Scoring a Well-Rounded Manuscript: Voice

For many of us, time and practice help us become better writers, and more knowledgeable of the craft. We learn and get critiques and study and write, write, write, to help improve each manuscript. And we discover over the years that there are certain elements we want to include in each story to make it as well-rounded as possible.

I like to look at it like the game of bowling. Yep, scoring a well-rounded manuscript is like scoring a strike. Your goal with each roll of the ball is to knock down each and every pin, just like your goal when you attempt each new story is to encompass the most important elements of fiction or non-fiction writing and get it into your story.

These elements include everything from plot to characters to sentence structure. But today we're going to talk about Voice.

I see Voice as the lead pin. It serves that position well because, in order to score a strike, you need to hit this lead pin. It touches the rest of the pins necessary to score well. Similarly, in writing, Voice touches and makes an impression on the rest of the story in order to accomplish your goal.

So what is Voice?

It's your own unique writing style. Your vocabulary, the tone in which you write, your style, sentence length, etc. All these things are part of Voice.

How do you know your Voice?

Ask yourself these questions:

What style are you drawn to when you read?
What entertains you and inspires you to write?
What comes naturally to you when you put pen to paper?

And how else can you determine your own unique writing signature?

Try:

Journaling or blogging
*What comes out naturally, whether more poetic or more staccato or something else, is typically the writing style that's going to suit you best and sound unique to you.

Free writing or a writing prompt
*Use a writing prompt, like a set scene, or even a picture, and free write about it for around ten minutes to see what comes out.

Experiment
*Practice and try new things. Experiment with styles, POVs, tenses, and even with genres if you're just starting out and not sure where you fit (humorous, literary, etc.) in fiction or non-fiction.

Let others in
*Allow others to read your work. Sometimes you have a very distinct voice and don't even realize it.

I'd love to hear how you all discovered your voice or if you're still experimenting, so please share in the comments.

Also, this is the final day of our Giveaway Party! If you'd like to win a copy of Denise Hunter's Surrender Bay, please leave your e-mail address in the comments. Winners will be announced tomorrow.



***photo by battlecreekcvb

Combating the “I Bite” Blues

Editing first drafts will do it to you. Getting back a critique so marked up with red it’s difficult to read will do it to you. Discovering how often you use the word just and how frequently you begin sentences with ing words will do it to you. Anything can inspire that overwhelming feeling that makes you want to wallow in the mud with pigs. You know, the “I bite” blues.

So, are we supposed to roll over and play dead when we recognize that feeling? Heck no.

We need to throw on our gloves and put up a fight.

And what’s the best way to fight in our field?

We write. We edit. We do NOT give up when we are discouraged.

Ephesians 6 provides a step by step guide of how to equip ourselves when we come up against things that are meant to bring us down.

Here are some ways the Bible could relate to the tribulations we face in our industry as well:

belt of truth = we confront our weaknesses in our writing truthfully, but hold on to the hope of improvement

breastplate of righteousness = we go about our novel-building with integrity, weaving plots that inspire others

feet fitted with readiness = we read as much as possible, connect with other writers, and get a strong sense of what to expect in the industry

shield of faith = no matter how bumpy the road gets we stay the course and believe in our calling

helmet of salvation = we remember all that’s been done for us and the power in us enabling us to go on.

sword of the Spirit = we raise our swords to anything that tries to tear us down or dissuade us from our God-given dream.

Finally, we pray on all occasions! Get a manuscript request—pray. Get an agent—pray. Get a contract with a reputable house—pray. Get a new novel idea—pray. Feel like quitting—pray!

How do you combat the “I bite” blues?

***

I’m giving away Winter’s End by Ruth Logan Herne. Comment for a chance to win!

*photo from Flickr

Self-Editing Checklist: Consistency (Plus a Dynamite Giveaway!)

No, I'm not giving away dynamite...That might get me arrested. But I am offering a fabulous giveaway for people who want to propel their writing to a dynamite level. Curious? Keep reading. :)

Remember that self-editing checklist I've talked about in my previous posts? We're moving on to Point #3 this week. I call this one Consistency. (For points 1 & 2, click here.)

Under consistency, consider the following items for each of your scenes.

a) Have you left any dangling subplots or story lines? If so, is it intentional or do you need to fill in the gaps? In my last post, you may have gathered that I'm a spreadsheet nerd. So how do you suppose I track my subplots? That's right...in a spreadsheet. :) Whether you're a plotter or a pantser, I highly recommend you keep track of your scenes somehow, whether it's in Excel or on index cards.

In Excel, I create a column called Plot/Subplots. In my latest book, I have the primary plot of the romance between my main characters Brogan and Ivy, but I also have subplots of Ivy's troubled relationship with her dad, her struggle to get out of debt, and her job for her ex-boyfriend, to name a few. Next to each scene, I indicate which plot/subplots are addressed. It's not foolproof, but it does help me recognize if I've ignored the debt subplot for 20 straight chapters.

Resources: Camy Tang talks about subplot threads in this Story Sensei post.

b) Does the character's emotional or spiritual arc flow? Does your character hate her father in one scene and then give him a big old hug in the next? If so, there'd better be a reason. Jerking the reader up and down with willy-nilly character emotions will just unsettle them. Make sure the emotional arc picks up where it left off in the previous scene and move it forward from there.

Resources: For a quick hit on emotional arcs, check out this article. If you want to take your character's emotional arc (and your writing) to the next level, I highly recommend Margie Lawson's AMAZING course, Empowering Character Emotions. In case you didn't sign up after Casey's post last week, you can buy Margie's lecture packets (over 280 pages!) for only $22. It's seriously the steal of the century when you consider the AMAZING (yes, I used that word twice in one paragraph) things you'll learn.

Your homework for the next two weeks, should you choose to accept it: Read the articles I've referenced. And if you're ready to learn like crazy, buy Margie Lawson's lecture packet and gobble it up like your Thanksgiving turkey. Then analyze your scenes for consistency.

But wait! (Do you feel like you're watching an infomercial yet?) Remember that dynamite giveaway I mentioned? For one lucky commenter, I'm offering the choice of any one of Margie's lecture packets! The winner will be announced in our weekend edition.

Do you keep track of your plots and subplots? If so, how? How closely do you pay attention to the character arc?

*Rock climbing photo by Bill Longshaw / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
** Curve photo by Filomena Scalise / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tell Yourself You're Brilliant and Revise Like a Madwoman

These were two insights I gained from a recent writer's workshop.

There is a wonderful organization in this area that sponsors an annual event, "What If All of ____ Read the Same Book?" Are there any towns in your area that participate in this event?  If so, I highly recommend investigating it. This is the first year I attended one of the events, but I plan to make it an annual outing.

The author I was priviliged to hear is Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief. Please note that this is an endorsement only of the information shared at the workshop.

The information in Tinti's workshop was tremendously helpful, even though I am not using it at this stage in my journey.  That's because her topic was revision and I'm following her first draft advice to the letter: Turn off your internal editor! Get it down! Have fun!

How many drafts do you write? Hannah wrote 15 for The Good Thief, which originally weighed in at over 600 pages and is now under half that total.

A quote I particularly liked was "your writing is a jigsaw puzzle you created, you have the solution."  I've thought about this quote several times since. If I truly allow Christ to direct my writing day by day it doesn't mean I'm not working by a plan, but that I should be prepared for the plan to change without much notice. 

Do you struggle with making messy first drafts?  Oh, boy, can I relate.

In college writing classes, Tinti's intstructor challenged her to produce one page of the worst writing possible.  This then freed them from fear of failure. 

When I sit down to write these last few weeks I preface my session with telling myself "you are free to write the worst possible."  Its freeing, and I have not produced my worst work ever.  In fact, I think this allowance has improved my rough draft as I've also allowed myself to "disobey" my outline and allowed the story to move more freely.

At the end of each draft Tinti advises telling ourselves we're brilliant, having a "draft" party...THEN waking up the next day and ruthlessly revising. 

Now, I'm not quite ready for my draft party....BUT I am ready to party with you in celebration of over 300 followers.  I have 2 books up for the grabs to TWO lucky commenters: Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner and Petra by T.L. Higley. 

Tell me a bit about your revision process, if you're working on a novel.  Is it difficult for you to free yourself up to write your first draft?  How many times have you revised a work-in-progress?

Be sure to include your email address and which book you would like to read.  The winner will be announced in Saturday's post.

The Face of A Reader

“When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garish sun.”
-- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
-- Act iii, Sc. 2

A picture with Romeo and the Friar, from my yearbook!

...Ah, one of my favorite lines I had the privilege of speaking in the role of Juliet, my senior year of high school. Back then, I lived and breathed the theatre, and channeled my creative juices to portray believable characters.

As I look back on those performances, I realize that the nights when I actually knew people in the audience- family, friends, family friends – gave me such an adrenaline rush to perform my absolute best. Although the theatrical lighting glared in my eyes and I couldn't necessarily see their faces, knowing they were there gave me a heightened awareness of how they might process what my character was saying, doing...because I knew the audience those nights, I saw their faces in the back of my mind as I took the stage.
I would love to have a video of my performance with family in the audience, and without family there...I am sure I shined just a little more on nights when I knew who I was performing for.

Sixteen years later (wow, can't believe how long it's been!), I have chosen the art of writing to portray characters and plots, and intrigue a future audience. But two weeks ago, my future audience gained a face to heighten my attempt for believability and integrity. God graciously made me the mother of a daughter, after spending eight years as the “mom of boys”. While I sit and soak in every feature of my new baby, I praise God for her beauty, and I feel the standard of my writing being challenged.

One day, my daughter, the child I will do my best to raise in a Godly way... to teach how to be a strong woman in a tough society...one day, she  might pick up a manuscript of mine (hopefully in published book form ;) ) and stare into a bit of my soul. It challenges me to do my best, just like knowing my audience from upon the stage years ago. I am pushed to display truth and integrity in my characters to the best of my ability.
The face of my reader is my beloved daughter, and I know my writing will thank her some day. :)

Do you ever think of specific readers as you write? Does it push you to write your best when you think of the impact your writing will have on these people?

What's Up the Street For Next Week?

Did we mention a party? And PRIZES!!!!!

Oh yes! It’s party time here at the Alley. We reached 300 subscribers, and this week has been a fabulous week of prizes.

Mondays winners are:

Amber S. – Matter of Character by Robin Lee Hatcher

Keli Gwyn – Journey to Riverbend by Henry McLaughlin

Pam – Rhythm of Secrets by Patti Lacy

Tuesdays winner of Age Before Beauty by Virginia Smith is Patsy.

Wednesdays winner of Siri Mitchell’s novel, She Walks in Beauty, is Dianne

Christine is the winner of Thursday’s drawing, Home Another Way by Christa Parish.

Friday’s winner of Lady in the Mist by Laurie Alice Eakes is Leanne.

Congrats to all the winners!!! If you have questions regarding your prize, contact Pepper at pepperbasham@yahoo.com

More prizes are on the way for the upcoming week. Just take a peek :-)

Up This Week?

Monday - Angie draws our attention from the writing platform to the reading audience by posting about The Face of a Reader. (When you know your readers it will make a difference in your writing). The prize for grabs is Melanie Dickerson’s fabulous YA The Healer’s Apprentice.

Tuesday - Straight from the thrill of a writing workshop, Julia brings us tips of what she learned about revision from Hannah Tinti. Two fabulous giveaways - Susan Meissner’s A Lady in Waiting and T.L. Higley’s Petra

Sarah continues her self-editing series with a post on Consistency. Be sure to stop in and see what the surprise giveaway is for Wednesday.

If you’re thinking of throwing in the towel on your writing, stop by and glean encouragement from Wendy’s post on Thursday – Combating the ”I Bite” Blues.

You are not alone when you wonder if this writing gig is worth it. End the week with a bowler’s strike as Cindy begins her new writing series entitled Scoring a Well-Rounded Manuscript. Friday’s post on the elusive writer’s “Voice” begins the series. Stop by for your chance to win Denise Hunter’s novel, Surrender Bay.

NEWSTAND

Don’t forget to stop by Casey’s blog this week for her posts on Purity – and who better to Cold Call on her blog than A Passion Most Pure’s author, Julie Lessman. Stop by for your chance to win one of Julie’s award-winning books where 'passion has a purpose'.

Pepper is bringing in the Spring with Revel in Reviews. Stop by Words Seasoned With Salt to read book reviews of the author of the week’s books. This week, stop by for some fast shootin’, hard kissin’, and loud laughin’ as tough cowboys meet tougher women when Pepper features author Mary Connealy’s books.

1000 words of backstory... and counting!

Last weekend, while I was sitting in the hospital beside my sweet, sleeping baby, I wrote 1000 words of back-story.

And dad gum it, I'm PROUD OF IT!

Many of you rule followers out there are cringing, as well as all those who read Wendy Miller's WONDERFUL post last week on back-story.

1000 words? Back-story? Where is the ruler to slap my hand with!?!

But hang in there with me so I can explain (before my hand is black and blue...)

Backstory isn't bad. Every great novel MUST have it.

It's how we put it into our novel that is the key. You can't "not" tell your reader what happened in the past. It is important and integral to your current story. The past is what makes us who we are today, just as Wendy pointed out. If we ignore it, it makes our current character feel flat and undeveloped, and leaves our reader confused.

My Back-Story Story

So about a year ago, I started on a new book. I wrote about 8000 words, then life took over and I wasn't able to get back to it until now.

Please keep in mind... I am a MAJOR seat-of-the-pants writer, so what I had was only a germ of a story, and I really wasn't sure where I was taking it. But I'd gotten to the point where I knew a little bit of what about what was going on and needed to get the details down.

So, I wrote back-story. 1000 words of it (and counting.) I just sat down last Saturday and let my brain run rampant through the fields of time. I wrote in free form everything that had happened to my characters, jotted notes about the stuff I didn't know and still needed to decide, and detailed the events that lead them up to their current conflict.

It was the most freeing exercise EVER. I flicked off the little guy on my shoulder that screams at me, "BACK-STORY ALERT... horrible writing Krista, STOP IT!"

And you know what? I think my book will be better for it. I know where my characters have come from and what makes them tick. I still have a few questions, but now as I get ready to actually write again, I can write from a place of confidence.

I still am very much SOTP writer. Not sure what's going to happen in the next chapter yet. But I am now equipped with the backstory and have the ability to sprinkle it into my pages a little at a time, to hint to some of their motivations, and give the reader little tastes of what happened long ago and why my characters are a little bit loony.

Moral of the story: The only info dumps needed are ones that won't make it into manuscript!

Discussion: How do YOU develop your character's back-story? Because there are a TON of different methods... the key is to make sure you DO IT!

*GIVEAWAY*

We're at the end of the FIRST week of our 300 follower celebration!!! Today's give away is Laurie Alice Eakes "Lady in the Mist" (Thanks, Pepper, for helping me out with this one... you're a doll!)

Leave a comment to be eligible to win! This weeks winners will be announced on Saturday! 

CHEERS!