Lunch With Lisa

Lisa Bergren, Mariah (my 17 yo) & Me

On the road, my girls and I swung through Colorado Springs and caught up with author extraordinaire Lisa Bergren. We restrained ourselves just enough to keep from licking her toes. Yes, we were that excited to meet her, which you’d totally understand if you’ve ever read her River of Time series.

Lisa was in the publishing biz even before her superstar author status, working with Multnomah and Waterbrook. She continues to do some freelance editing for other publishers as well.

So after I wolfed down a burrito bowl, I asked her for some sage writing advice to share with my faithful blog readers. Here it is…

Writerly Advice

This came to me from someone else: is your plot boring? Here's a quick fix. 

A) What's the worst thing that could happen to your main character?

B) Have that happen.

C) Watch them work through it.

Voila. No more boring plot.

Editorial Advice

Timelines are important. Begin each scene with a time and date stamp. They can get edited out on the final draft, but in the meantime, you can make sure you're on track. A calendar works well for this too; write in chapter and scene #s on the days they occur for easy reference. Also helps on keeping up with your phases of the moon (writers love to write in full moons--so evocative--but they don't happen every week).

Make sure to check out Lisa's books. You won't be sorry! But your family might, since you'll be too busy reading to make din din.