writing – Page 46 – Jean's Writing

How important are the first words of your story?

Published on February 2, 2016January 31, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell5 Comments

Very.

I agonize over the first paragraph more than any part of a story. Sometimes I rewrite it a dozen times and often making it worse before I make it better.

So how do you start that story?

By grabbing the reader.

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With a whisper and a promise. With fear or joy. You dangle temptation, and offer redemption. The trick is to not start out too big or too fast. It’s like catching a great white shark or blowing up the planet, too much momentum can leave the reader with nowhere to climb. Often a sense of let down or exhaustion hits midway through the book.

I once read that the writer needs to give the reader a reason to suspend their disbelief and they will gladly go along for the ride. No matter how far-fetched the story all they need is a reason and they will keep reading.

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That reason could be a killer opening line. A likeable character or character they love to hate.

Jacob M. Appel believes that the seeds of that triumph or defeat are sown by the end of the very first sentence. Read his post and see what he says about starting a story.

10 Ways to Start Your Story Better By: Jacob M. Appel

Darcy Pattison wrote a book START YOUR NOVEL in which she lists twelve ways to start novels and give examples of the top opening lines of all times. In the following post she looked at the Top selling books for the week ending August 9, 2013, opened their stories. One contemporary author opened her story with dialog. To read more click:

10 WINNING WAYS TO OPEN YOUR NOVEL By Darcy Pattison

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Reading Challenge 18: A Book With a Blue Cover

Should you open with dialog or not, that is the question

Published on February 1, 2016January 31, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell5 Comments

If you must, keep it short and sweet.

Has it been done? Of course! Does that mean we should try it? That’s a loaded question.

The first line is how we, the writers, introduce our story to the reader. It’s how we shake hands, say hello, howdy, nice to meet you or whatever greeting we choose to grab the reader’s attention.

The first line can’t be wasted words.

When a story is opened with dialog, will the reader know who is speaking? If not, the author must backtrack, and pretty quick, to show who is talking and why. This can become confusing fast.

I’m not sure that I’m that talented of a writer.

If using dialog to open a story, it must reveal the character, and support, highlight or assist action. The dialog can be captivating, and attention grabbing, but it cannot be just for the sake of conversation. Just like any opening line, it must hook the reader and propel the story.

The reader is then thrown into a whirlwind of turbulence trying to figure out whose on first, doing what. You risk losing them before you can ground them in the story.

There are right and wrong ways to use dialogue to start your story. Merideth Storms give several tips on how to make sure the dialog serves to reveal the plot and move the story forward. Click and read her post:

Using Dialogue to Start a Short Story, a Creative Writing Technique by Merideth Storms

Everyone has heard not to start a story with a dream, staring into a mirror and yes opening with dialog. But now we know all “rules” are not steadfast when bent or broken by writers who know how to use them. There is another “no-no rule” I’d not heard about.

Too little dialog in the opening paragraphs. This can signal to an editor the story is might be boring, filled with more telling than action. Read more from Courtney Carpenter:

5 Wrong Ways to Start A Story By: Courtney Carpenter

How to make your own editing rules sheet

Published on January 27, 2016February 26, 2018 by Jean M. Cogdell15 Comments

Professionally known as a Style Sheet.

I’m not referring to a list of what matches what hanging in your closet.

Or the hottest trends from InStyle Magazine.

No, this is a document where you define the writing style and rules that apply to your WIP.

Is the style of your WIP American or British English?
Do you use contractions? (This is one of my problems. Sometimes I feel like a contraction sometime I don’t.)
Are you going to spell out the numbers or not?

See where I’m going? Finding these errors first is very important to presenting quality work to an editor that you’ve done some of your own redline editing.

I call mine a cheat sheet. Some writers use an electronic file folder, others like Scrivener’s templates to help with character info to keep the story uniform.

But, now that I understand the importance of an actual Style Sheet is, I’m going to streamline the process for my next project.

Why do I want to use a Style Sheet like Sue Archer shares in her blog? Because my “cheat sheet” has grown into a large folder. And as such, too big to be of much use.

This one sheet, when applied to each individual project will make polishing my stories much easier. You might want to click on Sue Archer’s blog and check out the template she provided. I did.

Robin Rivera gives 3 Reasons Authors Need Style Sheets

Take special note of #2. Amazon will soon be holding writers to a higher standard and consistency in our books will be more important than ever.

Hopefully, using this process will produce a more professional piece and prevent an editor from cringing at first glance.

What about y’all?

Do you use a Style Sheet for consistency? For editing?

If not, what do you use?

Talk to me people. My inquiring mind wants to know.

Something you need to know on your road to self-publishing

Published on January 26, 2016January 25, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell10 Comments

Should you use both CreateSpace and IngramSpark?

Maybe. That’s the short answer.

However, it does depend on what you hope to accomplish with your book.

Will it be an ebook only? Like Kindle?
Do you want to see your book in print?
Do you want it available in libraries and bookstores?

Me? I think printing with both distributors is the way to go.

But please for the love of God, I hope you can avoid some of my mistakes. Although, I didn’t crash and burn, I did bang up my poor little book a bit along the road to self-publishing. This was not a happy trip.

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Sheesh, I’m a slow learner sometimes. Hopefully, you will benefit from my mistakes.

First, let’s start with what the two distributors do or don’t offer.

CreateSpace

Easy to use.

CreateSpace provides an easy to use MS Word template for you to set up your book.

Free.

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CreateSpace provides a free ISBN number for both your print and Kindle versions. But, and this is a big but, they not you own the ISBN.

Expanded Distribution.

Expanded distribution is available, however, not all libraries and bookstores use Amazon. Some consider Amazon the block bully and competition.

IngramSpark

Not so easy.

I made a lot of rookie mistakes my first go. But the customer service is very helpful. I found using the same PDF document I uploaded to CreateSpace worked for the interior file. The template at Ingram is not as user friendly but doable.

Not free.

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But not outrageous and I did receive a discount to upload my first title, after establishing an account. An additional cost is the purchase an ISBN number.

Distribution

Your book will automatically go into catalogs to bookstores and libraries for orders. It will be available at Barnes And Noble.com as well as other bookstore websites.

If you decide to publish through both outlets here are a few tips that might help you.

Prepare, prepare and prepare before you hit that key to go live.

Double ISBN numbers, does not double your fun.

Multiple ISBN numbers for the same title is a nightmare. Trust me, I know. You can choose to use the same ISBN number purchased for IngramSpark with CreateSpace book. Wish I’d figured this out earlier. This is one knot I’m still working on untangling. But as the saying goes, better late than never.

Using the same ISBN number does a couple of things:

1 – You avoid multiple ISBN numbers for the same title floating around, and as such mass confusion.

2 – Your book will have the same ISBN regardless of the retailer. Again, avoiding mass confusion.

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Be careful! If you want to do this so that all your ISBN numbers match, do not publish with a free one from Createspace first and then try to double back and fix it. Won’t work! Once an ISBN number has been used and books sold, it is out there forever.

How to avoid distribution confusion.

Simple, just do not select the Expanded Distribution on CreateSpace. IngramSpark will take care of that for you much more efficiently.

Results – Happy Ending!

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You have only one ISBN number for your print book so everyone knows what to order. Amazon is happy you used their company CreateSpace. And most of all you’re happy because your baby has the powerhouse of IngramSpark behind it and the opportunity to appear on a bookstore shelf.

For a really good in depth article, and information packed comments, click and read:

How to Use Createspace and Ingram Spark Together by Karen Myers

Happy travels down the self-publishing highway.

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Okay folks, you know the drill. Tell me what you think. Anyone used both distributors? What was your experience? Any more tips for us newbies? Talk to me baby.

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