Month: September 2013

My First Writers’ Group Experience

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Some time ago, I went searching online for writer’s groups in my area.  I found two, but only one that I really felt would be a good fit for me.  They meet once a month but take the summers off.  They had their seasonal ‘kick-off’ this morning.  They had a guest speaker, Dean Drawbaugh, who spoke about the “Nine Qualities that Generate Book Sales”.  He spoke for almost two hours.  It was very informative and interesting.  Mr. Drawbaugh is a writer, publisher and consultant.

It was definitely a step out of my comfort zone to go to the group this morning, as I am an introvert and am uncomfortable going into a group situation not knowing if anyone I know will be there.  It was a good-size group, between 30 and 35 people, some of whom drove for an hour or more to get there.  I didn’t notice anyone really reaching out to people they didn’t already know, but it is easier to get to know people and learn more about them in the small groups, so I’m sure that’s where I’ll get to know more of the people.  I did speak with the leader of the small group for a little while afterwards to gather a little more information about the group and the sharing process.

Mr. Drawbaugh also said something that I had posted here in the past about writing.  I had shared a while ago that I have been seeing a lot of stuff about writers writing for themselves and the fact that this seems to have become more important to some writers than determining their audience and writing for a specific audience.  I mentioned that unless you know who you are writing for and write to that audience, you probably won’t sell many books.  Mr. Drawbaugh said the same thing.  He said that if a writer wants to write for him or herself, that’s fine, if he/she only wants to sell one copy.  He stressed the importance of knowing who your audience is, writing to that audience, and then preparing to market to that audience.  That’s how you become a successful writer who sells lots of copies of your book.  So, the real question is, do you want to achieve a level of success that enables you to earn some money or do you just want to write for your own pleasure?  I know I want to achieve a level of success and earn some money.   Writing is hard work, and though I love it, I would really like to be paid to do it.

This particular writer’s group frequently has guest speakers.  Most months, though, they divide into small groups and whoever wants to can share a piece of writing for feedback from the others in the group.  There is a limit on the number of words your piece may have, to enable everyone who wants to share to have the time to do so.  Then there is the ‘oreo cookie’ rule that says that those giving feedback must start with something positive, followed by tips and advice on things that they think should be changed or that could be done better (this is also done in a kind, polite manner), and then end with another positive.

I think this is a great way to get and give feedback.  It gives the writer helpful advice and offers them another point of view or perspective that can be helpful without tearing them and/or their writing apart in a manner that is simply defeating.  This type of writer’s group is very helpful and encouraging.  I think I’m going to like this group.  I plan to continue attending.

It has inspired me to write more, and I look forward to seeing what I can come up with and, maybe, share at the next meeting.

Many people speak of a writer’s life as solitary and in many ways it is, but it is so important to have a network or group that you can be a part of to prevent yourself from giving up or becoming depressed.  It’s always good to know that you’re not the only one struggling with a scene or a character or whatever.

Are you a member of a writer’s group?  Can’t find one in your area?  Maybe you could start one.

My Current Work

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Now that the school year is in full swing and our homeschool co-op and the boys’ sports have begun, it is much harder to try to squeeze in some time to write, but the desire is still strong.  For the past two weeks, I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed and really needing some time to myself, so I explained it to my husband this past Friday, and Saturday afternoon, he blessed me with giving me the freedom to go out on my own for a few hours.

No, I don’t mean that he keeps me chained to the house, but it’s important to both of us to communicate and be on the same page.

So, what did I do?  I grabbed my notebook and pen, (Did I mention that I write better with pen and paper, so that is how I choose to write?  For some reason, the thoughts flow better that way.  Maybe, because that’s how I started writing stories years ago?), and I went to the mall.  I was disappointed to see that they have taken most of the nice little tables out of the center of the mall, but I found a nice table downstairs in the food court.  I bought a salad and a bottle of water at Saladworks and settled down to enjoy my lunch and some writing time.

My husband couldn’t understand how I could possibly write in the middle of a busy mall.  He said, “Won’t you have more distractions there?”  I explained, “No, because none of those people want my attention.  They aren’t seeking my attention for any reason, and besides, I also enjoy people watching and get some great ideas for characters by observing people.”

Well, I sat at that little table for about three hours and wrote probably all but about fifteen minutes of that time, in between mouthfuls of salad.  It was wonderful!  I feel my two main characters really developing and am really getting into the story.  I completed chapter one and wrote all of chapter two.  I look forward to finding some time to write again soon.

I then walked around part of the mall and then headed home feeling refreshed and as though I had accomplished something.  I hope to be able to find some space where I can be free from interruptions and spend time writing more often.  It makes me very happy.

Point of View: Yours, His, Hers or Theirs?

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How do you decide whose point of view to tell your story from?  Do you simply choose the point of view that is easiest for you to write from?

Since my last short story, Out of the Pit, I have given this a lot of thought.  Should I become the main character and tell my story from the first person point of view?  This really limits what your main character can know, because they can not tell anything about the story that they are not knowledgeable of.  They can’t tell you what happened in a place they weren’t at.  They can’t tell you what happened to a character they weren’t with.  It might make it easier to keep your story focused and not stray from your story line.  I know at least one writing teacher who stresses that their students tell their first novel from the first person point of view.

Do I create a main character, male or female, and tell the story from their point of view, but not becoming them.  In other words, third person?  And, of course, if I write in third person, it should be limited to keep from abrupt changes that would lose my reader.  That means that I tell the story from my main character’s point of view, but use “he” or “she” pronouns instead of “I”.  That allows me more freedom to offer details to my reader that my main character may not know about places he/she hasn’t been.  If you choose to write in third person and use two main characters, it is important to make clean breaks between whose point of view is being used when.  In other words, after the part that is told from the first character’s perspective, use a page break, like extra space between paragraphs, a line between the last paragraph and the new section, or change your chapter, to make it clear to your reader that the next part of the story is being told from the second character’s point of view.

It is very rare that a writer writes from multiple characters’ points of view, and it is very difficult to pull off successfully.  Often, a story told this way is choppy and difficult for the reader to follow.  Also, there isn’t a protagonist for the reader to really get to know and care about, which causes the reader to dislike the story or maybe, stop reading the story.  Readers like to get lost in the story.  They want to feel like they are the main character or that they know the main character personally.  If there are too many main characters, the story will lose this ability and may turn the reader off.

My opinion:  write in either first person or third person from just one character’s point of view.  This keeps it fairly simple to write, and because you become so in tune with that one, main character, that character becomes richer and more realistic to your reader, and your reader will be able to relate to that character, like that character, and care about that character.  It allows you to create the kind of character that a reader wants to read about again (they hate to see the story end because they feel as though they are losing a friend).  You can create other rich characters in the story as well, but it is your main character or protagonist that will capture your readers’ hearts.

Where Do You Like to be When You are Writing?

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You might think this is a silly question.  You might have a den or office in your home where you like to write.  I do not have that luxury.  As a homeschool mom of three busy boys, I have nowhere in my home that I can write without interruption, unless the youngest child is in bed, then I write at the dining room table.  If I am able to sneak away to the family room earlier in the day, I like to write there.

But, my favorite places to write are sitting at a picnic table in a park or in the food court or center of the mall.  You may be thinking that’s crazy.  You may ask, “how in the world can you write in a place like that with all of the noise and distractions?”  But, you see, I don’t see those places as being noisy and distracting.  As a person who enjoys people watching, (it’s a great way to get ideas for characters for stories), I enjoy those busy places, and I don’t find them distracting because none of the people there are my children nor are they with me.  Therefore, though many people may be around and may be talking, I don’t have to focus on them or be concerned about supplying their needs.  I can fully concentrate on my writing because I am alone in a sea of people, and I can pause and watch people, for more ideas, whenever I choose.  I would also enjoy writing as I sit in a coffee/tea shop or a cafe area in a bookstore.

Where do you like to be when you are writing?

What Do I Read? Who are My Favorite Authors?

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What do I read?  I read my Bible and some inspirational nonfiction books.  My favorite books to read are fiction and of those I prefer mystery/suspense, mystery/romance, general or mainstream fiction, Christian romance, classics and a very few horror/suspense.

Now, I will clarify my answers to the previous question by listing my favorite authors and/or the book they wrote which is my favorite, for some of my favorite books are the only book I read by that author:

Danielle Steel

Jeanette Oke

Frank Peretti

Dee Henderson especially her O’Malley Series

Charles Dickens

William Shakespeare

Maeve Binchy

Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mysteries

Terri Blackstock

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights

Jude Devereaux’s A Knight in Shining Armor

Nicholas Sparks

Dean Koontz (I like a lot of Dean Koontz’s books, including the Brother Odd books, but Watchers is my absolute favorite)

This is not an exhaustive list by any means.  I read A LOT of books, but I don’t often read many books by the same author unless I really like something that I read by that author, or unless it is part of a series.  Lately, I have taken to downloading free e-books and reading them on my tablet.

I believe every author I read has an influence on my writing, especially the authors I read a lot.  I enjoy reading as much, if not more, than writing and I look forward to one day being able to put more hours in the day into these two activities.

What authors and books do you like to read?  How do you think they influence you?

Let’s Talk About My Writing/Stories

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If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may have read my novella and short story that I posted here.  These were sort of experiments for me for several reasons:  1)  I never wrote mystery/suspense stories before, though those are my favorite types of stories to read; 2) I never posted stories online before; 3) I wrote these stories on my blog right off the top of my head, and the only editing I did was to read back over what I had written to correct spelling, grammar and maybe some wording here or there, right after writing, before hitting the “Publish Post” button; 4) I wanted to see if I could attract readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed these two exercises and attracted quite a few readers.  I had a couple of friends and relatives absolutely glued to my novella, anxiously looking for a new post each and every day.  That made writing it, so much more fun.  I didn’t seem to have that same response with my short story, though I still attracted a fair amount of readers.

Now, let’s talk about what I think is right and what I think is wrong with these two pieces of writing.  Let’s start with the novella, Dangerous Secrets.  I enjoyed writing this story and receiving everyone’s encouragement to keep going, but in the end, I was more disappointed with this story than I was with the short story I posted later.  Here’s why:  I could have continued the story into a full-length novel with the number of characters I introduced and the situations I put them in.  The good thing about this story, is that I did a good job at holding my readers’ attention and seemed to always leave them wanting more at the end of a day’s post.  But, in the end, I had both a friend and a relative tell me that I could have done so much more with the story, and I was well aware of that, but I did not want to put a full-length novel on the blog for everyone to read for free.  (If I am going to write a full-length novel, I hope to have it published or put it in an E-Book and earn some money from it.  I don’t think that’s selfish.  I think it’s realistic, and writing a full-length novel is a lot of hard work.)  Because of all of this, I ended the story too soon.  Yes, I tied up the loose ends and I believe the ending gave closure, but it definitely has the potential for me to re-visit it and turn it into a full-length novel someday, if I choose to.

Now, about the short story, Out of the Pit.  I didn’t get as much feedback from friends and relatives on this story, but I really liked this story.  I was pleased to keep my cast of characters at a number that was very workable in a short story, so by the time I ended the story, it felt more like the story was over and not like I could do a lot more with it.  I liked my characters in this story better, felt that I had developed them better and that I knew them better.  So, where did I go wrong with this story?  In the “point-of-view”.  I have never written a story in the first-person.  It isn’t comfortable for me.  I find it too confining.  However, I stretched the third-person point-of-view beyond the limits in Out of the Pit.  You see, it is best to write third-person “limited”, which means stick to telling the story from the main character’s point-of-view, or at the most, from your main character’s and one other important character’s points-of-view, by using a page-break or writing every other chapter from the other character’s point-of-view.  What did I do wrong?  I wrote from many characters’ points-of-view.  I let them share their thoughts, and this caused the story to jump or bounce around too much.  It gave the readers a jolt each time a change in point-of-view came, and this can cause readers to not get as involved because they don’t get to really know and care about the main character or two main characters, because they are getting too much information from minor characters.  I may go back and edit this story sometime, because I still really like it.

So, be aware of whose point-of-view you are telling your story from.  Limit whose thoughts and feelings you choose to share and be sure to create characters that your readers will really care about.

I learned of my point-of-view problem from a publishing consultant, who was gracious enough to look at my short story and offer me feedback.  So, I would like to take a minute here and let you know that WinePress Publishing has a great opportunity for writers.  You can work with a professional writer or editor for six months, and they will help you write a novel, and then you can publish your completed novel with WinePress Publishing.   It is a self-publishing publishing company.  Visit their website for more information at:  http://www.winepresspublishing.com/.

You may also be interested in The Story Cartel Writing Course.  Visit:  http://course.storycartel.com/.

Why Do I Write?

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I have loved books ever since I learned to read.  I have always been a voracious reader and just love good stories.  When I was in school, a couple of my teachers encouraged my writing, after I handed in writing assignments.  I remember my seventh grade English teacher telling my mother to encourage my writing.  She said I had a talent.  So, I began writing stories.

I have written many stories that I have not shared with many people.  I have also taken two correspondence writing courses in the past and continue to read about writing, as well as continually reading the type of books that I would like to write.

As a homeschool mom, I teach my children the importance of writing well and encourage them to read and write.  My oldest son has a strong love of reading and writing and has had his writing praised by many people.  He has even done some writing for others and has done a couple of public speaking events, and he wrote his own speeches.  He has encouraged me to return to my writing because he said, “Mom, you taught me to write, so my writing talent has grown and flourished because of what you taught me, so you have a talent as well.”

I enjoy writing, and sometimes I just feel that if I don’t write, I will burst.  Therefore, I write because I enjoy it and because I feel a need to write.  Now, I also write because I want to share my writing with others and hope they will find enjoyment, adventure and/or excitement in my writing.  I hope that readers can relate to my characters or that my characters can teach, inspire or give hope to my readers.  I write for my own pleasure, and hope that others will find pleasure in reading my writing too.  I write in hopes of providing clean entertainment filled with hope in a world where so much of what is out there is filled with inappropriate language, indecent scenes, hopelessness and despair.  I think we have enough of that stuff in the real world and see it or hear it daily in the news, so I think we need a respite from all of that and hope that my readers will find that respite in my writing.

Why do you write?

What is Your Worldview and How Does it Affect Your Writing?

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What is your worldview?  Your worldview consists of five major items:  1) Your concept of the most real thing in existence (your notion of God or of ultimate reality); 2) Your view of the essential nature of the external world (ordered or chaotic, material or spiritual); 3) Your idea of who we and others really are (your concept of human nature); this includes your idea of how you know and your notion of what happens to us after we die; 4) Your understanding of the good (ethics); and 5) Your understanding of the meaning of humanity’s sojourn on earth (the meaning of history).

Your worldview is like a map in that it may fit what is really there or it may be grossly misleading.  The map isn’t of the world itself, only an image of it, more or less accurate in some places, distorted in others.

*Note:  the information in the above two paragraphs come from How to Read Slowly by James Sire, part of the Starting Points world view study.

How does your world view affect your writing?  Some people will say they can write a story without a specific message, to which I would respond that you may not consciously intend to include a message in your writing, but whatever your belief system is, it will show in your writing.  You cannot turn off your belief system to write, or to do anything else.  Your belief system is part of who you are and you can change it, and, therefore, change the message that comes through your writing, but you cannot be void of a belief system.  Even if you say you believe in nothing, that is your belief system, and it will show through your writing.  You cannot completely separate yourself from your characters or your story.

Therefore it is important to know what your belief system is.  As a Christian, I do not believe that every story I write has to have a message of salvation that is blatant and loud and clear.  A story may have a need for that, but I believe most stories will be more appealing if the message is subtle and not in-your-face.  I do not sit down and decide what message to put into a story before I begin to write.  As a matter of fact, most times I do not think about the message at all.  I concentrate on my characters.  I want to create characters that create emotions within the reader; characters that the reader can identify with, relate to, sympathize or empathize with.  At some point, I stop being the creator of the characters and the characters begin to tell me the story.  They let me know their thoughts, feelings, emotions, desires and the things they are going to do and say and where they are going to go.  And, there is always a message:  a message about relationships or about a character realizing who they really are or what they are meant to do, a message of hope or of despair or of love or of family or community, or loss, etc.

Your world view comes out in the words you choose to use to tell the story and in the actions, thoughts and dialogue of your characters.

Who Do You Write For?

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One of the first things I was taught, as a writer, is that you have to determine who your audience is — who do you write for?

Recently, I have read quite a couple of blogs and participated in a writers’ discussion group which now teach that, as a writer, you should write for yourself.

Who is right?

As I see it, it needs to be both:  1) You have to write for yourself, in so far as, you won’t want to share your writing with anyone if you don’t like it, and 2) You have to determine a larger audience if your goal is to sell your writing.

To determine your audience, you need to be able to answer some basic, simple questions:

1)  What age range do you feel your writing is best suited for?

2)  Will your writing include themes, language or scenes that are acceptable                      for and appealing to that age group?

That’s really all you need to determine to decide upon your audience.  However, because you will be writing from your personal worldview, (this will be expanded upon in my next post), there are some things you will also have to determine and realize.  My next post will explain this better, as I discuss worldview and what that means for your writing.