StorytimeWednesday

  Writing Distractions   What are the most distracting items that every writer deals with and how to solve them in order to get as much writing done as possible?   Each of these items are what usually happens when you sit down at your computer or laptop, then immediately get distracted from your goals of writing for that timeframe. 1)       Social Media Do you schedule writing time only to get distracted by checking your email, or some form of social media account? If so, stop it! Turn off all internet access during the scheduled time you are supposed to write. That means turn off your phone, unplug your laptop or computer from the internet or better yet get a separate laptop that doesn’t touch the internet and use that system for your writing.   If you can’t afford to buy another laptop them down load an app that turns off your social media and blocks it for a specific period of time. Like Freedom, Self-Control or Stay focused. 2) ...

  You can edit your story like a Publisher!   Although every publisher believes that every writer needs a good editor, that’s not really true, if you can write a book, you can learn to edit your own work before it is published.   Why do you need to edit your work once you’ve finished writing your best work? The reason why you need to do editing of your work is because you want your readers to be able to comprehend what your story is all about and want to promote your work to their friends.   So you’ve written a novel and now it’s time to begin the editing process. Fist off be sure to run your manuscript through your spell check to ensure everything is spelt correctly. Secondly be sure to find all the word “That” and delete them all. Third print off your manuscript and make sure it’s double spaced with 1- 1 ½ inch boarders so you can make notes accordingly. When I edit one of my finished manuscripts, I punch holes in the copy so I can place it into a three-ring bi...

    Plot Synopsis   There are two types of plot synopsis, one that is short and sweet that wets the whistle of a reader to buy your book, and then a lengthier synopsis that entices a publisher to want to publish your book. The lengthy one is part of your book proposal that also includes genre, characters of note, the setting, the style and so on. Here is an example of a short and sweet synopsis for one of my books, The Last Wish. On the brink of losing her job and facing financial ruin things can’t get any worse in Kendra Doyle’s life, until she learns that her grandfather has died. Will his last wish solve her problems or add to them? In the above synopsis I introduced the main character, what her main plot point is and that her grandfather is a key player in the outcome of the story, even though he has died. His last wish is for her to fulfill this last wish and maybe it will help solve her financial problems. (I will go over the proposal aspect of producing a...

 Create your character Biographies Outside of fundamental outlining a novel, to give you’re a good foundation of your story, the best part of writing any story to this author, is creating good Eye-catching characters back story that the reader can fall in love with. For example, Stuart Woods characters in his Stone Barrington Series are my favorite set of characters, then it’s J. A. Jance characters in her Beaumont series, oh and let’s not forget David Baldacci’s Camel Club series characters.   Each author designed their characters to be engaging, compelling and who have issues to resolve even though their dealing with a murder, or national security issues to solve. It’s that personal issue that attaches these characters to the reader. Never forget that. The compelling story is what makes the reader love your character. The reader must fall in love with them to the point where they are routing for them to succeed. No matter what type of writer you are, your characters you ...

When writing or planning to write a book, you must and I mean, must create a book outline because it’s critical for you as the writer to stay on course and to help your readers stay in line with the story and not get muddles by a story that flops back and forth or all over the place. The reason I say this is because the outline is the very foundation of your writing process, kind of like your roadmap of thoughts to stay on track.  An Outline is great to stay on track of your story, but as a writer I can tell you it also prevents that dreaded writer’s block when you sit at your desk staring at a blank page not knowing what to write next. The outline will help you prevent such writer’s block. Because no matter how experienced you are as a writer, writing a book is challenging and daunting if you don’t have your roadmap to keep you on the road to writing that novel. How daunting is you’re asking, well try thinking about it like this: try stringing together a fluid sequence of word...