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2012 Success Report
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6 TWL Private Students obtained agents last year. Fifteen others successfully self-published.
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Get Thee to a Writing Boot Camp!
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Work on your own material with one-on-one guidance and comprehensive group instruction rarely available for writers.
The leader serves as your mentor, guide and personal coach for the day. Join the Bay Area Boot Camp.
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Get an Online Mentor-Instructor
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TWL online classes are comprehensive, easy, and come with a personal mentor.
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Happy New Year
but....No Resolutions!
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No New Year's Resolutions
for Me.
I hate resolutions. They are promises I never keep; hence my gaining 20 pounds in 2012 instead of losing them.
Instead of resolutions, I've written a bucket list. Bucket lists are about do's, not don'ts--things I want to do and plan to do in 2013 that are both exciting and motivating. Here are my top three: 1) Sing a duet with my musician husband in public (this takes nerve).
2) Climb a rock wall. I'm afraid of heights and have just enough strength to lift the remote, but I like the challenge. 3) Run a mini-mini-mini-mini-marathon--a 1K Run??? Now that's ambition. I'll keep you posted.
Regarding the perennial goal of losing weight, I'll lose weight some other time--in some other time dimension. For now, I'll worry about it maņana. Life is too short to indulge in deprivation. Anyway, I think running and climbing a wall should take care of it.
If you're inclined to think deeply about what you want in the New Year and a bucket list just won't do it, download "The Life Plan Workbook" I received from MindTools. I've made it easily available for you to download.
Nora
Hoping you live brave and write with passion.
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Advanced Writing Boot Camp
Bay Area, January 20th
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Boot campers work a full day on their own material with the one-on-one guidance and comprehensive group instruction rarely available for writers.
Attendees learn which individual writing mistakes are killing their stories and which skills they should use more, as well as which principles are essential for great writing. You'll learn how to incorporate such things as tone, motif, and characterization to get the results intended. Attendees will also learn techniques and skills essential for staying on track and focusing a storyline. The object of this boot camp is to identify and then integrate those skills that ensure your ability to write material that you, the author, can be sure will captivate and interest readers. |
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Breathe New Life into an Old Manuscript
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Often times a novel needs an infusion of something new. If yours does, you may just have to kill someone off. Nothing pulls the rug from under a complacent story than turning a major character into a corpse. Here are four reasons for murdering off a significant other. 1. Predictability can kill a good story faster than a reader can close the book. Give creative thought to incorporating surprises into your story. Killing off a key character is an excellent way to do that. 2. Often times a character has no place to go in a story. You eliminate the problem when a key character dies. It creates new situations and questions to answer. It is also a great way to eliminate a dead end. 3. Killing off a major character forces you, the writer, to establish a different mindset about the story. It encourages you to take a fresh look at where your story is or isn't going. 4. The death of an important character creates a stronger motivation for the protagonist. Killing someone near or dear to the protagonist can give him or her additional reasons to seek revenge, cure a disease, or discover the reason for the death. In conclusion: Sometimes a good story is a matter of both life and death. |
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Oh, The Horror!
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TWL answers two tough questions about writing horror.
Q. Is it easier to get a first-time horror novel published rather than other fiction?
TWL: No. The same principles apply for all fiction: Write material that captivates the imagination of the reader. If you are not sure exactly how to do that, look into TWL's T-F principle. Captivating material isn't accomplished by elaborate description. It's accomplished with the careful use of word choices and sentence rhythm. See an example.
Hint: 1) The genre has a strong small press following and may be a less formidable way to publication. 2) Cut your teeth on short stories to hone your literary skill of creating strong emotions in the reader.
Q. What if I don't have a track record as a writer?
TWL: Use social media to get a large following. It is hard for a publisher/agent to ignore a novel that is already popular. Note: You don't have to put your entire manuscript out there and you need not self-publish. (Look for information in the next newsletter about our 5-week, hands-on, online social media training for beginners.)
Hint: You can make a few chapters of your book available. Look into iBook for Mac users or checkout Cnet downloads if you are a Windows user in order to make your book an attractive, book-like downloadable.
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One Thing Every Horror Story
Must Have: FEAR!
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Fear has to dig into the reader's core. Explore what keeps you up at night. It probably isn't vampires or monsters. It may however, be getting old, losing a child, changes in your environment, or going to the dentist, etc.
Think of Stephen King's "Quitters Inc." which puts an unusual spin on the subject of giving up smoking with terrifying consequences. A classic example is W.W. Jacobs "The Monkey's Paw" which explores the idea that there is no free lunch. A family is given three wishes which comes at the price of their son's life.
It's the job of the horror writer to make the reader afraid to walk the street with the character, turn the corner, or climb a stair. And whatever you do, make the reader wait for the outcome. (Download our quick tips for creating suspense)
Add an exciting twist that alters a character's life--something that is scary. Add a number of twists-the unexpected, the surprise.
Hint: Horror takes the mundane and explores its terrible possibilities. The fuel for a good horror story lurks in every nook and cranny...ideas are everywhere.
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The Grammar Grappler:
Hanged or Hung?
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Hanged or hung? What is the difference?
People are hanged; pictures (objects) are hung.
Example: The judge pronounced the murderer was to be hanged. Carol hung the picture on the wall.
- The past tense or past participle of "hang" meaning "to execute" is "hanged.
- "The past tense or past participle of "hang" meaning "to fasten or suspend" is "hung."
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The Last Word. . .
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In the book "Bagombo Snuff Box", an assortment of short stories published in 1999, Vonnegut listed a few rules for writing a short story:
- Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
- Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. (In TWL's online novel class, "Laying the Foundation", it is a must to decide the main character's overall goal & overwhelming motivation for wanting that goal.)
- Every sentence must do one of two things: reveal character or advance the action.
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