CHILDHOOD REGAINED – Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers

PUT YOUR SHORT-STORY WRITING SKILLS TO USE FOR AN EXCELLENT CAUSE!

Call to writers anywhere -- here's your chance to make a difference in the world and be published in a high-quality anthology.

Update, Jan. 8, 2016: We now have enough high-quality stories for this anthology, so the call for submissions is now closed. Thanks for your interest!

Please consider joining us to help reduce child labor in Asia.

Could you write a compelling short story with a third-world child as protagonist if you were provided plenty of background information?

Would you be willing to donate your story to be included in an anthology for sale, the proceeds of which would go to help rescue kids enslaved as factory, mine, or industrial workers, working long hours in poor conditions, often without pay?

If so, join us in producing

CHILDHOOD REGAINED – Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers.

Editor and award-winning author, Jodie Renner, and publisher Cobalt Books are organizing a high-quality anthology of well-written short stories very loosely based on actual stories of young children freed from forced labor in Asia. All the authors and the editor are donating their time, talents, and efforts to the production of this anthology, and 100% of the royalties will go to Save the Children, a highly respected charitable organization dedicated to helping needy children around the world.


For this first anthology in a series to help third-world children regain their childhood, an education, and a future, we'll concentrate on children under 14 employed in factories and mines in South Asia: Nepal, Pakistan, and India. Resource materials will be provided to the writers to read the stories of real South Asian children working in difficult situations, to use for background information.

Future projects will hopefully expand to situations in China, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

*Please scroll down to see the guidelines for stories for this anthology.*

How long should the stories be, and who is the target audience?

At this point, we're aiming for about 14 to 18 short stories total, average length 1,500 to 5,000 words each, so the anthology would be roughly 50,000 to 70,000 words long.

The target readership is young people to adults, aged 11 and up, North Americans, Brits, Australians, and other people in developed countries who can make a difference in the lives of Asian children who have been denied their childhood. School librarians will love it.

Deadline and expectations:

Deadline is January 31, 2016. Promising stories will receive editing assistance, if needed, to bring the story up to the high standards we have set for this anthology. Stories received so far have been excellent, so this will be an anthology to be proud of!

As we expect to receive many stories for possible inclusion in this anthology, some submissions may not be accepted, similar to the process for any other reputable short story anthology. Your story will need to be compelling and written in the point of view of a fictional Asian child.

You will need to go over your story several times to make sure it's of a high quality, with no typos, spelling errors, or grammatical errors (except of course in dialogue!). If the story is strong but just needs minor suggestions or a final polish to clean it up, our editorial committee will do that, and send it back to you, the author, with the changes visible in Track Changes, and comments and suggestions in the margin. You will have lots of input into the final version published. (See down for comments by authors about Jodie's editing of short stories.)

We'll also be including some line drawings, so if you know of any good artists, please ask them to contact Jodie at info@JodieRenner.com.

See an author CHECKLIST below.

How will the anthology be sold, and how will it benefit the children working in arduous conditions in factories in Asia?
 
We will sell the anthology in both e-book and trade paperback form, initially through Amazon and expand from there. It is expected that all contributors will promote the anthology on social media and in their communities and also hand-sell some copies locally.

All the writers and editor Jodie Renner (and possibly other editors, if needed) will donate our time and skills for free, so after paying the cover designer, printer, and distributor, 100% of the book royalties will go to a respected charitable organization. Specific details to be shared when you contact me.

For accountability, Jodie will regularly forward to all contributors the book sales stats and the receipts from charities for our donations from book sales.

If you are interested in helping this worthy cause by putting your skills at writing fiction or creative nonfiction to good use, or have further questions or suggestions, please contact Jodie at info@JodieRenner.com. Use "Anthology for Kids" in your subject line.

How will it work for the writers?

For those interested, please contact Jodie Renner with your idea before starting your story, as she needs to coordinate all stories. At that time, she will send you a package for resource materials. The idea is to read through the background information, then make up your own story, possibly using bits and pieces of info from the various stories.

If your story is accepted for publication in the anthology, you will of course have your name included as author of your story. You will retain all rights to your story.

You'll also have your photo and a short bio with links on our "About the Authors" page. This is a great way to get a story of yours in print to add to your bio.

You will also receive a free print copy of the anthology.

And of course we will all have the satisfaction of making a difference for children in dire, inhumane situations.

Thank you for considering helping with this very worthy cause.

If this project works, we can consider other similar projects to help underprivileged children or to help end human trafficking and slavery. Please contact me with any ideas you may have for other projects like this.

Please share this with writers you know. Also, please leave any comments, questions, or suggestions you may have in the comment boxes below. Thanks!

CHECKLIST for Authors Submitting a Short Story for CHILDREN BEHIND TURNED BACKS - Exposing the Plight of Asian Children

_ Is my story realistic, rather than cartoon-like or with obviously make-believe characters and elements?

_ Is my story written from the point of view of an Asian child living in difficult circumstances?
   Can be in first-person ("I") or third-person ("he" or "she"). Try to capture that child's "voice."

_ Is my protagonist’s life handled in a sensitive manner, respecting the child’s resilience, strength, and determination?

_ Does my story have the potential to expand a North American child’s knowledge, vision, and understanding of conditions for children in underprivileged countries?

_ Will my story engage the interest and emotions of young readers and adults and hopefully encourage them to try to do something to help others who are less fortunate?

_ Will my story interest and appeal to young people aged 11 and up, and hopefully to adults as well? 

_ Does it contain an opening “hook” to incite reader curiosity? 

_ Will it hold readers' attention to the end?

_ Does my story have enough tension and conflict to make readers worry about and care about the young people depicted?

_ Does my story end well for the young protagonist?

_ Do the narration and dialogue reflect the ages and situation of the children in the story?

_ Is my story between 1,500 and 5,000 words long?

_ Have others checked my story to make sure there are no:

  - Overly long sentences

  - Words young people may not be familiar with

  - Unnecessary or meaningless words

  - Spelling and grammatical errors

_ Submission requirements – Please send it in a Microsoft Word document, not a PDF.

   Formatting: Times New Roman font, 12-point, double-spaced, paragraphs indented, no extra space between paragraphs.

*Don't double-space by clicking "enter" or "return" at the ends of the lines! That causes all kinds of problems! Here's how to double-space your story: Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+2.
Or leave it single-spaced and we'll double-space it.

Who is Jodie Renner and how is she qualified to edit and publish this book?

A former middle-school teacher and school librarian with a master's degree, I'm now a respected editor, publisher, and award-winning author, with two websites, a blog, and a strong social media presence, including over 4,500 Facebook friends. As such, I'm in an excellent position to organize and provide editorial guidance for a professional-looking, high-quality anthology of short stories based on the lives of these unfortunate children. I will of course promote it to all my contacts on social media, locally, and in my email newsletter.

I have edited a lot of short stories and judged short stories for many contests and anthologies, including Writer's Digest several times, so I will lead the editorial committee, who will make the final choice on which stories will be accepted.

Since I have published five books to date through my publishing company, Cobalt Books, the plan is to hire a professional cover designer to create a high-quality cover, then edit, format, and publish this anthology through Cobalt Books.

Six of the many reviews/testimonials for Jodie's editing of short stories. For more, see www.JodieRenner.com/Testimonials.

“Working with Jodie to improve my creative nonfiction piece for the Voices from the Valleys anthology has been a revelation. I have been writing for decades. At no time in the past has anyone seriously edited my work but me. Jodie’s comments, suggestions, and corrections are instructive, incisive, and valuable. She is straightforward and respectful. My exchanges with Jodie have provided me with tips and advice that will improve all my writings.”

~ Seth Raymond, Prince George, Canada

“My first experience with an editor was amazing. Jodie Renner not only edited my short story, Snowbird Melting, for her anthology, Voices from the Valleys, but she threw in lots of coaching that I can apply to future stories along the way. Her comments and recommendations erased the invariable hiccups of a new author and pushed the story to another level. I would be thrilled to work with her in the future.”

  ~ Eileen Hopkins, Osoyoos, Sept. 9, 2015

“I had the honor of working with Jodie Renner on two short stories for her anthology, Childhood Regained - Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers. Wow! I was amazed at how thoroughly she edited. In repeated passes she helped me fix and polish until, each time, we had a story I was proud of. I'm already asking her to edit my future projects.”
   ~ Steve Hooley, author

“I knew that Jodie Renner was highly respected for her editing of novels, and I was pleased to discover, several years ago, that she also edits short stories. Jodie has assisted me, through  interactive online editing, in getting four of my short stories and numerous poems published. One of my short stories was published in an anthology out of Berkeley, California, while two others were awarded second prize and honourable mention in Canadian Anthologies. Thanks to Jodie’s editing skills, I am now proud to call myself a published author.”
    ~ D.F. Barrett

“Jodie edited my novel Daughter of No One and she also edited the two short stories I submitted for her anthology, Childhood Regained. Jodie is a pleasure to work with and she’s a true professional. Her suggestions, on both choice of word and content, were invariably spot-on and helped to make the stories so much better. I couldn’t ask for anything better and so I highly recommend her.”
    ~ Caroline Sciriha

“My first experience with a professional editor turned out to be a rewarding experience. Jodie Renner edited my short story ‘Firestorm’ for the anthology, Voices from the Valleys. From start to finish it was a positive, learning experience. I figured after editing, the story might not reflect my writing voice, but to my amazement the editing made ‘Firestorm’ a much more powerful story. Thanks, Jodie.”       
  ~ William S. Peckham


Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three craft-of-writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: Captivate Your Readers, Fire up Your Fiction, and Writing a Killer Thriller. She has also published two clickable time-saving e-resources to date: Quick Clicks: Spelling List and Quick Clicks: Word Usage. Jodie is a well-known blogger and has been active on two group blogs: Crime Fiction Collective, and after several years, she just stepped down from the award-winning blog, The Kill Zone. You can find Jodie at www.JodieRenner.com, www.JodieRennerEditing.com, her blog, http://jodierennerediting.blogspot.com/, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Books by Jodie Renner:

~ Captivate Your Readers – An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction  Amazon.com  Amazon.ca  Amazon.co.uk  Amazon.com: 51 reviews, overall average of 4.8 out of 5 stars

~ Fire up Your Fiction – An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Stories   Amazon.com   Amazon.ca   Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com: 109 reviews, overall average of 4.8 out of 5 stars

~ Writing a Killer Thriller – An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction  Amazon.com    Amazon.ca    Amazon.co.uk  Amazon.com: 89 reviews, average 4.6/5 stars

~ Quick Clicks: Word Usage – Precise Word Choices at Your Fingertips Amazon.com , Amazon.ca , Amazon.co.uk  Amazon.com: 15 reviews, 4.7/5 stars

~ Quick Clicks: Spelling List – Commonly Misspelled Words at Your Fingertips  Amazon.com ,  Amazon.ca ,  Amazon.co.uk  Amazon.com: 21 reviews, 4.9/5 stars 

Links to Recent Articles of Jodie's on Other Blogs

Since the release on February 28 of my latest writing guide, Captivate Your Readers, I've been busy with a blog book tour, posting articles with tips on writing and promoting your fiction.

Here's a list of some of my recent articles on other blogs, plus an interview of me and a review of my new book. Please click on the title to go to the post.

Tuesday, March 10: Review of Captivate Your Readers on U Self-Publish website.

Monday, March 9: "Create a Fascinating, Believable Antagonist" on The Kill Zone blog


Sunday, March 8: "How to Write a Prize-Worthy Short Story" on Anne R. Allen's award-winning blog


Friday., March 6: "Learn How to Captivate Your Readers with Jodie Renner" on Read, Write, Muse blog


Thurs., March 5 - "Book Giveaway Promos Compared: Goodreads, Rafflecopter, and the New Amazon Giveaway" on Janice Hardy's Fiction University blog


Monday, Mar. 2, 2015 - "Use Attitude When Introducing Characters" on Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog


Feb. 23: "Make Sure Your Characters Act in Character" on The Kill Zone blog.


Feb. 17: "Avoid Overwriting - Subtle is More Sophisticated" on Janice Hardy's Fiction University


Feb. 9: Indie BookContests 2015 on The Kill Zone blog


Feb. 5: "How to Slash Your Word Count by 20-40% - and tighten your story without losing any of the good stuff" on Janice Hardy's Fiction University


 And finally, the very popular list of Writers' Conferences & Book Festivals in 2015

Do you have any craft-of-writing or publishing or marketing topics you'd like me to write about? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks!

Besides blogging at The Kill Zone Blog and elsewhere, Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three craft-of-writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: Fire up Your Fiction, Writing a Killer Thriller, and Captivate Your Readers. She has also published two clickable time-saving e-resources to date: Quick Clicks: Spelling List – Commonly Misspelled Words at Your Fingertips and Quick Clicks: Word Usage – Style and Usage Tips for Busy Writers and Editors. You can find Jodie at www.JodieRenner.com, www.JodieRennerEditing.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.

CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS is out!

Great news! My third editor's guide to writing compelling fiction, CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS, is finally out!

You can find it in trade paperback and e-book form at all Amazon sites, including these:

Amazon.com  Amazon.ca  Amazon.co.uk

It will soon be available in print at many independent bookstores and libraries.

Here's a bit about the book:

Captivate Your Readers - An Editor's Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction, by Jodie Renner

This third guide to writing compelling fiction by respected editor and award-winning author Jodie Renner provides concrete advice for captivating readers and immersing them in your story world. It’s all about engaging readers through techniques such as using deep point of view, showing instead of telling, avoiding author intrusions, writing riveting dialogue, and basically stepping back and letting the characters tell the story.

Today’s readers want to lose themselves in an absorbing story. Renner shows you how to provide the immediacy and emotional involvement readers crave in fiction, the direct, close connection to the characters and their world. And she does it in her usual highly accessible, reader-friendly style, with plenty of subheadings, concrete tips and examples.

This book is available in both e-book form and print, through all Amazon websites, and also in print through Red Tuque Books in Penticton, BC. Available soon in print at many independent bookstores and libraries. 

“Jodie’s books are packed with practical writing and editing advice. Get ready to improve your manuscript today.”

– Steven James, author of Story Trumps Structure: How to Write Unforgettable Fiction by Breaking the Rules

“Want to write solid, marketable fiction? Read this book. Regardless of your experience level, CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS gives you clear and concise tools that will help you create a believable story world and spin a good yarn.” 

– DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Dub Walker and Samantha Cody thriller series

“Jodie Renner nails it! Captivate Your Readers should be at the top of every new and experienced writer’s arsenal, as well as a preferred resource for every teacher of writing. Her no-nonsense, easy-to-understand approach is perfect. Bravo, Jodie Renner!”

– Lynn Sholes, bestselling author of the Cotten Stone series and The Shield

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three craft-of-writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: Fire up Your Fiction, Writing a Killer Thriller, and Captivate Your Readers. She has also published two clickable time-saving e-resources to date: Quick Clicks: Spelling List and Quick Clicks: Word Usage. You can find Jodie at www.JodieRenner.com, www.JodieRennerEditing.com, at The Kill Zone blog alternate Mondays, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Troubleshooting Your Novel Conference, by Steven James

Troubleshooting Your Novel

 One-day writing conference, by Steven James

 

Saturday, January 17, 2015

8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
 

Radisson Airport Hotel

Nashville, Tennessee 

LIMITED SEATING, SO REGISTER SOON: 

http://www.troubleshootingyournovel.com/

 

This one-day conference will be filled with practical insights,

dozens of ways to fix plot flaws, time-tested writing secrets,

and easy-to-implement ideas that will help you improve

your novel right now, no matter how far along you are in writing it.

 

From the broad aspects of building the framework of your novel to the fine brush-strokes of line-by-line editing, this day will transform your writing forever.

 

Steven James: Critically-acclaimed novelist and nationally known conference speaker

Steven will teach five manuscript-transforming seminars

 

Eric Wilson: New York Times bestselling author

 and manuscript evaluation specialist

Eric will do manuscript evaluations and consultations

 

Jodie Renner: Award-winning craft-of-writing author,

speaker, and freelance editor 

Jodie will lead an editing workshop and do

manuscript evaluations and consultations

 

Jonathan Clements: Literary agent, the

Wheelhouse Agency

Jonathan will do one-on-one consulations

(agent and agency subject to change)

QUICK CLICKS: WORD USAGE and QUICK CLICKS: SPELLING LIST both $0.99!

I've been busy creating a new series of handy, clickable e-resources for writers, editors, students, teachers, instructors, journalists, bloggers, and anyone else with a writing project on the go. I just published the second one last Wednesday, and yesterday, I decided to play around with the titles to re-brand them a bit. (Until yesterday, they were called Grammar on the Go and Spelling on the Go.)

So far, two e-books in the series are out: Quick Clicks: Spelling List - Commonly Misspelled Words at Your Fingertips and Quick Clicks: Word Usage - Style and Usage Tips for Writers and Editors. And to introduce the second one, I've just put them both on sale for $0.99 each, tonight through Tuesday, Nov. 18. Click on the titles to go to the e-resources on Amazon.com. I'll list the links below for Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk, where they're also on sale for the equivalent of 99 cents USD.

Why more spelling, word usage, and grammar resources? Because these are designed to be super quick and easy to use, so they'll save you a lot of time - and you can rest assured that the information presented is well-researched and accurate.

At the beginning of each guide is a bank of letters like this, only with live links to small groups of words or terms in the document that start with those 2 or 3 letters:

A  ad  af  al  am  an  ap  as   Ba  be  bi  bo  br  bu   Ca  ce  ch  ci  co  com  con  cr   Da  de  di  dr   Ea  ef  em  en  ev  etc.

You click on a pair of letters and you jump right to the words starting with those two (or three) letters. Then on every page is a link to get you back "Home" or to the "Key" to look for another word or term.

The idea is to have the e-resource on your computer, e-reader, tablet, or phone beside you, or the PDF up on your computer, behind or beside your WIP, and just click to the word or term, check it, then get back to your writing project within seconds.
 

You can buy the PDF for $2.99 ($1.50 during this sale) by contacting Jodie Renner at info (at) JodieRenner (dot) com. You'll need a PayPal account, but they're very easy to set up.
 

If you click on the links to Amazon, you can open the book and preview the first 10 pages or more to check them out.
 

Spread the word about this great sale, as it's only for two days!

Quick Clicks: Word Usage on Amazon.ca ($1.12) 

Quick Clicks: Word Usage on Amazon.co.uk (0.77)
 

Quick Clicks: Spelling List on Amazon.ca ($1.12)
 

Quick Clicks: Spelling List on Amazon.co.uk  (0.77)

And suggestions welcome for more words and terms to include in updated editions! Please add any suggestions or comments below. Thanks!

 Besides publishing her popular craft-of-writing books under the series, An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction, the award-winning Fire up Your Fiction and Writing a Killer Thriller (and the upcoming Captivate Your Readers), as well as her handy, clickable e-resources, Quick Clicks: Spelling List – Commonly Misspelled Words at Your Fingertips and Quick Clicks: Word Usage – Style and Usage Tips for Busy Writers and Editors, Jodie Renner is a sought-after freelance fiction editor and author of numerous blog posts on writing captivating fiction. Jodie is also a former English (and French) teacher and has a master's degree in language and literature. Find Jodie on Facebook and Twitter.

SHORT IS THE NEW LONG - article by Anne R. Allen

Do you read or write short stories?

Author and highly respected blogger, Anne R. Allen, has published an excellent article on the re-emergence and growing popularity of short stories in the latest issue of Writer's Digest Magazine. Anne has given me permission to present the bare bones of her detailed article here. Be sure to check out the rest of this well-written, informative article in the November/December 2014 issue of Writer's Digest.

As Anne says, "Bite-sized fiction has moved mainstream, and today's readers are more eager than ever to 'read short.' Here's why writing little stories is paying off in a big way."

Anne goes on to mention "nine factors working in favor of a short story renaissance:"

1. Small, portable screens are changing the way we read.

"The single-serving quality of a short narrative is the perfect art form for the digital age... Stories are models of concision, can be read in one sitting and are infinitely downloadable and easily consumed on screens," Amber Dermot told The New York Times.

2. Anthologies are hot.

"Multi-author anthologies are a great sales tool, and they've been reborn in the e-book space, where they're inexpensive to put together and provide wide visibility."

3. Publication identifies you as a professional.

Publishing your short stories in anthologies and journals will show agents, publishers, and reviewers that you're serious about your craft and publishing. And they can also help get your name out there and start building a fan base.

4. Networking with short fiction editors can further your career.

"Editors at small magazines often have connections in the publishing world."

5. Filmmakers buy rights to short stories.

"Just as indies are re-invigorating publishing, they are also the lifeblood of the film industry."

6. Online retailers favor authors with more titles.

"The more titles you have in an online bookstore, the more visible you are." And it's easy to turn out several short stories per year.

7. Short fiction contests can build your bio.

"Contests are easy to find and enter in the Internet era. [...] A win or even honorable mention looks great in a query or bio."

8. Shorts keep fans engaged and draw new ones.

"Shorts keep fans interested while they're waiting for the next book, and a free story in between is a great marketing tool. Consider writing a couple of shorts about your main characters while you're working on a novel."

9. Today's short stories make money and hold their value.

"Per word, a story can make more money than a novel. Not only does it take less time to write, a Kindle Single often sells for the same price as a novel-length e-book, and can be repurposed many times."

And finally, writing short stories is a great way to learn to write tight and make every word count, which is a great carry-over for any other kinds of writing you may do.

Check out these excellent related articles by Anne R. Allen on her award-winning blog:

Here's Why You Should be Writing Short Stories

 10 Reasons Why Short Stories are Hot. 

 The New Golden Age of Short Fiction.

 And this one by Jodie Renner, over at The Kill Zone blog:  "25 Tips for Writing a Winning Short Story"

Besides publishing her popular craft-of-writing books under the series, An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction, the award-winning Fire up Your Fiction and Writing a Killer Thriller (and the upcoming Captivate Your Readers), as well as her handy, clickable e-resources, Spelling on the Go and Grammar on the Go, Jodie Renner is a sought-after freelance fiction editor and author of numerous blog posts on writing captivating fiction. Find Jodie on Facebook and Twitter, and check out her posts alternate Mondays on The Kill Zone blog. Subscribe to Jodie's sporadic (3-6 times a year) newsletter HERE.

FIRE UP YOUR FICTION Wins Another Award!

by Jodie Renner, editor & author

I'm pleased to announce that my editor's guide to writing compelling stories, FIRE UP YOUR FICTION, has won a third book award.

It just received another Silver Medal, this one in the Readers' Favorite Awards, in the category of Writing and Publishing.

Congratulations Jodie Renner!
Fire up Your Fiction
is a 2014 Readers' Favorite Silver Medal Winner in the Non-Fiction - Writing/Publishing category!

Here's the certificate I received from Readers' Favorite Book Awards:

 
And the 5-star review this book received on the Readers' Favorite website:

Reviewed By Bil Howard for Readers’ Favorite

"Jodie Renner has done fiction writers a huge favor by compiling her blogs into Fire Up Your Fiction: An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Stories. She covers subjects that can get a story moving and not only draw the reader in, but hold their attention and keep them turning pages.

"She covers the issues involved with creating and keeping conflict, tension, and action burning throughout your story and showing rather than telling. [...]

"Renner also discusses wordiness and the use of clichés, as well as cutting down your word count in order to get to the action and keep it moving. She also gives excellent advice on how to make your dialogue sizzle; a problem for nearly every author. All in all, this volume is packed with plenty of digestible literary protein that will feed writers and make them eager for action. [...]

"Packed with information, accurate and inspiring, Fire Up Your Fiction: An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Stories will help you transform your fiction into a more marketable product." 

Fire up Your Fiction - An Editor's Guide to Writing Compelling Stories was also awarded a Silver Medal from the Florida Authors & Publishers President's Book Awards and an Honorable Mention from the Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards in 2013, and was a Finalist in Foreword Reviews' IndieFab Book Awards and National Indie Excellence Book Awards.

Comments on this book by bestselling "writing gurus": 

"This book is packed with good advice on how to spot and fix weaknesses in your fiction writing. It summarizes the combined wisdom of the last century or so of fiction teachers into one handy volume."
- Randy Ingermanson, bestselling author of Writing Fiction for Dummies

"A handy checklist and self-editing guide that will get any fiction writer to a stronger, well-told tale."
- James Scott Bell, bestselling author of Revision & Self-Editing, Plot & Structure, and Conflict & Suspense

Brief excerpts from other comments by judges:

"What a wonderful resource for writers at any stage of their career! I wish I had this book when I first started writing. ... I can't think of anything important that you haven't addressed succinctly and clearly. ... This should be on the booklist for Master's Programs in Writing for Publication. ... You must be a wonderful editor to be able to write such a readable, but comprehensive book."

- Judge, Writer's Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards, January 2014

“the Strunk & White for writers who want to be not just mere storytellers but master story-compellers.”

- Lucy Wang, reviewer for IndieReader

Amazon Reviews:

Fire up Your Fiction has received 85 reviews on Amazon.com to date, with an overall average of 4.8 out of 5 stars. Many writers and aspiring authors have emailed me to tell me how much this book and my other book, Writing a Killer Thriller, have helped them tighten up their writing and make it more compelling. If you have read either of my books and found them helpful for your writing, I'd love it if you could write a review on Amazon.

Click on the book title to go to Jodie Renner's eBooks on Amazon:

Fire up Your Fiction - An Editor's Guide to Writing Compelling Stories

Writing a Killer Thriller - An Editor's Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction

And look for Captivate Your Readers, out in late 2014, as well as two shorter resources, Grammar on the Go and Spelling on the Go.


Jodie Renner, editor & author       
www.JodieRenner.com
www.JodieRennerEditing.com

Join me on Facebook and Twitter

Spark up Your Story - Adding Tension, Suspense, & Intrigue – Handout

by Jodie Renner, editor & author

This is the HANDOUT for my 50-minute workshop, "Spark up Your Story - Adding Tension, Suspense, and Intrigue" at When Words Collide conference in Calgary, Aug. 8-10, 2014.

All genres of fiction, not just thrillers, suspense novels, and action-adventures, need tension, suspense, and intrigue to keep readers eagerly turning the pages. And of course, you’ll need to ratchet up the tension and suspense a lot more if you’re writing a fast-paced, nail-biting page-turner. 

A. Some “big-picture” techniques for adding suspense, tension, and intrigue:

~ First, make your readers care about your protagonist by creating a likeable, appealing, strong, smart and resourceful but vulnerable character, with some inner conflict, regrets, and secrets. If readers haven’t bonded with your character, they won’t care what happens to him. 

~ Put your character in motion right away. Start right out in the head and body of your main character, in an active scene with others, with some discord and tension.

~ Get up close and personal. Use deep point of view (first-person or close third person) to get us into the head and body of your main character. This makes readers care about the character and worry about him. A worried reader is an engaged reader.

~ Challenge your protagonist. Now that your readers care about your main character, insert a major threat, challenge, or dilemma within the first chapter or two that won’t be resolved until the end. Create an over-riding sentence about this to keep in mind as you’re writing your story: 

“Will (name) survive/stop/find/overcome (ordeal/person/difficulty/threat) on time?” 

~ Create a cunning antagonist. Your villain needs to be as clever, determined and resourceful as your protagonist – or even more so. Make him or her a serious force to be reckoned with!

~ Create a mood of unease by showing the main character feeling apprehensive about something or someone or by showing some of the bad guy’s thoughts and intentions. For a thriller, establish a sense of urgency, a tense mood, and generally fast pacing.

~ Show, don’t tell. Show all your critical scenes in real time as they’re happening, with action, reaction, and dialogue. Show your main character’s inner feelings and physical and emotional reactions. Don’t have one character tell another about an important event or scene.

~ Use multiple viewpoints, especially that of the villain. For increased anxiety and suspense, get us into the head of your antagonist from time to time. This way the readers find out critical information the heroine doesn’t know, things we want to warn her about!

~ Keep the story momentum moving forward. Don’t get bogged down in backstory or exposition. Keep the action moving ahead, especially in the first chapter. Then work in background details and other info little by little, on an “as-needed” basis only, through dialogue or flashbacks – not as the author telling the readers. 

~ Every scene needs conflict and a change. There should be something unresolved in every scene. Your character enters the scene with an objective or goal (agenda), but she encounters obstacles in the scene, so she is thwarted in her efforts to reach her goal. But circumstances or the character have changed by the end of the scene.

~ Put tension on every page. Every page needs some tension, even if it's just disagreement, resentment, doubt, or questioning simmering below the surface.

~ Vary the tension. But of course, you can’t keep up tension nonstop, as it’s tiring for readers and will eventually numb them. It’s best to intersperse tense, nail-biting scenes with a few less tense ones.

~ Add in tough choices and moral dilemmas. Devise ongoing difficult decisions and inner conflict for your lead character. Besides making your plot more suspenseful, this will also make your protagonist more complex, vulnerable, and intriguing.

~ Withhold information. Don’t tell your readers too much too soon. Dole out critical information little by little, through dialogue, thoughts, and brief flashbacks, to tantalize readers and keep them wondering. 

~ Delay answers to critical plot questions. Look for places in your story where you’ve answered readers’ questions too soon, so have missed a prime spot to increase tension and suspense. Draw out the time before answering that question. In the meantime, hint at it from time to time to remind readers of its importance.

~ Use foreshadowing to incite curiosity. Tease the readers with innuendos. Drop subtle hints of troubles to come. Hint at the main character’s past secrets. What is the character worried about or afraid might happen? Capitalize on this.

~ Add in some revelations and epiphanies to put a twist on things and reward readers for their interest and involvement.

~ Use the setting to establish the mood and create suspense. This is the equivalent of ominous music, harsh lighting, strange camera angles, or nasty weather in a scary movie. 

~ Make use of compelling, vivid sensory imagery to take us right there, with the protagonist, vividly experiencing and reacting to whoever/whatever is challenging or threatening him. 

~ Use brief flashbacks at key moments to reveal your main character’s childhood traumas, unpleasant events, secrets, emotional baggage, hangups, dysfunctional family, etc. 

~ Keep hampering your hero or heroine throughout the novel to increase worry, tension, and suspense. Stir in some of these ingredients: a ticking clock, obstacles, chases, traps, restrictions, handicaps, injuries, bad luck, etc.

~ Keep raising the stakes. Keep asking yourself, “How can I make things worse for the protagonist?” As the challenges get more difficult and the obstacles more insurmountable, readers worry more and suspense grows.

~ Plan a few plot twists. Readers are surprised and delighted when the events take a turn they never expected. Don’t let your readers become complacent, thinking it’s easy to figure out the ending, or they may stop reading.

See Jodie’s book Writing a Killer Thriller for a lot more detail on each of the points mentioned above.

B. Revision stage:

Amp up, condense, or delete any scenes that lag, and tighten up your writing. Now go back and make sure every scene and paragraph drives the story forward. Make every chapter, scene, page, paragraph, sentence, and word count! 


 See Jodie's Fire up Your Fiction for lots of concrete tips with examples for tightening your writing and revising your novel or short story to make it more compelling.

Also, see Jodie's Captivate Your Readers for more great tips!

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three craft-of-writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: FIRE UP YOUR FICTION,  CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS, and WRITING A KILLER THRILLER, as well as two clickable time-saving e-resources, QUICK CLICKS: Spelling List and QUICK CLICKS: Word Usage. She has also organized two anthologies for charity: VOICES FROM THE VALLEYS – Stories and Poems about Life in BC’s Interior, and CHILDHOOD REGAINED – Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers. You can find Jodie on her Amazon Author Page, at www.JodieRenner.com, and on Facebook. 

Engage Your Readers with Deep Point of View

by Jodie Renner, editor & author   

This is the HANDOUT from Jodie's workshop on deep point of view at When Words Collide literary festival, Calgary, Aug. 8-10, 2014.

(POV = point of view = viewpoint – Who’s telling the story? or Whose head are we in for that scene?)

Some quick tips for avoiding POV gaffes in your fiction:

(The actual presentation of course had/has an introduction to point of view and deep POV or close third-person viewpoint, with lots of details and examples.)

~ First, decide whose scene it is. Who has the most at stake? (If in doubt, show it from the POV of your protagonist.)

~ Now, get into that character’s head and body and stay there for the whole scene or chapter. Don’t flit around to the thoughts of other characters or show anything that’s going on outside of your POV character’s range or perceptions.

~ Don’t show or describe things going on behind the character’s back, in another room, or anywhere out of their sight or hearing range. Only show us what the character can logically perceive at that time.

~ To describe the setting, use the perceptions, words, goal, attitude, and mood of the POV character for that scene. Don’t describe a scene as a neutral observer or as the author talking to the readers.

~ Color your descriptions of other characters with the attitude and feelings of your POV character toward them. Avoid neutral descriptions.

~ Don’t describe other characters in a way that the POV character wouldn’t. For example, don’t give a detailed description from head to toe of a character the POV character is looking at and already knows very well, like a family member.

~ Don’t get into the inner thoughts or feelings of any other characters in that scene. Show their thoughts, emotions, attitudes and intentions by their facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, words, and actions – anything the POV character can perceive.

~ When starting a new scene or chapter, use the name of the viewpoint character right away, in the first sentence, to establish immediately for the reader whose head we’re in now. 

~ After introducing the POV character, refer to him or her in an informal way, as they would think of themselves.

~ Use the POV character’s name at the beginning of scenes (full name for first mention), then use mainly “he” or “she” except when their name is needed for clarity. (The “he” or “she” is like “I”.)

~ Refer to other characters by the name the POV character normally uses for them. 

~ Avoid lengthy "info dumps." Don’t butt in as the author to explain things to the readers, outside of the character’s viewpoint. Instead, reveal the info from the character’s POV or as a question-and-answer dialogue, with some attitude and tension to spice things up. 

~ Don’t show the POV character’s facial expression or body language (unless they’re looking in a mirror). They don’t know what’s going on with their face. Or indicate it somehow through their thoughts or fears. For example, you could say “She felt her face flush” to indicate that she’s blushing.

~ Show the POV character’s inner thoughts, emotions, and reactions constantly to increase reader engagement.

~ Sprinkle in direct thought-reactions in italics, to reveal the character’s true feelings and increase intimacy with the readers.

What a great audience!

~ Show the POV character’s sensory reactions to their environment, other characters, and what’s happening. Use as many of the five senses as is appropriate to get us into the skin of the character. 

~ Keep the narration in the POV character’s voice. Not only should the dialogue be in the character’s voice and style, but the narration should too, as that’s really the character’s thoughts and observations.

~ Avoid lengthy backstory dumps, the author telling the readers about the character and their background. Introduce only the essential info, through the characters. Or use brief flashbacks, in scenes in real time, with action and dialogue.

~ Don’t have characters magically knowing the names of other characters they’ve never met or heard of, just because we, as the readers, have met those other characters. This is an easy gaffe to make inadvertently.

Copyright © Jodie Renner, 2014   

For more tips on using deep point of view to engage your readers and bring your characters and story
to life, see Jodie’s writers’ guides in the series, An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction, including her latest, CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS.

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor and the award-winning author of three craft-of-writing guides in her series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction: FIRE UP YOUR FICTION,  CAPTIVATE YOUR READERS, and WRITING A KILLER THRILLER, as well as two clickable time-saving e-resources, QUICK CLICKS: Spelling List and QUICK CLICKS: Word Usage. She has also organized two anthologies for charity: VOICES FROM THE VALLEYS – Stories and Poems about Life in BC’s Interior, and CHILDHOOD REGAINED – Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers. You can find Jodie on her Amazon Author Page, at www.JodieRenner.com, and on Facebook.