Writing 101: Focus

When you want to write a book, it really helps if you’ve got a good vocabulary. You’re going to need something to write on, and I recommend a lightweight laptop with a full-sized keyboard. It’s always useful to have a good imagination, to have the ability to visualize and picture things. But it is absolutely essential that you have one ingredient, or you will never, ever, ever finish that book: focus.

What’s That Over There?

Seriously, the other stuff can be dealt with. You can buy a thesaurus, right? You can learn typing techniques. Heck, there are classes online for free that teach technique. It’s even possible to improve your imagination. The more you use it, the more it works. Focus...that’s something that you either have, or don’t. And lately, I don’t have it. Do you?

It’s Really Easy to Hate Nicholas Sparks

Sure, I enjoyed "A Walk to Remember," like everyone else. But by the time "The Best of Me" came to theaters, I was thoroughly disgusted. It's really easy to hate Nicholas Sparks...and I do.

Author, Author

Please, don’t bombard me with emails. I know all of you love “The Notebook,” and yes I have seen the film also. But sometimes, I feel a little bit like Nicholas Sparks is writing the same book over and over. In fact, I’ve noticed that lots of authors are writing the same books over and over.

Writing 101 Redux: It's Very Easy to Over-Use Very

The word very doesn't really lend anything to your writing. In fact, some authors will tell you not to use the word at all. Find out what you should do about very in today's TBT Writing 101. 

This Throwback Thursday post will tell you exactly what to do about very, and where it belongs in your writing.

Writing 101: What Do You Know About Insanity?

At some point, you may want to write a murder mystery, or just insert a murder into your story. You may need to have a character behave in a way that’s inexplicable, or less than normal. You may need to write a character who’s crazy. But what do you know about insanity?

Crazy is as Crazy Does

To simply write a character who is “crazy” is going to feel unsatisfying. Being crazy is a motive for killing someone or running around the street naked and screaming, or doing other things that just plain don’t make sense. But it’s not an explanation, and your readers are going to crave an explanation. How is this character crazy? Why are they insane? Because what you have to remember is this: the character doesn’t know they are insane. To them, everything they are doing makes perfect sense. So before you write it, you have to get inside of their crazy.

Are you ready to make yourself insane? Because if you’re going to write crazy, you need to know it.

Writing 101: You, and Your Writing Environment

I've always said that writers have to know how to tune out the world if they're going to get anything done. You have to know how to write in a noisy room, in crowded rooms in a house with pets running around and people underfoot. Your writing environment may be imperfect, but a writer soldiers on. But it has come to my attention recently that you can learn how to shut out the world, ignore those other people at Starbucks, pretend the phone isn't ringing and stay away from Twitter for one more hour...and still struggle in your writing environment. The most important space you will ever work in is your own head space. And if that space isn't right, nothing will be.

Check Your Head

Every book you will ever write is inside your head. You have to pull it out of your brain, word by word, and sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's difficult. Sometimes you've got phones ringing and stereos blasting and cats screeching. And sometimes, you won't. You could have a perfectly silent room with blank walls and a big desk to write behind with no distractions whatsoever, and you can still be unable to pull those words out of your brain. Because sometimes, it's your own head that's too noisy, and cramped,and cluttered...and messy. This is the writing environment you need to control. And of course, it's the hardest one you'll ever have to control. 

Why You Can’t Be Margaret Mitchell Anymore

I always thought that Margaret Mitchell had a pretty sweet gig. Raised in the south, like another author we know, Margaret Mitchell wrote about the stories that she heard growing up. She wrote "Gone With the Wind," and that turned out to be the only book she needed to write. Margaret Mitchell never wrote another one. But I can't be her, and neither can you. Authors can't just write one book anymore. And if Margaret Mitchell was around today, she wouldn't be able to, either.

One Book Wonders

Lots of authors actually do write just one book, but you don't know who those people are. Most of them don't spend the rest of their lives reading fan mail and turning down interview requests. For the most part, authors who write just one book simply fade away. A rare few are remembered...or at least, they were.

Writing 101 Redux: Book Pricing

Lots of indie authors are great at writing blurbs and creating attractive book pages, but when it comes to pricing things get tricky. For people whose strength lie in words, numbers can get frightening. 

Visit this week's Throwback Thursday Writing 101, and find out what you need to know about pricing your ebooks. 

Writing 101: What You Can Do with Book Clubs

Book clubs are used by readers who want to get together and talk about what they’re reading. But authors can’t afford to overlook these casual clubs. Indie authors should start using them at every possible opportunity. Do it, and you could sell more books and get lots more readers.

The Ends and the Means

For this exercise, convince yourself of two things. First, you are an amazing writer and everyone ought to read your stuff or they are missing out. And second, you are incredibly assertive. You will need both the confidence and the strength, or you may not get anywhere at all. But if you can believe these things, you can start promoting yourself to book clubs in a whole lot of different ways.

Writing 101: What Hasn’t Been Written Yet?

Why aren’t your books selling? It could be that your book is too similar to books that are already out there. Lots of authors find themselves telling the same stories over and over, and I maintain that anything that Shakespeare didn't write, the Greeks already wrote. To that end, lots of Shakespeare stuff looks like the Greek playwrights. So if you’re looking for a new idea anyway, look around the book market. And ask yourself this question: what hasn’t been written yet?

A Tale of Two Writers

So, you probably don’t think of Julia Child as a writer. If you think about her at all, it’s most likely you’re thinking of Dan Aykroyd. That’s what I think about: a tall woman with a high-pitched voice, showing me how to cook a turkey. But Julia Child was also an incredibly successful writer, and not just a world-famous chef. She noticed a book that didn't exist, and she wrote it. That’s pretty much what all authors want to do, and she succeeded at it.

Having a Wild Imagination Isn’t Always a Good Thing

Every author needs to have a good imagination. Writers must envision entire people and settings, visualize action and see scenes play out. It’s good to have an imagination, but not always. Some authors maybe get a little too creative with their thoughts. In some ways, I think Bram Stoker was a little crazy. He had a really wild imagination, and you won’t believe where it took him.

Conspiracy Theory

Most people know Bram Stoker for “Dracula,” that chilling tale of the immortal Count who must drink blood to continue his unholy ways. Fewer people are aware that Stoker was also a conspiracy theorist who wrote what he called non-fiction. One of his most popular --and peculiar-- theories is that Queen Elizabeth I was, in fact, a dude in drag.

Writing 101 Redux: Quotation Punctuation

Every good book has dialogue in it, and that means you're going to have to use quotations. Are you using them right way...or do you just think you are? 

Read this week's Throwback Thursday Writing 101 post to find out, and master quotation punctuation.

Writing 101: Everyday Advertising

In case you haven’t looked at Amazon lately, trust me when I say that there are a lot of books out there. I probably follow at least 5,000 indie authors on Twitter, and I’m sure I’ve barely scratched the surface. So how will you get people to choose your books over another author’s? Everyday advertising can help you a little bit every day.

Hey, Look at Me!

There are small things that you can do on a regular basis to get your book and your name out there. And maybe you won’t start selling a million books a month, but it’s not going to do you any harm if you sell 5extra books a month will it? So try integrating these everyday advertising tricks into your daily routine, and see what happens.

Writing 101: Juggling Books

Staying focused on a single book is a good way to immerse yourself in that narrative and fully realize the world you’re creating. But as I have proven to myself, it’s not always possible to write under ideal circumstance. Lately I’ve been juggling books, but I think I’ve figured out why sometimes it’s necessary to do so.

Fridays We Wear Pink

Obviously it’s better to stick to one book from the minute you get the idea to the second you publish it on Amazon, and I’ve walked that route before. But sometimes, your creativity doesn’t always cooperate with your publishing plans. I’ve learned that there is a benefit to juggling books. Sometimes, you’ve got to work on the book that suits your mood.

Writing Like Truman Capote

As you can probably tell, I'm fascinated with the process that other writers use. I read their bios and interviews so I can look back at their lives and successes...and see if I have anything in common with them. But if I want to start writing like Truman Capote, I’m going to need to get a whole lot weirder.

Down When I’m Loaded

Truman Capote never started a new writing project on Fridays. And if you think that’s weird, you ain't read nothing yet. To call him eccentric is far better than he deserves. By most standards, the author of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "In Cold Blood" acted like a straight-up nutjob. Writing like Truman Capote is possible in the literal sense. To get started, lie down.

Writing 101 Redux: Do You Use That Too Much?

It's quite possible that you're using the word that too much in your books. To find out, read today's throwback Writing 101 tip. 

Find out if it's raining thats all over your books, because you may discover that you're using too word way too much.

Writing 101: Why Your Characters Need a Hobby

When the characters in your book feel more like real people, it’s a lot easier for readers to relate to them. That makes it a lot easier for readers to like your books. It sounds like a simple formula, but it’s not. That’s why it works to use little tricks throughout your books to humanize characters. This is why your characters need a hobby.

Humanizing Your Characters

All of your characters should be three-dimensional. That means they have hopes, dreams, fears, regrets, habits...and yes, hobbies. The more of this kind of everyday stuff you can integrate into your character, the more real they will feel. But you can’t give a character a hobby just for the sake of doing it. Everything you put in your book should be in there for a reason, and that includes the hobby that you humanize your character with.

Writing 101: Setting the Stage

I read about these women in Burma, once. They put these coils around their necks in order to stretch them out, starting from birth. The old women in the village have these long, extended necks with coils wrapped all the way up. I’m not from Burma, so it’s hard for me to comprehend why anyone would do this, but they think that long necks are beautiful. When you’re an author, you have to set the stage for your readers so they can understand your characters. If I’m from New York City, I may not understand what it’s like to be a farmgirl from Kansas or one of those women from Burma. It’s your job to make me understand that. Do it by setting the stage.

Staging the Scene

In the medieval era, the Church officially believed that women did not have souls. Women were not human beings. They were pieces of property, and their worth could be measured against something like a cow or a piece of land. It’s hard for a modern-day woman to understand that world, a world in which women did not often speak their minds and were not welcome to pursue the skills that interested them. Women were not often writers in the medieval era; most of them could not read. So if you’re going to write a book that’s set in that time, you’re going to need to make sure that I as the reader can understand it.

Why Virginia Woolf Walked Away From Life

Virginia Woolf was the product of a broken home, and was raised with her stepfather and several step-siblings. From an early age, she was highly emotional and had trouble coping with the various tragedies that life tossed her way. But Virginia found a way to escape the pain of her mother's untimely death, the tragic shock of her sister's unexpected death and the other sad events that occurred in her life: books. Se was given full access to her father's library, and here she fell in love with the written word. Here, she became Virginia Woolf, the author.

Being Blue

Like lots of authors, Virginia Woolf started publishing her own books. She and her husband purchased a printing press, mostly as a hobby, and pretty soon they turned it into a business. She published several novels using the press.

Virginia Woolf was a prolific writer. She wrote several books in the span of a few short years, and received recognition in her own time as a talented woman of letters.

It sounds like a happy story, doesn't it? Her life was marked by death as a child and young woman, but she discovered a love of words and found her own voice as an adult. She took matters into her own hands, like all the greatest self-published authors, and she made the world notice her. But the story of Virginia Woolf is not a happy one. Like so many others in her family, her story ends in tragedy.

1,000th Post Celebration: 999 Writing Tips, But This Post Ain't One

Jade's Blog has come a long way since we first started in 2011. Together, we've explored punctuation rules and grammar tricks, literary techniques and self promotion. Several guest authors and friends of the blog have stopped by to offer their insights and share their stories. And now, it's time to celebrate all of that -- by giving some free stuff away.

1,000th

Thanks for visiting the blog, whether this is your first visit or your 1,000th. Jade's blog has always been a place for indie and self-published authors, and hopefully it will be here for another 1,000 posts. But without reading, there would be no writing. So to celebrate today's milestone, let's give lots of books and other stuff away!

The Deck of Lies

                                                    FREE sample                        FREE wallpaper

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hope's Rebellion 

                                                      FREE sample                          FREE wallpaper

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Song of the Sea (Saltwater Secrets, #1)

Now with an exclusive sneak peek of Book #2! 

                                                      FREE sample                          FREE wallpaper

a Rafflecopter giveaway

$5 Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Writing 101 Redux: Further vs. Farther

It's not always easy to remember all the different rules of grammar, and that's why you need this throwback Writing 101 post about further and farther. 

Find out how to tell the difference between them, and you'll always use further and farther the right way.

Writing 101: The Unexpected Outcome

It’s a pretty classic story: the underdog team claws and fights their way into the big competition, only to face off against a much more powerful opponent. Against all odds, the underdogs pull together and carry the day. Unless they don’t. Sometimes, the story ends with the unexpected outcome instead. The hero doesn’t always have to win, but if you don’t write the unexpected outcome the right way you aren’t going to win, either.

When the Hero Loses

Look, good guys don’t always finish first in life. The inspiring underdogs don’t always win, the hero doesn’t always defeat the villain, and sometimes the unexpected outcome is the result. But when the unexpected happens and the hero loses, you've got to be really careful about how you end the story.

Writing 101: Who Should You Trust?

Are you a good writer, or a bad one? I’m pretty sure that every single author and would-be author has asked themselves this question. If only the answer was as simple as that. But you’re still going to want to know the answer, and you’ll find yourself searching for validation everywhere. So when you want to test your own storytelling skills, who should you trust to tell you the truth?

To Tell the Truth

Should you keep on climbing that mountain, or throw in the towel? Are you good with dialogue, bad with your narrative, terrible at descriptions or sloppy in your research? You’re going to want to know all of these things at some point, and maybe you’ll want to know them more than once. So who can you turn to for the answer that’s honest? In the literary world, there are many opinions you may want to trust. Should you?

Writing 101: Being An Author Will Drive You Crazy

For some reason, a certain amount of eccentricity is tolerated in artistic people. It’s weird and gross that Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear, but he was an artist. You know how artists are. Some authors famously did really weird things, and people just accept it. But being an author can potentially drive you crazy...as in, actually insane. After all, I’m pretty sure it’s happened before…

The Crazy Ones
If you believe that you must be mad in order to be a genius, there are some authors who were most certainly geniuses. Were they mad to begin with, or did being authors drive them insane?

Writing 101 Redux: Putting Your Book in Print

The whole world is reading ebooks these days, but plenty of people still love the feel of a print book. It's really easy to turn your self-published books into ebooks, and this week's TBT Writing 101 tip will tell you exactly how to do it...for free. 

Putting your book in print is a bit of a procedure, but it's not difficult. Once you're in print, you can open yourself up to a lot more readers (and convince your family members that yes, you did write a book). Get yourself at least one copy of your own book, and put it on a shelf where you can show it off. Maybe one day, you'll fill the shelf with books.

Writing 101: Writing an Accent

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but I’m from the south. We talk a little bit slower here, because there’s no rush. Maybe we forget a g, every now and then. People in the south speak with an accent, but so do people from Boston -- whom I cannot understand even when I really try. Writing an accent is really an art form, and it’s really easy to do badly.

Like the Way She Talks

“Ow, eez, ye-ooa san, is e? Wal. fewd dan y' d-ooty bawmz a mather should, eed now bettern to spawl a pore gel's flahrzn than ran awy athaht pyin. Will ye-oo py me f'them?”

No, I didn’t just accidentally sit on my keyboard to create that mess. That’s actual text from an actual book. It’s an accent. Cockney, to be specific. Can you tell what it says? Because I can.

Writing 101: Fake Memoirs

One of the best books I ever read was a total lie. I didn't know that for many years. It was called "Go Ask Alice," and it was a diary. The book was full of powerful imagery, and frankly talked about stuff that was really relevant to me: dating boys, worrying about skin care, coming up with new ways to style one’s hair. But mainly, it was a book about drug use. When I first read it, I didn't know there was such a thing as fake memoirs. But there is, and this can be a powerful form of storytelling.

Go Ask a Writer

There is no Alice, at least not as far as this particular book is concerned. It was published anonymously, which always made it even more intriguing, and the actual first name of the diarist is never revealed. Most believe, however, that it was written by Beatrice Sparks. She is the sole copyright holder, and she wrote several other so-called diaries that were supposedly penned by teens. But no matter who wrote it, the book is still good. I still really like it, and I've recommended it to others who liked it. People write fake memoirs because fake memoirs work. It might work for you, too.

To Live Deliberately

If I told you I was leaving everything behind to go live alone in the woods, you might think I have gone insane. And maybe Henry David Thoreau's family and friends thought he was crazy, too, when he went off to the woods. He told the world that he did it so he could live deliberately. ...What do you think that means?

The Mad Writer

Henry David Thoreau decided to step outside the real world, the everyday world that the rest of us are forced to contend with, so he could go live in the woods. But he didn't just live in the woods, he wrote a book about it. And when "Walden Pond" was published, the world understood. Henry David  Thoreau wasn't crazy when he went into the woods. He was doing research.

Writing 101 Redux: Paragraph Indents

Do you use the tab button when you're writing a book? After you read today's TBT Writing 101 post, you won't do that anymore.

In today's Throwback Thursday writing tip, I'm going to explain why the tab space is the Devil's own invention.

Writing 101: Fear of Commitment

It isn’t easy to devote yourself to one story, just one story, when there are so many stories that want to be told. On Monday, you may get an amazing idea for a story that’s been brewing in your mind for a while. But on Thursday, you may figure out the answer to some nagging plot question on that novel you’ve been working on since January. When you find yourself writing a bunch of different projects at the same time and finishing none of them, you need to ask yourself a question: do you have a fear of commitment? 

Sticking it Out

I’ve worked on three different books in as many months, and when I look back at my progress for each one I’m always surprised by how little there is. I work on one story, start thinking about another and switch to it. It’s a good way to get all my ideas down when I’m having them. It’s a terrible way to write a book. Sometimes, authors need to commit to just one project. Otherwise, you might not get any of them finished. 

Writing 101: Are You A Modern-Day Playwright?

Different writers have different writing strengths. That’s the nature of the business. Sometimes, writing a novel may not be the best way to showcase your writing strengths. Maybe you are a modern-day playwright.

Screenwriting

Not all writers are strong narratively. It's tedious, and never easy, to describe actions and settings in a way that other people will enjoy. But you may still have stories to tell. Maybe you aren't meant to write novels. Maybe you're a screenwriter.

Maybe Sylvia Plath Was Onto Something....

If I told you that I'm about to write a book about a suicidal girl with writer’s block who obsesses about the execution of strangers, you might decide right away that you aren't going to read that book because it sounds depressing. Well, the fact is that this is already a book,and you are absolutely right. It's one of the most depressing books ever written, and everyone knows it. Sylvia Plath was depressed and suicidal, and she wrote the book about it. 

When it Shouldn't Work

Seriously, "The Bell Jar" is $&@!ing dark. At one point in the story, the main character goes around asking people how they would kill themselves. The book is so linked with depression, "bell jar" has becomes synonym for being depressed. And from a publishing standpoint, that really doesn't sound like a story that should work. But it did. Sylvia Plath's book is a big bestseller that's still read today. I own two copies of the damn thing, in fact. And I know exactly why this totally depressing book worked so well.

Writing 101 Redux: POV

In life, point of view can change everything. It's the same way for books. The point of view you choose for your story will pretty much determine everything about how that story is told. That's pretty serious stuff. So before you commit to a POV, explore all your options with this vintage Writing 101 post that lays it all out pretty clearly. 

When you're done with this post about POV, feel free to read it from the bottom up. After all, changing your point of view can make all the difference.

Writing 101: 5 Movies All Writers Should Watch

Yes, I am aware that the title sounds weird. Writing and movies, as any novel reader will tell you, rarely go well together. Adaptations have a way of disappointing all readers. But these 5 films aren't necessarily adaptations. They're movies about writers and writing, and they actually get it pretty right. Watch these films, and learn several valuable lessons about being a writer.

Jade's Top 5

Writers write a lot about writing. Heck, even I do it. I have actually advised against using this as a story element. In almost all cases, stories about writers are boring. You and I both know there is nothing exciting about writing. You're just sitting there typing. Sometimes, I might get up to pace around a very small area like a mad tiger, but this is really more maddening than fascinating. But in these 5 films, writing is something that's worth watching.

Writing 101: Depression

Doctors sometimes lose patients in the operating room, and it's hard on them. Counselors absorb other people’s problems, and listen to terrible tales of trauma. Actors tap into their deepest emotions and recall their most painful memories, all for the sake of the performance. Writing is one of those jobs that can get you down sometimes, like these others. It's important to keep the business of writing in perspective. This is how you will avoid depression. 

No, I Reject You

If I saved every single rejection letter I've ever received, I would probably have to move from my home to save space for the storage. I've been fired from more writing jobs than most people have ever had. And I've received some comments from real readers that made me want to set something on fire. Like maybe my laptop.

Writing can be a bit depressing like this. 

Am I Turning into Emily Dickinson?

In my neverending game of which writer am I comparing myself to now, I’ve realized that I may be turning into Emily Dickinson -- without the poetry and the super creepy death imagery, I hope. Not to say that any writer wouldn’t want to be like Emily Dickinson. But for the record, she did die unpublished and lived most of her life in her room. And maybe I’m becoming like her. 

There are worse fates.

They Called Me to the Window, For

Emily Dickinson sat in her room, looked out her window, and wrote poems about the house across the street. She penned poetry on a few other topics, as well, and never shied away from frankly looking at death. I think that on the surface, anyone would be a little bit leery of the young woman who never comes out of her bedroom and writes poetry about death. Because it’s weird, or at least it’s not quite the average. Emily Dickinson was what’s known as a recluse. She shut herself away and isolated herself from the rest of the world. The only reason that it’s not considered to be totally insane is because Emily Dickinson was a brilliant poet. We’ve been trained to accept that genius and insanity belong together.

But I’m learning that being insane does not also make you a genius. In most all cases, it just makes you insane. And sometimes, I question my own sanity. After all...I am a writer.

Writing 101: The In-Book Preview Page

I remember the first time I cracked open "Flowers in the Attic" by V.C. Andrews. I'm one of those readers who always starts right at the beginning and looks at every page. I begin with the dedication, I read every author's note, and I'll even skim over the Table of Contents before I get started. But when I found a page before the story that was an exactly copy of a page inside the story, I didn't know what to make of it. It was the first time I ever saw an in-book preview page, and it totally blew my mind. So now I'm wondering: do you put these pages in your books?

The Preview

Does anyone remember the preview page of "Flowers in the Attic," by the way? It's this amazing intense scene with the evil Grandmother, and everyone's calling each other by their names and they're all in this small room together and it's totally confusing but it's also terribly exciting. That page accomplishes exactly what a book excerpt is supposed to accomplish. And maybe you should be adding it to your book, after all.

There Are No Rules Underwater

"We begin the most amazing ride with Brenna." 

"I have read several mermaid books. This one is nothing like any of them. The rules have changed." 

"Song of the Sea" has been reviewed at Happy Tails and Tales. Read the review to find out which rating the reviewer gave me!

Get a peek at "Song of the Sea," and find out where you can get a copy.