My Grown-UP Christmas List, Part 2

1.      Plot that is not predictable – I don’t want my readers to see it coming before I want them to. I also don’t want them to say, “this sounds exactly like (plug any movie or book similar to your MS here).” –that comment is not a complement (well not for me).

2.      A Thrilling Middle – I don’t want my readers to put down the book and I know middles can sag if I don’t add drama/tension to that section. I want the middle to be as exciting as the beginning and the end. I want to add subplots to fill this area. And I want details the readers care about. I won’t add a new character in the middle of the book only for the purposes of filling space.

3.      A Great Ending – I don’t want a forced ending. One the readers scratch their heads at and say “what the ?!@! was that.” I don’t want the readers to know exactly what is going to happen but I want them to say, “Oh, I see how that all connects. That makes perfect sense. Why didn’t I see that?” Then I want them to reread the book to find out if there were clues leading to the ending (there should be, subtle ones) – no dues ex machine here. There should be a clear path to the ending.

4.      No Plot Holes – I don’t want my readers to get to the end and say, “What happened with the ___ she never told us what happened. Now the story doesn’t make sense." I don’t want to leave loose ends – frayed and almost falling a part. I want some ominous moments, some moments the readers will have to keep reading to understand, and some questionable actions on behalf of my protagonist and antagonist but my the end of the story, I want to have answered all of the questions. Or (if I'm writing a series – which I happen to be doing) I want to answer the major plot questions (and tie all loose ends) and answer most sub-plot questions. It will be good to leave the readers questioning some things but not major plot questions. I want to ensure it all adds up in the end and the readers don't feel cheated for their time invested. 

My son came home and song this for me. I loved it. Too Funny!!! Enjoy!

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh!!!

Grown-UP Christmas List #1

As promised, I’m sharing my Christmas list. My writing Christmas list. These are the things I want for my manuscript. They should also be the things every writers wants and the things that make readers love a book.

v     Characters – I want three-dimensional characters that jump off the page. I want characters that are not clichéd or boring. I want characters that my audience can relate to and like or love to hate.

v     Tortured Characters - I want to torture my characters to the point that the reader can hardly recognize them at the end of the book. I want the readers to feel sorry for them and question my (the author) sanity.

 

v     Realistic dialogue – I want my young adult (teenage) characters to sound like teenagers when they talk (and their inner dialogue when they think). I want their exchanges to be honest and not full of adult like mannerisms and thoughts. I don’t want people to think about the “old lady” who wrote the piece while they’re reading the characters words.

v     A Clear Goal for my Protagonist – I want my character’s goal(s) and motivations to be clear to the audience. I want them to have goals that are attainable for the length of the book I’ve written. I want my young adult and middle grade characters to have goals that are realistic for their age.

I decided to pick a song with a lot of character for this post. So fittingly, I chose Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt. Enjoy!

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh.

My Grown-UP Christmas List

Yes, I have one. Don’t you? A Christmas list I mean. I have a few lists to be perfectly honest. Last year I shared my list (and got most of the things on my it). So, this year I’d like to share it, in the hopes I’ll get everything again. I would also like the things on my list for you, too. Well, if you like to write that is. Or read… I won’t be sharing my list now. No. It’s much too long for one post. I’ll be posting parts of it from Thursday, 12/8 till Christmas Eve, 12/24. I’ll also provide a little Christmas spirit with my fav Christmas songs.

My first musical selection is, “My Grown-Up Christmas List” ***of course*** but I couldn’t decide between my fav version by Amy Grant or the updated version by Michael Buble. So here they both are for your musical pleasure.

I'm Back!!!!

OMG, I found my way back to the blog. LOL Sorry I took a much-needed sabbatical. But I have still been busy writing, getting educated, and living. So what have I been up to:

 1.   Getting the house ready for the holidays. My youngest daughter has been harassing me everyday about hanging the lights outside since we already decorated the inside of the house. She greets me at the door when I come from work and gives me the evil eye…come on if you have a daughter you know the look.

2.   I was supposed to start querying on Nov. 20^th but I didn’t. I chickened out…sort of. I just felt the MS needed something else. It’s been critiqued to death and beta read a few times, but I feel I’m missing something. Do you ever get that feeling? Anyway, until I feel differently I’m not sending it out.

3.   I threw away the last of the Pecan Pie from Thanksgiving that was not eaten. Thank God Thanksgiving is over with. I had been doing so well – eating healthy and all. My co-workers actually think I’m a really healthy eater. I have them fooled. I ate so much on Thanksgiving that I might as well have ate all the donuts and breakfast taco’s they offered – I ate as many calories in one day to equal about 2 months of donuts and tacos! So sad.

4.   Umm…starting to think about what I want for Christmas. I think I’ll do a separate post on this. LOL, yeah, it’s that much.

What have you been up to?

 

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh.