A is for Amazing Writing Books

I've read a LOT of books on the craft of writing, but only a tiny fraction of all the great books out there on how to write. Here is a review of one for fantasy writers:

Adventures in Fantasy by John Gust

Adventures in Fantasy is a textbook for teachers of creative writing. The cover suggests it is aimed at grades 5-9, but I found this could easily be adapted for use in the classroom for any year and is especially helpful for adult writers wanting to explore the craft of fantasy writing.

I'm currently editing The Costume Maker, a fantasy novel about an old gypsy who banishes a rude young customer into a dangerous world of dragons, evil fairies and superstitious gypsies. Only the gypsy's granddaughter can save the girl who has been so mean to her. I had never tried to write fantasy before and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it (my usual genre is mystery). This book is so clear and has some great tasks to try to strengthen your world and characters.

My mistake with this book was to purchase the Kindle version, there are a lot of handy worksheets that need to be photocopied and they didn't come up big enough on the Kindle. The book is so good though, that I've now ordered the paperback as well. If you write fantasy, or you want to try fantasy, this is the book to get.

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Book Trailers

I love the idea of a book trailer, and am a bit addicted to watching them on Youtube. I'm still not sure if they actually sell any more books than not having one, but they do look like fun to make.

One of our blogging buddies, Jessica Bell, from The Alliterate Allomorph is circulating her new book trailer. Check it out! (and maybe post about it to help promote her new book)...

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Discovering Writers

There's always buzz writers with a huge following, that you just couldn't imagine someone saying they've never read their books. For example, Stephen King or Agatha Christie. Of course some we just never get around to, or their genre doesn't suit us. I'm not crash hot on romance novels, so I'm sure there's a favourite author out there that I haven't touched.

I'm not sure why I never got around to Terry Pratchett. Friends kept suggesting him, and I do enjoy fantasy novels, but the blurbs put me off. Now I know why. It would be incredibly difficult to explain a Pratchett novel in a paragraph. I know, elevator speech and all that, but really, his worlds are so complex and his characters so diverse, I don't think I could sum it up in a sentence, other than to say, Monty Python of Fantasy.

Emily, my 13yr old daughter, is loving the Pratchett stories as well. So much, that we will both be attending a talk by Sir Pratchett and Garth Nix at the Sydney Opera House in a few weeks. I can't wait to share that experience with you.

Now, off to purchase the next Discworld book. Are there any ridiculously famous writers you've only just discovered, or is there one you've been meaning to get around to, but just haven't yet?

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3 For Free - Ebooks for Writers

Boy this week seemed to fly by!

Here are 3 downloads for authors, completely free:

Author2.0 by The Creative Penn

Mugging the Muse by Holly Lisle

Writing a Novel and Getting Published for Dummies by Green and Kremer - this one downloads as a rar file (compressed) and I just opened it in Calibre, which turns it into a kindle book and loads it on my kindle (if you haven't heard of this program see this post on Calibre).

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Don't Just Buy Writing Books - Read Them!

In A Writer's Obsession, I listed the 28 books I have on my shelf on the craft of writing. In My Audiobooks, I told you how many I have on my iPhone. Today I have to 'fess up to the many books on the craft of writing I have purchased from Amazon for my Kindle. Don't pat me on the back yet, I think I've only read six.

Save the Cat – Blake Snyder


Adventures in Fantasy – John Gust


How to Write a Great Query Letter – Noah Lukeman


100 Ways to Market Your Book for Free – Carol Denbow


A Book Inside, How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Story – Carol Denbow


Story Engineering – Larry Brooks


Children’s Writer’s Word Book - Alijandra Mogilner


Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks – John Curran


Painless Writing – Jeffrey Strausser


The Book on Writing – Paula LaRocque


Seize the Story – Victoria Hanley


Creating Characters and Plots – Roger Burt


Hooked – Les Edgerton


Manuscript Makeover – Elizabeth Lyon


How to Write Killer Fiction – Carolyn Wheat


Youdunit Whodunit! – Nicola Furlong


Write a Novel in 30 Days – Sara McGrath


The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing for Young Adults – Deborah Perlberg


Wild Ink, How to Write Fiction for Young Adults – Victoria Hanley


Write Now! – Francine Saint Marie


My pick from the one's I've read so far would be Hooked and Manuscript Makeover. I definitely need to read more writing books and buy less.

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7 Key Elements for a Writer's Website

Writers need to do so much more than write these days. We need to promote ourselves as well. There are many ways to build your platform (the medium that introduces you to your audience). I see many of you on Twitter and in blogs, I've been reluctant to introduce writing to my Facebook, but that's probably inevitable. For some time now, I've been working on my Website. I want it to represent my own style. I've managed to get a rough 'coming soon' page up and link it to my blog, but the rest is a slow and painful process. Here's some things to think about when designing your website:


1. Identify your audience. Are you an established author for children and want them to visit your site? Include downloadable graphics or games for them. If you are targeting readers you could include your first few chapters. If you are currently aiming at agents and publishers, make your site look professional and show of your writing skills.


2. Don't confuse your reader. They shouldn't have to strain their brain to work out what you do or what your site is for. Make it clear and simple.


3. Don't clutter the site with links heading in all directions - limit the links off each page, but one page could lead to another.


4. Let them back in. Make sure it's easy for your reader to navigate their way back to each page without having to hit 'backspace'. Every page should have a link back to the homepage.


5. Keep it consistent. My good friend Rhonda is a media whiz and pointed this out to me when I was designing my site. Keep your buttons in the same position on each page and make sure the theme you use carries through all the pages so it doesn't make the reader think they have wandered onto another site.


6. Acknowledge contributers. If someone has designed your site template, or helped you with yours, the polite thing to do is to mention them at the bottom of the page with a link. This is good if other writers see your blog and want to use the same graphic designer for theirs - share the resources :)


7. Content, content, content. Don't waffle on, just provide the important information and services. Think about what your reader needs and how you could provide that. Share resourcs and links, maybe provide a page for teachers as a resource for using your books in teh classroom.


Another thing to include there would be become best friends with a graphic design wiz that can help you with the perils of FTP folders and splicing and broken links and, and, and...

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Representing Yourself Through Blog Design

If you've visited before, you're probably wondering what has happened to my cute little blog design.

While working on my new upcoming website, I decided to change the blog design as well. I wanted to go for something a little more minimal to match my web design. Ugh. I've ended up with something that looks like a commercial site. All will be fixed, but I might have to leave it like this for a little while so I can work out how to change it without losing all my settings.

My new design is kind of depressing :-(

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3 for Free - Ebooks for Writers

Time again for those free ebooks for writers.

K.M. Weiland offers her ebook 'Crafting Unforgettable Characters' free, just sign up.

http://www.kmweiland.com/free-ebook.php

Here's one I just downloaded this week:

http://writeanovelfast.com/thanks-for-downloading-ebook/

This next one lets you read the book for free online:

The Golden Theme

How to make your writing appeal to the highest common denominatorr

Read this enlightening book free at Libertary.com

Have a great weekend!

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A-Z Blog Challenge

I've decided to do the crazy again this year and join in the A-Z blog challenge. In April, I will blog ever day for 26 days. Each blogpost will be in alphabetical order (1st post on something beginning with the letter A, next on B, well, you know the rest). I'm hoping this won't interfere too much with my editing schedule (and, um, life), but who am I kidding, there are a whopping 491 blogs participating so far (and yes, Wagging Tales is number 491). Well, I'd better go, I've a lot of blogs to visit.

You want to give it a go too? Click on the image and you'll get magically transported to the host site, Tossing it Out.

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Mystery to Fantasy, MG to YA

I'm doing a sudden switch this week. With Dog Show Detective finished and ready to go, it's time for me to move down my writer's to-do list, which includes a lot more editing and less starting-new-projects. (I listed my plans in 7 Tips for a Writer's Year). Now it's time to work on edits for The Costume Maker, the NaNoWriMo novel I wrote in 2009. 

My dodgy attempt at a cover using clipart

Not only does The Costume Maker switch me from my usual genre of Mystery to Fantasy, but  it's also aimed at YAs, unlike Dog Show Detective's Middle Grade genre. How do I make the transition?

I've put away my Agatha Christie for a while and I'm devouring fantasy novels. This story is all dragons, fairies and powerful gypsies, so I'm looking at stories with castles and magicians. I've downloaded for my Kindle, some great fantasy novels (you can see them in the bar on the left), including The Hobbit. I have to admit, I've never read it before. I'm also reading some free ebooks I found on Fantasy writing and have purchased some books on the craft.

On my audiobooks I'm listening to various Terry Pratchett stories (a fairly new discovery for me), How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell and other fantasy novels. And in the movie department? Saw I am Number Four this week (lots of fun!) and tonight the family and I are settling down to The Sorcerer's Apprentice. 

Finally, my screensaver will change from smoke hazed PIs in trench-coats, to dragons and wizards. I may even start wearing a cloak. It's a whole lifestyle change. How about you, do you need to shift your mind to shift genre?

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Writers' 3 for Free

Friday 3 for free time! 3 free ebooks (well, this week I've included an audiobook) all on the craft of writing:

Leaping Out of the Slush Pile - by Ian Bone. This article is from a workshop and has some helpful advice for getting your query noticed.

StoryWorld - by Randy Ingermanson. Why worldbuilding is essential to good storytelling and why you need rules.

Go Ahead, Make Me Laugh: Comedy Writing - I've downloaded this audiobook from Freelance Writing - for free. They also have an ebook version.

Have a great weekend!

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How Writers Read

As you may have noticed from my last post, I have a lot of books on the craft of writing. I have these books on my shelf, in audio format and on my Kindle. So why aren't I an expert already?

I find my reading habits random and unfocused. I read a chapter or two from one book and hop over to another. By the time I return to read new sections of a guide, I've forgotten the earlier parts. I'm making a bit of a resolution to stick with a book until I've finished it and only then move onto another.

Why? I suspect my writing habits reflect my reading patterns. I previously had several notebooks on the go at any one time, one for each WIP and one for new ideas. I dropped that system for one notebook at a time. My patterns have left me with several unfinished WIPs. Recently I banned myself from any new writing until I finished Dog Show Detective. That worked well for me and it is not only done, but has been sent out.

Now it's time for me to work down the list. Being eclectic may have fed my creative side of the brain, but forcing myself to be more organised with the left side of my brain is the only way I'll actually get stuff finished. Now I just have to decide which WIP to work on next.

How about you? Do your creative patterns sometimes interfere with your productiveness?

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A Writer's Obsession

Happy 13th Birthday Emily!

Drop by and visit her at Paper Dolls - she'd love it :-) 

After seeing how many audiobooks I have on the craft of writing, I decided I should tally up which ones I have on my shelf. Unfortunately, I've probably read about 10% of these (and that might be an optimistic figure). Somehow the act of owning the book makes me feel like I should already have the knowledge from the text. When I was a kid, I would sleep with a text book under my pillow before exams. I thought my brain would absorb the information while I slept. Yeah, great method.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
English Essentials by Mem Fox and Lyn Wilkinson
How Writers Write by pamela Lloyd
Crafting Stories for Children by Nancy Lamb
How to Write a Damn Good Mystery by James N Frey
No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty
On Writing by Stephen King
Publish for Profit by Cyndi Kaplan
Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell
Characters, Emotion and Viewpoints by Nancy Kress
Dialogue by Gloria Kempton
Description and Setting by Ron Rozelle
Speak our Language: The Story of Australian English by Bruce Moore
The Elements of Style Illustrated by Strunk Jnr, White and Kalman
The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman
The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman
The Writing Book by Kate Grenville
StoryWorld by John and Caitlin Mathews
Steering the Craft by Ursula K Le Guin
Literati by James Phelan
Writer's Reader: A Guide to Writing Fiction and Poetry by Brenda Walker
Writer's and Illustrator's Guide to Children's Book Publishers and Agents by Ellen R Shapiro
Write On: A Conference Approach to Writing by Jo-Ann Parry and david Horsnby
Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron
Writing Feature Stories by Mathew Ricketson
Martin's Young Writers Guide
Zen in the Art of Writing - Ray Bradbury

How's your shelf looking?

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Stein on Writing

This week I've sent the first 1,000 words for 'Dog Show Detective' into a literary competition for aspiring writers, with one of the prizes being having your novel considered for publication. I will also send it out to publishers, once I get that dreaded query letter mastered. 

I've also returned to the audiobook Stein on Writing this week. There are a few gems to be found in this  book on advice for would-be writers and writers perfecting their craft. 

Sol Stein knew what it took to be published. As well as being a writer, he edited and published for some masters of fiction and non-fiction.

This book covers all aspects of writing. Stein warns us that description should have more than one purpose; as well as creating a setting or painting a picture, it should reveal something about the story or the narrator's state of mind.

With the trend for fiction to open with the inciting incident, or action, Stein's advice is timeless. Characters come first. An explosive opening might hook the reader in, but can leave you feeling disorientated and unmoved if you haven't gotten to know the characters involved. As Stein says, "We need to see the people in the car before we see it crash."

For me, his best advice is about getting the job of writing done. I know I feel so busy with work and kids and, and, and... that sometimes I feel too tired or stretched to get anything down. I'm pretty sure a lot of writing mums will know what I mean. Or there are the times when you are heading off to visit family, or there's a wedding to go to, or bills to pay and groceries to get. The excuses might change for your situation, but we've all got them. Stein suggests renting the movie 'My Left Foot', then see how well your excuses stand up. It comes down to the Nike slogan: 'Just Do It'.

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3 for Free - Writers' Downloads

As promised - here are my Friday's 3 for free (and check out my post about Calibre to see how to get these great downloads onto your e-reader).

Unleashing the Ideavirus - Seth Godwin gives us this great e-book on creatively writing for free.

From the Query to the Call - You must have this book. Elana Johnson takes us through the process of writing that query letter to get your finished manuscript sold. I purchased this ebook, but you lucky-ducks can download it FREE.

How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James Frey:
 How to Write a Damn Good Novel, Volume I - A Step-By-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling
This novel is offered free on Scribd to download as a PDF file. Read it on your computer or convert it to read on your Kindle or iPad (see my post on Calibre)

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Should Your Narrative Include Coincidence?

The Hand of Fate should not write stories.

Coincidence. It happens all the time, and never more than in stories. Many narratives depend on coincidence, but is it a good or bad device? Like most tools, if used well it can make a story move neatly towards the conclusion, but if abused it reeks of lazy writing.

A lot of mysteries and thrillers will include coincidence as a way of bringing a crime to light (but not usually to reveal the culprit). Steven King masterfully winds coincidence into his horror stories to give them a dark fateful theme. So how should you use coincidence?

Narratives are small worlds or micro-communities. We don't want a cast of thousands in our story, so we zoom into a portion of life. This makes coincidences more likely to take place. Here's some tips I picked up from my recent writing course with Sydney Writers Centre.

Bring it in early. Have your coincidence set things rolling. Your protagonist has a fight with her boss when she's fired, later that day, while walking her dog, she drops her mobile phone. Not a good day for her. She starts searching the bushes in the nearby park for said phone, and what does she find? The dead body of her ex-boss. Coincidence. Now your protagonist is a suspect and has good reason to try to solve the crime herself. See how coincidence has moved your plot along?

Coincidence shouldn't be used to solve crimes though, we want to think our amateur detective is using their wits, not luck. And please don't end your story with coincidence - most readers hate that! (including me) Okay, some like it, and some fateful endings have been successful.

Ending with a coincidence, or 'by the hand of God', has a name: Deux ex Machina. This is where a plot problem heads to such a point it seems unlikely to be solved, and then, by the hand of God, all is resolved by fate. 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', is an example where it seems the two lovers will get away with murder, until fate steps in. Although a successful film, this ending always makes me feel robbed of a propper resolution. Having said that, I did like the ending to the first 'Sherlock Holmes' movie, but at least Sherlock used his wits to solve the crime first.

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