Tag Archives: writing advice

The #1 biggest thing you can do for a successful book launch.

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You’re thinking about writing a book, you’re writing a book, OR you’ve published and you’re feverishly trying to write a book. And no matter which phase you’re in, you’re probably a bit frustrated.

Am I right?

 

Today I’m going to share something amazing with you that’s going to provide solutions to all of those woes.

Why do you think most people want to write a book?

You’ve probably heard about the stats… according to research and a New York Times article, 81% of people had a book in them, and should write it.

That’s a lot of people (millions!) who want to write a book. Bowker estimates there were 625,327 books self-published in the United States in 2015.

So guess what that means? Of the 250 million Americans that WANT to write a book, only 2% actually do it!

WHAT?

That means, if you’re anywhere in this process, you’re pretty much a unicorn!

But even unicorns need magic. OK, this analogy might be getting a little (uni)corn-y. 🙂

We know that books can be a passion, but we also know that they are an incredible way to grow a business, earn more credibility, launch a speaking career, and even change the world! So many things!

So, I’ve got a special treat for you. My friend Alexa Bigwarfe has spent the last six months gathering a group of unicorns – incredible women who are either authors, publishers, editors, marketing specialists, graphic designers, and so forth, who are providing their magic for YOU.

A full week of tips on writing, publishing, and SELLING your book.

You do NOT want to miss it!

Click here to get your free ticket for the Women in Publishing Summit ONLINE Conference.  https://dianerobinson–writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/aap/ https://dianerobinson–writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/wip/5a5e1b393365c/

As I mentioned, Alexa has invited over 40 authors, publishers, editors, and book marketing experts to join her at the Women in Publishing Summit (online), including:

  • Joanna Penn – NY Times best-selling author and host of The Creative Penn podcast
  • Alinka Rutkowska – founder of LibraryBub, and extraordinary author-preneur
  • Kate Butler – mutliple-time best-selling author and co-speaker with Jack Cannfield
  • Dana Malstaff – founder and CEO of Boss Mom, a wildly successful community for working moms
  • Orna Ross – founder and CEO of the Alliance of Independent Authors – the world’s most comprehensive support organization for Indie Authors
  • Christina Nicholson – the Media Maven – former TV anchor and current marketing expert
  • Diane Mae Robinson – international multi-award winning children’s author
  • And many, many more

This is the first and only time all of these speakers will join together for one purpose: to show you how to write, publish, and sell the heck out of your book (and grow your business!!!).

Grab your free ticket to the Women in Publishing Summit (limited time).   https://dianerobinson–writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/aap/ https://dianerobinson–writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/wip/5a5e1b393365c/

You do NOT want to miss this event. It’s the first EVER writing and publishing event that is 100% WOMEN. And they are so incredible!

Remember, this event is FREE to register for but only for a limited time. The videos will be available for 48 hours and then will be only available through the All Access Pass.

Make sure to claim your free spot while there is still time: : https://dianerobinson–writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/aap/ https://dianerobinson–writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/wip/5a5e1b393365c/

Can’t wait to see you there!

Diane

P.S. The Women in Publishing Summit (free online event) kicks off next Monday, March 5th. Grab your free seat NOW!  https://dianerobinson–writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/aap/ https://dianerobinson–writepublishsell.thrivecart.com/wip/5a5e1b393365c/

Third Person P.O.V. In Writing

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In writing for young and middle grade children, and when writing in the third-person narrative, the writing is either in the third-person limited viewpoint (everything is seen, heard, etc., through the main character) or third-person omniscient viewpoint (the narrator sees and knows all).
There are, although, three types of third-person writing that is used in writing for young adults and adults.

Third-person voice

The third-person narrative voices are narrative voice techniques employed solely under the category of the third-person view. Here’s an explanation of three different types of third-person voices.

Third-person Subjective:

Third-person subjective is when the narrator conveys the thoughts, feelings, opinions, etc. of one or more characters. If it is just one character, it can be termed third-person limited, in which the reader is “limited” to the thoughts of some particular character as in the first-person mode, except still giving personal descriptions using “he”, “she”, “it”, and “they”, but not “I.” 
Third-person limited is almost always the main character.. Certain third-person omniscient modes are also classifiable as “third person, subjective” modes that switch between the thoughts, feelings, etc. of all the characters.
 At its narrowest and most subjective scope, the story reads as though the viewpoint character were narrating it; dramatically this is very similar to the first person, in that it allows in-depth revelation of the protagonist’s personality, but it uses third-person grammar. Some writers will shift perspective from one viewpoint character to another.

Third-person Objective:

The third-person objective employs a narrator who tells a story without describing any character’s thoughts, opinions, or feelings; instead it gives an objective, unbiased point of view. Often the narrator is self-dehumanized in order to make the narrative more neutral; this type of narrative mode, outside of fiction, is often employed by newspaper articles, biographical documents, and scientific journals. This point of view can be described as a “fly on the wall” or “camera lens” approach that can only record the observable actions, but does not interpret these actions or relay what thoughts are going through the minds of the characters.
The third-person objective is preferred in most pieces that are deliberately trying to take a neutral or unbiased view, like in many newspaper articles. It is also called the third-person dramatic, because the narrator (like the audience of a drama) is neutral and ineffective toward the progression of the plot — merely an non-involved onlooker.

Third-person Omniscient:

Historically, the third-person omniscient perspective has been the most commonly used; it is seen in countless classic novels. A story in this narrative mode is presented by a narrator with an overarching point of view, seeing and knowing everything that happens within the world of the story, including what each of the characters is thinking and feeling. It sometimes even takes a subjective approach. One advantage of omniscience is that this mode enhances the sense of objective reliability or truthfulness of the plot. The third-person omniscient narrator is the least capable of being unreliable—although the omniscient narrator can have its own personality, offering judgments and opinions on the behavior of the characters.
In addition to reinforcing the sense of the narrator as reliable (and thus of the story as true), the main advantage of this mode is that it is eminently suited to telling huge, sweeping, epic stories, and/or complicated stories involving numerous characters. The disadvantage of this mode is that it can create more distance between the audience and the story, and that—when used in conjunction with a sweeping, epic “cast of thousands” story—characterization is more limited, which can reduce the reader’s identification with or attachment to the characters.

My Writing Process

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As a children’s chapter book author, the first and most important aspect of my writing process involves finding my “child voice”. “Child Voice” is a term in children’s literature that interprets into the author being able to get inside the heads of their children characters; think and act as those children characters would think and act and, thus, be able to write about them with ease.

Through all my years of studying children’s literature and children’s behavior, a major lesson I have learned is that to write for children the writer must have a certain level of immaturity along with the ability to remember the art of play. In my case, this is very doable, and when my friends call me immature, I take that as a compliment that I am on the right creative track.

When I am in the first stages of planning a new children’s book, I do a lot of note keeping, character building, and mapping out the fantasy world that the characters will be having their adventures in. Once I know my character’s world and know each character as much as I would know a good friend, then the plot creating process begins.

The creating of their story starts out as a movie playing in my head. This movie plays a scene, re-winds, re-plays the scene somewhat differently, builds the next scene only to re-wind, re-build, and re-plays that scene. As day and months go by, the movie keeps building, re-playing, strengthening the plot; it’s just about like the characters take over the making of the movie to get their story told.

Then one day, the movie in my head is complete and that’s when I get down to the business of writing. When I’m in the writing phase, I write with a frenzied passion for days, weeks on end, often writing non-stop for 12 hours at a time until the book is written.

Once the story is written in the first draft, I leave it alone for a few weeks to give the characters some time to settle into the story.

Then it’s on to editing. Editing phase will last another several weeks where I edit in two or three hour intervals every few days.

When I feel the book is at least 90% well written and well edited, the manuscript is submitted to my publisher. I am published with a traditional publisher, so the book will be scrutinized by their editor and the editor and I will work through several more stages of editing before the book goes on to production

Illustration by Samantha Kickingbird

Illustration by Samantha Kickingbird

For more information about my dragon books for children, www.dragonsbook.com

Writing Voice–The Writer’s Dig, Re-blog

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Don’t Muzzle (or Muffle) Your Writing Voice

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Re-blog from The Writer’s Dig: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/dont-muzzle-or-muffle-your-writing-voice?et_mid=758567&rid=246191574 

Tom-Bentley-featuredTom-Bentley-bookThis guest post is by Tom Bentley. Bentley is a fiction writer, an essayist, and a business writer and editor. (He does not play banjo.) He’s published hundreds of freelance pieces—ranging from first-person essays to travel pieces to more journalistic subjects—in newspapers, magazines, and online.  He is the author of a coming-of-age novel and a short story collection. You can see examples of his services, his published writing, and his lurid website confessions at tombentley.com.

 

You’d never mistake Donald Barthelme for Ernest Hemingway; the word blossoms gathered in Virginia Woolf’s garden would have flowers not found in the window-box plantings of Joan Didion. So your writing and your writing voice shouldn’t be confused with Schlomo Bierbaum’s—it should be yours alone.

One of the things that made me think of a person’s voice was a literal voice: a few years ago I saw Ricki Lee Jones in concert, and was so struck by her uniqueness as a performer (and possibly as a person). She was cuckoo and mesmerizing in the best of ways on stage: banging on the roof of the piano, exhorting the other players, talking to them in asides during some songs. She played a lunatic version of Don’t Fear the Reaper(!), beating out a slapclap on the top of her piano. The performance was so Rikki Lee Jones: singular, eccentric, passionate, moody. You wanted to be around her just to see what she might do or say (or sing) next. Her voice was hers and hers alone.

Your Writing Voice Is There for the Singing

When you’re developing your writing voice, you might be so painstakingly wrapped up in expressing yourself JUST SO that you drain the blood out of your writing, or pull the plug on the electricity of your ideas. You might have read an essay by Pico Iyer or a story by Alice Munro or a novel by Cormac McCarthy and you might be trying so hard to source and employ the rhythms, humors and tics of those gifted writers that you spill onto the page a fridge full of half-opened condiments that cancel each other’s flavors.

Be yourself behind the pen, be the channel between what cooks in your brain and what courses through the keyboard. Even if that self is one day the grinning jester and another the sentimental fool, be fully that person, unmasked, on the page. Maybe you grew up in a slum in Mumbai or have a pied-à-terre in every European capital, maybe your adolescence was a thing of constant pain, maybe you never made a wrong move, maybe you never moved at all—it should be in your writing, whether in its proclamations or its subtext. Your voice is all the Crayons in your box.

[Here are 12 Lessons Learned From a Debut Author That Will Help You Get Published]

For instance, if you’re inclined to the confessional (like all us old Catholics), turn to your sins: I was a very enterprising shoplifter in high school, running a cottage resale business on the side. While I don’t recommend they teach my techniques in business school, I later forged my history of happy hands into an award-winning short story, and then turned the account of having won that short story contest into a published article in a Writer’s Market volume. Ahh, the just desserts of an empire of crime.

A Voice, and Its Chorus

Of course it’s no monotone: Sometimes I might write about Sisyphus and sometimes I might write about drool (and sometimes I might speculate whether Sisyphus drooled while pushing the rock up that endless hill). By that I mean your short stories might have a female narrators, male narrators, be set in a tiny town one time and in a howling metropolis the next. But you still must find the voice—your voice—for that story.

I like to write essays that often take a humorous slant, but at the same time, that isn’t the limit or restriction I put on my own expression. I published a piece on not actually knowing my father despite my years with him, and another that discusses never finding out what happened to my high school girlfriend after she vanished in Colombia. Both had a tone of pathos. That pensive tone is also one of my voices, and its sobriety doesn’t cancel the chiming of my comic voice. So your voice might be part of a choir.

[Want to land an agent? Here are 4 things to consider when researching literary agents.]

Getting Gritty About Grammar

A friend of mine who was putting together a “private university” once asked me if I would teach a 16-session class on grammar, because of what she perceived as the lamentable state of comprehension of language structures and their underpinnings among the young. Now I could probably do a decent job of that, though I’d definitely have to brush up on some grammar formalities and its seemingly obscurantist vocabulary. But after thinking about it, I decided that it just wasn’t right for me. It wouldn’t be an expression of my voice, like teaching a class on writing an essay or developing a character would be.

The tools are important indeed, but the authentic voice is transcendent.

Here’s a good, helpful essay on finding and developing your writer’s voice, courtesy of Writer’s Digest (and here’sanother fine one, on the same topic from Jane Friedman). An important point in both essays is that the expression of self in writing, be it in diction, passion, slant or tone, can be a variant thing—the hummingbird’s flight is always expressive of the bird, but its dartings and hoverings aren’t always approached from the same direction or desire.

So, let your writer’s voice take wing.