Ansha's Blog

I would like to welcome Margie Lawson to my blog today!!  I have attended a number of online writing classes over the years and Margie’s classes have been the best.  They are well rounded, well documented and well taught.

She teaches a number of aspects of writing that I haven’t found in any craft of writing book (and I have my own library of them!). Please give a warm welcome to Margie Lawson!

Some readers may not be familiar with your approach to writing. Can you give us a bit of your background and how you began to teach writers?

I used to teach college, from undergraduate to post-graduate courses. Abnormal Psychology, Group Dynamics, Psychology of Learning, plus all the other courses I taught, gave me a strong foundation to teach writers. Not that writers are abnormal.

When I got serious about writing fiction, I applied an analytical bent to my manuscripts.  I challenged myself to learn how bestselling writers capture emotion on the page.  We all know that bestselling doesn’t necessarily mean best-reading.  I analyzed and dissected hundreds of books and separated them into two groups:  page-turners and skimmers.   I found thirty-plus skimmers to every page-turner.

I set the best-reading bar high.  In the first few pages to first few chapters some books masquerade as page-turners, then disappoint the reader.  I wanted to learn how to write top-of-the-bestseller list  page-turners, books that emotionally grab the reader on page one and never let go.

Can you give a brief overview of the classes you teach and some detail on how they differ from what’s already out there?

I developed my first on-line course, Empowering Characters’ Emotions, because the editing techniques I developed were not available to writers anywhere.  As a psychologist, I analyze what’s on the page as well as what’s missing that would have made that page stronger.

Empowering Characters’ Emotions teaches writers how to use the full range of nonverbal communication, how to write fresh, how to analyze their writing using my EDITS System, and how to add emotional power.

The first time Empowering Characters’ Emotions was offered on-line, over 100 writers signed up.  I didn’t realize that was large for an on-line course.  I’d come home from work, pop on the computer, and respond to class e-mails–analyze, edit, and create Teaching Points–every night until 2AM, and full days on the weekends. Having taught college courses in real classrooms for six years, it was easy for me to teach and connect with writers on-line.

A year later, I developed a second editing course, Deep Editing:  The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices, and More. This advanced course takes my EDITS System deeper so writers learn more about how to fix what’s not working.  It also explores thirty rhetorical devices — and how and when to use them.  I also share more deep editing techniques that teach writers how to add psychological power.

One of those deep editing techniques is my Five Question Checklist. When a writer applies those five questions and the multiple subsets to their scene . . . they know that scene carries emotive power.

My editing courses are different than editing courses taught by others.  I’m not teaching about adverbs or passive voice. I go deeper.  I teach psychologically based deep editing.  It’s material I developed.

My courses are also different because they are structured like graduate level courses.  I taught graduate courses to doctoral psychology students for six years. My courses are as organized and as content-loaded as any graduate course.

My month-long courses have over 300 pages of lectures. They have assignments. The only difference between the graduate level courses and my editing courses is the assignments are optional, and there are no tests.

Now I teach six on-line courses. My newest course and Master Class:  Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like A Psychologist. It’s as power-packed as it is popular.

Plus – The lectures from my on-line classes are bundled as Lecture Packets and available through Paypal from my web site, www.MargieLawson.com.

I also present full day master classes across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. I may present at a writing conference in Italy next year. )

In 2011, I’m offering a Write At Sea: Deep Editing Power Master Class, March 24 – 28, 2011. Two days of master classes, four days of fun in the Caribbean!

I also offer three-day Immersion Master Classes in my home on top of a Colorado mountain west of Denver. It’s actually a five day event, with three full days focusing on Deep Editing. I limit the Immersion classes to seven participants–they stay at the lodge next to my home. So handy to live next door to a mountain lodge.

I offered five Immersion classes last year and they all sold out months ahead. The five IMC sessions offered this year were all full, but two people had to cancel. Now the October session has two openings.

The amount of course material that you provide for each class is exceptional. I continue to reference my copies 2 years later!

Rhetorical Devices and the EDITS system is my favorite for stringing words together for maximum impact.  I can say if I were a cartoon a light bulb would have exploded above my head when I completed this class, I learned so much!

Empowering Character Emotions is another of my favorites.  The level of detail you give us as students is remarkable.

I especially appreciate your use of examples throughout your Lecture Packets. It is much easier to grasp a high level of understanding of a writing concept when shown a well executed example in a published work.  I wonder if we will see more YA and MG examples in the future?

Yes!  I had way too much fun reading YA and MG books this spring and summer. I added examples from over 30 YA and about 20 MG books to my courses. I’m always looking for more fresh writing and psychologically powered examples.

What do you believe makes a blockbuster novel?  How do your classes help get a novice writer to that level?

Most writers don’t know why some writing hooks them. They don’t know why some books are page turners. They don’t know why when they read certain books, they become engaged viscerally. Heart rate up, breathing shallow, muscles tense.

They could be reading any genre – and have the same gut-wrenching, jaw-clenching physical response. And still . . . not know the techniques and processes the writer used to hook the reader viscerally.

We’ve all read passages that by their content, should have hooked us emotionally, but didn’t. We’ve written scenes that we expected to pop, but went pfft. They fizzle.

I teach writers how to write to psychological power.

I teach writers how to build credible conflict and crescendo emotion.

I teach writers how to speak to the subconscious of the reader.

I teach writers how to wrap their words around the reader’s heart and squeeze.

I developed my on-line courses and Master Classes to teach writers how to write real emotion. Emotion so strong, so smooth, so immediate, that the reader is hooked viscerally.

When the reader is hooked viscerally, and stays hooked, you’ve got a page turner.

Do you have any success stories you would like to share?

Yes!  I frequently hear from graduates from my editing courses that they’ve been finalists  in contests or offered a contract. I’m thrilled for them!

Thirty-plus success stories are on the ‘What’s the Buzz?’ page of my web site. More are in my e-mail folders. I’ll share two here.

Allison Brennan:

1.  Before Allison Brennan was contracted, she took the first Empowering Characters’ Emotions course I taught on-line.  Allison was active in the course, posted lots of assignments, got lots of deep editing feedback. She asked smart questions, got detailed answers from me.  Her first book was released two and a half years later. It debuted on the New York Times list.

Since then . . . all of Allison Brennan’s books have hit the New York Times list.

Since then . . . NYT bestseller Allison Brennan has retaken one of my on-line courses a year, posted assignments, and requested feedback.

Randy Ingermanson:

2.  This quote from Randy Ingermanson still gives me a visceral response.

In the twenty years I’ve been writing fiction, two teachers have astounded me with their insights and taught me something radically new:  Dwight Swain and Margie Lawson.

Margie has made an enormous splash among novelists with her Deep Editing class and her Empowering Character Emotions class.  I absolutely love her work. After reading Margie’s material on nonverbal communication and empowering character emotions, something clicked in my brain.  Fiction is about giving readers a powerful emotional experience. Margie taught me a new ways to empower my writing.

~Randy Ingermanson, Ph. D., award-winning fiction author, creator of SnowFlake Pro, author of WRITING FICTION FOR DUMMIES

What is the one thing you wish you could teach every writer?

Write fresh. Write fresh. Write fresh!

A heartfelt thanks to Margie for participating in this week’s How I Write series.

I highly recommend all of Margie’s classes. Not only do I see my own writing in a new light but I know I have the tools to make it AWESOME! And I owe that to Margie.  Thank you!

Click on the banner above to read how other writers prepare to submit their work!

Okay this is a tough one. And it’s because everyone’s work shows up on the page at different levels of ‘done’. But I suppose there are some things you can do to ensure you’re about as ready as you’re going to be.

1. Critique partners

2. Conference critique from agents or editors (not other writers)

3. Contests

I was going to add “ your own opinion on your work” but really you need someone other than yourself to give an evaluation of you work. Most of the time you’re simply too close to the story to see its worth.

After you’ve revised and polished the next thing to do is to get your work seen by people who know what good writing is, and more importantly get feedback from those people.

Critique Partners and Beta Readers

As I’ve mentioned before an honest critique partner will give you advice on your work. Areas that need work, ideas to expand on etc. As a reader your critique partner is going to know what a good read is and let you know if your work is getting close to what he/she reads that is published. A good quality Beta reader is also good for this. For instance I trust my sister to read my stories and let me know what she thinks (first she’ll say it’s wonderful which never hurts, then she’ll give me feedback on the areas she liked and places that she didn’t or could use work. My mom however, just says, it’s wonderful, which is great when I’m having a bad day but not much help when it comes to knowing if I’m ready to submit. Make sure your beta reader(s) read widely in the genre you write.

Conference attendance gives you a huge advantage.

Attending a conference for the genre in which your write is an excellent way to get the feedback you need. Each conference has for an additional fee, sessions that you can attend with an agent or editor. They can either be pitch sessions or evaluations where you send your work in early (usually 3 or 4 months prior to the conference) and the editor or agent will evaluate your work, and give you suggestions on strengthening it.

The extra cost is nominal compared to the value of this type of critique and the opportunity to meet with a professional in the field. So get your work ready according to conference schedules!!

Contests and their value

Contests are those hidden gems that you need to hunt down and find. But can be very helpful. Some contests hold a greater value than others. The ideal contest is one where an editor or agent is participating and giving feedback. Feedback is really what you’re looking for, winning is nice and great to add to your future query letters. But feedback is what you need at this stage so try to find contests that offer feedback from professionals. Try to steer clear of contest where the only feedback is from bloggers who are snarky. Who needs that?

Finally,I must add that it’s very hard to know when it’s the right time to submit your material. When you’ve done all of the above and gotten some positive feedback start working through your querytracker.net list. 10 agents at a time. And keep sending it out.

Next week we’ll cover classes, and books on craft and other resources including query tracker and other helpful websites.

Remember to check out the other contributing writers tips on beginning the revision process! (Click the banner above.)

I’m excited about this week and next as we discuss our methods of revision.  I have some tricks that help me during the process that I’m excited to share.

The method you use for your revision I believe, is going to be as unique as your writing.  We are all going to do it differently but I think there are a few key things that we must all work on during revision.

1. Continuity- plot and character

2. Pacing – I know during the first draft that I usually hit the middle and then speed to the ending without developing my 3rd act as well as I should

3. Spelling, typos, formatting

4. Word usage- we all have our pet words.  If you don’t know what they are yet, you will after your first ‘reading’.  I’ve learned that you should never repeat a unique word in your manuscript… you must continue to find new words to describe whatever it is.

5. Language/Voice – For me this is the toughest part, for some it’s the easiest.  I still push myself to continue to learn how to use language to create the world and the tone of my story.

We’ll cover these in greater detail next week.

The first thing I do after I’ve typed The End to my first draft is let it sit for a minimum of 2 weeks… Don’t even look at it.  Don’t even think about it.  You need this time to create a distance between you and your creative work.  You are also switching gears.  You are now going to become The Editor instead of The Writer.

Personally I have always hated switching gears but I believe that’s because I find Revision the most challenging process for me.  I know the more I do it the better I’ll get and the less I’ll resist the process.

There are a few things I do enjoy about it already.

After 2 weeks have passed an you’re ready to review your manuscript you’ll need to prepare for the work ahead.

Office materials that I use:

• Postit notes, both 3″ and 2″ squares AND the little 2″ tab-like sticky note.
• 3.5″ Three ring binder.  The bigger the better.
• Single subject spiral bound notebook (3-hole punched with perf’ed edges)
• Bic medium ball point in RED and Black and Purple
• Highlighters in Green, Blue, Yellow, Pink especially if you use Margie Lawson’s Deep EDITS system ( more on this later)
• #64 Postal size rubber bands (to band up each draft as you complete it, also useful for submissions)
• Lots of printer paper.  My first MG novel would use about 1/2 ream each time I printed it.
• Laser printer- more cost effective than inkjet in the long run.

The very first thing you’re going to do is reformat your manuscript.  I reformat mine in a way I learned from other writers at Romancedivas.com.  And it works wonderfully for me. It not only makes it easy to read, but easy to revise.

In Word do the following to your manuscript in this order

1. Change the Page Layout to Landscape
2. Select all and change the font to a serifed font (like Times Roman or my fave Georgia).  Serifed fonts are easier to read.
3. Change your margin size to: Top: 0.5″; Bottom: 0.5″; Left: 0.5″; Right: 5.5″ or greater.  This pushes your right margin in toward the middle, giving you a large amount of white space to use for notes and additional sentences or scenes.
4. Double space the entire document
5. Insert Page Number – ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS!!!

Once you’ve printed out your manuscript you’ll need a good industrial strength 3-hole punch.  Punch the pages as they come off the printer and place them in your binder.

Grab a Black pen and the notebook, you are now ready to read. The first pass, of many, through your manuscript.  How Exciting!!!

We’ll discuss how to do the first read through as well as cover the list I mentioned above in next week’s post!

Please visit our other contributing writers in the series by clicking the banner!

Last week we discussed Perseverance.  Sticking to it.  This week we’ll talk about Motivation.

What motivates you to persevere?  What keeps you writing.  As a writer we need to find what motivates our characters all the time.  Without proper motivation the actions of our characters are discordant.

As writers ourselves we need to find our motivation because this is a tough gig and we need to go back to our core motivation from time to time and justify why we do what we do.

What motivates you to write?  Why do you write?

My motivation for writing is to leave something behind that is uniquely mine.  To teach and inspire others.  To challenge myself to learn a difficult craft.

How do I stay motivated?  That’s the toughest to answer because some days motivation is hard to come by and it’s antonym discouragement takes its place.

I recently began reading The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  It analyses the lives of the highly successful.  And it’s fascinating.  In the book he discusses the rule of 10,000 hours (Chapter 2).  If one spends 10,000 hours working to be more proficient at something then they become a virtuoso at that complex task.  World class violinists, computer programmers, writers.  Once you put in your 10,000 hours you’re made, if it’s quality time and you focus on advancing your understanding and knowledge of the craft of writing.  Well, I’m willing to give it a go.  Put in my 10,000 hours, see if I can become a great writer.

It’s all in the math. So how much is 10,000 hours?  Right now I work about 3 hours a day reading and writing to actively advance my craft.  I wish it were more but I don’t live in a vacuum.  10000/3=3333.33 days. Um, okay that’s about 9 years.

NINE YEARS!  Well, okay at least now I know.  And I’ve already put in about 1 or 2 of those years. So I have roughly 7 more years of work.

Now 10k hours isn’t mere proficiency at the craft, its mastery.  So at some point in the next 7 years I’m going become proficient enough to write and sell a book.  And if I continue to work hard, I’ll write and sell more books.   But I’ve got to put in my time.

The fact that it’s only 7 years motivates me.  Seven years is not a lifetime.  But I could flounder for a lifetime if I don’t pay attention and I definitely do not want that.  How about you?  Do you think 10,000 hours is worth it?

Next week: Revision!

Click the banner to read how other writers work to get to THE END!

So you’ve started you new Work In Progress. You’ve pounded out some words.  You’ve got a couple pages or maybe tens of pages under your belt.  Maybe even tens of thousands of words.  But now the honeymoon of starting the new WIP has waned.  Now what?

1. Keep Writing. Daily.

2. Focus on Positive Perseverance- Reward yourself in small ways for every page you write.

3. Take a timed short break (from an hour to a couple days, but give yourself a deadline to get back to work)

4. Get back to work!

5. Millions of people have started a novel, few finish… be the few

6. Find strategies to keep yourself working

Strategies that work for me when I get stuck or bored or both with my writing.

First and foremost, keep writing.  Sure you can take a creative break, but make it short, enough to recharge, and get back to writing every day.  Writing everyday is the only way to get through to the last page of your novel.  If you’re able to sit down every day and write even a few words, it’s like climbing a mountain, each step, even small ones will get you to the top.

If your story is stuck and you don’t know what to do about it, introduce a new character, just throw him/her into the mix…  don’t worry about issues that come up just add them… see what happens.  You can always take them out in revision.  Was it Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett that said, throw a guy in there with a gun.  Well, that would work for crime dramas and even comedies, but for Middle Grade, not so much.  But you get the point.

Interview your characters, ask them what is going on and why your story is stuck, or why the middle is dragging.

Take a note card and pen to bed with you. Write out the question “What do I need to do to move this story forward?” and put the card under your pillow.  Now sleep on it.  When you wake up, immediately ask yourself the question again.

Do you have an answer?  Even if it’s crazy write it down on the note card.  If you hear silence and just need coffee, save the card for tonight and try again.  This has worked for me on more than one occasion and I come back to it again and again.  It works for me.

Skip the middle. If you’re at the middle of your story and it’s boring you… Skip it.  Seriously.  Skip the middle.  Write the end of your story. Not only will this make you feel better but it will give you a place to start when you write The End.  Now go back and see if you can piece together events that fit in that space you left.

Words of wisdom.  As tempting as it might be, and man is it tempting. Do NOT start another WIP if you haven’t finished the first one. Sure you can write out some ideas to save for later, but don’t sabotage yourself by stopping and starting.  Learn to slog through those tough days and learn to work out your problems before jumping to something shiny and new.  You’ll get to The End.  And you’ll not only be glad you’ll be very proud of yourself and how often do you get that?

See you next week in the continuing series on How I Write.  We’ll be discussing how to stay motivated!