Today’s blog we’re going to look at the two most important parts of your story: beginning and the end.

You’ve heard the phrase in publishing, The first line of your story sells this book, the last line sells your next book.”

It’s more than that.

Your first line needs to introduce the story, introduce the character and point to the climax of the plot. The last line of your story needs to give a satisfactory resolution to that plot and also, if you can tie it back to the beginning, where your reader goes “Ah, now I understand what he meant there”. That is how you leave a great impression with your reader.

Think about ways you can do that as you’re working on your writing this week. What are the ways that the first line of your story is pointing to the climax of your book?

What is the way that the last line of your story is bringing the reader back to that very first line?

That’s your assignment for this week. If you have any ideas on how to do this we’d love to see your comments in the comments section.

Don’t miss a single posting! Subscribe here to receive these postings by e-mail. Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at writingcareercoach.com.

Today I’m going to vent about a writing pet peeve I have. It’s when writers try to do more than one thing simultaneously in your writing.

Now, by this I don’t mean trying to infuse sensory details while evoking emotional responses. That’s part of good writing. What I’m talking about is having someone walk down the steps as they’re running their fingers through their hair,
or talking to their sister while they’re looking at the man across the room.
Those two words, as and while, have become words that immediately jump off the page for me when I’m editing projects for clients. They tend to point to someone trying to either tell me what is going on or someone trying to do too many things at one time.
Remember, in writing we can only see one thing at a time. That means that you have to describe one action, the implications and then move on to the next action. By trying to tell me two things are happening simultaneously you’re going to pull me out of story world. Things are going to jump out of order and it’s going to distract me as a reader.
So make sure as you’re going through your writing and your personal revisions that you look out for the words as and while. Whenever you see those make sure that you’re not trying to describe two physical actions happening simultaneously.
Instead go in and change up those words and infuse more detail. Take your reader deeper down into your character.

Don’t miss a single posting! Subscribe here to receive these postings by e-mail. Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at writingcareercoach.com.

This blog originally appeared on March 30, 2009. It is an extremely popular blog as it shows how editing helps you in the writing process. I hope you will enjoy this re-release of this blog.

One of my coaching students emailed me last week to do an edit. I gave her a very detailed critique on her opening paragraph. I then thought that what I shared might help other writers so I asked her permission to share it with you.

I have kept her anonymous to protect the innocent [and if she is entering Genesis she will want to STAY anonymous] but, if she chooses to reveal herself in the comments, I hope she’ll tell you some of how she applied all of this to her full WIP. Please pay particular attention to the ways to construct questions in the reader’s mind. It is not the only way, but it is one way. The key is understanding WHY you want to do that and how it will help you improve your writing.

For those of you who have wondered about my editing and coaching, this is a sample of what you get. I hope it will help all of you.

Her opening read:

I gripped the steering wheel as Nikko slept in his kennel in the back of the jeep. The phone call that interrupted dinner was from Sheriff Logan, telling me a six year old girl went missing. The longer the child is missing the more difficult to pick up the scent. So far, they have not been successful.
Before leaving Boones Creek, I drove through McDonalds at the edge of town for a cup of strong coffee. Nikko had water in his kennel, besides he sleeps while I’m driving.
***

This is what I said to her:

I really see that you’ve improved.

As I started the first paragraph I started some changes [suggestions] to you. Look below-

You gripping the steering wheel and Nikko sleeping aren’t related. It is better to say something like.

I gripped the steering wheel and tried to process everything Sheriff Logan had said. Behind me Nikko slept soundly in his kennel. His near silent breathing the only noise besides the thundering of my heart. Another girl missing, a six year old, and Nikko and I were needed. Every second that ticked past would make the scent harder for Nikko to pick up. How long had she been missing? How old was the scent?

Nikko let out a muffled whimper from his slumber. Was he dreaming of chasing a rabbit through the woods or was he running to escape the nightmares like I do?
***

I want to tell you what it is I was doing here and why. Gripped is a GREAT verb but we need more. Therefore I have her gripping the steering wheel PROCESSING what the Sheriff said. Immediately the reader starts to wonder what the sheriff said, what her relationship with the sheriff is, what we are going to find out next. She could have heard a loved one was dead. Maybe she is under suspicion for a crime. We don’t know. So the reader will keep reading to find out the answer.

You had the dog sleeping in the kennel but it seemed like a distraction before BUT by HEARING the breathing it engages more of our senses and we start to experience the scene a bit more. Now we are in a car, there is a dog sleeping behind her and we can hear it breathe. “But what did the sheriff say and what does this DOG have to do with anything?” The reader still wonders.

Her heart is thundering. She is gripping the steering wheel. Both indicate stress or fear…hmmm, the reader wonders why.

Next, a girl is missing. And the heroine is needed with the dog. Okay, he is a service dog. A blood hound? A cadaver dog? No, the next sentence indicates that the scent could grow cold. That means we hope the girl is still alive. So the reader keeps reading because we still have the unanswered question of why the narrator is so upset? Then we learn of the time constraint. We want to yell to her “Stop sitting there!!! Go find the girl !!!”

Then we HEAR the dog again [see, how we have touch and hearing weaving through this scene]. Anyone familiar with a dog knows what this sounds like, but we add a sinister twist to it. The heroine wonders if the dog is dreaming happily or if it is tortured LIKE SHE IS!!

This question of her internal struggle is “BRIDGING CONFLICT”. Go look at it in “Writing the Breakout Novel” and you’ll see it’s function. This is a lingering question you don’t want to answer too quickly. This is ALL just the opening paragraph. The FIRST paragraph of your story. Compare this to what you wrote and you’ll see that I simply added some unspoken questions to the readers mind as they read. You see some I introduced and then quickly answered. Others I introduced and left unanswered.

The big thing is add more senses. You have a great framework to do this with. You had the dog sleeping, I introduced the sound of his snores…

So read through and start to think of places you can include sensory details [the five senses]…and try to associate many of them with an emotion as well. “The comforting smell of pine pulled her back to grandma’s house and the pine trees that bristled outside her window at night. It was her safe place and the one she always imagined escaping to when life at home became too terrifying.” Do you see how you’ve learned a bit about the character, her relationship with her grandma and her childhood all because of a smell?

So, look over your MS and see how you can add those things [we don't want to over do it. Descriptions are like salt. =) ]

I hope this helps.

***
So, if you’ve ever wondered what I do when I coach and offer edits, now you know. I hope all of you will see a nugget in here that will help you in your writing. If you have any questions you can contact me through my website www.WritingCareerCoach.com or www.TheBalancedLife.com

Don’t miss a single posting! Subscribe here to receive these postings by e-mail. Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at writingcareercoach.com.

I just completed the book The Pleasure of My Company a book about a highly neurotic man on a quest to normalcy. I picked up this book because it was not only written but read by Steve Martin [yes, THAT Steve Martin], so if the writing was bad the reading would be amusing.

                I was captured by the humor and the incredible characterization in this story. As with every book I searched for ways to improve my own writing during the process of reading.

                This book had one of the best endings of any book I’ve read in a very long time. I would put it among the top 5 endings of ANY book. It was the type that cannot be shared because it would spoil the entire the book. It ended when the story ended rather than jamming in needless [and useless] words just to hit an artificial word count. The ending was incredibly satisfying and logical. There were no cheap theatrics, it simply was.

                The ending always sells your next book and this story absolutely sold the next book to me.

                Here at Writing Career Coach I spend a good bit of time telling you ways to market your writing. I interview authors to introduce you to different ways of marketing your writing and looking at your career. None of that matters if you don’t deliver.

                So here is today’s assignment, what is your ending? Where are you going? How is your main character going to grow and develop over the course of your story? Why is someone going to invest hours of their time to live the life of your characters?

                How are you going to end? Tell us some of your ideas in the comments.

Don’t miss a single posting!  Subscribe here to receive these postings by e-mail.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at writingcareercoach.com

Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.

Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.

Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.

Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.

Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.

She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

Many new writers like to say something like this:

“My story is in a new kind of genre. There is some romance and little historical and some science fiction all mixed together in a coming of age novel.

How do you go about selecting a genre? Some say that you should write in the area you understand best, but that doesn’t always work for every author. While I have a degree in political science and history my stories are contemporary suspense novels. That means that I have more research to do in order to construct my plots, but it is the world I am best able to write in.

Consider what it is that most interests you and the kind of writing you get most excited about. Don’t limit yourself to the kind of writing that fits in with your background or learning. Look at the way the story starts to percolate in your mind. That is your first clue.

Once you’ve selected your genre you have the most important step: research that genre. There are certain conventions in writing that you must provide to your reader. Every genre is a promise. In a romance the promise is he and she will meet at the beginning of the book and be in a happy, committed relationship at the end. If you have her die on the final page you are breaking the promise you gave in writing a romance. In suspense you are promising the reader that there will be an emotional experience where life and limb are challenged. If the bad guy is caught 1/3 of the way through and you proceed to go in to the main characters childhood [without any further threat of the bad guy returning] you have broken the promise to the reader.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at writingcareercoach.com
Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.
Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.
Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.
Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

“That will end up in a book.”
 
If you spend any time around a writer you will hear that phrase. That is because so much of our writing is drawn from our personal experiences in one way or another. While most of my stories are not autobiographical [I don't stalk women based on a misinterpreted scripture, nor am I a college student in a small town trying to solve a murder], I have to admit that things that I experience do find their way in to my writing in one way or another.
 
Maybe it is the way I personally reacted to a breakup or disappointment. It could be that one of my characters is afraid of the same thing I am. These are all obvious and easy to do.
 
Have you ever considered bringing the dual nature of your personality in to your writing?
 
I am really a dichotomy. On the one hand, I am a successful speaker who really enjoys speaking to large groups. On the other hand, I am a total nerd who gets excited at the idea of doing research and looked forward to every term paper in college. My idea of a dream job would be sitting in a room full of ideas, articles, news reels, historical data, etc. and making sense of it all. Pecking away at a keyboard and discussing the implications with a coworker of similar temperment. Trying to find a pattern and constructing possible scenarios from it.
 
How do you reconcile the two? One is extremely extroverted, the other introverted. One thrives on feedback and the energy of a crowd, the other the quiet solitude of one’s own thoughts.
 
I guess you become a writer. That’s what I did.
 
Think about the contradictory things in you. Then take time to discover and deepen the contradictory nature of your main characters [including your villain]. Doing that will deepen your writing and create a more relatable story.

Learn how to get readers to pick you and your story by following these links:

Getting readers to pick you

How readers decide what to read

Presenting yourself well

Getting noticed by readers

Going on the hunt

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at http://www.writingcareercoach.com/
Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.
Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.
Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.
Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

[Whether or not you’re going to conference]

Tiffany is a speaker and teacher. Find out about available topics for your group’s next event.

Tiffany is a National Examiner. Read her articles here.

Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.

Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.

Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.

She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

One of my coaching students emailed me last week to do an edit. I gave her a very detailed critique on her opening paragraph. I then thought that what I shared might help other writers so I asked her permission to share it with you.

I have kept her anonymous to protect the innocent [and if she is entering Genesis she will want to STAY anonymous] but, if she chooses to reveal herself in the comments, I hope she’ll tell you some of how she applied all of this to her full WIP. Please pay particular attention to the ways to construct questions in the reader’s mind. It is not the only way, but it is one way. The key is understanding WHY you want to do that and how it will help you improve your writing.

For those of you who have wondered about my editing and coaching, this is a sample of what you get. I hope it will help all of you.

Her opening read:

I gripped the steering wheel as Nikko slept in his kennel in the back of the jeep. The phone call that interrupted dinner was from Sheriff Logan, telling me a six year old girl went missing. The longer the child is missing the more difficult to pick up the scent. So far, they have not been successful.
Before leaving Boones Creek, I drove through McDonalds at the edge of town for a cup of strong coffee. Nikko had water in his kennel, besides he sleeps while I’m driving.
***

This is what I said to her:

I really see that you’ve improved.

As I started the first paragraph I started some changes [suggestions] to you. Look below-

You gripping the steering wheel and Nikko sleeping aren’t related. It is better to say something like.

I gripped the steering wheel and tried to process everything Sheriff Logan had said. Behind me Nikko slept soundly in his kennel. His near silent breathing the only noise besides the thundering of my heart. Another girl missing, a six year old, and Nikko and I were needed. Every second that ticked past would make the scent harder for Nikko to pick up. How long had she been missing? How old was the scent?

Nikko let out a muffled whimper from his slumber. Was he dreaming of chasing a rabbit through the woods or was he running to escape the nightmares like I do?
***

I want to tell you what it is I was doing here and why. Gripped is a GREAT verb but we need more. Therefore I have her gripping the steering wheel PROCESSING what the Sheriff said. Immediately the reader starts to wonder what the sheriff said, what her relationship with the sheriff is, what we are going to find out next. She could have heard a loved one was dead. Maybe she is under suspicion for a crime. We don’t know. So the reader will keep reading to find out the answer.

You had the dog sleeping in the kennel but it seemed like a distraction before BUT by HEARING the breathing it engages more of our senses and we start to experience the scene a bit more. Now we are in a car, there is a dog sleeping behind her and we can hear it breathe. “But what did the sheriff say and what does this DOG have to do with anything?” The reader still wonders.

Her heart is thundering. She is gripping the steering wheel. Both indicate stress or fear…hmmm, the reader wonders why.

Next, a girl is missing. And the heroine is needed with the dog. Okay, he is a service dog. A blood hound? A cadaver dog? No, the next sentence indicates that the scent could grow cold. That means we hope the girl is still alive. So the reader keeps reading because we still have the unanswered question of why the narrator is so upset? Then we learn of the time constraint. We want to yell to her “Stop sitting there!!! Go find the girl !!!”

Then we HEAR the dog again [see, how we have touch and hearing weaving through this scene]. Anyone familiar with a dog knows what this sounds like, but we add a sinister twist to it. The heroine wonders if the dog is dreaming happily or if it is tortured LIKE SHE IS!!

This question of her internal struggle is “BRIDGING CONFLICT”. Go look at it in “Writing the Breakout Novel” and you’ll see it’s function. This is a lingering question you don’t want to answer too quickly. This is ALL just the opening paragraph. The FIRST paragraph of your story. Compare this to what you wrote and you’ll see that I simply added some unspoken questions to the readers mind as they read. You see some I introduced and then quickly answered. Others I introduced and left unanswered.

The big thing is add more senses. You have a great framework to do this with. You had the dog sleeping, I introduced the sound of his snores…

So read through and start to think of places you an include sensory details [the five senses]…and try to associate many of them with an emotion as well. “The comforting smell of pine pulled her back to grandma’s house and the pine trees that bristled outside her window at night. It was her safe place and the one she always imagined escaping to when life at home became too terrifying.” Do you see how you’ve learned a bit about the character, her relationship with her grandma and her childhood all because of a smell?

So, look over your MS and see how you can add those things [we don't want to over do it. Descriptions are like salt. =) ]

I hope this helps.

***
So, if you’ve ever wondered what I do when I coach and offer edits, now you know. I hope all of you will see a nugget in here that will help you in your writing. If you have any questions you can contact me through my website www.WritingCareerCoach.com or www.TheBalancedLife.com

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Common-sense money management is free at The Balanced Life website.
Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

Today I’m going to share an interview I had with another of the authors I mentor through WritingCareerCoach.com’s mentorship program. I hope that the new writers out there will be encouraged and that the established writers will see something that brings them back to their ‘first love’…writing.

So now I’d like to introduce Kathryn Neff Perry

Q. Share one thing you have done recently to improve your craft?

A. THE FIRST THING I DID WAS HIRE A WRITING COACH. THE SECOND THING I DID WAS TAKE HER ADVICE AND BUY THE BREAKOUT NOVEL AND THE WORKBOOK

Q. What are some things you’re doing to market even before you’re published?

A I POST TO MY BLOG DAILY AND KEEP MY WEB SITE UPDATED, HOPING FOR MORE EXPOSURE

Q. What genre do you write and how did you become interested in it?

A. I WRITE MYSTERIES/SUSPENSE. I BECAME INTERESTED IN MYSTERIES/SUSPENSE FROM THE FIRST NOVEL I READ. I’M A HUGE FAN OF ROBERT PARKER. I LOVE TRYING TO GUESS WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT.

Q. If you had to give one piece of advice to someone just starting out as an author, what would it be?

A. MY ADVICE WOULD BE TO READ EVERYTHING YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON, AND TO WRITE EVERYDAY.

Q. Do you have a blog/website? What is the theme and the address?

A. MY WEBSITE IS www.kathrynneffperry.com. MY BLOG address is www.kattskomments.blogspot.com. The theme for both is inspiration. My hope is for other authors to find inspiration from my words.

Thank you so much for sharing with us. It is important to write every day-even if no one ever sees your words. It is the discipline of writing that you’re developing and that will help you grow as a writer.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com

Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.

Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.

She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

Lauri Pierce is another aspiring writer in my coaching program. She shares what she is doing to grow as a writer in this post.

WCC: One thing you have done recently to improve your craft?
LP: I’m reading (and am almost done!) this great book called Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass.

WCC: What are some things you’re doing to market even before you’re published?
LP: I have started a blog and intend to send and inform family and friends of the site to get it out there and growing. I’m also planning to post the address on Facebook and Myspace, and possibly a few forums. From there, who knows where else! Perhaps bumper stickers? Lol

WCC: What genre do you write and how did you become interested in it?
LP: Good question… I don’t really have one specific genre though. Right now, I have a historical fiction, a thriller, a fantasy/allegory, and plain fiction in the works. I also enjoy writing nonfiction articles when a neat idea comes. Above all though, and perhaps this is what you were looking for, the similarity between them is the same. They are Christ based and/or have an uplifting message. Meaning, to me, is very important.

I became interested in these and writing in general by reading.

WCC: If you had to give one piece of advice to someone just starting out as an author, what would it be?
LP: If you have a passion to write, you can do it! It will take time and effort on your part, but it is possible. And NEVER (if I could double underline this, I would) let anyone tell you otherwise.

WCC: Do you have a blog/website? What is the theme and the address?
LP: Indeed, I do! The theme is God, writing, and life (and all three combined). I might give some advice on things I’ve learned about writing one day, talk about something that really struck or touched me in life the next, and then share something God did in the following. The ideas are boundless -as is life. The address is http://laurislacuna101.blogspot.com/.

Lauri, Thank you so much for sharing with us.

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany’s Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany’s award winning manuscript “A Face in the Shadow” on her fiction blog.
She writes a blog for the Christian writer Tuesdays at Writer’s Rest.

So what about all of you? January is nearly over, what have you been doing to build your writing. Leave a comment.