Tips for re-creating landscapes in historical romance

Currently I am doing the proofs for A Deal with Her Rebel Viking (out December 2019) and reading it (as well as all the other reading about re-wilding) has reminded  me that I do take very seriously trying to know what the landscape looked like in the 9^th century as well as what the *normal* would be for the characters. The baseline has shifted so much.  What is normal was not normal then. And the countryside was changing even in their lifetime.  

In my novel, I have tried to give a sense of the meadows, the forest and the fact that the war with the Vikings (and others) meant that the underwood was abandoned to a certain extent. My eldest knew Oliver Rackman when he was a grad student at Corpus  and introduced my youngest to his books. Because of my interest in history, I was delighted to discover his rural landscape history. He discusses what the land looked like in the early middle ages and explains  about the importance of underwood, particularly at time when there were no saw mills.   I particularly like his Trees & Woodland in the British Landscape – the Complete History of the Britain’s Tress, Woods & Hedgerows.  It has really given me insight into what was going on. And now, I am using some of that knowledge in attempting to figure out when the dene’s wooded area dates from.

I first really became aware of the shifting baseline problem when I reading about lighting in the 19^th century. We take the brilliance of our lighting for granted, but to someone living back in the 9^th century, their eyes were adjusted to much less light. In many ways, the Romans were probably used to more light as they  used oil lamps than the Anglo Saxons. Romans also had under-floor heating and piped water. If you look at places like Birdoswald, you can see how buildings were adapted to other purposes as the technology became lost.

It is when you realise how much was lost and how they developed stories to explain various unexplained features of the landscape. Hidden Histories –A Spotter’s Guide to the British Landscape by Mary-Ann Ochota is also good for this type of thing. My dear friend Kate Hardy who knows I am nerdy about such things gave me this when I became a British citizen and it is truly a fascinating book on many levels. 

With writing in a historical some of the world building involves recreating their normal. It is about thinking what they would see and notice. Think about the wildlife, and the flora. What did they take for granted? How did they use the woods? What was the countryside like  pre-enclosure or pre-highland clearance? We may have lost much but they had not. They experienced a different sort of Britain and I think re-creating this can help to show why we need things like beavers, wild boar and perhaps(whispering here as it is very controversial) lynx or wolves back.

An excellent reference manual for self-editing your manuscript

Troubleshooting Your Novel: 100 Incredibly Practical Ways to Fix Your Fiction by Steven James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an excellent manual to help you edit a manuscript and ranks up there with Self Editing for Fiction Writers in terms of its effectiveness. It is a book aimed at helping the author revise or edit the manuscript. His earlier book Story Trumps Structure is about the organic process of writing a manuscript.
The one caveat I would have is that James has little idea or interest in the romance genre as he primarily writes thrillers aimed at men. Thus those two chapters are far weaker than the rest of the book (78 other chapters). However as I have written over 27 bestselling romances for Harlequin, I was not as concerned about that section -- I just rolled my eyes and muttered a few unprintable words.
The other sections are excellent however. The chart in the show (render) v tell (summarize) chapter is one of the best I have seen and is certainly worth the price of the book. The questions and fine-tuning your manuscript in each chapter are thought provoking.
It is a book which has made me think. I suspect it is a book that will find a place on many writers' desks for many years to come.


View all my reviews

Life Lessons from being an author

Recently I had a conversation with my eldest who is about to start writing his PhD thesis. He said -- people have said it is impossible to write 80k before Christmas.
I had to bite my tongue. Although I write in a different genre than he does, I know it if it is August, and you have done all your research, it is indeed possible to write 80k of a first draft. You have to be determined, disciplined and have the desire to get it done. You also have to persevere. You need to be focused.
But then I am a woman who once wrote 80k in 3 weeks because I had a deadline and had thrown out the previous storyline as being unworkable. Actually I have done it twice. Luckily once I got over a hurdle, the words did flow and it became oddly enjoyable (but not something I'd really care to repeat)
My job is writing. My current manuscript is 112k (give or take). Over the years, I have learnt that I can write 5k every so often but my brain implodes if I try to do it on a regular basis. I am far better somewhere between 1.5k -3k. It means when I go back and edit, I don't have to change as much.
It also means that I am less sympathetic when my children be moan writing several thousand words.
It is about the discipline of getting the words down.
I am confident that my eldest will achieve his goal. He has the skill to do it and really less than 1k a day when it is your main task should be achievable. But the ability to be ruthlessly focused has be maintained.

And there is my daughter who had a mini meltdown about her Masters dissertation. I know next to nothing about karst hydrology. But I was able to draw on my experiences of brain storming with various over the years and what worked for me. Generally making considering noises and allowing me to find the logical solution works. I found that if certain editors had too much input early on, I went into editor-pleasing mode and often the story didn't work as well as I'd hoped.
And I now understand why sometimes editors -- say oh just get me something, even if the author knows it will be rubbish. The act of getting the words on paper and sending things off (plus writing and rewriting a synopsis) can really help.
It was great to use a skill that I didn't know I have. And I am thankful for all the editors who talked me back from various ledges.

Small Blogs Big Giveaway Reminder

A reminder that Small Blogs Big Giveaway has 2 more days to run. Have you entered yet? Lots of lovely prizes including signed copies of my latest two -- Breaking the Governess's Rules and To Marry A Matchmaker.

This weekend is being spent working on the novella -- a prequel to Compromising Miss Milton. It is tremendously fun as I have wanted to do Tom Milton and Kamala's story for ages!
I finally have a bit of writing time (having spanked my deadline last Monday) and am determined to get it done. In my writing world, contracted work comes first so I do have to make sure that it is done and on time.

My youngest has gone off to walk part of the Pennine Way with two friends as his reward (?) for doing so well on his GCSEs. It is wet out there. They are walking 60 miles in 3 days. I suspect they will have great fun but will be glad when it is done. My youngest and another lad are very prepared with lists, training walks etc. The other friend seems less prepared but no less determined.
The drive up to Bryness was lovely despite the rain. I always forget how truly wild the Border region is. Beyond the relative gentle rolling of the Tyne Valley, you have Redesdale -- this is the area where you did have the Border Reivers and the Border Wars. It remains rugged moorland with few transport links and the odd ruined castle or more likely bastle. With the mist rolling in waves, it was very much the land that time forgot.

And off again

I did the revisions. They were very straight forward and in a way I could understand. I think I have done everything right, but that is up to my editor.
It has been a long time since I have felt this energised about revisions.

There again, world cup semi finals are very good for zoning out and just thinking. But the revisions basically consumed me for 2 days. I wanted to work on them. Sometimes lately the revisions have been such that I was far from motivated or I didn't understand what my editor wanted but knew that asking was not going yield the results I wanted. This time none of that fog happened.

So it is back to the waiting game. And to starting the Sinai project.

Several people have commented on the new look on my actual blog. I like it and I suppose that is what counts.

My jaw drops

My totally lovely and goregous new editor came back to me with her thoughts on the Undone today! I think I can understand what she wants and how it is going to make the story better.

But I am in a state of shock! In a very good way!

My new editor rocks!

Over to my Editor

Both my full and my Roman Undone are sitting in my editor's inbox, waiting for her to get to them. I also waved goodbye to Breaking the Governess's Rules as the AAs are done. Next stop - publication in Jan 2011 in Hardback.

My next project is the Sinai one which I researched back in March. Bedouins. Adventure. Slaves. It should be fun. And at church on Sunday, I figured out the ending. Always a happy sign. And right now I think I deserve an easy book!

Getting things done.

I am in the midst of the revisions for the Undone. Basically the sensuality needs to go up and it has to be ultra focused on the couple. But I discovered after being in Istanbul and taking Turkish baths, my view of Roman baths has changed! I also realised that I had forgotten to put one in...
Along side I am doing my AAs. 2 chapters or so per day. I did have fun with the secondaries. My old editor used to accuse me of loving my secondaries more. Not really, it is just you can have fun with them.
And then I need to read over TPE and make a few more changes.
Plus it is lovely out.

Recovering

I had forgotten or drawn a blissful veil over how much a shot takes out of you and then there is the whole question of antibiotics.
My finger is getting better but remains bruised. Mice have a severe bite.

The feed shed still needs to be cleaned out but the food is now safely stored in bins with tight fitting lids. So hopefully the mouse population will decrease significantly.

My revisions are coming on. I can see why they will make the book much stronger and more significantly I think I can see how to improve up coming books. It is like coming blinking into the light after being in a very long and very dark tunnel.

My Rita books are almost all read and I have discovered a new to me author which is half the point of the Ritas.

End of June

Today, the other editors of the Pink Heart Society and I talk about summer drinks. What a difference an ocean can make! I don't think either Donna or Jenna had really heard of Pimms. Then to be fair, I hadn't either until I moved over here and suddenly in the summer, people were inviting us over for Pimms and croquet! Croquet in the UK is different as well...

Hardy the anti-womble enjoys rummaging in the undergrowth and at the moment keeps emerging covered in green sticky seeds. He is not over fond of the comb...something which he keeps encountering. Because Tess's fur is different and she never seems to have the same problem.
As they have had the second lot of shots, I am currently working on the lead. Tess is generally fine. Hardy on the other hand, sits and refuses to move. He will often roll over and play tug with the lead. Treats help a bit.

One thing from the Tharp book that has really struck with is the need to keep polishing. You do pick up little things or forget them. Because of the whole pro active protagonist thing, I went and picked up McKee again. He makes the point that character and structure are interdependent on each other. You are designing events to reveal character and so it is a matter of personal choice whether you choose to work on the structure or the character but character and character change cannot be expressed except through the events in the story and the characters' reaction to that story. True character is the choices that people make when under pressure and the pressure can only happen from events that require characters to take bigger and bigger risks.

Writing thoughts

As I was thinking about the woman at the Girl's Night In who self-published as a way to attract the attention of a large mainstream publisher, I was interested to come across a JA Konrath blog on the subject. It lays out quite clearly why and when an author might want to do so and what the pitfalls are, including how and why self-publishing can actually harm your chances of becoming a published fiction author. There are reasons why self-publishing is also know as vanity publishing. JA Konrath is a high priest of self promotion and PR and his blog often yields useful information. I do recommend it.

Jackie Ashenden is a MH aspiring writer who allowed me to have a peep at her synopsis. Okay so I was nosy...Apparently my words were helpful which was great. My fingers are so crossed for her. She definitely has the right attitude.

Anyway, one of the points that immediately sprang to mind and it is something I have to carry in my head all the time is the whole make the turning points active and that the protagonists are wilful beings who make things happen rather than reacting to the world around them thing. It is something that I had to learn the hard way. Protagonists take action and the world behaves differently than they expect. Protagonists possess the will power to make things happen. It is all about increasing the risk, making what they stand to lose greater with each step until the black moment when their life/emotional well being is at stake.

McKee is great on this -- in real life, many things happen spontaneously, but not in a story. The world reacts to the protagonist in ways the protagonist does not expect, and thus the protagonist is forced to take more action to re balance his or her life.

If you start with too high of stakes in all areas of their life, there is nowhere for the protagonist to go. You have to keep complicating and adding so that inner character is revealed and the protagonist can grow and change. But it needs to be a piling of the pressure, rather than having all the pressure there at the start. And sometimes, you discover that you added bits too early.

My wip is going on and hence all these thoughts about action/reaction.

Tess and Hardy were well behaved yesterday and there was no real anti -womble behaviour. Hardy did accidentally jump down from a wall and straight in front of the beehive. He exited stage left very quickly.

Fire In Fiction (or not)

Super agent Donald Maass has published another writing book --Fire In Fiction. It is about putting the passion into your fiction writing. However, because of the scope and the scale of the book, it ends up retreading much of his earlier work and indeed some of the exercises are the same as Writing the Break Out Novel Workbook. I think the wholesale repeating of the exercises was the most disappointing part. There again the skills of writing a best seller do not really change. Much of the theory was articulated brilliant in Swain's book -- Techniques of the Selling Writer. It is how a writer applies these techniques that matters.

It is quite possible my expectations were far too high after all I had several epiphanies when I first read the Writing the Break Out Novel duo. I still use my Workbook and certain exercises every time I write a manuscript. My copy is now dogeared. None of the new exercises grabbed me but it could be the stage of my writing and the way I work. And maybe that is an epiphany in itself.

Maass' The Career Novelist which is available as a free download gave me a lot of useful info about how publishing works and why it is important to do the local PR work. And despite being dated, I do recommend it.

Somehow Maass's words seemed flat and he did not appear to have as much raw passion about this book as he did with the others. With The Career Novelist there was a sort of raw excitement as there was with Breakout Novel.

I suspect that the subject is very difficult to explain as because the passion and drive must come from within. It is not something that can be taught. It is part of the raw storytelling talent. And sometimes, the teaching of various parts falls into the mantra -- keep your eye on the doughnut and not the hole. Too often, Maass seems to have his eye on various potential holes, rather than on looking at the story as a whole.

I do agree with Maass that writing is a career for the long term and the most important part of writing is making sure that the book goes up to the next level. Because the concept of storytelling is so huge, you can never fully grasp it and there are always parts which one can polish.

I will go back over the book and see if there is anything more I can glean (the bit about turning points looks interesting). Sometimes, gems can be hidden and missed on the first read.

Will I buy his next book? The jury remains out. It depends on the subject matter.

Should aspiring writers buy this one? It depends. I prefer Writing the Breakout Novel duo but that is me. The one advantage this book has over Writing the Break out Novel is that the exercises are contained within the book. But umltimately is all about applying techniques so that you can achieve a page turning read.

The fire in your fiction has to come from you as the novelist. The way you temper and shape that fire that is where craft comes into. But ultimately you have to have that drive to succeed and to craft your stories. Some authors are able to simply write and never worry about the construction of their rainbows. Other writers worry too much about the construction and do not pay attention to the reason why people gasp. I like to think I do both. But I am at the latter stages of the early part of my career and therefore am starting to grasp what works for me.

The last page of your book sells the first page of your next book.

Ultimately the only thing I can control is my writing and the knowledge of craft can help. It is the application of that knowledge that makes for a page turning read. And an author should never be satisfied. It is always all about how to make the current story absolutely sing. If readers get an emotionally satisfying read, then they will be back for more or at least it is what I keep telling myself.

King of the castle

The puppies needed a new challenge yesterday so I dragged out a sturdy box. It proved a little too deep to be a boat so I turned it over. Tess & Hardy rapidly figured out that it was perfect to play King of the Castle. Tess loved the game. Hardy with his slightly shorter legs was not to pleased at continually being the Dirty Rascal. He did develop a strategy that involved bringing a variety of items to play with just in front of Tess, and then pushing down on the box with his paws so that Tess toppled off. A great time was had by all.

Tess is growing so rapidly that her collar has been loosened another notch. She is very much a girl and continually goes for shoes, preferably high heels or strappy sandals. Hardy prefers to find things like plastic bottles and dirt.

With my work in progress, I have realised that in order to get the depth required, chapter 3 is actually chapter 3&4, with my old ch4 being ch5. It will get there. But it is the layers that are necessary.

The Sugar Queen and rants

First of all a few weeks ago, the publicist at Hodder contacted me and asked if I wanted to read The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. She read my blog and thought it might be a book I would like.

This sort of thing rarely happens.

It is Ms Allen's second book and I will be looking to get her first book -- Garden Spells. Ms Allen creates a lovely atmosphere that leads you on into the book. It is definitely a single title women's fiction with romantic elements rather than a romance but I enjoy all sorts of different genres.

Anyway, it is a thoroughly enjoyable read with characters who linger in your mind.

The blurb says Twenty-seven year old Josey is sure of three things:

winter in her North Caroline hometown is her favourite season;

she's a sorry excuse for a Southern belle;

and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet

For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother's house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romance she escapes to each night...

Until she finds her closet harbouring none other than local waitress Delia Lee Baker, a tough-talking, tender-hearted woman who is one part nemesis and two parts fairy godmother.

It is a coming of age tale and as is usual with a tale set in the American South, long hidden secrets lurk under the surface, add a dash of magic to mix and you are away. But Josey is a good character and I wish Ms Allen well with her next book. I suspect that this will be a word of mouth book...and so I am doing my bit.

And now my rant. I opened my alumni magazine, The Carleton Voice to find an article denigrating romance and by extension the women who read such fiction as well as those who write it. Some MALE English senior has done a project where he pretended to a woman writing a romance. It is a meta fiction. BUT his research seems to have consisted of reading literary theory from the late 80s and early 90s, with no reference to recent scholarship (for example A Natural History of Romance by Pamela Regis or indeed any of the work of the recently formed International Association for the Study of Popular Romance. He also stated that romance writers tend to write in italicised capitals. And that he felt like he was trying to put make up on a dead horse. Huh? According to him, the accepted definition of a romance is the social identity of the heroine comes into question, she goes away for awhile and finally her identity is restored. This is news to me! A more accepted definition of romance is one where the growth of the emotional relationship between the two main protagonists forms the central arc or spine of the story and the ending is emotionally satisfying.

The editor of the Voice felt including this piece was justified as the man was writing fiction and it was the first time something like this had been done as a comps paper. She also felt the tone of the article was justified and predictable as they were talking about a twenty-something male. Umm, I thought the battle of the sexes was fought long before I set foot on the campus in the early 80s. Why should women have their reading matter mocked? Why should men get away with sloppy scholarship since they were dealing with a fluffy piece?

Anyway, I wrote a letter to the editor and then another one after I received the female editor's reply.

I am well aware of the pretensions of some males BUT this smacks of sexism on serious scale and I really expected better of Carleton, a college which is very proud of its liberal traditions. They would never have published the article if the white male student had been mocking say Afro-American fiction. He choose romance rather than say a Walter Mitty male attempting to write a guys with gear who go novel. It was just a serious error of judgement on behalf of the editors. The act of publication implies the college condones and supports those views. Amazing.

Ashes to Ashes the second series starts

Ashes to Ashes the second series starts tonight at 9 pm. In honour of this, I have done a post about Philip Glenister for the Pink Heart Society's Male on Monday. Why does he appeal to women?

Now the papers have been concentrating on Keeley Hawes, the woman who plays Alex Drake. Apparently she had some terrible criticism for the last series. Actually, I thought she was fine. It was more the writing and the problems with a Buddy Love (professional love) scenario and introducing a new half to an already working partnership.

Buddy love is the term Blake Snyder uses to decribe the genre -- it is the Buddy Cop. And no matter what the sexes, you do have to build that relationship. It is also the genre that emcompass romance so I know it well. Incomplete protagonist, a coutnerpart and a complication.

In Life on Mars, in some ways, it was a two hander -- both the John Simms and Philip Glenister characters grew and changed. Gene Hunt grew to respect John Simms within the first series. With Ashes to Ashes series one, you had less of that. So Alex Drake was not changing Gene Hunt's perception as explicitly as she could have. Hopefully, the writers will have worked on the relationship and will have ensured that underlying chemistry that is so necessary for a Buddy cop series is there. But I will point out that it was always going to be difficult, simply because of the success of Life on Mars.

So Keeley Hawes had her work cut out and the script writers were less comfortable with a woman as one half of the buddy cop scenario. Hopefully this time the series writers figured out the problem and have actually turned this more into a two hander. Alex Drake needs a reason to stay in the 1980s, but also the audience has to feel that she might be able to get back to her time.

Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing the series. It is one of the best things on television at the moment.

Lovely reviews for An Impulsive Debutante

Yesterday, I received two lovely reviews for An Impulsive Debutante -- one from cataromance and one from the Pink Heart Society. They were reviews I was waiting for as I always like to see how Julie enjoyed the book.



The summary from cataromance made my day!
I lapped up every single delicious word of this wonderful Regency romance! Michelle Styles is a skilled wordsmith who can make any period of history come gloriously to life and An Impulsive Debutante is a testament to her breathtaking storytelling prowess. Sexy, stunning, heartwarming and absorbing from start to finish, Michelle Styles proves once again that she’s one of the most refreshing and original voices in historical romance writing today!


Tomorrow, I am off to London for the annual Association of Mills & Boon Authors lunch and then drinks party with the editors. I plan on taking my camera...


Alice in the comments section yesterday was asking about a Marriage of Convenience and how to make the heroine not seem passive. Hopefully, I achieved this in Sold & Seduced. The scenario Alice described is the basic Beauty and the Beast scenario. A young woman, in order to save her father sacrifices herself to a beast type figure. If you have read the early fairy tales, rather than simply seen the Disney version, you will see Beauty actually has an inciting role. She asks for a rose rather than the silks and jewels her sisters ask for. Despite his misfortune, her father climbs into the garden to get the rose as it should not cost anything and Beauty is his favourite. Equally she is the one who volunteers after her father has agreed to send the first thing that greets him on his arrival home. The father is hoping for the dog, but Beauty spies him and rushes out.

In other words, it all depends on the motivation for the self-sacrifice. Rather than being told to, Beauty feels obliged because of her earlier past actions.
What you need to make sure is that both your characters are assertive. When the world does not act the way they think it should, they do something about it. They always have a plan -- goal, motivation and conflict.


In S&S, Aro saved Lydia's father in return for a shipment of Falarian wine.But Lydia, after her father fell ill, sold the wine to pay debts. When Aro shows up demanding the wine or he will ruin the father, Lydia feels obliges to sacrifice herself as she feels it was her fault. When the marriage terms are different than she first thinks, she negoiates terms. Hence the Spanish title Sept dias sin besos -- seven days without kisses.

I am still revising my wip....

ducklings, bees and the wip

First of all, we still have three ducklings. They are at the weep, weep weep stage.Their mother keeps going off and they lose sight of her. Then the weep, weep, weep cry goes out, pentrating everywhere until the mother is found. Proper quacking happens about the time the pin feathers come in.
It is a different sort of parenting -- more the it is the duckling's responsibility to stay with the mother, rather the parental responsibility to look for them if they go wandering off and get in trouble. If trouble happens when she is near by, she will defend the ducklings. I have seen her charge other ducks and hens, for example.
I am currently in my last one hundred pages of the wip. It is getting better and I do know the ending. Once the first draft is done, then the fun bit begins -- namely the editing and revising. My editor has said that her thoughts about my other one -- the third Viking -- will be back sometime after the August Bank Holiday.
Tomorrow is the August Bank Holiday. This means summer is coming to an end. The plums on ripening nicely on the Victoria plum tree, but we do not have many pears or damsons. Apparently there are not many sloes this year either. I suspect a bad frost at blossom time. The bees appear to be busy. A beekeeper up the road lost three out of his five hives earlier this year. This is worrying. But for the moment, our hives are fine and producing honey.
I think I will be harvesting in mid September...

First review fo An Impulsive Debutante and writing competition

Realms on Our Bookshelves has sent through their review of An Impulsive Debutante and it had me smiling.

Realms are a Dutch site and cater mainly to an Europe wide audience of women who read English novels but who want to discuss them in their own language. I always find their reviews to be thought provoking.

Anyway my favourite bit was: Michelle Styles writing is easy and compelling to read, her characters are fleshed out well and as always she has an eye for accurate, historical details. She does not overwhelm you with lots of supporting characters and difficult storylines. She keeps it straight and light to read and makes sure that at all times the romance takes precedence. That does not mean that her stories are shallow or common, Michelle Styles gives her stories depth by making her characters undergo changes and grow stronger throughout the story.

As it was what I was aiming for, I was very pleased. Feedback is such a gift and I am often too close to my work. But I do so cherish hearing what others think. And of course, Lottie occupies a special place in my heart.

Joanne Carr emailed me to ask if I would would not mind posting something about the Modern Heart Wrting competition. As I do enjoy the Modern Heat line, I am happy to oblige. In case you have not heard:

Based on the success of the Instant Seduction competition that we ran earlier this year, we have decided to call on all aspiring Modern Heat authors and are launching:
The FEEL THE HEAT writing competition!
Do you have a fresh, vibrant, sassy voice and a passion for sexy alpha heroes? Can you write sparky dialogue, create great sensual tension and hot love-scenes?
If so, then we want to hear from you!
Details:
Email your first chapter and synopsis of a Modern Heat novel to: feeltheheat@hmb.co.uk by 15th September 2008
The WINNER receives an editor for a year!
TWO RUNNERS-UP will be given critiques of their first chapter entries and an editorial telephone consultation!
The winner will be announced October 1st 2008
The Modern Heat guidelines can be found here Writing Contest: Mills & Boon Modern Heat Writing Guidelines and I have asked some of our existing Modern Heat authors to blog throughout this period to share writing tips and their experiences.
If you look through the I Heart Presents archives (particularly for November and December 2007) you will find many useful tips and guidelines that are relevant for this competition.
And now for the serious part!
Rules:
Your entry must be aimed at Modern Heat
Your entry must NOT have been submitted previously to Harlequin Mills & Boon
Only ONE entry per person
Submissions received after the closing date will NOT be assessed!
More detailed legal rules will be posted at a later date.
We look forward to hearing from you soon and I will be back to give you updates!
Updated to add: official rules are now available here.

Beat sheets

Someone, I forget who, asked about beat sheets and what they were. They are part of Blake Snyder's toolkit for plotting the story of a screenplay.
One of Blake Snyder's thesis is that all films share certain beats/points. You could say that it is a slight refinement on Vogler's theory. Certainly, it makes sense. Fifteen turning points that all commercial movies share: from the opening image to final image. From the theme stated to the fun and games of the premise realised. It is all about structure and really making sure they are there. You can find a sample of the beat sheet under the tools section on his website.
His blog is excellent btw. For example, he does a good explanation of why Indiana Jones 1 & 3 work a bit better than 2 &4. He loved them all by the way, but in terms of Story, 1 & 3 have more going for them.
Actually the more I thought about, the more I realised that my books also share the fifteen points. And if I can say what the points are, then I stand a better of chance of having a solid structure.
Note: the current Viking does meet the beat sheet test, but I keep wondering IF I chose the wrong B story and IF it would have worked better another way. can you tell I am sitting on my hands waiting for my editors' thoughts and the Crows of Doubt are circling?
It is one of those things. Some times, just a different point of view about craft can send your thoughts in a different direction.

Blame McAllister

Right, if you want to blame someone, blame Anne McAllister. When she blogged about Save the Cat by Blake Snyder, I knew I would want to read it. I also bought the companion piece --Save the Cat Goes to the Movies. And actually STC 2 is good and does help explain more about the needs of various genres and the why behind it.


The book is a quick and easy read but details the aspects of story telling, rather than character creation. It has a beat sheet which can easily be transformed into a synopsis. I suspect that it is worthwhile to make sure it can be filled out before you send in your ms and that you are happy with the book's structure.


The book has helped me come up with a new working title and therefore, it is useful. It also reminded me of several things. Again useful. And possibly not what he intended, but I will take inspiration when it strikes.


The style is far more breezy than McKee's Story. Story remains the bible in many ways for me, but I know many people find it ponderous and hard to follow.
The reason why such books work for commercial novelists is that like screenwriters, commercial novelists are concerned with storytelling. It is the driving motivator. It is what makes people keep turning the pages. Or buying the tickets or what have you.In other words, it is an arch plot close ended scenario. And whatever medium you use for the telling, the basic structure does remain the same. Equally because the archetype genres are the same, his break down of genres can be useful.
But it is a good book and has lots of helpful exhortations. It is not ground breaking or earth shattering. Swain covered the lot in his Techniques of a Selling Writer back in the 1960s.
Some people are simply more at home with one set of examples than others. If you find it easier to dissect movies, then you will get a lot out of this book.

One quibble I would have with Snyder is he is a bit too didactic and prescriptive. On page 21, this must happen. As my old editor explained, this sort of thing goes back to Russian Soviet type of thinking. At this point, the peasant must have a cow. Without explaining the why. But he is mainly talking about form and his obersvations can be extrapolated out.
McKee makes the point that the tools need to be brought out only when things feel flat and are not working. Snyder likes to start with his tools and his story board. Although he says that a screenwriter needs to be bullheaded, there is not the same exhortation to master the forms that I felt with McKee or Tywla Tharp. However, I suspect that the intent is there. It is only through mastery that one learns. And unless one understands the form, one can not understand the why. The only reason to deviate is to put something better in its place.
And equally that sometimes, you just need to write. And if it is not broke do not fix it. Form not formula. There is a subtle difference. Beat sheets , story boards etc are tools that assist and not straight jackets that confine.

I suspect in many ways Save the Cat is of more use to editors and those studio executives. In other words, for that time when you are looking for holes and reasons reasons why certain things are not working. But it is more of a fixing a bad page than filling the blank page sort of book. And therefore, authors need to rely on their imagination to create the first draft. The first draft could be a story board btw. Or it could be the actual writing. But at some point the writer needs to create.
I found it interesting that Snyder rarely refers back to his story board when he is writing his script.
Equally script writing is far more of a group exercise than novel writing. So there is more of a need for a central bible.
Also sometimes, it can be useful to know why you are writing certain types of scenes or what the vague missing element is.
I understand he is speaking at the RWA Nationals. It will be interesting to see what people make of him. I suspect he is fantastic in person.
But McKee, Swain and Maass remain my favourite books.