Writing – Page 97 – Jean's Writing

Don’t let this suck the life from your story

Published on October 10, 2016October 10, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell9 Comments

Blogging that is!

You may notice that today’s blog is a bit late this morning. I’ve been busy. Writing, working or putting together my new picture book and playing. In other words living to become inspired.

It was after reading The Pitfalls of Blogging – What You Need To Know About Being a Better Blogger BY JANICE WALD, that I decided to relax for a few days.

I’ve discovered, when I allow myself to do this, I enjoy blogging more and hopefully am less apt to bore all of my readers.

Let’s face it; no one wants to read a million blogs on outlines. I mean, outlines by themselves are boring. And Lord knows the internet has enough hyperbole about politics no one needs another blog post on that subject. Oops, off topic. Sorry.

Now where was I? Oh yeah.

Blogging pitfalls.

Janice lists eight things we need to know to become better bloggers. I added two more to her list. Here is my take on the article.

Don’t let your blogging interfere with your creative process. Give yourself permission to recharge and listen to your muse.
Don’t get too personal, share too much, or go on like your Aunt Matilda about her gallbladder surgery. Remember once write a post; it is in cyberspace forever.
Avoid other people’s drama. Do you want to be right or read? See #2.
Don’t bore people to death. Try to make even outlining interesting, I know that’s a bit of a challenge but do try. Also, refer to #2.
Go easy with the ads. Don’t know about you but I hate commercials. Love my DVR because I can fast forward through those little devils.
Avoid a cluttered blog, if possible.
Don’t use your blog to vent, even if you don’t name names someone will figure out who is who. Nothing is ever private on the web. See #2.
Fresh content? Nothing is new under the sun, however, the way you present it can be unique. So try.
Everybody, well almost everybody loves pictures and videos. Remember to give credit where credit is due. And of course, make sure it’s okay to use the image.
Last but not least, don’t let blogging suck the joy out of writing. Have fun with your blog and with your readers.

Click on the above link to read the entire article and let me know what you think.

Do you have any tips to help me be a better blogger?

How to do you keep your blog fresh?

I’d love to hear from you! Click the “write me” tab or contact me on Twitter @jeancogdell,Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

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Have you questioned their desire?

Published on October 7, 2016October 6, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell

A few days ago I talked about finding a misbelief for my protagonist, well seems that’s only part of the picture.

Guess I need to dig deeper.

dynamite-animal-1298947_640 — Image Source

Okay, now that I’ve figured out her misbelief, what other questions do I need to ask?

What is her deepest desire?
We’ve all heard to ask what does the protagonist want but take it a step further.
What does her misbelief have to do with her deepest desire?
Is my protagonist loveable?
Can the reader relate to her misbelief and her desire?

And before I can go any further, do I know how this story ends?

Will her desires be fulfilled or will she fail and plummet into despair?

Now that I’ve answered these questions, I’m ready to write to the middle.

I’m learning so much from Steven James in Story Trumps Structure: How to Write Unforgettable Fiction by Breaking the Rules, which won a won a Storytelling World Award. Unlike some bloggers who write “how to” books, Mr. James is an award-winning novelist of suspense including two Christy Awards for best suspense, The Suspense Zone’s Reviewers Choice award, Suspense Magazine‘s Book of the Year award. Mr. James also crosses genres, which gives me hope.

Hope you don’t get tired of me sharing on my blog as I learn. But I love, love this book!

What questions do you ask your protagonist?

Anything special that breathes life into your characters?

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Want to read a little bit of Story Trumps Structure? Then click on the link for a sample.

Story Trumps Structure: How to Write Unforgettable Fiction by Breaking the Rules by [James, Steven] — Image Souce

PS:

On a personal note, I’m getting closer to finishing my next children’s book. Just received six more images from illustrator. Fingers crossed!

jean_king-and-cape300 — A Reluctant Prince

Do writers need to worry about passwords?

Published on October 5, 2016September 29, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell8 Comments

If you use the internet the answer is yes.

Why?

Because there are idiots trolling for information, useless or not. Nothing seems private anymore. While on holiday I had the joy of having a hacker hit my Citicard hit.

I recently pulled my head out of my book for a few minutes to catch up on the outside world and read something about “passphrase.”

Now don’t go rolling your eyes at me, I know passphrase isn’t new. Not to most people but I’m usually too busy keeping up with my imaginary characters to keep up with much else. Sigh.

Apparently, passwords have become way too easy for hackers to well, access our world. I don’t know about you, but I do everything on my computer! I certainly don’t want uninvited weirdos sulking about inside my mind (computer) and messing with my stuff. Credit cards or manuscripts! One thing I’ve learned is that we should not make light of online security. No this is serious shit.

Some may argue that a passphrase is only marginally more secure than a password, however, others argue that it is considerably more secure. Argh! Experts argue just to confuse me. But I think a phrase makes more sense than trying to come up with a different word containing a capital letter and an odd character or two thrown in for good measure, that needs to be changed every ninety days or so.

Plus a passphrase can be fun. Take this one for instance.

Like cats? Try: Mykitty8kibble

Even if a hacker figures out you have cats, the combination that your kitty ate kibble will take a while.

Have a phobia? Try: Clownsscareme2death

Need motivating? Try: finishYRdamnbook

Or: my5thFuckingbook

Or: Nowwritingmy5thbook

I’m sure you can come up with a few fun facts about yourself. LOL

So what do you think?

Which do you use – Password or Passphrase?

Have you changed your security lately?

In wake of the latest hackers hitting Target and various banks you might want to update your computer protection.

I’ve added lots of articles for you to read and decide for yourself which you think makes more sense, passphrase or password. Click and read! And then protect!!

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.

New ‘rules’ make passwords easy to remember and more secure By Kim Komando

How To Create A Strong Password You’ll Never Forget by Axel Schmidt

Forget about passwords: You need a passphrase!

Password Dragon

Choosing Good Passwords Or Passphrases And Keeping Them Secure

Why Multi-word Phrases Make for More Secure Passwords Than Incomprehensible Gibberish Adam Dachis

How to understand the secrets that bend a life

Published on October 3, 2016June 5, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell16 Comments

Ding, Ding, Ding!

That was a bell going off in my head after I read a recent post on Writers Helping Writers.

I’ve read many books and blogs on writing. Lots of them talk about understanding what makes the protagonist tick. What secret from their past bent their life?

After all, we are all a product of our environment. Right? Well, our characters are just like us. They too are bent by their childhood, relationships and traumas. But how do you show that? By figuring out what made them the way they are.

I know it sounds about as easy as becoming a rocket scientist. But stay with me.

This post below gave me insight into how to uncover secrets about my protagonist but, most important how to use them to tell her story.

Lisa Cron gives 3 simple steps to help us break down our main character’s beliefs. So I took those steps and this is what I did. Be sure and click on the link below, read Ms. Cron’s article for

So after following her steps I had a breakthrough with my WIP. Here is a brief glimpse of how I used her 3 step method.

#1: I sat down and thought about something she believed that could be wrong. When did this belief start? What happened to make her believe this way? How has this belief led to problems? Have her beliefs proved false?
#2: Jotted down times when her beliefs led her astray. When they tangled up her life and how I could incorporate these events into the story.
#3: Then I wrote a short scene that started her on her road to believing and behaving the way she does. (Now I doubt I will use this scene in its entirety but bits and pieces may show up in other scenes. What it did do was help me flesh out my protagonist.)

Be sure and click on the link at the bottom of this post and read Ms. Cron’s article for the entire picture. You’ll be glad you did.