Ceanmohrlass's Blog, page 8

When my brain dreams up a story that my words can’t do justice to

Nothing worse than having an incredible story line come to you in a dream but you are unable to capture the intricacies of it on paper.

My brain is working overtime right now, and I’m outlining as best I can, but nothing I write seems to come out like I want it to. I have more red lines and notes in the edges of the outline than I have storyline for the idea so far.

No frappucino in sight, too many chocolate donuts consumed, my morning walk interrupted by this story, and still no clear usable outline…

Sometimes, creativity isn’t my friend… :(

Cover art

One topic that has often come up in our group is cover art.

We are nearly equally divided among us on the issue. We have ongoing discussions about which is better, creating your own or buying your cover.

I have no issue with either choice. I make my own covers simply because the artist in me takes over and refuses to give up control of my cover. :)

For me, the cover is what defines the ‘feel’ of the work I created. It can take me months and multiple tries before I find that ‘look’ that matches the creation.

There are multiple sites out there with Creative Commons, attribution free, free for commercial use photos and public domain fonts. With a great program, (I use Gimp) and a bit of time, you can create exactly what you want.

If you don’t have the inclination or the time, there are great cover artists at reasonable rates aplenty. It’s a personal choice and either way you go, just be sure you are happy with the result because it will be attached to the work you gave your blood, sweat, and tears to, so to speak.

Want to stand out among the hundreds of books published daily? Make an eye-catching cover!

Believe in yourself…

Our group had a long list of topics to discuss about being a new, unknown author. The stories were overwhelming! One of the biggest rants we hear is that no one believes in them, and no one supports them. This is difficult to overcome, and many times new authors give up long before their work is discovered.

Those who don’t have a support system feel like failures because they did not become an overnight success, and they are ready to give up. We all encourage them to continue writing, continue reading, and continue dreaming. They need to believe in themselves and be happy with their works and wait. This will not be an overnight process.

When I started writing over 40 years ago, I did so for myself alone. I wrote in spiral notebooks, tore the few pages out, and started over, time and time again.

30 years ago, I was a young mother, working very long hours in the steamship business, and I wrote secretly on my lunch hour. When my toddler was asleep, I sometimes sat in a corner of his room, notebook in hand along with a tiny book light so I wouldn’t wake him, and write about my frustrations of being a working mother.

20 years ago, I was a divorced, single mother of two boys and worked my full time job through the day, and a part time job weekends, and I wrote to deal with being a ‘failure.’

10 years ago, the stories took over and I wrote for my family, to share my stories as a way to give a personal gift during holidays, to somehow extend a part of me.

5 years ago, being a grandmother was starting to weigh on my mind. What was I leaving behind as a legacy to my children and grandchildren that they could be proud of? Nothing… That was my catalyst to get my butt in gear, to transfer these stories from my grey matter to paper per se.

I began my published career 8 months ago, and some of my works are out in the world for as long as the web exists, and on paper to those who have received them. My ancestors left a great impression on me, and my hope is to one day, leave a great impression for my descendants somehow.

That is just a journey of how long it took me, to learn to believe in myself enough to bare my thoughts to the public, accept the accolades and the criticisms alike, and make my mark on the world.

My adventure in writing began before I became a teenager, and it will continue long after I am gone from this world. My advice for the disheartened and frustrated new authors: Believe in yourself. Learn all you can, improve with every book you write, and work even harder when the times are lean.

Torn between two stories

I have a unique situation. I previously started a plot line that somehow split off in two different directions. I like both stories equally and I don’t know which to choose and which to scrap. I thought for a time, to make the second one another book, but it just wouldn’t be enough for a whole story. If it was a sci fi book, I could just take the character down one path, have something happen that throws her into a warp, sucks her back to the start and then sends her on the other path but alas, it’s not sci fi. So now, I have to decide which path for my character to take, and I don’t know how to choose… It’s too early for rum and I’m out of chocolate, I hate decisions!

What’s in a name anyway?

You have your idea, your plot takes shape, and the adventure begins. Your characters will take the reader on a journey and of course, they need to have names. One discussion that occurs frequently is how to name your characters.

Does it matter what their names are? Of course it does! Does it matter what you name your children? Of course it does, so why would naming the characters you bring to life on paper be unimportant? You are the creator of these characters, take some time, and think about their names!

Where do you come up with the names? It depends on the ‘world’ they live in, the area perhaps or even the era in which their story is set to begin. I use the web to search for names in that area sometimes, lame I know.

If you want to make a character to come to life, and have him or her create lasting memories, whether hated or cherished, give them a name that’s hard to forget.

What’s in a name anyway? Just a lifetime of adventures, that’s all!

Congratulations to the winners of Goodreads Choice Awards 2015!

Best Fiction: Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

Best Mystery & Thriller: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Best Historical Fiction: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Best Fantasy: Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

Best Romance: Confess by Colleen Hoover

Best Science Fiction: Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Best Horror: Saint Odd by Dean Koontz

Best Humor: Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

Best Nonfiction: Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari, Eric Klineberg

Best Memoir & Autobiography: A Work in Progress by Connor Franta

Best History & Biography: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson

Best Science & Technology: Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, Sea World, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish by John Hargrave, Howard Chua-Eoan

Best Food & Cookbooks: The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime by Ree Drummond

Best Graphic Novels & Comics: Saga, Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Fiona Staples (Artist)

Best Poetry: The Dogs I Have Kissed by Trista Mateer

Best Debut Goodreads Author: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Best Young Adult Fiction: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Best Middle Grade & Children’s: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

Best Picture Books: The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt, Olliver Jeffers (Illustrations)

Screen or paper

The debate goes on…

For new authors, one of the things that is a concern is will my books sell better on paper on as an e-book…

I for one prefer reading paper books. There is just nothing like the texture of the paper sliding across your thumb when you turn the page, the delightful crinkle of the paper as it settles, and the faint aroma of the ink. Sometimes paper books are like an old, comfortable friend.

E-reader screens are cold, one dimensional, clinical things to me. I do only release my novels as e-books currently as that is the ‘wave of the future’ I was told this spring. I am rethinking that approach now however. I have received plenty of feedback that shows that more readers prefer the paperback than the e-reader.

I’m taking a writing hiatus for the first two months of 2016 to get back to my love of reading. I plan to purchase only works from Indie authors this year, perhaps permanently. I have a pretty long list of titles already that I’m dying to read, and as funny as it sounds, I have asked ‘Santa’ for a Kindle. Don’t judge me just yet, if I truly adore an e-book I read, it will definitely be added in paper to my permanent library as well shortly after believe me!

So do you prefer paper or glass for your reads?

End of year rush

This is the time of year where we all try to cram in as much socializing, memory making and fun as possible. I’m not ashamed to admit I’m guilty of filling my calendar with as many get together, meet and greet and holiday parties as I can attend. I will enjoy myself til the New Year begins then get back down to business :)

I am putting aside much more time in January and February to read as much as possible. I have neglected my reads for my writes so to speak, and I feel the need to step away and get lost in other’s creations again for awhile! I will only be reading Indie authors novels in 2016.

My current novel is in final stages and ready for final edits for publishing in a few weeks. Cool, rainy weather has really helped me concentrate :) Bring on the holiday cheer!

Feeding the story monster

New topic for group: How do you flesh out and beef up the initial story? Feeding the story monster to quiet it down means filling up the story with sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the initial idea. It’s easy to whip up that early one page outline from the few initial sentences. Then comes the hard part, making all those initial points come to life. Everything has to ‘gel’ when your first draft is done so you can start to see when the plot lines fall off a cliff, or need a split off. I can’t tell you how many times I have that 10 or 20 page rough draft story idea down on paper then go through and cross out sections. I then have to ‘fill in’ new plots to make it gel. I have gone so far as to scrap the entire idea a few times and start from the beginning again because it isn’t working, and it makes me irate! Feeding the story monster is something I still struggle with at first. My brain dreams up the idea, my heart makes it meaningful but the words leave it flat. Eventually something just seems to break and all the ideas start to flow out. Love the saying: Writer’s block: when your imaginary friends won’t play with you… I am unsure of the creator of that saying but it fits sometimes!

Review frustrations

Hm. I’m a little miffed right now. I waited a few months for a “big time” reviewer to view one of the novels. This person is widely known and has help from several of her teen/young adult daughters in reviewing e-books. I was pretty excited when she e-mailed me that she added my book to their list for review. Here we are several months later, and I get an email from the young woman who read my book. She loved it! She found it funny, and a pleasure to follow along the main character’s journey. She didn’t want to put it down at the end of the allotted reading time. I was thrilled!. But (there’s that word) unfortunately, I will not be allowed to post the review and I will get another e-mail explaining why from the mother. Hm… Well this morning, lo and behold, there is the email. I was berated for not disclosing that the book contained not one, but two gay couples. She is stating that I need to immediately change my listing from Women’s Fiction genre to LGBT… WHAT? These characters are friends, and are support characters to my protagonist! The story is a young woman’s journey and these, along with many other support characters, belong in the story so I don’t know what the problem is! She has since withdrawn her offer to review each of my other books as I was not honest in the disclosure on this novel. Shake my head… Okay, so be it. I thanked her for her time, I e-mailed the young woman and thanked her for the review. I will not be changing the genre of the novel, not now now ever. I am sorry the mother had an issue with a few of my protag’s friends, and I can do without the review thank you.