Guest Bloggers – Page 21

Here’s what Guest Blogger Angela Ackerman has to say about writing physical descriptions.

I’m going to be totally honest here. There is little I detest more than trying to describe how my character looks. The reasons are numerous. I think it sounds boring. It slows the story. It reads like a list or sounds clichéd, etc, blargh de blargh.

I write in first person, to boot, making it even more difficult to create natural-sounding character description without using the dreaded MIRROR technique. After all, every time a writer uses a mirror to describe their character’s physique, somewhere in the world a zombie dies. Think about that. Right now, Zombies are dying. I can’t add to this terrible crime. Can you?

But then I read Word Painting and realized I was looking at it all wrong. Physical description doesn’t need to be a dry, tasteless blob of facts to help the writer see our character. It can be seasoned and textured, and doled out bite by savory bite.

Let’s Get Physical–The Problems

When introducing a character, there are a few basics most stick to: sex, hair, eyes, build. Which is fine to start, depending how you go about it. A description like Melvin the bellhop had brown hair, green eyes and was a bit on the skinny side can be summed up in one word: BLAND. This is the ‘just the facts’ approach, and can often read like a list.

Another common mistake is the ‘throw in some adjectives’ approach: Melvin the attentive bellhop from our luxury hotel, had gleaming, oiled brown hair, haunting green eyes and a crisp uniform that fit his lean frame perfectly.

Oh dear. Can you hear the zombies screaming, Clarrise? The issue with relying solely on modifiers to liven up the physical description is that they often end up hitting on clichés or sounding overwritten.

Let’s Get Physical–The Solutions

1) Choose description that is apt and characterizes rather than conveys information.

The bellhop’s well-oiled brown hair suggested an abundance of cowlicks needing to be tamed.

This here not only paints a picture, it tells us something about Melvin. He takes pride in how he looks, and will go to lengths to appear professional.

2) Select a few attributes that stand out and work together to create a full picture.

The bellhop approached us with steps as crisp as his starched maroon uniform. His gold nametag, exactly level with his lapel, announced his name: Melvin. He smiled as he took our bags, and then with a cock of his eyebrow, enquired if we were ready to go up to our room.

Again, the crisp steps and starched uniform provide an apt comparison. His smile softens the starchiness, and his cocked eyebrow, along with him asking, not telling the hotel guests to come with him, provides the image of a smooth professional who knows how to make customers feel catered too. You’ll notice no hair, no eyes, no build is described. Can you see Melvin anyway?

3) Actions speak louder than words

Which is easier to describe–a character in motion with a goal in mind, or one standing still? The answer is obvious. This ties back to the show-don’t-tell line of thought. A character is defined by what he does, and through those actions, the reader can begin to understand what it is that he wants, needs and feels. By showing a character interacting with the setting, we understand more about who he is and can ‘see’ him better.

A Melvin scanning the lobby for debris, returning empty glasses to the bar and offering help to a flustered businessman wrestling with his oversized laptop case will be seen differently than a Melvin standing near the elevator, eyes straight ahead, waiting for his name to be called to the front desk for assistance.

4) Create a realistic, personal environment

Good character description does not rest on the character alone, but also through the places they spend their time and the objects they surround themselves with. Know the setting well and spend time building it, because characters don’t exist in white boxes of nothingness. Think of your bedroom or bathroom, and the personal touches that make it different from a friend’s bedroom or bathroom. The things your character touches, the things they view as important…these are also items that will help build a concrete picture of your character.

5) Remember to use more than SIGHT to describe

Sight is only one way to get an image across. The other senses like smells, sounds or touching can also reveal a lot about a character and create intimacy ties between the character and the reader through recognition. Use them to characterize! Our pal Melvin would probably steer clear of heavy scents, careful to always consider both his guests sensitivity to strong colognes and to maintain his background role. Yet I could imagine standing next to him in the elevator and catching a whiff of clean soap, or perhaps a touch of aloe from his hair gel.

6) Description is best in manageable pieces.

A certain amount of detail is needed to intro a character, but really all that is needed is a line or two. Further characterization, tics and mannerisms will be revealed as you show them in action, so don’t hamper the scene with clumps of physical description. Drop tidbits here and there, and remember to allude to important details more than once. If we described Melvin as pale skinned and it’s a defining detail because he’s really a vampire, mention it again in a different way down the road. Does a patron note the whiteness of his arm against his dark uniform as his sleeve rides up? Does his face appear to fade somewhat as he stands in front of the pearl-toned wallpaper? A reminder will reinforce the image we need then to see.

Do you have any tips and tricks that help you describe your characters?

Originally posted April 26, 2010 “Writers Helping Writers“
Guest Blogger Becca Puglisi, co-founder of Writers Helping Writers, talks about clichéd characters.

It’s hard to come up with characters who are believable yet don’t sound like every other character out there. It’s especially easy to fall into this trap with certain archetypes, like witty sidekicks or wise old mentors. Unfortunately, a recent book that I started had a whole cast of clichés: the jaded, super-sarcastic teen girl hero; the loving but confused single parent; a villain in the form of a Queen Bee Mean Girl. As for the love interest and sidekick…I didn’t stick around long enough to meet them.

But even one clichéd character may be too much; you don’t want to give readers a reason to lose interest or roll their eyes when they’re introduced to a character they’ve seen a dozen times. Character creation is one of our passions at Writers Helping Writers, thanks to the research and practice we put in while writing our negative trait and positive trait thesaurus books. Here are some tips we’ve learned on how to write believable and interesting characters without repeating the stereotypes:

Explore the character’s backstory to discover her wounds. It’s easy to throw together a bunch of attributes and flaws when creating characters. But traits develop organically out of a combination of factors: upbringing, environment, basic needs, morals, past wounds, personal values, etc. It is this unique combination of elements that results in a truly unique character. To avoid recreating a character who already exists, delve deeply into her backstory. Doing so will give you the information you need to figure out exactly who she is today.

Once you’ve explored the character’s backstory, use that information to choose a combination of flaws and attributes that make sense, but are unique. For example, it makes sense for a character who was once the victim of a home invasion to be over-protective and paranoid. For me, the mention of those flaws instantly brings to mind an image—a stereotype that I’ve seen a million times. Paranoia is a logical result of this kind of traumatizing experience, but what if you combined it with other flaws or attributes to turn the stereotype on its ear? Maybe your character was raised in a very proper household where any kind of emotional extreme was taboo. So now you’ve got a genteel, mannerly character who’s scared of her own shadow—but has to hide her fears out of a desire to maintain the right image.

Creating unique characters is really just a matter of digging into their history and coming up with traits that make sense for them. For help in this area, we created a number of related resources on our Tools for Writers page, including the Reverse Backstory Tool, the Attribute Target Tool, and the Character Pyramid Tool.

Explore the positive side of negative traits, and vice versa. Clichéd characters are seen as clichés because they’re easy to read. They’re cardboard. One-dimensional. Which is ironic because character traits are anything but.

Look at John Bender, from the movie The Breakfast Club. He’s hostile, and embodies many of the expected negative associations that go with that trait: he’s volatile, verbally abusive, and has trouble connecting with others. But hostility also has some positive aspects that John exhibits. He’s fearless and uninhibited, often saying what other people are too timid to say themselves. The positive sides of this flaw make him more than just an angry character. They make him interesting and somewhat endearing because people value fearlessness and admire those who speak their minds. We want to evoke those endearing feelings in our readers, so make sure to explore both sides of your character’s defining traits and you’re sure to come up with someone unique and compelling.

Don’t forget the quirks and idiosyncrasies. Certain character types—like adventure heroes and detectives—easily fall into stereotypes. If you want your hero to be different, give him something interesting that will make him stand out from the crowd. Indiana Jones? Afraid of snakes. Captain Jack Sparrow is a cowardly pirate. And for those of you who remember Kojak, what comes to mind when you hear that name? Bald guys and lollipops, right? Mission accomplished.

A word of caution regarding quirks, though: if they’re thrown in off-handedly, they can feel clumsy and contrived. Find something that makes sense for your character based on his backstory and personality and you’ll have something that is believable rather than gimmicky.

Add an inner goal. Another reason detectives and adventurers tend to resemble each other is because they all have the same goal: to find the treasure or solve the case. But what if your character also has an internal goal—something he needs to overcome or wants to achieve that will result in personal growth?

In The Bone Collector, Lincoln Rhyme is an ex-forensics specialist on the trail of a serial killer in New York City. This is his outer goal: to find the killer. Just like any other detective story, eh? Except that Lincoln Rhyme is a paraplegic. That’s enough to make him interesting, but there’s more: it’s made clear from the beginning of the story that the thing Rhyme wants more than anything is to die. He’s made plans for his “final transition” and is seemingly at peace with it because he thinks this will make him more happy and fulfilled.

By adding an internal goal, Deaver adds a dimension to his main character that makes him different from other detectives. Keep this in mind for your own heroes. For more information about internal goals and motivations, check out Michael Hauge’s Writing Screenplays That Sell.

Character creation is tricky, but with a little extra backstory digging and these tips, there’s no limit to the number of unique and resonant characters that we can create. Happy writing!

This post is the fourth in a series entitled “What Killed It For Me,” where Becca explores the reasons she stopped reading certain books and shares techniques to help writers avoid these pitfalls. The rest of the series can be found here.

Becca Puglisi is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others. This is one of her reasons for writing The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, and The Negative Trait Thesaurus. A member of SCBWI, she leads regional and online workshops and can be found at Writers Helping Writers.
Organizing a Writing Project by Guest Blogger Nona Smith, author of Stuffed, Emptying the Hoarder’s Nest, A True Tale.

Nona tells the story of writing Stuffed:

I didn’t start out with the idea of writing a book, but from the get-go, I was aware we were onto a unique experience. In late November of 2010, my husband, Art, became the executor of his friend Linda’s estate. Linda was a hoarder. Not your run-of-the-mill hoarder, but a collector of unique stuff as well as plain ol’ junk.

We felt it prudent to document what we found because in addition to being the executor, Art was the only on-site heir. So I took photographs of the plethora of original artwork by a famous botanical printmaker, the rare mechanical music machines and closets of musical scrolls, tools and computers and even of the life-size teddy bear reclining in the bathtub. I also photographed the stuff that had no value: old piles of crafting supplies, a jarful of unmarked keys, moldy, outdated textbooks. I saved emails from our friend Dan who helped us clean things out, and I took notes on research we conducted while trying to ascertain the value of one collection or another.

There was so much of everything I was afraid we might lose track of the details, so I bought an accordion folder and divided it into loosely organized categories. I was in Organization Mode. Writing about this hadn’t yet occurred to me.

Each time we entered Linda’s apartment and surveyed the chaos, my stomach clenched. Every horizontal surface was littered with things, every room was jam-packed. Stuffed animals were her particular passion and they were everywhere; literally hundreds of teddy bears, rabbits, monkeys, turtles and an occasional pig filled the place to overflowing. Three other apartments in this building plus a computer repair shop, a warehouse and two houses in southern California were similarly stuffed to the rafters.

The disorder was unsettling, disturbing, and invaded my dreams. I would have liked to simply walk away from the mess. But we needed to deal with it in a methodical manner until it was all disposed of and converted into cash. In the end, it was this disorder–––and the teddy bears–––that drove me to writing. Writing became my therapy and helped me process the experience.

In order not to get crushed by the telling of the story, I decided three things. First, I wanted to introduce my readers to Linda and her husband Al, also a hoarder, who had died years earlier. I wanted them to be known as people, not simply hoarders. In addition, I wanted my audience to understand the malady called hoarding as I myself learned about it. Second, I didn’t want this tale to be depressing, so I made it a point to look for humor where I could find it. The third decision was strictly an organizational one. I chose to isolate each collection or problem and write about it as we encountered it. That accordion folder helped me follow a single story line and not drift anywhere else.

The stuffed animals, with their sad, accusatory eyes, had the first story to tell. I stuck with them until they all happily found new homes. Then I introduced our friend Dan who played a major role in assisting us with our responsibilities to this estate. Dependable, loquacious Dan weaves in and out of the tale. Whenever he turns up, there’s food involved, and I was able to make that a kind of repetitive, happy theme. He also writes funny emails, so I saved those in the appropriate accordion file sections.

If Dan is our “hero,” Mike Em is his evil counterpart. Mike Em’s story-thread involves the mechanical musical instrument collection. He comes into the story early on and he was such an abrasive person from our first encounters with him that I knew intuitively I should keep his email correspondence. It served me well when writing about him later.

And finally, I never began writing about a problem or a collection until that issue had been settled. As each thing resolved itself, I contained it in a chapter. Sometimes, one chapter spilled into two, such as finding the hidden safe, which turned out to be safes. However, knowing the story line from start to finish was a strategy I believe helped me find the humor I hoped to maintain. Occasionally that humor came from a single adjective, such as Mike Em’s “turd-colored suspenders.” Sometimes I had to search further and exaggerate a bit. But not having to worry about the story’s conclusion freed me to look for the lightness.

In the beginning, the teddy bears’ happy endings encouraged me to write on. Toward the end of our adventure, I felt compelled to tell the tale to its finish in order to honor the time we’d spent and the people who’d helped us along the way.

Note from Marlene: I read Stuffed and enjoyed every bit of it. What could be a sad story is told in an upbeat, positive way, with a satisfying ending. Well-written and entertaining.

Nona Smith writes memoir and short stories with a humorous bent that show how life’s foibles connect us to each other. She lives on the Mendocino Coast with her husband Art and two spoiled cats, Missy and Buster.
Photo by Rosalie Winesuff
Guest Blogger Arlene Miller writes:

I am a member of some grammar groups on LinkedIn, where there are fascinating — and long – discussions of what some people would call grammatical minutiae. However, this week, I saw a discussion that I found a little surprising. The question posed was “Should we continue to teach who and whom to our students?” the real question is: Should we continue to teach the difference between them and when to use each?

On my blog, bigwords 101, I talked about the difference between linguistic and grammatical prescriptivism and descriptivism:

▪    Prescriptivists (the camp that I lean toward) think that the rules are there and they should be followed.

▪    Descriptivists believe that language evolves as new usages come into play.

Well, if we followed a purely prescriptivist viewpoint, we would still be using the language of centuries ago – thank you, Chaucer.

But what would happen if we followed a purely descriptivist viewpoint? How does language change, anyway?

Let’s look at an example: I have always used the idiomatic prepositional phrase by accident. The younger generation seems to be using on accident instead. Is it wrong? Which is right? Should we adopt what the younger generation is now using? Is there a reason that by should be used rather than on? Why did anyone start saying it that way in the first place? Is it because we say its opposite as on purpose?

People use who and whom incorrectly because they don’t know or understand the rule. Should we say, “Oh, let’s just forget trying. It’s just too difficult to teach or understand”? Should we dumb down the language? Or, should we avoid using whom?

Taking who and whom specifically, there is a reason that who is correct sometimes and whom is correct other times. And most people studying a foreign language will run across the same thing in that language.

The distinction between who and whom is the same as the distinction between I and me. Are we now going to say “Me and him went to the movies” is okay? If many people say it that way, will that become the standard?

Then, there is the issue of conversation versus formal writing. Let’s say you are writing a cover letter. Are you going to distinguish between who and whom? All the grammar books I know of make that distinction, at least as of now. I would recommend that anyone writing anything formal use the rules until they are “formally” changed.

The evolution of language is nothing new. And I won’t pretend to know much about it. I am not a linguist, although I wish I were, and I find the subject fascinating. I do know that there needs to be a mix of descriptivism and prescriptivism, as there always has been; otherwise, the language would never have changed throughout the centuries. But where do we draw the line?

But who and whom? That’s where I draw the line!

Here is the difference between who and whom:

There are three cases for pronouns in the English language: Nominative, Objective, and Possessive.

▪    The nominative case is used for subjects of sentences (and predicate nominatives, but we won’t go there today).

▪    The objective case is used for direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions, the three types of objects.

▪    The possessive case is used for ownership.

Let’s take the pronoun I: nominative is I; objective is me; possessive is my or mine.

▪    I am going to the movies.

▪    He took me to the movies.

▪    He is mine.

Now let’s take the pronoun who: nominative is who; objective is whom; possessive is whose.

▪    Who is going to the movies? (Who is the subject of the verb is going.)

▪    Whom did you invite to the movies? (Whom is the direct object of the verb invite.)

▪    To whom did you give the movie tickets? (Whom is the object of the preposition to.)

▪    Whose tickets are they, anyway?

One thing is for sure. I will be teaching my students the difference between who and whom!

Click here to read the original blog post “‘Whom’ Cares?” by Arlene Miller.

Arlene Miller, also known as The Grammar Diva, is the author of four grammar books and a novel. Her first grammar book, The Best Little Grammar Book Ever, is being used by many schools and colleges. Arlene’s grammar books clear up common grammar issues. In addition to writing books, Arlene writes a weekly blog post about grammar, punctuation, and anything else to do with words. She is also a copyeditor for both fiction and nonfiction books, teaches 7th grade English in Petaluma, teaches The Best Little Grammar Class Ever at College of Marin, and teaches corporate grammar and business writing workshops.

Arlene has been a presenter at the Sonoma County Book Festival, Bay Area Independent Publishing Association (BAIPA), Petaluma and Guerneville branches of the Sonoma County Library, Romance Writers of America, Society of Technical Communications, and Redwood Writers Academy. She is a member of Redwood Writers and BAIPA. She holds degrees in Print Media, English, Humanities, and California teaching and school administration credentials.
Guest Blogger Lois Lavrisa writes about the lack of self-confidence and doubt amongst writers.

My husband and I attended an event featuring the bestselling financial guru, Suze Orman. We chatted with friends as my husband’s coworker approached us. Beth, a perky lady with a huge smile, approached us.

Beth shook my hand. “I’m a huge fan.”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Me too. I love Suze. I can’t wait to see her.”

Beth’s face froze for a moment, as if registering what I said. Then she gently squeezed my hand. “I’m a fan of yours.”

For a few moments, I didn’t know what to say. I finally said a quick thank you to Beth. She was sweet and I was completely flattered. It’s just that I was just taken off guard because I don’t have great author confidence. Instead I have loads of self doubt, maybe it could be called author angst, which makes me work triple time to make sure what I write is as good as it can be. However, self-doubt doesn’t lend itself to being prepared for a compliment — ever.

Perhaps my doubt began many years ago. The first time my name was in print (eighth grade in a four page mimeographed newsletter) I felt both thrilled and vulnerable. The public (okay maybe thirty of my peers and their families) read what I wrote. That was somewhat cool. Yet I also felt vulnerable.

If I stayed hidden in the shadows with my stories still tucked away in my imagination, I wouldn’t be susceptible to ridicule. Yet I had this desire and overwhelming need to tell my stories. I wanted to connect to people outside of my head. I received lukewarm reception to my first byline. Since no one out right ridiculed my story, and some even liked it, I was encouraged. Coming from a home where no praise was given (recently my mother admitted she did this on purpose so that my four siblings and I wouldn’t get big egos) the lukewarm reaction from my peers was better than nothing. I soaked it up like a sponge. I felt pulled. I didn’t know how to accept praise but at the same time when it happened it felt so good.

And I needed to write.

I wanted to connect with others. This meant my words needed to be out there for all to see. This also meant that my stories could be rejected, accepted or ignored.

In a very tough Southside of Chicago suburban public high school, I was tormented and bullied unmercifully. Being a shy, passive, nerdy honor student in a sea of black rock concert t-shirts and pot smoking— I stuck out as an easy target.

When the high school newspaper announced a poetry contest, I decided to enter. However, for fear of further tormenting, I signed my poem as Heather. My first (and so far only) pseudonym. My poem appeared in the school newspaper. Overhearing some students talking about Heather’s poem made me (secretly of course) jump for happiness. Yet I couldn’t tell anyone that was my poem for fear that if I did, my name would leak to the bullies and could possibly multiply the attacks on me. So, I stayed silent. Yet, I knew I had something to say that connected with people. I wanted to do more of it.

Following graduation, I attended a college a few hours away from my hometown. I loved the anonymity. No bullies. No history of who I was. Freedom to reinvent myself.

During the first semester I realized that I was not cut out for pre dentistry (I do brush and floss twice a day, I haven’t given up on teeth entirely.) I signed up for journalism classes and began to write for the school newspaper. This time I used my own name. And guess what? I didn’t get ridiculed nor beat up. Instead, friends came up to me and commented on my front page story, or on one of my featured articles.

Flash ahead to the Suze Orman event I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, when Beth said she was a fan of mine. My lack of confidence left me flabbergasted when she complimented me. Yes, I work tirelessly on my craft, trying my best to make sure it is as perfect as it could be. So why do I still have those nagging doubts about my writing? When I see a new review posted I hold my breath. Will they say terrible or terrific? Here’s the truth, I believe the terrible reviews more than the terrific ones (thankfully there are way more good reviews than negative, but still those nasty comments -ugh!) I’m hopeless right?

I’m thrilled and honored that readers post great reviews and seem to connect with my stories. Yet, part of me feels unworthy of the accolades. I have such angst you’d think I was a teen, not someone in midlife.

If there were a special workshop to boost author confidence, I’d sign up today. Have any of you experienced author doubt? If you have, how do you handle it? And if anyone wants to share some ideas for boosting author confidence- please do!

Lois Lavrisa writes Mystery with a Twist. Her first mystery, Amazon Top 100 Bestselling and Amazon Hot New Release, LIQUID LIES, is set in an affluent lake town in Wisconsin, and asks the question “Would you tell the truth, even if it meant losing everything?”

Originally posted May 22, 2013, The Writer’s Guide to E-Publishing Update. This post is slightly edited and paraphrased from the original post. Re-posted with permission.
Guest Blogger Ellen Sussman writes about “An Argument for Daily Writing.”

You want to be a writer. But…

You’ve got a demanding job. A demanding spouse. Demanding kids.

You wrote a novel that didn’t sell. You wrote two novels that didn’t sell. Three? Four?

You don’t have a snazzy office. You don’t have the latest computer. You write at a café and the moms bring all their screaming babies to that café.

You don’t think you’re good enough. Your high school English teacher told you you’re a lousy writer. Your mother told you that your brother was smarter than you are.

You have a hangover. You have carpal tunnel. You’re hungry and there’s no food in the house.

Excuses are easy. Writing is hard. I’ve got one way of silencing all those voices. I go to work every day. Writing is my job. So I show up. Screw the hangover. Screw the high school English teacher. Screw the screaming babies.

If I had to make a decision whether or not to write each day, I’d be a basket case. There are too many good reasons not to write. But my decision has already been made. I’m a writer and so I write. Daily. Regardless of whatever crazy thing is trying to distract me.

I think it’s better to write for a half-hour every day than it is to find a time, when the muse strikes, to sit your butt in that chair at your desk. Because daily writing teaches you the practice of writing. And the more you practice the better you get.

Ellen Sussman is the New York Times bestselling author of four novels, A Wedding in Provence, The Paradise Guest House, French Lessons, and On a Night Like This. She is the editor of two critically acclaimed anthologies, Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave and Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex. She teaches through Stanford Continuing Studies and in private classes.
The Importance of Daily Writing, by Guest Blogger Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

Writing is an exercise that requires practice and training to build the muscle required to become a “finisher.” When I set out to write a novel after a fifteen-year break, I struggled to trap my imagination on paper. I wrote a few days a week, and it was mentally agonizing, similar to how I feel when I begin a new exercise routine for my body. However, I was happy to be writing again, and so I kept at it, but my writing routine was sporadic. I finished a middle-grade book, THE PET WASHER, in about a year, and it’s only 33,000 words.

In January of 2012, I made a decision to write something—anything—every day. I announced this on my blog, and like any new routine, it was difficult to keep up at first. I didn’t have a book contract at the time, and not all of my friends and family initially accepted that I now had “work” hours. But I stuck to it and carved out several hours a day, often awaking at 5 or 6am, to write blog posts, articles, and journal entries.

After a few months, I noticed how much easier it was to write. I became adept at quickly organizing my thoughts. Soon I was averaging 2000 words a day in three-hour time periods. I also noticed that the more I wrote, the more ideas I had for new material. And eventually, everyone in my life accepted that they saw a little bit less of me.

So later—when the big idea came—I was ready! It happened while I was driving home from Petaluma on highway 101. I visualized a herd of winged horses flying above my car. They were migrating and a heavily pregnant mare was struggling to keep up. I knew immediately that her foal was special and that I had to write about him. When I arrived home, I began the first draft of STARFIRE.

Because I had been writing daily, I had the brain muscle to fuel a quick first draft. I wrote 53,000 words in just 20 days. I finished, revised the book, and sent it to an agent who had previously, but kindly, rejected me. She loved STARFIRE and signed me on as a client. Soon after that, we accepted a four-book contract from Rosemary Brosnan and Karen Chaplin at HarperCollins Children’s Books.

I attribute my success to the fact that I showed up each day and wrote. It created the endurance I needed to quickly act on my idea, it carved out the time required to write the next three books in the series, and it enabled me to meet my tight publishing deadlines.

It can be difficult at first to carve out this time, and not everyone in a writer’s life will always understand it, but I encourage all writers who aren’t doing it to try. Don’t judge your progress. Just write!

I showed up every day at my computer without the foreknowledge that it would ever lead to anything. I treated my hobby as a job even though I had no reason to believe I’d ever be paid for it. I wrote without judgment because my goal was to practice, not to publish. But when the big idea came, I was strong enough to execute it. I went from aspiring author, to debut author with a big five publisher in exactly one year.

The first book in my new series will be released in hardback around the world on September 23, 2014. Of course, results will vary with every writer, but the point is that daily training will prepare you, whether your published or not, for the next big idea.

Jennifer Lynn Alvarez is a fantasy fiction author and speaker who writes middle-grade fiction. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a B.A. degree in English Literature. Jennifer’s upcoming books include The Guardian Herd middle-grade series. Book one, Starfire, releases on 09/23/14 through HarperCollins Children’s Books. Jennifer’s self-published books include The Pet Washer. This series is for ages 7 and up. Jennifer lives on a small ranch in Northern California with her husband and three children.
Guest Blogger Karin Gillespie writes:

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

Long ago, when I first read the statement above, I imagined an encounter with a big-bellied, toga-wearing monk who would whisper the secrets of the universe into my ear.

Over the years I’ve learned you don’t necessarily need a monk to show you the way. If you’re open to it, wisdom comes in many guises, such as advice from a friend, a passage in a book, an overheard conversation or even a sudden insight.

What follows are the valuable writing gifts I have received over the years. Depending on where you are in this journey, they may or may not resonate with you, but each one was precious to me and changed my way of thinking about my craft.

Morning Pages

Since I was a little girl I always dreamed of being a writer but it wasn’t until I started doing daily morning pages that I gained the courage to face the blank page. And what are morning pages?

Simply, first thing when you wake up in the morning, you write longhand in a notebook for twenty minutes without stopping. It’s best if you practice morning pages for two or three months and you shouldn’t read what you’ve written until much later. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron popularized morning pages but they’ve been around for decades.

Morning pages train your subconscious to write. It coaxes out the muse, and, trust me, the practice is utterly magical. Morning pages work best with new writers or writers who have abandoned the craft for a while.

Save the Cat!

Storytelling is a skill separate from writing beautiful sentences and Blake Snyder, author of “Save the Cat Strikes Back!” explains plotting in the most eloquent and accessible way possible.

After reading his book, I knew I would never again plot myself into a corner or abandon a project because of structural problems. Although his work is written in a breezy style, there’s something very elemental and old-world about Snyder’s approach.

He died a few years ago, and even though he was a successful screenwriter, I think his insightful how-to books were his true legacy. I recommend all of his books but if you were only to buy one, I’d get “Save the Cat Strikes Back.” In addition to giving structural advice, he shares the very personal story of how he changed his writing life around. An inspiring man who will be missed.

Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Techinque is simple: Basically you write for twenty-five minutes, no interruptions, and then take a five minute break.

Repeat as many times as necessary. This method has increased my focus ten-fold. I no longer worry about being distracted by the Internet or e-mail, because during each twenty-five minute period, you trick the brain to attend only to the writing.

Rachel Aaron’s Amazing Productivity Method

Recently I decided I wanted to write first drafts faster, and I ran across Rachel Aaron’s advice on that very topic. Using her method, I easily upped my daily word count from 2,000 words a day to 3,000. (Accomplished in a four-hour time period with brief breaks) The secret?

Aaron suggests writing a brief summary of what you’re going to write each day before plunging in. Her advice should be worth a $1,000 it helped me so much. But I only spent $.99 on her book .

Trusting Your Subconscious Mind

Once during one of the best performances of his life, Laurence Olivier came off the stage and was approached by a reporter who was bowled over by his mastery. Olivier acknowledged he’d done well, but he also said, “I don’t know if I can ever repeat it, because it did not come from me.”

The more I write, the more I understand that the best writing is achieved when I leave my ego outside the writing room, and surrender to my subconscious mind.

If I show up every day, the muse will arrive, and if I’m humble and understand that I’m only a conduit or co-creator at best, then good writing will almost always result. When I’m co-creating, the supply of ideas are endless, and I never get stale. Maybe this gift was the most important one of all.

Karin Gillespie is the author of five novels; her nonfiction work has appeared in the NY Times, Washington Post and The Writer magazine. Click here to visit Karen’s blog about writing and creativity insights.
I recently read a blog post by Maria Murnane at She Writes and asked Maria if I could share it with you. She graciously said yes.

Maria writes:

I’m currently working on my seventh novel, and one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned about the writing process is when to hit pause on a particular scene/sentence/description and move on. If you’re a perfectionist or Type-A personality, that can be hard to do, but it’s extremely important. Trust me.

I use all caps to keep me focused on progressing the story.

When I was writing my first novel, if I wasn’t sure where to take the story next, I would spend countless hours tweaking, editing, refining, and tinkering the words I already had written. Where did that get me? Nowhere! The problem with spending too much time on a particular area of the book is that you aren’t moving the story forward, and if you don’t move the story forward, you will never finish the book. I’m convinced this is why it takes some people 10 years to complete the first draft of a novel. They work so hard making every sentence perfect that it takes forever to get to the finish line.

A good trick I’ve learned is to use the ALL CAPS function. My current manuscript is filled with notes in ALL CAPS such as:
- WRITE SOMETHING FUNNY HERE
- FLESH OUT THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS RESTAURANT
- ADD IN SOMETHING HERE ABOUT WHY THEY GOT DIVORCED
- FIX THIS- SOUNDS WEIRD
- MAKE THIS DESCRIPTION BETTER
- DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?
It would be easy to spend days, if not weeks working on the above issues, but at the end of the day, they are details that aren’t critical to the story. If I want to finish the novel, my focus has to be on progressing the story.

Once you finish the first draft, then it’s time to go back and fix all the problem areas you’ve put in ALL CAPS along the way. That’s where the fun begins, because you know you’re in the home stretch!

Books by Maria Murnane

Note from Marlene: I was so inspired by Maria’s wisdom and fun attitude that I signed up to receive her blog posts in my email inbox. Click here to read some of Maria’s inspiring posts. You can also sign up to receive The Write Spot Blog posts in your email inbox (scroll down, look on the right side for the sign-up box).

Maria Murnane is the best-selling author of the romantic comedies Perfect on Paper, It’s a Waverly Life, Honey on Your Mind, Chocolate for Two, and Cassidy Lane. She also provides consulting services on book publishing and marketing. Click here to learn more about Maria and her consulting services.

Katwalk, Maria’s latest book, will be released August 12th.

To order a copy of any of Maria’s books, please click here.

This blog post originally appeared on CreateSpace.com. Reprinted with permission. © 2014 CreateSpace, a DBA of On-Demand Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.

Guest Blogger Angela Ackerman gets physical

Katwalk, Maria’s latest book, will be released August 12th.

To order a copy of any of Maria’s books, please click here.