Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Links of Interest


ONE WAY TO OUTLINE YOUR NOVEL:



CROOKED PUBLISHER WARNING (ICONIC PUBLISHING, JONQUIL PRESS, RED LIZARD PRESS):  



WHY A VILLAIN IS LIKE A HERO:



MAINTAINING YOUR SETTING THROUGHOUT THE STORY:



YET MORE PUBLISHER WARNINGS, MAINLY SMALL PRESS:



UNDERSTANDING ROYALTY STATEMENTS:



MARKETS, SHORT STORY AND NOVEL:



WHY THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS ARE SO IMPORTANT AND HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK TO ATTRACT READERS, ETC.



DOES YOUR STORY NEED A PROLOGUE?



STRUCTURING A GREAT CLIMAX:



USING SMALL OR COMMON CHARACTER ACTIONS TO DEEPEN CHARACTER:

Monday, August 26, 2013

The Cast of Thousands Syndrome


Have you ever been at a party or professional event where you have met a small group of the attendees some time back so you barely remember them, and there are dozens of other people attending as well?

You stood there with a glazed look in your eyes as you struggled to remember the names and relationships of the people you've already met while even more people are introduced to you, and you have to figure out how these people fit in with the first group.

A nightmare, wasn't it?

Yet many writers forget how hard it is to keep up with characters in a novel. They insist on starting the novel with a group scene in which all the heroine's coworkers are introduced. Each character enters the scene, does a little song and dance so you have some idea of who they are, then the next one enters and does the same thing. By the fourth or fifth character, the reader is in shell shock if she's still reading.

Then, the novel opens up, and even more characters are introduced.

Other writers of series, particularly paranormal romance series, have an ongoing group of characters--usually the happily married heroes and heroines of past novels who have to have a cameo or minor role--as well as the new hero and heroine to include with their short term bad guys and minor characters, but, wait, the author really wants you to meet the half a dozen new hunks waiting for their own novels, heroines, and happily-ever-after as well as the bad guys waiting in the wings for their comeuppance.

Some readers can keep up with all these people, but most of us can't. Many of us reach a point where there's so much character clutter we can't connect with the major characters and the main plot so we close the book and vow never to read another of them.

How do you escape this cast of thousands syndrome?

First, you must realize that while you spend many months with these characters and know them very well, the reader won't.

Keep the introductions to a very few at a time. Secondary characters should only be introduced when they are needed in the plot. Those officemates of the heroine may play big parts in later books, but only the wacky receptionist who will introduce the heroine to her new love interest and play clumsy matchmaker will be needed in this book so only she should be introduced.

As great as the other characters are and no matter how eager you are to introduce them, don't.

If you have characters from other books, don't bring them back unless they serve a specific plot purpose.

If you have new characters for the next book in the series, don't put them in unless they serve a very specific plot purpose.

If you are lucky enough to have readers wanting to know how Lance and Patty from your first book are doing and whether their baby has been born, you can write a short story or novella about them as a freebie on your website. Fans love that.

Many of us don't love the author tossing these former characters into the current novel with no other reason than to please a few fans.



Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Links of Interest


THE PROBLEMS OF A SECOND BOOK IN A SERIES OR TRILOGY:



ACTIVITIES FOR THE RELUCTANT PROMOTER:



HOW TO PROOF YOUR BOOK LIKE A PRO:



THE SEVEN STEPS OF PROOF READING:



USING CLIFFHANGERS FAIRLY IN YOUNG ADULT FICTION:



CREATING THE PERFECT PEN NAME:



15 PLACES TO PROMOTE YOUR BOOK FOR FREE:



SCREENWRITER’S SCHOLARSHIP:




MIDDLE GRADE WRITING ADVICE:



23 AGENT QUERIES THAT WORKED:



TEN THINGS NEWER WRITERS SHOULD KNOW:



22 RULES OF STORYTELLING:



YET ANOTHER WARNING ABOUT WHY YOU SHOULDN’T WRITE FOR SUVUDU UNIVERSE:



5 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS YOU SHOULD KNOW IF YOU BLOG:



10 WAYS PLOT STRUCTURE INFLUENCES CHARACTER ARCS:



HOW TO AVOID INFO DUMPING:




Monday, August 19, 2013

Characters' Emotional Reaction in Action Scenes


The viewpoint character's emotions and senses must be as much at play in a fight or action scene as his body and weapons. 

I make a special effort to include all the senses in my descriptions. What does he hear? See? Smell? Taste? Feel?

How do he react to killing someone? The death of a friend?

Adding emotion isn't an either/or situation. It's just as vital to add emotional layers to the physical action as it is to have brief moments of introspection when the battle isn't going on.

Characterization also isn't just introspection. It's characters interacting with each other and revealing themselves in bits and pieces.

Your band of adventurers may not sit around "sharing their feelings" in touchie-feelie moments like a Dr. Phil show, but they've been around each other enough to know that one hates the bad guys because they murdered his wife and kids, and he's liable to attack without thought and ruin their surprise attack.

He may be clutching the sword at his side, his other hand opening and closing in nervous energy, and another adventurer may warn him to relax and may mention the wife and kiddies.

The image of his wife's raped and brutalized body could flash through his mind, and he fights his raw anger and lust to kill. That won't slow the action down like having a long interior flashback of him finding his family's bodies, and his vow of revenge. Instead, it adds to the excitement of the coming action because the reader now questions whether this guy will lose his cool and get everyone killed.

An even better way to present this information is to put it in an earlier scene that isn't action intensive so the reader will know the details and will only need a slight reminder of this character's motivation and tendency to attack without thought.

Remember, though, that a character's emotions are meant to increase the intensity of the scene, not slow it down or mar its pacing.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Links of Interest


DEVELOPING A STRONG THIRD PERSON VOICE:



FORMATTING TIPS FOR PUBLISHING PAPER AND EBOOKS, (CHECK OUT THIS SITE IF YOU ARE GOING TO SELF-PUB):



SIMPLE STEPS TO CREATE A FACEBOOK PAGE:



KEY WAYS TO ADD LAYERS TO YOUR WRITER VOICE:



PUBLISHING AUCTIONS:



BEING BOTH A SELF-PUBLISHED AND TRADITIONAL PUBLISHED AUTHOR:



HOW TO CHOOSE A LITERARY EXECUTOR:



WARNING ABOUT A GROUP OF PUBLISHER AND SELF-PUB SERVICES:



TIPS ON WRITING A SERIES:



A REALLY GOOD ARTICLE ON PUTTING IN BACKSTORY:



USEFUL LINKS FOR YOUNG ADULT AUTHORS:



WHY YOU SHOULD TRUST YOUR INTUITION AS A WRITER:



GROUPS TO HELP SELF-PUBBED AUTHORS PROMOTE:



USING GOODREADS TO IMPROVE  YOUR PLATFORM:



DESIGNING YOUR EBOOK:



BOOK REVIEWERS OF NEW ADULT, YOUNG ADULT, AND MIDDLE SCHOOL BOOKS:



STRATEGIC WAYS TO GIVE AWAY BOOKS:



WRITING BATTLE STRATEGY IN FICTION:



LIST O’ LINKS OF EXCELLENT WRITING TECHNIQUE RESOURCES:



Monday, August 12, 2013

Pace and Characterization


Action and a fast pace doesn't preclude emotion, and a story can't be all hack and slash.

Years ago, when the INDIANA JONES movies were so wildly popular, a publisher created an action book series with the pace of the opening scene of the original INDIANA JONES where disaster builds upon disaster upon disaster with no real stopping for breath.

I read the first book, and it was bloody awful because the action became boring and silly at such a lunatic pace, and there was so little personality to the main character or any of the other characters I didn't give a damn one way or the other what happened.

EXAMPLE: A bear chases the hero up a tree, he thinks the tree is safe, but it's rotten, and the bear begins to shove it over, the tree lands in the river, but it's infested with alligators, and there are bad guys on the other side of the river, and a bear on this side. He out swims the gators to a bridge and begins to climb up a vine growing up its side, but, ooops, there's a large poisonous snake right above him, and....

Needless to say, that series vanished without a trace after a few books.

Pace isn’t just violent act after violent act, or the characters moving from one place to another. It’s mixing characterization and elements that move the emotional and action plot forward. It’s giving the reader continual questions about the characters and what’s happening and answering a few of those questions as you move along.

It’s having a quiet moment of introspection or a brief comic moment in the heat of a long battle that reminds the reader why they’re reading the story or why they like these characters.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Links of Interest


WHAT PAGES AN AUTHOR WEBSITE NEEDS:



CREATING A STRONG ANTAGONIST:



LETTING YOUR CHARACTERS GO:



WHAT A SUBMISSION SHOULD SHOW AN AGENT OR EDITOR:



USING ENSEMBLES (LOTS OF DIFFERENT CHARACTERS):



MARKETING, AUTHORS AND READER COMMUNITIES:



AN OPTION FOR AUDIO BOOKS IF YOU ARE SELF-PUBLISHED:



BACK COVER BLURBS ANALYZED:



THE BEST PLACES TO PUT DESCRIPTION:



WRITER TRICKS ABOUT THE PROCESS OF WRITING, (POTTY MOUTH ALERT), (READ THE COMMENTS FOR EVEN MORE USEFUL TRICKS):



SEVEN REASONS TO BE ON TWITTER:



WHAT DEPTH ISN’T:



TIPS FOR LEARNING YOUR CHARACTERS:



TIPS ABOUT WRITING:



USING EMOTION TO CREATE DRAMA:



CREATING KEYWORDS AND CATEGORIES FOR A KINDLE BOOK:



USING METADATA TO SELL BOOKS:



PROMOTION GROUPS FOR SELF-PUBS:



USING A TIMELINE WHILE PLOTTING YOUR NOVEL:



HOW TO BUILD A FAN BASE:



THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING OUR AUDIENCE AND OUR GENRE:



BOOK BUYER PERCENTAGES ACCORDING TO NEW BOWKER STUDY:



CREATING A VISCERAL RESPONSE IN YOUR POV CHARACTER:



GIVING YOUR WRITING PIZZAZ:



USING WATTPAD TO BUILD AN AUDIENCE (NOT SURE THIS IS A GOOD IDEA):