Category: Writing Techniques

What is Success in Writing?

On By dotluvs2writeIn blogging, Fiction Writing, Inspirational, Musings, Writing Techniques15 Comments

fountain pen on white paper

 

Some folks believe success in the fiction writing world is when you are a bestseller and are able to make loads of money off your books. This is a rarity, and it’s fine.

Success to me is:

1) The joy of ideas flowing in my mind, writing the scenes from the visions in my head, and finishing the story. It’s a fabulous achievement, first and foremost.

2) Having my book published to share my characters and their world with readers.

3) My characters and storyline reaching and connecting to the reader, leaving an indelible and profound feeling in their hearts and minds.

I believe these are the greatest blessings in the realm of writing fiction books. If you’ve accomplished any of these, you are a winner in my view.

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The Importance of Positive Feedback

On By dotluvs2writeIn blogging, Fiction Writing, Inspirational, Writing Techniques4 Comments

you can do it

Doesn’t it feel great when you get awesome, positive feedback from fellow writers reading and critiquing your stories?

I’ve gotten many on the three works I ran through the critique queue: my novel, Passage of Promise, my novella, Mourning Dove, and my novel, What She Didn’t Know.

Whenever you feel down or unsure about your story or even your ability to write, that changes when you get wonderful comments after constructive feedback from your fellow writers.

For example, one of my fellow writers commented on my scene descriptions (scenic surroundings) in my novel, Passage of Promise, as “second to none”. That really made my day.

A couple of days ago, I received a lovely comment on three of the chapters submitted last week from my novel, What She Didn’t Know, saying, “Powerful chapters. You are doing a great job of capturing the impact of family secrets and poor communication.” And a couple of weeks ago, with two prior chapters before those, another critiquer said, “No reader would ever be bored with this story. A more zest soap opera than one could find on the boob tube. Lots of engaging characters and snappy dialogue, and a narrator telling us about the human condition.” These remarks truly boosted my confidence and brought me joy. My characters are coming through so well, and that’s vital to me.

I mentioned in a former blog post how important critique partners are. I’m reiterating it here, showing the beautiful rewards you get, in addition to helpful suggestions. You get encouragement and praise at times. And every writer needs that.

 

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Treading in Unfamiliar Genre

On By dotluvs2writeIn blogging, Fiction Writing, Inspirational, Musings, Writing Techniques5 Comments

genre picture 2Last week, several ideas of a new story came to my mind. It was exciting. I mean, when is it NOT exciting to have new story ideas bloom in your brain? It’s a fantastic feeling, right?

I started writing down notes on this new story. Many thoughts and many questions. What’s the core of this story? What’s the main character ARC? And what about this idea or that one for the storyline?

Then it dawned on me that I was steering outside the usual path of women’s fiction genre I write to one I’d never really driven on before. Looking up the genre I believed my story ideas fell into, revealed it to be in the speculative and dystopian fiction realm.

I cringed a bit because I’ve never been into sci-fi, fantasy, or dystopian stories. From the stories I’ve read on my online critiquing site, I do have an interest in certain paranormal stories. And, I have to admit, one of my fellow critiquers writes King Arthur fantasy, and her story won me over through her excellent writing. But these examples are exceptions, not the norm in my regular reading regimen.

A few days ago, I finished writing the first chapter to this new story, and I loved it. I read it to my sons and husband. They loved it.

I have notes on where I want the story to go. But I’ve not been able to get back to the story and write it.

Now, how often has that happened to us writers? Pretty often, right? So, I wasn’t too surprised, but it still frustrated me.

Then I thought, “I just need to get to writing. Start the next chapter.”

That’s how I was able to finish up my last novel that took a year and a half to write. I had to push myself to start each chapter, even though I knew what I needed to write. The writing would start out slow, dull, and mechanical, like I was just writing to get the words down. And I was. However, around mid page, the creativity started to pour out, and I became immersed in the scene.

So, with my own experiences, I can use them and tell myself to “Just start writing”.

Try it if you haven’t already, my fellow writers. Just put words down on the paper or on the Word document.

Wish me luck on this new project. I’m hoping it comes out to be worthy of future readers.

 

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