writing

Reject those Rejection Thoughts!

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Jennieke Cohen (Dangerous Alliance) makes a worthy statement:

“It’s so simple to let rejections take their toll, but we have to keep dusting ourselves off. After all, if you keep your work to yourself, your chance of anyone liking it is nil, whereas submitting could lead to something great. I’ll take slim odds over none any day of the week. And if you are professional and send your materials to enough people, hopefully you’ll be lucky enough to find the person who loves your work as much as you do!”

In essence, reject those rejection thoughts and believe in your story and those beta readers who love it too. Don’t keep a great story to yourself. Keep up the worth challenge to impress a literary agent with the best manuscript that time and energy can polish until it shines bright enough to catch their eye (and their heart).

While You Wait

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Waiting is a difficult game and not many of us are built to handle it well. “Waiting for what?” you might ask. It could be waiting for your next plot idea, next book concept, or waiting for a literary agent to get back to you after a full manuscript request. So, to ease the pain, here are a few suggestions:

  1. Relax. Take time to review you plot outline. Go back over your character arcs too. Like a good meal, add some spice and “kick it up a notch” where you feel best to do so.
  2. Start another book. That is, look forward. Never look back too far and keep on being creative because that’s where the juices flow best. Begin to outline some ideas for your next novel. Will it be the same genre or a new venture – perhaps a YA or even a children’s book?
  3. Take stock of major events; events in your own life or current events. Read the news and sniff out another story. You might find an article that brings a great perspective. Has something unusual happened that might bring freshness to you story? Ah, the inspiration for a book surrounds us all. In 3 WISE MEN, I was ruminating and came up with a great new chapter to slot into a rather pedestrian section. It worked so well that I reprinted the book. Finally,
  4. Get out of your head and take a walk around your world. Listen to conversations, sit at a coffee shop and observe. Volunteer and learn.

Avoid Clichés; Scare Your Readers

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The Power of Words to Resurrect Your Story

The legacy of our earliest ancestors left them with two options when confronted with fear – to stay and fight or to run as fast as they could. Those who were good at predicting the outcomes survived and passed this genetic trait down to us.

Faced with this situation – real or imaginary – the brain mobilizes the body’s resources. It sends a rush of adrenaline and other hormones coursing through the body. Our pupils dilate to see better. Our heart pounds and our breath quickens to rush blood and oxygen to our muscles. We might turn pale as blood is directed away from the skin to power the muscles and fuel the brain. We might tremble or shake as our muscles tense, primed to take action. You might even get goosebumps, as tiny muscles flex in the skin, causing hairs to stand up. All triggered by the brain’s prime directive: survival.

When we realize that the danger isn’t real, we are left with a dopamine rush – the “feel good” hormone released in the process. While I adore a good scare, not everyone enjoys the thrills of a haunted house, a wild roller coaster ride, or a spooky story. Neuroscientists believe that may be because our brains have different sensitivities to the dopamine rush.

At an anniversary screening of Halloween many years ago,  one of our young interns, now a successful manager and producer, sat beside me. She squirmed throughout, grabbing my arm and practically crawling into my seat in the scariest scenes. “Jamie Lee Curtis is alive and well and sitting two rows ahead of us,” I hissed. It didn’t matter. For her, the dopamine rush was too intense.

Strong storytelling engages us, draws us in, pulls us into the world, and straps us into the shoes of the character. We feel what they feel. Instead of merely observing, we are participating. We are in the moment. Caught up in the spell you’ve woven with your words.

Delicious dopamine cannot be activated with the overly familiar. Our brains have come to ignore phrases that once made storytelling awesome, but have been overused:

          Upset the applecart.

Clichés fail to activate our brains. Switching them up with something inventive yet understandable grabs our attention. It delivers more emotional impact and will resonate with your reader.

          Shaken like a snow globe.

To keep that dopamine flowing, the words and the elements of your story must be fresh and distinctive.

Read the full article from scriptmag.com

Drafting Reveals a New Story

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Alaa Al-Barkawi says, “Growing up Iraqi Muslim American post 9/11 and during the US occupation of Iraq, I was constantly flooded with images of my people as the villains, and it affected my work as a writer…Through many trials, plot changes, and mental breakdowns…not only did I have a newer, shinier draft—but a new story I didn’t know existed in this book!”

Alaa’s comment resonated with me. I had the same experience and wanted to share this too. During extensive editing on my new novel, and from Beta Reader feedback, I discovered that there was another story within the pages; one more powerful and convincing, and one that propelled the plot. My novel moved from pure thriller to crime and grew in meaning and impact (for me, at least). Read more about Alaa’s writing journey here.

Regaining the Excitement

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A writer (Jed Herne) mentioned that, at just over halfway through their novel, they found that the excitement had faded. That got me thinking about my new thriller. I thought the main plot was strong, but the ending not so. The trap for writers – and this is a personal view – is that getting the main action to a climax is a straightforward process, but finishing with an equally powerful flourish can be a challenge. In my case, one of my Beta Readers pointed out the weaknesses in my final chapters. I used this feedback to put a much better twist to the ending and, in a recent edit, added another chapter to link back to an earlier one and round out the finish. I smiled and I hope readers will too :-).

The Place of Quiet Reflection

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Late nights and early mornings are quieter and my favorite times to reflect, write and edit. An early morning coffee along with some inspirational reading is a good foundation for the day ahead. For me, I write best when I think best and this is during these quiet times. If I have reached a stumbling block for a character or plot – a “what should happen next” moment – these often unravel during my place of quiet reflection. I have often woken during the night with a plot solution and scramble to write it down, dare I lose it by the time I wake in the morning. I wonder if this is why some authors only write during winter—when the cold and quiet allows more freedom for thoughts to roam? I hope you also find your happy place for quiet reflection and effective writing.

Duck for Cover

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Duck for cover – the new book cover, that is. After much back and forth with my designer, the final version has come through for my revised first thriller. It looks something like this:

Yes, you are the first ones on the planet to see this new look! It just needs a minor tweak with the sizing and it will be ready to launch. The gap on the lower back cover is for the ISBN, etc. BTW, this is why I don’t recommend self-publishing—I should be spending my time writing and not worrying about book cover design, re-writing, correcting errors, uploading files, etc. [You can order a copy of 3 WISE MEN here]

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