At Scrivener’s heart is a simple but powerful ring-binder metaphor that allows you to write, research and arrange long documents by breaking them into smaller sections. Each section is integrated into a project outline, meaning that you can step back and work with an overview, and restructuring is as easy as drag and drop. Your research is always within reach, because Scrivener allows you to import almost any kind of file and view it right alongside whatever you’re writing. Scrivener is fundamentally about getting words onto the page, though, so its familiar editor and formatting features ensure that writers feel right at home.

And when you’re ready to share your work, you can export to Word or create beautiful-looking ebooks and PDF files.

This is exactly the reason I use this program. Everything I need is in one place. And I can add templates, thus I can design Scrivener to meet my needs.

About Scrivener

Tailor-made for long writing projects, Scrivener provides everything need to craft your first draft. Used by best-selling novelists, screenwriters, lawyers, students, journalists and more, Scrivener brings together tools familiar to writers everywhere in new and exciting ways. 

Note, they said screenwriters. Yes, you can properly format your screenplay in Scrivener.

And there is an iOS app available so you can write on your iPad or iPhone! Which I do, AND I can also write on my notebook or PC, I use Dropbox to host my files and save/sync each time I'm done so I can use whichever computer, iOS device works for me. 

⭐For Mac users, there is a new version 3 available and if you have a prior version you can simply upgrade for a fee.

⭐For Windows users, there is a new version is in the works, hopefully out in 2018.

And you can download a free trial on their main page.  Frankly, I find that you really need to explore and use it, but it's available nonetheless.

I'm honored to be a Scrivener Partner.  ~ L.A.

Full disclosure. I do receive a small commission if you purchase from any of my partner links on the right sidebar or in the footer. 

The Chunky Method ~ By Allie Pleiter

I was fortunate to meet Allie Pleiter at the #RWA2018 Conference in Denver this summer.  I've read her book and I use her method. Frankly, and I'm not overstating this, the Chunky Method changed my writing flow.

I'll share my consistent "chunk" in the comments :)

Discover Your “Chunk” To Get That Book Done

Hi, L.A. Thanks for inviting me to share my book and method on your blog. 

These days publishing has become as much about productivity as about product. Writers are expected to produce books faster than ever, while also handling a multitude of marketing (if not independent publishing) tasks.  How do you get those words out of your head to become the books you want to share with the world?

Here’s a powerful system for tackling this issue:  The Chunky Method.

What is your Chunk?

Your “Chunk” is simply how many words you write in a single sitting before you run out of creative energy. Most of us have a consistent chunk, and that can be the basis of some very effective planning.  Once you give yourself a few experimental sessions and average the output, you’ll know your Chunk—and that’s half the data you need.

           

Are you a Big Chunk writer or a Small Chunk writer?

This distinction is the other half of the information you need.  Based on my experience, if your chunk is 1000 words or greater, you are probably a Big Chunk writer.  If it is less than that, you are likely a Small Chunk writer.  Their needs are different.

Big Chunk writers, who must totally immerse themselves in the words to make progress, need:

       -a dedicated space to work. Banging out your passages at the dining room table annoys you.

       - a specific environment. You require silence or a certain kind of music around you when you write. A shared, messy, or a make-do office won’t do.

       - an extended period in which to write. You need a big block of time to find your rhythm. It’s frustrating to find a large enough span of time to write every day.

       - proper ergonomics. Long sessions mean you need a chair, desk, keyboard, mouse, monitor and lighting that helps your body rather than hurts it.

Small Chunk writers tend to be more adaptable…but prone to distraction. They take life, work, and writing in smaller bites and often juggle multiple projects. You can:

       - write anytime, anywhere. Coffee bars, park benches, libraries, airplanes—any setting works for you.

       - easily tune out distractions. You don’t need pleasing music (or silence)—you can tune out and crawl inside a project anywhere.

       - write often. Small spurts fit your writing into a busy life. A daily word count works for you, but cramming for a deadline probably won’t.

       - use any tools. Tablets, notepads, laptops, even index cards or cell phones —ergonomics don’t make much difference, so you’ve got lots of possibilities.

       Big Chunk Writers aren’t better or more committed than Small Chunk writers, they’re just different.  But both need a plan that takes their styles into account, one chunk at a time. After all, you don’t have to write the whole thing right now, just the next chunk of it. You’ll be amazed at how empowering this smaller goal can be.

Calculate how many chunks it takes you to reach your desired word count, then plot them out on a calendar to reach your desired deadline. Any spreadsheet or even a simple calculator can help you plan, but if you’d like help formulating your Chunk and the path to a completed project, I’ve created a free Chunky Calculator you can download.  Simply text CHUNKY to 22828 or click here [link listed below].  You’ll be on your way to greater productivity and a sound plan in no time.

Buy Link: 

Amazon

Bio:

Bestselling author Allie Pleiter has written over 30 novels and non-fiction works, selling over 1.2 million books worldwide.  Aside from teaching her popular Chunky Method of time management for writers, Allie works on as many as four books at a time.  How? By fitting small “chunks” of writing into a busy life—accompanied by coffee, knitting, and lemon meringue pie.

She is the author of The Chunky Method Handbook: Your Step-by-Step Plan to WRITE THAT BOOK Even When Life Gets in the Way. Visit her website for more information.

Find Allie:

Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads

R&R: Raves and Rants For July ~ Perfect Possessives

Amanda is back with July's Raves & Rants.

Perfect Possessives

  

Welcome back for another rant.

Last month when we talked about apostrophes, I mentioned that one of the primary uses of an apostrophe is to indicate a word’s possessive case.  Since the rules for creating possessives are simple, you might think it would be rare to find errors.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case, which is why I’m ranting about that today. 

I continue to be shocked at the number of incorrect possessives I’ve found in published books.  I know you don’t want your book to be one of those that I’m tempted to hurl against a wall, so let’s talk about the correct way to form possessives.

We’ll start with the simplest rule, the one for single nouns. 

The possessive of a single noun, whether it’s a proper or a common noun, 

is made by appending an apostrophe and an s to that word. 

Did you take note of the last example?  That’s one of the most common errors I find.  Charles is a singular noun, and the rule of adding an apostrophe and an s applies to it.  I grind my teeth every time I read Charles’, which is why I fought and won an argument with one of my editors who hadn’t learned the rule and changed all my Charles’s to Charles’.  I no longer write for that publisher, but that’s another story.

The possessive of plural nouns is almost as simple, although there are two parts to the rule.  

Part One: The possessive of a plural noun that ends in s 

is formed by adding an apostrophe.

Now that you’ve learned this rule, do you find anything wrong with the following sentence?

“We’re having supper at my parent’s house.”

 

That was a bit of a trick question.  It’s perfectly correct if you have only one parent, but in that case, wouldn’t you be more likely to say “my mother’s” or “my father’s” rather than “my parent’s”?  This is another error that I find far too often.

On to the second part of the plural noun rule.  

The possessive of a plural noun that does not end in s 

is formed by adding an apostrophe and an s.

  

In other words, since there’s no final s, you form the plural the same way you would for a singular noun.

You wouldn’t say childrens’, would you?  I hope not.  I don’t like ranting, and that would definitely provoke one.

I’ve talked about misplaced and misused apostrophes, but there’s another side to this problem.  Here are two examples I found in recent reading.  (I’ve changed the wording slightly to protect the guilty.)

“Rather than face Mrs. Dobbs anger, she closed the door softly.”

“The same people were present at the Sartors today.”

What’s wrong with these?  Congratulations if you noticed that they were both missing apostrophes.  Perhaps these were nothing more than typos, but I suspect that the authors weren’t sure how to make the possessive and decided to err on the side of no apostrophe.  Wrong decision!

How would you correct them?  Did you say, “Rather than face Mrs. Dobbs’s anger …” since there is only one Mrs. Dobbs, and “present at the Sartors’” because we’re dealing with a plural noun there?  If so, double congratulations. 

And on that note, I’m going to end this rant.  I hope you’ll come back next month when we’ll address the troublesome twos.

~ Amanda

A lifetime of reading and writing, not to mention a host of teachers who believed that good grammar was one of the essentials of life, have given Amanda Cabot such firm opinions about the printed word that I asked her to share some with us in her Raves and Rants posts.  Although her working career was in Information Technology, Amanda achieved her dream of selling her first novel before her thirtieth birthday and is now the author of more than thirty novels as well as a number of books and articles for Information Technology professionals.  Her most recent release is A Borrowed Dream, the second of the Cimarron Creek trilogy.

Find all of Amanda's books, newsletter info and social media links here.