On today’s episode, Heather Hein joins Bonnie and Miranda at The Writing Forge to discuss plotting and planning your novel. 

[Correction: Orson Scott Card coined the term MICE Quotient. Mary Robinette Kowal popularized it.]

Tips and Tricks:

• Outlines can be used two ways: (1) as a map to guide your story as you write it or (2) as a diagnostic tool if you are stuck in your writing or there’s something off about the manuscript.
• There are dozens and dozens of plot structures out there. Find one that fits your genre and your style.
• Some plot structures are: The Hero’s Journey, Save the Cat, the Three Act Structure, Four Act Structure, Seven Point Structure, and the Snowflake Method.
• If you create an outline, you can send it to your editor to save them time and work, as well as to help identify anything that might be wrong with your story structure
• Different genres have different story structures; be sure to do research on your genre expectations—especially if you want to publish commercially.
• Don’t be afraid to let your outline be fluid. If the story is taking a different direction than you expected, don’t be afraid to follow it and change the outline after the fact.

This week’s question: What are you struggling with in plotting your stories? Let us know on our social media platforms. Maybe we can hit each other up and brainstorm some solutions.

Facebook: @writingheights

Instagram: @writingheights

Join the NCW/Writing Heights community at writingheights.com

Cover art by Maggie Walker

Links:

Margaret Mizushima

MICE Quotient

Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

Today, Bonnie and Miranda talk with JC Lynne about doing research for your fiction manuscript and how to incorporate research into your writing on this episode of The Writing Forge.

Tips and Tricks:

• Start your research with these questions: What are you writing? (What is the topic that needs researching?) Who are you writing it for? Who are your characters and what would they know?
• [Specifically for sci-fi] Find your science track, whether concrete or theoretical, and read up on it to give yourself a basic understanding of the subject.
• Be aware of your audience and the level of research they may be expecting. Experts as compared to non-specialized readers will pick up on different things in a manuscript.
• Having interviews and conversations with experts is a great way to get a more in-depth analysis of a topic or to receive insight into a subject that isn’t covered by papers. Make sure to have a basic understanding of your chosen topic before speaking with the expert.
• It’s very easy to go down research rabbit holes. This can be a good thing if you have the time. Research rabbit holes can help discover topics and information that you might not have previously considered for your novel. 
• If there’s no time to get drawn into research rabbit holes, try making a list of specific information you’re looking for, get basic answers to those questions, then get back to writing the manuscript.
• Don’t try to put all of your research into your book. Don’t throw your research away, but understand that you’re going to do a lot more research than is going to make it into the novel.
• Prioritize your writing first and foremost

This week’s question: Where do you get your research? Or, alternatively: Wikipedia, yea or nay? Drop a line and let us know!

Facebook: @writingheights

Instagram: @writingheights

Join the NCW/Writing Heights community at writingheights.com

Cover art by Maggie Walker

Links:

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

On today’s episode of The Writing Forge, Bonnie and Miranda discuss the submission process, particularly for anthologies and literary magazines, with guest Cristina Trapani-Scott. 

Tips and Tricks:

• To find places to submit your work there are a number of resources to research:
• The Writers Market
• Writing Organization Newsletters
• https://www.newpages.com/
• https://www.pw.org/
• https://www.thereviewreview.net/ 
• Facebook groups ex: Call for Submissions
• Google (or search engine of your choice) search for genre specific magazines or anthologies
• There are two approaches to submissions: writing the piece first then finding a place to submit, or finding a place to submit and writing to their specifications.
• Pay close attention to style and submission requirements. Many places will automatically reject pieces that did not follow instructions.
• It helps to read pieces from the place you are submitting to in order to get a feel for what they’re looking for.
• Don’t be afraid to tweak or adapt a story 
• Track where you submit. (Spreadsheets are a good way to do this.) You don’t want to submit a rejected piece to the same place twice. Also, simultaneous submission clauses can affect the timing of a piece or if/when you can submit a piece somewhere else, so keeping track of dates is important
• Having a submission buddy can help with accountability and support during your submission process.

This week’s question: What is your best way to deal with rejection? Let us know on our social platforms.

The Writing Forge is a podcast brought to you by Northern Colorado Writers you can find us here:

www.northerncoloradowriters.com/podcast

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: @northerncoloradowriters

Instagram: @ncw_writers

Twitter: @northcolowriter

Links mentioned:

Chiaroscuro: An Anthology of Virtue and Vice

https://bookshop.org/books/chiaroscuro-an-anthology-of-virtue-vice/9780578976617

Elixir: Stories of Hope and Healing

https://www.hansenhousebooks.com/product/elixir-stories-of-hope-and-healing/ 

Support the show with a donation at the link below:

https://app.redcircle.com/shows/df18007c-c086-4fa2-b2be-0b026bb17385/donations

Today we introduce and learn a little about the show hosts, Bonnie and Miranda, then dive into talking about balancing dialogue and description in your writing.

Tips and Tricks

• Plan for multiple drafts of scenes, chapters, and full manuscripts.
• Don’t be afraid to lean into your strength first. If you’re good at dialogue, “sketch” out the dialogue. If you’re good at exposition, then first write the exposition. Afterwards return to the piece and fill in the gaps.
• There are times where it is okay to be heavy on description (exposition, scene setting, mood setting) or be heavy on dialogue (arguments, quick witty exchanges, situations where characters really are just sitting down and talking). Heavy sections are tolerated differently across different genres.
• If you’re struggling with either dialogue or description, find ways to make them do double duty. Have exposition bring tension to an otherwise boring exchange. Have dialogue give insight to a character’s mindset or feelings.
• Once you have a draft, grab two different-colored highlighters and highlight exposition in one color and dialogue in another. You’ll be able to visually see the balance of a scene and adjust as needed.

This week’s question:

What are some books that balance dialogue and description well? What are some books that maybe fell a little short? Let us know on our socials.

The Writing Forge is a podcast brought to you by Northern Colorado Writers you can find us here:

www.northerncoloradowriters.com/podcast

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: @northerncoloradowriters

Instagram: @ncw_writers

Twitter: @northcolowriter

Links mentioned:

National Novel Writing Month:

https://nanowrimo.org/about-nano 

Writing Excuses:

https://writingexcuses.com/ 

Support the show with a donation at the link below:

https://app.redcircle.com/shows/df18007c-c086-4fa2-b2be-0b026bb17385/donations