Books I worked on in 2012

It’s a new year and I’m refocusing my efforts on my blogging. Last year got a little spotty as I had some big things going on (including a new baby).

But I’m looking at my writing and editing and taking stock of everything. So to kick things off, I thought I’d talk about some of the latest projects I’ve worked on. And then hopefully I’ll be better about posting from this starting point.

This past year I worked on a lot of different kinds of books as I started working for HOW Books (a graphic design imprint) having previously worked for Writer’s Digest Books. So it’s been a big shift in subject material. It’s been great to be exposed to different kinds of writing and to work on books that are visually oriented in addition to the writing itself.

One of the of Writer’s Digest projects that I finished up last year before moving to HOW was the 2013 edition of The Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. It was exciting to finish up my work with the fantastic WD brand working on one of their signature books. The latest edition includes some great stuff: an interview with Christopher Golden, author of the Secret Journeys of Jack London series, Baltimore, or the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire, and many others; an interview with science-fiction author Alan Dean Foster; and other great stuff.

Another book I worked on as a co-author for WD (along with Peter Archer and Jeff Gerke) was The Unofficial Hobbit Handbook, which is a fun book inspired by the new Hobbit movie that offers a sort of “what would a hobbit do” approach to everyday advice. 

On the HOW side of things I had the pleasure of working on Success by Design by David Sherwin, a great guide to design processes and running a graphic design business; Toy Confidential by Aled Lewis, a fun and irreverent romp through the world of toys; The Web Designer’s Idea Book Volume 3 by Patrick McNeil, a compendium of the best examples of web design work in recent years, and An Illustrated Journey, by Danny Gregory (due in Feb), a collection of essays from illustrators and artists about the art of keeping travel sketchbooks.

It’s been a great year. I’ve worked on a lot of great projects and have worked with some fantastic authors. I’m looking forward to an exciting 2013. (And hopefully I’ll be a little better about blogging, this year). Onward.

 

A Book for Fans of Fonts and Type

Cool book alert: The new book Mastering Type by Denise Bosler is should be of interest to anyone who is interested in communication. It covers the history of typography, type theory, the anatomy of fonts, and much more. The book is getting some great reviews.

The industrial design blog Embody 3D says:

“One of the great assets of Mastering Type is that it is not a learn how to type book, it is a learn how to communicate book by revealing the fundamentals of type and then showing how you can use type utilising relevant industry examples.”

Read the complete review here

And GraphicDesign.com had this to say,

“[Bosler] provides a multitude of type examples and interviews from the design industry throughout the book; there is no question that the typographic design samples in the book are truly the best of the best.”

Read the full review

HOW Conference Wrap

Sam Harrison preps for his session.

Well, my intention of posting a few blog entries from this year’s HOW Conference wasn’t fully realized. There was so much going on that I didn’t really have the time. But I had a great time at the conference and wanted to touch on a few of the highlights from the show.

I really enjoyed the opening keynote with Sam Harrison, author of IdeaSelling. Harrison stepped onstage and immediately struck me as a down to earth yet super smart guy who was sincere in his message. And his message was to take charge of your creative choices. By this he meant that the things you decide to do shape your future and it’s important to take risks, choose to strive to forward your own creativity, and never find yourself settling for good enough. Harrison advised be the best “you” that you can be. “We need you,” he said, “You’re the only one of you we have.” And that’s something that you can take to heart whether your a designer, an illustrator, an artist, a writer, or any sort of creative. (You can download a webcast with Harrison on selling ideas here).

I also really enjoyed a presentation called “Under the Covers” by rock star book cover designer Chip Kidd. Kidd’s session was laugh out loud funny as he went through the process and struggles that he went through as he created some of his most recent book covers for such heavy hitting authors as Haruki Murakami, Augusten Burroughs, and Oliver Sacks. As a book industry professional I really related to his funny accounts of the sort of back and forth that happens with every book cover between designers, authors, editors, and marketing execs. The whole thing can be quite frustrating, even for super star designers like Kidd.

Kidd’s session later lapsed into a fun discussion of his latest pet project: a Bat Man graphic novel he penned titled Death by Design. The whole thing is kind of an art deco, 1930s Fountainhead-esque Bat Man romp all centered around architecture and big buildings going “BOOM.” Really cool stuff. I’m a comic book fanboy and as Kidd showcased some of the panels from the book, going so far as to read bits of dialogue in the Joker’s voice, I was at the height of a conference nerd out.  Great stuff.

Another session I enjoyed was Stefan Mumaw’s “Chasing the Monster Idea” (Mumaw is a very inspiring speaker whose creativity exercise books include Caffeine for the Creative Mind and Caffeine for the Creative Team). Mumaw said a lot of great things during his talk, but perhaps one of the things that really resonated with me was this: monster ideas tell a story. Mumaw believes that storytelling is something that speaks to everyone and that if you really want to capture someone’s imagination, then you should tell a story. It doesn’t matter if it’s an animated spot or simply a photograph. The best work tells some sort of story (or hints at one). As a writer, reader, and storyteller at heart, I couldn’t agree more. (A great collection from Stefan Mumaw is available here).

HOW Conference Day 1

Having a great time at HOW conference. This morning I took a brainstorming workshop with David Sherwin, author of Creative Workshop and the forthcoming Success by Design. It was filled with fun group exercises – we brainstormed a magazine concept asked on a word association exercise and created a concept for a children’s picture book.

HOW Conference Bound

I’m getting ready to go to HOW Design Live, “the biggest gathering of designers, freelancers, creative team managers, and other creative professionals in the country.” I’m excited about this trip on many levels. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’m keen on learning some more about the design industry, not just because I’m now editing design books, but also because I think the integration of writing and design is so important. As a writer, I find it interesting to talk with designers and see the ways they express their ideas and ways that images, or even font choice can affect the tone of a written piece.

I’ve got a fair amount of work to do at the show, but I’m also looking forward to getting to sit in on a few sessions as well. Here are a few of the sessions I’m planning to attend:

• a session on brainstorming with David Sherwin, author of the forthcoming Success by Design (due November 2012)
• “Chasing the Monster Idea” with Stefan Mumaw, author of Caffeine for the Creative Mind and Caffeine for the Creative Team
• “Creative Story Telling for Designers and Unicorns” with Walt Disney innovation director Christopher Chapman
• “How to Survive Your Soul Crushing Day Job” with Operation Nice blogger Melissa Morris Ivone

Full report when I return.

What would a hobbit do?

So, I’m working on a pretty fun side project right now. Along with a couple of other authors I’m contributing to a book titled The Unofficial Hobbit Handbook. The best way to describe the book is that it’s a sort of “What Would A Hobbit Do?” type of book that gives Tolkien-esque solutions for daily life. (Hobbit self help, perhaps?)

So for the past couple months, when not working at my day job I’ve been researching hobbit society and culture and examining self defense techniques that might be drawn from Middle-earth combat. Not to mention conversing with dragons (in my mind, of course). Here’s hoping the whole thing comes together without a hitch. My chapters have been a lot of fun to write. Think equal parts tongue in cheek humor  and actual life lessons (advice on etiquette, and the like).

Also working on the project are Peter Archer (who has written for Wizards of the Coast), Jeff Gerke (founder of Lord Marcher Press, a publisher of Christian speculative fiction), and Ben Patrick (the same illustrator I worked with on Monster Spotter’s Guide to North America).

I’ll share more about the book as it nears completion. For now check out the cover (illustrated by Ben Patrick and designed by Claudean Wheeler).

Getting up to speed

Well it’s been a few weeks on the new job here at HOW now, so I’m starting to get my bearings a little bit. I thought it might be a good time to talk about projects I’m working on, as well as cool stuff I’ve seen so far:

The Logo Brainstorm Book by Jim Krause

Jim Krause is a name designers likely know. He’s the author of such books as Color Index, Layout Index and Type Idea Index. His newest book is all about creating logos and runs through a lot of exercises and variations that designers can employ. I didn’t edit the book (my good friends Lauren Mosko Bailey and Amy Owen had that pleasure), but I did get up close and personal with the book as it was being converted to an epub file. I think it looks great and has lots of great ideas for logo designers.

Archetypes in Branding by Joshua Chen & Margaret Hartwell (August, 2011)

This is a cool book that takes Jungian style archetypes and applies them to branding products, companies, individuals, etc. It’s an interesting study of human characteristics that brands can evoke. Strangely, one of the last projects I worked on for Writer’s Digest Books was The Writer’s Guide to Character Development by Victoria Schmidt (a book also centered on archetypes). It’s interesting to consider how much heroic archetypes (such as the Adventurer, the Explorer, the Rebel, and so forth) work their way into our perception of things. The people we see on television, the brands we tend to gravitate toward – all of these things speak to us because of traits that we perceive, and often it ties back into a set of ideals and archetypes do a good job of categorizing those ideals in such a way that we can analyze them. That’s what makes them such a useful tool for designers, writers, creatives – anyone who is looking to communicate in some way.

Blogging for Creatives by Robin Houghton

And speaking of communicating, here’s another new HOW book that caught my eye. This one is all about creating a blog and covers everything from initial set up to layout, typography, creating content, and promotion. It’s a good place to start if you’re thinking of starting a blog (or if you need help getting your  blog off the ground).

HOW now, brown cow

Hello writers,

After about three and a half years working for Writer’s Digest, I’ve moved to HOW Books (a line of books for designers). I’ll still be editing, and likely expounding on writing/editing/publishing thoughts from time to time. So while I intend to still post about writing, the subject matter of the books that I’ll be working on will be changing a bit, and I’ll likely also be talking about some of my own personal projects a bit more.

I hope that you enjoyed the writing instruction posts I’ve shared over the past couple years, and I’ll likely still share my thoughts on the industry or share advice I stumble across from time to time. I loved working for Writer’s Digest. I learned a lot about writing and also about the publishing industry. The thing about writing advice is that its such an ongoing conversation. The way we get our words out there constantly changes and you have to stay involved and keep learning new things in order to be successful.

I’m sure much of the same will apply to the new realm I’m entering- that of publications and media for graphic design industry, where HOW specializes. I’m excited to learn about a different industry that communicates in other ways- using pictures and symbols, as well as words. I hope you writers out there will stick around and keep reading. I also hope to appeal to folks who love the integration of good design and good writing. I have always felt the two go hand-in-hand (some of my favorite people are graphic designers). After all, the ultimate goal is simply to inform … to entertain … to communicate.

Writer Research

Just because you’re writing fiction, it doesn’t give you license to make everything up.

Well, okay, so maybe it does. It’s your story, you can do whatever you want. But, let’s say you want someone to actually read it. Now, things are a little different. You want to write a story that will draw readers in—that will engage them. We’re talking about writing realistic fiction or fiction that is at least entertaining enough that the reader will be willing to suspend disbelief. There’s a word for that true-to-life feeling that a story can have—one that writers often throw around when they’re trying to sound smart and writerly: verisimilitude. And that’s what you want. So how do you accomplish that? How do you write a story that feels real to the reader? Well, you employ another, less impressive word: RESEARCH.

Research for fiction writers

Research is a word that fills many creative writers with dread. But unless you want people reading your story to roll their eyes and say “that would never happen,” then it pays to do your due diligence.

There are plenty of ways to research your novel including the following:

•    Using the internet (obviously the quickest and most painless way)
•    Visiting the library (ah, check you out…the old school approach)
•    Traveling to locations where your story will take place (a bold move there Hemingway, you sure you’ve got the moxy?)
•    Interviewing people who know about the things you are writing about (now you’re just getting crazy)

How does research make for realistic fiction writing?

Personally, I recommend using a combined approach where you employ all of the techniques mentioned above. Doing so allows you to inject detail into your work—nuances that someone might not know unless they’ve been somewhere, eaten the food there, and talked to the locals. Whether your reader has been to your story’s locale or not, I guarantee you that such details will still make your story seem more real for her.

Now, I know there are many writers who would rather take a bullet from their own antagonist’s gun (let’s say it’s a .44 caliber slug from a Smith & Wesson Model 29—that’s Dirty Harry’s gun… I researched it) than go out and actually talk to people. But, I still recommend doing so. No matter what you do, make sure you check out the facts behind your subjects, characters, settings, etc. As cliché as it was, my aforementioned gun became more real when I gave you a few extra details—and your fiction should do the same.

Make Your Dialogue True-to-Life

Dialogue is one of those things that a lot of writers struggle with. It’s difficult to make the things your characters say sound true to life—to convey the important details of the story without sounding forced or fake. Here are some tips I hope might help you:

5 Tips for Writing Convincing Dialogue

1. Never use dialogue as an information dump. Too many writers rely on dialogue for story exposition—that is to say that they relay details about plot or backstory through the things their characters say. The result? Writing that sounds completely fake or is what is often referred to as “on the nose dialogue.” Like this: “As you know,” Dr. Constance said, “I’m a forensic specialist, trained by the FBI in DNA analysis, so I’ll take this sample back to the lab for testing.
2. Use simple dialogue tags. Fancy dialogue tags like she denounced or he proclaimed might seem like a good way to show off your writer’s vocabulary, but in truth they draw attention away from your dialogue. She said or he said is almost always your best choice. Let the characters’ words speak for themselves.
3. Use dialogue beats to help with story pacing and to convey information or emotion. Dialogue beats are brief depictions of character action inserted in between dialogue that help bring the scene to life. Like this:“Nah, I don’t mind,” Dan shrugged his shoulders and grinned as he wiped a dirty bandana across his forehead, “Let’s do this thing.”
4. Remember that often less is more. When you write dialogue look back and see if there are words you can leave out or there is a shorter way to say what you just wrote. People often say things the shortest way possible in real life.
5. Be careful when writing dialect. Many writers think that giving a character an accent or a drawl is a great way to make the character come to life—and it can be. But if done in a way that is too heavy handed it can turn your character into a stereotype or a joke. Or even worse, you can offend or annoy readers. So, keep in mind that when it comes to dialect, a little goes a long way.