Writers Helping Writers by Jo Wanmer

Writers helping me.

‘Do you know how to write books?’ 

Mary Hawkins' gentle question slid through the phone. I’d never met her but she’d read my manuscript and been asked to mentor me. This manuscript was my first attempt at serious writing.

‘I guess not.' I replied. 'I just sat down and wrote.’ 

‘I thought so.’ Mary paused. ‘It shows. But this story needs to be told. It will need a lot of work to lift it to publishing standard. I’m willing to teach you if you are willing to put in the effort.’

Mary had many fiction books published in the Australian market. A few weeks later I met this delightful lady at a mentorship retreat. There were two other fiction writers sharing Mary as our mentor. Other groups worked in their genre with different mentors. We gathered together in a couple of units near Noosa for a week. Within an hour of arrival, we started work, fingers hovering over our laptops, minds keen. 

Mary’s printed copy of my book, which I’d posted to her, was covered with red pen. Under her instruction I deleted the first three chapters. My gut wrenched but she convinced me those pages were irrelevant to the main story. I complied. She taught me how to sharpen the first line and then adjust the first paragraph. Moving amongst the three of us, she read, critiqued, corrected and changed, always telling us to rewrite. I typed, deleted, adjusted and rewrote. And we laughed as she corrected and encouraged us. Fingers sore and brain spent, I completed the first page and fell into bed. Only 369 pages to go!

The week resembled a boot camp. We worked from morning to late evening. In meal breaks we built great relationships. Every moment we learned from each other. When we closed our computers to go home, I’d made new friends and I’d successfully polished seventy of those pages. 

‘What happens now?’ I asked.

‘I’ve taught you.’ Mary hugged me. ‘Now you edit the rest using the skills I’ve given you.’

Reviewing the mentorship on the drive home I was both grateful for Mary’s patience and teaching and overwhelmed by the task ahead of me.

Sixteen years have passed since that pivotal weekend. The book we slaved over, Though the Bud be Bruised, won a Caleb prize for best unpublished manuscript and was published in 2012. The skills I learned from Mary have become my automatic way of writing. Since then, I’ve learned more about making my words sing, through events, workshops and meetings, mostly under Omega Writers and other gatherings of Christian authors.

Writers helping Writers.

Paul exhorted us in Romans 10:24-25 TPT…

    Discover creative ways to encourage others and motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together… In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other forward…

The encouragement I receive from other Christian writers builds my determination to push onward, to fulfil the goals God has placed in my heart.

Helen Hudson talking Holy Spirit and art. Check out her Facebook page    

A couple of weeks ago our Omega Writers Sunshine Coast group held a writer’s retreat. The aim was to spend time together and learn from each other. We gathered at our leader’s beautiful home on Friday night, meet together all day Saturday and Sunday morning. Our shared meals were prepared by Sue and her amazing mother. We stayed close by, some of us sharing a cabin, and we revelled in fellowship. One of our members, Julie Modra, shared from her vast knowledge and taught us about writing structure. Printed sheets helped us apply her wisdom… wisdom she has learned from others. We practised hearing the Holy Spirit through a Zoom training session by Lynne Hudson using art! We prayed for each other and planned events.  What a rich weekend!

Our representation of Holy Spirit's nudges

I also belong to another smaller group led by Jeanette Grant-Thomson. Four of us meet once a month. We write in different genres for different reasons. Each month we email every group member two or three pages of our work. We critique each other’s writing and then gather to share. At the end, a ten-to-fifteen-minute writing exercise stretches us. We read our stories aloud and encourage each other. The relationships are sweet and our skills are growing under this discipline.

Any success I’ve enjoyed as an author is attributed to the Holy Spirit firstly and then fellowship and instruction from other writers. 

Sunshine Coast members at retreat

Writers Building Writer Community 

Omega has organised a writer’s conference in Adelaide in October. It’s a great place to learn and a good place to meet other writers, build relationships and invite others to connect with you. Large gatherings can be impersonal, but it’s the small groups and conversations where I’ve been impacted. 

When I was writing El Shaddai, I had stalled and closed the file. God and I had agreed to write a book where He was one of the characters. But I panicked when I realised I was writing His words. Feeling totally inadequate, I stopped. Months later, in a small prayer meeting at a conference, God whispered, ‘What’s wrong with the book I’m in?’ Challenged, I came home and wrote the story as quickly as I could, not allowing myself to second guess anything.  And God says some amazing things in that book… things I didn’t know until I typed the words.  

Our Sunshine Coast group grew organically. In a post on Omega Writers page on Facebook, Sue Taylor-Reeves asked for anyone interested in meeting together. A few of us started to connect and then gather. And it grew. Commitment to the group keeps it healthy.

Our groups book launch in March

Jesus taught about sowing and reaping. If you want support with your writing, start by finding someone you can help. Find a writing buddy. Share your work. Give constructive feedback and receive other’s suggestions with grace. Offer prayer and encouragement. 

Reach out to help others. Volunteer to be a beta reader. Write reviews. Help with someone else’s book launch. Be active on the Facebook pages, Christian Writers Downunder and Australasian Christian Writers. These groups connect us to writers across Austrlalia and New Zealand. 

Christian community is important for Christian authors. Even Jesus didn’t walk alone. Often he was surrounded by thousands, but he always withdrew with his twelve, or three. We know he needed their prayers. They accompanied him, served Him and learned from Him.

Likewise, in love we lift each other up and help carry each other’s burdens.

Closing brunch after a great weekend

How has the writing community helped you? How have you helped other authors?

Jo Wanmer is a story teller, that has had to learn how to write those stories into acceptable prose. She writes with the help of the Holy Spirit. Without His inspiration, there would be no books. Though the Bud be Bruised was published thirteen years ago. Late in 2024 El Shaddai was released and its prequel, El Roi, was released late last year. 

She lives, with her husband of nearly fifty-four years, just north of Brisbane. Family, God and writing are her three passions. Eleven great-grandchildren now fill their home with love and chaos.

 

Fiction and hindsight

by Claire Bell

I often think about whether spending time writing imaginatively is time well-spent. Is it worth doing? Is it likely to be fruitful?  And to be honest, it’s probably not the writing time that I struggle with so much as the time spent trying to get the book into the hands of readers. I visit this question often: is this what I should be doing with my life? What does it contribute to the kingdom of God?

A tablecloth?!

I was remembering recently the last gift my mother chose for me. No longer able to shop independently, she pored over direct buy catalogues in the lead-up to Christmas. On the day, she was obviously pleased with what she was giving me – a brightly flowered, square vinyl tablecloth with plastic lace edging.

It was impersonal, garish and something I didn’t have a use for as our outdoor table was oblong and we had plenty of covers for it. I think I tried to be appreciative but I recall feeling disappointed. Mum loved giving and was pretty good at choosing apt gifts. This gift seemed pointless.

My outlook has changed. Since that Christmas we learned that Mum has frontotemporal dementia (FTD). If I had known the not-so-distant future that Christmas Day, I would have valued the gift more highly as I understood the challenge Mum experienced in choosing a gift. Hindsight makes us wise after the fact. Fiction can lead to wisdom too, rather more usefully than hindsight and without regret.

Equipping readers for life

It seems ironic that ‘pretend stories’ can equip a person for life in the real world, and, of course, it depends on the kind of stories and the skill of the telling. But it seems to me that unlikely things often turn out to be useful. I like the title of a book by John Dufresne that teaches fiction writing: The lie that tells a truth. Good fiction tells a truth – something honest and valid in the way of human experience. We can only write out of our experience (with some research, perhaps, to ensure accuracy of detail) and, if we are being ourselves as we write, truth will emerge. It might not be factual truth (the talking animals of Narnia aren’t ‘true’ in a way that can be verified by science), or biblical truth (if by that we mean ‘as appearing in the Bible text’), but it will be a truth. When truth meets an open heart, something good happens. Who wouldn't want to be part of that?

Storysight

Not only does the hindsight of understanding Mum’s mental health change the way I see the gift of the tablecloth, but now that we have a square outdoor table, the gift has proven useful; that was something I hadn’t anticipated. Fiction, too, can make an unexpected contribution to a reader’s life. We write, send our stories out and trust that the truth God has invested in us will become wisdom to readers, proving useful to them. Perhaps we could call it 'storysight' - wisdom gained through story. So I encourage myself to value the output of time spent in imagination, wrestling with words and investing in promotion, so that storysight might prove fruitful to a reader.

There are many other reasons to value fiction. In your experience as a reader and a writer, what encourages you the most? Why not jot it in a comment?

Author bio

Claire Bell writes as Claire Belberg, and has published two short YA novels in a genre she calls ‘speculative realism’. She also writes poetry and is currently finalising a collection of poems about the impact of her parents’ dementia (Unravelling: A story of dementia). She has had poems and short stories published in various anthologies, including inScribe, and in the independent Adelaide news service inDaily. She writes an occasional blog called The Character Forge loosely exploring the development of personal character through the act of writing. Claire lives in the Adelaide Hills and loves to watch birds wherever she can find them.

The Interaction of Characters and Their Settings

 

Have you ever read a book that had some lovely passages of description, but you still wanted to skip over them? You might be the kind of person who prefers action, and you want to get on with the story rather than knowing the intricacies of Aunt Muriel’s petunias. But another reason is that the description is sitting all by itself and not interacting with poor Aunt Muriel.

I was a social psychology lecturer for 25 years, and environmental psychology was one of the topics I taught. In a nutshell, environmental psychology looks at how people and settings co-influence one another.

• People affect natural and built environments in both positive and negative ways.
• Natural and built environments affect people in positive and negative ways.
• Unlike the boy band, these effects do not just go in One Direction. They interact with each other, such that people affect the environment, which in turn affects people, who in turn affect the environment and so on. (And yes, I realise One Direction has broken up.)

So, what has all of this got to do with writing fiction? Think about it in terms of your setting. Are your characters interacting with their settings or are you just telling us what’s in the setting? Let me give an example.

Interacting With Settings

An Example

I read a manuscript extract in which a woman came home and went into the kitchen to make dinner. The author then gave a long paragraph describing the kitchen. She had really put a lot of thought into it and had excellent skills at technical writing. The walls weren’t just blue or yellow, they were particular shades, like the types you would find on a painter’s chart. Kitchen utensils and pots were hanging from hooks on the ceiling. There was a clear description of the layout of the room, including a window over the sink that looked out across the yard.

However, there was just one problem. The description was static. It was as if the character stood to one side while the description of the setting played out. There was no interaction between the character and the setting. 

Show, Don't Tell

Some good old ‘show don’t tell’ would have gotten across the same information. Instead of the author telling us that pots were hanging from the ceiling, the character could reach for one of the pots and put it on the wooden bench. She could open up the pantry cupboard and move aside the cereal boxes to find the pasta. She could go over to the sink and look out the window while rinsing the cutting board she needs to use. That kind of writing is much more engaging than simply giving us a description. By showing the character interacting with the environment, we're not only getting an idea of the setting, but we're also learning about the person.

Avoid Information Drops

Another advantage of having your character interacting with the setting is that you can drop information in a bit at a time when needed, rather than doing the dreaded info dump that encourages a reader to skip over the boring bits. We don't need to know that Grandpa's hunting knife is in the kitchen drawer until someone uses it to carve the Sunday roast.

Setting as Character

In some books, the environment plays such an important role that it is like a character in itself. For example, Susan May Warren set about half of her novel The Way of the Brave on the snowy slopes of Denali in Alaska, where the characters had to fight the elements to stay alive. If you write biblical fiction, think about what it would have been like for Noah and his family to spend so long in the Ark while waiting until the ground was habitable again. Or what would it have been like for the Israelites to spend 40 years in the wilderness? How would you have liked living in a tent with your family for all those years?

Questions to Ponder

Now think about your current work-in-progress.

• Are your characters riding the boundary of their drought-stricken farm to check the livestock? Show us the desolation of the land and the riders.
• Are two people walking through the CBD of a large city? Maybe the traffic is so loud that they have trouble hearing each other, so they have to shout or move to a quieter location.
• Are they stuck in a crowded elevator? Give us a sense of the claustrophobia and panic as it sets in. Is he loosening his tie? Is she thumping the call button?
• Do they go fishing and toss their empty drink cans into the river? Or do they spend Saturday mornings doing litter parade at the beach?
• Do they rearrange the tables and chairs in a coffee shop so that everyone in their group has plenty of room, or do they squish up so there’s four in a booth that usually seats two?

There is a myriad of possibilities, but whatever decisions you make, be sure that your descriptions are advancing character or plot. Don’t just have it rain for the sake of it. Have it rain so we can see how the caterer copes with the quickly rejigged garden party, or so the hero and heroine have to stand close together under a tree to stay dry.

Do you have examples of novels that have done a particularly good job of showing the person interacting with their environment? I’d love to hear your examples.

Author Bio

Nola Lorraine (aka Nola Passmore) has a passion for faith and social justice issues, and loves weaving words that inspire others with courage and hope. Her inspirational historical novel Scattered was published in 2020, and she also co-edited the Christian charity anthology Glimpses of Light with Jeanette O’Hagan. She has more than 150 short publications, including fiction, poetry, devotions, true stories, magazine articles and academic papers. She and her husband Tim also run a freelance writing and editing business, The Write Flourish. She’d love to connect with you through her website: www.nolalorraine.com.au

Photo Sources

Author photo by Wayne Logan at WRLPhoto.

Surfing dog by StarFlames on Pixabay.

Using Transformation to Create Riveting Stories by Nola Lorraine

 

We all love a good story, whether it’s Luke Skywalker defeating the forces of darkness or Elizabeth Bennett getting her man. However, we can sometimes wander off to the land of mesmerising metaphors or take a detour on the sidetrack of scintillating subplots before we’ve really come to grips with the essence of our story.

Sometimes we use the terms ‘plot’ and ‘story’ interchangeably, but they’re not the same. Good stories have transformation at their heart. Luke Skywalker realises his destiny as a Jedi knight. Elizabeth Bennett overcomes her prejudice. The plot helps us to show these transformations through a series of actions, circumstances, dialogue, revelations and more.

Entire books have been written on this topic, so I’ll only scratch the surface in this post. However, here are three authors whose methods have helped me to see ‘story’ with clearer eyes.

James Scott Bell’s ‘LOCK’ System

For James Scott Bell, the four components of the LOCK system make a good story.

• L = Lead – A compelling lead character you can sympathise with. This doesn’t mean he/she is perfect. In fact, it’s better if you also incorporate some flaws. However, you need to care what happens to him/her.

• O = Objective – The lead should be trying to get something or get away from something. This needs to be important enough that the reader will care about the protagonist’s journey towards his/her goal.

• C = Confrontation – This could be conflict with other characters or it could be some outside force, such as an avalanche. In any case, it won’t be easy for your protagonist to reach his or her goals. We have to see him/her battling the obstacles.

• K = Knockout ending – Is there a twist? A brilliant tying together of threads? Has the lead changed during the course of his/her journey?

For more information, please see the following book:

Bell, James Scott (2004). Plot and structure: Techniques and exercises for crafting a plot that grips readers from start to finish. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books.

Bell also offers an online course on ‘How to Write Best-Selling Fiction’. 

 

Lisa Cron – Story Genius

For Lisa Cron, the story is about the protagonist’s journey.

 

• What is your main character’s misbelief?
• Dig deep to find the roots of their misbelief.
• What situation are they going to be thrown into that will challenge their misbelief?
• How do they change over the course of the story?

These questions need to be answered before you start plotting. First work out what the character is going to learn over the course of the novel, and then work out what plot will allow them to learn that lesson.

I’ve written another post that fleshes this out a bit more and you can read it here.

You can also find out more in the following book:

Cron, Lisa (2016). Story genius: How to use brain science to go beyond outlining and write a riveting novel. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

I also highly recommend her course on www.creativelive.com called ‘Wired for story: How to become a story genius’.

 

Jessica Brody – Save the Cat Method

Jessica Brody also sees transformation as key. Give the lead character a problem, a want, or a need. The plot is about fixing the problem or striving towards the ‘want’ or ‘need’. Obstacles are thrown at them, and they often learn lessons along the way that they didn’t expect. The plot shows the protagonist’s inner journey as they learn the life lesson they need to learn.

Once you have the main problem that needs to be fixed, you can start structuring a plot that helps the protagonist learn that lesson.

Using the ‘Save the Cat’ method popularised by screenwriter Blake Snyder, Brody shows how you can structure your novel using 15 beats, from opening image to catalyst to dark night of the soul to a brilliant final image. It’s beyond the scope of this blog to explain all of the beats, but you can find a full explanation and lots of examples in her book:

Brody, Jessica. (2018). Save the cat! writes a novel: The last book on novel writing you’ll ever need. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Also see her online course on www.udemy.com called ‘Writing a bestselling novel in 15 steps’.

Summary of the Techniques

Although these three writers approach plot in different ways, they all emphasise the importance of the lead character’s change over the course of the story. The plot isn’t just a bunch of things that happen, no matter how interesting or exciting. The plot allows you to show what your lead character has to learn over the course of the novel. Every scene needs to advance that story in some way.

A Few Comments about Transformation in Christian Stories

In the past, a recurring theme in 'Christian' novels was that one of the non-believers would become a Christian by the end of the book. That still happens in some novels, of course, and there's nothing wrong with that. However, just be careful to show well-rounded characters with real struggles. It's seldom as straightforward as one person sharing a gospel message and the other 'praying the prayer'. 

Also, Christians can go through the whole gamut of issues, problems and struggles that others go through. It's not always about someone being saved. I remember a dear old gentleman who came along to a missions talk one of my friends gave once. Afterwards, he expressed disappointment that she hadn't given a clear message about what her life was like before she met Christ and what it was like after. He came with very clear expectations, but that wasn't the purpose of her talk. She wasn't giving a personal testimony; she was talking about the mission trip she'd been on. But even if she had been giving a testimony, did it have to include a salvation message? It would have been equally valid for her to talk about one issue God had helped her work through. I think the same is true in fiction. Transformation can take many shapes.

In my historical novel Scattered, for example, my protagonist Maggie has abandonment issues and she needs to learn that God is the one person who will never leave her regardless of what other circumstances come her way. 

What examples of transformation have you seen in some of your favourite novels? I'd love to hear your examples.

Author Bio

Nola Lorraine has a passion for faith and social justice issues, and loves weaving words that inspire others with courage and hope. Her inspirational historical novel Scattered was released in October 2020. She also co-edited the Christian charity anthology Glimpses of Light; and has more than 150 short publications, including fiction, poetry, devotions, true stories, magazine articles and academic papers. She and her husband Tim run a freelance writing and editing business, The Write Flourish, from the home they share with their two adorable cavoodles in southeast Queensland, Australia. 

She would love to connect with you through her website: https://www.nolalorraine.com.au/

You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

You can purchase Nola's novel 'Scattered' through Amazon, Koorong, and Breath of Fresh Air Press.

N.B. Featured photo by Tumisu on Pixabay. Free for commercial use.

 

Writer Burnout: How I am accepting that I'm not a machine

By ELIZABETH TAI

I write for a living.

I also write for fun.

This has caused a few problems.

When you write during your day job and free time, you never get a break from the keyboard. Unsurprisingly, writing my fiction has been a difficult task for me, because it felt like work. But over the years, I came up with a system that enabled me to handle that.

When I was a sub-editor for a newspaper, I worked nights and wrote my novels in the morning. Because all I did at work was editing, I was using different mental muscles -- writing my novels, while difficult, was doable.

But things changed when I decided to switch careers, hopping from journalism to the glitzy world of digital marketing. I am a content strategist, and I spend my days writing, editing, analysing data and thinking about new content to create for the companies I work for.

The effort of trying to make my career change a success and trying to build a fledgling indie author career at the same time, took a toll on me.

I have not written a new book for nearly two years.

Writer’s block aka writer’s burnout is real. Don’t let the gurus tell you otherwise.

Crispy on the inside and outside

First, I tried to write at the fringes of my day. I would stare at the blank screen early in the morning or after work, hoping something would come out. It usually didn’t work and what words that emerged felt like tiny droplets squeezed out of the dry, hard rock that my brain had become. 

It didn't make me look forward to writing. In fact, it did the opposite, I began to put off writing. It used to be fun - now, it’s just work. Worse, sometimes it was torture.

I blamed myself. Why was I so lazy, so unmotivated? My friends said that my eyes would light up when I talk to my novels. But if my novels meant so much to me, why couldn’t I write them? I felt like a defective machine. 

Then, I stumbled on Becca Syme’s series of podcasts on YouTube - the one about writer burnout was a revelation.

The road to writer burnout

In the indie publishing word, the word “hustle” reigns supreme. Get your butt in the chair. Write 10,000 words a week. Write a novel a month. But Becca was not about that. 

According to Becca, everyone is gifted with certain strengths. If your writing process is not aligned with your strengths, it often results in burnout.

She also says that people write in different ways. They ideate in different ways. And we should not blindly follow a publishing guru’s prescription on how to “write better”, because what worked for them may not work for us.

“When burnout is the problem, no amount of discipline is going to get the writing to happen again. It has to be a recalibration or a filling of the tank or a rest. There is no other fix,” she wrote in her book, Dear Writer, are you in writer’s block?

Image by ergoneon from Pixabay

Forgiving myself for being human

I believe part of the reason why I suffered from writer burnout was because I blamed myself for not being able to level up as fast as the superstars of the indie world. You know those - the one-book-a-month wonderkids that earn six-figure incomes. 

I used to have an indie author acquaintance who once told me this: “I have a full-time corporate job and I still write a book a month, you have absolutely no excuse!”

It turns out that I do.

My brain worked differently from hers and comparing myself to her was futile.

In the last two years, although I didn’t produce anything new, I learned ways to realign my strengths to my writing processes:

Guard my emotional reserves

Due to my highly empathetic nature, I tend to get blocked when things are not stable in my life or in the world, or when I'm going through emotional turmoil. All my mental energy would go to maintaining my emotional stability. There'd be no energy left for my writing. 

These days, to protect my mental reserves, I avoid unnecessary stimulation and negativity. I write when the day is young and the pressures low. Keeping this up takes a lot of discipline, but it has made a difference in my life.

Give myself time to dream

I prefer to “think over” a story in my head for some time before putting it on paper. Sometimes, for months! I know a story is ready to be written when I can picture it vividly in my head - as if it’s a movie playing in my head. So I have learned not to pressure myself to write, but to dream more instead.  

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

Seek inspiration to refill my well

One concept I discovered that made me go, “Aha!” was that the ideas for fiction doesn't come from some magical void with inexhaustible resources. 

Writing nonfiction is very different from writing fiction writing. When you write nonfiction, you have references such as interviews, research and more. That’s why it’s often easier to write non-fiction.

However, when you write fiction, you're literally recreating something out of nothing. And that takes a different kind of mental energy. But saying that we create something out of nothing is not quite right either. 

Fiction is the culmination of the observations, insights, information and inspiration that we absorb in our day-to-day lives. So, what happens when you stop this flow? Your resource for your fiction dries up.

Ask yourself: What makes you go, “Oh gosh I need to write that?” 

What makes your imagination go, “Wow!” 

For me, filling my creative well meant watching movies and television shows - experiencing stories. (I wrote one of my short stories, Blood of Nanking, after watching the Christian Bale movie, The Flowers of War.)

Music also spurs my mind to imagine amazing scenes for my books.

In the last two years, I've been so busy with my career transition that I stopped reading books and watching television -- at least things that were not related to improving my career. 

Revitalising the creative wells

So where do we go from here? 

One of the first things I did was to forgive myself for not being a machine. 

That’s a funny way to put it, but yes - we often get angry that we are human being that’s can’t write like machines! (Incidentally, I did come across a how-to-write book called Be a Writing Machine. Hah!)

I also try to stop guilting myself to write.  

I have learned to accept that this is where I am right now. I am literally building my career from the ground up again and that takes a lot of energy and I shouldn't expect miracles from myself.

I also decided to take one tiny step at the same time towards making my indie publishing dreams a reality.

I am now at the editing stage with two of my novels. I'm so close to completion that at times, I want to rush towards the finish line, but I tell myself: Edit one chapter a day - that's all I can manage now. And if I can’t meet that schedule, I'm not gonna blame myself. 

I am also curbing my tendency to jump into new, shiny projects. I have been a little obsessive about my blog because, perhaps, I felt so paralysed with my fiction that I wanted to feel successful in something creative. My blog was a convenient outlet and writing non-fiction was easy for me. I think that’s great, but I tend to use it as a way to distract myself from my problems with my novels.

But best of all, I’m now watching more television without guilt, knowing that I'm actually filling my well. I'm taking walks. I'm trying to dream about my characters -- perhaps I will try free writing again; it worked well for me last time. (Free writing is where I just let my mind wander and my hands type whatever my brain dreams about.), 

If you are struggling with writer burnout or writer’s block, please realise that it's not your fault. It's not because you're lazy or unmotivated.

Perhaps your writing process is not aligned with your strength. Maybe something’s happening in your life right now and you need to focus on that. 

We are humans, not machines, and we have to accept that we can't do everything -- no matter how much you want it.  

Refill your well, friends. Well-being comes first.

Elizabeth Tai writes for profit and pleasure. She blogs about personal finance and simple living at elizabethtai.com and you can learn more about her fiction at taiweiland.com

What is in Your Hand

Sometimes we feel desperate for inspiration and try all kinds of techniques and courses to get creativity flowing again. While this approach can be successful to a degree, I’ve realised more and more that I must use what is in my hand.

In Exodus 4:2 the Lord commanded Moses to throw his staff on the ground whereupon it turned into a snake. In other parts of the Bible we read that Moses stretched out his staff to part the Red Sea and struck a rock with it to bring forth water. The staff would have been something he used in shepherding flocks – an everyday occurrence, but God used it for a variety of unexpected purposes.

As writers, it’s easy to confine ourselves to our favourite genre or topic and leave the rest for someone else. I’ve felt challenged to step out of my comfort zone this year and use what is in my hand. At heart, I’m a fiction writer and love weaving stories and creating characters. However, I decided to spend some time on non-fiction using my life experiences.

My first project was to write an e-book about packing wisely for an overseas trip. As a frequent flyer, this was easy to write and it’s been selling consistently. I’ve actually decided to make this a series and am working on book two which is about air travel and book three about choosing accommodation.

My second project is almost ready for release and this is a picture book about Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS) the rare genetic condition my sister was born with. With the help of a group of Kickstarter supporters and a gifted but affordable illustrator from Fiverr, the book has become a reality. Picture books were never on my agenda but I have intimate knowledge of RTS and discovered there wasn’t anything like it on the market. I used what was in my hand – what I had that could make a difference to others out there.

My question to you is what do you have in your hand? What skills, experience and passions do you have that you could turn into a book? The answer might surprise you.

Let's Twist Again by Nola Passmore

Photo credit: beautyfromashes / Foter/ CC BY-NC-ND

Picture this. Businessman, adult son, and work colleague go into closed room while businessman’s wife waits outside. A shot rings out. Wife enters room to discover husband dead and son grappling with work colleague. Work colleague runs from room with gun, and the rest of the novel is spent hunting the murderer.

When I read that scenario, I thought to myself, ‘Oh I bet the son turns out to be the killer’. And guess what? He was. Although the novel was well-written, with lots of suspense, the fact that I picked the twist in the first 20 pages did dampen my enthusiasm.

When I read Ian McEwan’s Atonement, I had a totally different experience. While there are some aspects of the book I didn’t enjoy, the twist is the best I’ve ever read. It turned the whole novel on its head.

So what makes a good twist?

Avoid the Obvious

There are some really well-worn plot twists that invariably let down the reader. Here are some examples.

• You follow your protagonist through an incredible series of events, only to find it was all a dream.
• The strange man you saw kissing the married woman turns out to be her brother.
• The protagonist is behaving out of character and you discover he has an identical twin.

The more original you are, the more likely you’ll create that ‘ah ha’ moment for your readers.

Work on the ‘Set Up’

While it’s important for a twist to surprise, it shouldn’t come ‘out of the blue’ or trick your readers. There needs to be some foreshadowing so that when your readers get to the big reveal, they think ‘Wow, that all makes sense now’. Kate Morton does a brilliant job of this in The Secret Keeper. The twist in itself isn’t the most unique I’ve ever come across. In fact, I read another novel recently that used a similar device. However, her plotting and foreshadowing is brilliant. While I didn’t see the twist coming, it explained everything and I felt like I wanted to go back and read the book again in light of the twist.

It Advances the Story

As K.M. Wieland notes, a plot twist shouldn’t be an end in itself. It has to contribute to the plot in a meaningful way so that readers will be excited about the ensuing developments. The twist should actually make the story better.

All of that is easier said than done of course, but if you can develop original twists that avoid gimmicks, are set up well and raise your story to the next level, you’ll have thousands of happy readers.

Which novels have you read that have great twists? I’d love to hear your suggestions (without the spoilers of course).

More Reading

Scheller, R. (2014). 4 Ways to Write a Killer Plot Twist. Retrieved from: http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/4-ways-to-write-a-killer-plot-twist

N.B. Most of this article is an excerpt from Story Trumps Structure by Steven James.

Wieland, K. M. (2013). 5 Ways to Write a Killer Plot Twist. Retrieved from http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/5-ways-to-write-killer-plot-twist/

Nola Passmore is a freelance writer who has had more than 140 short pieces published, including devotionals, true stories, magazine articles, academic papers, poetry and short fiction.  She loves sharing what God has done in her life and encouraging others to do the same.  She and her husband Tim have their own freelance writing and editing business called The Write Flourish.  You can find her writing tips blog at their website: http://www.thewriteflourish.com.au

Your Turn!

So, it’s my turn to blog, and I thought: “It’s hardly fair that I get to do all the writing and you get to do all the reading.” So what about we all have a go this time. I’m going to post a synopsis here, and invite you to choose a scene to develop either as a piece of prose or screenplay, and then post in the comments. I’d suggest you check the comments and try to write in chronological sequence. Of course that might not always work, as two or three eager beavers might be away working on the same scene at the same time. It doesn’t matter. In about a week, I’m going to check the comments and see how the story looks. I might choose the scenes I like the best, stitch them together and post on my website. Don’t forget to post a name for the story as well. OK then. Ready. Set. Go... Here’s the synopsis:

Setting – small rural Australian town, mid winter
Main characters – Michele (pronounced Mick-el) named after his Italian great-grandfather, 30 year old farmer who has just taken the reins of the farm as his parents have bought a caravan to take a year travelling around the country. He agrees to take in a house mate to help the local school with a short-term accommodation for one of their temporary teachers.

Charlie – 23 years old, is named after her grandfather. Fresh out of Uni has won a short-term temporary contract at the local primary school for a maternity leave staffer. Charlie is from the city but has been assured they will find her suitable accommodation.

Scene One – Charlie has left the city at 4am to reach her new school in time for classes, but she has a flat tyre. She You Tubes ‘How to change a tyre’, but wheel nuts won’t loosen. Michele comes along, is condescending, she is offended. The tyre is changed. It is raining.

Scene two – Charlie reads instructions to Michelle’s house. When a man opens the door – the man she has already met on the road, she asks after Michelle, and he is annoyed, as he is Michele. She’s expecting a woman, he is expecting a man. Charlie says she doesn’t feel comfortable moving in with a man. He says ‘suit yourself’.

Scene three – Charlie goes to the local pub. It is run down, poorly run, and the owner is a bit sleezy – as are some of the patrons. Charlie gets a key to a very run down room. She goes to have a counter meal and gets propositioned. She stands her ground, but not very convincingly. Michele has come to the pub to see how things turn out. He plays the hero and fends off the unwanted attention. Charlie is annoyed with him, as she says she can look after herself. She decides she would prefer to trust Michele than the men in the pub.

Scene four – Charlie’s second day at school. The classroom is a little chaotic. A ten year old informs her she is Michele’s cousin, and tells Charlie all about what her mother thinks about Michele and his impossible love life.

Scene five – Charlie discovers she and Michele have something in common: they both love footy (AFL). She agrees to go watch him play on Saturday. She sits in his car, pulled up around the outside of the oval. It’s all good until he takes a hit in the head and is carted off the ground on a stretcher. She waits until his mates come to get his car. When they see her, they suggest she could take him to the hospital in the next town. She has the car and the keys, and they basically leave her with it.

Scene six – The doctor says Michele can’t drive, and someone should keep an eye on him for his concussion. Everybody makes assumptions. She sits up with him for the whole night.

Scene seven – They have something else in common: they both go to church on Sunday. Charlie drives. More raised eyebrows and assumptions.

Scene eight – Michele’s young cousin if full of gossip and what her mother thinks of the situation. Charlie sets her straight, and determines to set the record straight with Michele’s aunt.

Scene nine – The six weeks are up, and Charlie has packed ready to go. She has a little farewell party with the kids at school. Michele’s cousin tells her that Michele doesn’t want her to go. He’s never said anything to her, so she is a bit confused by this.

Scene ten – writers, choose your own ending. Let’s see what you come up with.

Hope you have fun with this. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the comments and see how the story grows. I will post your compilation (or selected parts of it) on my website later.

www.meredithresce.com

Meredith Resce has sixteen books published. She is currently preparing the sixth title in the best-selling ‘Heart of Green Valley’ series.

Intergalactic Avian Mutants on the Prairie (Or – You Read What????)

Have you ever succumbed to ‘random reading syndrome’? That moment when you’re book browsing and before you can blink, you have a title completely outside your favourite genre by an author you’ve never heard of in your hand. This could be because the cover was pretty, the title made you laugh, or there was a beetle precariously walking the edge of the binding and you were compelled to save it from plunging into the darkened crevasse between that and the next shelved title.

Readers are not the only who may suffer this ailment. Writers can also fall prey to a related condition. Not only might they read outside their favourite genre, but they might even WRITE outside it too, trialling alternate techniques within those genres just for fun!

I’m an offender on both counts. In fact, I don’t suffer from random reading syndrome, I enjoy in it! :) By forcing myself to read outside the known I’ve not only stumbled upon some wonderful books I might have otherwise missed, but I’ve learned so much: about me, about writing, about reading.

As writers it’s important to become familiar with our genres. I’ve read a heap more YA in the past year than I have in a decade, simply because I was writing into that genre and it had been a while since I’d read books targeted to that age group. But I think most writers can also identify the immense value in reading beyond what we write (including mainstream titles). Expanding out literary world is good for us. It’s also equally valuable to sometimes write outside our comfort zone. Not necessarily a whole novel, but even a short story or poem.

While studying creative writing I took the opportunity to explore different tenses and points of view while writing outside my most familiar genre. In one submission it was observed my written voice worked well with Chick Lit, so I also wrote a fantasy piece with a male protagonist. (Of course...)

Perhaps that’s why it makes sense I have two titles being released this month in two contrasting genres. Integrate is a YA fiction and was released on Monday this week. A Devil’s Ransom is a maritime historical romance to be released later in the month. I’ve loved writing them both, yet I’ve also realised how swiftly a writing focus can strangle our tendency for random reading bouts. For our own writing sakes we need to foster our inner random reader.

Besides, we might even become a fan of a genre or author we’d never otherwise encounter. Now there’s a great reason, if any, to turn into a different aisle in the bookstore next time we venture there. (And don’t forget to keep an eye for any book-walking beetles or giant intergalactic chickens ...)

Adele Jones lives in Queensland, Australia. She’s had a variety of short works published and has two novels being released in 2014—a YA SciFi and a historical maritime romance. Her writing is inspired by a passion for family, faith, friends, music and science – and a broad ranging imagination. To find out more visit www.adelejonesauthor.com