How Do You Stay in the Right POV?

by Amy Sue Nathan

If your book has an omnipresent narrator, he or she sees and knows all.  You know, like when you watch TV and two characters are on the phone, line down the middle of the screen.  You can see both characters, hear what they’re saying. You know what each is doing and maybe even what they’re thinking.  If you remember the show The Wonder Years, that show was from little Kevin Arnold’s POV.  We knew what he was thinking — and although we could see all the characters — we were not inside their heads.  If you had a kid who ever watched the old Disney show Lizzie McGuire, same thing.

In writing — if the reader is given access to all the knowledge and thoughts of every character — or even a few — this can be akin to head-jumping.  And it can be done.  It has been done.  But for those of us tampering with genres and trying to publish — it’s a good idea to pick a narrator, a POV, and stick with him or her.  When an author allows the reader multiple vantage points within the same book, chapter, page or even paragraph,  I liken it driving to a restaurant you went to a year ago,  only to find it’s now a dry cleaners.  You thought you knew where you were going, but you were wrong. You stop and think, “Wait, I thought there was a restaurant here.”  You go back over your directions, your memories, the last time you were there.

And if that happens when you’re reading — well if it happens to me — I stop.

My suggestion is to pick a head and stay in it — through a chapter at least.  In third person writing I find it makes the story more intimate, more palpable.  My method for making sure I stay in one character’s head — is:

WW_K?

What Would (your character’s name) Know?

When writing or editing  a third-person story (I find it easier in first person) this helps me stay in one person’s head.  I can’t write what he or she wouldn’t know.  I can write what they see, hear and think.  I can write whatever he or she is privy to — meaning the actions and spoken words of others, as well as the setting. No matter when I change POV’s –  within the same story — or not — this helps me make sure I’m not head-jumping when I don’t mean to — or when I really, really want to, but shouldn’t.

I’ve not written with an all-knowing narrator — have you?

How do you stay in your chosen POV?

Or…do you not?

Writing and Reading About Sex

Reposted with permission of the author

by Randy Susan Meyers

I tried to think of a, um, sexier title for this post, but they all sounded, um, icky, and the last thing I want when I’m writing about sex is an ick factor. Writing about icky sex: terrific. Writing icky about sex: terrible.

I’ve been thinking about this ever since Pia Lindstrom, an interviewer from Sirius Radio, shocked me out of my I-can-handle-any-question mood when she asked something to the effect of:

So, I was surprised by how much sex is in your book. You did it so well. People say it’s hard to write about sex. How did you do it?

Um. Um. Um. Now there was a question I hadn’t been asked before. Sex is included in my work. (Ask my mother-in-law. When she read one of my earlier works—an in-the-drawer-book—she told my husband that I wrote ‘sex novels.’)

Wait! Before you run to the bookstore in hopes of getting a fun sex novel, save your money. Buy something by Jackie Collins. The sex I wanted to convey in The Murderer’s Daughterswas the gritty emotional side of the bedroom; the stuff we hate to admit is true.

I had to answer Pia (and fast.) How did I write about sex?

By praying no one would ask me about it.

By telling myself that my husband knows I am not writing about him (except for the good parts, of course.)

By realizing that writing about sex isn’t about insert Tab A into Slot B—it’s about the emotion behind the writhing.

By remembering what Elizabeth Benedict said in her wonderful book, The Joy of Writing Sex:

Benedict: A good sex scene is not always about good sex, but it is always an example of good writing.

It’s easier to write about sex when it’s ‘bad,’ when the character is damaging herself through the act, or using sex as panacea or cover-up, than it is to write about good sex. Perhaps it’s a variation on Tolstoy’s famous aphorism about happy families vs. unhappy families. All fantastic sex is remarkably similar in how it lights up the brain, while “I gotta get through this somehow” sex is a textured way to reveal the problems in a relationship, which leads to Benedict’s next point:

Benedict: A good sex scene should always connect to the larger concerns of the work.

When writing about my main characters, sisters Lulu and Merry, I wanted to show them reacting in wildly divergent ways to the same trauma (the murder of their mother by their father.) Naturally, their experiences of sexuality were defined by that horrendous act. If I wanted to reveal the ways they were affected by witnessing their mother’s death, I needed to go into their bedrooms, and not in a polite manner.

Benedict:  The needs, impulses and histories of your characters should drive a sex scene.

Most readers can tell when in a sex scene, the writer has stepped away from the character and inserted a boilerplate moment. It’s easy to understand why a writer might avoid writing deeply about sex. Nobody’s comfortable with the idea that readers who know them might think they are reading a page from the writer’s life.

Which means, if you want to be true to your reader, you have two choices. 1) Take the readers off your shoulder and be willing to go all the way (sorry about that—couldn’t resist) in revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly, or, 2) Skip the sex and use the f a d e – o u t.

Benedict: The relationship your characters have to one another—whether they are adulters or strangers on a train—should exert more influence on how you write about their sexual encounters than should any anatomical detail.

Can I just say how much I hate clinical words in novels? I want writers to capture the inner monologue so well that there is only a very small space between character and reader. Thus, for me, the clinical terms leap out from a page as though the writer is shouting. It becomes a ‘look at me’ moment, rather than a ‘be in the character’ moment. Unless, of course, the character is a sex-ed teacher.

What goes on in a character’s mind as Tab A meets Slot B? Are they actually describing their partner’s body? In The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey, the following passage of a couple embarking on their first sexual encounter reveals the emotional and physical relationship of this particular couple without a single clinical detail:

From then on it was all haste and confusion. He undid a few buttons on her blouse and left her to manage the rest while he wrestled with his own clothes. She undressed quickly, eager to be hidden between the sheets. Edward, clumsy with his underwear, took a few seconds longer. Then he was beside her, the whole shocking length of him, and they were clinging to each other. It seemed to Dara that they were struggling to surmount some huge barrier—the barrier between not being and being lovers—and they must do whatever necessary to get over it.

From this passage, the reader immediately knows that Dara is not chasing an orgasm and that she is bringing to this encounter a truckload of emotional baggage.

This is what I want from sex scenes—secret glimpses into the soul, which are possible only at our most vulnerable moments: when we break apart and when we come together—and sex is often a time when those moments collapse into one.

Writing great sex is sort of like having great sex, I suppose—losing yourself in the truth of the moment. Except when you’re writing, you get to go back and edit it until the moments are just exactly what you want.

Randy Susan Meyers is the author of THE MURDERER'S DAUGHTERS, published by by St. Martin’s Press, a Target Club Pick, named one of the Massachusetts Book Awards Top Ten Fiction books, and a 2010 pick from Daily Candy, Elle France, Boston Herald, The Winnipeg Free Press, The Daily Forward's Sisterhood List, Book Reporters, Goodreads and Author Exposure, The dark drama of Randy Susan Meyer’s debut novel is informed by her years of work with batterers, domestic violence victims, and at-risk youth impacted by family violence.

Are You A 10,000 Words A Day Writer?

by P.D. Martin

I know there are some freaks of nature whose normal output is 6,000-10,000 words a day, but for most writers it’s anywhere between 1K-4K words per day. And so, it sounds impossible when you first hear or think about writing 10,000 words in one day. But it IS possible…I’ve done it (many times). In fact, on my debut 10K day I wrote 12,000 words!

I first heard about the 10K day at a writers’ meeting in Melbourne. I was well and truly intrigued — and excited. I tend to write between 2,000 and 3,000 words a day (and I’ve been told that’s quite a high output) but the thought of quadrupling that was mind-boggling. So I Googled 10K day to find out what it was all about. The basic rules are:

• You write for four two-hour blocks (NO interruptions whatsoever).
• You take a 10-15-minute break between stints. 
• You stock up on food and drink in between each block so you don’t have to leave your seat during each session. 
• You clear your schedule COMPLETELY for that day. 
• You unplug the phone and internet (I know it’s hard, but you can do it). 
• You don’t edit or review anything you’ve written – just keep writing (perhaps the hardest one to follow). 
• You turn off your word processor’s spelling and grammar check so you’re not distracted by red or green lines. 
• You complete any necessary research and/or plot outlining work before the 10K day (or you fill in the research later). 

It also helps to have a writing buddy. This commits you to the full day, and serves as further motivation when you phone each other or chat online (yes, you can turn the internet back on for the short breaks). It’s not only support, but I guess a bit of healthy competition too.

My 10K days generally look like this:
9am-11am - First writing block
11-11.15am - Contact writing buddy for a few minutes, then stretch and stock up on food/drink
11.15-1.15 - Second writing block
1.15-1.30 - Second break (as above)
1.30-3.30 - Third writing block
3.30-3.45 - Third break (as above)
3.45-5.45 - Final writing block
5.45 - Chat to writing buddy
5.50 - Collapse into a chair, almost catatonic (like this woman)

Coffee and chocolate can also come in handy. My preference is for quality coffee and chocolate (I love the Aussie brand, Haighs). Anyway…

What’s the output like?

The first question I get when talking about 10K days tends to be focused on the quality of the writing. Most people’s initial response is that the words on the page must be crap. Not so, I say.

First off, by not reading what you’ve just written, you’re cutting off the inner critic. So instead of thinking: “That sounds crap, how else can I put it?” or “Oh no, that’s all wrong!” you keep writing and eventually the critical voice realises you’re not listening to them today and gives up. And let me tell you, it’s incredibly liberating to silence that sucker!

Secondly, by not re-reading your work and virtually not stopping, you’re effectively following a ‘stream of consciousness’ writing style. Many times when I’ve read what I’ve written in my 10K day I don’t even remember writing it. And I’m almost always pleasantly surprised.

Admittedly the 10K day works really well for me because I don’t plan/plot, which means I can do a 10K day whenever I can clear one full day. I don’t have to plan for it by plotting out what’s going to happen in the next few chapters. I do, however, do a lot of research. But that’s easy to overcome in a 10K day. Your sentence might look something like this: She rested her hand on her gun, relishing the cold feel of the (gun make and model here)under her fingertips. Or maybe your character turns up at a crime scene that needs some detailed description. Simple: She pulled in behind the black and white. (Description of street/house here)

The point is, you don’t stop. You don’t stop for editing, for the inner critic, for research or for plot decisions. You just keep writing.

So by the end of the day, you’ve got 10,000 words, and rather than deleting those words you usually end up adding to them. You add in research details, you add in dialogue tags and you add in descriptions. Of course, you also edit to refine your writing, tweaking word choice and sentence structure as you go.

10K days are particularly amazing for dialogue (like I said, you can add the tags in later) and for moving the plot forward. In contrast, I can see they probably wouldn’t work well for literary writers.

Of course, you can’t use the 10K day to write a first draft in 8-10 days. At least I don’t think you could! I find the 10K day too much of a brain-drain for a daily or even weekly part of my schedule, but once a month seems perfect for me. And, let’s face it, a 10K day is a great way to get a large chunk of work done while also getting a more direct sub-conscious-to-page experience happening.

Try it out for yourself! You may not get the full 10,000 words, but I reckon you’ll approximately quadruple your normal output. A fellow writer friend who was my 10K buddy one day only wrote 5,000 words, but when her normal output is 1,000 she was overjoyed with 5K. And in some of my more recent 10K days I’ve only made it to 8,000 words or so. But who’s complaining? Not me! I juggle my writing with a pre-schooler and this year I’ve also been taking on corporate work so 8,000 words is massive for me.

So, what do you think of the 10K day concept?

Reposted with permission of the author.

P.D. Martin – Phillipa Deanne Martin – is a Melbourne-based author with a background in psychology. She has written five novels featuring Aussie FBI profiler Sophie Anderson — Body Count, The Murderers’ Club, Fan Mail, The Killing Hands and Kiss of Death. Her most recent novel, Kiss of Death, is set in the world of LA’s real-life vampires and you can view a trailer at www.youtube.com/pdmartinauthor. She’s also released an ebook titled Coming Home, which can be downloaded fromAmazon or Smashwords.

Character vs. Caricature

by Amy Sue Nathan


When I think of a caricature I think of a guy or a gal, sitting behind an easel in a park or at a Bar Mitzvah, drawing pictures that exacerbate a enthusiastic model's strengths and weaknesses. If he has a big nose, you can bet, in a caricature, that schnoz is going to take up the whole page. These artists won’t insult a paying customer, but they will take one can’t-be-missed feature that’s and focus on it so the person on the paper is unmistakable to everyone he or she knows.

It’s fun and it’s cute and it takes skill, that’s for sure. But what’s missing are the behind-the-scenes details. The details that would make it special. Those drawings, accurate as they may be, simply capture the generalities.

Just like in a book.

I love to recognize a character in a book -- the way I love to recognize a friend in a caricature -- but I don’t want an antagonist or a protagonist -- or even a secondary character -- to be obvious and predictable and without detail. I want the little things that make them special, stand out, different, unexpected, troubling - maybe even ridiculous or contradictory.

In various capacities I’ve been privileged to read a lot of full and partial manuscripts in the past two years-- so add that to the books I read because that's what I do...I read. What always raises a red flag is when a character is predictable or typical. I read and wait for something special, a spark, a flaw or quality that makes someone believable — even if it’s fantastical or supernatural. Woven well into the character’s being it makes him or more than the typical guy or the typical girl or even the typical werewolf, faerie or vampire. That’s when the person or being on the page becomes worth your time - when there are nuances to become vested in. It doesn’t matter if the book is adult, YA or MG. I read them all — and the same truth holds true. It’s the little something special that pulls you in, maybe after the familiar has piqued your interest.

As writers we strive to write relatable characters — but we can’t forget that while we want some bits to jump off the page like the trademark nose — we want shadows and shadings, nuances underneath the surface that make one person special, different from the rest, that makes us step back and look at something close up to see one thing and step back to see something completely different — and everyone looking at it sees someone — or something — different.

Characters are open to interpretation, caricatures are not. They're pretty straightforward, and after a while…boring. So, if you’re writing about anything or anyone and the word “typical” crosses your lips…think of adding “except for” to the description to make the image a little more interesting.

How would you describe some of your characters?

Amy Sue Nathan is a mom, published writer, freelance editor, Philly expat in Chicago and a non-repentant chocoholic. 

She is a cartoon on Wednesdays only.

What’s The Right Amount When You’re Writing?

by Amy Sue Nathan

As a perpetual Weight Watcher even I was surprised when my leader had the letters B-L-T on her flip chart.  I mean, c’mon, I thought she was supposed to be helpful.

And she was.

BLT = Bites, Licks and Tastes.  You know, those things we don’t count when we’re keeping track of our food, but that can really add up.  In the world of weight loss you need the BLTs count big time.  They can make the difference in a good week or a bad week, especially if your licks are frosting and your bites are hourly. These actions that seem inconsequential on their own really add up to, perhaps, a whole lot more of you than you wanted.

In life a BLT can be too much.

In writing, a BLT might not be enough.

It’s a good thing to drop crumbs along the way for your readers but that’s different than a bite of something that is not complete, that’s not enough.  While in writing, less is more — less cannot mean less meaty — only lighter in word count.

These food metaphors are really making me hungry.

I’ve complained blogged before about dropped subplots.  To me that’s a prime (beef?) example of a BLT.  There’s also the BLT of a character described in detail for no reason.  I read and I wait, mouth watering, for him or her to appear again and when they don’t, I go on reading and I’m hungry for more.  Doesn’t mean you can’t add in someone where they need be, but it’s got to be a full course meal, even if it’s spa-sized.  Your character can fulfill his or her role in a short span of pages, but if it seems like it’s leading to more and it’s not, well, you don’t want your reader looking for seconds when you didn’t make enough.

Enough already, I know, I haven’t even had breakfast.

So when writing, remember to watch out for BLTs.  Make every bite, I mean word, count…and never leave the table manuscript when your reader is — or even might be — hungry for more.

Whew, done blogging. Time for breakfast.

Amy Sue Nathan is the editor of STET and the Social Media Liaison for Backspace: The Writers Place.  You can also find her on Women's Fiction Writers.  Amy is a writer, freelance editor and a non-repentant chocoholic.

10 Commandments for a Happy Writer by Nathan Bransford

Writers aren't generally known as the happiest lot. As a recent Guardian survey of some top writers shows, even the best ones don't particularly enjoy it all that much. And in case you think this is a new development, an 1842 letter from Edgar Allen Poe to his publisher recently surfaced in which he was found apologizing for drinking so much and begging for money.

But believe it or not, writing and happiness can, in fact, go together. For our Thursday entry in Positivity Week, here are ten ways for a writer to stay positive:

1. Enjoy the present. Writers are dreamers, and dreamers tend to daydream about the future while concocting wildly optimistic scenarios that involve bestsellerdom, riches, and interviews with Ryan Seacrest. In doing so they forget to enjoy the present. I call this the "if only" game. You know how it goes: if only I could find an agent, then I'll be happy. When you have an agent, then it becomes: if only I could get published, then I'll be happy. And so on. The only way to stay sane in the business is to enjoy every step as you're actually experiencing it. Happiness is not around the bend. It's found in the present. Because writing is pretty great -- otherwise why are you doing it?

2. Maintain your integrity. With frustration comes temptation. It's tempting to try and beat the system, whether that's by having someone else write your query, lying to the people you work with, or, you know, concocting the occasional fake memoir. This may even work in the short term, but unless you are Satan incarnate (and I hope you're not) it will steadily chip away at your happiness and confidence, and your heart will shrivel and blacken into something they show kids in health class to scare them away from smoking. Don't do it.

3. Recognize the forces that are outside of your control. While it's tempting to think that it's all your fault if your book doesn't sell, or your agent's fault or the industry's fault or the fault of a public that just doesn't recognize your genius, a lot of times it's just luck not going your way. Chance is BIG in this business. Huge. Gambling has nothing on the incredibly delicate and complex calculus that results in a book taking off. Bow before the whims of fate, because chance is more powerful than you and your agent combined.

4. Don't neglect your friends and family. No book is worth losing a friend, losing a spouse, losing crucial time with your children. Hear me? NO book is worth it. Not one. Not a bestseller, not a passion project, nothing. Friends and family first. THEN writing. Writing is not an excuse to neglect your friends and family. Unless you don't like them very much.

5. Don't Quit Your Day Job. Quitting a job you need to pay the bills in order to write a novel is like selling your house and putting the proceeds into a lottery ticket. You don't have to quit your job to write. There is time in the day. You may have to sacrifice your relaxation time or sleep time or reality television habit, but there is time. You just have to do it.

6. Keep up with publishing industry news. It may seem counterintuitive to follow the news of a business in which layoffs currently constitute the bulk of headlines. But it behooves you to keep yourself informed. You'll be happier (and more successful) if you know what you're doing.

7. Reach out to fellow writers. No one knows how hard it is to write other than other people who have tried to do it themselves. Their company is golden. If you're reading this it means you have an Internet connection. Reach out and touch a writer. And plus, the Internet allows you to reach out to writers without smelling anyone's coffee breath.

8. Park your jealousy at the door. Writing can turn ordinary people into raving lunatics when they start to believe that another author's success is undeserved. Do not begrudge other writers their success. They've earned it. Even if they suck.

9. Be thankful for what you have. If you have the time to write you're doing pretty well. There are millions of starving people around the world, and they're not writing because they're starving. If you're writing: you're doing just fine. Appreciate it.

10. Keep writing. Didn't find an agent? Keep writing. Book didn't sell? Keep writing. Book sold? Keep writing. OMG an asteroid is going to crash into Earth and enshroud the planet in ten feet of ash? Keep writing. People will need something to read in the resulting permanent winter.

Reposted with permission of the author.  

Nathan Bransford is the author of JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW, a middle grade novel about three kids who blast off into space, break the universe, and have to find their way back home, which was published by Dial Books for Young Readers in May 2011. He was formerly a literary agent with Curtis Brown Ltd., but is now a publishing civilian working in the tech industry. He lives in San Francisco.

MFA: Yay or Nay?

by Kathy Calarco

College degrees. Are they worth the hype? In 2007 I enrolled in college with a focus on obtaining a degree. My major remained unclaimed simply because college was new territory for me. Really, who begins college at age fifty-three? Me, that's who. Without a plan in place I attended "Registration Day" at the main campus with the objective of enrolling in classes based on whatever my adviser printed out based on a Liberal Arts degree (because that's where one begins when running screaming from math and science).

Registration experts sat at tables in a huge hall. One by one they helped students fill out a schedule. As one table cleared, a registrar would crook hers or his finger and wave in another student, similar to standing in line at TJMaxx minus the talking checkouts. My turn arrived and I was waved in by an older woman. She was pleasant and to my advantage, a former head of the English Department. She said to me, "What have you done lately?" I answered, "Before my eye-explosion I wrote three novels." In front of her was my pseudo-schedule, a list of recommended subjects based on my high school transcript. She gazed down at it and quickly scribbled a line through whatever English course listed on the printout. As she scribbled she said, "Oh, no, no. This isn't the subject for you. I'm putting you in the Honors English program."

Like I knew the difference. I shrugged and said, "Okay." She then asked how much of a course load I thought I could handle (keep in mind, I was fifty-three and over thirty years out of high school). I replied, "Maybe two or three a week?" And she added Art History to my schedule. "Let's start you off slow," she said. "Super!" said I.

Five years later and still without a degree, I have successfully completed nineteen credits, twelve of those in Honors English. I write, therefore I crammed as many writing courses as I could handle into my schedule, and have never seen my writing skills improve as greatly except for when I experienced a professional edit by a Very Awesome Editor.

While taking college credit courses, I also maintained writing in my work-in-progress, a project that's taking nearly five years to finish (note "eye explosion" and "enrolling in college" - those things were time sucks). All in all, I kept at the craft, one for college credits and the other for improving my skills on my own time (as difficult as it was during "eye explosion").

Another Fall semester is approaching and I enrolled in one final Honors English course, only to drop the course before starting. Thoughts of "And I need this why?" kept rolling around in my sub-conscious, sending subliminal messages for me to take one more look at "WHY?" again. Thus I set out on a path to wonder and ponder as to the necessity of a degree in Liberal Arts/English Literature. I have the utmost respect for degrees, especially in the Arts. And I strongly feel this about degrees: Once obtained no one can take them away. Plus, for the many it looks good on a resume. "They" say that these days one can't get a decent paying job without some form of degree.

I'm beyond hanging out with the workforce. I have no plans on seeking employment in the "real world." My career focus is finishing my work-in-progress with a later focus on seeing it to fruition, a/k/a publication. The question that begs asking and taps at my skull often is do I really need a degree in order to accomplish my writing goals?

Perhaps what I need to consider is the audience for whom I write. Am I trying to appeal to the Literary Fiction crowd? No, and if so I'd need the Bachelors and also the Masters in Fine Arts (most likely). And lately I've considered the "genre" in which I write. Still haven't determined precisely what it is, but I have narrowed it down, feeling my work can be considered "dramedy," a cross between a funny and serious storyline.

Do I need a degree to be funny and serious? Will said degree make an editor/agent view me in a more serious light? Do I care? Frankly, I've read many books by those with degrees in English, and many by authors with MFA's. Some were fabulous; some were "meh." Yet, my most favorite of books was written by an author with a degree in Comparative Religion. Go figure.

Earlier I mentioned the improvement in my writing skills resultant of taking Honors English and receiving an edit from Editor/Author Extraordinaire. The latter has been a mentor; with her I feel as if I was completing an internship in writing just by visiting her blog. My relationship with her has blossomed beyond the mentoring stage. (Knowing her is like having a personal guardian angel/philosopher/genius.) Through her I feel as if I'm obtaining CWE (Continuing Writing Education) credits necessary to maintain my writing edge, which works better than college for me. And she possesses a degree in English, is a literary editor and at one time in her life, a literary agent. So it goes, she backs up her profession with the necessary and appropriate credentials. (Plus, her books kick some major butt.)

All said, at this juncture in my life, I have already honed my "natural" talent (as some have called it) by completing the aforementioned Honors English and mentoring/interning via Editor/Author extraordinaire. I continued improving my skills, writing daily even if it isn't in my work-in-progress. I practice the craft regularly. I have no desire to be a critic, editor, agent or English teacher. I just want to write it, finish it, publish it. The THREE ITS. I feel it's unnecessary to return for a "degree" if my goal-focus is on seeing my work-in-progress or one of my other manuscripts to fruition. I'm FIFTY-FRIGGIN'-SEVEN! Seriously, time to carpe diem it up, right?

I honor and respect those who've pounded their way to a Bachelors and MFA. But personally I feel that a degree in the Arts isn't always a necessity for everyone. This writer-extraordinaire will succeed without the sheepskin, pretty as one might look on my wall. With the notion that writing is something I cannot quit, it proves to me that I'm on the correct and very focused path.

Degree or not to degree? What dost thou think?

Kathy Calarco maintains the belief that it’s never too late in life for anything. Having returned to school at age 53, she’s currently studying for a degree in Liberal Arts with a focus on Humanities and English Literature. She writes contemporary literature and poetry, and maintains two blogs, Writeful Mumblings and Five Minute Sprint. 

Can a writer NOT embrace social media? Sort of.

My name is Christina. I’m a published writer and I'm blogophobic. I’m also Facebook-averse and Twitter-terrified. 


Blogs don’t seem like enough to me. I’m a long form writer, I subscribe to egghead foreign affairs journals and ten thousand words is about the right length for me to learn about a complex issue like the financial crisis or the AIG bailout. I used to be a research analyst, author of in-depth executive white papers, and find that the quick take on an issue is usually a dumb take.

I don’t like chatting in public, I’m paranoid about people spying on me and listening in. When I’m on Facebook I feel like I’m stuck in a stalled New York City subway, a crowded elevator, or my high school cafeteria, looking at and listening to things I’d rather block out.

There’s a comic I love called Andy Kimmler who does a nice riff on what he calls “Fritter.”

I’m a person who’s always had a very few, tight friends with whom I communicate deeply and at length. Small talk and mean talk is what I find on many blogs and some online communities. (Yes, I understand the irony of me saying this while participating in an online community. Getting over my phobia is why I’m here.)

To make matters worse (or better?), the writers I hold in greatest esteem don’t even have web sites, let alone Twitter their every thought. I tend to lose respect for writers who promote themselves too much online. If someone’s sending me a Twitter and FB update every day, I think: pathetic. Monthly is fine, but daily or weekly – unless they’re doing something phenomenal – looks a bit desperate.

I don’t like airing my work and its aims too early – because it changes. It changes every day. Nor do I think it’s useful to share my, or read about another writers’ creative process. It’s a mystery, and I like to keep it that way. I’d rather get more and better fiction from my favorite writers than an ode to their cat, or a riff on their back garden. I want the magic, not an explanation of how they did the trick.

I have a web site where I post lots of my published, and some of my unpublished writing – and that’s fine. (And it’s out of date because of my online phobia.) It’s there for professional purposes, not social ones. I’m always glad to connect with people who write in, but I find I get more private emails where readers share in-depth thoughts that they hesitate to post on a blog. That’s really how I prefer it.

That said – does anyone know of any services that could help me with my online promotion? Because as much as I rant about it, I understand that it’s here to stay.

So here I am.

*****

Christina Gombar is the author of Great Women Writers, 1900-1950. Her prize-winning essays, memoir and fiction have appeared in numerous literary, consumer and online journals, including The London Review of Books, Working Woman, Scholastic, and Bookslut. She has completed a novel-in-stories and is at work on a memoir. You can find out more at her website: www.ChristinaGombar.com.


Originally posted on STET in May 2011

Why Prologues Often Don't Work

by Kristin Nelson

Kristin’s incomplete list of why prologues don’t work:

1. When the sole purpose of the prologue is to fill the reader in on the back-story so the real story can begin.

This is so easy to point out but harder to explain.

In the example of UNDONE, Brooke Taylor needed a prologue to show how it all started. To juxtapose who the girls were when they first “meet” versus who they are when chapter 1 begins. The prologue also serves a strong purpose. It sets tone, character, and sets up several questions. Why did Kori become a “I-puke-cheerleaders-for-breakfast” kind of girl? Something has happened but what? Why is Serena obsessed with her by her own admission? And it’s very clear that these two girls have nothing in common in this bathroom scene yet Kori calmly states that they are more alike than Serena knows. They are connected.

This is a prologue with a clear purpose. The reader should want to know more by the end or it doesn’t work. It’s also masterful. Brooke managed to accomplish quite a bit in just 4 short paragraphs and this leads me to the second reason why prologues often don’t work.

2. They are too long.

This is the death of a manuscript if a writer has problem #1 and then it’s combined with problem #2.

3. When the prologue is in a whole different style or voice from the rest of the manuscript.

Then when chapter 1 begins, readers are left flummoxed—especially if that style or tone of voice is never revisited.

4. When the prologue is solely there to provide an action scene to “draw the reader in” but then serves no other purpose or is not connected to the main story arc or is only loosely so.

5. When the prologue introduces the evil character simply so the reader can “know” what is at stake.

I can sum this up in two words. Clumsy writing.

6. When the prologue is supposed to be cool (or I might reword this to say the writer thinks it sounds cool).

Lots of writers overwrite when creating a prologue. It shows.

When all of the above is happening (and there are probably a dozen more reasons why prologues often don’t work), it becomes really clear that the writer isn’t paying attention to dialogue, character development, plot pacing, etc. All key elements of good writing.

This is why almost all the agents I know completely skip the prologue and start with chapter one when reading sample pages. A beginner writer might actually be able to do good character, dialogue, tone, pacing, and whatnot but it’s more than likely not going to show in the prologue.

Now in defense of the prologue, when it’s done well, it’s truly an amazing tool. The number of times I’ve seen a prologue done extraordinarily well in requested submissions? Well, I can count that total on two hands….

Photo by Daniel Hirsh

Kristin Nelson has her B.A. from the University of Missouri at Columbia and is a graduate of the nationally respected University of Denver Publishing Institute. In the early nineties, she studied creative writing with National Book Award Nominee Patricia Henley at Purdue University where she earned her M.A. This makes her particularly interested in representing fiction.

Before opening Nelson Literary Agency, she learned the ropes working for another literary agent. As for her previous work history, Kristin has been a college English teacher, a freelance writer, and a corporate trainer for business communication topics before embracing her true passion of agenting.

Reposted with permission