Stephen King and Jerry Jenkins Give Writing Advice

Great insights here from two very accomplished writers – in very different genres.  King and Jenkins have been friends for a while, and were interviewed together by Writer’s Digest.  Good advice and inspiration for authors and aspiring authors.

Some snippets:

HOW DID THE TWO OF YOU MEET?

JENKINS: We happened to have the same audio reader, a brilliant voice actor named Frank Muller. In November 2001 Frank was in a horrible motorcycle accident that left him brain damaged, incapacitated and barely able to speak. One of Frank’s brothers started a foundation to assist with the obscene expenses, and Stephen became aware that I was helping out.

Stephen was carrying the lion’s share, undoubtedly contributing more than half of the total the foundation raised, but he called me one day to thank me for my part and to suggest other ways we might be able to help Frank. Needless to say, when my assistant told me Stephen King was on the phone, I quickly ran through my list of practical joking friends to decide how to greet whoever was claiming to be him. But, just in case, I said my usual, “This is Jerry.”

I had to squelch a laugh when he said, “Steve King.”

Who calls Stephen King “Steve”? Well, Stephen King does. We learned that we read each other’s stuff and laughed about being strange bedfellows. Then we agreed to [meet to] visit Frank at a rehabilitation facility.

WHAT COMPELS YOU TO WRITE?

JENKINS: I write because I can’t do anything else. I like to say I don’t sing or dance or preach; this is all I do. But I [also] have a passion for my subject matter. I was a sportswriter as a teenager (after being injured playing sports), but felt called to full-time Christian work. I thought that would mean I’d have to give up writing and become a pastor or a missionary. I was thrilled to find out I could use my budding writing gift and accomplish the same thing.

KING: Jerry’s direct and correct: I can’t do anything else. And every day I marvel that I can get money for doing something I enjoy so much.

10 Great Blogs for Writers

As usual, Jane Friedman lists some great links for writers at There Are No Rules.  This top 10 list looks quite useful:

1. Brian Clark’s CopyBlogger: This blog is the leader because it does an amazing job of helping writers improve their writing.
2. Deborah Ng’s Freelance Writing Jobs: For freelance writers seeking new work, this site is your sole destination.
3. Tom Chandler’s Copywriter Underground: This site provides regular doses of inspiration and writing tips.
4. Liz Strauss’s Successful-Blog: This blog has some amazing insights into the craft of writing.
5. Angela Booth’s Writing Blog: All writers will find something useful at this site.
6. Kristen King’s InkThinker: This blog is focused on improving the written word.
7. Anne Wayman’s The Golden Pencil: Wayman provides gold nuggets of information to freelance writers.
8. Carson Brackney’s Content Done Better: Follow one man’s journey to write better copy and make a living along the way.
9. Dianna Huff’s B2B Marcom Writer Blog: This is your destination to learn about marketing communications copywriting.
10. Allison Winn Scotch’s Ask Allison: For writers looking to break into the publishing world, be sure to check this one out.

Good Website – Artsandfaith.com

I discovered this site when I read that Image magazine had recently acquired it.  Looks like a great resource for anyone interested in the intersection of faith and the arts.  Image gives a good summary of its features:

A&F has been around for a number of years and is particularly strong in the areas of film and music—which makes for an excellent complement to Image‘s strengths in literature and visual art. For example, A&F’s Film forum contains over 5,000 posts with nearly 80,000 replies! The range of discussions is wide, from responses to recently released films, CDs, and books to conversations about issues like the shrinking of print criticism in magazines and newspapers. Current hot topics include Angels and Demons and Rachel Getting Married in film, mewithoutYou and “New Stuff Worth Hearing” in Music, and Columbine and the late David Foster Wallace in Literature and Creative Writing. A&F is also a great place to learn more about what’s out there and what’s soon to be released. For you writers out there, the section “Work in Progress” is a terrific place to share your work and get critiques from fellow writers [Emphasis mine]. And there’s an announcement section where you can post information about your upcoming conferences, exhibitions, concerts, and more. We’re hoping that you will not only come on over to ArtsandFaith.com but register and post there, too. Don’t just be a lurker: dive on in and join the fun! Our existing Image Forum will be integrated into the A&F board shortly. Register at ArtsandFaith.com.

Jane Friedman’s Writing Resources Via Twitter

Jane Friedman has been sharing some great writing links she’s found on Twitter.  Here are a few from her May 1 post at Writer’s Digest.

Best Tweet

All you authors still wondering what a “platform” is and why you need one … be sure to read @MichaelHyatt post
@jwikert

Others

Literary agent Ashley Grayson on the Google Books settlement. If you are in publishing, GO READ IT.
@ZeppelinBooks
Essential Blogging Question: How Can You Help Your Readers Today?
@gabrielleadams
Interesting way to write a novel piece by piece as blog posts.
@mariaschneider
Amazon Acquires Stanza: What Does It All Mean?
@readerville
Seth Godin’s Advice for Authors
@WeberBooks
Interesting find during query research. From this month’s issue of The Writer: “Always send in simultaneous submissions.”
@milehighfool
How to turn your real life story into a novel. A Q&A with writer Susan Shapiro.
@mariaschneider

Writers of Faith Reflect on Their Art

This book caught my attention as I read a recent Image Journal newsletter (which explores Christianity and the arts).  The title is A Syllable of Water: Twenty Writers of Faith Reflect on Their Art.  Here’s the description from the publisher’s website.

A deep well of practical and inspirational wisdom for every Christian writer

Imagine you have the chance to spend an hour or so alone with a couple of well-published writers. Imagine they share with you secrets of their art, and reveal how their art relates to their faith. This is the experience awaiting you with the twenty-two authors of this book.

In A Syllable of Water, some of today’s leading writers of faith reflect on all aspects of the writing vocation and process in ways that will inform and inspire.

Philip Yancey, Richard Foster, Luci Shaw, and others discuss everything from the tools of a writer to the ways that they spend their time when they are not writing.

Editors such as John Wilson (Books & Culture) and American Book Award-winning Cherokee poet, Diane Glancy, reflect on the value of the editor-writer conversation, as well as the power of revision.

And other writers of stature including Doris Betts, John Leax, Erin McGraw, Harold Fickett, Virginia Stem Owens, Jeanne Murray Walker, Scott Cairns, and Eugene H. Peterson offer sage advice on how to approach nearly every imaginable genre from fiction and nonfiction to memoir, poetry, and translation.

(Amazon link here)

New Ways to Publish Your Book

For anyone who’s interested in writing and publishing a book, social media has opened up a number of new and innovative opportunities.  One author who made good use of these to attract the attention of a major publisher is Seth Harwood.  Booksquare explains:

Over the past few years, we’ve had the special privilege of meeting some authors who not only exhibit incredible talent, but also the ability to connect with readers — in a huge way — through non-traditional means. One of those great people, author Seth Harwood, is now counting down the days to his major label debut for his first novel Jack Wakes Up (listen to our previous interview with Seth interview here).

Note the use of the phrase “major label debut”. Jack Wakes Up was picked up by a small press before attracting the notice of Three Rivers Press. Before that, Harwood podcast the novel. Oh yeah, he gave it away free. Or, he believed in his work enough to make sure it reached an audience. Harwood, who received his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, knows one important thing: it’s the story…and a whole lot more.

In the video linked below, he talks about how he did his thing. Your results may vary, but the true lesson is that you make your own success.

Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix)

Image by Telstar Logistics via Flickr

Pat Holt, book editor and critic at The San Francisco Chronicle for 16 years (1982-1998), provides a helpful list of 10 common (but easily correctable) mistakes writers often make.  Some examples:

2. FLAT WRITING
“He wanted to know but couldn’t understand what she had to say, so he waited until she was ready to tell him before asking what she meant.”

Something is conveyed in this sentence, but who cares? The writing is so flat, it just dies on the page. You can’t fix it with a few replacement words – you have to give it depth, texture, character . . .

3. EMPTY ADVERBS

Actually, totally, absolutely, completely, continually, constantly, continuously, literally, really, unfortunately, ironically, incredibly, hopefully, finally – these and others are words that promise emphasis, but too often they do the reverse. They suck the meaning out of every sentence.

I defer to People Magazine for larding its articles with empty adverbs. A recent issue refers to an “incredibly popular, groundbreakingly racy sitcom.” That’s tough to say even when your lips aren’t moving . . . .

4. PHONY DIALOGUE

Be careful of using dialogue to advance the plot. Readers can tell when characters talk about things they already know, or when the speakers appear to be having a conversation for our benefit. You never want one character to imply or say to the other, “Tell me again, Bruce: What are we doing next?” . . .

5 Tips for Making Your Writing More Memorable

Image via Wikipedia

Here’s some great advice by freelance writer Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen on making your writing more effective.

1. Picture your reader. Write directly to a specific reader or editor – try picturing him or her in your mind as you write. Whether you’re working on an article, pitch, or first novel, your writing will be more memorable if you can tap into the reader’s life. How do you get to know your readers? Study the magazine’s demographics, the editor’s blog, the publisher’s current booklist. Read and respond to your blog comments – ask your blog readers questions!

2. Relate to your reader’s experience. “[A message] has to make the reader nod in acknowledgement or laugh in recognition,” writes HuffPost blogger Bob Creamer in The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging. “It needs to connect with the reader’s everyday experience.” He explains that memorable writing makes you feel, taste, smell, or hear the content…it’s the old “show, don’t tell” adage at work (it’s a cliché because it’s TRUE!).

3. Inspire an emotional reaction. To make your article, pitches, or writing more memorable you need to inspire laughter, sadness, anger, disgust, fear, curiosity…anything, really! If your readers react emotionally, they’re more likely to remember you…and if your readers are editors, they may be more likely to hire you.

4. Let your personality shine through. After a year of fulltime freelance writing, I’m finally letting my personality and voice bubble to the surface! One Reader’s Digest editor kept telling me to “have fun with it” when she assigned articles. I couldn’t forget her advice, even though I was too green to actually take it. Now, I’m letting my voice and style shine through in my articles, pitches, and blogs – and my writing is more memorable (and hopefully one day unforgettable! A lofty goal…).

5. Eliminate confusing thoughts or sentences. “If we don’t understand a subject or the relevance of what is being described in a subject, we begin to tune it out,” writes Creamer in The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging. If you don’t get it as a writer, you won’t be able to explain or describe it to your readers. And if they don’t get it, then your writing is not only forgettable…it’s unread.

Thanks to Jane Friedman for the link.

Red Flags for Fiction Rejection

For those writing or interested in writing fiction, Jane Friedman lists the following red flags that could bring a swift rejection by an editor or agent.

• Flashback on first page
• Too much backstory or explanation, slowing story down
• Waiting for the protagonist to appear (or unclear protagonist)
• Starting with an alarm clock or ringing phone
• Lots of characters introduced on first page
• Ordinary day stuff (getting out of bed, walking to kitchen, etc)
• Ordinary crisis moment without distinct voice or twist
• Too much telling about the story, not enough showing
• Nothing happens — no action or problem
• Interior monologue: in character’s head, just lots of thinking, no acting or interaction with anyone else
• Predictable story start or story line without a unique take
• More of a journal entry (stream of consciousness), and not a story
• Wrong starting point; not starting at a point of change
• Too confusing, not enough reason or motivation to figure out what’s happening