Editor Lori Puma talks about everything you should think about before you start writing a single word. She focuses on helping writers build a career, make money, and improve their skills. And in this episode, she tells Rebecca about how to craft better pitches so that her stores are more unique to her and (hopefully) easier to write.
Lori Puma helps writers create page-turning fiction. She works with authors who dream of making a living writing novels in popular genres like fantasy, romance, thriller, science fiction, mystery, women’s fiction, young adult, or historical fiction.
Lori started her writing career publishing scientific papers that also double as sleeping aids. Since then she’s published work on big-name media sites like The Washington Post and LA Times, contributed to a National Geographic book, and gotten certified in the Story Grid method of editing fiction. She’s been a guest on podcasts such as The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt, The Writescast Network, and Writership and was a panelist at The Writer’s Craft Summit.
Check out her website at loripuma.com for more fiction-writing resources, including the free guide The Structure of a Page-Turning Novel.
Things Lori and I talked about on the episode:
https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/
Writing Excuses episode links:
- 8.20 episode Writing a short story https://writingexcuses.com/2013/05/19/writing-excuses-8-20-the-short-story-with-mary-robinette-kowal/
- Selling short stories – https://writingexcuses.com/2017/08/27/12-35-short-fiction-markets-with-spencer-ellsworth-and-guest-host-beth-meacham/
Needs Inventory to help brainstorm things a character could want
What makes a short story idea a good idea?
- It has at least one main character who wants something
- There is an identifiable story arc where something changes from beginning to end
- The story has a theme or takeaway message (aka subtext)
- The story world is unique and easy to imagine
Brainstorming ideas to help make your story unique. How would your story change if you…
- Used a different takeaway message or theme?
- Changed what the main character wants?
- Changed the location of the first scene in the story?
- Changed the time that the story happens? Is there a specific event that might be happening at the same time?
- Used an ending twist that was opposite from your current plan?
- Changed your story’s genre or subgenre?
Pitches I sent to Lori:
The Time Traveler’s Handbook: a piece about the protocols for time travel and how to succeed when you’re in a new place/time without ID, money, or knowledge of the local culture. In the vein of: https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/sf-fantasy/don-redwood/how-to-submit
Translating Device (not the title): the story of a group of people landing on a strange planet with a translating device that helps them decipher the local language. They slowly start to discover the device has a mind of its own. In the vein of: https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/other-worlds-sf/eden-fenn/gaia-hypothesis
The Sleep Machine: Scientists create a machine that seemingly eliminates the need for sleep. It does not work as anticipated. Here’s the tone: https://creativitythroughconstraints.com/sleep-machine/