Can You Hear Me Now?

     Building an audience is so important to a writer nowadays.  This is true not just for those who self-publish, but also for those who want to go the traditional route.  Agents and publishers look to see if an author (especially a yet unpublished author) has a following.  So authors have to spend a good deal of time and energy doing self-promotion long before the book is ready to be sent to an agent or publisher.  So writers tweet, blog, gather Facebook friends, link into LinkedIn and add themselves to Google+.  Often I feel I'm devoting so much time to networking that it's hard to find the energy and creativity to work on the books.  There is a good side to it though.  I really do enjoy interacting with other writers.  I read and comment on five writing / publishing focused blogs and I connect with other writers on Twitter.  I find that interaction encouraging, inspiring, energizing and supportive.

      My experience on Facebook has not been as positive.  I keep showing up, writing my own posts, commenting on others' posts and sharing.  But it feels like a waste of time and energy.  My friends and family, for various reasons, don't do Facebook.  Since FB requires one to have friends in order to grow friends, I feel that I'm having a conversation with myself in a big empty meadow.  Even the birds aren't listening.

     Recently I read about a great idea on a Books and Such post that I follow.  A writer who has written a book about the Titanic started a FB group for people who want to go on a virtual tour of the Titanic.  She connected this to her book by having her main character be the Tour Guide.  Brilliant idea!  I thought, "Maybe that's a way I could grow friends on FB; start a group."  At first, I wasn't sure what kind of group would work for me.  One of my books is about a multiple personality.  The other is about a teenage fairy.  I knew I didn't want to start a multiple personality group, so it seemed that starting a group related to the YA fantasy would be the best route.  Still, I was a little stymied in terms of what kind of group to have.  Then a series of things led to a perfect creative storm.

     A few days ago I watched a supernatural genre t.v. show that my sister loves.  The episode was about banshees and since I write a blog called "Whispers of a Banshee Weaver," my sister thought I might enjoy the episode.  The episode was entertaining but it perpetuated a modern day misconception that banshees are evil and murderous.  With this in mind, when I sat down to write my Banshee blog, I protested this continued defamation of banshees and asked readers to use social media to get the word out that banshees are compassionate and noble, not vicious.

     After finishing the blog, I went to the grocery store.  On the way, it hit me.  I now had my group idea.  An activist group to stop banshee bashing.  I played around with some names and realized as I was doing this that one name created a perfect acronymn: Society of Banshee Supporters --SOBS.  I then promoted it on Twitter and asked for RTs.  I wrote a short new blog on the group and posted it on FB.  Immediately (within minutes) traffic to the blog went up 14%.  Wow!  I didn't expect that much of an impact that quickly. Of course, I was delighted.  Sometimes a little creativity pays off.

     Unfortunately, I found that I couldn't form the group on FB because of the Catch 22: I had to have interested friends on FB to start the group.  So that felt like a dead end.  In response, I asked people who visited the blog to go to my FB page (under the name Christine Dorman) and "friend" me so that we can start the group there.  It remains to be seen what will happen there.

What marketing strategies or platform building have worked effectively for you?


Have you found FB to be a helpful tool?


What's your preferred social medium?

Don't Tell Me!

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."

Yesterday, I found this quote from Anton Chekov on my Twitter page.  Writer Beth Vrabel had retweeted it. Lannie Wright had tweeted it initially.  I'm so glad that it made it's way to me.  Chekov's point is essential to good writing, especially to fiction.  In narrative, the writer's task is not to TELL the story.  The writer's task is to bring the readers into the story and make them EXPERIENCE it.  The readers should be able to hear, smell, taste, touch, and see the story.  If the novel's character goes on a journey (literally or metaphorically), excellent writing grasps the readers and takes them on the journey too.  The journey should be one of both the senses and the emotions.

Remember, in school, when you used to bring things for Show and Tell?  Forget the Tell.  Show.

Telling: It started to rain as Siobhan made her way home through the glade.  Siobhan was happy.  She liked rain.

Showing: A misty drizzle kissed Siobhan's nose.  Joyfully, she threw back the hood of her gray cloak, releasing her golden-red hair as she lifted her face to greet the rain.  The drops grew bigger, caressing her face with refreshing coolness. (from Soul Searcher of Willowsong Woods).

Use specific, sensory details.

Non-specific: The house smelled good.

Specific and sensory: As I walked into the house, the smell of cinnamon and allspice wrapped me in warmth.
         
Today, take some time to experience something fully with your senses.  Walk along the beach.  Sit in nature.  Eat a chocolate chip cookie.  Whatever.  But really experience it.  What does the beach smell like?  What does it feel like?  Sitting on a park bench, what can you hear?  What does the sun feel like?  Is there a breeze? What does the bench look like?  How does it feel?  How do you feel, physically, emotionally?  What does a chocolate chip cookie really taste like?  What words could you use to help someone share the experience--hear the beach, see the park, relish the cookie?

Have you ever lived a story along with a character?


What brought the story to life for you?

Soul Searcher Update

Hi Everyone!

At the advise of a literary agent, I've taken the excerpts from Soul Searcher of Willowsong Woods off of the Goodreads sites.  This is no reflection on Goodreads.  It is an excellent site both for readers and for writers.  I was told, however, that it is unwise to put excerpts from a novel that has not been contracted yet online.  So that is a lesson that I learned and I pass it on to you.

I would love still to get your feedback on the brief synopsis I gave of the plot (see the blog from March 14th).

Would you be interested in reading a story about a rebellious teenage fairy who wants to defy tradition and become a Dragon Learner?  If you were to journey with Siobhan through Shadowshield Mountain, what would you want to encounter or find along the way?  What would you be terrified to encounter?

Blessings and Joy on St. Patrick's Day!
C.B.

Soul Searcher of Willowsong Woods

     I've started a new novel.  It's a Young Adult Fantasy called Soul Searcher of Willowsong Woods.  The main character, Siobhan Willowshee, is a fourteen-going-on-fifteen ages old fairy.  By age fifteen, Siobhan must start training for her life's service.  Most young women in Willowsong and its surroundings have no choice; they follow the path of service taken by their mothers and grandmothers.  Siobhan, however, has two paths from which to choose.  She can be a banshee like her mother or a unicorn protector.  Being a unicorn protector is a service that is gifted to a select few and Siobhan has been chosen.  But she isn't interested.  She sees nothing special about unicorns and considers them pampered, silly-looking horses.  This is especially true, she feels, of Cay, the unicorn who selected her and whom Siobhan considers  to be nothing more than  a nuisance.  Nor does Siobhan want to spend her life as a weeping, wailing banshee.  Instead, she wants to become a Dragon Learner like her father.  This idea scandalizes her mother since, after all, a woman's heritage is from the maternal line.  Still, Siobhan is determined to follow her heart rather than tradition.  This decision sets her on a journey through the mysterious and dangerous Dragonsword Forest and to Shadowshield Mountain, home of Riordan, King of the Dragons.

 Blessings,  C.F.

     

Out Sick--Sorry!

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged for the last few weeks.  An upper respiratory virus got the better of me and turned into pneumonia, so I've had to lay low for a while.  Now I am, thank God, on the road to recovery.  I promise to return to the Dark Forest by next week.  Thank you for your patience.

Blessings!

CB

Navigating the Dark Forest

Dark forests aren't bad.  Actually, they can be alluring, intriguing.  Traveling through one can be an adventure.  The main problem with dark forests is that they are, well, dark.  Again, darkness is not, in itself, a bad thing.  It comes in quite handy when you are trying to sleep.  But trying to navigate a forest in the dark is daunting and it can lead to injury.  For example, you might trip over an unseen tree root or have your skin ripped off by stumbling into a thorny bush.  Even worse, you might crash into a sleeping animal--one with big fangs--that might not be too happy with you for disturbing its sleep.  All right.  Admittedly, I'm getting a bit carried away.  I'm a writer.  In the dark forest, my imagination would turn each small sound into a dangerous animal, ghost or ax murderer.  Animals and ax murderers aside, the fact is that a dark forest is difficult to navigate because you can't see. That makes it hard to decide which way to go.  It helps to have a map and a flashlight or, even better, a guide.

I cannot guide you safely through the dark forest of trying to market your writing, but I can share some of the things I've discovered as I've tried to sell my works.  Perhaps the information can provide a partial map to the forest (or a least a little flashlight shining on the path).

As the axiom says, every journey begins with a first step, and the first step of trying to get published is to decide where to submit your manuscript.  This is a major step and not an easy one.  Really it needs to be broken into a series of little steps.  First, decide if your manuscript is of a sufficient length to be submitted to publisher or an agent.  If you are just starting out as a writer, it is perhaps better if you begin with shorter works and try to get them published in magazines or journals.  Why?  If you can get several short pieces (stories, poems or articles) published then, when you decide to market your book, you can show potential publishers or agents that you have a proven track record.

The next step is to decide which magazine is the best market for your manuscript.  Again, this is a more daunting task than it might at first seem.  There are literally thousands of publications. How do you choose?  Where will your piece have the greatest chance of being published--or for that matter--read?  How do you determine this?  Some suggestions next time.

Thanks for reading!  C.F.

Cool Stream to Dark Forest

     The best part of writing is, well, writing.  Yes, there are times when I feel like shouting at the moon because sentences aren't working, scenes aren't coming together, or the rhythmic flow of the paragraph that I just spent two hours writing is all wrong, but mostly writing is the good part.  It's where I get to immerse myself in a cool stream of imagination. When I write, I am transported to another place, become another person, live in another context.  Once the writing is flowing, I can escape into that world, similar to traveling from London to Narnia.  This is one of the best parts of writing: living in an alternate universe that I actually have some control over.  If I don't like what just happened, I can erase or delete it and have the ultimate do-over that real life never gives.

    Still, while the alternate universe can be entertaining, on its own, it is rather empty.  I need to share that other world and the people in it with the people who populate this world.  Sharing what I've written is an essential for me.  Watching the characters and their story entertaining someone else gives me a joy beyond description.

    Needing to share my creations with others means that I need to find an audience, and that means I have to market the work.  For me, this is the most challenging part of the writing process.  It is a journey through a dark forest.  In the next blog, I'll share some of my experiences of the journey.  Although I don't have a map to get through the forest, I have come across some road signs and have been given directions by friendly inhabitants.
These I'll share next time.

Thanks for reading!  C.F.