Writers On The Move

How Should You Start Your Story?

Contributed by Karen Cioffi

With all the information online about writing, I still get clients who start their stories with backstory, boring introductions, or with a number of characters leaving the reader in the dark as to who the protagonist is.

The beginning of your story, whether a picture book, chapter book, or middle-grade, is to provide the reader with some key information.

1. The story should start with the protagonist.

You need to quickly establish a connection between the reader and the protagonist.

The reader needs to know at the beginning who’s taking them on the journey, who’s point-of-view they’re being privy to.

2. Keep the beginning in the present.

Starting the story with something like:

Alicia looked at herself in the mirror as she thought about her life before. She was a hair stylist in a high-end establishment and loved her job. That is until her boss took on a partner. Things went downhill from there. Having to quit, it took her six-months to find another job. And that job was in a low-end place she swore she’d never work at.

The opening paragraph above is considered information dump. It’s there solely to let the reader know the protagonist’s past.

While some of the information may be important to the story, it shouldn’t be dumped in the beginning.

Instead, you might start it like:

“Hey, Alicia,” called Juan. “Your 3 o’clock is here. I’m sending her back.”

Alicia looked at herself in the mirror. How did this happen? What am I doing in this dead-end job?

This brings us to number three.

3. Start your story with action.

The latter scene in number two is action related, but it doesn’t have to start with dialogue.

You might have the protagonist and his best friend arguing.

Josh stood with his arms folded and his eyes narrowed as he watched Branden talking to Mia. What’s he doing talking to her? He knows I like her.

OR …

Josh stood with his arms folded and his eyes narrowed. “I saw you talking to Mia. You know I like her.”

Branden shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

Josh felt his face heat up.

OR …

Max looked at the rock-climbing wall. Man, it’s high. His body tensed as he put his foot on the first rock that jutted out. He looked at the crowd that gathered in the gym to watch him. Why’d I accept this stupid challenge?

OR …

Wang tied the last bundle of wheat and hurled it into the cart. He wiped the back of his neck then pulled the cart up the hill. Looking back at his father, who leaned on his shovel, hunched over, Wang mumbled, “This is not the life for me.”

The action doesn’t have to be life or death, but it needs to let the reader get an idea of who the protagonist is. It should give the reader something to latch onto.

Editor Mary Kole said, “the underpinning of action is conflict.”

In the first and second scenarios, Josh is having a problem with his friend.

In the third scenario, Max is afraid. Maybe he’s afraid of failing, or afraid of being made fun of if he can’t climb the wall.

In the fourth scenario, Wang, the protagonist in Walking Through Walls, doesn’t want a fate like his father’s. He doesn’t want the back-breaking work and sweat of tending the wheat fields.

These first paragraph examples should give you an idea of how to create effective beginnings for your stories.

Remember, though, that your story beginning should make the reader want to know what’s going on. It should motivate him turn the page.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children’s ghostwriter as well as the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move. She is also an author/writer online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing. You can check out Karen's books at:
https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/karens-books/

You can connect with Karen at:
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventrice
Twitter https://twitter.com/KarenCV
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karencioffikidlitghostwriter/

Need help with your online platform? Check out:
http://www.articlewritingdoctor.com/content-marketing-tools/

3 Tips to Powerful Social Media Marketing

By Karen Cioffi

As an author, it’s important to promote your books.

So how do you go about doing this?

Well, one of the first steps, aside from creating an author website, is to use social media to bring your book to the world.

But, it’s important to use social media effectively.

Some social networks, like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, have optimization features for shared blog posts. It’s similar to how you’d optimize the blog posts on your website.

Here is a list of 3 social network features to be aware of (and take advantage of):

1. The post title.

Along with creating a keyword effective and powerful blog post title, you should try to keep the characters to 40.

Search engines only pick up the first 60 characters of the titles.

What does this mean for you?

Use those characters carefully. According to webinars by Marketing Experiments, make your title a complete thought. Along with this, be sure to include your keyword.

Just as important, you should make the title ‘WIIFM’ (what’s in it for me) effective. To do this, think of the benefit the reader will want.

If you’re a fitness writer, your title might be:

Lose 7 Pounds in Just 7 Days

Notice the title is a complete thought, it has the WIIFM (look your best), it’s keyword effective, and it’s under 30 characters.

2. Create a brief, but powerful description.

Along with the post title, you’ll be able to add a description of the article.

Most social networks allow for this additional search engine optimization. Absolutely take advantage of it.

See the example below. You have plenty of room to show your reader what the article is about. And don’t forget that search engines use descriptions to further categorize content.

So, how would you write a description for the article “Are You Overthinking Your Story?”

Here’s what I wrote:

(1) When writing for children, some new authors have difficulty realizing when the story is at the publishing or submitting stage. They may overthink the storyline, the characters, or even the sentences.

Another description might be:

(2) Knowing when your story is done can be tricky. How can you avoid overthinking it?

Either of these two descriptions is fine. The first though, gives more information, but its’ a bit long.

In (1) above, there are 169 characters, and I have several keywords. Along with this, the description is clear and to the point.

In (2) above, there are only 74 characters, but it’s not as informative as the first. On the flip side, it poses a question that may motivate the reader to click on the link.

So, you can see that they both have the potential to grab the reader and help the search engines find and categorize the content.

3. Use hashtags where applicable.

Most social networks allow you to use hashtags to let users find your topic.

Hashtags are a powerful marketing feature.

So, what exactly do hashtags do?

They’re basically keywords or tags that are relevant to your article’s topic. They help the social engines on the network you’re posting to identify and categorize your content.

Hashtags also allow other users to quickly find posts that are relevant to the topic they’re looking for.

Hashtags work. Hashtags are powerful. You should use hashtags where applicable.

Summing it up.

There are lots of other social media publishing optimization strategies, but these are the top three in my opinion. They help boost engagement and help the search engines find, categorize, and share your content.

References:
https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-improve-your-google-plus-marketing/
https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2327748/5-brilliant-ways-to-use-hashtags-in-social-media-marketing#

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, as well as a children’s ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach with clients worldwide. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move, and an author online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

Karen’s children’s books include Walking Through Walls and The Case of the Stranded Bear. She also has a DIY book, How to Write Children’s Fiction Books. You can check them out at: https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/karens-books/.

If you need help with your children’s story, visit: https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com.

MORE ON BOOK MARKETING

How to Get a Wealth of Social Media Content

SEO for Authors – Keywords and Descriptions

A Marketing Story to Inspire Authors to Renewed Efforts

HAPPY NEW YEAR

AND, OF COURSE, AN AMAZING 2023!

Theme: The Glue that Binds Your Story

Secret in the Mist: An Abi Wunder Mystery
will be published sometime this year

By Linda Wilson @LinWilsonauthor

When my critique group and I were all done discussing Chapters Seven and Eight of my WIP chapter book, Secret in the Mist: An Abi Wunder Mystery, last week, one of our members said she had a last question for me:

Why are Abi (my main character) and Jess (Abi’s sidekick) going ghost hunting in the first place?
Why does it matter?
Is Abi trying to prove something to her friend, Jess?
Is there a competition among friends?

Oh my. How could I miss showing Abi’s motivation right from the start? By the end, how could I show how Abi had grown and what she had learned if I hadn't shown her motivation for hunting the ghost in the beginning? My story needed one of the most important story elements: Theme. Without theme there is the danger of readers getting very little out of reading the book.

What is Theme?

Most storytelling experts agree that theme is one of the seven elements of a story that must exist. Theme is the main point of the story. (“The 7 Main Story Elements and Why They Matter,” by Jerry Jenkins.) Jenkins states:

Before you begin writing, determine why you want to tell this story:

What message do you want to convey?
What do you want the story to teach the reader about life?

The main theme in Secret in the Mist is Abi's search of "self." She leans on Jess to carry out her search for the ghost for most of the story. She believes she can't accomplish anything without Jess's help.

Common themes include courage, death, and friendship. The theme is never stated. Rather, you tell the story and through your character's quest, the theme is explored throughout the book. The reader will then discover the main point of the story on their own.

Solution

After I returned home from my critique meeting, I looked for the best place to slip in a way to answer my critique partner's questions. I needed to find a place in Chapter One to slip in Abi’s reason for wanting to hunt the ghost. In the chapter, Abi and Jess are outside in Jess’s front yard looking across the road at the marsh. In a nutshell, they’re discussing who the ghost is: a young girl who has risen out of the marsh for a century or more. That night, the conditions are just right for the ghost to appear: a full moon and perfect temperature.

The moment to show Abi's motivation came at the end of Abi and Jess's discussion:

“How are you so sure she is going to show up tonight?” Abi desperately wanted to believe Jess was right, that they were really going to see a ghost tonight.
Abi figured any ghost that keeps coming back must need help. And tonight if the ghost did appear, Abi had this feeling, a feeling she couldn’t shake, that she could help her. That is, as long as Jess was by her side. She could never do a thing this big by herself.

Now I had a way to show what Abi needed to learn and how she needed to grow. Throughout the story Abi and Jess see the ghost in various settings and together go after a quest to find out who she is—was—and why the ghost has come back.

At one point, the two go their separate ways. Abi must carry out the search by herself. She discovers that she is successful at it. She realizes that she doesn’t need anyone to help her, she can figure out how to search for the ghost on her own. Armed with this knowledge, by the end she realizes that she has the ability to search on her own, but it's much more fun to be part of a team with her best friend, Jess.

In your own WIP, make sure you cover the vital glue that binds your story together: your main character’s motivation for going on their quest. When you have that, then their growth naturally flows from the intriguing adventure you’ve crafted.

Sources:

https://www.writersonthemove.com/2021/04/theme-heart-of-your-story.html

https://jerryjenkins.com

https://www.writersonthemove.com/2021/04/theme-heart-of-your-story.html

Linda's fourth picture book,
Cradle in the Wild, will
also be published in 2023.

Linda Wilson writes stories for young children. Visit Linda at https://bit.ly/3AOM98L. Click the links for free coloring pages and a puppet show starring Thistletoe Q. Packrat. While you’re there, get all the latest news by signing up for Linda’s newsletter.

Find Linda’s books at Amazon Author Page.

Connect with Linda: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram

4 Steps for Easy Content Creation

by Suzanne Lieurance

If you’re like most regular bloggers, you’re always looking for blogging tips, so here’s my best productivity tip:

Follow These 4 Steps for Easy Content Creation:

Step 1: Plan before you take action.

Many people try to do everything in one step – plan, create the content, post it, etc.

But you’ll be more productive if you break down things into separate steps.

And the first step is to plan.

Set aside an hour or so on Sunday evening or Monday morning to plan your content for the week (or you can plan your entire month and set up an editorial calendar for your blog).

Decide what topics you will blog about, for example, and what information needs to be in your newsletter or other emails that you will send to the people on your mailing list.

Planning ahead like this each week can save time when it comes to creating your content because you won’t have to spend time wondering what to write about or otherwise create as content when you get to Step 3 of this process.

Step 2: Turn your plan into a schedule.

Once you know the content you will need to create for the week (or the month), the next step is to turn your plan into an actual schedule to get the content created.

For example, if you plan the content for 2 blog posts each week during step 1, the next step is to schedule time to write these 2 posts.

If you need to send out a newsletter, then schedule time to create the content for it as well.

Step 3: Follow Your Schedule.

Once you’ve planned your content and made a writing schedule for creating that content, the next logical step is to simply follow your schedule and create your content.

With all the planning out of the way for the week or month, and a specific time scheduled for creating your content, you’ll be able to create that content rather quickly.

You won’t have to waste precious writing time trying to figure out what to write about.

You’ll already know because you planned your content (Step 1), earlier in the week.

You’ll know exactly when to create that content, too, because you have a schedule (Step 2).

Step 4: Maximize your efforts.

You don’t have to create as much content as you might think.

You just need to use your content in several ways.

For example, during this step, when you post to your blog, send an email to those on your mailing list with the headline of your post, a short paragraph describing the post, and a link to the post itself (this email is called a blog broadcast and can easily be set up with most autoresponders).

This not only gives you content for your newsletter or other emails, it also helps drive traffic to your blog.

Follow these 4 steps and you’ll soon find it much easier to create quality content that serves your target market and builds your business.

Try it!

And for more tips to help you become a productive writer and blogger, get your free 4-week trial membership to The Monday Morning Shove, a group coaching program for writers.

Also, register for my free newsletter, The Morning Nudge.

Suzanne Lieurance is a freelance writer, writing coach, certified life coach, and the author of over 40 published books.

Should You Write for Magazines or Books?

By Terry Whalin (@terrywhalin)

Every writer faces this question: which do I write first—a magazine article or a book? It’s almost like asking which comes first: the chicken or the egg? As a former magazine editor who has published in more than 50 magazines (gave up counting them a while back), the quick answer is to write both. As writers, our skill is not limited to one type of writing. In the first chapter of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams, I detail the variety of writing possibilities (follow this link to get this chapter free).

When editors and literary agents search for authors, they read magazines, blogs, books, and any other type of writing. There are many ways for you to make new connections to these gatekeepers and magazine writing can be a key entry point. Whether you write books or magazine articles, each type of writing has a set of challenges.

The Challenges with Book Writing

Many writers begin with a book and write a manuscript. Often, they will write something tied to their reading habits. If they read nonfiction, then they will write a nonfiction manuscript. If they read novels, then they will write fiction. Somewhere along the process, they will learn editors and literary agents are looking for a book proposal. This mysterious document contains information that will never show in your manuscript, yet these professionals use this document to decide if they will publish your book.

Everyone can learn to write a book proposal or your business plan for your book. I’ve written two proposals which received six-figure advances and teach these details in my Book Proposals That $ell. I originally wrote this book as a frustrated editor looking for better submissions. My book has helped many writers land a literary agent and a book deal. Every type of book needs a proposal or business plan and this process can present a challenge to getting it published.

It may sound simple, but books are long—100,000 words for a novel and at least 50,000 words for a nonfiction book. Crafting these books take a great deal of time and energy. What people outside of publishing don’t understand is most book sales are modest. If your book sells 5,000 copies that can be a success (depending on the publisher). In addition, the competition for limited spots at traditional houses is intense. Publishers and literary agents are looking for authors with “platforms” or connections to readers who buy books. Each of these factors make publishing books a challenge.

Advantages to Magazine Writing

Magazine articles are much shorter (800 to 1500 words depending on the type of writing and publication). As you write for magazines, you will develop some important skills such as the ability to create an interesting title or a moving opening paragraph or how to write to a particular word count and for a particular audience. Print magazines are looking for quality writing and have a high standard of excellence (another skill you develop in the process). You learn to write a query or pitch to the editor, get assignments or submit complete articles on speculation (depends on the publication).

Here’s the real payoff for magazine writing: you can reach more people. It is a huge success if a book sells 5,000 copies and in the magazine world it is fairly easy for your article to appear in a publication with a circulation of over 100,000.

As a writer, don’t get locked into a particular type of writing—books or magazine or online or whatever. There are a world of possibilities and opportunities if you are open to explore it, then write it and get it into the market.

Tweetable:

Should you write books or magazine articles? This prolific writer and editor explains why you should be doing both. Learn the details here. (ClickToTweet)

________________________________________

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s newest book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Jim Cox, Editor-in-Chief of Midwest Book Review wrote, “If you only have time to read one ’how to’ guide to getting published, whether it be traditional publishing or self-publishing, “Book Proposals That Sell ” is that one DIY instructional book. ” Check out his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Creativity Sparks the Writing Practice

Creativity Sparks the Writing Practice by Deborah Lyn Stanley

Brainstorming is a technique for generating ideas and creative solutions. It’s a wonderful way to grab a bundle of topic and story ideas. Several pathways can be used for group or solo gathering.

Creativity of any kind is helpful.
* Do you love art? Check out paintings from the masters online.
* Do you stitch or work with yarn? There’ are lots of videos on YouTube.
* Do you paint or draw? A walk-in nature is sure to inspire!
* Ever wished to paint? Check out Facebook groups or Pinterest.

My first experience of brainstorming happened during a company training session. A problem was presented and discussion began, guided by a facilitator. Throughout the discussion, ideas written on small pages lined the walls. Each participant was encouraged to contribute, no idea is too quirky to build upon. When each member is involved in developing solutions, it’s more likely to find a solution.

Four Techniques have been used for Effective Brainstorming:
1.    Starbursting focuses on forming questions instead of answers, beginning with who, what, where, when, and why.
2.    Mind Mapping may be the most classical approach and the one seen most often. The written goal is noted in a center circle, with lines branching out to subtopics, and again for subcategories. Circled notes continue as ideas continue to form.
3.    Blind Writing is free-form writing, forcing you to put pen to paper for a minimum of 10 minutes to open up fresh ideas. The one rule is that you must keep writing for those 10 minutes.
4.    Reverse Storming is idea generation in the opposite, gathering ideas of how I can stop a goal from succeeding. It helps to uncover fresh approaches.

For additional information see: https://www.edrawsoft.com/MindMap-Examples.php

Deborah Lyn Stanley is an author of Creative Non-Fiction. She writes articles, essays and stories. She is passionate about caring for the mentally impaired through creative arts.
Visit her My Writer’s Life website at: https://deborahlynwriter.com/
Visit her caregiver’s website: https://deborahlyncaregiver.com/

Mom & Me: A Story of Dementia and the Power of God’s Love is available:
https://www.amazon.com/Deborah-Lyn-Stanley/
& https://books2read.com/b/valuestories

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