What Motivates A Writer To Write?

What motivates a writer to write? If you are like me, you don't need to be motivated. Your day is not complete unless you write something, and that something often falls into several different categories: blogs, articles,WIP's, and notes for future articles and books.

Some of the things that can give us needed motivation, or motivate us in new directions, include:

• Tackeling the obstacles that we see as standing in our way.
• Achieving a certain goal - such as entering a writing contest, or writing a given amount of words per day.
• Creating characters that we would enjoy reading.
• Resolving personal scenarios through our books.
• Connecting with a given audience.
• Being able to sustain our lifestyle through our writing,
• We have a story to tell.
• Writing is therapeutic - we heal on all levels as we write.
• Writing when the muse wants to talk - for me, that is in the oh dark thirty hours!
• Creating an environment for writing that is distraction free, and a "happy place".
• Allowing our writing to flow. If it doesn't work out - trashcan it!

I am going to do a 1,000 word flash fiction this week, instead of my usual 100 words. And ... I am going to present two different endings. Wish me luck!

(c) July 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written authorization from the author. 

Master Class With Margaret Atwood

I stumbled across the Master Class series some time ago. At that time I thought that an all access pass was the way to go. My wallet decided otherwise! I just signed up for the class that I was primarily interested in - Margaret Atwoods class on writing. The link above talks about the general outline of what is offered. This post takes a look at what I am actually experiencing in the class.

"Creativity is one of the essential things about being human. So you don't have to apologize for it. It's something human beings do." ~ from the workbook

I downloaded the workbook - which is a true gem!  In it, Atwood references her own work, as well as presenting writing prompts for her students. There are assignments, links to reference material, examples of various techniques that can be used to create beginnings, middles, and ends, deciding on what voice to use in a story, and so much more!

In her videos, Atwood is very clear about her topic, has a very eloquent speaking voice, and a lovely sense of humor. The next chapter that I am going to be working with is all about layered narratives and how to structure a story. I am very happy that I took the plunge and paid for this course ... you will see better work coming from me in the very near future!

(c) July 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

Software For Writers

The software that I am going to talk about here is new to me - it is called StoryShop. It is advertised as an all inclusive writing platform, where we can build the world of our books, plan them, and collaborate with others. (My preference is to write as sole author, but I have collaborated on two books, and it did work out very well.) 

I have downloaded the free version, and am going use it to fine tune my current WIP. There is a lot to keep track of in the storyline - having software like StoryShop will help me keep things straight, and errors to a minimum. This will be a three part series, and any errors will be quite obvious to my readers, so keeping everything in line is a must! 

Some of the things that StoryShop does includes the ability to add images that will help to visualize relationships between characters and places, the ability to organize (and reorganize!) ideas into the best possible flow, outline to the level that you want to (I am a pantser - I use a bare bones outline), and the ability to use available templates. I also love the fact that I can be anywhere and access what I have written through cloud - so if I want to take my laptop to Starbucks and write, I can do so without a problem!

The site includes an FAQ (which includes video tutorials), availability of forums (I did see that there are no forums currently available for mystery writing), writing courses, and a blog.

You can find out more about StoryShop here. 

(c) July 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.

Writing Prompts

What exactly are writing prompts, and why do we need them? Writing prompts are starting places, they present us with ideas that we can use to unleash our creativity. They help us when we are stuck in our writing, when we are not sure how to bring things together. 

There are many ways that we can make use of writing prompts:

• Expand your creativity by challenging yourself to write as many stories as you can using the same prompt.
• Use the prompt to create an entire story using the elements of plot, characterization, and interaction of characters.
• Work with a partner (or within a group) to critique each others use of prompts.

Working with writing prompts allows us to hone our writing skills - and it is fun! There are many online sites, and blogs, that offer writing prompts. Use them to break out your writing!

(c) July 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

NaNoWriMo In July

NaNoWriMo In July

Thank you to my Internet writer friend Jessica Macbeth, I found out that NaNoWriMo is having a writer's camp during the month of July. I wasn't going to join, but I just did. I got to set my word count (I set it for 20,000 words), my category (self-help), and whether I wanted to be in a cabin or not (I did not).

Wait ... what? We got to write from home in November - now we are in cabins? This is getting expensive! I thought it was free! I have a nine to five - I can't be away from home for a month! Hang on ... it's all good! It is free! You do work from home. The cabins are simply writing groups - you can form one with people that you know, you can ask to join a private cabin, or you can be sorted into a public one. There can be up to twenty people in each cabin.  This is your writing community.

Take a look ... see what you think! You get to write, you have a community to share ideas with and get input from, you get support - what more could you want!

More information on NaNoWriMo in July:

National Novel Writing Month

Camp NaNoWriMo

Social Media for NaNoWriMo:

Facebook

Twitter

(c) July 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

My Reference Library

Whatever genre of writing we do, we all need to develop our own reference library. Some of the books in my library are necessities, some are there because they came under my radar. Here are a few of the books that I currently will not part with:

• The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition
• The Elements of Editing - A Modern Guide For Editors & Journalists, by Arthur Plotnik
• Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles, & Ends, by Nancy Kress
• Elements of Fiction Writing - Characters & Viewpoint, by Orson Scott Card
• Elements of Fiction Writing - Plot, by Ansen Dibell
• Elements of Fiction Writing - Scene & Structure, by Jack M. Bickham
• The Frugal Editor, by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
• Guide To Fiction Writing, by Phyllis A. Whitney
• Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage
• Manuscript Makeover, by Elizabeth Lyon
• Merriam Webster's Manual For Writer's & Editors
• On Writing Well, William Zinsser
• Oxford Large Print Dictionary, Thesaurus & Wordpower Guide
• The Plot Clock, by Joyce Sweeney, Jamie Morris, and Tia Levings
• Self Publishing Books 101, by Shelly Hitz
• Write From The Heart, by Hal Zina Bennett
• The Writer's Digest GuideTo Manuscript Formats, by Dian Dincin Buchman & Selo Groves  
• Writing the Cozy Mystery, by Nancy J. Cohen

What does your reference library look like?

(c) June 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written authorization from the author. 

Continuity In A Book Series

How do we bring continuity to a book series? I really want to do my books in a series because if my readers like the characters in my first book, they will buy the books that follow. This is a question I am currently facing - my current WIP is the first of a series of three books, which will be followed by a series of cozy mysteries. That is another issue! My first mystery book was "supposed" to be a cozy mystery, and it took a very sharp turn right from the beginning into the land of metaphysics and distant viewing! 

I have no problem with having enough content and storyline to justify a series - I can take the same characters and put them in 1001 different situations. And I have defined what my series will be based on. My first series, based on my WIP, is a storyline that arcs over all three books. My second series, the cozy mysteries, will feature the same characters with storylines that resolve within each book. IOW - each book is a "stand-alone".

Here are some of the things that I am looking at that will help bring continuity to my book series:

•  Have a good foundation for my stories, and enough of a storyline to justify a series.
• Use recurring themes throughout the series.
• Portray my characters in the same manner in  each book in the series - they will grow, but they will also have the same background, likes/dislikes, and shadows that they did in the first book.
• Remember what you have presented in your previous books - life events, how a character speaks, what motivates each character, and what each character's perspective on life is.

My aim is to publish at least one book a year, so my readers don't get antsy and wander away! I also think that leaving a few loose ends might be a good thing - keep my readers wondering. My aim will also be to make each story different - if I keep telling the same story in different ways, that story will get old fast! 

Looking at all of the above, I realize that my character bible is going to be a very important tool in keeping my characters straight from book to book. What they say and how they react in one book has to pretty much stay the same in future books in the series. I don't want readers saying "So and so said this in book one, and this in book three. Which did they really mean?" That is a rabbit hole that I do not want to go down!

(c) June 2019 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.