Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
How Do I Write a Book?
Since I have begun this WRITING venture, I have found I have many friends who also write or wish to write a book. Here is some great advice for chasing that dream of Author-hood!
All it takes is, 1) talent, and 2) actually writing the thing.
As much as I hate to admit it, the second is the more important factor.
Fact is, plenty of great novels go unfinished. The statistics are staggering: of those who start writing a novel, only about 3% will finish. And unless you're the child of a rock star or Shakespeare's long-lost descendent, no agent or publisher will look at your novel unless it's complete. Only in rare instances will a publisher make an offer to a newbie novelist based on a partial manuscript. If you're struggling with finishing your novel, these tips may help:
1. Tell yourself a little white lie: that you have a real deadline. One of the main reasons writers give up is because they begin to question whether anyone really cares. Pretend there's an editor or agent waiting, drumming his or her fingers, eager for that completed manuscript to arrive.
2. Set a daily goal. I set a minimum of two hours a day, every day. You may prefer to designate a certain number of pages, such as three to five. Writing is a lot like dieting: people who approach it reasonably on a daily basis are more likely to meet with success than those who try a crash program.
3. Don't write a novel - write a first draft. A first draft can be imperfect - and in fact, it will be. That's okay. Just get the pages down. You can fix it on the second draft.
4. Be careful whom you show it to. It can be helpful to get feedback as you go, but choose your readers carefully. Giving your precious pages to someone who is frustrated at their own inability to write a novel is like handing them a gun ... pointed right at you.
5. Spend more time writing than you spend planning. It can be helpful to have an outline and some basic research.
6. Feel the joy. Remind yourself why you're writing a novel. Few people if any set out to write a first novel because they have to. They do it because they have something to say...a passion for the written word...a dream of seeing their name on a shelf next to writers they admire. Hard work may be the backbone of a writing career, but it's the joy of creating something amazing that keeps us going.
So keep going!
~Jill Smolinski~
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Journey into Writing!
So I've had it suggested to me several times now, that I need to start blogging my Journey into Writing. Generally I find I am so busy trying to use every spare moment I have to write my books, the idea of using any of this precious commodity known as time, simply for the sake of writing a blog that will likely only ever be read by me, seems a fruitless endeavor, However, sometimes in order to see just how much we've grown over time, we need to have something to look back on so that we may gage that measurement more accurately. So that being said, lets begin:
In December of 2009, I moped around the house constantly complaining that I wanted to write a book. My hubby finally got tired of listening to my whining and told me, either write, or shut-up about it...not really, he just said, "if you want to write a book, then write a book." So, I decided; why not? Two days before New Years, I made my resolution: I Christi Watson am going to write a book!
I have never been very computer savvy, and had very little experience in Word, but I managed to figure out how to create a document and thus took my first step! I didn't know how on earth to write a book, I didn't even finish high school and couldn't spell to save my life (I still cant) But as no one was ever going to read this "book" I was going to write, I didn't figure it mattered. I had no idea where to begin, so I went with my instinct and simply began typing out different story ideas that had plagued my head over the years. By the end of the evening, I had around 25 different ideas, and yes "emovamp" was one of them, though funny enough, it was nearly at the very bottom of the list and literally was just a one word idea that read: Emotional vampire(emovamp)
There was no way I could have even imagined at that time, that it would turn into what has become today.
So I kept eying the list and found myself going back to that same word down at the bottom and couldn't shake it from my mind, so finally I gave in and opened another document and wrote "emovamp" at the top and then began adding all the things I thought an emovamp was. I gave them a life expectancy, weaknesses, strengths and GREEN EYES! After I got that started, I began writing out different plots and ideas that could happen in the story, and then started creating character profiles in separate documents that I would need for the story. I gave then names , birth-dates, and added pictures of what I thought they would look like. Daniela was the first and then Robert, Miles and Ryan were next, once I had their basic info down, I began creating backgrounds for them, adding parents, siblings, occupations and personality!
One week later I opened a new document and wrote (Title) at the top, not knowing what I would call the book, then began writing the first chapter. I have read that many authors throw away some of their first work, but the first chapter I wrote IS in the first book, although it did end up being chapter 2 instead of 1.
After writing the first chapter I had ever written, I was hooked! I don't think I slept at all for the next three weeks at least, and found I couldn't stop the endless flow of ideas and dialog from pouring out of my mind! I felt like I needed a bucket just to keep up with all of it!
It is funny, when I began, I wondered, 'How in the heck do people come up with enough stuff to fill an entire book?" I honestly thought I would only be able to come up with enough for a short story at best. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with my story in the beginning, and I am the kind of person who needs a 'map' so to speak. I Googled ideas on how to write a book, but didn't really come up with any advice other then everyone saying, "just finish the book" Well that is definitely important. So I decided to just do it MY way, after all, no one was going to read this anyway, so what did it matter if I did it the wrong way?
About two weeks into the project, I picked up a pad and pencil and locked myself in my bedroom. I began to write down everything I would like my character to experience in the book, and then simply began putting them in the order I felt was best. I call this my chapter by chapter outline!
I ended up with 26 different things I wanted to happen over the course of the First book, along with the ending. Then as soon as I finished that, another idea suddenly popped in my head, and I wrote out a two paragraph outline of an idea for book two, then book three and then book four! By then end of the night I knew I had found something and no longer had a short story, but enough ideas for an entire series!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS??!!! Yep, I am serious!
Now I knew where I was going with my story and so I took my little map and began writing!
I wrote Book One: WONDER, in six weeks and then spent some time editing it myself.
The day I completed the book, I was so happy I wanted to do cartwheels! I couldn't believe ME, Christi Watson, had written and entire book, and not just any book, a book I was proud of! Sadly my enthusiasm wasn't matched by my hubby, who was glad I was done writing it, but seemed almost irritated that I was planning to start on the next book! LOL! But I was not discouraged by his lack of enthusiasm, and luckily I have an awesome circle of friends and sisters to cheer me on and a fellow author and great friend that pushed me to go beyond my own dreams and expectations.
So now that I had this great story, what was I to do with it? I knew nothing of the publishing world, I had only just figured out how to write a book for crying out loud, let alone know how to get a publisher; I'm still figuring it all out.
I spent HOURS and HOURS of grueling research on how to Query agents and publishers, how to write a query letter, synopsis, short synopsis, LONG synopsis...I felt like I put myself though college!
Two months into the project, after some urging from my fellow author and friend Christy Elkins, I decided to just throw my work out there to the public by self publishing and see what they thought! The response was huge with many rave reviews! Though the first edition was flawed with many typo's (after all I did edit it myself) It was still a great story and I was informed by many I really had a gift and that I should definitely keep going with the series! Well, thats all I had to hear, and so began Book Two: Jealousy!
So 7 months after making my resolution and saying "I want to write a book." I stand before you as the published author of One book, and will soon be releasing book two which I finished the beginning of July 2010. I have begun writing book three and have very extensive outlines of the last two books as well, along with an outline I have already begun for the next line of books to continue the series even further!
I never in a million years thought I would write a book, let alone two, and even crazier is knowing I will write at least five! I love this story and have found my life consumed by it daily. The thoughts and ideas are what I can only describe as Divinely given, and I l know now, without a doubt I was destined to write!
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