Teresa Jade LeYung's BLOG

Archive for the ‘Art / Craft / Teaching’ Category

Coach Teresa, what’s your advice on using flashbacks in a children’s novel?

Here’s my response.  Ask yourself these questions?

• What age group am I writing for?
• Will my audience be reading the story by herself/himself?
• Will she/he be read to?
• What is a flashback?   Leaving the front-story and going back to a past event
• Will a child (in age group I’m writing for) have the mental faculties to follow the plotline while weaving in and out of front-story?
• What is my story about?
• What do I want to teach the reader? What messages am I presenting?
• Do I want my reader to ask the question “What happens next?”?
• What if I tell my story in sequence?  Which flashback would show my protagonist confronting her/his first conflict?  What if I make that scene the beginning of my story?

Example:

If E.B. White had started his story (Charlotte’s Web) with a grown Wilbur seeking Charlotte’s help and using flashbacks to explain who Fern is, how Wilbur came to live in Zuckerman’s barn and why he needed help, that weaving back and forth in timeline would diminish the drama of Wilbur’s journey.

Happy Writing & Rewriting!

Happy New Year from

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

Teresa is author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

Teresa is author of Love Made of Heart

Coach Teresa edits manuscripts (contemporary novels; thrillers; children’s novels; memoirs; short stories; anthologies) for authors who want to attract agents  & publishers  OR  want to be their own publishers.

January 1, 2012

Chandra Garsson asked me today: “Teresa, what did you really think about my film?”

As I was telling her, she said “Could you say it in your blog?”

So, here goes… It took Chandra 9 months to create her documentary Art & Gift 2011.  9 months of work–being the film’s protagonist, camera person, director, producer, editor. What impressed me the most about this film is seeing Chandra’s generous nature on the big screen.  She could have been the sole narrator, presenting the conflict.  But, she did so much more.  She interviewed over a dozen fellow artists and writers to give us a chance to express ourselves.  She presents a story with fairness.  She listens to the other side; she even gives the other side the spotlight so that we can hear/see the other side without any filters. In the case of her film, the other side was the landlord.

During our conversation today, we talked about theme.  I was telling Chandra about just having finished editing a children’s novel and helping my client identify the themes in her story.  Chandra said  there is theme in her work too.  Yes, in deed.

The first time I experienced her art was when the fabulous Kim McMillon orchestrated authors’ readings during the 5-week long exhibition of  Chandra’s Insomnia [Awakening] at Pro Arts in Oakland. I still remember what poet Mark G said about Chandra’s big pieces (Chandra had painted stories on doors).  “She understands trauma. I’m a vet.” That’s my recollection of what Mark said that day.

The plastic baby dolls in Chandra’s exhibit hooked my attention.  She understands broken child-within, I thought.

We’ve been friends since.

Please take a look at Chandra’s  film Art & Gift 2011!  I’m proud of my friend and her powerful work. I’m honored to be in the documentary with Lucille Lang Day, Mary Rudge, Pedro, and all the other artists/poets/musicians/writers who were invited to speak to Chandra Garsson’s camera.

December 24, 2011

My praise on Chandra Garsson’s latest film Art & Gift 2011

birds’ songs

dog’s barking

haunting music

You understand sorrow.

eviction.  Your losing your work space–to paint, to create, to sculpt, to work

from 2,400 square feet of artist’s space to 400

Your Insomnia [Awakening]

trusting Chandra Garsson to paint my dolls my ego my childhood symbolism onto Love Made of Heart bookcase

Your growth, blossoming, working with your hands, with colors, sounds, shapes.

Your masterpieces:  art-making; book-making; jewelry-making; film-making

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan, author of Love Made of Heart

Chandra Garsson says of her film:  “Documents the gift of a lifetime of art-making after eviction from art studio. Interviews with recipients of art, including landlord. My goal was to save art from the dump, and I succeeded.”

Chandra’s blog: http://flyingpaintproductions.blogspot.com

Teresa is author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

Teresa is author of Love Made of Heart

Coach Teresa edits manuscripts (contemporary novels; thrillers; children’s novels; memoirs; short stories; anthologies) for authors who want to attract agents  & publishers  OR  want to be their own publishers.

Chandra Garsson wrote to Teresa LeYung-Ryan on facebook:

“A lovely holiday to you, dear friend, and thanks for the mention. There is a gravity and dignity to your presence in the film.”   “I am enjoying your newly poetic form of writing. Great and gorgeous New Year to you, Teresa!”

***

I wish You

a warm and safe home

nutritious foods everyday

ease of movement

work that makes your heart sing

true friends

worry-free thoughts

hopes and lovely dreams

joy and light for Self

a dancing spirit

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

Teresa is author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

Teresa is author of Love Made of Heart

Coach Teresa edits manuscripts (contemporary novels; thrillers; children’s novels; memoirs; short stories; anthologies) for authors who want to attract agents  & publishers  OR  want to be their own publishers.

During this holiday/gift-giving season, remember to gift yourself or a writer friend  . . . with books to improve your craft and advance your career; workshops; editing services; membership to writers’ organization; money toward attending a conference . . .

Are you rewriting?

Are you starting a new project?

Do you want to meet agents?

Are you being your own publisher?

Want to be associated with other writers who also specialize in your genre?

Help yourself!  Help a friend!

I’m editing a client’s children’s novel and another client’s thriller. Do you or a friend need me to help you transform your manuscript into a page-turner? Email me at gmail.com  WritingCoachTeresa is my email ID.

There might be  something at Books, Movies, other Writing Tools Recommended by Coach Teresa that will get you closer to your goal or connect you with published authors. Read acknowledgment pages in books–authors thank the people who have helped them succeed.  Look at the names of folks who wrote advance praises for the authors.

There might be an organization or group or an individual at my webpage Writers’ Resources who will help you turn dreams into reality.

Go where my colleagues and I go — click here for Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s events.

• Meetings at San Francisco Main Library with Coach Teresa and other Women’s National Book Association members
• Writing Career MakeOver with Coach Teresa at California Writers Club
• Roundtable discussions “Building Your Platform” with Coach Teresa for Linda Joy Myers & National Association of Memoir Writers
• San Francisco Writers Conference
• “Speed Dating with Agents & Acquisition Editors” at Women’s National Book Association

I wish you a joyful winter!

Happy Birthmonth to Margie Yee Webb and Elisa Southard.

• Margie’s book Cat Mulan’s Mindful Musings makes a delightful gift to cat lovers.
• Elisa’s book Break Through the Noise makes a perfect book for anyone who has a business to promote.
  

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

Teresa is author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

Teresa is author of Love Made of Heart

Coach Teresa edits manuscripts (contemporary novels; thrillers; children’s novels; memoirs) for authors who want to attract agents  & publishers  OR  want to be their own publishers.

In The Apartment (script by Billy Wilder and  I.A.L. Diamond ), the 2 protagonists are C.C. Baxter, an insurance clerk (whose apartment is much in demand by four executives for their extramarital activities) and Miss Kubelik, an elevator operator in the insurance company (who is described by Baxter as a “perfectly respectable girl”).

Then there’s Miss Olsen. She is secretary to Jeff Sheldrake who is head of Personnel. Miss Olsen appears in only a few scenes, yet, she personifies multiple archetypes—shape-shifter; herald, but also threshold guardian; antagonist, but also ally. Her character fascinates me. Baxter’s and Kubelik’s heroes’ journeys would not have begun if not for the action of this not-so-minor character.

For more information about the movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053604/

**

**

C.C. Baxter -  portrayed by Jack Lemmon

Miss Kubelik – Shirley MacLaine

Jeff Sheldrake – Fred MacMurray

Dr. Dreyfuss-  Jack Kruschen

Miss Olsen – Edie Adams

**

May your major and not-so-minor characters be memorable!

I recommend your studying The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler and The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master by Martha Alderson.

Happy writing and rewriting!

Editor / Manuscript Consultant / Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

Teresa is author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

Teresa is author of Love Made of Heart

Coach Teresa edits manuscripts (contemporary novels; thrillers; children’s novels; memoirs) for authors who want to attract agents  & publishers  OR  want to be their own publishers.

Katherine Ellison–December 11,  2011   and Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan–January 8, 2012

at California Writers Club, Santa Rosa, California

Katherine Ellison--from investigative reporting to memoir

December 11, 2011 will be Katherine Ellison:
“From the global to the personal: one writer’s journey from investigative reporting to memoir.”

Journalist Katherine Ellison will talk about her career as an investigative journalist covering international events as Central American wars and figures such as Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos to shifting gears and writing nonfiction books including a memoir about her son’s ADHD.

Katherine Ellison is a Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist, former foreign correspondent, writing consultant, author of four books, and mother of two sons.

http://redwoodwriters.org/

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan helps fiction & nonfiction authors "Writing-Career MakeOver"--photo by MKWL

January 8, 2012 “Writing Career Make Over with Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan”

Learn how to:

• reveal  your  “picture-of-success” to create your model
• understand your unique motivators & modus operandi
• blend the “who, what, when, where”  your way, fun way

Coach Teresa will choose 3 writers from the audience—representing the 3 umbrella genres (fiction, narrative non-fiction, and prescriptive non-fiction a.k.a. how-to books)—and guide them in this interactive session. Everyone will receive Coach Teresa’s “Writing-Career-Make-Over” template.  Q&A to please all.

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan wears 3 hats and has helped over 1,000 writers take steps to further their careers.  http://writingcoachTeresa.com

• She’s the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (a workbook for anyone who has anything to promote—available in print edition and as E-book).

• Coach Teresa edits manuscripts for authors who want to attract agents  & publishers  OR  want to be their own publishers.

• Her using her novel Love Made of Heart (to inspire adult children of mentally ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their families) demonstrates the power of making one’s name synonymous with the themes/subject matters/issues one writes about.

http://redwoodwriters.org/meetings/

Coach Teresa, How do I fix my children’s story? Agent says it’s too episodic.

In my previous blog post about how to remedy an episodic storyline  . . . here’s an argument from one of my clients who writes children’s books . . .

“But kids aren’t that sophisticated, are they? Shouldn’t stories for that age group be episodic?”

Coach Teresa here . . .  Kids know what a good story is, especially if they’ve read the timeless classics (to name a few:  The Hobbit; The Wind In the Willows; Charlotte’s Web; The Phantom Tollbooth; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. What are other memorable children’s books? Wordsworth the Poet by Frances Kakugawa is a contemporary favorite of mine )

Also, keep in mind that a children’s story has to hook adults (agents, acquisition editors, publishers, booksellers, reviewers, shoppers).  How do you hook adult-readers, even if you choose to be your own publisher?

Answer:  Create memorable characters and follow screenwriting teacher Terrel Seltzer’s advice:  “Someone we care about wants something badly and is having a terrible time getting it.”

Here’s my post from May 26, 2011 about Terrel

I encourage you to set the stage.  Give the reader sensory details—not only sight and hearing but also taste, smell and touch.

To create a story with thematic significance, let your metaphors / similes / inferences move your story forward or provide clues.

Coach Teresa says: “Reach out, not stress out, when pursuing your dreams!”

Want to attract agents  & publishers?  Want to be your own publisher?

• Get your manuscript professionally edited
• Build your writer’s platform NOW

Email:  Teresa_LeYung   at    yahoo.com

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

Coach Teresa  LeYung-Ryan loves to edit:

• novels & memoirs with feisty protagonists and universal messages;
• children’s novels that help young readers understand their feelings and build self-confidence

Coach Teresa, what does it mean when an agent says my story is episodic?

Authors of novels, memoirs, children’s novels–this advice is for you.

Episodic = This happens, then this happens, then that happens… An episodic story is not compelling because there’s no connection between character growth and action plotline.

The answer: Show the transformation of your protagonist(s) . . . not because “things happen to her/him” but because her/his choices/behavior lead her/him to the next step, to the next step, as she/he goes after what she/he wants.

Examine every scene. Ask yourself this question: What does your protagonist want in this scene?  What is she/he afraid of?  Who/What is the antagonist in this scene?

As Plot Whisperer Martha Alderson says:  “When the dramatic action changes the character at depth over time, the story becomes thematically significant.”

Re-read your favorite book that has a similar premise as yours.

Cheering for writers!

Coach Teresa says: “Reach out, not stress out, when pursuing your dreams!”

Want to attract agents  & publishers?  Want to be your own publisher?

• Get your manuscript professionally edited
• Build your writer’s platform NOW

Email:  writingcoachTeresa    at    gmail.com

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

Coach Teresa  LeYung-Ryan

specializes in:   novels   / children’s novels  / memoirs

Coach Teresa, I’m concerned about my manuscript and someone stealing the work.

Coach Teresa here . . . my clients email me their manuscripts–their work being transmitted on cyberspace. This is why I ask all my clients to submit their manuscripts (mss.) in the same format that agents & publishers want them in–your name and book title in the header on every page.

The following information is from http://copyright.gov/

What is copyright?

Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.

What does copyright protect?

Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “What Works Are Protected.”

How is a copyright different from a patent or a trademark?

Copyright protects original works of authorship, while a patent protects inventions or discoveries. Ideas and discoveries are not protected by the copyright law, although the way in which they are expressed may be. A trademark protects words, phrases, symbols, or designs identifying the source of the goods or services of one party and distinguishing them from those of others.

When is my work protected?

Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

Do I have to register with your office to be protected?

No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.”

Mail yourself the entire ms. (U.S.mail) but don’t open the envelope when you get it back–the postal mark/date and the unopened envelope serve as evidence.  Note:  You must register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office before you bring a lawsuit for copyright infringement.

My trademark attorney is Robert Pimm. He is also a copyright attorney.

Cheering for writers!

Coach Teresa says: “Reach out, not stress out, when pursuing your dreams!”

Want to attract agents  & publishers?  Want to be your own publisher?

• Get your manuscript professionally edited
• Build your writer’s platform NOW

918-6222  ( 510 area code )

Email:  writingcoachTeresa    at    gmail.com

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

Coach Teresa  LeYung-Ryan

specializes in:   novels   / children’s novels  / memoirs

Coach Teresa, what’s new with your mastermind group members?

Linda Lee is busy writing her book, being co-president of Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter, getting ready for San Francisco Writers Conference, creating beautiful websites for her clients that reflect their businesses.

Mary E. Knippel is busy helping her clients create their vision boards / collage / success stories and perfect content for their websites, facilitating events at Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter and getting ready for San Francisco Writers Conference .

Lori Noack is busy with her new company Vintage San Francisco (women’s clothing and accessories 1950-1980) and managing the Italian Garden Flat.

Luisa Adams, author of Woven of Water, is busy with Spanish class, her book group, being celebrity author at her grandchildren’s school and everywhere she goes, and inspiring your truly and many other fans.

Martha Alderson is busy consulting her clients and promoting her wonderful new book  The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master.

Rebecca Martin and her staff at Dear Jane Inc. help people find jobs!  Cheers to global workforce! Sign up for her helpful newsletter. Watch Rebecca’s videos on her website.

Teresa LeYung-Ryan (yours truly) is practicing  my own mantra: “Reach out, not stress out, when pursuing your dreams.”  I’ve listed my services at Thumbtack.com & Craigslist.org and updated my website http://www.WritingCoachTeresa.com

• Ask editor / manuscript consultant Teresa to help you identify themes and archetypes in your manuscript, book proposal, query letter.

• Ask Coach Teresa to show you shortcuts on your PC; how to crop photos and add captions; create signature block in email setting, a blog, facebook page, YouTube channel, online press room, and more.

• Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (a workbook for anyone who has anything to promote—available in print edition $12.96  and as an E-book $9.81).  You can sneak preview the 2 exercises for Day 1 on Amazon. Customer reviews (from writers and entrepreneurs) also on Amazon.com Please support your local bookseller: http://www.indiebound.org

Meet Coach Teresa at an event; details:  click here

• Thursday Dec. 1, 2011 6:00-7:30pm at WNBA meeting at San Francisco Main Library, Latino/Hispanic Room

• Sunday, January 8, 2012, 2:30-5:00pm at California Writers Club—Redwood Branch
  • networking; general meeting; “Writing-Career-Make-Over with Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan”

• Thursday, January 12, 2012  Teresa LeYung-Ryan will be Linda Joy Myers’s guest on  National Association of Memoir Writers (NAMW) teleseminar

• February 16-20, 2012 at San Francisco Writers Conference

• March 24, 2012 at WNBA’s “Meet-the-Agents/Speed Dating”

Happy Writing and Platform Building!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan