Characters Characterization is the cornerstone of fiction. The greater the character’s problem or goal, the stronger the character will grow and change fighting for a resolution. The opposite is also true: weak goal, weak character. Another tip: use photos of people who appeal to you and suit the story role. As you look at them on their gallery wall, they’ll come alive for you.

Plot  If plotting seems difficult, try this: make a list of 10 to 20 things, good and bad, that could logically happen in your story. These must involve your character and matter deeply to him, or her. Fool around with it. A character obsessed with a goal and doing something about it provides plot. Plot is character in action.

Write It Visualize the story as you might a movie and write what you see happening. Use color, and sound, smell, taste, and touch in scenes. As another writer said, “Detail makes the difference between excellent writing and inferior writing.” Readers claim they can “taste the dust” in my novels of the West.

Rewrite   Regardless of the potential, ninety-nine times out of a hundred your story can be made better. Publishers want your best. Time and again you’ll have to outreach yourself to please them. That’s okay. Rewriting is real writing.

Rejection Author Peg Bracken said, “the only way to deal with rejections is to write some more—you get your salve where you got your sore.” My children’s book, RUN FROM A SCARECROW, sold in both hardcover and paperback on the heels of 27 rejections and innumerable rewrites. Perseverance counts!

Agents and Editors and Getting Published Writers conferences are invaluable in my estimation. Find an affordable conference that fits your needs, pitch your work, and don’t forget to enter the conference contests! My YA novel, WILLOW WHIP, won First Place in a conference sponsored contest. The final judge was a N.Y. editor at Atheneum. Besides the $200 prize, Atheneum published WILLOW WHIP and five more novels to follow.  Doesn’t get any better.

HAPPY WRITING, AND THE BEST OF LUCK!  

TIPS FOR THE NEW WRITER

Ideas Whether your idea for a story comes from your own experience, the local news, a historical event – wherever, that gem must grip you by the throat with excitement and not give you rest until worked out in a finished story. Passion for a project provides stamina for the hard work required.

Technique I’m a self-taught author, learning from books on writing, lectures and workshops. But it is my belief one can ‘absorb’ good story-telling technique from reading a great deal. Maybe the finer the stories or novels you read, the better the technique you pick up? I think so.