Friday, December 30, 2016

Holiday..

Good Friday morning!

I won't be posting on the blog until after the holiday is over. For those who are celebrating, I hope you have a safe, fun, and fabulous New Year!!

Happy Writing!

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Being consistent in your story..

Good Thursday morning!

Today's post in on the writing, not how to edit, though this will fit into that part of it as well, but we'll not look at it from that point at the moment. Consistency...

So, you're typing your fingers to their bones, you're so on a roll and filling up page after page and all is going fantastic! You fly right through 5000 words and you're ready to take a small break and then you sit right back down and keep the momentum going. Before you know it, you've racked up another handful of pages and have completed a chapter. You're floating on a cloud and are finished for the day.

The next day, you glance back at the last page or two of your story to refresh your memory and then continue writing. Things are going well, you're writing several pages, maybe not at yesterday's pace, but you're doing it.. and so on...

After you've finished a few more chapters you take a look back from the beginning and it isn't long before you run into a small rut. You could have sworn you've been calling your hero Josh, but you remember the last few pages you finished typing, you've called him Andrew. And another couple of lines in, you notice you've done it again with Josh/Andrew with hair color and eyes.

You skim a page or two more and it dawns on you your heroine has the same rut, and worse, she's in a different town than what she started at last for no reason. And you remember the couple of chapters you had her doing something but didn't end it/tie up a loose end, so she could move on to where she is and what she's doing in the last chapter you've written about her.

While I understand this sounds a bit like editing, you're right, it is. But it's a quick fix instead of reworking sentences and perhaps paragraphs (except for the part of the heroine where she is at two different places doing different things) Eye and hair color as well as names are an easy fix and for myself, I don't usually put this under the edit category in my mind because I treat it like a typo. The other though, for me, does fall into editing because it'll take more than a click of the mouse to fix it.

So, if you're like me and you'd rather not fall in this rut, it helps to keep track of your characters and their lives. It doesn't have to be grand, or it can be, it's totally up to you. But to keep you out of this pitfall, a note or card, or even the back of an envelope will do. Just jot down your hero on one side of the paper, heroine on the other. From there, add their names, hair color, eye color, job..you get the idea. And keep it close to where you're working so you can pull the note out quickly and make sure you're on track and that everything is the same from the beginning to where you are in the story now.

I'm a plotter; so I have a large piece of plastic as well as an erase board on the wall on each side of my desk. In dry markers, I've covered my characters on one and written the bones to the story and have broken it down into chapters on the other.. so at a glance I can see where I am at any time, and helps me so I don't go too far off of the beaten path with what is happening in my ms.

Hope this helps :)    Happy Writing!

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Answering questions about show vs tell..

Good Tuesday morning! I hope those who celebrated the holiday had a wonderful and safe day and weekend :)

Today's post is on show vs tell. I've received a few emails asking to go a little more in detail if I wouldn't mind.. so we're gonna talk about that this morning and hopefully you'll be able to spot show vs tell and be able to work through/change/reword when you're editing your manuscript easier than from the original posted topic. We'll use one of the examples that I used in the original post and take it from there ;)

Original post example:
Show vs Tell..

She felt brave.

A three worded sentence and the word "felt" is telling and not showing. Below, we'll fix that, but also breathe life into your characters a bit, aka, sensing it up.

Her courage and determination, solid as a rock inside her. Until the very second when she looked deep into his golden brown eyes. All the strength and confidence flew out the window. She couldn't afford to be distracted from the attraction pulsating through her veins, growing stronger the longer she spends time with him. In an instant she turned into a dribbling lovesick fool. Panicking, looking around the room for something to focus on other than his glorious muscular body, giving her time to pull herself together.




So, basically, we're being told she felt brave but not actually how she was acting, responding, what she was doing to show us/the readers what was going on. That's the difference really, and by switching out the word felt and describing what/how she is doing and whatnot, that takes the sentence into a different direction. The actions she's taking to make her react a certain way, what is she looking at, what she is doing, what's going on inside her mind/body etc..  all of this changes the way it goes from telling to showing.

Thank you for the questions and requests on topics :)

I hope this helps :) Happy Writing!

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Taking a couple days off for the upcoming Holidays!

Good Wednesday morning!

I'll be absent from blogging for a few days until after the holiday, but please feel free to send an email (addy is at bottom of page) with questions about topics you may want to see on here mixed in with what I have already planned out :) I hope everyone has a safe and happy week and weekend, and for those who celebrate the Holiday, I hope it's the best!

Talk again soon.. Happy Writing!

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Writing a synopsis..

Good Tuesday morning! Today's topic is about writing a synopsis. They can be tricky to be sure, but for me anyway, if I think of it broken down in parts, it's easier to tackle :)

Be sure though that you check the publisher/agent guidelines to make sure you include what they are looking for with one before you begin. Ok, onto the tidbit that I use for a synopsis. I outline, like bare bones, of every story I write so for me, it's sorta like an expanded outline. I'll add a little bit more info from each chapter if it's a good hook, etc., and then move on until I've covered all of the best parts of the book. Now that said, I try to only include things that will answer any questions the publisher/agent may have of my story, and, more times than not, I always end up dwindling it down before I send it off. The main thing I think of when writing a synopsis is, it's like a blurb to a book, mixed in with an outline of the really important events that happen throughout, all wrapped up together.

Hope this helps :) Happy Writing!

Monday, December 19, 2016

An easier topic today :)

Hi, I hope everyone's Monday is going well!

Over the past almost 2 weeks we've covered a lot of writing topics; some in length, others, not so long. So today I thought we'd talk about something not so heavy and thought intense.. the hows and whatnots to subbing to publisher's and/or agents.

The first or close to first thing that should be looked at again before you send out anything, is their website. Check their guidelines and follow them to their detail. The guidelines are there for a reason, so always always stay true to what they are asking of you. If you find that your ms doesn't fit and you send it anyway, well, from what I've heard or seen, more times than not, a rejection letter will be the outcome. Sure, there has been a time or two where a ms has hit their desk and was a smash hit, like similar to hitting the NY Times Bestseller List ms. But this is not the norm from a solicitation, aka, slush pile manuscript, that doesn't fit what they are looking for.

You'll want to make sure all they are asking of you before you send to them is in order. Once you hit the send button or pop it in the mail, there is no do-over. It's on its way and you only have 1 chance to make a first impression. To know they wanted a cover, a query, the first three chapters, a 10 page synopsis.. and you only sent half of what they wanted, well, may not settle well with you, or them either.

So, take a deep breath, write out the list of what the manuscript requirements are and cross them off as you gather them up. Double check the list, just to make sure that your eyes haven't played tricks on you. At this point, for me, my last step before I send it out, I read it out loud one last time, just in case there's a spot that doesn't sound right. I can fix it right on the spot.. and know I've done my possible best for my story. It's ready to go! :)

What now? Well, it can take some time before you hear back. I won't get into the time frame here because I'm not talking about any specific agent/publisher and they all aren't the same. What I do now, instead of watching the clock or days/months roll on by, or refreshing my email several times, I sit back in my comfy chair and outline another story to work on right away. This keeps me busy, and it does help take my mind off of when I'll hear something.

I hope this helps :) Happy Writing!

Saturday, December 17, 2016

More tidbits on yesterday's post about research..

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Here, we're having a snowstorm and it's been really really cold out. I'm hoping it will break up soon though :)

Ok, so building from yesterday's post on research, I'm gonna dig a little deeper and add some jobs and whatnot. This way, you should have at least the bare bones when starting your story, or adding layers in here and there :) There are two jobs though that are tossed in, that we will touch in a later post and that's about pirates. But I included them here because I feel they may be of importance if you're writing a story that involves a man at sea, etc.

Acolyte:
Helper, subordinate, aide.

Ambassador:
Minister, diplomat, and emissary.

Aristocracy:
Government by a privileged minority or upper class usually inherited wealth and social position. Nobility, elite, gentry.

Aristocrat:
A person with the tastes, manners, beliefs, of the upper class.

Associate:
Peer, henchman, colleague, ally, and teammate.

Attorney:
Lawyer, barrister, and counsel.

Bandit:
Highwayman, thief, and brigand.

Barony:
A baron's domain. The rank  title or status or a baron or baroness.

Barbarian:
Savage, brute, beast.

Baron:
A member of the lowest rank of the British hereditary peerage.

Baroness:
A baron's wife, widow, or in some European countries, daughter. A woman with a barony in her own right.

Barrister:
In England, a qualified member of the legal profession who presents and pleads cases in court; counselor-at-law; distinguished from solicitor-lawyer.


Beggar
Panhandler, moocher, and bum.

Countess:
The wife or widow of a count or earl. A noblewoman whose rank is equal to that of a count or earl.

Courtesan:
A prostitute, court lady, a mistress for a king or a man of nobility.


Earl:
A nobleman. A British nobleman ranking above a Viscount and below a Marquees. The wife or widow of an Earl is called a countess: earldom.

Estate secretary:
A person who takes care of a household items, count, etc.

Fortuneteller:
A person who professes to foretell events in other people's lives.


Innkeeper:
The proprietor or manager of an Inn.

Monarch:
The hereditary, often constitutional, head of a state. King, Queen. Absolute, when there is no limitation on the monarch's powers.

Pickpocket:
A thief who steals from the pockets of persons, as in a crowd.


Rag picker:
A person who makes a living by picking up and selling rags and junk.

Sovereign:
Supreme in power, rank, or authority, of or holding the position of ruler, royal, reigning. A person who possesses sovereign authority or power, a monarch or ruler.

Viscount:
A deputy of an Earl, a nobleman next below an Earl or Count and above a Baron.

Viscountess:
The wife or widow of a Viscount. A person with a rank equivalent to that of a Viscount.

Pirate: Early 18th Century pirate's lived life that did not include any political sanction. They lived a life free and in charge of oneself; though living life this way was more than risky.


Privateer: a privateer was a pirate of sorts, but was hired by their government to raid enemy ships and vessels. They held letter of marquee validating all their actions against the enemy.

So between yesterday's post and today's, you have a good assortment of who/what a person's title is and jobs people held to help build your character's world. An extra tidbit is below and it's about food that may have been common during this time, depending on the season and the rank a household held. At the end of that will be a small part on colors of clothing, again, to tie in to yesterday's post. The thing to remember though, is to have fun with letting your character's come to life! You can always go back and edit or rework the parts that don't quite fit or make sense.

Around the Regency Period, if in your book you're having a grand gathering, whether a banquet or an important social event, some food that may have been served for the higher tiers of peerage/held great wealth: for meat, their table plated chicken, duck, wild fowl, venison, fish and seafood. Many were sided with fresh vegetables, sauces and jellies as well as pastries and other sweet dishes.

Those households that didn't quite fit the upper tier but weren't on the lower level of the ladder so to speak, and somewhere in between plated beef, mutton as well as pork products, sausage, bacon, ham stews and pies.

The not so well off as far as wealth, their tables plated pork products, ham stews and pies, sausage and bacon for meat.

Some beverages were; tea, coffee, and milk. Alcohol was common and most everyone drank this during dinner and supper meals. Wines, champagne, burgundy, ale. After dinner though, men usually drank brandy or port. Rum punch was served during the colder weather. During ball and dances, mixers were served along with sweet liqueurs and sherry. Gin was common if you were not so well off, though it was available to everyone in the classes.

The woolen cap, a.k.a., Monmouth cap, can be traced back in time to as early as the 1500's. An Elizabethan Law, called Sumptuary Laws, ordered everyone six years and up to wear the cap on holidays and Sundays in order to help the England wool trade. An exception to this law though was the Upper Classes did not have to oblige/obey.

The Sumptuary Laws also dictated what colors and fabrics could be used for clothing for each level of society. By doing so it was an extremely easy way to identify where one was on the ladder of rank/classes.

Colors of clothing varied greatly from crimson, deep blue, purple, violet; essentially these were the colors for fabrics that were set aside and only to be worn by the Upper Classes.

I know this is a lot of information in the last couple of posts, that's why I broke it down. That way, you can go through, pick what you need, skim over what you don't and before long, you'll have a little more to fill in as you need to, without having to actually do days of researching..when you only really want a small tidbit or two!

Hope this helps :) Happy Writing!

Friday, December 16, 2016

The dreaded R, and I'm not talking about Rejection!

Good morning!

It's almost the weekend, and apparently where I am, we're stuck in an wicked cold snap, totally not cool, no pun intended, lol ;)

So, we've covered a lot of what to look for to dwindle down or rework over the past week or so; we'll change it up today. For the topic we'll touch on research.

I know, I know, I roll my eyes, too. I'm not a huge fan of research for any length of time, mainly because I tend to get sidetracked when looking stuff up. After all, they don't call it the World Wide Web for nothing, lol ;) Anyway, if you can't tell by now, yup, not enough coffee in me yet so you'll have to bear with my weird sense of humor till it kicks in.

Back to research. Some people enjoy finding little bits of information they can spin off the beaten path and weave into their story. Some, not so much.

I'm gonna try to help in this post for those who do not enjoy looking stuff up..

Today's post will be on the time period that Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice author, lived in/wrote about. Only because I love love love that movie and because most have at least heard of Ms Austen, or read one of her books, or watched a version of the movie. My favorite is with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen directed by Joe Wright.

Anyway, got sidetracked a tad, sorry. So, we'll talk about the Seven Classes of English Society. Clearly, there was some form of structure when it came to breaking the classes down; the why's and who's. To make it easier though, basically, the higher the rank/peerage a person was, the finer materials and brightly colored clothes you were able/supposed to wear.

This had to do with an Elizabethan Law called The Sumptuary Law. There's more to the law than what I'm gonna post, but we only need a small part of it here. It's fascinating though, if you wanna go look it up! To break it down to fit what I'm touching on in this post; this law basically made it easier for the Queen, or anyone really, to distinguish people who were wealthy and those who were not so fortunate, based on the clothes they wore.

Now, onto the Seven Classes of English Society.

Classes of English Society: Highest Orders. Second Class. Third Class. Fourth Class. Fifth Class. Sixth Class. Seventh Class. Army and Navy.

Highest Orders:
Royal family, lords, spiritual and temporal great officers of state, peers above the degree of a baronet.

Second Class:
Baronets, knights, country gentleman, others with large incomes.

Third Class:
Clergy, doctors, merchants, and manufacturers on a large scale, bankers.

Fourth Class:
Lesser clergy, doctors, lawyers, teachers, ship owners. Merchants and manufacturers of the second class shop keepers. Artists, builders, mechanics, persons of moderate income.

Fifth Class:
Lesser freeholders, shop keepers, Innkeepers, publicans. Persons in miscellaneous occupations.

Sixth Class:
Working mechanics, artists, craftsman, and agricultural laborers.

Seventh Class:
Paupers, vagrants, gypsies, idle persons supported by criminal activity.

Army and Navy:
Officers, including half pay non-commissioned officers, soldiers, seamen, marines, and pensioners.

Tomorrow's post will be on jobs of this time period and tidbits along those lines. But, do be careful with the facts when writing a historical, because readers know when you're not accurate. In fiction, you are weaving your tale, absolutely, but if you are targeting a specific time period such as this one, you should try to stay close to actual fact; if you're spinning sideways or guessing/winging a certain historical fact, the readers will know and that probably won't settle well with them.

They read historicals because they love them and are very knowledgeable with this time period, that, and if there's a hiccup in your story it will draw the readers out of your characters world. So, tell your story, weave in history a little here and there and most of all, have fun!

Hope this helps :) Happy Writing!

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Show vs Tell

Good Thursday morning!

Today's really cold where I am and it's gonna be a lot colder over the next few days, yuck! lol ;) Anyway, as promised, today's blog post is about showing vs telling, with an extra tidbit of sensing it up!

Most if not all authors, whether they're just starting out or have a few finished books under their belt, those whom are published or polishing and ready to query out, have more than likely heard or read publisher's tips; and this one is usually towards the top... 'Show don't tell'. A new author may not really understand what this means and even those who do, may still stumble over it a time or two.  So, you scratch your head and wonder, well, that's great it's pointed out, but it doesn't help if you're not really sure what it is or how to correct it. Hopefully, the examples will help get your thoughts flowing, as well as digging deeper to flesh out realistic characters and lives as much as you possibly can. And with a little or more than a little practice, hopefully, your next letter will not include.. your characters don't feel real enough/couldn't connect with your characters/story.. or you need to work on showing and not telling.



Show vs Tell..

She felt brave.

A three worded sentence and the word "felt" is telling and not showing. Below, we'll fix that, but also breathe life into your characters a bit, aka, sensing it up.

Her courage and determination, solid as a rock inside her. Until the very second when she looked deep into his golden brown eyes. All the strength and confidence flew out the window. She couldn't afford to be distracted from the attraction pulsating through her veins, growing stronger the longer she spends time with him. In an instant she turned into a dribbling lovesick fool. Panicking, looking around the room for something to focus on other than his glorious muscular body, giving her time to pull herself together.


We reworded the sentence, fixing the show vs tell problem, but by sensing it up a bit, the small sentence grew into a paragraph that didn't feel so flat or general, but more appealing.

Show vs Tell..

As he stepped from the shadow of the corner, there's a firm strength within him.

The word "there's" in this sentence is telling and not showing. Below we'll fix this one too, as well as sensing it up a bit.

A well groomed, tall, tanned skin man. Massive shoulders with rippling muscles under his tight blue shirt. He stood still, devilishly handsome and aware of every female's delicious stare, looking as if they would devour him, ever so slow.


Okay, now that you have samples of how to take a simple sentence from basic to more bang for the buck so to speak, while fixing show vs tell..go ahead and try sensing up your characters and their worlds. Because readers who can relate/connect are more likely to be drawn in and invested in your characters and what he/she does as the story unfolds.

Some words to be on the look out: it, it's, there, could, felt, feel, get, heard. Also you'll wanna be on the look out when reworking from telling into showing, that you don't fall into a passive voice while making these fixes in your ms. So be on the look out for 'was'. We'll touch more on passive voice in a later blog post but 'was' is a big one for me, and I wanted to mention it. A couple more are 'have, had'. These too, can be added to your list of words to look out for while editing.

Hope this helps :) Happy Writing!

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

ly Adverbs...

Hi,

I hope everyone is having a great day/night! Sorry, due to appointments, I didn't have the chance to post yesterday. Anyway, today's post is later than normal so I'll keep it as short as possible.. but will so make up for it tomorrow :)

Adverbs: 'ly' adverbs to be specific.. go through you ms and try to cut down or choose another/stronger verb in place of the 'ly'. If you're like me, until you have taken them out countless times where you're automatically on the look out for as many of them that you can find every time you go through editing, you'd be surprised how many of those pesky little adverbs are in your story. If though, you find one that can't be taken out or replaced by a strong verb comfortably enough for you, than leave it in. The main thing here is to be on the look out for them and try to reword/rework the sentence, like you hopefully did after reading the repeated words post. You can also add the adverbs you find to the list you're keeping.

Hope this helps :) Happy Writing!

PS: Tomorrow's post will be on showing vs telling, so stayed tuned to the blog!

Monday, December 12, 2016

Rejection letters...

Good Monday morning! And still not enough coffee in me yet, sorry, lol ;) It stormed here last night and it's cold and snowy, not liking it at all lol. Anyway, onto the topic for today, rejection letters. So, you've sent out your cover, query, and hopefully sample chapters of your book. You've waited it seems like forever and you finally heard back. They didn't like it. But that's it, no explaining how come or where did I go wrong. I followed your guidelines, I've read countless books in the genre I want to write in..why why why???

Think of it this way. You've gone for a job interview, you've put your best foot forward and you feel really good about it. You were so prepared that it wasn't even funny. Days later you receive a phone call letting you know that they have filled the job, but thank you for applying. That's all they say before they hang up. So, you shrug it off and try again.

It's the same with rejection letters. The truth of the matter is most publishers/agents do not have time to personally address/answer in detail every single submission they receive. They'll usually send you something, unless it's stated on their web site. But to go into the why's or to give examples, etc., unless they are offering to look at more or take you on as a client, pointing out what could be worked on in your story usually doesn't happen all that often.

And here's why.. they receive hundreds or more manuscripts a day, most of them anyway, and they read them in between the work they already have. If they took the time to let you know why they didn't want to look at more, and tell you where you've gone off of the beaten path if that's the case, those hundred a day would eat up hours, like A LOT of hours, and it would, more sooner than later, put them behind on their already pretty heavy workload.

But, if you did get more than we'll say, a general we're sorry but we're gonna pass type of letter, that's a good thing! Yes, even with a pass, because that means there was something that sparked their interest, just not enough to continue. So go through the letter again, read what they said and try to work on those suggestions to make either the story you're working on better, or apply it to your next wip.

Rejection letters can be hard to swallow sometimes, after all, we've put our work out there in the hopes that someone will love our story just as much as we do. It may also be though, that they passed because they have similar stories already on the calendar and they can't add another because their spaces are full for the time being. Or, it could be that your ms was good, but it needed a little more work before it's ready enough for them.

The thing is, you may never know why you got a pass, it happens a lot to be honest. But if you think of it as a job interview type deal like above, the news may not settle so hard, and you'll be able to absorb/process and bounce back and move on to the next maybe a little quicker. Hope this help :)

Happy Writing!

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Finally, the weekend is here!

It's cold where I am, very cold, lol. Today I plan on writing/working at least an hour or so on my current wip. I hope your writing is going well :) 

Now, for a shameless plug as they call it.. 

A continual series: SIU ALOT ALOT is a writer's resource; where reference and research mingle. Coming Soon!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend... Happy Writing!

Friday, December 9, 2016

Spell check and auto correct...

It's Friday and the last writing topic post for this week! So, keeping up with editing your manuscript and with yesterday's post on repeated words that you're looking for to dwindle down.. you should never 100% count on auto correct and spell check to fix all the boo boo's in your wip, here's why.. homophones, homonyms, heteronyms, and synonyms. These are pesky little critters that when you're going through, they may be overlooked, because even though they are words they may be used wrong in your sentence. I know, I'm with you--another thing to look for? Yes! Because you want your story to shine! The less mistakes in your story, the less an editor or agent will stumble over. Fixing these now will only help in showing whoever you send your baby out to that you have taken the time, even if that means you have to go through your ms yet another time, preparing your story to be the best it can be. So, what are these? They're easy to spot, but just as easy to overlook sometimes, I'm afraid. A HOMOPHONE is a word that sounds the same: too, two. A HOMONYM is a word that is spelled the same: lie (not true) lie (recline) bow (fancy tied ribbon) bow ( used with an arrow for a weapon) bow ( bending gesture that was used in early English time period by a gentleman when greeting someone) A word that is spelled the same but has a different meaning is a HETERONYM: desert (leave) desert (sandy arid region) SYNONYM is a word that means the same: sofa, couch, loveseat. Those that tend to pop up in my wip's are: they're, there, their. Whether, weather. Your, you're. Some, sum. It's, its. I hope this helps! Have a great weekend. Happy Writing!

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Repetitive words..

Good Thursday morning! It's close to the weekend so I'm gonna pick an easier topic to post today.. repetitive words. For me, using the same word is sometimes mindless, I know it sneaks in my wip more times than I realize.. and we all want our manuscript to be the best we can possibly write, so give it another once-through and try to catch those words that keep coming up that really could be left out.. a few of mine are: that, she, he, his, her, what, the character's name, said.. you get the idea... But, if the repeated word can't be left out without the sentence working or if it feels awkward to you, leave it be. The goal is to catch the repeats that don't really need to be there and can be taken out or reworded for a more smooth/solid/non-filler worded story.. Oh, and keep a list of these words for the next story you write, so you can keep a look out for them while you edit, and/or add to the list new words you've stumbled across in you next wip. Hopes this helps! Happy Writing!

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

So you want to write a romance, but which line?

You want to write a romance, but where to start? Do you know which line you want to write for? If not, these tips might help you when deciding where you'll fit best, aka, writing from the heart. When you pick up a romance, what line do you first go to? Which one makes you smile and know you're gonna really love reading that story? If you say, well, I read a lot of different romances so I'm not sure. I can totally relate. I read across the board when it comes to romance, frankly, I don't think there is a line that I haven't read A LOT of. I read several books a week, sometimes two in a day, so I totally get it. But, that said, I know that I so am not a good fit for inspiration romance as a writer. Although I enjoy reading them, and at least one book a week is an inspirational, those are not for me right now. Sure, I know the guidelines and the feel of the books because I have read them, and pulling one together I probably could do... but should I? Nope, and I'll tell you why. Because I know me, and what I am comfortable with. My heart would not be in it, the dynamics would be there, but the excitement that I am enjoying and so can't wait to get to the computer to work out my next scene or page just isn't. And trust me, readers can feel every bit of what you are trying to show them in your story. Your voice, your style, everything must be there. It has to come from within, something that you know, you can feel and are excited about.


Think of it this way, if you had to go through revisions a half dozen times before you send it off to an agent or publisher, and you're more likely to go through edits or revisions after, would you rather have a story you are so into writing that you can't wait to share it with people, or one you think you may be able to write based on what is in/hot today? Me, I'd rather write what I'm excited about, what I care about and what I want to share with others. For me, that's where it comes from the heart. And readers, editors, and publishers can tell. All of what may make a romance is there but it will still be missing that something from you, something that only you can give it.


So, back to where do you fit? If you're not sure, take a piece of paper and on the top left write 'mystery' on the top right write 'historical'. Which of these two do you most enjoy reading? If neither, cross them out and move down a couple spaces and on the left side write 'inspirational' and on the right write 'contemporary'. Which of these two do you most enjoy reading? And so on, until you have all of the lines you can think of that you have paired up and singled one out of each. You'll soon end up with a few that you really enjoy the most reading. Now, out of those two or three, which one is an automatic must have now, if you were standing at the bookshelf? Which makes you smile and gets your blood pumping, making you want to rush right out so you can read it the second you have the chance? This is the line that makes you have that can't wait to experience the adventure between the covers of that book. That's where you're most comfortable and hits and pulls at your heart strings. That's where you should at least look in to when you're starting out. If this first choice isn't quite it, go to your second choice. But always try to be true to who you are and write what you'd like to read. That's where you'll be the most relaxed, that's when your guard will be down and where/when you can write from the heart.. and perhaps that's where your passion to write came from, because of how a book made you feel. Hope this helps! Happy Writing!

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Stuck in a writer's idea block?

So, maybe you're in a writer's idea sorta block.. here's what I try when I'm kinda stuck. If you have children, or nephews, nieces, etc., grab a box or jar, a lunch bag, you get the gist. Anyway, have them sit down with you and with crayons if they're too young to write, have them color in a circle with their favorite color. Next, have them draw their favorite food, hero/what they wanna do when they grow up, and what is their favorite scent/smell/flavor. If they can write, have them write it down..but..each on a separate piece of paper, then have them put it in the container that you'll use for ideas. Next, if you have an actual map, like a fold out travel map, open it and have them close their eyes and point to a spot on the map. Or, on your cell, you can do the same and then jot down the town/state, etc. This too, goes on a slip of paper and into the container. If you do this about once a week you'll have a good amount of choices before you know it. So the next time you sit at your computer ready to start writing, go to your container and pull out 5 pieces of paper. Use those 5 as a starting point for your characters, or to up the tension and add layering to your story. This has helped me, if you try it, please let me know if it helps you, too! Happy writing!