Hey there, aspiring
authors! Ever wondered how an author plots and writes a book?
Wonder no more!
Suzie deMello is here to tell you the secrets, or at least a few of them.
Plotting
and Planning is Suzie’s second writing treatise, following the
best-selling Write This, Not That!
Here’s the blurb:
Another engaging, witty writing primer from
Suz deMello, whose Write This, Not That! was an Amazon bestseller.
Plotting, point of view, character creation, conflict and much more are
examined in this brief but pithy writing manual. A must for the serious
writer who wants the basics without boredom.
Says bestselling author Kylie Brant: “Sue has
written a concise manual that is valuable for both beginning and seasoned
writers. Going to write a book? Read this first!”
Here’s an excerpt to
pique your interest:
How does an author write a book?
Unfortunately for aspiring authors, this is not an easy question to
answer. It's tantamount to asking, Where
do authors get their ideas? which, believe me, is our least favorite
question. I often tell people I get them at Sears—they're sold by the dozen in
the basement between the barbecues and the bikes.
In reality, I get my ideas from almost anywhere. Maybe a magazine
article about a place or event. Perhaps someone I meet or something a person
says may trigger a train of thought that will eventually lead to a book. Maybe
travel to someplace new ignites the creative spark that will inspire me.
Here's a better question: What are
the building blocks of plot and story?
If you like what you read, here’s where you can buy
the ebook:
About Suz deMello:
Best-selling,
award-winning author Suz deMello a.k.a Sue Swift, has written seventeen romance novels in several
subgenres, including erotica, comedy, historical, paranormal, mystery and
suspense, plus a number of short stories and non-fiction articles on writing. A
freelance editor, she’s held the positions of managing editor and senior
editor, working for several including Totally Bound and Ai Press. She also
takes private clients. Her books have been favorably
reviewed in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist, won a contest or two,
attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.
A former trial attorney, her passion is world travel. She’s left the US over a dozen times, including lengthy stints working overseas. She’s now writing a vampire tale and planning her next trip.
--Find
her books at http://www.suzdemello.com
--For
editing services, email her at suzdemello@gmail.com
--Befriend
her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sueswift, and visit her group pages
at
https://www.facebook.com/redhotauthorscafe and
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Naughty-Literati/763871683674028?ref=hl
--She
tweets @Suzdemello
--Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/suzdemello/
--Goodreads:
http://bit.ly/SuzATGoodreads
--Her
current blog is http://www.TheVelvetLair.com
Excerpt:
How to start your book
Writing
a book starts long before you open your new journal, or begin a new document on
your computer and type "Chapter One." You need to have read a lot of
books, and I don't mean craft works like this manual. Read, but not just
anything.
Aspiring
writers are often told, "read in your genre." But Faulkner said,
"Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see
how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies
the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out.
If it's not, throw it out of the window."
I
don't completely agree with the above advice. Mine is: Read well-written books.
What
books are they? Try using the internet to search for lists of the best books
ever written in English, or whatever language in which you're planning to
write. Do not read translated books. While many are great, you want to read
excellent books by those who have mastered all aspects of writing. Book
translators possess extremely refined skills, and writing an original work from
start to "the end" is not often among them.
Be
selective. While reading works such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the
original middle English may be interesting and educational, you want to read
books that are written in the version of English we use, so as to accustom your
ear and your mind to modern, grammatically correct language.
Exceptions
are the King James Bible and just about anything written by William
Shakespeare. These should sit at the top of your reading list as they're
probably the most influential works written in the English language.
In
her excellent writing manual, Starting from Scratch, Rita Mae Brown provides an
lengthy list of very good books. Same with Stephen King in On Writing, though
his list is (blessedly) shorter, and is more individual—he describes his list
as "the best books I've read over the last three or four years."
(Brown's list starts with Caedmon's Hymn, a poem from about 665 A.D., and ends
with Anthony Burgess's Earthly Powers, 1981).
The
purpose of extensive reading is not to entertain but to enlighten. Pay
attention to what you're reading. Read books that call to you more than once,
to figure out why they're compelling. Look at the big picture aspects first:
character and conflict, plot and story. During the next reading you can analyze
narrower mechanical concerns such as word choice and sentence structure. Ask
yourself, "How does this writer use these tools to elicit a particular
reaction from the reader?"
