Writing 101: Elements of a Story

If you want to write a book, it's helpful if you understand the basic mechanics of creating a story. It's sort of like learning do-re-mi. Once you've got the fundamentals down, you're ready to start working on true wordcraft. 

Dissecting a Story

It's true that every story should be unique, but all the good ones are built around the same basic structure. Use this foundation to construct your books. As long as the basic story elements are in place, you can write whatever you like around them. 

• Exhibition: Introduce your main characters and your setting. You've got to set up the story. Some authors take longer with the exhibition phase of storytelling than others. This may go on for several chapters, or occur in a few brief paragraphs. The way you write it depends on how quickly you want to get to the next phase, and on how much information you need to share.
• Action: When stuff starts to happen, the plot unfolds. It's not enough to create a world and populate it. Something needs to occur, and your characters need to move around and interact with each other. Otherwise, what the hell am I reading? 
• Conflict: All the best stories contain conflict, so yours ought to have some as well. Introduce a villain or an obstacle, or several of each, and make your characters attempt to overcome this challenge. Every story needs a challenge. You can do this however you like. Some characters are their own biggest enemies, and they create internal conflict. Other stories contain overt villains who are clearly opposed to the main character.
• Resolution: All good things must come to an end, and that includes your story. You need to resolve conflicts and obstacles in order to finish the tale. The only exception is the cliffhanger ending, which is really only appropriate if you plan on crafting a sequel.

Write around the basic elements of a story, and write a better one.

Writing 101: What It's Like

People want to know what it's like to be a wordsmith by trade. My answer? It's a war. And if you want to be a writer, you'd better be prepared to be a soldier. 

Behind Enemy Lines

"Oh, really? That sounds interesting!"

This is invariably the response I get when I tell people that I'm a writer. I can tell you, with no humility whatsoever, that it is not. There is nothing at all interesting about me sitting in front of a screen for up to 12 hours at a time. I am told I often make faces, and I'm completely incapable of hearing anyone who speaks to me while I'm in the middle of typing something. So basically it's me pulling faces, grunting, ignoring people. Interested yet? 

Writing 101: A Different Kind of Writer's Block

I haven't made a secret of the fact that I got stuck on my current manuscript, lodged somewhere between two chapters and a time gap. None of my normal tricks and techniques were working, and the other day I realized why. I've got a different kind of writer's block...and I think lots of other writers have it, too.

Double-Edged Sword

Being an author is both a blessing and a curse in many different ways, and in a way I'm cursed by blessings. I started working on my newest manuscript even before my latest novel (Hope's Rebellion) was published. It's been on my "idea" list for quite a while, inspired by something I saw on Jeopardy! like two years ago. The point is, I've been very excited about writing this story. So why have I been stuck on it?

Women's Lit Event

As a female writer, I'm proud to participate in the Women's Lit Event over at Lost in Books and I'll be happy to remind you all that March is Women's History Month! 

Women have been voting in the United States for 95 years, as of 2014. They've only been wearing pants with no shame for about 60 years. And they still don't make as much money per hour as men who perform the exact same job. But it can be argued that female authors have truly mastered the written word. Check out my guest post at Lost in Books -- and read all about it!

Writing 101: Why It's Okay to Use Ain't

I'll go toe-to-toe with any editor over words like "a lot" and "for ever," and I have, but there's one battle I'm never going to fight: ain't. This battle was lost long, long ago. So all writers are now obligated to wave the white flag...and use it in their novels.

A Lesson in Speaking History

The writers who hate the word ain't should turn to embrace it immediately -- because it was an author who originally popularized the word. Maybe if Charles Dickens had been a bit less successful, today's blog post would be about me baking cookies instead.

Indie News: Self-Published Authors are Getting Conned

The self-publishing boom has inspired a lot of writers to become self-published authors, but at what cost? Many companies and individuals are offering services designed to tempt indies. Unfortunately, some of those authors are getting conned.

For What It's Worth...

Almost 400,000 indie books were published in 2012, a 422 percent jump over the number of self-published titles created in 2007. There are new indie authors being born all the time...but you know the maxim states that a sucker is born every single minute.

Turning a word processing file into an ebook is not the simple process it seems to be. I happen to know this from experience, because I stumbled and bumbled my way through the entire procedure while looking up instructions for every single step on the Internet. What I discovered, what many indies discover, is that there are a lot of people out there willing to complete the process for me. 

Last Hope's

"This book was awesome! I loved everything about it."

"Surprising twists...emotions from happiness to anger to sadness."

The Book Owl Extraordinaire has reviewed Hope's Rebellion. Read the entire review to find out why the book got an A+ rating! 

This is the last day of the Free Love, Free Words event. Go to Smashwords now to get your copy of the book for free while you still can! All you need is the code WQ47M.

Writing 101: Why Self-Publishing is a DIY

I'm crafty by nature, so the letters DIY never frighten me. But for others, it's a terrifying prospect to create a book from scratch and market it to the masses. The popularity of self-publishing has led to a wide availability of services geared toward indie authors. At some point, you may be tempted to hire someone to publish your book for you. I'm here to tell you not to do that. 

Elbow Grease

The moment you begin writing out that idea which has taken root in your imagination, it stops being yours. After you write your manuscript and turn it into a book and share it with anyone, it will become something different. That book will never look to readers the same way it looks inside your head. You're the only one who will ever really understand that book, everything about why you wrote it and what it means.

That's why you're the best person to turn that manuscript into a book that others can read. Believe me, this is not going to feel like the most attractive option when you're in the thick of it -- but it still remains the best.