September Meeting Recap: Guest Robin Lovett

By K.A. Magrowski

One of the advantages of helping run a large and successful writing group is getting to meet and schedule so many great authors to give talks and presentations. The South Jersey Writers’ Group has hosted many wonderful authors who have given talks on the craft of writing, the business of publishing, and the joys of creativity. Each time, beforehand, I think, what can this person possibly tell me that I haven’t heard or read before?

Each time I am pleasantly surprised, and hearing Robin Lovett speak was no exception. Robin spoke on writing that “unputdownable” book that will hook editors, agents, and readers and how to turn a good story into a great one. So, you may be asking, how does one do that? Well…

Don’t neglect Emotion

The more we emotionally connect to a character, the more invested we are in a book and the less likely we will want to put it down. We will need to keep reading to find out what happens and, more importantly, how the characters will be affected. Emotion brings each scene alive and each scene should be a journey.

How can we convey emotion? Body language, tone of voice, the visceral response of the character, their internal thoughts and mental journey. Think of acting – how would this play out in a movie? How would I, if I were the character as an actor, make this face? How would I feel? How would I perform that motion?

If you hook the reader in the gut, chances are they won’t want to put the book down. If they must, they will continue thinking about it. I know I have read books where both during and afterwards, I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters. Driving, working, cooking. Sometimes all that took second place (at least for a while) to the novel or story.

Turn up the Conflict and Tension

When writing, we also should be thinking, what’s the worst that can happen? How can I increase the conflict and tension? How will my characters react to what’s happening? There should be a crisis moment in every scene. Of course, this doesn’t mean someone getting killed or an explosion, but something crucial to the character, something important. And here’s the important part: the reader must know/understand why this scene is crucial, why what is happening is significant.

This blog post cannot convey the best part of Robin’s presentation. Her absolute and utter passion and joy for what she does. Part of my day job sometimes involves getting up in front of people and providing training or education and I was literally taking notes on how to engage a crowd from her. I could feel her enthusiasm seeping into the group and being reflected back.

I’d like to part with a few tidbits Robin gave on how to be better writer (who doesn’t want to know “the secrets” of a successful writer, right?)

• Know your genre and subgenre

• Know the current work being written and what agents and editors (and readers!) want (personally I think this important, not so much so we can copycat the latest success story, but just so we are aware of trends. You can’t break the rules until you know them.)

• Always keep on learning

• Find what fuels you to write

• Be willing and ready to accept critique to make your story the best it can be

Best of all and most importantly - Give your story the respect and the time it deserves! Don’t rush to publish (or pitch) without a genuine effort at receiving feedback, rewriting, and editing. Remember only you can tell the story inside of you so make sure it reflects the best you are capable of at that time!

Kathryn Craft Tunes Our Storytelling Engines

By Glenn Walker

This past Thursday at the regular monthly meeting of the South Jersey Writers' Group, we had a very special guest. Author, editor, blogger, and member of the Philadelphia Liars Club, Kathryn Craft came to speak with our group. Her topic - Tune Your Storytelling Engine.

Kathryn's talk took us through a basic understanding of story structure, but more importantly how it works, why it works, and how to fix it when it doesn't work. Along with her presentation she provided an excellent handout outlining the process. For over an hour she dazzled us with her talent and experience, answering questions and discussing obstacles and solutions with the group. I could tell you what we talked about, but I don't want to spill all of Kathryn's secrets here. You can check out her work in that area at writing-partner.com and at The Blood-Red Pencil.

At the end of her presentation, Kathryn Craft read an enticing and emotional excerpt from her debut novel, The Art of Falling. Much of her presentation came from her experiences writing this and her upcoming second novel, so it only cemented a very subtle sales pitch for the book. I bought mine for Nook on my iPhone while she talked earlier in the evening. I'm reading it now, and it's excellent. The only downside is I couldn't get Kathryn to sign my new ebook copy.

We at the South Jersey Writers' group thank Kathryn Craft for her time and spending a wonderful evening with us. She was entertaining, educational, inspirational, and one very cool lady as well. She rocks. If you'd like to get in touch with Ms. Craft, you can go to her website, and you can buy her novel The Art of Falling here.

Merry Jones at SJWG

Guest Blog by Victoria Marie Lees.

At the South Jersey Writers Group monthly meeting held on November 2l, 2013, writers and friends welcomed Merry Jones, an established novelist and writing teacher at Temple University. Merry has a master’s degree in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania and an impressive array of writing credentials from humor to non-fiction to mystery, including her latest release, Outside Eden.

Merry opened her discussion with a surprising fact: The average writer earns about $3,500 per year.

“So why do we write?” She asked the assembled writing group.

That’s a good question.

Merry informed the group that some people have a need to communicate. Writing is a communication process. “Writers are writers because they can’t help it. If we don’t write, we feel guilty.”

The process of writing is a lifestyle for the writer according to Merry. It’s a part of their personality, a basic fundamental aspect of their lives.

One of her grad school professors felt that creative people must create. If they didn’t, there would be physical symptoms to deal with. Merry finds she becomes grouchy and agitated if she doesn’t write regularly.

While some writers at the meeting agreed, some writers felt that they needed to wait for inspiration or a reason to write. This brought up a very real obstacle for many writers: incentive. With no agent, no book deal, why am I writing? Why write if I’m not getting paid to write. I should find a real job and make money.

Merry understood their quandary. She had it at the beginning of her career, too. She informed the group how the publishing field has changed since she wrote her first book, advances are much smaller, no paid tours by the publishing house. Editors don’t promote writers like they used to. They don’t help writers much.

“In publishing no one is your friend,” Merry said, “not your agent, not your publisher. Sales numbers are how you acquire your next book deal.”

Merry was cut by St. Martin’s Press because she was a midlister, as that publisher eliminated all midlisters at that time. Her agent cut her off too. She was lucky, though. Through some writing friends she acquired another agent about a year later, and because she continued to write, Merry had books to give her new agent. Small presses are a good alternative to the big publishing houses.

Writing groups are essential for both the budding writer as well as established writers. “All writers need writers to share experiences, energy, and the drive to continue writing.” Merry said.

And she’s correct.

Do people really decide to become writers or is it instinctive? What do you think? Why do you write?

About today's guest-blogger:

Victoria Marie Lees has been a member of the South Jersey Writers' Group for several years, maintains blogs at Adventures in Writing: One Woman's Journey, Parenting Special Needs Children, and Camping with Kids, and she can be found on Twitter.