Writing 101: Everyone's Opinion is Subjective

Beta readers. Reviewers. Your good friend. That writers group you joined. A lot of people are going to give you a lot of opinions about your book. They'll ask questions and tell you what they think. And as the author, you've got to remember that everyone's opinion is subjective.

Everybody's Got Something to Say Except for Me and My Monkey

It's a fine line for any author to walk. You need the opinions of readers, because you're writing for the readers. But you also need to stick to your guns when it comes to telling the story that you want to tell. In other words, you can't always follow the advice that your beta readers, friends and reviewers give you. Sometimes, you have to write what you're going to write anyway -- and leave it that way.

Writing 101: Writing is Re-Writing

Getting finished with the first draft is a hurdle, and it's a good one, but it's just the first one. Real writing is a whole lot of re-writing. You'll end up changing lots of stuff about your first draft...maybe even most of it. 

Rewrites 

In other words, you're going to have to write everything twice -- more or less, anyway. You'll have to tweak and perfect, change and edit. You'll have to go over everything and possibly alter all of it before you come up with a finished product that you can use. Writing is rewriting...and sometimes, it's awful.

Writing 101: Are You Disposable?

You know how they say you're only as good as your last book? They say it because it's true. Some people throw books away when they're done reading them. I delete mine right off the Kindle. You may not like it, but as an author you are disposable...to at least some of the readers, all of the time.

Getting Trashed

The life of an author can be painful,. If you send out letters to agents and publishers pitching your book, you will be rejected by some of them. If you self-publish and you court the book bloggers, you will get reviews that hurt your feelings. If you make yourself available to fans through social media, you will be leaving yourself open to ridicule and attacks. But few things hurt quite as bad as simply being totally, completely ignored.

Writing 101: Choosing a Title

Choosing a title can be one of the hardest parts of writing a book, and I should know. I had finished a book almost in entirety before I managed to figure out what the title was supposed to be. I struggle with it every time, but not all authors do. Today's guest author has found a creative way to avoid titling her own book, in fact: she's turned it into a promotional tool.

Book Titles and You

Guest author Roselyn Jewell is staging a unique contest to figure out her book's title. See my thoughts on writing book titles, and maybe you can help Roselyn come up with hers. Now here's Roselyn:

Hi everyone,

My name is Roselyn Jewell and I have recently made my first foray into the YA genre! Previously I’ve written almost entirely romance novels, but I came up with what I think is a great idea for a YA series and I’ve finished the first book in the series, which will be offered as an e-book in early March. In preparation for this, from now till March 1st, I’m running a contest where you get to submit suggestions for the title for the book! The prizes are:

A) The book will have the title you selected + one of the characters’ names will be changed to your name

B) You’ll win a free copy of either the final version of the YA book or a free copy of any other book that I have out

C) Your name will appear in the acknowledgements section of the book

You can read the full details, which include a synopsis of the book, at http://www.roselynjewell.com/1/post/2015/02/name-my-next-novel-contest.html.

Please feel free to send any submissions, suggestions, feedback, questions, etc. to me at Roselyn@roselynjewell.com. I'm also on social media as jewellromance on Facebook and Twitter. Good luck everyone!

 Roselyn Jewell

http://www.roselynjewell.com

Untitled

Hilary lives in a world that is supposed to be "perfect." The government provides all of the basic necessities and if you want "luxury" items you can take on non-governmental work or odd jobs to earn luxury dollars to buy pretty much anything you could desire. The downside? She's assigned a career she hates, a place to live that she's never even been to before, and a guy she's supposed to marry that she's not even sure she likes. In fact, she's not sure she can ever feel that way about any guy, period. Oh yeah, and this all happens to everyone when they turn 17. Hilary tries to make the best of it but goes through a series of events that make her question who she is as a person and whether or not "perfect" can ever really exist, no matter what they want her to believe. 

About the Author

I'm an author, a wife, a mother, a friend, a sister, a daughter, and so much more! I've always loved reading and found myself wanting to continue the stories I loved so much, which is how I started writing. Now I've finally reached my dream of being published. My novels are mainly romance, though there are a lot of other elements as well. My books prove that you can have the romance and the passion without having to sacrifice great plot lines or strong character personalities.

Writing 101: How to Use Dashes

The dash is one of the most under-valued pieces of punctuation, and one of the most improperly-used. Learn to master the art of the dash, and you can avoid all your complicated punctuation problems. Ignore this lesson, and you'll find yourself mired in a morass of commas from which there is no escape.

Dashing off Good Punctuation

A dash functions as a super comma, and that's why all writers should love it. When you already have a lot of punctuation to deal with in a sentence, the dash can be employed to break up the sentence to make it readable (and grammatically correct) again. Learn how to use the dash, and it will be your friend.

Writing 101: The Fall of Books

When was the last time you cracked open an epic poem and began to read it? Do you casually browse through "Beowulf" when the mood strikes, or thumb through "The Canterbury Tales?" Probably no, because that stuff is way old. And it's got me wondering whether or not anyone will even be reading books  100 yeas from now. 

Who's Actually Read Virginia Woolf?

In the year 1915, Virginia Woolf published "The Voyage Out." Have you ever read it? She's a well-known author, or she was, and enjoyed a highly successful career before she walked into the ocean one day. The point is, she was a successful working writer in her own time and you recognize her name. But have you read her books? Did you read this one, published 100 years ago? Did you read any of them ever? Would it make a difference if I told you that you can read her books for free?

Writing 101: Are You Inspired, or Are You Avoiding It?

I always say -- correction, I used to always say -- that you should give in to inspiration when it strikes. I did, after all. But now I'm wondering if I was really inspired, or if I was trying to avoid writing something else.

Avoiding It

It all started when I finished my book "Hope's Rebellion." I had known for some time that I was going to start working on a project called "What Happened to Mary Celeste?" I roughed out the first few chapters, and then I got stuck. I started working on buying a cover for the book. After all, I knew the title already, and I would need a cover. But then I started to work on the trailer, too. I would need a trailer, right? Sure I would. Soon enough, however, that was finished as well. I was still in the exact same place with the manuscript. That's when I started writing a different book altogether. I was inspired. Correction. I thought I was inspired.

Guest Post: Using Wattpad to Promote Your Book

Today we're joined by author M.J. Austin for a guest post on using Wattpad for marketing.

You have published your book and it is online, but you aren’t getting any sales. What’s wrong here? Most likely, it is simply because nobody knows your book is "out there." It can be extremely difficult to get your book out there, especially if you are being self-published.

That’s not to say that when you have a traditional publisher that it is super easy. Many publishers today require you to do your own marketing.  There is a multitude of options when it comes to marketing your book. You could do a blog tour or focus on social media, but those aren’t the only options.

What is Wattpad?

Wattpad is a critiquing style platform that allows authors to upload either portions or the full copy of their books for others in the community to read and comment on. Amanda Hocking, a very successful YA author has used this platform to uploaded samples of her books for users to read and purchase on sites like Amazon.