Bre Faucheux's Blog, page 62

Some of the Worst Writing Advice Out There

I am a firm believer in the idea that what works for one person might not work for another and there is no one way of doing things. This is especially the case when it comes to writing. I have received great writing advice and bad writing advice over the years, and here are all the absolute bullshit pieces of “advice” that I have come across.

But then again, due well to remember that this is just my take. It’s different for everyone.

1,) Write what you know. Hmm… I find this statement quite limiting and insulting. Is someone out there suggesting that I am incapable of learning about something and writing on the subject intelligently because it’s new to me?

2.) Read more than you write. I see the bottom line here, but I am a slow freaking reader. If I read more than I write, I would NEVER get anything accomplished. I try to get through two to three books a month. And that is good enough for me. If I can only manage one a month because my schedule is really that busy, then fine. I am not going to define my writing by how big my reading library is.

3.) Read a little bit of everything, including things you don’t like or things out of your typical genre. Sure, once in a while I can go for an intellectual study non-fiction book or something of that nature, but I’m going to read what I find entertaining. I have read enough material that I absolutely hated in high school to last me a life time. I have the rest of my life to spend reading things I enjoy. And if an author can’t whisk me away in the first fifty pages, it’s his/her own fault.

4.) Outline and plan everything before you start writing. I already wrote an entire blog post about this. It’s the biggest bag of bullshit out there. I need to go where a story takes me. Forcing it is going to MAKE it sound forced. Ever heard of inspiration?? Sometimes you just have to let the ideas come to you as you write.

5.) Research isn’t writing. Only writing is writing. o.O  I find everything I do, including research to be a part of the overall process of getting a book from start to finish. If I need to look something up to make sure I get all my information right, then that is what I will do. I can’t get to chapter 6 until I know that I have certain details right in chapter 5. I was always doing research for “The Elder Origins” and “The Keeper’s Realm” because I needed something to go by or a particular detail. And guess what? There is nothing wrong with that!

6.) Talk to people about your book and bounce ideas off them. This is a HUGE no no for me. Maybe I’m biased because I once had an idea stolen from me when I told someone about it, but here is what I believe and what I was told by my first writing teacher. It holds true years later. I don’t talk about a book or the plot in any way shape or form until the book is complete. The moment I start discussing it, is the moment the gremlins enter my brain and make me lose all motivation to finish the story. In order for it to stay fresh, keep it to yourself until the very end. I don’t know why, but this is my mantra and I stick to it because it works for me. Not to mention that there are people out there who will steal your ideas. I have experienced this and it scarred me for life.

7.) Never use “to be” in a sentence. Sorry, but sometimes there is no other way to say something but to stick a “to be” in there, and every author is guilty of it. Even Shakespeare knew the value of a good “To be or not to be.” And heck, now its one of the moment infamous lines in literature.

8.) Turn off the internet while you write. Never in a million years will I do this. I depend on Thesaurus.com like nobody’s business. And I have some cool music on YouTube playlists that I crank on when I need some musical inspiration. They should really be on my iPod by now, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Also, I work on the side. I need to check those emails when they come through. It’s imperative.

9.)  If a story isn’t working, just give it up and try something else. How dare you!! If you believe in something, work with it. Sure there is the occasional story that needs to be tossed and just plan isn’t going the way it should, but don’t just orphan it. If there is potential and a will to make it right, work with it.

10.) (My personal favorite). Genre fiction isn’t real writing. I already wrote about this in detail in another blog post, but it needs to be said again. YES, GENRE IS REAL WRITING! And it is perfectly okay to love genre over something really literary. I like a good literary story as much as anyone, but sometimes I want a sparkly unicorn thrown into the mix. So stop judging me!

“The Keeper’s Realm” Has a Cover!!

Here is the new cover to my latest book, a paranormal romance which I hope to have out in a matter of weeks, and definitely by the end of this month. I wrote this one in two months, and I am currently working my third book.

This cover presented itself on IndieAuthorServices and was made by Joy Sillesen. I spent many hours searching the internet for what I thought would be the perfect cover. I saw this one and bought it instantly, knowing it was the right one. It’s dark and gothic, with a period piece dress, a girl that resembles my lead character…and my most favorite part, it’s purple. My favorite color. SOLD!!

“The Keeper’s Realm” takes place in my favorite city of all time. New Orleans. A city vibrant and rich with history, jazz, great food, voodoo, and an undeniable atmosphere. I was born there, and I wanted to live there again in my older years. My family is originally from there and I wanted to make it my home too. But unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina made that really difficult.

But I can still write about it.

The story centers around Ashlyn, a teenage girl born into a position that she finds terrifying, and exhilarating. She is a Keeper, in charge of protecting the Realm of the Living. And she is not the only one. Damien, the strikingly handsome and other-worldly man in charge of her training, is also a Keeper, with a haunting past of his own.

I plan on posting a preview chapter in the coming weeks ahead. So be sure to check for that.

My Favorite Book Villain!!

This honor can only be bestowed upon a character that I have always loved and adored!!

LESTAT de LIONCOURT!!

Which I know is pretty cliche and probably many people have this favorite, but I don’t care. He is the only villain that I sincerely love.

Lestat is presented in the first book of the Vampire Chronicles “Interview with the Vampire” as the ultimate selfish villain. It’s not until “The Vampire Lestat” and “Queen of the Damned” that we really get to great look into his psyche and why he behaves the way he does. I think the main reason I love him so much is that his logic makes sense, he explains almost everything he does and just why he is doing it, and he appreciates humanity. He takes life, but he gives back by giving his “reader” a look into his world. I love the idea of a character having a history that even the author isn’t aware of, or probably one that he is with-holding. But he takes his readers along for the ride of his own discovery.

In “The Vampire Lestat,” Lestat wakes up from rock music being played near his crypt. What could be better than that? He wants to understand this generation, appreciates women that get dolled up wearing high heels and makeup, rides his motorcycle through the night, and becomes a rock star sensation. He loves his fans and they love him back. He draws in the attention of the world and captivates them just as much as he is captivated in return. He is dark, sensual, and always curious about humanity and life in general. And at the same time, he evokes a certain longing for something more. He is constantly lonely and appears unsatisfied, which is why he created Louis and then Claudia in order to make Louis stay. Their story of a threesome of vampires living in New Orleans captured my heart. But Lestat’s personal story of living in France and learning everything there was to know about being a vampire was even better.

In my humble opinion, Lestat is responsible for making vampires into sex objects, not Dracula. He made them deep creatures with histories and a story to tell. Lestat looks at the world in his own way and I love his narration throughout the books.

Lestat is unapologetic, but puts a meaning and a direct intent behind all that he does. In the first book, Louis tells of how he despised Lestat for killing two prostitutes and draining them dry. To Louis, it was cruel. To Lestat, it was justice. Lestat can read thoughts and knew that those two prostitutes had murdered a man for his money. How often have you read a book and been disappointed that the villain seemed bad just for the sake of being bad and throwing a wrench into the situation for no good reason but to do so. Never Lestat. There is no action without desirous intent. And also, he likes himself. He is never self-loathing. Resentful, maybe. Self-loathing, never.

That was until Anne Rice tried to make him into a Christian. I stopped reading once that started happening… no go zone. I wanted to maintain the idea of Lestat being a bad-ass, not some sinful and forgiveness seeking type of character. Even the thought of that is just wrong. Why bother writing about a character if you intend to destroy everything they once were? Why Anne? Why???

That being said, I know the inevitable question is who was the better Lestat in the films? Tom Cruise or Stuart Townsend. And I have to say that I think both actors portrayed the character properly for the movie they made. Cruise for perfect for the first film, and Townsend for the second. I like both their performances even though “Interview with the Vampire” was clearly the better movie. And I am not biased or anything just because I love Antonia Banderas.

My Five Biggest Distractions From Writing

This has to be true of many authors or writers in general, but there are a few things out there that get in the way, or plain irritate me when I am trying to get to that zen place where I can focus. Like many others, I don’t like being disturbed while writing or working. It takes a lot of focus to do what we writers love to do, and having things get in the way of that are often things I have no control over. Then there are the other things that I have complete control over and I allow to deter me.

Please tell me I am not alone!!

1 – My dogs. They need attention. And a lot of it. They are pampered and want some lovin’ on a consistent basis. Half the time they want to go outside or else I have a nice pile or lake to clean up in the living room where they do the do. They are pee pad trained, but they are under the impression that they sometimes only have to have a foot on the pad for it be okay to take a piss. This result in clean up duty. Other times they want in my lap. That’s okay for an hour or so, but then my legs go to sleep and I have to place them on my bed or something. Having brains the size of walnuts, they simply don’t understand this and throw a hissy fit when I put them down. And then there are the times when I don’t know what they want. I don’t speak dog. They just look at me and cry and cry and cry. *shrugs*

2 – The Internet. I am an internet junkie. And lord knows you cannot read just one tweet. You cannot watch just one YouTube video. So if I stumble upon one, I am going to be distracted for a while. And then there’s email.

3 – Living at home. Like so many others my age, the economy made it impossible for me to live on my own. I am back with the family. One member needs a lot of care. So sometimes I have to squeeze in my writing in short intervals. Which is okay. I am living here rent free after all.

4 – Work outs. I am on a new mission to get my dad into shape. He desperately wants to lose some weight and I want to help him. So I have been waking up at 4:50 a.m. (yes, you read that correctly) and doing P90X with him so he can stay motivated and he won’t have to do it alone. He needs to be at work at a little before seven and he commutes, so the early hour is necessary. It also makes me feel better about my body and health, etc. But sometimes I really need to go back to bed. This morning made that impossible and I am still dragging a bit.

5 – Errands. Ever since I got my license for the first time all those ten years ago, it has also been a license to run errands. I usually get about one a day, at least. Given my recent license renewal trouble (which I intend to write another blog post about) I got a bit of a break from that recently. But now I have it back and renewed, the errands will start rolling in again.

PS – Good news for me today. I finally bought a printer for my house. No more getting other people to print my stuff out from their offices as a personal favor. I really hated doing that, but I literally couldn’t afford a printer. And I had to rearrange my room just to have a place to put it. Moving sucks.

To be fair, I do own another one. But in the move, the disk to install it on my laptop got lost. Boo hiss!!

To KDP Select or Not to KDP Select??

Deciding on a platform and how to get things started was a bit of a process for me. I devoured all the information I could possibly find. It was something of a task between “Publishing E-books for Dummies” and “The Naked Truth About Self Publishing” and many online forums. Both great books that taught me a lot. I am less than a month into my decision to start out with using the Amazon KDP Select, and it is still way too early in the game to decide whether or not it is working to my advantage. And for more reasons than one. For starters, I only have one book out. I am working on the second and I will be headed into its final edit next week. I hope to have it out by the end of the month. Then I will be starting my third book, a completely new venture. Then onto a sequel to “The Elder Origins.”

Anyway, I read through everything when I first started out, and I still feel like I don’t know what is the best option as far as E-book platforms are concerned. I really like the idea of having a few free day promos so that readers can at least MAYBE find out who I am. And if luck be my lady, I might even get a review (hopefully good) out of it. But I can only hope for so much given that I don’t have a sufficient amount of material out there at the moment.

I heard about other people having their books on Kindle, B&N, SmashWords, etc., and having success with those. I wonder if by using KDP Select if I am using the platforms to their full potential. My guess is no because I am limited to Amazon having exclusive rights to my book for the time being. But the free promo days do give the opportunity of getting my name out there a bit.

My total take so far after using two of those free promo days was almost 300 free downloads. NovelHoarders was kind enough to promote my book on their Facebook page without my even asking, and I feel like maybe a few of those people might actually read the book. Har har. I have heard stories from other authors saying that most people who download the free promo books just do so to get a free book and never really read it, which is obviously upsetting.

Has anyone else fumbled and tumbled around these questions? Have you had experiences with Amazon KDP Select?

In other news, I conquered the evil trolls of the DPS and got my license renewed. Only took two months and seven DPS visits. Thank goodness that is out of the way. I was going out of my mind. Turns out when you move overseas and let go your apartment (therefore you have no permanent address in the states) and then you move back home and still have no address for six months after that, they look at you like you are suspicious person. I blame illegal immigration given that I live near the border in the deep south, but really. Seven visits to prove who I was?? GAH!!

Props to the Great ‘George Carlin’

It is my personal opinion that George Carlin was one of the funniest, smartest, quirkiest, amusing, and realistic men who has ever graced people with his presence. And seeing him on TV last night really reminded me of how much I adore him, and miss him.

This man made me proud to know that I wasn’t the only one out there who sees things the way that I do, and that I am not the only one who thinks the entire world is fucked up, but it’s nothing to get depressed over. As the great George Carlin once said, “Kids who want to read are gonna read. Better to teach kids to question what they read.”

The man who said great things like:

- “Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?”

- “Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.”

- “The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.”

- “One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!”

- “Women are crazy, and men are stupid. And the main reason why women are crazy, is because men are stupid.”

And my personal favorite:

“Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time… But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money!”

Every once in a while, I need to go on YouTube and give myself the treat of a George Carlin marathon. He balances me out and I pretty much agree with every single thing he says. I think my sense of humor is along the same lines. For example, over a year ago when living in the UK, I got off the tube and waltzed out onto the Camden exit from the station. A man with a big mic was announcing to people “THIS JUST IN!! None of you are allowed to go home tonight and have sex, because the last thing we need in this world is more people like you!” Many people were probably offended. Where as I bursted out laughing… mainly because I got the joke. Then the man pointed directly at me and said, “Except you.” I guess I qualify for reproduction because I got the point of the dark sense of humored joke.

I have a lot of these kinds of moments in my next book. I am trying to write from a younger teen level point of view. Which is difficult for me because I was never really a teenager. I went from toddler to adult and was just plain BORN OLD. But I added a bunch of snarky responses for my main character in hopes that it might show that even people who were inevitably born old or had to grow up fast, can have a sophisticated sense of humor that anyone can find funny.

I am a little scared of my character just coming across as bitchy and whiney and complaining all the time. But my instincts are telling me, that is just my sense of humor at play. So for those who like the darker side of things, especially when it comes to humor, will get it. Others, not so much.

This is going to make for some very interesting reviews.

Love it or hate it, having a dark sense of humor gives you a new way to look at the world. George Carlin taught me that.

Are there any comedians who inspire you?

Oh!! And Billy Connolly is high on my list too!

Teachers Against Genre Fiction??

One of the biggest writing issues I have ever had came in form of a teacher I had in my junior year of college, by the name of Leslee. When I first saw her and did the initial girl thing of judging a book by its cover, I thought she would be open minded and very helpful to my writing. I mean how many 70 or so year old teachers do you see walking around with grey dread locks down to their waist and entire arm sleeve tattoos going all the way down to their hands. Upon first glance, I thought that this indicated that she was not only a bit of a hippie, but open to new things…concerning writing that is. She was, after all, my creative writing teacher.

WRONG!

SO WRONG!!!

One of the worst teachers I have ever had. And that is an accomplishment, because there have been some awful ones over the years… including that 5th grade teacher who told me in front of the whole class that I couldn’t come up to her and ask questions ever again until I learned to talk like a woman (unbeknownst to her, I actually have a vocal disability. My vocal cords are damaged causing me to often sound like I lost my voice).

When I turned in my first short story, I was pretty excited about it. It was the longest story I had ever written up until that point, and I couldn’t wait to see what she thought. Now I wish I had dropped the class before ever trying. It was a thriller/crime type of story. She slapped on the front page in red ink, “Oh, a genre story!” My face kinda went like this:   o.O

Not only that, but she refused to even give it a grade, “because it would be too detrimental to my confidence for the remainder of the semester.”

This was my first encounter with “genre prejudice,” as I like to call it. I had never known until then that genre was considered the reality TV of the literary world and was ultimately viewed as trash fiction. But here is the conclusion I came up with. I never walk into a book store and look for the most “literary” book I can find. In my mind, those books have their place. In a classroom boring students to death. Ha! Just kidding. I know lots of people love their literary stories, and I have read a few over the years that absolutely swept me away. But the bottom line is, when people go to a airport book store to find something entertaining for the flight, they want just that. Something entertaining! And that is what I enjoy writing.

Leslee was so damaging to my confidence as a writer, that I spent the next three years fighting off the worst case of writers block in my life. And it wasn’t because I didn’t want to write, or because I couldn’t figure out what happens next in a story. It was because some woman convinced me that the kind of writing I like to create isn’t worth anyone’s time. It wasn’t until I realized that “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hunger Games” and “Harry Potter” are all genre fiction and extraordinarily popular that I figured it out. She was full of shit.

After an entire semester of fighting with this woman (because I was too deep into the semester to drop the class and lose the money), my confidence in my abilities were shot. Four years later, I got my work published on my own. Maybe that says more about my determination than her opinions on what constitutes as REAL writing.

Has a teacher or anyone you know put down your writing because of the genre you chose to write in? Am I the only one who experienced this kind of prejudice against genre fiction?

If not, just know that you are not alone. Write what you love, love what you write, and have fun with it. If we were all meant to write new and improved versions of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” (no offense to Harper Lee), the reading world would be a boring place.

FREE PROMO TODAY!

Today I am launching my first ever free promo for my first book, “The Elder Origins.” It is available on Amazon HERE.

I will post and let everyone know the days that I am doing a free launch in the coming weeks ahead. If you do not have the Kindle APP, no worries, it can be downloaded on your computer, iPad, smart phone, anything of that nature, for free. Did I mention that it’s FREE??

If you do by some chance read it and write a review, let me know and I will write you a personal email to say ‘thank you.’

This is the first promo on my self publishing journey and I couldn’t be more excited. Many blogs that i have read over time say that selling a few books for free is nothing to be excited over because you are not really selling books and most people who download it probably won’t read it. But I can’t help but get a little psyched when I see a bump in my units sold for free. There are so many blogs dedicated to the fact that KDP Select Free Promos are not really worth it anymore because people are so conditioned to seeing free books. But I will not let that get me down. I am committed to making this work and setting up a business plan for myself.

My ultimate goal is to have at least one new book or short story out per month. I know that is reaching for the stars, but a girl can dream, right?

“The Elder Origins” was a really long process. It took over a year and a half to write. But I learned so much in the first year. I wrote my second book, “The Keepers Realm” in less than two months, and now I know what it really takes to get your material out there in a timely fashion. I am currently editing “The Keepers Realm” and I hope to have it out next month. I have also begun a new project, which is still in the makings so I can’t really describe it yet. But when it really gets going, everyone on my blog will be the first to know.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! And if you like vampire genre, be sure to check out my book. And if you enjoy it, please please PLEASE leave a review.

Meanwhile, I will doing a happy dance very similar to the one Sara Bareilles does in “Gonna Get Over You,” which might the happiest break up song of all time. Love this video, gonna dance to it for the next hour or so.

 

My Book is Officially Live!!

I have the pleasure to announce that my first book, “The Elder Origins” is officially live and for purchase on Amazon Kindle.

After over a year and a half of writing and editing and writing and editing, my first book, a dark cross over between historical fiction and fantasy, is complete and available. I made an entire post all about it, but decided to take it down. I posted the book to the Kindle Select program, and they have certain rules about material not being on any other sites as they have exclusivity for 90 days. I didn’t post any actual text, but I am still a beginner on what is allowed, so I decided to be on the safe side.

Just to clarify, this book is not for everyone, but those who love action, adventure, Gothic stories, and mysticism, you should love it. I have aimed it as a YA paranormal story, and it is vampire genre.  It is set in the 14th century during the Hundred Year War. It will appeal to anyone who likes dark macabre story lines, conspiracies, vampire genre, Native American legend, and horror. I hope very much to turn this book into a series.

Many of the books I read and TV shows that I watch are about vampires. And one thing that I noticed over time was that all the vampire material right now and of the past 20-30 years is exactly the same. They all have a love triangle of some kind (The Vampire Chronicles, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, My Blood Approves – all have them), and they all take place in contemporary times with a few flash backs here or there. And I just thought, “Look at all the opportunities that writers are missing out on by using the two same plot lines over and over.” Why not start at the beginning of vampire/immortal creation and move forward toward contemporary times. Then you have ALL of history to play with. Stories about immortal beings have always appealed to me. Even when I am watching vampire shows or reading the books, I always found the flash backs that give the history of certain characters to be the most interesting part. So what better way to do it than to allow readers to get to know your characters through the centuries.

I had one person tell me that I set the book in the worst possible setting, the Hundred Years War in England. She claimed that it was the most boring period in history. Far from it! When you look at the nobles and royals and all the battles, sure, it looks really repetitive. In reality, the lives lead by the common folk living day to day, it was anything but dull. Fighting to stay alive more like! Having to grow your own crops or die, having men in armor and constant battles happening outside in your back yard, the church down your throat about sin and the wrath of god, disease, serfdom, chivalry, jousting, sword fights… how can this shit be boring?? There is SO much to play around with and to create a story from.

I appreciate any support I can get being that I am just starting out. So if you read it, enjoy it, and write a review, let me know and I will write you a personal thank you.

You can purchase it here. Soon I will post about the 5 days during the 90 day period that it will be available for free.

It’s All About the Music

I know that I am definitely not the first, but I find music to be the best motivator, inspiration, and day dreaming tool out there. I have heard of several writers who have to write in complete silence, But I can hardly do anything without music in the background, especially writing. In fact, I used to annoy my family when they came to see me, because I always had music going. And a lot of it was too weird for their taste.

Life should most definitely have a soundtrack. And my first manuscript is no exception.

I wrote in a previous post as to how Florence + the Machine “Breathe of Life” (the original version) inspired my first book. The entire story came to me as I was getting ready to go to sleep and was listening to it while lying in bed and trying to relax a bit. I suddenly jolted up from bed and had to write down this insane idea that made no sense, but I knew would in time. Sometimes I still worry that it will only ever make sense to me. But that fact that I had so much fun perfecting it made that particular song one of my favorites for all time.

Like many authors, I have a writing playlist. I have songs for getting my creative juices flowing, (like the one above), ones for an action sequences, ones for something errie and creepy, one for something romantic… every mood essentially.

My first book (which will hopefully be released next month if I can figure out the formatting and everything…which I am working on) has a definite soundtrack.

Here are some of the essential songs that I listened to that really helped me to develop the plot.

For something euphoric and thoughtful, or even intense: (Hans Zimmer – Time)

For something creepy: (Hans Zimmer – The Well)

(Can you tell that I like Hans Zimmer?)

One for something dark, sinister or evil villain activities: (Grit Pulse – Methodic Doubt)

For something mystical and epic: (Enya – The River Sings)

And finally, for something wistful and romantic: (Sia – My Love)

I can only speak for myself, but these pieces have helped me to create my first book, so they are all special to me. Music is vital to my every day life and helps me in almost everything that I do.

Music has the power to take my mood from something amazing to somewhere dark and mysterious. In fact, I have people tell me that my mood changes drastically after listening to something morose or Gothic. It can take me from a “I can’t possibly get anything done today,” attitude to, “Yeah, I can do something.”

And as that great Pintrest quote says, “My Music Taste Ranges from ‘You’ve Gotta Listen to This!’ to ‘I Know, Please Don’t Judge Me’.”

Are there any pieces or songs that get you in a “Writing Mood”? What inspires you?