Tag Archives: internet writers workshop

What Do You Really Want?

25 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by in Best Web Sites for Writers, Family, Guest Blogger, Writing

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What Do You Really Want? Author and critque partner, Don McCandless, posted this question and some great advice on Internet Writing Workshop (IWW) after some grumbling posts about trimming words.

I know what I want. I want to write a lot of books. I want to keep my agent busy selling my novels. I want to continue mastering the craft of writing.

To make this happen, I depend on IWW and excellent critque buddies like Don McCandless. IWW is like writer’s boot camp. We work out, tearing apart each other’s chapters, toning our grammar, paring down our prose, trimming our beloved darlings, and wiping out those sagging clichés.

Below is Don’s post from IWW. It’s great advice, not only for writers, but for anyone. Thanks Don!

What is it that you really want? Why do you write?

Once upon a time, when I was an aspiring athlete, I worked out hours and hours every day. I sacrificed many things most people take for granted. This isn’t something you can hide from anyone. Everyone who  knows you, is related to you, works with you, knows you’re paying a price they’d never consider. And yet, many of these same people would ask, we have this league, this team, this event, this company picnic. Come and play with us.

To a trained athlete, there is no situation more dangerous than being in close quarters with a recreational athlete. They don’t know what they’re doing, and you’ve reduced what they see as exceptional, to trained reflex.

So what does this have to do with writing and word counts, you ask. The answer is, simple logic.

Literary agents make their living by representing writers the general public support by purchasing their product. If this is your goal, to be one of these writers, then one must learn the rules of the game, perform the required exercises, build yourself up to  completion level, and compete. One must be lean and mean. No fat. None. Zero. Nada.

Traditional publishing is a game. If you don’t play by the rules, you automatically lose. If the game isn’t for you, there’s always the co-ed recreational league that meets at the Salvation Army Hall on Tuesday nights. Sign up, and have fun. It’s easy. Anybody can play. But no one will ever read about you in the paper. So what is it that you really want? What price are you willing to pay?

Do you really need every one of those 100,000 words? Or could you work off ten or fifteen thousand. No pain, no gain.

*****

Thanks Don!

My first novel, Crooked Lines, landed on my agent’s desk at a hefty 126,000 words. She insisted I trim it to under 100,000 words. It wasn’t easy, but I did. Hoping for a sale soon.

I’m spending this week finishing my second novel, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and hope to have it to my agent by November 1 to begin NANOWRIMO, National Novel Writing Month. NANOWRIMO is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel-writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.

I probably won’t be blogging much during November. No Pain. No Gain.

Sitting on my butt writing, I won’t gain muscles (like my athlete boys, above) but I do hope to gain a new novel by November 30!  Write on!

TRUST ME: You’ll Love OUTLAWS!

18 Friday May 2012

Posted by in Books, Guest Blogger, Weekly Book Review

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Instead of my usual book review and author questions, I’m presenting author William Weldy and his fascinating post about how his novel, (soon-to-be a bestseller) OUTLAWS, came to be. OUTLAWS is released TODAY!  Yay! CONGRATULATIONS Bill!

I was a part of the IWW group that critiqued OUTLAWS. Even then, it shined as a book you’d pull off the bestseller shelf in a bookstore. I’m keeping my words short to give him more blog time. So my review is this: TRUST ME! Get this book! You will love it! OUTLAWS has it all: Solid plot, action, well-developed strong characters, romance, bad guys vs. good guys, rich descriptive settings. An extremely well written, “clean book” that grabs you and doesn’t let you go until the last page.  I’m so impressed with Bill’s talent and with OUTLAWS.

Take it away Bill:

The really strange thing about writing is that we all try to pay attention to people and places around us to use in our character development and setting.  Seldom is a novel based entirely on setting. Many times, however, when we’re least paying attention, things stick in our heads. In my case I was traveling out west with my family one summer years ago and pulled over to the berm early one morning in southern Idaho as everyone else slept. I gazed down on a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains. An emerald green lake lay at the base of the valley.
 
For years after that I fantasized about that spot and every night I developed a habit of mentally building a log cabin in that valley as a method to fall asleep. I always drifted off before the cabin was built. Along the way I included thoughts of what it would be like to live as our forefathers did and the Amish do today. After many, many years of visiting this place in my mind I decided to write about it.
 
I soon discovered that I would need a plot and characters to develop it into a novel. So I wondered what would make a man want to live as a semi-recluse in the mountains and what could possibly happen to him that would make readers want to read his story. The worse thing I could imagine happening to a man would be to lose his family in a drug related shooting in a shopping mall in Detroit. My main character, Josh did and just gave up on civilization after that.
 
Then I had to come up with an antagonist. Having dealt with the Outlaw motorcycle gang in my previous life, I knew they would be perfect bad guys. Since I didn’t want the protagonist to have to talk to his dog through the entire novel, I came up with a romance interest in the daughter of the general store owner who is murdered by the gang. When Josh finds his friend murdered and his daughter about to be raped by the Outlaws, he has to intervene. From then on it’s a matter of survival and the remaining Outlaws try to hunt them down and kill them.
 
I wrote the novel in a couple of months then edited it a few times. Having received enough rejection letters from publishers to paper my house for earlier novels, I knew better than to ship it off. I found the Internet Writers Workshop on the web and decided to join and see what others thought of my latest work. Smartest thing I ever did. Several other authors and would-be authors on the site criticized my work with a poison pen. They helped me tighten it. They found plot holes. They corrected my punctuation. They expanded my vocabulary. They eliminated filters in my prose. They offered suggestions as to how to make it better. After going through the mill with every chapter of the novel, what was once 80,000 words was pared down to 67000 and much tighter.
 
Before self-publishing I decided to try submitting it to a few e-book publishers. To my astonishment one of the first I subbed it to, asked for the entire manuscript and shortly thereafter offered me a contract to publish. It will be released on Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobel, and Musa Publishing today. It will be released as an e-book only at this time.
 
I am certain had it not been for the helpful critters at IWW, the novel would have joined the stagnant stack of manuscripts crowding my file drawers.

OUTLAWS BLURB:

Ex-cop Josh Grant thought he left danger behind, but the Outlaws have other plans for his peaceful life.
Josh chooses to live as a recluse in the mountains of Idaho as penance for failing to protect his murdered wife and child in Detroit. His new serenity is shattered when he stumbles onto the murder of his only friend and an assault of his friend’s daughter, Jolene. By saving Jolene, Josh angers the Outlaws, a gang of vicious bikers. When they seek revenge, Josh must draw on old skills to keep he and Jolene alive.

William Weldy is a retired police lieutenant from a large Ohio city. He grew up in small town USA and still lives there with his wife, Pam and dog, Abby. Frequently pestered by a horde of grandkids who try to interfere with his writing.

Link to Amazon to purchase OUTLAWS.

Great Book & Five Author Q’s: The Stasi File by Peter Bernhardt

06 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by in Books, Weekly Book Review

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Great Book: The Stasi File

Author: Peter Bernhardt

Genre: Suspense Thriller

The Stasi File: Dust from the demolished Berlin Wall has barely settled, the East German police state is teetering on the edge of collapse, and Stasi General HOLGER FRANTZ will stop at nothing to save it. Caught in his intrigue are two unlikely heroes: American lawyer ROLF KELLER and aspiring opera diva SYLVIA MAZZONI.   

Rolf, recently divorced and fresh off the bottle, is dispatched to his native Germany by the senior partner of his Washington law firm to coordinate the drop of top-secret documents by a defecting Stasi agent. Rolf is stunned to learn that Sylvia, his former lover during Berlin college days, has been coerced by West German intelligence into acting as courier with threats of exposing her youthful involvement with Red Army Faction terrorists.

Nothing has prepared these reluctant recruits for the Stasi’s ruthlessness. Although the first drop of stolen documents goes smoothly, subsequent arrangements end in a burst of violence that sends the pair fleeing into the East German countryside. Following clues left by the murdered defector, they unearth his document cache and escape into the night, pursued by armed Stasi henchmen.

Besides a file containing damning information about Sylvia, they recover documents with cryptic references to a plot for derailing unification by assassinating West Germany’s chancellor—but when and where? With Germany’s future hanging in the balance, Rolf and Sylvia manage to decipher the coded document in time to race to the assassination site. But a Stasi killer is waiting. As he marches them into a deserted clearing in the Bavarian woods, all seems lost—their effort to foil the assassins, German unification, and their very lives. 

Holly Michael’s Thoughts on The Stasi File: Nothing like a well written book to wake you up, shake you out of your typical genre, and make you want more. From the moment I flicked my Kindle “on” switch, I joined Peter Bernhardt’s compelling, well drawn out characters in an action packed suspenseful plot, full of twists and turns, straight through to a satisfying (but “I want more”) ending. Caught up in The Stasi File, I neglected sleep, Twitter, Facebook, my husband, and yes, even Words With Friends.

An element that I appreciated in Bernhardt’s suspense thriller was that he mastered plot, characters, tension, and drama without using the profanity that makes Grandma cringe.

Peter Bernhardt obviously knows Germany (see author questions/answers below) and opera, and I admire the way he combined his love and knowledge of the two.

And you know those novels that incorporate intriguing history that makes you want to search Google for more details, but you can’t tear your eyes from the pages? This is one of those books. Oh, but never mind, continue reading and learn about the Red Army Faction, Stasi Files, German Reunification, opera, and label the new knowledge under, “pure entertainment.”

Though my Twitter profile lists that I’m a world traveler, I’d only seen Germany from airport windows. The Stasi file captures the mood and feel of German cities and villages so much that I want to claim I was there and send postcards home. Germany is great! Love my new friends Sylvia and Rolf. Got caught up in espionage. Saw Carmen at the Opera. Savored delicious German food. Had a fantastic time. Wish you were here! You can be if you read The Stasi File. Suspense thrillers are my new favorite genre. Thanks Peter. Great Read!

Five Author Questions to Peter Bernhardt

Holly Q1. Opera and espionage. Stuttgart, Germany. Writers write what they know. I’m not accusing you of being a spy, but what links a writer from Sedona, Arizona to these topics?

Peter A1. Not being a spy, I had to do a lot of research about tradecraft. Reading Charles McCarry and John LeCarré novels definitely helped. I grew up in Stuttgart and lived there until I emigrated to the U.S. at age twenty-three. A divided Germany and the Red Army Faction terrorists were constantly in the news during my formative years so it only seemed natural for me to fashion a story involving those topics. But I also took to heart the advice to write what you feel passionate about. For me that meant I had to put opera – the most passionate of all art forms and one that has thrilled me since childhood- into my plot. And I loved the challenge of weaving it into the story line in a way that readers unfamiliar with opera would find interesting.

Holly Q2. You beautifully weave a history lesson in the pages of The Stasi File. What challenges did you face writing about the 1990s German Reunification and the Stasi (German secret police) files?

Peter Q2. As all authors know, one key to writing authentically is thorough and meticulous research. I spent countless hours combing through the huge volume of sources documenting the sinister machinations of the former East German secret police. For Stasi File readers interested in learning more about this dark period in communist East Germany, I heartily recommend the powerful Academy-Award winning German movie, The Lives of Others.

Holly Q3. You self published The Stasi File, a Quarter Finalist in 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. Can you share your self-publishing experience?

Peter A3. When The Stasi File made it into the bestseller chart of the British Arts Council sponsored site www.youwriteon.com, I decided to take advantage of its free publication program. The soft cover edition is available on Amazon. Shortly after its publication, I put the novel as an e-book on Kindle, a surprisingly easy process. Kindle sales have been steady.

Holly Q4.Your best advice for writers?

Peter A4. Stay true to yourself and your vision for your manuscript. Find a way to get quality feedback (I recommend Internet Writing Workshop), then learn to distinguish between critics who want you to write your novel the way they would write it and reviewers who offer substantive, thoughtful criticism, i.e., what works and what doesn’t and the reasons. Ultimately, have faith in and follow your inner guidance.

Holly Q5. After reading The Stasi File, readers will want more. What other novels have you written and what’s next?

Peter A5. After I finished The Stasi File, I felt a sense of loss. Sylvia and Rolf had been with me for two years, and I kept thinking about them during my morning runs through the red rocks of Sedona. When several readers suggested I write a sequel, I heartily agreed. I recently finished Teya’s Kiss. Here is the book concept in one sentence: When a Washington trial lawyer and a budding opera diva are pressed into searching for a missing archaeologist in the Santa Fe hills, they not only encounter ruthless antiquities traffickers, but find their fates intertwined with that of a shaman’s daughter, who centuries earlier played a crucial role in the Pueblo Indian Revolt that drove the Spanish from New Mexico. The novel is currently in the second round of this year’s Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.

Peter Bernhardt is a naturalized U.S. citizen who emigrated at age 23 from Germany. The author served as editor-in-chief of the Tulsa Law Journal. He graduated first in his law school class. His 25-year legal career included 18 years with the Department of Justice as the Civil Chief in a U.S. Attorney’s Office. Writing has been a lifelong passion. Teya’s Kiss, sequel to his first novel, The Stasi File, will soon be published.


Guest Author Rich Maffeo: The Write Mission

20 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in Guest Blogger

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The Write Mission

Could God use you in a writing ministry? Perhaps the idea of writing for Him has crossed your mind a time or two, but you’re not quite sure where to begin. This essay will help point you in the right direction.

Starting out. The most difficult part of writing is often knowing what to write about. Some of the best advice I ever received as a new writer was, “write what you know.” That counsel has helped me generate and publish nearly one hundred and fifty articles in Christian magazines across the country.

What do you know? You might start with your testimony, sharing with readers why you committed your life to Jesus Christ. When your testimony is published, thousands of people will have an opportunity to “read all about it.” Perhaps one of those readers will say to herself, “If God could forgive that lady after all she did, surely He can also forgive me.”

Your testimony is not the only thing you can share with others. Think how your life is full of experiences through which God has taught you more about Himself. Have you struggled with a difficult situation and found His strength to endure? Others need to hear about it. Why? Because not everyone who prays for work finds that job they’ve prayed for. Loved ones die no matter how many churches beseech God for healing. Families divide regardless of the prayers lifted to God’s throne for reconciliation. Christians from all walks of life suffer almost unbearable heartache, but do so with Christ’s ever present help in their time of trouble. And His presence makes all the difference in the world to them. If you are one of those who have been so “encouraged” then God can use you to encourage others. The apostle Paul understood the benefit such suffering and subsequent sharing can be for the Body of Christ when he wrote: Blessed be God… who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort them who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted of God (2 Corinthians 1:3).

Or perhaps you could re-tell the story of some great missionary or evangelist of earlier centuries and slant it toward young readers. Do you have a gift to weave tales? Try your hand at Christian fiction. The things about which a person can write are limited only by his imagination.

Study the Market. By reading examples of what publishers want, you will learn how to form ideas into articles acceptable to editors. When you study the magazines, take note of the types of articles they usually print. Are they personal experiences? How-to’s? Humor? Devotions? How are their testimonies handled? If you don’t have access to a particular magazine for which you would like to submit an article, write the editor requesting a recent issue or two. Resources such as The Christian Writers’ Market Guide (check your public library, or order a copy from online booksellers) lists addresses and requirements to receive back issues.

Join a Workshop. Join an on-line writer’s workshop where you can submit your work for free critique by other members of the group. I belonged to this one for several years and highly recommend it: http://www.internetwritingworkshop.org/. You can also conduct your own internet search for online writers’ workshops and find many others.

Expect Rejection. Rejection comes with the territory. Rejections do not necessarily mean your article is trash. Sometimes there’s just no telling why one editor will reject a perfectly good manuscript, and another will pay you for permission to publish it without any changes. So when your form-letter rejection slip arrives in the mail, review the manuscript and make whatever changes you think may be necessary. Then send it out to another magazine.

Be organized. Keep good records, especially noting who you sent what and when you sent it. This is important not only so you don’t send the same manuscript to two different editors without realizing it, but if you are successful in your ministry, you will need accurate records of expenses and sales when you prepare for the April 15 deadline each year.

Writing for the Lord can be a very fruitful ministry and mission. For example, some magazines have circulations of 10,000 to more than 100,000 readers. Think how many people could be encouraged in their faith, or how many non-believers might re-think their rebellion and turn to Christ after reading your article.

So put your thoughts down on paper, polish what you’ve written, re-read it and polish some more and then submit it to a magazine editor. And may God bless your ministry for Him.

Rich Maffeo’s blog, Rich Maffeo’s Website, Rich Maffeo’s Books

Rich Maffeo Bio: I was born into a Jewish home in 1950. Twenty-two years later, I discovered Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, and I served Him in evangelical Protestant churches for more than thirty-two years. During those years I read the Bible dozens of times. In 2005 I was received into the Catholic Church after reading the Scriptures which better defined for me Catholic faith and teaching.