Giving a Webinar--Should You, Could You, Would You? (Part One)

by Linore Burkard

I recently gave my first webinar.

In the past, I'd wondered if it was something I could do, should do, or would do. I am a big proponent of continuously strengthening one's platform, and right off the bat, giving webinars in an area of expertise qualifies as a way to do that. I enjoy teaching, and I have a heart for helping other writers. So what was my hesitation?

The idea of being on camera intimidated me.

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Thou Shalt Outline (Before You Write)

by Linore Rose Burkard

One of the most remarkable "God encounters" of my life happened while I was in college. It was a pressure-crunch week with no less than four essays coming due. For some English Majors that may not be too daunting, but for a perfectionist whose self-esteem depended strongly on getting an A or A+ --every time--I felt sadly doomed. (Melodramatic? Yes--maybe that's why I'm a writer!)

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How to Be an Editor's Dream Writer

by Linore Rose Burkard

Wouldn't we all love to be an editor's dream writer! But what does that mean?
Perhaps it will be useful to examine what it doesn't look like, first.

Ready or Not! Here I Come! 

The Wanna-Be Who Will Never Be

I've met unpublished writers at workshops or conferences who believe they are the dream writer who simply hasn't been discovered yet. They're roving around, searching for some agent or editor to take them on and discover their brilliance.

But here's the thing: They don't really care which agent or publisher. They just want SOME agent, or SOME publisher. And that, in case you didn't catch it,  is evidence from the get-go that they couldn't possibly be the dream writer. A dream writer won't query a publisher or agent who isn't a good fit for them. It's a waste of everyone's time. A dream writer reads guidelines, studies a publisher's catalog, and checks out an agent's blog posts. She knows where she won't be wanted, and thus where she ought to target her efforts.

Here are a few other reasons that some writers are not that dream writer; reasons they won't divvy up right away and possibly never own up to:

1. They're desperate for affirmation and willing to cut corners to get it. 

There's nothing wrong with wanting affirmation. It's natural for human beings to seek positive feedback for what we do. But being desperate for it can make you hurry projects, scribble out queries, seek a publisher or agent too soon, or the wrong publisher or agent, all because of that overwhelming NEED for affirmation. Even if you've waited until the work is relatively clean, the desperation trickles through--it's sort of like trying to hide dirty laundry behind a curtain: It still smells, and it will sour the process, and probably the results (any work that is published).

ANTIDOTE: Pray for guidance and patience while studying the industry. Listen to advice and trust God to lead.


2. They're "done" studying the craft of writing; can't be bothered to get a critique or two and won't receive criticism anyway.  

Once this writer finishes their first book they feel they've "arrived." They are now an author and no one, not no one, is gonna tell them how to improve their craft. Besides, anyone can see their book is perfect already!

ANTIDOTE: Pray for guidance and patience while studying the craft of writing. Listen to advice and trust God to lead. 


3. They write what they think will sell, never mind the market or what industry professionals seem to think. Their book is the exception to every rule. (Isn't it obvious?)

ANTIDOTE: Pray for guidance and patience while studying the market. Listen to advice and trust God to lead.


4. If they acknowledge some errors or sloppiness in their work, so what? The publisher's editor will clean it up. It's what they do, right?   

ANTIDOTE: Pray for guidance and patience while studying the craft. Listen to advice and trust God to lead! 

So what does a dream writer look like?

By contrast, a dream writer continues to study the craft, always learning and striving to improve.
She targets her queries to carefully chosen markets, or publishers or agents. She behaves like a pro even before the big break, getting a professional headshot, a website or quality blog, and invests in the business end of writing.  She has a business card, a reliable email server --and not a cutesy email address, either, like, "susiescribbles@..."--(please forgive me if your name is Susie and you scribble, but you get the idea.). She doesn't wait for success to ACT like success. And, then, when the contract is in hand, she comes through with her manuscripts, on time, every time.

Said manuscripts are squeaky clean--they may need revisions here or there, some polishing of the plot or trimming of fat--but they're not a chore to read, and don't cause undue work for an editor.

In short, professionalism counts. Act like one, and you'll be treated like one. Do the necessary rope climbing to earn that affirmation--and it will come!  

Linore Rose Burkard wrote a trilogy of genuine regency romances for the Christian market before there were any regencies for the Christian market. Her books opened up the genre in the CBA. She also writes YA Suspense/Apocalyptic fiction as L.R. Burkard. Married with five children, she home-schools her youngest daughter, preferably with coffee in one hand and iPad in the other. Her latest book, PULSE, a tale of  apocalyptic suspense, takes readers into a "chilling possible future for America!"

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Write What You Don’t Know: Researching with Passion and Purpose ~ Melanie Dobson

Write What You Don’t Know: Researching with Passion and Purpose

by Melanie Dobson

As a novelist I’ve often been told to “write what I know,” but the truth is I don’t know that much—at least not enough to sustain a career in fiction writing. But I do enjoy learning new things so, when I begin a novel, I slowly put together the pieces of my story puzzle by doing these five things.

1. Surf the Web

Like most novelists, I begin my research online, searching for the seeds of my story. When I started to write Chateau of Secrets, for example, I wondered if there were any Jewish men in Hitler’s army. On Google I discovered that there were probably tens of thousands of Jewish men who were in the Wehrmacht. This startling fact became central to my novel.

In the past fifteen years, I’ve visited locations around the world via computer screen, read countless interviews on a wide range of topics, and connected with multiple experts in my areas of research. Even though the Internet is fantastic for obtaining facts and some sensory details, it’s not my only means of information. As fiction writers, we need to verify what we find online through other types of research as well.

2. Interview Experts and Locals

Most people love to talk about their hobbies or areas of expertise, and if I tell them I write fiction, they’ll often give me more information than I’ll ever need for my story. Or at least, more than I think I’ll need. An interview often changes the direction of a story.

Because I write both historical and contemporary fiction, I’ve interviewed detectives, history buffs, Amish people, and the families of men and women who were part of the French resistance. I’ve spent hours talking to new friends about the inner workings of the Mafia, what it was like to grow up in a religious cult, and the details of living in France when Nazi Germans occupied the country.

One of the most important interviews I ever did was with an Amana woman named Emilie. I asked her a simple question—what were Amana women passionate about in the 19th century? The answer to that question (friendship) shaped my entire novel.

3. Invade the Library

The mansion in my novel Refuge on Crescent Hill was inspired by a derelict brick mansion in Ohio, built before the Civil War. As I tried to find information about this house, the town’s librarian uncovered the mother lode—a research paper written sixty years ago that included pictures, historical detail, and folklore about a secret tunnel that ran underneath the Curtis Mansion. This one paper gave me everything I needed for the details of my fictional house and, like my interview with Emilie, this paper molded my plot.

Newspapers, magazines, diaries, archived research papers, and of course, books provide basics such as how people dressed and what they ate during a specific era. They also give insight on more abstract concepts like how people approached life and what world and cultural events shaped their thinking. Novels set during specific time periods have been an invaluable resource for me as well. My current work in progress  takes place in the 1940s, so I’m reading a stack of World War II novels right now.

4. Explore Museums and Landmarks

Living farms, museums, old houses, and historical villages like Williamsburg or Old Salem offer a unique and educational window to the past. For my historical novels, I learned how to run a printing press in a tourist village, how to cook on the open hearth at a home in Indiana, how to load a rifle at the Oregon Trail Museum in Idaho, and how to drive an Amish buggy at a museum in Ohio. While landmarks and museums are open to the public, many will give private tours to writers, and their tour guides often have accumulated more information in their heads than reference books have between their covers. After a tour, I always ask my guide for their email address so I can send him or her questions as I write.

5. Visit the Location

While Google Maps and Google Earth help writers establish a fantastic sense of place, I still think it’s critical to visit a location to experience the sounds, smells, and even the tastes of a place before describing it on paper. Currently, I am writing European time-slip fiction which means I’ve headed twice across the Atlantic in the past two years. In France, I stayed in the medieval chateau that inspired Chateau of Secrets. For a week, I immersed myself in local life and culture, meeting new people, visiting the historical sites, riding my bike around the villages, sipping espresso and—the toughest part of the job—eating chocolate croissants. I flew home with a folder filled with detailed notes, and from my experiences emerged a story set outside the beautiful Norman village of Saint-Lo.

When I researched for Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana, I spent days exploring hidden spaces in homes near Liberty that had once been stations along the Underground Railroad. I drove through the surrounding forest at night, and when I stepped out into the darkness, the owls hooted and the cloud cover masked the stars. My heart raced, and I felt terribly alone—a glimpse of what a runaway slave might have felt like in that horrible blackness, pursued by a slave hunter and his dogs.

Since I always visit my main settings, the layout and details of a place are rooted in my mind so when it’s time to start writing, I don’t have to worry about the location. I can get completely lost in my story instead.

By ardently researching both online and off what we don’t know, I hope that we, as fiction writers, are able to expand our interests, meet new people, travel to interesting places, and through our stories, take readers on a journey with us so we can learn together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Melanie Dobson is the award-winning author of 14 historical romance, suspense and contemporary novels. Dobson and her husband, Jon, enjoy living in the Pacific Northwest with their two daughters. When she isn’t writing or playing with her family, Dobson enjoys exploring ghost towns, line dancing and reading historical fiction.

You can connect with Melanie at:

Facebook: Melanie-Dobson | Twitter:  @MelBDobson  | Web:  www.melaniedobson.com  

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