Writing

“Practicing the Art of Poetry”

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I have been a member of Lancaster Christian Writers for about thirteen years. I have learned a lot about writing through their monthly meetings and annual Writers’ Conferences and continue to do so. I have also made some wonderful friends and valuable contacts through this group and continue to do so.

This past Saturday, one of the friends I met through the group taught a workshop on “Practicing the Art of Poetry”. She shared “why all writers should practice the art of poetry”. She shared things I never really thought about. She also shared some poems. Then she instructed us to do two writing exercises. She didn’t stress all of the mechanics, techniques, and different types of poems. She didn’t even tell us our poems had to have structure or to rhyme.

Her main point was: a poem doesn’t have to take a lot of time. It is easier to finish than an article or a story. Not to perfect it, but to finish it.

The first writing exercise she instructed us to do was to write a poem about Grace.

I don’t know where the idea came from, but I got an idea as soon as she said the word “Grace”. The following is my poem about Grace:

Grace is a little girl in pigtails picking dandelions in a field in the sunshine. Sitting on a stoop and giggling as a puppy licks her nose. Dancing in the rain and skipping barefoot through puddles. Singing “Jesus Loves Me” when she is scared, and praying “God is great, God is good” before taking a bite of food. Grace is not only her name, but something in her innocence.

The second exercise she assigned us to do was to take something we’re working on — a novel, devotional, article — and turn a piece of it into a poem. So, this next attempt at a poem is from one of the character’s problems and emotions from my current Work in Progress (WIP). But don’t look for it in the book when it comes out, because I don’t think it’s going to make it into the book.

Was she really rejecting him? The look in her eyes and tone of her voice started a fizzure in his heart, but her words spread and deepend the fizzure into many cracks. Her final declaration that she would not go to Boston with him drove his mind to its knees and he turned to leave.

I enjoyed this workshop and dabbling in poetry for a little while.

Some Additional Great Writing Resources

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If you haven’t noticed all the tabs at the top of this website, today I would like to draw your attention to the one labeled “Great Resources for Writers and Authors”.

I am a firm believer in being a lifelong learner in the writing world. This helps you to always be on top of things in the publishing world. It also helps you continually improve your craft. Therefore, I include this page on my website and occasionally add to it to help all writers and authors who also want to continually improve their craft.

Today I have added a website that I couldn’t believe I didn’t already have on the list, “Writers Helping Writers”. It’s a great website with so many helpful tools, workshops, and software, as well as FREE worksheets and blog articles to help you improve your writing.

Today, I also added two books I recently purchased because they were recommended by a speaker at a writers’ conference I attended earlier this year. I recently purchased them and am excited to dive into them because I love character driven stories. Therefore, I am always looking for ways to improve on creating my characters and making them complex, realistic, and believable.

The two books I added are:

What Type Am I? by Renee Baron. This is a book based on the Classic Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This book can help you create strengths and weaknesses for your characters as well as for their personal growth.

The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes by Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders. I am most excited about this one! This book promises to help the writer create extraordinarily memorable characters and elevate their writing to a higher level.

I encourage you to check out these resources as well as my “Great Resources for Writers and Authors” page for more helpful resources. You can begin with one or two, then come back to my “Great Resources for Writers and Authors” page to find more.

Let me know if you visit any of the websites I have listed or read any of the great books and what you think of them.

Thursday’s Thoughts, Questions, & Comments About Writing — Marketing

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In today’s world, whether you publish through a publisher or you self-publish, you will still need to do your own marketing. Now that my first book has been published, I am trying to figure out what marketing strategies work best.

So, what have I done so far?

  1. I have set up an author’s page on Amazon and Goodreads.
  2. I do my best to post here on my blog five days a week, but because I also take my aging mother to medical appointments and have responsibilites in my own household, I don’t always accomplish this goal.
  3. I have a personal page and a professional page on Facebook. If you don’t follow me, please do: my Facebook professional page and my Personal Facebook page. I try to post something on these pages at least once a day, and I try to read and respond to friends’ posts, and to the group posts on the groups I’m a part of. Facebook also has ways to promote posts and I think they have ads available too, but I haven’t tried any of that. I’m just trying to get to know people and connect with readers.
  4. Amazon also has ads, but I haven’t done any of these yet either. There is a cost for ads no matter what website or social media page you’re on. I’ve heard some of the ads are reasonable and worth it, but I’m not ready to try that yet.
  5. I also answer two questions a week on Goodreads and am trying to connect with readers on there as well. Goodreads has some suggestions for authors to do to engage with readers, and they have some marketing tools and suggestions as well. Again, I have not done any of these yet or looked into them in detail.
  6. I’ve been told “word of mouth” is still very effective in selling books, and in the beginning, I have seen that working. I sold a decent amount of books because of that. However, my sales have slowed down, so I need to start looking into and trying some other things. It’s all a process of learning and trial and error.

I have not found much on Barnes & Noble’s website in the way of promoting books, and, honestly, I don’t know if many people buy books from their website. My books been on their website for several weeks now and hasn’t made a single sale. I know Amazon is the place many people go to, not just for books, but for lots of other things. I see their vans all over my town and neighborhood almost on a daily basis, and definitely on a daily basis from October through January.

So, what about you other authors who visit here? What have you done and found effective in selling your books? Please leave a comment in the comments section. I love when we writers/authors can help each other. That’s why I share the posts I share here.

Thursday’s Thoughts, Questions, & Comments About Writing — Writing and Publishing

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Writing and publishing books is much different than it was when I first began dreaming of becoming an author. Like many writers of my generation, I dreamed of writing a fantastic story and submitting it to a publisher, who would love it so much, they’d publish it. I also dreamed that they would arrange book signings for me and get the word out about my book, and get it into bookstores. Yes, I dreamed of seeing a beautiful book cover with my book’s title and my name on the cover on a bookshelf in a cozy bookstore like Barnes & Noble.

My, how times have changed. Now, in the age where technology seems to rule–I mean, the vast majority of the population carries a phone with a computer everywhere they go. They can write or read on their phone. They can purchase books on their phone.

Enter the world of self-publishing. Yes, that is the road I have chosen to travel. “Why?” You might ask. There are several reasons:

  1. I did, at first, at the encouragement of a bestselling author friend, submit a query to an agent. I had high hopes that this agent would be thrilled to represent me and help me get my first novel published. After all, my bestselling author friend was thrilled with the first three chapters she read, and so was her husband, who said I painted the scenes in his mind with the words I used. However, the agent wasn’t as thrilled. Oh, she didn’t turn me down, exactly, but she wanted me to make a lot of changes. You see, I don’t like to read, what is referred to as “formulaic” romance, but that’s what agents and publishers want because that is what they believe sells best because that’s what they’ve seen happen. Now, you may be asking, “what is ‘formulaic’ romance? That simply means that the woman is the main character and the man and woman have to meet within the first few pages. That wasn’t the way my story was written, and still isn’t. However, if I would’ve agreed to make the changes, this agent was willing to work with me because she did like my writing. I was not willing to make those changes.
  2. Traditional publishing takes a long time. After submitting and having your manuscript accepted, it takes a year to eighteen months, sometimes longer, until your book is actually published.
  3. Of course, there are smaller publishing companies as well. I also submitted to one of these. However, they wanted to make lots of changes, beginning with the title I had been using for my book. They also would’ve chosen my cover, and I already had an idea of what I wanted my cover to look like back then, as well.
  4. Finally, my bestselling author friend contacted me after she wrote a book and submitted it to her publisher (a big name publisher). She told me that they had refused to accept her book because her prior book didn’t have the number of sales they had expected. So, she independently published that book and has decided that is the way she will go with future books. She said publishers are getting too picky and, if they are dropping bestselling authors, a new author would really have a battle trying to convince them to take a chance on her.

Now, I will admit, it took me a long time to publish my first book — a little over six years! Why? Because when I started writing my book, I was still homeschooling my sons. I was also still learning what publishers and agents look for, because even though I knew I was going to publish independently, I wanted my book written well. In addition to learning what publishers and agents look for, I studied the writing craft. I also had to do research because I write Historical Christian Romance, and I need to get the history right. In addition to research, learning, and writing, I met consistently with my critique partners and did a lot of editing, as well as a rather large rewrite.

Finally, after a little over six years, I believed my book was ready, and I was ready to release it to the world. Then I hit technology road blocks. I knew absolutely nothing about how to format my book for a paperback book or for an ebook.

Well, praise the Lord, who has a plan for this book! First, he brought a new friend into my life in church. She studied art and computer stuff, and she volunteered to create my cover. Then, God brought another writer into my life — someone who spent her life doing lots of technical and nonfiction writing, and had just been called by God, to write fiction. (She has retired from technical and nonfiction writing, for the most part.) She had already published a fiction book, so she had already figured out how to do the formatting, and how to get it up on Amazon.

Therefore, with my book cover downloaded onto my computer, and with the help of my friend, who knew how to format a book for paperback and ebook, my book was properly formatted, and I was able to publish it through Amazon KDP, which is actually very easy to walk through step by step.

So, my book is available on Amazon, and after it was on Amazon for nearly a month, I figured out how to get it up on Barnes & Noble as well.

Since I now know how to write a good quality story — one that holds the reader’s interest and has them asking if I’m already working on my next book, I don’t anticipate my next book taking nearly as long as this first one did. I am already working on my next book, and though, it might take a year, I’m hoping it won’t, but, ultimately, it’s in God’s hands and it will be published in His time. I just plan to devote as much time as possible working on it because I am building a fan base who are looking forward to it. I hope you’ll be interested in becoming one of them.

No, my first book is not on bookshelves in any bookstore(s), yet. I say “yet” because I haven’t given up that dream, and there are still a couple local bookstores in my area that I plan to approach. That’s part of marketing. I’ll talk about that next week.

A New Year and New Things to Come

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As 2024 begins, I am working on planning my weekdays to devote to writing fulltime. Yes, my dream has finally come true! Some of my plans include:

1) finishing final edits and formatting my first novel, for which I have found someone to create my cover. The goal is to have it available no later than the end of February.

2) writing my second novel, which I have already started, and my plan is to have this one published in time for Christmas 2024!

3) writing more posts here for all of you who make time to come here and read. One of the things I will be writing and sharing are more flash fiction stories, including a series I have in mind that will feature my beloved dog as the main character.

4) sharing contest links and updates to help promote Clean Fiction Magazine which is a great place to read reviews of Clean and Christian books to read, as well as some great articles and short stories.

I’m so excited and I hope you will enjoy finding more to read here on my blog. Of course, I’ll still be posting occasional Book Reviews here too, but remember, I strive to write 40 reviews a year for Clean Fiction Magazine, that’s 10 per issue, so if you can’t get enough of my reviews here, be sure to grab your copy of each quarterly issue of Clean Fiction Magazine.

Let’s Talk About Book Reviews

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I would really like to generate a discussion in the comment section of this post. If you are an indie published author or someone who is planning on publishing a book independently, I hope you will comment after reading this post. I will also warn you that this will be a longer post than I usually write.

You see, I don’t understand today’s indie authors who write a book, then publish it and put it out for the whole world to see without having it properly edited, and yet, they get upset if someone writes a review they find negative or offensive or gives the book less than a 4-star rating. If you publish and release a book with lots of grammatical errors or a book that lacks a good plot or well developed characters, or any other writing problems, why would you expect all the ratings to be four and five stars, and why would you expect a glowing review with nothing but positive things about your book?

As a reader, I want to read honest reviews. As a matter of fact, it aggravates me when someone simply posts a star rating but says nothing about what they thought or how they felt about the book. Just like everything else in the world, books, including eBooks, are getting more expensive and I don’t want to waste my money or time reading a book that hasn’t been polished. Before indie publishing, you or I might have picked up a book we didn’t like after reading it, but not because it had a bunch of errors or lacked all the important parts of a good story. Our dislike would’ve been based on things like a favorite character dying, or an unhappy ending, or the problem not being satisfactorily resolved. However, published books did not have lots of grammatical errors or things like using one name for a character in half of the book and then another name for the same character in the second half of the book or any other major problems because books had been thoroughly and well edited.

As a writer who has been studying the writing craft in the professional writing world for over 10 years now, I have learned the things that are most important to a good story: well developed characters, a story written in the POV (point of view) of one or two characters clearly, without head hopping (jumping from one character’s thoughts and feelings to another’s), and written in a way that takes me deep within the main character’s or main two characters’ heads because that’s what draws me deep into the story. Also, a clear description/picture of the setting; conflict — some kind of problem (usually more than one) that the character needs to overcome; a plot line that keeps me wanting to turn the pages; a clear resolution of the problem or problems at the end of the story along with evidence that the character has grown and changed from the beginning to the end of the story. In addition, the best books evoke the reader’s emotions — I always say my favorite books make me laugh and cry. Some great extras in a book might be an unexpected surprise or twist.

Also, I am realistic. I know that whatever I publish, no matter how well written it may be, it is still bound to get some negative reviews because not everyone likes the same kinds of books. Therefore, I fully expect that there will be some people who will read my book and not like it and write a review stating why they disliked it. I am also fully aware that not everyone writes their criticisms in a kind, constructive way. That’s what all writers need to be aware of and ready to accept. The first thing I was taught in the professional writing world is: “You better develop a thick skin.” In other words, you’d better be able to accept or ignore negative and/or nasty critiques and/or reviews and not respond in kind.

So, if your book is lacking some important parts or has glaring grammatical errors, wouldn’t you prefer to have an honest review that points these things out in a kind way?

Example: I recently read a book that had major problems and should have been more thoroughly edited and corrected before publication. Here is the review I wrote without the title and author’s name or specifics about the story:

The story fails to really draw the reader into the story. It also lacks descriptions that paint pictures of the setting in the readers mind. There is also no real conflict, action, or danger, although there were a couple times in the story that the reader may suspect danger or a threat of danger ahead.

This is a very simple sweet story where everything goes well and leads to a happy ending. The story moves quickly and reaches its end without full development of plot or characters. Therefore, I believe this book has been written and published by a person who has had little writing instruction.

If it had illustrations, it would make a fun children’s book. As it is, I would recommend it for elementary age children. It is an easy read where there are no dangers and everything ends happily. It is a completely clean story.

So, I posed two questions earlier in this post I would like comments on. In addition, I would like comments on the following questions in regard to this review: 1) Do you consider this review harsh? 2) Do you see positives in the review in addition to the criticism? 3) Would you take offense to the review or consider taking another look at the book and trying to see the points made and make corrections?

Only respectful answers/comments will be posted and will get a response from me or other readers.

Six Issues of Clean Fiction Magazine — FREE!

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If you enjoy reading Clean Fiction or if you enjoy reading my Book Reviews, you’ll want to take advantage of tomorrow’s one-day Sale of ALL SIX issues of Clean Fiction Magazine in e-book format, ALL FREE Tomorrow, Friday, June 30, 2023 ONLY!

Most of the reviews that I wrote that are included in these issues have NOT yet been posted here on my blog because I haven’t had the time to post them.

Clean Fiction Magazine also includes contests, some short stories, and poems as well.

A New Chapter

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I have begun a new chapter in my life. I graduated my youngest son from our homeschool in June, 2022, after eighteen years of homeschooling, I have finished that journey. Does that mean I’m dropping out of the homeschooling world? No. I am still meeting monthly with a group of ladies in different phases of homeschooling: one, like me, who has graduated her only child, some who have just begun, and some who are somewhere along the journey. This allows me to share all I have learned in my homeschooling experiences to help and encourage those who are on the journey.

In addition, I still really enjoy teaching creative writing to all age groups, so I am looking into the possibility of teaching creative writing classes in local homeschool co-ops.

As a writer, I will still be attending the field trips, the field trip coordinator plans, that interest me because they could provide information for something I choose to write about: a character’s career, an animal/animals my character(s) may have to deal with, or any of many other possibilities.

However, homeschooling is no longer my primary focus nor will it take up nearly as much of my time as it has for the past eighteen years.

So, what will take up most of my time? Well, I am now working as a Book Reviewer for Clean Fiction Magazine (see the badge on my sidebar and click it to find out about this magazine). Therefore, I am now reading books and writing reviews to submit to Clean Fiction Magazine by a deadline for each quarterly issue, in addition to continuing to read and write reviews of books that some authors contact me, personally, to request. These will have to be squeezed in between the ones I write for Clean Fiction Magazine. And, then, there will still be, hopefully, some time for an occasional book for me to read and review for BookSirens, where my book reviews became sought after. There is also a BookSirens badge on my sidebar.

In addition to all this wonderful reading and Book Review writing, I am devoting a large portion of my time to my passion and the thing I have always dreamed of doing — writing fiction novels. I am currently working on the final round of edits for my first novel and hope to have it published in the first six months of 2023, but it all depends on how it gets published. I have been planning to indie publish, but I have found one small publishing company that I am quite impressed with, to which I am seriously considering first submitting my novel. So, we will see which way this novel ends up getting published. After this book, I have lots more story ideas in my head that need to be written. As a matter of fact, this book will be the first of a series of three or four books, and then there will still be more stories to follow.

I am also active on MeWe, where I post on my personal page and hope to start an author page sometime next year. I also have a group page for Christian Writers, as well as a group page for people who love Labrador Retrievers. I am also a member of a few other MeWe groups, some in which I participate in their chat conversations and some I just look at their page posts. Some I occasionally post or share a post on their pages. I have found MeWe to be my social media of choice and the only one I truly enjoy, so that is the only social media site I plan to be an active part of — because I enjoy it, and because social media requires a time commitment, and as you can see by reading the things I’ve already mentioned in this blog, it is not my only time commitment.

In addition to all I have previously mentioned, I will continue to post here on my blog as often as I am able. I also faithfully attend Sunday school and church and have church commitments and I have family and friends who require some of my time, as well as a Labrador Retriever/Boxer mix puppy I was given after my previous male Labrador Retriever passed away. These have required my time during my homeschooling years as well, as have some of the writing things I have mentioned. However, now that homeschooling will require much less time, most of the time homeschooling used to require, I will now devote to my writing endeavors.

I hope you will continue to find things of interest to you here on my blog and will continue to read and follow me here, and by all means, please feel free to ask questions or leave comments. I respond to every legitimate question and comment. In other words, I respond to every question and comment that isn’t spam, and I enjoy interacting with those of you who read here.

Flash Fiction Friday: Love and Writing

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Julie rushed through the library clasping her folder to her chest, tears stinging the backs of her eyes. As she burst out the library doors, she gulped the warm fresh air, relieved to be rid of the feeling of suffocation. She fast-walked toward home, longing for the safety and solitude of her bedroom.

As she walked, the dam broke, and tears gushed forth. Why are people so mean? Why are they so critical and judgmental? Hadn’t anyone ever taught them that “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”—words Grandma Rose had drilled into her head?

Julie’s family’s house came into view, and Toby Jefferson, her best friend for the past three years, sat on the top step of the large front porch. She slowed her pace and scrubbed her tears away with one hand, while retaining her tight grip on her folder. She hoped her eyes didn’t look too red and puffy.

Julie turned onto the gray stone walkway leading to her house. Her eyes met Toby’s, and he grinned. She offered a small smile.

She stopped before him, and he patted the porch floor next to him. “Have a seat.”

When Julie was seated, Toby turned to look at her. “So, how’d it go? What did they say?”

One look into his kind, encouraging, chocolate brown eyes and she came undone. Sobs shook her slight frame.

Toby wrapped an arm around her and stroked her long black hair. He just held her until her sobs subsided, then she sat up, looked at him through watery blue eyes, and sniffed. “Oh Toby, I don’t think I can do this. Apparently my writing isn’t any good. They hated it—said the characters aren’t developed enough for them to like them, let alone care about them. They said I have no idea how to write a story people will want to read, and I shouldn’t waste my time.” Another tear spilled from her eye.

Toby, one arm still around her, rubbed her shoulder. “Didn’t they offer suggestions on how to do the things they think are missing?”

Julie shook her head and sighed. “Don’t ever suggest another writers’ group to me again. The people in those groups are mean and cruel. First, it was the two groups you suggested online that said I shouldn’t write again until I take a college creative writing class, and now this. Maybe I’m not really cut out to be a writer after all.” She laid her head on Toby’s shoulder and leaned into him.

“May I see the piece you shared?” Toby spoke into her hair.

Julie sat up and looked at him, tears, once again, pooling in her eyes. She shook her head and wrapped both arms around the folder.

“Come on, Jules. You’ve let me read your stuff before. You know I’d never be like those other people.” He gently brushed a few strands of hair from her face.

She lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry. I can’t. Not today.” She rose to her feet. “I’m going to my room. I’ll talk to you later.” She turned toward the house.

Toby got to his feet. “Jules…”

His pet name for her always made her breath catch in her throat. She wondered if he knew, that six months ago when he became the champion for her writing, she’d fallen in love with him. She turned to look at him.

“Aw, never mind. I’ll talk to you later.” He turned and walked down the porch steps.

The next day, Toby met Julie at her locker at lunchtime like he did everyday. She greeted him with a large smile.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t expect to see such a bright smile on your face.”

“Oh Toby, you’ll never guess what’s happened!”

“Well, don’t hold me in suspense … tell me.”

“Do you remember I told you, Miss Wilson, my English teacher convinced me to enter one of my short stories in a contest a few months ago?”

Toby nodded.

“Well, today she informed the whole class that my story won first place!”

Toby wrapped her in a hug, lifted her from the floor, and spun her around. Then he set her down and looked into her eyes. “That’s great, Jules! One day you’ll have a bestseller.”

Heat crept into her cheeks, as he still had his arms around her, and other students stared. She nodded, looking up at him, his face so near to hers. “Miss Wilson also said she’s part of a very good writers’ group, and she wants me to go to the next meeting with her … this Saturday.” She bit her lower lip.

“Are you going?”

She nodded.

Toby grinned and they walked to the lunchroom, his arm around her lower back.

Street Teams Uncovered

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I’ve been exploring marketing ideas and strategies so that I can plan ahead for when my book is ready to be published and marketed. I came across this interesting post from J.M. Hackman. If you’re interested in marketing your book(s), click the Source link to read the entire article.

What exactly is a street team? Many people don’t know what they are or what they do. Street teams started back in the 90’s with urban record labels. Super-fans would pass out demo tapes…

Source: Street Teams Uncovered