Hello everyone.
I hope you had a great summer. School started back, so be careful
while you’re out running the roads.
Do I have a great blog in store for you today!!
As most of you know I’m working on the 4th book of the
Samantha Cain Series – Against Her Will.
While doing this, I connected with a very talented and gifted writer/freelance
editor. She is amazing. Not only do I have a one-on-one chat with her to share
with you, but also I’m going to follow it with tips I learned through the
course she taught on adding tension to your novel. You will be doubly blessed
for joining me today.
After she taught the on-line course, I picked up two of her
novels, Chasing Amanda and Finding Amanda.
I started reading Chasing Amanda right away and found
it constantly moving forward, making me keep reading until I finished the whole
thing. I didn’t want to put it down. The first scene started with a marine,
Mark Johnson, who was about to ship out to Afghanistan. Because of his training
(and because this is just the kind of guy he is) he realized someone was about
to do something so wrong…and he stepped in. What a man! The story grabs you and
pulls you in. Then it truly keeps you turning all the pages. Great job Robin.
With the sequel, Finding Amanda, Robin doesn’t fail
her readers. The story keeps you turning the pages. You won’t be disappointed.
GOOD NEWS – Those of you
who want to win a free copy of her newest book – Finding Amanda be sure
to leave a comment at the end of my blog. Those who comment will be entered
into a drawing for an autographed copy of Finding
Amanda.
*The winner will be notified via email. That’s when I’ll request
your mailing address to ship the book to you.
NOW, I’d like
to take this moment to introduce you to Robin Patchen. She is a freelance
editor, writing coach, and author. I met her through ACFW, an organization we
both belong to. She was teaching a course on adding tension to your fiction. It
was amazing. I feel I learned a lot from
this on-line course. I spent the first two weeks of July rewriting what I
thought was my final draft of book 4 of The Samantha Cain Series – Against
Her Will. Since the course I’m going back through it adding more tension. I
couldn’t believe how she made things sound so simple. While taking the course,
I dared to ask her if I could interview her for my blog. When she said yes, I
took time to find books she’d
written and ordered them for myself to read. I also found out she was more than
an author. She’s a freelance
editor. No wonder she is so phenomenal as a teacher of writing. Not only was I blessed by her course, now you
will be blessed by an interview with her.
DEBORAH: Hello Robin.
It was a joy to learn from you how to add tension to my novel. I’d like to share you with my readers and
writer friends who read my blog. I’m
going to ask you a few questions I feel will encourage my writer friends to
keep plugging away writing, and give my reader friends another new author to
check out.
ROBIN: Thanks so much for having me,
Deborah, and for your kind words. I'm so glad the tension tips helped you. I’ve been told I’m a master at adding tension, though I’m not sure if it’s a compliment when uttered across the
dinner table by your teenagers. (A little joke, of course. They wouldn’t dare.) I’m pleased to visit your blog—it’s lovely.
DEBORAH: It
sounds like your dinner table would be fun to be around. So what madeyou decide
to become an editor? Did you have the desire to write before or after you
started editing?
ROBIN: Interesting question, Deborah, because I
don’t really know the answer. I majored in Journalism forever ago, and even
then, I had a natural ability to edit, but it never occurred to me to pursue
that as a career. Though I always loved to write, I got a job in pubic
relations and marketing because it paid better than working as a reporter, and
then I quit to raise my kids. It wasn’t until after I started writing fiction
and joined a critique group that I remembered my love of editing. Even then,
years went by before a friend encouraged me to start an editing business.
DEBORAH: It
sounds exciting to me. Thank God for friends, right? Tell us about Robin’s Red
Pen.
ROBIN: I’d often talked about doing some freelance
editing, but I hadn’t done anything to pursue the dream until my friend Lacy
asked me to edit a book she planned to self-publish. I did, and she was
impressed. She was a multi-published author with a big house, and her support
really encouraged me to give it a shot. She also referred other clients to me,
and when she started her own publishing company, she asked me to be their
freelance copyeditor. I probably wouldn’t be doing this if not for the support
of Lacy and a lot of my other friends. Funny, but the name sort of came to me,
because my friends in my local writing group often talked about my “red pen.”
They’d share sob stories about how I’d taken my red pen to their babies (like
I’m some sort of manuscript murderer.) Weirdly, I thought that was fun—which
tells you a little bit about my personality—and Robin’s Red Pen was born.
DEBORAH: You have
me grinning from ear to ear, again. I love it! Did you acquire an agent before
getting published? If so, how did you find your agent?
ROBIN: I had two Christmas novellas published
through Pelican Book Group before I signed with Chip MacGregor. Interesting
story, how I came to be his client. He was slated to speak at a local writers
conference, but right before the conference, he came down with strep throat and
had to cancel. He invited all the attendees to send him a proposal. I had mine
in the mail the following Monday, and then waited. And waited. A couple of
months later, he spoke at an event at a friend’s house in Tulsa, just a
90-minute drive. A friend and I make the trek to meet him in person. He said
during his brief talk that he usually tries to respond to a proposal within six
weeks, so I very boldly (if you can call a chick shaking in her pumps bold)
approached him after his talk and told him it had been a few months since I
sent him my proposal. He apologized and
promised to look at it. Another month went by before I heard from him, and it
was almost five months before I actually signed the agent agreement with him.
That’s one way to look at the story. Another
way is this: I worked very hard on my craft for years and prayed a lot, not
just that the Lord would lead me to a great agent, but also that I would become
a better writer. When the time was right, God opened the doors.
DEBORAH: His
timing is always perfect! Who is your publisher?
ROBIN: I published two books with Pelican Book
Group, and my latest two books are self-published. With the Christian fiction
industry the way it is, Chip wasn’t able to place my book with a larger
publisher. We talked about submitting to smaller publishers, but in the end, Chip
encouraged me to self-publish. I’m so glad he did, because it’s been an awesome
ride. I still dream of landing a contract with a major house someday, but right
now, I feel I’m right where God wants me.
DEBORAH: That you
are! I’m glad I connected with you. You’re writing is fantastic so keep it up!!
Would you give us the names of your published titles?
ROBIN: One Christmas Eve came out in the fall of 2012, and Faith
House released in the fall of 2013. Finding Amanda released this
April, and Chasing Amanda, its free prequel, released July 2nd.
DEBORAH: I have
two of the four. Now I need to go buy the other two. Love your writing, your
stories. (There. It’s done. I love the computer age. J I just ordered your first
two books. I can’t wait to start another read.) So what is your next book’s
title, and what is it about? When will it be released?
ROBIN: Oh, such great questions. I hate that I don’t
have a better answer. The next book is written but not edited yet. I’m playing
with the title, “Resurrecting Reagan McAdams” or something like that. I’m
terrible at titles. It’s a romantic suspense—“What happens when a woman
discovers she accidentally married her arch-enemy?” (Although arch-enemy makes
me think Lex Luther and mwha-ha-ha laughter.) That’s as much of a synopsis as
I’ve come up with so far. The book is written, the back-cover copy, not quite.
DEBORAH: This
gives me another book to look forward to reading. BTW, I loved that laugh!! Now
for the big question, which do you enjoy more? Editing or Writing?
ROBIN: Depends on which one I’m doing. If I’m
editing, then I definitely prefer writing. But if I’m writing, I long to be
editing someone else’s words. Writing is hard.
DEBORAH: Loved
your answer. You ought to try politics next, haha. Tell us about the blog site,
Live, Write, Thrive that you appear in with 3 other editors. Do you write for
them on a regular basis sharing tips on writing?
ROBIN: I blog for Live, Write, Thrive once a month
this year on the Fatal Flaws of Fiction. It’s been great fun so far working
with the other ladies. I think there might be a book at the end of the year,
which is exciting to think about.
DEBORAH: I joined the
blog site and already shared it with my writers’ group. I am amazed we got this
interview done so quickly. I see how very busy you are; yet you took time for
us…and had me laughing throughout it all…thank you! Also I see God working in
your life and you are following the path He is leading you on. Awesome!! Thank
you for your time. You are the best. Again, you are a joy to work with. Thanks
again for the lessons on tension.
ROBIN: My pleasure. Thanks for having me!
Wasn’t that a great interview? I truly enjoyed
hearing straight from her. This should encourage you writers as it did me.
Robin Patchen is gifted. I hope you take advantage of her expertise. Here is
her bio:
Robin Patchen lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, with her husband and three teenagers. Her third book, Finding Amanda,released in April, and its free prequel, Chasing Amanda, released in July. When Robin isn't writing or caring for her family, she works as a freelance editor at Robin's Red Pen, where she specializes in Christian Fiction. Read excerpts and find out more at her website, robinpatchen.com
Robin's Red Pen:
https://robinsredpen.wordpress.com/
******
The rest of
this will be writing tips I learned on an on-line course. No matter what you write,
take time to read and soak in the knowledge Robin Patchen shared with us, the
group from ACFW who took the on-line course.
In the thesaurus tension
& conflict are considered synonyms. But for writing purposes note the
difference in the Merriam-Webster definition.
Conflict – Clash,
competition, or mutual interference of opposing or incompatible forces or
qualities…as ideas, interests, wills, etc.
Tension – Inner unrest,
striving, or imbalance…a feeling of psychological stress often manifested by
increased muscular tonus and by other physiological indicators of emotion.
So tension is not
necessarily conflict (although conflict should always be tense). Sometimes
tension is just a bit of uncertainty of things being different than we thought
they would be. When characters are feeling inner conflict, that’s tension.
In writing, talking about
tension, we’re talking about psychological
stress. But remember, while writing about your characters feelings of
tension (heartbeats race, etc), your true goal is to make your reader feel
tension.
For our purposes as
fiction authors the difference between tension and conflict:
Conflict refers to your external plot points; tension
refers to internal turmoil
Conflict is overt; tension is often covert
You need the main conflict
as well as smaller ones throughout your whole novel. A big plot point in your
story could be the hero has to fight the dragon; or your heroine has to fight
her teenage daughter. They are essential. Without them you don’t have a story.
BUT that’s not how Donald Maass describes tension in Fire in Fiction. He
describes it this way:
Micro-tension is the moment-by-moment tension that
keeps the reader in a constant state of suspense over what will happen, not in
the story but in the next few seconds.
While the plot of your
story is vital, the tension is what
keeps your reader engaged and turning the page. Robin shared with us
specific ways to develop tension in four types of writing. Exposition.
Description. Action. Dialog.
Tension in Exposition:
Often tension comes:
1.
From characters moving in opposing directions, or
unanswered questions, and/or hidden agendas.
2.
When the reader expects one thing and gets another,
that also causes tension.
3.
Often tension arises when the character isn’t aware of
it. Perhaps the reader read a scene in which a bad guy planted a bomb beneath a
café table. Now the hero is sitting at that table reading the newspaper,
sipping coffee. Enjoying the peace. While the reader is gripping the book with
white knuckles knowing there is a bomb right there. You don’t have to write the
tick-tick-tick. The reader’s
heartbeat is supplying it.
Exposition
is the moment in your manuscript where you’re explaining something. These are
not necessarily entire scenes but sections of scenes in which your character is
thinking. LOOK at each passage and ask do you really need it? What new thing
are you telling the reader they didn’t already know? If there is nothing, then
you have to either cut the section or create some tension.
How do you create tension in exposition?
Inner conflict: Your character wants one thing, and at the same time, he/she wants
the opposite. (EX: Character knows he/she shouldn’t say something, and he/she
does anyway.) (EX: Character longs for one thing and he/she fears it at the
same time.) (EX: He/she feels one thing on the surface, but something
unexpected or even opposite underneath.) If you add inner conflict to every
scene, tension will follow naturally.
Tips on adding tension in
your exposition:
1.
Never restate the obvious.
2.
When on the surface your character is feeling one way,
figure out what is the opposite of that…think of 3 or 4 choices…and then work
on one of those.
3.
Look for a source of inner conflict.
4.
What new thing can you introduce that sheds more light
on what’s happening in the story? It can be a bit of the character’s history or
a tidbit that makes him feel anxious, even when all should be well on the
surface.
5.
When your character is wrestling with a decision, how
can you make both choices seem equally appealing…or equally disastrous.
It’s important not to add
tension for tension’s sake. Your tension needs to highlight real story issues,
not make promises your book doesn’t deliver. Tension must be real.
Tension in Description:
Description can be some
pretty boring stuff, but if doesn’t have to be. Well done descriptions can add
immense tension to your story.
When writing the
description, don’t just write what you see. The point isn’t to see the details
and describe them; the point is to find the details that reflect what you want
the reader to see, to hear, to smell, to feel. It’s not just about describing
the obvious to the reader. Here’s an example from Charles Martin’s Chasing
Fireflies:
I stepped out into the sunlight humming a Pat Green tune, slipped on my sunglasses, and stared out over the courthouse steps. After three days of incarceration, not much had changed. Brunswick, Georgia, was like that. Discarded bubblegum, flat as half-dollars, dotted the steps like splattered ink. Lazy, blimpish pigeons strutted the sidewalk begging for bread scraps or the sprinkles off somebody's double-shot mocha latte. In the alley across the street, and entire herd of stray cats crept toward the wharf just four blocks down. The sound of seagulls told them the shrimp boats had returned. And on the steps next to me, two officers lifted a tattooed man, whose feet and hands were shackled and cuffed, up the steps and, undoubtedly, into Judge Thaxton's courtroom. Based on the mixture of saliva and epithets coming our of his mouth, he wasn't too crazy about going. No worries. Given my experience with Her Honor, his stay in her courtroom wouldn't be too long.
The tension is subtle. It's our first glimpse of the protagonist, and he seems as happy as can be. He shares these wonderful images--blimpish pigeons and sprinkles from a latte. He's even humming. So why does the reader have that sense of tension? That one little phrase changed the whole thing: "After three days of incarceration..."
Wait, what? The guy's leaving the jailhouse in the middle of town--presumably his own town, since he knows the place pretty well--and happy? How can that be?
That unspoken question would probably be enough to get you to turn the page, but then Charles Martin adds another image--the shackled man. Yes, it stays lighthearted, but there's ominousness about seeing someone shackled and dragged into a courthouse. And then one more line makes the reader wonder: "Given my experience with Her Honor..." So the hero's been in front of the judge before, enough to predict what she's going to do. And he's cheerful.
This guy's emotions are not conflicted. He seems as content as can be. But it causes some conflicting emotions in the reader, doesn't it? Normally someone just released from jail in his or her hometown would feel more--ashamed, embarrassed, humiliated, dishonored, indignant--Content...never. So why does he? It makes you want to keep reading. The contrast of the two--how he should feel, yet how he feels brings about tension.
Word Choice, how your protagonist filters what she sees, hears, and feels, can add tension to your description. Word choice should do double-duty. First it needs to help the reader picture the setting. Second it needs to reflect the character in some way. It's not about the thing being described, it's about how your reader feels about the thing--be in the landscape or a new dress. The tension comes from those feelings.
Tips to adding tension to description:
1. Put yourself in the eyes of the POV character. Spend some time there and figure out what he/she would notice. You can't tell the reader everything; so choose your details carefully.
2. Start with a broad brush, then narrow into key details, details you can use to reflect your character's feelings.
3. Choose words that reflect the picture you're trying to paint. Hard words, soft words, whimsical words, or concrete words...they all subtly lead the reader to one place or another.
4. Go beyond the obvious emotion if you can. Sometimes, the obvious emotion is the one you want to convey, but sometimes it isn't what the protagonist feels.
5. Add a few key phrases that'll make your reader ask some questions, encouraging them to turn the page.
6. If you're working on a segment at the start of your story, before the inciting incident, think of your character's innermost desire. What does your character want? That can be the driving force of that first segment of description. Let that desire be reflected.
Don't skip the description in your book fearing it might be boring. The reader wants to be in the setting. They can't if you don't take them there. Find a way to make your descriptions drip with emotion and tension.
Tension in Action:
If you really want your action scenes to drip with tension, you need to do more than just provide a lot of action.
What is action? It is the parts of your book where your characters are doing something.
Tips for adding tension to action scenes:
1. Be unpredictable. Sometimes, your hero and heroine have to lose. Sometimes bad things have to happen. When you're writing an action scene, brainstorm five things that can happen, then brainstorm five more. Maybe choose an option from the bottom of that last list.
2. Increase the stakes. How else can your scene matter to your story, to the community, and to the world?
3. Get your heroes personally involved. Show us why this matters to the hero, to his family, to his community.
4. Raise questions...and don't offer answers right away. Never answer one question before you raise another.
Tension in Dialogue:
Tips to adding tension to your dialog:
1. Eliminate every predictable word. Tension arises in the readers when they are kept off-guard. So what things are predictable? Nicknames, pet names; nonsense words like Uh, um; Filler words like well, so, anyway, greetings; direct answers.
2. Eliminate as many dialog tags (he said, she said) as possible without confusing the reader. Eliminate EVERY dialog tag that accompanies an action beat. (EX: "Almost there," he said as he turned left.-- instead write -- "Almost there." He turned left.)
3. Eliminate all adverbs within dialog tags. (EX: "I love you," he said softly. -- instead write -- "I love you," he whispered.
4. Eliminate fancy words used for said. (EX: "I love you," he declared.) If you have to tell reader who said it, stick with he said or asked. Readers tend to skim over those words. EXCEPT when you are using a more specific word to describe how something was said and it's very important to specify...like whispered, shouted, or screamed. Use them, but use them sparingly.
5. Eliminate telling in dialog. (If you can start the sentence with "As you know," delete it. Find another way to tell the reader...better to be in exposition than in dialog.
6. Eliminate straight answers. (EX: "How's it going?" "Fine, you?" - write - "How's it going" "Don't start with me.") (that was unexpected and not boring. Now you want to know why they responded that way.) Another example. ("How's it going?" "Do you know what you get when you cross a train wreck and a category 4 hurricane?" Silence filled the room. "That's how it's going."
7. When you've cut out all the unnecessary stuff, see what you have left and figure out how else you can say what you're trying to say without saying anything obvious.
8. Ensure your characters all have different agendas, and find subtle ways or overt, depending on the scene, to show those differing agendas.
If a piece of dialog comes easily, you've more than likely made it too predictable. Try finding a unique way to have your characters respond. Make sure it matches their personalities though.
The tips above came from Robin Patchen's on line class I took. I hope they help you as much as I believe they are helping me. God bless you all.
deb
