What Do I Do Now? By Angela Arndt

Angela Arndt

It’s two weeks after the ACFW writers’ conference. Are you’re still wondering what you need to do?

Here are a few suggestions:

Thank You Notes
Shoot off a couple of quick “thank you for your time” emails to every editor or agent you met.

No. No. No.

Send a hand-written note instead to every editor, an agent or mentor. You can even send a note to the workshop or continuing education instructor. 

Be sure to include specific things from your conversation. List the follow-ups that they suggested and tell them how you going to do them. 

If you really want to stand out, James L Rubart suggested that your thank you note echo your book. My book is set on a bee farm, so I sent a small jar of honey with my handwritten note. Did you meet in the coffee shop where he/she ordered tea? Send them a small box of their fav. Details show that you care.

Business Cards
I know, you took 250 business cards to Conference and came back with 243. Did you get a card from each person you met? Congratulations! You've doubled your sphere of influence.



So what do you do with all those cards? The easiest way to process them is to find an app that will pull the information from business cards and put it directly into your Contacts program. (Both Evernote or CamCard offer this function.) Then, don't forget to Like or Friend them on Facebook.

Like or Follow? Should you “Like” their business profile or send a friend request to their personal profile? The answer to that question is this: how well do you know them?

• Business Page - if they are multi-published authors with followers in the thousands and the only interaction you had with them was to ask them to pass the pepper, you should probably "Like" their business page. 
• Friend Request - if the two of you had a long discussion and he or she said, “Here’s my card, be sure to friend me on Facebook,” feel free to send them a friend request. Most writers wouldn’t mind more friends!

Agent or Editor Follow-Up
If an editor or agent requested a proposal from you: Do. It. Now. Even if your manuscript isn't ready, send it. Just include a deadline in your proposal. Then, be sure to send your manuscript before that date.

These are just a few things I heard in the hallways at my last conference, but I'd love to hear more. What are you doing to help your dream agent remember you or help your manuscript stand out from the hundreds of others?

About the Author

Angela Arndt was a corporate trainer before health issues sidelined her. These days she’s active in her local church, ACFW and is a regular contributor to MBT's Weekly Spark, in addition to being a team member of Seriously Write. She'd love you to join her on her personal website, too.

Angie's current manuscript placed third in the Orange Rose contest and is a finalist in the Maggie Contest. She is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency and is currently working on a series of novels set in small Southern towns. She and her husband live in the middle of a big wood outside a small town in South Carolina.

Solving the Character Arc by Amy Deardon

Amy Deardon

 Solving the Character Arc 

by Amy Deardon

Maybe it’s because I am trained as a scientist, but I love to deconstruct story (fiction and film) to figure out how to deliberately incorporate the important elements that make a story “work.”

Since Annette has so kindly welcomed me to her blog today (waving to say hi), I am happy to return the favor to you, her readers, by talking about a straightforward method to create a powerful character arc. Despite popular opinion that the character arc is a mysterious alchemy of emotions, careful writing, and hope, it can be done by simply inserting a few key plot points at the right places in your story.

These points will sound formulaic. They are like cartoon lines of a picture that, if you use them with some subtlety, will blossom in your narrative. See what you think. I sadly have to keep this description short because of space limits, but trust my explanations will be understandable for you. Feel free to e-mail me from the contact form on my website!

Here are the elements:

1. A Hidden Need. You solve one and only one emotional problem in your story. The hidden need belongs to your protagonist, and is usually something that damages relationships: how the protagonist deals with other people. For example, your protagonist may love money more than doing the right thing, or may be afraid to trust others.

2. Within the opening scenes of your story (ordinary world) you demonstrate in one or a few ways how this hidden need is hurting your protagonist and others.

3. Again at the beginning, you have someone tell the protagonist straight-up what is his problem. “You are so selfish you are never going to see that saving puppies is good for your soul!” The statement you make will probably be more subtle, but you get the idea. Having the hidden need explicitly articulated tunes in your readers to watch for the character change.

4. In the third quarter of the book (Act 2/2), after the midpoint but before the climactic set-up begins, you insert a “hidden need triplet” that solves the protagonist’s hidden need. This triplet consists of:

a. the protagonist clearly demonstrates his hidden need

b. the protagonist realizes he is doing something wrong

c. the protagonist shows that he’s now “got it right”

5. Finally, around the climactic scene the protagonist often uses his solved hidden need as part of his arsenal to win against your bad guy.

I’ve found this pattern in story after story. Try it! You’ll be surprised how well this works.  

Thanks for visiting, Amy! Waving back. Readers, you'll find my review of her book over at Net's Book Notes. A great resource in the craft for writers.

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AMY DEARDON is a story analyst, writer, and publisher. In her previous life she was a Ph.D. scientist who did bench research, and came to faith through studying the historic circumstances surrounding the death of Jesus. You can contact her through her website at www.amydeardon.com.

Amy’s newest book is Create a Strong Emotional Experience for Your Story Readers: Build Captivating Story Characters and Use the Power of Point of View to Communicate Your Story.

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Create a Strong Emotional Experience

The close emotional experience a reader experiences with your characters is perhaps the most important reason he or she keeps reading and loving your story. You can strengthen that bond between your reader and characters by using straightforward writing techniques that transform your characters into sparkling individuals.

In this book you will …

—Discover the essential traits that a story character must have to become a “real person” for your reader.

—Review techniques to translate your character’s personality onto the page so your reader knows him or her as well as a best friend.

—Grasp the powerful point of view technique that plunges your reader into your character’s mind.

—Master these tactics in your own writing by going step-by-step through examples that will show you exactly how to make them work.

It's easier than you think! You can continue to be frustrated building characters by trial and error, hoping you've captured the elements that will "unflatten" them... or learn the powerful proven techniques that generate vibrant story people.