Read Me First

First Thing's First...

If you're looking for a step-by-step tutorial on getting your book published, this is not the blog for you. There are, like, fifty bazillion blogs on those topics, and I see no reason to repeat readily available information. I'm also going to assume you a have basic understanding of standard American English grammar, and therefore aren't here to learn how to make the most of your commas and ellipses. Although there is another iteration of me who does editing, I'm not going to talk about editing your work to avoid common writing mistakes (damn those pesky adverbs! Damn them, I say!) And finally, I have no interest in talking about formatting, submitting to Amazon, or anything else that happens after your story is already written.

Why? Because this is a blog for writers who want to become better storytellers. Nothing more, nothing less.

Why Do a Blog About Storytelling?

Most authors think that the reason they are having trouble finding representation, or are having problems getting traction with their self-published novels, is because they need to improve their basic writing skills. They talk endlessly about destroying the hated adverbs, getting rid of Oxford commas, finding new ways to avoid the word "said," and desperately trying to get rid of passive voice. And, for quite a few of them, this really IS the problem. They need to learn how to write before they can, you know, write. And I applaud those people for having the gumption to admit their failings and reach for the dream of better sentence structure. But if you'll refer back to the first paragraph, this blog is not meant to cover those things. As with publishing, there are numerous ways to improve your basic writing skills. And if you honestly believe your problem involves misusing verb tenses, you probably need a lot more help than I would be able to provide.

And besides, talking about grammar is boring.

There's another problem facing today's writing community. It has nothing to do with poorly written sentences, though. So many wannabe authors think that the reason they're getting rejected is because their query sucks. Or, they think the agent just doesn't care about their particular genre, or that the agent simply failed to notice the brilliance inherent in their book. They look at the success stories like JK Rowling and James Patterson, and they think all they have to do is try again---after all, if Harry Potter got refused 39 times before finding a home, surely their robot-alien-time-travel-space-opera will find a home somewhere. Try, try again. That's the motto.

But sometimes, it has nothing to do with the query letter. You want to know what the most common complaint is? It's not that the writing is poor, or there are too many adverbs. If you're lucky enough to get a personalized rejection letter from an agent, you are far more likely to be told this: "The writing is good, but there's just no story here."

Let's look at that again.

The writing is good, but there's...Just. No. Story.

That's What This Blog Is About

Contrary to popular belief, books are not just about random people going to random places doing random things. For a story to work, there has to be an underlying tension, structure, purpose, and theme. Even though it's supposed to be fiction, it has to feel real. It has to feel like it matters. If all you've got is a group of people getting together to go to a place to do a thing and then go back home afterward, you'll have no impact on a reader's senses. You need to give them a reason to care.

That's where storytelling comes in. Here, we'll be talking about ways to improve the story that is supposed to be contained within those perfectly constructed sentences. We'll be talking about things like themes, character development, dialogue, tension, drama, world building, and so much more. I'll give you some handy techniques for making your characters interesting, and I'll also be giving you some tips on what not to do. Hopefully, you'll come away from this experience with an understanding about building stories that resonate with readers for years afterward.

So sit back, relax, and get used to the snarky-sassy voice you're reading in this post. That ain't gonna change any time soon. But, hopefully, you'll gain a little more insight into what it takes to be a good storyteller. Glad to have you here!