Story – Page 8 – WRITE TIME AND AGAIN

Going Back

Posted on October 15, 2021 by L. M. Montes

There have been movies about somehow waking up and one day you are a kid again. We know this can’t really happen. It’s only in the movies. But…..what if it did? What if you lived your adult life up until the age of 50 years old. You’re single but have had on and off again relationships over the years. You live in New York City. Then, one night you went to bed and woke up one morning at some point in your past. Let’s say 31 years old. The bed you woke up in was completely different, and the house you woke up in was the house you lived in in London, England, when you were that age.

What’s more disturbing is you don’t know which reality is real. Did you dream your life to 50 and you are still 31? Or are you 50 and having a dream that you went back in time? Both feel lucid, so you are unable to tell. What would you do? How would you react? How would you find out the truth? Would you even want to live your last 19 years all over again?

I know that if I woke tomorrow morning in my room at my dad’s house and it was 9 years earlier, I think I’d jump for joy. The last 9 years of my life have been great since I remarried my husband 9 years ago. I wouldn’t want to trade that for anything. So, yup, I’d want to relive it. And, yes, there are some things I’d do different. I think we all would.

Characterization

Villains (Part V)

Posted on October 14, 2021October 13, 2021 by L. M. Montes

How many times over the course of your life have you played a game with that one person who can’t help cheating to win the game? They are out there. In stories, they most definitely are there. They are called the antagonist, your villain. And they don’t play by the rules. In their minds the law doesn’t apply to them. If they can get what they want by breaking the law, so be it.

Their drive comes from interest in themselves. Their behavior is immoral/amoral. They lie, cheat, steal, deceive, and manipulate. If it puts money in their own pockets, they will take a bribe, blackmail, or do whatever it takes. Whatever the case, they always have ulterior motives.

When creating your villain, think outside the box. What are some creative ways your villain can break the rules to achieve their goal(s)?

Setting

Setting (Paint Your Picture Continued)

Posted on October 13, 2021October 21, 2021 by L. M. Montes

Where are you? What does that place look like? What feeling does it convey? Is it essential to the story? Did something significant occur there?

When you are selecting settings for your story, the reader must know where the story is taking place. More importantly, they want to ‘see’ it and ‘feel’ it. You may have just read the previous sentence and said, “Well, duhhh.” I kid you not. There are some writers out there who don’t pay enough attention to their setting. It leaves the reader scratching their head. I’ve read books where I have had to back track because the setting wasn’t paid its due diligence. I don’t know about you, but I picture in my head what I’m reading. It plays out like a movie. If I can’t see it, the story lacks that flow. Once you hook the reader on the first page, you want to keep them.

Characterization

Villains (Part III)

Posted on October 8, 2021 by L. M. Montes

You’re running in a race. You’re ahead. But, in order to keep your lead you must keep going strong. If you let up even once, you risk losing or falling behind. Think of your villain as running in a type of race. It’s the kind of race where he/she is coming at your main character (MC) and not letting up (remember, this is their job). So much so, that your MC gets kicked back down before they get even half way back up. Your villain is on a roll. They can’t stop because, if they do, they run the risk of losing and the MC overtaking them.

Think of many different ways for your villain to trip up your MC. Think outside the box. I am currently reading a set of books by Jeff Carson. They’re David Wolf mysteries. OH MY GOSH!!! Talk about heart pounding suspense. The villain(s) never let up. Often times, while in the middle of one of these books, I couldn’t stand the suspense any longer, so I went to Amazon and read the summary of the next book. Doing this reassured me things would turn out ok in the current book I was reading. Then I would start the next book right after the one I finished and go through the cycle all over again.

What caused this mind blowing suspense? The villain(s). AND, in most cases there were more than one. All from multiple subplots and all out to get the MC. If you want a great example of a true villain(s), read those books. You can find them on Amazon. See the link below for book 1:

Foreign Deceit by Jeff Carson

Writing

Writing a Novel/Books: Must Do’s

Posted on October 7, 2021October 6, 2021 by L. M. Montes

Photo by Alexandr Podvalny on Pexels.com

What do you love? What do you think a lot about doing? What is your dream? Many people go through their life dreaming about something they want to do/achieve but never do it. Maybe the opportunity never presented itself. Maybe waiting for that opportunity isn’t the answer. Maybe you have to decide to just go for it and stop making excuses. Ultimately, it is your choice.

My dream was to be an author. I achieved that, and I keep on going with it. Yes, there are obstacles that get in the way. That doesn’t mean I don’t stop. That just means I work around those things. When something comes up and I am not able to work on my manuscript, I am thinking about my story. I am plotting in my head. I am writing in my journal. You might think that just thinking about your manuscript/story doesn’t constitute working on your novel. OH, but I think it does. The way I see it, when I get back to the actual writing, I am ready with the words, and I end up typing like a mad woman, HAHAHA. Being consistent is what it’s all about. Stay on task, whether you are working on it in your head or on paper/computer

Here are some must do’s in the world of book writing (some but certainly not least) :

Write everyday. If something gets in your way and all you can do is jot down ideas and thoughts in a journal, do so.
Come up with a target word count to reach everyday and reach it, whether you are writing in your journal or on your computer.
Read other books of authors who have been at it for a long time. Truth be told, they know more than you do because they’ve been at it for a while. Learn from them.
You get better by editing and rewriting. I like to edit after all is said and done because it frees up my mind for sticking to the story and getting it on paper.
Rejection. That nasty word. Nobody likes it, but that makes you better as well. When someone gives you constructive criticism and tells you they didn’t like something in your story, listen to what they’re saying. Think of what they are saying from their point of view. Then fix it, if you think what they are saying holds merit. Remember, it’s your choice. After all, it’s your work. But don’t get upset over rejection. It’s part of the process of writing.

Have fun with your writing, and think of these must do’s as part of the process of making it fun for yourself. You are at the wheel. Where you steer your story and how you achieve that dream is up to you.

Plot/Story

Connections

Posted on October 6, 2021February 23, 2023 by L. M. Montes

Bridges, websites, people, situations, events. What do all of these things have in common? They all have an opportunity to link. Whether the link is two shores connected by a bridge, a website that connects us to information, two people having a lot in common, or two or more situations or events having some kind of link/connection between them; they all allow for a connection in some way.

So too are the events, situations, and people within your story. How are they connected? How will you connect them? The answers to these questions only you can answer because it’s your story(s). A good way to check and make sure that the parts of your story connect is to ask yourself why something is happening. If they connect and have something to do with your story, that’s great. That’s what you want. But if they don’t, and they sound disjointed, ask yourself what is it you can do to bring them together. Otherwise, it sounds like random information that has no place in your story. The result is a confused reader.

On the other hand, some random events shed some light on something else. For example, Let’s say you have Mary who is with her boyfriend Charles. They are in the middle of a heated discussion as they are walking down the street. Charles is speaking to Mary, but a beautiful sunset caught her attention as they are walking by an open area that displays a beach in the distance. Charles could care less about the sunset. He is more focused on the discussion (even though she points out the sunset).

In the above example, the sunset plays no part in the story itself. It’s random. BUT, what it DOES do is give the reader insight into the character of Mary. Thus, making a connection between the character of Mary and the reader. That’s good. You want that. It creates empathy. But that’s a whole other blog post.

Characterization

What Makes a Good Villain (Part 1)

Posted on October 3, 2021October 2, 2021 by L. M. Montes

Never underestimate your villain. They are more clever than you think they are. Creating them goes beyond having them do bad nasty things to your main character. Oh no. They go much deeper than that. They must know your MC well in order to know how to act against them. Part of the villain getting to know your MC means they must get to their weaknesses, AND they are well gifted at getting to know this information, AND they will know exactly how to use it against them.

Your villain is the architect of the inciting incident and the stories plot twists that follow. Their job is to create tension. Think of them as the mudslingers. They throw everything they can think of to thwart your MC.

Fiction

Word Selection

Posted on October 1, 2021 by L. M. Montes

How picky are you with your words, when you write? Do you have to choose just the right ones in order for you to move on? Or do you belt them out there onto the page and rework them later? The first way can stop you up and prevent you from making headway at a steady pace. Because what happens is this: a creative idea for your story may have popped into your head, and you might forget it by the time you’re finished making your wording what you ultimately want it to be.

Get the words on paper first along with your ideas and worry about making them just perfectly right later. You can also make notes for yourself along the way about what you want to go back and fix. Your draft will still be there waiting for you.

Have a great weekend everyone, and God Bless 🙏

Fiction

New Information

Posted on September 8, 2021September 7, 2021 by L. M. Montes

I’ve read that, when you get to Act III of writing your novel, you are not supposed to add any new information. But I’ve also read that it’s ok to break the rules of writing if it’s done well. So, do you add new information after Act III or not? I say, if it works use it. Then again, before you use it, run it by some beta readers (those who critique your work before you publish it) and get their feedback first. After all, you don’t want to push your reader fans away by disappointing them.