Tag #ISWG

ISWG March Writing Question

aimeredleaf, The Narrative Gardener 3 Comments

Hello again! I realize it’s been a loooong while, but that’s because I’ve been busy growing a business. I couldn’t let this question go unanswered, though. Have a look! 😉

March 1 question – Have you ever read a line in novel or a clever plot twist that caused you to have author envy?

How about an entire book or series?

Absolutely! In fact, I’m reading one now.

I’m reading Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff, the third book in the Nevernight series. I can say that the entire series has screwed up my insides and given me the greenies with envy.

But more importantly, it has inspired me and fed the individual fire within.

The story of Mia and her exploits is EPIC; there’s no other way to say it. But it’s the physical structural elements the author has employed that make my heart race.

Why? Because he breaks every ‘rule’ out there. All those little things within text that many say detract from the reading experience, well, they are there.

Such as:

  • Footnotes – yes! In a fiction text, there are footnotes, and they are brilliant. I love this as a technique to impart other stuff that information junkies like myself just have to know. And those that don’t want to know about the three kinds of sea drakes in the Sea of Sorrows don’t have to read them. Simple as that! But I warn you, you might miss the best joke on the page if you skip them…
  • Italics – I say “Use ’em, anytime you want to. Just be consistent.” And do use them for the things they should be used for as well, such as book titles and other works the style guides recommend them for. Consistency is the key here.
  • Other typefaces – YES!!! Why else do we have all these gorgeous fonts and letter forms if not to use them in printed works? Kristoff uses all small capitals for one of the characters. 😱 Imagine that? I did only find this out when I switched from the audiobook to the hardcover, however. But up until that point, the narrator was stellar at character voices. Seeing the text only made me love it more.
  • Creative word placement on the page – such as stringing words across a page to mimic stepping into a shadow in long strides. Love it! When I read that construction, I feel the shadows stretching to accommodate Mia as she steps; I see her jump and land soundlessly on the next word. It adds another level to the reading experience. What’s not to appreciate?
  • Taking the piss on himself and critics in the text – In the banter between two characters, the author raises the absurdity of footnotes in a fiction book, like “Who does that?” and the brutality of the ending of the second book. It is brutal; I was wrung out for an entire day after listening to it. First-class book hangover. But I love that he addresses the things he knew he would get slag for in a laugh-out-loud way. Why not? Rules, even implied ones, exist to be broken; that’s one of my mottos, but I’m also an Aquarius, and we live for such things.
Image by Peter Lomas from Pixabay

Expressing creativity takes many forms. I always encourage the authors I edit for to make the story and text work for itself and for them.

If you want to s p a c e out a word to illustrate how a character speaks or thinks, do it! I’m with you.

Italics for a character’s inner thoughts? Love it, I do this myself. The form of italics has a softer, inner thought feel to it, more secretive, more private.

Footnotes1 for extra info and cheek? Bring them on.

I hope to see more of this type of rebellion in writing. We are already creating pictures with words in the reader’s mind, why not create them on the page with the physical form of the words?

The only character I’m not as yet comfortable using in printed books is the interrobang (!?) because it is used in the texting universe. But I think it will become mainstream shortly; it is perfect for expressing that exclamation-question tone. And as we all know, language and writing constantly evolve with communication preferences and societal norms.

For now, I’m off to write inspired, however the words want to come out. How about you? Will you?

ISWG September blog post — How Do You Define Success as a Writer?

aimeredleaf, The Narrative Gardener Leave a comment

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

*https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

 Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.   

 You ready?
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

September 1 question – How do you define success as a writer? Is it holding your book in your hand? Having a short story published? Making a certain amount of income from your writing?

The awesome co-hosts for the September 1 posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, T. Powell Coltrin @Journaling Woman, Natalie Aguirre, Karen Lynn, and C. Lee McKenzie!

*Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay 

At this time in my life, my writing is a sideline venture; one I pursue because I want to. I’m not expecting it to float me financially, at any point, and any monetary gain I might make from it is a bonus—another revenue stream.

And because the time I have to write is sporadic. Building and running my freelance editing business is my main focus, as it should be. But writing my own book dovetails nicely with it.

I often think about this topic after I have finished reading or listening to a book. I do review books on Goodreads, Amazon, NetGalley, and occasionally here, which requires an evaluation of sorts. The first question I ask myself is: Was I entertained by this book?

Rarely do I answer no, because I wouldn’t have gotten that far if I didn’t find it entertaining. For me, then, that author was successful. They entertained me with their story and writing, fulfilling one of the most basic tenets of storytelling.

*Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay 

Books are my go-to time fill. I like my reading or audiobooks to take me to places and times I can’t go to on this physical plane. Or for non-fiction, to leave me with a lasting nugget of information I take and use to improve my life or career.

Success for me is about making an impression that lasts. Whether it is with my gardens and plants, my editing, or my writing, I will feel successful if I make an impression on others that lasts. If my clients contact me again when they need an edit, or a reader recalls the blog post about the alternate land of Huphaea at a future date when my book is out, I will have been successful.

*Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay 

©2021 Red Leaf Word Services. All Rights Reserved.

Insecure Writers Support Group April Post

aimeredleaf, The Narrative Gardener 1 Comment

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

April’s question is: Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?

*Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

When I first glanced at the prompt I thought “No, I’m not a risk-taker in my writing.”

But then while pondering it further, perhaps I am somewhat. I don’t think of it as risk-taking, more like trying to make myself stand out in the sea of fantasy writers and bloggers. Building an audience is all about standing out and getting noticed, as is all the marketing I do for my freelance editing business. And is standing out risky?

It sure can be.

Well, it is to me, as I’m sure it is to many followers of this group (the word ‘insecure’ is what draws us together, right?). But it is also something I MUST do if I want to be a successful business owner and author.

Like many fantasy authors and game players, I have created a fantasy world where my stories will take place.

I say ‘will’ because they aren’t written yet. There. I said it. I’m going to write stories.

Even saying this feels risky to me. I’ve just put it in writing that I’m going to write novels. What if I never get to?

Honestly though, I have enough of the story on paper that there is no way I can’t write the books now. I’m dying to.

On to risk number 2. The blog series is written in the first person, from the perspective of the narrator who is doing the traveling, but she is telling the story to an audience (the readers) actively. Throughout the narration she ‘breaks the fourth wall’ and talks to the audience, giving them candid info about the scene or episode or answering questions they pose to her (the questions are implied in the answers).

It’s not a typical construction, but I need it to be more than boring blog posts talking about a fantasy land. It needs a purpose, a reason, and to be more conversational. What’s more conversational than someone discussing their travels to a foreign land and answering questions about it? It works well enough for me writing it, I can only hope it works for the reader.

Risk number 3. I suppose some of the idiosyncrasies within my fantasy world could be considered risky. For example, it is a matriarchal society. Heredity is through the female line for rulers, family lineages, and names, and the offspring remain with the mother’s family until they are at least 9. Marriage exists, but it rarely happens. There is no reason for two people to be only together.

There is no worship system, no houses of worship, no gods. Only what the people interact with on a daily basis- sky, earth, sun, moon.

I have a difficult time terming these points as ‘risky’ because it is fiction, and fantasy at that. There is the real risk that some readers won’t identify with it enough to read it, which is ok. That’s what target audiences are for.

Risk inherently implies that there is a reward. I am rewarded when I write the story and see it come to life on the page, and I can be rewarded if readers consume it and enjoy it also. Growth and change come about through risk. Without it, it can be difficult to move forward in life, business, career, in many things. Maybe my risks aren’t earthshattering, but for me, they still seem large. And I’ll keep taking them.

Insecure Writers Support Group March Post

aimeredleaf, The Narrative Gardener Leave a comment

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

March 3 question – Everyone has a favorite genre or genres to write. But what about your reading preferences? Do you read widely or only within the genre(s) you create stories for? What motivates your reading choice?

Up until a few years ago my reading preference was single-minded: Fantasy.

*Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

I hadn’t even thought seriously about writing a book, so that wasn’t part of the equation. When I went to find reading material, I went straight to the fantasy section and that was it.

Then came the day that I was browsing in my local library and I saw Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches. The cover drew my attention, the blurb reeled me in and I took it with me. A crack appeared in my fantasy-hardened reading focus.

Now with all of the publicity surrounding the tv show based upon that book, you probably know something about it. Maybe only that there is magic in it, so there is a fantastical element present—I didn’t really stray that far.

But that was just the beginning. I blew through the All Souls series, fell completely in love with it, and had the worst book hangover ever after I was done.

Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

I wanted more. I wanted more alternate history stories. I wanted to see where authors’ imaginations take them when historical events are the prompts.

That was the beginning of my obsession with historical fiction set in Europe.

If I look at it critically, it really shouldn’t have surprised me as it did. I have always gravitated toward European history prior to 1900, those are the elective classes I took and what I enjoyed learning about at any point in school. I even took history classes when I studied in Ireland for a year.

Even this time period restriction has eased, though. My current audiobook binges are all set in England and Europe around both World Wars.

Next came my offer to read a novel as a beta reader for a friend in a Facebook group.

Splash. I fell into steampunk.

Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay 

Wow, is that a fun genre! I binged that for months, filling my Kindle with its brassy, mechanical tales swathed in multi-layered skirts, clockworks, and evening suits. It has become my go-to for a fun, adventurous, mechanically magical page-turner.

With fantasy being my first and steadfast love, that is what I want to write first. I’m well on my way to doing that, publishing a blog series with the worldbuilding for my created world while I work on sorting through the elements of the main story that stumbles around in my brain.

But every so often, the idea of delving into a historical fiction story or a some-kind-of-punk mystery raises its hand and my writer-brain wants to take a ditch-dive into the ‘shiny new thing.’ One day, yes, I will do it. But first things first.

I also honor my true love of books and bookstores, gravitating toward titles about libraries, bookshops, scrolls, and the like, which has led me to some contemporary fiction. Then there’s paranormal (give me a vampire any day, go ahead, bite me, please!) and the many, many YA and NA (new adult) books I’ve enjoyed.

I guess I do ready sort of widely. Somewhat. I’ve tried murder mysteries, thrillers, cozy mysteries, and women’s fiction, too. It’s all been fun.

Since I’ve branched out, I’ve realized that I do have moments when I want something specific, a certain tone or type of story, and I can usually find it in my TBR list (which is endless).

Covers do draw me in, as a first contact point, or repel me. In fact, I find that the current trend of putting close-up images of people on the covers does nothing for me. It’s fine if there is a character depicted, but what else is there? Symbols, landscapes, buildings, books, what else is there to draw my attention and make me pick up the book to read the blurb? That’s what piques my curiosity and what I want to see in my mind when I read.

I know expanding my reading genres has expanded my ability as a writer and storycrafter. It has to. It’s part of the alchemy that happens in the brain when it is exposed to story. It takes all the bits of inspiration and craft and scrambles it up together to put out my unique author voice.

Image by loulou Nash from Pixabay

We are all influenced by what we read. It is important to acknowledge and accept that, even embrace it because that’s how writers learn and develop. Nonfiction that teaches writing craft is excellent, but reading identifies all of those principles in action and helps to inspire our minds to weave them into our own tales.

So yes, read. Read your own genre profusely. But try not to ignore others. You never know which phrase from a horror thriller will be the spark for the reaction that creates your plot twist.

Reading expands our minds and imaginations, fills the creative well. Reading creates inspired writers.~

If you are curious about my fantasy writing, please check out my Collection of Huphaea blog series here on this site!