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Archive for the ‘Writing Fiction’ Category

Preparing Teens for “The Publishing Games”

Posted in Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Publishing journey, Uncategorized, Writing Fiction on July 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“A picture,” it’s been said, “is worth a thousand words.” Then are these ten pictures worth 10,000 words? For teens who love to write and dream of one day becoming an author, yes!

Teens Write, Thursday, August 2, at the Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference offers a team of ten professionals who will train teens to participate in The Publishing Games. This year’s workshops all receive a TEN in helping young writers win a Gold Medal.

The training schedule is at www.writehisanswer.com/Philadelphia/Teens_Write.htm. It’s not too late to register, but the price increases after July 21 so don’t delay! Scholarship help is available if needed.

Teens Write is a full day workshop, running from 10am – 6pm, and includes lunch and snacks. It will be held on the campus of Philadelphia Biblical University in Langhorne, PA.

Bring a notebook and pen, the first page of your manuscript, and get ready to work out.

Pam Halter, head coach of Teens Write

P.S. Parents, teachers, and pastors are encouraged to attend the writers’ conference or our Thursday Specials for concered Christians during Teens Write.

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Writing for Hollywood, young adults and more from Robert Liparulo

Posted in Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Publishing journey, Uncategorized, Writing Fiction on May 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Donna Brennan’s interview with Robert Liparulo continues. It’s not too late to register for the May 16-19 Colorado conference where Robert is teaching a continuing class on Writing Suspense / Thrillers. The price increases slightly on May 11. Walk-ins are welcome.

Donna Brennan’s Interview with Robert Liparulo

Part 3 – Writing for Hollywood, YAs, and More

Question: Your first two books seemed to have been optioned for film right away, and a novel you’re currently working on has garnered the interest of two movie companies before it’s even released. That has to have something to do with the pacing and how your construct your scenes. Will you be sharing some of your “secrets to success” during the continuing session? Can you give us any hints now?

Yes, I’ll talk about the correlations between pacing in novels and pacing in motion pictures, as well as other ways in which writers can “steal” secrets from movies to make their stories more vivid and attractive to readers who have been raised on film- and TV-based storytelling. I was a motion picture production major in college, so I tend to think like a screenwriter. All the tips and tricks center on one thing: Can you see your story on the screen? I mean, really. Act it out, speak the dialog. Who would play the characters? If you have to change too much to make it fit on the screen-and you want readers to experience a similar sense of immersion into your story as they do in movies-then maybe you need to rethink a few scenes.

Question: How different is writing for the Young Adult market from writing for the general market? Did you have to change the storyline or the language of your Dreamhouse Kings series?

I decided that the only two things I would change from my adult stories for my YA stories were that the protagonists would be younger and that the story would be something younger readers would appreciate more than, say, a police procedural (Dreamhouse Kings is about time travel). Other than that, my style, the structure, even the level of violence and scariness are similar to my adult stories. I didn’t want to “write down” to younger readers. I think they are far more intelligent-especially about character and story-than adults give them credit for. I believe that’s the key to its success.

Question: Surely all those years you spent as an investigative journalist must contribute to your writing style and your research skills. You must have had to do a lot of technical research for Germ, and Comes a Horseman must have involved research into how the FBI works and maybe even some biblical research. Exactly how much research is involved in your books? When do you know you’ve done enough? And how do you resist the urge to include all the details you learned that may be intriguing but have nothing to do with moving the story along?

Honestly, I over-research, but I’m okay with that. I’m always looking for that little gem, that nugget of information that will tell readers that I have done my homework without inundating them with trivia. That nugget is the thing that you can’t find by reading articles or limiting your research to the internet. Once I have that, I don’t worry about anything else. The details about an occupation or a weapon or location or scientific breakthrough will come through the characters, or the needs of the plot.

I don’t want to impress readers; I want them only to feel as though they’re spending time with real people in real jobs with real technology. But still, I always ask myself, why am I putting this tidbit in here? How does this move the story along or how will it impact the story later? If I don’t have a good answer, I don’t write it. Of course, that’s subjective, as all writing is. So I may think describing a fishing boat docked in Sesimbra, Portugal, puts me there, and someone else will think it’s meaningless. That’s where your instincts as a writer come in.

Question: Your road to success seems to have been very different than most authors today. What words of advice do you have for someone just starting out?

Read everything and finish whatever you start. The reading will fill your head with viewpoints of the world outside of your own. It’ll introduce you to vocations and philosophies that you’d have no other way of knowing. It teaches you the cadence of dialog.

Finishing things is crucial to learning how to be a writer. Too many new writers shift gears halfway through a story. They think, “This doesn’t interest me anymore,” or “I’ve been writing about vampires and now zombies are hot. I have to go write my zombie story instead.” But by finishing, you learn the entire arc of storytelling. You learn how to wrap things up, which also teaches you how to set things up. And then you have something to show editors and agents when the opportunity arises. Editors and agents need to be confident that you know how to finish a project, even if it’s not something they want to buy. Finishing is what it’s all about.

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Posted in Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Writing Fiction on May 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Developing Characters

Donna Brennan Interviews Robert Liparulo

Part 2

Question: In all your books you manage to create characters we really care about. And your villains are drawn so well we understand their motivation and sometimes even sympathize with them. Is there a secret to making us care?

I always try to make every character human. Sounds like common sense, but I’m not sure every writer understands what that means. It means doing everything possible to put flesh on him, imbue him with understandable, human feelings, examining his qualities and flaws. What are the things that humans do? They love, they have regrets, they have their own understanding of the world around them, right or wrong; they eat, sleep, desire companionship. I always look for tiny details that make up each character: scars, bad eyesight, kinky hair . . . anything that tells the reader, “Look, this person isn’t made of cardboard, he’s not a figment of the writer’s imagination (though, of course, he is)”-it all goes toward making him or her someone the reader can relate to. I spend a lot of time “being” my characters before I start writing. I encourage them to be different from me, to do things I wouldn’t do and think differently from the way I think. Because they become unique, I think readers forget they came from the writer’s mind.

Question: Are any of your characters based on people you know? Are any of them based on you?

Most of my characters are an amalgam of people I know and have read about or seen in interviews and me. Hutch from Deadfall and Deadlock is the character who comes closest to a person I know. He was modeled on my best friend, who’s a game warden in Wyoming. He’s the kind of guy who can be dropped into any wilderness in the world and not only come out alive, but probably drive out in a vehicle made of twigs. I wanted to know what he would do in a situation that seems hopeless. How would he cope? Where would he find the strength to survive?

All of my characters have traces of me, of course. Some of the heroes are acting in ways I hope I’d act in tough situations. But the character closest to who I am-or whom I used to be-is David from the Dreamhouse Kings. I was very much like him at his age, twelve. I was the mediator between my older brother and my parents, as he is; I was fairly adventurous, always getting into trouble by giving into my curiosity. I didn’t realize I was writing about myself until my mother read the first two books in that series and said, “That’s so you!” and she went on to name all the ways David was me.

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Next – Tips on writing screenplays, research, and words of advice.

There’s still time to register for the May 15-19 Colorado Christian Writers Conference and to sign up for Robert’s continuing session. Click here. Robert is also teaching a continuing session at the August 1-4 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference.

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Writing Suspense Readers Can’t Put Down

Posted in Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Writing Fiction on May 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

How to Write Suspense Books That Readers Can’t Put Down
(And That Hollywood Producers
Want to Turn into Feature Motion Pictures)

Donna Brennan Interviews Robert Liparulo

 Part I

It might sound like a dream come true, but nine of Robert Liparulo’s thriller / suspense novels have been optioned for film and three are currently in various stages of production. And since so many young adults were reading his suspense thrillers, he wrote a whole series for them: Dreamhouse Kings. Of course, lots of his adult fans have read that series as well. Fortunately for us, Robert is teaching a continuing session, Writing Suspense and Thrillers, at both the Colorado Christian Writers Conference (May 16 – 19) and at the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference (August 1 – 4). That’s six hours we can spend absorbing knowledge and wisdom from this critically acclaimed and very successful author.

I contacted Robert to ask him about the session he’ll be teaching. Here are his answers.

Question: Can someone really be taught how to write a successful thriller suspense story? Or is it a talent that some writers just seem to “have?”

It helps to have an attraction to thrillers in the first place. I’ve been reading thrillers since I was a kid, so I have a pretty comprehensive understanding of the genre’s tenets from a reader’s perspective. After a while, what works and what doesn’t becomes intuitive, which lets the writer focus on character development and his or her writing, instead of the structure and devices of the genre.

I’ve read the works of some writers who aren’t naturally attracted to suspense, but wanted to try their hand at it; what tends to come through in their stories are clichés or twists that they think are clever, but they’ve been done to death. That’s not to say it can’t be done, but it takes a lot more work than these authors believed.

Question: Your earlier books didn’t delve too much into the faith arena, yet there was a Christian worldview present the whole time. But now your latest book, The 13th Tribe, has a strong biblical basis-the tribe consisting of some of the Israelites, from Moses’s time, who had worshiped the golden calf. It seems like two opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet they both work. What are your reasons for the big shift? And where in the spectrum (if anyplace) do you advocate your students let their stories fall?

I’ve always tried to follow God’s leading in how I tell my stories. When I started Comes a Horseman, I prayed and fasted about how much overt Christianity to put into it. One morning, I was looking at Pikes Peak and I heard God speaking to me. He said, “Do you see me in that mountain.” I said, “Of course, I see you in everything.” He said, “Do you see my name carved into it?” “No.” “That’s how I want you to write your story.” So, I believe God is in my earlier books in ways that I could not have possibly written Him into them. And readers have responded, telling me that scenes comforted them and got them thinking about God-and none of it was intentionally written into those scenes. In fact, if the Holy Spirit weren’t pointing it out to them, readers wouldn’t have seen it at all.

When I was preparing to write a book about vigilantes, I heard God telling me it was time to be more overt about the spirituality. Following His calling, the story exploded into an examination of faith and justice and grace, and the idea of the Tribe fell into place. But despite the faith elements becoming more prevalent, I’m still a thriller writer, so making The 13th Tribe a Christian thriller felt very natural.

I don’t think Christian authors should necessarily try to fit into a particular market, whether that’s Christian or mainstream. They need to follow their hearts. If that means having strong spiritual content or addressing faith more subtly, then that’s what they should do.

Question: Your books seem to have strong themes: family, loyalty, doing the right thing, self-sacrifice, etc. While it may be obvious to include some type of theme in a Christian novel, how important are these themes to writing a thriller?

Themes in thrillers are less important than character and plot. In fact, a general rule is to not write with a theme in mind, because then every scene, every snatch of dialog, tends to fall back on that theme and it becomes heavy-handed and detracts from the natural flow of the story. However, I think themes are more important in Christian stories, simply because there are so many things about being a Christian that without some sort of theme in mind the story can get muddled. For The 13th Tribe, I had a general idea of the themes that would come through by the end; then as I started writing, I tried to forget those themes. I think they came through naturally because they were on my mind when I thought through the story, but not as I wrote it.

________________

 What a fabulous interview! Thank you, Donna and Robert. Watch for two more installments with more great questions and advice.

There’s still time to register for the May 15-19 Colorado Christian Writers Conference and to sign up for Robert’s continuing session. Click here.

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POV “Head-Hopping” Help

Posted in Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Writing Fiction on May 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Donna Brennan’s Interview
with CCWC Faculty Member Tim Shoemaker
Part 2

Question: What’s “head-hopping” and why shouldn’t we do it? And what is a “super-ocular POV finder?”

“Head-hopping” is one of those pesky Point-of-View problems that happen so easily to beginning and intermediate fiction writers. When an editor sees these problems in your manuscript, they see it as a mark of an amateur. The good news is that these Point-of-View issues can be easily fixed-once a person truly understands it.

“Head-hopping” happens when writers jump from one point of view to another. First they’re in one person’s head, allowing the reader to know anything they’re thinking. Then, in the same scene they slip into somebody else’s head-allowing the reader access to their inner thoughts as well.

“Head-hopping” can be really confusing to the reader. It makes them stop and wonder whose head they’re in now. We never want our readers to stop or to be confused. If they put down the story, they may never pick it up again.

Ah, yes. The “super-ocular POV finder” is a little tool each of the attendees will get. It isn’t for sale anywhere. At any price. Okay, it’s a little gimmicky, but this gadget will help people avoid “head-hopping” and other POV problems. Some might say it was worth the price of the conference alone. I would say that would be an extreme exaggeration, but the truth is-it will definitely make a difference with your fiction writing.

We’ll spend a good amount of time on Point-of-View so those attending totally understand it. Totally. And with the help of the handy little “super-ocular POV finder” tool, their writing will muscle-up like an athlete pumping iron and popping steroids-but with no bad side effects.

Question: Do you have any special words of encouragement or advice for folks who have never attended a writer’s conference before?

Plenty. First, if you feel nervous or intimidated, understand that is totally natural. But don’t let that stop you from attending. I learned more about writing at writing conferences than I ever did any other way. Conferences help you learn more-faster.

Second. You’ll meet people. Other writers you can network with-read each other’s work, etc. That’s a good thing-and will help you strengthen your writing.

Third. Sign up for a critique. I think it costs $30 or $35 for a critique. That means an experienced author or editor will review the sample writing you send in and sit down with you for a half hour at the conference to help you. They’ll show you what you’re doing right-and areas you may need to strengthen your writing. This is gold.

Fourth. You’ll meet editors and experienced authors. You’ll have a chance to sit down with them over a meal, or to schedule 15-minute appointments to talk with them. This is building for your future. Every book, every short story, and every article I’ve ever published I can trace back to a meeting at a writing conference. Amazing, right? That’s the potential power of going to a writer’s conference.

Fifth. You’ll hear speakers that will instruct and encourage you. You’ll learn they’re probably a lot like you-and you’ll begin to see how you can impact your world with your writing.

So do it. Attend. Grab the classes. Submit a critique. Meet people. Get inspired. And when you see me in the hall-be sure to say hi!

__________________

Thanks again, Donna and Tim. Great questions and advice. Click here for more information on CCWC’s continuing sessions. It’s not too late to register!

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Help for fiction writers

Posted in Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Writing Fiction on April 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

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Great Resource for Fiction Writers

Posted in Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Writing Fiction on April 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

CCWC and GPCWC Appointment Coordinator, Bonnie Calhoun, is a bundle of energy and helpfulness. Monthly she publishes Christian Fiction Online Magazine, an amazing resource. The April issue features an interview with Robert Liparulo who will teach a continuing session on “Writing Suspense and Thrillers” at the May 16-19 Colorado and August 1-4 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference. Robert is the best-selling author of five thrillers for adults and the six-book Dreamhouse Kings series for young adults. Frank Peretti calls Robert’s latest release, The 13th Tribe, “a great read!”  

I hope you’ll also check out Bonnie’s “Publisher’s Choice” article, “Getting Unstuck,” by yours truly.”n it I highlight some of the opportunities at this year’s CCWC:

  •   A time away
  •   A time to learn
  •   A time to connect with editors and agents (Bonnie will assist full-time conferees in signing up for not one, two, or three appointments with faculty members, but FOUR one-on-one 15-minute appointments!)
  •   A time to fellowship
  •   A time to grow your marketability
  •   A time to go deeper through the Lightbox Method Retreat
  •   And so much more . . .

In appreciation for Bonnie’s ministry to writers I’m offering two 50% off scholarships to readers of her Christian Fiction Online Magazine (CFOM). The deadline for applying is April 14. Click here for more info and an application.

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