Write Writing Written

Lisa Mangum gave a great, hands on, presentation at Book Academy using a childhood toy.

How do you build a better character?
What does your character see?
How does he perceive the world? With paranoia or rose-colored glasses?What does he need to survive?Look outside the character to how the setting affects him.Is it an urban setting? Rural? Alone? Think how the boy who lived under the stairs saw Hogwarts. When a character moves to a different environment, he will naturally compare it to what he has seen before.Look inside.Use introspection. Does the character have to plan everything? Are they confidant in themselves?What are their flaws? Exploit them!
What do they hear?

Do they only hear complaints? Compliments?What does the character say when they talk to themselves when they are alone?What do they think about? Process?Do they believe they are good? Bad?
What do they say?

Pet phrasesSlangDo they lie?Prefer silence?Dialogue reveals something about the character like education level, belief…

I went to Lisa Mangum's presentation at the UVU Book Academy. She talked about FOUR things you need to shine as a newbie author:

Vision
Passion
Flexibility
Endurance

Not what you expected, right? I'll expand.

Vision-Publishing is a business. Research your genre and the marketplace. Where do you see your book going and how is it going to get there? Do you have ideas for marketing your book? What is your platform?

Passion- Write every day. It makes you a better writer. Read. It makes you a better writer. Learn to self-edit and make every page better. You are a storyteller. Tell your story.

Flexibility- Publishing is a team effort. Trust your editor. Maintain balance in your life. Can you work creatively and market your book? Are you willing to publish digitally as well as traditionally? Can you live with a title or cover you don't love?

Endurance- Is your writing a hobby or career? Both are good choices. What are your goals? Can you write more than one book a yer? Can you meet yo…

Jessie tagged me on her blog. I don't usually do memes but this one sounded interesting.


What is the working title of your book?
IT'S NOT ME

Where did the idea come from?
I had writers block but wanted to keep writing every day. There was an online writing blog that encouraged daily writing. So I decided to try that until I could get back to work on my other project. I just wrote and wrote without thinking and this story came out. I didn't plan it at all.



What genre does your book fall under?
Young Adult Psychological Thriller. I compare it to FORGOTTEN meets I’M NOT A SERIAL KILLER.



Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie?
My critique group thinks Summer Glau reminds them of my main character, Angelica Savage. 



The love interest reminds me of Prince Caspian:












What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? 
Seventeen year-old Angelica remembers nothing about the deaths of her nine best friends, even though she was there for each of them.