IWSG DAY: Find the Magic

I look forward to the first Wednesday of each month because it's IWSG day. The purpose of IWSG is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! (And that would be ME!) IWSG was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh and has hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of members. You can be one too. You can follow other IWSG members or meet them on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG. We also have a thriving Facebook page. Look us over. I think you'll like us!

And speaking of offering assistance and guidance ... I’d like to share a book with you that’s helping me plot a new story. This author is one of my favorites. And she was my editor for The Last Daughter.

Award winning author and editor, Alicia Dean, shares her process of creating a story, along with bonus tips in her how to book, Find The Magic – How to Plot a Story in 10 Easy Steps. Through November 15th, it's on sale for only 99 cents.  I finished reading Find the Magic last week. What I liked best about the book was Alicia's honest voice. She made me trust her from page one. But why wouldn't I? I know that she knows what she's doing when it comes to writing, editing, critiquing and plotting.

Using specific examples from one of her own novels, Without Mercy (also 99 cents), Alicia shares how to plot a book and expand your outline into a well-developed draft. There is no one, perfect way to create a story, but there will be a method, or methods that work for you.
Find the Magic might hold the answers you need.

Kindle: http://amzn.com/B00OR0IY0W
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/find-the-magic-how-to-plot-a-story-in-10-easy-steps-alicia-dean/1120638115?ean=2940150382169

  In addition to being an author of more than twenty published works, Alicia Dean is both a freelance editor and an editor for The Wild Rose Press, under the name, Ally Robertson, in their suspense line. I highly recommend you get too know Alicia through her books, or social media.

Alicia/Ally is one of the good guys and she knows what writing, publishing and marketing is all about.

Website: http://aliciadean.com/ Blog: http://aliciadean.com/alicias-blog/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008364070487 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alicia_Dean_ Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aliciamdean/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/468339.Alicia_Dean

This Year You Write Your Novel

One of the most important things that you will do this year will be to create complex, authentic characters that begin at one point in their lives and advance (or devolve) to another.
                 ~Walter Mosley, from This Year You Write Your Novel



I'm reading This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley. I picked it up the other day because I've been wanting to read it and because it's very short--less than 25,000 words, with lots of punch. I'm reading with hi-liter in hand, marking those passages that make me want to toss the book aside and get back to writing. Those are the good ones. Good, GREAT passages inspire me, motivate me, make me wiggle on the sofa with anticipation for my own writing accomplishments.

Walter Mosley is the author of 38+ books, including the Easy Rawlins and Fearless Jones mysteries, as well as numerous other works of fiction and nonfiction. He knows the value of a word and gets right to the point in this how-to book. I highly recommend it. You can go to Amazon to read many wonderful reviews but don't be swayed by those few naysayers who whine. They wanted an easy fix to their writing problems and expected Mosley to give it to them. Believe me when I say, I have almost every writing book available. They say the same thing over and over and over again. What differentiates them is the author's voice, his passion and his way of explaining something. The fact that Mosley has a straightforward, honest voice and didn't bloviate makes this book a winner!