Meghan Montero: On Storytelling

Used with permission from Unsplash by Nong Vang

Happy belated Monday readers!

I have some exciting news for you: this week we have our very first guest blogger! As I have gotten to know more people in the writing world, many, like me, are trying to create a small corner of the world in which we can use our creativity and share our thoughts on writing, editing, publishing, and even simply swapping book suggestions. Amidst all of this, I thought “why not invite others to share in our space?” That’s how I met Meghan.

Through a random connection between our grandmothers, similar to how most networking happens, I reached out to Meghan to learn more about what she is working on and start a conversation. After our first few email strains, she told me about a conference she was attending--a writing conference hosted by her local library in Orange County, Florida. I asked if she would be interested in taking some notes and writing up a summary of what she learned to share with you all!

Without further ado, here’s Meghan.

~M

Greetings readers,

First and foremost, a big thanks to both Madison and Kathy for giving me the opportunity to be the first guest blogger to post on their site. As for introductions, my name is Meghan, and I’m a creative writing enthusiast and recent graduate from the University of Central Florida. Writing is my passion, and once you get me started talking about it, it’s hard to get me to stop. A friend of mine and I have also started a project of our own detailing the do’s and don’ts of creative writing, similar to some of the other blog posts you can find here. Anyways, on to what I have to share for this week.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a writer’s conference at my local library (something which I was woefully unaware they host rather frequently). As someone who is more used to writing workshops, I was expecting something entirely different; a bunch of writers in a room, separated by their genre of choice, doing quick writing exercises and sharing their styles and/or getting feedback for things they have previously written. Instead I was reminded more of my college days; an hour-long lecture full of writers, complete with slide show presentations, sitting in silence taking in all of the information, and leaving five minutes for additional questions at the end (but in a good way).

The event was well attended, so much so I almost wasn’t able to get in the door, but I did manage to sneak in at the last minute. Over a dozen professional writers, editors, and the like were presenting helpful advice to both seasoned and novice writers alike. It was one of those times where I wish I had the power to be in more than one place at the same time, just because there were so many of the presentations I wanted to go to. Rather than go back and forth to each one for fear of missing some other useful information from another, I just stuck to one presentation at a time based on what most interested me or what I thought would be most beneficial to help strengthen my own writing. I took pages of notes, all of which I found extremely useful, but I’ll try picking out only the most useful tips to keep this from becoming a dissertation-sized post.

The first session I sat in on was Get the Most Out of Self-Editing. Essentially, the session was about how to go about making changes to your work that improves it, making it the most presentable when submitting to publishers. Possibly the best piece of advice to encourage people who are seeking publication is that all rules are made to be broken…. Well, that is to say that everyone tells their stories in different ways, but if a story breaks the rules of convention and does it well, a publisher might make an exception. Don’t break rules just for the sake of breaking them, though; do it only if it benefits your story. Publishers often read a lot of the same kinds of stories, so it’s nice when they get a breath of fresh air every once and awhile. But you can also run the risk of looking like you don’t know what you’re doing if you go breaking rules all willy-nilly or trying to make your writing stick out for the wrong reasons.

It’s hard enough as it is getting a publisher interested in a story in the first place, the last thing you want to do is make a bad first impression. The key to getting a publisher’s attention (or any reader’s, for that matter) is to hook your readers within the first five pages of your novel (or within the first few paragraphs if it’s a short story that’s only a few pages long). A good story should be told by its characters, not by you, so to speak. I’m sure everyone has heard the term “show, don’t tell” (and trust me it gets really old really fast), but the most important thing when telling a good story is to stay active with your writing. Remember, people want to feel like they’re a part of the action when reading, not feel like they’re being talked at.

If you’re ever unsure if you’re using passive voice too much, or aren’t sure how a particular part sounds, you can always read it out loud to yourself. When in doubt, ask someone you know to beta read for you (just be sure it’s not your mother or another relative, they are too biased). Keep in mind that certain people only like certain things, so if you feel like the feedback you’re getting changes the story too much, or if you don’t like tough love, find a different beta reader until you find someone you get along well with. Don’t get discouraged if you get a rejection letter from a publisher; that doesn’t mean that your story isn’t good, it just means that that particular publisher probably wasn’t the best fit for your story. Editing as a whole isn’t an exact science, it takes a lot of trial and error until everything turns out just right.

Having a good hook to your story only half the battle, however; an equally important part of a good story is having a good ending. If a reader doesn’t like your ending, they are less likely to recommend your book or story to someone else. That’s why I decided to go to the Satisfying Endings presentation next.

As someone who struggles with the endings to my own stories, I found this one to be especially helpful. A lot more goes in to the finale of a story than you might think. You’ve probably heard the term “begin with the end in mind” before. While it can be hard to have an idea of how you might want to end a story early on in the writing process, it is possible to start laying the foundation for your ending early. A story should begin by asking a question; by the end it should have answered that question (and leave another question open for a sequel if applicable, but avoid cliffhangers as those can feel anticlimactic and cheap).

Another thing to keep in mind is that plot twists can make or break a story, and if not done right might run the risk of seeming like a trick ending instead. A plot twist shifts perspective based on what a reader knows about a story. A trick, on the other hand, either falsifies information or suddenly brings in information that was not in the story before. Deus ex Machinas, for example, can feel more like a trick to a reader because they rely on things conveniently happening rather than using elements that had previously been established in the story to overcome the conflict. If at all possible, try echoing the beginning in some way. If your hook was good, then it will make the ending sound good as well (that’s more of a suggestion than a rule; depending on the type of story it is, you may see fit to end it some other way). Most importantly, there’s no need to rush to the end, or any part in your story, for that matter; the pace of your story is just as important as any plot point.

While having the perfect ending is important, having your facts straight is equally important to any good story. That’s why I decided to go to the Kill Your Darlings: Writing Effective Fight Scenes seminar next. I was expecting something along the lines of “don’t be afraid to kill off your characters, but do it for a good reason, not just for dramatic effect or because you got bored with a character and don’t know any other way to write them out of your story” (looking at you, George R.R. Martin).

Contrary to my belief, however, the presentation ended up being about the importance of doing your research. For example, if your story happens to involve guns, be familiar with how they work and how the different types would affect a scene; or if your story uses swords or a bladed weapon, be familiar with the terminology about the types of damage it will inflict. Don’t be afraid to go to a manufacturer's website to find out specific details, or reach out to a professional to ask question; some may even read your stories to give more specific feedback. One incorrect detail can derail the immersion for a reader, which may lead to a bad review of your story, and even one bad review can dissuade others from picking up your work.

Other things to keep in mind include, but are not limited to: if you have a background in martial arts, use that to your advantage; if it’s a fist fight, someone is going to end up on the ground; if someone pulls a knife, someone’s getting cut; who would win if someone brought a knife to a gunfight? Depends on how close they are. The list goes on, but the biggest thing to remember is that pretty much anything goes as long as it’s believable. No one likes doing homework, but fact checking is an important part of making a good story.

By this point you’ve got everything you need to have a good book, so now what? According to the hilariously titled How to Get in Bed with the Publisher Without Losing Your Shirt presentation, the next step should be to get an agent. Well, it’s an option, anyways. Agents know the publishing business best and can help you navigate the proper channels in order to get your own stories published. It would also be wise to hire a Literary Attorney in order to help interpret the language in any contracts you may receive from a publisher. Of course, there are plenty of other options to pursue these days, too. Joining the Author’s Guild, or familiarizing yourself enough with the business, are two such options. Self-publishing has become quite popular in recent years, and is a perfectly viable resource, but it is still important to familiarize yourself with the way the publishing industry works before jumping right in.

Whichever route you decide to take while publishing, the biggest thing to remember is to get everything in writing. Any offers, and especially contracts, should be put into writing before moving forward with any deal. Don’t be pressured to sign on to anything if you don’t understand what you’re getting yourself in to; you don’t have to take the first offer a publisher gives you. Even if you decide to self-publish (especially if you’re self-publishing), get a contract with everyone involved, and you should bring any deal sheets or memos to a literary attorney, so they can help break down the details for you. Almost everything is negotiable, but be aware of what you’re agreeing to; don’t just give up full control of your story over to the publisher.

But maybe writing full length novels isn’t your style, or you want to try making a living off your writing by selling short stories instead? Well then, you’d like The Perfect Morsel: Selling Short Fiction seminar that I finished the conference with.

Writing short stories can greatly help improve novel writing because short stories contain most storytelling elements needed to make a good novel, but force you to be much more conservative with your writing, and helps trim the fat, so to speak. At its core all stories require a protagonist, a problem/tangible goal, and an additional problem that is emotional or internal for your characters to overcome by the end. There are tons of ways to structure a story depending on the type of story you are trying to tell. For example, the most common type of story structure in short story writing is the Try-Fail Cycle. This kind of structure requires your protagonist to encounter a problem, try to overcome the problem, fail to resolve anything, try again in a slightly different way, and fail again. The character experiences growth from their failures or finds insight to finally solve their problem, try one more time, and either succeed or fail conclusively. The point being that something has to change in your story. It may take a few rounds of revisions to get everything just right (which is true with any writing). Again, you may want to seek out beta readers to get some critiques (assuming they know you well enough that they won’t give polishing advice vs story advice). Ask your readers specific questions, like: A) what is believable? B) what doesn’t make sense? C) what needs to be fixed from a storytelling perspective?

Once you’ve finished a story and you feel confident about how it turned out, the next step is to start submitting to magazines (or other forms of publication). Generally, magazines pay around 5¢ per word, which may not seem like a lot, but just think about it. If your story is about 2,500 words, that’s $125. Thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com is a great place to start submitting; it gives users the ability to filter literary magazines by genre, how much they pay for stories, and what method they accept transcripts (these days it’s usually electronically, but there are some that still accept snail mail). It even provides statistics about how many submissions they get and how many get accepted and how long response time is, if you’re curious about that sort of thing.

Personally, I would recommend browsing around and picking up a few magazines that you think might appeal to you and give them a read to get a feel for the kinds of stories that they accept before making a decision on where you want to start sending stories to. A good writer is a good reader, after all. When you’ve finally found a magazine you want to submit to, be sure to keep your cover letters short and to the point. Editors have enough they have to read as it is; they may be dissuaded to read your story if you try selling your story too hard. A simple:

Dear editors,

Please consider my (word count) story, (story name) for publication.

Thank you for your time/consideration.

(Signed)

Is good enough. If you’ve been published before (especially if it’s a magazine/publication that is well known or gets a lot of recognition) you can certainly mention that as well, it would certainly help your case, but don’t go overboard with it. Even if you’re looking to get a book published, nothing promotes you better than having your name out there for people to find.

Trust me, I can go on and on and on about this stuff all day, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome. My suggestion to everyone out there is if you really feel like you’re missing out or want to find out more about being a writer, check out your local library to see if they will be hosting any writer’s conferences. Writing conventions and workshops are also a good place to go if you want more hands-on experience with the in’s and out’s and other technical details that go in to writing stories (both novel length and short stories). If large crowds aren’t your thing, maybe joining a small writing group is more your style (or even start one up with your friends if you’re more comfortable with that). If you prefer the anonymity of the internet, I guarantee you can find a group to join on any social media site if you do a little digging, especially ones that are focused on a specific genre or certain themes that might interest you in a story.

Anyways, that about sums up my experience from the writer’s conference. There was a lot of great information to process, and there is certainly a lot more I can tell you, but I don’t want to completely overwhelm everybody (if I haven’t already), so I’ll leave it at that for now. I hope you found the advice as helpful as I did.

Thanks for reading,

Meghan