Robust rain coming down in Oregon today.  As in noisy. I’m going to take a break from my editing project and concoct a hearty  batch of vegetable soup and create a handout for the Chicagoland Sisters in Crime. Tomorrow I’m going to be on a craft panel with thriller author Layne Fargo. And now that I’ve visited her website, I’m so intrigued by her stories and badass female characters I need to check them out.

I want to apologize for not being around here lately. I’ve edited so many manuscripts in the past  six months things are kind of a blur–except in my dreams. Fictional characters are showing up in them. To the best of my recollection, that’s never happened before–I’m more of a “I see dead people’ dreamer so this has been a fun change of pace. {To be clear, I’m quite happy when my dead family members and friends who inhabit my night visions appear–they’ve been stopping by regularly this past week. I’m thinking a combination of the full moon and Day of the Dead. But then do full moon ethers carry to the beyond?}

When working on my clients’ stories, I pepper their manuscripts with all sorts of notes, but also corral suggestions and observations about their stories into a long, detailed memo. And I pepper them with advice like this:

The power of story largely resides in its power to evoke emotions. Our favorite works all tend to follow create that affect.  As much as we want readers to intellectually appreciate the intelligence of our writing, we need them, even more, to react to the underlying pull of the story and its characters with utter, unthinking emotion. When you can connect with the mysterious, often unpredictable realm of a reader’s emotions, you’re likely to hook  him or her not only into reading your story, but also into carrying it with them for the rest of their lives. A story that connects emotionally will win over readers, even if the plot falters and the structure is wobbly. Because plot and structure can be remedied, as can the inner rationale, dialogue, and most anything.

And NaNoWriMo writers, I realize you’re zipping through a draft, but you can still try to feel what your characters feel while you’re writing.

I cannot say it enough: your readers need to feel what your characters feel. So write intimately and write from the body.

keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart

And if you’d like a copy of the Thriller Writers’ handout, please contact me. My full name including Page at gmail.com.