Character Arcs: Making a Long Story Short – by Jami Gold…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Writers Helping Writers:

A well-structured story uses events (also called story beats) to move the narrative forward — with compelling issues, rising stakes, and an organic sense of cause and effect — toward a surprising-yet-inevitable resolution. At the same time, our story’s plot events force our characters to react, adapt, make choices, and decide on priorities, often resulting in new goals and revealing a character’s values and beliefs. The biggest events are “turning points,” which send the story in new directions and create the sense of change for a story’s arc.

In other words, story structure affects both plot and character (internal/emotional) arcs. So just as we must adjust the plot aspects of story structure when writing a shorter story, we also need to consider the character arc aspects of story structure with shorter stories. Let’s dig into the ways we might tweak story structure for shorter stories…

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Writing through the chaos #amwriting

Life in the Realm of Fantasy

I have to say, it’s been a bit chaotic here at Casa del Jasperson. Writing goes on amidst the boxes and procrastination. We’re sorting things into “keep” and “toss” piles, and the toss piles are far bigger than the keepers. At some point, we will be done with the big dig, and whether we move or stay put, we’ll be better off for having done it.

Who needs a box of corkscrews? Apparently, we do as they go along with our three boxes of wine glasses. Greg’s medication precludes alcohol consumption, and I am a teetotaler. But we proudly serve Washington wines – Wikipedia. Party on!

Twenty coffee cups from friends, seven travel mugs from organizations we volunteer with, two boxes of home canning supplies, nine flower vases, six forms for making heart-shaped fried eggs (unused for twelve years since I became vegan), and two large muffin tins ….

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Social Media Marketing Series: Social Listening

Welcome back to the Social Media Marketing series. Today we’re going to discover Social Listening Marketing on social media as it correlates to books and authors.

Social listening is a form of social media marketing that involves monitoring and analyzing conversations and mentions of a brand, product, or author on social media platforms. For authors, social listening can be an effective way to engage with readers, build a following, and promote their books.

The first step in social listening for authors is to set up alerts for mentions of their name, book titles, and relevant keywords. This can be done using social media management tools such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Brand24. These tools allow authors to track mentions of their name, book titles, and keywords across multiple social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Once authors have set up alerts, they can start monitoring and analyzing conversations and mentions. This includes looking at the sentiment of the conversation (positive, negative, neutral), the reach and influence of the posts, and the demographics of the audience. By understanding what people are saying about them and their books, authors can gain valuable insights into how their books are being received by readers.

One of the key benefits of social listening for authors is the ability to engage with readers in real-time. When authors see that someone has mentioned their book or their name, they can respond with a thank you message, or even a personalized message. This can help build a relationship with readers and encourage them to continue reading and promoting the author’s books.

Social listening can also be used to identify potential book reviewers, book bloggers, and influencers. By monitoring conversations, authors can identify people who are talking about their books, and reach out to them to see if they would be interested in reviewing or promoting their books.

Another way social listening can be beneficial for authors is by understanding the conversation around their book’s genre or topic. By monitoring conversations, authors can understand what books or authors are trending in their genre and what readers are looking for. This can help authors to fine-tune their marketing strategy and target the right audience.

In conclusion, social listening is a powerful tool for authors looking to promote their books and engage with readers on social media. By monitoring and analyzing conversations and mentions of their name and book titles, authors can gain valuable insights into how their books are being received, engage with readers in real-time, identify potential reviewers and influencers, and understand the conversation around their book’s genre or topic.

Stay tuned for future articles, and schedule (links added after each article is posted) below:

• Pros and Cons (1/23/2023)
• Content Marketing (1/30/2023)
• Influencer Marketing (2/6/2023)
• Paid Advertising (2/13/2023)
• Community Building (2/20/2023)
• Live Streaming (2/27/2023)
• E-commerce (3/6/2023)
• Employee Advocacy (3/13/2023)
• Social Listening (3/20/2023)
• Comparison Conclusion (3/27/2023)

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/facebook-application-icon-147413/

Things to Consider When Writing a Second Chance Romance #amwriting #MondayBlogs

Lucy Mitchell Author Blog

Second chance romance is one of my favourite romance tropes to read. It’s also the trope I once thought would be relatively easy to write. *Sigh* I was delusional when I first started writing.

A good second chance romance relies on character growth and that’s something which needs to be mastered. You also have to create a tangled past relationship which ended and you have to not only untangle it over the course of the book but you also have to show what’s changed since then.

Here’s a list of the things I always consider when writing a second chance romance novel:

How did they initially connect? Were they childhood sweethearts? Maybe they met at work? The secret here is readers need to see and feel how good that connection was between these two beautiful characters.

This breathtaking romance has to be unforgettable for both readers and the characters.

Why…

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A Glimpse at Dual Timeline Novels

Story Empire

Hi, SEers! Happy first day of Spring! You’re with Mae today.

For my next few posts, I’d like to talk about dual timeline novels. I’m sure most of you are familiar with them. Some of you, have likely even written a dual timeline book. Story Empire’s own Joan Hall wrote a post about using timelines, which you can find HERE.

When I look back to my earliest published works, most drew on history. One used the American Civil War, another maritime superstitions and history. I suppose it was only natural I would advance from touching on history to doing in-depth research for a series that relied heavily on historical fact and folklore. I quickly became hooked and started each book of my Point Pleasant series by writing a chapter set entirely in the past—something I had never done before. 

All images courtesy of Pixabay

History always intrigued me but…

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Stop People Copying Your Writing – It’s Impossible – by Derek Haines…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Just Publishing Advice:

The idea of people copying your writing without your approval is annoying for any writer.

But the reality of online publishing makes it almost impossible to prevent copying of your articles, blog posts, or even ebooks.

Once you publish any form of digital content, it’s easy for anyone to copy and share it.

So much so that Google claims about 60% of the Internet is duplicate content.

In This Article

What can you do about people copying your writing?

Tools to prevent copying

Looking at the positive side

Set your own rules

Conclusion

Continue reading HERE

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‘Do I Need to Use a Dragon?’ Cover Reveal and Blurb Test

Legends of Windemere

Cover by Alison Hunt

There’s the cover for Do I Need to Use a Dragon? (Fantasy Writing Tips) and the blurb is below.  I had trouble with this because the book itself has a casual, humorous tone to it.  If I made a serious blurb then it felt like a lie and didn’t match what I was going for on the inside.  So, I threw caution to the wind and went wild.  Figured I might get a few readers by being blunt and myself instead of trying to come off like a stuffy, pompous professional.

*****

Have you ever wanted to write a fantasy story?  Not sure about the rules? Well, look no further!

Hidden within these pages are opinions and observations that MIGHT help you with your literary adventure.  Boiling fantasy and writing in general to their most basic principles, I have devised a litany of short essays …

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Genre Tips: How to Write Horror – by Oliver Fox…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Helping Writers become Authors:

Note From KMW: I’ve been delighted to hear that so many of you have enjoyed the “Genre Tips” we’ve been exploring these past five weeks.

Today, I’m happy to share a surprise post to finish off the series! Welcome to “How to Write Horror.”

As you may remember, I crafted the series around the five major genres to which I felt I could bring value (those being Fantasy, Romance, Historical, Mystery, and Literary). One major genre I did not feel qualified to write about, simply because I don’t read or watch much of it, is Horror. In response to my mentioning this in the series’ opening post, Horror aficionado Oliver Fox stepped up to go deep in a guest post on this popular genre.

Today, I’m happy to share with you a thought-provoking and thorough examination of this archetypal genre. 

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How Bad Publishers Hurt Authors – by Gemma Whelan…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Jane Friedman site:

It began with that heart-fluttering feeling of acceptance after so many rejections. My second novel was going to be published!

It was the end of August 2020. The world as we knew it had been upended. We were getting deeper into the pandemic, with fear, illness, death, and uncertainty ravaging the world. When New York City–based Adelaide Books offered me a contract to publish Painting Through the Dark, it set my heart racing in a good way. It was a promise.

The contract looked good: 20% royalties, paperback and ebook, quarterly reports, approval over the design and cover art. The marketing plan also sounded excellent: pre-publishing editorial review, all pre- and post-print marketing tools and services, design and maintenance of author’s website, magazine promotion and interview with author, social and blog posts, book video trailer, book giveaways to bloggers, and consideration for various literary competitions…

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What is “Bad Writing?” (And How Can We Avoid It?) – By Janice Hardy…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Fiction University:

“Bad writing” means different things to different readers.

We writers notice bad writing far more easily than readers, because we know the rules. For us, the writing is critical, but for a reader, it’s more about the story.

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Readers don’t care how the sausage is made as long as it tastes good. And “good” is very subjective.

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No matter what genre you write, I bet you can name a few huge, mega-bestsellers you feel are badly written. Every genre has them. And they drive us crazy as writers because “writers must write well” is drilled into our heads by everyone in the writing and publishing industry.

In one way it’s true—we should strive to write well to be successful.

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In another way it’s not—a fantastic story that resonates with readers will trump “good writing” every time.

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And this is when the serious…

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