Thinking it’s dead doesn’t make it dead,,,

As I worked in my flower bed this evening I came upon a plant that I thought had died. It was all brown on top and just plain out looked horrible. I was getting ready to dig it up and throw it out, but under the dead, ugly top stems was beautiful lush green leaves. I sat back and grinned. I was glad because I loved that plant.

Writing can be the same way. Sometimes you start out really into a story and it just totally dies. I had a couple of stories that this has happened to. I’d have a really strong feeling about it and then after a couple of chapters the vibe would totally leave me.

But the other day I had one of the stories wonder into my head. The more I thought about it the more I had to sit down and work on it. Well I added several chapters and and working on a finishing touch. Of course my editor is going to strangle me because I have a couple of manuscripts that need to be finished and I’m polishing them up as we speak.

So, my point is this, if you have a manuscript that you’ve had to put down because of lack of interest, don’t throw it out. Just put it out of sight for a little while and it may come back to you. I feel that any story that comes to you is important and meant to be written. It just needs a little tender loving care. Maybe it only needs a little pruning 🙂

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Writing…

For me writing is a way to release stress and get the thoughts in my head out. I’ve always been a dreamer. Even as a child I could spin a story in my head. My teachers always would ask where I came up with the stories I’d write for assignments. I’d laugh and say out of my brain. My grandfather wanted me to be a journalist, which is what I wanted to be for a long time.

It’s funny how things change. As life starts to take over you make decisions and some are good and others you spend the rest of your life shaking your head at your own stupidity. Well, if I’d gone with my gut instinct writing would’ve been my career from the start. I’ve been writing stories since I was around 13 years old. I was also trained in classical piano and organ. I always dreamed of playing for a huge orchestra somewhere in Europe. Oh well, dreams of the youth. I started painting around the same time. I’ve sold a couple of my paintings but nothing to brag about.

Again, it’s funny how life takes over. In college I took a liking to Accounting and it was all over for the journalism and music. I decided to get a “safe” career. Not that working with the IRS and their ever changing rules is safe, but it seemed the thing to do. Accounting has given us a comfortable life and running my own accounting firm has afforded me the luxury of keeping my son close and always being able to go to all his ball games and such.

Now that I’m writing, it’s been such a rewarding aspect of my life. I’ve met some of the nicest people from all over the world. The support that other authors give you is awesome. I may never be on the New York Times Bestseller list, but I have the knowledge that I’ve put my work out there and gotten some great response to it. Maybe one day I can retire my calculator and replace it with a laptop, but for now I’ll enjoy all the aspects of my life.

A couple of aspects of my life that will never change is that I’m a mom, wife, children’s minister and a servant in my Church. Even if I was to get to the next level with my writing those things still hold on. Life’s short and you need to make sure you live it to the fullest. The Lord doesn’t promise you tomorrow so live today and enjoy it. If you have a talent, then use it for good. Make someone smile or laugh, maybe even inspire someone for a moment. Don’t let it go to waste.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Make your writing stand out…

How are your sales? Do they fluctuate or flounder?

One thing that could be happening is you don’t stand out from the thousands of other writers in your genre. I’ve noticed in the romance genre that you have to stand out to be noticed. Here are a couple of ways to make your book stand out and take the lead:

1: Cover – Your cover is very important. If it’s bland and not eye catching most of the time a reader will pass it by. Make sure that this is a part of your book that you pay for the better images and use the more unique fonts. Don’t just use the font you find on Word. Go onto a font site and grab a really cool one.

2. Description – You have to make your description a cliff hanger. Don’t give away too much but do give away enough to get the reader interested. Maybe even write it in the main characters point of view. If you put a lot of thought and energy in your description it will pop.

3. The first page – You may be saying why is this important. Well if you offer a free sample that’s the first impression the reader will get of your writing. Make sure the first few sentences draw in the reader. You don’t want a lot of back story in the first page or two. Make it catchy and mysterious.

This is just three things that can help bring your book to the forefront. Try these out and see how it helps you.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Herds of Lightning Bugs

You may think I’m joking but as I type this post I feel surrounded by blinking lights. I love lightning bugs. They remind me of being a small child and running around catching them in a mason jar and sleeping with them beside the bed. I remember catching one at a time. But this year they seem to have multiplied. Everywhere you look they’re are hundreds blinking.

It’s a nice, sultry night in Georgia. The rain has subsided and made way for clear skies. I’m enjoying sitting on my patio working on my current book as my hubby listens to guitar riffs on youtube via his phone.

It always inspires me to write when I sit outside in the twilight and watch the sun sink into the horizon. I feel like the sinking sun sometimes. As I work on the finishing touches of my latest work I wonder how I got this far. Well, for one I took a huge leap and jumped.

My mind is sort of like the lightning bugs. I keep coming up with new ideas for books and they just keep blinking in my head. I guess that’s a good problem for a writer.

Let yourself just drift into a story and watch what happens. I even came up with an idea about a children’s book just watching the lightning bugs. Funny how the ideas just pop into your head.

Hope everyone had a great Father’s Day. It would have been nicer if my Dad would have been here, but I know he’s up in Heaven smiling down on me tonight. Don’t forget to thank your Father above for all you are and have.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

The Challenge of Creativity

Why do people constantly put writers down? Have you ever noticed the reaction that non-readers have when you say you’re a writer? Most of the time avid readers are excited and want to know more. But people that don’t read a lot just look at you like you’ve grown a set up horns.

For me it’s hard work to be a writer, an accountant, a children’s minister, a wife and a mom. Not to mention doing housework, finances for our Church and just living. But if it’s your dream and passion you do it through all the madness.

A writer’s life is a challenging one, especially if it’s not your full time job. Finding time to put your thoughts on paper is sometimes the real challenge. As for me it’s usually at night when my family is watching television or after they go to bed. A lot of my writing is done on Saturday after the housework is done and Sunday afternoon. But notes can be found everywhere because as a writer thoughts come into my head and I write them down for future use. Maybe it’s a picture I see, or a phrase I think would work in a scene or even a new book idea.

The fun part of being a writer is when you start building a fan base. The first time a fan emailed me I giggled a lot. It’s so nice to know someone likes your writing. I’m basically a humble person. I had a friend ask me the other day why I didn’t tell her I’m publishing books. I told her I just didn’t want to sound like I was bragging. She laughed and said well its bragging time. I just ducked my head and ran J

So, if you’re a writer, enjoy it. Make time for it and maybe even a special place to write. Mine is on the couch in the recliner with my ear buds in listening to the music I write by. That’s another post altogether.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

How do you contain yourself?

As a writer you have to have some patience. Unfortunately when a story is pressing in on you patience is hard to find. When a story pops into my brain it normally comes in with a vengeance. It presses on my brain until I start writing it. I have to relieve the pressure of getting it started. Usually I get the story outlined before I forget what needs to be said.

When I start writing the story I get excited and can’t hardly wait to see how the middle and end unfold. I have to contain myself and not just jump through the story and leave out some important information. Sometimes I tend to want to see how it ends before it even begins. That’s kind of like reading a book and skipping to the end because you just have to know how it ends.

Remember if you do an outline, which is very important to me to keep me in line 🙂 then you need to stick with the outline. If you just have to skip ahead, then mark where you stopped and go back to fill in the important elements needed to make the story flourish.

Hope this helps. Remember you’ve got to be patient and let the story flow out. It’s hard, but if you practice you can do it.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Writing a book description

One of the hardest things in writing is the book description. Well at least for me. It’s so hard to put into a short paragraph the book you’ve poured your heart into. How do you summarize thousands of words into a short space. Here are a couple of pointers that I go by:

1: Don’t over write the description. This means that you don’t need to overdo it. You don’t need to tell everything. If you go into too much detail you lose the reader before they even get started.

2: Use a lot of descriptive words. You need to make the reader want to read your book. By using descriptive words you can lure them in.

3: Don’t give away too much. I read a description one day that actually told the plot of the book. I realized I didn’t want to read it after reading the description because the writer told what happened to the characters. It’s like telling who did it before you even know the players.

4: Remember you’re trying to sell your book. Think about it as writing an ad for your book. You want to hint at the best aspects. Maybe write it from the main characters view.

5: Some of the best book descriptions are short and to the point. So just get to the point and leave it.

This is just a couple of ways I try to describe my books. Maybe it will help you when you get ready to write your description.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Writing Backwards

Have you ever started a book at the end of the story and worked your way forward? Sometimes when I sit down with an idea for a book I start at where I want it to go. As you know from previous posts I like to do an outline for the story line. That way I stay in line. But sometimes it’s the end result of the story that drives me on.

I have a book that I’m working on and I’ve worked mostly on the ending. You may be going are you crazy. Well, yes, but that’s beside the point. The ending seems to inspire the beginning. It’s not as hard as it seems. Try it sometimes. You might be amazed.

Be sure if you do this method of writing that you keep the first part in the same style as the ending. An outline helps to keep that part in check. It’s really fun. It’s like walking backwards and using a mirror. You can always see where you’ve been, but you also see where you’re going.

Let me know if you’ve done this before. Or tell me if you try it out and if it helps. Sometimes the best stories start at the end and work their way backwards.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Like ivy running up a tree…

As a writer our mind usually wonders around, looking for an inspiration or story. I was sitting on my porch this morning looking out at my ivy bed as I call it. When we moved into our home 19 years ago I planted this ivy and over the years it’s taken over three trees and countless attempts at growing purple thrift around the border. The only way to keep it in control is to use the weedeater around the edges and every year or so I burn it out to clear out the limbs and leaves and as my son says the snakes.

My writers mind works like that ivy. Sometimes it runs up this tree then stops and runs up another tree clean to the top. Usually it branches out and goes in several different directions. Sometimes it drives me insane 🙂 But others it’s a good thing because it helps to finish manuscripts.

Does your writers mind work like that? Tell me about how your mind wraps around a story. With mine, it’s like the ivy. Some stories take hold and I have to just work to the finish. Other times my mind goes all willy nilly and I have to pull it back and take back control.

Hope everyone is having a productive Saturday… Tell me how yours is going.

As always, Good writing and May God Bless You…

Friday! Waiting on Weekend of writing…

If you haven’t glanced at your calendar, yep it’s Friday. The last day of the work week for most of us. Of course if you’re a writer, it never ends. Which is good because if it’s your passion, then you look forward to the stolen moments when you sit down with your laptop or pen and paper and you just spill your heart out.

As I’m working on the finishing touches of one of my manuscripts I do hope to have the time tomorrow to get it ready for my editor. Of course that means a couple of hours of constant attention paid to it. As the weather is supposed to be pleasant I might just grab a lawn chair and sit under a tree and let the birds inspire me 🙂

I’ve come to the conclusion that you have to schedule your time or it won’t work. When you have a busy life already and you try to fit in writing time, it has to be planned. Of course you know as well as I do, sometimes the inspiration to write over loads your brain and you have to rearrange that schedule. Yep, like in the middle of the night when you have it in your schedule to sleep. That character just keeps nudging you in the shoulder shouting “GET UP!”.

Hoping all have a great weekend and good luck with your writing time. Don’t forget to make time for your family and Church on Sunday. Inspirational time is very important…

As always, good writing and My God Bless You…