#AuthorToolboxBlogHop: NaNoWriMo Prep

I can't believe it's almost National Novel Writing Month... With a little less than two months left, it's time to start your NaNo Prep!!

How do I prepare?

I outline. I know some people believe that outlining is cheating, but I'm a firm believer that outlines can help keep you on track while blasting through 50,000 words. 

I make a writing soundtrack. I can't write in silence or while watching TV, but I can write while listening to music. In fact, sometimes music can be a huge inspiration. Music has helped me fine-tune the emotion and the depth of each scene.

I decide on my daily word counts. NaNoWriMo happens during my birthday month and the holidays, so I make realistic word goals based on the days that I won't be able to write as much.

Here are some links from my previous blog posts:

Inspiration

Advice From Authors for Authors
Writing Prompts

I wish you all nothing but luck and endless creative inspiration this National Novel Writing Month!!

To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join, click here.

#AuthorToolboxBlogHop: Writing in the Lazy Days of Summer

I don't know about you, but writing in the summer can sometimes feel like a daunting task. Summer is a time to be outside and to be a little lazier than usual, or so my tired mind tries to convince me. Not that summer can't be an amazing source of inspiration, summer adventures and beautiful sunsets can end up being the perfect set up for your story.

BUT... what do you do when you feel the lazy days calling for you?

1. Answer the call. Take a short break. Let your vacation be a real vacation (though make sure to pack a small notebook in case you get inspired.) I am a big proponent of writing every day, but if you feel like your writing is suffering, take a couple days off. Honestly, you might come back recharged and ready to knock out that plot you've been working on forever.

2. Take your work outside. I love my laptop because of its portability. But I also travel with a small notebook and sometime writing by hand is the best. A change of scenery might be the thing you needed all along.

3. Listen to music. Sometimes the perfect song comes along and sets the tone for a scene. Bands/Artists that have been my inspiration lately are: The Strumbellas, The 1975, The Moth and The Flame, Billie Eilish, Amy Shark, Young the Giant, and The Matthew Good Band. Make a soundtrack for your story. It's fun and can keep you on track.

4. Schedule a time each day for writing and stick to it. Lock yourself in your office or living room or bedroom or wherever you write and just do it. Just write. Make it a habit and stick to it.

Summer is a hard to time stay motivated. There is so much to do and so many adventures to be had before you get trapped indoors by winter. So definitely enjoy it and soak it all in, it just may be what inspires your next story.

To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join, click here.

#AuthorToolboxBlogHop: Opening Sentences

The first sentence in your story is pretty important. The literary canon is full of books with memorable opening lines.

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul." —Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." —Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

 "It was a pleasure to burn."—Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

 "All this happened, more or less."—Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

"Call me Ishmael." —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick 

"If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book." - Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning

"I'm pretty much fucked." - Andy Weir, The Martian

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

What do those opening lines all have in common? For me, it's that they hook you and make you want to know more. Why is the MC of The Martian fucked? What happened in the Slaughterhouse-Five and what didn't? These lines made me want to read more.

So, when you're writing your story, think about your first line and how it is drawing your reader in. Is it interesting? Thought provoking? Does it ask a question that demands an answer? Does it make a reader want to know what happened? Is is shocking? Is it honest? Whatever it is, it should give your reader a reason to continue diving into the world you created.

Good luck on all of your writing ventures!

To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join, click here.

#AuthorToolboxBlogHop: Knowing Your Limitations

For this month’s #AuthorToolboxBlogHop I’m going to talk about knowing your limitation as a writer.

I had a friend read a few chapters of my WIP and while she liked it, she was also kind of upset that my main character was a straight white girl. My cast of characters is pretty diverse. My main character lives with her aunt. Her aunt is married to a black woman who has a son from a previous marriage that the main character loves like a brother. None of those characters were just written that way, they evolved as I wrote them. She would like me to make the main character a bisexual woman of color. 

I do not agree with her.

Not because I don’t think a bisexual woman of color deserves to have her story told, but because I am not the person to tell her story.

I am not bisexual, gay or questioning. I’m not a woman of color. I know that I write best from personal experience and that I wouldn’t be able to do her story any justice. I know I could research and I could interview people but I know my limitations as a writer.

Now, I am not saying that a writer can’t write outside of their experience. That would be stupid and dangerous. I mean, To Kill a Mockingbird would have never been written if Harper Lee didn’t feel capable. 

What I am saying is that I don’t feel like I am the one to write that story, especially with the story I am working on.

Someday I might be able to write a story with a person of color who is questioning their sexuality at the center of it, but not now. I know I am not ready and I know I not the writer to write that story.

To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join, click here.

#AuthorToolboxBlogHop: NaNoWriMo

Unfortunately I will not be participating in this year's National Novel Writing Month. My November is so packed that I will be lucky if I get any writing done during the month. But I wanted to let you guys know that I am still here for you if you are participating.

Here are some links to previous blogs of mine about NaNoWriMo:

Inspiration
Advice From Authors for Authors
Writing Prompts

There are more if you want to check them out, they were posted in October of 2016.

I am a writer who needs a soundtrack for my book. So, I thought I would share my current novel's soundtrack to maybe help give some inspiration.

1. Perfect Places by Lorde
2. Sometime Around Midnight by The Airborne Toxic
3. Pork Soda by the Glass Animals
4. Everything Now by Arcade Fire
5. Autumn Leaves by Ed Sheeran
6. Believer by Imagine Dragons
7. This is Gospel by Panic! At the Disco
8. Don't Take the Money by Bleachers
9. So Close by Andrew McMahon
10. Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks
11. Rest in Pieces by Saliva
12. Falls on Me by Fuel
13. Shovels and Dirt by the Strumbellas

I hope my soundtrack and my previous posts help give you some inspiration for NaNoWriMo. Also, check back here during November for a book review or two!

Good luck and happy holidays my fellow Author Toolbox Blog Hoppers!

To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join, click here.

Said is NOT Dead (#AuthorToolboxBlogHop)

"All that I ask is that you do as well as you can, and remember that, while to write adverbs is human, to write he said or she said is divine." - Stephen King

The purpose of a dialog tag (according to me) is to help a reader determine when someone is speaking and who is speaking. As a story goes along and the reader gets to know your characters, dialog tags become less important. Why? Because readers can be lazy and tend to skim over things that seem unimportant. 

So, for something that most readers tend to ignore, why have writers started avoiding "said" like the plague?

I am not 100% sure why, but I have a feeling it has to do with English teachers trying to enhance their students' vocabularies. If you do a simple Google search for "said is dead" 100s, if not 1000s, of worksheets pull up with "said" substitutes. Some of the substitutes make sense and others make for immature or clumsy writing.

Substitutes That Make Sense 

• Yelled
• Mumbled
• Stammered
• Pleaded
• Responded

Substitutes That Confuse Me

• Laughed
• Grinned
• Bawled
• Faltered
• Breathed

For me, the ones that make sense work because they indicated how the sentence is being said (though this could also be done with appropriate context clues in the dialog and scene.) The ones that confuse me just don't make sense. "Hello," he grinned makes ZERO sense. Why? Because grinning isn't speaking. "Hello," he said with a grin on his face/ while grinning, makes more sense. Whenever I read a story full of awkward ways to say said, I end up falling out of the story and wind up distracted.

I also find myself distracted when a writer uses too many adverbs after said/dialog tag. He yelled loudly (the fact that he is yelling should be enough to indicate that he was being loud.) She said sadly (again, context clues within the scene and dialog should alert the reader to how things are being said while also allowing the reader to use their imagination.)

So, when should you use something other than said? When it is organic, natural, and most importantly, when you're not using the other word just to avoid using said. 

To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join, click here.

LIEBSTER NOMINATION!

Thank you Hoda for the Liebster nomination. Your blog is full of inspiration and amazing advice. I definitely recommend following her blog!!

The 11 questions from the nomination are:

1. If you were stranded on an island, what three books would you want to have with you?: The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
2. What’s your favourite food?: Popcorn
3. You can have dinner with one person – dead or alive – who would you choose?: This is a hard one. Honestly, President Barack Obama. I have so much respect for him. He held his head high when so many tried to tear him down. I would love to have a beer with him and to talk to him.
4. What’s your favourite travel destination and why?:  I love Table Rock Lake in Kimberling City, Missouri. It is a relaxing place that is far enough away from my home to be a get away but close enough for it to be a weekend trip. Table Rock Lake is a calm lake that is clean and family friendly. 
5. If you could be best friends with any fictional character, who would it be?: Minerva McGonagall 
6. Sweet or sour?: Sour
7. Plotter or pantser?: Plotter with a hint of pantser.
8. Give a tip for anyone struggling with writer’s block: Listen to music while taking a walk (make sure to take something to write down any ideas that come to you during the walk.)
9. Give a tip for anyone thinking about starting a blog: Just do it. I promise it will be worth it. 
10. What’s the best book you read in 2017?: The Black Witch by Laurie Forest
11. What book are you most looking forward to reading in 2017?: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Now I’m going to pay it forward by nominating other bloggers for the Liebster Award.

Liebster Award Rules and Nominees:
Rule 1: Thank the person who nominated you for the award.
Rule 2: Answer the 11 questions the person asked you.
Rule 3: Nominate 5-11 people (comment on their blog to let them know)
Rule 4: Ask the people you have nominated 11 questions.

Below are my nominees and my questions.

1. https://lyndseyhallblog.wordpress.com 
2. http://www.lindseyfrydman.com/blog
3. https://carolienacabada.com/blog/
4. http://mcfrye.com
5. http://www.thedabbler.ca

Questions:

1. What is your favorite word and why?
2. Where is your favorite place to read/write?
3. If your blog had a playlist what song would it have to include?
4. What is the next book you plan on buying?
5. What is your favorite quote?
6. If you could hang out with one author (dead or alive) who would it be?
7. What inspired you to start writing?
8. What would you choose for your last meal?
9. If one author could critique and comment your writing, who would it be?
10. What do you most admire about yourself?
11. Where can your readers find you on social media?

Location is Everything: #AuthorToolboxBlogHop

Kansas City Skyline (Photo: Vanessa M Scott)

Whether your story takes place in a generic suburb in a "make believe" town or in a well known city like New York City, London or Cairo, you have to make it believable.

If you choose a real world location, I find it best to be a city or place you have actually been to. Why? Because researching a location via the internet, other books or movies is not a substitute for the real thing. I can always tell when a writer has written a story that takes place in NYC based solely on what they have seen in the movies or on television. The story typically lacks the small details that bring a location to life and tends to focus on places that locals tend to avoid like Time Square (unless they work near there) and other famous tourist spots. 

That is why I tend to write stories that take place in my hometown of Kansas City. Kansas City has a lot to offer when it came to range. There is downtown, midtown, and multiple suburbs, along with great hiking trails, scenic parks, and a river. The city offers unlimited possibilities for telling an authentic story for almost any plot.

As for a fictional location, you can get away with quite a bit more and if you want to attach it to the real world, all you have to do is mention that the nearest hospital/shopping center/concert venue is an hour or two away in Berlin/London/Portland. 

Why is location so important?

Your story's setting and location help determine many factors that will ultimately shape your plot. Take my chosen location of Kansas City for example, my characters won't ever take the subway/train to work and will most likely have their own car because Kansas City is too spread out to walk everywhere. Kansas City has all four seasons (though this is becoming less true each year, I really miss a full blown spring and autumn) so I have to make sure that when I write an outdoor scene in January that my characters are dressed appropriately. I should also take into consideration local slang and diction when writing dialog. Imagine reading a story that takes place in the UK but the dialog is completely American, it doesn't make sense. 

So, when choosing your story's location, make sure it is something you can make feel real. There is nothing more satisfying than a story that I can get completely lost in without being distracted by a setting that doesn't make sense for the story being told.

To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join, click here.

Names Have Power - #AuthorToolboxBlogHop

"Names have power." - Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief

You have to be careful when naming your characters. You have to consider the genre, the time period, and where the story takes place.

If you are writing a story about Mary, Queen of Scots (and your story isn't about time travel) who lived during the 1500s then I would stay away from names that have only recently became names. Even my name, Vanessa, would not be appropriate. Vanessa wasn't a thing until 1700s when Jonathan Swift invented it. 

You also have to think about where your story takes place. Some places, like the United States, gives you more leeway when picking names. But if your story takes place is small town in the Ukraine, you aren't likely to find a Nevaeh there, but maybe a Viktoria or a Sofia.

You should also be consistent with nicknames. If you have a character named Gregory who prefers to go by Greg, make sure he only goes by Gregory in formal encounters or only have one friend/family member who calls him by his full name. 

As a writer, I try to avoid using names that are too similar by both spelling and sound. Readers don't always fully read words. If you have characters names Laurie and Lauren, readers might confuse the two. Same goes with Tim and Tom. Also, have two characters with the same name, even if spelt differently can be awfully confusing. 

I would also be careful when naming based on ethnicity and looks alone. If you are going to name a character based on their heritage make sure you do some research. Do not be like E.L. James and be so lazy that you name the two characters go color in your book the same thing. In Fifty Shades of Grey, James named her characters of hispanic decent Jose Rodriguez, Jr. and Sr. It's lazy and rude. It would only work if there was a reason behind it, but as I recall, James never stated one.

When I name characters I tend to avoid names in the top 50 to 100. But if I love a name, I don't care if it's very popular though I rarely love popular names.  I also avoid names with heavy connotation. Beyonce will immediately make people think of the singer. Elvis, Madonna, Hitler, Kanye... those names can turn your characters into caricatures. 

So, where should you look for names for your characters? I keep a running list of names in my writing journals. I also look through phonebooks, baby books, yearbooks, and name generators. I write down my favorite names from my favorite television shows. 

What advice do you have for naming characters? Please share in the comments!!

To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join, click here.

Building Block: The Five Bones (#AuthorToolboxBlogHop)

During my time at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, I had a professor who taught me something he called, "The Five Bones." Basically, it's a way to get to know your characters, particularly your main protagonist. 

What are "The Five Bones?" They are the things that make your character tick. "The Five Bones" are what makes your character who they are. When Professor Pritchett first told me about his building block theory, I thought it was crap. But I found myself using it in order to better understand my characters. Using "The Five Bones"has really added a depth to my story that wasn't there previously. 

And here are "The Five Bones"

1. Desire - This is what your character wants now and will want five years now. It is one of the things that drives them.
2. Fear - This is what terrifies your character and again, will terrify them five years from now. It also is one of the things that drives them.
3. Strength - This is what will help your character accomplish their desire.
4. Weakness - This is your character's suffering. It is the thing which will stand in the way of your character fulfilling their desire.
5. Action - This is what your character is doing about the other four bones. This is what defines your character. This is what makes your character lovable, relatable, and revered. 

This building block technique has helped me give purpose to aimless characters. It has helped me discover what exactly my character needed to be doing in order for my story to feel complete. I say, give it a try. Use it to outline, at least, your protagonist and antagonist. See if it helps you get out of writer's block.

Let me know if "The Five Bones" works for you in the comments! 

Have a great week everyone!!

To continue hopping through other great blogs in the monthly #AuthorToolboxBlogHop or to join, click here.

The Importance of Word Choice

Have you every read a short story or a book that felt off? The story itself was good but something just didn’t feel right. There is a good chance that it was poor word choice that was throwing you off.

The way I see it, one of the most important things a writer can focus on is word choice. Especially when it comes to dialog. Dialog can make or break a story. As a writer I need to know when to have a character say “hello” versus having a character say “hey.” I need to know the connotation behind words, particularly if I am writing a period piece or a story taking place in a certain country (if the story takes place in the US but a character had just moved there from London, it would be a smart choice to have the character use British slang versus having them use American slang.) 

Along with good word choice, I find that my favorite writers aren’t afraid to use “colorful” language. They use cuss words and content appropriate slang. It’s kind of sad that I feel the need to mention this, but Americans are extremely weird when it comes to language. The word “fuck” will have some of them up in arms and they will act like you’re obscene idiot for using the word, but they have no problem watching something extremely violent as long the language isn’t too filthy (PG-13 movies.) 

Why is using colorful language important to me? Because it makes your characters easier to relate to. Think about Fifty Shades of Grey, it’s hard for to me to take it seriously because of the language that the characters use, whether in dialog or their head. The main protagonist is 22 and calls her vagina “my sex.” She says “holy crap” and “double crap” way more than most adult women do. The only Latino in the books says “dios mios” almost every time he appears. (Basically, you should read Fifty Shades of Grey as “what not to do” example.) It’s all good to have a character who has a tagline, but to have them repeat the same words over and over feels cheap and lazy.

So, when you’re writing your next story or editing your current story, please look at your choice of words. Did you make sure the language made sense? Did you make productive choices? If a sentence doesn’t sound right, try changing a word or two and see if that helps.

I hope this helps you in your writing. Please let me know if you have any word choice tips or advice!

Next week’s blog will discuss getting a job that allows you to use your degree. I would like to give a shout out to my great friend, Lori, for the idea!

Change: A Story Needs It

Last week I ranted about the changes that I am currently going through and I promised to share how one could use that change in their writing.

Well, how do you use what you’re going through in your life in your writing?

1. Keep a journal. Writing about your feelings about things as you are feeling them is the best way to capture the emotions in a raw way. 
2. Use that journal to help mold your characters. It is much easier to write a realistic emotional scene if you know you how that emotion actually feels. For example, if you have ever moved and felt said about it, you will know exactly how to have your character emote that without it being over the top or unrealistic.
3. The changes in your life, no matter how small, can be used as inspiration for your story. Maybe you have a character that feels like their life is piling up on them but it feels off to have everything be a major issue. I hate it when I read stories about people who literally have every bad thing you can imagine happen to them. So, if you have a character who has gone through a series of bad things (they got into a car wreck and lost their job in the same day) using a small change could be the best way to set the character off (like their favorite snack being taken off the market or even going to. different restaurant than their usual for a birthday dinner.) I feel like making the tipping point something small makes the situation for realistic. 

Why do I feel that way? Why wouldn’t it be something major that sets a character off?

When I think about my own life, I was fine with moving and getting a new job, but it was spending a holiday (Valentine’s Day, a day I don't even care about) in our temporary living space that made me cry. With everything changing around me, I couldn’t help but long for something to stay the same. I feel like that tends to be the case with most people. Most people say that big change freaks them out when it’s really the little things that get to them. For example, moving is a big change and while it is normally not a bad thing, a lot of people hate it. I don’t think they hate it because they don’t want a change of scenery, but because of the little things that will be different (you might have to use a different grocery chain, your bedroom might be set up differently, but mostly, it’s just not the same.)

Why is using your experience with change important in your writing?

Because you have no story without change. If your character’s life is the same from beginning to end, if there is no change, no growth, then you didn’t tell a story.

I hope this helps you harness your own experiences and using them in your writing. Next week I will talk about words and why word choice is extremely important.