• Home
  • blog
  • Writing
  • Helpful Hints for Writers of Fiction
  • WHAT OTHER WRITERS HAVE TO SAY
  • AUDIO ESSAYS-STORIES-AND MORE
  • ArtWithMyCamera
  • Rory and El Paso
  • Pierre and the Baker
  • About
  • Connect
Robert Stephen, writer, photographer, storyteller
  • Home
  • blog
  • Writing
  • Helpful Hints for Writers of Fiction
  • WHAT OTHER WRITERS HAVE TO SAY
  • AUDIO ESSAYS-STORIES-AND MORE
  • ArtWithMyCamera
  • Rory and El Paso
  • Pierre and the Baker
  • About
  • Connect
Robert Stephen, writer, photographer, storyteller

THE EXCITING JOURNEY OF Writing
​a Fictional Book

"IT'S A LUXURY BEING A WRITER,
​ BECAUSE ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IS LIFE."

​AMY TAN






NO ONE REMEMBERS A BORING BOOK

3/30/2017
Writing a book, it sounds so romantic. Sitting at a desk or table watching the sun rise over the ocean, because you do your best work in the morning. A hot cup of coffee, some toast, your favorite music playing in the background. Wow, now it even feels romantic.

You begin and every word in every sentence is perfect. No need to re-read or edit because everything is absolutely, perfect. Sentences become paragraphs then pages followed by chapters and soon 80,000 + words are written by you, the author. 

No reason to find an agent, who needs one, you did it, you wrote the perfect book. Except one minor detail seems to be going against what you pictured would be a happy ending. Other than mom and dad, aunt and uncle, a few cousins and friends, the book is not setting the literary world on fire. Uh-oh, another little problem, no one gave you feed back, no one has told you that they could not get past chapter 4. Why? Sadly the book is boring, the story is the one you always wanted to write and you did. Congratulations! But no one wants to read it.

In today's multi media stimulated world people want one thing, to be entertained and fast. That means when they decide to read a book you need to capture them in the opening few sentences and paragraphs hopefully to the very end. It needs to be "a page turner," with the following statement, "I couldn't put it down!"

Holly shit! Talk about pressure, now as a writer you are expected to write a compelling story that is entertaining, exciting, thought provoking, descriptive, along with interesting characters. I'm exhausted just writing that. Oh, even if that news weren't daunting enough there are over 3,000,000 books available on Amazon alone.

If you are like me you march uncaring into the night and often times take the road least traveled. The problem with that route is that sometimes your timeline gets screwed up and it takes a little longer than you expected. But we're tough, we can do it, and we do. If we keep our eyes open we find signposts and strangers that help guide us on our long, long journey.

I would like to share just a few with you.

These are in no particular order, but collectively they are very helpful.

Sooner or later you will be working with an editor and if they are worth anything they will help push you to a level you were not aware you could achieve. Just imagine what being the "best" at something really means. No one remembers boring and mediocre, only great.
Picture

The best way to talk about this book and its author is to copy and paste a sampling of his bio. Pretend for a moment you are interviewing Editors and your budget is under $20. You might consider Mr. Stein's book for the following reason. 

Sol Stein edited the classic work Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin,[7] selected as #19 of the “100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century”; Elia Kazan’s America America; and Lionel Trilling’s Freud and the Crisis of Our Culture. He was also responsible for the continued publication of Bertram D. Wolfe’s The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera and George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia, selected as #42 of the 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century.

In 1962 Stein founded the New York-based publishing firm Stein and Day with his then-wife, Patricia Day.
[9] Stein was both publisher and editor-in-chief of the firm. The publishing house’s first book was Elia Kazan’s America America, which sold three million copies in hardback, paperback, and book club editions. The success of many of Stein and Day’s books was attributable in part to the amount of publicity work that Stein and Day did for each book.[10] Stein worked with Kazan daily for five months on Kazan’s s first novel The Arrangement, which was #1 on The New York Times bestseller list for 37 consecutive weeks.

If you are serious about writing and after reading this book it does not improve your writing skills, then I suggest learning to play golf might be something for you to consider. 

Picture
            Become thirsty for knowledge. Read Stephen King's: On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft. Everyone starts at the beginning, even the famous authors. They starved and struggled, but the top ones never gave up.
            Another excellent opportunity, listen to James Patterson talk and teach people how to write a novel. It costs $90 and believe me, if you are serious about writing it is the best $90 you will ever spend. https://www.masterclass.com/

  • Take yourself seriously as a writer, even if it is your first novel.
          Money does not make you a writer writing makes you a writer. If you are starting out, do not think about winning a Peabody. Think about writing a good novel.
  • If you begin then commit to yourself that you will finish.
          Remember this one. No one ever came in first who quit the race. Do not give up on yourself no matter how much you want to. You have made a commitment. If it gets difficult, slow down, pace yourself.
  • Do not succumb to self-doubt it comes with the territory.
  • Do not be afraid to fail, it also comes with the same territory.
            Read authors you enjoy and ask yourself why you are drawn to them. Do not plagiarize another author, but don't be afraid to emulate their style. Soon, with time you will find your own style.

These are but a few suggestions. Every writer has particular way on how they go about writing a novel, but these words from Sol Stein and other resonate loudly.

"We as writers have a relationship with our readers. We owe it to them to write the most compelling and interesting stories we can."

#sol stein,#book editing,#james patterson,#stephen king,#writer,#robert stephen,#novel,#how to write a novel,#amazon.com.#barnes & noble.com,#nook,#kindle,#fiction

​
Comments

WRITING-STOP TELLING YOURSELF YOU CAN'T-part 3

3/23/2017
"But I want to write," you tell yourself. Locking yourself away you begin to write, for hours, or maybe days, but then the voices start. Maybe they are real it's your family or friends. Maybe they are the more dangerous ones, the ones inside your head. You know the ones of which I speak.
            Self-doubt, fear, failure, past mistakes, why bother, and on and on the chatter. Worse yet, if you continue, then the voices inside your head ramp up the game until you give up and quit. Has that ever happened to you or am I the only one?  
Writing begins with the #1 most important rule-
COMMITMENT

Picture
WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?
GET READY HERE IT COMES- BUT BE WARNED
MORE WARNING!!!!!!
LAST ONE

Picture
OKAY THAT WAS MY DISCLAIMER-
IF YOUR ARE STILL HERE THEN WE PROCEED.


As an only child, I spent part of my early years growing up in Hollywood California. My imagination was allowed to run unfettered and I was a huge fan of movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Alien. I have always enjoyed adventures and science fiction with Hero's that face insurmountable odds. I have written on and off for years, but never took myself serious.
​THERE IS A LESSON HERE
Picture
After commitment, being TRUE TO YOURSELF prepares you for what you are about to do.

            You have chosen to become a writer and you have heard about this steep mountain known to millions of writers as, "Impossible," in an unknown country called "Surrender," whose north and south shores are touched by the most treacherous seas, "I Can't do This, and Don't Waste Your Time."  

I would show you the map of where all of these pitfalls are, but there all in my head.
Picture

One day, you wake up with the courage to say it's time. You kiss your family, pet the dog, and off you go.

Moments later, you arrive at the base of the mountain, (your desk), where there is a village with three, no four buildings and a tavern. You open the door, and inside are several long tables with various other climbers, (writers), sitting and talking to each other and to themselves about the difficulty of the climb.

They stop talking and eye the stranger and then the tavern-keep points you to a small table over in the corner where a lone figure is sitting. 

            You approach this old grizzly looking character, he doesn't look up, but he points to an empty chair. You sit. Before you speak, he says in a gruff voice, "What do you know about writing?"
            "I want to write a book. I've never done it before and I know I've got a story in me."
            "You are going to die up on that mountain, most do."
            "Why is that?"
            "Because they're not prepared for the climb, they think it's easy. It's not, it's long hours, most of the time you hear voices and you don't know if it's the story talking to you or the devil voices."
            "The devil voices?"
            "YES," he screams, and everyone repeats, "The devil voices!" Then they raise their glass to the mountain.
            "Go look out the window."
            You stand up and as you stare through the hazy glass, you see a dark line that spans from the bottom straight up the side of the colossal mountain.  
            "What's that dark line?
Picture
​            "Oh, those are writers."
            "All of them?
            "Yep."
            "What's on the other side?"
            "Don't know?"
            "What do you mean you don't know?"
            "Those that make it, well they're the ones you could call successful. We read about them just don't hear from them that much."
            "How did they make it?"
            "Rumor has it, they were better prepared, plus they had some luck. Weather was good, they were diligent at learning how to climb further than most without wasting energy, became very good climbers. Tough people from what we know."
Picture


​Before you climb that mountain you must be prepared.

Take a moment and think about what you are good at, there is something we are all good at, what do you excel in?

Now, go back to the beginning and remember, everything starts at the beginning. The longer you work at it, practice, and study, with time you only became better at it.

Are you ready? Are you sitting in front of your computer, or using a pad of paper and a pencil? It does not matter as long as you are ready to take up the personal challenge. Remember, it just begins with the first word on the paper. It does not have to be perfect. Begin your story. 






#writer,#author,#novelist,#howtowriteanovel,#robertstephen,#climbamountain,
#personalchallenge,#determination,#success,#truetoyourself,#believeinyourself,#comittment
​

Comments

WRITING-IF NOT TODAY WHEN

3/10/2017
Have you ever been guilty of putting off something that you should be doing? I know I have. Then one day either you rush around because you are under the gun to complete the task or you drop the idea completely and let it pass by. Since most of my posts are about writing why should this one be different.

I came up with this group of factual numbers to place everything in perspective so here we go!
Picture

Including today,
the Grand Canyon's age
is 2,190,000,000
days.

That is two billion,
​one hundred and
ninety million days.


The age of the Great Wall of China has a number which  
is slightly more manageable.
839,500 days, including today.

That is eight hundred and thirty nine thousand, five hundred days.
Picture

Picture
THE OLDEST CALIFORNIA REDWOOD STILL STANDING IS 730,000 DAYS OLD. THAT IS SEVEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY THOUSAND DAYS.
AND NOW COMES THE HOOK, THE REASON FOR ALL THE NUMBERS.
Picture
DID YOU KNOW THAT IF WE LIVE UNTIL THE AGE 100, THAT EQUATES TO 36,500 DAYS---THAT IS THIRTY SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DAYS.

IF WE ARE ONLY REALLY PRODUCTIVE TWENTY FIVE OF THOSE YEARS IT MEANS WE HAVE 9,125 DAYS TO MAKE OUR LIVES MEANINGFUL.
THAT IS NINE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE DAYS.

THIS IS FOR EVERYONE WHO EVER WANTED TO SIT DOWN AND WRITE,
​ BUT HASN'T FOUND THE TIME.

#grancanyon,#newyork,#redwoods,#californiaredwood,#greatwallofchina,#time,
#timewaster,#procrastination,#excuses,#robertstephen,#theimpossibleisalwaysimpossible,#writing


Comments

WRITING-STOP TELLING YOURSELF THAT YOU CAN'T-Pt 2

3/9/2017
            I don't know about you but I remember the first time I tried to swim when I was a wee child. I got into the water, "hold your breath," the instructor yelled.
         
           "Hold my breath," that was not going to happen. I was too young to die just because some stranger thought I could do something crazy like swim. However, after a few gentle minutes of coaching, I took the first step and held my breath under water.
          
           Then she pushed the envelope and said, "grab your legs, hold your breath, close your eyes, and see what happens." What the hell was this person thinking?

          You guessed it I just floated there in the water. That is what happens to us, we are buoyant enough to just float in the water, but I swear I was going to sink, in fact, I knew I was going to sink.
         

        The instructor, however, knew otherwise. I just floated in the water. I didn't go forward or backward.

I just floated.
​
Sometimes in our lives, that is what we are doing,  just floating.  
Picture
Comments

WRITING-STOP TELLING YOURSELF THAT YOU CAN'T

3/7/2017
Picture
    I believe that many of us are capable of writing not one, but several novels in our lifetime. What stops us?

I tried to find a list of reasons why I started numerous times, but after awhile I just gave up.

It is a daunting task if you perceive writing as work. That cannot be farther from the truth.

However, it begins with the first word and finishes with The End.

In between is a great adventure, one you must be willing to take.


Writing a novel is a great personal accomplishment. Imagine yourself sitting in an uncomfortable chair hunched over a small desk by flickering candlelight.

Creating a story of two people who by chance meet on a bridge in Venice Italy, fall in love only to have one disappear without a trace.

A terrible, grotesque creature terrorizes a small community. How about vampires that walk in the daylight, or young people with high moral values who overthrow tyrannical governments. 
















 #writing,#writinganovel,#writingcanbedifficult,#novelist,#author
#determination,#perseverance,#storyteller,#successful,#success 

Comments

THE STORY-CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

3/4/2017
If anyone has read my previous posts they have seen my transformation as a writer. I have shared the journey or the process over the last several months. With this post another element reveals itself on the journey. 

I have always felt that my posts are not for the writer who has written a novel or two or three or more. There are so many writers int he world who have yet to discover themselves. These posts are for them. It has never my intention to dissuade anyone but to encourage everyone.

In the evolutionary process we as writers strive to write bestsellers, to entertain, to become immortals in the literary world. However, few of us succeed for a plethora of different reasons. For those who venture into the pit and want to fight and survive there is a process. Books have beginnings, middles, and ends. There is not way to get around that simple truth. It is necessary for writers when creating their masterpieces to have tools at their beck and call to help their creative process.

I have studied and read and continue to evolve. I am learning to simplify my process while creating better stories and stronger characters. I read about this and because I am a control freak I created this for myself. It is my CHARACTER SUMMARY sheet, which helps me develop living characters for my books. Below are examples of a CHARACTER SUMMARY before and one after with a character in the making. I have also created one I call GEOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY, for developing the scene.

I have a new story that I will be writing strictly here on my site from beginning to end. I story that takes place in a mythical time, in a Medieval setting. SIR GOODARD, THE FALLEN CHAMPION.

If you would like blank FREE copies of these forms in word docx  I would be happy to email them to you.   

FREE CHARACTER SHEET
Picture
Picture
FREE CHARACTER SHEET
If you would like blank FREE copies of these forms in word docx  I would be happy to email them to you.


#bookwriting,#characterdevelopment,#strongcharacters,#protagonist,#antagonist,#writer,#novelist,#keystosuccessfulwriting,
#writingsuccessfully,#success,#writingsecrets,#secretsofwriting,#jamespatterson,#stephenking,#writingfiction,#fictionwriter,#fiction

Comments

    Author

    Robert Stephen.
    What makes a writer? What do you envision when you think about that question?

    Someone sitting by an open window looking out over the ocean, desert, mountains? Rainy day, foggy, sunny? 

    My definition of a writer of fiction. A person who drives himself or herself to the edge of insanity when writing a story to the best of their ability that you the reader find entertaining.

    I can honestly say my life has been interesting, far from boring.  Land baron, restaurateur, photographer, artisan, author. A life full of ups and downs. A life full of stories.

    Along the way I've met hundreds of people, some interesting, some not. Some dangerous, some beautiful, some kind, and some cruel. During my lifetime I've even had my heart run over a couple of times, but when all of it is said and done I wouldn't trade it in. 


    Writing has always been inside of me, but the siren never called to me. I wasn't ready until one day in October of 2015 when life said, "Start writing."

    Writing is a long journey, full of many perils, but don't be afraid it is an exciting adventure! 

    join my mailing list

    Archives

    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly