Andrew E. Kaufman on Writing through Recovery (Pt. 1)

Author Andrew E. Kaufman discusses his journey to publication success with the novels While the Savage Sleeps, The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted, and Darkness and Shadow at the Southern California Writers' Conference.

Secret Plot-Plot-Plotting!

Christ. Christ.

I showed up at the ‘opening hook’ workshop at the SoCal writers' conference not realizing that I was going to have to actually, yanno…*read* the first two pages of a manuscript. I thought I was going to die.

But my buddy saved my ass. My buddy that was not even in attendance, lol. BUT SHE BETTER SHOW UP NEXT TIME.

I chose the story on which I’ve been collaborating with noustewfu. It's the tale of a 19th century voodoo acolyte who accidentally resurrects a Revolutionary War-era privateer. Mae and Simon must learn to work together to stop a corrupt Haitian vodou priest. It is a work in-progress.

The feedback was extremely positive, and I received a couple good tips as well. I was thrilled. Awesome kudos to my collaborator and friend, you kick ass!!! I ordered room service to celebrate.

Lesson learned - you better damn well be able to snag your reader within the first two pages. And remember to SHOW, not TELL!

SO. Since there seemed to be some interest generated in the story, we created a Tumblr for it. HERE IT IS!!!

And, uh...yes. Relevant crap will be added to it. Eventually.

SCWC: Writing Sex Scenes that Serve the Story

-        There is a time and a place for everything, make sure it's in context.

-        Reveal some emotional vulnerability

-        There needs to be a reason for a love/sex scene.  It needs to be crucial for the plot.  It needs to serve a purpose.

-        Does it create internal/external conflict?  Both?

-        Does it create purposeful tension?

-        How does it play into a characters motivations?  Devious or honest motivations?

-        Does it move the plot forward in ways other elements would not?

-        Is there a better device I could use to make my point?  If yes, then lose the sex scene.

-        Focus on the emotions, what the characters are thinking/feeling.  The act itself is a vehicle, not necessarily the road.

-        Character's mental state can affect the sex

-        Keep your characters IN CHARACTER when they're having sex (as it relates to the plot), otherwise it would distract from the point.  Know your characters so you know their parameters.  How would they react in this situation?

-        It's not always what they do—it's what they don't do.  You don't have to explain every little thing.  Readers are smart enough to read between the lines.  Mounting sexual tension/seduction can be better than the act itself.

-        Is the character having fantasies?

-        Consider the possibility of teasing the reader a little bit.  It's okay to leave the audience wanting more

-        Purpose of the scene: is the character trying to manipulate another character?  Is it love?  Is one in love, the other not?  Filling unidentified emptiness?  Failed judgment?

-        How long is the act?  How many details are revealed?  Can be genre-dependent (sex in a thriller might be  more hurried than in a romance/erotica).  Beware of overkill, don't say the same thing over and over again.

-        Write the sex scene first with as little detail as possible, then add in details later.

-        You don't have to name every body part!  (if you don't want to).  Body parts are distracting. Focus on the emotions/thoughts.  What does the act mean to the character(s)?  How does the character interpret what's going on?

-        Length – plot/genre dependent (sex in a flashback/memory would not go on and on and on)

-        Consider taboo subjects.  Be aware that many publishers/sellers will not accept certain acts (rape, incest, children-involved acts, bestiality)

-        Safe sex—is this practiced in the book?  Consequences if it's not?  Disease, babies, etc. Consider the characters' circumstances (will dictate a lot of decisions).  Religious beliefs, length of relationship, personal morals, time period/era, etc.

-        What will the characters bring to the bedroom?  Emotional baggage?  How will this affect the sex?  Conflict in the bedroom?  Sex addiction?  Unfaithfulness?  Independence vs neediness.

-        THE ORGASM.  Do they happen in the story?  Do you want it in your scene?  Is it important for the connection?  Does it occur in realtime, or does it occur as a flashback/memory.  Do they both experience it?  Does one or both fake it?  If so, why?  This could be a plot element/device. Was the sex an obligation?

-        Post-orgasm.  Do the characters engage in pillow-talk afterward, or do they go cold?  Is there an argument?  Discussion?  Disconnection?  Bonding?

-        A sex scene is like any other scene.  Don't be afraid to leave your comfort zone a bit.

SCWC: Happily Ever After - Make Them Earn It

-        Conflict; driving toward a black moment that sticks with people

-        A black moment is a pivotal turning point where all seems to be lost and the hero might not win. Lead up to this with conflict (what are consequences?).  Make the stakes high enough to make the reader give a crap.  Moment of change for hero.  Can't be easily solved.

-        Transformation/growth must occur in character(s).  Worst fears/secrets must be realized, confronted, and overcome.  Character must not be the same person they were at the beginning (ex: Pretty Woman).

-        Black moment needs to be a scene that has been building since the beginning of the book (otherwise it won't be as believable).  Deepens as danger or conflict mounts and culminates in final climax that leaves the reader wondering what the heck will happen next.  Will the hero win?!

-        Difficult to sell a tragedy nowadays.  People like happy endings.

-        If the black moment is solved too easily, readers will be pissed.  Don't come up with a magical solution to fix it.

-        All the good guys don't have to live.  Kill off characters even if you don't want to (if it serves the story, if it helps transform the hero).

-        Characters should have great depth so that readers will care about them

-        Black moments can be risky (killing children in Hunger Games).  Necessary to make the character's progression/evolution more believable.

-        Even if the hero doesn't “win,” the ending still needs to provide some sort of satisfaction

-        Life isn't about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and continue on

-        Hero could lose everything, but does the right thing anyway.

-        Black moment has to be the character's absolute worst fear.  And why is the character so terrified of this?

-        Black moment should be so huge that you as a writer should be asking yourself “Holy crap, how am I going to fix this?”

SCWC: Keeping 'Em Hooked - Writing for Today's ADD Readers

-        Your story must: entertain, educate, enlighten

-        Bite-sized chapters are preferable for today's ADD/strapped-for-time readers.  People have short attention spans nowadays.  Despite the shortness of the chapters, the author's job is to get the reader to turn the page and start the next chapter.

-        Don't let the facts get in the way when it's a page-turning suspense.  Page-turning suspense is for EVERY genre.

-        Everyone needs editing.  Everyone.  The scene needs to move the plot!

-        Use critique groups like a salad – choose what fits.  Pay attention of multiple critiquers bring attention to the same issue.

-        Put your first draft away for a month and then review/revise it with fresh eyes.

-        Everything that is real must be right.

-        1 twist for every 2 characters.  3 characters – 2 twists

-        “The palest of ink is better than the best memory” - write stuff down whenever you can!!  Don't try to retain too much in your head.  Get it on the paper.

-        Difference between thriller and mystery – reader knows who the villain is near the beginning in a thriller.  How it's done vs who done it? (mystery)

-        Engage the reader with the main character – with the character reach his/her goal???

-        Mysteries and thrillers are popular because people are naturally problem-solvers.

-        Don't trick the reader, give them an “ah-ha” moment.

-        Raise the stakes.  Something awesome is about to happen—but under certain conditions.  (Ex: (amazing possibility)You can have a million dollars...(condition)but only if you can get to Catalina by noon.)

-        Good suspense depends a great deal on backstory.  But don't use backstory up front!

-        Write the whole story first (try to first plow through to the end, don't agonize forever on the first chapter)—you can always go back later and change/move around/delete things.

-        Use prologues sparingly.  Start off with chapter one.  You have to hook the reader in the first 2 pages.

-        Make the reader care about something, then put it in danger.  Make the stakes high enough to make people care about the character/character's goals.  IF this happens, THEN this happens...

-        If you want to increase the tension, shorten/clip the sentences

-        Create a ticking time bomb—something that must be accomplished, or all is lost!  What is the obstacle?  Throw rocks at your characters.

-        Use senses/setting to generate tension and anticipation (ex: The telephone is off the hook.  A broken window.  Water left running in the sink, etc).

-        Use longer sentences to slow down time

-        Break tension by having something happen (ex: the phone rings)

-        The twists must be more believable than what was previously thought/suspected.

-        If you're going to pull the rug out from under your reader, then give them a place to stand

SCWC: How to Find and Keep the Right Literary Agent

• Find someone that you click with that is genuinely interested in your work and will help you work toward your goals and grow with you. Most important is that you need someone that absolutely believes in your book.
• Find someone that has a good reputation and has successfully sold books
• Background experience: many come from editing background, which is good because they will read fast and can help edit your book. Make sure they have contract experience so they can successfully negotiate a contract and fight for you. Some agents also come from legal backgrounds and sales backgrounds.
• Chuck Sambuchino – Writers' Digest, guide to literary agents. Look for agents that are representing your kind of work, then check out their backgrounds. Make a list of the ones you like, then check out their websites and see if they're open to submissions. Read their submission guidelines. http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents
• Be sure to mention if you've been referred from another agent/agency.
• “Preditors” and Editors: http://pred-ed.com/
• Have a COMPLETE manuscript peer-critiqued (beta-read) and cleaned up before submitting to agent
• Jeff Herman guide to publishers, editors, literary agents: http://www.amazon.com/Hermans-Publishers-Editors-Literary-Agents/dp/140226061X
• There are a lot of good agents that are not listed on the AAR (Association of Author Representatives). http://aaronline.org/
• genre/word count needs to be in query letter, brief description of story, talk about yourself, who you are
• http://thoughtsfromaliteraryagent.blogspot.com/
• http://www.corvisieroagency.com/
• http://querytracker.net/agent.php?agent=2966
• What not to do for queries: don't go straight into the novel contents. Agents want to know genre, word count, and about the author. Don't ramble, agent might lose interest. START with the hook, then get into the synopsis.
• 85,000 words for fiction
• sci fi/fantasy/paranormal 120,000 words
• YA 75,000 words
• NEVER GIVE MONEY TO AN “AGENT”
• Talk to an agent's clients to get a feel for their reputation
• It's not an agent's job to promote a book. Their job is to get your book read by editors/publishers.
• Always be prepared to keep changing your book
• Query multiple agents at the same time, don't waste time and opportunities by querying one at a time (they understand and encourage this). But PERSONALIZE your query letter and DON'T mass-email them all at once.
• Editors pay attention to Amazon/USA Today/NY Times ratings and will scout for self-published authors based on those ratings
• Join/read blogs for your genre. Join communities because they promote each other!!!
• Social-network your ass off
• How do you help your agent help you? How to be a good client: learn as much as possible. Keep writing, go to conferences, take workshops, keep writing, ask your agent how you can help, keep reading. Never too early to start building a platform (why your target audience should read/buy your book).
• Advances are dictated by the size of the publishers. Look up publishers marketplace to see deals that have been made and which agents were used
• Publishers' Weekly releases the advances/deals that were struck

SCWC: Using "What-Ifs" to Flush Out Story

• Really important to get all the questions in your story answered/addressed
• Read your story aloud, record it, and play it back. You will catch a ton of mistakes
• Write quickly so you're always producing. If you have inspiration, you can write quickly. Publishers might want a deal that includes multiple books, even if you don't even have ideas yet for the sequels
• Idea vs inspiration
• Don't skip around in genres when you're first starting out. Have a love for the genre you're writing in. What are you going to bring to the genre that someone else hasn't? Use ideas that create conflict in the story. Be able to differentiate your ideas from others writing in the same genre.
• Shape your idea into a story (slow evolution).
• Layers and ideas – using “what-ifs.” You can save time on world-building by using well-known locations as the setting (Miami, LA, etc). Layer conflicts. Different decisions can be made by characters depending on conflict. Start with “what would happen if...”
• “What then?” Pose questions, then answer a couple or provide more conflict. Everything must have closure at the end unless it's a series!
• Ask more “what ifs” towards the middle of the book. Create a fresh way of looking at your story. (ex: werewolves...what if...there are 2 different types of werewolves?)
• Conflict must be in the first chapter. Book should also end with conflict.
• Readers love questions – pose questions in the book.
• History can be fodder/inspiration. Strange facts in the world.
• “Put your character in a tree, then throw rocks at him.” Think of the worst thing that can possibly happen, then make it happen.
• The “what-if” actually has to do something for the story, don't just toss a bunch of questions out there. Every what-if must be answered.

SCWC: Historical Fiction - How Much Look Up, How Much Make Up?

• What's the attraction of historical fiction? Why did you pick the era you're writing in? Why is it better for the story to take place in this era rather than in present day?
• It has to be plausible in order for a certain amount of disbelief to be suspended
• Write what you know, not what someone else writes
• Pick an era you already know and love
• If you pick an era not a lot of people are familiar with, you can make up a lot more stuff and get away with more.
• If you pick something based around known events, you better make sure you get your facts correct
• Stories are written, books are re-written. The more you re-write them, the better they get.
• Don't do lazy research; don't use hearsay or urban legend as historical “fact”
• How do people communicate in the era you chose?
• Older movies can be more historically accurate than modern movies set in that time period
• Old people are a great source of info! Memories from people that were actually there. Their memories also extend past them, because they have information from others (their parents, grandparents, aunts/uncle etc). Old folks have memories that exceed past their own age. Depending on how old they are, they could have info going back 100+ years.
• Research people that also write in the era you're interested in. Steal their stuff! Not their plots/characters, but their historical info.
• Visit museums that specialize in the period you're interested in
• If you're going to make something up, don't mislead your reader. Is it plausible?
• Don't forget that multiple events can be occurring within the same era, but different parts of the world. Contemporary/parallel events could be interesting together in a story
• Don't put modern idioms/figures of speech/slang into the mouth of a 3^rd century monarch. Don't make speech too modern. It can be tricky to understand vocabulary from the era you're writing about.
• Don't go out of your way to use certain words just to show off
• Less is more—if you use the right words, you can eliminate a lot of extra description (try to take a descriptive paragraph and get the point across in one sentence). Compact your writing.
• You don't have to put everything you know about the era into the book. Keep it relevant/in context to the story. Don't show off how much you know; don't think people will be impressed with how much you know about the era. The point is to write a story, not a compendium of the era (that's what the Notes section is for in the back of the book).
• Only put in the details you need to move the story along, that would put the reader into the story.
• There's only so much you can do when it comes to research and accuracy; if a reader is unhappy with it, oh well.
• Get into a writers' group; but remember that your writing can only be as good as the best writer in the group (so make sure the “best” writer in the group isn't an unpolished putz). If you don't feel like you're getting help from the group, move on.
• You need someone with a critical eye to read your stuff – NOT family/friends
• Put yourself in your characters' heads and think like they would in that time period. Try not to impose modern values/biases on people that thought/believed/behaved differently in their time. Don't fret over being offensive or politically incorrect. People owned slaves, that's just the way it was. Romans crucified Jews, that's just the way it was.
• Previously published works from other eras would likely be extremely difficult to get published in modern day. You have to figure out how to appeal to modern day readers.
• DON'T EVER THROW ANYTHING AWAY. Even the stuff you think is crap.
• Learn your craft and be patient
• Don't expect a big advance from the publisher (if your book does poorly and you don't “earn out,” you could end up owing them money back!)