The writer who reads needs tools, The reader needs facts and tips to improve!

Hello all, it has been a busy time for me. Several new stories published in Amazon.  I have returned to college, to advance my career day job... So I decided to start a series of blogs about great writer reference books I have found, ones that have been recommended etc. I am re-reading my favorite writers reference books. I have so many, I admit it!! 

Being the reader that I am, I have course have to read good books again. 

I also want to give accolades to all the authors who have written theses wonderful books, and it's helped me become a better writer.

The current book I'm reading is called Creating Characters; How to build story people...it is written by Dwight  V. Swan

This is a fantastic read, I am enjoying it thoroughly..for the second time. This time however I'm going through each chapter and highlighting things I love, quotes etc. 

I may be a bit highlighter crazy because I'm back in college, but it's necessary on different levels I think. By using the different colors you categorize items according to what's important to you..for example Quotes, yellow. Important points, pink. Green writer prompts, blue humorous tales about writing dilemmas. 

Here is another awesome quote: How do you adapt the characters you zero in on to your story? Alfred Hitchcock put it well: "first you decide what the characters are going to do, and then you provide them with enough characteristics to make it plausible that they should do it." This is such a fantastic point. I have read so many stories with fantastical themes, and other worlds... But unless I can believe that character should be there, unless that author gives me concrete plausible facts, I have no interest in reading further!

I start this series of blogs this week after my extended hiatus. Thank you for your readership. 

The writer who creates villains, the reader who fears them, yet understands them...

When creating a villain one has to understand how an evil mind works. It is strange when writing a character who kills; how we become attached to them. We create the motivation that causes them to kill. Yet we have to foil his plan. It is a slippery slope for an an author. It's  strange how we become fond of them. How twisted their mind. Becomes our mind as the reader. I am a huge fan of a good villain. Disney is a one company that creates great Villains. The evil queen, Frollo from hunchback of Notre Dame, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty; to name a few. They do such a good job of creating a story that is plausible we understand the villains and their motivations. As a writer we must follow the same guidelines, and reasons for the bad guys to do the things they do. We must create fear for the life of our main character. Fear can be created through emotional conflict, family conflict, or physical conflict caused by villain. 

In that fear the villain must be a very good at his evil deeds. Blackmail, threats,  physical harm to increase the fear.   

Otherwise our attention is lost. We lose interest in the strength of our hero or heroine. They must overcome this obstacle, this villain. Sometimes emotional conflict is more difficult then physical harm. Sometimes a character can be there own worst critic, villain. 

 As I am creating a villain that will carry through in four novels. I'm finding different elements to carry him through all four stories. It is challenging especially in a series, to find a way for the good guys not to find him. But there must; be a good reason why. It must; make sense otherwise we lose the reader. If you the reader do not believe that this villain can truly succeed, or that our hero can overcome him there is no point to the story. Without our twisted villains, are antagonists; that create all of this conflict, suspense, our story is nothing. Even without a serial killer, or some action to cause our character to fail before they reach their happy ending there is no story. That my friends is the key to a great story, internal conflict, emotional conflict, physical conflict, these are all things that propel our hero forward. These are also things that propel our villain forward. If these are not in the story there is no story. So in conclusion, make sure your Villains are as developed, with backstory, motivations, conflicts, as your Heroes it will make the story more interesting, and you as readers will enjoy the story more. 

~Writing as in everything is a work in progress...Until next time readers! 😃 Jess~

The Writer who creates enduring love, The reader who follows the love story, believing in that happy ending."

I don't know about you; I personally love a good love story. It's the stories that have complications, conflicts, emotional and or physical that make the best stories. And I personally love seeing the happy ending. This happens in classic fairytales as well as in real life or 

In the books we read. The books be read if the characters are created correctly are the ones that we remember for a long time. One of my favorite stories of all time is the notebook by Nicholas Sparks this book travels through time and follows a love story all the way to the end of this couples life. If you have dry eyes at the end of this movie that's impressive. 

A good author creates a character that we love. In that love we will follow that character all the way to the end of their story. It may not be the romantic love. But it's definitely any emotional love, to see that character succeed and get their conclusion hopefully happy is what authors strive for.

So the question is how do you do this as a writer. Well in my experience I used to love stories from my past, with my grandparents, or my parents and take from them a story and then create my own from that. Every good story stems from something in our lives. Emotional love is usually involved in those decisions  or stories we tell, the pages that make up our life.

This goes back to your character description, the background story you create. The setting, any historical elements add details needed to enhance your tapestry, your story. That idea may seem romantic to you, its the truth. 

Everyone in their life has experienced some kind of love whether it be maternal, paternal, from grandparents or your very first love. So you take these aspects from your life, romantic, even sad. These become the basis of your love story. And that love story can be one of an animal that you adore, a parent that is no longer with you, a grandparent who is in heaven watching from above. All of those things are love stories. And we are the ones that make them.

Writing as in everything is a work in progress. 

Until next time readers. 😄 Jess

The Writer that uses Culture and Historical Elements to add more, The Reader who Demands Accuracy when using them...

 When I began reading romance all the books I read were historical. At one time I was a history major, so it was a favorite niche of mine. I even wrote a Civil War christian romance in the 5th grade! In one of those 80 page notebooks! I still have it, is has since evolved in to a quartet of books with my girl character and her brothers. It is still a work in process though. It is not the finished draft I have been chronicling here. I only am using the historical pictures to state a fact, when you are writing a historical piece it is so important to be accurate. I have read so many that are not, and it ruins the story for me as a reader. I am a fan of plausible reality in fictional settings, such as my current series set within all four seasons. Like when I spoke of settings in a earlier blog it touched on this. If my story is set in fall the setting should reflect that weather, and that clothing the character wearing, food they are eating, holidays too. I have actually read books that I shall not name that say they are holiday story and they forget the holiday all together! As a reader this is very frustrating. For this blog, I am using this culture reference because my characters even though set in modern day are from different backgrounds and ethnicity and it is important to me if they are Italian, like my guy character, to be able to speak Italian. I spent hours on you tube learning Italian phrases so I can be accurate with my guy in the Italian Rivera.

Why are these details important, to some this may be silly,to me it is a matter of being authentic in  what you are writing. If I have not done my research so that I give you the correct info, I have not done my job. Someone will notice. I want my readers to be transported and captivated. I am striving for the accuracy. So I may be a perfectionist when it comes to this but so be it. Its who I am as a reader and as a writer. Being true to yourself it absolute when writing. It is also important to remember this when you are being critiqued, you must be true to yourself and your story. The contributions are just that someones opinion.In the case of historical fiction, historical facts must be accurate, and the timelines exact otherwise its not a historical work. So it requires more attention to detail and more research.This is the same with vehicles, homes, clothing, accents, hairstyles etc. all of these details when accurate make more depth, it gives the reader that much more to be enveloped into the world you create for them.

So I'll end with this, Historical accuracy is a must. Instead of looking at it like its a bad thing, think of it as enhancing your story that much more, in most cases you can find visual reference for historical events so it helps to visually see what you are describing. History can be very fascinating and filled with wonderful drama, intrigue, and mystery. it can also give you something else for your character to feel more passionate about, and propel the story further, maybe even give you a new story idea all together! This is just another in a long list of details, another element to make your story that much better and more interesting.

~Life is a work in progress as writing is...Until next time readers, and hopeful writers. Jess =)