Writing a Twist

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! It's the start of a brand new week and I'd like to take this time to talk about excitement and twists when writing a novel. Today, we'll be talking about writing a twist. Tomorrow, who knows? Perhaps I'll go into The Switch and how to do it. We'll see. Get your pens and notebooks ready, it promises to be an interesting few days.

Writing a twist is surprising your reader with something unexpected. There can be little foreshadowing when writing a proper twist in a story. Your readers need to say, "I did not see that coming!" Whether it makes them laugh, gasp, or drop their jaw in horror, the reveal of your twist needs to be the two punch. If you can make it come out at the end of a chapter that's even better! It makes your reader turn the page.

Now, for you readers out there: Have you come across a book that slapped you with the two punch when you least expected it? Did it leave you satisfied?

I read three books like that last year. Two of them were part of the Canopy series by Crystal Lee. When I wrote that just now I realized I mentioned her last week, too. Funny how some authors stick in your head, eh? Anywho, the third was by Robert Chazz Chute titled Bigger Than Jesus. I gave it five stars on Amazon and Goodreads because it was funny, fun, well written, and had twists and turns I never saw coming. The perspective was unusual (2nd person) but I found it kept me engaged in the story and was a perfect choice.

Notice these books stayed with me because of the twists. Others stayed for other reasons but we're talking about twisty novels here. Let's not digress, mkay? Think of only those novels that surprised you with a turn in the plot you didn't see coming and I'll do the same. Yes, this was me catching myself.

In the first chapter of Bigger Than Jesus, I got the first twist. It came at me like a Mike Tyson right hook, was perfectly placed in the storyline, and kept me going on to chapter 2 to see what happened next. It wasn't until the last chapter of Canopy book 1 that Ms. Lee gave me the twist and I was left with my jaw on the floor when I realized the truth and waiting anxiously for book 2. It wasn't just a cliffhanger; it was a shove off the damned cliff and I was left hurtling toward the ground at breakneck speeds. Good thing she writes fast! I now await book 3 because book 2 did the same freaking thing! Arghhhhhhh!

A plot twist must be planned as you think out your novel in order for it to work well. Writing in a plot twist on the fly rarely works. I'm not saying it never works; don't get in a tizzy. I'm saying it rarely works. When it's inserted on the fly, you usually end up needing to go back and change other things for it to work properly in your story line. If that's okay with you, no biggie. If you're one of those that can't change things to make a super awesome plot twist make sense later, don't do it.

Remember, a plot twist isn't the same thing as a character twist. A plot twist changes the whole plot of the book. Character twists only change who done it.

Have you written a most excellent plot twist lately? Read one? Let's hear about it!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Dark Expectations Blog Tour + Giveaway!

Happy weekend, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I bring you a stop on Janiera Eldridge's blog tour for Dark Expectations. It's book two of the Soul Sisters series. Check it out and have some fun entering the giveaway at the bottom!

Title: Dark Expectations (Book 2 in the Soul Sisters Trilogy)

Author: Janiera Eldridge

Release Day: October 31, 2012

Synopsis:  With Ani taking her place as queen, there are some enemies lurking she could never imagine! There's a secret compound in California that wants to know the secrets to making a vampire or werewolf. When they kidnap Ani during a trip back to California they might actually get what they want. Her sister Dana, her lover Diego and other vampires do everything they can to get her back. If they don't succeed, they face being controlled completely by the human race forever! Dark Expectations is the exciting sequel to Soul Sisters that's full of adventure, danger and what it means to be queen!

Buy Links:

Amazon (Paperback & Kindle)

Goodreads

Coming soon to other online book retailers in late January!

Title: Soul Sisters (Book 1 in the Soul Sisters Trilogy)

Author: Janiera Eldridge

Release Day: October 18^th 2012

Synopsis: Soul Sisters is an urban fantasy novel about African-American twin sisters Ani and Dana who have a rather unique secret: one sister is human while the other is a vampire. While the sisters have lived peacefully with each other for many years one fateful night will change both their lives forever. When a drunken man tries to attack Dana (the human sister) Ani (the vampire sister) protects her sister with all of her ferocious power. However, when the vampire’s leader Donovan finds out about the public display he calls for the sisters to be assassinated for disobedience. Ani and Dana now are in for the fight of their lives to protect each other as well as the lives of their dedicated friends who have joined them on their mission for survival. If Dana and Ani can make it through this time of uncertainty, Ani can take her new place as vampire queen. Soul Sisters is expected to be a trilogy; The book also features a multicultural cast of characters that brings a new edge of chic to the vampire world!

Buy Links:

Amazon (paperback&Kindle)

Goodreads

Coming soon to other online book retailers in late January!

Author Bio:  Janiera enjoys feeding her book addiction when she not writing. She is also a book blogger at Beauty and Books where she mixes being a book nerd with keeping things chic. When not reading or writing she is freelance writing in the entertainment industry.When trying to relax she likes a huge yard sale on a Saturday morning, rainy days to read by and nacho cheese is her kryptonite. Soul Sisters is her debut novel.

Connect With Janiera:

Twitter: @LazenBeauty

FB: Janiera Eldridge

Blog: http://janieraeldridge.blogspot.com

Goodreads: Janiera Eldridge

US Giveaway Only!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Entering a Competition - ABNA

Happy Friday, everyone! If you're a writer and you don't already know about the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, I don't know what rock you've been dwelling under. It went live just a few days ago and closes to entries on the 27th of January.

I wrote my pitch of 288 words and uploaded a 4k word excerpt and my manuscript for The Bird. I'm feverishly working to get it polished to perfection so I can replace it ASAP. While the draft they have is good, it's a third draft and doesn't have the polish I demand.

So, this is a short post today. I need my editing time. I have a special post for you all tomorrow and will be doing a giveaway so come on back for that. My blog here is one of the hosts for a blog tour! Yay! We'll have some fun!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

What's in a Character?

It's Thursday, oh my! One more day until the weekend and you can all relax into your planned debauchery for two days. Today's post will be about character bios. So, grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

What is a character bio?

Basically, it's a white paper on each of your characters that tells basic information. In order to portray a rounded character on the page, you need to understand why they'll react in a specific way in any given situation. To prevent screwing up things like age, height, or description, you need something you can reference quickly without having to scroll through your whole manuscript to see what you said about this or that. It helps you keep your story straight.

That's all well and good, but what should you include in a character bio?

Some of the same items on your Timeline should be included in your characters' bios. Here's a list of what I include - you may want to add to this.

• Full Name - First, middle, and last along with any other names they've had along the way.
• Location - Where they live, where they were born, if different, why it changed.
• Age - Includes birthday, zodiac sign, and recent celebrations.
• Physical Description - Height, weight, hair color, eye color, shoe size, skin color, manicure?, pedicure?, hair length, eyebrows (V shaped, bushy, pencil thin, etc...), identifying marks, for women: bra size.
• Mental Description - Self centered, egotistical, timid, brash, vengeful, etc...
• Reasons for Mental Description - What happened in life to make them that way.
• Friends - Other characters. Are they major? Minor? Plot changing?
• Relationships - Spouse, kids, parents - with names and nature of relationship.
• Goals - What their ultimate life goal is.
• Career - What they do or want to do.
• Skills - Any skills they may have.
• Magical Powers - For fantasy or paranormal. Can they shoot fire from their asses? Lightning bolts from their eyes? Levitate? See through peoples' clothing?
• Sexual Orientation - Straight, gay, bisexual, etc...
• Fun - What they do to let their hair down.

Again, feel free to add to this list. But if you fill out all of the above for each of your characters, major and minor, you'll have characters that feel real on the page because they're real to you. Fully developed and fleshed out completely.

I hope this helps in some small way.

Is there anything you include that's not on my list? Care to share?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Character Flaws

Happy Hump Day, good people of the blogosphere! After today, just two more days until the weekend. I heard that cheer! I'd like to talk about flaws today and why your characters need them. So, grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

Your character can't be perfect. Perfect people are boring and no one wants to read about them. Strife, problems, personality flaws, disfigurement, etc... are necessary to make your characters memorable. But more than being memorable, they need to be identifiable. People need to be able to pick up your book and understand the struggle your character is going through; maybe even see a little of themselves.

Every character is on a journey. Whether it's a journey to learn something, do something, or change something, they all must have a direction to travel in. If you've made them flawless, what can they learn? If they're doing something, why? What about their personality flaws makes them want to do it? If they want to change something, what is it? How can you give your character the two-punch they need?

Some flaws I love:

• Headstrong - These characters believe they're never wrong.
• Conceit - They love themselves so much, they feel they're perfect when they aren't.
• Mistakes of the Past - Oh man, these characters get themselves in so much trouble become they often become:
• Chronic Liars - Folks who lie to cover up a past they deem shameful.
• Revenge Seekers - Those people who can never ever just let it go.
• Addicts - The list of things people can be addicted to is long. Sometimes they know it, sometimes they don't.

There's so many to list I can't think of them all! Use your imagination; that's why you're a writer.

Just remember, when you're writing that character bio, be sure you go into flaws. If you don't use a character bio, I beg you to start. Aren't familiar with character bios? Come back tomorrow and I'll give you a list of things you need to include.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Ethics Part Two

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today is part two of my ethics discussion on the blog; I hope you're all enjoying the fun so far. If you missed part one, click here. Part two is all about fan fiction and ethics surrounding those novels that spring forth from other novels. Strap in and let's go for a ride, shall we?

Fan fiction, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, are novels that are based upon best sellers. Sometimes it encompasses the characters and keeps telling their story; but sometimes it only uses the basic plot idea. Many of these novels are then self-published.

But is it wrong?

Here's my thinking:
If you come up with an original story idea that has the same basic plot as another book on the market, then you publish it, you're in the right. There's nothing wrong with using the same plot line.
If you use characters from a story someone else wrote and write them in the same way (characteristics, attributes, location, etc...), you're in the wrong.

Oh my... I heard that all the way over here.

Why the collective gasp? Is it because I dared to say using someone's plot idea is okay? Or because I said using someone's characters is wrong?

Let me explain!
How many truly original plot lines are there? Let's do a quick rundown of the known ones:

• Boy meets girl and falls in love but they have obstacles to overcome before they can be together.
• Good king v/s bad king (or evil) and the land is in danger.
• Something stolen must be retrieved.
• Someone did something to someone else and revenge is sought.
• Life and struggles therein.
• Love triangles.
• Right v/s wrong; a lesson.
• Whodoneit? Murder mystery. Can also fall under revenge or life.
• Crime novels. Can also fall under something stolen and life.

No matter what breed of person or creature you put in the story, the plot lines aren't really original. What is original are the characters and the specific types of obstacles they must overcome.

Yes, I agree, there's a fine line to be walked there.

I read some Twilight fan fiction last year and helped the author get it to the published state (editing, cover design). Why is it Twilight fan fiction? Well, she used the same basic plot line of two boys, one girl, and something between them they have to overcome. Girl can't wrap her head around just one of the boys. But instead of paranormal aspects, the author used sci-fi aspects to create the barrier between girl A and boy A. No vampires, no location similarities, and none of the same characters. I love the Canopy series by Crystal Lee and think her story is truly original. If you think you'd like to read some science fiction romance, go check it out. See what good fan fiction is like.

Canopy Volume One on Amazon. Just $0.99.

Now, I haven't read any direct knockoffs of major best-sellers but I know they exist. I don't think any form of parody falls into this class. There are actually specific laws about writing a parody; even down to being able to use the original cover/poster art. Go figure.

So, now you have another perspective on ethics when using someone's work.

Have you read anything fan fiction based? What did you think? Was it too similar? Where do you stand?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Ethics Part One

Happy Monday! Did I just hear a collective groan rise from my audience? Comeon, guys and gals, don't be like that! It's a new week and a chance to flex those creative muscles. I've chosen a heavy topic for today: Ethics. So, read along and join in the fun!

This is going to be a two part series. The first part will be about writing from life and how to keep from going too far and the second will be about writing from a story someone else wrote (commonly called fan fiction). Both have their own challenges and own group of people who believe strongly one way or the other. Please try and keep in mind this is only my opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt. If you believe otherwise, that's your prerogative. Keep the comments nice, please.

I always say you should write from life. Many of my characters and the situations they find themselves in come from life. I do believe there's a fine line that, when crossed, says you went too far.

But how to know when/if it was too far?

Here's my quick checklist to know if you've taken too many liberties:

• If someone can read your story and know who you're talking about (not the individual the character was based on).
• If many people could read your story and know a deep secret and who it belongs to.
• If you use the name of the person you're writing about.
• If the situations are exactly as you remember them and someone was humiliated or harmed in any way.

If any of the above are true, you may want to reconsider what you wrote.
Here's the way I do it:

• I never ever describe the person my writing is based on exactly. I make changes to their appearance (brunettes may become blonde, shorter folks may become taller, etc...) and their personalities.
• If it's a deep secret you were told in confidence, change the setting and the descriptions drastically (if it happened in a hotel - make it happen in a house, if it had two people - add a third person, if the situation included a discovery - change it so something similar but different was discovered, etc...).
• I never use the names of the people involved. Ever.
• I never expose someone else if they were humiliated or harmed in any way; even if the story is out of this world.

I have a great example of believable fiction writing! When people began reading Shelia, they asked me if that happened to me. It didn't; but I was able to make them believe I'd experienced it by the way I described the situations. I'm a student of human nature and am familiar with the reactions of those who have been put in tough positions. I listen when people talk. I empathize with them and try to walk in their shoes. Those situations in Shelia were pure fiction. No one ever told me a story like that. I've heard stories that were similar, but I would never have written those down. Because they weren't mine to tell.

Never talk to people; talk with them. Be a listener as well as a participant. In the age of Facebook and Twitter, it becomes all about me, me, me. Make it about them. This is a difficult skill to hone but, once you have it down, the world becomes your Google.

I once read an article about a photographer who had some great photographs of refugee women that had been beaten and raped. They were getting off a boat at the rescue mission where he was. He took their photos as they stepped from the boat but never published a single one. That photographer went on to win a Pulitzer for other photography work he did. Most likely, he could've gotten one with one of those images of the women. When he was asked why he never published them, his answer was: "Because the pain on their faces was so raw. They didn't need to be humiliated further by having those photographs published for the world to see." Ahhhh ethics at their finest.

Carry that with you as you write. Be like a doctor: Pledge first to do no harm.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo