Interview your Character #BYBin30

I had an odd dream last night. I am a fan of a certain Korean singer. In the dream, I was doing an interview for a magazine. I was not interviewing that singer but, instead, I was interviewing his former group, which now consisted of only two other singers.

I wanted to ask them the kinds of questions that their fans would be most interested in hearing about, not just the stuff that would be considered standard questions. I was more interested in finding out more about their interpersonal relationships, with each other and with former members of the group, as well as their reactions to some of the fan fiction written about them, especially the writings that would have been, possibly, awkward for them. I had other questions for them too, once they'd answered these, but, as often happen with dreams, I have forgotten a lot of the dream and can't remember everything I asked them.

But the point of telling you about this dream has nothing to do with the KPop idols I interviewed in my dream. The dream made me think about the characters in my stories. What kinds of questions would readers ask of them, if given the chance? How would they answer those questions? And how could I weave these aspects of their answers into the story? Their answers, obviously, would tell something about their personalities, but also about their relationships to others in the story, because, I suspect, many of those questions would have to do with those relationships.

I'm suggesting that you, dear writer, interview your characters as a way of more fully developing your characters within your own mind. Let their answers tell you more about your characters and their relationships, and then find ways to allow those aspects of your characters to be seen within the stories you are writing.

If you do this, let me know how it goes by telling me in the comments.

When Real Life Inspires Events in your Story #BYBin30

Image by Sarah Richter from Pixabay

Today, I am suffering from a horrible, horrible migraine. In fact, my head hurts so much, that I just spent the last two hours with soft music playing from my noise-cancelling headphones, resting in a room with the curtains drawn and the lights off. At this moment in time, I am still barely functioning, but I am determined to get this post written and posted. (Then I will go back to my resting, music-listening ways.)

I was a bit stuck on my story, but my migraine gave me an idea. My main character is in a world where she doesn't belong, with her entire being sometimes fading in and out of existence within that world. Why can't she, also, suffer with a migraine? Granted, it won't be a huge scene, but it will be a scene which can show the care and attention the male lead shows her and will also show the concern he feels towards her well-being. Her migraine might be part of the overall struggle she is having within this world as it tries to eject her from it. (No one knows yet if it is ejecting her back into her own world or completely out of existence altogether.)

I have to admit that I do, frequently, use real-world knowledge and experiences to add things to my stories. This is why my main characters are often mothers and also frequently middle aged. Although I have experience being young and single, I find that most books are written from the perspective of a young main character, so it sometimes makes me want to change things up for the stories that I am putting out there. (Faith, in this story, is young, single and not a mother though.)

Do you ever use life experiences in your stories? What kinds of experiences or moments do you or have you used before? Let me know in the comments!

The Full Writing Day that Turned Into a Research Day #BYBin30

Today, as the start of the weekend, was intended to be a day of intense writing. Instead, it was a day of no writing, but lots and lots of research.

My story is set in the Joseon period of Korea's past. Occasionally, I get to parts of it that need setting description or even a closer relating of certain roles within the period that require me to do some research in order to get it right. Fortunately, my story is a story within a story, and the setting, rather than being purely in the Joseon period is actually set in a Kdrama version of the Joseon period, so, if I get a few small things wrong, it can be put down to the drama being wrong. But I still want to write this as accurately as possible.

That research can sometimes take me down a rabbit-hole of interesting information and I can let myself get carried away by the research, beyond what is needed for the scene I am writing, and that is what happened today.

How about your story? Does it require you to do any research? Or does your story stick to things, places, people and roles that you are already familiar with? Let me know in the comments below! Also let me know how your writing is coming along.

New Possibilities and Directions for the Story #BYBin30

This image of a fox has nothing to do with the story I am writing; I just like it, so I decided to use it on this post.

I have only written a little bit today, but my story is taking on some interesting *possible* twists. I put the word "possible" inside asterisks because I am not sure what I will do with those possibilities going forward. I might run with them and use them in the story to create new plot twists, or I might keep things on a more even keel going forward and these possible leads to new directions will lead nowhere. This is all part of the fun of "pantsing" a story. I have no outline and no detailed plot in mind, so my story can take me absolutely anywhere, especially since the story is premised on a magical, supernatural event to begin with.

Here is an excerpt from today's writing that will give you a small idea of how my story could evolve:

In the Kdrama this world was based on, Kai had died on that battlefield and would have been dead for days by now. What if the Kdrama was trying to re-assert its intended storyline by correcting the “mistake” of Kai surviving? There were so many things about all of this that she didn’t understand. What were the rules in a world where she’d already turned the rules upside down?

My character Faith is wondering the same thing I am; what are the rules in this world where nothing is impossible? Are there any rules? How much of reality do I want to bend in this story? How much can I bend the reality of this world before I lose my readers? I don't want to go too far for my readers' suspension of disbelief.

And here's another quick snippet from today's writing:

If every film or TV show created a mini world based on the storyline, what happened when the story was over?

Faith is interacting with a side-character in a Kdrama, not even the main character. The original story was written for a different character than the one she is spending time with, and that main character's story has already ended. So what happens to the story now? And what happens to her, as an intruder in that story?

And yes, I know I have to figure all of this out in order to continue writing my story. What do you think? Do you think the story should be trying to correct for the changes that had happened within it, as if the story-world is a living thing with a mind of its own? Or should I just leave it with the one bad guy who is already involved in the story being the main problem these two face (aside from the whole not-being-from-each-others'-world thing)? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

I'd also love to find out how your stories are coming along.

(For those of you unfamiliar with the phrase, "suspension of disbelief," it is a phrase intended for stories. Wikipedia defines it this way: "The term suspension of disbelief or willing suspension of disbelief has been defined as a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe something surreal: sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment." It means you can watch a film or read a book with supernatural elements, or even just slightly unbelievable events within the storyline, and you can suspend your critical thinking on those aspects long enough to enjoy the story.)

My Story Begins #BYBin30

Yesterday, I took a story that I had already started, a fantasy romance, and decided that I would work in it for this month. Since I am already committed to writing more of the story this month, I also signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo. Now I am motivated in two ways to keep writing, one by this challenge and the other by the Camp NaNoWriMo challenge.

One thing that I like about NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo is that they give me a place to put a synopsis for my book, a title, an excerpt and a working book cover. (I call it a "working" book cover, because it is just the cover I use while writing not the book, not the finished cover or what will actually be used when the book is published.) I have, at this point in time, written 10,365 words of my book - all of which was written in one day. I decided to take that beginning and try and complete the book for this year's Blog Your Book in 30 Days challenge.

I started it with the title of "Alternate." When I was setting up my Camp NaNoWriMo page, I couldn't remember the title I had given it, so I typed it in as "The World is What I Make of It." Then I found the story and the original title I had given it. While both titles work for the story, I took a bit from each title and settled on the title "Alternate Worlds" for this book. That may change again in the future though.

The synopsis I wrote up is this:

Faith likes writing fan fiction, and she's come across a side-character named Kai in a Kdrama that inspires her to write a fan fiction giving him a happier ending. But when she ends up inside the story she's writing, which is alternatively inside a Kdrama world that someone else created, how is she supposed to get back to her own world? And how can she keep Kai from finding out he is nothing more than a fiction character that someone wrote, one who died in the original story?

I wrote it more like a blurb, and it still needs some work.

Here's an excerpt from the book (from what is written so far):

      Weakness and fatigue started to pull him under. Before his eyes drifted shut, there was a bright flash and a woman’s scream. Weakly, he turned his head to find an angel lying beside him. Her eyes were closed as if in sleep, but, as he took in her copper hair and the freckles dotting her delicate nose, she opened her eyes and looked straight at him.
      Her eyes widened even wider for a second and she sat up quickly. 
     “Y – you – you’re bleeding,” she stammered in a startled voice that still managed to sound sweet to his ears.
     “Angel. You’ve come to reap my soul. I’m ready,” he whispered, his voice soft because he was too weak to speak any louder.
     “N – no! I’m here to keep you from dying. You can’t die like this.” Her eyes widened again and she put her hand against her mouth, as if startled to hear the words that came from it.

Again, it still needs some work, but the editing can begin once the book is complete. You can find my Camp NaNoWriMo page here.

How are you doing with your story? Have you come up with an idea yet? Are you already writing it? Are you editing instead? Let me know in the comments. 

Welcome to the Blog Your Book in 30 Days Challenge 2019! #BYBin30

Blog Your Book in 30 Days is a challenge to write the first draft of your book by posting one chapter a day for an entire month. During the month of the challenge, helpful blog posts will be shared on the website.

The challenge is here to help you write the book you have always wanted to write but have never written. Whether you want to write a memoir, a fiction novel, a comic book, a children's chapter book or middle grade novel or a non-fiction book, this challenge is going to help you get it done. 

Every day, you are going to do any research that is needed for the day's writing and your are going to post a blog post of one chapter of your book. By the end of the month, you should have 30 chapters and a completed first draft.

This way of writing your books works best if you are planning to self-publish your book, but there are some instances where blogs have garnered the attention of agents and publishers and resulted in book deals. Those instances are the exception though, not the rule.


Rules:

Sign up. You will not be entered into the prize drawing unless you are signed up. Go here to sign up.

Every day, you are going to do any research that is needed for the day's writing and your are going to post a blog post of one chapter of your book. By the end of the month, you should have 30 chapters and a completed first draft.

You have from the first of the month until the 30th of the month to complete the first draft of your book. No starting early, unless it is only research and outline you are working on beforehand.

On the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th and 30th of the month, you will do a quick comment on that day's blog post posted on this blog about that week stating how the week has gone for you and anything you have learned or achieved from the challenge that week. Your comment might be quoted in the Blog Your Book in 30 Days book when it comes out or later in the blog itself and, by commenting, you are giving permission for your quote to be used.

Each day, you are to write one chapter and then copy and paste it into your day's blog post. By the end of the challenge, you should have a final word count. On the 30th, your comment will include your final word count and whether or not you have finished your first draft. Everyone who completes their first draft will be entered into a prize drawing. (The prize is yet to be determined.) Every time you leave a comment on (one comment per post) a blog post, you will earn one more entry into the drawing. Your comments on the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th and 30th will earn you two entries into the drawing, and my favourite comment from each of those five days will earn an extra entry.


This challenge is self-driven and monitored. It is a way to keep yourself accountable as you write.

Amended Rules:

Alternate plan for traditional publishing #BYBin30

A few people have brought up the point that, if they choose to go the traditional route to publishing, having their entire book published on their blog may very well work against them in getting a book contract.

There are some optional ways of following this challenge, in those instances.

1. Write your one chapter every day, but only post on your blog about the writing, such as how much you wrote, what part of the story you were working on, what was easy about it, what was difficult about it, whether it stayed on plan or strayed from the original plot idea, etc.

2. Write your one chapter every day, but only post a small (one paragraph) excerpt from that day's writing as your blog post for the day.

3. Blog your book as per the original plan, but leave out important chapters, which will only be seen in the finished product. (This is a good idea even for those who plan on self-publishing.)

4. Don't blog your book at all, but use this challenge as the impetus to write a chapter a day anyway.

5. Blog about subjects related to your book or about topics your readers will enjoy reading about. (This is a great marketing technique.)

6. Do a 30 day promotional blogging adventure, with prizes and give-aways. Have your readers answer questions to previous books you've written in order to win prizes. Let them give you input on where they see you next book going or who their favorite characters are in your stories. There are many ways to make this month-long writing challenge a great marketing strategy for your book before it even becomes available.

I'm sure there are other ways to go about this and still be part of the Blog Your Book in 30 Days challenge, but these are a few ideas for you to consider.

Don't forget to follow the Blog Your Book in 30 Days Facebook page. (If enough people join the challenge, we'll create a Facebook group for discussing our books.)

You may also take a previously written book and use this challenge to edit the book, writing about the process each day in your blog.

And, if you don't want to blog at all, you can even just use this challenge as motivation to keep you writing and comment each day on the day's post, letting us know about your progress/word count/whatever.

Note: In the first year of the challenge (2014), I wrote a chapter a day on how to blog a book in 30 days. Feel free to read through those previous informative posts. (I also blogged a 30-story collection of mermaid-themed flash and short fiction as well as editing a non-fiction book - 28 day fitness challenge - that I wrote in the previous February.) In the second year of the challenge (2014), I added more chapters on how to blog your book in 30 days and also wrote stories for another anthology with different characters all set in the same world I had created. In the third year of the challenge (2015), I added more chapters on how to blog your book in 30 days, but did not post daily. In 2016 and 2017, I did the same, and I skipped running the challenge entirely in 2018. But this year, 2019, I'm back. I will be posting more informally through this year's challenge, all about the romance set in a fantasy world that I am writing. I hope you are ready to join me again this month! Let's do this!

Welcome to Blog Your Book in 30 Days 2017! #BYBin30

Today is the first day of the Blog Your Book in 30 Days 2016 challenge! We have our own badge, if you'd like to use it.

First, for those of you who are new, here's a bit of information about the challenge (which you can also find by clicking on some of the links at the top of the page).

About the challenge:

Blog Your Book in 30 Days is a challenge to write the first draft of your book by posting one chapter a day for an entire month. During the month of the challenge, helpful blog posts will be shared on the website.

The challenge is here to help you write the book you have always wanted to write but have never written. Whether you want to write a memoir, a fiction novel, a comic book, a children's chapter book or middle grade novel or a non-fiction book, this challenge is going to help you get it done.

Every day, you are going to do any research that is needed for the day's writing and your are going to post a blog post of one chapter of your book. By the end of the month, you should have 30 chapters and a completed first draft.

This way of writing your books works best if you are planning to self-publish your book, but there are some instances where blogs have garnered the attention of agents and publishers and resulted in book deals. Those instances are the exception though, not the rule.

But the rules are much more flexible than they may seem by reading the "about" section, so here are the rules (which can also be found by clicking on one of the links at the top of the page).

The rules of the challenge:

Sign up. You will not be entered into the prize drawings unless you are signed up.  Sign up here.

You have from the first of the month until the 30th of the month to complete the first draft of your book. No starting early, unless it is only research and outline you are working on beforehand.

On the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th and 30th of the month, you will do a quick comment on that day's blog post posted on this blog about that week stating how the week has gone for you and anything you have learned or achieved from the challenge that week. Your comment might be quoted in the Blog Your Book in 30 Days book when it comes out or later in the blog itself and, by commenting, you are giving permission for your quote to be used. (You will be named with the quote.)

Each day, you are to write one chapter and then copy and paste it into your day's blog post. By the end of the challenge, you should have a final word count. On the 30th, your comment will include your final word count and whether or not you have finished your first draft. Everyone who completes their first draft will be entered into a prize drawing. (The prize this year is a collection of different, mostly home-made things, and the items will be pictured on the blog as we go through the challenge, one thing at a time.) Every time you leave a comment on (one comment per post) a blog post, you will earn one more entry into the drawing. Your comments on the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th and 30th will earn you two entries into the drawing, and my favourite comment from each of those five days will earn an extra entry. 

This challenge is self-driven and monitored. It is a way to keep yourself accountable as you write.

There are some optional ways of following this challenge for those who plan on having their books published traditionally rather than self-published.

1. Write your one chapter every day, but only post on your blog about the writing, such as how much you wrote, what part of the story you were working on, what was easy about it, what was difficult about it, whether it stayed on plan or strayed from the original plot idea, etc. (Have you made a book cover for your book, even just a working cover? Share that too!)

2. Write your one chapter every day, but only post a small (one paragraph) excerpt from that day's writing as your blog post for the day.

3. Blog your book as per the original plan, but leave out important chapters, which will only be seen in the finished product. (This is mostly a good idea for those who plan on self-publishing, but not so much if you plan on submitting your book elsewhere. But it's still an option if you are certain you can build up a large following for your book as a publisher will take that into account.)

4. Use this challenge to edit a previously written book and make notes on the blog about the editing process as you work through the different issues in your book.

The main point of this challenge is to get your book written and to build up a following for it before it comes out. 

Good luck!

Go ahead and grab a badge from below:

The first time I ran this challenge, I wrote a daily blog post on different topics having to do with writing. Feel free to read through previous posts. My posts might not be as informative during this challenge in 2017, but I intend to make sure you will have at least one informative post to learn from each week.

Introducing the Blog Your Book in 30 Days Challenge #BYBin30

Blog Your Book in 30 Days is a challenge to write the first draft of your book by posting one chapter a day for an entire month. During the month of the challenge, helpful blog posts will be shared on the website.

The challenge is here to help you write the book you have always wanted to write but have never written. Whether you want to write a memoir, a fiction novel, a comic book, a children's chapter book or middle grade novel or a non-fiction book, this challenge is going to help you get it done.

Every day, you are going to do any research that is needed for the day's writing and your are going to post a blog post of one chapter of your book. By the end of the month, you should have 30 chapters and a completed first draft.

This way of writing your books works best if you are planning to self-publish your book, but there are some instances where blogs have garnered the attention of agents and publishers and resulted in book deals. Those instances are the exception though, not the rule.
Rules:

Sign up. You will not be entered into the prize drawings unless you are signed up. Go here to sign up.

Every day, you are going to do any research that is needed for the day's writing and your are going to post a blog post of one chapter of your book. By the end of the month, you should have 30 chapters and a completed first draft.

You have from the first of the month until the 30th of the month to complete the first draft of your book. No starting early, unless it is only research and outline you are working on beforehand.

On the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th and 30th of the month, you will do a quick comment on that day's blog post posted on this blog about that week stating how the week has gone for you and anything you have learned or achieved from the challenge that week. Your comment might be quoted in the Blog Your Book in 30 Days book when it comes out or later in the blog itself and, by commenting, you are giving permission for your quote to be used.

Each day, you are to write one chapter and then copy and paste it into your day's blog post. By the end of the challenge, you should have a final word count. On the 30th, your comment will include your final word count and whether or not you have finished your first draft. Everyone who completes their first draft will be entered into a prize drawing. (The prize is yet to be determined.) Every time you leave a comment on (one comment per post) a blog post, you will earn one more entry into the drawing. Your comments on the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th and 30th will earn you two entries into the drawing, and my favorite comment from each of those five days will earn an extra entry.



This challenge is self-driven and monitored. It is a way to keep yourself accountable as you write.