Knowing Your Premise Before Sitting Down to Write

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of books sent to me from authors that have both traditionally and non-traditionally (be it self-published, P.O.D or any other format out these days) published books from children to main stream. Many I have enjoyed, while others I have walked away with thoughts of how the story could have been better. But the one thing I noticed no matter how the author went about publishing the book is this…the stories I truly enjoyed, related to and found myself lost in as a reader all had a well defined premise.

All well told stories start with a premise. This isn’t me just stating my own belief about writing or how it works for me as an author sitting down to write. This is a hardcore truth we all must face and if we as writers sit down without knowing this premise to our story before our fingers hit the keys—we need to be honestly open to feedback we get before and after we publish our work.

For those new to writing or still learning the ropes, let me explain what a premise is and why it is important to this before sitting down to write—if you truly want to be like the “Great” authors we all cherish—be it Dickens, Wolf, Pearson, King, Rice, Tolkien, Rowling and so on.

In a writing meeting I attended, one of the authors shared the following about premise and I liked it so much, I wrote it down. I now share it with you.

In How to Write a Damn Good Novel, it is explained, “Writing a story without a premise is like rowing a boat without oars.” To go a bit further Carol shared the following:

• The premise is the reason you are writing what you are writing. It is the point you have to prove, your purpose for telling this particular story.

• The premise is NOT a universal truth. It is true only for that novel.

I do need to stress however not to confuse your premise with your stories them. There is a really good article by Rob Parnell at http://easywaytowrite.com/theme_and_premise.html that addresses this.  

When you think of your premise, keep what Hemingway once said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” This quote has always really hit me as an author because as we sit down to write, we are opening our soul to the world. We are sharing bits of ourselves with each word, thought and action our characters take. Each story comes from something deep within us that we either need answered or feel we need to share with others—our original idea or premise.

 You may also notice a premise can be used as your pitch line to an agent or publisher. Premises are also used has the “Hook” on the blurb of most books. Most readers when asking about your manuscript or published book want to know the premise, even if they don’t use this term. As you can see, knowing your premise, keeping it at the front of all your writing and truly letting it guide you through your plot will help you create an original work that will engage and bring your reader deeper into your story.

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VS Grenier is an award-winning author & editor, founder of Stories for Children Publishing, LLC, chief editor for Halo Publishing, Int. and also the founder & host of blog talk radio's featured station The World of Ink Network. Learn more at http://vsgrenier.com

 

Dialogue Doctor

By Julie Daines

I recently had to put together some pages of dialogue that could be used as an audition scene for actors. This was in preparation for filming a book trailer.

No problem, I thought. I can just lift some dialogue out of a scene and stick it on a screenplay template in my Scrivener app. The Scrivener part was easy, but I learned something about dialogue in the process.

When I took my characters' dialogue away from all the tags and beats and internal thought woven through it and had to stick to JUST the words the characters speak, something happened.

My dialogue went from awesome to lame. Fast. Wake up call.

If I want to check my dialogue and make sure it sounds realistic, age appropriate, and organic (which is a fancy way of saying not cheesy), all I have to do is remove my perfectly placed tags, beats, and interiority and look at the words all by themselves.

Want to analyze your dialogue and kick it up a notch? Give it a try. You'll be surprised!


Shameless self promotion: I'm running a giveaway contest on my blog this week. Anyone can enter to win two wonderful books. www.juliedaines.com

The Art of Self Publishing

Today we have illustrator and author J.D. Holiday sharing some tips on self publishing children's books. I know many of you may want to traditionally get your books published, but for those who are adventurous or are open to self publishing, you'll find these tips very helpful.

My Tips on Self-Publishing

                                             By J.D. Holiday

I know of two ways to self-publish and I've done them both ways. One way is to use publishing services. There are many publishing services out there and some are not perfect to say the least. Some offer packages of different levels of services to pick from, others give you a set fee and they do all the work. They can cost from $500 to $1500, even higher to get your books in print. Most of them will take your files and design your book or you can upload your files and work out the design yourself. I know authors who have had good luck with some of these services and it seems simple enough if you have the money. I was not one of the lucky ones going this way and decided I had to learn what there was to know to have my books printed.

The second way I know of is to learn about getting a book made from beginning to end. This is sometimes called, independent publishing. Doing it this way, you have to hire the printer, the book designer and pros for anything else you find you can't do yourself; including the marketing and more. But there is satisfaction that comes from doing it all yourself.

For independent publishing, you will need to find information about every step you'll have to take. If your books need illustrations and you are not an artist, you should start right here. You will need to find an illustrator and pay them for the pictures or split the money made on each book you make with them. Though you can consider the two of you sharing the whole cost of producing the book together. In addition, you can buy stock photos for your book. (Research stock photos to find out more about it.)

If you do consider going the independent publishing route, you will need to find out about:

1. Computer software or book design
2. Starting your publishing business (Not all printers will work with anyone who isn't a publishing company.)
3. Coming up with a budget
4. Coming up with the money
5. Buy your own ISBN numbers
6. Decide if you will do POD (Print on Demand) or do offset printing
7. Find a printer. (For picture books that may be overseas for 4-color printing and lower cost though you will have to order maybe one or two thousand copies and find a warehouser or a place you can store the books away from too much heat and humidity. There are also POD printers in the USA that do 4-color printing AND the cost is low.)
8. Book consultants and packagers
9. Galleys
10. Returned books (You will need to know about this early on.)
11. Marketing help and/or plan
12. Website and SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
13. Writing letters
14. Business cards

AND much, much more!

The publishing business is not an easy one. I advise you to do your own research. The internet can help you find the information you will need. There are sites for just about everything on publishing. Research people who can do the jobs you can't do yourself and READ everything you can on publishing.

                                                                                                            ~JD Holiday

Some Books to Read:

PRINT-ON-DEMAND BOOK PUBLISHING by Morris Rosenthal. I can't say enough about this book. He covers the latest information about POD, the publishing business, and marketing your books while saying it in everyday language. His detailed information on Search Engine Optimization was a great help.

THE PUBLISHING GAME, PUBLISH a Book in 30 Days by Fern Reiss. Though I don't think anyone should undertake publishing a book in 30 days, this book has a good plan to follow. It goes through what to do and when to do it. You will define you goal, write the cover copy, understand book pricing, learn about software, book layout, and galleys. It has a list of PRINTERS, learn about listing your book with bookstores, and know how to ship books, (and YES) returns.

The Self-Publishing Manual, How to Write, Print and Sell your Own Books by Dan Poynter. This is a reference book for authors self-publishing with nothing left out and resources for everything.

WEBSITES

http://www.fonerbooks.com/selfpublishing/  Morris Rosenthal's site.

http://www.gropenassoc.com/index.htm   This is a Reference Desk with everything at a click. Marketing/price setting/ design info/ editing/finance/ management/ technical info in publishing and links to everything self-publishers need.

www.publishinggame.com   Fern Reiss' site, like her book, keeps writers and publishers informed and up to date.

http://wexfordpress.com/index.html   John Cullenton's site offers do-it-yourself find out about indexing, book coaching, shepards, packagers, book design, and typesetting. See his lists of specialists.

http://www.newselfpublishing.com   Aaron Shepard's site. This site has tips for young and older authors. Aaron Shepard's Bulletin is helpful with info on self-publishing, software for creating your books, printers info. I read his newsletter each month.

www.aeonix.com   Pete Masterson's site. BOOK Printer's list and what they print, info on POD and Digital companies, Vanity press info, page layout, Book design, and software.

Copyright attorney, Lloyd L. Rich's site http://www.publaw.com/

Copyright attorney, Ivan Hoffman www.ivanhoffman.comwww.ivanhoffman.com  

Copyright information. www.copyright.gov

ISBN#'s   http://www.bowker.com/http://www.bowker.com/  

 

J.D. Holiday is the author and illustrator of four children's books. Picture books: JANOOSE THE GOOSE, THE SPY GAME, and Matt Shelley's Halloween Misadventure with Award-winning author, Christy Condoleo, and the chapter book for 6 to 8 year olds, THE GREAT SNOWBALL ESCAPADE. J.D. Holiday is a co-host on It's Story Time, Gather 'Round with Christy Condoleo on Blog Talk Radio's World Of Ink Network:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork

You can find out more about J.D. Holiday, her books and World of Ink Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/bzwlprd

Follow J.D. Holiday at

The Book Garden http://www.thebookgarden.net

J.D’s Writers Blog http://jdswritersblog.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @JDHoliday

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JDspage

Facebook Fan: www.facebook.com/BooksByJDHoliday

Publisher Website: http://www.thebookgarden.net

Writing a Book Series with Award-winning Author Kai Strand

One question I'm asked a lot by beginning writers or readers of children's or YA is do I write series. Over the years it seems more and more authors are writing series be it a children's picture book or young adult novel. 

I believe there are a few reasons why this is happening. The first and most common reason is because the main storyline/plot is too big to wrap up in one book with enough details being shared with the reader. The second reason is some characters in picture books to young adult novels are so beloved the author keeps finding new situations and plots for their main character.

This is why I asked friend and award-winning author Kai Strand to share her thoughts on writing a book series.

Help! How Do I Write a First Draft?

By Julie Daines


So, I've written three complete novels. One to be published late next year.

I just finished my third a week or two ago.

And now, as I stare at a blank Scrivener document, I can't remember how to write something new.

Oh sure, I have lots of stories percolating in my brain. I don't have writer's block per se.

I just can't remember how to get the ball rolling.

So I need your advice.

What are your tips and trade secrets to spewing out that first draft? Do you outline? Do you wing it? Do you write without chapter divisions? Do you write in scenes? Where do you go to generate plot ideas? What is your one, fail-proof step that helps you get the story flowing?

Please feel free to elaborate!

How Do You Come Up with the Title of Your Books with Author Alyce Joy

I try to find what I think is the most interesting words in the book, to draw the attention of the child. In my first book, the very first word and the last word is KA-BOOM! It seemed obvious to me the title should be KA-BOOM!

My next book is called, “The Snookered Snookerdoodles”. The Snookerdoodles are the bad guys and Sprout helps Kalynn, a frail challenged girl, have enough faith and trust in herself to single handedly foil the Snookerdoodles attempt to ruin the land of Bippenpook and its people.

To the Bippenpookers, Kalynn becomes a heroine because she snookered the Snookerdoodles. This all happens because of Sprout. To me, the title stood out like a beacon.

I try to make my titles and first page reach out to the child and grab his or her imagination right then. KA-BOOM! could have been called, “Sprout the Fairy” or “The Queen’s Favorite Fairy”. I don’t feel it is fair to Sprout to send her story out with a lukewarm title and beginning.

The lessons from these stories are as good for me as they are for the children. KA-BOOM! has a lesson for everybody. Never give up. The lesson in “The Snookered Snookerdoodles” is also one we all can use. Have faith and believe in yourself.

I actually don’t have a lesson in mind when I’m writing my story. When my story is finished and I’m reading it over, the lesson pops out at me and I say, “yes-s-s, that’s what I mean.”

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Alyce Joy was blessed with four children for whom she composed bedtime verses every night. That inspired her to publish a children’s book of prayers, entitled, “Priceless Gems.” When her children were grown, she began to write stories for her grandchildren.

Always fascinated with arts and crafts, she taught herself the art of pyrography. This fired her imagination, and she started burning life-sized pictures of wildlife onto all the doors of her home. Her wood burnings are scattered through the U.S. and Canada.

After deciding to put away her burning tools and torches, she enrolled in, and graduated from the Institute of Children’s Literature.

Alyce Joy hopes every child who reads her stories will look forward to each new adventure, as her favorite fairy becomes entangled into many, outrageous happenstances.

Follow Alyce Joy at

Website http://alycejoy.com

Publisher http://www.halopublishing.com/bookstore/Ka-Boom

Alyce Joy's book KA-BOOM! is about a little fairy named Sprout that runs into trouble quite often. She has a shoe fetish, but is one of the queen’s favorites because in the end she gets the job done.

Get a sneak peek of the book at http://youtu.be/Hq9sfmzH0-w  

Available wherever books are sold and online.

 

The World of Ink Network & Halo Publishing, Int. is touring author Alyce Joy’s fantasy adventure children’s chapter book, Ka-Boom! throughout August 2012. You can find out more about Alyce Joy’s World of Ink Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/8q5vw74 

The Proper Care and Receiving of Criticism

By Julie Daines

As writers, we are constantly putting our writing out there for critique. We have writing groups, beta-readers, we win a critique from someone, we get a rejection letter enumerating all that is wrong with our story. It's a tough business and we need a thick skin.

So let's talk a little about how to receive criticism. Some of it is valuable, some of it--not so much. How do you know what to accept and what to reject?

First of all, consider the source. If an agent or editor tells you the story is too slow or the voice is off, listen. Agent feedback is valuable and almost always spot on.

When it comes to your writing group, they feel it is their job to point out as many problems as possible. If they have no negative feedback they feel they are failing at their responsibility so they may dwell on the nit-picky. As we say in my group, scraping the bottom of the barrel. Consider their advice and then go with your gut reaction.

Non-writer feedback can be useful because they tend to look at the story as a whole. But if your writing falls outside of their preferred genre, their feedback could mean nothing.

Second, pay attention to the feedback's level. Criticism that considers the story as a whole is more valuable than the nit-picky. If a reader mentions overall plot issues, says the story didn't hook them, it was confusing, didn't care about the main characters, too much repetition, too slow--those are red flags. Listen up and fix it.

If the feed back is full of nit-picky small stuff then those are the kinds of changes you think about and then go with what you feel is right for your story.

If a reader says your story just really isn't their thing, no problem. Move on. They are not the target audience.

In the end, all criticism is based on personal opinion and should be carefully considered. Most writers and readers that offer feedback are well-meaning and want to help you write the best story you can, so don't get offended or disheartened by negative comments. Listen to them, think about why that person said what they did, and then use those comments to strengthen your writing.

What are your tips for receiving (or giving) criticism?

Coincidentally, I just noticed that Mary Kole wrote an excellent article on agent vs. paid editorial feedback and why agents say the things they do. Check it out.

What is Story Form?

There are many different types of stories and styles to write them—but each may be described as consisting of the unified sequence of events having a beginning, middle and an ending. This is known as story form or a story’s structure.

Classic Plot Structure:

• Story beginning—establishes a main character and a basic situation.
• Story middle—develops a problem or difficulty and builds to a climax, which is then resolved.
• Story ending—concludes the story’s events, leaving the reader satisfied.

Now briefly consider the three elements common to storytelling and help build the story's structure.

Characters—It’s important to make your characters life-like. Whether they are human or animal, they are the lifeblood of your story. Main characters need to have more detail and a background/history.

Setting—Denotes a story’s timeline and place. A setting may be merely a backdrop, such as a home, school or park. Another kind of setting is the action setting that either creates or is directly related to the story’s conflict, like the storm in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Theme—This is the point of the story. It’s important not to have your story be devoid of ethical or moral content. By adding this element, you will have a more satisfying story and some degree of healthy growth or change in the main character—about themselves, others, his world, and perhaps about the larger world beyond.  

Please note: Young readers do not want to feel a moral is being taught while reading. The primary purpose of a story is to entertain…not point to an explicit moral. Let me say this again another way…stories entertain while hiding the moral being taught to the young readers.

When working on Setting  and your story form a common term you’ll hear is the “Rule of 3”. This means your main character must go through three challenges (each one bigger than the first) before resolving the problem/conflict. This helps build climax and keeps the pacing of the story engaging for young readers.

Note a good story’s form will seem natural and organic to the reader. The opening paragraph leads logically into the second and then third; the middle, climax and resolution all seem part of the natural flow. Nothing feels added in as an afterthought or just there for the mere purpose of detail.

Many factors may determine the climax and resolution of your story from a lucky chance to a surprising turn of events. No matter the problem (which can take form as an urgent conflict, puzzle, question or challenge) the plot structure is the strongest and most compelling when it generates suspense for the reader. 

It’s important to remember that the main character resolves the problem and must go through some type effort—a crucial action or decision that constitutes the story’s climax before the problem is resolved.

Master this classical story style first and then you can apply its lesson to other kinds of stories.

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Writing Prompt:

Use the list of 20 words below that have no obvious relationship to one another or pick your own words and throw them into a hat/bowl. Choose up to 5 words and try and working them into a story for young readers; or you may choose a single word as an idea-starter, letting it suggest other words and concepts via the process called “clustering”.

Be creative and have fun!

Brainstorming Words:

Whisper           Flag                 Patch               Leap

Candle             Slide                Cup                 Sing

Brush               Float                Park                Fell

Bark                Sky                  Warm              Flip

Pancakes         Bag                  Crack              Rainbow

Ringing True with Author Viji K. Chary

As you all know, I like to ask fellow authors and those who are doing a World of Ink Virtual Tour to share a guest post now and then on my Sunday postings. Today, I have author Viji K. Chary visiting us. She recently published a children's picture book, Porcupine's Seeds, however, she has been published in many children's magazines such as Highlights, Ludybug Magazine and Girls Life to name just a few.

I asked Viji K. Chary to share her view points, tips and insight on relating to children readers. I hope you enjoy her guest post as much as I have.

******

Writing for young children involves dedication and sincerity. As a writer, I try to tap into a young person’s emotions and thoughts to make my writing ring true.  

Young children show their emotions wholeheartedly. When a child is happy, he is all smiles, hopping like a jack rabbit or skipping around the room. When a child is sad, she may punch, cry or slam the door. When child is shy, he may hide behind a familiar person or cover his face. Young children show honest emotions and live in the moment. 

When writing for young children, I reach back into my memories. I remember traveling on a bus with my father when an elderly man winked at me.  With awe, I spend a good half hour manually shutting one eyelid. I could not coordinate my eye muscles to wink in a flash like he did. Another time, I remember being frightened as elevator doors opened between floors, leaving us with solid wood instead of an opening. I sensed my father’s panic. I remember the queasy feeling in my stomach when I was introduced to an adult that made me hide behind my mother. Once, my grandmother asked me to bring flowers from the garden. While in the garden, I was startled by an iguana behind a flower bush. I can still feel the prickling of my skin when I saw it. When I was six years old, I moved from a mostly African American school to a Caucasian school. Being Indian, there was a marked difference in acceptance for a student of color. I can still feel that inequality.

While I do not recall many incidents from my young childhood, the ones I do are filled with emotions - emotions that I can incorporate in my stories. Basic emotions, happiness, fear, shyness, wonder and anger stay the same through the generations. It is the settings and dialog that changes.

To stay in line with the setting and dialog of today, I ask my children or nephews to read my finished pieces. They will spot an error immediately. Once I wrote a story on a mouse named Red for kindergarteners. My nephew was confused with the color red and the name Red. He suggested that the mouse’s name be Jake. Jake it was.

A good children’s story, I think, has honest emotion and realistic setting and dialogue. I strive for this by keeping alive my childhood emotions. While I enjoy observing and spending time with young people in the family, it also strengthens my writing.

About the Author: 

Viji K. Chary was born in India and immigrated to the United States at the age of two. Her passion for writing stories began in elementary school and has evolved from coaching children in various activities; including gymnastics, classroom activities and creative competitions. Her stories have been published in Highlights for Children, Ladybug Magazine, Hopscotch for Girls and many more.

The World of Ink Network is currently touring author Viji K. Chary’s children’s picture book, Porcupine’s Seeds published by 4RV Publishing.

About the Book:

Porcupine longs to grow beautiful sunflowers in his garden just like Raccoon. When Raccoon give Porcupine seeds, she says that all they need is soil, sun, and water. But growing sunflowers is not easy for Porcupine.

Get a sneak peek of the book at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgDW_AdA1xg&feature=youtu.be

You can find out more about Viji K. Chary’s World of Ink Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/6wewb3c

To learn more about the World of Ink Tours visit http://worldofinknetwork.com