Writer' shortcuts to finishing your novel faster:
1) Getting to the deeper emotion
2) Borrowing tricks from other authors
3) Shortcut to the scene
In order to get to the deeper emotion you should make a soundtrack for each novel you write. You need to ask yourself what kind of music to choose, based on what music illustrates the emotion in the novel. If you like movies, make a note every time a song in a movie touches you or reminds you of a novel you’re writing, so that you can add it to your soundtrack.
You should always start your soundtrack with a song that reminds you the most of your novel. Make sure that none of your tracks are cut with abrupt changes (so that it flows more easily and doesn’t distract you). You also want to make sure the last song on the soundtrack ends gently, so that you can listen to it over and over without being jarred from your concentration.
Borrowing tricks from other authors is an easy way to finish your novel quickly. When you’re trying to do something tricky that you haven’t done before, refer back to a novel you’ve read that addressed the issue you’re dealing with. Then think about how they managed to achieve their goal and weave it into your story in your own way.
In order to shortcut to the scene, you need to map it out in advance, create a dialogue outline and do a heart storm, which is a brainstorm from the heart. Typing them all up on one page.
Mapping out your scene in advance helps so that you can get to the 3rd or 5th draft quality the first time through. You should write down what needs to happen in the scene, but not in great detail. Put down the essentials, leaving room to be creative. One paragraph should be fine and it works best if you type it.
Your dialogue outline helps sketch out your best guess at what is going to be said in the scene. You don’t have to have a name designated for the characters at this point, just a rough idea of what you want to be said in the scene.
For your heart storm you need to think of all the emotions of the scene, and any strange ideas that come to you. Just let it flow freely, it doesn’t have to make much sense at this point.
Once you put them all together on one page, you need to print and then put it next to your keyboard while you work on your novel. Take what you want from each area—mixing and matching things.
Exercise for home…
Write a page as fast as you can. Instead of thinking of a scene for your novel, just think about a moment with emotion and write about it. Choose something that has a lot of emotion in it (ex: fear, anger, love). Take ten things you like from the page and turn them into a poem.
Laura Whitcomb’s first novel A Certain Slant of Light (Houghton Mifflin, 2005), was a Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writers” selection, a Book Sense Pick, an ALA Best Books for Young Adults selection. It was published as an audio book by Random House, is being published in six foreign languages, and was a finalist is six state teen book contests. Her writing book, Your First Novel, co-authored by literary agent Ann Rittenberg, was a Writers Digest Books featured selection for November 2006. Her new novel for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, The Fetch, was just released. http://www.laurawhitcomb.com/
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Spark--Submission Guidelines
SPARK is an exciting new voice in Salem, Mid-Valley, and greater Oregon culture. We are a well-written, professionally designed, hip, literate magazine focusing on community, art, music, and culture. We break barriers, push boundaries, pull back curtains, and shine a light, capturing the vitality and spark of our community through narrative non-fiction, creative photography, and graphic arts.
SPARK is accepting open submission of your own creative choosing; we will also request specific pieces at times.
SPARK features both long-form pieces (essay, photography, and graphic) and recurring columns. (We are also interested in shorter side-bars and interesting content, so if you have an idea, please contact us.) The columns all have specific themes and styles. They are as follows:
“Dish” – Our twist on the food column. Rather than writing a review of a local restaurant, we want a narrative tale of some “food item” experience in the Mid-Valley to try to capture the audience element in it. Whether it’s a romantic meal at Alessandro’s, a stunning lunch with friends at Willamette Noodle, a fantastic basket of Cajun tots at McMenamins or a late night drunken burrito at Muchas…we want the story that goes with the meal. It can or should include atmosphere, setting, situation…the whole story.
“Beat” – Our coverage of the local music scene in Salem. Again, we are steering away from reviews, and instead welcome stories about a local show, a local band or musician, a locally release album, or even something else entirely. If it’s about music in the Mid-Valley (or connected to the Mid-Valley) we want to hear it.
“Pulse” – Coverage of art in Salem. This is a broad definition. Could be fashion, physical art, poetry, film…anything creatively being done in Salem or the Mid-Valley, or connected to it. Again, no reviews. Stories, perspectives, profiles…make it interesting. Be creative, and look for new ways to tell the stories you want to tell.
“Go” – There is a lot more to do in Salem. Go is our coverage of those events. It could be a local Volcanoes game, a trip with the Audubon Society, an underground alternative “whatever.” If people in Oregon are doing it, we want to hear about it. Try to avoid the obvious things that get a lot of coverage in the other media outlets. Get a little below the surface. (There may be some cross over with Beat or Notes, but just write away and let us decide where it goes.)
“Give” – There are a lot of people in Salem working to make it a better place, making a difference, and we want stories of them and/or their projects. It can be a really high-profile person or organization, or just someone in a local neighborhood that makes it a nicer place to live. Whatever makes the community sparkle, this is their story.
“Past” – One of the greatest things about this area is that it has SO much history. This column is going to be our way of looking into the shadows of the past to see what they can tell us about this place where we live. Again, this CAN include stories about music or art in the past, and we’ll figure out where it’s going to go. Just write away, have fun with this one.
“Live” – Definitely the most esoteric of our columns. There is something to be said about the experience of living in Oregon, and in this region, that is unique and different from elsewhere. This is a chance to delve a little deeper into the creative roots and write about what it means to live here in the great Northwest.
We may have other columns that sprout up as time goes along, please ask any questions about style, content, or function. But don’t restrict yourself too much. Write. Most of what we don’t publish in the magazine we will find a way to publish on our website, so write away!
The features can be on just about anything you feel inspired to write about. They can be longer form versions of any of the above sections, or about something that does not fit within any of the molds above.
Non-writers may also submit work. Though the magazine will be generally based in a literary footing, we will be using photography, poetry, artwork, comics, and other forms to accentuate and articulate the magazine’s content often, so submit your heart out!
For all pieces, the key of tone to keep in mind is: what is the humanity of this story? How is it relevant to the greater experience of living in Oregon and the Mid-Valley? Why do we care? Though the magazine is designed to bring about the specialness of Salem, it does not mean that all the pieces have to be inherently positive. Just find the humanity of the story.
If you already have work completed, please submit it immediately. We would like to begin integrating content in short order. So please do submit soon.
Thanks, and we look forward to reading or seeing your work soon.
Ryan Rogers - Spark Publisher
Nyla Ward - Editor-in-Chief
www.sparkofsalem.com
SPARK is accepting open submission of your own creative choosing; we will also request specific pieces at times.
SPARK features both long-form pieces (essay, photography, and graphic) and recurring columns. (We are also interested in shorter side-bars and interesting content, so if you have an idea, please contact us.) The columns all have specific themes and styles. They are as follows:
“Dish” – Our twist on the food column. Rather than writing a review of a local restaurant, we want a narrative tale of some “food item” experience in the Mid-Valley to try to capture the audience element in it. Whether it’s a romantic meal at Alessandro’s, a stunning lunch with friends at Willamette Noodle, a fantastic basket of Cajun tots at McMenamins or a late night drunken burrito at Muchas…we want the story that goes with the meal. It can or should include atmosphere, setting, situation…the whole story.
“Beat” – Our coverage of the local music scene in Salem. Again, we are steering away from reviews, and instead welcome stories about a local show, a local band or musician, a locally release album, or even something else entirely. If it’s about music in the Mid-Valley (or connected to the Mid-Valley) we want to hear it.
“Pulse” – Coverage of art in Salem. This is a broad definition. Could be fashion, physical art, poetry, film…anything creatively being done in Salem or the Mid-Valley, or connected to it. Again, no reviews. Stories, perspectives, profiles…make it interesting. Be creative, and look for new ways to tell the stories you want to tell.
“Go” – There is a lot more to do in Salem. Go is our coverage of those events. It could be a local Volcanoes game, a trip with the Audubon Society, an underground alternative “whatever.” If people in Oregon are doing it, we want to hear about it. Try to avoid the obvious things that get a lot of coverage in the other media outlets. Get a little below the surface. (There may be some cross over with Beat or Notes, but just write away and let us decide where it goes.)
“Give” – There are a lot of people in Salem working to make it a better place, making a difference, and we want stories of them and/or their projects. It can be a really high-profile person or organization, or just someone in a local neighborhood that makes it a nicer place to live. Whatever makes the community sparkle, this is their story.
“Past” – One of the greatest things about this area is that it has SO much history. This column is going to be our way of looking into the shadows of the past to see what they can tell us about this place where we live. Again, this CAN include stories about music or art in the past, and we’ll figure out where it’s going to go. Just write away, have fun with this one.
“Live” – Definitely the most esoteric of our columns. There is something to be said about the experience of living in Oregon, and in this region, that is unique and different from elsewhere. This is a chance to delve a little deeper into the creative roots and write about what it means to live here in the great Northwest.
We may have other columns that sprout up as time goes along, please ask any questions about style, content, or function. But don’t restrict yourself too much. Write. Most of what we don’t publish in the magazine we will find a way to publish on our website, so write away!
The features can be on just about anything you feel inspired to write about. They can be longer form versions of any of the above sections, or about something that does not fit within any of the molds above.
Non-writers may also submit work. Though the magazine will be generally based in a literary footing, we will be using photography, poetry, artwork, comics, and other forms to accentuate and articulate the magazine’s content often, so submit your heart out!
For all pieces, the key of tone to keep in mind is: what is the humanity of this story? How is it relevant to the greater experience of living in Oregon and the Mid-Valley? Why do we care? Though the magazine is designed to bring about the specialness of Salem, it does not mean that all the pieces have to be inherently positive. Just find the humanity of the story.
If you already have work completed, please submit it immediately. We would like to begin integrating content in short order. So please do submit soon.
Thanks, and we look forward to reading or seeing your work soon.
Ryan Rogers - Spark Publisher
Nyla Ward - Editor-in-Chief
www.sparkofsalem.com
Meeting Notes
We are running behind on posting the meeting notes. Hopefully, we'll have February, March, and April up soon.
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