Category Archives: writing

Are you enjoying the writing journey?

October 6, 2017 elizamarch 2 Comments

Have you met your goals? What do you do when you succeed? Or fail? What about when you disappoint yourself? Beat yourself up for not being dependable? I have a confession… rainbow_stage_spotlights_vector_background_529094-copy

It’s October? OMG – How did I get here and how did I get side-tracked from my writing goals? One thing that interferes with getting my writing done is having more pressing issues that keep popping up, forcing me to re-prioritize. My family’s needs always take priority over everything else, and my uncle has decided to move into assisted living. With no children of his own, I’m trying to help him find a suitable place near his friends. It’s giving me good practice for finding out what I will want when the time comes for me and my husband. But it’s time consuming and distracting.

“Hair of the Wolf” is late. I’m beating myself up over not meeting the goal for a planned September release. The first humorous paranormal book in my As the Chair Turns series should have been released by now, but Irma showed up and blew (pun intended) that and several trees in my yard all to hell.

My house is way too large for my husband and I to maintain. We were ready to downsize and reduce the stress in our lives. Half our belongings are in boxes. We installed new flooring, new roof, and updated the kitchen and the bathrooms. There’s still more to do and, now after this hurricane season, there’s more. I also planned to put “said” home on the market last month. Real retirement is beginning to feel like an illusive dream.

Needless to say, my plans have changed. But although we had no firm plans in place for moving on, we did have a few dreams; so now, frustration is setting in.

Since I’m not wealthy enough for my writing income to take precedence over my other sources for paying the mortgage and bills … such as emergency hurricane preparedness and cleanup, I need an alternative vision. I edit part time, mentor/coach part time, work as a hairdresser part time, and then write. So writing comes last, and money that I’d like to spend for promotion and advertising is being gobbled up in daily living expenses. I am not the only author suffering from this dilemma.

What I’ve decided to do is stop setting “firm” goals for my release dates and avoid the guilt. I have at least eight books in progress at this time, and because I value good story and character development above churning out crap, I am taking a step back.

One of the observations I’d like to make for writers is that you should set your own pace. Yes, the authors who are releasing quickly and often are having success, but don’t sell your work short. Don’t self criticize because you take more time to tell the story the way you want to. Do it your way in your own time.

The self-publishing market makes it difficult to rise above the algorithms, keywords, and massive numbers of releases daily. What I see are opportunists, sharks feeding on minnows, finding a way to make more money for themselves without a care to the quality of what they turn out or how they affect the market in general.

Are we dumbing-down literacy? Yes. And genre fiction. The Chicago Manual of Style reviews editing rules about once a year because colloquial language and needs within the US are changing with the speed of social networking. There are age-gapped and style changes taking place every day. English, in all its forms, has different rules around the world, but in addition to that, I believe, fiction in (American) English is being swamped by books published with little, no, or unprofessional editing. The results are chilling.

Incorrect uses of tense, words, phrases in books and TV, social media, and radio infiltrates our daily experience. Which came first? Does it matter? The results are the same. Confusion and inconsistencies. Authors who discard the rules and, through advertising and promotion, convince readers it doesn’t matter.

To each her/his own. I can’t live with “incorrect” or inconsistencies in my books. And believe me they have them. But I strive to improve with each book I write, because, as in all art, fiction and novels are a personal matter of taste. Correct language, grammar, and punctuation is not. Dialogue can be true to form, narrative can not. An author can maintain her or his voice without compromising quality editing.

Be careful when comparing your goals, needs, and successes with other peoples’. Be good to yourself. Enjoy the journey no matter where it takes you.

books, romance, Uncategorized, writing

Author Tips for Writing Detail

September 1, 2017 elizamarch Leave a comment

Detail has a purpose. It should provide something to the story. It should do something to the reader. The picture I used for my page has that romantic couple in a sexy pose. But in describing it, can you as an writer describe the scene accurately to draw a reader response? It makes me think of a sandy beach (yet it’s a wooden floor, reminiscent of Dirty Dancing) perhaps because of the way the light strikes the two characters. I think heat.

Romance Banner4 copy

I remember the way the sun feels against my skin as it soaks in, the way it also heats me from the inside without the need for a kiss. Has he just finished kissing her or is he about to kiss her? The sensations before and after are different, and depending on expectation and circumstance, so are the emotions and response. In describing this moment, an author will know which words to choose to evoke the exact reaction intended from the reader.

Can you imagine the moment leading up to this point? Can you begin to imagine what comes next? Everything depends on story. Characters react to story. Having a plot in mind puts the characters in the story, then knowing your characters well determines how they will react. They have options if they’re three dimensional characters, so they may surprise you, and also the reader, with their reaction. How will he touch her? Where? What does he want? What keeps him from taking what he wants? Maybe he will. maybe he won’t. Details like background noises may define the moment. Maybe an interruption sends them into hiding…everything depends on what’s in the author’s head…and where the story has been as well as where the plot is going.

Think about this when you add detail. What he’s wearing or not wearing can set a scene for what comes next. With both of them scantily clad, sexual tension can elevate quickly, especially if they are forced into close proximity. Does he hear her breathing heavily? Does she notice perspiration form on his forehead? “Showing” these details makes “telling” the reader the obvious unnecessary, but it does put the reader in the scene and into the story.

Remember the books that frightened you? I had to take breaks while reading The Shining by Stephen King, I could “not” breathe. Normally, writers give the readers time to breathe between scary scenes. Not King.

Remember the books that turned you on? The one that comes to mind for me wasn’t an erotic book; it was a suspense…All the Queen’s Men by Linda Howard. I was on a plane and deep into the dangerous scene of the book, when the sensual tension began to build. OMG danger and suspense and sex! I was seated in an aisle seat in business class surrounded by men. Lost in the story, I must have been holding my breath because when I finally exhaled, the man across the aisle turned around, winked, and asked, “That good huh?” I flushed to the roots of my hair. But “yes” it was that good, and I immediately bought one of those paperback book covers to hide my choice of titles in the future. (Although that cover had had nothing on it but chess pieces, I wasn’t ready to get teased over something like Fabio’s chest. It’s nothing to laugh at!) Getting lost in the details is a reader’s pleasure and the author’s job. Authors must draw the picture, set the scene, create the mood, string the reader out until they want to scream in pleasure or fear, or cry or laugh, or clap and cheer. Emotion is key. If an author can make you feel something…the job is done. Details create sensations that develop the emotions. Make certain the details you choose move the story forward. Set the stage for the scene.

Happy writing makes happy reading!

books, humor, paranormal, romance, writing

I Blame Harlequin for this…

August 25, 2017 elizamarch Leave a comment

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As the Chair Turns (a paranormal, tongue-in-cheek romance series) by Eliza March begins with Hair of the Wolf, Book One coming this Fall.

Anyone who’s ever read my writing knows I have an underlying sense of snide… Is it humor? Or sarcasm? Or scattered brain cell patterns from working with too many chemicals and inhaling too much hair spray?But funny? I’m not so sure. Lately, maybe more so than ever. Nevertheless, I was a reader (and, also apparently a drinker) before I was a writer.

I belonged to Harlequin’s “books of the month club”. Not sure what it’s really called. But I got additional gifts when they arrived. Purple wine glasses I had to use while I read the books they sent. I had a book a day habit and the purple glass always looked full … too bad it wasn’t. My wine habit couldn’t keep up with my reading or I’d pass out before I finished the book…and four books, Harlequin? That didn’t keep me satisfied. I went to the used book store to supplement my reading addiction, ordered books online, and then discovered a few small ebook presses. Whala! I would never go without something to read again…and I could download at 2 AM! Book two in the series completed? Ah! Book three is available immediately! Yea.

Soon, the series didn’t satisfy, the authors couldn’t write fast enough, I’d imagined the story twist differently, the characters reactions differently, and I had an idea…write it myself. At least I couldn’t drink and type at the same time.

When I first began writing, one of my stylists suggested As The Chair Turns for a title, and with her blessings I am going to use it. The series was originally intended to be reality based and a serious, non-fiction fiction. I just couldn’t do it. Fifty years in this business, in one capacity or another, didn’t allow for it.

What I didn’t suspect at the time was that:
1. I’d ever write it.
2. It would be paranormal.
3. It would be funny.

Karsley, “like Parsley,” thank you. Now that I’m finally going to use it, I hope you find it up to your title suggestion. I doubt Karsley ever suspected it would be something like this. But she has a great sense of humor so I think it will be perfect.

I’d started out writing romantic suspense, then for a while, found my niche in erotic paranormal romance. And I was pretty darned good at it, too. The only thing funny about that is the idea of me writing erotic anything. My husband suggested I write what I know. I have had one husband, five children, the beauty industry, and reality for experience. That was more what he had in mind. But hey, Problem was I read lots of fiction. Don’t forget that book a day habit. And I read sexy fiction. Paranormal fiction.

I guess he didn’t expect me to stray off to my wild imaginary, sexy-shifter worlds. Uh-duh…that had become my escape reality. Who needed more of what I did every day? I refused to consider writing about the industry I’d been immersed in for…well…forever. (Fifty years is close enough to forever to qualify, I believe.)

One morning I woke up with my hero and heroine in my head in a scene in a salon. Deja vie. They were sexy. New addition. Nice. But they were funny. Too funny. I didn’t write funny. I’m not funny …or I wasn’t, anyway.

i thought for a moment and suddenly realized in recent years, I’ve started having comic-strip visions in my head when people speak or I read something. The intent changes and I see the hysterical side of life. Everything has a humorous side, right? The visions I have usually include little clouds of dialogue pointing to the characters’ (sometimes cartoon animals’) heads. Often, I have to bite my tongue to stop the hee-haw response I feel swelling up inside me. You experience that too, don’t you? No? I’ve wondered why my imagination for story-telling waited so long, but it was probably for the best while I was doing personal things to people’s hair and bodies.

Here’s an except from Hair of the Wolf from Book One of As the Chair Turns. To set up the scene, Dela is the only human working in Frankie de Wolf’s world renowned salon and spa in Boca Raton, FL. They are going to a hair show in Vegas…Dela is the responsible one until the slot machines start singing…

…Our group filed past the flashing lights, then the digital billboards caught my attention. Suddenly, I had a change of heart. My gambling release switch flipped off and desire did a happy dance in my pants. Images of gyrating, shirtless men from “Down Under” put me in a different frame of mind.

Vegas. Sin City. I began thinking of all the potential sin and felt my lips curl. I was here to party. What happens here…yadda yadda yadda…right?

“Earth to Dela. Are you ready for a couple of those in your lap?” Selena, the female cat shifter, purred, pointing to the Chippendale poster.

Frankie didn’t look at me, waiting for my answer, but I noticed the way his ears perked up. They sort of twitched in my direction. I weighed my answer carefully, reconsidering my previous let-it-all-go moment, and just gave the shifter my non-commital smile.

I had enough on my plate with this raucous bunch of supernatural species, who, under normal circumstances, did their best to look human and contain themselves. Here, I’d already seen evidence of their loss of control. Eye shapes and colors were the first signs. Contacts were a good explanation since shimmering silver eyes weren’t a color humans were naturally blessed with, but that was just for starters. Some of their other traits weren’t as easy to explain. The younger vampires were already setting off smoke when direct sunlight hit them and one of the younger werewolf’s ears sprouted hair.

Never mind. You get the gist.

Controlling them at Luna de la Mar promised to be easier than keeping my staff’s identities secret in a town filled with them…. In Boca, being the only human in charge of every paranormal species unknown to the local inhabitants was harder than making them seem eccentric or weird instead of different. Here, I had a feeling my boss and the staff were going to be, not only uncooperative but, downright bad influences.

By the time I rounded up transportation for everyone and gave directions to the hotel and instructions regarding where to pick up the hair show tickets, I’d lost half the group and all their attention.

Whatever! The staff were all adults of a sort. They could fend for themselves. After all, I wasn’t their caretaker this weekend. They were powerful, magical, and gifted. I, on the other hand, was merely human. “Screw it,” I mumbled to no one in particular. Only a handful of the staff were still nearby, close enough to hear me anyway.

“You need a drink and entertainment, sweetie.” Jen, the witch, slipped her arm around my neck and scrunched her magical nose at me. Before I could argue, one of my favorite witches prepared to glamour me right there in the taxi line, in front of fake Elvis, a poster of Neil Diamond, and God knows how many witnesses.

I gasped and held up my hand to ward off Jen’s magic, then realized she was right. “What the hell? Do your worst!” I opened my arms wide as she doused her magic over me.

Hell, the six-inch red stilettos didn’t even hurt my feet. Wow. I could get used to this. I liked the taller illusion. The view was pretty awesome. I just hoped I didn’t topple over what with all my cleavage piled up in front like this.

Carrie, my other witch-bitch, just grinned up at the billboard. “We need three or more of them…” She pointed at a digital video of bare-chested Chippendales.

Chippendales and Thunder From Down Under?

Be still my thundering heart. How would I ever get through the weekend? With a low moan, I clenched my jaw and turned away from the smorgasbord of flesh and muscle. Calculating the idea of “more” … my right brain did the math while my left side did the architectural planning…

There’s more, so much more so if you liked this excerpt and want more, sign up for my Newsletter HERE at http://eepurl.com/buCZLf You’ll be the first to get them and hear about the release date.

books, romance, writing

Trends in Romance – Mature at 30? Or 40?

August 14, 2017 elizamarch Leave a comment

2-2017-more-than-a-stud-cover-copy — Sizzling Romance

The new trends in romance are moving toward romance about millennials and the issues they’re faced with every day. Is age a barrier to love? Women seeking careers, for years, had to face the questions many women today face: now or later? May-December romances used to refer to older men younger women, now older women-younger men barriers have come crashing down. Although it wasn’t the norm years ago, it wasn’t unknown. Do women still feel the stigma? I have two aunts who married younger men. Both lied about their ages for years. My husband is a few months younger than I am. We’ve always joked about it. My sister, daughter, and cousin all married younger men. I never considered it an issue, and then the problems that come with aging have silenced ticking fertility clocks. There are ways for all of us to remain younger looking as our life expectancy increases; and ways to extend the years we have before parenting. So we can love who we chose with less stigma.

Want to get into one woman’s head? Read my More Than a Stud, a short erotic study on two people who want it all.

More Than a Stud by Eliza March

With her biological clock ticking away, Carina Roth, CEO and owner of a corporate security company, wants a child. On the night of her forty-second birthday, her thirty-five-year-old corporate intel officer, Evan Douglas, surprises her by admitting he’s always wanted her. But when he offers to be her baby’s daddy, she’s not sure she wants to risk complicating their working relationship even though she’s spent years pushing him out of her sensual dreams.

Evan has waited too long for Carina to realize what they have between them is perfect. When he discovers she’s considering in vitro fertilization, he decides he can’t wait. Not only does he want to father Carina’s child, he sets out to prove he can fulfill her every need despite the difference in their ages. For Carina, he wants to be…more than a stud.

books, fantasy, paranormal, romance, writing

The POWER OF THE LIGHT – The 1st Journey in the Gemini Prophecy series

June 15, 2017 elizamarch 2 Comments

Before the Gemini Prophecy, the World of the Fae and Underworlds clashed. Here is one ins 300px-Fortingall_Yew piring photo of the ancient yew that I wrote about in the story. Many of the old stories are derived from folklore, but this tree has stood in this place throughout the times the tales were told. Fascinating.

235px-Dunedin_Andr_Mem_Chapel01 This old church reminds me of the one I wrote about as far as shape and size, but the location and material was off. irish SO with further research here is the one in Ireland I imagined; white-washed walls, mold, and ancient cemetery included.

Now how did I come up with the cliffs, you ask? I envisioned the Cliffs of Mohr with trees and a stone circle. Caves and wooded forests filled the images I had of the outskirts

: Coming SOON

of Washington, DC. The location where the psychic was killed may have looked like the image at the bottom of this mock-up cover for the first book in the series; POWER OF THE LIGHT. Certainly, the Traighon is aptly portrayed here. Blue skin and all.

Have you read the prequel? The Fae Myth may be a good place to begin before the first book in the series is released. In the coming months look for Power of the Light, followed by Power of the Sea…then two more books in the series will be following in 2018. Each is a stand-alone story.

Where to BUY

AMAZON

books, humor, Uncategorized, writing

Giving Away Books? How About a TIP?

May 30, 2017 elizamarch Leave a comment

No. I mean a real tip. You know…money? I’m thinking about all the free books authors give away and call it advertising expense. Sometimes I get a really good book and think, perhaps I should give the author a tip. I could buy the next book, but that isn’t really expressing the value of the book I just read. So I rate it five stars and write gushing reviews. Still I feel something is missing. I see SMASHWORDS has an option under pricing for the reader to choose their own price. Anyone tried that? Reader? Author? I’m curious. Given the choice, how many or which books would you pay for? How about an option to TIP the author for an excellent read?

Instead of T-I-P (TO INSURE PROMPTNESS) satisfied readers could give extra TO INSURE PLEASURE? or PERFECTION? Or we could just insert a DONATION button. I’ve seen them on blogs (idea).

What about the ones when we can’t get past the first chapter? I’m all for images emojis but I always seem to feel an emotion they haven’t developed a face for. A middle finger could work well for so much, but some would be offended. Nope. Not a good idea. Rudeness is available everywhere lately. If you can’t say something nice…don’t SAY anything, don’t TIP. don’t DONATE or leave a REVIEW. “NO” review speaks volumes. “BAD” reviews make you sound like a TROLL. I’m voting for tipping. If it’s a FIVE + STAR book, the only thing left is a TIP. For me? I’m okay if you buy my other books — I won’t be offended.

I started this thought, tongue in cheek, but it’s beginning to sound good. Where is that emoji for the face I’m making right now? Eh?

Oh and in case you haven’t signed up for my NEWSLETTER yet…now would be a good time. NO SPAMMING. In fact, unless set-of-hands-with-thumbs-up_1134-312 I have something to offer you like a FREE book or a BIG DISCOUNT or a chance to WIN something … or tell you a SECRET no one knows about yet … I won’t bother you. I will give you my email address so you can contact me back with suggestions. Or just leave them here. I get them.

The link to sign up below will ask you what genres you prefer.

Sometimes it’s hard to decide. I think you can pick them all.

writing

Maybe… You Weren’t Rejected

April 12, 2017 elizamarch Leave a comment

From my Editor’s “Sorting Hat”… One thing I’ve noticed is that submitting authors have come to expect rejections. They accept rejection too easily. Even when they aren’t being rejected.

Most new authors have no idea how the publishing system works. They are writers. So now what?

I was fortunate to finally find answers to my questions, and to questions I hadn’t even thought of, with experienced authors at RWA and then at Tampa area Romance Authors, the local chapter I joined, where the wealth of information about the publishing process was invaluable. Gracious published authors like CL Wilson, Julie Leto, Karen Rose, Virginia Henley, Betina Krahn, Terri Garey, Roxanne St. Claire, Kresley Cole, and so many others, gave their time and experience to pull up promising authors. The information and advice they shared helped everyone.

So when I encounter a new author who doesn’t really know how to format her manuscript, or write a submission letter, or know where to find advice, I recommend joining a professional group. In my case I did join a group of writers early on, but they were a mixed group. I write romance and was too embarrassed to read aloud during critique sessions. So without a critique partner I still learned plenty about writing from critiquing other people’s work. I am a reader, after all, and I know what I like and don’t like. Did it drag? Did it grab me right from the start? Did it confuse me? Did I stop reading it? Was the dialogue bad? Were the characters interesting, flawed or boring?

So it didn’t take me long to begin looking at my own work with a discerning eye. I couldn’t seem to cut what I needed to cut. I wrote around passages that didn’t fit to keep them in because I liked the way the words sounded or the illusion they created. It slowed the pace, it didn’t move the story forward or show the reader anything about the characters.

Even when I did find a patient soul or two to critique my work (I can’t believe they are still my friends after all this…) I didn’t want to change it. So where did the manuscript go? I submitted it and got rejections. No explanation of why. But in retrospect you know why, right? All my critique partners were right. I knew it. I just didn’t know how to fix it.

There are plenty of wonderful editors and agents who look at your manuscript and want to publish it. They like you. They like your characters. They like the plot. But sometimes they don’t have the time to fix all the things your manuscript will need to make it a viable published book. If you get a rejection letter with suggestions…your manuscript may NOT have been rejected after all. Do NOT be afraid to ask if you can revise and resubmit. If you are lucky enough to get the okay to resubmit, do NOT rush through it and send it right back. I’d get everyone’s opinion who reads your genre to take a look before you send it back. I’d let it sit for a while after I addressed the obvious concerns. Time is the best judge of your work. If you go back to your book and are absorbed in the story and surprised and pleased with the dialogue and narrative when you reread it, fantastic. I can’t tell you how often I don’t remember writing certain passages, and I wonder who did. I was in a zone, and my muse had completely taken over. It was beyond good. Beyond what I believed I was capable of writing. And then there are the other times when I read a scene and wonder what the hell I was thinking. The sentences are a jumble of crap. I misspell words, misuse words, mix metaphors, write a scene out of point of view…ugh. You get the picture.

Self edit. Gather all the information you can about the industry, the editors, the agents and agencies you want to submit to. If you get your manuscript in front of anyone make certain it will reflect the best you have to offer. If you get rejected, confirm whether you should revise and resubmit or whether your book is not a good fit for the publisher or editor. You want someone who loves your book as much as you do to manage it, agent, editor, or publisher. You want all hands on deck when it comes to producing your book.

I have had to chase after authors who thought I’d rejected their books and explain I want them to fix what I pointed out. It isn’t hopeless. Sometimes, there’s too much story for the length, or not enough. Sometimes the clutter is hiding the magic. That can all be an easy fix. But sometimes it isn’t good for the publisher or the genre line. That may not be fixable. No one benefits if a reader isn’t looking at a publisher or distributor for your book because yours maybe mystery and the reader only reads paranormal. So make sure you are positioning your work well.

I’ve probably forgotten to include a million other issues but I hope you get something out of this post. I’ve been editing for The Wild Rose Press for almost ten years under the pseudonym, Frances Sevilla and independently freelance editing as Maureen F. Sevilla.

When I’m a writer, Eliza March, I am exactly like every other writer. I have a hard time seeing my books’the flaws.

Check out my book, Maximum Impact

writing

Kiss Your Editor Today

April 6, 2017 elizamarch Leave a comment

Of course it’s a love/hate relationship (truly more love than hate on my part). By the time I finish my edits I want to prostrate myself at my editor’s feet and beg for her forgiveness and mercy…and thank her for putting up with me. No, I’m not a Diva. I’m just an author, and I do all the things in my first few drafts that many writers do. I know the rules (and YES there are rules) and the rules are meant to be guidelines to improve the reader’s enjoyment of the author’s book. Do I balk at some suggestions? Yes. Should I? No.

No editor is looking to mark up your manuscript in red just for the hell of it. Any editor would rather pick up your manuscript, sit down with a glass of wine, and enjoy a good book…preferably yours…the one she should be editing…but discovers there’s nothing wrong with it the way it is. She’d rather stay up all night, unable to put it down, and at dawn, realize she’s just finished a best seller, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel…and it’s yours. Not a suggestion to make, not a comma to enter, no exclamation points to delete, not a word to change.

Perfect. But I seldom got a manuscript delivered in that condition. Some were better than others. And I’ve never read or written a manuscript that didn’t need a damn good editor. If every editor only got perfect manuscripts, they’d be out of a job. And when editors write, they are authors and they need editors, too–probably as much or sometimes more than anyone. I’ve had good editors and mediocre ones. If you find a good one–an editor who makes you stretch your limits, dig deeper for the talent hidden in you, forces you to go farther than you intended to go with your story, bow to her glory. She’s a priceless jewel. Acknowledge her. She’s like the hardest teacher you ever had in school, the one who wouldn’t let you skimp on anything because she believed in you. You can hate the work, but value the effort. It’s what will make you better than you ever imagined you could be. Blow her a kiss and kneel at her feet.

Thank you, my glorious editors!

This is for all my critique partners and editors along the way who have put up with my repetitious ways and passive voice and out of POV scenes, and more…so much more.

writing

Writers Block is a Fallacy. My Story Will Demonstrate Why.

March 19, 2017 elizamarch 1 Comment

This is just my hu

mble opinion. You can write your own blog if you disagree and tell us your story after reading my observations and suggestions.

Here’s how I see it. I’ve had the inability to move forward with a story; sometimes for weeks, sometimes for months, sometimes for years. That’s not writer’s block. It’s a problem with the plot or characters or your motivation. Writing is often work–hard work. That means working through the problems of a story. Not just spitting it out and expecting that all it needs after it’s written is a comma or two in edits. Most stories take at least a little analysis.

What people believe is writer’s block is actually a point when the writer loses direction or interest and tries to force the story. Pantsers or plotters may need to take time to regroup. A plotter will write out the plan or draw a diagram; a pantser will imagine the solution while running or cooking or staring at the starry-night sky. Sometimes it takes minutes, sometimes months for the solution–the ah ha moment–to strike. Sometimes it doesn’t ever come. Why? Because you’re trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

That isn’t writer’s block. It’s a convoluted premise. You imagine the story plot and the characters. The characters don’t always do what you think they will. Why? Because of plot flaws or character
flaws. When you fix one the other will fall into place.

Other reasons writers think they have writer’s block is because they

1. don’t like the plot or genre they’ve chosen to write

2. don’t know their characters, especially the hero/heroine

3. can’t fulfill the story promise

4. don’t know how to fix it

Ask yourself if it’s one of these issues. Be honest. What don’t you like? Get to know your characters better. If the plot isn’t headed in the right direction, maybe you need to look for another way to get to the en
d. In the swamps? Don’t know how to get out? Read a book on craft. Ask a critique partner or trusted reader to review what you have so far. Talk over the character or plot problems with another writer. Don’t feel like you have to follow every suggestion. Sort through them all and find the ones that will help you get past your story’s sticking points.

If you still don’t come up with a solution, it’s best to move on to another project. You have them. Let the other book simmer. Sometimes it will come to you later. Go through your other ideas, preferably the ones that intrigue you. They exist in a phrase you wrote down on a napkin, a title running around in your head, a line from a movie you can’t shake, an impression of a scene you need to write. If you don’t have anything. Change it up–read a book, watch a movie, listen to music, do something different until you find that something. Most of all, even if you’re on deadline, don’t force it. It’s the pressure to write something concrete that stifles your creativity. You think proposals are just that–concrete. Synopses often change when the story is written. All because your experience changes, and how you feel, at any given point, is different. The longer it takes to write a book, the bigger the change.

Personally, my career in writing has changed in the last twelve years because I’ve gone from being a student of the craft to a teacher. Ten years of writing experience and editing has given me an insight I didn’t have in the beginning; so my vision has improved and is continuously adjusting. Gemini was a project I began working on many years ago. I shopped it around and had some interest from publishers, but back then no one wanted to commit to publishing a series. Authors didn’t want to write them for a variety of reasons, and those who did took a risk. My goals changed, my voice changed, my knowledge grew. I stopped writing the Gemini series after doing a proposal for five books; completing the prequel and the first book and beginning the second book. You could say I had writer’s block but, in all honesty, I love this series more than anything I’ve ever written. Why would I avoid finishing it?

Pressure. I want this series to be read. I don’t care if it makes money. I want readers to enjoy it. Talk to me about it. Interact. The industry has changed since I wrote that first book in the series. So now I have a plan and patience.

The prequel will release May 28, 2017. It’s going on Presale March 31st. Sign up for my Newsletter [http://eepurl.com/buCZLf] and I’ll send you the links of where to buy The Gemini Mythology when it’s available. I’ll also have a contest to give away a few copies to five lucky winners on my website at Eliza March. If you’re a fantasy fan of faery lore and mythology, keep your eyes open for Gemini at all major ebook sites and help me reach my dream. Tell your friends about it.

books, distractions, writing

Writing when it’s impossible to keep your focus.

February 16, 2017 elizamarch 1 Comment

Expand your methods of upping the word count:

display-dummy-915135__180 In a world where breaking news flashes seem to appear hourly, interfering with those of us whose job it is to create worlds where you readers can escape, we must learn to shut it out. We build places for you to escape to when things get too out of hand in reality–places where you can find a way to shut out the noise.

Often I feel like a warrior guardian protecting the gates to the fortress of my fantasy world from the onslaught of unemployment, and ignorance, and health care issues. No matter the story, my job is the same, suspend reality, and help the reader settle into a new world, with new people and situations, and stay until he discovers a satisfactory solution to the fictional crisis and conflicts.

Our stories begin in an ordinary world just as something is about to change. (that could be every twenty minutes on a Monday if I turn on the TV, radio, or read the news.) So my first rule of writing is the writer has to escape to write the story. Before the reader can jump in and disappear into the new world of adventure, or love, or intrigue of his choice…you the writer must create the story–beginning to satisfying ending.

My solution to writing, for now in this changing environment, (fyi – we are preparing to sell out house) is to write in short sprints to deal with distraction. I’ve never been a sprinter, in real life or otherwise – including writing, but it seems to be working. On days when I’d just as soon give up on a single written word, I can write for ten minutes or for as long as the thought keeps me going. Something is better than nothing. It’s not as if I have writers’ block either, I have plenty of story and plenty of action and characters to write about, but I usually write sequentially and this life of mine isn’t going to allow that to happen for awhile. Having an alternative method of writing when the old way isn’t working is a miraculous solution. This time I wrote the beginning and what I thought was the second act. After getting myself into a corner I backed out and did a story board with an outline. Now as ideas come to me I write the, Scenes get written as I’m inspired. I make notes I need to add, ideas I might want to use later. I keep note cards everywhere. All I have to do now is figure out how to get more organized.

No matter what, I’m adding the good, the bad, and the ugly to my word count daily. I’ve also cut some early concepts and story that won’t work. There was a time I couldn’t do that…or wouldn’t. Now I don’t even save it to my old “golden words” file. It’s time to realize I can write what I need to when the scene is necessary and the words are only golden if they move the plot forward.

So stop being so hard n yourself. Zero words is not failure if you think about your WIP. It’s better to jot down a short sentence or two on a note card and keep it for later so you don’t forget. And…that sentence or phrase counts toward your word count. Hmm 22 words is at least a positive number. During editing I’ve managed to keep a positive flow on my word count, but when you rewrite 12,000 words and end up with 12, 001 it is disheartening. yet still better than 11, 999.

Use a plotting method or storyboard. It is one way of forcing your outlined, laid-out story to grow just because the scenes and needs are there. The ideas already exist, and you just have to fill in the blanks. (You can be artistic and literary later after you get some words on the page.) Go look up some methods. There are a million different ways to research this and increase your word count. Good luck. If you find anything unique, please leave me a link in the comments below.