Sunday 10 April 2011

Talking It Through

Tell Me A Story - Writing Tips

"AJ .... Can you help me? I'm soon to take part in a radio interview. The commentator has sent a list of possible queries and one of them wants me to discuss my story. How do you describe your book. I find it difficult to tell people what my story is about. How do you go on when presented with this?"
- Christine S.
Hello Christine,
This was raised a short time ago. I'm no authority on radio interviews. I detest being the centre of attention, but talking about your story is a fundamental part of promotion, even to a shy person. I have to admit it is challenging putting over the idea of a whole book in just a few words. I feel I'm underselling my work when I do it, but it MUST be done. It just needs a bit of thought.
  • Concentrate on things that interest YOU in the book, what excites you about it.
  • Discuss the opening premise and how it affects the story.
  • Talk about the outlook and mood of the central characters and why they behave the way they do.
  • Explain what conflicts exist between the main characters and perhaps what those conflicts mean in terms of the storyline.
  • Discuss any issues raised in the story. Are they resolved at the end or partway through?
  • Talk about how many main characters are in the story, and how the characters intertwine.
  • Explain whether the main conflict is man conflicting with man, man conflicting with nature, or man conflicting with himself (read woman for man).
With a little homework it's surprising what you can come up with.

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Romantic Suspense