Pratap Divyesh's Blog, page 8
September 11, 2018
How to write a (fantasy) novel
Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. (Anne Lamott)
The above quote is quite true, the beginning is absolutely terrible. First line is the hardest, because you’ll try to impress your readers with a monumental phrase, which – absolutely – must remain imprinted in reader’s mind and soul, forever.
Nonsense! First line will always be, if not catastrophic, “at least” lamentable. You will change it – for sure – at least twice. Trust me! Then you’ll have to finish the first page. You managed it in the end? Congratulations! You have taken the first step toward immortality: you are about to become a writer.
What satisfaction you’ll have when you’ll go on the second page: “Wow! I wrote the first one!” You will feel like those guys who go to the gym and draw a heavy dumbbell twice, then looked around for approving glances: “Huh? Am I strong, or what?” From now on, however, it’s easier. You know how it is: it’s hard to do your first million, the rest will come by itself (well, maybe … I do not know … but I heard from others that that’s so it works). From now on the gaps will begin to fill: the characters outlines, the plot, the features, the emotions…
You will start to create images for the reader, images that will help you penetrate his mind, creating that “state of well” that he/she has been waiting all day long.
You don’t need to write down simple phrases, but true “verbal paintings”. OK, let me explain for the uninitiated. Let us assume that, in chapter three, I would have used a “flat” description: Robert came into the room and saw a bed, a cupboard and a table full of fruit.
This description will awaken any emotion in you? I’m sure not. It would have been a description like in a “crime scene report”. Instead, you will find the passage in the book describe things quite differently:
As soon as he went in, Robert noticed with amazement the huge canopied bed which dominated the entire room. He then saw the wardrobe, the table and chairs, all drenched in the sunlight that flew into the room through a wide window.
Clean, fresh air, scented with jasmine and mint could be felt through the room, inviting him to rest. On the table there stood a bowl of fresh fruit which delighted the senses: red apples from the Kingdom of Clouds, big and juicy grapes hand-picked from the hills of Akros, oranges ripened by the warm sun in the Kingdom of Water and all sort of other kinds of fruit that Robert had never seen before.
Something else, right? Have I transposed you into the room, next to Robert? Already salivating, thinking about the grapes from Akros? Images, images, images … use the details, creating to the readers the feeling of being there, into the story, sitting at the table with the hero, fighting shoulder to shoulder, suffering with him, laughing together…
Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon. (E.L. Doctorow)
At one point It will happen to have an ethical issue: can I use elements from other books? I admit, I had the same problem, somewhere around page twenty. I found the answer in an article on Bloomsbury Publishing web page, “guilty” of publishing the Harry Potter series: “Renowned writers’ tips for novice writers.” A writer (I apologize, because I don’t remember her name) said that (I quote from memory) it’s OK to use elements from other sources – books, movies – as long as you create your own story because after all the books written throughout history it is very difficult to conceive something new. She was right. I thought that all the stories (ancient or modern) have dragons, elves, wizards, animals that can talk, heroes who can handle fire or water, magic realms or giants, as in detective stories, you can find thieves, criminals, cops, detectives…
Having solved this problem, I found myself before another challenge: finding suitable names for places and characters. Whenever I thought of a fancy name I was looking on the internet to check if someone else has used that name. You’ll be amazed: every word you invent, you will find it on the internet. Because another madman already thought to it, or because it means something in another language, or because they are actual places or persons, about whose existence you had no clue. Believe me, after a while you will abandon the research and you’ll try to create strange names, without check them anymore, hoping that nobody had ever thought about them.
When – finally – you’ll get rid from all these anxieties, the story will start to flow and you will end up on page one hundred (how happy I was then), then two hundred, three hundred… depends only on the imagination that you have and the talent to “split hairs in four”.
Finally you will lay out the last word of the book, as the artist puts his last stroke on the canvas. You will smile and you’ll feel a huge satisfaction. Is that unique moment, when you’ll reach the Everest of self-gratification and you’ll find it worthwhile, because – isn’t it? – all good things have an end.
Even if you’ll not succeed to publish, my advice is to not give up writing, because You fail only if you stop writing. (Ray Bradbury)
Good luck!
This post is contributed as Guest post by I.B. George.
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September 10, 2018
AFFORDABLE BOOK TRAILERS FOR INDIE AUTHORS
These days most people are addicted to their smartphone or tablet. And I admit, it comes in handy when you need to have some information on, let’s say, books. Every year millions of new books appear on the market so which one do you choose? The ones you heard about already, the ones who have positive reviews and attractive covers. Yes, I wrote you already about the importance of a good book cover design. They see you before they read you. We are so accustomed to visual stimulation that we, unconsciously, preferably want to be contacted in this way. It makes information more comprehensible. In addition, and image stays longer in our memory then text.
Suppose you have a Twitter or Facebook account and you look at your numerous messages, which draw your attention first? Most likely those containing a picture or video. If you want to send a message to the world, you should do it visually.
This was well understood by management from famous authors. Which had funds enough for visual communication through book trailers.
BOOK TRAILERS
A book trailer is a short video to promote your book and aims to entice the viewer to pick up your book or get more to know about it.
“In one minute or less you can tap into the visual, auditory and emotional senses of your potential reader with a book trailer. Like its cousin the movie trailer, a book trailer is designed to get the buzz going and drive sales, or at least more interest.”
Arielle Ford (Author, Speaker, Relationship Expert)
Book trailers offer an additional opportunity to make your book known on popular video sites like Youtube and Vimeo. Moreover, this video promotion draws more attention on your social media, like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
One huge problem though: book trailers are expensive, very expensive. A professional book trailer can cost you $4000 and more. Not something for indie authors to pay. So we see a lot of them experimenting with homemade book trailers, forgetting that a quickly patched together trailer also can reduce the interest in the book.
At MaryDes we thought about this and have researched and experimented with possibilities to reach a formula that allowed us to offer indie authors professional trailers at affordable prices.
Using special techniques, creative ideas and automation we succeeded in developing professional book trailers for small budgets. Doing so, we give all authors the possibility to get more attention and create more sales with their own book trailer.
And the amazing news is, we can do this starting from only $26!
Now MaryDes is bringing book trailers within the budget from indie authors. Take a look at some examples and prices and make use of this new opportunity to bring your book in the picture.
Check out our website at MaryDes Book Trailers and launch your first book trailer soon.
This post is contributed as Guest post by MaryDes.
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Love.exe: A Sweet Romantic Comedy Making You Fall in Love
This book is for the romantic dreamy souls out there, looking to escape to their own magic land, away from the humdrum.
Witten in a humorous manner, this enchanting sweet story is sure to leave a lasting smile on your face. But do keep a pack of tissue to wipe away your tears in one of those emotional lovely moments. The story reinforces love and trust in you and celebrates the love between parents and child, lovers, and family.
The novel revolves around Nitya, a young bright girl from Kerala, India. She is a go-getter and is all set to do her masters in one of the best universities in the world in the USA. Her life revolves around her parents, relatives, friends, who try to make her world safe much to her reluctance.
All her plans go haywire, when he enters into her life with a bang. He is a charmer, a perfect gentleman with a helping hand. She finds herself smitten and is unable to hold on to her agenda. For once, she just let it be and falls in love, only to realize that there is no undo button.
A beautiful love story follows taking the readers for a roller coaster ride through a series of twists and turns, emotions, suspense and laugh.
This coming of age, beautiful tale of love, relationships and dreams is sure to prick your soul, bring a smile on to you, and tear up your eyes.
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September 7, 2018
Molly Muse Came to Visit
Do you ever struggle with your characters because you can’t see them or talk to them? Molly says it is because you have not met them yet. You have not yet come face to face with your protagonists. You can’t see them, because so far they are not real to you.
That is the space where I had been since I started my newest manuscript. I had the idea for the internal conflict, but not the external. I knew how old each character would be and the decade in which they lived. I even wrote and revised the first three chapters several times trying to find them and my voice for the book. Molly came to visit me yesterday. She tapped me on the shoulder and said what I said to another writer. She said, “Sweetie, you have no idea who these people are. You never met them and you have to meet them to understand them.
Molly, in a secret method I will never understand, she instantly introduced them to me. All I will tell you is that their names are Mary and Dante and as I reread what I had already written and tweaked it a bit, they came to life. My voice came out of the shadows as clear and bright as the morning breeze on the beach. What a surprise! They are perfect for my new story.
Now to get down to business.
This post is contributed as a Guest post by Sarina Rose.
About the author:
Sarina is a Jersey Girl. The first thing she had to learn when she moved to Florida was to pump gas. Only Jersey and Oregon girls don’t pump gas. Go figure. The second thing she learned was that she likes to write. The third thing she learned was that she loves to write. She is a retired Spanish teacher and an insurance representative.
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September 5, 2018
The Melancholy History Of Mayfly
Born with a rare, unusual gift…sentenced to death…confined to a dungeon…persuaded by a priest to write! His powerful story, in his own powerful words! A devastating, immersive and unforgettable insight into the mind of a young man, days before his execution. From the author described as “a master story-teller!”(Emerald Reviews) and “a sensitive poet who molds language as though on a potter’s wheel which results in unspeakably beautiful art.”(San Francisco Review Of Books).
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American Voices
American suburbs are populated with mostly white and wealthy residents, white picket fences, and children preparing themselves for corporate positions at Ivy-league schools. Connecticut certainly fits this profile, as it is often cited as a state with the densest concentration of wealth in the USA. But labels or hashtags can be misleading, especially in an age when voices tend to congregate in separate choirs. If one takes the time to listen, there are interesting personalities who may miss the color in their own lives in pursuit of “something better.” Here, I have fused a series of short stories about fictional characters in a Connecticut town, liberally sprinkled with historical anecdotes of “locals who made good,” to illustrate how mundane situations can be elevated to the realm of common human experiences, if one appreciated life. An older man fulfills his midlife crisis with a Porsche. A couple, Jack and Jill, are caught up in a relationship tango of misunderstandings. A first-generation immigrant works long hours, with many disappointments, while yearning for a Disney-like version of his former homeland. These are the quirky and ultimately enduring stories of a few normal voices that often remain mute in today’s America.
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September 1, 2018
Loving Nick
Nicolo Vitale’s wedding to Karen Dombrowski quickly turns into divorce when he deploys to Vietnam, and she travels around Europe on business and has a one night fling with a Scotsman. She flees the marriage like a sinner out of church when she realizes she is pregnant and never tells either man about the child. Fearful, ashamed, guilty, embarrassed and invincible, she makes a life for the child and herself with the help of her parents away from both men for five years until she, by chance, meets Nick again. Will overcoming the past be enough to bring these two back together?
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Champion Your Career – Winning in the World of Work
Looking for a Career that Brings You Real Fulfillment? Seeking Work that Aligns with your Values and Passions? Need Help Developing a Job Search Strategy? The path to a fulfilling new career is a journey of many steps. Champion Your Career: Winning in the World of Work has been written to serve as a helpful guide and companion on every step of that journey. Champion Your Career is unusual in that it combines career counseling with career coaching. By asking the appropriate questions, Champion Your Career gives you not only the theory behind choosing a career that’s right for you, but offers practical exercises, resources, and powerful questions so you can then become your own career champion. The books that are on the market now offer career choice theory with self assessment exercises, but without the coaching structure and support that moves readers to active decision making within the process of championing their careers. Champion Your Career provides you with theory, exercises and coaching to support you on the path to finding both the right career and the job that’s perfect for you. Halimah Bellows’s non-fiction self-help book, Champion Your Career: Winning in the World of Work, shows how to make that dream job a reality if you’re willing to put in the effort required. Many of the exercises she proposes are fun and make a lot of sense at the same time. I particularly enjoyed those that had the reader look back at things he/she was good at as a child or young adult, as so many of those past pleasures or accomplishments can give the job seeker invaluable insights into what occupations will make working a pleasurable and fulfilling experience. Even if you’re relatively happy with your current position/career path, the techniques and information presented in this book may still help make a huge difference in job satisfaction. As the author writes, the average worker dedicates one-third of their lives to their careers. The book offers suggestions and exercises that show how the opportunity to do what one loves, rather than to suffer through the week waiting for the weekend, can be developed with some diligence and introspection. The chapter on retirement options is a stimulating and informative guide for those who want to make their retirement years a ‘renaissance’ rather than a withdrawal from life. There’s also a comprehensive appendix filled with links, advice on interview skills and preparation, and literature in the field. Champion Your Career: Winning in the World of Work is most highly recommended. –
AMAZON Barnes & Noble KOBO Goodreads
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5 Simple Steps to Social Media Success
Social media: the scariest and most daunting words to a small business owner. For the most part, we all know about social media and how to use it. Share pictures of fun family vacations you have taken, ask for advice, or rave about the latest product you are simply obsessed with. But when it comes to using social media for businesses, there are a lot of unknowns. Is it appropriate to share that picture? How do I respond to a consumer complaint? How often is too often to post about my business? What is the secret recipe when it comes to be a successful marketer on social media? Whether you own your own business, work in sales, or are trying to build a successful brand on social media, the 5 Simple Steps to Social Media Success is designed to give you a solid social media presence and set you up for success in the long run. This quick read will give you ideas and tools to better understand who YOU are as a business, who your audience is, and how best to reach and relate to them on the social media platform.
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Count And Write More Blessings With Me
We motivate ourselves by counting our blessings many times throughout each day, but how many times do we write them and share them with others to motivate them?
This book consists of an interactive format that will encourage children and adults to count and write their blessings while containing them in one book.
Hopefully, your blessings will motivate you to become writers who will share your blessings. Let this positive cycle continue from generation to generation.
May you become the best writer while counting and writing more blessings with me.
AMAZON Barnes & Noble Goodreads
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