Guest post by Kate Palmer-- "The writing book that changed my life"

There are a handful of books I consider must-reads for anyone serious about getting published. Scene and Structure by Jack M. Bickham tops the list as the one book I credit with improving my writing the most.

Bickham was a student of Dwight V. Swain author of Techniques of the Selling Writer. His methods aren’t that different from Swain’s, and many are exactly the same. Bickham, however, is a gifted teacher.

Scene and sequel are referenced by many an editor and author. Bickham explains that today’s books must be written in scenes to appeal to the modern audience.

First, we must understand that scenes happen in real time. A scene is made up a goal (for the viewpoint character), conflict with about four twists and turns, and ends in a disaster for the viewpoint character. The disaster can take the form of

1.      Yes, she accomplished her goal, but . . . something that makes the situation worse, more complicated, etc.

2.      No, and furthermore . . . something that makes the situation worse, more complicated, etc.

3.      No

So the structure of a scene is:

Goal-Conflict-Disaster

A day before my book was scheduled for typesetting, I received a note from my editor asking if I could use more show and less tell in a particular chapter without adding a lot of words. I read through the chapter and nearly cried. It. Was. Awful. I had apparently skipped it entirely when I’d edited my book for scene and sequel according to Bickham’s structure.

The chapter consisted of several short vignettes which showcased character traits or provided information crucial to the plot. I knew I had to rewrite it according to Bickham’s scene structure to provide the show not tell my editor requested. I ended up merging three of those vignettes into one scene happening in real time with all of the characters present. Far from adding to the word count, this technique helped me to cut HALF of the chapter and still preserve all the critical information.

Each scene is followed by a sequel.

This is where the reader truly gets to know the viewpoint character. My main character is named Eva. My beta readers kept telling me they wanted to be inside Eva’s head more. When I started writing sequels according to Bickham’s method, my readers finally understood Eva’s motivations and actions. The structure of a sequel is:

Emotion-Thought-Decision-Action

This is where we see inside the character’s head. The character has just experienced a setback (the scene ending disaster) and will be feeling emotion first. What type and how long depends on your character. Next, the character will become a bit more rational in that he/she can think about what just happened and consider where to go from here. Naturally, your character will make a decision based on the emotion (first) and thoughts (second) he/she just experienced.

That decision will come in the form of action which will launch your character into the next scene complete with a new goal of what he/she needs to do next. Of course your character will meet with more opposition (conflict) that ends in disaster for the scene goal. Doubtless this will stir up emotions for your character who will then have to consider (think about) his/her circumstances and make a new decision for more action (new scene and goal).

And on it goes until a scene doesn’t end in disaster and some form of resolution is met for your character and you type The End.

I’ve only touched on a couple of key components taught in Scene and Structure by Jack M. Bickham. I highly recommend anyone serious about writing buy his book and read it with a highlighter. At least twice.

Thank you, Kate! For information on Kate Palmer's debut novel, The Guy Next Door,  please see her website, katrinapalmer.com.

Kate began her career as an elementary school teacher, but was soon promoted to full-time mom. She is the mother of six and lives in the country. Her husband is trying to teach her to be a farm girl. She can’t saddle a horse, but she knows how to butcher a chicken. After a day of chasing children, cooking meals, and doing laundry, she likes to escape into a good book.

S is for Saia, Submissions and The Soul Seekers

I ran a submissions contest a year or so ago on my blog for WiDo and one of the entries was from Amy Saia. It didn't win, but the submissions editor loved the first chapter!

At some point, Amy was asked to rewrite and resubmit. She worked super hard on it and got a contract for publication of her YA paranormal, The Soul Seekers to be released by WiDo Publishing on August 7.

And check out the very cool cover, designed by the author, the multi-talented Amy Saia.

When Emma’s father dies, she and her mother move cross country to live with Gran. Now the only constant in Emma Shay’s new life is him. Beautiful, silent, him—the mysterious guy at the library she secretly calls Superman because of his dark, good looks. Emma is puzzled and intrigued by this boy’s behavior. He speaks at her but never to her. He comes up to touch her hair and then suddenly leaves. An impulsive meeting between them uncovers a strange truth. Only Emma can see time-frozen William Bennett. Now it’s up to Emma and the gift she has tried so hard to deny to reclaim William’s soul. But ghosts can be very stubborn. He tells her to leave town and forget he ever existed. Not on your life, Superman.  

Set in Southern Indiana during the summer of 1979, The Soul Seekers is about one girl and the ghost only she can see. Can she bring him back from his purgatory, or is she doomed to turn into a ghost herself?

The Letter S is also for SALES, because I hope that The Soul Seekers gets lots of them!

Gratitude for Today's Literary Opportunities

I can't imagine any writer bemoaning the fact of ebooks, self-publishing, KDP Select, editing services for hire, cover design services for hire, all the small publishers looking for good books to publish....*cough WiDo cough*

There used to be one or two very narrow roads to publication. Get an agent. Know someone in the business. Live in NYC and work for a publisher. Be a man. You thought it was bad ten years ago? Try being a woman writer in the fifties or sixties. Practically impossible to break into the market.

Now the path is wide and the roads are many that lead from word processor to publication. How can anyone who wants to write and publish their work not absolutely love the options out there now?

Today on G-day, I am grateful for the many options and opportunities available for today's writers of books.

No-no's in Character Actions

I wrote this tweet a couple days ago:

"No-no's in character actions: eye-rolling, grinning, smiling, sighing, head-jerking, arms crossed in front of chest. All cliches."

Think about about all the times you've seen these actions in manuscripts, even in published books-- they seem to be everywhere!

Not meaning you can never use them, of course, but be very very careful and sparing in how many times you have a character roll her eyes, cross her arms in front of her chest, smile, grin and sigh. A few I didn't include: clenching teeth, gritting teeth, glaring, laughing-- not because there's anything wrong with these actions themselves but it's because they have become too overused.

A question that came back to me: "So characters can't act like real people?"

Actually, real people have countless mannerisms. Writers must go beyond the obvious and the cliched in their descriptive tags. I mean, think about all the little expressions and gestures that real people use to show their thoughts and emotions. Why limit ourselves to those common ones that everyone else is using? As writers, we need to have refined powers of observation, not falling back on what's ordinary and easy. If you want to show a character's disgust or boredom, give me something besides eye-rolling. Please!

Crossing arms in front of chest used to be good the first few times, but lately I see it everywhere. It's unfortunately become a cliche. What other overused character mannerisms have you been seeing lately?

Riding that Train to Publication

Why a train? Not a plane, that's too fast. Not a car, that's too comfortable. Not a bus, that's just gross. A nice Amtrak train, that's how I see it. If you've never ridden Amtrak, you should try it at least once for the experience.

Now that we are settled into the train to publication let's play that traveling game, "I'm going on a journey and this is what I'm taking." It's supposed to be alphabetical, where everyone goes round in a circle taking something on the journey with the next letter of the alphabet, but I'm changing the rules because I'm one person playing alone hoping you will join me if you can. And the word alphabet stresses me out ever since April.

So here goes!  I am going on a journey to publication, and this is what I am taking---

imagination           persistence         time       dedication           procrastination             frustration           hard work       

my laptop!   

   pens and paper         books!     

quick and easy meals         long walks        naps

 commitment        determination            the internet   a positive attitude           

writing friends

and don't forget those unwelcome passengers on my journey-- 

depression          disappointment         discouragement             despair           doubt   disillusion

Who are these people, and why do all their names begin with D? They must all be from the same family. They should be banned from the train. They make the journey so unpleasant, driving others away with their misery. Go away D- people!

Let's play! What will you bring along on your publication journey?

As I See It: Top Ten Reasons to Publish with a Small Press

10. Most accept unagented submissions, which cuts down the time element on submissions. Important for those like me who see time running out like the sands in an hourglass and hey I know that's a cliched phrase from a soap opera but it fits here!

9.  Direct relationship between writer and editor with no layers in between.

8.  You have a small but experienced support team-- editors, designers and marketers to guide you toward publication.

7. My publishing contract is only two pages, simple enough to figure out on my own.

6. Creative control, not feeling like you're at the mercy or whim of big business.

5. Willing to work with inexperienced and debut writers, giving voice to those who might not have a chance otherwise.

4. Time is cut from submission to release since there's not a zillion other titles ahead of you.

3. They are committed, dedicated and passionate about their work, doing it for love not money, and it's exciting to be part of that. 

2. It's still traditional publishing, only on a smaller scale and without an agent.

1. The personal feeling that you're working with real people who care about your book as much as you do.


Several of the arguments against the small press are becoming obsolete. Like-- they don't have the clout to get you into major bookstores. Well, if fewer and fewer people are even walking into bookstores to browse and discover the unknown novelist, what difference does it make?

And like-- the big publishers have the big marketing dollars. Don't get excited about that, it's reserved for celebrities with their tell-all books and proven best-selling authors.

And this one-- you need an agent to maneuver you through the contract. Maybe so, but...*see #7 above*

Or-- you don't have to market yourself with the big publishers. hahahahahahahahahahahaha

So clearly I'm a big fan of the small press. Not that everyone has to agree with me, of course, because this is how I see it not how you have to see it. Plus there are many paths that lead to publication. Good thing or we'd all be crowding on the same one and people could get hurt.

Worried Writers

While agents and editors can lay it all out in their blogs and say pretty much anything, writers have to think about getting readers and followers and fans who will buy their books-- thus we are nice and pleasant. As I wrote about here. After all, we're writers, we hate rejection. Our entire careers are based on avoiding it.

Have you ever wanted to post something but feared going too far? Do you ever hold back thinking, "Better not say that. People who matter might get upset. What if AN AGENT reads this"?

I used to read a book to my kids called Worried Walrus, and when anyone in our family got excessively worried about something, we'd say they were a worried walrus. I think sometimes we writers are worried walruses, afraid of saying, doing or writing the wrong thing to hurt our chances at publication, attracting readers, or achieving success in our careers.

Yesterday I read a post that was brutally honest in expressing what the industry has done to this writer's head since she began. I won't summarize but you can go here to read it yourself if you haven't already. Altho many have looked up to Natalie Whipple as having it all-- the dream agent *no longer in the business*, an editor at a dream publisher who loved her story *didn't work out*, and now still out on submission *where many would kill to be*-- still, the entire process put her through hell and back until she had to pour it all out on her blog.

And as she wrote it I'll bet you anything she worried about saying "too much"--about sounding whiny or ungrateful, about offending someone in the industry, perhaps alienating her blog readers. But she had to let it out, so she wrote the post and struck a chord, getting a zillion comments.

Let's pretend there'd be no repercussions if you wrote a post like Natalie's. What would be on it? What would you say about the industry? What's on your worried walrus writer list?

As I See It: When the Fun Ends and the Work Begins

Writing is fun, in a sick kind of way, or we wouldn't do it. Even the hard bits can be fun. The worst part for me is the origination. I have an idea but when I go to put it down, it comes out all jumbled and confused. My first few drafts are pretty much garbage. Still, I keep at it, because I love revising. And it's rewarding when I see improved results.

But I think the real work starts once the manuscript is accepted for publication, and an editor gets a hold of it. It's as if your child, who was safe in preschool then kindergarten and first grade, is suddenly shoved into Marine Boot Camp.

Are you ready for this? Your precious baby gets shredded, kicked around, twisted and turned, until you're not even sure this is what you created. Your editors, nice as they are, are crossing stuff out, misinterpreting what you wrote, telling you to make corrections, to change characters and delete entire scenes.

It gets tedious, tiresome, confusing and sometimes even contentious. In other words-- WORK. It's a job now people. Some days it may not be fun anymore. You are now a professional writer. It's time to act like one.

Most of us have had some pretty tough "real" jobs. We know what's required in the workplace to stay employed. Nothing is different about writing, editing and publishing. It's an industry. It's work. An agent or editor looks at a potential client to see if they can stand up to the rigours of editing and publication as much as they examine the submitted manuscript.

A writer has a job to do. Whether it's revising, correcting, reworking a story, or promoting and marketing-- it's stuff that has to be done. And preferably done in a mature, professional manner.

Or as the cookie-baker in me says: If you can't stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen. Being able to take the heat is what separates a hobby writer from a professional writer. At least that's how I see it.

The Secret to Getting Published

What it's not:

• Having an idea no one's ever used before. (There's no such thing. Shakespeare saw to that and Dickens took care of whatever Shakespeare might have missed.)

• Being famous or related to someone famous. (It might get you noticed but there's got to be some talent to back it up. Still, they might put your face & name on a ghost written book, if you're really famous.)

• Writing the perfect query. (Be natural, be normal not needy and let your story speak for itself. There is no perfect query format. Even if there were, and you write it, how many query letters do you see for sale at Borders?)

• Getting the busiest and best-looking agent on the internet. (That one who looks like Tom Cruise comes to mind.)

• Getting a degree in creative writing. (Helpful, since hours of creative writing are required to get said degree.)

• The result of a highly popular blog with tons of followers. (Notwithstanding the scene in Julie Julia where 6 dozen agents leave pleading messages on her voice mail.)

Although if you have achieved any of the above points, you are fortunate indeed, (especially if you have that agent who looks like Tom Cruise). And you are definitely farther along the path to publication than the guy next door who says he's writing a novel but spends all his time on the Wii.


Then what is the secret to getting published? Come closer and I'll tell you. Are you ready for this?



You have to want it more than you want anything else. You must want it with every fibre of your being.



The rest of the secret:

• You will need to give up stuff to write. Lots of stuff. Like maybe, free time and all the fun things you see other people doing. Be responsible and prioritize (especially if you have young children). But make time to write.

• Writing well isn't easy or fast. It's a long, slow slog into awfulness involving disappointment, discouragement, depression and all those other "d" words until you begin to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Be prepared for the long haul.

• Never quit until your prose sparkles and jumps off the page, until your characters come to life and your story strikes a universal chord. You may have to write six novels (like Talli Roland did) before you finally write the one that's got IT. Or spend ten years on one manuscript until it becomes a novel worth publishing. (Hello Uncut Diamonds.)

• Seek out and research every agent, every publisher, every avenue to publication that you can find. Don't be a publishing snob, thinking that only the best will do. A small press or an unknown and/or less attractive agent may offer you a contract and provide invaluable experience with editing, publishing and marketing.Your book could be on store shelves while your friend who snagged that extremely good-looking much busier agent is still waiting for an offer.

• If, after extensive research, you choose to self-publish or epublish, you won't rush into it with a poor quality piece of work. Nor cut corners on editing, design and typesetting, because you know that, in the end, it means nothing unless  readers (who are not your relatives) willingly shell out cash for your book.

• One finished manuscript or one published book is only the beginning. This is a career not a hobby. Never rest on any hard-won success. Celebrate then get back to it. Your best work may not yet be written.

• You might get lucky and hit the big time fast, but then what? Keep going. And going. Stephen King wrote On Writing after an accident that nearly killed him. He was in so much pain he could barely write for thirty minutes at a time-- a man with countless bestsellers to his name and plenty of money-- yet he did not stop writing.

There it is people. The secret to getting published. Go after it!