Writing Is A Decision-- by Naomi

You make decisions every single day. What to wear, what to eat, what to say, and (especially what I'm talking about today) what you do.

Some things, like school, work, chores, and the like aren't exactly optional. What you do in your spare time is, though.

What I usually do in my spare time varies, sometimes. I like to read, sometimes I write blog posts, and sometimes I write. :)

It's not always easy to sit down and force yourself to get in your 100 words, your 1 page, or whatever your daily goal is. Actually, it can be tiresome.

That's when you have to make the decision to write.

 

You don't become a writer when you go to your first conference, get 100 hundred likes on Facebook, or even when you get your first book published.

You become a writer when you decide to write. When you write Chapter One when you reach 30,000 words, when the voices in your head just won't stop pouring out onto the page.

 

Don't call yourself a writer.

 

Make the decision to be a writer.

 

 

Being Content Where You Are-- Naomi

Maybe you think this goes against what I posted last, about getting ready for later... but I think it kind of goes hand in hand.

Especially if are a writer, this may seem odd, but there advantages to not being published. I know, it may be hard to believe, but there are. Unpublished people (or maybe only me) will tell you that, published people will tell you that... there just is.

1. No dead lines.
Sure, probably most writers have given themselves a deadline. (I mean, it is NaNoWriMo, month of the sleepless writers, right?) but if you don't make it, oh well, it's only you-- and perhaps a few family members/friends who will be disappointed. If you miss a deadline when you have a contract? Well, I'm not speaking from experience here, but I know it's not good.

2. No pressure.
Whether you're self publishing or going the traditional route, there is going to be pressure. You need to do this, you need to do that, oh and you can't forget to write a blog post, what about those interview questions that need answering? and did you ever ask That Author for an endorsement? If you aren't in a contract, or on a personal self publishing deadline, you can do everything at your own pace.

3. No pressure of when your book to going to come out.
Once you get your first book out (Finally!) People are going to want the second one. Whether it's in a series or just a stand alone. People will want it. So while you are trying to have a normal life with school and/or work, spending time with family and friends, you also have to fit writing in (but that's okay, because you did it for the first book, right?) but also editing it, getting it to your agent/editor, and self promotion. And since you are (ideally) more popular now, you will be getting questions from fans.... like, "When is the next when coming out??"

I'm not trying to discourage you from wanting to be published, but now is a good time to enjoy where you are now. Trying to improve but also a good time to be content. (After all, Thanksgiving is coming up... :) )

So, try to improve with a smile on your face-- telling the world you're happy where you are. :)

(Here are some blog post's that I liked that kind of gave me the idea for this, Rachel Coker's Blog post or Tessa Hall's blog post.  Hope you enjoy them too!)

Things I'm Doing Now To Prepare For Then-- by Naomi

If you hadn't figured it out by now, I want to be a published author.

I love books.

I love writing.

Enough said, right?

Unfortunately, in the writing world, it takes more than a love of writing and a love of books to get you published.
Some things like, (1) Determination, (2) Patience, (3) Professionalism, (4) Grammar skills won't hurt, (5) Money, if you are going to a writers conference-- which I highly recommend but never done. I haven't got the money part yet. ;) (6) oh yeah, and don't forget to write either, AND (7) having an audience. No, you haven't gotten published yet, but, yes, having an audience is good.

If you have an audience now it means that right now have someone to sell your story too. It means you already are self promoting, it means you're already trying... you're already getting in practice for when you have a 'real' purpose for blogging/tweeting/self promoting.

The last few weeks I've been trying to do get better at self promoting. I get a twitter account (@naomihdowing), and I have a pinterest account (naomiwrites), and I have a Facebook page.

I use them now, (okay, not really my Facebook page yet) but I'm trying to get an audience because then when I am selling my book, whether to editors/agents or an actual paper back I can say, I have THIS many followers. :)

What are you doing to get prepared?

Do you have a love of love triangles?-- by Naomi

I feel like ever since Twilight became big, and then the Hunger Games after that, love triangles have become a big thing. (They may have been a big thing before I just didn't notice...) Anyway, I decided I would do a post on love triangles.

Regardless of whether you hate love triangles with a burning passion or love them to death, like anything, you can do them correctly or incorrectly. (Personally, I don't have a problem with love triangles, as long as they are done right.

Give both of the guys (or girls, I suppose, if it is written from the point of view of a guy) an equal chance.
Please, please, don't make one a completely jerk and the other a complete Prince Charming. They are characters just like every other characters and deserve the same amount of attention. They should have faults AND virtues. No one is completely perfect. Not even your characters.



I think Stephanie Morrill did a very good job with the love triangles in her book. They aren't the focus, but she still did them well enough to give them a personality of their own and let you (and Ellie) choose which one.
(On a side note, these are two of some of my favorite books, I highly recommend them.)

I have read a book, (that I don't want to spread bad publicity for) where it was obvious which guy was the 'Prince Charming', and I guess that can work... in some cases. Like he is trying to trick the girl into trusting him so he pretends to be everything she ever wanted... but then it plays a big part of the plot.

What do you think about love triangles? Do you love them? Have any examples of makes a good one?

Keep Your Series' Thrillng

Okay, so last week I talked about how you need to end your series or trilogies before you get obviously desperate. I finished with saying how I would talk about how to keep your series/trilogy interesting without getting desperate.... Honesty, I was stalling for time because I wasn't/am not sure exactly how to do that... I'll try to tell you though.

(Let me start off saying, I usually write stand-alones because I'm pretty paranoid about making it go on longer than it should...)
These examples are either ones that I like or ones I think they did something wrong.... and I'll explain, don't worry.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

The first book in the Hunger Games trilogy and, in my opinion, probably the best. Collins starts the trilogy out well, the goal is clear (and something we can support-- getting out of the Hunger Games alive), you have sympathy-- being stuck in an arena with twenty-three other kids? On the other hand though, Katniss does seem a little standoff-ish, but... no one is perfect.

BUT in the sequel Catching Fire.... that's another story.
In a nutshell, it was a filler. A filler that could've been better... a lot better.
First off, Katniss doesn't really have a goal. Besides trying to choose from Gale and Peeta and trying to get Peeta out of the Hunger Games.... But wasn't it pretty much done in the first book? If you look at right, Catching Fire (in the writer's world) was useless. (Still fun, and obviously made her a lot of money, but it is my least favorite of her books, and when I think about it, I almost feel cheated...)

The last one was also fun-- but sad because it was the last one.
(In all honesty, I haven't read this one in awhile, so forgive me if I have forgotten something major that you think should have been a big deal.)
It's the wrap up of the trilogy, but also has a story of it's own. Now that Katniss has joined the actually existing District 13, she can do what she already decided she wanted to do-- lead a rebellion.
Some people think that Collins killed off to many people in the Hunger Games, and if that isn't your cup of tea, then yes, she did. But to go along with her plot, people needed to die. As a writer, I no the decision of who/when/ or even if to kill can be difficult, but when you are writing about a war it is necessary. (at least if you want it to be realistic...)
Over all, Collins did a good job in grasping the readers attention and not letting go, and pulling them all the way through the stories.



In Jill Williamson's Blood of Kings or The Safe Lands books she did well to give each story it's own plot-- while carrying on the main story-- with no book just as a filler.

I guess the main point I'm trying to get across is-- If you have a story that can be told as a complete story while also carrying over some of the main plot for the other all trilogy, it will work.

In trilogies/series' you should have them all be connected by some plot points, but also be able to carry the attention span of the reader...

I hope this made sense, haha!
Have a great weekend!

Tips to Improve your Blog by Naomi

Today I am going to give you a few tips for improving your blog. (But feel free to ignore them, since some of them I don’t even follow on my blog naomiandbooks … I am trying to be better for this one though.)

Before you start a blog, maybe:
1.       Have a blog subject… you know, like a point for the blog. Whether it’s recipes, book reviews, home renovation tips…. Whatever it may be, have a plan.

I don’t have a plan for my blog. That’s why I sometimes have things titled, “An Updateon my life and Peanut Butter and Jelly”, that’s why I can blog about anything from caramel apples to Bible verses I like. That’s also why I sometimes only do one post a week, or even sometimes, not at all.
2.       Have a schedule. I don’t have a schedule. Which is another reason I don’t blog consistently, or always on the same day.

This you could figure out after you have a blog, but I’d feel like it would be easier if you didn’t.

If you already have a blog:

                Reply to comments. (This is something I actually usually try to do! )

                On one blog, it said to have picture because people are visual. I sometimes do this, but I think they kind of meant more than once a month…

                Once again, being consistent would be a good thing. (Though I did read you’re not really supposed to have two blog posts in one day. Dude, if I wrote two blog posts in one day, I wouldn’t waste one by putting it up the same day! Haha, you put it up a different day and you got two days taken care of. J )

                Editing and rereading your blog posts is probably a good idea… I usually don’t, as it is probably obvious, at least sometimes. I just view it as, “I just wrote this, I don’t want to read it!” J

Improving your Characters by Naomi

When writing, characters can be interesting. (Obviously when the book is already published they should be interesting, but while actually writing them.)

For the basic main character, at least what I try to do, is
(1) Give them a past
A characters past can be as small as remembering a sunset or as big as the main plot. For at least  two of my more recent stories the past was important. Plus, I think if they have a past it can help launch them into their goal, which leads me to...
(2) Give them a goal. I've wrote (and even read) some stories where the main character didn't have a goal... or at least it I didn't know what the goal was even after finishing the book...
If you don't give your characters a goal, what is the point of the story? What should make the reader keep reading?
The goal doesn't have to be saving the world, but he still needs one...

Last but not least....

(3) A somewhat happy ending.
It's okay if the main guy doesn't get the girl, as long as there is some piece of hope that maybe they'll end up together someday. But don't just kill off a character you've been spending the entire novel getting people to care about just to kill them off.... just because. They need a little bit of happiness...

What Not To Do For Marketing Your Book

First off, thank you for stopping by on the very first blog post of Writing to Inspire! I'm Naomi-- and you can learn more about me on the 'About Da Girls' page.

Today I'm going to talk about authors, and selling their book: What Not To Do

1. Please, please don't write a blog post begging me-- anyone!-- to buy your book.
Chances are, if I'm reading your blog I either want or have read your book. AND since my library kind of stinks, chances are-- I bought your book. On the slim chance I didn't buy your book, but have read it and liked it, I probably want too. (Brace yourself for this next sentence) I'm not exactly rich. Actually, at the time being, I don't even have a job, so.... You want me to buy your book? Give my $15 dollars and I will....

Now, I know authors only make money from their books, and only a small part of it, and not if they are being sold used from an individual. Still, no begging please...

2. Don't post 5 million times in a day, "Don't know what to read? Try *Book Title* next!" with a link to your book following.
Again, I probably want to or have read your book. And if I want, I won't forget it after the first couple....

I guess that's enough for now. :) (Translation: "All I can think of right now")