Handling a Harsh Book Review

Hi everyone,

James Patterson

Okay, so you've finally finished your book and it's on the market and a couple of hundred or maybe even more have bought it. You are thrilled and you should be! Congratulations :-) Things are humming along and you are feeling pretty proud when you log into your Amazon account and come across a harsh review of your precious work. HOW could that be?? Don't worry...it happens to everyone from time to time. Believe it or not, not everyone that reads your book is going to like it or think it's great. That is part of writing...there will be people who love what you do and how you do it, there will be people that will read it and go "meh" and others that will read it and dislike it for whatever reason.

Don't be too hard on yourself at this point! Even the best known authors of our time like Stephen King, James Patterson, or John Sanford (a few of my fav's) don't always write winners every time.  It doesn't mean that you suck or you are a bad writer. Maybe you type of writing was too fast or too slow for someone. Maybe your writing isn't their usual genre of reading. Maybe they wouldn't know a good book it if hit them in the head! Instead, take what they have to say and give it the weight it deserves. For example, if they criticized the grammar then perhaps your next book should be edited by a copy editor instead of yourself and uncle Ted or if they said the plot was thin then maybe you could look at working up a stronger plot for the next book.  

The bottom line of today's post is that every writer should use a harsh review as an opportunity to learn about your writing technique and to pick up tips on how to improve your writing skills. Take those negative comments and use them to strengthen your writing muscle! 

Have a great day everyone!

Becky

Throwing Together a Quick Plot

Kate Burns

On Thursday, I have been asked, as a 'real author', to speak to my daughter's grade 3 class on the subject of how to take an idea and turn it into a real story.

Good question! But, like the class already asked, how?

Well, let's throw together a quick plot.

We'll start with a little Trouble.

Every good story starts, of course, with trouble. Not little trouble -- losing your car keys, or forgetting to let the dog out -- but Trouble. Like, say, if you lost your car keys in a bad part of town and found yourself running for your life as two rival street gangs open fire on either side of you. While delivering (stolen) diamonds for your abusive boss. That kind of Trouble.

The snowflake method is good for plotting. It's a good one for that nagging 'what happened next' question.

Basically, you write out a beginning situation: Martha gets up at four o'clock every morning to start her day's work in her parents' bakery. She slaves all day, quitting at dusk only to drag herself home and fall into bed, exhausted. Her chances of meeting a man with her head in the oven are slim to none.

And an end situation: Martha emerges as a heroine, having solved the mystery of the arsons in the neighbourhood. The blue-eyed fire investigator she sleuthed with has proposed to her, and she finds the confidence to break out on her own as a special events caterer.

An inciting incident: Four o'clock in the morning. Locks her keys in the car and is stuck outside in the alley behind the bakery. While waiting for a locksmith, Martha sees someone running out of the alley. She smells smoke, then all hell breaks loose as the tenement building next door explodes into flame.

With a dangerous complication: He sees her, too.

With some serious trouble in the middle: Martha is nearly cooked when her ovens malfunction. Is it a freak accident? Gross negligence that could cost her parents the business? Or an attempt on Martha's life?

Some serious sleuthing: She comes across a clue to ovenly sabotage, a motive, along with a few possible suspects.One of whom just started working there.

One Red Herring: The bakery's new cashier lives rent-free in a nearby warehouse, and is an anarchist. He believes home is wherever a person squats and would defend it with knife, gun or burn it to the ground before anyone else got to it. He's attractive, if a little high-strung.

An obstacle: The anarchist cashier likes Martha. A lot. She goes out with him a couple of times, only to discover that although he doesn't believe in ownership for property, he's pretty possessive regarding women.

And a twist: A little google is a dangerous thing: Martha comes to suspect the fire investigator of being an arsonist himself!

Or three: Trouble is, she's falling in love with him. And the cashier can see it, too. Whenever the investigator is around, she can't seem to shake loose her anarchist barnacle.

Weave in a Subplot: Martha's parents are not only not supportive of all the crazy things she's been doing, it looks like they may actually try to have her committed. It turns out her mother went through a 'crazy' phase in her own youth, only to have her dreams dashed and her heart broken by tragedy. She has been shielding her daughter from the same fate, by hiding her away in the family business.

And how about a title? Even just a working title: The Scent of Fresh Murder

Poof! A story! And all I did was start with a beginning situation, ask myself (or my muse) a few questions, and answer them according to some plot points I know I'll need.

And that is where I think I'll take those kids.

Stay tuned Thursday for what questions to ask while building a plot.

Happy Writing!
Kate Burns

Time Management Tips for Writers

Hi everyone,

Doesn’t it seem like EVERYONE is pressed for time? 

I know I am! Between getting up and going into my full time day job (I can’t afford to write full time), getting the kids up, getting us to where we need to be, working all day, picking the kids up, making supper, packing lunches, keeping the house clean, getting the laundry done, taking care of the pets, preparing the blog post for Mystery Writers Unite and still trying to find time to write and relax…let’s just say that some days I feel like I need a few more of me!

I know I’m not the only one feeling the time management pressure and from what I understand most writers face the same type of time-management dilemmas such as:

• Trying to meet their current deadlines while marking to existing and new reader base.
• Trying to switch from one task to another and even sometimes one project to another without getting distracted.
• Trying to avoid setting unrealistic expectations but then not setting the bar high enough all in the name of avoiding that terrible feeling one gets when they don’t meet a goal.
• Trying to be flexible enough to be able to deal with unforeseen events that inevitably croup up in our day-to-day lives while still having enough structure to reach their goals.
• Trying to perfect the ability to be able to be able to multitask and work on multiple projects.

Now, I’m not saying I have all the answers, but I do have some strategies that I’ve come across in researching this subject and some others that I practice myself that I thought I would share with all of you.

Time Management Tips:

1.    It’s helpful to have a designated workspace — ideally, an office or studio space outside of your home. If this isn’t possible, a home office with a door you can close is your next best option. Don’t have a room to set aside for an office? Go to your local Pier 1, buy a Chinese screen and section off a corner of a room. Voilà: instant office. Another popular choice is to go and write at a coffee shop or your public library.

2.    No, I’m not saying you should work naked, but dress like you’re going to the office. Because, guess what? You are. Even if your “office” is your kitchen table, putting on regular work clothes gets you into the right mind-set. It also makes it less embarrassing when the UPS man shows up in the middle of the afternoon.

3.    Prepare documents ahead of time for quick turnover if you get an inquiry (e.g. writer bio, an introduction letter with a snippet of your book, etc.).

4.    Use your email folders, filters, rules to manage your email. This will save you a TON of time when you need a particular email and don’t have a spare half hour to scan hundreds of messages.

5.    Make sure you remain rested and take a break if you begin to feel fatigued. 

6.    Create an outline for the day.

7.    Outsource tasks that eat into your time and take you away from reaching your writing goals (e.g. research, editing, cover art, etc.)

8.    Schedule what you can and use networking tools such as Tweet Adder, Hootsuite and Social Omph to automate tasks (see: Guest Blogger ~ R.S. Guthrie on Social Media Marketing post for more information).

9.    Many writers think they’re inefficient when the real problem is their need for perfectionism. Instead of waiting for the “perfect” line or idea to come to you just right what comes to mind and then you can refine and hone it until it's what you want.

10.  If you’ve managed to cut your commute by having a home office, don’t waste that extra time by deciding that you now have time to have an extra cup of coffee or some other irrelevant task that will make you arrive at your home office the same time your would have arrived at an outside office.

11. Don’t waste time by watching TV, going to the movies, doing household chores or laundry during your WORK day. It is fine to take a break now to ensure that you feel rested and alert but do your best to stick with the schedule you decided upon.

12.  Limit the number of distractions around you (e.g. turn off the phone, don’t check mail, cut off access to Internet, don’t answer the door, etc.).

13.  If a challenge is what motivates you, set a timer for a set period of time and see how many words you can't add to your story before the timer dings. Take a rest, set the timer and do it again with an aim to improve upon the number of words you managed the first time around.

14. If your easily motivated by others, having a writing buddy that you can check in with on a regular basis (daily, weekly, monthly or even quarterly) to keep you accountable may be useful (just don’t waste all your time chatting...lol).

15. Set weekly goals and then schedule them in.

16. Reward yourself when you meet your writing goals – this doesn’t have to be something “big” it could be a simple as taking the time to go for a walk, visit a friend, have a nap or a glass of wine and pat yourself on the back! These little rewards will keep you motivated and give you something to look forward to.

17.  If you are like me, you may get satisfaction from crossing things off a “to-do” list – make one stating your daily goals in small manageable parts (e.g. write 500 words in the next 2 hours) and start crossing them off!

18.  Schedule your work to be at a time when nobody else is working or in the office (e.g., really early in the morning or really late at night).

19. Tackle the stuff you don’t like or enjoy doing first. Often times if these things are left until the end of the day, you may put them off until the next day.

Have a great day everyone!

Becky

Quest for Fire: Finding and Nourishing Your Creative Spark

Anybody remember the movie Quest for Fire?

Quest for Fire was a low-budget Canadian movie. Ron Perlman and Rae Dawn Chong headed an ensemble cast of cavemen -- er, people -- who, in the dawn of (our) creation, do not know how to actually create fire. They use fire, but instead of baking it from scratch, they use what they find in nature: lightning strikes, forest fires, and other naturally occurring phenomena to 'capture' the spark they need to supply their cooking, heating and safety needs. Their tribe had one rule: never let the fire go out. And if by some disaster it did go out, a team was sent to 'gather' more.

A fire tender was appointed to guard the tiny flame they could coax out of nature. This fire tender had to endure sleeplessness, cold, rain and mortal danger to keep this little-understood thing alive.

When that flame returned to the home caves, its keepers were treated as heroes.

How does that translate to the world of writing? Or painting, or drawing, for that matter?

Creative sparks occur all around us. A scene in a movie, a piece of wisdom from a friend. The way your husband tripped over the kids' shoes in the front hall. A turn of phrase, a glint of light in amber-coloured eyes. That peculiar thing your best friend does with her head when she's in the middle of telling you a story. The fabulously gory method of murder that blasted you in the brain, hot on the heels of a traffic near-miss.

It is these small idea fires that can ignite true creative energy. Those sparks, with hard work and a lot of time and attention, become bonfires of brilliance, forming the heart and soul of a written work.

Tell me: how do you find these bits? Where do you find them? What are your favourite places to open yourself to ideas? To sparks?

Now tell me: how do you hold onto them? Is it a notepad? A tape recorder? Do you simply thwap your spouse on the arm and exhort them to remind you of your own brilliance?

How do you go further than that? How can you, the most enlightened and least caveman-like of modern humans, call forth creative fire... from nothing at all?

Can it even be done?

Kate Burns
The Ophelia Trap

The Genre Question

Hi all :-)

Here is a topic of debate: 

As a writer, should you write only one genre or , like actors and actresses,  should you stretch your limits and try and write many different genres? 

I've heard both sides to the debate:

Some people think that writers should focus on one genre and one only (e.g. once a writrer of mystery, always a writer of mystery). That they should become an expert in that particular genre and build a strong following. Does this mean that the writer is branding the genre and not themselves?

Othere people believe that writers should never be tied to one genre but instead they should use their talents and their creative thoughts to write about whatever comes to them and not worry about branding a specific kind of book / audience. These writers would have to have a strong focus on branding themselves and not their work.

Personally, I think I tend to agree more with the latter statement as I believe that writers can cross from writing a thriller to a romance novel. I think writing should be based upon whatever creative thought takes place in a writers mind and that this process shouldn't be inhibited by genre.

What do you think? Also, if you agree with me, do you think writers should have a different pen name for each book genre they write or should they use the same name regardless of genre?

Have a great day!!

Becky

The Pros and Cons of Self-publishing

Hi all :-)

Now here is a big topic if debate: Self-publishing vs. Publishing House

Let's look at the "pros" and "cons" of each.

SELF-PUBLISHING:

THE GOOD (Pros)

1. Control: Self-publishing assures you that you have control over the entire process and every decision regarding your book will be made by you.  You hold all the "rights" to you work.

2. Time to Market: If you self-publish you can get your book out into the market place faster.

3. Higher Earnings: You get to enjoy higher earnings when you self-publish.

4. Time: You aren't committed to any one's schedule except your own and will  have nobody pushing you to develop the next novel.

5. Attention: Self-publishers devote all their attention to each project they work on. They work hard to promote it at every turn. This kind of one-on-one attention will not be given at a publishing house.

6. Branding / Image: Self-publishers control their branding and image, which in turn equates to having more control over the "market" that they want to entice.

7. Business Tax Deductions: Yes, in case you were not aware, you can deduct certain expenses when you self-publish your book.

THE BAD (Cons)

1. Wear Many Hats: Self-publishers have to be their own accountant, editor, packager, distributor, and sales person.

2. Marketing/Branding: Self-publishers have to become very good at getting people to want to purchase their book over someone elses book. It can be difficult with all the choices out there to convince a reader to buy your book instead of another one.

3. Time: Chances are if you are a new author, you still have a full time job and other responsibilities to tend to in any given day. You will need to find a way to fit in all the work to writing, publishing and promoting your work, which can be very taxing.

4. Money: You have to spend money to make money and you will have to put all costs out up-front, which can pull on anyone's budget strings these days.

5. Prestige: There can be a prejudice against self-publishing and many buyers will believe that unless you were able to "sell" your ides to someone else, there must be something wrong with it.

If you chose to self-publish there are some tools available to help you succeed. For example, the book entitled " Editors on Editing: What Writers Need to Know About What Editors Do" can help you learn how to edit your work like a professional editor would or "The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, Fourth Edition - Everything You Need to Know About the Costs, Contracts, and Process of Self-Publishing" can guide you through the process of self-publishing if you've never published a novel before. Another great tool for self-publishers is "Bookkeeping Basics for Freelance Writers", which can help you get familiar with what you need to track for income tax purposes for your business.

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING HOUSE:

THE GOOD (Pros)

1. Having a Team: You won't have to wear a lot of hats and the publishing house will have people that will edit, work on layout, get your book printed and packaged, have their salespeople promote your book, distribute your book and of course they have accountants and lawyers that will assist you.

2. Marketing: They have a team of professional marketers that know how to promote a book to increase sales.

3. Money: The amount you will earn as opposed to self-publishing will be less but you won't have to put any money out to see your book to market. Instead, you will usually be paid an advance and of course receives royalties.

4. Prestige: Some readers may believe that your book has more value since it was obviously "good enough" to be picked up by a publishing house.

5. Time: You won't have to worry about devoting a lot of time once your book has been finalized and is ready for print. At that point the majority of your work is done and the team begins their work.

THE BAD (Cons)

1. Loss of Control: The publishing house will own the "rights" to your work. They will decide how to package it, market it and promote it.


2. Money: You will make less money once everyone gets their cut of the pie.

3. Attention: The sales people that work for the publishing houses will not devote the same kind of time and attention to your work as you would. They have numerous books they need to promote at once.

4. Time to Market: Even once you get your book accepted, it can take up to two years before you will see your book on the shelves.

Overall, I think the decision to pursue self-publishing or to try and get a publishing house to publish your work will depend on your lifestyle, ability to part with your work, and finances.

What do you think? Have a missed anything? Add a comment and feel free to share your thoughts on the matter.

Becky

The Long and the Short of It

Good morning :-)

I've been reading a lot of blogs since I started mine and I keep coming across the same message time and time again - NEW WRITERS SHOULD START WITH WRITING SHORT STORIES BEFORE THEY ATTEMPT A FULL NOVEL. Message received...lol

When I started writing my book I hadn't heard this before. All I knew was I had an idea for a book bouncing around in my head for awhile and that I had always wanted to attempt writing a book. When a good friend of mine read some of my poetry, she encouraged me to use my writing skills to do just that and I thought...why not.

Once I began writing, I wasn't thinking of the "long or the short" of the book. I just began to plan scene's and plot lines. I am now at 367 pages and over 40 chapters and still counting. There is still quite a bit of story to tell and I'm now worried that maybe I'm going about this all wrong. Now I'm wondering if I would be better off in the long run to turn the story from one big fat novel into a series of short stories or perhaps I should shelve the story I've been working on for awhile and write a few short stories first. I guess the latter option would get my writing out sooner and maybe I could build a bit of a readership prior to releasing the big story, which would be a good thing.

What did you do to start your writing career? What tips would you share with new writer? Do you think they should start small or just "go for the gusto" right out of the gate?

Have a great day all!

Becky

Happy Friday :-)

I think today's post is going to be me ranting about some common errors that irk me not as a writer but as a reader of books, which I adore. 

Rant One – Typos, Grammatical Errors, Editing Misses

Have you ever been reading a really good story, so good that you aren't aware of the noises around you because the story has captured you so completely, the pace is great and your heartbeat is racing and you can't wait to find out what happens next and then you stumble upon a grammatical error and all is lost? This has happened to me and I have to remind myself that this isn’t always the author's fault as their work has been through editing with the editors and it should be 100% perfect....shouldn't it? When this happens it detracts from the story and from the quality of the product being sold. It also makes readers wary of the next book they may read from the same author if the book is published by the same publishing company. I mean how can a professional editor not catch these obvious errors?

Rant Two -- Story Line Errors

Another example of what really frustrates me is authors who create wonderful series and then slip with the story line (e.g., in book one they stated one of the characters had a university degree, but in book five it was suddenly a college they attended). This may seem like a small slip, but if your reader is really enjoying the characters and they are believable, it can ruin the entire story for them because it reminds them that the story is fiction and not real. Once this happens, their interest in reading more of the same series could certainly fade.

Rant Three -- Empty Adjectives (or Adverbs)

These are words that promise emphasis, but too often they don’t deliver and end up sucking the meaning out of the sentence. Examples that come to mind: actually, totally, absolutely, completely, continually, constantly, continuously, literally, really, unfortunately, ironically, incredibly, hopefully, finally.

To demonstrate, consider the following sentence: “It was, in fact, the only row that actually opened onto the creek.” This sentence attempts to emphasize “in fact,” and “actually”, but they just muddle the sentence. You could remove them both and the word “only” can carry the burden of the sentence with efficiency and precision.

That is not to say that empty adjectives / adverbs are useless. In dialogue, they may sound appropriate, even authentic, but if you're not watchful, they can make your characters sound wordy, infantile and dated.

Rant Four -- Flat Writing

Flat writing is an indication that you’ve lost interest in your own narrative and if you aren’t excited about the story, how can you expect your readers to want to keep reading? If you begin to notice that your writing is veering this way, take a break from writing and see if you can’t refuel your story line. Spend time thinking about how to give the story depth, texture and character or you will end up having sentences like: “He wanted to know but couldn’t understand what she had to say, so he waited until she was ready to tell him before asking what she meant.” This sentence is trying to convey something but the writing is so flat that nobody reading it will likely take the time to figure out what that may be. You can’t “fix” a sentence like this with a few replacement words. Instead, you need to rewrite completely.

Rant Five - Crutch Words

I recently read a novel that used the word "macabre" repeatedly throughout the entire book in places sometimes where it wasn’t in line with the balance of the sentence and after awhile I was frustrated with that word, the story and the author. I mean, really is everything repellent macabre? I doubt it, and even if that is the essence you are trying to convey, I'm sure there are many other words in the English language that could be used that would probably have more impact. This type of error will really disappoint and frustrate readers after a while and will detract from the story you've worked so hard to tell.

Rant Six – Phony Dialogue

Be careful of using dialogue to advance the plot. Readers can tell when characters talk about things they already know, or when the speakers appear to be having a conversation for our benefit. Instead, dialogue should be used to offer glimpses into the character that can’t be provided through description. The dialogue should highlight the character's hidden wit, thoughtful observations, a revelation and should work towards “showing” us what the author can’t “tell” us.

Rant Seven – Lists

“She was entranced by the roses, hyacinths, impatiens, mums, carnations, pansies, irises, peonies, hollyhocks, daylilies, morning glories, larkspur…” Well, she may be entranced, but our eyes are glazing over.

If you’re going to describe a number of items, turn up the visuals. Lay out the scene as the eye sees it, with emphasis and emotion in unlikely places. When you list the items as though we’re checking them off with a clipboard, the internal eye will close.

Rant Eight – Show, Don’t Tell

If you say, “she was stunning and powerful,” you’re “telling” your reader something. However, if you say, “I was stunned by her elegant carriage as she strode past the jury – shoulders erect, elbows back, her eyes wide and watchful,” you’re “showing’ your reader, which enables them to visualize the picture you’re trying to paint.

Handsome, attractive, momentous, embarrassing, fabulous, powerful, hilarious, stupid, fascinating are all words that “tell” us in an arbitrary way what to think. They don’t reveal, don’t open up, don’t describe in specifics what is unique to the person or event described. Often they begin with clichés.

What frustrates you as a reader?

Have a great day!

Becky

Location, Location, Location ~ Not Just a Business Decision

Happy Wednesday!!

Ottawa

Picture this - you've mapped out the main ideas of your story line, you have work diligently to develop believable characters, you know the type of venues (office setting, park, restaurant, etc.) that need to be included in your story - all that is left is to decide where this story will take place and the location you decide upon will either add to your story or detract from it depending on how accurately you can portray the location. This can be a difficult decision to make and for some reason the real life importance of "location, location, location" often described to face challenges in the business world comes to mind for me. I don't want to ruin the impact / effect of my story by placing it in the entirely wrong place.



There are so many things to consider, such as:

1. Should you choose a place that you are very familiar with (where you grew up or have visited frequently) or a place you've never been or experienced?



New York

2. If you choose a place you've never visited how will you be able to make it seem as if you have?
3. What can you do to become more familiar with the details of landmarks?
4. Does your story line demand a specific climate (e.g. if you have an Olympic skier in your story they wouldn't likely live in Florida)?
5. Can you utilize the location to add to your story line or is this place just going to serve as a backdrop?
6. Will readers be able to relate to this location? 
7. Does your story require that your main character travel to many different places?

Toronto

This list is by no means exhaustive and the good news for all writers is that the decision is completely up to you! In the book that I'm working on, my character travels from one location in Canada to another location and has to be constantly "on the move" for various reasons and, luckily, I have visited these places and can describe landmarks in detail and name streets; making the scene believable. So, for this novel I'm set. However, if this wasn't the case, and there have been times I've considered changing the location to more familiar places located in the United States, how would I prepare myself to be able to "sell" the location to readers? Some tools I could use are:

• Google Maps



Vegas

• Geographical Maps
• Wikipedia
• Internet Searches
• Family / Friends (if they have traveled to the destination)
• Other Authors
• Other Blog Authors

Again, not an exhaustive list but a start.

What tools would you utilize to explore a place you've never been?

Happy writing everyone :-)

Becky

Balancing Writing and Life

Good morning :-)

I'm sure every writer out there has had to deal with the pressures of every day life and how those pressures sometimes either get in the way or prohibit writing all together for days on end. So, how do we do it?
Where do you find the time to write that chapter or review the character your working on? How to you keep track of all the little things that you still need to look into and follow-up on?

Some writers that I've spoken to use fancy software while others just keep notes in a booklet or on index cards. I've found both ways work for me, but neither way takes care of the "finding the time" when there is a time crunch. I am a mother of two children and work full time outside of the home. During regular work weeks the week can be quite busy between working all day, picking up the kids from school, making dinner, doing homework and baths by the time I have any "me" time the day is almost done and I need to get to bed in order to be rested enough for the next day. Being creative at 9:30 - 10:00 at night after having a full day just seems impossible some days. My answer during these times is to keep small "post it notes" on my iPhone of things that still need to be done, ideas for a character or even chapter development ideas. Another way is to carry a mini- recorder around that you can speak into when the thoughts come to you.

Whatever works to get the job done I guess. What things do you utilize to manage your writing time?

Have a great day everyone!
Becky