Uncertainty of First Drafts

First Drafts are Uncertain, by Nature
I’m at that fragile stage of the first draft when I’m not totally committed to this story. I’m still feeling my way and haven’t yet gained confidence that I will like the story, or that my readers will like it. I’m walking on eggshells.
What can I do to GET committed?

Good Reads Book Giveaways

Guest Post by Joelle Anthony
Here you go. http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/5228-restoring-harmony
Giveaway on GoodReads.com
Last week, we talked about book giveaways in general. Today, we have a case study on book giveaways on Goodreads.com. Thanks to Joelle Anthony for this guest post.

On Your Site OR On GoodReads?
Book giveaways have become a great way for authors to draw people to their [...]

Larger Than Life in Chapter 1

Give Readers a Larger Than Life Protagonist
In my new novel, I’ve written about a dozen different openings, looking for a voice that works. I’m settling in on one, but the first chapter is still unsteady.
One thing I’m looking at today is how to make the main character, the protagonist, larger-than-life.

Improve Your Weak Opening

More on Starting a Novel
Reading a wide variety of mss, I find this to be one of the weakest areas: openings. Striking just the right note is difficult. What do you include just as the curtain opens on your novel?
Typical advice:

Start with something exciting.
Grab the reader by the throat and never let them go
Jump right [...]

Distracted?

Between blogs, email, Facebook, etc. I find myself jumping around too much. I need a way to concentrate on my writing better.
So, this week, I’m trying Q10. It is a text editor that fills the screen with no tool bars, no access to other programs unless you save and exit, and a built-in timer.

Envelopes for Acts

Searching for Plot Events
I’m evaluating the outline for my WIP novel and realize that I need more events. It takes place at one big event that spans 98 hours. Within that time period, though, I need some exciting things happening. I’ve sorta mapped out the emotional changes (Wow, what a change for me!), but now [...]

Time Line Helps You Plot

Time Line Helps You Plot
I know that my new novel will take place over a 98 hour span of time. So, I’m working with those 98 hours, creating and structuring the time line of the story in these ways.

Connecting Main & Sub Plots

I’ve done enough prewriting work on my new novel to know a lot about it. But today, as I worked, I realized that I know the main plot, but not the subplots.
This is a complex story, with about

Describing Characters? Be Subtle

When should your characters notice and comment on something and when should it be just subtly included?
Subtext is when something is going on in the story, but it’s only mentioned in passing, slantwise, or it’s just understood. Often, subtext comes out in dialogue, the unspoken things that the audience understands from knowing the characters and [...]

Orient Your Readers

Sometimes when I read the opening of a manuscript, I’m totally confused.
Trying too hard to grab the reader. These openings start with something startling. OK. Nothing wrong with that, except