tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43037586283701289852024-03-14T06:29:00.510-07:00Let's Write A StoryBecky Martinez & Sue Viders can help you learn to write a novel in easy steps Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419741721149194098noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303758628370128985.post-14623357850524095582016-12-28T09:13:00.007-08:002016-12-28T09:22:44.933-08:00A Time for Celebration<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This is the time of year for looking back on things we've accomplished in the last 12 months, and we're happy to report on the "birth" of a pet project we had been discussing for several years. It's great to watch a project finally come to fruition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sue and Becky are the proud “parents”
of Dottie, the Writing Mouse, who made her appearance this year in the form of two teaching books for beginning and intermediate writers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We named her Dottie as she loves those three
little dots when writing and we couldn’t very well call her “Ellipsis.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s no name for a cute, lovable mouse.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Anyway, with Dottie in mind as the
teacher, we put together the lessons we had created for our many on-line
classes and organized them in DIY form and called the whole series, <b><i>Let’s
Write a Story.</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The first book, <i>Seven Ways to
Plot,</i> came out at the beginning of the year and can be found on <a href="http://goo.gl/tDKis3">Amazon</a> in both print and ebook formats. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dottie’s second book, <i>Creating
Memorable Characters,</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> came out in the summer and </span>is also now available in both formats and up on
<a href="http://goo.gl/AaD2zW">Amazon</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It was amazing to us how much time it
took to give “birth” to Dottie. We had thought it was just a matter of putting
together our lessons we had written, edited and perfected
over the years in various writing classes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But no, many other steps were
involved--all of which took months to do. In actuality, it was sort of like taking lamaze
birthing classes. Covers, as well as back covers had to designed, decisions on
what the formatting layout should look like, ISBN numbers to buy, editing and
proofing to do and redo as simple as sometimes the “trees in the forest” got
overlooked or misplaced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And now, that a new year is upon us,
we look forward to announcing the
imminent birth of Dottie’s third child, with lectures drawn from our most famous and well-know teaching
class <i>The Plotting Wheel.</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Conceiving the idea was pretty simple,
but like going through the pregnancy it was a long and difficult process. Many hours
were spent on getting the information written just right so there can be no
misunderstanding from a would-be writer picking up the book and setting out to use it as a learning tool. Once that was done we had to work on editing the book and that has taken loads of patience and consideration. Needless to say, we're still working on it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But never fear, just as a 40 week
pregnancy finally comes to an end, so will our work on <i>The Plotting Wheel </i>book. It should be
available this spring. We hope you'll w</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">atch for it. It’s a bundle of
information that will help any writer, in easy steps, with plotting their book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We hope your year has been busy with writing projects and we wish all our readers the best in the New Year. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419741721149194098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303758628370128985.post-3683675342816193722016-09-27T12:40:00.002-07:002016-09-27T12:40:17.877-07:00The Joy of Brainstorming<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There is nothing in the world of
writing that can beat good-old-fashion brainstorming session with another
writer when it comes to creating ideas for a new book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Nothing!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Take for example the next subject we
are working on for our Dottie series of teaching books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Villains.</i>
That’s right. Villains. How to create them, how to give them interesting
personalities and how to kill them off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But, and isn’t there always a but, we
were stymied on how to explain the differences between a full-blown, really
nasty villain such as a psychopath and a run-of-the-mill villain, such as a petty
criminal. Then there are the antagonists and the anti-heroes who might play a
role as villain. How does one tell the difference between all these levels of
villains?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sigh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The answer: we brainstormed the
problem over a tasty breakfast at our favorite working/eating restaurant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">First we stated the problem which was
how to explain the different types of villains and how they were created. Of
course that is two problems, but they are interconnected or at least they
seemed to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="border-image: none; clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrzT2fKoUM_Kb1zqqw-m0BwRUBugNNe38jXC0FtWeZ3UNCkWyKc__aUUYuGJxAwARLnlQzclugH1ZC5cigLIv1UEqnk05gGzhf8mhPO3fIV9InvCOIsWa_RgC15SQimVNGHihChSxPyM/s1600/Sue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrzT2fKoUM_Kb1zqqw-m0BwRUBugNNe38jXC0FtWeZ3UNCkWyKc__aUUYuGJxAwARLnlQzclugH1ZC5cigLIv1UEqnk05gGzhf8mhPO3fIV9InvCOIsWa_RgC15SQimVNGHihChSxPyM/s1600/Sue.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">SUE: I think we should divide the
villains into two groups. Start with the classic villains such as sociopaths,
mentally unstable folks and throw in the witches, aliens and monsters. Then we
can put the lesser villains such as the antagonists into their own group. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<div style="border-image: none;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ38F07BU8ZMYp_DsfPEtMIBotwXoAm56MFOYEEmnBr6bquOuwVmzNYjLyxgyhVVjlr0cIqY8vJcAERTMGQCzcplm6YXYJPPFq6mpZdkO1bWA89lp5D6V5bdT2XbBW4aAss1OHMhEp0NE/s1600/BeckyM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ38F07BU8ZMYp_DsfPEtMIBotwXoAm56MFOYEEmnBr6bquOuwVmzNYjLyxgyhVVjlr0cIqY8vJcAERTMGQCzcplm6YXYJPPFq6mpZdkO1bWA89lp5D6V5bdT2XbBW4aAss1OHMhEp0NE/s1600/BeckyM.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">BECKY: No, I don’t think that is the
way to do it. Let’s look at how these villains can to be villains. Were they
born villains or did their environment turn them into villains? Think about the
monsters, beasts or aliens - they have no choice. They are simply born that
way, but the others, such as say a terrorist or even a bully, were they really
born that way or did their environment and other disturbed people turn them
into villains? </span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">SUE: Hmm. Interest point. We should
start at the beginning. Ah, I’ve got it. Let’s start with a lump of clay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">BECKY: Clay? You’ve got to be kidding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">SUE: No. Clay. Let’s take this lump of
moldable clay and see what we can do with it. Okay?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Here we go. Clay is clay
right? So we can safely say that some villains are like clay. They are simply
born or create that way from the get-go. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">BECKY:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Got it. This would include aliens, beasts, witches… all those villains
that can NOT changed or those where NO change is possible. And let’s throw good
old mother nature into this category. She does what she does because she is
born that way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">SUE: Right. But now we take that lump
and put it into a nasty or evil environment and what happens. The clay turns
into a nasty or evil villain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">BECKY: But there are other factors
that influence our formation of a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>villain. Science and technology and other people. Environment, it seems
to me, is only one factor in molding this villain into what he/she will become.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">SUE: Right! Some villains are born
evil, while others, may be born with evil tendencies, it depends on their
surroundings, which include both environment and people to nourish these minds
and turn them into villains</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">BECKY: And depending on the level of
rage or hate thrust upon our lump of clay, this will determine their level of
evilness. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">SUE: By George, I think we’ve got it.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>And we did. </strong>That's how we'll be working on categorizing our villains. Brainstorming depends on the
give and take of the writers and the ability to change directions, open their
minds to new ideas and in general, to simply go with the flow.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Look for our next book in the Let’s
Write a Story series, <i>Creating the Villain,</i> which will be out in the
winter of 2017. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419741721149194098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303758628370128985.post-90430819456020492172016-08-09T08:33:00.001-07:002016-08-09T08:37:17.637-07:00Different Approaches to Getting Organized<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Everyone
has their own way of writing. There are the plotters who love to do detailed
outlines of their ideas before they start writing. And of course there are
also, at the opposite end of the writing scale, those who write by the “seat of
their pants” or in other words, they just start writing and usually follow the
needs, wants and desires of their characters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Writers
also organize their working areas in a variety of ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have always talked about how we approach
our writing in different ways—Sue is a careful plotter while Becky works the
second way—just starting out and writing scene by scene.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It
shouldn’t surprise anyone that since we are so different in our plotting methods that we also approach the organization of our work in
different ways as well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sue:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> I have only one
computer, and one desk, but I do have a whole wall of shelves with notebooks
that contain my notes or typed books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Becky:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> I have three different
computers and write in several areas and often take one of my laptops to coffee
shops or libraries to write. I also keep a bunch of individual notebooks for
each of my fiction stories, but they are small and portable so I can take them with me wherever I go.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sue:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> My concern in
organizing my work is that I have many on-going projects. Besides the
teaching/writing series Becky and I are working on, I have several individual
books in progress and another whole series of how-to books. I am definitely a
plotter as whenever I start a new project I start a new notebook</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Becky:
</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
too have several writing projects going at one time--both fiction and non-fiction, and that is partially why I use
different computers. Besides our writing projects I blog on a regular basis and
keep my pictures for those blogs plus for Twitter and Pinterest on my desk top computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I keep my fiction writing projects on my
laptop and a couple of thumb drives so that I can be prepared to work wherever
I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I work in several rooms at
home, depending on my mood, so I need to have my laptop handy and ready to unplug and take with me wherever I plan to write. There are times I even move
outside to write on the patio. I also like to be prepared to write anytime and
anywhere I might be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have always kept a small notebook in my
purse and another in my car so I can write a scene while I am having lunch or even while I’m waiting
to meet someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I hit a rough spot in my writing, a change of scene is often just the right prescription to get me back on track. I sometimes go out to lunch just to sit in a coffee shop or restaurant and write. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sue:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> But back to
organizing. I love my computer and how it stores all my files. I have files
inside files and often I spend too much time trying to find the right file and
as I am a visual person my wall shelves are filled with notebooks, actual real,
turn the pages, notebooks. One for each project, one for each book, one for each
I’m-going-to-do-that-someday ideas. And of course, notebooks with almost
completed books that probably will never see the light of day.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Becky:
</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">While I am writing in lots of different places I
have always managed to pull all my files together into one main file location
eventually, usually on a weekly basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
often use those handwritten notes to get me started writing in the morning.
Just copying them into my computer gets my mind working so that I can start to
increase my word count every day. By revisiting my written notes I get pulled
back into the story.<b> </b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #ff3b3a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sue:
</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our
point being, no matter what you write, where you are in your writing career,
you need some kind of a system to keep your ideas, notes, research and whatever
in some kind of order… something that works for you. Not your spouse, not your
kids, and not your mother-in-law. Grin.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Becky:
</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Right.
You can read all the organizational tips you can find, especially on Pinterest
or listening to your other writing friends or in writing groups, but whatever
you do, find your own way and then use what makes the most sense to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forcing yourself to do it the way someone
else organizes can often leave you frustrated and confused.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
please note, our new book, <b><i>Creating Memorable Characters</i></b>, Volume
II, in the <i>Let’s Write a Story </i>series is now out, both as an ebook and
in print. And we have added a FREE worksheet<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>bundle for those who love to organize their stories through written
worksheets. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419741721149194098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303758628370128985.post-62064887847028337292016-06-29T12:22:00.002-07:002016-06-29T12:22:24.603-07:00Dottie Goes to Print
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Six months ago the first book in our <em>Let's Write a Story</em> series was published as an e-book on Amazon. <em>Seven Ways to Plot</em> was an introduction to various plotting methods, and it was aimed at helping aspiring authors to figure out the best plotting method for them and their books. It was a good beginning, but now, o</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><strong>ur baby has grown up! </strong>It is available in print as well. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPyEtuf5BDzX-nSslT0rct915EmqEw9EdzBki_3UmXhxmGay6o4eX_gxdsqdqYuCUj4kOJ_is7gt3fycSsckd2BDxpviJLWVYbxGIEbOcHYbBFh7uwskH-LFJbDrdmZQhIpS8RG7hrfc/s1600/Dottie-Print.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPyEtuf5BDzX-nSslT0rct915EmqEw9EdzBki_3UmXhxmGay6o4eX_gxdsqdqYuCUj4kOJ_is7gt3fycSsckd2BDxpviJLWVYbxGIEbOcHYbBFh7uwskH-LFJbDrdmZQhIpS8RG7hrfc/s200/Dottie-Print.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span><div style="border-image: none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">After the birth of an ebook, it takes a bit for the baby to
become an adult print book.</span></div>
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">How long? Well, it depends.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">While that might seen like a wishy-washy answer, it really does
depend on many factors. The following three are the basic items you need to
consider in order for your print book to make it into the real world.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Carefully consider:</span></div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
Back cover</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
Formatting</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
Finance</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
Let’s take ‘em one at a time.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
<b>Back Cover</b></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
In order for a “print” book to develop, especially if the
contents have first been an ebook, there has to be a back cover and a spine. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
Covers and spines are needed if the book is to be bought by
libraries, carried in book stores and easy to physically handle if viewed and
used by a reader.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
Of course something has to go on the back cover. Because in a
bookstore, the consumer will, after picking up the book, flip it over and read
what is on the back cover</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
The problem is what to put there. A blurb about the contents, an
image of the authors, and of course, a bar code will be needed. Who is going to
get the bar code? Who will supply the ISBN which all print books must have.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2;">
Does the author want her picture on the cover? Or perhaps a bit
about how the book came into existence?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And should there be a short review of what’s in the book, because now,
the potential reader in a bookstore will likely turn the book over and read
what it contains. Well, after a lot of work -- here is how it turned out:</div>
<ul style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: disc;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTbxEfM3K3XEgKvgRNhOUbA_QVRbX6kJmafE_2xIamGDQBmJwNh_qfgr-ZjwNXLxJ81yC-l60DbWfEz4EKgh3bRpCyIc87T0Xudgqm_60nxx80ia31dBd_PkxQQRslwFjCOWLkiP9nnQ/s1600/back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTbxEfM3K3XEgKvgRNhOUbA_QVRbX6kJmafE_2xIamGDQBmJwNh_qfgr-ZjwNXLxJ81yC-l60DbWfEz4EKgh3bRpCyIc87T0Xudgqm_60nxx80ia31dBd_PkxQQRslwFjCOWLkiP9nnQ/s200/back.jpg" width="150" /></a><b></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Formatting</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Getting the file ready for printing means a “new” formatting has
to be done, as the formatting for an ebook is different from the formatting for
a print book. And someone has to do it.</span> </div>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Neither of us know how to format. I suppose we could learn, but
we simply don’t have the time, the energy or the desire to take a class on
formatting.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Getting back to setting up the book for printing, formatting is
different from formatting an ebook, so you need to be careful in finding the
right person who has experience in this area. A good formatter costs money.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<b>Finances</b></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<strong><br /></strong></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Of course everything cost money in self-publishing.</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level3 lfo2;">
the Bar Code usually costs about $25 but the
ISBN number that goes on the bar code also costs</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level3 lfo2;">
someone has to do the layout of the back cover.
This also costs money, usually around $100, but this varies greatly</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level3 lfo2;">
more formatting. Once again someone has to do
this. This cost usually is figured by the number of pages depending on the
expertise of the formatter. </div>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Becky and I are proud to announce that our “baby” in the <i>Let’s
Write a Story </i>series has left the ebook nest and has joined the “print”
world. It seems like no matter how much we enjoy writing and finishing a book and getting it published, there is still nothing quite like holding that printed version in your hand and knowing it will be put up on someone's bookshelf soon.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<b><i>Seven Ways to Plot </i></b> is available in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Ways-Plot-Write-Story-ebook/dp/B0190JUJNO/ref=sr_1_4_twi_kin_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1467225731&sr=8-4&keywords=Let%27s+Write+A+story#navbar">ebook</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Ways-Plot-Write-Story/dp/0942011171/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467228061&sr=1-3&keywords=let%27s+write+a+story">print</a> at <a href="http://amazon.com/">Amazon.com</a> and we will soon be publishing the next in our <em>Let's Write a Story!</em> series -- <em>Creating Memorable Characters.</em> It will also start out as an e-book and then progress into print.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
</li>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419741721149194098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303758628370128985.post-9189961708241140362016-05-17T09:20:00.002-07:002016-05-17T09:20:47.622-07:00Let's Create Characters
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Where do we get ideas for our characters?</span></span><br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">An interesting question. W</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">e’ve all seen lists of ideas on how
to make the characters in our books into real people. In fact we have one coming out in a
few weeks also, but still, how do we come up with that special character in the beginning?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj2lojUfRHybZ2OFdpIBNjr59m3jeCnZB2juCFcIyIIkDiTJKvmiMvwrcpxt2AtntrHCh-fEN2pEI2_QZZnRD4PBXwWHR0eHOYB4bkkbBElHmZbU3qVlVD8pVvUGsTb_xrfLmO-mEfarU/s1600/Sue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj2lojUfRHybZ2OFdpIBNjr59m3jeCnZB2juCFcIyIIkDiTJKvmiMvwrcpxt2AtntrHCh-fEN2pEI2_QZZnRD4PBXwWHR0eHOYB4bkkbBElHmZbU3qVlVD8pVvUGsTb_xrfLmO-mEfarU/s1600/Sue.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sue: For my villain in my first
Meg mystery, I thought of my first boyfriend. He and I were hot stuff in high
school, but once we were in college he dropped me like the preverbal hot
potato. So was I hurt, you betcha. Now it was get even time. I delighted in not
only making him the bad guy but I even went so far as to give the villain his
real first name. Oh, how I loved it when he got </span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">his.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbKXyeVg4cipI7cnwchwQBt8xdQkyi1TQom-H21_ofd0WmLbztnnIMuLmgPLUEFPeuVw90ydB0EUns09BqwxzjcrVntd35bTGJNyuUtzTuoIV5wsGWGh2o-7qSSf0cHl-x04_rOUQdEU/s1600/BeckyM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbKXyeVg4cipI7cnwchwQBt8xdQkyi1TQom-H21_ofd0WmLbztnnIMuLmgPLUEFPeuVw90ydB0EUns09BqwxzjcrVntd35bTGJNyuUtzTuoIV5wsGWGh2o-7qSSf0cHl-x04_rOUQdEU/s1600/BeckyM.jpg" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Becky: Right. I too take people I
have known or even parts of myself and turn them into fictional characters.
Usually it is just one little thing or an incident that I might pull from
someone around me. For instance in my romance, <em>Home Fires Burning</em>, I took a line from my mother and the story idea from her romance with my dad. The line she always repeated, from the first time she saw him as a young teen, was, "I'm going to marry that guy some day." She fell for him from the moment she laid eyes on him and I took that love story and built it into my romance. I set the whole thing on a Colorado ranch, which was where they met.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sue: Other characters somehow just
appear in one’s mind. Where they come from, I’m not sure. My theory is that the
brain, while sleeping, those gray cells are working on possible characters for
you to use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Becky: I'm also always looking for special characters who can play off each other. For instance in my <em>Dead Man's Rules</em>, I have two characters in a small New Mexico town who have both spent time living in Los Angeles. All Cere my heroine can think about is how to cover a big story so she can redeem herself in her boss's eyes and get back to the city. But for Rafe, it means serenity and peace. He loves the small town that he has chosen as a refuge from the dangerous big city.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sue: While other characters come
from life. I use friends and relatives and sometimes just people I met or see
in my daily travels. I might take the gray beard from the guy who sold me new
tires, or the bent nose from the butcher who sold me my meat. Another character
I used was from one of the neighbors down the block and how she was always
butting into everyone’s business. I made her a nosy sister-in-law that needed a
good telling off. Lots of fun. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Becky: I do the same. I'm always observing people and picking up little bits and pieces from them that I find fascinating. As writers it's something I think we need to foster in ourselves. Be observant and pay attention to everything around us.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">You never know when you will be meeting your next fictional character.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">We hope you'll watch for our new Dottie book on characters,<em> Let's Write a Story: Creating Memorable Characters, </em>coming soon. It can help you learn ho</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">w to make cardboard cut-out characters into actual story people your readers will love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419741721149194098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303758628370128985.post-51666363609455149512016-04-12T05:48:00.004-07:002016-04-12T05:48:26.023-07:00Two Minds -- One Blog
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">How many writers does it take
to write a great blog?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Depends on the writers… grin…</span></span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Unlike the light bulb joke, where
it is deemed that only one writer is needed to change the damn light bulb, i.e.
write a great blog, it often depends on not only the writers, but on who the
readers are going to be, and of course, what the blog is going to be about. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Sue:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> Both Becky and I have, over the years, written our
share of individual blogs, but it was only recently, when we started teaching
and writing “teaching” books together that we began writing blogs together. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Becky: </span></b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Right. The beauty of having two writers is that they
keep each other in check. Sue is great at coming up with ideas and often gets
to her writing much faster than I do, but she has no grasp--sorry, Sue--of
computer stuff, like putting up blogs, getting a web site organized, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I know just how to work the technical
aspects of getting our blogs up and running, sometimes I get sidetracked and don’t
always write get things written that fast. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Sue:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> That’s so true. I would be completely lost with
Becky’s help getting our words up so others can read them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The bottom line is… two sets of
creative minds will work well together if:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 46.65pt; mso-list: l0 level5 lfo2; text-indent: -10.65pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">•</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">they totally
agree with each other’s ideas<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 46.65pt; mso-list: l0 level5 lfo2; text-indent: -10.65pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">•</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">they totally
disagree with each other’s ideas<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 46.65pt; mso-list: l0 level5 lfo3; text-indent: -10.65pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">•</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><i><span style="font-size: 13pt;">or… they sort of agree and disagree on certain aspects
of the subject being discussed, BUT, they respect each other’s views.</span></i><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Becky: </span></b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Absolutely correct. There has to be a strong
foundation of mutual understanding between the writing partners. Because there
really aren’t any two strong creative minds that will TOTALLY agree on all
aspects of living and writing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The best one can hope for is “like
minds”… that is minds that at least somewhat think alike… and the individual
“weak” points are off-set, edited and corrected by the other’s “strong” points.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><strong>Sue:</strong> Two sets of gray cells that
actually work well together can create magic!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">We’re continuing to work on new
writing books and we’ll have a print version of our Dottie book on characters
ready to go soon, as well as a new Dottie book on characters. </span></span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">We’ll announce that as the date of
publication nears.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Becky: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-size: 13pt;">For now if you have any questions on creating
characters, plotting or writing with a partner, please ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you have any blog subjects you would
like us to tackle as partners, please ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We’ll put our brains together and come up with an answer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419741721149194098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303758628370128985.post-82042574559455440372016-02-23T09:38:00.002-08:002016-02-23T09:38:56.206-08:00Developing Our Characters
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Both of us write fiction… mysteries…
although Becky has romance in her books while Sue's are cozies with little or no
romance.</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">But we both need to create characters
that “fit” into the story line.</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Becky: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">
My characters pop into my head and I find myself starting to develop them as
the story goes along. Sometimes I don't know them completely until I have
finished with the first draft of my book. I keep a blank character
profile handy and as I find out something about a character I will write it
down. Often by the time the book is done, most of the blanks are filled
in. Then I can use that profile as I edit, to either deepen the character or make certain he/she doesn't go off the rails somewhere.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-TRAD; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Sue:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">
I have a pretty good idea of my character even before I start writing. But as
Becky says, they develop during the writing both physically, mentally and of
course, emotionally. Sometimes when I get to the end of a scene or chapter and
when I know what has to happen for the plot to progress I find that I have to
“give” some new aspect to the character.</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Becky:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">
Right. When I first start out I really don’t have a great grasp on how my
hero/heroine is going to react until the first problems start to pop up. This
comes quite often as I am writing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Sue: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">I
agree. When the protagonist sees the dead body or example, how do you want this
character to react?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Becky:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">
And when they first kiss, what should the reaction be so the story will
continue? Do I have them get all mushy and lovey-dovey and suddenly, if this is a
romance, the story is over on page 15? Well, of course not. I am going to throw come conflicts and other roadblocks in the way. I want them to have to work to make that romance become a total reality. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Sue: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Absolutely.
Here is where you have to deepen the emotional and mental aspects of the
character, whether the good protagonist or the villain. So I keep a three-ring
notebook by my computer. Each character has his/her own page where I am careful
to note first their physical appearance and then add personality traits and
emotional responses as I develop them in each scene. Little did I know when I
started working on my latest cozy that one of the main characters needed to
have an eidetic memory…but by the time I got half way through the first draft I
realized the plot wouldn’t work unless he could remember certain
happenings. </span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><strong>Becky: </strong>And little did I know when I first started writing my Dead Man Series that I was going to have one peripheral character who got under my skin and started demanding a bigger role in the story. The funny thing is people who have read the book tell me that he's gotten under their skins as well. I was already halfway through writing book two, so while he plays a role in it, he wasn't the main character. Now I am working on book three, and telling his story.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><o:p>So speaking of characters... we</o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> would like everyone to
know that we are in the final stages of editing our very own character ebook in
which we have pulled together all the various elements and factors a
writer needs to consider when building and develop his/her characters for their
next book. It's in the final editing stages at the moment, so please </span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">watch for it on Amazon… it has
this catchy title, <em>Creating Memorable Characters, </em>and it </span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">will be available sometime in
March.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">After that, our next ebook is <i>The
Plotting Wheel</i>, and every writer who has ever stumbled over a plot problem
will love this book. Watch for it sometime this summer.</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419741721149194098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303758628370128985.post-7204912758656927402016-01-18T09:19:00.000-08:002016-01-18T09:19:05.077-08:00Looking Forward in 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7qg4o2BfTxdmAWLTbaerYqsp3otHczH7y-mWU91MG0VjtQjy5bunl1ZswLVJ5RN2KfZSZYyjxouru_0_sDVojiQtbog-4jG6-9Kn5z3ubF1b_vYg3NbGTmwuR99cWYDVWo4iuSLlBtII/s1600/Sue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7qg4o2BfTxdmAWLTbaerYqsp3otHczH7y-mWU91MG0VjtQjy5bunl1ZswLVJ5RN2KfZSZYyjxouru_0_sDVojiQtbog-4jG6-9Kn5z3ubF1b_vYg3NbGTmwuR99cWYDVWo4iuSLlBtII/s200/Sue.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><strong>BY SUE VIDERS & BECKY MARTINEZ</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sue:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Whoosh…</span><br />
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">And in a blink the year is gone and we writers are faced with the
dilemma of what to do this coming year.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The new year is a place where nothing has yet happened. The
calendar, while full of family errands and work related events, remains blank
as to our writing goals.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Which, of course, poses the question, the huge question, of what
we will write this coming year. What are our writing goals? Do we start a new
story, poem or play or do we work around our writing, spending time doing
publicity, finish up what we didn’t finish this part year orspend out time
going to even more classes or meetings? What do we do?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Or do we want to look back and bask in the glory of what we
accomplished this past year? </span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Maybe. But mostly no. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">What has been written this past 12 months is history. It’s done.
And unless there is something that needs to be carried over into the new year,
sometimes it’s simply better to start fresh.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Okay, not always.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">For example, I had spent most of the last few weeks finished up
an outline for my next book. It was perplexing, as it is the third in a series
with many old and new characters, each of which needed a new goal, which in
turn needed a new plot. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sigh. But with the holidays in sight, I managed to finished it
up. Now, I’m not pleased with all the sub-plots, but I did finalized the last
part, weaving all the various strings together into a neat and colorful
tapestry.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">But with the new year in sight, I deliberately put the outline
aside, waiting to start on the first page of the new calendar where I could
begin to fill in my writing goals. So many words here, exchanging a critique
with my writing partner there and so on, until the empty spaces on the calendar
were full of penciled goals.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Penciled in. I never use ink. In the writing game, it pays to
always have options. Always have the ability to change the goal. Never get it
up, but sometimes re-think the ultimate outcome you have in mind. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">And now the new year is here. I look at my first goal, <i>“write
the prologue this week, goal, 2000 or so words”</i> and I begin. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I love beginnings. I love the new year.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Becky:</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEEKqowZHlEMhpcpEmYfQQPiG34XCVlLGMPv5Z2G7VPPiAvhX3Pnlu9i6Osbl-rRDniZ7u5pDt_GIIQRBvCG3LxwuqpSVlkH60rIOhzSJ19ruckF4GavKcBOYjVmdRZH_UfAhoDAY5swI/s1600/becky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEEKqowZHlEMhpcpEmYfQQPiG34XCVlLGMPv5Z2G7VPPiAvhX3Pnlu9i6Osbl-rRDniZ7u5pDt_GIIQRBvCG3LxwuqpSVlkH60rIOhzSJ19ruckF4GavKcBOYjVmdRZH_UfAhoDAY5swI/s200/becky.jpg" width="139" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">For me the new year always seems like a new beginning. I really love the idea of starting over, even if I am working on a project I started last year. </span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">There is always new opportunity in the new year. On the last day of every year I make a list of what I accomplished last year and then keep it. The next day, on January 1, I make a list of what I want to accomplish in the new year.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">It's great to be able to look back on those lists in future years. For instance this year, I was able to post that we had finally finished and published our first Dottie booklet. For this year I listed the next three Dottie booklets as goals for finishing and getting published. That would be a wonderful accomplishments, because we have wanted to publish our class lessons for several years now and we have continued to work on them every year, even as we teach new classes.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">We're also going to be teaching our own classes that feature some of those booklets this year. Working with students is always a great way to get our own inspiration for our fiction writing.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I suggest making a list of what you want to accomplish in the coming year. We're still in January so making the list now gives you eleven months to get it all done. These can be wonderful motivation, not only to get things accomplished, but I love looking back on my old lists. Seeing the publication of my book, Blues at 11, in 2015 was wonderful, because it had been on my list of projects for several years. Now it is published! </span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">So I recommend, look forward to what you want to do, but don't miss out on looking back too. Celebrate what you've accomplished in the past year. </span></div>
<br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419741721149194098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303758628370128985.post-76650762817311842462015-12-31T09:47:00.000-08:002015-12-31T09:56:13.225-08:00Dottie, The Writing Mouse<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We hope everything has been going your way
in the writing world this year. 2015 was a great year for Sue and Becky and we're looking forward to more exciting days to come. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">While we spent much of the year working on our fiction, we
have also been teaching classes and still have our eyes firmly planted on ways
to help aspiring writers become full fledged authors or assist published
authors with whatever writing project they have in the works.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After years of being asked by many of
our students if we were ever going to put some of our classes into book form so
they could either buy and keep them or share them with other writing friends, we finally decided to do just that. We took your comments to heart and are
putting many of our lectures into a series of how-to books for writers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We spent many weeks working on editing our lectures for books, but before
we could go “public” with our books, we had to come up with some type of not
only a format but a recognizable image and name that people would come to
associate with Sue and Becky, the writing teachers. We needed to focus on a marketing image.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There are hundreds of how-to write books
out in the marketplace, so what would make our books stand out so the beginning
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comfortable reading and following our advice?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 5pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">An image was needed. Finally, after much
research and discussion, we decided on a mouse. No other book cover had a mouse
on it. Oh, there were pencils, pens, computers, typewriters—but no mouse.
Right. A cute mouse. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A writing mouse.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxp8lCgSEcwJPYFC3shxvpDiYJXJrCZYMA7CTwpKV731D5hoEmV7h6IwMy3fJpDztE-PugHIuF4PLIqW6REhFZ9piss108O38qDWEGNNkDqBD6-dglOFr6_dLnzjmlmpqDSHM8nX7lbzg/s1600/dottie-cover_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxp8lCgSEcwJPYFC3shxvpDiYJXJrCZYMA7CTwpKV731D5hoEmV7h6IwMy3fJpDztE-PugHIuF4PLIqW6REhFZ9piss108O38qDWEGNNkDqBD6-dglOFr6_dLnzjmlmpqDSHM8nX7lbzg/s200/dottie-cover_edited-1.jpg" width="164" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 5pt 0in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 5pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And she would be working with a really tall
number 2 yellow pencil. Eventually the mouse ended up with her pencil making
several dots. And her dress became full of polkadots. It was then Dottie was
born. <i>Let’s Write a Story </i>became our
overall marketing concept. It, along with Dottie, will be on the cover of all
our writing books.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Our first
book is out…<o:p></o:p></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As we announced earlier, <em><a href="http://amzn.to/1PsLmdR">Seven Ways to Plot</a> </em>is now available at Amazon.com. It focuses on the seven plotting methods that most writers use when
planning their books. We hope you'll take a look.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
More books are coming. We are on the final
edits of book #2, <i>Creating Memorable Characters </i>which should be available
in early 2016.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We hope you had a good 2015 and are looking forward to 2016 and many more Dottie books ahead!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If you have any writing questions, and we mean ANY QUESTIONS at all on your writing, we hope you'll email us at </span><a href="mailto:SueViders@comcast.net"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">SueViders</span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">@comcast.net</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> or </span><a href="mailto:beckygmartinez@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">beckygmartinez@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> and we will be happy to answer them on this blog or privately.</span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 5pt 0in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11419741721149194098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4303758628370128985.post-30083308080381639592015-12-06T09:55:00.001-08:002015-12-06T09:55:58.296-08:00New Writing Blog -- Any Questions?<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamLGx9rkYL49CW-4Zp-KYWdB3UVe4KWudeI5G3_N-By3O5E0YjQQ5YDYfneADBeaQmhwILPUCxGSKXFEwBz6Z1oQ0rEZMcv9TZVUsq-HcJwVpgGauPB0yFdYgGiMfnpHjy1Q6_B8CEvg/s1600/Sue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamLGx9rkYL49CW-4Zp-KYWdB3UVe4KWudeI5G3_N-By3O5E0YjQQ5YDYfneADBeaQmhwILPUCxGSKXFEwBz6Z1oQ0rEZMcv9TZVUsq-HcJwVpgGauPB0yFdYgGiMfnpHjy1Q6_B8CEvg/s1600/Sue.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfncWB-BOPYoPU-wSWvLi4Kc6AV4xGhTcwySOwpLtH9ZOzS8gUhTfITrhZe4c_1U2VxInLg8mUB1Cazi_tOxBkF3R_rq2D7SaVMmXvZSraFaobMXUAFwaQnLq0h6jAepNo1NArHPGOrk/s1600/BeckyMartinez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfncWB-BOPYoPU-wSWvLi4Kc6AV4xGhTcwySOwpLtH9ZOzS8gUhTfITrhZe4c_1U2VxInLg8mUB1Cazi_tOxBkF3R_rq2D7SaVMmXvZSraFaobMXUAFwaQnLq0h6jAepNo1NArHPGOrk/s1600/BeckyMartinez.jpg" /></a><br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Sue: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Welcome to our new home. A blog where
you can feel free to ask generic <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>questions, whether large or small, about your
writing or writing in general. We are dedicating this blog to helping writers,
aspiring or professional, with their writing problems and concerns.</span><span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tekton Pro Bold"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tekton Pro Bold";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Becky: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Yes, welcome. We are so glad you found
us. We have been teaching and guiding writers through the pitfalls and hazards
of getting started with their stories for more than ten years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether it be a romance novel, a sci-fi
adventure or a shoot </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">‘</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">em up thriller, we have
worked with dozens of writers and now we are here to offer you guidance in your
work. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tekton Pro Bold"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tekton Pro Bold";">Sue:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Over the years we</span><span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ve
discovered that many people who want to write a book just don</span><span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t
know where to start. It all seems so confusing, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and once they do get started, they get lost in
where they want to go with their story. How can you plot a story? Where do
characters come from?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Becky: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">And that is where we come in. We have
both been beginning writers ourselves and we remember some of those questions
and the turmoil that comes from trying to find the answers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both enjoy working with writers and we like
to see others succeed so we started working together years ago with the goal in
mind of helping those who want to go from being a writer to a published </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">author.</span><span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tekton Pro Bold"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tekton Pro Bold";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Sue: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also discovered writers are all different
and we both bring some of those general differences to this teaching partnership. I</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">m the talker
whereas Becky is more of a thinker</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">…</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">grin, but between the two of us we
cover all the bases, from nonfiction books to a new set of cozies and of course
Becky</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s romantic-suspense,
romance and mystery novels.</span><span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tekton Pro Bold"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tekton Pro Bold";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Becky:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Sue is the creative artistic type, while I am more of the practical journalist, but when it comes to writing a novel, she is the outlining/plotting sort of writer, while I take an idea and simply run with it, and let the muse take me where it wants to go. Because of our different </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">approaches, we can see just about any side of a discussion, and that is </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">why together we
make a great team.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Sue:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> Right, however we both work best when
we have deadlines we have to meet, and although we hate them, they do keep us
moving and writing.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Becky: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Agreed. Deadlines and discipline are
what get the stories written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I worked
for 30 years in a profession where we sometimes had minute by minute deadlines,
but whether it</span><span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">s hourly or monthly, without deadlines,
often <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the story, whatever it may be,
stays in your head.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Sue: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Never to see daylight, let alone a
book shelf <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or to go </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">live</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "helvetica";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">on Amazon in any
form, such as a print or ebook. We <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
are here now to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>help you with your
story. Send in your generic questions or concerns and please note that we never
use real names in our blog unless, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it is
a compliment of some kind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Becky:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">While we can</span><span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">t
always answer specific story questions, we are here to help you with your
plotting, developing characters, pacing, and figuring out all those pesky
little </span><span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">insider</span><span style="font-family: "arial unicode ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> things like POV
(point of view.)</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">We'll be bringing you writing tips each week, but we want to focus on YOU. Feel free to address the questions you want answered. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Send
your questions <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or comments to either</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="mailto:sueviders@comcast.net"><span class="Hyperlink0"><span style="color: black; font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">sueviders@comcast.net</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> or </span><a href="mailto:beckygmartinez@gmail.com"><span class="Hyperlink0"><span style="color: black; font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">beckygmartinez@gmail.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "tekton pro bold" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tekton Pro Bold"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Tekton Pro Bold";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> As a final note -- OUR NEW BOOK IS OUT.</o:p></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfI7lfOf_28wCSs_cxOyf3-EbA7fuOT0ZJNKD3SucOmDyXCYSIRifo8qvffAb82ztBXUz_DjVrXZsPt-g4XYHcZiVDfqSQc3MhWnBKfTOJpgNdbU8yIZCbmTnowU7dZsBStHgbydHOPo/s1600/dottie%25232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfI7lfOf_28wCSs_cxOyf3-EbA7fuOT0ZJNKD3SucOmDyXCYSIRifo8qvffAb82ztBXUz_DjVrXZsPt-g4XYHcZiVDfqSQc3MhWnBKfTOJpgNdbU8yIZCbmTnowU7dZsBStHgbydHOPo/s200/dottie%25232.jpg" width="129" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p>Seven Ways to Plot -- the first in our Let's Write a Story series has just been published on Amazon and is available for Kindle and e-readers. Here's the direct link:</o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><a href="http://goo.gl/tDKis3" target="_blank">http://goo.gl/tDKis3</a></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p>Next week, we'll be back with more ideas to help so Let us Write a Story with you! Send questions!</o:p></span><br />
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