Laura Teagan's Blog, page 29

Reader or Writer? Who is Your Audience?

Back when I was thinking up the new Ginger & Co. brand, I knew I wanted to include a series about writing and marketing. After some thought, I realized that those types of posts wouldn’t fit into my demographic of Ginger & Co.

Hence Ginger & Books was born. While I talk more about writing on here, I had originally intended for this to be for readers, too. That obviously didn’t happen.

A few weeks ago, I participated in my first #storysocial chat. It’s a twitter chat for authors and writers about branding, blogging, and social media – so, of course, it’s right up my alley. But someone mentioned that readers and writers are two different types of people, and wouldn’t like the same kind of content.

I don’t even remember who said it, but that has stuck with me.

One of my biggest branding problems has always been my blogging brand versus my brand as an author. I’ve made several changes throughout the years, thinking I’d solved the problem. But it never felt good enough, but I kept going because I couldn’t think of anything else.

I think I’ve figured it out. I don’t know when it dawned on me, but I think I figured it out. Over the past few months, Ginger & Books has merged from a part of my author brand to more of the Ginger & Co. brand because of the name, and the way I promote it.

Do you have two separate brands for your readers and the other writers out there?
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Ginger & Books is for writers, not readers. Readers are eventually where I’ll be directing my book to when it comes out. So, once again, it’s time to separate the brands.

I’ll be working on a website specifically for my writing and for my reader fans, but Ginger & Books will stay the same. I’ll also change all my social media to reflect Laura and not the Ginger brand. I don’t talk a lot about branding on this blog, but it’s something I think about everyday.

So, be prepared for some more awesomeness, but nothing else. I’ll make sure that everything is an easy transition. I do believe this will be the best way to serve both my book audience and other writers (and the audiences at Ginger & Co.).

So, tell me, if you have audiences that are readers and writers, how do you do it? Do you have two separate websites for each? Share your knowledge!

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How I Found My Writing Groove

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post titled “Making Your Writing Schedule,” and while I still think it’s a totally valid post, I wrote that with the intention of creating my writing schedule.

And, maybe in a way, I have, but more importantly, I found my writing groove. I found a groove that, as long as I stick to it, I’m cranking out some decent numbers. You see, i’ve never liked the mornings. I always try to take classes in the morning because that gets them done and out of the way.

So, imagine my surprised last week, when one morning, after the gym, I sat down to write just from a want to write, and I cranked out 1.5K in about half an hour. I know this isn’t anything magical, but the focus was there. The next day, the same. And then again, the same. Every morning, I was getting something done for my book, whether it was 500 words or 2,000.

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Until Monday, when it was 9:30 and I didn’t have my #writechain goal done. It took me three hours to get that done. Same with Tuesday. Yesterday, I forced myself to get it done right after lunch, and ended up with over 3,700 written and another 1,400 edited.

Y’all, I am on a roll.

So, now that I’m realizing this pattern, I’m actually excited about school coming up. I have afternoon classes this semester, which means I get every morning to actually write. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for mornings on a regular basis.

If you’re struggling with making a writing schedule that you can write everyday with, or if you just can’t find a groove, here’s three questions you need to ask yourself.

1. Am I dedicating a good, solid hour just to writing everyday? If you can’t dedicate an hour, dedicate half an hour. Whatever you can do. I’m hoping that once school starts, I’ll still be able to work on this every day.

2. If you’re dedicating that time, can you change the time? I used to wait and make writing my book the last thing I did every day, but that changed when it became the first thing I did everyday.

3. If that doesn’t work, maybe do you need an environment change? For a while, I was working at my desk, but that is killing my neck. Yesterday, when I blew through 5,000 words, I did 3,000 of those on the floor. I have a wireless keyboard that I took with me, and propped myself on the floor, while my computer was still on the desk.

So, tell me, how did you find your writing groove?

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The Badass Guide to Creating Natural Dialogue

Dialogue is so important to your characters and story, and I think that’s why I love it. The words your characters speak are just as important as the way they say those words. Sometimes, though, dialogue can be a tricky little sucker, right?

Especially when you’re writing from an area you don’t know. For instance, if your character is from another part of the country, she’s going to speak differently than you do. This is definitely an instance where you kick the idea of “write what you know” in the butt. Or if you write fantasy and create your own world (read She’s Novel’s awesome post about world building here), you need to create some dialogue.

Today, I’m going to take a look at eleven tips to creating that natural dialogue.

1. Dialect – For this, I’m going to use the example of my main character, Cassie, and I. Both of us hail from Texas, so it’s totally natural for her to drop a “y’all” in the conversation, even if she lives and works in Washington, D.C. Little tidbits like that can help give your character a more realistic sense in your story. Or create a fish out of water scenario which is fun to play with. If you’re still struggling on where to place your book to begin with, read this post about picking your book’s setting.

2. Do your research – If your character is from somewhere else, try to find primary sources of people from that area talking. If your character is from New York, watch videos on youtube of people from New York and take note of some of the words they say, how fast they talk, etc. You want to style your dialogue in a similar way.

Now that you have the tools to find out the dialect, you want to make sure it sounds natural, even if you are unfamiliar with the area.

3. Even with Dialect, Don’t Go Overboard –  In my creative writing class last semester, one girl wrote a short story almost completely in dialect. While it was a brilliant idea, too much dialect can be a huge distraction. Dialect is something you use sparingly.  It can help you create a sense of belonging to your character, but too much of it and your reader will feel exhausted and won’t continue reading. If you use dialect, I’d suggest only using it dialogue, not in the narration.

4. Read it Back – With that, to make sure you have a good balance of “normal” English and your dialect, more favoring to the “normal English.” If you can’t read the dialect naturally within your dialogue (and I mean read it out loud), you can probably ditch it. The whole point of creating natural dialogue is to have it sound like an actual conversation that could really happen anywhere, with normal people.

5. Use Contradictions – I read a book a few years back, and while I don’t remember the book, I remember it being in the south and the total lack of contradictions. All the dialogue was very formal. Use contradictions to help break up the pace, and because people talk with contradictions. Do not and cannot are all fine and dandy for a formal paper for your English class, but not for two people talking to one another.

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6. Stay Away From Monologues –  People don’t (DO NOT) talk in monologues, unless they’re ranting. Even then, you can break up a person’s monologue with some inner thoughts, or body language.

Which leads me to my next point.

7. Body language can be dialogue too – Body language is a dialogue of its own, and make sure its reflected in the way your character talks. If your character is mad, not only will the words convey that, but adding body language like “she slapped the plates down on the counter” help build the tone of that dialogue. Even though body language happens in the narration, it’s still a major part of creating that dialogue.

8. Break it Up – This kind of goes with tip #6, but break it up. Conversations and dialogue are between two people. Even if you are ranting in a monologue, break it up with body language, something happening, or internal thought.

9. Add some distractions – In life, it’s easy to get distracted and start a whole new conversation without realizing it. Make this happen, and it’s okay if it’s often. We have meaningless conversations everyday. Even though some may argue they’re pointless to the story (which they are), adding these meaningless conversations help make your characters human.

10. Don’t be afraid to drop a few bad words – Most adults cuss at least every now and then. Don’t filter out the bad things just because you’re afraid of a few four letter words. If your character talks tough, you need to make it authentic. Now, don’t drop “fucks” and “shits” just for shits and giggles, but make them a part of your character’s natural language.

And my final tip:

11. Go On Instinct – If it sounds funny, it probably is funny, as in, if it sounds wooden, or unreal, it probably is. You’re human, you know how humans talk to one another every day. Don’t overthink it to make it perfect. People are wonderfully, imperfect projects.

What tip would you add for creating natural dialogue? 

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Building Your Book a Following

First off, Happy birthday to my sweet mom! Love you, Mom (pretty sure she doesn’t read this, but just in case, I’m covered)!

Second, today, we’re going to talk about something that I don’t think you’ll see much of online, but this is something I’ve become pretty decent at and am in the middle of doing all over again. Let me ask you a question. Does your unpublished book have a following or fan base?

No? Why not?

With the dawn of the internet, it’s easier than ever to build a following for a book before it’s actually published. This is actually really how I got my start online, way before I started blogging. I started on an online writing platform designed to help budding authors, and a few even got publishing deals with HarperCollins.

Now, I wasn’t that lucky, but I was lucky enough to be considered a top pick, and thus had my book read by an editor for HarperCollins. While none of it is very relevant anymore, I do get to call myself an award-winning author, right?

The point was, this was my first test at marketing and advertising – long before I decided to become a public relations and advertising major (at the time, I was thinking I’d be a criminal justice major). Maybe it was because of this that I thought I could do marketing and advertising.

Do you have a way for people to read part of your book before it's actually done? #amwriting
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Either way, this was a mini-test to see how well I could build a following for my book, and for a while I did. Granted, I had friends in high places and for once in my life, I ran around with the “popular kids” (that didn’t last long though).

The point is, I still have people today who ask about my book because they found it on this website. So, today, I’m going to break down some places you can post your writing online before it’s actually published. Now, if you’re like me and slightly paranoid, don’t post the whole book, but post enough for people to get excited and want to know the end of the story.

Wattpad. I don’t know how long this one has been around, but it’s big and it’s been there for forever. There’s a lot of younger writers, at least from what I’ve seen. Lots of fan-fiction, too. While this is the most popular, you have to invest a lot of time in it, and to be honest, from what I’ve tried, there isn’t much constructive criticism. This is great for an ego boost if you’re good, but don’t look here to expand your writing skills too much.

Figment. This is the website that bought inkpop from HarperCollins way back when. While I’ve experimented with it, I really just hate the immature web design on it, so I’ve basically stayed clear of it. By all accounts, it’s a very big community, so if you’re looking to connect, you can definitely try that too. Beyond that, I can’t tell you much about it.

Writeon. This is Amazon’s attempt to build up some authors before they publish on Amazon’s Kindle and essentially bring them more money when people buy books on Amazon. And it’s a brilliant idea. When people are on WriteOn, they’re basically on Amazon, and people go to Amazon to buy stuff. So while my book isn’t available to purchase yet, I’m already prepping them to come to the site, read my stuff and buy it.

Pretty brilliant, yes? I also love the design of the website, very minimalistic and the comments I’ve received are definitely decent. I’d say WriteOn is definitely an older crowd, so if you’re looking for that, WriteOn is your place.

Now, some of these places you’ll need to do promotion. With any website, you get out what you put in. If you’re just starting out, pick one and stick with that for a while, while you get the ball rolling. Some sites have features where you can message followers when you update a story, making sure they never have to miss it again.

If you aren’t already, you need to be out there building a base for your book – this will create sales in the long run when you publish, either for traditional publishing or self-publishing.

If you join one of these networks, let me know!

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July Writing Goals

Wow. I can’t believe July is tomorrow! Y’all, this past month has been… tough. A real glimpse into what life after graduation may hold. And the scary thing is, I really struggled to work writing into my schedule.

Yikes. That’s just a tad bit terrifying. When I’m too busy to write at school, there’s always the promise of Christmas break or summer break. But once I graduate? Neither of those really exist. So, this month, I’m going to have to figure out how to write, blog, and do everything else while I still can. Lots of changes in the month of June have left me with a pretty open July (minus one class), so I definitely plan to use it to my advantage.

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Looking back at June, I really only had three goals for June. Here’s what they were:

Find some beta readers: I have one awesome beta reader, but I know that I really ought to have a couple more. My only problem is, where do you find a beta reader? So, I’m going to figure that out next month, and in July, I’ll let you know!

Launch the newsletter: If you’re on the blog, you can sign up over there, but you can sign up for The Ginger’s Book Club right here. I’m really excited to launch it at the end of June! I’ll spend most of June coming up with some great ideas.

Make an exciting announcement about an e-book: I feel like I’ve already said enough, but I’ll be hopefully making some exciting news later in the month about something fun!

Find another beta reader? Well, that didn’t really happy.

Launch the newsletter? That did! The first edition of Ginger’s Book Club landed in inboxes Saturday morning! Over the next few weeks, we’ll go more in-depth into plot, but you’ll only get access to that through the newsletter.

Make an exciting announcement? Haha… nope. I’m working on one, but this past month really sucked up time and I just didn’t get it done.

So, for July, I’m sticking with three goals for the month.

Finish The Assassin – I’m going through a big round of edits before I dump it back all on the editor. I’m tightening it up, going through and really being meticulous about the wording in each chapter. I managed to get over a big plot hole I had in the draft back in June, and I’m hoping to keep the momentum going. I’ve also started posting chapters of the book on WriteOn. I’m getting some good response there too, so that’s a great motivator!

Launch that e-book – It involves author brands and I’m really excited. Now that I have time, I can actually work on it. I promise, it’ll be good! I’m super excited for this to be the first e-book, and it’ll have lots of great goodies.

Build up that newsletter – I have really big plans for Ginger’s Book Club, and I’m really taking a lot of time this summer to focus on planning for that and the rest of Ginger & Books. This is going to be a fun rest of the summer!

What are some of your writing goals this month?

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Using Pinterest to Storyboard

I’m probably using the word “storyboard” wrong, but last year I wrote a blog post about using pinterest as an author (you can’t read it because its not public anymore, but that’s because I’m expanding upon it.

As a blogger, I always have a big social media presence, especially on pinterest. As a writer though, sometimes it’s hard to see the value of Pinterest. So, today, I’m going to talk about three things you can use Pinterest for to storyboard and plot ideas for your novel. But first, take a look at my Pinterest board for The Assassin.

Follow Laura | Ginger & Co. ‘s board the assassin on Pinterest.

 

 

1. What does everyone look like?

Models are great inspiration for kind of figuring out what your characters look like. Nothing is set in stone, and in fact, most characters have multiple photos. Putting these photos can give you a great idea of what your character may look like.

2. Quotes and Ideas

There’s lots of quotes on there, and while I won’t use any of them verbatim, they can be inspiration for scenes of lines of dialogue. You never know where inspiration can lie and these quotes are packed with ideas for me.

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3. The Map.

Pinterest has this really cool, but not-so-noticed thing called the map. If you click on the board, you’ll see that there’s a map on the background. This allows me to plot pins in locations. So, my book takes place in Washington DC, and I can add apartment complexes, the FBI building, and other places to a map. Pretty nifty for someone who has only been to DC once.

All of these things are on one pinterest board, which makes it nice to look over it. When I’m craving inspiration late at night, so I love to go on other boards and pin things that fit Cassie and everyone else.

So, tell me, how do you use pinterest to storyboard?

Be sure to sign up for Ginger’s Book Club, the newsletter that launches this week! Click here to sign up. 

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5 Podcasts for Self-Publishing

Obviously I am #teamindie (is that a thing? If not, it is now). Lately I’ve been loving podcasts, especially on writing. Most of these are about self-publishing, which is what I plan to do. Even though all of these are for self-publishing, even those seeking the traditional route can benefit from listening. You never know who may have words for you, even if the whole idea of self-publishing isn’t for you.

So, without further ado, here’s 5 podcasts that I’m totally obsessed with.

1. The Creative Penn

Joanna Penn is really freaking awesome. She’s got a British accent, which makes her pretty cool, but she’s a full-time writer. There’s over 200 episodes of her podcast, and she has some awesome guests. You can join her newsletter and get some cool downloads and see all her books, both fiction and non-fiction. >> Podcast page.

2. Books, Business & Beyond

I don’t listen to this one as often, because it’s shorter, but these two ladies have a lot of fun. One lady dubbs herself as “The Book Ninja!”, so I find that pretty awesome. This one is definitely great for those looking more toward the marketing aspect of a book. >> Podcast Page.

#selfpub authors can learn a lot from these 5 podcasts.
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3. Author Strong

This one is one I just discovered a few days ago, but it’s a mentor and his mentor-ee, both based in Houston. So, maybe I’ll start dropping in through Houston to meet these great people. They also do podcasts every day, so props to them for that. The guy, Matt, has done NaNoWriMo in a day. Four separate times.  >> Podcast page.

4. Rocking Self-Publishing

It actually took me a while to really get into this one, but he’s got a bunch of great guests. And he’s also British, with a wicked sense of humor, so I totally enjoy that. His website is also full of great stuff, and you can get his e-book for free on Amazon.  Subscribe to the podcast here.

5. The Self-Publishing Podcast

This is the ultimate podcast about self-publishing. If you listen to any of these podcasts above, they’ll mention this one. It’s three guys who have all self-published, and they’re all potty mouths. All of them are super smart, and they’ve all taken different approaches to marketing and producing books, so you’ll get to see multiple sides of self-publishing. They don’t have a website right now (at least it’s giving me a bunch of errors), but you can find them with a quick google search!

Do you have any podcasts you love? For either traditional publishing or self-publishing? Let me know.

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Making Your Writing Schedule

Right now, I’m slowly going through the e-book “Writember” – which goes with an e-course by the same name. Both are from Faye at Writerology, and right now, I’m going through trying to find a writing schedule.

With a full time job, a part-time internship, two blogs, and a book, it’s hard to find time to work on that book. I need a writing schedule. Making a writing schedule is hard, I need a time where I know I will never have anything else to do.

This leaves me with two times of the day, early morning (like 6:30) or later at night, like 10pm. Lately, I’ve been too exhausted to write at 10pm, so this leaves me with early morning to write. This is a problem because I’m not a morning person.

So, as I struggle to find my writing time, here’s a few tips to find your writing time.

1. When are you most creative?

I know I’m most creative around 6-8 at night, but I’m often caught up working on other things. Maybe I need to just dedicate this time, but when I don’t always know my work schedule, it’s hard to dedicate that time.

2. When can you always dedicate that time? Every day?

I talked about this in my intro. I’m free early in the morning and late at night. If you want to successfully dedicate yourself to writing every day, it make sense to find the same time. Every single day. Even the weekends (the idea of waking up that early on a weekend is awful, but if I want to be serious, I need to do it).

4 Things you need to set up your own writing schedule. #amwriting
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3. Set a time frame.

I like to focus on writing in 30 minute time frames. If I wake up at 6:15 to write, that’ll work. In the morning, I have thyroid medicine I take and I have to wait 30 minutes after to eat. This would be such a perfect time to write, and I really need to start to using that time to do something productive, not sleep more.

4. Set a Word Goal

Right now, my word goal is 500 words, but I’ve been struggling to hit that. If I dedicate just that half hour, I can easily hit that 500 words, I know it. Eventually, I want to up my word count, maybe to 1000 words in a half hour.

If you’re struggling to write every day, setting up some perimeters can really help define what you’re looking for. So, tell me, how do you do your writing schedule?

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Book Review: The Princess Diaries XI, Royal Wedding

warning: This post may contain some spoilers.

Book Information

In ROYAL WEDDING (Princess Diaries XI), Princess Mia’s planned nuptials to longtime love Michael Moscovitz are in jeopardy when the paparazzi uncover a startling secret: Mia has a long lost younger sister.

Now a scheming politico is using the royal scandal to force Mia’s father from the throne, leaving Genovia without a monarch . . . unless Mia can prove to everyone—especially herself—that she’s finally fit to rule.

book cover & information from Cabot’s website, here. 

 

Review

I read the first ten books in this series in my teens and really loved the last book, I thought it was fantastic. I’ve always been a fan of Meg Cabot’s, but this wasn’t my favorite series by her. But, when it’s been a few years since she’s come out with anything, I was excited for something new. Even if Princess Diaries wasn’t my favorite, I still really enjoyed it.

This book, marketed and labeled as an adult book, wasn’t that though. While reading, I never got a sense that Mia was actually twenty-six like I was being told. The first half of the book is spent with her complaining about not being able to do anything and she’s pretty much in her apartment and hiding. While I get that there’s people out there who are content to sit around and do nothing, they don’t work for books.

They just don’t.

I also found a lot of the subplots to be a little ridiculous. Based on the blurb above, you know that Mia has a little sister now, and I just….. I don’t know if I can buy it. Like, there’s a scene where Mia is with her little sister (named Olivia Grace – which is an adorable name), and it feels like Olivia has her crap together way more than Mia does (and Olivia is only twelve).

Warning, only click “more” if you’re ready for spoilers.

A few other subplots including some minor characters were…. interesting. And unbelievable. For instance Boris, the mouth-breathing violin player, is now a heartthrob pop star. Just no, no. It’s not believable.

AND J.P. I never liked him because he had a problem with corn. But, in the original books, where he was just kind of annoying, now he’s down right creepy. Seriously, the ex-boyfriend is the stalker and Mia never even thought of it? After the way he wrote A WHOLE PLAY ABOUT HER?

I will say, bravo to Cabot for the entertaining tabloid subplot. That was fun. First she was having Prince Harry’s twins and then Michael’s? The best part, hands down, in this whole story (at least for me), was when Michael and Mia were at the doctor’s and she’s totally stunned that she’s pregnant, and Michael is totally patting himself on the back for getting her pregnant while she’s on birth control.

And then she finds out she has twins?

I giggled for a few minutes at that one, I think Cabot weaved that very well in the story. And she gave just enough foreshadowing that at one point, I thought “is Mia pregnant?” but she never touched on it again, giving me the thrill of being like “YES, I FIGURED IT OUT.” Ten points for Laura for figuring it out the first time around.

So, here’s my final take. Mia needs to mature, a lot. If Cabot comes back for a twelfth book, I’d like to see Mia’s new role as the ruler (Her dad abdicates so he can live happily ever after with her mom) of Genovia and as a mother really make her grow.

Because that really lacked in this book. If there is another one, I’ll definitely read it, but I’ll be much more weary to open the book.

Three out of five stars.

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My Life Since Postponement

It’s been three months since I yanked the brakes on self-publishing and gave it up. If you carry different parts of your life in “bags,” so to say, I dropped the bag of self-publishing for a while, knowing I’d probably come back to it at some point, but I wasn’t sure when.

I still don’t know when the book will be out, but I picked the bag back up in the since that I’m working on it. After having a heart to heart with my editor, we’re back to the draft that I was working on before. I’m making some changes, I’m sure I’ll go back a few times to fix it up and then my editor will destroy it.

The other night, I started making an outline of a few things I wanted to change. I have no idea if I’ll finish this book this summer (I’m working two internships and hoping to release an e-book), but I’m hoping to have some results and changes by the time I graduate in December.

I feel optimistic. Because of my depression, I’ve wired myself to be optimistic. It’s a default now, and quite frankly, it pisses me off sometimes. Sometimes I just want to be mad as hell. But yet, I’m still somewhat optimistic.

So I’m taking the optimism and using it for my book. Life is hard, but I feel like there’s some beautiful things coming.

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