| With the advent of email communications in the | | | | readers don't care about the characters, they won't |
| workplace, it's not uncommon to exchange dozens of | | | | come back for more. Don't worry about defining |
| messages daily. Sometimes, I sense a writer's "voice" | | | | them in detail in the beginning - just start writing and |
| in such messages. Occasionally, I ask if they've done | | | | they will develop. You can always go back and add |
| any writing. A year ago, a colleague answered, "I | | | | more detail that supports your character's growth. |
| loved to write in high school, but I just don't have | | | | Suggestion seven: Perfection comes later. Just get it |
| time anymore! " She was extraordinarily busy, | | | | out there, get it down on paper. Then, when you go |
| mothering an active two-year-old, commuting over an | | | | back to it, hack away at the unnecessary |
| hour a day, managing the house, and holding a | | | | prepositional phrases and the ungainly adverbs, |
| full-time managerial job. In spite of the fact that I | | | | extract those awkward scenes that stand out like |
| knew she was overloaded, I sensed a unique talent in | | | | sore thumbs, and supplement those that seem |
| her words and didn't hesitate to encourage her. | | | | abrupt. Then, set it aside for a while. After I've |
| "Just write," I said, "take fifteen minutes at lunch | | | | completed a novel, I put it down and start on the |
| each day. Just do it." | | | | next one. Many months later, I'll come back to it. It's |
| "But what would I write about?" she asked, "I have | | | | best if I don't remember much (I'm often surprised |
| no idea where to start!" | | | | at how much I've forgotten!) as that's when one is in |
| "Once you get going, it will just flow out of you. You | | | | the best position to challenge one's own work. |
| don't have to have a plan. Just do it." | | | | Sometimes I'll be surprised at an unusually eloquent |
| She wrote during a break the next day, and sent me | | | | passage, or humiliated by a flimsy section through |
| three paragraphs. It was lovely. I encouraged her to | | | | which I obviously rushed. That's the time to roll up |
| continue and we began to exchange writing daily. Six | | | | your sleeves and be ruthless! Cut out the excess and |
| months later, she had completed the manuscript for | | | | fortify the weak! |
| her first novel, a historical time-travel piece. She's | | | | Suggestion eight: Find a skillful editor. I've been lucky. |
| submitting it for publishing as I write this. | | | | I have writer/reader friends with eagle eyes who will |
| Here are a few suggestions for new writers. I hope | | | | scour my manuscripts and be brutal where |
| you find them helpful! | | | | necessary. Try to find one person who is willing to |
| Suggestion one: Just write. Write for a few minutes | | | | follow along with the book as you create it. That's |
| every day. If your passion for writing is real, you'll | | | | the best way to start. Share this service. Swap |
| find that you can't stop! You'll find a way to make it | | | | chapters as soon as they're done. That's what I do |
| happen. I schedule very early mornings for writing, | | | | with my friend, Jeanne. She is a talented writer and a |
| from 4:00 to 6:00 AM. It's the only quiet time in my | | | | superb editor. She catches things I'd never notice, |
| hectic life and I couldn't accept spending less time | | | | and I do the same for her. We aren't shy about |
| with my daughters, wife, or grandsons. So, I go to | | | | helping - if a passage sounds stilted, she tells me |
| bed early and forget about TV. What's more | | | | immediately! If I want to "see" more of the details in |
| important? In doing so, I've produced eight novels in | | | | a scene, I ask her to elaborate. It works extremely |
| a bit over four years. | | | | well. Then, when the book is in a reasonable shape, I |
| Suggestion two: Cut out the flowery stuff. I adore | | | | send it to my friend, Ray, who is a fine author in his |
| adjectives and adverbs, and I ache to describe | | | | own right. He goes through with a fine-toothed comb |
| scenes in lush detail. But in the end, I go back and | | | | and imparts writing gems in the process. I call him, |
| hack away at all the excess. If you read a line out | | | | "The Master!" |
| loud and it feels stilted or halting - stop! Take out all | | | | If it weren't for them, my books would stink. Well, |
| the extra words that slow you down, and just tell | | | | maybe that's a little extreme, but I've learned so |
| the story. Use the descriptors sparingly. I've found | | | | much from them that the finished LeGarde Mystery |
| that after writing eight books, my style has become | | | | manuscripts read more smoothly and are of higher |
| simpler and more streamlined. I'm going back now and | | | | quality. I also have an "inner circle" of readers who've |
| red-lining much of the early work before it reaches | | | | traveled with me through the series far in advance |
| the bookstores. It hurts like hell to do it, but it's | | | | of publishing. They keep me honest and provide |
| absolutely necessary. | | | | feedback about the characters that they'd come to |
| Suggestion three: Observe, observe, observe! Soak in | | | | love. |
| every tiny detail that surrounds you. Colors, textures, | | | | Suggestion nine: Maintain the tension. You want your |
| sensations, expressions, birdsongs, sunlight, and the | | | | readers to need to read more. Keep up the pace. |
| ground you walk on... notice everything, and brand it | | | | Make it flow seamlessly from chapter to chapter. |
| into your brain for that next chapter you're going to | | | | And try to avoid unnecessary excursions into boring |
| write. | | | | territory. I use lots of dialogue; it moves the book |
| Suggestion four: Listen to the voices! Listen to the | | | | along quickly. Short chapters also help the reader feel |
| grocery clerk, the bank teller, children at play, | | | | as if he's made progress. Readers say that with |
| professors, grandparents, and neighbors... listen! You'll | | | | short chapters they're more apt to think, "Just one |
| never create natural dialogue without listening - hard! | | | | more chapter before I go to bed." Of course, if the |
| Suggestion five: Tap into your emotions. When | | | | tension and suspense are stimulating, your poor |
| someone close to you dies, it's an overwhelming, | | | | readers will stay up way past bedtime! |
| dreadful experience. But, the same emotions that | | | | Suggestion ten: Polish it 'til it shines. Don't send in |
| flatten you at that time will be indispensable when | | | | anything but your best work, buffed to perfection. |
| you write about loss. Recreating the deep-seated | | | | You may have to go through it dozens of times, but |
| feelings will make your book come alive and ring true | | | | it's worth it. Have your friends and family do the |
| with readers. | | | | same. Each time they scour through it, they'll find |
| Suggestion six: Make your characters feel deeply and | | | | something new. It seems endless. But if you keep at |
| give them a rich history. This takes time and is | | | | it, you will produce a superior product. |
| particularly important if you're writing a series. If | | | | |