Well-Read: Reading with Robin- Write Your Book in 2015
Robin Kall, GoLocalProv Book Columnist
Well-Read: Reading with Robin- Write Your Book in 2015
Writing coach Lisa Tener
Meet Lisa Tener - I was first introduced to Lisa when I began my radio show, Reading With Robin over twelve years ago. She was on to talk about her book, The Ultimate Guide to Transforming Anger. Through the years we’ve been in touch on various projects and I’ve watched her career progress and have interviewed several of the authors she has coached along the way. Lisa is an award-winning book writing and publishing coach who has helped hundreds of first-time authors write, publish and leverage their books into a multitude of profitable, life-changing opportunities. Many of her clients have landed 5-to 6-figure publishing deals and appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, CBS Early Show and other syndicated shows. She is also a four-time Stevie Award winner.
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Robin - When you meet someone and say that you are a book writing coach -what are some of the reactions you receive?
Lisa - Of course, lots of people admit they have a book inside them: "I've always wanted to write a book" or "Everybody tells me I should write a book."
Robin- What are some of the misconceptions people have about the writing process? There seem to be a lot of them.
Lisa- Perhaps the biggest misconception is that you have to be a super-talented or have a masters in English or MFA to write a book. Those things can help, but if you're writing self-help or how-to, it's really about taking the experience and expertise you have in your head and getting it onto the page. A good writing coach or editor can help you fine-tune it to make it compelling. I have a client who got C's in English and was told repeatedly by the nuns in school that she couldn't write. Her book has gone on to win multiple awards. There are just a few crucial rules to good writing. Most of them can come in during the editing phase. So if you have a compelling book concept and a yearning in your heart, don't worry so much about your writing chops. That's something you can get help with. I've helped many everyday people get their book published.
The biggest misconception about publishing, particularly nonfiction, (and one that not everyone has but which I do encounter frequently) is that if you have a compelling subject and write a well-written book, a publisher will pick it up, publish it and promote it. Actually those are two misconceptions that go hand in hand--1) that publishers will publish and 2) that they will promote. Publishers want to see that an author already has a platform-- that you already reach people through your blog, social media, website, traditional media, speaking engagements, etc. If you don't, how is the book going to reach an audience? You can have a compelling promotion plan, but if you aren't already reaching people, you're often not ready for a publisher. On the other hand, there are exceptions. Sometimes smaller, niche publishers are not as focused on platform.
Robin – What are the top three mistakes people make when embarking on their writing journey?
Lisa- 1.Writing without knowing who you're writing for: In general, especially with nonfiction (and especially with self-help and how-to books), it's important to know ahead of time whom you're writing for. Trying to write for too many audiences is also a related problem. You want to focus on a core audience; think of it as the bull's eye in a dartboard. Many others will read your book, but if you focus on the core audience, you'll have a strong voice and appeal to a focused target market. If you try to write for everyone, no one will know it's for them.
2. Writing without an outline: Writing without an outline is like holding a business meeting without an agenda. You waste a good deal of time. Your outline may change several times--and that's okay. You'll still find benefit to having a structure from the start. Are there exceptions? Yes, but not as often as you would think.
3) Underestimating your readers: Novice writers often convey information by telling the reader rather than showing the reader. Writing that a character, or even a person who is an example in an anecdote, is nervous is somewhat meaningless to a reader. Writing that the person had to wipe her sweaty hands on her skirt brings her to life. You don't even have to tell the reader that she was nervous. The reader gets to draw the conclusion, which makes it more real for readers.
Robin- What is something you wish you had known when you first set out to write The Ultimate Guide to Transforming Anger?
Lisa- This may sound a little trite, but I am grateful for every mistake I made. I learned so much from doing things "wrong" or having things go wrong--and that has helped me to help my clients write faster and better without making the mistakes I made. If I hadn't made those mistakes, I wouldn't be as good a book coach! However, I suppose if I could change one thing, I'd write better. Certainly in a decade, one becomes a better writer than one was 10 years ago.
Robin- What is something that a hopeful writer can do RIGHT NOW...a first step sort of thing.
Lisa- One of my favorite first steps is to write a vision statement. Whether you are writing a book, blog, article or something else, you can ask yourself these questions:
What do I want this project to do for my readers? What results do I want them to get from reading it? What do I want this project to do for my life? What opportunities do I hope to create? What financial results? What personal growth? What do I want this project to do for my community or the world?
I will be working on my vision statement right after filing this story. What’s yours?
Please join us at 8:30pm on January 15th for the webinar Bring Your Book To Life in 2015: 5 Savvy Tips to Get Started Now! Lisa will be holding a free writing workshop and sharing some of her best writing tips and creative exercises in Narragansett RI on Jan. 18. If you are interested in joining in please email Lisa.
Reading with Robin - Best of 2014
Tempting Fate by Jane Green
One of the things that I love about a Jane Green novel is that I am immediately drawn into the story, its characters and their relationships.
When Gabby first met Elliot she knew he was the man for her. After twenty years of marriage she has never doubted her love for him. But now their daughters are growing up and Gabby feels the time slipping away. She is feeling restless for the first time in her life and then she meets Matt. It is tempting, to say the least, to have the attention of someone who sees Gabby differently than she has been seen in some time and timing, of course, is everything. Jane will be here at the end of January for a very special event. See below for details.
An Italian Wife by Ann Hood
An Italian Wife is a mutigenerational story of an Italian-American family. It’s the story of Josephine Rimaldi complete with all of her joys, losses and passions, spanning over seven decades. The novel beings in turn-of-the-century Italy, when fourteen-year-old Josephine is forced into an arranged marriage who is about to depart for America, where she later joins him. She goes on to be a traditional Italian wife giving birth to seven children. The last, Valentina, is conceived in passion, born in secret, and given up for adoption. An Italian Wife is Hood’s most passionate novel to date.
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
This book is just gorgeous. Chris tells a story in such loving and compassionate detail that I am always in awe of his storytelling.
Closer Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless teen living in an igloo made of ice and trash bags filled with frozen leaves. Half a year earlier, a nuclear plant in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom has experienced a cataclysmic meltdown, and both of Emily’s parents were killed. Emily’s father was in charge of the plant and the meltdown may have been his fault. Despite Emily’s dire circumstances, her resilience, smarts and sense of humor remain. Chris’ daughter, Grace Experience, beautifully narrates the audio version.
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
Oh, the Picoult novel. Need I say more? Leaving Time was my favorite book of the year. I fell in love with the mother-daughter journey and the beauty and majesty of the elephants that surround them.
For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Jenna refuses to believe that she would be abandoned as a young child and searches for her mother online and reads over and over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Jenna hopes the journals will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.
As a fan of Picoult’s books for over twenty years I thought I would finally be able to spot the “aha-twist” moment. It was not to be. So well done!!
Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
This was the perfect summer treat of a novel. Bittersweet has the perfect blend of suspense, drama and characters behaving badly. Mabel Dagmar is on scholarship at a prestigious East Coast College. She is quite ordinary and is surprised to be befriended by her very beautiful and affluent roommate, Genevra Winslow. Ev invites Mabel to spend the summer at Bittersweet, her cottage on the Vermont estate where her family has been holding court for more than a century. Mabel moves right in and wants it all. The boyfriend, access to wealth and what she’s wanted most of all –the sense that she belongs. Of course nothing is ever as it seems and Bittersweet it is.
These next two are debut novels and there is nothing I enjoy more than a fabulous debut. I’m looking forward to whatever is coming next from both Ted Thompson and Pamela Moses.
The Land of Steady Habits by Ted Thompson
I met Ted over the summer when he was part of a debut novelist panel at Bryant Park in New York City. As he read from The Land of Steady Habits I knew this was going to be a book for me. And it was. This happens to be the only book in my line-up with a male protagonist.
Anders Hill is entering his early sixties and by all accounts seems content in the “land of steady habits” –a nickname for the affluent part of Connecticut where he resides. So what’s a content man to do? He abandons his career and family for a new condo and life. He might not have thought this through well enough. With his identity no longer wrapped up in his position or marriage, Anders turns up at a holiday party full of his ex-wife’s friends and is surprised to find that the world he rejected may be just the one he needs.
The Appetites of Girls by Pamela Moses
I picked up this book by the book jacket alone. Then I read a little about Pamela and learned that she is a Brown grad and that The Appetites of Girls takes place largely in Rhode Island and more specifically Brown University. Stir in a coming of age story complete with four suitemates who could not be less alike and voila! You have just my kind of a read. College brings four young women together – Ruth, Francesca, Opal and Setsu where their stories and appetites collide. Despite their differences, they remain close to each other through the years and guard a well-kept secret.
Never Too Late-Your Roadmap to Reinvention by Claire Cook
Known to Reading With Robin listeners as the first interview each June with novels such as: Must Love Dogs, Life’s a Beach and Time Flies, Cook steps outside of the novel-box with this motivating, thoughtful book about making your dreams and goals a reality. In her unique and humorous storytelling style, Claire gives her readers cutting edge tools to get where they want to go. Sharing her own stories about her writing career complete with its successes and failures you will be greatly motivated to get going on your own plan. You might be tempted to put down the book and get started but don’t! You won’t want to miss a single word. This is from Claire-
"If you or anyone you know is planning to reinvent your life in 2015, there's still time to order the paperback or download the ebook of Never Too Late: Your Roadmap to Reinvention (without getting lost along the way), the #1 Amazon Bestseller in Women's Personal Growth! Here's the link
And mark your calendars for South County Hospital Healthcare System's Women's Wellness Day on September 19. I'll be giving the keynote, and I can't wait!"—Claire Cook, USA
Today bestselling author of Must Love Dogs
