Posts Tagged ‘writer resource’
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Without conflict, your story has no forward momentum. Your characters have no motivation to act. There’s no goal they can’t achieve. So, in commercial fiction at least, there’s no reader engagement, no matter how well what you’ve written is, well, written. For lack of a better analogy, you need combustion that will lead the reader to expect some future explosion that’ll keep them on the hook through the rest of the wonderful things you plan to do.

And I’m not just talking about suspense plots.In addition to writing (and now editing) romantic suspense as well as crafting sci-fi/fantasies that are full-on thrillers, I also write home and family dramas (straight contemporary romance) where the same level of escalating conflict and tension must still exist, in order for the reader to care enough to turn the page.
Conflict is how readers identify with your characters. It’s how the story transports the reader through a purely fictional journey. How deeply do the dilemmas you put the protagonist through resonate? How carefully do you craft the internal motivation and goals and tension the character must resolve, and are there external factors (anchors and stumbling blocks) that drive that person to do and behave and learn and grow and fail and, ultimately, succeed?
Conflict IS NOT petty arguments and bickering between the leads. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, conflict lock, publishing, story conflict, writer, writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft, writing resources
Posted in How You Write | 5 Comments »
Monday, January 9th, 2012
Yes, I have five different book proposals in the works (four of them with my agent or with publishers, waiting for acquisition, finger’s crossed), but I’m also stretching my more technical/editorial muscles in new, exciting directions–I’ve been hired as an Acquiring Editor for the NEW Dead Sexy romantic suspense line at Entangled Publishing.

Officially, the new imprint is:
Dead Sexy: The Nina Bruhns Collection.
And today’s the launch/announcement of our new baby!

If you know Nina, as I do, you’ll be as excited as I am by this announcement. She and I and our other newly hired editor Susan Meier are already working with authors and thrilling stories you’re going to love, come the May launch of Dead Sexy. What a great team, including our managing editor, Vicki Wilkerson!
The Dead Sexy editors were successful, award-winning, best selling authors first. All of us. Now we’re following our passion for teaching and nurturing and helping other writers fulfill their publishing dreams.
We at Dead Sexy strive to be the exciting home every successful romantic suspense author is dying to have. And Entangled is a digital-first publisher that puts authors first. An amazing partnership from the get-go!
Check back often in 2012 for weekly Publishing Isn’t for Sissies and How We Write posts that are taking on even greater meaning and purpose for me, as well as more updates from my popular Dream Theories and Psychic Realm and Soul of the Matter and Things my Teenager Says series.
Now that you know what’s kept me away from regular blog posts these last few months, let me say it’s great to be back. I couldn’t be happier about the horizon before me ;o)
Join me.
It’s going to be an exciting ride!
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna's world, creativity & inspiration, digital publishing, publishing, writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach
Posted in Publishing Isn't for Sissies | 7 Comments »
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
What new facet of the publishing business will you conquer this year? With all the changes rushing at us, what’s your greatest fear? How can you turn that perceived weakness into an asset? Small press or indie digital publishing has long been my wishy-washy place.

Yes, I can publishing solo, but do I want to? Yes, there are small indie digital presses out there, but do I trust their ever-evolving business models. In the end, I realized the real question was: Do I trust myself, without the umbrella of a large, established publisher propping up both me and my work?
I love my traditional publishers and hope to always have a home in print. I respect most of the inroads these huge corporations are making into digital media, too, though the changes they’re enacting have been slow to come and even slower to implement. Which has left a huge opportunity open for me to make a digital impact with my writing without them… But until lately I’ve been too hesitant to investigate those options on my own.
- Where will I be without a major press behind me?
- Will anyone notice if I go out on my own?
- Will my publisher/agent be less enthusiastic about my work, if I’m also self/indie publishing in the digital market?
- Will I be wasting a lot of time I should be spending writing, by taking on even more “other” business beyond the hours I need to focus each day on my creative pursuits?
Hard questions, all of them. And each question sprung from a core fear of the change happening all around me. Because the reality is, the playing field of publshing that I thought I’d conquered when I signed my first traditional book contract is gone. A new world with exciting new opportunities and scary pitfalls has arrived. I can’t fly beneath the radar and expect folks to find me, because I have THIS publisher or THAT one backing me.

In this publishing world, a writer is either a brand/entity unto herself, or she won’t be found, period.
- Traditional publishers expect us to do all the things we have to do to be successful as self/indie published authors.
- Branding is essential to a book’s success now, regardless of how it was published.
(more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, digital promotion, digital publishing, indie publishing, promotion, writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach
Posted in Publishing Isn't for Sissies | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Why do we work, love, write, care? Why don’t we enjoy who and what we are more this year, than ever before? Inspiration is the soul of the matter, as is running with that mission, that message, that kernal of us we protect too carefully and too seldom follow with abandon.

Why don’t we follow our inspiration more?
- Are we afraid of all that we want? Nothing should be that simple.
- Are we too tired to take our heart’s desires into our own hands and fight for that promise? That’s more likely.
- Are we programmed to only see the work, never the gain? Why, I think we’ve arrived.
We are that quiet place inside that speaks when the rest falls away.

We are our dreams, and those inspirations are the hope that carries us through so much.This is the symbolism, the recurring metaphor that speaks to my work and my life. I think it speaks to all of us.
Whether you see yourself as creative or not, there’s a voice inside you (your soul, if you will), promising that you’re more than the sum of your parts.
This year, listen to that voice and celebrate the “why” of all that you are:
- Each day, make a note in your journal, naming the part of you singing loudest that morning.
- Jot down the tune that yearns to fill your day with magic.
- Circle back before bed, and see what your voice has shown you, now that the rest is sleeping.
Be inspired in your writing and your family and your work and your dreams. That’s my 2012 wish for you!
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna's world, creativity & inspiration, writer, writer resource, writing articles, writing coach, writing resources
Posted in Anna's Soul of the Matter | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
Platform. Everyone says you MUST have one in social media. Platform is your brand. It tells folks what you’re about. “The Soul of the Matter,” is what I’ve come up with for my particular bent on the world, after reviewing back blog and Facebook and Twitter streams.

It’s a focus I chose organically about two years ago,when my world view was skewed by surgery and scary medical predictions and a chaotic publishing environment that’s become even more crazy since. If I was going to write, blog and participate in social media, it had to go deeper. I wanted to be saying something meaningful about how I see my world, every time I put my thoughts onto paper or typed them into the computer.
I’m in the entertainment business, and that’ll never change as long as I publish in commercial fiction. But I wanted to feel even closer than before to what I’m writing. And I wanted that to spill over into my weekly blogging and the things and people I focus on in social media. I want it to be about heart and soul, above all else.

For two years I’ve posted into my “Revising a Year” blog series. It’s morphing now into “Anna’s Soul of the Matter.” You’ll see it at the top of the category list to the right. And in each blog post I write forward.
Whether I’m writing women’s fiction or romance or suspense or psychic fantasy/sci-fi, or chatting about dreams or my teenager or wacky current events and happenings or psychic stuff or the nuts and bolts of writing, I’m pouring my heart into the words. That’s my daily goal. That’s what keeps me coming back, keeps my writing, no matter the stumbling blocks.
That’s the kind of community I’d like all this content and sharing and re-tweeting to build. Folks looking deeper and wanting more and loving the insight as much as the chatty, easy-to-read posts and pics and one-liners.
Let’s share the soul of all that matters to us. If that’s your cup of tea, you’ve stumbled across the right place. Welcome!
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna's world, brainstorming, creativity & inspiration, writer resource, writing, writing coach, writing resources
Posted in Anna's Soul of the Matter | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
I received editorial revisions the other day. I’m a multi-published author. So, no big deal, right? WRONG. Revisions are hard. They’re built that way. If they were easy, everyone would be published traditionally and selling millions. And any working writer that tells you differently is just plain fibbing.This post is for everyone who wants to see their words in print, the published and the unpublished and the newly “WINNING” nanowrimo masses and those who think it’s always easier in someone else’s writing reality.

The reality is, the better you revise, the better your book will typically read for your reader. The more push it will have from your imprint. The more established you will find yourself within the very small world of publishing. Those who’re self-publishing without the benefit of a third-party editor, you’re in the same boat, except that you have to see the holes in your story that are more and more difficult to see the deeper you get into creating it. So we all schedule and accept it into our process the way you do everything else right?

Yeah. No.
Why is it so hard?
Two reasons, one that veers toward mechanics and one that takes a head trip inward to the heart of all that we do for our creative dreams. (more…)
Tags: editorial revision, revision, writer, writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft, writing resources
Posted in How You Write | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
There’s a startling trend I notice each December: how few NANO participants create consistantly AFTER their November, head-bashing-against-the-wall, word count deadline. I’m not talking about less writing the month after the challenge. What’s too common is that there will be NO writing in December at all. Which breeds no forward momentum of any consequence in January, February, etc…

Because we’re burned out after such a grueling sprint? 50,000 words in a month leading up to a major holiday showdown with our sanity? Perhaps. Which begs the question, why do we systematically degrade that balance by throwing everything we can to the wolves while we focus on the very thing we don’t want to be the enemy when we’re done with our challenge: creatively writing toward a deadline every day. Why do we set ourselves up to fail, come December 1st?
Because we need a break to recoup our energy and muse? Yes. That’s pretty obvious. NANO tends to throw any number any number of other things out of balance as we gorge ourselves on the exhaustion that is producing story. Relationships. Friendships. Family obligations. Other responsibilities. All of which we try to keep up with as much as needed while we burn out on our “craft.” To the point that everything suffers by the end of the month (you know, right around the time that insignificant national holiday happens), including said story. (more…)
Tags: writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft
Posted in How You Write | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
I have a concern every November that the sheer quantity of words everyone participating in NANO produces won’t result in finished pieces/novels that will ever be revised well enough to sell. But what cheers my heart every year is the sound of writers hitting their writing goals and learning a little more about what’s blocking them.

Because, here’s the thing. All writers arrive at this dream of creating and sharing our inner lives with the world, capable of absolutely shutting down our ability to write with nothing more than doubt and fear and frustration over how EASY it is for everyone else to do what is most difficult for us. When the reality is, IT’S DIFFICULT FOR EVERYONE.
Part of our job is learning how to write through the speed bumps of our inspiration and self-esteem and premonitions of failure. We have to believe in ourselves more than we do the growing pile of scenes and character sketches and rejected story lines that we ALL discard with every project.

This is called research and draft writing and immersing yourself in your project. (more…)
Tags: brainstorming, creativity & inspiration, writer, writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft, writing resources
Posted in How You Write | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
Twelve days, immersed in writing and writers and the beauty of creative minds seeing and sharing the world around them. I’ve come back from my sabbatical to a flood of social media NANO page count mania, and I have the strongest urge to shout, “Stop the Insanity!!!” Not that writing daily and being prolific isn’t my personal mantra, as a commercial fiction writer trying to make a living by producing pages that readers can’t put down. But there’s so much more to it than that, and my mind is still swirling with the other that sustains me. With images like this that inspire and guide and beguile you to make each word matter and resonate, even if it means less words that day:

Where I’ve been this last few weeks, a sunrise can look like this every day.This moment was mine, simply because I walked to the end of my friend’s doc. But how do I make it yours? How can I possibly show you how to feel this color, this openness, this majestic infinity the way I did a few days ago?
And then, just minutes later, there was this:

How is it possible that light and air and water could shift around and inside me to become something wholly new, right before my eyes? (more…)
Tags: anna's world, creativity & inspiration, NANO, NANOWRIMO, writer, writer resource, writing, writing articles, writing coach
Posted in Anna's Soul of the Matter, How You Write | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
I’ve been asked to HoWW blog more about putting the writing first…even when we’re being told (and seeing) EVERYthing else in the business is more important. Especially the insanity we call social media (yesterday’s topic, where I ranted about writing first, because who knows what’s really making a difference on Facebook and Twitter anyway, no matter what the “experts” say).

It’s funny, when you think about it. Blogging about not blogging or tweeting or FB statusing so much that you never groove on your craft. Your art. Your purpose to begin with for dipping your toe in the Internet mustof “connecting.” We try to carve out niche in this great beyond. #weWRITE is a great example, which Jen Talty and I started after a few months of HoWW blog posts, to get writers talking about writing alone on Twitter, not just pimping their books or blogs or promo platforms.
We work to be relevant and plugged in and visible. But why? To support our writing, yes. But we do that best BY writing. To support our career? Better. But many of the folks doing the social media thing most fervently don’t have creative writing careers yet. They’re following the advice of social medial gurus telling them that building a following and pseudo platform (before there’s anything to sell from said stage) is more important to publishers these days than the product of the hard, daily, grinding writing work they’ve yet to do long enough to publish. To connect? That’s more to the point, I think.
We write alone, as I said yesterday, most of the time. And social media is a great way to connect with other writers, those we admire in the business, and, yes, those we trust to advise us about our journey. But it’s the massive scope of that very content we’re daily struglling to take in that, in my opinion, begins to overtake the writing itself, unless we’re very careful.
Because here’s the thing for me–anyone, ANYone, telling you to spend any significant portion of your day doing anything BUT writing, is doing damage to your chances of publishing. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, digital promotion, digital publishing, ebooks, ePublishing, indie publishing, PR, promotion, writer, writer resource, writing, writing articles
Posted in How You Write, Publishing Isn't for Sissies | 15 Comments »