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Quick Link: How to Write Superior Sex Scenes: Ignite Your Readers & Burn Them to Ash

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So not to share TMI but Mr. Paula and I have a lovely marriage so when I have encountered some hot scenes in books lately and found myself skipping over them, well I thought it was just me. Turns out  posting at Kristen Lamb‘s site nailed it. The scenes I passed by weren’t bad necessarily but felt out of place in the story. Check out Cait’s post on how to do sex scenes right!

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How to Write Superior Sex Scenes: Ignite Your Readers & Burn Them to Ash

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Hey Guys, Cait Reynolds, my co-author/partner in crime/therapist/evil half is here to talk about the birds and the bees and maybe bees tying up other bees. The “How To” of writing superior sex scenes is vital, just uncomfortable for me. Sorry. I blame my upbringing.

I’m a Texan with a Lutheran mom and Baptist father. I grew up in the buckle of the Bible Belt, and have had far too much vacation bible camp to be much help. In fact, legally, I cannot write a sex scene until every member of my family dies…and likely not even then.

If you need help with plotting a fight scene or murder? I’m your gal.

All this said, roughly 80% of publishing is powered by the romance genre. This is a FACT.

I read a LOT of romance, myself. Sadly, however, there are “romances” so over-processed and crammed with filler they need a foil tray instead of a book cover.

TV Dinner sex scenes.

Tired, overdone, dry, uncreative and no one looks forward to consuming this stuff (unless starving and desperate).

Read the full post on Kristen Lamb!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Correspondence from the NaNo fields – Help I am stuck in quicksand!

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I am so far behind on my words! This is usually the time I start getting bogged down in my story and am trying to add details and depth. But I haven’t even had a chance to do that yet. My apologies to anyone who noticed I forgot to post yesterday.

Sometimes life seems to throw a perfect pitch into wrecking the best-laid plans. Alas. Le sigh. And all that jazz!

I am in the squish stage of life right now. Busy taking care of older parents and relatives but dealing with college kids and stuff. All of which means I am broke and tired right now. But happy to be blessed with so much love and life.

So if you think of it, throw me a lifeline or a comment and I will throw you one too! I am not giving up, and hope to catch up this coming weekend on my words. Writing marathon here I come!

Hope all is well with your writing,

Paula

Quick Link: That All-Important First Line

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The first line of your book can grab the reader and set the tone for your whole story! At Rachelle Gardner‘s site, she goes over what makes a great first line!

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That All-Important First Line

by Rachelle Gardner
Let’s talk about the opening line of your book. The first thing to know about “first lines” is that they are not going to make or break you. Sure, it’s a lot of fun coming up with great ones. But as long as the first line makes someone want to read the second line, and that line makes you want to read the third… you’re on the right track.

The second thing to know is that the opening line might be the very last thing you write before your book is finished.

That said… don’t you just love a great opening line?

The fun thing about writing a book is that you get to choose what kind of opening line you want, what type of sentence appropriately sets up your book. You can choose to set a stage or create a setting. You can reveal a character. You can drop the reader into the middle of a scene. You can introduce conflict. You can have your character speak a line of dialogue. There’s no one right way to do it.

Today I looked at some of my favorite first lines from novels, and asked myself why I liked them. I found each one appealed to me for a different reason. It might have:

Read the full post on Rachelle Gardner!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Want To Win NaNoWriMo This Year? 7 Tips On Writing And Productivity

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How are you doing with your NaNo words? Even if you are not writing with NaNo this year, everyone can use tips on writing and productivity all year round! So head on over to The Creative Penn and check it out!

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Want To Win NaNoWriMo This Year? 7 Tips On Writing And Productivity

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Ready to take your writing seriously? Getting ready for NaNoWriMo and need some writing and productivity tips? 

I had a demanding day job when I did NaNoWriMo in 2009, but I was committed to the writing, so I got up every weekday at 5 am before work to get my words in.

Those words became the kernel of Stone of Fire, my first novel, and that month of writing changed my life. Now I have 15 novels and if I can do it, you can too!

If you need some help with writing or productivity, you can get 13 awesome books as part of the Storybundle NaNoWriMo special available for a limited time.

Here are 7 tips that I picked up from books in the deal. Click here to check out the Bundle.

(1) Schedule your writing time

Read the full post on The Creative Penn!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: 5 Huge Mistakes Ruining the Romantic Relationships in Your Book

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Hallelujah and Amen! I know this is about romantic relationships so it might not apply to everyone but I feel what  is preaching. I see so many books with obviously unhealthy attitudes about sex and relationships that I had to share her post from The Write Life.

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5 Huge Mistakes Ruining the Romantic Relationships in Your Book

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I’ll be the first to admit that there’s a serious problem with romantic relationships in literature nowadays.

And worse, this issue seems to be overlooked by the large majority of writers — until it’s too late, that is.

The problem: The unrealistic and unhealthy portrayal of romantic relationships.

There. I said it and now people can take notice because yes, there is a serious lack of realism when it comes to the romantic relationships in books..

Authors are writing relationships that are meant to be exciting and intense, but their execution of those couples can be flawed in sometimes very harmful, although unintentional ways.

There’s nothing wrong with writing romance. In fact, adding a romantic relationship to your book can do it some good. The dynamic of love can:

 

Read the full post on The Write Life!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: How to Add Depth to Your Protagonist by Angela Ackerman

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Even though this article by Angela Ackerman is from Romance University, it’s wise words are for every genre of writer. After all who doesn’t need more depth to their characters. Check it out!

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How to Add Depth to Your Protagonist by Angela Ackerman

by Angela Ackerman

I love it when a story idea grips me. Often, it starts with one small thing…a sound, or an image flash in my brain. Sometimes I’ll get both. The experience is so utterly sensory the real world is momentarily forgotten. Maybe I’ll see and hear the ominous flutter of a plastic grocery bag caught in a tree branch on a windy day. Immediately I’ll start to “know” things: there’s water nearby. A dead body lays in the reeds, a teenage girl. A boy will find her, one who has lost the ability to speak. Snippets trickle in, clues of the story ahead. Excitement builds. I’m sure it’s a similar process for many of you.

For me there’s always the temptation to rush down the rabbit hole and write the first scene: one where the mute boy discovers the girl’s body. I want to leap in, describe it all—how the light dapples the water, the warmth of the sun, the paleness of flesh devoid of life.

But the truth is, I’m not ready to write. I shouldn’t write.

Because even if I know exactly how the scene will go, how he will drag the body onto the bank, praying the girl is alive, wishing he had a voice to call for help, I don’t know anything yet about who he really is.

Read the full post on Romance University!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Correspondence from the NaNo fields – World building is hard!

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Hello! How are all you writers and NaNo’ers doing? I fell behind on my word count right away as of course all my client’s programs/servers/websites needed attention! But I managed to almost catch up on double Saturday.  I also donated because if you enjoy writing whether or not you participate in NaNoWriMo, they do a lot for writing and writers. The kids program is amazing. And I love having a halo on my name.

I have done fantasy stories in the past, that involved some world building but since the world was sort of ye old English based, world building wasn’t that difficult. This year I am doing a science fiction story that takes place in earths future. It is not dystopian! Yet. Actually, we were about to make a huge mess with huge pollution issues and bad weather juju due to global warming when the aliens come and save us. But they don’t look at us like equals, and not even really like pets. They aren’t sure what to do with us on the very back water of the galaxy and we are so primitive to them. They do save us from ourselves and life is good. For now.

The problem is trying to figure out how a world like this exists. We are much healthier and more responsible. So what do we drink with dinner? Soda is bad for you. Water is boring. Tea, coffee? How does an enlightened society deal with alcohol? There are studies to it’s benefits but too much is hazardous.

My characters end up in a restaurant. How do you deal with that? Do you still have a hostess, waitperson, and a cook? I decided that having these type of people were socially important but not economically important so I added them.

That is what world building is. Which is bad and good for NaNoWriMo! Each time I have to make a decision like this I am caught up trying to figure out the social and economical implications of my decisions. Which take time. Which is bad for NaNo when you are just suppose to write like the wind! Then I decided to write my reasoning’s down and voila! I am caught up on my words again!

Have a great day in your world!

Paula

Quick Link: Make The Most Of A Scene Through The Senses – With A Simple List

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This is one of those ideas who simplicity is brilliant!  At Writers Write Anthony Ehlers shares a simple list that you can use to get the most of out of using your senses to really bring the reader into the scene.

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Make The Most Of A Scene Through The Senses – With A Simple List

by Anthony Ehlers

But don’t forget – that deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball

Bringing in as many of the senses to a scene in a novel or story is a powerful way to lift your writing, to make it more vivid, authentic, alive.

Real people react to the senses at every moment of their lives: fictional people should too. Sometimes, as writers, we bring in the senses to a scene … then forget to thread them through the rest of the scene. And this could be a missed opportunity, isn’t it?

For example, in a romance novel, you could have two young lovers enjoying a picnic by the lake when they are caught in a spring storm. The rain takes them by surprise on the sunny afternoon. They run for the cover of an old abandoned gazebo on the edge of the park, where they make out passionately.

List the sensations

Read the full post on Writers Write!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Herd Your CATS

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Of course, we are not talking about literal cats, more literary CATS. Or as James Scott Bell at Kill Zone describes it “Character Alone Thinking Scenes”.  While these types of scenes can be very powerful, they do have to be used at the right time. Read the article and tell me what you think!

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“Everything in the universe is either potato or not potato”

Herd Your CATS

by James Scott Bell

We all know that getting a reader inside a lead character’s head is one of the keys to compelling fiction. But it has to be done seamlessly so it doesn’t jerk us out of the narrative and put a crimp in the fictive dream.

Which means we have to learn to handle what I call “Character Alone Thinking Scenes” (CATS) in a deft manner.

The first issue is whether to begin the book with a CATS. As last Wednesday’s first-page critique demonstrated (in my view, at least) the answer should almost always be No.

Why? Because we have to have a little personal investment in someone before we can care deeply about their feelings.

Imagine going to a party and you’re introduced to a fellow with a drink in his hand. You say, “How are you?” and the guy says, “I’m really depressed, man, I wake up every day and the room looks dark and the sun never shines, even though it’s out there, and I don’t see it because of the dark dankness in my soul, and life has lost its meaning, its luster, whatever it was it once had for me when I was young and ready to take on the world. Ya know?”

AHHHH!!!!

Read the full post on Kill Zone

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: The Do’s and Don’ts of Naming Characters

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This is so cool I had to share it! At well-storied, Kristen Kieffer hosts a Twitter chat group that discusses all kind of things writing. This particular example is about naming characters and she has a transcript because we can’t build a time machine and go back and attend. Yet.

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The Do’s and Don’ts of Naming Characters

by Kristen Kieffer

Hello, friends! Time for another #StorySocial recap. Never heard of it?

#StorySocial is the weekly chat I host every Wednesday at 9pm Eastern on Twitter. Each week, dozens of writers get together for about an hour to chat about a fun writerly topic. This past Wednesday, we talked all about how to name our characters.

Did you miss out? Couldn’t make it? No worries. I’m sharing a recap of this week’s chat below. Check it out!

Read the full post on well-storied!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: 5 Writing Tips: Harlan Coben

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This is a short but good post at Publishers Weekly by bestselling author Harlan Coben. It amused me but still good words to write by.

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5 Writing Tips: Harlan Coben

Working off my Rule 3, I’m going to skip boring you with a long introductory paragraph and get straight to it:

1. You can always fix bad pages. You can’t fix no pages.

So write. Just write. Try to turn off that voice of doom that paralyzes you.

Read the full post on Publishers Weekly!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Process Goals: 6 Ways Slowing Down and Thinking Small Will Help You Write Your Book

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Is it any wonder why I love Anne R. Allen and of course Ruth Harris when they do a great post like this?

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Process Goals: 6 Ways Slowing Down and Thinking Small Will Help You Write Your Book

by Ruth Harris

Psychologists differentiate between outcome goals (write a book) and process goals (the steps it will take to write a book). The outcome goal focuses on the big picture and the end result—a diamond-studded World Series ring, an Emmy, the winner’s circle at the Kentucky Derby.

An outcome goal (Bestseller! Glowing five-star reviews!) is one over which you have no control. No wonder you feel overwhelmed and intimidated before you even begin.

The big picture is, well, big. You can’t control it and it’s hard to define. Do you want a bestseller? NY Times or USA Today or both? A nomination for a literary prize? Pulitzer? National Book Award? A book your Mom/third grade teacher/college professor will be proud of? A book that will get revenge on the guy/gal who dumped you and prove to the world that they were wrong and you were right?

Even if you can pin down what you want from the book, you still have to write it.

OMG, a book? 60,000-100,000 brilliant, well-chosen words that actually make sense?

Read the full post on Anne R. Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: 5 Tips for Creating Believable Fictional Languages

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Today’s offering is a little selective – it’s for people who want to incorporate a fictional language into their story. Fictional languages have really grown with there now being professionals who do nothing but create fake languages. But that sounds expensive and is probably out of our budget. So here is posting over at Helping Writers Become Authors to help us save a few bucks!

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5 Tips for Creating Believable Fictional Languages

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vaj ghu’vam laD SoH laH, vaj jup maH.

Gone are the days when you could speak gibberish in a movie or a novel—think Princess Leia’s scene negotiating with Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi—and pass it off as obscure, exotic fictional languages.

Today, when your characters speak fictional languages, your audience expects these languages to sound real, with natural-sounding vocabulary and an authentic flow and syntax. Blame authors like J.R.R. Tolkien, who spent many decades fine-tuning Quenya, Sindarin, and the other languages in his epic fantasy trilogies.

But Tolkien wasn’t alone. From Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels to HBO’s Game of Thrones, using believable fictional languages helps readers believe in your mythology and immerse themselves in your world.

And unlike HBO, you don’t need to hire a team of linguists to start creating your own language. These five tips can help get you started.

Read the full post on Helping Writers Become Authors!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: How Do You Know When to Stop Expanding and Start Revising?

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I don’t know about you, but I could write and write and never get to editing. So this article from Mary Carroll Moore at her site, How To Plan, Write, And Develop A Book, is a really good post for people like us!

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How Do You Know When to Stop Expanding and Start Revising?

by Mary Carroll Moore

The relationship of writer to book-in-progress reminds me of a marriage.  As opposed to a date. 

Poems, articles, columns, and short stories are all creative commitments, sure.  But  even if they linger unfinished for a while, they are short relationships compared to 350 pages of manuscript.

With a book, you regularly re-evaluate your progress, your purpose, and your plans.  You recommit again and again.  Not unlike the work it takes to make a marriage work.

Many of my students weary of this.  Is it ever done? they ask.  When is enough, enough?

Some writers ask this when stuck or bored.  Revising seems like more fun than continuing to draft chapters.   But there is a real moment when the book has expanded as much as it needs to, and only in the more microscopic work of revision can the writer discover the next levels of truth in the story.

A writer from New York, working on his nonfiction book for several years, once sent me a very good question about this:   “At what point does one realize what they are trying to write is the final ‘version’?  My subject/point of view has changed several times.  When do I stop?”

Read the full post on How To Plan, Write, And Develop A Book!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Writing scene breaks and transitions that develop your story

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Creating a sense of time is really important to help your reader effortlessly engage in your story and keep track of when they are. At Now Novel, they have a great post with tips on how to write these types of scenes.

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Writing scene breaks and transitions that develop your story

Scene breaks and transitions allow us to experience things happening in different places and times, and to different characters. Writing good scene breaks and transitions will keep your story moving, even as you switch between settings (places and times) and viewpoints. Read tips and illustrative examples:

1: Use scene transitions to shift between time periods

There are many ways to use scene transitions and breaks in your book.

One way to use scene transitions is to switch between present experiences and backstory.

Zadie Smith uses this type of scene transition effectively in her novel White Teeth (2000). In her first chapter, set in 1974 and 1945, the owner of a Halaal butchery saves Archie Jones from committing suicide in his car. The scene ends thus:

Read the full post on Now Novel!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.