SFRB Recommends 76: Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott

Anne Lamott returns to offer us a new gift: a step-by-step guide on how to write and on how to manage the writer's life. From "Getting Started,' with "Short Assignments," through "Shitty First Drafts," "Character," "Plot," "Dialogue." all the way from "False Starts" to "How Do You Know When You're Done?" Lamott encourages, instructs, and inspires. She discusses "Writers Block," "Writing Groups," and "Publication."
If you have ever wondered what it takes to be a writer, what it means to be a writer, what the contents of your school lunches said about what your parents were really like, this book is for you. From faith, love, and grace to pain, jealousy, and fear, Lamott insists that you keep your eyes open, and then shows you how to survive. And always, from the life of the artist she turns to the art of life.

This book doesn't shy away from the frustration and drudgery that's part of the writing craft. It's as if you have a writer friend to bellyache and sympathize with who's got a twisted sense of humor. She'll talk you through the hard parts, when you just want to burn everything and hide in a corner.

Lamott says it's okay to be neurotic about your writing, it's okay to despair over setbacks. These happen and are normal. The advice is grounded and sometimes harsh, so may not be for everyone. I disagree with a bunch of the metaphors she makes later in the book, but I still laughed and felt reassured.

The core of the advice, though, is about how to crank out the first draft: just write it and don't worry that it's awful. This has since been popularized by Nanowrimo (Bird by Bird was published 1995). The sections on publishing are out of date, so are more interesting as a historical note.

This recommendation by Lee Koven.

SFRB Recommends 64: Writing for Story by Jon Franklin #craft #writing

The new "nonfiction"—the adaptation of storytelling techniques to journalistic articles in the manner of Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, and John McPhee—is an innovative genre that has been awarded virtually every Pulitzer Prize for literary journalism since 1979. And now Jon Franklin, himself a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and undisputed master of the great American nonfiction short story, shares the secrets of his success. Franklin shows how to make factual pieces come alive by applying the literary techniques of complication/resolution, flashback, foreshadowing, and pace. He illustrates his points with a close analysis and annotation of two of his most acclaimed stories, so that the reader can see, step-by-step, just how they were created.

Franklin can be a bit pedantic and some of his references and phrases may be dated, but this book is an excellent guide to story structure, despite centering on nonfiction. Readers will learn a very concise way to outline (twenty-one words for your whole novel). Although the advice is prescriptive, it can work for a story you're trying to revise as well: figuring out how to revise and restructure a story that you wrote by the seat of your pants can help a lot.
While the macro focus of the book is on act structure, Franklin also has some useful things to say about how to vary pacing within a scene by using different kinds of narrative.

Recommendation by Lee Koven.

SFRB Recommends #63: Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder

This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!

The full title's Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need. I don't write screenplays, and there's plenty of Hollywood material here I didn't find useful, but I've found it an approachable, casual explication of the three-act structure and how it and 'beats' work for most stories. The book's other useful features are demonstrating the saving of said cat by the hero (thus making us care about the hero) and the importance of being able to explain your story in an efficient manner: good for blurbs and queries.

Related sites: Save the Snyder!: A beat sheet outline | Plotting with the Save the Cat Beat Sheet Structure | Save the Cat! Official Website

Recommendation by Lee Koven.

SFRB Recommends #52: 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love by Rachel Aaron #craft

Expanding on her highly successful process for doubling daily word counts, this book, a combination of reworked blog posts and new material, offers practical writing advice for anyone who's ever longed to increase their daily writing output. In addition to updated information for Rachel's popular 2k to 10k writing efficiency process, 5 step plotting method, and easy editing tips, this new book includes chapters on creating characters that write their own stories, practical plot structure, and learning to love your daily writing. Full of easy to follow, practical advice from a commercial author who doesn't eat if she doesn't produce good books on a regular basis, 2k to 10k focuses not just on writing faster, but writing better, and having more fun while you do it.

Fantasy writer Rachel Aaron, who also writes science fiction as Rachel Bach, offers weekly craft and business posts on her blog, and this book grew out of some of them. It offers plenty of insights that seem obvious once she explains them, but in my limited experience are easy to lose sight of in the writing process. Writing many words is all well and good, but the most fascinating parts for me were her tips on how to keep everything organized and when to scrap a character, plotline, or the story itself.

Knowing what you’re going to write in the scene before you write it is far more useful to those who enjoy planning stories and scenes than to those who write by the seat of their pants. However, the editing (revision) tips and tools are more widely applicable, as they help the writer break down what could be a daunting project into more manageable pieces during the editing process. If you’re not sure if her writing advice jives with what you do, I recommend you check out her blog posts.

Author site: Rachel Aaron/Rachel Bach - Official Author Website

Recommendation by Lee Koven.

SFR With a Twist: Why Write a SFR Told Solely From the Male POV?

A Science Fiction Romance told completely from the hero's point of view?

It's a highly unusual way to present a romance, even when the story falls into the more imaginative genre of Science Fiction Romance. I've only read one other SFR related from the hero's POV and that was Diane Dooley's Blue Galaxy. I know there are others out there, but they haven't yet joined my ARP--Already Read Pile.

After writing the first SFR novel in my series, I had many a critique partner, beta reader, respected author and editor (whilst in the process of pitching) tell me I couldn't sell a romance novel told in this way. That I simple had to include the heroine's POV in the mix. After all, what's a romance if the reader can't get inside the heroine's head to know what she's thinking and feeling?

Yeah. They had a point. A BIG point.

And at first, I believed them. Attempting to rectify my heinous error, I tore my manuscript apart to include the required female MC POV. And as soon as I started the process, my muse sent an urgent memo: "Cease and desist. This is not working! This is not the story in your heart."

Befuddlement ensued.

Time for some major soul-searching. Time to measure instinct against common sense. Time to weigh all the advice to write a story in the classic romance style against some great authorly words of wisdom that say, "Write the story that needs to be written."

The internal deliberation went something like this:

Point: A reader wants to know what the heroine is thinking and feeling.
Counterpoint: Sharing the heroine's direct thoughts with the reader will destroy the future revelations about who--and what--she really is, but her feelings can be conveyed even without her POV.

Point: A reader must get inside the female MCs head to relate to her.
Counterpoint: The mystery surrounding the female MC's words and actions will heighten the tension and conflict.

Point: If reader doesn't know who she really is, they may not like her.
Counterpoint: Let them not like her at first glance As the veils are lifted, reveal her finer qualities and true intentions through the hero's eyes.

Point: No reader is going to be interested in a romance that doesn't include a female POV.
Counterpoint: Take it as a challenge to write a story that will interest them in spite of the "missing" POV.

The counterpoints definitely held sway for what I wanted to accomplish, but something else finally tipped the scales, and that was a look at the current market trends. What was selling extremely well in romance?

Male/Male Romance. Ta-da! Hero POV times two.

That provided strong evidence that the female POV is not essential for a romance story to appeal to the readership. It implied romance readers (and maybe the "rebel" SFR readers, in particular) may be more flexible in what they are willing, and possibly even eager, to experience in a story. That they may be quite accepting of romances presented in new and different ways. Maybe it's never a good idea to prejudge what readers will and won't embrace. Let them decide for themselves.

I'd love to hear other thoughts on a sole hero POV. Do you think you'd enjoy a story presented in this way? Or would the absence of the heroine's POV be a problem for you? Have you read a romance with a single male POV that you enjoyed?

About the Author


Laurie A. Green is a three-time RWA® Golden Heart® finalist and science fiction romance enthusiast who founded the SFR Brigade community of writers, which now totals over 500 members.

Her extended family includes her husband, David, four dogs, three cats and several horses, all who reside on a ranch in beautiful New Mexico.

When she’s not writing, networking, or searching out the perfect cup of Starbucks, she’s usually busy exercising her left brain as a military budget director.


Her first published work is a SFR novelette titled Farewell Andromeda (written in the Heroine's POV). Her second novel, INHERIT THE STARS, is the subject of this blog.

You can connect with Laurie at the following links:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads Author Page