Monthly Archives: March 2010

JFK Assassination Solved

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by John Gilstrap
http://www.johngilstrap.com/

Actually, today’s entry has nothing to do with the JFK assassination, but after Kathryn’s post on Tuesday, I figured we’d seed our audience with some conspiracy theorists. But since I opened this door, let me share the results of my years of research into the JFK murder (I really have done years of research): I can’t vouch for the why (I suspect the mob, but there’s lots of conflicting data), but as for the how, the evidence is overwhelming that Oswald was the only shooter, and the weapon was the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle that was found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.

Moving on . . .

I attended my very first Left Coast Crime conference last week, and it was every bit as wonderful as people have been telling me for years. As a return favor, I recommend that all Left Coasties give Magna Cum Murder a try when it comes around at the end of October. Magna is held every year in Muncie, Indiana, and it is, hands down, the best mystery conference around. (Full disclosure: it’s in Muncie, Indiana. I know I mentioned that already, but be forewarned that Muncie ain’t no Los Angeles.) But that’s not what this blog entry is about, either.

Moving on . . .

I attended a panel discussion at LCC about the use of blogs as a means for authors to promote themselves, and I was shocked to hear at least half of the experts say that blogging is a waste of time; that is siphons creative energy away from the creation of good stories. There was some acknowledgement that group blogs like TKZ might be the exception because the burden is spread around, but still, the experts leaned to the negative.

Part of my shock was rooted in the response these same panel of experts received when they asked the audience what single factor is most likely to make them buy one book over another. By an overwhelming margin, people’s primary decision factor is whether or not they “know” the author. Is there a better way to get to know an author–I’m talking the person now; not the work–than by reading his or her blog? Single one-off entries like the ones you get from authors on their blog tour might only project a marketing image; but multiple entries, week after week, year after year, reveal not only the personalities of the bloggers, but of the regular commenters, as well.

While we’re on the subject, let’s address the blog tour for a moment. I think it’s wonderful when someone drops in on a blog to write something substantive and thought-provoking while they happen to be on tour, but is there anything more annoying than the guest blooger with the 500-word advertisement for their latest tome? I hate that.

For me, blogging is like a weekly chat with friends. I get to say what’s on my mind, and listen to what others think of it. Sometimes I’m in a good mood, sometimes not so much. Sometimes I’m harried and sort of dash something out just to fill the space, but mostly I do this with the hope of entertaining people and maybe sparking a discussion that spreads and brings strangers into the fold of friends.

I suspect I’m preaching pretty much to the choir here–except maybe for the visiting conspiracy theorists–but do y’all agree that over time blogging is a form of friendship? Don’t you think it’s a way to get to “know” someone? What one factor above others makes you seek out a particular author’s work? Do you think Jack Ruby worked for the CIA?

More, more, more…

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by Michelle Gagnon images.jpg

So like Clare, I’m currently out of town on vacation (nowhere as exotic as Australia, but I’m still enjoying a bit of a break from the San Francisco fog).

Last week I attended Left Coast Crime in LA, where I was fortunate to have the opportunity to catch up with John Gilstrap and James, and to meet Kathryn for the first time. Which was kind of shocking-the funny thing about blogging like this is how well you get to know each other without ever meeting face to face. For instance, I feel like Basil is practically family at this point (albeit as that crazy cousin who kicks off the conga line at family events). The post 9/11 literature panel that John and I were on made episodes of the Jerry Springer show look dull in comparison. In the bar afterward, almost every passerby stopped to tell John that they’d heard about his performance. He’s officially a legend now, and will probably start showing up late to our Denny’s meetings, if he makes them at all.

I got the chance to talk to Lee Child briefly at the conference (I know, I’m a shameless name dropper), and we were discussing the fact that for the first time he’s releasing not one but two books this year. This has become a trend with the recent industry downturn. It’s easier for publishers to push more books written by their stable of well known authors than to build up a new name, so old faithfuls like James Rollins, John Sandford, and of course James Patterson are being offered nice bonuses for increased productivity.

Even authors who aren’t household names are being urged to try to churn out multiple titles a year. Now, I’m not saying there aren’t people who do this well. But when my agent and I were negotiating my last contract, and they pushed for an increase to two or three books a year, I said no.

It’s a struggle for me to finish one book a year. It takes between 4-6 months for me to compose the initial draft, then I send it off to my editor and have a few weeks head start on the next book. Then the edits come back, and I have in general another month to polish it. At which point I mail it back, work a little bit more on the next book…just when I’m getting in the groove again, it’s time for round three. Add in the months I need to coordinate marketing for that book before its release, and it’s always about a year, start to finish. The thought of adding another book, never mind two, into the mix would be hive-inducing.

Yet many writers do manage to produce more than one book a year. Which raises a few questions for me. Firstly, does the quality suffer? Dennis Lehane claimed that the book a year grind made him feel like his work was deteriorating, so he took two full years off to write the next book- which turned out to be MYSTIC RIVER.

I also question whether or not having an author flood the market with books actually helps their sales if they’re not James Patterson or Stephen King. Is it better to come out with three books a year, rather than one? What does everyone think?

Now, back to the sun…


Foreshadow and Backshadow

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By Joe Moore

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!

A few weeks ago we discussed flashbacks and how they allow writers to convey backstory while the scene usually remains in the present. It’s a common technique in the writer’s toolbox for filling in the important history of a character or other elements in the story.

sign1 Today’s post is about foreshadowing, a technique that also deals with time. Most writers are familiar with it although few know about a companion technique called backshadowing. Both work well when used discretely.

Let’s start with foreshadowing. It’s the planting of hints and clues that tip off the reader as to what may come later in the story. For example, a character who is destined to die in an automobile accident 10 pages from now could complain about the unusual icy condition of the roads as the weather gets worse.

This technique can add dramatic tension by building anticipation about what might happen later. Foreshadowing can be used to generate suspense or to get across information that helps the reader appreciate future developments. Foreshadowing can also help make believable what might otherwise be outlandish or extraordinary events. For instance, if something in a character’s background is foreshadowed (she’s afraid of heights), then the reader will be prepared when a set of circumstances occur that cause a character to panic while standing on a roof.

There are many types of foreshadowing including direct, subtle, atmospheric, and global.

Direct foreshadowing is just that; a direct piece of information that is revealed to the reader about a future event.

Her plan was to pick the lock on the rear entrance, disable the alarm and disconnect the camera feeds before grabbing the jewels.

Subtle foreshadowing is not so obvious. It can be small crumbs of information that, when added together, help believability.

He reached for the red coffee cup but hesitated, knowing that particular color always meant failure.

Atmospheric foreshadowing usually deals with the elements surrounding the character and how they might reflect a mood or situation.

She crouched behind the wall and watched the clouds move across the moon and blot out the stars. The darkness would bring death.

Global foreshadowing is usually found right up front, either at the beginning of the book or the start of a chapter.

It never occurred to him that by the end of the day, he would shoot and kill five people.

So if that’s foreshadowing, what the heck is backshadowing?

It’s usually an event that has already occurred but affects the future. A Salem witch is burnt at the stake on page 15, while hundreds of years and many pages later, a woman comments that her new Salem, Mass apartment has a lingering burning smell.

Another common use of backshadowing is to start the story with the ending, then shift back to the beginning with the reader in full knowledge of the outcome but no idea how it all happened.

That’s how I wound up dead on a beautiful fall evening. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s back up and start at the beginning . . .

The reader doesn’t have to spot the foreshadowing or backshadowing when they occur, but they should be able to see their significance later.

Do you use either or both in your writing? Can you think of other types of foreshadowing and how they’re used?

Download FRESH KILLS, Tales from the Kill Zone to your Kindle or PC today.

Oh, the many roads we take to TKZ

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The Internet is a mysterious thing. Take blog traffic, for example. TKZ is blessed with many readers who visit these pages regularly. But every week we also have a couple thousand first-time readers, called “unique visitors” by StatCounter. Many of the unique visitors are referred to the blog by links from other blogs and web sites. Others land at TKZ after they do a key word search in Google.

According to StatCounter, one of the most frequent searches that land people at this blog is “Mistakes made in sex.” Hmm. I’m not sure what to make of that. Those searches usually  lead people to Clare’s post,  “Top 5 best sex scenes in literature”. Thanks for the traffic, Clare!

Another popular search at TKZ is “cordite smell.” Those browsers wind up at John’s post, “The smell of cordite in the air.”
Searches for “Examples of creating an atmosphere in a story” often land on my post, “Thriller writing 101: Creating an atmosphere.”

It’s interesting to see how Web browsers arrive at TKZ’s doorstep. We, of course, do our our best to convert all of those casual browsers into regular readers.

What about you? How did you find TKZ? Is this your first visit, or are you a “regular”? Either way, we love you guys! We really, really do!

Culture Shock

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We’re back Down Under for a couple of weeks and due to a bout of food poisoning (thanks Qantas…) and slow internet connection (we’re in rural Victoria) this is going to be a short post – but one that resonates with me as I struggle with culture shock of the strangest kind – my own culture!

Whenever we return home we find things that baffle us – things that after 16 years in America seem perplexing. This time it was the simplest act of turning on a light switch – who knew that Australian light switches are the opposite of American ones? That to turn on a light you flick down the switch, whereas in the US you flick it up. It took me a day of puzzlement and a belief that my mother-in-law’s house must have just been wired weirdly for me to realize that it was merely an example of cultural amnesia…yes, I had actually forgotten how to turn on a light! Add to this the whole time zone confusion – try explaining to your kids that they ‘lost’ a day traveling over the Pacific and it is now yesterday in America – and you have a recipe for family confusion.

So how can going home seem so strange? Like almost all crime fiction writers I enjoy examining the concept of the ‘outsider’ – the stranger who can observe things about a place, a society and a culture that others cannot see…but I never expected that I would feel the outsider in the place I grew up in, or that each time I return home I would find more evidence of cultural confusion. The simple act of turning on a light brought that home to me – and may provide rich fodder (I hope) for future books. But still culture shock in my own country is bizarre. Perhaps, however, I am not alone. Have any of you ever experienced culture shock going home?

Debut Author Sarah Pekkanen Interview

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James Scott Bell

I met Sarah Pekkanen when she alerted me she was mentioning my book, Plot & Structure, in a radio essay for “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio. I listened in, and Sarah was quite generous in placing me in the heady company of Stephen King and my own agent, Donald Maass, both of whom have superb books on the craft. She explained how each of the books helped her along as she wrote her novel, The Opposite of Me, which has just been released under Simon & Schuster’s imprint Washington Square Press.

The Opposite of Me is getting great reviews and blurbs. The genre is humorous, contemporary fiction. Yet Sarah has kindly consented to wander into the Kill Zone. A lot of writers who are seeking publication read this blog, and I wanted to ask Sarah about her whole experience. Here’s the interview. Enjoy.

JSB: Sarah, you had an extensive journalism background before you started writing your novel. Do you see a connection between that kind of writing and writing fiction?

SP: Yes and no. I learned to write on deadline, which is an incredibly valuable skill. Knowing that a newspaper was holding an empty space for my story – and that I’d be out of a job if I didn’t consistently fill it – meant I couldn’t agonize over every word or succumb to crippling self-doubt. I was lucky in that I moved around to different beats and different cities, covering a wide range of stories – interviews with testy politicians, man-on-the-street reactions to the day’s breaking news, and long, rich features. But after my kids were born and I left newspapers to try my hand at fiction, I realized I needed to un-learn some of my habits. Instead of trying to condense a story to fit the space constraints of a newspaper, I needed to find places to expand it. I also had to quiet the cynical part of my brain that constantly questioned whether something in my fiction was realistic, and encourage my imagination to fly.

JSB: The Opposite of Me is your first novel. And it sold. This is not the usual path for new writers. What do you think made the difference in this case?

SP: Actually, I started writing books when I was nine or ten years old, and I used to confidently send them off to publishers and wait for the day when I could stroll into a bookstore and see one of my creations – like “The Lost Gold” or “Miscellaneous Tales and Poems” — on the shelves. After I left my reporting job to stay at home with my young sons, I did write a novel that didn’t sell. But it got me a literary agent. So, technically The Opposite of Me isn’t my first book. But here’s what made a difference (and Jim I hope you don’t edit this part out!). I found a copy of Plot & Structure and my writing improved immensely. Something about the simple, straightforward advice illuminated what I’d been doing wrong in my manuscripts. I wrote The Opposite of Me in nine months, and it was sold at auction a week after my agent submitted it. And I continue to pore over Plot & Structure as I write my second novel.

JSB: How about literary influences?

SP: I read extensively within my genre – commercial women’s fiction – and I also adore mystery. I love writers like Harlan Coben and Jennifer Weiner who weave humor through books with serious themes, and I tried to do that in The Opposite of Me. One book that really electrified me is In Cold Blood. When I realized that Truman Capote created a book that could stand as masterful piece of fiction – and yet every word was true – I began trying to recreate that technique on a much smaller scale in my newspaper stories. I wrote a number of narratives for papers like The Baltimore Sun, including a piece on a police officer’s accidental death at the hands of a fellow officer, and a story about a student at Columbine High School who was transformed from the class clown into a hero who saved lives during the shootings.

JSB: Do you have a typical writing schedule?

SP: I wrote The Opposite of Me while my two oldest boys were in school and I was pregnant with my third – so I had lovely long stretches of quiet time in which to walk the dog, brew a pot of tea, and sink into my manuscript. Now things are much more hectic, so I’ve had to learn to write in little snatches of time as well as big spaces. I’m lucky in that I can usually score a babysitter, and my parents live five minutes away and are always willing to help. I try to write in the mornings for a bit after the big boys go to school, and when the baby is napping. But with this book, I’ve had to fit writing in around my life rather than the other way around – which isn’t such a bad thing.

JSB: Where are you on your next book?

SP: I’ve already turned it in to my agent, and now I’m tweaking the final draft a bit based on her suggestions. I was advised to begin my second book before my debut came out, and I’m so glad I listened to that advice! Promoting a new book takes an enormous amount of time, and I’m in awe of authors who manage to juggle both jobs and do them well. If I hadn’t started my second book last year, I’d have a lot of trouble finding the time to sit down for the big think sessions it takes me to lay out the bare bones of a plot.

JSB: Here’s one that’s pretty common for published writers, but since you’ve just hit the shelves your take will be particularly fresh: What’s the most important advice you have for new writers out there wanting to break in?

SP: Set a goal – whether it be a paragraph a day or five pages – and figure out how to stick to it. Writing is like exercise: You need to do it nearly every day to get results. Well, at least that’s what I’ve heard. I don’t exactly have the exercise thing mastered yet.

Follow Sarah Pekkanen via her website.

You can read or listen to Sarah’s original NPR essay here.

“Lordy. As I Live And Breathe, They Done Gone and Stole A Piece of My Story.”

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By John Ramsey Miller

With the most recent lawsuit against J.K. Rowling for situational and character theft, I’ve been thinking about the theft of story ideas or characters.

My novel THE LAST FAMILY was once obviously plagiarized. Lots of people who were unfortunate enough to notice it and many called for me with instructions to get a lawyer and sue their pants off. It’s been a few years since that happened, and truthfully I don’t even remember the name of the series. I only remember that it was another tossed-together-lackluster-ensemble cop show on TNT or some other cable network. I only watched it because someone who was incensed recorded it and sent me the VHS. The fact is that I didn’t consider suing, or even much care. I was absolutely astounded that the teleplay author was so devoid of ideas, and desperate, that he lifted parts of my novel, and didn’t even change the main character’s name. The character’s mother was both amorously inclined and inappropriate with her young son, Martin Fletcher, in my book as he was in the TV show. Racy stuff and one for which I received much grief from prudish readers at the time. The TV series was that was such a stenched-up load of crab crap that it died mercifully after one ho-hum season. I doubt there was one letter of protest. I know I did not generate one.And I adore bad television. I chose to see it a form of homage to what I believe was a decently written first novel.

There is thievery in the world––in every field of endeavor––but in thruth most of it is accidental or coincidental. Two people can have the same idea and write very similar characters, situations, descriptions, inventions, etc… There is an old saying––perhaps an English author of plays said it best––that there’s nothing new under the sun, and it’s true. Could I write a book about wizards without wands, spells, oddballish characters? No. In England people use trains to travel, so wouldn’t it follow that young witches and wizards going off to boarding schools in England might involve train travel? Of the thousands of authors who’ve written about the subject over the centuries, how many have put wizards and train travel together, or flying on brooms, or casting spells, or called one by a certain name like Megamorte or Lord Infamil, or Grunhildabrande Lewis-Smithe Jones?

If the offending teleplay author had made my work better, I’d have been more flattered, but he merely had a character with the same name as mine and the same “unsavory”boy-meets-mama backstory that made him the horrific individual he became, and he dropped the poor man into an “alien-to-me” story that sucked frozen honey through a paper straw. I suspect the “idea” for the character and backstory came to the author via a “I’m-just-brainstorming-here” producer who’d read my book (or more likely heard about it from someone who had talked to someone who’d read some studio-reader’s coverage of it) and suggested the writer(s) incorporate his creative inspiration into the screenplay. In my experience, in dealing with Hollywood, the actual story and finished film is far less important than the placement of the credit and the checks it generates before hitting the screen. Writers can and will destroy perfectly good stories by taking even a modicum of direction from producers whose creativity runs to keeping up with which vehicle or cell phone is “in” this week. I can’t adequately portray in words how I feel about the integrity of producers in Hollywood. I’ll just say that, with a few shining examples to the contrary, that superficiality, betrayal, and limitless greed is the lifeblood of the film industry.

We are all telling variations of the same few stories that other people have ben telling since they grew imaginations and needed something to do to keep people gathered around the fire, or the children quiet, or keep the crowd from throwing heavy fruits at the stage. It is invariable that someone will step on your toes, or you on theirs without intending to do so, or knowing it is happening. Everything we see, hear, read, taste, or feel is shared by others and imagination is not exclusive or running on a separate and unique channel. I suppose I could have sued the producer or teleplay author, but that would mean I lost something real, and I didn’t see it that way. If that had ben a film that made millions, would I feel differently? No. That doesn’t mean I might not have been more tempted to sue since it would generate sales of my book for comparison purposes. I think the world is lawsuit happy, and I also think there are too few people with ideas and integrity.

Come on, I’ll have more ideas and better ones, I’m sure. I get upset when one of my children or grandchildren is sick or in trouble, but seeing my words or ideas regurgitated somewhere else isn’t worth a second thought. If someone wants to steal my words or thoughts, that is their ethical problem, not mine.

As authors, we can only write our stories and characters as we imagine them, and, heaven help us, if someone else out there imagined parts of it into their own, that’s just the way it is. I say get over it and go write another character or story worth somebody actually stealing because they can’t do what I can, or are too lazy to turn on their thinker. Life is filled with disappointments and heartache, and how you deal with them is what makes you who you are.

Give a Researcher A Hand?

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I received a list of questions the other day from a student in a PhD program that requires research into the nature of crime fiction and its place in modern culture. I gave him my answers to the questions, but I thought it might be interesting to expand his data base by seeking additional input from Killzoners. I present the questions here exactly as I received them.

Pick and choose as you wish:

1. What is the appeal of crime writing?

2. What do you think about our current culture of fear and how crime writing is responding to it?

3. Is the success of crime fiction an indication that we haven’t gotten beyond the genre’s infant years? Do the Victorian duplicity and its repressed voyeurism persist in the genre’s theory that every private life has a story of secret shame and trauma to tell?

4. Is crime writing about the healing quality of story-telling in the tradition of the shaman trickster tale? Does it offer consolation to readers touched by the corruption of crime – does taking up the pen offer the troubled writer an alternative to taking up the pint?

5. Is the post 80s resurrection of the crime novel another phenomenon of our contemporary sentimentality for the ‘noble savage’ in popular culture? Do we admire the inwards looking detective because life is confusing and all we have is hope that the deepest ‘I’ cannot be civilised, that this authenticity is incorruptible?

6. Would you agree that what most defines the genre are not its formal conventions, but rather the epic perseverance of its protagonists in a world where there is no healing, only constant movement towards it? Is crime fiction stoicism with a fancy for spectacle?

7. Does the detective writer sit in the same chair at the table of literature as a transvestite cousin at a family gathering? If you’re not 100% sure what a transvestite is as maybe you’ve led a sheltered life then you can continue reading this on Shemale hd. Do political correctness, tolerance and open-mindedness invite, indulge, excuse and pardon him, while his fabulous hat is studiously ignored?

Well, there you go, folks. Have at it.

The Fifty Page Mark

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by Michelle Gagnon

Recently a friend asked for writing advice on behalf of her husband, who started writing a book a few yeaYou Are Here.JPGrs ago but hasn’t made much progress.

“Let me guess,” I asked. “He’s right around the fifty page mark.” She double-checked with him, and he’d stopped at sixty pages even.

I’m willing to bet that most of the people who never finish writing a book stall out right around that point, somewhere between 40-60 pages. And here’s my theory as to why.

After months or years of talking about writing a book (because at least as far as my experience at cocktail parties dictates, almost everyone believes they have a book in them), they’ve finally sat down and hammered some of those words on to the page! Initially, that’s excitement enough.

Because the outset is always thrilling. And things usually go swimmingly for ten to twenty pages. Then, something gets in the way–maybe they can’t figure out what to tackle next in terms of the storyline, or their day to day life intrudes. So they leave for a bit, and come back to it. Or they manage to overcome whatever hurdle they encountered, plot-wise or life-wise, and forge ahead. Another twenty pages in, they’re feeling a genuine sense of accomplishment. They’re doing what so many people talk about but never achieve–and they’ve already written around fifty pages! The rest should be a breeze, right?

So what do they do at this point?

Most people sit back and say, “Better take a minute to look back over what I wrote, see how it is.”

And that’s their downfall. Because invariably as they go back over their work, they start editing. And editing is generally a slow, time-consuming process. Upon review a significant chunk of what they wrote won’t be as good as they thought it was–which is disheartening. Other sections might be better than remembered, but still a little rough.

So after a few weeks or months of editing, they find themselves back where they ended: at the fifty page mark. And suddenly, having written fifty pages doesn’t feel like such an accomplishment.

Here’s my analogy. Awhile back I read Bill Bryson’s A WALK IN THE WOODS, an extremely funny account of his attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail in its entirety.

After a rough start, the hike was going well. Bryson and his buddy were starting to feel seasoned, like they finally knew what they were doing and had gotten into the rhythm of the trail, so to speak. They stopped at an outfitters in Tennessee. Mounted on the wall was a map of the trail. For fun, they checked out how much ground they’d coveredBill_Bryson_A_Walk_In_The_Woods.jpg– and realized that they’d only made it through a tiny portion of the entire trail. At that point they flew home, took a break, and met up again later in Virginia, skipping a huge chunk of the hike.

And that’s exactly how it feels to be a writer at the fifty page mark looking up at the mountain of work looming above you. But unlike Bryson, you can’t just jump ahead to page 300. You’ll have to slog through every page.

For many people, that’s just too overwhelming. So they put the book away, resolving to come back to it when they have more time. And more often than not, that time never materializes.

Awhile back I wrote a post about never looking back. Especially for writers setting out to finish their first book, I think that is absolutely critical. If you’ve been through the process before, you know where you’re going to start experiencing that dread, and how to overcome it. You’ve hiked this particular trail. so although you know that at times it will prove relentless, you’ll get through it, the same way you have in the past.

New writers don’t have that experience to fall back on, so they tend to get discouraged. Here’s my advice on conquering the fifty page mark:

  • Don’t look back until you have at least the bones of the book laid out in its entirety.
  • Accept that your first draft is going to be just that- a draft. Editing can come later, but allow yourself to be just plain bad at times. You can go back and craft every turn of phrase later.

  • Even if you only manage to write a page a day, at the end of a year you’ll have a book, more or less. Set small, achievable goals, and feel proud for meeting each of them.

Remember that every writer has been at that exact same spot and felt just as daunted. What separates those who end up finishing with those who don’t has nothing to do with character or skill–it comes down to sheer force of will. As my mom always said, anything worth doing is a challenge. Rise to meet it and you won’t regret it. If nothing else, you’ll have accomplished what you set out to do: you’ve written your book. And no matter where it goes from there, that alone is a victory.

How can I learn to write like . . .

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Recently on one of the online writer’s forums, a new author asked the question: How can I learn to write like . . . ? And they named a few of their favorite authors.

Of course, the standard answer came back right away: Read, write, repeat. Someone else suggested that the author reread their favorite author’s book but concentrate on “seeing” the text rather than just reading it. There was the suggestion of creating an outline of their favorite book after they finished it. Still another said to listen to the audio book version while reading along on the hard copy. Note: buy the unabridged audio CD. Although, come to think of it, there is an advantage to listening to the abridged version while you read along; you’ll see how much can be removed and still make the story work. I often wonder that if they are able to create an abridged version of a book, why didn’t the author take all that stuff out to begin with? Was it really needed? But that’s a topic for another post.

Anyway, there were the expected comments that said, you’re you, not those other authors. Write your own story, not one that sounds like theirs. Just put your butt in the chair and start writing. Many suggested reading books on the art of writing such as On Writing by Stephen King and The Elements of Style by William Strunk. I would of course suggest Plot & Structure or any of my friend Jim Bell’s excellent instructional books on writing.

These are all great pieces of advice. But the original question was how someone learns to write like someone else. I believe you can teach skill and mechanics but not creativity. Even though everyone is creative to a certain extent, a true artist must be able to combine life experience and acquired skills with natural born talent. The talent is either there inside or not. And the ones that can nurture that natural talent and combine it with the lessons of life along with the mechanics of the trade have a chance at becoming artists, or at least artistic.

But to help beginning writers try to answer that often-repeated question, I propose a simple but useful exercise anyone can do. For instance, if you are an aspiring fantasy writer who wants to learn how to write like JK Rowling, I suggest you retype one of her books. Open to page one and start typing the words into your computer exactly as they are composed on the page. What this will do is force you to "see" and “feel” the sentence and paragraph construction. It will make you aware of proper punctuation and grammar from a professionally edited book. And you will begin to feel the rhythm and pacing of the story more from the viewpoint of the writer than the reader. The physical act of recreating the text becomes an extension and enhancement of merely reading the work. Look at it as an exercise to build your writing muscles just as you would perform a workout at the gym to increase body tone and strength.

If nothing else, it will help you as a new writer to acquire proper writing skills directly from the voice and style of your favorite author. But what I predict will happen is that eventually you will break away from typing the book and begin to “see” your own story forming. It might take 20 pages or 200 pages. But if the creative gene is really there, the juices will start flowing, and your story will take flight.

Download FRESH KILLS, Tales from the Kill Zone to your Kindle or PC today.