All Write Already: Year Of Your Book
Page 13
Whatever you do, don’t give up. You’ve got this as long as you keep moving forward!
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 119
Reflect and Catch Up
If I had any advice to give new writers, it would be to persist. Keep writing, keep practicing your craft. No one plays a perfect Beethoven the first time they sit down at a piano; the same is true for writing a book. Practice, persist, and remember, nearly all authors started exactly where you are right now: unpublished and unknown. The difference between a published author and a non-published author is that the published author never gave up.
—New York Times bestselling author Julie Kagawa
Day 120
Time Leap
Time leaps can be helpful, keeping the pace of your story moving along. Readers might not need to know what happened every day while a character was in hypersleep. On the other hand, too many “A week later” “Two days passed” “Months ticked by” “Eight minutes later” “Five seconds ago” “Two years ago” “Last week” can be distracting. You may want to consider restructuring your story. What needs to be shown? What needs to be told? What needs to be skipped?
Often, a simple scene break is all that is necessary. We denote a scene break with an ** and double return.
Chapter breaks can also convey a passage of time, without the need to add extraneous detail about what happens between the two scenes.
You can show the passage of time through description such as the change of weather:
The leaves outside his prison window turned from green to gold, and soon fell to the ground.
Dialogue can also be utilized:
“Stop your pacing, Hannah. It’s only been a day.”
Finally, character emotion and action can impart the passage of time.
He glared at the heart monitor, willing the solid white line to jump, only to squeeze his eyes in anguish. Five minutes was too long for the brain to go without oxygen.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 121
Regret
Years ago, we used to blog. Those online journals were all the rage back then, and we set a goal to post new material at least once a week and interact with our readers.
JILL: A while back, I scanned some of my old blog posts, looking for a recipe I’d posted when I came upon this:
I almost didn’t write today’s post. Today is parent/teacher conferences, I had a ton of family obligations this week, so I’m not where I want to be in my work in progress… you know, the normal excuses. But I’d made a goal for myself at the beginning of the year. I’d blog once a week about writing. I also knew that I’d kick myself if I didn’t meet my goal in March–not meeting goals should be something left for December.
Of course, I was joking. But the sentiment stuck with me. Not meeting goals = regret.
Many times, our friends and readers have mentioned that they’d like to write a book, too, and they’ll ask us for advice. We’ll give it. But, when we ask for an update about their progress, the most common response is that they haven’t started yet, or they wrote a few pages and stopped. Time passed, and they had no real progress to show for it. The regret is strong.
Writing isn’t easy. There’s always something easier to do. For starters, reading or binge-watching some great TV show everyone is talking about. Why not put in the work now to see the fruition of your goal in the future?
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 122
Skip To My Lou
Sometimes you’ve got to skip ahead, even if you prefer to write your story from beginning to end, in order, don’t be afraid to jot down a scene you feel inspired to write. While we’ve cautioned you not to wait for a muse, we also believe inspiration is precious and shouldn’t be wasted.
GENA: Once I wrote the first 100 pages of a novel (The Darkest Seduction), got stuck and couldn’t go on. I realized I’d paired the hero with the woman I wanted, not the one he wanted. But, stubborn as I was, I decided to rewrite those 100 pages using my choice with different circumstances. I got stuck again. Finally, I wrote a scene that would fall in the middle or end of the book to give the hero the woman he wanted. By seeing what could be between them, I was then able to sit down and write the book with the woman he wanted. The words flowed fast and sure.
Your assignment: Double your daily word count! Write roughly 500 words for your novel.
Day 123
Emotional Connection
Some authors feel emotionally connected to their characters as they write. They might cry as they craft a sad scene and laugh during a funny one. Other writers do not feel emotionally connected to their characters and do not react as they write. Whatever your reaction—or non-reaction—you aren’t wrong. Your process is your process. Do what works best for you.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 124
Something Borrowed
Borrowing Another Author’s Characters
Versus
Being Inspired by Them
Here’s the thing. You cannot sell a book if it’s based on someone else’s characters or set in their story world. Not without the author’s permission, anyway. Whoever created the characters and the story world owns both. But, other stories can inspire you.
How many books were inspired by fairy tales? How many books were inspired by the first vampire novel ever written? Inspiration is wonderful. Theft is illegal. Make sure you story can stand on its own!
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 125
You Won’t Please Every Reader
You cannot and will not make every reader happy. That’s why we prefer to write for an audience of one. Write the book your way, so that the final product is something that you love. That’s where you’ll find your literary magic.
Have you ever read an amazing novel, visited a site to review it and found a bunch of negative reviews left by readers who hated it? What one person loves another will hate and vice versa.
GENA: When I first started writing, paranormal romances were not selling. But, I really, really wanted to write paranormal romance. It was the genre of my heart. So, I thought I’d write a paranormal romance about an alien cursed to spend the centuries trapped in stone, freed only by a kiss. I downplayed his alien-ness, hoping I’d have an easier time getting people to read it. When I queried agents, however, the one I wanted most contacted me to say she loved my writing, but was troubled by the story itself. She told me she kept getting excited, thinking the hero was indeed an alien, but she couldn’t be sure, because I’d skimped on all those details. At that moment, I realized there were more people like me, hungry for alien romance. Now I write what I love and don’t worry about the rest.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 126
Reflect and Catch Up
My advice is two-fold…and slightly contradictory. First, the revision process is your friend! Embrace and welcome the changes. Don’t be afraid of completely rewriting anything – the story, the characters, the subplots, the pace, the turning points. Once you’ve finished writing a draft, revisions are when the magic happens and can be the most fun you’ve ever had at a keyboard. A good revision breathes life into every scene and character, and can take your book from a sleeper to a keeper. But…my other advice is know when to quit. Many new novelists cling to their manuscript, unable to stop making even the smallest changes. There comes a time when you have let that puppy out into the wild, no matter how much you want “one more read through” to get it right or solicit the opinion of one more beta reader. (All you’re really looking for is validation, believe me.) As a writer, you should find the balance between the need to revise and the importance of letting go and, on both fronts, trust your instincts. If you’ve spent a lifetime reading (and what author isn’t a reader first?) then you have
absorbed the storytelling process, so trust your instincts!
–New York Times bestselling author Roxanne St. Claire
Day 127
How To: Fail
Remember our list for killing creativity? Today we have a list to help you fail at this novel-writing thing. Pick one or all. Your choice.
Give up now. Why wait till later?
Let one day of not writing turn into two...three...four...and so on
Keep stopping your work in progress to focus on a new idea or change just one more thing in the beginning
Be unwilling to listen to a smart critique by a professional editor
Magnifying and giving in to your fears
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 128
When You Can’t Move Forward, Retreat!
If you have trouble kicking off your writing for today or any day, go back and read the previous day’s work to ground yourself in the world. If that doesn’t work, set a timer for 10 minutes and word vomit. Still struggling? You might have written yourself into a corner.
Steps to get out of the corner:
Read your work in progress from start to finish until you figure out where you might have gone wrong. Won’t hurt to make notes for yourself along the way.
Brainstorm ways to fix the problem. Adding new scenes? Going in a different direction? Deleting something? Starting over? Sometimes a work in progress is unsalvageable.
Implement your solution!
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 129
How Long Should My Book Be?
GENA: I know we say your book should be as long or as short as it needs to be, and that’s true...on the creative side. But on the technical side, size does matter. (Yes, pun intended.) Some publishing houses require a certain word count. Also, you wouldn’t want to call a novella a novel, confusing or misleading readers.
When I’m learning something new, I love examples. So, I’m going to use my own novels as a gauge, rounding up or down, so you can have an idea of what a certain word count looks like.
The Darkest Warrior: 140k words
The Darkest King: 120k words
The Darkest Night: 100k words
Lord of Vampires: 75k words
Oh My Goth: 60k words
Dark Swan: 50k words
Temptation in Shadow: 35k words (novella)
Your assignment: Double your daily word count! Write roughly 500 words for your novel.
Day 130
Recipe for Success
When you are baking, you mix different ingredients to create one incredible taste. Your book is the same. Mix a dash of this, a sprinkle of that, and a heaping helping of goodness, then bake in your mind and enjoy!
Every aspect of your story must work together. One sentence should transition into the next...one scene should flow into the next...and there should always be a logical reason for something to happen.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 131
Decision Fatigue
Decision fatigue is a real thing. After making a million decisions for our characters, we can find ourselves unable to make a decision for about anything. Thankfully, there are ways you can combat decision fatigue before it starts.
A nice rest to help reset your mind.
Pre-plan your clothes, meals and other daily tasks before a long day of writing.
Go for a walk and be sure to take a break to eat a meal
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 132
Move Around
In the past, we have finished our rough drafts and said, “Ow! My back!” rather than “Sweet! I’m done!” We recommend stretching as you write.
Sitting for prolonged periods of time can strain your muscles. If you set a timer to go off once every hour, you’ll know when to stand and stretch to get your blood pumping for a few minutes, even when you are in the writing zone. Your back will thank you!
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 133
Reflect and Catch Up
A day without a book is a dark day indeed.
Don’t endure a dark day.
Is today a good day to research items you’ve marked for further study in your book? Focus. Magnify. Accomplish. Triumph!
Day 134
Give the Stranger on the Street a Story
There is a mental exercise you can do to help train your brain to create organic backstory for your characters, and it’s fun to boot. You start by giving people you see a made-up backstory.
Someone who drives past your car—where are they going? Why are they going there? What skeletons do they have in their closet?
See a couple at a restaurant—how long have they been together? How did they meet?
You can even do this for characters on TV. Make up events that might have shaped them into the people they became.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 135
High Concept
What the heck is “high concept?” Well, high concept is a unique and easily communicable idea, with obvious and immediate mass appeal. When developing your own story, ask yourself what makes it original, unique and memorable? What makes it stand out? What makes it relatable to people today? Does it take the “what if” to a whole new level?
Sometimes it’s just the title alone that intrigues.
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
Pride, Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare
Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn
My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Deathmaker by Lindsay A. Buroker
The Romanov Prophesy by Steve Berry
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa
You can even link your series titles to something specific, like Alexa Martin has done with the Playbook series centering around football romances: Blitzed, Fumbled and Intercepted.
You can use catchy word-play to name the series. An excellent example is The Dogfather series by Roxanne St. Claire, with the first book Sit…Stay…Beg.
In high concept, the idea sells the story.
Vampire finishing school (House of Night series by PC and Kristin Cast – Marked Book 1)
Contemporary Twilight for adults (Fifty Shades of Gray by EL James)
Can you boil down your plot, characters and unique premise in a sentence or two?
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 136
Empathetic Writer
As you write the scenes for your book, it might help to think beyond your own perspective, opinion and experience. Get out of your comfort zone and consider the other side of the coin.
We have an exercise to get you started. Have you written a scene where your hero makes a decision and it’s the right one? Or, will your hero have to make a decision in an upcoming scene? Perfect! You’ve probably already built a case for why he’s made/making the right decision. Now it’s time to make a case for the “wrong” decision. What are the downsides to that “right” decision? Why would the “wrong” decision be better?
You can do the same thing for your villain. You know why he’s bad...so remind us why he’s good.
Your assignment: Write roughly 250 words for your novel.
Day 137
More on Layers
We’ve talked about layering. Now let’s look at a specific example.
To “write in layers” you’ll start with a simple scene snippet. Today we’ll focus on a simple interaction between two characters.
Their gazes met.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
We have an action, then a line of dialogue from two different people. Now we’ll layer in a physical reaction.