Carrie has announced the name of the person who gave her the best ideas for writing her SuperArticle: Joleena.
Joleena wins a free critique of one page of her current work in progress. Joleena, email me that as a Word doc and I’ll critique it for you.
Valerie asked a good question today:
How do you write super articles, when you’re not a leading expert in a certain field, just a person, whose imagination can’t/won’t shut off.
This is my current struggle and frustration. I have the ideas and the ability to write, but my expertise is ‘limited’ by publishers’ standards.
Do we have to be qualified to write the stories we desire to tell?
Or are their other ways to prove ourselves to the publishing world?
There are several related questions here:
1) How do you write a SuperArticle when you’re not famous:
Randy sez: I wasn’t famous as a writing teacher when I wrote my Snowflake SuperArticle. My SuperArticle made me famous. Nor was I known at all in the world of New Testament scholarship three months ago when I wrote two articles about the alleged tomb of Jesus. Those articles MADE me famous because they had high perceived value.
Here is the secret with SuperArticles: People will judge you on the merit of your ideas, not on who you are. People don’t care diddly who you are. If you have a good idea and express it well and do your part to get the word out, then people will notice. My Special Report on SuperArticles explains a bit of what you need to do to promote your SuperArticle, but promotion is an infinitely large topic which we’ll be discussing here for years.
2) Do you have to be “qualified” to get a story published?
Randy sez: No. For certain kinds of stories, it helps. Carrie’s qualifications as a forensic artist will help her sell her story IF her writing is good enough. My qualifications as a physicist helped me sell my first time-travel novel, but ONLY because my writing was good enough. I know a cop who writes cop stories. His qualifications help, but ONLY because he writes well.
Excellent writing is your best qualification. Degrees and job titles are just gravy. The reason I started this web site is to teach excellence in writing. That’s the main thing.
3) Do you need to prove yourself to the publishing world?
Randy sez: If you’re a novelist, no. Just write well. The best thing a novelist can do for himself is to write superbly well. The second best thing is to have some sort of “marketing platform.” The third best thing is to have some sort of relevant qualification. Those are the only three things that I know that work.
Sending chocolate to the editor doesn’t work. Sending cash doesn’t work. Sending lingerie doesn’t work.
You ask how I know those don’t work. Well . . . I’ve heard stories. Enough said.
“Sending chocolate to the editor doesn’t work.”
Rats!! You mean I hand-dipped all those chocolates for nothing?!?
Valerie’s question is excellent. Thanks for answering. But I have another one . . I write adventure stories of a missionary kid in different parts of South America and eventually, the world. My one-liner for my present novel: “A twelve-year-old boy risks his friendship–and his life–to unmask crime and superstition in the mysterious Archipelagos.” Any ideas for a super article when you write for kids?
Thanks for asking that question, Colleen. I was wondering the same thing. Most children’s authors’ websites have info on their books. Some have question/answer forums, or even this sort of blog where kids can post their writing. But, super articles? I don’t know if I’ve seen one that fits the bill. I’d sure be interested to see one.
Thanks for answering my question. 🙂
It definatly helps to know that I don’t have to have a Phd. to write fiction. 😉
I know research, and becoming an expert or very knowledgeable about your subject matter is a must. And I look forward to that challenge.
I’ve been pondering. My novels will deal with creationism. I am a former chemist and homeschool mom,so I thought I could come from that angle. Problem: its already been done and by people far better than I in both education and creation science. Any ideas?
Thanks for the answer, Randy! It helps a lot.
So goes my new mantra: “It’s not about me, it’s not about me . . .”
kind of a sideline — thanx to whoever sent me to the blog of Thomas Nelson CEO Michael Hyatt. Yesterday’s was especially revealing: ‘why don’t publishers do more research’. Considering the hit-and-miss nature of the professional’s offerings, I always suspected as much. So if I spend a lot of time following them, it’s like the blind following the blind. Only a blind Goliath can swat off stones, whereas a blind David can’t aim them at the one place he HAS to hit.
Blogging and forums have a wealth of info that are helping me refine my sight. And thanx also to whoever recommended the book ‘Make it Stick’. And thanx Randy for being willing to share info that is hard to come by.
MLE
Congrats, Joleena!!
Valerie, good question!
I am still stuck. What kind of Super Article can a fantasy writer make? The closest I can think of is writing about the extensive research I did into the year 3000 BC. I have based the setting on a blend of many cultures and technologies during this time. Of course, I will maybe use at most 10%, if that.
Do I convert my story idea into a gaming format or module? Do I make an interactive map? (Not exactly sure how to do that but have seen a couple).
Am totally stuck.
I’m with Kathryn here, trying to figure out what a fantasy writer can offer as a SuperArticle. At least things that aren’t related to writing! I’ve done some short classes on food preservation (helpful for fantasy, history, or sf writers) and on primitive housing (ditto) that I’d wondered about adapting and putting on my website. But when Randy sez writing articles aren’t that helpful, I’m stuck. I make up just about everything I write!
I’m wondering if we just aren’t getting it because I’m confused, too. I write for kids and am branching out into YA fantasy. What kind of article can I come up with?
I think maybe something I’m passionate about … and it doesn’t have to be for kids or about fantasy writing. Just an article about a hot topic that I can either research or something I already know about.
For example: I have an autistic daughter. She has seizures. That makes it just about impossible for us to go to church while on vacation or visting my parents. Most churches do not have a special needs nursery and are not equipped to handle kids who can’t sit in church, Sunday school or the regular nursery. This should not be. Of all the places in the world, the church is one place where I should be able to take my daughter. I can write an article about this. I even have a name: No Place For Anna.
Will that boost my writing? I don’t know. But like Randy sez, if the writing is good, it will get noticed.
Am I understanding that right?
Ideas for the fantasy peeps-
A SuperArticle on creating a magic system for your stories, or on creating/using fantasyish creatures.
Or perhaps a SuperArticle on how to quickly and swiftly research a time period.
Or even a toungue-in-cheek guide of some sort. If you google the phrase “write fantasy” without quotes, the current #1 is a fairly silly essay.
Or a SuperArticle on making your own armor (for the SCA/LARP types out there)
Sorry if this double posts… It didn’t appear to work the first time.
Ideas for the fantasy peeps-
A SuperArticle on creating a magic system for your stories, or on creating/using fantasyish creatures.
Or perhaps a SuperArticle on how to quickly and swiftly research a time period.
Or even a toungue-in-cheek guide of some sort. If you google the phrase “write fantasy” without quotes, the current #1 is a fairly silly essay.
Or a SuperArticle on making your own armor (for the SCA/LARP types out there)
Thank you Carrie and Randy. I’m glad I could help with brainstorming.
There is so much work to do regarding the craft, but we need to remember:
The most important thing during all of the crafting, is to remember the reader.
The writer’s job is to care about the reader. If they do, the reader will care back. It’s a reciprocal relationship.
Linda mentioned the idea of “it’s all been done” and I couldn’t help but think about the latest “Rocky” film.
I understand that some might not agree, but I was amazed at how they managed to pull it off–again.
The same stories are told and retold many times, but its all in the subtleties. It’s all about (and I say it again) caring and connecting with the reader (or in the case of film–the viewer).
I have a suggestion for you Lynda. Since you homeschooled your children. (I did too by the way–and do you by any chance have cats that like to lounge about on your desk? Just checking on that stereotype thing).
You could consider presenting it in a simple story-telling style.
For instance: Once Upon a Creation…
Maybe you could divide it up into a bunch of short stories.
I had heard about a biologist who said a bacterial model couldn’t work without _all_ of its parts and he gave the argument _for creationism_ and intelligent design.
You could perhaps have within the book: Once Upon a Bacteria.
Also, you could speak about the holes in the “Horse Evolutionary Model” and get…
Once Upon a Horse.
I suppose there’s no end to how you could proceed with this.
My suggestion though is to compartmentalize it–at least at first–until you feel grounded in what you are writing.
Write. Research. Write. Research…
Blessings,
Joleena
This for Pam:
Autism is a good entry, because there you have credibility. I don’t need to tell you how many autistic/Asperger’s kids are out there nowadays. ‘The Dog in the Night-Time’ is an example of a book that sold well on the autism angle. (Double Vision has an Asperger’s character too, good job, Randy.)If you include a character with those traits in your novel, even if it is fantasy, you would be likely to catch that audience if you could get ‘buzz’ going in those circles. And you would know how to do that better than anybody, internet or no. If nothing else, my sister, who is raising an Asperger’s child, would read it to her son.
Several years ago, I heard a YA writer who had experience with a certain rare muscle disease and gave her main character that problem. The support group for that disease picked up her books, sold them on their site, and it ran very well from there.
MLE
Hi guys,
Though I am still a 60’s flower child at heart, I am also an expert in hard style martial arts and self defence.
But I don’t feel I have a distinct nor unique pov.
I have two old articles that maybe could be reworked into a SA. One is “Lies to Bleed For” (4000 words)which points out the myths younger martial artists beleive that can get themselves into trouble because they think they are now Black Belt super heroes and can do annything.
I also have one that is called “How to Survive Random Violence” (2000 words) that might be grown into SA size. The titles says it all.
I guess I’m wondering if either of these topics has potential?
I don’t know if you all watch TV or not. But, there is a weekly tv show called Boston Legal and one of the main characters has Asperger’s and that is the first time I had ever heard of the syndrom. Very interesting to watch every week to see what he will do.
I am just blown away with the way everyone offers encoragement. This is a very special offering, this web site.
Thank you, Randy, for offering it.
Carly