Secrets for Successful Paranormal Writing

Secrets for Successful Paranormal Writing - Kris Neri

Crossing paranormal with other fictional categories — be they romance, mystery or general fiction — couldn’t get any hotter. But there are pitfalls those new to paranormal writing can easily fall into, which can doom a manuscript. Here are some tips to help you avoid those pitfalls:

1. The worst mistake newbies can make is thinking the supernatural elements are just tack-ons. The paranormal aspects must an integral part of the storyline. If you can imagine removing the magical elements, while telling the same story and having it turn out the same way — you’re not using it right.

2. Readers need to understand the rules governing the magical aspects of the world you’re depicting. You can explain those rules — and whatever consequences might result — either explicitly or by allowing the reader to absorb their essence by showing them at work. Most writers use a combination of both. Some can be accomplished by including a character that encounters the paranormal for the first time. The reader can learn how these rules function as the character does, and the reader can share her surprise. That’s what I did in my magical series, by having fake psychic Samantha Brennan encounter the true paranormal for the first time and sharing her shock with the reader.

3. You need to decide whether the magical aspects are known to the general populace of your world, or not. Either way works, but there is a built-in level of conflict if your paranormal beings have to struggle to hide their natures. In the Harry Potter novels, the muggles — non-paranormal beings — are generally unaware of the wizardry being performed in their midst, which provides lots of opportunities for conflict and plot direction, as well as humor.

4. Characters who possess supernatural abilities must be seen using those abilities, or we need to know why not. For instance, Annabelle Haggerty, the Celtic goddess/FBI agent protagonist of my Magical Mystery, MAGICAL ALIENATION, needs to be careful how much magic she performs at the FBI, where she must hide her secret nature. But I once worked with a writing client who described her protagonist as telepathic with animals, yet the character never displayed any telepathy in her frustrating interactions with animals, until the three-quarter point of the novel, for no reason that was ever explained.

5. Magical characters must still be real characters, as richly developed as those not possessing paranormal abilities, yet not be perfect beings, either. Your novel should contain challenging personal growth arcs for these characters, too, even if they also have some extraordinary abilities. Sharing in character growth is why we read fiction.

6. Just as everything comes together in the climax of any other novel, it must in a paranormal work. The solution your protagonist employs to meet her goal must rely on both her natural and supernatural abilities, to bring about a solution that works on both levels. She should also overcome her personal challenges, achieving personal growth as she achieves her story-objective.

7. Most importantly, even magical beings have to earn their successes. If you allow your protagonist to finalize the action in the climax with the effortless waving of a wand, or some solution not inherent within the storyline, you will lose your reader’s respect. If you change the magical rules you’ve already established to allow your character an effortless solution, you’ll also lose that reader. For the reader to continue to suspect disbelief, she must trust in the integrity of your novel. If you want to get around some generally accepted paranormal beliefs, find a realistic way to do it. In the TWILIGHT series, for example, Stephenie Meyer circumvented the belief that vampires can’t go out during the day without burning up by choosing a locale that’s heavily overcast.

Writing paranormal can be extra challenging because so much has to be integrated, and it must work equally well on multiple levels. But it’s great fun to write, and these tips should speed you on your way toward writing paranormal cross-category success.

Kris Neri writes the Samantha Brennan and Annabelle Haggerty Magical Mystery Series, HIGH CRIMES ON THE MAGICAL PLANE and MAGICAL ALIENATION, as well as the Tracy Eaton Mystery Series. She can be reached through her website

Editing and Writing Anthologies - Danielle Ackley-McPhail

Welcome Danielle Ackley-McPhail, anthology editor and fantasy author! 

Amber: Tell us about the difference between editing a book by one author compared to an anthology. 

Danielle: Well…first off I have to say that I’m not a copy editor, mostly I am a project editor combined with a critiquer. The main difference is that I know I am not perfect when it comes to grammar and such, but I generally have a good eye at how to polish and improve a story. All of the novel work I have done has been critiques for friends.

I would say the main difference between novels and anthologies is style and experience levels. Novels you work with one author—or perhaps a writing team—and the work is pretty much consistent throughout. With an anthology you are dealing with many authors with their own ways of doing things. The editor’s challenge is to clean everything up and meld the collection together so that things flow smoothly and logically from the beginning of the anthology to the end.

This is one of the reasons the Bad-Ass Faeries anthologies are broken down into sections. When we did the first one we had a lot of variety, with the exception of three really good stories that were all written in the Noir detective style. Other than that the plots were completely different, but it was difficult at first to decide how to deal with them. We were afraid we were going to have to let one of them go when it occurred to me that there would be no problem having all three of them at all…if they were their own section so that it made sense to have a bunch of them. So, my co-editors and I looked at all of the stories and tried to find a pattern that would allow us to create five evenly divided section. We’ve been doing it ever since!

Another challenge is coming up with enough different material on a very focused topic so that each section…each anthology even, is unique and interesting. Our answer to that is two-fold: first, we have a secondary theme for each book. The first one didn’t have one…well…because it was the first one. The second one, however, was titled Just Plain Bad. The theme for that one was that all the villains had to be faeries, regardless of what other faeries were in the story that was a must. In the third anthology, In All Their Glory, all the stories had to have a combat/military theme. And in the next one, Bad-Ass Faeries 4: It’s Elemental, all of the authors must chose an existing type of elemental faerie and base the story (whatever it is) around that. We’ll see how successful that one is. It will definitely pose a challenge to the editorial team as it means that we have to judge stories by section (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit) rather than judging all the stories and then dividing them up afterward. Because of this we have opened up submissions for the first time ever for this series…we expect competition to be fierce. Anyone interested in details can go to www.badassfaeries.com/submissions.htm.

Amber: Any tips for writers to help get a story accepted into an anthology?

Danielle:

1)  First and foremost…read the guidelines thoroughly and make sure you follow them.

2)  Always be professional when communicating with the editor.

3)  Do not be difficult, if the editor wants changes and they are reasonable, work with them; don’t take it as an affront to your creative process.

4)  If the collection is a themed anthology, ask the editor if there is anything in particular they were looking for that was not submitted, and then do your best to provide a story matching what they were looking for.

5)  Think beyond. If it is an open call, the editor is going to see a lot of carbon-copy stories. Consider the theme and look for the most unique twist you can put on a story to fit that theme. Don’t just think of what would make a cool story, think what would make a distinctive one.

6)  Proofread. Proofread. Proofread! And then have someone else proofread for good measure. Authors are too close to their own work to catch every mistake because their mind automatically fills in the missing or incorrect details.

Amber: Is this a good path for a writer who wants to sell a longer work?

Danielle: I look at it this way: novels take a long time to write. Then they take a long time to revise. Then they—usually—take a long time to sell. And finally, they definitely take a long time to produce. With that in mind, even if you are a very prolific author there are going to be gaps in there where nothing new is coming out. This is, of course, assuming you already have your start. So, how do you keep your name out there while you are writing or waiting for the next novel to pub? Originally it was magazines, and to some extent it still is, though there is an awful lot of competition. Unfortunately, a lot of print magazines have not survived the electronic age. However, a lot of mainstream and small press publishers have turned to anthologies to increase their title list. With that in mind I think anthologies have great potential to both give the beginning author their start, as well as to keep the established author’s name in the public eye.

I myself have three novels published (Yesterday’s Dreams, Tomorrow’s Memories, and The Halfling’s Court: A Bad-Ass Faerie Tale) but collectively they represent about five years of my life spent writing. The first two took two years to come out in print after they were accepted by publishers. The second took considerably less than that, but only because I am the production staff.

If I depended on the novels to make my name, I would be sorely disappointed, mostly because there is a lot of time invested there, and I am a small-press author so distribution and marketing are something of an issue. But since I am one of those authors that can write short or long, I have used anthologies—I am published in over thirty at this stage—to increase my visibility and ensure I always have something new coming out each year.

Another benefit of anthologies is filling out your list of publishing credits. In that manner they most definitely have the potential of increasing your chances of selling a longer work because publishers always look at previous publishing history…which means it’s awful good to have one to show them!

Also, if you are the type of author likely to sell your own works at conventions anthologies are a nice way to fill out your table space and make you more appealing to the customer. It is always difficult to sit there with just one title…because it means you either grab them, or you don’t. With multiple titles to offer you can always guide them toward something else if the first book isn’t to their interest.

Finally, anthologies let you reach markets you wouldn’t normally on your own because each author in the book—hopefully—has their own following, so you reach your fans and their fans.

Amber: What else to writers want to know?

Danielle: I am quite sure the main thing writers want to know is about the money. I can’t speak for the large publishers, other than to say I’m positive they pay better than small press.

I have a lot of experience with small presses. Enough to warn everyone that unless you are selling the books yourself (most publishers give an author discount that makes this feasible) you aren’t going to get rich on anthologies. Small presses have about three different ways they pay, in one combination or another:

1)  Comp copies and an author discount

2)  An equal share of X royalty per book sold

3)  A per-word advance/flat fee

If you do a lot of anthologies you can get a nice bit of change, but for the most part, this venue is for the exposure, the publishing credit, and the hope that maybe one of your stories will catch the eye of a Best of editor, or an award judge/nominator.

In a semi-related note, one of the benefits from the standpoint of an editor who is also an author, I get to work with some of the best authors in the industry. I not only pick things up from them, but I’ve formed friendships with them and have shown them what I am capable of when working on a project. That alone makes the experience priceless for me!

Award-winning author Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for over fifteen years. Her works include the urban fantasies, Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories, and The Halfling’s Court: A Bad-Ass Faerie Tale. She has edited the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series and No Longer Dreams, and has contributed to numerous other anthologies and collections, including Dark Furies, Breach the Hull, So It Begins, Space Pirates, Barbarians at the Jumpgate, and New Blood.

She is a member of The Garden State Horror Writers, the New Jersey Authors Network, and Broad Universe, a writer’s organization focusing on promoting the works of women authors in the speculative genres.

Danielle lives somewhere in New Jersey with husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail, mother-in-law Teresa, and three extremely spoiled cats. 

She can be found on LiveJournal (damcphail, badassfaeries, darkquestbooks, lit_handyman), Facebook (Danielle Ackley-McPhail), and Twitter (DMcPhail). 

To learn more about Danielle's work, 

visit

her website 

or 

Bad-Ass Faeries; the Award-Winning Anthology Series 

Why (and How) I Write Fantasy: Skhye Moncrief Revisted

Hi, Amber. Thanks for inviting me back to ramble. :) Since I've previously answered your basic questions about why I write fantasy, I'll just leave the link for the interested to hop over to your older post and check out my answers. Today, I'm dealing with the biggie...

Amber: One reviewer says of Feral Fascinations "Ms. Moncrief seamlessly blended earth religion, new-age mysticism, paranormal events, shapeshifing rogue spies, and a who-done-it twist." How do you put all that in one story and keep the fantasy within our "suspend belief zone"?

Skhye: First of all, I'm going to admit I ramble. And this is just a simple question to answer. So, bear with me!

I discussed Amber's question with my critique partner the other night. It's difficult to just start with one of the components of FERAL FASCINATIONS' story world the reviewer thought I blended well together. When writing, I always begin my attack from a Deep POV angle. Then they say write what you know. I guess I've been interested in most of these subjects at some point in my life. What you basically do is deal with the blending inside the characters' heads... Once you understand why they make the choices they make, you're about a third to half of the way through your rough draft. If anyone tells you they know everything about their story world when they begin, they're either working on book two or lying. *snort* Trust me. You can never know every hurdle your characters will face based on your initial story synopsis. Yes, it's true. I don't pants much these days. I usually have most of the pivotal scenes/turning points planned in a story before typing my opening (extremely boring) first line. I'll explain with my latest wip...

I revised every scene in the heroine's POV in chronological order to ensure I get the right perspective in her thoughts. It doesn't take but an hour or two. So, that's how I operate. If I'm working in an ideology or paranormal events, I revise for that layer. Writing is all about reflecting culture. Anthropology is the study of culture--past or present, extant or extinct. I write each character from a different culture specifically in that cultural mindset. Their shoes, their hairstyle, their metaphors, their spirituality, how they feed themselves, what they eat is all part of their cultural details... You have to weave that information into each character and pit them against characters with different ideas about life, i.e. from different cultures. So, I took what I knew about alien abductions, werewolves, vampires, New Agers, Goths, and 2012 winter solstice legend, wove it together, and wrote FERAL FASCINATIONS. If you don't feel comfortable with weaving so many "great" subjects together, find a good introductory cultural anthropology textbook to begin understanding how to weave various worldviews into one story by beginning with what a culture is. People who ride motorcycles are a culture. That culture has its own subcultures. Think gangs. People who treat their pets like children are a subculture of a bigger culture. Religions break people in the USA into subcultures. With FERAL FASCINATIONS, I had a Native American hero from Earth and a New-Agish heroine extraterrestrial. Both were easy for me to write given I'd always been nuts about Native American cultures and I had to heavily immerse myself in New Age everything to write my Time Guardians series.

The New Age information wasn't so simple to understand. It took me about three years to deal with the Tarot, numerology, color/scent/crystals in magic, astrology, Pagan, and Wiccan info while researching alchemy, Celtic mythology, time travel, Druids, and medieval literature. I even took classes in Medieval Lit and Reformation Eng. Lit to get into the minds of my Druids. So, don't just jump off a cliff and try to weave so many things together. Tell yourself you have to do research. Me, I just did the research. I'm a big research junkie. And use Deep POV to make the info you deliver real.

Deep POV helps you delve into the innerworkings of your POV characters' minds. Trust me. You will love writing with my little formula that loads of authors use to reveal why each character exists. in other words, this means you'll fill up every line in your book with GMC {goals, motivation, and conflict}. Fantasy readers can wait a little for valuable GMC in a fantasy novel. But you can't expect them to wait very long. Remember, reveal it line by line as your characters are forced to move forward. Line-by-line revelations are merely the micro-GMC of your story. Debra Dixon's Goals, Motivation, and Conflict is the book you will need to explain GMC thoroughly. The other book is Jack Bickham's SCENE & STRUCTURE. He pushes the little formula I mentioned. {stimulus->internalization->reaction} What in the heck does this mean?

Each line of your book should follow the model {stimulus->internalization->reaction}. Sometimes an internalized thought can function as stimulus or reaction. I've found my books are mostly internalization. That means, I get to reveal backstory by making it GMC for my POV characters in their thoughts. This is where you make everything personal. And don't have sentences like:
 
He thought the door looked solid, impenetrable.

That's telling. If you're in his head, he won't "he thought" about his thoughts. He'll just think. Put it in 3rd or 1st person in the exact words your character uses, i.e. Deep POV. Use a showing version.

The solid mahogany door couldn't possibly move. Nobody had enough magic/power to move this type of door. Except a magician/wizard/barbarian/fairy/weapons expert/locksmith. But the only thing that would get me past the dragon/witch/king's guards lay through that doorway. And if I didn't, the world would explode/the aliens would invade/the evil queen would triumph/the renegade gods would take over the world. 

You get my drift. You add value at the character level, making the story real line-by-line. Each stimulus forces the POV character to reveal what's at stake even at the micro-level. This means each sentence in your story IS important. The sentences all reveal characterization, GMC, or sketch out the scene. Isn't what they say in writing courses that every sentence counts? Don't dump backstory. Slowly reveal the subcultures of your characters (GMC) by weaving it in line-by-line. Your backstory will feel realistic in this line-by-line delivery. Second by second, the stakes change. And you've done your research enough to lay those stakes out at the micro-level. So, basically I'm saying make your story real. That way you've managed to keep your reader moving forward instead of hurling your tale across the room because you drew the reader out of the story.

The shape-shifting aspect of my rogue spies is just another paranormal type of story. Shifters can have jobs we have. Nothing new there. The big trick if putting all these different layers into a story is intimidating to you is to add one layer at a time. This means you will have to go back and revise every time you need to put in something like the New Age reasons for doing everything with my heroine. I revised her thoughts/dialogue just for that (I'll call it a quick double check read through). Then I had to go back and check my commander's dialogue for Zen-like points because he talks that way. My aliens are from different planets. Their ways of speaking/thinking varied too. Each one required a different revision. Now, some of these revisions are brief. Others require you read half your book, his or her scenes. My vampires slowly evolved as I wrote book one. I kept having to go back and rework them into what we know as extraterrestrials with large almond-shaped eyes, big head, and gracile bodies. These ETs cause lost time. I had to place that in the story with the inability of their victims to move--just like vampires make you incapable of running away through some kind of hypnosis! Vamps want to suck your blood. So do my ETs who are collecting blood for the emperor. I had no idea they'd be doing that. I just dawned on me when I began writing the history of the Blood Wars into my novel's first draft. But the point is not to dump it all in there at once. Make it real. Your characters will only think of what's bothering them at that second their thinking about what they have at stake. That's when you deliver the micro-GMC.

To be honest, I can write a complex novel-length story world in a month now. This process I use to produce a novel is just second nature these days. It's a system that works for me. Anyway, I hope that's answered Amber's question. ~Skhye

Amber: You did and more (snickers). Thanks for re-visiting Wordshaping and amazing us with your world-building techniques.

Feral Fascinations (Read chapter 1 & buy)
Time Guardians books (print & Kindle)
Skhye's 1st chapters
Skhye's website
Skhye's blog 

Check out Skhye's Contests

Monday, October 18 on at http://liladipasqua.blogspot.com/ 

  and more on her blog 

She's always having a good one.

Why I Write Fantasy - Laraine Herring

Welcome Laraine Herring, magical realism author and professor of creative writing.

Amber: Why did you choose the magical realism for your new novel Ghost Swamp Blues?

Laraine: It’s easy for me to write magical realism because it’s the way I perceive the world around me. I didn’t choose to write Ghost Swamp Blues in magical realism. I just can’t seem not to write that way. I have very few pieces of fiction that do not contain elements of magical realism, and even my creative non-fiction essays are magical in some way. To me, everything is alive. I even name and create personalities for my appliances, and people who follow my blog know that I have a small green stuffed monkey named Keezel who travels with me, and even performed the wedding ceremony for my husband and me at Ocean Beach in San Francisco! I’d have to be a writer or else I’d be labeled crazy!

I appreciate the sense of wonder that magical realism provides, and I think of time as a loop rather than a line, so it’s very easy for me to create a story that emphasizes the continuity of time and place (whether through “ghosts” or other elements). Accepting the marvelous as commonplace helps me continue to see the world through eyes of wonder rather than through fixed and rigid concepts, and this helps me as a writer to continually be amazed, to continually see the world with soft eyes, compassion, and an eye toward possibility rather than predestination.

Many people are familiar with Toni Morrison’s Beloved or Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ One Hundred Years of Solitude, but they may not consider Salman Rushdie, Isabel Allende, or Laura Esquivel when they think about magical realism authors. There’s a wide range of authors writing contemporary magical realism novels. I’d encourage you to check out some of them. I love teaching magical realism, too, in part because it tends to throw students out of their comfort zones. I often start with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” I love the responses, which usually range from “I don’t get it” to being quite angry with the author. Rarely do students have this kind of visceral response to fantasy (Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”, for example). They grew up reading Tolkien, Robert Jordan, Ursula le Guin, Neil Gaiman and J.K. Rowling, and they’re perfectly content letting their spirits escape into the pages of another world.

Amber: Why do you think readers love fantasy?

Laraine: I think fantasy literature is more accessible and therefore more popular because the reader clearly knows how the "rules" of his or her own world differ from the "rules" of the fantasy world. There’s the world of the book, and the world of the reader, and they don’t intersect. Monsters, demons, shifts in time and place, time travel, fairies, ogres, vampires, and all sorts of extraordinary elements can be fascinating on the page because they don’t play by the rules of the reader’s “real” world. Magical realism literature, on the other hand, forces the reader to consider (the reader doesn’t have to accept the premise, of course) the possibility of the extraordinary elements present within his or her own world. That shakes people up sometimes.

Amber: How does magical realism differ from fantasy?

Laraine: The primary differences between magical realism and fantasy writing, to me, lie in the world of the story. In magical realism literature, the world is this earth. In fantasy literature, the world is altered in some way, or we have a completely different world altogether. The fantastical elements are perceived as out of the ordinary, whereas in magical realism, the magic (the extraordinary) is treated as ordinary and accepted, not something to be afraid of, amazed by, or figured out. It’s just what is. The supernatural is as valid as the natural in magical realism, and to me, that’s extremely exciting to explore through story.

Amber: As a creative writing professor, what mistakes do you think fantasy writers make?

Laraine: I have read many students’ attempts at writing fantasy. Many more students try to write fantasy than magical realism, and I think that’s due in a great part to what they’ve read. People tend to write what they like to read. The biggest mistake I see unique to the fantasy genre is students focusing far too much on the extraordinary elements and on world-building at the expense of the characters. They are enthralled by the fantasy world, the naming, the gadgetry and even the languages they can create within it, but they forget that they need compelling characters with clear, multi-layered desires to inhabit those worlds.

The same thing occurs with writers of historical fiction. They’ve often done so much research on a place and time that they want to put it all in because they find it fascinating, forgetting that the reader, ultimately, is reading to follow a character’s journey, and that journey needs a solid driving question and a layering of desires and obstacles to compel the reader forward. Tension in fiction is created not through complex worlds, but through the potential for multiple outcomes to a given character’s desire. Where one chooses to place that character, whether on a planet in outer space, under the earth, or in Santa Fe, serves to enhance that characterization and to provide its limitations and possibilities. The world, although an integral part of a story, is not the whole story.

Amber: Thanks Laraine for telling us about magical realism. And I loved your book and highly recommend it to readers who love fantasy, history, the South, or just a good story.

And my copy of The Writing Warrior Discovering the Courage to Free your True voice has just arrived. I know I will like it as much as I loved Writing begins with the Breath.

Laraine Herring holds an MFA in creative writing and an MA in counseling psychology. She directs the creative writing program at Yavapai College in Prescott, AZ. Her most recent books are: Ghost Swamp Blues; The Writing Warrior: Discovering the Courage to Free Your True Voice and Writing Begins with the Breath: Embodying Your Authentic Voice. Find out more at her website.

Laraine Harring’s Contest!

For a chance to win a signed copy of Ghost Swamp Blues

Email Laraine e-mail with your request,
and in the body of the e-mail, 

tell her what you love about fantasy or magical realism.

Laurie Schnebly Campbell Writes Characters By Their Type

Welcome Laurie Schnebly Campbell, romance author who used the enneagram to teach writers about character.

AMBER: Tell me how you became interested in using the enneagram for  character development?

LSC: My mother found a really simple book about enneagrams, complete with cartoon illustrations, and the minute I saw it I loved the idea of applying those personality types to characters in my books. There's just so much built-in conflict when you put any two types (even the same kind) together, and neither person has to be a jerk -- it works just as well when they're genuinely good people.

The idea is that when we're under stress, which of course our book characters ARE because otherwise there wouldn't be any story, we all tend to show the darker side of our usual strength. Each type has wonderful strengths, but those can also cause problems when they're taken to extremes...like someone carefree becoming irresponsible, or someone responsible becoming a perfectionist.

AMBER: As a long time fan of the enneagram, I’ve wanted to use the system to write a novel. Of course, I would use all the types and it would make perfect sense. Easier said than done. When is a good time to stand back, look at your characters, and do a personality analysis (if they let you)?
LSC: I'm always amazed at how many successful methods there are for developing characters. Some writers start with an archetype in mind and craft a plot to challenge that character; others prefer watching the plot unfold and THEN deciding what the characters will be like. Either way can work beautifully, and so can all the other ways in between.

For anyone who's not sure WHAT works best, my recommendation is: decide which comes more easily to you. Are you better at coming up with plots, or better at crafting characters? Then, whichever you're better at, do the other step first.

Because if plotting is tougher and you start with that, you KNOW you can create fabulous characters to fit any plot you dream up. And if you have a tough time building personalities, do that first (hint: enneagrams will help!) because once that's done you can always create a compelling plot for whatever people you come up with.

AMBER: I also notice that you teach a workshop entitled “Creating Your  Hero’s Fatal Flaw.” As a counseling therapist and romance writer, do you have tips for  making your hero and heroine flawed, but not too crazy for a reader  to care about?
LSC: Even though the term "fatal flaw" sounds so much more dramatic than "flaw that occasionally causes trouble," flaws don't have to be anything CLOSE to crazy! We're all flawed in minor ways, and those ways are enough to create drama and turmoil in our lives.

Of course, if novelists want to write a psychotic killer or something equally crazy, they can just pick one of those minor flaws and take it to extremes. In fact, the class gets into how each of the nine types could become a villain -- it's all about exaggerating the weakness that goes along with each type's strength.

But keep in mind, the strength and weakness are always two sides of the same coin. You can't have one without the other...all you can do is use that trait for whatever results you want.

AMBER: Anything else you'd like to add?
LSC:  Just in case anyone isn't familiar with enneagrams, here's the short version: we all have some of EACH type within us, but we also have one main type. (Some people recognize theirs immediately; others can see too many possibilities to decide right away.)

    Type One, the Perfectionist, is a classic white-hat-never-black-hat who LIVES for Truth-Justice-Right. They hate mistakes; as perfectionists they get angry when they (or anyone else) doesn’t live up to their high standards. Trivia: they’re hardly EVER overweight, because that would be Wrong!

    Two, the Nurturer loves to be needed; they’re constantly giving. Great helpers who’ll go out of their way to care for others, and they take pride in being needed. If they go overboard, it’s a case of them forcing chicken soup down your throat because they identify themselves as Givers.

    Three, the Achiever, is the golden boy or golden girl who succeeds at whatever they do and always looks fabulous. Even if they’re cleaning the garage, their hair is ARTFULLY messy! But they can get so wrapped up in the fabulous image, they might indulge in deception to keep it going.

   Four, the Romantic, isn't afraid of feelings; they love big emotions...drama, tragedy, falling in love. They have glorious visions for how life should be, “scripting” what they hope for. If everyday life seems too ordinary, they fall into envy -- not of others, but of their perfect dream.

    Five, the Observer, isn't interested in emotions, except academically -- they're all about thoughts, analysis, study. They keep to themselves, preferring comprehension over participation, and while they don't care much about material goods, they're greedy for personal time-space-privacy.

    Six, the Skeptic, is constantly alert to risk (for themselves and their loved ones). Because of this fear, they're very aware of the rules and determined to always keep them...OR to always break them. Either way, they're deeply loyal and determined to keep their team safe, no matter what.

    Seven, the Adventurer, is enthusiastic about everything and everybody, and they want to enjoy every possible new experience...to the point where they might be accused of gluttony. They prefer not to commit to just ONE of anything -- whether a favorite restaurant, a job, or even a mate.

   Eight, the Leader, is very self-confident and accustomed to being in charge, running the show...always protecting that vulnerable core. Their lust for power can create trouble if someone else expects to share decision-making, but it also makes them exceptionally good at getting things done.

    Nine, the Peacemaker, likes to avoid conflict, avoid taking sides...even choosing chocolate or vanilla. They’re likable because they can appreciate everyone's viewpoint, and rarely express their own. Instead they kick back with whatever's comfortable...sometimes to the point of sloth.

See how each strength has a corresponding weakness? That's likely to come out under stress, which happens in EVERY book. And that's only the beginning!

AMBER:  So, can you tell I'm a FIVE, observing and interviewing (and hiding out and writing), We also love information so I guess my career as a librarian also worked. Now, back to you. Tell me about your books.
LSC: Well, the one that got me here is called Believable Characters: Creating with Enneagrams   and...hmm, I'll bet you can guess what it's about. Then there's half a dozen romance novels written for Silhouette Special Edition
AMBER: What are you writing now?
LSC: Next will be a book on enneagrams in relationships, and it's funny how that idea started. When the book for writers came out, one of my few non-writing friends -- a guy I went through counseling school with, who's now in private practice -- read it and said "gosh, I could use this for couples counseling."

I'd never even thought of the enneagram types in that context, but the minute he said that it made perfect sense. (My parents, who've been married 50-some years, joke that they never really UNDERSTOOD each other until they learned about enneagrams.) So that's the next book...but I'm only a few chapters into it, and I hate to take time away from teaching to get that done!

AMBER: I agree with your parents. I didn't understand MY parents until I studied the enneagram. I think I understand the concept of personalities evolving for the better as we age (we hope). S Can an evolved character can have all the wonderful qualities of each type? And can a completely depraved character have all the worst?
LSC: Actually I don't think either one is possible, because there are so MANY wonderful (and worst) qualities for every type. But, sure, in theory someone could show a whole lot of good (or bad) traits of their type.

AMBER: What type was your great-grandmother Sedona Schnebly (for whom Sedona, Arizona was named)?

LSC: I wish I'd met her so I could say for sure -- she died shortly before I was born. (Although I've gotta admit that if I'd met her when I was six months old, it probably wouldn't have made any difference.)
Still, from everything I've heard about her, I'd guess she was a One. Everyone who knew her talked about how conscientious she was in terms of doing her duty. She was very involved in the local church, and people who rhapsodize today about the Sedona vortexes would leave her shaking her head in disapproval because she wouldn't hold with that sort of thing. But when she was dying, she asked her husband to go deliver a get-well card to an ailing neighbor. That kind of thoughtful, attentive care is typical of a Perfectionist who's dedicated to always doing the right thing.

Laurie used to think there was nothing more fun than reading, until she discovered writing. Then, after winning "Best Special Edition of the Year" over Nora Roberts, she discovered something even MORE fun -- teaching other writers. She started with classes on synopsis-writing, which she'd always thought was easy because of her background writing ads. Psychology was next, because of her background in counseling. And when she discovered the nine enneagram types, she found those so useful that she wrote a book for people who want believable characters with built-in fatal (or not so fatal) flaws.
 
During weekdays, she writes and produces videos, brochures and commercials (some of which feature her voice) for a Phoenix advertising agency. For several years she would turn off her computer every day at five o'clock, wait thirty seconds, turn it on again and start writing romance.

Go to Laurie's website 

to learn more about her books and workshops
And don't miss a peek at 

Laurie's Journal Page 

showing how Laurie develops a story.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson on Capitalization, CAPITALIZATION, and capitalization!

My guest this week is Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award winning novelist and author of the The HowToDoItFrugally Series for authors. Today I'm asking her questions about her book The Frugal Editor.

Welcome back Carolyn. First I have to tell you how much I love your subtitle Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success and using the word “frugal” for your series is brilliant. (I also love your unforgettable last name.) As my regular blog readers have figured out, I interview in order to ask the questions I want answered. 

When I was in junior high (tough school) the English teacher decided only 3 students wanted to learn and instead of teaching how to diagram sentences taught only capitalization. I still don't understand diagramming and it doesn't seem to affect my writing life but I got very good at capitalization. This was enforced later in my career as a librarian where capitalizing had special rules we kept secret from the ordinary public.

So, Carolyn, tell me, when did the rules change and why wasn't I informed?

First of all, the rules don't suddenly change. They change over time and they change because we (meaning lots of people) start to use something (like capitalization) in a different way. Thus, we have several style books and all of them are "right" and they all disagree on many, many issues. Newspapers tend to use the AP Stylebook,book editors tend (but not always) use the Chicago Manual of Style. All are listed as good (-: reading in the Appendix of The Frugal Editor.

How about these examples?

"President Obama said..."

"The President of the United States said..."

"The president said.." (not just any president)

"I toured the Chicago Public Library's collections..."

"The library's collection included..." (not just any library)

In both the library and the president instance, you are referring to one specific place/person. But it is not part of a title in either of the third choices. Thus, no cap would probably be used in most cases. But anyone who faulted you for using a cap probably would be equally confused about the difference between style choice and rules. Throw a little extra something in there, too. Rules have become more lax. 
Oh, and one thing more. Often English teachers teach us wrong. I was confused about the verbs "to lie" and "to lay" by the time I'd been through 15 different teachers with 15 different ideas and explanations and examples I wanted to cry. The thing is, it's really soooooo simple. They just didn't know how to teach it.

Oh, and one more confusing thing. Different rules apply in creative writing. It's OK to use grammar incorrectly in, say, dialogue or when you are trying to create a voice.

So, any secret tricks to getting it right? 

If you're a creative writer sign up for an online subscription to the Chicago Manual of Style. Or buy a real copy (a new one--not something that's 20 years old because it's cheap). And use it.

And read books by respected MODERN editors. That probably doesn't even include the venerated Fowler's, that everyone considers holy. That book can confuse a creative writer learning rule-oriented grammar. In fact, it generally does and that's exactly what happened to you, Amber.

We get caught up in the rules, confuse one rule with another, try to memorize a catalog of rules (impossible!). I have one dictionary of English (just English--not other languages except for some borrowed words from French, German, Latin, etc. that we've made our own) that is over 1 foot tall. I have at least a dozen grammar and style books on my desk. English just isn't simple enough to boil down to a few rules and a few verbal guidelines like the one that tripped you up here.

The rule you were taught went something like this: If the word refers to a specific thing (library or president) always capitalize. See? Kids, adults (and writers) tend to over think rules like this.

Some style books argue that without the actual name and/or title, it isn't a specific thing. Thus no cap. Other style books argue the opposite. The more casual approach is winning.

How do you not get in too much trouble until your editor makes a final decision?

Basically the trick is to decide what kind of material you're writing, and choose the style book (from the two I mentioned above) that most closely matches where your end product will appear.

Lacking the wherewithal for that, choose the more casual approach. That would put you in good company with "rules" like serial commas, commas after dependent clauses, etc. etc.

Oh, and one more warning. Never, never correct someone else's grammar. Even when you're sure. Ha! You could be wrong. Even if you looked it up! 'Cause that other person looked it up somewhere else.

Well now I know I am not alone. Thanks, Carolyn for stopping by!

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It's interactive so there are opportunities to get exposure and to help others. And it's full of tips and articles to help write and promote better. 

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Bess McBride- The Truth About Writing in an RV

Welcome Bess McBride, romance author and chronic traveler. I've been trying to catch up to you for a long time.

Now that I've got you here, tell me what it was like to write while living in an RV?

I thought it would be much easier than it actually was. When I first began writing, I had a house and an office of my own...with a door.  But when we sold the house, moved into the RV and hit the road, I found that I still felt the need for a "desk" to stay organized, so I used the dining table that is common in most RVs. However, that's not a particularly moveable item of furniture in a small space, so that meant I had to write in the living/dining/kitchen area. And I discovered I was only able to write when I was alone. What I did end up doing was scheduling my writing time for when I was alone and late at night after my significant other had gone to bed.

How long were you on the road?

I thought we were going to be on the road forever...that certainly was my plan. But in the second year of living and traveling on the road, the economy took a dive, and my significant other found it difficult to find work. Since neither of us is of a retirement age, I decided to give up the life, settle down again for a while and return to work full time, which I have. It's actually much, much more relaxing though I have little time for writing and promoting.

Since you worked as well as traveled, how did you balance your work, writing life, and promotion?

As part of the traveling life, I wanted to work for the National Park Service in a summer seasonal capacity and then "hang out" in a warm lovely climate near the beach in the winter. During my summer seasons at Glacier National Park, I took the late shift...that is...from 1 pm to 9 pm, and I was able to write in the mornings and late at night after my significant other went to bed. And I was able to write on my days off which were not the same as his.  It didn't do much for my love life, but I got a lot of writing done!  :-)  In the winters when I didn't need to work, I had all day to write and promote while my significant other worked his 40 hours a week. However, now that I've returned to a 40 hour, Monday through Friday work week myself, I am struggling for time.  :-)

What did you like best about being a traveling writer?

All the new experiences and places I saw that I was able to incorporate into my writing. Traveling keeps me from being stagnant.  I've traveled all my life, and I love traveling, though I'm thinking several trips a year should be enough for me!

What was a lot harder in an RV?

I wasn't able to write while we were actually on the road from one place to another. Just checking routes, looking for overnight accommodations, gas and food, and settling the pets every night was taxing enough.  I was exhausted at night, plus we like to go out and eat somewhere in the area we were in and drive around in our car for a bit to see the local sights.

On the road, did you do all your research online or did you have a "library?

One of the most important rules of traveling in an RV is to travel light to keep gas prices down and stay within the maximum weight limits of the RV. I stored most of my books, even those on writing, in storage. I did have some books with me, but not as many as I would like.  And in an RV, there really isn't any spare space for a bookshelf. I did most of my research on line, and in fact, I still do. My only writing books are generally "how to write" books.

What's your advice for writers who want to take off in an RV for a life of writing?

The most important thing to know is that unless a writer is already successful (which means different things to different people), but in this case, I'll define it as able to pay their bills and rent and gas and insurance with their advances and royalties, I would suggest that they have another way to make a living. I've only met a few people who traveled and wrote, and those folks were retired and had independent incomes. I have a small income as a retired military member, so that allowed me to pay my bills.

The other thing to know is that internet coverage is spotty on the road. Many RV parks may not even offer wireless connections, and if they do, I found they often were unreliable.  I always had a back-up modem on my phone to tether my computer to, although it is dial up. I've had to use it many, many times during my RV traveling days.
 
I'm settled in an apartment now and enjoying the thrill of flushing a toilet and an office of my own.I might tackle RV living again in the future when I make more in retirement, but until then, a cruise to the Caribbean or a tour of Europe might just be what I need to keep my traveling toes warmed up!

Thank you so much for the interview, Amber!!!

Bess McBride was born in Aruba to American parents and lived in Venezuela until her family returned to the United States when she was 12. She couldn't fight the global travel bug within her and joined the U.S. Air Force at 18 to "see the world." After 21 wonderful and fulfilling years traveling the world and gaining one beautiful daughter, she pursued her dream of finally getting a college education. Armed and over-educated, the gypsy in her took over once again, and she embarked on a full-time journey in a recreational vehicle to look for new adventures and place settings for her writing. She is the author of On a Warm Sea of Love, A Train through Time, A Sigh of Love, Caribbean Dreams of Love, and A Trail of Love. A Penny for Your Thoughts is due out in 2010.

See all of Bess McBride's books

Visit Bess McBride's website
Leave a Comment 
for a chance to win a .pdf of 
On a Warm Sea of Love!

Looking for a Professional Critique or Freelance Editor?

This week my guest is Selena Robins, Freelance Critique Specialist, Editor, Writing Coach, and Teacher. Selena also writes paranormal romantic comedy and romantic suspense.Welcome Selena.

Thank you for the invitation and for the opportunity to introduce my services to your readers.

There are so many kinds of editors; can you briefly describe the difference between an editor that works for a publisher and the services you offer?
My services provide constructive feedback of how I think an editor in a publishing house or agent will react to your manuscript. My feedback includes detailed strengths and weaknesses of your book with suggestions for tightening the strengths and improving the weaknesses, so that the author's work is presented in the best possible light and polished within an inch of its life.

As a freelance critique specialist, I work closely with the author to ensure the plot, conflicts, characters, structure and theme are all well developed.

Editors in a publishing house review manuscripts and select which ones will be published; the majority of the time, editors in a publishing house will simply send a rejection. They also send you an offer and a contract if your book is accepted.

It’s important to note, the difference between a critique and a copy line edit. A copy line editor takes a manuscript which has already been critiqued and polished and corrects the spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

How does a writer know when an editor is needed?

If a writer has been sending out their project to agents and/or editors and receiving rejections, (especially if the rejections have a similar pattern) it would be a good idea to get a professional critique. Often times, I can spot the problem within the first ten pages. Another reason would be an author who has finished a manuscript but doesn’t feel confident about sending it out without having a professional look at it first.

In today’s tough and competitive market, most writers do seek out a professional critique and copy line edit before submitting work. It shows the publisher and/or agent the writer is serious about writing.

It’s important to note: a writer has to be willing to revise their work after receiving the feedback, or they are wasting their money.

How does a writer select the best editor for her/his needs?

Most critique services offer a free critique for the first few pages of a project. If they don’t, then don’t be shy, ask them to read the first few pages. This is helpful for both the critique specialist and the author. The author can get a feel on how this person critiques, and the critique specialist can gauge how much work is going to be needed to shape the manuscript into a publishable state.

If you live in the same area as the critique specialist, ask to meet them. If a meet and greet is not possible, an author can schedule a telephone interview. The author wants to establish a good working relationship with this person, and ask questions. I encourage this type of arrangement, either meet with the author or have a telephone conversation. I also keep in touch via email as much as possible; to let them know what stage I’m at with their work. If I come across a major plot hole, I get in touch with the author and we brainstorm together for a resolution to either a plot hole or perhaps a character that hasn’t been well developed. The lines of communication have to be open and accessible. If the critique specialist is not willing to answer questions, or keep those lines open, then it may not be a good arrangement for the writer.

What about authors who fear an editor will spoil their “voice”?

A good critique specialist will not take the author’s original voice, plot or characters and drastically change them. They shouldn’t twist it to their writing style or voice, or make any major changes without the author’s approval. This is why I emphasize open communication at all times.

In my critiques, I use the tracking tool on Word. I also make comments on the side, so the author can see why I’ve made certain suggestions. If I see grammar and spelling errors during a critique, I correct those and with the tracking tool the writer can see what I’ve done. Also, if I spot repetitive words or phrases, again, I will make some changes, however, the author can choose to reject or accept the changes. I explain why I’ve made the changes, so the author can note this for future writing projects.

A good, professional critique will enhance your voice and make your book stronger, tighter, polished and ready for submission to either an editor or agent.

Any tips on how to work with an editor?

Ask the critique specialist (or editor) for a free evaluation of your first few pages and either a face-to-face interview or telephone interview as I stated above. Once you have decided to work with me (or another service) let her/him know up front what you are willing to do and not willing to do for your novel. Establish turnaround time and price.

Tell me about your critique services.

My services include (one chapter, three chapters or the full manuscript) I provide annotations, suggestions, specific recommendations, and examples throughout the manuscript for:

Pacing
Dialogue
Plot
Characterization
Check for overuse of similar words
Correct redundant phrases and plot points
Correct passive voice, point out if the story has too much telling and not enough showing
Make suggestions for your dialogue to snap and ensure it’s not stilted
Point out opportunities for your characters to jump off the page and become real so your readers will care about them
Ensure there is no head hopping and that proper point of view is used

Although a critique isn’t a copy line edit, I’ll mark grammatical and spelling errors.

My philosophy is, “Never give an editor a reason to reject you.”  For this reason, a solid, polished and well edited submission is necessary. The writer needs to submit a manuscript to not only capture an editor's attention, but to not give that editor a reason for any type of rejection, or if there is a rejection (and at times those rejections can be positive) the writer takes the comments and works with them for a resubmission of their work.

How should a writer handle a difficult situation with their publisher's editor? Any warning signs?

One of the things I address when I'm teaching writing is to remember that publishing is a business, and we all must act accordingly. We’re all human, we all have up and down days, and some times a writer may have caught an editor on an off day. This does not excuse bad behavior, but the main objective for all parties is to produce and publish a good, solid read for the reading public.

However, if it’s an ongoing situation or the rejection letter or other correspondence has an ongoing theme of rudeness, snarkiness or sarcasm, then the writer is better off not working with this publishing house or agent, as it is an example of how they would be treated if they were to work with this agent or editor.

Publishing is a professional business, writers, editors and agents need to act in a professional manner at all times, even during a rejection.

If a writer is already contracted and having difficulty with their editor in a publishing house, if they have an agent, he/she would intervene on the writer’s behalf. If the writer doesn’t have an agent, then professional open lines of communication, either by phone or email is the best way to handle it.

Thanks. Selena, so much for visiting Wordshaping and sharing your advice. 

Selena Robins is a Freelance Critique Specialist, Editor, Writing Coach, and Teacher. Selena is the published author of short stories, non-fiction articles, children’s book, and a paranormal comedy (Sabrina’s Destiny), which has won reviewers choice awards and a best book (publisher) award. She is a member of International Thriller Writers Association and Capital Crime Writers.

Selena is currently working on a romantic suspense novel. As an active member of Arts East Association, a dynamic not-for-profit organization, Selena contributes editorials, promotional and marketing ideas to help develop partnerships, audiences, and visibility for fiction writers.

Selena teaches writing courses – Crafting a Novel and The Business of Writing. As a former public relations officer, Selena has a marketing and sales background, and has worked in the media as a radio talk show host.

Visit Selena Robins author website at: www.selenarobins.com

For testimonials or for more information, visit Selena’s website or email her directly with any questions.

Special Offer

Mention Amber Polo's Wordshaping blog and receive 

a free evaluation of the 1st 5 pages of your novel.

Contract Selena to critique a partial or full ms 

and she will read and offer suggestions for the synopsis 

at no additional charge.

“Write with a smile and heart--

edit with your head and a good critique.”

~~Selena Robins

Do I Write as an Excuse to Research?

This week's it's time to interview me!
What a great excuse to display the beautiful new cover for my romance, Flying Free, coming out next month from Treble Heart Books.

So Amber, as a novelist and recovering librarian, how do you research your books?

Thanks, Amber, I'm glad you asked that question.

Once upon a time, when I was a young librarian, I believed everything could be found in books. Now it's tempting to believe everything is available online.

When I started writing Romancing Rebecca, I knew this paranormal was going to be funny and set in Sedona. What could be funnier than a woman who falls for two men in the same body? So, I created my hero as a channeler who has a problem with welcome and unwelcome entities taking over his body. Actually, the plot is kind of ordinary by Sedona standards where shop clerks miss work because they’re out on Bell Rock waiting for an alien space ship.

I’d been around a lot of psychics and spiritual types, but when asked if I had seen someone channel, I had to answer “No.” I did some Internet research, then headed to the Sedona Public Library to select a variety of books from their shelves on channeling, from the popular Seth books to some how-to-do-it guides. I sampled, read, and listened to audiotapes to obtain a feel for the channeler’s language.

The books and tapes were helpful, but I still felt I was writing from second hand knowledge. The Well Red Coyote, my favorite Sedona bookstore, has local author workshops. When Summer Bacon, a slight blond channeler, went into a deep trance and turned into a believable fat old man who died in 1922, I was impressed.

I signed up for her channeling workshop and watched Summer go into two more trances and heard her discuss how she became a channeler. Finally I purchased her book, This School Called Planet Earth, and a DVD entitled, “The Incredible 10 Year Anniversary Open Session.” The DVD was the best. I could replay ten historical entities entering her body in a short period and watch the physical changes. I felt like I was there and after seeing her go into trances I was certain the video wasn’t a fake. I was ready to write Romancing Rebecca.

This week as I finished checking the galley for my new novel Flying Free I listed some of the research topics I pursued writing this book.

Of course I used books and websites but also maps, air charts, and my personal favorite, field trips. Here's a sampling: Montezuma Castle, Monument Valley, flying lessons, hand massage, experimental airplanes, Ninety Nines, Bisbee AZ, airplane crash investigations, saging, meditation, Native American pottery, brownie recipes, fear of flying, spiritual centers, moviemaking, CAM corders, County property records, rodeos, animal cruelty, advertising agencies, Arizona artifact laws, Alaska, Alaskan Malamutes, and father daughter relations.

Maybe I do write as an excuse to research a wide variety of topics.


Thanks, Amber, for taking time from your busy schedule to visit WordShaping. Good Luck with your new release. I'm looking forward to reading Flying Free, again.

You're welcome, Amber, it was fun! And don't forget to visit our website.