Today, I’m sharing a guest post with you from author friend Connie Almony. Read to the end for a chance to enter a book giveaway of her most recent release, Writing from the Trenches, which also includes chapters by talented authors Lynnette Bonner, Hallee Bridgeman, Louise M. Gouge, Michelle Griep, Julie Lessman, Elizabeth Ludwig, Ane Mulligan, MaryLu Tyndall, and Erica Vetsch.
Read on for some writing inspiration, authors! 🙂 But first, a bit more about Connie:
Connie Almony is trained as a mental health therapist and likes to mix a little fun with the serious stuff of life. She was a 2012 semi-finalist in the Genesis Contest for Women’s Fiction and was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Winter 2012 WOW Flash Fiction Contest. She is the author of At the Edge of a Dark Forest, a modern-day re-telling of Beauty and the Beast about a war-vet, amputee struggling with PTSD. Other titles include, An Insignificant Life and One Among Men (the Maryland State University series), and Flee from Evil.
You can sign up for her newsletter at ConnieAlmony.com. And meet her on the following social media outlets:
What Kind of Writer Do YOU Want to Be?
by Connie Almony
If you’ve hung out in the writing world long enough, you may have been asked the question, “Are you a plotter or a pantser?” You may have read some How-To book that tells you the only way to do this or that is <fill in here> and said, “No way! I could never write like that.” You may have even consumed your favorite fiction author’s advice and thought, “Hmm. I don’t know if that would work for me at all.”
I know I have. In fact, in one writing newsletter, written by a well known author whose work I respect a great deal, I read that a novelist should never use a particular suspense-creating device which just so happens to be one that ALWAYS leaves me (as a reader) on the edge of my seat, hungrily flipping pages until I discover The End.
I’ve enjoyed authors who’ve created such visual worlds they played out like movies in my head, and yet I know Steven King has said that he purposely does not include too much descriptive detail because he wants readers to fill it in themselves. Much of what each author chooses to do depends on what type of story she is telling and what her particular audience is looking for.
The truth is, just like there are different kinds of stories, there are also different kinds of authors who write them. So with all these contradicting opinions, what is a wanna-be (or wanna-be-better) author to do? Which advice should she put into practice?
I once read an article about a famous musician who was considered unique, a forerunner to the styles that came after him. What I found interesting about his answers to interview questions was that he did not set out to be a one-of-a-kind musician. He loved a broad spectrum of music and incorporated a little something from each; then he mixed these elements to create a style that was solely his. Authors can do the same.
At the start of my writing career, I was fortunate enough to be part of a critique group with five other women. They were all completely different, with diverse styles and skills. One was great with punctuation, another with word order, the next, with showing (vs. telling), the other with description, and yet another with story content. I learned a LOT from these ladies and am forever grateful. However, there were times where one would LOVE a particular thing I’d done in the tale, and another would HATE that very thing and strike it out of my manuscript. I realized then that some things do not follow a set of rules, and that I had to decide what kind of writer I wanted to be. I took instruction from these ladies on the areas in which they excelled, I considered all suggestions and the reasons for them, then mixed the ingredients and shaped my work into something uniquely mine.
That is why I am so excited about my latest project, Writing from the Trenches, written with nine other bestselling and award-winning Fiction authors. It is a collection of how-tos for the new author and the author wanting to take her writing to the next level. For some topics, each author chose to teach about an element of writing from her strengths (characters, dialogue, research, editing, etc.). For other subjects (plotting, marketing, publishing, etc.), several authors gave varying examples of what works best for them. So the reader (who wants to be a writer) can see the many different methods and choose what’s right for her.
What’s not to love?
I know I’ve already learned a lot from this book and will read it a few more times to soak up some more. It’s a book that respects our differences in style and audience.
So, my question for you today is …
What kind of writer do YOU want to be?
YOU … and an Army of Ten!
TEN-HUT! Gear up for your writing with tried-and-true tips from the trenches. Ten award-winning authors share invaluable tips and secrets they’ve gleaned the hard way, offering a broad range of insights and opinions on the best way to tackle subjects such as the following:
Plotting Techniques
Research
Characterization
Villains We Love to Hate
Dynamic Dialogue
Sigh-Worthy Heroes
The Right Heroine for the Job
Hooking Your Reader in the First Chapter
Scene Endings to Lead Your Readers On
Creating a Movie Set
Making your Readers Cry
Deep POV
Copyediting your Manuscript
Indie Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
Marketing for Those Who Hate Marketing
At last … a writer’s tool that provides the experience and expertise of ten authors who’ve been on the front lines of publishing and lived to teach about it: Connie Almony, Lynnette Bonner, Hallee Bridgeman, Louise Gouge, Michelle Griep, Julie Lessman, Elizabeth Ludwig, Ane Mulligan, MaryLu Tyndall, and Erica Vetsch.
***Giveaway! I had the opportunity to read Connie’s chapters in Writing from the Trenches, and let’s say that while I haven’t watched the movie Jaws yet, I have fresh interest in it, given how Connie broke down some of the key elements of the film and showed how those can work in writing. I’m sure this book is full of gems like this, AND she’s offering a giveaway of the book on my blog–your choice of an ebook or print version (print to the continental US only)! To enter, just comment below and answer this question: If you’re a writer, what kind of writer do you want to be? And if you’re a reader, what kinds of books do you enjoy reading? I’ll choose a winner next Wednesday (Oct. 31) and will notify you via the email you comment with!***
Thanks, Heather, for having me on today. It was a lot of fun working on this book with such talented authors. What kind of author do I want to be??? Hmmm. I guess one that touches every emotion–to laugh, to cry, to gasp in fear and also in delight. To be on the edge of my seat and relaxed enough to feel I am settling into a Calgon bath. But maybe not all at the same time :). I like to write about things I see in the world around me and show God working amidst it all.
Sounds like a great goal, Connie! And it was lovely to have you visit!
I’m a reader, and I enjoy historical fiction the most!:)
I am both a writer and a reader. I want to be a writer that plants seeds in whatever I write. As a reader, I want to be objective in my reading.
I mainly a reader, with the heart of a writer…wanna be. I like stories where you can learn, laugh, challenged and faith is as natural as breathing.
This piece totally resonates with me as a writer! In fact, just a week ago a fellow writer and I were commiserating on how hard it was to figure out how to take other writer’s good advice to make it work for us. We finally agreed on a general system of trial and error in order to discover what fits our particular style and strengths. This book surely sounds like one that would help me. Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy.
Oh, and to answer the question, I wish I were more of a plotter — I think it would make my life MUCH easier — but the pantser in me always manages to find a way to sneak in. I believe myself to be a rather exasperating mix of both.