Advice for Novelists (Part 60)

C.J. Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk, is running a great series on her blog: She started a series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) share their responses to this question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

Lisa Samson enlightens us today with this response: My advice is really, really simple: Read well. Read at least five great books for every writing how-to book. Read the top quality writers in your genre. Don't waste time reading books you could have written with your present level of expertise.

--Lisa Samson, author of Embrace Me, the Hollywood Nobody series, and much more. Visit her online at her website here.

Advice for Novelists (Part 59)

C.J. Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk, is running a great series on her blog: She started a series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) share their responses to this question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

Author Terri Kraus chimes in today: Remember that writing is an art, not a science. Don't obsess about "the rules". (That's what editor's are for!) Don't be paranoid about "getting it right." (There is no single right way.) Find your own voice. What you DON'T want is sounding like everyone else. Write with passion! Tell the story that's in your heart. Go out on a limb a little, and take some risks. That's how you get noticed.

--Terri Kraus, author of The Renovation, and many other novels. Visit her online at her website.

Rules for transparency!

One label I heard often about my writing is transparency, yet the truth is that being transparent and sharing all is not always my first choice. Here are my rules for what I share on the written page:

1) I share MY experiences and do not put down other peoples' actions. I don't want to slander anyone, just share my story.

2) I ask permission. I had my husband and my kids read my mothering memoir Blue Like Play Dough before the draft was sent into the publisher. I also specifically asked permission to share some "challenging" moments in my kids' lives before I even wrote them.

3) Most of the stuff God asks me to share is stuff I'd rather keep hidden. I don't like spilling my flaws, but when I feel His Spirit nudging I know I need to follow. I've written about my abortion, teen pregnancy, and marriage struggles as a young woman. I wrote about a boyfriend popping up in my life less than five years ago. And then I spoke about it on Focus on the Family. (Yikes!) These are things that my flesh wanted to hide, yet God knew that my experiences could offer hope and healing to others.

4) Also, during the writing of my mothering memoir my editor Liz Heaney was a great judge of "depth/truth" in my writing. For example, things I wanted to skim over she made me take another look at. My assistant does this to me too. I can hear them even now, "Dig deeper." So sometimes the best way to share with transparency is to have another set of eyes reading your words and questioning motives/desires. Digging deeper makes the writing real, not showy and fake.

I hope that helps!

Using Twitter...more tips

Here is a slew of great advice from The Book Marketing Experts!


Tips For Using Twitter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Bookgal.

If you've pondered using Twitter, but aren't sure how to use it effectively or if you've been on Twitter for a while and aren't sure if you're maximizing it as you should be, here are some quick tips to give you some great twittering-ideas:

· Teach stuff - teach a little mini-lesson on Twitter. Delve into your area of expertise or just talk about book publishing and how to get published. · Share sites or blogs that your followers would be interested in. Be their "filter" to new and exciting information.

· Use Tweetlater.com to post tweets to your account for later posting so you don't have to be sitting on top of Twitter every minute of the day.

· Use Twitter as a news source: you can easily announce news both from your world (as long as it relates to your topic) and from the world of your expertise. So for example I've done tweets on book industry stuff, breaking news, etc.

· Widen your network - follow other Twitter folk, this will not only give you some ideas for your own "tweets" but it's a great way to network with other writers or professionals.

· Offer advice: use Tweetdeck.com or Twitter Search ( search.twitter.com) to see who's asking for info on your area of expertise and then offer them some help/insight. This is a great way to build relationships.

· It's ok to market yourself but be careful about pimping your stuff too much.· Be Original, useful and helpful.

· If you're on tour with your book or doing an event, tweet on that and invite your local followers to attend.

· Tweet any good reviews your book gets, it's always fun to share the good stuff!· Every Tweet counts (don't tell people you're washing your cat) don't just tweet on useless stuff or you'll lose followers.

· It's not all about you (again, back to the cat) people want to know useful stuff, I know, it's getting repetitive but there's a reason: it's important.

· Promote your Twitter account in your email signature line and on your blog.

· Network: don't expect your followers to grow if you're not following other people. Network, search for others in your area and follow them.

· Personal is ok. Even though I said not to post useless information it's still not a bad idea to (from time to time) post a personal Tweet or two. Provide value and twitter-followers will beat a path to your door.

· Follow everyone who follows you. You can use sites like Socialtoo.com and Tweetlater.com to autofollow everyone who follows you. These services can also send a nice welcome message to your new followers.

· There is a lot of noise on Twitter, the sooner you get comfortable with that the better. It's like being at one massive cocktail party, you have to find ways to filter out the noise. Sites like Tweetlater can help you do that.

· Embed a link or some other sign up in your welcome message, this is another great way to capture emails for your newsletter (assuming you have one).

· Use sites like Tweetlater or Twitter Search to see who's talking about you and then follow them too or comment on their tweet.

· It's ok to repeat your tweets. With the volume of messages people get your followers will often miss some of your posts.

· Feed your blog through Twitter using Twitterfeed.com.

· Join Help a Reporter out @skydiver for tweets on media leads (it's a great service!).· Don't feel like you have to respond to every tweet, but I generally try to respond to all tweets that are replies to mine (you can find these under @replies on your Twitter home page).

· Want to stay on top of your market and find stuff to Tweet about? Then go to Alltop.com and search for your category. There are thousands of them up there. Here are a few to consider: socialmedia.alltop.com, twitter.alltop.com and publishing.alltop.com.

· Review a product or book on Twitter.

· Follow big names in your market on Twitter: this will often bring in their followers too and you want to see what the "big guys" are up to.

· Get a good picture: don't leave your avatar blank. Personalize your page if you can but a good Twitter picture is a must.

· Tweetbeep.com is a lot like Google alerts. You can plug in your keywords and you're pinged each time they are used.

· Are you ready to add pictures to your Tweets? Then head on over to Twitpic.com, this site will let you upload pictures and tweet to them.

· Videos can also be shared on Twitter and 12seconds.tv is a great way to record a video (12 seconds long, hence the name) and share it with your followers.

· Music on Twitter is also possible thanks to TwittyTunes: http://www.foxytunes.com/twittytunes/. This site is great for sharing music and it has a simple Firefox add-in that lets you Twitter on music you're currently listening to!· Keep Twittering, followers will come if you keep updating your Twitter account.

Not sure what to Twitter About? Check out these creative Twitter sites!http://twitter.com/celebritygossip
http://twitter.com/cookbook
http://twitter.com/books

More on Twitter
Twitter, the little micro-blogging site that could, has seen an enormous growth lately. Traffic to the site has nearly doubled in the last two months, seeing 1.2 million unique visitors per month. Twittering or micro-blogging (as it's commonly referred to) is getting bigger each day as applications for this form of promotion continue to grow. Don't believe me? http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/05/16/traffic-to-twitter-nearly-doubles-in-two-months.

Fun Twitter Stuff
If you're still confused about what Twitter is, check out this easy-to-understand YouTube video: Twitter in Plain English: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

Ready for more fun Twitter applications?
TwitterMail: http://twittermail.com/ - supplies you with a personal email address. If you send an email to that address it will be posted to Twitter.

Is Twitter a popularity contest? Yes, without a doubt. Find out how you rank in the grand scheme of Twitter fame: Twitter Quotient: http://web.forret.com/tools/twitter-tq.asp.

Find out if you're a Twitter hero or BIG zeroAddicted to Twitter? You're not the only one. Check out the most popular micro-blogs on Twitter: http://www.twitterholic.com/.

Ready to update Twitter from your phone? Check out Twitter Fone: http://www.twitterfone.com/.

Ready to follow some other Twitterers but not sure who you should be following? Head on over to Who Should I Follow, http://www.whoshouldifollow.com/, plug in your Twitter user name and it'll pop up results appropriate to your Tweets.

And if that's not enough, try following @mrtweet, when you do this service will send you back a list of people who are top in your category that you should follow. Tres cool!

Ready to make some quick cash? Twitter me this, http://www.twittermethis.com/, is a site that will ask a random question, if you're the first one to answer you win $5. Just enough for a latte. Not bad. I haven't won anything yet but I'm still hopeful.

If the Twitter-language has you confused check this out, it's every possible Twitter-term you'd ever want to know (and maybe a few you don't): http://www.sitemasher.com/smblog2/2008/10/my-twittonary-every-twitter-term-and.html.

Fiction...Waste of Time?

Some people don't like fiction because it's "not real" and "a waste of time," but personally I think that well-written fiction can draw readers toward the gospel.

For example, in my first novel From Dust and Ashes I interviewed dozens of World War II veterans for research. Of course these men wanted to read the completed novel, so I sent each one a copy. Some of the men were Christian, some were Jewish, and some had no faith. Still, I didn't get one negative comment about the salvation message in the story. In fact, one Jewish man ordered many copies for all his friends!

In the book, I used the story of the Edelweiss to share the gospel. This flower is found in the high alps and young men would climb the mountains to bring back a flower for their true loves. Many a young lover died attempting to show his devotion. In my novel one character tells another, "Jesus is like that lover, yet he climbed that mountain knowing he was going to die to prove his love." In this book a Nazi officer's wife actually gets on her knees and accepts Christ.

One veteran wrote back listing 24 different "research" things I'd gotten right. Then he ended his letter by saying, "You did a great job writing this story, now can you tell me more about your faith in Jesus?" You can believe I wrote him back that day! Because I was diligent about getting the facts of his (the veteran's) story right the man was interested in HIS (Jesus') story. How exciting!

Also, years after it was published I also received an email from a Swiss girl who'd read the book in German. She said, "When Helene got on her knees and accepted Christ, I did too."

In writing historical fiction I've learned my reader will trust the author by the correct research ... and sometimes this trust can make an eternal difference.

Avoiding information dump in character descriptions!

Someone recently emailed me through my website and asked about how I describe my characters without going into lengthy descriptions. After all, if you are in a character's point-of-view you won't go into long descriptions of their hair, their clothes, etc.

I have nine novels published and two more that will be out this year. Personally, I use very small traits to describe point-of-view characters. For example:

"She tucked a strand of her curly hair behind her ear."

That's a simple example, but there are other ways to give hints of what the character looks. I try to stay in my character's point-of-view as closely as possible, and I only show things through their eyes/thoughts.

One way to share description is to relate how other people react to my character. For example, this is a few paragraphs near the opening of my book, A Shadow of Treason. The point-of-view character is Deion.

"They pressed on to what Deion assumed was the door to the basement. Though it was still in its frame, it was twisted and crushed. Cautiously he pushed against it, gaining mere fractions of an inch with each groaning effort. When he could finally see past it, four faces peered up at him. Two women, a young girl, and a baby blinked at him, as if trying to focus. Deion didn’t know if their wrinkled brows were due to the sunlight or the color of his skin. They’d most likely never expected a colored man to rescue them, especially after hearing the horrible tales of the Moors from Africa who fought with the Nationalists.

The woman studied Deion’s face for a moment, then slowly blinked her eyes and handed him the baby. He snuggled the sleeping child to his chest, and a warmth surged through his frame. He’d never felt more alive."

This shows that Deion is a colored man, and someone the other character's aren't expecting.

Here is another example of how I described the priest, Father Manuel. (All these examples are from A Shadow of Treason.) You can see how I slid in a few descriptions in with the action:

"The man motioned toward the steps of the council building, and they walked toward it. He turned and sat easily, while Father Manuel slowly lowered himself, feeling twice as old as his thirty years. Then the man pulled out two apples from his jacket pocket and handed one to the priest.

Father Manuel took the offering as his stomach rumbled. Without hesitation he silently mouthed a prayer of thanks and took a large bite, the sweet moistness filling his mouth. He wiped away the juice that escaped down his chin."

And here is one more:

"Ramona clung to the wooden sideboard of the canvas-covered truck as it chugged along the hilly road toward Bilbao, transporting injured soldiers to safety. The vehicle lurched to avoid a pothole, and she clung tighter, noticing that even though her hands looked red and raw from constantly scrubbing up for surgeries, her gold wedding band still sparkled in the light shining through the open back canvas."

This tells that Ramona is a nurse and married, without stating it outright.

As you can see, bits of description can be adding in to the story without it feeling like an information dump. I'd love to see an example of your writing. Leave it in the comment field.

Humbled...

I've been awarded...

from Rita Gerlach at Stepping Stones Magazine for Writers. "This award is given to writers whose novels, websites, and blogs contribute to the promotion of the historical genre. I am also awarding it to you for your outstanding writing."

Wow. What an honor. Thanks so much Rita and Stepping Stones!