Not another victim...

So here I am in Louisiana, wondering if we'll be washed away tomorrow. I'm in North LA, thankfully, but we are still expected to get some flooding, heavy winds and rain tomorrow and maybe Friday from good ol' Mister Isaac. We have a small generator, so we can run several rooms at a time and save our food in the fridge and deep freeze and stuff. (and let me straighten my hair. ahem) My poor Little Miss HATES storms though and keeps wanting to check the weather report. I'm determined to NOT let her see the swirling mass on the radar, or she'll be in my bed every night for a week!

My point today is:

It's easy to get caught up in fiction (especially us, we're a fiction blog after all lol) and its easy to think about how fiction often stems from real life and etc. Right? At first I was thinking about Isaac "wow, this could be good research for a future story". Which is TRUE. But...it sort of makes me feel guilty, like I'm downplaying the experience for those really going through it. People really are stranded on roofs and being rescued by firemen and helicopters and National Guard, guys. People really are flooded out of their homes and living with a mass in a school or public building indefinitely. People really are going to have to go home one day and see their scrapbooks and family heirlooms floating in water. People really are going to find their pets drowned or their family member is missing or their job was flooded out and they're unemployed. People really are victims of crime and theft during an already tragic time.

I think we should learn from these types of hard situations to make our stories realistc, yes - but more than that, I think we should DO something about it. Not just glean details for research or fiction but truly pray. PRAY. Send money. Volunteer time. Be connected to the event and the people there, not just try to savage the drama from it for our own uses.

Been thinking about that a lot today. Especially since this is hitting on the anniversary of Katrina. It brings all that back. My husband has family in Metairie and New Orleans (hence our last name).

What do you think? How can you get involved? Are you in a danger zone from Isaac right now?

Who's Your Audience?

“My book is for everybody.”

 Do you want to know what that sentence is? It’s the S.O.D., a.k.a., Sentence Of Death.

 I’ll admit—I hope everyone reads my book. But if I’m being realistic, I need to remember that different people have different needs.

 (There are exceptions, like The Purpose Driven Life, or The Shack, that appealed to a wide range of people. But most of the time, editors are looking for a specific target so they can HIT it.)

 So how did I “find” my audience?

 1-Writing for teen girls was a natural outflow of the ministry I was already a part of (camp ministries, after-school ministries, youth groups…)

 2-It was in my heart. I struggled a lot in my teen years, and I wanted to be a voice to remind these girls that not only would they SURVIVE, they would GROW.

 3-I got outside help. It sounds obvious, but sometimes we need to take a few steps back to figure this audience thing out. So if you’re struggling with targeting your audience, ask a friend to read your blog. Find out how “young” or “old” your voice sounds.  Who does it appeal to?

Q4U: Who’s your audience?

The Proposal, part three

Here are part one, part two and part 2.2!! 

By this point, you should have a title, a hook and a teaser paragraph. And your name and contact information, of course. ;)

Next up? You can go one of two ways. A lot of people just hop straight into the synopsis, but you could also pause here and add a Theme and an About the Author, which I would recommend, though either way is fine.

Your Theme is a good place to put either a Bible verse that inspired you to write this story or the basic "this is what my character/readers will get out of this book" idea. Try to steer away from being preachy and go more for generalizations like, "[Insert main character's name] learns to trust God's will for her life rather than rely on her own control."

The About the Author section is a VERY important section. Be sure to write down every writing-related experience you've had or every place you've been published if this is your first novel. Also, look beyond just writing experience. For example, if you're writing a novel about a deep sea diver and you are a deep sea diver, put that down as well. When I wrote Miss Match, I made sure I put down that I was the age of the characters I was writing about so that the publisher knew I had a real "voice" when it came to my character.

As always, if you've got questions, comments or concerns, please let us know!! :)

It's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, it's been another one of those weeks. Lots and lots of writing deadlines, so I gotta say that I'm a little more excited than usual about the weekend's impending arrival.

How 'bout you? What's on the docket for the weekend? I'm heading to Colorado and can't wait to resume my reading of Dearie...it's one fantastic biography on a truly incredible woman, the late Julia Child.

Bon Appétit, all, and happy weekend!

Writer's Block - or IS it?

The dreaded Writer's Block! By definition...

writ·er's block -

n. A usually temporary psychological inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing.

Or ...

a psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece of writing

Or even...

Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some blocked writers have been unable to work for years on end, and some have even abandoned their careers.

YOWSA! :)

Ever been there? 

Thankfully I've never been there to the extent of it affecting me long term. I've had days where I've been too stressed or sidetracked or busy to sit down and write quality words, or not inspired enough at the moment to    feel any desire to continue the story that day. But never to the extreme that I couldn't write anything at all for days.

Have you? How do you handle it?

Thankfully God made me with the ability to write well under pressure. (generally) Do you do better under pressure or with a deadline (self imposed or otherwise) or do you need freedom and lack of pressure to let the words flow?

There's no wrong or right way. We're all a little different and we have to do what works best for us as individuals. So what's your groove?

Here are some tips on how to beat writer's block. But really, first, you need determine if you even have it. I think there's a difference between true writer's block that probably comes from personal problems, stress, lack of sleep, pressure, fear, etc. and simply just not liking our story enough to continue with it. Figure out that difference in your novel first and go from there before you start going through these "beat it" steps.

1. Do something else creative. Use your brain in a different way - watch a movie, draw a picture, sketch, color in a coloring book! (this is really fun)

2. Take a break - watch a movie, read a novel, take a bubble bath (or all of the above!)

3. Exercise. Let those endorphins flow! They really work wonders and clear your head. And help you stay healthy and not get writer's-booty.  

4. Take a nap or rest your eyes a while. 

5. Treat yourself to your favorite snack - chocolate, ice cream, carrot sticks, whatever it is. (Candy corn cough cough)

6. Interact with family or friends. Brainstorm with a writing buddy or just call your great Aunt back that you've been avoiding for a few weeks. The conversation will distract and relax you and maybe even provide fodder for your story. 

7. If you don't do well under pressure, then take pressure off. Remind yourself that this isn't life or death. Adjust your deadline if need be. Talk to your agent if this is a "real" deadline and if it's self imposed, cut yourself some slack and make a new timeline plan. But if you DO work well under pressure, crank it up. Give yourself a deadline.

8. If this works for you, instigate a reward/bribe program. For every paragraph written, reward yourself with a game of Solitaire, checking email, hanging out on FB or getting a handful of M&MS. ;)

9. Change location - go to Barnes & Noble, or go sit outside, or just move to another room in your house. Can work wonders!

10. Work on something else. Keep writing but ditch the story for awhile and write an essay. A newspaper article. Work on a poem or short story. Get words flowing somehow in some way then switch back. Or even consider jumping ahead in your story. If you're blocked on starting Chapter 4 but know that somewhere around Chapter 7 there's going to be a great kissing scene or fight scene or whatever, write that first. No one makes you go in order ;)

What works for YOU?

So you're in love with a writer? Have fun with that.

I finally joined the 21st century and bought an iPhone this week. Actually, My Boy bought it for me after he listened to me tell a friend why I couldn't keep up with social media.

*Expletive*. Now I have no excuse.

If you love to write (which you probably do since you read this blog), how does your spouse support or hinder your dreams? (No spouse-bashing, please. Unless it's anonymous and entertaining.)

I honestly couldn't have gotten a publishing contract without My Boy's belief in my dreams (or at least his excellent acting skills).

Here are just a few tips for those who love a writer but aren't sure how to show it...

-Take the writer's "job" seriously. Even if they're not working a paying gig right now, the freebies are building a platform that can cause future success. (A.k.a. sales. Which might just work for your $$$benefit$$$ some distant day. ;)

-Be sympathetic. There are going to be ups and downs in this journey, and lots of rejections. This is normal. Sometimes all a writer needs is a little empathy and a lot of chocolate.

-Offer to help around the house some, especially when your spouse has a day-job. It's just the nice thing to do.

-Don't whine about the price of conferences when you just bought a new car for yourself. Consider these opportunities an investment. Just know they're a little like the stock market... it could still all go bust, but you married your spouse for her gambling habits anyway, right?

-Brainstorm with your writer. Let him/her bounce ideas off you and give KIND feedback. (Writers talk. A lot. It's how we process ideas. But we also like to listen... lucky you!)

-Buy an iPhone. For yourself. Because you will probably want to keep track of the random personal stories your spouse is telling about you on the Internet. ;)

That's about all for now... until you add your 16-point list to the comments.

1...2...3... Go!

***
Bekah Hamrick Martin is the author of The Bare Naked Truth, the book that pokes fun at the lies girls believe about sex.

The Proposal, part 2.2

Hi all,

Here's the first two posts in this series (one and two)!

Last week, I was asked to provide some real life samples of the proposal and I realized that would probably be a helpful thing. ;) So, here are some examples from my proposal that eventually became my fourth novel, Cool Beans. (I wrote the word "fourth" just so y'all would realize that this isn't a one-time-only thing you have to write. Sadly.)

My proposed title was "Cool Beans" and thankfully, they kept it. I love when that happens! :)

Here was my hook:
 

Is there really such thing as too much coffee? Not when your best friend unknowingly starts dating your high school sweetheart.

And this was my teaser paragraph (note that you can also reference this as an "Overview"):

Everything seems to be going perfectly for Maya Davis – she’s got a good job at a coffee shop, loving parents and is happily single. At least until her best friend unknowingly starts dating Maya’s high school sweetheart, her annoyingly perfect brother moves back to town and her coworker starts showing interest in her. Apparently God’s will for her is to spend her days commiserating over ice cream – or does He have more to teach her? 

Try to separate the two with a signifier (I wrote "Overview" above the teaser) and you can put the Hook directly under the title.

I'll be back next week with the next components of the proposal! Please be sure to leave questions if y'all have them! :)