Saying goodbye is never easy!

It’s hard to believe that I’m finishing the last book of the Wishful Harbor Series. I’ve enjoyed every moment of writing this series. The characters will always hold a special place in my heart. And the town of Wishful Harbor will draw me in and send me on a journey where the scent of sea air and the sound of sea gulls overhead fill the air.

Saying goodbye to anything isn’t easy. In life, there’s so many things we have to say goodbye to. But with a book series, even though the series has come to a close, the books will be there to read over and over. The memories will be there too.

Over the years of my writing career, I’ve said goodbye to many series. The Five Oaks Ranch Series is still one of my bestselling series and it continues to gain momentum. I’ve had so many people write to me about adding more books to that series. Maybe one day, but for now, it’s just a dream…

In January I’ll publish the last Mistletoe Ranch book. And I just published the last book from The Journal Series. With each new series, there has to be an end. New things need to start and life goes on. But the memories will forever be there along with the laughter, tears and thought that went into each word.

Starting in 2021 I’ll be starting a whole new series, one that will pull everything out of me. I’m so excited about it. I’ve not spoken much about it, but in the coming weeks, I’ll post some snippets and info on it. But for now, let’s just say, 2021 will be filled with mystery, intrigue, and romance.

For now, I’ll go back to my writing and the cup of coffee that’s growing cool. But I’ll ask one question, how do you handle saying goodbye?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

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Monday Rough Draft…

Monday! After a crazy busy weekend, all I wanted was a Pumpkin Spice Latte, but the Espresso machine was down at the coffee shop, so I had to get a Pumpkin Spice Coffee. Yep, not what I needed this Monday morning. So, pushing through the tired fog.

Rough draft… It’s the nemesis of a writer. How many rough drafts do you go through? Me? Several. The first round of writing on my manuscript is usually unreadable. My editor laughs when she gets one of my rough drafts. Often there is a question posed to me of ‘what the heck did you mean by that sentence?’ It actually makes me giggle when I go back in to see what she’s talking about.

But, are rough drafts essential when writing? No… Maybe… Yes! It gives you a chance to go back over what you’ve written. The rough draft also gives you the freedom to get the words on the paper. That’s why it’s called a rough draft. It’s the flow straight from your brain. There is no rhyme or reason to that first draft, it’s just pure writing at it’s roughest. I love getting that raw first draft on paper. There’s such a sense of freedom.

So, posing the above question again, how many drafts do you go through to get to the finished product?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Check out my newest release, Time Love – Marina’s Story… It’s on sale for a limited time only!

Thursday Cowboy Throwback…

In a world of corporations, concrete, and business suits, there are still cowboys. I love writing about them because to me, they are a dying breed. As long as time can remember, there was cowboys.

With every cowboy I write, I try to make them as real as possible. Since I personally know a lot of cowboys, I have lots of examples of what a true cowboy is. It’s more than the jeans, cowboy boots and Stetson. They are true men that are hard workers, rough handed, and down right tough guys. That’s the ones that are the real thing.

Each one of my cowboys that I’ve written has encompassed one of the cowboys I know. One cowboy I knew was an older man with that weathered skin, keen eye, and cowboy swagger. He was the epitome of an old world cowboy. There was never a conversation that we had that didn’t involve a horse. I loved every minute of each conversation. But now he’s gone, and I long for those conversations.

So, do you love cowboys? Maybe you know one, or even married to one. Let’s give it up for cowboys this Thursday!

As always, Good writing and May God Bless You…

Deadlines or Procrastination!

Deadlines… A writers nemesis, but necessary. As an Accountant I have many deadlines to meet, and as a writer, I also have them. They surround me and some days I feel overwhelmed. But I love what I do on both fronts, so I push toward the next deadline with zeal.

But, procrastination also plays a part. As I’m procrastinating now by writing this blog. Sometimes I work best with a looming deadline. Then other times, a chill runs up my spine as the anxiety fills me.

As writers, we set release dates for our work, then work toward them. It’s like a means to an end. If we don’t set a deadline, then where will our work go? I do a schedule every year that sets deadlines for the draft, the editing, and the release. This is setup by evaluating the work itself. Is it to be a full length novel or a short novella? I calculate the words per day, but I manage to add some empty days that allow for procrastination, but still have me meeting my deadline.

What about you? How do you handle deadlines?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You!

When writing is hard… Push through it!

Hit a wall with your current project? At a loss for words, literally? Yep, I’ve been there and other writers have too. The words stop… The creative juices reach a dam and stop… It’s like your internal hard drive crashes…

Push past that wall…

Everyone hits a wall, it’s only human. It’s how you react to that sudden wall standing in front of you that counts. So, here’s a couple of things I do when that wall jumps out and blocks my path.

1: Step back… Yes, step back. If you’re at a wall, then you need to clear your head, and redirect back to the project. When this happens to me, I’ll put that project aside and bring out an upcoming project to outline or even create some ads to inspire me.

2: Go back and read from the beginning of the project. Reintroduce yourself to the characters… Fall back in love with the story…

3: Don’t give up! Even though it seems like you’ve lost the battle, you haven’t. You’ve hit a wall that all writers hit. Push past it! Don’t let it control you. You’ve got this.

Now, get to writing and know that there will be obstacles, but you have the power to push through them. You’re a writer and that’s what you do. So write!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S.: Don’t forget that Marina’s Story is coming out on Saturday.

Love-Marinas-Story-Journal-ebook/dp/B08DFGK8JB

The Structure I use to outline…

It’s Tuesday morning and I’m cozying up with my coffee cup. Morning’s are so hard, but after a couple more cups of coffee, I’ll have this thing in hand…

Ok, so I promised part 2 of my outline process would be about structure. And I always do my best to live up to my promises…

Structure!

Outlining gets me through the writing progress, but as I stated in my last post, there needs to be structure, the bones to the writing.

Now, this is the way I structure my writing process. It works for me and I hope it works for you.

Start your book by introducing your main character. Don’t overdo the backstory, but let your reader know who the main character is all about, what they are looking for, or what they need to happen. Maybe it’s looking for Mr. Right or solving a mystery.
Then, of course, things can’t go exactly right with your character, that would be boring. So, something needs to happen that changes their course, maybe setting them up for an exciting change. Maybe it’s an obstacle that’s put in front of their goal.
At this point, the character will want to give up, but they press forward.
In the middle or somewhere near it, your character should be at their breaking point. Your reader should be asking, what will happen next? I call this the top of the hill.
As you start to let things happen that go right for the character, you need to toss in one last zinger. Your reader has started to feel like they know how it will end, but then…
Now, and only now do you let your character have victory. This is when they slay the dragon, win the love, or find the killer.
This is the closing out of your story. Your character marries their love, sees the killer put in prison, or whatever their turmoil was, ends and they see the rainbow, so to speak. Then they walk into the sunset, or fall off a cliff, if it’s a cliffhanger for the next book in the series…

Now, I now this was a very relaxed explanation, but that’s how I roll. I don’t get into fancy words, because that just confuses the situation. This is how I do it and it may or may not work for you. It works for me!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You….

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Book 3 in The Journal Series

Here’s an outline strategy that works for me…

It’s finally Saturday and what does that mean, well, for me that means that I’ll be writing and working on the outline for my next release. Outline? You mean you don’t do outlines for your books? Well, let me enlighten you to how I outline my books to make writing them a little more streamlined.

Ok, let’s get a little into why I outline over winging it. To start building a house you have to lay out the plan, build the foundation, then the walls, and so on. Get the picture. It’s the same with writing a book, or so it is with me. I need to set up the groundwork first. That’s why I have a notebook for each series that lays out the details so I don’t have to go back and forth trying to remember if Ridge has blue eyes or if Sara is an author. But back to the outlining. Here goes:

1: Start with a blank paper. Don’t give yourself any distractions. Then get lost in the story that is unfolding in your mind. And remember, the outline doesn’t have to be perfect because you’re the only one that will see. So just write.

2: I separate my outline by chapters. But you can just do it like a book report, down the line, separating by paragraphs. It’s up to you. This is your outline, nobody elses!

3: At this point you should try to remember a couple of things. Even though you’re just putting down the bones of your work, you need to also remember that those bones have to hold up the story, so make sure that you have a start, middle, and end to each chapter or section of the book. Start your first plot, then build on it, bringing the reader to a moment of what’s going to happen. Then your main character hits a roadblock, something that keeps them from solving their problem or mystery. You’ll lead your reader on an adventure where they are left wondering if the problem will get solved.

4: At this point, you’ll be at the midpoint, or close. Make sure that you’re at the top of a hill with a looming cliff that the reader feels like they’re about fall off of, then toss them a rope. Give them hope for their hero or heroine. But as a writer, you’ll want to have a cut in that rope so that the story stays interesting up until you rescue your character and have a happy ending, or lead up to the next book if it’s a series.

5: Yep, I know. How the heck do you do all of this and not go crazy? Well, for me, I have to think of it like building that house we talked about earlier. If your bones aren’t strong enough, your house or story in this case, will crumble. And the point to all of this is to make sure your story holds up in the storm and by storm, I mean readers!

Part 2 of this post will be the structure. So, stay tuned for the next post and don’t forget, even if you don’t outline, make sure it has a rise and fall or your reader will give up before they ever find out the fate of the main character.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

And since I’m all about pirates this week, don’t forget to check out Captain Tanner in Safe in the Pirate’s Arms!

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Changing can make all the difference…

Alright, you’ve got the first draft completed and you feel satisfied that it’s just as you want it, then it hits… DOUBT!!!

Have you been there? If you’re a writer, you’ve been there. It’s that nagging feeling that something didn’t work in the story. But, if you dig in, will you find more that’s wrong. If you feel this way now, please follow your gut. Dissect it now or get dissected later!

This is the time to dive in with both feet and take the story apart, chapter by chapter, or plot by plot. Just make sure that you have a beginning, middle and ending. Make sure that each separate part of the story has a rise to the climax, then ease it back down, but each part builds up to the final climax. Give it the time and work it needs to make your doubt go away.

Changing even something small can make all the difference. I’ve gone back into a first draft and only changed a minor plot hole, but it made a huge difference in the flow of the story. But I’ve also gone in and taken out whole chapters, whole chapters! Ouch, that hurts! But, you’ve got to do it.

Our goal as a writer is two fold in my eyes. The first side is getting the story out of your heart and on the paper. The second side is making your reader get excited, cry, laugh, sigh, or simply get lost in the story that you wrote. You want to take them to another world, the world you created. Now, get cracking, that story won’t write itself!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Take your reader on an unforgettable adventure!

Writing is easy, they say…

Good morning! How many have heard someone say, ‘Writing is too easy. Anyone can do it’? I’ve heard it so many times that I’ve lost count. My comment is always, great, give it a try.

Yes, it’s easy to put words on paper. But I need to let you in on some funny things about writing:

In order to write a story, it’s got to make sense and have a beginning, middle and ending.
Make sure that your plot is solid and there are no holes. And if you have holes, make sure they are small enough the reader doesn’t know that they are there.
Have you set the scene? Is the story readable? Have you kept to the story and not went on a chase down a rabbit hole?

That’s just three things that I’d tell someone wanting to write a book. Writing is not for the faint of heart and you definitely have to grow a thick skin. If not, you won’t last too long.

But, don’t get me wrong, I love writing. I love everything about it and yes, even after almost 50 published books, I still get nervous before I hit submit. In the end, it’s so worth it, but you better be prepared to put in the work to get it right or you’ll find out all too soon that you didn’t!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

How writers see their work…

Good morning! Writers… We’re a different breed of people. We see things differently. When we are out in the public, we see what looks like just normal activity as potential wip filler. A new song can lead to inspiration, as well as movies or just the news. Amazing thing is, we see potential in many things that non writers don’t.

As I looked at my irises yesterday, it made me think of the way I look at my work. Just as the picture under this paragraph shows, the iris is only just beginning to bloom. It’s like when you start a new wip in progress, as a writer, you see the beauty within your story. Even at the beginning, most of the time a writer can see what it will look like as it unfolds, although the reader is only just seeing it from the start. It’s important for the writer to have a reader looking at their work just as a flower lover looks at the unopened bloom. They should feel anxious to see what’s coming out.

But as the story unfolds, you see the beauty that is within. It’s amazing how exciting it is to watch your story bloom into so much beauty. Keep that excitement in your writing and focus on the beauty that it can hold. That will keep your readers interest. But be patient, impatience can lead to mistakes and a rushed story that will leave your reader unfulfilled. I’ve done that before and had to learn from my mistakes.

So, as always great writing and May God Bless You!!!

P.S. Go by my website and check out all of my new release news. There will be cover reveals every month and sneak previews of upcoming releases. Not to mention I started Dragonfly Designs to help authors with cover design. Don’t let the struggle to get it right hinder your writing process.

https://www.stephaniehurtauthor.com/