I just told him that he needs a blog, and a Facebook account and a twitter account so that when he is published he will have a built in readership to take to the publisher with him.

His response: 

“Shut up.”

My sister is also an author.  She’s been writing since I badgered her into it about 20 years ago.  She writes paranormal historical inspirational romantic fantasy science fiction.  Say that one five times fast, then try to categorize it on Amazon.  Ouch.  She also does not have a twitter account, or Facebook, or MySpace, or LinkedIn or any of the other odd…well, you get the idea.  My family is a little strange that way.  She says, “Shut up.”

I think this is reasonable.  Shut up about how I need a cell phone and I need a twitter account and I need all this other technological gobbledygook so that the publisher, when I get a contract, doesn’t need to work as hard to sell my book.

Of course, with that attitude I’ll be publishing my own books and doing my own publicity, which means I’ll need a twitter account, and a cell phone, and a Facebook account…

I think I’ll go be a hermit and send chapters down the river wrapped in cellophane.  Then I’ll become famous when someone finds all the chapters and puts them together and I’ll get published that way.

Yeah, I’ll go be a hermit.

Introducing Heather Moore, author of LDS historical novels such as Alma the Younger, and owner and editor of Precision Editing. Learn about her books and editing company and comment on this podcast for a chance to win her book Abinadi. Email us with the correct number of books she’s published for an extra entry or Facebook, Twitter or blog about this contest and leave us the links to your Facebook, Twitter, and blog with your comment for extra entries. For more information on Heather and her books go to: www.hbmoore.com.

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I’m sure we all remember the books we were asked to read in school. I remember “The Lord of the Flies,” “The Scarlett Letter,” and “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Oh, and the plays. The Crucible. Romeo and Juliet. And the short stories: Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles,” and let’s not forget “The Lottery.”

I specifically remember “The Lottery.” In my humble opinion, we have a twenty-first century equivalent of that story: “The Hunger Game.s” Yup. The whole premise is that some innocent person has to kill or be killed in order to feed his–or her–family. Someone must lose their life to sadistic, unreasonable, societal expectations, either to entertain the idle in their bloodlust, or to maintain savage “tradition.” I thought we were past this as a society. Personally, I think the whole idea is degrading and animalistic, but what do I know? I didn’t want my children to read the book because I have this funny, old fashioned idea that children need to be protected from depravity and savagery, but guess which book my girl was assigned in her literature class?

Fine. I told her she didn’t have to read it if she didn’t want to, but she said she would give it a try. When I asked her what she thought, this is what she said: “I hate the story idea, the premise of child gladiators killing each other to feed their families, but—” her words not mine: “The writing was so incredibly great that I was pulled in from the first lines.”

!!!

My curiosity piqued, I mentioned this to my friend Lauren, a fellow Snippeter and a writer-who-sees-clearly. She sat down and analyzed the first page of that novel. What was it that pulled the reader in and didn’t let them go?
Hooks. Lots and lots of carefully placed, well hidden little two-or-three syllable temptations that have you miles deep in the story before you know you’re through the first page. This is what Lauren said:

“In the first paragraph, author Suzanne Collins introduces the main character, the family situation, and a hint of poverty. She ends with a hook. She mentions “the reaping,” an ominous phrase that brings to the subconscious mind visions of a dark hooded specter carrying a scythe. The second paragraph also ends with a hook. And the fourth paragraph refers back to the hook in the first paragraph, and the menacing hope of “the reaping.”

It is also written in present tense, which makes the action (or rather lack of it) more immediate. But that’s another story.”

Now I have my next focus of study. But I’ll figure out how to use hooks to draw my readers in with anticipation, with joy. Not with dread. I think the literary community from Euripides to dystopia is saturated with dread. And I’ve had enough of dread.

By Ava Mylne

Dan!

Please email us at writingsnippets @ gmail .com with your shipping address and your preference of which of James Dashner’s Jimmy Fincher books you would like.

Congrats!

In the course of discussion, someone suggested that perhaps people who are “world” readers will prefer genres like fantasy and science fiction, people who are “character” readers will prefer more realistic fiction, and people who are “plot” readers will enjoy genres like mysteries, thrillers, and adventure stories.

Obviously this is a flawed look at the nuanced ways people choose their reading material (or other media entertainments). But I think this idea does hold a grain of truth for both what people choose to read, and for what writers choose to write.

In my own entertainment choices, I prefer stories that employ a good blend of world building, character and plot. However, when I examine my favorite books, films and television shows more deeply, I’ve found that I’m willing to forgive shallower or less interesting characters if the world building and plots are really cool. On the other hand, I can also forgive plot-holes, weird time lines, etc. if the characters and world building are really great.

The one thing I have trouble forgiving is shoddy, poorly thought-out world building.

Give me a rich and engaging world, whether it be a fictional small town in America, the supernatural underworld in a big city, or a medieval kingdom filled with monsters and magic and if the characters and plot are at least somewhat engaging, I’m sucked right in.

So that makes me a “world” reader first and foremost. But character is a strong second place—the books, films and shows that I turn back to over and over again inevitably have strong characters to go with their engaging worlds.

So how do these reading preferences influence my writing?

Just as you might guess, I spend a lot of my time as a writer thinking about world building.

I’m curious if this pattern holds true for other writers out there. Do you write like you read? And are you a “world” person, a “character” person, or a “plot” person?

Author Anne R. Allen shares her interesting path to publication in Confessions of a Former Query Addict, and also shares some great advice on Hooks, Loglines, and Pitches.

Author Joanna Weiss talks about her choice to self-publish in The Stages of Indie Publishing.

For another take on self-publishing, author Danyelle Leafty shares her thoughts here.

Author Janice Hardy opened the year with a discussion on Reevaluating Your Writing Process. She also wrote a helpful article on Making Backstory Work for You.

Author Bryan Thomas Schmidt shares his insights into Adapting a Well Known Story For Fiction.

Author Dawn Lairamore asks the question: Does Word Count Matter Anymore in middle grade fiction?

Writer Dee Garretson shares a helpful Chapter Worksheet for use during revision.

The BBC published an interesting article on self-publishing and entrepreneurship.

Author Ash Krafton lists some of the many “rights” that business-minded writers need to be aware of when The Hobby Becomes the Job.

Author Richard Parks shares a subversively inspiring commentary on The Downside of Persistence.

Editor Stacy Whitman shares a wonderful article on Writing Cross-Culturally.

Author Paul Greci shares some tips for Micro-level Revision once the major plot/character arc revisions are complete.

Author Patricia C. Wrede rants about Misunderstanding grammar, discussing when using “to be” is perfectly appropriate, and how sometimes the passive voice is the right choice.

Author Lynn Viehl talks about Collecting Characters from your observations of people around you.

Agent Jenny Bent talks about Why Reader Taste Differs from Publisher Taste.

The Huffington Post published an article of warning on Why Self Publishing Authors Are a Target For Conmen.

Finally, author Amy Rose Davis talks about Finding the Sweet Spot for Description in Fantasy Writing.

Share your own favorite articles in the comments.

In most cases they’re so old that their origins are almost impossible to trace.  We know only two things.  First, the stories were deadly serious, and passed down as a form of oral tradition.  Second, there are variations of the same stories all over the world, in almost every culture regardless of location or geographical barriers (such as oceans).

Nursery rhymes are a little simpler, since most of them are relatively recent in regards to human history.  Most of what we know as nursery rhymes are songs or rhymes passed down in oral form to teach children their history. 

As writers we do something similar—take the familiar, the known, and translate it into the fantastic.  It would be quite entertaining to see some of today’s “classics” 1000 years from now if we went back to oral story telling, the tales so different that their origins would be barely discernible even to those who know the stories by heart.  And yet, I have no doubt that many of those stories would still be around, in some form.

The habit of telling stories, whether in oral form or on paper, is as old as the first language.  Just as in every other culture throughout time, there are born story tellers among us.

Regardless of the manner—oral around the fire, written by hand and passed to friends and family, electronic or printed on paper, it’s still storytelling.  It’s an integral part of the human experience, and not likely to go away any time soon.

Once upon a time, someone had something to say.  It’s that simple.

Wednesday, January 11th:

Caleb Warnock’s Annual FREE writing class is on Wednesday

Hello all! This year’s annual free writing class will be on Wednesday. Our hot topics this year will be Publishing Trends 2012, and “The Anatomy of a Successful Book Signing.”

Speakers this year will be Nebula-winner author Eric James Stone, national bestselling author Caleb Warnock, Tristi Pinkston, author of the addictive “Secret Sisters” series, Chrissy Ross, author of the hugely popular and hilarious “To Mormons With Love”, and Loraine Scott, author of the beloved “Summer Winter Mystery” series. Caleb Warnock will present his Publishing Trends 2012 (his 2011 blog on this topic went viral worldwide), and 14 ways to create success with book signings. After all the speakers, Caleb will give feedback on first pages for anyone in the audience, time permitting. If you wish to get feedback, bring one copy of the first page of your manuscript. This event is free, and sponsored by the American Fork Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Come and jump-start your writing for 2012

This year’s free writing class will be from 6:30-9:30 on Wednesday, Jan. 11 in the upstairs room at Historic American Fork City Hall, 30 North Church Street (50 East) in American Fork. Questions? Email Caleb Warnock at calebwarnock@yahoo.com.

Saturday, January 21st:

iWriteNetwork presents their Winter Workshop, all day long in Provo, UT. $30, lunch is provided.

Hands on classes will be taught by authors Canda Mortensen, Tristi Pinkston, Greg Park, Rebecca Shelley, and Cindy Hogan.

For more information, visit their website: iwritenetwork.com

Thursday, February 9th-Saturday, February 11th:

Life, the Universe, and Everything 30: The Marion K. “Doc” Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy.

After nearly 3 decades at BYU, this long-running symposium moves to its new home, Utah Valley University. For a bargain price you can spend 3 days attending panels and workshops on writing, the publishing industry, and science fiction and fantasy in general. Learn from a wide variety of authors and other industry professionals.

This year’s guest of honor is James A. Owen, author of the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica. Special guests include the whole team from the Writing Excuses podcast, authors Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Taylor.

For more details, visit their website.

Saturday, March 3:

A Live Critiquing Workshop presented by the Precision Editing Group.

The Precision Editing Group is a company made up of author/editors who offer professional manuscript editing services.

The workshop will consist of small group critiques of 15 pages of your manuscript, with a member of Precision Editing Group leading each critique group.

Learn more here.

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