Category Archives: Books

Books All Writers Should Read?

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One thing I’ve really loved about throwing myself back into fiction writing is learning about it (again).

I say “again” because I learned some in high school, as we all did, and learned a lot in college, as an English major, but since then, I let the “learning” aspect slide for years and years.

The book club, of course, helped: When I finally moved from scanning Parenting magazine in 15-minute intervals to sitting down and enjoying entire novels again, I started the book club with my friend Barbara and got to jump back into reading/learning again and — JOY! [I say that in my imagination like a chorus of angels. …]

But when I started writing fiction again a few years ago, I upped my learning game. Wow. Continue reading →

The Writer’s ‘Day Job’

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As an aspiring romance writer, I’m one of those who loves to scour authors’ web sites for “how I got started” stories.

I love the tales of “well, I was an accountant for 14 years, and decided to write this story that wouldn’t leave my mind …” or “I was a high school English teacher who had an active imagination …”

These stories always lead me to think about day jobs – the ones the writers had, the ones they might have – and wonder what might be the perfect one.

Is it easier for an author to be the writer in a PR company – where you’re writing all day and 2,000 words is absolutely no problem? Or is it easier to be something that has nothing to do with writing – someone who stares at spreadsheets all day, for instance, and can’t wait to get home to whip up some great dialogue? Is it helpful to work with plenty of people for inspiration – a library, perhaps? Victoria’s Secret? A doctor’s office? Or does it help if you have some off-beat, interesting job – like an archeologist or a member of the Peace Corps? Maybe it’s nicer to work at home in solitude, where you can switch to your novel file at a moment’s notice? Continue reading →

The Basics of Critiquing III: The Antagonist and the Conflict

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Alright, so we’ve covered two of the crucial things every story needs:

Now we’ll cover the third and final element:

  • A conflict

A story without a conflict is not really a story. Otherwise the story would end on page 2, because after you introduced the protagonist and the goal, you would simply say “and he won.”

(Which, obviously, would be very boring and there’d be no point in telling it.)

So you need conflict. It’s what people like to read.

Now perhaps you remember all this from high school (I can completely hear Mrs. Kirby in my head covering all this.) (Hello, Mrs. Kirby! Thank you! You too, Mrs. Zukoski and Mr. Drummond!). But for those of us who were passing notes to our friend Dawn, or who were busy drawing hearts on our PeeChee folders, or who were running in late to 6th period every day, here are the four basic types of conflict: Continue reading →

The Basics of Critiquing II: More on Protagonists and (Slippery) Goals

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So earlier we were talking about the basics of critiquing being identifying the protagonist, and identifying the goal.  But both can be a little tricky, so I thought I’d take the discussion to the next level.

What if the protagonist isn’t clear?

Protags can be much trickier than you think. And there are other questions that come up:

  • Can there be more than one?
  • Is he always the “good guy”?

Identifying the protagonist can be tricky because it can seem like there are lots of “important” people in the book. (And in romance novels, there are always two, right? The hero and a heroine?) Most argue that  there can only be one protagonist, but then “ensemble pieces” will invariably come up in the conversation (The Big Chill, for instance) and shoot that theory out of the water. Continue reading →

The Basics of Critiquing: The Protagonist and the Goal

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Interesting discussion the other day on how we all critique. It really made me think about how I approach a story and when I think a book is “good” or if it leaves me feeling flat. Do you ever read a book and just feel “flat”? And maybe your friend just LOVED it, so you wonder what you missed, or didn’t get?

(Yeah, me too. …)

Lauran left a similar comment the other day when we were discussing how we critique  about how, even when reading a book for book club, she sometimes finds it difficult to express what specifically she likes and dislikes. (I hear ya, sister.)

But here’s the deal: It probably comes down to the most basic of reactions to the most basic beginnings of critiquing. It probably has to do with your reaction to the goal.

What’s that?

The most basic plot of any story is that there is a protagonist. And, as the book opens, he has a goal. Every novel, every movie, every short story, is simply watching the protagonist try to get his goal. … Continue reading →

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