Category: Creative Writing

Creative Writing, Incentives, Mission statement

How To Get Your Writing Done

Christina Hollis
Magnificat by Sandro Botticelli

You’d never set off for a job interview without knowing exactly where you’re going, how you’re going to get there, and how long it’s going to take. So why not apply that thinking to your writing?  Develop a mission statement to keep your work on track.

A mission statement is a short, snappy way to keep your objective in focus as you work your way to success. Draw one up before you start your next big project. It will really help to keep you focussed. Don’t just say, “I want to write a book.” That’s too vague. It’s your future we’re talking about. Make it your plan.Tailor it specifically to what you want to do, such as; “I’m going to write a full-length historical romance by 30th April 2016”. That’s smart in more ways than one. It’s Specific, Measurable (you’ll either reach your target, or you won’t) Achievable, Realistic and you’ve given it a Time limit.

Print out plenty of copies of your mission statement. Keep one stuck to your fridge, on display in your office, beside your bed, as wallpaper on your computer screen—in fact, put one anywhere anywhere you’ll see it often.

Use incentives to encourage you. I use treats such as time out to watch my bees, eat a peach or a long reading session.  Choose bigger treats for when you’ve had a successful week: a long soak in the bath, some time lazing in the garden, or my own favourite, retail therapy in a  bookshop or stationery store. Choose a really big treat as the ultimate prize for when you complete your writing project.  I forget the diet for once, and take my OH out to dinner. Of course, where there are prizes there have to be forfeits. Mine is to avoid social networks!

Here’s a basic template so you can create your own mission statement, with some ideas in italics to get you started. Substitute those words as necessary, and don’t forget to be specific. Personalising this declaration will make your project mean more to you, and that will help you to succeed.

MISSION STATEMENT

“I am going to write a novel/non-fiction book. My long term dream goal is to record my thoughts for my descendants/achieve publication, which I’m going to achieve by (date).
In order to achieve my objective, I will draw up a schedule of what needs to be done each day, and set weekly targets, too. Every single time I hit my daily word-count, I’ll select one reward from my “daily” list of treats. At the end of each week, if I complete all my tasks I’ll choose a treat from my “weekly” list.  After successfully completing my project, I’ll celebrate by spoiling myself with my ultimate prize. I will read my mission statement daily to remind me of the rewards I have planned, and my ultimate objective. If I miss any of my weekly targets without a very good excuse, my forfeit will be to stay completely offline for one whole day. If I miss my final deadline, my forfeit will be to  stay completely offline for one whole month.”

Then date and sign it, to make it official.

I’ve given you a couple of ideas for rewards and forfeits. What will you put on your own list?

Creative Writing, second draft, synopsis

Birth Of A Book, Part Seven—Revising and Reducing

Christina Hollis
By Antonio Litterio

Taking a break from your writing work lets you see it with new eyes when you pick it up again to add polish. It’s like meeting an old friend—only better. If you think your manuscripts looks tired, overweight, is less fun or more shallow than you remember, you don’t have to be polite. When it comes to your book, you’re the boss. Rip into it. Make all those changes, and keep going until it’s perfect.

Once you have the basic story, structure and characters, you can play about with your draft as much as you like. There’s no limit to how much you can alter it, this side of a publishing contract. You’ll find this stage is much easier than when you were winding yourself up, ready to write back in Birth Of A Book, Part One. The work of fleshing out the skeleton of your book is much more fun. First drafts are driven through solid rock. The really creative writing builds on that. Sculpt your words into something unique, then sand them down until they shine.

This is your Pygmalion moment. Take your time. Enjoy it, but don’t make the mistake of adding layers of complexity to your work for the sake of it. If your story is strong and your characters engaging, you won’t need it. Each scene should either give meaningful insight into one or more of your major characters, or move the action along.

When you’re happy with your work, run a spellcheck for all those descriptive words ending in —ly, such as excitedly, grimly, perfectly and the like. Take out as many as you can, and let your decriptions do the talking.

The next step is to rework any phrases where you tell your reader what your characters are doing, rather than show them.  Describing your character as deciding, thinking, or feeling something, rather than letting your reader experience it through that character’s eyes twitches a curtain between them and the story world you’ve created.

See http://bit.ly/1C0CxOU for more details!

The first draft of my work always has plenty of room for improvement by way of “show, don’t tell”.

Here are the opening lines of my current work in progress, which is the third book in my Princes of Kharova series for the Wild Rose Press:

They were driving through Kharova at its wild and rugged best, but Maia wasn’t in the mood to enjoy it. She stared out of the car window, seeing nothing. 

These are my last hours of freedom. I shouldn’t be cooped up in here. I should be diving off the top board of life. 
She pursed her lips. Okay, so maybe diving wasn’t her style, but given the chance she might tuck-roll in off the side.

Extract From Heart Of A Hostage, Copyright 2015, Christina Hollis

And here’s my latest, revised version—

A silent movie of Kharova at its wild and rugged best spooled past the car window. Maia’s eyes were open, but only the cold glass against her cheek kept her awake.
These are my last hours of freedom. I shouldn’t be cooped up in here. I should be diving off the top board of life. 

She pursed her lips. Okay, so maybe diving wasn’t her style, but given the chance she might tuck-roll in off the side.


Extract From Heart Of A Hostage, Copyright 2015, Christina Hollis

What do you think of my improvements to the original?

Beta Readers, Blog Tour, Creative Writing, Heart Of A Hostage, Her Royal Risk, His Majesty's Secret Passion, John Grisham, memoir, The Firm, Top Tips

Birth Of A Book, Part Six—Writing, Reading and Rewriting…

Christina Hollis
By Antonio Litterio

In the first five parts of this series, I’ve covered finding ideas, character development, planning (or not), basic three-act structure and dirty drafts. If you’ve got your first, rough draft down on paper and you’ve managed to put it aside to mellow for a while, you’ll be raring to go.

Now’s the time to tie everything together. This is where the old line “write about what you know” can be both a blessing and a curse. Inside knowledge is perfect for adding details, and that’s the problem. If you’re a mechanic writing a thriller, you’re the ideal person to give tantalising glimpses of the power of getaway cars, and the intimate luxury of limousines. Just make sure you only salt your work with facts, rather than pickle it in brine.   John Grisham gives enough detail in his legal thrillers such as The Firm to fill you in and keep you reading—he’s careful not to make you feel you need a Bar exam to read his books.

What if your book is a personal memoir,  and you think you don’t have technical expertise in any field? Think again. Everyone knows how it feels to be hungry, thirsty, disappointed or excited. You’re an expert in being you. Put your own personal spin on your fictional characters. Deepen their conflicts by drawing on your experience of your own feelings, and the reactions you’ve seen in other people. Use all your senses to enliven your work. The sound and feel of fresh snow crunching under your feet, the sight of clouds rushing across a March landscape in fitful spring sunshine, the fragrance and taste of fresh baking…writing is a chance to indulge your creativity, so get thinking!

Make sure you do plenty of external research to get all your technical details correct. Don’t feel you have to include everything you know, or find out—see the comment about John Grisham’s books, above. Keep some things in reserve, complete with all references, so you can answer any questions put to you by your readers.  I used my memories of a recent holiday at a luxurious spa to spice up His Majesty’s Secret Passion, then double-checked everything I could.  

http://bit.ly/1ujX5zc
From Amazon, with love: http://amzn.to/14udZUC

However brilliant you are, there’ll always be someone out there who knows (or thinks they know) more than you do—even if it’s only your mum. You owe it to your readers to get everything as near-perfect as you can. As well as checking specialist facts and figures, don’t forget the little things. Unless you’re writing about an alternative universe, don’t say the date’s 30th February, or give England tropical temperatures on Christmas Day. Stranger things have happened—but not many.

Once you’ve produced a detailed second draft, take the time (and the throat sweets) read it through aloud to yourself. I use this step to produce a timeline, too, if I haven’t done one already. This makes sure everyone and everything hangs together. Make all the alterations and amendments your work needs, then repeat the reading and nit-picking as often as it takes to make your work perfect.

Then comes the moment when you find out whether your manuscript can survive in the wider world. If you have a friend you can trust to give you impartial advice, get them to read your work. A fresh pair of eyes will shine like searchlights through holes in your plot, and pick out the kind of typos and inconsistencies  we all miss when we’re poring over our work. It needs distance to be able to spot these things. I type “form” instead of “from” and vice versa all the time. However careful I am about reading back and checking, my Beta reader almost always finds one that’s slipped past me.

 If you think your friend will be either too kind or too harsh (it can happen!), employ a professional Beta reader. Word of mouth is the best recommendation, but there are plenty of ads in writing magazines, and online. Check them out thoroughly before you part with any money.

Once you’ve polished your book until it gleams, put it aside again for at least another week while you get on with the next important steps in the birth of a book: starting the next one and finding a market. Those topics are going to be the next parts parts in my Birth Of A Book series. To make sure you catch them, sign up to my blog clicking on the link above, or email me at christinahollis(at)hotmail.co.uk with the word “Blog” in the subject line, replacing the word “at” with @ in my address.

Creative Writing, His Majesty's Secret Passion, Lord Of The Rings, Three Act Structure, Wizard Of Oz

The Birth Of A Book, Part Four: The Basic Three Act Structure For Creative Writing

Christina Hollis
By Antonio Litterio
Is your story running out of control? Is your character development less of an arc, and more of a ramble? Save time and keep your plot on track, no matter how many threads it has, by finding out how to apply the Three-Act Structure to your work. 
  
I started out as a pantster—writing novels free-form, with no overall plan. A dramatic scene would come to me. I’d think about it until I’d developed characters and a plot. Then I’d write the first three chapters, followed by the last one, to make sure every loose end was tied up. After that, I’d go back and fill in all the gaps. That worked well, but what sounds like a fast process turned out to be slow in the end. Making things up as I went along meant lots of re-writing and refining. Sometimes I’d have to discard days of work when it didn’t fit with the revised storyline. Often the finished manuscript and my original synopsis might have been talking about different books, with only names and places in common. 
I needed to get organised. The 2014 RNA conference put me onto Scrivener. You can find out more about that here.

Once I got the hang of using this package, I could see the Three Act Structure (which has been used for centuries to create novels, plays and other works) fits in perfectly. The Introduction, Action and Conclusion model provides a skeleton you can build on and articulate, by breaking the action down into small segments. 

I haven’t turned into a dedicated planner overnight, plotting every move my characters make right down to the last cough and sneeze, but it’s definitely easier for me to keep my first draft on track these days. In turn, this saves a lot of time, which I devote to polishing my full manuscript. 

On sale now at http://bit.ly/1C0CxOU and
here in the UK
I’ve created a template on Scrivener which includes divisions within the basic Three Act Structure. Most are self-explanatory. You don’t need to write scenes for all the headings—in fact, it would be a very bad idea to follow this template down to the smallest detail. In trying to fill every box, you’d end up producing the literary version of a painting-by-numbers, rather than your very own Mona Lisa. 

As you write, you’ll find some sections will merge. The order will change, and the lines between some will  blur. You might want to skip some altogether, or change the order within the acts. Do whatever suits you, within the basic story arc of scene setting, followed by action and rounded off by conclusion.

Here are the basic headings I work with:

ACT ONE—This introduces your story world and characters, and sets up all the drama to come. 
Scene setting: The trick is to drip feed information about the who, where and when of your story. Don’t drop it in lumps. Personally, I like to start with a bang, such as the “shark attack” in His Majesty’s Secret Passion.
Inciting Incident: A stranger comes to town is a classic opening. You could also use an accident, a letter, or a misunderstanding.
And So…For every action there’s a reaction, as Isaac Newton said. Keep that in mind as you move forward, heaping up troubles and questions for your characters to confront.
What happens then? Don’t forget to add variety to the ups and downs in your story. Give your reader time to catch their breath, and reflect on what’s been happening.
Pressure Builds: Once you’ve got your characters up a tree, throw rocks at them. 
Force: As you make things worse for them, they are forced to take more action
Plot Twist/Revelation We know where we are, and who we’re dealing with. Or do we? Throw in another development to increase problems for your hero.
George M. Hill Company, Via Wikimedia
ACT TWO—Action stations! This act should make up the bulk of your story, powering it along with increasing drama, and working on the tension.
All Change: This is the point where Alice has gone through the looking glass, and Dorothy isn’t in Kansas any more. There’s no way back. They’ve got to create a new  existence, and fresh ways of thinking.
Learning: Your characters get to know their new world.
Back And Forward: Draw contrasts between their old life, and the new rules they are learning.
Tension Builds: Foreshadow future disasters. In The Lord Of The Rings, Gandalf rages at Pippin for doing something as simple as dropping a stone down a well. We’re told that’s not a good thing to do in a place like the Mines of Moria, but we don’t know why. Yet…
Breathing Space: The contrast of action and peace. Your readers and heroes can all take a rest, but just when they least expect it—
Bang! More trouble arrives, and it’s big.
Action Your hero throws themselves into the situation. This is a fight to the death, either physical, mental, or both. It takes all their resources and ingenuity to cope.
Reapplication: This is it: hero must make one last huge effort, and dedicate themselves to getting the ultimate prize of true love, treasure or whatever else you’ve dangled in front of them. This means death—or glory!
ACT THREE—This is the climax and conclusion of your book. Everything has been building towards this point. 
More Trouble/Another Crisis: Things are getting worse and worse.
The Black Moment The point when a romance seems doomed, all projects are heading for disaster and there is (apparently) no way out.
Hidden Powers The hero delves even deeper inside themselves to draw on resources they didn’t know they had.
Last Big Push toward reconciliation, or the final battle.
And Finally… It’s all over.
Look Around: Characters take stock of their new story world, relationships and their changed understanding of themselves.
Climax: the big reconciliation, or reveal.
Resolution: This is the place to give your characters their Happy Ever After moment, or let them announce their determination to stride forward into Book Two of a series. At least give them a satisfying conclusion.

There are lots of possible variations on this basic layout, but this one has worked well for me. It’s the way I kept Sara and Leo heading for their happy ever after in His Majesty’s Secret Passion, despite all their troubles, and reversals on the way. 

Do you plan, or write freestyle? How do you fancy working in a different way?

There’s a signed copy of His Majesty’s Secret Passion on offer for a comment picked at random after 16th February.
Creative Writing, New Year's Resolutions, St Francis Of Assissi

Make This New Year Resolution For Your Creative Writing In 2015…

Christina Hollis
Pic by David Harper

Happy New Year!

“Start by doing what is necessary; then what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

That quote from St Francis is great advice for writers who are hungry for success. You can build on it by taking a long, hard look at what success means to you. Many writers expect to earn a million within a week of typing “The End” on their last page, and are crushed when it doesn’t happen. There’s no need to be disappointed. Reconsider what success means to you, and you’ll make the impossible a lot easier to achieve. Then you can work towards making 2015 your best writing year ever.

Here are some reasons to be cheerful…

1. Making the effort to get thousands of words down on paper, or up on a screen is an amazing achievement. Millions of people dream about writing a book, but aren’t brave enough to try. Some start, but don’t last the course. Think how you’d feel if this was the year you finished the story you’ve always wanted to write. Set aside some time each day, make a plan, and commit to making your dream come true. For hints and tips on writing, visit my website, and follow my series of blogs called The Birth of A Book (You can read Part One here)

1a. You can come back to this one when you’ve read Point 8, below!

2. If you’ve already written a book, getting it published is the next big hurdle. Whether you are accepted by a traditional publisher, or choose to publish it yourself, neither route is easy. If you send your work out into the world in 2015, you can be proud. If you rise to the challenges and manage to get into print, that’s a bonus.

Coming Soon!
3. Holding your newly-published book, or seeing your ebook up on Amazon is another great milestone which counts as a great success in a writer’s life

4. Getting good reviews—with so many books on the market, catching a reviewer’s eye is very difficult. Get a friend to vet any reviews for your book in advance, in case reading a bad one scars you for life (it can happen). Your kind reader can strain any constructive criticism from one-star scaldings, and giving you the chance to up your game. Writers should never miss a chance to learn about their craft, and readers are the best teachers. Give them more of what they want to read, and both sides will be happy.

5. Your first royalty payment, no matter how small, will be another reason to get out and celebrate.

6. Covering your costs is good—if you do nothing more than that in 2015, you’ll have earned more than many self-published authors do.

7. Making any sort of profit at all is an amazing feat, and if you manage this, you’re a success (of course, if you really do make a million, you don’t need me to tell you that!). Don’t forget to squirrel half away somewhere safe in case of a tax-bill, or to create a contingency fund.

8. Finishing your second book is the success you should be aiming for from the time you’ve got to point 1a (see above). Writing books is a continuous process. As one book is finished, ideas for the next one should be jostling for writing-time. Make notes, and work on your next book while you’re working on the publication of your first.

Long before I had a contract for the first book in what became my Princes of Kharova series, His Majesty’s Secret Passion, I was already hard at work on the follow up, Her Royal Risk. That manuscript had a good title, as I was taking a risk the first book would be accepted. The idea for Her Royal Risk started with my Beta readers. They wanted to know what happened to the minor characters in His Majesty’s Secret Passion after the book ended, so I picked up on their interest and gave them what they asked for as soon as I could.

I was lucky: His Majesty’s Secret Passion will be published by Wild Rose Press within the next few weeks, and Her Royal Risk follows later this year. To be in on all the excitement, click “like” on my author page on Facebook, here, or follow me on Twitter.

Once again, Happy New year!