Writing

How “Save the Cat” Can Save Your Story – Part Three

February 23, 2024 By LDSPMA Leave a Comment

Previous Parts
How “Save the Cat” Can Save Your Story – Part One
How “Save the Cat” Can Save Your Story—Part Two

In my last article, we talked about Save the Cat’s “Transformation Machine.” In this article, we’ll learn about the next three plot beats that draw on your hero’s want while planting subtext about their emotional wound and true need. If you know your hero’s background, you can infuse the story with that rich resonance we want to create with our readers. Studies have shown that most readers will read about 25% of a story before giving up, so these next beats are all the more important. Resonance is the key to hooking your reader and keeping their interest.

The first three beats—Opening Image, Theme, and Set-up—established our world, the main characters, and the hero’s essential problem. Now it’s time for the plot to come crashing into the hero’s life in a very big way.

Beat 4: Catalyst

The Catalyst is a single-beat scene that hits around the 10% mark of your story. Think of this event like a bomb going off in your hero’s life—it’s unexpected (to them, though the reader may anticipate it), upsets everything, and can’t be ignored. If you can honestly say that the hero could ignore the Catalyst—you know, if he weren’t in the book you’re writing—then chances are good it’s not a sufficiently disruptive event. While the hero will spend the following few chapters debating what to do in response to the Catalyst, the truth is they have no choice but to act.

Pro Tip #1: Imagine your hero going about their day—same-old, same-old—when a bomb smashes their house to bits, leaving them alive, but suddenly living a very different life. That’s the kind of impact your Catalyst should have.

Beat 5: Debate

When writers feel like something is “off” with their manuscript, I always review the Catalyst and Debate. Getting these two beats wrong will mess with the book’s flow. In these cases, I find the Catalyst is almost never life-changing enough, and the Debate is never (I mean, never) long (or deep) enough.

The Debate should be 10% of your book!

If you’re writing a 100,000-word long book, the Debate alone will cost you 10,000 words. That’s a lot of words! My chapters tend to be 2,000 words long, so I’d need to write five chapters of Debate. That’s 10% of your story spent on boring stuff.

Or is it?

The Debate is only boring if you write it that way.

Imagine that Beat 4’s bomb lands on your hero’s house and everything goes up in flames. It’s a total loss.

Beat 5 asks, “What now?”

If (as is common for many writers when they first come to me) your answer is, “Then she moves in with her boyfriend, and it’s awesome, and they live happily ever after!” then, well, you have a problem. That’s not interesting, and it’s not real life.

The Debate beat allows you to lean into what you know about your hero and the internal journey you want to take them on.

In real life, if a bomb randomly blew up someone’s house, the victim wouldn’t stop talking about the event. They’d have a hard time working, sleeping, eating, or doing anything. Their mind would be on a constant loop of “A bomb just destroyed my house!”

First, they’d freak out a bit. (Understatement.) Then they’d call the fire department, police, and a friend—because where are they gonna sleep? And what will they wear/do/think? Everything they owned was just destroyed. (More freaking out.)

They’d talk to the police and insurance people. And talk to them again. The place where they spent their first night might not be where they want to stay long term, so they’ll talk to more people and make more arrangements.

They must pick through what’s left of their life, which will be so hard. Lean into that pain.

This is an opportunity to make a change. Maybe they work from home, so really, do they want to rebuild on the same lot? Or do they want to follow their lifelong dream of living and working in Belize? Do they even want to build another house? Maybe they want to move downtown into a trendy condo. The options are endless, challenging, and ultimately, revealing. They might even find themselves thankful for that bomb because the misfortune will allow them to fix everything that’s wrong with their life.

That hope, that belief that they’re in control and know what they’re doing is exactly where you want your hero to be as they Break into Two (Beat 6).

Pro Tip #2: If your Catalyst doesn’t yield this kind of life-altering dilemma, it’s not big enough or radical enough.

Pro Tip #3: Make a list of everything that needs to happen because of the Catalyst, then build your Debate. You’ll discover plenty of material to fill that 10% of your book, and it will inform Act 2 in powerful ways.

Pro Tip #4: If you’re writing a “Call to Adventure” story, the Debate can be a preparation beat—but should be no less demanding of your hero.

Beat 6: Break into Two

The Break into Two beat is a single scene showing your hero choosing to move into Act 2. The event should be physical and occur entirely of their own volition.

This shift from the set-up phase isn’t Harry Potter going to Hogwarts. It’s Harry running head-first into a brick column, believing it’s a magical gateway to wizarding school.

It’s not Katniss volunteering to be Tribute. It’s Katniss boarding the train from District 12 and stepping off into the completely different world of the Capitol.

A bold decision or action provides the perfect lead-in to Act 2—otherwise known as the Upside-Down World. But you’ll have to wait for the next installment to learn how to solve that whole “messy middle” business.

Here’s a hint: With Save the Cat, there’s no such thing as a “messy middle.”

Ali Cross

Ali Cross is a USA Today bestselling author, motivational speaker, and story development coach who loves to help writers level up both professionally and personally. A happiness enthusiast and believer in hope and magic, Ali’s a sucker for underdogs, redemption stories, and happily-ever-afters. She explores the concept of joy and where it can be found in her YouTube show and podcast, Write4Joy. She lives in Utah with her hacker husband where they collaborate on stories, artificial intelligence, and their plan for virtual world domination.

Find Ali at her website or @thealicross online.

Four Steps to a Page-Turner

December 1, 2023 By LDSPMA Leave a Comment

Forget the old adages you’ve heard. In a real race between a tortoise and a hare, the hare would win every time. It’s biology. And what applies to biology applies to writing as well: no one wants to write at tortoise speed or produce a book that would make a tortoise yawn—especially when all the hares out there are rushing to compete for today’s readers (and their short attention spans). Here are a few steps to transfigure your fictional tortoise into a hare.

Step 1. Offer your tortoise a carrot. Every character needs a reason to press forward with increased purpose. Without a goal, we flounder then wallow in the comfortable couch of laziness. Long-term goals are vital to a plot, but short-term goals are the steps to get there. Without them, your story will lag and your audience will drift off to sleep. If you want a title to study, Robison Wells offers lots of carrots in his book Variant. First, he establishes an environment that makes his character uncomfortable. Because the character is not the type to ignore an itch, he feels compelled to set short-term goals along the way—to find out more about what makes his environment tick. The more he discovers, the more unsettled he becomes.

Step 2. Remove distractions. If you’re going to offer your tortoise a carrot, you’d better make sure he doesn’t already have lettuce to nosh on. There are times when distractions are appropriate and interesting, but if your story is dragging and you need to speed things up, your character needs to focus. Remember the importance of short-term goals: write less thought and more action. If your character is focused on beating that rival, delivering that package, or sending that life-changing letter, the inherent conflict is more immediate and important, and your character has to fight harder to accomplish his goal. Without pesky thoughts to distract him, your character is free to follow his gut, which inevitably leads to mistakes, loss, and increased tension—all things that speed up your prose and force your reader to pay attention. In Divergent, Tris’s survival frequently depends on her ability to focus on the task at hand.

Step 3. Turn your tortoise on its back. It may be difficult to watch him struggle with his legs flailing in the air, but this struggle springs from his primal desire to survive, and it ultimately strengthens him. The writhing tortoise is in danger and may lose everything. This vulnerability is something with which every reader empathizes. Empathy ties your reader to your character’s fate, making every kick of every limb more important. If your readers cheer for your character, they won’t want to walk away in the middle of the race. In most contemporary novels, the inciting incident that puts your character’s physical, emotional, social, or spiritual world in danger usually happens in the first chapter of the book. The resulting vulnerability and struggle carry the reader to the novel’s end. Any time your character discovers the reality he has long believed is riddled with lies or half-truths or realizes the depth of his personal flaws or challenges, your character has essentially been turned on his back and is forced to set his life—or his understanding of it—aright.

Step 4. Use magic words. Active verbs and descriptive nouns illustrate everything your reader needs to witness without wasting time or crowding the page with heavy blocks of text. Experienced authors not only know which words to include, but which words to cut. Remove the words that slow your prose to a clunky, awkward creature carrying its house on its back. Twist passive phrases into active voice. Precision wordsmithing sculpts a lithe, muscular machine built for speed. One of the best wordsmiths I’ve ever read is Jerry Spinelli. He magically tells an emotional, intricate story with a few precise words. Maniac Magee is still one of my favorite novels, and it is practically poetry—every word in this book counts.

Do This Now

If you haven’t read Jack M. Bickham’s Scene and Structure, read it, mark it up, and memorize as much as your brain can hold. Bickham’s amazing explanation of the importance of goals and how to create believable conflict will change the way you approach fiction writing and will give a nice backbone to your creative content.
Read through your manuscript and break it down into goals. Do this either through highlighting or by writing a few words in the margin describing each goal. If you go a page or two without making any marks, odds are you’ve hit a lull in your story.
Play the what-if game. This little game is one of my favorite plot/character developing techniques, and it’s a game that Orson Scott Card recommends in his book Characters and Viewpoint. Let your imagination run wild, asking what-if questions that put your character in different situations, have him come from different backgrounds, or challenge him with different types of conflict. Follow through on these questions and imagine where the changes would lead your character. This process has revealed some fantastic plot twists for many authors.

What techniques have you developed to keep your novel moving?

Amy Maida Wadsworth

Amy Maida Wadsworth published three novels with Covenant Communications, which are available for Kindle and Nook. Amy started teaching fiction writing in 2006 and has been a writing coach ever since. She works as a freelance editor and blogger for Eschler Editing and is pursuing her master’s in human development and social policy. This article appears courtesy of Eschler Editing.

The Importance of a Good Book Cover

April 20, 2023 By LDSPMA 3 Comments

When I decided to self-publish my Legends of Muirwood trilogy, I didn’t know a lot about book cover design. Actually, I didn’t know anything. It probably shows.

My goal at the time was to get the trilogy out in the world without spending a lot of money. I bought a package that included cover design through a self-publishing platform for a bargain price, and I gave some suggestions about abbeys, forests, and fonts. They delivered what they promised: three book covers. But they were all missing what really mattered—a way to help potential readers judge whether they might like the book.

The original covers of Jeff Wheeler's first three books.

As a hybrid author with over thirty published novels, I’ve gained an unusual perspective about the process of designing cover art. I want to give you three BKMs, or “best-known methods” about book cover design so you can see what an author—indie, traditional, or hybrid—needs to keep in mind when designing or choosing a cover.

BKM #1: It’s the Wrapper

Imagine standing in line at the grocery store and seeing a king-sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup on sale. You buy it with your groceries, get in the car, unwrap it, and prepare to sink your teeth into that chocolatey-peanut-buttery nirvana . . . but it’s a York Peppermint Patty. You might feel frustrated because you were expecting one thing and got another. Book covers, like candy wrappers, set expectations with the reader up front. The cover clearly shows the genre of the story.

It’s very easy to check on Amazon what the bestselling books are by category and see what design elements are common to the genre. You can look at the size of the fonts, the placement of the author’s name, any bestselling tags, and the color schemes. It’s not a coincidence that a Reese’s candy wrapper looks the way it does or that stores shelve similar items next to each other. Authors are brands too, so if you want a reader to anticipate a certain genre or style of book, it helps if your cover looks similar to others in the same genre.

BKM #2: It’s Professional

Long gone are the days when mediocre-to-cringeworthy book covers (like my original Muirwood ones) would be tolerated. If I tried that now, I can’t imagine what would happen. Readers do judge a book by the cover, so it’s important to hire a professional cover designer because you don’t get a second chance to make that first impression. In fact, especially in the indie space, even the New York Times bestselling authors I know will redesign the cover of a book when they feel it isn’t connecting with the proper audience. Even if the first cover looks amazing, it’ll hurt sales if it doesn’t resonate with the right audience. Many authors have created new covers and found that the second one worked better.

This year marks the 10th anniversary release of my Legends of Muirwood trilogy. We redesigned the covers to strengthen the brand for the series and tie the series in with other books written in the same world. There’s quite a difference from the originals.

The redesigned covers for Jeff Wheeler's first three books.

I highly recommend Bryan Cohen’s Five-day Author Ad Profit Challenge. Even if you haven’t written a book yet or have one to sell, you can still join his Facebook page and watch the videos when he runs the challenge. You’ll learn a ton (for free) about how Amazon algorithms work, how to design a cover, and how to write killer ad copy for your books. I wish this existed back when I first self-published.

Readers can tell the difference between a cheap cover and a professional one. Cover designers are mostly freelance these days, and with a little research, it’s not difficult to find ones you like. For example, most books include the name of the cover artist in the front matter, which you can see for free on Amazon using the “look inside” feature.

A screenshot showing where to find the "look inside" feature on an Amazon book.

I can’t recommend enough getting a professional to do the job right. There are cover art stock photos you can purchase if you’re on a budget, but at the very least, hire a graphic designer to help you with the fonts, styling, and sizing. The last thing you’d want is to spend a lot of time writing a book that no one will read because it looks amateurish. I was satisfied with the covers my publisher used for my first several books, but it wasn’t until they hired Shasti O’Leary Soudant to design the cover of The Queen’s Poisoner that I learned firsthand the power of an amazing cover. You know the saying that “A rising tide lifts all boats”? After that book came out, all my books began to sell better. I’ve now hired her to do some of my indie titles as well.

BKM #3: It’s Expected

Word of mouth is the number-one way people find books they enjoy. There just isn’t a replacement for the solid recommendation of a friend or someone you trust. Readers find new authors all the time through email subscriptions to Amazon’s top Kindle book deals, BookBub, or Goodreads. There is promotional text there, of course, but the cover catches the reader’s eye first. They look at the cover for a second or two before reading the blurb. If they’re still intrigued, they’ll click on the link to see how many reviews it has, how many stars it has received, etc. These are all ways that a book is “judged” before it’s read. The reader’s visceral reaction to the cover starts it off. That’s why readers expect the cover to tell them about the genre and author. They expect a title that’s easily searchable and interesting enough to entice them to learn more.

So, let’s get over the out-of-date and untrue adage about not judging a book by its cover. We base our judgment on if the wrapper matched the content, if it was professionally done, and if it met our expectations for what we purchased and why. A great cover can’t turn a meh book into a bestseller, but there aren’t many bestsellers with a meh cover. Writers today have to be professional to come up with stories that will keep a reader turning the pages. Thankfully, there are skilled wizards of the imagination who can help aspiring authors design book covers that catch readers’ eyes and delight their hearts.

Jeff Wheeler

Jeff Wheeler is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the First Argentines series (Knight’s Ransom, Warrior’s Ransom, Lady’s Ransom, and Fate’s Ransom); the Grave Kingdom series; the Harbinger and Kingfountain series; the Legends and Covenant of Muirwood trilogies; the Whispers from Mirrowen trilogy; the Dawning of Muirwood trilogy; and the Landmoor novels. Jeff is a husband, father of five, and devout member of his church. He lives in the Rocky Mountains. Learn more about Jeff’s publishing journey in Your First Million Words, and visit his many worlds at his website .

How I Research for a Historical Project

March 31, 2023 By LDSPMA 2 Comments

By Heather B. Moore

Some people love research, while others don’t. They want to get into the meat of writing as soon as possible. But if you’re planning to write a historical novel or other project, research is vital to developing the story and bringing credibility to your work. As the author of dozens of historical novels set in eras ranging from ancient Israel, Mesopotamia, the Georgian era, the Regency era, the Victorian era, the early 1900s, World War II, the early Cold War era, and the 1980s (yes, that’s considered historical now), I’ve learned a few tips and tricks to help me tackle each project as it comes along.

Search for Sources

I search on Amazon or other new/used book sites and decide if there are books that I’d like to own so I can have them constantly at my fingertips. If possible, I like to get the paperback version to annotate, the ebook version to do a quick search for a particular key element, and sometimes the audiobook to immerse my brain in the era. I own all three versions of some research books. You can also search Google Books and find older digital books that are absolutely free. YouTube has recently become a key source for me with the plethora of documentaries and shorter historical pieces that are available.

Determine Which Sources to Use

Since you can’t read every book written about a subject (unless there are only a few), you might have to be selective. On average, I read five-ten books about a historical subject in preparation to write a book. Some sources are a gold mine. Other sources might just be more of a quick reference to verify the uniforms worn by a particular army during a specific war. Online articles (including Wikipedia) can be great quick go-tos. You can check at the bottom of the articles as well for further sources as needed.

Research Key Elements

Don’t try to be the expert, but research enough to flesh out your story and bring authenticity. You probably don’t have ten years to research everything you can about Italy in the seventeenth century, but you can zero in on several key elements, situations, and cultural points in order to create a vibrant story that makes the reader feel as if they’re looking into the era through a camera lens.

What are these key elements? Start with the five senses.

Touch—what do things feel like? Are your characters sitting on stone benches? Bamboo chairs? Scratchy woolen blankets?

Sight—what is your character seeing? A bombed city? A river meandering through hills covered in small wooden huts? Tropical trees? Sand and rocks?

Hearing—what sounds are in the setting? The puttering of a small vehicle? The clattering of horses’ hooves on cobblestone?

Smell—does your character live on a farm? By the ocean with the scent of sea breeze as a constant companion? Is it spring with blossoming fruit trees?

Taste—what kinds of food surround your character? Do they spend their days in preparation? Is food a main part of their day? What plants and crops are native to the country you’re writing about?

More elements include:

Major historical events during your story’s timeline. You can’t ignore a major historical event (or weather event, for that matter) if your story covers that day/week/month/year. If for some reason, you do decide to ignore or brush over a major event, document the reason why in your chapter notes or an author note as a disclaimer.

Government/politics. Just as our modern lives are framed by the laws of our land, so are historical characters’ lives. What types of laws were in place? How were criminals dealt with? Were there discrepancies between the sexes or racial groups?

Religion. Even if your character isn’t religious, others around them will be. Religious beliefs can also be a major character motivator, so make sure you aren’t skipping over it in a main character or sub character.

Setting. A historical setting becomes a character of its own. By writing about the past, you are researching old information instead of brainstorming new ideas and inventing new things, like you would for sci-fi or fantasy. The setting can affect characters’ choices and motivations. A story set in the middle of a Minnesota winter has a completely different feel than one set in sunny San Diego.

Dialogue. This can be debated both ways, but generally keeping your dialogue free of modern cliches is very important. Most readers don’t want to read formal, stilted, cumbersome dialect, so find a handful of words that will keep your reader immersed in the historical era. Depending on your time frame, instead of “kitchen,” you might say “cooking room,” or instead of “bedroom,” you might use the more historical-sounding “bedchamber.”

Start Writing

You don’t need wait to write until you have done your research. Doing both at the same time is often necessary. I’ll typically start with research—reading sources and taking notes—and when I feel like I can effectively write the first few chapters of the book, I’ll begin writing, knowing there might be some stopping points along the way to deep dive into more sources. I try not to write too far ahead of my research, though, or I run the risk of writing an entire scene that has to be greatly revised.

Everyone’s method will vary, but hopefully something from my journey will be useful to you.

Heather B. Moore

Heather B. Moore is a USA Today bestselling author of more than ninety publications, primarily historical and #herstory fiction about the humanity and heroism of the everyday person. She attended Cairo American College in Egypt and the Anglican School of Jerusalem in Israel. Despite failing her high school AP English exam, Heather persevered and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University in something other than English. Heather dives into the hearts and souls of her characters, meshing her love of research with her love of storytelling. You can learn more about her on her website.

How to Publish Your Audiobook for Less

April 28, 2022 By Sapphire Hodges 2 Comments

Julie MacNeil thought her work on her award-winning book The 50-Year Secret was done when she published it. Although she did successfully find readers, many of her friends told her, “I don’t read much, but let me know when it’s on Audible!”

In the ever-shifting world of publication, authors must keep up with current trends to get their work published, noticed, and to increase shelf life. One of the biggest recent developments is streaming audiobooks on platforms such as Audible.

Streaming on Audible comes with several advantages, as Julie discovered when she researched the platform. There are far fewer books on Audible as opposed to ebooks or in print, and its connection to Amazon is enormously powerful in finding new readers (and listeners!)

How to publish on Audible (the easy way)

According to Julie, the easiest and fastest way to publish on Audible is to hire a professional narrator using Audible’s “back office” site and service called ACX.

The first step is to apply and get accepted for publication with Audible. Next, create a client account on ACX. From there, you can browse the profiles of the people who narrate books. You can listen to voice samples, and even solicit auditions from prospective narrators.

Audible’s connection to Amazon is enormously powerful in finding new readers (and listeners!)

Once you find someone who’s a good match for your work, you and the narrator negotiate a price. Prices tend to be high — possibly thousands of dollars or even split royalties — because these narrators are professionals. While narrators work on recording, sections are sent to both the author and Audible for approval before being published as one whole book. When it’s done, your book will be available on Audible for purchase and streaming.

This is the most common way to publish on Audible. However, Julie decided to do something different.

The 50-Year Secret

For Julie, writing and publishing her book wasn’t about fame or money — it was about saving lives.

She had already lived through several difficult events in life, from bullying to abusive relationships, when she discovered through a chance DNA test that she had a rare liver disease called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

The genetic disease is potentially fatal, but because it is a tricky disease that can often manifest as respiratory rather than liver problems, an estimated 90% of people who have it are undiagnosed. So, Julie was especially glad that she found out.

“I found it really empowering to learn about my disease,” Julie told me in a recent interview. “I wanted to encourage others to … be proactive about their health. Even if you find out you have it or some other disease — even if it means you might die young — I hope you’ll make the most of life.”

Because Julie was adopted, her doctor suggested she try to find her biological family so she could warn them about the disease and encourage them to get tested. Her book chronicles this journey of finding her biological family. Although her father had already passed away from alpha-1, the lives of other family members were saved because they were able to get treatment for the disease they might have died of but never known about.

Julie wrote her book largely because she wanted to help bring awareness to others about alpha-1 and encourage more people to get tested — and maybe save their lives too. Getting on Audible would amplify her message beyond Amazon.

How to publish on Audible (the cost-effective way)

Julie figured out she could still get her book on Audible — and save money — by doing more of the process on her own.

First, she bought a software program for recording and editing audio called Hindenburg. Julie heard about it at a writing conference where she was nominated for an award for her book and was impressed with some of its features. Besides important tools like filters for canceling background noise, she said, “Hindenburg has classes and deals and free trainings to help you learn how to use it.”

Armed with her own software, Julie didn’t need to choose a narrator on ACX. While some authors choose to narrate their own books, she enlisted the help of her friend, Christina Betz (aka Tina) to read for her. Tina set up her own account on ACX as a narrator so that Julie could select her, and then they negotiated their own deal. Tina had never done any professional narrating before, but she did have an advantage because her husband had a recording studio in their home for his own work.

The longest part of the publishing process was recording because there was a learning curve that Julie and Tina had to overcome. Tina would read a section and send it to Audible for approval, and Audible would reject it if it wasn’t perfect. In the beginning, recordings were often rejected, most often due to background noise. Tina had to make her recording studio more soundproof and get better microphones. Tina and Julie even had to change the lights because professional recording equipment can pick up many lights’ hum.

Writing and publishing her book wasn’t about fame or money — it was about saving lives.

After about six months of trial and error (and help from another friend who worked in audio and video marketing), they were finally able to produce quality recordings that lived up to Audible’s standards. After that, it only took Tina about a week to record the 6-hour audiobook. The book was submitted in pieces and finally published all together as an audiobook.

And now, Julie finds it’s easier to find listeners than readers.

If she had to do it again…

With the gift of hindsight, Julie told me she wouldn’t change anything. The hardest part, she said, wasn’t the long recording process. “It’s getting people to leave reviews!”

I asked her if it would be practical for other authors to do what she did to get on Audible. “It’s the cheapest way,” she said. “We could have hired someone else who had the recording equipment, but it might have cost thousands of dollars. It took a long time, but we learned a lot.”

With a little extra effort and research, authors who are accepted for publication on Audible can do a lot of the work themselves for less cost and learn something along the way. Tina enjoyed the process so much that she decided to keep her profile on ACX so that she could narrate again.

Readers who are curious about Julie’s disease — or who might be interested in her inspiring story of adoption and overcoming trials with a positive attitude — can visit her website The50YearSecret.com and check out her book on Amazon or Audible. The book will also be made into a movie.

Sapphire Hodges

Sapphire Hodges has taught anthropology and middle eastern dance at the University of Oklahoma and courses in English as a Second Language at Utah Valley University. Along with her studies in linguistics and anthropology, she has been a licensed massage therapist since 2009 and has taught a little massage. She likes to read, write, dance, and teach her blue heeler, Beowolf, new tricks.

The Power of Asking ‘Why?’: Improving the depth and credibility of your writing

March 24, 2022 By Howard Collett 7 Comments

When I emerged from the diminutive mosque in a remote African village, I had a burning question. It came to mind while sitting reverently during prayers which the Imam had graciously invited us to observe.

I was a writer and photographer in Sierra Leone with two senior missionaries and a two-person video crew for LDS Charities filming a documentary on clean water projects (see more).

The village was home to a thousand people: half Christian, half Muslim. After thanking the Imam for his invitation, I asked him, “How do you get along with the Christians?”

Asking the right questions

The puzzled look on his face mirrored his reply: “What do you mean?”

Stammering, I said, “Well, half of the village is Christian, the other half is Muslim. How do you get along?”

When he gave the same response again, I wondered how much English the Imam understood. Then I realized his point-of-view on world issues was vastly different than mine. The village had no electricity, no running water, no televisions, scant public transportation (unless you call the back of a motorbike or the top of a cargo truck public transportation), few cell phones, and no world news.

To provide perspective, I mentioned that throughout history Muslims and Christians had battled each other. Then I repeated my original question.

We work in the fields side by side just to survive. What is there to fight about?

The Imam answered, “You don’t understand.” Then he gave me perspective. “The Christians helped us build our mosque. We helped them build their houses. We work in the fields side by side just to survive. What is there to fight about?”

Perhaps I should have first asked “why.”

Getting to the point

Not too long after my trip to Africa, I interviewed a science professor at BYU in Provo, Utah. He was renowned for his work in a particular field. I asked him why his work was so important. He answered with a barrage of scientific jargon, little of which I understood.

Unfortunately, I repeated the mistake I’d made with the Imam by asking the professor the same question again. His answer was mingled with words such as “leading research,” “peer-reviewed trials,” breakthrough technology,” etc.

Flustered, I blurted, “Why should I care?”

Startled, he looked at me thoughtfully, then answered, “It’s a possible cure for cancer.”

“Now I have a story,” I said. And a headline, I thought. People don’t care about a process until they can see the potential impact it can have on their lives.

For example, when Joseph Smith walked into the Sacred Grove that spring morning in 1820 to ask which church he should join, he had little knowledge about the nature of God. He received an answer to the “which” question but also learned why. God revealed the nature of Himself and His Son, knowing it is easier for us to pray to a God we can comprehend rather than a nebulous, unknown being. And that understanding would be essential for the revelations that followed in the years to come.

Who knows where “why” will lead

My final story comes from a sister missionary in Germany. My wife and I were senior missionaries and district leaders for an all-sister district. Wanting to know why they decided to serve missions, we asked questions. Our dialogue with this particular sister went something like this:

“What did you do before you started your mission?”

“I played soccer at a junior college.”

“How did you do?”

“I scored a lot of goals.”

When you think you have all the answers, ask one more question.

I could have ended there, but I’d learned when you think you have all the answers, ask one more question.

“Why?”

“I was the smallest player on the team,” she said, “so I knew I had to be faster, smarter, and more determined than anyone else.”

Now I had something to write about. I knew the why as well as the what and how. In fact, the physical characteristics and personality of the female protagonist in my novel are based on our missionary’s answer. You never know where asking why will lead you.

Asking questions leads to discovery

Asking questions while researching your book (or preparing for a presentation, podcast, interview, etc.) will add depth and understanding to your work. Ask questions of your characters to understand them better and make them more believable to your readers. We told our missionaries in Germany to ask questions before they started teaching. It not only endeared them to their friends, but their answers about their joys, concerns, successes, and failures often led to gospel discussions.

The concept of asking the right questions is not new, as Simon Sinek described in his acclaimed book, Start with Why. His Ted Talk on the topic has 56 million views. Simon says every inspired leader or innovator asks the question “What.” A smaller number ask “How,” and very few ask “Why.”

The essence of “why”

The plot in my upcoming novel, Erika’s War, is about uranium being smuggled from Germany to Russia. There, the Russians will generate vast amounts of electricity and sell it to the Germans at an extremely low price. The conspiracy will drive renewable power and other sources of electricity out of business, eventually giving the Russians economic control over Germany on a scale not seen since the Cold War.

Plausibility for my plot is strengthened when I discovered that growth of renewable sources of energy is already faltering in Europe. Asking the right questions gave me the why. For example, I discovered that villages in Germany are taxing wind farms for noise pollution and limiting encroachment to two kilometers. This raises the cost of land acquisition and wind farm operation, and increases the likelihood of acceptance of lower-priced energy from Russia.

“Why” has to do with purpose, cause, or belief, not results. It’s the reason Christians and Muslims get along in Sierra Leone. It’s the reason the science professor spends untold hours of research. It’s the reason my soccer player was so good. And it’s the reason the protagonist in your novel just might prevail.

Author Bio

Howard Collett has two novels in production, Erika’s War, a spy novel set in contemporary Berlin, and Lost in the Wilderness, the tale of a 10-year-old girl lost in Utah’s Uinta mountains. He has published 1,600 articles and 300 photos in aviation, medicine, software, and education in national and international magazines. His capstone achievement documented life-saving humanitarian aid on four continents. Visit www.howardcollett.net for more information.

The Arts as a Superpower

February 24, 2021 By LDSPMA Leave a Comment

By Shaun Stahle

“What is the most powerful weapon in the world?” I asked a class of fifth graders in Fielding Elementary School many years ago.

The Gulf War was raging at the time. Every news cast led with horrific scenes of destruction. “The Apache Helicopter with laser-guided smart bombs,” blurted one boy. “Nah,” said another. “Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from warships.”

The boys grew animated with some coming out of their chairs in mock imitation. These sparkly-faced boys knew their weapons of mass destruction.

After the teacher restored order, I suggested that neither the laser-guided missiles nor the Apache Helicopter—as powerful as they were to level big buildings into little pieces of rubble—were the most power weapons in the world.

More guesses followed. “How about nuclear bombs?” asked another.

“No,” I said long and slow, squeezing every second to build tension. “The most powerful weapon in the world…is words.”

Three illustrated people with speech bubbles. Using words and conversation.

Words: the Most Powerful Weapon in the World

The class went thunderously quiet. Faces contorted. The mental torture of trying to figure how words trumped bombs in causing agony. “Words?” someone finally bellowed. “When did words ever win a war?”

“Think about it,” I suggested, trying to ease their pain before their faces froze in those positions. “When mean words are said, you get angry. When you get angry, you could throw a punch. If nations say enough mean words, people get angry and tempers flare. They sometimes hurl bombs. But do you feel like poking someone’s nose who has complimented you?”

I’m not sure the students understood my analogy. I’m not sure the teacher did either. But I still think the premise has merit. Words tell stories. Stories evoke emotions of virtue such as beauty and love. Such emotions build into peace and contentment and gracious living. Harmony and unity are the result.

Words can also fan the flames of hate and animosity. Words of deceit and injustice can enrage to violence. Instead of unity, we see others as a lower species.

Words Turn Enemies to Friends

President Dallin H. Oaks in his October general conference address recommended that we heed the counsel of a famous musical and make more effort to get to know each other.

He should know. As one who has stood in the heat of intense adversarial debate trying many cases—50, I think—before the US Supreme Court, and as a man deeply cultured in the affections of the Spirit, he knows how to turn enemies into friends.

That’s where we come in. Those who tell stories help society get to know each other. Words and images and sounds are our superpower. The more we use our powers to tell the plight of another, the more we defuse the ugly and demeaning and debase that confronts us.

Most of us will never be introduced in the Rose Garden. None of us will have a finger on the big red nuclear bomb button. But we still have power. “The kind words we give, shall in memory live.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shaun Stahle was yanked from a comfortable bed early one morning at age five to cart newspapers off his grandfather’s printing press and has been cursed with ink in the blood ever since. He spent 17 years detailing the growth of the Church with the Church News. His retirement plan is to find a shoe box full of unmarked bills along the road someday. He says he has saved his wife of 33 years from a life of fame and prosperity.

Member Spotlight: Kristen Reber!

February 20, 2021 By Trina Boice Leave a Comment

Our Member Spotlight today is Kristen Reber from Saratoga Springs, Utah.

What are the books/products you’ve created?

Book (paperback, e-book, or audio): Early Homecoming: A Resource for Early Returned Missionaries, their Church Leaders, and Family

Podcast: Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

Tell us about your work!

The book Early Homecoming is the product of seven years of thought and casual research, and then six intense months of interviewing, in-depth research, writing, and editing after the book suddenly landed a publishing contract. It is for anyone who came home for any reason, as well as for parents, church leaders, and friends of early returned missionaries. It is filled with academic and spiritual research, anecdotes from myself and other early-returned missionaries, and advice for coping with the sudden loss of a mission either right after losing it or if one is still grieving the loss years later.

The podcast Early Homecoming is a more casual work where I interview those who come home early for any reason, as well as parents and church leaders. I ask them to tell me their story, including the reason they (or their missionary/missionaries) came home, how they coped initially (or are coping so far), and how they have found peace and healing.

What inspired you to become a writer/creative in media?

I have always enjoyed literature. My mom told me that even when I was a baby, she and I “got a lot of good book time in.” I’ve been writing fiction stories for as long as I can remember, but my first book is actually nonfiction, inspired by my own journey of coming home early from a Latter-day Saint mission. My podcast was created as an additional resource for those who come home early and are either unaware of my book or don’t want to/don’t have time to read.

What keeps you inspired in your daily creative work?

My audience. Everyone has a unique story. I simply love to watch and listen to people.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

By far it’s been the opportunity to talk to those who have read my book or listen to my podcast and hear how much it has helped them. I am so honored to be part of their healing journey.

What would you like others to know about you or your creative process?

I’m a rather thorough person, but I also know when to hold back. When you read something that I write, you can expect it to be completely thought out. I like to write in a colloquial style, but that doesn’t mean I skimp on the details. When you listen to my podcast, it is a more relaxed atmosphere, but the questions I ask my guests have been either thought out beforehand or are the result of careful listening. I want my audience to feel uplifted and enlightened at the end of a chapter or episode.

What was the best advice you’ve ever been given in your creative work?

The best advice I’ve ever been given is to be myself. I don’t need to try to be anyone else. While it is important to learn from others and study their work to improve my own craft, when it comes time to create I need to channel my own voice and my own thoughts. People want to hear what I have to say. They don’t want to hear what others are already saying.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

I have found that when I have done my research before writing or creating a podcast, the book or podcast pretty much create themselves. So, the advice I would give is to not underestimate the value of spending a decent amount of time researching and learning before diving into creating.

Do you have a website?

kristenreber.com

Where can we find you on social media?

Facebook: Early Homecoming page

Instagram: @author_kristenreber

LinkedIn: Kristen Reber

Podcast: Early Homecoming Podcast