If you’re like me, you treasure your writing bookshelf, the volumes that have survived the onset of the Internet and stand loyally by, ready to be perused or referred to. Below are some of the titles I treasure most. Are they on your shelf? If not, they’re worth checking out.

The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers, 15th edition. Over the years, the “Chicago Manual,” as it’s commonly referred to, has become the primary reference for publishing professionals including authors, editors, indexers, proofreaders, copy editors and book designers. Open it up to a random page and you may find yourself lost for hours.

The Lively Art of Writing by Lucile Vaughan Payne. I’ve loved this book since I first devoured it when I was eleven years old. This classic, originally published in 1965, succinctly covers subjects such as choosing a subject and structuring sentences and paragraphs. This is not a book specifically about fiction writing, but all writers will find it helpful.

Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. Like the Chicago Manual, this is a book that publishing professionals use as a standard. In fact, the Chicago Manual itself prefers it. (When a word has several accepted spellings, the Chicago Manual opts for the first, or preferred, spelling.)

Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams. Do you like rules as much as I do? Then this book is for you. It gives concrete advice on improving every aspect of your writing, from macro considerations such as “sequencers” and “topicalizers” (words, phrases and sentences that lead your reader through your text) to the nitty-gritty of the sentences’ structure and word order. Like The Lively Art of Writing, this is a book for all kinds of writers, not just novelists.

If any of these books is missing from your writer’s bookshelf, consider purchasing it or adding it to your holiday wish list.

What are your favorites?

In my Marshall Plan® books I have always recommended writing the genre you love to read. It gives you several advantages. First, the passion you have for reading a particular genre carries over into the writing. Second, you’ll already have a good idea of what’s been done and what hasn’t.

But what if you read several genres? Or what if you’re looking for a new genre to love? There’s an old saying: “It’s as easy to fall in love with a rich man as with a poor one.” Similarly, it’s as easy to fall in love with a “hot” genre as with a “cold” one.

Here, then, is a rundown on a few of the hot genres editors are hankering for more of.

Urban Fantasy

In urban fantasy novels, supernatural beings/creatures living among “regular” people in a world that seems normal, but really isn’t. Some of the more popular writers in this genre have series in which the main character appears in more than one novel. According to Kensington Publishing, “There are no set rules when it comes to these novels. The more creative and imaginative, the better!” Publishers will consider urban fantasy novels featuring female protagonists but will consider projects with male protagonists, too. The series character can be human or inhuman (i.e., vampire, werewolf, shapeshifter, etc.). Some authors in this genre are Mark Henry, Jess Haines, Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher and Karen Chance.

Changes, Book #12 in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

African American

This market embraces novels in virtually every genre, from humor to drama to romance to suspense. There are publishers specializing in books for the African American market, such as Genesis Press and Urban Books, as well as imprints such as Amistad at HarperCollins, Dafina at Kensington and Kimani at Harlequin. Some leading names are Kimberla Lawson Roby, Carl Weber, E. Lynn Harris and Mary B. Morrison. Writers in this genre are nearly always African American themselves. 

Big Girls Do Cry by Carl Weber

The Right Wedding Gown by Shirley Hailstock

Dark Teen

These aren’t your parents’ young-adult novels. With utter frankness, the newly dark and stark teen (12-17) novels address such brutally real subjects as arson, violence, anorexia, terrorism, disfigurement, sexual abuse and mental illness. Some writers carry these elements into the paranormal; most of us are aware of Stephenie Meyer’s ”Twilight” vampire series. In 2008 Suzanne Collins published The Hunger Game, a novel set in a dystopian future where teens are pitted against each other in televised death matches. Some popular authors are Maggie Stiefvater, P.C. Cast, Alyson Noel and Sara Shepard.

Perfect by Sara Shepard

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Amish Romance

These super-chaste “bonnet rippers” (a play on “bodice rippers”) are a G-rated subcategory of Christian/Inspirational fiction. In Amish romances, readers expect a safe, gentle read. The sexiness nearly always goes only as far as a few kisses. Plots often center on an Amish man or woman who falls in love with someone outside the Amish community. These novels are so popular that we are starting to see Amish thrillers and Amish murder mysteries. Interestingly, Amish novels are becoming popular among the Amish themselves—the women, for the most part—who admit to reading the books “under the covers” because many Amish leaders condemn the books. A few authors to watch in this genre are Beverly Lewis (who started it all), Cindy Woodsmall and Wanda E. Brunstetter.

A Cousin’s Promise by Wanda E. Brunstetter

The Bridge of Peace by Cindy Woodsmall

Issue-Driven Women’s Fiction

These upscale, intelligently written novels deal with problems real women face in their lives. For example, Jodi Picoult’s House Rules tackles Asperger’s syndrome; in several of her novels Emily Griffin addresses infidelity. Randy Susan Meyers’ The Murderer’s Daughters opens with young Lulu finding her mother dead and her sister wounded at the hands of their alcoholic father, who has failed at killing himself after attacking the family. You get the picture. Some authors to check out, in addition to Picoult, Griffin and Meyers: Lori Lansens, Robin Antalek and Pam Lewis.

The Girls by Lori Lansens

A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve

Comfort Food Cozies

We all know what cozy mysteries are–mystery novels that eschew gore and violence in favor of knitting and cats. Well, a cozy subcategory has appeared and is currently enjoying enormous success: the cozy featuring down-home food. Joanne Fluke’s mysteries feature bakery owner and part-time sleuth Hannah Swensen; each book in the series bears the name of a sweet treat: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, Apple Turnover Murder and so on. JoAnna Carl writes the Chocoholic Mysteries, Cleo Coyle the Coffee House Mysteries, and on and on it goes. The trick is coming up with something new, and something you know well, because more often than not these novels contain lots of sumptuous recipes. Readers look forward to reading and trying them, so any recipe you insert in your cozy food yarn had better be carefully tested. Also check out: Diane Mott Davidson, Avery Aames (cheese), Jessica Beck (doughnuts) and Laura Childs (tea).

Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle

Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Remember, write what you love. John Scognamiglio, editor-in-chief of Kensington Publishing, sums it up nicely: “Yes, there are many hot genres in bookstores right now, but when it comes down to it, authors need to write a book that they’re passionate about. If they’re not, it shows in the writing and an editor can always pick up on that. Don’t go through the motions. Write what you want to write but always be aware that you’re going to need to aim it at a particular niche market.”

A lot has been written about the proper way to approach a literary agent. Equally helpful, I think, are some guidelines on how not to approach an agent. Do any of the following and you’ll be sure to turn an agent right off.

Educate him about publishing. Why do some writers feel compelled to begin their query letters with a lesson about publishing? “Vampire novels have never been more popular,” one of these letters might read. Agents know these things. They’re agents! Don’t give us publishing lessons; assume we know something.

Do something really outlandish to get her attention. The other day a query letter arrived in a bottle. The postal service actually delivered a bottle with an address label on it. Once I finally got the tightly rolled letter out of the bottle, I had a hell of a time getting it to lie flat. Once I did, I saw that the book being queried about wasn’t something I handle (see also “Send him the kind of book he doesn’t handle” below). I’ve seen it all–letters dowsed in perfume, letters written on glass, boxes full of confetti, a vial of real blood (I think) enclosed with a vampire manuscript. Doing these things will get the agent’s attention, but it’s not the kind of attention you want. Just send a letter.

Send him the kind of book he doesn’t handle. Do your homework. Don’t waste your and the agent’s time.

Review your own material. It goes without saying that you love your own work–after all, you wrote it! But don’t “review” your own material. Query letters peppered with words like breathtaking, compelling and magnificent just make us roll our eyes.

Forget to include SASE (if using regular mail). If you’re querying by email this isn’t an issue. Otherwise, please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope for the agent’s reply. No, the cost of a first-class stamp isn’t going to break us, but keep in mind that we receive hundreds and hundreds of query letters and shouldn’t be expected to pay for replies to letters we didn’t ask for.

Tell her you’re published but leave out the name of the publisher(s) because you’re embarrassed. If you’ve published a book with a small press you’re embarrassed about, then don’t mention the book at all. But don’t mention the book and coyly leave out the publisher, hoping we’ll think it might be Random House or Knopf. We won’t.

Tell him you were referred by someone he’s never heard of. Every once in a while I get a letter that starts by telling me the writer was referred by someone I don’t know. It’s puzzling. If someone refers you to an agent, find out if that person actually knows him.

Tell her your mother (or son, or daughter, or friends) LOVED your manuscript. They’re supposed to love your manuscript, and we don’t care who loves it; we need to figure out what we think.

Stalk him. Agent-stalking happens most frequently at writers conferences. I’ve been a victim of it many times. I have been approached by the man at the next urinal; I have been called to the front desk to retrieve a manuscript left for me; I have received phone calls and knocks on my hotel room door at midnight; I have had a manuscript slid into my stall in the men’s room from the guy next door. Don’t stalk an agent. It will just make him think you’re nuts.

If she says no, tell her what a jerk she is. Every once in a while a writer I’ve passed on will write back, or even call, to tell me I’ll be sorry. Or that I couldn’t have read his letter carefully in such a short time. Or that the writer didn’t really want me anyway because I’m a jerk. Publishing is a very small business and you never know if you might want to re-approach someone, so why burn a bridge? If you feel compelled to have the last word, just say thanks.

Bribe him. I have received money, candy, liquor . . . I’ve even been propositioned. If you feel your writing isn’t good enough to stand on its own, work on it some more; don’t resort to bribery. It never works (though I did once eat the candy).

In The Marshall Plan®, the basic units of story are the action section and the reaction section. In my previous post I discussed writing the action section. In this post I’ll discuss writing the reaction section.

To recap . . . We’re writing a vampire romance in which our heroine, Sidora (a vampire), has the overall story goal of turning Damion, the human man she loves, into a vampire too, so that they’ll be together for eternity.

When the action section we created opened, Damion was missing, so the first thing Sidora had to do was find him. In her previous section she’d learned Damion had last been seen with a notorious warlock pirate in a bar near the piers. So Sidora’s logical short-term goal of the action section was to find out Damion’s location from someone at the bar. After making a number of unsuccessful inquiries, she spots an old woman wearing Damion’s scarf. Eventually the old woman admits she and a male companion found Damion drunk on the street and robbed him. Then she drops a bombshell. After robbing Damion, they sold him to a slave ship.

That’s how the action section ended.

After an action section, you have two choices: to continue with another action section, or with a reaction section. A reaction section should be your choice when the disaster at the end of the previous action section is especially devastating or shocking and needs some protracted thinking and planning on the part of the character. I think what Sidora has learned is pretty devastating, so I’m opting for a reaction section next.

A reaction section is a unit of story action in which the section character reacts to the failure she experienced in the preceding action section. The section character may be alone or with another character, most commonly the confidant. If the section character is alone, her reaction is shown through her thoughts and actions. If she is with another character, her reaction is shown primarily through dialogue, though it can be shown through thoughts and actions as well.

The first phase of the reaction section is the emotional phase, in which the section character could be said to respond with her heart to the failure. She is angry, outraged, insulted, frustrated, embarrassed, or whatever emotion would be natural in the situation.

After reacting emotionally, the section character pulls herself together, cools down and is able to react with her head—rationally.

In the rational phase of the reaction section, you first show the section character trying to analyze the failure and understand exactly what transpired. Then you show her trying to decide what action to take to solve the new problem brought about by the failure.

Finally she settles on a new course of action, setting a new short-term goal—the goal of the next section, an action section. A reaction section is always followed by an action section.

So here goes. This reaction section is set in the room Sidora has taken at the local inn. Sitting in the corner of the room is Patras, Sidora’s cat–a sort of familiar visible only to her. Patras has been with Sidora since she was a little girl. They care deeply for each other. Patras often counsels Sidora, though she doesn’t always take his advice.

She tells Patras what she’s learned. She’s devastated because Brutonius, the owner of the slave ship, is notorious, a ruthless, brutal man no one has ever been able to bring down. Neither Sidora nor Patras can recall anyone ever rescuing someone from Brutonius.

In the emotional phase of this reaction section, Sidora basically gives up all hope. She tells Patras that she’s doomed never to have love in her life because Damion is the only man she will ever love, her soulmate, and he’s gone forever. After a lot of ranting and crying, Sidora finally calms down enough to listen to Patras. Calm down, he tells her, and think. She’s never been known to give up on something she wants; why should this be any different? She’s got to find out where Brutonius’s ship is headed, get onto the ship and rescue Damion.

But how can she possibly find out where Brutonius is headed? Sidora asks Patras.

Easy, Patras tells her. There must be dock workers who helped load the ship; who would have heard where the ship was headed. They must hurry down to the docks and see what they can learn . . .

The next section would be an action section set down at the docks.

And on we go . . .

Reread this post and the previous one together to see how action and reaction sections fit together.

In The Marshall Plan®, a novel consists of “sections.” Sections can be either action sections or reaction sections. In simplest terms, in an action section, things happen. In a reaction section, people react to the things that happened.

In this post I’m going to review the basics of structuring an action section. I’ll cover the reaction section in my next post.

STRUCTURING THE ACTION SECTION

In an action section, one of your novel’s viewpoint characters tries to achieve a short-term goal she thinks will take her closer to her overall story goal. The short-term goal should be a logical outgrowth of what happened to this character in her last section.

For example, let’s say you’re writing a vampire romance in which your lead character, Sidora (a vampire), has the overall story goal of turning Damion, the human man she loves, into a vampire too, so that they’ll be together for eternity. Damion is missing, so the first thing Sidora needs to do is find him. In her last section, she learned that Damion was last seen in the company of a notorious warlock pirate in a bar down by the piers in an especially nasty part of town. So the logical short-term goal is to find out where Damion is from someone at the bar.

Since you always want to start a section as quickly as possible, you can begin with her walking through the door of the bar, or if you like, approaching the bar from outside (more atmosphere this way).

Most action sections also involve a character who somehow gets in the way of the viewpoint character achieving her short-term goal. The resistance Sidora encounters should be the bulk of the section. So maybe you decide that after she’s made a few inquiries and gotten only shrugs, she spots an old woman hurrying out the back. Sidora goes after her. The old woman is wearing Damion’s scarf. The two women argue–the old woman denies having seen Damion, then admits she found him drunk on the street and took his scarf, then finally admits that she and a male companion robbed Damion.

How do you end your action section? In one of three ways:

1. The viewpoint character fails to achieve the section goal.
2. The viewpoint character not only fails to achieve the section goal, but she also learns of a new, even larger problem or obstacle that makes matters even worse.
3. The viewpoint character achieves the section goal but learns of a new, even larger problem or obstacle than the one she has just overcome.

Remember, Sidora’s goal was to find out where Damion is from someone at the bar. I’m going to end the section with option #3. The old woman tells Sidora where Damion is (section goal achieved): on the ship of the slave the old woman and her companion sold Damion to.

Section goal achieved, but now there’s a new, even larger problem/obstacle.

That’s how you would end this section–with this revelation, which is dramatic and also a cliffhanger of sorts.

In my next post I’ll tell you how to structure the section following this one.

Many writers have a hard time figuring out what’s different about their work and then expressing this in words. Yet being different is vital in today’s fiction writing world.

Buzzuka is a fun, free way to develop and refine your buzz. I enjoyed working my way through the process. Here’s what I came up with:

What if you had an easy way to write novels and get them sold? Beginning novelists need help conceiving, writing and selling their books. Let The Marshall Plan®’s structured approach to writing help you through the entire process. It’s the only formatted, step-by-step approach to fiction writing–a fun, easy way to get novels written and sold fast. I am passionate about helping people share their stories.

That’s my “pitch.” And here’s my “blurb”:

Evan Marshall is a fiction writing expert who helps people get salable novels written and sold fast.

Give it a try for the fiction you write.

Buzzuka

The Internet is a sea of resources for writers, some reliable, others not so much. The problem is knowing which is which. We keep a running list of our favorite writing resources connected to every aspect of writing, selling and marketing a novel.

They’re all vetted for you, so you don’t have to wonder whether to trust them. Only sites we trust make it into our Little Black Book, which we are happy to share with you.

Right click this link to download your copy of the Writer’s Little Black Book (this is a 262k PDF file)

“Where do you get your ideas?”

It’s the classic question readers ask authors. Many authors dislike the question because there’s no one answer—they get ideas from literally everywhere.

For me, the richest source of ideas is real life. Here’s a fun exercise. Go to your favorite online news site and copy the top six headlines. Then see how many you can twist, reshape or even combine with one another to create viable story ideas.

Here’s my page from the news today, June 21, 2010. I used the U.S. page of Yahoo! News.

MONTANA TORNADO RIPS ROOF OFF SPORTS ARENA

The largest tornado to hit Billings, Montana, in fifty years tears the top off a stadium. In real life, only two people were present and neither was hurt, but the day before, thousands of people filled the arena for an Indoor Football League game. Move the disaster a day earlier and you’ve got the makings of a nifty disaster thriller.

KENTUCKY CON MAN GETS TWO LIFE SENTENCES FOR 1980 DEATHS

During the trial of serial killer Edward W. Edwards, he confessed to an additional murder—that of his stepson—in the hopes that it would get him the death penalty. It may not, but in the meantime he’s provided the solution to a very cold murder case. Or has he? What if you wrote a mystery in which a man already convicted of four murders throws in another he didn’t really commit?

BACH AND BEYOND: NEW YORKERS PLUNK ON PUBLIC PIANOS

Dozens of pianos have been placed around New York City as part of a public art project. Anyone can just plunk down and play. Sounds like the ultimate “cute meet” to me. I guarantee you some clever romance writer is already crafting a proposal based on this idea.

ROUNDUP RESISTANT WEEDS POSE ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT

New generations of weeds are resistant to the weed killer Roundup. How about a science thriller about evil weeds that take over a city?

COP, DALLAS POLICE CHIEF’S SON DEAD AFTER SHOOTOUT

These two officers were killed responding to a domestic disturbance on Father’s Day. How about a suspense novel in which the whole thing is a setup—the disturbance a fake created in order to get one of the officers into the house and shot?

iCAMPAIGNING? CANDIDATES TURNING TO PHONE APPS

Today’s tech-savvy politicians are creating their own apps to feed information to supporters. Some of these people are creating these apps on their own, or paying people on staff to make them. What if one of these apps went haywire, feeding extremely personal emails to thousands of iPhones? Could be very funny. You could take it in any of a number of directions: chick lit, romance, humorous mainstream . . .

Try this out for yourself. You’ll discover that truth is not only stranger than fiction; it provides a constant flow of story ideas.

Musicians often limber up by playing music different from what they’re used to. It keeps them fresh, gives them a new perspective on what they’re doing. Novelists can do the same thing–limber up by trying different forms of storytelling.

I’ve recently done this, and enjoyed it immensely. Here’s what I tried and how I felt about each.

Flash fiction. These are very short stories, usually 500 words (around two double-spaced pages) or less. It’s extremely challenging to find a small gem of an idea and develop it in so few words. It’s also a good exercise in boiling a story down to its essence. Here are two of the stories I came up with:

A Good Judge of Character

Rendezvous

I wrote suspense/mystery flash stories because that’s what my novels are, but I plan to leave my comfort zone and try other kinds of flash fiction as well.

Screenplays. I recently collaborated with producer/director Billy Tooma, owner of Icon Independent Films, on Seeking Nirvana, a screenplay about the rocky relationship between a literary agent and his top client, a brilliant young novelist. I learned a lot writing this screenplay. First of all, the dialogue I’m used to writing in my novels doesn’t fly in a screenplay. Less is more, and I learned to my surprise that in a movie, more is said with action than with dialogue. My dialogue was stagey and too long. I also tried to learn but still haven’t mastered screenplay format. It’s (to my mind) incredibly complicated, and it hampered my creativity enough so that when I wrote the first draft of the screenplay, I used my own simplified format. Obviously, since a film is completely visual, there’s none of the interior stuff we’re used to putting in our novels. It’s all exterior, and you have to find new ways of saying things and getting information to the viewer. One unexpected bonus was that I got to appear in the film. Watch for me–I’m Harvey Kramm, a desperate author trying to get the agent to represent him!

Plays. Play format is far easier than screenplay format, refreshingly simple. There’s far less stage direction, so that you’re working almost entirely with dialogue. Extremely challenging. Less is more–leave a lot to the director’s interpretation. I wrote a mystery/suspense play (again, within my comfort zone) called The Station, and to my amazement it was accepted by a one-act festival for this summer. I couldn’t be more excited . . . and I’m already noodling with a new idea for another one-act. If you’re in North Jersey, come to a performance in late July/early August and say hello!

Have you tried limbering up by venturing into a new storytelling form? The results can be gratifying and exciting.

In the old days, writers in search of an agent usually began by consulting printed directories—often at public libraries because the directories were so expensive. Not so anymore. Now, thanks to the Internet and some helpful sites, you can conduct an intelligent search on your computer.

Begin with three sites that offer detailed information on literary agents.

Agent Query bills itself as “the internet’s largest and most current database of literary agents.” Click on Full Search, then specify whether or not you’re looking for an agent who belongs to the Association of Authors’ Representatives (more on this below); enter any relevant keyword(s) (for example, vampire); select fiction and nonfiction genres; specify whether you’re looking for an agent who accepts email queries; and finally whether you’re looking for an agent who is actively seeking new clients. Search results include not only basic contact information but specifics on exactly what the agent is looking for and, in many cases, examples of recent deals. The site also offers helpful articles on working with agents, as well as resrouces such as writing websites and conferences.

WritersNet is a directory of writers, editors, agents and publishers. Click on Agents at the top, then search by location or topic (genre).

The Association of Authors’ Representatives is the only organization in the United States for literary agents. Members must adhere to a strict Canon of Ethics, so you can be assured that any agent who belongs is legitimate. (However, keep in mind that some perfectly legitimate agents do not belong.) To find an agent on the organization’s site, click on Find an Agent. You can view a list of agents who accept email submissions, and another list of those who work via regular mail. You can also search by keyword. Click on Advanced Search and you will be presented with a long list of criteria you can use to filter your search.

Got an agent in mind? Don’t forget to make a stop at Preditors & Editors, a website that keeps an updated list of agents according to whether they’re reputable or non-reputable. Click on Agents & Attorneys, then look up the agent you have in mind alphabetically by name.

Finally, stop off at the Agents page of Writer Beware, where you’ll find helpful articles on how to spot and avoid dishonest agents.

With these valuable free tools at your disposable, you should be able to identify agents who are right for you . . . without even having to leave your computer.