How Do You Come Up With All Those Book Ideas? by Diane Bator

 

Find me at http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

Studies tell us that the average human being has more than 6,000 thoughts per day. As writers, it can seem as though we have at least double that since our thoughts are conjoined with those of our characters.

Most writers are constantly taking in, processing, and developing new work whether consciously or not. Even when we’re doing something “mindless” like jigsaw puzzles or online games, there is a part of our brains that just never slow down or become distracted. They’re always working on plot holes and great sentences.

My significant other has grown used to seeing my vacant stare when I have an idea percolating. Or when I suddenly run from the room searching for pen, paper, or laptop then disappear down the proverbial rabbit hole for a while and he’s unable to get my attention even with bacon, wine, or cheesecake. A writer’s mind is a funny thing. We can be swayed by food or drink, but even that might cause sudden fits of writing as we insist, “I have a great idea!” It doesn’t always mean we actually do, but sometime those bursts of creativity can lead to something bigger. A scene, a chapter, or an entire novel.

What I find interesting is having people tell me I think differently than they do, which I used to take as a bit of a slight and wondered what was wrong with me. Recently, I spent a week with my mom who came to visit from across Canada. More than once she gushed, “I have no idea how you keep all those books and ideas straight.”

I suppose it’s the same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice! Pen to paper is the best way. Going with the flow of head to heart to hand. While most writers use computers these days, nothing beats the old school sound of a pen scratching paper. If you ever had writers block, give it a try!

So how do writers actually come up with the ideas they write for readers to become absorbed in for hours on end? Truth is, no one really knows. Not yet. The following is borrowed from a great article called The Science Behind What Writing Does to Your Brain - CraftYour Content. (The article is from 2017, but an interesting read!!)

“Expert athletes have trained their muscles to perform certain functions, and expert creatives can do the same with their brain.

Lotze and his team of researchers discovered that, while writing down their stories, the expert writers used an additional part of their brain — the caudate nucleus.

The caudate nucleus is the region of the brain that handles automatic functions, or functions that are practiced over time. For example, the act of handwriting letters on a page. You learned the letters when you were a toddler, traced them, and learned how to write them yourself. After years of practice, it’s now an automatic function. When that region is active, it means there is some form of memory involved.

What kind of memories are expert writers pulling from? It’s kind of hard to know what someone is thinking when their brain is cycling through ideas, sentences, and the many automatic functions it takes to write. Our technology is advanced, but not that advanced.

We could hypothesize that they are pulling memories from sentences they’ve formulated in the past, stories they’ve thought up before, or maybe even techniques they’ve learned about storytelling. But we may never know.

They also discovered that, in the expert writer’s brain, the regions that deal with speech and word formation (known as Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas) are used more frequently in the brainstorming stage compared to novice writers, who tend to visualize in pictures more. This could mean that, before even putting pen to paper, expert writers are already thinking about words or phrases they are going to use to tell their story.

It could also mean that expert writers have trained their brain to see things differently, to be more language oriented, and to visualize not just with the occipital lobe.”

Experiments and lobes aside, I’ve always found it fascinating—from a writer’s perspective—how other people DON’T see stories in everything. How things I find intriguing and inspiring, can be meaningless to the next person. While science keeps trying to explain what makes some of us writers, we just have to keep plugging along to create the stories and the worlds we love.

Intrigued? Here are a few more rabbit holes to dive down and find out more:

·       The Science Behind a Writer's Mind - Craft Your Content

·       Scientists study brains of writers,attempt to make creativity boring » MobyLives (mhpbooks.com)

·       How Writing Benefits Mental Health - NeuroScientia

 Happy Web Surfing!

Diane

http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

Ending a Book Series by Diane Bator

 

The Conned Lady, Book 5 Wild Blue Mystery series

I hit send on Valentine's Day and submitted The Conned Lady, Book 5 of my Wild Blue Mystery series. As all writers know, every time you hit send on a book, it takes a little piece of you with it and stirs up a jungle of butterflies. This book was exactly like that – but different. The Conned Lady is the last book in the series that started my writing career.

To tell the truth, I’ve thought about ending a series for a while now but there were so many unknowns:

·       How would I do it?

·       What would happen to my characters?

·       How hard would it be?

·       Will my readers be upset?

·       Will that mean I can never revisit those characters again?

When I started writing Book 5, I hadn’t intended to end the series just yet. I had plans for one more book but the characters had other ideas. This one wrapped up so many things that it left me no option! Once I got to the final climax, the next move was for them to all live happily ever after. Who was I to argue with an organic, natural ending to the series?

What would happen to the characters? Life will go on even though the readers and I will no longer be a part of it. Working out what would happen to them next was so easy. The last chapter truly wrote itself.

I truly hope my readers are not upset. I was prepared to struggle with that last chapter and saying good-bye to a long list of old friends that I’ve worked with since I first started writing about their adventures around 2010 then published in 2013 when Books We Love took a chance on The Bookstore Lady. Characters definitely become a part of your life and it’s hard to imagine not having a next book to follow them around and see what they’re up to. At the same time, I still have the freedom to use those characters in future short stories or novellas or even a new book or series should the vision arise.

I guess for me, I think of ending this series much like going home after a vacation. You’ve had a great time with friends but it’s time to go home and get back to work on something else. Since I do have more series in the works, there will always be more endings. Hopefully the next series ender will be as smooth as this one.

Happy reading!

Diane Bator

http://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

Using Your Intuition by Diane Bator

 

  

Using Your Intuition

I'm one of those people who sometimes seems to know things before they happen. Not always. I don't profess to be psychic or a medium or anything of that sort. But there are times where "coincidences" have popped up and left me a bit rattled. Since I'm still working from home for the foreseeable future (no pun intended there!), I have delved a little deeper into honing some skills and trying to see if it's all a series of coincidences or if I really am tuned into something larger than my creative brain.

Don't get me wrong. I'm as skeptical as the next person but I don't believe things just happen.

I find it interesting that I will write a book then later meet people with the same name as a character or two. Or (and we've all done this) that I will think of a friend and they will text or call out of the blue.

Or if I have a song in my head when I get out of bed in the morning, it will be the first one I hear on the radio that day - like those pesky Christmas carols that get stuck in our heads all day. Those little things.

In my quest to hone my intuitive skills, I've done some fun little exercises. One of them was taking twenty identical recipe cards and writing a single word on each. Ten positive words and ten negative words. Then you fold them and stick them in a bag or a container then draw them out one at a time and see if you know whether they are positive or negative. In my case, I used red ink for negative and purple ink for positive so I could also go with the colors.

I did really well the first few days. I averaged about 13/20 every time. I had a really good session (16/20) and a couple of really bad ones (9/20). I can't say I'm exactly confident about my abilities with this but it has been kind of fun.

The one place I have trusted my intuition is with my writing skills. Part of honing that skill was done by meeting in a writing group and using prompts to free-write for 15-20 minutes at a time. One thing I discovered about my mindset is that I can clear everything else from my mind and just let my mind flow with the prompt. I don't tend to use my imagination, I just let the ideas gush out of my head and onto my paper.

One thing I miss about doing those exercises is that the hive mind (most of the group at times) seemed to either pick the same prompt or had similar elements in their written pieces. It fascinated me how we could all be on the same wavelength while simply sitting in the same room.

Since I've been unable to meet with my usual group, I've had to keep my mind going with other ideas:

• Writing a completely new story for NaNoWriMo helped to keep my ideas from going stale.
• Switching between two different series or even going from writing to needlepoint to give my mind a break.
• Playing mind games, such as the Negative/Positive idea, to create a new challenge.
• Rewarding myself for writing a certain number of words.
• Journaling about the "coincidences" in the day.
• Sometimes even playing with Oracle or tarot cards to see what pops up.
• Playing word games like Best Sellers or flipping pages in books to find the 7th sentence on page 77 or some other random number.

One thing I have found with writing is if you stop trying to force it, the words come more smoothly. The Japanese call it mushin or "no mind." Don't think. Just do.

At the top of my post, you will see The Bakery Lady, which is my only book set at Christmas so far. Oh boy! I have some work to do in the future! Book in my Wild Blue Mystery Series,  The Bakery Lady introduces Leo Blue to Christina Davidson who knocks the confirmed bachelor for a loop!

From the moment Leo Blue meets the tattoo artist 's sister Christina, he's drawn into a web of bread dough and lies. Christina Davidson has returned to Packham with a duffle bag full of secrets. Leo soon discovers her biggest secret is Christina's alter ego and her husband who stands accused of murdering an up-and-coming artist. He promises to help set things straight and plans to bring husband and wife together for Christmas—even if it costs him his sanity and the love of his life.

You can buy this and my other novels by clicking here!  I have also added Helga's 12 Days of Christmas that runs throughout the book below...

Have a Happy Holiday Season!!

Diane Bator

Helga’s Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas, someone gave to me a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the second day of Christmas, someone gave to me two Christmas wreaths and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the third day of Christmas, someone gave to me three French horns, two Christmas wreaths, and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas, someone gave to me four plastic snowmen, three French horns, two Christmas wreaths and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas, someone gave to me five golden things, four plastic snowmen, three French horns, two Christmas wreaths and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas, someone gave to me six boxes of chocolates, five golden things, four plastic snowmen, three French horns, two Christmas wreaths and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas, someone gave to me seven candy canes, six boxes of chocolates, five golden things, four plastic snowmen, three French horns, two Christmas wreaths and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas, someone gave to me eight Christmas stockings, seven candy canes, six boxes of chocolates, five golden things, four plastic snowmen, three French horns, two Christmas wreaths, and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas, someone gave to me nine shiny baubles, eight Christmas stockings, seven candy canes, six boxes of chocolates, five golden things, four plastic snowmen, three French horns, two Christmas wreaths,and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas, someone gave to me ten glowing candles, nine shiny baubles, eight Christmas stockings, seven candy canes, six boxes of chocolates, five golden things, four plastic snowmen, three French horns, two Christmas wreaths and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, someone gave to me eleven silver bells, ten glowing candles, nine shiny baubles, eight Christmas stockings, seven candy canes, six boxes of chocolates, five golden things, four plastic snowmen, three French horns, two Christmas wreaths and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, someone gave to me twelfth assorted angels, eleven silver bells, ten glowing candles, nine shiny baubles, eight Christmas stockings, seven candy canes, six boxes of chocolates, five golden things, four plastic snowmen, three French horns, two Christmas wreaths and a partridge in a lit up pine tree.

Merry Christmas! 

Writing a Series - or a Series of Series by Diane Bator

I wrote this article for the June Sisters in Crime Newsletter and thought I'd expand on it a little and share!

I didn’t start off with a plan to write one series, let alone four so far. My first novel, The Bookstore Lady, began as a stand alone book, but when I pitched it to my agent at the time, she asked me to give her some ideas for two to three other books that she could submit to publishers. Just in case. I had to think fast and write some blurbs for what later became my four book Wild Blue Mystery series.

What I love about writing a mystery series is that I am able to push characters further in each novel and give them even more depth, including the minor characters. As they go through mystery after mystery, they grow as they move forward while they reveal a bit more backstory. I’ve written books where I’ve had readers ask what happens to their favourite characters next, writing a series gives them the opportunity to find out. If they don’t like what happens, they don’t hesitate to give feedback.

I have learned a few tricks to help me keep things straight, which evolve as I go. Since I’m a tactile person who prefers paper to e-book, I keep a binder as well as a file in my computer where I keep specific information about my series.

·       A series summary that includes titles and blurbs for each book. Once they’re published, I also keep ISBN numbers, images of the cover, and any other information I will need.

·       A list of all characters including the protagonist, villain, secondary characters, and suspects. I make a new, updated one for each book. These include name, age, hair colour, eye colour, occupation, height, weight, birthdates—all of those little things that we can easily forget, particularly for minor characters.

·      A list of settings that includes descriptions and names of locations, character homes and places they hang out like coffee shops, restaurants, and police stations for mysteries.

·       Images from websites of characters, settings, paint colours, news stories, and links that I find interesting or important to my story or research.

As far as having one main protagonist for an entire series, I end up following my character's lead. In my Wild Blue Mysteries, it seems to be couples that take front and center. Katie and Danny, Christina and Leo, and so on. For my Gilda Wright Mysteries, every book is in Gilda's POV. It's her life story and she gains more strength book by book. My newest series, Sugarwood Mysteries, will be Audra Clemmings' perspective. Unless I get overtaken by another character.
My Glitter Bay mysteries have taken me by surprise. Where my plan was for the books to be in Laken's POV, her sister Sage has shanghaied the second book and wants to tell her own story. Since she's been keeping me awake at nights to do so, I'll go with it. I kind of like where it's going.
 When it comes to ending a series, I’m not so sure I can follow in Janet Evanovich or Sue Grafton’s footsteps and write over twenty books in one series. I think at some point I’ll need to end one series to focus on others or I'm worried I'll get tired of one set of characters and feel the need to find a happy ending for them.
How am I going to do that?
I’ll have to get back to you when I figure it out!

Diane Bator

https://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/

http://penspaintsandpaper.com

http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

The Who, What, Where, Why and When of Writing - Part 6 – HOW? by Diane Bator

Now what???

Thank you for sticking with me through this labor of love as I’ve explored the five Ws of writing:

Who – as in Who are YOU as a writer?

What – for What do you want to write?

Where – location, location, location.

Why – what drives you?

When – what the best time to write?

But I often here one more question that I’d like to address.

How do I get started?

I actually saw a post on a writing site where someone asked, “I want to be a writer. What do I write about?” As usual, trolls bashed the person. To me, it seemed like an odd question because I’ve always just written. Words come out. I turn them into stories. I’ve never stopped to think about what to write or even how.

In the beginning…

Like me, some people are struck by inspiration continuously. I have binders of ideas waiting for when I’m finished my current work in progress. But how do you get started? One of the best ways I’ve found is to get a book of writing prompts or use Google to search for “writing prompts.” When I started in the writing group there was a standard list of writing prompts for starting writers, “What I remember is…”, “What I forgot was…”, “Why I want to write.”

A Few Guidelines

We all need a plan, so I’ve included a brief outline of things to think about in order to get started.

·       Find a nurturing writing environment.

·       Schedule writing time – even a half hour a day in a hectic day can help.

·       Create an outline of what you want to do, or just write!

·       Focus on writing your book one chapter at a time, even if you write chapter one then chapter twenty then go back to fill in the rest.

·       Maintain focus. Get that book done!

·       Deal with writing distractions before they get out of hand. Put your phone face down. Ask your family to respect your writing time. Sit somewhere alone with everything you need to write.

·       Start writing…Keep writing…don’t give up!!

Keeping the Motivation

Life throws us distractions. That’s a fact. We get sick. Kids get sick. We have to work overtime at work. All of these throw off our plans for writing. As a mom of three who wrote from the time they were little, fitting a little me-time in the day wasn’t always easy. But I did it. My first book was published when my kids were still young. Plus I worked two part-time jobs.

I wrote because I loved to write. Because it kept me sane when life sometimes spun out of my control. To sneak in writing time, I carried a small notebook everywhere I went. I wrote on napkins when I didn’t have paper. I also wrote while I ate lunch and before the kids got up in the mornings.

Finishing Your Book

I know so many people who have started short stories, started novels and have yet to finish them many years later. One quote I found somewhere was “what makes you an author is the ability not to start a project, but to complete one.”

Anyone can be a writer. All you have to do is write.

Starting something – pretty much anything – is easy. You need to find the tenacity to sit and finish your story or your book. Whether you give yourself a daily or weekly word count, have a beta reader who will expect to see a chapter on certain dates, or hold yourself accountable by giving yourself a gold star or some other reward for each day you write. Whatever keeps you going back to work on that next page.

One thing not many people will tell you is to expect negative feedback. Even the biggest name writers get trolls and others who say things that are hurtful. Don’t take these seriously. If you get nine out of ten readers repeating the same criticisms (i.e. typos or unbelievable storyline or characters) do listen and see if those are things you can change in your next book.

Think of Book One as your first child. You don’t have things 100% figured out. There will be mistakes or things you could have done better. Let it be a learning experience. Listen to the suggestions and take the ones you think will make your next book even stronger.

Before you publish, it’s very important to have your book edited by someone who knows what they’re doing! Not your Aunt Jenny, unless she’s a professional editor. Editors are great for giving advice and pointing out things that you won’t see because it’s your baby. Just like with raising kids, when we read our own books, we see what we want to see and ignore the bad stuff. To us, it’s perfect.

Once you’ve written that book and had it thoroughly edited, you have two things left to do.

1.     Find a publisher, either traditional or the many self-publishers who are out there. Just be wary of the vanity presses. Those are the ones who ask you to pay thousands of dollars upfront in order to create your work. Many of these are scams and you could get stuck with a garage full of books. DO ready their websites very carefully to find out what genres they publish, what they require for submissions, and who you need to submit your work to.

2.     Write your next book.

Good luck!!

Diane Bator

Author of Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries and Glitter Bay Mysteries

Mom of 3 boys and 2 cats and one less mouse... He’s been evicted.

You can find me at:  http://bookswelove.net/authors/bator-diane-mystery/

 

The Who, What, Where, Why and WHEN of Writing - Part 5 by Diane Bator

 

By Diane Bator

Today we’re at the end of my original list of the five Ws of writing. We’ve already gone through:

Who – as in Who are YOU as a writer?

What – for What do you want to write?

Where – location, location, location.

Why – what drives you?

This blog post is brought to you by When. When can mean a couple of things, the best time of day to write or the best time of your life to start writing. Let’s start with the time of day, shall we?

Some writers swear they are the most creative early in the morning. In order to be at their best, they start the day by doing Morning Pages as per Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way. Julia describes Morning Pages as “three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness.” (The Artists Way, page 10.) A lot of writers I know use this time to clear the noisy thoughts from their minds so they can focus on the task ahead. Their creative writing. Some writers even find ideas come from this flow of consciousness, sometimes while they sip their morning coffee or tea.

For me personally, I used to get up before I awoke my kids for school when they were younger and was happy even when I only had time to write a page or two out on my back porch. Now, I’m able to carve out time in the morning before my full-time job since my kids are much older. At least a couple days per week, I will use my half hour lunch break to write as well and like to keep a couple evenings open to create as well.

Recently someone on social media asked how old you have to be to become a writer. That created a whole new conversation and received a lot of answers. Some not so nice as people are bound to be online. It did prompt me to do a little digging.

I’ve been a storyteller and writer since I was young and still have handwritten stories and poems from when I was a teenager when my first two poems were published. I was about 15 years old.

There are no real age limits to writing or even being published. The youngest person I discovered online was Dorothy Straight who wrote her books at age 4 and was published her book “How the World Began” at age 6 in 1964. The oldest was Jim Downing who published “The Other Side of Infamy” in 2016 at the age of 102!

A few of the more famous authors published at various ages are:

·       Age 21 – Victor Hugo and Mary Shelley (Frankenstein)

·       Age 22 – Margaret Atwood and Ray Bradbury

·       Age 24 – Ernest Hemingway and Jack London

·       Age 28 – Jack Kerouac

·       Age 30 – Agatha Christie and Mark Twain. It is also interesting to note Stephen King had published Carrie, Salem’s Lot, and The Shining all before the age of 30.

·       Age 41 – Maya Angelou

·       Age 50 – Bram Stoker (Dracula)

·       Age 57 – Anna Sewell (Black Beauty)

·       Age 66 – Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes)

I belong to a writing group and love that our ages range from 25 to mid-eighties. Some are published, some have been working on the same books for many years, and some just attend to write and learn. We all have that one common love though: Writing. It has no age limit, education, or socio-economic limits.

All you need is a pen and paper to get started…

DianeBator

Author of Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries and Glitter Bay Mysteries

Mom of 3 boys and 2 cats and a mouse who is too smart for mousetraps...

The WHO, What, Where, Why and When of Writing - Part 1

April 3, 2019

Walking tends to make my creative brain ramble with ideas I generally forget fifteen minutes later, especially when I get caught in the rain and have to hustle. But this concept for a series of blogs stuck. When we think of the five Ws, we immediately think journalism. In this case, however, I’m applying it to writing.

Who – as in Who are YOU as a writer?

What – for What do you want to write?

Where – location, location, location.

Why – what drives you?

When – what the best time to write?

Over the next few months, I’d like to expand on those ideas because those are the questions I see a great deal on social media questions and answer pages for writers, new and experienced. We all have this curiosity about other writers as well as our own creativity and what makes us tick.

So let’s start with the WHO.

Who am I?

When I was a kid, my dream was to be on the Oprah show. To get there, I planned to become one of two things:  An actor or a writer. Fast forward a few years later (Ha!). Oprah’s show is over. I am not an actor, but I work for a live-stage theatre.

And I am a writer.

I’m not famous. I may never be, but I’m doing what I love to do even if I’m not able to do it full time just yet.

How long have you been a writer?

This question comes up a lot on forums. For me, I started storytelling when I was little, before I could write. Then learned how to put those stories onto paper so others could read them.

I’ve stuck my passion in a drawer for years to satisfy someone who called it a waste of time, then dragged it back out when I had kids and never looked back.

Are you one of those people who has always loved books and capable of survival if locked in alone in a library for a long weekend?

With a stash of water and food, I’d be in Heaven! Not that all writers would survive without full access to computers or paper to work on!

Have you always had an itch to write the next great novel or do you dream of being wealthy and famous beyond words?

In all honesty, it’s not easy. Those writers like J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, and the like, they’ve had their share of rejections and have had to work hard to get to where they are. All writers do.

Most will never get that kind of attention or notoriety...

Can you type?

That one may seem silly on the surface, but these days all books are submitted via email to agents and publishers. No one will accept a handwritten stack of loose leaf papers.

Do you LOVE to write?

I’ve been told to get a real job many times. That’s never stopped me from writing. Even John Grisham wrote between court cases.

I write between my full time job, raising my kids, and trying to lead a normal life. I write because I have a passion for words, books, for creating stories that no one has ever heard before.

Writing, for some of us, is like a disease that wakes us in the wee hours of the morning. Or distracts us in a board meeting or while on long walks.

We can’t live our lives without a pen in hand or a computer screen beckoning.

Do you have a thick skin?

People can be mean. They criticize and condemn even if they’ve never actually read a word we’ve written. They tell us our dreams are silly and not worth the paper they’re written on.

If you are open to constructive criticism, there are many people out there who will genuinely be able to help you improve your skills.

Listening and learning only help us grow.

Do you have a sense of curiosity in how you see the world around you?

Perhaps another silly question, but it’s how we see the world that makes us writers. We question. We experiment. We have a curiosity about “What if” which is what compels us to create.

Our stories may be based on world events, life events, anything that strikes a chord deep within and makes us wonder what might have been.

Are you addicted to collecting pens, paper, and sticky notes?

Yes, some people prefer paperless, but a lot of writers I know live for the smell of freshly printed books, colorful notebooks, and multi-colour pens which we carry in every pocket and bag we own.

A writer without a pen is like a smoker without a lighter.

One last question for you before I’m off to work on my own book… Are you willing to put in the work?

Writing is indeed work. You need to do research, create a rough draft, edit that rough draft, submit to editors, agents and publishers, do more edits, cry a little, do even more edits.

Then the work begins. No one will market your book for you. You must spend time telling the world what a brilliant person you are and how you’ve written a great story.

You have to organize and do book signings, attend writing events, take workshops to develop your skills, attend more events, do interviews both online and in your community, join writing groups and online groups…

The list never ends. There are so many ways to reach your audience.

The short of it is, you cannot just write a book then sit back and let it take on the world.

The world will never know it exists without a little help from its creator.

Diane Bator

Author of Wild Blue Mysteries; Gilda Wright Mysteries and Glitter Bay Mysteries

Mom of 3 boys and 2 cats