IWSG

I interrupt this blogging break to bring you:

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Purpose: 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!

Well, the month of the book release is over. Anyone who's read my blog for a while knows that I have been worried about a lot of stuff related to sending my book baby out in the world. The launch turned out to be a lot of fun. My reflections on that event are here. Jordan McCollum, whom I co-launched with, and I also did an event at the American Fork Library. A couple of people came, for which I was grateful.

I think what worried me the most was what took place last Saturday. A solo signing.

So, I posted in a couple of my writing groups for suggestions on how to make it a fun day (I did drag my husband with me because he doesn't have problems talking to people about my book). I thought I'd share some of the great suggestions:

• Chas Hathaway suggested balloon marketing.
• Adrienne Monson said acting like a Walmart greeter and chatting with people made it easier. This was a very common theme.
• Another author said she preferred solo signings rather than double ones where she felt obligated to do the same thing the other author was doing--even if that was just sitting at the table waiting for people to come to him/her. Otherwise it felt like she was trying to hog the people.

I love how author Tristi Pinkston put it:

Here's something I learned a long time ago. A signing is what you make it. If you go in there with the attitude that you're going to have fun, enjoy the experience, have fun talking to people and employees, and live in the moment of knowing that you're an author and you have reached a life-long goal, you'll have a fantastic time regardless of how many books you sell.

If you go in thinking that this is awful and you are embarrassed/shy/reluctant/whatever, and that it's not worth your time unless you sell x quantity of books, you'll have a rotten time regardless of how many books you sell.

Decide the experience you want to have and then create it.

Armed with some great suggestions and Tristi's philosophy, I had a great afternoon.

AND a wonderful surprise. I used to belong to an online romance critique group that got too small to continue. The three of us that were left are still friends on Facebook. As I stood at my table yesterday, a couple entered the bookstore, carrying a book--opened to a place where the author had signed it.

My awesome friend Melanie Macek (who lives in Texas) from that old critique group made arrangements with some family members of hers to drive all the way to Layton to bring me an autographed copy of Mel's book, that I got to critique. They picked up a paper copy of A Change of Plans for me to sign for Mel (she's in my acknowledgements).

Melanie never said a word! *sniff* It totally made my day.

Yeah. Solo signings can totally rock.

What are your experiences at book signings, either as an author or a reader? Have you seen (or done) any clever approaches to make it fun for everyone?

Guest Post - Author Adrienne Monson

I'm taking a break from our Kiersey personality trait discussions for a special guest--paranormal author Adrienne Monson--who's going to talk a bit about characters. I loves me some talk about characters. Adrienne's a wife and mother of two children. One child has the angelic role while the other is its exact counterpart. Together, they make quite an interesting team against their mom. When she’s not playing with her kids, she’s writing at the computer, or reading a good book. Besides her passion for reading, she enjoys weight training and Zumba. Check out her debut novel, Dissension, is scheduled for release on February 23.

Thanks for having me as a guest, Donna!

There’s so many different writing tips that could put to good use, so I had a hard time just coming up with one. However, I prevailed over my rambling mind and was able to focus on a singular topic.

Characterization. This is something I’ve personally had to improve on. The first draft for my novel was decent. The plot moved quickly and there was lots of action, but none of my beta readers cared about the characters. Once I got this feedback, I tried to immerse myself in different processes to having solid, three-dimensional characters. The tips I share in this post are ones that helped me the most, but keep in mind that every writer has their own process and you need to utilize what works for you. We writers love trial and error!

I’m very much a plot oriented author, so I still like to write out a rough draft before I get to work on my characters. Once that’s completed, I write a file on each character. It has notes on their physical attributes as well as mannerisms that are unique to them. Then I write up a full bio in those same files. I like to be detail oriented here: dynamics with family when growing up, failed relationships, things they fear, their favorite animal, color, food, etc. I realize most of this information isn’t written into the manuscript, but it really does help me to write the characters more clearly.

The next part of my process is kind of fun. I look up random personality quizzes online and take them from the perspective of a character. I usually just do these for the main characters, and it really does help me to think about things from their point of view.

Okay, so this next part can be a little tedious, but it seriously helps. What I do is read my manuscript from just one character’s point of view. If they’re not in some scenes, then I go ahead and skip them, but if they’re just a small part of other scenes, then I read it from their perspective anyway. As I do this, I’ll make some changes/additions depending on how I think that character would react. Once done, I start from the beginning with a different character’s point of view in mind. This is another process that I specifically use for the main characters, but I’ll also try to pay attention to the other characters while I’m doing a final read-through.

It’s crazy how attached I’ve become to some of my characters, even the evil villains. Because I know them so well, it’s sometimes difficult to remember that they’re not real people. When my sister-in-law told me the name they’d decided on for her baby, I got excited and said, “That’s the name for the main character in my demon novel!” After a hesitation, she forced some enthusiasm, but I could tell she didn’t love the idea that I was comparing her flesh and blood daughter to one of my characters. I do think my niece will have fun with that when she gets older, though.

How immersed in your characters do you get?