March 2024: Writing edition

AI Writing and Its Impact on Fiction Books

If there’s one thing that history has taught us, it’s that technology is only as good as how people use it. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), the shiny new tool that has gained popularity since 2022, is no exception to this rule. One of the fields most directly impacted by generative AI is the world of fiction writing.

Does the advent of a tool that can pen a novel in seconds mean the end of human writers? Generative AI’s advancements have sparked writers’ strikes, copyright lawsuits, and demands to decelerate AI development. Do we need to fear this technology?

In short: Is AI good or bad for the future of fiction writing, and what should fiction writers as well as publishers, editors, and literary agents do about it? Read more>>>

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So… You Want to Write a Book

It amazes me how when people hear that I am the author of nine books (as of this writing), they immediately say, “I’ve always wanted to write a book,” or “I have a few book ideas I should start writing.” They make it seem like it’s so easy. But in reality, writing takes a lot of time and energy. It takes a lot of discipline and it is an ongoing learning process. It can also be very isolating, and most of all you have to have a thick skin to be in this business. It is by no means roses and butterflies.

Let me break it down by a few of the points mentioned in the previous paragraph. Read more>>>

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5 Authors Talk About Their Writing Process

If you are new to the writing world, you might have heard the term “Writing Process” tossed around. The writing process is a personal choice for every writer. It can vary from book to book or genre to genre. It depends on the writer. Developing your writing process takes time and will come naturally the more you write. Or maybe you already have it.

I interviewed several authors in different genres about their writing process. Here’s what they had to say.

The interviews below have been slightly edited for a more comprehensive read. Read more>>>

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Giveaways

Creating the world of Poohsticks Bridge

The Birch Twins talk about construction the world and characters of Poohstick Bridge.

I prefer to create a world first.  In a way I cheated because my world is simply the real one.  Only with my people in it, and the rest of the world faded to the background.

But when you create a world first, you can have fun in it if you plan it out correctly.  I have a timeline that is quite rigidly stuck to.  I can plot where John and Melissa were when Reagan was shot for example and at that exact time can cross reference where Lol’s friend Groucho was.  Key moments in history, and key dates.

It can be fun.  For example, in The Life of Lol, a young Lol at the start of her book hot-wires a car from outside her restaurant.  It’d be a bit cheesy to have John and Melissa from Poohsticks Bridge inside eating, and so no, they weren’t.  But John was reading about it in the morning paper in a scene that I eventually had to cut from Poohsticks Bridge.

I like to get to know my characters long before I write their story.  I dropped Melissa down in the middle of various situations just to see how she would respond, and wrote them out.  Little character studies, just to get her inside my head and get to know her. Some of these things are in the “world”, but not in the book. Sometimes I dumped them down into another world to see how they would both react.  One time I had the pretend director shout cut and the actors portraying them stopped reading my lines, just so I could see what happened.

I like to experiment with characters and play with them in this way.  Just mainly to have fun, but also to help me write them realistically.

Characters, Settings, Plot, Finding Inspiration with Rachel Brimble

Author Rachel Brimble returns and shares with you how to find inspiration for your stories.

The single most common questions author get asked by readers and interviewers is where we get our inspiration. This is such a difficult question to answer without leaving the person asking the question no more informed than they were before speaking with you!

Inspiration is everywhere…snippets of conversation, news articles, TV programs and movies, your experiences/others experiences, places, history. I could go on and on.

Let’s start with one aspect at a time…

Setting

This is where the majority of my stories begin taking shape in my imagination. I love visiting new and old places, looking for that new story idea. I’m lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful parts of the UK. Wiltshire is rich with history, phenomenal countryside and beautiful villages. On top of that, I am just thirty minutes drive from the famous Georgian City of Bath.

There are so many places to inspire me from the churches and cathedrals, to the tiny hamlets hidden away which are bound to hold secrets. I love wandering around Bath and thinking of the many, many generations of people who have lived in this wonderful city and the struggles they faced and conquered. Look around you and ask yourself, “Who lived here?” “Who fought here?” “Who fell in love here?” “Who lost a loved one here?” And then ask yourself, “Why?” “Who?” “How?”

Templeton Cove came alive in my mind by reminiscing about my childhood holidays – the beaches, piers, oceans and shops all mixed and merged until I had created my own fictional town. Eight books later and I still love Templeton more than any place I’ve created.

Characters

This is a difficult one for me – many writers start their stories with the character, especially in romance. This rarely happens for me. Occasionally, I hear a voice or a line of dialogue and have to find out who said that and why. It usually turns out to be the hero or heroine––although, other times it has been a secondary character shouting to be heard.

I start finding my characters by trawling the Internet for pictures of famous actors or models. Usually one of the faces catches my eye and ‘speaks’ to me. I’ve found my character. After that, I complete a full character sketch looking for their story. The sketches usually produce the characters’ Goal, Motivation and Conflict. After that, I have to start plotting…

How not to get distracted while writing

If you are a writer, you know how hard it is to not get distracted by the internet. Author Nicole Hatfield shares a few tips on how to NOT get distracted while trying to write.

I wanted to write a blog that gave great advice on how to be a better writer. After thinking on it and watching the cursor blink, over the last hour, I realized I don’t have any incredible advice that will work for everyone. In fact, the only advice I have to give is a fairly long list of things that will not keep you motivated. But for the sake of keeping my word count at a reasonable limit here are my top two. Let’s call this blog “Things To Not Do, Watch, Or Think About When You Should Be Writing.”

I start every writing session with good intent. I sit at my desk with my laptop, headphones, and whatever playlist I have chosen to get me in the mood. I open my laptop, poise my fingers over the keyboard, and wait for all the creative juices that I know are just under the surface to hit me. The white screen in front of me holds so much promise because I just know that any minute I am going to start typing up my next great masterpiece. Look out J.K. Rowling, here I come.

J.K. Rowling. Didn’t I just read somewhere that she has a new book out? It won’t take but a few seconds to google that, then I can stop thinking about it and the creativity will flow.

This leads us to the first item on my list. When you’re trying to put pen to paper, google is not your best friend. Google will scream your name at the top of its cyber lungs until you have no choice but to look something up that has absolutely zero relevance to what you are doing in that particular moment. Just say no to google. At least long enough to type a few sentences.

What happens during your (my) google search brings me to my second item. YouTube is a rabbit hole that will suck you in with no remorse. You will find yourself on YouTube because you clicked the video that features the characters of some book in an epic rap battle (You Know, while looking for that new book). Totally important that you watch that, right? You might never come across it again. Thirty minutes and six videos later you realize you have yet to write a single word. Time to buckle down.

So now you’re serious about getting some work done. Nothing is going to stand in your way.

I’ve listed a couple of the culprits that put up roadblocks but I have no advice on how to actually avoid them. I’m sure if I sat at my computer and concentrated, I might be able to say something that will help motivate you and myself to actually get some writing done but my phone just notified me that there is a Pikachu nearby.

In short, writing is hard. There are so many distractions all around us but in the end, knowing that someone else is getting pleasure from reading something that you created is the most amazing feeling.

You can tell me all about the distractions in your life or show me some love for my novel at Facebook.com/nkhbooks or on twitter @Author_Nicole_H.

6 Authors talk about Outlining and Visualization

Welcome to the 3rd part of the author collaboration series of post on Plain Talk. Six authors answer the following question:

How do you go about creating your story: Outline, write in sequence or visualize your scenes?

Karen -Anne Stewart – Author of The Rain Trilogies | Ash to Steele 

Visualization is a must for me. I need to be able to live the scene in my head for me to be able to write it.

As far as outlines, I suck at them. I bounce when I write. I had part of the ending for After the Rain (the 3rd novel in the Rain Trilogy) completed while I was finishing Saving Rain, the first book in the trilogy. I guess bouncing plays hand in hand with being an emotional writer.

 

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Marilyn Brand – USA Today & NY Times Best Selling Author 

I usually use a set of note cards to start out, structuring the story with the major turning points and jotting down notes about scenes that I know will happen. Then I break down those major elements into smaller ones, typically the individual chapters, and I figure out which character’s point of view would be best for each chapter (or scene within a chapter). After that, I begin drafting — writing out each scene as I’m able to visualize it.

Most of the time, I write chronologically, but when I was working on my latest novel, The One That I Want, I wrote quite a number of scenes out of order. In fact, the very first scene I wrote was a love scene that didn’t take place until about 3/4 of the way through the book! So, my process can vary.

 

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Laurel A Rockefeller – Author of Queen Elizabeth Tudor: Journey to Gloriana | Catherine de Valois: The Legendary Women of World History 

I have outlined in the past.  Usually when I do the outline goes out the window, especially in my fiction work.  With my non-fiction history work I build a timeline of dates and events.  This is essential for crafting the story and keeping everything correct chronologically.  With history, my timeline is probably my most effective writing tool, followed closely by the bibliography which allows me to save my research data in one place.

 

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Kelsey Ketch – Author of the Descendants of Isis Series 

My brain is complicated, and I’ll say right here and now, no one’s writing method will ever be the same from one person to the next. You have to do what is right for you. In my case, though I have a high-level idea in mind of where I want to go with a story, I actually start my writing by visualizing individual scenes. These are generally not in order. In fact, most of the time they are scattered between the beginning and the end. Then, once I start reaching a level of greater detail, I create a timeline and start piecing together the story like a puzzle until a bigger picture begins to emerge.

 

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson at KPFK (public radio for Los Angeles and Santa Barbara)

Carolyn Howard-Johnson – Author of The Frugal Book Promoter |Imperfect Echos

I assemble ideas for my nonfiction and then–more or less–reassemble them into an outline before I start the first full draft. It helps me to see the project as a whole, see the flow, see how different chapters and chapter sections relate to one another.

I believe in letting the brain go where its own little creative mode when I’m writing fiction. That lets me come up with ideas (and welcome them!) when I sleep, when I’m reading or watching a movie, etc.  Before I begin the second draft I may outline or track a bit to get my arcs and plot points right.  A caution there: I don’t think that this process works as well for formula fiction (romances?). I write character-driven literary fiction and I think it’s perfect for that.

 

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Gillian Felix – Author of The Family Portrait Series | Blog Tours: A Win-Win For Authors and Bloggers  

I do a bit of all of the above. Sometimes I outline, especially if I am adding a new storyline that is not in the original television script. I also visualize a scene intentionally or non-intentionally. Non-intentionally if I am doing something unrelated to my books and a conversation or scene flash into my mind, I then go ahead and write a story around it. It may not be next in the sequence of the story but I write it anyway, sometimes it makes it into the final manuscript or sometimes it is added to the deleted scene folder and who knows maybe I’ll use it later.

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Other topics in the author collaboration series:

Part 1: Does Writer’s Block Exist?

Part 2: Do you use any special writing software?

Next we’ll talk about what keeps these writers motivated.