We always need a friendly reminder to not rush.
If you’re a bit slower on the creation process, don’t let outside influences push you to think you’re not writing fast enough. With speed, may come plenty of plot holes, missing events or a lot of fluff. Readers can easily be turned away.
Take your time building your story, creating your characters, and finalizing the setting. Don’t let your writing fall victim to the speed demon wishing to take control within you!
A very interesting post popped up on my timeline, asking friends what makes others stop reading a book. Some of the responses were unique but a decent portion of readers responded in the way we thought they would. Here are three reasons why people put books down and don’t get to the last page.
When someone is convicted for murder in the first degree, that means they planned out this particular death and executed their target. While there are many levels of first degree murder, this is the general idea. How does that relate to writing? Well, let’s talk about how planning out the death of one of your characters may come in handy.
First of all, you should ask yourself a series of questions before you decide to stick a knife in one of your characters. One being: has this character served their purpose in the telling of your story? Or maybe, has it become difficult to write in a character after a revelation in the plot? Or as simple as day, are they the ultimate sacrifice type of character?
If you’ve answered any of these questions with a whispered “yes,” I think it’s time to cut a character out.
As mad as we get when the tables are turned and we’re the reader, a character’s death comes with purpose. There have been so many book deaths that were needed to fuel emotion in the story, or further the plot. (Always kill a character to further the plot.) The characters we hate to lose are usually the ones who get killed off. Sometimes the character needed to serve a quick purpose and needs to be written off…in the most dramatic way possible, aka death.
Don’t feel obligated to keep all of your characters; they won’t all see the finish line.
We are big advocates for demolishing writer’s block. We’ve talked about a variety of methods, websites, and apps to use against a writer’s worst nightmare. Here is a new one for you: Fighter’s Block.
So, after playing around with the online app for a few levels, I can officially declare this as a fun way to defeat writer’s block. There’s only a select amount of characters you can choose from and there’s only one enemy unlocked but there are little details in the structure and immersion of the game which makes it worthwhile.
Let’s break it down!
Cute pixel sprites go up against each other in a game that challenges you to write, write, write before your character’s health reaches zero. You start off by choosing your hero (you can choose between Red or Karen, Quin is locked until you reach level 11) and your word goal for that particular level. Once you click fight, the battle has begun.
You’ll notice the health bar of your character slowly (or quickly) diminishing if you’re not typing. As you write, the character’s health is regenerated and the enemy’s lowers.
To add more flair to your experience, you can customize your fighting background and writing difficulty to challenge yourself. The theme can be changed to different color schemes that can better your playing/writing experience. With the opponent you can easily change its speed and attack which works against you as you’re writing.
Your writing space can also be customized. From font to the display of your text box, this game is perfect for any writer looking for new ways to get back into the swing of things.
Many issues have risen about the casting in Hollywood. From casting directors putting actors and actresses in roles racially not suited for them to the huge age gaps in some of the leading romances. Well, we’ve come here to say, not all book-to-film adaptations have to be horrible.
We always have to remember what goes on behind the scenes (i.e. contracts between agents and production companies). What we do know is a couple of films have released recently where casting was great and changes were obviously made to make the film adaptation to fit the two hour mark and not six hours and thirty-two minutes. We have yet to see Crazy Rich Asians (which has dominated the rom-com category opening weekend) but in the meantime, let’s discuss the other East-meets-West, Netflix production: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han.
Now, you’ll never find an adaptation that will include every detail of the book’s original content. And of course, this novel-based film won’t be excluded from that category. One of the biggest issues in casting that has been obvious for many years (yeah, we aren’t talking just in the last decade, we’re talking since the Golden Age of Hollywood) has been casting the wrong race. Authors, if you’re trying to sell the film rights to your book (as a literary agency, we know how it can be), we know you want the best of the best for your book baby. Don’t forget to bring up your stipulations with your agent. Draw the line with production because if they can’t properly cast YOUR characters, they don’t need your idea on their list of things ‘to-do.’ We know; we want our authors’ work to be best represented by whoever chooses to publish the work.
Shout out to Jenny Han for standing up for her main character being cast as an Asian-American actress and staying true to the main plot of the story. 👍
Instead of being a creature of malice, this week we are diving into a human-turned-keeper. Keep reading to find out some interesting facts!
“The antlered spirit of a hanged man that guards Windsor Forest.”
Basic Facts:
“Multi-headed hellhound that guards the entrance to the underworld.”
Basic Facts:
Why is it important to format your book? If you’re new to the industry, maybe it’s time we revisit our publishing journey series we started awhile back.
If you’re sending your manuscript on its journey for representation, double check your submission. The basics?
Some extras people tend to forget?
You can make your manuscript look as crazy as possible for your own pleasure but, for goodness sake, don’t send out your blue background and yellow letters make it into an agent’s lap.
