FIRE UP YOUR STYLE of WRITING Week 2 AtoZ

If you were confronted with The Kingston Trio’s age-old dilemma of being stranded on a subway beneath the streets of Boston - never to return, and with your fate still unknown - which three books on the craft of writing would you want in your knapsack?

My three choices are:

1. ON WRITING by Stephen King;

2. THE FIRE IN FICTION by Donald Maass; and

3. THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by Strunk and White.

 

Stephen King (and Meryl Streep) can make a grocery list sound suspenseful so I would be assured of entertainment. Reading his advice, or advice he received and implemented, makes me want to immediately click open a blank document and start writing. Of course, in this surreal scenario on the subway, the netbook would have lifetime batteries.  

My reason for wanting Donald Maass’s book is simple. I’ve read THE FIRE IN FICTION through several times, marked passages and highlighted important points. But he also offers practical exercises for improving an early draft that focus on character, turning points of a scene, and my favorite: sustaining tension. A person could spend a lifetime on those exercises.  

If you ever experience brain freeze, or have a mental block in one particular area where the word choice always eludes you, then THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE is worth owning. Do you know the proper use of an ellipsis? Are you familiar with the “serial” comma? How confident are you in your word usage/spelling:

 its, it’s;

their, there, they’re;

that, which;

however, nevertheless;

farther, further;

effect, affect;

then, than;

past, passed (my Achilles heel!!!) 

Wasn’t it Sonny Bono who (that) said, “And the list goes on . . .”?

 

 

Why I Self-Publish in the Face of Delusion

Donald Maass, head of the Donald Maass Literary Agency, says if you don’t want to reach readers, then by all means, self-publish. (see Mark Coker’s post )

He sticks by his guns in the face of Mark Coker’s telling Mr. Maass that he thought he was underestimating the transformative impact self-published authors will have on book publishing. He looked Mark Coker in the eye, smiled, and said, “and I think you’re delusional.” to which Mark replies, “Touché!”

But think about it. I have 800+ ebooks in my Kindle archives right now. How many of those are good books, and how many are great books, and how many are not worth my time of day? If an editor, publisher, and book store had vetted these books, I wouldn’t have to do the work myself. You wouldn’t have to do the work yourself, and you and you and you. That’s the picture I see when I look at self-publishing.

Am I against self-publishing? No, I am all for it . . . for myself. I have always been a do-it-yourselfer, from sewing clothes, to giving myself pedicures/manicures, even at one time cutting my own hair.  Why? Money, or lack of same. Do I plan to make money writing and publishing my own novels? No, that is not my goal.

My question to Mr. Maass is, “If I wait until an agent agrees to represent me, then wait for said agent to find a publishing company interested in my novel, then wait for said book to be edited, formatted, and published in the image of said publishing company, then self-market said book - as will be my responsibility - how many more readers will I reach and how much more money will I net than if I self-publish?

I have a feeling his answer would be, “There is no way I can answer that question, Gail.” (I love Mr. Maass’s book, The Fire in Fiction, and just know he would respond to me by name) “And,” he would add, “I think you’re delusional.”

 

 

The Fire In Fiction by Donald Maass

 

Tension Mystery Drama

To me, developing scenarios and moving them forward, backward, or sideways is more fun than watching monkeys swing upside down in a tree.

The second novel of my Pepper Bibeau mystery series is well underway with all the plot lines established. Now that I understand each of the characters’ roles, and how they've decided to act, I am ready to add the full weight of their reactions. That's the fun part.

After reading and rereading Donald Maass’ The Fire In Fiction, I know the most important task of writing is to create conflict for or within my characters. Conflict creates tension, mystery, and drama. It carries the threat of failure, something to which I can relate. Most people can.

Why does the threat of failure create such stress?
1. The father of seven doesn’t get the promotion that would include a much needed raise - will the family have enough to eat?
2. A young girl who doesn’t know how to swim falls into the deep end of the community pool - will she make it to the pool’s edge?
3. A strong wind causes a harsh drop in temperature - will the hikers survive?
Anyone can easily bring a scenario to its logical conclusion, but a good writer will continue to raise the stakes and tension, until that conclusion is reached.

A missed promotion or lost raise means less money for food. Unhealthy meals may lead to weakened brain power causing:
... lower grade scores for the child struggling to concentrate;
... slower reaction time in the mother cooking at a hot stove or carrying a squirming baby;
... reduced quality of critical-thinking for the father in his job as a stock broker or vehicle assembly lineman or construction crane operator.
Knowing that the result of one or more of these consequences can be deadly creates tension.

***If the young girl who falls into the pool can’t swim, and the gathering of people is loud, her distress might go unnoticed until it is too late.
***Or when her friend jumps in to save her, the girl panics and they both drown.
***Another possibility is that someone knows the girl can't swim and pushes her in, then covers her shouts for help by turning up a boom box to top volume, which leads to a CSI-type mystery.

A group of people climbing one of Alaska’s snow-covered mountains is unprepared for the drastic drop in temperature.
### Unable to reach shelter, and without proper clothing, two members curl up in the snow and freeze to death.
### Maybe the group brought tents, but one person wanders away from camp in a disoriented state and dies of exposure.
### Or worse, there isn’t enough room in the sheltered area, and the person who draws the short straw is exposed to a subzero wind chill factor. Drama ensues.

Whatever your choice of genre, what intrigues you most about a novel and keeps you reading: tension, mystery, or drama?

You can find The Fire In Fiction on Kindle:
The Fire In Fiction by Donald Maass