Feedback Via Focus Groups

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Aside from my own immediate family, aka my younger sister, my eyes have been the only set that have glanced at the pages of my novel thus far. As it turns out, this fact has proven to be both good and bad. For one, since it is my first book, I haven't had to deal with the dreaded negative feedback that so often compels writers to cease writing. One the other hand however, I haven't had a chance to hear any feedback at all. Not positive encouraging feedback, or even helpful hints that could make my novel better.

So, with an anxious mind and a heavy heart, I set out to remedy those issues by setting up a focus group. The concept of a focus group is a pretty simple one, and it really can be set up in a variety of ways. the route
I chose to take involved a round-table gathering of sorts with a small group of individuals I felt would be a part of my target market. The results, or the conversation, that evolved from this meeting will be posted a little later on this week, but I have to tell you it was extremely helpful. Not only did I find myself surrounded by a group of people who were actually interested in reading my book, but I also discovered several aspects of my story that needed just a little more explanation.

To organize your own focus group, here are a few possible ideas/ guidelines you could follow:

1. Choose a format.
Will you be present? Will you give them a copy of your manuscript in advance? Will you all meet formally or will your focus group involve a questionnaire given online? After you answer these questions you should be ready for number two.

2. Choose/Gather your participants.
At this point you should consider the type of individuals you will involve in your group, as well as how you will reach them. This can involve anything from calling local book clubs to flacing fliers in book stores and libraries. Your methods are up to you, but if you choose to utilize a lier as advertisement for your event, be sure to include contact information for yourself as well as the qualifications you've decided upon based on your target market.

3. Create your materials.
Next you will need to create or gather the materials you will need to conduct your focus group. If you plan to give each member a copy of your manuscript you will need to provide copies. Also, I highly reccommend a timeline or series of questions created in advance to help facilitate the event and keep it moving smoothly and efficiently. For my event, I planned to read portions of my manuscript  aloud and let the group discussion evolve from there. I also had a series of questions to ask participants on hand in case the discussion got off topic (as is very possible when dealing with younger individuals and even adults).

4. Set up meeting time.
After finding all of the indivduals that are willing and able to take part in your focus group, I suggest finding a common time that works for them all. This demonstrates the importance of maintaining a file of participants and their contact information. Incentives for participation may also be utilized if you are having trouble gathering participants.

5. Conduct your focus group (record the event).
This is the easy, and by far, most exhilarating part of the whole process. On the day and time you've chosen to meet, get right down to business. An introduction is definitely a good idea, but keep it short. Also allow for a short icebreaker at the beginning to get participants comfortable with one another. I also HIGHLY recommend that you record the event in some way. Options for recording include simply taking notes, or even using and audio or video recorder. No matter the method you choose, make sure you have the permission of your participants, and if the participants are minors, you need the permission of their parents.

6. Compile your data/ make adjustments to your work as you see fit.
After the event, give yourself a day or two to digest all that you've learned before making any changes to your work. After this buffer period has ended, examine your recordings or notes and highlight or take note of the pertinent responses and advice. Remember, even if you don't agree with someone's opinion, you should serioulsy consider what they've said. Afterall, this sampling of individuals is representing the greater population of individuals who will or won't choose to read your book.

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Tools to Combat Writer's Block

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Whether you've just started writing or have been writing for years, writer's block is an affliction that very few writers are immune to. It creeps up when you least expect it, and not even the best planning can prevent it. You might know exactly where you want your character to end up, but at some point between their start and achieving those goals, you may find yourself stumped.

There are several remedies available to sufferers of writer's block if you take the time to dig around, but here is a compilation of a few of the most common cures that are thought to be most helpful:

1. When in doubt, take the last portion you have written and try writing it from a new perspective. Sometimes changing the narrator, point of view, time, or setting can be just enough to create a spark that will get your writing back on track.

2. Make a change in your own scenery. Step away from the computer screen and pick up a notebook and pen or go to a local library or park to write.

3. Take a movie break. This is one of my personal favorites and whenever I just can't seem to figure out where my story should go next I pop in a DVD and get lost in someone else's story. Most of the time I try to pick a movie that is completely different from what I am working on, but no matter what movie, there is something inspiring and rejuvenating about watching a story through from start to finish.

4. Write something else. Finish an entry in your journal or write an email, just keep writing until you get back into the flow of things.

5. Take a walk or do some exercise. Set your work aside and take a stroll to clear your mind or think about your story without trying too hard. Sometimes the writer's instict is to overreact after hitting a wall and just like any other muscle, overworking the brain can cause a sprain or set you back even further (ok that might not be medically accurate, but trying to hard to move forward can induce a certain amount of panic that is definitely not productive.)

6. Story web. Take the central event from the last portion you've written and create a diagram, or web, based on all the paths your story could take.

7. Work out of order. Not all writing must be written in the order that it occurs. If you reach a barrier in the middle of a chapter set it aside for a while and move on to the next or the ending. As long as you're writing you're being productive.

8. Last but not least, you can always jump on the Pavlovian/ Skinner bandwagon and motivate yourself with a reward system.

Disambiguation: A novel-writing roadmap

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You've probably already guessed this based on the topic of my blog, but I thought you all should know that I am unquestionably and irreversably addicted to words. I love to find new and interesting words in the books or websites I read, I own more than one word-a-day calendar, and once I discover them, I use new words. A lot.

Now, you might be asking yourselves, what does your word-addiction have to do with anything novel-writing-related, Jacey? The answer is simple: Disambiguation.

It's day four of my Spring Break, also known as the "You're not in a tropical vacation destination, there's snow outside, you're home alone, you might as well be productive" Day. So here I sit at the kitchen counter wondering where to start, and because staring at my computer screen and rocking out to Kevin Hammond aren't getting me anywhere, I decide to take a look at the deadlines I drew up at the start of my project.  Now after a somewhat discombobulated introduction we are finally arriving at the point of this post: The deadlines I set for myself so many months ago are looking...well, let's just say I must have had myself confused with Wonder Woman when I wrote them. According to my little timeline I am two weeks and four chapters behind schedule, not to mention the ten other tasks I am supposed to have done before break is over. A little discouraging, no?

Well after the initial mental headslap, I decided my situation isn't all that bad. Even though I'm not exactly on schedule, I have continuously made progress, no matter how little, since the day I started the project. I still have a functional list of what needs to be done (even though the dates are now a little off). This little timeline descrepency has given me a reason to sit back, re-evaluate my progress, and create a new (and hopefully more accurate) time-table.

Ultimately, that last one turned out to be really helpful. This morning I was at a loss for what to do, where to go, how to move forward, etc... Now, just three short hours later I have a new calendar and a renewed excitement. These new goals I have set are actually realistic, which is definitely an upper, and even with adding a little more time for each task I am still pretty good as far as total time goes.

Anyway, the lesson I learned today and wanted to share isn't really complex, but I think it could be helpful:

1.  Deadlines are sneaky little devils. I set goals for myself several months ago before I had even started writing, and more importantly, even before I had considered that my life would involve other objectives besides writing. I didn't think to consider that I might get smacked in the face with the flu the week before midterms, let-alone acknowledge that I might need to study for those pesky exams. So somewhere between preparing for advising meetings and getting the oil changed in my car those sneaky little deadlines slipped away.

2. Because of my tendency to overestimate my own capabilities I learned a little something about the nature of deadlines. If there aren't consequences for not meeting them, they lose a little of their luster. To combat this, I have decided to look at my "deadlines" as more of a "disambiguation chart," hence the little intro to word-addiction at the beginning of the post. Disambiguation basically means to remove ambiguities, and my calendar of tasks will help me to navigate the rest of my project in the same way that a road-map would help to disambiguate a tricky roadtrip.

Overall, I will really try to stick to the new deadlines I have set for myself but, like before, if I should happen to fail, at least it provides a record of what needs to be done so I am never permanently discouraged.

The Narrative Hook

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Lately I have been having trouble finding time and energy to come up with new material for my novel, and the last chapter I wrote took me almost twice as long to finish as all of my other chapters. Finishing this particular chapter was a little bit of a milestone for my project and marked reaching the half-way point. So, to celebrate my hard work I decided to take a little break. Now I didn't want to stop the project completely because it really is something I enjoy, but I did want to take a break so I could come back with fresh ideas for the second half. In order to keep up with my progress and also take a refreshing break I decided to go back to my first chapter and really think about my book's opening.

I haven't really looked back at it since I wrote wrote it  a while back, and re-reading those first few paragraphs over again really made me think about just how important they are. The first chapter, or sentence even, is what draws the reader in. It makes them interested in your book and, essentially, keeps them reading through to the end.

Think back to all of your favorite opening lines. Here are some of mine:

1. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
2. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
3. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
4. If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
5. It was a pleasure to burn.
6. It was love at first sight.
7. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

All of these lines had some sort of narrative hook or method of drawing the reader in. Narrative hooks are the author's pick-up lines, and cheesy cliche's aren't going to get you the phone number. Whether it was Jane Austen's blunt honesty that made you want to read on to find out why she believed as she did or a simple teaser making you wonder just what advice F. Scott Fitzgerald's character got from his father, you wanted to read on, to find the answers you were looking for.

After reading my opener again I realized just how much work it needed. A strong opening can make for a strong novel, and my first sentence just wasn't cutting it. So I looked again at my favorite book openers and went back to the drawing board. I guess the lesson I learned, and want to share, is simple. Don't be afraid to make changes, but most of all, don't forget to objectively examine your work to discover when changes need to be made.