The Voices: Who Are You Listening To?

Today I want to talk about the voices we all, as writers, encounter on a daily basis, and how we can be more intentional and which ones we allow to take residence in our minds.

Let me start by telling you a story.

So, I have this dog, Schroeder.

I know, right? He's pretty adorable.

If you know me, you know I'm pretty passionate about animal rescue, and my beloved Schroeder is no exception. We adopted him from an animal shelter three years ago. Looked like he'd been on the streets for a few weeks by himself before a good Samaritan picked him up and brought him to the shelter. Since then, we have completely fallen in love with his goofy antics, his love of peanut butter, and his insistence upon trying to catch lizards despite his human mother's screaming that reptiles are off-limits.

The thing about Schroeder is, he has this adventure instinct. Which isn't such a problem, except that he doesn't always listen when I call his name. So a couple of times, despite the fact that I watch him like he is an actual child, he has slipped under our fence and gone exploring in our neighbor's yard. This happened most recently a few weeks ago (and I was in the backyard with him the whole time when he slipped away!). Let's just say, he scared the living daylights out of me. I looked over our fence but couldn't find him in the neighbor's yard. I panicked, running down the street, looking for him in every nook and cranny of other neighbors' fences (he loves exploring fences). I asked neighbors if they'd seen him. Finally, after only about five minutes but what felt like hours, I saw him smelling around in the corner of our neighbor's yard, and rushed over to him with relief. 

"Why didn't you come when I called you?" I begged him, my pulse racing and tears burning. 

He just looked at me with those precious eyes.

I reached over the fence, scooped him up, and let my heart sigh with relief. I gripped him so tightly he could never wiggle out, and we walked back home.

I tried explaining to Schroeder that if he would just come whenever I called him, he could have so much more freedom. He wouldn't even need the fence. But because I can't trust him to not run off, I have all these extra precautions. He can't go anywhere without a leash. He can't be left in the yard by himself.

Then it dawned on me.

How does God say the same thing to us? "Why didn't you come when I called you?"

We send Him on a frantic chase, time and time again, as we sneak under the fence, into dangerous ground.

If we would only listen, oh-- the freedom we could have.

Several weeks ago, I had the kind of bad-teaching-day that makes you so frazzled, all you want to do is come home, put on your fuzzy Hello Kitty pajamas, and watch endless hours of Gilmore Girls. I had a couple students in particular who were acting out in a pretty blatant way, and I had to call them out on it. The looks they sent me in return started a chorus of voices in my mind.

You're a failure as a teacher. They think you are boring. You can't engage their attention. They wouldn't be looking at their iPhones if you had found a better way to make them interested. This whole class probably thinks you're boring too. You want to make a difference, but all they want to do is leave.

Now, I know I'm not a failure as a teacher. But in those moments, how true those statements seemed. How loud those voices were. How defeated I felt.

Maybe this has happened to you with writing contests you've entered. Or rejections. Maybe you've looked at the feedback, and tried to process it well, but instead, all you can hear is, You'll never make it. You're a failure as a writer. Your style is boring. No one is going to want to read your story. You'll never make a difference in the world doing this. You're wasting your time. You're wasting your family's time. You're wasting your finances.

Or maybe, and perhaps worst of all, You're wasting your dreams.

When all the while, the God who adopted us is saying, "I love you, child. Please stop running away."

I want to ask you a question today. What voices do you hear? And what is more, what voices do you listen to? Which do you allow to speak loudest in your life?

This is an issue I think we all struggle with in some regard. How do we manage to silence those voices of doubt, deception, and degradation? 

For starters, I want to encourage you to write them down. When you see the voices on paper, they often seem a bit ridiculous. You'll be surprised with what you've allowed yourself to believe if you write it down or even share it with another person. Doing so can allow us to get some much-needed perspective. I love what Jim Rubart says: we can't read our own bottle labels. In other words, we exist inside the bottle. We need someone else to come along and help us know what the label says.

Then, replace the doubts with God's truth. Has God made promises to you? Has He given you a vision or put a dream on your heart? Affirm those things by resting in their truth. Write down Scriptures and put them up around your house in places you'll see them-- your mirrors, your car, your jewelry holder, etc. Be relentless about hunting down each doubt and silencing it with God's truth. Think you're worthless as a writer and there's no point in trying? God would say otherwise. Don't give fear, doubt, and lies a voice in your life. Turn down the volume, and tune in to God.

I want to end this blog by sharing one of my current favorite songs, "Oceans" by Hillsong United. The bridge of this song says, "Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk along the waters, wherever You would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, that my faith would be made stronger in the presence of my Savior."

Jesus wants to remove those fences in your life. He wants you to live in freedom, and in wholeness. But He can only do that when you make a conscious decision to pay attention to His call. So when rejection letters come and you feel like giving up, don't crawl under the fence and run away. Instead, run to Him-- the one who adopted us and has a beautiful calling for us if we would only trust where He leads.

When should you say "No" to a contract?

freedigitalphotos.net, image by digitalart

We've just sold our house after a marathon 9 months on the market. Would you believe we actually had an offer on the house after just a few weeks - for $25,000 more than we ended up selling for - and we turned it down?

Hindsight is always 20-20. At the time we were confident we would sell fairly easily. We would have made a loss by accepting that initial offer, so we chose not to sign the contract.

In the end, we lost even more money.

This was a pretty clear case of "should've accepted that contract."

It led me to ponder another time when I turned down a contract - this time, for a novel.

I'd written my first book, a Young Adult fantasy. After studying Sally Stuart's Christian Writers Market guide, I formed a plan of attack. My first strategy was to use a paid service called "The Writers' Edge". Their editors functioned as a bit of a screening service in lieu of an agent. They read the synopsis and first couple of chapters, and if they thought the book and writing were saleable, they compiled a digest of successful submissions with a short blurb of each book and mailed it out to all the major and minor publishing houses in the CBA.

I had one request from a well-respected house as a result of this, but the house ended up passing on the book. Then, a couple of months later, just as I was getting ready to move onto Step B (find an agent), I received an email from another editor requesting the full manuscript. I sent it off, and within a few weeks, their response landed in my inbox. They loved the book! They wanted to offer me a contract!

I think I may have screamed. I was giddy with excitement. This was it! The moment I'd dreamed of since I was a kid! I was going to be a published author. This offer was everything I'd ever wanted.

Or was it?

freedigitalphotos.net, image by Jeroen van Oostrom

Once the adrenalin wore off, I did an internet search to find out a bit more info about the house, which was one I'd never heard of. Their webpage flashed up on my screen, and I cringed a little. The site was very amateurish.

What's more, as I scrolled through their stable of authors, I saw the book covers were too. They had the clumsy and unprofessional feel that so often screams "self-published!" - no design finesse whatsoever.

Red flags started to go up. Clearly this publishing house didn't have much of a budget behind it, or perhaps they just didn't have the marketing experience to realise that their cost-cutting covers would be an instant turn-off to a large portion of their consumers.

As I dug a bit further, I learned the house was a fairly recent start-up, and while it was a "traditional" house in the sense that they did pay their authors royalties (and didn't charge the author any money, like a vanity publisher would) they were operating under what was at the time a relatively new model, Print on Demand.

I didn't know anything about how this worked, so I told the editor I'd have to think about his offer, and began asking questions. In the meantime I booked in to my first overseas writing conference (Mt Hermon Christian writers) where I picked the brains of as many smart people as I could find - and being a writing conference, there were smart people everywhere. I talked to Sally Stuart in the flesh, as well as some highly respected agents and editors, asking them all what they thought of the Print on Demand model. Here's what I learned:

- Print on Demand allows publishers to remove the risk from publishing. They sell the book first (on Amazon or other online stores), THEN print a copy of the book and ship it. This allows them to totally side-step the huge financial outlay of a large print run that may or may not sell.

- Implication: because the risk to the publisher is virtually non-existent, POD publishers will accept books that other publishers wouldn't look twice at. This is great news for authors of speculative or experimental fiction who might struggle to find a publishing home elsewhere. However, traditional publishers are very good gatekeepers - their money is on the line, so they'll only publish a book if they think it has an excellent chance of success. This carefully curated standard of quality builds trust with readers. In the POD marketplace, the bar is set a lot lower, and trust is unproven.

- POD is a more expensive mode of printing, so retail prices are correspondingly higher. Many POD books price themselves out of the market.

- Traditional bricks-and-mortar bookstores won't stock POD books. Sales are online only - and with the flood of self-published titles, this is a saturated market for a new author to break into.

- Small budgets mean less professional covers. How do you get a shoddy-looking cover on an overpriced book to stand out online amid a sea of quality offerings from mainstream publishers?

- Marketing is on a similar cost-cutting scale - i.e., virtually non-existent. All in all, it's a recipe for very low sales. Publishers make up for this by acquiring large quantities of books, in order to make a little money on a lot of books, instead of a lot of money on a few. This only compounds the issue of quality.

A caveat: POD can be done well, in its way. Marcher Lord Press is one house that has risen above some of these issues. Their cover art is typically of a much higher standard than other POD houses. Their books have garnered a series of respected awards in the industry. MLP was established to fill a niche - Christian speculative fiction. They've succeeded in their mission to bring new speculative voices to the market, and in so doing have helped many genuinely talented authors get their books into the hands of readers.  On the downside, sales are predictably low. They are upfront about this. On their website we read: "Marcher Lord Press titles will probably not sell in high numbers. A traditional Christian publishing company might sell 5,000 units of a novel and call it an abject failure. Marcher Lord Press might sell 300 units of a novel and call it a bestseller." (You can read more about their publishing model here.)

For the record, MLP is NOT the house that offered me the contract, nor have I ever pitched to them.

As I gathered information from various sources, however, the picture became increasingly clear to me. I was fortunate enough to gain agent representation as a result of attending that first conference, and my agent thought my book had a good chance of success with mainstream publishers. She advised me to turn down the Print-on-Demand contract. I knew that, for me, this was the right decision.

So... have I ever regretted that call?

That novel remains unpublished to this day. I could have been a published author many years ago had I accepted that first contract offer.

For me, though, that wasn't the point.

I'm not in this for the "status" of a published book under my belt. I'm trying to build a long-term career. That one published book, done badly and with poor sales to show for it, could have done far more damage to my career than remaining unpublished for a longer time.

On the flip-side, the process of shopping my novel - while ultimately unsuccessful - led me to create some good rapport with editors who went into bat for my book and want to see more of my writing in future. That's an invaluable opportunity.

Everyone's goals in publishing are different. For some, it's enough simply to be in print. For those people, Print on Demand may be a perfect fit. Similarly, if what you're writing is edgy or experimental, and marketing departments throw up their hands in dismay at the very thought of trying to classify it, POD may be your big chance to break in and find your readership where the door would otherwise remain tightly closed to you.

For me, though, POD was just not a good fit with my long-term goals.

Here are some other reasons you might look twice at a publishing contract:

freedigitalphotos.net, image by stuart miles

- The publisher is a start-up and has unproven channels of distribution
- The editor wants you to change aspects of your book that you feel strongly are crucial to the novel's integrity
- The house publishes material such as occult or erotica that conflicts with your worldview
- The publisher is a very small press with a track record of poor sales, and little to no budget for cover art or marketing
- The house is well established in other genres, but has no proven track record in your genre and is taking a gamble on their ability to promote your book successfully to a new demographic.

Some of these may be important to you, others less so. To some degree it's all relative to how much of a chance you believe you have with a bigger press or a different house.

It's never easy to say "no" to a contract - believe me, I sweated bullets over it. When you say no, there's no guarantee that another offer will ever eventuate. I'd held the dream in my hands and I was choosing - CHOOSING - to let it go.

But once it was done, I felt nothing but relief.

Turning down a contract on our house may have been the wrong decision, but I've never regretted my decision to turn down that book contract.

Your say. Would you have taken that contract, or turned it down? What are you looking for in a publishing house that might influence your decision to say yes or no?

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Karen Schravemade lives in Australia. When she's not chasing after three small children, she spends her spare minutes daydreaming about the intricate lives of characters who don't actually exist. Find her on her website and Twitter.

The Future of Hope-Filled Fiction, Part II: What's Coming Up & Why It Matters

A few weeks ago I spotlighted a few of my favorite upcoming releases, based on a recent article I wrote for Library Journal's November 2013 issue. You can read that here. And you can find the article here.

Today I would like to spotlight a few more websites for readers interested in following the trends and then mention another half dozen books I think are significant after perusing the release catalogues, conducting e-interviews, and surveying the web.

NovelCrossing was created last fall and continues to grow in its offerings. Created by Waterbrook Multnomah books, it is a sort of Goodreads of Christian fiction with so much to offer the CF reader. In addition to updated news, a calendar of releases and loads of great interviews and reviews, Novel Crossing has WONDERFUL interactive tools for readers.

There are reviews by a variety of readers. You can create your own bookshelves of books you want to read, have read, or are reading just as you can on Goodreads or Library Thing. There are over 5,000 titles in the database. If you run a book club, there are also great features here including sample questions and ideas for your next gathering. And this site is planning more for 2014.

Amish Living is a great site hosted by Thomas Nelson. I wasn't even aware of this site until writing my article. it features online book clubs for Amish subgenre lovers. According to a Library Journal September survey, Amish fiction is the category of CF offered by the most libraries across the country. Authors Wanda Brunstetter and Beverly Lewis' books are among the top four CF authors included in libraries.

Its social network has almost 8K members and is very interactive. You can chat in forums or groups. There are pages about all topics Amish including recipes, travel, and furniture. Interactive book clubs share monthly discussions about a variety of books in the subgenre. I think this site is significant because of the interactivity and community it offers. Even if you aren't an Amish fan, its worth a look.

Thirdly, I learned about a new-to-me site, Edelweiss. Similiar to NetGalley, bloggers and professionals can request review copies of advanced and new releases. Perhaps I'm behind the times and everyone else knows about this site! What is great about Edelweiss Above the Treeline is that you can peruse upcoming book catalogues. What better way to trace the trends than that! Edeleweiss is a very useful site for retailers and libraries but I believe it is essential for us to stay current in trend-watching and this site can help us do it.

Here are a few more books I think are representative of what's new in 2014:

1) Amish Vampires in Space by Kerry Nietz:

OK, yes, I know (cringe).

In the words of one of my favorite songwriters, anything goes, right?

Pushing the envelope, we may at first simply laugh at the title, but it is a reminder that satire is entering the Christian fiction realm. Christian fiction and a sense of humor can go together.

And perhaps the absurd can find its way into Christian fiction, whether for good or ill.

2) The Miting by Dee Yoder:

Amish fiction has typically been the realm of the idyllic, happily-ever-after ending but we're beginning to see a new style of Christian fiction. An example would be the release of Alice Wisler's Still Life in Shadows inspired by a character in National Geographic's Amish: Out of Order series.

This upcoming year sees the release of several books about Amish and Mennonites who have a different view of the lifestyle. In these books, the members find the life restrictive and legalistic and find themselves in a different type of Christian life in the outside world after an "escape."

Still other releases feature Amish young people during their Rumspringa (a teenage time of questioning) who must decide whether to stay or leave. In these books, the decisions made are varying. This is clearly not your mother's Amish fiction.

3) Defy the Night by Heather and Lydia Munn:

Christian young adult fiction has increased its scope. Contemporary issues and fantasy have long been staples of the YA Christian fiction market but I'm thrilled to see historicals and other offerings for the young adult market.

To increase that diversity, a new CF YA line has been launched this fall, Playlist. Can't wait to see what will be coming next! Since I have a daughter in the preteen years I am especially anxious to see quality and faith-filled novels in the young adult and children's markets.

4) Edwin by Edouardo Albert:

A debut novel about Christian Britain's early rulers is set in a unique time period. The medieval time period is one that hasn't had very much attention in CF and I'm glad to see it getting a chance.

Noteworthy also is the fact that it is published by Lion Fiction, an imprint with a 2013 launch that has made it a goal to publish fiction with "complex characters and exciting historical settings." Offerings include: mysteries, historical fiction, fantasies, and women's fiction.

5) For Such a Time by Kate Breslin:

World War fiction is hitting it big with the anniversary for the Great War (many of those titles coming up as mentioned in my previous installment with the popularity of Downton Abbey). World War II is another popular choice.

Breslin's debut book and How Sweet the Sound by Amy Sorrells are a few books that tap into biblical history to make parallels to historical and contemporary times.




These covers are books I can't wait to devour. How about you.

What books are you most excited about that are set to release in 2014??

Inspired Writing, Food for the Soul

By Jono Hale on CreationSwap

I looked important, with my satchel filled with books and manuscripts, and my nifty note-cards outlining my speech. And in a classroom filled with fifth graders, I might have seemed pretty important. My first talk as an “author” (without the publishing contract...yet), was a couple of weeks ago. I was told to bring along what I read as a child, explain how reading inspires writing, and what goes into writing a good story.

It wasn't long before this engagement, that I had visited my oldest son's middle school book fair. Let me tell you, I was a little shocked at the novels that seemed to replace the content of my own middle school reads. Yeah, you aren't suppose to judge a book by its cover, and that is exactly what I was doing. But let's face it, how many eleven year-olds don't?

What was displayed was dark and depressing individuals who might have come out of a Bram Stoker novel. Now, I am the first to say I love good drama. Tragedy? You bet! Heck, I played a couple of Shakespearean heroines in my time. But I think I might have had nightmares if I walked into that book fair a couple decades ago.

By Kyle Reed on CreationSwap

So back to the fifth grade classroom. With that book fair experience fresh in my mind, what should I say?

I decided to encourage the kids to seek out books that lift them up, not bring them down. In these uneasy times, it seems kids need that more than ever. I think as writers sharing the gospel, we should consider this not only for young impressionable minds, but to share the love of Christ to all our audiences. After all, His story is one of Victory and Light. Even in a tumultuous tale with depraved characters and deplorable circumstances, shouldn't we sew in a thread of Light?

As inspirational writers, there are a couple of things we should consider with each tale we weave:

Good vs. Evil. We all know that even fiction can shape how a reader views the world and possibly affect what choices they make. That might be the main reason most of us write it! Whether it is a contemporary  novel with a materialistic antagonist botching a selfless protagonist's plan for a charity event, or an historical romance with a ruthless slave owner and a battered wife running for her life, Good vs. Evil is a universal theme that always works. Story conflict, black moments, and character lies/development win big with Good vs. Evil in mind. And in my own opinion, there is nothing wrong with writing a book where Good wins. After all, it is true...or at least it will be. ;)

By Rich Aguilar on CreationSwap

What Goes In, Will Come Out. If you feed your reader's heart junk, then it will eventually show in their actions and their words. Write what lifts them up, what sheds Truth, even in fiction, so their soul is continuously fed veggies and fruits...no trans fat allowed! For us discerning adults, this is certainly a matter of opinion. When I considered the age group of readers I spoke to, I emphasized this in the books they chose to read. It reminded me of myself at their age. After I had read a certain series on pre-teens who cared more about their clothes than their friends, I walked away with a lens of materialism, even if it eventually wore off. Grown-up novels minus the soul veggies might do the same to an adult reader. We see how impressionable viewers of movies and t.v. shows have become in today's culture, be certain that our writing might change a reader's perception too. As writers, let us feel responsible to feed our readers the best soul food we can cook up!

By Marian Trinidad on CreationSwap

When I left the classroom, the teacher gave me a mug which stated, “Dreams Come True”. Ah, I so hoped it would be a sign that a publishing contract is waiting just around the corner. But as I sit here and think about it, part of my dream really did come true that day in the classroom. I had the chance to inspire young readers to seek out the Good...and eventually, open a book inspired by the Perfect Author of our lives. What better dream come true is that?

When you write a story, do you consider Good vs. Evil in the initial plotting? Have you read any fiction lately that provides good soul food? Please share with us!

***************************************************************************

Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous, mothering days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

What;s Up the Street Next Week

Here at the Alley we wish to encourage others along the writing journey. If you've been blessed by our blog, here's your opportunity to let others know.

Below is the link to a contest to vote for your favorite writing blog! Even if it's not the Alley, please check this out and vote for your favorite blog. It's a great opportunity to encourage bloggers :-)

http://writetodone.com/favorite-writing-blog-8th-annual-top-10-blogs-for-writers-contest-2013/


It's a great week this week!
From Angie's Monday post about her talk with young writers to Karen's post about saying 'no to a contract'

Stop by and see what surprises we have in store for you!

Blessings today - from Our Alley to Yours

Saturday Chat in the Chocolate Cafe with DiAnn Mills

DiAnn Mills has won over fifteen awards for her myriad of books. She's a regular conference speaker and mentor for The Writers Guild. As we take our seats in the Chocolate Cafe, two things I like best about DiAnn: her quick smile and her long Texas accent.

She's visiting with us today to talk about characters and she's has the creds for it. Many of her conference talks are about building strong characters. Pull up a seat, snag a chocolate-drizzled raspberry pastry, and join us.

Who is one of your favorite characters you've written and why?

My character of choice is Kariss Walker, heroine in The Chase and The Survivor. Actually I would have loved a whole lot more stories with her. The reason? She's spunky and she writes romantic suspense novels. 

I love this character because she stepped out of her comfort zone to find the answers to crimes that touched her. Kariss Walker is fearless, compassionate, and able to embrace love. She understood her flaws and had the courage
to face her demons head on. 

Writing characters who leave a lasting impression in the heart of the reader means digging deep into the heart and soul of that character. Although I’m a seat of the pants writer (organic), I have to know everything possible about the character before I begin writing. The process involves a character sketch, personality testing, psychology books, counseling aids, and backstory. For me, it’s impossible to write chapter one, line one without knowing the psychology of my character. 

Fantastic reminders, DiAnn. 

Readers - how do you make sue you've dug deep into the development of your characters?

Quote for Today:

“But, how do you know if an ending is truly good for the characters unless you've traveled with them through every page?” 
― Shannon Hale, Midnight in Austenland

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Don’t Leave Your Reader Behind: How to Tackle Internal Transitions (plus a giveaway!)

Casey here: Rachelle Rea has one of those smiles that is absolutely contagious. Someday I hope to meet this girl in person, because I think we'd jabber for hours ever after. ;-) Rachelle is here to share a couple great editing tips, so get that red pen ready to make some changes! Speaking of editing...how would you like to have 50 pages of your work given an edit after the craze of NaNoWriMo has passed? Rachelle is offering one fortunate winner the chance to have her editing services over 50 of your pages. Leave a comment below for a chance to win! :-)

Have you ever been reading a scene in a novel where the conversation centers on the main character’s boyfriend’s puppy—and suddenly someone mentions they

Photo credit

saw Grandma at the grocery store yesterday?

Have you ever been watching a movie in which the music is slow, the dim light depressing, the look on the lonesome man’s face is heartbreaking—and suddenly a chimney sweep steps up and asks him where he bought his shoes?

Have you ever been listening to a song where the tempo is upbeat, the lyrics simple—and then suddenly the singer starts crooning his lines in French?

What?All of these situations caused you to raise your eyebrows, tilt your head, or wonder where I’m going with this, right?J

That’s because these situations lack fluidity, rhythm, a clear segue from puppies to Grandma, loneliness to shoes, a catchy beat to French.

This is one of the most common problems I encounter as an editor.I’ve worked with playwrights and poets, novelists and new authors, and even writers whose first languages aren’t English. A problem common to all is the continuity break—most often, this problem occurs internally in deep POV (rather than aloud as in my examples).

I’ll be trotting through a scene in which the Queen survives an assassination attempt and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the main character’s thoughts veer to what she plans to do Saturday morning.Huh?

This transition makes perfect sense to the author, and it should make perfect sense to readers. There can absolutely be relevance between a foiled assassination and Saturday morning to-do lists. But that relevance must be made clear to readers. Or else they’ll feel left behind.

Here are two ways to tackle transitional thinking:

·         Transitional Words and Phrases

The easiest way to ensure a solid flow of thought while in deep POV is to use tried-and-true transitions. Remember those papers you wrote for your high school English class? How did you jump from paragraph to paragraph (or even from point to point within paragraphs)?

Easy.You didn’t. No jumping allowed. You transitioned instead. You plopped in a Furthermore, a However, an In fact, Nevertheless, or In contrast.

These fun little words and phrases will not only alert your readers that a segue is being made between thoughts, they’ll hint at what kind—if you use furthermore, they’ll expect a type of continuation; if you use however or in contrast, they’ll look for the difference between what’s been said and the contrary thought the character is entertaining.

·         Transitional Thoughts

Let’s say our hero and heroine are elbow-deep in dirty dishes after he’s cooked her dinner (because he’s cool like that). She asks him how work went today. He explains how the guy in the next office spilled his coffee on his shirt, fell out of his chair, and in the process accidentally tripped the fire alarm. He glances at her, expecting a laugh. She pats him on the arm instead. His reaction: Wha…?

He’s definitely confused. But what if we’re in her POV? We’ve gotten short, silent reactions to his story, only they’re not the reactions our hero is hoping for. She’s concerned about the third-degree burns our hero’s coworker may have received and is calculating how much inconvenience her man suffered as a result of the impromptu fire drill. So she gives him a sympathetic look and pats him on the arm with a sudsy hand.

He may be stunned, but because of the snippets of her thought process, readers understand her reaction—and laugh at the confused look on his face.

Those snippets of her thoughts smooth the connection between the story he’s relaying and how she’s hearing it.

So there you have it. Two tips that will work every time there’s a break in continuity, flow, or rhythm in your writing.

Any questions? …Oh, yes, you can absolutely use both methods at the same time.

…How much is too much? Well, a little does go a long way (you never want the transitional method(s) to weigh more than the thoughts on either side), but sometimes you need to apply transitions more liberally—such as when the transition is as out-there as the main character’s boyfriend’s puppy and someone seeing Grandma at the grocery store.

Rachelle Rea believes the power of story can transform, so she studies story as a senior at university this year and lives story in her little town in the South where the air is slightly salty. Find out more about Rachelle's writing, editing, and favorite word at www.RachelleRea.com.