Tag Archives: writers

LISTEN TO YOUR CHARACTERS…Or They May Abandon You Forever

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LISTEN TO YOUR CHARACTERS…

      Or They May Abandon You Forever

By Natalie Bright

My novel about a 14 year old boy set in the Texas frontier is a typical coming of age story, which involves him finishing the job of delivering a wagon load of goods after his father died. Ben has a run in with outlaws, is shot by a Comanche arrow, gets lost in the wilderness; just your typical Wild West adventure. The young Comanche brave would not leave me alone. The only thing I could do to get that kid out of my mind was to write key scenes in his viewpoint. I realized I liked him and instead of being my antagonist, the story changed. I inserted Roving Wolf’s scenes where they belonged in the already finished book. I now have two protagonists who become friends.

LESSON LEARNED

Here’s what I learned from that experience: you don’t have to write an entire book chapter by chapter in that exact order. For some of us, Point A to Point B is not how our mind works when it comes to creative fiction.

Don’t be afraid to explore those flashes of imagery in your brain. It might be a piece of dialogue. Maybe it’s a minor character that keeps nagging you about a scene you left them out of. It might be a place that flashes in your mind, and then poof, it’s gone again. You know someone was there and something happened, and you have to write it before you learn why that place is important. For me, it’s like an explosion in my head. The imagery of that character is so alive. Sometimes it’s a conversation that seems so vibrant and real, it can’t be ignored.

TALKING CHARACTERS

Some writers say that their characters never talk to them, and usually it shows in their stories. Their characters are flat, lifeless, with no personality. When you take the time to dig into your character’s head and heart, then their personality will become real. When they are real to you, they’ll be real to your readers.

DIG DEEP: HERE’S HOW

If your book is in 3rd person, rewrite several scenes in 1st person POV. Free write, in your character’s POV, about their childhood, favorite things or people, life experiences, greatest fears. The deeper you dig, their motives, desires, angst will become clearer. That protagonist will begin to tell you even more (truth!). I know, it’s a creepy, strange and glorious experience, so I wouldn’t mention it to your non-writerly friends. I promise, one of your characters will pop into your mind out of and tell you something wonderful. Keep in mind, that the majority of the things you learn about your protagonist and antagonist during this process will not make it into your manuscript. When you’re character is faced with a conflict, you’ll know exactly how he or she will react and that’s what endears them to your readers. We learn more and more as the story progresses.

Don’t be afraid to give your characters the attention they deserve. Allow them to tell you their secrets. Just make sure you’re taking notes.

BUTTON METHOD FOR WRITERS

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BUTTON METHOD FOR WRITERS
By Natalie Bright

The Button Method for Writers combines the psychology of a creative mind along with plain ole common sense, and is easy to implement. It’s guaranteed that you will experience an unbelievable increase in productivity and quality of work.

The Button Method is best explained like this:

1. Butt-On Chair
2. Write

The more you do, the better you become at the doing. Isn’t that true with almost every career? I heard the Butt-on tip early as a newbie writer, but honestly I haven’t always applied the method.

Two of my writerly friends have, and they are a source of great inspiration for me. Linda Broday and Jodi Thomas are both New York Times and USA Today Bestselling authors. They’re currently writing series; Linda for Sourcebooks and Jodi for HQN. By writing, I do mean they’re ALWAYS writing. They both have set times every day, and rarely waiver from that schedule. They both practice extreme self-discipline.

I asked Linda one time how she manages to keep pushing herself, and she told me that when she’s writing, it’s the time she feels the most calm and relaxed. For her, social media and crafting blogs creates more anxiety than disappearing into her fictional world.

Jodi fell several years back and injured her wrist. During that same time, I twisted my ankle. We met for lunch and exchanged details and sympathies. Jodi says,” I asked the doctor to set my cast in a different way, because if I prop my arm on pillows I can still type with the tips of my fingers.”

I had planned to head home for aspirin and to prop my foot on pillows. Jodi went home to write.

Butt-On is the key.

Writing Benediction: Focus on the pure joy of crafting stories with words.

BUTTON METHOD FOR WRITERS

Posted on by
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BUTTON METHOD FOR WRITERS
By Natalie Bright

The Button Method for Writers combines the psychology of a creative mind along with plain ole common sense, and is easy to implement. It’s guaranteed that you will experience an unbelievable increase in productivity and quality of work.

The Button Method is best explained like this:

1. Butt-On Chair
2. Write

The more you do, the better you become at the doing. Isn’t that true with almost every career? I heard the Butt-on tip early as a newbie writer, but honestly I haven’t always applied the method.

Two of my writerly friends have, and they are a source of great inspiration for me. Linda Broday and Jodi Thomas are both New York Times and USA Today Bestselling authors. They’re currently writing series; Linda for Sourcebooks and Jodi for HQN. By writing, I do mean they’re ALWAYS writing. They both have set times every day, and rarely waiver from that schedule. They both practice extreme self-discipline.

I asked Linda one time how she manages to keep pushing herself, and she told me that when she’s writing, it’s the time she feels the most calm and relaxed. For her, social media and crafting blogs creates more anxiety than disappearing into her fictional world.

Jodi fell several years back and injured her wrist. During that same time, I twisted my ankle. We met for lunch and exchanged details and sympathies. Jodi says,” I asked the doctor to set my cast in a different way, because if I prop my arm on pillows I can still type with the tips of my fingers.”

I had planned to head home for aspirin and to prop my foot on pillows. Jodi went home to write.

Butt-On is the key.

Writing Benediction: Focus on the pure joy of crafting stories with words.

CHANGE. COUNT ON IT.

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CHANGE. COUNT ON IT.

By Natalie Bright

YOUR TUNES

Who remembers 8-track tapes? Soon after, the cassette player in my then boyfriend’s car was something else, and the fancy case with his cassette collection was impressive. From even further back, I have a cabinet full of mom and dad’s album collection. Their beloved, overly large, oak-veneer record player makes a great plant stand.

YOUR TELEVISION PROGRAMS

Some of you may recall surfing through only three major television channels, and the lucky houses with strong antenna signals could pick up PBS. And then cable brought channels devoted to history or animals. Cartoons were on 24 hours! It wasn’t any time before we could watch edgy content that would never be shown on CBS, NBC, or ABC. The satellite dish brought us hundreds of channels. I streamed the entire season of Longmire on Netflix one snowy, dull weekend not too long ago. Waiting for a major network to schedule the reruns is a thing of the past. Amazing!

YOUR BOOKS

Music and television have gone through a transformation in the past decade. Now it’s book publishing’s turn. As I follow blogs and podcasts this year trying to educate myself on the changing tide of book promotion in the new century, all indications are that 2015 was the turning point. How we publish and read books has been altered forever. There’s no going back.

I’ve been pondering these important points:

  • I just downloaded the first book in a series by a favorite author for FREE in iBooks. The iBooks App is a built-in app on some hand-held devices, or is available for free download for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
  • India and China have seen the largest growth in the number of hand held devices, and now have more users than US, with 250 million English speaking people living in India.
  • It’s impossible to analyze the impact of eBook sales because many are being published without ISBNs.
  • Through a wide variety of book platforms such as iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords, Nook, Kindle, etc., paired with all that social media offers, readers will seek their favorite genres and discover authors. The publisher’s name has very little impact. People are going to read what they want to read.
  • The future is mobile.

For the work that writers do, I think there are several important questions to consider. Where will fans find your books in 2016? Will more people read stories on their hand-held devices? What if more people became readers because they have easier access to the kinds of stories they like?

What I’m trying to tell you is that during a one hour traffic delay because of the lumbering construction equipment blocking Highway 287, I read the heck out of an iBook on my iPhone.

Welcome to the 21st Century. I’m thinking it’s a great time to be a writer!

Keep on writing onward as always, WordsmithSix-ers!

nataliebright.com

ANIMALS AS CHARACTERS

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ANIMALS AS CHARACTERS

Nataliebright.com

If your story is plodding along and you’re struggling in that saggy middle quagmire, think about adding interesting elements through animals.

Animals add a richness to our lives and provide some great material for stories. With some creative thinking, they can add unlimited conflict for your characters to deal with. The death of a beloved pet. The bequeath of granny’s pet anaconda. The personality of a cranky, old cat.

As I sat in the vet’s office one morning, an elderly couple came in with an obnoxious solid black mutt. He barked at my dogs, with a face that was full of disgust. The elderly gentleman took him outside. The lady explained that their dear neighbor had died and had left this dog to them in her will. Sometimes great stories just land in your lap from out of nowhere.

We have a ranch with dogs, barn cats, Registered Angus cows, wild turkey, antelope, deer—you name it. There are issues that happen every week just involving the livestock and wildlife. If you’ve ever owned a pet, you know that they exhibit quirky personalities and habits that keep life interesting.

Last Saturday, I toured Dove Creek Ranch and Equine Rescue. They do amazing work. I was reminded that animals have fascinating life journeys and stories much like people. Some of these horses have experienced mental issues, grief, abuse and pain. Horses go through traumatic events and have to experience a healing process much like humans. Sometimes it’s not a happy ending. Other times horses and humans can heal together, and there is new found joy and a fresh beginning. Talk about a place full of story ideas!

Dig deeper and rethink the dynamics of your story. Would an animal add a unique dimension to your character arc or story line?

Always onward WS6 writers!

WRITING LIFE

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WRITING LIFE

By Natalie Bright

The writing life is a solitary endeavor, and routinely interrupted by everybody!

Seriously, at times writers have to put aside the world within their heads and face reality. Somebody’s always hungry (at least at my house), something needs cleaning, bills waiting to be paid, and laundry is piling up. I’ve been hit with reality for several weeks now and I can’t seem to dig out from under it. I really miss my fictional world.

Many experts suggest that you have to live a real life in order to find material for your stories. Overheard conversations, experiences, and research can add richness to your writing. That may be true. During this break my creative mind may be taking a pause, but my self-editor and self-doubt is partying hard. I’m a loser. I’ve been working on a 500 word piece for a month now and it’s just not coming together. At this point, I’m totally convinced that I will never write anything again that anyone will want to read. I can’t see that I’m making any progress towards building a writing career. I’m done.

Thank goodness part of the real world this past weekend included a writer’s meeting. Author and song-writer, Jan Sikes, talked to the Texas High Plains Writers group in Amarillo about her series of books based on her life with a musician. Using the facts of her own experiences, she changed the names of the people involved to create what she explains is 90% true and 10% fiction. She even gave herself a fictional name so that she can step back from the very personal connection and bring this fascinating love-story to life. Her talk was excellent. I’ll share some of her writing advice with you next week.

Thank goodness I am reminded how sitting in a room full of creative people can give you inspiration to keep going.

Texas High Plains Writers meets every other month on the third Saturday at the Amarillo Senior Citizens Center in downtown Amarillo.

THE HASHTAG

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THE HASHTAG

Since opening an Instagram account, I’ve become fascinated by the power of the hashtags.

Hashtags are words preceded by the pound symbol (without spaces). These key words or phrases categorize posts. For example I use #TexasPanhandle on every one of my Instragram pictures. Through the use these key words and phrases, you can follow anything of interest including places, people, hobbies, food, fashion, special interest groups, companies, TV shows, movies, etc.

The birthplace of the hashtag symbol first happened on Twitter. Discussions became trackable and content can be organized using hashtags. Twitter hashtags allows for “trends”, or specific topics in conversation that you’d like to follow or become engaged by posting comments.

So how can writers benefit from using hashtags?

Create hashtags for your book titles, character names, author events, or use key topics that relate to your books when you post something.

Social media sites such as Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine utilize hashtags to maximize shareability. Popular hashtags will help you pick up followers who are interested in the same things, and will help you discover new accounts. So what’s popular or trending now, you might ask. Go to hashtags.org to find out.

Follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram! Links are located on the home page of my website at www.nataliebright.com

#havefun #write

Story Craft: Book Themes

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Story Craft: Book Themes

By Natalie Bright

Throughout the art of story craft, you may have noticed common story threads or themes that are used over and over. This is most often observed in movies. Multi-published writers that I’ve talked to usually have an overall theme that might not be that obvious to the reader, but it helps keep the plot line consistent to the end.

A NYT bestselling author told me that she used a common theme for her main characters, as well as applying it to sub-plots and minor characters. For example, the pain of loss was a theme of a recent book. Every major and minor character had to deal with loosing something or someone.

A theme for books can be used in both fiction and nonfiction. It keeps the author on track and prevents them from deviating from the basic story structure.

For example, the hero’s journey is a popular theme that is used in a lot in books and movies. The hero is reluctantly called to adventure, faces insurmountable obstacles, and ends up saving the day. There are several excellent books on how to craft a story using this popular theme.

Listed below are some other examples of overall themes for books:

*Cinderella: down trodden girl is rescued from her dull existence and finds true love with her prince.

*Perseverance: characters never give up, even when faced with impossible obstacles.

*Honesty: always tell the truth, no matter what the cost.

*Kindness: generous, considerate, friendly characters, even when treated differently.

*Acceptance: differences and beliefs are overcome and characters find respect for each other. Or, maybe it’s an acceptance of love lost, crushed dreams, or life’s path.

*Romeo and Juliet: star-crossed lovers against the world.

*Loyalty: trusting each other, friends to the end or trusting yourself and your heart’s desire.

*Cooperation: a problem is solved or a goal is achieved through everyone working together.

 

Happy writing and thanks for following WordsmithSix!

PILES OF RESEARCH

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PILES OF RESEARCH

By Natalie Bright

Tracking and Controlling Research Notes

Research notes and piles of reference books have totally taken over my life. At the recent Western Writers of American conference this past June, I had the opportunity to visit with two historical novelists. My question to them—what system do you use to track and control your research?

Three-Ring Binder

As seat mates on the bus during a field trip, Nancy Plain explained her notebook system. She fills a three-ring binder for every book she writes. The information includes hard copies of information she might need to refer to again such as pictures, online materials, interview notes, or library materials. Sections are identified by subject. Main take-away idea for me was a section in the binder just for quotes. These will be an important component for the final book, whether its fiction or nonfiction. Good quotes relating to time period or history of your story can be used for promotion in the way of tweets or other social media posts. I

ndex Card System by Subject

I’m a huge fan of Lucia St. Claire Robson. I approached her at the WWA Conference between sessions and posed the same question to her. As a former librarian, she uses a fascinating index card system. Believing that, “75% of the work is organization” when writing historical fiction, she has developed a system to keep track of those thousands of details any researcher might need for their novel. She scribbles notes on 4×6 index cards, using a different color for each work in progress. Every source is assigned a letter and a number, starting with #1. Cards are then filed by subject. As she writes, she prints each chapter and might add note cards to the pile, if she comes across anything that’s relevant. After the first draft is done, she goes back and picks up that information needed for each chapter based on any additional research and the notations in that pile. Here’s the thing about her system: any issues that might come up from an editor or fan, can be readily answered and verified. Mr. Robson has established a reputation for being a meticulaous researcher. Her books certainly reflect that. You’ll find detailed imagery that transports you back in time.

For more about Ms. Robson’s system, read her blog here: http://www.luciastclairrobson.com/featured/just-call-me-lucia-minutia/

Time to Get Busy

As I type this, on the floor behind me are separate piles of spiral notebooks along with manuscript drafts and copies of stuff related to my novels. On the shelves are open baskets for each book title, where I’ve tossed related material. How do I find something? You might have guessed already. I have to sift through the entire pile. What a mess. I’m hoping to combine both of these author’s systems and get a handle on my stacks and stacks of research.

To minimize the mess on the floor, I’ll use the binder or notebooks to file away the information I’ve amassed to date. Because I’m a junky of used books and dusty old book stores, I’m starting a card file system right away to identify these reference materials. As time permits, I hope to go back through some of my earlier spirals and make index cards for those factual tidbits as well.

For more information about these novelists and their work, visit their websites listed below.

Nancy Plain is an award winning author of biographies and histories for children and adults. Her most recent work is THIS STRANGER WILDERSNESS, about the life and art of James Audubon. www.nancyplain.com

Lucia St. Clair Robson is most famously known for her book about Cynthia Ann Parker, RIDE THE WIND. As her first book, it won the Spur Award, made the New York Times Best Seller List and was included in the 100 Best Westerns of the 20th century. www.luciastclairrobson.com

Keep researching and keep writing WordsmithSix peeps!

SOOTHING BLUE

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SOOTHING BLUE

By Natalie Bright

 

Calm, serene, cool, the color of the sky and sea. Blue is my favorite color. I guess that’s why I love the Texas sky so much. We enjoy so many shades of an endless sky blue stretching as far as the eye can see.

Blue has such a positive vibe, creating a mental soothing, as opposed to red which creates a physical reaction. Blue is mentally calming. Consider the products that use blue such as vodka, water purification systems, airlines, mineral water. High tech gadgets use blue to put forward precision. Blue is associated to males, and is considered to be the preferred color for corporate America.

Light blue: health, soft and fluffy clouds, healing, tranquil seas, understanding.

Dark blue: power suit, seriousness of a mortician, knowledge, integrity.

Blue can have create negative mental images as well: lack of emotion, cold, aloof, unfriendly.

Blue:

Sky, sapphire, azure, delft turquoise, aqua, aquamarine, violet, peacock, teal, cobalt, royal, navy, steel, powder

 Nataliebright.com