(Tip: Get a free copy of Jim Magwood’s So You’ve Written a Book. Now What? Your coupon code is at the end of this article.)
Jim Magwood spoke at the Writers of Kern meeting in Bakersfield, Saturday. His topic? How to craft suspenseful plots from news headlines.
Magwood is the self-published author of suspense novels: Nightmare, Sanction, The Lesser Evil, and Cop.
His speaking style revealed a natural propensity for suspense as he carried his audience from one topic to the next with transitions like mini cliffhangers. His quiet and confident demeanor lent the impression that Magwood was fully in control of his topic and his audience.
His topic “Seeing and Writing in Reality” promised to reveal the technique behind his suspense novels. With a topic like that, I expected more instruction. And the first half of Magwood’s talk built up to what he ultimately did not deliver.
That’s okay. Magwood provided a list of ideas for inspiring novel premises instead. Although his audience was more advanced than the “where do you get your ideas?” stage, Magwood’s ideas list proved fairly intriguing.
He offered a few gemlike tips, too. And dispelled writing myths that trip up many a writer.
In the end, Jim Magwood’s talk was worth the time. Here’s the best of what he offered.
How to Write from Reality (or Where to Find Story Ideas So Good, They Practically Write Themselves)
News Stories
Don’t focus just on the headline, Magwood said. Ask yourself “why?” How and why did events coalesce to make this headline possible? Tell that story.
Everyday Scenes
Pay attention in everyday life. Did you notice “yet another tractor in another field” as you drove down some lonely Kern County road? Ask yourself, “who is the driver?” Tell his story.
Steal from Other Writers
Take a page or a paragraph or a sentence from a novel, and write a book about it. “Don’t plagiarize,” Magwood said. “But take the theme.”
Books like Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist encourage writers to do the same. Steal from a variety of sources and it isn’t plagiarism. It’s inspiration.
Take the Expected and Turn It on Its Head
Write what happens when people break the rules. Or when life doesn’t follow the expected path. Magwood’s example: What happens when a defense attorney believes so much in his client’s guilt that he disregards his job and family to break that almost sacred confidentiality agreement?
This premise alone is intriguing. More important is the advice behind it: follow what happens when people or circumstances break the norm.
Writing Myths to Ignore
Magwood dispelled these writing myths during the best parts of his talk.
Forget the Rules
“Don’t let yourself get bound by rules,” he said. And he’s right. Rules create more problems for writers than they solve. Too often, writers get so wrapped up in the rules without understanding the reason behind them. Their stories suffer for it.
I know writers who tell hilarious or compelling stories when chatting with a friend. But, put a pen in their hand, and that wonderful story bogs down in overwriting and awkward backbends.
Magwood cited the only real rule in writing: write what works. How do you know what works? That’s the real question. Here’s what Magwood said about it.
The Only Rule that Matters
All that matters for writers is whether readers connect with the work. But first, they have to understand it. I agree with Magwood, here. Every other rule is just an opinion.
Don’t Write What You Know; Write What You Imagine
“‘Write what you know’ may be a fallacy,” Magwood said. Here’s a concept that’s gaining traction in writing circles.
But if you can’t write what you know, what do you write?
Write from imagination. Some would call it empathy. As Magwood said, “I may not know that, but I can dream it.” Excellent point.
The Wrap Up
Magwood delivered more of an ideas list than the plotting technique his topic promised.
I’d hoped to leave his talk with a ready-made tool for turning news headlines into cohesive, suspenseful narratives. What Magwood did offer, though, made his speech worth the time. I learned where to find story ideas so good, they practically write themselves.
Magwood closed with this gem: Don’t worry about failing. Pursue writing with everything you’ve got. Because, as Magwood put it, “some goals are so worthy that even to fail is glorious.”
How can you argue with that?
Pick up a free copy of Jim Magwood’s So You’ve Written a Book. Now What? (Hint: Look for the coupon code on his page, and get your copy free.)
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Writers of Kern features authors and publishing professionals in Bakersfield, California most months of the year. Learn the when, where, and who at Writers of Kern, meetings.
Nice, Mandy. You gave us a re-cap with critique and added your own ideas based on your experience.
Thanks, Annis 🙂 Glad it worked for you.
Nicely done…
I absolutely adore this! I’ve never thought about writing about things like this. Hopefully my years of writer’s block will be over with these tips. Thank you!
Very nice article, but I do have a problem with “Steal Like An Artist.” Some writers unfortunately have low or no morals, and telling these people not to plagiarize is useless. They don’t have the talent or the desire to take a theme and develop their own unique vision. They want their 15 minutes of fame and they don’t care what they have to do in order to get it. I personally had someone pick through one of my novels and lift five plot points and the main character’s name. Her book was so similar to mine that readers emailed me because they thought her self-published book was a shout out to mine. It wasn’t. It was a rip-off. When the thief discovered I was writing a sequel to my first story she emailed me and told me that if I completed and published the book she and her friends would destroy me. That didn’t happen.
Another writer friend of mine discovered that someone had taken large hunks out of one of her books and mashed it up together with stolen parts from other authors’ stories. This thief said she was experimenting with style and tone. There were lots of people who actually believed her until the other five authors came forward and set the record straight.
Mandy, I know that these are two extreme cases and certainly you and Jim Magwood aren’t advocating plagiarism, but as always, some people take things too far. They wouldn’t know how to “study, credit, remix, mash up and transform” to save their lives.
It’s a shame that happened to you, Laverne. There are some unscrupulous people out there. And it doesn’t make sense to spend our time on them.
Plagiarizers rarely go far, and neither do writers who waste the time they could be using to write and connect with readers. Better to write for good readers. Better to speak to good writers.
I feel I can say this because I’ve seen my work plagiarized too. It happens. It sucks. We soldier on.
Good luck!
Thank you.
No, those types rarely go far. They don’t have the talent and it’s fairly easy to expose them for what they are, but it’s still irritating to deal with them and their supporters. Their fans usually disappear into the woodwork once the jig is up. I’m not surprised your articles have been copied and pasted all over the place. The way technology is nowadays there’s really no defense against that except making sure that your content is visible so that you get a heads up whenever that occurs.
I THOUGHT ONCE YOU WRITE IT
It is copyrighted
I think that plagiarism exists everywhere. (sadly) I never stumbled across such obvious theft and hope I never will.
Actually I like that tip, to get inspiration from other artists. And as long as you only get inspiration from fellow artists, it’s okay I think.
The wording could maybe be different on that tip but otherwise the article was great.
I hope I didn’t get you wrong, English isn’t my mother tongue.
I am very Leary of submitting my story to some of the online writing lessons! I think I have a great idea and need to know …Should my story be copyrighted before even getting it to various editors or publishers? Of course I have High Expectations for my story…lol. Also…I DO Understand about “BORROWING” ideas from other books because Part of my inspiration came from a book I read a long long time ago! It is NOTHING like that Story but, it gave me the idea in a crazy way! I guess we never know what inspires us! I enjoyed this article very much! Hope to someday SHARE A SPOT ON THE BEST SELLERS LIST!
That’s a tough call, Debbie. I’d say submit to places you trust with a strong reputation. But really the uniqueness of a story comes down to execution more than idea. So it’s usually less of a concern than you might think.