What's In A Name?

First I want to send out a big welcome to our new followers! I look forward to checking out each of your blogs. Now to today's topic: Choosing a book title can be a daunty and frustrating task for some writers. During a past #WritersRoad chat, we discussed book titles. It made me think long and hard on what is in a name and what a title is supposed to do.

Titles aren't typically something I stress over. If it doesn't come to me at the beginning of the novel then it usually hits me somewhere before the end. However, the last book I wrote was different. I couldn't think of anything so I settled on a temporary title. Now I fear I may be stuck with it and I don't like it. The fabulous people participating in the #WritersRoad chat gave me some excellent ideas on brainstorming titles though. Write your query letter or your one-sentence hook before the book is done~or even started if you like~it will help you get to the heart of the novel. In the heart of the novel usually lies the best title. That's my typical method.

One friend on #WritersRoad suggested reading through the dialogue of your novel. This sounds like a very refreshing idea to me. I've got to try it! Another suggested thinking about the emotions the novel elicites the strongest. Another suggested brainstorming several titles just in case the publisher decides to change it. Others suggested the title asking a question, making the reader curious, a play on words, the list went on. When in doubt I think I'm going to try them all! For great discussions on writing related topics, join us on Monday nights at 6pm PT at this link.

~Heather

Supporting Each Other

This last Monday on the #WritersRoad chat on Twitter we talked about keeping your spirits up while submitting or trying to get published in today’s industry. Anyone who has tried to break into publishing in the last few years knows how incredibly hard that can be. When talking about ways to keep our spirits up one topic kept reoccurring and that was, supporting each other.

Writing used to be a lonely profession but it doesn’t have to be anymore. There are so many wonderful writing communities online now that we never have to face anything alone again unless we choose to. Between Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, and all the others, you are bound to find someone to connect with and to share your journey with. All you have to do is reach out.

Supporting each other is a two-way street though, we can’t ever forget that. Paying it forward is very important in the writing communities, but we must do it with honest, good intentions~not because we expect something in return. Be there for your writing friends, talk with them, comment on their blogs when you can, critique for them when you can (constructively of course), and buy their books when the time comes. Good karma comes around and the friendships you’ll forge by supporting each other are worth every second of time spent on them.

~Heather

How To Finish Your Novel

As I approach the end of my first novel this year I'm getting a lot of questions on how I do it so I thought I'd share my secrets with you. Many of you already know I carry a notebook everywhere I go and write everything long hand first, then I enter it later in my computer. This gives me the freedom to be able to write anywhere, any time. I write on the way to work (don't worry, I car pool), I write on my breaks at work, and whenever I find a free moment at home. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve though.

First I set a big goal such as, finish this book in six months. Your goal doesn't have to have such a tight timeline but it should have a time that you plan to have the novel completed. After that I take a guess at how long I think my novel is going to be. Based on that I figure out how many pages I have to write a day to reach my goal in time. Those pages become my secondary goal. It's is usually three pages a day. Again, your goal doesn't have to be nearly that much. The important thing is that you have a goal.

There is a key to reaching your writing goals, something you must do otherwise you risk never reaching them. This won't be easy for many of you because it isn't within a writer's nature. Are you ready to commit to it? Okay, here it is: allow yourself to write a rough draft. If you try to perfect your novel every step of the way it will take years to write and the process with frustrate you nearly to death. Get that first draft done from start to finish without a single edit. I give you permission. Once you're finished with it you can go back and put it through the ringer, but you must write it first.

Join us this Thursday at 6:00pm PT on the #WritersRoad chat on Twitter to discuss the topic farther and to get that much needed support for finishing your novel!

~Heather

Balancing Setting & Action

A beautiful, descriptive paragraph draws me right into a book, but it isn't what keeps me reading. If a book is filled with paragraph after paragraph of setting description then I'll eventually get bored. There has to be action or tension of some kind that keeps me reading. Don't get me wrong, I love it when an author gives such a vivid description that I feel like I'm there, but even that can be over done. As writers we have to find the happy balance between action and describing the setting.

How much is too much? Any time you describe the setting the reader shouldn't feel like the action or tension has stopped. Instead, the setting should add to it and help propel the story. If your protagonist is feeling blue it might help to have it raining, or make the room they're in dark and dismal, if they're mad you could have a storm approaching or make the room chaotic and messy. Your character's environment will reflect them in some way because what they're feeling and going through will affect the way they see it. Contrast can also work for you if you do it right and have the character responding to how the environment is clashing with them.

Have fun with it, try a few writing prompts and try out setting and mood. Just remember, don't stop the flow of tension or action. The story must go on! As with everything in your book, if part of your setting description doesn't move the story forward or add to it in a necessary way, it isn't needed. Join us this Thursday, 6pm PT on Twitter for the #WritersRoad chat where we'll discuss this in depth.

~Heather