The Dream Press - spread the word!

"Stories are the most powerful way to share what's most important to us." - Ben Ehlert

*If you're interested in learning more about publishing, the English language and Linguistics Department teaches a class on it.

You can submit stories and artwork, and then people vote for their favorites. Those that get voted up - and ones that get voted up will get viewed by publishers. The website's still in development (it's a beta website) but this is a cool new opportunity! Let's all spread the word about it!

Cover photos for your stories you submit on there:
1. Can upload your own cover image,
2. You can pay illustrators to do work - $20 b&w - $25 color - you describe what you want.

3. Drop cap - takes the first letter of the story and makes it that way.

Novels:
Submit just the first chapter, and see how people take to it.



Goal is 3 books in production - cover illustrated, edited, illustrated, designed, formatted, promoted & sold - they're trying to get the first books ready by APRIL. Usually publishing can take up to 2 years for that entire process.

How the sounds of words matter - lecture tomorrow!!

Onomatopoeia. Does a term like this make your heart sing?  

If so, join us tomorrow at the annual James L Barker lecture given by Associate Professor of Linguistics and English Language Janis B. Nuckolls.

“Why Do Sound-Effect Words Matter?”

Janis B. Nuckolls

Tomorrow

11 am

B092 JFSB

Pacing in Your Writing

Cary gave us some tips on pacing today:
Biggest distinction: what the story is focused on.

Fast vs. Slow

Emotions, thoughts,

Fast: background fades away. You will cut a lot of adjectives and adverbs - use descriptive verbs instead.
i.e. was a glorious, beautiful sunrise. --> The sun had lept into the sky.
Slow: wider view. You take in details around you, backgrounds, scenery, overall view of characters.

Transitions: Don't jump between fast-paced and slow-paced. Try to build up to faster-paced sections, and build-down to slower sections.
i.e. including details that give the reader a sense of foreboding makes them expect a faster-paced scene. After an intense, stressful scene there might be a sense of relief, and at that point it is natural for the pace to slow down.

Also, it can be helpful to think about the tone of your scene, and how that affects how you write it. See our post on Tone.

More on Scrivner!

Hey guys! Hope you're all getting some writing done this weekend :)

If you are, please take a look at Scrivner. It's such a useful program. I just realized that I had planned a scene to take place in November and then realized it was thanksgiving week and I'd need to rearrange my scenes. It was SO much easier to do in Scriver than it would have been to try to rework in a single word document or in multiple word documents.

Here's a new blog from writer Gwen Hernandez (who wrote Scriver for Dummies) that gives you lots of how-to and tips on using Scrivner: The Edited Life.

Nanowrimo: A Novel in 30 Days

Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and takes place from November 1st - 31st.
The goal is to write 50,000 words in one month.

This is a ted talk we watched this week about setting 30-day goals...like writing a novel :)

 
Scrivner - Fantastic program for helping you write a novel
How to write a novel using scrivner
Write faster with scrivner

Point of View

General Point of View information:

No reason to redo what has already been done well: See This Page about the types of Point of View.

Writing in first person vs. third person is not only changing 'he'/'she' to 'I'.  When writing in first person, the story can be told with thoughts, emotions, and opinions mixed into the narration.

Pronouns & Point of View
*If you need help with knowing what word choice / pronouns go with what point of view, click here.

WRITING EXERCISE 1: Write a couple paragraphs (or use something you've already written) and change it between first person and third person. Second person is used less often, but you could try it out if you would like.
Past / Present Tense
We looked at two examples of first person writing:

• The Lightning Thief - First person past tense (I mumbled, etc.)
• Hunger Games - First person present tense (I prop, I swing, I always)

If you want to see the same passage of text in a past tense and a present tense form, here is a good example.

WRITING EXERCISE 2: Write a couple paragraphs (or use something you've already written) and change it between past and present tense.


Writing from the Opposite Gender's Point of View:
These are some of my favorite tips:

• Draw from real life; pay attention to conversation and actions of the other gender
• Men tend to speak more directly than women
• Avoid Stereotypes!

From: CrimsonLeague
More to read on Writing the Opposite Gender....
http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2013/01/16/writing-pov-the-opposite-sex/
http://learnasyouwrite.com/how-to-write-pov-for-the-opposite-sex/http://learnasyouwrite.com/how-to-write-pov-for-the-opposite-sex/

WRITING EXERCISE 3: (I recommend doing this in first person). Pick a scene you've been writing. Make a list of details a boy would notice and a girl would notice (and what they would both notice). Notice what's the same, what's different. Then write a paragraph from a male perspective (involving those details and in a relatively more direct style) and a paragraph from a female perspective (again, involving the details you think a girl would notice over a guy).
THE TEST: Give your two paragraphs to a reader, and ask them to tell you what gender narrator each paragraph is from.

Some Related Posts on Character / Voice:
Realistic and Exciting Characters
Notes on Tone, Style & Voice
Knowing Your Characters

Heroes and Villains

Heroes:

• Not perfect - they do need to have a flaw.
• Lame middle name - makes them humble/laughable
• Base - who they are before they start - DON'T have your character exist just for the plot
• Relate to them or have sympathy for them
• Ideal - the reader likes something about them - maybe they admire the character or wish they could be more like them.
• Paradox / Inner Conflict - they need to be pulled in different directions, to make them interesting and (hopefully) this can be connected to the plot.
• Past, Present, Future (Back story, experiences that have shaped them; then who they are now; future motivations and desires)

 Villains
*Remember that not everyone who opposes the protagonist is a villain. They may just be misguided, or they may have good reasons for their actions as well.

•  It is not an interesting story without conflict - you ALWAYS want to have some inner conflict in your story. Then a good book will have some external conflict (with others or with nature)
• Don't have your villain opposing the protagonist just to go against the protagonist. They will have other reasons, self-interest, twisted ideologies/misguided principles.
• What threat do they pose to the protagonist?
• This will make them more believable.
• Try not to make "cardboard cut-out" villains - try to make them original.
• Villains NEED to have a backstory - as good as the protagonist's.*
•  Making your Villain relateable as well will make your story more complex - which actually makes it more believable because in real life people are complex and everyone has bad/good sides.

*But also remember, though just about every character should have a back story, note every back story should be written down in the book, necessarily.

Examples:
Megamind

• You might think he is simply going against Metroman (because they talk about it in the movie)
• BUT he identifies with the role of the villain. He "plays the game" to please himself, and because it's fun, and
• "If I was the bad boy, I was going to be the baddest boy of them all."

Sauron (Lord of the Rings)

• Wasn't doing things just to be evil
• He had motivations: for himself
• The ring is evil, but it still does things to rejoin it's master

Earlier Post: Being Unique with your Characters

Talking about plot this week!

Cary will be talking to us about plot this week, so get ready for that. :)

Also, join the group on facebook!

How to Critique Prose

First, critique does not equate negativity. Focus on the good things they have in their writing too.

Cary talked to us about three broad categories that critiques fall under:

1. Syntax
- Spelling mistakes, sentence structure, grammar, technical details.
If it's a positive comment, mention it.
Unless it affects your reading experience, don't mention it. Those nit-picky details don't need to be brought up in the meeting, you can highlight mistakes / in your comments and email to the person later.
2. Structure
- What affects the flow of the piece and how it fits together. Beginning > Middle > End, how characters are introduced, how the plot is progressing.

3. Style
- Their naming choices, the language they decide to use, how they tell the story. This involves style, voice, tone, etc.

A critique is not an attack on your writing, we don't want to be attacking or defending. We are giving feedback, ideas, advice.

Poetry Critiques

By: Katria Hale

Transcribed By: Cary Carr

The basis of all poetry is the meaning of the words, and how they come together to invoke emotion in the reader.

When critiquing poetry, focus on how each word makes you feel, and what each word adds to the meaning and feeling of the work as a whole.

Look for repeated words and phrases, alliteration, and similar word constructions, as all of these can indicate greater meaning in the piece.

Poems do not have to rhyme in order to be poetry, but they should have some form of rhythm to them.

Example Critique from the Workshop on the Poem Abandoned Farmhouse:
The objects spoke, and it painted a picture of the people that used them. It is figurative language.
Repeated words and phrases: Something went wrong, he was not a farmer, the word “broken”, and words like leaky or empty. All of these showed that something happened to break the farm and the family that lived there.
The overall emotion of this piece is emptiness and desolation. Something went wrong, and everything is broken now.
Alliteration: good, Godfearing man; plum preserves; dolls in overalls; and lilacs and oilcloth.
Source: www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/237648

Being Unique

Is your story unique enough? Is your character original?

Plot: Pick out a couple stories who have a similar plot to yours. List the differences between your plot and theirs - then decide if it's got enough to make it a new story.

Protagonist: Ask yourself these questions about your character.
1. What makes them different than the other people around them?
2. What makes them act differently than someone else would, in a certain situation?
3. What little things make them interesting - their pet peeves, their fears, their quirky habits?
4. If there is a romantic subject, what makes this character different than what would be the "typical" character? In other words, think of the "typical" character type out there that your protagonist would be most like, and identify what differences there are between the typical, and your original.
(You First Novel --Ann Rittenberg & Laura Whitcomb)

Antagonist: Our bad guys need originality too.
1. First thing to check: Is your antagonist just bad, because he is the bad guy? Usually you want him to have slightly-relateable drives. I.e. Voldemort wants to avoid death. Basically every other character in Harry Potter (as well as each of us) want to avoid death too. Gollum is drawn (addicted) to the power of the ring. Practically everyone else is too. The Wicked Witch of the West is upset that Dorothy's house killed the Witch of the East (You would be upset too if someone killed your friend, right?)
**Your bad guy needs humanizing / relatable / somewhat-understandable characteristics or motives**
This helps them feel real.
2. Think about the story from their perspective. Maybe they want to keep power. Maybe they honestly believe that pure bloods are better than muggles and that the world is better without muggle-borns.

Characters - Realistic & Exciting

Orson Scott Card makes a clear point in "Characters & Viewpoint" that your characters need to be interesting enough to have a story, but ordinary enough to be relatable and to avoid being over the top.

"[R]eaders tend to like a character who is at least superficially like themselves. But they quickly lose interest unless this particular character is somehow out of the ordinary. The character may wear the mask of the common man, but underneath his true face must always be the face of the hero." - Orson Scott Card

Okay, this is a funny post you might enjoy about a female writer trying to write a realistic guy:
http://blog.liviablackburne.com/2011/02/on-writing-realistic-male-characters.html

Here's one website on writing from the POV of the opposite gender:
http://learnasyouwrite.com/how-to-write-pov-for-the-opposite-sex/

I think sometimes we use the stereotypes too much, and other times I think they can help us - because sometimes stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason.

Character Development Writing Exercises:
http://www.pgtc.com/~slmiller/characterexercises.htm
http://writerstrust.blogspot.com/2007/10/character-development-exercises.html
This is a fun little step-by-step get-to-know-you-character exercise I found:
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Realistic-Fiction-Character

Story Telling & Children's Literature

Alex gave us a great lesson this week on Children's Books - Here are my notes:
This is going to be very helpful information for our service project, writing children's stories for some orphans in Mexico.

Story Telling in general –

Why is story telling so effective? How especially for children?

Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm

-          Part of our nature to tell stories

-          Life is a roller coaster of conflict & resolution (stories mirror life)

-          Most important thing about stories is: Stories make us feel.

(the information that makes you feel is the most important. It makes it interesting.)

How do they affect children?

Meaningful context -

Familiar context -

Stories connect with us by presenting something familiar (anything familiar) in a meaningful way.

i.e. The Kissing Hand – we can relate: has a mom, kisses from his mom, going to school, afraid to first leave home, etc. Meaningful way

i.e. Pokemon: First Episode Pikachu is afraid/dislikes the pokeball. Ash lets him stay outside of the pokeball. In the beginning episode, he doesn’t like Ash. Ash is all excited to be a poke master, but his day is kind of an epic failure. But then Pikachu decides to join Ash’s side and they win.

- they didn’t get along, had to work with someone

- have the dream to be the greatest, but things aren’t working out perfectly for you

- faced with a hard moment, make sacrifices genuinely and work together & come closer together

- facing your fears

- dealing with bullies & things that don’t go as planned

Allows children to insert themselves in the story. (Pokemon has created many many more aspiring poke masters in real life)

Imitation Paradigm – they imitate what they see

-          You are great at imitating at age 1-2 years old (better than older children). Interesting…

-          That’s why these stories have such an impact on young minds

Law: You can’t have advertisements for a dora backpack before/during/after the dora episode – because the child feels like they have to i.e. learn their numbers AND get a backpack

Scientific Picture Books:

-          How to’s

-          Fictional books

-          Nonfictional books (i.e. learning about dinosaurs or bears)

Teach science in a lasting way:

Prepare – by teaching scientific principle (Possible lessons: observation, comparison, communication)

                It could be about anything – dinosaur bones or the Apollo 11 mission/space travel.

Involve – involve the children into the context learned in the story

(takes the connection that was formed when the child read the story)

Then they see how something in real life connects with what they learned in the story

Possible Lessons: measuring, classifying, predicting

Reach – only 10% of all scientists are black..

Minority groups are unmotivated – it goes back to prejudices/slavery/poverty stuff

targeted to racial minorities

*the main character needs to be the age of your targeted audience

- babies: baby animals/animals; children – children; pre-teens – preteens

*In general you want to put in as many things as possible that are familiar to them

 - i.e. use Mexican style for the houses – bright colors

*fables & legends

- maybe ufo stuff?

There is a distinct difference between the good & bad (clearly beautiful & then bad & ugly)

-          Snow white – evil queen turns into ugly hag (it’s kindof a true representation of her self/who she is)

-          Might have contributed in our society to seeing beautiful people as good & better

-          It’s a subconscious thing

-          Things that are gross are kindof bad

-          i.e. Tangled – the guys in the bar: they’re kinda ugly and rough and tough - but if you really know them, they’re great.

Great Books to Look at:

                Where the Wild Things Are – targeted to 4 or 5 year olds.

                The Polar Express – it’s got about a paragraph, 5/6 – 10 year olds

                Up (Jim LaMarche) – This has got more text on each page also, also 5-10

They can’t be toto complicated, but you can take a simple story and put something meaningful into it. I.e. Where the Wild Things Are: child is wild, sent to his room without dinner.

There are lots of children’s books that younger kids love, and they understand more when they’re a little older too. It’s fun to be a wild thing, but you can only be a wild thing for so long, til you get lonely, and he went home to be loved by his mom.

Openings for your story / novel

So last week we talked about openings. We talked about opening lines in January, and we continued this last week with talking about starting with a character that your reader can relate to. We talked about how you can get the reader to sympathize and empathize with them. It's also important to have motion at the very beginning of your book, so things start off interesting.
I can't put a lot on here for copywright reasons, but here is a bit of the exercise I wanted to have us try - if you are curious to see how your opening could be better, or just want to see how this goes, give it a try:
1st Sentence: open with a character in motion
Next 2 sentences: Explain more about the action
Next 5: tell about the setting , establish the mood with description
Next 3: go into the action with the established mood
Next sentence: how he/she feels with this action
Next 5: deepen the character by adding an element of the past to the current situation
Next 2: Trouble! The mood should lead up to this a bit
Next 3: Character's reaction

I've been reading James Scott Bell's book on Plot & Structure, and it has a lot of awesome things to know about plot. I'd definitely recommend it. Good luck writing this week!

Know Your Characters

This is a great post on how we should understand how are characters would act in different situations. :) Check it out!

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2013/04/15/know-your-characters/

Creativity & Writing

We watched this brilliant Ted Talk with Elizabeth Gilbert about creativity and writing. She's got some great ideas that will help us with the pressures we sometimes feel trying to write and be successful.

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

Writing from Fairy Tales

What is a Fairytale? It's a highly moralistic story - usually warning. It's often completely unrealistic. This includes myths/legends.

Three main types of fairytale-run-offs

Mirrored: exact same story, 300 times longer (i.e. goose girl, by Shannon hale)

Twisted: same story, basically follows the same thing, but it’s from a different character’s point of view, or it has a twist at the end. (i.e. once upon a time – little red riding hood is also the wolf, so it’s a twist)

Fractured: more rare type. Everything is completely different (i.e.  just a few elements. i.e. "Cinderella" character has two step sisters, but she’s an arson assassin – everything else from the fairytale story goes away at some point).

- Thanks Sarah for teaching us today!

Description Writing Exercise

We often focus too much on the visual and neglect the other characteristics when describing scenes and people. To get out of this, try writing a scene from a blind person's perspective--focusing on the sounds, the temperature, the textures, the smells...

Developing Characters

Here's just some quick basics...
1. Physical
- the physical attributes will influence the motivation sometimes, and definitely affect the personality.

2. Motivation (backstory/history, occupation, drive)
 -
3. Personality
- physical attributes & motivation will affect personality

Publishing Panel - Great Info on Publishing!

Publishing Panel February 26, 2013

Here are some notes, thanks to Deirdre Paulsen...

Chris Crowe BYU English Department, has published over 100 articles and 15 books:  “Editors don’t publish what editors don’t publish.”  Be familiar with Writers Market so can find out what publishers publish.  Amazed that writers submit pornographic material to Deseret Book!

Learn to cut. . .the editor should never be the first one to see your work (and your mother doesn’t count as a critical reader!).

 “I’ve written one children’s book and doubt that I’ll do another.”

Steve Cantwell vp “Writers-at-Work”:  “Have fun with failure.”  Have a thick skin – eventually you’ll start getting nice notes rather than nasty ones from editors.

Highly recommends Poets and Writers – “pulls together all deadlines.”  Also recommends all the “Best” books series. . .like Best American Spiritual Writing.  These books give the sites where the stories were published.

Glimmer Train is looking for new writers (a lot wind up in anthologies).  Great place to submit if just starting out.

Kent Minson BYU Academic Press: Talked about some of the dangers of self-publishing.  Usually when you self-publish it will cost you $10,000 for 1,000 to 2,000 books – then you still need to find a distributor and do your own marketing.  Most people wind up with a garage full of undistributed books.

BYU Academic Press on the other hand offers a la carte publishing:  cover design and editing for example.  And there is no minimum on how many books you have printed (you could submit a printed and bound copy of your work to a publisher to impress them).  You can also purchase a Press Package for $75 to have your book on the BYU Bookstore list.

Deseret Book publishes only 3% non-solicited manuscripts – they are looking for known names.  If  your work is fiction, try Covenant or Cedar Fort.  The better you know a publisher, it helps you get published and to understand why when they don’t publish.  They want return on their investment. 

Self-publishing a children’s book is very expensive since they have so much color plus they’re hard back.  It’s a very difficult market to break into – parents are very careful when purchasing childrens’ books. . .much more careful than when they buy a paperback for themselves in an airport. 

Marissa Widdison, Church Magazines, Friend magazine: Read the magazines you want to submit to first so that you know what stories they publish and how the topics are treated. (This seems simple, but there are lots of people who obviously don’t do this before they send things to us!) The Friend accepts the most freelance.  The other magazines accept articles from non-commissioned authors, but as donations only. Commissioned authors are usually experts in their respective fields (like the dean of a department at BYU).

For guidelines specific to each magazine, visit that magazine’s website and look for a link called “submit material” or “writer guidelines.” For the Friend, go to lds.org/friend and the link is at the bottom of the page.  If you send a message to friend@ldschurch.org, we will send you a list of topics that we are currently looking for.  If your work needs a lot of editing, or if you don’t have prior experience, we will often ask for the work to be donated rather than purchased.

I see success in this field as a combination of ingredients pulled from two wells. First, the well of life experience. Get out there and enjoy adventures, big and small! Look for stories in the world around you. Second, the well of knowing how to write well. Increase your knowledge of styles, treatments, literary devices, etc. Keep a journal where you practice sharing the stories you see each day. If both of these wells are kept full, the time will come when you will find a magic combination that someone will be thirsty for.

Come to fairs and conferences whenever possible—like the upcoming Publishers Fair. It makes a difference for editors if they have met with the authors. 

Colleen Whitley author and editor, established the BYU Publishing Lab in 1997:  Read your rejection slips and learn from them.  Become familiar with all the books like Writers Market so that you know where to submit certain genres.

Among the many opportunities facing new authors are some pitfalls, and as in every other area, the digital age has expanded both. Among the resources to help writers navigate these difficult waters is the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America website:  sfwa.org.  It is not limited to Sci Fi and Fantasy, but is open to the public, frequently updated, and offers a range of good sites for writers at no cost.  Their For Authors page, sfwa.org/for-authors/information-center has information on preparing and submitting manuscripts, contracts, and writing techniques. The Writer Beware section sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware alerts authors to publishers, editors, agents, and outright scams that have a track record of abusing writers. 

 When you are looking for places to publish, consider short non-fiction works such as travel articles in Travel magazines.

Looking for something new to read?

So many writers have said how important it is to read read read! Here's a great website to rate the books you read and find new books to read!

This is a great tool for writers.  http://www.goodreads.com/

Children Literature

Here's a great website to check out if you're writing for kids!
http://kidlit.com/

Blogging, Social Media & Networking

Chersti Nieveen came to talk to us about about blogging, and social media tonight. It was great how much she told us about twitter and blogging.

Blogging:
Look at the people who are successful and see what they are doing:
Here's a great example of a successful writer's blog:   brodiashton.blogspot.com
Her blog helped sell her book

The blog shows her writing style. She talks about her kids, her life, a little bit about her writing. But its really about getting to know you. It’s all about connecting to other people. It’s all about presenting yourself. You have to go and find other blogs and comment on them, and become friends with those other bloggers. It’s all about networking.

Blog about something that is genuine, something unique about you.

Often – if you don’t blog once a month, don’t blog

You want to connect with your readers

Twitter:

1.     Lotsa followers
2.    Quality followers/following
3.     Inform yourself

• Writing community on twitter is pretty close
• You can meet agents and people on twitter

You want more people to follow you, and you follow a fewer amount, but

1000 followers, 1500 u following – that’s okay

Some common hashtags:  #askagent   #amwriting  #amediting

Use the things that are going viral to help you. i.e. writers are doing #mustachesformaddie and that’s going viral..so you could post on twitter your picture and be a part of it..

#bookbirthday – you celebrate the book’s birthday when it is published

Do not dis anybody, do not dis any writers or agents or anything.

Be very positive & encouraging.

If you’re going to use twitter, you should use it several times a week. If they aren’t

People are selfish – give them something. If you’re funny, you’re giving them humor. You could give them advice..You could share cool things about writing. Just be doing twitter all the time, and get on and check it super often. You want to be able to get on very often – especially when you’re growing. So when someone responds to your tweet or something, you can respond back quickly – people will follow you more if you’re active.  Don’t just say “my book is this, go look at it!”. Give to other people.

Twitter Pitches: Pitching your book in 140 characters.  There's lots of great advice here on writertherapy.com
*Find contests for doing pitches for your book. Sometimes you can put several pitches, so you can try that too. :)
Find these on twitter, http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/, http://authoresque.blogspot.com/, or http://writertherapy.com/

Sci Fi

Notes from our meeting on Science Fiction - big thanks to Sarah for teaching us all about it!

Epic fantasy – huge, intricate worlds, - Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin, Tolkien Really intricate worlds (word count 120-150k words)

Heroic fantasy – usually lots of action, sword fighting, gritty, Conan the Barbarian (80-100k words)

Urban fantasy (aka Modern fantasy) – our world, buffy the vampire slayer (smaller, faster-paced, usually about 70k words)

The difference between sci fi and fantasy –

“Dr. Who is awesome because it walks the line between. It also walks the line between being really stupid and really awesome.” Science fiction will simply have science terms to explain what’s going on. IE-the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver—it could easily be a ‘wand’ but the scientific terms gives it a more science fiction feel.

“Sci Fi” -

Space Marine - more military, it’s focused on the battles. The science makes sense but science is not the focus. Battlestar Gallactica (80-100k words)

Space opera – i.e. star wars, space, doesn’t have the scientific specifics (i.e. the light saber works because…he used the force because he has the special blood…etc.)

Hard sci fi – science is legitimate (60-200k words depending on topic)

Steam punk

Distopian

Supernatural

Etc.

Technology in science fiction should be grounded in current day technologies.

Sci fi & fantasy – style & writing style:

Sci fi: sentences are shorter, more sciency-stuff, condensed dialogue

Fantasy: careful with the ‘ye’ etc – might bug your readers. You can use normal prose but use slightly fancier diction like ‘wept’ instead of ‘cried’

Big new world: big world, narrow in. desert planet? Where is the water? Civilizations are gathered around water.  Don’t believe it? Read up on the Egyptians – everything centered around the river.

Come up with a general map. Commerce? How long to travel between cities?

All taking place in one city – way easier to write.

How many nations? Similar? Different? Geographical differences between them?

Cultural settings: governments, religion, gender roles, race, economics, technological advancements, family structures.

You don’t have to have ALL of it for ALL of them. Focus on two or three. Add in the occasional details for the other areas. You don’t have to make it complicated.

If you’re stuck, just pick a few randomly. Put them in a hat and draw out some options.

Trying to develop a language:

Don’t be Tolkien. Tolkien was a master linguist. He made up 15 languages, then wrote the books for the language.

Easy way to make language – make up a code. Use existing languages. i.e. Took japanese grammar and Italian words and make up words using google translate. You don’t have to go into full detail – i.e. George R. R. Martin wrote a book with a new language and only made up about 8 words. You often see books use italics when characters are speaking a different language.

Subtle learning curve. Don’t pile on this character with this ethnicity & religion and this weapon and this background – don’t rush. You’ll drive your reader insane. Slowly build up to the awesome stuff. Have small differences like; what is the standard of beauty? Are boys favored over girls? These are common things people are familiar with but they also reveal a lot about a culture.

Give them some things to relate to—don’t make everything new. Introduce things slowly and gradually build in the world. Trees are still trees, bread is bread, etc.

Brandon & Robert Jordan, Martin, Tolkien – they pull from existing cultures.

*Things tend to change as you go a bit.  Start on the small details and run with it.

Magic:

You don’t have to have a system. Tolkien let Gandalf have magic when it was convenient. That’s okay but the trend is more to have an established system like Sanderson or Rowling. In a magic system, there should be a price and a limitation. IE- In Harry Potter, the cost is knowing the proper incantation and reciting it properly (and you have to practice, it's not just easy for everyone). The limitation is only one spell can be done at a time, you must be powerful enough to perform said spell, etc. Try to make the cost greater than the reward. (Sanderson does this) 

Literary Agents & Publishing

Tip - find a literary agent stationed (or who was stationed) in New York

Why is getting an agent important? EPublishing & Independent Publishers make it seem like agents aren't important, but...they are important.

Self Publishing / Independent Publishers
- don't need an agent

5 Big Publishers: Harper Collins, Penguin, etc.
- will only take manuscripts from literary agencies - no slushpile even there.
- to get published with them you HAVE to have an agent..

Agents
- if you get an agent, you don't have to know all the stuff in writer's market
- at the end of the Writer's Market it lists conferences - this is the BEST way to meet agents. then you can email them and say that you met that at this ___ conference.
- you can find someone looking for the specific kind of book you write - but they might have seen too many books like yours
- query far and wide!

Writer's Market tells you:
- how to write a query letter
- how to pitch your work
- lists all agencies in the United States, the genres they represent, how to contact them, what they want (hard copy, email, with or without a synopsis), instructions
- lists conferences - this is the BEST way to meet agents

Beginnings - Hooking Your Reader

Some awesome first lines:
"The gunman is useless." - I am the Messenger
"When I think of my wife, I always think of her head." -Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
"What about a tea kettle?" - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
            It's not as much a catchy line, but it makes you go what? And you want to get to know the narrator, this kid, because his musings on the teakettle are so different.
"In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit." - The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien
"It's the first of November, so today someone will die." - The Scorpio Races
See 100 Fabulous First lines here.

Some good ideas / Tips:
1. Keep it simple. Don't overwhelm your reader, but don't be vague. "Something stirred in the night." - simple but too vague. Don't do a long run-on sentence.
2. Introduce character. You will have a problem if you don't have a character - again, our first line "Something stirred in the night." You should not open with setting - you should open with the character. Either description of the character, or the character's voice.
3. Be different or shocking. You have to be interesting. Show your reader that this book isn't like all the other books. *In the example of the teakettle line, the boy has a very unique voice and an unusual interest/thoughts about the tea kettle.
4. Set the tone - see our recent post on Tone.
5. Speak to your reader as if they are a confidant. Most of the time you want a reliable narrator, and you want your readers to feel a connection with the narrator or character. You, as the writer, narrator, speaker, or character are speaking to the reader in some way.
See 100 Fabulous Opening Lines here.

Things to Avoid:
Don't try to hard to write well - often times people write overly-well-written opening paragraphs. They try to make it impressive and poetic, etc.
Don't start the first sentence with setting.
Don't be vague.

*The Rule of Exceptions*
"There is an exception to every rule, except the Rule of Exceptions."

Rewriting

Last week, on the 23rd, we talked about rewriting.
1. Overall/General
Often we can learn from mistakes, so take a novel you think could be improved, plotwise.

2. Details
- Don't overuse the word 'that'
Take a look at how many times you use the following words in a section of your writing: eyes, glance, good, had, head, just, look, mouth (open, close), nod, raise, eyebrow (raise, lift), really, seem, shrug, sigh, slowly, smile, so, still, stood, suddenly, then, very, walk

3. Drafts:
I have a hard time getting through the first draft, but it's okay for it to be messy, just get through it!
First draft (1.0)
First Draft (1.5) - first draft becomes readable
Second Draft (2.0) - cut out 5 - 10,000 words. Delete unnecessary adjectives, etc.
Beta Readers (2.5) - great time for ypublish submissions, or a creative writing classmate. Have at least one writer friend for this step.
Third Draft (3.0) - fix the things you were too close to the story to see (things your readers pointed out). This is hard to do - you're attached sometimes. Lots of structural changes here.
Fourth Draft (4.0)
Alpha Readers - pick some people who like to read, not writers. Don't pick someone who doesn't read at all, they need to read often. They don't have to write. But they will notice things to change - Also try to get several people - at least five - so you can get a range of responses. You can post on facebook that you need some readers.. You'll be more confident at this stage, so you can share with people.
Final Draft - you probably won't make big changes for this step. You'll be making final tweaks from your alpha readers - pay attention to their responses to things. Polish, and get ready to send to a literary agent!

Notes on Tone, Style & Voice

So this last week we talked about voice. McKelle had us talk about three things: Tone, Style, and Voice. Here are some notes & some exercises you can do to practice and learn more about each one:

Tone

- attitude
- feel
- ambiance

Exercise Ideas:
write a short scene.
write the same scene right after the character's mother died.
write the same scene right after she just got her first kiss.
write the same scene in wartime.
write the same scene right after getting his/her dream job.
**You'll notice you'll put in small details that express the overall attitude.**

Style

- the way words are put together, with syntax
- generally consistent for the writer between work

- sometimes more casual, more formal, etc.
- sometimes very descriptive, sometimes unique in how it is descriptive, sometimes it's metaphysical, etc.

Exercise Ideas:
Pick three authors who have very different styles. Read each for a few minutes, notice how they write stylistically. Then write a scene in the first author's style. Then read the second and write the scene in the second style, and then repeat with the third author. You'll notice what makes the scenes different this way.

Voice  
- projection of character - of the author? of the character?
- the way you actually talk
- authentic, honest, real

Exercise Ideas:
1. Here's what you do. Write down a journal entry for yourself. Try writing in first-person because it's easiest to notice voice that way. Pay attention to how you talk. Then write in another person that you are familiar with how they talk - your mom, dad, grandma, roommate, husband/wife, best friend, annoying neighbor, teacher, pastor, etc. Pick someone you're familiar with who they talk, and write a scene and pay attention to how they would sound. Try it with a tv or book character you know - perhaps Frodo, or "The Doctor".
2. The next step would be to incorporate details about things that they would notice, or think, or like, or dislike. For example, maybe your mom who is kindof OCD about tidiness, would notice small details like, his plate sitting on the floor by the couch where he probably fell asleep pigging out last night. What would the son notice in that situation? Maybe that he saw the movie out on top of the TV and was reminded that he was going to get the second one from Redbox.

How to Research for your Novel

So I came across this article on researching for your fiction. I find that I run into lots of things I need to research - like, how people would wake up before sunrise without technology, how candles were first made,  where names came from, etc. So here's the article I read and here are some of the points I got from it:

- You can't do too much research.
- You can write about what you know. I thought I didn't know anything, and then I thought about my major (Psychology), hard things I've gone through, my parents raise chickens and keep bees, i have brothers and no sisters (perhaps I could develop annoying brother characters in the story), I know about riding horses, I know about art. See, just make a list of your interests and you'll find some things you know about.
- You can find anything on youtube / online. He uses the example of having someone's lungs collapse from a bullet wound, and finding a youtube video of how a doctor would treat that.
- Use all your senses. Pay attention to small details in your other senses. Don't just know what it looks like in the south, but try their food, try out the seasonings they use on their seafood so you know what it's like. Listen to accents so you get a feel for how your character would talk. Know how the sea smells in your scene's area.
- Don't pack it with research. You'll find more than you need & you can leave some out.

I think it's very useful to research - and this is not just for research papers. Or creative non-fiction. I've researched for writing my novels, short stories, even my poetry - I found a specific kind of plant that has many uses, from being smoked for pleasure, to being a poison. And it fit with my poem, added an extra level of meaning. Read How to Research a Novel if you want to read more.

Circle of Honor Essay Contest (Jan 25th!)

Share your feelings about the Honor Code b submitting an essay to the 2013 Circle of Honor Essay Contest.
"I have been asked what I mean by 'word of honor.' I will tell you. Place me behind prison walls--walls of stone ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into the ground--there is a possibility that in some way or another I may escape; but stand me on the floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor never to cross it. Can I get out of the circle? No. Never! I'd die first!" - Karl G. Maeser

Submit essays to circleofhonor@byu.edu by midnight Jan. 25, 2013 Prizes include $300 for 1st place, $150 for 2nd, $50 for 3rd. Please keep essay submissions to 4 pages or less.

For questions, contact (801) 422-3758 or email circleofhonor@byu.edu