The Importance of Asking Why by Lisa Jordan

Before I became the Operations Manager for My Book Therapy in June 2017, I’d spent the previous nineteen years owning and operating my in-home childcare program. While working as an early childhood educator, one of the children’s most common questions was, “Why?”

 

Sound familiar? I’m sure if you’ve been around a child for any length of time, that question popped up. 

 

Children ask this question constantly because they are sponges, soaking up all kinds of information. If they’re given one answer, chances are they’ll continue asking why to find another. Sure, it can be annoying, but it’s how they learn. Many times I’d ask them why and they’d usually tell me "because."

One of the best bits of writing advice came from a workshop I attended years ago at an ACFW conference taught by Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck. Each attendant had been given an envelope with a cutout letter Y inside to remind us of the importance of asking “Why?”

Asking our characters "Why?" is one of the best ways to get to the core of their identities, dark moment stories, and motivations for their actions and behaviors. Learning their responses enables us to understand how to craft their stories. 

Think about characters from your favorite books and movies. Why do they act in a certain way? Usually, their motivation stems from a specific event in their past, which is what Susie May Warren calls a “dark moment story.” 

Recently, I rewatched Leap Year and The Proposal, even thought I’ve seen them half a dozen times. What can I say? I love Matthew Goode's accent and Ryan Reynolds’ sense of humor. 

In Leap Year, Anna, the heroine, likes to have a plan in place and know where she is going through life.

Why?

While she was growing up, her father was a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kind of guy who was always on the lookout for the next big idea. His lack of structure and gainful employment had Anna working after school in order to keep their house, which ended up being repossessed on Christmas Eve. That trauma affected the decisions she made as an adult. 

 

In The Proposal, the heroine Margaret works hard, demands much, and has very little fun.

 

Why?  

 

She'd lost her parents when she was a teenager and had forgotten what it was like to have a family to love. Her work became her purpose in life, so she demanded the same from her staff.

 

As you continue to get to know your characters, keep asking 'why' to learn their story goals and figure out their motivations for wanting them. That will allow you to put believable obstacles in place to keep them from achieving their goals. 

 

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In my current novel, Season of Hope, Jake wants to create a fatigues to farming program. 

 

Why?  

 

Because his best friend, a wounded warrior, lost his hope and took his life. Jake, a former Marine, wants to teach veterans with disabilities how to farm so they can create their own small businesses and have a sense of hope and a purpose for their lives. Additionally, he feels responsible for being the reason his youngest brother is estranged from the family, so he hopes the program will bring his youngest brother back home. 

 

So, before you begin your next book, take the time to ask your characters "why."  This exercise will enable you to:

 

• get to know them.
• create strong goals and motivations.
• build in realistic obstacles.
• help maintain consistency with their character.
• help them to change and grow in order to do something at the end they hadn't been able to do at the beginning.

By doing so, you will have crafted compelling characters with a solid story that keeps your reader turning pages. 

 

If you would like to read the first chapter of Season of Hope, click here: Season of Hope preview

 

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Bio: Heart, home, and faith have always been important to Lisa Jordan, so writing stories with those elements come naturally. Represented by Rachelle Gardner, Lisa is a Carol award-winning author for Love Inspired, writing contemporary Christian romances that promise hope and happily ever after. She is the Operations Manager for My Book Therapy. Happily married to her own real-life hero for thirty years, Lisa and her husband have two grown sons. When she isn’t writing, Lisa enjoys family time, kayaking, good books, and creating with words, photos, and fibers, especially with friends. Visit her at lisajordanbooks.com.

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Protecting Your Brand by Patty Smith Hall

On Writer's Wisdom Wednesdays, we're excited to announce a new monthly blog post contributor. Please welcome Patty Smith Hall to Seriously Write. You'll read her posts on the third Wednesday of each month. Today, she's providing needed information about branding and how to protect yours. Welcome, Patty! ~ Sandy

When the news broke last week about the college admissions scandal, I was disappointed. One of the defendants plays a wonderfully wise woman on one of my favorite TV shows. It’s not just this show either—she’s played this kind of character throughout her 30+ year career with great success. How would her fans view her now?

She didn’t protect her brand.

What is branding?

As writers, one of the most important things that we do is build relationships with our readers, and as in any relationship, we must gain their trust. In order to do that, we must know who we are and what we can give them in our books. Author Fay Roberts believes “it’s a promise we make to our readers.” Author Debra Breese Marvin agrees. “It’s what your readers expect when they see you have a new book coming out.” Marilyn Turk, author in the upcoming novella collection, Crinoline Cowboys puts it this way, “Branding is your identity with the reader. It’s a commitment that you are who you say you are and write what you say you’ll write.

So how do you know what your brand is? Look for a common thread that’s weaved throughout your work. Author Janetta Fudge Messmer’s brand is comedy. “I can write in any genre but whatever I write has to have comedy in it. It’s what people expect.” For me, I write about strong women and their part in history. For example, my novella, A Cowboy of Her Own is based on Elizabeth Johnson Williams, one of the wealthiest cattlewomen in Texas. These kinds of stories play out in most of my 15 books.

Once you figure out your brand, it’s up to you to protect it.

How to Destroy Your Brand.

Remember the actress. Her brand was playing characters who walked the higher ground, the kind of person you wouldn’t mind leaving your kids with—for my daughters’ generation, she’s considered a favorite aunt. Yet, going forward, a large number of people won’t see anything other than her arrest which makes losing yourself in one of her movies difficult.

So, what are some ways to damage your brand?

1)Publishing before your manuscript is ready.

You’ve probably seen the reviews on Amazon, the ones that say something like ‘This would have been a great book, but all the misspelled words took me out of the story’ or worse still, ‘There were so many grammar errors, I couldn’t finish it.’

Ouch!

How can we expect to gain our readers’ trust if we don’t give them our very best? If we publish books full of grammar errors, passive writing or unclear conflict, what will the readers expect from us the next time? More of the same, which is why they’ll be saving their money!

Don’t rush to publish, and please don’t publish your first draft! Make sure everything that can be fixed is. Hire a content/copy editor. Run it through your critique group. Because in a writing career, first impressions are everything.

2) Stay with what the reader expects from you.

Recently, my dear friend and brainstorming buddy faced a dilemma. She was 30K into her next book, a fantastically dark tale we’d been talking about for months when she realized she had a problem. All of her previous published books featured slapstick comedy. If the book was published, what would her fanbase, people who loved her stories because they lifted their spirits, think about her latest offering?

We came to one conclusion. Her readers would feel like they’d had the rug pulled out from under them.

Which is exactly why Ane shelved it and started on something new. That’s how important living up to your brand is.

I love what author Faye Roberts said about it, ‘Brand yourself, not your books.’ Live out your promise to your readers. That’s what makes a writing career.

~~~~~~

A multi-published author with Love Inspired Historical and Barbour, Patty lives in North Georgia with her husband of 35 years, Danny; two gorgeous daughters, her son-in-love and a grandboy who has her wrapped around his tiny finger. When she’s not writing on her back porch, she’s spending time with her family or working in her garden.

It’s My Critique and I’ll Cry If I Want To… By Shannon Redmon

A good writing critique can make us sing or a bad one can fill us with negative words stuck to the walls of our mind. We plaster a polite look on our face with each dissenting comment, but inside doubts creep in and hinders our creativity. 

However, if we can change our perspective and recognize the plethora of lessons tucked inside the statements offered, a critique can be a valuable tool in our writing arsenal. 

But how do we go from dreading our turn in the group to utilizing the feedback in transforming our stories?

Understand the purpose. We don’t submit our work to a critique group to hear praises for our written words. Perhaps we hope we’ll be encouraged by what others have to say, but in all honesty, we submit our stories to hear how we can improve. Few novels make their debut on the shelves without multiple edits and rewrites. A good critique should help us meet that goal, even when it stings.  

Put the emotions aside. Yes, every word on that paper is precious in our sight and so are the authors reviewing our work in progress. Most want to help writers succeed. Critiques are not meant to hurt, they are meant to help. When we remove our protective feelings and realize feedback makes our writing or our rewriting stronger, then critiques become easier to handle.

Listen, don’t argue. An understood rule in most critique groups is for the person being critiqued to listen to the feedback without comment. This is often difficult, but necessary if we want to hear what our readers feel while absorbing the story. This takes some humility and has been one of the best teachers of writing quality work. 

Pay attention to patterns. When more than one person in the critique group gives similar feedback on sections of our writing, then we should take notice because our readers will, too. These are the areas where we need to focus and improve. On the other hand, if someone offers a lone suggestion, then whether to use the advice is up to us.

Decide for yourself. Critiques provide many suggestions on how to improve our work and if we are wise then we’ll make the necessary changes. However, at some point, we’re the ones who need to decide when the work is complete. If we continue to submit over and over, then the group will continue to give feedback. The goal is to learn from the advice given the first or second time and then apply the lessons learned to future works in progress, ending the cycle.

Build relationships. One of the main benefits to joining a writing critique group is to build friendships with other writers striving for the same goal. More often than not, these relationships support us when discouraging times come. 

Instead of hiding our writing away, afraid of what others might think or running to the bathroom to hoard a roll of tissue for our tears, let's dust off our manuscripts and allow other authors to help us improve. 

Because there's always a lesson to learn.

                         ✐📖✎✐📖✎✐📖✎✐📖✎✐📖✎✐📖✎

Shannon Redmon remembers the first grown up book she checked out from the neighborhood book mobile. A Victoria Holt novel with romance, intrigue, dashing gentlemen and ballroom parties captivated her attention. For her mother, the silence must have been a pleasant break from non-stop teenage chatter, but for Shannon, those stories whipped up a desire and passion for writing. There's nothing better than the power of a captivating novel, a moving song or zeal for a performance that punches souls with awe. A rainbow displayed after a horrific storm or expansive views on a mountaintop bring nuggets of joy into our lives. Shannon hopes stories immerse readers into that same kind of amazement, encouraging faith, hope and love, guiding our hearts to the One Who created us all.  

Shannon Redmon’s writing has been published in Spark magazine, Splickety magazine, the Lightning Blog, The Horse of My Dreams compilation book, Romantic Moments compilation book, Seriously Write blog and Jordyn Redwood’s Medical Edge blog. Her current fiction novel was selected as a top three finalist of the 2018 ACFW Genesis Contest and she is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency.  

Connect with Shannon:  

www.shannonredmon.com

The StoryMoore Blog, named in memory of her father, Donald Eugene Moore.

FB: https://www.facebook.com/shannon.redmon

Twitter: https://twitter.com/shannon_redmon

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonredmon/

Encouraging the Writer Within by Marianne Evans

Marianne Evans

Spring is inching closer and closer - and with it comes the promise of warmer, sunny weather, and longer days. I can't wait! It's time for a solid dose of encouragement and inspiration. 

Hope you enjoy these slices of wisdom and inspiration - and I hope you find your way not just to the bloom of flowers and earthy soil, but an energizing of the writing spirit as well!  Enjoy!

Which of these pearls spoke to you? For me, it was 'Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.' Powerful - and so true of what we do when we sit down and begin/continue the process of creating. I'd love to hear your thoughts, and your own inspirations! 

Until next month ... happy writing, and keep blooming!

*****

Benjamin Fisher melds with quiet perfection into the tapestry of the Fisher family. The youngest of the three Fisher men, Ben is gifted with skills that keep machines running, crops efficiently harvested, farm structures sound and secure.

But there’s one person in the small village of Antioch, Indiana who has noticed and adored the man since her youth. Hailey Beth Thomas. Hailey Beth’s sister is marrying Ben’s brother in a spring wedding that promises to be the event of the season. Thrown together as the heady romance of an upcoming marriage takes place, love and revelation come to life.

Unknown to anyone else, Ben wants to answer a call to the mission fields of North America that will lead him far from the life he has always known. Ben longs to serve, but he wants a life with Hailey Beth as well. Hailey Beth can’t leave Antioch, but can’t bear the idea of losing Ben.

Are they meant to be together, or will God’s call pull them apart just as they’ve found a way to one another?

*****

Marianne Evans is an award-winning author of faith-affirming fiction who has won acclaim from critics and readers. RT Book Reviews named her book Forgiveness a 4.5-Star Top Pick and readers laude her books as ‘riveting’ and ‘true to heart.’ She’s a life-long resident of Michigan who calls suburban Detroit home.