April's contest was "leave a message at the beep" - you're a now-famous author who doesn't have time to talk - the challenge was to write a funny phone message.

Deena Trouten sent this winning entry:

"If this is Simon & Schuster, Little, Brown, or HarperCollins please press 1 to be redirected to my agent.

"If this is my agent, hang tight, Murray. I couldn't get a cab but I'm on my way.

"If this is Stephen King, good God man, enough is enough. I am not interested in collaborating at this time nor at any other time in the future so please, stop calling before I have to issue an Order of Protection. Can you say 'stalker?' But seriously, you're giving me a great idea for my next novel.

"If this is the courthouse regarding my Order of Protection inquiry please press 3.

"If you need to leave a message for my personal assistant please press 4 to be referred to her number at St. Vincent's Intensive Care Unit. Unfortunately she was hospitalized after attempting to mediate a knock- down-drag-out between Random House and Bantam Books outside the Algonquin, leaving me short-handed and taking my own messages.

"If this is Random House or Bantam please press 4 for a message from my attorneys.

"All others callers please press 5 for a preview of my upcoming release, 'Tales from the Literary Underbelly.'

"Thanks for calling."

"Deena lives in southern Idaho with her husband and three children. Her short fiction has appeared in The Green Tricycle, Long Story Short, and flashquake magazine. Deena is presently pursuing a degree in English at Boise State University."

This lesson is about exposition, but the first thing I'm going to mention is a term associated with another aspect of storytelling. The term is plot dump. It refers to that point when story questions have mounted to an insane level, subplots and red herrings and hidden agendas reach a critical point and the story demands that you stop and explain a few things.

In its most obvious (and ineptly handled) form, it's the point at which the two main characters drop everything, face each other, and one says to the other, "As you know, Bob ..."

You know you've seen it. Maybe you're even guilty of it yourself. I certainly am.

In my critiques, I make it a point to identify the plot dump when I see it. There's no way to avoid it; sooner or later, it has to happen.

Like the plot dump, exposition has to happen. Like the plot dump - and plot in general - it's not the exposition itself that causes problems. It's how you get it in there.

Your story demands details. You have to set the scene, establish a tone, create atmosphere. If you're writing a horror story and your first paragraph is a description of a bright summer carnival, is the reader going to figure out what you're up to?

I'll pull some examples from the first chapter of Watershed, so if you get confused, read the chapter before continuing. Things will make more sense (you can download the chapter from http://www.voidgunner.homestead.com/about.html

There's a lot of exposition - a lot of setup - in the first chapter, but it's also an action scene. My protagonists are do-ers, and I like to begin stories with physical action that is a turning point for the character. In this case, Jimmy Richardson, seen by his schoolmates as a goody-two-shoes Christian kid, beats the almighty hell out of his rival, Rick Deitch. It's the first time he's ever been in a fight. The first line of the novel lets you know this (it also refers to the entire novel, which is another lesson for another time).

Once you get past the fact that he's acting out of character, what's your first question? I'm hoping it's "why is he acting that way?" This is a good example of what I mean when I talk about crafting in these lessons. You manipulate the narrative to produce these questions, and then you answer them. This is all about control, so it's definitely not a first draft activity. This scene went through fifteen or twenty drafts before I felt I had it right.

This is how I answered that story question:

It had been three months now since his mother's funeral. A summer of hours dragging on, inventory of cold, meaningless action, the concrete block of emotional numbness shattered now by Rick Deitch's latest round of teasing.

But it wasn't really the teasing. That was just icing. The real thing, the cake of it, was Diane. Seeing her with him.

Now you know his mother died over the summer. His mother's death is a big part of what follows, but I don't weigh you down with backstory here. I just give you enough to chew on while you dive into the action of the chapter. The action is what's most important now. The rest can be handled later.

I also wanted to explain - again, briefly - that Rick, Diane and Jimmy used to be fast friends. Inseparable. The Three Musketeers. Now Rick and Jimmy are at odds as a result of one incident, also a pivotal scene we see much later in flashback. I wanted to build a sense of their history together:

How much would it have taken for things to be different? They might still be friends. If one bad thing hadn't happened. If one bad thing had happened to someone else.

One short paragraph, four short sentences. Just enough to hint at a past. Enough, hopefully, to encourage curiosity. They used to be best friends? This guy Rick is really laying into him, has obviously done so before. What happened to their friendship?

Exposition is the timed release of just enough information to keep the reader curious. I've received plenty of stories for Spacesuits and Sixguns that tell the entire story as summary in the first couple of pages. If I was interested in the narrative, my curiosity was satisfied after reading those pages, and there was no reason to read further.

More often, this method of exposition was dramatically disappointing, and I rejected the story because I wasn't interested at all - because all the story questions had been answered for me. Storytelling is teasing, leading the reader on, giving just enough to whet the appetite. Like the plot dump, the exposition dump is the antithesis of the tease. It's like giving your whole life story on a first date.

Dave Duggins is a published author and creativity coach with 13 years of mentoring experience. He helps writers through his website, Voidgunner for Writers, and has a regular column at Creativity Portal

The fifth annual BEA/Writer's Digest Books Writers Conference will be held on Wednesday, May 30 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York.

The all-day event, which takes place prior to the BookExpo America trade show, offers information sessions and workshops on the business and craft of writing. The keynote speaker is best-selling author Jodi Picoult. Breakout sessions on writing novels, screenwriting, humor, young adult, poetry, short story and magazine writing, featuring Don Maass, Christina Katz, John Warner, Sharlene Martin and more! Will Schwalbe, senior v-p and editor in chief of Hyperion and Judy Hottensen, v-p and publisher of Miramax Books will also be speaking. Plus, the editors of Writer's Digest Book, Writer's Digest magazine and Writer's Market!

You'll also have the opportunity to pitch your book idea and get instant feedback from the largest collection of agents of any conference in our famous PITCH SLAM SESSION!

The registration fee is $199, which includes a 6 month subscription to WritersMarket.com.

For more information, visit www.writersdigest.com/bea

Registration is at www.bookexpoamerica.com

Kathy Kubik's study group, Persist and Publish, is cited as a source in a new book on novel writing. Kathy's group is a part of Writer's Village University online.

In the book Your First Novel by agent Ann Rittenberg and writer Laura Whitcomb, after each chapter there are recommended resources, and Ritenberg is recommending Kathy's study group, Persist and Publish as a source.

Persist and Publish - A self-described 'study group of novelists who are committed to getting published,' this site offers a wealth of helpful information, such as articles on 'Etiquette in Contacting Agents' and 'The Steps in Finding an Agent,' as well as links to articles on writing cover letters and synopses. An excellent and frequently updated resource."

Carol, a 2006 Faulkner/Wisdom finalist and one of the facilitators with myself, who maintains the web site, is a published poet and fiction writer, and Syl, whose first novel is coming out in May.

If you are interested in joining this group, please visit the website Persist and Publish and sign our guestbook with your contact information, or feel free to email me directly at kathy_kubik.hotmail.com

Way to go, Kathy! And Congratulations on having one of your poems chosen for the 2008 HerMark Calendar This makes 3 years in a row!

WOW! Women On Writing is focusing on many different aspects of The Wings of Self-Promotion. You, as a writer, put so much into your work, what could be worse than having it unappreciated simply because you don't know profitable strategies of promotion? Successful writers, authors, editors, and publishers are happy to share what has worked for them. Fun articles, important information, and sources of encouragement needed to bring your flight to a successful conclusion are beckoning you to visit WOW!

WOW's Spring Flash Fiction Contest is now open. Check prompt, write and enter!

Diane Lang and Michael Buchanan who write together as Lang Buchanan are excited to announce they've been nominated for Georgia Author of the Year for First Novel. Diane and Michael will be signing their book, Micah's Child at the following locations:

May 12, Barnes and Noble, Pleasant Hill Road, Atlanta,GA

June 3, Borders, The Avenue, Marietta, GA

June 23, Yawn's Books, Canton, GA

For more information, you can visit Diane and Michael at Micah's Child

Congratulations Diane and Michael!

Parenting Express

Submissions are currently invited from writers interested in sharing their well-crafted, wise and considered words about birth, raising children and all the bits in between.

Parenting Express, updated monthly, is a website founded in December 2006. The website contains creative material from people from all walks of life, book reviews and recommended weblinks (including some for writers).

We are now looking for creative non-fiction, memoir, birth stories, poems and stories/articles. Submission guidelines and full details are included on the website Parenting Express

Cynthia Polansky has dreamed up cool way to generate in-store sales of her book and keep the orders coming: the "Make a Difference" Sweepstakes. Buy a copy of her newly released Holocaust novel "Far Above Rubies" at any physical bookstore, and mail in the receipt for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift certificate.

"The best part about this kind of contest is that each sale honors those who perished in the Holocaust. That's worth the price of a paperback any day," she says.

Deadline is November 30, 2007. Mail receipts, with your name and address, to:

Cynthia Polansky P.O. Box 754 Crownsville, MD 21032

...or visit Cynthia Polansky for details.

We wish you much success, Cynthia! This is a fantastic sweepstakes.

Cagney & Lacey...The Reunion

For those of you who live in the New York City area, actresses Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly will reunite to celebrate the DVD release of the 1st Season of Cagney & Lacey.

On May 15, 2007 - Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly who played Christine Cagney and Mary Beth Lacey will be signing the DVD's at the Fifth Avenue Barnes & Noble located at 555 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY from 12:30pm-2:30pm.

In addition, Executive Producer, Barney Rosenzweig will be signing his book: Cagney & Lacey...and Me

Bobbie Christmas is the "Book Doctor" and Author of Write In Style, a triple-award-winning textbook for writers of fiction and nonfiction, available wherever books are sold.

Bobbie loves to receive questions from writers and offer her expert advice. If you have any questions you need answered, please e-mail her at: Bobbie@zebraeditor.com

For the latest Q&A with Bobbie, go to AskTheBookDoctor on the CS4W site.

If you have any announcements, please e-mail them to: sandy@coolstuff4writers.com

I love to hear from you!

Peace,

Sandy

email: sandy@coolstuff4writers.com

phone: 732-364-3993

web: http://www.coolstuff4writers.com