Judith Post's Blog, page 113

Writing & Worrying

I’ve started working on a third romance novel. If you read my news earlier, I signed a 3-book deal with Kensington e-books. I’m ahead of schedule on deadlines, so I can do happy dances and buy a special bottle of wine. I can celebrate. But once Monday morning looms again, I’ll be back at my keyboard, trying to pound out 7 to 10 pages to finish a new chapter. It’s what grounds me.

So why the “worrying” in my title? I’m ahead of schedule and happy with the book I’m working on. But… I’ve never been good at writing the same-old, same-old. I really enjoyed writing the first romance. It has a lot of humor, which I didn’t think I’d be good at, but it fit my two protagonists. I was “hearing” them in my mind, so the humor just came. The second romance had a smart-ass protagonist, so she came up with comebacks that I’d never think of on my own. But both romances followed the norm. Boy and girl meet. There are sparks, and eventually they get together. A proven formula. So what did I do for book 3? Fiddle with it, of course. Lord forbid I should feel comfortable and repeat what had worked for me.

One of the things that kills book series for me is when I feel like the writer found a formula and I can memorize the rhythm because it’s the same, book after book after book. By the time I’m on the third book and I feel like I’ve read it before, just with different names and settings, I’m done. Now, mind you, most of these series run a long time, so readers obviously don’t have a problem with it. But I lose interest, and it’s the same with my writing. I like to change it up. For this book, I want the protagonist to be interested in the wrong guy, but it’s made it a challenge to find a set-up that lets the reader know the right guy is in the wings, but neither of them know it. I have the first fourth of the book finished–at least, a draft to work with, and I’m still doing the juggling act of Paula saying “I want him,” but the reader knows she should kick him to the curb. And it’s been fun.

I might have to tweak my early chapters, but my daughters kissed quite a few frogs before they found their handsome princes, (and even then, one of the princes didn’t work out), so it’s a pretty normal happenstance. I just have to make it work.

By the way, I have three Mill Pond, short-short romances on my webpage, if you’re interested:

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/. You can click on them at the end of the left column.

https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsurbanfantasy

Twitter: @judypost

Hooray!!

The contracts are finally officially signed, so I can announce that I have a three book deal with Kensington e-books for my romances. I might float for a few days:) And then I need to finish the third book. So back to the keyboard.

Writing: Social Media

Last weekend, my friend and I drove to Indianapolis to attend a writers’ workshop given by Liliana Hart, hosted by Indiana’s RWA chapter. If you ever get a chance to hear Liliana Hart speak, jump at it. She’s awesome, but just listening to all of the work she does, writing and marketing, made me tired. She repeated to us over and over again that if you decide to self-publish, you have to think of yourself as a business.

You have to hire or beg a copy editor to go through your final draft to make sure there are as few mistakes as possible. You have to come up with a professional, eye-catching cover that lets the reader know the genre and tone of your story. And you have to map out a strategy. You try to write the best book you possibly can and then come up with ways to help readers find it. Because if you don’t do your homework, there are millions of books available. How will a reader find yours?

I’ve read Lindsay Buroker’s blog posts for a long time, and she and Liliana Hart gave some similar advice. Both said it’s hard to attract readers with one book. Both said it’s smarter to write at least three books and put them up in short order to attract an audience. Hart suggested having five ready to go. Readers like series. You can’t really do much creative advertising/promotion with one book. I’ve posted this before, but here it is again, in case you missed it: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/4318779-how-do-you-establish-a-fan-base-before-you-launch-your-book

Both Lindsay Buroker and Liliana Hart stressed having at least one series of your books on multiple sites. “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket,” both warned. Amazon makes it easy for authors to publish and promote with them, but Hart encouraged writers to try iBooks (with Apple). She warned it takes a year and a half for an author to get established there, so there’s no way to get rich quick, but readers on iBooks aren’t enticed by 99 cent, $1.99, or $2.99 books. They expect to pay more for better quality.

Both authors also encourage advertising your books. It doesn’t do much good to promote a book if you only have one available. The real benefit comes when readers download your first book and look for more in the series. The trick is finding an advertising site that works for you. I’ve had good luck with The Fussy Librarian, but my friend who writes Regency romance has better luck with Ereader News Today. So it depends. Bookbub is wonderful, but it’s hard to get an ad there.

I’ve often wondered how effective social media is for selling books. Quite a few authors lately have posted that they might have lots of followers, but there’s not a lot of carry-over in sales. For me, that’s a little disheartening. Social media, it seems, connects writers with fellow writers, but it’s hard to connect with readers who’ll enjoy your genre and books. Tweeting, blogging, and having an author’s facebook page helps, but they warn to spend more time writing the next novel than losing time on social media. Their message? Don’t spend so much time playing on social media that you don’t WRITE.

I’ve heard over and over again that the most effective way to promote your work is by connecting with readers who like your books by offering an e-mail newsletter. I’ve done a crappy job on this. I started a newsletter, using Mail Chimp, but I didn’t think it through enough. Liliana Hart didn’t mince words. “If you don’t offer them something special, why should they join?” I sent the readers who signed up for mine updates and news, but I need to offer more. Hart suggested contests, where the winners get free books, etc. Buroker does the same. Hart goes a step further and has a “street team,” fans who’ll spread news about new books and novellas she writes through word of mouth. Quite a few romance writers have street teams. They send them swag–bookmarks, pens with a new release’s title on it, etc.–to pass out and spread the word.

If you choose to self-publish, remember that you’ll also have to self-promote. That doesn’t mean tweeting your book over and over again on twitter. It means connecting with readers somehow without sounding like spam. If any of you have found ways that work for you, I’d be happy to hear them. And the most important thing–Happy Writing!

P.S.

I put a new short-short on my webpage: Nadine’s Story: http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

My author’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsurbanfantasy

On twitter: @judypost

Writing: A Different Perspective

I love sharing how I write, what I’m working on, techniques I’m struggling with. But once in a while, it’s nice to be able to pick another writer’s mind, to see what they’re doing and how they do it. So today, I’d like to welcome Kyra Jacobs to my blog. I’ve known Kyra for a few years now. She’s a warm, lovely person, and also a lovely writer. She has a new book coming out tomorrow–Monday, September 14th- and what a cover! Gorgeous! It’s a contemporary romance, (which is what I’m working on now), so I thought I’d invite her here to spill her secrets about writing and tell us about her new release.

Hi, Kyra! Again, welcome to my blog. I’ve followed your writing since you started the Hometown Heroes series with cops and fire fighters. In those books, you mixed romance with suspense for a little extra pizzazz. Your new novel is a contemporary romance. When I tried straight romance, it was an adjustment for me. Was it for you?



Definitely. I knew the basics of the story from the start, but unlike romantic suspense I didn’t have a crime or devious goings ons to drive the story forward. That meant digging a whole lot deeper for me as an author and forced me to really delve into the character’s emotions and play off their relationship fears instead of life and death concerns.

Are you a pantser or a plotter? What do you have to know before you start writing a book?

You know, I try to plot. Really I do. But no plot for me ever sticks, and usually I just end up tossing it aside at some point. I guess that makes me a “plantser”? lol Ironically, I do keep an outline in a separate file as I write, noting every chapter and scene and page numbers and basic story elements, so I can go back and find instances easily. I’d be lost with out it!

As for what I need to know…hmm. A lot of my stories started out as an image in my mind of a single scene or conversation. From there I look back in time to see what might have led up to that moment, and forward to see what comes next.

How do you develop the characters in your stories?

Great question, and one I know probably everyone has a different answer to! For me, it’s been a bit of an evolution of the process with each book. The biggest influence for my method, though, came in the form of a blog I stumbled across on Janice Hardy’s site a few years back that gave a terrific overview of a workshop put on by Michael Hague called Using Inner Conflict to Create Powerful Love Stories. http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/08/the-inner-struggle-guides-for-using.html

I’ve given this link to a number of people now, because I think it’s a terrific description of how to keep your characters from being boring and 2-dimensional. It also helps me dig deeper into each of them to better understand their goals, motivations, and potential conflict.

You’re part of the KickAss Chicks — http://kickasschicks.com/. How much fun is that?

Yes! The KickAss Chicks came about this spring and we have had a blast putting together a fun, interactive site that connects writers with readers. It’s also stretching us outside our comfort zones, which can be kinda fun, too. Our current blog series features each of us chicks reading a scene from one of our books, so you’ll get to see and hear us. (I’m not even going to tell you how many takes that took to get recording right!)

And while it is absolutely amazing coordinating with the chicks on social media, the benefits to being a part of a group like this goes beyond our website. As you know, writing can be a very solitary, sometimes lonely process. But beyond the keyboard, many of us are mothers, wives, employees…you name it. So the biggest blessing of this group for me has been coming alongside 6 amazing women who are there in a heartbeat to encourage and celebrate each other in both our writing journeys and our personal ones.

Any advice for fellow writers on how to get published?

Write what your heart is calling you to write. The stories that have come easiest for me were the ones that called to me, that dug their claws in and wouldn’t let go. Don’t try to fill a niche, or feel you have to write whatever is selling best right now. Publishing (done right) is never a quick process. Some books take years to write, and even longer to publish. The market changes, but a good, heartfelt story will never go out of style.

Any news you’d like to share? Anything about dragons? Or last comments?

Haha well, yes, since you mentioned it… While this week marks the release of my first contemporary romance (which I hope will become a several book series at the Checkerberry Inn), I also just signed a three book contract with Samhain Publishing for a fantasy/paranormal romance. And it juuuuuust might include a few irresistible men who can also change into giant dragons. That comment I made about writing what your heart is calling you to write? Yep, that one demanded I write it. A bit way off the beaten path for me, but my beta readers LOVED it, and I’m hoping you will too. Watch for all three books in that series to release in 2016, starting with DRAGONS AMONG THEM April 19th!

Tell us a little about your new book, Her Unexpected Detour. http://www.entangledpublishing.com/her-unexpected-detour/

DETOUR follows Fort Wayne native Kayla Daniels as she embarks on an unplanned trip to visit her younger brother at Central Michigan University. But a late spring ice storm complicates her plans and brings Kayla to the Checkerberry Inn. Both she and the owner’s grandson have suffered the loss of a parent and chose to shut the world out rather than grieve and move on. But comedic interludes and mutual attraction help Brent and Kayla heal together and find their happily ever after.

Book Blurb:

Sometimes it’s not the destination, but the detour…

Kayla has the perfect strategy for a broken heart: work, work, and more work. Then a storm sends her car skidding off the road, stranding her in Mount Pleasant. Fortunately, rescue comes in the form of the incredibly handsome but gruff Brent Masterson. And he’s hot enough to tempt Kayla into doing something she never thought she could do…

Brent Masterson swore he would never give into the fierce attraction that’s been sizzling between him and Kayla since they first met. He has his own demons, and he won’t risk his heart again. Not even for someone as gorgeous and amazing as Kayla. So…how exactly did he end up in Kayla’s bed last night?

But sometimes all it takes is an ice storm to show two broken hearts the way home…

Thanks so much for having me here today, Judy!

Thanks for sharing with us, Kyra, and for being a guest on my blog!

You can find Kyra’s webpage at: http://www.kyrajacobs.wordpress.com

Her blog’s at https://indianawonderer.wordpress.com/

And she’s on twitter: @KyraJacobsBooks

Writing & Distractions

I have a writing office, of sorts. It used to be a small bedroom in the back of our bungalow that we lined with bookshelves on two walls. The carpenter built a shelf large enough in the center of one wall to hold my keyboard and the mountain of papers that I can’t seem to ever organize. Above it, there are cubbyholes to hold paper clips, my stapler, and a lot of junk I should sort through. The bookshelves hold the novels I read that I can’t seem to part with–the ones I think someday I’ll reread, but rarely do. But I still can’t get rid of them. Looking at the titles and covers bring back too many good memories, sort of like looking at photograph albums.

I had to give away some of the books that got jammed in here to make way for the overload of Temptation bowls and casserole dishes I ordered from QVC that won’t fit in our kitchen. (An addiction for the moment, but now that the kids have grown up, I can justify matching sets. They might survive without chips). At first, I thought I’d mind having dishes and platters mingled with books, but somehow, it fits my writing style. Cookbooks nestle with mysteries and my favorite urban fantasy authors. A soup tureen sits below the “Scribes” shelf that holds books and articles by friends in my writers’ club.

A parakeet cage hangs in one corner of the room, near the long, narrow window that lets in light. Hermes, our blue parakeet, chirps to me while I write. A dog bed is close to my office chair where my daughter’s rat terrier, that couldn’t move to Indy with her because she’s a nurse who works too many hours, stretches out and sleeps. Our little chihuahua comes and goes, pestering me when he wants something. And the stray cat we made our own leaps on my keyboard when he’s tired of being ignored.

I’ve gone to houses that have serious offices with doors that close. My office has a door, too, but it’s almost always open. For one thing, I’m naturally nosey. If something’s going on, I want to know. Mostly, it’s habit. For over thirty years, kids popped in and out to tell me something or to ask a question while I fussed over stories. Some people complain about distractions, but I enjoy them. If I have to sit too long in too much quiet, my ideas dry up. If I hit a snag in a scene, that justifies a trip to the coffee maker.

“Play some music,” one of my friends told me. But I end up listening to that instead of writing. My story juices flow better when I live inside my head. But if left to myself too long, those ideas just bounce around like tiny ping pong balls, never landing anywhere. That’s when a distraction’s welcome. It gives me time away and lets my subconscious do its thing.

I’ve read a few blog posts about authors who can write 10,000 words in a single day. To me, that’s like Superman, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. If I stayed in my chair and closed my office door, I know I’d get more words done each day, too. But I’d get sick of them. And a large part of why I write is to entertain myself, because I LIKE it. Hopefully, readers will like it, too, but I’m not too into drudgery, and it would show. My brain’s not fast enough to process words and scenes that fast, even if I chained myself to my desk. So for me, I write a scene, then I look for a distraction before I write the next one. And if I can describe that as a method, it works out pretty well.

Writing: Wait for it

I’m starting to work on a new romance (my third). I’ve immersed myself in the people and world of Mill Pond so much, I think about them while I’m working on other things. That’s why three Mill Pond short stories have snuck onto my website. In my head, the setting has become as charming as the characters who people it. I want to visit Tessa’s bakery, Harley’s vineyards, and stop at the specialty farms that dot the area. So I love Mill Pond, but I want the new novel to be a little different than the first two. I loved writing about the McGregor brothers, but I want a different set up this time. Instead of boy meets girl, there’s attraction, there are complications, until they finally get together, I wanted to change it up a little. And that’s when the trouble began.

I can picture the entire story in my head. I have a hazy vision of its twists and turns, but when I sat down to write even brief plot points, I couldn’t figure out how to let the reader know or suspect where the story was going. And that’s important. Most writers spell out the book’s big question in the first paragraph anymore, almost always on the first page, but occasionally, not until the end of the first chapter. This story didn’t fall into place that neatly. My protagonist thinks she’s in love with the wrong man. She has no interest in the right man, and he’s not interested in her. He’s interested in the unattainable, and it’s going to take them the entire book to figure it all out. Sounds like fun, right? But how to write the first chapter?

I did character wheels–more complicated than I’ve ever done. I learned new things about my characters, and that will add depth as I plod along (and when I reach the middle of a book, it IS plodding). But it didn’t fix my first chapter. So I did what I always do. I started writing and let my characters take the lead. They weren’t much smarter than I am. The first attempt was crap. It had enough little nuggets, though, to make me think of a short scene I could add. And that scene helped me think of another clue I give the readers. It took three days of writing words I knew didn’t work before I finally had a glimmer of what to do. On the last day, I left my writing room, and my husband looked at me and smiled. “You’re happy with it now,” he said. And I was.

I have nine plot points I pounded out that will head me generally in the right direction. I’m going to write two or three more chapters, let my characters fuss and get to know each other, let me listen and watch them, and then I’ll write more plot points. They keep me afloat when my brain reaches a deadend. And then I should be ready to sit down and dig in. These characters are more opinionated than most I create. Who knows what trouble they’re going to give me? I might get frustated writing this book, but I bet I don’t get bored:)

My webpage: http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

My author page: https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsurbanfantasy

Twitter: @judypost

Writing: a new flash fiction

I try to put a new short fiction on my webpage at the end of each month. For August, I’d already done the five part experiment for POV, so I decided to keep this story short–very short. More like flash fiction.

I just finished the romance I’ve been working on, and it put me in a happy, gooey mood–unusual for me. And it made me want to write a different kind of romance, not the fresh ups and downs of new love, but the enduring comfort of knowing someone for a long time. It’s on my webpage (in the left column under Loretta), but it’s so short, I thought I’d just stick it here:

Loretta

A Mill Pond Romance of a Different Sort

Mom was having another bad day. I turned her every morning and every night, like the doctor told me, but she was still getting a bed sore on her bottom. I noticed it when I changed her diaper before breakfast. Her skin was so thin, her body so fragile.

After I fed her, I plumped her pillow and put her favorite musical in the DVD player. We talked while I started a roast in the Crock Pot and straightened up the house. Noah came over in the afternoon and lifted her into her wheel chair, so I could push her onto the front porch, and the three of us could sit outside, inhaling the freshness of a mild spring. A breeze drifted off of Mill Pond’s lake, and two ducks flew overhead. Mom usually noticed, commented. Today, she didn’t.

I sat on the porch swing with Mom’s chair pulled close beside me. Noah sat in the rocker across from us. He took a sip of the lemonade I’d brought him, sat the glass on the wicker table, then wiped his hands on his worn jeans.

“It was mighty nice of you to invite me over for supper tonight, Loretta,” he said.

“Without your help, I couldn’t get Mom in and out of bed.” I reached across to pat his knee. “Supper’s a small thanks for all you do for us.”

“I’d help you anyway. You know that.” He would, too. There was no more thoughtful man than my neighbor. After he’d lost his wife four years ago, I’d taken to having him come for supper. When he retired two years ago, he’d taken to helping me with Mom. Just having him around, in the house, gave me a sense of comfort. We often sat on the porch on warm afternoons, enjoying a midday break.

I raised my voice so Mom could hear me. “The daffodils you planted sure look pretty this year.” They bobbed their heads in the flower bed nestled under the pink crabapple tree.

Mom glanced their way and nodded. She shivered a little, and I pulled the blanket higher on her lap and buttoned her heavy sweater. Then she raised her arm and pointed to the end of the sidewalk. In a shaky voice, she said, “Look, Loretta. Lou got out of work early.” Her lips curled in a smile. “What are you doin’ home so soon, hon?”

I exchanged a glance with Noah. My dad had passed twenty years ago. Up ‘til now, Mom’s body had failed her, but her mind was sharp. I’d considered that a blessing. I reached over to touch her. “Are you doin’ okay?”

Mom gave a peaceful sigh. “I’m tired. I need to rest. Your dad and I are taking a trip soon.”

Goosebumps rose on my arms. When I stood, Noah rolled Mom’s wheel chair back inside the house, and I helped him get her into bed, then fiddled with her blankets and pillows until she was comfortable. She closed her eyes briefly, then blinked them open. She reached out and patted Noah. “Lou gave you his approval. You and Loretta will make each other happy.” Then she shooed us out of her room.

Noah looked at me and blinked. I felt restless, not sure what to think, how to feel. I went to the kitchen and pulled my apron over my head. “I’m in the mood for a pie.”

Dad had always loved lemon meringue pie. I found myself rolling out dough and whipping egg whites. Noah stirred the lemon filling. After we took the pie out of the oven and placed it on the wide window ledge to cool, we went to check on Mom.

I knew she was gone the minute I looked at her. A body isn’t the same once the soul leaves it. I remembered staring down at Dad in his coffin. A body, nothing more.

Noah came to stand beside me and reached for my hand. We stood there, looking down at her, and a ray of sunshine burst through the window, engulfing us in light. Noah gave my fingers a squeeze. “I’m glad your dad approves.”

I smiled. Mom and Dad would be happy now, and so would Noah and I.

(I have two other short Mill Pond romances on my webpage, if you’re interested. http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/)

Writing: Gearing Up

Okay, time to gird my loins, pull up my big girl panties, and get with it. We had company all last week. John’s brother and Stuart stayed with us, and Holly came to see them for the first part of their stay, Nate came for a night, and Ty came to spend a night at the end of their visit. It was nice. Jim lives in Oakland, so we only get together about once a year. I love to cook and have people over, so I had fun. I get to pull out my “company” recipes–salmon layered on a bed of mushrooms, shallots, and spinach and wrapped in puff pastry with a dill sauce; primavera pasta (they’re from California and won’t eat too much meat); and smoked chicken with fresh corn on the cob. We went to Pokagon Park and walked the hiking trails, and I found the most wonderful, 15″ carbon steel pan at a kitchen outlet store when we stopped there. But everyone left yesterday, and tomorrow, it’s back to the real world and my writing routine.

I enjoyed the cooking and entertaining so much, it made me think about my novels/novellas. A lot of my writing includes people in a kitchen, cooking or sitting around a table, to catch up with each other. That’s how our kitchen works. It’s where we congregate, where we talk about the stuff that matters. Lots of kids came and went through our kitchen, and I catered to each one of their tastes. Nate’s best friend, Billy, had a finicky stomach, so every time he stayed for supper, we had some kind of chicken, a side of rice, and green beans (the only vegetable the boy would touch). Tyler’s friend Ethan loved Chinese, so when he was here, I made Shoyu Chicken or Chicken Cantonese, or their favorite: Korean Beef. Our boys ate a wider variety, and they loved to help in the kitchen, so we tried new things to keep them interested. They’re lovers of tilapia, and I have more recipes for tilapia than any woman should keep, and they love Mexican, so we have recipes for nachos, tacos, fish tacos, and Ranchero sauce, etc. All fun. The neighborhood kids would stop at our house after school, and I baked for them every day: cakes, cookies, or a fruit dessert. Our boys’ took a nutrition class at their middle school, and they were the only kids who knew every ingredient the teacher mentioned. They went to the grocery with me every week, and I vividly remember arguing with Tyler (11 then) over which chuck roast was the best until a fellow shopper started laughing at us. She couldn’t believe a kid cared that much about what I threw in my cart.

Oh, well, I’m rambling, but to me, food is a memory stamp on most of the things I’ve done in my life. Hell, I even feed the birds and squirrels. My husband and I talk about places we’ve visited, and we always remember what we ate there. I loved the food in New Orleans. That’s why it’s crept into all of the Babet and Prosper novellas. It’s an integral part of “River City.” Enoch loves to cook in my Fallen Angels series, so do Damian and Andre in Wolf’s Bane. Loralie loves to bake in the Death and Loralei novellas. One of my friends told me that she buys snacks before she reads one of my stories–short or long–because she knows she’s going to get hungry while she reads. I guess it’s true that your passions sneak into your writing. So if you start one of my novellas or bundles, have a glass of wine or a treat nearby. You might need them.

My webpage: http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

My author Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsurbanfantasy

@judypost on twitter

Trash Talking My Method

I have to knuckle down in September, get serious, and start work on a new novel. My break between books is over. I know it was a privilege that many writers don’t get. They barely have time to meet deadlines, so I’m grateful I had a pocket in time to play with different elements of putting words on pages.

When I wrote Witch Gone Bad, I learned that if I don’t know my characters well enough, the story stays flat, even if the part they play in it is small. I thought I could whip out a short scene a day, no problem, because I knew each part of the story and who’d tell it. No such luck. The characters just walked on stage, did their thing, and took a bow. Boring. The plot worked. The story didn’t. No emotional impact. It took three passes before I liked each part. If characters don’t breathe, neither does your story.

One of my friends, who did theater for years, has characters spring from her head, whole and fully formed. All of her training to find what really drives characters so that she could bring them to life on stage transferred to her writing. My characters aren’t that forthcoming. Mine make me work to know them, like meeting someone new for the first time. I learn a little more about them the longer I spend with them. In a novel, that means my first draft will never have the depth, the emotion, that I need.

I have to add that on my second or third pass through the manuscript.

My goal, when I start playing with the beginnings of a book, then, is to get the basics right. My theory is, if I just don’t screw up–so that I have to pitch major scenes–I’m happy. I can tinker and add to the bare bones, but if the skeleton’s wrong, I have to go back to work on the foundation. That’s why I make plot points. But it’s also why I try to nail my characters and what makes them tick.

My actress friend (Julia Donner) writes Regency romances, and when I panicked about writing a romance, her advice to me was solid. “Romances click when emotional problems and histories create a conflict, action, or a scene. A romantic story evolves from the inside out.” She uses Suzanne Simmons’ approach for characters: What do they want, Why do they want it, and What will they do to get it?

Her amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Julia-Donner/e/B00J65E8TY/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1439754290&sr=1-2-ent

That works for her. Like I said, her characters are born whole. My answers to those questions tend to be too basic, like when I filled in the goal, motivation, conflict charts (I’m going to work on that), but I need more prodding. I don’t need TOO much, though. I have friends who write elaborate histories and charts to get to know their characters. I’ve tried that, but that much information overwhelms me. I get bogged down in details. That’s why I do character wheels with spokes crowded with sloppy, scribbled notes as I fill in the blanks. But the truth is, no matter what I do, I learn more and more about my characters as I write them. So, for me, I’m going to try a few more steps before I start my next book–something to keep me on track–but without drowning myself in info. I’ll share, but my method doesn’t work for my friends, so it might or might not help you.

(I’ve listed some of this information on my blog posts before, so you can skip this, if you want to:)

1st: What kind of person is ____________ ? (I like a SHORT answer, something that will stick in my head. For example, in the romance I just finished, I described Brody as brooding.)

2. Why? What made him/her that way? (Brody focuses on his failures or possible failures more than he focuses on his successes. He wants to do the right thing, the right way. He thought he had his life mapped out, had made all the right decisions, and then went through a bitter divorce. Making the right decisons, in his mind, failed him.)

3. What does he/she want? He wants to be happy.

4. Why? {Success didn’t make him happy–his marriage was too one-sided, and failure (his idea of divorce) made him more unhappy. He isn’t sure what to do next.}

5. Fill in my character wheel. (Shirley Jump–http://eating-my-words.com/–did a workshop on this, and it was wonderful. I’ve played with it to make it work for me). Here’s my version:

In the center of typing paper, draw a small circle. Fill in: name, description of character–hair/eyes/build, age, and tag word or phrase for his personality. Draw 7 spokes off the circle.

Spoke 1 = Family. Draw lines off that spoke for father, mother, brothers, sisters, any family member important to him. Give name and how they got along, any important info.

Spoke 2 = Education and training (did he like it? Why or why not? Any mentor?) What career did it lead to?

Spoke 3 = Where does he live? What vehicle does he drive? What does it say about him?

Spoke 4 = Relationships (past/current romances. When and why ended?)

Spoke 5 = 2 friends he can talk to–a reflector and ally. How do they see him?

Spoke 6 = Quirks (fears, habits, hobbies, like & dislikes)

Spoke 7 = Enemies/antagonists/opponents–why?

That’s it for character, for now. Happy writing!

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Finished. Finally:)

I did way too many rewrites on Witch Gone Bad. What started as a fun writing experiment ended up being more work than I ever expected. But I have to tell you, it’s sure been fun! What I didn’t think about–and should have–is that if I use 5 POVs, I need to know 5 characters well enough to bring them to life. At least, in my head. And since I learn more about characters as I go, that took me a minute. And rewrites. Something to ponder if I ever get a brilliant idea like this again:)

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