Which writing books to buy?

My husband and I got a generous gift card for Christmas-- $50 to Amazon-- and after some small discussion, he now agrees that buying writing books for me would benefit both of us a great deal, and would indeed be the best use of this gift card.

Only I'm in a quandary. I can't decide!

And so, dear blogging writer friends, I turn to you for advice and suggestions. What books on writing have you found to be the most helpful and inspirational, and why?

Please share! Because this $50 Amazon gift card is just waiting to get spent . . . .

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.

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?

Reasons for Rejection of a Partial

Since my current contest theme is writing and submitting, I thought I'd do a post on some of the most common reasons your partial might be rejected by an agent or editor. Or what to watch out for when polishing up your manuscript for submission.

Although I generally prefer to focus on the positive in this blog, (unlike WiDo's crabby managing editor Kristine Princevalle), I'll take a page from her book and tell you what doesn't work.


Not a clear demographic. Like this: Opens with an adult main character, brings in an adolescent dealing with YA issues, switches back to adult themes like infertility, while inserting a side story about ice cream.  Who will read this? Who is the demographic?

Weak voice. This will kill a ms. fast. A weak voice is the sign of a weak writer. How to strengthen your voice? Read lots. Write lots. And work outside your creative writing, like journaling, letter-writing, blogging to help strengthen and define your voice.

Boring. This has more to do with writing style and craft than it does subject matter and plot line. Again, I'll borrow from Kristine Princevalle. Here's a brief example she used in a post. Being a huge fan of Agatha Christie, I love this. A brilliant writer can write on a completely mundane topic and make it fascinating; a poor writer can write on a completely fascinating topic and make it mundane.

Makes no sense. Clear, concise writing is valuable and sought after. The meaning must be clear to the reader. The narrative must flow seamlessly from one scene to another, without jarring juxtaposition of words and phrases, or distracting sidelines that have nothing to do with anything. Nothing must interfere with the reader's enjoyment of the story.

Point of view switches. Frequent POV lapses, or even worse-- POV that's all over the place-- are the sign of an amateurish, inexperienced writer. If this shows up in your partial, there won't be a request for a full.

Telling, telling, telling. We've heard this a million times-- show don't tell. It's fairly simple. Telling means author tells the reader what happened or what the MC is thinking or feeling. Showing means you write a scene, with dialogue, action and stuff. If you're getting rejected a lot, try an experiment. Go through your ms. and leave only the dialogue. See what's left of 50,000 words. That might give you a clue.

Too many characters. Introduce your characters judiciously, letting the reader get to know them gradually. Don't throw everyone into the first chapter.

Poorly edited. Anything that looks like too much work for the editor will get rejected.

Preaching and Politics. Characters can be diverse and have opinions, but if the author goes overboard making the reader feel preached to, the love affair is over. People read fiction for entertainment and enjoyment, not to be a captive audience for the writer's soapbox.

These are a few of the most common reasons for rejection. There's a million more. Just a few things to think about as you polish your submissions for this week's Lettuce Write contest. Remember, you have until August 21 to submit, so get writing and good luck to all!