Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going to go?"

I'm writing a mystery series. I have to know the crime, but then I let my characters out, and it's a matter of understanding how each would respond in that situation. Sometimes it flows easily, and other times an unexpected twist will require me to go back and make changes earlier in the book. In the current book, it got so complicated, I made a calendar of events so I could follow everyone and keep it straight. Every book is different.

Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going to go?"

It depends on the story. With King's Warrior, I did just start writing. I had no idea where the story was going, or what was going to happen. The events flowed and the characters emerged, and it was the most fun I have ever had writing.

I paid for it dearly later - it took 2 years to edit/rewrite the story so that the writing was on par with other things I had written and worthy of giving to others to read.

Now I spend a lot of time outlining and working out the technical aspects of the world/story/characters before I ever begin writing the story. It isn't as much fun, but there isn't as much work to do when the book is "finished." And I've found that there even with an outline the story and characters can still surprise me as I'm writing. Sometimes the story veers off the outlined path, and that's fine, too.

Assume we are talking fiction:

I have a story in mind when I start and I have a few notes or scenes jotted down. I create the setting and the character(s) and kind of let it roll. I pretty much know where I want to go but the story often steers the way.

I can't imagine doing an outline and then filling in the blanks. I do use a compendium to keep the details in order. Blogged on it as 'Avoiding Literary Pratfalls.'
http://bonnershouse.com/avoiding-lite...

Glenn wrote: "Hey, I've got an idea that will be fun and help all of us imagine that we're promoting our books:

What's the first line of your novel?"

First line of The Dark Lake -- "Now that's a ghastly moon. Not ghostly," she said.

OK. I'll play:
A Dish Served Cold, WIP

"I spent the afternoon in Modjeska Canyon at a vacant vacation cabin; vacant except for the decomposing body on the back porch. A passing jogger caught a whiff of something foul and, after discovering the body and puking on his Reeboks, phoned it in."

The Platte River Waltz, Orphans in the Storm

"Josh Bonner wasn't tired of walking. He was just tired of looking. For over an hour he had been staring only at his feet as they trudged through the new grass of the plain beneath him."

First line of King's Warrior

"Graldon, King of the dragons, mighty lord of the skies over Aom-igh, handed the golden sword to the mere man who stood before him."

And the first line of the yet-unpublished sequel (but in final editing stages) Second Son

“But what does it mean, Master? I don’t understand,” the young apprentice asked, peering up at his teacher.

"Oh, don’t mind if I do! Thank you very much. Isn’t that just a sight for sore eyes? A Black Russian in the a.m."

A B and E

This first-line thingy looks fun. This is from my book Hollow Moon...

RAVANA REACHED for the next hand-hold and pulled herself higher, annoyed beyond belief at how easily she had once again let her wayward electric cat lure her into such an idiotic predicament.

This is the first line of my book which will be free on kindle this weekend. http://www.amazon.com/Assassin-Heart-...

She walked gracefully across the rolling deck of the ship, adjusted the swords at her waist, and then leaned calmly against the rail.

She's a very nasty villian!

Steph wrote: "This first-line thingy looks fun. This is from my book Hollow Moon...

RAVANA REACHED for the next hand-hold and pulled herself higher, annoyed beyond belief at how easily she had once again let he..."

Ok... now that is an excellent first line!

Like the first lines!

Mine, from The Ninja Librarian, is
Skunk Corners is hard on librarians.

Jenelle wrote: "Ok... now that is an excellent first line! "

Thank you!

"The elven mage woke long before the dawn."

In book 1 I had a plan, which changed and changed and changed. I have an over all plan for the series and plans for the books but often it is just this this and this happen and the words flow to make it so, or not.

I sell many more e-books than paperbacks but I sold my first paperback last night after I reduced the price. Once my KDP select is up I will put the book on Smashwords, book 2 onwards I wont bother with Select. Just put on everywhere and go with it:).

E book sales are slow but this is only the second month after release and only a month or so after the paperback. Hopefully book 2 will be up in September. THen if can only work out book 3 I am sorted.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Beyond-...
http://www.amazon.com/Light-Beyond-St...

Also available for print on demand via Lulu.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/alexandra-bu...

The first line from my novel Nukekubi is:

My heart lurched at the sight of Cathy’s robed, slender form, hurtling towards the apartment’s balcony and a five-story drop.

Nukekubi

The first line from Solomon's Throne is:

“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.”

First line to its sequel, releasing in Sept, called The Hoard of the Doges:

“You should have seen it, signore, truly, you would have marveled!” said Doge Domenico Michele to his oldest friend, Pepe Dandolo.

As far as plotting, for me, I do a pantser/plotter hybrid. I know the basic story and where it's going, and some major points along the way. The rest is just letting the story flow. When I do a a treasure hunt (Solomon's Throne and Hoard of the Doges), I know where the clues will be, which is basically an outline and keeps me on track.

Jennings

Solomon's Throne can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and CreateSpace.

Glenn wrote: "Hey, I've got an idea that will be fun and help all of us imagine that we're promoting our books:
Sounds fun! First line of Mer Si Raen Ambush:

The unexpected attack, now an hour past, left her alone and vulnerable as darkness descended over the abysmal Atlantic waters.

Here is the first sentence of A Greater Monster


I jerked awake from my half-sleep, still clutching Ganesh in my right fist, when I heard the moan.

What's the first line of your novel?"

"I lay in darkness on cold dank stone and remembered the day I died."


House of Shadows

As an author what information do you hope to receive in a Review?

Hi Julie,

No, don't give up!
Find yourself a couple of betareaders, see what they have to say about your manuscript.

Claude

Kim wrote: "As an author what information do you hope to receive in a Review?"

An actual review, not something someone writes totally bashing and going against your writing and then having the nerve to call it a review

Hi everybody,

I have now written my first book (Registering A Domain Name For Beginners) and self-published it.

Now the most difficult part has come: promoting it.

Since a lot of you who are members of this group went through the same path before me, could you give me some tips to optimize the promotion of my book? Any contact details such as newspapers and radio moderators are also welcome.

Thank you in advance for your help.

I've had zero response from newspapers or suchlike, even local ones I thought might be interested in a local author. We're not newsworthy enough, it appears. My best responses have been from supporting other people's work. People pick up on your writing style and check you out from that. The other source of sales has been KDP -thousands of free downloads, followed by several weeks of actual sales. That does, however, tie you to Amazon for a minimum 90 day period.

Not sure for non-fiction but- Use social media, your blog, etc or any other free outlet as much as you can,cross promote,etc, without over-spamming. There's plenty out there to read,find at your fingertips. Newspapers,press releases I've not yet ventured into. What might work for some, might not work for others,so try to do or learn something each day and it should come together. Best of luck and much success to you.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me.

Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going to go? Do you always know ho..."

Sometimes I start with an initial idea that just flows out into writing very easily. But the more I think about it, the more details flood into my brain that I have to write down, and then I get all sorts of notes and plans. I can never write anything longer than a few thousand words without some sort of coherent plan. Sometimes I write that down, sometimes it sticks in my head and I remember it.

Most of the time though, I start from notes. I build up characters and worlds through planning first, then I write. Sometimes I never get around to writing from those plans, and I scrap them.

I think it depends on whether the initial idea is a scene, a character, or a concept like a city or code of dress or some totally tidbit. If it's a scene, I can begin writing, but I always have to stop to make plans before I get very far. For anything else, it's notes first.

Awesome request to post the first line of our novel! The first line of "The Crimson League" is:

The autumn wind’s whistle died with a choke as Kora Porteg slammed her brother’s window.The Crimson League

C.A. wrote: "Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going to go?"

I'm w..." I sit down in front of my laptop with a vague idea in my mind and my characters take over. When I wrote my first book, it scared the hell out of me. I decided not ot fight it. But I have to keep a time line going on the side and make them behave sometimes.

My books never turn out the way I thought they would but I usually like them better.

Steve, I offer some marketing methods I've used on my website. http://www.florenceosmund.com. I hope that helps.

Peggy wrote: "C.A. wrote: "Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going t..."

Mine too:) I have vague ideas and then the books tend to write themselves:)

Peggy wrote: "C.A. wrote: "Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going t..."

Love your approach, Peggy and Alexandra. That's exactly the way I write, too. I usually start off with some characters and general, vague ideas and, then, wham, the story takes off on its own. And, you're right, Peggy. Sometimes, it's scary when that happens, but exhilerating at the same time! :)

Steve, glad to be of help...

Here is the first line of my fantasy novel, Pool of Souls.

The mare sounded apologetic but urgent. I’m sorry to disturb you, Caz, but I think you should know that someone is trying to steal me.

First lines, for eBooks, all depend on the device. Here's the first paragraph of the book I published this week, New Beginnings (Changes Book 2)

Maggie gasped. Her eyes darted around the silvered darkness of her bedroom, pulse racing and a cold sweat clammy on her forehead. Her fingers clenched in Deefor’s thick fur, drawing his calm strength into her, fighting back the last tendrils of nightmare that writhed in her mind.

I found the support I had from family and friends in the early days was essential. I was so uncertain of myself and what I was doing I needed the ego boost they gave me. Then I started helping other authors with bits and pieces I'd picked up along the way, and doing a bit of proof reading, suggesting edits and what have you, and through that I've been making so many new friends I now have a terrific support/help network.

The best move of all? Going GR. Since coming here I feel I'm a real, active participant of the writing world. I was lost in a very lonely wilderness when I started and I don't ever want to go back.

BTW - how do you do those really nifty links that show as just the novel name? I know - learned a lot, but still has a lot more to learn lol!

Hahah Fellatio get down.

I once knew someone who told a not so educated and wise acquantaince that Fellatio was a character in Midsummer Night's Dream

I like the first line idea. However, I'm going to give 2 first lines. The first line of the Prologue and the first line of Chapter 1, just because the Prologue/Epilogue has more to do with my whole planned series, while Chapter 1 is obviously the beginning of the story for my book: Prophecy

Prologue first line:

"The night of January 31st, 1993 the winds were howling in Portland, Oregon."

And Chapter One first line:

"The newly crowned King Cuzak Rudir stood on the spacious garden balcony of his palace and looked out over Meninar, the capital city of Specter III."

Jay wrote: "BTW - how do you do those really nifty links that show as just the novel name? I know - learned a lot, but still has a lot more to learn lol!"

You mean like this? Margaret of the North

If so, you need link HTML: < a href=put the website address or url here and enclose in quotation marks> title of book or whatever you want to say like: "click here. "Put an end tag: < /a. Place > after /a . All tags must have these: <>. The link tags, in this case, are: a href="" before the title and /a after. I can't directly show you how the HTML looks for the link because posting translates it into visual text. If you want to see how it looksn, go to: http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_a.asp

E. wrote: "Jay wrote: "BTW - how do you do those really nifty links that show as just the novel name? I know - learned a lot, but still has a lot more to learn lol!"

You mean like this? Margaret of the North..."

Aha, said the blind man, knocking on his wooden leg lol!
Brilliantly explained, and what a good site - must make time to try this out.

Thank you!! :) :)

Let's try it...

Never Too Late
New Beginnings

Well I never! That's my lesson for the day - good to learn at least one new thing every day :)

I understood none of that. I am rubbish at HTML

That's what I thought, Alexandra. Give it a go - this could be fun!

The first line of Terror on the Beach is: "I walk in darness, I am darkness, and my name is Twoon.

Alexandra wrote: "I understood none of that. I am rubbish at HTML"

I am, too. Here's a trick, though - if the book is listed here at Goodreads, you can just click on the little "add book/author" above the posting box, enter the book name, and click "add" next to the appropriate edition, and the book link will show up. If you want the nifty little cover image, do the same thing but click the little button at the bottom of the pop-up window that says "cover."

Obviously, this only works when you are posting here, but it can be really useful in that context.

Gosh, I am so unobservant - I had to look hard for that and I've seen it every single time I've posted. Doh!

Kim wrote: "As an author what information do you hope to receive in a Review?"

Honesty. While, of course, I'd like every reader to enjoy my book, I really benefit from their honest, thoughtful feedback. What works? What doesn't work? If readers didn't enjoy the book, an explanation of why so that I can understand if that dislike was due to reading preferences or a flaw in my work. If readers enjoyed it, then knowing what resonated with them is useful for the sequels and for comprehending how my novel works on a holistic level.

Thanks for asking a great, thought-provoking question. :)

I like to know what readers think of my descriptions. Can they "see" the person, room, town or the scenery? Are my characters likeable, hated or whatever? Is the plot believable? Not counting fantasy or paranormal genres of course. Authors can get as "unbelievable" as they wish with those genres, I should think.

The comment I like the most in a review is, "I couldn't put this book down."

Glenn wrote: "Hey, I've got an idea that will be fun and help all of us imagine that we're promoting our books:

First line of my newest novel Need.

"I stood, looking at myself in the mirror, the events of last night running through my head."

Here's the first line of my short story, These Bonds :

"Milo wraps his cloak closer about him, the chill of early February seeping through the layers, his breath coming out as steam."

And the first line of my to be released story, The Dog in the Mist :

"The river is full after a week's worth of rain and the earth is still damp under his knees."

I hadn't noticed it before, but both of these lines are about the weather. Maybe it's because I'm English.