Writing 101: Writing with Expletives

Jon Stewart, who happens to be the most popular late night host, drops F-bombs on his TV show nightly. It gets beeped out of course, but the audience loves it and he's very good at it. Lots of people use expletives regularly when speaking. Doesn't that mean they should also be appearing in your books?

Four Little Letters

Gone With the Wind was controversial because it contained the word "damn." When the movie was made in 1939, "damn" was taken out of the script. Clark Gable insisted upon using the original dialogue, so the word made it into the film. Hollywood, and authors, have been pushing the envelope on what's considered acceptable in language ever since. I guess we have Margaret Mitchell to blame for our loss of literary innocence.

Or from another point of view, we have her to thank. Writing with expletives is so widely-done now, many people don't even think about it while they're reading those words. But others do notice, and that's why you always have to think about it when you're using them in your books.

Indie News: Indies Are Fighting Back

So, maybe self-pubishers and traditional publishers really can't get along after all. It seems that indies really are at war with traditional publishing...so I guess it's time for you to get out your battle paint and keyboards.

Deep Inside the Literary World

Indie authors are starting to speak out against the publishing industry and, apparently, the Authors Guild. It started with an article written about author Jennifer Weiner, and then more authors began to chime in from their personal blogs and other available platforms.

The gist of the argument is that traditional publishers and even their authors are shunning the self-published, and indies don't care for the treatment they're getting. One writer even accused traditionally published authors of being self-serving, and turning a cold shoulder to the indie community for personal gain (what he actually said is that authors and publishers are in bed together, but that's a pretty graphic metaphor). 

Free Love, Free Words: Februray Event

I wrote a blog post recently about the importance of books and reading, and making these things more widely available. So I'm putting my money where my keyboard is, and I'm going to spend February spreading my love of reading. Around here, Valentine's Day lasts all month long. So all month long, you can get my newest book for free!

It's the Free Love, Free Words event, and it ends on February 28. My newest book, Hope's Rebellion, is the Book of the Month over at Goodreads so now is the perfect time for a month-long giveaway. To get your copy, download the book in any format at Smashwords. Use the code WQ47M to get the book at a 100% discount (FREE!). 

Books on Film: Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is a film that doesn't really fit this category, though it is a movie based on a story...and perhaps it's based on more then one story. Either way, this movie tells a good story. Even if it is the same story over and over and over...

The Film

If you haven't seen Groundhog Day, I don't even want you to read this post. Go and watch it and then crawl out of that cave you're living in because how? This movie is a true cult classic and it's earned every single cable broadcast it's ever been given.

The amazing Bill Murray stars as weatherman Phil Connors, whose unfortunate duty it is to cover the famed Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Yes it's a real place and yes, they have a huge festival every year (at Gobbler's Knob) in order to watch a groundhog climb out of his hole. The movie does a fair job of showing this event (despite the fact that the movie was not filmed in Pennsylvania anywhere).

Writing 101: Finding Your Patron

I imagine that being a writer was a much more romantic occupation centuries ago. Once upon a time, wealthy nobles gave writers and other artists food, clothing, shelter and even money to help them master their craft. So it got me to wondering...is there anybody willing to do that today?

A Wealthy Patron

Storytelling bards used to travel between castles and keeps, sharing their tales for a warm meal, a nice bed and much welcome. The good ones even got to visit Kings and Queens. Pretty good stuff, right? Like, who wouldn't want to travel around just telling stories and visiting fabulous places? 

Writing 101: How Do You Know You've 'Made It'?

Success is not an easy thing to define or measure. So how can you tell when you've "made it" as an author? 

Being Successful

By conventional standards, success equals money. People who are known for wealth are considered to be very successful, even elite, and they're admired and envied for all that spare cash. Television shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and (much newer) Cribs prove that people are fascinated by wealth. 

But the truth is, the majority of authors don't make a lot of money. Being an author is often equated with being an artist, and that profession is synonymous with starving. So all the beach houses and big mansions and Bentleys are, sadly, probably well out of your reach. 

However, you can make some money with writing. And if you write a lot for lots of different companies, it's even possible to make a living as a writer. If you're living the dream of writing full-time, maybe that means you've made it...even if it feels like you can't always make ends meet financially.

If you have time to write and you're writing something that someone is reading or that someone is paying for and you like what you've written, then you've "made it." Don't measure your success in dollars and cents, because it won't ever add up no matter how much you make. Don't measure your success against someone else, or what anyone in your family says, or even by the statistics you find on blogs like mine. Measure your success by your own standards and ideals. When you dreamed of being an author, you probably weren't dreaming of being awash in riches. You were probably dreaming of being read. Achieve that, and you've achieved great success.

Writing 101: Don't Get Lost in the Writing

Punctuation. Grammar. Sentence structure. Prepositions. Proper spellings. It's overwhelming to write a book, and frankly that's far too mild a word. But don't get lost in the writing while you're writing...because you may forget about the storytelling.

Technical Difficulties

I'm the first person to point to a misplaced comma or improperly capitalized word when it comes to published books. In fact, I've been known to go on full-scale rants when it comes to the mechanics of writing. I'm very interested in putting articles in the right place and avoiding the abuse of adverbs. I've gone 20 rounds with my very own employers about the existence of the word "alot" and I'll fixate on even the smallest mistakes when I find them. But I don't allow myself to get too bogged down in all that when I'm actually writing my own books. If I did, I wouldn't ever get past the first page.

The mechanics of writing are very important...but I've seen firsthand that it's not at all the most important thing about a book. I've read a half-dozen authors -- and I'm talking about well-known folks, here -- who in my opinion really can't write. Their structure is all off, their disregard for full sentences frightening and their propensity to avoid dialogue tags is way beyond unsettling. There are a lot of famous authors who don't pay a lot of attention to the mechanics of writing...but they're amazing storytellers, so I'm just about the only person who even cares. 

When it come to storytelling vs. mechanics, it's always storytelling that wins out. So yes, edit your books. Try to use good grammar, and attempt to grasp the basics of punctuation. But don't get so bogged down in the details of the writing that the writing is all you think about. You need to keep your mind free to tell the story. In other words, you need to loosen up. Tell the story. Then go back and edit, and fix all those weird mistakes you made.

Writing 101: Creating a Likeable Character

One of the best ways to create a book that readers will like is to start with a character that readers will like. So now you've got to know how to create a likeable character. It's really not as easy as it seems. 

Manufacturing Like

What I've just asked you to do is actually insane. You're supposed to invent an entire person, out of nothing but your own imagination mind you, and now you have to figure out how to make me like that person. Only you and I have never met, and you don't really know that much about me. Oh, and it will help if I believe that your character is a real person...not just a character on a page. 

This is why so many authors turn to drink to calm their nerves. Creating a likeable character is actually a really hard thing to do, and lots of writers just can't figure out the secret formula. But never fear, because I know it. 

Lots of authors who offer tips will tell you lots of different things about character creation. But when it comes right down to it, there's just one way to create a likeable character: make them real. If I feel anything about this character, you've just created a great one. But there are some tricks you can use to bring out that emotion, and render your character likeable.

• The obstacle: Give your character some sort of frightening obstacle to overcome. Give them an antagonist, perhaps, or some problem (such as being dirt poor) that makes it easier to root for them. Like often begins with fandom. 
• The redeeming quality: Of course, it helps if your character has some trait that makes them admirable. A talent, a charitable heart, great courage in the face of opposition -- give them something that will make others respect them. From respect and admiration, like is easily born.
• The awareness: Want to be tricky and create a multi-faceted character who is both good and bad? If your character does bad things or contains flaws, give them some self-awareness. If they know they are doing bad and they feel remorse, it's much easier to like this character. After all, everyone has done something bad.
• The look: It's much easier to like a character who looks like a person. I always caution authors against creating characters who are too physically perfect. No one considers themselves to be physically perfect, so an extraordinarily beautiful character can be very off-putting.

The truth is, there's no real formula to creating a likeable character. Give them traits and thoughts and feelings that make them seem like a real person, and there will be readers who like that character. But make your character too perfect or powerful or divine, or too evil and unaffected, and it's going to be hard to summon up any affection.