Alyssa Hubbard's Blog, page 20

How writing kept me from a drug addiction, and how YOU helped

Nearly a year ago, my mother kicked me out of my home because she hated my father. She punished me because I loved him, and that I wanted to have a relationship with him. My mother never had a father, and she couldn’t understand why I wanted to be with mine. So, her hate extended outward. It went from him to me.

I left.

I moved in with my grandmother, who lived not but a few feet from my dad. It wasn’t bad. I had a roof over my head, I didn’t have someone screaming at me because I had asked to stay an extra night with my father, I wasn’t being called a bitch, a gold-digger, selfish, all because I wanted to be happy. But my grandma isn’t an angel. She has her issues, mainly, with pills. She has to have a pain pill every morning and every night just to make it through every day. She lives for them. If she didn’t have those pills, I have no doubt she’d lay in bed until she withered away. Still, she made sure I was fed, happy, and had an easy life. I love her more than she probably knows.

But she doesn’t know she has a problem.

She thinks she hurts and that she is in pain, but she isn’t. My grandmother tells me they tried to take her off pain pills because she was improving, but “it made her sick,” and all they could do for her was to put her back on them. There are times her prescriptions run out, but because she has increased her dosage from the regular one every two days, to two everyday. So, when she runs out, she does get sick, and it’s terrible to see. But when she gets her refill, she’s back to normal. My grandmother has convinced herself that the pills heal her sickness, not that they have caused it – that she has caused it.

So, every time I even feigned a bit of illness, she was pushing two of those little white pills my way. She meant it with good intentions. She’s sick, but she has no clue. I usually tell her “no” and that “I’ll be fine in a bit,” so she’ll just shrug and put it back in the orange canister

Drug addiction isn’t necessarily “genetic,” but I feel like I may be more inclined than other people.

Sometimes, I’ll see my dad’s medication and wonder what it would feel like to take them. It’s a strange feeling. Like an itch you can’t scratch, but it’s mental, not physical. It’s a throb at the very top of my head, near my forehead, but not quite at my hairline. Every time I see pills, I can feel it. It scares me more than I can express. I lay awake at night, crying, wondering if there might be something wrong with me – wondering if I may be sick like my grandmother, or if I will become like her. I love her, but I could never live with myself if I was to become her. But would I even realize it if I was?

If I ever have surgery and they give me pills for the pain, will I be able to handle them? Or will I fall into an addiction that I can’t shake? How do I answer these questions when the only people who I know that can answer are already beyond sick?

How do I stop myself from breaking?

Well, I felt the temptation today. About five minutes before I wrote this blog post. I just got home from work, tired, angry because someone cussed me out over a thing of milk that was 10 cents higher than advertised, and the first thing I saw was my grandmother’s bottle of pills. That little itch started, and it was stronger than I have ever felt before. I entertained the thought for awhile, wondering if just a taste would really make a difference. I was frightened, scared out of my mind, but I couldn’t stop myself from at least opening the bottle and looking at them. I stared long and hard at those little pills, wondering and thinking, just fumbling them around – back and forth, back and forth in my hands.

Then, I closed the cap, and put them back on the side table. I went back to the couch, picked up my laptop, and decided to write this post. Why? Because I’m strong enough to avoid the temptation. I can write out my pain and not have to take a pill to feel better. Because it’s okay to sit at this keyboard and cry, despite the typos and the run-ons. I wrote this because I know there may be someone, somewhere out there who needs a chance. Needs something to tell them, to help them be strong, and to put down those pills or that needle, and if I’m that person, and this is that post, then my struggle and my tears were all worth it.

 

YOU ARE STRONG ENOUGH.

Pills make you weak, they don’t make you strong. You’re strong enough without them, and there’s something better in this world. Time, tears, and love are stronger than any pill ever could be. And even if you think: Sure, there’s time and I can cry, but no one out there loves me. Let me tell you now, I DO.

 

I DON’T KNOW YOU.

I MAY NEVER KNOW YOU.

BUT I DO LOVE YOU.

I WROTE THIS FOR YOU,

BECAUSE I WASN’T STRONG ENOUGH.

NOW I’M STRONG,

AND IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU.

THANK YOU.

Thank you for reading.

-Lissy

Filed under: Personal Posts

Mistakes of a Writer

Writers are creatures of habit, as are humans, but writers aren’t necessarily human, are they? Regardless, it’s important to always have some awareness as to what your habits are, which ones are good for your writing and which are bad. Thus, I have for you my list of bad habits, which I hope will encourage you to write your own and, hopefully, we can work through them together. Now, onward to the list.

ADVERBS

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I bleed adverbs. When I type my fingers down to stumps, my stumps will still be bleeding adverbs. I’m not sure where this habit came from, but I can tell you now, I have it bad. The only way I can think to fix it is to be more aware of what I’m writing and edit, edit, edit. Isn’t that pretty much what all writers do? Edit, edit, edit.
OMNISCIENT CHARACTERS

This is more of a personal flaw than anything else, but it too often sneaks in to my writing, so it makes the list. I like to know everything. I’m snoopy, I ask a lot of questions, and I try to keep in “the loop,” as much as possible. Well, that mindset tends to carry over into my characters. They know way too much and figure everything out way too easy. I usually write the beginning chapter(s) up until every character is introduced, then I go back and do a full upheaval of all of the characters. It would probably save me time just to fix them as I write, but I tend to get into a writing frenzy and forget to be aware of what my characters are becoming. Another bad habit. That one may deserve a bullet point a little further down.
EDITING BEFORE THE FIRST DRAFT

I think this is the most common problem among all writers. You get in the middle of a draft, and you have this strange itch. You’re typing away, but your hand freezes before hitting that period. You look at your word count. Wow. 10,000 words. That’s a lot. You scroll up and check out that first chapter and start skimming. You edit things, change things, maybe wonder why wrote certain things. It can change your mood, your story, your self-esteem, all before the first draft is even done. That’s my problem. I’ve gotten better with time and getting Scrivener, which has a typewriter view.
STARTING PROJECTS IN THE MIDDLE OF ANOTHER PROJECT

There’s nothing wrong with having multiple projects until you start abandoning them for more, then abandon those for more, then abandoning those for more, etc. This is another problem of mine. Creativity is the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving, and giving. Thankfully, this is where my love lists comes into play. I take notes. If I have a whole plot building in my head, I write full outlines. I may not follow them fully later on, but I at least have all of my ideas and concepts written down. Note-taking is key all throughout life. School, work, and writing.

These are just a few of the many, many, MANY bad habits I have as a writer. I’m sure I could write an entire book based around my mistakes and bad habits, but I’ll stop here, as these are some the main and most hard to deal with ones. Now, I dare you to make a list, you don’t have to post it, but I’d love it if you would. Maybe we can work through some of them or at least talk it out and share in our writerly-misfortunes.

If you’d like to remain private and have something you’d like to become a full-length, in-depth blog post, head on over to my About and Contact page, fill out the contact sheet and send it in. I’ll let you know if I can help! Let me know what you think, and comment below.

Thanks for reading.

-Lissy

Filed under: Personal Posts, Writing and Marketing Tips

Drawn to Oregon – The Mystery and the Dream

All of my life, I have always told myself I would never leave the state of Alabama.

Good ole southern home of mine.

Right below that Dixie line.

Where it rains for days, but the sun still shines.

Mmm, yes. This home of mine.

(Made that up on the spot. Pretty proud of myself).

But lately I’ve been drawn to other places. I’m looking at the big picture and want to broaden my horizons.

Not too far, mind you. While I would love to travel out of the country, that is beyond my means right now. I can barely afford a cup of ramen noodles, much less a plane ticket. Though I still couldn’t afford to do it, I’ve been struck with the need to go to Portland, Oregon.

Yep. Portland, Oregon.

I’ve only recently learned that there are no taxes, which only strengthens my resolve to live there for an extended amount of time, but even before I heard that wonderful tid bit, I’ve wanted to go. If not live there, I at least want to vacation up there.

It’s strange, but it’s one of those things that I’ve always been drawn to do. Destiny? Fate? I’m not sure, but I know it is most certainly a dream of mine.

Dreams and writing are two things that have kept me motivated and active in life. Without dreams and goals to aspire to, I would surely just wither away at a dead-end job in a sweaty corner of Alabama, but I’ve found that most of my dreams are short-termed and probably won’t carry me too far into the future. Is anyone else like that, or am I just some oddity of the world?

While all of my friends from high school are getting married, I’m planning trips to Portland and looking for residencies where I can just write day-in and day-out. Do you feel like that? Do you have similar dreams?

Comment below, and please let me know. I’d love to hear from you all.

In the meantime, here are a few of my dreams/goals for life. These will probably change, and the list is guaranteed to grow, but we’ll see where life takes me:

Visit or live in Portland, Oregon
Attend a book festival (preferably the AL, GA, or TN ones)
Graduate college
Apply for a writing residency
Publish as many books as I can before my hands fall off
Learn to write with my feet if the bullet point above occurs
Write and publish until I die
Visit Ireland
Visit Germany
Get married
Have kids
Live a happy and fulfilling life

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to comment below! I can’t get enough support and discussion from readers or passer-bys. Regardless, thank you so much for your time.

-Lissy

Filed under: Personal Posts

Addictions of a Writer

This is probably the first post that I’m not actually talking specifically about writing, but I’ve found that my posts aren’t as personal as I initially intended them to be. Well, now I’m going to share a little of myself with everyone. Hopefully, I don’t send anyone running toward the unfollow button, but instead keep everyone interested and entertained enough that they decide to make a list like this of their own. Now, onward to the list.

NEURO BRAND DRINKS

These are supposedly mental and dietary supplement drinks, which come in six flavors ranging from focus to sleep. Yes. Focus to Sleep. The Neuro drink line supposedly is supposed to stimulate your brain to react in different ways by adding specific vitamins to your diet. It’s very hippy-dippy, and they have a very conveniently placed FDA warning, which lets me know that none of their statements have been tested. Whether they work or not, I adore these drinks, and I think I have mentally made my body believe they work. I have a Neuro Passion before I write, I have a Neuro Focus while I’m at work, I have a Neuro Bliss to unwind when I get home, and I have Neuro Sleep when I’m about to go to bed. It’s sad, I know, but they’re awesome. Chances are they’re laced with cocaine and will be removed from store shelves soon. Then, commercials advertising law firms will start coming on letting me know that I, “may be entitled to damages.” But hey! Maybe I’ll have another addiction to talk about later!
ONLINE SHOPPING (BOOKS MAINLY)

I know I’m not alone in this. Since a majority of my time is spent on the computer typing, editing, or procrastinating, I also tend to drift over to my Amazon account. Something about adding things to my cart is disgustingly satisfying – even if I don’t buy the items. But when I do, it’s awesome. I love waiting for the packages, opening them, and then adding the books to my bookshelves and reading them later. I have an obsession with collecting books, and I have a terrible need to finish a series – whether I like it or not.
COLLECTING BOOKS

I’ve talked about this briefly already, but, like most of you out there probably reading this, I love books. I read them, I write them, and I want to own them. If I’ve ever read a book that I even partially like, I own it. Even if I have a copy on Kindle/Nook/etc. I will buy a paper copy for my collection. I have 104 books as of right now, and I plan on getting more by Christmas, so this number will certainly grow.
I MAKE SPREADSHEETS. A LOT.

When I initially started the publication process for HUMANS AND THEIR CREATIONS, I made a point to make a spreadsheet. I had a spreadsheet for each story, with columns for “Draft One Completion,” “Editing Completion,” “Formatting,” “Kindle Formatting,” and “Word Count.” I also have lists for my book collection. I have every book title in a column, which to also connected to the book series column (if applicable), all organized by author last name. Then, I have a column for whether I’ve finished the book or not, if I have it borrowed out to anyone and what their name is. I probably sound like a complete control freak by now, but I promise I’m a lot more laid back than this. I just love lists. A lot. Moving on.
PEWDIEPIE

I am a little embarrassed admitting this, but I love PewDiePie. He’s a Swedish let’s player on YouTube. He’s crazy, immature, inappropriate, and I love it. I watch his videos on a daily basis, and especially if I’ve had a rough day at work. I’ve been a fan from the beginning, and I probably will be until the end.

These are random and very personal. I blush at the thought that people will be reading this, but I wanted to share a bit of myself with everyone, so here ya go. Now, I ask, what are you willing to share with me? What are some of your addictions? Whether you’re a writer on not, let me know! Make a list and ping back so I can see it!

And, as always, thanks for reading!

-Lissy

Filed under: Personal Posts

How to use #hashtags to find your readers

This was topic has been at the top of my blog post list, but I only got to writing it when I noticed people were searching “how to use hashtags,” to get to my blog, so I’ve taken a bit of time to make a thorough list of all the reader-tailored hashtags I can find and that I have used. Hashtags are used on Twitter, G+, and even FaceBook. They should be and are a necessary part of every writer’s toolbelt. If you can think of anymore, or if you know of one that’s just been created, please let me know. More tips at the end of the list!

#YALit
#YABooks
#SFLit
#SFBooks
#SciFiLit
#SciFiBooks
#FantasyLit
#FantasyBooks
#ShortStory
#ShortStories
#Folklore
#Fiction
#DebutNovel
#VampireSeries
#Dystopian
#DystopianLit
#BookChat
#ReaderChat
#amreading

TIPS AND TRICKS:

THE BEST WAY TO USE A HASHTAG IS TO USE IT

Don’t see your genre in my list? Just put the genre, “YA”, then add “Lit,” or, “Books,” at the end. There’s your hashtag. Try it out and see what people get drawn to it.
LIMIT HASHTAG USE TO 3

Anymore and you look desperate. Use the three most relevant hashtags, and try to save them for the end of the post. That way, the content is still clear and easily read. If you can incorporate it into the actual post, and in Twitter’s case, save some room, then go ahead.

EXAMPLE:

“My new #DebutNovel ____ is available now! *putyourlinkhere* #Fiction #YALit”
MAKE YOUR OWN HASHTAG

In some cases, this can be good for you. If you have a book series and you’re about to publish the first book, go ahead and make a series hashtag. People want to be noticed, and if they read your book, notice you have a hashtag for it, then they are more likely to share it because they want people to find them. It’s free advertisement. This method is a little tricky, so don’t expect it to work. In all honesty, this is more likely to flop than to work out, but it might be worth a shot.

I hope I have helped and that you’ve found some little kernel of knowledge in my post. Not exactly what you’re looking for? Go to my About and Contact page and let me know what you want to see in my blog posts! Maybe I can help you out.

In the meantime, what hashtags do you use? What hashtags would you use on this list? Let me know, and comment below!

Thanks for reading.

-Lissy

Filed under: Writing Tips

Market to Readers, Not Writers

I make it a point not to follow people on Twitter or G+ who constantly spam links without any type of pre-discussion. Usually, if there is some actual content there that has nothing to do with, “Check out my 5 star book ——> insertlinkhere!” I’ll read the opening, then click the link if I think it’s interesting or not. There’s nothing wrong with sharing content, especially if you think it will help other writers, but when 90% of your follow base are writers… It’s best to keep links to a minimum. Either that, or link to helpful/interesting things. Things WRITERS will find interesting. Share with writers and let them decide if they want to be your readers.

Now, you may ask, well, how do I find readers when most of my followers are

writers? Well, I have a list for that:

READER TAILORED HASHTAGS

Just like authors/writers have writer-tailored hashtags, there are reader tailored ones, too. #amwriting —-> #amreading. Readers love talking to other readers, especially about books they like to read. Just recently I finished Reached from the Matched Series. Once I finished the book, I used the hashtag #MatchedSeries. I got a couple of hits and DMs from people who wanted to know what I thought, and from those people I got a couple of clicks to my website, then to my book. Don’t sell to people. Share. Then, they may take the time to buy it for themselves.
JOIN READING CLUBS/COMMUNITIES/GROUPS/LISTS

I’m just going to assume you like to read what you write, so joining reading groups that you enjoy will help lead you to your readers. Make friends. Let them discover you through your profile. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE. I can’t stress that enough. Please, please, please have it in plain view so it can be easily found. But like I said before, let them find you. Don’t start auto-DMs or any of that nonsense. That’s annoying and a turn-off.
BE ACTIVE

Don’t just join these groups and disappear until your book comes out, then just spam links. Be active. Support your fellow authors and read some books so you can take part in discussion. The more active you are in those groups – where your readers are – the more likely you are to make a sale. Plus, if someone likes you and your work enough, someone else may promote you. Self-promo works, but it can be annoying. If you can get someone else to promote your work by just being you, that’s a major accomplishment. It will help. I promise.
REMEMBER, YOU STARTED AS A READER

Supporting and helping other writers by just being a reader, speaks volumes. It shows that you’re active, that you’re not only out to make a sale, and that you genuinely care about other writes. This is where that sharing aspect really comes in. Share your knowledge. Share yourself. Tell people about your favorite books, ask them about theirs, ask about their books, and hopefully they’ll ask about yours. Just don’t forget you started as a reader. Be a reader, and remember what you look for in an author.

This was a really touchy-feely post for me, or at least it seemed that way. Too often I will meet a fantastic author who seems genuinely wanting to help, but in the end only talked to me long enough to sell a book, then disappeared to go sell to someone else. Regardless, I hope everyone I speak to – writer or reader – finds some of my tips and tricks useful and that we can spark up discussion more than once.

Now, for the discussion. I want to divert a little bit and ask a few personal questions, what are your favorite books? Do you read YA? What groups would you be apart of as a writer? Want to ask me a question? Feel free.

And as always, thank you for reading!

-Lissy

Filed under: Personal Posts, Writing Tips

Staying Interested in the Editing Process

Me after editing… see how happy I am? Yeah… I don’t either.

I have written plenty of editing posts, all with my different editing techniques using my own voice and typewriters, but I was asked not too long ago how I stay interested in the process. It had never occurred to me that it might be hard to stay interested in the editing process. Most of the time we are so engrossed in the process of actually writing the first draft that we may slack or completely forget about editing. Not always, but it happens.

Sure, you could hire a professional editor, but not everyone has the funds to do so. Plus, it’s always good to edit for yourself, even if you can afford an editor. All of this is a learning process, and this is where you can start:

FIGURE OUT YOUR EDITING PROCESS

I actually have two, which are linked above. It took me awhile to figure out what actually helped me stay focused without falling into the monotony of editing. Monotony is bad. Nothing wrong with being consistent, but going through the motions doesn’t help anyone. So, play around. What process do you find less boring? What process might get you excited? Try the classics, try the different, try the innovative. Doesn’t matter. Try them all. Find your process.
FOUND IT? TRY ANOTHER!

What? But I have one that works! Why do I need another? Like your writing style, your editing process needs to evolve. And sure, the one you have now may be working for you, but it will eventually get tiring. Working at a grocery was new and exciting for awhile, but once you’ve rang up bananas (code 4011) over one hundred times, it loses that certain allure… it becomes just another job. I’m not saying you should get another job, but writing doesn’t have to be a job. Neither does editing. Mix it up and keep yourself excited about trying something new.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO EVOLVE

Like I said before, your writing style has changed overtime, so don’t be afraid of changing your editing style along with it. Technology is evolving everyday, so see what’s out there. Try hard ways. Try easy ways. That’s how I keep myself editing. There are too many tools to try out, and too many different processes. Editing isn’t always going to be fun, but it doesn’t have to be boring either. Don’t be afraid of plunging into a new process.

My processes won’t be for everyone, and that is ok. That’s what is so great about blogs, Google+, twitter, and FaceBook. There are so many other places to look for new and innovative processes, and you don’t have to follow anyone else’s technique to the very end. Mix and match, if you so choose. It can only help you in the end. I hope I’ve helped someone out. Now, for my favorite part of any blog post, what do you think? Do you have a set editing ritual? How do you mix it up and stay dedicated to editing? Let me know and comment below!

Thanks for reading!

-Lissy

Filed under: Writing Tips

What I read this month – June 2013, Matched by Ally Condie

After some thought and endless back-and-forth with myself, I’ve decided to start a little mini-series of posts, if you will, of some of my favorite books from month to month, always posted at the end of the month in question (or at the very beginning of the next month. I’m lazy, and it will probably happen).

These posts are for book discussion and to express my overly-fangirly nature over certain books and series. Though I already have an extensive library with plenty of reading material, I’m always looking out for new or interesting titles. Not only is this for me, but for other writers! Often times, writers forget they started off as readers. Support your fellow authors, and read!

WARNING: SELF-PROMO IS NOT ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS

It will be considered spam and deleted immediately. However, if you would like me to buy and read your book, I’ll gladly take recommendations on this page. Fill out the contact sheet with a link to your book, and I will get to reading! While I will read most recommendations, I won’t review them all. If the book in question would probably get less than three stars, I’ll simply keep the review to myself, and either email the author directly (if they themselves sent me a contact sheet),  or just hide the book from prying eyes. I want to recommend books that I will read, and that I think others will enjoy. No need to embarrass or completely wreck a book’s reputations.

Now, with all of the “rules” and “disclaimers” out of the way, on to the books!

This month, I read the last book of the Matched Series by Ally Condie: Reached. While I only read Reached this month, I will only be doing a review of the first book. Mainly to prevent unnecessary spoilers, while introducing the series to new readers. I will review the others upon request or recommendation.

1st Book in the series: Matched

Rating: 4/5
Genre: YA/Dystopian

Matched is about a futuristic society, appropriately named the Society, which was formed after a vague technological disaster. The MC is Cassia, a teenage girl, Society-molded, and on her way to her Match Banquet, which is the ceremony that puts teenagers together with their soul mate. Though, in my opinion, it’s just a prettier version of a breeding ceremony – moving on!

At the banquet, Cassia is surprised to find that her match is her longtime best friend Xander Carrow. So many cuddly feels at this point, other than my disgusting image of a breeding ceremony *shiver* – moving on!

Cassia is happy and comforted by the fact that she already knows her match and even lives in the same borough (town, basically) as he does, which is rare, as most of the teens going to be matched don’t already know their matches nor do they live near each other. After receiving her match, she is given a microcard, something the Society creates in order for matches to get to know one another before meeting.

Cassia rushes home and pops that puppy in and everything is going hunky-dory-lovey-dovey until another face pops up on the screen. A face that isn’t Xander’s. Somehow she has been matched with two people, and the book has Cassia trying to figure out how and why this happened because the Society and supposedly perfect – the Society doesn’t make mistakes.

I’ll stop there, since most of the information I’ve given can be easily read on the back of the book, and I’m tired of info-dumping. *shrug* Onto the review portion!

This book completely gripped me. The world it built had me floored, and all of the wonderful technology involved was wonderfully crafted. The only reason this book didn’t get a full on 5/5 was because there have been many reviews saying this book is identical to Lois Lowry’s The Giver, I haven’t read it yet, but I plan to. I can’t really judge Matched on that because I have no idea if it is or not. So, just to be safe, I ticked off a star. Still, a great book.



This is your classic love triangle, though, in my opinion, the winner is apparent from the beginning of his introduction. I could just be biased, but I knew she would choose him. Anywho, in all honesty, I probably would’ve given this book a 4/5 anyway just based on the love triangle. I have nothing against them, and they definitely sell books, but I feel like they follow a similar formula every time.

Regardless, I love how Cassia grows from the love triangle. While most love triangles are just for the romance factor, with the MC barely growing as a person, Cassia actually takes the fact that there is a choice to make her more independent. The Society wants everyone to rely on them, obviously because they want control. Well, Cassia wants control, but of her own life. The revelations she goes through are very thought-provoking, at least in my own opinion. It had me turning pages and wanting to read self-help books. Condie needs to write a book called How to Take Control of Your Life by Using Love Triangles: Love is a YA Learning Device. Condie, if you’re reading this, you can find my contact page above. Let’s talk pages.

But the pacing is slow. While the revelations are thought-provoking and beautiful with their metaphors and symbolic meaning, they tend to be dragged on. The plot and pacing suffers for it. The only thing that kept me reading them was because they were well-written and beautiful, so kudos to Mrs. Condie.

All-in-all, it’s your fun run-of-the-mill YA romance book with a fun dystopian twist. Not exactly the quick kind of read, but one I would recommend to buy and add to your collection.

Purchase Status: Purchased

I hope you enjoyed my first review. This is far from perfect and a major experiment, but I hope you still find it interesting. I hope enough people like it enough to keep me writing more. Now, for questions, what did you think of the review? Did you agree, disagree? Any recommendations? Anything you’d like to add? Let me know, and comment below.

Thank you for reading!

-Lissy

Filed under: Monthly Reads

Back Cover Text, Book Blurbs, and Other Fun Stuff

Everyone assumes the hardest part of any journey to publication is finishing

that first draft, but it really just takes time, patience, coffee, therapy,

medication, etc… For me, the hardest part was trying to write a back cover

“blurb.” Yes. A paragraph was harder to write than my short story collection

Humans and Their Creations. The main issue is the daunting question, “How do I

describe all of that hard work in a single paragraph, when the work itself

contains _____+ paragraphs?”

It’s a lot harder than it looks, but with a few tips, tricks, notecards, and

some more medication, you’ll have a back cover blurb all your own… And maybe

even a few new favorite medications, but we’ll cover that another time (I don’t

condone drug use, just by the way. Drugs are bad. Don’t do them. Don’t go pilfering your grandma’s cabinet for her heart pills. Those are bad, too).

Now, here is my list of tips. Follow them, if you dare:

NOTECARDS ARE YOUR FRIEND

There are no rules to how you should go about making your back cover text, but my own personal rule of thumb is that it should be no longer than a fairly small notecard. Granted, your hand-writing can make a big difference, so playing with different notecard sizes could be beneficial for you, but I push for you to go for handwritten words during this process. Even if your book was written in Word or Scrivener, I would write the drafts of my book blurb on a notecard. Size is a major factor because you can go nuts in a word document, and it’s hard to tell just how large your paragraph is. If you have a book cover designer already, I’d go ahead and ask him/her what they think the ample size is, then I don’t think it would matter too much whether you use a word document or a notecard, but your designer will thank you, regardless.
YOU WILL HAVE MULTIPLE DRAFTS

Just like your book, you’ll probably have multiple drafts, and these aren’t necessarily for editing purposes. You probably will want to have multiple versions to choose from. Remember, you’re not married to the first one you write. This is a process – not too different from dating. You’re getting to know your book and its blurb, but you’re not married to any one blurb. Be comfortable with the amount of versions you may end up with. Quantity isn’t always a bad thing, especially when trying to decide which is of the best quality. Remember that.
HAVE BETA READERS READY TO GO

With the length of your book blurb a lot less than the actual book, hopefully, it won’t take very long for a few blurbs to come out of the woodwork. So, have some readers ready. I’d personally go for readers who have never beta’d your book and who have no hard, emotional ties to you. You want honesty, not a couple of butt pats and a gold-star. Plus, you want them to pick up your book like they would in a book store. They know barely anything about it, except what is on that back cover and what is revealed in the cover. Have them ready, then give them your top 3 versions. Anymore and you may be diluting their focus and excitement. If there isn’t an excellent response for anyone, then pull out the next three, or go back to the drawing board.
MENTION YOUR MAIN CHARACTER’S NAME

This is probably common sense, but you’d be surprised how many writer’s fail to mention their character’s name. Don’t get so caught up in the plot that you’re too busy talking about events than the character that will experience them. Your MC will be your reader’s guide, whether it be the narrator, a girl, a boy, a couple, a group, whatever. Name them. Name them in the blurb.
CREATE MOVEMENT IN YOUR BLURB

Just like in your book, you want to grab and hold your reader’s attention. In this case, this may determine whether or not a reader buys your book or not, so you want it to represent your book in the best way possible. So, in approximately five sentences, you have to grab a reader. Mention your character’s name, then, without giving away too much info, put them through hell (or heaven. Depends on how your book goes). Make the reader want to see and support your character through their journey. What about your book excited you? What part had you crying along with your character? What scared your character? If it elicited an emotional response from you, it’s probably worth adding to the blurb.

These are just a couple of the many things you can do, but I think these are key to making a great back cover book description-thingy. What do you think? Anything you’d like to add? How do you create your back cover blurbs? Let me know and comment below!

Thanks for reading!

-Lissy

Filed under: Writing Tips

Writing Tools, My Preferences

Writers have preferences – no question about it. The tools we write with make or break our creative flow, whether it’s a pen or the paper.  When my favorite pen, which I had written with for a year and a half, finally died,  it took me days to find a pen worthy enough to write in my favorite notebooks. Sounds melodramatic, but it did make a difference. I’ve written a post before about writing tools, which included tools I use during editing, my favorite reference books, etc. This post will be what I write with, like my favorite pen and notebook type, and, as always, it’s time for my list.

jot Pens

This is probably the cheapest pen you can get. I got them at Dollar General because I thought they were pretty. Probably spent more on a toilet paper roll than I did these pens. Regardless, the ball point pens are awesome. I love them, and they come in different colors, which is always a plus. Cheap and awesome – can’t get any better than that.

Cambridge Notebooks – Mead

Mead has a long list of foreign brand notebooks, which I seem to always have an issue finding in any store of Alabama, but that could just be because I live in Alabama. Anyway, I got these notebooks for Christmas from my grandmother, who also has an odd obsession with collecting notebooks and pens. They were the plastic front 8 x 11 regular Cambridge notebooks. I have six of those, plus one Cambridge Limited hardback (featured in the picture) 8 x 11, and four Cambridge Limited 8 x 4 plastic front notebooks. I love them, and they’re the only ones I will ever use to write in, though I have never tried a moleskine… may need to add that later. These notebooks are very pricey, and it tends to be a hassle trying to find the exact kind you’re looking for (I provided a size, in case anyone wants to try them out. Makes it a bit easier), but the money is well worth it.

Scrivener

Once again, I will never ever, ever, ever, ever use anything but Scrivener. It is the most superior piece of word processor I have ever used in my life. It has typewriter mode, which I use religiously, and I can separate scenes into different text files, which provides for much easier organization. I left Microsoft Word, and I haven’t looked back.

These are the tools of my trade. I also have a typewriter, but I don’t know enough about them to really comment on what I think the best kind is.  Regardless, these are my favorite tools. Now, for my favorite part of any blog post, what tools do you use? What are your favorite pens? Notebooks? Typewriter? Comment below and let me know!

Thanks for reading!

-Lissy

Filed under: Personal Posts, Writing Tips