The Map to Finding your Voice

May 18, 2016September 12, 2016 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ 6 Comments

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Voice is like a hidden treasure. Once you discover it and open its lid, riches abound. For some writers, voice is something they have sailed many seas to find. So, we’ve made a map to make it easier.

I’ve talked before about how VOICE comes from living life and experiencing new things, and that can be true. It can also come from within, knowing yourself, but what makes readers love the Voice of a book? Authenticity comes to mind. There is a voice inside of us all. Once we find it, we genuinely make friends through our characters with our readers. Continue reading →

How to Find the Right Literary Agent

May 4, 2016September 12, 2016 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ 2 Comments

pexels-photo-165226-medium How to find The One.

If you have no clue about how to find the right agent, go on this journey with me to find the one…

I want to develop a career as an author, say, for the next 30 years, so I’ll want to take researching an agent seriously. It’s not as easy as buying a pair of new shoes or I’d have one already, but it’s not as involved as getting married –somewhere in between. And, with all relationships, there is a bit of risk involved, but there are also ways to narrow down the search to agents that seem like a good fit.

So. Where do I start? With agents that represent books I like and genres I write.

I read about them on query tracker and publishers market places, writers blogs, and interviews. I do the research. Make sure their agency is legit/established and operates with integrity. Find out if the agent has a good track record. Pubrants has great thoughts on this.

Go deeper. I reflect.

Continue reading →

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Plot

April 20, 2016May 31, 2018 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ 7 Comments

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There is no one way to developing plot. Plotting. Pantsing. Both. But there are basic phases that writers need to think about.

1. The beginning. 2. The middle. 3. The end. But what I have found that new writers even struggle to do this. They need a model, a clear example of how others build their plot. Continue reading →

Why Your Book Needs a Theme and How to Write it

April 12, 2016September 14, 2016 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ 2 Comments

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I recently rewatched the latest Cinderella. If there was one take away the writer (Chris Weitz) or director (Kenneth Branagh) left us with; the one projection he stamped the world with was this: Have courage and be kind.

A universal truth, a beautiful and powerful way of life. A phrase easily remembered and jotted down; a quote shared and mused over. Continue reading →

How to Train a Writer

April 6, 2016September 14, 2016 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

Writers are a special breed of human. To help your writer grow, please put them
immediately in (large or small, mainly clean) pens with other writers. (i.e. writers partners or groups, conferences, book fests, libraries.) Give them hours talking about imaginary scenarios and people and places.

They’ll need some kind food and drink. Coffee and tea have been proven to stimulate growth in
terms of word count and their behavior will stabilize enough to focus on plot. Feed them books regularly. If you find they like a certain kind, add more to the diet.

Continue reading →

How to Trim Your Story and Cut Clutter

Video ~ March 9, 2016September 21, 2016 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ 5 Comments

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My novel has been under the knife since February. The goal? 20-30k words, slashed, slaughtered, eliminated forever.

What does that feel like? A bit like this: Princess Bride: To the Pain Continue reading →

The Dichotomy of a Great Character

February 22, 2016January 14, 2020 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ 5 Comments

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What does a pirate who is afraid of water have in common with a thief who has a conscious or a snowman who loves summer? What about that monster who is innocent and wants to be loved? That vampire who detests human blood? That sister who wants to save a life but must kill to do it?

At a conference awhile back I heard an agent talk about internal contradictions in characters. Basically, she claimed that the greatest characters, the ones who keep coming back around, are those with the greatest internal and external dichotomy –what they do contrasts with who they are.

This contradiction causes tension and conflict. We are being pulled to opposite ends. It begs resolution. How can we bring these two sides together so there is peace? Continue reading →