You spent months, maybe years, working on your novel and you have finally typed the words The End. You stand and stretch, then head for the fridge to celebrate. You’re finished! Well, not quite. Go ahead and celebrate with friends and family. You deserve it, but just keep in the back of your mind that you are not finished. Far from it. The real jewel now has to be revised and polished until it dazzles even you. So, hide your flash drive in a drawer for a week or two, then come back and begin the arduous task of REVISING.

If you are fortunate to belong to a critique group, you would have benefited from the extra pairs of eyes and the different perspective each member would have brought to your work. However, they may not have caught everything. If you do not have a critique group, you have even more reason to go back and revise. Here are some things you will look for: (more…)

My post in the A – Z challenge is going to be a short one on querying. If you are an author or freelance writer, you have no doubt researched the art of writing the query letter, or may have attended workshops on the subject. Therefore, I will not bore you with writing what you already know. The query letter is one of the ways you get an agent or publisher to take notice of your work. If you get it right, you could be on to something, get it wrong and your excellent work goes unnoticed.

What if you could find a list of suitable agents, get some help with your query letters and keep track of where you sent them? I just signed up for Querytracker, a site which does all that and more. When you join Querytracker you become part of a community of writers who share the same goals and who can help you get your foot in the (agent’s) door. Sounds worthwhile? Check out Querytracker.net, or if you are already a member, drop me a line and let me know what your experience is like.

When you set about the daunting task of writing a novel, your main task is to plot it in such a way that people will want to read it. And by plotting I mean writing a series of events from beginning to end in a logical manner. In order to do this you may use the first tried and true method, which is,

Sit and write, stand and write, kneel and write, whichever works best for you. And you begin your novel, It was a dark and stormy night. This didn’t work for Snoopy and it might not work for you either. So how do you plot your novel? Here are some plotting methods I’ve come across in books.

1. Write down some background information. This may include notes about your characters and what makes them tick. Next, you put your characters in a place or several places, which will be your setting, then you give your main character a problem. How he/she solves (or does not solve) that problem will be your plot.

2. Using an outline. Some authors swear by this. You start with a problem for your main character, then you write a chapter outline of the plot. This is okay, but I have found that I can never stick to an outline. My characters tend to pull me away from it in more interesting avenues, which I can’t resist.

3. Use 3 x 5 cards. If you can still find these in your office supply store, they might be more helpful than the outline. Here’s why. After you have written your plot points on the cards, you can always move them around to see where they fit best, or discard those that do not work. Maybe it’s better if Sally tells Johnny she is divorced after they have gone on their first date instead of before. So you move that card to where you want the event to occur.

4. Draw a bell curve or a graph. Either of these will give you a visual representation of where the climax of your story comes. To do this, use the points you plotted on 3 x 5 cards or in the outline. Again, I find the cards are easier to play around with. Draw your curve and plot the salient points on your curve in the order in which they appear. Hopefully, the high point of your novel or the climax will fall in, or near, the middle of the curve. If it doesn’t, you may have to do some restructuring. The reason for this is, if the climax comes too early, the resolution tends to drag and the reader may lose interest. If it comes too late, the resolution may seem rushed and the reader may feel cheated.

The important thing to remember is, there is no hard and fast rule for writing or plotting your novel. You may ignore everything that was said here and simply sit at your computer like Snoopy and type. However, if you think you need a little bit of planning before you delve into the literary waters, then play with some of the methods above. If you find one, or a combination, that works for you, go for it.

Still on the A – Z challenge, the letter for today is O for occupation. If you are a fiction writer, your protagonist will most likely have a job. I’ve never met one who didn’t. However, the job you select for your character(s) should have some bearing on your plot. Think of the detective stories you’ve enjoyed and the way the author used the character’s occupation to drive the plot. This also adds depth to your story and creates a more memorable character.

Dan Brown’s protagonist Robert Langdon, whose job as a Harvard symbologist lands him some hair-raising assignments, make Dan Brown’s books page turners. And page turners sell. Choose your character’s occupation with this in mind and you may achieve the same result.

As a writer, you can easily fall into a pattern of negative thinking. Some days you may think that you’ll never make it in the writing world, that your work stinks and no one will ever want to read it. Many times this thought pattern may come about as a result of what is going on in your life. There may be absolutely nothing wrong with your writing, but because you are overwhelmed, anxious or stressed out in other areas of your life, everything looks bad, including your writing.
Fortunately, when this happens there are a few things you can do to bring those negative thoughts under control: (more…)

M is for money matters is my A – Z blog post for today. This is going to be a short one even though it’s a very important topic, maybe the most important, depending on your values. You have heard it said that writers are a starving bunch of people. You may even know one who is. (Don’t look in the mirror!) But there are many writers who make decent money, and are justifiably proud. Of course, if you write books and can catch an editor’s eye, you may get an advance and make some money from royalties. But these days it may be easier to catch a bird falling from the sky than an editor’s or agent’s eye. So what can you do to bring in some much-desired moola?

According to the experts, writers can make money through:
1. Affiliate marketing – There are many companies that would pay you a commission to promote their products on your blog. Google advertises many of these companies.
2. Blogging – Place ads on your blog through Adsense.
3. Ebook sales – You can write your own ebook and distribute it on your site. Or, you can invite other bloggers to sell your ebook on their site and pay them a commission.
4. Job boards – You can visit the job boards for assignments that fit your expertise.
5. Small business – Contact small businesses in your area who may be looking for someone to handle their correspondence which they are not equipped to handle.
6. Speaking assignments – Are you an expert on a particular subject? You may be able to make some good money through speaking engagements.

So, there you have it. Now, which of those can I implement right away? Drop me a line and let me know how you make money as a writer, then when you are done, check out some more bloggers in the A – Z blog challenge.

L is for literary on my A – Z blog challenge. If you have been querying agents or publishers for some time, you would no doubt have come across the term “literary novel” or “literary mainstream fiction.” I remember the first time I saw it I was confused, and many years later I’m still confused, as apparently are the many people who have attempted to define the term.

The most common definition I’ve come across is, you can’t define it, but you’ll know when you see it. Very helpful, isn’t it? (more…)

I wanted to write on King or Kindle or some other K- icon, but I thought I would just settle for some good old-fashioned virtue like kindness. It costs absolutely nothing to give or receive and can pay huge dividends in terms of personal satisfaction to the giver as well as the receiver. But why am I writing about kindness on a writing blog? Because even some of us writers slip up in this area every now and again. Or, could it be that we are unaware that we’re being unkind? What are some ways that we as writers can show kindness?

1. Online. In these days when everyone is either facing, tweeting or linking in an attempt to be noticed, I come across a lot of nasty and unkind language on these forums. It shouldn’t take too much creativity to express one’s opinion without cussing someone out.

2. In Reviews. If you are trying to brand yourself as a book reviewer, you need to be honest with your review. No one expects you to say a book is fabulous when it isn’t. However, you can provide constructive criticism of the book without being nasty, or without setting out to make the author look bad. No matter how bad a book might be (in your opinion) you can find something good to say about it, while pointing out what you might consider its flaws.

3. In critique groups. I have the pleasure and honor of belonging to the most wonderful critique group on this earth. That doesn’t mean they always like or agree with everything I write, but they are tactful and honest in their criticism.

4. In your own work. Do you plagiarize other people’s work? That’s a fancy term for stealing, and it’s unkind to take something that someone has labored over and try to pass it off as your own. As writers, we all do research to find content for our articles, blogs etc., but if this content is not generalized knowledge, then by all means, give credit to the site or writer. Some blog owners will allow you to reproduce their posts without changing any of it as long as you cite them as the original creator of the work.

Whether you are an aspiring or established writer, there are people who look up to you to set and maintain a certain standard. Do not disappoint them. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

The letter for today is J and my J has to do with journaling, one of my favorite topics. When you hear the word journaling, what comes to your mind? Psychology? Cuckoo? Lost marbles? Journaling is a tool used by psychologists and behavioral therapists to help their clients improve their self awareness, manage stress and improve their overall mental health. However, you don’t have to be in need of mental health services to benefit from journaling.

You may certainly want to use your journal to record the following: –
• Your moods or emotions, whether happy or sad and what might be responsible.
• Your plans for the day, or if you write at night, a recording of the day’s events.
• Anything that made an impression on you (good or bad) during the day
• Progress (or lack of) with your goals. My writing coach, Suzanne Lieurance of the Working Writer’s Club encourages us to track our writing progress by keeping a success journal.

As a writer, you may find a journal helpful in capturing those stray thoughts that occur almost out of the blue. You never know, they may be the start of a great story. You can also use journaling to help dislodge the dreaded writer’s block that hits every now and then. Or, if you are between projects, journaling is a way to ensure that you write something every day.

You may decide to keep a journal for a specific purpose, such as the success journal mentioned above, or a place to express your thoughts on a variety of topics. If you don’t know how or where to begin, that’s okay. Just write, and soon you’ll find the ideas beginning to flow. After a while you’ll wonder how you ever got by without your journal. Try it!

With the demise of many of the big bookstores, independent booksellers have been rising to meet the needs of the reading public. Independent bookstores, or more popularly indies, carry a wide assortment of books similar to those found in the larger chains, as well as ebooks.

Apart from serving the reading public, independent bookstores also offer authors, especially those who are self-published, the opportunity to get their books on the book shelves. However, many of these independent booksellers have very stringent criteria for accepting books, in many cases similar to Barnes & Nobel or any other large bookstore. If you do decide to approach one of these indies, do your homework well and be prepared to answer questions other than what is the title of your book and the retail price.

According to Hope Clark of Funds For Writers, some of the questions asked by indies as well as traditional store owners are: Who is your publisher? What is their background? Why do you want to place your book in my store? Are your books returnable? Etc. etc.
Have you had any dealings with an indie, as a reader or writer? Please leave a comment and let us know what it was like.