Riley Adams's Blog, page 85

Reviewing a Writing Year in Progress

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

This is about the time when I start wondering where the year has flown off to.

To keep from saying this in December and feeling very off-track, I’ve got a date set in my calendar around now to check in and see how I’m doing so far.

The check-in isn’t only for my writing, but also for my writing business. And summer is a great time to check in with business because we all experience that middle of the summer slowdown. It’s a slowdown of sales and a slowdown online, in general. Blogs are quieter and social media is somewhat more erratic.

You could be as detailed or as broad with this as you want.  Some years I really don’t have time to do more than look and see if I’m on track to put out the number of books that I wanted to publish and to glance over sales and see if I need to run a special.  Some years I have more time to be reflective and to cover a broader area.

Ideally, for me, I’m trying to review the different areas below (and some of them could belong under more than one heading).

Writing:

What am I planning on writing past _____ book? (For me, this is a couple of books ahead).

Am I continuing a series?  Starting a new series?

Is there an area in my writing that I need to work on?

How has feedback been for my most recent books? Is there a consistent complaint from readers? A consistent area that’s praised?

Business:

How are sales? How are sales over the last few months? When was the last time I ran a sale? A giveaway on Instafreebie or Goodreads?

Is my laptop in good shape? Do I have a good method of backing up my work regularly? Are there any accounting or writing-related programs I should invest in?

What formats are my books in? Should I expand into others?

What’s my budget for covers, editing, and other parts of the production process?

Promo:

Is my website updated?

Is my social media presence consistent?  Am I failing to post consistently on a particular platform? Should I leave the platform and consolidate my efforts elsewhere?

Do I consistently work on promo each week for at least a few minutes? (Ideas about what you could be working on in this post.  And Joanna Penn has a long list of book marketing questions to help you sell more books).

Professional development:

What have I learned?  Did I attend conferences (online or in person?) Did I research what I wanted to research for promo/writing/etc.

Do I have a list of areas that I want to learn more about?  (Publishing platforms like ACX or Ingram, what I can/should write off for taxes, new social media platforms, website mechanics?)

Personal:

Did I balance writing, promo, and life well?

Am I taking care of myself?

Overall:

Which areas need improvement?

What goals do I want to meet by the end of the year? This time next year? (Writer Sacha Black explains how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals for writing.)

Do you ever do reviews of your writing year?  (Some authors I know do them quarterly, but I don’t think I could bear that much self-evaluation.)

What to consider during a review of your writing-related year:
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Photo credit: Royal Sapien via VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-ND

The post Reviewing a Writing Year in Progress appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

The Villain Reveal: Three Different Approaches

by Jonathan Vars 

A dark figure emerges from the shadows. In a raspy voice, he taunts the hero, having once again bested him. Stepping into the light, the figure thrusts back his hood, revealing the face of…

               Sound familiar?

Every story of good vs. evil story needs a villain revelation scene; a sequence in which the great mastermind behind the evil plot is revealed for who he/she is. In many instances, this can be the critical moment of the story: the “hot point” of the climax in which the hero comes face to face with his/her nemesis. Being that this moment is so key to both the climax and the story as a whole, it is crucial that you are equipped with the right tools to bring the moment to a crashing crescendo, as a poorly written revelation can crash the story at its most critical point.

Of course, you should keep in mind that there are many different ways to construct a villain revelation scene. Choosing the right option is often half the battle. Here are three potential ways you can reveal the villain in your story:

The Classic Reveal

“The hooded figure emerging from the shadows”

“The dark lord, sitting high within his stone tower”

“The shifty eyed butler, standing at the other side of the detective’s pointing finger”

All of these are examples of the classic villain reveal. Though somewhat predictable, this approach follows the pattern with which we are most familiar, and most comfortable. The classic reveal works best with:

Murder mysteries
Action/adventure stories
Legal thrillers

The classic reveal is the culmination of the audiences’ expectations. When a reader starts the first chapter of a detective story, they read with an expectation of discovering the perpetrator’s identity by the last chapter. The classic reveal is, in essence, the fulfillment of an unspoken promise to the reader.

The Immediate Reveal

Although less common than the classic, the immediate reveal introduces the villain within the first few chapters. Rather than building suspense around the villain’s identity, the author heightens tension around the villain’s actions.

Keep in mind: the immediate reveal does not allow you as the writer to “skimp” on the crafting of the revelation scene. On the contrary, even more effort must be built into the tension of this scene, and the scenes immediately following. Just because the reader knows the villain’s identity doesn’t mean there can’t be suspense. Possible ways to build tension around this are:

Withhold the villain’s identity from the protagonist/other main characters
Place the villain in a symbolically “unreachable” place, where he/she can taunt the hero at will
Describe in detail the villain weaving his/her plot, right under the noses of the protagonists

Sometimes the most sinister evil is the evil in plain sight. The immediate reveal is key when the villain is a fully developed character, rather than a one-dimensional antagonist.

The Chameleon Reveal

The chameleon reveal is, in many instances, similar to the classic reveal with one major exception: the villain is revealed to be a previously established character. In many ways, this unique twist combines the classic and immediate reveal into one; encompassing the early character introduction of the immediate with the dramatic “unmasking” of the classic. The chameleon reveal works best with:

Espionage/spy stories
Murder mysteries
Psychological thrillers

The chameleon reveal is unique in that rather than introducing a character, you reintroduce them in a totally new light to the reader.

Though a clever writing strategy, this approach must be handled with meticulous skill. First, you must ensure that your character’s “new identity” does not fly in the face of who you have already constructed them to be. In other words, while it may seem like a clever twist to reveal dear old Mrs. Perkins as the Pitchfork Killer, you must first ensure that this makes sense, in regards to both physics and continuity. Also, while it is permissible to take some liberties in a fictionalized world, your villain revelation should still be plausible. Rather than causing your readers roll their eyes in disbelief, you should leave them thinking, “That actually makes sense.”

In the end, the villain revelation is your call as a writer. Whether you choose the classic, the immediate, the chameleon, or an entirely different approach, give it your all and don’t rush it. Remember, a scene like this can make or break a story. If written correctly, your villain revelation can be a skin-crawling, spine tingling experience for each and every one of your readers.

Jonathan Vars is a Christian fiction writer from New England, and founder of the writing website voltampsreactive.com. His latest novel “Like Melvin” is currently available on Amazon and Google Books. In addition to writing, Jonathan enjoys running, painting, and trying not to freeze to death in the winter.

Author Jonathan Vars offers 3 different approaches to the traditional villain reveal:
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Photo via VisualHunt

The post The Villain Reveal: Three Different Approaches appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 40,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

If you’re in the Raleigh, NC area, I’m speaking today on a panel at the Eva Perry Regional Library in Apex from 2:00–3:30.  I’d love to see you there!

Business / Miscellaneous

8 Tips to Create Your Writer’s Resume: by Jennifer Scott @RomanceUniv

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

At Frankfurt’s Rights Meeting This Year: ‘Change Is the New Constant’: @Porter_Anderson

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

How Madeleine L’Engle’s Most Popular Book Almost Didn’t Get Published: @DebraEve
How Long Did Famous Novels Take to Write? @printerinks @ElectricLit
How to Use the 5 Senses for Inspiration in Your Writing: @DIYMFA

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

5 Books Set in the Remains of a Dead Civilization: @danielwilsonpdx
13 Fantasies Inspired by Legends from the British Isles: @tordotcom
5 Things Dumbledore Should Have Told Harry Potter for the Sake of Basic Human Decency: @use_theforce_em

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

How To Stay Motivated To Achieve Your Goals: @SukhiJutla

Creativity and Inspiration / Perfectionism

The Perils of Perfection: @RLLaFevers

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

10 Tactics to Help You Write a Book and Change the World: @NinaAmir
Be Ready When Creativity Strikes: @EdieMelson

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

How to Get Your Writing Groove Back: @ChristaAllan
How to Create an “Idea Bank” to block that Writer’s Block: @annerallen

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

How to develop a rock-solid writing habit: @pubcoach

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Your Writing Health Personality Type Secrets Revealed: @colleen_m_story
Stop Obsessing Over Criticism: 3 Steps to Emotional Resilience for Writers: @Ivy_S_Writer
Is Your Novel Actually Fiction or Non? @RTMcDonell
How to stop yourself from being bored when writing: @pubcoach
Do Writers Get Better the Longer They Write? @JodyHedlund
How to Keep Stress From Stealing Your Accomplishments: @jamieraintree
When writers marry writers: @DavidBellNovels
Filling the Gap After a Big Project Ends: @enhughesiasm
Writers, Protect Your Inner Life: by Lan Samantha Chang @lithub

Genres / Fantasy

How to Create Immersive Worlds for Science-Fiction and Fantasy: by Oliver Thiermann @thecreativepenn
6 Tips for Taking Inspiration From History: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Genres / Horror

Horror Leads the Way in On-screen Gender Equality: @foxphires @bloodydisgusting

Genres / Mystery

The Birth of American Noir: @meganeabbott @parisreview
Taking in the scenery isn’t always safe in crime fiction: @mkinberg
Places to unwind as elements in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Genres / Non-Fiction

Non-fiction Conventions and Obligatory Scenes: by Tim Grahl
Can You Write a Biography With Limited Sources? by Johanna Luthman @WomenWriters
10 Key Elements to Writing a Winning Nonfiction Book Proposal: @mcorvisiero
How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal: @ChadRAllen

Genres / Science Fiction

The Pros and Cons of a Macro Timescale: @NicolaAlter

Genres / Screenwriting

2 Important Lessons the film ‘LIfe’ (2017) Can Teach Screenwriters: @Bang2write

Genres / Short Stories

4 Ways Writing Short Stories Makes You a Better Novelist: by Raymond Esposito @WritersAfterDrk
4 Profitable Ways To Use Short Stories: @angee

Promo / Ads

Using Amazon Ads to Sell a YA Novel: A Detailed Analysis: @DeannaCabinian @JaneFriedman

Promo / Blogging

6 simple ways to keep readers on your blog: @KarenBanes

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

Tips for a better author bio: @AuthorsInk

Promo / Book Reviews

The Fine art of Asking for Reviews: @FrugalBookPromo

Promo / Miscellaneous

Thoughts on teaser chapters:
Book Marketing Woes: @AuthorSAT
How Time Zone Differences Affect Your Book Marketing: @cksyme
6 Smart Ways Indie Authors Can Collaborate When Marketing: @AngelaAckerman
7 Author Promotion Strategies to Learn From: @vickyecommerce
Contacting influencers and other promo activities: @ZoeMMcCarthy

Promo / Newsletters

5 Steps to Building a Winning Email List: @huntershea1
“What I Learned From Hosting My First Instafreebie Giveaway”: @jay_lemming @instafreebie
How to Setup Group Promos and 10 Reasons to Use @instafreebie: @LincolnjCole
Behind the Scenes of an Author Newsletter: @EmilyWenstrom

Promo / Platforms

Mobile, Multimedia, And An Audience Of Voracious Readers: Wattpad: @AshleighGardner @thecreativepenn

Promo / Social Media Tips

How YouTube Helps Your Social Media Marketing: @sabsky

Promo / Websites

What Belongs on an Author Website Homepage? 4 Key Elements: @JaneFriedman

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Freedom To Publish: IPA’s 2018 Prix Voltaire Award Nominations Are Open: @Porter_Anderson
Ingram’s Aerio and Invention Arits Mount ‘Books Against the Storm’: @Porter_Anderson @ronmartinez
34 Steps to Take Before Getting a Book Published: @MeganNSharma

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Peru’s Hay Festival Arequipa Adds a Day of Programming at Cusco: @Porter_Anderson @sergiodelmolino

Publishing / Process / Formatting

Professional book formatting. Designing your interior: @LouiseHarnby

Publishing / Process / Legalities

Avoiding Defamation and Libel When Writing About Real People: @HelenSedwick
Is That Photo Copyrighted? @PTBradley1

Writing Craft / Beginnings

5 Essentials of a First Chapter: @SusanMayWarren

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

5 ways to find inspiration for the next great villain: @raimeygallant

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

Tips for getting to know your characters: from Caffeine Book Warrior
How to Actually Listen to Your Protagonist: by Sarah Bradley
25 Questions To Ask Your Characters: by Beth Bacon @theverbs
Write Great Characters With These 12 Jungian Archetypes: @EbooksAndKids

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

How to Create an Anti-Hero Like Homer Simpson: @KathyEdens1

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

Top 10 Things to Avoid as A New Writer: @Bang2write
5 Stories That Undermine Their Own Message: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Dialogue

The Finer Points of Great Dialogue: @C_Herringshaw
Writer Hyu-Wai Loucks with tips for meaningful dialogue:

Writing Craft / Drafts

5 Ways to Write a Perfect First Draft (or Nearly): @KMWeiland
How Layering Your Novel Brings Order out of Chaos: @CSLakin
7 Things Not To Worry About During Your First Draft: @ClaireABradshaw

Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story

How the backstory explains your protagonist’s traits and flaws: @SHalvatzis

Writing Craft / Literary Devices

Discovering Your Theme Through Genre: by Cory Milles @savethecat

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

7 Ways to Use Acronyms in Writing: by Fae Rowen
What Parents Can Do to Nurture Good Writers: @DanaGoldstein @NYTimes
Fixing the Mary Sue Character in Your Story: @SeptCFawkes
Plot Twist Ideas: 7 Examples and Tips for Twists: @nownovel

Writing Craft / POV

Hannah Baker; a masterclass in unreliable narration: @TheMerryWriter

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining

Hate to outline? “Date-line” instead: by Barbara J. Petoskey @TheWriterMag

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Birth of a Book: Figuring Out the Plot: @Janice_Hardy
Why you should add colour to your mind maps: @pubcoach
Stealing from Aesop: @DonMaass
3 Ways to Save Your Series and Your Sanity via Excel Spreadsheets: @NicoleLockeNews
3 Important Questions Your Story Should Answer: @dougeboch
How to Plot a Complex Novel in One Day: by Lizard is Writing

Writing Craft / Revision

How to copy edit like a pro: @maryhorner @womenonwriting
5 Techniques to Revise Your Novel and ‘See Again’: @KnightoftheLion

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

7 Words That Often Tell, Not Show: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / World-Building

World Building Tips: Writing Engaging Settings: @nownovel

Writing Tools / Apps

Storyboarding with Scrivener (or, A Love Affair with Virtual Index Cards): @Gwen_Hernandez
4 To-Do List Apps for Freelance Writers: @aliventures

Writing Tools / Resources

People Watching Worksheet: @EvaDeverell

Writing Tools / Thesauri

Character Motivation: Helping A Loved One See They Are Hurting Themselves (and Others): @AngelaAckerman

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

How Do I Make Dialogue Meaningful?

By Hyu-Wai Loucks

One of the most difficult aspects of writing a novel, or any narrative for that matter, is striking the delicate balance between dialogue and description. While insight into a character’s thoughts, emotions, and perceptions help shape the audience’s understanding of the character’s mind, dialogue aids readers in developing an accurate and full understanding of the character’s complete self. It offers an external glimpse into how a character moves, speaks, and reacts to the world surrounding them; dialogue is a character’s internal motives coming to life. Even so, it is difficult to develop a meaningful flow of speech which progresses the plot, rather than stagnating it.

Countless times while I have been writing, I will be immersed in the world of my own mind, putting down the situations being played out in my head by pen to paper, only later realizing that my dialogue loops in circles, or even worse, straying entirely from the point I am trying articulate.

How can I prevent this????

Thus, there are three necessary regulations dialogue must follow:

1) The dialogue must reveal a trait, secret, habit, or aspect of the character not revealed to the reader previously.

2) The dialogue must progress the plot.

3) The dialogue must divulge a philosophy held by the author or character, which is crucial to the narrative’s turning point.

Let’s take this highlighted passage below from my novel, The Power of Healing, to expound on these three points.

For context purposes, the excerpt above is a conversation between protagonist Charlotte Bell and her friend Earnest Heger as the two teenagers hike to a local water lily pond in the middle of the night, while discussing their plans for university. Earnest has just divulged that he hopefully aims to study art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in return, skeptical Charlotte is incredulous at his whimsical goals. This passage is Earnest’s benign defense of his passion of art.

Firstly, does this dialogue reveal a personality trait of Charlotte’s? Yes, it does! Although Charlotte’s incessant pressing of what the “right direction” is; what “is wrong with skepticism;” and what Earnest means by “cower[ing] behind our masks;” obviously reveals her dubious nature, her three questioning interjections uncovers a softer side of her, which despite her hard skepticism of art and her friend’s lofty dreams, she is willing to further understand and accept Earnest’s desires. This barely perceptible crediting and embracing aspect of Charlotte is crucial to her growth as a character, which as she matures throughout the novel, aids her in blossoming into a young woman who admires Earnest’s passionate proclamation of the arts and deeply supports his calling as an artist.

Secondly, does this dialogue progress the plot? Absolutely! Despite Charlotte’s stubborn doubtful questioning of Earnest’s goals, Earnest’s patient explication of modern skepticism and its debilitating effect on the pureness of art, directly gestures to Charlotte herself, who is an unconscious slave to her societal mask. As a character embittered by her past, she constructs her world around her academic achievements and living solitarily. Yet, Earnest’s words are slowly peeling apart the layers of masks Charlotte has donned for years to hide her inner, vulnerable self.

Thirdly, does this dialogue divulge a philosophy crucial to the turning point of the plot? Yes! This is one of the first times in the novel for which the topic of masks arises; the reader begins to question if everything is truly as it seems. The passage discusses vulnerability and man’s misconception of believing that it is actually beneficial to assume a false identity in front of others. Later, we learn that Earnest is not Earnest’s real name; in actuality, he is Charlotte’s childhood friend, whose memory exists at the root of her pain. Earnest is a mask. Additionally, the reader thus also begins to look at themselves differently, internally reflecting on the own masks that he/she might don, which blinds them to their already beautiful identity.

Now that we have closely studied the three rules of meaningful conversation, let’s discuss how to put these in action.

In earlier drafts of The Power of Healing, I fell into the trap of making my dialogue too philosophical and blatantly ignoring the first two rules of meaningful dialogue; I wrote my dialogue more like an essay, rather than a story.

To prevent this, write your dialogue as a simple, flowing conversation you might have with a friend, teacher, superior, etc. Imagine yourself conversing with your character and how you might react and talk. Visualize the setting, and ponder your body language and the tone of your voice as you react to various utterances in the conversation. Write these into your narrative! The conversation between Charlotte and Earnest is peppered with actions the characters are doing as they make their way to the water lily pond (e.g., pushing vines out of their path, ducking the foliage, walking). Remind the reader that the world is still progressing and happening outside of this one moment in your story.

Do not forget that dialogue is a back-and-forth progression of the plot through words being spoken aloud by your characters. Use a character’s confusion to your advantage, as I did with Charlotte, in order for you to further explicate your point. Write from an emotion or a belief as you type your dialogue, and frequently interject with other character’s voices, questions, speculations, etc., to give the moment more depth and more opportunities for you to broaden your argument and further the point being made.

If you feel as if your dialogue is spinning in circles and diverging from the plot completely, take a step back and read over what you have written thus far. Sometimes, dialogue which initially seems to be a mess, can pose as an open door for you to extend your plot and explore another area of the story which you haven’t thought about. For example, when I was writing the conversation between Charlotte and Constantin, I never anticipated to draw a parallel between human nature and art on the succeeding page. Yet, through the discussion of masks and art’s ability to reveal one’s flaws, I was able to tie in a discussion on the so-called “perfect flaw” and segue into the authenticity of humanity.

Even so, at other times when a piece of dialogue strays from the plot too extremely, it is a warning sign to return to your notes on the character(s) in question and reassess their development. Re-brainstorm their beliefs and personalities, and rewrite their dialogue to match their whole beings. Most often, turbulent dialogue is a result of inconsistent character development.

With practice, you can find a balance in your writing and write meaningful dialogue! Above all, do not forget to visualize your dialogue as if it is a conversation happening in real time, and season it with insights into your characters and your views on the world. Enjoy!

About Hyu-Wai Loucks:

Hyu-Wai Loucks (b. 1999) was born in Toronto, Canada, and moved to the States in 2002. She has loved literature her entire life. In third grade (2007), Hyu-Wai wrote her first short story and in fourth grade (2008), she received third place at a regional writing contest for her short story, “The Bubble-Gum Blower.”

In June 2017, Hyu-Wai’s first novel, The Power of Healing, was published by Books to Go Now. The Power of Healing was featured on June 7, 2017 by WCIA-TV. She is currently working on her next book.

Hyu-Wai graduated from high school in May 2017 and currently is a double-major in the social sciences and humanities at university.

Photo credit: pic fix via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-ND

Writer Hyu-Wai Loucks with tips for meaningful dialogue:
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The post How Do I Make Dialogue Meaningful? appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 40,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Quick Update on a Recent Blog Post: Instafreebie 

Instafreebie’s new iOs reading app has been released.  More about the reading app and how it can help with discoverability here.

Additionally, Instafreebie has also just released a group giveaway interface.  If you’re a writer who wants to find and join a group giveaway, you can now locate one through the Instafreebie site. More information on that can be found here.

I’ll be back on Friday with another post; I’m taking tomorrow off in observance of Labor Day.  Hope everyone has a great week! 

Business / Miscellaneous

Your Magic Bakery of Intellectual Property Rights: @DeanWesleySmith @thecreativepenn

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Setting Your Goals for a Writing Conference: @Victoria_Noe

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Ambient sounds for writers: from 1000 Story Ideas
5 Habits to Keep Your Writing Fresh: @audreykalman @DIYMFA
Writing Prompt Generator: @thestoryshack
18 Things Every Young Writer Should Know: @chelspipp @BuzzFeed

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

9 Inspiring Survival Stories for Fans of Dunkirk: @EarlyBirdBooks
5 Books About Strange Cities: @ghostfinder

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Author @Colleen_M_Story gives writers 5 ways to slow down time for better writing sessions:
Tips for more consistent writing: @_FYWH

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

Eclipsing Your Writing: @Lindasclare
11 Steps to Set Up Pre-Orders on Smashwords: @lornafaith

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Healing, Chapter by Chapter: How Writers Tap into Their Own Grief: @emilyacolin
Writing and the Creative Life: Why Creative People May Feel More Anxiety: @GoIntoTheStory
The Life Expectancy of a Novel: @GiveMeYourTeeth
How Writing Let 1 Writer Take Control of Her Own Story: @jennie_melamed

Genres / Fantasy

Fantasy Writing: 5 Ways to Fight Like an Elf: @mattstaggs @unboundworlds
19 Top Urban Fiction Publishers: @rororella @writingtipsoasi
How to Make a Clichéd High Fantasy Cover: @NicolaAlter
5 Shows That Prove You Love Urban Fantasy — and What to Read After Watching: @ChelseaVBC

Genres / Historical

There’s No Such Thing As Historical Fiction: @paullynchwriter @lithub
Historical Research for Writers: @TheMerryWriter

Genres / Miscellaneous

4 Resources for Women Interested in Travel Writing: @AllisonBYates

Genres / Mystery

Governing boards as elements in crime fiction: @mkinberg
Crime writing: shoot to kill or wound? @LeeLofland
8 Key Traits of Highly Effective Detectives: @JChaseNovelist
Longing to be someone else as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg
Crime writing: evaluating threats as a police officer: @LeeLofland
Dutiful relationships in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Genres / Picture Books

Finding and Working with an Illustrator for Your Children’s Picture Book: @IndieKidsBooks

Genres / Romance

In Defence of Romance – How to Handle Coming Out of the Romance Writer’s Closet: @lansi26

Genres / Screenwriting

How to Write a Screenplay in 30 Easy Steps: @CockeyedCaravan
Dunkirk vs. Saving Private Ryan: What’s Your Screenplay About? : @jacobkrueger

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

A fill-in-the-blank formula could be the start of a great book blurb: @EbooksAndKids

Promo / Book Reviews

How To Get Book Reviews As An Unknown Author: @JasonBLadd @thecreativepenn

Promo / Box Sets

A Series of Posts on Publishing a Box Set on Amazon: @sallyjenkinsuk @nickdaws

Promo / Miscellaneous

13 Ways To Help An Indie Author With Their Book Release: @HelenScheuerer
Polarities Of Book Marketing. Where Do You Sit On The Scale? @thecreativepenn
Diary of a Book Marketing Plan – Setup: @ZoeMMcCarthy

Promo / Newsletters

Building an Email List for Your Book: 2 Effective Tactics to Try Now: @EmilyWenstrom

Promo / Social Media Tips

Starting a book? Start your author platform now: @ZaraAltair
Tips for growing your Twitter followers: @CaballoFrances

Promo / Websites

Your contact page: @Janet_Reid
Writing a feature article for your media kit: @BuildYourBrandA

Publishing / Miscellaneous

5 Things Everybody Gets Wrong About Interactive Books: @maifosz @publishdrive
Simon & Schuster Offers Books for Storm-Stricken Texas @Porter_Anderson
Producing Your Books in Audio: Picking Your Narrator: @AngelaQuarles
The Coveted Book Table: How Those Books Get There: @NewShelvesBooks

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Rights Tips: German Children’s Books to Watch for at Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson
Industry Notes: EC Chooses Spain’s Odilo; Quarto Breaks Off Talks: @Porter_Anderson
Rio’s Biennial Book Fair Prepares Its Agents & Business Center: @Porter_Anderson
OpenBook’s China Bestseller Lists for July 2017: Fiction and Nonfiction: @Porter_Anderson
Birkbeck’s ‘Mechanics’ Institute’: ‘Showcasing New Voices’ in the UK: @Porter_Anderson @JuliaBell
Singapore’s SnapLearn Brings AR and VR to Books: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Freedom to Publish: Romania May Allow Only One Textbook Publisher: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Kalimat Foundation’s Ara Initiative Helps Sight-Impaired Children Read: @Porter_Anderson
Politics and France’s Reading Culture: @FabricePiault @Porter_Anderson
UK Author-Illustrator Judith Kerr Now Platinum Bestseller: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

Free Webinar: How to Self-Publish Your Illustrated Book: @ReedsyHQ

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Pitches

A Guide to #PitchWars & #PitMad: @brendadrake

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

The Broken Query System: @wendylawton
Is This MG Science Fiction Query Letter Working? @Janice_Hardy

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections

What Creative Icons Can Teach You About Rejection: @Bang2write
How To Survive Having Your Writing Rejected: by Paige Duke @standoutbooks

Publishing / Process / Formatting

Ebook Formatting Tips: @SpunkOnAStick @TheIWSG

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Make Your Opening Grand: @tinaannforkner

Writing Craft / Chapter Endings

Starting and Ending Chapters: @AJHumpage

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

8 Character Development Exercises to Help You Nail Your Character: @ReedsyHQ
7 Key Traits of Enduring Characters: @ev_scarlett
How to Write Characters Who Don’t All Feel the Same: @Janice_Hardy
How Relatable Character Relationships Will Make or Break Your Story: @RuthanneReid

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

Writing a Compelling Hero: 7 Tips With Examples: @_HannahHeath
5 Tropes That Make a Protagonist Boring: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Dialogue

Dialogue: 10 Ways to Make it Real: @JordanDane

Writing Craft / Diversity

White Writers Writing Non-White Characters: @EllieStephens5

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

A Simple Technique to Improve Your Writing in 10 Minutes a Day: @newleafwriter @AngelaAckerman
The value of capturing family histories: @gmartin70

Writing Craft / POV

A Tip for Writing Multiple Points of View: @MarchMcCarron
Blowing Up Your Point Of View: @jeanne_harrell

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Cinematic techniques for writing fiction: @Lindasclare
Every Good Book is a Mystery, Even When it’s Not: @msheatherwebb

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

Research: Why You Must Leave Awesome Things Out Of Your Book: @ellajoyolsen @WomenWriters

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

3 Cases of Nonequivalent List Items: @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Revision

What does the word STET mean? @pubcoach
How to Take Edits 101: @ChristophPaul_
5 Reasons Your Novel Needs a Developmental Edit: by Jonathan Vars

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

The beta reading process: 10 critical steps: @kseniaanske

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Curing White Room Syndrome: How to Ground Your Reader: @RDCwrites
Using Body Language in Your Novel—Legs, Feet, and Bonus Tips: @SKathAnthony

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

Saying What You Mean: Controversial Language in Fiction: by Cait Reynolds @KristenLambTX

Writing Tools / Miscellaneous

What Smart Writers Spend Their Money On: @colleen_m_story

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Teaser Chapters

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Back when I was writing  the Southern Quilting Mysteries for Penguin Random House (I’m writing the series independently now), I knew that I would need to have to have a teaser chapter ready for the next book in the series by the time the current book was in production.

This was a bit of a challenge for several reasons. For one, I knew the next book in the series wouldn’t be coming out for a year. That’s the way traditional publishing worked. For another, it required me to already have an outline in place for the next book.  For another, I knew that Penguin Random House wouldn’t want any major changes in that chapter–I needed to have a lock on the character names, etc.

Their focus at the time was mainly still print.  The teaser chapter was a gimmick from an earlier day in the print world.

I’ve used teaser chapters in my self-published books in the past, but now I’ve moved away from the practice…mainly because I’m not wild about teaser chapters as a reader.  Since I read most books digitally, a teaser chapter at the end of a book can make me think that I have more of the book to read than I do.  Besides, reading a teaser for a book that hasn’t yet been published can be frustrating.

Maybe back cover copy would be better. Wouldn’t use up as much room. Or even something like “Next book is “Title.” For updates on the story as I write it, subscribe to my newsletter at _______.

Here are my thoughts currently on the better use of teaser chapters:

If we do include a teaser at the end of the book, consider making it a short one so that readers won’t think they have a lot of book left to read.

Perhaps we should be sensitive to readers and not include a teaser chapter if the book’s release is anticipated to be many months or a year away.

To reach more readers (and not irritate them by including a teaser for a book that won’t come out for a long while), we could consider trading short teasers with another author in the same genre (for their completed book).

Or, if we write more than 1 series, put a short teaser of the first book in the other series in the back.

If we put a buy-link in that we can track (through bit.ly, etc.), we can assess how well the teaser is working.

Do you use teaser chapters in your books?  What are your thoughts on them, as a reader?

Thoughts on teaser chapters:
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How to Slow Time for More Relaxed, Creative Writing Sessions

by Colleen M. Story, @Colleen_M_Story

“Oh, I want to write today, but I just don’t have the time!”

You’ve probably felt this way more than once. In fact, if you’re like many of us in today’s world, you’re feeling frequently pressed for time, and like you just can’t find enough of it—especially for writing.

The bad news is that when you’re constantly under the gun, creativity suffers. In a 2002 study, researchers analyzed more than 9,000 daily diary entries from people who were working on projects that required high levels of creativity. They found that stress, in the form of time pressure, resulted in less creative projects.

“When creativity is under the gun,” the authors wrote, “it usually ends up getting killed.”

The good news is that you don’t have to feel this way. Here are five tips that can help you slow your perception of time so that when you do get a moment to write, you can approach it with a calm, relaxed state of mind.

Slow down your movements.

When we feel rushed and behind, our movements are typically quick, jerky, and fast. This is why when we’re stressed out, we tend to hurt ourselves. We run into things, hit our heads, and trip and fall more often.

My dad used to say, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” Whenever you hurry, you not only stress yourself out, you also increase your risk of making mistakes, missing something, or even causing an accident.

Try this: When you sit down to write, make a conscious effort to slow down your movements. Imagine yourself in a slow-motion replay. Focus on each step that you take, from turning on the computer or laptop to clicking open the file to reaching over to pick up your glass of water to raising it to your lips. Give yourself 1-2 minutes to exaggerate all these movements.

Feeling constantly behind the clock is a feeling, one you can control by your thoughts. When you purposely slow your physical motions down, you signal your brain that you have plenty of time, which helps you to feel more relaxed. (After a couple minutes feel free to go back to normal speed!)

Prioritize.

If you’re feeling constantly pressed for time, you may be trying to meet too many deadlines. Perhaps you’re a perfectionist and you have difficulty letting some things go. You can slow things down in your life and create more relaxed writing sessions by prioritizing the important activities in your day.

“Excessive time-urgency is a problem in thinking,” says Michael Ashworth, Ph.D. over at PsychCentral. “Everyone has some pressure to get things done. However, if you consider everything is equally urgent, you’re likely to experience stress problems.”

Choose three things you absolutely must get done and get done well, and focus on those. (Writing is probably one of them.) For everything else, simply do the best you can and then let it go.

Call out the negative thoughts.

Positive thinking promotes creativity and productivity. Negative thinking, on the other hand, kills both. Unfortunately, when you’re feeling rushed, you’re not likely to approach the page with positive emotions.

The second you notice thoughts in your head like, “I’m behind,” or “I don’t have time to write” or “I’m not going to get anything done today,” state those thoughts out loud. Notice how these thoughts make you feel—how they contribute to your tight stomach, your tapping foot, and your feeling of being defeated.

Simply giving voice to these thoughts can immediately reduce your stress levels. According to a 2007 study in which researchers monitored brain activity via MRIs, simply labeling how you feel in this way can diminish the response of the amygdala and other limbic regions, reducing the stress response.

Calling out these “rushed” feelings can also help you replace them with calmer thoughts. Even if you have only 10 minutes to squeeze in a bit of writing, tell yourself that you have plenty of time and that everything is okay. These sorts of thoughts are more conducive to creativity, and will help you make the most of the time you do have.

Face your fears.

When you feel rushed to get your writing done, realize that fear may be contributing to that feeling. You may be pushing yourself to get the next book out there or to meet a self-imposed deadline because you fear falling behind or losing the attention of your readers.

Bringing your expectations for your writing into your writing sessions is a surefire way to increase fear and stress, and make you feel like you don’t have enough time to “write well.” Many times, these feelings will cause you to skip your writing session entirely.

When it’s you and the blank page, try to forget about your expectations for the work and just focus on the work itself. Allow yourself to relax and have fun, and don’t let outside concerns to tread on the sacred space that is your writing.

Bring your full attention to the task.

The level of attention applied to a task can also make a big difference in how long it seems to take. Studies show that paying more attention to what you’re doing slows time perception down. That means if you can focus your thoughts exclusively on your story, you can create a more relaxed writing session.

In a 1985 study, for example, researchers found that the more difficult the task, the worse students were at accurately judging how much time had passed. They found similar results in 2010, and theorized that because more of the brain was involved in the task, less was available to accurately judge the passing of time.

How fast or slow time goes is often completely about your perceptions. You know how quickly it can fly by when you’re spending time with a good friend, right? Yet if you’re standing in line at the grocery store, five minutes can seem like an eternity.

You can use this to your advantage. Say you have only 15 minutes to write. Tell yourself you’re going to slow that 15 minutes down so it feels more like 30. Imagine you’re in a fantasy world where that is possible, and then set a timer so you don’t have to watch the clock.

Next, bring your full attention to the task. Focus only on your story, blocking everything else out and expecting that you have plenty of time. You may be amazed at what you can get done.

Create a New Mindset

Our world travels fast these days, but if you think it’s all because of technology or today’s society that you feel rushed, consider this: In 1979, professor emeritus at the Free University in Amsterdam Bob Goudzwaard wrote about “scarcity of time” in his book, Capitalism and Progress.

“Nearly everyone in western society suffers from a frightful shortage of time,” he wrote. “This lack of time is apparent not only from the quick tempo of our lives and from our crowded schedules, but also from the manner in which the modern family spends its time.”

Remember—this was long before smartphones, and even before most people had computers in their homes, and still people felt pressed for time. So it’s not necessarily modern-day technology that’s causing you to feel this way (though of course it doesn’t help).

Instead, it could just be how you’re looking at things. Today, during your writing session, see if you can allow yourself to believe that you have plenty of time, and all you have to do is relax and create. You may be amazed at how much it helps.

How do you slow time down for your writing sessions?

Colleen M. Story is the author of Overwhelmed Writer Rescue: Boost Productivity, Improve Time Management, and Replenish the Creator Within—a motivational and inspiring read full of practical, personalized solutions to help writers escape the tyranny of the to-do list and nurture the genius within. Discover your unique time personality and personal motivational style when you get your copy from Amazon and other common book retailers. Enjoy your free chapter here!

Colleen has worked in the creative writing industry for over twenty years and is the founder of Writing and Wellness (writingandwellness.com). For more information, please see her website (colleenmstory.com), or follow her on Twitter (@ colleen_m_story).

Author @Colleen_M_Story gives writers 5 ways to slow down time for better writing sessions.
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Sources

Amabile TM, et al., “Creativity under the gun,” Harvard Business Review, 2002; 80(8):52-61, 147, http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/12195920/reload=0;jsessionid=fObN5ldi38y4x7wKcTqQ.18.

Michael Ashworth, “Always in a Rush? Maybe it’s Time-Urgency,” PsychCentral, May 17, 2016, https://psychcentral.com/lib/always-in-a-rush-maybe-its-time-urgency/.

Matthew D. Lieberman, et al., “Putting Feelings Into Words,” Psychological Science, May 1, 2007; 18(5): http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01916.x.

Goudzwaard, B., and Josina Van Nuis Zylstra. Capitalism and Progress: A Diagnosis of Western Society. Toronto, Canada: Wedge Pub. Foundation, 1979.

Brown, Scott W. “Time perception and attention: The effects of prospective versus retrospective paradigms and task demands on perceived duration.” Perception & Psychophysics 38, no. 2 (1985), 115-124. doi:10.3758/bf03198848.

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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 40,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Business / Miscellaneous

How to find and hire an editor: @pubcoach
Why Artists need to Pay Their Collaborators: @DrewChial
Pros and Cons of Fighting Book Piracy: @111publishing
How An Internship Really Works for Writers: @crazyauthorgirl
How to Ask To Pick Someone’s Brain: @KateMoretti1

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Step out of your comfort zone for creative inspiration: @GarryGarrettRya

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

10 Essential Road Trip Books That Aren’t ‘On the Road’: @knownemily
5 Horror Reads to Keep the Sunshine Away: @tdelucci

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

Writing Through the Dog Days: @Lindasclare
Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Snacks: @GoIntoTheStory
5 challenges facing writers: @amabaie
3 Ways Writers Can Find Creative Flow: @lornafaith
Plotting for Pantsters: @beccapuglisi
“Whatever you are doing, be fully engaged in it”: @DanBlank @mrjakeparker

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

When Life Throws Your Writing Routine Off Balance, Remember 3 Things: @gmyrthilbooks
34 Ways to Deliberately Grow Your Writing Practice: @reallucyflint

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

Why tracking makes you a more productive writer: @beprolifiko

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Get that Creative Euphoria Without Alcohol or Drugs: @colleen_m_story
The Writer’s Discomfort Zone: How to Survive and Thrive: @RuthHarrisBooks @annerallen
6 Exciting Career Paths if Freelance Writing Isn’t For You: @aliventures
10 Ways To Be A Happy Writer: @10MinNovelists
How to Deal with People Who Don’t Support Your Writing: @SeptCFawkes
How to Get What You Really Want Out of Your Writing Career: @colleen_m_story
Shifting Priorities and the Writing Gig: @OrlyKonig

Genres / Dystopian

We Need Stories of Dystopia Without Apocalypse: @EmmalieDropkin

Genres / Fantasy

5 Ways To Incorporate Multiple Languages Into Your Fantasy Novel: @kj_bags
Stop Erasing Women’s Presence in SFF: @hawkwing_lb
Must Fictional Parents Always Be Absent? @NicolaAlter

Genres / Horror

8 Overlooked Moments in Classic Horror Movies: by Nathaniel Brehmer @WickedHorrorTV

Genres / Memoir

Memoir or Fiction? Which is better for telling your own life story? @annerallen
What to Share When Writing a Memoir: @brooke_warner

Genres / Mystery

Wildlife Forensics: @FionaQuinnBooks @SueColetta1
Crime Writing: Peanut Butter Can Kill You: @DPLyle
Examples of both classic and modern film noir: @mkinberg

Genres / Non-Fiction

On writing a book where you can’t make things up: @Roz_Morris

Genres / Romance

How to Write Romance Beats with Gwen Hayes: @gwenhayes

Genres / Science Fiction

5 Books That Resemble Science Fiction: @KarenHeuler

Promo / Ads

The Basics of Advertising for Indie Authors: @MarcyKennedy

Promo / Blogging

10 Reasons to Start an Author Blog: @annerallen
7 Steps to a User-Friendly Blog: @Dwallacepeach

Promo / Book Reviews

3 Ways Indie Authors Deal with “Non Verified Reviews”: @Naked_Determina
The Top Two Reasons a Reader Will Leave a Bad Review: @SloanTamar

Promo / Miscellaneous

10 marketing tips for self-published authors: @alisonbav @publishingtalk

Promo / Newsletters

New Feature from @instafreebie :Double Opt-ins for Readers:

Promo / Platforms

Author Platform: Done It vs Gonna Do It: @behlerpublish
Wattpad’s New Video App, Raccoon, Launches in the US Today: @ivanyuen @porter_anderson

Promo / Social Media Tips

So You’re an Author Without a Social Media Presence: Now What? @JaneFriedman
How to Create a Facebook Live Show: @JuliaBramble

Publishing / Miscellaneous

McGraw-Hill and iFlipd Pilot a Textbook Rental Program: @Porter_Anderson @iFlipd

Publishing / News / Amazon

Why 1 Writer is Leaving KDP: @KristaLakes

Publishing / News / International Publishing

‘Bigger, Broader’: The German Book Prize Releases Its 2017 Longlist: @Porter_Anderson
Cambridge Uni Press Censorship Turnaround; Unicorn UK-China Deal @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Tel Aviv’s Stephanie Barrouillet Offers Work from Turkey and France: @Porter_Anderson
Canadians’ Reading Habits: BookNet Sees Smartphone Reading Rising: @Porter_Anderson @BookNet_Canada

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

For New Indie Authors: What 1 Author Would Do if Starting Today: @GoblinWriter
6 Tips for Successful Self-Publishing Outside Your Home Country: @maifosz @thecreativepenn

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

5 Things Learned About Being a Pre-Published Debut: @jules_writes
How to Survive a Long Production Cycle: @MichaelHaspil
Patience in Publishing: @HannahFergesen

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Pitches

5 Steps To The Perfect Elevator Pitch: @Bang2write

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Writing Queries That Get Read: @ZoeMMcCarthy

Publishing / Process / Book Design

9 Ways To Get The Very Best Out Of Your Book Cover Designer: @damonza123 @thecreativepenn

Publishing / Process / Formatting

Tips for Formatting An eBook: @RachelAmphlett

Publishing / Process / Legalities

The Truth Behind Popular Copyright Myths: @susanspann
Getting rights back from our publishers:

Writing Craft / Beginnings

How to Hook a Reader and Leave Them Hungry for More: @Kid_Lit

Writing Craft / Characters / Arc

3 Reasons You Don’t Need a Character Arc: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Characters / Emotion

Write Emotionally Engaging Characters: @authornordin @lornafaith

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

“3 Tips From My Failure As An Author”: @KelsieEngen

Writing Craft / Conflict

Conflict: Why It Isn’t Just about Fighting: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Dialogue

Avoiding Stilted Dialogue: @ml_keller

Writing Craft / Drafts

The Semi-No-Fail Way to Fast Drafting for People Who Hate Drafting: @candylandgang

Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story

Raise a Question, Earn the Backstory: @kcraftwriter

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Nolan’s “Dunkirk”: 5 Writing Tips About Stories Based on Historical Events: by Jonathan Vars
Watch Movies Like a Writer: @Lindasclare

Writing Craft / Literary Devices

How to Manage Expectations (aka Tone): @CockeyedCaravan

Writing Craft / POV

Should I use 3rd Omniscient within 3rd Limited? @p2p_editor

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining

Defusing Outlining Confusion: @MirandaNading @RomanceUniv
An Easy Guide to Outlining Your Novel: @TashaSeegmiller

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

5 Tips for Writing Better Subplots: @nownovel
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Beat Sheet: @CDavidMilles

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept

3 Clever Ways to Write What You Know: @Jffelkins

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

8 Infographics That Will Help You Improve Your Writing: @Bang2write
3 Types of Erroneously Located Modifiers: @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Series

The Ingredients of a Great Series Character: @jamesscottbell

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Why 1 Writer Favors Real Settings: @pamelameyers

Writing Craft / Synopses

Getting Characters into Your Synopsis: by Suzanne Purvis

Writing Craft / Tension

How to Create Drama in Fiction: @AJHumpage

Writing Craft / Transitions

Creating Effective Transitions: @woodwardkaren

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

5 Poetic Tools to Enhance Your Prose: by Elise Holland @DIYMFA

Writing Tools / Apps

3 Tips for Using the Corkboard Function in Scrivener: @aprildavila

Writing Tools / Resources

The Ending: Writing Worksheet: @EvaDeverell
Book Marketing & Book PR Toolkit: @ThePRExpert

Uncategorized

How to Be a Writer on Social Media: @pronounced_ing @rgay @AdamMGrant @alexanderchee
Beginner Writing 101: Types, How-To & Expert Tips: @Hobbiesphere16

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Comfort Zones and Writing

 

If you venture out of your comfort zone and can’t find your way back,  maybe it’s all good.

by Garry Ryan, @GarryGarrettRya

This story probably began in Singapore. I spent the last two years of high school in a sweaty multicultural concoction of diverse languages, foods and monsoons. It was jarring and I had to adapt. An unexpected dividend was the ability to become a student of the inner workings of societies.

Back in Canada, the kindness of Casey and Pablo exposed me to First Nations’ perspectives. Sometimes the intense heat of a Blackfoot sweat lodge left burns on my shoulders. It also allowed me to see – with more clarity – the connections between humans.

Sitting still for hours in the southern California heat is extremely uncomfortable. Photographing hummingbirds revealed how their beauty, competition and aggression are actually reflections of human behaviour.

Havana, Cuba was old and new shoved up against one another in a way I hadn’t experienced. The outcome was a novel (Matanzas) about Cuban and Canadian cultures dancing with one another.

Seeing the remnants of Mayan civilization at Chichenitza was another of those mind-altering experiences. It required pushing a wheelchair in plus thirty temperatures while learning secrets about the way Mayan architects played with sound.

 

Travelling one thousand kilometres in one day is gruelling. Yorkton, Saskatchewan unexpectedly provided the backstory for a new character I’ve been working with. She came to life while I was searching for a cup of coffee.

Calgary’s 2013 floods have influenced a novel about the way a city can come together after a disaster.

Even an idyllic San Jose setting can help you to imagine a scene where beauty and ugliness are shoved up against one another.

You may see potential scenes in out of the way locations. If you carry a smartphone with you, it will always be possible to catalogue evocative images for later use.

 

In 2004, NeWest Press published Garry Ryan’s first Detective Lane novel, Queen’s Park. The second, The Lucky Elephant Restaurant, won a 2007 Lambda Literary Award. NeWest has since published seven more titles in the series: A Hummingbird Dance, Smoked, Malabarista, Foxed, Glycerine, Indiana Pulcinella and soon to be released Matanzas. In 2009, Ryan was awarded Calgary’s Freedom of Expression Award. In 2012 a second series, the historical fiction novel Blackbirds, was published by NeWest Press.

 

Step out of your comfort zone for creative inspiration (by @GarryGarrettRya )
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Thoughts on Getting Rights Back

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Many times in the past five years, I’ve heard from traditionally-published writers who want to get the rights back to their characters and story worlds for their backlist books.

I’ve also heard from writers who’ve had a hard time getting a rights reversion granted by their publishers.

Some writers weren’t exactly sure what they wanted to do with their rights. They only knew that they’d been told that they should try to have them reverted.

Yes.  If you’ve been traditionally published and your series has been dropped by your publisher, you should try to get your rights back.

Things you can do with your book when you have rights back:

Publish prequels or sequels to books. Publish spin-offs where supporting characters now have their own stories.

Put your books up for audition on ACX for audio.

Have your books translated into other languages on Bablecube or similar sites.

Expand into hardcover for the library or collectors’ market. Expand into digital if your books are older.  Have your books available in paperback again.

Make your books available overseas in English by using aggregator sites like Draft2Digital, Smashwords, PublishDrive, or StreetLib.

The process is fairly simple, at least at first:

Review your contract. What rights did you sign over to your publisher?

If you need help understanding your contract, there’s a nifty  PDF that’s available from Authors Alliance (and Berkeley Law).  You can download it for free, although they do ask for a donation of $20 (which is not required, however, only suggested).

Some pertinent chapters:

Are You Eligible to Revert Rights Under the Terms of Your Contract? 40

Does Your Contract Have a Reversion Clause? 42

What Conditions Must Be Met Before You Can Exercise Your Reversion Clause? 45

Have the Conditions of Your Reversion Clause Been Met? 49

Write to your publisher:

My email, asking for my audiobook rights for my Southern Quilting mysteries, looked like this:

Dear Subrights Department,

I’m writing to request a reversion of unexploited audiobook rights for the Southern Quilting Mysteries (cozy mysteries formerly with Obsidian). These include Quilt or Innocence (2012), Knot What it Seams (2013), Quilt Trip(2013), Shear Trouble (2014), and Tying the Knot (2015).

The original contract was signed Feb. 10, 2011.

Please send written confirmation of reversion of the audiobook rights to me at this email address or at my home address of ________. I can be contacted by phone at _______ to answer any questions.

In my email, I was specific as to the rights I wanted reverted, and I named each publication. I was polite.  I gave them a date in case they needed extra help locating the contract. It would have been better if I’d had a name to work with, but unfortunately the switchboard at Penguin Random House appeared to be overwhelmed when I called in, so an email address was the best I could get.

What happens if you run into issues?  If your contract doesn’t address reversion rights or if your publisher balks at reverting them?  Writer and publishing attorney Susan Spann (no relation to me) in her Jan. 2016 post for Writer Unboxed (Obtaining Reversions of Publishing Rights: the Good, the Bad, & the Ugly) suggests that we contact a publishing attorney. Additionally, she states (all emphasis hers):

” Consult a Publishing Attorney.  If the contract doesn’t grant you obvious termination rights and the publisher refuses a polite request for termination and reversion, there may still be creative ways to obtain termination of the contract and reversion of publishing rights.

However, in most cases the author’s right to terminate a contract and obtain a reversion of publishing rights is limited by the language in the agreement. If the contract doesn’t grant you termination rights, and publisher isn’t in breach, your options may well boil down to persuading the publisher to agree to termination—or waiting until the contract allows you to terminate without the publisher’s consent.”

I’ve also been asked if it’s been hard to not have the digital rights for my first book in my Myrtle Clover series (Midnight Ink holds the ebook rights).  In some ways, yes. But because my books are written as stand-alones with no real story arc between books, it’s been easier. I don’t have the first book included in my first box set, but readers have never complained about that.

Other writers might get around this issue by creating a prequel trilogy and have a box set of those.  Or have a novella prequel that could work as a permafree introduction to the series.

At any rate–why not see what you can get?  With any luck, it will only be a matter of pulling out your contract and writing an email.

Have you asked for a rights reversion?  Have you got a series that’s partially trad-pubbed and partially self-pubbed? How has that worked for you?

Thoughts on getting our rights back from publishers:
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