Category: Fiction

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The Standalone and the Series

Which is better, a standalone novel or a series?

This is a complex question, given each writing career is unique; but here’s what I’ve learned:

Sequel plots evolve naturally.

Most often while writing a novel, an author gets ideas that can spin into sequels. Sometimes minor characters beg for their own stories. Such inspiration is useful in layering the plot of a standalone or planting leads into the first novel of a series.

Most publishers want sequels written six months apart.

This means a solid eighteen months or more of the author’s time is contracted. With so many unknowns for a writer, this brings a sense of security. Since the advance represents the entire series, the extra money is valuable upfront for marketing purposes.

Usually less research is needed for a series than subsequent standalone novels, which gives the author extra writing time. With successive deadlines, he is forced to write consistently which also hones his skills and productivity.

Series are popular with publishers unless

the first book doesn’t sell.

If the first book doesn’t sell, it makes the sequels harder to sell. By the time the author discovers what went wrong, he’s probably already into the third book of the series and finds the publisher less willing to spend marketing dollars on the sequels.

For newbies, a series leaves little time for conditioning;

you hit the ground running.

The character roster quickly snowballs, yet needs to be worked into the ongoing series. Since each book also stands alone, there is back-story to incorporate. It takes skill to tie it all together. Maintaining consistency makes record keeping imperative from character charts to research files. There’s a struggle against boredom, and if the author gets bored the reader will too.

Deadlines threaten quality and marketing time.

It’s difficult to write quality work with tighter deadlines and also find time to market the first story which is the most important story for the success of the series. Usually the first story is quite detailed in the original book proposal. But one of the sequels may need major time-consuming revisions once the editor sees that story evolving.

Why not write a standalone with a series option?

While it sounds like the perfect solution, it’s always harder to go down a path when you don’t know where it’s leading.  It’s not impossible, but it makes writing the book proposal and novel trickier.

My personal experience – writing a series is like running.

At the beginning, I was excited and fresh. The middle book was written under the most duress. I was struggling uphill because of the increasing time crunch, revisions, and unexpected personal obligations. But the final book was like getting my second wind. It was exhilarating. With writing muscles in peak condition, it was the easiest and most enjoyable to produce. And just beyond beckoned refreshment and reward.

What about you? Are you a sprinter or a marathon runner?

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A Writer’s Life: Waiting for Vizzini

When things go wrong along the writing road, what do you do?

  • When you face writer’s block as formidable as Fezzik (and please, no debate on whether writer’s block exists) …
  • When rejections attack you like a pack of shrieking eels …
  • When your plot collapses like Vizzini’s battle of wits with the Dread Pirate Roberts …

What’s your go-to plan for getting back on course?

In the much-beloved movie The Princess Bride, Vizzini was the brains, Fezzik the brawn, and Inigo was, well, the swordsman. (Sorry, I couldn’t come up with a “b” word for the guy wielding the sword.) Despite the fact that Plato, Aristotle and Socrates were all morons compared to Vizzini — or so he said — his plan to kidnap and murder Buttercup imploded.

Inigo: bested.

Fezzik: beaten.

Vizzini: plain ol’ dead.

Remember what Inigo did when the plan went south — well, besides drinking himself into a stupor?

He went back to the beginning … and waited for Vizzini.

Smart man, Inigo.

What do you find when you go back to the beginning?

“This is where we got the job, so this is the beginning.”

Inigo may not have been able to see clearly — heck, he couldn’t even stand up straight — but he remembered a fundamental truth: When a plan fails, go back to the beginning.

Are you discouraged? Did that long-anticipated yes turn into an unexpected no? Walk away from it — but don’t abandon who you are. Go back to the beginning and remember your purpose: You are a writer. You have a job to do. Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. You get bested. Beaten. A dream dies.

Catch your breath, renew your heart … and then dream a new dream.

Who do you find when you go back to the beginning?

“I … am … waiting … for … Vizzini.”

Inigo was waiting for someone. For better, for worse, Vizzini was Inigo’s leader — the one he followed.

Going back to the beginning, waiting, doesn’t mean wasting time. Did you round the bend in the writing road and hit a dead end? Don’t be too proud to back up, turn around. Go back to the beginning and remember who you are as a writer. Answer this question: What makes your fingers fly across the keyboard? What keeps you up late and drags you out of bed early because you can’t not write this story?

Can’t remember?

Who is your Vizzini? Who first mentored you (maybe mentors you still)?Who helps nurture your dream? Who believes in you when you don’t? Go back to the beginning and ask them to help you remember.

It’s been fun talking about a writer’s life and the Cliffs of Insanity, the Fire Swamp, the Pit of Despair — and now Waiting for Vizzini. Everyone’s comments have made this more than a blog post — it’s become a conversation. So tell me, what lessons have you learned by going back to the beginning? 

*Just for fun, here’s a YouTube clip of Inigo waiting for Vizzini.

Post Author: Beth K. Vogt

Beth K. Vogt is a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an air force physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. She’s discovered that God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” She writes contemporary romance because she believes there’s more to happily ever after than the fairy tales tell us.

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The One Essential “Ingredient” to Successful Marketing

The closer I come to the release of my first fiction (The Soul Saver, Barbour Books) in May, the more I find myself fascinated with marketing. Specifically, what it all means and how does it all work. Not to mention the endless and overwhelming choices. Where do we start?

I will confess, I’m thankful to have had a nonfiction book (Winning Him Without Words, Regal Books) to market first. Through that journey, I learned that even the most well planned and thought-out marketing plan won’t succeed without one essential ingredient.

God.

Speaking for myself, self-promotion doesn’t come easy and I’m actually glad about that. I have to examine my motivations on a regular basis to make sure prickly pride hasn’t wormed its nefarious self into the scenario. I could easily make it all about me.

However, our marketing is vital to the spread of our message, be it fiction or nonfiction. The thing is, we tend to put it into this category that doesn’t include God because we somehow think it might repulse Him in some way.

I’ve noticed I’ve done this and have recently found Paul to be a great example of an effective marketer. His letters are in the Bible! That’s pretty successful marketing in my book (and God’s obviously).

Paul wrote letters and traveled, “promoting” the message of Christ’s salvation every chance he got. He put himself out there as a teacher, a speaker, a writer and a mentor. He’s a great example for us because even in the midst of his promotion efforts, Paul’s focus remained steadfast on his message.

On Jesus.

Are we any different really? Yes, we want to sell books. Yes, we want our work to reach the minds and hearts of those who need encouragement, strengthening, or just a glimpse of what God’s grace looks like. Doesn’t matter if it’s fiction or nonfiction. God uses whatever He wants to get His Truth out. To share His Son.

So, marketing doesn’t have to be the “necessary evil” of publishing. If we believe in our work and feel God has placed us in such a time as this to share subtly or overtly, through fiction or nonfiction, through articles or Bible studies, then why not start our marketing endeavors with God, seeking His design and will for our efforts? If I’m to believe and trust in His hand, which has brought me to where I am now, what makes me think He won’t be in the marketing mix as well?

How about you? What has your marketing journey taught you about faith? Or vice versa?

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Interview with W. Dale Cramer Concludes, Part 4

(see Parts ONE, TWO & THREE)

CE: How much editorial input do you get from your publisher, and how do you like working with a publishing house editor?

DC:  All my books so far have been published by Bethany House, who has always put a lot of editorial work into their books. I like it. Most of my books have undergone major changes due directly to the input of editors, and I have no problem with that. To me, it’s just more sets of eyes—professional book people’s eyes, looking for ways to improve the manuscript. The writer has to get his ego out of the way and learn to see his work objectively, like a lump of clay, sparing no amount of effort to shape it into a work of art. 

Editors are book people. Not only their professional reputation, but their sense of self worth hangs from the quality of books they produce. They want the same thing you do—a good book—and they know what they’re doing. I’ve worked with the same editor on all my books, and it’s been a pleasure. Luke Hinrichs is intelligent, perceptive, articulate, and good-looking (not to mention that he sometimes reads these blogs, if you get my drift.)

CE: What is one critical thing you’ve learned not to do on the publishing journey? (Some of us admit without shame that we prefer to learn from others’ mistakes.

DC: I prefer learning from my own mistakes, but then I don’t mind the scars. What have I learned not to do? Complain. If you absolutely must complain, complain to your agent privately. That’s what she’s there for. You will have complaints, but don’t complain to the publisher, and never, ever complain on the internet. Nothing good will come of it, and you’ll look like a whiner.

CE: Great advice. You’ve just completed a three book series. This is probably the last thing you want to think about right now, but what’s next?

DC:  I have no clue. Isn’t that great? Right now I’m taking time off, doing a lot of electrical work, and enjoying it.

CE: Any last words of advice for the serious, yet-to-be-published writer?

DC:  You have to learn to take the work seriously without taking yourself too seriously. Construction work taught me that it takes a lot of different skills to build a solid house. Take pride in your work, not in yourself, and when it’s done, move on to the next one.

CE: Thank you so much for taking to time to share your thoughts with us this week, Dale. Blessings on all your writing & publishing endeavors!

About Dale: Dale Cramer is the author of six novels including the bestselling and critically acclaimed Levi’s Will, based on the story of Dale’s father, a runaway Amishman. Dale’s latest series, THE DAUGHTERS OF CALEB BENDER is based on an Amish colony in the mountains of Mexico where three generations of his family lived in the 1920s. He currently lives in Georgia with his wife of 36 years, two sons and a Bernese Mountain Dog named Rupert. Visit him on his Web site at http://www.dalecramer.com/

About The Captive Heart (The Daughters of Caleb Bender #2)

Ravaged by disease, preyed upon by ruthless bandits, the Bender family’s second year in Mexico has taken a grievous turn. Faced with impossible choices, the expatriate Amish discover, more than ever before, what it means to live by faith and not by sight

But it’s Miriam who must make the hardest choice as her heart takes her on a new and dangerous course. Domingo. “He is gentle,” his sister said, “until someone he loves is threatened.” Is Miriam that someone?

“Cualnezqui,” he often calls her–the Nahuatl word for Beautiful one. The chiseled native has proven himself a man of principle, grace and power, yet is he the pearl of great price for whom Miriam would sacrifice everything, or is he merely a friend? Tormented by conflicting emotions, she’s haunted by vivid dreams: Dressed in the coarse cotton pants and shirt of a peasant, she stands on the precipice of a sun-washed ridge searching desperately for Domingo. Domingo the fierce. Domingo the protector.

Domingo the forbidden.

Camille’s review of The Captive Heart, is available HERE

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Interview with W. Dale Cramer Continues, Part 3

(see Part ONE & TWO)

CE: You’ve said in past interviews that you’re a SOTP (Seat Of The Pants) writer. Has your aversion to plotting and outlines changed at all since you’ve worked on a three-book series?

DC:  It’s not so much an aversion as an inability. I can’t outline. Most of the time I have a sort of vague sense of the overall character arc, a general idea of where I want to arrive in the end, and some of the anecdotal material I’d like to use if and when it fits, but the motivations that get characters from one chapter to the next come from the characters themselves. I can usually find things for them to do that sort of steer them in the direction I’d like them to go, but the characters simply won’t do it if the motivation isn’t there.

I’ve heard it said that writing a book is like driving at night; you can only see so far, but you can make the whole trip that way. Some people are only comfortable when the whole trip is mapped out in detail, and to be honest I’m sure they make fewer wrong turns than I do. Sometimes I get stuck and have to turn around, which costs me time, but I’m also aware that the really breathtaking moments in stories are the unexpected turns. For instance, a writer has to be willing to make room for a walk-on. In every book I’ve written I’ve had at least one character walk onto the stage completely unforeseen. Those invariably turn out to be the most interesting characters, like Domingo in Paradise Valley. He showed up on his own, constantly surprising me with the things he did and said. If a character surprises the writer you can be fairly sure he’ll surprise the reader.

CE: In writing this series, how did you approach weaving the daughters’ shorter storylines in each book in with the father’s overarching series storyline? (Please don’t say it just fell together. Lie if you must.)

DC:  I was concerned about that very thing, so I asked advice from a little guy on the stool next to me in a bar in Darjeeling (long story), four years ago. Turned out he was the great nephew of Tenzing Norgay, and he took me to a wizened old guru in a sacred cave high in the Himalayas. After seven hours of kneeling and chanting I was finally allowed to put my question to the guru, and he answered in a frail, high-pitched voice, “You must have faith, my son. Wing it, and it will fall together.”

 CE: Um, I’m going out on a limb and guessing you went with the lie. Thank you for sharing and for confirming my suspicions.

Back to Summer of Light: There’s a scene that made me drop the book and laugh out loud—Mick with the chainsaw on Aubrey’s front lawn. You built that moment up beautifully. You’re a master of wry humor. How do you incorporate it in a novel? Would you say it begins with being an SOTPer?

DC:  No, I think it begins with being Southern. I really hate to admit this, but here’s the truth: almost all of the really funny stuff actually happened. I got the chainsaw story from a lunatic cousin; I could never have made that up. Or the pretend cigars, for that matter. Or the goat in the house. Or the dog in the tree house. Listen, if you don’t howl with laughter at least once a day, either you’re wound too tight or you’re not paying attention. Absurdities swarm around us like gnats. For a writer, the real trick is in knowing when and how to use one of those stories.

CE: What has been your biggest challenge or roadblock in writing, and how did you overcome it?

DC:  My biggest roadblock is the same as everyone else’s—myself. It’s hard to convince yourself you can write well, that you can write a book, that you can find an agent, that you can actually get a contract with a publisher, that you won’t be humiliated by critics or shunned by readers. Leaps of faith, all of them, with conflicting advice shouted from the sidelines the whole way, and self-doubt nipping at your heels. Ignore them all and leap anyway. Never mind the scars.

CE: How much editorial input do you get from your publisher, and how do you like working with a publishing house editor?

(for the answer to this and the rest of the interview, come back tomorrow for Part 4)

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Interview with W. Dale Cramer Continues, Part 2

(see Part 1 HERE)

CE: Has writing this series affected your relationship with your Amish relatives? How have they reacted to these stories?

DC:  They were reticent at first. The Amish are a very private people, and there were things in Levi’s Will that they’d rather I hadn’t said. But in the end the reaction was overwhelmingly positive, and now the whole clan turns out for the booksignings in Berlin. My Aunt Mary, a staunch Old Order Amish woman to this day, has been heard to say several times over the last year that she couldn’t wait for The Captive Heart  to come out so she could find out what happens to Miriam and Domingo.

CE: What do you value most about the Amish people and their way of life?

DC:  Oddly enough, I think it’s that their churches meet in homes and barns; they don’t own property or support a paid staff. This means nearly all their tithes go toward taking care of people’s needs. The elderly don’t have to fret over a retirement plan, and the Amish take seriously the biblical mandate to care for widows and orphans. A budget meeting in an Amish church usually goes something like, “We have a big surplus of money just sitting there. Does anyone know of a family in our community who really needs help?” Don’t get me wrong—they have their problems—but the deeper I look at the Amish the more I find myself marveling at the things they get right.

CE: How did you create the characters in this series, particularly the daughters? Writers and readers would like to know: Did you get female input in writing your female protagonists?

DC:  Absolutely. Because I spent most of my life doing construction work, I know everything there is to know about men, and virtually nothing about women. The CBA is a woman’s world, so when I started the series I thought it was important for the Bender family to have lots of girls and lots of female viewpoints. I knew I was in trouble right away, so I solicited my wife’s help. For the first time in my writing career I printed out each chapter as soon as the last word was typed, and handed it to Pam. She’d sit there with that little smirk, her eyes at half mast (whenever they weren’t rolling), shaking her head, muttering, “no… no… no…”. Then we’d talk, and I’d rewrite it. When the entire draft was done I showed it to my cousin Katie, whereupon I learned that an Amish girl has yet another perspective on it. It was sort of a committee effort, but in the end I think we got it right. Trust your instincts, but don’t be afraid to take good advice wherever you can find it. The magic is in the rewriting.

On Writing & Publishing:

CE: Many of your novels include elements taken from personal experience. Tell us a little about how an experience goes from a spark or seed to a full length novel.

DC:  Every writer is different, but I guess my second novel is the best example of how that happens, at least with me. First of all, the idea for Bad Ground  tumbled around in my head for years before I wrote a word. I once worked on a mining project where I learned about the whole subculture of miners first-hand. We were a mile and a half underground one night when I was burned nearly to death in an electrical explosion, and the aftermath turned out to be the best and most enlightening period of my life. It changed absolutely everything, opening up a world of spirituality that made perfect sense. I learned from experience that it’s a good idea to pay close attention during the worst times of your life because that’s where God puts the good stuff. I knew before I started that this would be the theme of Bad Ground, so I knew what I wanted the story to say, and I knew the backdrop would be the mining project. The characters and their stories sort of coalesced out of fragments of miners and construction workers I’ve known, and the lies we’ve swapped all these years. Once I had a handle on Snake and Germy all I had to do was follow them around and write down what they did. The characters, if you’ll trust them, will help you get where you want to go.

CE: Excellent advice. You’ve said in past interviews that you’re a SOTP (Seat Of The Pants) writer. Has your aversion to plotting and outlines changed at all since you’ve worked on a three-book series?

(for the answer to this and more of the interview, come back tomorrow for Part 3)

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Interview with W. Dale Cramer, Author (Part 1)

by Camille Eide

This week, (Jan 4 – 7), the Water Cooler will feature a special discussion with critically acclaimed author Dale Cramer in four parts, so be sure to come back each day for the rest of this interview.

W. Dale Cramer is one of my favorite authors, in both Christian and general markets. His books include Sutter’s Cross, Bad Ground (2005 Christy winner), Levi’s Will (2006 Christy winner), Summer of Light, Paradise Valley (1st in the Daughters of Caleb Bender series) and the newly released The Captive Heart (2nd in the series).

I’ve read each of these books and loved them all. If this tells you anything, my copy of Summer of Light is soft and crumbling along the binding. I recommend the book to others but often buy people their own copy because I refuse to loan out mine. I’ve dissected this story from cover to cover hunting for clues on how to write with such authentic, lyrical, resonant yet humorous style. I sometimes fear these qualities can’t be learned, but I am not giving up and will continue my feverish studies. In the meantime, Dale has graciously agreed to let me pester him with questions.

On Amish Fiction:

CE: Amish fiction is clearly here to stay. To what do you attribute its long-standing popularity?

DC:  They’re hobbits. The Amish clip-clop along in their unhurried pace, more or less oblivious to the rush and crush of the world around them, and they seem to be at peace in their own insular world. The contrast is striking, and I think it gives us an inescapable nagging sense that maybe they know something we don’t, that maybe we’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere in our heedless dash toward high-tech opulence. The Amish have managed to preserve some endangered values, when you think about it. They put family and community above material gain and creature comforts; they teach cooperation instead of competition; they work hard, save their money, spend with thrift, rely on common sense, never depend on the government, and their minds are not shaped by television. 

CE: What do you hope readers will take away from this series?

DC:  I’ve tried to paint a picture of a people who refused to put a price on their principles. I think that’s the most important question The Daughters of Caleb Bender asks— How far would you go? What would you be willing to give up to preserve a way of life based on your beliefs? The story also brings up some very pertinent questions about the roles of church and state in our lives.

CE: You have a family connection with the Amish community and have based this series on actual historical events in your family, which makes the stories that much more intriguing to read. How much assistance with research did your Amish relatives provide?

DC:  Not as much as you’d think. My father was born in Paradise Valley, and he just turned 86. It was the generation before him who remembered much of what happened in Mexico, and they’re all gone now. A few stories have been handed down, but not that many. I wish I had known when my grandfather was alive that I would someday write the story because he could have given me a wealth of information. I’m told he dug bullets out of the wall of his barn after a bandit raid and kept them in a jar in the cupboard for the rest of his life. I never even saw them. 

CE: Outside of research, do you enjoy regular interaction with your Amish relatives?

 DC:  I do, yes. It’s an incredible story, really. I’ve lived in Georgia most of my life, and there was a twenty year period when I didn’t get up to Ohio very often—my father was banned, and there was a pretty deep rift in the family because of it. But about ten years ago, thanks to my cousin Henry, things started to change. Henry decided to have a Miller family reunion (my father’s real name) at his place that year. It was the only reunion I ever recall them having, and when we drove up we saw that Henry had put a sign out at the end of the lane saying, “Miller/Cramer Reunion.” I think it was that one simple gesture, the inclusion of my father’s name on the sign, that started to turn things around. That was the reunion where my father publicly acknowledged his daughter. A few years later I told the story in Levi’s Will, and the restoration of the family since the writing of that book has been the most remarkable turn of events in my life. Now I do book tours in Ohio and spend a lot of time with family while I’m there. I’m even starting to learn the language.

CE: Has writing this series affected your relationship with them? How have they reacted to these stories?

(For the answer to this and more, come back tomorrow for Part 2)

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Emotional Development of Characters

Image: graur codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last year I drew The Emotional Development of Characters as the topic for my speaking engagement at the Tucson Festival of Books. Part of me was delighted; developing characters is one of my favorite parts of writing. The other part was terrified. Character development, like many aspects of writing, is very individual to the writer, and while I knew how I did it, it wasn’t exactly easy to explain, nor was I entirely convinced the majority of what I did wasn’t done subconsciously. Still, I took the challenge and came up with  a few pointers any writer might use as a starting point. Since Tuesday is a day for sharing about writing on the WordServe Water Cooler, I share those tips here with hopes someone might find them useful.

What do you remember most when you finish a really good novel? Are you left in awe at the amazing plot? Or do you have lingering thoughts about the characters? For most readers, it’s the characters they identify with more than anything. That’s because to care about what happens in a story the reader must care about its characters. So, how do you create characters your audience will care about?

One time literary agent, now children’s book author, Nathan Bransford once tweeted: In great novels, every character has their own set of goals, vices, and motivations and no one is purely good or evil.

In other words, they are human. One way to make it easier to connect to your characters emotionally is to give them some flaw. After all, to err is human. You don’t want to give them just any old flaw, though. It should be an important inner flaw, ideally one that plays off their strength. For instance, someone who is self-disciplined and organized (strength) may also be a control freak or inflexible (weakness). A strong and brave character (strength) may be overprotective and overbearing (weakness). Whatever the flaw, it should prevent the character from being the best they can be. It should get in the way of what they want, resulting in some internal struggle they will eventually face to overcome—or not if your story is a tragedy or the character in question a villain.

I like to think about my characters strength and flaws by getting a glimpse into their personality. There are lots of personality profiles available for a writer to tap into, but I use the Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment to sketch my characters’ profiles. It suggests people have different ways of gaining energy (Introversion or Extraversion), being aware of information (Sensing or Intuition), coming to conclusions or decisions about that information (Thinking or Feeling), and ultimately dealing with the world around them (Judging or Perceiving).

If my heroine was Intuitive—trusting interrelationships, theories and future possibilities, her strength might be that she’s aware of others, and she is able to weave together possibilities from bits of information. Her flaw may be that those possibilities are not always based in fact, and therefore she makes decisions using circumstantial evidence. Maybe my hero is Perceiving—adaptable and keeps options open as long as possible. While this allows him to be flexible and go with the flow (strength), it backfires when he adopts a ‘wait and see’ approach when he should be taking affirmative action (flaw).

Once I have my characters’ personalities down, if I’m writing a romance I like to make the hero and heroine as opposite as possible. Those differences are ripe for emotional conflict. Or, maybe the conflict stems from the fact they are too much alike, such as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind. Either way, the process of overcoming and resolving those conflicts requires emotional maturity if the couple ever hopes to be together—and that is one part of their emotional development.

Another tool the personality assessment provides me with is the framework for how my characters would realistically act in any given circumstance. You know that adage about sticks and stones breaking bones but words never hurting? It’s a lie. Words hurt because they are aimed at emotions. How a character reacts (or doesn’t) to internal and external conflict throughout your story should reflect who they are and where they are emotionally at that particular point in time.  More importantly, it should develop as the story progresses, eventually cultivating in some notable change to the character’s emotional self. Understanding your character’s personality, their strength and flaws is a start to making their responses more believable.

What about you? What tips or tools do you use to help readers care about your characters, and by default, their story?

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Your Name is Your Brand

I’ve been delving a lot into marketing books and I’ve garnered a few nuggets that I thought would be helpful to those who are beginning to develop their on-line presence—and maybe change the minds of a few who are already there.

Your name is your brand.

In writing, there’s a lot of talk about what your brand is. Put simply, your brand is a promise to your readers. If you write historical novels then write an edgy supernatural thriller—your historical followers are busy scratching their heads and your new readers are doing the same when they look at your previously published books. Writers who have deviated a lot from their promise usually suffer in sales.

But more important than that is how will your readers find you. When they search Twitter and Facebook for your profile, how easy are you making it for them? If your author name is Joe Smith but your Twitter handle is @hottexasdude3000—how simple are you making it for your potential buyers to discover you and your product. And yes, I did search for that moniker and it seems to be wide open for those who would like to claim it.

Let’s focus on Twitter. Your handle should not be:

1. Something funny and quirky. Though this may garner a lot of followers, it’s probably doing little to build your brand. Especially if you don’t write quirky or funny—not that you can’t be that way personally. Name first. Image second. Your presence should have a consistent feel among your blog, web site, etc…

2. A character in your novel or book title. What happens when your publishing house hates that name? They require you to change it. Now, it’s time spent explaining to all your happy followers that Derek Storm (just love Castle!) is dead. Oh, that’s another reason. You as the author decide to kill the main character. Unless you are in a position to have complete control over your books, this is risky.

3. Your blog. Again, your blog should support your brand. Not be the brand. When people Google search, they’re going to look for your name first. They may discover your fine blog through your name search but the opposite may not be true. My name gets far more Google hits than my blog name. This is what you want to shoot for.

What if you’ve done one of these fatal errors? Relax. It can be changed. Why postpone the inevitable? Work to make these changes now. Make your name your brand. Work to have a consistent feel among your social media sites. There’s always room for improvement. Even though my Twitter and Facebook profiles are my name, I need to improve the feel so it speaks suspense.

How about you? Is your name your brand? If not, why not? Do you think you should change it?

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After the Glitter, Get Inspired

When the glitter settles, I often discover that my creativity has gravitated from the work place to family, friends, and holiday festivities. In other words, it goes into play mode. Christmas can leave me feeling unmotivated to return to the hard task of writing. When this happens, a pep talk is in order to remind the creative side of my brain that it loves writing.  I find it helpful to think about a time when I was able to produce and convince myself that I’m capable of doing so again. I try to focus on the positive and not entertain negative thoughts or lingering distractions so that I can prepare the way for my inner writer to quicken.

I know that I must allow the left side of my brain (the logical or analytical side) to provide a safe uncluttered place for my creative right side to emerge.

In other words, I clean up the glitter. For me, it’s getting my hair done, putting away the Christmas decorations, and cleaning off my desk and workspace. I organize my desk and schedule and make necessary adjustments to reincorporate my writing time. I order a calendar for the upcoming year. I often need to re-prioritize my writing goals and ask, “What is my next step? What day and time will I begin?” I allow my left side to formulate a plan for my inner writer, rather like one friend spurring another to do something great.

With the glitter removed, I coax my right side to get back to my fiction writing.

 I stoke the dim flickering desire by intentionally doing things that heat up the inspiration. I may read a book on writing, go to a writing blog, or connect with another writer. I dig out the inspirational quotes. If I’m lazy, I may read a novel or two. I think about my readers.

When my motivation intensifies, I know it’s time to get started.

Even if it doesn’t, when the designated appointment time arrives, I sit at my desk. It feels familiar like I’m coming home again. I begin by reading what I last wrote or looking over my plot outline.  When my creative mind knows I mean business, it will emerge–sometimes slow and sulky and other times eager and crashing through the gates. My lips quirk into a smile and my fingers glide over the keyboard. It may feel rusty, but I know this isn’t the time for me to worry about perfection, but just be thankful that I’m writing again.

How do you go from glitter to inspired?