Category: novel writing

Part 2 of my Novel Writing Posts: To Outline or not to Outline? Novel Planning….

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Now that you have the stuff to write a novel time to get to business. The next step is planning a story if you are an outliner. They can help you out if you get stuck. On the other hand it can help you with knowing where you are going with your story. I’m at the outline phase with some of my novels, and I do have some chapters written. The outline will help with character story, and plotting events that you want to happen. You can use it to get from point A to point B.

It can also hinder you especially when your story takes a different turn and it’s not the outline. It can happen especially when the story is strong enough to the point where it takes over your head. I know I’ve used some notes, and some of them happen when I write the actual draft. You can also use a bullet list to outline your story of events that happen, events you want to happen, and even beyond that book. I use notes more then a rigid outline since it works for me more then a straight up document. I also have them in several different notebooks since I write on the go which is not recommended. It’s not easy to keep track of them either. I do recommend keeping them all in one place. You can even keep separate notebooks for different aspects of your story if you want to plan the story world. You can have a separate one for characters, events in a certain book, world events, and the possibilities are endless. You can have certain aspects of your story on separate documents too. There are various character sheets to help you write down the basic stats for your character. I’ve filled out these before and it helped me come up with their story, and the events that will happen next. It’s a toss up since I love to outline and write a general page of what will happen in the story, and on the other it can change too depending on the story. It also depends on the novel since short stories and novellas really don’t need an outline. The longer novels do. There are even various books out there that have worksheets you can fill out to help you outline your novel. Writer’s Digest has a ton of information on using worksheets to outline your novel, and even Amazon has a ton of books that will help with it as well. It can also reduce the amount of time you spend writing and it will give you a clear idea of where you are headed next. As a way of outlining your story you can summarize it instead of using bullet points to hit the major events in you novel. You can use a map to outline by going chapter versus chapter. Free writing is also another way to help. Also once you outline and get on a roll it will be easy to outline the entire novel from start to finish. It can be hard though so you might want to break it down into chapters to make it easier on you.
All in all, whether you want to outline or not, it can help you with not getting stuck during the novel writing process. My last advice is do what makes you comfortable and above all have fun! This is just a rough draft, and not the final copy.

Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25

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How to Write a Novel Part 1:

A story by jessicasamuels25 on .

 

I have been writing for a while, and I have several novels under my belt at this point. I woke up this morning, and thought I should write a series of blog posts about it because I want to share my wisdom with others. I also want to have some fun with it since it’s the best job in the entire world. I never really fit in to the rest of the jobs, and forget being a doctor, lawyer, or nurse. I suck at math, and I’ve always been a writer since the first grade. I want to write about my experience with the entire process, and even write some posts about the books I’ve found on the subject of writing. I’ll even film Youtube videos about it too.

I have three days off a week till January 19th since this is the last day of the semester for me. I took my last final, and all I have left is to turn in a portfolio. I might even post some of my essays on my blog too.

This is part one and the first thing I talk about is the stuff you will need in order to even start writing a book. This is geared toward fiction by the way.

  1. Your imagination: This is essential since no one wants to read a boring book, and be sure to use it to use the what if scenarios.
  2. Pencil, Pen and Paper: You need something to write and type your ideas down, and if you have a pencil you can even erase things that are not working. Paper is useful too, and I first write by hand then type it up.
  3. Laptop needs a word processor or document writing software to save your work. You can also take this with you everywhere, and even useful to have while you are on a long boring trip. Laptops can be a place to type up your novel if you want to type it up instead of write it.
  4. Jump drive: If you are using a laptop then you want to back up your work in case something happens. There are free places to save it like Google Drive, ICloud, and Skydrive. Even Dropbox can work. It’s useful to have if you don’t own a personal computer or have to use a public place.
  5. A drink that includes caffeine, energy drinks, coffee, and sometimes alcohol. Whatever keeps you going to put pen to paper. Tea and soda can be used too. Just something to hydrate you while you are writing or typing.
  6. Passion: It’s not easy to write a book, and you do have to love what you are doing since it’s not easy. Believe me there are times when I wanted to say fuck it and stop. I didn’t and it’s what kept me going even in the face of rejection and everything else.
  7. A stable surface believe me you don’t want the pen or laptop flying everywhere.
  8. Snacks nothing kills the writing vibe more than being hungry. I can’t write when I’m starving either.
  9. Time: This is very important since it takes time to write a novel even if it’s ten minutes a day. If it’s something you love definitely make time for it.
  10. Notebooks: It’s so important to use since it keeps track of everything.

 

These are just some of the basics, and there is more to add to it. These are just ten of the things you will need to start out with. The next time I can talk about outlining some, and even give you some ideas of what to write about.

What else would you need to write a novel?

Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25

Updates and Mad Monday

A story by jessicasamuels25 on .

I have been very busy with work and school so much that this is one of the only days I can get without going to work and school. It was my birthday on the 25th, and I am one year older now. And for my birthday I got an early birthday present..An Ipad 1st generation. I traded in my 3ds and Ds XL for it all the games and accessories and a few xbox games I am not playing I paid a good amount under 200! I got it from Gamestop, and the device will get me through writing on the go and college! I am pretty happy with it, and I will do a review on it with the post for writers. I have been making progress on the retail novel still putting in changes…I have been busy with work and school, and rewrites have been slowly getting there. I have decided to do a blog post every monday called Mad Mondays where I write about the stuff that makes me mad because it would be a fun thing to do for the blog. I am done with a major fight scene, but it does need polishing I will work on it. Hopefully everything can be done by Christmas maybe? No promises since my life is nonstop busy, and now for a Mad Monday post.

Mad Monday: Topic: Driving..

One of the things that makes me mad is truck drivers, and I am talking about the situation that happened to me recently. I stopped at a stop light, and a young guy stops so close to me he will hit me if he gets hit from behind. I try to pull up to get some space and he fills in the gap by moving closer. It makes me so angry I honk at him, and yell at him when he moves up more. I mean really give me some space because if I get hit because of some moron stopping to close I am suing him, and he will be paying for my car too! Another driving related thing is not! reading the road signs like look around because there is an intersection that merges and there are several signs saying that, but people don’t listen especially if there is an accident they want to race ahead! I did not let some guy in because he did not read the signs and wanted to race ahead of the people stopping because there was an accident. Another thing is tailing I HATE that period it is so annoying if you are on the road and some jerk thinks it is funny to ride the car. Get off! If you want to get somewhere that badly go the hell around my car and get off it!

That is it for Mad Mondays..

Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25

Tell me readers what makes you mad when it comes to the road?

Thoughts on the road….

A story by jessicasamuels25 on .

I have work and school to deal with now, and it is a ton of work added onto my schedule. I have been writing in spurts and focusing on three projects too. I have been focusing on making Karma Turns on the Wicked better. I have been planning and writing Astral Witch and Witches and Psychic Vampires Oh my! Too. Things like television shows and movies have been getting in the way of me finishing them. I still have a ways to go through both stories. I just have to find the time to work on them even if I have a ton going on. I planned out the details for one of the stories that I cannot wait to play with, and a part of the reason why I delay is because a person said I am an amateur, I cuss too much, I have too much against certain things, and I should find a real job.

What they do not know is that I could not stop even if I tried. I really do not care about their opinion anyway because they are suggesting something stupid anyway. I cannot stop writing since it is like breathing how can I stop. A ton of opportunities opened thanks to writing like being techno savvy because of it. This post is more of a mix of the things going on I guess. Once I get used to school again I will be blogging more, and I am halfway done with The Productive Writer too which means I can write a review of it.

I set up an official website too and you can find the link here: http://jessicasamuelsauthor.com/.

I have even set up another blog so I can review writing related books and magazines. I will be doing ebooks too the link is here:  http://wolfdreamer25reviewsforwriters.blogspot.com/?zx=404f0d3886821b51
That is all for now. Until next time,
Wolfdreamer25 

Writers and character passion:

A story by jessicasamuels25 on .
Writers need characters and plot to convey their story. I can create characters and plot, but the one thing I lack is breathing life into them. I have been writing devoid of emotion at times, and it shows in my story that the characters are flat. Yikes!
I now know that I need to use my passion, and emotions to make my characters more believable. Emotions and characters are what moves the reader. It is what keeps the reader turning the page.

Creating characters people root for, and that can change can make the reader read until the end. It separates a good story from a bad story. Believable and extraordinary characters are what keeps the reader thinking about the story, and what will happen way after the pages are read too.  I need to make them have flaws and strengths equally since my characters need flaws to be believable. I will need to think of ways to make my characters relatable to people too. I will probably work on it more as I get better on bringing them to life on the page. 

Passion is an essential key to a good character and story.
Without it the characters fall flat, and boring. They become a carbon copy, and not relatable either. Without flaws a person can become boring, and too perfect. Bringing life to the page with characters is what a writer lives for.

Any thoughts about characters and passions?

Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25

Writing Plans:

A story by jessicasamuels25 on .

School will be over in a few weeks, and I do not know whether to be happy or sad. On one hand I am done with my online classes, but on the other that means creative writing is coming to a close. I have enough books with fun writing exercises though, so no worries there. Without a set schedule though it means I will have to find some times a day to do fun writing exercises.

I plan on getting a Kindle Fire soon, and I can show my ebooks to people with it, and sign them with Kindle graph. I need an e-reader because I have tons of ebooks. There is a cool program for the lending library which is awesome too!

On the novel front I now have turned a short story into a full length novel. I have added enough elements to make it long too, and longer then a novella with cool twists and turns to make it a good read. I have some avid readers who are my friends that will tell me ways to improve my stories. I will end up making the series a trilogy since it has the potential to be that long. That is all for now.

Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25 

Tour of Shadowmayne

A story by jessicasamuels25 on .

This is part of a prompt I did in creative writing class. It is all one sentence, and I did a tour of Shadowmayne which is the city the Lady Black series is in.

The day is a pretty Friday night, in a town called Shadowmayne, clubs are filled with people, streets are busy with cars and more people, restaurants are busy, I walk the streets looking for danger, 38’s by my side to keep me and my dog safe from criminals, dressed in all black, eyes alert for danger, but I seem to be running into drunk people left and right, busy as usual, teens fill the place, families with children,
I go to the movie theater and mall with people crowding the place like jam packed sardines, my mind wanders to the xbox 360 game Dead Rising, the mall scene only no survivors instead they are all zombies, 

I look at the many stores Smoke by my side, Gothic R Us, Novelty Goodies, Books r awesome, Video Games Rule, Face Shop, Tweens Shop, Makeup Boutique, Beach Babes, Preps R Us, Skater Shop, Cool guys Rule, a knife and gun shop all filled with zombies, I mean people, it is all easy to imagine this as a Dead Rising game, I could break into the sword shop, and pull out a ketana, then I will have fun slicing and dicing all the zombies; I will even use a frying pan, a baseball bat, and more guns and bullets then the army allows, I have no idea why I thought of it.   

That is it, and I hope you enjoy it. The reason why I have not been posting often is because I have a job. It keeps me busy, and school does as well. I will post more once I have everything worked out, and once I get used to the schedule. I still hope I will be read by people even if I do not post as often as I used to.

Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25 

Writing Prompts

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In creative writing class we do prompts every period when we are not in workshop day. I find them to be helpful, and fun to do. They lead to new story ideas, and characters. New scenes to put in stories, and what can I say I love to write!

There is one book I am itching to get my hands on soon called Writing Fiction Step by Step: by Josip Novakovich. I love the book, and I borrowed it from the library. I skimmed through it, and noticed it has nothing but writing prompts and exercises. I loved it, and I hope to get it to try them out.

I will show you an example of a writing prompt that led me to plan another character for my book.

Prompt:Picture a  young girl on the road, how is she feeling? what does she look like? How can you tell her age besides her look? Is she sitting or standing? Why is she there? What does she have with her to make her valuable?

You are supposed to act like a camera lens for this exercise, and not show any inner emotions. The sentences are mixed up, and I might have left a few other things out. This is the end result:

A girl alone on the road: 18 years old running away from a witch coven. I can tell by how afraid she is, and she is sitting. She is scared Road in the middle of the desert. A witch trying to run away from a bad coven. She is going to meet with the good witches so they can save her. Has a book of powerful spells.

There is more, but you get the idea. Writing prompts can help you by making you come up with a new scene, characters, and  situations which is why I love using them. I will post more of my examples of the writing prompts I am doing especially when I buy Writing Fiction Step by Step By: Josip Novakovich. I will be reviewing that book, and in detail because it will help me as a writer.

Until next time,
Wolfdreamer25  

Changing my story description..And other future blog posts.

A story by jessicasamuels25 on .

Today I was thinking about my book, and the reason why it did not sell that much. I thought about my description, and realized how boring it sounded. I decided to change it. So it went from this:

The Killer Contract Agency, hires bully victims to eliminate and kill their tormentors. The Agency has invented a machine to predict how they grow up, and the bullies are members of the Malian race.

Salina was bullied to the point where she was almost killed, and the Agency finds her, and hires her to take them out one by one.

To this finally:

Salina was bullied too much, and The Killer Contract Agency invented a machine that can predict what people will grow up to become which is why they hired Salina. Her bullies are going to grow up to commit horrible crimes. Now she is allowed to get her revenge. Join her as she takes down 13 of the bullies on her hit list. Using various weapons and disguises to do the deeds. Thanks to the Killer Contract Agency she is now allowed to get her revenge without being sent to jail.
In other news there is a post coming up that lists all the writing related books I have, and I will be doing reviews on them as well. Another future blog post will be on writing prompts since I am taking a creative writing class, and we are doing writing prompts during class. The prompts are so fun I have used them as starting points for stories. I will list the prompt, and the work that I produce because of it.
Until next time,
Wolfdreamer25

Turning the past into writing.

A story by jessicasamuels25 on .

I used to be obssessed with the past. I used to think how I could have done things differently as if I could go back in time, and change things. I thought if I change this then that would not have happened, and I would have felt this way. I wanted at one point to try to change things, but that did not work everytime I tried to something else would go wrong. I stopped thinking about getting even at certain people because it would not have changed things. I could also get in trouble, and ruining everything for revenge would not be worth it. I would loose everything friends, family, jobs, and it would not be worth the trouble. Today I thought about the past for a good reason, and it made me come up with more depth for my story. More ways to use it as a catalyst for better things. I used all the emotions from my past into fuel for writing. Writing helps you tap into using the past as a jumping off point to help your writing. All the emotions that I felt I used in my stories. I wrote characters in some of the situations I went through, and changed it. Try it though, and you will see how the past can help you with your writing. That is what being a writer is about using the past as inspiration.