Writers in the Storm

by Laura Rossi

Writing can be a lonely journey.

I’ve been in the writing jungle for over ten years now and, even though I can’t consider myself an expert, I think I can safely say that there’s no right or wrong when it comes to writing.

I’ve seen debates on:

• What comes first – the characters or the plot.
• How to write blurbs.
• How to market a release.
• Writers arguing on the difference between author and writer- yes, you read that right.

But at the end of the day what works for you is what will make you successfully produce your art.

Follow the Muse.

If a character is speaking to you, let it, see where it takes you. Write everything down, like you’re in a lecture taking notes, don’t worry about the plot, don’t worry about anything but what the character is telling you. If it’s a strong voice, everything else will follow.

Likewise, if you have this amazing story in your head, write it in bullet points and expand as the ideas crowd your mind.

In other words, don’t listen to what others are doing, don’t listen to people telling you there’s one way. There isn’t. Writing is a learning journey, every single story I’ve written has taught me something new. No kidding. And I think it could be useful to share it with you.

Let’s just all agree on a few things first:

• We write for ourselves.
• Words are coming from the deepest part of our soul.
• It’s about communicating what we feel, how we feel.

Writing is making love with a blank page. You want to fill it with love and leave parts of you there forever.

There’s something so powerful and scary at the same time, the idea that it’s just you and that blank page and no one else to turn to. It’s an intense relationship with constant ups and downs.

Some days you’ll love the words, some days you’ll hate the words, but whatever you do, don’t delete the words!!

What I’m basically trying to say is to go with the flow, follow your gut instinct, and leave reasoning with the editor. You can however, like with any form of art, try to follow these simple suggestions – ones that have helped me, that I’ve learned story after story- to make this journey steadier and simpler for you.

1. Organize your writing space.

Get that nerd thinking cap on, pull out those notepads, cool pens and post-its, and make your desk perfect for you to work on. It sounds like a given. No, it isn’t. I’m a messy person and I’m sure a lot of writers are just like me. Organizing your space will lead you to organize your ideas. Trust me on this, it works.

2. Make sure you play with each and every character.

Figure out basic physical aspects – eye colour, height, hair, etc.- and also behavioural traits. Remember, you are the creator of your writing world. You need to envision the characters to make them consistent. Then you move on to the where the characters are at, what happens, and what will change for them at the end of the story. If you’re good at drawing, draw them. Or if you’re like me—helpless—I find that looking for pictures relevant to the theme of my book online helps me build ideas of the character.

3. Write the plot in bullet points first.

Some writers are amazing at writing beginnings, others at writing the endings, or those significant twists that make the story that much more amazing. Whatever is your gift, use it to build the storyline and don’t be scared if you think your method is unconventional.

There’s no order in creating. Take it from me, most of the times I start from endings. I get the general idea of what I want to write and the first thing I do is to write where I want things to end. Then go backwards and build the plot. Our minds work differently and each of us has a different superpower—hence why I suck at writing beginnings.

4. Not everything you write will be in the story.

Embrace this concept, accept it, and keep writing those parts anyways. It’s never a waste of time. I think if your mind is suggesting that you should jot down something, it needs to be done.

Sometimes you need to write it to figure out what you don’t want in the final draft. It’s okay, it’s actually often eye-opening and helps you put a finger on what you don’t like.

5. Don’t delete. I repeat, don’t delete.

What you don’t like now, you may like later, and then poof. The words will be gone and you won’t remember the wording, the phrases the way you’d written them. I usually leave everything in but highlight it in a bright colour so I know I have to be particularly careful when rereading that part, to see if I want to change it or delete it for real.

Also, a good idea is to write comments using the revision tool on your writing program. Write comments to yourself, things you might want to add later, ideas, hints, details that might suit that part of the story. You’ll thank yourself later during editing.

6. Don’t stress over writing.

If overthinking were a sport, writers would be gold. Listen, ideally, we all want to write every day, get a good sprint, feel good and productive about ourselves. But I’m not here to lie, I’m here to tell you what I’ve learned and that is nope. It won’t be like that every day.

If you don’t feel like writing, or if your mind is focused on something else, step away from that computer and go do something else. Otherwise, you won’t write a word, you’ll feel frustrated, and you’ll lose confidence. Best go for a walk, watch that TV series you were meaning to watch or go out with a friend. You’ll go back to the story with fresh ideas and a different perspective.

7. The writing community is immense.

It’s filled with lovely, helpful, and kind people just as much as bitter, manipulative, and dishonest ones.

Best advice I can give you is:

• Stay alert.
• Don’t trust easily.
• Never pay in advance for any service (editing, gadgets, marketing, cover art) if not via PayPal or any secure payment, so you can always contact to get your money back in case things don’t go as planned.

8. Get yourself the best editor money can buy.

That’s one thing you don’t want to mess up. If it’s just you and that blank page in the early stages of the story, it will be you, the editor and that page filled with corrections, suggestions, and comments before publishing. You want to make sure you deliver the best novel you can manage.

9. Indie or Traditional publisher?

Ha, this alone could be a post. You can try both of them out. I’m indie for most markets and traditionally published in Italy. There are pros and cons for both, but I haven’t made my mind up yet on which is best. However, if you want to go with a publisher, get yourself an agent first.

10. Look into Facebook and Amazon ads.

Whether you are indie or traditionally published, you want to learn how to create good adds. It’s what will give you visibility these days.

11. For the love of God, do not read reviews.

And I say this knowing that you are now wandering off, straight on to those reviews I just told you not to look at. Fine, read them if you want, but keep two things in mind:

1. Don’t let a bad review outvalue the great ones. Why do we always believe the worst and never the beautiful things people say about our work? If the bad review is just offensive and not constructive, ignore it darling. It’s of no use to you.
2. Whatever you do, never comment on a review. (Goodreads lets you do that but no, no, no, stay away from the comment button because it will only end up in a debate, an ugly one. Trust me, I've been there, done that, and I'd take it back if I could.)

12. Last, but not least, be you.

No this is not some slogan to write on a t-shirt, I mean it. Seriously. Trying to imitate other writers or writing the same kind of stories over and over again might feel like the right choice in terms of marketing and building readers, but only if you focus on your uniqueness. Remember who you are and why you are a writer. It will pay off.

I hope my personal to do list has helped you or given you a new boost. Happy writing!!!  

How is your writing journey? What keeps you on your writing path?

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About Laura

Laura Rossi is an Italian multi-genre writer. Raised in the US and in the UK, where she graduated in Psychology and Criminology, she now resides in Italy with her family.

Devotedly interested in the human mind, Laura likes to scare people saying she goes ‘from sweet to psycho in a matter of seconds’ with her characters. One day she’s writing something sweet and funny, the other she’s crafting dark, flawed characters for edgy, twisted stories.

When she’s not busy working in her family business or being a mom, she loves to travel and attend rock shows. If you see her wandering around town with a wicked smile on her lips, she’s probably thinking of putting you in one of her novels, plotting a new thriller in her head or figuring out which character needs to get the bullet.

For any rights or sub-rights query, Laura is represented by agent Nikki Groom at SBR Media.

nikki@sbrmedia.com

Follow Laura

@laurarossiauthor on Facebook and Instagram

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Top Image by Alan Frijns from Pixabay

by Annette Spratte

Being bilingual is a wonderful thing. Almost all my life, I have enjoyed being able to communicate fluently in two languages and to read books in the language they were written in, not having to rely on translations. Being a bilingual author, however, does have its challenges.

In which language to write?

Since I’m a native German, you might think it odd that I wrote my debut novel in English. The reason is fairly simple: The story is set in the US, so why would I write it in German? Besides, I love English, I mostly read in English, and I write my diary in English (for the original reason that my mother doesn’t speak English, hence wouldn’t have been able to read it should she ever have stumbled across it). Enough reasons, right?

I had no idea what I was doing or if I would get anywhere, so I only started worrying about the language when it was clear I would actually finish the story and want to publish it. Finding a publisher was utopic under the circumstances, so I took the route of self-publishing.

The next project was a series of children’s books I wrote for my kids – in German, obviously. At the time they weren’t fluent in English (that has changed by now). To my surprise the series was picked up by a German publisher and I made the decision to focus on writing in German. You have to go through the door that’s open.

But then The Silent Maid showed up in my brain. Set in England, everyone in the story spoke English. Guess what language I started writing in!

Fast forward to today: Eventually, all of my books will be available in both languages, but the setting dictates whether I first write in English or in German.

The Time Factor

Writing a book takes time. My historical novels take me about half a year to write, not counting all the research that goes into the story before I even start writing. Translating a book also takes time. Not quite as much as writing one, but two to three months at least. It’s a constant juggling of priorities.

Do I want the translation finished or write a new book? Working parallel on two stories in two languages doesn’t always work out very well. And even if I choose to use a translation machine to save typing time, my editing time doubles because machine translations are not very elegant, if not downright hilarious, as I’ve pointed out in my post “Should I use Google to translate my novel?”.

Can I make the story work in the other language?

Well, I would be a terrible translator if I couldn’t do that, but it is a challenge, especially where the form of address is concerned. German enables me to establish relationships between people in finely tuned nuances without ever having to describe them simply by the form of address I’m using. That gets lost in the translation.

On the other hand, English has so many words that require bumbling descriptions in German – which is why a German translation usually turns out longer than the original work. Often, a direct translation will sound clumsy, so to make a story work I need to step up a level from translating mere meaning to transporting the underlying atmosphere, linguistic beauty, and emotions. For this reason, under German law, a translation is regarded as a creative work having the same copyrights as an original book.

Let’s not talk about sex…

There’s a reason why I will not translate erotica under any circumstances. I really have no idea why this is so, but the German language is utterly unsuited to describing sex without sounding either blatantly obscene or absolutely silly.

Most of my books are clean reads, but I do have stories that involve sex scenes. I don’t mind writing them, as long as it’s in English.

In the German version of the Way of Life series, the wedding night is a LOT shorter than in the English version. Don’t name things, use hints, and focus on what the protagonists feel rather than what they do, and you can worm your way through a German sex scene without falling apart, while the same scene in English may be created easily with a beautiful, romantic flow.

Maybe it’s just me. I don’t need explicit scenes unless they really fit into the story. In English, I often skip over them if I find them too excessive. In German? No. Just no.

Story demands

Looking back on eight years of writing in two languages, I detect a pattern. The stories I write in English tend to be much more demanding than the ones I write in German. Every story draws me in until the characters become real, and I’m not one of those authors who spend much time procrastinating instead of writing. And yet the English stories dominate my waking thoughts to a greater degree than the German ones. There could be two reasons for this.

Theory A:

Having a wonderfully supportive German publisher behind me makes me search for ideas to work into stories that will fit their portfolio. They involve a lot of research which slows up the writing process.

The stories I write in English seek me out and pester me until I give in and write them despite having other things scheduled. I keep them bottled up until they burst forth with the force of a tsunami.

Theory B:

As a teenager, I found English to be the language of my heart. If I could choose, I wouldn’t be writing in German at all. Unfortunately, I’m very bad at marketing, so having a publisher is a definite argument for writing in German. But writing in English is so much more fun!

So yes, being bilingual is cool, but if you want to publish books in both languages, discipline and time management are vital.

Do you read or write in more than one language? Have you noticed thoughts being lost in the translation?

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About Annette

Annette Spratte is an award-winning bilingual author and translator living in Germany. With nine books traditionally published in German so far, she has translated and self-published her most successful historical novels The Silent Maid and The Potbaker’s Niece into English (more to come). Her trademarks are life-like characters and a vivid writing style that glues readers to the pages.

Her translation schedule is tight, so if you wish to make use of her skills, you need to plan well ahead.

Learn more about Annette on her website http://annettespratte.org

Top Image by Gino Crescoli from Pixabay

by Sharon K. Connell

Often, I’ve been asked how I find the characters I use in my stories. The first time I was asked that question, it seemed odd to me. That was because when an idea for a story comes to me, I simply imagine the character in whatever situation the story starts out in, and I go from there.

For example, in my latest release, Trust Never After, my main female character is a young woman who is half-Irish and half-Finnish. It came naturally to me to use those nationalities because they are mine. I have the setting in Minnesota where my mother was born and raised. There are so many people of Finnish descent in the area, that it was also natural for me to use the half-Finnish, half-Irish nationality for the main male character. And because all of my stories have an Irish theme to them (at least with the characters), I added the Irish heritage.

You might ask, “Are all of your characters half-Irish and half-Finnish?” No, they are not. All of the main female characters are at least half-Irish because that’s what I’ve chosen, except in the case of some of my short stories. The rest of the characters may have some Irish in their blood, but not necessarily. Especially when it comes to the minor characters in the story or the villains.

You might also ask, “Do you always base your characters on you?” No. This was the first book where my main female character was more or less based on myself. Her nationality and feistiness are definitely mine. J

Where do I get the other characters for my stories?

They come from life. I’m an observer of human nature. Wherever I go, I’m watching people. I keep an eye on my family, friends, acquaintances, the people I run into each day, people I’ve known, etc. None of my characters are exclusively patterned after any one person I know or have observed. They are composites of people. The closest I’ve come to basing any character on one person was Lucy in Treasure in a Field. I gained her permission to base my minor character in the story on her and her dog, Cian.

Lucy is a friend of ours who travels to jobs around the country, working as a tour guide and other positions. Her dog Cian played an important role in the story. I did change Cian’s name to Sean for the tale. Not everything about my character Lucy and her dog Sean match my friend and her canine, but anyone who knows them would recognize Lucy and Cian in the story right away, I’m sure. This was the one and only time I’ve done this, and it was done because I wanted a character just like Lucy for the story.

Developing Your Characters

When you start your story, you have to have your main character figured out right away. You should already know what their personality is going to be like based on the trials and errors they will go through. To me, this is the main part of making up the character. The physical appearance can come later.

As a matter of fact, I generally don’t give the physical attributes to a character while writing the first draft, unless I need a particular look or trait for a scene. I usually wait for most of the details until I go through the story the second time. At that point, I start a dossier with every characteristic or trait for that person. I even record minor things about the person, like how they drink their coffee, so it stays the same throughout the story. You’d be amazed at how easy it is to slip up on eye color, height, etc. while your mind is deep into the telling of the tale.

While writing the story, a person in your neighborhood may come to mind. It’s like picking out an actor for a part in a movie. You let your mind search through everyone you remember and find the one that best suits the role. I never force a character into a part. It has to come naturally, or they won’t fit right.

Using Clichés in our Writing

When you’ve chosen your characters, you need to give each one of them their own personality and peculiarities. One of my minor characters in Paths of Righteousness is a doctor who loves to get everyone’s attention by using clichés all the time. Now I know what you writers are thinking. Oh no! We’re never supposed to use clichés in our writing. It’s a big NO-NO!

Let me ask you a question. Do we use clichés in our natural everyday speech? Aren’t we supposed to create dialogue for our characters that sounds real to the reader?

Yes, we are to limit the use of clichés in our work. But in this case, it was part of the humorous doctor’s personality. My readers loved it. Normally, I try to curb the use of clichés in writing dialogue, but I don’t eliminate them altogether any more than I cut out all adverbs, which sometimes can be very useful to tell the reader exactly what you are describing. Now writing narrative from the author is a different story. There you must use grammar that shows you have control over the English language.

Personality Building

Building a personality is more difficult than initially finding your character in the first place. But again, I go to the people I remember. Usually, I’ll combine maybe one, two, or three personalities into one character. The character may be brave, like my military friends, but he also uses common sense, like my husband. She may be feisty, like me, but she has a soft spot for children like some of my other friends have.

Character Flaws

Then there are the faults we must give our characters. They can’t be perfect human beings any more than any of us are. They must have a fault to overcome or try to better by the end of the story. In my newest release, Trust Never After, my heroine has been hurt and decides she’ll never trust another man with her heart. That means she’s judging all men by just one. That’s a fault indeed. My hero takes on blame for something he had no control over. His fault is that he’s too hard on himself.

The best piece of advice I’ve ever seen about creating characters is this. “Get your character up a tree… and then throw rocks at him.” In other words, get your character into a place in the story where everything is going wrong for them. After that, they have to figure out a way to correct the problem.

Final Thoughts

I love creating characters for my stories. They each have their own little quirks, loveable parts, speech or unique dialogue, and so many other things that let the readers know who is speaking even without you giving a dialogue tag or action beat to the words (although sometimes it’s still a good idea).

For you writers, enjoy building your characters using all the parts of the people you know or have met, all their idiosyncrasies and problems, their physical traits, and unique use of the English language.

For you readers, just enjoy the different characters the writer has created for the story and imagine what they are really like. Do you see someone you know in those characters? Do you see yourself?

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About Sharon

Sharon K. Connell, living in Houston, Texas, writes Christian romance suspense with mystery and humor. After college in Illinois, Sharon graduated from Pensacola Bible Institute. She holds a certificate in fiction writing from IWP through the University of Iowa. She’s a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Houston Writers Guild, and Christian Women Writers, is the founder of Facebook Christian Writers & Readers, and writes for global online magazine Faith on Every Corner. Sharon is an independent author with several novels, a novella, a novelette, a multi-genre collection of short stories, and a cookbook published since 2014.

Find Sharon on WIX Website, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook group -- The Works of Author Sharon K Connell, Facebook Group Forum, Instagram, Facebook Author Page. Here's a YouTube short of her newest release Trust Never After.

Top Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay