Little Book Of Tips For Descriptive Writing

By Patti Roberts

Participating Authors.

David Bishop - The Woman
Suzy Turner - The Ghost Of Josiah Grimshaw
Ella Medler - Blood Is Power.
Kenneth Hoss - Deadly Storm.
Patricia Puddle - Ominous Love.
Tarek Hassan Refaat - Ribbons & Heels
Elaine Raco Chase - Double Occupancy.
Sasha Kildare - Dream Walking
Barbara Watkins - Thorns Of An Innocent Soul
Glenn Starkey.- Solomon's Men
Donya Lynne - All the King's Men
Carlyle Labuschagne - The Broken Destiny
Carole Sutton - Flash Harry
Thom Locke.- The Ming Inheritance
Suz Demello - Desire In Tartan
Tabitha Ormiston-Smith - Gift Of Continence
James Eggebeen - Foundling Wizard (Apprentice to Master)
S. M. Hineline - Hunting
Solease M Barner - The Draglen Brothers
Emerald Barnes - Read Me Dead
Michelle A Horst - Vaalbara. The Land Of Shadows
Peggy Holloway - Terror On The Beach
Patti Roberts - Paradox - Bound By Blood
Lavinia Urban - ERIN. The Fire Goddess. The Beginning
Annie Miles - Misled
Tiffeny Moore - Past Unleashed

• Language: English
• Publisher: Patti Roberts
• Release date: Jan 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311355539

Book preview

Chapter - David Bishop – The Woman.

David, when did you begin writing and, who or what was your greatest inspiration?

I am a writer of mysteries/thrillers/suspense novels. I have read mysteries all my life and always wanted to write them. I needed no more inspiration. I only need to bring my life to a point where I could find/make/take the time to begin the process of writing fiction. Prior to writing novels I spent twenty-five years as a financial analyst. During those years I wrote a lot of technical financial articles for legal and financial journals, including a nonfiction book which was published on the subject of determining the value of privately owned businesses or business interests. Then I switched to fiction and loved it as I knew I would. I’ve not looked back or done anything else since.

Was there a particular book that inspired you? And if so, what was it?

No particular book or author. There were and are many authors I admire and many books with which I am fascinated, but no, my inspiration is as I described in reply to your first question.

How do I overcome writers block?

I’ve never had it so I am a poor source for an answer to this question. I avoid discussions about writer’s block and do not read articles about it, and do not attend writer’s conference sessions where it is discussed. When I have time to write, I sit down, read the prior paragraph of what I am working on and continue.

Do I have a particular word count I try to achieve each day and do I write every day?

The second part first: I do not write every day. As for word count, again no. I write when I have time and write the number of words I can write in that time. Some days I get up early and start writing at six in the morning and stop when it’s time to go to bed for the night—naturally, except for eating and personal hygiene. Other days I play golf or workout, or use the day supporting the efforts of family and friends.

Do you plot, or write by the seat of your pants?

I don’t plot so, given the two choices, I guess I must write by the seat of my pants. I would guess that all these self-imposed borders such as number of words per day, whether I write better in the morning or at night, when I’m alone, or with or without music playing, the position of the moon and all the rest of that kind of thing may be part of why some writers get writer’s block. My plumber doesn’t only fix my plumbing problems on mornings when it isn’t raining and when the moon was full the night before. He’s a plumber so he plumbs. I’m a writer so I write. When you have time, sit down and do it. Life is often hard enough without our making it harder.

GOING ON VACATION APPROACH TO WRITING: Being a crime writer, I start with the crime itself: the who, what, when, where, and why of the dastardly deed. After that, I decide the protagonist. Next I identify the villain in a broad sense, and then decide how the story ends. I usually write the last scene first, more on that in a minute. Then I go back to the beginning and start writing. Commonly, I change the opening chapter several times in very meaty ways. The last chapter rarely gets changed in a material sense, but is, like the entire story, rewritten many times.

What did I mean by the Going on Vacation Approach to Writing?

No one loads the luggage in the trunk and puts the kids in the backseat and drives off to begin their vacation without knowing where they are going. If they did, the vacationing family would not know if they ever got there. Same with mysteries (and I suspect with romances, westerns, paranormals and all stories). Where is the story headed? If we don’t know, then how does the writer choose the twists and turns designed to get there? Knowing where you are going is always a great aid to getting there. Simple? Right! I told you this writing is not all that complex. Knowing where the story is headed, allows the writer to move the hero and the villain and justice, in whatever form the author decides it will take, toward the story conclusion. The clues, the scenes, etc., are all designed to get where the family is going on vacation, so to speak.

My next step is to complete a seven-page bio on each primary character. This bio includes age, where they live, are they straight or gay, are they married? What is that character’s education, profession, special training, etc. Does s/he have children? Pets? Handicaps? Illnesses? Parents alive or dead? Hobbies? Vices? Tics? Talents? What is that person’s appearance? Favorite foods, best friends? All of it. In this step I am inventing people. I want to know these characters like I know my friends and coworkers and neighbors. This way I know how they will speak and react within the context of the story. This also helps prevent all your characters from walking and talking the same as all your other characters. (Doing that will kill the story.)

Okay, I digress. Let me get back to your questions.

What are your thoughts about editing your work?

Absolutely essential. Can you do it yourself, sure, but likely you will not do it very well. Even if you have the skill, which few authors have, you are wrapped up the story. It is your turf and you will defend it. You will also get caught up in how you told the story, which action verbs you chose, how you might rewrite the scene better. All of this is a distraction to pure editing. I know, you may think that you are an exception and you can edit your own work. You aren’t. None of us are. However, you are the author so you are free to take or reject this advice.

What have you found to be the most successful ways to market your work?

I’ll choose to ignore the obvious list of which places to do it, how to do, how to arrange signings, on which social medias to focus, etc. There is a lot out there on that and if you are at all determined to be a writer you have likely seen some of this already and won’t be able to avoid seeing more of it. So, let me answer this a different way. The most successful way to market your work is to write it exceedingly well. Excellent writing entertains. And those who are truly entertained by it, will want to buy other books you have written. They will want to tell their friends about your book. Recommend it their book club, etc. I cannot tell you the number of times I have read an author’s telling of how they did the same thing(s) to market their book that others have done, but that the marketing didn’t work—when it did work for other authors. If this happens, quit looking at the marketing and start looking at the content of what you wrote. Don’t defend your work as good. Investigate why your work may not be good enough—yet. Then rewrite. I also hear authors say, I don’t care if it sells or not. I write for myself. Yeah. Right. Sure. If they write for themselves or maybe their family and friends then why spend the time and money to have it published? If we aren’t honest with ourselves, we will never hear the truth. Go ahead, stomp on your own ego, like the rest of us have. Get used to it. You get published and others will stomp on it along with you. Authoring is not for the faint of heart. Now, having said that, authoring is also wonderful and courageous so if it’s for you, then saddle up and be ready to ride hard. Thought to carry with you. Readers love to read. Give them an entertaining story and they will tell others and buy more of your books. If they don’t, forget about criticizing the readers and stop blaming the marketing venues which you think failed you. Look at your content. Successful writing is all about content. Then market it, so the world knows you have built a better mousetrap. And, as I said, there is a lot out there on