Tag: amy sue nathan

The care and feeding of secondary characters

Where would Gatsby without Daisy? Or Scarlett without Melanie? How could Harry have managed without Ron and Hermione? What if Hamlet had taken Polonius’ good advice?

Secondary characters.  There’s no story without them, but I think too many of us don’t give them the limelight they deserve.

I’m thinking a lot about my supporting cast these days as I work on my novel rewrite. Lucky for me, Amy Sue Nathan devoted a post to the topic during her Thirty Days of Writing Advice series in April.

Amy’s got the month-long series archived, so check it out.

I’m calling out Amy’s terrific advice on how to treat secondary characters, and why it matters. That’s how much I like it.

From Amy:

TWO TIPS FOR SECONDARY CHARACTERS

Your secondary characters need love too, and they need to be as carefully created as your main character — just don’t tell her.

My two biggest tips for creating engaging secondary characters are:

Each secondary character must have her own arc.

To me, this means, a little story of their own going on — a subplot if you will, a storyline. Each must have her own beginning, middle, end. That character doesn’t know she’s in someone else’s story!! But…

Each secondary character must to serve the main character’s story. 

EVERYTHING in your novel helps to drive the main story forward, even a secondary character’s personal storyline. Ask yourself HOW it does this to make sure, but more importantly ask yourself WHY.

This is something hard to do but easy to check. Go back through your manuscript or outline and focus on your main secondary characters (not the townspeople, as I call them). Note what she’s doing in a scene — why is she there? How is her own story being furthered? How is it impacting the protagonist and the main storyline?

 

 

 

 

 

 

–Karen

30 days of writing advice

We love author Amy Sue Nathan at womensfictionwriters.com

Amy is funny and real and full of good advice.

This month, you can take daily advantage of Amy’s insights, as she embarks on:

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Cathy and I will both be checking in daily with Amy. Join us? At the end, we can share what we found most helpful.

Cheers,

–Karen

 

Dog Days of Inspiration…

Writing during these high days of summer can be a tough proposition. Who wants to write when sunny skies, sandy beaches, and watermelon beckon? Luckily for us, our friend Amy Sue Nathan at Women’s Fiction Writers launched the 31 Days of Inspiration series this month.

Amy will  be posting a bit of inspiration every day. As she puts, “I’m talking about what motivates me to write or nudges me to polish a scene or edges me closer to a good idea ON THAT PARTICULAR DAY.”

Sounds good to us! Amy’s new book deal was announced in Publisher’s Marketplace. We’re looking forward to her novel, “The Last Bathing Beauty.”

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–Karen

Forget Me Not

(From Karen)

So, yes, I’m once again sharing a post from Women’s Fiction Writers. We should really pay them a royalty.

Like most writers, I struggle to stay organized and keep my lines from getting tangled when I’m working on a long piece of fiction—like my new novel. So many details, so many threads to remember and keep straight.

Outlines and notes help, but author Amy Sue Nathan relies on a handy method to index the issues.

Sometimes it’s the little tips that help a lot.

Read on

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Advice For a Monday Morning

good_advice_mutt–From Karen:

Okay, I’m sharing this image just because I love it. Welcome to a new week!

I’m sharing this post from one of our favorite blogs, Women’s Fiction Writers, because I think you’ll love it. Women’s Fiction Writers Blogstress Amy Sue Nathan has just published her second novel! Check it out and support a sister.

In this post, veteran author Cathy Lamb shares her publishing history and some unconventional advice. DEFINITELY worth a read.

An exerpt:

“Your packet out to agents, online or by snail mail, looks like this: Cover letter, one page. Twenty pages of your story. Synopsis, one page.

Send this packet out to ten agents at a time. Yes, I did say ten. Everything you hear or read, here or on Jupiter, will tell you to send your partial manuscript to one agent at a time. Don’t follow that rule either. As you can see, I don’t really like rules. Too confining, too dull.

Why submit to multiple agents at the same time? Many agents will never, ever respond to you or your pages. Other agents will take months to read it. With others, the rejection slips will come back so fast, you will think the agent didn’t even read your book. And, he may not have. He may not be taking on clients.

Want more mean truths?  An agent will read the first paragraph of your work, MAYBE the first page, of your book, before he tosses it if his attention is not grabbed. If he likes the first paragraph, he reads the first page, then the second page, then the third.

He knows QUICKLY if your book is something he can sell to a publishing house. They’re experienced, they’re smart, they’re efficient. Never forget: They are BURIED in manuscripts.”