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Open Book Blog Hop #380

June 12, 2023 By Captain Maiel 4 Comments

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #380

How do you keep from overthinking your story?

Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop! The authors included in this ongoing series wish to thank you for your reads. Even more so, we appreciate that you share our writings with friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Prepare to become a regular reader.

Overthinking will never be as much a concern for me as overwriting. So many authors overwrite their works, especially the newer ones. I’ve been guilty of it. It was the main feedback I got in the beginning. Redundancy, too much information, and weak passive language remain the top foibles of starter authors. It’s okay, though. You’ll learn to get those sighs and looks, as well as the was and were under control.

A great way to quell the overwriting is to remember that you’re not the hypothalamus. You don’t need to monitor the automatic functions of your character’s bodies. Also, pay attention to the types of conversations you’re trying to write. Use active language to describe what is happening, and you’ll avoid superfluous information. Last of all, let your readers fill the small portions of information.

Once you have the above under control, the next items to pay attention to are the existence of too many characters and continuity. Continuity will help you avoid plot holes. Whittling down the number of characters will also assist with this. Not everyone your character meets will require a name and address, so to speak. There’s a great big world inside your pages, just as there is in real life. However, just as in real life, your character will not interact in a meaningful way for your story with everyone. Let that go. That’s a quick and easy tip on avoiding overthinking.

Screenwriting, or film literacy, can assist you with what needs to be on the page (screen) and what you can leave out. For instance, nothing happens in a show that isn’t necessary. There are breadcrumb trails that lead you along to what is coming next. Those trails should make sense. Those details are honed in rewrites when you economize your writing. But, will it lead to overthinking?

Without a clear path, it is difficult not to overwrite or overthink a story. That said, don’t worry too much when an idea remains murky when you start to write. It is possible and necessary for any writer to get that sorted out later. You could discover whole chapters to toss, because your path was in the overgrowth. Just take them out, maybe save them in another file elsewhere to feed another work later. While this seems like you’d overwrite and thus overthink it to death, keep in mind that you’re aware of you doing this! You know you have to carve it out later.

Don’t be afraid to delete and forget. If it’s important to the book, it will survive edits. Sometimes, we are too close to a work and believe that everything we spew onto the page is necessary, if not entirely glorious. It’s good practice to let a piece sit for a time (I go months) and revisit with fresh eyes. Once you’ve detached from the writing on a project, you’ll be able to assess it more freely and more effectually. Those fresh eyes discern what goes on the copping block.

My best practice to date on avoiding overwriting is to simply mull a story over in my mind for a long time before I even set out to write it. Literally daydreaming the work and trying out scenarios on the movie screen of my mind has been immensely helpful in figuring out where it will begin and where it will, along with major points in between. I don’t always see the whole picture. Details further evolve as I write. However, I am assured of where I’m headed and can build the story with clear intention.

But, isn’t that the essence of overthinking? No. Having a clear path and clear intention definitely avoids overwriting and overthinking. As I acknowledged above, sometimes, the clear path isn’t always known. Either you’re too excited about something, or you just want to get it down before you forget. The idea comes along painstakingly and there is no speeding up the process.

There have been numerous ideas that come to me and end up with no further development than notes about it in a journal somewhere. That is ok. Mulling those ideas over in my head for a time helps me understand if I don’t have much to go with and that I can make a few coarse notes and move on. Not every idea you’ll have will become something worth pursuing. Don’t despair. Sometimes, it’s just enough that it exercised your creative mind for a small time. If you’ve thought through everything you have and there’s not much to work with, then just jot down your notes and move on. It is a normal part of the creative process. Trust that process.

On the flip side, if you find yourself hashing over a part of the work, unable to let go despite a clear vision of where you are headed, I’d say you need to set the actual writing aside. Practice what I suggested above until you can get your mind to settle on what to do next. It’s okay to not put words on the page when you have too many options scattering your focus. Get yourself a cuppa, settle into a comfy sofa or chair, and stare out the window. Let the scenes come to you, and let them replay with all the switch ups so you can see what actually works the best. Once you’ve run the scene multiple times in the same way, write it down. Now, you’re ready to continue without putting all that unnecessary stuff on the page to be edited out later!

You’re welcome!

As with everything in writing, practice and working with a mentor is the best way to forge ahead. If you can work with someone willing to point out your pimples and help you treat them effectively, your growth as a writer will be effective. Writing on your own without the help of others will just keep you circling the drain. Instead of writing for a half-hour everyday, take a summer writing course. The investment is worth your time and money and will help you far more than just setting aside time to practice your mistakes daily without criticism. You cannot see room for improvement staring past yourself into a mirror.

A mentor can also tell you when you’re sandbagging and talk it out with you. This can get your over the overthinking. In most cases, it is something beyond that writing that is holding you in that circling pattern–probably a fear. Talking it out can help you let go and get back to the path.

Click on the links below to see what the other authors do to avoid overthinking in their works. To get this blog hop delivered to your inbox every Friday, drop your email address in the box on the top right. See back here next week!

Muppet Vision – Open Book Blog Hop #379

June 5, 2023 By Captain Maiel 4 Comments

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #379

If you were a Muppet, what would you look like? Are
you a person, monster, animal, something else?

Jim Henson is first and foremost the biggest influence on me as an artist. I grew up breathing Henson media, and there was never enough, as far as I was concerned. His passing was such a numb moment for me. I guess, then, I didn’t really realize yet, just how much that man meant to me as a writer. Despite all that I had consumed from his workshop, I just couldn’t measure this accurately. To be fair, I was merely 15 years old, and I had not quite embraced writing the way I would in the coming years. At this time, I was a fledgling.

Regardless, I can say that this question truly got my attention. Much like I never realized how much of Jim Henson’s work bolsters my imagination, I never thought who I would be if I suddenly became a Muppet in his universe. In fact, I stared at a blank screen until I got the idea to ask a friend close to me. Before I even finished reading the question, they said: Animal. Not just the type of Muppet, but the mad Muppet himself. And, then they thought a moment and said, maybe more like Janice, tho.

^{Happy World Guitar Day from Animal and Janice! | The Muppets}

Then the eureka moment struck. I’m the odd little Muppet baby of Animal and Janice. It makes perfect sense. Of course, I have my dad’s rockin’ red hair and my mom’s beautiful lips and bedroom eyes. I’d dress a lot like both of them. However, this child became a writer and visual artist instead of a musician and vocalist. If I had the fabric and time, I’d be making Muppet me before I even finish writing this. I have plenty of studded belts to sacrifice to the cause.

But, tell me. What kind of Muppet do you think I am?

Back in the day, my grandad gave me a Miss Piggy puppet. I treasured her for years, but couldn’t tell you where she is at now. I also had a Kermit, a Cookie Monster, and Big Bird. Of those, I believe that Cookie is the only one still with me. Although, I can’t put my finger on him right this moment. He may still be at my mom’s house.

Let’s click on the links below to see how the other author’s answered this fantastic question. It’s going to be a fun hop! Also, before you go, drop your email address in the box at the top right to get this hop delivered to your inbox every Friday. See you back here next week!

Blurbs Are Hell – Open Book Blog Hop #378

May 29, 2023 By Captain Maiel 5 Comments

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #378

We’ve talked blurbs before. Do you have any tips for writing blurbs?

There’s no getting around a book blurb, unless you can afford to hire someone to write one for you, and you can guarantee that they know what they’re doing. It’s hell. They’re hard. The importance they hold is huge. Yes, this is the part where having a large publisher behind you can be of benefit (one of the very few). The blurb is basically copy: Marketing copy is content written to promote or sell a product or service or to persuade readers to take a certain action. If you’re not great at marketing, you won’t be great at writing a blurb. What a headache!

Obviously, a writer can hit the mark even if they’re not great at marketing. It takes a certain set of skills for which we’re known. It’s that extra set of skills where we get shaky. I’d say that if you’re exceptional at poetry, then you won’t struggle in this area. Also transferrable skills from screenwriting can be a benefit. So what essentially is the golden skill in writing a book blurb: brevity.

That leads us to the next question: what exactly does brevity mean? You might think that is quite obvious, but so many authors struggle with the book blurb, that it seems a more elusive idea in this particular case. Brevity means concise language in the realm of a blurb. Remember when you were told to use active voice and avoid wordiness? That will be imperative here.

In addition to using concise language, the blurb writer is going to leave 90% of the story out. All you want to focus on is a hook. If you can answer the question of why a reader would pick up your book and keep it picked up, then you likely know your hook. That’s not an easy task for the writer of the book. Proximity to the material can cloud the overall idea of the story with the many details. I know I think everything is super important to talk about.

A book blurb will not be easy to get on the page in a couple of drafts. You’ll overwrite it through many attempts. This is why rushing to publication isn’t such a wise move. There’s a lot to plan, and a lot that requires you take a step back and consider.

Go ahead and write that page long summary you think is the best blurb you can manage at this time. Then, go through it and see how you can narrow down the things said to make them more precise, until you have a half page. Now that you have just a couple paragraphs, you may have your blurb, but it is more likely you have several iterations yet. Never fear! It’s going to work out.

Let me take a moment to remind you that the blurb is the book’s pitch. If you can’t hook them here, you won’t hook them anywhere. Take your time. Dig in. It’s hard work and most authors don’t have a marketing degree to help them think about it from the sales perspective. What could help with that?

Reading and studying blurbs from other books can go a long way to getting your head in the game. Perhaps, you may come across one that is similar enough to your own book that you can see more clearly how to write your own. Don’t plagiarize, though. Other blurbs on published books aren’t your template. Just let them teach you!

An economy of words is your greatest tool/skill. Don’t dump words, however, like you just had a tour of Roget’s Thesaurus. Your readers will be put off by the use of hoity-toity language. However, sometimes, one of those words can save your bacon. If it doesn’t sound pretentious and it doesn’t stick out like sore thumb, go ahead and use it. (The same rules that apply to your book’s prose apply to its blurb.)

The fact is, writing book blurbs is hard. You have to be able to let go of the majority of the story to define it in a few lines. Have you ever practiced writing script log lines? It is good practice for learning how to be more precise. Take Twitter’s limitation on characters and attempt to write a few lines in just that space. In the end, while this may sound ludicrous, your pitch will have to hook a reader as quickly as possible. Posting some attempts on Twitter could tell you if you’re getting somewhere with readers.

The process of writing a book blurb has taken months for me with each book. I not only have to take the time to separate from the story I’ve written, so I can view it more top down, but also assess what the projected audience would find compelling. The whole doing it to make yourself happy has gone out the window at this point. Blurbs are wholly marketing. You’re publishing it to sell copies. Otherwise, there would be no point to bring it this far. Don’t torture yourself!

In the end, I’d try out the blurb on a few trusted people you think will give you great feedback. Without the feedback, you may struggle to hone the blurb further than the half page you’ve reached. Their outsider perspective can often better see your book in summary than your close relationship with the material will ever allow. Don’t be afraid to reach out to trusted peers.

Did you know, Editors can be hired to write a book blurb (or fix one)? This service is often overlooked by authors working with independent editors. Make use of it, however, only when you’ve found a trusted editor to work on your materials. It may add cost to publishing your work, but if you’ve planned well, this tiny addition won’t matter in the long run except to improve the sales. That means, it could pay for itself in the end!

Please be sure to click on the links below to get tips and tricks on writing book blurbs from the other authors in the blog hop. Also, enter your email address in the box at the top of the page to get this hop sent to your email every Friday. See you back here next week!