The Official Lynne Scott AuthorSite

Official website for Lynne Scott

You are here: Home / Archives for Writing

Writing

The Trouble with Titles!

By

Have you ever seen the movie The Green Berets? One of my favorite characters in that movie was Private Provo. Provo noticed that all the people who were killed in action had something on a military installation named for them, and it bothered him terribly that he couldn’t figure out what building would go well with the name Provo. Throughout the movie, Provo worried about what they could name after him because, whatever it was, the name needed to “sing” to him. With his dying breath, he asked John Wayne to take care of that issue for him, and at the end, we see “Provo’s Privy.”

Well, much like Provo, I want the titles of my novels to not only reflect something about the novel, but I also want them to “sing” to me. There are times when I have considered banging my head against the wall in frustration as I try to figure out an appropriate title for a novel. Protecting Parker had the working title of “The Shirt’s Tale.” Several people had made suggestions for titles, but none of them really worked for me. My husband’s niece Heather was the one who came up with Protecting Parker, and from the moment, I saw it, it sang to me.

I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do with my military vampire series. The working title was “Sam’s Story” for the longest time. Eventually, I woke up and smelled the coffee. I was writing the explanation of the Blood Link that is unique to this group of vampires, and there was the title. As I laid out the next books, I called them simply Blood Link Two, Three, and Four, but then one day, I had the reality check that each of these books was about a specific member of the team and the names fell into place. Blood Link II – The Doubter, Blood Link III – The Civilian, and Blood Link IV – The Damaged.

Sadly, that group was the only thing that’s been reasonably easy to title. My next stand-alone book has been untitled since its inception. I often refer to it as “Evie’s Story” based on the lead character’s name or sometimes as “The Genealogist and the ATF Agent.” They are working titles that simply keep me from losing the books in the shuffle. Then a random trip past the Harlequin rack at the bookstore polluted my brain and transported me to a very bad place that I will call “Bad Title Land.” Did they run out of interesting titles? I won’t use the real ones because this isn’t about abusing an individual author who may or may not have had any say in the title. This is about the broader problem of titling a book. But here are some examples that are pretty close to the real ones: Administrative Assistant by Day – Mistress By Night or The Billionaire Heir and the Hot Nanny, The Cowboy CEO and the Secret Baby (it’s not really a secret if you put it on the cover) or Katie and the Cop. I think you get the idea. The books suddenly stopped sounding like romance and a lot more like bad 1970s porn.

At the same time, I get the marketing strategy – you know exactly what you’re getting. No need to waste any of your precious time reading a blurb to find out what the book is about. Now, before you send me hate mail for picking on Harlequin, let me just say that company doesn’t have a corner on the market for bad titles. Many of its titles are actually quite good. Its rack simply happens to be a place where you can see a lot of them in one spot. It’s kind of like a watering hole on the Serengeti. Eventually, every type of animal is going to show up. Some good, some not so good, and some that you never want to see when you don’t have a gun with you.

At that point, finding an appropriate title for Evie became a bit of an obsession. I’d burn the novel before I’d allow my work to be published with the title of “The Genealogist and the ATF Agent.” As my first round of beta readers began to work their way through the book, I asked them to send along any ideas for a title. I’d hit the jackpot with Heather; maybe I’d get lucky again. There were quite a few suggestions. Some were amusing, some were completely inappropriate (my ex-military members are often a crude lot), and a few of them were interesting enough to be worthy of consideration. In the end, I found it myself within the story. A Shared Fear is the title. Simple, effective, and appropriate.

Blood Link and A Shared Fear will be coming out this summer.

The Best Beta Readers

By

How would you feel if after months of hard work, your reader looked at you and told you that she didn’t like your lead character? In her words, “I hate her! She’s too accepting of her situation, she’s needy, and a wimp.” I was floored. That is so not what I was going for and definitely not how I saw the character. The simple truth was that I hadn’t done my job. I failed to put on paper, what I heard and saw in my head. My reader was only shown the external situation, not the internal conflict that I knew was occurring. I had become too close to my story and failed to share the details with my reader.

So what makes a good beta-reader and how do you find one? Finding a reader is rarely a problem. The real trick is finding a quality one. We all begin with our family or close friends, but they’re not always the best readers for us. One of my oldest friends loves to read and I shared my first book with her. Her praise was effusive. She laughed, she cried, and told me how much she loved it. But she was unable to share with me exactly what it was she loved about the story. There was also nothing about the story she didn’t like. No issues, no problems, and sadly – no real feedback. While my ego was stroked, the truth is that it wasn’t helpful to me. No matter how often I try to tell you how perfect I am, we all know I’m only mostly perfect.

Most writers will go through more than a few readers before they establish a core group of people who they can effectively communicate with. Most of them read the whole story, but some of them read only bits and pieces as I’m working. They are a pretty eclectic group. Three retired attorneys (and no, I have no idea why I know so many attorneys), my stylist, a literature teacher, a graphic designer, a gun shop employee, a crime lab employee, a librarian, two logistics specialists, two retired English teachers, a police officer, and two published authors. Many of them are ex-military. A combination of Air Force and Marines (not that you ever use the term ex with a Marine) and several with a security forces background. Six of my readers are men. While they may not be my target audience in every case, they look at things differently than women do and their feedback is often about more practical things. They also help me keep my male characters more true to the image I’m going for. My favorite Marine pointed out in one of stories that if my male lead was any kinder and gentler that he would be in danger of losing his standing in the “real man club.” Sensitive only goes so far, and I was crossing the line.

Good beta-readers ask questions and make notes as they read. They are curious about your characters and your settings. Often they are the people who notice your character sits twice without ever having stood up. Or worse, they have one too many hands. They catch the accidental name changes that happen: Carolyn becomes Caroline and Krista becomes Krystal. My lead character in Protecting Parker is Gray, but occasionally my fingers experienced dyslexia and I typed Gary. The betas had a field day with that one. They also find the missing words and wrong descriptions. Why is a happy guy glowering? Did you mean principal instead of principle? Why is he eating lunch in one sentence, but it’s a clear, cold night in the next one? My betas also point out things that they feel may be out of character. One of my favorite notes read, “You keep using the term, ‘she explained patiently.’ Why patiently? Aren’t these men supposed to be smart? Why are you making them look stupid? Or is she just being a bitch?” My male beta-readers could have cared less about that, but complained that I didn’t tell them enough about the things she was “patiently” explaining to them at the time.

Each of my readers brings something different to the mix. Dean is my tech guy and he corrects my terminology when I discuss anything in the computer, internet, or phone world. My weapons guy makes sure that I keep all my weapons and components straight. My logistics, cops, and ex-military point out flaws in their areas of expertise, and my civilians point out the things, as non-military, they didn’t get. And my attorneys – well, they are the detail oriented people that ask some of the most unique questions. One was curious about the dichotomy of my vampire believing in God. Our discussion of vampires and religion occurred over lunch one day, and in the end, I realized that once again I had failed to share the inner conflict of my character with the reader. The questions they ask, force me as a writer to do a better job of getting what’s in my head, on to the page.

The other thing to keep in mind is that you need to tell your beta-readers exactly what it is that you expect of them. Do you want them to make notes, do you want them to look at something specific, or is this a first read to see if the timeline makes sense? Do you want them to “rewrite” or simply suggest off to the side? If I send a section that I’m struggling with, I will sometimes ask for help and people are welcome to put a lot of ink on that paper. But when it arrives in a finished form, I’m not looking for a rewrite. I don’t mind suggestions when there’s a problem, but I hate it when someone thinks they should just rewrite my paragraph. I’d rather have someone say, “Perhaps this might be better as…” or “I heard it this way in my head…” On the other end of the scale are the readers who are simply too nice to be “direct” and they need to be encouraged to say what’s on their minds. Some of them are afraid of hurting my feelings, but I’d much rather hear it from my beta than hear it from a critic after the fact.

The most important quality of a beta-reader is also the toughest for any author to deal with. Honesty. My beta needs to be direct without being offensive. The focus needs to be on the writing not on me. And they often need to be brutal, no matter how distasteful. When my friend Jennifer told me she hated my lead character, she was brutally honest. She was also terrified that I’d hate her for that honesty. While it wasn’t what I wanted to hear – it was what I needed to hear. What made it easier to deal with was that Jennifer made it about the work. It wasn’t personal and there were no emotionally charged words in what she told me. Never once did she say that I failed, was unskilled, a poor writer, or that I was an amateur in my approach, or in any way unprofessional. Jennifer took the time to explain the things that were bothering her, even pointing out the places in several chapters where I had failed to make her see my character as a real person. Talk about eye-opening! While I won’t deny that it was painful, I will tell you that it was the best thing that’s ever happened to me as an author. Someone slaughtered my work, burst my bubble, tore my story to shreds, but she didn’t attack me. Now that’s a beta-reader!

Who helped along the way?

By

Almost every writer gets a helping hand along the way. Besides the friends and family who are always prepared to offer a bit of loving abuse, there are others who come along and join the party. Lisa Pietsch came to me through our mutual friend, Dave D.  He’s one of my beta-readers and he suggested that I might want to talk to Lisa.  She had already published several novels in her Task Force 125 series, and Dave thought she might be able to answer some of my 101 questions.

In the course of putting us together, Dave did what he always does, and made a smart a** comment.  It turns out that Lisa and I had both worked with Dave, just not at the same time. Probably a good thing for Dave. I had been Dave’s first sergeant and Lisa was once his flight sergeant.  Being the strong minded, kick a**, military goddesses that we are – we responded to his comment by abusing him as a tag team.  Brilliant man that he is, Dave quickly gave up after a parting comment to us, “I knew you were both cut from the same cloth, one is just older!”  I’m proud to be the older one.  The adage about “old age and treachery” should come to mind.  And yes – Lisa and I are cut from the same cloth – camouflage! Make us angry and you will likely see another cloth – your death shroud.

Lisa and I had hit it off immediately as you can tell. The first time I asked her to look at a chapter for me, I was so nervous and excited that I messed up the attachment.  Instead of getting the first two chapters of Protecting Parker, she received a later chapter that was of a much more intimate nature.  I was beyond embarrassed by my faux pas, but absolutely ecstatic when she told me I wrote “good sex.” Once I got over my embarrassment, I finally managed to send her the first two chapters. Lisa didn’t pull punches. She was both honest and encouraging, confirming what I already knew – she must have been a hell of a good flight sergeant!

Lisa’s a terrific writer!  Military, action, adventure, and romance combine to provide entertaining reads.  She’s now bringing that same energy and enthusiasm into the paranormal.  She has become a generous friend who has encouraged me at every opportunity.  I’m hopeful that when we finally get together for the dinner I owe her that Dave D. will be available to join us. First so I can thank him for putting me together with Lisa, but mostly so the smart a** can serve as our personal slave.  He freely admits to everyone that Lisa and I kept him out of a lot of trouble in our time – the least he can do is post our damn bond!

Please visit Lisa at her website www.lisapietsch.com.  She’s always entertaining, often over the top, always a good read, and as I said, a generous friend.

I’ll Pass on the SEAL Bandwagon

By

Dean sent me another article this week (I’m trying to write here, boss!) and jokingly asked me if I would like to consider changing the retired Marine sniper in my next novel to a Navy SEAL. According to this Washington Post article, – they are a hot commodity in the publishing world right now. Especially, in the romance genre. The last snippet on the bottom of page two is what sent both of us over the edge. “In the romance world, the competency of SEALs knows no bounds. ‘They are trained from Day 1 to notice the tiniest detail,… A man who can pick up on the smallest little nuance is bound to be able to please a woman, if you catch my drift.’”

Wow! Where can I get me one of those! Is there a part of SEAL training that they aren’t telling us about? I watch the Discovery Channel and I didn’t see that phase of training in the special. And just who the heck are the instructors for that? I somehow don’t see R. Lee Ermy screaming instructions at a SEAL candidate – if you catch my drift. And if the SEAL I take home doesn’t live up to this expectation, just how am I to get rid of this magnificent behemoth who can turn even the simplest object into a weapon? Will his failure to please me so emasculate him that he’ll turn on me with my curling iron? I could go on for quite some time, as I’m sure most of you could, with those types of questions. But, seriously, nothing like setting a guy up for failure!

Well, as always, I have a couple thoughts on the situation. The reality is that any time you are dealing with members of the Special Operations family, you are dealing with a very different group of people. These are not men who lack in confidence! These are the guys that if they say they are going to do it – do! Even if they aren’t the finest at something – they’ll make you believe they are. From street cops through the most elite of the operators, these men are trained to do a job and do it well. Those who can’t or won’t—generally don’t make it through the training.

I’ve met a few of these unique and interesting people in my time. No lies here – met and known are not the same thing. But I have sat and shared a beverage or two over the years with some of the following: SEALs, Green Berets, Rangers, Airborne, Marines, snipers, and cops as well as combat veterans from almost every conflict from the Second World War to the present. I have been fortunate enough to spend more than a few minutes with men who survived beach landings in World War II, fought in Korea, many Vietnam combat veterans, including one who survived having his position overrun, and finally several men who did tours of duty and survived attacks in Iraq. From the ground-pounders to the elite Special Ops troops, and the wrench turners to the pilots, I’ve tried to pay attention. I consider myself lucky enough to have been in the right place at the right time and had the opportunity to listen to these men talk, and to hear a small number of interesting and uncensored stories. I have also not been the least bit shy about asking some extremely personal questions of these men about their experiences.

That does not make me an expert. But what I can tell you based on my very limited experience is that none of these men wanted to be perceived as anything other than a man who did his job. They’re proud of who they are and what they’ve done, and in some cases, what they still do, and when they use the term hero, it is always about someone else.

What they should not be seen as is superheroes. Special Ops personnel are trained to perform in an environment that most of us pray we never have to face. But to assign super human characteristics to them is a dis-service that will leave these men standing on a pedestal they may not desire to be on. These guys get up every day, put on their gear, and they go do a job. They will suffer the same traumas to their body and to their soul that every other fighting man will suffer. Turning him into a superhero is simply placing an unrealistic expectation on him. Superman doesn’t show pain, suffering, emotional turmoil, or any of the one hundred other things that men who come home from war will deal with. He doesn’t suffer from PTSD, the after effects of concussion, nightmares, or flashbacks. The new expectation of this “super warrior” is that his training teaches him to be so “in the moment,” that he can walk in the door and leave all those things behind.

Fact: No one leaves it behind. The old saying, “That which has been seen, cannot be unseen!” is true. What almost all these men are capable of doing is compartmentalizing for periods of time in order to function. But eventually, every one of them will deal with their baggage.

I get it – it’s romance. A romance reader wants the hero to be “that guy.” Tall, broad, and handsome. Smart, brave, and protective. And when he’s done with all of that, he should be kind, caring, sensitive, warm, funny, and above all a great lover. It would be a huge bonus if he could cook, liked kids and dogs, and actually read a book. Are they out there? You bet! Is every SEAL, Marine, Ranger, Airborne, or cop one of them? Not even! But that’s who writers write about, because if your heroine is in danger – it is damned unlikely some fat-ass plumber is going to show up and save the day!

Now the simple fact of the matter is, I don’t know enough about how the SEALs or their teams work to write about them. That whole Navy thing is sort of beyond me – well, that and I get seasick watching Victory at Sea. I’m not currently acquainted with any SEALs or Green Berets, so I wouldn’t even try to go there in a book since I don’t have a fact checker. But, I know the Air Force and I have a multitude of friends who are Rangers, Marines, and Cops (both military and civilian), along with wrench-turners and pilots, and loads of combat veterans. I am a firm believer in the “write WHO you know” school of thought, so I’ll be sticking with my Marine in my upcoming story. Not being a romance writer – I happily leave the bandwagon full of SEALs to them.

That being said – I have no doubt that any one of those Cops, Marines, or Rangers, etc. (plus the SEALs and Green Berets that I don’t know) would be happy to be perceived as the superhero in your own romance novel. Just ask him if he’s the best and if he’s willing to give you the attention you so richly deserve. He’ll look at you with smoldering eyes as he tosses back a shot of Jack, and he’ll swear to you that he is just that guy. And given the chance – he’ll probably do his damndest to convince you. They’re confident that way.

The Group Experience

By

Almost every writer I know has been part of a writer’s group at one time, and I have yet to find a writer who didn’t benefit from this experience in some way. I know that I have. I’ve belonged to several, some were great fun and some were really tough, but all of them had a part in building my skills and confidence as a writer.

My favorite local group is “officially” preparing to break up. The group is comprised of members of a genealogical society, which is closing its doors after forty plus years. Formed many years ago, each of the members in this group were interested in writing about their family history. The basic format was the same as every other writers group – write, read your work, and receive feedback from others. The ultimate goal is to improve as writers so we can leave behind a well-written, interesting family history.

There are seven of us in the group, but it’s a rare event if we all make the meetings. Marge is the captain of our tiny ship. She didn’t really want the job, but someone had to try to herd all the cats into one room for three hours each month. Funny, warm, and observant, Marge is a graduate of Stanford University and her time there has had a direct impact on how she works with us. As a well-trained student, she always listens with rapt attention and asks great questions. As a well-educated graduate, she brings all of her education, humor, and talent to beautifully crafted stories of growing up, her college years, and life as a wife and mother.

Ginny writes beautifully. She has the skill to write her family stories in such a lovely tone that even the hard times sound good. Her pieces are always an interesting mix of family history, memories, and information on the locale. I have yet to come away from one of her stories without looking forward to the next one.

Don and Ardith are our only couple. Don has a dry sense of humor that comes out in his writing and often leaves us helpless with laughter when he reads something. That’s not always what he was going for, but his frank telling of an event, combined with his wickedly funny asides as he reads his piece, does it every time. Ardith is a wonderful writer, who is able to take us on her and Don’s travels through life. She has terrific skill in describing events and the times in which they occurred. She is also still amused with Don after sixty plus years of marriage, laughing just as warmly at his stories as we do.

Barbara is probably the most productive of us in actually compiling her family history. She’s been working hard on getting everything she’s already written into book form. The pieces she brings to read usually have the pictures inserted already, so we have a great visual to go along with the story. Seeing an example of how a family history can be accomplished has inspired all of us to work harder to complete out own.

Margaret is a talented writer. Her well-crafted vignettes of her travels around the world often leave us feeling as though we’d been along for the ride. She has the rare talent of being able to clearly describe the sights, sounds, and smells of her exotic locations. The only problem I have with Margaret is that I often forget to read along. She has a beautiful speaking voice and I love to hear her read aloud. I’m absolutely convinced that my own pieces would be better if only they were being read to us by Margaret.

Over the years, we have been inspired to accomplish more than we might have simply by being with each other. Groups work best when everyone participates and all of us have felt responsible to have something prepared to read at group. We have all been through more than one painful critique when our work didn’t measure up, and we’ve all been through more than one wonderful critique when we managed to get it right. There isn’t any one of us who didn’t have areas that we needed to work on, but with the help of our friends, we have all improved tremendously. So even though we may be breaking up, none of us will be without the others. What we have shared and learned will continue to appear in elements of our writing. The words, “Tell me more. Tell me how you felt. Tell me what you saw. Take me with you,” will continue to be a mantra in my head. I know that we come away stronger for having had our time together.

We met yesterday (all seven of us) and decided that while we are “officially” finished with the Society, we are going to go on. Just seven friends still helping each other.

Taking the next step

By

Congratulations, you’ve written your novel.  Your beta-readers are done, self edit is done, and now it’s decision time.  What’s actually on your personal Bucket List?  Is it to write a novel, or is it to have a novel published?  There’s a world of difference.  We are back to the same question you had to answer honestly the first time – is it need or want?  One you do because you need to do it, and the other you do because you want to do it.  I needed to write Protecting Parker, but publishing was never on my list.  It was a very personal story, and while it was very important to me, I never thought anyone beyond my family and friends would be interested.

When publishing became a possibility, I found myself with a boatload of questions.  How much control was I willing to give up?  Most of my friends know that I have a black belt in “control freak.” Was I willing to submit the story to a publisher who might not have the same focus I did?  We aren’t talking about making corrections to sharpen the story – we’re talking about changes to fit a publisher’s line better.  More of this or less of that, so the story feels more romantic, or more action oriented.

The reality is that a publisher’s job is to make money for the their shareholders and they do that through book sales.  They’re not only following the hot trends; a publisher is trying to project or even set future trends.  They’re buying stories that fit in their lines, and ones that they are comfortable promoting.  I’m not interested in anyone’s trends or lines.  I’m focused only on my story.

This might sound silly to some people, but a serious consideration for me was the book cover.  Was I willing to accept that someone else might see my book in a different way than I did, and could I tolerate a cover that didn’t suit my vision?  Was I desperate enough to put up with something that I felt was crappy just to get my name in print?  Well… you all know how I feel about the cover situation.

The other thing I asked myself was did I really need to see my novel in traditional print, or would I be happy with having an eBook?  Was it about pointing at the book in a store, signing copies for my friends, or simply having it out there for people to read?  Those are the questions that will determine what you do with your manuscript when the time comes.  When you look at it from this perspective, you begin to realize that finding an agent or publisher that meets your needs is in some ways harder than producing the darn novel.

I’m one of those pain-in-the-butt people that always has to do it the hard way.  I have to ask the hard questions and try to answer them honestly.  I’ll always go my own way, but I’ll do it with a clear conscious and positive attitude.  Only you can decide what is important to you.