Confusion Reigns!

 

I am having a bit of difficulty finishing my Kindle Vella book. I am almost finished with episode ten, and could not remember the name of an (important) secondary character. I had gone through and created a bible for the first nine chapters, but it did not contain a name for this individual. So I had to search through the chapters to find it. Guess what ... I had not given this character a name! Well, he is the primary antagonist and the head of a global syndicate about to make some major changes in the world, so perhaps he should remain unnamed. That is exactly what I am going to do - leave him unnamed.

I feel that it will move the story forward better this way. Have you ever wanted to just not give one or more of your characters a name? To just describe them, give them a solid background, and let them talk? I have learned to listen to what my characters want - and this character, and an individual working for him, wished to remain nameless.

This goes against all writers' protocol, which says, amongst other things that all major characters should have names, that if a character provides a clue they should be named, and that if the character recurs in a story they should be named. 

What do each of you think? Do all characters need names? If the setting is present-day referencing another era (WW II), and global spying is involved, is that enough to not use names?

(c) May 2022 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction is prohibited without the written permission of the author.

Kindle Vella Live!

 

Kindle Vella - the new serial medium for storytelling - went live this past week. As someone who made the decision to submit a story, this was great news! Truth be told, there is not a lot of money to be made there, but I found the process to be interesting, and it is another way for a writer to get their name out there. Another plus is that, as I understand it, once a story has been live for a month it can also be published in other venues. 

I found it interesting, and at times exasperating, to write in episodes, as opposed to chapters. I did not plot the story out at all (I am basically a pantser as a writer, but I do usually set out some idea of where I want each chapter to go), I simply allowed it to write itself. My protagonist was fairly well-formed from the beginning. She is an antique shop owner, having left a career in New York City and returned home to take over her Grandmother's antique shop. She has a black cat by the name of Midnight that seems to have some powers in his own right.

Her boyfriend, Tom Hargrave, won't tell me what he does for a living and did not disclose his last name until almost halfway through the book. He has excellent taste in both coffee and wine and gets along well with Midnight. He seems to take everything in stride when Anne's antique shop is broken into, and a local person is found murdered in the alleyway on the same night.

Check out the wide range of stories being offered on Kindle Vella here.

Check out my story (with about eight episodes to go) Anne's Antiques. If you likely story, please say so! And feel free to leave comments. The first three episodes for all stories are free to read, the remaining episodes are paid for through the purchase of tokens,

Enjoy!

(c) August 2021 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction is prohibited without written permission from this author.

Character Worksheets

 

Character worksheets give a bit of boundary to writers like me who are "pantsers" (we write by the seat of our pants, as opposed to writing from a script). Most worksheets include the character's full name, where they were born, DOB, where they live, where they went to school, their age, and their hair color. This can be expanded to include just about anything, such as what they like to eat, what they like to read,  and how they are related to other characters.

I am in an interesting place - halfway through my first Kindle Vella book, and I don't have anything written down (outside of the story) about my characters. I have had to refer back to previous chapters to keep names and what happened when straight. So my next project, before I write any more episodes (Kindle Vella is episodes, not chapters) is to go back and start a bible for this book.

The type of worksheet I have described here builds each character separately. We can take this one step further and create a worksheet that reflects the ongoing relationship between different characters.  We might want to ask questions such as:

• What is the history between these two characters?
• Do they like each other?
• Are they frenemies?
• Are they armed combatants?
• Does one or both of them hold a grudge?
• Do either of them feel "entitled"?
• How do they see each other?
• Are they working at cross purposes?
• Are they supportive of each other?
• Are they telling the truth?
• Does one (or both) of them have a secret that they cannot afford to have known?

We can look back at this list as see how our characters are changing as the plot develops, how they are growing, and what new things we need to know about them.

Have fun with this!

(c) July 2021 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

Kindle Vella - I Have Begun!

 In my previous blog, I introduced Amazon's new baby - Kindle Vella! Today I actually started using it. I added the information on story title, story description, story category, and story tags. I still have to find an image to use and upload it, then I can go "live" with that, and start writing my story.

I have a name for my protagonist - Anne Devereau. She lives in Virginia and is the owner of an antique store (Annie's Antiques). she is also mother to a psychic cat named Midnight. The bare-bones story in my mind is that she has an object that has tremendous value, and she is not even aware that she has this object. Strange things will start happening, including a very unusual customer, and her store and house being broken into.  

Now I get the chance to flesh out my characters and their environment. I ran across a very interesting article earlier today that talks about creative ways to craft amazing characters. You can find the article here. 

Wishing you all happy writing!

(c) May 2021 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author,

Kindle Vella - The New Way To Publish!

 

Kindle Vella is a new and quite exciting venue from  Kindle Direct Publishing that allows authors to self-publish in a serialized fashion. I cannot wait to get my toes into this water! Stories will be available in the Kindle iOS App and on Amazon. 

Authors will earn 50% of the Tokens that readers spend to unlock episodes. Wait ... What? Tokens? Readers will be able to read the first three episodes of any story for free. After that, they can purchase tokens and redeem them to unlock episodes. The number of tokens needed to unlock an episode will depend on the episode's word length (episodes can range from 600 - 5,000 words). Authors will be eligible for a launch bonus based on customer activity and engagement.

Readers will have access to Kindle Vella stories within the next few months. I certainly am going to have a continuing story up there! This is so 1920'a noir to me - only then the serial stories run in magazines, and the authors were paid accordingly.

The Beta version of the Kindle Vella library can be found here - Kindle Vella library. This is where authors can start to share their stories. The format is very straightforward: add in the story title, author's name, a 500 character description of the story, an image for the story, a primary category (with an option to add a secondary category), and up to seven tags. Story details can be edited up until the time that the story is published. 

At this time it appears that this serial publishing option is open to U.S.-based authors only. The Kindle Vella store should be available within the next few months.

(c) April 2021 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.