Amanda Meuwissen's Blog - Posts Tagged "help"

Sometimes I don’t think readers understand how much receiving an honest, positive review feels. Maybe not enough authors, especially if they become truly famous, have the time or wherewithal to express to their readers how much their comments mean to them. While having too many reviews to comment back on is a problem I’d love to have, I hope I never lose sight of how much fans drive me forward.

Recent Incubus review:
"I was lucky enough to get this book for an honest review. Well I didn't think I was going to enjoy reading this as it is M/M and the ones I read so far I really didn't like much, but this book, well, it rocked my world lol. I loved it, the characters were well written and you really got sucked into the book rooting for them all. There is so much more in the book than meets the eye and it wasn't distasteful. It was really a great book to read and if you never read any M/M books but love paranormal than this would be a super book to start with (wish that this would have been my first M/M). I really felt for Jim, Nathan and Sasha and couldn't stop turning the page because I wanted to know what was happening to them. I am so glad I didn't have to wait for the next book which I can't wait to read. I am giving this 5 stars; would give it more but there isn't any."

Recent Changeling review:
"This book is a great addition from the first. Still loving it. The characters really come to life and you get to know a little more from each one as you turn the pages. You can’t help but feel for them all, and keep your fingers crossed that it will all work out in the end. Really well written and the reader gets sucked into another world which is yet still so like ours. You can't help but fall in love with the main characters. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and will give 5 stars because there are no more to give."

-Reviewer for Paranormal Romance and Authors that Rock

But community as a writer isn’t just about getting comments from readers—though I love that part, and it’s one of the reasons I will write fanfiction until I die, because the ability to comment and respond to even a single chapter is made so easy online—but also in the community of authors themselves; other writers sharing ideas and support.

Being published through BigWorldNetwork is one way I’ve been able to hang onto the sense of community I love with fanfiction, especially since it has allowed me to get to know so many remarkable writers, narrators, and editors. As a BWN Team, many of us converse daily, and it never fails to inspire me when I see interactions happening.

After all, we’re not competitors. Books aren’t like other products where because someone buys another book, they won’t buy yours. Consumption of reading material is a constant thing. Just because someone doesn’t buy your book this month, or even this year, doesn’t mean they won’t eventually. So authors need to embrace being there for each other as much as themselves.

One great place I’ve found help with this—and goodness, do I wish I had more time to really make use of this site—is from groups on Goodreads, particularly Support for Indie Authors. If you’re an indie author, you should be part of this group too!

Being able to ask questions, share wins, review each other’s work, all with open, honest community is the best tool any author can have. So wherever you find that kind of community for yourself, embrace it. And if you’re a reader…be sure and leave a review from time to time. It keeps the muses happy.

There are two types of writers (and those of us who fall into a third category somewhere in between)—those who plan out everything to the letter before they write, and those who write by the seat of their pants, allowing the characters and writing process to dictate where the story goes.

Or, as George R.R. Martin puts it:

“I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they're going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there's going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up. The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don't know how many branches it's going to have, they find out as it grows. And I'm much more a gardener than an architect.”

Even those of us who would staunchly consider ourselves architects will often change things when our characters surprise us and a little gardening is needed. But I think it’s also important for gardeners to at the very least retroactively do some heavy planning, namely by taking notes as they write and brainstorm ideas that they can easily reference later when editing.

I am a middle of the road writer. I plan, more so with every new book idea, but those plans change, often greatly as a story moves forward, and I’ll find myself altering even the biggest plot points. This is made so much easier by taking excessive notes from the start of the writing process through completion.

Title ideas? Written down. Character bios and physical descriptions? All down. Snippets of dialogue. An outline. And, eventually, notes about plot points, reveals, really any pertinent details marked as connected to the chapter they appear in so that later I can easily see any plot holes or things I missed that need to be brought up again, or maybe even removed.

I cannot tell you how helpful this practice was as I edited what will be my new series, Life as a Teenager Vampire, starting with BWN in February! Even with a few ‘kill your darlings’ moments. I had the notes, but darn it, the scene or detail no longer worked with the overall story. (Of course I still saved those notes, and any scenes I cut, because you should never, ever delete something you could potentially use later or change your mind about).

So I implore you, fellow writers, whether you’re a gardener like Martin, a planner, or a mixed bag like me, take notes throughout your entire writing process. You and your readers will be thankful for the attention to detail and (hopefully) flawless plot that comes out of it.

Everyone deals with writer’s block. Sometimes the answer is to take a break. But since we all know that writing a little every day is best to facilitate a healthy writing relationship, how do you take a break, or step back from your fiction writing, while still keeping your juices flowing? Non-fiction.

Non-fiction doesn’t mean you suddenly change the genre you write in. It can mean blogging, like I am now, keeping a journal, writing articles for other publications (or your day job), or simple commentary on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr to get your ideas, even if non-fictional, out of you.

Personally, I find that spending some time getting my everyday thoughts on paper (or in a Word doc) makes me itch to get back to my fiction, especially if I had otherwise recently burnt out on fiction writing.

Write every day. Yes. But don’t feel you need to only work on you current big fiction project just because you are or want to be a fiction writer. Take a break, writer something else, write something in a genre or style unlike your big project, and you might be surprised how quickly you’re inspired to return to the writing you really want to delve into.

Every spring I participate as a judge for local Speech competitions in Minnesota. Sometimes I forget how seriously Minnesota takes its Speech season, as we have an entirely different organization than the National Forensics League, doing our own thing on the side with some of our own categories, while also having kids participate in the NFL version when we compete at Regional, State, and National competitions.

Minnesota High School Speech is composed of thirteen categories across interpretive and public speaking styles, some of which have the students write the content themselves. The categories offered include things like Creative Expression, Discussion, Extemporaneous Speaking, Informative Speaking, and Original Oratory.

While I’d love to go into detail on all of these categories, I’m going to stick with one today, which despite not being one I participated in during my high school career, is my favorite.

In Original Oratory, or OO, the speaker presents an originally written speech with the purpose of persuading the audience. As a writer, I am most critical when judging categories like this that involve writing because I think there is a distinct lack of good writers in today’s youth. This belief stems from real life examples of people constantly telling me how ‘good writers’ are hard to find in the work force, and experiences I’ve had as an editor.

I had the pleasure of hearing a speech in the OO category this past weekend about critical thinking and how we need to work toward building up this ability in people now more than ever. Considering how important this skill is for writing a persuasive argument as much as an informative speech or essay, the topic resonated particularly strong with me. Too many times I see people picking sides on an argument without presenting facts, or being willing to listen to rebuttals.

Critical thinking is described as “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.” Being objective may be one of the more difficult things for us humans, especially when an issue is important to us, or something we feel very strongly about. But all the more reason that we need to step back, weigh both sides, consider facts, and try to think objectively before forming opinions—or maybe even changing our opinions.

It was a relief to hear a maybe not even sixteen year old young man present a speech on this argument, and do so with critical thinking applied to how he wrote his speech and attempted to persuade me. The kids who ranked lower in that round failed to apply what this boy’s speech was about—the need for evidence and objective reasoning.

Human beings are emotional creatures. As a fiction writer I embrace and accept that emotion is often what drives whether or not someone enjoys my stories, but critical thinking has a place in fiction too. Whether we’re writing to inform or persuade someone, we still always present a thesis, back it up, and then form a conclusion.

In fiction, your readers will ask themselves, maybe subconsciously, maybe directly, whether or not they care about your thesis (what the story is about), whether or not you gave adequate reasons for them to agree (enjoyed the plot and building climax), and whether or not your conclusion (the story’s ending) was satisfying. It’s only if they can answer ‘yes’ that they will leave your work having truly enjoyed it.

Consider critical thinking when writing anything, when commenting on others’ work, when engaging in conversation, no matter the topic. We might be emotional beings, but we’re also intelligent, so the next time you present writing to the world, hand-written or typed, to any audience, ask yourself whether or not you did so objectively and applied critical thinking to what you said. Chances are you’ll be more persuasive, more informative, and more engaging if you did.