NaNoWriMo Update

Last night I had the privilege of reading an email sent from a Canadian soldier serving in Afghanistan. In it he mentions that the thoughts, prayers, and support sent from home are what keep him focused and help him to do the best job possible. His timely message from overseas served to remind me, safe at home, of the importance of remembering the brave soldiers we’ve lost and the need to support our men and women currently serving on foreign soil and here at home.

www.facebook.com/CanadaRemembers

I thought I would leave you today with an update on how my NaNoWriMo experience is going so far. Things have been going relatively well except for Tuesday, which produced a word count of zero due to life interfering. Okay, I’ll be honest and admit I was also plagued by an attack of laziness that I could not shake. But even with an unproductive Tuesday, my word count as of last night was 17,541 words, which works out to thirty-five percent complete. Yippee!

I knew it would be a challenge to resist editing as I went but I didn’t realize how tough if would prove to be. But I’m preserving and trying to ignore all red and green squiggly lines - most of time. I’ve reduced my obsessive word count checking down to a manageable 100 times a day. Given up the idea of chapters and am concentrating on scenes or bits of scenes. Lots and lots of dialogue is ending up on the page. Some of it good, most of it very, very bad. But all of it is saved in a file on my computer.

Working title: Unreasonable Expectations/Ties That Bind/Killer Style (Still working on a title)

Welcome to Aspen Lake, the place it all begins for Kate Logan and Seth Stone.

Kate Logan gave modeling her life but when the industry chews her up and spits her out she sets out to prove she's more than a beautiful face. She moves back to her hometown with the intent of opening her own boutique. She decides to save on costs and live above her shop. Now she’s got inventory, retail space and roof over her head but no money in the bank. Suddenly unexplainable things start to go wrong at Kate's Closet. Before she loses her designer label shirt she needs to figure out who's intent on ruining her life - or ending it. Cue Seth Stone in his best grunge attire and with his superior carpentry skills. Add his slightly psychotic and evil stepsister, throw in her cheating, publicity hound of an ex-husband and Aspen Lake just isn’t big enough for all of them.

What are you working on?

Are You In Your Write Mind?

I’ve been scouting out writing exercises on sagging middles to include in our group newsletter, and happened to find a couple in a copy of an “O” magazine I picked up without even knowing they were in there–something about serendipity, and the universe providing... Anyway, they’re from an article by Martha Beck in the November 2009 issue, and there are a few other ‘find yourself/be yourself’ articles that are interesting reading, too, if you have a chance to look at a copy (including some advice from Anne Lamott, Janet). Martha Beck has written six books, including Steering by Starlight, and her article touches on how to ‘tap into our creative right brains”. She discusses the science behind it, which is worth reading in itself, but I’ll leave you to discover that for yourself.

She started by talking about her Kitchen Sink strategy when she hits a blank wall in writing: read bits (a few paragraphs) of multiple unrelated books/articles (a mix of fiction and non, as well as genres), relax (wash the dishes, go for a run, play music, etc.), and think of the problem before and periodically during this process, then drop it. Chances are you’ll have a lightbulb moment at some point along the way, and even if the first light fizzles out, there’s more where that came from. Once you encourage the right brain to come up with solutions it will do so “more and more abundantly”, as she says. She also says that every “content creator” she’s met (writers, cartoonists, TV producers, etc.) uses some version of this.

I am going to digress slightly here as I’m reminded of an exercise Judith Bowen described in a workshop several years ago, one that I’ve seen labelled as brainstorming, only Judith put a bit of structure on it that will “encourage” that abundance that Martha mentioned. If you realize you have a sagging middle, or have hit the wall, list out 10 options for what can happen next. It’s likely that the first few will come quickly, and be obvious, but make yourself put down ten, even if the last few look ridiculous. Judith told us that often, even if the last couple are not workable as is, they contain the kernel of something that will be, and it won’t be obvious or trite.

Okay, back to Martha Beck. She notes that the kitchen sink method works on other problems you may be wrestling with, not just writing, but regardless of the issue you want to resolve, she noted three exercises to do regularly to prime that right mind of yours so that it’s ready to go when you throw the kitchen sink at it.

1. Sign your name every which way. This came from her favourite teacher and artist, Will Reiman, and is a simple enough exercise, but definitely a work out. Sign your name. Okay now, do it again but this time do it in mirror writing, right to left. Now sign upside down. Then backward and upside down. Repeat until you can sign in all directions and, as Ms Beck said, “Good luck”.

2. Have a bilateral conversation with yourself. With a pencil in your right hand (even if you’re left-handed) write the question: “How’s it going?” Now switch to your left hand and write whatever pops up. The nondominant hand’s writing will be shaky, but that’s okay. The point is not to be neat, but to notice that your twin hemispheres have different personalities. The right side of the brain controls the left hand, and will say things you don’t know you know. The right brain specializes in assessing physical and mental feelings, and often offers solutions (that’s some of that science I was going to avoid–and key to the kitchen sink approach).

3. Learn new moves. This gets the right hemisphere of your brain to “move” in an unfamiliar way, be it a complicated dance step or a new yoga posture. She suggested the following: Walk a few steps, noticing how your arms swing opposite your legs. Now walk with your right arm and right foot going forward simultaneously, then the left hand and left foot. If that’s not difficult, do it backward, or with your eyes closed–the point is to master a variation that’s initially difficult but ultimately difficult.

So now you have a few exercises to help you get into your write mind. Anyone have any other particular favourites to share?

Secondary Characters - Part One

One of my favourite TV shows is “The Gilmore Girls”. I love the fast and witty dialogue (even though my husband says they talk too much). And I especially love all the quirky citizens of Stars Hollow, Lorelai’s controlling mother and father, and Rory’s passive/aggressive friend Paris. These characters, while funny, memorable and sometimes truly unusual, never overshadow the main character’s stories. They support the main story line, and give the show humour and depth.

A secondary character in a romance novel should do the same. She’s the best friend or the sister who listens to the heroine’s problems. Or maybe she’s the friend from high school who’s always made the heroine jealous. Whoever she or he is, this person has several jobs to accomplish.

Types of Secondary Characters.

Background Characters. These are the characters who play a small role in your story. These might be waitresses in restaurants, clerks in stores, librarians, neighbours. I once read a book (whose author shall remain nameless) in which we got into the head of a waiter for a short time. Apparently he thought the heroine was quite lovely. But who cares? The waiter never appeared again and was totally unimportant to the story. Children’s author Ellen Jackson says that you might want to give some of these background characters a few quirks or characteristics if it serves the story. But do it cautiously. Ms. Jackson says “It can be a mistake to devote too many words or lines to a background character. While you can lavish a few telling details on some of these folks, you mustn’t let them overshadow the main action. The general rule is to give background characters space in direct proportion to their importance in your story.”

According to a Barnes and Noble Romance Book Club article I read, there are three kind of important secondary characters:

The Good. These are genuinely good people the main characters associate with.
These characters are important to the story and to the main characters. They are the best friends, parents, children, brothers and sisters. They may even have subplots and romances of their own. But all of their subplots have to support the main story and eventually weave into the main plot without eclipsing it. For example, in my novel “Till September”, Ben and Kelly, Hannah’s brother-in-law and sister-in-law, are facing grave financial problems. Their subplot ties into the main plot when the hero Quinn, a real estate developer, offers to buy their farm. Hannah is devastated at the prospect of losing her closest friends, and blames Quinn and his company for taking them away.

The Bad. These secondary characters are the villains of your story, and make life difficult for the lead characters. They could be criminals, but they could also be meddling mothers, or well-meaning friends who cause trouble for the main characters. These villains shouldn’t be bad for the sake of being bad. They will be much more convincing if they truly believe what they are doing is the best course of action. In my current WIP “Welcome to Paradise” Tina humiliates Bridget on her first night in Paradise. But eventually we come to see that Tina has her own reasons for her actions that make sense to her.

The Ugly. By ugly, I mean ugly of spirit. This is the conniving “other woman” or the jealous ex-boyfriend. They can truly make trouble for the lead characters. But be careful of such characters. If they are truly ugly characters, readers might lose respect for our lead characters for associating with them in the first place.

Literary agent Donald Maass says that “Building a memorable secondary character begins with making that character memorable for your protagonist.” In other words, who is important to your lead character? It could be a parent, a child, a teacher. Explore the relationship between your lead character and the secondary character. What makes it unique? What makes the secondary character unique? As Maass says “Next, explore the effect that this paragon has on your protagonist, then find a meaningful moment for that effect to be expressed.”

Next week I’ll explore some of the jobs secondary characters need to accomplish in your stories. Do you like creating secondary characters? Do you think they are necessary to romance novels? What books, TV shows or movies do you think have interesting or memorable secondary characters?

Saturday's Winner Is ...

The winner of Saturday guest blogger, Ingela Hyatt's ebook giveaway is:

Jana!

Congratulations on winning an ebook copy of her recent release, A Knight of Passion.

For information on Ingela Hyatt, please visit her website at www.ingelahyatt.com.

Ingela Hyatt And Embracing Marketing

Dr. StrangeAuthor: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace Marketing...

In the old days (ten to twenty years ago), when an author got published, it was his/her sole duty to plant their butt in their comfortable leather chair, and pound away on the typewriter, producing book after book while the royalty checks came flying through the mail...

Unfortunately, in this day and age of multi-tasking, high-speed Internet, and fast food, once a writer is published, she must don many hats in order to further her career.

Yet despite the numerous articles and discussions on the Internet, and the many romance writer groups, I'm continuously surprised by the number of authors who don't seem to understand how to market themselves and their books. And this isn't limited to epub authors, but NY publishers also expect their authors to do their fair share of marketing as well. In fact, the worse the economy, the more the NY pubs tighten their belts (despite romance selling well), which means authors have to pick up the slack.

So how do you market yourself? There is only one thing an author needs to concern herself with: Author Branding.

What is Author Branding?

Think of Stephen King, Nora Roberts, and J.K. Rowlings. Upon reading these three names you instantly know who they are, what they write, and something of their personalities.

That's Author Branding.

Think of Author Branding as a giant umbrella which contains all your marketing efforts to promote you and your books. So how do you go about creating your Author Brand?

Your Author Website:

Once a reader has finished your book and enjoyed it, he/she is going to want to know more about you and your books. That's where a website comes in. You would think in this high tech Era that we live it would be a given, but there are many authors out there (both epubbed & NY pubbed) who still do not have one. As I reader, I find it extremely frustrating when an author doesn't have a website—that doesn't make for good business.

When I received my contract from Samhain Publishing, the very next day I bought my domain name and purchased website hosting, though it was a month before I actually launched my site.

Worried about the cost? Simply google “domain names” or “website hosting” and you'll finds lots of reputable companies (like GoDaddy.com) who offer their services at very reasonable prices.

A website is the hub of your Author Branding. It is the doorway to you and your books and the single most important marketing tool in your arsenal. But there are a couple of things you must remember to make your website a success.

Your website Must look professional: You have signed a contract with a publisher and are being paid for your book. That means you are a professional, and your website should reflect that. Having your second cousin on your mother's side who has a computer and will build you a website cheap, isn't always a good idea. Unless you've seen their work and are extremely impressed, don't give in to family pressure. Your career is on the line. Your website should not only look good and be informative, but should reflect you and your writing.

Again, worried about cost? Google “website design” and you will find a host of graphic artists out there, including many who create websites for romance authors without breaking the bank.

Updating your website regularly: To keep readers coming back to your website (so they can check out your latest release, etc.) it's important to have fresh content posted on regular basis. This can take many forms depending on the amount of spare time you have and what your interests are. Write articles; post free reads (very popular with readers and sells books!); post additional excerpts from your books (but not so many that the reader doesn't need to buy the book); host contests, etc. You don't need to update your website constantly if you don't have the time, but once a month is good enough to keep readers coming back often.

Here is a list of some authors who have done their websites right (either designed the website themselves or hired someone to do it for them):

Ingela F. Hyatt ( www.ingelahyatt.com )
Jeannie Ruesch ( www.jeannieruesch.com )
Kimberly Killion ( www.kimberlykillion.com )
Kris Kennedy ( www.kriskennedy.net )
Margaret Mallory ( www.margaretmallory.com )
Margaret Tanner ( www.margarettanner.com )

Your Author Persona:

The personality you display to the public is part of your Author Branding. I'm always a little disappointed when I read an author's bio at the back of the book and it says the same old thing: Jane Doe lives with her husband, two kids, three cats and a monkey in Lower Sloblovia. Okay, so maybe if there was a monkey in there somewhere it would be interesting.

Are we not writers? Do we not have fabulous imaginations which prompt us to write story after story? Why not use a little creativity when describing yourself and what you do? We are paid to lie after all (or hope to be paid soon), so why not let go and make yourself exciting, funny, or mysterious?

Lets look at History for an example: Every time the newspapers of the era asked Mata Hari about her past, she provided a different place of birth and nationality. In reality, none of it was true, but it created a mysteriousness about her that no one could ignore. Her fame grew because no one could pin her down.

When writing your Bio, consider using this technique. Be mysterious, or exciting. When I was first published three years ago, my bio read the same old boring way. Until I read about Mata Hari, and got a brilliant idea (if I do say so myself) to write a completely off-the-wall bio. If you visit my website, you'll notice my bio has nothing to do with where I'm from, how many books I write a year, or who my family or pets are. It's pure entertainment. In fact, if you check out my profiles for Bebo, Myspace, and Twitter, you'll find that I'm currently living in several different countries at once. This creates mystery and nobody really knows where I'm from or who I am.

Unlike celebrities who are in the public eye on a constant basis, writers enjoy a certain anonymity, which allows us to create whatever kind of persona we want, just remember to keep it believable.

Your Author Photo:

Some of you may be surprised that I included this as an essential for your Author Branding, but believe you me, I've seen plenty of bad photos out there, so many that I just had to mention it.

In this day and age, image is everything. And despite the old adage, people do judge a book by its cover. So if you have a good website, and a mysterious persona, do you really think it's a good idea to have a bad Author Photo?

Case in point: A few months back, I was visiting an author website and, as always, I was reading her bio when I stumbled upon her author photo. It was one of the worst I'd ever seen. Not only was the picture blurry, but she wasn't wearing any make-up, her hair was a mess, and she was sprawled on the couch (either having just woken up or was about to pass out drunk-lol). It did not make for a good impression. Then a few months later, I returned to her website to find she'd had a professional photo taken of herself. What a difference! She was wearing make-up, her hair was done, and the photo was crystal clear—giving the impression that she was a successful published author.

If you still don't think a good author photo is important, think of Danielle Steel. Take a look at any of her mass market or hard cover novels and you will see a photo of her (always different BTW) which portrays a smart, wealthy, and sophisticated woman. All of which is part and parcel to Danielle Steel's Author Branding.

If you can't afford a professional photographer at the moment, then at the very least, get a Sears Portrait. Make a day of it by getting your make-up and hair done before the photo shoot.

Just remember, in everything that you do, you should always present a professional front. Be it your writing, conducting interviews, or marketing. This also includes electronic banners advertising your books (I had to mention this because I've seen way too many bad banners out there, which can actually hinder your Author Branding, not help it). If you don't have the “graphic artist” gene, then hire someone who does. There are plenty of websites who will produce a professional banner ad for a very reasonable price, such as:

Historical Romance Club (www.historicalromanceclub.com )
The Mystic Castle ( www.themysticcastle.com )
The Romance Studio ( www.theromancestudio.com )

So now you know a bit more about Author Branding and how it can help you. But keep in mind that writing is the singular most important point to an author's career, and everything else, including Author Branding and Marketing, is secondary.


Ingela will be giving away a copy of A Knight of Passion in ebook form to one of today's lucky commenters!



You can find out more about Ingela Hyatt and her latest release, A Knight of Passion, at her website at http://www.ingelahyatt.com.

Writing Exercise - Revelations

Just skimming over the previous posts and the comments - I'll address those tomorrow. Here's my exercise:

I don’t often talk about the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in my life, for the simple fact that to talk about it is to admit that my husband cheated on me. Oh, he was contrite. Apologized profusely, promised me it was the only time he had been unfaithful, swore that he would never, ever fall to temptation again. And I almost believed him.

When you marry the love of your life it’s hard to think of life without him. We had been high school sweethearts and back then I was overjoyed to be seen on the arm of the cutest guy in school. Marriage and a happily ever after was a given – my friends were not surprised when he proposed. My mom was ecstatic. And I must admit, the reaction of my friends and family played a role in my decision. Crazy, eh? Here’s a man who has reneged on our wedding vows, most obvious the vows about fidelity, and I’m worried about what others think of my decision to leave him. So indictitive of my life, I’m a people pleaser.

Which is why my decision was so hard. I weighed the pros and cons in typical me fashion. I’m a scientist and my husband, ex-husband, always complained about my analytical personality. When I was younger, blinded by love, I thought his bitching was playful teasing. Later, when I realized he was truly unhappy with my structured ways, I tried to change. Looking back I see that I was trying to please him and the signs of our marital breakdown were as plain as the nose of my face.

I can hear you all out there, judging me – "Why would she even think about staying with a man who cheated on her?" It’s easy when you’re sitting in your living room, miles away from the situation. I wanted to believe the man I have loved for years. I wanted to believe that we could move past this indiscretion, a blip in our relationship and when all was said and done we would be stronger. But in the end, I knew I could never forgive such a violation on a sacred vow. Admitting that my husband cheated on me is hard, deciding to move out and begin life as a single woman again has been even harder. No matter how I am convinced I’ve done the right thing and my life will eventually be better, I still question my role in his infidelity and whether or not I’ve made the right decision.

I used my almost finished romantic comedy for this exercise. My heroine is Jane Greene and the story begins with her decision to take back her life after a year of living as a single woman – and mourning the loss of her marriage and identity. Revenge simmers below the surface of Jane’s rebirth. I knew of her backstory, the demise of her marriage, but I had never really thought about her making the decision to end the marriage. As she says, it’s so easy to say how could she not end her marriage when her husband cheated on her, much harder when she’s living the situation.

When I started writing about her difficult decision I knew I would have to weave those elements of Jane into the story. Her people pleasing personality, her analytical side, her almost unconscious change in how she lived her life. Those things will need to be played up as Jane takes steps toward rebuilding her life and becoming a strong, independent woman with much to offer. Then when another man becomes much more than just a friend, she will be tested again. Will she regress, morph into a person she believes he would love or will she be strong enough to be the person she loves?

Did I learn anything? Yep – gave me a glimpse into the character arc that will propel the story forward. And the internal conflict that Jane will need to resolve in order to discover love is possible again. It also gave me some great insight into the external conflict that will come between Jane and the hero (Ryan).

Every time I do one of these exercises I start out by creating a scene. A little story, a chance to flex my creative muscle. I end with some ‘aha’ moments and another idea to make my story stronger, more believable. I have done a similar exercise (although didn’t think of it like that at that time) when I was struggling with the murder backstory in Lady Bells. I had to actually write the murder scene in order to get all the characters who were involved in the right place and the timing perfect since the three people believe three different truths of that night. Only then could I sprinkle in the hints that leads Lady Bells to discover the truth. Only then could I, myself, really believe the events as they unfolded and understand the motives of everyone involved, including the murderer.

I love writing exercises. I think next time I get writer’s block (or struggle with laziness – still thinking about that ‘aha’ moment from the conference), I think I’ll look at writing short scenes based on a writing exercise. It will either be a scene I’ve been thinking about writing or a question on a character or event I’m stuck on. In fact – I think I’ll start right now. I need to drop in some other conflict at the beginning of Lady Bells (thanks to Lisa Rector-Maas’ workshop ~ don’t leave the big conflict/tension for the middle of the book, hook the reader early). I know what I want to hint at, just can’t figure out how. That’s my exercise – write the hint in this scene, then write the hint in that scene. I’m sure I’ll find that ‘aha’ moment and I’ll be able to move forward.

So, People of Blogland, did you enjoy our writing exercise week here on The Prairies? Did you play along? Have you used writing exercises to help you in your writing blocks? Have you ever made a difficult decision that others believed was a mistake?

Janet

Ingela Hyatt Guest Blogs This Saturday on The Prairies

This Saturday Ingela Hyatt will be guest bloggin here at Prairie Chicks Write Romance.

I’m a story teller and have been since the moment I could talk, according to my Dad. Whenever he caught me in a lie, I had no problem coming up with a dozen reasons why I painted the cat purple with green polk-a-dots, none of them true of course, but at least they were highly entertaining. It was at that time he knew I was destined for greatness... I would become a writer, a story teller who actually gets PAID to lie. What more could you possibly want in a career?

Writing has always been my passion, and it began in grade five when I was forced to either memorize a poem each day and recite it for the class, or write a poem and read it to the class. After reciting my first poem (The Cremation of Sam McGee) and hating it, I quickly discovered I had a talent for writing poetry and wrote about every topic under the sun, from fluffy white clouds to my big toe... *shudder* But it wasn’t long before I moved on to short stories, though I still had a habit of writing sappy love poetry which I wouldn’t touch now with a ten foot pole.


I was fourteen when I read my first romance novel, and suddenly a whole new world opened up before my eyes.But it wasn’t until the tragic death of my best friend, Carl, that I took a serious hand to writing, and completed my first fantasy novel at the age of 19. It would be a couple more years before I realized that romance was my true calling.

I LOVE history. To me there is nothing like knights in shining armour riding to the rescue of their beautiful, spirited damsels; of swashbuckling pirates stealing the women of their dreams; and devilishly handsome rogues fighting to the death for the lovely ladies who have unwittingly stolen their hardened hearts...



Check out her new release A Knight of Passion.



He is a desperate prisoner escaped from the dungeons... She is his beautiful and daring captive... Will his passion kill again?


Imprisoned by his look-alike cousin, Lord Reynard de Fauconer escapes with the aid of beautiful Lady Rianna de Termonde, come to marry the imposter Baron Rothwell. Desperate to escape his cousin's wrath, Reynard kidnaps Rianna realizing, though unbeknownst to her, he is her true betrothed, becoming infuriated when she does not recognize him. Racing across England, they fight brigands, hidden foes, and a love so passionate it threatens to destroy them both.


http://www.ingelahyatt.com/