Posts Tagged writing tips

“Page 5 Test”

By on November 15, 2013   /   Book Lists  
Stop twitching. This post is not a 5-page test, so I don’t care how scarred you are from childhood test-taking trauma. Build a bridge and get over it. Then keep reading in order to learn something that may help your writing.You okay now? Good. Here’s the scoop. . . . Thanks to a giveaway on Goodreads, I recently received a free copy of Darcy Pattison’s book Start Your Novel. When reading it, my interest was captured by one of her ideas for checking the characterization in a novel’s opening—she calls it the “Page 5 Test.” (See, I told you it wasn’t a 5-page test. You should have trusted me. I’m very reliable. Except when I’m lying.)  Start Your Novel
 Runaway Twin Not only did I decide to use the Page 5 Test to check my own work-in-progress, but as a bonus exercise, I decided to run a Page 5 Test on a children’s novel I’m currently reading—Runaway Twin by Peg Kehret. Based on Darcy Pattison’s idea, here’s what I did:

  • I read the beginning of Runaway Twin, only going as far as what would equal approximately five double-spaced pages of a typed manuscript.
  • After I finished reading, I listed everything I’d learned about the main character from those opening pages. Here’s my list:
  1. The main character lives with a foster mother named Rita.
  2. The main character’s name is Sunny.
  3. Sunny is 13 years old.
  4. She loves Twinkies and junk food, but Rita is a health nut.
  5. Sunny is opinionated. (As the first-person narrator, she states: “In my opinion it is cruel and unusual punishment to put a thirteen-year-old girl who was raised on junk food into a home that serves tofu and cauliflower.”)
  6. Sunny wears her hair in a ponytail (at least sometimes).
  7. She has switched foster homes frequently, running away from at least a couple of them. (This also tells me Sunny isn’t afraid to take action when she sees the need.)
  8. She seems to like Rita (despite all the tofu and cauliflower) and doesn’t plan to run away from her.
  9. Sunny doesn’t consider herself a “bad kid,” although she doesn’t do much school work because she knows she’ll just get moved to a new home and school again anyway.

Notice the variety of things Peg Kehret wove into those opening pages. There are basic things such as the main character’s name and age. There are bits about Sunny’s family situation (foster child) and a glimpse into her outlook on life (Why bother with school work if you’re going to get moved again?). And there’s the barest mention of her appearance.

In only a handful of pages, Peg Kehret effectively pulled me into caring about her main character by not skimping on the information about Sunny and by making sure the details she included provided depth, not an inundation of surface-level facts. (Hey, I’d rather know Sunny has the guts to run away from a bad foster family than know how tall she is and whether or not she has a dimple in her chin.)

So consider printing out the first five pages of your own WIP. Read ’em. Then make a list.

What details are revealed about your main character? What isn’t revealed? Are you building a strong character with a unique voice, or is your protagonist coming across as shallow and boring? By running Darcy Pattison’s Page 5 Test, you may be surprised at what you discover, and you may get ideas for strengthening your novel’s opening pages.

Besides, you’ve got to try this. Know why? There’s gonna be a test tomorrow.

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Five Ways MUF’s Updated “For Writers” Page Is NOT Like a Large Umbrella

By on September 15, 2013   /   Book Lists  

I have a confession to make: I’m a habitual list maker. I suppose that explains my frequent use of numbered lists in my MUF posts—posts like “Top 10 Deep (& Stolen) Thoughts about Writing” and “Three Ways Middle-grade Writing Is Like a Bowl of Lucky Charms.” Such perpetual numbering might make you think, Hey, T. P., escape your list-making rut. EXPAND YOUR BLOGGING HORIZONS!

My response? . . . “You didn’t need to use an exclamation point at the end of that thought, and the ALL-CAPS thing was definite overkill. Now get off my case. If lists work, I’m going to roll with them.”

Good. I’m glad we understand each other. Let’s dispense with the bickering and get this blog post underway. Here’s the latest list:

  umbrella

FIVE WAYS MUF’S UPDATED “FOR WRITERS” PAGE IS NOT   LIKE A LARGE UMBRELLA
  1. I had to take an umbrella along while walking my son to school this morning. That kept our book dry for our walk-and-read-aloud routine. The “For Writers” page is just bunch of Internet links to useful middle-grade writing resources, which would make it completely useless for that keeping-books-dry thing.
  2. The “For Writers-The Craft” page provides access to plenty of insights and information that can help you create stronger characters, strengthen your story’s plot, and become an all-around better writer. This will help your writing take flight. Unless you’re Mary Poppins, don’t expect an umbrella to have any such flight-granting effect.
  3. The “For Writers-The Process” page can help you move from idea to draft to revision and onward. No way can an umbrella do that. Unless maybe you get one with an ink pen mounted in the tip. But even then I think the subsequent writer’s cramp would kill your progress.
  4. The “For Writers-The Writing Life” page can inspire you and help you learn how to carve writing time from your overwhelmingly busy schedule. If you think an umbrella can do that, you probably need professional help that has nothing to do with writing or umbrellas.
  5. I think you should visit MUF’s updated “For Writers” page. Conversely, I really don’t care about your umbrella use. Sorry.

Of course, before you click over to “For Writers,” feel free to share your own umbrella-inspired insights below. Happy writing! 🙂

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Secrets of Super-Productive Writers

By on August 12, 2013   /   Book Lists  

Every year, my husband takes the kids camping for a week in early August.  Since I’m a fan of indoor plumbing and beds, I opt out of the camping. Instead, I take a solitary week at home as a writing retreat. Unfortunately, I’m never as productive as I’d like to be. I see writer friends posting 5,000—or 8,000—or even 11,000 word days on Facebook or Twitter and I wonder how these people manage to crank out so many words.

Since my writing retreat was coming up, I asked them for their secrets, and many were kind enough to share them.

blurry hands

Write so fast your hands get blurry!

Shannon Delany has been known to write 11,000 words in a day. She taught me about word sprints—15 minutes of uninterrupted writing, followed by a five minute break, and then ten more minutes of writing. I found that I could write 700 words in a 30 minute sprint, which is huge for me. In my case, sprints are most effective with an online check-in buddy. You can post a Facebook status update at the start, and folks can check in using the comments.

Shannon says that “word sprints are a great way to push past your pesky internal editor (you know, that nagging voice that questions everything from plot to word choice?) and get some words down. Some people feel intimidated by the blank page, but a ten minute word sprint will give you an odd sense of accomplishment and help you build momentum with the rest of your writing. It’s all about leaping in and going wherever your characters or story will take you….The main idea is that you outrun your internal editor, find some diamonds among the mess of words you’re writing and then revise to make everything shine.”

 

Last month, Shawn McGuire wrote 29,958 words in a week. She wrote up a bulleted list of things that helped her accomplish this impressive feat. She wrote to me, “Honestly, the two things that make the biggest difference for me are turning off the internal editor – just get the words on the page – and noise-cancelling headphones! Blocking out the real world and being able to slip into my character’s is huge. This works for me even if I only have an hour or so.”

Shawn recommends this page  on Molly Cochran’s site and this blog post  by Rachel Aaron, who routinely writes 10,000 (not a typo) words a day.

 

 Janet FoxJanet Fox says she can write up to 5,000 words a day when she’s “on a roll.” Here are some of her tips:

“First of all, although I don’t create outlines, I write down a very short punchlist of key words. I know what they mean; they give me direction without imprisoning me.

Secondly, I don’t judge the writing as I go. I shut down the internal editor and just let fly. This means that I may have to axe a bunch, but I’ve discovered that, most of the time, I’m on the right track and even find new and unexpected paths through scenes.

And finally, while I allow myself breaks to check the internet, make a cup of coffee, do the laundry, and (most important) take a walk, they are short breaks only, and few. I don’t give myself any real time off until those several thousand words at least are done.”

 

Laurie J. Edwards  told me, “The first thing I learned was to turn off the Internet. I didn’t realize how often that distracted me until I no longer clicked on it. I also tried Candace Haven’s Fast Draft online class.” Like Shawn McGuire, Laurie found motivation in Rachel Aaron’s blog. “I’ve found that if I’m motivated, I can write 5000 words in about 3.5 hours. . . Next I downloaded Write or Die. You have to keep typing your novel into this app or face consequences. . . . I haven’t been brave enough to try the kamikaze consequences, though, where your writing completely disappears if you don’t make your writing goals.”

Sarah Prineas

 

Last winter, Sarah Prineas wrote 85,000 words in five weeks. She said “it was a fun, whirlwind time.” When I asked Sarah about her method, she said this:

“I don’t follow any writing rules or pay attention to tips or anything like that.  Often I’ll go for two weeks or more without writing, or just tinkering, and then things will start coming together, a story gets its teeth into me and doesn’t let go.  The trick then is to go with it.  When that happens I work probably 12 hours a day, wake up at night with ideas, neglect my family, send out for pizza, drink a lot of coffee, and post giddy tweets about wordcount . . . I couldn’t tell you how I did it, it just sort-of happened.”

So there you have it. Sometimes there is a method, and sometimes it’s just madness.

Share your own productivity tips in the comments!

 

Jacqueline Houtman’s debut middle-grade novel is called The Reinvention of Edison Thomas.  In case you were wondering how her week went, she’s pleased to say that she finished the first draft of a novel and wrote over 10,000 words in a week. 

 

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