Tag Archives: how to

Writing Wednesday – Get Published

21 Thursday Jan 2016

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Last Week’s WW: Resolutions

aLTCOVER

See that cover?  It’s got my fella‘s name on it.  This will be the first thing that he’s published, and I’m very proud of him.  But I didn’t just come here to brag.  I came to offer a little advice: Publish!

It’s not an easy thing to do.  Emotionally, any way.  Publishing a work means letting it go.  It’s putting it out into the world, hoping no one hates it, but accepting the possibility that they might, and being okay with it.  It’s understanding that something you created isn’t yours anymore.  It’s splitting open your chest and placing it’s contents out for all the world to see.  It’s you at your most vulnerable.

It’s also you at your strongest.  It’s showing the world and yourself what you can do.  It’s proving that you’ve created something from nothing.  It’s wearing your iron armor and walking otherwise naked into the streets.  You’re strutting your stuff, and you want everyone to look.

Okay, fine, we’re bleeding and naked and we feel okay about it, hopefully.  It still doesn’t answer the question: How do I publish? Continue reading →

Writing Wednesday – The All Important First Draft

09 Thursday Apr 2015

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Last WW: The Tortise and the Hare

I’ve talked before about how it’s important that you complete more than one draft.  I just finished up a short story that I have for the upcoming The Z Chronicles, and learned this lesson all over again.  I thought that I had a good story that would only need minor tweaking.  I was wrong.  Turns out, all I have is bones.  There were a lot of things that needed to be changed.

Problem:  Continue reading →

Writing Wednesday – Timelines

26 Thursday Feb 2015

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Last Week’s WW: The Best Laid Plans

BTTF timelines and linesSometimes in story telling it’s essential that you tell things out of order.  Maybe you’re writing a time travel story, or a murder mystery, or you’ve got some sort of Memento thing going on.  Whatever your reasoning for having a non-linear story line, you still need to know what happened, when.

I recently started plotting out a new serial and it will include some flash backs.  So, one of the first things I did was write out a timeline.  (Not the one above, that’s Back to the Future)

Having a time line for any story, especially a non-linear one,  helps insure that there won’t be any confusion, that the story is consistent, and there’s an easy thing to reference when needed.

 

Writing Wednesday – There isn’t always a happy ending

29 Thursday Jan 2015

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Last Week’s WW: Finishing

And they all lived happily ever after.  Or, maybe not.  These days it seems like most books have a hero’s journey.  Or, at the very lease, a happy ending.  People like stories that make them feel good.  But that doesn’t mean that it’s the only way.

I’m currently working on a series of short stories, and I’ll be honest, I’m a little worried about them.  Why?  Because they don’t all have happy endings.  Sometimes, the protagonist fails.

Their used to be a time when tragedies were common place.  And there are a great many people who like a drama.  But most people want to have something to root for.

And that’s fine.  Give them that.  While your story doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending, there should probably be some small victories along the way.  Whether that’s the protagonist getting something they’ve always wanted, or learning some truth, or just dying happy.  If you give readers a little something, maybe they won’t hate you quiet as much for making them sad, and making your protagonist fail.

Writing Wednesday – Trying for Success

15 Thursday Jan 2015

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Last Week’s WW: The Hardest Part

What a week.  I’ve been so busy and distracted that I’ve more or less lost track of what day it is. (as is evident from my missing a few days on here.)  But now, let’s get back on track.

Did you know that there are roughly 6,000 books published every single day?  I’m not sure on the exact numbers, but I think of those, less than half are fiction, and I’m sure that a great deal less are in your specific genre.  Still, that’s a lot of competition.  It’s no wonder that many people gather the courage to hit the publish button, and then nothing happens.  So how do you stand out?

Continue reading →

Writing Wednesday – The Hardest Part

08 Thursday Jan 2015

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Last Week’s WW: For Love or Money

Some people will tell you that writing the first draft of a book is the hardest part of the process.  Others will tell you that it’s doing revisions, or waiting for your book to finally come out.  Everyone has an opinion on which part is the hardest part, but in my experience, everyone is wrong.  Continue reading →

Writing Wednesday – Writing a large cast

24 Wednesday Dec 2014

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Last Week’s WW: Finding A Story In A Universe

My new novel, Otherworlders, has a large cast. I’d say there are 6 main characters, 2 secondary characters, and around 5 supporting characters. I think that I executed it well. Or so I’ve been told.

A few things that I’ve learned writing ensemble casts: Continue reading →

Writing Wednesday – Dealing with Rejection and looking for ARC readers

11 Thursday Dec 2014

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Last Week’s WW: Getting Attention

If you’re a writer, then I’m sure that you’ve heard all about the constant rejection that a writer should expect.  Maybe you’ve even experienced it.  But no matter if it’s your first rejection or your hundredth, it hurts.

If you nominated Otherworlders on Kindle Scout, then you know that they passed on it.  Couple that with my non-win of Writers of the Future (Honorable Mention, but didn’t place), and you could say that I had a bad day yesterday.

I’d heard “this isn’t what we’re looking for” before from Agents.  But the Kindle rejection felt deeper, more personal, and definitely more public.

But, after a few hours of crying on and off, and several more hours of my wonderful guy doing all he could to try to cheer me up, I knew that I had to get over it.   But as hard as it is, as much as I had gotten my hopes up that I’d win, I couldn’t wallow forever.

I looked up a few agents and sent out a few new queries.  Makes me feel better for some reason.  I also went to my network of author friends, who were very supportive, and encouraged me to self-publish.  Which is likely what I’ll do.  And of course the constant chant of: keep writing!

For me, the best way to get over bad news is by working through it.  Doing everything that I can to reshuffle the situation and make a new plan.  I like plans, even loose ones.  It helps me feel like I’m in control.

So, now I’m looking for ARC readers!  An ARC reader gets a free copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review when the book goes on sale on Amazon.

If anyone is interested, let me know by emailing me at Fictionbyangela @ gmail, and I’ll send you a copy.

 

Writing Wednesday – The only way through is to do

20 Thursday Nov 2014

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Last Week’s WW: Good Science Leads to Good Fiction

While working on my current project, I’ve run into some tough writing times.

Usually, I can sit down and crank out two thousand words in an hour.  Then I  finish my second or third cup of coffee while using my free hand to pat myself on the back, and I’m done for the day.

But for some reason, working on my Slumber Series, I’ve been overwhelmed.  I would sit down, write two sentences, and think, ugh this is so hard.  I’m never going to get anything done. And promptly switch to playing Hearthstone or watching people on Buzzfeed try foods from other countries.   Continue reading →