Catch 23, Because Catch 22 is Already Taken by Linda S. Glaz

So, let’s talk social media and networking and its importance to our writing.

“Get the numbers up. Show growth!”

“Build that platform!”

“We’d love to take on this new author, but they need to have a stronger platform!”

“Platform’s pretty good, but he might want to work on editing a tad more.”

“How about having her showcase her work at conferences, workshops, libraries, and the like.”

What’s a person to do?

As writers, let’s face it, we wanna write. But we’re also being pulled in dozens of different directions. Everyone, mom included, loves the story. And when I say everyone, I mean local readers, readers I’ve met at conferences, other editors, agents, agents’ assistants, and even a librarian or two. So what’s the problem? And we all know the answer: the writer needs to build his or her platform and present a flawless work.

Time is precious. We all know that. Particularly those would be contracted authors who also much hold down a day job. “Don’t quit your day job! You have a family to care for.” And whether that means the CEO of a company, or a mom raising 3 or 4 adorable little rugrats who have a right to her attention…as well as the housework. We all have outside responsibilities, even if our true love is the computer and the stories dancing in our heads like sugarplums.

And now…the added pressure of social media. So how do we plan our writing time?

First and foremost is story. It simply has to be, because all of the rest means nothing if there isn’t a wonderfully well-told story to peddle.

Second is social media. Yes! I said second. Focus. Target. You need to decide what aspects of social media that you’ll use and go for it.

Do you enjoy spending those precious five extra minutes a day playing on Pinterest? Then make Pinterest your work as well. Decide how much time each day and then go for it. Put everything you have in connecting on Pinterest and developing your book as you go along. Get your literary foot in the door, and make it fun.

How about FB? Enjoy the banter? Be sure you aren’t wandering on FB. Decide on a short daily presentation that will benefit others, either writing, or giving to the common good. Have fun with it, but reach as many as possible.

Do you have wonderful little daily tidbits of wisdom that you’d like to share? How about Twitter? Again, make it fun, and focus your efforts.

The most important thing to remember is to focus. Don’t get sidetracked with others’ rants, playing games, or deciding who will best rule the world in 2090!!! Connect with readers, other writers, and those who might be willing to swap help along the way.

And even though story trumps everything else, you can still give yourself a time allowance for social media each day, even if it’s just fifteen minutes. Target that time to the place where you find the most interaction for yourself, and make the comments and time spent be focused. On point. Always on point.

One: choose your extra media

B: focus your time

Four: don’t get distracted

XI: story trumps all

Five: You can do this!

The first page by Terry Burns

The purpose of the first page is simple – to get the reader to turn the page and move on down in the book. It has to be about the story, of course, but it is even more about hooking the reader into the book and selling the book.

In my own writing the first page is not the first thing I write but the last thing. I consider my first couple of chapters as temporary, they may or may not go into the book or if they do will probably need to be rewritten after I am really familiar with the story and the characters. Then when I am through and happy with it I go back and say “Okay, now how do I get them off this page?”

Readers don’t really care about the weather or the setting until they have decided they are going to read, then we can set the scene for them. What do I like to see on a first page? An action initiated that is not completed, curiosity aroused and not satisfied, a question posed and not answered, anything that begins on the page but is not completed until the next page.

While an agent or editor may not reject a book on the basis of just a first page, most of them want the page to be compelling. They know a majority of readers standing at a book rack pull a book down and read the back cover copy and the first page. The object is to get them to turn that page and read a little further into the book, because that’s when they will carry it up to the checkout stand. And that’s why first pages are so important.

Maps and the Writer - guest blog by Joyce's Client Amanda Cabot

I think most of us would agree that maps – whether the old-fashioned, hard-to-fold paper ones or the electronic versions provided by GPS systems – are invaluable tools for getting from Point A to Point B, but I wonder how many authors have considered maps a part of the writing process.

I’ll admit it. From childhood on, I’ve been fascinated by maps, especially by street maps of cities, but it was only when I started writing that I realized just how valuable they could be for an author.

Science fiction and fantasy writers talk a lot about world building, but those of us who write about the world as it is, or as it was in a specific point in history, need to do our share of world building, too. We need to create settings that ring true to our readers. That’s where maps come in. Knowing the relative positions of two country estates or the street names in a city, whether real or fictional, helps add the authenticity that readers crave.

Whether the city is real, as in my current WIP set in Cheyenne, or fictional like the town of Ladreville that’s the center of my Texas Dreams books, I have a map spread out in front of me while I write. That map’s as important to me as my chapter-by-chapter outline. When I create a map, I begin with street names, landmarks, topography and orientation. Street names and landmarks are self-explanatory. By topography, I mean the presence of hills, forests, rivers or other natural features that might play into the story. Orientation refers to the direction on the compass. Does the main street run north-south? Which direction does the town hall face?

Once I have that information, I pencil in the location of my characters’ homes as well as the public buildings that play a role in the story. If I’m working with a real city like Cheyenne, I sandwich my characters’ homes and business establishments between actual buildings from the time period. It’s only when I have all the locations established that I start to write.

Why would I or any other writer do this? I view it as a form of research, a case of knowing as much as I can about my characters’ lives before I begin to tell their stories. But it’s more than that. Having a good map is important for three reasons.

It increases the book’s accuracy. If you know the compass orientation of the street where your characters are staying and you’re describing the shadows a tree casts at 3 PM, you’ll know which direction those shadows are falling. You’ll also know whether your heroine would see a sunrise from her kitchen window.

A map assures consistency. Readers are astute. If your character turns right one time to go from his house to the church but heads left the next time, your reader will notice the discrepancy. It may not stop her from reading the rest of the story, but it will brand you as a sloppy writer. Who needs that?

A map allows you to add the details that bring your fictional world to life. Once you’ve created your map, you can calculate the distance between points and can determine how long it will take to travel that distance. You can mention landmarks along the way. And, of course, since you have the map, those details will be accurate and consistent.

Have I convinced you? Then let me add another element: floor plans. Although I’m far from an architect and my scribbles are primitive, I create floor plans of my protagonists’ homes, because – like maps – they allow me to be accurate and consistent in my descriptions. If the hero’s house faces the river that flows north-south, he will not be able to see the blazing ball of a setting sun from the same window where he studies the river. If the heroine’s bedroom is on the second floor of a two-story house, she will not hear footsteps above her, but the closing of the front door might be audible if her room were on the front of the house.

To me, maps are a key part of the writer’s toolbox. I love them, and that’s one reason I’m delighted that Revell has included a map of Ladreville at the beginning of Tomorrow’s Garden, my new release. If you haven’t already done it, I hope you’ll consider creating a map for your next story. It can be a truly useful tool.