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When did people start using the word "hey" instead of "hi"?
I remember when I first heard this word used in casual greeting. I was researching my fourth novel, Keeper of the Light, in the early '90s and contacted the woman who was heading up the renovation of the keeper's house at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla, NC. She was a fabulous help to me in my research. One of the first things I noticed about her was that she always greeted me with "hey." I thought it must be a coastal North Carolina thing. Over the years, though, I realized "hey" had crept into general conversation throughout the country. It's on TV shows, in the movies, and in our daily lives. As I look back through my books, I seemed to have shifted from "hi" to "hey" in my characters' greetings to one another around 2000.
I like this trend. I like the friendly, casualness of it (although I keep hearing my first grade teacher's voice in my head, saying "Hey is for horses!"
So, have you noticed this shift in our vocabulary? Are you a "hey" or a "hi" person?
(By the way, the pic of the lizard, who sits by my front door, was taken by my significant other, John Pagliuca).
]]>A synopsis is a summary of the story, complete with beginning, middle and end, character sketches, motivation, and arc (how they change during the course of the story). (I've heard the rule of thumb is one page of synopsis per 10,000 words of story)
An outline is a chapter by chapter/scene by scene abstract of the book.
My synopses tend to land somewhere in the middle of the two. I have tried really, really hard over the years to do it the right way, but it doesn't work for me. Scenes come spilling out of my head and I don't want to lose them, so into the synopsis they go. The synopsis I just turned in is 34 pages long, and whether it's written the right way or not, I'm very happy with it. Very!
My fingers are crossed it will be a go. Why wouldn't it be, you ask? There are so many reasons. Here are a few I've heard over recent years:
"No one wants to read about an old lady."
"It's too 'woo woo'." (cue Twilight Zone music)
"No one wants to read about a cult."
"Your readers will never suspend disbelief long enough to give this story a chance."
"You're too white to write this book."
And finally, the reason I most hate hearing because there's no way around it:
"We're just about to publish something similar." Ugh. I hate that one.
So cross your fingers along with me, please. I'm hoping for good news!
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Every once in a while, I'm particularly touched by an email I receive and want to share it with my readers (with the emailer's permission, of course). Today, I received the following email, touching because it comes from Denmark and it always warms my heart to hear from readers around the world, but even more so because it comes from a man. I've corrected the spelling, but will leave the wording alone. Enjoy it with me, please.
Sniff! Could he be any sweeter?
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After taking a break for the election and to talk about my cute new UK cover, I'm following up on my recent posts about creating a story.
You may recall that I hadn't quite finished the synopsis for my next book while in the Outer Banks. Once I got home, I whipped through to the end. . .well almost to the end. My last sentence reads: Brilliant last sentence goes here. LOL.
So I emailed the synopsis and its lame final sentence to my agent, who quickly got back to me with the news that she loved it. Since she loves it and I love it, this is the synopsis we'll take to my publisher. . . soon. My agent and I both recognized what is missing from the synopsis: suspense. That's the element I'm building into the story this weekend.
I don't care what kind of story you're writing, it needs an element of suspense to keep the pages turning. Those of you who've read my books know that, even though my stories may not fit the definition of "suspense novels," in the usual sense of the term, they are suspenseful. Even the books that are focused on relationships have elements of suspense in them. The reader wants to know what's going to happen next. This doesn't occur by magic. It takes planning and the sort of thinking that makes your head ache, but it's oh so worth it in the end.
So how does a writer add suspense? One tried and true method is the ticking clock. The reader knows that, if a character doesn't do X by a certain time, Y will happen, and that will be devastating. Many other conflicts can create suspense. In Before the Storm, will a special needs boy go to prison for something he (probably) didn't do? And how far will his mother go to protect him? In The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, will a woman tell the truth about what happened even though it will cost her her family and her freedom?
One of my favorite ways of adding suspense is to give each character a secret. I may not use them all, but in the "thinking stage," I actually write down what each character's secret is--we all have them; don't try to tell me you don't! Then I see whose secret can tie into the storyline. And then I drop hints to make the reader sit up and take notice. In Before the Storm, for example, I continually allude to the fact that Laurel distrusts her former brother-in-law, Marcus, but the reader doesn't know why. I reveal this fact from both their points-of-view, over time, increasing the curiosity of the reader to find out what led to the serious rift in their relationship. (Then, of course, there needs to be a pretty powerful reason for the distrust, or the reader will be quite annoyed with me, but that's for another post.)
So today, I'm adding suspense to my synopsis in several ways: 1) I'm changing the order of how I reveal what happens, so that the reader (editor, in this case) will want to know what's going to happen next. In other words, I'm taking care not to reveal too much up front; 2) I'm "mystifying" one of the major revelations so that it's unclear to both the reader and the characters what is really going on; and 3) I'm giving at least one significant character a juicy secret that ties beautifully into the central storyline and that will give me a nice subplot at the same time.
And finally, I hope to come up with that brilliant last sentence!
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I received an email from my publisher in the United Kingdom, where they're getting ready to publish The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes under the title The Lost Daughter. In her email, the editor said she was attaching a picture of the new cover, and I thought, Oh no! Why are they changing CeeCee's cover when many--if not most--of my readers were drawn to the book because of it??
Then I opened the attachment and saw this adorable image! I absolutely love the painted toenails! Is that the cutest thing or what?
I'm not sure exactly when The Lost Daughter will be released in the UK, but they are doing it up right!
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I never thought I'd see this day, and I'm filled with hope for the future.
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I've nearly finished my synopsis, but I need to take a minute to urge everyone to get to the polls Tuesday, especially you 18-21 year olds, because my generation fought hard to get you the vote and I'd really love it if you'd exercise that right.
We hear often about women getting the right to vote in 1920.
And we hear that African Americans were given the right to vote in 1870, although many were kept from voting until 1965, when the Voting Rights Act provided a means to enforce that right.
But maybe some of you don't realize that the voting age was twenty-one until 1971, when the 26th amendment gave the right to vote to people eighteen and older. See the sticker above the door in the picture? (side note: this was my college boyfriend's rat trap house. Ugh. What was I thinking??) We were infuriated by the fact that our young men were being drafted left and right, sent to Vietnam to fight--and in some cases, to die--but were not allowed to vote for the politicians who would decide their fate. So we marched and wrote letters and debated our passionate heads off, and in 1971, finally got to vote. Ironically, that was the year I turned twenty-one, but I had great satisfaction in knowing that the generations that followed would be represented at the polls. So get out there, you young people! No matter who you're voting for, I want you to have your say.
]]>Here's what I accomplished yesterday and this morning: I outlined the story by weaving together the four Point-of-View characters' actions that I wrote up the day before. In scenes in which more than one character appears, I decided who had the most emotional investment in the interaction and determined that that person will have the POV in that scene. I'm about two thirds of the way through, and it gets harder as I move toward the climax and all the complex elements of the story come together. As I work on this, I have to keep going back to my character sketches to remind myself of the characters' various strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, this will be second nature, but I'm still just getting to know them. I also came up with a working title, which I'll keep to myself for the moment.
So that's it! Looks like I have a few minutes before the slideshow starts, so I'm going to squeeze in a little work. See you from home tomorrow!
]]>I changed my mind about a couple of the Points of View, settling for now on four women, three of them thirty-nine/forty and one eighteen.
I finished the character sketches.
I named absolutely everyone, first and surnames, and made some necessary family charts.
I then created a storyline "thread" for each POV character. That means I took each one separately and listed what happens to her during the story, focusing more on action than emotion. Emotion comes later, although some of it crept in, of course, since it informs the action. I gave each line of the thread a number or letter, so that I can move the lines around later. (In other words, I may insert action number 67 between lines FF and GG. If I were at home, I'd have these actions on notecards spread across my dining room table, so I could move them around at ease. Right now, everything is going into a notebook.
Today I'll start weaving the threads together. But for now, I'm being called to breakfast!
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I'm working on the synopsis for a new book, so I thought I'd share the process with you. I hope this is especially helpful to you newbie writers, as well as of interest to readers who'd like a peek behind the scenes.
First, a definition: a synopsis is generally a "selling tool" to show to an agent and/or an editor to let him or her know what your book is about. If it's your first novel, you'll need to have written the entire book and will then use the synopsis and three chapters to form your proposal. If you have some books under your belt, a synopsis may be sufficient to get a contract. Some people use the terms "synopsis" and "outline" interchangeably, but either way, it's the entire story--beginning, middle and end-- in about 10-20 pages.
Before I get into today's installment, let me first say that I'm in my beloved Outer Banks. John's teaching a photo workshop here, which gives me lots of time on my own to work. Midday today, though, I needed a break, so I took a drive north to my favorite town on the Banks, Duck. Over the years, the Outer Banks have become very commercialized and many, if not most, of the wonderful little houses have been replaced by gargantuan beach mansions. Duck, though, has maintained it's lovely little village feel, and I adore it. I had to stop and take a pic of the cottage I used to own with my ex. I recall when we added that top deck. Our two golden retrievers loved it. One day, we were in the front yard and turned around to see our dogs up on the roof! Can you say heart attack? But anyway. . . back to the topic of this post.
I already have a synopsis ready to go to my publisher. It needs some polishing, but it's in pretty good shape. However, Tuesday afternoon I took a nap--or started to. Suddenly, a new idea came to me and now I have to see where it will go. Thus, the need for a new synopsis. Since yesterday was a travel day, today is my first day to work on the new story. I plan to write this very quickly, taking no more than four or five days to do the whole thing. That's extremely fast for me, but I made good progress today. Here is what I did, beginning only with the bare bones of the idea that came to me in my quasi nap:
I figured out the beginning and the ending of the story--in very general terms.
I figured out who has a point of view. Right now, subject to change, there are five.
I named everyone, figured out their ages, years of birth, ages of their children, years of their life milestones and some of their occupations.
I wrote one-page character sketches for four of the five main character. Tomorrow, I'll get to the fifth character--plus one dead person. (When I start actually writing the book, I will write a "character autobiography" for each of them. More on that another day).
I figured out the main way in which each character will grow and change during the course of the story. Not how they will grow precisely, but the growth and change I want to see in them. The "how" will come in the next few days.
Oh, and on my drive to Duck? I did a lot of thinking, jotting down notes at stoplights. (OK, sometimes I couldn't wait for the stoplights, which is why the writing is kind of crooked).
So, I'm off to a great start. The best part is that I love the story concept, and I'm optimistic I'll sail through this synopsis (for a change). I'll keep you posted, and hope you'll sail through it with me.
]]>I'm never sure how to answer that question, since I really don't know who writes like me. I'd say the relationship element in my books is similar to the same element in books by Barbara Delinsky, Mary Alice Monroe, Emilie Richards and Luanne Rice. I'd say the hard questions being addressed in some of my stories are similar to those addressed in Jodi Picoult's books. Then you have to throw some supsense and/or mystery into the mix. Who do you end up with? I really don't know.
So I'm hoping that you, my current readers, will help my new readers. I suggested they check out the blog this week for the answer to the question, "Who should I read while waiting for Diane's next book?" Who do you suggest?
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I was surfing the web today (okay, I was reading political stuff. I'm addicted), when I saw a picture of two men reading a book. The cover of the book was familiar, and I zoomed in to see that they were reading one of the best friends a novelist could own: Where There is No Doctor. It's a great book for anyone, actually.
Around 1990, I was working on my second novel, then titled Canopy. Definitely not a super title, but so much better than the one the publisher forced on me, Lovers and Strangers, which had nothing whatsoever to do with the story. Canopy/Lovers and Strangers was about a group of primatologists and their significant others who get stranded in the Amazon when their guide disappears. I can't begin to describe all the research I put into this book! I read everything I could find on the Amazon and on the little monkeys in my story. I went way overboard as I learned what research is important and what should simply be discarded (the dung beetles, for example). But as I was doing my research, I stumbled across this gem of a book.
Where There is No Doctor was published in the seventies (revised many times by now) for health workers, teachers, and just plain folk living primarily in Third World Countries. It's exactly what it says it is--information for the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of injuries and illnesses that occur where there is no doctor. I relied on it heavily as I made my characters suffer in the Amazon, and have turned to it with other characters' maladies throughout the years. I'm not ashamed to admit that I turned to it with my own infirmities as well (before Google made life a lot easier.) I didn't need to worry much about blood flukes or tapeworm, it's true, but the information on treating infected wounds or toothaches was invaluable.
It may be that the Internet has, for those of us living and writing in a developed country, made this book obsolete, but I'd like to think not. It's had a permanent place on my bookshelf for eighteen years, and I think I'm going to keep it there.
]]>Fast forward about a zillion years. I was working on the outline for my work-in-progress this morning, struggling a bit with the "flabby middle," when I suddenly realized I didn't know my ending. I spent a half day thinking about it, and voila! Everything else fell into place. If you're working on a novel, I highly recommend starting at the end. You'll be amazed at how it focuses the rest of the story.
However, I do have a teeny tiny problem. After zipping through the draft, I came up with an entirely different way of reaching the same ending. Entirely different. Now what? One approach to the story would be more "suspensefully emotional". The other more "emotionally emotional". So I think I'm going to write it up both ways and see which moves me more. Nothing like doubling my workload!
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