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.

Hope's Rebellion: Sneak Peek

This is a first look at my newest book, Hope's Rebellion. Enjoy!

Hope's Rebellion

Coming November 2013

“Do it again!” Maura screamed. “One, two, three.”

All at once, twenty little bodies hit the stones beneath them. The sun was starting to sink, and they’d been doing drills for hours.

“If an Argot passes you or enters into the same room as you, it’s your duty to react appropriately. To do otherwise could cost you your life. Keep your eyes on the ground!” She shouted. “Remember to touch your forehead to the floor in front of you, and then you’ll never forget.”

“Do you think she listens to herself when she speaks?” whispered Preeka.

“Shhh,” Yala warned, behind her.

“She never listens to anybody when they speak,” Drexi replied. “She only likes the sound of her own voice. The words don’t matter.”

“Maybe you think you know more than me about proper behavior, Drexi?” Maura was suddenly standing in front of her. Drexi saw her own black hair reflected in the shiny tips of Maura’s boots. “Up!”

Drexi stood.

“Down!”

Drexi bent at the waist, pointing her eyes downward.

“All the way!” Maura screamed. “We’ve been doing this drill all day.”

“But you’re not an Argot,” Drexi answered innocently, keeping her eyes trained on Maura’s boots. “I thought the drill was proper positioning. This is the proper position for you.”

Snickers rippled through the girls, and when Drexi chanced a glance upward she saw that Maura’s face had turned a deep, terrifying shade of red.

“Go stand on the peg!” She screeched. “Up, the rest of you. I want you to see what happens when you let your smart mouths run away with you. If I were Drexi’s mistress, I could have her beaten or even put her out of my home. She’s lucky to only stand on the peg.”

Drexi almost snapped that Maura wouldn’t really know if it was better or not, since she never stood her big body on the peg, but there wasn’t any point in making her punishment worse. So she bit her tongue as she walked to the center of the quad, toward a narrow post that rose six feet above the ground. She climbed the ladder and established her balance before kicking it away, the way she was supposed to.

The peg measured about two inches in circumference, too narrow for both feet. Drexi would have to balance herself, and try not to fall down to the hard stones below. If she did, she would only have to climb back up again.

And she would know. Drexi had been on the peg more than anyone else in Camp Five…ever.

After the other girls all filed passed her into the cafeteria for dinner, Preeka got her wish. It started to rain for the first time that winter. The deluge lasted well into the night. Maura finally let Drexi step down from her spot ten minutes before lights out.

When she couldn’t be roused the next day, she was taken to the infirmary. It took four days before Drexi became conscious again, she was so ill from standing in the cold rain. When she was able to return to the dorm six days later, Maura gave her kitchen duty for two straight weeks.

Writing 101: Carving Up Your Story

Being a writer is pretty brutal. Even the good reviews might contain comments that feel like arrows piercing your innards. That's why, as the author, you've got to be the toughest person in the room when it comes to your own story. Before you present it, you've got to cut it into usable slices your audience can digest. Just how adept are you at carving up your story? 

Knife Skills

I'm referring to editing techniques, of course, but I'm doing it in a colorful way (I hope). You have to be a real killer when it comes to your own story lines and plot. Too many sub-plots muck up a story, and over-long descriptions get skipped.

Length is a factor in each and every single book, and it's a problem that only goes one of two ways: the book is too short, or too long. Rarely is the length ever "just right," because if a story is really good then readers want more of it. But books can be too long as well. In fact, this is a very common characteristic among new authors who have written only one or just a few books. 

Writing 101: How to Isolate Yourself

Writers have to imagine entire worlds, people and situations inside their heads. Then they have to take those thoughts and put them on the page. It's a personal process, and because of that you have to know how to isolate yourself.

Tuning Out

Can you write in a noisy room filled with people? I can...because I can isolate. Clearly it's not an ideal writing situation, but I'm guessing that you don't live in a large mansion with lots and lots of rooms. I'm guessing you live in a normal-sized home, and that other people are sometimes around you.

Writing 101: How to Create a Monster

Halloween is coming, and all the spooky stuff is coming out. Want to write a scary book? Then you might just need to know how to create a monster. It's not so easy to do when all you've got is your words. 

It's Alive!

Some of the greatest monsters ever created come not from Hollywood, but from the page. When Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein and Bram Stoker penned Dracula, movies didn't exist. They had to use words to create terrifying creatures bent on destruction. And if they can create such iconic monsters so many centuries ago, you can definitely create a decently scary one right now. But even the best of writers use certain literary tricks to inspire fear. 

Writing 101: Sticking With It

What the real secret of being successful as an indie author? Sticking with it. The key ingredient to success at anything is perserverence. You have to learn how to stick with it...even when the entire universe is conspiring against you in every possible way.

Stubborn

Success and stubbornness go hand-in-hand. People who are successful heard the word "no" hundreds of times before getting the "yes" that mattered. If you want to make it as an indie author, you've got to stick with it. Cement yourself to a spot, hitch your wagon to a goal, and don't waver. 

Cover Reveal: Hope's Rebellion

I'm pleased to announce that I'm finally ready to reveal the cover for my new book, Hope's Rebellion!!! 

Their friendship will test the fabric of tradition, duty and destiny...

There are only two seasons in Godenor: summer and winter. Weather brings the only surprises to a society where everything is planned, and everyone's status is determined at birth...by the color of their hair.

Rinna has the right hair, Drexi the wrong, and Prelly is almost too ordinary -- in every way but one. Small mistakes bring them together, creating ripples in a pond that knows nothing but serenity. If they reach their goals, they can't help but shatter the world they know.

Love of any kind, even the bond of friendship, isn't allowed in their world...but then, the heart can't always follow orders.

COMING IN NOVEMBER!!!

Writing 101: Being Brave

There is something essential in writing that lots of indie authors simply don't have, and it forces them to take a huge leap of faith every time they put another book out there. Without a literary agent or a publishing house, indie authors lack the one thing they really and truly desire: validation. All writers are secretly afraid that they're no good. When you choose the path of going it alone, that fear walks with you.

Being brave is the ingredient that all indies have to have. I know, because I've been completely cowardly for many, many weeks now. And as my Amazon author page will prove, I haven't published anything all year long.

Did You Hear That?

I wrote, recently, about the way I've been obsessing over my latest book. I've had all sorts of reasons for not finishing it. First, I was moving. That's hectic, that's an adjustment, so I didn't really get any work done for months. Next, I was swamped with work. Somebody's got to pay for the new house, after all. Then there were some health problems, and stuff I needed to bake, and that movie I love came to Netflix...

Writing 101: Need a Little Extra Money?

If you're an indie author and you self-publish books all on your own and you're living in this economy, chances are good that you could do with a little extra money. And believe me, I'm not going to give it to you. But I can tell you where to get a few extra bucks. Only be warned: I do mean that literally. 

Does a Little Go a Long Way?

Do you have some tidbit to share about crafting, gardening, fashion, some other area of your interest? Do you know recipe secrets, or all sorts of stuff about homebrewing? You can turn your skills into articles, and you can turn those into a little bit of extra cash. 

If you're not an expert and you have no idea how to write an article (which isn't so different from writing a blog post, honestly), you can always share your creative writing. Short stories and poems may also net you a few bucks. 

Writing 101: Block vs. Indents Isn't Even a Debate

As some of you know, I read a lot of author forums. Lately I'm seeing a topic that greatly disturbs me at the deepest levels. The debate between block paragraph versus indented paragraphs continues to be an issue among indies, and this is distressing. Because this isn't even an issue, or a debate. There's one way to format a book...my way.

Visual Appeal

Have you ever picked up a fiction novel and found block paragraphs waiting for you inside, with blank lines between each one? If the answer is yes, was this book self-published or otherwise released by an indie? Because this answer is yes as well, and I know it to be true.

Writing 101: Becoming Evil

Authors have to be a little bit viscous (or downright evil) in order to create exciting books. What would Harry Potter be without Voldemort, who senselessly kills? Where would we be without Dracula, an immortal murderer? Books often have villainous characters. But here's the secret that authors know: we're the real villains. You're the one who has to learn how to become evil. How else are you going to torture your characters? 

I'll Give You Something to Cry About...

Look, bad things happen to everybody. Have you ever fallen off a bike? Broken a bone? Been involved in a car accident? ...Known someone who has died? Real life is filled with tragedies big and small, and that's why all the best books must have the same. 

If you're writing properly, your characters should be going through a fair bit of hell before they reach their happy or tragic conclusions. Characters should not be perfect, and neither should their lives.

In other words, you have to become the villain. You have to be willing to put your characters through terrible situations, and you have to watch them suffer. Becoming evil is something that every author has to learn how to do. You can't write about a murderer without thinking about what it's like to be a murderer, right? So tap into your inner evilness. It's perfectly safe to do that...just as long as you keep your dark side confined to the page.

Ch-ch-changes

You may notice some features missing on the blog this weekend while I work on a brand-new design. That's right: everything around here is changing. The blog is getting a makeover to help me celebrate the release of my newest book, Hope's Rebellion. Keep checking back to see the new design and the upcoming cover reveal! 

Writing 101: What's Different About Your Book?

Digital books have sparked a self-publishing revolution that allows anyone to become an indie author, and this is what's so fantastic about it. But this is also what's bad about it, because there are a lot of indie books out there. No matter how hard you work on yours, it could easily get swamped in a bunch of books that didn't get the same time and attention. So when you write, when you publish, when you promote, you've got to ask yourself a question: what's different about your book? 

The Cheese Stands Alone

Go look for a vampire novel on Amazon -- only wait until you read this blog post. You might be busy doing that for hours, because there are so many to choose from. And if you also write a vampire novel because you love vampires and you've been thinking about them since you were a kid, your book could easily get lost in the shuffle. 

You might focus on the fact that it's a vampire novel, like Twilight and so many other popular novels. You might think this will help you gain readers. But the truth is, because of its popularity there are a ton of Twilight-like novels out there. It's not enough to mention a popular book and the genre you write in. It's not good enough for your book to be like another book -- because in many ways, your book is a lot like a lot of other books out there. That's the nature of the writing business.

So don't tell me how your book is similar to other books. Tell me how it's different. As an indie author, it's your job to make your books stand out. You've got to paint them fluorescent orange, add some new twist, and launch an insane marketing campaign that includes hatching live chickens.

Okay, so no you don't have to do exactly that, but I'm trying to make a point. You have to be unique. You have to stand out. So focus on what makes your book different from all those others, and build your marketing platform around that. You'll have a lot more success with this approach than with telling readers that your book is like someone else's. Give me a great reason to read your book, and that's the best marketing you can do.

Writing 101: Perfect Isn't Possible

I've been posting Facebook updates about my newest book...for many, many months now. It's not quite 60 thousand words and it's consuming me. And the other day I finally figured out what's been taking me so long to just finish it already: I've been trying to make it perfect. But here's the truth about that: perfect isn't possible. And I don't mean that it's not possible for indie authors...it's possible for no author.

Imperfect

I have never read a perfect book. In every story there is a typo, punctuation out of place, mixed-up names. Some errors are even more grievous -- a ridiculous character, an unbelievable plot, a horrible cliche. Even the books that millions love have their flaws.

Read your books again and again, and you'll keep finding stuff to change. Scenes to shift. Sentences to shorten. Punctuation to perfect. Keep looking for errors, and you will find them. Because writing is never going to be perfect. It's the unique phrasing and punctuation that you bring to the table that helps to create your unique voice. And you can spend so much time editing that you completely lose your natural voice in the flow of things. 

There's always something more to add, a character to flesh out, a scene to shorten or another twist to throw in. You can make yourself crazy with it without half-trying, because authors by nature are detail-oriented people. But when they say the devil is in the details, they were definitely talking about editing a book. 

Get rid of the errors, but don't edit out all the flavor of the story. It's not possible to be perfect, and there's always something more to do. But once you feel that the story adequately stirs the emotions you had hoped to engage, and you're quite certain that the book is as 100 percent error-free as is it can be, cut yourself off. Don't keep tweaking pages and messing with what you've got. At some point, you have to stop and you have to call your project done. 

The perfect book is the one that you feel good about. So feel good about your editing, but don't strive for ultimate perfection...because you won't get there. Authors tend to be picky people, too.

Writing 101: Who Should You Follow on Twitter?

If you want to get more followers, you have to follow more people. It's one of the basic tenants of Twitter that everyone knows, but it still leaves so much to desire. Like, who the heck should you be following? 

It's not as easy as you might think to find people who are into books on a site that's driven by misspelled words, random phrases, and very little punctuation. Go figure. But don't worry: I have the answer. Let me tell you who you should follow on Twitter, and you can put an end to your weird hashtag searches.

A Follow for a Follow

Following people on Twitter is only effective if you're following specific targets. Just start following anyone you can find, and your account will get flagged for spam -- and you won't gain that many more followers, to boot. You can follow random people if you like, but the whole point is that you want to sell books. So apply a bit more strategy, and you'll get a lot more results. 

• Books. Twitter is chock-full of book lovers of all kinds. Search for book blogs, book bloggers, review blogs and book lovers. These phrases will yield a ton of positive results.
• Genre. Do you primarily write in a specific genre? Search for it. I follow all kinds of people with YA and mystery in their Twitter profiles.
• Age group. Do you write children's books? YA novels? Adult novels? Search by age group, not just by genre, to get more readers. For example, I search for stuff that teens are into (like One Direction). Adults are more likely to be interested in news and politics, while young kids are into certain TV shows (do they still have Sesame Street?). Use your knowledge of your target age group to search for music, TV shows, actors and books that you audience is likely interested in, and start searching.
• Followers. Don't limit yourself to keyword searches on Twitter. Seek out popular accounts that are likely to be followed by your audience. My books contain a lot of stuff about fashion for younger people, so I might follow people who follow Seventeen magazine. Look for popular accounts, look at their followers, and get to work. 

Twitter helps you discover new accounts to follow, but you have to do some of the work on your own. Search for followers of popular accounts, use keywords and target your searches to the people who are most likely to read your book. Follow new people every single day to get more followers, and sell more books.

Writing 101: The Fine Line Between Marketing and Exploiting

Everyone's got a story to tell, and I'm not just talking about the ones in your self-published books. As an indie author, you also have your own personal story of tragedy and triumph. If you use that to sell more books, are you marketing yourself...or exploiting yourself?

Walking the Line

The question is a hard one, and I know because I had to face it head-on. I was randomly following people back on Twitter one day when I caught one profile that stood out. It was an author (I get followed by a lot of authors) who mentioned, in the same sentence, a terrible personal tragedy and a book she wrote about it.

Now, all authors draw from personal experience. If you write a book about your own personal tragedy, you're within your rights to promote that book for what it is. But you have to be sensitive about the way you choose to promote. Because if you start out by hitting me in the face with your tragedy, it feels a little insincere. It reads a little like "My daughter was murdered -- buy my book!" and that's not the greatest marketing message you can put out there. Take a more sensitive approach. That's hard to do in a Twitter profile, I know...but there's no rule that you have to announce your tragedy in your Twitter profile. When you do, it does begin to feel a little exploitative.

Take a more subtle approach with your marketing...or at least with your tragedies. Sometimes, in-your-face isn't the most effective means of selling a book.

Indie News: Goodreads Gets Polite

Notice a change in the Goodreads forums lately? The moderation policy for the site has changed, and with it a lot of discussions. But how do these changes affect indie authors? 

Goodreads Manners

According to an announcement released by the site, the new changes will now prohibit discussion threads and "reviews that were created primarily to talk about author behavior."

Salon.com says it all stems from a conflict that arose last summer when indie author Lauren Pippa (Lauren Howard) challenged a Goodreads reviewer for a 2-star rating. She took her complaints to the Goodreads forums, sparking a heated debate that led several Goodreads members to flag Pippa's book with low ratings and "do not read" lists memberships. 

She aired her grievances on Twitter, which just fueled the flames of the fire. Apparently she then took to her blog to say she was bullied into canceling the release of her book.She later reconsidered. 

I advocate that all authors act with professionalism at all times, and I must gently remind all authors that everyone gets bad reviews. My favorite book, Gone With the Wind, unarguably a masterpiece and a classic, has lots of scathing 1-star reviews. It happens...but rarely do websites with 20 million members change their policies because of it. 

The point of this particular bit of news? That yes, a lone indie author can make a big splash with a book...and I hope your experience is a more positive one.

Books on Film: Planet of the Apes

I've always found Planet of the Apes to be a rather frightening story. I don't want a forced lobotomy, after all, and I just can't live in a cage. I like to pace when I think, and that would be maddening. But I didn't know that one of my favorite classic sci-fi movies was actually based on a French book. Did you?

The Book

La Planète des Singes, or Monkey Planet, was released in France in 1963. Pierre Boulle, the author, was already familiar with writing for American audiences. His other best-known novel is Bridge on the River Kwai.

The story isn't about America, anyway, it's about the entire world. It opens with three astronauts who are visiting a planet near the star Betelgeuse. They discover that the atmosphere is somewhat Earth-like, so they name the planet Soror. The water is drinkable, the air is breathable and the vegetation is tasty. So everything looks pretty good...at first. 

Then the astronauts go swimming and see a young woman. She kills their companion, a chimp named Hector. Things go downhill from there as far as the local population is concerned. The planet is populated by human-like creatures, but they are frighteningly primitive in nature. In fact, the astronauts are briefly captured. 

That's when they see the other occupants of the planet, ape-like creatures who wear clothing and carry guns. Several of the human-like creatures are killed, including one of the astronauts, by an ape hunting party. Ulysse, the main character, is captured by the apes.

He's taken to a research facility in a large city. Tests are conducted, and one of the researchers (Zira) becomes interested in the new test subject. Things happen, and there are a few twists and turns toward the end. The book has been translated, so you don't need to be fluent in French to read it. But you can also watch the movie if you like...and it is thoroughly American.

The Film

The first (and greatest) film version of Planet of the Apes was released in 1968 and it stars Charleton Heston -- so really, it's just not going to get any better than that. The movie was a gigantic hit right away, spawning a franchise that's still quite alive and kicking. Watch it today and the film looks dated, but in 1968 the special effects and makeup tricks were absolutely dazzling.

The lead character's name is changed to Taylor (good call) but much of the story and characters from the original book are still intact on film. Plus, Charleton Heston runs around in a loincloth practically the entire time. The movie also completely invents my favorite moment of the film, which you've probably seen spoofed a hundred times, when Heston screams "take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape." The insult is regrettable, but the delivery of the line is masterful.

If you've never seen it, see it. The ending of Planet of the Apes is utterly mind-blowing. This movie has been done and re-done and done again in skit shows, cartoons and on film, but this is the definitive version.

However, a newer one was made in 2001. It's a "loose" remake that was directed by Tim Burton, so you can probably guess how closely this version of the story mirrors the original (or even reality). Mark Wahlberg stars in it, Burton's wife is on board as usual and everything is different. But the fact that a film got made at all is a credit to the entire cast and crew.

The remake was put into development in 1988, after all. It was scrapped just before pre-production. Had it not been, you might be reading about Return of the Apes starring Arnold Schwarzenegger instead. Alas, the scriptwriter got into a dispute with Fox and the project was forgotten for a long, long time.

Wahlberg plays Leo Davidson in this version and he's on a US space station. This time, he ends up in a space pod chasing a chimpanzee named Pericles. The story pretty much goes off on a dozen different tangents from there, and it's quite different from any other version. 

What Got Adapted?

Planet of the Apes is one of those stories that everyone's sort of familiar with, but it all started with just one book. There have been numerous sequels, prequels, remakes and spoofs, but there is just one original story.  The really big twist is the ending of the book -- which is different on film. You'll have to read it to see what I mean.

Dr. Zaius has a bigger role on film, but it's well worth it because he becomes more of a true villain as well. There's more to the story in the novel, and the theme of man vs. animal much more strongly pronounced. Read the book, watch the movie and see what you think of them both.

Writing 101: Are You Talking About Your Book?

You're a self-published author, so of course you're on Goodreads, and you've got a blog and you Tweet about your book all the time. So when I ask you if you're talking about your book, I'm not talking about all your online efforts. I'm talking about your daily interactions. Every single person you know, every store clerk and everyone you ride in an elevator with ought to know you're an author. Talking to someone face-to-face is the type of marketing that absolutely can't be overestimated in value.

Hello, My Name Is...

I'm bringing this up right now because the season for holiday parties is approaching. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's -- you've got several chances to get invited to a get-together, a party or a soiree. I want you to spend some of the evening talking about your book. If you happen to have some business cards, bookmarks and signed promotional materials with you...well, that's just good luck. 

Talking to people, looking them in the eye and telling them about your book is some of the best marketing you can ever hope to do. No one loves or understands that book better than you, so you're clearly an expert on the subject. This should make you feel confident when you're talking about it, because you can't possibly be incorrect. Tell them what you love about the book, why you think they'll love it, and make sure to say the title very articulately...more than once. 

You don't have to be obnoxious about it, but you should try to bring up your book when you can and discuss it. Don't turn it into an all-night affair and talk about your book for hours, but mention it. Chances are, people will start asking you questions and naturally lead you through the conversation. Through the normal flow of talking, you'll drift into other subjects. But maybe later that night, some of those people you spoke with will download your book. Some of them might do it at the party (thank you, smart phones).

If all your friends and family don't know about your book by the end of the holiday season, you're clearly not talking enough. So if you aren't already gabbing, get started. You can never sell too many books.

Writing 101: Email Marketing

Indie authors have to promote as much as they write (maybe even more) in order to sell books. But if you restrict all your marketing to Twitter, you could drive yourself insane. Don't miss out on email marketing. For indies, it's an invaluable promotional tool. If you do it the right way, it's also a fun way to stay in touch with readers and other writers. 

Pen Pals

Everybody checks their email. I've actually had trouble managing my own email time in the past, because I can just get lost in my own inbox. So I happen to know that email promotions work -- I'm one of the people who clicks the links you send me. 

And good news for you indie authors, I read books. So you'd better start using email marketing, and get more purchases from people like me. There's a simple way to do it: add a widget to your blog. Sites like this one (Blogger) and WordPress allow you to create a mailing list of your readers. Put all these people into a contact list in your email program, and send mail to them when you have a new book or a new promotion that you want to market. 

If you're going to send out emails, make them worth reading. Check your mails for key components to make sure your message is being sent out successfully.

• Short and sweet. Brevity is incredibly important when you're marketing through email. If I've got 50 emails to look at, what are the chances I'm going to read every word of your crazy 3-page epic letter? Keep it short, and that will be really sweet. 
• Funny. Make your email interesting by making it humorous. I'm much more likely to read a funny email than one written with plain, straightforward language. Be irreverent, be weird, make jokes, write puns. Be funny, and you'll get more clicks.
• Appeal. The world of the Internet is not black and white, so don't make your emails that way. Change the fonts, add colors, include images. Don't forget the links!

Keeping track of an email mailing list isn't so difficult, but it is one more thing to do. If you like, there is an easy way out. Amazon automatically generates emails for your books. If you want to keep your readers up-to-date with very little effort, just point them toward your Amazon page and tell them to sign up. This way, you don't have to write the emails. But use email marketing in some way, and sell more books any way you can.

Writing 101: Pinterest and Self-Publishing

I've found that Pinterest is a great way to distract myself from writing, but if you can manage to stay a little more professional than me it's also a great marketing tool. Pinterest and self-publishing were made for each other, in fact. It's a little site that became huge, and it's driven by ordinary people who are simply sharing what they like. If that doesn't have indie written all over it...what does? 

Get on Board(s)

I belong to several boards about books and reading, and I created my own boards to show off book covers, book blogs I like, books I've reviewed and books I love. There are a ton of book-oriented boards you can get into on Pinterest, but you can also take it one step further...and I think you should. 

Pinterest is great for sharing book covers, but please don't stop there. If you really want to promote your book, use the site to start building that world online. I've seen authors who create Pinterest boards for character weddings, for character closets (pictures of clothing and accessories and shoes), maybe even for the character itself (foods, hobbies, interests that represent that character). You can even build boards to represent the specific setting where your book takes place.

That's the great thing about Pinterest -- you can pin just about any photo, any time. Show me the car your character drives. Show me a girl or boy who looks like them. I want to see the house they live in, the hairstyles they use. Do they have a tattoo? A pet? A unique talent? Pin it to your book board! Take your readers deeper into your world, and take your promotions further.