Layers

Cara here. I’d like to welcome fellow Thomas Nelson author Colleen Coble to Seekerville! Colleen’s thirty-five novels and novellas have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA, the Holt Medallion, the ACFW Book of the Year, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers’ Choice, the Booksellers Best, and the 2009 Best Books of Indiana-Fiction award. She writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail and love begin with a happy ending.



Ever since I started writing, I’ve heard that it’s tough to get published. And it is. But it’s not really tougher today than it was last year or the year before. It’s always been hard. But you can do it! Editors today are looking for stories that really stand out. How do you make your book stand out, you ask? Good question so I’m going to tell you.

Good layers are often the key to making an editor sit up and take notice. So much of the time, stories that hit the editor’s desk are so similar. Romance especially can be tough to make fresh. But it’s all in the layers.

Here are the layers I work on with every story:
1. Setting is huge for me. A character who lives in Boston is very different from one who lives in Indiana. The culture that shaped him/her is different too. Think about where your characters are. Read newspapers from that area and see if you can find a plot layer in what is going on currently there. Is there a culture group that’s strong there? In my Rock Harbor books, the Finnish culture had a huge role and was fun to layer in. The Lonestar series is set on a ranch in Texas that rescues abused horses and matches them with abused children. That idea gripped me by the throat, and that’s what you want your idea to do.

2. Character types. Take a look at character types and pit different types against one another to play off weaknesses and pet peeves. This can add a really great layer of conflict that’s ongoing. Maybe your female lead loves the wilderness and the hero’s idea of a great vacation is a cruise where everything is served to him. Maybe your heroine makes gourmet chocolates and the hero breaks out in hives from the aroma on her clothing. You get the picture!

3. Can you give your protagonist an obsession? That can really springboard you to plot ideas as she pursues it. This is often where to layer in your theme. In The Lightkeeper’s Daughter Addie was obsessed to discover who had paid the lightkeeper to raise her as his own child. And why.

4. Interesting occupation. This leads me to story ideas all the time. I’ve written about a SAR dog team, a dolphin researcher, a smokejumper, an antique quilt expert, and an old time telephone operator at the turn of the century.

5. Think of plot layers that are problems for your main characters. Try to come up with at least three. For example, in Lonestar Homecoming, Gracie is running away in her wedding dress from men who just killed federal agents in front of her. She has no money and no way of supporting her daughter so she agrees to be a nanny to a man’s two children. She’s estranged from her father because only she knows she was responsible for her mother’s death. Keep piling on the problems! Torture your poor character. The problem with many manuscripts I see is that there isn’t enough conflict and it isn’t varied enough. It’s not enough to have just ONE conflict.

Layers will life your book out of the rejected pile. They will add depth and interest to your characters and your plot. If you’ve already written the book, it’s still not too late to tear into it and make it something special. Don’t be afraid to start from scratch and add the things that need to be there.