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Writing in Layers with Hallee Bridgeman
Hallee shares with us the layering technique she’s developed to write a 100,000 word novel in four weeks. This is just the writing. She allows another four weeks for characterization development and edits. Not only does Hallee share why she uses this method, but gives some very practical how tos as well. This is episode is full of great information and resources you don’t want to miss, so click the link below and check it out.
Watch the August 4th replay
Leverage the General Market without Feeling Like a Sell-Out with Ashley L. Jones
Are you a faith-based author looking to publish in the general market? In this episode of Writers Chat, Ashley shares her experiences writing the book, Modern Cast Iron. This book was not part of her plan, but one “God downloaded”. Often as writers we have story or nonfiction ideas, but sometimes God has other plans in mind. If this is you or you are curious about the general market, be sure to catch the replay of this episode.
Watch the August 11th replay.
Bios
Hallee Bridgeman is a best-selling Christian author of action-packed romantic suspense, with nearly a million sales. She has served as the Director of the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, President of the Faith-Hope-Love chapter of the Romance Writers of America, is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), American Christian Writers (ACW), and Novelists, Inc. (NINC). She’s an accomplished speaker who’s taught and inspired writers around the globe. You can connect with her on social media or at www.halleebridgeman.com.
Ashley L. Jones, author, blogger, and teacher, but her favorite title is Big Sister. Believing we all have something worth sharing she began her blog Big Sister Knows to encourage other young women to live their life with gusto. You can connect with Ashely on social media or at www.bigsisterknows.com.
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This is the first post
in my editing series in 2020 for how to develop a great story by having all the
layers in place before actually writing, or if you’ve already written your
book, how to make sure all the layers are in place.
The first layer in
developing a great story is finding the felt need.
We all have needs. We
have a need for sleep, sustenance, and sunshine. Your readers have needs, such
as reading a soul-stirring good book. Your characters have needs like how to
move forward in a relationship or making it through a congested highway in time
to punch the clock. And do all those needs need to match? Not really, but they
should at least mesh in some way. If you don’t know why your readers are
reading your book, then what’s the point? You don’t have an engaged audience,
you can’t sell books, and you just aren’t going anywhere, eh? Well, I want you
and your books to go somewhere! 🙂
Recently, one writer
lamented that the qualities necessary for a good nonfiction book were clearly
not the same as the qualities necessary for a fiction book. Readers of fiction,
they said, do not specifically read to meet their “need.” Okay, so I can see
what they’re saying, but I respectfully disagree.
While it’s somewhat
true to that fiction readers don’t read because they have a flaming need,
readers of fiction read because they enjoy a good story. And as writers who
care about writing good stories, we must give readers what they’re looking for,
what they’re craving. The next few paragraphs presents several ways to easily
find the felt need in your fiction manuscript.
How
to Find the Felt Need
why are you writing this particular story?
what do you want readers to come away with at the end of the
story?
how do the answers to the above questions play into your
characters’ lives?
Why Are You Writing this
Particular Story?
If you’re writing for
the sake of writing, that’s a good cause, but if you’re writing because you
have an urgent message to share with the world, that’s an even better cause.
Sometimes a book explores an issue to seek to uncover the lie
and expose the truth, as in To Kill A Mockingbird. Sometimes a book is meant to show the reader
what is most important, such as in Where the Red Fern Grows. And sometimes a book is just fun and
lighthearted, with a loose message threaded throughout, like Cranford.
What Do You Want Readers to
Come Away With?
Every story has a “so what?” factor, whether it’s an essay,
article, nonfiction, or fiction. Every story has a purpose, even if it’s to
have a good, hearty laugh (like the ladies do in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford) or to integrate the romance factor as
in The Great Gatsby.
In my essay, “The Meaning of an Heirloom,” in The Horse of My Dreams (Revell 2019), I wanted readers to come away with the idea
that an heirloom extends beyond the space of something tangible; an heirloom
could be intangible—and have a lasting impact on the world and others.
Each author benefits
from exploring this “why” question when crafting their novel because it’s
really the secret sauce to writing a great story that captivates people,
agents, editors, readers, marketers, and the person who wouldn’t necessarily
pick up a book and read it.
A Few Examples
In The Baggage Handler by David Rawlings, the characters are on a journey of
discovery about who they really are and the baggage they carry. I believe the
author wanted readers to be at peace with their relationships in all kinds of
spaces.
Under Moonlit Skies (Prairie Skies series) by Cynthia Roemer seeks to empower
readers that self-acceptance is more powerful than romantic love.
The theme of Sarah Sundin’s Sunrise at Normandy series is about forgiveness, and each main character (The Sea Before Us [2018], The Sky Above Us [2019], and The Land Beneath Us [2020]) must forge their own forgiveness
path as they interact with each other and experience different situations that
speak to their own needs.
So … as you’re editing
your manuscript’s “felt need” and crafting your novel and its purpose to better
serve your current readers and your future readers, I hope this bit of
explanation is helpful to you.
Questions? Comments?
I’d love to engage in the conversation with you! Drop your question or comment
in the chat below, and I’ll look forward to responding!
Your Turn!
What is your character’s felt need? What is your story’s “why”?
What do you want your readers to come away with by the end of
reading your book?
(Please, no retelling what the book is *about.)
Tisha Martin writes historical fiction and nonfiction but edits full time for beginning and best-selling writers and
publishing houses. Since 2017 she has worked on over 250 books, including Planned from the Start,
the devotional companion to Unplanned the movie, and serves as
contest judge for Writer’s Digest. She puts her bachelors in Professional Writing, masters in English Education, and editing certificate
from the PEN Institute to delightful good use. Her nonfiction essay “The Meaning of an Heirloom” in The Horse of My Dreams: True Stories of the
Horses We Love is available from Revell. She enjoys speaking at writer’s conferences and coaching writers in the self-editing process. Learn more at www.tishamartin.com.
