Mark Justice's Blog
May 10, 2021
Writing sequels
Writing a sequel to my first book now. I've never written a series before, but it's presenting wonderful challenges as well as opportunity.
You have to show how the characters have evolved from the first book. They were important, so you can't just leave them in the cold. Readers deserve to know how those characters are doing.
You have to introduce new characters. Obviously, readers can't expect to get to know a few dozen characters well in one book, but to introduce new characters and make readers love them just as much as they did original ones is tantamount to starting from scratch again.
Fleshing out broad webs of connectivity. Relationships are necessary with an ever-expanding world full of (hopefully) interesting, relatable, and lovable characters. These relationships have to be handled with kid gloves if they're going to feel genuine.
But with these kinds of challenges, the opportunity to spend more time in your world presents itself. You have more time to play, to explore, to imagine, to walk the streets and live these characters' lives.
It's like coming home or wearing an old, worn flannel shirt. There are times I don't want to stop writing. I've never felt that. I think I understand why writers come back to their worlds for strings of books.
You have to show how the characters have evolved from the first book. They were important, so you can't just leave them in the cold. Readers deserve to know how those characters are doing.
You have to introduce new characters. Obviously, readers can't expect to get to know a few dozen characters well in one book, but to introduce new characters and make readers love them just as much as they did original ones is tantamount to starting from scratch again.
Fleshing out broad webs of connectivity. Relationships are necessary with an ever-expanding world full of (hopefully) interesting, relatable, and lovable characters. These relationships have to be handled with kid gloves if they're going to feel genuine.
But with these kinds of challenges, the opportunity to spend more time in your world presents itself. You have more time to play, to explore, to imagine, to walk the streets and live these characters' lives.
It's like coming home or wearing an old, worn flannel shirt. There are times I don't want to stop writing. I've never felt that. I think I understand why writers come back to their worlds for strings of books.
December 15, 2020
Life in the sub-blurb.
The all-important blurb.
What in the world to write on the back cover to make someone plunk down their hard-earned money and buy our hard-earned words?
KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
The blurb should provide just enough information to get the reader interested while avoiding unnecessary details which, while we may love them and can't wait for the reader to find out all about them, are best left for that reader to discover through reading, hopefully because of the blurb that avoids mentioning them.
Here's the back cover blurb I wrote for my first novel:
"When Abbie Price finds herself suddenly out of a job, she moves back to her home town of Juniper, Ohio, surrounded and supported by her friends and family. A series of unexplained packages pulls Abbie into a mystery that intimately touches the lives of everyone around her. With the New Year’s Nosh less than a week away, Abbie is determined to unravel the truth behind the mysterious packages and discovers herself on a journey toward acceptance, healing, and hope."
The gist of the story is there, but there aren't unnecessary details which interfere with conveying the story's hook for the readers. If they're interested by the blurb, they'll (hopefully) appreciate all of the details about the world and characters inside that I didn't spoil on the out.
KISS.
What in the world to write on the back cover to make someone plunk down their hard-earned money and buy our hard-earned words?
KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
The blurb should provide just enough information to get the reader interested while avoiding unnecessary details which, while we may love them and can't wait for the reader to find out all about them, are best left for that reader to discover through reading, hopefully because of the blurb that avoids mentioning them.
Here's the back cover blurb I wrote for my first novel:
"When Abbie Price finds herself suddenly out of a job, she moves back to her home town of Juniper, Ohio, surrounded and supported by her friends and family. A series of unexplained packages pulls Abbie into a mystery that intimately touches the lives of everyone around her. With the New Year’s Nosh less than a week away, Abbie is determined to unravel the truth behind the mysterious packages and discovers herself on a journey toward acceptance, healing, and hope."
The gist of the story is there, but there aren't unnecessary details which interfere with conveying the story's hook for the readers. If they're interested by the blurb, they'll (hopefully) appreciate all of the details about the world and characters inside that I didn't spoil on the out.
KISS.
December 3, 2020
Opening line?
The elusive opening line of a book. It's the first, necessary step to getting your readers reading, or maybe getting your fingers typing, perhaps brushing off the rust of inactivity or the shiver of doubt.
Those first words can grab the reader by the throat and not let go. That's what I wanted when I wrote my first pulp, to reach out with a stomp and let the reader know what he or she was in for.
The pulp is is a short form, 40-45 thousand words, so there's no need to ease the reader in. You hit the ground running, and you don't let up. That kind of frenetic energy is what I like about pulps and why I want to write them.
Speaking of pulps, here's the opening line to my first pulp, a grim and violent western, Gauge Black: Hell's Revenge:
“You’re going to Hell!”
What's your favorite opening line?
Those first words can grab the reader by the throat and not let go. That's what I wanted when I wrote my first pulp, to reach out with a stomp and let the reader know what he or she was in for.
The pulp is is a short form, 40-45 thousand words, so there's no need to ease the reader in. You hit the ground running, and you don't let up. That kind of frenetic energy is what I like about pulps and why I want to write them.
Speaking of pulps, here's the opening line to my first pulp, a grim and violent western, Gauge Black: Hell's Revenge:
“You’re going to Hell!”
What's your favorite opening line?
November 30, 2020
Beginnings
There's nothing quite like the beginning, the work before the work of writing.
Ideas are thrilling, every new one adding to the ones before it, congealing into something new and exciting.
The beginning of a new concept is one that is most exciting for me. I know the oft-time drudgery of word after word looms in the near distance, but for now, the fresh, cool air of what could be makes every nerve aware.
I love imagining the characters, situations, dialogue, all before one word has been typed. I will sometimes dream the characters and plot before I write, very often as I write.
Beginnings. We haven't screwed anything up yet. We're creating something alive, and it is beautiful.
Ideas are thrilling, every new one adding to the ones before it, congealing into something new and exciting.
The beginning of a new concept is one that is most exciting for me. I know the oft-time drudgery of word after word looms in the near distance, but for now, the fresh, cool air of what could be makes every nerve aware.
I love imagining the characters, situations, dialogue, all before one word has been typed. I will sometimes dream the characters and plot before I write, very often as I write.
Beginnings. We haven't screwed anything up yet. We're creating something alive, and it is beautiful.
