First, I intended to write another NaNo tip yesterday but remembered about one this morning. Does that count?
Second, since today is Halloween (at least here in the States) and I love the Henri videos, here's the latest, entitled Henri 4, L'Haunting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_fUsssnHPw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I love Henri. Enjoy!
Denise Barker, author, blogger + copy editor
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Authors' Anytime Tip
The answer to career and lifestyle quandaries is simple, really. We only need to know the WHAT that we want. The HOW and WHY aren't necessary--in fact, they can be obstacles to action.
Mike McManus, Founder of the Source Experience
While we are storytellers and may need to now the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of our tales, the above quote reassures us that we DO NOT need all that info to pursue our careers.
So no matter whether you will only go the traditionally published route, or you are all-Indie (like me), or you are going Indie while you await that traditional contract, remember the brass ring we all seek:
- To type up the creations that live in our minds.
- To enjoy the process.
- To celebrate each The End.
- To memorialize each In The Beginning.
Best wishes, all!
Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy
editor
Saturday, October 27, 2012
NaNoWriMo Tips: A Synopsis + Character Photos and Names
I'm a pantster, although one of my romance group authors thinks I'm a hybrid, because I usually have the beginning, the ending and the black moment conceived, just not any of the other stuff.
So take what you know and write out a synopsis, as if you were submitting same to a publishing house. Remember for these, inclusion of the ending is necessary to see if you can deliver a good tale. Regardless of whether you are seeking a traditional publisher or going the Indie route, you can benefit from this step.
So if you have seven major plot points, you are in good shape, IMO. Take them and fashion a synopsis, a summary of your plot in order, maybe expounding on each point with a paragraph or two. Fourteen paragraphs is not unusual. If you check out a few publishing houses online and see what their requirements are (which differ from house to house), a traditional synopsis can range from one page to five.
Plus, it helps to see where you have glaring logic flaws, or holes where nothing much is going on. Not that you can't go with it, as is, flaws and holes and all; you just need to be prepared to work each out as you navigate NaNoWriMo.
Also, if you love Pinterest, as I do, find a good depiction of your hero and heroine. Post them online. Or print out one of each for your computer desk. Remember: a picture is worth a thousand words. Find one that propels you to write about the person in it.
While you are at it, peruse your baby name book collection (or telephone book or obituary pages) for the main characters' names. If doing a romance, it really helps that they go together well in the same sentence, like Barbie and Ken. Just something to keep in mind. I started a list of preferred male and female names, A to Z, from one of my baby name books. Haven't finished that project yet and still have other books to go.
Above all, remember to have fun with the whole process, y'all!
So take what you know and write out a synopsis, as if you were submitting same to a publishing house. Remember for these, inclusion of the ending is necessary to see if you can deliver a good tale. Regardless of whether you are seeking a traditional publisher or going the Indie route, you can benefit from this step.
So if you have seven major plot points, you are in good shape, IMO. Take them and fashion a synopsis, a summary of your plot in order, maybe expounding on each point with a paragraph or two. Fourteen paragraphs is not unusual. If you check out a few publishing houses online and see what their requirements are (which differ from house to house), a traditional synopsis can range from one page to five.
Plus, it helps to see where you have glaring logic flaws, or holes where nothing much is going on. Not that you can't go with it, as is, flaws and holes and all; you just need to be prepared to work each out as you navigate NaNoWriMo.
Also, if you love Pinterest, as I do, find a good depiction of your hero and heroine. Post them online. Or print out one of each for your computer desk. Remember: a picture is worth a thousand words. Find one that propels you to write about the person in it.
While you are at it, peruse your baby name book collection (or telephone book or obituary pages) for the main characters' names. If doing a romance, it really helps that they go together well in the same sentence, like Barbie and Ken. Just something to keep in mind. I started a list of preferred male and female names, A to Z, from one of my baby name books. Haven't finished that project yet and still have other books to go.
Above all, remember to have fun with the whole process, y'all!
Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy
editor
Thursday, October 25, 2012
NaNoWriMo Tips: Writing Exercises
This is about what you like as a reader, which you may already incorporate in your novels. After all, we write what we love to read. We love certain genres as a reader and a creator both. But there's always room for improvement when we put imagination in print, right?
If your own writing makes you cry, laugh or erupt in goose bumps (at all the right spots, of course), then so will your intended audience. Therefore compose first to please yourself. Of that you can be sure. Of that, you have control over.
First, let me say this: PLAGIARISM IS NEVER ALLOWED. Don't get me started on this topic.
Second, take three of your favorite books. Those that you reread all the time, more than five times each. It would be best if it was from three different authors, or like Nora Roberts aka J. D. Robb, pick one of her romances and then one from her In Death series.
Choose the most memorable scenes and hand copy them word for word. A dynamic link occurs between the brain and the hand when you engage both, so bear with me here. When you take that first step, all manner of providence aids you.
Study them, both the big picture angle and the small. Does the author's printed page have a lot of white space or is it crammed full of text? Check out paragraph length. You are looking for pacing here. I particularly like a fast-moving book.
How about sentence length? A mix of long and short? You've seen the six basic human needs: certainty, variety, significance, love, growth, contribution. Incorporate variety in your prose, even to the number of words in your sentences.
Remember those diagrams in English class where you had to identify every word in a sentence? Do it here just for those wondrous lines of word combinations where you think, I wish I had written that. This may reveal whether you focus more on the outward (actions/descriptions) or the inward (thoughts, introspections, mental dilemmas).
You may even want to see how long each of the chapters are, on average, for your fave authors. Attention span seems to be getting shorter and shorter, and our need for more info, more speed increasing. Take note of that.
Just study their style and discern any patterns. Ask yourself why you think it works for them? How could you apply it to your writing?
Decades ago I read about the highlighter technique and applied it to the first chapter of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged in a second paperback copy I bought specifically for this purpose. You take like five different colors, assign one for dialogue, narrative, description, internalizations, action, emotions, foreshadowing, humor, etc. Select what works for your genre.
Then mark up the story accordingly. I remember thinking she had a pretty good mix of all five in her first chapter. I'll have to look for it and confirm.
Regardless, I like very little description and I won't change that in my writing. I just hate the police blotter rendering of physical appearance (unless you are actually having your reader review a police intake form).
Still I need some. My tale employs people and places, and I need to share that with my reader. I give a bare-bones overview of my characters, but I really want my readers to conjure up somebody they like, instead of me being so exacting, so detail-oriented, that I portray their hated second grade teacher or an ex. That would be counterproductive.
Adverbs. I write a pretty clean first draft, but it is overrun with adverbs. Can't help those LY words creeping into my thoughts and showing up initially. My original text is a more creative version, with my internal editor gagged. But I can get rid of most useless adverbs--by using stronger verbs and concrete nouns--in the second go-round with a more critical review of my words.
Think of adverbs as flags. Making you choose better subjects and predicates.
Adjectives. Purple prose turns me off. But there is a way to hide those modifiers--put them after the noun they describe. For example: The slow, murky water of the winding river did not even reflect the sunlight. Traditional sentence structure, right? How about, instead, we do this: The river wound through the mountains, its water slow and murky and unreflective. Disguise some of your adjectives, mix up your sentence formation, try something new.
And you need not just use fiction for these exercises. I read Stephen King's On Writing recently and was wowed by how much detail and how many phrases the man could put in one sentence and not lose me. It was coherent. It was "plain" even. Just amazing. So even analyze a favorite How-To-Write book of yours that really spoke to you. Was the style conversational or instructional? Dry or witty? A mix of teaching and personal example?
Third, don't be an imitation of anyone else. Be the best you possible. These writing exercises are not to change your style, but to show you new ways to demonstrate your thoughts, some variations that improve clarity and may draw in your readers for a more emotional experience. Just assimilate some things that support your voice, elevate your writing--to where others are now saying, I wish I had written that.
Fourth, above all, communicate. Don't get so flowery your reader has to reread a sentence three times trying to figure it out. Don't use a five-syllable word your reader stumbles over and has to stop to look up in Webster's when a one- or two-syllable word is concise and perfect for your use.
Fifth. Punctuation is critical. For example, commas can be your friend. Use a comma to denote a pause. Like I noted about Stephen King above, I really need to investigate his style with his long sentences and see why his commas worked. For he must have used a lot of pairs, to set apart his phrases, within each long sentence, from my memory. I'll have to check that out further.
Okay, guys. We are nearing November 1. Is your writing space set up for productivity? Clutter and dust strangle your creative side. See y'all soon online.
If your own writing makes you cry, laugh or erupt in goose bumps (at all the right spots, of course), then so will your intended audience. Therefore compose first to please yourself. Of that you can be sure. Of that, you have control over.
First, let me say this: PLAGIARISM IS NEVER ALLOWED. Don't get me started on this topic.
Second, take three of your favorite books. Those that you reread all the time, more than five times each. It would be best if it was from three different authors, or like Nora Roberts aka J. D. Robb, pick one of her romances and then one from her In Death series.
Choose the most memorable scenes and hand copy them word for word. A dynamic link occurs between the brain and the hand when you engage both, so bear with me here. When you take that first step, all manner of providence aids you.
Study them, both the big picture angle and the small. Does the author's printed page have a lot of white space or is it crammed full of text? Check out paragraph length. You are looking for pacing here. I particularly like a fast-moving book.
How about sentence length? A mix of long and short? You've seen the six basic human needs: certainty, variety, significance, love, growth, contribution. Incorporate variety in your prose, even to the number of words in your sentences.
Remember those diagrams in English class where you had to identify every word in a sentence? Do it here just for those wondrous lines of word combinations where you think, I wish I had written that. This may reveal whether you focus more on the outward (actions/descriptions) or the inward (thoughts, introspections, mental dilemmas).
You may even want to see how long each of the chapters are, on average, for your fave authors. Attention span seems to be getting shorter and shorter, and our need for more info, more speed increasing. Take note of that.
Just study their style and discern any patterns. Ask yourself why you think it works for them? How could you apply it to your writing?
Decades ago I read about the highlighter technique and applied it to the first chapter of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged in a second paperback copy I bought specifically for this purpose. You take like five different colors, assign one for dialogue, narrative, description, internalizations, action, emotions, foreshadowing, humor, etc. Select what works for your genre.
Then mark up the story accordingly. I remember thinking she had a pretty good mix of all five in her first chapter. I'll have to look for it and confirm.
Regardless, I like very little description and I won't change that in my writing. I just hate the police blotter rendering of physical appearance (unless you are actually having your reader review a police intake form).
Still I need some. My tale employs people and places, and I need to share that with my reader. I give a bare-bones overview of my characters, but I really want my readers to conjure up somebody they like, instead of me being so exacting, so detail-oriented, that I portray their hated second grade teacher or an ex. That would be counterproductive.
Adverbs. I write a pretty clean first draft, but it is overrun with adverbs. Can't help those LY words creeping into my thoughts and showing up initially. My original text is a more creative version, with my internal editor gagged. But I can get rid of most useless adverbs--by using stronger verbs and concrete nouns--in the second go-round with a more critical review of my words.
Think of adverbs as flags. Making you choose better subjects and predicates.
Adjectives. Purple prose turns me off. But there is a way to hide those modifiers--put them after the noun they describe. For example: The slow, murky water of the winding river did not even reflect the sunlight. Traditional sentence structure, right? How about, instead, we do this: The river wound through the mountains, its water slow and murky and unreflective. Disguise some of your adjectives, mix up your sentence formation, try something new.
And you need not just use fiction for these exercises. I read Stephen King's On Writing recently and was wowed by how much detail and how many phrases the man could put in one sentence and not lose me. It was coherent. It was "plain" even. Just amazing. So even analyze a favorite How-To-Write book of yours that really spoke to you. Was the style conversational or instructional? Dry or witty? A mix of teaching and personal example?
Third, don't be an imitation of anyone else. Be the best you possible. These writing exercises are not to change your style, but to show you new ways to demonstrate your thoughts, some variations that improve clarity and may draw in your readers for a more emotional experience. Just assimilate some things that support your voice, elevate your writing--to where others are now saying, I wish I had written that.
Fourth, above all, communicate. Don't get so flowery your reader has to reread a sentence three times trying to figure it out. Don't use a five-syllable word your reader stumbles over and has to stop to look up in Webster's when a one- or two-syllable word is concise and perfect for your use.
Fifth. Punctuation is critical. For example, commas can be your friend. Use a comma to denote a pause. Like I noted about Stephen King above, I really need to investigate his style with his long sentences and see why his commas worked. For he must have used a lot of pairs, to set apart his phrases, within each long sentence, from my memory. I'll have to check that out further.
Okay, guys. We are nearing November 1. Is your writing space set up for productivity? Clutter and dust strangle your creative side. See y'all soon online.
Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy
editor
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
NaNoWriMo Tip: Brainstorming
Are you like me, still floundering for an idea that would sustain 50K WC for your 2012 NaNo novel? How about let's do a brainstorming session, shall we?
1. List your 10 fave magazines.
2. List the top 3 fave sections of a bookstore for you.
3. List your top 10 favorite subjects that you can talk about for hours, research for days, weeks.
4. List the first 5 fave people who come to mind.
5. List the first 5 people you wish you had never met, or at least had confronted or said that witty comeback to.
6. List the top 3 adjectives that define your core.
7. List the top 3 things that tick you off. One of them is unsolicited solicitors for sure, IMO.
8. List 3 places you love or would love to visit for the first time.
9. List 3 people, living or dead, you wish you could spend time with. For me, I have a paternal great-grandmother that really made an impact on my dad and I would have loved to meet her in person.
10. List 5 of your fave memories.
That should do for now.
Then take your answers and circle at least one from each item that stands out the most.
You have your "top 10" list now but I want you to narrow it down to 5. Then study those 5 elements and see what kind of a story pops in your mind. Don't worry if it doesn't congeal right away. I know my brain needs marinating time for ideas, so don't despair. Two days from now, usually while unloading/loading the dishwasher, the beginnings of a wonderful story will hit me.
I hope the same for you.
1. List your 10 fave magazines.
2. List the top 3 fave sections of a bookstore for you.
3. List your top 10 favorite subjects that you can talk about for hours, research for days, weeks.
4. List the first 5 fave people who come to mind.
5. List the first 5 people you wish you had never met, or at least had confronted or said that witty comeback to.
6. List the top 3 adjectives that define your core.
7. List the top 3 things that tick you off. One of them is unsolicited solicitors for sure, IMO.
8. List 3 places you love or would love to visit for the first time.
9. List 3 people, living or dead, you wish you could spend time with. For me, I have a paternal great-grandmother that really made an impact on my dad and I would have loved to meet her in person.
10. List 5 of your fave memories.
That should do for now.
Then take your answers and circle at least one from each item that stands out the most.
You have your "top 10" list now but I want you to narrow it down to 5. Then study those 5 elements and see what kind of a story pops in your mind. Don't worry if it doesn't congeal right away. I know my brain needs marinating time for ideas, so don't despair. Two days from now, usually while unloading/loading the dishwasher, the beginnings of a wonderful story will hit me.
I hope the same for you.
Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy
editor
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
NaNoWriMo Tip: Focus
I usually come up with my titles fairly quickly, easily. Long before I have enough plot points to entail a novel-length tale. And I have a very clear picture in my mind what my cover will be. For four of my WIPs, I printed out a scene (I prefer landscapes to people), affixed my title and hung them near my desktop computer. Having your tagline taped to your screen can help too.
It is all about focus.
It is all about focus.
So, for your 2012 NaNo project, imagine what your perfect cover would look like. Search for it online or in magazines or sketch it out yourself or whatever. This does not have to be the one you actually use, just a prop to remind you of your story.
Then create your tagline, that one thought that sums up what you want to accomplish this time. Make it twenty-five words or less. Remember, you don't need your characters names here. Just an adjective and a noun. Like "burned spy" or "rogue agent" or "unemployed waitress" or "Italian businessman." You get the idea.
Then sum up the major conflict without giving anything away. Write it on a sticky note or an index card.
Now place those two things where you are mostly likely to see them on a daily basis.
Then create your tagline, that one thought that sums up what you want to accomplish this time. Make it twenty-five words or less. Remember, you don't need your characters names here. Just an adjective and a noun. Like "burned spy" or "rogue agent" or "unemployed waitress" or "Italian businessman." You get the idea.
Then sum up the major conflict without giving anything away. Write it on a sticky note or an index card.
Now place those two things where you are mostly likely to see them on a daily basis.
Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy
editor
Sunday, October 21, 2012
NaNoWriMo Tips: Mind-set
Here are a couple more tips. First, more for us women:
I believe it was Barbara Cartland who had a daily beauty regimen scheduled as a break in her writing, which obviously didn't slow her down one bit as she penned 723 books. I remember her having a facial one day, a mani-pedi the next, a mask another, a hair treatment to follow, all-over moisturizing, and so on. Pick your favorite.
Water does a body good, so drink up, too. Indulge in your own at-home spa treatments now or each day of November or both. I have a small clear plastic container filled with manicure items on my desk. It reminds me to make time to pamper myself even just five minutes daily.
Second, for any NaNo author:
Is there something bugging you that you have been procrastinating about? Like me, do you have a truckload of nonworking electronics that needs to be carted off to Best Buy and/or the city dump? Before writing this post, I wiped down seven sides to six doors just here in my office, kitchen, entryway and laundry room area. It took all of fifteen minutes and I'm still smiling at their shining surfaces.
You don't want worry or guilt interrupting your creative process, so if your mind seems to be nagging you about something, just go do it.
I believe it was Barbara Cartland who had a daily beauty regimen scheduled as a break in her writing, which obviously didn't slow her down one bit as she penned 723 books. I remember her having a facial one day, a mani-pedi the next, a mask another, a hair treatment to follow, all-over moisturizing, and so on. Pick your favorite.
Water does a body good, so drink up, too. Indulge in your own at-home spa treatments now or each day of November or both. I have a small clear plastic container filled with manicure items on my desk. It reminds me to make time to pamper myself even just five minutes daily.
Second, for any NaNo author:
Is there something bugging you that you have been procrastinating about? Like me, do you have a truckload of nonworking electronics that needs to be carted off to Best Buy and/or the city dump? Before writing this post, I wiped down seven sides to six doors just here in my office, kitchen, entryway and laundry room area. It took all of fifteen minutes and I'm still smiling at their shining surfaces.
You don't want worry or guilt interrupting your creative process, so if your mind seems to be nagging you about something, just go do it.
Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy
editor
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)