4 Keys to an Awesome Conflict

Photo Credit: lockbumping.org

The key to a great story (okay, maybe one of several keys)is great conflict. Have you ever read a story, and you really liked the settingor one of the characters, so you really wanted to like the story, but you justcouldn’t make yourself care? This can happen for any numbers of reasons, butmore often than not, the absence of compelling conflict is what turns peopleoff to the story. As a reader, it’s frustrating. As a writer, it’soh-so-avoidable!

I’m often told that my subject matter is very interesting.That’s the non-writer’s way of saying that my conflicts are engrossing. As awriter of dystopian, I have to create conflicts within conflicts. My dystopianworld has to be one big conflict, my characters have to be facing conflicts,and it helps if they’re a little conflicted within themselves. So, what makes agood conflict? What is it that makes you devour a story verses devouring dinnerinstead of reading?

I got to thinking about this and came up with a few keys tokeeping your reader engrossed. As you read, apply these points to your favoritestories. They may help you discover the formula for why those stories are yourfavorites!

1)      You haveto hook them. Make them care to begin with. I said that conflict is one ofmany keys that make a story work. Another is characters. In my experience, yourconflict could be relatively boring, but if you make your readers care aboutyour characters, and your characters care about the conflict, then the readerwill care about the conflict too. So, make your characters likable, human,relatable. Give them at least one quality that makes the reader root for them.If you can do that, then your reader will keep reading past the first fewchapters.

Photo Credit: mechtild.livejournal.com

2)    Make yourconflict something your characters are passionate about. Make sure there’ssomething very threatening to the MC about the conflict. I recently (tried) toread a novel and stopped about a third of the way through. The writing wasactually quite good and the characters were okay, but there almost no conflictin the story. At first the MC was kidnapped, which was good, but then she wassuddenly jumping through all these fantastical worlds, and I just couldn’t makemyself care. I realized that I had absolutely no idea why she was doing whatshe was doing. Make it so that if your characters don’t act, something terrible will happen to them or someone theycare about. If Frodo didn’t run from the black riders, they would have killedhim. If Katniss hadn’t volunteered for the Hunger Games, her little sisterprobably would have been killed. If your character is passionate to the pointof hyperventilation about the conflict (or perhaps putting a stop to it) thenyour readers will feel the same way. Trust me.

He's pissed the book ended that way!
Photocredit: goofybabies.com

3)     Raise thestakes. No matter how dire things are at the beginning of the story, they must get worse as the story progresses.In a way, you really have to stress your reader out. They must fear for thecharacters and what will happen to them should they fail. Things can get worse,plans can fall through, a mentor/friend can die, a worse bad guy can show up. Thesethings will cause your characters (and therefore your readers) stress, whichmeans they will keep turning pages because they so desperately need the releaseof relief when things are finally better. (Why do you think people scream andthrow books at walls when a volume of a series ends on a cliffhanger?)

Photo Credit: banmilleronbusiness.com

4)     Shockyour reader. That’s right! Shock them. How?

a.      A twist in the plot. Now be careful withthis one. You must make sure the twist is both worth it (twisty enough) andalso realistic enough to be believable (not too twisty). There are some twiststhat are done WAY too often. Since TheSixth Sense came out ten years ago, everyone and their dog has ended thestory with the-character-is-actually-dead scenario. I also thinkthe-character-is-actually-crazy thing is done too often. The best way toorchestrate a twist is by putting in tiny, subtle details early on. They mustbe small enough that the reader won’t pick up on them, but potent enough thatwhen you reveal the twist, they’ll remember the details and have a light bulbmoment.

Photo Credit: cineplex.com

b.     Shock your character. I went to a writer’s workshop about a year ago wherethe speaker (don’t remember her name, which is terrible!) said that you must always know what the worst thing youcould do to your characters is. You don’t always have to do it, but you have toknow what it is. Doing the worst thing to them definitely heightens theconflict, though. J.K. Rowling was masterful at this in Harry Potter. Books 3-7pretty much all ended this way. What was the worst thing that could have happenedto Harry at the end of book 3? Losing Serious after finally finding him. Book4? Facing Voldemort unprepared. Book 5? Death of a loved one. Book 6? Death of another loved one. Rowling figured outwhat would be the worst thing for Harry and did it to him…right before the endof the book. Woman’s a master, if you hadn’t already figured that out.

c.      A betrayal—this one is good, but alsosometimes hard to pull off and *warning* your readers may hate you for it. Ifyou take a character that’s awesome and lovable and relatable, and then havehim/her betray your MC, that will shock your audience. Some of them will hateyou for it, but it definitely ups the conflict.

d.     Death of a character. This only works asa shocker/conflict enhancer if the audience loves the character. Side or stockcharacters don’t count. By far the best author I’ve seen at this is George R.R.Martin. He always said he wanted to write a book that people were afraid tokeep reading. Well, he’s done it. He’s been known to let you love a characterfor two or three volumes (some of them over a thousand pages, people!) and thenkill the character off. Was I sad? Yes. Did I chuck the book across the roomand swear? Uh, pleading the fifth. Did it make me a die-hard fan of the series?Absolutely! Just saying.

These are some awesome ways to up the ante in your stories andmake sure your reader cares about your characters and their conflicts. Take amoment to examine your favorite stories. If you can find where the authorescalated the conflict and made you care just so darn much, you may havediscovered the formula for just why those stories are your favorites. Happystressing everyone! :D

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The Number One Ingredient in Great Writing

 As you know by now, I attended Roundup about a week and a half ago. There was a stellar lineup of classes and speakers and, inevitably, I didn't get to listen to them all. Every year there’s at least one hour when two classes are taught that I want to attend, and I have to choose. One class I didn't attend, but wanted to, was on creativity, where it comes from and what exactly it is. I went to a different class that I wanted to hear just a bit more, but I thought this was an intriguing idea.

My niece Cheveya looking out the window.

This is a picture of my niece, Cheveya (also known as Eve, Munchkin, Baby, and Stay-out-of-the-toilet!) She likes to get up on the couch and look out the window. She’s not quite two years old, so she has a very limited vocabulary. Most of what comes out of her mouth is just baby gibberish. When she looks out the window this way, she pounds on the glass and waves to our neighbors and passersby. She screeches when she sees dogs or cats, and whimpers with fear when a loud car or plane passes.

She’s just naturally curious and LOVES being outside. When she can’t go out, she looks out the window.

I think that’s how writers are as well. We’re naturally curious about everything in the human condition. We like to learn about it,observe it, explore it, and find ways to deepen it.

I’m sure you’ve all heard this a million times, but I’ll say it again: if you want to be a great writer, you need to be a great reader. Reading is one of the best ways to observe human behavior and learn to analyze human motivations. I always say I’m not much of a people watcher, but I am a people analyzer. I analyze everything to death. (What can I say? I’m a writer.) Besides, if I spent my afternoons on a park bench creeping people out by staring at them as they pass me and scribbling ominous things in a composition notebook, I probably wouldn’t be very popular.

Cheveya's adorable Sunday morning face!

I’m not really sure what this post is about except to say: Be like Cheveya. No, don’t play in the toilet water when Mommy isn’t looking. But be naturally curious about everything around you. Take delight in everything you observe, and strive to learn something from it. Children are that way. They can be positively bowled over by the smallest things. They can teach us to live in the moment and savor every experience, be it sensory, emotional, or spiritual.

So the next time you get writer’s block or just don’t feel very inspired, go to your window, look out, and ask yourself what you see. Or perhaps, what a child would see. Chances are that somewhere in Utah, a blue-eyed two-year-old has her face pressed against a window, and is gibbering to her novelist aunt about the wonders of the outside world.

Happy Wednesday, Everyone! :D

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3 Tips to Avoid Passive Voice

Every newbie writer struggles with passive voice. We've all been there. But it's difficult to define what passive voice is without sounding like an 8th grade grammar teacher (or just a geek). Sometime try explaining passive voice to a non-writer. There's a two-hour conversation that will leave you contemplating going the way of Anthony and Cleopatra.

Anyway, I'll give you a quick definition but it's by no means comprehensive. My definitions tend to be directly tied to my tips, so...

Passive Voice: When your narrative describes indirectly or in a round-about way, instead directly and strongly.

*Understand that this is different than telling vs. showing. That's an entirely different problem that I may revisit next week.*

To avoid passive voice:

This explains it WAY better than I do!
From:ollyfiaprimbon.blogspot.com

1) Describe things directly and using the senses of one of your characters. "A strange sound was heard from the cave" is not as strong as "Bob heard a strange sound emanating from the cave." Why is that? For one thing, saying who specifically heard it grounds the sensation in the POV character, which means the reader can identify with it more easily. If "a sound is heard," it begs the question, who heard it? Furthermore, the second example allows you to use a word to describe how the sound was being heard (i.e. emanating).

2) Explain action as directly as possible with as few words as you can manage. Returning to our friend, Bob, "Bob ran down the street" is much stronger than "Bob was running down the street." The second one is used a lot by amateur writers because it's past tense, but the former is also past tense, and it's stronger because it's not passive voice.

Example 1. Anytime you use 'was' before the action word and put an 'ing' on the end (i.e. was running) you are using passive voice. Granted, there may be a few exceptions when this is necessary, but I guarantee 99% of the time, that's not the case. Anytime you catch yourself doing this in your writing, ask yourself if using the past...what would that be? Participle?...would work. Ran instead of 'was running.' If the sentence still makes sense, trust me, use that version. It's stronger and you won't be accused of using passive voice.

Example 2. Don't say that one character observed another one doing something; just say they did it! Don't say, "Bob saw Fred sit down." Just say "Fred sat down." If Bob is the POV character anyway, the fact that he's doing the observing is implied. You don't need to state it. All it does is jack up your work count and stray into passive voice.

zazzle.com

3) Don't use "seemed" unless the character is unsure. I've mentioned this before in other posts, but it's one of my biggest pet peeves. Newbie writers often overuse the word seemed. 'He seemed to be walking...' 'She seemed to have a headache...' 'I seemed to think I was a writer!!!' Seemed implies that the character is unsure. So if your bff seems to be sad but you aren't sure and need to find out, then it's fine to use it. But if someone is walking down the street, either they are or they aren't. They can't 'seem' to be walking down the street.  Every time you use seemed, ask yourself if your character (or you!) is sure of what's happening. If they are, you don't need seemed. Delete it!

That's it for this post. Not comprehensive in the least, but just a few things I've seen over and over again while editing. Hope this helps a few of you.

How about you? What are your tips for avoiding passive voice?

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The Morality of Horror

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Happy Monday, Everyone! Yet another post from a recent writing conference I went to. This class was taught by Michael Brent Collins, author and screenwriter extraordinaire! I found it to be very insightful, even if I probably should have gotten this post up before Halloween. :/

Recently my brother and sister and I were having a conversation and my brother said something that made me smile, but really had a lot of truth in it. You see, my brother is nineteen and he's at a point in his life where he's really struggling to find himself. My sister made some comment about not flirting with the darkness. To which my brother hesitated, then replied, "But I kind of like to flirt with the darkness." 

That statement probably should have alarmed me, but instead it made me smile. I just saw a lot of myself in him, a lot of how my family is (I come from a very long line of rebellious) and a lot of humanity as a whole. Don't we all like to flirt with the darkness to some extent?

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The Quest for Voice

Ah yet another post born of the 2014 League of Utah Writers Conference. Nathan Croft, fantasy author, presented on voice, so I must give him credit for most of these tips and definitions.

So, what is voice? 

VOICE: the sum total of the author + their novel. It encompasses everything: the story, the writing, and all things that are a part of the novel. 

Don't confuse this with tone. TONE is the feel or emotion of your story. The tone is part of the voice--they go hand in hand--but not exactly the same thing. 

*Voice cannot be forced, but it is definitely something that is found.* 

The awesome thing is that voice will always be unique. Even if you're trying to imitate another author, you won't be able to mimic their voice. Their technique, yes. Elements of their style, sure. Their plot/characters, let's hope not. But even if I were to try to re-write The Fellowship of the Ring, I'm me and not J.R.R. Tolkien, so the voice would still be unique to me, as his was to him. 

That's sort of awesome.

Tips for developing voice:

1) Analyze your own voice to learn about yourself as a writer.

2) Develop a soundtrack for your novel, scene, or character to help get you in the right mood and frame of mind before you write.

3) Compare voice and tone to other authors/stories/books/characters/etc. By analyzing the work of others, you will learn about your own voice, as well as what you do or do not want.

4) Identify what you don't want in your book. Especially for voice, it's almost as important as what you do want.

5) Read it out loud to determine how it sounds to other people

6) If you're breaking rules (tense, etc.), analyze what rules you're breaking and why. Is it worth it? Is it accomplishing what you intend?

7) Identify your limits and push them, but don't run faster than you're able. Let your voice develop slowly over time.

8) Themes. Identify a handful of overall themes for your book. Work them subtly into your voice.

*A woodsman who sharpens his tool will cut down more trees than one that never stops to sharpen his.*

Voice is an immensely personal thing and only a writer can find, hone, and truly know their own voice. It will change and develop over time, and is one of the most essential elements of good writing.

No pressure, or anything. :D

What do you do to help develop your writer's voice?

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Writing Post Roundup

Happy Monday, Everyone! Hope you all have a productive day!

Today I decided to post a round-up of great writing post I've checked out lately. Browse through the list below and see if there's anything that would help you with your writing!

Creating Characters Agents Love and Editors Publish: Middle Grade and YA Novels. I don't actually write middle grade or YA, but I write children and young people sometimes, so I still found these tips helpful.

Editing: 5 Words to Eliminate from Your Writing. All great ideas for elimination.

The Character Name Generator. This is kinda cool. :D

Writing in Deep POV. Definitely some great tips here.

Writing the Perfect Character Flaw.

The Four Cornerstones of Great Characters

Picking a Juicy Secret to Jazz Up Your Character

Fictional Ecosystems for Fantasy Worlds

Five Foundations of World Building

20 World Building Questions for Authors to Ask Themselves

What Makes a Gimmick?

Make Your Characters Anti-Ciphers

The Art of Profanity

Writing a Satisfying Ending

If you need to get the creative juices flowing, hop over to my Musings on Fantasia blog for a creative challenge. (It involves an amazing, evocative image!)

Did any of these help you in your writing at all? Which did you find the most interesting?

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3 Fascinating Points to Consider When Discussing Religion in Writing

More LTUE-inspired posts today. Yea! 

So, I've mentioned before that I went to a panel by Michael Collins and Orson Scott Card about religion in writing. It was a great panel. They discussed the religions of great fantasy writers such as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and yes, Mr. Orson Scott Card, and what role religion plays in their writing.

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(Note: Being a Christian myself, and given the fact that Christianity was the main focus of this panel, I'll be using Christian allegory for examples in this post. However, you could substitute any religious figurehead such as Buddha, Muhammad, etc. The same principles will still apply to whatever religion you are patterning your story after.)

Orson Card started out by saying that C.S. Lewis once said his books--meaning The Chronicles of Narnia--were never meant to be allegorical. Now, that may sound a bit ridiculous--it did to me the first time I read it--but Mr. Card said that he completely believed Lewis.

Why? 

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3 Things You Probably Never Considered About Historical Fiction

While at the LTUE Conference a couple of weeks ago, I participated in a panel about FTL (Faster than Lightning. It's okay. I didn't know what it was either and I was on the panel.) and Time Travel. I think this was supposed to be about how various authors use time travel and FTL motion in their writing, and we did discuss that to a certain extent. But we also talked a lot about time itself, how humans view it, and why we tell so many stories that take place in different time periods than our own.

1) Historical fiction is about collective penance for societal tragedy.

One woman on the panel put forth a theory that really spoke to me. She said she believed that the reason we tell stories about the past has to do with regret. We have deep regret--be it individual, or as a collective society--about terrible things that have happened in our past. It's almost like we can't believe we ever let things get that bad at one point, and have to revisit it, both to remind ourselves, and as a sort of unspoken pledge not to let it happen again.


For example, we can't believe we once let our society degrade to the point of letting a handlebar-mustached dictator kill six million people during World War II, simply because of their religion. We can't believe that we, as a race of human beings, stood by and let it get that bad. 

A Sudetan woman weeps while being
forcedto salute Hilter. 1938. (Source)

A Frenchman weeps when Nazi troops
 march into Paris inJune, 1940 after Allied
troops are driven back across France
(Source)

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." --C.S. Lewis

Perhaps returning again and again to the times of these tragedies is wallowing, but I don't think so. I think it's to remind ourselves not to let it get that bad again. To remember our mistakes so we don't make them anymore. And to re-educate ourselves and our posterity. 

Let's face it. There are few people left in the world who lived through World War II, and each generation becomes farther dissociated from the terrible tragedy of it. We want to convey the depth of our sorrow over things we are collectively ashamed of. We do this to keep it from happening again, but perhaps there's more than that, too. 

Perhaps we are doing penance for things that, though we had no hand in, we easily could if we let them happen again. 

2) Futuristic time travel is the opposite side of the same coin.

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I would submit that the same applies for futuristic stories. As Dr. Phil is fond of saying, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. We've seen the tragedies of earth's past, and know what the human race is capable of. We tell futuristic stories because we fear our society might degrade into inhumanity again. 

After all, what is dystopian but a representation of our fear of the future, based on problems we see in the present? 

We tell these stories, much like we tell historical fiction, because we want to avoid what we know is possible. Perhaps we are even doing a sort of preventative, reverse-penance for tragedies we know will probably happen somewhere in the world at some time, but which we, as individuals, are largely powerless to stop. What's the best way to stop them? Tell these stories, educate others and ourselves, so that we might do everything that is in our power to maintain the compassion and humanity of our race.

Pondering on this idea was the first time it truly made sense to me that I'm drawn almost equally to historical fiction and dystopian.

3) Back story as historical fiction and a predictor for the future.

All great, well-fleshed out characters have back story. It's what makes them three dimensional; what makes our readers connect with them. To our characters, what has already happened in their past is their historical fiction. Apply the above principles to your character's back story to help you understand the psychology of why they do what they do. Why would they revisit their past? Why would they hide it or hide from it? Their past will predict their future behavior in some way, and it doesn't always have to be a negative one. Perhaps their behavior is predictive because they will repeat their past. Or perhaps they will do the opposite because they learned from it, as most of us, we pray, learned from the Holocaust.

If you understand your characters' motivations concerning their past, and how it connects to their future, and can convey that, even symbolically, on the page, that will make your characters more than just well-rounded. 

It will make them truly human. 

Perhaps dealing with alternate time periods in literature is difficult, because the sense of tragedy is so potent, but I also think it's vitally important. Perhaps more important than our mere human brains can comprehend. It keeps us human. It keeps us compassionate. And those are things that cannot be learned in academic books.

They can only be learned through true empathy with other human beings during the worst times of their lives, and through communion both with our ancestors and our posterity.

One of the worst periods in human history that I know of has to be during the reign of Ivan the Terrible during the middle ages in Russia. That's why, when I learned of it, I simply had to write about it. My book, Citadels of Fire, is due out May 27th. It will be the first of a trilogy dealing with this gruesome, tragic time period.

In a world where danger hides in plain sight and no one aspires to more than what they were born to, Inga must find the courage to break the oppressive chains she’s been bound with since birth. 

As a maid in the infamous Kremlin, life in 16th-century Russia is bleak and treacherous. That is, until Taras arrives. Convinced that his mother’s death when he was a boy was no mere accident, he returned from England to discover what really happened. While there, he gains favor from the Tsar later known as Ivan the Terrible, the most brutal and notorious ruler ever to sit upon the throne of Russia. Ivan allows him to take a servant, and to save Inga from a brutal boyar intent on raping her, Taras requests Inga to stay in his chambers. 

Up against the social confines of the time, the shadowy conspiracies that cloak their history, and the sexual politics of the Russian Imperial court, Inga and Taras must discover their past, plan for their future, and survive the brutality that permeates life within the four walls that tower over them all, or they may end up like so many citizens of ancient Russia: nothing but flesh and bone mortar for the stones of the Kremlin wall.

Click HERE to pre-order.

What do you think of this theory about why we are so drawn to stories in time periods other than our own?

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Cryptography in Writing: Why it Might be the Missing...um, Key

Navajo Code Talkers, Saipan,
June 1944 (Source)

During World War II, the U.S. Marines recruited men of Navajo descent to help them with encryption in the war efforts. U.S. enemies were tasked with deciphering a double whammy. 

Not only was the Navajo language extremely difficult for them to crack, but U.S. forces were using code words within the language that wouldn't make logical sense. That made the language itself more difficult to crack, and even if they did figure it out, they still had the code to deal with. (More info here.)

This is an early (and may I add awesome) example of encryption.

One of the panels I attended while at LTUE was entitled Cryptography 101. I went to this panel kind of as a default fallback because I didn't have anything I particularly wanted to hear about that hour. To my great surprise, not only was it a fascinating panel, but it really got my creative juices flowing.

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3 Reasons Family is a Gateway to Character

Over the past weekend I attended the LTUE Conference in Provo, Utah, and even participated in it myself. It was SUCH a great conference. 

Orson Scott Card (Source)

Orson Scott Card was supposed to be the guest of honor but unfortunately, due to the bad weather on the east coast, his plane was grounded and he couldn't attend. But, thanks to all our amazing technology today, he was still able to participate via Skype.

I attended a panel he spoke on about the role of religion in literature and it was fascinating! I may talk about it more in a later post, but today I wanted to talk about something mentioned that particularly intrigued me. 

The other author on the panel was Michael R. Collins. At one point, Collins asked Orson Scott Card about how family-centric his novels are. His point was to ask Card if the fact that he put all his characters in very realistic family situations (not always good ones) was a reflection of his LDS upbringing.

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Card jokingly responded (paraphrasing here) "I've never thought of that before, but yes. And I'll just pretend I've always known that." 

I only just read Ender's Game for the first time a few months ago. I hadn't thought of the story in terms of Ender's family, but Collins is 100% right. The role of the family in Ender's life and, more specifically, Ender's perceived role in his own family, was a huge part of the story. They then went on to discuss the role of family in a character's life.

The truth is, in most novels, immediate family doesn't figure much unless the story is specifically about familial relationships. This is often made fun of in teenage TV series--the absence of parents and such--but we don't think about it much in literature. 

Card made several very interesting points about this subject.

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1) "Family is a great way to add depth to the character." We often talk about flaws, motivations, back story, and many other things that can help give our characters layers. Family isn't always discussed. But family is such a huge part of our identities as human beings, that it probably should be considered, and usually isn't. The next time you have a character to flesh out, consider their family situation, especially when they were growing up. It's the kind of thing that wouldn't have to be included in the story, but if the author knows about it, can inform the character's attitude, believes and world view.

2) "Writing a realistic family is one of the hardest things a writer can take on." Like with ensemble character casts, the dynamic changes with more than one or two characters in a scene. Plus, in real life, a person can change depending on who they're with, so you can understand the complexity of writing this into a book. If you want to challenge yourself as an author, try to write a true family. And just one child with one parent doesn't count. I'm talking two parents and two or more siblings. It's harder than you might think. 

3) "When there is no family, the character is what he does." As human beings, we are very defined by our family. When this is discounted, the reader only has what the character does to go on. This defines the character. It's a very romanticized way to portray a character (by his deeds) but it's definitely not whole. Most people just don't realize it. (Even most authors!) 

What do you think about using family situation to help define your characters? Do you agree with Card's conclusions?

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Review Day: Writing How-To Books

I'm trying to read lots of writing/marketing how-to books this year. In fact, I'm trying to read at least two a month. These are small, novella or ebook type things that just give helpful tips either to authors, or to anybody marketing, or running a business in general. Today, I'll be reviewing the last five of these types of books that I've read.

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Becoming the 1% by Dennis Crosby

What it's about: I totally loved this book! It is so great. I think I've mentioned it in a couple of posts, but haven't actually reviewed it. This book is about PRODUCTIVITY. It gives tips on planning and making lists that will increase your productivity by 500% in only a couple of weeks. The 1% the title refers to is the top 1% of productive people in the world, which you can become by following these tips.

Did it help me? Yes. I was already a list-maker by nature, but this gave me a great way to structure my lists as well as lots of small things I wasn't doing that can make a big difference. I think Crosby has made me a list-maker for life. Anyone who needs to structure what little time they have to get optimal work done (pretty much all authors) should read this!

(Kindle Edition: $3.99. Scroll down for purchase link.)

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How to Sell Your Books by the Truckload on Amazon.com by Penny C. Sansevieri

What it's about: This short ebook could be read in one sitting. It focuses on the basics of Amazon that will help you use your Amazon account to it's max. It goes over basic things like categories and writing great descriptions, but it also goes into Amazon's Algorithms, perfect keywords, and why Shelfari matters. 

Did it help me? Yes. There were several things--like shelfari--that I wasn't taking advantage of and am now working steadily to get set up. Overall I found this book informative and am glad I got the chance to read it.

(Kindle Edition: $1.99. Scroll down for purchase link.)

From Freelance to Freedom by Michelle Shaeffer

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What it's about: This was basically the transcript of an interview. Michelle Shaffer--who I follow--interviews Debra Jason, who has been a Freelance writer for decades. She gives tips on how to create and maintain your own freelance business.

Did this help me? I'll admit to being a bit disappointed with this one. For one, I believe it was a free download and I didn't entirely know what it was when I put it on my kindle. It wasn't bad, by any means, but it just didn't give very useful information. The tips Debra Jason gives are things like 'never give up,' 'remain positive' and such. Now, I'm all about this kind of attitude, but I think I was hoping for more practical tips that could be applied to a business. So, if you're looking for positive self-talk pick me up, this is the download for you. If you want more practical tips, I'd skip it.

(Kindle Edition: $2.99. Scroll down for purchase link.)

How to Love Your Job or Find a New One by Joanna Penn

What it's about: I've followed Johanna's blog, The Creative Penn, for more than a year now. She's an indie author who's been around the block a few times and definitely knows her stuff. This book gives tips on how to go from where you are in your career to where you want to be. If you hate your job, or just wish you had a different one, Joanna has some tips for you.

Did this help me? Yes. I will say that neither finding nor loving my job particularly applied to me for various reasons. Even so, I found some great tips and useful information in these pages. Her other book, How to Market a Book, was probably better in my opinion, but that's because it's more applicable to me. That book had SOOO many great tips in it. But, if you're someone who doesn't like your job or has a dream job you've always aimed for and never obtained, this is definitely the book for you! I'd recommend it.

(Since I downloaded this, Joanna has changed the title for marketing. It is now available under the title, Career Change. Kindle Edition $4.99. Scroll down for purchase link.)

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Making Killer Profiles on Google Plus by Evo Terra

What it's about: I've known for some time that I needed to be more active on Google Plus. I do post my blogs there, but I'm not familiar enough with the platform to really use it to my advantage. This book is a step-by-step guide for how authors can maximize their use of the Google Plus platform, use it to get their name out there and ultimately sell their books.

Did this help me? Definitely. This was exactly the guide to Google Plus I was looking for. Whether you're totally clueless about Google Plus, have been on it for some time but would like to learn more, or are anywhere in between, this books if full of great tips and shortcuts. Anyone trying to run a legitimate business MUST BE on Google Plus! Evo knows his stuff and gives very helpful instructions. Definitely read this one.

(Kindle Edition $4.95. Purchase link below.)

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Great Reads for Book Marketing Strategy

Lately I've read several non-fiction books about publishing, marketing, upping visibility, and book marketing strategy. I've gotten a lot out of them and thought I would share them. They've got some great information and tips for struggling writers, and I think anyone in this industry would get a lot out of them.

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How to Market a Book by Johanna Penn

I just finished reading this one and it's EXCELLENT! A bit long--about 350 pages--but chalk full of great stuff. I've followed Johanna's blog for months, now, and bought this awhile ago, but it's been sitting on my kindle since then. I finally read it and am so glad I did. I literally took five pages of notes that I'm now using to put together a marketing plan for 2014. (I'll talk more about that as we get closer to the end of the year, but I'm definitely looking ahead already.)

I would highly recommend this to any struggling writer who wants to improve their visibility, their book's marketability, and overall improve their sales. I think this is especially for those author's who've established a base but want to step up their game. A great read! 

Kindle edition sells for $5.99. (Link below)

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Self-Printed: The Sane Person's Guide to Self-Publishing by Catherine Ryan Howard

This is a great book for the author that's just starting out and needs some direction for building their platform and starting a presence through social media. It explains the basics of things--everything from what the difference between self and traditional publishing is to why a social media presence is important for authors today. The information in is very good and it's very affordable. 

I would recommend it to anyone just starting out, though I'll admit that by the time I read it, I already knew most of the information given. If you've already got a book out, or are otherwise fairly immersed in the publishing world, this might be a little too basic for you.

Kindle edition sells for $4.49 (Link Below)

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How I Sold 1 Million Ebooks in 5 Months by John Locke

This book is very short and to the point, and I liked that about it. Locke lays out the techniques that worked for him. His tips are especially great for using blog posts to sell books, and I felt like a learned a lot. Of course, these are also the kind of strategies that work for some and not others. The world of blogging and the internet is constantly shifting and trends rise and fall, so you can't necessarily expect to do exactly what he did and see the same level of success. Still, it doesn't hurt to try and absorb his tips into your own writing and marketing efforts. Definitely worth a read!

Ebook only. Sells for $2.99 (Link Below)

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Building Your Book for Kindle by Kindle Direct Publishing

This is basically a how-to manual for formatting an ebook so it's suitable for kindle. A great guide if you've never done it before. If you have, or you use other methods, skip it.

Ebook only. FREE! Yeah!




 
Has anyone else read any of these? What did you think of them? Do you have any suggestions that aren't on this list (I'd love more suggestions for myself to read!)? 

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5 Tips for Staying the Course for NaNoWriMo

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We're more than half way through the month and, if many of you are like me, your behind on your word count and overwhelmed at thoughts of catching up and/or trying to finish your novel in the next 10 days. I feel ya. I can't seem to get caught up to what my word count needs to be, but I'm trying hard! So, here are some tips for pushing through and hitting your goals.

1. Re-structure your goals. Especially if you're behind, look at what you have left to do and what the rest of your month looks like. Maybe adjust the daily word count or try to squeeze in some extra sessions. 

2. Re-think your schedule. You might consider going without a couple of hours sleep here or there, or just cancelling something else you have planned. If so far, something or some time you've planned to write didn't work out, there's a good chance it won't work out again over the next couple of weeks. 

3. Review your outline. Sometimes, no matter how much passion you have for your project, after days of wallowing in it and forcing words to come, you can get a little sick of your story. I find that going over my outline (even if it's just in my head) and picturing the story can get me hyped up about it again. Which translates into more words.

4. Remind yourself of your end-game. Maybe the next 10 Days will be difficult, but you will be 50,000...lets emphasize that: 50,000 words closer to finishing your book. Keep your eye on the prize!

5. Ask for family and friend support. Tell your spouse or kids not to let you get distracted until your words for today are written. Have them help keep you accountable. You could always bribe the kiddos with something like, "we can't go to the park until mommy/daddy finishes their work." Maybe that will get you some quiet time. You never know!

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6. Don't be afraid to reward yourself. I'm certainly not above bribing myself to hit my word count. If I find my motivation lacking, I tell myself I can eat some chocolate, but not until I hit my daily goal. It really does work. Find out what works for you. Food? A walk? A favorite TV show? Do what it takes to hit your word count.

7. Give yourself a break. I don't know how everyone else is structuring their NaNo, but I don't write every single day. But if you DO, and one morning you just feel like you can't, and no motivation helps, don't be afraid to take a day off. Granted, you may have to write more later to make up your missed words, but taking a day off may re-charge your batteries enough to make it happen. Besides, burning yourself out completely won't get your novel written any sooner.

8. Watch this video. It's geared toward athletics, but will make you feel like you can do anything and everything on earth. (courtesy of youtube.com)

9. And this one from the LDS Storymakers Conference! It will make you want to write. A lot. FOREVER!!! (courtesy of youtube.com)

10.  Just do it! Yeah, it's the Nike logo. And lots of athletes use it. But in truth, it goes for any goal and any profession. No matter how hard it is or how much you need a break, just stop complaining and do it. 

Do YOU have any tips for pushing through NaNoWriMo?

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Writing Great Mysteries, Part 3

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This is the second in a series called Writing Great Mysteries. I'm going to go over the story structure of mysteries, revealing clues bit by bit, and a few other things. While this is about writing crime or mystery, it can actually apply to any genre. Often in other genres you have minor mysteries you want to reveal gradually, like who betrayed your main characters or what someone's surprise motivations are. In other words, these posts can be adapted to any mystery or slow-reveal in any genre you may happen to be writing. As such, I'll call my villains perps or killers, because that's what is usually the case in mystery/crime, but again you can adapt this to any antagonist.

So we've talked about what kind of reveal you want (Part 1) and how to reveal clues to your ending piece by piece (Part 2) so the only thing left to cover are the stakes. I'm big on high stakes stories, but it always depends on what your mystery is.

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