It’s not enough to write a page-turning story with characters you can’t help but love. Editors, agents, and readers are eager for writing that does not read like this:

After reading all the words on my contract, I know what my rights are.

They want tight, powerful prose like this:

I read my contract. I know my rights.

And this is where Don McNair’s book, Editor-Proof Your Writing: 21 Steps To The Clear Prose Publishers And Agents Crave, comes in. He lays out the 21 steps that are guaranteed to tighten your prose. Each step explains the specific issue (e.g. double verbs) and provides lots of examples. You then apply your new knowledge to the exercises with each step and the accompanying excerpt from a book (I skipped the excerpts). The final assignment for each step is to apply it to your first chapter (and only your first chapter). Most of the steps are achieved using the FIND function, so they’re easy to do.

After you’ve studied the book, you can apply each step to your novel. Even if you know most of the information, you’ll be surprised how many “issues” you’ve missed in your manuscript. For example, you might have sentences like this:

I sat down and watched TV.

Unless there is something significant about the act of sitting down, you can simply write:

I watched TV.

It is assumed the character is sitting. This sounds pretty obvious, but you might be surprised how many times you make this mistake without realizing it.

Another example is:

Their squeals of laughter fill the air as they chase each other and play tag.

The last I heard, tag involves being chased. The better way to write it would be:

Their squeals of laughter fill the air as they play tag.

I highly recommend the book to everyone, especially if you tend to write like the before examples. It’s a quick and easy read that makes the editing process more efficient. Also, it includes several chapters on hooking the reader and keeping them hooked.

How do you edit your writing to ensure it isn’t flabby?

In an attempt to bring life to their writing, many new writers fall in love with adverbs and clichés. In truth, adverb and cliché abuse has the opposite effect to what they intended. It leads to flat writing.

Jessica Bell’s newest book, Adverbs & Clichés in a Nutshell, is what your prose really needs. She explains why you want to avoid them, and proves a multitude of examples to show how much better your writing will be when you use, instead, alternative methods to bring your writing to life.

For each example, she lists a bunch of adverbs and clichés. Next, she has two similar paragraphs demonstrating the use of these words. One is written with the adverbs from the list, the other with the clichés. And finally, she presents a paragraph rich with imagery that is far superior to the previous two. You learn by example.

I recommend Adverbs & Clichés in a Nutshell to everyone who struggles with them. And I especially recommend it to EVERYONE in broadcasting. Apparently someone told them that clichés are a good thing, and the more you abuse the better. They always look proud when they do it. Too bad they can’t hear me groan.

Last month, Natalie Aguirre (Literary Rambles) interviewed Chuck Sambuchino about his new book, Create Your Writer Platform. Natalie was excited about the book, so I had to check it out.

Unlike other promotion-based books I’ve reviewed, this book doesn’t focus solely on social media. Chuck talks about what platform is and why it’s necessary. He shares twelve fundamental principles of platform (the book is worth it for this chapter alone), and he discusses platform for fiction and memoirs. Topics also include choosing the platform avenues that will work for you, as well as information on the use of websites, blogs, newsletters, non-fiction articles, public speaking, and social media. At the end of the book is a section with author case studies that showcase what several authors did to make the most of their platforms.

Create Your Writer Platform is one of those books you don’t have to worry about being out of date before you finish reading it, because Facebook decided to add another feature, or because there’s a new social media site that’s suddenly become popular. And it’s one of those books you’ll want to review again and again.

* * *

If you’re interested in learning more about crafting YOUR social media strategy, the YARWA (YA chapter of the Romance Writers of America) is offering a month long workshop during April. This workshop is for both the newbie and individuals experienced with social media. For more information, please check out their website. You don’t have to be a member of the YARWA or RWA to register.

Have you given much thought to your writer platform?

I’ll see you in April, when I return to blogging after spring break. XOX

Two months ago, I swore I wouldn’t buy any more books dealing with the craft of writing fiction. But after reading this and this post on the moral premise, my interest was piqued regarding the book The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue & Vice for Box Office Success by Stanley D. Williams.

Did I buy the book right away? Nope. Didn’t need to. The moral premise for my WIP came easily to me, thanks to the blog posts. It wasn’t until I started to figure out my next story that I became stuck. My moral premise was lame. Actually, it went beyond lame. It sucked.

So, I ordered the book and I’m glad I did.

The book goes into what the moral premise really means and why it can benefit your story. As Dr. Williams points out, theme only plays part of it. For example, the moral premise for the James Bond movies would be: The pursuit of power leads to death and defeat; while the pursuit of justice leads to life and success (taken from the book).

The Moral Premise brilliantly explains how to create yours based on vice and virtue, how to use it to create your characters, and how to apply it to your plot and story structure. It gives you a framework for building a strong story that won’t let you and your readers down.

If you want to write a story that will resonate with your readers, I highly recommend the book. It’s both insightful and enjoyable. In all honestly, I couldn’t put the book down (though I did skim through a few of the early chapters). And the best part of all, there are plenty of examples from movies to demonstrate the author’s points. Movies we’re all familiar with.

What is the last writing craft book you’ve read? Do you usually figure out your theme before writing your story?

For many writers, once we’ve made the decision to pursue a writing career, we become so focused on finishing our book, we often don’t think about what comes afterwards. And with more options available to us than a few years ago, it’s important that we look at the big picture, no matter where we are in the pursuit of publication.

How to Publish and Promote Your Book Now! By L. Diane Wolfe is a thorough guide that will benefit writers, no matter where they are in the writing process. It covers everything you could possibility want to know about writing and beyond. In total, there are eighty-four chapters, each ranging between two to three pages. Topics cover all aspects of traditional and self publishing, social networking, marketing, and promotion. And with each topic, the book explains everything you need to know so that you can make the choices that are right for you and your project.

Chapters include:

• Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing

• Going the Traditional Route

• Business Setup (i.e. what you need to know if you’re self publishing)

• Developing a Website

• The Media

• Reviewers

• Where to Send Review Copies

• What to Expect From Reviews

• Newsletters

Because each chapter is short, you won’t find the level of information that you might find in a book or online workshop focused on that specific topic (for example, writing newsletters). But it is a great resource for figuring out what you need to do to succeed. The book is also filled with links you can click on for additional information on various topics. This makes the book invaluable, regardless of which publishing route you choose.

Have you thought much about promotion, regardless of where you are on the publishing path? (and that includes those of you writing the first draft of your first novel).

Note: I’d like to thank L.Diane Wolfe’s publisher for providing me a copy of the book for the review.

Available February 5, 2012
Publishing/Marketing, 214 pages
$14.95 Trade paperback ISBN 978-0-9827139-5-2
$4.99 Ebook ISBN 978-0-9827139-9-0
Available in all Ebook formats

Barnes and Noble -
Amazon -
Amazon Kindle -

If you write straight romances or novels with a romantic subplot, you’ll want to check out Writing Love: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors by Alexandra Sokoloff. I’ve read a few books on writing romance, but this is the best one I’ve seen.

Unlike other books that deal with the topic of romance, Alexandra focuses on what she’s known best for: story structure. If you haven’t read her first book (Screenwriting Tricks for Authors), you might want to do that first. But for $2.99, it’s worth it. Alexandra assumes you’ve already read the book before reading Writing Love. If you’re familiar with story structure, it’s not as big a deal if you want to skip on.

One of my favorite parts of Writing Love, which is worth the money alone, is the chapter on ‘love story’ elements. In it, Alejandra talks about scene and story setups that you will find in romance. These include: call to adventure (when the protagonist first notices her future love interest), the reluctant heroine, mistaken identity, handcuff the couple together (not necessarily literally).

Another thing I loved is that she took ten well-known romance movies (e.g. Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sense and Sensibility, While You Were Sleeping) and analyzed them according to their romantic storylines. This includes how the various ‘love story’ elements were used to drive the story. She also discussed how the rules of fairy-tale structure can be applied to your book.

Overall, I highly recommend Writing Love for all writers who include romance in their stories.
Do you write stories that have romance as their main story line, or are they usually subplots?

We know we’re supposed to show and not tell (most of the time), but do you really know how to show what you want to say? Or do your critique partners keep getting on your case for telling instead of showing?

Jessica Bell recently released her new book Show and Tell in a Nutshell. In it, she presents sixteen examples on how to show different attributes instead of “telling” them. For each example, she lists the key points she wants to show (for example, boredom, living conditions, mess) and turns it into a telling paragraph. She then presents the same information, but in a scene rich with “showing."

If, like me, you need a list of rules and explanations, then your best bet is to first read Rivet Your Readers with Deep POV by Jill Elizabeth Nelson (I reviewed the book here). Jessica’s book doesn’t share a list of dos and don’ts for showing verses telling. Instead, it provides you with before and after examples that you can analyze to see how Jessica improved the scenes with showing.You then apply the results to your own writing. The two books complement each other in this way. If you are the type of writer who prefers dissecting examples to see why it worked, and aren’t into a list of dos and don’ts, then Jessica’s book is perfect for you. Either way, Show and Tell in a Nutshell can benefit your writing if you struggle with the concept of show and tell.

In addition to the above, Show and Tell in a Nutshell provides a list of different attributes (e.g. alcoholism, anger, flu, lust, panic attack) so you can see examples of how you can show them in your story. This is a great starting place if you’re not sure how to do it.

What’s your preferred learning style? Studying lists of dos and don’ts, analyzing excerpts to see how authors performed their magic, or a combination of the two?

If you’re interested in winning a copy of Show and Tell in a Nutshell, Jessica is giving away a copy on Goodreads. Good luck!

***

And the winners of the New Adult giveaway last week are:

Meredith
Christina Lee

Both winners have already been contacted. I hope you enjoy your books. :)

I love craft books that focus on writing fiction, but I’ve read so many that I reached a saturation point. Or so I’d thought.

Earlier this month, Donald Maass released his newest book, Writing 21^st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Story Telling. I’m a fan of his books, but I had no intention of buying this one. What could it teach me that the others on my bookshelf haven’t already?*

Well, apparently plenty.

Upon studying the bestselling lists, Donald noticed an interesting trend. Literary novels lasted weeks on the lists; genre novels survived only a week or two (with a few exceptions). He wanted to know why the difference, so he analyzed a multitude of books from the two groups. The findings led to what I can honestly say is his BEST book, ever.

One thing I love most about Donald’s books is his exercises. These techniques challenge our stories and our writing. Some of the questions can be applied during the planning phase, others during revisions (or you can use them all during your revisions). For example:

• Pick a small moment, when something tiny happens. Write down every feeling your protagonist has about that. Go deeper. What does it mean or epitomize? How does it sum up life? Weave a passage. Something small becomes big. (Chapter 3: The Inner Journey)

• What does your protagonist believe beyond all else? Create a story event that forces him to accept the opposite. (Chapter 5: Standout Characters)

• Pick a weak scene. What are three setting details that only your POV character would notice? How does this place feel, or make your character feel? Create a passage of subjective opinion regarding the place itself. Delete all other description. (Chapter 6: The Three Levels of Story)

One of the things I liked least about his other books is the lengthy excerpts he uses to demonstrate his points. I tended to skim over them, as did many people I’ve talked to. In Writing 21^stCentury Fiction, you’ll still find excerpts, but they are shorter, fewer in number, and from various genres (including YA, yay!).

Have you read any of Donald’s writing craft books? Do you enjoy learning new techniques to challenge your writing, or do you learn by analyzing the novels you read?

* I bought the book because Donald is doing a workshop based on the book in my city next year.

©Stina Lindenblatt

As you know, I love craft books on writing. As part of a somewhat regular feature, I’m sharing quotes that deal with a particular element. Today’s element is tension.

###

Many authors feel it is important to portray what is going on in their character’s heads, but they forget that much of that material has already been felt and thought by the reader. Rehashing what is already obvious does not heighten it. It merely saps tension. Exposition is a time for what is new: extra questions, fresh anxiety, unforeseen angles. Think of exposition as plot turns. It’s just plot that plays out in the mind.

The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass (page 228)

Here’s an easy equation for maintaining tension throughout your story: Change equals tension . . . . The best changes throw the protagonist off balance, while the ensuing changes keep her tilting further off as she struggles to right herself, but never quite succeeds. If the change tips toward a positive outcome, it needs to eventually turn sour. You might want to keep another formula in mind: Change equals torment. Torment your characters, and tension must result.

Between the Lines: Master the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing by Jessica Page Morrell (page 253)

You can’t build every plot completely around the emotional conflict, but every plot needs to highlight that conflict whenever possible. The more complicated your plot is, the more threads you have going on at once; however, emotional tension should underlie everything that’s happening. The emotional conflict should always be in the characters’ and the readers’ minds.

Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies by Leslie Wainger (page 88)

Every scene in your novel should have tension, whether that comes from outright conflict or the inner turmoil of character emotions. You create outer tension by remembering scene structure and giving the POV character a scene objective. What does he want, and why? It has to matter to him, or it won’t matter to us. Next, what keeps him from the goal? It may be the opposing actions of another character, or a circumstance in which he finds himself. Finally, make most scenes come out with the character suffering a set-back. This ratchets up the tension for the scenes to follow.

Even in scenes that are relatively quiet, characters can feel inner tension—worry, concern, irritability, anxiety.

Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell (page 75)

Do you find it challenging to drip tension on every page, or it something that comes easily to you?

If you read this link from Cool Links Friday last week, you’ve already had a taste of what you can expect in Rivet Your Readers With Deep POV by Jill Elizabeth Nelson. No matter what your skill level, you’ll benefit from the book, even if it’s just a reminder of the rules we quickly forget. These are the rules you don’t want to break, unless you want weak writing.

If you struggle with telling, this book will also help. For each topic, Jill gives examples of shallow POV, then shows how to make each sentence stronger. You might be surprised at how often you are inadvertently telling.
Topics include (note: these are not the chapter titles):

• POV basics
• What deep POV is and what it isn’t
• The dangers of thinking and feeling
• The horrors of prepositional telling
• It’s ABC not BCA: Are you writing out of order?
• First person deep POV (because you can screw up here, too)

The book also explains how to show emotion beyond the typical clichés (e.g. pounding heart). The Emotions Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi will help take your writing one step further. It’s the perfect accompanying book to Rivet Your Readers. It will give you ideas for showing emotion that you might not have otherwise thought of, both viscerally and externally. It’s the most used writing resource I own and also worthy of a 5 star rating.

Have you read either of these books? Have you read any books on POV?

source

As you know, I love craft books on writing. I’ve decided to showcase some of them by sharing quotes that deals with a particular element. Today I’m focusing on emotion.

<<<3

Emotional Elements: Wind as a sexiness all its own. It can ring the wind chime. It can lift the hem of a filmy skirt. It can comb her long locks in a convertible. It can wave the flag. It can carry rain and drive snow. It can push the curtains aside in a boudoir window. It can dance with autumn leaves. And it can whistle through the high country pines with a song so magical I get goose bumps. And that’s what we want from any of these elements—goose bumps.

Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot by Peter Dunne

Pay special attention to the events leading up to an emotional response. If the plotting feels contrived, the character’s reaction will seem contrived as well.

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi (love love love this resource)

Showing your reader an emotion is far stronger than telling your reader that emotion. You tell the emotion by naming it. You show the emotion by showing the character’s physiological reactions at moments of high tension. Keep asking yourself, “How does my character feel? What does my character feel?” If you can answer those questions with a physiological response, then you have a potent way to give your reader a powerful emotional experience.

Writing Fiction for Dummies by Randy Ingermanson (this is where the Emotion Thesaurus is helpful)

Think of each scene as a mini-movie. It must have a beginning, middle, and an end. And it must also have something happen that causes the emotional tone to change drastically.

Save the Cat by Blake Synder

Extended Metaphors: In this technique, you refer to the same metaphor at two, three, or four different points in a single scene; each mention adds another layer of emotion meaning . . . . I you use the extended metaphor to convey emotion in a scene, the guidelines are the same as for a single metaphor: aptness, moderation, and congruity with setting.

Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress

By Stina Lindenblatt @StinaLL

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a publisher asking if I would review Arthur Plotnik’s newly revised and expanded book, The Elements of Expression. Being the craft-book junkie that I am, I said, “Hell yes!” (Okay, I might have put it a little more politely than that). I have Arthur’s book Spunk and Bite: A writer’s guide to bold, contemporary style, which I loved. I knew I had to read The Elements of Expression.

Right away I’m going to admit this book isn’t for everyone. If you love the study of language, definitely pick it up. If you want to write with eloquence and wit, this is the book for you. If you prefer a book that gets straight to the point, you might want to skip on it (though you are missing a treat if you do). And if you easily suffer from writer’s envy, well, this book is going to be painful. Though if you read it, you might become the author others get jealous over because of your style. Get my point? I hope you do.

The book is written for everyone. Fiction writers. Non-fiction writers. Bloggers. Tweeters (yes, seriously!). And if you’re planning to do public speaking (i.e. if you’re planning to make extra income by conducting workshops), you’ll want to check out the book. There is a chapter called ‘Speaking Louder Than Words: Oral Presentation’. It has great advice and exercises for becoming a powerful speaker. If you have to do presentations for your job, you’ll want to pick up this book. It certainly couldn’t hurt.

What you won’t find is a discussion on grammar. It’s a book on style and expression. A book for picking the right words and imagery for forceful writing. And forceful writing gets noticed by agents, editors, readers. Isn’t that what we want?

Fortunately, being a book on expression, it isn’t dry. The Elements of Expression is filled with wit that left me laughing at the most inopportune times. In other words, this isn’t like those much dreaded high school English textbooks. I don’t remember any of them having a chapter on ‘Make My Day: The Power of Tough Talk’.

Have you read any craft books that deal with style and expression?

As some of you know, I’m addicted to craft books on writing fiction. Because I’m about to tackle the revisions on the first draft of my YA horror novel, I couldn’t resist buying Revision & Self-Editing: Techniques for transforming your first draft into a finished novel by James Scott Bell.

First off, I already own several great books on editing (see list below). Each book offers writers something the others don’t. Revision & Self-Editing is no exception. The commonality between them is the multitude of exercises and checklists to help you identify your novel’s problem areas. If you’re a left-brainer (analytical thinker) or whole-brainer (like me), you’ll thrive on this aspect of the book. For the right-brainer (the creative thinker), the book will help you make your manuscript stronger. You just need to have an open mind to being analytical.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive book on writing fiction, this book isn’t for you. James covers all the important elements of fiction (characterization, plot & structure, point of view, dialogue, description, etc), but the chapters are more like summaries. For more in-depth information, you need to check out other resources (e.g. Plot & Structure). There is, though, tons of information you might not know or have forgotten. He hits the key points of each element, and he does it well.

What I found great about the book was that it is a quick read. I had a hard time putting it down (crazy, huh?) because the chapters are short. It was easy to read “just one more chapter” and then keep on reading. This made for an even quicker read. It means you’re not wasting time reading the book when what you really want to do is edit your novel. Overall, I highly recommend the book no matter what your skill level.

Do you have a favorite book you use for editing your manuscript?

Other recommended books:
Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass
Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman

As you might have figured out by now, I’m a writing-craft-book junkie. So it should come as no surprise when I picked up Elements of Fiction Writing: Conflict & Suspense by James Scott Bell. I wasn’t planning to. But then author Jody Hedlund gushed about it on her blog. And she was right. The book seriously rocks (Okay, those weren’t her exact words).

It’s divided into two sections: Conflict and Suspense. These are further subdivided into twenty-two informative chapters (you can check out the table of content here). The explanations in each chapter are brilliant, and examples from various novels are used to demonstrate the key points. For those of you who enjoy exercises that transfer to your writing (me me me!), the book is rich in that area. For example (chapter 12—Styling for Conflict):

• Identify a highly charged moment in your book.

• Make a list of possible actions, gestures, or setting descriptions that might reflect upon the scene.

• List at least twenty to twenty-five possibilities as fast as you can. Remember, the best way to get good ideas is to come up with a lot of ideas and then choose the ones you want to use.

• Write a long paragraph incorporating the detail, then edit the paragraph so it is lean and potent. The telling detail works best when it is subtle and does all the work by itself.

As writers, we’re constantly reminded to read outside our genre(s). Certain genres are character-based while others focus on plot. If you read predominantly plot-based stories, you’re missing out on an opportunity to see how others develop characters readers love to connect with. Romance, young adult, and horror are a few genres that rely heavily on emotions. Thrillers and suspense are perfect examples for solid pacing. By reading other genres, it will help you further develop your craft, plus they might trigger ideas to use within your stories.

But what about craft books on writing? Have you explored books that don’t focus solely on writing novels and short stories?

We’re all familiar with Writer’s Digest. My bookshelves are crammed full of craft books from the publisher (yeah, I have a little addiction issue). But last year, I discovered a publisher most of us aren’t familiar with—unless you’ve read Save the Cat! by Blake Synder. Michael Wiese Production publishes tons of books that focus on TV and film, and many of these deal with topics relevant to novelists.

The following are books that now live on my bookshelf (all which I love):

Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need by Blake Synder (I recently ordered the sequel Save the Cat! Strikes Back: More Trouble for Screenwriters to Get into ... and Out of at Elana Johnson’s recommendation. It's in the mail.)

(Seriously, how can you resist this cover????)

Story Line: Finding Gold in Your Life Story by Jen Grisanti

Writing Subtext: What Lies Beneath by Dr. Linda Seger

Symbols, Images, Codes: The Secret Language of Meaning in Film, TV, Games, and Visual Media by Pamela Jaye Smith

Inner Drives: How to Write & Create Characters Using the Eight Classic Centers of Motivation by Pamela Jaye Smith

Have you read any craft books geared toward screenwriters?

(So what does Brad Pitt have to do with this? Nothing. But it got you to look, right? And maybe if you study these books and take up writing screenplays, you might just meet him when you pen his Oscar winning movie. Hey, you never know.)

On Monday, I talked about weaving symbolism into your story. No matter how small the detail, symbolism can enrich your writing.

In the post, I mentioned the book Symbols, Images, and Codes: The Secret Language of Meaning in Film, TV, Games, and Visual Media by Pamela Jaye Smith. I recently discovered this book and love it. If you’re looking for a deep book on the meaning of symbolism in our culture (or anything along this line), this book isn’t it. If you’re looking for a reference book to help you pull more symbolism into your story, this is what you’re looking for. Or at least it’s a good starting point.

Pamela divides the book into twenty-three categories. These include:

Astronomy and Astrology
Composition (i.e. the concept photographers, cinematographers, artists consider, and you will too after reading this section)
Numbers
Codes
Earth
Air
Fire
Water
Animals
Color
Anatomy
Clothes
Architecture

The book begins with a brief introduction on how symbols, images, and codes work. Each chapter (category) is then broken down according to:

• What the symbol means. For example, air means freedom, spirit, superhuman power, and understanding.

• How it’s been used in history, myth, and contemporary times.

• Examples found in movies, along with explanations as to how it worked in the movie.

• How to use it in your story. There are all kinds of cool ideas listed. Some are more appropriate for certain stories verses others.

• Written descriptions. Words that are great for creating powerful prose and imagery.

• Cinematic techniques. Not relevant to most of us, but this section is really cool too.

No matter what genre you write, this book is a great resource.

<<<3

If you want to know more about writing symbolism in fiction, I have a very special guest post coming up in a few weeks. This author KNOWS about symbolism.

(How’s that for suspense?)

You’ve finished your first draft. Congratulations! Now comes my favorite part: editing and revising. Sorry, even if you hate doing them, you can’t skip this step.

Here’s a list of books to help you with this all-important process.

Rocking Beginnings

From page one, you need to grab the reader’s attention. This is especially true when dealing with the harried agent or editor. Hooked by Les Edgerton is the best book I’ve read on the topic. I refer to it with EVERY novel I write.

Editing Made Simple

My all-time favorite book on revisions is Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon. It’s especially helpful for deepening your characterizations, driving your story forward, and developing page-turning suspense (even if your novel isn’t a suspense or thriller). And this is only the beginning.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King is another brilliant book, and is very different to Manuscript Makeover. They complement each other well.

Despite its name, the advice in The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman is applicable to your entire manuscript. The information is similar to that of the other two books, but I found them to be more comprehensive. But since a lot of writers love the book, I decided to include it in my list.

Grammar

It was the best of sentences, it was the worst of sentences by June Casgrande will have you smiling instead of falling asleep (a hazard with most grammar books). It’s the perfect stocking stuffer.

Powerful Words

Most writers have a thesaurus. But most writers don’t have THE best thesaurus in the world. I’ve blogged about Roget’s International Thesaurus before, but let me just say that this thesaurus will help you write powerful sentences and metaphors. I use it all the time.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I have a writing-craft book addiction. And you’ve only seen a small sample of them.
Do you have a favorite craft book of all time, or do you break out in a rash if you even look at one?

<<<3

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me:

Writing-craft books that will leave an agent singing,
A stocking filled with cool writing tools,
Gift cards so I can go on a novel-buying spree (yippee!),
Six books for page-turning plots,
Workshops to make me smarter,
One sexy dance outfit,
Membership to a writing organization,
Three books for kickass characterizations,
Tons of yummy chocolate,
AquaNotes, so I can brainstorm in the shower,
And Margie Lawson’s awesome lecture notes.

©Stina Lindenblatt

I’ve blogged about books that help you create kickass characterizations. Now you need a page-turning plot so they can shine. This is where the following books come in:

Most writers who have read Save the Cat by Blake Snyder agree it’s a great resource for creating your plot. The beats described by Blake help me structure the story before I write my outline. For more info on the book, check out this blog post.

Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass is a definite must have for plotting (and characterization). In the section on plot development, Donald provides numerous exercises for creating a layered plot and compelling subplots. You can use this book before writing the first draft or afterwards.

If you LOVE to plan, The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby is for you. I’ve never read a more comprehensive book on plotting compared to this one. By the time you’ve finished all the exercises, you’ll have figured out your premise, story structure, characters, moral argument, story world, symbol web, plot, and scenes. The book uses tons of examples based on well known movies.

Writing Screenplays That Sell by Michael Hauge is another popular book. It’s good, but it wasn’t one of my favorites (someone recommended it to me). I do think it’s a great book for writers who need the basics but don’t want to deal with the exercises in John Truby’s book. At the end of it, Michael analyzes the movie Avatar.

Two other books I thought worth mentioning include Emotional Structure: Creating the StoryBeneath the Plot by Peter Dunne and Screenwriting Tricks for Authors (and Screenwriters!) by Alexandra Sokoloff.

These books are worth the money, but you definitely don’t need them all. I borrowed John’s book from the library and realized I had to have it. It’s the best book on plotting I’ve read. But it is a lot of work if you do all the exercises.

Overall, the first three are my all-time favorites. I do recommend, though, if you’re new to writing fiction, you read Writing Screenplays That Sell or Screenwriting Tricks for Authors (and Screenwriters!) first. They cover the essentials. After that, I would add Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook to your library. Writers who don’t like outlining swear by Save The Cat.

Do you have a favorite book on plotting? Do you outline or do you jump into the first draft when starting a new project?

<<<3

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . .

Six books for page-turning plots,
Workshops to make me smarter,
One sexy dance outfit,
A membership to a writing organization,
Three books for kickass characterizations,
Tons of yummy chocolate,
AquaNotes, so you can brainstorm in the shower,
And Margie Lawson’s awesome lecture notes.

Yeah, yeah, I know. There are more than twelve days till Christmas. But The Twelve Blogging Days of Christmas for Writers (According to Stina’s Schedule) was way too long a title.

Anyhow, I’m going to be blogging about awesome gifts ideas you might want to start hinting heavily for from your significant others, friends, family. Or if they don’t get the hint, then you reward yourself with them.

<<<3

Back in September, members of one chapter of the Romance Writers of America started singing the praises for the online courses by Margie Lawson. Always on the lookout for anything that will take my writing to the next level, I couldn’t wait to check them out.

And I’m so glad I did.

But the best part was I didn’t have to wait until the next course to learn from her brilliance. Her course notes are available, and for much less than the online courses.

The following three I highly recommend to help you write fresh instead of stale or clichéd (the descriptions are from her website):

1. Empowering Characters’ Emotions

Want to add a psychological punch to your writing and editing?

Want to learn how to capture the full range of body language on the page?

Want to turn your work into a page-turner by powering up emotion and hooking the reader viscerally?

(Trust me, you do!!!!)

2. Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist

3. Deep Editing: The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices, and More

DEEP EDITING is for the writer who wants to psychologically impact the unconscious of the reader. For the writer who wants to learn fresh editing techniques. For the writer who wants to edit for power. (I blogged about rhetorical devices not long ago on the QueryTracker.net blog. That was nothing compared to what Margie will teach you.)

Her course notes are FILLED with examples from New York Times bestsellers. By the time you’ve finished studying them, you won’t be able to look at your writing the same way again. You’ll cringe every time you write (or read) the same old tired phrases that everyone leans on—except for the bestsellers. If you’re looking for a way to strengthen your voice, these courses will help you as well.

If I were to give them a rating out of five stars, they would definitely be worth six stars.

Is there anything writing related that you would like Santa to bring you this year?

This post is a continuation of Monday’s. I’m going to list the elements that make up each section of the act, and illustrate them with examples from the movie Tangled. Laura Pauling is also continuing her post on structure and Tangled.

(Warning: there are spoilers in this post)

Act Two—continued

(This is part two of the second act)

Pages 55 to 65:

• Emotional defeat

• Loss of faith

• Most vulnerable

• Bonding with co-protagonist (commitment)

• Emotional union

• Changes begin

• Growth is painful


With each conflict, Rapunzel and Flynn find out more about each other. For example, Flynn reveals his real name, and Rapunzel tells him her hair has magical properties (perfect timing for this revelation, which ends up saving their lives).

Each conflict supports the notion that the world is a scary place, just like “Mother” said.

Rapunzel realizes her growing feelings for Flynn. But Mother finds Rapunzel and tells her that he’s only interested in the crown (which Rapunzel has hidden). Once he gets it back, he’ll turn his back on her. Because Rapunzel and Flynn have revealed a lot about themselves to each other, they are both at their most vulnerable.

When Rapunzel refuses to go back home with her, Mother challenges Rapunzel to test Flynn’s feelings for her by giving him the crown and seeing if he sticks around.

Rapunzel and Flynn spend the afternoon together and their feelings for each other deepen. They go out on the water to watch the lanterns being released into the sky (naturally there’s a love song at this point to emphasize this).

Seeing the lanterns makes Rapunzel realize that the world is not how she originally thought. She isn’t scared anymore, and both her and Flynn realize their new dream—a life together.

Pages 65 to 70


• Deepest fears are tested

• Emotional set back

• Break up and give up

• Willing to lose

Rapunzel gives Flynn the crown. He leaves her for a moment to give it to the bad guys. He’s no longer interested in it. He wants to be with Rapunzel.

Flynn doesn’t return. Instead, the bad guys go over to where Rapunzel is waiting and point to him floating away on a sail boat. It looks like he’s leaving, when in reality, he’s tied up and unconscious.

Rapunzel believes he betrayed her trust in him, and returns with Mother to the tower, thus giving up her dream.

Pages 70 to 80

• Rebuild or die

• Higher purpose

• Alone again but aloneness is sad—no longer a comfort

Alone again, Rapunzel knows she can no longer be happy knowing about the beauty and good that’s out in the world.

She realizes that she’s the missing princess. She also realizes that she spent her life hiding from people who would use her for her power, when it was her “Mother” she should have been hiding from.

Pages 80 to 85

• Facing death

• Commit to love

• Faith defeat fear

• Climax

Flynn realizes Rapunzel is in danger. With the help of his ruffian friends, he escapes from prison (where he had ended up when he was captured by the palace guards) and races to the tower, only to find Rapunzel tied up. Mother stabs him as he climbs through the window.

Rapunzel makes a deal with her mother. If her mother lets Rapunzel save Flynn, she’s stop fighting against her and won’t try to get away.

Act Three: “Life as it was” (Pages 85 to 110)

• The climax

• Victory over the antagonist

• Physical euphoria

• The resolution

• Letting go of old self completely

• Embracing co-protagonist

• The emotional battle is finally won

• Honestly facing feelings

• Honesty creates trust

• Trust creates love

• Boy gets girl

Flynn cuts Rapunzel’s hair, knowing it means he’ll die. Anything to save Rapunzel. With her hair cut, the power will die.

With the restorative powers of the hair gone, Mother turns into an old hag (because she was hundreds of years old, as told in the prologue). The old hag dies.

Rapunzel attempts to save Flynn. She sings, trying to get her hair to save him, but he dies. But of course, this being a Disney movie, her tears have restorative powers and Flynn lives.

Rapunzel returns to her family—the king and queen—and the kingdom rejoices, and all the loose ends are tied up.

<<<3

So, there you go, two different take on the movie Tangled, based on two different screenwriting books on story structure.

Emotional Structure also talks about the emotional journey of the story. Using Tangled as an example, I’ll be talking more about it in July.