The hook. One of the most important aspect to an entire book is the hook. You have to hook the reader from the first sentence, first paragraph, first page, first scene, first chapter, and even at the beginning of each scene or chapter. It's what catches the reader's attention and draws them further into the story to where they will want to read more and more. However, if you don't have a great hook, the chances are you may have lost your reader before they've even given you story a chance, … [Read more...]
F is for FictionFinder.com
I thought I'd share a site with you that maybe you're not aware of. Ever want to find a really great Christian book and don't want to go to some place like Amazon to find it? You can go to this website FictionFinder.com. Fiction finder has almost every Christian author you can think of as well as every genre. You can search by title, author, ISBN, publication date, genre, social issue, or even by the type of content in the book such as how much mystery you want in a book, romance, conflict, … [Read more...]
E is for Ebook
Have you noticed the amount of ebooks now available for us to purchase today. They are so prevalent. There are so many authors going the indie route as they have more control over how their book is published, or for that matter, getting it published at all. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to see your book in print, you had to go to one of the big New York publishers and hope, that by some small miracle, they'd publish your book. Today you can go to a place like CreateSpace and publish your … [Read more...]
D is for Deep POV
In many of today's novel, the writer wants to delve deeper with their stories giving the reader a more in-depth look into who the characters are and what they're thinking. The technique being used is called deep POV (point of view). I remember when it was first suggested that I do this with my fiction novel. I had not earthly clue what that was. I understood POV to be what character the scene would be told from whether it was first person, third person, omniscient. However, deep POV was a new … [Read more...]
C is for Character Sketch
When I began to write the fiction novel I'm working on I had no clue how to really do it. There was so much I needed to learn. My true growth started after I became a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and joined the large critique group they have. Over that first month in that group it was amazing how much I had learned. Yet, I had so much more to learn and am still doing so now. I came to realize that I'm a plotter. One day I had an idea to write a quick and concise outline … [Read more...]
B is for Backstory
How do we get to know the characters of the stories we either write or read about. One way is to weave backstory into book. However, you don't want an info dump of information where you completely lose your reader as they've lost interest with your novel. You want to engage the reader from the first page to the last. One place considered a no-no is to put backstory in the first chapter, and especially the first scene. As a reader they may say who cares because she wants to feel like she's … [Read more...]
Day 103: Closing the Gap
In our own world as we are learning to write down what has formed in our heads, whether a story idea or a journal entry, we all have a place where we start and somehow learn to close the gap to where we want to be. I still remember the first night I sat down to start writing the story idea that came to me. I wrote a little bit of it and then read it to my hubby. It was listening to his reader perspective and how in his experience of reading that he helped me to better the story I had come up … [Read more...]
Day 102: Five Things Writers Can Learn from Cats
1. Stay focused. As writers it's important to stay focused on our writing to make it the best we can. When we don't we end up with a mess and more likely than not have to go back and either do some major edits or to rewrite it all. No fun at all. So staying focused is paramount to making the writing successful. 2. Retain mystery. It's important to keep the story a mystery so the reader will continue to keep the reader engrossed in the story otherwise they would lose interest. 3. Hunt … [Read more...]
Day 99: Writing Your Own Corner
I love this. Most of us only know the areas where we have lived or been surrounded by. For an army brat they're constantly being moved around the country and sometimes even living in different countries. For another they may have lived in the same small town their entire life. Another might have been raised in the foster care system constantly being moved from one home to another. Think about it. We are all so different. No two people have lived the exact same life. Yes, many people have … [Read more...]
Day 97: Clear Language
When we write do we want to be vague or do we want to be as clear as possible? I hope your answer was the latter. In our writing we should want to be as clear and straight forward so there is no confusion on the part of the reader. The clarity of our story needs to not make sense only in our heads but also the reader. If we didn't have readers there would be no need to write a story in the first place. One morning my niece and her friend that had stayed the night were upstairs in her room … [Read more...]
