When to Put Your Best Writing Forward
By Kathryn Craft | June 12, 2018 |
photo adapted / Horia Varlan
Put your very best writing on the first page of your manuscript, I was once told, and the rest will rise to the challenge. This is a good thing, because your very best writing belongs on every other page, as well.
In fact, today I want to convince you why your very best writing belongs everywhere.
Synopsis
Most writers consider it a necessary evil, so why spend more time on it than you have to? Here’s why: if you treat it as a precious piece of storytelling, you might sell your book. Or a movie option. Infuse your synopsis with voice and drama and character. Make the reader feel something. Such synopses are out there, writers, and yours may be competing with them.
Website
Think of visitors to your site as browsers in your personal store. You wouldn’t want to leave punctuation and spelling errors lying around for them to stumble over, would you? Your customers are already hindered by having no beautifully designed book to pick up and flip through. Make your graphics and digital copy pop off the page to shake your reader’s hand in a way that says, “I am a competent, confident writer that you can trust for your entertainment needs.”
Blog posts
Blog posts have come a long way since those first steam-of-consciousness missives by “iamawriter” in the 1990s, when capitalization and correct spelling were optional. These days it couldn’t be more different. In 2014, while promoting my first novel, I was surprised at the hoops my publicist sent me through just to come up with original content for book bloggers. She vetted all posts and sent them back with comments like “you can write a stronger opening.” And I could.
This was my first stab at an opening for As I Turn the Pages in answer to the question, “How has dance impacted your life?”
I was an active child with an unquenchable thirst for rhythmic physical endeavor. When my nose wasn’t in a novel I was playing hopscotch and jump rope, skiing (snow and water), diving, taking gymnastics, and cheerleading. But nothing set me aflame like the dance class I discovered when I was sixteen.
Second try:
I leapt into the world feet first and ready for action. When my nose wasn’t in a novel I was skipping across chalked patterns, diving from springboards, slicing hills with my skis, flipping over high jumps—then trying to do any or all of it on the balance beam. But nothing set me aflame like the dance class I discovered when I was sixteen.
Pro tip: Even if the point of your post is to interview another author, fashioning your questions so they elicit a story arc represents your own abilities as a novelist better than five random questions.
Social media comments
You may not realize the impact you make with the comments you leave on other people’s social media posts. The Tall Poppy marketing cooperative has a Facebook group with more than seven thousand members, and yet I have gotten to know certain commenters because I relate to what they say. A few of them are aspiring novelists. I’ll be on the lookout when they publish. You’ve no doubt made similar impressions right here in the comments at Writer UnBoxed. Since you are bothering to comment, and readers will be forming judgments anyway, why not step beyond “Great post!” to reveal a little something about you?
Author bio
From the lengthy bio you place for gads of readers at Amazon Central to the one-liner placed at end of magazine articles, your bio can offer an exercise in contextualizing info dump with story. Here’s one I salivate over, from author Ann Garvin:
Ann Garvin is a nurse, a professor, and a professional loser of keys. Dogs think she is amazing, and the feeling is mutual. Ann writes about women who have a good sense of humor about doing too much in a world that asks too much of them. She thought writing a book would get her a beach house. The beach house hasn’t happened yet, but she’s bought sunglasses, so she’s ready. She created the Tall Poppies because she loves writers, readers, and helping women get their voices heard. Ann is the author of ON MAGGIE’S WATCH, THE DOG YEAR, and the USA Today bestseller I LIKE YOU JUST FINE WHEN YOU’RE NOT AROUND.
Book reviews
Readers can get to know your writing through the books you love and how you write about them at sites like Goodreads or Litsy. Rather than sprinkle stars and say “really enjoyed this”—which means little, since we don’t know your taste—why not capitalize on this opportunity by crafting a few sentences that are specific to your point of view?
Presentation blurbs
Appearing at conferences won’t help you sell your book if no one comes to your session. Entice conferees with snappy prose that illustrates why they need the information you’re offering. If they see that you understand their needs in the grand ballroom, they are more likely to seek out you out at the book fair.
Emails and newsletters
I once declined agent representation (the nerve!) because while developing my novel during a trial relationship, every one of her emails was riddled with spelling errors. Could an agent be declining you for the same reason? Take your time. Proofread. You don’t want your flying fingers to dick the wrong letter and make a joke of your efforts.
Bottom line: If you seek life as an author, your writing game is “on.” Your writing is no longer a simple form of communication, but the assistant that opens the door to all opportunity. Seduce. Captivate. Beguile. Leave behind captivating stories wherever you go.
What would you add to this list? Where else have you noticed a missed opportunity for an author to put their best foot forward? Where else have you had additional or unusual opportunity to showcase your writing chops? When have additional drafts of effort netted a reward? Take a chance—reveal something about yourself in your comment!
[coffee]
Kathryn Craft (she/her) is the author of two novels from Sourcebooks, The Art of Falling and The Far End of Happy. Her forthcoming book, Crafting Story Movement: Techniques to Engage Readers and Drive Your Novel Forward, draws from decades of experience as both a story consultant and a movement specialist/dance critic. Learn more on Kathryn’s website.
thank,you,for,this,post,Kathryn
I,can*t,think,of,anywhere,else#
Thanks for reading, James!
Kathryn, this is very helpful. I like that you address blogs and social media. I have 3 mystery novels out and write a fiction (short story) blog for over 5 years now. I get some 60 to 80 hits a day for readers who want to read free short stories by famous authors. And visitors have access to all my writing and published short stories; they get a sense of my work from my posts. Any advice on how to keep it fresh at this point? Or to garner new followers?
Hi Paula, wow—I’m impressed. That’s a LONG TIME to keep a short story blog going! Have you thought of pairing up with a like-minded blogger and re-blogging each other’s posts? Or creating a small cooperative to do the same?
I’ve not thought of that. What a good idea. I’ll look into it. Thanks!
‘“Great post,”’ he said as he smirked looked over his shoulder while opening the dictionary to look up “dick the wrong letter”.
And today’s ‘comment of the day’ winner is…
HAHAHA awesome application! Thanks for reading, AD, and for giving us a glimpse of “you.”
This is such a rich and wonderful post, Kathryn. I especially love what you said about the beloved Synopsis! And I LOVE Ann Garvin’s bio. It reflects who she is far more than a list of accomplishments and facts could ever do. My take-away from this is that every written interaction is a chance to practice our craft and to allow people to know our hearts. Thank you!
Ann’s bio proves that mine needs a personality infusion, lol. Great punchy summary of my post, too, Susan. Love it! Once your public persona is that of a writer, all of your writing becomes a way to let your light shine.
Oh thank you so much. Humor is hard in a bio….you never know if you strike the right tone. Glad I did for you two!
Ann
You nailed it, Ann!
Love this, Kathryn. I think beyond social media comments we want to be careful about social media posts and their cumulative effects. And not just making sure they are grammatically correct and error-free, but making sure they are presenting us in the light in which we want to be seen.
I’ve added a lot of writers to my friends list over the past few years. Many of them I don’t know at all, but they request and I usually accept if we have writer friends in common. Then I start seeing posts from them, which generally fall into three categories:
1.) I Am Real – These are people who are well-rounded, post about family and interests and such, occasionally post an article they think is important, and talk about writing without shouting about their book. I like these people. These people actually want to be a friend and build a relationship.
2.) I Am Angry – These people only post about stuff that makes them mad. Politics, culture, other writers, The Industry! I swiftly remove these people from my feed or from my friend list, depending on how offensive they are.
3.) I Am SELLING MY BOOK!!!! – These people are only using social media to sell (which, news flash everyone, it doesn’t work that way). Nope. Not interested.
So what kind of people do we want to be out in the world? Thoughtful, real people who care and have fun and sometimes need a shoulder or a sounding board? Or one-dimensional megaphones because the world is all about me?
All great points, Erin. I’m so glad you mentioned this. Content and tone are as important in our SM posts as they are to our novels. I have unfollowed more than one best-selling author because of constant whining or angry rants. Further steeped in the worldview they put forth from their daily life in such posts, I also can’t imagine reading another of their novels.
Great post, Kathryn, as always. I have blogged once a week since 2009 and I check and recheck for grammar, spelling, that my links work etc; I also spend hours on my content. My blog presents ME. That’s important. When I comment on other people’s work, I am as balanced and fair as I can be. If I can’t say something that is supportive, then I don’t say anything. Politics is in my feed on FB. But as a writer, a citizen and a medical professional, I feel the need to support those who need healthcare, or have lost their jobs, or have been disenfranchised. We as writers talk about empathy. It’s huge for me, to be empathetic and always truthful. I struggle to be open to others’ feelings, what they have to say. But being grateful for the life I have I always want that for others. So I use writing on my blog, on the internet to say so, while my husband spends 4 days a week working with the homeless. Thanks again.
Remember the days when you could toss off a blog post in fifteen minutes? Hahaha! No more. Now it’s more like writing a short chapter in a book. Our unpaid writing takes hours to produce.
I like your “empathy” approach to political issues. Rants tend to turn away the very readers who may need to be exposed to your perspective. Keep being you—you’re doing a great job!
Thanks, Kathryn. Sharing your ideas and your experience always adds a positive to my writing life.
capitals?? we have to use capitals??? whyyyyy?????
my blog is like a family room, or nest as the case may be. iit’s a bird (ahem, robin) thin…. i welcome my friends and readers to come and “set a spell.” and my website it designed like a house with rooms. (at least it’s supposed to be, or will be someday)
and if you pop over i’d be happy to share a cuppa with you!
ps, i’m not sure why i got so blase, or when, but i do, of course, use proper form in my writing! #winkwink
Hey Robin, if your form supports the content in a purposeful way, go for it! But on behalf of your readers, I thank you for spelling and punctuation and any other indication that sentences are starting and stopping.
(Also, when you said “whyyyyy?????” The full-page illustration of the baby bird in P.D. Eastman’s ARE YOU MY MOTHER, in which he folds his wings in front of him as if wringing his feathers, with his beak spread wide in his cry, popped into my mind. So your writing was evocative!
I love this email; what a great reminder. And after reading Amy Garvin’s bio, I’ll leave mine the way it is. I was about to chicken out as I redesign my Website. https://faithanncolburn.com/wordpress/imagine/
Thanks for the link, Faith. Enjoyed reading your flavorful bio!
Back when I was a teenager, I’d read 50 pages wondering when an author would get to “the good part.” If my teacher assigned the reading, I’d read the whole darned book even if it didn’t have a good part. But guess what? I’m old now. If the book isn’t all “the good part,” there’s a very real risk I’ll go read something else. Something better. And if the book that bores me that much happens to be the one I’m writing, oh my. THAT’s why you always want to put your best writing forward.