Five Idea Engine Kickstarts – Just to Get You Writing by Alice Orr @aliceorrbooks #MFRWauthor #writingcommunity

Every Now and Then the Idea Well Runs Dry. That's what it can feel like anyway. And it is likely to give a writer what, where I come from, they used to call a conniption fit. Not to worry. As Anne Lamott says, "Help is on the way. One hundred percent of the time."

Get Out Your Writer's Journal. Remember the Writer's Journal? I talked about in my last column, "Your Life as Idea Central." A notebook that is special in some way for you personally. If you don't have one, get one. If you have one, open it up. Either way, prepare to be gifted with help ala Alice.

Read Through the Following Story Idea Kickstarts. Do so quickly. It's a gut reaction you're after, not a head one. Pick the possibility that strikes you hardest. Maybe because you'd love to write it. Maybe because you dread writing it. Either way, your gut is engaged. Your imagination is sure to follow.

Here we go. Five Story Kickstarts.

You have a particular fear. What would happen if that fear materialized? For example, what if those brakes you've been meaning to repair on your car gave out? Think of all the possible consequences of that occurrence. Make the absolute worst of those consequences into a story situation or a scene for a novel.

Make a list of people who frequent a place with which you are familiar. Your neighborhood laundromat, your favorite deli or diner, the place you most enjoy stopping for a cocktail or a beer or a diet soda. Choose the three most intriguing, or potentially most intriguing, of those people. Imagine past histories for them and present circumstances. Go way beyond what you actually know about them. Specifically, give each of them a serious life problem they are struggling with, and write how those pressures cause them to interact in a story or a scene set in this place.

Choose a favorite, or better still, a least favorite relative. Recall an incident from that person's life, or create an incident that could have happened to that person. Choose a situation that puts this person in extreme conflict, maybe even life versus death. Build a scene or story around this person, that incident, and what happens to her or to him.

Think of a close relationship you envy. A family relationship, or a romantic one, or a friendship. (The envy lends emotional intensity on your part.) Imagine a situation that alienates these individuals from each another, maybe causes them to hate one another, or even makes one want to kill the other. Build a story, or the beginning chapter of a story, around what happens. Maybe make yourself a character in that story.

Go through photographs of people and scenes. Choose two photos. Imagine a connection between them, and build a story or scene around that connection. Make sure there is something disturbing or unsettling or even dangerous involved in the way these people and scenes connect. Make that threatening element the heart of your story.

If You are Using Real-life People or Situations, Change the Details. The names, the physical descriptions, anything else that would make these folks recognizable to themselves or each other. In other words, fictionalize everything, for your own safety. Never forget we are an extremely litigious society, and this story or scene might get published someday.

Consider Yourself Kickstarted. Don't worry. It won't leave a bruise. But it could lead to an injection of imagination juice straight into your psyche. Now, there's one thing left for you to do. JUST WRITE!!

For more insights into writing and publishing – Visit my blog at www.aliceorrbooks.com.

About Alice Orr

Alice Orr is author of 16 novels, 3 novellas, a memoir and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. Hero in the Mirror: How to Write Your Best Story of You is in progress. A former book editor and literary agent, Alice now writes full-time. Her latest novel is A Time of Fear and Loving – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Find all of Alice Orr's books on Amazon. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and lives with her beloved husband Jonathan in New York City.
Author Website www.aliceorrbooks.com
Author Blog www.aliceorrbooks.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter
Twitter https://twitter.com/aliceorrbooks
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Orr/e/B000APC22E

Editor Alice Orr on It Takes Two to Tangle: Relationships that Move Your Story @AliceOrrBooks #MFRWauthor #amwriting

It Takes Two to Tangle, in real life and in storytelling. But, whether a fictional connection is romantic or not, the other person in your main character's relationship exists, mainly, for the purpose of moving and intensifying your hero's story.

The second character gives your hero someone to talk to, moves her thoughts into dialogue. Which cuts down on internal monologue that slows the pace of the story. Dialogue appears more active on the page than paragraphs of uninterrupted narrative, and more active to the reader's consciousness also. This dialogue must, of course be interesting and compelling.

How do you make dialogue interesting? First, by creating a complex, fascinating story mate to match your complex, fascinating hero. A mate whose opinions and attitudes differ from those of your main character. They may be mates in general, but they debate, irritate one another, and even openly conflict on occasion.

These conflicts are usually variations in attitude rather than violent disagreements. They force your hero to articulate her feelings and beliefs. This allows your reader to know her better and identify more closely with her, which is critical to hooking the reader into your story.

The second character need not be portrayed as sympathetically as the hero. This mate character may be in the process of evolving, with something major yet to learn in life. He or she may or may not accomplish that goal in this story, unlike your hero who must learn and grow.

You should also contrast these two characters in more external ways. Family and cultural background, life experience, economic and social status, physical appearance. These differences provide potential for fireworks in the relationship, which may be sexual or not. Either way, they enflame reader interest, and that heat serves your storytelling purpose.

In real life, we prefer people to get along, but, in fiction, too much harmony is boring. Conflict in a story relationship makes that story more interesting. However, you, as author, must understand what storytelling conflict is. Banter back and forth between characters, no matter how clever, is not strong enough conflict to create compelling fiction.

There must be a crucial problem between the characters for real conflict to occur. The greater the problem, the more intense the trouble between them becomes, and intense conflict is the heart of strong storytelling. These two characters may basically like, or even love, each other, but if they get along too well for chapter after chapter, they lose the reader's interest.

You must create characters with the potential for legitimate contention between them. Most importantly, create an active hero with the strength to stand up for herself and what she believes, and to defy opposition. She is a person who refuses to remain passive while bad things happen to her, or to those she cares about. This portrayal makes her defiance believable.

Next, create a mate character strong enough to be a worthy adversary. Now, you have a relationship that is a juxtaposition of equals, with potential for true tension between them. Without this tension, conflict that grips your reader will fail to ignite. With this tension, and the sparks it produces, the relationship, and your storytelling, set fire to the page.

For more insights into writing and publishing, visit my blog at www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice Orr is author of 16 novels, 3 novellas, a memoir and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. A former book editor and literary agent, Alice now writes full-time. Her latest novel is A Time of Fear and Loving – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Find all of Alice Orr's books at amazon.com and other online retailers. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and lives with her beloved husband Jonathan in New York City.

Author Website www.aliceorrbooks.com

Author Blog www.aliceorrbooks.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter

Twitter https://twitter.com/aliceorrbooks

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Orr/e/B000APC22E

All's Well that Ends Well: Endings that Satisfy by Alice Orr @aliceorrbooks #AmWriting #MFRWauthor

How to Write the Ending that Satisfies

How do I make my story ending sell my book? Good question, just not the right question. Why not? Because the ending of your story doesn't sell this book as much as it sells your next one.

Have you ever finished a book and wanted to throw it across the room, or maybe actually did throw it across the room? Very often the book's ending made you do that, and also made certain you wouldn't buy that author's next book.

Your goal as a storyteller is to avoid being thrown across the room, to avoid losing a reader for your next book and the ones after it. To reach that goal, you must create a story ending that does not frustrate. You must create an ending that satisfies.

The end game of your story is a danger zone, partly because you are likely to be tired of these people and their situation by now. In fact, if you are a committed storyteller, your head and heart may already be deep into your next book. Because of that, you must be careful not to write the ending in this rhythm. Gallop, Gallop, Gallop, The End. That ending does not satisfy. That ending lacks the essential Big Bang.

In earlier articles, I used the film classic Casablanca to illustrate the Dramatic Opening and the Middle that Moves. Casablanca is an example of the Ending that Satisfies, too. Rick and Ilsa's story is especially rich in this respect because it has two narrative threads, an action suspense thread and an emotional suspense thread, and both are tied up with a Big Bang at the end.

The action climax is an actual, audible bang when arch villain German Major Strasser is shot dead. The emotional climax is more drawn out, and that slightly slowed down pace is part of what gives it impact. Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart, tells Ilsa, played by Ingrid Bergman, why she must take the plane to Lisbon and safety, not with him, but with her husband, Nazi hunter Victor Laszlo.

The plane engine rumbles to life in the background. A single tear trembles on Ilsa's perfect cheek. And Bogie says some of the most memorable lines of his career.

Rick: Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.

Ilsa: But what about us?

Rick: We'll always have Paris.

Rick walks off then with Vichy Captain Louis Renault, who has finally discovered his inner good guy. But the Big Bang really happens in that moment with Ilsa, when brooding cynic Rick finds his own true heroic nature and sacrifices his heart for the good of the world and his soul.

We could hardly be more satisfied, and it all looks smooth and easy. But don't be fooled. To carry off an ending that works this well, there has to be a plan. To create a Big Bang Ending for your story, you must also have a plan. You must plan your climactic scene in detail. Don't write a word until that plan is perfect. Here are some specific suggestions for planning your Big Bang Ending.

Plan:

·         ...mostly action and dialogue, very little narrative.

·         ...keep all of this action on stage, in the immediate present.

·         ...dialogue that is spare, to the point and memorable.

·         ...on intensifying the pace, faster than what has gone before.

·         ...lots of physical movement in the scene.

·         ...lots of intense sensation – sight, sound, smell, texture and more.

·         ...plunge your protagonist into peril.

·         ...one more obstacle to arise for your protagonist. Make it formidable.

·         ...a confrontation between your protagonist and antagonist.

·         ...on milking that confrontation, while keeping up the intense pace.

·         ...for your protagonist to cause action, not merely be overtaken by it.

·         ...communicate your protagonist's feelings, with impact, to the reader.

·         ...on incorporating fear, even terror, among those emotions.

·         ...the presence of real danger to your protagonist in this scene.

·         ...an outcome in the balance.

·         ...that outcome as crucial to your protagonist.

·         ...for your protagonist to be nearly vanquished in this scene.

·         ...for your protagonist to be racing against time.

·         ...for your protagonist to triumph in the last possible moment.

·         ...for your protagonist to triumph by the narrowest of margins.

·         ...for this triumph to be uplifting and inspiring.

The purpose of a Big Bang Ending is to reverberate after the last page is turned, to lodge in the psyche of the reader and be remembered, all the way to the bookstore, or the Buy Now button, and the purchase of your next title. Stage your final scene the way a choreographer stages a dance. The result will be a powerful Dramatic Ending at full circle from your Dramatic Opening, and equally or even more thrilling.

Now you must recognize that your story is over. You and your protagonist have exploded out of the explosive situation you exploded into on page one. You must resist the temptation to hang around a while longer. You have taken your reader on an unforgettable ride. Leave before she has a chance to catch her breath. Leave before he has had enough. Leave them wanting more. No Epilogues, Please.

When you have accomplished all of that – Here's looking at you, kid.

ALICE ORR is the author of 16 novels, 3 novellas, a memoir and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. A former book editor and literary agent, Alice now lives her dream as a full-time writer. Her latest novel is A Time of Fear and Loving: Riverton Road Romantic Suspense - Book 5. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and resides with her husband Jonathan in New York City.
Alice Orr – www.aliceorrbooks.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aliceorrbooks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Orr/e/B000APC22E

How to Get an Edit Bird on Your Shoulder @AliceOrrBooks #MFRWauthor #amediting

Writing advice from thriller author and former editor Alice Orr

Every writer I know has endured rejection. If you’ve escaped that fate, you should be writing this, because my work has been rejected many times. On the occasion of my first major rejection, the editor implied, or maybe told me straight out, that I had no idea what I was doing.

My big mistake was agreeing to a sushi lunch. I didn’t know sushi from tsunami, but, to appear cooperative, I replied, “Sure. Sushi’s good.” Had I understood the purpose of the lunch, I’d have made a different response. I didn’t have a clue, though I probably should have.

I was writing my second novel for this editor. The first didn’t set the world afire. The second had dragged through two extensive revisions, and I’d pretty much lost track of what the story was originally about. As I took a wobbly chopstick grip on my third portion of something raw wrapped in seaweed, my editor let me know she felt the same.

“This just doesn’t work for us,” she said. I plunged into shock, but I was also suddenly no longer clueless. I was stone-cold certain. There would be no more revision chances. Novel #2 had gone down the plumbing and months of my work along with it. The sushi slipped from its precarious perch between my chopsticks and plummeted to the edge of my plate.

“You seem to think a little bird sits on your shoulder and tells you how to write,” my editor was saying. “Like you don’t have anything to do with it.” I couldn’t respond. I excused myself, dashed to that upscale restaurant’s upscale ladies’ room, and leaned my clammy forehead against the cool tiles of the black marble stall, struggling to keep my insides under control.

Bird on my shoulder? What was she talking about? I’d never been aware of anything, with or without feathers, telling me how to write a book. What I had always been aware of was my helplessness. Because of the way the publishing world works, I had no control over the destiny of my writing career. Now, I understood how perilous cluelessness can be.

If you’ve ever submitted a manuscript, you know what I mean. You labor over your work, send it out into what feels like a void. then wait for a thumbs up or down on your efforts, your ambitions, your hope. You endure this because you have no idea what else you can do. You are as clueless as I was in that ladies’ room with my forehead pressed against tile as black as I believed my future to be.

A couple of years later, I became an editor myself. That choice had a lot to do with power. I was determined to regain mine, and to share it. As an editor, then a literary agent and teacher, I would be that bird. I’d sit on a writer’s shoulder and whisper in her ear the words she needed to hear to avoid demoralizing rejection scenes of her own. I could do that because my years on the other side of the desk taught me a lot about creating publishable fiction.

Now I write articles and blog posts to share that knowledge. Still, the dread words are out there, “This just doesn’t work for us.” Words that hit their mark hard for any writer. I wish I could guarantee they will never be heard again, but I can’t. What I can offer is my experience and expertise, and to be a bird on the shoulder with an empowering song to sing.

About Alice Orr

Alice Orr is the author of 16 novels, 3 novellas, a memoir and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. A former book editor and literary agent, Alice now lives her dream as a full-time writer. Her latest novel is A Time of Fear and Loving: Riverton Road Romantic Suspense - Book 5. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and resides with her husband Jonathan in New York City.
Author Website: www.aliceorrbooks.com
Author Blog: www.aliceorrbooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aliceorrbooks
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Orr/e/B000APC22E