Don;t Be Afraid To Let Your Characters Talk - Understanding Introspection

I do believe that writers lately have been taught to be afraid of narration. You know what I am talking about - those lengthy paragraphs that do nothing more than to "slow the story down." Writers have been pounded so much with the idea of show don't tell and that we have to always keep the story moving forward. Narration and lengthy introspection is simply not going to do it.

The problem is, we now know nothing about the characters. The stories we are seeing now are really lacking a three-dimensional quality to them and the reason is simple. We aren't letting the characters talk.

Let me explain that I am seeing hints of it. Authors are tossing in hints of that introspection. We see a sentence here, a dialogue tag that gives us some insight. Unfortunately, that is all that these are - hints. What I am talking about here is giving the chance for the characters to do a little "monologuing" as they say in THE INCREDIBLES.

Think of it this way. When you have a problem you are trying to work through. Maybe there is a problem at home, your kids are killing you, someone at work is creating some problems, what does your brain do? It monologues. You talk endlessly in your head trying to work through the issue. You look at both sides, you explore your inner feelings and conflicts. The odds are you aren't solving the whole problem in a single line.

It is OK to allow your characters time to be alone with their own thoughts. Give them a chance to speak. We learn so much more about them when they have these longer moments of introspection.

Please note we are not talking about narrative passages that do nothing more than provide back story for your characters. For example"

Sally watched Blake walk out the door. Her mind raced back to when she was in this same library and her father had done the same thing. They had just had a fight and now she was seeing the whole thing play out the same way.

And then we would see the whole story of Sally and her dad. This is nothing more than an information dump.

Introspective narratives spend more time on the inner feelings of the characters. Yes, there might be a hint to something that happened in the past, but we don't necessarily need it. The focus is the internal conflict of the character. We want to see those internal emotions jumping all over the place in our characters head. We want to hear the things the character should have said but didn't know how to, or didn't want to.

Think of how Shakespeare does it. When he wanted us to really know the characters, he got everyone off the stage and let the characters talk. We could see Hamlet trying to sort out his emotions and motivations with the Ghost, his uncle and his mother. We learn so much about Richard II when he is left alone to speak. Even the comedies with Orsino, Malvolio, and Tatiana have given those characters the chance to think through their problems and wrestle with their fears.

Play around with this some. Give your characters a chance to talk and let them be themselves. You might find a new depth you hadn't seen before.

Don't Rush The Process

Stop rushing people!

I do honestly believe there are a lot of great writers out there. The problem though, is we will likely never see their work simply because they are rushing things and making, what I call, stupid mistakes. The end result is a rejection letter for a project that might have been good. It might also mean you are getting "one more rejection letter" because  you sent it to the wrong person, or didn't read the submission guidelines.

Far too many authors rush through the submission process. It is almost as if they feel if they don't get submit their project to that editor or agent immediately, the editor or agent will disappear and will never be there again. This is far from the case. For the most part, we are all hear 24/7/365 thanks to digital submissions. Publishing IS NOT going to go away.

Yes, I know there are some of you who have bought into the myth that you have to get your book into the system while the trend is still there. That's fine. but that does not mean the moment you finish your book and type the words THE END, you start hitting send on all of your submissions.

It is interesting that just recently, I did an article from some online journal (can't remember which one right now but it doesn't matter for this point). I received my copy the same day as everyone else did and within hours of it hitting my "in box" I was bombarded by authors submitting projects to me. What was interesting is that many of these authors had in their query letters that they had been aware of my work for some time. Hmmm? I would doubt that because they also mentioned they were excited about the article in the journal. The odds are, these people had their "stock" query letter ready to go, saw the article and started submitting. The problem? They didn't research to see what I was accepting at that time. Every one of the submissions was turned away for the simple reason these were projects I did not acquire.

Sure, it is OK to get excited about submitting. It is also great to "discover" a new editor or agent who you didn't know about earlier and you want to submit your writing to that publisher or agency. But before you do any of that, take the time to research. Make sure you writing is ready. Make sure your writing is truthfully what the professional is looking for.

I often see two huge mistakes by authors when it comes to pitching and submissions. The first is to pitch to an editor or an agent because "there is an open slot at a conference". The second (and this involves both conferences and general submissions) is to send something to an editor or an agent because they represent the genre the author has written. Let me explain.

At a conference, editors and agents are there to listen to your pitches. The conference coordinators do a great job of bringing in a diverse group of those professionals to give authors a chance to present their material. But, just because they are there and just because there is an opening is not a good reason to make that pitch. If that editor or agent is not the right fit for your project you will get a rejection. It is a guarantee! I don't care how good your story might be, or how good your pitch is, if you and the editor/agent are not compatible, don't expect positive results.

I don't know how many times I have people pitching things at conferences to me that I simply do not represent. I also have people pitching stories that just aren't what I am looking for. This information is not hard to find either. Check out:

• The conference handouts that show the bios
• In many cases, the board posted outside of the room pitches are taking place that show what editors and agents want.
• The editor and agent panel most conferences have where we talk about what we want and don't want
• And certainly the submission guidelines found on our websites.

Writers also make this mistake when they start submitting projects through the standard submission process. They make a quick scan on all of those great sites for "Agents open to submission in historicals" and start firing off those projects. For the most part many of those people they just sent the project to are not a right fit. For example, Greyhaus will often show up under the category "acquiring historicals" but if the authors would read further, they would see that there are specifics. These have to be historical romances or historical women's fiction. These have to be in certain time periods... I think you get the idea.

I feel like I am saying this a lot, but submitting projects to editors and agents is not rocket science. Just because an editor or agent is open to submissions or just because they are "free at that moment to hear a pitch" does not mean you should do anything about it. 

Think of it this way. If I am not qualified to be an computer programmer at Microsoft, do I send in my resume and apply for the job because there is an opening at the company? Of course not! When we apply for a job, we take the time to review the requirements for the job, we review the skills the company is looking for and IF we have those skills and IF this is a company we would want to work for, THEN AND ONLY THEN would we apply for the job.

The same goes for pitches and submissions. 

I am bringing this up because we are now into the "BIG" conference season. There are some of you who signed up for pitch sessions at RWA Nationals with editors and agents who I can guarantee you, will end up rejecting your projects because it isn't what they are looking for. You signed up because there was an opening. When I attend the PNWA conference the week before RWA and we have the open pitch sessions, there will be a ton of you diving at every editor and agent you can get your hands on with your projects. Again, do not expect a positive response.

Look, don't get me wrong. This is a business of taking advantage of opportunities. You should do that. If there is a chance to get your project in front of an editor or an agent that is a great fit with you, your career and your writing, you should take advantage of it. But only if it is a right fit!

Webinar on Writing and Selling Women's & Book Club Fiction TOMORROW!!!!

We are just a day away! This is going to be an exciting webinar!

One thing to remember about these webinars... Even if you cannot attend the webinar livem you can still participate with it. You have access to the webinar and the critique is still included with this. 

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

LINK

Writing and Selling Women's and Book Club Fiction

By Scott Eagan

Format: Live Webinar Registration

Register today to attend this live webinar!

Live Webinar Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Start Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT

Length: 90 minutes

Price: $89.99

Each registration comes with access to the archived version of the program and the materials for one year. You do not have to attend the live event to get a recording of the presentation. In all WD webinars, no question goes unanswered. Attendees have the ability to chat with the instructor during the live event and ask questions. You will receive a copy of the webinar presentation in an e-mail that goes out one week after the live event. The answers to questions not covered in the live presentation will be included in this e-mail as well.

ABOUT THE CRITIQUE

All registrants are invited to submit 250 word summary about your book for critique.The instructor will discuss as many of the 250 word summaries as possible received prior to the webinar during the live presentation. The summary needs to be submitted by Saturday, June 7, 2014 in order to be included in the live presentation. All submissions received after that day, or items that were not addressed during the webinar will be guaranteed a written critique by Scott Eagan.