Florence Witkop's Blog, page 52

LEGENDS TRILOGY GOING TO PRINT!

I just heard from Winged Publications that the Legends trilogy is going to print. I thought they only did that if sales reached some wonderful, though possibly unknown, number.

Either that was wrong or Legends is so wonderful that they are skipping that step.

Either way, I’m thrilled and intend to order several of my own books just because I can.

How do I write a good sympathetic character that isn’t the cliché hero?

One way is to pick someone you know who somewhat resembles that character and use that person as a starting point. You won’t stay with the real person long because the character in your story will soon take over and become his own self. But using someone who is real— with real qualities both good and bad— will get you headed towards a character that is also real and has humanity written all over him.

How do you edit for clarity in writing?

 That’s a hard one.

My only answer is to wait as long as you dare before editing because that time will take you away from the process of writing and into the process of reading. Only when you look at what you wrote from the perspective of someone who has never read it before will you see what needs to be changed.

The good news is that it works. You’ll see those paragraphs that could be reworked to make more sense. And those that should be deleted because they are not needed and are confusing. And which parts should be switched around to lead the reader in the right direction.

How can a writer quiet the “inner voices” that distract us by showing with all the possibilities of story ideas, and then we have trouble choosing and writing our stories? Even after an initial idea and plot. How do I focus and ignore other “noises”?

The voices are inner ones so the answer must be an inner answer. No one can precisely tell you what to do or how to do it. That’s for you to figure out.

However —- there are a few things that can help.

First, follow where the voices are telling you to go and do some serious thinking about that particular direction. If you listen and take the story where they are suggesting, what will happen? Will it still be the same story or will it be another one? Will you still feel the same when it’s written or will you wish you’d not taken their advice?

Second, depending on the answer, take that new path for your story — or jot down some notes so when you are finished with that particular story, you can write another story — a different story — the story that the voices suggested to you.

Third, simply tell those voices that you are listening to them, that you are giving them their full due, but right now you have something to do, a story to write, and they’ll just have to wait their turn. Ask them to be quiet for a while.

It might work. It does for me.

Wolf Legend is out on Amazon with a great cover.

 

The second book in the Legends trilogy, Wolf Legend, is available now on Amazon.  Click here to order.

I enjoyed writing this book about a huge, wild, snow-white dire-wolf pup who comes from an alternate universe to our world to have a broken leg healed and then must stay here made for a great story.

The fact that the heroine has a psychic connection to the pup and doesn’t like wolves because they kill her livestock makes the story interesting and the fact that she must share custody of the wolf pup with a wolf researcher because it’s illegal to have a wolf for a pet make it even more so.

And the fact that they are attracted to each other gives the story that all-important (to us romantics) romantic interest.

Hope you like it.

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Wolf Legend, second in my Legends trilog

Wolf Legend, second in my Legends trilogy from Winged Publications is out! Fast and cover is gorgeous. A direwolf pup from another dimension in today’s world cared for by a wolf lover and a wolf hater. http://ow.ly/fp6a30gZa2k http://ow.ly/i/B0AYG

Is it good to write like Hemingway or Fitzgerald nowadays and should we use their writing styles in our own writing?

 Yes and no.

Both writers have styles that never go out of style so, in that way, writing like them is always a good idea.

But today’s readers want fast-moving plots and offhand I can’t think of any writers of past times that write in that particular way.

A better way of looking at style is to sort of copy their style — writers do copy other writers — while at the same time keeping in mind that your story should move quickly.

One last note: even if you deliberately try to copy another writer, you won’t, because your own individual way of thinking and writing will creep in and the result will be uniquely your own.

That’s a good thing because, copying great writers while putting your own stamp on your work is what will make your writing stand out from all others.

Newest book out by Winged Publications

Those editors at Winged Publications did it again. Got a wonderful cover for Spirit Legend and got the book up and running at Amazon, where you can purchase it now. Wow! Gorgeous, huh?

 

What should I do if I have a phenomenal fantasy book/story idea? I have the plot and idea, but have average writing skills and no resources.

Write the story. Then rewrite it. Then rewrite it again— and again— and again until it’s not average, it’s fantastic.

Most writers aren’t geniuses. They are people like yourself who have average skills. What makes them good writers is the effort they are willing to put into the process to make their stories the best that they can.

I believe there’s a saying that’s pretty much spot-on: Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

How can I get past difficulty writing? I’ve written three stories in two years, and know how little that is. I can write about five hundred words before becoming unable to continue a story.

If you know what you want to write — the whole story — before beginning, you should be able to continue even when your brain dries up.

It helps if you have an outline, hopefully a very detailed outline, because that’ll tell you what you should be writing next.

Then, if your brain still refuses to work, look over the outline and find some part of the story that you can write. That you brain will work on. It doesn’t have to be what comes next because, obviously, that part isn’t coming to you. But if you write whatever part of the story you are able to write at the moment, then at some time in the future, you’ll be able to connect the parts you have written. And, surprise of surprises, you’ll have written the part that froze your brain. And you’ll be done.