Seize the Day and Write the Book!

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

How To, Books, Education, Fiction, Arts

4.8 • 733 Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2023

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today’s Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe critique two queries each, in the process discussing extraordinarily long query letters; why it’s tricky to have a character whose ultimate goal is death; including dual-POV in the metadata; the importance of curiosity seeds in the opening pages through interiority and emotionality; how not being specific enough in a query letter makes agents hesitate to request pages; lack of interiority in the third person; using spelling according to the country the story takes place in and/or where you’re pitching it; framing your memoir so it’s written for the reader, not the writer; starting a memoir with a bird’s-eye view or a summary of what happened; stripping the tension at the beginning of a story; and writing tightly on a scene level

After which Bianca chats with Abby Maslin, author of Love You Hard, about being clear as to why you’re writing a memoir; the universal threads of struggle that connect us as humans; removing shame from experiences; structuring a memoir; getting the reader to invest in the characters before throwing them into the action; not telling too much too soon; recognizing what parts of your memoir need to be cut out because they belong to a different memoir; and writing for therapy vs writing to tell a story

Find us on our socials:

Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra

Instagram: @biancamarais_author @carlywatters @cece_lyra_agent @ the_shit_about_writing

Facebook: @tsnotyaw

Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com

Abby can be found at www.abbymaslin.com and on Instagram at @abby_maslin

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's a new year and time to get fresh eyes on your work in progress.
0:04.8	Are you looking for beta readers, some of whom might potentially become writing group members
0:09.2	down the line?
0:10.2	Are you wanting to be matched up with those writing in a similar genre and or time
0:15.0	zone so they can critique your work as you critique theirs at the same time?
0:19.5	Your manuscript doesn't have to be complete to sign up
0:22.1	for this 3,000 word evaluation. This matchup will be open to registrations from now until the
0:28.5	2nd of March with the matchup emails going out on the 3rd of March. Always such an exciting day.
0:35.4	For more information and to register, go to Bianca Moray.com and go to
0:39.7	the beta reader matchup tab. And please spread the word, even if you aren't joining the matchup this
0:45.7	time. The more writers we have signed up, the better the matches will be. Hello from CC.
0:52.6	I'm so excited to announce an all new class called Starting It
0:56.4	Right, which is all about how to begin your story in the best place and in the best way. Now,
1:01.6	this is going to be a four-day class, so come prepared to take lots of notes. We'll cover the different
1:06.9	types of beginnings and how to choose the best one for your story, how to frame your
1:11.6	inciting incident in a compelling way, common mistakes writers make when starting a story,
1:17.3	how to balance exposition and mystery, how to make readers connect with your protagonist, and how
1:23.6	to make the reader want to turn to the next chapter and so much more.
1:28.3	And guess what?
1:29.3	For the first time ever, there will be an interactive component to my class.
1:34.3	Everyone who is registered will have the option of sending in the opening scene of their work
1:40.3	for a chance to be critiqued during the webinar.
	...

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