John - Writing With Emotion, Tension, and Conflict Techniques for Crafting an Expressive and Compelling Novel

WRITING WITH EMOTION, TENSION, & CONFLICT. Copyright 2013 by Cheryl St.John. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No other part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Writers Digest Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Suite #200, Blue Ash, OH 45242. (800) 289-0963. First edition.

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Edited by Rachel Randall

Designed by Terri Woesner

Cover designed by Claudean Wheeler

Production coordinated by Debbie Thomas

DEDICATION

To authors everywhere who work tirelessly to create the best stories possible, who push themselves to improve their craft, and who bring hours of pleasure to others through the written word, and to aspiring authors who are reading these concepts for the first time and wondering how they will ever be able to do all this. Weve all been there. You can do it, too.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Ive had a lot of help and encouragement along my writing journey. The late Diane Wicker Davis read my first attempt at a manuscript and offered gentle guidance. Barbara Andrews invited me to a group at her home and was one of the first to tell me I had what it took to write a good story. Pam Hart started a critique group and tirelessly read my pages and offered suggestions. My education on the craft of writing began with these generous and gifted women.

Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain made the most impact as far as comprehending the elements of storytelling and learning skills to engage readers. I devoured every Nancy Kress article I ever found and studied my favorite authors. Once I sold, my editor Margaret ONeil Marbury showed me how to effectively break the rules Id so earnestly learned and followed.

Im thankful to every person who ever attended one of my workshops or took one of my online classes and gave me feedback. I appreciate all the authors quoted in this book and those whose excerpts I used to show examples of great storytelling. Thank you to my critique group for their proofreading, brilliant suggestions, and continued support, career-wise and personally. Thank you to my agent Pam Hopkins for always being in my corner, to F+W Media for taking on this book, and to Rachel Randall for acquiring and editing my first nonfiction project.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cheryl is the author of more than fifty books. Her first book, Rain Shadow, was nominated for Romance Writers of Americas RITA Award for Best First Book, by Romantic Times Magazine for Best Western Historical, and by Affaire de Coeur readers for Best American Historical Romance. Since then she has received three more RITA nominations, a Writers Digest award for a feature article, and several Romantic Times Reviewers Choice awards. Many of her books were featured in Waldenbooks Top Ten lists and USA Today, and Big Sky Brides climbed to #35 on the NYT list.

Cheryl has been a keynote speaker numerous times and has taught workshops at Romance Writers of America National Conference, American Christian Fiction Writers National Conference, Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, Mid-America RWA Conference, Desert Dreams Conference, Orange County RWA, Midwest Mystery and Suspense Convention, University of Nebraska at Omaha Writers Conference, Nebraska Literature Festival, Nebraska Writers Guild, Rocky Mountain Book Festival, Friends of the Public Library, Romance Authors of the Heartland, Iowa Romance Novelists, Prairie Romance Writers, and Carolina Romance Writers.

Cheryl has had articles on the craft of writing published in Romance Writers of Americas Romance Writers Report and in numerous chapter newsletters. She was featured in the Writers Digest Romance Writers Sourcebook, and the UK magazine Writer's Forum featured her in a two-page article. Cheryls online workshops have garnered praise from new writers and multipublished authors alike.

In describing her stories of second chances and redemption, readers and reviewers use words like emotional punch, hometown feel, core values, believable characters, and real-life situations. Amazon and Goodreads reviews show her popularity with readers.

One thing all reviewers and readers agree on regarding Cheryls work is the degree of emotion and believability. Words like heartwarming, emotional depth, endearing characters and on my keeper shelf are commonly used to describe her work.

Like most of you who have opened this book, I read voraciously as a young person. I vividly remember how disappointed I was over summer breaks because my access to the school library was suspended. I still recall my favorite stories, the characters, and the feelings they created. Books were my companions. They spoke to me. They incited dreams and sparked my imagination.

Im often asked when I began writing, and the fact is I cant remember a time when I didnt write. As a child I wrote stories, drew covers, and stapled them into little books. My first rejection came at the tender age of fourteen, when I sent a story to Redbook magazine. I still have that half-page rejection slip. I learned early that not every story hits its mark. Eventually I understood why: Some manuscripts deserve to be in a drawer.

What I didnt learn for a long timeyears, actuallywas that there are techniques proven to help create stories with depth and broad appeal. Techniques that bring a story from the writers head onto the printed page in a form appealing to both readers and publishers. Techniques that make the reader feel strongly about your story.

Probably the most important concept Ive taken away from any book on writing is from Dwight V. Swains Techniques of the Selling Writer: A story is feelings. In order for a reader to connect with a story, he must feel that he has a stake in the characters plight and must care about the outcome. If you can create an emotional connection, you can hold your readers attention. You can prompt him to read on and even to buy your next book.

If you want to forge an emotional connection with your reader, you must first master the skills involved. Understand that youre not guaranteed success. There is no magic involved, and no secret formula exists. Multipublished authors arent holding out on you. Most successful people worked a long time to achieve their goals. Success is not easy or instant. Some writers do sell their first book, but the percentage is small. Forget the get-rich-quick scheme, and look the task ahead squarely in the eye. Acknowledge the complexity of fiction, and accept the time and effort required to make your work marketable. Successful people know how to delay gratification.

You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, but you will never outwork me.

WILL SMITH

Reading published books is necessary, but reading alone isnt enough. Reading a masterfully written book might make writing look easy, but just because youve got a Thomas Kinkade painting on your wall doesnt make you qualified to paint one.