Robin Caroll: Up Close and Personal

Good morning Seekerville!

This is Pam, and I've asked Robin Caroll to share some tips on prepping for a writing marathon. I've seen her go dark and resurface a few weeks later with a 90K book. It's an amazing thing to watch.

So, let's turn this show over to Robin. Welcome to Seekerville, girl!

Let me first say that I am so not a plotter. But I'm not a total pantster either. Let me explain.

I do very thorough character sheets on the protagonists and antagonists. I get pictures of them, do their history...everything. Here's an example of what I do: Madeline "Maddie" Baxter character sheet. That is just the first page of that character's information. I do this for my 3-4 main characters.

As far as plotting goes....I know the basics: Basic plot, setting....then I have my "open" areas: alibis, research, etc.

When I'm ready for a writing marathon, here are some tips that I've found helpful to me:

(Before starting, make sure you have someone else watching your children, doing whatever household stuff you normally do, etc. so you can spend some serious time focusing and being creative)

1. Neurologists have reported you can only concentrate on a subject for 42 minutes before you fade, if even for a moment. I get the scene I need to write in my head, set my timer to 45 minutes, and just write.

2. No editing allowed in your 45 minutes.

3. When the timer goes off, get up and stretch. Get a glass of water. Splash water on face. Whatever. Get out of your chair for at least 5 minutes.

4. It's ok to check email or text messages, but ONLY for 5 minutes. If you have to set a timer to make sure you don't get distracted, do that.

5. Take 5 minutes and read what you wrote in those 45 minutes. You can do minor editing here-but ONLY for 5 minutes.

6. Set timer and do it all over again. And again. And again.

7. STAY OFF FACEBOOK.

8. It's ok to send a quick tweet in your 5 minutes instead of checking email.

9. If you need to research something, make a note of the page # and just what you need (ex: pg 12-how do they answer the phone?) and keep going...don't stop to look it up. It's MUCH easier to do all those little research bits at once when you aren't writing.

10. After 4 sets of the 45 minutes, take 45mins to an hour and go for a walk, eat lunch (or any meal you might've skipped), do anything else except watch tv, check email, edit, get on facebook or twitter....the point is to keep your subconscious working on the next several scenes you're going to write.

11. Go through steps 1-10 again. Then, if you're still able and can, do them again. Remember to eat for energy. Fruits are great. Okay, so is chocolate. :)

I've written 65K words in 7 days doing this. 15K in one 24 hour period, but I don't recommend this unless you're up to it as it can be DRAINING. Some additional warnings: let your family/roommates know you're doing this. You will snap if someone interrupts your 45 min sessions and breaks your concentration. Turn the ringers off your phones. Lock yourself where you aren't tempted to even think about turning on the tv, "just to catch the news headlines." If you can totally turn off your internet and not check email, twitter, facebook, even better. (I can't-I just can't make myself). Let people encourage you. Tell them what you're doing. I send tweets (ok, it feeds into my facebook too when I'm doing it via my stupid-phone) of my word count goal percentage met every couple of hours.

Most importantly, reward yourself when you're done. If you hit your goal, woohoo-chocolate is in order! If you didn't, you still made progress! If you totally failed...well, hmm....try again later?

Pam again. What Robin didn't tell you is that her manuscripts are squeaky clean when she gets to the end of this process. Obviously, this isn't the way to write day after day, week after week, but if you're on a tight deadline, it gets the job done.

Or if you work a day job and find your creativity drained at the end of the day, or your day starts too early to get in the groove for writing, maybe carving out a few days to do a marathon would get a major chunk of the story out of your head and into the computer. Then you can concentrate on cleaning it up.

Another excellent Seekerville article is Cheryl Wyatt's Productivity. How to get the editor off your Shoulder to spit out the first draft. She gives some great pointers, and shows how getting up close and intimite with your story ramps up the word count the longer you stay imbedded with it.

So, there you have it. Robin's (and Cheryl's!) tips for churning out a lot of words quickly.And, if you want to see the final product of one of Robin's marathon writing sessions, throw your name in the hat with a comment for a chance to win a copy of Robin's latest release from B&H, Injustice for All, print or ebook, your choice.

Oh, and I just had an aha moment. Injustice for All is the 1st book in Robin's Justice SEEKERS series. Highly appropriate, wouldn't you say?

Snoopy & SEAL Team 6

Snoopy & SEAL Team 6

Hey Seekerville! I’m really excited about today’s post because I get to talk about two of my favorite things to write about: Animals and Special Forces/Special Operations service members.

I also get to introduce you to Snoopy, the stuffed animal I found at a local Goodwill shop for a tremendous bargain. Snoopy is my favorite cartoon character. He’s a writer! My office is Snoopy-themed. See this big guy?

He keeps me company when I write. He stares at me when I stare at the blank screen and cursor.



My office boasts a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree with one red bulb and sparse limbs. I also have a Peanuts music box/snow globe that spins snow inside it when Peanuts-themed music plays. I am a Snoopy fanatic!

I also love giving things away. So today, the commenter who correctly guesses the dollar amount ($1.00 to $100.00) that I paid for this huge stuffed Snoopy will receive a copy of Steadfast Soldier, my last Love Inspired which features an occupational therapist heroine who uses rescued animals to rehabilitate humans.

Many of you have heard of SEAL Team 6 in the event of recent news of the elite military unit who brought justice to America. So to honor them, I’m going to fashion a fictional SEAL team after them for today’s demonstration portion of my post in which I’m going to show you how animal characters can enrich our stories and endear our human characters to readers.

Animals and pets are something that is universal. Most people have some kind of memory attached to a childhood pet or animal, even if they didn’t have pets of their own. There is something fascinating and endearing about animals themselves and it’s rare to find a person who doesn’t love some kind of animal.

What’s your favorite animal?
What was the last book you read that had an animal in it?
What did the animal add to the story? Life? Depth? Comic relief? Emotion? Danger?

Marketing studies of category romance prove that covers depicting animals or children sell out faster than covers that don’t contain one or the other. This proves that people love to read about them.

Let’s do an experiment.

Today, we have visiting with us our fictional SEAL Team 6. Say our heroine (and our reader) is anti-military/anti-war. So, right off the bat, our military hero has strikes against him. After all, he packs a gun and kills people with it. The heroine (and our reader) considers it murder. Also, for extra conflict, let’s pretend our heroine isn’t fond of dogs because she was bitten as a youngster.

BUT…say the heroine gets a call that a terrorist attempted to hold her children’s daycare class hostage. (Hey, it could happen! LOL). BUT, a bomb-sniffing dog picked up on the terrorist who then was apprehended at the airport before he could execute his plan on the daycare. This dog would be instantly endearing to the reader and to the heroine.

She also discovers the dog was at the airport traveling with his trainer, who she finds out later is a Navy SEAL who rescued the dog from terrorists trying to use him in inhumane gas experiments. This would evoke sympathy in the heroine for the dog, and evoke likability in the heroine, and in the reader toward the hero.

The fact that he risked his life to rescue a pack of endangered puppies…and did it as the puppies were walking across an area riddled with land mines or roadside bombs, raises the likability factor of the hero and shows his compassionate side. See how animals can be a tool to help build characterization?

Next scenario: Pretend the military dog (who we will name Snoopy, after my beloved friend) wasn’t on the plane and the terrorist got through. He’s at the daycare threatening to blow it up if our president doesn’t release another terrorist-in-custody.

Say the SEAL also has a child in the daycare. The child has seizures and his service dog (Snoopy) attends the day care with him. The dog was rescued from a kill shelter and trained by the SEAL Team 6 member to alert him and caregivers to his son’s impending seizures so they can prevent them. Or keep the little boy safe during. The dog is a retired military or police dog that sniffs out the bomb and saves the children.




Think of this scenario without the dog. The dog being in there adds compassion, depth, emotion and life to the story, at least in my opinion. And it softens the military angle for readers who may be anti-war. Most people aren’t anti-animal. Animals have universal appeal, as do heroes. It helps to make your animal heroic, like our story Snoopy.

Another scenario, pretend Snoopy isn’t in the center when the bomb is discovered but when SWAT teams and military bomb specialists and our fictional SEAL Team 6 arrive on the scene (without fighting over jurisdiction…LOL!), they flush out the terrorist with flash bang grenades or tear gas. Snoopy rushes in and helps lead rescuers to children.

Snoopy even drags an unconscious teacher out by her jacket. Our SEAL Team 6 hero trained the dog to rescue civilians in a military setting. See how the animal softens the rough edges of the nature of this hero’s career and military countenance? The animal also adds depth and interest and brings “Awww!” moments to our story…and readers want stories that make them feel something.

Trivia question for the day: Do you know that sometimes SEALS, Green Berets, Rangers, Recon Marines and other Special Operations/Special Forces personnel have to call 9-1-1? When they need back up or rescue, guess who they call?

Nooooo….not Snoopy. LOL! Just kidding.

They call the PJs!



US Air Force Pararescue Jumpers are a rare breed of elite Special Operations Airmen who are skydiving combat paramedics. They rescue downed pilots as well as Special Forces members in danger behind enemy lines. They also do civilian rescues of humans and animals in the U.S. and abroad during global natural disasters.

I feature rescuers and particularly PJs in almost all of my books, in addition to other special operations personnel.

Don’t forget to guess Snoopy’s price (Hint: I got a KILLER deal!) for a chance to win Steadfast Soldier, the story about Pararescueman Chance, and Midnight, the black Lab who rescues Chance’s dad in more ways than one.



Thank you for joining me today. I’d also love to know your thoughts on how animal characters can enrich stories. I’d love real life examples too!

Comment away!

Cheryl Wyatt & Snoopy2

Seekerville Welcomes Guestblogger Tosca Lee & GIVEAWAY!

Hey all, Cheryl here, welcoming to Seekerville good friend Tosca Lee who is a great gal, awesome author and eater of all things yummy! Tosca has generously offered to donate two autographed books today to two lucky commenters.

If you haven't read Tosca's award-winning, critically-acclaimed debuts Demon, A Memoir, and Havah-the story of Eve, be sure to comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of one of these stellar Inspirational novels.

Tosca's style reminds me of a modern day C.S. Lewis. Her gripping prose is beautiful, deep, edgy and lyrical. If you don't happen to win the drawing, be sure to try out her books.

In addition to being a former model, beauty queen and avid fisher-woman, Tosca has been A Christy Award finalist and ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Silver Award winner—and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. All well-deserved I say!

Now, for an exclusive interview with Tosca whose most recent adventure included Piranha fishing in the Amazon. LOL! Good news....she brought back a few for Seekerville's new aquarium. ;-)

Cheryl: I was chatting with a few of your characters the other day and Havah, the lead female of your second book, named the same and critically acclaimed, mentioned you've been busy with some exciting projects. Havah starting dropping big names such as Judas Iscariot, Ted Dekker and Oscar Meyer...as in the makers of bacon of which there is a mysterious shortage lately. In addition to gushing about what a gifted storyteller you are, Havah said you:

1. Have co-written a book with Ted and is happy to report that both of you lived to tell about it.
2. Have brought Judas back to life through the power of story.
3. Have consumed epic quantities of those delectable strips of pork while on deadline yet maintained your modelesque figure.


Can you confirm or deny any of the above? After all, Havah aka Eve did happen to be standing near a fruit tree when the statements were made.

Tosca: That Havah is a wonder woman--how she manages to grow and harvest food, take care of so many kids and keep up with the news is way beyond me! But then, I can't fault her for her taste in authors, can I? Well, if you must know, it's true. I did consume epic quantities of bacon while both writing about Judas and working on the Books of Mortals series with Ted Dekker. Last year while I was researching Judas in Israel, however, is a completely different story. Not a pork belly, chop, or rind to be found. By the end of my first week in Israel, I would have knocked off someone's grandma for a piece of sausage in the morning. I am a bad person.

Cheryl: LOL! No one who eats bacon and sausage is bad. Just smart. LOL! In addition to bad-to-the-bone bacon that's oh-so-good, what other yummy foods do you crave while on deadline?

Tosca: Cheetos. Buttered popcorn. Burgers. Fries. Pizza. Steak. Enchiladas. I crave all of these same foods when not on deadline, too. Oddly, chocolate (I prefer the dark variety) has an extremely long shelf life in my house.

Cheryl: Oh my goodness. You are making me drool. I know from experience that you make the best pea soup in the world. Care to share the recipe?

Tosca: Mmmm. Split pea soup. Here you go:

2 big cans chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
1 smoked ham hock or shank
1 bag (sometimes I do a double batch and use two) of dried split peas
marjoram and celery seed to taste (I do about a teaspoon of each)
pepper, thyme, crumbled rosemary and a dash of sage (in smaller amounts to taste)
Salt to taste (with the smoked ham hock and chicken broth, I find there's seldom need to add salt)

Bring to a boil and then simmer, letting the peas break up. Stir often to make sure they are not sticking to the bottom of the pot. You can actually burn this soup! When peas have started to break up, add chopped celery (I use nearly an entire bunch) and some finely-chopped carrot. You may need to add some water if the peas are making the soup too thick.

Simmer on low, stirring often, until peas are mush and the celery and carrots are soft. This soup freezes very well and gets better each time you heat it up!

Cheryl: Awesome! When you're not hovering over your keyboard weaving lyrical masterpieces into soul-brushing prose that is both breathtakingly poetic and edgy, you enjoy Piranha fishing in the Amazon, trips to Israel and other unique travels. Tell us about other adventures you like to embark on when you're not turning out those wonderful books?

Tosca: I like fishing, though I don't get to do it much! My favorite fishing memories: catching a 60 pound halibut in Alaska, and learning to fly fish in Maine. I like taking helicopters over scenic areas--Bora Bora, Kauai, or small planes (Alaska, Maine). I enjoy traveling just about anywhere, and tend to go on some of my more exotic trips with my mother (Transylvania, India, Greece, the Amazon). When I just need to get away for a few days, though I go west. My soul longs for cabins in the west and casitas in the Southwest.

Tosca in Alaska in Maine.



Cheryl: Sounds like your life is a constant adventure! Lots of story fodder for future books I'll bet. Tell us about your upcoming releases?

Tosca: Coming up: Forbidden, the first book in the new Books of Mortals series with Ted Dekker (September--available for pre-order now). Iscariot, the first-person story of Judas Iscariot, the infamous betrayer of Christ, in 2012.To pre-order Forbidden, go to: Forbidden on Amazon or visit any of your favorite online stores.

Cheryl: Where can readers find you online or sign up to hear about new releases?

Tosca: At http://www.toscalee.com--and from there you can click on a variety of links to join me on Facebook and Twitter. You can view several of my videos via links on my website, or by simply searching for me on YouTube.

Cheryl: Where can readers obtain copies of Havah and Demon in case they don't win the drawing?

Tosca: From any bookstore or online store. If you'd like signed copies, they are also available at www.signedbytheauthor.com.

Cheryl: Excellent! Bonus treat: Here is a link to a fabulous talk Tosca did at a church on creativity/fear/perfectionism.

Don't forget, you can pre-order Forbidden now on Amazon.

Tosca on Facebook (complete with Writer-Cam :D If you have not checked out Tosca's hilarious and down-to-earth-y Writer-Cam posts, you're missing out!

You can sign up for Tosca's newsletter here.

Tosca on Twitter

Read more about Ted and Tosca's co-writing project here.

Forbidden teaser:

For centuries perfect peace has reigned... until now.
Centuries have passed since civilization's brush with apocalypse. The world's greatest threats have been silenced. There is no anger, no hatred, no war. There is only perfect peace... and fear.

Until now.
FORBIDDEN: Book One of the Books of Mortals. An epic new journey that plumbs the depths of humanity--its darkest desires, its greatest hopes, its highest ambition.

Coming September 2011 from Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee.

To celebrate Tosca's first visit to Seekerville, we are having an enormous breakfast of bacon (turkey and pork) with eggs scrambled and fried in bacon grease. Sausage links and homemade butter yeast rolls with fresh-squeezed orange juice and Helen's special blend of coffee. For lunch we're having juicy steak enchiladas and Tosca's yummy split pea soup and soft drinks of your choice. For dessert, we have dark chocolate cakes, stamped with the Forbidden book logo with creamy caramel and dark chocolate filling swirled inside.

Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a comment for the chance to win an autographed copy of Havah or Demon autographed by Tosca.

Cheryl Wyatt & Tosca Lee

Romantic Times BookLovers Convention Recap plus Giveaway

Hey all! Cheryl here with a recap from the 2011 Romantic Times BookLovers' Convention.










For giggles and grins, I'll begin by telling you that trouble always finds Camy Tang and I when we tackle road trips together. Last time, we almost (accidentally!) stole a car. This year, we apparently broke a ritzi elevator.


These are the notorious Bad Elevator Pictures: Bad in the sense of terrible (aka hilarious) pictures of us because we were close to giving the elevator a kick of Camy's Wasabi.


Alas, we escaped and the elevator was spared our wrath.

The only thing worse than getting stuck in an elevator, is getting stuck in a GLASS fronted elevator 22 floors in the air so the ENTIRE CITY OF L.A. can witness your stuckage and the frantic button-pushing that follows. And cackling. Lots of laughter on this trip.


Onward...



RT's convention is unique in that it caters equally to readers and writers alike. Check out Club RT for instance:

Readers sit with authors at round tables and chat for a few moments before moving to the next author. It reminded me of speed dating, only without the speed. LOL!



I met some wonderful readers, like this woman, who downloaded my books onto her e-reader as we talked. How cool is that!? I took pictures of her wolf print tattoo for my daughter, a wolf fanatic.

I also met aspiring authors who hadn't heard about Seekerville who plan to visit the island. How exciting to make more Friends of Seekerville at RT!

In addition to meeting readers, fellow authors, aspiring authors and some of my favorite published authors, a group of us Love Inspired authors presented a workshop on Inspirational fiction.




We (LI authors Janet Tronstad, Jillian Hart, Pamela K. Tracey, Camy Tang, Kim Watters, Cheryl Wyatt) were treated to lunch by Harlequin Editors Dianne Moggy and Glenda Howard (also pictured with us above) who have some wonderful things in store for readers and authors alike. Stay tuned to www.eharlequin.comfor more info.



The convention provides many giveaways too.



Check out these awesome themed baskets!


Isn't the umbrella cute? It was FILLED with chocolate.

I loved the creative ways authors made the baskets so people could easily get them back home via air travel such as foldable umbrellas and soft-sided book-themed satchels like this:




Below is a romantic themed Cinderella basket from author Pat Simmons who is a wonderful friend, devoted Christian and awesome author.


She's also RT's longtime publicist. Pictured below with me, Pat and Camy is RT's publisher, Carol Stacey. We appreciate her devotion to promoting and reviewing romance!




The RT convention is growing its Inspirational presence. We hope you will help make that happen in 2012. RT 2012 will be held in Chicago on April 11-15 at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare. www.rtbookreviews.com. This convention has some really great workshops, such as FBI agents who brought in real FBI dogs! VERY COOL! Another workshop host brought in any kind of weapon you could imagine and let authors hold them to get a feel for research purposes. I'd LOVE to know how that presenter managed to get all those Uzis through airport security. LOLOL!




While ACFW is the number one conference I never miss, RT is also a great place to meet prospective editors, agents, authors and readers as well as booksellers and librarians. Oh, and not that I noticed or anything, but there are cover models running around too. Ahem. :-)


Writer recap:
--Readers expressed in panels that they want authors to provide simple bullet-style lists of their books in order on Web sites that they can simply copy, paste, print and take to the bookstore or have in front of them when they log into online booksellers.
--If a book is part of a series, readers want the books numbered.
--Readers, booksellers and librarians want excerpts! They couldn't stress this enough. The more of the book they can read on excerpt, the more likely they are to buy because the more vested they become in the story.
--Readers said unanimously that if they had to choose between two authors' books where one provided and excerpt and another didn't, they would nearly always purchase the excerpted book.


Reader recap:
--Publishers are working furiously to digitize as many back listed books as possible. Great news, eh!
--Editors say publishing has changed more in the past 7 months than in the past 27 years cumulatively, due to the digitization of books. Wow! Do you own an e-reader yet? If so, which one and how do you like it? If you haven't purchased an e-reader yet, what is the one print book that you own that you could never part with should you decide to go digital with your library?
--Inspirational sales are up...many thanks to YOU who support us and our publishers with your readership. WE APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU WHO BUY OUR BOOKS because it makes it possible for us to continue writing. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Here is a happy elevator picture once it FINALLY started moving again:


I'm curious about your take on e-readers. Comment away! I'll give one commenter a free copy of Ready-Made Family, which won last year's Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for the best series Love Inspired of 2009.

Cheryl Wyatt

The Best of Seekerville from the Archives and First Five Pages Critique

Episodic Writing--
An Editor's Definition


by Cheryl Wyatt

Have you ever received contest feedback, or even a rejection letter or a revision note where the editor mentioned "episodic writing"?

I have. Problem was, I didn't know how to fix it because I didn't know what it was.

I recently sold my first novel on proposal to Harlequin. For the first time, I faced the challenge of writing the rest of the entire book instead of simply revising the full manuscript.

When my (WONDERFUL!) editor (Melissa Endlich...pictured above with me, and with other Love Inspired authors at an RWA lunchean) and I discussed the synopsis, she cautioned me to be mindful as I finished the story "not to write episodic."

I admitted I didn't know 100% what that meant because I've heard differing things. She explained it so I could FINALLY understand what it meant.

I've talked to many other authors who've received judge feedback mentioning "episodic writing" and they had no idea what it meant either.

So today for my post, I'm sharing my editor's definition in hopes it will help those of you whose manuscripts have been deemed "episodic."

She said (paraphrasing) episodic writing is when one scene happens then another and another and so on but there is really no point to the scenes. They end up trumping the overall story arc but do nothing to move the plot forward.

In my case, my overall story arc running through the book is Pararescue Jumper Ben helping the heroine who is down and out financially and has recently been evicted. Her car breaks down in Refuge, and Ben is determined to befriend and help her.

Yes, this is a romance, and the romance arc must be front and center, but as far as character story goals and plot arcs, the main one that should run entirely through the story is Ben helping the heroine.

My editor went on to explain that episodic writing means loose writing where the author is just getting the characters from one scene to another (such as ending one scene with dinner and starting the next scene at breakfast) without anything really significant happening in the middle or at the hooks in and out to raise the stakes or increase the tension.

She said to make sure the stakes are constantly being raised and that there is tension in every scene and always a forward movement of plot...which comes from conflict. Also, the pacing needs to stay on track.

So, with her explanation, I gathered that non-episodic writing is tight writing where there is sufficient conflict and where the stakes are continually raised. Tension is present in every scene and every scene has a vital purpose. There is always a forward movement of the plot.

Hmm...that sounds eerily like some of the elements on contest scoresheets and feedback forms.

So, can we gather from this that acquisitions editors really DO care about internal and external conflict, pacing, tension, plot, tight writing and every other element on most contest scoresheets?

Absolutely.

If you've been marked down on "Conflict" on contest scoresheets, it is possible that your writing is episodic. (My words, not the editor's.)


So...In Summary.....

SOME WAYS WE CAN AVOID EPISODIC WRITING:
---Don't let your story be merely a stream of pointless scenes. Give it direction
---Don't let a series of random scenes trump your overall story arc
---Have AT LEAST one vital reason for every scene
---Write tight
---Hold true and fast to the overall story arc
---Continually build tension
---Constantly ramp conflict
---Characters must have clear cut goals and growth. Constantly challenge those goals.
---Constantly up the stakes
---Put tension in every scene
---Always have forward movement of the plot and not just "episodes" or stagnation
---Maintain smooth scene transitions so the story flows in logical progression. (In one long running arc instead of reading like a bunch of episodes or scenes stringed together.)

I hope this helps!

Here's a link to another article on Episodic Writing that you might also find helpful from Ezine @rticles.





Born Valentine’s Day on a naval base, Cheryl Wyatt is an RN who writes award-winning Inspirational Action Romance. She loves to honor brave men and women in noble careers by featuring high-caliber characters in high-octane stories bent toward medical military and rescue romance. Her Love Inspired debuts earned RT Top Picks plus #1 and #4 on eHarlequin's Top 10 Most-Blogged-About-Books, lists including NYT Bestsellers. She has experienced the giddy joy of winning a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award and is exceedingly thankful for a Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence final. Joyful chaos rules her home and she delights in the stealth moments God gives her to write. She stays active in her church and in her laundry room. She writes as worship and aims for excellence with virtue when penning humorous, wholesome stories that exude faith and family and are evocative rather than provocative.

This post first appeared in Seekerville January 15, 2008



Don't forget...

Today is the last day to be considered for our weekly critique.

OFFICIAL RULES HERE!

Writers! Ramp that Tension! And win a book...

Ramping Tension by Cheryl Wyatt


Have you seen the movie Unstoppable?

If not, DO! It’s a prime example of tension that never relents. The stakes keep getting raised every scene of the story. It would be a great teaching tool to study and see how you can incorporate that kind of relentless tension in your work.

Even regular romances need to have tension on every page. Otherwise the writing can seem lackadaisical, boring or episodic. You don’t want an editor to read scene after scene and think, “Who cares?”

Besides grabbing them with emotion using internal conflicts of the characters, you can use external conflicts to build tension. In other words, one way to invest them into your story and keep their eyes rivited to your words is to continually ramp tension. Build upon conflict subtly or strongly in places.




Example of what I mean:
Scene Scenario:
A woman (let’s name her Seeka. She lives in rural Seekerville) is getting ready to leave for work. Big deal, right? What’s exciting about that? Nothing. It’s mundane. Readers don’t want to be subjected to your characters’ activities of daily living. They want tension. Excitement. Something to compel them forward page after page until they’re to the end without realizing how they got there.

How do we do that?





By tension-ramping and conflict building blocks. How do we do that?

One way is to continually ask yourself, “How can I make this worse for my character?”

Let’s do this together! So, our woman Seeka is getting ready for work. How can we put tension in that scene scenario?

---Have her suddenly realize the time changed and she’s already late perhaps?
What else?

Let’s build. Then ask yourself after every build, "How can we make this worse?"

So, Seeka realizes she’s late. Drops the mascara tube and grabs her brush and an apple knowing she can eat and brush her hair in the car. She reaches for her phone to call her boss to tell her she’ll be late. After all, her boss is also her friend. She’ll understand, right? Right?

Wrong. Add tension here. Make this worse on Seeka. Who actually answers the phone? Or perhaps her harried boss tells her they have OSHA inspectors there and this is the WORST day she could pick to be late.

How can we make this worse aka ramp tension more?

Her boss adds that the OSHA inspector is Seeka’s ex-husband. The divorce ended ugly and on a sour note and he’s loaded for bear.

How can we ramp tension and raise the stakes even more?

Have Seeka get to the car only to realize she left her phone on the table after her friend/boss told her the OSHA inspector, who is Seeka’s ex, is on-site drilling the place.

Seeka’s job depends on the results of this inspection. There. We ramped more. Put more at stake. What else can happen to make things worse? Think of other wrenches to toss into the plan. But always keep the story/scene moving forward.

So Seeka grabs her phone and rushed back out the door…only to discover she has locked her keys in the car. Ramp tension more by having the car be running.

Okay, you take it from there.

Write a short scene in the comment section by telling me how Seeka’s day went. Give suggestions on how to continually ramp tension.



OR, I’ll give you prompt scenarios below. Pick one and list seven things to ramp the tension. These seven things don’t happen all at once. They build on one another. Otherwise the conflict may not seem believable.

I’m going to pick THREE winners who I feel put forth the best, most believable; most edge-of-the-seat effort to ramp tension. Three participating winners will receive one copy each of my June Love Inspired, Steadfast Soldier or a conflict craft book if you already have my book. (Don't worry, readers-only! I have another chance for you to win. Read on!)

Scenarios to choose from:
1. Myrakin leaves to meet a realtor.
2. Glynnalyn is out shoveling snow before work.
3. Maryella leaves to attend a birth.
4. Juliette embarks on a romantic cruise ship adventure.
5. Cheryletta is wearing a parachute and about to jump from a plane
6. Camylotta is running a marathon in Hawaii.
7. Tinalita is in her kitchen cooking Italian food for guests.
8. Caramia is meeting with a history professor.
9. Ruthanna is outside chasing an errant rooster.
10. Pammie is crunching numbers behind a work computer.
11. Missylissa is on a field trip with kids picking southern peaches.
12. Janetty is at a big race with thousands of people.
13. Audralee is feeding and brushing horses.
14. Sandrana is riding on a mountain trail.
15. Debbyenne is drawing blood on a patient.

Simply add seven ramps to one of these. Pick more than one if you want. Have fun! Write in any tone or genre. Tension doesn’t always mean true suspense. These can be funny too. Most of all, have fun!

If you get stuck, here are some ramps you can borrow or mix and match.
Tension rampers if you need the help. Try not to use more than 1-3 of these in your scene. I want you to think of at least 4 on your own. This will be a great exercise!

--An escaped elephant gets in the road.
--Runs out of gas.
--Happens in a busy intersection.
--A tsunami warning hits the U.S. shore.
--It will be here in an hour.
--Cell phone dead.
--River rising.
--Daughter won’t answer.
--Starts sleeting outside.
--Is dive-bombed by huge birds.
--Electricity goes out.
--Runs into a poisonous snake.
--Gets a call she won the lottery.
--Skunk in garage.
--Has two minutes to get there.
--Locks self out of house.
--Storm brewing overhead.
--Someone snatches purse.
--Lightening spooks.
--Horse in house.
--Figures out too late the man isn’t who he claimed.
--Husband out of town.
--Dog missing.
--Earthquake rattles.
--Child diabetic blood sugar high. Forgot insulin.
--Mountain lion in area.
--Unexpected detour.
--Practical joke/Prank phone call.
--Breaking news.
--Dad has Alzheimer’s.
--Wandered off.
--School called with emergency.
--Lungs tight. Wheezing. Inhaler lost or empty.
--Doctor’s office closed.
--Mysterious flowers.
--All airline flights delayed.
--National emergency.
--Police not answering.
--Plane malfunction.
--Gut feeling.
--Ambulances all in use.
--Urgent phone call.
--Forgot birthday.
--Doubts.
--He proposes three months early.
--Your daughter doesn't approve.
--Get called on a mission.
--Flashlight dead.
--Son with behavioral problems at school.
--Lives two states away.
--Flat tire.
--Wind blows electric pole across highway in front of car.
--Tornado warning. F3 on the ground, one mile away.
--Husband’s building hit.
--Blown fuse.
--Allergic reaction.
--Cologne spills.
--No one answers.
--Stairs fall.
--Mouse in sink.
--Elephant has rabies.

Okay, so that last one was a joke. Can you tell I like natural disasters? LOL! Well, I don't like them, I just like subjecting characters to them. Anyway, pick and pluck those tension ramping helpers if you need. I look forward to reading everyone’s “entry!” If you’re a reader rather than a writer, you can be entered by describing a scene sequence by a favorite author that gripped your attention lately. Bonus point if the book is from a Seeker! I’ll give 1 copy of Steadfast Soldier to any non-writer who comments with a scene description, Seeker books included!
That’s FOUR book prizes in all. FOUR chances to win.

Ready, Set, Ramp That Tension!!!





Cheryl Wyatt

Skunk Marketing by Cheryl Wyatt & Giveaway!

Seth Godin has Tribes, Jay Conrad Levinson has Guerrilla Marketing, Randy Ingermanson has Tiger Marketing, Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah have Inbound Marketing and I have...

(Drum roll please)

Skunk Marketing.

Well, at least some of the time.



What is Skunk Marketing?

It is the most expedient way to repel industry professionals. LOL!

Most people suffer from blonde moments. I suffer from blonde months. Really, I live a blonde life. I’ve been blonde since I was born. ‘Nuff said. If you are offended by blonde jokes and behavior, read no further.

But if you suffer from Blonde Moments, read on! This post is bound make you feel better because you can’t possibly have pulled something as ditzy as the following Skunk marketing tricks.

• Walk into a Barnes and Noble store and ask the manager (who knows you are a local author) how their Kindle sales are going. OH yes, I did.

For extra credit, do this while standing inches away from their Nook table. Yes, I did that too! Pathetic, I know. FYI: I MEANT to say Nook. Talk about blank stares and confounded blinks.

• Respond to a Harlequin Higher-Up’s request for a publicity photo for your New York BEA signing with: “Don’t worry about it. In fact, don’t worry about anything but pray about everything. Make your requests known to God. He’s taking care of it. Hugs!” to which you will likely receive a firm response back, “Yes, while that’s a nice sentiment, we need your 300dbi publicity photo by the end of the work day today please.” Which made me realize I’d responded initially to the WRONG email. A friend’s prayer request sat right below the email from the Harlequin rep and something shifted in my e-mail list and I thought I was responding to my friend’s prayer request but the response went to the Harlequin rep who needed my publicity photo stat. LOL! Thankfully the folks at Harlequin have great (and gracious!) senses of humor.

• Type in a weird XOXOXO code mixed with funny random symbols on the eHarlequin message boards, thinking you’re loaning those letters to someone with broken Exes and Ohs on their keyboard. I shut the eHarlequin boards down for three days. They still bought my books! LOL. But one of the first things Joan Golan said to me when meeting me in person at an ACFW conference was, “Oh, yes! You’re known as Squirrel and you’re the one who shut our eHarlequin boards down for days!” LOLOL.

• Don’t accidentally (or, God forbid!, on purpose) hand a male editor your room key instead of your business card by mistake after a novel pitch. In my defense, I had my laminated business cards in the same neck badge slot as my key. Honest mistake. I still sweated bullets rushing around trying to find him to explain myself though!

• Don’t attempt to rush out an email response to an editorial assistant while being wheeled quickly into surgery. My phone’s autocorrect function changed “Editorial Assistant” to “Editorial Assassin” because of a mistype on my part due to rushing.

YES, unfortunately, I did every one of those things.



But, here are a few that others I know did:

• Be consistently one week late getting books returned to libraries and never bring chocolate to make up for the fact that your puppy chewed the corners off three in-demand hardbacks. ~ Anonymous Writer Pal

• This from our very own Mary Connealy: "I once was on a book tour with about nine signings in six days. Really intense, busy time. which was okay, I wanted to keep busy. It was me, MaryLu Tyndall, Kaye Dacus and Christine Lynxwilder.

I was driving the car and the other authors were passengers (okay, hostages, let's be honest).

I drove about twenty miles to the carefully mapped out location of a special non-booksigning get together with some area authors and we got to where my map led and it wasn't the restaurant we were supposed to meet at, it was a bookstore. And there was the poster in the window about our signing and ...someone said, "'This is where we had the signing last night.'"

My overloaded brain had to churn along for a while before I realized she was right. Then we had to drive FORTY miles in the opposite direction, okay maybe it only seemed like forty, I don't know, to get to the lovely ladies who wanted to meet us about a half hour late. Fortunately Christine had her own car and went herself, so she was there to be friendly while they waited as I and my crew wandered, Israeli-like in the wilderness for forty miles.

So embarrassing. I still cringe. It was my map. I was so sure I knew what I was doing. And I know BETTER to ever think I know what I'm doing.
The lesson learned? Never believe in myself. It's as if God is looking for a chance to keep me humble (heaven knows I make it easy for Him)."


"Also, I once had a signing during a Nebraska Cornhuskers football game, a Saturday afternoon. You could hear the crickets chirping in that book store. The manager and cashiers were even watching the game. Learned a lesson there. In a contest between me and the Cornhuskers....I am totally sacked." ~ Mary Connealy


• This from Janet Dean: "My agent, Karen Solem called this fall and said, “'This is Karen.'” I said something like “Which Karen?” Embarrassing when I knew she’d subbed my proposal to Tina James at LIH. But not funny. Just add me to the list of clueless." ~Janet Dean

WHEW, Mary and Janet, I'm glad I'm not alone on Skunk Island, here in the Seekerville Keys.



Soooo, Friends of Seekerville, it's YOUR TURN. Have you done, said, written, e-mailed, Skyped, Facebooked, Tweeted or typed anything embarrassing to industry professionals in a marketing or pitch attempt?

Let's hear it!

And your favorite Christmas ornament if you don't have an embarrassing moment. Since Jesus got three gifts on His birthday, I'm giving away three gifts today! All you have to do to be entered is leave a comment. Please leave your e-mail address too. Deadline will be tomorrow at noon, CST. Winners will be announced in Seekerville's next Weekend Edition.




I wanted to give away a cute little destinkered skunk too, but my Seeker Sisters dissuaded me. LOL! Instead, I'm giving away these three prizes to three commenters (one prize each):

--A Christmas ornament
--A copy of Steadfast Soldier (My June Love 2010 Inspired)
--three-in-one Steeple Hill Amish Christmas book collection

If you have a preference of one of the above three, number your preference or say that in the comments too.

PS..NO SKUNK MARKETING! LOL!

Comment away and Merry Marketing...errr Christmas!

Cheryl Wyatt

Featuring Friends of Seekerville: Comment Gems from the Archives Vol 1

Hello Seekerville! Cheryl Wyatt here with fresh biscuits and sausage gravy and homemade apple bread. Indian tea with boiled milk is in the steaming kettle. Grab a cup and enjoy!

Today I’m pleased to feature and honor Friends of Seekerville in my post.



I donned my mining cap (see the cool light on the front?) and went deep underground to mine gems of wisdom from our comment section. I list the original post that I mined the comment from at the end of each quote. I hope you enjoy and benefit from these gems of wisdom, insight and encouragement, mined from Seekerville’s comment section. Thanks for all that YOU do to make our community what it is. We appreciate your insight.




This is the first of what I hope to be several mining expeditions, so don't despair if you don't see your comment featured here. I have thousands more comments to shovel through and plan to do these features regularly, hence the Vol 1.

Some of these provide wisdom and valuable information. And some of them are just downright funny. Enjoy!

From which Friend of Seekerville: Kav
Commented When: Sept 14 2010
The Gem: Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute!!!!!! (I'm getting brave and adding copious amounts of punctuation because that's just the way I talk). BUT isn't this a PG rated blog? If so, pray tell what is Mary Connealy doing talking about conjugal rights and how verbs 'do it'?

Mary said: "How to Conjugate Lay and Lie
Here's how to conjugate these two verbs:"

I couldn't bring myself to read any more. This just proves to me how dangerous a thing grammar is. It should be banned. The next thing you know we'll have nouns getting frisky and then there'll be little pronouns running about everywhere! Egads!!!!!!

=======================

From which Friend of Seekerville: Vince
Commented When: Jan 20, 2010
The Gem: BTW, has there ever been a mob series without one of the characters being named Vincent? I don’t think so. : )

=======================

From which Friend of Seekerville: abbi
When: Nov 4, 2010
The Gem: I've been using my AlphaSmart for NaNoWriMo and it is very helpful. Probably because it keeps me off the Internet!

=======================


From which friend of Seekerville: Patty
When: February 25, 2010
The Gem: One thing I use to help me is I write the story out on large index cards, chapter by chapter. That way, I have a quick reference to see if each scene builds on the conflict. And it still give me the freedom for the SOTP writer inside me.
=======================

From which friend of Seekerville: Ami McConnell
When: Jan 8, 2010
The Gem: Great interview, Mary and Allen! Allen, I love what you had to say about the distinctive author voice and how readers aren't looking for imitations of existing authors but rather for new, authentically unique voices. And what you said about how Christians ought not mimic culture but rather transform it. Who among us can keep it to ourselves when we "meet" a new author whose voice speaks to us in new ways?! Inspiring

=======================

From which friend of Seekerville: Pepper
When: March 30, 2010
The Gem: Okay, I'm crying…and my makeup looked so good today. sigh...It's worth it. Wow. This was absolutely beautiful….Francine, I hope to someday write a book that inspires God's forever love like Redeeming Love inspired me…it makes all the disappointment from a contest seem miniscule compared to God's great plan for our lives. What HE can inspire in us in His time. I'm humbled - and am going to eat some yummy jelly then go wipe the raccoon marks from under my eyes.

=======================

From which friend of Seekerville: KC Frantzen
When: March 30, 2010
The Gem: Pepper - try Cover Girl Marathon Mascara in the green tube. I know from experience. GREAT stuff. :)

=======================

From which Friend of Seekerville: Debra E. Marvin
When: July 1, 2010
The Gem: I'm learning that when I have those moments when all the words look like garbage, I have to shake it off and move on.

=======================
From which Friend of Seekerville: Leigh
When: June 21, 2010
The Gem: My first word verification was "quiri". Think that could be a new spelling for "query?" :-) Then it timed out and my second verification is "whenam." As in, "When am I going to buckle down and get these stories written so I can 'quiri'?!"

=======================

From which Friend of Seekerville: Walt M
When: Oct 29, 2009
The Gem: I've never had fish eyes for breakfast or any other meal. (I have had fish for breakfast.) What you don't want to know, though, is what I've had for dinner.

=======================
From which Friend of Seekerville: Ann
When: Mar 30th, 2009
The Gem: I was trying to submit *something* *somewhere* every week, including contests and short stories. Life gets in the way (did I tell you about chasing an owl out of the chicken house at 4 a.m.?) so maybe *something* once a month is good.

=======================
From which Friend of Seekerville: Helen
When: Oct 7, 2010
The Gem: Good Grief!! I want to make something very clear. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE winning Seekerville giveaways. But that is NOT why I come here.

I come for:

The tips

The camaraderie

The encouragement

The friendships

Info like this!

Bob, when did you come to my neighborhood and spy on me??
You nailed me in enough ways to be eerie.

=======================


From which Friend of Seekerville: Andrea
When: Oct 22, 2010
The Gem: I'm new to Seekerville, I read about it in my sister's copy of "Simply Books" the Reader Service Magazine, and it appealed to me as an aspiring writer. Boy was I right to stop by!

=======================


From which Friend of Seekerville: Tina
When: July 27, 2010
The Gem: I'm constantly comparing myself to others, and not just professionally. It stifles God's creativity in ME. I'm learning to put that aside and let God show me who I am. A series of great posts I've read this morning. This helps me focus on what He'd have for me, not with the things in which He's blessed others.

=======================

From which Friend of Seekerville: Aaron McCarver
When: April 20, 2010
The Gem: Be careful sometimes of what you mean to say. A couple of students from the school were on a missions trip to the Mexican border area with others from the college. They thought they were telling people they were hungry, Yo tengo hambre. They said instead, Yo tengo hombre, which if you don't speak any Spanish means I have a man. Needless to say they got many, many strange looks.

=======================

From which Friend of Seekerville: Chicki
When: April 6, 2010
The Gem: "Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul." - Gen. Douglas MacArthur

=======================

From which Friend of Seekerville: Jodie Wolfe
When: Sept 29, 2010
The Gem: What a beautiful post of encouragement to us writers, in all stages of the journey…My road to publication (still not there yet) has seemed long and arduous, but as I look back I can see how God uses experiences and trials to make me a better writer.

=======================

From which Friend of Seekerville: Meg Moseley
When: Feb 15, 2010
The Gem: You've got me thinking about the Olympic athletes' aching muscles and blisters and bruises. Those are "little" things that don't necessarily show, but they add up to a lot of pain--like rejection letters or bad reviews or mean critiques. But you just have to keep going anyway!

=======================

From which Friend of Seekerville: Kirsten
When: June 24, 2010
The Gem: Debby, Thank you for the encouraging and challenging post. Sometimes it's easy to get distracted when writing and forget what our purpose for writing is: to show Christ to the world and encourage others.

I have always had a heart for those who serve our country. Since moving to the DC area I started volunteering at Walter Reed. I don't know as this is classified as courage, because I spend the whole day praying before going there. It's always a challenge to walk in and meet a new group of guys. I thank God that he always revs me up to go when it would be easier to go home.

=======================

Cheryl here. I absolutely LOVED Kirsten’s last line: “I thank God that he always revs me up to go when it would be easier to go home.”

I suspect that Seekerville and its community of Friends has done that for many of you.



I’d love to hear in the comment section a time when God reached through our blog and either tickled your funny bone, or touched healing balm to your weary-of-waiting heart.

Comment away!

Hugs all,

Cheryl Wyatt

The Best of Seekerville from the Archives and Giveaway

Plotstorming-Preparing for a Writing Spree by Cheryl Wyatt

I tend to write a rough draft in under a week. I am an instinct writer. I think that comes from being an avid reader of the genre in which I write. For the most part, I am a panster. However, writing a book as fast as I do requires some pre-work. I call it plotstorming.

Everyone has different methods. I am always changing (and hopefully improving!) mine. This method won't work for everyone. But for my post today, I thought I'd share a list of things I HAVE TO KNOW before rushing off into my writing spree. It is a fill-in-the-blank list.

The ***KNOW MY CHARACTERS*** part is more complex. I always know more about my characters than my plot when I first start out. Getting to know my characters and doing my story research or research on the character's career are the two most time-consuming things I do when writing. On another day, I will share my character chart with you. But for now, just know that the ***KNOW MY CHARACTER*** is a fill-in-the-blank list all on its own that is way too long to list here. But in that chart, I'd know (about the hero and heroine) things like:

Character Career___________
One-word adjective_________
Physical Description___________
Flaw____________
Quirk___________
Age_____________
Height__________
Build___________
Hair style/color________
etc, etc, etc and a gazillion other things.
This character chart is literally PAGES long.

Also, the prepwork/plotstorm involves making things easy on my family prior to my writing spree. Which means cooking a week's worth of meals and freezing them to make life easy for my family during my Weeklong Rough Draft Writing Spree. I clean my house top to bottom (because I can't concentrate well with clutter around me...sorry...it's the OCD in me. LOL!) And I plan exclusive activities with members of my family days prior to and following my spree so they don't feel neglected and are able to show more grace during the week I am unavailable. I sometimes leave my house to write, but sometimes I retreat to my room or office or otherwise quiet place. I also make sure they have an emergency number for me. I also try to clear out all my in boxes and take care of any commitments so I don't have to stop and take care of another project. Once I start writing, it's best to just blow through it, otherwise I tend to write scenes out of order which is a nightmare later.

For this blog post, I'm sharing my list of things OTHER than character specs.

I write action-romance but I imagine you could adapt this list to any genre/sub-genre.

I hope you can take something of value from it:

Cheryl's Plotstorm List

The Meet Cute: How will heroine/hero meet?
The Draw and Push: (What plot element will keep shoving them together? What story element or secondary character will keep them in contact throughout the book? Also, what (conflict and conflicting goals) will continually be prying them apart.)

Hero and Heroine's Story Goals
Hero and Heroine's Motivation
Hero and Heroine's Conflict: External, Internal, Spiritual, Relational

Hero and Heroine's careers

Story setting (I always know where the story takes place but not necessarily the season of year)

Inciting Incident (the chaos, disaster, crux, dilemma, catastrophe or change that opens/starts/catalyzes the story. This ends up being scene 1/opening hook.)

Relationship Reticence-hero
Relationship Reticence-heroine

1st Major Disaster
2nd Major Disaster
3rd Major Disaster aka Black Moment

Important Ancillary I use main characters' interactions with one or two important secondary characters to help characterize and sympathize them to readers. "Important Ancillary" is the character (other than hero and heroine) who is most central/important to the plot.

Basic Premise: (a one-sentence summary or few paragraph blurb of the basic story idea.)

Scene Index Skeleton: (not a chapter chart. These are one-liner plot points describing what goes into each scene. This is never exhaustive when I start out and my conflict and tension always gains momentum as I write)

The Resolution: (In a romance, I always know the hero and heroine will get together in the end. I like to know before starting out which one of them is most resistant to the relationship and why. I also like to know the what, where, when and why of the resistant one to giving in and realizing they can't live without the other person.)

Most of my story time lines span about a 6 month time. Since I know that, I don't have that on the chart. But if your story time lines vary, you may find it useful to add. So I'll put a lean Plotstorm list below.

-----

Cheryl's Short Plotstorm List:

***KNOW MY CHARACTERS***
The Meet Cute
The Draw and Push or Keep Cute
Hero and Heroine's Story Goals
Hero and Heroine's Motivation
Hero and Heroine's Conflict: External, Internal, Spiritual, Relational
Hero and Heroine's careers
Story setting
Inciting Incident
Relationship Reticence-hero
Relationship Reticence-heroine
1st Major Disaster
2nd Major Disaster
3rd Major Disaster aka Black Moment
Important Ancillary
Basic Premise
Scene Index Skeleton
The Resolution
Story Timeline
-----

If I've left something out, I'm sure it will come to me. Also, I wanted to mention on the Scene Index, I don't write down EVERY scene in the book. Just major milestone ones, such as the first kiss scene, and the scene that establishes attraction, disasters, etc. I will also give a Scene Index Example on another post another day.

I know the list probably doesn't seem like a lot. But as I said, I start out pretty minimal because I'm more of an instinct writer, which means I don't set out to plan themes, intricate structure and all that but somehow, in the end my books have that stuff in there.

For this reason I HIGHLY recommend that you avidly read current releases from any house, line and genre you are targeting.

Hope you find something useful. If you don't understand any of the elements (after all, I tend to use my own terminology...LOLOLOL!) please feel free to ask.

What kind of prep work, if any, do you do when you write?


Here's a practical example from Ready-Made Family, my third book, which released from Steeple Hill in April, 2009. If you want to see the finished product, the book is available on Christianbook.com here.

I will also use this book to example the Scene Index and Character Charts I mentioned before in two of my future Seeker posts.


---***KNOW MY CHARACTERS***

---The Meet Cute: H/h meet in a parking lot when heroine's daughter approaches Ben to say her mommy needs help. (Heroine is incapacitated from an electrolyte imbalance.)

---The Draw and Push or Keep Cute: Heroine, passing through town with her daughter, gets stranded in the town of Refuge. She passed out leaving a pharmacy lot and her car crashed into a light pole. Heroine isn't released from hospital until her health is restored. Garage has to order car parts and then heroine loses the job she's headed to. Hero suggests she stay in Refuge to find a job, claiming Refuge lives up to its name. She stays, but is resistant to him because she's not sure about his motives. Hero promises to help her find a job and provides rides to interviews, etc.

Hero and Heroine's Story Goals: Heroine needs to find a job before summer's end. Hero's goal is two-fold. He needs to prepare his Mosaic Down Syndrome brother to come live with him for a year and he also wants to help the down-on-her-luck heroine.

---Hero and Heroine's Motivation: Single mom heroine needs to provide for her daughter because her parents have her nearly convinced she can't. She fears men's motives because her daughter's father abandoned her after coercing her to sleep with him in high school, which led to her pregnancy. The church where she's from shunned her and so now she shuns church. Hero's motivation is that he is ashamed of the fact that he was ashamed of his brother growing up. Now he wants to rebuild his brother's trust so Hutton can come live with him while their parents go on a year-long world travel they've always dreamed of. Ben's Asian descent gives him a strong sense of honoring his elders. He wants to help heroine out of a sense of compassion and obedience, feeling like she was put in his path for a reason.

---Hero and Heroine's Conflict: External, Internal, Spiritual, Relational: Hero's external conflict is he continually gets called away on a mission or problems with Hutton. And the heroine's housing plans fall through. So his two goals of helping his bro and heroine clash against one another. Also he's trying to find his brother ajob. Heroine is looking for a job in same town so H/h goals clash. Heroine internal conflict is she doesn't believe people help one another without agenda. She doesn't trust Ben is helping her for no reason so she's reticent, yet needs his help. Relational conflict: Heroine was duped by her daughter's father and her father is critical of her, leading her to constantly question Ben's integrity. Spiritual conflict: Heroine thinks that since her old church shunned her for her mistake, then God must feel the same way. Hero is a new Christian but strong in his faith and determines to show her the truth about how God sees her.

---Hero and Heroine's careers: Heroine has high school diploma only. Forwent college because her funds went toward hospital bills for a preterm pregnancy. Being a single mom, she couldn't afford college but taught herself secretarial skills she hopes to utilize. Hero is a US Air Force Pararescue Jumper and church worship leader

---Story setting: Fictional Refuge in Southern Illinois

---Inciting Incident: Heroine passes out while driving in a parking lot. Her daughter runs for help, approaches Ben in the same parking lot. He rushes over to help.

---Relationship Reticence-hero: he needs to focus on re gaining his brother's trust rather than on romancing a girl.
Relationship Reticence-heroine: Heroine is most resistant to this relationship and relationships in general. She was deceived majorly by a guy with ill motives. Trust issues from that.

---1st Major Disaster: (after inciting incident) Hero contacts heroine's parents thinking to help. But they aren't getting along w the heroine at present. He had also let DCFS know there was an unattended child w incapacitated driver. This put heroine's plans and reputation in jeopardy. Heroine loses job and housing opportunity that she was headed to in Missouri. Stranded in Illinois now.

---2nd Major Disaster: Hero discovers heroine's dad is prejudiced against Asians and interracial/cross-cultural relationships. Heroine wants her relationship w her dad restored but now realizes she might have to choose between a relationship with Ben and one with her father. There is also a job clash. Heroine gives up her job to Ben's brother, putting her in a potential position to have to move out of Refuge to find a job.

---3rd & 4th Major Disaster aka Black Moment: hurricane hits heroine's parents home. Hero goes to help and gives his word to help. As Ben is on the roof helping while heroine's dad is yelling obscenities at him, Ben gets word from his team mates that his father has passed away. He needs to be with his mother and brother but vowed to finish the roof to earn heroine's dad's respect and complete this act of kindness even in the face of ugly prejudice.

---Important Ancillary: Hutton, Ben's Down Syndrome brother, and Reece, heroine's daughter.

---Basic Premise: Romance. Cross-cultural/interracial. Hero determines to help a struggling single mother and ends up falling for her. But she has major trust issues and needs to know she can take care of her daughter on her own.

---Scene Index Skeleton: no room for this here. Will share it another post. But is a series of one-sentence summaries per scene. I normally have three scenes per chapter and normally around 20 chapters, so around 60 scenes total.

---The Resolution: Heroine chooses hero over her father. Heroine's mother chooses her daughter over her husband, who is being mule-headed. Through Hutton's words and Ben's acts of kindness and fear of losing his family, heroine's father comes to realize his prejudice is ugly and makes amends.

---Story Timeline: six month period

(For blog post-length sake, I left off some of the detail, but this will at least give you a gist of what kinds of things I write into the Plotstorm.)

This post appeared in Seekerville on December 16, 2008

The other posts in this series include:

Character Chart Template

Character Chart Example From Ready-Made Family

Scene Index Example Ready-Made Family



Today, as part of our 3rd Seekerville Birthday Party, we are giving away 4 prizes: a one chapter Seeker critique & an Unpubbed Island Necklace, and Book In A Month: the fool-proof system for writing a novel in 30 days by Victoria Lynn Schmidt, Ph.D and a Seeker surprise book.

Just let us know you want your name in the drawing. Winners announced in tomorrow's Weekend Edition.

Did anyone notice that this post is just perfect for the upcoming NANOWRIMO??