Writing 101: Author Headshots

The Internet makes everyone anonymous. It reduces personalities into a one-sentence bio, a single small photo, maybe a link or two. The indie author has to turn that anonymity into brand recognition. The best way to do it? Have a great author headshot.

Who Are You?

Notice the adjective. I said great. I didn't say sexy, or even spectacular. So what makes your author photo really great...and what makes it awful?

 

• Color vs. Black and White

Don't agonize over this decision, because it really doesn't matter much. One thing to keep in mind is your paperback editions. Full-color printing is more costly, so you may end up with a black and white photo anyway. As a rule of thumb, get yourself a photo that looks good both ways.

• Your Body

Okay, this gets tricky. Readers don't want to see your body, they want to see your face. So your author photo should be of your face. You don't need a lot of shoulder, and no chest. The more of your face readers can see, the better. The point of a photo is to show you are a real person, not just a made-up Internet ghost. So show them your face.

• The Angle

Get creative with your writing, not your Internet photography. A profile or three-quarter shot is dramatic, and may help draw a little extra attention, but at the end of the day you're trying to show them your face. Get too cute with camera angles, and you make yourself unrecognizable. 

• Your Pose

There's not a lot of staging you can do with a headshot, but you do have control over your expression. Take photos of several different poses to see which conveys the feeling you want. There are lots of ways to play it: serious and stoic, intense and thoughtful, fun and playful, open and happy. Try a few different smiles, a few with no smile, and so on. 

Keep in mind that your expression ought to match your genre in all instances but one. If you are a children's author, smile! Kids and parents will find you more approachable as a writer if you look like a friendly person. If you write thrilling horror novels, I expect you to look a little dark and serious.

• My Only Exception

Choose an expression to match your writing style...unless you write romance/erotic novels. Why? Because you can break all these rules but one: don't look sexy. No pouty lips, no bedroom eyes and never, ever any cleavage. Ever. Your personal sex appeal will not help you sell books, and in fact a sexy photo will turn many would-be readers away. Look nice. Look friendly. Look scary. Don't ever look sexy. Remember this.

A great author headshot is as essential as your author bio. Show them that you're a real person, and show them who you are. A great headshot will help you sell more books, and a bad one will turn potential readers away.

Writing 101: Fireworks

In real life, fireworks are reserved for special occasions. But authors add them to books all the time. In this particular instance, fireworks is a euphemism for the writing that makes a lot of authors uncomfortable: sex scenes. 

You don't have to focus on romance writing or erotic novels for these to spring up. I once got a lot of feedback that I ought to add some sexual fireworks to one of my books -- a tragic, tear-filled historical. So they are definitely going to creep in no matter what the heck you're writing.

You're a Firework

It's a common saying that sex sells. If Fifty Shades taught us anything, it's that people like to read about sex. So if you've got some hot-and-heavy love interest in one of your books -- be it a screech-inducing horror novel or a sweet tale of love -- your characters might begin to drift toward this seemingly inevitable conclusion. 

That puts you in a pickle. It's embarrassing to write about sex. It's embarrassing to talk about sex. I've gotten embarrased thinking about sex. And writing takes a certain brand of fearlessness if it's going to work, so for many authors sex scenes turn into a bit of a problem.

The key is that you've got to find your comfort level. There are tons of very clever ways to allude to sex without actually putting readers inside the bedroom. There's a way to write about everything that will allow you to stay comfortable; you just have to find it. It may take a lot of re-writing and re-thinking, but there's always a way for you to create what you want in the way that you want. Use metaphors and declarative writing, rather than descriptve writing, to put your point across. 

Fireworks can be a small, short burst, or a soothing fizzle. They don't always have to scorch the page. Write about it in a way you can feel good about, and don't be afraid to add sex to your books. For every author, there's a different "right way" to do it.

Writing 101: Stuck.

When you can't figure out what to write next and can't seem to put words on the page, you might have writer's block. When you know where you're going but can't seem to write it, you're just plain stuck. 

Forward Motion

When it comes to the little details, all those steps between "it was a dark and stormy night" and "they lived happily ever after" are rife with opportunity...for getting stuck. 

 

Sometimes, you might not know how to advance the story. The journey from Point A to Point B isn't so straightforward after all. Sometimes you get stuck, and you've got to get unstuck to get to the end of the book. Try some tricks that might help:

• Check the outline. With an outline, at least you know what's supposed to happen. Keep it in mind so you can figure out how to make it happen. 
• Go backwards. Read back a little to see where you've been, and see if that help you start moving forward.
• Stop and think. When I'm stuck, I'll stop writing. Take a walk, take a hot bath, take yourself down to the gym -- do whatever helps you think. And in this space, think about where your book needs to go next. Remember to think in terms of specific scenes you need to write, and focus your efforts. Sometimes, starting at the big picture makes it difficult to work out all those little details. 
• Skip it. If a particular scene or piece of the story is giving you trouble, skip it. Move on to a part of the book that you can write. Skipping around is a time-honored tradition in writing. Chapter 1 of Gone With the Wind was written by Margaret Mitchell after the rest of the book. 

When you know how the story begins and how it ends, you might think writing that book will be smooth sailing. The truth is, there are about a million reasons why you might get stuck in-between. It happens to me all the time. Try to get yourself unstuck however you can. And when all else fails, go and write something else. Sometimes just writing anything at all will help you get back into the groove, and you'll find it easier to continue with your book.

Writing 101: Off the Outline

Every author should have some structure when they're writing. I'm a big fan of  plotting and planning and pre-researching, and I'll advocate writing an outline any time you give me a chance. But sometimes, writing the story takes us off the outline and outside the original plan. When that happens, there's only one thing to do: go with it. 

On a Tangent

Things don't always go the way we plan, and that's especially true for writers. When you sit down and outline a novel at the very beginning, it's still just a concept. But things might change as you begin to write. 

Stories have a way of taking on a life of their own. As you write that book, you start to really get to know a character. You begin to think like them, see things the way they see them, and sometimes plot points that you planned no longer fit the person you've come to know on the page. 

It's good to plan, but writers also have to know how to adjust to those changes. It's okay to let the story take you where it wants to go. Remember that the outline is really just a guideline; it's there to help you get to the end, but if certain things change along the way that's okay. Always go with what you're feeling in the moment. Then go back later and read what you've written. If you're completely off course, bring yourself back on track. 

But often, writing in the moment will take you to wonderful places -- places you wouldn't have gone otherwise. Let the book and the characters lead you to those places, and explore them. Going off the outline is okay, because too much structure and discipline will stifle your creativity.

Writing 101: How to Write in the Past Tense

The vast majority of fiction books are written in the past tense. Almost every anecdote ever shared is told in the past tense. It's a tiny change from right now to just a moment ago, but writing in the past tense confuses many authors who might otherwise be wonderful.

It's common, so writing in the past tense should be easy. It should be second nature. But there is a big problem with the past: the word had.

All the Words We Had

Inserting the word had into a sentence does not automatically mean you're writing in the past tense. In fact, in many cases that I've observed, it only makes those sentences grammatically incorrect.

It's tricky, because often had looks and sounds right. See if you can spot the incorrect grammar in the examples:

I had walked over there yesterday.

You had saw that when?

It had sound like thunder in my ears.

She had said that last week, though.

Which one is right? If you said none of them, you might not need this lesson because that's right. But if you thought that any of those examples were correct, you've got to start re-thinking the many ways in which you let had sneak into your writing. 

It has an ugly way of creeping into books, the word had. So many authors stick it into sentences to make them past tense, or maybe to reinforce the past tense, and the word ends up sticking out like a sore thumb. But if you always know exactly what had means and how it ought to be used, you won't make this mistake. 

Had is indeed past tense. It's the past tense of the verb to have, which is an extremely common irregular verb. In the present, to have becomes has (example: John has a bad attitude).  In the future, to have needs a little help. Usually, it's used with the word will to become something that hasn't yet occurred (example: I will have three of them by next week). 

And in the past...well, had sneaks in. Remember the examples from earlier? It's time to find out why exactly they're all wrong. 

I had walked over there yesterday. 

This grammar error is common, and you'll see and hear it all the time. For some reason, had is often inserted in front of verbs that are already in the past tense. Walked is something that happened in the past already, so had is totally unnecessary. Correctly, the sentence reads like this:

I walked over there yesterday. 

Remember that sentences have a subject and a verb, a subject and a verb. It's not subject, verb verb. When you already have a verb in the sentence, you don't need to double up and add the verb had. It becomes redundant, and it disrupts the flow of the words. 

 It had sound like thunder in my ears.

Writers often stick had into a sentence because they're forgetting to put the real verb into the proper tense. Take the extra verb out completely, and convert the right one to the right tense:

It sounded like thunder in my ears. 

When it comes to writing past tense the right way, there's one simple thing to remember: had is often unnecessary. Check for your verbs. If they're not irregular, chances are good that you don't need had at all. Try reading the sentence both ways. Eliminate had and read; put it in and read and see which feels better. Usually, your decision will be the right one.

Writing 101: Studying the Humans

Want to be a writer? First, pretend you're an alien. You're on Earth, far from your home. And you have to study these strange creatures. Because if you want to write, you have to study humans.

It's best if you do it objectively...as though you aren't one of them at all.

Take Me to Your Leader

It helps if you know some stuff about grammar, and it's a good idea to keep a thesaurus on standby. But if you're going to write, you have to be able to get inside someone else's head. To make a character real, you have to give them hopes and dreams. They're going to need motivations and explanations for why they're doing whatever it is they're doing. They have to feel like real people...so obviously it helps if you know a little something about how real people think, and react, and what drives them.

Don't panic. You don't have to put on a wig and start following people around. I'm not advocating that you act like you're in a film noir. You shouldn't sit around and just observe your group of friends and family; this is creepy, and it isn't going to get you very far. It's best if you observe life across a variety of social classes and economic levels. Before you buy biker leather and attempt to infiltrate a gang, however, try basic research.

It's a skill that every writer has to have, and when you're researching the human condition it's actually pretty fun (not like looking up the history of writing utensils or silverware). For starters, try watching reality TV. This is sort of an extreme version of normal human behavior -- think of it as shock therapy. For example, I make no secret of the fact that I watch a lot of true crime shows. Since I write mysteries, this makes sense for me. If you're writing about romance in your books, see if you can stomach watching a dating show like The Bachelor. A lot of feelings get explored and exposed on reality TV, and it's much more helpful than it sounds.

Look at past historical figures to learn more about human nature. Who interests you? Look them up in the encyclopedia, start checking names that strike your fancy, and read bios. History can show us a whole lot about human nature, the good and the bad.

Observe life in all its forms, from the flowery historical accounts to the made-for-TV histrionics, and expose yourself to lots of different attitudes and personalities. Studying the humans is going to make you a better writer in the end, and if you have fun with it you'll learn a whole lot that can help you in your work.

A Tornado of Lies

"As she learns more and more about her past, everything she knows changes forever. Can she come out of the tornado unscathed?"

The Bibliophilic Book Blog has reviewed Justice (Deck of Lies, #1). Read the review to find out why so many details are left unwritten!

Writing 101: The Truth About Motivation

In school, some smartypants always starts a paper with the definition of the word that encompasses the subject of said paper. Some teachers hate it so much, they tell their students not to write that way. So here's your warning: this is a post about the definition of motivation...at least, the one I've decided to use for the word when it's applied to authors. Because I've discovered the ugly truth about motivation, and I know the dark secret no dictionary is ever going to tell you.

Synonyms and Staying Focused

You've got to stay motivated. You've got to be motivated. As long as you're motivated, you'll be able to write!

If this sort of advice has ever made you physically queasy, then you understand the dark pain that some writers are forced to face. Because the truth about motivation and writing is this: you can have it, and still not do anything about it.

I'm motivated to write -- clearly, I am doing so right now (real time for me, in the past for you). And like any good writing soldier, I'll whip my manuscript out when I've got free time on my hands. I'll grab that bad boy and scroll all the way to the bottom. And I'll stare at it. Maybe, just for fun, I'll put my hands on the keyboard. And even when I'm feeling fired up, and eager to spend my time getting another scene down on the page, I don't always produce words.

The truth about motivation is this: that's not the main attribute authors need. Much deeper than motivation lies simple hope. Now, you're not going to find that word hope listed in the thesaurus among synonyms for motivation (I checked), but you can bet your best typing hand that motivation without hope isn't going to get you anywhere in that novel.

And you can force writing, if you've really got to -- but nothing says it's going to be any good. You can turn off your heart to write...but you can't turn it on. And if you're not feeling in any way positive or hopeful about your book project, you're not going to have an easy time of writing it. You can still have the motivation to write, you can still have the ambition, but if you're feeling despair, or exhaustion, or helplessness or any other emotion that eats away at your hope...well, it's going to get messy.

So my advice is this: forget about motivation. Keep thinking about your stories. Keep hoping. When something bad happens, you get an ugly review or that 200th rejection letter, hope that next time you'll get a better review or a more positive answer. Keep hoping, and motivation will come naturally. Your writing will be better for it...and the words will come more easily.