Tag Archives: nataliebright.com

15 Years of Critiques

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15 Years of Critiques

After 15 years and some change, our local writers critique group will cease to meet in 2021.  Several members have moved away, and with the pandemic restrictions it has become more and more difficult to come together. The good news is we hope to keep the WordsmithSix blog going. 

We also promised to make every effort to exchange work online. But it will never be as effective as a face-to-face meetings. I’m very sad.

It’s hard to believe the years that flew by and how much those people mean to me. Thursday evenings was the day and my day-job office was the place. As 2021 keeps moving onward, I’m thinking about these writers and how they influenced my writing and why. What are the best reasons to belong to a critique group?

  1. Accountability. There’s something to be said for sitting your butt in that chair and typing the words because you know there’s a group of people who will be reading it. The other option is you have to look them in the eye and say, “I didn’t bring anything to read this week, but here’s some chips and dip.”  

Everyone is just as busy as you are, even bestselling authors. But they have a strong work ethic and the self-discipline to make their writing a priority despite everything else in life. Writing is a job; the hardest work you’ll ever do. It’s important. Treat it as such. Say yes to every opportunity.

  1. Honesty. We did not go easy on each other. “I Like it. This is good,” is always pleasant for your ego but they are empty words. You can’t improve a story from words like that. Sure, we included positive comments and mentioned the good stuff, but we did not hold back on the bad. The more specific you can be with your critique partners, the better. “I don’t like that character.” “Why would that character say that?” “Does this move the plot?” “What is this character’s story arc?” “More imagery here.” “This is a rabbit trail and has nothing to do with your theme.” “What is your theme?” …and so on. Be specific.

Because of my critique partners, I now give tough critiques and I usually step on toes. But the people who I exchange work with knows that I will be brutally honest. And in the end, it’s not anybody else’s story anyway. It’s yours and you make the final decision. So take that chip off your shoulder and just listen. Consider the possibilities. 

  1. Like-minds. It has been so important for me to absorb the creative energy from like minds. Only other writers know our struggles. Only other writers understand the tug we feel from a universe that tries to distract us from the stories inside our heads. All we want is time; time to write. You can gain a lot of inspiration from like-minded people.

At our meetings we made every effort to begin on time, read and critique, and then those who had to leave, could. Those who needed to vent could stay and visit. 

Hats off to my WordsmithSix critique partners. Happy New Year to our WordsmithSix subscribers and thanks for following us! I hope you realize all your writerly dreams in 2021 and that you have many, many pages of words that find readers.

 

STATING YOUR OPINION: DO WE CARE?

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STATING YOUR OPINION: DO WE CARE?

Natalie Bright

The extremely prolific author Marie Force indicated in an interview that she wants her social media sites to be a place where readers can escape. They can disappear into the world of her fiction and get away from the stresses of their day. She writes to entertain and has always limited her personal opinion on controversial topics. NO political rants. She doesn’t want to offend her fans. Her books recently hit 10 Million in sales; Ms. Force knows how to sell books.

How refreshing! I just bought several of her books.

Which brings me to the dilemma I had faced just this week. After purchasing an author’s newest release, which I loved, I thought about posting reviews on Facebook and Twitter, and even considered featuring this book in a future blog. It really is an unusual, beautifully done book. I was so excited to share it with my followers. The problem is that this author’s Facebook posts are ALL political, and not the nice kind. Whether or not we agree on issues isn’t the point. I don’t want to offend any of my followers by sending them over to this author’s sites.

Every follower is a potential reader, no matter their background, religious leanings,  or political convictions. I want them to buy my books. Period. I agree with Marie Force. The thought of offending anyone causes me stress, particularly in today’s world. Even the slightest, most innocent jokes are making people turn ballistic.

In this crazy world, will my readers reflect on the people I connect with and possibly reconsider their connection with me? Sadly, yes. My stories don’t have an agenda. I write for entertainment (mainly my own). I read fiction to escape. I listen to music for entertainment. That’s not to say we shouldn’t stand up for what we believe, but if you create products for sale is there a cautionary line to consider?

Just food for thought in this PC world. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment. I wish for you a productive week with lots of word filled pages! Thanks for following WordsmithSix.

Here’s the interview with Marie Force on The Self-Publishing Show Podcast.

https://selfpublishingformula.com/episode-241/

And find out more at her website here  https://marieforce.com/

 

FINDING INSPIRATION & MOVING ONWARD

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FINDING INSPIRATION & MOVING ONWARD

Natalie Bright

 

Hello WordsmithSix writers!

Hope this finds you all safe and well. Are you starving for writerly interaction? I’m going crazy!

With writing conferences canceled, and my local WordsmithSix critique group taking a break over the entire summer, I really need inspiration. We love our families, but they have no clue why we spend hours at the keyboard. The two questions I continually hear are #1 What are you working on? AND #2 Are you cooking? Answers to the first question are hardly worth my time in explaining, but I do appreciate their interest. But it’s just not the same when a fellow author asks the question.

Thank goodness for email and texts. We have managed to type THE END on Book #2 in a new series working with my co-author who lives in Georgia. How in the world did we manage with snail mail and telephones in the olden days? My kids think I’m ancient, but it wasn’t that long ago.

Thank goodness for podcasts and online classrooms. With everything shut down, I have had more time to indulge in learning mixed with the writing. Have you looked at MasterClass.com? I’m watching David Baldacci this month. Wow! Price is based on an annual fee, or for a little more you can have unlimited access. You can also choose from Neil Gaiman, James Patterson (excellent!), Judy Blume, playwright David Mamet, Margaret Atwood, and more.

If it’s podcasts you like, my weekly addiction includes:

Thriller author J. F. Penn interviews influencers. https://www.thecreativepenn.com/podcasts/

Mark Dawson and James Blatch, great interviews covering the business. https://selfpublishingformula.com/spf-podcast/

These are short and full of info. https://bookmarketingmentors.com/

The business of writing with J. D. Barker and J. Thorn. https://writersinkpodcast.com/

May you find enough inspiration to keep moving onward until we can come together once again.

UNFORGETTABLE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

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UNFORGETTABLE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

Natalie Bright

 

Here’s a list of a few unforgettable fictional characters that seem to have life beyond the pages. A great character isn’t always likeable, but one that can evoke strong emotion or a memorable experience for the reader. Are any of these your favorites?

Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Emma Bovary, Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert

Prince Hamlet, Hamlet, William Shakespeare

Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

Holly Golightly, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Truman Capote

Frankenstein’s Monster, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

Peter Pan, Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie

Scarlett O’Hara, Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Just to name a few…

Leave us a comment and let us know your favorite, unforgettable fictional character. Thanks for following Wordsmith Six!

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

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CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
Natalie Bright
As a reader, do you like detailed physical descriptions of your characters? As a writer you can go nuts trying to decide: tall short, thin, long hair, red hair, bleached blonde, plain face, or Hollywood icon?
In answer to the question I refer to the book THE SUCCESSFUL NOVILEST: A LIFETIME OF LESSONS ABOUT WRITING AND PUBLSIHING by David Morrell (creator of Rambo) With thirty years of writing and publishing experience, this is a barebone, practical book of advice. I have found this book to be one of my favorites; I’m giving it a second read through.
Morrell notes, “I believe that readers can do a lot more efficient job of imagining the look of characters than I can and that characters are best described by their actions.” (pg.147)
The objective details of a character’s appearance don’t matter as much as the emotions they imply, as Morrell explains. So how do we, as writers make that happen? Morrell suggests that we concentrate on a character’s emotional effect, the reader will supply the physical details. What do her clothes convey; polished or destitute? Does the character radiate power, intelligence, or sexual desire? What about the character’s posture?
The example is from Tolstoy’s ANNA KARENINA (translated by Rosemary Edmonds). The main character is full of life, friendly, and her smile shows this.
“Her brilliant grey eyes, shadowed by thick lashes, gave [Vronsky] a friendly, attentive look, as though she were recognizing him, and then turned to the approaching crowd as if in search of someone. In that brief glance Vronsky had time to notice the suppressed animation which played over her face and flitted between her sparkling eyes and the slight smile curving her red lips. It was as though her nature were so brimming over with something that against her will it expressed itself now in a radiant look, now in a smile.”

Useful Tools: Scrivener

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WRITING A NOVEL BY SCENE
Useful Tools: Scrivener
Natalie Bright
So many times I have heard, “I’ve had an idea for a book for so long, but I don’t know how to start.”
Start anywhere! Just write it. The truth is you don’t have to write a novel in perfect sequence from beginning to end. Listen friends, the honest truth is that first draft will be total crap.
If you’re like most writers I know, you wake up with character dialogue or pieces of scenes playing out in your head. Start writing the scene or bits of dialogue as soon as you can. You’ll put it in order later. Scrivener makes it easy to do that.
For my current WIP, I knew the ending would be a snow storm, so I wrote that scene first. This climactic scene has to be intense and self-revealing for the main character, so it’s good that I had the bones first and am now able to intensify the internal dialogue and sharpen the imagery. I keep working and reworking that scene as I develop earlier chapters which will lead me to that final scene. In between times, I finally decided where to start the story so I am labeling the text folders in chronological order:
Saturday noon
Saturday pm
Sunday
Monday am
Monday afternoon
Monday dinner
Tuesday am
Tuesday mid-morning
Wednesday noon
and so forth, up until
Friday snow storm
Scrivener makes it possible to insert scenes easy, or move them around with no problem.
In the creative process, you are your own worst enemy. Don’t over think this. Write the scenes that are in your head and fill the imagery with the emotions from your heart.
Once you have the bones in a rough draft form, that’s when the fun really begins allowing you to edit and polish to perfection.
Keep writing and stay sane!

HASHTAG IT! Twitter for Writers

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HASHTAG IT! Twitter for Writers
Natalie Bright
Hello Writers; I Hope this finds you safe. Have you thought about turning to Twitter for submission opportunities, publishing news, and inspiration? You can follow specific hashtags (#) which interest you. Hashtags are a way of setting categories for your social media content.
#IndieAuthorChat
As part of a drive to connect more group members, The Alliance of Independent Authors will be stepping up their Twitter Chat.
#MSWL
Manuscript wish list hashtags is used by agents and editors who are looking for specific elements for story submissions. You can reply with your pitch and if they are interested, they will send you a Direct Message (DM).
Generate interest by creating and using your own hashtags based on your blog name, book title, or author pen name, for example.
#nataliebright
#prairiepurview and #wordsmithsix are my two blogs. Thanks for the follow!
Connect with writers and fans of your genre. Search hashtags by Genre:
#SciFI
#AmericanWest
#Fantasy
#Romance
#Horror
#UrbanFantasy
Follow hashtags by writing process and connect with other writers.
#AmEditing
#AmWriting
#WriterChat
#WriteGoal
#ePubChat
#WritingPrompt
#WritersLifeChat
#5amwritersclub
#WritingCommunity
#ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers)
#SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators)
#BookMarketingChat
#KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing)
More importantly, connect with your readers!
#MustRead
#FollowFriday (suggesting new people to follow; promote your author friends)
#Novelines (to quote your own work)
#FreeBook
#FridayReads
#TeaserTues
#Bookish
#Shelfie
#ReadMore
Yes, Twitter has a well-deserved reputation for political rants, but it is what you make it. Focus on what guides your passion for writing and you’ll find others who feel the same and who love a good story as much as you do.
Hoping this #selfisolation period is proving to be productive, and thanks for following WordsmithSix!

Scene by Scene Story Building with Scrivener

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Scene by Scene Story Building with Scrivener
Natalie Bright
An author’s process is fascinating to me. Some writers stay in a perfectly synchronized flow writing the same time every day, powering through that first draft until the end before editing. Some writers edit as they go, refusing to move on to the next chapter until the current chapter is perfect. And then the rest of us fall somewhere in between using a host of ideas about creativity, I think. For me, it’s a combination of all of the above. I don’t think there is a right or wrong way.
Take my current WIP for example, I knew the ending would be a snowstorm and that something will happen on Christmas Eve before I even knew the opening scene. So I wrote the ending first because it was hot on my mind and I couldn’t work on anything else until I got that scene out of my head. Only then did I begin to think about Chapter 1. I like having character profiles completed with an understanding of how the minor characters will relate to my main characters and why.
This book is coming together so fast, but it’s a scramble in my head. Characters are jumping out of nowhere. The only way I can keep things straight is to use Scrivener.
Each folder of text is labeled as a day of the week because I know that by week’s end my main character will be trapped in a barn in the middle of a Texas Panhandle norther. I just have to get her to that barn, and make her life as miserable as possible until then. The folders are labeled accordingly: Monday, Monday noon (a lunch scene), Monday late afternoon, Tuesday morning, and so forth. The title of each section of text is a chronological order with day of the week and location and notes about the action on that day, but that’s where any order of writing ends.
If I wake up with a specific scene in my head, I write that scene. I am three scenes into the snowstorm, but have no middle to my story. Seems crazy, right? Scrivener makes it so easy. If I wrote that action for a Tuesday but decide it should be happening on a Thursday, I can move that folder up in the order. And I can look at the corkboard view to determine the basic outline of my story and what is lacking. I try not to think about how crazy this book is coming together because in my day job everything is numbers, exact, and deadlines. The creative process is so far removed from anything I’ve ever done before.
Does anyone else write in a frenzy of chaos, where the story is coming so fast in your brain your fingers can’t type fast enough? Just wondering.
Stay safe and stay sane. Have a happy, productive week!

EXCEL FOR AUTHOR EXPENSE & INCOME

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EXCEL FOR AUTHOR EXPENSE & INCOME

Natalie Bright

 

During the month of April, we are blogging about “Tips and Tools” for writers. This is such an important topic, we’ll be blogging about it again in November under “Writing Resources”. We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions too. Please leave your comments below.

GET ORGANIZED NOW

You may be a newbie writer drowning in the muddle of author platforms, social media, chapter hooks, and wide or not wide. It can be overwhelming. Regardless of where you are in your writing career, there’s no better time than 2020 to get your finances organized. From online spreadsheet templates to high dollar accounting software, there are many options available. As a newbie writer, I began with several books on KDP and tracked my business with a simple Excel Spreadsheet.

First, I recommend that you:

  1. Open a separate author checking account.
  2. Only use your author debit card or a designated credit card for expenses related to your writing business.

Don’t be tempted to charge anything on your author card that cannot be expensed. When you set up payments for book sales from KDP, Ingram, etc., and Square (if you plan to have booths at book fairs and take credit cards), have all of the royalties and payments come directly to your author checking account. All of your income will be posted right there on your bank statement, which you can easily make copies for your CPA or transfer to an income spreadsheet.

EXPENSES

Second, set up a spreadsheet for expenses, a check register, where you will record checks you have written, cash disbursements and credit card charges all relating to your author business.  Across the top list the Categories, for example:

     
Date Ck # Off Sup  Workshop

Seminar Fees

 Travel Exp Research Reference Professional Fees/Dues Mrktng

 

Those sticky notes, writing pens, spirals, and copy paper are office supplies. Don’t forget about the printer ink cartridges. That trip you took to the beach to get a feel for the setting of your next series can be counted as author expense under research and travel. You can set up sub-categories by working titles or series title. That little ad you placed in your local newspaper announcing your newest release is marketing expense, and maybe you bought the newspaper editor’s lunch. Log that under public relations. There are many different ways to set up your expense categories. Check with your CPA to make sure you have the right categories for your particular situation.

In the meantime, stay safe and happy writing!