T.K. Turner's Blog, page 20

Useless Writing Tips

One of the hardest things you need to learn about starting a novel is learning when to use the advice you read on  blogs/articles/books/etc. and when to trust your own judgments. Every other week, I'm reading some new blog post about how to introduce your main character or how long your chapter lengths should be. Yadda yadda yadda. 


If you research that crap too long, you'll NEVER get around to writing your novel! And besides, aren't all of those articles basically preaching the same thing over and over again? First three chapters are the most important. No info-dumping. "Said" is always the right dialogue tag. No head-popping. Start your novel where the action is. Research your market and pick an agent accordingly. Write your synopsis before you write your novel. Always have a beta-reader or crit-partner. Never submit a manuscript without reading the publisher's guidelines. Expect rejections. Use social media to market yourself. The acceptance rate for most publishers is less than 5%. Debut novelists should expect to follow different rules than established writers. Blah blah blah


Imagine trying to start a novel with all of THAT constantly going through your mind--ugh! You'll never get anywhere! So forget all the useless writing tips. You don't need them now until after you're done. Until then, just go with it. 


I swear, some bloggers get off on spewing this sort of crap on a daily basis. While it may help out the newbs, it puts an enormous amount of pressure on veterans who should already know this stuff but then start second-guessing themselves as they shop around for tips. 


So here is my useless writing tip for the day:


Understand and accept that there is no golden rule to getting your book published. Luck and persistence is what gets you published 90% of the time. There will always be that writer who did not market themselves as well or who did not work as hard as you but STILL managed to get published.  Shitty novels are published everyday. Remember,  it is not a matter of how well you can write. It's about how many books you can sell. That's how this business works. 


Work hard, but don't kill yourself. Yes, writing a novel is tedious but if it was easy, every asshole out there with a horrible idea would be making millions of dollars. 


Happy writing!
VC

Smexxxy Friday

Nothing quite like a predatory horde of horny, scantily-clad women to brighten up your day! Gang-rape never looked so much fun!


Enjoy your weekend!

Holy hell, it's been a long time!

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Um...yeah, I already know what you're thinking. I took the mother of all hiatuses, I know. But now I'm back! 


Oh, come on! Don't give me that face! 


I have a good reason for going away for so long. I finally finished college, huzzah! I am no longer a student...for now.


Secondly, I am in the process of writing a novel! Ta-dah! Guess what? I'm almost finished with it too. I'm 55K words into it at the moment but I am guessing the final length will be somewhere around 85-92K. Writing a novel is EXHAUSTING! I've barely gotten any sleep at all! It's terrible! I have dark circles under my eyes and I've lost maybe ten pounds just from sitting at my computer for 24/7 cranking out this frickin' novel! 


I'm not going to give any details away just yet. Patience, young grasshopper. I'll give you the full scoop in a later post. For now, just bask in my presence for I have finally returned to you! 


Happy writing!
VC

5/11: Media of the month!!!!

Mentos and Coke Epic Fail... 

Six Sentence Sunday

Same WIP as last week...

Fire kissed her cheeks and she knew she was blushing. Her heart threatened to burst free from her ribcage in helpless anticipation, but she waited, breathless and expectant for more. He flexed his jaw as he stared back at her in silence. 

Holly saw a gleam of hesitation and uncertainty flash before his eye, but when he lowered his gaze to her parted lips, all signs of  wariness dissolved and he yanked her toward his downturned face. 

She stood on tiptoe to greet his hungry lips. When his hand threaded through her hair and clasped the back of her neck, she swooned but didn't pull away.   

Smexxxy Friday

Get your sexy tan lines on!

Six Sentence Sunday

Same WIP. Picking up where we left off...

She expected a shove or a push in return, but to her complete amazement, the stranger looped an arm around her waist and prevented her fall. 

With a cry, she melted into his embrace, thankful just to receive a comforting touch. Her nails bit into his shoulders. Tears seeped into his collar and wet his neck as she struggled for composure against him.

"I'm…so sorry…!" She squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to dam the torrent of tears, but droplets leaked through the corners of her eyes and trickled into her mouth.

Smexxxy Friday

Foreplay for ninjas...
I do like the remix with Pitbull better...but the music video is different. :)

Couldn't resist...

Six Sentence Sunday

Same WIP as the last two weeks. Different scene. She didn't kill herself. I promise. She was rescued by some dude.

The bewildered stranger just stood there, motionless and tense. He said nothing for a moment but then crouched on one knee to peer into her face. 

"Do I need to call someone…like…a mental hospital or something?" 

The sound of his voice snapped her back into the present, and with an anguished, tear-stained face, she raised her head and looked up into his pale blue eyes. 

"I'm not crazy," she whispered, more for her benefit than for his, but the man's expression remained dubious and unconvinced. "I've just had a terrible day..."