Christine James's Blog, page 8

Changes

Just popping in for a quick hello!   The Chosen Series has gotten a new name, as well as a couple new names.  This has been done because I want my books to be set apart from the other fifteen billion books named "Fallen".  My publisher, editor, and I all believe this is for the best!



I will reveal the new titles soon.  I think I may actually like them better.  I've been making some changes to Fallen (which is what I will be calling it until I reveal the new name).  Nothing much just some tweaks here and there. I'm hoping to do a big cover reveal, well as soon as I see the cover.... hope you all are doing well.



We'll be getting an interview with Dr. Brant next week sometime.  He and I both had some things come up and were unable to get to the scheduled interview this week.



Hope you are all well.

Have a good weekend!



Christine

Unavailable

Okay guys,

You are officially looking at the newest author of Midnight Hour Publishing!!!!! I'm so excited I can barely contain myself.



The Chosen Series is going to be temporarily unavailable while it is undergoing the publishing transformation.  I'm not sure how long they will be down, but we will be relaunching Fallen hopefully before long. It will have an entirely different look!  I'm a bit sad to see the previous covers go away but I've got the files saved and I greatly appreciate everyone who had a hand in creating them!!!   I am so excited to share this experience with you guys!  



Heat and Murder is still available for only $1.99 and the book I am currently working on, UnderCity, will hopefully be available early spring!!!!   I'll keep you all posted on all the news and tidbits as they come.



Have an awesome weekend ya'll



xoxo

Christine



P.S



I will also be doing a guest blog/interview/spotlight with an author from Midnight Hour Publishing within the next week or two! So, keep checking back for that!

Raw Spotlight: Blaze

Hello,
Blaze. Let me say right off the bat that I’m grateful you decided
to do this with me. I know it’s far from being a priority for you
right now.

Eh,
it's cool.

That’s
your personality, isn’t it? Everything is “cool” in your life,
even if it’s far from it.

Why
bother the world with my personal issues?

Why
does the public demand the same of any celebrity?

Because
I figure their own lives are so monotonous that they’re looking for
something, anything, to excite them. Unfortunately, that seems to be
at the expense of the ones in pain.

Let’s
talk about that pain. You have more than enough reason to be
experiencing residual physical pain, but I suspect it’s more
emotional pain you refer to. Others have offered their perspective.
I’d like to hear directly from you, however. What kind of toll has
Angie’s situation taken on you?

It
takes a lot out of me, man, but I have her here with me, which is
better than the alternative. If I had to do it all over again, give
up everything I had to give up, I do it.

Your
dedication and love for this woman is truly humbling. Does she
realize how lucky she is, not only to be alive, but to have such a
strong base of support behind her?

I
think she does. I know she knows how much I love her, but Angie's
always been the one in control and taking care of others. It's new
for her.

So
it sounds like taking care of her is a full-time job. Have you had
any time to sit down and take a breath, or has the rollercoaster just
been going at full speed?

I
enjoy rollercoasters. Besides, I think I would be bored if I didn't
have something to keep me busy. It's hard to see her that way and
even harder knowing there's not a damn thing I can do about it. But
if it takes eternity for her to see how much I love her, then so be
it.

Was
there ever a time when you didn’t think eternity was an option?
You’ve been so assured and confident throughout all of these
trials. Did you ever consider the possibility that you may not be
successful in saving her?

Every
day we were apart I didn't think we'd ever be back together. And I
did consider what I would do if we weren't able to save her, but I
won't go into those details because they are a bit unsettling.

To
be frank, Blaze, if you didn’t save her, we wouldn’t be sitting
here talking right now.

Nope,
we wouldn't be. Angie is my heart and soul, and to sound a bit
cliché, she's the other half of me.

Okay,
having said that, have you tried at all to negotiate some of her
powers back? Were others in your position, I dare say, they might
attempt to exploit their celebrity to offer to one they loved some
peace. Have you considered it?

No,
because they didn't have to give her this chance. They already spared
her life as well as allowed her aging process to slow down.

So
you felt as though you’d been blessed with enough in just having
her.

Abso-freaking-loutly.
I don't wanna press my luck.

But
don’t you feel as though you deserve more? You did save the entire
world from both an extreme evil, and then total destruction. Most
would want more than just an “A” for effort.

Angie
is my world. There is no reward better than her (besides saving the
world, ya know).

And
how has Erin’s presence helped? Knowing your history, I wouldn’t
be surprised if Angie is harboring some insecurities about her being
in your life still. Specifically speaking, she may feel threatened by
her because she still has powers. Has she been helpful or hurtful to
Angie’s recovery?

Erin's
been keeping her distance, but Angie's made peace with what happened
between Erin and myself. I love Erin, Angie knows that, but she also
knows I'm not in love with her and it's not for lack of trying.
‘Cause I mean c'mon, man, you saw Erin. You've got to agree with
me, she's a fu—um—freaking hottie. Angie understands that Erin is
one of the main reasons we were able to save her.

Has
Angelo made peace as well? It seems as though Erin has put him
through the proverbial wringer, starting with you.

I
think so. Things seem like they used to be with us. He's back to
constantly bitching and moaning about me burning holes in stuff. I
think he's handled it rather well, all things considered.

Well,
Blaze, since you seem to be such a simple man, I will keep this
interview as simple. Unless you have another topic you’d like to
share your thoughts on, I believe we’re finished.

Nope.
. . . I'm good. I gotta fly anyhow.

Thank
you for your time. I would appreciate it if you could speak with
Angie and urge her to answer my calls at some point as well. I think
it would be extremely therapeutic for her to uncork the bottle she’s
rapidly filling up.

Pfffftttt
... Yeah okay, buddy. You'd better wear a cast iron jock strap and
cup that day. I'll see what I can do, but I make no promises.

The Chosen Series was born

I thought you guys might like a little big of insight to how The Chosen gang came to life!  This is an article I'd written for another blog.  It gives a little insight to how my mind works.  This could be a very dangerous thing! 







Fallen was never supposed to be a
book. In fact, the concept of it was originally supposed to be
vampire in nature, and was most certainly NOT the one I wanted to be
my first publication. I’d toyed with the idea of a young woman
falling in love with a ‘mysterious’ traveling carnival worker.
This guy (Angelo) originally started off as a vampire, bur for
whatever reason; vampire just really did not suit him. But vampires
were mainstreaming hardcore, and I didn’t want rush in on the coat
tails of the Twilight Series. I wanted something different. So
Fallen was born, but I'd only written it for a few people, just to
pass some time and to see if I could do it. It was my first attempt
at anything paranormal. I clicked save and after my friends read it,
I closed the file and didn’t open it again.



Sometime later, a dear friend of
mine suggested that I check in to self-publication through Amazon. I
did some research on e-books and self-publication. I thought Amazon
sounded cool so I decided to go with it. After arguing with myself,
I asked my best friend which one of my novels she thought I should
publish, the pirate romance or the murder mystery. She said, "I
think you should publish Fallen."




"Uh no," was my response.
That book has been setting in my computer, in a long lost file for
nearly a year. I had completely forgotten about it, because as far
as my books go, it was most certainly not my favorite. My best friend
finally pushed me, kicking and screaming, through that door.



"Put your big girl panties on
and do it," she told me.



“I don’t wanna. I think I lost
my big girl panties. That piece sucks,” I pretty much whined. I
trust my friend with every aspect of my writing, and I have now
learned that when she says something I listen.



So, we continued to argue for some
time about it, and she finally won. This wasn’t but maybe a day or
so after Christmas. My baby was only three months old and I wasn’t
sure if I could do it. I talked to my husband one night and he said
that he thought I should.



So, I did. A few days into 2011, I
sat down and opened the poor old file that had been neglected for so
long. I began to read through it and I visibly cringed at each
chapter. How was I going to make this into something someone wanted
to read? It wasn’t going to be possible, but I trudged through.
The more I tore through that book, the more I fell in love with each
character and their story. Before I knew it, I was finished.



I made a mistake a lot of
self-published authors make. I didn’t do a very good job on
editing. I got ahead of myself and published. This almost destroyed
me. A few months, and couple bad reviews later, I found my editor,
and with his help, I was able to produce a better quality book.
However, the story didn’t end there.



When I finally published Fallen, I
didn’t feel like it was over. There were too many characters that
needed to be heard, and a few more that needed to be introduced.
Between these two books I released a murder mystery, just to give
myself a little break from the paranormal aspect. That didn’t work
for long because pretty soon Risen was born.




Writing Risen was a little bit
different than Fallen. I went into it knowing that it had to be a
good book. I had no earthly clue where it was going until I was
about three quarters of the way through the story. Before I even go
to the end of Risen, Final Redemption was already beginning to take
shape. I couldn’t write Risen fast enough.



Unfortunately, once I got a little
ways into Final Redemption, I hit a wall. It was like the wall was
made out of glass. I could see the characters and story line
floating behind it, but I just could not get back there to it. It
drove me nuts. Here it was June, and I had set up a release for June
and the book was only about half way through, and weeks away from the
editing process. I had written the ending of the book weeks ago. I
just needed the other stuff, oh ya know, like the story that goes
between the beginning and the end.



I needed a vacation. I flew up to
Maine to spend a few days with a good author friend of mine. We
talked and had a good time, and by the time I got back on the plane
to come home, it was like a crack had formed in that glass wall. The
characters were picking and poking at the crack and by the time I
made it home, the wall shattered and everything was free. I knew I
could count on her!



I finished Final Redemption by the
end of June and rushed it to my editor. By the first week of August,
Final Redemption was FINALLY ready. Once it was up and ready for
purchase I sat back and let out a sigh of contentment. The Chosen
Series was finally finished. Everyone’s story had been told. They
had all left my mind and were making their way into the hearts and
minds of others. Though I’m done with this series, I often still
think of them. I’ll see an outfit that reminds me of Lucy, or I’ll
see a corset that reminds me of Angie. It was a crazy journey, but
one I am glad I got to take.

Good News

Hey guys,



I just wanted to drop a quick line to give ya'll a little update on things going on in the world of Christine James.



First, Dr. Church is on vacation this week, so the next installment of Raw will be next week.



Secondly, there will be another Nephilim Diary coming hopefully next week.  There's been a lot of things going on, and apparently Dr. Church has poked and prodded at some sensitive areas with the gang.  This should be interesting.



Thirdly, there are some things possibly in the works for me!  I received publishing contract today.  I'm not going to say from which company just yet because I've got a lot of thinking and discussing and questioning to do, but I'm so excited.  I should know something within the next week for sure though!  This is an awesome experience!!!  It's given me a drive to push myself even harder.  And it seems that the writer's block I've been suffering for a while, is beginning to shake loose.  :-)



ALSO. . . Thank you everyone who followed my blog tour!  It was amazing!



You guys Rock. . . Have and awesome weekend folks...



xoxo

Christine

BLOG TOUR

Okay guys... here is a list of the Book Tours for the next week.  Check them out and show me some love... there are some interviews and interesting facts that not everyone may know!!! check them out and show the bloggers some love!!!!



I want to say a special thanks to everyone that is hosting the tour this week.




February 15 Guest blog

Fang-tastic Books

www.fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com




February 16 Interview

Curling Up With A Good Book  

http://curling-up-with-a-good-book.blogspot.com/



February 17 Spotlight

Pure Textuality

http://puretextuality.com




February 18 Interview

Roxanne’s Realm

www.roxannesrealm.blogspot.com




February 19 Interview

Jodie Pierce

Www.Jodie Pierce author.blogspot.com




February 19 Dream Cast and review

Michelle's Paranormal Vault of Books

http://concisebookreviewsbymichelle.blogspot.com




February 20 Guest blog and review

http://www.simplistik.org/lissetteemanning/




February 21 Spotlight

Musings of an Independent Artist 

http://www.pendarielraye.blogspot.com 



February 21 Guest blog

Buffy's Ramblings

http://buffy-kennedy.blogspot.com/




February 22 Spotlight

Books Books and More Books

http://booksbooksmorebooks.blogspot.com/




February 22 Review 

Secret Southern Couture, 

http://www.secretsoutherncouture.com/

Raw Spotlight: Erin

Let
me begin by saying it’s a honor to be speaking with you, Erin. Were
it not for you, none of us may be here now.

My
pleasure, Dr. Church.

I
assume that knowledge carries with it a certain amount of burden. How
have you been dealing with your newfound celebrity?

It's
a bit off-putting to be honest. Before all of this started I was
taking a few college classes, and then over night I became a part of
something much more important. I don't particularly like being in the
spotlight though.

I
imagine not. It emphasizes your mistakes as though you’re being
looked at through a microscope. Has that placed strain on your
relationship with Angelo?

At
times, yes. Angelo and I are still sorting through some things and
trying to work out the major issues. We love each other, but mistakes
were made on both parts. However, I do take responsibility for the
majority of our . . . disagreements.

I
assume the majority of these “disagreements,” as you qualify
them, revolve around the now-removed third party to your
relationship? Is Angelo still harboring resentment for your betrayal?

Part
of the issues revolve around what happened with Thad, and yes, he
does still resent me, he's told me as much. However, it's through his
resentment that we've begun to heal what was broken. I've no doubt
that he's going to feel the betrayal for quite sometime. It's
something that I’m willing to accept.

As
I expected, your humility is as honest as I’ve ever seen before.
One more question on this lascivious subject and then I promise to
move on to something easier to discuss. I’ve been attempting to
contact Thaddeus, but have run into one roadblock after another. How
much contact have you had with him since parting ways, and is that an
additional source of Angelo’s resentment?

Thad
and I didn't talk for a few months after we parted ways, then he
visited me in a dream. It really caught me off guard. Don't get any
ideas. Nothing scandalous happened. We just discussed some things and
began to repair our friendship. And before you even ask, yes I did
tell Angelo. Turns out there was nothing to tell because Thad had
also visited him. They began working on their friendship once more.
What happened was painful on all of us. I truly did love him, but not
in the way he needed me to and not in the way he wanted. Angelo knows
my heart lies with him, but he also knows that I have an annoying
habit of wanting to fix things. I felt this need to fix or at least
try to mend some broken fences with Thad. Thad and I don't talk much,
but he does check in every few weeks or so.

You
are rather like the mother hen of the group. Is that, at times, a
little too much to handle with this bunch?

At
times, yes . . . but Josh, Lucy, Sable, and even Thad are doing just
fine. My main concern is for Blaze. He's kinda just . . . out there
right now.

I
spoke with Angelo and Sable, as well as Lucy about that situation.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts, however. How do he and Angie
affect your motherly instincts?

My
heart hurts for them. Blaze loves Angie. He's done everything for
her. . . . I’ve never really seen such an intense devotion before.
He feels helpless. Angie also feels helpless because for the first
time she is
helpless. She can't rely on powers or telepathy or anything. She's
essentially having to learn how to do things all over again, and it
pisses her off. Things are a little awkward between us still, but
we're finding our way back to a new friendship. In a sense I think we
are ALL trying to find our way back to a new friendship with each
other.

So,
in a sense you’ve all been reborn, not just Angie. Is that an
accurate assessment?

I
guess you could call it that. We’ve been given a second chance.

I
sense a note of hesitance in your tone. Is there a part of you that
feels like this isn’t real, or that it might not last?

Nothing
is certain to last, Doctor. I'm realistic and I would be naive if I
think things will ever be perfect. Sometimes I'm scared to believe
that this is real due to the fact that we've had the proverbial rug
pulled out from under us so many times.

Now
I sense resentment. Are you at all angry or bitter that you’ve been
forced to live this existence? As you said, you were just a normal
girl before your world turned on end. Now that you have an
opportunity to take a step back, what are your honest feelings about
all of this?

At
first I was bitter. . . . I was furious at the Arcs for putting us in
a battle that was clearly theirs to fight. But if I had the option to
go back to a normal life I don't think I could because I don't
remember what a normal life is. This is normal for me and I am now
thankful for the gifts I have because I can do what I’ve always
wanted to do. . . . Help people.

Some
might insist you use you abilities and this desire to help others by
aiding our own community. Is that what you intend to do, or does this
need extend to the humans as well?

I'll
help who I need to help . . . doesn't matter what “community”
they are a part of.

You
have been an open book, Erin. I don’t believe there’s anything
else we need to discuss. I thank you for your time, and wish you the
best of luck with your future endeavors.

Thank
you, Dr. Church. The pleasure was mine.

I am so deeply sorry.

Okay,



It was recently brought to my attention, that Fallen was still chock full of mistakes.  This really bothered me, because I want my readers to have the best experience when they are reading.  As I re-opened Fallen I began to see these mistakes.  I want to apologize to any and all people this upset.  If you purchase a book it should be good quality.  I cannot promise that I got all the mistakes and bugs out, but I tried and will continue to do so as much as I can.  I will be the first to admit that my excitement clouded my judgement and instead of taking time to ready more carefully, I published before it was ready.



On a second note, while I appreciate feedback (CONSTRUCTIVE or the like), it is really not necessary to publicly eviscerate my work.  It's cool if you didn't like it.  I have my favorite books that my friends don't care for.  It's all good, but please don't be intentionally harsh or outright mean.  It doesn't really help things. I am doing what I love to do, and learning as I go.  There are going to be mistakes in future books (I hope not) but I'm not naive enough nor cocky enough to believe my writing is perfect.  Things are going to get past myself and even my editor (Who is a brilliant man) we are only human, so please treat us as such.



Thank you all and have a great day.



XOXO

Christine



P.S

I made the corrections to Fallen and will be going back over Risen as well as Final Redemption

Raw Spotlight: Lucy

Thank you for agreeing to a
change of venue, Lucy. As interesting as the Space Needle is, I think it would
have been a great distraction to our conversation.



Pfffft.
. . . A distraction because you’re too big of a pansy to deal with something as
awesome as that. At any rate, I like Ferris Wheels too! The lights are cool.





I find it interesting that you
chose this particular Ferris wheel. It’s been some time since you were in Asia. I realize Singapore isn’t technically your
home country, but it must bring back memories for you to connect with your
roots in this manner. That is, half of your roots.



Hmmm,
is there a question in there? **laughs** I’m just joking with ya, Churchy. Yes,
I’ve loved Ferris wheels for as long as I can remember. The sense of freedom
they give. Plus, the music and the lights.





According to my sources, you’re
the most free-thinking of the Chosen. Given
the dire situation they were in when you joined their ranks, I wonder why you
didn’t walk away instead. You had no way of knowing how big their problems really
were. What drew you to them?



**shrugs
shoulders** They needed me. True, I didn’t know how big their problems were. Honestly,
I didn’t have anything better to do and I was intrigued. Seeing Erin perched on
top of Stonehenge all teary and weepy kind of
made me feel sorry for her.





You and Erin have formed quite a
bond. Was it easy integrating? I imagine some found your presence irritating,
given that you have a fondness for being blunt. How have those relationships
changed?



Erin is great. I instantly liked her because she
had this innocence about her. I guess that comes from being so young. She had a
lot of confusion with the whole Angelo/Thad thing. As for the rest of them, I
don’t particularly give a rat’s ugly arse if they find me irritating or not. I
don’t sugarcoat things. All of our friendships have changed because we formed
the bond that was necessary. We’ve gotten close for the most part, and when we
do have to work together, we work as a whole unit.





You’ve grown extremely close with
Josh. His sister’s fall didn’t seem to affect your decision to become
romantically involved with him. Weren’t you concerned that he might one day
share her fate?



Josh
and I have a lot in common and as cliché as it sounds, I knew we were going to
be tight the first time I saw him. It goes so much deeper then the whole
"Linked" or "Mate" thing. 
Josh has a good head on his shoulders, and I think he was underestimated
in a lot of ways. He is stronger than anyone could have ever imagined. Angie’s
issues were her own.





But they quickly became yours.
Have you spoken with her since her change?



Yeah,
Blaze brings her to visit. We talk, but she’s kind of quiet. I don’t push her.





Isn’t the better part of your
personality aimed at getting through peoples’ barriers? Some might think you haven’t
gotten through Angie’s because she intimidates you. She was quite powerful,
after all. Is it possible you don’t want
to approach her?



Approach
has nothing to do with it. It’s tact. I haven’t gotten through Angie’s
"Barriers" because she needs time to adjust. She’s well over 150
years old and only been human for 5 months. Seriously, you can’t just go
barging in there with something like that. As for intimidating me . . . pfffft .
. . please. I’m not easily intimidated.





Not even when Josh asked you to
marry him? The way I hear the story, you turned him down every day for a month
straight. Is it possible that marriage intimidated you more than facing the end
of the world as we knew it?



Marriage
didn’t intimidate me at all. It was a big step. I’d been alone for so long and
completely dependent on only myself. I wasn’t ready to be married.





You do realize the contradiction
in that response. It didn’t intimidate you, but you weren’t ready for such a
big step. Some might see that reluctance as fear. Fear can be construed as
intimidation.



Yes,
and your tweed jacket could insinuate that you are a stuffy boring doctor
afraid to take real life risks or that you have a ten foot pole lodged up your
ass

.



**chuckles** Who says I’m not
exactly that? Appearances go a long way in this world. Take your own style, for
instance. One look at you and I can tell you like to get a reaction from
people. I can also tell that you are desperately holding on to the little girl
inside you for more reasons than even you understand. Perhaps she’s the reason
you didn’t feel ready to devote yourself to one person because it meant that
you had to admit you were a grown-up who had to live by more grown-up rules
instead of the ones you made to fit your life, all others be damned.



And
one look at you tells me that you’d much rather put the focus out there on
other peoples lives than take a look in that ole mirror. Don’t’cha think, doc?
You’re good at you’re job, I’ll give you that. But remember, I’ll tell you only
what I want you to know and nothing further. I’m not holding on to any little
girl. I dress how I do because I like it—bold colors, loud themes, off the wall
stuff—that’s just me. It had nothing to do with not wanting to marry Josh. If
you must know the reason behind not giving in to him so quickly, I enjoyed the
thrill of being chased, wooed if you will. What girl doesn’t? It doesn’t go any
deeper than that. So you can take your perspective and plant it firmly where
the sun don’t shine.





Thank you for finally showing me
the real Lucy. You hide this strong, assertive personality behind multi-colored
tutus and loud animal prints. It’s refreshing to finally have a reason to
ignore all of that. This must be the girl Josh could see that was hidden from
the rest of us.



I
haven’t been hiding anything.. You just weren’t observant enough to ask the
correct questions.





And what is the correct question,
Lucy? What do you have to say that the world isn’t astute enough to decipher on
their own?



I
don’t know the correct question until it’s been asked. But I will say people
often try too hard. They try too hard to find the meaning of life, to get rich,
hard to find fame, love, happiness when more times than not the true answer to
any question is right in front of their face, in plain sight.





What’s the answer then, Lucy?
What is the meaning of anyone’s life?



Whatever
they want to make of it.  Each person has
a different answer.





Fair enough. So what’s the
meaning of your life? Are you destined to be the “little missus” or are you
meant for bigger and better things?



The
meaning of my life is too deep for even your overly educated brain to
understand. And yes, Josh and I were married a few weeks ago in a private
ceremony.





Let me be the first to publicly
congratulate you. I’m sure you’ll share an infinitesimal amount of happiness. Perhaps
one day you’ll lower your guard enough to open up to me on the latter part of
that question. At the moment, however, I believe my time with you is up. Would
you care to make any grand final remarks since you found it necessary to dodge
the majority of my questions?



I
didn’t dodge anything, Good Doctor. As I stated before, you simply failed to ask
the correct questions. Besides, if I answered all your questions now, then what
fun would it be in the future if we were to meet? Oh and you better believe I
am destined for “bigger and better things.” You can’t be this awesome and not.





Let me ask you one final question
that I want an honest, open response to. Fair enough?



We’ll
see. Ask away.





How did it feel to finally be in
love for the first time in your long life?



Okay,
since I’ve been a right pain in the ass during this interview, I’ll give you a
straight up answer. The first moment I saw Josh it was like everything ceased
to exist. I’ve had lovers in my years, but they were never able to fill that
hole. I’ve even met other nephilim in hopes that one of them would be my mate. Each
time I was left more disappointed than the time before. I wanted someone to
share my life with, to hold me when I was scared or unsure. To promise me that
they would be there for me the next morning, when I didn’t have make-up on and
my breath was all janky. Humans, when they are thirty and still alone, begin to
experience loneliness—perhaps some even before that. Imagine how I felt at 160
years old. It was the most terrifying thing I’d ever experienced in my life. Facing
demons or gross oozy things weren’t what I was worried about the most. It was
the thought of living out eternity without knowing the love of someone. And
that, Dr. Church, is the realest answer I could ever give you.

Rules of writing are subjective

My editor sent this to me and it helped me see things a bit more clearly.  So I'm passing it on to any and all authors, new and old, that struggle to follow the 'rules' of writing. I hope it provides a little bit of insight for you.


xoxo

Christine

 

What it Means When Someone Tries to Tell You THE Rules of Good Writing




Charlie Jane Anders




There's
only one rule for how to write a story, and that's: "Write a good
story." Apart from that, anything goes, as long as you can pull it off.
(And some things are harder to pull off than others.) But sometimes, people will try and teach you ironclad rules of fiction writing. Like, avoid an omniscient narrator, or introduce your main character on the first page.

There's only a few things it could mean when someone tries to teach you the rules of writing.


1) These are rules that work for this person, and they might work for you, too.
Every
writer has rules that work for him or her personally — that's part of
figuring out how to make this crazy anarchic process happen. At the very
least, you can't write any story without figuring out what rules you're
going to follow for that story in particular. So it's easy enough to go
from figuring out rules that work for you personally to deciding that
you've got the rules that work for everybody — and indeed, these rules
might turn out to be helpful for you as well.

And
if someone says, "This is the rule everybody should follow," just try
and hear, "This is a rule that works for me personally, and might work
for you." And really, this person is giving you an insight into his or
her writing process, which could be super valuable and help you to cop a
bit of that writer's mojo. A rule that works for someone else is often
something you should at least give a try.




2) This person is writing in a particular genre where these things are accepted conventions.
And
if you want to write epic fantasy or hard space opera or whatnot, then
you will indeed have to know what rules people currently writing in
those subgenres are adhering to. (Unless you want to be the radical
rebel who redefines the genre, or dies trying. Or, in some notable
cases, both.)


3) This person knows that some writers can break these rules and prosper — but has decided that you're not one of those writers.
At
least, not yet. Because maybe you need to learn to color inside the
lines before you start ignoring the lines. Maybe you need to figure out
how to write a pretty standard issue story, where we meet the main
character in the first sentence and the conflict is spelled out right
away and the action is fully linear and there are no adverbs and
everybody learns a lesson — and then once you've mastered that, you can
start mixing it up.

On
the other hand, let's say for the sake of argument that you're an
absolute beginner like David Bowie. And you're still writing your first
few stories ever — following someone else's rules, no matter how simple,
might make that early learning curve *harder*, not easier. You might be
trying so hard to conform to this other person's formula that you get
messed up. Plus, when you're just getting started, that's the time you
should take the most crazy risks. Try everything. Try everything twice.
Don't look both ways before you cross the street. Make as many and as
crazy mistakes as you can. Your early stories are probably going to be
epic disasters anyway — although you might break that rule, too — so you
might as well make the most interesting mistakes possible. You'll screw
up either way, and you might learn more by screwing up big.


Should you have your own rules?
Should
you have a code of honor, like a noble warrior in the wasteland? Or
should you just write without any rules at all? This is obviously a
super personal decision, and one that probably results from making lots
and lots of mistakes along the way.



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(Plus
if you listen to enough publishing people talk at conventions or
whatnot, you'll hear stuff like, "I hate when a fantasy novel is written
entirely in the second person, future tense. That's an auto-reject."
And you'll learn a few things that might make your book or story a
harder sell. These things aren't rules, they're just things to keep in
mind if you want to sell your work to a mainstream publisher.) Just
like there are no rules that work for everybody (other than "finish
that story"), there are no rules about whether you should personally
have rules. But it's probably true, for most of us, that every story has
its own rules.

Like,
if you start writing a story in tight third person, you probably can't
slip out of third person into first person halfway through the story
without annoying the reader. You might decide that a story is going to
alternate between events in the present and flashbacks, and that means
you're more or less committed to that structure for the rest of the
story. If you set a particular tone in this story, you'll want to stick
to it. Don't write any checks you're not going to cash, don't cash any
checks you didn't write. Etc.

(But of course, you can always revise the story from the ground up, and then the "rules" for that story can change.)

So
let's say that for all but the most experimental fiction, an individual
story or novel is going to have its own set of rules — in which case
the question becomes, "How much do you want the rules for this one story
to become the rules for every story you write?"



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And
the answer to that question, in turn, depends on a lot of stuff —
including the trade-off between consistency and freedom. You may want
the leeway to sit down and figure out the "rules" anew every time you
start to write a piece of fiction. Or you may want to stick to a set of
choices that you know work for you. Plus, you may decide that your
"brand" as an author includes a set of parameters, like "tight third
person narration" or "experimental tone-poem time-slips," and you want
readers to feel confident that they'll always get those things when they
see your name on something. Not to be crass, but part of getting a
following as an author is creating a consistent brand — but of course,
your brand can be "you never know what to expect with this writer." I
guess my final thought here is: You don't have to have any rules at
all, at least not rules that apply to everything you write. But
if you do have consistent rules, you should at least know what they are,
so you're not applying them blindly — or serving them rather than
having them serve you. Rules should work for you, or there's no point to
them.

Oh, and one other thing that's a more or less universal
rule — try to have fun, as much as possible. You're making shit up. That
should be fun, at least some of the time.

Images via SubTropic Bob, Kocojim and McClaverty on Flickr.








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