Today I had the honor of interviewing, author Gail Gaymer Martin. Gail is the author of thirty novels, with her first inspirational romance having been published in 1998. As a teen, her first attempts involved killing off her heroines, which-as you can imagine-meant non-publishable romance stories. Having written thirty novels and over a dozen scripts, Gail has much to say about what makes a good fictional piece, so pull out your pen and paper and enjoy...

It's been said that real life is boring in comparison to fiction, how can a writer take an idea from real life and spice it up enough to become a publishable piece?

Except for a few amazing moments, our lives are very boring, so what an author does is take a few of those glorious moments and weave them into a story. What makes fiction different from life is called Goal, Motivation, and Conflict.

Each character has a particular need or goal -- one that is beyond the norm of wanting a sandwich or needing to buy diapers for the baby) -- and this goal drives them. The goal might be wealth, property, a hidden treasure, a child, self-esteem, love or a million other goals. The goal is often motivated by something that happened in the past or something that will provide the character with what he wants for the future. This means the characters in my books have a past---back story and often not totally expressed in the book--but things about their family, their successes and failures, their flaws, their fears and secrets. This blend of past issues causes the need or goal desire. It is the force that pushes the character to succeed, but what we don't have as often in real life is powerful conflicts.

Each step the character takes toward his goal is thrown off by a conflict. As the story progresses the conflict gets bigger and often more dire, until it seems the character will find no solution. In romantic fiction, the story has a happy ending so it means that a solution must be found to end the conflict. Each scene must present some new information or action that moves the story forward and deepens the conflict or moves the character one step closer to his goal. Each chapter must show growth of the character. This is why we can deal with issues---rape, abuse, murder, poverty, childlessness, abortion, etc. and still weave it into a complex story that keeps the reader wanting to turn pages, and that's the driving goal of an author.

One thing fiction writers hear a lot of is, "show, don't tell". How did you learn to show more in your stories?

Telling is very passive. He was afraid. She was beautiful. He was confused. This is telling. Showing is bring the fear, beauty or confusion to life through action, dialogue, introspection, face and body movements.

For example:

Telling: He was afraid.

Showing: He reached for the doorknob with trembling fingers. His stomach knotted, wondering what he would see on the other side. Memories drew him back to another door, another horrible scene that racked him to the bones.

Which is better? Obviously showing. It adds excitement for the reader and arouses the readers emotions as well.

Telling: She was beautiful.

Showing: Jaycee glided into the room like a polished diamond. Her blond hair glistened in the light of the crystal chandelier while her slender body swept across the room wrapped in sultry white satin that caressed every curve.

Better? Yes.

Telling: He drove into town as fast as he could.

Showing: He gripped the steering wheel, his tires squealing as he careened around the corner. Trees whipped past his window a blur of brown and green until a stop sign warned him he'd reach town.

You learn to show by putting scene into action and bringing the attribute to life by showing the outer movements and internal struggle.

What was the best writing-related advice you ever received?

I learned many things from books on writing and conference workshops. I studied the books I read, but the one piece of advice that came in a rejection letter was to study pacing. Pacing is that element that keeps the reader wanting more, keeps readers glued to the pages of the book. It's knowing when to take time with the story and when to move to action, when to have dialogue and when to use silence for effect, and where to begin the story or the chapter. It involves knowing what's mundane, mediocre, boring chitchat compared to what's worth writing about.

Visit her at http://www.gailmartin.com/

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