Ryder's Teaser!

Hey guys! Sorry I've been so lacking on the teasers lately. Honestly, I haven't touched the book in a while. I've been so busy with publishers, editors, unpacking and god knows what else that it's pushed in the back of my brain.

I have some good news though. I've gotten a contract offer from a publishing house. I'm not sure I am going to take it yet. I have someone looking it over for me since I suck at law, contract, money- all that crap. To be honest, I might just self-publish and get the book out there. BUT if the deals good enough and they don't want to change the book, I'll do it.

For this week's teaser I put together a play list. These songs are all mentioned in my book- well not all of them. Some of them show the story line and enhance what happens in the book. Music is a great way to express feeling.

I really love using music to portray feelings. Personally, I am a music junkie. I listen to everything on the map from rap to pop, classical to country. I honestly love it all! I know on my iPhone I have sad lists, fun lists and romantic lists. Songs set the mood. The best songs are those we can relate to our own life. During a breakup, I swear music is what kept me going.

Here is Ryder's playlist!

Writing Exercises | Prompt One

Give-Away!

A really cool give away! There's a bunch on here that they are offering. You can win a kindle fire, $199 amazon card or paypal. I follow this blog and they always are giving great stuff. Follow them and me for updates!

Are you guys interested in giveaways like this one? Let me know things that you would want and I can try to make it happen! New post already cued for tomorrow so don't forget to check back!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How To Write a Good Sex Scene

I've been talking back and forth with a publishing company I am thinking of publishing with. One of her critiques is that my sex scene is funny when it should be more intense and deep. I guess because I'm not all that confident in the scene, it comes off all wrong. So I've been trying to get it right. Here are some tips I've picked up for writing a sex scene.

The Joy of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict is a great guide that helps with writing the scenes. I bought it on amazon and found it to be the best! Pick it up if you need some advice. I completely recommend it!

• Reveal something during sex. Unless you are writing an erotic novel where sex is there well.. just for sex, something has to be revealed. Whether it's an 'I love you' in the heat of the moment, or a shyness or a new character trait, something should happen. 
• Don't make it cliche or generic. Using the same old actions and verbs makes the scene boring. You want the sex scene to be completely unique to your characters. I am constantly finding myself skip over sex scenes and read just the dialog. They are boring and once you've read one, you've read them all. Make yours special so the reader doesn't dismiss it.
• Something has to change. Whether the sex has a consequence or the relationship changes or emotions do, it has to have some impact on the characters life. Like I said before, unless it's just sex to have sex, it should change up the plot. 

I found this honest yet hilarious website, that reveals do's and don'ts about sex scenes. They're pretty funny and I find that I completely agree with most of them. I'll post some of my favorites from the article. 

• Watch what you call nipples during a sex scene. No cherries, pencil erasers, starbursts, nubs- whatever the hell else writers make up. 
• Don't say penis or vagina. Even writing them here kills the mood. The article brought up a great point in saying, you don't ever have to use a word for genitals. Just say, 'he reached for me' or 'he touched me.' It sounds much better to my ears.
• Make sure the dialog is believable. This isn't a fake porno, people don't actually say 'give it to me, big boy.' In fact, that's laughable. Make sure that what your characters say is something a real person would say during sex.
• Sex scenes should be based off real sex. You can't forget the foreplay, fluids and awkward moments. It all happens. Excluding these parts will only make it seem fake and you don't want that. You want the reader to feel and be aroused and making it as believable as possible is the key to that!

Do I have any followers who are experts in writing sex scenes? I'd love to hear your tips and tricks and any advice anyone has... Please do let me know! Until next time...

Writing Exercises | Poem Making

How To Write Action Scenes

I've recently gotten a critique that my action scenes are lacking. The person said that it was too short. I needed some more action. I have to admit that they aren't my strong ability. I don't want to overdo a simple action- yet I don't want to under sell it. Therefore... I researched tips and ways to create good action scenes.

Make it realistic! This is a huge one that sometimes gets looked over. In action scenes there is always room to make it too intense or come off fake. I recently read a book where a guy fought another guy. Typical situation. During the fight it seemed like it stopped so they could taunt and talk to each other. That isn't realistic. When you're fighting it needs to be fast paced. You don't just stop punching someone to make a speech. Things like that are important.

Don't make it easy! Everyone loves a good fight. You don't the winner to win without being challenged. Make it close and let the other guy get a punch or two in. It makes it much more realistic as well. A guy who is obviously going to loose is going to walk away from a fight. If they're an even pair it makes the fight more likely.

Sentencing! I never would think of this when writing an action scene but it's a very valid point. A short sentence is going to be read fast and make the pace faster. Having long sentences slows down reading and makes the scene slower. If you want the scene to be up tempo and fast paced and like a real action scene make sure you have short sentences.

Don't forget the consequences! Another thing I never really considered but now think it is huge. After a fight, you fall off the adrenaline high. You are achey or injured or something. Maybe the winner is excited and energetic. Make sure to explain this part as well! This part makes it more realistic and segues into the next scene of the book.

Watch the verbs! Action scenes are packed with verbs. Use the correct ones. You don't want to keep saying hit or ran. Mix it up and use words that create more feeling. Slammed instead of hit, or slumped instead of fell. There are so many good words out there and to keep it to regular verbs won't make a great scene. Grab a thesaurus and use some new words.

Don't overdo it! Give the readers a break. Back to back to back to back action scenes is going to get old and the reader is going to loose interest. Reading all action doesn't let the reader take a breath. Action scenes can take over a story and the plot becomes irrelevant. If the main character is constantly running, hitting or fighting they becomes unrelatable.

Humor! This is always a nice way to make characters fun and witty. Don't make it too gritty and raw, add in some funny moments or funny banter. Characters talking smack is fun character development. If they're about to fight or if they're doing an action, don't forget that they're still characters. They talk, they feel. Add in humor and you're making a scene that much better.

My Tips-
READ READ READ! Read books that have action in them. Become familiar with them so you can subconsciously understand. Pick a book in a similar genre and take note of the action scenes. Don't mimic them but get a feel for it. You'll pick up common themes and words.

Home In the USA

Hello everyone! So much has happened since I left ten days ago. I was in Spain for those of you who don't know. It was a wonderful experience. If you've never left the country I suggest you go ASAP. The building, people, food, all of it is truly out of this world.

Italy turned out to be my muse. While in Italy, I wrote about 40,000 words of a new book. I got this crazy idea on the 16 hour drive from Spain to Italy. I started jotting down some notes. While on the balcony of my hotel, I wrote and wrote and wrote. I've never had something like that happen to me before. It was amazing.

Other than that I've heard back from a couple publishing houses and narrowed down my sights to two editors who I'm considering using. I'm excited to get some more professional feedback and clean up work on my book. It's weird for it to mostly be out of my hands now. Oh well- onto new things.

I am going to start blogging again. I'm sad I didn't really get a chance to while I was away. I've never been so grateful for wifi now that I am home. It's crazy how different it is here than in other countries.

I've got three new followers on google and some likes on facebook. Thank you to those who have started to follow and listen to my journey! I can't wait to start putting some more stuff out. I promise to never leave again! Well... not really.

This week I am going to post about writing action scenes, a writing exercise and writing sex scenes. On Friday I am back to posting teasers so I will start searching for a good one. I'll take a hiatus on the weekend since nobody is ever on google.

I'm looking for suggestions on what to write about. What do you guys want me to research? What would you like more information on? Is there a topic you don't fully understand? I want to research it for you. I want to write about whatever I can. School is winding down so I have tons of free time.

Thank you all for your continued support!

Writing Exercises | Expanding Vocabulary

Multi-Tasking When Writing

So I've finished book one in my Curse Books series. It's in limbo so I can't really do much there. I've started book two but am reluctant to get far. I don't want a publisher to be interested and change the ending or something that changes book two. I would hate to have to start from scratch.

I've been keeping track of all my book ideas lately that I can add to and look back on. I decided a week or so ago that I really love one idea and started forming the outline and getting the book started. I've written about 20,000 words and love where it's going.

I'm nervous about multitasking different ideas, though. I don't want to screw up stories or mix them. So I've been doing my research and figuring out if multi-tasking can work or not. Here's what I've found out...

Organize the crap out of your stuff. Make sure you have separate folders, markers, hell- even drawers. You don't want to cross characters or scenes. Organize it in your brain too. Work on only one project a day or make sure you have a break in between. 

Set goals. Make sure you know what you want to accomplish for each project. If one is short, set a word count limit. You could even set a daily, or weekly limit. Only write as much as you can handle. For each project make sure to meet a goal before moving on to the other one.

Remember, writing is fun. It's not a chore as a writer to construct a story. The editing- maybe, but the writing part is the best part. You tell a story the best you can and really invest yourself into it. If you're not feeling like writing a day, don't force it. Write a story that you genuinely like. 

DO NOT MULTITASK ONLINE. Seriously, just being connected to the internet opens up way too many opportunities for bad multi-tasking. It sucks you in and five hours later, you realize you have accomplished nothing. Leave safari, or internet explorer or whatever you use, off. Don't tempt yourself.

Character Sketches

Hey all! I'm writing to you guys from Modena, Italy. I'm sitting outside on my hotel terrace watching a car race below. I can't understand a thing but it's pretty freaking amazing. I didn't get a chance to put up a teaser yesterday so I thought I'd do something fun today. I'm going to post some pics and ask what you think. These are possible character profiles and pictures. I want to know if you think they're attractive, relatable and generally unique and different characters.

I got these pictures from online so I don't own them and they aren't from models. I just googled some pictures and tried to figure out who my characters resemble. I don't even really know who these models are... Anyway. I'm open for ideas!

Eurydice

Aristeus

Orpheus

Like- Dislike? Do the boys look too much alike? Can you see these people in real life? I don't want them to seem to fictional. Help me out here blogger world. I'll be out of the country for a while but I'm going to try and post as frequent as possible. Or whenever I can steal some wifi! :)

Later, guys!