M.B. Mulhall's Blog, page 17

Should You Write A Series & When to End it

If there’s one thing I love as an avid reader, it’s a good series. I’m sad when characters I’ve come to love have their stories come to an end. Yes, it must happen at some point, but I want my fill before that happens!

As an author, I tend to not think of my stories as  series. Not in the beginning, anyway. Since I’m not much of a plotter, it tends to come to me somewhere in the middle of the story, that there is so much more to tell and it should go into it’s own book rather than be jammed into the current one.  Yes, I make sure each book has a satisfactory ending because while some cliffhangers are good and will prompt a reader to want to pick up the next book, there has to be some kind of closure otherwise it’ll just piss the reader off. I’ve been there myself and I wouldn’t want to do it to someone else.

I think when it comes to writing a series, you need to make sure you have enough to say to spill over into other books. There’s not much worse than groping for more plot line that isn’t there. The reader is going to know if you’re just randomly throwing things in there to get to the end. Even worse is if you leave a bunch of unanswered questions and then never complete the next book or the series. Those readers are going to be so annoyed they may never pick up something of yours again.

When it comes to series, some plotting needs to be done, even if minimally. Like I said, I’m a pantser, but once I decide something is worthy of being a series, I do some very rough outlining of what I want to happen in each book and what the ending will be.  I think each book needs a good kickass kind of ending. My readers deserve that.

You’re probably thinking, “Umm we haven’t seen any series come out of you.” Just because you haven’t seen them yet doesn’t mean they aren’t half done and/or floating around in my head.  Stay tuned for that!

There are different ways to have a series as well. Companion novels make for a good type of series as well. Maybe all your stories take place in the same town and old characters become secondary characters with bit parts. This seems to work really well for a lot of romance novels.  The reader gets the satisfaction of still seeing their favorite characters, even if only briefly, while learning about new ones.  I think a lot of readers enjoy that “HEY! I know that person!” kind of moment and the same goes for experiences. Maybe your new characters are going to a dance the previous ones attended, so the timelines overlap and the reader is seeing the same occurrence from a different point of view. Always a fun experience and you have the background info from the previous novel that you can work into the current one.

The perks of writing a series is once you get readers hooked, they will be excited and happy to buy the next book, and yay to more sales! You may have to work a little more to help remind old readers that a new book has come out (since there tends to be a year or so between releases) but when people discover one and then realize a second or third book is already out, that will equal a good trend in sales for all your books. Always a nice thing.

I have noticed a downside to having series though. It’s the trend of dragging them on long past their prime. Sadly, take series like the Sookie Stackhouse books and the Anita Blake books for example. Both series started out great. Enjoyable characters, action, romance, etc. I was excited for new books to come out, but now we’re at the ninth and tenth (etc.) books and one is obviously struggling to come up with new and interesting plot lines while the other has turned pretty much into porn (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it didn’t start that way and it ended up being a turn off…for me anyhow).

So you have to know when to say when.  Just like a good TV show needs to stop before they jump the shark, so does a good book series.  If you have more to tell, maybe pick one of the more minor characters to flesh out.  The Wicked Lovely series does a fantastic job of spreading the story around.  It’s a five book series and all the odd numbered books are about the main characters while the even numbered ones are about more minor characters whose stories end up playing into the main plot line in a fairly major way. I think it was an incredibly interesting and creative way to do a series. The Mortal Instrument books have continued by having a prequel series in the Infernal Devices, which I think is another great way to continue a “series”. We even get a familiar character because he doesn’t age like others. I love that.

Whether or not you decide to write a series is something you have to contemplate with each new story idea you come up with. Plot what you can and make sure your idea is strong enough to carry over into two or three or five books. Give yourself a timeline to stick to because if you make your readers wait too long for the next book, they will forget and possibly not continue on.  I think the perks outweigh the minuses, but you have to make that decision for yourself.

Do you write series? Do you think it’s helped to sell more books?

What Do *YOU* Want From Me?

Firstly, Happy New Year all! I hope this is a great one for every one of us. Not sure 2013 can be much worse than 2012.  That’s not to say 2012 didn’t have it’s high points, but they were far and few between. More consistent with the good stuff this year, please!

On another note, I wanted to get some info from all you readers.  If you guys follow me on Twitter (and if not, how come? I’m witty! Sometimes…) you probably see that I often struggle with ideas for posts. This blog has been going on for a couple years now and I enjoy it but I don’t want to be overly repetitive. I don’t mind revisiting a topic, but something new is always nice too.

What would you guys like to see? More interviews? More teasers? Any specific topics you’d like to see me cover? Guest posts? More blog hop participation?  Vlogs?  I’m not sure how often I’d go through with that one…but I suppose I could do it on occasion. Maybe I could read teasers rather than just post them? Who knows…

Throw in your two cents! I’ll try to work in what I can and since ultimately this is for you, the reader, I figured it’d be a good idea to see what you guys are looking for.

Place your suggestions in the comments!

Some of My Favorite Reads of 2012

Again, the end of the year is right around the corner–I swear I see it peeking at me!–and so I thought I’d share with you, my lovely followers, some of my favorite books that came out this year.  I know I will probably forget some from the beginning of the year (it happens when you read close to 200 books a year) but I figure some are better than none!

Firstly, Days of Blood and Starlight.  I loved the first book in the series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone and the sequel did not disappoint. Great story, characters you come to love, beautiful flowing prose that has me wanting to visit Prague and Marrakesh.

Then there’s The Raven Boys. I do love everything I’ve read of Maggie Stievfater, but I especially love how she worked in Arthurian legend into her most recent series. While not a new concept, you don’t see much of it in YA novels (the only other series off the top of my head that deals with it at all is My Boyfriend Merlin which is a fun series as well).

Ashes of Honor: An October Daye Novel.  I don’t follow a lot of “adult” series anymore, but I love love love the Toby Daye stuff and the newest in the series does not disappoint. I’m only sad I have to wait a year in between the books. I love how things are finally coming together, how some of the tension is finally dealt with. I think she’s a kickass female MC who isn’t without her weaknesses and faults.  Great paranormal series if you haven’t read any of it, pick it up now!

Earlier in the year, I discovered the Lux series (Opal, Obsidian, Onyx, Shadows). The all came out this year (which is awesome when reading a series!) and I really enjoyed them.  Stories about aliens are starting to pick up in the YA genre (Maybe thanks to the I am Number Four stuff) and this is a great series that doesn’t come off as cheesy. (*Edit, I just finished Opal and found there will be at least one more book in the series. Huzzah!)

I waited a looong time for the last book in the Graceling series to come and Bitterblue did a fantastic job of pulling all the loose ends together and connecting Graceling and Fire, two books which didn’t seem to have too much in common at all. A fantastic YA fantasy series with great strong female MCs.

Cinder was a great retelling of a very familiar story. A dash of steampunk and a dash of paranormal (if aliens can be considered paranormal) and written well enough that I didn’t feeling like I knew everything that was going to happen, even though we all know the basic Cinderella story.

Point of Retreat  is the great sequel to Colleen Hoover’s Slammed.  She is an Indie author that got picked up by Simon &  Schuster and rightfully so because her books are amazing and gritty and heart-wrenching. I adore her and look forward to reading her most recent novel, Hopeless.

When I read Reason to Breathe last year, I was crushed at the ending that didn’t answer nearly enough for me so when I saw there was a sequel to come out this year, I jumped for joy. Barely Breathing let me know, finally, what happened to Emma and how she continued on after her struggles. A great and powerful contemporary novel.

Finally, there’s the sob inducing The Fault in Our Stars. Can John Green write a book that won’t reduce me to tears? I don’t think so.  His stories are real and emotional with characters you grow to love and hate to see hurt. It may take him a while to put out a new book but it is *ALWAYS* worth the wait.

I know there are a lot of other great books I’ve read (contemporary ones where the titles blend together I think…) but these are just a few I really enjoyed during the year and have recommended to others. If you haven’t read these, be sure to look into them!

What are some of your favorite books to come out in 2012?

Holiday Greetings & Thank You’s

Being that this post actually falls on Christmas Day, I wanted to take the time to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a fantastic upcoming New Year!  I know the holidays can be tough on some, but hopefully you may all get through it without too much heartache or stress.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who follows the blog, comments on posts and purchases books. I am humbled and awed that I have people I can call followers and fans and if it were not for you folks,  I would not have the interest or drive to continue with it all.

So thank you, each and every one and may the New Year be filled with great books and happy stories, real or otherwise!

Writing Resolutions

As the year is coming to a close (eek, only a couple weeks to go!), now is the time to start thinking about your resolutions for the new year.  Perhaps you’re vowing this will be your year at the gym, or maybe you’re going to strive for at least seven hours of sleep a night. Both are good goals that you can certainly achieve, but why not think about what you want in regards to your writing in the new year?

Perhaps you have a couple of half finished novels laying around (gee…I wouldn’t know anything about that *she says hiding documents in hidden files…*). Maybe 2013 is the year to finish them up! Maybe you will make a resolution to write and edit two books or to submit at least five short stories to publications throughout the year.

There’s always the thought to want to have a daily writing habit, so maybe you’ll schedule in twenty to forty minutes a day or start a blog. Just because you’re not working on a novel or screenplay doesn’t mean you’re not writing!

I think for many of us, 2013 will be the year to better promote ourselves and our work! Less spamming, more ad buying, blog hop participating and so forth.

Whatever your choices, try to make it something you can realistically stick to. Swearing to write 3,000 words a day every day is probably going to see you disappointed before January is over and then that could bring down your whole writing year. Don’t do that to yourself!

Are you planning on a resolution? Let us know what it is!

When’s the Right Time to Beta?

Beta readers are an important part of the writing process, but perhaps you’re a new writer and wondering where exactly they work into the scheme of things. Well, that really depends on you.  Personally, I have a couple sets of beta readers and I use them in several different places while completing a novel.

When my rough draft is finally done, I use one or two betas to look for plot holes and to check for unanswered questions and the continuity of the story lines.  I know others who use their betas on more of a chapter by chapter basis during editing. The author edits and passes along a chapter at a time for their betas to read and comment on and then the author makes the changes as they go rather than doing everything at the end.

After my initial beta read through, I do more editing and then send off a second draft to my writing partner and favorite beta reader, Patricia Lynne.  She leaves me all sorts of comments and questions and adds (or removes) pesky commas and things of that nature. It’s super helpful and the comments let me know if she finds something funny or if a joke falls flat.

Then there’s another round of edits from me, then to an actual editor, then I make their changes and theeeeennnnn to final beta readers to check for tiny little mishaps that may have been missed and then it’s on to the ARC for early readers.

Some authors only use beta readers at the end. Some use the same set of beta readers throughout the whole process. Some, like me, use different beta readers at different points.  As an author you need to figure out what works best for you.  There’s certainly no harm in using more than one and putting them to work at different points in your process. Like anything else along the road to publication, each author has to figure out how they want to go about getting to the end and when to pull other people into the process. Trial and error, put it to the test.

How many beta readers do you “employ” and when do you put them to work?

Books – They make great gifts!

We are right smack in the middle of the holiday season already (if you can believe that!) and maybe you’re still scrambling for gifts before the 8th night or Christmas day. If so, I feel your pain. I have done NO shopping yet (although I have completed several handmade gifts).

But there’s still time folks! And let me remind you that books make for fantastic gifts for all sorts of people, young and old! As an Indie author, this is where I should probably gently remind you that it’s awesome to support Indie authors and that most of us have books in digital *and* print forms and that some authors, like me, even have our books on Authorgraph.com where you can get signatures for our e-books. There really are quite a number of great Indie authors out there to introduce your friends and family to. Not only do readers love to find new authors to follow, but Indie works tend to be more affordable than traditionally published books.

Now that I’ve done my duty to other Indies, I’m going to remind folks of great things like the bargain areas of Barnes and Noble. There is always such an amazing collection of books in those aisles.  Cookbooks and novels and books on local lore and how to draw dragons.  They are reduced in price and I bet you can find one to fit every person in your life, even the non-reader. They often have great coffee table type books that make for great hostess gifts as well!

If you have little ones in your life, be it your own children or nieces and nephews, be the awesome relative that expands their library rather than their overflowing toy boxes. If you want them to grow to be readers, you have to provide the material.  Even if they’re not readers yet or not very good at it, there are amazingly beautiful popup books and touch and feel books and books that can inspire them to want to learn more about animals and their bodies and what lives in our oceans.

For the older child/teen, there are so many great picture books and stories about how their favorite stars came into their careers or how their favorite movies are made, etc.  Don’t discount books just because someone isn’t a reader. Sometimes it just depends on the subject. Also  look for comic books and graphic novels! Great art and great stories.

Don’t forget to check the dollar bin areas of places like Target which often has little hard cardboard books which make for great stocking stuffers for the little ones.

Books are ever great gifts and there is something out there for everyone in your life. E-books make for easy at home shopping but print books are always nice to hold and unwrap.

Have you purchased any books as gifts this season? What are some of your favorite books to share as gifts?

Processing Programs – Which should you use?

The days of writing with pen(cil) and paper are pretty much behind us (yes, I do know a few who still prefer that time honored method but they are a minority). Most of us have also transitions from good ole typewriters (I do love the sound of those clicking keys though) to portable processors, computers and laptops.

Along with all these newfangled electronics comes an array of programs designed to help writers of all types; be it those who have to write papers for school, those who write screenplays and novels and poetry, and those who make lists and presentations.

With so many choices out there, how do you know which will work best for your purposes? Short of trying them all, your best bet is to research and ask for opinions from other writers on what they use and why they like or dislike the program.  There are some free options that you can download and take advantage of and others that are reasonably affordable options.

Open Office has a basic word processing program similar to Microsoft’s Word (which many of us have experience with thanks to school owned computers or our work place machines). It’s user friendly and fairly basic. It’ll get the work done but lacks any additional frills.

Ywriter is a processing program designed by an author for other authors. While it’s not difficult to use, there is a bit of a learning curve.  It breaks down your writing into chapters and scenes and, provided you input the information, it can track your characters and settings as you write which can be very helpful for epic novels and series.

Scrivener is another program for author use. There is no longer a free version (they had a beta version for a couple of years while finalizing things for PC) but it’s an affordable program with a lot of great organizational tools that I know many authors can’t live without. It’s very handy for outlining and researching and keeping all your information together. There are options for you to be able to split the screen to show your writing and your research side by side. Pretty nifty. It also has notecard features and allows you to easily move chapters around.

Celtx is a free program for writers of all types.  It allows you to choose the type of project you’re going to be working on and there are templates if needed, which can be handy. While I haven’t used the program to write any of my novels, I did use it for a screenplay I wrote. Once I figured out a couple of hot keys, I found it very easy to use especially considering I hadn’t written a screenplay prior.

Then there’s always good ole Microsoft Word. I think most people have had experiences with this program but perhaps they don’t know of some of the great editing aspects such as tracking changes and comments. I think one of the biggest perks to using Word is that due to so many people knowing and using it, it makes it easier to share your work with beta readers and editors and when you get feedback you can accept their changes or easily make them on your own without having to have cut and paste or find the places in your original document.

There’s another option for the writer on the go who perhaps can’t afford a laptop, it’s called an Alphasmart. It’s a portable word processing machine. Lightweight and great on battery life are two of the perks but it does have others such as not being able to go back more than a few lines at a time while writing, which is helpful for those who do too much editing during the initial draft portion of writing, never getting to the end of the story. It has autosave and the ability to attach to computers or printers for easy uploading.  There’s a part you can purchase that will allow one to wirelessly upload to Google Docs as well.

There are a lot of options out there and they all offer different things. Give them a try and ask around to see what pluses and minuses of each are.  There’s certainly nothing wrong with going basic, but remember that some of the more advanced programs can help in many different aspects of your writing. You won’t know until you try.

What processing program do you use and why?

Should you write in present tense?

As a storyteller I have often felt that the best tense to write in was past tense. I’m telling my readers the story so it’s already happened, right? But while writing Heavyweight  I found myself fiddling a lot with the POV (point of view) and the tense.

The story ended up being a lot of firsts for me: The first story I wrote in first person POV. The first story I finished with a male main character.  The first story I had to tell that I didn’t feel right talking about in the past tense.

After writing and re-writing the first couple of chapters, I decided I wanted my reader to experience the story as Ian was living it. I felt like it would make for a better connection between my protagonist and my readers. I really want the reader to feel for him and yet be kept in the dark about what was coming and how things would end up.

Some of you may be thinking “I was always told you shouldn’t write in present tense.”  From what I’ve read, that’s a fallacy. While it’s not the most common to see, there’s nothing that says you absolutely shouldn’t do it. People may find it unusual and some won’t be able to enjoy the story written that way, but there are plenty of books out there written in present tense that people enjoy. For example: The Hunger Games Trilogy and The Time Traveler’s Wife.  Next time someone tells you would shouldn’t write your story in present tense, you stop and think about the amazing success of those books and do what you feel is best for your story.

There are many occasions where writing in present tense will be a huge asset to your story, especially if you’re writing thrillers or mysteries. I think it helps keep the reader right there with you on the edge of their seat.  I do think if you opt for present over past tense  you have to be super cautious to make sure you’re not switching between the two as you’re writing (a problem I found myself having throughout the rough draft) but other than that, just think of it as another way to pull your reader into the story.

Do you enjoy writing and/or reading present tense stories? Why or why not?

 

 

Some links on the topic by some great resources, Maureen Johnson and Grammar Girl!

http://www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com/2011/11/17/ask-auntie-mj-things-are-getting-tense

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/present-tense-novel.aspx

So NaNowriMo is over. Now what?

It’s now the lovely month (or hated if you’re more of a Scrooge like me…) of December. That means if you were a participant of last month’s NaNoWriMo you are now a winner or you have a work started that needs some finishing.

If you weren’t a winner, don’t let it get you down! It’s not an easy task and we all know how life often gets in the way of our writing. The important part is you had an idea and you got a start. You owe it to yourself to not let that idea die. Write it at your own pace but get it done.  It’s really a great feeling to follow through and accomplish what you set out to do, whether or not you finished it in the thirty days. If you still need a cheerleader, hit me up. I’ll be good kicking you in the seat to get it done!

If you won, congratulations!  But don’t dare think you’re done yet. If you’re like me, you hit the 50k but need to actually finish the story. Keep your momentum and try to write at least a little everyday until that rough draft is complete. Don’t let the past thirty days go to waste by giving up now that November is over. That would make me a very sad panda indeed.

If you won *and* finished the story don’t think you’re done either, but you can take a break. Put your finished rough draft in a drawer and let it sit and age, like a fine wine!  Start up a new project (might as well keep that daily writing thing going!) or catch up on the reading you probably had to put aside last month. After a couple weeks, pull out that story, re-read from start to finish and begin the polishing. You may need to make two, three or four passes of edits, beta reading, etc. but when you’ve already put so much work into it, you want it to be the best it can possibly be before putting it out there. Believe me, a better final product will equal better sales. Don’t do a half assed job just to rush and get it out there. It’s going to hurt you in the long run.

What are your plans now that NaNoWriMo is over?