Writing 101: So, What Should You Write About?

Sometimes, inspiration strikes and you find yourself filled with great ideas for lots of books. You scribble them all down, you see them through to the end. And one day, what if you find yourself out of ideas? What do you do...when you don't know what to write about next? 

Everyone Doesn't Have a Story

Eventually, every writer ends up staring at a blank page, inevitably thinking what next? When you don't know what to write about, you may find yourself coming up with all sorts of ideas you're not really passionate about. Maybe I should write something like Harry Potter, only about a witch. Maybe I should write about a fierce competition, like in the Hunger Games.

You start writing, you lose interest, you quit and try another project. It's possible to wade around for years in this quagmire, unable to finish a project and yet unable to find one that really strikes you. If you're having trouble figuring out what to do next, don't try to force yourself into writing a new story. Find one that's going to inspire you. 

Writing 101: What Can $5 Buy?

Indie authors are advised, again and again, to spend money on making their books high quality. Pay for a good cover, the experts say. Pay for an editor who will go through your book line-by-line. Pay for an illustrator, a great trailer...the list could really go on and on if I wanted it to. But here's the thing: lots of indie authors are two steps away from broke. Pay for a good cover? It's hard enough just to pay for dinner! But indie authors do have options that don't necessarily include shelling out a cool $40 for a graphic designer. With $5, you can buy a lot.

Got Five On It?

With just $5, it's possible purchase a pretty great-looking book cover. Take another 5 bucks, and pay someone for original illustrations. Or, use that 5 to have a promotional video made. You can even use it to have someone give you a thoughtful review of your work, but it would be strictly for your own use. It's unethical to pay for reviews on sites like Amazon. 

The website where all of this can happen? It's aptly named Fiverr, naturally, and it really does offer lots of opportunities. Some of them are good, but others can be pitfalls. Let me very clear in stating that I do not advocate the buying of social media followers or updates, nor do I advocate the purchasing of blog posts. As an author, you should really provide original content and I'm pretty certain that social media sites frown on the buying of social media followers. 

But purchasing a real service, such as original artwork, is perfectly ethical. And when it costs just $5, it's extremely beneficial to indie authors who haven't got a whole lot of cash to spread around. 

Writing 101: Update Your Readers

If you're not telling your readers about new and upcoming events on your schedule, you're not doing all the marketing you could be doing. Always update you readers...even when you haven't got a lot of stuff to tell them about. 

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Facebook and Twitter aren't just for sharing links to your blog and your Amazon author central page. You should definitely be using social media to give readers regular updates about what you're working on. Tell them when you pick a title, when you get your cover, when you create a trailer and even when you're struggling through that gnarly chapter.

Hope's Rebellion: Trailer Reveal

Want to know more about my newest book Hope's Rebellion? Just watch the trailer. I'm exclusively releasing it to my blog today just for you! 

Writing 101: Me...and My Cloud

I'm not the most technically-savvy girl in the world (in truth, I can't hardly figure out how to use my microwave), but even I have figured out this whole "cloud" business. And in figuring it out, I've made a discovery: every single author needs to start using a cloud immediately. I expect you to do so the minute you're done reading this post...because it really can't wait any longer. 

Oh, That's Not My Head in the Clouds

Allow me to explain. First thing you have to get used to: "cloud" is a dumb name. I don't know who came up with it or why, but this is the way it works: it's online storage that you can access on just about any device that has Internet. That means I can work on Chapter 1 at my laptop. One minute later, I can carry my phone outside and read what I just wrote. The files I change automatically update themselves when I turn on my device. 

The benefits of this type of access are clear. As long as you know how to access your cloud, you can access any of the files you might need. Your aunt's practically-ancient Windows 1998 desktop? Done. Your brother's crazy, multicolored, brand-new tablet? Sure, no problem. The slow computer up at the one library you've got within 100 miles? Absolutely. If you've got Internet, you can probably get to your stuff. That makes it possible to write and work anywhere at any time, and I don't have to tell you how amazing that is. 

Because I'm going to focus on a second benefit, one that's a little bit more unsung: storage. When you're using a cloud for file storage, you don't have to rely on you computer to keep that story safe. If you get some weird virus or you drop your machine in the swimming pool again (oops), you're not going to lose the novel you were almost finished writing. It's saved on your cloud!! 

Writing 101: NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing

You're going to be seeing a lot of stuff about NaNoWriMo on Twitter, Goodreads and book blogs this month...because NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. And I've always sort of thought it was a really, really horrible idea. 

Rushing Creativity

NaNoWriMo is a national challenge in which authors compete to completely craft a 50,000-word novel (which is technically a novelette in most genres) by midnight on November 30. This means you ought to come up with the concept, the outline, the research and the finished product in 30 days. 

Talk about a challenge. NaNoWriMo is actually a great event that promotes writing and reading all over the world, and as a gimmick it truly works to promote the written word. But as a writing challenge, I'm not sure I can buy into it. You see, I don't believe in rushing creativity. 

Writing 101: Unplugging

Once upon a time, I imagine, writers sat in quiet little rooms with quill pens and scribbled away with real ink. By the light of a flickering candle, one assumes, the likes of Louisa Mae Alcott crafted Little Women and Jane Austen worked on Pride and Prejudice. Nowadays, most writers type on fancy electronic devices and interact directly with fans through Twitter. And apparently, lots of modern authors think it's very hard to craft stories in this fashion. I've seen it, time and time again, where famous authors advise that you unplug the Internet before you write. And I think this is the most ridiculous writing tip I have ever read...and I've read a lot of them. 

Unplug? Maybe You Haven't Heard of WiFi

For starters, do you even know how to disconnect your Internet? What kind of crazy archaic machines are these writers using to write their stories in the first place, and am I really supposed to believe that a Stephen King type has a computer so old he has to physically connect it to the Internet? I wasn't born yesterday, after all.

And I wasn't born in 1827. Maybe Stephen King sits and writes in a room that has a full library of reference materials, and he actually flips pages to find information when he's researching. But I live in a modern era where I don't have to open a dusty encyclopedia to learn about the breeding habits of pigs. I can just ask Google. 

Unless I try to follow someone's weird writing tips and disconnect my laptop from the Internet, that is. Because I don't know about you, but there's lots of times when I have to stop writing in order to get some research done. While I was writing the Deck of Lies series, for example, I stopped often to consult my map because I don't have a photographic memory. Because I'm a modern girl, I didn't sit down at a drafting table and draw my own map and I didn't pull out a gigantic paper atlas to look at street names. I just used the Internet. Google even lets you create and save your own maps. I added markers to mine to show various locations that my characters visited. 

If you have so much trouble focusing on writing that you actually have to unplug your Internet (which is now a euphemism for turn off your wifi), maybe the Internet isn't really the problem. There's always some sort of a distraction, because the reality is you can't lock yourself in a dark and quiet little room. The world is going to burst into it. If your house is anything like mine, the world is going to burst at least once every 30 minutes. You have to figure out how to maintain focus no matter what might be out there trying to pull you away from the keyboard, whether it's Twitter or a phone ringing off the hook. 

Disconnecting the Internet is only going to slow you down when you have to do some research on the fly, maybe look up a new name or try to get fashion ideas for characters (what...you don't do that?). So I say unplugging is a totally bogus idea that's not really going to work. If you're that easily distracted, you're just going to pick up your phone and screw around with it to get to Twitter (I've been there too many times). It's a modern era. Like all the authors who came before, you are a product of the times. So learn how to work with all the tools at your disposal...or in spite of them.

Writing 101: Writing History

My least favorite subject in school was anything that had anything to do with history. My attitude was who cares about stuff that's already happened? But then, I became fascinated with a particular piece of history. So fascinated that I wanted to write a book about it. And I learned that writing history is some of the hardest writing you'll ever have to do.

The Past Isn't the Past

History is definitely my favorite subject nowadays. I'm fascinated by period movies, historic novels, films made in the 1930s. Naturally, I wanted to write about history in order to sink myself into this obsession.

So for about two years, I became completely enraptured with a particular book project (it's the one I've mentioned several times in previous posts). Most of that time was not spent writing. 

When you write about history, you have to research. Start with figuring out your own timeline. When does the story take place? Where does it take place? Now you need to look at particular historic events that occurred during your timeline. What happened in the world? What happened in the country where the story takes place? What happened in that particular city or town? Certain events will supersede your story. Because of particular historic significance, you'll be forced to include these events in the narrative somehow. For example, if your story occurs in Paris during the 1940s you absolutely can't ignore the German occupation because this affected everyone in Paris. Omitting it would be very bad storytelling.