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 After the End Writing from Idea to Book #MFRWauthor #Booksweloveltd #Writing #Revision

You've written the end of the book and breathe a sigh or relief. But you're not done. These days editors want to see a book that's almost publishable. There are some places you need to check in your story.

First is the spelling and grammar. Sadly the Spellcheck doesn't pick up every errata in the mss. So what you need to do is do a read and find those words that are really words but don't belong there. Put in the periods, question marks and commas you've missed. Question marks is my big issue. I tend to forget them in things like phrases that are really questions but not spelled out like Really. when I mean Really? You know the sort of thing.

Second comes the plot. Read just to see if you've tied up all the loose ends. Really troubles me when I read a book and there's a thread left dangling. Are the major scenes played out to the greatest degree. Sometimes we rush over a scene that needs expanded.

Third comes Characters - Checking to see that the names of the characters remain the same. If they change, there should be a logical reason. Also make sure their hair and eyes are the same throughout the book. Does their dialogue sound unique to each character. Try reading just the dialogue sections and see if the characters speak with the same voice. If so a bit of work is needed.

Last comes the setting - Are the places mentioned shown with enough detail to make the reader visualize the place? Is there so many words describing the setting that the reader gets bogged down and forgets the story. That was never my problem. When I began writing, my characters existed in a cacuum. These books were nurse romance stories and I was a nurse. The hospital was so familiar to me, I forgot most readers weren't nurses and needed to see the setting through the use of the senses.

So there you have it. You've done the revisions and sent the book off. But you're not done with this book yet.

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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.

Tuesday's Writer's Tip - Which Genre For the Idea #MFRWauthor #Genres #Ideas @writing lesson

You really like your idea but what kind of book are you going to write. Your idea is for a romance or a murder or some new invention or something from a fairy tale that made you think. The problem is your idea could fit into any number of genres or sometimes by combining ideas.

Take the murder that you read about in the newspaper or saw a snippet on TV. That story could be a straight mystery or you could add some romance and a bit of suspense. You could take that book and set it in the present or in the past. The murder could happen in space or on a world where magic rules.

After the idea pops into your head, what kind of story are you going to write? The mystery, the romance could fin in different times and genres.

What are genres of fiction? There are many. Romance, Mystery, Historical, Fantasy, Science Fiction or what can be called Paranormal. So you take that idea and decide which genre or combined genres are you going to fit your who killed Joe, or who does Mary choose as her mate. The possibilities abound, but you really need to choose a direction before you start the book.

Next time, we'll start looking at the six elements or a story or the 5 Ws and the H.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip ala Orson Scott Card

Once again I'm digging through Orson Scott Card's How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy for my hint of today. How does one know which of the patterns of construction spoken about in this book? "You must end the story the way you begin." is one word of advice that's helpful. Starting out with a Mileau story and ending in a Character story will confuse the reader. Reader confusion is to be avoided. But the development of the story type follows throughout the writing of the story.

Have you ever begun a story and partway through have found you can go no further? You may have chosen the wrong pattern. You need to sit back and look at how you've decided to tell the story and perhaps make a change. All stories could emerge using one of the four types Orson Scott Card mentions but one is right for the story, or perhaps right for the author.

To keep the reader reading there has to be suspense. Is suspense created by withholding information? Sort of but it doesn't mean hiding every scrap of information but in keeping a small secret and letting the reader know most of the facts. "There is no tension without information." This struck home, especially when I'm writing. What happens next? How is the character reaching the end? Knowing how the story will end keeps the writer moving forward. Step by step the reader should follow the characters and learn what they have discovered making them wonder what will happen next as the story builds to the climax.

So when you're deciding how to tell your story decide if it's a Mileau, an Idea, a Character or an Idea story structure you're telling. If you're wrong, don't toss the story aside, look at it again and change the focus or pattern and try again.