Tuesday's Writer's Tip - Promotion - From Idea To Finished Book #MFRWauthor #Books We Love LTD #Promotion

Once you have a contract for your book, even though the book won't be out for months, the time to start promotion is now. There are many ways to do this. Tweet about the book. Share the coming book on Facebook and the other social medias you frequent. Let your friends, neighbors and family know.

Until you have the cover, the only thing you can do is talk about the book any place you can. The cover is sent to you. Have a cover release on the various venues. Find some blogs to visit and talk about your coming book. Plan for a release.

If your publisher puts the book up for pre-order advertise this. People can buy the emectronic version and have it delivered when it's released.

Look at promotional materials that can be used as giveaways. There are hundreds out there. Pens are always good but something unusual that suits your book can always be helpful. Use your imagination. Perhaps make book marks or have parts of your book to use as teasers printed and turned into a booklet.

Don't just sit back and wait for the readers to discover you.

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Tuesday's Writer's Tip - From Idea To Finished Book - More about characters #MFRWauthor #BooksWeLoveLTD #Career #appearance

Now that we've named the characters, what do you need to know next? There are several things and probably a slew more.

The character's physical appearance. Now this is more than hair or eye color. Think about their features. Are they even, pleasing, ugly, anything about this that can give your character a face. Then there's the height. Tall, short or average? Are they thin to the point of emaciation or robust or obese. The there's much that goes to the character in this. Think of Ickabod Crane, His physical appearance immediately gives a picture of the person. Or how about the woman too beautiful to be believed. Think about their hands. Those of someone capable of thin and fluttery. One can show a lot by hands or feet. In romances often the heroine or hero's physical presence sets off the story. So look at these things with a eye to bringing your character alive.

What is their chosen career? I write a lot about doctors and nurses but there is more to the career choice than a stereotypical picture. Often a choice of career leads to their education, their status in life and their way of seeing situations. Where were they educated? Are they buried in college loans? Did their wealthy family or their self-sacrificing parents pay for their career. All of these things make a character what they are. So give this area much thought for you want your character to leap off the page so people will believe he or she is alive in the story.

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Tuesday's Writer's Tip - Who Is He or She? From Idea to Finished Book

There is much to know about your characters.  For me, the first thing is the name. Now I've had characters announce their name as I'm thinking about the story. Other characters are shy and refuse to disclose their name. That's when I set off on a search of one of the ten or so baby name books I've had on my shelf for ages. I look at name after name and continue to search until I discover a name that will fit.

In my latest WIP, the heroine and the hero announced their names.  Hers is Suzanna, not Suzanne, she informed me. And the name seemed to fit the little I knew about her. He told me he was Caleb. Such an old-fashioned name, I thought. Twice I tried to change the name but as I was writing, Caleb inserted itself into the story. So Caleb he is and has remained.

Another thing one needs to know about the age of the character. I've read books where very adult ladies don't really fit the characters they are meant to be. I once read a story about a second chance for love and the heroine was in her fifties but she sounded and acted like a twenty-something. So the age has to fit the character.

Age figured in one of my stories. My heroine was in her mid to late thirties. The hero was thirty. So there was a discrepancy in their ages, but this was needed for the story. So consider the character's age when you're telling their story and make sure they act their age.

Not only must they act their age but their name must suit their age. I know we all have friends called Bunny who are in their fifties or sixties but unless there's a real reason that fits the story, this doesn't work.

So have fun naming and aging your characters and I'll see what more I can find to give you about characters next week.

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Tuesday's Writer's Tip - From Idea to Published book - Who #MFRWauthor #writer'stip #Characters

There will probably be at least two blog posts on the subject of characters since when writing your story the characters are vital to make the story come alive. Of course you have a character in mind and maybe you will learn more about them as you write the story but there are some influences. That's why I did the where, when, why and what before I started to show my character. How do these parts of a story shape the character.

When looking at when a story takes place, the writer has to consider the nature of the character. One doesn't plop a contemporary person into a historical, or someone lacking curiosity into a murder story as the main character. The year, century must be considered when developing the characters in a story. They must be appropriate to the time period where they exist.

Looking at the where. Now you might put a southern belle on a space ship, notice I say may but you wouldn't want her to be the pilot. Where the story takes place has much to do with developing a character. A nurse or doctor fit into a story with a medical influence but having them in a story where their profession gives no insight into their nature doesn't work.

What a character desires plays very heavy in their character development. If they have everything, what is there for them to desire. So look at the character's wishes and hopes to help form their character.

The same goes for why. Why does Mary want Joe? Why does Susan want revenge/ If this isn't know before the character steps onto the page, they might fall flat. Why is the aerator of the story or maybe the yeast that makes the story rise.

So look at all these things. Next week there will be more you need to know.

Tuesday's Writer's Tip - From Idea to Finished Book WHY? #MFRWauthor #amwriting #Tips

Now you know when your story is taking place and where the action is. You also know what the character desires to obtain. Let's look at Why.

For me the why is this. A character wants something but why does she want this. This gets into motivation. Does he or she want revenge and this could be the why of a suspense or a mystery story. Perhaps some other kind of story.

Do they want love? Do they want money? Why they want these things is important and becomes part of their character, something I'll look at next.

I've looked at my stories and have found all kinds of whys. Also I've also seen Character A has a reason for wanting something and Character B has a reason the other person should not get their wish. These conflicting whys make for a good story. If there is no one or nothing to compete with the character who wants to obtain a goal, all you have is a sketch.

The Why of a story can change during the writing. What the character wanted when the story opens may not be what they end up wanting. Let's look at that revenge bit. Mary hates Joe. She believes he has harmed ehr or someone she loves. She wants revenge. In the course of the story she can learn a number of things. She could be angry at the wrong person. She could learn the one she wanted revenge for really deserved what happened to them.

There are many ways to play with the why of a story but if it's missing, the story is nothing more than words with no punch

Tuesday's Writer's Tip Where - From Idea to Finished Book #MFRWauthor #Where #Writer

When has been established now i like to look at where. While I'm doing the When and Where, the characters and the plot are brewing in my thoughts. Where like when has many layers.

First comes country. Many of my books take place in mythical towns I've invented for the story but they are usually in the US. That's because I know the country. But sometimes the major where are in places of my imagination but I must develop these countries to give a broad view of them. I've done a series in ancient Egypt but it's an alternate world because I wanted camels and camels weren't present at the time I chose. Once I've chosen the general where I must look at specifics.

Is the where a small town, the wild wilderness, a large city, a place in the country. For my contemporary stories, I have developed a Texas town, one n Western Pa. and one along the Hudson River. This requires some research. One wants to make sure the geographical features are right. Since i know most of the areas where the fictional towns lie, the research isn't as great as it is for foreign countries or fictional ones. Developing an imaginary site does take research and invention. I've also rearranged the town where I now live to make the places I want to be are where they need to be.

Beyond the site, the next thing is the specific places. For me it's often a hospital, a house, an apartment or other physical places. There are keeps, henges, castles, modern and Victorian houses to be described. House plan books come in handy here.  There are grounds, forests, deserts and the other kinds of venues. I need to know them all before I begin the story.

So before you start your story, you need to build your world and have the resources handy to look up what you may have forgotten.