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After playing around on the interwebz this week I discovered a theme emerge among my writerly buds…lots of angst over the dreaded synopsis. Now, I’m not saying writing a synopsis is a piece of cake – far from it. But, there is a way to do it that s a little less painful.

The editors, agents and published authors I’ve spoken with have all said that shorter is better when it comes to the synopsis.

WHAT? SHORTER…It’s hard enough cramming the storyline of a 70 – 80K novel into a few pages single spaced. Now I need to cram it into 500 words or so. CRAZY!

True…but totally doable too.

That is, once you really KNOW the arc of your story.

That’s right, a synopsis can be an easy endeavor, relatively speaking, if you have taken the time to plot out your story arc.

For me, the easy way to…

How to build up a blog

See free giveaway details at the end of this post.

Joan is a blogging phenomenon in the writing world. Not that long ago, she wanted to publicize her children’s book Flip Flap Floodle, so she started a blog Never Give Up, which is the theme of the little book.

In a matter of 4 years, she has built it up to more than 102,176 unique visits, and 176 subscribers.

Joan is generous with her advice and encouragement, and has helped many other writers.
She is the first person I am interviewing at Bobbing Around, ever.

Joan, welcome. Thank you for the honor of appearing on my blog.

Wow! What a wonderful introduction! You’re very welcome, Bob. It’s my pleasure. It’s a huge honor to be the very first person you’ve interviewed for your Bobbing Around newsletter! I bow humbly.

Many people…

It’s Valentine’s Day and all of us at WITS want to send our heartfelt thanks to our guest bloggers and our amazing readers. Virtual chocolate hearts for everyone!

by Susan Spann 

Even though copyright protection is automatic and attaches to qualifying works (like novels) at the time of creation, an author can—purposefully or accidentally—transfer those rights by contract. During the next few months, my guest posts here at Writers in the Storm will take a look at some common contract terms to watch for … and to watch out for.

Today, we start with #1: the Unambiguous Statement of Copyright Ownership

Your publishing contract should always contain a statement that you, the author, “are and will remain” the sole owner of the copyright.

The language referencing copyright ownership usually doesn’t appear in the paragraph granting the publisher rights to publish the work. It normally comes in a later part…

By Margie Lawson

 Big hugs to Laura Drake for inviting me to be the WITS guest today.

I love teaching writers how to create their best, best, best writing. Writing that draws the reader in so deep, that when the POV character’s heart races, the reader clutches their chest.

Best writing carries specificity and clarity. It carries nuanced power in its structure and style. It carries a compelling cadence in every sentence that drives the reader from the first word to the last.

Best writing cuts words that reader’s skim and adds words that increase power.

Writing body language and dialogue cues at the best level pushes writers beyond using at-the-ready basics and beat-fillers. Best writing doesn’t use words and phrases that are predictable, overused, clichéd. Best writing is fresh writing.

Writers Need to be Kinesics Specialists

Writers need to be experts at reading body language, experts at writing…

As indies get ever more professional, an entire service industry is springing up to offer us services for every occasion. At this year’s London Book Fair, the Authors’ Lounge was heaving with suppliers, and no shortage of willing customers. While it’s great to have access to these, authors are ripe for rip-off.

This week David Gaughran highlighted unscrupulous companies that charge exorbitant prices, or hoodwink authors into paying for services that could be obtained for very little or no cost.

So this post is a self-publishing 101; a catch-up for those who are wondering what they need to spend money on. In some cases, knowledge is the answer; all books, authors and genres are different, and one supplier does not fit all.

It’s virtually impossible to publish a book without any expenditure, but we can make sure we use our budgets wisely – and stop writers filling the pockets of…

 

If you’re like me, you toil for hours editing and fine-tuning the first pages of your manuscript.  You look at the first lines to make sure they are compelling and tight.  You examine the next few paragraphs, hoping  your MC’s voice is already taking hold of the reader.

 

The First Five Frenzy is all about getting an agent’s perspective on what works, and what fails, in those first five pages of a manuscript.  By reading each agent’s comments, I hope you’ll learn how to make your MS a shining gem that will be requested time and time again.

 

Today, I am proud to share Literary Agent, Diana Finch’s perspective on what’s important in those critical first pages.

 

Amy: Many writers have the impression that a great first line is imperative to drawing in the reader. How important is that to you as an agent?

By Margie Lawson

A huge THANK YOU to the amazing Laura Drake for inviting me to be her guest today!

Don’t put BS on your pages!

Write back story that is fresh and compelling.

Readers need some back story. They need to know a few critical points that happened before your story opened. Those points are the motivators for your POV character’s decisions and actions. Those back story points drive your story.

Way too often, back story is stagnant. Flat. Boring.

Agents quit reading.

Aack!

Writers may think the reader needs all the cool history the writer created. They share it in chunks.

But when back story is shared in chunks, it stops the momentum. Stops the story. Tempts the reader to skim. 

When a reader skims, they’re not engaged. They’re not connected to the characters. They’re not hooked.

They don’t care what happens. They can quit reading.

The…

Writing conferences are extraordinarily valuable. We work in a creative field and sure, we can sit at a keyboard and write a book. But, without training and guidance, we can make our path to successful publishing far longer than it might have been with outside expert help. We open ourselves to learning by trial and error, which can cost time, money and be a real ego beating.

I joke that I should have called my social media book, I Did All The Dumb Stuff So You Don’t Have To. I did everything wrong. I believed because I was “smart”, I didn’t need help.

Yeah.

When it came to writing a novel, I spent four years trying to fix a train wreck. With social media, I spent two years undoing building a brand under a cutesy moniker. When it came to blogging, I blogged for a year and a half before I…