If You Can

Tell Me a Story


Inner Peace: This is so true

• If you can start the day without caffeine,
• If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and
• pains,
• If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
• If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
• If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
• If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
• If you can conquer tension without medical help,
• If you can relax without liquor,
• If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

Then You Are Probably The Family Dog!

..

And you thought I was going to get all spiritual!! You should have known better!

Story Ideas

Tell Me a Story

If you struggle to get ideas for plots in your story try this gizmo. It might not be the best thing since sliced bread, but there again I like crusty bread torn off in chunks....

Plot Generator

Even if you don't need it, it's a bit of fun.

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• a romantic mystery, 
• a contemporary romance 
• or short stories?

Writing Novel Tips

10 Top Writing Tips, For Writing that novel

Before starting to write that novel, you should make loads of notes. You should scribble down all the associated ideas you can think of, and then sit back in that comfy seat and take time to analyse just what your brilliant story idea is all about. How much do you actually know about the background for your story? How much do you know about your characters? What about their jobs, their likes and dislikes, their friends, their taste in food?

• What else should you be doing? Take a look at this article to see just what you should be up to…. 10 Top Writing Tips

next post ------------------------------------------------------------------ Looking for

• a romantic mystery, 
• a contemporary romance 
• or short stories?

How to format a book

Format a book

Tell Me a Story - manuscript submission guidelines
















Format a book

The way an editor first perceives a book decides its prospects with that publishing house forever – it might sound severe, but I’m afraid it’s true.

A quick glance at your book will make or break it. Editors in publishing houses are innundated with manuscripts, and they are only human - little things can sway them. Wouldn't it be terrible if it was tossed to one side without being read, simply because it didn't pass an editor's eye-test or it fluffed on the submission guidelines.

Don't let yours be one of them - learn how to format a book in this Bukisa article - 20 Things You Should Know About How To Format A Book

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Looking for

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To Write a Better Story

To Write a Story

Tell Me a Story - hints and tips

To write a story.

So, you've struggled against all odds and have finally managed to write a story. Quite rightly, you’re over the moon that it's now complete - yet is it....

It’s a hell of an achievement to write a story, most wannerbes rarely make it to the finishing line, so you deserve a pat on the back in your own right. However, that first draft will seldom be equal to the exacting yardsticks laid down by most publishing houses.

What then must you do to bring it up to the standard required? What extra is demanded of you?

20 Ways To Write A Story Better

....Now you can polish your manuscript until it shines....


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• a romantic mystery, 
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Book Strategy - Tactics to Start Your Book Campaign

Tell Me a Story - hints and tips











Book Strategy

It's far more difficult to sell a really good novel by a new author than it is to sell a poor novel by an established author.

New authors must fight their way against enormous odds. Often there is no publicity budget available from the publishing house - so what can you do as a new author? You must find a strategy to promote your book.

If you're struggling for ideas, take a look at Book Strategy - Tactics to open up your book strategy and promotion campaign


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Mastering the art of Story Characters

Tell Me a Story - article













Story Characters - The critical component

Plot characters, story characters, call them what you may, they are the most important ingredient in your story.

You might strive for a perfect adventure, but unless your readers equate with your story characters there is no story. If readers don't care what happens to the characters, the tale will flop. So what can you do...... Well you can try reading this ..... 7 Cool Ways To Jump-Start The Story Characters In Your Writing


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Ingredients of a plot

Tell Me a Story - hints and tips

The Plot of a Story











Plot of a story

A lot of stories fail simply because the writer hasn't controlled the ingredients. There are certain elements that a plot must contain in order for it to be successful. Success is never guaranteed, but you can at least give your manuscript a fighting chance by following these guidelines.

Need to get that plot of a story in order? Not quite getting it together? Maybe you need to take a peep at this Bukisa article --- How to become a writer - Ingredients of a plot


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Would you like to write an article and get paid for it - if so join Bukisa here

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• or short stories?

Tell me a Story


If you're set on becoming a writer but never seem to get the opening right, take a look at this article on Bukisa ... BECOMING A WRITER

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Editing your novel

Tell Me a Story - tips

Okay, so your novel is complete - or is it. The first or even second draft of a novel will rarely be up to publication standard. It might be a brilliant idea, it might have an incredible storyline, but unless it's up to scratch, no one is going to read it. Good novels aren't written, they are rewritten. Take a look at this article 20 Ways To Write A Story Better


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• 20 Things You Should Know About How To Format A Book
• Writer's Block - Cool Ways Of Overcoming Writing Block

Job Snobs

Tell Me a Story - viewpoint

Have you ever been button-holed by someone who you know full-well is pretending to be in a job they are not? Some people just have to be job-snobs . Take a look at this article on REDGAGE

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Promotion for new authors

Tell Me a story - advice

If you're a newly published author you're probably still in shock. When you finally climb down off your particular cloud nine you'll realise that your wonderful babe isn't selling quite how you'd hoped. There is no publicity budget and promotion verges on being non-existent.

So what happens next???

Take a look at this take on REDGAGE to see one way of increasing interest in your book.

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• 20 Things You Should Know About How To Format A Book
• 20 Ways To Write A Story Better

Easy money on-line

Tell Me a Story - advice

I recently talked about Redgage. At the risk of repeating myself I just want to point out the advantage I've had so far.

I joined just two weeks ago. Already my earnings are just a few cents short of $38, and all I've done is add some of my already published stuff. You can link to blog posts you've done, articles you've written, upload photos, anything you wish and bingo, money comes trickling in. The more posts you have the greater the trickle becomes.

Easy Money

You don't have wait for people to click on advertisements on your site like you do on HubPages, Squidoo or other article sites. You actually get paid by the NUMBER OF VISITS to your article - in fact if you have Squidoo, put a link to it and visitors will clock up cash for you.

If you fancy making easy money from stuff you've already written then take a look at RedGage here


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Creative writing tips, conflict and tension
Book writing, 20 ways to polish that manuscript

Injecting emotion into your story

Tell Me a Story - tips

Emotion is an important part of any writing. Without it a piece of work will be flat and without life.

If you ever wondered how to inject emotion into your story then take a look at this article on Redgage.

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• 20 Things You Should Know About How To Format A Book
• 20 Ways To Write A Story Better

Redgage - I'm smitten

Tell Me a Story - tip

Two days ago I joined an article site called REDGAGE. It's rather unique in that you can update your own blog material to it, refer your own articles from elsewhere to it, or link to your external material and photos. Effectively, you GET PAID to write on your own site - good or what?

You can also enter material and articles directly like any other conventional site.

The system of payment is per view rather than whether your reader happens to click on an advert. Some may like this way, some not; my own preference is that I like the method. I'm useless at marketing.

The point is, that not only do you get payment per view, BUT also paid by bonus. If your article is featured, you receive a nice little bonus payment. Now I realise other sites might have upfront payments, but not for writers outside of the USA. REDGAGE allow you to operate wherever you live. They send you a Visa card once you earn in excess of $25, with the card credited to the amount you've earned....

Now, as I said, I've only been on the site a couple of days, but already one of my articles has received a $4:75 bonus - a tidy little start to my article campaign.

Not only, but also

Not only do you get paid per view, and a bonus if your work is decent, you can also be entered into a daily raffle which pays $25. You gain points towards this raffle by either producing good content, by promoting the site, or by recommending a friend.

SO good people. If YOU want to try out this site -and why wouldn't you want to earn money from your blogs - pick up this link to REDGAGE and take a look for yourself.

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Creative writing tips, conflict and tension
Book writing, 20 ways to polish that manuscript

6 sites to Pep Up your Writer's Blog

Tell Me a Story - tips

Okay, as writers we can all do with a little help to pep up our websites and blogs. Writers want to write, not promote, but we all have to get stuck in, even though half the time we haven't a clue what we're doing.

I recently came across a few articles that offer help with traffic and blogs and thought you might find them useful as well.

1. Video: How to bring traffic with the help of elertgadget and Google Desktop
2. 6 Steps To A Killer Guest Post
3. 7 Important Steps for Perfect Blog Promotion
4. Faster Web Sites For Happier Visitors And Better Conversion Rates
5. Get 10X Traffic by Content Distribution Method
6. Promoting Your Blog Without Search Engines

Now we have no excuse for trimming our blogs and driving tons of traffic..... Well we can all live in hope can't we.

• Next post on Tell Me a Story

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Creative writing tips, conflict and tension
Book writing, 20 ways to polish that manuscript

The vulnerable writer

Tell Me a Story

As a writer, you are vulnerable – especially if you haven’t yet been published.

Plain old shit

Most creative souls are susceptible to people’s comments, to failure, to having the right idea at the wrong time or the wrong place or the other way round…. Or to finding that the market you’re aiming for is simply not ready for your idea…. or horror of horrors, to realising that your idea is just plain old shit.

The important thing is that you do write, and that you write with enthusiasm and pride.

Carry on regardless

Remember, nothing was ever created out of shilly-shallying. We have a special kind of respect for people who fail yet carry on regardless. We know in our hearts that sometime soon they will be triumphant, next time they could pen a best seller.

If you’re in your study struggling to find the right words, the right idea, remember that all successful writers have been there and climbed through the pain barrier. You’re not alone even though it feels that way.

Come on, forget vulnerability let’s write!

• Next post on Tell Me a Story

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Creative writing tips, conflict and tension
Book writing, 20 ways to polish that manuscript

Book Challenge

Tell Me a Story.

I have just read a blog post on The Story Syren that brings a glimmer of hope to new writers. The post encourages the public to read books from debut authors. In this case the object seems to be to introduce readers to Young Adult books - but why not extend the challenge to include ALL debut writers. In fact my own challenge is for everyone to read at least ONE book from an unknown writer - who knows, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Too many books from celebrities

Okay I know I have a biased opinion, but in my view, too many people are reading books from over-paid, over-exposed, semi-literate celebrities. All well and good to read this stuff, but unfortunately, it's at the expense of books from real and talented authors.

No Budget

Each year, on the American market alone, we see something like 150,000 new books published. Steve Weber suggestes that of these 100,00 will sell less than 100 copies - not because they are not good enough, but because no publicity is made available for them, no book promotion because publishers plough their budgets into sure-fire hits from celebrities. The public has no idea which books are available. If this sort of thing continues, if there is no encouragement for new writers, there could be a stage where real novels are no longer available.

• So what is the 2010 Debut Author Challenge on The Story Syren?
  
• "The objective is to read a set number of YA (Young Adult) or MG (Middle Grade) novels from debut authors published this year.* I'm going to challenge everyone to read at least 12 debut novels! I’m hoping to read at least 30! You don’t have to list your choices right away, but if you do feel free to change them throughout the year. I will also be focusing on mostly Young Adult novels.
• Anyone can join, you don’t need a blog to participate. If you don’t have a blog you can always share your views by posting a review on Amazon.com/ BarnesandNoble.com/ GoodReads/Shelfari, or any other bookish site.
• The challenge will run from January 1, 2010- December 31, 2010. You can join at anytime!"
• For more information check the post out at The Story Syren
  
  
• Next post on Tell Me a Story

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Creative writing tips, conflict and tension
Book writing, 20 ways to polish that manuscript

Getting over Writer's Block

Tell Me a Story - writing tip

If the surge of ideas has faded, if your writing feels trapped or awkward, if you’ve hit the dreaded writer’s block, maybe you’re just not paying attention to your subconscious.

The waking mind

When you hit a sticking point, it sometimes means the plot is flawed and your subconscious knows and has slowed down. You’re still forging ahead as if the storyline is okay, and simply think you’re having a bad patch. The idea that your scheme might be wrong hasn’t trickled through to your waking mind yet.

Sometimes it’s better to step back and take another look at your plot. Re-assess your ideas; are there other scenarios that might work better?

Allow it to be processed

Search through your running notebook of questions on the story (you do keep a notebook of things that need answering or resolving at a later date don’t you). Feed the ideas into your mind, try reversing the roles, chew things over. Ask yourself questions about the problem you've hit.

Now put the whole thing to one side. Take a walk, feed the dog, go shopping, do anything except write. Allow time for this fresh material and the questions to be processed by your subconscious. Let it poach and boil whilst you do something unrelated. Take a holiday.

Nourish your mind

Feeding crude material into your mind can be intriguing and very worthwhile. The more you nourish your mind, the more probable your subliminal dynamic will be there to help.

Lying dormant within your notebook, or sometimes in what you’ve already written will be a clue to the problem. Give it time to bubble and eventually the answer will doubtless appear.

• Next post on Tell Me a Story

Who needs writers agents?
Book writing tips - A Perceptive Notebook

Give yourself permission to write crap

Tell Me a Story - writing tip

AJ - Do you have any suggestions for those of us perfectionist/ slowpokes who have a hard time NOT editing as we write? Basically I write crap. I have to keep editing it away.

Hi, Billie. Thanks for contacting me. I can only suggest that because you understand your problem, the answer virtually lies in your own hands. Recognizing that you’ve hit an obstacle is certainly the first step - and even the best writer churns out crap in the first draft.

Some writers become drunk with their own words and don’t recognize what they’ve written can have anything wrong with it. They are deluding themselves. Their writing will remain crap.

Words have worth

Maybe your problem is the opposite in that you don’t believe your words have worth. If that’s the case, then you too, are deluding yourself. There is something of worth in everything you write. Amongst that crap will be a gem, and if you clean it up it will sparkle.

Once you acknowledge a first draft, warts and all, is an essential part of writing, maybe you’ll face it more philosophically and proficiently. No one is going to read your first draft. It’s for your eyes only, a scribbling of basic ideas.

Force yourself to write.

Striving for the ultimate is an essential part of success, but you really shouldn’t let it get in the way of putting that precious story down. Be hard on yourself. Force yourself to simply write until the draft is complete. When the draft is finished, you can give yourself full-rein to edit. You can be as harsh as you like – in fact, you should be severe. Stories are not written, they are re-written.

Overcoming the problem.

Years ago I had trouble with putting profanities into my work.

I overcame the problem by writing a whole story using the most foul-language I could dream up. I let it flood out; in fact, I overdid the writing. The story was unreadable because of this overuse of swear words, but it cured me.

Maybe you could try something similar with, say, a version of your very own NaNoWriMo. Set your own target then write like mad for a month – forget quality – forget story content – just give yourself permission to complete a novel-full-of-crap within a month.

Expect crap, write crap; be satisfied with crap - but you might be pleasantly surprised. You might even have a story you can use sometime – and you might just be cured.


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• Next post on Tell Me a Story. 
• Romantic Suspense