POSTING TO YAHOO GROUPS FOR AUTHORS

Using Yahoo Groups effectively is an important element of an author's marketing program. This post will look at (1) how Yahoo Groups are used by publishers and can be used by authors AND (2) how to keep it simple and limit the time you need to maintain a presence across Yahoo Groups. Finally, I'll demonstrate how to make your marketing posts stand out in a Yahoo Group, including how to get rid of the distracting "trash" you see in the text of so many posts.


ABOUT YAHOO GROUPS. Yahoo Groups is one of the world’s largest collections of online discussion boards. The term "Groups" refers to internet communication that combines an email list and an internet forum. Group messages can be read and posted by email or on the Group's webpage, like a web forum.

YAHOO GROUPS IN PUBLISHING. Yahoo Groups offers authors opportunities to connect with readers and other authors. Many publishers operate one group for its own authors to share info and support and another for its readers for marketing books. As a member of three different publishers' groups, the two big rules are to keep the author loop info confidential and (as we are occasionally reminded) DON't place the same post on the author and reader loops. Facebook groups and Twitter accounts may also be associated with publishers.


SELECTING GROUPS TO JOIN. Groups can be created with public or member-only access. The publisher groups are member-only with the membership granted to a specific group - authors. for example. Membership in public Yahoo Groups allows you to follow publishing trends (MFRW - Marketing for Romance Writers) OR to post blurbs, excerpts, contests, announcements on author/reader Yahoo Groups (CoffeeTime Romance or Love Romances Cafe). Which ones to join? The groups with the largest memberships of the readers you wish to reach. Some sites specialize in a specific genre (Paranormal Mondays) or a heat level (erotica and erotic romance or not). More on that next month. One Yahoo Group you can join - https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Promotion_Loop_Schedule/events - sends you a daily notice about loops that are available and what you can post.


PREPARING A POST. Each book you publish, should have a basic post that contains the tagline, a blurb, regular excerpt, hot excerpt (if appropriate), buy info and link, and cover pic. You MUST edit out from the blurbs and excerpts all of the "special characters" like curly quotes and em-dashes and replace them with standard characters like straight quotes and dashes. Otherwise, your post will be full of trash characters. After you clean them up, copy and import them to WordPad to complete your post.


Set your doc at single space with double space after paragraphs, save the doc, add any additional text you need (intro, buy links, signature) then copy the text. Italicizing the blurb and excerpt sets it off nicely. Your pics should be saved someplace on the internet - Pinterest, a private page on your webpage (my preference), the Yahoo Group site - if allowed, or where-ever.


POSTING TO A YAHOO GROUP. Go to the Yahoo Group where you want to post. Copy your text directly into the pane. (Rich text which allows formatting is the default. Don't switch to plain text unless you want to lose all your formatting.) Follow the posting rules (day, genre, heat level) or you'll be tossed from the group. Insert your title according to the rules. Generally intro with PROMO or EXCERPT, then title, heat level, genre, gender (M/M, M/F, M/F/M etc). It should look something like: Promo: Finding Eve by Rita Bay (M/F, R, Paranormal Shapeshifter) If it is an ADULT excerpt, include ADULT EXCERPT in the title section. Close with your full signature and a book cover.


Note: When you post directly to the Yahoo Group, the double spaces don't appear. When the post is viewed as an email, the formatting looks great.


This was way too long and there's so much more, I'll continue it next month and include how to participate in Yahoo Group chats.


Next month, Partcipating in Yahoo Group chats.


Visit Rita Bay at RITA BAY’S WEBPAGE & BLOG / FACEBOOK / TWITTER / AMAZON

 

Is Social Media Making Us Lonely?

             In 1985 ten percent of Americans had no one they felt they could discus important matters with. In 2004 that amount increased to 25 percent. With the ability to reach so many people and reconnect with ‘old friends’ why is this number going up? According to studies, 20 percent or 60 million people are unhappy due to loneliness.  

Do you find yourself checking facebook every morning like it is the morning paper? Do you check text messages or tweets while you’re with other people? We’ve all done that, but to what extent is it acceptable? Communicating through text messages, e-mail and tweets allows us to present ourselves the way we want to be perceived. We can edit or delete a message before we let ourselves sound too stupid. Sometimes on facebook, I think people should use the ‘delete post’ a little more often but that’s just my opinion. Are we losing our ability to honestly and genuinely communicate with each other thus causing the loneliness?   

Did you know, some restaurants are offering discounts to quests that check their cell phones at the door? We now need encouragement and incentive to engage, live in the moment and talk with our families. My sister’s and I joke about the simple life our parents lived, but they could go in any direction of their home and have someone that would drop whatever they were doing and help. Can we say that today? In this electronic age, I guess it is up to each of us to unplug and get back to the basics of family and friends and connect with the people around us on a personal level instead of just “liking” posts.   

Victoria Roder lives in Central Wisconsin with her husband and house full of pets. She is the author of paranormal thriller Haunting of Ingersull Penitentiary, action thriller Bolt Action, paranormal romance The Dream House Visions and Nightmares. Picture books An Important Job to Do: A Noah’s Ark Tale, What If A Zebra Had Triangles? and children’s chapter books, Sled Dog Tales and The Curse of King Ramesses II, an inspirational book It’s Not You, It’s Them: Six Choices to Healing & Thriving After Abuse, and puzzle book Directions For Life. Her short stories have appeared in several anthologies. Please visit Victoria at www.victoriaroder.com

       

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Z:  The history of literature and stage has been a series of supporters of Love at First Sighters.  Why?  (He wipes the powder sugar from his mouth as the Bichon licks same from his chest.)

A:  The idea is so naive and charming.  So optimistic.  So pie in the sky.  So wonderfully fairytale.  I like fairytales.  (Looks at the empty breakfast box, frowns)  So was that the last the donut.  Dude... it was mine.  (Notes that even the crumbs are gone)

Z:  This is January.  What about your annual diet?

A:  I die as I et.  (Martyrdom shines on her face)

Z:  Cute.  (Looks down at his notes written on a torn brown paper bag)  But what about Love at First Sight?  As romance writers some believe we trade in sex at first sight.  I don't but how do you feel?

A:  (She rises... becomes the stage actress) He sees her across the room and suddenly their eyes lock, their hearts pound as if one.  They move toward each other as if maneuvered by an invisible puppeteer.  Surely it was love.  (She flings out her arms dramatically and sighs)  I wish upon a star that happens to all that are alone, for I once heard, “Nobody dies from lack of sex.  It's lack of love we die from.”   The author is unknown. 

Z:  Are you disproving the myth or supporting its reality?  (He discards the pastry box)

A: (Notices he is hiding the evidence) Sort of both.  (Wobbles side to side in her chair, tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth.  The Bichon jumps from Zi to Ang and licks her face)

Z:  How is that fence where your arse is balanced?

A:  Everyone likes a little arse no one a wise arse.  (Feign licks the doggie back, and then settles the fur-bud on her lap)  Let me quote from the big fishy Dickster.   "Friendship at first sight, like love at first sight, is said to be the only truth."  Yes, Herman Melville summed it up balls on.  (She believed he'd get her Moby Dick reference)

Z:  (Brave bold brows do that get out the needles we're knitting confusion)  So you are a believer?

A:  And you the cynic siding with Israel Zangwill when they wrote, "The only true love is love at first sight; second sight dispels it."

Z:  Not quite.  I'm more of the Keanu Reeves sentiment when he said, "I believe in love at first sight. You want that connection, and then you want some problems."  Writers want drama... conflict... and resolution.

A:  True, but in real life there are problems with or without chocolate.

Z:  Huh?  (The knitted brows begin resembling the start of a good scarf)

A:  I mean, whether you have that lightning bolt of instantaneous love or take a half century to develop it, problems will arise.  We aren't Vulcan, we're human.

Z:  You are straying from the topic, no one wants to hear about Vulcans.  Some won't even know a Vulcan if they stepped on one.

A: Duh, they're fictional, which brings me back to so we write romance and how do we balance the story against love.

Z:  Oh, I get it.  The characters lust quickly and we may or may not have given them enough time to love, but if it is Love at First Sight, then they can as Christopher Fry wrote, "Fornicate between sheets."

A:  I care that our characters have reached a standard before then share naughty parts.  I know, I know, I'm old fashioned that way, but lust in my scattered brain of bewilderment is so much better with love or at least caring, or at the very least thinking and believing it is love.  Or in the worst case lying that it is love even to one's self.  Love has to exist.  I know, I know...

Z:   I care that they share the naughty with panache and style.

A:  You like the sexy parts!

Z:  I like making it real for the readers.

A:  So the speed is not important?

Z:  Is lust at first sight...real or really real...the answer might be in the cosmos but if you smoke after sex you are just doing it far too fast. (He noticed she was pulling on her coat)  Where are you running off to?

A:  Donuts!

***

We'd love to hear from anyone interested in what we do. Anyone who writes us at writingteamcw@yahoo.com (Write - Blog Dawn - in subject line) and leaves an s-mail address, we will send you a gift and add you to any future mailings.



Angelica Hart and Zi ~ Vixen Bright and Zachary Zane
www.champagnebooks.com - www.carnalpassions.com - angelicahartandzi.com

It's the Process That Makes a Difference

I’ve been working on a sequel. The problem is I’m not in my usual writing spot, my safe hide-a-way in the lower level of the house, surrounded by piles of paper and files strewn about the floor. I’ve been driving my wife across town to an unfamiliar curling rink so she can get in some additional curling, acting as a spare. I’ve brought along my little netbook, am sitting at a rickety table drinking coffee and yes, I must admit it, eating a homemade cinnamon bun fried in a quarter pound of butter. I agreed to write a sequel (or two) to my novel, The Queen’s Pawn.

I write in different styles. Pawn starts off lighter than my first published novel, The Dark Lady, and only gets slightly darker toward the end. Then there is my fantasy detective Housetrap series which makes very little pretense at ever being something serious. So for a sequel to Pawn, I have to get back into that peculiar head-space: action, romance and some attempts at humor. What kind of opening sentence do I write? One that throws the reader into the middle of some action, or one that tries to re-introduce the reader to the familiar characters?

I have never re-written an opening paragraph so many times. I usually just charge ahead, full speed, and let the words fall where they may. After an hour and a half I’m still on the first page. Good grief! Of course, the fact that my netbook battery dies at that point does restrict my time-frame. I’ve finally come to a decision. I will press on and forget the fool opening sentence, for now. If I don’t stop re-editing what I’ve been doing I’ll never make any progress.

I just finished reading an interview Stephen King gave to the Atlantic. Mr. King says he doesn’t think conceptually when he begins, he just goes ahead and writes the first draft. I suspect the marvelous opening sentence is something that comes much later, when he is deep into the polishing process.

This reminds me of a problem I have come across with some beginning writers. I know someone who has been writing the great historical romance for the last thirty years. I’m not certain if she has gotten past the first two or three chapters yet, but I know she has re-written several versions of the opening. My advice, ignored, is to just write the darn thing through to the end. How do you know if you have the idea for a novel, if you don’t finish that all-important first draft? If you run into an immovable stone wall at 5,000. words, it may be a short story. If it dies at 30,000. you may be able to salvage a good novella. I repeat, just write the darn thing. I started with pen and ink, and then graduated to a typewriter. Re-writing and editing a manuscript is far simpler now in the world of computers. Finish it! Finish it! Gentle polishing by hand can come later.

I suppose I should take my own advice then, press on with Pawn Two, even though I’m not certain where I’m going, except, fortunately, I do know where it is supposed to end. Already an unexpected character has joined the cast on page one. And those cinnamon buns must provide some inspiration!

R.J.Hore
www.ronaldhore.com
www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore

The Dark Lady - February 2012
Housetrap - December 2012
Knight’s Bridge - March 2013
The Queen’s Pawn - April 2013
Dial M for Mudder - July 2013  
House on Hollow Hill - Sept 2013
Hounds of Basalt Ville - Nov 2013
The Housetrap Chronicles Volume One - Jan 2014

Why I Write

If you are on Facebook, you might have noticed that Champagne Books had a discussion about 'Career Authors'. That discussion sparked a thought about why I write, so I'm going to try and explain why I do write.

Occasionally, when I presented my program on publishing to junior high students (grades 6, 7 and 8 in the US), I got the question – “Why do you write books?”

 
It was usually asked by a student who hated anything to do with composition.  But, if you think about it, it’s really an excellent question.  Why do I write?  

First, money is not the most important reason, although that’s usually what the kids answered when I asked what they thought. They were certain writing a book was an easy way to make a bundle of dollars. They were never happy when I told them few authors make a lot of money. There are some exceptions of course, but even if you go back in history, few authors, then or now, made a lot of money.  

You should have heard the groans when I told them the primary reason I write is that I have to write.  However, it’s true. The characters running through my mind require I tell their stories. 

However something special occurs when I write a novel. For a time, I get to dwell in another time, get to become another person, live a different life. Oh, there’s nothing wrong with my life, but I’ve always been a daydreamer. Writing romances fulfills all the daydreams I could ever have. 

No matter if today I am a villain, or the next day I’m a lonely heroine, crying out for attention, or justice, or romance, I still get to be all kinds of people. Because I usually write in a historical time period, I also learn how people lived years before.  In fact, researching a book is often nearly as much fun as writing the thing. And putting my tales on paper affords me a tremendous sense of accomplishment. 

Is writing a novel hard work? You better believe it. Sometimes your characters won’t behave the way you want them to, or the plot takes an unbelievable twist and your whole concept changes.The ability to use appropriate words is critical and it can be a struggle to find just the right word or phrase. The actual writing, either on paper or on the computer, is physical work. So yes, writing is definitely hard work, but when you love what you do….

Allison Knight

The Velveteen Rabbit Effect

Having my computer face the window of my office is a mixed blessing. I can see the sunshine on a winter’s day, and the bare limbs of a tree stark against the snow – but that same sunshine glares in my eyes as I look at the computer screen. My solution was to get a cheap sun visor at a dollar store. The visor was a poor fit. It had a hard plastic band sized for someone with a smaller hat size, and pinched the sides of my head if I snugged it down, so I generally wore it perched on top of my head with the visor tilted down to shield my eyes as best it could.

This week that hard plastic band broke. Without it, the visor lacked the structure to hold it to my head at all. When I broke a piece out of the middle and put the two side-ends back in their casing, I could make it fit at last. But now, the broken ends of that band poked at my brow. Today I got out needle and thread and a length of thick brocade ribbon, thinking to sew it across the break and cushion those broken ends.

As I sewed, my visor’s transformation from cheap mass-produced item to unique, custom-fit accessory reminded me of the tale of the Velveteen Rabbit. The toy becomes real because of how thoroughly it is loved and used, although it grows worn and threadbare in the process. The damages are what make it distinguishable from every other toy rabbit on the toy store shelf. The same adventures that damage it give it character.

Broken and mended as it is, my visor now has character. Character is an issue familiar to all writers. Our characters seem real to the extent that they have unique experiences that have touched them and changed them, from which they’ve learned and grown and become someone distinguishable from anyone else in the world.  

I came to appreciate this principle first through visual arts. Especially the functional-art bookmarks I’ve been making for years now. Because of the bookmarks, I had the ribbon on hand that I needed in order to adapt my visor to my needs.

There are a vast array of colors, patterns and styles of ribbons, from narrow satin to wide brocade, to printed cottons and wire-edged organzas. There are beads in as many sizes and colors, from tiny glass seed beads, to large rough-cut shells, or many sizes of pearls, to shiny metal icons, to natural stones from quartz to jasper to opal and ruby, rough nuggets or precisely cut shapes. The potential variations I could create with my bookmarks seem truly endless. Each combination acquires a unique character.

Why settle for stereotypes in writing characters when the potential combinations of human qualities and experiences must be at least as variable as with beads and ribbons? People come in all sizes and shapes, from families rich, poor, and everywhere in between, with backgrounds touching every sort of work and industry, political belief, educational training and interconnections within their communities. Every person embodies a small world of unique characteristics at birth, and our experiences in life only add to the depth of that identity. We each become more real as we love and explore our lives. I, for one, want to remember that if my characters ever seem shallow, it’s because I haven’t looked at them deeply enough and found the experiences that make them real.

Method Writing

Ute Carbone

Photo by Angela Natividad
Courtesy of Wikimedia

Don Draper, the fictional creative director of a fictional ad agency on the TV show Mad Men, once said it’s not what the ad says or what it’s trying to sell. It’s how the ad makes the viewer feel.

The same thing, more or less, applies when writing fiction. It’s not so much what happens, not the plot line or the action or the love story in the book. It’s how all of that comes together and makes the reader feel.

This, I think, is the primary difference between fiction and non-fiction writing. Non-fiction, including blog posts like this one, are about information. Readers read non-fiction to learn something new. Readers turn to fiction to experience something. And that experience, to be effective, has to have an emotional impact.

How do we get feeling into what we write? I’ve sort of half-jokingly said I’m a method writer. I like to get right into a character’s skin and see if I can write them from the inside out. If a character falls in love, for example, I draw on my own experience of what that feels like. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Like most things where story writing is concerned, it’s not. If it were, everyone would get the emotions right each time—and we’ve all read books where the emotion fell flat.

If we can, as writing readers, figure out why they fall flat, we might be able to move past some of the pitfalls and closer to offering the reader the emotional experience they’re looking for.

Let’s take an example:

He was walking on air.

This, as you can see, is meant to portray happiness. And I’m sure that, in reading the sentence, you thought “he’s happy.” Trouble is, the sentence doesn’t work to make you feel the happiness. Why? Because walking on air is a cliché.

Most clichés become clichés because they are good, true description. And being happy does make you feel like you’re walking on air (or in the clouds or  as though your feet are off the ground). The problem isn’t that the metaphor isn’t accurate, but that it’s overused. And because it is, readers stop paying attention to it.

By going deeper into the character’s experience, we can get closer to the emotion:

  An ice cream truck

Photo by David Levinson
Courtesy of Wikimedia

played a jingle and kids ran towards it from up and down the block. It was a wonderful day for ice cream, a wonderful day for kids and laughter. Heck, he might buy a cone for himself. Maybe he’d treat everyone on the street to a Popsicle.

This conveys what the character is thinking and lets you experience the world through the filter of what he’s feeling.

This works with any emotion. Here’s another example. Let’s say your character is walking into a disserted parking garage and she’s afraid of being assaulted:

She got out of the elevator. She was afraid! She had never felt so afraid! A tremor ran up her spine.

Again, you get what’s going on. But do you feel the tremor? My guess is you don’t. The passage is overwritten. It tries to get at the emotion by naming it and adding  exclamation points. The idea of a tremor up the spine has become a cliché .

Let’s move deeper into the character’s experience. When I thought of this scenario, the first thing that came to my mind was a course I’d taken once long ago in college on how to ward off an attack and protect yourself.

The elevator door slid shut behind her with an ominous whisper. Halogen  lights, posted in rows  around the perimeter of the garage, did little to light the place, leaving jagged shadows and dark corners everywhere.  She clenched her car key between her fore and middle fingers, the teeth biting her skin. “Aim for the eyes” the defense instructor had said. “A key to the eye will give you time to run.”

Would she be able to stab an assailant in the eye? What if he pinned her down and she couldn’t aim for anything?

By describing the scene through the filter of her emotion and mixing in some thoughts and actions, you begin to feel the anxiety.

Move deeply into your characters experience to make the feelings real and you’ll create characters that are real, and stories your reader won’t soon forget. 

"Til Next Time
Ute

Get Thee to the Book Festival

March is always a wild month. Weather is unpredictable, with the whole "in like a lion" thing going. Here in the desert Southwest, March is the beginning of the end of Snowbird Season, when our winter tourists begin migration back to their frozen tundra homes. Which also means it is major festival season, including the fourth largest book festival in the United States, the Tucson Festival of Books (aka TFOB).

http://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/

This is A Major Event. More than 400 authors are "officially" involved, with panel discussions and presentations scheduled throughout the day. This year's list includes Scott Turow, Cornelia Funke, and the executive producer of "Masterpiece Theater" (who is doing a panel with my friend Rhys Bowen on the effects of WWI on society).  Add to that more than 600 booths and exhibits and you'll get an idea of the enormity of this thing.

I say authors who are "officially" involved because TFOB does not permit those who are published with small houses, e-book authors, or independently published authors to participate on panels, discussions, or endorsed signings. Personally, I think this is rather snobbish and elitist, but it isn't going to stop me from being there and selling my books. My co-writer friends in Gecko Gals Ink and I have had a booth at this event every year for the past three years, and we'll be there this year as well.

There are other opportunities to participate in an event like TFOB "unofficially." Local bookstores offer signing shifts at their booths. Writing associations or groups also offer slots of time for you to meet the public and talk about your work. The point is, don't let "official" restrictions stop you. Find another route to get your books there. Projected attendance for this year is 175,000 people over the course of two days; how often do you get a chance to have those kinds of numbers of people who love books possibly see your stuff? 

I hear authors say they don't like to do signings, they don't want to talk, they are too shy. The days of the writing recluse, of Harper Lee and J.D. Salinger are long gone, kids. You wrote your book to be read; it's up to you to find a way to get it in front of readers. Book festivals are a great way to do just that. I highly recommend you attend at least one this year in your area.

Be sure to wear comfortable shoes, bring tons of bookmarks or cards, and (at least around here) plenty of sunscreen.

Happy writing,
~Jude

http://jude-johnson.com

Ride The Reading Railroad

Time to take a deep breath.  The cover has done its job, with prospective readers wanting more than a picture on a convention floor table.  The book's not out yet, but the interest is building.  You have a reading scheduled, and when you walk in, all eyes are on you.  Game time, and you're up at bat.  Boy, are the bases loaded.  If your writing is off, strike one.  Can't articulate?  Strike two.  The selection you pick is less than interesting?  Strike three.  You're out.

As useful as having a chapter out on your website is, nothing can compare to a reading.  Here, the writer has a chance to show scenes with all the passion of both the characters and their creator.  What might pass for simple dialogue exchanges will blossom into a heartfelt passage that will have your audience leaning forward.  Screw it up and more than your ego will get bruised.

So, how do you prepare?  The first step is deciding if you are even up to the task.  If you have difficulty at public speaking.  If you are shy, have problems articulating, or otherwise cannot present yourself with little more than a flat monotone, the best you might do for yourself is to not do a reading at all (or have someone else do it for you).

Step two involves some degree of foresight.  You need to ensure that your sentence structure flows well enough to be read aloud.  A good writer would do this anyway, but if you want to do readings, reciting out loud is essential.  Nothing brings out poorly formed sentences than the human voice.

Your next choice is a dicey one - what to read.  You want to select a scene that showcases both your writing and your work.  You want to capture their interest, but not give them spoilers.  Finally, and this is important if you've already a sample chapter out on the web, you want to give them something fresh and new that they haven't already read for themselves.  Oh, and you need to be mindful of how much time you will have for your read.  It can be fifteen minutes, or thirty.  All depends on how many other authors are scheduled for the same time period other than yourself.

Ahead of the reading comes advertising.  I'm assuming a convention, here.  Let people know you've a reading coming up.  Don't assume they've read or otherwise remembered the schedule.  Don't be a pest about it, but when interest in your writing is expressed, give it a mention.

Now comes the reading.  Make sure you've a glass of water on hand.  As you read, breathe life into your characters as only you know how to do.  Yes, this is the kind of acting one sees in audio books, and yes it will work well for you as long as you don't ham it up.  For this moment in time, you are more than a writer.  You are a story teller around an evening's fire.  Make your work shine.

Kerry
www.kmtolan.com

Tracks - Available March 3rd

Landing Your Next Writing Goal

A great joy in my life, other than writing, has been flying. Not the big commercial jets, but small, single engine airplanes. One of the basic things every pilot learns sooner or later is that the more you try to control the airplane, the less control you have. When I first started flying, I recall coming in for landings. Here’s the internal dialogue:

“This is so cool, I’m flying a plane! Look at me. How easy. Just line up with the runway. Wait, drifting to the left. I’m high. Rudder, throttle, slip it, yes, yes, low, I’m low, to the right, wait, okay, leftrudderrightrudderupupnodownuprightupleftdown. Almost there. Jeeze the ground’s coming up fast. Don’t hit the ground. Hold it, hold it, throttle, no too much, ease off, leftright, down. Yes!  I’m on the ground! Yes!”

The final approach at Stinson Airport in San Antonio, TX

After one of those white knuckle landings, my instructor had me continue what’s called a touch and go, in which you land, then reconfigure the plane and take off again. This time around she coached me to relax. In fact, she wanted me to hold the yoke (it moves the ailerons and elevator--I won’t get into here) between my thumb and forefinger of one hand. At first I thought I had jolted her grey cells on the previous landing. Guide a plane weighing several thousand pounds at 80 mph onto hard asphalt with my thumb and forefinger?  But I followed her instruction, trusting when we went out of control she’d be there to save us. 

Given that I’m writing this blog, you know I managed to survive. As odd as it seems, letting go of my white knuckle grasp for control allowed me to fly with the aircraft in a partnership. The plane was not some beast to be tamed. Why, the thing wanted to fly!

So what does holding a yoke with your thumb and finger have to do with writing? From the critique groups I participate in, to writers I know, to my own writing, I think we all have those moments when inspiration just doesn’t seem to be in the room. We struggle  with a scene, fighting for each word, the blank part of the page haunting us. Or our well thought out plot, on second read, just doesn’t seem to work. One way to approach the dilemma is to put the head down and write those 2000 words or else! 

I have nothing against goals, in fact, goals can be very helpful in keeping us on track and moving forward.  However, how a writer approaches a goal does make a difference.  To take my flying analogy, if I try to over control my writing, essentially forcing the words on a page, like I forced the plane into a landing, I may not get the results I want. Yes, I’m on the ground, but it wasn’t very pretty. 

As odd as it seems, letting go of a white knuckle grasp for control allows an author to write with the story in a partnership. The story is not some beast to be tamed. Why, the story wanted to be written!

Richard Hacker is the author of the Nick Sibelius crime series. 

CHAIN REACTION to be release by Champagne Books, March 2014

DIRTY WATER
TOXIC RELATIONSHIP
Both Available Now from Champagne Books at your favorite digital bookseller

Web & Blog: www.richardhacker.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RWHacker
Twitter: @Richard_Hacker