Know Your Genre

A popular post from February 2008

by Lu Ann Staheli

What is genre? Some people might think it’s just a silly sounding French word, but writers know genre is an important classification that will help them not only as they write, but also as they prepare to market their work. The definition states that “genre is a loose set of criteria for a category of composition which may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length.”

You likely first learned about genre in grade school when you visited the library. Books are classified into two main subsets: fiction and non-fiction. Within each group, there are smaller divisions. In non-fiction, these divisions are classified by the Dewey Decimal System and books are shelved by topic. Although books in the fiction section are shelved by author’s last name, they can be divided into two groups—realism and fantastical—which can then be broken into smaller genres.

Realistic fiction are plausible stories about people and events that could really happen. Good realistic fiction illuminates life, presenting social and personal concerns in a human context.
Themes in realistic fiction often include coming of age and relationship stories. Fantasy often has good vs evil as its main theme, and the characters in traditional fantasy usually goes on a quest. modern fantasy includes magical creatures, futuristic worlds, or elements of magic in the human world. Science fiction and horror are sub-genres of fantasy fiction.

Non-fiction can be about any topic imaginable. Three popular genres within non-fiction are biography, autobiography and memoir. The memoir is different from autobiography in that it looks only at a slice of life, whereas the autobiography reviews the entire life up to the point the person stops writing.

In addition to knowing the kind of book you intend to write, you must also know your target audience. The type of book—picture book, chapter book, middle grade novel, young adult novel, adult novel, and the accompanying non-fiction subjects—help not only the author, but also the publisher know where your book best fits when it comes to selling.

Stick to no more than two genres and one target audience and you’ll not only improve your chances of being published, but also help readers find you. The more readers you have, the more sales you make, and that’s what marketing is all about—making the sale.

Choose Your Characters

A popular post from February 2008

by Lu Ann Staheli

Characters exist in both fiction and non-fiction. In fiction we know these people, animals, or creatures as protagonists and antagonists. The protagonist is the good guy, the one we root for to get what they wanted in the end. The antagonist is the one who tries to stop our hero from reaching his or her goal. In non-fiction, the character is the narrator. This may be the voice of teacher, the sage, or simply one who has been there. Character roles may also be played by businesses, natural disasters, disease, or any one of hundreds of other topics covered in a non-fiction book.

In both fiction and non-fiction, we will likely see characters of two types. Major characters are those who play a significant role in bringing change. Often they change within themselves, growing through the learning they do. Because of this growth, they are known as round characters. A flat character plays a minor role in the story. Like bit players on the stage, these characters make brief appearances that rarely effect the outcome of the story.

An author must choose a point of view from which we will get to know the characters. First-person is most often used in adolescent novels where the reader wants to have a close connection to the main character, see what she sees, feel what she feels. Although rarely used, second person point of view might find a place in a non-fiction How To book, but writers must be careful not to sound too demanding when they use this voice. Perhaps the most difficult for the novice writer, but also the most accepted by editors and readers is third person point of view. Whether third person omniscient—the all seeing, all knowing god who understands what everyone is feeling—or the third person limited, who follows around a single character, describing all from their own point of view, using third person allows more freedom to the storyteller than either first or second person does.

Once an author knows their character and point of view, they begin to use syntax, diction, punctuation, and dialogue to develop the character, adding their own style. This becomes the author’s unique voice, a trait highly sought after by editors. Using the right voice for the desired audience will form a winning combination, a book that editors can’t let pass them by.

Why Do I Buy a Book?

A popular post from July 2011 (we miss you Lu Ann)

by Lu Ann Staheli

Several weeks ago a question came up about how can we get new readers to actually buy our books. Of course it’s a wonderful thing when the local library has a copy that regularly gets checked out, and it’s even great when our best friends buy a copy and let potential new readers borrow our books, but as any working writer knows, it’s an increase number of actual sales that puts money in our pockets.

We read all sorts of responses regarding better ways to market, how to reach a potential audience, and the necessity to blog/tweet/or friend on Facebook. But I decided to attack the question from the other side, and it gave me all sorts of insight into my own buying patterns as a reader. I hope my thoughts here will spark your thinking into how your own audience’s book-buying works, and maybe we will all see an increase in book sales if we truly understand what makes them purchase a book.

To start my query, I looked back at my buying history for the past six months. I buy a huge amount of print books online at Amazon, along with several books from both Kindle and Nook applications. I occasionally visit the local Seagull Books, rarely go to Deseret Books, and sometimes I will buy a book from Confetti Antiques & Books, or pick up a used book through Amazon online sellers. I used to buy books from eBay, but the cost of postage and the auction process have made my browsing time there no longer worth my time. Today, I’m just looking at the books I bought exclusively in print from Amazon. (I know, this list alone will blow you away at the number of books I actually do buy, and in only a six month period. It’s almost scary!)

So, what books did I recently buy and why?

1.Critique Group: In an effort to always support members of my critique group (my mastermind group of friends!), I have six copies on pre-order of Variant by Robison Wells, and I bought copies of Ammon by H. B. Moore, Captive Heart by Michele Paige Holmes, and The Kiss of a Stranger by Sarah M. Eden. I bought books by J. Scott Savage and Annette Lyon last year at their release time, and I already have The Death Cure on order from our former critique member, James Dashner.

2. Utah Authors: I buy books by other Utah authors and friends, or authors with Utah connections. I either have already received or have my pre-order filed for the following books: Crossed by Ally Condie, The Alloy of Law: A Mistborn Novel by Brandon Sanderson; Illusions by Aprilynne Pike, Possession by Elena Johnson. Monster Hunter International and Hard Magic by Larry Coreia, Beyond Foo: Geth and the Return of the Lithens from Obert Skye, Sean Grisworld’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt, The Forgotten Locket by Lisa Mangum, I Don’t Want to Kill You by Dan Wells, Miles from Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams, The Beyonders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull, Miles to Go and Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans, and The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card.

3. Student Recommendations: I buy books because my students will constantly ask me if I’ve read THIS yet. So, like it or not, I’ve ordered Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, The Son of Neptune and Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan, and Steampunk by Ann VanderMeer.

4. Writing Projects: I buy books that will help me with a writing project or that was recommended to me by an agent or editor to fine tune my marketing. I Am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas by Adam Roberts, The Last Christmas of Ebenezer Scrooge: The Sequel to The Christmas Carol by Marvin Kaye, and Ebenezer: The Final Years of Scrooge by Donna Lee Howell will all likely point you toward the topic of the YA novel I’m currently writing, and Love Is Eternal A Novel of Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln by Irving Stone is for my current non-fiction project. The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer, The Mysterious Benedict Society Collection by Trenton Lee Stewart, Ithaka by Adele Geras, Magic Below Stairs by Caroline Stevermer, Something Rotten by Alan M. Gratz, and I, Coriander by Sally Gardner all were suggested by a Dial editor who had read sample pages from me.

5. Personal Interest: I buy books to fulfill my own crazy interests and passions. Does the Noise in My Head Bother You: A Rock’n’ Roll Memoir by Steven Tyler, Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry by Todd Farley, The Original Argument: The Case for the Federalist Papers by Glenn Beck and Joshua Charles, Damn! Why Didn’t I Write That by Marc McCutcheon, The Roots of Obama’s Rage by Dinesh D'Souza, Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe, If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won’t) by Betty White, My Lucky Life by Dick Van Dyke, One Simple Idea: Turn Your Dreams into a Licensing Goldmine While Letting Others Do the Work by Stephen Key, Spirit Driven Success by Secret Millionaire Dani Johnson, The Millionaire Messenger: Make a Difference and a Fortune Sharing Your Advice by Brendon Burchard, Surrender the Pink and The Best Awful by Carrie Fisher.

6. Series: I buy books from series I’ve been reading and enjoyed. Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting, Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham , Something Rotten (Thursday Next Novels) by Jasper Fforde

7. Book Club: I occasionally buy books for my book club. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is on my Nook, but I won’t recommend it unless you’re not offended by explicit sex. Let’s just say, the ladies in our group where quite surprised.

8. Gifts: I buy books that either my husband or one of my boys will enjoy. My husband has been reading the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima so The Gray Wolf Throne is coming in August. Trump University Wealth Building 101 by Donald Trump, Star Wars Character Encyclopedia from DK Publishing, and The Warlock by Michael Scott were also ordered this year.

9. Market Buzz: I buy books that are getting tons of book market buzz, either at conferences, online, from TV programs I watch, or by hitting the charts of everyone’s must-reads. On this list I have A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. The 7 Tipping Points that Saved the World by Chris and Ted Stewart, White Cat by Holly Black, Robopocalypse by Daniel; H. Wilson, Johnny Appleseed: The Man, The Myth, The American Story by Howard Means, Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Everybody’s talking about the HBO series, The Game of Thrones from George R.R. Martin. Divergent by Veronica Roth, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas, 20 Years Younger: Look Younger, Feel Younger, Be Younger! by Bob Greene, Starcrossed by
Josephine Angelini, Failing Mr. Fisher by James Wintermote, 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America by Albert Brooks, Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael, Story Engineering by Larry Brooks, and Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann, 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance and 1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies, Across the Universe by Beth Revis, and The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life by Glenn Beck, Keith Ablow are also books I’ve bought because of buzz.

10. Author Marketing: Occasionally I run across an online blog/tweet/video/or FB advert that sounds interesting. I video forwarded by Heather Moore to our critique group led me to The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst. I read a forlorn-sounding blog from author Kirsten Hubbard about how her novel Like Mandarin had been lost in the mid-list, and I felt sorry for her, so I bought it. Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams had a title that caught my eye, and John Scalzi’s tweets made me order Old Man’s War and Fuzzy Nation. I ran across author Laura Ruby there also and ordered I Am Not Julia Roberts. Shannon Hale mentioned Mortification: Writers' Stories of Their Public Shame Robin Robertson on a day she blogged about her own mortification tale.

So what does all this mean? I buy books that are recommended by friends, students, and family. I buy books that fulfill my own career and interest needs. I buy books as gifts for friends and family. I buy books that everyone says are MUST READS or by an author who has somehow touched me.

Now the challenge for all of us is to figure out how the books we write can fit into one of those categories. How can we build better relationships with potential readers so they buy copies of our books, recommend our books to others, and help put our books onto the list of books that everybody must read?

Speaking of which, with as many books that are still on this list that I haven’t yet found the time to read, I’d guess I’d better get going. I wonder how many of these I can finish before my next box of books arrives?

Which Way—DO-IT-YOURSELF or Traditional

A popular post from February 2011

By Lu Ann Brobst Staheli
(Originally published in The Writer, February 2010)

Publishing has gone through a dramatic upheaval in recent years, with conglomerates gobbling up small houses, while desktop publishing and print-on-demand options have opened the doors for anyone to become a published author. With publishing budgets tightening and promotional dollars almost nonexistent for all but the guaranteed bestsellers of “brand” authors, traditional publishers are passing over many well-written manuscripts.

A number of well-known authors with high- volume sales have come from the nontraditional route, and traditional, bestselling authors have turned to self-publishing for niche or quickturn-around products, rather than wait for a publisher.

But a history of poorly designed and edited self-published books leaves most authors struggling with the age-old dilemma: What do you do when you can’t find a traditional publisher for your work? Should you self-publish or continue your search?

Several self-published bestsellers have proved themselves and their authors worthy of notice. Authors William P. Young (The Shack), James Redfield (The Celestine Prophesy), Rhonda Byrne (The Secret), Christopher Paolini (Eragon) and Richard Paul Evans (The Christmas Box) all made their debut with self-published works, thereby launching their careers.

For every successful self-published book, though, a thousand more sell only a handful of copies, mostly to family and friends, often leaving cases of unsold books. According to Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, a nonfiction marketing title, the average book in America sells about 500 copies, so perhaps traditionally published books face a similar fate.

Neither kind of publishing is a guarantee of success. Traditional publishing has fewer risks, but self-publishing could be a place to start if the conditions are right for your book. As someone who has published both types of books, let me offer a few thoughts to help you weigh the pros and cons.

Why traditional publishing?
The obvious answer is because that’s the way the market currently works. Books that traditional publishers put out offer a sense of built-in credibility that self-published books have a hard time earning.

Plus, big name, big-budget houses can offer authors advances and promotional materials and garner book reviews from important publications—perks that are often difficult, if not impossible, for the author of a self-published book to arrange. These houses can also get your books into stores where customers can buy them, whereas self-published books may not be accepted by book buyers for retail stores.

Do you want to publish in order to begin a writing career, or to obtain self-gratification—to be able to say, “I’ve published a book”? Earning royalties is a more secure route than paying for editing, design and printing costs yourself. Having a professionally prepared product represents your talent better than the poorly produced book you might get if you choose the wrong self-publisher.

Why self-publishing?
First of all, a rejection by a traditional publisher does not automatically mean self-publishing is right for you. Perhaps your book isn’t as ready as you thought. Maybe its scope is too large or the competition too fierce, or the readership isn’t there, or the writing lacks polish. A rejection could also mean that a house’s list is full, that it recently published another book on that topic, or that your book doesn’t quit fit what it needs. None of these reasons would necessarily keep
your book from success.

Second, don’t self-publish to impress a traditional publisher. It might be a foot in the door, but few small houses will elect to reprint a book that’s already been self-published, especially if your book sales have saturated a niche market. Larger houses might be impressed by a significant sales volume and offer a contract because of your efforts, if they think they can tap a new market.

These caveats aside, let’s look at whether self-publishing might be right for you. Consider whether your book fits into one of the following categories:

Your project doesn’t fit the format of the traditional publisher’s other releases. “When I first tried to publish The Christmas Box,” Evans says, “publishers didn’t know what to do with it. The manuscript was too long for a short story and too short for a novel—so they rejected it. The book had already proven it had an audience when I printed copies for my friends and family, so I went the self-published route to satisfy local demand. Four hundred thousand copies later, Simon & Schuster bought the rights to publish the hardcover.”

You don’t have time to wait for acceptance. With my book When Hearts Conjoin, speed was of the essence. The book is about conjoined twins Kendra and Maliyah Herrin, of Salt Lake City, who were separated in a 25-hour surgery in 2006. The twins had been invited to make their third appearance on Oprah, and the TLC Network was doing a documentary about them that would air soon. We were working on a tight deadline to have the book published in time—a deadline that did not grant us the luxury of writing, pitching and working within a publisher’s calendar. It was only nine months from the time the twins’ mother and I started writing until the book was in our hands.

You face closed or limited publication opportunities. Sometimes a story needs to be told, even when publishers don’t have a place in their catalog. David Farland, author of Chaosbound, a bestselling novel from a traditional publisher, recalls, “I felt deeply touched by the story of the Willie Handcart Company —a group of Mormon pioneers who crossed the plains with only what they could carry in handcarts—and so I began to study it with an eye toward writing the tale. Unfortunately, In the Company of Angels [a novel] was too long for my regular niche publisher. I knew the other few houses within the target market had recently released books on the same topic, so I decided to self-publish.”

You have a targeted niche market for your book. Annette Lyon, author of the novel Tower of Strength, has a loyal fan base not only for her traditionally published inspirational fiction, but also for the weekly Word Nerd column on her blog. “Readers of my column kept asking for a grammar book,” she says, “but I knew the kind of thing they were looking for wouldn’t be a good fit with a traditional publisher. I decided to self-publish and promote a book [titled There, Their, They’re: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar From the Word Nerd] for my readers and [to sell it] at writing conferences where I taught grammar and editing workshops. So far, I’ve been pleased with my sales, I’ve satisfied my target audience, and I continue to look for ways to expand my readership.”

Here are some other issues to mull:
Do you have a built-in readership? “After rejections by the big publishers,” author Kenny Kemp says, “I self-published my first novel, I Hated Heaven. My next book, Dad Was a Carpenter [a novel], won the grand prize in the 1999 International Self-Published Book Awards. Within days I had secured a top-flight agent and in just a matter of weeks, we made a great deal with HarperCollins to reprint Carpenter. My writing had found a wider audience, but that never would have happened if I hadn’t first taken the step of self-publishing.”

Do you know how to market to your audience? When Evans wanted to publish his first nonfiction book, The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me, he returned to his fictional roots in self-publishing. “I’d been teaching the concepts from ‘The Five Lessons’ at workshops for a while and I knew I had an audience, but I wanted to experiment with how best to sell the book,” Evans says. “So, I self-published in order to test it. Once I knew how to market it, I sold the book to Fireside.”

Do you have access to your audience? Many authors find themselves giving workshops, lectures or performances that put them in front of an audience that wants more. Making books available for purchase after a presentation can play an important part in your marketing plan. A great example is Psychic Madman, which I’m collaborating on with mentalist/magician Jim Karol. Most of its sales will directly follow Karol’s college appearances. The Betrayed, my collaboration with a former police officer who believes he was unfairly fired, will be pitched in his TV appearances. Another of my collaborations, The Book of Alan, an upcoming memoir by Alan Osmond, part of the performing Osmond family, will be marketed to the vast number of Osmond fans around the world. In other words, if you already have a platform—an audience to sell your work to—then selling the book is easier.

What types of books lend themselves well to self-publishing? Self-published nonfiction books tend to be more successful than fiction. Business and self-help books in particular find success because they can be delivered so many ways: as e-books, PDF files and print-on-demand books. Fiction can find an audience when the marketing is done right, but the process of building a readership may take more time.

What do I do when I publish? If you self-publish, nonfiction or fiction, plan on doing the following, or your book is unlikely to ever be successful:

• Hire a professional editor/proofreader and follow her advice.

• Hire a professional illustrator or graphic artist for your cover design and interior illustrations.

• Consider hiring a typesetter to design the interior of your book to look like those currently on the market.

• Read the fine print in your book producer’s contract before signing.

• Know what your remunerations are and what rights you keep.

• Obtain endorsements.

• Have a marketing plan in advance.

• Make personal appearances.

Of course, this list is nearly the same when you are marketing a book with a traditional publisher. The differences are that the latter provides editing, design and typesetting, and may help you get endorsements. In addition, the work of its marketing department (theoretically) leaves you more time to write instead of using your time to self-market.

Self-publishing can be a rewarding proposition when the book is right, but weigh your options carefully before you decide to go with this more difficult road. It can be a springboard to future projects, but so can a successful release from a traditional publisher.

Know what you want, then don’t be afraid to follow your dream. Whether it leads you to a traditional publisher or to self-publishing, a book will move you into the enviable category of published author—a place thousands of people would love to be.

Remembering editor Lu Ann Staheli

Lu Ann Staheli tragically passed away this morning after an 8-month battle with cancer. Lu Ann has mentored hundreds of writers and thousands of students over her lifetime. She was a Senior Editor at Precision Editing Group since our company's inception. She lived a remarkable life and was a wonderful friend and mentor to us all.

We have a fund set up for Lu Ann's family to help with medical expenses. Her husband spend the past 8 months caring for Lu Ann around the clock. All donations go directly to her family.

Please share your memories of Lu Ann in the comments, and we'll get them to her family. Below is her incredible list of accomplishments.

Much love,
The PEG Editors

Lu Ann Brobst Staheli

Lu Ann Brobst Staheli got her start as a celebrity paparazzi-stalker-chick, which led to her award-winning career as a ghostwriter for celebrity memoirs. A masochist at heart, she taught junior high school English for 33 years and then moved to the school library. She once spent two weeks summer vacation backpacking through Europe with 15 of her students. She has won three Best of State Medals--two for writing and one for teaching--but refuses to wear them all at the same time because she'd hate to be known as a show-off.

Staheli graduated from Alexandria-Monroe H.S. in Alexandria, Indiana, in 1972, and the Indiana University Bloomington School of Education in 1976. She taught English and psychology at Rockville Jr. Senior High School in Rockville, Indiana, for five years before moving to Utah. In 1984, Lu Ann joined the staff at Payson Jr. High School in Payson, Utah, where she taught English, Writing for Publication, and Reading Options, and most recently she has worked as school librarian. Lu Ann also holds a Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology with a Library Media endorsement through Utah State University’s School of Education.

Staheli's published works include Men of Destiny: Abraham Lincoln and the Prophet Joseph Smith (Walnut Springs Press); Temporary Bridesmaid; Silver Bells Collection—A Fezziwig Christmas; Tides Across the Sea; Just Like Elizabeth Taylor; Leona & Me, Helen Marie; A Note Worth Taking; When Hearts Conjoin: The True Story of Utah's Conjoined Twins; Psychic Madman; One Day at a Time: Teaching Secondary Language Arts; and Books, Books, and More Books: A Parent and Teacher's Guide to Adolescent Literature.

Lu Ann's articles have appeared in Grit, Byline, Scouting, Library Media Connections, and The Writer magazines, and she has published invitational essays in Teaching Secondary Language Arts K-12: It Really Works (Christopher-Gordon Publishers) and Famous Family Nights (Cedar Fort International).

As a Senior Editor with Precision Editing Group, she has had a hand in a number of releases from Deseret Book, Shadow Mountain, Covenant Communications, and other regional publishers, including several winners and finalists for the Whitney Award, and USA Today and New York Times best-sellers. A former Associate Producer of Alan Osmond's Stadium of Fire, Lu Ann resides in Spanish Fork, Utah, with her husband, and tries to keep track of their five sons.

Lu Ann is a teacher of teachers. Two of her former students teach with her at Payson Jr. High, one is an administrator there, and numerous others have entered the education field. She has been a mentor to four student-teachers, all of whom have continued in the field. In addition to helping students become teachers, she also has moved students to careers in creative writing and journalism, but perhaps the most successful thing she has done is encouraged a generation of lifelong readers.

During her years as an English teacher, Lu Ann has shared her love of reading and writing with over 4,000 students, and it doesn’t look like she is ready to stop teaching them anytime soon. “Once my student, always my student” is her personal philosophy, and her students seem to know that without ever being told. They come back to visit her classroom years later, stop her in the local grocery, and track her down via the Internet to ask her for book recommendations, tell her about their latest writing project, or share a favorite memory from a long-ago class she taught. Through shared literacy, students develop a sense of connection to Lu Ann that leads them into an adult world where books and writing are important. The fact that many of her own students have become teachers, and that she also mentors student teachers, broadens her influence even farther across the state and perhaps the world.

“Until I’ve given them a million words, I can’t teach them how to write,” describes the beginnings of an English program under Lu Ann’s tutelage. “So many students come to me—even in my Honors programs—with a limited view of reading and a fear of writing. A boring book or a single blood-red paper returned from a well-meaning teacher can halt a student’s progress toward engagement in reading or improvement in writing for years, sometimes even a lifetime.”

To help her students overcome those fears, Lu Ann begins her school year with reading. She teaches strategies and tips to improve reading skills, no matter what level a student currently tests, then she gives them plenty of time to practice those skills. She reads high interest books aloud to them, lets students read in small groups, and includes time for plenty of independent reading, providing audio books for students who need additional reading support. “The more words I can put in front of them, the more likely they will discover something—a book, short story, poem, or piece of non-fiction—anything that will hook them, giving them a reason get excited about reading and hopefully leading them to reading on their own. If it takes giving a student something new to try every day, then I’ll do it. All it takes is one book—the right one—to make a lifelong fan of reading.”

In addition to reading, Lu Ann leads her students into writing fluency. “Getting words down onto the page is hard for most people, but this is especially true of junior high students who are already a little insecure. I believe in letting students feel comfortable with writing, validating their efforts and ideas, long before I make corrections and suggestions.” A professional writer herself, Lu Ann teaches the craft of writing rather concentrating during early draft stages on the skills of editing. “Editing is the final process in writing. Too many teachers seek perfection from their students long before the work is ready. Editing too early can ruin voice, stop the flow of fresh ideas, and squelch any student desire to attempt, let alone perfect, a piece of writing,” she says. This process of building readers, then teaching the craft of writing, has found Lu Ann’s students of all ability levels not only among the highest scores on a variety of state and standardized tests, but also eventually following career paths that allow them to use these skills without fear.

“People who read succeed, or so the slogan goes. If a student reads well, school is easier for him or her. The information disseminated via teacher lectures, textbooks, and other materials becomes accessible and interesting,” Lu Ann states. “Eventually my students leave the junior high school. Most of them graduate from high school. Obviously, those who leave with reading and writing skills will move on to successful careers that add to the economy,” something Lu Ann herself does through the various employment and volunteer opportunities she follows beyond her work in the classroom.

In addition to teaching, Lu Ann has long served her local community. As a member of the staff at Alan Osmond Productions, Lu Ann was an Associate Producer for Stadium of Fire, a member of the Spanish Fork Arts Council, State Coordinator for the National Council of Teachers of English’s Promising Young Writers program, on the Speaker’s Bureau for the League of Utah Writers, and has been on the Middle Level and Young Adult Book Selection Committees for the Children’s Literature Association of Utah. Lu Ann served as coordinator for the Spanish Fork City Arts Council Writer’s Workshop and the Nebo Young Writer’s Conference. She is often called upon by church groups, book clubs, and other members of the local and state community to present workshops on literacy, give book reviews, or serve as a judge in writing contests. She has worked on district and state textbook and media adoption committees, as well as helping to write the previous state CORE for Secondary English Language Arts.

Lu Ann has earned several awards and recognitions through her teaching career, including Nebo Reading Council Reading Teacher of the Year 2006, Christa McAuliffe Fellow Utah 1999, Utah English Language Arts Teacher of the Year 1999, Excellence in English/Language Arts Instruction 1999 from the Utah Writing Project, and Celebrate Literacy Award 1996 from the Utah Council IRA. She was selected for the USWest/UtahLINK Teacher Network Project 1995, the Marquis Who’s Who in American Education for several years, and has previously been nominated for both the Disney Hand Award for Outstanding Educators and the Huntsman Awards for Excellence in Education.

As the past-President of the Utah Council of the Teachers of English Language Arts and the League of Utah Writers, Lu Ann currently serves on the board of the Nebo Reading Council and the UVSC Forum on Children’s Literature. Through her newspaper column and personal donations, she helped the Nebo Reading Council build a library collection for the Nebo School District Young Mother’s School in 2008.

*****

As if Lu Ann orchestrated it, her award-winning YA book JUST LIKE ELIZABETH TAYLOR, became officially available for sale today in paperback for the first time.

New releases!

If you have a new release and you are a blog follower or editing client, please let us know! We are happy to make the announcement here.

Congratulations to Curtis Moser, for MEMOIRS OF A BAD DOG:

Congratulations to Lu Ann Staheli for A NOTE WORTH TAKING:

New Guide for Adolescent Literature

Many of us have been following Lu Ann Staheli's book reviews for years. This week, her new Guide to Adolescent literature has been released, called: Books, Books, and More Books: A Parent and Teacher's Guide to Adolescent Literature.

Congrats to our own PEG senior editor, Lu Ann!



If any of our blog followers have a book release, we are happy to announce it here.

Announcements

Our senior editor, Lu Ann Staheli will be teaching a writing workshop April 9, 2011, at Confetti Books in Spanish Fork, Utah. Lu Ann is a Best of State Author and Best of State Educator. Registration info is on her blog: Lu Ann's Library.

Also, if any of our blog followers have a book release, we are happy to announce it here.

Recently, Josi S. Kilpack's culinary mystery, Blackberry Crumble was released. Congrats!



Also, congrats to Julie Wright. Her first middle grade Sci Fi just came out!

Spinning Plates

Lu Ann Brobst Staheli

First of all, let me say it feels great to be back. Okay, some of you may be wondering where I’ve been, and some of you may not even know I was gone because, other than a guest interview in 2009, I’ve been absent from the blog since 2008, when I was a regular columnist.

Where on earth did that time go? Honestly, I was surprised at how long it had been since I’d written a column for PEG. I didn’t mean for my absence to be so long, and I certainly hadn’t forgotten about our growing audience.

As a matter of fact, I’ve been working with many of our readers in another capacity, as an editor. So, a wave “hello” to all of you who I’ve been working with, a “thanks for welcoming me back” to the rest of the PEG editors who’ve been carrying the load while I was gone, and a “nice to meet you” to anyone who doesn’t remember me even hanging around here many years ago.

I’ll try to do better—I honestly will—but like many of you who are working hard at being a writer, I also have other full time jobs which sometimes keep me from doing everything I’d like to do, even when those activities are worthy and beneficial to myself and those I’m working with as an editor.

A few years ago, when I was on a panel filled with teachers and authors at a conference at UVU, I described myself as the Plate Spinner guy on the Ed Sullivan Show. If you’re not old enough to remember, this guy—did we ever know his name?—had several long poles that were flexible enough to keep in constant motion. He would put a plate on top of each pole and move it back and forth to start the plate spinning. His job then for the next few minutes was to keep all the plates spinning at the same time. Sometimes a plate or two would slow down enough to make the audience worry the guy wouldn’t get to them in time to keep the plate from crashing to the floor and breaking.

Such is the life of a freelance writer.

As freelance writers we want to write something for which we can be paid. That means we have to come up with an idea, write enough of a pitch or outline an article, then set it on the query pole and send it spinning on its way. Then we do it again and again and again until we get a response of YES from an editor.

Once that answer comes, we are busy spinning the drafting pole. How many words did we promise in length? We told the editor we could have the final copy ready by when? What could we have been thinking? This pole has to move fast, fast, fast if we don’t want to break the plate that also holds our future career with this publication.

Sometimes we have to do research which sets the next pole into motion as we try to find the facts we need to support the article or book we are writing. Check and double check, locate a reliable source, and attempt to do it all within the confines of our already ridiculous daily schedule.

Then there is the editing pole. This pole can start in motion all by itself at a moment’s notice and have a killer deadline. “I’ve attached the final edits on your 70,000 words manuscript. Take a look at it and get it back to us as soon as possible. We’d like to go to print the day after tomorrow.” What?! All other spinning plates may suddenly find themselves in jeopardy of falling as you give your full attention to maintaining this one. There’s no way you can let your book or article be printed without having one last chance to make sure nothing horrible has happened during typesetting. Your writer’s reputation depends on it.

If you’ve written a book, once it’s published, along come the marketing and promotion poles, which sometimes work in tandem, but often mean extra work as you try to increase your sales. Interviews, book launch parties, bookstore signings, TV appearances, blog tours, conference presentations, social networking—and the list goes on.

In the meantime, you’re back at pole one, working on the next pitch, writing the next piece for publication, and doing all in your power to keep all of those poles and the plates on top spinning in full action.

All because we want to be a paid writer.

Oh, and don’t forget the other poles you might be spinning—another job, a husband and children, church and service obligations, friendships, and even finding time for yourself can all have plates that must keep spinning.

With all this spinning, I’m suddenly finding myself a little dizzy. I think I’ll take a break from writing.

But I promise, I won’t be gone another two years before you hear back from this plate spinner. As a matter of fact, I already have an idea for next week’s blog entry...

Come to our All-Day Workshop

Precision Editing Group has been invited to teach the Friday Workshop for the League of Utah Writers annual writers conference. For more information and registration visit HERE.

Join us in Salt Lake City,Utah, on Friday, September 17, for an all-day, hands-on intensive workshop:

Topic:

From Plotting to Final Draft: Getting Your Manuscript Ready to Compete

Heather Moore, owner of Precision Editing Group, and four senior editors will teach this in-depth, hands-on workshop: From Plotting to Final Draft: Getting Your Manuscript Ready to Compete. Publishers and agents receive thousands of submissions each year. More so than ever, your book concept needs to stand above the rest, and your writing needs to be tight and carefully edited. Come ready to write, to learn, and to discover how to take your manuscript to next level.

About the instructors:

Josi Kilpack writes women’s fiction and suspense. She’s an award-winning suspense author and has published nearly a dozen novels, her most recent includes the best-selling Sadie Hoffmiller mystery series.

Annette Lyon is the award-winning author of several contemporary and historical novels, as well as the popular grammar guide, There, Their, They’re: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd, and the upcoming cookbook, Chocolate Never Faileth.

Heather Moore owns and manages Precision Editing Group. She is also an award winning author of seven historical novels and one non-fiction work.

Lu Ann Staheli is a Best of State winner for Educator, K-12 grade. She is the co-author of the recent memoirs, When Hearts Conjoin: The True Story of the Herrin Twins (also 2010 Best of State winner), and Psychic Madman.

Julie Wright is the author of several YA novels, both contemporary and fantasy, including the science fiction series, The Hazzardous Universe, which is blasting off February 2011.

Pyschic Madman

No, we're not calling you all psychic madmen . . .

Congrats to our senior editor and writing coach, Lu Ann Staheli, on the recent release of her new book she co-authored with Jim Karol, entertainer and memory expert. Check out Psychic Madman on Amazon.



As always, we are happy to post your book covers here. Let us know of your successes!

Ghostwriting--Interview with Lu Ann Staheli

by Heather Moore

One of our senior editors, Lu Ann Staheli, has been working for the past several months on ghostwriting a book. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about this process. Many books are ghostwritten—especially those you see with "celebrity authors". Some ghostwriters are acknowledged inside the pages (i.e. Glenn Beck’s book The Christmas Sweater had two ghostwriters). Others are acknowledged on the cover such as When Hearts Conjoin, by Erin Herrin with Lu Ann Staheli. Today, Lu Ann has joined us to share her journey of writing the story of Herrin family and their conjoined twins who were successfully separated.

1. From a ghostwriter’s standpoint, how do you begin a project like this? Of course, because I live in Utah where the Herrins twins were born, I had heard some of their story on the local news so I was at least familiar with who they were and some of what the girls had gone through in their short lives. When I first heard they were doing a book I thought, “Wow! What a great project. I wish that I could have written it.” As things worked out, the universe must have read my mind because last August I found myself in that very position. I was given a book outline, and few sample chapter pages, but I was told that Erin, the girls’ mother, didn’t feel the tone of what had been written was right. She wanted a more personal story instead of sounding like a magazine article. So I set to work, drafting a single chapter to get a feel for the project, choosing to write the book more like one might write a novel, using a first person narrative voice, and that voice had to be Erin’s. I hadn’t met Erin yet when I wrote that first chapter, but we sent it off to her, she loved it, and we were on our way. I met with her in October just to chat. It was a good experience because I was able to hear her true voice, begin to understand a little more about her, and to see first-hand her interaction and relationship with the girls, their sister Courtney, and her husband, Jake. The boys were not at home the day I visited. After that meeting, the real work began.

2. When creating the chapters and the flow of the book, how did you decide what information to use and what not to use? We didn’t want this book to turn into a medical procedural, yet we knew we had to maintain the story’s reason to be told. Erin wanted to insure that nothing in the book would ever delve too deeply into the girls’ privacy, so I had to weigh the information I discovered against making sure we had an accurate portrail of events, yet keeping the book more about the emotion instead of the medicine. Since we wanted to stay in Erin’s point of view, it was important to only share what she experienced, felt, and understood. There were many times I just tried to put myself in her place as I worked on the draft and let my own emotions and questions surface. The interesting thing was when I sent her the drafts she would often reply, “That’s exactly how I felt!”

3. The mother of the conjoined twins, Erin Herrin, is listed as a co-author. How did the writing relationship work between the both of you? After I met with Erin, I came home and started a draft of the book in earnest. A flurry of emails went back and forth between the two of us, details were added, I did online research to support what I was writing, Erin corrected things I hadn’t gotten quite right, sent me tidbits she had remembered, and answered my million questions, until at last we had it right. Sometimes she and I were online at the same time, so answers came quickly. Other times, I had to just write through a section and wait for her response. That meant I had to do rewrites a little more often on those sections, but as a writer, I think we all understand the need to just get words on the page and worry about revision and researching later.

4. What type of research did you find yourself doing to flesh out details? I did a lot of reading about conjoined twins in general, but mostly about Kendra and Maliyah. You’d be amazed at how much is really out there about these two little girls. Jake runs a website for them as well, and I watched several video clips of news reports about their surgery. I found online articles about the girls that even Erin didn’t know were available. I also had to learn about medical procedures and equipment. My husband is an LPN, so I asked him a lot of questions and he was able to explain things to me pretty well. Since I’ve never given birth to a child, I relied on my friends to tell me details about pregnancy, ultrasounds, labor, and nursing. Sometimes I think I heard more than I ever wanted to know.

5. When ghostwriting, what are some of the challenges you faced? And what aspects were easier than you thought? Originally I wanted to tell the story completely in chronological order, but I realized that the hook of this story was the girls, and although the family history played a key role, we needed to start with a dramatic moment, so I had to take their life story and organize it into a plot, just like I would for a novel or screenplay, a process I was already familiar with. I reviewed the chapter outline they had given me, and decided where the real story was found, to insure this didn’t become just a travelogue of events. I worried that Erin wouldn’t agree with me at first, but as the story started to come together and she could review the pages, she relaxed and felt good about where the book was headed. Probably the most difficult thing about this book was that Erin had tried so hard to shut out all the fears and bad memories from the past that she had almost blocked out some of the very details we needed to make this story alive enough to touch the hearts of the readers. Sometimes getting the chronological order just right, or remembering which doctor played what role, or sorting through details was confusing, but we hope anyone who finds an error will forgive us, knowing that revisiting this time in her life and the lives of the girls was not always an easy thing for Erin to do.

6. What types of agreements or contracts were made between you, as the writer, and the Herrin family, as the story source? I was originally approached to do this book as a straight ghost-writer, which means I wouldn’t have had my name on it at all. However, as the book progressed, and as Erin and I got to know each other via email and our in-person meeting, we both came to realize how important it was to work as equals on this project. She couldn’t do the book without me, and I couldn’t write her story without her. Erin’s original contract was with Richard Paul Evans as the publisher, and it’s through his company that all of us are being paid, so we came to an agreement that Erin and I would share the writing credits. The girls have their own share of royalties for their trust fund, so everyone wins. Erin and I have also talked about working together on a screenplay for a movie-of-the week based on the book, so that may come about in the future as well.

7. Most writers don’t have a hard time to write their own books, let alone one for someone else. How did you manage this project with your own personal projects? People often ask me how I manage to do all that I do at any given time. I don’t know. I’m a workaholic? I am always busy on something, and I have a husband who doesn’t mind cleaning house, cooking meals, shopping, and running kids around from this thing to that. (Well, let’s say he doesn’t always mind.) Because I’m an English teacher, there are times when my students are reading or writing that I can too. I don’t watch much television, and I’m usually in my home office for at least a few hours each day. I’ve gotten good at writing fast and using little pieces of time to reach my goals, although sometimes a favorite project gets set aside for something with a more immediate return. As a newspaper columnist, I learned how to write a 500 word piece from scratch to final draft form in under an hour. I’m also great at working on multiple projects at the same time, a talent that certainly came in handy as I wrote When Hearts Conjoin at the same time that I finished the screenplay for Seasons of Salvation.

Thanks, Lu Ann for sharing your ghostwriting journey with us!

Note: When Hearts Conjoin will be out May 2009.

An Interview with Richard Paul Evans: The King of Christmas Fiction

Although this post isn't strictly about writing, I thought I'd share some of my own recent work with our readers. Rick's story gives all new writers hope that a little story idea can take off and become something that brings much joy to readers around the world. I hope all of you enjoy the holiday season.

From December Issue of DESERT SAINTS MAGAZINE,
Please visit them ONLINE.

by Lu Ann Brobst Staheli

Nearly sixteen years ago, Rick Evans wrote a book—The Christmas Box—as a present for his daughters, Jenna and Alyson. But like all good things, this story soon took on a life of its own. Passed from hand to hand among friends and neighbors, the book was an instant favorite with those who read it, and soon they were begging for copies to give to their friends
and family. Unable to find a traditional publisher, Evans self-published the eighty-seven page novella in paperback and distributed copies to bookstores in the Salt Lake City area.

The Christmas Box became a local best-seller, and the next year it hit #2 on the New York Times best-seller list, despite it’s humble beginnings and self-published status. National publishers clamored for the opportunity to release the book in hardcover. After a bidding war that is now historic, Simon & Schuster came out victorious, releasing the book in hardcover and paperback in 1993, where both editions hit the number-one position on the Times lists simultaneously, a feat never before accomplished. And The Christmas Box has been a seasonal favorite ever since.

I had the opportunity to interview Rick, the undisputable king of Christmas fiction, and I learned about not only The Christmas Box, but also about his family.

How did The Christmas Box change his life? Evans was quick to respond: “I could write an entire book on this…in fact I did—The Christmas Box Miracle.” But, all joking aside, he also says, “Besides taking me away (from home) every Christmas since I wrote the book, it fundamentally changed everything.” Evans had been in marketing before, but with a run-away bestseller like this, his new business became writing.

But not all of his books carried on the theme of Christmas, although recently he has returned to his literary roots. I asked Rick what brought him to focus so strongly on this season as the focus of so many of his novels. “There is wisdom in the saying, ‘Dance with who brung you to the dance,’” he said. “After The Christmas Box trilogy, I tried to distance myself from Christmas. (The Last Promise, The Locket, The Carousel, The Looking Glass, The Letter) It was a mistake. I’ve now reclaimed the season and my books have done even better.”

And the theme of Christmas has become a centerpiece for both Evans’ life and work. In addition to his novels (Timepiece, The Locket, A Perfect Day, Finding Noel, The Gift, and this year’s best-seller, Grace), children’s books (The Christmas Candle, The Light of Christmas), non-fiction (The Christmas Box Miracle), and special publications (Christmas Every Day, First Gift of Christmas), Evans has inspired the dedication of Christmas Angel statues in the U.S., Canada, France, and Japan, as well as Christmas Box Houses across America and a sponsored orphanage in Peru.

With all this Christmas spirit surrounding him all the time, it might be easy for Evans to want to step away, becoming more like Scrooge than feeling like Santa, but he tells me, “When it comes to Christmas in my own home, I’m more like…Santa? Definitely Santa. I love Christmas and giving.”

I asked about a typical Christmas in the Evan’s household, and discovered they are very traditional. “My in-laws are Italian, my mother Swedish,” Rick says. “So we’ve taken the best of both of these worlds—celebrating Christmas with my mother on Christmas Eve after a festive Italian dinner at my in-laws. Unfortunately with the recent passing of my mother and Keri’s father, the traditions we’ve so cherished will change somewhat. But we’ll do our best to keep them.”

One tradition has always been to keep the kids close to home, and even though their oldest, Jenna, recently married, Evans thinks this Christmas will be even better than before. “We didn’t lose a daughter, we gained a son,” he says. “Jenna’s been gone away for school for quite awhile, so she’s actually closer now.”

This year, the Evans family—Rick, Keri, Alyson, Abby, Michael, McKenna, Jenna, and her new husband—plan to honor their traditions, and celebrate the memories of the family members who have passed away, while Rick’s fans enjoy yet another Christmas story by their favorite author.

Evan’s most recent novel, Grace, opens with the story of The Little Match Girl, then takes readers into a poor neighborhood in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1962, where we meet two brothers who spend as much of their free time as possible looking for treasures in the garage and working on their tree house. When the older boy, Eric, meets a young runaway girl, Grace, and decides to help her by allowing her to stay in the tree house, he doesn’t realize that it will be his life that is changed forever. And so will yours as you read Grace.

Five Tips to Improve Your Writing

by Lu Ann Staheli

I’ve been working as an editor now for a long time, first with students at school, but more recently I’ve returned to editing manuscripts for local publishers. As I’ve been working on the most recent projects, I’ve started to keep a list of suggestions that would help the authors improve the flow and content of their stories. Each of these is a simple fix, yet applying them could make a huge difference in the quality of writing, and improved quality means a better reading experience for your audience.

1. Use the Natural Order for Dialogue Tags

“He said” is the natural order of things and should be used whenever possible. Lately I’ve read three manuscripts where the author has elected to use “said he,” every time. Although an occasional use of this order works, using it too often makes the reader begin to focus on the tag and not the dialogue, the place where the focus should be. In an effort to avoid the same-old-same-old, authors tend to let the pendulum swing too far in the opposite direction, thinking their new sentence structure will seem fresh and interesting. Instead, it feels awkward and annoying. My philosophy of writing is: Never annoy your reader. If your reader become too annoyed, they will no longer be your reader, and in the publishing world, that’s the last thing you want them to do.

2. Stop Telling Me How to Feel

Although it is important for your reader to experience a sense of place and character, adding a tag or beat that tells them how the character speaks easily becomes distracting. Words or phrases such as laughed, with a smile, in a serious tone, or asked happily are all examples of the author telling the audience. A better way is to strengthen the dialogue itself, so there is no doubt in the reader’s mind how the character feels when they say these words. Of course, an occasional directive may be needed, but most of the time these tags and beats can go.

3. Echoes are for Mountain Tops, Not Fiction

If you are in the habit of letting your characters echo or question everything that is said to them, you need to stop. When new ideas are thrown at a character, it is likely they will want to know more, but instead of repeating the key word from the previous dialogue, give them a question that covers new ground. Insist those characters listen the first time, then build upon the information they have been given. Stand-alone questions like what and huh are wasted words, something most novelists really can’t afford.

4. Put Your Dialogue Tags on a Diet

When you were in grade school, you probably had a teacher who insisted that you use a variety of words to replace said. It’s great that you know all those words, but in this case, your teacher was wrong. Dialogue tags need to be invisible. They are only there as place markers, a way for your reader to know who is speaking during a conversation with two or more characters. Keep your tags as bland as possible. Use said, whispered, and asked, always things a speaker can actually do with words. If you want to add a little spice, you may do so, but don’t change dialogue tags every time the character speaks. As a matter of fact, see how many times you can get away without using them at all.

One way to do this is to know how to use a beat, a descriptive phrase that also adds sense of place. Recently I edited a manuscript that used the following tags on a single page: said, questioned, replied, asked, replied, answered, said, said, questioned, answered, laughed. Not only were most of them too heavy, but the repetition of those heavier words stood out like an elephant in a group of penguins. An occasional beat like this might have worked better: “He could hardly keep the laugher from bursting through his words.”

5. Stop Beating the Dead Horse

Once you established a point, get on with it. Develop the information more if you need to, but don’t continue to tell us the same thing, just in new words. This might be harder for you to recognize in your own work than the other points I’ve made. Ask your trusted readers—the ones who see your manuscript before it goes to an editor—to look for times you’ve gone too far in making a statement. Sure, it might be significant to your story that the audience understands how handsome a character is, that another one is a klutz, and that they each have things they want, but give us credit for being able to remember that from the things they do and say, without you, the author, reminding us numerous times per page.

Final Words

These are the kinds of errors that are easy to make as we write with the muse. They are also corrections that are easy to do. Sometimes we need the help of other people to recognize we have fallen into their use, but most often, we can find them in our own work. Learning to write well requires constant work; each new piece brings its own challenges, but when we pay attention to detail and watch our writing improve, the rewards make all that work worthwhile.

The Ways a Writer Reads a Book

by Lu Ann Staheli

Recently I attended a workshop with Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson (Hattie Big Sky). During her keynote address, she gave a list that I thought was worth sharing.
Keep a reader’s journal where you record your thoughts about the following for each book you read like a writer.

1. Did you connect with the book?

2. Who was the publisher?

3. Study the opening line. Does it hook you?

4. Does the book shock and intrigue you?

5. Does the title hint at the main problem?

6. Does the opening page at least hint at the main problem?

7. What is the story’s main problem?

8. Are there at least two plot lines in the book?

9. How is the story resolved?

10. Who resolves the problem?

As you study your responses, think about how your own writing would fare in someone else’s journal. Is there something you should be doing to make your story stronger and more marketable? Think about her list of questions as you write and revise.

And good luck with someday having a Newbery of your own!

Facing Your Audience

by LuAnn Staheli

Sometime in junior high, I decided to be a writer. I wrote poetry and short stories, but I looked forward to the day when I would grow up and write novels. It took me several years to get there. Only eleven years ago I completed my first, the story of my mother’s childhood. My second novel was born three years later from a random idea. It was followed two years ago by a book based on my own teenage years, then last year I completed a historical set in the time of the Aztecs that I had been working on for nearly twelve years.

So, four complete novels reside on my computer hard drive. All have been through my critique group, revised, and prepared for publication. And that’s where the problem lies. Despite the fact that I’ve queried several editors and agents, I’ve not yet sold one of these manuscripts. Like many want-to-be authors, I could just give up and set my dreams aside, but after all these years and the amount of work I’ve already put into them, I don’t want to.

I decided to face my audience. All four of my books are meant to be read by teenagers, and every day I see over one-hundred teens in my Honors English classrooms. Copies in hand, I approached several of my best editors. “Would you be willing to read and critique this for me?” The response has been overwhelmingly positive. At last, the chance for the student to tell the teacher what they need to fix.

With delicious glee, the students were off, taking their task seriously. I’ll admit, I was nervous. Sending my babies off to faceless readers was one thing, but knowing I would see my new editors face-to-face every day for the rest of the school year was frightening. “What if they don’t like it? What if they think I’m a terrible writer? Will I be able to fix anything they don’t understand?”

As manuscripts started to come back to me, I discovered that sending them home with kids was the best thing I could do. The responses have been positive; the comments specific and helpful. As I’ve started revision based on my target reader’s input, I feel my manuscripts will be better than ever.

Writers need feedback to improve their work, and no response is as constructive as that from a real audience. Sure, agents and editors may hone my work, but the kids—they are the ones who will really matter when the books finally get published.

Avoid Talking Heads

by Lu Ann Staheli

What is a “talking head”? Maybe you remember the 1970's, when the punk singing group Talking Heads first made their debut. Or you might have heard the term “talking heads” used to refer to cable news anchors, TV or radio personalities who sit behind a desk and share their opinions.

I’ve often used the phrase “talking heads” in my language arts classroom. No, not to refer to those students who are so busy chatting that they don’t learn anything, although that has been tempting at times. I refer to a style developing writers often use, offering pages of dialogue, bouncing the reader back and forth like a ping pong ball, but failing to establish a sense of place, develop characterization, or move the story forward through action. Sometimes the reader can follow the author’s intention, but still come away from the work feeling they need to know more.
Here’s a sample passage adapted from the award-winning novel Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse to illustrate what can happen when writers fail to use more than dialogue to tell their story.

“Wear this in health,” Hannah had whispered.
“Come,” Papa said.
“Quickly, Rifka,” Papa whispered. “The boys, and Mama, and I must hide before light.”
“You can distract the guards, can’t you, little sister?” Nathan said.
“Yes,” I answered.

What is happening in this selection? Who are the characters? What do you know about them? Where are they? You probably don’t know all the answers to these questions after reading nothing but this adaptation.

Here’s the same passage in its original form. Notice the difference in information about where the characters are, what is being asked of them, and the action that is to come.

“Wear this in health,” Hannah had whispered in my ear as she draped a shawl over my shoulders early this morning, before we slipped from your house into the dark.
“Come,” Papa said, leading us through the woods to the train station.
I looked back to the flickering lights of your house, Tovah.
“Quickly, Rifka,” Papa whispered. “The boys, and Mama, and I must hide before light.”
“You can distract the guards, can’t you, little sister?” Nathan said, putting an arm around me. In the darkness, I could not see his eyes, but I felt them studying me.
“Yes,” I answered, not wanting to disappoint him.

You have probably figured out that these people are trying to escape from somewhere, despite danger and their own fears. These details were not clear in the first version.

If you want your reader to become engaged in your story, care about your characters, and leave the story with a sense of fulfillment. Add the rich details that take your reader right into the setting and the scene. Readers don’t want to follow a ping pong game, they want to make a connection with the characters. Don’t let your character’s dialogue stand alone as nothing more than “talking heads.”