Seven writing tips I can't live without

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1. Write first, edit later (the only thing you can't edit is a blank page!)
2. Stop listening to everyone, instead choose one person to help you go a step further
3. BICHOK. Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard
4. Rules aren't a formula for getting published, they're guidelines. Use them when it benefits your writing
5. Never believe you'll know everything there is to know about writing. Every day will bring a new learning experience, so be open to these experiences and always seek to improve as a writer
6. Know the rules before you break them
7. "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass..." ~ Anton Chekhov 

How about you: what are the writing tips you can't live without?

When showing interferes with your story (I know, right!)

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For the last few weeks I’ve been struggling with my manuscript revisions. And I don’t just mean “struggling,” I mean capital S-t-r-um-uggling!!! I have the structure of this Part down, and I’ve got everything happening when and where it’s supposed to be happening. But as one of my fantastic critique partners pointed out, I’m still lacking a certain something. And are they going to let that slide. Not on your life! Hugs.

After various conversations, we finally narrowed it down to the dreaded “Show not Tell”. What can I say? Everyone knows the rule. Don’t tell what’s happening in the story, show it instead. Paint a picture in the reader’s mind so they can see, smell, hear, taste, and touch the characters and the story.

But that’s where I’ve been going wrong.

Apparently.

Our recent conversation went something like this (edited a little for dramatic effect of course):

Me: “I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. Everyone says I should show not tell. And I’m doing that. Look, I’ve got Verity doing this, this, this, and this, and the readers can interpret her emotions from her actions. And I’ve got her thinking this and this, so we know what’s going on in her mind as well.”

Most-patient critique partner: “But you’re still not showing enough. Show us more, delve into her psyche.”

Distraught me: “I’ve done that.” Plaintive wail. “Look, here’s an example paragraph. See. Here, here, here and here. Showing. No backstory, no exposition, no flashbacks, no telling. I’ve followed all the rules. So how am I supposed to show anymore?”

Most-wise critique partner: “Hmm.” Picture an evil glint in her eye and fingers being drummed on the desk while she plots and plans. No, I made that bit up. Honest! “Here, I’ll have a go at rewriting your paragraph for you. I’ll show you.” (She didn’t really say that last bit, but I’m chortling as I add it in – poetic license and all that).

Nervous me: “Go ahead,” I say. And I bite my nails until the reply comes back, beautifully formatted in concise little paragraphs and lots of...wait...is there telling in there? And some backstory? And a hint of a tiny flashback? What’s going on? My world is ending. I can’t cope. The rules. THE RULES. WHAT ABOUT THE RULES???

Laughing critique partner: “Ah, those rules,” she says. “Well, they’re more like guidelines really.” I pictured a snigger at that stage, and maybe a little rubbing of the hands. “And you are following the rules, but it reads more like a shopping list. She went there, and she did this, and she bought a trolley-full of canned tuna. And she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, and the reader therefore knows she’s really angry at something.”

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Crushed me: I slink down lower in my chair and I ask in a teensy voice. “You mean, it’s ok to tell sometimes? And add in backstory?”

Most understanding critique partner: “Sometimes,” she says. “It needs to be functional. What you’re doing is following all the rules very carefully (ooh look, adverb!), and being too obvious in doing so. So lighten up a little (I added that bit), let the story flow, and don’t be afraid to add in a little bit of telling or backstory here or there if the story needs it."

Lightbulb-moment me: “Aaaaaaaahhhh.”

Ka-ching!!!

And there you have it. Maybe now I can write a little more soul into my manuscript...

How about you. Do you ever have any trouble with “Show not Tell?” Do you follow all the rules a little too carefully (oops, adverb!)? What are your best tips on practical ways to apply the writing “rules” and/or "Show not Tell?"

Twitter Tip Thursday

Thought I would try something different today and share some of the tips and useful links that I've come across on Twitter this week. So here goes:


Trends:

• For YA, dystopias remain king @Ginger_Clark
  
• Other kids updates: people want middle grade more than last year. Contemporary YA girls books, too @Ginger_Clark
  

Finding an agent:

• In today's "closed-to-queries" climate, how can writers get agents? A few tips: http://bit.ly/d7BMgl @JodyHedlund
• How to pick an agent if you write for multiple audiences http://ow.ly/2PixF @Kid_Lit
  
• "The world of children's literature is packed with promise and savvy literary agents." http://bit.ly/aC2JIP Top 20 PB Agents... @KatApel

Blogging:

• http://bit.ly/clAJhR Gr8t post for the crusaders!!! @AngelaPenaDahle
• 3 Reasons To Start Blogging Before a Book Contract: http://bit.ly/cycgyZ @JodyHedlund

On being a writer:

• I think confidence is important to one's craft. Fear--of offending, of criticism, of failing--cripples your creativity @DiaReeves

Writing tips:

• Consider the names you give your characters. Some hard to pronounce names can be a distraction @Georgia_McBride
• Try to define your story in 2-3 sentences. If you cannot, you are not ready to tell it @Georgia_McBride
• Hope these links help all you fab pb writers: http://jillcorcoran.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-tips-for-writing-picture-books.html @JillCorcoran
• I see a lot of newbies writing w/o direction to the story=and then this happened then this and that. What is the story about? @Georgia_McBride
• I don't think in terms of describing every little thing so much as creating an image, something people will remember @DiaReeves
  

Revision tips:

• Don't hold on to words that don't add value to your story. Delete them. You'll think up more words. Better words @Georgia_McBride
• One rule I have is to read dialogue without tags. If I can't tell who said it by tone and voice, it's not good enough @kellyhashway
• Stephen King says to put the ms in a drawer for a month before editing <-- Works wonders @Tangynt

And my favorite tips for this week (you can tell I'm revising my manuscript right now!):

• To revise, I change the font before I read it again to trick my eyes into thinking I've never read it before @DiaReeves
• An oldie & a goodie. The 10 mistakes writers don't see - but can fix easily when they do, yay! http://bit.ly/10xTw @emiliaplater

I sat down to write the other day and...

I sat down to write the other day and realized my muse had deserted me. “Oh dear,” I hear you say. “A writer without her muse? How absolutely scandalous!”

I think I must be psychic, ‘cause I heard those comments before you even thought them yourself. So...I struck out on my own, forged a path through the wilderness, and went in search of that elusive being.

It’s funny, but we hear people talking about their muse all the time. “The muse is strong in me,” “I write when my muse takes me,” “I can’t find my muse.” But we rarely stop to wonder what exactly a muse is.

Is it a little gray being that looks vaguely like an elephant, and is twice as clunky as it runs up and down the stairs? Is it a little faerie-like creature that hates taking a bath but loves to eat Mars Bars (and won’t actually appear until you bribe the little sucker with two or three of those delectable chocolate-y treats)? Or is it more like a purple and orange-striped bumblebee, which zooms around playing quidditch with the marbles you lost years ago?

Oh, some people say that their muse is another person, but for me that isn’t the case at all. And, I’d have to say, at times my muse can resemble any one of the above. Or various other different beings, many of which are rather zany, and some of which would get me locked up quick smart if I even admitted to their presence. “What, you see little pencil-like objects dancing around on the coffee table? Umm...wait right there while I call someone to come and take you away...”

But, you know what? I love having so many different things that inspire me. And while I might be exaggerating (a little bit) about seeing all those fantastical beings, I’m not telling porkies when I say you need to find the thing that inspires you to write, grab a tight hold of it, and go along for the ride.

You never know where you’ll find yourself. And your writing will be so much the richer for it.

(You’ll never guess what happened yesterday. My muse came back lickety-spit when I found a half-eaten Mars Bar tucked away in the back of my cupboard! Guess it’s that little faerie-thingy after all. Until it decides to change into something else...)

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For those of you wondering at the randomness of the above post, I’ve written this piece for my First Crusader Challenge (check it out here). Hope you enjoyed what I wrote. And I hope it inspires you to find your muse as well!

Top Tip - The First 250 Words of Your Manuscript

GRAB THE READER'S ATTENTION AND DO NOT LET GO!!!

Enough said, I think.

But seriously, it pays to place a lot of importance on how you write the first page of your book. Obviously, the rest of the manuscript has to hold up as well. But...if you don't capture the agent's/editor's attention right at the start, the rest of the manuscript may not even get read.

Consider your opening scene. Is it gripping? Compelling? Does something happen? Does the first 250 words give a good idea of the voice of your main character?

Will a casual browser in a book store want to turn the page? Even better, will the first page make the casual browser want to keep reading right to the end of the chapter? That's one of the best ways to encourage them to buy your book right off the shelves.

I'm a part of a fabulous critique group, iVoice, where we work together to discuss plot and general writing issues, give and receive critiques on various portions of our manuscripts, and improve our writing skills. One of the particular things we focus on when critiquing manuscripts is the first 250 words.

Here's a useful exercise for you:

1. open a new word document;
2. copy the first 250 words (no more, no less) of your manuscript into the new document and save;
3. let the passage sit unopened for a few days, a week if possible;
   
4. open the document and read the passage in complete isolation from the rest of your manuscript. Pretend you're reading it for the first time in a bookstore while you tap your foot and wait for your partner to stop maxing out the credit card;
5. does the passage grab your interest? Be honest. Be objective. Would you turn the page?
   
6. consider the contents of your opening passage. Is the main character (MC) mentioned? Do we hear the MC's voice? Does something happen, or are we just reading about the MC thinking, reading, musing, sitting on the toilet, looking out a window, or any other passive (and possibly boring) action? Is the scene set-up so long that the reader still won't know what is happening by the end of the first page?
   
7. now for the big question - have you inadvertently opened with a cliche? There's some great websites out there on first chapter and opening scene cliches (too many to mention), and I would suggest you Google and have a good read of them. Unfortunately, many agents will assume that if your opening scene/page is cliche-ridden (for want of a better phrase), the rest of your manuscript may be built on cliches as well. Why give them a reason to reject your work before they even turn the manuscript page;
   
8. once you're completely happy with your opening page, give it to others to read as well;
   
9. listen to their comments. Apply;
10. do a happy dance, then repeat steps 1-10 all over again!
    

Author Jody Hedlund blogs about potential first chapter problems, and makes some fantastic suggestions about things to avoid. It's definitely worth a read, and I may even do a Top Tip post on the first chapter at a later date. Keep in mind that many of Jody's suggestions will apply to the first 250 words as well.

I can't wait to read your first 250 words! Will I want to keep on reading???

Current Trends in Children’s Picture Book Writing and Publishing

It can be hard to get a good picture (excuse the pun) of current trends within the children’s picture book industry. It’s particularly hard for beginning writers, who don’t yet have an agent or editor to query about possibilities, to get a sense of the industry.

Various editors, agents, and writers have shared their thoughts on trends in their blogs, articles, and internet sites, and these thoughts can be very useful to picture book writers. There are quite a few sites out there that have relevance to this topic, and I’ll give links to those sites and commentary as appropriate when I find things that may interest you. Always keep in mind that some of the commentary on trends you find on the internet is now out of date, while others articles are undated and may not be applicable to the industry at the current time.

What I thought I would do here and now is to bring together various comments and information on current trends for your information. I’m focusing on picture books here, but if you are writing other types of children’s books (or adult fiction), there are other sites out there with relevant information. Take a look, for example, at Agent Kristin’s blog, Pub Rants, “The Latest Trends in Query Letters and Sample Pages,” which has some intriguing insights into some overdone topics.

I’ll be writing a post in the future about whether you should write to meet trends, try to predict trends when you write, or simply write what you love and hope that it gets picked up. But somewhere during the writing process, you really need to take note of whether or not the story you are writing is acceptable to the industry and thus is likely to get published. Unless you’re an absolute genius writer with publishers and agents queuing at your door – definitely not me! – there’s simply no point in, say, sending a story about talking animals to an agent who refuses to accept them and makes this clear on their website.

Common themes in July 2010

So, what is the industry wanting in July 2010? The common themes seem to be these (although often it depends on the personal preference of an agent or editor):

• Comedy and humor sells books. Silly, wacky and/or edgy stories seem to be what most editors (and agents) are after these days (but take note of Editorial Anonymous’s comments on avoiding the frivolous);
• Talking animals have been done to death (but note that these types of picture books are still being published). Some suggest that you can still do this in a picture book as long as the animal acts like an animal – ie, stay clear of animals acting like humans. Others suggest that the difference lies in how well-realized the animal character is: Novice writers often don't realize that fuzzy and cute is not an excuse for flat and clichéd. For readers (and editors) to empathize with animal characters, they must be as fully-realized as human ones, incorporating quirks, foibles, and genuine motivations. (Eugie Foster, “Ten Myths About Writing For Kids”, undated);
• Don’t write about objects coming to life or inanimate objects (check out Editorial Anonymous for some great (pointed) comments about this issue);
• Rhyming text should not be attempted unless you’re already published or are really, really good at it;
• Consider realistic topics rather than “happily ever after”. Children these days are being exposed to more issues and problems in today’s society than ever before, and they need to be given the opportunity to understand these issues through the books they are reading.
• Non-fiction combined with fiction may be marketable. Editors have expressed a need for more creative nonfiction for all ages. Board books and young picture books favor subjects from children’s everyday life (pets, backyard nature, how their bodies work). For all ages, instead of covering a broad subject, focus on an interesting or unexplored aspect of the topic. (Laura Backes, "A Look at Current Children's Book Trends", undated);
• Stories should be told from a child’s point of view. Picture books with an adult as the main character are very rare. Children want to be able to relate to the main character.
• Parents shouldn't step in to save the day. Let the main character (the child) come to their own resolution of the problem; and
• Don’t write the sort of picture book you read when you were a child. Times have changed, and children these days don’t look for the same things we did. Marie Garcarz, “Trends in the Children’s Marketplace”, undated, says it well: Writing for children in the 21st century is wide open. The writer is not limited to talking ducks or Jane and Dick watching Spot run. In fact, using those formats are probably ways to assure that you will not get published. This generation is exposed to much more than we were. While we may have been reading The Diary of Anne Frank in tenth grade, they are now reading it in seventh! Classics, such as Little Women, intrigue the third grader instead of a sixth grader. Times, they are a-changin’. And publishing houses want to be ahead of the times.

For my next post, I’m intending to publish a list of the specific requirements of some literary agents, and what they are after in manuscripts at this point in time.

Changes in trends

I should note that trends are changing all the time, and what is selling today may not interest agents and editors tomorrow. In this respect, it is often suggested that you visit your local bookstore and research what is currently on the shelves. The idea is that this will guide you on what is selling in the industry and what publishers will be interested in.

The difficulty here is the lag time between when you write a picture book and when it is actually published (or even taken up by an agent or editor). If you try to write a story that fits with the type of books now on the shelves, by the time an editor looks at your manuscript (and considers the story for sale in, say, a further year or more), you may now be off-trend. Again, keep an eye out for my coming post about predicting trends.

Other useful tips on writing children's books

Some other useful tips on writing picture books (and children’s books generally):

• Follow the rules for the genre you’re writing. Every so often, someone comes along who can break those rules, but most of us won’t be given that opportunity. In particular, keep picture book text under 1,000 words. Under 500 words is preferable;
• Putting a fresh spin on a topic may make it more marketable;
• Main characters should be a few years older than your target audience;
• Write about conflict and problems rather than incidents. The main character has to have something happen to him or her, and be able to resolve the conflict during the course of the story;
• Don’t moralize unless you do it indirectly. Children want to be entertained, not preached to; and
• Characters must be believable.

Reference material

Some websites I have referred to in writing this post, which you may find interesting, are:

• Marie Garcarz, “Trends in the Children’s Marketplace”, undated;
• Eugie Foster, “Ten Myths About Writing For Kids”, undated;
• Laura Backes, “A Look at Current Children's Book Trends”, undated;
• Harold Underdown’s The Purple Crayon, “Resources: Trends in Children's Book Publishing”;
• Mem Fox, “So You Want To Write a Picture Book,” undated;
• Marisa Montes, “Notes on Writing a Picture Book”, 2003; and
• Susie Yakowicz, Marketable Topics for Children's Writers: Ideas for Writing That Win Over Editors of Kids Magazines.

While some of these sites are undated (or older), the comments do still seem to apply in today’s picture book industry.

Mandatory requirements or guidelines only???

One last thought to consider. It’s all very well to have regard to other people’s views when writing your picture books. But unless you are submitting to agents or editors with specific submission requirements (which should of course be followed to the letter), those views should be treated as guidelines only. Generally speaking, there seem to be no fixed rules in the industry (or if there are, they seem to change from week to week).

To put it another way, all rules are made to be broken. Above all, stay true to yourself and your own writing.

Keep writing (and enjoying what you write)!

R