Sandwiches & Writing by Susan Tuttle

Image compliments of MorgueFile 

I was making a sandwich for my kids the other day (an occurrence that doesn’t happen often) when it hit me…writing is like sandwich building. I’m not sure how I missed it before.

You see, first you take out the bread. That’s the framework of your story. It’s the bones you’ll be building on. This is the place where you decide what type of story you’re about to write—romantic comedy, thriller, historical; novella or novel—who your characters are and where this story is taking place. Honestly, this is where I can find ways to procrastinate the most. I love visualizing my characters and naming them. I can get lost thinking of the perfect setting or finding pictures of look-alikes online and pinning them. But while Pinterest boards are really cute, they’ll never be enough to satiate a reader. You have to add meat.

Meat. The thick part that sustains your audience. What’s the plot? In that romantic comedy, what’s going to keep the two leads apart? In the thriller, who’s your big bad and why? In the historical, are we dealing with a great moment of the past or are you creating a new one in an amazing old city? The meat is where you dig in and brainstorm your story. You discover the theme and overarching story question. You know what motivates your characters, what conflicts will arise, and how they will be resolved. Then you put it down on paper. This is where the rough draft happens. The story begins to take shape, and you get the important stuff down, but it’s not very exciting. No one wants just a meat sandwich.

It’s time for the flavor. Like swiping on mayo or spicy mustard, perhaps adding pickles or jalapeños, this is where your story really starts to shine. You add those little traits that make your character unique. Something they always say or a habit they can’t break. You flesh out the setting, adding color and depth to each location. Deepen the five senses, making sure you hit at least three per scene. You add beats and pull tags. Drop the overused sayings and replace them with fresh words. Sometimes these last layers take the longest, but they’re where the sandwich goes from ho-hum to delicious.

So where are you at today? Are you pulling out some bread, in the meat stage, or adding the flavor? Better yet, what’s your favorite part? I’m finishing up the meat of a story and ready to head into my favorite part—the flavor. Anyone else?

Hoping your sandwich building is producing something tasty today!

Susan Tuttle

Susan Tuttle is a homeschooling mom of three who is crazy about coffee, dark chocolate, and words—both reading and writing them. Combine that love of words with her passion for leading women to a life-changing encounter with Christ, and you’ll find her crafting Inspirational Contemporary Romance stories laced with humor, love, and healing transformations. When not cheering on her Ironman hubby, chasing the family dog, or tackling complex math problems to teach her kids (yes, even the third grader), you can catch Susan at her blog, Steps.

Showing with Deep POV by Maria Michaels

Maria Michaels

Dora here, waving from the RWA national conference in San Antonio! For our readers who plan to attend ACFW, I'll be sharing a little about my conference experience next Thursday. Today, please help me welcome Maria Michaels, who is discussing a character's point of view. Welcome, Maria!

Thank you, Dora, for inviting me here today. I’m so honored to be among such accomplished authors. It made it all a bit intimidating as I tried to think of a post on writing advice! So I decided to approach this from the perspective of a voracious reader first, and a writer second.

I’ve been writing for more than ten years, but if you had asked me about “deep POV” (point of view) when I started out, I’d have given you a blank stare. I might have said that I didn’t know anything about that branch of the government (don’t they all have initials? FBI, CIA, ATF).

As a reader, I prefer certain authors to others but never understood why. Many readers are like me and can’t necessarily pinpoint what draws them into a story, but I’d be willing to bet that nine times out of ten it’s because the author has mastered the art of deep POV.

Deep POV puts us in the character’s head, so we can experience everything exactly as the protagonist does. It removes the distance between the reader and the protagonist. When you get right down to it, deep POV is the best kind of showing.

For instance, if you change the point of view of the protagonist from “her mother would arrive tomorrow” to “Mom would arrive tomorrow” you have closed some distance.

Don’t forget that deep POV also involves giving each of your characters a unique “voice”. We’re not going to hear the same thoughts expressed from an 80-year-old grandfather that we do from a 25 year old woman. Make sure their POV is unique and distinctive and shows who they are at their core.

I’d love you to share some examples of how you were able to deepen POV.

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Vera Carrington loves her newly renovated home and her cafe, The Bean, but with a balloon mortgage looming over head and a man from her past ready to bounce on her misfortune, she may have to face the agonizing decision of keeping one and selling the other.

Deputy Sheriff, Ryan Colton, is a new man in Christ. His days as a flamboyant pro-circuit skier are behind him, but to help Vera keep her home and her business, he agrees to coach her for an upcoming open ski tournament. He even agrees to hand over the purse if he should win.

Can Vera beat the odds and win the tournament? Will Ryan save the day, or will they both learn to trust God, no matter the outcome?

Meet Maria: When early onset stage fright dashed dreams of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame status, Maria Michaels tackled her first book in 2010, and now the people and voices that occupy her head refuse to leave.

She no longer sings unless you count randomly bursting into song to annoy her children (and the dogs).

Maria lives in northern California with her family, including two beagles, one who can say ‘hello’ and the other who can feel a pea through several pillows.