Anthology Writing: It's all about teamwork!

Putting together an anthology with a group of writers is not easy. When you write a novel, it's all on you. When you put together a collection of stories, you have to rely on others. Deadlines, editing--all of that is crucial to getting your work in a coherent form everyone can agree on. If you are considering undertaking this kind of project, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

1. Figure out your theme. This is tricky if you have writers who write in different genres. Come up with a common them and work with that. Otherwise, your stories may feel a little out of whack, something that can turn off a potential reader.

2. Have a word count goal and assign the number of stories each writer will undertake. The count and number of stories may grow or diminish depending on the project, but at least have a starting point.

3. Set deadlines. This is probably one of the more crucial pieces of advice! Deadlines help keep people motivated and provide an end goal. Of course, we're talking about writers. Sometimes life happens, and you have to change deadlines. Be flexible, but do your best to stick to them.

4. Read each other's work. This is a great time to make sure every story fits within the theme and to give constructive criticism. Once all stories have been critiqued, allow for revision time.

5. Hire an editor.  I think this is the most important part of putting together an anthology. Good editing makes your work look polished and professional. An editor will catch all the technical stuff that's been overlooked and can guide you on the order of the stories.

Mary Ann Loesch is the moderator for All Things Writing. She has published several fiction novels, including Nephilim and Bayou Myth. An active blogger and ghostwriter for hire, Mary Ann also works as an elementary theatre arts teacher. Learn more about her at MARY ANN LOESCH.

Have you checked your reality?

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve given up on a book or a film – often because it’s just ‘too silly for words’ - and, from reading reviews, I know I’m not alone in that respect.

But why? Why is it silly?

I think there used to be an unwanted princess living here.

Is the answer (as some people would say) because it’s ‘not realistic’? No, we buy countless thousands of books in the genres of fantasy, super-heroes, vampires, historical romances and so forth. Fiction is big business and the public’s appetite is insatiable.

By the very definition of fiction, no matter how well researched and no matter how 'true to life' a story is, come the diurnal/nocturnal interface (that's a pseud's way of saying 'the end of the day'), it's pure invention. It’s not reality, it’s make-believe, so the answer as to why we find a book or a film silly isn’t because it’s not like reality.

Fiction has its own dynamic which can be called ‘plausibility’.

Note that I said ‘plausibility’ not ‘realism’. The words ‘logical’ or even ‘natural’ (albeit ambiguous under the circumstances) would also have sufficed.

Some authors see 'plausible' as meaning that they have to stick to known facts e.g. the Earth has one moon, that World War 2 finished in 1945, and that nothing can travel faster than light.

Wrong.

Plausibility means that wherever the story leads, it has to be in keeping with whatever you have told the reader beforehand. Consequently, it is perfectly permissible for an author to digress from universally accepted facts, as long as the reader has been properly prepared.

Plausible does not mean that it has to be capable of coming true.

The key to getting away with having superheroes fly and zombies walk the streets is not to just state that's what they do, it's to have some train of logic which supports your character's attributes. Such fantastical creatures will not appeal to everyone but it's exactly the same deal with everything from costume dramas to police procedurals.

Seen any zombies?

If you want a princess to elope with the second gardener's assistant, that's perfectly OK as long as you make it plausible. Their original meeting must not appear contrived, the subsequent conversations must be totally natural (as much as such a thing could be) and the affair must find a way of blossoming.

It's just the same if you're writing Westerns, war stories or space operas. The majority of your audience will forgive a great deal of 'spurious science' and will stick with you if what you write is plausible based on the parameters that you have set (usually in the opening chapter). If you want your six-shooters to be eight-shooters or you want your tanks to have turrets fore and aft, that's OK. Yes, if you're looking for realism, this won't win any prizes, but a story doesn't need realism to be plausible.

That's the point.

When it comes down to the wire, you set the scene and define the parameters. It's your story and people will enjoy it if you stick by the rules which you set for yourself.

Reality relates to non-fiction; fiction needs to be plausible.

Biography
Clive West is a successful novelist, short story writer and publisher. His full-length and much-acclaimed novel, The Road, tells the story of the petty corruption that surrounds the construction of a new ring road and the unforeseen and uncared for tragedies that this deceit causes to ordinary people.

Apart from writing, Clive runs Any Subject Books Ltd along with his wife and co-writer, Damaris West. New writers are always welcome at the agency.

The long and the short of it

After an extended dalliance away from the genre, short stories are becoming increasingly popular again. With hectic personal schedules and the hurly-burly of the 21st century world, modern readers like the idea of picking up their book, tablet, Kindle, e-reader to enjoy a complete story without the hassle of having to remember numerous characters, complex plots or who is doing what to whom and why.

I'd like us now to look at the basic limiting factors of a short story in more detail and see where they lead us:

●         A short story by its very definition is short (!)

●         There must be a complete story within its pages even if it's part of a series centered around the same characters or setting

●         The author must describe the location and the key protagonists in sufficient detail as to bring them to life

Keep it short!

Some writers seem to think that a short story is merely a highly-condensed conventional novel or an extremely short novella when it's neither. Because of the limitations imposed by the three above criteria, a short story takes a single thread and explores it to completion in the space of a few pages. There can be no complexity of plot, diverse parallel storylines, or switching from one exotic venue to another as per James Bond, Ludlum etc. If you are going to write a short story, you need to think tight, compact and bijou.

The knack to writing a short story which your customers will want to read is to concentrate on:

●         Creating a few simple but interesting characters

●         Choosing a setting which is quickly visualised by the reader and which will not overpower the characters or the storyline

●         Finding a story which leads the reader through

●         Sending the reader away with something memorable which makes them want to read more of your stories

With a short story, there is a real need to 'hit the ground running'. You do not have the luxury of long preamble-style descriptions of the characters executed through rambling explanatory dialogue so you have to create a clear image of the protagonists very quickly and without overdoing it on the adjectival front. Likewise with the places; you will rarely have the word count for more than a cursory description giving a generic location such as 'on the bus', 'at the beach', 'visiting the zoo' and so on.

We'll look at how to draw up plots, construct openings and decide upon endings for short stories in subsequent postings.

Clive West is a successful short story writer, novelist and publisher. He has produced a bestselling anthology of short stories which all have a twist-in-the-tail and which is for sale on Amazon. He is a strong believer in the non-reliance upon low-grade authorial devices such as creating a mystery out of nothing and deus ex machina denouements. Apart from writing, Clive runs Any Subject Books Ltd along with his wife and co-writer, Damaris West. New writers are always welcome at the agency.

5 Reasons to Use the 5 Senses in Your Writing

This is a repost of a great blog piece by one of my favorite bloggers, Kaye George. In this article she explains why a writer needs to use all five senses during the writing process.--Mary Ann


It's rare that I can get all five in, but I always try.

SIGHT

That's the easiest, of course. Writers have to describe what the characters are doing, seeing, where they're going. That's the difference between fiction writers and play/screen/TV script writers. The reader sees only what we permit them to see. Do you always remember to orient the readers at the beginning of each new scene and tell them where they are? I was told, once, to cut way down on my adjectives--I describing a little too much. (Janet Reid's exact words were, "Were they having a sale on adjectives?") One adjective per noun is enough. Even better if you can find the perfect noun, the one that doesn't even need any adjectives. The same thing for verbs, actions. The less adverbs the better. Notice, I don't advocate cutting adverbs out entirely. Sometimes you need them. But IF you can find a vivid enough verb, you won't need one for that sentence.

HEARING

When your characters enter a new scene, close your eyes and put yourself there. Are they in the woods? Is the wind stirring the leaves? Are birds twittering? If it's nighttime, do you hear frogs or cicadas? In the city there's usually traffic noise, sometimes a distant siren, or a noisy bus pulling out of the bus stop. Inside a quiet room a clock might be ticking, or the refrigerator might cycle on.

SMELL

This one isn't too hard, either. Outside there are flowers and new mown grass to smell. If the nearby water treatment plant isn't overpowering them. Each house has a distinct odor--pets, dust, cooking, cigarettes, baby powder.

TOUCH

It's a little harder to work touch in, but if you are outside, the wind can caress your cheek, riffle your bangs, or blow your hat off. A fence post will feel rough, a tree trunk a different kind of rough. Barefoot characters will feel dirt or hot pavement, or cool tile floors beneath their soles. The touch of another person is often needed in an intimate or emotional scene. Tell the reader if the other person's hand is warm or cool, leathery or soft, gnarled or smooth.

TASTE

This is the hardest one. In an eating scene it's no problem, but we're told eating scenes are boring, right? Not always, but you don't want too many of them. Extreme emotion will put tastes in your character's mouth, though. Something that turns her stomach makes bile bubble up into her mouth. Biting his lip or tongue puts the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. Sweat comes with exertion or heat. Go ahead and let some run down his face. Let him taste the salt when he licks his lips nervously.

There are other senses you might try, too. ESP, gut instinct, the internal reaction to fear. In other words, things you feel inside yourself, or on the surface of your skin. A racing heartbeat, throbbing temples, but in less clichéd phrasing, of course.

 

Learning To Not Write

I can't not write. I'm sure some of this blog's readership would say the same thing. We writers are an obsessive lot. We have these... ideas. An entire plot just pops into our heads (or so it feels like) and we must write it down. It's catharsis for us. It helps us keep the world in order. And it gives us hope that someday, our books too will be on shelves.

But what about when we can't write, meaning: the time or energy just isn't there? Sometimes for weeks. Perhaps even months. This used to drive me bananas! All these stories clamoring to get out and here I was embroiled in equations, or some such activity. I needed to get the stories down and the queries sent or nothing was ever going to happen. The frustration would nearly cause my brain to rupture. Of course, that's when you sit and check your email every 30 minutes to see if you've had any replies. Not a healthy situation!

For some time now I've been unable to write. Due to our current political situation, the funding for the satellite development program I was working on dried up rather suddenly in early November. One would think that would give me more time to write. Actually, the opposite is true. With bills to be paid, I suddenly had to engage the hyperdrive to find new business. The added anxiety took care of any free time by draining my creative spark. I even had to fall back on one of my hobbies to help bridge the gap.

However, I am now very much enjoying myself and have discovered that I can make money building cabinets! More than I can make doing engineering. The trade off is, it takes a lot of time and energy. Fortunately some consulting work also happened to pop up, working on a proposal for a DOD program. It has been long hours too. Very long. But also pretty darned satisfying. Not only do I get to do some engineering and keep that part of the machine well-oiled, it is, surprisingly enough, a lot of writing!

Of course, while all this is happening, I have absolutely no time to work on my writing. It's been frustrating. I'd been pouring a lot of energy into my writing for about a decade. Pushing hard to get out the next book. Sending out those queries. Marketing my work that is out there. Somewhere in the midst of this flurry of activity, it hit me. All that rushing, all that fighting the order of events, hadn't done me a bit of good. It was like swimming up stream. Maybe I'm just getting older, or maybe I'm growing, but I backed off the writing and just decided to let things unfold as they will.

The transformation in my own life has been remarkable. I sleep better. My wife sort of likes me again. Exercise is more enjoyable. The work I am doing is more satisfying. I get more relaxation from just reading, instead of constantly comparing. Sure, sometimes I get hit with that frantic feeling that I'm missing writing opportunities. That if I had just sent that query!!! But then I force myself to remember that hurrying doesn't help. I've tried it. Things will unfold as they will. I will write when I can. Market when I can. But live TODAY.

At the moment, I'm wrapping up two projects and have no time to write. At the same time, one of my books is a finalist for an award. Sales aren't too bad - considering I'm doing ZERO marketing. Some incredible (non-writing) opportunities have sort of materialized out of thin air. And, I'm making great progress on my next novel. That's right. I'm writing my next novel. Or rather, doing some reordering and revision of the last draft. Without all that frustration and anger I find I'm able to get a lot more done in my head. So, in the next few weeks when things calm down a little, I can start fresh and ready, with a host of ideas to turn this next project into what I really want it to be.

All of which leaves me wondering: Were I writing in frustrated anger, forcing out pages, would I be able to convey the messages I really want to share? Or would my frustration come out, and chase everyone away? Maybe sometimes, not writing is good. You just have to learn how to do it.

Until next time,

John C. Brewer

John C. Brewer is the author of Multiplayer an MMOG YA SF novel, and The Silla Project, a North Korean nuclear romance. You can learn more about him and what he is doing at his website, JohnCBrewer.com