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By Charity Bradford, @charitybradford
Part of The Indie Author Series
JH: Being an indie author can be a wonderful experience, but like every job, sometimes you just want to throw in the towel. Charity Bradford returns to the lecture hall today with tips on understanding what's getting your down.
Charity Bradford has been a voracious reader ever since her 5th grade teacher introduced her to the world of books with
Where the Red Fern Grows. She soon became kindred spirits with Anne Shirley and got lost in the worlds of Card, McCaffrey, Bradbury, and Nagata. By college, she was sewing her own Starfleet uniform and developing her alter-ego as a comic book sidekick. She lives in Northwest Arkansas with her hubby and four kids. Some of her guilty pleasures include binge watching Doctor Who and Ancient Aliens. Charity also writes clean contemporary romance under the name River Ford.
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Take it away Charity…
By Laurence MacNaughton, @LMacNaughton
Part of the How They Do It Series
JH: Character change can be a vital part of a novel, even if it's a gung-ho plot-driven story. Laurence MacNaughton shares how to craft a compelling character arc in four easy steps.
I'll let you in on a secret: readers want your character to change.
They know, deep down, that your character is unhappy with the status quo at the beginning of your book. Something is terribly wrong in your character's life, and things can't keep going on this way. Something's got to give. Readers fervently hope that your character will rise to the challenge and become a better, happier person.
In other words, what your readers want is a character arc. But how do you create one? Believe it or not, there is an easy way. Here's how to create an arc in any story.
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
Just a reminder that the amazing
Advent Calendar for Writers is still chugging away. 14 days of prizes, folks, and you can enter the drawings for all of them if you want.
What the Heck Is an Advent Calendar for Writers?
You know those Advent Calendars that have a delicious chocolate behind each window, counting down to Christmas? Well, it’s like that, only more helpful and less fattening.
Every day from December 1st to December 14th Angela and Becca over at Writers Helping Writers will provide a link to a giveaway just for writers. You click the link, opening the daily “window” and boom, there will be something fabulous you could win. Things such as…
By Lisa Lowe Stauffer, @LisaLStauffer
Part of The Writer's Life Series
JH: Finding an agent is almost as challenging (if not more so) than finding a publisher for your manuscript. Lisa Lowe Stauffer visits the lecture hall today with tips on how to make the most of your agent search.
Lisa Lowe Stauffer, author of
Two By Two (Zonderkidz, 2018). She stays busy writing books for children and teens, volunteering with SCBWI as the Assistant Regional Adviser to Southern Breeze region, and traveling with her own red-headed husband.
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Take it away Lisa…
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
I'm up against a deadline this month to get a manuscript finished, so I'm dipping into the archives again and updating a reader favorite. Enjoy!
A great plot twist is a wonderful thing, be it in the books we write or the ones we read. We revel is that unexpected event or revelation that changes everything we thought we knew and takes the story to a whole new level. We delight in those surprises that make us think, "wow, that was awesome. I never saw that coming."
Trouble is, knowing you
want a plot twist is a lot easier than coming up with a good one. There's no formula for devising a great twist, because every plot is different and any number of things can work in a novel.
My trick for twisting my plot is pretty simple:
By Spencer Ellsworth, @spencimus
Part of The How They Do It Series
JH: Unless you've been lucky enough to find your perfect writing process, odds are anything that might help you be more productive piques your interest. Spencer Ellsworth visits the lecture hall today with a different way to write that uses both plotter and pantser brains.
Spencer Ellsworth has been writing since he learned how. He is the author of
The Great Faerie Strike, a tale of the Otherworld’s first labor union, from Broken Eye Books. He is also the author of the space opera
Starfire Trilogy from Tor, and many other short works. He lives in Bellingham, WA, with his wife and three children, works at a small tribal college, and would really like a war mammoth, please.
Take it away Spencer…
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
It’s the season of giving, so I've partnered up with Writers Helping Writers and One Stop for Writers to bring you a
PRIZE-PACKED Advent Calendar for Writers. And when I say prize packed, I’m talking over $2600 in prizes to be won!
Each day between December 1st and December 14th, a new Advent Calendar Window is available to be opened by you, and behind it? A giveaway for a prize that will greatly help you and your writing career.
By Sherry Howard, @SherLHoward
Part of The Writer's Life Series
JH: Work-for-hire isn't for everyone, but for some writers, it's a great way to get your work in front of readers and make some money. Sherry Howard is back again this month with tips and advice on being a work-for-hire author.
Sherry Howard lives in Middletown, Kentucky, in a household busy with kids and pets. She worked as an educator, and now has the luxury of writing full time. Her debut picture book,
Rock and Roll Woods, released in October, 2018. And her middle grade NF,
Deep Sea Divers, just released. She has more books in the pipeline for publication soon.
Sherry loves to meet other readers and writers, so be in touch on social media here:
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Take it away Sherry…
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
The #1 thing you can do to improve your writing today
Is your book lacking that…oomph? Maybe your characters aren’t as engaging as they could be. Maybe your dialogue is feeling a bit stiff. Or maybe there’s something wrong with your plot that you can’t quite put your finger on, but you know it’s there.
Just in time for the holiday season, the guys over at InfoStack have created
another writing bundle, and this time it's all about craft. Oh, it makes a fantastic holiday gift for your fellow writing pals, too.
The Writer’s Craft Super Stack is a complete digital collection of tools, training, and resources to help you create captivating worlds, memorable characters, page-turning dialogue, and more.
By Bonnie Randall
Part of the How They Do It Series
JH: Character names and novel titles. Some writers can pull great ones out of the air, but for the rest of us...it's a struggle every time. Bonnie Randall shares thoughts on finding the right names for your novel.
Every writer has at least one hurdle that confronts their creativity. I happen to have two:
1. What’s in A Name?
A lot, actually. Names are as crucial to characters as setting is to plot. Sometimes, when I am very lucky, a character will waltz onto the stage of my imagination with his or her first and last name as clear as their plot, darkest hour, and denouement. Most times, though, I have nameless heroes and equally blank villains, and I will struggle through the process of creating a birth certificate that somehow echoes the plot, will be pleasing to the ear of the reader, does not step outside the boundaries of the era his or her story takes place in, and is also unique or meaningful enough that the name will be that character forevermore for the reader who connects with that story.
