Christopher Stocking's Blog, page 24

Let’s Talk About Editing

I’ve heard a lot of people make the claim that if you want to be successful as a writer, youneed to have your manuscript edited by a professional. Especially if you self-publish. Of course that makes a lot of sense. We spend days, weeks, and months working on plot, conflicts, characters, paragraphs, words, punctuation, and everything else that goes into our work. We grow accustomed to our work and typos just blend into the mix. We absolutely need a pair, if not multiple pairs of eyes to go ov...

To Observe Is To Understand

As writers we must be observant, perceptive, and we must questioneverything. Why does someone act a certain way? Is it their past? Perhaps this is the first time they’ve ever acted in a certain manner. What was their childhood like? What were their friends and family like? Did they have any pets? Have they lost any loved ones? How old were they? How old was the deceased when they passed? Along with many others that make people who they are.

If we don’t ask questions such as these, we end up wi...

Is Paid Help Better Than Free Help?

When it comes to writing and marketing books, there is a plethora of information out there. Some of it you have to pay for, (i.e. books and webinars) while some of it is free, (blogs and advice from others writers).

I can see both sides from different angles:

When it comes to free help and advice, there are a multitude of blogs and websites out there than can offer up information on becoming a better writer, marketing your books, building a platform, and many other things. I see this as benefic...

Tuesday’s Transparency: What I Saw

Here are the details of yesterday’s painting:

Artist:Vladimir Makovsky

Start Date:1898

Completion Date:1900

Place of Creation:Russian Federation

Style:Realism

Genre:genre painting

Technique:oil

Material:canvas

Dimensions:83 x 118 cm

Gallery:Art museum of Samara, Samara, Russia

Image Source

What I Saw:

“We should be safe here, Madam Evodikia,” the Russian soldier said as he casually leaned against a boulder. “The rebels are too stupid to come look for us here anyway.” He picked up a stick and toyed with it...

Tuesday Transparency

I’ve seen this done on a few blogs, and have taken part in a few myself, and they are tons of fun! Every Tuesday I will post a picture or painting of some sort of scene, and then you, the reader, will post an idea or story about what you think is happening. Simple, right? Then, I will post what I think is happening on Wednesday. Should be ripping good fun!

So, without further ado, here is Tuesday’s Transparency:

I found this one to be particularly interesting. What might these two be doing in t...

Helping Those In Need

As writers, we all know how important it is that we help each other out. Whether we give advice, feedback, or, in this case, assisting those who’s have been hit by a natural disaster.

Depending on your location, and if you follow the news/those this affects on social media, you may have heard of the Colorado Wild Fires. You may also remember when I interviewed Carrie Nyman, author of the historical fiction novel “Why Aren’t You Sweet Like Me??” Her town was hit by these wild fires, and, while...

Keep Track with Goo.gl

Since I published “London Darkness: Infernal Inventions” I knew I would need a website to shorten the Amazon print and eBook links for social media. I mean, less face it, no one wants to scroll through their news feed and see

“Check out my book here: http://www.amazon.com/books/science-f...”

That gets old pretty fast. Plus...

Character Interview: Wendell Reed–London Darkness: Infernal Inventions

I had the idea to interview some of the characters from what I write. I think this will be a fun way to look into each character individually and see who they really are. The interviews will take place during their lives either in, or before the story they are a part of. Enjoy!

I set out for the evening looking to talk a bit, but spend more time listening. I didn’t have anyone particular in mind, but I knew whoever I picked would have some story to tell, or so I hoped. I kept my black notebook...

How About a Little Professionalism, Please?

I recently discovered my dislike for a small indie publishing press that someone from school had told me about. I’ll keep all names out of this, and firmly state that I am in no way bashing this press, or any people associated with it.

My reason? A serious lack of professionalism and focus. I “liked” the press on Facebook, and never saw much of any literary postings on their blog. It was mostly a lot of the owner’s personal achievements and activities, and that is fine. That certainly doesn’t...

Connecting With Characters

Hey! with the craziness of work, wedding planning, and everything else going on, I feel like I haven’t talked to all my blog people in quite some time. I was very lucky to have some wonderful bloggers share their thoughts here at WTP, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!

But, now I have returned to talk to you about a problem I’m having. As many of you know, I recently published my novel “London Darkness: Infernal Inventions.”Yay! Right? Of course I’m very excited about that. Well,...