From the pen of Gail Sattler
May 1, 2012
Further to my last post, hopefully the showers are over, and it's time for the May flowers.
Like those flowers, it's also time for a lot of things that have either lain dormant to spring up, getting ready for the summer that is nearly upon us. What does that have to do with writers?
I know many other writers are like me when the long doldrums of winter are over, and here where I live on the West Coast, the endless Spring rain seems to finally be at an end. That means only one thing for the writer - distraction. There are so many things to do, even if it's just to go out and enjoy the summer.
My topic this month is distraction, since this time of year is often more distracting than the Christmas season. At Christmas, it's cold and miserable, and it's not a hardship to go inside and sit down for hours at the computer after the stores close. However, in the late spring, there are a million things to do, and after being trapped by winter, sitting in the basement all alone with the computer is not many peoples' idea of a fun time.
But it can be. Just as all the flowers and plants are in their biggest spurt of growth all year, so can all those plots and themes. The trick is to sit down and do it. I have a few suggestions, but the trick is to do what works for you, because different things work for different people. Sometimes all that's needed to motivate a writer to sit down and write is to move to a more pleasant location. This might be as simple as taking the laptop outside to sit on the back porch - in a location where you can still see the monitor in the bright light. If you have this feature on your word processing program, it sometimes help to change the background to black and the text to white when reading in a location with very bright light.
For me, regardless of where I am, what motivates me to write more and surf/email less is to turn off my WiFi. Of course, this also makes the battery last longer, so that has two benefits.
Another thing that can work to fight distraction is to plan a time frame to write, and then do it. You may only need 20 minutes a day to get started, or if you can take one hour at a time every day, in a week you will have done more than an entire workday's worth of writing, and that's a lot.
If you're not writing, but instead out enjoying the summer, another thing a writer can do is to watch people as a character study. It's not as productive as actually writing, but if you "know" your character well, you will write faster once you do sit down to write.Go find your principal protagonist, or even your antagonist. He or she is out there!
If you're out driving, study the world around you - and learn setting details. Then when you do sit down to write, close your eyes and picture somewhere you've been recently. What colours were there? What did it smell like? Was it windy? Were there lots of trees and/or flowers? Was it pleasant, or could you hardly wait to get away from there? Why?
I hope I have given you some ideas to help motivate you.
In my current project, I need to do some studies on chickens, and I know exactly where to find them. I also know you can buy chicken diapers on eBay. Oops. Gotta turn off the WiFi.
Until next time, happy researching, and productive writing.
Gail Sattler
www.gailsattler.com
Gail Sattler is a well known author with 30 books published with Barbour, Harlequin, Abingdon Press, and B&H.
April 1, 2012
Happy April! Welcome to all our new members this month!
April showers bring May flowers, and this is the time for those showers.
I wonder how the rest of that poem goes, but this isn't the place for that. This is the place to write new poems and prose. This is also the place that I'm going to answer another question that's been asked. This month's question is - how can I keep true to POV (Point Of View)? Or to reword this question, how can a writer stop head-hopping?
To define head-hopping, that is when in a scene, the writer shares the thoughts of more than the principle character of that scene with the reader.
The trend of styles of today's writing, except for extremely well-established old-time writers who established a following back in the olden days before computers and easy editing, is no head-hopping allowed - one POV per scene. If a writer bounces heads in a scene, this means a quick rejection by an editor, because it screams Beginning Writer. Not that a new writer can't write a good story, because every multi-published writer had to have sold a first book at some point in their writing career. But when such a basic writing error shows up early, most editors think that there are bound to be many more. In today's market, a book must be nearly print-ready (for both print and e-books) to be considered, especially for a beginning author who doesn't have a following of eager readers.
Of course the way to solve this is easier said than done, but in today's market, it must be done. The "rule" that works best for most writers is to put virtual horse-blinders on the POV character, and think, with every thought from that character, with horse-blinders on, is this something this character would see, hear, or think, or is it coming from a source that they wouldn't be able to see, hear, or think, without those horse-blinders?
To show my point, here's a sample of what I mean.
Gail sat, writing at her computer, worrying about not meeting her deadline, but she didn't see the man behind her with the knife until it was too late.
If the POV character didn't see the character, how could she know he was there?
Better - Gail sat, writing at her computer, worrying about not meeting her deadline, when a reflection in her monitor caught her eye - the reflection of a man with a knife...
Did she see it in time to move?
Only the writer knows.
Until next month, happy writing!
Gail Sattler
www.gailsattler.com
Gail Sattler is a well known author with 30 books published with Barbour, Harlequin, Abingdon Press, and B&H.
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Winter 2012
I'm going to answer another question that has been asked of me by many aspiring writers, and some experienced ones.
Should I outline, or should I just go where the story leads me?
This is a difficult question and the answer is - do whatever works for you. However, now that it's said, we have to carefully consider what results we are trying to acheive, because the results we are striving for will narrow our fields of how we get there.
We have names for these methodologies of outlining or not - Plotster and Pantster. The Plotster is one who writes down and fully outlines their story before they start writing. The Pantster is called that because they write by the seat of their pants and follow where the character is going, as the story progresses. Do not let it be said that Pantsters don't plot, it's just done in a more loose and less planned manner.
Which one is right for you? Honestly, most writers are somewhere in the middle. Most Plotsters I know (myself included) outline the story but leave plenty of room open for flexibility. Most Pantsters I know have an ending sort of planned out, but they don't know how they're going to get there, their characters just do as they go along with the story.
When I sell a book, I'm selling the story before it's written, which means I have to outline the story in my synopsis in order to sell it. Once contracted, I'm obligated to follow the plot I have sold. For me, once it's outlined, it's easier to write because I know where I'm going, why I'm going there, and how I'm going to do it.
For the true Pantsters I know, they have the book full written, then they summarize it down to a synopsis, so when they sell the book, it's all done and all they have to do is touch edit it.
So the bottom line is, either way the story gets written, do what works for you.
And with that, first, happy writing to all!
Gail Sattler
www.gailsattler.com
Gail Sattler is a well known author having published over 30 books with Barbour, Harlequin and Abingdon Press.
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First post
For my first post here, I'd like to welcome you here.
If you're here because you love to read, you've come to a good place to check out many authors and their books. Most writers are avid readers, and welcome comments and questions about reading and writing, and not only their own books. So feel free to email anyone here. You'll be glad you did.
If you're here because you love to write, you've also come to the write/right place. Other authors can share a wealth of knowledge about the craft, and that's what I'd like to do right now.
Many people, both readers and writers, have often asked me, what is the best advice I can give. The answer to that comes to me in a flash. The answer is... Read! Lots! While there is value in the classics, and value in older favorite books, if you are a writer, you need to read books that are current and hot off the shelf. Even then, they're not really all that new in this marketplace, because many of them were contracted up to 2 years before they actually hit the shelf. Keep up with current styles and formats, and pay attention to what experienced authors say and do. If you want to run, first you have to walk, and if you want to write, first you have to read.
And with that, happy reading to all!
Gail Sattler
www.gailsattler.com
Gail Sattler is a well known author having published over 30 books with Barbour, Harlequin and Abingdon Press. |
