A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

If you follow my blog, you know I recently attended a major writing conference. Writing conferences are powerful for writers. At a conference you not only make connections with other writers, editors, and agents, but the venue includes classes and workshops to help you improve your writing skills. Today I want to share some of the information I learned in one of those classes: The Successful Series. The class was taught by Janice Thompson and Cynthia Hickey , both successful writers of a variety of books, each series linked together by common threads. (Click on their names to see their Amazon Author Pages) Here are a few of their tips. 1. All genres lend themselves to becoming a series . Find the common link. For example, a cozy mystery may be solved by the same sleuth, historical romance may take place in the same time period while a contemporary romance series make take place in the same local town. I think you get the idea. 2. A successful book series should mirr...

I returned Sunday from the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) conference in Dallas, Texas. A most memorable event. Imagine rubbing elbows with some of your favorite authors (like Francine Rivers and Becky Wade), picking the brains of editors and agents, attending workshops to hone your craft, and meeting up with people you’ve only known on Facebook until now. Incredible. I attended classes and workshops. I had appointments with editors and agents. The schedule was full from start to finish. I came home feeling as though I could sleep for three days. But…. The conference is over. Now the real work begins. Networking: Don’t tear a hole in your net. The conference has given me an opportunity to extend my sphere of contacts. Writing conferences are as much about networking as they are about honing your craft. My first task for the week is to email a thank you to each professional whose class I attended and each person with whom I had an appointment.  ...

I am so pleased to feature Rebecca Barth on A Novel Creation today. We met through an online writing group. Rebecca is talented, funny, and smart (Must be something with the name, huh?) As I began preparing for the ACFW conference, I asked Rebecca to share her thoughts on developing the perfect elevator pitch. The result? This post for the benefit of all.  Enjoy. *** There you are, in an elevator randomly with the CEO from Big Company. You have 12 seconds to give her the pitch of your life! And you say… “Floor 7, please.” While short, succinct, and to the point, that elevator speech may not get you very far beyond, well, Floor 7. It is a fabulous idea to be armed and ready with a short phrase about who you are. I know this because I have been networking a lot lately and, frankly, sharing a different elevator pitch each time. As my mother used to say, “Do as I say, not as I do.”   As I work on refining my message into a beautiful package wrapped up in a ten ...

Call it what you want: The Big Game, Opening Night, The Concert, The Playoffs. It is that big moment in your life for which you have been preparing. For me, it is a writing conference. Okay, I know that isn’t exactly like preparing for the Super Bowl, but there are similarities. I know because I’m in training to attend the American Christian Fiction Writers annual conference in Dallas. It’s a big deal. ·       I need a game plan. ·    I need to know the players –the agents, editors, authors, and speakers attending. ·    I need my plays worked out. My game plan? I am scheduled to meet with agents and editors. I have registered for workshops to help me strengthen my writing. I want to get everything I can out of those experiences. The conference planners asked for volunteers. I volunteered to work an hour at the registration desk. I want to meet people. It’s part of my plan. I don’t know exactly with whom I’ll be meeting. When ...

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about pacing. (SeePace: The Vibrant Rhythm of Storytelling) I had comments posed to me via email and Facebook about the helpfulness of remembering to shorten chapters or edit superfluous details. Those are editing issues. But one brave soul actually left a comment on the post itself—I’m doing a happy dance!!! Love it when my readers leave a comment!!! This reader admitted that sometimes writing compelling dialogue is a problem. Constructing dialogue is a writing issue and one I want to address here. The first critique I ever received at a writing conference came from author +Jack Cavanaugh. After telling me to lose the first two pages of text and jump in with the action, he wrote on my manuscript that my dialogue was great. I treasure that note. I think in dialogue. So for today’s blog post I researched writing tips on using dialogue. I offer them below with my comments about what I view as the big takeaway from each article. ...