Tag Archives: diane holmes

fiction

Pacing and the Thirst for Something Fresh (Blood Optional)

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Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes

Quick, think of a scene that has great pacing.  Got it?  Great.  Did you think of people fleeing for their lives?  Maybe a hero and villain fighting it out?  What about a car chase?

Okay, consider this: every scene, no matter how relaxed the characters, no matter how law abiding and ordinary the focus, can have great pacing.

InterestingIt’s easy to confuse the concept of pacing with action, because those are the examples we typically talk about. But you can have great pacing in any scene.  Just as any scene can sag (no matter how much blood is being spilled).

Think of the quiet books you’ve read.  The ones that were not driven by the need to solve a murder or stop the world from exploding.  How does something so “slow” capture our attention as readers? Something kept you turning pages. What was it?

Now think of the mind-numbing action scenes where it was one punch after another, so you skimmed over it.

Yeah, action can be boring.

New, Fresh, & Unexpected

The answer to both the quiet scene that works and the active scene that doesn’t is that good pacing requires something new, fresh, and unexpected be unfolding right before the readers eyes.

What does this mean?

As soon as your reader understands what’s happening, imagine her or him putting a checkmark by that paragraph. “Got it!” she says.

If your next paragraph is more of the same, no matter how interesting, your reader will put another checkmark and say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it.”  If the next paragraph is the same, the reader won’t even bother with a check mark. She’ll roll her eyes a bit, and say, “Get on with it.”

This “get on with it” response—this is pacing failure.

What you really want is a response like, “Oh, really!” or “Oh, my!” or “No way!”

If we are in a chase scene, chasing alone isn’t interesting enough to create good pacing.  The next paragraph of the chase must contain something new, fresh, and unexpected.

If the character is wounded and running for his life, the next paragraph cannot just be more of the character being wounded and running.  It must contain something fresh.

If the scene is about a mother and daughter talking about their day and how the mother is going to make dinner, the next paragraph needs to contain something fresh & unexpected, even if it’s “quiet.”

Behind scenes that work, even quiet scenes, is a framework built out of new information.

And now for a few pacing tips and tricks to bring something fresh to your scenes. Ask the following questions at the paragraph level,  the “unit of action” level, and the scene level. Continue reading Pacing and the Thirst for Something Fresh (Blood Optional) →

Marketing yourself

Yes, Your Book Is Part of Your Brand (part 1)

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by Diane Holmes, Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book

This is the Fifth in a series on Author Branding. Previous articles include:
1. Author Branding vs. an Army of Writers
2. The Author’s Branding Manifesto
3. The Gleam in Your Author Brand (Brand Building Technique #1)
4. Storytelling Your Author Brand (Brand Building Technique #2)

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As we’ve been discussing, a company brand or an author brand is how you put yourself “out there” to another human. It’s all the things people know, feel, think, and experience about you. In fact, when someone defends you to another person, they are defending your BRAND.

What does this mean? It means your book is NOT your brand. Your Logo is NOT your brand. The color scheme on your website is NOT your brand.

Instead, as Roni Loren says, “Your brand should be YOU. Whoever that may be. Your book/genre is only a piece of that package.”

This is a really good talk on brand by Thunder::Tech.

Key Points:

  • Brand is a combination of Personality & Values.
  • Why is spending time on building your brand important? “You’re not always there to tell your story.”

One of the things that is “there” is your book. It’s not you. It’s not your brand. But it does speak to your brand. It’s a piece of information that generates a reaction from your reader.

So let’s look at how you can use your book to explore your Author Brand.

Brand Building Technique #3: Linking Your Book to Your Personality, Values, and Story

For each book you’ve written, ask the following questions. (Omit any book that doesn’t have a plot or topic you’d write today. If it’s not part of your current or future career, it’s not part of your brand.)

Personality:

  • What do readers think they know about your personality from reading this book?
  • Think about traits, skills, beliefs, and what they’d be expecting if they saw you in person.
  • How do your characters influence other characters?
  • Is the message that this is productive or not productive?
  • What are the details of the story world & setting?
  • The landscape of the character’s life?

Values:

  • What do readers think they know about your values from reading this book?
  • Look at the themes & issues explored in your book.
  • Think about morals, ethics, mottos, and sayings that seem “true” in your book.

Story:

  • What can the reader guess about your personal story from reading this book?
  • Think about the big events in the book, and also how your characters spend time in their downtime.
  • Take a look at the hopes and dreams of your characters.
  • What do they consider worthwhile?
  • What do they fight against? For?
  • How do your characters grow and change?
  • What are their passions and interests?
  • What are your characters overcoming?
  • What do they work hard to achieve?
  • What is their greatest regret? Greatest failure?

Jot down answers, then come back through and circle the answers that seem to apply to you.

What you’ve just done is identify the subtle information you’ve been giving the reader about you.  Look at this words.  Circle the ones that you’d like to be part of your brand.  This is key in understanding what you need to reinforce in your brand.

We’ll talk more about this in our next Marketing Zone installment: genre, character, plot & prose. These are the elements that delight both you and your reader. That delight is part 2 of how your book is part of your brand.

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Diane Holmes Crop 1Diane writes two columns for Freelance-Zone: Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

She’s the Founder and Chief Alchemist of Pitch University – “Learn to pitch your book from the AGENTS and EDITORS who make their living at it. Learn. Pitch. Sell.”

fiction

How to Be a Pacing Genius

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Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes 

It’s interesting to talk to writers about pacing, because the answer you very often get is, “Write in shorter sentences!” 

This answer is the equivalent of answering the question, “How do you get a reader’s attention?” with the pithy reply, “Use a bigger font.”

Ah… gee, thanks.

Rambo

I’ve made it my mission over the last few years to gain deep insight into pacing–what works, what doesn’t, and why. (Hint: Always have a mission.  It keeps you looking young.)

9 Advanced Techniques in Pacing Your Novel (that you won’t hear anywhere else)

I’ve come up with a unique take on pacing, and in the following 9 Fiction-Zone articles, I’m going to share everything I know.

These 9 insights create a definition that radically changed how I view pacing in my own work.

Most people define pacing as “going faster.”  Here’s my definition:

Fresh &

Riveting

Stuff that Matters (consequences and emotions)

Happening in Real Time (even if it’s just learning about something)

That Causes Immediate Reaction

With an Unknown Outcome

That Changes the Game

For at Least One Character

And the Reader.

 

That Looks Obvious

Yeah, but it’s not.  Because there are tricks to each of the 9 elements.  It’s all comes down to…

  1. Perspective,
  2. Involvement,
  3. Scale, and
  4. Sincerity.

I’m going to show you how to apply these tricks and techniques to transform your stories.

Take the Pacing Test:

Think of the scene in your current manuscript that you believe has the best pacing…

–> Where would you rate this scene on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “almost comatose” and 10 being “the best example of pacing ever!”

–> Do you think it has good pacing because of the scene events, your writing, or the meaning of the scene?

Bookmark this site, so you don’t miss the 9 Pacing Techniques.  And follow me on Twitter @pitchuniversity and FaceBook to be notified of the latest post.

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Diane Holmes Crop 1Diane writes two, alternating columns for Freelance-Zone: Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

She’s the Founder and Chief Alchemist of Pitch University – “Learn to pitch your book from the AGENTS and EDITORS who make their living at it.  Learn.  Pitch.  Sell.”

Marketing yourself

Storytelling Your Author Brand

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June 7, 2011 Marketing yourself No Comments

by Diane Holmes, Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book

This is the fourth in a series on Author Branding. Previous articles include:
1. Author Branding vs. an Army of Writers
2. The Author’s Branding Manifesto
3. The Gleam in Your Author Brand (Brand Building Technique #1)

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Stories at Work

The branding, marketing, and blogging world is all atwitter with the idea of storytelling as a way of communicating brand. This isn’t a new idea.

Look at non-fiction books. Many of these authors have personal stories that directly led to the creation of the content in that book. The passion for the topic has a personal meaning to the author and a place in his or her life-narrative.

That’s story, my friend!

Fiction writers, on the other hand, don’t usually have the same luxury of “my personal story” led to “this story about solving crimes in a New England town.”

What goes into Your Personal Story… if you don’t have one?

We’re used to a “Story that Sells” coming from the facts of someone’s life, the WHAT HAPPENED. But there are some other ways of looking at story that may be even more helpful.

Brand Building Technique #2:Your Story Is More Than Events and Facts

Check out these alternative ways to uncover your story. Click the links for great resources.

In your writing and your life, there is something that speaks to you, and that same thing speaks to your reader. Make that your story.

It already brings you together. Name it. Tell it. Be it.

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Diane Holmes Crop 1Diane writes two columns for Freelance-Zone: Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

She’s the Founder and Chief Alchemist of Pitch University – “Learn to pitch your book from the AGENTS and EDITORS who make their living at it. Learn. Pitch. Sell.”

fiction

Scene Magic: Your Character’s Emotional Set Point – Part 2

Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes

In Part 1 we discussed how motivation is not the same as emotion, and the character’s emotion in a scene may have little to do with the grand “story goal & motivation” and a lot to do with what just happened in the previous scene.  And now… Part 2.

Is Your Character Emotionally Fickle?

Two places where your ability to create 3D characters intersects with your ability to craft dynamic & powerful scenes are…

  • How your viewpoint character embodies a focused emotion that makes sense in the scene, and
  • What (if anything) causes your viewpoint character to shift her or his emotional focus.

Your character walks onto the “scene stage” with a certain emotion at a certain intensity. I call this the Character’s Emotional Set Point.

emotional intensity

6 Ways to Avoid Fickle Characters

Here are six things you need to know about your character’s emotional set point to avoid fickle characters.  (Oh, no!  Not a fickle character!  The horror of it!)

#1 Probably stating the obvious here, but the emotion/intensity needs to make sense to the reader.

#2 The emotional set point shouldn’t be forgotten or dropped during the scene at any time. “Oops, I forgot to be grief-stricken about that pesky murder of my wife, because my neighbor is at the door, and I really want her recipe for Marshmallow Surprise… so happy!”

#3 A character’s emotional set point can change intensity or change to a different emotion entirely, but never without a reason that makes sense to the character and the reader. “So, happy, wait… now I’m really frustrated so just roll with me on this, wait, I’m so alone…..”

#4 The reason for change usually needs to have heft, otherwise you’re telling the reader that (a) the original emotion wasn’t important, (b) the character is easily swayed by every emotional “wind” that blows through and is, thus, shallow, and (c) the new emotion can’t be trusted.

#5 The emotion needs to be showcased against the character’s scene goal (and what actually happens in the scene). If your character is feeling hopeful, then we need to understand and experience that emotion in the context of the unfolding scene. It is not something that waits in the car, while the character is busy.

#6 If you haven’t specifically looked at your character’s emotional set-point and how it’s impacted throughout each scene, you might have written a fickle character. Time to de-fickle your book.

To Do:

  • Track the emotion throughout the scene, front to back..
  • Compare the emotion in the narrative to the emotion in the dialogue.
  • Look for places where the emotion is missing or not clear.
  • Make sure changes happen in a believable way.

How do you maintain your character’s emotional integrity?  Share your insights with me!

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Diane Holmes Crop 1Diane writes two columns for Freelance-Zone:

  • Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and
  • Marketing-Zone: Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

She’s also the Founder and Chief Alchemist of Pitch University – “Learn to pitch your book from the AGENTS and EDITORS who make their living at it. Learn. Pitch. Sell.”

Marketing yourself

The Gleam in Your Author Brand

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by Diane Holmes, Marketing Yourself and Your Book

Imagine that a reader sees your new book at the bookstore.  Instantly, there’s a gleam in her eye. 

She’ll reach for your latest book, but in the fraction of a second before she can reach out, extend her arm, press her fingers against the cover, there is just the gleam.  That gleam is your brand.

I love to read

(If you don’t write books, just substitute your type of writing.)

The beauty of thinking about your brand in this way is that it’s obvious that your brand is not one book.  Instead, it’s about a recognition in the reader’s mind, an excitement and delight and opinion about you as an author.

It may be based solely on the previous books you’ve written.  Or it may also include information collected about other “aspects of you.” But whatever the specific details, it has created what Kathryn Lorenzen, Creativity Coach, calls a “Hell, yes!” in the reader’s mind. 

Before the reader can process the thought, “Hey, I’d like to find out more about that book,” her brain made the leap to, “Hell, yes, want that, awesome.”  Or some set of concepts that equaled an immediate gleam in her eye and movement of her hand toward the book.

That’s what you want, right?  Readers whose immediate response is,”I”m so lucky!” because they’ve seen that your next book is out

Brand Building Technique #1:Your Book’s Delight Factor

Step #1:  You are standing in front of the latest book by your favorite author.  There’s a gleam in your eye.  Why?

Run through this exercise for several authors you love.  Get a feel for how you respond to different aspects and different authors with excitement.  Try fiction and non-fiction authors. You get that “Hell, yes,” but for very different reasons.

Step #2: Your reader is standing in front of your book, gleam in her eye, hand extended.  STOP.  Freeze that moment.

A) What is inside your book that has triggered that gleam?  What are the reader’s expectations that have contributed to the gleam? Just make your best guesses and make a list.

B) Compare that list to what captured your imagination about the project and what kept you excited as you wrote the book.  There should be some differences.  The point of doing this step is to make sure you’re not just capturing what appeals to you.

C) Do this exercise for the book you’re currently writing, your previously published books, and any unpublished books you hope will be part of your career.

If you write widely, you’ll want to do a separate round for each project.  But if your books are similar in topic, tone, and sensibility, you can probably capture the Delight Factor by grouping them.

Did you find the gleam?  We’ll build on this exercise next tine. Remember, Brand can be way more than your book, more than all your books combined.

But this is a great starting place.  So start.  Even if an author brand seems a foreign and dubious topic, you have to admit you want that gleam   You know you do.

This is the third in a series on Author Branding.  Previous articles include:
#1 Author Branding vs. an Army of Writers
#2 The Author’s Branding Manifesto

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Diane Holmes Crop 1Diane writes two columns for Freelance-Zone: Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone: Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

She’s the Founder and Chief Alchemist of Pitch University – “Learn to pitch your book from the AGENTS and EDITORS who make their living at it.  Learn.  Pitch.  Sell.”