The Secrets of Good Writing By Joyce Zeller, author of Maddies Choice and soon to be released Love in a Small Town

The Secrets of Good Writing

By Joyce Zeller, author of Maddies Choice and soon to be released Love in a Small Town

My writer’s group, The Northwest Arkansas Writers, to whom I give a lot of credit for being published, held a conference a few weeks ago, which I attended. There were two bits of advice, especially, that I took away:  

One was from the lecture given by member Dusty Richards, the foremost writer in the Western Genre today, with over a hundred twenty books to his credit.

He was discussing chapters. His first advice: Never simply end a chapter. Always add a hook, or a sense of what is to come, so your reader won’t put down the book, but turn the page and continue. Good advice. Go back and check your work in progress to be sure you did that.

The second advice is really a writing technique. He says it is his secret to being so successful, but he willingly shared it:  Start each chapter with a strong sense of place, so the reader knows where he is, but don’t mention the name of the Point of View Character until you must, for clarity. Use the pronoun ‘he,’ or ‘she,’ as long as possible before you say the name.

For instance: He looked around and saw unfamiliar landscape, dry, dusty, empty of life. He was lost. For the first time, Jake tasted fear. Or: She felt the sun as the clouds cleared, revealing the tops of the mountains. Her soul was filled with happiness. Taylor took a deep breath, determined to live in the moment.What does this do? It brings your reader into the scene. The reader becomes the character and starts living the story. When you have your reader truly hooked, mention the character.

Next,  a few words from member Duke Pennell, owner of Pen-L Publishing, editor and publisher of the e-magazine, Frontier Tales. Duke@Pen-L.com. His advice:

First - What publisher’s want, is someone who has obviously worked to perfect their writing skills, someone who is easy to work with. Make the corrections when asked. Don’t be a drama lemon. Take criticism gracefully, at least until you’ve carefully considered it. Just might be the publisher or editor knows more about what is good and what sells than you do. Remember, they are in business to sell books.

Second - Remember that, although writing a book involves creativity and talent, once you’ve sold the book, you’ve become a businessman, not a writer. You are a business whose only asset is a book. Publishing is a business, hopefully producing a profit. It means return on investment. Take it seriously, learn marketing and social media, build a platform, understand branding, take your publisher’s suggestions and do what you can gain readers.

There was another alarming bit I overheard, a conversation between agents and publishers. One casually remarked, "Yeah, it's a lot of reading, but with a romance you only have to read every other page, because nothing much happens, anyway." What? Not with my books. Something happens on every page, doesn't it? I vowed to do some serious editing when I got home.

It was a Saturday well spent. I even sold a book. www.joycezeller.com