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Articles about craft.

31 Ways to Find Inspiration for Your Writing

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This post, by Leo Babauta, originally appeared on Write to Done.

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London

No matter how much you love writing, there will always be days when you need inspiration from one muse or another.

In fact, I would argue that inspiration is not just a desirable thing, it’s an integral part of the writing process.

Every writer needs inspiration to produce inspired writing. And sometimes, it can come from the unlikeliest sources.

I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite ways of finding inspiration — some of them obvious, some of them less so. But it’s always good to have reminders, and if you haven’t used a few of these sources of inspiration in awhile (or ever), give them a go.

  1. Blogs. This is one of my favorites, of course. Aside from this blog, there are dozens of great blogs on writing and every topic under the sun. I like to read about what works for others — it inspires me to action!
     
  2. Books. Maybe my favorite overall. I read writers I love (read about my current loves) and then I steal from them, analyze their writing, get inspired by their greatness. Fiction is my favorite, but I’ll devour anything. If you normally read just a couple of your favorite authors, try branching out into something different. You just might find new inspiration.
     
  3. Overheard dialog. If I’m anywhere public, whether it be at a park or a mall or my workplace, sometimes I’ll eavesdrop on people. Not in a gross way or anything, but I’ll just keep quiet, and listen. I love hearing other people have conversations. Sometimes it doesn’t happen on purpose — you can’t help but overhear people sometimes. If you happen to overhear a snippet of interesting dialog, jot it down in your writing journal as soon as possible. It can serve as a model or inspiration for later writing.
     
  4. Magazines. Good magazines aren’t always filled with great writing, but you can usually find one good piece of either fiction or non-fiction. Good for its writing style, its voice, its rhythm and ability to pull you along to the end. These pieces inspire me. And bad magazines, while perhaps not the best models for writing, can still be inspirations for ideas for good blog posts. These magazines, as they don’t draw readers with great writing, find interesting story angles to attract an audience.
     
  5. Movies. Sometimes, while watching a movie, a character will say something so interesting that I’ll say, “That would make a great blog post!” or “I have to write that in my writing journal!” Sometimes screenwriters can write beautiful dialog. Other times I get inspired by the incredible camera work, the way that a face is framed by the camera, the beauty of the landscape captured on film.
     
  6. Forums. When people write on forums, they rarely do so for style or beauty (there are exceptions, of course, but they’re rare). Forumers are writing to convey information and ideas. Still, those ideas can be beautiful and inspiring in and of themselves. They can inspire more ideas in you. I’m not saying you have to read a wide array of forums every day, but if you’re looking for information, trawling some good forums isn’t a bad idea.
     
  7. Art. For the writer aspiring to greater heights, there is no better inspiration that great art, in my experience. While it doesn’t compare to the experience of seeing the art in person, I like to find inspiring works of art and put it on my computer desktop for contemplation (Michelangelo’s Pieta is there right now). It doesn’t have to be classical works, though — I’ve found inspiration in Japanese anime, in stuff I’ve found on deviantart.com, in local artists in my area.
     
  8. Music. Along the same lines, it can be inspiring to download and play great music, from Mozart to Beethoven to the Beatles to Radiohead. Play it in the background as you write, and allow it to lift you up and move you.
     
  9. Friends. Conversations with my friends, in real life, on the phone or via IM, have inspired some of my best posts. They stir up my ideas, contribute ideas of their own, and they fuse into something even more brilliant than either of us could have created.
     
  10. Writing groups. Whether online or in your community, writing groups are great ways to get energy and motivation for your writing. My best short stories were done in a writing group in my local college (a great place to look for such groups, btw), as we read out our work to the group, critiqued them and made suggestions. The work of the other writers inspired me to do better.

 

 

Read the rest of the post, which includes 21 more sources for inspiration, on Write to Done. 

How I Write Female Characters

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This post, by Marie Brennan, originally appeared on Science Fiction & Fantasy Novelists on 4/16/09.

But Marie — aren’t you a woman?

Yes, I am.

Do you really mean to imply that you write female characters in some different, specific way?

No, I don’t. Thank you, Imaginary Questioner, for leading me to the exact point I want to make.

 

Some years ago, a writer-friend asked me what I thought of his female characters. I told him that honestly, I hadn’t given them much specific thought. But now that I did, it seemed to me that he wrote them first as people, second as whatever kind of people they were (a soldier, a noblewoman, etc), and third as women. And that as far as I was concerned, that was the right way to do it.

That’s how I write characters, be they male, female, or (in the case of one story I’m wrestling with) mystical bilateral hermaphrodites. Female characters aren’t “marked” in my head, but neither are male ones; when I sit down to include a male character in a story, I don’t ask myself “okay, what are things guys do? They belch, they fart, they scratch themselves, they drink lots of beer –” A) That way lies stereotyping and B) I know plenty of women who do those things, too. When Deven gets drunk with his buddies and suffers through a hangover early in Midnight Never Come, he doesn’t do that because I was trying to write Guys, he does it because I was trying to write young Elizabethan gentlemen who had gone to war together welcoming a newcomer into their ranks. Their gender was not their foremost defining characteristic.

Of course, if you follow the path I outlined above, you run the risk of a result aptly described in The History Boys (though they’re discussing Michelangelo’s nudes): “These aren’t women, they’re men with tits. And the tits look like they’ve been put on with an ice-cream scoop.” Except I question the “of course”-ness of that danger; I have a hard time thinking of any stories I’ve read or watched where the women seem like men with a female paint job on top. The reason for that may lie in last month’s post; I’m more likely to process those characters as women who happen to exhibit characteristics usually associated with masculinity, rather than as somehow Not Real Women.

 

Read the rest of the post on Science Fiction & Fantasy Novelists.

What Is Theme In Writing?

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This post, by Harvey Chapman, originally appeared on Novel-Writing-Help.com.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition, theme is "the subject of a piece of writing." Now, that might be factually correct (who am I to argue with the dictionary people?), but I still don’t believe it is helpful to anyone just starting out in novel writing who is trying to work out what theme actually is.

 

The "subject of a piece of writing" suggests "subject matter" – and, for me, a novel’s subject matter is something concrete and definite. So the subject matter of a horror novel, for example, might be vampires and spooky castles.

A literary theme, on the other hand, is not concrete at all. It can usually be summed up by a phrase like "grief" or "unrequited love" or "blind faith" – something intangible like that.

So let’s start again…

What is theme? According to my own definition, the theme of a novel is simply what a novel "means."

I think I have stated elsewhere on this site that a novel’s theme is what it is "about." Thinking about it, though, that sounds dangerously like "subject matter" again, which is why I am defining theme here as what the events of a novel "mean."

A love story, for example, is "about" two people meeting and falling in love. In other words, it is about…

  • The characters
  • The plot (or what the characters do)
  • The setting (or where they do it)

…and these things are all on the novel’s surface. In fact, they are the novel’s subject matter.

The theme of a novel, however – or the meaning of a novel – happens beneath the surface, and it is essentially the lesson that the surface story teaches us, or the conclusion that can be drawn from the events.

If all of this is sounding kind of vague, that’s because theme in writing is kind of vague. But we are slowly edging closer to a more concrete definition…

The theme of a novel is the deeper layer of meaning running beneath the story’s surface.

 

 

Read the rest of the post on Novel-Writing-Help.com.

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Email Updates (Your Fans Actually Read)

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The average person receives 147 emails every day.

When I first read that statistic, it seemed like total hooey. Almost 150 messages every day? Maybe fancypants famous people get that many, but definitely not me.

I was debating between feeling relieved or unloved, when suddenly, it hit me: I probably DO receive that much email every day.

Between spam, the latest sales at Hobby Lobby, updates from family and emails from our lovely indie author friends, the amount of mail adds up quickly!

The process of filtering through my emails has become so automatic, however, that I disregard at least half of those emails before even opening them.

I’d be willing to bet that you do the same.

With that in mind, would it surprise you to know that, as an indie author, your mailing list is your biggest asset?

 

Your Mailing List is Gold, Baby!

It’s true: more than website visitors, more than Twitter followers, more than Facebook likes or Pinterest repins, the amount of folks on your mailing list gives you an instant snapshot of the state of your fanbase.

Are you rolling your eyes? Maybe the thought of sending obnoxious email newsletters feels sleazy, or perhaps you’ve tried it before but haven’t had good results.

Bear with me. Forget everything you think you know about mailing lists and email updates, and let’s explore the easy, fun and *effective* side of email marketing.

1. Set Up Your List

Before we can create those awesome email updates, you have to have a mailing list, right? So, sign up for Mailchimp. The basic features are free and suit the needs of indie fiction authors nicely.

If you have a self-hosted website or WordPress blog, learn how to add a signup form to your site. If you’re on WordPress.com, it’s a little hackier, but can be done.

2. Encourage Fans to Join Your List

Now that we have a list, it’s time to add your readers! While this could be a whole post in and of itself (and probably will be eventually), the major actions that encourage readers to join your list are:

1. Giving something away (that your readers actually want).

When readers join your list, send them some sort of freebie as a “thank you.”

This could be a short story, excerpt, alternate POV piece — whatever. But make it short and awesome; something a reader could finish in a few hours or less. Think of this as your “audition piece.” If they like what they read, they’ll stick with you!

2. Creating an awesome, convincing signup page, then linking to it instead of your website’s homepage.

If this goes against your natural leaning, I understand, but here’s the deal: over half of the people who visit websites only view one page (that’s a stat from this site, but the pattern is similar across the web).

You know how it is: our attention spans are super-divided nowadays. Linking to your signup page directly:

  • Offers the visitor a peek into who you are and what you write.
  • Gives them a reason to entrust you with their email address (remember that freebie?).
  • Puts them on the road to becoming a fan.

The Checklist for Writing Fun, Effective Email Updates

Now that you have a list in place, it’s time to start interacting with those fans! Woot!

Timing

How often you send out your email updates is up to you, but my advice is this: send them as often as possible without sacrificing quality and value. I suggest weekly (gasp! I know!).

Don’t get overwhelmed. You don’t need to create exclusive content for every update. While that’s nice now and then, the format I’m about to share is tailor-made to point to content already on your website.

No matter what you decide, be consistent. Unless you’re getting close to launch time (when things get crazy), choose an update schedule and stick to it — this way,your fans used to seeing you in their inbox.

Look and Feel

When you create your email, your eyes will be bombarded with dozens of pretty themes to choose from.

Wanna hear a secret? I hate them all.

Seriously, I used to be all about email newsletters with those fancy colors and images, but no more!

Use the most bare-bones formatting you can find (here’s a stripped down template I made for Mailchimp and how to import it).

With this basic template in place, you can format your emails so they look like a regular email to a friend. Because, in a way, that’s exactly what you’re writing!

Subject Line

After you’ve selected your template, decide on a subject line. Think of this is a headline for your email – it’s that important.

To do this, first choose the point of your email. You’re not just sending out random updates, but using your emails to build relationships and encourage your fans to take some sort of action, such as:

  • Reading/commenting on a blog post
  • Leaving a review
  • Purchasing your book
  • Answering a question
  • Sharing an opinion

Choose one purpose for your email, a single action you want readers to take. This gives your email focus; the last thing you want is confusion!

After you decide on your action, compose a subject line that grabs your reader’s attention. You can use common headline-writing tactics, but be sure to throw in your own flair!

Caution! Whatever you do, don’t make your subject line “May 2012 Newsletter” or “Newsletter #5″ or “Author Namehere’s Newsletter.” There’s nothing fun-sounding or attention-grabbing about those!

Your Email’s Opening Line

Now we can move on to the email itself! First thing’s first: the opening line.

Most email providers (like Gmail) show the first sentence of an email in the inbox itself, so it’s important to sound personal and non-spammy. Some options:

  • If users share their name when they sign up for your mailing list, use that information here, like “Hi Toni!”
  • Use a typical opening you’d use in an email to a friend. We’re fans of “Hey there!” and “Happy [Day of Week]!” This is totally dependent, however, on your personality (and what your readers are familiar/comfortable with)!

The Body of Your Email

Write the body of your email like you’re writing to one person. While you’re writing, picture a single reader in your mind and write the email directly to him:

  • Write like you speak, NOT like you’re writing your novel. It’s okay — no one will be grading your grammar!
  • Use short paragraphs to break up your email. Long walls of text overwhelm readers!
  • Want a few bonus points? Read your email out loud!

Inserting Your Call to Action

Remember that single purpose we decided on before you started writing your email? Now it’s time to add it in!

  1. Add your call to action in at least two spots. Since most readers skim emails, it’s important to repeat yourself.
  2. Craft the link or action in a conversational way, like it’s a natural part of the email. Use “Click here to check out my short story” not simply “click here”

Add Your Closing

Like your opening, your closing line is up to your personal taste, but consider this excellent post on the “familiarity index” of different email closings.

PS: Don’t Forget the Post Script

Those fun asides commonly found at the end of letters and emails are actually the second most read part of your message!

While including a PS in every email could dilute its effectiveness, it is an excellent spot to restate your call to action or leave a closing thought.

Author Email Example

While it may seem like a lot to remember, seeing the concepts above in action makes the crafting engaging emails easy as pie. Here’s a sample I whipped up:

SUBJECT: NEW Halloween-y Short Story Inside (I’m eager to hear your thoughts!)

Hey there!

October is already here — are you breaking out the fall decorations? Even though there’s not the slightest hint of a chill in the air here in Florida, I’m already plotting out the design for my front porch Halloween display!

Believe it or not, Halloween is my favorite holiday. Everyone assumes that it’s Christmas (perhaps because of my awesome Christmas village), but Halloween is first on my list. Something about it signals the beginning of an exciting holiday season, and I’ve always been drawn to that.

Plus, you know, all the candy. I can’t lie, I’m a sucker for the candy (pardon the pun).

Anyways, I was struck by a bit of inspiration over the weekend, and whipped up a short story about new beginnings, old candy and the costumes we wear year-round. I’d love for you to check it out:
Click here to read ‘Did They Make All The Candy Corn in 1976?’

It’s a bit of a departure from my normal fare, so I’m interested to hear what you think. After you’ve read the story, would you leave  a short comment and share your thoughts (be honest!)?

I’ve been stressing over whether I should flesh it out, and your feedback will help a ton :-) 
Click here to read the short story and leave a comment!

Thank you for taking the time to check it out and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Happy October,
Toni Imnotanauthor

PS: Did I mention that the story involves a costume made completely out of candy corn? You know you can’t resist finding out more about that!

That’s all completely made up, of course, but it gives you an example of the principles I discussed above. The best part? It took me less than 10 minutes to write!

The Number One Rule of Emailing Your Fans

The biggest rule of mailing list etiquette is this: write emails that you would like to read. If it sounds boring to you, your readers will likely skip it: make those emails entertaining and action-oriented!

No matter how awesome your emails are, however, some folks WILL complain or unsubscribe — that’s okay. Don’t take it personally. Your real fans will stick with you!

Download the Super-Duper Author Email Checklist!

Even if you’re skeptical, give this style of email updates a try. It’s fun, fast and helps you build personal relationships with your fans. I’m so passionate about this stuff that I created a handy checklist to keep you on track!

Soon, you’ll be an emailing pro, interacting with your fans one-on-one — no sleazy feeling involved!

Talk Back

I’m curious: do you have a mailing list? Has it helped your indie career? Did the tips above give you any ideas or make it seem more do-able to you? Do you have other tricks to share? Let’s discuss in the comments!

 

 

 

This is a reprint from Duolit.

The Secret To Writing Humor

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This post, by Brent Diggs, originally appeared on Humor Blogging.

DO YOU KNOW THE SECRET?

 

High in the mountains of upper Bolivia, guarded for centuries by ancient Norwegian fish herders lies the secret.

Not the mystical law of attraction that promises to manifest wealth and satisfaction into your life for a small fee, but rather the secret to unleashing smiles and even audible laughter with your written humor.

This secret, which I am about to reveal in the next five words, is none other than editing.

I will pause for the inevitable groaning.

Once you retrieve the mouse you threw against the wall in bitter disappointment, we will continue.* Yes, there are some definite challenges when it comes to writing humor. The first of which is that it is painfully difficult to do. At least if you want to do it well.

Of course this really shouldn’t come as a surprise if you think about it, considering that nearly every tool of comedy is denied to the writer.

In stand up, live comedy, comedy films, and even in conversation much of the humorous effect of any exchange is delivered by facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, and sounds; all of which team up for an interlocking assault on the audience’s collective funny bone.

But as a humble writer of prose, your humor rests almost exclusively on the power of your words. Which is why you must pick them with care and arrange them for maximum impact.

PICKING YOUR WORDS

William Zinsser, in his well respected reference manual, On Writing Well, which has been in existence longer than many of the people reading this article, states that humor is the one type of writing where using a thesaurus is actually beneficial.

Although none of my work is available in a thirtieth anniversary edition, I too have found that there is a huge advantage to exploring the range of connotations and shades of meaning accessible through careful word selection.

It allows you to assume many different voices or tones in your writing and use them to sneak up on your readers while carefully concealing your punchline until the last possible minute.

 

Read the rest of the post on Humor Blogging. 

Short Film Story Structure

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This post originally appeared on the Short Films blog. While it’s a blog aimed at filmmakers, this particular post has a lot of great tips and advice about writing.

Short story structure demands that you abandon all ideas of forming your own brand of storytelling. The rules are very simple: comply to the form that sells, or you don’t sell.

Short story structure has been around since the beginning of time. You can read short stories in the Bible and on cave walls. They all have the same structure; so don’t try to reinvent the wheel.

 

Every short story has a theme – that invisible thread that runs from beginning to end, delivering a silent message to the reader. For example, Moby Dick wasn’t about hunting whales. It was about revenge. Gone With the Wind wasn’t about love. It was about Scarlet O’Hara’s manipulation and control and how it led to her devastation.

So – what is your story aboutc When you know the overall theme, think of the middle scene – the plot. What will be the one scene that will turn the whole storyc Get that firmly in your mind, take notes on it, and then head your whole story toward that objective.

Every story must have conflict, and without it, you are dead in the water. What is your conflict. There are five kinds:

· Man vs. man – any kind of man, woman, or child conflicting with anyone else

· Man vs. nature – any kind of conflict where man battles nature, whether it be a storm or wild animal

· Man vs. self – I advise new writers to stay away from this one. It deals with a man, woman or child battling with themselves. It is difficult to bring this kind of story to a good resolution.

· Man vs. society – man, woman or child battling with peers, groups, society, organizations, authority, etc.

· Man vs. machine – fantasy stories with aliens or machines

 

Where to Begin:

Don’t begin at the beginning. For example, opening a story with a normal scene no longer works. Today’s readers are an action-oriented group that bases their entertainment on electronic toys, fast-paced movies, and faster paced stories, so start your first paragraph with gripping action. It can be part of a flashback, or even the middle of a scene. 

 

Read the rest of the post, including the extensive Q&A section at the end, on the Short Films blog.

10 Signs That You Are Not Ready To Self-Publish

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Today we are happy to promote this blog post from Publetariat member Joseph C. Kunz Jr. to the front page.

 

Are you really ready – not just your manuscript, but you – to self-publish? Here is a list of the most important things you must consider before getting into self-publishing. So, before you ignore the traditional publishing process, make sure you have the stamina for becoming your own publisher. Self-publishing is not a short cut to seeing yourself in print, or to success. If anything, it’s more arduous and time-consuming than writing the book itself.

 

1. You Believe That, “If I Write It They Will Come”

Get serious. This thinking might work for a big-time author like Stephen King, but not for you and me. The rest of us need to work really long hours to make our books sell. We need to become experts in marketing, sales, SEO, blogging, and in all social media. We need to spend every minute possible sitting at our desk and writing. And the writing better be good.

2. You Haven’t Researched Your Market

You better know everything there is to know about your market and your audience. Who will by reading and buying your books? What are the hottest topics and trends in your market? What books are actually selling in your industry (on Amazon)? By writing and publishing you are putting yourself out there as an expert in your niche. Your audience expects you to sound and act like an expert. If they get the slightest hint that you are not the expert that you are telling them that you are, you will lose your audience and they won’t come back to read or buy your books.

3. You Don’t Understand What Actually Goes Into A Salable Book

This one might seem too obvious, but to some of us it isn’t. Too many books are getting published that barely look like a finished book. I have seen one too many books missing the table of contents, page numbers, index, isbn, etc., and even the author’s name! If you want to be taken seriously as a publisher and author, and gain your audience’s respect, you must create a professional-looking product. Complete in every way that a reader expects a book to be.

4. You Haven’t Researched Your Niche

Read everything that you can get your hands on about your niche. You should know who the big experts are, and have read their books. Read the publications and blogs of those writers and groups within your niche. It is important to remember that in today’s terms, niche now means “micro-niche”. As a self-publisher you will most likely find the biggest success by narrowly defining your market niche. It is much easier to become an expert in a very specific market where it is much less crowded with big well-established writers and publishers.

5. You Hope To Get Famous From Self-Publishing

This is possible, but not likely. Fame comes with a lot of hard work and lots of luck. Therefore, it cannot be your only motive for self-publishing your books. Instead, concentrate on building and improving your reputation within your market. Earning the respect of your peers and your audience is a very achievable and respectable goal – and will help improve your book sales.

6. You Believe That Book Sales And Financial Profits Are What Self-Publishing Is All About

There is no guarantee that you will have financial success by publishing your books. The majority of authors make little or no money from their books. But if you really understand your market, and become an expert in your niche, build a great book, and devote your life to marketing yourself and your books, you will have book sales. Those books will then help bring you new customers, and build your reputation within your industry.

7. You Haven’t Started Marketing Your Book

You must start marketing well in advance of releasing your book. Probably the easiest way to get started is to build your own blog where you write about your niche. In addition, blogging is a great way to prove to yourself, and to your audience, that you are serious about your niche.

8. You Have No Marketing Plan

If you haven’t figured this out already, publishing is 90% marketing, 10% writing. If you love the subject you write about, and love to share the information with others, then this will not worry you. If you expect to make your book a critical and financial success, you will look at marketing your book as a welcomed challenge. Marketing is all about understanding your audience – the very people that you want to share information with and help them improve their situation. Therefore, you must develop a guideline, or plan, of what you are going to do to market your book.

9. You’re Impatient

Publishing is not for the impatient. Everything in book publishing takes a while to complete. And when you are self-publishing, you are the one that needs to do all of the work – and also maintain your blog, job, family, and home. So it might take you twelve to twenty-four months before you see your book in print. And then it might take another two years to show any financial return on that book. So you better choose your niche very carefully.

10. Jumping In Before Understanding The Business Side Of Self-Publishing

Yes, self-publishing is a business. It will force you to become a true capitalist, whether you like it or not. This is a business that will take up a lot of your time and money, with no guarantee of a financial return. You will need to force yourself to learn all aspects of building and managing a company. But the more effort you put into it, the more you will get out of it.

 

This article was written by Joseph C. Kunz, Jr. and originally posted on KunzOnPublishing.com

 

I've Started So I'll Finish…Or Maybe Not

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This post, by Jenny Hillborne, originally appeared on the Crime Fiction Collective blog on 9/26/12 and is reprinted here in its entirety with that site’s permission.

Confession: I watch reality TV.

Some of the shows are fun to watch, although I find it often takes time to get acquainted with the cast and build any sort of connection to the players. If the first episode is weak or uninteresting, my attention drifts elsewhere and I’ll switch channels. I’m fickle, and I’m busy. I’m also not likely to come back. When a great group is thrust together, the connection starts right away and I’m immediately hooked.  

It’s the same way with books. I want instant action, strong characters, drama, and a great plot. I want to be drawn in from the first page, held to the story, and care about the cast. I’m at my most critical right after I finish a great book and start a new one. At the end of a great book, I’m vested in all the characters and don’t want it to end. This makes it tough for the next author. Like a new job, I have to get to know all the new people and find out if I like it in this world. Unlike a new job, I don’t have to stay long in the fictional world if it sucks.

Some readers persevere with a "bad" book and read it to the end. I’ve done that once; a) because the book was short, and b) because I couldn’t believe how truly bad it was. The book was penned by a well-known author and I convinced myself it had to get better. After I finished, I was annoyed with myself for wasting the time, and struck said author off my to-be-read list for good. According to the reviews, so did lots of other readers. With so many great books, who has the time? 

So, what draws me in? What keeps a reader reading?

A Big Brother series just ended in the UK. Normally, I don’t like Big Brother, but the cast in this series had all the right qualities and reinforced what I want to find in the books I read (what I expect most readers hope to find): drama, shock, great character interaction and strong personalities. Likable members of the cast brought out the better side of the uglier personalities, added humility, redeemed them for the audience, and brought a wonderful balance to the house.The mix created a good level of intrigue and excitement. It played out like a great story that held my interest. I had to know what would happen next. But most of all, what really kept me – I cared.

Instant intrigue draws me in to a book, but I’m a wriggly fish and the hook alone is not enough. What keeps my interest is the growing suspense and the character dynamics. I want to see the flaws exposed in the heroines and heroes; the virtues of the villain. I want conflict, both external and internal, humor and humility, a little chaos. I can’t identify with perfect people, not even in the fictional world. Unbelievable characters are one of the fastest turn-offs for me in books. I don’t care about them. 

Here are five reasons I continue reading a book: 

1) Hook – it’s got to be there or it’s all over from the start.

2) Immediate intrigue and growing suspense. I want to have questions as I read.

3) Character dynamics – I must care about the characters, even the villains.  

4) Volatility. I love the unexpected, especially when I’m not prepared.

5) Good dialogue. Make it believable.

 

and 5 reasons I stop (and I haven’t even mentioned typos):

 

1) Weak plot – nothing more boring.

2) Poor motive or no motive. If the book fizzles, I’ll never read another by the author.

3) Unnecessary filler and long clumsy sentences. Okay, that’s two. Both drag me out of the story.

4) Unanswered questions. You can string me along for a while, but give me my answers.

5) I can’t identify with either the characters or the story. Most fiction is grounded in some kind of truth. I want to relate to what’s happening. 

I’m not as patient as I once was. If I’m not at least partially vested within the first two or three chapters, I’m done with the book, and probably the author. What makes you continue reading? And what makes you stop?

 

11 Practical Ways To Stop Procrastination

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 This post, by celestine, originally appeared on Lifehack on 6/3/12.

You have a deadline looming. However, instead of doing your work, you are fiddling with miscellaneous things like checking email, social media, watching videos, surfing blogs and forums. You know you should be working, but you just don’t feel like doing anything.

We are all familiar with the procrastination phenomenon. When we procrastinate, we squander away our free time and put off important tasks we should be doing them till it’s too late.  And when it is indeed too late, we panic and wish we got started earlier. The chronic procrastinators I know have spent years of their life looped in this cycle. Delaying, putting off things, slacking, hiding from work, facing work only when it’s unavoidable, then repeating this loop all over again. It’s a bad habit that eats us away and prevents us from achieving greater results in life.

Don’t let procrastination take over your life. Here, I will share my personal steps which I use to overcome procrastination with great success. These 11 steps will definitely apply to you too:

  1. Break your work into little steps. Part of the reason why we procrastinate is because subconsciously, we find the work too overwhelming for us. Break it down into little parts, then focus on one part at the time. If you still procrastinate on the task after breaking it down, then break it down even further. Soon, your task will be so simple that you will be thinking “gee, this is so simple that I might as well just do it now!”.For example, I’m currently writing a new book (on How to achieve anything in life). Book writing at its full scale is an enormous project and can be overwhelming. However, when I break it down into phases such as – (1) Research (2) Deciding the topic (3) Creating the outline (4) Drafting the content (5) Writing Chapters #1 to #10, (6) Revision (7) etc, suddenly it seems very manageable. What I do then is to focus on the immediate phase and get it done to my best ability, without thinking about the other phases. When it’s done, I move on to the next.
     
  2. Change your environment. Different environments have different impact on our productivity. Look at your work desk and your room. Do they make you want to work or do they make you want to snuggle and sleep? If it’s the latter, you should look into changing your workspace. One thing to note is that an environment that makes us feel inspired before may lose its effect after a period of time. If that’s the case, then it’s time to change things around. Refer to Steps #2 and #3 of 13 Strategies To Jumpstart Your Productivity, which talks about revamping your environment and workspace.
     
  3. Create a detailed timeline with specific deadlines. Having just 1 deadline for your work is like an invitation to procrastinate. That’s because we get the impression that we have time and keep pushing everything back, until it’s too late. Break down your project (see tip #1), then create an overall timeline with specific deadlines for each small task. This way, you know you have to finish each task by a certain date. Your timelines must be robust, too – i.e. if you don’t finish this by today, it’s going to jeopardize everything else you have planned after that. This way it creates the urgency to act. My goals are broken down into monthly, weekly, right down to the daily task lists, and the list is a call to action that I must accomplish this by the specified date, else my goals will be put off.

 

 

Read the rest of the article, which includes 8 more tips for fighting procrastination, on Lifehack.

Finding Your Writing Process

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This post, by Mistina Picciano, originally appeared on The Oolong Inkwell on 9/23/12.

For any aspiring novelists out there, how many books do you have on how to write a novel? At least a dozen are sitting on my shelf, with a handful more taking up space on my Kindle – all mocking me. I probably subscribe to the same magazines that you do, and I’ve read many of the same articles that debate the merits of outlining versus “pantsing,” or discovery writing.

All these resources have led me to one conclusion: no one can tell you the best way to write your novel.

Not really surprising, is it? After all, creativity is such a personal endeavor.

Guess what? Even writing your novel won’t necessarily tell you the best way to write your novel. It may, however, offer some valuable tips to point you in the right direction.

Trial and error… and error

My current novel project is not my first. It’s not even my second or third. It’s number four—the first not born during National Novel Writing Month.

Because of Chris Baty’s brilliance, I’m the proud parent of two very rough, completed novel drafts and 37,000 words of another novel that was my favorite writing project ever—before this current novel.

Given the nature of the assignment (50K in 30 days), all were generated via the pantsing method, which made sense since this was how I had produced all other fiction work.

Thus, I always assumed that I write best using the discovery method.

However, I suspected that something was awry when reading Stephen King’s On Writing the second time around. He described his revision process, which appears to consist of maybe three passes through the complete draft. Sure, he’s Stephen King, and he’s literally been writing longer than I’ve been alive.

As I started tackling the task of revising my first novel draft, I realized that I was going to need way more than three or even six passes. After a couple of false starts, I found myself roughly 120,000 words into the second draft—with no end in sight.

Back to the outlining board

 

 

Read the rest of the post on The Oolong Inkwell.

The New World of Publishing: Pricing 2013

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This post, by Dean Wesley Smith, originally appeared on his site on 9/14/12.

 

Yup, I am going back into the pricing wars one more time. Why would I do that? Simply put, I’m nuts. And again, things have changed all over the map, so indie pricing of ebooks needs to be talked about.

Again.

All over the news sources right now are articles about the settlements going on with the government and major publishers on the agency pricing issues. Some of it is very complex, most of it will not make much difference at all to most indie publishers.

However, some changes will happen in pricing of ebooks.

Since this is not a legal blog and I will do my best here to not get too deep into the silliness of the boring details. In fact, let me say this. If you are interested in the details of all the legal aspects of the pricing lawsuits, followThePassiveVoice.com. He does wonderful takes with great opinions on the different aspects of the battles.

My opinion is pretty much with other people who have followed these lawsuits. Pricing for customers of electronic books will go up as this settles out over the next few years. Even with stores discounting some titles, ebook prices really can’t do anything else but go up.

There are a number of good sides of this for writers.

First, it means authors who are publishing through traditional publishers will get more money per sale because publishers will make more money from increased prices. And they do pass on, sometimes, a tiny fraction of that amount.

Second, if indie publishers are smart, they will bring their prices up slightly, but stay under the traditional discounting ranges. I will talk about this before, but it will make us all more money.

Some Basics

 

 

Read the rest of the post on Dean Wesley Smith’s site.

Spelling and Grammar Comics From The Oatmeal Will Sharpen Your Skills And Make You Laugh

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The Oatmeal is the wonderful site that features clever, informative and insightful comics. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Nicola Tesla comic there that attracted enough attention to allow The Oatmeal’s owner, Matthew Inman, to raise over a million dollars to fund a Tesla museum? 

Herewith, we share links to The Oatmeal’s excellent grammar comics, which are also available for purchase as posters (purchase options are listed on the site).

 

Ten Words You Need To Stop Misspelling

Flesh Out An Idea vs. Flush Out An Idea

When To Use i.e. In A Sentence

How To Use A Semicolon

What It Means When You Say Literally

How To Use An Apostrophe

The Three Most Common Uses Of Irony

 

 

Are We There Yet?

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This post, by Steven Ramirez, originally appeared on his Glass Highway site.

 

I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That’s my dream; that’s my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor… and surviving.

— Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, ‘Apocalypse Now’

Pretty gruesome stuff but I believe it describes beautifully the hell writers face every time we get ready to publish something. The question lingers. Are we there yet? On the one hand, more revisions. On the other, we publish, dammit, we publish.

 

 

The Writing Life

Stepping back, let’s look at the process. Writers write because (a) we have a burning desire to get certain words on paper that we hope will inspire or (b) we’re too lazy to do honest work and we figure we can support ourselves writing what we believe people will pay cash money to read.

If you’re in the latter category, good luck. Though I’d like nothing better than to earn a living at writing, I am currently more interested in publishing stories that get to people. What do I mean? I mean that instead of the polite smile your Aunt Fern gives you when reading your “witty” birthday card, I want the person’s palms to sweat and their heart rate to get dangerously close to myocardial infarction. I want drama, people, pure and simple.

Personally I do this by writing mostly horror and suspense. To be completely frank, sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don’t. Which leads me back to my question—Are we there yet?

Walk Before You Run

When is my story ready to publish? Okay, there are obvious hurdles that have to be overcome—Rubicons to be crossed. First of all the thing has to work as a story. It has to have someone we care about who has one helluva problem and we can’t for the life of us see how they’re going to solve it. It has to have well written dialogue that rings true because we’ve all read the drivel that sounds like some kind of ninth grade English assignment. And it needs a hook.

Say you’ve done all that. Now you have to polish the story and, more importantly, you’ve got to answer in advance all those niggling questions your reader is going to ask. Why did the hero make that choice when his girlfriend already gave him a way out? How can someone kill a guy using nothing more than toenail clippers? Since when do bears ride the subway?

Fine. You’ve answered all the stupid logic questions. Now you send the thing off to the editor and they clean up your less-than-perfect grammar. You end up with—wait for it—a story. But are we there yet?

I don’t know about you but I spend a lot of time agonizing over a comma. True story. My guts churn as I wonder whether I am inventing future clichés. I beat myself up over the fact that everything—I mean everything!—has already been done—and probably better. And guess what. It’s normal—I’m a writer.

But say I dismiss those sweat-stained, paranoid delusions and press ahead. Does that mean my story is ready to publish? I mean, what gives me the right to unleash a malformed, Frankenstein’s monster pile of primordial ooze on an unsuspecting public when there are far better writers out there churning out gold?

 

 

Read the rest of the post on Glass Highway. 

Paid and Free Editing Software For Manuscripts

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I’m stuck in the writer’s cave right now with yet another round of edits. It’s tedious and often boring, but, considering I’m not sure I’ll have enough money later to hire a professional editor, it’s worth it. That’s why I’m doing this round with free editing software.

Using software to help you edit your manuscript isn’t an easy cheat. You’ll still need to do the work of re-writing and you’ll still need your beta readers. However, editing software can make self-editing a little less worrisome.

There are a lot of different online options, both paid and free.

Paid versions

If you’ve got the money, you might be interested in AutoCrit Editing Wizard. I didn’t find the demo useful because the 1,000 words I chose always came back with an error. That could have been because my WIP is a fantasy with mages and magical cats who use incantations the software couldn’t read. If that’s the case, it makes me wonder just how useful this software is in its full version.

Also, in order to use AutoCrit for more than just 1,200 words per day (that’s 400 words 3x per day) and receive more than 3 reports, you have to spend a lot of money. There are 3 memberships: Gold (1,000 words for $47), Platinum (8,000 words for $77) and Professional (100,000 words for $117). You get more goodies  the more you spend, but if I’m going to spend that much money for my WIP I think I’d rather hire a human being.

Free versions

I’m happy to say I’ve found 3 online self-editing programs that are free (or inexpensive). I use all three together because each program catches something the others miss.

I use EditMinion first because it highlights adverbs, weak words, said replacements, sentences ending prepositions and passive voice in different colors. It wasn’t until I ran my first couple scenes through this free editing software that I realized I was in love with adverbs and had a real problem with passive voice.

Next I use Pro Writing Aid. This free editing software catches things like sticky sentences(sentences with too many glue words), vague and abstract words, overused words, repeated words and phrases, complex words and pacing. Like passive voice, I have a real fondness for sticky sentences, and this program finds those with ease.

Last of all, I use ClicheCleaner. It’s great for finding cliches and redundancies. You can download a free demo version that lets you scan up to 20 documents before needing to pay $12.95 to do any more. I downloaded ClicheCleaner because I always thought I had issues with using too many cliches. After using this free editing software, I was surprised to find I don’t have a big problem after all. Of course, even one can be too many.

Whether you choose to pay for your self-editing software or use a free version, remember that a program cannot replace a human being. The great news is, after running your WIP through the programs and correcting all those errors, you may find you can afford a human editor after all.

How do you self-edit your manuscript? What paid and free editing software have you used? 

 

This is a reprint from Virginia Ripple‘s blog.

Editing With The Kindle

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Editing is one of those processes that can go on forever, and I must admit to being a little addicted to it lately!

 

I have been working through a number of edits from my agent on Pentecost, my first novel in the ARKANE series.

Yes, this book is out and published (and available on all ebook stores!) but it is also being pitched to New York publishers by my literary agent in Sept/Oct. It’s a book I know well and have read several times so editing it again is difficult.

It has already had a number of edits:

 

editing on the kindle

Screenshot of editing on the Kindle

* Pre-publication – multiple drafts, self-editing, editorial review, and then a full line edit and then a proof-read, plus beta readers. More articles here about all that editing.

* Post-publication – fixing up

 

 

I have been working through a number of edits from my agent on Pentecost, my first novel in the ARKANE series.

Yes, this book is out and published (and available on all ebook stores!) but it is also being pitched to New York publishers by my literary agent in Sept/Oct. It’s a book I know well and have read several times so editing it again is difficult.

It has already had a number of edits:

* Pre-publication – multiple drafts, self-editing, editorial review, and then a full line edit and then a proof-read, plus beta readers. More articles here about all that editing.

* Post-publication – fixing up of some minor errors/typos found by the first readers

So I am absolutely happy with the book as it stands now.

BUT when I re-read it again, as I work on the 3rd novel in the series, there are things that I want to improve.

Danger zone: every time you read a book you will find things you want to change!

There were some changes I wanted to make, plus some edits from Rachel, my agent so I have spent a few weeks going back through the book and tweaking. Here’s my process:

editing ARKANE

Editing on paper

(1) I printed it out on paper and went through it with a pen, writing on the pages and then updating the master file in Scrivener.

(2) I went through it again directly on Scrivener with the changes that Rachel, my agent wanted.

(3) Then I was sick of the book but I wanted to re-read it once more to make sure I was entirely happy. So this time, I exported it to Kindle format and read it on the Kindle device itself, adding annotations with the Kindle commenting functionality (see above left picture). It was amazing to see what popped off the page when reading in this different format. For example, repeated words were more easily spotted. Check the above example, where the word ‘tried’ appears twice near the number 35. In the edit, I changed one of these words to attempted. I have also changed some of the sentence structures to vary the rhythm.

(4) Then finally I went through making those changes in the Scrivener master file and exported it for submission.

Of course, if the book/series is bought by a publisher, I will have more edits based on what they want, so it is truly an ongoing process.

What do you think about editing books that are already published?

How do you edit your books, especially when you know them inside out and need new eyes? Please do leave a comment [on the original post] as this is such an important topic for authors.

 

 

This is a cross-posting from Joanna Penn‘s The Creative Penn.