Book Review: Writing Fiction

Writing Fiction: a Guide to Narrative Craft is now in its eighth edition.  The book, written by Janet Burroway, Elizabeth Stuckey-French and Ned Stuckey-French and published by Longman (an imprint of Pearson) belongs on every writer's shelf.

From the first inspiration to the final draft, Writing Fiction is a great guide for the novice writer.  Written in a personal tone, the book covers the writing process, place and atmosphere, summary and scene, story structure, point of view, revision, and characterization.  More, each chapter offers writing exercises and presents short stories which serve as examples and stress the importance of reading.

In an Amazon.com review, the book is described by having "excellent criterion, emerging from the author's decades of writing and teaching experience. This edition, like the seventh and sixth, engages and isn't too prescriptive."

Writing Fiction can come in handy when writing MG or YA.  The book will help you in developing character, setting, scene, and theme.  In addition, you will learn about the factors that comprise the crisis moments in a novel.  Specifically, readers want to experience everything in these moments—they want to see it, hear it, and feel it.  The authors of Writing Fiction explain that this difficult to accomplish because it can be exhausting to collect all of that emotion in its full intensity.  Still, writers must fully imagine that scene, place themselves in it, and emotionally experience it.

The book is an expensive purchase.  It usually costs close to ninety dollars.  But shop around and you may find one less expensive.  I bought my copy for under seventy dollars.  While this is probably one of the most expensive books I've ever bought for writing, its lessons are priceless.  My writing has improved; my confidence has grown.  Think of the purchase as an investment toward your writing career.  Writing Fiction will make your writing stronger.

On Writing

Today, I'd like to share a wonderful inspirational piece by Anjali Amit, originally printed at:  readlearnwrite.com

A lady walked into a milliner’s shop. “I have this party to attend,” she said. “I’m looking for a hat like no other.”

The milliner picked up a roll of ribbon and wrapped it around her head, shaping and fitting as he went along.

“Ah! beautiful,” the lady sighed. “How much do I owe you?”

The milliner named a sum that had his customer gasping in disbelief. “But it is just a roll of ribbon,” she exclaimed. The milliner unwrapped the ribbon and gave it to her. “The ribbon, madam, is free,” he said with a bow.

Writing is like that. Letters of the alphabet. Just letters, mere pencil strokes on paper. The letters, dear readers, are free; the masterpieces they create are paid for in blood — long nights and sweaty days, the unending search for the informing thought that brings them value.

Do we, then, cut a vein and let it bleed drops of blood onto the paper, as Hemingway is reputed to have said? No. Writing is not the spilling out, but the going within. A good writer, like a great actor, loses himself in the characters he creates, and finds himself with every character, every sentence and word chosen.

To find herself a writer has to first lose herself. To put his ‘I’ before the reader a writer has to find the ‘you’. Writing is best described in paired opposites, in binary terms almost, with the caveat that the opposites are not mutually exclusive but contained in each other. “The longest journey is the journey inwards,” wrote Dag Hammarskjold in his book Markings. So short a distance, so long the journey, and we may never reach the end.

Write anyway. The truths you have within you are yours, and yours alone. Unstated, they are lost forever. The prince and the pauper look at a bird on a distant tree. “Target practice,” thinks the prince.

“Food,” hungers the pauper. The professor and the student see a thick notebook lying by the roadside.

“Oh, oh, looks like someone’s thesis,” says the professor. “Kindling,” thinks the poor student shivering in the cold. Both voices need to be heard.

Shakespeare, master dramatist, paired the hero/heroine with the Fool, and gave him lines that state truths often invisible to the other characters. King Lear called the Fool “my philosopher”. Feste, in Twelfth Night, points Olivia to her excessive mourning:

Feste: Good madonna, why mournest thou?

Olivia: Good fool, for my brother’s death.

Feste: I think his soul is in hell, madonna.

Olivia: I know his soul is in heaven, fool.

Feste: The more fool, madonna, to mourn for your brother’s soul being in heaven. Take away the fool, gentlemen.

Writing requires courage. Disguise your words as coming from a fool, if you so desire. Take a lesson from Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky:

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Be brave. If you hold onto your truths you may be mocked and scorned. You may be disbelieved. That goes with the territory. Tell your truth anyway.

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Anjali Amit does not subscribe to the ‘eat to live or live to eat’ debate. She reads to live. Occasionally she writes stories for children, and has been known to create a crossword or two.  Please visit Anjali's website: thefabletable.com.

Photo: courtesy of Clipart

All about Fairy May

Today, Jo Lindsdell shares the inspiration behind her book Fairy May:

I'm a mum to two wonderful little boys, a five-year old and an 18 month-old. This makes me a very lucky children's author as I have a constant font of inspiration for my books. Sometimes ideas come to me from playing with my kids or from watching them play with each other. I also get inspiration from watching cartoons and from reading books with them. All these things help me to connect with their way of thinking and brings me closer to seeing the world the way they do.

The idea for my latest book Fairy May came from a mixture of sources though. It all started when my three-year old niece asked me to write a book for her. She'd seen that my last book had been dedicated to my sons.  So, she wanted one dedicated to her. When I asked her what she'd like the book to be about she said that it had to have fairies in it. The inspiration for the tooth fairy theme came about due to my youngest going through the teething phase and my oldest noting that some of his friends from school had lost their first tooth. Teeth were a hot topic in our house. So it naturally became the theme for the book.

I wanted Fairy May to be more than just a typical tooth fairy story or just about encouraging good dental hygiene though. With this in mind, I started thinking about possible story lines. I've always believed that just because something is difficult doesn't mean it can't be done, and I felt that this strong message should be relayed to kids. Fairy May therefore, became about following your dreams and not giving up.

As you can see the inspiration for the book came in waves and from a variety of sources. It was then just a case of pulling all the elements together and creating rhyming text that could tell the story in a fun and captivating manner.

So far, Fairy May (which was officially released on 1st February 2013) has received some excellent feedback and multiple 5 star reviews. I think that one of the main reasons for its success is that most kids (and adults) can relate to Fairy May and have been through moments when realizing their dreams seems like the hardest thing to do. Fairy May is simple and yet carries a strong message for its readers.

Kids inspire my books and I hope that in return I can inspire them a little, too.

About Jo Linsdell:  Jo Linsdell  is an award winning blogger and freelance writer living in Rome , Italy . She is also the author of several books including the popular Italian for Tourists, A Guide to Weddings in Italy  and the best selling children's picture book Out and About at the Zoo. Her latest book Fairy May was released on 1st February 2013. You can find out more about her at www.JoLinsdell.com

When you guest blog

Have you ever had the opportunity to guest blog for another writer?  If so, you know it's a win-win situation.  Guest bloggers may help enlighten other writers (with the extra bonus of promoting their work) while the host's blog may be visited by more people.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when you are invited to write a post:

1.  Understand what the host requires in terms of subject matter.  Stay focused on that topic.  If you have another subject you'd like to write about other than the one the host has suggested, check with her first to see if she is open to your new idea.

2.  Know the expected word count.  Try to keep within the expected range.  The host is counting on you to provide what she has specified.

3.  Send the post in a timely manner.  For my blog, I like to receive the guest post at least five days in advance.  Sometimes, guest blogs need revision, so be polite and give the host time to edit your work.

4.  Review your guest blog several times after you've written it and before you send it.  Occasionally, I will receive a blog that looks like the guest writer simply jotted the first thing that came to mind and sent it for me to publish.  It's exasperating to receive a guest blog that has grammatical mistakes and lacks clarity.

Guest blogs score big with audiences when they are educational and inspirational.  That's easy to accomplish when you're passionate about your writing.  Throw in a well-written, nicely edited piece and your host will take notice.  If you impress her with your writing, she's likely to invite you to guest blog for her again.

Sharing the Love of Reading with Children

Today, a guest blog by Sands Hetherington:

I immersed my son John in stories from the time he could understand speech.  Bedtime stories were an absolute essential to us, like air and food.  We may not have missed five nights in ten years, even on trips.  And on trips we would listen to books on tape for days in the car.  I read him everything from Aesop to Tolkien to Dahl (Harry Potter hadn't come along yet).  By the time John was twelve, we had gone through most of Dickens and Victor Hugo.  So he was always immersed in stories, and man did it ever work!  He got an M.A. at Edinburgh University with Firsts in German and Russian, reads two or three books a week, and still watches Hobbit movies.

If you're determined to get kids hooked, there's something you can do in addition to bedtime stories: Get them involved!  Let me illustrate by telling how my Night Buddies stories got started.  The series features John Degraffenreidt and Crosley.  John is a young kid pretty much like my own and Crosley is a bright-red crocodile.  He sneaks John out of the house for adventures on nights when John isn't ready to go to sleep. 

This is how the idea for stories came about:  My son John had invented Crosley from whole cloth.  One night when I was done reading, I may have suggested that he make up a night companion to go off to sleep with.  Or maybe I didn't suggest it.  He could have taken the initiative himself.  But in any case, in a day or two, there was Crosley, red color, goofy name and all.

So at bedtime we started batting around the Crosley stuff.  I encouraged John to make up episodes.  I mostly listened.  If he did come up with something, I told him how super it was and asked him when could I hear the next installment.  I think he was still six.  He got really facile at it, and I got the larcenous idea of putting the two of them in a book.

In my books I had to explain why Crosley was red, of course.  (He was red because he was allergic to water.)  And the rest fell into place fairly easily.  Crosley first began as a lights-out buddy.  But from there, he became part of Night Buddies Amalgamated, whose members sneak kids out on adventures when the kids aren't ready for bed yet.  That's the story formula, and John was hooked, and I was hooked.

You may need some luck with the "getting involved" part.  But anybody can do bedtime stories, and I haven't met a child yet who didn't take to bedtime stories.  You just have to do it and do it every night.  If you do, the child will enjoy it and look forward to it and quickly know literature as a pleasure.  Then, when he learns to read, he will want to read.  So get him in on the process if you can. It's as simple as that. 

Kindness

What does it take to be kind?  Here’s an example:

Last fall, my husband ordered parts for our broken water heater.  However, a neighbor that lived several blocks away received the packages of parts by mistake.  She tracked us down and called to tell us she had our boxes.  I don’t know of many people who would have gone to the trouble or taken the time to hunt us down.  She told me she’d leave our packages on her front porch.  So when I came to pick up them up, I left her a basket of flowers with a thank you note.

Several months later on Christmas Eve, the door bell rang.  A woman introduced herself as a neighbor and handed me a beautiful basket full of treats.  I couldn’t place this neighbor, so when I asked, she reminded me that she was the lady who had accidently received our packages. (We had only talked on the phone, but had never met personally).  My heart melted.  I invited her in as we chatted and she told me that she thought our house looked so pretty for the holidays.  That too, brightened my evening.   

Just a simple gesture and a sincere compliment made my day.   And so what’s the point?  (And what does this have to do with writing?)

Make it a point to reach out to fellow writers.  Find opportunities to be helpful and to be kind.  For instance, you could encourage writers if they are facing writer’s block or help them in reviewing their work.  You could compliment writers if they have written a story that you like or if they have posted a great blog.  You could congratulate writers when they win a writing assignment or contest.  On the other hand, if others have helped you with your writing, you could send them a thank card or buy them an inexpensive book on writing.    

Kindness is a little about you and a lot about others.  Simple acts of kindness are greatly appreciated.  It costs very little to be kind and people will remember you for it.  I can guarantee that when you show kindness, you will be rewarded in unexpected beautiful ways.

Would You Revise?

You’re lucky.  You’ve submitted an article to an editor and instead of rejecting the piece, she offers suggestions for a revision. 

When I had received articles for Stories for Children Magazine and now, when I read submissions for the Kid’s Imagination Train, I try to work with writers so that their work can be improved for publication.   Some writers like this approach, other don’t.  Below are some of the choices that I’ve seen writers make regarding revision: 

1.  They apologize for what they’ve written.
2.  They argue that what they’ve written doesn’t need revision.

3.  They give up on their submission and never get back in touch with the editor.  

4.  They ignore the editor’s suggestions and submit their work elsewhere.

5.  They send the exact piece back, with no revisions (REALLY!)

6.  They take into consideration the editor’s suggestions and try to revise.

While I’m a “hands-on” editor who likes to edit submissions, many editors don’t have the time or the interest to help with revision.  It’s easier for them to send a rejection if a submission isn’t quite right for publication; others may not even respond at all.   

Trust me.  When an editor sends you advice on how to improve your work, take it.  If she has specifically told you what your manuscript needs in order to be published—perhaps more facts, better descriptions, or livelier language are required—then work on those points to improve your submission.  She has made time in her busy day to help you.  Help yourself by taking her advice.