Tag: writing lessons

How To World Build Real “Fictional” Places

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

When most writers think of world building they start thinking about space odyssey, fantasy realms, or worlds with lots of magic but I’m here to tell you that it’s just as important when building out real “fictional” places to help ground your readers into the reality of your story.

 

What is World Building?

 

It’s setting the stage for my characters, the actors, to play upon. This can mean anything and everything from their house, the city they live in, to far off magical lands. The Young Adult books I write happen in real places – my first novel, The Art of Lying, is set in New York City. The book that’s coming out this summer is set in my hometown of St. Louise and my 3rd novel is set in the Circus. Now it’s not a real circus, but circuses are real things – so I think it counts.

 

To make sure these places ring true for your readers, you need to think of three things: Key Landmarks, Elementals and Character Interactions.

 

Key Landmarks

 

For this category, think about things like places – buildings, parks, homes; food – local specialties, likes and dislikes of the characters; proximity from one place to another – do your characters have to travel, do they walk everywhere?

 

To help you decide on these key landmarks, go to the characters themselves.  What’s most important to them? Do they need coffee in the morning to get going? Do they have a specific route they take to work or school? Then think about your story, what main problem does your story need to have? What would help or hinder the conflict? 

 

Once you have these key landmarks – you will need to use maps, pictures, interviews, or actually going there and doing real life research to help you get the small details right, which will go a long way to help with your setting and world building as a whole. 

 

 

Elementals

 

What year or time period is your book set? Present day, 1980’s, Colonial times, the future? What country does your book take place in? Things are going to be different in Ireland versus the United States, for example.  

 

Real “fictional” places can also be historical places, or setting your book in the future, but in a real life city, so make sure you keep these places and times in mind. 

 

What season are you in? It’s going to make a difference especially if your character spends time outside or needs to take public transportation, or is driving through the desert, or dealing with a climate change – like snow in Las Vegas (it happens, but it’s super weird). 

 

Remember, to keep your plot points in mind as well – when do things have to happen? For example, my 2nd book has the characters trying out for the high school varsity baseball team and trying out for the Spring musical – those need to happen at a certain point in the school year. 

 

Character Interactions 

 

How does your character interact with the setting? For example, if your character lives in the suburbs of St. Louis they are going to need access to a car, but if they are too young to drive what are they going to do? Bum rides off their older siblings, have to deal with car pools and their parents, or walk home? 

 

My suggestion at this point would be to interview your characters and find out how they feel about where they live – do they love where they are? Do they hate it and can’t wait to move as soon as they can? Do they love the setting, but hate the weather? What does your character think about the setting you’ve placed them and how does that help or hinder your story?

 

As you can see, world building is a totally different thing if you are writing a fantasy world or something up in space where you are in complete control of the setting – you have a lot more options and maybe more creativity, but it’s just as important when you’re writing about real places and real settings to get those specific details right – even if it’s just a small thing like how the park smells or how the food tastes, it really helps ground your reader into the reality of your book and helps them focus on the story and the characters. 

 

Let me know below one tiny detail you will be adding to your real world building in the comments below!!

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Mix & Match A Customized Writing Ritual Built Just For You

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Do you have a writing ritual that helps you put more words on the paper? Would you like one that’s totally customized just for you? 

 

I believe that having a writing ritual can help you actually look forward to writing so you sit down day after day with a smile on your face.  This is how I wrote the first draft of my third novel in 4 months (which is fast for me!) – by having a writing ritual that I could not only customize for me and my likes, but also how I felt each day.

 

There are four categories that I think make up the perfect writing ritual, read through and choose 1-2 items from each to start building out your customized ritual.  

 

CATEGORY ONE: GROUNDING

You want to come into your writing space, or writing project as clear as possible.  Back in my college theater days we had something called “leave your baggage at the door” where you would visualize all the stuff from your day – the fight with your roommate, the bad grade on the test – as baggage that you would drop at the door of the theater rehearsal or performance space.  The thing is this concept has been extremely helpful as a writer as well. You forget the fight, the bills or dishes piling up, and leave that baggage at the door so you can concentrate on your story.

 

This is how I ground, but there are other things you can do.  Deep breathing, meditation, feel your feet on the floor (or your butt in the chair) – anything that helps YOU be in the present moment so you can write without distraction or worry.  This needn’t take long, but will go a long way to give you peace of mind so you can enter your creative world. 

 

CATEGORY TWO: EXCITEMENT

This category is all about hyping you up so you are in a good mood to write.  I like to use music, either a particular song or genre.  Another thing I like to do is choose a Tarot card and do some light free writing. Some people read from their pervious writing sessions, dance it out, or light a candle.  Think of something that will amp you up so you have the energy to write for that day’s session.  This is where the customization can really come into play – what kind of energy boost do you need that day? Song and dance, a candle and three deep breaths, or will quickly reading the last line you wrote get you ready to start typing up new words? 

 

 

 

CATEGORY THREE: MOTIVATION

Okay, so you are in the present movement and you are hyped up, now you need to keep that motivation high to write for your session.  Personally, I continue using music but others have told me they love having a mood board to look at, character sheets with images, a favorite snack they can nibble on, or a timer they can try to “beat”.  Some people need complete silence and that’s great too, I suggest trying a few to see what works best for you most days. 

 

CATEGORY FOUR: REWARD

When your session is over you might feel like you are in a haze of creative energy.  For that I suggest a re-entry type exercise that can help you come back into the real world.  It can either mirror what you did at the beginning to ground – so pick the baggage back up, feel your feet on the floor, or do a quick meditation – or use some other technique like closing your project or laptop or just checking off that day’s session on a calendar.

 

Once you are back into the real world, you need to reward yourself for a job well done – I don’t care if you wrote two words or two thousand words, you deserve a reward.  Give yourself a gold star sticker, a piece of chocolate, a dance party, or 30 minutes to watch your favorite show.  You earned it!!

 

Now that you have a few items that you can choose from for each category, I want to ask you to look over your list and make sure at least one item each day is going to light you up, something that’s so fun you can’t wait to do it.  For me, this is music – it lights me up, keeps me motivated and makes me super happy.  What is that element for you? 

 

I would love to know what your current writing ritual is and what you might be adding now that you’ve read this article – what were you missing? What will definitely light you up so you can come back to the page (and the chair) day after day so you can finally type The End on your novel?

 

 

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4 Things I Do To Defeat Writer’s Block

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Suffering from writer’s block can call one to feel guilty, shameful, and depressed.  I have four simple things that I do before, during and after my writing sessions that help me defeat writer’s block. 

 

Have a writing ritual

The beautiful thing about writing rituals is they can be pretty much anything you want! The key is to find a few things that help you get into the mood for writing and do them consistently.  I use Tarot cards, candles or essential oil diffusers, and music as my writing ritual.  These help me slow down and break away from my day, gives me a chance to journal or do some prewriting to help prime the well, and ground me into the scene I’m going to write. 

 

Having a ritual that you do every single time you sit down to write helps tell your body that it’s time to settle down, settle in, and start creating.  And even if the writing ritual is the only thing you get done that day, if you are consistent, eventually your brain and body will connect and words will start to flow. 

 

Keep your Big Why in mind

Before I start writing any book, I like to think about my Big Whys – both the specific book project and how it fits into my overall writing goals.  I like to keep this where I can see it so I can review if I start feeling disconnected or if writer’s block starts to creep in.  Reading it at least once a week might be helpful or re-writing it every so often might work better – try both and see what feels most helpful for you. Just make sure you are thinking about why you wanted to write this story in the first place to keep your motivation high and writer’s block at bay.

 

 

Befriend your Inner Editor

This is going to sound a little nutty, but I have befriended my inner editor.  We all have that negative voice, that inner critic that tells us – this doesn’t sound good OR no one is going to want to read this – which can affect our ability to sit down and write new words.  I don’t believe this voice can ever truly go away, but I do think if we work on making that voice a bit more friendly we can work with it rather than have it work against us. 

 

By becoming friends with my Inner Editor, I can give it jobs to do so it feels important and like it’s part of the writing team and therefore will leave me alone more often than not while I’m writing my drafts and editing. Now, I’ve chosen a Tarot Card that personifies my Inner Editor and then started a conversation with them in a journal – and yes, I wrote out both parts … Again, it sounds nutty but it works!

* If you think this is a cool idea, wait a few weeks as I have a whole blog post just about this concept coming up!  

 

Track your data

Every week I like to write down what worked this week, what didn’t work this week and what needs to be adjusted for the following week.  You can also do this every time you write as well, especially if you are testing writing times or rituals, by jotting down when you wrote, where you wrote, what rituals you performed and any other notes that will be helpful. 

 

If you track data you can catch problems before they become huge issues. For example, every time you sit down to write at 10am the words flow out of you with no issues but 2pm feels super hard to even write a sentence, let alone pages of words.  The trick here is to leave emotions out of it – yes, we want to note how you felt during your writing sessions, but I don’t want you to judge the amount you wrote.  It’s a fine balance but if you can take the judgement out and just look at the data you can see that 10am just works better for you – that’s good information, useful information that can help you plan out the next week’s writing schedule. 

 

Catching things early keeps us moving forward, rather than getting off the rails and then writer’s block just comes in and causes guilt, shame and depression all over again. 

 

I would love to know which of these four tips was the most helpful? Which one are you just itching to implement? 

 

And if these ideas got you excited to get back to writing, then I invite you to sign up for the waitlist for my signature course – Turn on the Tap – to get early intel and a discount the day before the cart officially opens in early February!!

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There Is Power In Numbers

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Why community is important, even if you are between writing projects

Writing can be lonely, and most of the time that’s exactly what we like about our chosen career, the solitude of talking to our imaginary friends.

But when those friends stop talking to us it’s helpful to have real life people, other writers, around to talk to us, offer advice, and provide feedback. This is why I believe that having a community of other writers is helpful, even if you are between writing projects.

I mean, are we ever truly not writing?

Even when I’m between projects – say my draft is with my editor and I don’t have time to start fully working on a second book – I’m still thinking about, dreaming about, and possibly planning that next book. We can say we are on a break all we want, our brains are usually pretty busy coming up with names, small details, or just getting excited about that next new shiny thing.

And having a community of like-minded writers, who understand the ups and downs of writing a full-length novel, non-fiction book, or scripts can be so vital during our down times to help motivate us, inspire us with their amazing projects, and let us remember why we started writing in the first place.

Yes, writing communities are very important when blocks pop up, but they can also be super important when things are going well to have that on-going, day to day support because writing can be lonely and knowing others are out there struggling to get words on the page each day with everything else going on in the world is the most amazing feeling.

You are not alone!

If this sounds like something you need in your writing life, join my newsletter today so you’ll be the first to know about my upcoming membership for writers where I’ll be hosting mini courses each month, co-writing sessions, Q&A calls, and so much more!

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Lessons I Learned Publishing My First Novel

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

I thought I knew so much when I pushed publish on my first novel, but whoo boy was I wrong!   Here are five lessons that I learned during the self-publishing process that I went through with my very first novel. 

Negative reviews will hurt

My advice – find someone you trust to read the reviews for you and give you only the things that will help make your books better.  Sometimes, people give amazing constructive criticism in their reviews, but more often than not they are just petty, mean, and downright frustrating so it’s best not to read them. This is harder than it sounds, I know, but trust me….they hurt and they linger in your self-consciousness, cropping up when you go to write your next book.

You will feel different, but not that different

Yes, being a published author and having someone buy your book off Amazon or Barnes & Nobles feels amazing!!  You will feel accomplished, proud, and high on life, but there will still be dishes in the sink, taxes to pay, and fights with your spouse or kids.  And there is still another book to write. Feel the highs and don’t let real life diminish that shine, but just know – real life grabs you faster than you would think or hope.

Your next book won’t be magically easier to write

This might be hard to hear, but it’s true. You will understand your process more with each book you write, you will understand the publishing process more as you do it, and you will feel more confident overall but the actual sitting down, hands on keys, words on paper won’t be any easier.  Sorry.  You’ll still have to put in the time, make the effort to schedule in writing sessions, and scramble through murky middles and terrible endings – or is that just me?

Some promos might make you feel icky

I followed a bunch of advice online and gave a ton of copies of my book away for free thinking it would help me build my newsletter list, but all it did was make me feel depleted, depressed, and icky.  Read up on different promos, different companies and websites, and really plan out your launch with purpose – thinking a little bit about how you would like to feel during the whole process.  It was more important than I realized.

Audience building is a big factor in sales

I’m not saying I won’t ever give my books away for free, but I think it’s better to have that audience before you launch.  I didn’t really have that as I started Instagram a bit too late, and didn’t really know best practices for things like content creation and engagement online.  It’s best to build your audience online first, nurture those readers, and then publish your book.   

Even though I had lessons to learn, and bumps along the path, I’m so thankful I stuck with self-publishing and am extremely proud to call myself an Indie Author.  We learn by doing, by trying and learning and fixing and then by doing and trying all over again.  

Don’t let the fact that you might not know everything right away stop you from following your path and living your dreams.

If you’re a published author, what lessons did you learn along the way? And if you haven’t published yet, what above is making you rethink some things now before you start? I would love to know.

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