Fiction Fundamentals

This site contains the archives of the former site “Fiction Fundamentals,” the instructional blog of Linda Fulkerson.

The purpose of this website is to help novelists, both experienced and aspiring, to further their skills in the craft of fiction writing.

A variety of information will be presented on this site, and each page will be updated as more authors and service providers come on board. While this isn’t a “community” site, such as MySpace, FaceBook, or ShoutLife, we hope the Fiction Fundamentals site will feel like family to you. The more people who share questions, answers, ideas, and links, the better resource this site will be for all of us.

Thank you in advance for your patience as this site grows and develops. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Due to spamaholics, however, it is required that you select a username and password and log in before placing comments. New comments will be held for moderation, but once you’ve been approved, your future comments will appear automatically. No mailings will be sent to registered users–we have a separate newsletter signup (see right sidebar) box for those who wish to receive the Fiction Fundamentals newsletter.

Again, we’re excited that you’re here and we’re excited about this site. If you have a blog, web site, or newsletter, please give Fiction Fundamentals a mention.

Thanks for stopping by!

In the chapter titled, “How to Finish What You Start,” of David Fryxell’s book, Write Faster, Write Better, Fryxell offers a short quiz to determine whether or not you are phobic about finishing. Without plagiarizing his words, here’s the gist of his quiz:

1. Do you have half-finished projects lying around your house?
2. Make a list of projects you’ve completed in the past six months. Of projects you’ve started but that are still “works in progress.” Which list is longer?
3. Are you “impulsive” or “driven”?

To learn more about how to tune-up your “completion drive,” check out Fryxell’s book. That chapter goes on to give not only psychological explanations as to why we procrastinate, but offers a practical plan for getting past our hangups, therefore allowing us to complete those tasks that are nagging us and press onward toward success.

Remember, this is the book I accidentally purchased twice. Leave a comment this month on any of my blogs to have your name placed in a drawing for my extra copy. The drawing will take place February 29.

You learn something new every day, I suppose. I recently learned to double check my shopping cart at Amazon.com before clicking the “check out” button. You see, I’d accidentally put two of the same book in my cart without realizing it, and now I own two copies. That’s good news for you, though, because first of all, it’s a great book, and second, I plan to give away the extra copy in a drawing the end of February from the names of all who leave a comment on my personal blog, my main web site, or Fiction Fundamentals site during February 2008. (Sorry, Spammers, but you don’t get your name put in the pot!)

The book, Write Faster, Write Better, by David Fryxell, is excellent for those who, like me, can find almost anything else to do besides actually write. Fryxell takes the lessons he learned from years of writing on a constant deadline in a 3-column-a-week job and presents them in a way that any writer, both fiction and nonfiction, can use. In fact, Fryxell’s book has special sections for nonfiction writers and novelists.

Whether you’re time-challenged, organizationally challenged, idea-challenged–whatever is keeping you from getting it done, Fryxell has a plan that can help you write faster and better. The book offers tips for overcoming writer’s block, disorganized writing, and even a spiel about overcoming “finishphobia” with tips on bringing your writing to a satisfying ending.

From the back cover:

Every writer has felt the pressure of a deadline. Writing is a challenge: there are the problems of getting started, feelings of writer’s block, and numerous interruptions lying between you and a finished piece. This book is your guide to getting through that obstacle course with success.

In Write Faster, Write Better, author and editor David A. Fryxell shares his secrets for writing faster while boosting your creativity and the quality of your work. He guides you step-by-step through the writing process to help you create a publishable manuscript in less time. You’ll learn how to:

• Organize your time, ideas, and files
• Find your focus
• Develop story-worthy ideas
• Think like an editor
• Use smart Internet search strategies
• Pull it all together to beat writer’s block
• Write faster fiction, nonfiction, scripts, and humor

Each chapter is full of rich examples to help you put Fryxell’s principles into practice. You’ll find specific exercises to help you start writing faster in your own work and overcome the challenges you face. Liberate yourself today with the proven techniques found inside Write Better, Write Faster.

Sometimes the reason huge projects, like writing a novel, don’t get finished is because they don’t get started. Writing fiction can be an overwhelming undertaking. I’ve read many articles about procrastination, and oftentimes, the writers spend more times stressing that procrastinators need to know “why” we procrastinate and offer a lengthy laundry list of things to do to prevent putting things off.

For example, write a personal mission statement. Now, I have nothing against personal mission statements, but if I’m already sidetracked from my “to-write” list enough to browse Internet articles on procrastination, then pausing to ponder over my personal mission will give me just one more “reason” to put off whatever it is I’m dreading doing.

Putting things off, for me, usually stems from being busy to the point I get overwhelmed and am often unsure where to even begin the projects waiting to be finished. But I find myself being more “busy” and less productive a lot of the time. I stumbled upon an idea that I hope will help.

Project management people use a term called “timeboxing” to increase productivity. Basically, timeboxing is a method where one sorts his or her projects into “boxes of time.” Working for small segments of time, (30 minutes to 2 hours), puts a dent in the task at hand, easing stress and giving a quick sense of accomplishment. Continue to schedule more “boxes” of time until the project is complete.

Susan Messiner touches on this topic (without using the term “timeboxing”) in her 300 pages in 30 days seminar. She discusses a plan for mapping out your novel into 30 segments (or, I suppose we could say, “boxes”). If your schedule permits completing one segment each day, you can have a 300-page draft in a month.

Whether your novel gets done in one month or 10, the point is to just write it!

I’ve been working on another historical novel. I had an idea I liked, so I sketched out an outline and began fleshing it out a bit until I wound up with a fairly detailed five-page plot summary. One scene required my heroine, who is of the early 18th century French nobility, to be secretive about her means and appear as a commoner. I had this great plan for her to hide money by sewing it in her clothes or shoes. Problem is, I started doing research and found that due to the crash of the French economy just a few years before the date I’d picked, the use of paper money had ceased during that period. Back to the drawing board…

I’d remembered studying about France’s economic woes before their time of recovery…before the revolution. However I didn’t realize they had no paper currency. But I’m sure many world history buffs or those who are drawn to stories set in pre-revolution France (i.e. my audience) would have known, and had I not discovered this tidbit of information, my writing would have been totally discredited to many readers. Which is one reason we research.

So, how does one get started researching a historical novel? I found a good article by Shelly Thacker Meinhardt on this topic. I don’t know Shelly and I’ve never read any of her fiction, but I found her article on research very helpful. In addition to a number of tips and insights into research, she gives a laundry list of general items to check on as you develop your story:

• Clothing & Hairstyles
• Crime & Law Enforcement
• Entertainment
• Food
• Furniture
• History (politics, wars, kings & queens, etc.)
• Housing
• Maps
• Medicine
• Money
• Religion
• Shops & Towns
• Transportation
• Travel & Inns
• Weapons
• Women & Marriage
• Words and Names common to your setting

She went on to say “list every source used” in your notes. This is excellent advice in case you need to delve deeper into a particular area or to prove a point to your copy-editor.

So, my research efforts sent one idea to the cutting room floor. However, the good part is that I’ve come up with many more ideas to replace it!

While I’m on this web site makeover kick, I gave my Fiction Fundamentals site a facelift, thanks to the guys over at Quommunication. I still have a few kinks to work out with the new theme.

For one thing, since I began blogging in the days before “Tags” were part of the WordPress platform (without the use of an external plug-in), I used “Categories” like tags. Now that the Tag feature is part of daily blogging life, it’s best to use Categories like Departments, and picking one per post, and then tag the post to classify it with related posts.

Since the newer releases of WordPress include the Tag feature, I really need to go through all my old posts and re-categorize them and tag them. That’ll be a chore, but it will make my sites more user-friendly. I’ll add that to my to-do list.

The News Theme (pictured in the above screen shot) has a number of features, including Sub-Categories. I’ve seen Sub-Pages in many themes, but most don’t support lumping various related categories under one heading. I did re-organize the dozens of categories I had on this site, and now just a few display across the nav bar with a nice drop-down list of the subs for each one. Pretty spiff!

Please welcome today’s guest blogger: Sally Bradley.

Sally Bradley runs Affordable Novel Critique Service where she offers economical editing services for writers at any level. She and her family recently moved from Chicago to the Kansas City area where she’s adjusting to bugs and snakes in the summer and ice storms in the winter.

There’s often a debate amongst writers as to whether hiring a freelance editor is a waste of money or a learning opportunity. When I hear this debate, I often find that there are some myths involved.

Myth 1: Publishers don’t like to hear that you’ve hired an editor to do your rewriting for you.

Truth: A freelance editor does not rewrite anything for you. Instead, a freelance editor reads your work for elements like plot, character development, setting, correct use of point of view, sentence structure, and a variety of other things.

When I edit for a client, I insert comments that may point out where dialogue is unclear or where I think the writer missed an opportunity to dive deeper into a character. I include a letter that covers many topics, things like how well their plot worked to fixing problems with sentence structure.

When the client gets the edit back, it’s up to them to decide what to do with those comments. They can ignore them all, or they can incorporate the comments that they feel improve their work.

Why does it matter who polishes the book?

Myth 2: All I need is a great idea. The editor at the publishing house will clean the book up.

Truth: Most of us know this isn’t the way it works. Publishers aren’t hurting for ideas. It’s well-crafted fiction they’re searching for.

Your idea may be great, but if you don’t have writing skills, it can be extremely difficult to interest a publisher.

This is where working with an editor can be of long-lasting help. If you listen to your freelance editor, you may learn some writing skill you didn’t know before. Or you’ll take your existing novel skills even deeper.

That means that everything you work on in the future will benefit from what you learned from that editor. You’ll be improving as a writer.

Myth 3: Editing costs outrageous sums of money.

Truth: Every editor charges a different amount for their services. If you look around, you’ll find some that fit into your price range.

Check writing associations like American Christian Fiction Writers for members who do editing services. Check in the back of Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide for freelance editors. Many have web pages where you can get a feel for what kind of work they do and whether or not you can afford them.

An editor may also have different levels of pricing. Affordable Novel Critique Service, which I run, works this way. For a less advanced writer, I offer a mentoring critique which runs anywhere from sixty to a hundred dollars. This makes it very affordable for a writer to learn writing skills like how point of view should work, for example.

Working with a freelance editor can help you grow as a writer without causing financial strain. That investment in one book can turn into increased writing strength if you’re willing to take criticism and learn from it.

Note: This post is an article I wrote for the October 2007 issue of American Christian Fiction Writer’s Ezine, Afictionado.

Multi-published author Ginny Smith never studied writing. She credits her success in print to her critique partners. While some may cringe at the word “critique,” Ginny explained that evaluating another writer’s work is not only an act of service, but also benefits the critiquer. But she adds a caveat: If it’s done correctly. “Because,” she said, “critiques can range from the good, to the bad, to the really insulting.”

How does one critique correctly? Smith recently shared her twelve-step critiquing method with attendees of her Late Night Chat at the 2007 American Christian Fiction Writers Conference.

1. Pray. Pray before critiquing another’s work as well as before reading a critique you’ve received.
2. Understand the genre. If you’re not familiar with a genre you’re asked to critique, do a bit of research before reading and familiarize yourself with the genre’s peculiarities.
3. Read it. Read through the piece once first to get a feel for the tone and context.
4. Read a second time. Make another pass through and jot down quick comments as thoughts come to you.
5. Read a third time. Go through the manuscript a third time, this time making more in-depth edits and revision suggestions.
6. Check structure. Check for structure/summary as well as line editing.
7. Be honest. Above all, be honest with your critique partner. This will help him or her improve at the craft of writing.
8. Encourage. Use your comments to encourage and motivate your critique partner. Don’t be harsh or negative.
9. Be specific. Be specific with your suggestions. Being vague in your comments is not helpful.
10. Point out strengths. Point out the good parts as well as areas that need improvement. Keep your overall tone positive. Don’t depress your partner!
11. Write a summary. At the end, state what you got out of the piece, what you feel needs work, and what worked well. Explain why and give examples.
12. Protect confidentiality. Protect the work of your critique partner. Never share or post anyone else’s work that has been sent to you for a confidential critique. Make sure when you return the work that you send it to your critique partner or group – not to the entire ACFW loop.

In addition, Ginny also suggested ways to receive a finished critique. First, do not view a critique as a personal attack. Read the entire critique before making any changes, and remember this is only one person’s opinion. If you are unsure whether or not to make changes based upon the critique you received, check with another writer or your mentor.

Consider each comment made carefully. It is okay to “agree to disagree” and ignore the advice of your critique partner, but it would be best to get a second (or third) opinion before doing so.

Finally, it is considered unprofessional to respond to a critique. If you are unsure of a comment, request clarification. Otherwise, simply say, “Thank you.”

Note: I took a few weeks off from this site, but during 2008 I plan to post every Monday and Friday and perhaps have guests occasionally on Wednesdays.

(It’s a new year, and spring is “contest season” for many groups, so I decided to post a guest blog I did in November for my friends from The Seekers, a blog all about contests.)

I must confess, I’m not the contest junkie that some writers are. In fact, I’ve always been a bit afraid to enter contests, so I just didn’t. It’s one thing to get a critique back from my crit partners, who love me no matter how many prepositional phrases I try to squeeze into a sentence, and quite another to throw my work before the red pens of strangers.

The first contest I entered was the 2007 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis, and I was amazed at how well it went. The response sheets I received were informative and encouraging. I found myself nodding in agreement to things I knew were my weak points as well as a few “aha!” moments when they offered suggestions on things I’d never noticed in my writing.

Ever the all-or-nothing personality, I decided if I was going to enter a contest, I’d better do it right, so I submitted three manuscripts in three genres instead of just testing the waters with one submission. Two finaled, one placed. I was thrilled. Not only did I learn from the feedback, the fact that two of the three pieces did so well encouraged me. Maybe I CAN write fiction.

My own submissions aside, I think the biggest blessing I received from the Genesis contest was the opportunity to help others. I was shocked when a subject line in my e-mail in-box read “Invitation to Judge.” Who, me? The unpublished? Judge a fiction writing contest? Not only did I enjoy the feeling of giving back to an organization (ACFW) that has blessed me so much, I think I learned more from judging than I did from my own entries.

I was a rookie judge, so I found several online articles about contest judging and did my best to be fair but thorough. Patterns emerged in the entries I scored, so I went back to my own manuscripts and made notes of things to watch for, things to change.

Blessed by the positive experience, I immediately entered another contest. And, Lord willing, I hope to continue entering and judging contests in the future. Who knows, I may soon find myself joining the ranks of contest junkies!

Welcome to November, the month where writers around the world are asking themselves the same question that pounded against my skull as I poured my first cup of coffee this morning, “What Have I Done?” Since November is somewhat synonymous with indulging ourselves–binging on bags of half-priced Halloween candy, stuffing our bellies alongside an overstuffed turkey, football overload, shop-til-you-drop sale storming, etc.–writers have taken the concept a step further, just in case we don’t have enough pre-holiday stress in our lives. Writers participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Not all writers, but plenty.

The purpose of NaNoWriMo (other than padding your WIP’s word count by 50,000) is to write past your inner editor. Those who have completed the challenge claim that somewhere around the middle of week two, the magic happens. I’ve never made it to the middle of week two, so I can’t back up that fact, but this year, I’ve plotted & planned out what I think will be a great story, and I have vowed to do my best to finish what I’ve started.

And just to pour salt in our why-am-I-doing-this wound, some clever person invented NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), where bloggers commit to posting daily for the entire month of November. It was designed to be an easier-to-accomplish alternative to NaNoWriMo for the consistency challenged, but guess what–many masochistic writers have signed up for BOTH challenges. Including me.

I’ve gotta run now. Insanity calls.