IWSG: Wrestling with Hooks and Blurbs

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IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

Welcome to mine!

Thank you for cohosting November's IWSG:

Kim Lajevardi, Victoria Marie Lees, Joylene Nowell Butler, Erika Beebe, and Lee Lowery!

The question of the month is: What’s harder, coming up with my book title or with the blurb?

photo by Anne Nygård@Unsplash.com

So this month’s question for IWSG is a very interesting one, the blurb or the title? They are both hooks! If you decide to subtitle each chapter, those are hooks. The last sentence of each chapter should be hooks as well as the very first sentence of the book! Oh, and the book cover is a hook in case that thought hasn’t crossed.

#IWSG: What if?

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IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

Welcome to mine!

Photo by Jill Wellington @ Pexels.com

The other day, Facebook went down. It was such a sharp relief that it took me by surprise. Do I really feel that way about this particular social media platform?

The reason I created an account was for my authorial purposes. Many times in the past I’ve wondered, hesitated, about deleting my account because of the toxicity that people tend to exude from the silly “unfriending” over a petty topic to darker themes that make me squirm. I understand that wherever one finds people, there will always be goblins in caves, trolls under bridges, and Orcs in LotR, but ... Facebook?

IWSG: My Pandemic Challenges

click on image to join other IWSG writers!

IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

Welcome to mine!

August 4 question is about a favorite craft book, but it's been years since I've picked one up, so I'll need to go with my own this month!

Thank you, co-hosts!

PK Hrezo, Cathrina Constantine, PJ Colando, Kim Lajevardi, and Sandra Cox!

It doesn't help how the pandemic has turned this world topsy-turvy, nor does it help how conflicts have sapped my creativity in real life, either.

The story I submitted for the IWSG Anthology Contest, Dark Matter was my last before hitting a rut. All I've been doing is going down the list of books I've already written and editing them since my creative flow has suffered so much.

IWSG: Would I Quit Writing?

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IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

Welcome to mine!

July 7 question - What would make you quit writing?

Thanks for cohosting us this month! Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, and Louise – Fundy Blue

Okay, this is a very interesting topic. Who is coming up with these questions? Is Alex picking them out of a jar or something?

I notice whenever an author is violated, like Stephenie Meyer when her Midnight Sun draft was stolen and, if I remember correctly, posted all over the internet by one of her critique partners, she fell out of touch with writing. It took her a great while.

photo by Isabella Mariana @ Pexels.com

I've heard of other authors, after their work is stolen, fall out of touch with their writing as well.

This is emotional rape! How can anyone feel whole enough to continue with the same "innocency" and power and motivation before the violation? I believe this would be the ONLY thing that would make me stop writing. At least for a while.

photo by Gabriel @Unsplash.com

I grew up with it. It's been my tourniquet, my healing, my escapism, my breath of life so to speak. I grew up in an abusive home and endured more during my marriage, so writing has always been my healing power.

If I was violated like poor Meyers was, I would definitely take a step back for a while to heal, but like her, I would step back up and continue.

photo by Luis Dalvan @Pexels.com

Writing is in my BLOOD!!!

How would you emotionally deal with someone stealing your work?

 

IWSG: The Writing Experience

click on image to join other IWSG writers!

IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

Welcome to mine!

 

 Thanks to the co-hosts for making this month's IWSG possible! J Lenni Dorner, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, Lee Lowery, and Rachna Chhabria

Today, I'm choosing June's prompt for my post. It looks like fun. Alright, here we go!!!

For how long do you shelve your first draft, before reading it and re-drafting? Is this dependent on your writing experience and the number of stories/books under your belt?

Photo by Darkmoon_Art @ Pixabay.com

There are no set ways on how I handle my first drafts or subsequent. It's all based on how I feel in relation to my manuscript, my real-life circumstances, and how I am feeling.

In My Perfect Kiss series, I wrote book after book and, when I needed a break, I went back and reread each book and redrafted them. It gave me time away from feeling the pain of deleting parts that felt dead, fluffy, or redundant. It gave me a brand new perspective.

Also, when editing became mundane, I'd brainstorm book covers--that way it keeps my enthusiasm alive for the books to be born.

I've been writing for over thirty years (my, time is escaping me and I'm not getting any younger!) and have learned that my writing method varies from book to book. There is no pattern but only that it depends all on how I'm feeling.

As for experience, I do admit back in my younger days (haha!) I'd obsessed more with perfection. I wanted to do everything "by the book" as I read many how-tos for writers. Trying to apply every technique paralyzed me and cleaned me of my creative juices. While these books (and workshops at webinars and conferences) do have merit, I ultimately picked what worked for me and left the rest without any compunction.

Photo by Lacie Slezak @ Unsplash.com

Who can really put rules to creativity? It's a very personal journey. I'm stifled when I'm bound. And I'm not referring to the rules of publishing, rather, the rules to personal writing methods.

If anything, do what works for you!

What are your methods of creating a book from start to finish? Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?