It's all about the reader

I've been reading a wonderful series of articles by John D. Brown about creating suspense in your story and giving the reader what they're looking for, an emotional investment in your characters. He explains that the reader needs to hope and fear for the outcome of the main character(s). They want to feel the tension of the possible outcomes and end in a cathartic release at the end.

We want our readers to invest their time to read our book and they won't do that if they could care less about what happens to our hero. The reader must feel the hero is deserving of their sympathy and the bad guy our dislike.

I especially liked the latest installment about adding conflict to the plot. Conflict with self is the one that hit home while thinking about my character Sophie. If she wants two different things that are mutually exclusive, the inner conflict makes her decision that more interesting. It also helps me with my GMC chart for her.

Go here to read all of his articles. It's definitely worth the time. Cheers!

GMC Chart

Someone in my online writers group asked if everyone has their GMC chart done. I stared at the screen wondering what in the heck that was. Thankfully, she went on to explain that GMC stands for Goal, Motivation & Conflict. It's a way to map out what a character wants (goal), why she wants it (motivation) and what's keeping her from getting it (conflict). Debra Dixon wrote a book all about this. I ordered it today here.

I was amazed I hadn't heard of this before, at least that I remember. Thinking about the story I'm currently working on, I'm not real clear on what my main character is trying to get. That's probably why I've been having so much trouble writing.

So now I've been thinking about what Sophie, my main character, wants to achieve by the last page of her story. The first thing that popped in my head was that she just wants to clean up the mess she made. Why? Because the monster she unleashed is causing mayhem and hurting people she loves. What's stopping her? The monster is stronger and with his friends, she is outnumbered. It's an uphill battle, but an interesting one.

I love this, but I think it will make a better novel than trilogy. Which is fine since I'm just starting out. Then I thought about other messes Sophie could get herself and everyone else into. This could possibly be a series.

So, I think I'm going to make Sophie younger and set the series at a summer camp where each year until she turns 18, she and her campmates will have to help Sophie overcome whatever mischief she gets into. Of course, the story I started with will be the last book of the series since it should be handled by an older Sophie as opposed to a 12 year old one.

I'm really excited about this. It'll be the next Harry Potter. Now I'm off to create my world. Wish me luck and thanks for reading.

Just write, damn it!

Today I received some great advice from some published authors, turn off your inner editor and just complete that first draft. So many never even get that far because they keep rehashing the first few chapters to make them perfect. (That sounds familiar) Worry about that later. Just get all your thoughts down even if it's not perfect. "Just spew the words out and don't worry about it." - Stacie.

I've been writing a few chapters, then second guessing myself and starting over. I'm going to just write and not look back until I finish. I don't know why I find it so difficult, really. When I wrote my fanfic stories, I would write a chapter in an evening and then post it live for all to read. I had a vague idea of where I wanted the story to go, but once I posted it, I couldn't change it, so I just went on from there. The stories aren't too bad, either. A lot of fanfic authors write that way so that they can incorporate suggestions from the people who leave reviews and comments.

So do what those that are already published have obviously done, just get it all out, no matter how ugly it is the first time around. Nothing is permanent. That's what your word processing program is for.

Off I go to purge the story from my brain. Wish me luck!

So the journey begins

My daughter got me hooked on all the vampire books out on the market. You know, Twilight, Vampire Academy, House of Night, etc. My favorite part of all the books is the love story. The vampires or werewolves or whatever just made it more interesting. My daughter and I always wait on the edge of our seats for the next book in the series to come out. Waiting is not my favorite thing.

That's when I found fanfiction. I loved it. A way to read about all my favorite characters and fantasy world without having to wait for the next book. There are so many talented writers out there and reading their stories is free. Even better. You do have to weed through the juvenile posts to find the more meaty stories, but the effort is well worth it. Another aspect is that the stories are posted a chapter at a time, so if you don't want to wait for the author to complete the story, only look at completed fics. Sometimes if you find a story where the author updates the story on a regular basis, it's fun waiting for the next chapter.

After reading some great stories, I decided to try to write a story of my own using Richelle Meads Vampire Academy world. I had so much fun writing and received many wonderful comments that I wrote a total of three stories. You can find them at http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2171095/ruthless527.

Now, I'm beginning my own original story about a teenage girl and what happens to her when she awakens Sleeping Beauty, Prince Sebastian. If all goes well, it will be full of action, humor, suspense and love.

As I've learned more about this business of writing, I've noticed how much more than actually writing there is to it. So if you are trying to write a story and get it published, follow my journey as I plow through the jungle to the other side to emerge a published author. It's the journey more than the destination that's important, right?