Staring at my computer this morning and wondering what in the world I’m going to write about. Like many of you, life gets crazy sometimes, and I lose focus. I have to remind myself why I’m here and just what I’m trying to do.
I want to build my platform, but I also hope that the information I share helps others. I don’t want aspiring authors making the same mistakes that I did. Mistakes are a learning experience, but nobody needs to learn that much 🙂 and some of those mistakes were totally avoidable. I just didn’t know what I didn’t know.
I’ve said before, writing a novel isn’t as easy as it looks. Anybody can put pen to paper and write a novel, but that doesn’t mean it will be good or publishable. Publishable being the key word.
Writing a blog also helps to hone your writing skills. I can’t believe the difference between my first blog and this one.
I’m still learning to navigate the world of blogging and the tools available to assist me with growing my blog, but the information is out there, and I’ve met some great bloggers along the way, who are more than willing to help.
So why do you blog?
-Jan R
People who love to read but have never written books are cognizant of the pacing. Pacing sets the tempo of your story. Is it a fast read, or did it seem to drag on for days? Hopefully you’ve found a balance between the two, and they perform like a fine tuned orchestra.
Spoiler alert! If you were one of the eight people that read this blog two weeks ago, you are experiencing deja vu. I thought it was a good blog, but one thing I’ve learned over the last two years, is the title can make you or break you.
When you write a novel, you need to get the facts and details right. Who has ever heard of Bombay, NC or Mount Sanai, Oklahoma? They don’t exist, or if they do, I’ve never heard of them.
I was lying in bed last night thinking about what I would write about today. I’ve been writing this blog for two years, and I have to admit, there are times when I’m at a loss. I want to share useful information, but I don’t want to sound like a broken record, and I don’t want to duplicate what someone else is writing.
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard this phrase. You probably saw the title and questioned reading it. Everybody knows you are suppose to show and not tell. You want the reader to experience the scene as if they are one of the characters walking through the story beside the hero/heroine.
If you’ve been around the writing world long enough, you know there are no new ideas. Kidnaps, robberies, invisible men, aliens, robots, espionage, vampires, zombies, invasions, war, love…they’ve all been conquered again and again and again.
We’ve talked about weak and strong verbs, but did you know the same holds true for nouns? I never really thought about it, until I took an online class that talked about strong and weak nouns. My first thought on weak nouns; the instructor has to be referring to pronouns. Well he wasn’t and that is a subject for another day.
When you write, you want to use the active voice. It’s clean, concise, and simple. The active voice is easy to read and understand.
When you are writing a novel, you want to use concrete, everyday verbs. Examples of these are jump, smile, run, look, show, and eat. You can picture the actions in your head and there is no ambiguity.
Writing your first novel-Things you should know 