Zara Altair's Blog, page 15

Research Before You Write The Story

Before The Outline The first round of research is background material for your story. You may be looking for settings, hidden alleys, a great beach. While an online search, will give you generic information, there's nothing like going to the place of your story. 
You will discover details that no amount of online searching will offer.what your character(s) know and don't knowroute shortcuts that may offer surprises for your actioninterior details of buildings, rooms, grand halls, and back kitchensAs you meet people and tell them why you are visiting, you'll be surprised at how people help you with your background research. They'll refer you to others You should talk to my neighbor. He was here in the 50s, has a passion for hand weapons, grows herbs, knows all the bars. They will offer details you would never have considered on your ownThey'll do research for you, offering magazine articles or websites that address specifics of your storyYou'll taste authentic food that is different from the food in your home
Find The Surprises By Nealmarques - Iphone Camera, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

When I went to Ravenna to meet with history scholars at the Ravenna branch of Universitá di Bologna I thought I was on a history search. Between appointments and visiting suggested historical sites, I played the tourist from time to time and wandered. As I was coming home one evening I passed a botanical garden, right in the middle of the city. It was closed.
I returned the next day because I knew that Nikolaos, Argolicus' lifelong tutor, had a passion and deep knowledge of plants. Aside from keeping Argolicus on a rigorous schedule of Greek language practice and basic fighting skills, his knowledge of plants was part of his character. 
When I returned to the gardens Erboristeria dell'Orto Botanico I took photographs of the plants as a store of knowledge of plants native to Italy. 
At the time, I had no idea how these would come to play in the stories, but I knew I could use them as a reference.  When I started writing The Peach Widow    I knew that Nikolaos and his knowledge would play a key role. On my original trip to the botanical garden, I was concentrating on edible plants but in this story it was his knowledge of poisonous plants that provides a plot twist.
Nikolaos' expertise comes to play in The Vellum Scribe, another Argolicus mystery and a current work in progress, but for a different reason. Argolicus' uncle Wiliarit creates books. He arrives for a visit to enlist Nikolaos expertise in finding plants to use in his illustrated encyclopedia. 

“Enough,” he said, rescuing his pride. “Let’s eat.”
He heard a squeal and then laughter from his mother on the other side of the villa. He dropped his sword and ran. Nikolaos ran behind him still carrying his practice sword.
In the entry, his mother was lost in the hug of a huge man draped in brown robes. Behind him, a carter was unloading several wooden boxes, placing each one carefully on the ground.  
“Uncle,” Argolicus cried in Their Language. His face broke out in a spontaneous smile.
The big man turned. “Argolicus. The Father and the Son together!”
“Worship and glorify,” Argolicus responded. “Uncle Wiliarit, where have you been this time?” He embraced his uncle who reciprocated in a hearty hug, squeezing him into the large chest.
Wiliarit continued in the language of The People, “I’ve been in Constantinople working on a commission. But now I’m here to finish and I’m hoping Nikolaos will help.”
Nikolaos heard his name and came closer, still clutching the practice sword. Beside keeping Argolicus in practice with arms, he was an excellent grammarian and had taught Argolicus Greek since childhood. But, his language skills stopped at the tongue of King Theoderic and his people.
“Nikolaos?” Argolicus replied.
“Yes, he knows much about plants and herbs. I’m hoping he can point out some live specimens for illustrations. What I have now as a source are drawings in another manuscript. I want this one to be as excellent as possible. It is quite a large commission.”

Gather Details The aim of first research is to discover background and details that will enrich the story for your readers. You are in discovery mode. Find details to store away. For beginning writers, gather as much as possible but know that 80% of your research will not show up in your story. The reverse of this that when you want a detail, you will have material to enliven your characters and enrich scenes. 
Know When Enough is Enough​ Original research at the beginning gives you a grand overview. As you write, you will discover that with all the research you've done, in the middle of a scene you need one more pertinent detail. ​ 
A good rule of thumb for knowing when to stop research activities and plan the story is when you can talk to a friend about your background information comfortably without notes. Then it's time to stop and move on to story.

​Zara Altair

Author Business Tools

The Business Side of Being an Author
The business side of of being an author can be bewildering, time-consuming, and frustrating. Gabriel Mercer presents ways tokeep tract of expenses and income to generate a business profit and loss pre-formatted spreadsheets for you to download and usea straightforward explanation of UTMs, how to use them, and how to keep trackWith the right tools managing the business side of being an independent author becomes simpler. All that is necessary is keeping track on a regular basis. 

​This presentation was part of the 24-hour Indie Author Fringe conference presented by ALLI the Alliance of Independent Authors.
The Time is NowIf you are a new author, the time to get these business systems in place is now. I call these activities "creating the baskets." As your business grows you'llwrite more bookscreate more newsletterssend more emailscreate ad campaignsWith your tools in place, each time you create a new action, you'll be ready to keep track of all your activities--the books you publish, the expenses you incur, the income you receive--to know your bottom line profitability.

​Zara Altair

​Copy the P&L Sheet to Your Google Sheets 

Don't Just Sit There! Start Your Novel Outline

Your Novel Outline Can Make You Invincible For a writer, nothing feels better than writing The End when your novel is finished. Beginning novelists can flounder around trying to make the first novel work. An outline can keep your story on track and make all the difference when it comes to writing your entire novel and reaching the end.

Novel outlines are as different as novel writers and there are many good sources to use. The difference for you is creating the outline and writing your story to The End. 

Working through your outline willmake sure your idea works - from start to finishguide you when you are stuckkeep to your storyline without wandering or putting in "extra" scenes that don't move the story forward
The more detailed your outline, for example, each scene within the chapter, the easier you will find the writing. 

Your novel outline is flexible. You can add or delete scenes or move them around in the storyline. Scenes can change as you write them. The outline makes sure that every component keeps your story on track to the end.
 Novel Outline Choices A novel outline can be anything that helps you create an overview of the entire novel. It can be as simple as writing the chapter sequences in a notebook or as detailed as using a spreadsheet. Some people enjoy the reassurance of boxes in a spreadsheet and some the flexibility of a mind map.  There's a style for everyone. The Old Standby The traditional storyboad outline is constructed with 3 x 5 index cards on a wall or bulletin board. Cards are lined up in the three act structure.  You can carry the cards with you anywhere to make a note. This writer also added notes torn from a notebook. The beauty of this storyboard is that you can rearrange the cards anyway you wish. Especially in the planning stage as you work through the complete story, it is easy to rearrange scenes.
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Since 1974 when Post-it notes were invented, some writers use these sticky notes rather than index cards. The ease of use is the same. Computer Software Computer software has added new space-saving ways to create an outline. You can create a MS Word document with a table as a story outline.  [image error] ~_ory_bodyguard_novel_template.dotxFile Size: 0 kbFile Type: dotxDownload File Or a spreadsheet. You can create your own or search for the many available templates online. [image error] ~_novel_outline_worksheet.xltxFile Size: 0 kbFile Type: xltxDownload File Download the Word or Excel templates and get started.
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Many novelists rely on Scrivener as their go to software for writing. Within the software is a bulletin board where you can "pin" cards just like the index cards on a bulletin board. As you create your outline you can move scenes and chapters the same way you can with a real life bulletin board.  A mind map is useful for complex novels with many characters, opposing political factions and alignments, or completely different worlds. The map can not only list all the characters, but group them and illustrate interrelationships. I use FreeMind a very flexible and detailed open source tool. You can add links to research urls.  

​If free flow appeals to you, mind maps are a great way to construct your story overview. There are many options, just search for mind maps and take your pick. There are a number of outlines available for a modest price such as Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method. And many that are genre specific. A web search for your genre novel outline will give you many choices.

If your story is based on sequenced events in one day or takes place over a long period of time a timeline will help you make sure your events are in correct sequence. Aeon Timeline not only makes it easy to visualize the entire sequence but integrates with Scrivener.
In The Cloud Cloud storage frees up space on your computer's hard disk. Google Drive offers Docs and Sheets for word processing and spreadsheets. I use Docs when I am writing short stories. I keep it simple by creating a character list and chapter outline in the main document. I can quickly go to the outline using a header which shows up on the left.  Sterling and Stone is beta testing a writing app called StoryShop. You can get on the list now when it goes live. Do The Work, Then Write The number of ways you can create your novel outline are manifold. Choose the method that fits your personality, your writing style, and your genre. The important step is to create the outline.
Work through your story. Use whatever structure and beat sequence you want. Fill in all the components of your novel. You'll find that writing will go faster when you know exactly how a scene fits into a story. 
The novel outline is a power tool for getting to the end of your novel.

Zara Altair

​Have questions about outlineing your novel? Get in touch. zara@zaraaltair.com

How To Make Each Scene Count in Your Story

Scene Checklists
Scenes are the building blocks of your story. Each scene moves the story forward. As you build your story alternate between action and reaction.

When you go through the first edits of your story make certain that all scene components are in each scene. You’ll take your reader by the hand to lead them through the story.
Two Types of Scenes Alternating between Proactive and Reactive scenes is a cycle that builds story in increments.  The Proactive Scene The Proactive Scene challenges your protagonist.He has a goalShe tries to achieve the goal but obstacles challenge him as the scene moves forwardAt the end of the scene he has a setback
By the end of the scene, the protagonist has not only failed to reach his goal but has a setback that leaves him worse off than at the beginning. 
​ Checklist for the Proactive Scene Who is the primary point of view character (stay with her throughout the scene).What is her goal?Keep the goal simple for this one small part of the storyCreate the objective of the goal so the reader can visualize the successMake the goal worthwhile otherwise cut the sceneMake the goal achievable in the protagonist’s viewMake it difficult to achieveCreate the conflict that keeps your hero from reaching the goalEven with obstacles, don’t let the protagonist give upMake the obstacle unexpected, but keep it logical within the story
Put your hero or heroine in the worst possible situations as they seek what seems like an obtainable goal at the beginning of the scene. The Reactive Scene Now that your protagonist is thwarted, it’s time to give him some space. This scene is where your heroine makes a decision about what to do next. 

Begin with the protagonist’s reaction to what just happenedNow, get your hero to figure out what his options are. If the setback was significant he may have no apparent options and he needs to look at his dilemma and choose an option.In the final portion of the scene, the protagonist mast make a decision.That decision is the goal for the next scene Checklist for the Reactive Scene These are the basic elements to include in the Reactive scene when your protagonist makes a decision.

Clarify the protagonist’s vision of the problem. She needs to know what the problem is before she can make a decision.Keep the reader with the protagonist by visualizing what the character will do nextThe decision for the next action should be in line with your character’s personality and valuesShow how the protagonist sees success from his decisionMake the decision difficult enough that the reader has doubts about whether your character can do what she decides
Reactive scenes provide a way for your character to make really bad decisions which will create even greater conflict later on. She may be blind to the motivations of another character. He may find that getting into the boardroom isn’t a slam dunk. Reactive scenes are your opportunity to build conflict and tension because the following action scene may be based on a very wrong decision that seemed right at the time for the character. Why This Structure Helps For beginning writers, all this alternating of scenes may seem forced. I know, I was a beginning writer, and thought the same way. But my stories went nowhere and lacked tension. Readers want and expect your characters to have problems and overcome obstacles. Unless you are very compulsive, you don’t need to write these lists down. Just know which type of scene you are writing, create the obstacles either to action or decision making, and write the scene. Your story will benefit and your readers will love your story. Scene Editing When Your Story Is Finished Once you have written each scene with all the writer passion you hold, go back to edit your story with a cold, clear eye. 
Scene Checklist For Editing
Is your scene written from one point of view?Is it an action scene or a reactive scene?Does the reader know where the characters are? Setting grounds the reader.Does the scene include at least three of the five senses--touch, sight, hearing, taste, smell? These details help bring the reader directly into the scene.Do you crank up the conflict--either action or decision--to the highest point? Make it tough, really tough, for your character.
Practice story editing with an objective eye. Be as unbiased as possible about the elements in each scene. Use your critical mind to objectify the story. I think of it as switching from the story creator, the one who loves the story, to a person who is looking at a thing. Use whatever mind tricks you can to be as objective as possible. 

Do this work on your story and scene structure before you send it to an editor. 

Some writers completely switch into editing mode and stop writing during the process. I like to balance editing and writing so I do some of each during the editing process. Find what method works for you, but don’t skip story editing. 

Keep writing! 

​Zara Altair

Great Way to Give Out Free Books

Free Books for Author Promotion Hook potential readers with a free book giveaway. Book Funnel stores PDF, .epub, and .mobi files so they can read your book in their format of choice.  Scrivener users can compile a manuscript to each of these formats. Once you have created the files, simply upload each file plus the book cover to Book Funnel.
​Here's a quick tutorial on how to set up your book for distribution.  Increase Your Exposure, Gain Readers Your free book is an invitation to readers to get to know you. Make sure your put some of your personality in the free offer. It doesn't matter if it a book or a one-sheet. For most new readers your free offer is the first chance they get to meet you. First impressions count. Make your book look professional. Create a personable introduction to you and your writing.

​Zara Altair

How to Write A Scene for Reader Engagement

Start Late, End Early​Scenes are the building blocks of your story. The purpose of each scene is to move the reader along in the story. You can help your reader experience immediacy by plunging them headlong into your story.Begin At the Latest Possible MomentBegin your scene with action. Plunge your reader into the moment. The action can be dialogue, and be half-way through a conversation. You don't need to start with Hello. Get to the essence of the conversation.
Once your reader is into the action, you can write a brief paragraph describing the place where the action happens to ground the reader in the setting. Keep this paragraph brief and then continue on with the action.
Readers are smart. They will catch up with you. The key is to get your reader involved as quickly as you can. End EarlyOne of the best ways to get your reader to turn the page and keep reading is to end your scene early. Don't answer questions. Leave the reader hanging. If your protagonist is in a fight and just won or lost, stop. Get them to turn the page to discover what happens next. Use Scenes as Building BlocksWhatever story structure you use, whether it is Aristotle's three acts or a more modern beat sheet, scenes are the power drivers of your story. Your reader is here now. Keep them turning the pages with immediacy and tension. Start with instant action, not long description. End by leaving a question unanswered. Your readers may not know what drives them forward, but you will.

Zara Altair

If you are looking for guidance or want a coach for your story get in touch zara@thestorybodyguard.com

Historical Story Setting: Discovering Ostia and Portus

A Setting in Time At the time of Argolicus Rome was neither the capital city of Italy nor the center of the Roman Empire. King Theoderic, ruled Italy from the north of Italy in Ravenna and the Roman Empire was centered in Constantinople.

In The Roman Heir Argolicus and Nikolaos leave Rome to begin his retirement in southern Italy. As he leaves, Boethius ask Argolicus to deliver a gift to a young Roman in Ostia. Once the major port for good coming to Rome, at the time of the story Ostia is mainly a country seaside retreat for Romans. The great port is silting and reedy marshlands have replaced much of the port.

Archaeological excavations give us a hint of what the city was like in its prime.


 ​ But imagination and a review of geography give us a better feel of Ostia at the time of Argolicus.

When Argolicus arrives to deliver the gift, he finds that the youth, Philo, discovered the body of his murdered father just hours ago. The paterfamilias was a shipping magnate with a large house in Ostia, but his wealth comes from across the river Tiber at the major shipping port called Portus. 
​ Portus the Seat of Commerce
​The man made port fed by a canal built by Trajan, still serves the shipping needs for Rome and the surrounding area of Italy when Argolicus arrives. In the north, the port of Classe, just several kilometers from Ravenna, serves the King’s city.  But major supplies for the rest of Italy still came through Portus.

The port was an architectural and engineering feat designed is an octagon. The flat sides maximized space for ships to dock and goods to be loaded and unloaded. Huge storage warehouses kept the goods for distribution throughout Italy.


Ostia and Portus are the backdrop for this mystery of a savage murder where emotions run deep behind the trappings of wealth.

If you want to discover more about the Argolicus mysteries become an Argolicus Fan. You’ll get Inside stories and publication notices and invitations to become a beta reader. ​​​

​Zara Altair

Work With Your Editors

A Simple Way To Work With Editors Many writers dread the editing process, especially when it comes to recommendations for rewrites. David Amerland calls editing brain-squeezing. I agree. For every suggestion an editor makes you have to agree, disagree, or partially agree. Then if you agree, it's time to rethink that portion of the manuscript and make changes. So, you need to think of the way to make the changes that fit with the story, the character(s), and the scene. 

Editing requires some hard thinking.

Also, some writing programs do not allow an editor in for comments and suggestions, or the ability to highlight text. This requires a new process of downloading the manuscript in a format the editor can access. The editor uploads the document, makes editorial comments and suggestions, downloads the document to send to you so you can upload and make changes. This process may be repeated several times. No wonder writers dread the process. 

Google Docs can eliminate the file exchange process by allowing editors direct access to the document. Once there, they can highlight text and make comments for changes. You can reply, make changes and talk to the editor about the changes. In one place. 

Your time and energy are focused on making your story the best you can make. #wsite-video-container-547242592331942921{ background: url(//www.weebly.comhttp://www.zaraaltair.c... } #video-iframe-547242592331942921{ background: url(//cdn2.editmysite.com/images/util/video... } #wsite-video-container-547242592331942921, #video-iframe-547242592331942921{ background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position:center; } @media only screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and ( min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and ( min-resolution: 192dpi), only screen and ( min-resolution: 2dppx) { #video-iframe-547242592331942921{ background: url(//cdn2.editmysite.com/images/util/video... background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position:center; background-size: 70px 70px; } } Curb Your Emotions You pour your heart, soul, and brain into your story. Once the story is written, it becomes a commodity. Your end goal is to publish and have readers. If you approach the editorial process as a process to reach that goal rather than a direct attack on your writing, you'll be able to keep emotions at bay a begin to see your writing with a similar critical eye.

Using editors to fine tune your story pays dividends in story structure and readability. Professional editors will help you see the places where the story is weak or when a sentence is awkward. An editor with a good eye will also help you find the elements to cut from a sentence to an entire scene. 

If you are on a tight budget, and many writers are, look for a friend, a reader in your genre, or someone who likes editing. Ask for their help. But find someone to help you see your manuscript with an objective eye. 

You always have the last word. It is your choice to accept an editorial suggestion or not. 

​Zara Altair

Characters Don't Speak in Semicolons

Dialogue and Narrative aGrammar is essential to good storytelling; it keeps the reader from getting lost.  When writing narrative good grammar is essential. But when your characters speak they talk like human beings. People don't speak in semicolons and neither should your characters.

Robert Harris wrote a trilogy about the great legal orator Cicero: Imperium, Lustrum, Dictator.  In these stories, whether speaking in private or conducting a public oration, Cicero does not speak with semicolons in the dialogue.

 Natural speech is a key element in creating an empathic character. Your editor may get stuck with the fine points of grammar within dialogue, but your readers want a character to speak in flow, just the way real people do. 

An editor sparked the idea for this post with a comment about the lack of semicolons in a character's speech. My reply was the title of this post: Characters don't speak in semicolons. Simple tricks to dialogue As a writer, you can enliven your dialogue by writing in natural speech flow. The trick is to use punctuation and possibly break some grammar rules.Break up bits of dialogue with periods.The one place sentence fragments work as thought fragments as the character speaks.If the character is speaking short sentences as one piece of thought, use commas, not semicolons, to indicate a long thought even if they are "grammatically" separate thoughts which would require semicolons while writing narrative.​Your readers will understand. They don't speak in semicolons either. Dialogue Punctuation On the other hand, you'll want to make sure your dialogue is punctuated correctly for interruptions, breaks, and attributions.

Editor Jodie Renner provides useful guidelines in her article for Kill Zone.

A. Ellipsis (…) or Dash (—)?
In fiction,
An ellipsis (…) is used to show hesitation:
“What I meant is… I don’t know how to begin…”
or a trailing off:
“She came with you? But I thought…” She paused.
“You thought what? Come on, spit it out.”
(Also, usually in nonfiction, indicates the omission of words in a quoted text.)
A dash (—), also called em dash, is used to show an interruption in speech:
“But I—”
“But nothing! I don’t want to hear your excuses!”
or a sudden break in thought or sentence structure:
“Will he—can he—find out the truth?”
The dash is also used for amplifying or explaining, for setting off information within a sentence, kind of like parentheses or commas can do:
“My friends—I mean, my former friends—ganged up on me.”
Note: To  use dashes this way, make sure that if the information between the dashes is taken out, the rest of the sentence still makes sense and flows properly. Also, avoid three dashes in a sentence. Rewrite the sentence to avoid that.

Dialogue is the Spice of Character Building Dialogue is one of the strongest ways to get your readers emotionally involved with a character. 
When I wrote the introductory scene for Cassiodorus in Ravenna: A Mosaic where he speaks in long, convoluted sentences and does not get to the point, one of my fellow writers said, "Tell me he dies before the book ends." Now that's an emotional response. He was sorry to hear that Cassiodorus lived on into his nineties, well outside the time frame of the story.
Your character may speak in monosyllabic words or long phrases. Either way, make the dialogue reflect your character and how he or she interacts with the other personae in your story.

​Zara Altair

The Second Argolicus Mystery

The Peach Widow  Get your copy of The Peach Widow. 
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After Rome, before the Middle Ages, Italy belonged to the Ostrogoths. 

A distressed widow. Greedy brothers. A huge farm dog. Argolicus unravels the threads. 

Argolicus and Nikolaos Visit A Farm
When Argolicus, is asked by his mother to counsel a grieving widow on the laws of inheritance, he finds the law will serve her cruelly. Her stepsons want her out and there is no recourse.

When a field slave falls during peach harvest, suspicions grow when Argolicus and Nikolaos learn more about the family and suspect that the death may not be from natural causes. As they question the family, they discover greed and begin to distrust the stories they’ve been told.

History and mystery. Order your copy today.

​Zara Altair