Tag Archives: writing tips

An Amusing Writing Technique (Characterization)

Tips November 4, 2017 Leave a comment

Hello, ladies and gents!

Here’s the fun writing technique I promised you a few days ago: the characters’ letters to you.

It is that forthright, I’m not joking.

I was inspired to try such a technique after reading the chapter entitled ”Out from the Dust: Creating Characters” from Colum McCann’s Letters to a Young Writer.

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The author recommends we write a letter to each of our MCs (protagonists and antagonists) asking them ”Why don’t I know you?”. A loud bell resounded in my mind.

Indeed, what if I had a go at that seemingly amusing technique? I was in a tight spot where I needed to get closer to my characters in my Heaven’s Army series (particularly Hope, Fesdriel, Anick and Lucifer). Otherwise, I would continue to be stuck and just plain forsake writing their story. Plus, it sounded too fun to miss out on such an attempt.

So, I sat down with a pen and a sheet of paper and I asked that question (”Why don’t I know you?”) to Hope, my MC. I kid you not my hand moved almost on its own;  there were so many words in my head and they all needed to be put on the page! In less than two paragraphs I’d already learned three things I didn’t know about him!

It was riveting and fascinating!

But wait: it gets even better. Yes!

I wondered with alarm if this would help me with Lucifer… I was afraid yet curious. I’d never been close to my Lucifer for diverse reasons (notably because I’m quite a believer, so it doesn’t sit well with me… but my book needs him so I do too!). In other words, I never bonded with him like with my other characters. Does that make sense? Anyhow, I told myself the best thing I had to do was at least try.

Nothing came at first.

A week passed… Then, at midnight right when NaNoWriMo began, I swear to God the answers to my questions for Lucifer flooded me!

Overwhelmed, I couldn’t even think straight or do anything (like write Nightshade: The Death Stone, my NaNo novel this year). Thus, I opened K.M. Weiland’s Outlining software (amazing, by the way!) and clicked on Lucifer’s interview page (which was blank), then the magic happened.

I asked him three questions.

Cross my heart and hope to die but he answered all of them in a fierce and genuine manner. It was so beautiful I could have cried with glee. For once, I was connecting with that important character! Now, I have material to work with and I understand him much better (it’s still scary, but so fun!).

Break away and it. Break the mold and cross that fourth wall. Ask them on paper as though they were in front of you – or that you were them talking to you – and let their answers flow.

It’ll be worth your time. You might not use everything, but I assure you that you’ll know them in better details and perhaps look at them in another light. Either way, you’ll win.

Why not try that writing technique after all?

Go on, have fun and let me know in the comments how it went for you!

I’d love to hear your experience, dears.

See you next post!

 

Get On the Apps Train, Girl!

chit-chatting with Cat May 24, 2017 Leave a comment

Hello, folks!

I’ve had quite an exceptional week (birthday and all)! However, that’s not what I’m here for today. No, in fact, it’s because I stumbled into the Android apps world and… I just can’t get out!

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « help gif »

You see, I used to have 1G of Internet downloads per month, so I couldn’t really download nor use apps (I could only check my email addresses once in a while). But ever since I switched to 2G per month, my horizon has broadened!

Guess what I found? WRITING APPS! I swear I didn’t know they even existed. So, you can imagine me squealing like a little girl – in reality, I was bouncing on the spot.

Of course, I downloaded the essential ones (Audible, Audiobooks, Celtx, Wattpad, and Ao3). Unfortunately, there isn’t a Scrivener app for Android. Yet. I’m looking at you, creators of Scrivener.

Also, I downloaded a writing prompts app (simply called Writing Prompts – quite original if you ask me…) and an actual story-building and writing app called World Scribe. I thought: ”Hey! I could give them a try and write reviews on my blog in order to help other writers/authors!”

It’s exactly what I’ll do.

Stay tuned for my next post about those two writing apps!

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « see you soon gif »

(Because I just love the Hunger Games, okay? ;))

Plot vs Story: What Is the Big Difference?

Tips March 4, 2017 Comments: 7

Hello, gals and guys!

Today, we’re going to tackle the confusing ”plot vs story” question.

plot-vs-story

Indeed! Why can’t they be used interchangeably?

I’ve been taking a writing class on Skillshare this week and finally came to learn the answer. The difference is so big, yet we never really hear about it. We keep on using plot when we mean story and story when we mean plot. I figured I’d share this information with you because I kept wondering why the heck were they different. Isn’t that all just the same thing?

No, it’s not. One might think that they differ subtly, yet it’s far from the truth. In fact, it is quite clear.

Plot is actually the physical action of your novel. Let’s use my novel Nightshade:The Death Stone as an example. Rosellia, the main character, travels to different dimensions (this is physical), then she is kidnapped (again, it’s physical), and saved by the Nightshade (physical). This has nothing to do with how she feels about all this. Plot is that: action. It’s what happens to your character in terms of events and situations.

As for the story, it is simply the contrary. Rosellia’s emotions and feelings towards the events happening to her and her growth as a character are what make the story. Story is emotions. Her relationship with herself? Story. With others? Story.

Story is emotions and feelings whereas plot is physical (action).

Don’t we just feel better knowing the big difference?

I sure do!

Now it’s easier for me to understand whenever I read about one of those two important pieces of the creation of a novel. I hope it is easier for you too.

Do you still have any questions about plot or story?

You’re always welcome to leave a comment.

This Isn ‘ t a Writing Tip!

chit-chatting with Cat, Tips October 29, 2016 Leave a comment

Hello, everyone!

I know I'm a day late. I had university work to do, I'm sorry. Today's tip isn't much a writing tip per say, but more of a tip to manage your time to write. Do you know about bullet journaling? If not, trust me, it's worth it! Bullet journaling is cheap. You just need to get a blank-paged journal, number the pages, and date it monthly and daily.

Here's a short video (5 minutes) to show you what it is and how it works: Once you have your bullet journal, it's so easy to keep track of your tasks, events, and notes. I've been using it myself for the past week and gosh, I have never been this motivated to cross out a task! This also leaves you with a reasonable schedule in which to include some writing time. Thus, you can enjoy it and not be stressed about forgetting what tasks you have and whatnots.

Daily life can be exhausting and I wanted a way to keep track of everything including my writing AND university. This way I can do both instead of being upset all the time. Bullet journaling is the best method for task and time managing I have found! Although, this method is not bulletproof (oh, the pun!). What I mean by that is that you MUST fill in your daily and monthly logs, otherwise it will do you no good. But once you get the hang of it, it totally works.

So simple, yet so worth it (and fun)! Don't forget to decorate your bullet journal with pictures and stickers, or even drawings if you like! It makes it even more entertaining and unique.

What do you think of bullet journaling?

Do you want to try it out?  

This Isn’t a Writing Tip!

Tips October 29, 2016 Leave a comment

Hello, everyone!

I know I’m a day late. I had university work to do, I’m sorry. Today’s tip isn’t much a writing tip per say, but more of a tip to manage your time to write.

Do you know about bullet journaling?

If not, trust me, it’s worth it!

Bullet journaling is cheap. You just need to get a blank-paged journal, number the pages, and date it monthly and daily.

Here’s a short video (5 minutes) to show you what it is and how it works:

Once you have your bullet journal, it’s so easy to keep track of your tasks, events, and notes. I’ve been using it myself for the past week and gosh, I have never been this motivated to cross out a task! This also leaves you with a reasonable schedule in which to include some writing time. Thus, you can enjoy it and not be stressed about forgetting what tasks you have and whatnots. Daily life can be exhausting and I wanted a way to keep track of everything including my writing AND university. This way I can do both instead of being upset all the time. Bullet journaling is the best method for task and time managing I have found!

Although, this method is not bulletproof (oh, the pun!). What I mean by that is that you MUST fill in your daily and monthly logs, otherwise it will do you no good. But once you get the hang of it, it totally works.

So simple, yet so worth it (and fun)!

Don’t forget to decorate your bullet journal with pictures and stickers, or even drawings if you like! It makes it even more entertaining and unique.

What do you think of bullet journaling?

Do you want to try it out?

 

How to Choose the Right POV for Your Story

Tips October 22, 2016 Leave a comment

Hello, everyone!

Today, I’ll tackle a difficult topic for aspiring and experienced authors alike:

1

Are you excited? I am!

Let’s start with the basics. There are multiple points of views for you to choose; however, we’ll focus on making a decision between the third person omniscient, limited, and multiple and the first person points of views. Why? Because these four are the most used in novels (that I can see!). Also, they are my favorite, so I can talk about them.

But what are they?

The first person point of view is when we, the readers, experience the story through the character’s eyes. The character uses the pronouns ”I” and ”We” when describing things, people, and events to us. This is a hard one (but not impossible) to accomplish because the author needs to remove any proof of authorship, such as ”he said” and ”my eyes were gleaming with pride”. Why the second one? Simply because the character cannot see his/her own eyes! Unless they are staring at a mirror…

The third person limited point of view is when the narrator knows only what the character we are following knows. The narrator doesn’t give us much information besides what the (let’s call her ”main character”) main character can see, feel, touch, hear, and taste. For example, we cannot read about the other characters’ thoughts (unless the main character is psychic!) because they are out of the main character’s reach. This point of view uses ”he/she” to describe actions, characters, and events. It is also limited to only one character.

The third person omniscient point of view gives the narrator the right to use ”he/she” and to know everything about everyone and everything that’s happening in the story. The narrator is like God (or any deity of your choice), literally. It is infamous for being the ”lazy author’s point of view”, yet it is widely used in fiction.

The third person multiple point of view still uses ”he/she”, but the narrator can now switch between characters. The narrator’s challenge with this one is to make the switch obvious.

How to Choose

But how do you choose one point of view between so many possibilities? Here are my tips:

1- Trust your characters. Imagine them. Does one pop up the most? Does he/she have quite the personality? During the small exercise of imagining them, do you see glimpses of the story through their eyes or do you see your characters as though you were flying over them? If one character seems to always stand out and you have glimpses or scenes through their eyes, I’d say ”believe your character!” and go with that one using the first person point of view (like I did for Nightshade – Rosellia is so feisty!) OR the third person limited point of view. Now, how do you choose between those two? Simple: you write down a scene of your story using both points of views and you can decide which one you think suits the story the most. If you see the scenes or glimpses like you were a bird flying overhead and you know each and every character’s feelings and emotions, well, go with the third person omniscient point of view or the third person multiple point of view. The choice rests on your desire to use more characters more ”intimately” than just one.

2- Read different books with all those points of views. Then, you can settle on your favorite or use the one you think would benefit your story the most. You can also surf the Web to find short stories using those points of views.

3- Trust your guts. This one is a lot like trusting your characters, but this time it comes with the feeling you have inside you. Do you feel challenged enough to try first person or third person limited? Or do you prefer the good feeling using third person omniscient or multiple gives you? It all depends on how YOU feel about your story. What turns does it need to take? When imagining your story, do you see the road? Okay, it might be bumpy, but don’t care about that right now! Just focus on: a) is it going in different directions all the time? If so, try the third person multiple point of view.

b) does it play as though you’re a member of the audience? Try the third person omniscient point of view.

c) do you feel close to one character in particular? If so, can you see the road through their eyes or above their head? Try the first person and the third person limited points of view, respectively.

4- I know what I am going to say is scary, but it is useful as a last resort: tell your story to someone you trust, may it be a family member or a friend. But pay close attention to how you are telling it. If you keep on going back and forth between characters, it’s third person multiple. If you stick to one character only and focus on how they’re experiencing their journey, it’s first person point of view or third person limited (depending on which one suits your story the best!). Now, do you tell everything about everyone populating your story? If so, you have the third person omniscient point of view. The way you tell your story generally dictates how it needs to be written because it’s your subconscious’ means of telling you how you feel about it.

These were my personal tips (I use them in case the point of view didn’t jump at me when I first got the inspiration for my story, which it nearly always does). I hope they are helpful to you. If you also need help with confidence and self-esteem as an author, do click here for another writing tip.

Is it hard for you to find which point of view to use when starting a new story? If so, how come? If not, please do tell your way of making this crucial choice, I’d love to hear it!

 

 

Did You Know?

chit-chatting with Cat October 20, 2016 Leave a comment

Hello everyone!

Are you feeling good? I am.

Ideas are brewing.

What I mean with this is: surprises are coming your way!

A Freebie

Indeed, I am working on a free ebook for you, guys and gals. It will feature from 10 to 15 flash fiction. Moreover, I am putting some things in place for special events (I can’t tell you more yet!).

Vlogging: The One Question

I’ve thought about vlogging. Should I? What do you people think? Leave me a comment about it!

Where You Can Find Me

Also, you can now find me on Pinterest: click here

Your Writing Tip

Be at the ready for I will post another writing tip on Friday!

Trust me, you won’t want to miss it if you’re confused or torn about choosing the right POV for your story.

Meanwhile, you can read my last writing tip if you can’t wait for the next. Just click here. It’s about growing your self-esteem and confidence. I’m sure you can find something useful in it.

See you tomorrow!

 

The Woe of Self-Esteem and Confidence (And How to Beat It!)

Tips October 14, 2016 Comments: 4

Hello, everyone!

This week’s writing tip is all about self-esteem and confidence… two hard concepts to keep when they grace you with their magic. However, I have a tip and a real story to share with you about how to get confident and raise your level of self-esteem.

Ready? Let’s get started!

The hardest thing to do when one wishes to write is actually sitting down and writing something. But let me tell you that a) you will NEVER grow your confidence if you don’t write. At all. b) in order for your self-esteem to rise, you need to stop making excuses and find the time to write – you shall feel much better afterwards. You’ll see. It’s a step in the right direction.

I know, I know. Life is crazy fast. So how does one sit down to write when we have to wash the dishes, etc.?

The answer is as simple as it’s hard to apply:

Make writing your priority.

I kid you not. I’ve been reading how-to books on writing and they all say the same thing. Guess what? They’re right. I’ve been trying it the past few days and my NaNo Prep improved. 🙂 I am now into world-building. It’s quite impressive being at that point taking into consideration that I only had a concept for the story two weeks ago.

If you don’t make it your priority, you’ll feel bad and guilty for not writing, which is the exact opposite of how you should feel for your self-esteem to rise!

As for confidence, I have a little story to tell you:

This week, I wrote a flash fiction for a contest and posted it on Scribophile for reviews. For the second time in my life, I received a terribly negative review, which came as a shock to me (I’m not used to receiving poor feedback, my stories usually being great). I was hurt. Sincerely. My confidence in my writing took a step back… but then, something awesome happened. Three other people reviewed it afterwards. Their reviews were good and constructive. It made me feel better and more confident.

Moral of the story? Believe in what you can do and share it. If you don’t share it, how can you know people will actually like it? You can’t grow your confidence by keeping it a secret… Yes, sometimes it hurts like hell, but other times (and those are the important ones) it’s as sweet as honey and crucial (as they give you constructive reviews).

You see, confidence isn’t a straight line. It’s more like a roller coaster. Aim for the climb at the summit, though be aware there will be hurtful going down. When you’re at the top of the roller coaster, analyze what got you there. Then cherish it. Write it down, if necessary. This way, during rough times, you can look back at it and know how to work on your confidence.

Did you know that James Patterson, bestselling author of 76 novels, got rejected 31 times when he was starting out?! It’s not because a certain someone, professional or not, dislikes your writing, that it is bad. Other people will see something good in it; thrive on this! And improve what you can. It’s the only way you will grow your confidence. By sharing your work and becoming vulnerable.

It’s unpleasant, I know. But it’s worth it in the long run.

Self-esteem and confidence are friends of your writing and sharing. It comes hand in hand with them.

I wish you all the best with your writing. If you have questions about today’s tip, ask me in the comments below!

On this:

Just write!

 

The Big Six (Attracting Readers the Fun Way)

chit-chatting with Cat, Tips October 13, 2016 Comments: 4

Another blogger asked me an interesting question ”Which social media do I find to be the most valuable?” The answer to this requires a heavy load of text. Plus, I figured everyone could benefit from it!

I never talked to you about building an author platform and I think this is just the right time!

Here are the six main social media that I use:

WordPress

If you’re reading this, you probably know a lot about WordPress. It’s a site which makes blogging easy. But really, you can use any blogging site to build your author platform – what matters is that you have a blog. And regularly update it, may it be once a week, or thrice a day! Just don’t do like I did: I left for months before coming back. Fortunately, my followers were still there and understanding! Allelujah!

A blog is useful in your marketing plan because: 1-It costs nothing.

2- People are actually interested in what you have to say.

3- It helps you connect with your readers. Let’s say you’re writing fantasy, like me, well, by adding the ”fantasy” tag to your blog posts, it will attract fantasy readers. If they enjoy spending time on your blog (please, try to make it appealing), they’ll follow you. The more followers, the more chances you have of selling books. But really, the basic point here is to connect with them, know what they like, and offer them incentives or a glance at what you write.

Also, it lets you know that you’re not alone on your writing journey, and this, I think, is worth the hassle of keeping a blog. Regularly, remember.

Oh, I almost forgot: blogging enables you to get in touch with other authors, just like you! You can discuss, share tips, and all the good stuff. You can even help each other out.

In my opinion, this is the best social media tool there is.

Twitter

I’m not a huge fan of Twitter, but I’m learning to like it. It has its benefits. In less than 140 characters, you need to say something valuable. I use it primarily to let my followers know what I’m up to with my stories and novel, and entertain them. It can also be useful to link them to your blog posts because if they like what they see, you’ve got another blogger with you! At least, that’s what I do.

I try not to spam my followers with ads for my stories; I’m more the heart-felt type, so I’ll just pour my ideas out and ask for people’s opinions, and try to connect with them mostly.

Because seriously, who likes authors who keep sending automatic Tweets about their books in CAPITAL LETTERS? No fun.

Believe it or not, I’ve got more followers on Twitter than on WordPress. However, I’d say these two go hand-in-hand in terms of ”connecting with your readership”. 🙂 On one (the blog), you can post long messages and incentives while on the other (Twitter) you can directly jump into a conversation with them and let them know right on the spot how it’s going. It’s a pretty easy tool too.

Facebook

Facebook? Not so much for me. I never liked it nor saw its purpose. It’s just voyeurism to me. Oh well… I try and try to get people over there, but it’s not working so well. It looks like it hates me! Haha.

Anyways, it could be a good tool for the right person. There are ads that you can buy, you can get a Facebook author page and post daily information about the coming of your book, and such. Plus, you get a look inside your potential readers’ heads through their comments. When they comment, that is.

I’ll still be trying to revive my author page, but if you can make it work for you, awesome!

It’s just not my first choice (it’s actually pretty low in the list…).

P.S.: For some authors I know, Facebook works really well to share the links to their books, etc. It’s not because it doesn’t work for me that it won’t work for you.

All I have to say is: try it out. If after a few months, it doesn’t work, there are two reasons: it may not be for you or you’re doing something wrong.

Pinterest

Ah, Pinterest. My mom’s Website. She’s always surfing on it, which is a good thing because it proves how much people love the site! And if people do… you have to go where they are.

Pinterest is like a cardboard where you can ”pin” images and images with text that you love and for others to find. This being said, it’s quite useful to us, authors. But how? Simple: you create boards, let’s say ”Fantasy”, then you look up the words ”Fantasy” or ”Writing fantasy”, then you pin the results you find interesting into the board you just created!

Okay, it doesn’t allow much interaction with your readers, BUT it gives them tips and shows them you’re human too. That you like the same things as they do. You can also download the little ”Pinterest Toolbar” (sorry I don’t know much about it…) in order to pin stuff you find on the Internet. You can even pin your own blog posts (which I’ll learn to do)! Isn’t that amazing?

I’ll be frank with you. The first time around, I didn’t get Pinterest. I let my account die… But now I figured it’s growing in popularity, and if I want readers, I have to go and meet with them where they are now. Plus, I’m starting to find useful tips around here. :O

It’s a good site to experiment with and find helpful writing tips.

Goodreads

I love Goodreads! It’s two things at once: one, you have a reviewing site and virtual bookshelves, which is fantastic; two, there’s a free program for authors where you get to upgrade your account to an author one – you can thus fill in your author bio, chat with readers (actual readers!), share excerpts of your writing for them to get a taste of what you do, plan giveaways, and other cool stuff I am still exploring!

Sincerely, if you’re an author and you’re not on Goodreads, go make an account! Now!

P.S.: You can make a basic account and post excerpts of your writing, explaining in your bio that you are working on the first or umpteenth draft; this’ll gain you exposure and make it easier for you to find readers (they’ll already be there as your friends on Goodreads) once you upgrade (it’s free, remember?) to an author account.

It’s really worth it!

My Website

I have to tell you the hard truth: invest in a Website. It’s worth it. It might not be millions, but the investment will prove that you’re not an amateur. Because yes, people judge others by how they look (most of the time). If you go with free Website builders such as Wix, fine. But know that people will be think, for the most part, that you don’t even believe in your books enough to give them the proper Website they need.

Money is terrible. I know. But trust me on this one, you’ll look much more professional with a Website available. When pitching to agents or book bloggers, be aware that they’ll take you more seriously with a professional Website.

Of course, you can do well with a free service too… but I think you can never do ”great”. And great is what you want to achieve, right?

P.S.: It doesn’t even have to cost a lot of money. I looked for hours for the cheapest way to get a good-looking Website that suited my fancies… I found GoDaddy for the domain name and BlueHost as a hosting server. My package included a WordPress Website builder. It’s awesome.

Oh, also: I am NOT affiliated with them. These are just what I use, for real.

In conclusion, when you’re starting to build your author platform, I recommend using a blog (it doesn’t matter which service), Twitter, Goodreads, and a Website. It would also be a good idea to experiment with Pinterest. Remember, you’re early in the development, so it doesn’t matter much if you mess up with a button or not.

If you have questions, please feel free to ask me in the comments below!

I hope this has been helpful. 🙂

 

What Does It Sound Like?

chit-chatting with Cat, Tips October 11, 2015 Leave a comment

Hello, everyone !

I was looking for what to write today and I remembered something a kind reviewer on Writing.com told me a year ago. It was: ”If it sounds like writing, I re-write it.”

It’s a very good piece of advice.

Sometimes (mostly when I haven’t been writing for a few days), I find it difficult to get into the story mindset and find that everything I write is off the point. Well, this is exactly what the tip says: it sounds like writing! Thus, I have to re-write it better. It also works for blog posts and every kind of writing. Try it!

It’s been a long while I hadn’t heard such a good tip and I’m glad this person had told me. It gave me enough positivism to start back from where I left in my writing yesterday. Soon, my Thomas Lance’s background story is going to be ready, freshly re-written and polished. Thanks to those words, because I found my writing had lost its spark until this saying came back around in my mind.

Also, thanks to my mind for recalling it! Haha.

On this, I wish you all a very good day, and friends, remember: ”If it sounds like writing, re-write it.” 🙂 Because we all want a clean, polished, and smooth story to the eye and the mind.