One of my biggest struggles is maintaining my focus. Whether it is simply keeping away day to day distractions or it's the multiple voices screaming in my head, it seems like there is always something or someone keeping me from achieving the word count I want to have by the end of each day.
It makes me wonder how other authors do it. How do they write so many words, promote, and publish new books so often? I mean right now, I'm supposed to be working on about five different WIPs (two are due like yesterday), instead, I have about five other stories fighting to be heard inside my head, I have to prepare for an upcoming book signing (Dreaming Dirty in Michigan on April 4), my son came by for help with his taxes, the dog constantly needs attention, the husband needs dinner, and I have a backlog of baby items I want to crochet for my granddaughter who arrives this spring. Stress is a daily battle as I struggle to meet all of my goals and the needs of others. Then, when it comes to the stories that want told, I worry if I don't listen to those voices I'll lose them. So, I open up a notebook or a document and I jot down notes and sometimes whole scenes to save for later. It usually works and I can get my inner-writer, my muse if you will, back on track. Wish me luck. I have a couple of hard deadlines I have to meet and if the distractions keep up I'm seriously worried about meeting them. XOXOXO Josette
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Good afternoon, lovelies. I'm sitting at my desk feeling the need to write. I'll be honest, the story hit a block... but, my amazing critique partner and I had a wonderful conversation which led me out of the darkness -- literally. I'm so excited about the new direction of my WIP that I see myself writing all night tonight. Wish me luck on keeping the distractions at bay. Now, on to something that I found in my inbox awhile ago which I was thinking about again today. Goodreads sends me notifications of new updates from authors I follow and this was one of them, it's a response to a reader question from Lori Foster. The reader states she could not enjoy one of Lori's books because of the curse words in the story. Lori's response, in my mind, is both professional and blunt which I loved so much. What are your thoughts on the use of curse words in books? As Lori told this reader -- and I agree -- these characters are who they are, flaws and all. So, I will warn you now... my characters are REAL. A real person will curse. Many individuals with similar backgrounds and personalities in the 'real world' use F**K every other word. I'm sorry, but these types of characters won't say, 'Oh, poo, that smarts.' It wouldn't happen outside your door and it won't happen in my books. So, if "realistic" characters isn't your thing, then as Lori says, "...no reader should waste [their] time reading books [they] won't enjoy. Life is too short and there's enough variety for everyone. " I'm selective on when I use curse words, but if it organically flows on the page, I'm not changing it to fit into someone else's 'moral compass.' Lori Foster's response on Goodreads to a reader about the use of curse words. Obviously the main part of being an author is to write. However, there is so much more to this process than simply writing ideas on a page. So much more. A lot has to do with audience analysis and genre research. What does an erotic romance reader want to read? How, is what they want to read different from a paranormal romance reader. Then, of course, the question is... What do I want to write? Because, no matter where the money is, you're not going to be able to write a good story unless you WANT to write it. Another facet is to decide how accurate you want your writing. Does the story take place in a real location? Are you creating your own town? Are you delving into concepts you really don't know? I'll be honest, I'm not a researcher. I prefer to write what I know. However, several of my recent stories demanded that I take a journey in a direction I'd never been. I'm excited about the path I'm journeying and know that my writing trip will be an interesting one.
After the writing, comes editing. Editing is a necessary evil. You not only want to make sure the words are as grammatically correct as possible, you also want them to flow well. Then, you also need to content edit, make sure the story line works, and, of course, consistency and do away with redundancy and overuse. Sometimes when I'm editing I wonder if I should just scrap the entire story. But my critique partner pulls me away from the edge and I continue on a little wiser for the corrections. One day, I may even write a perfect story -- Nahhhh. Wish me luck. XOXOXO Josette I first published back in 2014 -- "Finding the Dragon: Dasreach Council Novels 1" -- and since then I have spent almost as much time online trying to get my books in front of readers as I have writing. It seems there is always some new site or tool to use and don't get me started on the constant Facebook changes!
So, this post is to tell anyone wanting to become a published author... The first step on this journey is to begin building a fan base. To begin the process you will want a Web site, a Facebook account (including a page and optionally a group), a Twitter account, and an Instagram account. Once you publish you will need to set up your author profiles on the retailers where you publish. Then, there is creating a blog like this one and/or a newsletter. Of course, you can even dive further and create accounts on places like Goodreads, Bookbub, etc. Over this past year, I decided to publish not only the paranormal romance I love, but I've also journeyed into other romance sub-genres. This means finding even more ways to connect to readers. I'd been toying with the idea for some time and decided it was time to stop sitting on the fence and jump off the cliff. Because, the adrenaline rush I feel right now could only be described as a free-fall descent from several hundred feet. I hope you will follow me on my new journey. Find all of my links here: Find Me Online XOXOXO Josette Unfortunately, when I created my new Web site for all of my pen names, I wasn't able to copy over my existing blog posts. It's sad but it just means, I now have to be more active and post more regularly on here.
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AuthorJosette is a storyteller, artist, wife, mother, and grandmother. Archives
April 2023
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