Beta Readers

I Want to Be A Writer Series

One of the greatest assets a writer can possess is a group of people you can trust to read your writing before it is published. These people are called your “Beta Readers”.

Just as in any industry, it is important to test your product before throwing it out to the masses. This gives you the opportunity to gain valuable insights into how others are going to respond to your story and characters before the book is published and everything is “set in stone”. But you must be careful in exactly who it is you trust to do this invaluable task.

Just as a jury is carefully selected for a trial, you must be certain that your beta readers are suitable for your needs. You don’t want someone judging your book if they are not interested in the genre you have written. You do not need someone that is going to be afraid to tell you the truth. You must be wary of those that might steal your story idea or send copies of your book to every person they know. Nor do you need someone that possesses a vengeful spirit that will do anything they can to jeopardize your writing career. Jealousy is a slimy snake that can sneak into the least expected places and bite you before you even realize it is there. We all want to believe that the people we love and look to as life long friends want us to succeed, but it is often times like this when we discover the true nature of those we thought we could trust. Do not allow your writing to become the victim of circumstances such as these.

When you begin to gather your group of beta readers together, make sure they understand exactly what their role is, as well as the responsibility you are placing them under. One of the best ways you can verify that this is understood is by having them sign a “Non-Disclosure Agreement”. This simple piece of paper works as a legal buffer to prevent your book from being stolen or misused. You can create your own agreement for free from this website, RocketLawyer.com.

The process in which you send your book to your Beta Readers is entirely up to you. You can send them one chapter at a time as you complete them, or you can wait until you have the entire book finished. Whichever method you choose, make sure it is the appropriate method that supports your writing process rather than hinders it. Some writers have several levels of Beta Readers in which are responsible for reading their books at different levels of completion. For instance, one group reads the first raw copy, then another group reads the first edited copy, then another reads the final edited version before it goes to the publisher. This may sound complicated, but it can be very useful and productive if you have the right groups of people. Every eye see’s and every mind processes differently.

In this day and age, there are so many various methods of putting your book on the market, having someone assure that each form of your published book is properly formatted, is extremely important. It is a very time consuming process to do this on your own. Even the major publishing houses struggle with this. But when you have a strong support team behind you, they can make even the most tedious problems seem minute.

Finding Beta Readers can be difficult at first. For most Indy authors, this often involves their family and friends. Unfortunately, this can be a difficult situation. The people that love, or even remotely care about you, are often afraid to be brutally honest because they don’t want to hurt you. If you involve people you have a personal relationship with, make sure you are prepared to accept what you are asking them to do and that they understand that this is not something that will jeopardize your relationship with them. You can avoid this sticky situation by finding others that you are not personally involved with. There are all sorts of websites that connect writers with Beta Readers and there are many communities that have local writing groups that will help you. If you already have a fan base, you could select a few of your fans for this “honor”. But you must always take the proper precautions when dealing with individuals you do not know.

There are many resources available for writers online. Take the time to network with other writers and learn from their mishaps and successes. Always remember that this is your career. Your success depends upon the amount of effort you put forth working towards it.

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Avoiding The Writing Crash and Burn

I Want to Be A Writer Series

There is a very significant difference between a “writing slump”, and a full blown “writing crash and burn”.  A slump is something that is easily overcome with a little effort.  It’s difficult to survive, let alone, come back from a crash.

Just as it is in a slump, there are many reasons why potential writers crash and burn before they finish their first book, or after only writing one book. No matter what the symptoms are, they all lead to one major problem – the will to write disappears. Just as you cannot force a horse to drink water, you cannot force yourself to write if the will to do is no longer there. So let’s look at a few ways to avoid this problem by implementing a few safety precautions.

Writing Fatigue – Too much of anything can easily become a hazardous obsession. As the old saying goes, “you should never put all of your eggs in one basket”. A good quality life in general comes from balance. When you spend every waking moment, and every moment you should be sleeping, writing, you will quickly burn out. What was once a dream coming true, will become a burden you must complete so that you can do all of the other things you have neglected. Soon, everything that you have been putting off, will interfere with your ability to write. Instead of writing being a positive in your life, it becomes a negative that takes you away from your family and other important, vital, aspects of your life. There is nothing more inspirational to a writer than living and observing their environment, but you must get away from your desk from time to time to do that.

Health –  A strong, healthy mind depends upon a strong, healthy body. Even something as simple as a common cold can interfere with your ability to write. Lack of sleep can lead to a foggy mind that cannot concentrate. Lack of a healthy diet can as well, not to mention how aggravating it is to stop in the middle of a thought process, just to get your stomach to quit screaming at you. I could go on and on about all of the various ailments that can wreak havoc on your writing ability, but I’m sure you get the idea. The best thing you can do is to balance your life by creating a daily sleep, eat, and exercise schedule that your writing depends on, rather than they depend on your writing. If you allow your writing to be something you get to enjoy only when those important tasks are taken care of, you will look forward to writing even more. But physical health is not the only important factor when it comes to your mental health.  Make sure that you do not neglect your family and friends. It is very easy for a writer to get caught up inside of their head, having imaginary conversations with amazing fictional characters. But they are not real and they go away when the book is done. Many writers suffer from depression, and studies have proven that many creative types are bi-polar, among other mental ailments.  Yes, I know it’s scary. But that is even more reason to make sure that you spend time living outside of your book, enjoying life just as much, or as closely as you possibly can, as the characters in your books.

Disappointment – There are many levels of disappointment you will find yourself dealing with throughout the writing, publishing, and marketing process. The best way to guard against this hazard is to educate yourself and be willing to face the truth, rather than fantasy. If you are writing with the soul purpose to get rich and famous, then you might as well give up now. I’m not saying it won’t happen. We have all seen the few who have made it to such heights. But for everyone that has, there are thousands that remain virtually unknown except for a few loyal and dedicated fans. Let’s look at some others you will face.

• Doubt – Every writer faces moments when they doubt whether or not their writing is good enough. Personally, this often comes after reading a book from one of my favorite authors and I realize that my writing simply cannot compare to their’s. It is during these moments when I have to remind myself that I am not writing just to be another voice that blends in with all the others. A great artist is one that stands out and becomes the one that others want to be like.  Yes, I know that sounds vain. But unless you are writing fan fiction, this is how you have to think. This has to be something you strive for if you want your “voice” to be heard.
• Rejection – We have all heard that virtually every author has gone through their own series of rejections. You have to understand that this is a part of the publishing game, especially if you are attempting to be accepted by one of the big publishing houses. If you are self-publishing, then rejection takes on a whole new, even more personal, element. You must armor yourself with a very thick skin, and always remember that not everyone is going to like your books. That is why there are so many different genre’s. Even more so, not everyone is going to be able to relate to your story. That doesn’t mean that your story is written badly or that your story is horrible. You will get a few negative comments no matter how good your story is. Think about this; people complained that the Harry Potter books were too long. Personally, I would have loved it if they never ended. That is just an example of how you simply cannot please everyone, and you should never try to. Focus on your target audience, and when reading reviews of your work, take what you can get from them and use that knowledge to make your next book even better.
• Low Sales – Marketing can be a nightmare, especially for someone that is completely unknown. You have no choice but to begin by getting the word out to the people you know in hopes they will help you spread the word. That usually means friends and family. I hate to tell you this, but they are usually the first ones to expect you to give them a free book. That is fine, but don’t’ expect every person you know to buy a hundred copies of your book. It takes a lot of work and even more time to get your name out there and generating some buzz about your book. Most ebooks that are self-published never sell more than a hundred copies. Why? Simple, no one knows about the books. It usually has nothing to do with the quality of the writing, or if the story is interesting. This is why I always say that writing the book is the easy part. It is selling it that is agonizing. Take each sell you get, one at a time, and know that each one is a sign of success. If that person buys another book you have written, then that is an even greater success.

I have only touched on the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the multitude of obstacles that could destroy your writing career. But the most important thing to keep in mind is that your success is measured by your standards, not everyone else’s. Set realistic goals for yourself, and try to balance your life as much as you possibly can. Live your life doing the things that make you happy, for the sake of being happy, and you will find true contentment. That is something that no amount of money or fame could ever buy.

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Slopping Through the Writing Slump

I Want to Be A Writer Series

As with any type of creative work, you will hit a point where you feel like you have hit a brick wall. No matter how hard you try, you simply cannot get your brain into the writing mode. You feel as if you have lost your ability to connect to the characters or the will to write period. That is a very common problem that every writer faces. So how do you get out of it?

The first thing you must always remember, is that writing a story is a very personal endeavor. It is something that you alone must create. There will not be a coach or a boss standing over your shoulder to keep you motivated every step of the way. You may have a few friends and loved ones that support you, and that is great, but it is completely and entirely up to you to see this through. The inspiration and motivation must always come from inside of you, independent of any outside source that can and will alter like the weather outside your window.

Some people suggest that when you hit a slump, just write your way through it.  Even if it is crap, just keep writing. That may work for some, or it can create a horrible habit that will clearly reflect in your finished product. Personally, I have edited too many of my own books to waste time deleting and rewriting uninspired crap. I have also been the victim of having to read through uninspired crap that forced me to throw a book out without finishing it, and that is the last thing you want your readers to do. Some people may be satisfied by just saying that they finished writing a book, and that is their ultimate achievement, but that is not a writer, that is a hobbyist. If you are to be a career writer, you must learn to find that special place where the writing flows out of you and your characters come to life.

One of the best ways I have found to pull myself out of a writing slump, is to simply walk away for a few days, find a book from one of my favorite authors that I haven’t read yet, and simply fall in love with reading all over again. Writing is only a means of projecting the magic of what you really love, and that is reading. When you rediscover the passion that motivated you to write in the first place, you will begin to find that slump disappearing, and the drive to be creative begins to boil inside of you once again.

Once that desire is found, read through what you have written.  You may find that your slump was actually a sign that it was your story that was hitting a brick wall. Perhaps you went off track, and fell into a side story that was pushing you away from the main plot. Perhaps your characters are bored and something needs to happen to spice their lives up a little more. You may even find that the original plot you began the story with is really nothing more than a step to an even greater event that you never even thought of.

Fear of altering a plan once you begin is a huge obstacle to overcome. It is like taking a road trip.  Sure, you may get to your destination, but was the journey getting there noteworthy? What if you were so focused on the destination, you missed an even greater adventure that you could have taken if you weren’t so focused on the end result.  Plans, outlines, whatever you are using as a guide to work your way through, need to be flexible. Do not set anything in stone until the very last word of your story is written.

The morale of the story; find that balance that nurtures your creativity. Do not rely on things that you cannot control for inspiration, and do not box your creativity inside a box that hinders a story from its true potential. Free yourself from obstacles that hinder you and always hold on to the passion by reminding yourself of its true potency. Enjoy the art you are partaking of. Read and remember the way it feels to fall in love with a book, so that you remember the elements that your readers want to find in yours.

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Write What You Know

I Want To Be A Writer Series

We’ve all heard that you should write about the things you know.  But what exactly does that mean?

If you take it for face value, then it’s pretty obvious. You shouldn’t write about something you have no understanding of. Seems simple right? Writing a book or a short story is never that simple.

Let’s say you are writing a story about a fictional character that was a Confederate Soldier in the US Civil War. You know exactly what battle you are going to write about, the uniform that was worn, the weapons used, where the soldier is from, what rank he is, the weather conditions, the horrible living conditions, etc. You know everything you need to paint a clear picture of who your character is, and where and when the story is taking place. You have done your homework. You have everything organized. All of your notes readily available, and you are in your own little writing world ready to get to work.

Great, now you have everything you need to write the bones of the story. But what about the flesh and blood, the things that put the life into your story? This is the point where you go from being a journalist, that states just the facts, to a writer that creates the world journalists would want to write about. Knowing all of those facts are only the beginning. You must get to know your characters on a personal level that is so deep, you can close your eyes and imagine you are them. You have to know your characters so well that you know exactly what they feel, think, how they react, how they speak, how they move, how they dress, what they look like; you have to know them almost as well as you know yourself. Imagine yourself as Dr. Frankenstein and you are creating your characters from bits and pieces of things everyone can relate to and creating a whole being. Once you have all of those pieces put together, you must give life to those characters.

The easiest way to find those bits and pieces is to look at the people you have encountered in your life. You can take every good quality from a group of people you know and make one great character or you can take every despicable quality and create an evil villain. This is where you write what you know, you write what you have experienced. Telling your readers who someone is will never be enough. You must allow them to experience your character and get to know them as if they are meeting them face to face in the very world you are writing about.

A writer is a painter, only you are using words to paint a picture. Just as a painter doesn’t paint every single detail of a subject in their painting, you must not bore your readers with details that are better left to be experienced and imagined. The beginning of a story is one of the most difficult sections to write simply because you must find that perfect balance of introduction to your character so that your readers can relate to them just enough to want to learn more and continue reading.  But you also must take into consideration the story and finding that perfect starting point.  Always remember that back stories of your characters are extremely important for you know so you can understand your characters.  But that doesn’t mean that your readers must know them.

Everyone has a unique writing style.  Finding your own is one of the greatest gifts you will ever discover as a writer.  It is your comfort zone.  I won’t get into too much detail about what to do and what not to do because I don’t want to hinder someone’s writing style.  The best advice I can give is to read.  Read as often as you can and look at the way other writers push through the areas you struggle with in your writing.

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Writing Environment

I Want To Be A Writer Series

Create your writing environment

No matter how natural writing and story telling comes to you, you will find more obstacles in your life that will prevent you from writing than you could ever imagine. It is extremely important to find a time and a place to write that eliminates as many distractions as you possibly can.  The first thing you need to do is get it set in your head that this is your time to work. You must learn to discipline your time. That means you must turn off your phone. Turn off all email, messages, and social networking alerts. Turn off the television and radio (unless it is the music that inspires you). If something distracts you from your train of thoughts, then eliminate it from your work area. You may find that even an open window can be distracting. Some people thrive in noisy busy environments and some cannot have even the slightest distraction. This is all a personal preference that only you can decide what works best for you.

When you write, consistency is absolutely vital. The flow of your narrative, the character voices and personalities all must remain consistent or your book will fall apart.  Imagine your story is a blanket that you are weaving. It is extremely important to keep the exact amount of tension on the string you are weaving in and out of the warp threads. If you alter the tension it will be plainly obvious in the finished product. Instead of having a nice straight edge along the sides of your blanket you will have edges that wave in where you have tightened the weave too much and edges that wave out where it is too loose. Your story is coming from your head so you must keep your mental flow processing at the same pace.

You often hear of people only being able to write when they are inspired. Personally, I do not believe anyone should leave their work dependent upon something that is not guaranteed to happen every day. Everyone is inspired by an idea to write about but you should never rely on that inspiration to carry you through the journey of your story or else you will not complete it. That is why it is important to create a “writing” environment that does not necessarily inspire you to write about a single story but enables you to have the freedom to remove yourself from all other outside influences and channel the story so that you can absorb yourself into the character’s lives and leave your own life behind for a few hours. When you are able to do this, you will find the inspiration you need from your story itself rather than something that you are constantly struggling to find in a world full distractions.

As a wife and mother, one of the most difficult obstacles I have faced is trying to explain to my family why I need to be left alone for a little while to work. Most people have jobs where they can talk and work at the same time. Absolute concentration is not a necessity. But as a writer it is absolutely vital. You must take the time and explain to your family and your friends that this is something you are dedicated to and you need the time to make it possible. But as I said before, you must discipline your time. It is easy to consume your whole life with writing and forget about everything else. You must balance your life and time you spend with your family. When your book is finished you are going to find yourself inundated with all the work that is necessary to market it. If you can start balancing your time now, it will help you balance your time then.

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How To Publish Your Book Flow Chart

I Want To Be A Writer Series

I had to share this, courtesy of Writers Digest.

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Organizing Your Story Components

I Want To Be A Writer Series

Let’s do a quick review to assure you have all of the components of your story.

• The Great Idea – Write this down and display it as you would a sonogram picture of your unborn child because you are about to give life to that idea. This will motivate you when times get tough and when distractions abound. This is the reason why you are writing. Nothing else. If you think of anything else you will lose your inspiration. Giving life to your idea is the ultimate goal at this point.
• Genre and Target Audience – Knowing your boundaries now will help you stay on track throughout the whole writing process. You will have a clear understanding of how long your book needs to be, what content is acceptable, and a general idea of the language you will use. Now mind you, when I say language I do not mean vernacular, I am referring to the specific manner in which your character will speak.
• The Elements of a Story –  You should now have a clear understanding of and a collection of notes and visuals targeted around the characters, the plot (the conflict), the setting (environment and time), and the resolution (what is the ultimate goal you are writing this story towards).
• The Narrative Mode – What train are you going to use to drive this story home?  This is all about what type of person you are going to personify as the storyteller and you must remain in character all along the journey.  You do this be having a clear understanding of what Narrative View, Voice, and Timing you are writing in.

Now it’s time to organize everything so that all of these notes are readily available for you.  As I stated before, there is nothing more aggravating than having to break your writing momentum to look for one detail that you know you have written down already.

This is something that you must determine what method will best suit you.  Personally, I have found the best method is to keep as much of this info as I can on my computer.  It is where I write and is not dependant upon the room or location I am at.  I don’t have to lug around a huge notebook and binder, everything is a simple click away.  On top of that, you don’t have to waste money on ink, paper, pens, pencils or anything else.  I saw a picture only a few weeks ago that an author posted on Facebook showing his method.  He kept a row of pictures of people that represented his characters on the side of his desktop screen along with pictures of the setting of his story. So as he wrote, his characters and setting were right there and all he had to do was move his eyes to the side. On the other hand, I have seen pictures where authors have taken sticky notes and covered entire walls in their offices with them.  It is all about what works best for you.

Either way you choose, there is one thing you should seriously consider doing. I create a file on my computer for each of my books and then create subfiles for images, content, notes, and anything else I have that pertains to my book. Then I keep it saved on two flash drives. You never know what can happen and if this is something that you want to become your life’s work then you don’t want to risk losing everything because you didn’t think ahead.

However you organize your notes make sure it is something that makes your life easier.  Writing can be stressful at times and the more stress you can avoid now the better off you will be.  These notes are meant to be aids not burdens.  The way you organize them can be the main factor of how effective they will be for you.

Now with any type of organizing you do, it is also important to remove the things that are unnecessary and can potentially be a distraction.  I love having the luxury to write my books and have all of the info I need on my computer, but if I am not careful, my computer can be my worst distraction.  Most of us have our computers set up to alert us when we receive messages.  You have to start thinking of your computer as your office.  An office has walls and a door to block out noises and other distractions while you are working.  You must do the same with your computer.  When you are writing, turn off the alerts so that curiosity doesn’t stop your flow.

You might find it useful to create a schedule.  Some people don’t like schedules because they want the freedom  to write whenever the inspiration hits.  Frankly, I’m one of those people.  But it all depends on what type of person you are.  The most important thing for you to do is to learn to discipline your time.  This is your job and the quality of your work will depend out how seriously you take it.

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Narrative Takes Control

I Want To Be A Writer Series

Remove yourself and embrace the “Narrative Mode”.

This is perhaps my most favorite and at the same time, the most challenging portion of writing. This is when you decide what position you, as the narrator or storyteller, are going to assume. The easiest way for me to describe this is to compare it to an actor portraying a character. The quality of their acting depends on how deeply they embody the character. They must quite literally remove their own personal traits and take on the traits of the character.  Their behavior, appearance, body movement, accent, quirks, everything that makes the character unique must be clearly portrayed or all you will see is the actor rather than the character. Believe it or not, people are not reading your books to hear what you have to say, they want to hear what your characters have to say. So, when you take on this role as the narrator, you must do as actors do and place yourself into the mindset of the narrator. In other words, you get to pretend to be someone else.

Unlike a child pretending, you must understand everything that makes the person you are portraying click. If you don’t understand your own character then there is no way your readers will be able to. There are three main categories in what is called the “Narrative Mode”:

Narrative View Point

The narrator’s affiliation to the story. You must learn and understand the differences between First Person Point of View, Second Person Point of View, and Third Person Point of View.

Narrative Voice

The narrator’s method in which the story is told.  You must decide if you are going to tell the story, read the story from a series of letters or a journal, or even as a news anchor reporting on a juicy bit of news you are revealing to the world.

Narrative Timing

The narrator’s reflections, observations, or predictions.  You must decide if you are going to tell the story as if it has already happened, is happening now, or an event that will happen in the future.

The best resource I have found is from Wikipedia.  Study this and then take a few moments to write a paragraph or two using the view point, voice, and timing of each category.  You will find which mode is the most natural for you to write in and what best suits your idea for the story.

Once you decide what narrative mode you will venture down, you must always remain on that same path. Consistency is extremely important. You do not want to confuse your readers and flipping narrative modes can do that quicker than any other technique you must master as a writer. Always remember that the narrator is the conductor that drives the story train from start to finish.

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It’s Elemental, And You Need Them All

I Want To Be A Writer Series

A good book must have a smooth progressive flow.

Have you ever listened to someone tell a story and get so excited that they start forgetting details and have to constantly backtrack only to find yourself completely lost by the time the story ends?

Have you ever listened to someone tell you a story and get so specific with names and details of things you don’t understand nor need to understand that you pretty much tune out because you just want them to get to the point?

Have you ever listened to someone try to explain a relationship of someone’s cousin’s, brother’s, best friend’s, girlfriends, mother’s, aunt’s, father?

There are certain elements that are required to tell a good story. Without them, the story isn’t worth telling. Too many of them and the story gets lost in monotony. You want to captivate your readers from the moment they read the first line all the way to the very last word. You want them so invested that they cannot bring themselves to put the book down because they have to know what happens next. You want them to feel like the characters are real and the situations they find themselves in are so believable that the reader feels like they are actually experiencing it along with them.

Storytellers have always been among the most respected people from the dawn of mankind. They were the historians and educators long before writing was invented. It was their ability to share their knowledge with others that allowed humans to know their past, understand their present, and see their way into the future. Stories are what gave purpose to long standing conflicts that humans passed down generation to generation and instilled pride or shame of their heritage.  They held the power to create an uprising or bring peace to a troubled populace.  It is because of these great storytellers of the past that our world has become what it is now; right, wrong, or indifferent, they held the power of the knowledge that was passed on to the future.  But in order to hold that power they had to understand the elements of a good story that are like ingredients of a magic potion.  If they couldn’t captivate their audience then the information they were sharing was useless because no one was listening.

By writing a book you are entering a guild as old as humankind and you have a responsibility to learn the craft. For some, the art of storytelling comes easy and natural. Some require guidelines to help guide them through the process to assure they are staying on track. Everyone is different, but every story, like that magic potion, requires the exact ingredients to make it work properly.

CR Rowe has written a great blog series that focuses on these elements. Take some time and absorb this information because it will help you know if your story is on track or not. I can’t tell you how many times I have started writing and lost my way because I didn’t make sure I had these elements already present in my mind as a road map for my story. You may not always know what the ending of your book is going to be, but you still need to pave the way to get to it.

Dreams of Alchemy- CR Rowe Writer: The Heart of Story- new blog series

• Part I
• Part II
• Part III
• Part IV

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Breathing Life Into Your Idea

I Want To Be A Writer Series

Who, What, Where, & When?

Alright, you have an idea, you know what genre you are writing for, and you know you who your target audience is. You now have a blank canvas giving you a mental picture of the general size of the book you need to create. Awesome, so is it time to start writing your masterful idea?

Nope, not yet. You don’t know the characters yet. You can’t write a book if you don’t know who or what the most important aspects of your book are. Not having a clear conception of your characters can lead to a book filled with inconsistencies and confusion for your readers. Unless you are purposefully writing about a group of people with Multiple Personality Disorder then you better take some time and get to know your characters as well as you know your own brother or sister. You must have a clear understanding of what they look like, how old they are, where they’re from, what is their occupation, what grade are they in if they go to school, etc. All of the details that are necessary to understand your character must be evident in your story. You must also understand what kind of language and tone they speak in. That is one of the most important aspects of dialogue and it must remain consistent all through the story unless something changes making the need for the language and tone to change.

So this is where we become mad scientists and we breathe life into your imaginary world and make it so real to you that every time you close your eyes you are practically there living in it. In order to make that possible you must know not only your characters, but their environment and the period of time they are living in. This is where the old writer’s adage, “write what you know” comes into play.

It’s time to go back to your old study habits from school and think about what tools you used that helped you retain information the most. I personally write a short biography for each of my characters. When I start writing too much information then I know I have established a relationship with them. If I struggle then it is an indication that I need to develop and learn more about them. Pictures of the setting in your book give a great visual guide but you must remember that sight is not the only sense you want to relay to your readers. You want them to be able to transport to your location in their mind and experience the sounds, the scents, the weather, even the feel of the ground beneath their feet. You want to do the same with your characters. At this point you want as many details as you can create. You may or may not include them all in your story but at this point, you need to know all of these things.

There are tools that you may want to consider starting now that you will find useful throughout your writing process. One of the most difficult challenges I faced writing my first book, let alone a series, was keeping the time on track.  It is very easy to write a couple of chapters and suddenly find yourself lost in the sense of time. Time progression is extremely important environmentally wise, character wise, and story development wise. You don’t want your character referencing something that happened several months ago that took place in your last chapter and yet your characters are still wearing shorts in what should now be a winter month. It’s one of those details that can screw your whole story up if you do not pay close attention. My solution to this problem was creating a timeline in which I recorded the time of each chapter and continued it through my now fifth book. For each note I included short details of important events that were likely to be brought up at a later time. You may also find it helpful to dig even deeper into the timeline and include important events that happened to your characters before your story takes place.  This will help you keep track of your character’s ages and anything else that is important to who they are now.  This can also apply to the environment or plot of your story.  If you are writing about a single battle during a war, you are going to need to know the details of the war that lead up to the battle. Some writers spend far more time researching than writing the actual book. Take some time and organize yourself so that everything is readily available to you when you need it. There is nothing worse than needing a piece of information and having to break your whole flow of writing to find it. It is things like this that easily lead to writers block because you get lost in the middle of a moment and you cannot get yourself back to that moment to finish writing it.

Take in these popular quotes:

Fiction is about intimacy with characters, events, places. -Robert Morgan

The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself. -Jim Rohn

Why shouldn’t truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense. -Mark Twain
Science fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn’t exist yet, but soon will, and will change everything for everybody, and nothing will ever be the same again. As soon as you have an idea that changes some small part of the world you are writing science fiction. It is always the art of the possible, never the impossible. -Ray Bradbury
Two hours of writing fiction leaves this writer completely drained. For those two hours he has been in a different place with totally different people. -Roald Dahl

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