Jun 13, 2018 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
“So, what do you write?”
It’s the question we all get. At meetings, conferences, gas stations. Any time we are introduced as a writer. And our books are just as individual as we are.
Sure, there’s some common ground: We all breathe some form of air. We’re all (mostly) human. And I think~I mean I’m not willing to put money on it~but I’m pretty sure 90% of us are made up of coffee and ink in the veins. If I’m wrong, don’t tell me.
Let’s be real. Mommas don’t love all their children the same. We may love them the same amount, but we love them each individually, uniquely. The same for our projects, yes? Each one is special for its own special reasons. And when our stories have their own quirks, well, it can be hard to describe to someone who’s not a part of the family. But then imagine that your child is so extraordinary that no common description will do. “She is tall, lovely, blonde with brown eyes.” Uhm. Yeah. So are a billion other people in the world. Let’s narrow it down some. Okay. “She doesn’t like coffee.” Wait. Did I really give birth to her? “She’s a cat lover.” “Likes to travel.” “Generous spirit.” “Was born in California.” See? Once you start giving more detail, the drill-down shows you the uniqueness. Or I could just cut to the chase. “She’s a go-getter with wanderlust.” Interested? Yup. So’s her husband.
So imagine how hard it is to tell someone the uniqueness of your novel in a way that captures their attention, and respects the elevator-pitch rule.
The “elevator pitch” is a very short synopsis of your story. You have approximately twenty seconds to tell someone (usually an agent or publisher) your idea and get them interested before the elevator doors slide open and they exit.
NOLA is a location mystery set in New Orleans, about a disenchanted woman who runs away from her terrible life in California and falls in love with a man who may or may not have killed his first wife.
Bam. There it is.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : That One Time I Created a Location Mystery Sub-Genre
The two questions I usually get are, “What’s a location mystery?” and “How do you research?”
I’m so glad y’all asked.
Sit on back and I’ll tell you.
A location mystery is a story where the setting is so integral to the plot, it’s a character in itself. You simply cannot tell the story in any other location. It will not work.
NOLA is full of culture, climate, music, food, mythology, weather, local customs, and dialect. Now, y’all know I won’t be writing “y’all” when I work on CENTRAL. No, ma’am. That one will be full of fuggedaboutits and youztalkingtome kind of lingo. NOLA has beignets and chicory coffee. CENTRAL will have Brooklyn-style pizza.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : That One Time I Created a Location Mystery Sub-Genre
Researching NOLA has been incredible fun. Making sure to keep it as a location mystery is even funner. [NOTE TO SELF: Dig out your T-shirt that reads, “FUNNER: gooder than just fun.”] [SECOND NOTE TO SELF: do the laundry.]
Locations are what ground your story. It’s where the action is. If you don’t know where your story takes place, neither will your reader.
There are five things I recommend for researching any location you’re writing about:
- Google Earth. This great app allows you to see real images both from a bird’s-eye perspective and eye- (or street-) level. You can “pin” distances, plot out routes and maps, and get a true visual of what the setting of any real place looks like. I was able to take Josie on a street car ride, a city bus, and a walk all through Google Earth.
- Tourism boards. Contact your location’s tourism department through Twitter. Visit New Orleans has been instrumentally helpful with their quick responses to my questions. Where could Toni take Josie for lunch? How far away are the bayous? Is Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar really 200 years old? I asked, they answered. Often with links to more detailed information.
- Television and movies. I did a Roku search for “New Orleans” and found a plethora of programs to watch. Some gave me insight into character behaviors. Others showed the Crescent City documentary-style. Still others focused on food, fashion, crime, environment, weather.
- Music. Google or YouTube music and videos. Create a Pandora or other streaming station. Find out which bands came out of your location, and listen to them. Listen to a variety. I’ve always enjoyed Harry Connick, Jr. and Otis Redding. But my taste for Jazz has grown exponentially since starting NOLA. Zydeco music is a unique sound. And let’s not forget Honeyvibe from Baton Rouge. Now there’s some uplifting soul music, there.
- Other books and media. Read books in your genre, in your location. Read biographies. Documentaries. Novels. Travel magazines. Search the internet for articles. Get as much information as you can.
As you collect research, take notes. Take lots and lots of notes. Make notes on your notes. Maybe you don’t want to use this information now, but you can reference or change it later.
If you’re world-building for a fantasy novel, well, that’s a whole ‘nother post. Come find me next week and we’ll see what we can dream up.
In the meantime, grab yourself a sweet tea and an atlas and have at it.
Now I want to hear from you: What tips do you have for researching your novel locations?
For a more in-depth discussion, watch the Firsts in Fiction podcast episode Gross Anatomy of a Novel: Setting and Detail.
With a digital globe and wanderlust imaginings,
Happy (writing) travels.
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!
Jul 8, 2012 |
I’m a blogger. At least, I think I am. Blogger is typically defined as a person who maintains or publishes an online diary (web blog). But I’m not writing my private thoughts into the public media. Blogging, to me, is more than just spilling your emotions over a keyboard for all to see.
There are good blogs and bad blogs. Blogs that have one theme (Food or travel blogs, for example), and blogs that are all over the place (blogs written typically by high school girls, perhaps…) The majority of blogs are somewhere in between.
Take mine, for example. I started well over a year ago to document my forays into the social/dating world. But I found that to be too limiting for what I wanted to say. So I spread my wings. And I realized, thanks to my subscribers’ comments, that I have more to say on more subjects than just Who’s Who on Match.com. Thank goodness… have you checked some of those profiles lately? Seriously….
I’m a good writer. But I’m not always a good blogger. I threw myself in the deep end and am teaching myself how to swim. Sometimes I float, sometimes I sink. But I am always able to come up for air and reach the surface.
I don’t know logistics. I don’t know coding and formatting. I know writing. I know creativity and characters and descriptions and recipes. And typing. And a little bit of photography, but not much.
I’m still learning.
This is where you come in. I need help. I have so many questions. I just know that somewhere out there in the great Blogosphere are the answers. So far I’ve been self-sufficient enough to research and google and obtain basic information. But I know there’s a whole world of ways to make my blog better, and I’m just not sure where all that information is.
So here is my Plea: Tell me how to write a better blog.
- Do you have tips on photography?
- What topics do you like to read about?
- How do you attract (and maintain) a large following?
- What types of giveaways get your attention?
- How do you get your Blog to pay for itself (advertising, sponsors, etc.)?
- How do you get contributions for your giveaways?
- What can make Frankly, My Dear… a daily must-read email?
- How do you get people to comment on your blog, without using spam?
- Do you reply to every comment?
- How do you get your readers to interact with each other (reply to other comments)?
- What layouts appeal to you? What makes a blog too “visually busy”?
- When I add my blog hop links every “What’s the Word?” Wednesday, the code box is adjustable instead of formatted to fit under the photo link. How can I change this?
- Is there a way to make a Blog Hop start, without a stop date?
I truly welcome want need any advice or suggestions you may have. Feel free to comment or even link up posts if you have them.
Come by and visit. Get some tips. Share some tips. Don’t forget to place the link on your own posts! I know I’m not the only one on this teeter-totter. Together, we can write Better Blogs, dontcha think?
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Oct 21, 2011 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
That’s not a typo… this blog title really is Self slash Public slash ation. Well, the first two parts stand alone. The last? I guess you call that an emphasis, the uniter.
Part One: Self.
I’m stubborn. I love my stability and my structured schedule. I’m set in my ways. I’m okay with change, even if it hasn’t been anticipated… as long as it’s not drastic. I’m old-fashioned, and set in my ways. Yeah, I’m a real catch for a go-with-the-flow kinda crowd. (*please tell me you get the sarcasm, here).
I look for stories everywhere. I write them out; sometimes for me, sometimes for …
Part Two: Public.
That’s “You”. That’s my family, my friends, my peeps. The ones who see me in the world and wonder how they influence me. The strangers who are oblivious to my Big Brother eyes and ears. The readers.
You read books. You go to libraries and bookstores and smell the dust and feel the old pages.
And now, you download the text.
So. Here I am. Old school book reader trying to be a writer who’s inspired by old-fashioned stories like Little Women and Sherlock Holmes and Anne of Green Gables.
And I use technology to search, and re-search, and research my re-search. And I use technology to find what I’m looking for, and to guide me to solutions I didn’t even realize I was researching.
Selfishly, I don’t like e-books and downloads. You can’t bookmark a digital copy. You can’t smell the aroma of gilt-edged pages or feel the texture of dust-embedded sheets. You can’t autograph a computer screen . . . and keep it that way.
But the public likes to take five books out in public when it doesn’t weigh as much as one. You like to computer generate your highlights and type notes in the margins if you can.
I’m in a tug of war between my old-fashioned comfort and the new techno-world. I love the beauty of my old typewriter (thanks, Pam!), but I would be lost without my MacBook.
On one side, I’ve heard the stories that publishers and agents don’t really respect those who publish themselves. It’s like all the flack about the first season of American Idol: the winner didn’t put in her dues, her time and effort. She didn’t come up through the trenches the way other great singers did. Having argued all that, they still know her name, ten years later. Kelly Clarkson’s still singing. With a record deal. That’s worth noting.
On the other side, technology is the way of the world. The internet is everywhere and everyone wants it at their fingertips… their digital, less-than-two pounds, wireless world.
Part Three: (N)ation, where (N) is the (N)-factor. The unknown. The, what-the-heck-am-I-gonna-do puzzle piece.
I want to be published. I want the public to read what I write. I want book signings and recognition and “oh my gosh, you spoke to my heart” fans. I want to be heard. I want to know that I’m making a difference. I want my readers to know that I write for them.
I need to write, like I need to breathe. I need to put into words the world around me, so that my grandchildren will understand, and want to know their history and heritage. I need to write it out, to be peaceful within.
I need a publisher and an agent. I’m ready. I have good-to-go material… with nowhere to go. And I’m all over the place. I have a screenplay, a novel, tons of prose and poems, two songs, a Christian devotional study, and a cookbook. And those are just the finished products; to say nothing of all the other writings still “in progress”.
My pages are all dressed up, and haven’t been invited to the party.
So now I’m thinking of letting them have their own party… I’m thinking of dipping my toe into the self-pub pool. Or even print-on-demand.
It goes against so much in me… but it may be the only way, right now, I can fully let it out.
So. Here’s my question: to self-publish, or not to self-publish? And if self-publishing: print on demand? eBook options? Or bulk for sales? Do I try to get an agent or publisher? If yes, then how? Do I self-publish? If yes, how much? Everything? Or just start with the cookbook? How do I market? Is it more-than-slightly self-serving to post my own product on my own blog? How is that different from regular advertising? What about my street credit? If I self-publish/print-on-demand, how will that stand up later when I need a big printing house/publisher to pay attention? Will they dismiss me, or say I’ve got the drive?
What options are the best options; not just for now, but for the long-term?
You’ve been so great at reading. Now it’s my turn. These are legitimate questions, and I’m looking for your answers. What do you think about publishing and self-publishing? What about agents and big companies and little presses? Are you a writer with advice, or a reader with inspirations? Whatcha got? I’m in need of a lot of honest feedback before I make up my mind. So spill. Share. And suggest.
I’m listening… and taking notes.
