Tag Archives: writing

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 – Make Them Keep Reading

09 Wednesday Sep 2015

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Last Week’s WW: Social (media) etiquette

Yesterday, my fella and I were out writing, and he asked me: “How do you end a chapter?”

This got me thinking.  I’ve been learning about and focusing on tension lately.  I think that a good way to end a chapter is by ending it with tension.  You could do this a number of ways.  You could end it with a big cliff hanger.  Or you could go smaller, more subtle.  However you do it, that last paragraph, especially that last line should intrigue the reader.  There should be something to it that either screams or hints that there’s more to come.  It has to make them wonder.  It has to make them need to know what happens next.

That’s my opinion on how to end a chapter.

Writing Wednesday – Don’t Let Your Characters Just Stand There

07 Thursday May 2015

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Last WW: Deadlines

I recently wrote a story for the upcoming The Z Chronicles.  My story is titled The World After.  (and if your’e on my mailing list, you’ll have an opportunity to get a free copy of the book!)  Writing this story took more effort than any story I have written before.  Part of it was because of my character being a bystander in her own story. Continue reading →

Writing Wednesday – Deadlines

16 Thursday Apr 2015

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Last WW: The All Important First Draft 

Love them or hate them, at some point, you will have a deadline.  Maybe it’ll come from a publisher, or maybe it’ll be self-imposed.  Either way, sooner or later, it’s something every writer must face.

Why we hate them:

  • Deadlines are scary.  Many writers feel like they have to be in the mood to write, that a muse takes hold of them and lets the words flow.  I know I write my best when I’m writing because there’s an idea inside of me that simply must come out.  Sometimes, however, we have to find other things to motivate us.  Deadlines are one such thing.
  • It feels awful to miss it.  In many cases, it’s not the end of the world if you miss a deadline.  If it’s a contest, yeah, you’re probably in trouble.  But in most situations, the person who gave you that deadline will be lenient.  Unless that person is yourself.  When I give myself a deadline and I blow it, I’m really angry with myself.  It sort of destroys me and I have to take a few days to recover, which often pushes me even further off course.

Why we should love them:

  • They speed things up.  It’s great to write when the inspiration takes you.  But if you only write when it does, then it could be years, if not decades, before your book is finished.
  • They’re necessary.  If you go traditional, expect a lot of deadlines.  But they’re equally important if you’re indie, and for the same reasons.  It allows you to plan for marketing and promotions.  It enables you to give your readers answers, and they are usually a hungry bunch eager for your next book to come out.  It lets you know when you need to buckle down, and when you need to crack the whip.
  • It’s professional.  Going from Writer to Author requires a lot of follow through.  If you want readers to stick with you, they have to know that they can trust you.  This means making plans, like deadlines, and delivering on them.

They’re are many more reasons why deadlines are both good and bad.  In the end, I believe that they are a good thing.  For example, I have a story due on Friday.  While I am a bit of a procrastinator, I’ve been working on it.  It’s actually already gone through two drafts, and I’m finishing the third, which is more of a rewrite than anything.  There’s a lot that I need to do on it between now and then.  But rather than spending all day tomorrow watching reruns or movies, I’ll be butt in chair and working.  Why?  Because I have a deadline to keep.

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 – The tortoise and the hare

26 Thursday Mar 2015

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Last Week’s WW: Working With Others

My fella was talking about themes the other day, and he brought up the fact that some people miss the points of some stories.  One such story he brought up was The Tortoise and the Hare.

He asked me: “what’s the point of the story?”

I immediately responded: “Slow and steady wins the race.”

He asked me to think about it.  I did, and I realized that it didn’t matter what the turtle did.  If the hare hadn’t been over confident and messed it all up, he would have won hands down.  The real meaning of that story seems to be “keep your eye on the prize.”

I think that the moral of this story can be applied to writing.  There’s a lot of people who will say write fast, throw it on Amazon, and it’ll all be fine.  That’s the magic formula.  Only, it’s not.  Troll the Kboards and you’ll find a lot of people that this isn’t working for.  Yes, writing fast is an asset.  But you can’t be over confident.  And conversely, you can’t give up.   When you write, when you publish, when you promote, you have to remember why you’re doing it.  Writing is hard.  Publishing is harder.  Keep your eye on the prize, or someone else might beat you to it.   Remember why you’re writing, or you may never even finish the race.

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 – The Best Laid Plans

19 Thursday Feb 2015

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Last Week’s WW: The Writer’s Roller Coaster

A few weeks ago I wrote about how it’s important to create a schedule for yourself.  About how self-imposed deadlines can help you create, and stop you from procrastinating.  I still believe all of this to be true.  But, those plans don’t always work out.

Continue reading →

Writing Wednesday – Making a schedule

05 Thursday Feb 2015

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Last Week’s WW: There Isn’t Always a Happy Ending

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At the beginning of this year, I set out to give publishing my all.  I tested the waters last year with my flash fiction collection, but this year I wanted to go full force.  What this meant was putting together a publication schedule.

The photo above is my publication schedule for my upcoming short story series – Sleep Saga.  It took some effort, but I worked with the dates to figure out how to stagger it so that I could get it done.  I’ll admit, I’m about four days late on getting my first story out to Beta readers.  (By the way, want to Beta Read for me?  Email me).  But I’m ahead on finishing the first drafts of my books.  So, I’ll call it even.

Writing it down gave me solid deadlines and a great guide for where I was and where I needed to be.  It also allowed me to prioritize, creating a list so that I knew what I needed to be doing while I different parts were in different stages.

I think that being organized and setting goals will help me achieve a lot this year.