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I killed my Darlings...Maybe?

 

One of the biggest pieces of writing advice came from Faulkner; Kill your darlings. With a little research I've found it was actually British journalist and author Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. in 1914 where he lectured at Cambridge. It was published in On the Art of Writing (1916), where he originally wrote "Murder your darlings." 

Good advice? 

Eh, I think it depends on the story. Not all writing advice works everywhere. 

But in my latest novel, Threshold of Midnight, 

I killed off one of my favorite characters. 

This character came from a trip to a grocery store. Yes, I found him while waiting at the deli counter. He was talking orders and talking to customers. A nice young man. He was maybe 6 feet, brown skin and kind dark eyes. He was attentive to his customers, joking, and giving off that nice guy vibe. When I saw him, I knew who I needed in my story. I wanted someone who could appear strong and tough but really be a hero. Someone who could Save the Cat (a writing term that kind of means doing the right thing) 

So, this character turned into Willy. He has a background, he made mistakes, now he's working hard to prove that's not going to define him. 

Then the apocalypse hits. Now, he has to search for other survivors. He finds Diana, who is traveling with a child who talks to the Virgin Mary. They form a bond. 

Then he dies. 

Or does he? One of my beta readers was pretty upset he got killed off. They said, "I loved Willy. Why did he have to die?"  So, then I felt a bit guilty. Should I have saved Willy? Was this one character important in moving the story forward? 

I agonized over this for a few weeks as I edited this book. 

Then I published. 

Check it out here; Threshold of Midnight

Now I'm writing the second in the series, Threshold of Tomorrow. Did I bring Willy back? Resurrect him? 

I'm writing as fast as I can! We'll soon find out. 

Find more books on my website. 

 

 

Threshold of Midnight - First in a Series!

It's here:  Threshold of Midnight! 

Check it out of Amazon: https://amzn.to/49jdjoy

Upon escaping a bomb shelter, Diana discovers everyone has vanished, until she finds a small child who delivers messages from the Virgin Mary, causing her to question the line between belief and madness.

Would you trust a five-year-old to lead you through an apocalypse? 

Sometimes you don't know how strong you can be, until you're protecting a child who may be humanity's last chance.

Writing Breaks - Necessary?

 Finishing a book is like stepping from one world to another. 

For months, maybe years, you build a story. Create characters, plot, whole towns and backstories. 

Then (after many rewrites & editing) you're done! Baby goes out into the world either indie or looking for an agent. Or lets face it, some just go in a drawer with hopes of one day making it out into the sunlight again. 

So another book is done, edited, edited and then to the editor, then meeting with editor, then it's done, finalized. Time to either put it out as an Indie or maybe find an agent to go traditional. 

And you breathe. You come out of the writer's cave and greet the real world. Walk the dog, visit the library, go to the gym, read all those books you've put off. 

Then it's time to choose the next project. 

Write on, my fellow writers, Write on! 

No more NANO But....

 It's still a great month to write a novel!

I signed up for ProWritingAid which is a site to track kind of like Nanowrimo but not quite as good. But hey! They're new and just tuning up their gears. People are asking for a way to connect with their friends and ProWritingAid says it's working on a safe way to do it. 

Now is the time to figure out what to write. (Isn't this always the hard part?) Get an idea and flesh it out enough to create a full novel. 

Ideas I have. I put them in the notes on my phone, there's little pieces of paper all over my desk with story ideas scribbled on them and I have a few novels finished but not edited. So all I have to do is pick one. 

One way to start an idea is to think about the Hero's Journey. Character/Normal world/Challenge or problem. Insert some "what if's" and just write. 

I was listening to the Bookfox on YouTube. He did an episode of how great writers write and talked about Ray Bradbury. Bradbury challenged himself to put down 5 words and through the week create a short story out of them. Start on Monday, send that story out on Saturday. Considering he wrote Fahrenheit 451 in 9 days this might be a great exercise for writers. 

Happy November Novel Month! Let's write! 

BOOK REVIEW - This one was good! The Sun Down Motel

 The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James, Canadian author of mystery, historical fiction, and romance novels. 

This was the first of her books that I've read. 

This one keeps you turning pages. I got the audio version and the narrators ( Brittany Pressley & Kirsten Potter)were spot on. They gave a realistic feel to the characters. If you're a fan of audiobooks, you know how important the voice can be.

The story is about two women, an aunt, Viv, and her niece, Carly, who both have supernatural experiences at a rundown, motel, but years apart. The niece arrives at the hotel to solve the disappearance of an aunt she never met, who went missing years before. 

First, we meet the aunt, Viv, who is hitchhiking to NYC and lands at the motel by accident (or fate?) 

We jump the timeline years later when her niece comes to find out what happened to the aunt she never met. 

Moving back and forth on the two timelines worked really well and was easy to follow. 

Carly, the niece, investigates murders while searching for clues about her aunt. The motel has ghosts from murders and an accident years before, and the creepy vibe comes on slowly but soon weaves its way into the story. 

 I'd definitely give this book 5 stars since it held my attention, gave me shivers, and had me emotionally involved with Carly and Viv. 

All loose ends were tied up with a big twist at the end. Loved it! 

🕮⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Exercising the Creative Writing Muscle.

 

Like the rest of our bodies, our writing muscles need to work out to keep in top form. 

How do you work out that writing muscle?

 You write, of course! 

But.... what? That's the question that hits every writer at one point or another. I have no ideas, I don't have a story idea, I got nothing! 

So, here's the solution. Write badly. 

Yep! Give yourself permission to write the dumbest, more ridiculous thing you can think of. 

Aliens in the school lunch room?

Puppy found at the beach is actually a shifter? 

There's a cult that meets in the woods behind your house? 

Can a butterfly be a shifter? 

You see your neighbor dump a body in the lake. When you get home, that neighbor is sitting with your wife in your kitchen. Together they confess...

A child comes up to you and tells you it's time to go back to your home planet and tries to convince you that you're an alien. 

A brilliant blast comes from the sky, and suddenly you find yourself on another planet. 

     Okay, I guess I have aliens on my brain today, but you get the idea. Just write something goofy and don't worry if it's good or bad. Just write and the light will appear. It's an exercise to get those creative juices flowing.