Pitfalls when writing fiction

Many say they want to write a novel because the story has been going around their heads for years. Or some say they write for themselves, what they would want to read, or, as in my case, to have people forget their busy lives for a few hours.

Many sit down and write. A good thing, I believe, as long as they use common sense when making up their plot. There's nothing worse than a book full of plot holes or characters acting as if they were on horse tranquilisers, brain temporarily suspended. Or things happening so unreal it reads more like a slapstick comedy. The discerned reader will be quickly annoyed and discard the book as 'remind me not to buy another book by this author'. And rightly so. If an author expects us to believe his story, he must ensure that the story is believable.

For example: an murder in a crime novel is not investigated. Police arrives and merely state the person is dead, then one officer gives the eye witness a business card with the words, "We need to go, if you remember anything please give me a call." Worse, if he starts to flirt with the eye-witness, who, of course, smiles broadly at him, thinking of how she wants to kiss him.
Yes, I'd buy that. She just saw a murder and is totally calm as if she'd just baked a cake.
Who would write such nonsense? you probably wonder. Well, trust me, there are enough who'd do that.
I'm not a crime writer, but common sense tells me the police always asks tons of questions, they will have photographs taken, forensics team around, spending hours at a scene. A departure after 30 minutes is highly unlikely. They can flirt later, she can be asked to the station for further paperwork, or whatever reason (believable ones!) a week later and then she can think how hot he is. Fine.

Another example: a main character is friends with an arrogant stuck-up bitch who treats her like dirt, flirting with the guys she likes, telling her how fat she is and that she must lose weight, sleeping with her boyfriend, whatever nasty thing. There's no reason given as to why she would stay friends with her. No person in their right mind would be friends with such a person in real life. To create an unlikable character, yes, fine, but for them to be friends there must be given a reason like: they have known each other since childhood, the friend has just lost her parents the the character feels sorry for her, the friend has some sort of purpose for her, more popularity, has a car or maybe the character's secretly in love with her for some sick reason. It's important to explain to the reader the why.

In some genres you have to suspend your beliefs and that's okay, you know that there are no spaceships with whole colonies, you know there are no demons coming from the underworld, appearing in a blink of an eye, throwing fireballs and you know there are no fire spitting dragons, but even then, or better especially then, you have to have a well though-out storyline to make the reader believe it is really happening. And since many authors say they've been thinking about the story for years, there's no excuse for a sloppy developed novel.

Zorro's a star

Yes, he was a guest on C.C. Cole's blog this week and had his own view about my move.

   From Zorro's diary: The ugly creature goes bonkers

Life as an iguana can be rather confusing; I have no idea what's going on, but believe you me, my walking feeder is up to something. For many changes between me being awake and asleep, she has been moving around a lot. Very suspicious. She never does that. When she doesn't stare for hours at the thingy in front of her, she'll either leave and not come back for ages or she'll pester me with her funny noises and lures me down from my high look-out with delicious treats. She's brought different ones, by the way and boy, they are just melting in my mouth. I can't get enough of them.

So back to her moving about. Every time when I open my eyes, she's changing her house. Not that I care a lot, as long as it doesn't involve me getting touched, she can do whatever she wants. But I'm curious, so I crawl a bit closer and sit right in front of the unseen barrier and yet again, bang my nose at it! Never mind, I just want to see what's going on. At this moment, she's holding items that magically disappear when she bends forward. Surprised, I stretch myself to see a bit better, but it's gone. How interesting! 

Uh, oh, no! I shouldn't have come down here; my lower hangout is only good when she's not around or sitting in her usual place. Now she's making the funny noises again and putting the extension of her inside my house. I wonder if I can warn her off by trying to sink my teeth into her flesh. No, she'd be too fast for me, pulling back again. Instead I close my eyes. It'll be over soon, it'll go away in a tick! But, oooh, I like it. Damn, she really knows what I like; my eyes were a bit itchy and I do love a good head rub, especially if it takes off the old skin. I've tried to get rid of it, but it didn't work. 

I could also do with something to drink. I'm thirsty. Maybe she'll make it rain again? Carefully, I squint through my half-open eye. She has moved onto my cheeks. Man that is good. Seriously good. Relaxing, I lean into her extension, so much, that I almost fall off my seat when she suddenly pulls away. Hey, you! I think. Don't stop! I could do with a bit longer. As much as I loathe her, she definitely gives me the best green stuff and treats and her massages are pure iguana heaven. And then it starts to rain heavily. I blink and wait. The rain moves over my head and I stretch out my tongue to drink. Gee, I'm so thirsty and the temperature is perfect. When I have enough, I hurry up to my higher hangout. From experience, I know she'll not pester me for the time being and probably will make more things disappear, I'll watch from here and see what happens.

Her house changes constantly, what's worse is that another ugly creature has joined her. I know  him; he once gave me some green stuff to eat when the female wasn't here for a longer while. It was the most peaceful time, I must add. Didn't even feel the urge to bite him and he didn't put his extension in my house to touch me. I'd say we got on well. Never mind, now that he's here again, I'll observe everything carefully.

But what is going on? They'll became rather hectic and when her house starts to look almost empty, she comes over to mine. No! You don't, ooh no! In panic, I try to squeeze myself into the corner, as far away from her extension as possible. Not that it would help, she reaches out and I try to bite, but I'm just an iguana and she's bigger and stronger than me. I struggle �C to no avail. Then I hold still, just wishing to get back into my house and relax. Seems I've made the plans without her as she against my expectation drops me somewhere unfamiliar. Then it goes dark. 

Hey! Let me out of here, I think. How rude it that? I can hear them exchanging funny noises. Doh, I'll show you what I'm made of. I scratch a bit here and there, everywhere where brightness streams in, but there's no way to escape. Deflated, I decide to rest for a while to gather some strength. Suddenly, I rip open my eyes. Blimey, what's that thundering noise? It's so damn unfair; I really want to sneak a peek, so I start scratching again and there, finally, is a way out. Hah! They're so busy, they don't even notice.

What the heck? I really don't like what I see: they're ruining my house! Mesmerised, I stare at what resembles my home when I find myself airborne and in the dark again. I didn't pay attention, too shocked was I about being made homeless. Confused, I try to orientate myself when I'm dazzled and blindfolded in the next second. What is wrong with her today?

Again, I struggle and try to free myself, but she holds me tightly. To add to the disaster, she's moving around with me. It's getting cold and my tail knocks against something, then a bang and another, different, noise. Breathing heavily, I try to make out where we are. After ages she sets me free and removes the blindfold. Gee! I don't know this place. And the other two ugly creatures are back, too. Ah, I see parts of my house. Would be good if they put is together as quickly as they can, because first it's not really warm and second, I want my peace back. Oh and I could do with something to eat to.

Resigned, I drop myself somewhere comfy and watch the hustle and bustle. After a while I can't be bothered anymore and just close my eyes to drift into a dream with many beautiful ladies, lots of food and plenty of sunshine. Ah. There, that's better.

Hi, I'm Stella and I'm an editing addict

I

Editing

So, you might now declare me officially mad, but it's true: I love editing. And I will even tell you why. 

Well, to begin with, I always loved helping people. Editing is basically helping writers or author see their manuscript from a different angle. Things they don't see, for they are too close to their books, will most certainly jump at me, in addition to others. 

Take my friend, for instance. He's an experienced and skilled writer, even had been published with a small press many moons ago, He's trying to land an agent and received many rejections. For he's too blind to see what's wrong, he turned to me. And because I'm a good friend, I helped him with one of the books. I'm harsh, I'm strict and I can be rather pushy, but he took it on the chin and reworked. We never 'worked' together and he was rather surprised how much I picked up; on voice, on pace, on character and plot inconsistencies. His words were, "I'm impressed, you really have a talent for editing."

Made me go all fuzzy, because it has just been a couple of years since I actually found my calling as an editor. Luckily, most of clients think the same, which is a good sign. Of course I made some mistakes by taking on clients who weren't 'ready' yet, but we all make mistakes and learn from them.

My friend was so taken, that he now has come back with the next book. Working with more seasoned writers has the advantage that you can dive straight in, they know the basics, they know the techniques, in short, they just need someone with a keen eye to do the dirty work for them. I rather enjoy that, and in addition, I get to read an exciting book. 

Working with new authors has its perks, too. I love to teach them the basics, to see them adopt the suggestions and slowly getting better; some take longer, some are quick to learn. It's wonderful to see them grow, their writing season and their confidence increase. Although it's often more difficult to edit a new writer's work; many are not used to be criticised and are hurt easily. In many cases, I will try to comment on the first few chapters to give them some sort of guidance so they can take the suggestions and rework their manuscript, learning as they go. A service, by the way, I'll offer soon: first 10k for a certain price and if the person doesn't feel confident enough after that, we can agree to do the whole book to a fixed price. Ideal for new writers who need a quick assessment of their skills. Some return with their revised version and it always makes me proud to see how much it has improved and that I was part of it.

As editor you are a teacher, a motivator, a bringer of bad news, a tough hand and often go out of your way to help the person whose book you are trusted with.

That's it, I'm done! It's time to say

Goodbye

to the Branded Series, that is. I've said it in the past, after No Wings Attached sunk into the bottomless belly of Amazon, that I contemplated to stop writing the sequel and put the series to a rest. Only after readers repeatedly asked where the sequel is, I finished the book. Now, Candlelight Sinner has been released last month and performs equally: a block of concrete couldn't sink faster than the book. So I thought back and forth and decided to not write the third book.

To say or pretend I'm not disappointed would be a lie. Of course I am. Three years of my life went into the books, they have made me laugh, cry and angry. I'm proud of them and I know many of those who read them loved them and it was a rather interesting journey; No Wings Attached taught me all about the craft and I had plenty of fun writing the two novels.

I feel that part of the 'not selling' is because of the first published version of No Wings Attached was error-riddled. No reader in their right mind would buy another book by an author who can't take care of their books. Well, if only I had known. Never mind, that's something I can't reverse.

Personally, I don't know why else the books won't sell, it might be the lack of vampires, the lack of erotica, the weird mix of genres being paranormal romantic comedy, or the reviewers who keep referring to Tom as being an angel, which he isn't - at least not in the common sense - who knows? Fact is that self-publishing is a good way to find out if your book tickles the fancy of the crowd.

My Branded series doesn't, so it's time to move on to other projects, which is what I'm currently doing. So for those of you who are waiting for the third book: I'm sorry. Really really sorry. But I won't continue this series.
This is not a whiny post, in fact, I think I'm rather relieved to not have to write a third book. As much fun as it was, I've somehow outgrown the books and the style and I'd like to take other challenges. So, maybe it's a good thing because now I can just step away with a clean conscience. I see that as a positive thing. And I'll continue to love the books 

I threaten you, however, to unleash a new book at some point this year.

Up to then, there's always my short story collection Excuse me, where is the exit?

Tip of the week: Who to follow on Twitter or connect with in general

Be honest: how many of your followers are writers or authors and how many do you follow because they are writers or authors? My blind guess would be about 95%. I admit, when I started out with social networking on Facebook, all I did was trying to gather 'friends' and I envied those who had over 1000 on their list. Same with Twitter, I connected with anyone whose name I vaguely knew.
It became clear very soon that having all those writer friends on facebook didn't really bring me much other than having their constant promotion in my face as soon as they self-published. I started to delete those I never really talked to and kept those who are dear to me and with whom I have interesting, funny and informative exchanges.

On Twitter, I stopped following back. Instead I take a look at the profiles and blogs (if link provided) and decide then if they are 'worth' to follow. The problem is that I'm an author myself, so my tweets or the tweets of my followers will most likely be about writing or the books. It's preaching to the choir. There's no need to gather as many followers as possible, because only if your followers retweet your tweet, you'll have more exposure and that only if they have plenty of followers themselves. I have a few followers who have over 30k people following them, we never talk, they never retweet my tweets so I'm wondering what's the point of following them?

I observed that I'm gathering new followers (mostly writers) and when I visit their profiles and they don't interest me enough to cause me to follow back, they'll unfollow me a little bit later. We never exhanged a word. Which means, they didn't follow me because they found my tweets or profile interesting, they followed me in order to get a follow back. Well, no, I don't see the point.

Please don't get me wrong, I love the people I connect with, they are carefully selected -- at least those who'll stay in my list as I'm slowly going to clean it up -- and I'm having good conversations with many of them. Sometimes we don't talk for ages, but that's a Twitter thing, time differences, life, etc., but I only follow those who will catch my eye, be it due to their profile, their blog/website or because of our exchange.

To up your 'presence' write interesting blog posts, informative, educating, be versatile; something that'll make you stop and read another person's blog. Write about what you know, blog regularly and be selective with the people you connect with. A following of 4k or more won't help you if they only follow you because you follow them.

Have you noticed that a large following helped your exposure? I'd like to know about.

Yes! I received my first 5-star review

For Candlelight Sinner, that is. And even better news is that the reader seemingly enjoyed the book, because she gave it the highest rating, which is wonderful. I'm still trying to bring across that the book might be labelled as paranormal romantic comedy, but it's far more urban and chick lit than paranormal. Think Charmed, and there aren't even demons in my book.

Anyway, here's what the reader said:

Candlelight Sinner is easy to read and a good book to take on holiday.

It is written in the first person. You view the events through the eyes of the two main characters, Tom and Celia. The only downside is that if go back to the book after a break you need to read a sentence (or two) until you know who you are and get back into the story again.

One is an angel and the other is part light side and part dark side. The dark side try to get Celia to go completely over to them whilst she is developing her relationship with Tom, who is in trouble for romancing someone who is half dark side. Celia also has human friends and she tries to hide the supernatural events which occur.

A light enjoyable read.

Proof-reading, an underestimated profession

 If you follow my blog, you will know that every now and again I do come up with some controversial posts. Their purpose is to make people think, consider different angles on one subject. Today, I'd like to write about proof-reading due to a recent appeal from a self-published author who received reviews saying his books are in dire need of it. Several people have kindly volunteered to help him out, but do they really know what their job will be? Do they actually have the knowledge needed to proof-read a book? Many will pipe up saying they are good at it, but only few really are. It's an underestimated profession which demands a keen eye on detail; it's exhausting because you have to concentrate. And: you're the last one going through a manuscript and therefore will be judged based on the cleaniness of the book.

Proof-reading is not only correcting a few typos, I think that almost everyone can do; proof-reading is correcting grammar, punctuation (including dialogue attributes), it's looking out for inconsistencies, meaning that the spelling of a character's name, for example, is always the same. Very important in fantasy, where you have made-up names and places. A good proof-reader will find every single stray comma, spaces, misplaced/wrong quotes, correct apostrophes and semi-colons, find missing indents and paragraphs. They will go through your ms with a fine tooth comb and erase all errors that might distract a future reader.

I would suggest to look at someone's e-mails, posts or websites, to see how their writing is, if you find errors, steer clear, if the person starts out newly, like the one above, test them. Let them proof-read the first few pages or even the first chapter of your novel. Then go through it slowly yourself or ask a friend to check if the services has found all of the errors. If yes, you can go ahead. If not, thank them and find someone else. Always remember, your author name is a brand and if you put out an error-riddled book, you'll have to do a lot of damage control and I speak from experience. Finding the right proof-reader is difficult and the work-relationship is based on trust. Your novel is your baby, take good care of it.

Another word of warning: proof-reading is the last step in the whole process. Please make sure your novel has been edited beforehand or you have to pay twice.