Posts Tagged ‘Anna DeStefano’
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
Heads down in a three-quarters completed draft, I’m also coaching an author preparing for the same creative battle: making story and characters come alive by force of will and your imagination alone. My first comment to her–it’s going to get crunchy. Don’t expect a cake walk. In fact if it’s not an all-out battle, you’re not challenging yourself enough.
That’s right. We write uneven and clunky and, yes, crunchy stuff when we’re slogging through the draft. And for most of us, even those of us who’ve published novels into the double digits, it gets harder the more stories we challenge, not easier. That’s the way it works. The more you learn about story, the more you decide to do with it, the less intuitive it can sometimes be to create what appears to be an effortless journey to the reader.
Several things cause the anxiety and mind-numbing tangents we encounter when we draft: (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, brainstorming, character arc, creativity & inspiration, digital publishing, Elements of Fiction Writing, fantasy author, fiction, fiction writer, plotting, publishing, writer, writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft, writing resources, writing workshops
Posted in How We Write | 6 Comments »
Friday, February 17th, 2012
In addition to editing/reading other author’s manuscripts this month, I’m in the throws of drafting a new book of my own. Eeek! Writing into the ether isn’t my happy place. So I free-write with a plan. Huh? you say. Yep, I plan my characters and as many plot turning points as possible before I start. How? I’m so glad you asked…
My half-day workshops focus on my theory that if you know what you intend to accomplish with a character and/or story arc BEFORE you write a scene, you’ve got a much better chance of actually producing a successful experience for the reader once you’re done. And if you know what you want the reader to feel and take away from an entire chapter or a whole section of your novel, before you begin stringing scenes together, you’ll be aware of that plan as you write and your subconscious and instincts will help you not write yourself or your characters into corners you can’t plot out of once you’re there.
Having a goal in mind doesn’t mean you’re forcing yourself to follow only one path to your story goal, (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, brainstorming, character arc, creativity & inspiration, digital publishing, Elements of Fiction Writing, fantasy author, fiction, fiction writer, plotting, publishing, writer, writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft, writing resources, writing workshops
Posted in How We Write | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
Waterfalls are my zen. They’re my destination every time I flee my every day and the weather permits interior driving/walking. My Waterfall Challenges are off-road, in the middle of nowhere stuff, which makes seeing this on one of those dirt-road trips a bit of a surprise:
Get it?
There I was in the middle of some of the most beautiful and rugged country a car can drive to in the North Georgia mountains, just shy of the state border with North Carolina, when off to the side of the road someone had painted a big red barn with a spoof on the tourist trap signs all around the more popular Rock City.
In the middle of a field.
Next to a mushy dirt road that resembled a mud puddle that morning because it had been raining for days.
“Cute,” I thought to myself. “The locals have a quirky sense of humor. I like that.” And off I went to find the obscure turn off where I could park Bessie and hike into the woods in search of interior falls several miles away.
Then, I saw this.
“Seriously?” I pulled out my local map. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna's world, creativity & inspiration, Denton Beach Falls, Rabun Gap, Tallulah Falls, Tate City, travels and memoires, waterfall
Posted in I Hear The Craziest Things, Waterfall Challenge | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
Everyone, welcome “Dr. C” back to the Dream Theories club house! You’re gonna like her “real world” take on dream inages, to go along with my more metaphysical ramblings ;o)
*********
Dream Imagery: “Where did that come from?”
Dream imagery has both straightforward and random aspects to it. I know Anna has covered some of this in earlier posts from a layperson perspective, so I’m here to give you the skinny from a psychological professional who deals with it on a weekly basis. First, I’m going to review some major theories of dream imagery and interpretation using a case study familiar to us all:
Client Name: Ebenezer Scrooge
Age: 70-ish (adjusted for modern life expectancy, etc.)
Occupation: Banker and Curmudgeon
Presenting Problem: Very vivid nightmares, particularly around the holidays.
“You don’t believe in me,” observed the Ghost.
“I don’t,” said Scrooge.
“What evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your senses?”
“I don’t know,” said Scrooge.
“Why do you doubt your senses?”
“Because,” said Scrooge, “a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”
- “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, 1843
When clients tell me about their dreams, a common statement is, “I have no idea where that image came from!” (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, creativity & inspiration, dream emotion, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy, fantasy author, Legacy Series, parapsychology, Tallulah Falls
Posted in Dream Theories | No Comments »
Monday, February 13th, 2012
I’m an author, always writing and pitching my work to publishers and (hopefully) reaching readers with ever-new titles. Now I’m also an acquiring editor, too, officially reading other writer’s submissions, searching for the perfect new story for Entangled Publishing’s soon-to-debut Dead Sexy suspense line. Which for some has become a, “Houston. We have a problem,” moment.
“What are you thinking?” a few have asked. Let me ‘Splain.
For me, I’m seeing more options than problems these days. And where I see and understand options that are in my best interest, I act.
I’ve freelanced edited for fiction writers for years–private work stemming from the countless workshops and weekend retreats I teach about writing craft and the romance publishing industry. Before that I was an professional editor, in my senior tech writing gig. Before that…well, we won’t get into (again) how my IT training and project management experience prepared me for the type of analysis needed to break story down, understand its parts, and help people learn how to knit it all back together in their own unique way.
Because that’s all backstory. And as I tell authors, backstory is only a place to begin. Me being qualified for the gig isn’t really the point–without primo qualifications, the savvy team at Entangled wouldn’t have hired me in the first place. The real issue I had to face as I decided whether or not to take their job offer, was what did it mean, me officially moving over to the business side of this journey, at least as I work to help other authors achieve their publishing dreams.
And that, that being a conduit for another writers’ hard work transforming into a dream-come-true, IS what matters to me and the other editors at Dead Sexy. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, Dead Sexy Books, digital promotion, digital publishing, Entangled Publishing, ePublishing, fiction, fiction writer, indie publishing, publishing, traditional publishing alternatives, writing coach, writing resources, writing workshops
Posted in Publishing Isn't for Sissies | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
Most every writer’s heard of scene and sequel. Jack Bickham’s Elements of Fiction Writing is some of the best instruction on novel structure out there. But he, and I today, aren’t merely talking about plot. The key is to apply structure principles to your characters every step of the way. Because, as Robert McKee tells us, plot IS character.
I’ve studied with both these masters. Bickham, in addition to devouring his books, I bought a workshop series from and wish I’d had the chance to hear him in person before his death. McKee, who isn’t dead but some who attended the three-day scriptwriting seminar attended most likely wished him so, was worth the money and travel expense ten times over, given what I walked away from his course better understanding about the real source of good writing.
It’s character.All the plot rules, setting rules, structure rules, symbol rules, and any other thing that someone’s tried to make you think is most important to story, is actually about CHARACTER. Because your story is about character. Each scene and its sequel, each element and act and conflict and motivation… It’s all about character.
Readers want the journey. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, brainstorming, character arc, creativity & inspiration, digital publishing, Elements of Fiction Writing, fantasy author, fiction, fiction writer, Jack Bickham, plotting, publishing, Robert McKee, scene and sequel, writer, writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft, writing resources, writing workshops
Posted in How We Write | 3 Comments »
Monday, February 6th, 2012
More Dream Theories tomorrow from Dr. C, but Michio Kaku is obsessed with the application of “impossible” physics to every day life, and today in the Psychic Realm, so I am I. He has a lot to say about reverse engineering the brain to understand seemingly “out there” psychic phenomenon, the soul, consciousness and teasing apart neural pathways to one day model (artificially) how all the things we think and sense and feel and don’t fully comprehend work. I’m taking copious notes, every time I dive into one of his books, as I build a contemporary fantasy world around three new Legacy novels. And I’m sharing, ’cause I can’t seem to help myself.
I want to dive deeper into this science with my new family who are discovering they have latent, powerful psychic gifts. What could be better than to have the government’s “Center” taking apart the brain, neuron by neuron, so that computers and other technologies can simulate how empaths and the like do what they do. Imagine my love of Kaku’s books, as they talk about how possible something like this really is!
Basically modern neuro science is developing the ability to understand how the brain works, exactly the way a motor works. Which isn’t to say they’re all the way there yet. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, Dark Legacy, fantasy, fantasy author, fiction, fiction writer, Legacy Series, Michio Kaku, neurons, Optogenetics, parapsychology, psychic, sci-fi, society of minds
Posted in The Psychic Realm | No Comments »
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Every time I pull a tissue from a tissue box in my house (once or twice a week), it’s always the LAST one in the box–even the box beneath my beside table reserved solely for my personal consumption. What does this say about our family dynamic?
- Do others’ allergies outpace mine so dramatically?
- Am I unknowingly using tissue in some fugue state, after which I suffer PTSD symptoms due to the trauma of blowing my nose and promptly forget I’ve indulged?
- Are my men scurrying about, from one box to the next, looking for ways to score their next tissue hit while avoiding the horror of reaching into the linen closet for a new box?
- Do they have a covert scanning method I’m not privy to, where infrared sensors alert to the immanent arrival of the final tissue, so they can be certain not to remove it from the box???
My entire morning will be consumed, pondering said mysteries…
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna's world, creativity & inspiration
Posted in I Hear The Craziest Things | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
If you want to write, write. If you want to publish, prepare to work your ass off getting very, very good at your writing. This business is all about soul. And I’m not just talking about your unique, creative voice–though that’s incredibly important, too. Today, I’m talking about grit. Stick it out, find your own way, stop waiting for everyone else to make this crazy business sensible and welcoming and easy, G-R-I-T.
I write my books; I edit for other authors. I’m close to offering my first two book contracts for Entangled Publishing. After publishing 16 novels of my own and reading countless propsals others have written over the years, all I know for sure is, this is all about soul.
- Have you been rejected (like me)? Figure out if you have what it takes to get up the next morning and start over from nothing–because every published author must do that each and every time they meet a deadline.
- Do you have a day job (like me)? Buckle down and accept that your personal life off the clock belongs first to the book you need to finish, not your hobbies and social (media) life–because the majority of published authors don’t make enough off their writing to support their families, so we’re all hoofing it to make ends meet while trying to stay creative in the dark hours of early morning.
- Do you have a busy family (like me)? Love them and care for them, the tell them your entire life doesn’t revolve around them and they’re going to have to take care of themselves the 1,2,3 hours a day that you devote to your writing. Otherwise, they’ll consume you (and maybe that’s what you want, if family is the excuse you’re making daily for not creating new words).
- Have you been dealing with an illness (like me)? Deal with it, by all means, your health is everything. But for Dog’s sake, knock off saying your illness is responsible for you not moving forward in your writing. I don’t mean to be insensitive or unkind, but whatever your condition is, I assure you I can find others who’ve managed to succeed battling far worse circumstances–because they refused to quit.
Soul is the thing that lives and breathes inside us, regardless of the piles of s**t raining down on our worst days. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna's world, creativity & inspiration, Entangled Publishing, fiction, indie publishing, novel, publishing, Soul, writer, writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft, writing resources, writing workshops
Posted in Anna's "Soul of the Matter", How We Write | 5 Comments »
Monday, January 30th, 2012
Lots of Facebook chatter lately about shoes you need and those you lust for. I’ve scored both in the last few weeks. Neither are completely practical. But what’s the fun in practical? They fit like a dream and will feel great on my feet for hours. And there were bought at killer sale prices. PERFECT! Whatcha think?
These are my early-spring, neutral, sensible business pumps.
Okay, they’re wedges, too, and will look great with summer pants and cotton skirts and even shorts. But also the trousers and spring dresses/suits I’ll wear when I teach. No, really, that’s why I bought them. That, and they have rounded toes (thank Dog, the pointy ones are out again)…
And since this time of year’s all about transition, I also needed something not-so-black to mix with the lighter things we wear under our coats in the south the next few months, (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna's world, Cole Haan, creativity & inspiration
Posted in Shoes are My Heroin | No Comments »
