Top 3 Problems Identified at Writers Retreats
Editor Jason Sitzes Offers Tips From Professional Writing Courses
Oct 29, 2009
Jason Sitzes has spent countless hours advising authors on how to write a book that will sell, giving tips on the finer points of preparing a work for publication. He admits there is nothing he likes better than to sit down and have a brainstorming session with writers – then to see the light of recognition in their eyes when they suddenly see a new direction for a story or character. Off they go to make the story even better than what they had discussed in the session with Jason. He finds this incredibly rewarding.
"I love showing both new and established writers the amount of work that goes into writing a novel," he says. "Writing is part art, and part craft – both must be honored." Jason looks upon it as a kind of magic: he is part of the process, then after the rewrite gets to see the published book on the shelves.
Lessons From the Writers Retreat Workshop and Breakout Novel Workshop
Working one-on-one with writers so much to analyse plot and characters, Jason can readily name the problems that keep cropping up in workshop after workshop. He outlines them here:
1. Problems With Scene Structure
Every scene should have structure, and writers who ignore this can end up in serious trouble. "I see scenes ramble on and on without focus or character goals," says Jason.
In every scene, it is essential for the main character to have a goal. What does he/she want? How will he/she try to get it? What opposition will he/she face in achieving this goal?
Without focus, a scene will not keep the reader engrossed, and will not keep the plot tight and the pace moving along. An understanding of scene structure is vital.
2. Not Enough Tension in a Scene
"When I talk about tension, I'm not talking about car chases and gunfights," Jason points out. "I'm talking about internal, deep tension. The stuff that keeps us turning the page."
Where does tension come from? Scene goals, and from the action in the scene.
Go back and take a look at how the scene is created. In each scene, tension can arise from the character's efforts to achieve his goal, or from somewhere else. The tension is always there somewhere... keep digging until it suddenly becomes obvious. Subtle moments of tension can mushroom into something much bigger.
Every story benefits from efforts by the author to raise the level of tension – and there's nothing readers like better than to worry about how things will turn out.
3) Unlikeable or Unsympathetic Characters
"You can write about a gentle nun or a protagonist who is a serial killer and I could dislike or like them equally," Jason says. "However, the unlikeable character will kill your novel from page one."
Jason is quick to point out that this doesn't mean that the character has to be a kind soul. "It just means that we have to want to root for the guy who leaves his wife and children from page one, if that's your hero. If a character's motives are strong, we'll get behind whatever his goal is. If the motive is selfish or weak, we're going to see them as cowards and quickly get bored with them."
These three top writing problems identified by Jason Sitzes have cropped up again and again in highly regarded writers retreats and workshops – workshops that attract many writers who go back again and again for more advice from editors and agents. New York agent Donald Maass, author of Writing the Breakout Novel and the more recent The Fire in Fiction, has spent decades advising authors on how to take their writing to the next level. With all that experience behind him, it is worth taking following advice that has come from his workshops.
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