Writing 101: Answering Questions About Your Book

Can you tell me about your book in 10 words or less? If you can't, figure out how to do it right now. Because people are going to ask you questions about your books. When they do, your answers need to be short and to the point. Otherwise, the person asking will lose interest...and they definitely won't read the book, then. 

10 Words or Less

A story of deception, murder and self-discovery.

A world where life is already mapped out for you.

What happens when a world of lies comes crashing down?

Each one of those lines describes one of my books, and they do it in 10 words or less. If you feel any interest or curiosity at all about those lines, I've done my job. If someone asked me what is your book about, I could answer with one of these lines and call it day. And that's exactly what I would do. Save the much longer answer for the blurb. The shorter answers you get to use everywhere else.

Writing 101: Consistent Perspective

It doesn't matter which perspective you choose to write from. You're the author, so you can choose to give the readers any viewpoint you want. But whatever you choose, you do have to choose. Keep your perspective consistent, no matter what you do.

Uneven

I made one of my usual epically bad movie choices, just over the weekend. I thought it was going to be good because it looked romantic and it had an actress that I admire, but that's beside the point. The point is that the movie committed to a specific perspective from the first, and stuck with it through three-fourths of the film. There was a dedicated narrator, and everything. So imagine my shock and confusion when the perspective shifted, for just one scene, to someone else entirely. That's called uneven storytelling, and that's not the sort of thing I want to find in books. 

Dropped My Balls

At the outset of the week, I was fully prepared to add new writing tips to the blog. I was going to get back to tweeting regularly after my vacation lapse. I was even going to get back on track with my newest novel. I was going to do all kinds of stuff. But then, I dropped my balls. 

It's a danger all indie authors face. Sometimes, we just keep too many of them up in the air. 

Wish You Were Here...

So there will be no new tips this week, and I can't even make any promises about next week. I'm going to do my best to pick my balls back up and get them back up in the air. I hope to get back to juggling them successfully. But I'm an indie author. 

So, really, I have no idea what next week is going to bring.

Something's Missing...

Regular readers will notice there is no Writing 101 post today, and you'll see that it won't be here tomorrow, either. You may not find me on Twitter, and you can't expect me to post the tip later today. Because I'm not here. 

I'm on vacation! To find out why, re-cap on one of my recent blog posts. Feel free to use these vacation days to catch up on all my Writing 101 tips, and don't get too complacent! I'll be back later this week to share more horror stories, give more advice and tell you what I've learned from my many, many writing mistakes.

Writing 101: Grin and Bear It

You have to be "out there" as an indie author, easy to find and easy to access. You've got to be on social media and build up your author page, join in on forums and respond to fans who have something to say to you. But there will be lots of times when you don't like what they say. Not everyone's going to be a fan. When those non-fans approach you, and they will, you have to learn how to master a necessary skill: grin and bear it.

Let's Get Critical 

The entire world is full of critics, and the Internet allows everyone to get critical about anything that they see. Many, many people choose to exercise this right. Some of them are going to do it with you. Can you handle that? 

The Internet allows for a type of communication never before seen. It allows for spacial barriers to fall away, so that two people can have real time conversations even from opposite sides of the globe. It allows for exploration that was never possible before. And it allows for people to act a lot like jerks. 

Writing 101: Write Other Stuff, Too

Indie books appear on the market every single day. The only way for self-published authors to keep up is to keep publishing more and more books, right? It's nice in theory, but it's not all that practical for authors who maintain full-time schedules and want to write really high-quality books. It's okay. You can just write other stuff, too. 

The Next Best Thing

 

Can't write four new novels and get them published this year? You're only human, so don't be discouraged if you're not writing and publishing your books as fast as you'd hoped. However, it is important for you to stay in the game and keep your name out there. There's only one thing you can do: write other stuff.

Writing 101: Are You Shy?

As an indie author, you've got to be a bit of a braggart. You've got to shove yourself in other people's faces constantly. If you're shy by nature, that's a big problem. It's one you're going to have to learn how to overcome. 

What Worked for Emily Dickinson...

 

It's not enough for you to write amazing stuff and then keep it all to yourself. Emily Dickinson did it, and it didn't really make her happy. If it had, she wouldn't have written so many poems about death and dying. If you're naturally shy, you have to learn how to pretend not to be. As an indie author, you have to find ways to be extroverted. So you have to find a way to flip your personality. 

Writing 101: Spooky, Stormy and Other Meaningless Adjectives

It's happening more and more. Authors are relying upon adjectives to tell their stories for them. When you're truly painting a picture with words, certain descriptors like gloomy just aren't good enough. After all, your gloomy might look different from mine. So are you really painting that scene, or just using meaningless adjectives? 

Blah, Blah, Blah

It was a stormy night, and the horses were spooked in the barn. She could hear them making creepy noises when she got close to the grimy windows.

Notice how I didn't really tell you much of anything in the passage above? What do "creepy noises" sound like? What's so grimy about the windows? And by stormy, what does the narrator mean? Is is snowing? Is it raining? Is there wind? How do I know? The above passage is stuffed with meaningless adjectives. Now let's figure out how to get them out of there.