Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Links of Interest

IS KINDLE DIGITAL PUBLISHING RIGHT FOR YOU?


CREATING A SUCCESSFUL TITLE FOR YOUR BOOK:


TIME MARKERS TO HELP YOUR READER KEEP UP WITH TIME PASSAGE:


PRIMER ON FACEBOOK AUTHOR PAGES:


CREATING WELL-DEVELOPED CHARACTERS:


A LOOK AT BOOK SALE NUMBERS AND ROYALTIES:


WORKING WITH SUBTEXT:


SAMHAIN WILL NOT CLOSE AFTER ALL:


CONTRACTS, FIVE TERMS EVERY AUTHOR SHOULD KNOW:


A BLOGGER WILL:


CREATING COMPLEX SUPPORTING CHARACTERS:


MISPLACED MODIFIERS:


THE PROBLEM WITH FIRST PERSON NARRATIVE:


IS MIXING VIEWPOINT TYPES A GOOD IDEA?


STARTING OFF WITH A BANG:


WORLDBUILDING TOOLS:


A GUIDE TO GENRES:


HOW TO TIGHTEN YOUR WRITING:


SELF-PUBS, WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ISBNs:


THE CONFLICTED PROTAG:


THE FOUR ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF YOUR FIRST FIVE PAGES:



Monday, June 27, 2016

The Reader and Writer Agreement

Any form of fiction is an agreement between the writer and the reader. The writer says, “I will tell you a story, and you will believe it while you are reading it.”

The reader agrees that, as long as the story remains true to its own telling and is interesting, he will keep reading and believe what he is reading. This is often called suspension of disbelief.

The writer can create the most bizarre rules imaginable for the way his world works and have creatures that aren't possible in the real world, but there are two rules he can't break.


He must have his humans behave as humans do, and he must not break his own rules. To do either ruins the story and destroys that suspension of disbelief.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Links of Interest

EDITING SOMEONE ELSE’S BOOK:


SELF-PUBBING USING APPLE:


FORMATTING WITH SCRIVENER:


BUILDING YOUR AUDIENCE FOR YOUR NEWSLETTER:


DEALING WITH PACING PROBLEMS:


HOW AMAZON IS DESTROYING AUTHORS’ CAREERS:




USING CONTRAST TO CREATE STRONGER DESCRIPTIONS:


THE FIRST TURNING POINT IN YOUR NOVEL:


CREATING PLOT TWISTS:


USING THE ANTAGONIST TO CREATE YOUR PLOT:


4 KEYS TO GREAT DIALOGUE:


DEALING WITH HARSH COMMENTS ON  YOUR BLOG/WEBSITE:


CHARACTER GROUP DYNAMICS:


HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK ON AMAZON:


CREATING WELL-DEVELOPED CHARACTERS:


PUSHING THE PLOT FORWARD:


WHY FREE IS STILL A SMART MARKETING STRATEGY:


GETTING MORE BOOKBUB FOLLOWERS:


THE HERO EMBODIES THE THEME:


ADDING BACKSTORY INTO YOUR NOVEL:


PLUGINS FOR WORDPRESS BLOGS:


WRITING THE ANTIHERO (PODCAST):


WHY YOU NEED A SPECIFIC KIND OF LAWYER TO REVIEW YOUR BOOK CONTRACT:


IS YOUR WEBSITE MOBILE FRIENDLY?


EVALUATING A TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER:


HOW A MINOR CHARACTER CAN BECOME VERY IMPORTANT WITH SOME THOUGHT TO BACKSTORY:


THE BEST PRINT ON DEMAND SERVICE FOR SELF-PUBS?



Monday, June 20, 2016

A Very Vampire Christmas

With the traditional vampire, writers knew vampires’ relationship to Christianity.  Crosses and Holy Water made them shriek and back away because vampires were demonic evil.  

These days, that’s not necessarily true.  In Tanya Huff’s series about vampire Henry Fitzroy, he pals around with priests, carries a crucifix, and is the most religious of all the characters because he has seen true evil and wants to protect others from it.  

Charlaine Harris’ Stookie Stackhouse stories tossed in a bit of religion, mainly Stookie’s, in with the vampires and werewolves.  One of Harris’ short stories shares the name with this article as Viking vampire Eric tries to figure out Christmas so he can please his human girl friend.

Fictional monsters come in all shapes and kinds these days with a moral spectrum from light to dark and everywhere in between as it fits the story and the genre, and readers and writers are fine with that.

Then there’s stories based on the Greek and Norse mythologies.  Here’s where things have been getting weird with some writers.  Most of the Greek myth-based stories I’ve read have ignored Christianity and focused on the secular aspects of the characters. 

Or, in the case of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, people go to the afterlife they believe in.

However, some writers using the Norse stories have been making some strange choices.  I just finished a contemporary paranormal story where Norse gods were Catholic and celebrated Christmas!  

Then there’s a story where every warrior or strong soul, no matter their religion or ethnicity, are taken to Valhalla when they die so they can fight at Ragnorak which is the Norse Apocalypse.  This essentially denies the truth of any other religion.  

Does this mixing or ignoring of the most prominent current religions work?  Not for me because it was so shocking that it knocked me out of the story.  Your tolerance may vary.  


But it does pose a serious question you should ask in your worldbuilding.  How does contemporary religion and readers’ faith affect your story?  

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Links of Interest

CLARIFYING YOUR PROSE:


DEALING WITH REPETITIVE STRESS INJURIES AS A WRITER:


MORE ON THE EVIL THAT IS THE NON-COMPETE CLAUSE:


WHAT SELF-PUBS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING THEIR BOOKS INTO BOOKSTORES:


PROMO STRATEGY, CREATING A PRE-LAUNCH TEAM:


USING BOOKBUB TO BOOST SELF-PUB SALES:


WHY WRITERS SHOULD REALLY READ FACEBOOKS TERMS OF SERVICE:


MAKING THE READER AND THE HERO CONNECT:


FLESHING OUT FLAT CHARACTERS:


NEWSLETTER TIPS:


A GUN OR KNIFE UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL?


WRITING THAT SCARY SCENE:


QUESTIONS YOU MUST ASK YOURSELF IS YOU WRITE URBAN FANTASY:


WHY COINCIDENCE DOESN’T WORK:


DESIGNING YOUR AUTHOR BRAND:


CREATING A BOOK TRAILER:


WRITING AN INTERESTING VILLAIN:


PREMISE AND THE ONE-SENTENCE STORY CONCEPT:


THE INTELLECTUAL AND THE EMOTIONAL HOOK OF YOUR STORY:


EXPOSITION, SOMETIMES TELLING IS OKAY:


THE USE OF SUBTEXT IN  YOUR FICTION:


FINDING A WRITING COMMUNITY:


GOOD EXAMPLES OF BOOK ADS:


EBOOK TRACKING LINKS WITHIN YOUR BOOK:



Monday, June 13, 2016

The Book BIble

I found the book bible for my first novel last week, and it reminded me of how useful one is to have.

A book bible is a paper or digital file that contains all the information collected before, during, and after the book is written.  

Most mentions of a book bible come from authors writing a series, but one is pretty darn useful for a standalone novel.

In POWER’s book bible, I had drawings of the layout of the hero’s house complete with where all the secret hallways, trapdoors, etc., were located.  The compass points were used so I wouldn’t have someone in a bedroom watching the setting sun when the bedroom faced east.  The outside of the house and grounds had their own map.

The horses two characters ride at the beginning have their descriptions and names listed.

Because the main character has a cousin and a brother involved in the plot, I did a family tree.  

Research sources were listed with Dewey decimal numbers and the library or the personal bookshelf where they were.  (This was pre-Internet.)  For later books, I created a file specific to the book in my browser's bookmarks.

I did drawings and descriptions of some of the magical memorabilia in the house, and I listed tricks I could use in various scenes.  

One page was nothing but names I could use for random characters.  Each name was dissimilar from the main characters so readers wouldn’t be confused by a similar sounding or spelled name.  I also picked names that were common in the area where the novel was set.  

Every character had their description, etc., with other details.  If I “cast” the character as an actor I’m familiar with, I’d write that down, too, so I’d be able to hear the correct voice in my head when I wrote dialogue for a character who had been elsewhere for a lot of pages.

I started the novel with most of my info in the bible on the major characters, but I added info for them and others as I created it.  

I usually added things to the bible after I finished writing for the day, or I’d go back over it before I started writing so I wouldn’t lose my writing rhythm.  

Another handy page or two to have, particularly if your book is a fantasy, is a word bible.  Each character’s name, made-up words with a brief definition, place names, and unusual capitalizations are listed.  When your book is edited, this list will keep the copy editor from hassling you about words that may appear to be misspelled.   

Some pages were there for thinking through various plot points, considering possible scenes later in the novel, and general mental doodling.  

All this may appear to be a lot of extra work, but it will be worth it for rewrites, etc., and, maybe, that standalone may turn into a series, and the bible will be worth its weight in gold for the time saved.  

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Links of Interest

BOOK DISCOVERY SERVICES LIKE BOOKBUB COMPARED:


SUCCESSFUL USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA:


CREATING BELIEVABLE PLOTS AND SUBPLOTS:


YOUR READER RETENTION PLAN, PART 4:


AVOIDING BORING SETTING DESCRIPTION:


DATA ON EBOOK SALES, THE NEWEST AUTHOR EARNING REPORT:


CHOOSING THE RIGHT BOOK COVER:


IN DEFENSE OF CLICHES:


TIPS FOR USING INSTRAGRAM:


FIGURING OUT CHARACTER GOALS:


BETTER PLOTS THROUGH MANIPULATING YOUR READER:


SELF PUBS, USING LOCAL LIBRARIES FOR PROMO:


SHOWING CHARACTER THOUGHTS:


HOW PUBLISHING HELPERS LIKE BOOKTROPE CAN TAKE YOUR MONEY:


PROMO FALLACIES:


INSTAGRAM IS CHANGING THE WAY WE SELL BOOKS:


BULKING UP A CHARACTER:


ONLINE EBOOK CONVERSION TOOLS:


WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA SELLS MORE BOOKS?


CREATING A MEDIA KIT:


USING WORDPRESS TO BUILD AN AUTHOR SITE:


PLOT AND CHARACTER ARCS WORKING TOGETHER:


BRINGING SETTING TO LIFE:


IS THIS IDEA WORTH A NOVEL?


WRITING A SEQUEL THAT WORKS:


HINTS ON USING TWITTER, FACEBOOK, ETC.:


DEVELOPING A GOOD STORY/PLOT:


THE SCOURGE THAT IS THE MISPLACED MODIFIER:


HOW TO DRAW FROM A SIDE HOLSTER:


WHOSE STORY IS IT?


WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE FIRST DRAFT:


STARTING YOUR BOOK IN THE RIGHT PLACE:


HOW CONFLICT SHOULD DRIVE YOUR STORY: