A New Way to Do a Storyboard for Your Book

I really dislike storyboards. They tell me what I don't want to know--where I have too much or too little, where I've written on track or on a tangent. Where my book isn't yet working well.

A writer needs to know placement in time and space--where things will be, in her book. It's not just enough to flow out the words. You need to have a sequence that readers can follow. Storyboards provide this. They are used a lot in publishing and the film industry. Imagine a giant blank cartoon--a row of empty boxes lined up on a page or wall or posterboard. You insert ideas, then you move the boxes around until the sequence of ideas equals a reasonable flow for your book.

What you learn: All the things I grumbled about above. What is working, yes. Also what is not working. It's not uncommon to emerge from a storyboarding session with many blank boxes. Stuff you know you need to write, transition chapters or sections. Research still to do. It's also not uncommon to feel discouraged. All that writing done, but it's not yet a book. Sigh.

Why even bother? Storyboards are the absolute best way I've found to see if I have a working book, to force myself to structure the flow of ideas, to see what's left. I usually get kind of squirrely (imagine a squirrel twitching in agitation) when I have written too much to really see my book anymore. When I get squirrely, I know it's time to storyboard.

After the Meltdown, Even though I Really Hate Doing It...
If you read my pre-Thanksgiving post below, you know I had a nice little meltdown after my recent book tour, when I got back home and tried to storyboard my next novel, the sequel to Qualities of Light.

It just didn't track--the new book's flow, that is. Too many dramas, too many characters, not enough cohesion. So I rescued myself from myself by putting the storyboard aside and making a character plot chart for each of the three main players. After screaming under the covers for a while.

That plot chart was fun. It reminded me how much I love Molly and Zoe and Kate and Anna and Sammy and even bad-tempered Melvin, my continuing characters. From the plot chart, I began to approach storyboarding again.

I did it a new way this time. I went to Staples and bought a foam core posterboard, clean and white. And three colors of Post-It notes. My main players are Molly, Kate, and Melvin. A different color for each. Using my plot chart, I wrote Post-It notes for the beginning and ending boxes. The plot chart had told me where I want each of these three characters to begin their story and where I want them to end. Then I began to imagine what could go in the other boxes.

This was very different from past approaches to storyboarding. I pretended I hadn't written anything (I've written about 100,000 words already) and let myself take the three stories wherever I wanted. New ideas came through--better ones than I'd already written scenes for.

When they were laid out on the storyboard in their rows of boxes, I saw very nice connections between the three characters' individual plots, as well.

Then, Back to the Manuscript
I liked what I created. But there were 100,000 words waiting to be used, if possible, and I'm too economical to toss everything and start over. So my next step was printing out my manuscript pages, in all their rough and raw glory.

So many errors, I winced when I read it over. So I tried not to. I just scanned each chapter, each island, each section. I thought about where it might be placed on the new storyboard.

60 percent of the pages made it. They fit nicely, they filled in blanks. Some will be heavily reworked or repositioned in time. But I can do that now; I know what goal I'm shooting for.

The rest? They go into my "extras.doc" file.

I created the extras.doc file when I was working on Qualities of Light. The extras file was about 30,000 words at its peak, but almost all of the pages got used in Qualities of Light's revision. Sometimes an idea or setting, only. But little was wasted.

My new storyboard is complete. I finally have a working map for my next book.

This Week's Writing Exercise
This week, get yourself to an office supply store. Buy a posterboard and some Post-It notes. Go home, take a deep breath, and try creating two boxes on a storyboard: just the opening and ending moments of your book.

First ask yourself: Where will you begin? What moment do you see launching your reader into your topic or story? Write a note about this on a Post-It and place it on the storyboard.

Then, what moment ends your book? Where would you like the reader to be at the last page--with what new understanding, hunger, idea or feeling? Write a note about this too.

If you get brave, if you get enthused--as I did--see how many of the other boxes you can fill.

When Starting a Law Firm Don't Forget to Take a Break

The world doesn't revolve around you. It will continue to spin around every day even if you don't wake up and put in a full day of work. The sun will continue to rise. The phone will continue to ring. If you are starting a law firm, sometimes this is hard to remember. But what better time to talk about this than around the holidays.

Thanksgiving was on Thursday. As you know, I recently started my own law firm (which, by the way, when do you think it stops being recently and turns into something different, like some time ago, or "back when I started my law firm"), and when Thanksgiving rolled around do you know how much work I did? None. Do you know how much I thought about work? Very little. And you know what, when I checked my email and looked at my website, everything still worked, there were no emergencies, and everything was fine.

This is a lesson everyone needs to remember, for both the holiday season and the rest of the year. It is okay to take a day off from work. It is okay to remember why you are doing what you are doing (which probably involves something other than the law firm itself) and take some time to enjoy your friends and family and take some time to enjoy yourself. When you come back to work everything will still be functioning. And if there is an emergency, you can take care of it. I can guarantee you nothing will happen in one day that will hurt your business.

It's almost time for New Year's Resolutions (and 2010 goals). Don't forget to make it a priority to make your business work for you, and not the other way around.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Next Week--Join Me for a Wonderful Book-Structuring Workshop

I'll be at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis next weekend, December 4-5, teaching my two-day book-structuring workshop. Please join me! The workshop is almost full but a few spots remain. You'll get a real workout with your book idea, taking it from tag line (focus statement) to islands to storyboarding to working plan for finishing it.

For more information or to register, call the Loft at 612-379-8999 or visit www.loft.org and search for "How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book."

Hope to see you there!

Payment and Your New Law Firm - Always Get Your Money Up Front

Just to warn you, this post is not going to be the most politically correct I've ever written. But this is a blog about how to start a successful law firm, so I have to tell it how it is. I will make a few broad generalizations that I know don't hold true to everyone. That is why they are generalizations. But the lesson holds true, and if you aren't following it, give it a try and see how much better your law firm runs.

Here we go. Your clients do not want to pay their legal bills. They think you are overpriced. They don't understand the kind of expertise, advice, and counsel that you give them, and they will probably never understand that. Your work is, for the most part, intangible. When it is all said and done, though you've worked your butt off and gotten a good settlement, avoided litigation, drafted and executed the perfect contract, or saved the client from jail time, they see the end result and think you didn't do anything - particularly enough to warrant the fee you've agreed to.

And even if your work is not done, as the expenses start piling up, you'll find your clients more and more reluctant to pay their bills on time, if at all. And they will soon find (after you don't get out when you should) that they know you will continue to work even if they don't pay. All of a sudden you are doing a lot of work for free.

But there is a way to avoid this problem. And if you read the title of the post you'll probably already know what it is - get your fee paid up front. This solves several problems. First, you'll know that your client can afford you, which is always a good thing. Second, you won't have to keep hounding your clients for money and you can focus on resolving their case in their best interests. And third, you can get paid for your work.

As a criminal defense attorney I accomplish each of those three goals by charging a flat fee for my work. The prospective client and I come to an agreement for a specific amount of money that includes whatever needs to be done on the case through trial. If the case is resolved earlier, the fee is still earned, as it is my expertise, experience, and skills that are paid for, not my time. I provide a value service, not a commodity, so I don't measure my work in increments of 6 minutes (and I honestly wouldn't even if I was litigating civilly).

If you are not a criminal lawyer and want to continue to bill hourly, this can be done by getting a retainer that is earned down as time goes by. Break it up into segments that the client can pay up when necessary. For example, you budget x dollars to investigate, draft the complaint, and file the lawsuit. Once that is done, you budget x dollars for discovery. Once that is done, you budget x dollars for the drafting and argument of your summary judgment motion. If, at any time, the client can't or won't pay, you can withdraw at a point in the case where the break is clean.

I learned this the hard way over the course of my first couple of years of practice. People will convince you that they can pay, just not right now. You will believe them, either because you want the work or they come off as trustworthy to you. And then time will go by and you won't get paid. And then more time will go by and you still won't get paid. Eventually you'll have to decide whether or not you want to try to collect from them using all the means at your disposal (and most of you won't because you are afraid of bar complaints - I always tried to collect).

When I started my law firm, I made a pact to myself. I promised myself that my new law firm and the success of my new law firm was more important to me than feeling busy. To be successful when starting a law firm, you need to make money. To make money, people have to pay you. If you are the best lawyer out there and can't pay your bills or feed your family you aren't the best lawyer out there.

If you are having trouble getting paid from your legal clients take a step back and think about how you are presenting your fee options. Think about how you value your services internally and what you deserve for the work you are providing - and don't take anything less than that. Moving forward, think about options you can present to your clients that allow you to actually get paid and allow you to do the work your clients need.

How to Network When Starting Your Law Firm

One of the things I try to do a lot is talk to other people who have started their own law firm or are thinking about starting their own law firm to find out what they are doing. Invariably the ones that aren't making any money or are really struggling are spending a lot of time "networking." This means going to meetings with various other struggling practitioners and handing out business cards and acting like something is going to come of it. If you are doing this - stop it - it won't work!

What I always ask these people to tell me is this: how much business have you referred to anyone you met at those networking events? How many people have you met there that you have followed up with and actually had a discussion with at some other point? The answer is almost always "none" and "a couple," at best. When I hear that then I ask them why they are wasting their time doing it since they aren't seeing any results. Sometimes it clicks, sometimes it doesn't.

I decided to write this post because I went to a "networking" event last Thursday night and it reminded me of the scenario I described above. Why did I go, you might be asking, if I know I'm not going to get any business out of it? Well, for starters, let me point out that I didn't say you couldn't get any business out of it, I just described a scenario where people don't and won't get business out of it.

Why do I go? I go for two reasons. First, I don't know very many people in town. I've only lived here for a year and been open for five months. So I don't know very many attorneys either. And, even more specifically, I don't know very many attorneys that are around my age, which I like to know because it is fun to hang out with them. Second, I see it as a way to make a lot of money in the future, once people know who I am. It just needs to be done right.

For every networking event I have two goals: (1) have a great time; and (2) meet and make a connection with at least one new person. Sounds pretty easy, right? And it is. And that's what makes it fun. And that's what takes the pressure off of you to go out there and perform like some networking rock star that comes off as a needy, struggling attorney hoping to find someone to throw you some business. You end up having a fun time, meeting some nice people (you always meet more than one person because usually the person you meet knows someone else there, and the snowball begins) and usually talking a lot about how fun it is to start a law firm.

So, how do you make money at networking events like these? You simply have to give people what they want - referrals. But isn't that taking money out of your pocket? No, because you are referring people to them that handle things that you don't. For example, at the networking event I was at I met a patent attorney, a family law attorney, an estates attorney, and a business law attorney. They do things I don't do. When people ask me for help in those areas I can send them to them without the fear of losing my criminal defense business. And, when people come to them with problems I can help them with, they can send them to me without fear of losing their business.

You beginning to see how this works? It's all about give and take, and the more you give, the more you will get over the long run. That's why this is a long term marketing strategy. You have to get to know these people (you do not want to refer business to someone who will do a good job - that makes you both look bad) to send them business, and they have to experience getting business from you to get business from them (usually - at some point you will be the first to receive business - remember this, thank them for the referral, and keep them informed on what is going on - within the ethical rules of course - this will get you more referrals).

And one last thing - be yourself, whoever that is. For example, when I go to these things I'm usually the one to say the things that everyone else is thinking. I'm not trying to be proper. I'm not trying to be passive (though I am always respectful). I'm trying to show people who I am and learn about who they are. The only way to do that is to be yourself.

So, the next time you go to that networking event, collect those cards that people give you, and then send them an email by at the latest the next day telling them it was nice to meet you and offering to go get some coffee with them (you buy if you ask them to go). You will have probably received between three and five business cards so it shouldn't be too difficult (I got four at mine). While you are at the event find out what they do and begin thinking about ways you can help them in their practice. You'll be surprised about the money that will start flowing in after.

Related Posts:

Law Firm Marketing with Adwords - Yodle Review

Update on Law Firm Online Marketing With Yodle

Update 2 on Law Firm Online Marketing with Yodle

Starting a Criminal Law Firm and Out of the Box Marketing

Finding Your Story's Pathways--The Art of Rethinking What Your Book Is About

Today I had plenty of creative energy, so I decided to tackle a big project: storyboarding my new novel. It's the sequel to Qualities of Light, which was published this fall. I've been working on this sequel for five years and I love the story, but it's gotten complicated. Three characters, three separate plot lines. In desperate need of a storyboard.

I've taken this new book through NaNoWriMo twice, so I have a decent first draft. I just haven't tested the draft for logical flow. Which is the purpose of a storyboard.

So I set about it. Got tea, a piece of homemade pie, and closed the door to my little office. Began to note the main points for each chapter and the islands (separate dramatic scenes) within each chapter. Arc them on a flow chart as a series of cartoon boxes. Test their track.

They didn't. Track, that is. Boring, boring, boring.

The critic got real happy. "You're a one-novel author," it shouted. "Yes, your current book is getting lots of great reviews and people are loving it. But that's it, baby. Nothing more to come."

After a pretty discouraging two hours fighting my storyboard and this ruthless inner voice, I went back to bed. Screaming under the covers does help, especially when someone who cares a lot about you is listening and can give good advice.

Such as, "What story are you really wanting to tell? The one you have sketched out so far?"

No. Not really.

"Then how do you rethink it?"

I talked it through. I went through each character's main plot points, or story arc, and let the words out into the air. As I spoke them, I could hear the strengths--there were some!--and the flaws. "What does she really want?" I answered that question. "What about this idea?" It was a good one. Suddenly I had to run back downstairs and write it all down.

The result wasn't a revamped storyboard--that will come later. It was a character plot chart. One for each of the three people I'm tracking. As I wrote down their initial longing (that opens the story), their main challenges (that provide meat for the story), their crises (that peak toward the end), and the results, I saw the overlaps. I realized I needed to do three separate storyboards, one for each of these characters. Then weave them together.

Whew. Saved from my own self. The critic stood back, nodded, said, "Maybe you do have another book in you, after all."

This Week's Exercise--for Novelists and Memoirists Make a plot chart for each of your main characters. Keep their passageways separate until you get each uniquely on paper. Then place them side by side and see where there's overlap.

If you feel extremely brave after this, try storyboarding what you learn.

Ever Seen Your Name in Lights? I Just Did!

When I did my book signing last week at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, a friend said, "Check out the marquee. Your name is in lights." Luckily, someone had a camera. My mother will never believe this otherwise. It was a first, there for all the rush-hour traffic on Washington Avenue to see.

Book tours are strange experiences. I've been very lucky on this one. Minneapolis's book signing drew 90 people, and they listened to my 20 minute reading then asked such good questions about writing, I wanted to stay and talk with them all night. I've been on book tour events where only a few people showed up, and I've spoken to other authors who've experienced the same thing. So thank you, if you came to listen and support a fellow writer. It's a solitary profession and we need all the support we can get.

Three Aspects that Make Writing Healing--And Create Good Books

This past weekend I taught my trio of one-day workshops at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. One of them, the most difficult to teach and the most rewarding for me, is called "Writing through Healing, Healing through Writing."

Twenty-eight writers of all skill levels, genres, and ages gathered in one of the Loft's beautiful classrooms for a day. We explored what made our writing go deep enough to be healing--for us as well as for a reader.

I've taught the class for about ten years, using ever-growing research about the healing effects of certain types of writing. James Pennebaker, from the U of Texas, Austin, launched my interest in this topic. He clued me into the amazing medical documentation on creative writing's benefit in reducing physical illness and emotional stress.

One of my favorite books on this subject is Louise De Salvo's Writing as a Way of Healing. De Salvo talks about Pennebaker's research and how important it is that writers use all three of the elements that make writing actually heal. I've journaled for years and was very interested in hearing that venting into my journal, for instance, doesn't have healing effects on me. It's good for processing, not healing.

To heal us and touch the reader, writing must have:

1. specific details (senses-rich images, rather than concepts)
2. how the writer or narrator felt about the event when it happened
3. how the writer or narrator feels about the event now

De Salvo cites the research of Pennebaker and others, noting that it is the combination of these three elements that makes writing a healing process. Not one alone, not even two.

In my workshop this weekend, writers asked themselves which of these three aspects they naturally favored. A person who writes about thoughts and feelings will use doorways #2 or #3 to enter her story--reflective, conceptual writing. The third aspect, specific image-rich detail, is the missing element. When it's added to the piece of writing, the magic happens. The writing becomes healing. Same with a writer who lists events and specific details with no trouble. But the missing element is the feeling, the "what does this mean to me?" analysis of the experience. Some writers believe that the events should speak for themselves. But there needs to be some reflective writing to make it mean something to both writer and reader.

Why don't writers naturally incorporate all three aspects, giving themselves a healing boost from their own art?

Because it causes them to re-experience strong events, re-feel the strong feelings.

I wrote many times about my experience with cancer. I could reflect for pages on my feelings and thoughts about what happened. But it wasn't until I began to add the specific details--describe the room and the chair where I had chemotherapy, tell about the movie I went to each week as a treat to keep myself from throwing up too much, talk on the page about what it looked like when I lost my eyebrows--did I begin to heal.

This Week's Exercise
List 10 turning points in your life, events or moments when you experienced a big change. Pick one. Set a kitchen timer for 20 minutes. Write about it as it comes, then read it over. Ask yourself which of these three doorways did you go through? See if you can fill in the missing aspects. Does it make the writing more healing for you?

Beginning and Ending Chapters--Bookends You Can Work on First

My weekly book-writing classes at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center are wrapping up their six-week fall session this month. We're reviewing what we've learned about first and last chapters. In my teaching, I've learned these are essential signposts, bookends to keep a writer going forward with a book project.

Many writers start with outlines. An outline seems the best way to manage a huge project like a book. Outlines stall me. I use an outline, like I use notes cards and a writing notebook, but outlines can't form the basic structure of my book. It becomes too linear, too predictable. If it doesn't surprise me, it won't surprise the reader.

I use islands to start a book. Kenneth Atchity (author of A Writer's Time) introduced me to the concept of "islands," although Natalie Goldberg and others use them too. Islands are nonsequential units of writing, dramatic moments in fiction or memoir, teaching moments in nonfiction.

I begin my book in islands, not worrying how they're going to link up. I just let myself write freely.

Freedom's great. But have you ever noticed what happens when there's too much freedom? Islands become hard to organize. The writer starts to lose perspective on her project. I use another tool, storyboarding, to help this. But even more effective is the exercise of first and last chapters.

Your First Chapter Must Have . . .
In our summer session, my writing classes worked on their first chapters. I asked them to consider these "must haves" in a first chapter:

1. Introduction of main players (narrator, others) via anecdote
2. Introduction of main dilemma or conflict (fiction and memoir) or main questions or need (nonfiction) that the book will answer
3. Placing the reader in a relevant container (physical and emotional and cultural setting) that will echo throughout the book

The goal of the first chapter is just to create a tension cord, tight enough to pull the reader into the second, third, fourth chapters, and so on to the end. You don't give everything away yet. But you create a triggering event that triggers the reason for the rest of the book. You create an engaging place and time for the story you're going to tell--even nonfiction books must do this via their opening anecdotes.

We workshopped (shared with discussion) our chapter drafts and crafted them during the summer session. I saw huge improvement in everyone's writing--it was as if the focus on a small part of the book, one essential chapter, helped the writers see strengths and weaknesses in their overall writing.

By fall we were ready for the last chapter. Even though nothing in the middle had been written yet.

Your Last Chapter Must Have . . .
Ending chapters are not where everything gets wrapped up neatly. In fact, you must leave the reader with some hunger, some unresolved emotion, some longing to go back and read your book again. That way they will think about the story for days, talk about it with their friends. Lining up all the ducks is satisfying for you, boring for the reader.

This isn't to say that you can leave large sections or questions unanswered. If you're writing a mystery, you need to solve it. But perhaps your memoir isn't going to reveal a happily-ever-after. That's just fine. Leave with a call to action or a relevance to the reader's life. Make them think and feel a lot, and you have a good last chapter.

What else makes a good last chapter? Not introducing new dilemmas, or main conflicts. It's too late. The reader will go, "Where'd that come from?" You can hint at one, if you're writing a sequel. But main dilemma is rarely wrapped in the ending chapter. More often you need to finish tying dilemma threads in the next-to-last (penultimate) chapter.

What really needs attention in the last chapter are the main relationships. How did the narrator change? How did the method you're teaching shift your way of approaching life? How did the character realize something? Show us how the primary players changed, how something new was realized or achieved or lost. Demonstrate a new state of being and you'll have the reader hooked, hungry, and happy.

This Week's Exercise
Spend time with your first chapter, your last chapter, in whatever shape they might be. Craft them if you haven't already--brainstorm possible beginnings, possible endings. Then, using the notes above as a checklist, analyze the chapter drafts for what's missing and what's too much.

Any time you spend on your bookend chapters will teach you a lot about your writing in general.

And if you live near the Twin Cities, consider joining me for a writing workshop on this subject. It'll be on Thursday, November 5, 4-5:30 p.m. at the Loft Literary Center. The workshop is called "Container, Dilemma, and Players: Three Essential Elements for Making Your Writing Come Alive," and we go into more depth and try writing exercises for these important chapter elements.

Registration is limited. For more information or to sign up, go to www.loft.org and search for the workshop title.

When Starting a Law Firm, Don't Be Afraid to Ask For Help!

I can't remember how much I've told you about myself (aside from the things I'm doing to open a successful criminal defense law firm) and I'm not going to look back to figure it out. So, if this is more detailed or less detailed than you already know, too bad (if you care).

In general, I am a criminal defense attorney and DUI attorney (I consider them to be different technically) who, almost one year ago from today moved from a small city in the Midwest to a large city in the Pacific Northwest. When I moved to said city, I didn't know a soul in the legal community. I'd never practiced in said city. I wasn't familiar with their rules, practices, procedures, and how things "really" ran. I pretty much went in cold. All I had was my (semi-considerable) experience from the Midwest.

To figure out what was going on in my new city, I reached out. I sent completely blind emails to anyone I could find any shred of compatibility or commonness with and asked them if they would meet and talk with me about stuff. I asked stupid DUI questions to get lunch, I asked stupid criminal defense questions to get a coffee. And anytime I met anyone anywhere that did what I did, I sent them an email and asked if they'd like to talk. And I learned a lot pretty quickly.

In no time flat, I also realized something that I wasn't sure I really knew, believed, or understood about most legal communities out there - there is a pretty high level of camaraderie, particularly with those that do what you do. Sure, the world is competitive, and they aren't going to give you their clients (and maybe not even their marketing secrets), but when in the trenches of battle with the opposition, many many people like to extend a helping hand.

And I was reminded of that, very thoughtfully, today. I was in a hearing, on a very routine, mundane matter that can be dismissed without the client there (I'll let you try to figure out what it is). When my client's name was called, I stood up, made my arguments, and got shot down by the judge on every one. I did my best, but just couldn't come up with anything she'd buy. But, before she ruled against me, she sat my case off to the side and said "we'll come back to this in a minute." I had no idea what was happening, so I went and sat back down and kept looking at what I had to try to find something that would work.

Then another attorney came over and sat down next to me, someone that I knew was very good at his job and that had a lot more experience dealing with the kinds of problems we were addressing. He introduced himself and asked if he could see what I was looking at. After about 10 seconds he looked back, pointed, and said "right there is a problem - bring this up and the case gets dismissed." I took the opportunity to ask him a couple of questions about what he showed me and some other things, and thanked him for his help.

When the judge called me back up I made the one last argument and the judge dismissed the case! She'd seen what he had seen and wanted to give me a chance to get a case dismissed that should have been dismissed. And she knew that the other attorney would come over and help me out to figure out what was wrong. And neither one of them had to do that.

I guess the point of my post is this. At some point we were all young attorneys, or just opened our criminal defense offices, or moved to a new area, or transitioned to a new area of law. And at some point we could have all used a couple of helpful hints on how to proceed on an issue. And, I hope, in a couple of years, I'll be able to hand out some helpful hints on how to proceed on an issue. The practice of law is not easy. A lot of answers are hidden out there like needles in haystacks. And it is your responsibility, if you know where the needles are hidden, to show others. Sure, they are competing with you, but if you have to worry about them taking all of your business, you are already fighting a losing battle.

The next time you have the opportunity to help someone else out in the industry, do it. It will make you feel better, it will make them feel better, and you'll probably make a new friend out of it. And, remember, the more friends you have, the better off your life, your practice, and your wallet will be.