One Writer's Advice

I like this quote from William Faulkner. He wrote the The Sound and the Fury and The Light in August, among other titles, many of them considered Modern Classics. 

What Do You See?

Immediately, what words pop into your mind when you look at this picture? 

How Do I Look?

I was searching Pinterest a few weeks ago for images of what Chase and Alex look like. If you will recall, they are the main characters from my as yet unpublished manuscript The Kissing Contest.  

I didn't find just one picture that captured what Alex looked like. Instead, I had to take elements of two different pictures.

Back in Business

Last weekend, my laptop went down. I had just bought it in March of 2014 so I was flabbergasted. How could this be? It's practically brand new.  

I'm wrapping up my crafting a pitch blog series based on Rachelle Gardner's blog post on how to craft the perfect pitch.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and admit that I'm continuing to struggle with Rachelle's question  #8 about describing the main points that propel the plot forward for Alex and Chase's story. I continue to struggle to narrow down the entire plot to just the "main" ones and not have a blog post that is 20 pages long. 

I've got one other writing exercise up my sleeve to help me focus and prioritize plot points for Alex and Chase. Don't worry. I'll get this even if it takes me a 1,000 tries. In the meantime, check out my responses to the last of Rachelle's questions.  

The Perfect Pitch Part IV

As you know, I'm continuing to post my pitch in installments. For those of you who are new to my blog, a pitch is an opportunity for a writer to share the essence of her novel with a prospective literary agent, usually at writer's conferences. If the lit agent is intrigued, she will ask for a synopsis or the first 5 or 10 chapters. Or maybe the entire manuscript to read before making an offer of representation to sell your manuscript to traditional publishers.

Pitch Crafting Part III

Continuing with Rachelle Gardner's crafting a pitch writing exercise....

Question 5: What conflict, dilemma or choice does the protagonist face? This is the central question of the novel.

Answer: For Alex, it's learning to trust and to love Chase after her divorce, which really undermined her sense of self-worth and confidence. She needs to learn to trust her judgement and to stop comparing Chase to her ex-husband.

The Perfect Pitch Part II

I am continuing with Rachelle Gardner's Pitch Writing Exercise this morning. Check out my previous post to refresh your memory about questions 1 and 2. 

Question 3: Who is the protagonist and what is the most interesting thing about him / her?

Answer: Alexandra Merriweather is the protagonist and her Grand Plan is the most interesting thing about her. She is constantly revising it. By the end of the novel, she learns that Chase Montgomery, her love interest and co-protagonist, is her greatest plan, and he wasn't part of the original version of her GP.