Wow. It’s been one year since I first posted my Monster Cookie recipe on www.malenalott.com as part of my book promotion last year. To celebrate one of my favorite holidays, I’m re-posting it here because it’s perfect holiday cookie. Enjoy!
I used to believe that “page turners” were for mystery and suspense novels. After many workshops and mini-lectures from industry folks over the years, I finally “got” that ALL books are supposed to be page turners. All genres. The gist is simple -what will make the reader eagerly turn the page, their eyes racing across the page, their breath suspended until they get to the next page. What will make it UNPUTDOWNABLE. Try some of these on for size:
1. At the end of the chapter, begin a conflict that must be resolved in the next chapter.
2. Leave the reader hanging, wondering if what they thought might happen will happen. How will the character get out of the mess?
3. Create a character that the reader cares about and give him/her situations that will bring lots of layered conflict and surprises.
4. Write saucy dialogue that pulls the reader in. Dialogue reads faster than narrative.
5. Limit the exposition. Too much narrative can slow the story down, thus decreasing the page-turnerishness. (I know that’s not a word. I made it!)
6. Throw lots of orange cones in the road. The mini-conflicts are almost as important as your major one. Progress is made and oops- another hurdle. The reader gets this uh-oh and then oh-yeah as each cone is maneuvered.
7. Keep your sub-plots interesting, too. If it’s not, dump it along the side of the road. As in, take the whole sub-plot out.
Happy writing everyone!
Malena Lott is the author two novels, The Stork Reality and Dating da Vinci. She is also the editor of Athena’s Bookshelf. She thinks the world would be a better place if everyone read a book a month.
Is it just me or has the quality of books really spiked this year? Something is happening because more and more of the books I’m sent to review are really, really good. (I’ve read around 30+ books so far in ’09.) Well-written, interesting, and timely, both in the non-fiction and fiction selections. You can simply peruse the past reviews on this site in ’09 to get a taste of them.
You may have heard that the movie industry is doing really well right now during this recession thingamajob. Most likely because we need an escape and movies are pretty inexpensive compared to, say, a trip somewhere. Soooo, why aren’t book sales on the rise, too? Paperbacks are less than the price of a movie and with discounts, even trade paperbacks and hardbacks are affordable. What can lil ol’ you do?
A) Buy a book.
B) REALLY important: talk up books to your co-workers and friends. Instead of watercooler talk like, HAVE YOU SEEN ANY MOVIES LATELY? Try this intellectual ask: READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? If they say no (shame!) then you can reply – OH, WELL I JUST READ “BLANK” AND IT WAS GREAT. Ask what types of books they like and perhaps you’ll have recommendations for them.
Now, you don’t offer to loan it to them. (What if they took it to the toilie or bath with them?) They can go purchase a copy. If you’re online as much as I am, then you could send links to your friends of great books you’ve read or just an e-mail with some suggestions. We must make books a part of the daily conversation. Reading makes us smarter and yes, it’s a good escape, too.
Here are some books I just read, which I paid for at my local indie, that I’d like to recommend for good weekend reads:
For the recent divorcee: WIFE GOES ON by Leslie Lehr
For the young mom: BRIGHT SIDE OF DISASTER by Katherine Center
For a mod-lit cultural read: ORANGE MINT & HONEY by Carleen Brice
For a Hawaiian escape: THE SWEET LIFE by Mia King
There. It wasn’t the water cooler, but I am sitting here with my cinnamon coffee.
BONUS: Today I’m being roasted over at bookroast.blogspot.com. Come over and leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of DATING DA VINCI. Great site for book lovers!
Now go and have a fabulous weekend! – Malena Lott
God bless Google. Seriously, if it weren’t for the Internet it would take me forev-ah to write a book instead of just short of forev-ah. Research is a critical component in writing a book, whether fiction or non-fiction. That’s the case even if you are writing about something you already know a lot about it. When I wrote The Stork Reality, about a career woman’s journey to motherhood, I was in the process of having babies numbers one, two and three (that book did take forev-ah and a day). YET, I still needed to get all my facts straight in the book so as not to mislead the reader about pregnancy facts and whatnot.
For Dating da Vinci, my Nov. ’08 release about a young widow’s journey to joy, I did even more research, because though I had studied Leonardo da Vinci for five years, I didn’t have all the facts memorized and wasn’t sure what bits would end up in the novel. And that’s the key word – BITS. You don’t want the research to smack the reader over the head. You weave it in as necessary to make the story believable.
The big tip? Don’t waste too much time with research. If you spend say six hours of research when you got all the facts you needed in two, you could’ve spent that extra four hours writing. I know, cause I’ve done it. It’s tempting to get swept away with it all, but soooo not necessary. For my current project, my characters travel to different countries – countries I’ve never been to. I’m so fascinated by it that I tend to want to keep reading and following link after link after link, even though I don’t “need” it. I literally have to have the good writing angel jump off my shoulder and slap the laptop shut on my fingers.
Good luck, and get back to writing!
Malena Lott has written two novels,The Stork Reality and Dating da Vinci, and is the editor of Athena’s Bookshelf.
Writer or not, studying body language can be a great tool to better understand human behavior. If you are a writer, then paying attention to body language is a great way to improve your writing skills, enhancing your scenes, adding great character, and livening up dialogue.
1. Take a notebook with you everywhere. When you’re speaking to someone (stranger or not), pay close attention to the way they stand, tilt their head, smile. Especially note what people do when they are stressed, unhappy, angry. Sometimes we say more with our bodies than we ever do with our words. Write down what you see. Taking this tip to the mall or other crowded venue is great, too. In a restaurant, note the couples that look “in love.” It’s also pretty easy to tell the ones headed for divorce court, too.
2. Keep a file of these body cues in your computer or a physical file for the next time you’re writing a story or scene that involves a particular emotion. Nothing says, “realistic” like plucking body language from real life.
3. Did you know that there are certain universal cues about flirting, too? In my novel, Dating da Vinci, Ramona is a linguist, studying the language of love. She discovers that women tilt their heads and toss their hair and stick out their chests when flirting. They also tend to try to touch the person they are attracted to. Men “strut” by sticking out their chests, putting their hands above their heads (touching their hair, rubbing their neck) and frequently locking eyes with the woman they are attracted to. Even weirder: it’s sub-conscious behavior! So pay attention to your mate. Is he flirting with you, or that cute waitress?
Good luck and happy writing. See you next Tuesday with another writing tip.