Tips for writers series

IV. Action!

Authors sometimes struggle with what to read when they're asked to appear before an audience. Anyone who can choose from a body of work wants to offer just the right passage to keep the audience engaged.

Here's an idea: After you've thought about the length of the presentation and what's appropriate for those who will be listening, think about one more thing: What you are comfortable with presenting and how it will sound to the audience. You will likely have to practice reading out loud (preferably to an audience) to determine this.

Practicing recently for an upcoming reading, I asked my husband to listen to a 10-minute presentation. Since dialogue makes up a large and fun part of my fiction for young adults, I chose a chapter from Saviors of the Bugle that sounded appropriate. I edited it for my reading comfort and reviewed it silently, saying the dialogue in my head. But when the time came to read it aloud, I was concerned to hear that my voice sounded the same no matter which character was speaking. That wasn't the way I'd "heard" it in my head. 

Furthermore, the look on my husband's face was one of confusion as he tried to follow which character was saying what. And he has read the book! Fortunately, this happened in time for me to think about it and make a quick change. Since my books also feature action, I found a passage that offered just that and read it instead.

It worked. The reading ended at a point in the book that left the audience still listening and wanting more. I might have even sold a few more books because people wanted to find out what happened.

Other suggestions:

• A reading does not always mean literally that. If you'd rather just talk about your work, you likely won't get kicked out for doing so.
• Stay within your allotted presentation time.
• Practice aloud, even if only to your dog. Mine fell asleep, but at least he didn't wander off.
• Practice early enough so that if something does not feel right, you have time to fix it.
• Don't ignore your gut. 

Perhaps those with greater public speaking/reading experience already know about the difficulties of dialogue, but it was a discovery for me. I will probably read action scenes in future engagements, as doing so this time felt natural and almost removed my fear of public appearances.

This is one in a series of writing ideas. Upcoming articles will focus on finding a writing niche (I'm still trying to find mine), having fun with your work, etc. Please feel free to comment with your own ideas and questions. If I can't answer it, maybe another writer can.