I checked out two books-on-tape yesterday and tried to listen to them. The first one started at a certain point, then immediately went into a flashback, within the first page. Ditto for the second.

Yes, these are published books; they are books-on-tape. But I didn’t make it through the first chapter of either.

Fatal Backstory and Flashbacks

The best explanation of why this type opening is fatal comes from David Morrell in his book, Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing. The chapter entitled, “The Tactics of Structure” . A normal story timeline should be Event A, Event B, Event C.

The structure of these openings, however was B – A – C. In fact, one of the stories does this endlessly through the first chapter. The story opens with a young man on a journey, with an appropriate set up of his environment, mode of travel, eventual destination, etc. Then, he closes his eyes and remembers the sights and sounds of his home town. Back to the present with a grouchy traveling companion and a few bits of dialogue. Then, back to his father’s life, his father’s rise and fall in his profession, his father’s hopes that his son would follow in his footsteps, and finally, his father’s death, leading to this journey. Back to the present with the grouchy companion.

We have B1 – A1 – B2 – A2 – B3 – A3 and never even get to C.

How did this pass through editing, I wonder? Nothing has happened. I’m bored with all the flashbacks and back story. If all that was important to know at the beginning of the story, then the author started at the wrong place in the story. It should have been A- B- C. Start the story with a scene showing the successful father at work, then his death, then the character’s decision to travel, a scene saying goodbye to Mom, etc.

At the beginning, we simply need to meet the character on his/her journey and understand the present situation.

Where to put Back Story?

Literary agent Donald Maass recommends putting it much later in the story, after page 100, at least. You only put the information in when it affects the current story and deepens the current emotions. Otherwise, weave in tiny bits and pieces (that’s OK) but leave out scenes and these boring, “he closed his eyes and pictured his home town.”

Related posts:

1. Opening Chapters

No related posts.

I will . . .

• . . . rewrite the opening of a picture book ten different ways. I make my freshman composition students rewrite their openings three ways and always, the later tries are better. This picture book needs that kind of work to get past the cliches for the opening.



• . . . rethink a post for next week on plots. It’s an overview of the methods of plotting,a thoughtful piece that surveys the many books on the topic and makes some generalizations. It needs some filling in and some links and re-thinking to make sure the logic works.
• . . . reread a couple chapter of my novel. Re-reading is the #1 revision activity. Before you can revise, you must re-read. So, I’ll read and think and be ready to make changes next week.

Related posts:

1. Surprise Yourself in the First Draft
]]> http://www.darcypattison.com/revision/o-happy-day/feed/ 0 http://www.darcypattison.com/asides/big-or-little-advance/ http://www.darcypattison.com/asides/big-or-little-advance/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:39:04 +0000 Darcy Pattison http://www.darcypattison.com/?p=2094 Related posts:
1. First Contract Advice
2. Don’t Sign that Book Contract Until –
]]> John Green is discussing which is better: a big or little advance? These contract issues are vitally important. Which would you prefer?

Related posts:

1. First Contract Advice
2. Don’t Sign that Book Contract Until –
]]> http://www.darcypattison.com/asides/big-or-little-advance/feed/ 0 http://www.darcypattison.com/revision/fresh-eyes/ http://www.darcypattison.com/revision/fresh-eyes/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:20:00 +0000 Darcy Pattison http://www.darcypattison.com/?p=2092 Related posts:
1. More Shrunken Manuscripts
2. Revisions Take Time
3. muttering
]]> How do you find fresh eyes to read through a manuscript?
• Don’t claim it. One trick I’ve heard is to put another writer’s name on it and print it out. For example, “Goldilocks by Eve Bunting”. Then read it and see if it lives up to Bunting’s reputation.



• Reimagine it. One thing I’ve done lately is to imagine multiple ways to revise it before I read it, not really writing anything down, but making the story fluid in my own mind. Then, when I read it, the story has to really gel exactly as is, or I’m off trying one of the new ideas.
• Physical form. If it’s a children’s picture book, make a dummy. If it’s a novel, do a shrunken manuscript. Change the physical form in some way – make it big or little or change font or print on colored paper or print on lined paper. Make it novel in some way, so you focus on the words again.

What do you do to come to a story with fresh eyes?

Related posts:

1. More Shrunken Manuscripts
2. Revisions Take Time
3. muttering
]]> http://www.darcypattison.com/revision/fresh-eyes/feed/ 0 http://www.darcypattison.com/marketing/book-trailers/ http://www.darcypattison.com/marketing/book-trailers/#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:09:32 +0000 Darcy Pattison http://www.darcypattison.com/?p=1487 Related posts:
1. UTube Video of Picture book
2. Book publicity
]]> I’ve followed the book trailer phenomenon for a couple years and wanted to do a post. In 2003, it was just beginning; in 2006, there was lots of experimenting; in 2009, it seems here to stay and writers should take it as a given that they need a book trailer for trade books. Here’s some of the best about book trailers from around the web.

How To






How Do You Make Your Book Stand Out in the Crowd?

1. Book Trailers Squidoo
2. How to Make A Book Trailer — Easy And Free
   EHow has step by step instructions for making a trailer with Powerpoint.
3. The Making of a Book Trailer. A four-day account of an author making her own book trailer.
4. Animoto.com. Animates still pictures.

Articles or Posts about Book Trailers

5. In A World … Where Books Are Hyped Like Movies A 9/2008 National Public Radio article, with links to the audio.
6. Book Trailers that Matter
7. Every Book Needs a You Tube Video From CamCorderInfo.com. Of course, the Camcorder people would recommend book trailers; yet, the article is fairly balanced and has lots of links to new info.
8. What Can You Do with a Book Trailer? by Karen Dionne (billed as the “new Michael Crichton”) write a general article about trailers touching on where to share them and best practices.
9. Book Trailers Coming to Bus and Mall Billboards, buses (one company already busted!) and more links.
10. Book trailers might be overkill. 2009 post: How do you make your video stand out? It’s about finding interesting ways to tell a story.
11. Book Trailer Videos. A general article.
12. VIDEO BOOK TRAILERS: Coming to a Library near You!
    When kids make book trailers they are more engaged with the story.
13. Book Trailers, a great way to promote your children’s book The downside of trailers: less imagination needed.
14. In-Transit Viewing of Book Trailers – A Potent New Book Marketing Venue. Kids watching book trailers on the school bus.
15. Book Trailers: The Key to Successful Video Marketing. From Poets and Writers Magazine.
16. New York Statewide Summer Reading Program
    Featured book trailers for teens from their reading program.
17. A Survey of the Imperfect Art of the Book Trailer. The marriage between book jacket blurb and the video – review of 7 trailers.
18. Trailers for Sale or Rent . 2007 optimistic look at the impact of book trailers on children’s books from PW.
19. Watch Before Reading: Art-House Book Trailers. Book trailers are interpretive, rather than plot-focused.
20. Promoting your novel: How to make a book trailer. Author Brenda Coulter poss her experiences making a trailer for her book on Gather.com
21. What makes video trailers for books effective? (5 keys) Over 1 million views of a book trailer!

Ongoing Series about Book Trailers

22. Book Trailer Tuesday. Another regular posting on trailers.
23. Video Wednesday.Scholastic column which presents a book trailer each Wednesday.
24. Fuse #8 Productions does Video Sundays and sometimes features Book Trailers.

Where to Display Book Trailers (Besides YouTube and Facebook and Good Reads)

25. BookTrailers.net
26. Bookscreening.com
27. ComicBookTrailers.com
28. Blazing Trailers
29. The Red Room Where the Writers Are
30. Books Toolbox: 50+ Sites for Book Lovers
    From Mashable, this post lists many more social media sites about books.

Book Trailer Production

31. Circle of Seven Productions: Book Trailers
32. JKS Communications: A Literary Publicity Firm
33. Moving Stories Book Trailers and Book Videos
34. WritersDirect.net
35. Author Bytes
36. Living Jacket.com

Book Trailer Contests

37. Book Trailer Competition for High School Students
38. Authors Promoting Authors
39. Fantasy Book Reviews
    This UK site has a yearly Book Video Award
40. Outsourcing the Book Trailer Production to Your Fans. Authors Megan McCafferty and Lynn Messina ran book trailer contests for teen girls – a great example of a trailer contest.

Are Book Trailers Effective?

41. Publishing Monday: Are Book Trailers Effective? This author is charmed by trailers.
42. Are Book Trailers Effective? This post quotes the Wall Street Journal: “”There is scant evidence . . . that the average book trailer actually has much impact on book sales.”
43. Book Trailers Work! From LatinoLA!

Lesson Plans

44. Lesson plan for Book Trailers. (pdf). References to NCTE/IRA, NETS and CTLanguage arts standards.

In the Comments, please add a link to your favorite book trailer!

UPDATE: Eric at Living Jacket sent me to look at some of his trailers. Nice and professional, so I’ve added them to the list above.

Related posts:

1. UTube Video of Picture book
2. Book publicity
]]> http://www.darcypattison.com/marketing/book-trailers/feed/ 0 http://www.darcypattison.com/asides/kissing-scene/ http://www.darcypattison.com/asides/kissing-scene/#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:34:44 +0000 Darcy Pattison http://www.darcypattison.com/?p=2049 Related posts:
1. 3 Ways to Salvage a Scene
2. Events NOT Worthy of a Full Scene?
]]> A guest post I’d love to see: How to Write a Kissing Scene in a Romance Novel

Related posts:

1. 3 Ways to Salvage a Scene
2. Events NOT Worthy of a Full Scene?
]]> http://www.darcypattison.com/asides/kissing-scene/feed/ 0 http://www.darcypattison.com/featured/picture-book-course/ http://www.darcypattison.com/featured/picture-book-course/#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:31:37 +0000 Darcy Pattison http://www.darcypattison.com/?p=1987 Related posts:
1. 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book
2. How to Write a Rhyming Picture Book
3. Shrunken Picture Book
]]> In July, I’ll open enrollment for an Online Picture Book course.


photo by Bisayan Lady

The online study class will include:

• 36 lessons
• Forum for questions and discussion
• One critique of a picture book manuscript AND a second critique of the revision of that same manuscript
• Self-paced
• 90-day access to Lessons and Forum

Picture Book Course Lessons

1. Picture Book Basics – 8 lessons

   This section covers the basics of picture books: number of pages, word count, audience, setting, characters, words, messages, morals, themes, voice and more.

2. Picture Book Genres – 8 lessons

   If you want to write a specific type of picture book, you’ll find tips here for rhyming text, poetry collections, picture book mystery, picture book biography, creative non-fiction picture book, and the ABC picture book.

3. How to Write a Picture Book – 15 lessons

   Once you understand the basic structure of a picture book, it’s time to choose a topic and write the first draft. Special techniques for editing a picture book manuscript are also covered.

4. How to Submit a Picture Book – 5 lessons

   Writing all done? Learn the biggest mistake people make when submitting to a publisher. How do you find the name of an editor? What about self-publishing?

Look for more information next week!

Related posts:

1. 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book
2. How to Write a Rhyming Picture Book
3. Shrunken Picture Book
]]> http://www.darcypattison.com/featured/picture-book-course/feed/ 1 http://www.darcypattison.com/authors/all-ages/ http://www.darcypattison.com/authors/all-ages/#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:16:02 +0000 Darcy Pattison http://www.darcypattison.com/?p=1983 What Age Do you Have to Be to Write a Novel?

The question of the perfect age to write a novel comes up sometimes when I do school visits.

• Too young? At what age are you too young to write a novel and have it published? I’ve seen a 13 year old published and published well.
• Too old? And Richard Peck (April 5, 1934 – ) is still writing strong and many say he’s writing his best work now, including this one due out in September.

Basically, you just need to have a story you want to tell and you want to tell it badly enough that you’ll play with words over a long period of time so you get enough words written.

Strategies for Different Ages

But this also means that you must find different ways of working for your stage of life. When I first started writing, I had four kids at home and was home schooling the oldest. I carried around an ink pen to remind myself that when I had fifteen minutes free, I should write.

Today, I go to work at my office and try to work 4-6 hours per day. It’s hard to make myself stop when I come home!

Find a way to work. Find habits that let you work and revise your novel.

No related posts.

]]> http://www.darcypattison.com/authors/all-ages/feed/ 0 http://www.darcypattison.com/authors/jt-dutton-2k9/ http://www.darcypattison.com/authors/jt-dutton-2k9/#comments Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:36:35 +0000 Darcy Pattison http://www.darcypattison.com/?p=1874 Related posts:
1. Sydney Salter: 2k9
]]> This entry is part 7 of 6 in the series 2k9

Introduced first in 2007, authors debuting children’s books have formed a cooperative effort to market their novels. Last year, I featured many of the stories of how the 2k8 Novels Were Revised. This is part of the ongoing stories from the Class of 2k9 authors and how they went about revising their novels.

After yesterday’s posting about when to stop revising and send in a story, J.T. Dutton’s story seemed especially appropriate. Darcy



Freaked: A Revision Story

Guest Post
by J.T. Dutton

My first book, Freaked, lept into the world three months ago. Since then, I’ve been trying to form ideas for a short blog on revision. I’ve seized on some good thoughts for the discussion, stuff I teach in my Composition classes, ways to revise to improve sentences or arguments through better examples. I am an intense devotee of the school of write and rewrite. “Nothing is so smooth it can’t be smoother” is one of my mantras.

But when I have to talk about the revising I did on Freaked, I feel shy. I read a lot and I can think of fifty or hundred novels that I see as perfect—every sentence, word, and scene. I’d like to be a “perfect” writer too, but the fact is, I’m not. I get muddled. I have reread Freaked at least three times since it came into print, each time cringing at the number of things I would change now that I’m older and wiser. This is after revising it hundreds of times over twelve years, with the last pass conducted by some of the smartest people in the writing business—the editors and copy editors at HarperCollins.

Surgeons Don’t Get “Do Overs”

My Dad reminded me recently, when I was expressing angst about my second book, Stranded, of a quote from Albert Einstein, “perfection is the enemy of good.” My Dad is a retired surgeon. In his field, he didn’t get do-overs. He had to believe in his skills, be courageous about them. He is always stopping to offer assistance at road-side accidents. He volunteers for an ambulance service and a local fire department despite the fact that he faces liability issues as the most prepared person on the scene if something goes wrong. (This is why some doctor’s don’t stop for emergencies.)

Dad has made it a lifetime practice to do what he can, when he can. He even “vacations” every couple of years at hospital in Haiti.

Revision is a great thing, but for people like me, it can lead to obsession and excuses not to share my work. At a certain point, I have to take my dad’s advice and admit that I can’t tuck every thread, that I’m flawed, that I make mistakes, but it’s better to offer the world what skills I have than to offer it nothing at all. In this way, I guess, the writing can be interesting, individual, and courageous, rather than perfect.

A pretty worthy goal.

Thanks Dad. You are my hero.

Related posts:

1. Sydney Salter: 2k9
]]> http://www.darcypattison.com/authors/jt-dutton-2k9/feed/ 0