Before You Write Your Novel--5 Tips to Help

Preparing to write a novel can sometimes take almost as much time as writing the first draft.

In addition to doing research for the book he's writing a novelist must plan the plot, flesh out the characters, and surround himself in the location of the book. The more immersed a writer is in his setting, characters and action, the more realistic his story will be. The more realistic his story, the greater the enjoyment for the reader.

So, how does the novelist tackle her pre-writing chores?

1. She researches the time period in which the novel is set.

2. He knows the location where the novel is set.

3. He understands EVERYTHING about the characters in the novel, minor characters as well as major ones. He knows details which may never be revealed to readers. The better a writer understands the characters in his novel, the more realistically the characters will react to their challenges.

4. She plans her plot from start to finish, then she follows her plan. A professional writer will not become sidetracked from her novel's plan, but she will add enhancements to her plot as she writes and rewrites her story.

5. The plot plan method a writer uses is strictly up to him. An outline works better than a storyboard for some writers. Others like to use chapter summaries. Some writers summarize or outline scenes and group them into chapters. Whatever method works best for the individual writer is what he should use since his comfort level with his method will enable him to be more productive.

Pre-writing can save time and cut down on frustration levels as a writer works on her book. I highly recommend the ultimate in organization of plot and characters before a novelist begins to write her story.

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff

10 Steps to Completing a Novel

If you've always wanted to write a book, but you've never quite gotten around to doing it, help is here!

Take a look at these ten steps designed to help you start and finish the book you've always wanted to write.

1. Commit to your goal. This time you are really, really going to write the book you've always wanted to write.

2. Don't let anyone or anything take you away from your focus on completing your novel.

3. Read all you can on the topic of writing. The more you know, the better the project will go.

4. Write everyday. No excuses. Even if you spend only 15 or 20 minutes on your work in progress (WIP) you must write everyday.

5. Designate a workplace and work there. This helps to keep your focus on writing, and it's a gentle mental reminder that you are to work in this location.

6. Schedule writing time and stick to it. Discipline is very important when writing. You are working alone; no one is watching over you, making sure you're working so anything you can do to help with self discipline is good.

7. No matter if you are discouraged, "blocked," or lazy, you MUST write.

8. If you really, really can't get anywhere on your current WIP, don't quit writing; work on another writing project. Personally, I usually have several projects going at once. I seem to be more productive when I work on more than one project at a time.

9. Make a daily goals chart if you need encouragement and reward yourself each time you complete a goal.

10. Never, never, never give up. Persevere until the first draft is complete.

Writing, like any other pursuit, requires dedication and commitment. If you can stick it out throughout the process of completing a book, you'll discover rewards you never expected.

Fran Shaff
Webpage: http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff

Real Life Romance

If we didn't want "happily ever after" in our lives, romantic fiction wouldn't be as popular as it is.

Being a writer of sweet romance, my life revolves around creating fictional characters who have challenging problems to overcome in order to find their "happily ever after" in holy matrimony.

What a blissful day it is when we find "happily ever after" romance in a real-life situation.

This past weekend I was able to attend the wedding of a very special woman. I've known the bride since she was born. She was a beautiful little girl, full of energy. She's always had a great zest for life and a wonderful, warm love for people.

On her wedding day, this lovely woman was more beautiful than ever in every way. Her energy and zest for life was at its zenith as she danced to her recessional music with her handsome groom at her side while they exited the church after the ceremony.

What a thoroughly exquisite day! Rarely do magnificent moments occur in our lives. I'm going to savor this "happily ever after" one for a long, long time.

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff

A New Chapter

Readers and beginning writers often ask me questions about book chapters.

1. How do you know how long to make a chapter?

2. How do you know when to end a chapter?

3. How do you determine the number of chapters there should be in a book?

In reality, there is one answer suitable in replying to all these questions: It's up to the author.

However, there are some factors the author will take into account in making her own determination regarding the length of chapters, number of them in a book and how to end her chapters.

1. Length of chapter. Sometimes the author needs to take into account a format a publisher may use in all the books it produces for a certain line the book may be a part of. In this case, the format will determine the length of the chapter.

Genre also plays a factor in determining the length of chapters. Books which are suspenseful may use shorter chapters to help imply a sense of urgency. Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" comes to mind. Some of the chapters in that book are very short, and, of course, the book is quite suspenseful.

2. Ending a chapter. The end of a scene is a good place to end a chapter. The end of an event is too, so is a change of setting or a change of point of view or a dozen other happenings in a story.

The only hard and fast rule which should be considered in ending a chapter is this: end with conflict. If a chapter doesn't end in a way which entices the reader to continue, he may close the book. Don't want that!

3. Number of chapters. Just as in determining the length of chapters, publisher format and genre may determine the number of chapters in a fictional book. If these factors are not necessary for consideration, then number of chapters is totally the choice of the author.

Of all the "rules" of writing, essentially there are no rules for chapter length, format of chapters and number of chapters in a novel. The author can pretty much do what he wants.

However, as in all aspects of book writing, it is always wise to keep the reader in mind when setting up chapters. Too much inconsistency in formatting chapters can unsettle and frustrate a reader while classic style, evenness of pace and an engaging flow to the story compel the reader to continue reading.

Book writing is a terribly complicated process, and setting up chapters, as professional writers know, is pretty far down the list of things they are thinking about when they are undertaking the job of writing a novel.

Nevertheless, people have a few questions about chapters, and I hope I've answered to everyone's satisfaction today. If I haven't, please leave a comment with your question, and I'll get back to you.

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff

Reality in Fiction

I don't know about you, but I like my books, movies, etc. to have plenty of reality laced inside their fictitious plots. I can really wrap my head and heart around a storyline which seems plausible, real, believable.

I strive to put a bit of harsh reality in each of my books. Whether I'm painting a picture of the grim life of a homeless boy in the 1880's scraping out a living on the streets in New York (A Partner's Promise), revealing the pain a man suffers when he learns his beloved son is in reality a baby who was stolen years ago by his late wife who'd arranged an illegal adoption (Stolen Son), or speculating what might happen to infatuated "love at first sighters" when one accidentally deeply hurts the other (For Love of Maggie), my dramatic stories strive to give readers constant reality checks, just as life does for us when everything seems to be going rather well.

To illustrate my point, I have an excerpt below from FOR LOVE OF MAGGIE. Watch as Kayla Franklin's bliss is dampened by the reality of her everyday life.

Setup: Roth’s just given Kayla a ride home. She’s invited him in for coffee, and, in a moment of closeness, she’s told him how she became Maggie’s mother. Roth, overcome with emotion upon hearing her story, ends up seizing the moment--and Kayla!



Roth cupped her cheeks with his hands. “You're an angel, Kayla.”

Before she could insist she wasn't, his lips covered hers, and she was in heaven.

He slid his fingers into her hair and kneaded her scalp as he kissed her more completely than she'd ever been kissed.

Even though she felt his touch deep within her, Kayla needed more of him. She slid her hands over his firm chest around to his back and pressed him closer.

He sent his hands to her spine and crushed her against himself.

He ended the kiss and pressed his cheek to hers. The exquisite roughness of his beard against her silken skin touched her all the way to her toes. He breathed into her ear and nearly drove her mad with his words.

“Kayla, angel, sweet Kayla,” his raspy voice and the passionate tone in his words nearly drove her mad with desire. As if he’d read her mind, his lips immediately found their way back to hers.

She began to loosen Roth's shirt from his waistband. She needed to touch his skin. But his belt was tightly cinched around his waist. She stopped her efforts and, instead, settled for feeling his warmth through his blue work shirt.

His lips left hers. He trailed kisses from her chin to her collar bone.

She threw her head back and gasped at the pleasure he caused deep inside her.

Suddenly, he took hold of her shoulders and stared down at her.

Kayla, caught in his sultry gaze of desire, couldn't speak.

He closed his eyes tightly for a moment then looked at her with the gentlest visage she'd ever seen. He cupped her cheek with his large hand. “Kayla, you're so beautiful.”

In that, the most intense moment she had ever experienced in her life, Kayla wanted nothing else but Roth. She wanted his arms around her, his lips on her. She wanted his heart beating against hers and his scratchy cheek reddening her silky one. She wanted him to carry her in his arms to some secluded place blessed with glorious beauty where the two of them could learn everything about each other, body and soul. She wanted a union with him more unique than any human before them had ever known.

“Roth,” she whispered, barely able to speak, “I...”

He touched his fingers to her lips. “Kayla, shh.”

He kissed her again, and rapture became her new world, full of sun and bliss.

This haze of heaven, living and true on earth, lasted minute after minute until she thought she’d explode from the sheer joy filling her empty depths.

Abruptly and without any warning, something began to tear at the bliss. Shadows clouded the sun until a near total eclipse consumed their planet.

Kayla felt something tug at her skirt, trying to wrench her from the paradise she never wanted to leave.

The tug came several more times before she finally withdrew from her perfect world into the reality of her tangible existence.

“Maggie,” Kayla said, looking at the child who’d insistently tugged her skirt. She tore herself from Roth's arms and bent to touch her. “What are you doing out of bed. Did we wake you?”

She rubbed her hand over her flannel pajama bottoms.

Thanks to years of experience, Kayla knew exactly what was wrong. “She's wet, Roth,” she said glancing up at him. “I've got to take care of her.” She picked her up and stood up straight. “I guess things got out of hand between us,” she said, looking down. “It's been an emotional night.”

He looked at Maggie in a peculiar way, stared a long time. He glanced at Kayla, his eyes filled with pain.

Kayla's heart broke. His feelings about Maggie hadn't changed a bit, she concluded.

Roth cleared his throat and rubbed a hand over his face. “It was my fault, Kayla. I couldn’t help myself. The story you told me was remarkable; you’re remarkable. I just had to take you in my arms. It was my fault.”

She squared her jaw and lifted her chin. “Yes, maybe it was, but maybe it was my fault too. It seems we have a strange basal effect on each other. I guess we'll both have to keep our emotions in check. Neither one of us wants a relationship with the other. We'd both better keep that in mind.”

“But, Kayla--”

“Good night, Roth.” She left the kitchen before he could say another word. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairway in the hall on the other side of the dining room, she heard the back door close.

Clearly, Roth had once again taken her from heaven to the lowest regions of the netherworld. She was alone and empty with a wet child in her arms.

The happy, fulfilled life she had enjoyed for many years was now unbearably lonely.

-----------

Is anything more real than having to deal with taking care of a wet little girl?

Fortunately, since I, like most of you, prefer happy endings my protagonists always find a way to work through their monumental challenges.

This week, I'm wishing you romantic things to brighten your life when things get a little too real. I hope your week is a flowery, pretty one!

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff

Happy Labor Day Week

I hope everyone has a good week reflecting on the wonderful contribution all laborers make to our societies. From parents to teachers, preachers, custodians, doctors, dentists, checkout clerks, factory workers, shelf stockers, etc. all people who work to make our lives better deserve acknowledgment for jobs well done.

It is good to take time to think about how we contribute in positive ways to our lives, to those around us and even to strangers we will never meet.

As a writer, I hope my words, whether here or in one of my books, short stories or articles, bring something positive to readers and help other writers in some way.

As a volunteer, I hope the strangers I may never meet feel the warmth of a hug when they are in need of something my fellow volunteers and I have provided.

As for you, God bless you for your efforts to contribute your labor in positive ways to your friends, families and to strangers.

Have a great week and a wonderful autumn.

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff

Goals for Writers

Have you always wanted to write a book?

Are you in the process of writing your first book? Your second? Your fifth?

Whether you've written a dozen books or you've yet to complete the first paragraph of the novel you've been wanting to write for years, it is important to understand a writer must set goals if he wants to complete his first or his next book.

I've always had an interest in writing. I dabbled in it for years, even had a short story published in a widely-circulated magazine before I ever got really serious about writing.

When at last I made a commitment to be a real writer, someone who has made writing a priority, I finally set my first goal. I decided I wanted to write a book and have it published by Avalon Books. I'd read many of their books, and I really enjoyed them.

It took me a couple of years to meet my goal. They rejected the first couple of manuscripts I sent but loved the third one. A few months later "Montana Match" was published. I was thrilled, but suddenly I realized I had a dilemma.

I'd met my goal, so what do I do now?

I'd been so focused on that objective, I never gave a thought about what would come once I'd met my goal--probably because I had little confidence I ever would.

I knew I didn't want to quit writing. Like most writers I needed to write. Eventually, as I muddled through the foreign business of writing, I realized if I was going to make a career of this avocation, I needed to set goals--daily goals, weekly goals, monthly, yearly, bi-yearly and multi-yearly goals.

Goal setting, I have found, makes all the difference in getting a writer's career from point A to point B. Small goals can lead to the accomplishment of large ones.

A beginning writer may begin in this way:

Goal 1. Do my research for my book "Turtles as Pets" by the end of month 1.

Goal 2. Write one page a day of "Turtles."

Goal 3. Complete first draft of "Turtles as Pets" six months from now.

And the list would continue as above. By setting a time frame to complete each task necessary to do the necessary research and complete the first draft, the book is written at the minimum rate of one page a day--a very doable goal for a rookie writer. How fulfilling to complete that first draft! The writer has finally written the book she's always wanted to write.

Experienced writers know the first draft is just the beginning, however. Once they've completed their first draft following some form of the above goals, they'll set new goals such as:

Goal 1. Rewrite chapters 1, 5 and 10 because they suck, they're too wordy or confusing, they are full of inconsistencies, they have weak scenes, etc.

Goal 2. Read through and look for weaknesses.

And so will go the goals until the book is in its best form.

At this point the writer will set publication goals. Once the book is published, he'll set goals for promotion--book signings, book trailers, Internet promotion of all kinds, personal appearances, press releases, etc.

The point is, an impossible project such as writing a book, having it published, and getting it into the hands of as many people as possible can be achieved by setting attainable goals the disciplined writer will follow.

Imagine what it takes to become a heart surgeon or brain surgeon. Physicians of all kinds study for years and years. These gifted men and women become doctors by setting goals. First the completion of a biology class, then anatomy, cellular biology, college, medical school, internships, and so on and so on in a process which must seem like it never will end. But those who stick by their agenda and meet their goals do reach the epitome of their hopes and dreams.

If they can do it, so can we writers. After all, as difficult as the writing business is, it can't begin to compare with that of a surgeons.

Good luck with your current project, and, if you haven't yet begun your first or next project, what's stopping you? Set some goals and get started, okay?

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff