Paula R.C. Readman's Blog, page 24

The Importance of Reading When You’re a Writer

I might be preaching to the converted here, but I’m sure you’re just as shocked as I am when new writers say they don’t read. They seem quite proud of the fact, too, as though they believe their writing is all the purer because they don’t read other authors’ books. Where the truth of the matter is their writing is all the poorer for it. Being well-read improves not only your knowledge, and understanding of storytelling but your writing, too. How can you claim to be a writer, when you’re only doing half the job?

In this post, I hope to demonstrate areas where you can improve your writing by simply being well-read. Well-established authors always spoke about the importance of reading at any of the talks given at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, which I went to when I first set out on my writing journey many years ago.

“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it.”

William Cuthbert Faulkner September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962
was an American writer known for his novels and short stories

I’ve been an avid reader since I left school at sixteen. Being dyslexic, my problem has been being able to pronounce words. So, with the help of a small dictionary, I kept in my bag, I would look the word up to find out its meaning. This way should I ever come across it again, I might not be able to pronounce the word, but I would know its meaning, thus I would be able to decipher what the sentence meant.

Before the age of the internet, I had read hundreds of books, some I still remember, others I have completely forgotten. I never thought of recording the title of the books, or the name of the authors. My taste was and still is diverse. From classics like Jane Eyre, and Dracula to Stephen King to Victoria Holt from horror to the love of sci-fi, which my father got me interested in reading, and everything in between. Now with Goodreads, you can keep a record of your reading. Some books, after reading them, stay with you, whereas others are soon forgotten, but why?

So how does reading novels help the fiction writer?

This is where the importance of reading comes into play when you are writing. I feel the need here to stress, I’m not talking about copying anyone’s books word for word. What I’m talking about is understanding what makes a book unforgettable, and why other books are soon forgotten.

Of course, it might mean something as simple as the writing was powerful, the plot line and characters were believable which had you turning the pages, but what else might it be. Here’s a list of things you might learn from reading other people’s books.

How does the author begin their sentences? It’s too easy to be repetitive in the opening of each of your sentences. Too many I was/ they were etc make your writing dull and uninteresting. How do they open each new chapter? Once again, this is an area where all new writers need to keep an eye out for repetition. Make sure each new chapter has a fresh, inviting beginning and an exciting ending which makes the reader want to know what happens next. How is the author telling their tale? Is there a narrator? Does the story open with a question? Do you know quickly whose story it is? Is it being told in first, second or third person?Do they change seamlessly from one character’s point of view to another? As a writer, you need to master the skill of staying in your main character’s point of view. Head-hopping can be very confusing for the reader. If you want to shift to another character’s point of view, you need to do it seamlessly so the reader doesn’t lose the thread of the story. Are they able to use flashbacks seamlessly? Flashbacks are a great way of telling your readers what happened in the past, but they mustn’t interrupt the flow of the story? So remember to keep the time shift clear and precise so your reader knows exactly where they are. Reading helps you improve your plotting skills. Seeing how other writers’ stories unfold, and how they keep their readers guessing what’s going to happen next, will show you how you can improve your plotting skills. Reading allows you to understand the difference between good and bad writing. What’s the difference between good and bad writing? As a reader, the writing must engage you straightaway and keep you turning the pages. If the writing is plodding along and the reader is skipping pages to get to the action, then you have a problem. Reading a wide range of different genres allows you to know what has been done before. This way, you can come up with a unique storyline. Remember, there are only seven basic plot lines. Overcoming the Monster, rags to riches, the quest, voyage and return, comedy, tragedy and rebirth, the secret to good writing is in the telling, and how you tell your story.

I hope my post has given you something to think about. Please let me know what you think makes a great story. Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment.

Chat again soon.

Back Where I Want To Be

The trouble with me I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my writing. I know I don’t always see the obvious and that bugs me. Whether I’m writing flash fiction, a short story or a novel. I keep asking myself a series of questions.

Is this the best idea I can come up with?Is there a better starting point for the story than the one I’ve chosen?Have I chosen the best character, or PoV to tell the tale?How much research do I need?

The last question became my stumbling block yesterday. Not that I was on form, I was feeling a little under the weather. After submitting four short stories in January, I’ve turned my attention back to the Granny Wenlock novel. Now here’s the problem. I’m nervous.

I’m torn between what’s in my head and what sort of tale I want to tell. The Funeral Birds, Granny Wenlock’s first adventure wasn’t really about her. It was Joan and Dave’s story really. As the Crow Flies is going to be more about Martha Wenlock and her life, or should that be her death. And this is the problem. I’ve worked out the opening, and I know in which direction I want to take the story, but is it the right one.

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Yesterday, I was trying to find the right way to bring Martha Wenlock and her descendant, Dave together. I wanted it to be a unique way, something that other writers of timeslip novels hadn’t thought of before. Yes, I know it’s a difficult call, but that’s what comes of trying to think outside the box. Remember, your first idea is the most common one. The one everyone else would have thought of, so always go for your second or third idea. That’s easier said than done. I sat with an aching head, trying to think of something. I watched a few Time-traveling film trailers on YouTube to see if I could tap into something to inspire me. I’ve an idea floating around my head, but will it work?

The problem I’m having is making the concept I have in my head realistic enough that the reader will believe it. Then it is at what point in the story to bring the two characters together. I suddenly realised I needed to work out a family tree. Martha Wenlock died in 1651 as a witch so would she have been buried in a churchyard? Would her grave been marked?

See how the questions kept coming?

Now my mind is buzzing. Once you start answering one question, another takes its place. This is what you want your reader to do when they start reading your work.

I have a hairdresser’s appointment today, so I will finish now.

Chat with you again soon. Have a great day.

Thank you for dropping by. Please leave a comment, and let me know how your thought process works when you’re writing. Thank you.

There are Books and Then There are Big Books

For Christmas, my son and daughter-in-law bought me a hardback copy of Robert Galbraith’s sixth book in the Cormoran Strike series, The Ink Black Heart. So far this is the biggest book in the series standing in at 1012 pages long. It took me from the 7th to the 30th of January to read it. The most frustrating thing about the book was the pages where the publisher/author was trying to imitate text messages on a computer screen. These were set up in columns of three. I found myself having to read one column at a time to understand what was going on. By the end of the novel, it became clear the character, Strike and Robin were hunting for online, was being played by more than one person.

Not the first large book, I’ve read.

I did enjoy Ink Black Heart and look forward to the next in the series. I have noticed on Goodreads some readers are personally attacking the author for some comments made by them on Twitter. The readers, who disagreed with the author (who has as much right as the readers to voice their opinion, too) should read Ink Black Heart. The theme in the book covers online bullying and how easy it is for people to hide behind avatars and cause problems to others.

The second book I’ve just finished reading isn’t one of my normal reads. The Dolphin’s Kiss: (The Lady Amelia Saga Book 4) by Dawn Knox is a captivating romance saga, set in Australia at the turn of the 19th Century. The story uncovers a family secret and shows how even as white settlers carve out a living in the wilds of Australia, the class system is still important to some people. The setting is perfect, the pace is fast-moving and the characters are well-drawn. I highly recommend this book.

If you haven’t read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and love books which are a mixture of historical and fantasy then this is the book for you. The writing is outstanding, and the plot is page-turning. I read it years ago, and it remains on my top ten list of fiction books I would take with me to a desert island. It’s a book you could read again, and again and never become bored of it.

Thank you for reading my book reviews.

Chat again soon.

Watching the Detectives?

A question asked in my online writing group got me thinking. I find it very strange that new writers are in such a rush, after finishing their first draft, to submit straightaway. Oh, yes I can understand their excitement at finishing a first novel, or story. Of course, you want to show the world what you’ve created because you’re excited by it but hold back, it isn’t finished yet.

I love editing. It’s when all my best ideas gather as I work my way through the first draft. Editing is like playing the part of a detective, you can only solve the crime once you have all the facts. It doesn’t matter what genre your book/story is about, the crime you have got to solve is made up of the same elements.

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There are three stages to editing: but this doesn’t mean you only have to edit your book three times. At each stage, you can read through your completed manuscript as many times as necessary. Remember the more polished you can make your finished manuscript the less time a publisher needs to spend on it. Here’s a list of the three stages:

Structural Editing: This is when you look at how your story is constructed, and you’re looking for faults in the plot. Copy Editing: This is a line-by-line read-through where you check for spelling, grammar, word usage, repetition ( information dumping), dialogue tags, and usage of numbers. POV/tense shifting (head hopping) Descriptive inconsistencies i.e. character descriptions, locations, settings, timeline etc. Proofreading: This is the final stage, but you need to go back and read the manuscript line by line, making sure that nothing has been overlooked or missed.

We’ll take the structural editing for now, and look at this stage in more detail. Once you have completed your first draft and read through it until you know it line by line. Step away from it. Take a break, and work on something else. Clean your house/room or do some gardening, spend some time with your family/friends, anything to forget about your manuscript for a week or so.

After having a break from your manuscript you’re ready to play detective and uncover the crime lurking within it. Remember we have lots of questions to find answers to along the way. The trouble is, we, the writer, can’t see any faults with our manuscript. As far as we are concerned, No crime has been committed on our watch.

Time to dig deeper! We need to start answering a few questions about the suspects and search for clues and evidence to start building a better plot, or storyline. To start with…Structural editing is like walking into a room full of people we hardly know. One or two of them you might know better than others. These are normally your main characters as you’ve got to know them well while writing your first draft. The first question you need to ask yourself…Have you chosen the best character and POV to tell the story you want?

To answer your first question, you need to know what’s the main thread or theme of your book. I’m not talking about the genre – be it romance, crime, horror etc.

What’s the theme within the plot of the book: overcoming the monster, rags to riches, the quest, voyage and return, comedy, tragedy and rebirth etc?What’s the back story within the plot- a journey-conflict-resolution

Hey, don’t panic. You want to write the best book possible, don’t you? Once you learn how to write your first book, it does become easier, because you know what questions to ask yourself before the first word hits the page/screen.

Next question to ask your suspects is do you really need them all. What’s their job within your tale? Could one of your other characters do their job just as easily? Remember, you’re working to keep the pace of your story moving forward. Now you understand, why it’s important to know the central theme of your book so you can decide which characters are needed and why.

So after a few hours of questioning your suspects and digging deeper into their lives (their part in your book), you’ll have a better understanding of what has brought them together in the first place. Now hopefully, you have created new ideas for your plot. The more questions you have to answer, the more questions your reader will want to find answers to, this will improve your plot line, and create stronger characters.

With more questions to answer the more work you will need to do on your manuscript, and then the more new ideas will come to you. This means you will have to keep going back and reading through it again, and again. More rewriting will need to be done as you add in freshly written plot lines, and changes as you build a better book.

Don’t be frightened to make changes or slash large chunks that don’t add to the flow of your story. Remember, you don’t want your reader to have to go back and re-read things which aren’t clear to them straight away. Get rid of long, unnecessary descriptions, and dialogue that add nothing to the storyline.

Remember to show through evidence, never name an emotion, never name a sense, never name an action but show by adding sensory details. Spell it out, so your reader becomes immersed in the storyline/plot completely.

I hope this is helpful to you. Please let me know.

Thank you for taking the time to read it.

Book Reviews

All readers should review the books they’ve read. Reviews don’t need to be long, nor do you need to give the plot away. Just a couple of sentences, a short summary on what you thought of the book. Here’s a list of things you might think about when writing a review

Did the characters appeal to you?Did the writing flow? Was it an easy read?Were you carried along by the plot or character’s view point?Did the writing make you feel as though you were standing in the main character’s shoes?Did the plot make you keep turning the pages? Was it a satisfying read when you finished the book?Did you enjoy the book?

Writing a review isn’t an exam, and you won’t be questioned about your review at a later date. Reviews are about letting other readers know what you thought of the book, and it gives us authors the opportunity of knowing, too.

I’ve partaken in the GoodReads Reading Challenge since 2015, which I enjoy, because it pushes me to read all sorts of different books by authors I don’t know. When it come to reading by stepping outside my comfort zone helps me to improve my own writing, too.

If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time,

or the tools to write, Simple as that.

Stephen King

The point Stephen King makes is clear. Writing and reading go hand in hand. If Mr King does both, then it explains why he’s top in his game. Many other well-known writers and authors talk about the important of being well-read.

Girl From Pompey by Bryony Best Vampire of the Midnight Sun by Priscilla Bettis

I’ve just read and reviewed two more books for my Goodreads Reading Challenge:

Girl From Pompey by Bryony Best was way outside my normal reading choice. Bryony’s book is about her personal journey to discover how to find happiness and fulfilment. We learn about her life, and the bad situations she has found herself in before deciding to discover the meaning of happiness and fulfilment. The book finishes with Bryony’s guide to setting goal for one’s own self-knowledge, with a clear understanding what drives our own motives and actions.

My review of the book:

I must stress this isn’t my normal read, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was a story of discovery by the author as she began to change her view of where her life was taking her. If you’re looking to change your view of what life is offering you at the moment, then this is the book for you.
Bryony takes you on her incredible journey to find happiness within herself. In the book, she shares with the reader how she did her research and why.

I enjoyed learning more about the author, and the life she had led and why she turned to writing. I want to wish her much happiness and hope she continues to travel the new path she has discovered for herself.

Vampire of the Midnight Sun by Priscilla Bettis is very much my kind of read. The word vampire already had me reaching for the book. Vampire of the Midnight Sun is Priscilla Bettis’ third novella and is made up of two different tales: Vampire of the Midnight Sun and The Fire Witch and The Cowboy.

My review of the book:

This is a brilliant novella! Two amazing stories in one. Both have unexpected twists in their tales. The characters are well-drawn. Highly recommended.

Just Keep Putting the Words Down…

That’s what I’ve been doing this month as I’ve sent out three submissions. One to Cafelit, which has been published, one to a writing competition, and one to an anthology call-out. I’m now working on a new gothic crime short story. Taking time out from novel writing to write short stories has helped me reclaim my muses, as just lately, I felt I had lost my writing mojo, and inspiration had been rather lacking.

My other news is that I received a request from a writing group to do a talk, about my writing journey, in May. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve stood in front of an audience to give a talk, so I’m feeling quite nervous at the thought of doing it. It’s just the not knowing what to expect. Things like how big the room is, whether the audience will be interested in what I have to say, and how many people will be there, etc. I’m expected to talk for an hour and twenty minutes, being a bit of a chatterbox when it comes to my favourite subject, I’m not so worried about talking. The talk is in May, which does allow me plenty of time to sit down, and plan what to say on paper. I mustn’t allow my nerves to get the better of me, as I need to push myself outside my comfort zone. This is a good opportunity to promote my books and writing. These last few years of lockdowns has shattered my confidence when it comes to mixing with others, and the thought of reading to an audience.

The last time I read to an audience was in Dec 2020. Here, I am with the rest of the Cafelit and Bridge House Writers

To follow on with my post about Twitter the other day, I received a request from someone to do an online interview, and they have now sent me a list of questions. This is another ideal way of spreading your news and promoting your books. I try to answer the questions in a chatty, conversationalist way to make it more interesting for the reader.

Now I’m off to finish my new short story. Chat again soon.

P.S. if you haven’t spotted me I’m the one on the left of the picture, dressed in black and holding the yellow and red book Crackers , with my glasses on the top of my head.

Have a great weekend.

A free short story for you to enjoy

If you are looking for a fun short read, then check out my short story, Cupid’s Black Magic.
I hope you enjoy it.
It’s for free. Just get yourself a drink and settle back.

https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2023/01/cupids-black-magic-by-paula-r-c-readman.html?fbclid=IwAR0DirYp4DvGYAmd7CoKS9e2ze2e0qRLEmZxt21SvD1VbdeE3uxZpLHgzAI&m=1

Bite Size Pieces of Horror

Trying new writing styles: Flash Fiction

I’ve always enjoyed pushing the boundaries of my writing. Trying new things. My dear friend, Ivy Lord (aka Maggie Ford) warned me that once your writing gains popularity with a certain kind of reader, your publisher, whoever they maybe, will expect you to continue writing in that genre. Knowing this, I never wanted to remain stuck in a genre I wouldn’t find either inspiring or enjoyable. From the beginning of my writing journey, I knew what kind of books I enjoyed reading, so I began writing in that style. The Victorian ghost and mystery writers wrote to entertain the whole family, with a chilling tale, so that’s the kind of writing I wanted to reflect in my stories.

When I first started writing, I did what all new writers do and started by trying to write a novel. Novel writing, I quickly discovered, if you’ve never tackled writing one before, is a long and difficult project. If the only writing you’ve ever done was at school, in your creative writing class and that was a short essay, then tackling a novel of 50k -120k isn’t going to be easy. In fact, it can become overwhelming and disheartening. Writing the first draft might seem like a walk in the park once you’ve finished writing it, but that’s where the hard work begins as you start tackling the long process of editing it. Of course, like all newbie writers, we dream of the fame and fortune that our first book will bring us, too. Unfortunately, that’s just a dream. Many of us, aren’t even covering the costs of promoting our books after publication.

We all suffer rejection even the Literary Ace Snoopy.

After I wrote, or should I say, attempted to write my first novel, I quickly learnt I didn’t have enough skills or understood all the different stages needed to bring my novel to a high standard for it to be good enough to submit for publication. So I turned to writing short stories.

Writing short stories gives you the opportunity to master all the skills needed to tackle a novel as well as them being short enough for family and friends to give you feedback on. The shortness of the length, which can be between 1k – 10k words in length, helps you to feel you have accomplish something quite quickly. Once you’ve finished your short story, then it’s time to tackle the skill of learning how to edit it.

It’s important to know mastering the skill of writing short stories isn’t wasted time. Once you have a few stories completed, and that means well-edited, too, you might think about entering them into competitions, or for submission call-outs. Having work published, or a few competition wins helps build your confidence so when you then start writing a novel you work is much tighter, you know how to build tension from the opening of your book, characters, keep the flow and pace of your plot line going, and how to finish the novel tying all the threads of the plot together at the end.

Now you’ve mastered telling a short story in a thousand words plus, what about tackling just 100 words. I never thought I could do it, until I came across an Australian publisher called Black Hare Press.

Is it possible to tell a short story in one hundred words? Well, here’s one of mine. First published in 2019 Black Hare Press Anthology. Dark Moments: Year One

Here Comes the Knock

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Streetlights darken. Laughter fills the air. Eager fresh faces dart everywhere. “Trick or Treat,” echoes in porches.

I drop the grubby net curtain. Anticipation races through me. Ghosts from my past gather.  I wait in the shadow. The razor in my hand gleams. Here comes the knock. Laughter bubbles in my throat. Haven’t their parents warned them about stranger danger?

“Trick or treat, Mister?”

The blade bites as it finds its mark. How sweet and warm is the spray of blood as it runs down my face. Young flesh is far sweeter than their sugary sweets. “My treat, I think!”

A little blue bird told me…

My marketing on Twitter is finally bringing some results.

I’m steadily building up a following, generating sales slowly, and hoping to get more reviews, too. Today, I received a review for my novella, The Funeral Birds. When I first had an account on Twitter, I couldn’t work out how to use it. On Facebook, you just posted photographs of whatever interested you, write a few lines, and liked other people’s post. I tried to use Facebook promotional groups, but anything you posted in them soon disappeared from view, as other writers added their posts to the thread. Most Facebook promotional groups, I found to be a waste of my time.

Twitter is completely different. Simply add a few of the right hashtags to your post, suddenly your post is available to a wider audience. Having five books to post about, I tended to share one of them every day. Some days I posted an ad for it in the morning, mid day and then in the evening. The following day I would check my Amazon Author’s page to see if there been any movement with the book I had been promoting. To start with, there was only little red arrows as my books tumbled down, but I carried on promoting on Twitter and soon green arrows started to appear. I had no money available to promote anywhere else, and stopped using Facebook business account as it turned into a very hungry caterpillar, with nothing to show.

Slowly, I started to think outside the box, changing the wording to my post. Remembering to always think up new advertisements for each of my books. Keeping it as simple as I could knowing I had only a second in which to catch someone’s attention. I started advertising my books by linking them into the Goodreads Reading Challenge, especially, The Funeral Birds as it is a short read.

When you post an ad on Twitter, it allows you to see how many people have looked at your post, clicked on your link and how many times its been shared, too. All this information helps you to build up knowledge to know if your promoting is working.

So what have I learnt since I’ve cracked the Twitter code?

First of all, to avoid all the nastiness that can surface anywhere on the net, I found it’s best to stick to the writing and reading communities, so use #writingcommunity #writerscommunity #reading community #readers within all your post. If you want to connect with other writers use #AmWriting #WIP #writerslife #writing #authorchat

The magical thing about Twitter is you can promote your books every day, many times over by using the #Writerslift hashtag by typing it into the search engine. Every day someone will do a Writer’s Lift so you just add your book cover and the book’s link to that post and share. You must remember, it’s important to retweet as many other people’s posts as possible, if you want them to share yours.

Here some hashtags to remember:

Books: #books #whattoread #whatImreading #BookLover #ReadEverything #BookWormPublishing: #AskAgent #AskEditor #GetPublished #ScifiChat #Publishing #WriteTipOther Writers: #AmWriting #AmEditing #Writerslife #AuthorRT #WriteChat #WIP Book Promos: #bookboost #bookblast #IARTG

Disappointment is tough.

But is it mental illness? Is it just me or has the human race lost all sense of proportion when it comes to disappointment.

The other day I read an article on the net about a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent who is suing Simon Cowell because his comments on their performances during the show has effected their mental health. Now, I’m no expert on mental health issues. In my life time, I’ve been to some dark places, but have managed to grasp onto the tiniest glimmer of hope, and hang on for dear life, but as far as being disappointed when things don’t measure up to my expectations, I didn’t see that as effecting my mental health, just my pride.

Yes, disappointment does effect our mental wellbeing, but this is short lived. We are hurt, upset and mortified by the criticism we receive when we feel, we’ve done our very best. We cry because we feel we’ve let others down, after they have supported us, and especially ourselves. It can effect our confidence for quite a while afterwards, but sometimes our best isn’t good enough. In these moments, we need to revalidate our own opinions, on what we see as our best.

Rejection in any shape or form, whether we are chasing the dream job, a book deal, or a perfect relationship, sometimes can be tough because we don’t want to let go of the dream. The feeling of despair we are feeling isn’t a mental illness, no matter what we might think. Yes, it can play on our minds, shake us to our core. There is a saying about every dark cloud has a silver lining, and sometimes a little rain must fall before the sun will shine again. Our dreams can also be our own downfall.

Everyone has dreams, things they wish to achieve in their lifetime, but we have to keep them in perspective. If we go back to Simon Cowell and Britain’s got Talent. A show like that gives many people the opportunity to come out of the shadows, and stand centre stage to have their five minutes in the limelight. After having received such positive comments from the judges during the first couple of rounds, it’s understandable that it can be a huge disappointment, when the contestants start receiving negative comments.

To put it in perspective, it might be that the singer in question didn’t improve throughout the show, where the other contestants did. There’s always winners and losers in competitions. It’s a fact of life, we all suffer some sort of disappointment in our lifetime, but its down to how we handle that loss. The singer’s dreams might have been too big for her talents. Maybe, she wanted Simon’s support to achieve her dream to be the next big superstar, and now can’t let go. She doesn’t have to let go of her talent to sing, to entertain others, just to let go of Simon’s support. What about the thousands of other singers, and performers who have stood before the judges, and not made it. Will they sue him too?

Changing the perspective of your dream can be difficult, especially, if you have set your heart on just one aspect of it. I made sure I kept my own dream opened ended. I never set my heart on writing a bestseller, but on being published. It didn’t matter to me when I set off on my writing journey, how or when, just, eventually, I would be published. It was important for me to build my confidence first, ready to deal with the disappointments I knew I would receive.

We must all face the fact that things we dream of won’t always go in our favour. Life will slap us hard, when we least expect it. The important thing is to try, try and try again. Or, at least, alter your perspective, and then try again.

Stay Positive and Move Forward.

Thank you for dropping by for a chat.