William Bernhardt - What Writers Need to Know: Essential Topics

What Writers Need to Know: Essential Topics

WILLIAM BERNHARDT

Published by Babylon Books, 2020.

One of the things I love about these books is that they are so accessible to every aspiring writer.

Rick Ludwig, author of Mirrored

I reread these books before I start each book I write.

Callie Hutton, USA Today -bestselling author of For the Love of the Viscount

Bernhardt shows you exactly what makes literary characters keep people interested and how to use those strengths when creating characters of your own.

R.J. Johnson, author of The Twelve Stones

Easy to read while delivering good material with some occasional humor.

David Sullivan, author

This book gives everything that it promises. And all the other writing books written by William Bernhardt are on my wish list.

C.H. Scarlett, author

Copyright 2020 by William Bernhardt

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Dedicated to all the Red Sneaker Writers:

You cannot fail if you refuse to quit.

A professional writer is an amateur who didnt quit.

Richard Bach

If this is not your first Red Sneaker book, or if youve attended Red Sneaker retreats or conventions, you can skip to Chapter One. If youre new, let me take a moment to explain.

Ive been telling stories for several decades, doing almost every kind of writing imaginable. Ive been speaking at workshops and conferences almost as long. Every time I step behind the podium I see long rows of talented people frustrated by the fact that they havent sold any books. Yes, the market is changing and agents are hard to find and self-publishing can be challenging. But when aspiring writers work hard but still dont succeed...theres usually a reason. Too often enormous potential is lost due to a lack of fundamental knowledge. Sometimes a little guidance is all that stands between an unknown writer and a satisfying writing career.

Ive seen writing instructors and writing texts that seem more interested in appearing literary than in providing useful information. Sometimes I think presenters do more to obfuscate the subject than to explain it. Perhaps they feel that if they make the writing process as mysterious as possible, it will make them seem profoundor perhaps they dont understand the subject well themselves. Some of the best writers I know are not particularly good teachers, because theyve never thought consciously about the creative process.

Hoping to be more useful, I founded the Red Sneaker Writing Center. Why Red Sneakers? Because I love my red sneakers. Theyre practical, flexible, sturdyfull of flair and fun. In other words, theyre exactly what writing instruction should be. Practical, dynamic, and designed to unleash the creative spirit, to give the imagination a platform for creating wondrous work.

I held the first Red Sneaker Writers conference in 2005. I invited the best speakers I knew, people who had published many books but also could teach. Then I launched my small-group writing retreatsintensive days working with a handful of aspiring writers. The retreats gave me the opportunity to read, edit, and work one-on-one with people so I could target their needs and make sure they got what would help them most. This approach worked well and Im proud to say a substantial number of writers have graduated from my programs, published, and even hit the bestseller lists. But of course, not everyone can attend a retreat.

This book, and the others in this series, are designed to provide assistance to writers regardless of their location. The books are short, inexpensive, and targeted to specific areas where a writer might want help.

Let me see if I can anticipate your questions:

Why are these books so short? Because Ive expunged the unnecessary and the unhelpful. Ive pared it down to the essential information, useful ideas that can improve the quality of your writing. Too many instructional books are padded with excerpts and repetition to fill word counts required by book contracts. Thats not the Red Sneaker way.

Why are you writing several different books instead of one big book? I encourage writers to commit to writing every day and to maintain a consistent writing schedule. Sometimes reading about writing can be an excuse for not writing. You can read the Red Sneaker books without losing much time. In fact, each can be read in an afternoon. Take one day off from your writing. Make notes as you read. See if that doesnt trigger ideas about how you might improve your writing. Then get back to work.

You reference other books as examples, but you rarely quote excerpts. Why?

Two reasons. First, Im trying to keep these books brief. I will cite a book as an example, and if you want to look up a particular passage, its easy enough to do. You dont need me to cut and paste it for you. Second, if I quote from materials currently under copyright protection, I have to pay a fee, which means Id need to raise the price of the book. I dont want to do that. I think you can grasp my points without reading copyrighted excerpts. Too often, in my opinion, excessive excerpting is done to pad the page count.

Why does each chapter end with exercises?

The exercises are a completely integrated and essential part of the book, designed to simulate what happens in my small-group writing retreats. Samuel Johnson was correct when he wrote: Scribendo disces scribere . Meaning: You learn to write by writing. These principles wont be concretized in your brain until you put them into practice.

So get the full benefit from this book. Complete the exercises. If you were in one of my retreats, this would be your homework. I wont be hovering over your shoulder as you read this bookbut you should do the exercises anyway.

What else does the Red Sneaker Writers Center do?

We send out a free e-newsletter filled with writing advice, market analysis, and other items of interest. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please visit my website. We also have a free bi-weekly Red Sneaker podcast with all the latest news and interviews with industry professionals. I host an annual conference, WriterCon, over Labor Day weekend and small-group writing retreats throughout the year. There will be future books in this series. And we sponsor a literary magazine called Conclave that would love to see you submit your poems, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. Our Balkan Press publishes books, primarily fiction and poetry.

Okay, enough of the warm-up act. Read this book. Then write your story. Follow your dreams. Never give up.

William Bernhardt

Think of your character as a jewel that has about a thousand different facets. If you keep turning them over and exploring new sides, youll keep discovering new information about their personality and motivations.

Lauren Sapala

Thirty years passed between when I created Ben Kincaid and when I created my current series character, Daniel Pike. Trying to come up with a new protagonist who would sustain at least six books caused me to think long and hard about what makes a durable series character readers like enough to revisit.

The first time around, I didnt do this. Ben Kincaid was originally intended to be the protagonist of one novel: The Fixed Moment . (The publisher retitled it Primary Justice . I still dont know what that means.) Series characters were less prevalent then, and it might have been presumptuous of me to imagine I was launching a series since Id never published anything, despite years of trying and hundreds of rejection letters. My beloved editor, Joe Blades, said he thought this guy could lead a seriesand thats what happened, for nineteen books (so far). Even when I later created Susan Pulaski, I was only thinking of a single book ( Dark Eye ), with more psychological depth and heartache than the typical thriller.