Why Don't They Tell You About This in High School?

Story writing weaves all the writing rules into a beautiful intricate web—Stock image by Wim van Heugten via creativemarket.com

If high school English taught the basics of story writing, I'm pretty sure I would have enjoyed reading all the mandatory novels I dreaded every year—and I'm pretty sure my first manuscript would not look like Frankenstein.
My favourite subjects in school were (and still are) science and math. I never liked English, except the technical aspects of the subject like grammar and punctuation. Basically, anything with rules. According to all those social media quizzes that people love posting on Facebook, I have an analytical brain.
It's kind of ironic that I've decided to go into romance novel writing. But that could be the Gemini in me—I personally think that astrology can have some basis in science because that can be a nature versus nurture debate based on how the time of the year you are born can affect your brain, and in effect your personality. But I digress. Novel writing is very creative. Not that analytical minds can't be creative, but fiction writing requires your brain to come up with ideas that are not already written down.
So with my first manuscript, I went into it writing out all of my ideas for Charlotte and Max's story. Turns out that there were a lot of elements I was missing. Elements like goals, motivations, and conflicts. Hooks, turning points, and dark moments. Save the Cat! No one ever told me there were actual rules to fiction writing.
Some might say that not all the rules need to be followed for a successful book. There are lots of famous books out there that have a first chapter meeting for the hero and heroine (or H and H/h and h), a prologue (which cause most editors and agents to pass on a book), or an absent first sentence hook. But, those examples could be one-offs or authors with an established fan base.
Upon hearing about these rules, my analytical brain ate it all up. Now everything makes sense! All these elements weave an intricately logical story. Had I known this while I was reading Shakespeare, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc., I would have aced high school English (which was a disappointment on my report card). Those books would have made more sense to me. I also would have been more engaged in reading those books instead of dreading each and every page, and then having to rely on Coles notes to sum it all up for me, which still didn't make any sense of the book.
Now with all this information stored in my brain, I delve into my first manuscript and try to add some sense to what's shaping up to be a Frankenstein-like manuscript. I hope it's salvageable. But at least I know going into book 2, what to do.
Now back to writing . . . and editing . . .

How to Publish?

Self Publish, Tradition Publishing, or Agent?

Now that I'm finished my manuscript, I'm in the early stages of self-editing my work. With NaNoWriMo, I just wrote and didn't go over the previous chapters. I found that it slowed down the writing process because I would end up rewriting a chapter over and over again and only add a few hundred words to my work in progress (WIP). Instead, I just wrote and wrote and wrote. If I felt that there was a change needed, I would make a note and get back to it—which is where I am right now.
In the meantime, I'm thinking about what to do next after I finish polishing this manuscript. I have submitted a few chapters on Scribophile and the peer critiques are helping tremendously. I may use the critique partner matching program that is available from the Romance Writers Association.
But after I get critiques done on my manuscript, what next? I had the chance to talk with some peers at Toronto Romance Writers Holiday Social about their method of publishing. Some have their pros and cons.
Traditional publishing is easy, provided publishing house makes an offer for your manuscript. They would take care of the editing, cover art, and some promotion. They give an advance on your manuscript or half for future books and the other half upon completion. But watch out for clauses in the contract because they may require exclusivity with your pen name and only want manuscripts with certain themes or plots. Also, the royalties may be a small percentage of the sales.
Similar to traditional publishing are e-publishers. Your books are sold in an e-book format with print on demand. The royalties are a little higher than the traditional publishing.
Another option is using an agent. But this takes some work getting an agent to take your manuscript. This requires a query letter as well. But once an agent decides to take on your manuscript, they take care of all the legality in contracts with publisher to ensure you are protected. They work to find a publisher for your manuscript. They take care of the editing. They can also give an advance for your manuscript or half for future books. The thing is, they would take a cut from the profits of the book.
Both the above mentioned methods put in a lot of work in the editing and polishing of the manuscript, promotion, and selling.
Another option is self-publishing. With self-publishing, all the royalties go to the author. However, the author needs to put money upfront to pay for editing, cover art, and promotion. The more effort put into manuscript, the more books are sold, and the more money is made. If there are too many grammatical mistakes or the plot goes no where, expect a bad review. If the cover art isn't attractive, the book won't be noticed among the thousands of thumbnails for other books. If the book isn't promoted constantly, the book isn't proactively purchased.
There are many complaints for each type and also many success stories. It's a big decision, but which is the best choice?

Stock images from creativemarket.com

Gaming the System Series Review

When I saw this series suggested by an author I read, I thought I'd give it a try. The premise sounded interesting and with Amazon, you can sample the first chapter and a bit for free. Normally, I don't like reading new adult romance novels and I'm also not fond of the first person POV. That's just a personal preference. There's nothing wrong with first person POV, but I prefer a third person perspective. But, I decided to just download the sample and check it out.
There was also the issue that it was a story stretched out over three books. Some find this irritating because you would have to wait for the next book to come out and see how it all resolves. But, I'm a fan of series books because I like to see the story continue. Preferably, just post HEA events, but if the books are written well and the story is compelling, I would rather read three different books than one gigantic book with the whole story in one.
This book surprised me. At first, as I started reading the book, I thought that this was going to be another version of some of the popular books out there. Young innocent college girl meets up with a young good looking guy who made it rich very early in life with some deep troubling past on both parts that prevents them from getting together. Drama ensues throughout the first book, continues in the second, and somehow in the third book they get back together again.
That seems to be the current basic skeleton for some of the romance novels at the moment. It's true that a romance novel should have a boy meets girl, sexual tension and something that keeps them apart, then the final resolution of their problem where the reader is rewarded with a satisfying payoff of a HEA. This series does that and more.
I will try not to give any spoilers away. If you've read the book, you will know what I am referring to. If you didn't, go and read the book. It's a great journey into the lives of Mia and Adam and well written take on relationships.
Mia and Adam's story is original. The internal conflict of their personalities and the external conflict that drives them apart takes you on an emotional roller coaster especially if you've ever known anyone in that situation. The fact that it's in first person POV makes the reader really feel the multitude of emotions that the MC is experiencing.
Brenna Aubrey's technique of changing the POV for the first two books and then within the third book was brilliant. The reader gets to really delve into the mind of the characters and literally walk in their shoes. The choice of which POV to use was smart because it kept the secret that the reader doesn't know well hidden until the final reveal. With the third book, the reader sees how the MC grow as one part of a pairing.
I also loved all the geek speak in the book. I never played Dungeons and Dragons or any online group games but I know of them. I did like the references to the major geek themes out there like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Dr. Who, to name a few.
This is one of those series that I won't forget, and I can't wait to read the next two books for Jordan and Liam. Check out the books on Amazon.com.

What's Your Writing Inspiration?

Finally designed the bare bones of this website to get it up and running but now I've lost that momentum from NaNoWriMo. I was hoping to start the outline for the next book in the series and get the critiques in for some overdue chapters from my Scribophile friends, but I only got to the critiques (though not enough for my liking) and this website. But, I enjoy the challenge.
Trying to get back into the groove of writing, I thought about what I could do to give me that swift kick back into gear. Some people find art inspirational. Admiring the nuances and hidden meanings that convey a story and inspire them to tell that story. Similarly, watching dance is like watching art move. It's equally inspiring.
My writing inspiration is a combination of reading—many books—and listening to music. Reading is obvious. There's a story already there and it can help present "what-if" alternatives that can create new stories, or new takes on similar tropes. My biggest influence is music. Classic music can be interpreted into a story. It sets a mood, whether it's slow and flowing or fierce and passionate.
Many may find that mainstream music distracting. I find even more inspiration from listing to my playlist of top 100. The emotions that it evokes through the beats and lyrics and the flow from one song to the next that tells its own story gets my brain thinking. It influences my current WIP or the next books in the series, so much so that I get Siri on my phone to take dictation for new things I want to add to my books—though the notes that I see afterward sometimes don't make any sense at all because of all the background noise that interfered with Siri's dictation.
There are times when I go through life like I have my own personal music soundtrack. Every little thing that happens, there's music playing in my head. Every conversation I have, a lyric comes to mind for each reply or discussion topic. And from time to time, my brain thinks up a dance move to go with the music.

Thank You #NaNoWriMo

I did it!

Thanks to NaNoWriMo, I finished the first draft of my WIP, Scent of Attraction. Before I discovered NaNoWriMo, my novel was at a standstill, just waiting on my computer—and in my head—to be completed. I figured, what is a better way to add 50,000 words to my novel, than to be motivated with a 2,000 daily word goal? I felt the same way when I decided to borrow book 2 and 3 for George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, a.k.a. the books that the TV show Game of Thrones is based on.
I'm used to taking my time reading books. The only time I go through books like chocolates (I like this analogy better than tissues) are those times that I read my favorite romance series of all time. Many may say, "How can you not be addicted to Martin's books?" I was at first, but being under a deadline of 21 days to read a 700+ book and then a 1200+ book under the same conditions made me feel an aversion to pages and pages of lengthy description. Some people like detailed descriptions to get a real sense of this other world, but my analytical mind likes things short and to the point.
But I digress (I tend to do that in my blogs, don't I?). I just want to praise the awesomeness of NaNoWriMo. I noticed that there were many people in my network that participate and was also surprised at the number of people locally that part of it. During the half way party, one of the restaurant patrons that started dining before the place was closed to the public didn't know that there was a local group that got together for various events. She happened to be participating. One of the writers that I critique on Scribophile was also participating. So, you never know who around you is part of it.
NaNoWriMo is a great motivator with a network of people that are very supportive. This goal oriented aspect of NaNoWriMo helped stop me from going back to previous chapters to edit, and re-edit, and revise, and basically, delay my writing. I just kept writing. There are notes everywhere in my manuscript to add more info, or change a scene, or add another possible scene, but with a rough outline, I just pushed forward and wrote out each of the scenes with my points as prompts. I want to give kudos to those participants that are pansters and let their novel flow from their imaginative brains and into their fingertips. They built their novel with pure creativity alone. NaNoWriMo did bring out some of my own creativity, I deviated or added to my outline. Maybe I may use a simpler outline for next year.
I can't wait to start from the 1st of November next year instead of 5 days in.

Am I an Introverted Writer or Extroverted Writer?

Am I an Introvert or Extrovert? Stock images from istockphoto.com

As a writer, I thought that I’m set. I don’t have to interact with people in person. I can just write my manuscript. I interact with people online and have that safety net of my anonymity. I tend to be quiet when I’m with groups of people and just listen in on the conversation. Online, either in forums, chat rooms, Facebook, Twitter, or all other social media outlets, I feel free to connect and chat with total strangers, provided that I’m using my pen name. So, I found it unnerving that as an aspiring author, I needed to network. Networking online is easy, as previously stated, but I needed to meet people in person.

For NaNoWriMo, I joined the Toronto community and they were holding a half way party to celebrating reaching the half way point milestone. I missed the kick off party because I joined NaNoWriMo a couple of days late. I just discovered it and since I was only four days into November, I decided to join, in an attempt to test the waters to see if I would like the challenge for next year. I found that I love NaNoWriMo and fully intend to sign up for 2015.

When I went to the half way party, I didn’t realize that everyone knew each other because they’ve been a part of NaNoWriMo for several years or they have been to the various events that happened before I even knew there were events for the Toronto community. Suffice to say, I was terrified. I put on a polite and friendly face when I turned around after checking in with the event coordinators and had to figure out how was I going to meet strangers.

In my everyday life, my hubby is the social butterfly. He knows how to converse with total strangers about a variety of topics from current events to art and history and other things cultural. I, on the other hand, have a hard time conversing on topics of current events and anything cultural. I can converse about most things scientific, but those topics are rarely talked about. I also have a hard time hearing people, especially if they mumble or talk quietly. I tend to rely on reading their lips, it’s a quirk I have that’s always been with me.

So going into the half way party, I was nervous. I sat down with one person and thankfully he was nice and friendly, helpful for a first time wrimo (what NaNoWriMo participants call themselves). Then more people showed up and the conversations were about things I had no clue about. I would try to add an opinion here and there, but I did my usual thing and listened.

The funny thing is, you would think that I would be shy about any kind of crowd. But one of my favourite hobbies, karaoke, brings out the extrovert in me. The bigger the crowd the better. For some reason, my brain has translated it to anonymity. Since there are so many people in the bar, I don’t stand out as much and I’m just another nameless face that has gone up to sing. Singing on stage seems to contradict not standing out, but as one of the people in the crowd when I’m not singing, I don’t really notice the singer on stage. I’m not trying to be mean about it, I do know that they are singing up there—I don’t ignore their performance. Usually, my group of friends are the only ones applauding, but I don’t criticize if they make a mistake, if they sing off key, or if they look like fools. I just enjoy sitting with my friends, munching on pub food, and listening to music—even the country songs (I wouldn’t choose to listen to it on iTunes but I don’t boo people for choosing the songs). I’ll even try songs that I’ve never sung before. And if I sound horrible, I chalk it up to “at least I tried but I will remember to not sing that again”.

So, I really don’t know what I would be classified as. Am I an introvert? Extrovert? Extroverted Introvert? Shy? Maybe it’s my Gemini personality that just allows me to be a little bit of everything.

#NaNoWriMo Equals 50,000 Words in One Month?

NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month, what a great concept!

Trying to find a way to complete my novel, I looked at all sorts of tips on the internet and in e-books. I came across a few tips that are helping me, and hopefully, I will get 50,000 words in one month. The one thing I discovered that will give me the motivation to get these 50,000 words in one month is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).
Technically, I should probably be writing to get my target word count for the day, but I decided to take a break and catch up tomorrow. The approach that NaNoWrMo uses is a great approach to use all the time. It may be frustrating to just write and not edit in between, but unless it's a major plot change that would need a rewrite of the chapter, writing ~1700 words a day can get you to your goal of a complete manuscript. I feel accountable to get my word count in for the day. It's daunting to know that if I skip a day—maybe I will get my word count in today—I would have to double my word count the next day just to catch up.
Another great tip I found is to write constantly, everyday, about anything, hence, the blog (technically two blogs: this one and my mommy blog). It's especially helpful when I get a bit of writer's block and can't figure out what to write next. I do have an outline, which is also a good thing to have. It's gives me some direction and I have an idea where my story is leading. I tried to be a pantser, where I write and have the story flow out on its own, but I find that only works for me when I write blogs, like now. Sometimes I would create an outline for the blog, a.k.a. plot, but sometimes I just want to get the thoughts out of my head in the order they spew out.
Though, if I do decide to outline my blog, or in the case of my manuscript, my work in progress, I find that using Scrivener is a writer's best friend. The software is affordable already, but if you take part in NaNoWriMo, you can get a 20% discount. The great thing about the software is organization your novel into scenes and chapters with cue cards that can display each scene outline. You can also add character sketches, setting sketches, plot information, and research items. It all stores with your manuscript for reference. It can compile your manuscript to save as different formats, including an e-book. Scrivener has helped a lot with organizing my thoughts.
When I'm not on my computer, another helpful tool is Evernote. I don't use it for writing, but you can use it in the same fashion as Scrivener, but I find that Scrivener has more features. Evernote is available as an app on your smartphone, and this feature is valuable. There are times when I'm far away from my computer and a pen and paper approach doesn't cut it because my handwriting is horrible and I type fast, even on the tiny touch keyboard on my smartphone—chalk it up to all texts I send to my girlfriends. I write my new ideas for a scene in my WIP on Evernote and I can access it on my computer via the cloud.
Aside from writing, a great help for any manuscript is an editing class. You can find out all the things you do wrong when you write and nip it in the bud before you write it down. Of course, old habits are hard to break, but at least you'll know what glaring errors to look for when you go through your manuscript at the end. Some of these editing classes can be found on Groupon or from a writing association, like Romance Writers Association. Joining an association is a great way to other authors for advice. You can find a writing buddy that can give you the motivation and guilt like a workout buddy. It's also a great way to find a critiquing partner.
And speaking of critiquing, signing up for a writing group, like Scribophile, is a great way to critique and get critiqued. Through critiquing, you can see common errors in plot, verb tense, POV, punctuation, and grammar. You can see what you want to see and don't want to see in your own writing. And don't stick to your genre. Explore others and sometimes you can find common elements that make a novel a bestseller. I read bestsellers and self-published works. It's another great way to see what you want to see and don't want to see in your own writing.
So, signing up for NaNoWriMo is a great way to get motivated to write your manuscript within the month, or at least 50,000 words of your WIP. Having a writing buddy can also guilt-motivate you to write. Hopefully, using all the tools I mentioned will help me reach my goal.