writing tips

Quick Link: How to Transform Your Single Story Into a Complete Series

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Gone are the days of the one hit wonders for authors. You have to build your audience and if you don’t already have a built audience you a great strategy is to write a series. This allows you to start building a following and do clever marketing such as pricing your first book for free to get people hooked. At Write To Done, Sandra Haven has some great hints on how to build on a story to make a series.

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How to Transform Your Single Story Into a Complete Series

By Sandra Haven

Okay, so your single book story jumped to an idea for a nifty book series but … now what?

Even the best of series ideas can miss the mark after only one book.

Ever come to a screeching halt while reading a series because the story just fell apart? Or the character changed? Maybe you moaned, “What is this author doing?”

Not everyone will love every book in a series. There will always be some readers who set your series to the side as times goes on. But readership can also take a plunge and no author wants that to happen.

Good news:

Scary as that is, there are some basic reasons a series fails—and there are ways to avoid them.

Read the full post on Write To Done

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Quick Link: 3 Ways to Stop Self-Sabotaging Your Writing

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Ooh, I had to bookmark this post by C.S. Lakin! She has a list of ways you might be self-sabotaging your writing and I think I won! Seriously, if you feel you are not the writer you want to be head over to Live Write Thrive and bookmark this post.

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3 Ways to Stop Self-Sabotaging Your Writing

by C.S. Lakin

I’ve perhaps saved the biggest issue for last, for, honestly, we are our own worst enemies, and I believe self-sabotage, more than anything else, keeps us from being super-productive writers.

We’ve taken a look at a lot of attitude topics and discussed ways to think positively, boost ourselves with uplifting self-talk, and use mental hacks to adjust our attitudes.

But even if you correct all your bad habits, optimize your writing time, and adjust your schedule to fit your biology, if you have a tendency to self-sabotage, all your good effort may be for naught.

So we’re going to take a look at some of the reasons and ways we self-sabotage and consider some remedies to help us thwart those destructive attitudes and behaviors.

The Long-Term Effects

Some studies have shown that self-sabotage leads to cycles of negative motivation. Meaning, the more you engage in self-sabotage, the less motivated you are to get something done. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle that will prevent you from ever being truly productive.

Each time you fail, you prove to yourself that you just can’t accomplish your task. If you sit down to write and tell yourself it’s going to suck or you’ll never get the scene written, you’ll fulfill your own prophecy. And the next time you sit down, all you have to do is pull out the proof from previous attempts to discourage you from trying again. And when you do finally push through to write, the results are pathetic, due to the pressure you are heaping on your head.

Read the full post on Live Write Thrive

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Quick Link: Deeper Thinking About Writing Your Scenes

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One of the reasons why I love Stephen King’s writing, besides the fact that he is amazing at story telling, is how he writes scenes. I grew up in Massachusetts and there are times when I will read one of Mr. King’s stories and the scene will be so realistic to me, I can smell it. Larry Brooks from Kill Zone shares on how to have a purposeful deeper scene that enhance your story.

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Deeper Thinking About Writing Your Scenes

by Larry Brooks

Deeper than what, you might fairly ask?

Perhaps, deeper than you’re thinking about them now. Because too often, newer writers (in particular) begin writing a scene without a clear intention for that scene. As a means of discovery (finding and vetting story options), this can be viable and legit…

… but unless you rethink and recast the scene once you do understand the purpose of a particular scene – its mission, if you will – chances are that scene will become a liability.

New writers tend to forget that next step.  The scene rambles, then it finds (perhaps stumbles upon) its purpose… then it’s on to the next scene.

If you have a bunch of scenes created this way, you may have tanked the whole novel on this one issue of craft alone.

Scene writing is its own core competency, separate from – yet every bit as essential as – the other primary core competencies you need to manifest: 1) a conceptually-rich premise, 2) character, 3) theme, 4) structure and 5) writing voice, including dialogue and the general nature of your narrative.

That’s six core competencies (categorically) in all.

Read the full post on Kill Zone

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Quick Link: How to Fix Any Plot Hole Like a Pro

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I hate plot holes. My day job requires me to be very logical and I try not to drive everyone around me nuts with it. But no matter how much I love a story, a plot hole will keep wispering in my mind not allowing me to fully enjoy the story. What is even worse is when I write one, especially a big one!  Kaitlin Hillerich at Inks and Quills helps us to patch those plot holes up like they never even existed!

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How to Fix Any Plot Hole Like a Pro

A pot hole is like a plot hole – it disrupts the flow of the story

Kaitlin Hillerich

Once, I spent a good three hours trying to fix a plot hole involving a parrot while writing my novella, These Savage Bones.

I wish I was kidding.

There’s nothing that can make a writer want to tear their hair out quite like a plot hole. They can be hard to spot and even harder to patch up. And in the case of a particular species of parrot, which turned out to be extinct during the time period my story was set, they can make you question your sanity.

Argh, headaches for days!

Are there pesky plot holes hiding in your story right now? Let’s take a look at the different forms plot holes can take, how they can be accidentally introduced into a story, and how to rid your novel of them for good.

What is a Plot Hole?

Read the full post on Inks and Quills

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Quick Link: 5 Steps To Naming Your Characters Effectively

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Ugh, I don’t know about you but I spend waaaaay too much time messing with my characters names, more than I spent worrying about my children’s names!  Thank goodness for MS search and replace!  Writer’s Edit has a great post on finding character names that fit your genre and story. Check it out!

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5 Steps To Naming Your Characters Effectively

Names are powerful. And naming a character is not a decision to be taken lightly. It can even be more important than a character’s carefully-crafted appearance.

Good names help both writers and readers move through a story smoothly.” — Dan Schmidt

But it’s no easy task to find the right name for your character. Whether a background character,  protagonist, or even villain, these five steps will help you nail your characters’ names.

Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

1. Check your genre

Each genre has its own naming conventions, or traditions. You may have noticed them while reading, or you may need to start being aware when you next pick up a book.

While there are no rules in writing, following your genre’s naming conventions will help you when you can’t find names that are ‘right’ for your story.

In a category romance, you’re not likely to find a name like fantasy author Tolkien’s creation, ‘Galadriel’.” — Bridget McNulty

Be sure to take note of sub-genres, and remember your target audience’s age. While naming conventions can usually work across all sub-genres and ages, you may find some interesting ideas.

For example, Marissa Meyer, author of fantasy/dystopian YA series The Lunar Chronicles, named some characters from nouns, such as ‘Scarlet’, ‘Thorne’ and ‘Crescent’. Such names add an interesting balance to the unfamiliar world that the characters live in.

Read the full post on Writer’s Edit

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Quick Link: How Do You Know When To Start and End a Scene?

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How do you decide when a scene begins and ends? I just finished a story that was written well so that even though the story wasn’t the greatest, I kept having to read the next chapter because I wanted to know what happened next. That is talent. Randy Ingermanson, owner of Advanced Fiction Writing, shares his tips on how to find the best places to define a scene. What are your tips?

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How Do You Know When To Start and End a Scene?

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How do you know when to start a new scene in your story? And how do you know when to end it? What’s the reasoning you use?

Yvonne posted this question on my “Ask A Question For My Blog” page:

when writing a scene in fiction, how do you know when to move to a new scene? Time, place, pov, deleted or added characters, and what, are the reasons for a scene change?

Randy sez: This is a question that vexes most beginning writers, and rightly so, because it’s a hard question.

The key thing is to understand what a scene is, and what a scene is supposed to do.

How Scenes Work—A Review

A scene is the smallest unit of fiction. It’s a story in its own right. The ability to write excellent scenes is arguably your most important skill as a novelist. By that, I mean that if you can write great scenes, you can get away with a mediocre premise, a mediocre plot, a mediocre setting, and mediocre characters.

Read the full post on Advanced Fiction Writing

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Quick Link: Your Characters Must Earn Their Way Out of Trouble

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Today’s post is from , from Kill Zone, because I don’t like to think too much when I exercise either. I look for exciting movies that can pull me in, and away from the treadmill. However, no matter how exciting the story is, there is a point where the credulity of the audience is strained beyond what they can stand. The tolerance levels differ for everyone, but there is a breaking point. So make your protagonist earn their way, instead of providing a miracle to save them.

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Your Characters Must Earn Their Way Out of Trouble

by James Scott Bell
@jamesscottbell

My treadmill movie the other day was Fast Five.

I don’t like to think too much when I exercise.

The movie, part of the wildly successful franchise, has two opening set pieces. In the first, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) is rescued from a prison bus by his car-driving cohorts, led by Brian O’Conner (the late Paul Walker) and Dom’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). The three of them end up hiding out in Rio de Janeiro.

In the second set piece, Dom and his team set out to steal three cars off a moving train (why bother with a mere car dealership?) They need to pull this off without anybody on the train (including engineers, conductors, several DEA agents, and passengers with window seats) realizing that an off-road, tricked-out tow truck is tracking alongside as two guys use blow torches to peel off a large section of train car.

In other words, mindless fun.

Read the full post on Kill Zone

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Quick Link: The Number One Enemy Of The Writer

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What do you think the number one enemy of a writer is? I bet you will be surprised when you read Dawn Field’s pick over at Bookbaby Blog but after reading her post I am going to have to agree with her. Read it and let me know if you agree too.

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The Number One Enemy Of The Writer

by Dawn Field

Unclear thinking is an enemy of the writer, and it’s most often about being lazy and not fully imagining your story. Write with clarity of purpose, and your writing comes alive.

What is the biggest hurdle for any writer? A lack of time? The blank page? Writer’s block? Having your ideas stolen? The absence of an agent or publisher?

Probably not.

You’ll make the time if you really want to, writer’s block will pass once you fill up again on ideas, and if your ideas are worth stealing, you’ll quickly get another better one. And today, you can self-publish easier than ever.

So, could the worst thing be poor grammar or an inability to spell? What about technophobia that makes dealing with computers a nightmare? Is it a fear of business and the social-media savvy required to promote and sell books? Is it the fierce competition of the book market?

Doubtful.

If you have a great story but just need help tidying up the mechanics, hire an editor, copy-editor, or proof-reader. Heck, you can even easily hire a ghost writer these days. If you are a technophobe, write long-hand. It worked for centuries. And while selling books is great, you took on this writing gig for personal satisfaction, right? So who cares about promotion and competition?

So, what is the number one enemy of the writer? Unclear thinking.

Read the full post on Bookbaby Blog

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Quick Link: 4 Methods for Developing Any Idea Into a Great Story

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Do you have a great story idea bouncing around your head but don’t know what to do with it? If you are like me, you probably have at least 5.  , over at Jane Friedman has an excellent article on how to take those ideas and grow them into full-fledged stories!

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4 Methods for Developing Any Idea Into a Great Story

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Today’s guest post is by Elizabeth Sims (@ESimsAuthor) and is excerpted from The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, an anthology compiled by Writer’s Digest. (I’m a contributor to the anthology as well!)

A while ago I attended an inventors’ club meeting. Some of the members had already launched successful products and were working on more, while others were merely beginners with great ideas. The beginners were commiserating about how hard it is to deal with financing, raw materials, manufacturing, promotion, and all the rest, when one of the experienced inventors suddenly stood up. “Look,” he said impatiently, “ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s the development that puts you over the top. Do what you have to do to make it real and get it to market.”

I was surprised, because I’d always thought that a brilliant idea could make you a fortune. But I quickly realized my new friend was right: Idea is just the beginning.

Fiction writers have a lot in common with those inventors. It’s not hard to get inspired by a great concept, to take it to your table or toolshed or cellar and do some brainstorming, and even to start putting the story on paper—but eventually, many of us lose traction. Why? Because development doesn’t happen on its own. In fact, I’ve come to think that idea development is the number one skill an author should have.

How do great authors develop stunning narratives, break from tradition, and advance the form of their fiction? They take whatever basic ideas they’ve got, then move them away from the typical. No matter your starting point—a love story, buddy tale, mystery, quest—you can do like the great innovators do: Bend it. Amp it. Drive it. Strip it.

Read the full post on Jane Friedman

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Quick Link: Writing and Underwear: More Is Better

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This post isn’t about finding more time to write. Instead, it is about the benefits of finding different types of writing. At Indies Unlimited, Nicholas Forristal has quite the diverse writing resume and the skills that come from it.

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Writing and Underwear: More Is Better

by Nicholas Forristal

It makes sense that, with financial investments and underwear, you shouldn’t try to go through life with just one, right? This sort of logic is the direction I’ve taken with writing as well. Writing, for me, has never been about making the great American novel, or trying to be the best-selling novelist of all time. It’s been a means to an end. I like to create, and this particular craft suits me. If an opportunity comes my way, there’s very little chance I’ll say no. With that in mind, I don’t expect everyone to read this article without hesitation. After all, we all have different aspirations, and some of you out there are more driven towards specific goals. Still, you should hear me out.

Diversity in writing has a number of benefits. I don’t necessarily mean tackling different genres and styles, but that has its own merits as well. More to the point, I mean entirely different markets. Take a crack at copywriting, slogans, haiku, or comic books – anything that comes your way. Will you make money off this? Probably not. But, there’s more to it than that. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Read the full post on Indies Unlimited

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Quick Link: How To Make Your Readers Believe the Unbelievable (Or, The Importance of Facts in Fiction)

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Disney knew the importance of details in creating an over the top user experience. Colleen Oakley, guest posting at Writer Unboxed, knows that the details are important too, especially when writing. By getting your story straight, with all the facts in line, you can create a better space for the unbelievable.

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How To Make Your Readers Believe the Unbelievable (Or, The Importance of Facts in Fiction)

by Colleen Oakly

Please welcome Colleen Oakley as our guest today! Colleen’s debut novel Before I Go was a People Best New Book Pick, an Us Weekly “Must” Pick, a Publisher’s Lunch Buzz Book, a Library Journal Big Fiction Debut, and an Indie Next List Pick. Formerly the senior editor of Marie Claire and editor-in-chief of Women’s Health & Fitness, Colleen’s articles, essays, and interviews have been featured in The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Marie Claire, Women’s Health, Redbook, Parade, and Martha Stewart Weddings. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, four kids, and the world’s biggest lapdog, Bailey. Close Enough to Touch is her second novel.

People often ask me which I like better—writing articles for magazines or writing fiction, and I often say the two go hand in hand. Though fiction I’m obviously making up, I rely heavily on the research and reporting skills I honed in journalism to help guide and craft my novels. I think that surprises readers sometimes, so I’m passionate about sharing my process and the idea that the best fiction always has at least a small basis in fact.

Connect with Colleen on Facebook and Twitter.

How To Make Your Readers Believe the Unbelievable (Or, The Importance of Facts in Fiction)

Like most writers, I’ve always loved telling stories—the more outrageous, the better. As early as preschool, I remember making up the craziest things about my day to share with my mom when she would pick me up. Like the time I told her that the gingerbread man who I had been convinced lived in the little plastic house on the playground finally came out of hiding and chased us all around. Or the time I plucked a clover to bring home and when she asked about it, I told her the entire class had taken a field trip to a greenhouse and we got to pick out anything we wanted.

Read the full post on Writer Unboxed

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Quick Link: Why Do Readers Stop Reading?

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What stops you from finishing a book? If you ever wondered why people have dropped your story, wonder no more! Head over to Writers Helping Writers to find out Becca Puglisi thoughts on why she gives up on a story and what you can do to stop this from happening to your title.

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Why Do Readers Stop Reading?

by BECCA PUGLISI

Happy Saturday, everyone! I’m a little swamped right now, so instead of our usual thesaurus entry, I’m reposting an old favorite. It’s the first in a series of posts that explore different reasons why I stopped reading certain books. This is really helpful information for us to know as authors so we don’t make the same mistakes in our own books. 

I like keeping lists. And I like books. So I guess it makes sense that I have a lot of book lists. Books To Read, Books I’ve Finished, Books I Want to Buy, and possibly the most informative one: Books I Didn’t Finish. As a reader, it happens quite frequently that I’ll start a book, and for whatever reason, my attention wanes and I end up putting it down unfinished. As a writer, I want to know why this happens so I can avoid making the same mistakes in my own stories. The reasons behind a book’s failure to grab my attention are varied. Some of them I see often in books I read; some offenses I’m guilty of committing myself. Because of this, I figured I’d share what I’ve learned so we can all try not to replicate these errors in our stories.

For this first installment, I’m pulling from a book I was really looking forward to reading…well, let’s just call it Book A (I’m a positive person, and since this isn’t a review, the title doesn’t matter). Regardless, this book was historical fiction—one of my favorite genres that I find in short supply—and a retelling of an old myth. The cover was gorgeous and the back copy contained an accurate summary of the story. The writing itself was strong, the descriptions evocative. So what killed it for me?

Read the full post on Writers Helping Writers

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Quick Link: How I Wrote Two Full-Length Novels in 18 Months

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Over at Lifehacker Nicole Dieker, who is obviously not a pantser, shares how she was able to successfully write two novels in 18 months.  She has some great tips for you to check out and see if anything is useful to you.

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How I Wrote Two Full-Length Novels in 18 Months

by Nicole Dieker

My debut novel, The Biographies of Ordinary People: Volume 1: 1989–2000, releases on May 23, 2017. The sequel, which covers the years 2004–2016, is scheduled to release in the first half of 2018.

I wrote the first chapter of Vol. 1 during the last week of July 2015. I wrote the last chapter of Vol. 2 during the last week of December 2016. Two full-length novels—roughly 90,000 words each—drafted over eighteen months, plus I was revising Vol. 1 while I was drafting Vol. 2.

If you’ve dreamed of writing your own novel(s) but haven’t yet written anything besides the first two chapters—and trust me, I’ve been there—you’re probably wondering how I got it all done, in addition to my everyday workload and all of the other stuff that goes into a life.

Some of it has to do with experience. I was able to write The Biographies of Ordinary People in part because I had already written hundreds of blog posts, online articles, and short fiction.

But a lot of it came down to structure and planning.

Read the full post on Lifehacker

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Quick Link: Tracking Your Progress While Outlining and Revising

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I am a loud and proud pantser, but after reading the post by over at Pub Crawl, I may just have to think my approach. She shares her very adaptable process on how she keeps herself on track and her revisions clear. What tips do you have to keep your writing organized?

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Tracking Your Progress While Outlining and Revising

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Hi all! Julie here. Recently I blogged about How to Finish Your Book, focusing on tips on how to get to The End when writing a first draft. In the comments, I was asked a great question about tracking progress during the outlining and revising stages of the writing process.

The reason I think this is such a great question is because tracking outlining and revising is definitely trickier than tracking drafting. When getting a draft down on paper, for the most part, a daily wordcount goal is all you need. But if you (like me) are obsessed with measuring and tracking your progress, you’re going to want to track everything. Things get a little more subtle and nuanced when you are in the pre-writing and outlining stage, and again at the end of the draft when you enter the revising stage, so setting up a system to track your progress definitely requires more flexibility and reflection when setting goals and expectations.

Once I have an idea for a story, I start creating the story world and brainstorming plot points. For the earliest stages of this process, I find it difficult to set hard deadlines because I feel the idea needs to breathe and grow organically. Eventually, as things take shape, I start adding structure to my tasks.

I generally work on the world first. In the beginning, I might have a single world-building document that explains the world in broad strokes. But as the story world takes shape, specific questions arise, such as “What is the political history of these two nations?” or “How are spiritual leaders chosen?” As I identify these questions, I set a goal to create a document addressing each one.

Read the full post on Pub Crawl

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Quick Link: Character Motivation Entry: Gaining Fulfillment By Giving Back

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Character Motivation Entry: Gaining Fulfillment By Giving Back

by ANGELA ACKERMAN

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is written well, readers will identify fairly quickly what the overall story goal’s going to be and they’ll know what to root for. But how do you know what outer motivation to choose?

If you read enough books, you’ll see the same goals being used for different characters in new scenarios. Through this thesaurus, we’d like to explore these common outer motivations so you can see your options and what those goals might look like on a deeper level.

Character’s Goal (Outer Motivation): Gaining Fulfillment By Giving Back

Forms This Might Take:

Read the full post on Writers Helping Writers

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