Guest Post by Evelyn Robinson

Hello everyone,

Today, I have a guest post from Evelyn Robinson. She contacted me about wanting to add some content to my blog, and I think what she came up with is pretty interesting. Let me know what you think below, and thank you Evelyn!


From Notes Into Novels – How To Get Your Creativity Working

Every aspiring writer dreads the inevitable bout of writer's block, but don't despair. There are ways to get your creativity flowing again, and none of them involve staring at your laptop screen and quietly weeping.

Why not give one of these tips a try?

Use technology

One of the best ways to come up with ideas is to be out and about. After all, who hasn't had a brilliant idea in the middle of queuing for coffee? However, you risk looking pretentious by pulling out a pen and paper wherever you go. Think about getting a Dictaphone so you can record a little message to yourself, or even make notes while driving. If you have an iPhone, then you don't even need to invest in new technology, there are plenty of apps to help you with taking down ideas on the move. From the basic voice recorder and notes programs that are already installed on your phone, to more advanced apps such as N+OTES. This allows you to keep different folders with different projects in, and even flip through the pages, perfect for those who are slightly scatterbrained and need to organise their ideas. If you're the kind of person that finds it easier to vocalise your ideas than to write them, software like Dragon Dictation can help. You speak into your iPhone and your words appear on screen. Perfect for those who are getting tired of typing.

Make a schedule

Unless you're a best-selling author already, you will probably have a day job and a million other commitments to think about. Unfortunately, all these activities going on in your brain tend to melt into one, leaving your creative brain sadly neglected. By scheduling time away from work, family and other distractions, you are making a serious commitment to writing, and hopefully this will encourage you to sit down and get some words out. When it comes to your scheduled time, you may not feel hugely motivated, but you should get some kind of words onto the screen. Even if it's just Freewriting, at least you've done something, and it'll warm up your brain, getting it used to writing at a certain time. See it kind of like a part-time job. Between certain hours you can't see family, do housework or go out because you're at 'work'.

Collaborate

There's nothing like talking to a fellow writer to develop some creative ideas. If you don't have a creative writers group in your local area, then just grab a lit-loving buddy and discuss your work over a few espressos. Not only can you gauge people's reactions to your ideas, but they might be able to find a new angle that you hadn't thought of before. In return, hearing about their work can be both inspiring and motivating to you. You can even make writing buddies online. Use Google Docs to upload your work, and you can both make real time changes while having an online discussion.

Get some exercise

Not just the physical kind either, although that can get your brain working too. Writing exercises are often taught in creative writing degrees, and they are simple, fun ways to kick your imagination into gear. For example, taking a random list of words and giving yourself ten minutes to write a short story about them. Yes, the results will probably be surreal, but the important thing here is to get yourself writing.

NaNoWriMo and beyond

Many writers enjoy the motivation that participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) can bring. You sign up and pledge to write 50,000 words in 30 days, the length of a short novel. With support tools and forums on the site, it can be a useful exercise, but don't feel that you need to wait for it to come around in November. All you really need to do is set yourself targets for every day, whether it's a certain word count, a couple of pages or an entire chapter. If you can get friends to join you in this challenge, then even better.

The best way to overcome writer's block is to relax. Learn the difference between being motivated and being hard on yourself. Nobody can be creative every day of their lives, so sometimes taking a break and looking through your work when you're refreshed is the best option of all.

Best Speech Ever....

Hello everyone,

I have a lot of books to review, and they should be coming soon (thanks for your patience)! But in the mean time, I thought I'd share something amazing I saw, a commencement speech by Neil Gaiman. Let me know what you all think, and it's worth every second of the 19 minutes and 55 seconds to me.

Happy reading and writing, y'all!

Damyanti Interview!!!

Hi, everyone!!!

 Two things: 1, I've contacted the winner of Glittering Ashes from The Book Rat giveaway. (Huge thanks to Misty for having me!) So hopefully I'll hear from her soon so that I can get the book to her :)

2: Today, I'm lucky enough to have Damyanti on my blog. I interviewed her some great writing questions, and she gave me some great answers! I know you guys will like it, and Damyanti said she'd be around to answer any questions you might have. So comment away! (Her answers are in purple :) )

1. When did you first get bit by the writing bug? Was there a particular work that inspired you to want to write?

For as long as I remember, I've always made up stories in my head. I never had the courage to write them down...I battled low self-esteem for the longest time in my life, and it took me decades before I could give myself permission to write. I started writing seriously about three years ago.

Every writer I've read till date has inspired me to write, it is just that I did not have the courage to work on that inspiration.

2. What made you choose to write short stories? (I know you mentioned doing it for a challenge last April, but I thought it'd be nice to explain it briefly for people unfamiliar with your book)

Again, I would say lack of courage. I was, and still am, afraid of the amount of time and sustained effort needed to write a novel. I'm convinced I don't have it in me, I'm not good enough. (I don't know if it is wise to admit that, but it is the truth.)

It has sometimes taken me an year to write a short story, so I've been terrified of attempting a novel. Other than that, I find that in short stories I can create an entire universe in a few thousand words, and get my point across: the moment of epiphany, or the ironies in our everyday existence, whatever. I'm now working on a novel (two, actually, but the other is dormant right now). But I'm still more comfortable writing short shorts, like in  A to Z stories of Life and Death, or longer short stories, some of which have found publication in print anthologies.

A to Z Stories was born during the A to Z Challenge created by Arlee Bird and supported by a few other awesome writer-bloggers. I wrote 26 short shorts in the 26 days of April 2011, and on the suggestion of a few of the regular readers, I decided to edit/ rewrite them into a book.

3. How do you get down the words? Pen and paper? Word? Specific writing programs?

I'm a big pen-and-paper fan. I start most first drafts that way, then move to Word on my Mac, then back to pen and paper to write through any knots. I'm thinking of getting Scrivener for my novel(s) because I have a feeling it would help me keep track of different things.

4. Do you try to write during a certain time of day? If so, what time? When do you feel the most inspired?

I write in the mornings---I call it my daily practice. But other than that I write pretty much any time of the day I can wrestle my monkey mind into submission long enough for me to write a scene, or a piece of flash fiction.

5. Do you have another project in the works? Is it a short story collection? A novel? What genre does it fit in?

I'm right now working on a literary short story collection for which I plan to seek traditional publication. My novel WIP is a sort of literary mystery thriller. Of course I keep writing pieces of flash fiction, here and there, hoping they will be part of the next A to Z e-book.

6. What is the best writing advice you've ever received?

It was given to me long ago, by my father. He said: write something everyday, even if it is a grocery list. I've never regretted following it.

7. How would you encourage a would-be writer who's scared to get started?

I would say what someone said to me:
1. A first draft does not need to be perfect.
2. You wouldn't know if you can be a writer if you don't write, so go ahead and give it a try.
3. You'll write crap in the beginning, but that's fine because the crap needs to clear out before the good stuff begins.

8. What has been the best part of deciding to self-publish?

Meeting other writers and book-lovers (like you, Kelley!), and becoming friends with them. This book has brought me more love and friendship than all my three years of blogging, and I feel blessed. 

Another aspect has been the learning curve...and considering I decided to e-publish in order to learn what it is all about, I can declare my experiment successful.

9. What has been the hardest part of deciding to self-publish?

The hardest part would have been the formatting. But it wasn't, because my tech-whiz husband stepped in and formatted the book well enough to get it on the Premium list on Smashwords at the first go, and also on Amazon without a hitch.

10. Are you planning to continue to self-publish in the future or try the traditional publishing route? Or both? And why?

I'll try both.

I've been traditionally published before, and see no reason not to try and get publication that way.

Self-publishing would always be e-books for me, because that is a great way to get to know more people, and get my work out there.

I don't understand the obsession writers have with getting published, first and foremost, regardless of their quality of writing.

To me, the most important thing is to keep writing, improve my craft,  and keep submitting for publication. A writer writes, and then hopes for publication: each rejection is a spur to write more and write better. After all, an established writer is no different from an unpublished one (at least in one aspect) : both aspire to write better and reach a bigger audience every day.

Just want to take a minute to thank you, Kelley. It means a lot that you stepped in to interview me, and spent so much time in drafting such detailed questions. I've tried to be as honest and helpful in my answers as I can. Thanks also to each and every reader of this post. If you have comments or questions, I'm here to answer them.
 

Her Bio:

Writer Bio: Damyanti lives more in her head than in this world, adores her husband, and loves her pet fish and plants. She is an established writer for magazines and journals. Her short fiction has been published in the Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Muse India and in print anthologies by Marshall Cavendish, Monsoon Books, and MPH publications. Her book, A to Z Stories of Life and Death, is available for download Kindle Smashwords Nook and Diesel.

Her GORGEOUS cover :)

Where to find her:

Twitter: damyantig

Website: http://amloki.com

Blog: http://damyantiwrites.wordpress.com

 HUGE thanks to Damyanti for taking the time to stop by my blog! I really appreciate it! You guys should definitely check out her book, if only because I love her cover :)

Now, I feel like I haven't gotten a chance to talk to everyone in forever (because it's kind of true), so let me know below how you're doing and what you've been blogging about WHILE you say hi to Damyanti, that is. :)

Now to leave you with a song to write by, "Work Out" by J. Cole, because I get excited when this comes on the radio these days. Do you?

Happy reading and writing, and have an awesome possum weekend!!!

Writtle me your writing tools

Hi, everyone! Here's another fun fact about me, if I don't get up at the crack of dawn, I feel and am pretty worthless for the rest of the day. Today (and yesterday) are some of those days. I'm in zombie mode. I couldn't even read yesterday. Like I said, I was acting wooorthless. Lol. But, I couldn't stay away from the blog and all you awesome bloggy friends for a second day, so here I am.

The other day, I got to turn the tables and ask you all to give three fun facts about yourself, and I loved the turnout and the answers (thanks, everyone!). Today, I want to do something similar but with a writing focus. I want to talk about everyone's writing process.

When I write, I normally get struck with an idea, and I write it down immediately in the "brain book," where I keep everything from tshirt ideas I come up with, my poetry, my lyrics, titles of cool songs I like, phrases, quotes from people, doodles, you name it. From there, I normally sit on the idea for a while (not literally), and then when I can't take not having worked on it anymore, I use one of several tools:

I use an Alphasmart 3000 (LOVE it's portability. Less pressure to get out words, and for some reason, I write a heck of a lot better with it…hmm…)--> main tool now btw

Or, I used Q10 on my baby laptop, also known as a netbook, an Asus EEE 1005HA (click for pic), I believe. It's also pink, in case you were interested.

Or, if I'm feeling funny, I'll use Write or Die, but I haven't in a while. Ironically, I stopped using it when I bought my own copy of the program that I could use offline. I'm funny like that apparently.

I edit by pasting everything in good old Word OR Open OfficeWriter, depending on if I'm using my good old oldie laptop (Toshi) or my newer netbook (respectably).

Woo, I think that's everything. So I go from pen to alphasmart, Q10 (which I love for the keyboard noises and for it's being free), or Write or Die, and I edit with a traditional Word or Word like (but free)program.

Thereby, technically everything I use to write (program wise) could be used/gotten for free. I love that.

Now it's your turn, how to get the idea down AND THEN, what do you use to turn that idea into a full manuscript (tool wise)? Let me know below. I live off hearing how other people do things :)

P.S. I've linked all the titles of programs I've used to the sites where you can get them, just in case you were at all interested! :)

Now to leave you with a song to write by, "Circle the Drain" by Katy Perry. I HEART this song. I really do. It sounds 80s rocker to me, and if you haven't heard it, don't just write it off because it's a Katy Perry song. I'm almost always against her radio stuff, but I love her album stuff something crazy. (or I liked the radio stuff until it gets played out on the radio, rather).

Oh, and in case you were really curious, I wrote Glittering Ashes by first writing down the idea (of the whoooole series well into the future), wrote it using Q10, and edited using Word and Open Office Writer.

Writing Goals: Bee's Knees or Puh-lease...

Today, I want to talk about writing goals.

Do you have them?                                                                                                 

Do you LIVE by them?

Or, do you prefer to write when you feel inspired (by your muse or otherwise)?

Writers deal with extreme guilt complexes (me included, and many others from what I've seen). Writers set lofty goals, normally in the form of daily goals, and then, if the goal isn't reached, the writers hang their head in shame, falling down a spiral where even more writing doesn't happen.

Or maybe that's just me.

But even though writing goals may cause me excess stress, I still stand by them. If I didn't set goals for myself, I wouldn't get anything done.

Personally, I like "it'll be done by this date" goals more than daily goals necessarily. It's easy for people to get overwhelmed, so I think it's better to have a finish line in sight rather than to solely worry about what you need done each day.

I know, that sounds kind of silly, because daily writing goals would seem to only help you in reaching timed goals, but to me, I can write furiously for a day (1000s of words), and then I could write nothing the next day. And I want that to be okay, and it is if I give myself a "done by" date. It's about the end goal and how good that feels, and not about thinking of how many words you have left.

Here's some links if you want goals set for you (and you provide the amazing words):

Nanowrimo (writing a book in a month during November...Great forums)

Camp Nanowrimo (A Nanowrimo for the summer time, which is on write now)

Fast-Drafting (doing your novel in 2 weeks)

Milwordy (a million words in one year)

3 Day Novel

What do you do for writing goals? What's your reasoning behind the goals you set or why you don't set them at all? Let me know below!

Now for a song to write by, "Bulletproof" by Evan's Blue, because you need to be bulletproof for kick-arse writing goals…Yep, that's what I'm going with to play this song I like. 

Author Info/Branding: What's It To You?

This is something that's been coming up a lot for me lately since I've recently published my first book through Amazon and Smashwords. People want to know how to get their name out there, where they should go to do that, and how to market themselves and their name as a brand.

I'm not the first person to be an authority on the subject, but seeing as it's something I've been seeing everywhere, I wanted to know your thoughts on it, and I wanted to leave a few of my own.

I don't think about who the author is or what other books the author has written until I finish the first book. If I like the book, and especially if I love the book, I then scour the internet to find out everything about that person. This may be because I want to emulate their awesomeness, but I also suspect that many other do something similar.

When I know an author is the bee's knees, I want to know what else they've written and what they're like. BUT that's not something I care about if I didn't like the book first.

I would say that unless the author is scandalous (for typically bad reasons), I don't care who they are until I get to the end of whatever I'm reading. Branding for me is something that happens AFTER they've kept my attention for 200+ pages.

I'll go so far as to say that for me, I do not want to know anything about the author until I've made my own decisions about the book. I won't even look at what they look like, not that that would make a difference, but I want the book to be it's own entity, completely devoid of everything but what I see in front of me, until I finish it.

When I do end up looking them up, I always want to read the "how I did it" story. It's the story where they say, "I got this idea and blah blah blah." I love those. If I really like them, I'll search them out on Twitter to see if they say anything interesting (beyond just responding to people), and then I'll follow them if they are interesting. I'll almost always follow a blog if they have them, and I'll look around the blog to see what else is brewing for them.

That's my typical M.O. So as far as branding goes for authors, it IS important, but it shouldn't precede the book's importance to me. But if the author ends up being rockstar, I'd love to more about them AFTER I read the book.

What about you? Do you like to know about the author up front? Would it bother you if they didn't have a blog/Twitter/internet presence? Let me know below!

Now to leave you with a song to write by, "Breakdown" by Plain White T's. Intense, but still catchy like all of their stuff.  

P.S. Here's where you can find me online, if you're curious :)

Twitter

Goodreads

Kindleboards
Glittering Ashes on Facebook

Dream Harvesting: A How To

I've talked a lot on here about how I take a lot of my book ideas straight from dreamland. The dreams I have are vivid, and they always leave a lingering impression on me, even if I can't remember any of the specifics.

I'm sure some of you out there have been like me and have had a wonderful dream only to have it leave your mind by the time you try to write it down. Well, I wanted to use today's blog post to talk about some tips on how to get your dreams to paper so that you can use all that great material in your own writing.

1. If you want to make your dreams echo something you're currently working on--or, better yet, if you have a vague idea about what you want to write about but you know you need to explore it more, try concentrated thinking before you fall asleep. For the last 20 minutes or so before you officially conk out, try to solely think about the element you want to include in your book or your current WIP. This will make your dreams more likely to be in some way or another focused on what you'd like.

2. When you first wake up, use the tried and true method of having paper and a pen IMMEDIATELY available to you by your bedside. This is extremely important because dreams are fleeting, and your brain, from the moment you wake up, is practically re-writing what you remember of the dream you just had. That's not too horrible, but regardless of how much you self-edit your dream subconsciously, the most important part is to write EVERYTHING down that you can remember. Get these things down (listed in order of importance):

            a. Actions: Who did what and why

            b. Setting: this will probably be the most original part of your dream, and can be extremely helpful to you in your writing process.

            c. Feelings/vibe: make yourself describe the mood of your dream. This may help jar your memories of a and b.

3. Process your notes. What you've just written down may seem like gibberish when you read it over. In this step, fill in the gaps you've just made, elaborate on what you remember, and embellish what you've already written. That's the fun of the dream harvest process. The dream is the starting point. Keep your dream notes in tact and write off of them in this step, brainstorming real story lines from the little bits and pieces you've remembered. Where can you take these actions, settings, and vibes with a narrative? What cool ideas would this spark?

This is pretty much exactly my process when I conduct my own dream harvest. Do you do something similar/completely different? Let me know what works for you in the comments, and if you haven't tried it, I am the first to say that I think that you should!

Now to leave you with a song to write by, "Save You" by Kelly Clarkson. So pretty. It's dark and slow, and one of my favorites by her. 

Tempo Tuesday Story Time

Today I’ve decided to completely give myself over to the muse that is music and do a Tempo Tuesday song list for us all to write by (I’m doing 5 songs, because…as I’ve said in the past, odd numbers make everything better for me.)

1. “Through Glass” by Stone Sour. I was OBSESSED with this song when it came out. I think I know it forwards and backwards and any in any other applicable angle. Mood: Quietly controlled confusion; asylum music

2. “I’m Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” by Black Kids. Mood: Upbeat Upset

3. Paramore’s Cover of Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” Mood: searching, wanting to be wanted

4. “Killing Me Softly” by The Fugees. I love literally any rendition of this song. Literally. Mood: Quiet Upset, desperation, love fear

5. “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes” by Kesha. Mood: Angst, self-blame

Now to turn these into a short storyline, in the order in which I’ve listed them. (Note: I came up with the song list before I thought about making it into a narrative. It wouldn’t have been fun if the songs were picked/orchestrated to be a story, don’t you agree?)

Girl A in an asylum, unsure of why she’s there, falls in love with a Girl B. But Girl B loves Boy who befriends Girl A. Boy needs Girl A’s help to woo Girl B. Girl A refuses, but after a time, she just wants to be needed by anyone so she agrees to help Boy, if only to see Girl B happy. It’s killing her inside to see it or even hear about it, but she knows it’s her own fault for helping, so she’ll teach Boy how to get Girl B, even if she can’t see through the tears in her eyes to do it.

What do you all think? I’d love to see other people have a list and make a narrative out of it. I think I’ll keep Tempo Tuesday in mind to be a regular on this blog.  So here are the (self-explanatory) rules if you want to carry on Tempo Tuesday:

1. Shuffle around on your music player and come up with a list of five songs
2. List a mood or marker for each song just in case the reader hasn’t heard it before or doesn’t have time to listen to the video
3. Make up a story line using your songs as plot point inspiration.

Link to your own Tempo Tuesday in the comments. I’d love to read them!

P.S. I <3ed the comments left on yesterday's post. Everyone left really great tips on how to pace yourself when trying to reach writing goals. Very helpful stuff. Thanks y'all!

Tough Love: Writer's Edition

 A few weeks ago, the topic of jealous writers was floating around the internet as a debate. It came around the time John Locke became the first self-published author in the Amazon's Million ebook club (a list for people who have sold over a million books on Amazon). People were excited for him, or they said horrible things about him, spurring others to write posts about how you shouldn’t be jealous of others’ successes; you should be more interested in making your own.

I also tweeted things to that effect around this time, but I hadn’t listened to what I was preaching really. Not exactly.

I don’t get jealous when I hear about writers having amazing success; I get jealous when I read about prolific writers. The ones with 13 books under their belts and counting. The big names who write what seems like several books a month, the smaller names that actually do write several books a month. I am constantly in awe of these people.

Am I jealous because they have more ideas than me? No. I have a list of book ideas, a lot of which are actually fleshed out story lines. But the difference between them and me is that they’re writing theirs into stories, and I’m writing this, whining that they have more books down on paper than I do.

Well, it’s time for some tough love for me (and anyone who is in my shoes, either fully or tip-toe in). The people who are writing those books constantly are doing such because they are writing. Writing about writing, as much as I seem to enjoy it, does not a fiction writer make. It makes me a commentator. Not a writer. And I want to be a writer.

So here’s what I am leaving you with: If you want to be a writer, write. If you want to write a lot, write a lot. Thinking about writing, dreaming about writing, staring off into the abyss and wondering about your writing future all equal the same thing in the actual writing world-->nothing. You can’t say you’ve done it if you’ve only thought about it.

And again, I am not yelling at you (whoever you are), I’m yelling at me. Because I’ve earned it. 

Anyone in my shoes? Let me know in the comments below or by email...I'd like to feel like I'm not the only slacker. 

Now to leave you with a song to write by, “The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert. It’s mainstream, and apparently was popular when it came out, but I only got into it recently, and I love the lyrics and flow.

           

Writers: You're One of Them

First off, THANK YOU so much to all of the people who commented yesterday. I’m literally compiling a list of all the books I now want to purchase/check out. AWESOME. Seriously. I’m going to wish more often…

Oh, btw, I was looking around Amazon yesterday and came across a New Adult contemporary romance that I’m voraciously reading right now. It had great reviews, seemed really angsty so I bit the bullet and bought it (it’s only $4 something). The book is called Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, and I’m getting whiplash from all the roller coaster emotions (in a good way, I like super angst every once in a while).

So lately, on Twitter, I’ve been talking with people who have been really good at setting goals for themselves when it comes to writing. I see them on #amwriting, and they proclaim proudly, “I’m doing this by then, and that’s it” or the ever popular, “I JUST DID THIS, HEAR ME WRITE IN CAPS.”

In both of these cases, I’m a Twitter cheerleader, so you’ll see me a lot (if you follow me) saying things like “OMG. That’s awesome, congrats” or “I wish I could get myself to do that” and the like. Now, thinking back on all these mini-chats, I think I’ve come to realization that’s there’s really three kinds of writers when it comes to sitting down (butt in chair…blah blah blah) and getting the work done:

1. The Great Thinker: This person has been having the GREAT idea for several years now. Maybe it came to them when they were in high school, or when they were driving in traffic, but they know the idea is awesome, and if they could just get it done, the book would be awesome as well. ---> This one is actually a lot of people. They noodle for a while, but after a loooong period, they get it done, (and to be honest, it might be done better because they did take so long)

2. The Let’s Get On With It Optimist: (ha) This person also had the GREAT idea but he or she wants to plow through it with a vengeance. Noodling it out is for people who don’t get things done, in their book. They are speed writers. Thinking is for the second draft.

3. The I Know It’ll Suck, but I’ll Plug Through It Person: This is the middle ground person between one and two. He or she doesn’t have high hopes for the novel in the beginning, but they like it enough to get it done, and while it won’t take years, it’ll take more than weeks to write it all down and then edit it until it sparkles. (Most people are #3, I’d guess)

Now, for me, I’d say I’m a #2 who dabbles in #3. That meaning that I was once an avid #2 kind of person but I’m drifting quietly into #3. I’d like to go back to thinking in the 2 mentality though. I personally believe that the first draft should be done crazy fast so it’s more cohesive, it’s more fun, and you can hurry up and get to the all important edit.

Do you agree with me? And more importantly, what kind of writer are you? Let me know below.

Now, to leave you with a song to write by, “Mix Tape” by Brand New (officially my favorite band for the past 5.5 years). It’s off of their first album (but their 2^nd is the best)

Wanted: Plots

I am a plot junkie. I love reading about crazy twists and how to up the drama without making the reader want to gag (and I’m still fine if I have to gag a little reading it). It’s one of my dreams to write a long-standing series, and I have a plot line brewing for that too, it’s just a matter of getting it to paper.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my characters. You have to get me invested in the characters first, but then the plot has to keep me. I can’t have Mr. or Miss Awesome just being awesome without anything happening for 300 pages. Wouldn’t work. I need the drama of it all, truly and deeply.

I dream in plots. Half the time, I’m an observer in the dream. It’s like watching a movie unfold. I’m sure I’m in there, but who knows how important I am. And while that may sound like I need to break out my old dream interpretation book to see what I’m suffering from, it makes for good book plots for me to write down.

I can’t tell you how many dreams have turned into book plots for me. My soon to be released book of yay (because I’m excited about it), started in part that way. I’m far more creative in my dreams, so I steal from them often.

My point, with this rambling and possibly incoherent post, is that I need a great plot to make me believe it’s a great story. Characters are also needed, but they both have to come together to make something worth it. My goal is to make the MC realistic, even if the world/plot isn’t. One can sell the other, as far as I’m concerned.

What do you think? Are plot and character equal? Is one more important than the other? Let me know in the comments.

Now, to leave you with a song to write by, “Blue Light” by Bloc Party. Pretty. 

I hate her...and Bows and Books.

Her’s a profile of a character that I hate. I’m not going to name names about what book this character is in because the character, in this instance a “She”, is in a lot of books lately. You’ve probably seen her. Hell/heck, maybe you even liked her. I did not.

Her typical M.O.:

• She is hopelessly clueless in the beginning.
• In a world set up for inclusion in one way or another, she feels like something just ain’t quite right. But how will she ever find out what’s wrong?
• Oh, yeah. The MMC (main male character). He’s different. He’s an outcast. He shows her the wrong so they can, together, make it right.
• That is, after she has some kind of mental process where she questions her home, her family…and (insert gasp here) even her society.
• By the end of the story, the clueless heroine has learned something and has immediately and subsequently turned into a bad A (capital A necessary, folks), and she can completely rise to the occasion of fixing the world, or at least she can pretend like maybe she could in the sequel.

Does this setup sound familiar to anyone? It’s been a friggin’ epidemic in the books that I’ve been reading lately.  (Btw, I haven’t talked about these books online or anywhere else so I don’t want anyone to think I’m bashing something specific). Now, I’ve seen it does several ways—some of them have even been tolerable, if not good. But, as a whole, I’m over it.

I like heroines who know what they are doing, or who are at least aware that they don’t know what they are doing when they don’t.

Lately, it’s been like these stories are the “damsel in distress” in a different setting. The world is wrong; she is right, but she doesn’t know it; and in comes boy to help her realize that she is the most awesome being ever and can fix said situations.

If you’re going to make your character weak, be consistent. She can’t save the world, unless she has some growth happen. It can’t just be “Knowledge in, awesome out” literally as soon as the character learns what happening around her. It doesn’t read real to me, and those books (not including the good exceptions to this) aren’t going to be on my favorite list anytime soon.

Hopefully the fact that this storyline is practically trending in books now will cause it’s disappearance as people will want something new, but in the mean time, I will continue to look for original people/characters and authors odd enough to create these new beings worth reading about.

Can anyone out there relate to this rant or am I off? Do you like that storyline? Let me know below.

Now here’s a song to write by that I don’t know particularly well, but I like it already, “Kihei Town” by The Throwdowns.

I couldn’t find a video of just them singing this song that I liked, so here’s a link to listen to it on their Myspace page, but if you want your video version fix, here’s how I first heard it:

The song is playing in the background for the first half, but the video itself is teaching you how to make a hair bow out of old magazines. (WHAT!? I know. Amazing, but mine didn’t turn out well, not that I’ll stop trying. 

 

Oh, and to those of you biting at the bit for my "TBR bought and on the shelves pile", I can't really do the largeness of it justice right now, but here are some of the highlights:

The last two of the Vampire Academy series (this one and this too) by Richelle Mead

The last three of the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris (link to her Amazon page)

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves

The Haunted by Jessica Verday

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Virtue by Amanda Hocking (on the Kindle shelves, and don't get me started on how many other Kindle books I have on there to read...like the one I won which I talk about here). 

I know what you're thinking "Psssh, that's not much." Well, in addition to this, I have a small desk made out of books in my room (and by this, I mean my actual small desk is mostly comprised of books underneath it because Book Fairs are a weakness I have succumbed to several times...) So on that note, I promise in the indeterminable future to have more to add to this pile.

My First Guest Post

Hello all,

Today, I'm excited to share with you all that I was able to provide a tip to a blog I particularly love, Literary Rambles. Every Tuesday, they post a writing tip that has been sent in by a fellow blogger, and this week, they used one that I sent in and love. Check it out here!

Let me know what you think about it here through the comments or by email or on the Literary Rambles blog.

Now, I'll leave you with a song to write by, "Undercover Martyn" by Two Door Cinema Club, which gave me my new life goal, to always speak words that'll melt in your hands (Great TDCC opening line adapted for me...lol):

Brain Book/ Plotter Plans

Here’s what I have been up to lately. Today, I am embarking on the journey that is outlining my next book. The good thing about this is that whenever I get an idea, I write down so much about it (in my brain book) that outlining is just taking the bare bones of the story and flushing it out into scenes.

Just to clarify, what I mean by “brain book” is that I have this book that is my catch-all for everything writing or creative related. I have a dream; I write it down there. I hear a song that’s particularly amazing; I write it down there for future reference. I read a book; I add it to a growing list in the book (new addition to the book after many a frustration of forgetting a title). If I get struck by a new book idea; I write it down there. I hate having notes every which place, so having this book helps.

In this book (like this but unlined* and with a different cover), I recently combed through it to see how many book plots/ideas I have come up with since I started this book and made a numbered list from it, and the total is 25 (and that number makes me happy because I hate even numbers = fun fact). So this means I have 25 book plot arches written down in my brain book, and now my job is to take one of those ideas and plot it out.

To be honest, I’ve never been into extensive outlines, so while I am exciting to plot ahead, I am also slightly worried. But, I am also inspired. I read this post by Amanda Hocking on her blog about how she outlines, and it seems like what I do, just kicked up a notch. (Interesting read)

My normal process is I scribble out everything I can think of when the idea arises (like a chick possessed, I might add). This can range from a vivid scene that sparks a loosely written narrative arch to a FULLY flushed out book outline that started with me frantically writing down several scenes (like #10 on the list). Sometimes with these ideas, I do a bubble map of events (which is how I paced my soon-to-be-released-book-of-awesomeness), but as I wrote the book, the arch really moved into something I’ll be using more for book two than book one of the series.

What I am taking from Amanda’s blog is the notion of writing out super short descriptions of what happens in each scene/chapter. I read another blog recently (wish I could find it) that said if you’re sure you’re one kind of person (plotter or pantser), change it up and do the exact opposite and see what happens. So even though I range somewhere in the middle, I figure I’ll try the scene by scene method and let you know if it works for me.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? If so, why? Leave comments or emails (or how to’s for the plotters to help a semi-newb plotter out).

Now, I leave you with a song to write to, which I like for the rendition more than the song, even though the song isn’t bad, Dia Frampton’s cover of Kanye West’s “Heartless” from The Voice:

*I hate lines. 

Muse Call

I was asked by a wonderful blogger/Twitter personality Violeta Nedkova to write a small entry on her blog about who my muse is, what he/she is called, and my relationship to my muse. She's compiled entries from all kinds of bloggers on her site, and I really encourage you to check it out! Here's a link to part one of her compilation, and here's part two (where I am). (And follow her on Twitter, because she's the bee's knees at keeping on top of the writing world on there).

This is my entry (in poetry form, but it's in prose on Violeta's site):

Ode to a Nameless Muse

By K.D.

When I try to write, he sleeps,

tranquil as my mind frets

over the how-to’s, the kisses, the angst,

the constant struggle to get my characters from here to there.

When I try to sleep, he calls me,

always collect,

angry,

filled with passion;

begging me to pay attention to him as my dreams call me.

He is a tangle;

I am a pawn.

But our music that is manuscript

is beautiful

when we work

together.

We fight.

His time is his; my time is his.

When I want to write, he can’t fathom it.

But he wins

because he’s smarter,

more talented,

and more driven than me,

especially at four in the morning. 

Let me know what you think, and (again) be sure to check out all the other entries!

Now, to leave you with a song to write by, "How To Write a Love Song" by Axis of Awesome. HIGHLARIOUS and could quite possibly teach you how not to write a romance as well as a love song (or how to do such if you want it to be generic). Enjoy!

3 Writing Quotes/ 3 Writing Prompts

Today, I decided to leave you with some #sixwords entries. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the hash-tag "#sixwords" is how people on Twitter share with other people their stories and ideas that can be conveyed in exactly six words. It's been kind of an obsession of my lately (as I have already written 7 writing prompts using the six word technique in a previous post). So today, I'm giving you all 3 #sixwords on writing (about it and the process) and 3 #sixwords that can be used as writing prompts to help generate your own stories.

On Writing:
    
     Writing can't be stopped, nor finished.
    
     Writing longhand pulls words from fingertips.

     Ideas burn brain cells; writing replenishes.

Writing Prompts:

     Your eyes show me what's broken.

     Turning the key, I entered Hell.

     Only dreams can bring us closer.

Hope you enjoyed them! Now, I leave you with another song to write by, "Girl Anachronism" by The Dresden Dolls. I know this song forwards, backwards, and sideways, and when I'm writing crazy chaos, this is where I go.

Self-Publishing Links

Hello followers, lurkers, stoppers-by,

I decided for this post to list the links I've found in the past few weeks that seemed to be made of awesome when it comes to self-publishing. With each link, I've wrote a bit about what to expect when you go to the site, so you don't have to click blindly. If you have other links, please let me know in the comments or by email. I'd love to see them, as I have been hoarding them lately in anticipation of my own self-published release (here's my announcement).

1. This is a Writer's Digest article about how to get reviews for your self-published book. It gives tips on how to contact reviewers, where to look for reviewers, and what you should have ready to make your book easier to review. 

2. This is an article by Book Designer, letting you have a one-page link listing of how to format your manuscript for each ebook distributor site (i.e. Amazon, Smashwords, Apple, PubIt, Kobo, and the like)

3. This Marketing Tips article is on how to register your copyright for you soon-to-be-published ebook.

4. This article is by Book Marketing Maven. It gives links to different publishing platforms and brief how-tos for uploading. This link is similar to link #2, but who can stop at just one link resource?

5. This article is from Literary Abominations (lol cool name), and it gives a Podcasting 101 lesson on how to make your book into a usable file and how to get it out there for the masses to hear. [Can I just pause here to say I am dreaming nightly of making some kind of podcast or audiobook of my upcoming manuscript? I hear I'm dramatic enough to pull it off, maybe I'll let you decide one day]

6. This article, like #3 is from the Marketing Tips website [worth perusing], and it's about the best ways to link to your self-published book (on your website and beyond) so that it can be found easily (and purchased easily)

7. This article from Zombies Don't Blog (great title and site), shows you how to re-up interest in your self-published book after it's been out for a while. This'll get you over the possible slump in sales after your beginning weeks.

8. This Marketing Tip article (a la #3 and #6) explains how to get your book in newspapers, local and otherwise.

9. This Touch Review article, by Stephen Northcott explains in detail how to get your book into Apple stores. (Think links #4 and #1, but Apple specific).

10. This Lexcycle article explains how to convert your manuscript into epub format, which is good for getting it out to reviewers in a format they'd prefer and Stanza submissions.

11. This link by Urban fonts provides you with copious amounts of Free Fonts to use when making your cover. (I haven't used it yet, but it looks neat).

12. And lastly, for this blog post, I leave you with a link to Free Digital Photos.net which apparently has royalty free images that they explicitly say can be used for ebooks as long as credit is given to their site and the photo creator. Neat huh?

AH so many links that started with the word "this;" it got to be too much for me, but hopefully they'll be useful to you!

Now to leave you with yet another song to write by, "Fool For You" by Cee lo Green featuring Melanie Fiona. I love how "into it" they both are:

Idea Generator Worksheet

Lately I’ve really interested in idea generating. I know how I come up with ideas (dreams, TV splicing, ideas just running wild, “what I would do if…”s), but I wanted a more formulaic way to go about generating ideas.

I, for one, think everything becomes more interesting when you give yourself parameters. I heard somewhere that people are hindered by too much writing freedom (which sounds scary), but basically what it boiled down to is that when you have too many options you might feel burdened by that freedom and thereby be unable to perform whatever writing task. Do I agree with this? No, not completely, but it makes for interesting thinking.

What could you write if you were giving unreasonable parameters to write it in? Could you combine a sci-fi/ western sounding romance set in the future that’s oddly like the past (hey, I kind of like that…lol)? Would it suck? These are the questions, people.

Here’s what I’m thinking for idea generation, and I hope you do it without reading it all first so your subconscious doesn’t sabotage you.

List 4 fiction genres: (1^st ones that come to mind) [*Scroll to the bottom for genre list, if needed*]

1.

2.

3.

4.

List 2 phobias/fears:

1.

2.

List 2 objects: (you don’t have to make them related, but you can)

1.

2.

Now, take genres #1 and #4 and combine them on a brainstorming sheet with phobia/fear #2 and object #1. How can all of these things interact and become a cohesive story? Think of it as a puzzle that only you can solve (*cue superhero music*).

Now take genres #2 and #3 and write them down on a sheet with phobia #1 and object #2. Brainstorm ideas for this set. How can they be pushed together to make a story worth reading?

What format of writing you chose to do is up to you. You could stretch it out novel length (Good luck! J ) or make a short story or poem with your ingredient list.

Here are some questions to think about:

1. Is the object the cause of the phobia/fear?
2. How many main characters are affected by the phobia/fear? Is it specific to the MC (main character) or is the phobia/fear an epidemic?
3. Can the object save the MCs from the phobia/fear?
4. If one of the genres is romance, does the MC need help by the love interest to overcome his or her phobia/fear? If one of the genres is horror, did the object cause the phobia/fear or does the MC(s) cling to the object to protect them from the phobia/fear?
5. What sets off this story? Is the phobia/fear or object the catalyst for how the story begins?

Do you have to do the exercise? Absolutely not, but I thought it sounded like a fun way to come about getting ideas. Let me know if it works out for you or how you tweaked it to make it applicable to your writing style. 

*Here’s if you need help with a fiction genre list (and without a doubt, I’m forgetting a lot): (P.S. I didn’t include sub-genres, because you’ll be combining two of these genres anyways)

Romance

Sci-fi

Horror

Thriller

Suspense

Contemporary

Diary-like faux memoir/Confessional

Action

Historical

Fairy Tale

Religious

Medicine

YA

Supernatural/Ghost (that’s not necessarily sci-fi or horror)

Now, I'll leave you with a video to write by, "Dead Skin" by Crossfade <3