Let’s talk Scrivener…

Good morning! Who wants to write in an organized way? Who wants their outline and characters right at their fingertips? Me! Here’s how I do that…

I use the program, Scrivener. And no, I don’t get any money for talking about this program. What I do get by using this program is piece of mind. So, here are my top five reasons that I use Scrivener to bring my words to life.

Easy to use. Folks, once you sit down and start using Scrivener, you will realize that even though it has all those bells and whistles, it’s so easy to use.
Character Bio list. Yes, this is amazing. I have all of my main characters running down the left side of my manuscript. And if I forget a characters occupation or eye color, all I do is click and double check.
Place list. This is a life saver. I can keep the places in my story straight. Because it’s hard to remember everything, but with Scrivener, I have it at my fingertips.
Outline. Yes, I’m an outliner most of the time. And with Scrivener, I have my outline to the right. And it’s always open. The fun thing is, I can separate it by chapters or sections, then mark done when I’m finished with that section. This helps because Scrivener also separates by chapters.
Word count progress. I have a window to open that tells me how many words I’ve typed in a session. I also can put a daily word count need, manuscript word count expected, and keep up with my progress. It helps keep me on track!

So, this is just a little look into all of the things that Scrivener can do for you. There’s also a script writing part integrated in the same window. And you can change the way your Scrivener looks at every turn. I use cork board for my outline, which gives a story board feel.

As always, good writing and may God Bless You…

When the story knocks on your door…

Good morning! It’s Friday. Can you believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner? Wow! Time is flying.

So, as a writer, I’ve had so many stories running through my head. But sometimes I feel like a story doesn’t hold enough punch to actually publish. Then there are those stories that come at you and take your breath away. Those are the ones that make you push everything you’re working on aside to get them written.

I’m working on one of those at the moment. It’s been simmering for a while, but it was just simmering, not boiling over. Well, in the last couple of weeks it’s beginning to move past simmer into boiling. It’s like I can see everything so clear. The characters, the places, and the story, but as a writer, you know how it goes when you start to put it on paper, there are holes that need to be filled in.

The first day I worked on the manuscript, I typed the whole first chapter without slowing down. It was exciting. The funny thing is, I haven’t outlined it, yet… And if you’ve read my blog long enough, you know I’m an outliner.

So, what are you working on today? Anything that took you by surprise, or maybe just slipped in gradually?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Three cups & a book…

Good Thursday morning! I do hope you’re all well…

This morning I’m working on the outline for the 2nd book in the Wishful Harbor Series. It’s exciting when you start a new manuscript, but it’s scary too! As a writer, you want to pull the reader in with the first paragraph, but what if you don’t? Publishing your work is scary, but satisfying when you see the sales and responses from readers.

As I outline, I have a bad habit of writing instead of outlining. Yep, some of my outlining will be used in the actual book because I get carried away, but that’s fine. One thing that helps is I use Scrivener, so I can set up my chapters and copy/paste the part I love that will go in the book. Yep, another win for Scrivener.

But, along with writing, I have to grab another cup of coffee to keep me going. So, I’d best get back to finishing this outline and getting another cup of coffee.

So, great writing and May God Bless You…

Outlines, good or bad…

I’ve been telling you about my surprise manuscript for a couple of weeks. As I sit here enjoying my coffee and the morning sun, I’m going over the outline for the new work. It’s a complete outline that goes to the words ‘The End’.

Some writers say they can’t work from an outline and others, well they can’t work without one. I’ve written several books using a outline draft, but it sometimes changed through the process. My new work is coming along well with the outline. This outline seems to flow with the way I see the story in my head. But I wonder if it will stay the same.

Here are some good points to using an outline…

1. The outline keeps you focused on the story and where it’s headed.

2. Outlines are not written in stone and can change.

3. If you have a detailed outline, all you need to do is make a chapter out of each line.

Since my outline goes to number 29, that means it’s looking to be a really long book. The details are there, all I need to do is pull each chapter from the lines I’ve written. With this outline I was able to pull the story that’s running around in my head out. When a story comes into my head, usually the whole thing comes in a rush and I can’t wait to get to the end. With my outline I was able to get the story on paper so that I’m free to fill it all out.

So, do you work with outlines? Have you ever tried? What was your experience?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

The story, do you know how it end?

Good Friday morning! I’ve been working long hours in my accounting office. Of course that’s expected during tax season. But the funny thing about this job is I know the main tax season will end on April 15th. I have a good idea after almost 20 years of how it will go, but with writing do you always know how it will go? Well, not always.

Many of my books came into my head mostly whole, but not always. Even some that come to me feeling whole turn out different in many ways as the stories unfold on paper. Take for instance my latest release, Ridge. In the back of my mind I had a clear vision of how it would go. I could see it unfolding before I ever type Chapter 1. But with some of my other books I wasn’t completely positive.

Safe in the Pirate’s Arms was one of those that I thought I had it completely figured out before I started, but the characters took over and many things changed. Sometimes we know where we want the story to go, but once you’re into the story it just doesn’t work. As with the book in question, I knew after I started in the planned direction that something wasn’t quite right. Something needed to change and once I changed directions of the story, well it just clicked. Usually when you have that ‘aha’ moment things started moving right along at a fast clip, well at least for me it does.

One of my manuscripts took such a sharp U-turn that I went back and changed some of the aspects of the beginning. But when I typed the end it totally made sense. I was proud of the changes that I made. It felt good and made me feel complete. I know that many of you have read my many posts on outlines and I do truly believe in them, but some of the time even the best outline needs to change slightly.

Is it mandatory as a writer to know the whole story? No way are we held to that standard, but we do have to make sure the story flows correctly. Of course we do have to know some of where the story will go, but the whole story, not happening most of the time, even when we think we know the end, it’s not always clear.

So, do you always know how it will end, truly? What’s your writing process? Do you outline and if so, do you stick strictly with it?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Don’t forget to go by my website and check out my March Madness Sale at stephaniehurtauthor.com

It’s a memorable Monday morning…

For starters, today is my son Hunter’s 15th birthday. At 8:30 this morning he will officially turn 15. It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years. He’s such a blessing to us. Since we almost lost him when we lost his twin during the pregnancy we thank God every day for him. He’s a great son and the sky’s the limit for him.

Today also marks the release day for Finding The Right Time. I set this release date for today because this book is special to me. It’s my first time writing a Time Travel Romance. This book was a joy to write because it came to me in a dream and flowed out freely. I took my time writing this one. Usually it takes me only a month or two to write a romance, but this one took over 6 months from start to finish. Of course the cover was completed well before the book, I just knew what it had to be.

When you love writing and the story comes so clearly, it just makes the process so wonderful. Around the middle I ran into a road block as far as the plot. My mind and my heart had a war of the road to take, but my heart won out and I love the direction it went. The ending was the most fun. I knew the ending before I ever started the first word of the first chapter. It’s so frustrating sometimes when that happens. Why you might ask? Well, if you know the ending, that’s where you want to start, but you can’t do that. The story has to be told first and it can be frustrating when you can’t get it done fast enough.

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

Faith Through The Tears in final stages!

As you know I’ve had several works in progress. One in particular is “Faith Through The Tears” which is the 2nd book in the Lean On Him Christian Romance Series. I’m in the final stages of it and getting really excited. If things go well, I look to have it up and run this weekend. It still has a couple of nudges and tweaks, but it’s going smoothly.

It’s amazing when you get in the groove and everything just falls into place. Since the cover has been completed for months that makes the process much smoother. Now it’s down to those pesky little edits that plague every writer. But this one has been close to my heart so I look forward to the final read through before we hit publish.

Let me give you a little hint of what this book is all about. It’s a continuation of come of the characters from “With All My Heart”. It starts with Randy and Rachel’s love story and her battle with cancer. But it takes a sad turn and yes, it’s a box of tissues kind of book. I cried the whole time I wrote the first half of this book. It just tore at my heart.

A couple of months ago I posted the first chapter on Avon Romance’s blog site and I received responses ranging from ‘you made me cry’ to ‘I’ve got to know how this comes out’. It’s so exciting when you can grab the reader with just an excerpt.

This book has some surprises from the first book regarding Luke and Amanda. So many readers fell in love with their story of faith and love through the challenges. I’ve brought out some of their lives too. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with this one. It’s filled with tremendous faith and the challenges that life brings when you lose your soul mate.

So, I hope everyone is staying warm and safe from the world’s crazy weather patterns. But for now it’s time to pick up the ledgers and get back to accounting. At least I’m in a beautiful environment with the snow covered back ground behind me. But bring on Spring!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Monday morning ramblings…

Well it was a busy weekend for me. Our Church put together showboxes for the local Family Children Service and then yesterday I had the Children’s Ministry Christmas party. Which this meant that I had to start my Christmas baking. I baked cookies, made rice krispy treats and smores. Not to mention red velvet and cream cheese bites. Needless to say it was a busy weekend.

As I sat yesterday afternoon just enjoying being with my family and having nothing at all to do, I received a call. It was my cousin calling to tell me a friend of ours has cancer. It was hard to hear. I’ve known him all my life and we’ve always been friends. It’s always hard to hear that word ‘cancer’. I prayed for him and knew he was in good hands.

My writing has been in the forefront of my mind lately. I have a couple of books in the works and am impatient to get them completed. I guess that’s just the life of a writer. I have to keep my focus on the writing instead of the finish. If I focus on the finish too much my writing will lack some of it’s luster. I don’t want to rush through the last couple of chapters.

I don’t know how one of the books will end exactly. Most of my books I have them mapped out in my mind and usually have a good idea how they’ll end, but this one book has changed as it has unfolded. As each chapter develops and the characters get their chance at the story it’s changed and evolved. I’m happy with the many changes, but am anxious to see it to the end.

Several fans are chomping at the bit for the 2nd book in the Alpine series. It was such an exciting book to write. I can’t wait to get started on it. All of my books are on sale for .99 until December 26th. I want to do this as a thanks to all my devoted and beloved fans. It’s been an awesome year for me and my writing.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…