The Power of the Notebook

By Joy Ross Davis

I have to admit that I am a notebook hoarder. There’s nothing I love more than new brightly colored notebooks, but not because of the color. I love them because each one holds possibilities. For me, a new notebook means a new novel.

My most recently-completed novel began three years ago as I sat at my breakfast nook one morning having a cup of coffee. I began to see images of people, images of places—familiar places—and though I didn’t know the people, I kept seeing them until I’d given each one an identity. In my notebook, I jotted down names and physical characteristics. I wrote little snippets about the town where they lived in Ireland.  

From the images that I saw, I knew the time frame must be in the early 1900s. One particular image captured me more than the others. It showed a young woman drowning in the waters of a great body of water, and it brought to mind my fascination with the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, yet I had no idea how a young Irish woman would be sailing on the great ship, and while research provided me with facts, I had to keep searching for personal accounts of the incident.

My notebook began to take on page after page of notes, but I hadn’t yet begun a story. And what was the point of all the notes if I couldn’t come up with a story? But then, most of my works have begun this way. I see the same images repeatedly, and then I begin to record what I see in a notebook.  But the entries I’d made were random and seemed to have no connection to each other. At this point, they covered several events of note, mostly political, in Irish history and spanned about twenty-five years. And because I had no desire to write about politics or riots or killings, very few of them were helpful.

So, I began delving more closely into the personal accounts of the Lusitania disaster. With the help of the Google search engine, I’d found several, but most of them were from crew members who’d miraculously survived the sinking. And though these were helpful, what I needed was something more personal. After all, one of my new characters would be directly involved. She would be the young woman I’d seen drowning in the waters.

For about a week afterwards, I’d go through my notebook in the mornings, hoping that something I’d jotted down would give me the kernel I needed for the new story. And then one morning, I had that moment, the one that says, “That’s it. There’s your story!”

I grabbed my highlighter—the green one—and drew a circle around a very short entry I’d made months earlier about a tiny town in Ireland becoming famous as the site of an international GeoPark. I’d been to the town and I’d seen the wondrous caves, the underground lakes, and the natural stone carvings first hand. And because I knew the town so well, I was quite comfortable installing my new characters as residents.

The now-tattered, lime green notebook had served its purpose. A book was being born, slowly but surely.

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Joy Ross Davis is of Irish descent and a student of the lore and magic found in the hills of Tennessee. After a twenty-five year career as a college English professor, she traveled to Ireland and worked as a writer and photographer, publishing numerous travel articles and photos for an Irish travel agency. She has been a contributing feature writer for a local newspaper and has published articles in Southern literary magazines. She lives in Alabama with her son and beloved dogs. She loves to speak at conferences, book club meetings, and events to share her connection with angels and the stories behind her books. Contact her on Twitter @joyrossdavis or Facebook.  Check out her boards on Pinterest.   

Can You Only Imagine?

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for Southern Writers Magazine

This week, I saw the excellent movie, I Can Only Imagine. It is the story of the writer and performer of the song of the same title. It is also about Bart Millard's, MercyMe's singer/songwriter, inspiration for the song. Quite literally, it is a David and Goliath story, with a twist. The songwriter learns forgiveness for his childhood monster, which includes his own personal Goliath, his father. Bart also witnesses his father’s redemption, a powerful message indeed.

In Bart’s story, there are 2 people highlighted who helped him along the way. One of them, an gifted music teacher in a small rural town, saw his talent when he didn’t even know he could sing. Another is a famous singer who unselfishly gave him back his song. These two individuals gave him their help which ultimately made Bart, and MercyMe, a success. This isn’t just a movie about Bart’s story. It’s also a movie about being in the right place, doing the right thing to help someone else’s dreams come true. It’s a theme we at Southern Writers Magazine, and especially this blog, believe in wholeheartedly. There’s a lesson in his story for us all. Giving your support to others, showing kindness and doing the right thing will ultimately lead to your own success. 

Author, Claire Fullerton has this philosophy, too. She writes amazing reviews of other authors books, all while writing her own books. She then shares these reviews on all her social media sites. She’s an author who is also a supporter and giver to other authors, and to her readers. 

My first introduction to Claire’s, Millie & Finley characters was in November 2016 in this short Christmas piece titled, A Place In The World, free to read at this link. Claire gave to readers a snippet of her characters at the The Dead Mule Society website. These characters have occupied a corner of my mind ever since 2016. I think of them from time to time, craving more of their story. Her third book Mourning Dove, with Millie & Finley’s story, releases in June. Well done, Claire Fullerton you have helped fellow authors and pre-marketed your book by introducing these memorable characters two years before the book releases. 

It costs nothing to help another author. Just show your kindness for a fellow author. Write a book review for a fellow author and watch your own success occur. In the comments, please share a book review you’ve written for a fellow author. If you’re a reader writing a review will help authors to stay motivated to continue honing their craft. Then, share it on your own social media links. 

You could even share this blog post which will include all the comments. Authors will appreciate your support, and readers will love finding out about your memorable characters and new books they can read. 

Success can occur if “YOU Can Only Imagine?

Giving Your Fiction A Subtle Touch

By T.K. Thorne

“Don’t give too much information” is one of the tenets of “good” fiction writing, i.e., writing that avoids the slush pile. A positive way to phrase this is—write subtly.

According to Noah Lakeman, author of The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile:

•     An unsubtle MS will have an inflated feel—inflated with superfluous words, phrases, dialogue, and scenes that are far too long.

•     Less is more; Leave some things unsaid; be a minimalist.

•     If you underestimate your reader, you alienate him/her.

•     Discipline yourself to withhold information.

•     Embrace confusion; leave a little mystery.

But now we are back to the dilemma—how much is too much and how do you know when to stop? For some people, that skill comes naturally, but others struggle with it. Recently, I was reading over my latest novel manuscript and decided I wanted to drop some back story in the first chapter of book three. Backstory is always risky because too much can pull the reader out of the story world. They “hear” the author “filling them in.”

Setup: Rose, a police detective, responds to a homicide scene where a construction worker has fallen seven stories to his death. She looks at the body and hopes she isn’t going to get sick. Insert: “The only time I’ve been sick at the sight of a dead body was the night I had my first vision, a glimpse of the future that made me fire two bullets into a man’s back.”

Works.  Why? 

1. It’s relevant and fits the context. It’s a natural thought proceeding from her hope that she won’t get sick.

2. It doesn’t give too much information. It leaves the reader with questions—Why did she shoot a man in the back? Why wasn’t she fired or convicted of murder?

3. It adds to plot or character. We now know that Rose had a traumatic incident in her past and that bodies don’t usually make her nauseous. Important stuff.

What if Rose looked at the body and thought instead: “This reminds me of the time when I had a few drinks with Harry and got sick all over the floor.”

It’s shorter, so “too much” is not really a question of how many words you use. This version also flows from her thinking about getting sick, but it is too much information, because–who cares if she got sick drinking with Henry? It is not important to the story and adds nothing to the plot or character development. Unless it is an important part of her character that her mind wanders willy-nilly, it pulls the reader out of the story narrative.

Not every piece of narrative has to do all three of these things, but if you have a suspicious piece of writing, analyze it to make sure it is (1) relevant and in context, (2) leaves questions open, and/or (3) adds to the plot and character.

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T.K.Thorne’s childhood passion for storytelling deepened when she became a police officer in Birmingham, Alabama. “It was a crash course in life and what motivated and mattered to people.” When she retired as a captain, she took on Birmingham’s business improvement district as the executive director before retiring again to write full time. T.K. speaks on life lessons--how she accidentally became a police officer, didn't end up in a space capsule, and tackled historical novels about unnamed women in two of the oldest and most famous stories on earth, as well as writing a book from the case investigators' perspectives about solving the most infamous church bombing in Civil Rights history. Her writing has garnered several awards, including ForeWord Review Magazine's 2009 "Book of the Year" for Historical Fiction for her debut novel, NOAH'S WIFE. The New York Post’s “Books You Should Be Reading” list featured her first non-fiction book, LAST CHANCE FOR JUSTICE which details the investigation of the 1963 Sixteenth Street church bombing case. Rave reviews have followed her newest novel about the unnamed wife of Lot, ANGELS AT THE GATE, which won the IBPA's Benjamin Franklin Award for historical fiction and an IPPY award. Her screenplay in the film "Six Blocks Wide" was a semi-finalist at the international "A Film for Peace Festival" in Italy. Her website is TKThorne.com, where you can read more about her books and sign up for a Newsletter with inside info on her research and adventures. She blogs there, as well, and loves to hear from readers. T.K. writes at her mountaintop home near Birmingham, often with two dogs and a cat vying for her lap.

To Review or not to Review

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief for Southern Writers Magazine 

Authors want reviews of their books. Publishers want reviews of their author’s books.

Therefore, it got me to thinking about these reviews that are wanted. I think you will see some interesting facts about the meanings of reviews. Stay with me, don’t give up, and see where I am going with this.

I looked up the definition of review. The answer is “A critical appraisal of a book, play, movie, exhibition, etc., published in a newspaper or magazine.” (This is just one of many answers listed on the internet as well as Webster’s Dictionary.)

Most of us do not like people being critical of anything connected with us. Therefore, I dug further.

 Now this leads us to the definition of critical, which is “inclined to criticize severely and unfavorably”. Wow. Well it is for sure we, as humans don’t like that.

Nevertheless, I continued to follow that thread to criticize, which means, “to consider the merits and demerits of and judge accordingly”. Now that definition I can live with. That is fair.

We would all love to hear accolades concerning our writings and we should but we also have to realize there will be some “demerits” of our writings. How else will we learn to grow and write better?

The things we create are personal to us. They represent our abilities and skills and we want people to think our work is good, in fact, above average. Therefore, when someone is critical of our writing, drawing, any talent we have we may take it personal; it may sound to us as if they are saying our abilities and skills aren’t good enough.  This sometimes could translate to “you’re not good enough.” It is hard to distance ourselves and keep separate ‘we the person’ and ‘we the author or artist’.

Thinking back to when we were in the first grade the teacher would write a word on the board and wanted us to write the same word on those pages with wide blue lines. Then she would go around and look at each person’s words they had written and say, “Oh, that is very good Johnny.” But, she would say to a lot of the class “Write on the line, don’t go below the line.” Sometimes we would hear “No, Suzie, it doesn’t have a curl on the top.”

I don’t ever remember feeling the teacher was being critical of me. I felt she was helping me; teaching me to write my words, that she had my best interest at heart.

I think, when we receive a review, it would help us if we could get back in the head of that first grader.  See the review for what it is, someone’s opinion––telling us what our work needs. They are trying to help us. Good, bad or indifferent it is their opinion.

If we can do that, we may find a few nuggets of gold in their words that may help us make our writing better.

A Late Bloomer

By Nick Nixon

I was a late bloomer in becoming an author. I spent 35 years building and managing Nixon & Associates, a graphic design firm. I had a staff of eight talented people and we served local, national and even a few international clients. Most of the writing I did in those 35 years was advertising copy. When I retired in 2010, I started writing humor articles for various publications, usually accompanied by one of my cartoons. 

I eventually joined a local writer’s group and I even contributed to their annual anthology, like most of the other members. Whatever I wrote always contained a good bit of humor. I was fortunate enough to have one of my articles included in an issue of Chicken Soup for the Soul. This led to local radio and TV interviews. After telling my host about my writing, cartooning, illustration work, doing voice overs for commercials, taking out the trash, mowing the lawn, washing the cars, and feeding the dog and cat, she asked if there was anything else I wanted to do that I had not yet done. All of a sudden, without thinking or taking a deep breath, I blurted it out, “Every writer would like to write a book someday.” I had never thought about writing a book, let alone saying it out loud before.      

Honestly, I don’t know what was said after that. I think I was in shock after my “every writer wants to write a book someday” comment. I mentioned this remark at the next writers meeting and how surprised I was to actually have said it. “Well, have you?” Jeri, one of my fellow members asked. I was ready for that. I told her and the rest of the group I was thinking about writing a parody of The Maltese Falcon and calling it The Maltese Chicken. That got a laugh from everyone but Jeri. She greeted me at the door at our next monthly meeting with two books in her hands. Both were about how to write a detective novel. I read both of them and that did it. 

One night, as I was trying to go to sleep, my brain would not shut down and I got the idea for The Frame. Three months later I had written 86,000 words and considered my first novel complete. After some beta readers and two editors had gone through it, and I learned what it meant to tighten it up, I really did have a finished manuscript with a total of a little over 83,000 words. 

I immediately followed it up with Murder on the 13th Green, a sequel to The Frame, which was just released. I also changed the cover of The Frame to something more exciting and made a few improvements inside as well. It has just been re-released. They are both available through Barnes & Noble and Amazon as e-books and paperbacks. I am now working on The Main Street Murders. All three are part of the Peter English, PI Mystery series, and set in Memphis, TN during the post WWII 1940’s. I have been asked where I got my inspiration for these books. The answer: many Saturday afternoons in a darkened neighborhood movie theatre, as a kid, watching old, black and white film noir crime movies from the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. I still love to watch them on TV. Even though I was born in the 1940s and grew up in Memphis in the 1950s and ‘60s, I have to do a lot of research for the ‘40s, which I enjoy almost as much as I do writing these books. Go ahead; read the books and fact check me. I dare you.

People who know me and have read The Frame tell me they think Peter English is my alter ego, I tell them that is not true. I am much better looking. 

I have learned that writing a novel is only the beginning. A good editor, especially one who challenges a writer, will make him or her a better writer and consequently turn out a better book. I have learned to read other writers’ books and listen to their advice. And if you are not a John Grisham, you have to do all the marketing and PR….not the publisher. I am still learning, and learning, and learning.

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Nick Nixon, author of The Frame and Murder on the 13th Green, grew up in Memphis, TN and went to public school and college here. He is a retired advertising executive, who lives just outside Memphis with his wife, whom he refers to as his real estate typhoon. He is the father of five and grandfather of fourteen…with number fifteen in the oven. He plays golf very badly but sings pretty well with his church choir and in the shower. He is currently working on his third novel in the Peter English, PI Mystery series and he has a western also in the works. Nick has written six children’s books which he is currently illustrating, and he has illustrated two children’s books for another author. He is helping a fellow Christian write a book that will be published in about fifty languages and circulated worldwide, and he has just begun the process of narrating the Peter English novels for audio books. When asked what he does with his spare time, Nick says he still takes out the trash, mows the lawn, washes the cars, feeds the dog and cat, and still has time for family and friends. Social Media:  Website:  nicknixonauthor.com  blog:  nickwits.blogspot.com  Facebook:  nicknixon,author  Twitter:  Nick Nixon (@nick_wits)

What I Learned Before Producing an Audio Book

By Terry Odell

After producing my first audio book, I learned that skipping a ‘read it out loud’ editing pass means you’re going to miss things. Heck, even when you do read it aloud, you can still miss things, as I’ve always caught glitches when I’ve listened to the narrations. When you do your own read aloud, your brain will still see what it expects, and you’ll read what it’s supposed to say, not what itsays.

That’s when I investigated having my computer read my manuscript to me. I’d tried it a long time ago, and the robotic voice was impossible to listen to. However, there have been improvements in the system, so I decided to give things another shot. (Note: as an indie author, I can still make changes after edits. If you’re traditionally published, you’ll probably want to take this step before you send it off.) Word has a ‘speak selected text’ option. There are pros and cons, and here’s the process in a nutshell.

First, you need to add the “Speak” option to the Quick Access Toolbar, which is up at the very top of a document and has the icons for ‘save’ ‘undo’ and ‘redo’. There were plenty of simple to follow tutorials with pictures, so this step wasn’t hard. You go to “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” which on my version of Word is a little drop-down arrow way at the top, then choose “All Commands” and scroll down to Speak, then click Add.

Then it’s a matter of highlighting what you want the voice to read and listening.

(Note: I recently updated to the subscription version of Office, and there’s an even better way to have the computer read to you, but since a lot of people don’t use that, I’m not going to go into the differences here.)

There’s a major difference in listening to a narrator’s rendition of an audiobook and having a computer read it. At least the narrator is performing the book. The guy who’s reading my text to me (I call him Fred) isn’t quite a robot, but there are things to get used to.

What I’ve learned so far.

Pros:

1. “Fred” is going to read exactly what’s on the page, unlike the audiobook narrators who sometimes leave out words, or substitute others. For example, I’d read this paragraph countless times, as had my editor and critique partners. She drove the up the dirt lane. A beam of sunlight shone through a break in the gray winter sky, reflecting off a sprawling white two-story house, as if to say, This is your light in the darkness. Yet I never saw the typo. But when “Fred” read it, the extra “the” jumped right out.

2. It forces you to go slowly. I look for the same things I looked for in the audiobook proofing process—wrong punctuation, improper spacing, and the like. If I catch repeated words that evaded my eyes but not my ears, I’ll fix those as well. 

Cons:

1. There are limits to how big a selection it will read, somewhere around a single-spaced page. I believe it’s going by character count, as when you select too much text, it often stops mid-word. I find this nice, because it gives me breaks from the monotony.

2.  There will be pronunciation errors. “Fred” doesn’t read in context. He doesn’t emphasize words in italics. He speeds up for dashes and hyphens. Words that are spelled the same (read/read; live/live) will all be pronounced the same, which can give you a jolt—but that’s good, because it makes you pay attention.

3.  If you pause to stop the reading (clicking the icon stops it), when you click the icon again, it will go back to where you started with the selected text, so you need to remember to unhighlight the parts he’s already finished and re-select from where you left off.

By the time “Fred” and I are through the manuscript, I will have a better product for my readers. Is it worth it.? I’d say yes, especially when you get a review like this one:“After reading so many books with poor editing, I was very happy to finally read a book without the distracting errors and I was able to enjoy the story.”

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From childhood, Terry Odell wanted to "fix" stories, so the characters would behave properly, although it never occurred to her to write her own. Once she began writing—which didn’t happen until her AARP card was well-worn—she found controlling her characters wasn't always possible, as evidenced when the mystery she intended to write turned into a romance, even though she'd never read one. Odell prefers to think of her books as "Mysteries with Relationships." After writing eight romantic suspense novels, she finally broke into the mystery genre with Deadly Secrets, and continued that series with Deadly Bones, Deadly Puzzles, Deadly Production, and Deadly Places. Her newest release is Deadly Engagement, the 6^th offering in that series. She writes the Blackthorne, Inc. series, the Pine Hills Police series, the Triple-D Ranch series, and the Mapleton Mystery series. Her short story collection, Seeing Red, is a Silver Falchion winner. Where Danger Hides, the second book in her Blackthorne series is a HOLT Medallion winner. You can find her high in the Colorado Rockies (that's altitude—she lives at 9100 feet!) watching wildlife from her window when she should be writing, or at her website, terryodell.com.

Are Your Memories Enough?

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

While watching one of my favorite dramas, the main character’s mentor was diagnosed with a terminal illness. They sat and contemplated his death. His mentor reminisced about his daughter who had passed away at an early age. He mentioned he was glad he had those memories to take with him. He was then asked, “Are the memories you have of your daughter enough?”

A writer without memories is a frightening thought. Our memories spark us, bring back moments of pleasure and grief.  I believe The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks is one of the best examples of a story based on memories. The spouses are at each end of the spectrum as memories go. The husband has total recall and is doing everything he can to bring those memories of their young romance back to life for his wife who is suffering from dementia. The daily ritual was him reading to her from his notebook of their memories. It was an attempt to spark her back to their romantic past prior to their passing. It is a beautiful story of love and devotion.

Those of us having had loved ones suffer from Alzheimer’s dementia are all too familiar with the pain of memory loss. Our memories of it gave us compassion toward the couple and brought us into their world. Although it was never defined in the book or movie as her having Alzheimer’s dementia, it is closely associated with it because the majority of readers identify with it. The identification is such that the movie is used as a teaching tool in the classroom and a tool for advocacy. We must remember, as for the disease, Hollywood does take liberties with the accuracy of the portrayal. But the message is clear to us all.

My father was stricken with this terrible disease. I remember seeing a man, who had traveled the world most of which was done so flying his own plane, sitting in a chair day after day staring out the window. He was always able to speak and seemed to come to life when spoken to. He spoke of his loss of memory and explained to you he had trouble because the Doctor had diagnosed him with Alzheimer’s. A devout Christian, at one point he said he had forgotten many things but he hoped he never forgets Jesus.

Are Your Memories Enough? I think each of us must answer that on our own. If you think not there is time for many of us to make memories. Making memories with family, friends, fellow workers and writers may be what we need. Make them and share them in your writing. My hope indeed is to be able to one day say yes.  I believe my Dad would have said yes, more than enough.             

                      

Marketing – Finding Your Way

By Sandra Mansfield Wright

Marketing, I have found to be one of the most difficult aspects of the writing process. How do I find time to market when I am trying to write?  Making it a priority in the process is important. Carve out the time in each week to market your project and yourself. For me it is a commitment of at least one to two hours a week for marketing projects. A writer’s group of like-minded people may be of great help; they have been for me. Ideas, brain-storming, hearing how others are promoting their writing has helped me. I gather ideas, tweak them to fit my needs and go from there. When we share our ideas, other ideas often develop.

One of the things I have done, that seems to be working for me, is having a ‘Joy Luncheon’ in my home once a month. My writings thus far have been focused on ‘Creating a Life of Joy!’  Groups of twelve to fifteen may come to my home for a delicious lunch catered by my daughter’s company, Simply Done, of Collierville, TN. The group tours my circa 1890 cottage home, eat on antique china, and have a fun day.  After the tour and luncheon, I speak briefly on the subject of ‘Creating a Life of Joy’ and share my books with my guests.

Another idea we have created is ‘A Day of Joy’ for guests of 15 up to 50 people. This is a day’s venue held in a historic church building starting at 10:30 with appetizers and greetings, a guest speaker on a subject relevant to the group: i.e. essential oils and their benefits to our health, flower arranging, gardening, table landscaping.  Topics change seasonally and can be fitted to the group involved. Lunch is then served. After lunch I speak on the subject of finding joy in our lives - no matter what! We end the afternoon with a ‘high tea’ and desserts. Sometimes we may have a guest soloist or music offered as a special treat. We may have a hands-on workshop creating a wreath for the front door, jewelry making, or other “fun” events.

These events are promoted by word of mouth, sending out post card type event cards telling people about the luncheons, mentioned on my personal website and blog, and giving out book marks with short descriptions of each of my books and a bio on one side, and on the opposite side there is a ‘Joy Luncheon’ description. I leave these bookmarks everywhere I go, and give them to anyone who will take them.  People who attend these luncheons are the best advertisement – because they always tell someone they know, and word spreads!

Different things work for different people. Listen, watch, and think about the talents you have and creative ways in which you can market yourself and your work. Share ideas with others and get their feedback and counsel.

“Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.”   - Proverbs 15: 22

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After retiring from her career in real estate, Sandra Mansfield Wright became an interior designer for the heart. She writes and speaks on the subject of joy and provides practical ways to bring joy more fully into the lives of her readers and listeners. Sandra lives near Memphis, TN, and is the author of Little Gifts of Joy and 365 Daily Gifts of Joy. Go to sandramansfieldwright.com for more information and to read her blog.

Five Positions for Your Exposition

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine

"Too much information" is known as such for good reason. There is a point at which communicating the facts jumps the fence beyond relevance and becomes overwhelming. TMI can kill conversation, take down empires, and ruin an otherwise good story. Knowing where to draw the line is one of the marks of a savvy storyteller.

Ideally, the reader should never realize they're getting backstory. Here are five proven ways to deliver details with finesse.

1. Be patient.
You know everything your reader needs to know and may be eager to get it out in the open, but the opening chapter isn't the place to share the hero's life story. Getting accustomed to the characters, the setting, the mood, and a hint at what the story's about, is a lot to take in, so give the audience time to assimilate it. More importantly, give them time to care about any of it. Once they've become invested in what's going on, they will appreciate learning the finer points.

2. Know when to hold 'em.
Kenny Rogers had the right idea in "The Gambler" when he sang of life as a poker game.  A well-told story exhibits the same principles of timing and restraint. If there's a lot of backstory, don't spill everything at once. Play your hands strategically and keep the ace up your sleeve for the right moment, when the audience will be most surprised by the revelation.

3. Pick a fight.
There's no better way to hide exposition than to distract with drama. Conflict is always interesting, and if the audience in tuned into trouble, they will scarcely notice that they are also learning backstory. An argument at a family reunion can reveal someone's drinking problem or the origins of a grievance between siblings. Compare the heightened energy of such a scene to a placid conversation that covers the same information.

Forrest Gump is almost entirely told via flashbacks.

4. Flashbacks can be fun.
This is an especially popular device used for villains and victims. The killer spots a stranger scolding a child, which triggers the memory of his own father beating him. The girl visits a beach and has visions of herself and her now-deceased boyfriend frolicking in the sand.

5. Get the picture.
Gotta pull out the old "show and tell" here. A picture is worth more than a thousand words if the audience can see for themselves that the heroine is a shoplifter or the attorney is slid a bribe from the opposing side. Letting the audience figure out some things on their own encourages them to be a participant in the story.

Remember, a discerning reader readily picks up on bungled backstory, so the fewer words it takes to give a history lesson, the better. When it comes to exposition, there's a lot to be said for not saying a lot.

Marketing Plan Strategies

By Maritza Martínez Mejía

I felt I could call myself a writer when I received my first printed book, yet selling without begging was a milestone. My writing journey began when I realized I needed a Marketing Plan. With a small budget, I decided to follow a simple plan:

1.    Improve my writing style before publishing my next Bilingual Children’s Book by taking a writing seminar online and at a local College workshop.

2.     Enhance my website with the support of a professional Webmaster.

3.     Look for opportunities to expose my books at local events. For instance, I booked myself into a local library event and a classroom visit to a local public school. I was nervous at the beginning, but the experience was priceless.

4.     Invest in business cards and brochures to promote my books.

5.    Use Social Media such as Facebook Writers Groups, Goodreads Giveaways, Twitter Parties, LinkedIn Articles, and Google+.

6.    Create a Blog and use TAG #LuzDelMes to pin articles on Pinterest.

7.    Open a YouTube Channel #LuzDelMes to add a Movie Maker Book with photos of the events and book covers.           

My Author name became visible when I used a #TAG and AVATAR attached to my name. In addition, I used the same picture on all my social media and the #TAG: #LuzDelMes. Technology is advancing faster than I was prepared for; there is so much to learn about this new cyber world.

Self-publishing can be exciting, but it is not for everyone. According to several articles, self-published authors who have been able to make a living out of their books, worked hard to reach their goals to success. It’s a long journey, with ups and downs that require tons of perseverance, discipline, patience, and sometimes sacrifice. It is more important to hold onto what makes you write than to make money.

One thing is clear, a marketing plan, even on a small budget, for promotion are important elements in an author’s writing path. Remember, one event leads to another, and one big effort brings you to your rewards.

Writing is a challenge for career authors. Don’t give up!

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Maritza Martínez Mejía is a Mother, Educator, Bilingual Author and Translator Her website: www.luzdelmes.com Recipient of the Crystal Apple Award 2006, VCB Poetry Winner 2015, The Latino Book Awards 2016 and Author’s Talk Book Show 2017. Five Books published and articles posted on Southern Writers Magazine and La Nota Latina. Graduated from Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca in Commerce and Foreign Language and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities and Women’s Studies from Florida Atlantic University. Maritza writes to inspire others to be better persons. ~ Escribo para inspirar a otros a ser mejor. #LuzDelMes https://en.gravatar.com/luzdelmes