What Do Writing and the Weather Have in Common? by Jannine Gallant

I took this video in the meadow a couple of days ago on a walk with Ginger. The sun was shining, the snow was melting, and the frogs were croaking. Spring had arrived!

Today is the first day of my "summer" job at the boat ramp. This is the current view outside my booth where I have two heaters cranked up to combat the 24 degree temperature. If a boater shows up, I'll probably faint from shock. LOL Not that I'm complaining, mind you, since I have a ten hour shift and nothing to distract me from writing.

April is one of those months where you never know what will happen. Kind of like my WIP (work in progress). Without a signed contract for this book/series, I've been struggling to stay focused and on track. My personal deadline (complete a book every five months) will be up in June, and I'm only a little over the half-way mark. I've come to the conclusion I won't be finished by then, and I honestly am not freaking out about that. I put a lot of pressure on myself to produce, and I need to ease up! My publisher is waiting to see how well my current series sells before offering a new contract, so I can adjust the timeline accordingly at that stage. If I get a new contract... But let's not go there and just assume I will.

I wrote in another post that I was going to put together an outline to better stay on track. I actually did! I know, shocking, right? I have a few rough notes scribbled in a binder, plot points that need to happen in the next quarter of the book. I even put together a romance arc to keep that part of the story moving forward. I was pretty pleased with myself...until I actually started writing. Just like the erroneous assumption that spring had arrived and it would be smooth sailing (get it--boat ramp LOL), those clouds rolled in and snowed on my parade. (Sorry about the mixed metaphors.) My characters got off track immediately. I tried to drag them, kicking and screaming, back to my outline, but they're stubborn. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow. Maybe they'll work their way toward my plot points in good time. Or not. I've come to the conclusion some things can't be forced. My hope is my characters know what they're doing. I guess we'll find out.

In the meantime, pick up a copy of BURIED TRUTH. I need sales to get that next contract. Help a paranoid author out, and happy reading!

What does #amwriting mean for some of us? by J L Wilson

I'm sure you've seen the #amwriting hashtag here and there. It's meant to show that hey, authors are making progress on whatever writing project we're doing.

I always find myself reluctant to start a big writing project, simply because I know it means that my brain will no longer be my own for months. Seriously. I will have voices in my head, I'll fall asleep and wake up thinking "what would she say to him at this point?" and I will be working feverishly to meet a deadline I've imposed on myself.

I will think, eat, drink, and sleep these characters and this plot for at least 6 months (4 months for some of my smaller books). My life will, in essence, not be my own. It will be shared with them for every waking moment. I will no longer have time for "relaxation" like just watching TV (without thinking how I can use a scene in one of my books), going to movies (ditto), shopping (wondering how my main character would act if she saw shoes like that), and so on.

Does it sound like a grind? It feels like it sometimes. The series I'm working on is somewhat soul-consuming in the sense I've been with these characters for years and I've really put them through hell and back. I've got 2 books to go to finish this series, although I suspect I'll end up doing a bunch of rewrites before I actually get around to publishing it.

For me, #amwriting means I'm in the zone. I'm mostly somewhere else most of the time, not quite here and mostly there, living in my head and at my keyboard, working out plot points and figuring how to get my characters from point A to point B. Don't get me wrong: it's what I do. I love doing it and wouldn't change it for the world. I'm just a little preoccupied for the next 6 months or so. You may need to knock loudly for me to hear you.

J L
(jayellwilson.com)

My Writing Desert - Part 2 ~ By Leah St. James

Back in April I wrote about my writing desert (that it’s been about a year and a half since I’ve put some serious time into writing), and how I joined the Insecure Writers Support Group book club on Goodreads in the hopes it would help shake me out of it.

The first book chosen was “Chapter by Chapter: Discover the Dedication and Focus You Need to Write the Book of Your Dreams” by Heather Sellers. When I wrote my earlier blog, I said I was taking it as a message from the heavens that it was time to get serious. And I did!

When the package arrived, I ripped into it as if it were a new carton of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (yum!). It’s a gem of a book, a small hard-cover volume with a whimsical illustration on the cover of a woman aiming a bow and arrow into a night sky. Shooting for the stars–how appropriate! The inside design only stoked my appreciation–eye-catching graphics on a rich, cream-colored background, printed on luxuriously heavy paper.

I held the book for a moment, feeling its weight, and stroked my fingers over the satiny paper. Hope surged. Surely something this lovingly conceived would hold magic within its covers.

I settled into the corner of my couch with a big mug of my favorite tea at hand and turned the first page, certain I’d stumbled onto a treasure.

Sellers, an English professor at Hope College in Michigan at the time of this printing, is an elegant writer, the kind whose prose sounds effortless to the reader, although we know it probably wasn’t. But despite the grace in her syntax, her messages pack a punch.

Right from the beginning, Sellers showers tough love on her fellow writers, delivered in a series of stories derived from her classes and seminars intended to illustrate what to do, or what not to do, to fulfill your writing dream. A lot of the content talks to the mind set needed to devote yourself to this task. It makes you ask yourself: Do you really want to write a book? Are you sure? Why?

Okay...makes sense. Knowing why you want to write will help you with your ultimate goals, whether it’s to see your book on Amazon, or on the racks in your neighborhood Walmart.

But the lessons started to lose me in the second chapter, entitled “Limits.” The first sentence reads: 

“The number one reason books don’t get finished is this: Writers say yes to other things.”

Well....yeah....I suppose that’s true. At least for myself. I have been spending what little free time I have doing a lot of non-writing things...like taking online marketing classes, and creating hopefully cute/funny/thoughtful/meaningful memes for my Facebook page, and rehearsing for the Christmas and Easter cantatas at church, and getting ready for my son’s wedding, and watching TV with my hubby in the evenings. (I have to have a life...don't I?)

I turned back to my lesson, where Sellers went on: 

“Successful book authors are very rarely also: historical society presidents, garden club secretaries, book group members (O, the irony!)...” 

She continued with a lengthy list and concluded that successful authors don’t have the time, in essence, to have a life outside of writing the book. 

“Writing a book is exactly like love. You don’t hold back. You give it everything you have. ... You don’t hold some of yourself in reserve. It’s all or nothing.”

According to Sellers, to be successful at completing your project, you must make the book the main (only?) focus of your life for the duration of time it takes to finish it– a year, more if needed.

Okay, okay, I got the point. And what that meant to me is that, by those standards, I’ll never be “successful” because I can’t muster that intense level of focus, not and work a stressful, full-time job, and have a life...at least not right now.

Still, rather than throw the gorgeous book against the wall, I checked into the Goodreads discussion group. The moderator had arranged for us to send Sellers questions in advance, and she had responded. This exchange mollified me, a bit:

“Q. What was the most meaningful thing for you that you learned from writing Chapter After Chapter?

“A. In writing the book, I wanted to have a meaningful anecdote in each chapter. As I collected stories about teaching writing, I realized how much I learn from my students every day. ...

“When I look back at the book, I’m also humbled. It is so easy to tell other people to make sacrifices and spend more time writing and less time with other endeavors.

“Now that I’m older, I am much more aware of how it’s really very difficult to make choices about where to put one’s energy. I’m less likely now to make it sound fun or easy. In fact, often it just isn’t possible in a life to spend a lot of time writing—there are just too many other responsibilities or life stresses....”   

I like that. Writers are people, not robots.

So I decided to keep reading. I’m now halfway through the book and am enjoying the stories. But better than that, I’m starting to feel motivated. I’m starting to feel like a writer again. For me, that’s a big step forward.

And even if my books never make it to those shelves in Walmart, if I can entertain or touch a few readers, and if I can get back to enjoying the creative process, I’ll count myself successful.

..............................................................

Leah writes stories of mystery and romance, good and evil, and the power of love. Learn more at her website, or stop by her Facebook page (she loves visitors!) where she occasionally posts cute/funny/thoughtful/meaningful memes.
   


   

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back by Alison Henderson

Sound the trumpets! Ring the bells! I finally finished the first draft of the first three chapters (approximately 16%) of my new book. I've been terminally distracted the past few months, and sitting down to write has been like volunteering for a root canal. I've found dozens of other things to fill my time.

Another part of the problem has been my process. I'm a plotter by nature, so the idea of leaping into the creative unknown terrifies me. To beat back the paralysis of fear, I start every book with fairly detailed character profiles and a chapter-by-chapter basic outline. The outline isn't too detailed--just a paragraph for every chapter. It's mainly to prove to myself that I have enough story for an entire book. My books are all about the same length (82K-85K words), so I plan for 20 chapters of 20 double-spaced pages each. Some chapters may end up a bit shorter and some a bit longer, and I might end up with one fewer or one more, but that's the basic structure. 

My process is similar to that of writers who use note cards, except I put the outline in a single document I later manipulate at will. I usually have several plot points in mind, along with a rough idea of where they fall in the story, so I begin with those, assigning them to a chapter. This process continues until I've used up my initial ideas. That always leaves a few holes. For example, I'll bop right along for the first four or five chapters, then have a blank until Chapter Nine, when I know there has to be a turning point. If I don't already know what that is, I figure it out. Then the same thing happens again for a few chapters in the second half until the three or four chapters at the end. 

As I write, more ideas come to me, and I insert them into the outline where I think they should go, knowing I can always move them later. During the course of writing the book, some ideas will expand, taking up more space than I'd originally expected, and some will be discarded. After six books, I trust myself to ultimately fill all the blank chapter headings in the outline, but those blanks still make me nervous at the beginning.

One reason this book has been slower to get off the ground than others is that, despite my preliminary profiles, I had to get to know my characters as they began speaking and interacting with each other. My heroine in Child's Play is a newly-minted PhD in Child Psychology who had made brief appearances in the first two books in the series, so I thought I knew her. However, a visit to my daughter last month and a couple of days spent around her friends who are PhD students gave me new insights into their deeper feelings and the things they worry about. When I got home, I had to stop and go back to the beginning of my manuscript to correct and strengthen my heroine. The upside was I found I'd written some stuff I really liked. The downside was it took an extra week. Fortunately, I don't have and editor or contract breathing down my neck, so however long this book takes is how long it takes. It's more important that I get it right. 

Of course, after I devoted more time and space to proper character development, I realized I had shortchanged the suspense plot. Time to go back and plant a few clues. After all, it's always something!

Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com 

Getting it together ... "it" being the nitty gritty, of course

I blogged recently about my process for kicking off a book. I'm into writing it now (chapter 3 done, 12 more to go). As others have noted, there's more to it than just figuring out the basic plot points. Here're a few other things that are involved.

First is The Book. Every story of mine has a special notebook, usually something picked up at random while browsing in the office supply store. Not a spiral book per se, but something small, portable, and well, "right" for writing.

I create sections with those marvelous sticky tabs: Who, Where, Timeline, Snippets, Misc. In this book, "Misc" contains bits about the book on which I am basing this one (it's a Remembered Classics book, so I need some details from the original book). Then it's on to details.

Characters: I need to have pictures of people in my books. I always use actors and then describe them in rather broad terms so their identity is somewhat unknown. I find pictures of them and keep them in The Book. I jot down info about them: age, height, weight, eye color, nervous trait, favorite startled expression ("Holy crap!" "Damn", etc.) I do this for the major players in the book, villain and hero alike.

Where: oh, I love this part. I look at house plans and find the perfect houses for my people. This book takes place in a mansion and I had a firm idea in my mind of the floor plan. So I had to go online and skim through various plans until I found the right one. Then I skimmed through assorted designer sites for furniture, etc. I've designed so many lovely homes this way.

Snippets: these are the scenes that pop into my head when the characters start to speak in my brain. Sometimes this is just a cryptic note or two ("Charlie sees stray dog; approaches; John acts like she's crazy; contrast: she trusts; he doesn't"). Fuller scenes goes into the Snip file on my computer.

Timeline: I keep two types of timelines. Every character has a back story, so I'll jot down what their timeline is ("Charlie married when she was 22; her husband died when she was 30; she retired at age 50").

And I also write out the timeline for the story as I write it with one or two points from the chapter  ("Chapter 1: August 15/Sunday night; sticky humid day: Charlies agrees to interview for job. John comes to her house. She insists on taking her car to the mansion").

The timeline bit is really important because I need to track the days, the weather, etc. so there's continuity from chapter to chapter. I normally write a book from start to finish, but I do get interrupted now and then and it's good to have those reminders.

So that's the setup for the writing. Now it's just a matter of getting the story that's in my head down on paper. Piece of cake, right?

Do I even have a writing process?????

THE WRITING PROCESS OF R.E. MULLINS


When asked, I quickly jumped at the chance to take part in a blog series involving an author’s writing process. I was pleased to be included. It wasn’t until later I found myself asking. Do I even have a writing process?

What have I done and what am I working on? 
Well, I’ve published three books and I’m working on the fourth. Surely, there is something I can contribute…

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

Right now, I’m finishing a series of vampire/romances. The Blautsaugers (old Bavarian word for bloodsucker) live in Amber Heights, Missouri along the Amber River. They belong to the strongly regulated Nosferatu sect of vampires.

My vampires are essentially humans with an extra chromosome or two. These additional links on their DNA chain gives them some added umpf. They, of course, possess the vamp characteristics of blood diet, longer life, ability to mesmerize humans, extra strength, speed, and healing capabilities. Due to their extended life span, however, they mature very slowly emotionally. The vampire’s tween years start in their forties and last until they reach their majority at one hundred years of age. 

Humans have the ability to stay up all night by devising ways to function in the dark. This was accomplished with the inventions like electricity, lightbulbs, and coffee. My vampires are the same. They have the capacity to work during the day and go out into sunlight. Of course proper precautions are necessary. (Didn’t you know sunscreen and sunglasses were originally invented by vampires?)

Family dynamics and affairs of the heart remain the same whether human or vampire. And, as with all emotional beings, things are never easy. All hearts have a mind of their own.

So why do I write what I do?

I’ve always been an avid reader. While working in a medical laboratory a storyline presented itself. What would happen if a phlebotomist were turned into a vampire? She could use the lab as a means for getting blood…I sat down and began writing. A wonderful co-worker read these piecemeal chapters and constantly encouraged me to continue. However, I couldn't have stopped if I wanted to. Writing quickly became an obsession. 

By the time I stopped, I’d written a 93,000-word document. I gave several more friends thick notebooks filled with the copied pages, got their feedback, made changes...and then it all stalled. I didn’t know what to do next.

I searched out the local chapter of Romance writers in my city and attended a meeting. I planned to ask that very question: What is the next step after typing 'the end'? 

Entering the library's backroom, I found half a dozen people sitting around a circular table. Honest to goodness, they were all so pale they practically glowed in the dim light. I couldn't help but wonder if the only time they ventured outside was to attend these meetings. Or, perhaps, I'd stumbled into a coven meeting by mistake? Or were they the very vampires I'd been writing about?

Since the meeting had already started, I quietly took a seat where the head witch...er, I mean leader indicated with a friendly wave of her hand. The lone man was already in the process of handing out copies of the first chapter of his new WIP. He seemed quite excited about his new storyline. The pages, however, were received with enough indulgent comments that it became clear to me this was standard procedure. Evidently, each month the group read, critiqued, and actually edited the latest of his first chapters. From things they said, I gathered that by the time the next meeting rolled around he would have abandoned this beginning for something new.

I also learned he'd never finished anything beyond the initial chapter. Since then, I must admit, I've spent more time than probably necessary feeling bad for him, and wondering why he could never make it over the hump to complete a second chapter.

Throughout the meeting they spoke of publication as if it were the Holy Grail. Every so often I caught one of their gazes and knew I was covertly being scruitinzed. This didn't bother me as I was doing the same. Yet I couldn't imagine what they must be making of my tanned skin and the sun freckles I've accumulated, despite liberal doses of sunscreen, through hours and hours spent outdoors.  

When it was my turn, I told them about my finished novel only to be met with frank disbelief. Almost censure? "What did I mean?" One demanded with a touch of amusement. Was I actually claiming to have written an entire novel of over 90,000 words without prior experience? No short stories, poetry, magazine articles, or writing contests? 

Evidently, long ago school assignments didn't qualify.

I accepted their attitude that I hadn’t paid my dues and therefore it was quite doubtful I could get published. Thoroughly demoralized, I left feeling stupid, and as if I’d behaved presumptuously. I never went back to another meeting.

At home, the manuscript was shoved into a cardboard box where it gathered some dust as I accumulated rejections from agents and puglishers. Then I discovered the Wild Rose Press. Hesitantly, I followed their submission guidelines. To my shock, I got a call from one of their editors, and, eventually, the book was published. 

I’m leaving out the laborious tale of the lengthy time it took me to rewrite the manuscript - twice - during an extremely heavy editing process. But that’s the story of how my first novel, IT’S A WONDERFUL UNDEAD LIFE, was written and published. 

I'd like to stress the moral to this publishing quest. Have a little faith in yourself, and don't let naysayers discourage you from reaching your goals. Because I lacked self-confidence I allowed an insulary group to convince me that a book they hadn't even read wasn't worthy of publication.

There is nothing wrong with creating for your own pleasure. You don't have to be published to feel the pride of writing a book. That, in and of itself, is a major accomplishment. 

Yet, in hindsight, I believe those six, pasty-white people had forgotten this. They spoke longingly of being published but they'd become so afraid of  criticism and failure that they'd stopped trying. To them, it had become easier to never look beyond that first chapter. Why? With an unfinished work they were never faced with the hard decision of serving it up for possible rejection. 

Yet it is through constructive criticism that our writing improves. Editors and publishers aren't attacking you personally when they reject your book or ask for a rewrite. They are versed in current marketing trends and reader preferences. Use their critiques and suggestions to learn and grow your writing skills.

So how does my writing process work? I admit it's pretty haphazard. When the words are flowing, I can sit at the computer all day long. When the words stop, I go for a walk, garden, or hop on the riding mower. I've the most groomed lawn in the four-state area. Or I might flop onto the couch and stare into space, whine to anyone who will listen, and live in my head until the voices come back. 

I’ve tried outlines, timelines, and other techniques but sometimes my characters refuse to bend to my will. They are certainly a headstrong bunch. For example, I’d no idea a demon was going to pop up in my second book: VAMPIRE IN THE SCRYING GLASS 

BLURB
It's been a rough couple of years for Cailey Kantor. Facing her first Christmas alone and bad financial news, she prays for an angel to fix her problems. Instead, a sadistic, sociopathic vampire, with the goal of starting a vampire war, attacks her and forces her to drink blood stolen from the Nosferatu Gabriel Blautsauger.

Gabe must complete Cailey's turning or she will die. In doing so he risks losing his yet unfound soulmate. But something about the lovely mortal speaks to his heart. Once her transformation is complete, he and Cailey find themselves embroiled in a battle that could cost them all they hold dear.

Faced with lies, abduction, and betrayal Cailey wonders if the vampire she is falling fangs over heart for is in it for love or if she's just a means to stop a war.

Blurb:  From the first moment he laid eyes on her, Rafe Blautsauger loved Morgan Maguire. Yet the lovely mortal must never know as love between human and vampire is strictly forbidden by the Nosferatu council. Unable to stop, he keeps to the shadows while protectively watching over her. Soon he begins to suspect she has secrets of her own. Hailing from a long line of witches, Morgan turned from her magic when, as a child, her first casting went horribly awry.
 Now a sequence of events set in place before her birth sends her scrambling to regain her power. Vampires and a set of malevolently glowing red eyes hunt her. 

Blurb:  Vampire Metta Blautsauger is known as the family airhead and she works hard to keep up the façade. It’s the perfect cover as she goes from dispensing her own brand of justice as a vigilante to an agent for Orcus, the Nosferatu shadow agency.
Captured, tortured, and left for dead, she is forced to leave both the agency and Lucas O’Cuinn, the mentor she’s grown to love.
For the last century she’s struggled with regret and boredom. Then her life is given new meaning when four mortal ministers ask her help in stopping a human trafficking ring. If Orcus discovers her unsanctioned involvement, they will brand her as a rogue. The penalty is death. It’s only a matter of time before Lucas arrives—stake in hand.
Lucas O’Cuinn has waited ninety-eight years for Metta’s return and he’s run out of patience. It’s time she remembers she belongs to him.

Buylinks: Amazon, The Wild Rose Press
Follow me on Facebook: REMullins

One writer's process

Every writer has a method or process for starting a new project. I've been embroiled in a multi-book series for my last few projects, working on books 5 and 7 of that series, so I haven't launched anything New for a while -- new characters, locations, etc.

I decided to take a break before starting books 7, 8, and 9. I need to step back from the characters so I can come back and re-read everything written so far with a fresh eye. I figured I would take the rest of the year away from that series and dig in and write another mystery and maybe after that write another time travel book. That should fill out the remaining months of the year then next year, in January, I'd get back to my series with a fresh perspective.

I've written dozens of mystery books and a handful of TT books, so I know the drill. Or so I thought ... when I sat down to work on a mystery, I knew I wanted to do another "Remembered Classics" similar to Twistered and Dogged (coming out later this year). So which book to settle on? I was thinking about Beauty and the Beast; maybe Jekyll and Hyde. Maybe ...

It took me a week of bouncing from idea to idea then I decided on Jane Eyre (which is really just Beauty and the Beast in a different setting, but I diverge). I starting jotting ideas for names, settings, plot lines...there's the crazy wife in the attic, the stoic girl thrown in with a brooding employer, a young child... Then there was the Jamaican angle ...

It took me about two or three days to hash out who my characters were and what the plot might entail. I still don't have a good visual picture of my main characters (I need to web surf a bit for that) and I'll need to get locations, house plans, details about this and that, but I think I am almost ready to put fingers to keyboard and start writing.

It took me 2 weeks to come up with this project. And it was 2 LONG weeks. I am always working on a manuscript, so this felt like ... boredom to me. I really enjoy sitting down and working. I fussed around with the garden, I got caught up on some household chores, and I read a book, picked up another one and put it down, and wasted way too much time on a few online games.

I enjoy writing too much to be away from it for long, I guess. I hope by Sunday I'll have the characters firmly in my head and then I can start writing. The plot will work itself out as I go, I know, but I need those character voices talking to me before I can launch into it.

So that's my process--flail about for a bit with stream of consciousness kind of work then settle into it. If it proceeds like my other books, this will take me about 3 months to write. That means I probably won't have time to work on that Time Travel book this year, but that's okay. I can work on it next year, after I write book 7 in my series. Because there's always another book to write ....

The Beginning and the End...Filled with Possibilities by Jannine Gallant

So, I may have mentioned a few times that I'm working on a new series called Born To Be Wilde. This has been a fun project, chronicling the adventures of the Wilde brothers in the first three books. I finished the third book not long ago, then breezed through edits on the first one. Afterward, I sat down to start the fourth and final book. This one belongs to the little sister of the clan, Eden Wilde. Maybe my readers would rather have another brother, but I wanted to change it up. I'm determined to make my heroine just as tough and adventurous as her brothers while keeping her vulnerable. Should be challenging and fun.

I love the first stages of writing a book, the joy of an empty page and endless possibilities. Granted, I already have established characters who will be featured in this story. But there are new ones to weave into the mix, and a whole new plot to work out. I had a rough idea of the overall suspense conflict, so I jumped in with both feet and started writing. No outline. No list of new characters. I was just winging it! After the first chapter, I hit a few bumps. Hmm...might be nice to know who my red herrings would be in this mystery. I needed to start feeding them in. So, I stopped writing and started thinking. I bounced ideas off my CP. (Thanks, Margo!) I actually made a list of new characters and figured out how to introduce my villain. But that's as far as the planning stage went. I like the idea of keeping the mystery alive for me as well as my readers. As I get to know my characters better, they may surprise me and take the story in new directions.

Then there's the fact that this is the final book of the series. I get to bring back all my old heroes and heroines. I get to show their happiness and tie up their lives with a big shiny bow. I love that part about writing a series. So, even though it'll be sad to see the series end when I finish this book, there's a feeling of satisfaction that goes with it. I'm looking forward to the whole process.

So, for all you authors, share your favorite part of a book to write. The beginning shining with possibilities or the fulfillment of racing toward the finish line? Or maybe it's the plot twists thrown in along the way. Do you plan the whole story ahead of time or wing it like me? Please share.

For info on all my books, visit my WEBSITE. Have a great day!

Time for Another New Beginning! by Alison Handerson

And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. ~ Meister Eckhart

I rarely find myself starting a new story in January; in fact, I can't think of another year my schedule worked out that way. Usually I'm in the middle of a project and spend January trying to get back up to speed after losing momentum during the holidays. Well, one of the big positives of  my current project is that it allows me to start a new story every month!

I've mentioned before that I'm working on a collection of Christmas short stories, inspired by our Roses of Prose stories, to be released next fall. So far, I've written five of the ten planned stories. My schedule allows me one month to write each story. That way I'll still finish in plenty of time even after life intrudes and I invariably fall behind.

The best thing about writing this collection is that I get to experience the magic of beginnings over and over on the same project--that heady rush of creating a new setting and new characters with a whole new set of problems. Talk about keeping the creative juices flowing!

As a confirmed plotter, I've found I have to do a significant amount of pre-writing even for a short story. Creating a fairly detailed character list before I start helps me understand my characters, and a brief outline of the three 1,500 word acts makes sure I have an actual plot. If I try to skip this step, writer's block grabs me by the throat and shakes me like a rag.

But why would I want to skip it? Pre-writing is one of my favorite parts of the process--the time I can let my imagination run wild. As I write this, I'm beginning my sixth story. This is what I know so far: 

1. It will be entitled NO ROOM AT THE INN.
2. The heroine Charlene (Charley) owns The Foxborough Inn, a B & B in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley
3. The hero Joe is a building contractor (i.e. a carpenter) from the Washington, D.C. area
4. Joe arrives at the inn on Christmas Eve during an ice storm with a very pregnant teenage hitchhiker named Maria, who's on the run from a trio of Mafia hitmen (i.e. wiseguys), only to find the inn booked up with a Christmas wedding party.
5. Despite a few intentional parallels, this is a comedy--not a re-make of the original Christmas story. Charley doesn't put them up in the stable. (They stay in her cottage with her.) And the baby does not arrive on Christmas Day.

I have some ideas about what will happen, and I won't start writing until I've decided on the basic plot points. That should help the actual writing flow smoothly. Fingers crossed. I've also created this mock-up cover to inspire me as I work. Hopefully all the new beginnings will help this project zip right along until I type THE END. 

Alison

www.alisonhenderson.com

http://alisonhenderson.blogspot.com 

The dreaded saggy middle

I tried to pay close attention to the "how" of my writing during the last WIP I drafted. I even jotted the occasional note so I would remember where I stalled, and my thoughts on why I may have stalled.

Here's what I found:

I usually have a lot of enthusiasm when I start a project. I'm busy researching, fleshing out the characters, considering plot points, developing the setting. I'm printing out maps, and photographs, and research info to paste into the WIP notebook. I always keep a notebook chock full of the Stuff of the book, including my jottings, my ideas, my snippets. That's the first month, what I call the Kickoff Month.

My enthusiasm wanes in the middle of a project. This is the Sagging Middle people talk about, and it's not just for the book but I think it happens for the author, too. That's usually Month Two of a project. Here's an Interesting Point I discovered:

This is where craft comes into play. You have to learn the craft in order to write, and it's when creativity is waning the craft comes into play. This is where I relied on my knowledge of how to craft a good scene to tide me over until the creativity reared its head again. I made sure each scene had GMC (Goal, Motivation, Conflict). I made sure each chapter moved the character and the plot forward. I allowed the characters some freedom to shift the plot, but I kept a close rein on them, too.

Month three is where the creativity picks up again. I once again hear those character voices in my head. This is where I go back and start to add in tidbits to the Sagging Middle. I tweak and I fix and I shift things around until it no longer sags. And I have enough momentum by this time to gallop to the finish line with little effort. This is what I think of as the Finale Month because it's when everything wraps up. I am NEVER sorry to see a project end. I think this ebb & flow of creativity helps keep everything fresh.

Once I finish a book, I go through it once for consistency checks (did her eyes stay green for the whole book?) and go through it again for what I think of as Manual Labor: checking for overused words (I have my list next to my computer), making sure the plot hangs together, making sure my motivations were firm for each character and especially the bad guy.

Then I let it sit while I start considering my next project. This may be editing an older book, it may be starting a new one, it may be edits from my editor. I let it sit for at least 3 or 4 months. Then I read it again and I'm always surprised that, wow, I wrote this and it's not so bad. It could use some tweaks, but overall -- it's good.

Then it's off to my critique partner and ... well, you know the rest. More edits, more sitting, more edits, then done.

I never realized how I go through distinct phases during the construction of a WIP. Now that I know it's there, I'm going to keep a closer eye on it, so when I get to that Sagging Middle I can remind myself:

It's just a phase. Persevere. The Finale isn't far away!

Sometimes a deadline can provide inspiration

I'm a fast writer. If I work on a story longer than 4 months, I get stale. The characters get flat. The plot drags. So I always keep an eye on the calendar when I write.

I started playing around with my latest manuscript in the spring. I had some ideas for a book, I played with them, I made a tentative start. Then I got sidetracked when I discovered I might have copyright issues. I was using Winnie the Pooh as my base, so to speak, and (long story short), I found out that I couldn't do that.

So I had to re-task what I planned to do with a new story. Stumper. I decided to pick a story nobody could copyright: Robin Hood. Ok, good. There's my starting point. I started the book on June 1. And I picked at it all summer. I wrote a page here, some words there -- oh, I wrote every day but I wasn't inspired to write it. I just didn't feel the love.

August rolled around and I realized I had 9 chapters done, out of 17 or 18 needed. I had set an artificial deadline for myself of Sept. 20. You see, my DH and I go on vacation around that time and that's always my unofficial kickoff time for me to go back and work on my sci-fi series. I like to work on that in the fall/winter. It's a 10 book series, 3 books are already published (the last 3 in the series), I have 2 written, #3 is plotted, and the rest have solid ideas. So there's many years of work there.

Well, there I was, in August, and I had 9 chapters to go. I didn't quite panic, but I did try to knuckle down. But I had house guests for 2 weeks, I had a family reunion to plan and host, I had travel, I have the never-ending lawsuit (oh, now *that* is a story to tell someday).

So I got to September 14 and I realized I had about 8 days to go. 8 days to write at least 6 chapters. I was on chapter 9, almost chapter 10. I need at least 17 to wrap up the book. Could I do it?

Yep. I sat down and in three days, I wrote 30,000+ words. 6.5 chapters. I literally sat my butt in the chair, put my hands on the keyboard, and I just wrote for 3 days. Oh, I took breaks: went out to a concert, did a bit of shopping, watched some football on TV. But the main focus of that weekend was to FINISH THE DAMN BOOK. I have never NOT finished a book I started, and I wasn't going to start now.

And I did. I still have editing to do, tweaking, a re-read and some fixes. But it is 99% done. I'll set it aside now for a few months, then re-visit it, oh, in January maybe. I'll read it with fresh eyes, make the necessary changes, then send it off to my beta reader to review. Then I'll publish it.

So you see: sometimes inspiration can come from desperation!

I murdered my ex-mother-in-law (in my book) by Barbara Edwards

I happily killed off my ex-mother-in-law, my ex-husband and an evil-minded gossip in my first attempt at romantic suspense. It was fun, satisfying and emotionally freeing. All that angst and anger flowed onto the page and out of my spirit. It was then I realized I’d been too sweet, too careful to write the nice feelings. My stories were bland. Nothing like the roiling passions I had trapped inside.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a fairly well-balanced personality. I learned to dig for those buried emotions. A good writer needs to use emotions in writing. The more powerful the emotions you use, the better.  A reader might like a picnic in the park, but a storm-ravaged mountain-top is exciting.

Building emotion is similar to building a character. You start off with the small details. The heroine might pluck nervously at a tress of hair or the hero drums his fingers when tense. Use the hints to show that the character has basic traits that you will make explode off the page.

At first I was embarrassed to reveal feelings during those close-contact sex scenes. It took me a long time to realize much of what I felt was what everyone experiences and by adding those touches readers were drawn into the story.

I’ve enclosed an example.

In Ancient Awakening, Police Officer ‘Mel’ Petersen investigates a death only she believes is murder. By disobeying direct orders from the Rhodes End Chief, she risks her career to follow clues that twist in circles to her backyard and lead the killer to her.

Her neighbor Stephen Zoriak is a prime suspect. Steve worked for a major pharmaceutical company where he discovered a weapon so dangerous he destroys the research. He is exposed to the dangerous organism. He suspects he is the killer and agrees to help her find the truth.

In the course of their investigation Mel and Steve find the real killer and a love that defies death.

Excerpt:

Legend gave him many names, but the wide halls of his mountain retreat no longer echoed with countless worshipers. He could have ruled the world had his ambition not died with the passage of time. The endless whispers were from the cold winds and the few praying priests. He didn’t care that he couldn’t remember his real name or birthplace.

For an eon he’d regretted the loss of softer emotions. Love had been the first feeling to die, along with the woman who had insisted he would never harm her. He couldn’t recall her features just the merry tinkle of her laughter and the bright smile she had greeted him with every morning. He licked his lips. She’d tasted sweet.

Fierce need flared in his gut and he sniffed the air. Outside his chamber a single acolyte in long brown robes waited to escort him. His mouth curved with a mirthless smile. The silent servants had ignited the flickering wall torches. Shadows jumped and shivered in the drafty halls like nervous virgins.

Barbara Edwards

The Wild Rose Press: Ancient Awakening, a Black Rose

Author Web: http://barbaraedwards.net

Blog Site: http://barbaraedwardscomments.wordpress.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/BarbaraEdwards

Ancient Blood http://on.fb.me/naHRY5

Twitter: http://twitter.com/barb_ed

Authors Den: http://authorsden.com/barbaraedwards

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003F6ZK1A

Buy link http://tinyurl.com/3f627vh

The Master Plan and Kisses to Remember Giveaway!

I’m a plotter. I like an outline of where I’m headed. I need a calendar of events. This holds true in my writing as well…most of the time.

When I’m working on a full-length novel, I absolutely must have a solid idea of what’s going to happen when, where it’ll happen, who will be there when it does happen, and how it all gets resolved. I start by making some lists. First is a character list where I name them, describe their physical appearances, their personalities, what they want, their motivations, and what stands in the way. I usually look for pictures online that match what I envision in my head. I also jot down what kind of house they live in, what their job is, if they have any pets, family, friends. I basically create a profile of each major character so I can go back to it and remember where exactly I put that scar or tattoo.

Next up is notes on setting. I sometimes consider setting to be an additional character in the story, so I pay special attention to collecting pictures of a place, gathering information on climate, land features, and points of interest. If I can virtually tour a setting, great! If I can go there or have already been there, even better! I frequent travel sites to get a flavor of a place and see how others have described it.

Now, it’s time for plot development. This usually comes in the form of a very, very, very sloppy calendar that I handwrite in my writer’s notebook. I easily lose track of time in a story, so I literally make a Sunday through Saturday calendar of events, adding in however many weeks I’ll need. The events are usually just quick notes on scenes, but they include whose point of view readers will get in the scene and the basic action. Sometimes I also include snippets of dialogue that come to me when I’m in this planning phase. This calendar can take a few days to unfold with me working on it even when I’m not physically writing on it. Ideas pop into my head while I’m driving, eating, exercising, meditating, food shopping. You name the place and I’ve had ideas present themselves. Trust me. I just make sure that at some point it all gets onto the plot calendar.

Once this calendar is filled in and is a sturdy skeleton, I begin the first draft. I usually try for at least four full pages per writing session (I do have a day job), and here’s the crazy part. After all that planning in the calendar…I don’t always stick to the master plan! Sometimes the characters make decisions I hadn’t anticipated. Sometimes new characters show up and want a piece of the action.

Sometimes a character dies and I had no idea he/she/it was going to.

But this is what makes writing such an adventure! Even the best developed plans need to be flexible. Out of that willingness to follow the story and the characters wherever they may lead comes true entertainment. These surprises keep the writer writing and ultimately, the reader reading.

So, yes, I plot, but I don’t let that chain me. I run free when the Muse says we must.

For writers, do you plot or make it all up on the fly? For readers, can you tell which method a writer has used when you read his/her work? What are the signs?

I'm giving away one free e-copy of Kisses to Remember to one lucky reader today. Leave a comment to be entered to win. Winner must supply email address.

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

www.nighteternal.weebly.com   

Guest Liz Flaherty Chats About her Writing Process

Liz Flaherty

When my friend Kristina Knight interviews for her blog, her first question is “Do you have (or do you aspire to have!) a writing process?” It made me feel so unintelligent to be stumped right out of the interview gate, but stumped I was. I’ve been writing most of my life, for heaven’s sake, so what is my process? On Kristi’s blog, I mumbled something about not having one but wishing I did, and then, of course, I couldn’t get the question out of my mind. It seemed to go right along with being—or getting—organized.

Process…okay, it’s a series of natural occurrences. That’s a definition I can live with.

·         1980s. I had these nifty coil-bound notebooks with lined yellow paper in them. I filled I don’t know how many of them before I could no longer find them and resorted to white college-rule paper. I sat in my chair in the living room and wrote while my family watched TV and made noise around me. I completed my first manuscripts that way, typing them later on the electric typewriter at the kitchen table.

·         Later. The first Tandy computer entered the house. It sat on a little desk in the smallest bedroom in the house, sharing space with the ironing board and…I don’t remember what else, but it was a mess. There was a chair in one corner, and sometimes my husband or one of the kids came in and talk to me while I wrote. Other times, I interrupted the writing flow to iron whatever a kid wanted to wear on a date.

·         1990s. Everyone left home! Except my husband, that is. I had to learn to write in a quiet room without an ironing board. It was…different. And difficult. I thought my voice had been suffocated by the silence. But then I sold my first book. Always Annie came out in 1999. I bought a new computer.

·         Later. I sold another book and a couple of more. Every time I sold a book, my computer died and I had to buy a new one. I graduated to laptops and gave up the quiet room because…well, because I was lonely in there.

·         2011. I retired from my day job, which I’d loved but didn’t miss for one minute after I left it, something I have yet to understand. I thought I’d write all day, every day, but the truth is that I want to do everything I didn’t have time to do for the 40 years I worked.

So here I am. I work at the dining room table, less than 20 feet from the living room television. I get up two hours before my husband and sit in pre-dawn silence and drink tea and write. And revise. And think, “What if…” As soon as the TV comes on, my writing voice is silenced. Common sense tells me to go back to the quiet room—I am, after all, portable. But I don’t want to. I want to sew and spend time with the boyfriend (yeah, we’re very married, 40 years worth, but boyfriend sounds so…young, don’t you think?) and do all those things I never had time for.

That’s the process. It happened naturally and in a series. And it’s organized. Best of all, it works.

Thanks for coming by. I hope you have a splendid year. The latest in my organized series of occurrences is ONE MORE SUMMER, from Carina Press. It is truly the book of my heart. I hope it finds a home in yours.

http://ebooks.carinapress.com/19C28077-E8B2-400A-ACBF-FAE0579EE2F0/10/134/en/Default.htm

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-more-summer-liz-flaherty/1107412429

http://www.amazon.com/One-More-Summer-ebook/dp/B006BE6HAG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324908781&sr=8-1

I’d love to have you visit my website http://lizflaherty.com or http://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/ where I hang out with some of my best writer friends.