Who's Your Writing Mentor?

Have you ever needed a swift kick in the backside to keep you moving? At other times, someone to hand you a tissue and commiserate is what it takes. There's often someone ahead of you in the journey who can give wise counsel or a helping hand.



I think any of us who have been writing for a few years have had a mentor or two deliver all the above. I know my own 12 years of writing have been seasoned with various people who've made all the difference for me.

I've hung out my shingle as a writing instructor and mentor on an official basis. So many people want to write fiction but have no idea how to go about it. I'm not sure if anyone reading along here at ICFW is in that boat, but maybe you know someone who is, even if you're not, and I'd be grateful if you'd recommend me.

To Write a Story is a site dedicated to learning the craft of writing fiction from beginning to end. I'll be blogging on the basics, but the main focus of the site is to channel folks into the free writing course I'm offering which will land in their inboxes weekly for the better part of a year. It will walk the wannabe-writers from planning through plotting, writing, editing, publishing, and marketing. Not intended as an in-depth course, How To Write a Story will provide an overview of the various steps and things to consider.

What qualifies me to teach and mentor? 12 years experience with 11 completed novels—and 1 novella in Rainbow's End. 12 years of learning from many sources. 12 years of struggling to find my own voice and my own method of plotting, somewhere between pantsing and outlining. 12 years of watching the industry and learning how it works. 12 years of others pouring their wisdom into my life. And many more than 12 rounds of teaching in online forums, at regional conferences, and one-on-one.

Do I know everything? Absolutely not. But I do know more than some folks, and those are the ones I want to help—the ones who need a helping hand and a little guidance to understand the process needed to write a story from beginning to end.

I hope you'll join me or encourage your friends to do so. The party's just getting started for those who want To Write a Story.

In comments below, tell me ways someone has mentored you. . .or that you have mentored someone else.

Valerie Comer is an author and a blogger where food and faith meet fiction. She's taught workshops online and at regional writing conferences, and is thrilled to offer a fiction writing course at To Write a Story. Visit her website and blog to glimpse inside her world of food and faith.

NEED A SECOND OPINION?

A couple of months ago I had one of those wretched nights when you know something unpleasant is going on in your body. Although I was very feverish and thought I must just have one of the vicious viruses going around, I needed a ‘second opinion’ from my doctor. I will always be very thankful for that decision. Within a few minutes she had rung the ambulance, inserted an intravenous drip and given me a shot of morphia to ‘tide me over’, as she put it, for the fifty minute trip to the hospital. One not-so-small kidney stone had caused a blockage which had caused an abscess which had caused my whole system to be poisoned.

Have you ever thought of authors needing a ‘second opinion’ on their manuscripts before they are submitted to an editor or agent for that most important decision? Some writing their very first novel may need a third, fourth – even fifth opinion. So who can writers consult for those opinions?

I was very fortunate to have a very knowledgeable doctor who immediately realised the gravity of my situation and acted accordingly. But I certainly needed those folk at the hospital who did those vital tests needed for the ‘third opinion’ hospital doctor to ask the specialist, the urologist, to give the fourth opinion and order the correct treatment he had been trained to give.

And what about the people who have been asked for opinions on another writer’s sweated over efforts to present the story they have taken a long time to finish. How should they respond?

My doctor knew I was very sick – which incidentally I did not know at the time – and acted appropriately to help me. I am so glad she had been well trained to know what needed to be done. So writers need to be careful who they ask to read their manuscripts. Family members and good friends may be okay for that ‘first opinion’ but not be the best qualified readers for the second. They can say whether they enjoyed your story or not, but because of your close relationship may not wish to hurt you if they do not think it is a good story. Some may also be too hesitant to point out problems in your fiction writing technique. I also hasten to add that it may not be wise to ask some friends with writing experience to read your efforts, especially if they are not readers or writers of your particular type of genre. I have also discovered that writers only of non-fiction – yes, and even editors too of non-fiction – are not always the right folk to ask to check your fiction manuscript.

And there is another problem for those of us who know other published authors in our genre whose books we like and would like to pluck up courage to ask. Most are so busy they rarely have time to read whole manuscripts sent to them – especially by beginner writers. Over the years there have been published authors who have started their own businesses as manuscript assessors. There usually is a charge of course because these writers are using their own writing time to try and help others.

One such author I know of is Jeanne Marie Leach.

She has her charges listed on her website. For example, she offers what I think is a very fare first offer:

No charge for basic read of first 5 pages – which determines extent of editing necessary.

Do click here and check out her website.

Omega Writers in Australia has one free manuscript appraisal up to 50 pages each year as part of their help for their members. Other writers groups and organisations also offer help in various ways. It is VERY worthwhile being a member of a good writiers organisation.

There are thousands of folk writing novels, including Christian Fiction. Being just a reader who wants to become an author is not enough these days –perhaps it never was? The competition to get our books out there to readers is fiercer than ever today. To have any chance to be successful in having readers be so blessed that they rave about our novels, we have to seek to achieve the highest standard we can. Attending workshops for writers, studying “how to...” books are essential for anyone who wants to write a novel.

Whatever you do, please recognise that especially if you have had little training for writing a novel of any genre, you most likely need at least a ‘second opinion’ to make it the best you possibly can before trying to find a publisher – or also self-publish of course.

I have tried to help other writers over the years but like many other published authors, there have been too many times I hate to have had to say, ‘Sorry, I am afraid my own commitments right now schedule right now does not give me enough time to do your manuscript justice.’

Please leave a comment about any other authors you know of, and especially any you have had personal experience with, who currently can offer help with fiction manuscripts.

Mary Hawkins is a best-selling inspirational romance author.
Over the years she has enjoyed mentoring writers and trying to share what she has been learning about writing novels. She has enjoyed many speaking appointments and has presented workshops at various writer's groups, including Romance Writers of Australia and in recent years at the Word Writers events in Queensland sponsored by Omega Writers and Wombat Books. She lives in Tasmania with her husband Ray, who is also a published author of the 31 Day Devotional books and a contributor to the ICFW Friday Devotions. She is currently trying hard to get back into completing her 18th manuscript as she continues to recover from septicaemia. Mary's novel, Return to Baragula, is the first book featured on the Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance http://acrba.blogspot.com.au ncing in November.

The fine art of genre switching

Not long after my fifth novel, Heléna’s Legacy, was released last August, I submitted my sixth, The Inheritance, to the same publisher and it was duly accepted for publication. In the meantime, I had begun writing my first full length non-fiction work, Soul Friend: the story of a shared spiritual journey, an account of my relationship with a dear, older mentor and spiritual friend over the past fifteen years.

After a few months, however, my publishers decided not to proceed with my sixth novel, opting to focus more on non-fiction. Determined not to give in, I sent this same novel off to another Christian publisher here in Australia. This new publisher soon responded, saying she really liked the manuscript, but pointing out various changes she would want made before she would consider publishing it. I agreed to tackle these, but mentioned I also had a non-fiction work I would like her to see. To my surprise, soon I found myself signing not one but two contracts – one for my non-fiction work and the other for my sixth novel again.

But all of this genre switching can become a little confusing, I’ve discovered. While working through all the final edits of Soul Friend over recent weeks, in preparation for its release in October, I found myself thinking at times how a fiction author often has to. Were my characters coming across as ‘real’ enough? Was the plot believable? Did the story have a good ‘arc’? Was the first person point of view used throughout too boring? Had I somehow swapped to omniscient point of view at times? Had I handled direct speech well throughout the manuscript? Were there too many taglines?

Now since my non-fiction work is essentially a story of my own spiritual journey and the impact my friend has had in my life, I realised I still needed to apply many things I had learnt as a fiction author, in order to touch the hearts and grip the attention of my readers. But I soon discovered there are differences as well. For starters, I didn’t have to create my characters – they already exist! Yes, I had to work out how best to portray them, but I couldn’t change who they are. And I couldn’t change the basic storyline. Admittedly, I did have to decide at times what needed to be included and what might be better left out. But the story had to unfold as it happened in real life – my friend and I could not be portrayed as doing things we hadn’t. At times, when I could not remember the exact words we had said to each other and found nothing in my journal entries or emails about the issue at hand, I knew I needed to call on my fiction experience and imagine the words we might have said. But I could not let my imagination run away with me, as I had the luxury to do in my novels. After all, I wanted my non-fiction book to have complete honesty and integrity.

So after October this year, when Soul Friend is released, I will find myself both a fiction and non-fiction author. Have I succeeded in crossing that genre boundary on this occasion? Time will tell – but I hope so, with all my heart. I love writing both and pray I have managed to honour God well in both.

How about you? Have any of you had interesting experiences in changing genre, even if temporarily?

Jo-Anne Berthelsen grew up in Brisbane and holds an Arts degree from Queensland University. She has also studied Education and Theology and has worked as a high school teacher and editor, as well as in local church ministry in Sydney. Jo-Anne loves communicating through both the written and spoken word and currently has five published novels – ‘Heléna’, ‘All the Days of My Life’, ‘Laura’, ‘Jenna’ and ‘Heléna’s Legacy’.  She is married to a retired minister and has three grown-up children and three grandchildren. For more information or to contact Jo-Anne, please visit her website, www.jo-anneberthelsen.com.