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Although the mantra “show, don’t tell” have been spoken thousands of times in creative writing classes and workshops, the injunction is essentially meaningless. For one thing, it sets up a false opposition, an either-or, as if there is an opposition between showing and telling. But all writing is telling, achieving one overall result because, when a dramatic scene or exchange of dialogue exists, the showing conveys information. That is, it tells. It would be impossible not to. What “show, don’t tell” is really trying to say is, “don’t tell with flat, dull prose.” Bad imaginative writing happens when telling provides information without an iota of showing. But showing doesn’t have to be dramatic scenes or dialogue exchange. The telling must be alive, animated, not merely related. Unlike, say, reportorial journalism that tells us what happened, imaginative fiction makes us experience what happened. Good writers have found a number of alternatives for accomplishing that animation. Techniques of animating include: visual details, lively verbs, personal voice, rhythms, attitude toward the telling—e.g., between the lines messages. The central point is a liveliness behind and beneath the informational content of the words. The language should convey a complexity embedded in and inseparable from the words. Here’s an example of showing while telling in a paragraph from a Lauren Groff story titled “The Wind”: They were so far out in the country, the bus came for them first, and the ride to town was long. At last it showed itself, yellow as sunrise at the end of the road. Its slowness as it pulled up was agonizing. My mother’s heart began to beat fast. She let her brothers get on before her and told them to sit in the front seats. Mrs. Palmer, the driver, was a stout lady who played the organ at church, and whose voice when she shouted at the naughty boys in the back was high like soprano singing. She looked at my mother as she shut the bus door, then said in her singsong voice, You got yourself a shiner there, Michelle. The opening sentence is told information, facts about the location of the children’s home—far from town in the country. But the next sentence does not just report that the yellow schoolbus arrived. Instead, it can be seen “yellow as sunrise.” Next, it doesn’t just pull up slowly. It’s emotionally agonizing, and by implication to the narrator’s mother with the anxiety of a beating heart. Stout Mrs. Palmer as church organist reveals something about the community this family lives. Her voice is auditory for the reader. The final sentence is actual showing, integrating action and dialogue. This paragraph from Tessa Hadley’s story “Because the Night” is even more visual, just about every told sentence a variation of showing: Kristen wore the gauzy, flowery, frilly Ossie Clark her mother had been married in, pulled up above her Brownie belt so she didn’t trip on it; Tom would be in his soldier suit, red jacket unbuttoned, his pistol in its holster slung low on his hip. Their gym daps gave them extra silence and speed. Kneeling among the baked-dry leaves on the stone floor of the greenhouse with the well, they made plans. If the weather had been fine, the glass panes would hold in their pocket of heat long into the evening, pungent with the green smell of tomato stalks, even though no tomatoes ever grew in there anymore—only fleshy, tall weeds that spurted up wherever the rain leaked in, then died and parched to ghosts in the dry spells. The greenhouses were built of brick to about waist height; an aisle ran between raised beds of dry earth and shelves of empty flowerpots. The first two sentences describe what the children are wearing, the third telling about their sport shoes. The next describes their placement on the greenhouse floor. What follows integrates showing of the greenhouse with details of its history, action verbs like “spurted,” “leaked,” “deaded,” and “parched.” Only the final sentence is pure telling. Clearly, the Groff and Hadley paragraphs don’t merely relate information in a series of dry factual sententence. They bring the information to life by animating it through visual details, evocation of emotional responses, sensory allusions, vivid verbs, and the rhythms of the writing.

Story Openings Story openings now have several goals to accomplish. The first is to engage the reader immediately and create a desire to engage with what will happen. That goal has become more crucial in recent years when readers have so many more choices to fill their time, and not just fictions on a page. Magazine editors abet this pressure because they are bombarded with submissions. Editors don’t have the time or patience to indulge a leisurely writer. More and more decisions as to what stories they will read through are based on the appeal of the opening. Many editors admit that if the first page doesn’t grab them, the story submission will be rejected immediately, the rest unread. People opening a book or a magazine often judge as quickly. A second task of the opening is introducing the dramatic issues of the story, in most cases the frisson of conflict or uncertainty that will become the basis of the plot.. A third task of an opening is to quickly establish the “world” of the story—its place, its space, its time span, its linguistic tone. Here are some examples from real stories. Let’s assume they’ve passed the first text of creating a reader need to learn more about the situation described in just a few sentences, Here is the opening of Nadine Gordimer’s story “Blinder”: “Rose lives in the backyard. She has lived there from the time when she washed the napkins of the children in the house, who are now university students.” Even a reader who was unaware that Gordimer was writing about South Africa during the years of apartheid would recognize that Rose is a servant relegated to a backyard who works for a family affluent enough to afford tuition for their children. At one point Rose had to clean the diapers, nappies, of those children. Those sentences suggest these opposite circumstances will have an essential role in the story and that something will finally cause a clash. Alice Munro also refers to university students in the opening of her story, “The Bear Came Over the Mountain”: “Fiona lived in her parents’ house, in the town where she and Grant went to university. It was a big, bay-windowed house that seemed to Grant both luxurious and disorderly, with rugs cooked on the floors and cup rings bitten into the table varnish.” The conditions introduced here are more complex that those of the Gordimer story, much more than just the contrast of poverty and financial security. In fact, the details result in more questions than answers. Why is this upscale home so sloppy? Who is Grant, the one who regards it as luxurious and disorderly? In this case, the details provide a set of unknowns. John Updike opens “Personal Archeology” with this long sentence: “In his increasing isolation--elderly golfing buddies dead or dying, his old business contacts fraying, no office to go to, his wife always off at her bridge or committees, his children as busy and preoccupied as he himself had been in middle age--Craig Martin took an interest in the traces left by prior owners of his land.” Although this litany reveals a great deal about Craig Martin’s present condition, it also tells much about his life before this moment in his old age, his career and lifestyle. What he no longer has informs his immediate need to fill his time. As little as the reader knows about what happens next with Rose and Grant and Fiona, it’s clear that Craig’s story will be about his confrontation with the emptiness of his now life. His new interest implies that he will discover something significant about the land that may relate to his personal need. The opening of practically any successful story of recent years can be analyzed similarly. In essence, it captures the reader with a why.

My first three pages introduce the protagonist, a side character, a minion of the antagonist, and grounds in setting and place. You get the main plot and sympathy for the MC and SC, plus an intro to the emotional side plot. 1. Amalia and Clara drove to Sunday church service together that morning as they had for a year now. Amalia in a black linen dress with a lovely interlocking pattern of embroidered white flowers at the cuffs and bodice. Clara wore a gray sweater dress and a black crepe shrug. They both had on dark sunglasses, and not because they wanted to hide from anyone. The Nevada sun punished even the godly. They didn’t speak, parking and then walking to the front doors as the hilltop filled with cars for the 9 a.m. service. Fellow church members, God’s disciples in modern times. The community of Piles, Nevada lost Signor Tau Lasso a year ago on May 13. The tragedy had brought Tau’s daughter, Amalia, more into Clara’s life, and not just for the usual reason of mourning a father and mentor beloved by so many. The Word in Life Worship Center sat on a hill against a bright blue spring sky. Most buildings in Piles, Nevada were on a mound of dirt because the town was built over excavation sites and the residual of mine leavings. God’s house crested the largest pile, capped with a clay-colored composite roof gracefully sloping over the main sanctuary. A wooden cross perched jauntily to the side. That morning, a bit of cheap pink fabric had caught in the wind and wound itself about the crossbar, the loose material flapping gently in the wind. Clara paused, looking up askance. That should’ve been their first clue that something strange was in the wind. They walked on to the steady pounding of their grief. Clara recalled Tau’s funerial procession, but them so far behind that even though the coffin was buried a year ago they still hadn’t caught up with the reality. Grief had no prescribed span; it stayed with you until something else took its place, maybe not even then. Their grief was still fresh as the year before. This had been Clara’s first real experience with death. It was even worse in their case because Tau’s story had no true conclusion, not for Amalia. Not for Clara. They couldn’t finish his story in their minds, so how could anyone else? Little did they know, that was exactly what everyone else had done. The front doors opened, exhaling a floral scent so strong, Clara thought the cherry blossom air fresheners in the church bathrooms must’ve exploded. That should’ve been their second clue that the tone for this day was not what they were expecting. The church greeter was sweat-sheened toadie Kenny Susich. At first Clara wondered how even he could smell of roses. But no. Pink roses and peonies clustered on draped tables in the foyer. Amalia sneezed into her black hanky. Kenny’s broad face shifted into a concerned expression as he evaluated their somber attire. "You needn’t go into mourning yet, Clara. Your time will come. You may soon have one." His large globs of flesh constituting two breasts and a stomach pressed against the yellow fabric of his church branded T-shirt. He foisted a pink rose on her with a wink and a lecherous grin. "Have one?" At first Clara thought he meant the rose, which she tried to pass on to Amalia. She wisely refused any gift from Kenny Susich. Clara had acted automatically, not thinking about it first as she should have done. "Have one of what?" His arm pits sweat stained, wispy blond hair featherlight into a horn just over his forehead. Kenny’s light eyes were smaller still when he smiled, his grin displaying every tooth. Clara could count them if she wanted; she didn’t want. He laughed. She didn’t. Kenny struck a pensive pose: chin on his right knuckles, arm propped up as if taking a school photo though he was standing in the doorway, blocking everyone. "Don’t you know what today is?" It was the one-year anniversary of Tau Lasso’s death, Clara knew that for sure. She looked at her friend. Amalia didn’t seem to be in the mood to unpuzzle a conversation with Kenny Susich. She propelled them both forward. "What did I just miss?" Clara asked her friend. Amalia: "Mother’s Day, Clara. Of the two of us, apparently Kenny thinks only you can birth a child." She gave her friend a wary eye. “Better watch out for that one. He’s chosen you.” Children: the church’s entry hall was filled with them, galloping free in the only other place they could get away with it besides their own homes. Mothers and daughters. Mothers and sons. Mothers and their mothers. Mothers and graduates. Not only was it Mother’s Day weekend, but it was also the graduation celebration for all the high school seniors in the church. Children were hanging from the balustrades and the teens weren’t behaving any better. "But Did Kenny Susich just insinuate that you’re old enough to be in menopause?" Clara ground her teeth. In addition to having a jaw like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, she also felt any perceived insult or injustice against one her friends. She wound a long gangly arm through Amalia’s. Also like a T-Rex, Clara had small hands and feet that would’ve been lovely if not so incongruous with the rest of her body. Amalia waved it off, not even bothering to be insulted or argue the point. She was only 45 and Clara had just turned 30. "I’m surprised a goober like Kenny Susich even knows what menopause is." Clara dropped the pink rose he’d given her, hoping it would be trod over. But then she regretted it: that rose, all these roses, had cost the church money. Today wasn’t a day she wanted to celebrate, the anniversary of the death of Tau, father figure to Clara, beloved father to Amalia, but that didn’t mean she should spurn an investment of church funds. Soon she would find the invoice and see just how much that investment had been. It probably wasn’t possible that others’ joy sucked life from you, but Clara felt it then, the certainty everyone else was living and she and Amalia were stuck in the past, their days diminishing before their eyes.

How a Boy Could Be.docx

The reputation of a significant novel can survive a weak and even a bad ending. For example, Judy Berman writing “Fantastic Novels with Disappointing Endings” in Flavorwire cited a number of fictional favorites with that problem, including The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, The Secret History by Donna Tartt (“After the book’s big mystery is revealed and manipulative ringleader Henry murders his blackmailer, good-ol’-boy Bunny, the group’s dissolution and plunge into utter lunacy takes a bit too long while the characters’ outsized, artsy personalities nearly verge on self-parody”), Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (“Plenty of great novels end with a protagonist causing her own death, whether on purpose or by accident, but Yates makes the couple’s predicament so bleak and inescapable that we can guess the outcome halfway through the novel—and the lack of subtlety or surprise makes the ending feel preachy”), and Room by Emma Donoghue. I can add some of my own examples, as I suppose any reader could. The fact that many novels, such as the works above, satisfy readers suggests that a novel’s ending is not absolutely crucial. I recall the statement by a group of European contest judges admitting that they gave first prize to a novel with a poor ending because they believed so much else about it was so strong. It’s clear that readers can spend a number of hours so happy with what they read for several hundred pages that they are willing to forgive a lapse in the final ten or twenty. A short story, on the other hand, relies on just the right ending to succeed. Its totality takes only ten or twenty pages, with the narrative tension building on each one demanding that the conclusion offer an ideal resolution of that tension. Otherwise, it’s been a failure for reader and writer. With that need, a story is like a poem, both forms accumulating to a point where the final words—paragraph or lines—bear the full aesthetic burden. Over the twenty years I edited a literary quarterly I remember the dozens of times I was engaged with a well-written story submission, only to be upset by a failed ending. I really wanted that story to deliver on its potential. So often story didn’t. The short story is a very demanding form that leaves no room for error.

Very Important Questions to Ask Yourself So you're searching high and low for a decent and experienced freelancer to read your novel ms and provide it with the healing touch it needs. You most likely will require thorough developmental editing, not to mention narrative or sample line edits at a minimum. Okay. So where to go? There are Google pages full of poor editorial services out there and just about anyone can claim to be a novel editor. Therefore, how to winnow forth the quality expertise you must have? Below are a few questions to ask yourself before engaging any editorial service: Do you get to review the credentials of the precise person who will be working on your ms? Do the credentials include any real-time experience working in tandem with New York publishing or mid-sized publishers or quality independent presses at least? Is there a demonstrable track record of commercial or literary publication of any kind associated with past clients of this particular person or service? Is the proposed editor of your ms an actual writer of fiction, narrative nonfiction, or novels with a track record of any kind? (self-publishing not included) Do the accolades or testimonials about the business or editor appear to include a lot of buzz phrasing rather than pointers to actual contracts? Be careful out there!

The following are major pre-event assignments, readings, and guides (not including Part IV - Algonkian Novel Development Program) for Algonkian events, many of which are found on our NWOE sister site. Downloading, forwarding, or copying these assignments without the prior approval of Algonkian Writer Conferences is not permitted, however, routine utilization of the content in its extant form is permitted. Parts I, II, and II Pre-Event (includes eBook) Execution of the Pitch Model Assignment Recap and Dramatic Act Structure The Necessity of Publisher's Marketplace Prep for Agent Query Process NOTE: this is an information forum, not a response forum. Utilize the appropriate forums for posting necessary responses. _____________________________________ PART I Pre-event as follows. Part I of four parts. First, a seven short assignments forum that will persuade you to consider several crucial and foundational aspects of your commercial novel project. Consider them as a primer. Complete at your convenience and post the responses. Your responses to these assignments will be reviewed by faculty with an aim towards achieving a better understanding of your project and its current stage of development. NOTE: We recommend writing down the answers in a separate file and then copying them into the forum to prevent any possible loss of data. ____________ PART II The second instance of pre-event necessity as follows. Read carefully and complete in the proper order as noted. You might become a bit astonished from time to time but push through. It all makes perfect sense. Now comes the kindle eBook, or if you prefer, the same booklet found here as a PDF. In either case, you must faithfully absorb everything beginning with the first chapter, “Writer Ego and the Imaginary Bob,” and continue through “Settings are 60%.” This is vital to your potential success. It places emphasis on all the crucial core elements of novel development and editing that *will* be discussed in formal sessions. If you arrive at an Algonkian event not knowing the difference between a plot point and a pinch point, you will be swimming upstream from the first day and thereby seriously disadvantage yourself. Avoiding the study of proper technique won’t get novels published much less developed in a manner both artful and professional. Okay, much to do! Is it ever enough? No, but don’t recoil or hesitate if portions of the e-Book fail to comport with what you’ve been told elsewhere (writer groups, conferences, chat boards, etc.) because the odds are extremely high that what you’ve been told is wrong, if not potentially ruinous. Keep in mind, we all stand on the shoulders of those magnificent and capable authors who’ve preceded us. And remember too, there are no great writers, only great rewriters. ____________ PART III Quite often, after scoring well in a pitch session, the faculty person will ask us, “But can they write?” Premise and plot prod the necessary attention, but so many writers don’t cross the line because their actual prose narrative is not as competitive as it should be. Fact. In response to this circumstance we’ve created an online forum that serves two purposes. First, to demonstrate the best methods and techniques that should rightfully be considered when it comes to the creation of competitive narrative regardless of genre. Second, to act as a place where editors and agents will see the quality of your work up close. Use one of the two links above to get started asap. Simply open the topic linked above, read the guidelines and all the examples linked to Novel Writing on Edge, then edit your own opening hook accordingly. Once done, post at least 500 words by replying to the topic post. If you cannot include first pages at this time another good sample will suffice. Btw, you should already have an Author Connect member login if you’ve opened and utilized the Part I assignment (Seven Assignments). If you have not, please do so at the first opportunity. ___________ Execution of the Pitch Model Like so many other things, this is crucial to your success. Before you can sell a viable commercial novel to a publishing house, you must work towards the goal of writing a viable commercial novel while simultaneously learning how to artfully pitch it. You will have a minute to deliver the actual pitch, and if you think this is not enough time, think again. It is more than enough. The idea is to communicate clearly and hook your listener. Your pitch must include a SCENE SET (as necessary), a focus on your PROTAGONIST (tell it through their point of view), sufficient PLOT TENSION deriving from a PLOT POINT (an event/circumstance/action that significantly changes the course of the story), and finally, a wrap with a CLIFFHANGER. So what's a cliffhanger? Regardless of the genre, literary or thriller or SF, the cliffhanger begs the ultimate question, and it’s always the same in one way or another: WILL BECKY SAVE THE FARM AND LIVE TO TELL THE STORY? Once done, you want the conference editor or agent to ask for more. Please review the following guidance at Novel Writing on Edge where you’ll find two pitch models and further elaboration. You will be using this model at the Algonkian event: https://www.novelwritingonedge.com/2013/11/algonkian-writers-conference-first-prep.html _____________ Assignment Recap and Dramatic Act Structure By this time, you should have in your possession three main assignment mails, namely, Part I (Seven Assignments), Part II (Development eBook), and Part III (Prose Narrative Enhancement). These assignments serve two purposes: to enable you to conceive and write a more perfect novel, one that might actually sell; and secondly, to instill within you with a language and knowledge base that will make meetings with publishing and tv/film professionals far more productive. Now, the following statement should sound familiar. If a member of the faculty asks you to define your first major plot point, inciting incident, or last major reversal before climax, you must comprehend the nature of these plot elements (for starters!), and deliver the response in a manner that demonstrates you are a professional. Amateurs *always* stick out, and they say “um” a lot, thereby failing to live up to our motto: From the heart, but smart. Besides displaying a high concept premise, the faculty also expect your genre or upmarket tale to be creatively developed using a certain approach and structure—one also utilized by screenplay writers—namely, the dramatic act structure. Whether the novel is a single, coherent plot line, or a parallel plot line with two major protagonists, the overall story progression manifests a readily identifiable endoskeleton, so to speak, i.e., an array of familiar points and notes along a story arc from beginning to end. There is more than one version of this, but they all achieve pretty much the same results: the Three Act, Nine Act, and the Six Act Two-Goal. A very good example can be found here. The above is included with your assignments and its importance cannot be over stressed. One of THE biggest reasons novels by unpublished writers fail is because the author is not sufficiently adept at plotting. A novel with a great start but a “saggy middle” always results from an inadequate understanding of how plot must work in order to satisfy the needs and expectations of readers, agents, and editors. Quite often, writers will bring stories and pitches to the NY event that are nothing other than circumstances, sets, and characters mixed into a quasi-amorphous stew, whirlpooled into forced fusion like fragments of a television season. A sign this is the case can almost always be found in the pitch itself. Acquisition editors, experienced agents, and other professionals usually don’t expect to get much traction out of the usual writer conference, but our events always surprise them. We mean to keep it that way. Our reps are on the line, and the better you look, the better we look. The more subs requested, the more contracts cut, the more willing our faculty are likely to return. No question. We also love the publicity and energy generated when the contracts flow. Btw, if the information above doesn’t square with what you’ve been told up until now, then choose the wise path of change. Rewrite as necessary. _________________ The Necessity of Publisher's Marketplace You are well advised to join Publisher’s Marketplace. Why? Because it lists recent sales by agents to publishers broken down by genre and provides a neat story-hook line (log line) for each sale that serves as a potential model for you. PM shows precisely what type of work is now being published in your chosen genre, thereby providing a comparison for your own work, and as a bonus, you learn the identities of productive “in the loop” agents (good to know regardless of circumstances). All in all, if commercial publication is your goal, PM is invaluable. The search feature is efficient and fairly straightforward. Membership is around $20 per month, but well worth it. The type of knowledge PM provides will give you a distinct edge over the competition. _________________ Prep for Querying Agents Though addressing the query-agent stage of your long, hard slog to becoming a published author might seem premature at this point, questions concerning this process nevertheless always arise at Algonkian events. Rather than await the next round of probes on this matter, we’ve decided to link you to the article below. It succinctly covers the critical prep steps you must take prior to sending anything like a query to a commercial agent (if and when it comes to that). Also, it effectively overrides the usual incomplete and/or foolish advice on this matter which currently infects the Internet like an electronic pox. With these answers already in hand, further questions at the conference, in theory, should be more informed, and therefore, the answers more productive. ____________________________________

These bullets of advice for writers in all genres were taken from a review of the SFF author Brandon Sanderson on the video forum and they're worth repeating here for emphasis: The concept of "borrowing" or getting story ideas, entire structure, or themes from other books or films can't hurt and might actually lead to publication; but I maintain you step carefully. The concept may already be overdone, a stale trope. His advised method of transposing the "structure" of one type of genre novel onto another can be productive--reminiscent of Italian writers in the old days transposing Japanese samurai scripts into spaghetti westerns. Another good example is the transposing of BATTLE ROYALE into THE HUNGER GAMES (different genre? debatable). Helpful to note plot points and/or scenes that successful stories have in common. Concept of "interviewing" your character to learn about them, is a very good one. Ask them questions, get in their heads, role play. Asking what character wants and needs, and how they're different. Careful with choice of primary protagonist viewpoint. The story needs to be personal to the viewpoint character. Partitioning a novel into three basic part: PROMISE, PROGRESS, PAYOFF. Yes, very basic, but helpful for new writers. Finally, his idea for "mind priming" before you hit the paper is a good one, e.g., you consider the ways in which you can make an important scene very visual and thrilling, and you roll it around in your head like a lozenge under the tongue. You savor it and play with it.

MODULE IV READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS Personality Types and The Counter Trait The Protagonist Transformational Arc Basics of Character Animation Sympathetic Character Factors in The Hook _________________________________________________________________________________ Personality Types and The Importance of Counter Trait When it comes to sketching any or all of your major and minor characters in the novel, you might benefit from considering the basic personality types first. Let's look at a few of these (how many of you have met these people in the workplace?): The Ultra-Feminine (sexual, fussy, a princess) The Perpetual Victim (you gotta feel for her) The Feminist (she can do it better than he can, banner raiser) The Adventurer/Risk Taker (Ayn Rand meets Tarzan) The Stoic (rock faced, nearly unmovable, hiding something?) The Superstitious (the stars are not right, omens abound, ghosts knocking on door) The Classic Bad Boss (we all know this type) The Wise Leader (minus the bad traits of the classic bad boss) The Brown Noser (yes-man to boss, tyrant to underlings) The Temperamental Wiz (artist, creator, technical wiz, writer, etc.) The Martyr (sets themselves up to suffer, and basks in it) The Benevolent Monk (spiritual mentor, quick with bromides, herbalist on prozac) The Comic Relief (oaf, stumbler, comedian, etc.) The Eccentric (wide variety of quirky forms, e.g., Howard Hughes, Angelina Jolie) The Extrovert (show off, lively, outgoing, perhaps flamboyant) The Introvert or Loner (usually has a secret project underway, drinks alone) The Fearful (nervous perhaps, full of trepidation, doom) The Negative or Pessimist (looks for the dark cloud first) The Positive or Optimist (will only say something good, avoids critical evaluation) The Manipulator (they've been scheming all along, surprise!) The Passive-Aggressive (snippy, uncooperative, sabotaging) The Perfectionist (must be a loner or a leader to get along) The Mr. Personality (classic backslapping "Hail Fellow Well Met") The Ms. Personality (same as above sans backslapping, cheerleader in HS) The Problem Solver (give them a puzzle and step back) The Narcissist (oozing their agenda and desire like boiling hot syrup) It's a relatively simple matter to use the categories above (and invent some of your own) to begin to sketch your characters, play with ideas, but first, you must consider the context, and before you do that, you must understand your story. Now, assuming the latter, let's pretend you are sketching a major sidekick character of some sort, and for their role in the story you wish them to be "The Eccentric" type above. Fine. Now you have a stereotype to work with. But wait! Let's throw a curve at the reader if possible, since that is always a great idea. You never want to be too predictable. Consider, HOW can you make your eccentric different? Well the first thing to do is bestow a peculiar eccentricity upon them, one we haven't heard of before. Chelsea of Bridgehaven cannot eat her rice cereal in the morning until she listens to it pop with her old ear trumpet. Whatever. You get the idea. Next, WHAT IF you mixed the ECCENTRIC with another personality type, for example, the EXTROVERT. Now you have an eccentric extrovert. What would that be like? Chelsea of Bridgehaven, with much ado, invites her unlucky relatives staying overnight to listen to the pop-pop of rice cereal with her new gold-rimmed, black ebony ear trumpet. Well, you get the idea. Mixing stereotypes may help you to reform the stereotype into something a bit different. They may help you invent a counter trait. What do we mean by counter trait? A trait or behavior of the character which seems, at the time, a bit out of character. The behavior or quirk surprises the reader. For example, the STOIC, after three gin and tonics, becomes an EXTROVERT show-off, or perhaps the known NEGATIVE personality interrupts a conversation wherein the participants are castrating male-female relationships to behave more like a POSITIVE or optimist, noting the beautiful and positive aspects of a good relationship. This leads in a backdoor way to the pairing of conflicting emotions. What do we mean by this? In other words, let's say your major character possesses an ideal or overriding goal in their life, but something happens to create doubt. For much of her life, Judy Overstein has wanted to be an attorney, and while eating lunch in D.C. one day, happens to hear a table full of seasoned lawyers talking about how much they hate their lives. The classic seed of doubt is planted. She returns to her law school studies, fighting back the sudden doubt that now creeps into her spine. Before, she was confidently optimistic, but now that emotion and viewpoint competes with doubt and the viewpoints of others. What will she do? What is your character's pair of conflicting emotions? Nothing like a good dose of internal conflict to keep us guessing. _________________________________________________________ The Transformational Arc of Protagonist While you're plotting your story you need to keep in mind the transformation of the protagonist, the phased development of their emotions and knowledge and values that takes place as the story evolves. But before you start mapping out your arc, realize that you cannot do so outside the context of your evolving plot line(s) and story elements. In other words, your plot line and protagonist transformational arc interweave as the dramatic tension rises and the complications, reversals, and stakes become defined. Let's look at the flow below to see a UNIT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CONFLICT (UTC) that takes place repeatedly during the evolution of the plot line: PROTAGONIST STRUGGLES FOR PRIMARY GOAL => OBSTACLE PLACED => PRE-CONFLICT EMOTIONAL STATE => CONFLICT OCCURS => POST-CONFLICT EMOTIONAL STATE (MIGHT LATER RESULT EPIPHANY OR CHANGE IN PERCEPTION OR ATTITUDE ALTERATION) How your protagonist responds to obstacles and conflict reveals their character, and if, with every UTC above, you reveal a little more change in the protagonist, a little more agony or resolve or confusion, then you are hard at work composing your transformational arc down to the last brush stroke. Indeed, you won't have the arc fully detailed until the story is done, but you can map the basics in a general way. Nevertheless, bottom line, it's your protagonist's response to conflict and dilemma and upcoming crisis that creates empathy with your readership. Keep in mind these five A's as your protagonist reacts to the UTCs of the plot line: Awareness: Your character's consciousness that change or reinvention of oneself is necessary to respond to the conflict. Acceptance: Your character's emotional ability to let go of the old and move on to the new. Approach: Your character's creative exploration of strategic decisions; leading to and ending with their ultimate decision to act one way or another. Assemble: Planning and implementation of plan required to carry out their ultimate decision to act one way or another. Action: Acting one way or another in response to conflict. _________________________________________________________ Basics of Animation, and Sherwood Characters or story first? First of all, how can one possibly write an effective beginning unless one knows the tale? The story must be understood in its parts before the writer pens the opening narrative. Of course. And the characters must complement and fulfill. Various opinions exist regarding author control over the impulsiveness of character. Some say characters should be saddled to carry the story forward, the final destination dependent on the characters themselves, i.e., throw the character dice and the story must follow. The effective author, however, fleshes characters with strength of story and nature while assuming the role of chessmaster, major and minor characters moving according to a greater scheme or plan, checking and mating one another as the story progresses, fitting seamlessly into the flow. In the context of the novel, the animation of character occurs in two basic ways. It is either synergistically provoked, or story/conflict provoked--the latter by far making the strongest impression on the reader, for true depth of character is revealed only when the characters, narrator, antagonist or protagonist react to the major and minor complications, i.e., the conflict and/or difficult circumstance introduced by the story itself. In the The Great Gatsby, for example, Gatsby reacted to the manslaughter of Myrtle Wilson by accepting blame to protect Daisy, meeting his death because of it, while his nemesis, Tom Buchanan, reacted with cowardice and falseness. By their actions shall you know them! Synergistically-provoked characterization refers to that complex synergy of manner, voice, appearance, attitude, reaction, anecdote, and whatever other elements the author applies to the character. Sherwood Anderson was a master at quick and lively character animations of this kind, not only choosing unique characters but also involving them in anecdotes, social relationships, and other character reactions which aided greatly in portraying the character. Using these methods, Anderson was effectively able to render a character memorable despite the lack of powerful complication. For example, from Winesburg, Ohio we have Joe, portrayed by Anderson using the following methods: Backstory and description of what makes Joe special: he has lived with his mother, location of the house, father's occupation, a physical description, then an illustration of Joe's physical problem: "... one who walks upon his fellow men, inspiring fear because a fit may come upon him suddenly and blow him away into a strange uncanny physical state in which his eyes roll and his legs and arms jerk." Additionally, Joe would be "seized" with ideas, a need to change things for the better. This engages reader sympathy and concern. Physical aspects: Hands: "running a thin, nervous hand through his hair. Eyes: wide, rolling "with a strange absorbed light ..." Gait: rapid Smile: peculiar, glistening gold teeth; Manner: would excitedly pounce on people with his ideas and plans. Body: small, slight Short anecdote: Men are standing about discussing a local horse race when Joe bursts in on the scene and commences ranting on the subject of the local creek water. He finishes, turns around and goes about his business as if nothing had happened. Short Anecdote: Anderson moves back in time to recall an incident in which Joe had cornered George (the main character) and ranted and thrashed about the newspaper and how he could improve it if given the chance. Social Relationships: These balance out his eccentricity, make him well rounded for the reader's approval. Joe wanted to be a baseball coach, and the town approved. A baseball game is described, the excitable Joe urging his players on. Character revealed based on the reaction of others: Joe also has a love affair and must go to meet his girlfriend's relatives. The author notes their mean nature and the reader fears for Joe. Suspense is inherent at anticipation of the meeting; however, the relatives laugh, mesmerized by Joe's antics. Because Joe is a minor grotesque of sorts, in that he is eccentric and odd, his portrayal easier, more memorable. Like Anderson, if you choose a character that maximizes the methods you use to portray them, you're ahead of the game, however, learning the methods utilized here is what matters. They can be applied again and again, towards fleshing any character, regardless of inherent oddity, or lack thereof. _________________________________________________________ Sympathetic Character Factors in The Hook If you've won a Pulitzer you might consider disregarding the advice in this section, but it's not advisable. Look at the percentage of novels on the shelf right now that concentrate on creating a character the reader will become concerned with without hesitation. Quite a few, yes? A novel hook with an interesting, unique, and sympathetic character will make agents sit up and take notice. This is vital to avoiding a rejection slip. Examples of what we're talking about as follows. The name of the character in question follows the title and author. All of the factors listed appear in the first 10 to 15 pages. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Christopher John Francis Boone A first-person narrative from an autistic 15-year-old protagonist: "My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057." He finds a dead dog with a garden fork sticking out of it and describes the scene in a detached, emotionless manner, until: "I had been hugging the dog for four minutes when I heard screaming." So this autistic child has a heroic capacity for caring and sympathy. He tells us he likes dogs because they are faithful and "they do not tell lies because they cannot talk." This gives us a sense that the character is moral--which becomes all the more poignant and sympathetic when he is unjustly accused by police of killing the dog. He decides to write a murder mystery about the incident. When his teacher Siobhan suggests that a murder mystery about a human might be more compelling, the boy protests that some dogs are cleverer and more interesting than some people. Steve, for example, who comes to the school on Thursdays, needs help to eat his food and could not even fetch a stick ... Thus the protagonist is revealed as a keen and objective observer of the world around him, and in hilarious fashion. Summary Talented and unique - Possesses a handicap - Shows compassion towards others - Possesses a moral sense - Undertakes a challenging task that requires brains and bravery ____________________________ The First Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom Eddie Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. The protagonist is old and infirm, yet polite and optimistic. As a kid, he fought to protect his older brother. Scrappy, brave, and protective. He likes kids, and they like him. He gives them candy and makes animal figures for them from pipe cleaners. These children are not the offspring of relatives or friends. They are kids that know him from the amusement park where he works. It is hard not to be sympathetic toward someone who likes kids and is kind to them. He is generous. He gives his last two $20 bills to a dishwasher so the man can buy something for his wife. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a girl from a falling cart. Summary Possesses a handicap - Protects the weak/shows courage - Generosity and compassion towards others - Brave and self-sacrificing ____________________________ The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Lily Owen Anecdote: When Lily was four, she witnessed a fight between her mother and her father and intervened when she saw a gun in her mother's hand. In the scuffle of the fight, the gun went off; Lily was blamed for her mother's death. Anecdote: Lily awakens her father to see the spectacle of swarming bees in her room. When they arrive in her room the bees have vanished and her father, a mean and uncaring man, threatens to severely punish her if she ever again awakens him to anything less than finding the house in flames. Physical descriptions: Lily's hair is black, like her mother's, but is cowlicky and she looks unkempt because she's never had a woman in her life who could guide her in how to take proper care of herself. She's a fourteen-year old white girl, has almost no chin, but does have Sophia Loren eyes, even though this attribute isn't enough to get her noticed by even the loser-guys. She wears ill-fitting clothes she makes for herself in home ec. class at school because her father won't let her buy any new clothes. Personal Attributes: She's clever, imaginative and bright. The swarm of bees fascinates, rather than frightens her. One of her teachers tells her that she's very intelligent and she shouldn't settle for any career short of being a professor or writer. This sets her to reevaluating possibilities in her life because, prior to this, her highest aspiration had been to attend beauty school and become a hairdresser. Summary Brave and self-sacrificing - Victim of an antagonistic personality - Pitiable due to struggle to compensate for abusive antagonist - Possesses special gifts ____________________________ The Life of Pi by Yann Martel Piscine Molitor Patel General Background: He was raised in Pondicherry, India, the small, formerly French-occupied section of India, at a zoo where his father was founder, owner, director, head of a staff of fifty-three, and which Piscine viewed as "paradise on earth." He was educated at the University of Toronto where he double-majored in religious studies and zoology. General Concern: The first two lines in the book, bring instant concern for him: "My suffering left me sad and gloomy," and goes on to say, "Academic study and the steady, mindful practice of religion slowly brought me back to life." Attitude toward Life: He has suffered a great deal in life, and reports and he has learned to adjust to the pain of being alive by accepting both the folly of success and the slight one feels when success slips from reach. He concludes that the reason death always hovers nearby is because of its love for life and we get the sense he loves life. He appreciates the abundance of resources he has access to and we're to assume this is a love cultivated through great deprivation. Personal Attributes: He's a hard-working, determined person who is very bright, very observant, and infinitely patient. He was the only one in his family who learned how to swim, but he was determined to learn because of his great respect for the man who wanted to teach him and who was responsible for his name, which he shares with a famous Paris swimming pool. He excelled in school and while gathering data for his degree in zoology, he concentrated on observing the sloth in its natural habitat because, "... its demeanour—calm, quiet and introspective—did something to soothe my shattered self." Summary Victim of "suffering" - He's a fighter - Introspective/observant/wise - Unique personality ____________________________ Bel Canto by Ann Patchett Roxane Coss Special Attributes: Roxane is a gifted opera diva. She possesses a voice of crystalline clarity so richly textured everyone who hears her sing can instantly appreciate the wonder and beauty of her vocal talent. It matters little the background of the listener. They may have come to her performance with a well-trained ear or they may have no more understanding of music than can be gathered from a life spent slogging through the mud of a harsh jungle environment; they may have been listening to music all their long-lived lives, or they may be young children staying up past their bedtimes; they may be women, men or adolescents—no matter, gratitude for having heard her is universal among those who have had the privilege of hearing her perform. Reactions of Others: Men desire her. All of the men in attendance at the concert long to be included in the kiss given her in the dark by her accompanist. One of the most powerful businessmen in Japan has flown half-way around the world to be in her presence even as he dislikes traveling, dislikes celebrating his birthday and the occasion is his birthday, and dislikes being with large groups of people he doesn't know, which is the current venue. Over the five years that he's been aware of her talent, he has sought out her performances around the world. She obviously has a magnetic pull on people. Her accompanist willingly places himself as a shield between her and the invading guerrillas. Not until he is poked with guns does he relinquish his protective covering of her body. Physical Attributes: On the floor, her hair spread out around her in such a wondrous array, each terrorist makes a point of walking past her just to look at her beautiful hair. Her perfume is delicate yet intoxicating, again noticeable by the guerrilla soldiers even on this night when the air is pungent with the near-presence of death. Personal Attributes: She is generous with her talent and offers to sing in the dark before the assembled audience becomes aware of the horror of the circumstance they're in. As she lies on the floor, she removes the hairpins from her hair and places them on her stomach in case others can use them as weapons, giving us a sense that she is also a bit brave, another sympathetic character trait. Summary Unique talent/accomplished - Magnetic presence - Cherished by Others - Generous - Courageous ____________________________ Third Degree by Patterson and Gross San Francisco Homicide Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer The protagonist is a successful woman in a traditionally male occupation (homicide detective), and she has earned the respect of her male colleagues. She owns a dog and talks to it as if it were a roommate. She uses her body to shield the dog from harm in a dangerous situation. She is brave; she goes into a burning building to save strangers. She risks her life to save a young child. Summary Successful - Gutsy - Loves Dogs - Risks Life to Save Others ___________________________________________________________ ASSIGNMENT: As with your antagonist, sketch your protagonist using all the categories above. Define them carefully, use anecdotes to illustrate their personality (make certain to have read WINESBURG OHIO before you do this). Pay special attention to the backstory. What is it? Where do they come from? What has their life been like before the story began? Also, note their "pairing of conflicting emotions" if appropriate. Not a bad idea, these conflicting emotions. Note at least five things in your first 10 to 15 pages that will make your protagonist (or a major character/narrator) sympathetic, interesting, and unique; and also note the context, i.e., what is happening in the scene(s) to make all this apparent. Show, don't tell. Note the "counter trait" for at least two of your major characters in your novel, and do so involving short anecdotes of 100 words or less. Note one UTC for your protagonist. Sketch it out based on the UTC flow, in 100 words or less. Referencing your story elements noted in Modules I and III, define the general nature of your protagonist character arc from beginning to end. Use the Six Act Two-Goal structure as an outline for separating your arc into segments. Your protagonist should endure at least seven general, though distinct, phases of emotional/intellectual change as the story goes forward. ___________________________________________________________

We are a people in search of a hero, always. And readers are a people in search of a heroine, always. One of the biggest problems I see in manuscripts—confirmed by editors when they pass on projects—is the protagonist. Your protagonist should be compelling and courageous. Heroes are, by definition, heroic. Your heroine should push herself to be braver than she thinks she can be, braver than readers think she can be, braver than you think she can be. There are all kinds of courage. Here are some thoughts on heroes, heroines, and the nature of heroism from authors who’ve given us some of the most memorable protagonists…. _______________________________________________________ “Great heroes need great sorrows and burdens, or half their greatness goes unnoticed. It is all part of the fairy tale.” ―Peter S. Beagle “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” —Mark Twain “Over time, it’s occurred to me that my protagonists all originate in some aspect of myself that I find myself questioning or feeling uncomfortable about.” —Julia Glass “Bravery never goes out of fashion.” —William Makepeace Thackeray “You have to go out of your way as a suspense novelist to find situations where the protagonists are somewhat helpless and in real danger. —Nelson DeMille “I wanted to be my own heroine.” —Jesmyn Ward “Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go.” —Bernard Malamud “Alpha heroes, even uberalpha heroes, still win readers’ hearts. I like a masterful hero myself, but I also enjoy the idea that sometimes the heroine can be in charge.” —Emma Holly “Self-trust is the essence of heroism.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson “Characters stretching their legs in some calm haven generally don’t make for interesting protagonists.” —Darin Strauss “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” —Anais Nin “I’m not at all interested in the brave who fight against the odds and win. I am interested in those who accept their lot, as that is what many people in the world are doing. They do their best in ghastly conditions.” —Kazuo Ishiguro “I’ve found in the past that the more closely I identify with the heroine, the less completely she emerges as a person. So from the first novel, I’ve been learning techniques to distance myself from the characters so that they are not me and I don’t try to protect them in ways that aren’t good for the story.” —Beth Gutcheon “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” —C. S. Lewis “I’m not nearly as outrageously brave as many of my rascals that I write. But I think the rascal spirit must reside in me somewhere.” —Christopher Moore “[A] hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” —Joseph Campbell “My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded; some failed; most had mixed results … but it is the effort that’s heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.” ―George R.R. Martin “My childhood was spent embracing one literary heroine after another. I identified passionately with each one and would slavishly imitate them.” ―Sophie Kinsella “See, heroes never die. John Wayne isn’t dead, Elvis isn’t dead. Otherwise you don’t have a hero. You can’t kill a hero. That’s why I never let him get older.” ―Mickey Spillane “There is perhaps no more rewarding romance heroine than she who is not expected to find love. The archetype comes in many disguises—the wallflower, the spinster, the governess, the single mom—but always with one sad claim: Love is not in her cards.” —Sarah MacLean “The life of the hero of the tale is, at the outset, overshadowed by bitter and hopeless struggles; one doubts that the little swineherd will ever be able to vanquish the awful Dragon with the twelve heads. And yet … truth and courage prevail, and the youngest and most neglected son of the family, of the nation, of mankind, chops off all twelve heads of the Dragon, to the delight of our anxious hearts. This exultant victory, towards which the hero of the tale always strives, is the hope and trust of the peasantry and of all oppressed peoples. This hope helps them bear the burden of their destiny.” ―Gyula Illyés “My favorite literary heroine is Jo March. It is hard to overstate what she meant to a small, plain girl called Jo, who had a hot temper and a burning ambition to be a writer.” —J.K. Rowling “Heroine: a woman of heroic spirit; the principal female person who figures in a remarkable action.” —Mindy McGinnis “Show me a hero, and I’ll write you a tragedy.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald “A good novel tells us the truth about its hero, but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.” —G.K. Chesterton

When it comes to plotting, the conventional wisdom is to play the “What If?” game. As in: What if this were to happen, or this, or this? But that only works when you can come up with those What If? scenarios. When your “What If?” well has run dry, try one of these plot hacks: Movie Night This is a fun one. Watch three films based on bestselling novels in your genre. While you watch, write down what happens in every scene. That is, the beats of the story. As in Jaws: Young people having fun on the beach; young woman runs into the ocean; young woman is caught and dragged to her death screaming, etc. Do this three times for three movies, and you should soon be swimming in plot ideas…. Card Game Let your fingers do the plotting…. Get yourself a deck of tarot cards or storytelling cards. (There are many decks, apart from the classic Rider-Waite Tarot. Note: I have many decks; my new faves are the Hero’s Journey Dream Oracle, the Wise Dog Tarot, and the Literary Witches Oracle. Pull a card and ask yourself how you could weave that element into your plot. Ask yourself what plot ideas come to mind when you pull the Death card, the Star card, the Quest card, etc. Play cards—and plot away! The Worst Possible Thing Playwright George Abbott used this formula for the three-act structure: “In the first act, get your hero up a tree; in the second act, throw stones at him, and in the third act, get him down safely.” The rocks should get bigger as the story progresses. The way to bigger rocks? Ask yourself after every story beat: What’s the worst that could happen? And make that happen. Go silly, go dramatic, go over-the-top with your worst possible things. There’s plot gold in there. Hallmark Bingo Believe it or not, the tropes for Hallmark movies are so entrenched by now that viewers get together and play Hallmark Bingo. They download one of the many Hallmark Bingo cards available on the internet, and as they watch a movie they look out for certain elements to appear that are marked on their cards. As in: Christmas party, baked goods, handsome veterinarian, etc. What are the tropes in your genre? Make up own your bingo card with those tropes. Now, how can you reinvent those tropes, and breathe fresh life into them? That’s plotting…. Plot On! With these story tools, plotting is just a hack away. Have fun with it, and happy plotting!

Everyone always talks about how hard it is to write. And it is hard. There’s the terror of the blank page, the three steps forward, two steps back torture of plotting, the trial and error of character development—not to mention the tyranny of the impossible deadline. And it never really gets easier, as we tend to challenge ourselves more with every project. For me, the worst part is the first draft, which is always somewhat of a slog. I love it and dread it at the same time. It’s like running a marathon when you’ve forgotten how to run. But you haven’t really, you just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Bird by bird. When I remember this, the writing is not quite so hard. And I am reminded that writing is not all angst and adverbs. Sometimes it’s actually—dare I say it—fun. There are undeniable pleasures, however fleeting or abstruse or just plain unfathomable to Other People (non-writers) they may be. Keeping them in mind can help us enjoy the writing process more, even on those days when we struggle to make our word count. The next time you sit down to write, notice—and applaud!—when you: Find just the right word. There is no better feeling than nailing the right word. And why shouldn’t it feel good: There are more than a million words in the English language, around 170,000 in current use. Most adult native speakers have a vocabulary of 20,000 to 35,000 words. So finding that one-in-a-million perfect word is reason to celebrate. Find just the right turn of phrase. This is related to the above—only it’s more complicated. This is one of the glories of prose, the one that’s closest to the glories of poetry. Okay, so it’s not poetry, but when you come up with a witty bit of alliteration or a new twist on an old cliché or line that drums a sweet rhythm, congratulate yourself. That’s creativity in motion. Solve an intricate plot puzzle. I write mysteries, which are by definition puzzles. Piecing together a new puzzle every time is part problem, part play. But as Hemingway pointed out, “there is a mystery in all great writing.” No matter what the genre, figuring out the mystery in the story we’re telling is gratifying on every level. Make yourself cry. Robert Frost said, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” When we bring ourselves to tears while writing a particularly moving scene, we have connected with at least one reader. And in so doing we’ve increased our odds on connecting with other readers as well. After all, there’s nothing like a good cry. Make yourself laugh. When I was an acquisitions editor, I acquired and developed a lot of humor books. Humor is a tough category, because it’s so subjective. But I figured if the writing made me laugh, it would make some other people laugh, too. Enough to warrant publishing the book—and I was usually right. In fiction, the best—and easiest—way to make the most readers laugh is not through one-liners, but through character-driven humor. Write characters that make you laugh, and readers will laugh with you. Bonus: You’ll benefit from all those endorphins released when you laugh, the feel-good hormones that can fuel your storytelling. Learn something new. When I get stuck, I do research. I google arcane topics, I conduct interviews with experts, I visit possible settings for scenes. I’ve spent many enjoyable hours tracking down wild orchids in Vermont, archaeological digs in the Middle East, luxe destination weddings all over the world. And that was just for THE WEDDING PLOT (which debuts next week). Fall in love with a new character. As an agent I can tell you that it’s a lot easier to sell stories with compelling characters. (One of the most common complaints I hear from editors is, “I just didn’t fall in love with the protagonist.) Bringing characters to life on the page is one of writing’s greatest satisfactions. In THE WEDDING PLOT, I wrote a scene with a character I’d not planned to be a part of the story, Bodhi St. George just came to me and I wrote him. I loved him, and that love prompted me to rework the story to accommodate his character. He was fun to write—and apparently fun to read. When my wise and wonderful editor Pete Wolverton read the story, he told me that I’d created this great character, a character readers would fall in love with, so we needed more of him in the book, so as not to disappoint them. I went back and wove Bodhi throughout more of the story, which was also fun. Work something you love into your story. Write what you know, that’s the old adage. But I tell my writing students: Write what you know, write what you love, write what you’d love to know. One of the great joys of writing is when you’re able to write about the things you love. That’s why there’s nature, Shakespeare, and dogs in all of my novels. And the scenes where these elements appear are always my favorite ones to write. Work someone you love into your story. Most of my characters are composites, built of the physical and psychological traits, virtues and vices, and qualities and quirks of many people, real and imagined. But that changed with THE WEDDING PLOT. I had just begun writing the first draft when my father died unexpectedly, and I was too distraught to do much of anything, much less write. But I had a deadline to meet. I ended up writing my dad into the book. This gave me something to do, a means by which I could honor The Colonel. It was as if he were right there on my shoulder, helping me write his story. I like to think that even now, somewhere he’s smiling. Surprise yourself. Right after Frost advised, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader,” he went on to advise, “No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” Everyone loves surprises—especially those we create for ourselves. Be open to the unplanned, the unexpected, even the unwanted. And when you surprise yourself, go for it. Lose yourself. There are those magical, mystical moments when we find ourselves in the zone, so deeply engaged in the writing of our stories that we lose all track of time. We skip meals, we forget our friends and family, we even tune out texts and emails and phone calls. This is simply writer’s heaven. Get the job done. Sometimes the only contentment comes with meeting your word count goal. Soldier on, and then mark that day’s work as DONE. Whether you use checkmarks or gold stars or retail therapy rewards (which I prefer), acknowledge your achievement. Decorate the house. Joyce Carol Oates compares revising the first draft to decorating a house. You’ve got the first draft down on paper, you’ve built the house, but it’s not finished until you’ve decorated it. I love decorating, and I love revising. That’s when the real fun begins…. That’s Entertainment! Ultimately writing a novel means entertaining yourself. If we can’t entertain ourselves, why bother? Granted, it’s a hard-won entertainment—it’s a lot easier to binge Netflix or play video games or read someone else’s book—but nothing beats the pleasure of having written, and holding that book in your hand a year or two year later. I’m just saying.

Point of view issues keep more otherwise sellable authors from selling their work than nearly any other problem. That’s why as an agent, author, and writing teacher, I always caution my clients, fellow writers, and students to play it safe when it comes to POV. And yet every once in a while I come across a story whose author threw caution to the wind so splendidly I am tempted to play around with point of view myself. If you find yourself so inclined, read on. FIRST, THE RULES As Picasso reminded us, “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” Here are the POV rules you need to observe long enough to master them before you break them: 1) No omniscient POV. (It’s considered old-fashioned these days, at least here in the U.S.) 2) When writing first-person, stick to one POV per book. 3) When writing third-person: a) Stick to third-person close; b) Use only one POV per scene; c) Use no more than five POVs per book; and d) The protagonist’s POV should predominate. A caveat: The following explores how a few bestselling authors far more skilled than I—and probably you, too—took POV risks that worked big-time. So if this your first rodeo, you’re better off writing by the aforementioned rules. But sooner or later, regardless of your skill level, you’re going to want to break the rules. When you do, remember these examples of stories where the novelists’ POV gambles paid off. FIRST-PERSON PLURAL POV In two of my favorite novels of all time, the authors use first-person plural POV (we/us). In The Jane Austen Book Club, Karen Joy Fowler writes the story from the book club’s point of view. The book club members meet every month to discuss a Jane Austen novel, with unpredictable consequences for them all. (This 2004 novel is a must for all Austen fans; the film adaptation’s is fun, too, if not particularly faithful.) Here’s the opening: Each of us has a private Austen. Jocelyn’s Austen wrote wonderful novels about love and courtship, but never married. The book club was Jocelyn’s idea, and she handpicked the members…. We suspected a hidden agenda, but who would put Jane Austen to an evil purpose? Irresistible, and we the readers fall in love with the literary, gossipy voice. The same is true for Unlikely Animals, Annie Hartnett’s second novel, published just last month. A sort of “Our Town meets Alice Hoffman with a touch of John Irving,” this wonderful novel is written from the point of view of the dead people in the cemetery of the small New Hampshire town where the story is set. Which may sound morbid, but is not, as you can see from the opening lines: Maple Street Cemetery Everton, NH 43.3623° N, 72.1662° W Years later, when people in Everton would tell this story, they would say it was Clive Starling who called the reporter, the way that man loved attention. But we remember the way it happened…. Again, irresistible. We want to hear the real story, as told by the dearly departed, who know this town—past and present—better than anyone. SECOND-PERSON POV This POV (you/you) is rare, at least from my point of view. Only one immediately came to mind—Bright Lights, Big City, by Jay McInerney. This 1984 novel grabs readers from the very beginning, promising a ride as wild as the Eighties: You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this hour of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy. You are at a nightclub talking to a girl with a shaved head. And we’re off on the journey with McInerney, because we’re not that kind of guy either….and yet. OMNISCIENT POV Omniscient point of view is “Author as God.” Think 19th century novels, and fairy tales: Once upon a time there was a girl…. “Author as God” has fallen out of fashion in the 21st century, most notably in the United States. You still see it sometimes, especially in science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and literary fiction. No one does it better than Alice Hoffman, who writes modern-day fairy tales, a kind of “Yankee magic realism,” a literary legacy she has attributed to Nathaniel Hawthorne. You can see why in the opening to Practical Magic, the 1995 novel I reread whenever I’m feeling blue: For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in town. If a damp spring arrived, if cows in the pasture gave milk that was runny with blood, if a colt died of colic or a baby was born with a red birthmark stamped onto his cheek, everyone believed that fate must have been twisted, at least a little, by those women over on Magnolia Street. Hoffman has us at “the Owens women.” The scope and timelessness of the novel are part of its attraction, and the omniscient POV helps her establish both. MULTIPLE FIRST-PERSON POV Conventional wisdom has it that if you’re writing first-person point of view, you should stay with that one POV for the entire novel, if only so readers know whose head they’re in the whole time. Mixing it with third-person is tricky enough, but using more than one first-person point of view can be very confusing for readers if it’s not done with finesse. But when Gillian Flynn used his-and-her first-person points of view in her blockbuster thriller Gone Girl, writers took note—and we’ve been flooded with multiple first-person novels ever since. As an agent, I see a lot of them, and mostly it doesn’t work. Gillian Flynn made it work, by making the voices of the husband and wife characters very different—and by first introducing the wife’s POV through diary entries. The diary entries not only help the reader remember who’s who, but in Flynn’s capable hands, they also serve as a clever plot device. Speaking of devices, Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette is a master class in these tools. This book club favorite, technically told from the first-person point of view of an eighth grader named Bee, opens with Bee’s report card, just one of the dozens of devices Semple uses over the course of the story that become, in effect, other POVs. (For more, see the full list in my book on story openings, The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings. MULTIPLE THIRD-PERSON CLOSE POV Nobody breaks the rules as beautifully as George R. R. Martin. When to my chagrin one of my clients changed points of view half a dozen times in the opening of her novel and cited A Game of Thrones as her model, I went right to my copy of the epic fantasy. And yes, in the first fifty pages alone, Martin changes points of view at least five times (the conservative limit for an entire book). But it’s neither choppy nor confusing—it’s brilliant. Martin keeps the reader reading, through the skilled use of compelling action, likable POV characters, and clear links from one chapter to the next. I was so thrilled by his masterful handling of POV that I sat down and wrote a detailed analysis of his opening for my client (which you’ll also find in The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings). So it can be done, and done effectively, but most easily if you’re George R. R. Martin. I’m just saying. GO FOR IT For the record, I still say it’s risky to break the POV rules, especially if you’re writing your debut. But ultimately, all writing is risky. And the more we write, the more challenges we like to present ourselves. Point of view may be one of the challenges you take on in your next work. I have the terrible feeling it may be in mine. But as we’ve seen, other writers have met that challenge with grace and grit.

First of all, let's look at what a pitch should never be. This is a modified example from a past pitch conference. Despite the fact that this writer received our pitch models in advance, the following is what they produced for the first day of the conference. The title and author's name are withheld for privacy reasons. As follows: Sixteen-year-old Warren’s grandfather was his world: Chicago firefighter, Marine, master builder, musician, upstanding Polish-American man. Now Warren’s a stranger in his own house. His mother, a doctor, is guilty and distant; his father, a fire chief, means well but fails. His siblings seemed to get all his grandfather’s gifts: discipline, heroism, talent, craft. Warren tries his best to mimic their feats – swimming, piano-playing, building, firefighting – battling in spirit to take his grandfather back. He tries, and he fails. He resents and fears his awesome big brother, who guards the family heritage like a hero of yore; he envies and resents his kid brother’s grandstanding and musical gifts. Warren’s part of the family and not, home but not home, with no one and nothing but his grandfather’s picture – his one guiding light – to call his own. In the end, shame and pride drive him to dream of revenge: unable to belong in his grandfather’s world, unwilling to accept the world that he’s left, will Warren set this house on fire? Before you compare the above example to the examples below, you'll note that this pitch contains an ample amount of set-up. We learn about the kid and his life circumstances. Okay, great, and a wrap statement in the second paragraph. But what is missing? Consider, we know zero about the plot. There is no hint of it, not a sign. The writer leads us to believe the kid will lead towards a revenge of some kind, but what kind? He apparently has no journey to undertake, no challenge to overcome, no complicating obstacle as far as we can see. What must Warren do? What will Warren do? Who knows? And it's the failure to answer these questions that cuts the heart out of this pitch. The professional hearing it, or reading it, will immediately see there is no plot evident. Not exactly a good idea. We recommend instead the following as effective models for a novel pitch session. Keep the core body of the pitch to 150-200 words. Note too that your pitch is a diagnostic tool that helps professionals determine the strong and weak points of your novel, thus enabling productive discussion on matters of premise, character, and plot development. Take special note of inciting incident, protagonist intro, setting, stakes, plot points, and cliff-hangers. SURVIVING THE FOREST by Adiva Geffen Historical Women's Fiction (PROTAGONIST INTRO AND SETTING) Shurka is a happy young woman who lives a fairy tale life with her beloved husband and their two young children, in a pretty house in a village in Poland. She believes that nothing can hurt them. Or so she thinks. Then, World War II breaks out (INCITING INCIDENT) and the happy family quickly understands that their happiness has come to a brutal end. The family is forced to flee and find shelter in a neighboring ghetto (STAKES AND FIRST MAJOR PLOT POINT) where they discover the Gestapo is taking Jews away on trucks every night, never to be seen again. Backs against the wall, the family makes the brave and very difficult choice to flee into the depths of a dark forest (EXTENSION OF FIRST MAJOR PLOT POINT). There, surrounded by animals, they know this is their only chance to escape the real beasts. They have no idea what will await them, but they know that doing nothing is not an option if they wish to survive. (CLIFF-HANGER: WILL THEY SURVIVE? WHAT PRICE MUST BE PAID?) ______ GIRL IN CABIN 13 by A. J. Rivers Detective Murder Mystery (PROTAGONIST INTRO AND SETTING) FBI agent Emma Griffin is sent undercover to the small sleepy town of Feathered Nest to uncover the truth behind the strings of disappearances that has left the town terrified (STAKES AND INCITING INCIDENT). To Emma there is nothing that can lay buried forever. Even though her own childhood has been plagued by deaths and disappearances. Her mother’s death, her father’s disappearance, and her boyfriend’s disappearance--the only cases that she hasn’t solved. Her obsession with finding out the truth behind her past was what led her to join the FBI. Now, she must face what may be her biggest case. In Cabin 13 there lies an uneasy feeling. The feeling of her movements being watched. When a knock on her door revealed a body on her porch and her name written on a piece of paper in the dead man’s hand. Suddenly her worlds collide. (FIRST MAJOR PLOT POINT) With the past still haunting her, Emma must fight past her own demons to stop the body count from rising. The woods have secrets. And this idyllic town has dark and murderous ones. Either she reveals them or risk them claiming her too. (CLIFF-HANGER AND ADDITIONAL STAKES - WILL SHE SAVE THE "FARM" AND LIVE TO TELL THE STORY?) _____ Now, go and write the pitch for your novel following a thorough analysis of the above examples, and please, take your time. Once done, put it aside for a few days then read it again and ask yourself this question: WILL THIS MAKE SOMEONE WANT TO BUY MY BOOK? _________________________________________________

My very first manuscript was horribly cliché and pretty much plotless. In fact, it didn’t even have an ending to it. I never bothered writing one. It was clear to me that by 80,000 words there was no point in wasting my time on devising a resolution because there was never even a climax. It literally turned into one very lengthy exercise in getting to know my main characters—because I hadn’t bothered doing that before I started to write my novel. And this was okay at the time. I was brand new to creative writing and I just wanted to test my hand at being a writer since I’d never done anything like it before, unless you count the horrible required writing assignments in English 101, which I don’t. My point is that in order to get out of those cliched beginning manuscripts and onto something really high concept and novel—pun intended—then we have to become more creative as writers. So, with that being said, I have just one top pick for the week that centers on this very concept of creating something new in your writing. #1: Novelty and the Novel Literary agent Donald Maass keenly points out the need for authors to write stories that have more unique and novel settings, characters and plots. I would recommend that you pay extra special attention to the bulleted list of questions he has come up with for you to ask yourself about your story. These are gold and well worth your time pondering over them if you need to get yourself out of a cliched writing rut, or if you need inspiration to breathe new life back into your story. Happy week and happy writing to you all. Until next time, Kara

The novel writing, development, editing, and pitch forums are for utilization by New York Write to Pitch and all other Algonkian alums, as well as AAC members and guests. This is the primary focal point for polishing, rewriting, or beginning a new genre or literary plot-driven manuscript. Novel Development Forums, Programs, and Events Novel Writing and Editing - Concept to Query Platitudes, entitled amateurism, popular delusions, and erroneous information are all conspicuously absent from this collection of detailed novel writing guides and maxims. The goal is to provide you, the aspiring novel author, with the skills and knowledge it takes to realistically compete in the commercial book market of the 21st century. Best to begin the journey with Labors, Sins, and Six Acts which includes an overview and linkage to the best of AAC and Novel Writing on Edge. This forum grouping also contains the critical "Bad Novel Writing Advice" designed to assist writers in avoiding counterproductive contamination; "Art and Life in Novel Writing" (insightful reviews of books on novel writing, among other things) that provides a balance of important advice from varying perspectives; the 16-Part "Algonkian Novel Writing Program" for editing or writing the genre novel in "six act" stages, as well as the Algonkian Writer Conferences forum, FAQ, and all other things related to Algonkian. __________ ACC Writer Info Forums and Video Critiques Reviews, Commentary, and Plenty of Controversy Entertaining literary book analysis in Audrey's Corner with an aim towards helping aspiring novel writers; Writing With Quiet Hands, a new novel writing advice column by legendary agent, Paula Munier; Unicorn Mech Suit, a diverse collection of SFF interviews and insights; plus Cara's Cabinet collection of ravels and unravels, combed feed, and worthwhile nuggets of information culled from AAC essays and articles. And don't neglect our most popular forum of all wherein our resident geniuses dissect and discuss novel writing videos from a number of sources--unquestionably worth a rant or two. Just ask Stephen King who hates plotting! __________ Narrative Critique Forum New York Write to Pitch and Algonkian Perspectives A forum for New York Write to Pitch alums to post samples of their scenes and prose narrative for detailed critique based on AAC guidelines. Emphasis on choice of set, narrative cinema, quality of dialogue, metaphor, static and dynamic imagery, interior monologue, general clarity, tone, suspense devices, and routine line editing issues as well.

When it comes to my all-time favorite fictional character it will always and forever be Andrew Wiggins, better known as Ender. I have loved fictional stories ever since I could read. I especially love fantasy and sci-fi. However, I had never really connected with a main character very deeply in a novel until I read Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, when I was in the latter part of Junior High school. I have since read that story multiple times and my 14-year-old self connects just as deeply every time. Every author’s dream, right, to have their stories cherished for decades? But why did I completely fall in love with this particular character? I was a teenage girl who secretly dreamed of becoming a princess one day, while Ender was a 6-year-old savant, battling in space. Well, the answer’s simple. I felt like Ender from page one. He was bullied because he was a Third, he was small and weak, and felt like no one wanted or liked him, with the one exception of his angel sister, Valentine. But then, as the story progressed, he had to overcome his obstacles in super creative ways, conquer his bullies and eventually he became someone the other kids looked up to and followed. I wanted to do what Ender could do. But other than seeing myself in Ender, I couldn’t really tell you why I loved him so much. At least that was the case until I decided to become a writer and learned all the intricacies of novel writing. It’s one thing to conceive of a particular character for a story and to see them in your mind, but to translate the images in your head to words on a page can be a very difficult thing. Orson Scott Card had to not only see who Ender was in his imagination, but he also had to write him in a way that would create sympathy from a reader. He had to make you care about Ender and what happened to him. He had to create scenes and moments in the novel that would show Ender’s personality, his ability, his vulnerabilities and fears. You learned about Ender little by little as the story unfolded, but in a way that created sympathy, mystery and kept you intrigued about what Ender would do next, and how he would react. Essentially, the author created a very appealing, but also realistic character arc; the protagonist starts out in a place of weakness, but then becomes the humble hero by the end—which is just one example of a character arc. We all connect with different characters for different reasons, but that is the very goal of all good authors. They need readers to care about their characters in order to sell their books. I can’t tell you how many books I have literally stopped reading within just a few chapters because the MCs have zero likeable or sympathetic qualities. I simply did not care what happened to them and the story was no longer interesting. So, how do you get your writing to a place that you can create these deep connections between your characters and your readers? I’ll let my top picks for the week explain: #1: Love me, love my characters This article is about the good and bad character traits generally present in romance novels, but it can be applied to other genres too, especially if you have an a**hole character that you’re including in your story. #2: The Bedrock of Character Development This is an interesting take on how to develop a character. If you’ve struggled with rounding out your MCs, or can’t seem to get past surface details about them then you may want to try a new approach. #3: Use Writing Prompts to Dig into Character Development While this title is a bit misleading, as there is only one writing prompt that they actually give an example of, I still find this helpful. Using this technique may be just what you need to dive deeper into your character’s head than you were able to before. #4: Creating Complex Characters: A ‘Mass Effect 2’ Case Study This is a super in-depth article that focuses on the RPG Mass Effect 2—something I’d never heard of until running across this article—and the complexities of those particular characters. It is a pretty lengthy read though, so I recommend viewing it when you have some extra time on your hands. #5: For the Love of Moira – The Arc of a Memorable Character This is the perfect example of a character and their evolution. Character arc is so very important to your story and this article demonstrates how that can be executed correctly. Happy week and happy writing to you all, Until next time, Kara

Truthful, authentic, honest. All these words mean roughly the same thing, but in this case, I’ve chosen these words to describe writers and the stories they create. I’m sure you’ve all heard phrases such as “find your own authentic voice,” or “write your truth,” or “be true to your craft.” Or even “be honest with your readers.” I realize that these phrases are ambiguous at best and are usually tossed around at writing conferences to make a speaker sound like they know what they are talking about. So…what am I getting at? To be honest in what you are writing, or to be truthful in the story that you create means showing a side of yourself that you may not want to. To be authentically you as a writer means to be vulnerable, to let down your walls just a little bit, or a lot, and let people into your world. It’s a scary reality, but when it’s done well, it shows in your writing and enhances your story significantly. Any character you create, or any setting you envision all have bits and pieces of you, of your imagination, of your ideas, of your creativity. If you aren’t connecting with one of your characters neither will your readers. If you’re painstakingly writing every word just to get the book done, your readers will feel that as well. Stephenie Meyer said that she will not write a sequel to Midnight Sun because she experienced a great deal of anxiety every time she sat down at her computer to write Edward’s story. Guess what? I felt nothing but anxiety every time I picked it up. No joke. This stuff is real. Your emotions, your beliefs, your humor, everything about you ends up on that page and if you’re afraid of judgement, criticism, or “what will my family think?” then you’ll likely become less and less authentic and your story will suffer because of it. Your readers aren’t going to know precisely why they don’t like a scene, or heaven forbid your book altogether, but it will happen nonetheless if you start censoring your writing voice. If you find that you aren’t allowing yourself or your characters to explore certain emotions or situations because it’s uncomfortable for you as the writer then this should be a wakeup call. If you’re fighting this, but keep feeling pulled to write something you don’t particularly want to then it probably means that you need to put on your big girl or big boy underwear and do it. Even if it’s scary. Even if it means putting a little more of you on the page for everyone to see than you are currently comfortable with. In the end, you’ll be glad that you did. In full honesty (no pun intended, or maybe a little), I’m not perfect at this yet either. I’m guilty of taking whole scenes out of manuscripts because I was afraid of what other people would think. In the end, my stories suffered because of it. With all this being said, you certainly don’t have to take my word for it. Instead, take the word of my top picks for the week: #1: Terrified About Writing Your Novel? Excellent! The author of Waisted goes into depth about the fears she had to face in order to write her fictional story about weight obsessed women and the society they lived in. She not only had to face her own weight obsessions and body image issues, but also the criticism after her story was published. #2: What Gandhi Taught Me About Telling Stories that Mean Something Kelsey Allagood encourages writers to not only tell the truth, but also to create stories that push the boundaries of current societal belief. “Of course our readers are going to look at our stories through their own lenses—the ones that stories have helped them shape over the course of their lives. Our role as storytellers is to write stories that help shift those lenses.” #3: How Honest is Too Honest? 6 Books That Straddle That Line While most of these books listed are either memoir or self-help, I still find this article helpful for friction writers in order to see just how much truth previous authors have put on a page and lived. Perhaps this article will give you the courage to explore those ideas or scenes in your story that you’ve been avoiding. #4: Write of Way #15 – Write True to You “I think it’s a lesson all authors learn that, whether we intend them to or not, our books reflect things about ourselves that we might not have even realized.” “If your creativity is flowing through a filter, you risk losing themes and ideas like that. You might not notice you’re losing them, but you will be, all the same.” Spot on, A.Z. Anthony. Spot on. Oh, and the rest of the article is good too. #5: Make it as Honest as You Can - Neil Gaiman This is actually a short video I linked from the Novel Writing Advice Videos section of Author Connect. It’s Neil Gaiman talking about how he found his own style of writing by being honest with himself. It’s definitely worth the 5 minutes it takes to watch it. Happy week and happy writing to you all. Until next time, Kara

Conflict should be at the very heart of every story you write. Its presence throughout your manuscript, or lack thereof, can literally make our break your ability to get published. Your main characters need internal conflict, they need conflict between themselves and other characters (more than just the conflict raised by the antagonist). There should also be conflict within the setting of your novel like a picturesque countryside that isn’t entirely what it seems, etc. etc. etc. Without conflict, or tension or raised stakes for the main characters, beginning with the first scene and ending with the resolution, stories meander, they are quiet and your readers get bored. Conflict helps readers care about the fate of both protagonist and antagonist (if your antagonist has sympathetic qualities) and it gets readers hooked. So hooked, in fact, that they will read your entire book just to find out how the story ends to get their much-needed resolution from all the said conflict you’ve created. Since this is such an important topic for all fiction writers and even some nonfiction categories, I’ve chosen seven picks for the week. Feel free to read them all, or choose which ones speak to you. #1: Confessions of a Conflict-Avoidant Writer #2: Create Conflict in Your Characters #3: 6 Tips for Creating Good Bridging Conflict #4: What Dungeons and Dragons Taught Me About Story Conflict #5: Levels of Conflict #6: The Science Behind Conflicts in Literature #7: Conflict, Plot Lines, And The Devil Wears Prada

Algonkian Writers Conference Programs and Events - Ongoing Queue: Manuscripts to Market Editorial Service - $1500+ (Novels - Most Genres) - Ongoing Admissions: Novel Development and Editorial Program, $299 - Online Courses ___________ - June 20 - 23, 2024 : Write to Pitch 2024, LIVE IN NEW YORK, $895 - (Map/Directions) - September 25 - 29 2024 : Algonkian Workshop Retreat in VA, $1195 - (Map/Directions) - September TBA, 2024 : Write to Pitch 2024, LIVE IN NEW YORK, $895 - (Map/Directions) - November 6 - 10, 2024 : Monterey Writer Retreat, $1095 - (Map/Directions) - February TBA, 2025 : St. Augustine Author-Mentor, $1289 - (Map/Directions) All the above events begin before you arrive and continue after you depart with pre-event and post-event novel editorial, writing, and development forums. Additionally, all events include the Algonkian Novel Development eBook, originally created solely for the New York Write to Pitch Conference. ALGONKIAN WRITER EVENTS AND PROGRAMS They Begin Before You Arrive and Continue Upon Departure - All Genres. What does the above mean? Prior to the start of any given event, writers receive critical, publisher-reviewed assignments, readings, and must-do checklists, many of which are found in the Algonkian novel writing forums at AA Connect. Additionally, at the conclusion of events, and for manuscript polish purposes, writers are provided with a supplemental novel editorial program that includes additional faculty consultation. We know that if you are beginning a novel or working on one in-progress, or if you have a completed ms and require a strong reality check, you must receive professional, highly focused reaction not only to your prose and narrative, but to your story premise (most important), plot points, antagonist, secondary characters, conflict lines, theme, and all else. Our ultimate goal, therefore, is to increase your odds of becoming a published author by showing you how to inhabit that upper percentile of writers who will have their work taken seriously by professionals in the business. - Michael Neff, Director

Literary and Genre Novel Writing Learned From the Masters Below you will find the program syllabus. In our quest to get you as close to the brass ring as possible, we've developed this series of multi-genre commercial writing courses that will enable you to develop and write your novel from the very beginning, or else rewrite your extant work-in-progress while simultaneously reality-checking all core and peripheral elements. In all cases, initial focus is on story premise and market position, major antagonist and protagonist arcs and elements, primary plot conflict(s), as well as overall set decisions. The next set of crucial elements are addressed in turn (see syllabus below) and again, as appropriate, by Algonkian editorial faculty (in private consultations with you) prior to the final query letter stage. NOTE: THE FOLLOWING NOVELS NOTED IN THE SYLLABUS ARE REFERENCED IN CONTEXT DURING THE COURSE OF THE PROGRAM. THE EMPHASIS IS ON UTILIZING CLASSIC AND MID-CLASSIC NOVELS AS MODELS FOR CONCEIVING AND CREATING SUCCESSFUL PLOT, CHARACTERS, THEME, AND PROSE NARRATIVE. WHY? BECAUSE THE ART OF FICTION MUST FIRST AND FOREMOST BE LEARNED FROM THE BEST AUTHORS WHO SET THE STANDARD FOR ALL WHO CAME LATER, INCLUDING THE WRITERS OF TODAY, AND THAT INCLUDES YOU. Part I Program Sample The Program Syllabus Art of Novel Writing - Part I - Eight Course Modules Module I The Act of Story Statement and Protagonist's Goal; Conjuring Your Breakout Title; Market Positioning and Vital Comparables; Utilizing the Short Synopsis Pitch to Create and Define Novel Basics Including Rising Plot Action, Exposition, Backstory, Climax, Denouement, and Theme. Works studied or referenced: ISSAC'S STORM, ANTIGONE, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, COLD MOUNTAIN, HISS OF DEATH, SUMMER'S SISTERS, THE BARTIMAEUS TRILOGY, THE HAND OF FATIMA, THE GREAT GATSBY. Multiple Assignments and Readings Focusing on All Critical Elements Related to Developing Competitive Commercial Novel Structure and Premise, and Applying Lessons Learned to Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress - Module II Choosing the Antagonist; Antagonist Role in Energizing Plot Lines and Defining Dramatic Tension; Social Reaction and Psyche Profile of Antagonists; Traits and Physical Nature of the Antagonist; Anecdotes Featuring Your Antagonist; Antagonist Relation to Three-Level Conflict Dynamic. Works studied or referenced: THE KITE RUNNER, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, THE GREAT GATSBY, LES MISERABLES, ANNE OF GREEN GABLES. Multiple Assignments and Readings Focusing on All Critical Elements Related to Developing a Competitive Commercial Novel Structure and Premise, and Applying Lessons Learned to Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress - Module III Using the Hook Line to Bait and Test Your Commercial High Concept; Hook Elements; the Coming of the "Agon" and Creating the Three-Level Conflict Dynamic; Writing Conflict Lines; Using the Right Setting to Maximize Opportunities for Unique Circumstance, Complications, Character and Verve. Works studied or referenced: ISSAC'S STORM, HISS OF DEATH, SUMMER'S SISTERS, THE BARTIMAEUS TRILOGY, THE HAND OF FATIMA, THE HUNGER GAMES, SOUND AND THE FURY, THE ROAD. Multiple Assignments and Readings Focusing on All Critical Elements Related to Developing Competitive Commercial Novel Structure and Premise, and Applying Lessons Learned to Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress - Module IV Personality Types and the Counter Trait; Importance of Backstory; Elements of Character Animation; Protagonist Makes Plot or Vice Versa; Sympathetic Character Factors in the Hook; Defining the Transformational Character Arc. Works studied or referenced in Module: CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, FIRST FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN, SECRET LIFE OF BEES, LIFE OF PI, BEL CANTO, PATTERSON AND GROSS, WINESBURG OHIO. Multiple Assignments and Readings Focusing on All Critical Elements Related to Developing Competitive Commercial Novel Structure and Premise, and Applying Lessons Learned to Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress - Module V Synopsis as a Planning Tool; Methods for Delivering Exposition; How Does Theme Define and Pervade the Novel? Character Symbolism and Making a Theme Statement That Will Layer Into the Novel. Works studied or referenced in Module: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, WISE BLOOD, THE SUN ALSO RISES, RHINOCEROS (the play), MAN'S FATE. Multiple Assignments and Readings Focusing on All Critical Elements Related to Developing Competitive Commercial Novel Structure and Premise, and Applying Lessons Learned to Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress - Module VI Coming of the Six Act Two-Goal Novel; Act 0 - Developing the Backstory; Act I, Part I - the Critical Act of Opening Scene, Foreshadowing the Primary Conflict, In Media Res; Act I, Part II - Inciting Incident, Exposition Parceling, the MacGuffin, Theme Start, Antagonist Intro With Possible Minions. Works studied or referenced in Module: CATCHER IN THE RYE, WAR OF THE WORLDS, MISERY, COLD MOUNTAIN, THE MALTESE FALCON, HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE HUNGER GAMES, HARRY POTTER, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, GLADIATOR AND CITIZEN KANE. Multiple Assignments and Readings Focusing on All Critical Elements Related to Developing Competitive Commercial Novel Structure and Premise, and Applying Lessons Learned to Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress - Module VII Act II - More Hook: Story Statement Redux, Establishment of Major Goal, Primary External Conflict or Complication Begins, First Major Plot Point and Plot Line, Protagonist Psychology, Rising Action; Act III - Plot Line Evolution, Minor Reversals, Complications, thee Levels of Conflict, Major Reversal Time, Plot Points. Works studied or referenced in Module: CATCHER IN THE RYE, WAR OF THE WORLDS, MISERY, COLD MOUNTAIN, THE MALTESE FALCON, HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE HUNGER GAMES, HARRY POTTER, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, GLADIATOR AND CITIZEN KANE. Multiple Assignments and Readings Focusing on All Critical Elements Related to Developing Competitive Commercial Novel Structure and Premise, and Applying Lessons Learned to Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress - Module VIII Act IV - New Rising Action and Suspense, Conflict Levels Revisited, the Final Puzzle Piece, Surprise or Twist, Climax, Victory at a Cost; Act V - Denouement, Loose Ends, Theme Resolution, End of Protagonist Arc. Works studied or referenced in Module: CATCHER IN THE RYE, WAR OF THE WORLDS, MISERY, COLD MOUNTAIN, THE MALTESE FALCON, HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE HUNGER GAMES, HARRY POTTER, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, GLADIATOR AND CITIZEN KANE. Multiple Assignments and Readings Focusing on All Critical Elements Related to Developing Competitive Commercial Novel Structure and Premise, and Applying Lessons Learned to Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress - Primary elements studied and applied in the eight modules of Part II: The act of creating narrative suspense. Dynamic description and competitive narrative cinema. Utilizing character personality to create tone and verve. The four levels of storytelling viewpoint. Levels of successive narrative transformation. Complications and conflict in fiction narrative. Approaches and experiments in masterful dialogue. Establishment of active and aggressive style. Coaxing imagination and unpredictability in narrative and storytelling. Art of Novel Writing - Part II - Eight Course Modules Module I Mastering the Art of Point-of-View: Four Levels of Third Person Point of View; Advantages of 3POV; Effective First Person POV Transition From 3POV; Choice of Viewpoint Character and Effect on Tone; Four Stage Narrative Transformation. Works studied or referenced in Part II Modules: THE RIVER KING, CLAUDIUS THE GOD, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE CONCRETE BLONDE, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, UNDER THE JAGUAR SUN, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND KLAY, THE ALCHEMYST, GET SHORTY, THE PAINTED BIRD, LOLITA, EVENSONG, THE SHIPPING NEWS, POISONWOOD BIBLE, YEAR OF THE RHINOCEROS, WISE BLOOD, FIGHT CLUB, WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Step by Step Narrative Creation and Enhancement Writing Assignments Utilizing Element-Specific Scenarios and Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress Module II Mastering the "Art of Fiction" Narrative: Spatial Orientation in the Scene, Quality Ruminations to Add Dimension and Arc, Transforming the Quiet Set and Circumstance with Imaginative Leaps of Interior Monologue, External Complications, Emotions, Musings, and Narrator Observations. Writing Concise and Artful Dialogue, Mastering the Right Genre Style and Voice. Works studied or referenced in Part II Modules: THE RIVER KING, CLAUDIUS THE GOD, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE CONCRETE BLONDE, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, UNDER THE JAGUAR SUN, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND KLAY, THE ALCHEMYST, GET SHORTY, THE PAINTED BIRD, LOLITA, EVENSONG, THE SHIPPING NEWS, POISONWOOD BIBLE, YEAR OF THE RHINOCEROS, WISE BLOOD, FIGHT CLUB, WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Step by Step Narrative Creation and Enhancement Writing Assignments Utilizing Element-Specific Scenarios and Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress Module III Mastering the Art of High Impact Subject Matter and Issues of Proper Narrative Composition : Creating Social Energy and Conflict, Ways to Aggressively Milk Imagination, Complex Visual Phenomena Reflecting the Human Condition. Creating the Color, Movement, Sounds and Smells of the Meta-Cinematic Narrative Experience. Injecting Pre-event complications, and Fantastical Circumstance Creating "Delayed Cognition" Technique. Works studied or referenced in Part II Modules: THE RIVER KING, CLAUDIUS THE GOD, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE CONCRETE BLONDE, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, UNDER THE JAGUAR SUN, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND KLAY, THE ALCHEMYST, GET SHORTY, THE PAINTED BIRD, LOLITA, EVENSONG, THE SHIPPING NEWS, POISONWOOD BIBLE, YEAR OF THE RHINOCEROS, WISE BLOOD, FIGHT CLUB, WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Step by Step Narrative Creation and Enhancement Writing Assignments Utilizing Element-Specific Scenarios and Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress Module IV Mastering the "Art of Fiction" Narrative: Complex Description of Characters Using Both Third and First Person POV, Metaphor Sketching to Describe Unique Characters, the "Single Statement of Impression," Deriving Unique Metaphors From Setting, Using the "PDQ" to Brainstorm Approaches to Challenging Subjects in Prose Narrative, Details of Face and Body Movement, Charged Emotional States, Occasional Acts of Bold and Imaginative Appearance. Balancing Prose For High-Impact Subject Matter VS. Upmarket Prose Narrative. Works studied or referenced in Part II Modules: THE RIVER KING, CLAUDIUS THE GOD, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE CONCRETE BLONDE, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, UNDER THE JAGUAR SUN, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND KLAY, THE ALCHEMYST, GET SHORTY, THE PAINTED BIRD, LOLITA, EVENSONG, THE SHIPPING NEWS, POISONWOOD BIBLE, YEAR OF THE RHINOCEROS, WISE BLOOD, FIGHT CLUB, WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Step by Step Narrative Creation and Enhancement Writing Assignments Utilizing Element-Specific Scenarios and Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress Module V Mastering the Art of Narrative Composition: High-Impact Subject Matter VS. Upmarket Prose Narrative, Mastering Style and Voice, Using FIGHT CLUB to Write Your Own Version In Order to Practice Those Narrative Elements Make Chuck Palahniuk a Great Author; Using THE RIVER KING to Write Your Own Version In Order to Practice Those Narrative Elements That Make Alice Hoffman a Great Author. Works studied or referenced in Part II Modules: THE RIVER KING, CLAUDIUS THE GOD, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE CONCRETE BLONDE, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, UNDER THE JAGUAR SUN, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND KLAY, THE ALCHEMYST, GET SHORTY, THE PAINTED BIRD, LOLITA, EVENSONG, THE SHIPPING NEWS, POISONWOOD BIBLE, YEAR OF THE RHINOCEROS, WISE BLOOD, FIGHT CLUB, WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Step by Step Narrative Creation and Enhancement Writing Assignments Utilizing Element-Specific Scenarios and Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress Module VI The First 5000 Words of the Novel Hook Incorporating Elements From Prior Modules : Four Levels of 3POV Narrative, Level III Narrative Minimum, Transitions to Reflective Interior Monologue, Interior Fantasy, Ruminations or Musings, At Least Five Minor Complications. Narrative That Allows For Color, Sound, and Smells; Narrative That Creates Impact On the Page in a Dynamic and Cinematic Manner. Color, Tension, Curiosities, Mystery, Conflict, With a Goal of Not a Single Quiet Paragraph. Works studied or referenced in Part II Modules: THE RIVER KING, CLAUDIUS THE GOD, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE CONCRETE BLONDE, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, UNDER THE JAGUAR SUN, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND KLAY, THE ALCHEMYST, GET SHORTY, THE PAINTED BIRD, LOLITA, EVENSONG, THE SHIPPING NEWS, POISONWOOD BIBLE, YEAR OF THE RHINOCEROS, WISE BLOOD, FIGHT CLUB, WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Step by Step Narrative Creation and Enhancement Writing Assignments Utilizing Element-Specific Scenarios and Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress Module VII Self-Coverage Narrative Scorebox and Reference to Part I of Program Regarding Act I and Act II as Appropriate For Inclusion of Proper Plot Elements, Sympathetic Character Elements, etc.. the First 50 Pages of the Novel Incorporating Elements From Prior Modules : Brilliant First Person POV, or All Four Levels of 3POV Narrative; Level III Quality Narrative Minimum Striving Towards Level IV, Transitions to Reflective Interior Monologue, Ruminations and Musings, As Many Minor Complications As Necessary. Narrative That Allows For Color, Sound, and Smells; Narrative That Creates Impact On the Page in a Dynamic and Cinematic Manner. Color, Tension, Curiosities, Mystery, Conflict, and All 50 Pages With a Goal of Not a Single Quiet Paragraph. Works studied or referenced in Part II Modules: THE RIVER KING, CLAUDIUS THE GOD, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE CONCRETE BLONDE, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, UNDER THE JAGUAR SUN, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND KLAY, THE ALCHEMYST, GET SHORTY, THE PAINTED BIRD, LOLITA, EVENSONG, THE SHIPPING NEWS, POISONWOOD BIBLE, YEAR OF THE RHINOCEROS, WISE BLOOD, FIGHT CLUB, WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Step by Step Narrative Creation and Enhancement Writing Assignments Utilizing Element-Specific Scenarios and Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress Module VIII Post Coverage: the Next 50 Pages of the Novel Incorporating Elements From Prior Modules (for a total of 100) : Brilliant First Person POV, or All Four Levels of 3POV Narrative; Level III Quality Narrative Minimum Striving Towards Level IV, Transitions to Reflective Interior Monologue, Ruminations and Musings, As Many Minor Complications As Necessary. Narrative That Allows For Color, Sound, and Smells; Narrative That Creates Impact On the Page in a Dynamic and Cinematic Manner. Color, Tension, Curiosities, Mystery, Conflict, and All 50 Pages With a Goal of Not a Single Quiet Paragraph. Works studied or referenced in Part II Modules: THE RIVER KING, CLAUDIUS THE GOD, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE CONCRETE BLONDE, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, UNDER THE JAGUAR SUN, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND KLAY, THE ALCHEMYST, GET SHORTY, THE PAINTED BIRD, LOLITA, EVENSONG, THE SHIPPING NEWS, POISONWOOD BIBLE, YEAR OF THE RHINOCEROS, WISE BLOOD, FIGHT CLUB, WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Step by Step Narrative Creation and Enhancement Writing Assignments Utilizing Element-Specific Scenarios and Each Writer's Novel-in-Progress

Have you ever had a hard time figuring out what genre your story fits into? Or, maybe you know the genre of your story, but you don’t know how to structure it. Perhaps your book keeps switching from one genre to the next depending on which chapter you’re writing. If genre is feeling a bit hazy for you, or if you just want to understand it better then this week’s picks are for you: #1: Tinker, Tailor, Wizard, Spy: The Joys (And Dangers) of Blending Genre Elements W.L. Goodwater states, “When readers browse the genre shelves at the bookstore, they are looking to sign a contract with the writer: I, the undersigned, will purchase and read this book, but only under the following terms. Writing genre is not simply about meeting readers’ expectations, but managing them.” And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why understanding genre is so important. #2: Mixing Genres Is All About Messing with Structure Stuart Turton explains about the structure of different genres and how he was able to get his stories to fit snuggly within the right ones. While he specifically mentions genres like mystery, time-travel and sci-fi, his methods of fixing his stories could work for any writer, no matter your genre of choice. #3: A Taxonomy of Nonfiction; Or the Pleasures of Precision As an assistant professor of creative writing, Karen Babine explains in detail, genre, subgenre, form, mode and shape of nonfiction writing. Ever thought about writing a memoir, or essay? Consider this article as your basic 101 course. #4: Genre Labels: What Makes A Book More Thriller Than Sci-Fi? Writing a sci-fi thriller? This article lists five main points about how to scrutinize your story and determine where it falls on the spectrum between science fiction and thriller. You’ll know exactly what you need to change to balance your story correctly within these two genres. #5: Writing a Genre That’s New to You A short read and to the point about how to get started writing in a new genre that you’ve never written in before. Or, perhaps you’ve only toyed with the idea, but haven’t been brave enough to try it yet. According to the author, Greer Macallister, “No one can stop you from writing in a new genre but you.” #6: In Psychological Thrillers, The Abyss Stares Back This article is an interesting and even freaky example of how writing and the genre you choose to write in can mirror your own life, without you even realizing it. The uncanny experience of author Sebastian Fitzek and his not-so fictional story shows firsthand how our lives can bleed into our work, thus giving us a new perspective of our own past and how it has shaped our present. Happy week, and happy writing to you all. Until next time, Kara

That said, I agree with Joe that this video might do more harm than good when it comes to giving writers advice. It sounds like Hank is (as we've been hammering on so hard here) a pantser. From the way he described his process, it sounds like he sort of wanders through the story and sees where his interest (and the characters) take him. [MORE BELOW]

Develop, Write, or Rewrite Your Breakout Novel Step-by-Step Courses Followed by Editorial Consult and Agent Query Process - $299.00 This novel writing and editorial program conducted online here at AAC was brainstormed by the faculty of Algonkian Writer Conferences and later tested by NYC publishing professionals for practical and time-sensitive utilization by genre writers (SF/F, YA, Mystery, Thriller, Historical, etc.) as well as upmarket literary writers. It is designed specifically for those who are currently in the process of writing or rewriting the novel. The goal is to get you as close to the brass ring as possible, to make your novel as commercially competitive as it needs to be on all levels while avoiding critical missteps, bad advice, and exorbitant prices. And it does not matter what stage your novel is currently in, or where you are in your writing life. The program steps and methodology, as well as the faculty, enable you to learn and grow as a writer together with your novel, and at your own pace. Your work is thoroughly reviewed by our professionals. Together you set publication goals, engage in necessary manuscript edits, and at the appropriate time, initiate the agent discovery process as well as the writing of the query letter. Faculty consists of New York Pitch Conference workshop leaders, and the courses are found here on Algonkian Author Connect. A login password will be provided upon successful application and registration. ANWP APPLICATION ___________________