Ronda J. Del Boccio's Blog: Writing is pure Bliss, page 41

Amp up the Conflict: NaNoWriMo Day 7

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Today I made it past the 15,000 word mark out of 50,000 words I’m aiming to write during this month of November in NaNoWriMo. It feels really good to be that far along the path.

For me, this is all about commitment to  daily writing goal. You can see my current progress, whatever day you see this, below.

Today I was working on a creepy scene. This is a place where you’ll see Kassidy ignore something important and ever after wonder if she could have prevented what another character did. Sorry, that’s all the detail you get right now.

So as I worked on this scene, I asked myself thes question:

“How can I amp up the conflict?”

As readers, we love love LOVE watching the protagonist go from the frying pan into the fire. The more pain and suffering, the better. I guess we writers AND readers are masochists of a sort.

Sometimes when thinking out a scene, I don’t put enough conflict. Then while deep in it with my figurative sleeves rolled up, I remember to write worse than I planned.

Kassidy has a talent she absolutely does not want, and in this chapter, when her sign of trouble arises, she consistently ignores it, even as the signals get stronger.

It’s like being whispered to, then tapped, then nudged, than poked, then pushed while continuing to ignore what your senses and experience are telling you.

The more turmoil I put my characters through, the better you’ll like the book, you sicko!

Keep writing. Let the stories flow!

Follow your BLISS,

Ronda Del Boccio

#1 bestselling author

Teller of Transformational Tales

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Do You Ever Cry or Laugh While Writing a Scene? NaNoWriMo Day 6

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Each day during NaNoWriMo I’m sharing an insght from the day’s writing or a sneak peek at my work in progress, They All Died Smiling.

Do You Cry for Your Characters?

Today was an emotional day for me because of what my character experienced.

Today I wrote a scene in which Kassidy, my protagonist, is beginning to feel attraction for a man. She is a young widow whose husband died in battle, and she has mixed emotions about moving on.

During the scene in which she and childhood friend Russell kiss, tears rolled down my face.

I get emotional when I write. I get mad at characters sometimes. I laugh when they do or say something funny.

I feel WITH them.

This isn’t the least bit strange to me, but my mom thought it was. Other writers agreed with me.

If my story doesn’t elicit emotion from me, how will it ever do so for my reader?

Surrender to your characters. Let them have their head. And feel with them.

And as always,

Follow your BLISS,

Ronda Del Boccio

Bestselling author and speaker

Teller of transformational tales

PS FInd out 7 ways to make money from your book while still writing it plus get a weekly writing or book marketing tip. Get instant access at WriteOnPurpose.com/free

 

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Writing Advice for NaNoWriMo from Veronica Roth

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As a participant in NaNoWriMo, we get pep talks. This writing advice  from Divergent Series author Veronica Roth is outstanding, so I decided to share it.

See the original article source.

Veronica Roth Pep Talk for NaNoWriMo

My Dear NaNo-ers,

I don’t particularly like comparing novel writing to climbing a mountain, because it’s been done, but let’s face it: it works. Look at this fairly standard map of plot structure:

I mean, it looks like a freaking mountain.

If you’re anything like me, you reach that “rising action” stage about halfway through your manuscript, lift your head to the heavens to see how much of the book is left, and consider camping out where you are for a while or even rolling back down to the bottom. This may happen to you on November 15 or somewhere thereabouts. I am here to tell you two things:

Do not be alarmed. This is normal.
Do not camp out, and do not climb back down.

There is a lot of writing advice floating around the Internet, and there are also a lot of “don’t bother with writing advice, just put your butt in a chair and work!” manifestos. (Which was my motto for the past year and a half, actually.) Some of this advice includes:

“Getting to know your character” exercises (questionnaires, quizzes, free-writing, etc.)
“Mapping out your plot” exercises (break down your plot into the plot structure diagram above, map out each scene and make sure each one shifts the story from a positive place to a negative one, or a negative place to a positive one, etc.)
“Prose and voice” exercises (read your manuscript out loud, never use adverbs, alternate short and long sentences, etc.)

There are also many discussions about whether you are a “pantser” (writing by the seat of your pants) or a “plotter” (mapping out your stories beforehand), someone who writes from beginning to end, or someone who jumps around in time, and so on.

Some of you might know exactly which one of those things you are—you have a process, you know which pieces of advice work for you, you have a routine—and some of you may feel hopelessly lost. My advice to both camps of people, from my (still admittedly few) climbs up manuscript mountain, is the same:

Let go of your process.

Let go of stressing out about your process.

Let go of finding your process.

Let go of all of it.

When you reach the place on Manuscript Mountain that makes you consider admitting defeat, and the tools you have used to get as far as you have are no longer working for you, consider using someone else’s tools. Pantser? Try plotting. Plotter? Try literally burning your outline (safely! In a trash can or something!). Perfectionist? Try writing the worst scene you can possibly muster. Strict beginning-to-end-er? Write whatever scene is burning a hole in your brain and fill in the gap later. Whatever you do, don’t hold so tightly to whatever writer identity you have formed for yourself that you can’t innovate, change, and grow.

It is not important that you stay the same writer you are now, or that you have a definite routine or pattern. I started my first book in the middle, with no outline, and finished my third book with a detailed one, written from beginning to end. I thought I knew what kind of writer I was, but ultimately I found those definitions limiting rather than freeing. If I can let them go, I can become whatever writer each story requires me to be.

What is important, far more than the definitions we cling to, is that we finish the stories we are burning to tell.

So, fill your writer toolbox with as many tools as you can, even if they seem silly or like they will never work for you. You don’t have to make detailed outlines, or fill out character questionnaires, or do free-writing, or keep a journal, or draw maps if you don’t want to. But it helps to have new tools to pick up if the old ones stop working for you.

And consider getting desperate. Desperate to write, desperate to get that story on the page, desperate to let the characters speak, and desperate to finish. Get so desperate that you will try anything to make it work. You have a deadline. It is November 30. You can do it. But you might have to throw all your preconceptions about yourself and your writing out the window.

No manuscript is perfect the first time through. You don’t need to worry about perfection right now. But you are participating in this magical month of generally antisocial behavior and potential caffeine overdose because you believe that pushing through a manuscript in a month will help you in some way, and that means you need the wild, thirsty freedom of a writer who will get to the end.

Don’t be a plotter or a pantser, a strict butt-in-chair person or an exercise-doer, a beginning-to-end-er or a time jumper—don’t be anything other than whatever you need to be to keep climbing.

And then, for the love of all things writing and book-related, revise the crap out of Manuscript Mountain.

 

Veronica Roth is the author of the Divergent series.

Thank you, Veronica Roth, for your sage writing advice.

I tend to trust my Muse. The story and characters will come.

Happy writing!

Follow your BLISS,

Ronda Del Boccio

Author, Speaker, Teller of Transformational Tales

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Does Your Story Take Place in a Black Closet? NaNoWriMo Day 5

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I’m in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and sharing an insight each day of writing a 50,000 word story in 30 days.

Have you ever read a book that has no sense of place? I sure have. Someone will be having a cup of tea, but for all you know, they could be in a closet, because you have no sense of the setting.

You don’t need long passages of exposition like the ones D. H. Lawrence crafted. That was then and this is ow. But you need to pull the reader into your setting as well as into the lives of your characters.

You’ll want to set the scene. After that, add the flavor with a few sentences sprinkled throughout the action.

Today’s Teaser from They All Died Smiling

This is the beginning of the book, and you’ll get a feel for how country girl transplant Kassidy feels about the Chicago subway.

I thought I was just making another Friday night commute home. I had no idea I was about to dance with the devil. Silly me.

When I moved from the Ozarks to Chicago for my new job at the Tribune, I learned something I really didn’t want to know. I discovered that urine smells different the longer it ages on the poles, cement, and benches of a public transit system. Also, I learned that the more people live in an area, the more disgusting they become. We never had public transportation anywhere I lived, so nothing prepared me for the stinking mass of humanity in a big city. Yuck. When I first moved here, I was afraid. These days I’m not so much afraid as disgusted.

Keep writing!

Here’s my progress in NaNoWriMo:

Follow your BLISS,

Ronda Del Boccio

author, speaker mentor

Find my books on Amazon WriteOnPurpose.com/amazon.

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How Do You Keep Writing Momentum? NaNoWriMo Day 4

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I’m part of NANoWriMo 2014, writing a 50,000 word novel in November.

Today I was thinking about the power of momentum.

Ome days, a writer will sail past their writing goal in the throes of creative fervor (or caffeine overdose). Other days, Life Happens. One writer had a bad cold and couldn’t think. Another had unexpected company. Another had a pipe burst.

Naturally, some days will flow and others will be harder, but that doesn’t mean you let up on yourself.

It’s still possible to keep a good flow going, regardless of life.

Here are a few things I like to do to ensure a successful writing day:

1. Leave off where I KNOW precisely what comes next.

2. Leave off mid-scene, not at an ending.

3. Go back to fill in whatever needs fleshing out from yesterday’s session. (I call it Spiral Writing).

4. Work on something related to the book, like a r filling in backstory or writing about one or more of the places where the action occurs.

All these things are considered within the rules of NaNoWriMo, as long as they’re related to the book you’re writing. Any of these techniques will keep you moving.

Today’s Tease from They All Died Smiling:

Meet Russell Higgins, friend of Kassidy (our hero).

Russell and Kass went to the same school and hung out together with a cluster of other youth, including Randy, whom Kass married.

Russ always carried a torch for  Kassidy, as the saying goes, but since she and Randy becae an item, he felt like he never had a chance.

They grew up in the Missouri Ozarks and went to a rural school in a little place called Blue Eye. Whereas Kass was the consummate country girl, Russ craved big city life. He never figured to meet her in Chicago.

Since he always wanted to play spy games, Kass figured he would end up working with the CIA. Turns out she was close. He is a new FBI agent as the story opens. He wants to climb the ladder and hopefully move on to New York or D. C.

As They All Died Smiling opens, Kass unknowingly sees him when she sees him disembarking a subway train when she’s  on her way home from work. He’s well muscled with a great smile. She calls him Mr. Hottie in her mind.

The next day, they end up in the same restaurant. She recognizes him, and they will have all sorts of interesting encounters. He manages to put her down within minutes of their reunion.

That’s all for today. I am staying on track to write a 200 page novel in 30 days, and I’m not losing ground!

You can watch my progress here: If you’re in nano and want to be a buddy, feel free to add me.

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Ronda Del Boccio

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Teller of transformational tales.

You can find my books on Amazon here.

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DIgital Publishing Services News: Kindle Unlimited Expands to Spain and Italy

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If you’re using Kindle Direct Publishing‘s Kindle Select promotional program  for any of your books, you’ll want to be aware of a great new development.

Kindle Unlimited is a fabulous, in my opinion, continuity program that enables members to read as many eligible Kindle books as they want via loan. There are also Audible audiobook titles in the program.

The program  is valuable for indie authors as well. You can read my post about Kindle Unlimited for authors here.

Initially, the program only deployed in the USA. Now, little by little, they are expanding into other countries. THtey just added Spain and Italy. Here is the message I received from KDP:

Since you are enrolled in KDP Select, we want you to know Kindle Unlimited has launched on Amazon.es and Amazon.it.

Kindle Unlimited has a library of over 700,000 titles. Any title you have enrolled in KDP Select will be available for customers to read.

Learn about Kindle Unlimited:  https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=AA9BSAGNO1YJH&language=en_US

Best regards,

The Kindle Direct Publishing Team

Little by little, people worldwide will be able to read your books all over the world when you include them in Kindle Select promotions.

Follow your BLISS,

Ronda Del Boccio, the Story Lady

best selling author and speaker

teller of transformational tales

Check out my books on Amazon

PS Need help with your book or marketing? get a weekly success tip plus free classes and other goodies at WriteOnPurpose.com/free.

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How Do You Make Minor Characters Come to Life? NaNoWriMo Day 3

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How do you bring your minor characters to life?

I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month, NaoWriMo, My book is They All Died Smiling, a paranormal suspense story.

Today I was thinking about minor characters and what I do to make the come to life.

Honestly, even the minor characters typically simply “come to me.” Occasionally I base one off of someone from my real life, but mostly they present themselves to me.

When I need a minor character, I like to know one thing that makes them stand out. It’s not necessary to invent a whole back story for them.When I needed to have Kassidy’s editor at the Chicago Tribune  send her out on assignment, an image of a bulldog came to me. The dialogue between them poured out. He’s funny to her rather than intimidating, much to his chagrin, I’m sure.

Since Kass tends to give people nicknames, he shall forever be Bulldog Bob to her. The Arts and Entertainment Editor is Princess Olivia because of her grace and regal manner. Toni, hostess at Lou Mitchell’s, is the Matchmaker.

She also has a couple of names for who becomes the antagonist, but I’ll share that later.

Here’s the encounter between Kassidy and her editor:

Bulldog Bob stopped and pointed at me. “Bates.” He reminded me of a bulldog, because of his big jowls and four chins. Any chair he sat in creaked in protest. He hooked his finger in a ‘come here’ gesture and went into his office, expecting me to be at his heels.

With him, I never knew what to expect. But then nobody else did either. He always scowled and barked orders, so I could be getting fired, scolded, praised or promoted. Impossible to tell until whatever it was happened.

Note to self. Better not ever call him Bulldog Bob to his face.

“A woman died in the River. Go.” He handed me a piece of paper and turned his attention to the computer. Code for dismissed.

The Chicago River made the miracle of walking on water seem possible. Thick and filthy, it was hard to imagine someone drowning in it.

“She couldn’t climb up the piles of pollution and save herself?”  I calculated the commute time and stayed put.

Bob grunted and kept typing. “Good one, Bates. When do you open at Second City?”

“Next week, if I keep getting assignments like this.” I’ve never been to the legendary comedy club, but it is on my list of places to visit. In the audience, not as a comedian.

The typing paused, then resumed. “You’re still standing there.”

“You’re observant this morning. Must’ve had your coffee.”

“Deadline is in two hours, so you’d better get a move on.” He snapped.

It would take me most of that time to commute if I had to take the bus. “Keys.” I held my palm out for them.

He shook his head.

“Bob, you’re giving me a two hour deadline. I don’t’ have a car here and I don’t know the city. You have a Garmen, so I can get there and back in almost enough time to write half an article for you.”

“Nothin doin. I‘ve seen how you park.”

“I practiced,” I lied. Nobody ever has to parallel park in the Ozarks.

He stood and loomed over me with his jowls hanging and swaying in front of him. “One scratch and you’re dead. Hear me? Not just fired. D. E. A. D. Dead.”

“Gee, thanks for the spelling lesson. I always wondered how to spell that word.”

He grunted and tossed me the keys.

“See you in a couple of hours.” After my father and a houseful of boys, it took a whole lot more than blubber wagging in my face to intimidate me.

How am I progressing?

This graphic shows howI am progressing toward my goal.

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Ronda Del Boccio

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NaNoWriMo 2014 participant

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How Do You DIve Deeply into Character? NaNoWriMo Day 2

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My goal is to write a 200 page novel draft in 30 days as part of National Novel Writing Month. So far, I’m on track.

There’s more to writing a novel than transmitting the actual story. Sometimes there’s research, but to me one of the most important things to do is dive deep into the characters.

It’s important to know your main characters’  backstory, even if all of it never reaches the page. I’m not one for crafting a huge profile, but if the character is going to feel as if she can breathe any moment, she must feel real.

People react to things, have memories intrude on conversations, and have random thoughts that turn out to have a reason. Characters should too.

Today, I decided to let my protagonist Kassidy write a letter to her father, who kicked her out to live with an aunt. This missive will not appear in the book, but I learned so much about her by doing this.

Here is an excerpt of what came to me. I’m astounded what bubbles up from the depths.

Background – Kassidy’s letter to her estranged Pa

To give a little background, Kassidy is writing the letter to her Pa. Randy is her husband who died in the war in Afghanistan. Russ is a friend who becomes a possible love interest in the book.

Randy and I started dating in high school. I think Russ wished I’d have gone out with him. I liked him a lot, but Randy and I were like peas in a pod. He asked me to the school dance. We used to get an ice cream on Saturdays and sit at the picnic bench watching the sun set.

Yeah, we were high school sweethearts. He gave me a promise ring.

It was real cute what happened Before Randy gave me the promise ring, he came over to my house and went to Aunt Beck. He acted all jittery and strange, not at all like his usual self I didn’t know what was up. I wanted to hear, so while he was in the kitchen talking with her, I went around back and held a glass to the back door. Who’s the spy now?

He told her he wanted to give me a promise ring and to make me his wife when we were both old enough. I was so excited and startled I dropped the glass. It broke on the porch, I didn’t want to get caught. No critters to rustle up into making noise. Beck opened the door and I said I had tripped on the steps and dropped my lemonade. Good thing that’s what had been in the glass before I used it for surveillance.

We thought we’d be one of those couples who celebrates 60 or more years and grow old together, but it wasn’t to be.

That is a funny story about the ring, and I didn’t know it. Maybe I’ll turn it into a short story.

Who knows what will bubble up from YOUR inner knowing when you let yourself be free to write.

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Are You a Daring Writer? NaNoWriMo Insights Day 1

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It’s National novel Writing Month, and I made it through day 1 of  NaNoWriMo with a 1,550 word count. (about 6 pages)

What a fun and intense challenge! It truly is a journey of self mastery. Writing 50,000 words in 30 days, 200 pages,  means crafting 6-7 typed, double-spaced pages per day on average every day.

I have to say that a part of me wanted to participate without telling anyone, but I decided being public would help me stay on track.

Here’s a video showing 1 author’s effort to write a 50,000 page novel draft in 30 days.

Month of Writing Dangerously from David McFarland on Vimeo.

Today’s insights

While writing a scene in which Kassidy recalls an incident from her childhood, complete with dialogue, an interesting insight came to me.

How much do you trust memory? Law enforcement will tell you getting reliable witness testimony is a challenge, yet in stories and books, characters flashback to old memories, and we readers accept it as their truth. Interesting, n’est pa?

Today’s Reveal from They All Died Smiling

I promised to share something from the book in each post. Today, meet Kassidy, the woman in whose head you live throughout the book.

Kassidy does not use her true first name.  She’s living in a Chicago suburb, working for the Chicago Tribune and freelance writing.  But at heart, she’s a country girl. She spent most of her life in the Missouri Ozarks. Her father is a Baptist preacher with a secret mean streak.

Want to watch my progress?

If you want to find out whether or not I finish the book this month, come on over to WriteOnPurpose.com and look in the sidebar, where you’ll see my accumulating word count.

Let ME Help YOU with your writing

Helping authors is a true joy for me. I have a few books and a bunch of stories under my belt, and I’m happy to share writing and book marketing tips with you each week for free. I also do free classes. You can sign up at WriteOnPurpose.com/free

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Ronda Del Boccio

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Sharing the Author Journey: NaNoWriMo Day 1 Is Upon Me

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What’s NaNoWriMo?

Every November, bold people all over the globe embark on a massive challenge: to write the first draft of a novel in a month. It’s called National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.

My Novel: They All Died Smiling

This is a paranormal suspense novel about a woman with a special (and unwanted) talented to sense and dispense demons and other nasty entities.

Sharing My NaNoWriMo adventure

Maybe you’ve considered writing a novel but haven’t tried it. Maybe you’ve started but not finished. So you can be a voyeur, so to speak, of my journey as I go through the joys and challenges of turning characters, ideas and as-yet-unknown plot turns into the first draft of a novel.

On Location

The setting for my novel begins is Chicago. I’m originally from there, so I’m calling on that experience. One of the scenes takes place in a popular restaurant with an 85 year history called Lou Mitchell’s.

The place is always busy and the food is fantastic. Kassidy, our point of view character, will encounter someone she hasn’t seen in a decade or so since they were kids in southwest Missouri.

Come back to share my journey. I’ll reveal a tidbit each time.

If you would like some free writing and book marketing help, come on over to WriteOnPurpose.com/free to register now.

Follow your BLISS,

Ronda Del Boccio

Best selling author and speaker

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