Someday Box – Page 9 – You know you want to write a book. I can help.

Wine into Water?

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Joel D Canfield

[image: wine into water]As writers, I hope you’re getting some of your marketing savvy from The Story of Telling. Not only is Bernadette brilliant, it’s the most writerly marketing description I know.

In her latest post she writes that “the customers you keep are not just choosing you—you are also choosing them. The fact that you make this choice means you get to do your best work and not the watered down version for people who might care some day.”

I co-authored a book with Rick Wilson called Hits or Niches. The diagram below outlines our shared perspective on why marketing should always aim at a niche and never aim at becoming a hit.

… more … “Wine into Water?”

Structure: A Visual Approach

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Joel D Canfield

[image: David Villalva's Story Blueprint]I love it when someone signs up for my newsletter, I send them the official handwritten welcome note, and then I discover that they’re someone I can learn from as much as they can learn from me.

… more … “Structure: A Visual Approach”

Gathering Structural Support

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Joel D Canfield

I’m gathering resources to create some kind of structure checklist for my writing and wanted to share 3 useful lists and concepts I’ve encountered the past week.

[image: structural support]

… more … “Gathering Structural Support”

My Publishing Philosophy

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Joel D Canfield

Anyone who wants to write a book should, and they have the right to offer it for sale. On the flip side, everyone who buys a book deserves quality.

And the 1st step is the most important.

There’s more. Lots more. If you feel that way too, sign up for my newsletter.

Once Bitten . . . You Stop Sticking Your Hand in the Cage

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Joel D Canfield

[image: pet the cat]In her blog today author Lia London tells a harrowing tale of lies, betrayal, fraud — that wasn’t her latest book, it was her previous publishing efforts.

In a Facebook group I’m part of, someone asked for recommendations for a web designer. I dropped my name on the list, already 100 posts long.

The “where should I host my site?” question is asked often, garnering the same list of responses each time: “GoDaddy!” “Anywhere but GoDaddy!” “HostThingy” “ThingHost” “HostHost” “Hostess Cupcakes” “Charlottezweb” (because I’ll never skip an opportunity to promote Jason’s marvelous hosting, even if it gets lost in the crowd.)

We’re re-watching Longmire from the beginning, hoping the long-awaited 4th season will start the night after we finish the cliffhanger of season 3. In last night’s episode Walt tells Henry the reason he’s pulling fingerprints from a car’s steering wheel instead of having one of his deputies do it: “If you want something done right, you do it yourself.”

Rather than debate the debatable truth of the statement, let’s talk about why we believe that.

… more … “Once Bitten . . . You Stop Sticking Your Hand in the Cage”

In Praise of Robert McKee’s “Story”

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Joel D Canfield

In the past few years I have started, but not finished:

A coming of age story with a strong musical element
The first mystery in a new series with a rather artistic protagonist
The first mystery in a new series with a female protagonist
A Jeeves & Wooster/P. G. Wodehouse-inspired light comedy with a mysterious twist.

They are unfinished, not because they aren’t good, but because I didn’t know how to make the last 1/3 (or 1/2 or 2/3) as good as what was already written.

Not because I don’t know how to use words. Never been a problem. I was reading at college level when I started Kindergarten back in the Jurassic Era.

What I didn’t know was, once you start building a bridge of story from over here and it spans half the chasm, how do you keep it from collapsing into the ravine until you can make it land over there?

In other words, what is the structure of a story?

… more … “In Praise of Robert McKee’s “Story””

Respect Your Reader’s Intelligence

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Joel D Canfield

[image: now where are those rutabaga chips?]When someone tells a joke and then explains the punchline, does it make the joke funnier?

When you’ve made a dumb mistake and someone points it out, is that helpful?

I am reminded of of a scene from John Cleese’s brilliant Fawlty Towers where Basil Fawlty reacts to his wife Sybils’ comments: “Perhaps we can get you on Mastermind; next contestant, Sybil Fawlty from Torquay, special category, The Bleedin’ Obvious!”

… more … “Respect Your Reader’s Intelligence”

Minimum, Conservative, Necessary: Overdoing Character’s Actions

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Joel D Canfield

[image: doing nothing]“Why did they do that?”

When you find yourself wondering why a character in a book or on screen is taking certain action, sometimes the problem is nature.

Nature conserves energy, physical and mental. We don’t take actions which we don’t believe are the minimum conservative necessary action. Our wiring makes us look for the easy solution to whatever comes our way. And if it’s something we can ignore, inaction is the ultimate conservation. We do nothing. Lots of it.

Making our characters do something because it’s good for the story is weak writing. Readers will sense something’s amiss because they instinctively grasp nature’s imperative.

I’m highly unlikely to walk out to the frozen edge of the lake and look around, just so some storyteller can make me find a body and let them get on writing their mystery.

… more … “Minimum, Conservative, Necessary: Overdoing Character’s Actions”