Category: Questions

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Where do I start?

Sometimes when we sit down to write, we get lost and wonder, “Where do I start?”

One answer: Choose a natural starting point.

When we read a good novel, it all seems to unfold so naturally from the first sentence, so why do we have a difficult time getting started? We need to remind ourselves that famous authors are faced with the same problem. Don’t laugh now, but they have editors to help them, too.

Think about real life. No significant episode in your own life sprung up from nothing; things happened that shaped the current event, and things happened afterward as a result of it. Think about your story in the same way. The characters have pasts and futures (unless you plan to kill them). Places, too, have pasts and futures. Therefore, every good storyteller jumps into his story midstream. Knowing this can help you relax about picking a starting point.

For example, I’m writing about Abraham, and I start with him as an adult in the desert with his camel when God speaks to him. Abe begins mulling over world events and planning his escape from Ur of the Chaldees without being caught. With that setting as my anchor, I build the story.

If you’re unsure where to begin, pick a scene you know you’re going to put in—you just don’t know where yet—and start writing it. You might discover your Chapter One right there. And even if you don’t, you’ll have story material for that scene when the time comes.

Or……

Write several character sketches. You need them anyway, and they’re great warm-ups for Chapter One. Ask yourself: What will this character be doing when we first meet him? Write it. Again, you might find yourself writing Chapter One…or Chapter three. But start.

Your could even do a Chapter-One-Only brainstorm and see what comes out.

You can write a great story starting from any of several places. But wherever it is, start with action! That will help you to …

Write Creatively.

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Lightning is Intriguing

Two nights ago, a lightning storm passed over our town. I didn’t think much about it because I didn’t see the flashes or hear the thunder. I was sound asleep. But my office, which is located about 70 feet behind the house, felt the current. My computer was not plugged into the wall and my external hard drive was also detached, so everything should have been okay.

However a mystery awaited me.

Entering the office, I found one circuit breaker in the OFF position, but nothing was smoked. However, when I powered up the computer, I discovered that all the typing I had done and saved for the past two days was missing. Gone. Evaporated. Deleted. Nothing else was missing or damaged and the computer still worked fine. Lightning sure is intriguing.

I have an idea of WHY some information was deleted, but why was the work done ONLY in the past 2 days affected? Hmmmmm. . . . . . . . . . . . .

I’ll analyze the event and figure it out eventually, but for now, I need to reclaim the evaporated information. I’ll chat later. Have a productive day, and be sure to ……

Write Creatively.

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That’s Hard to Believe!

A friend – I’ll call him Jim – called and asked me to meet him for coffee.

After taking a sip, Jim got right to the point. “How long is it supposed to take to get a book published?”

He seemed a little aggravated. “What’s up, Jim?”

“I’ve tried to contact several publishing companies, but most don’t accept phone calls. Other online services won’t give the information I need unless I answer a ton of questions, and even then, the answers are conditional. I finally got someone to talk with me, but I wasn’t happy with the answers. Will you tell me straight up, how long it will take for you to publish my book, and what it will cost?”

“Okay, Jim, here it is. If you have the document complete and edited to your satisfaction before giving it to me, I can have it completed and back to you for review and approval in less than a week – perhaps in 3 days. If you do not request changes, I can have the manuscript uploaded into the Amazon/KDP system within 24 hours after your approval. It then will enter Amazon’s 72-hour review; however, it often takes around 48 hours. Altogether, from the time we start the process, your book can be ready for purchase in less than two weeks. And the cost? P&L Publishing and Literary Services’ fee of $750 gets you a print book of up to 500 pages and an eBook. A book cover is included at no extra charge. Is that straight up enough for you?”

“Wow! That’s hard to believe!”

Blogger’s note: we published his book. And by the way, he did …

Write Creatively.

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What Are Your Preferred Genres?

Bible, science, and history have been my chosen genres for the past 45 years. However, within the past 3 years I adopted Creative Nonfiction, and am considering Documentary Historical Fiction.

The shortest definition of Creative Nonfiction is: a true story well told. Best selling author, mentor, and instructor Lee Gutkind said, “I am often asked: ‘What is creative nonfiction?’ Memoir, for example, personal essay, biography, narrative history, and long form narrative reportage may all fit under the creative nonfiction umbrella. Writers who write creative nonfiction are very different in voice, orientation and purpose. But what they have in common is that they are, in one way or the other, writing true stories that provide information about a variety of subjects, enriched by relevant thoughtful ideas, personal insight, and intimacies about life and the world we live in. And this scope and variety is exactly what makes creative nonfiction significant and, these days, so incredibly popular.”

Creative nonfiction involves descriptive narrative, but we need to be careful not to overdo the verbosity. However, this genre – used correctly – vies for first place with fiction for popularity. Look up Lee Gutkind and learn more.

‘ll talk about Documentary Historical Fiction another time. In the mean time …

Write Creatively.

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You Might Want to Know …

One of our readers recently emailed us with a few questions. I want to share the primary question with you because it seems that many people don’t know this bit of info.

“Can changes be made to my book after it’s published? And if so, how do we go about it?”

The first answer is “Yes. We can modify anything we publish.” Working with us, P&L Publishing and Literary Services, the author never loses ownership of his or her work. Therefore, the author can ask for changes any time … even many years later.

The second answer is also easy. Just send us a document listing what you want to modify, and we’ll make the changes. But please note: we cannot change anything we did not publish.

There most likely will be a fee involved, and the fee will depend on the nature and complexity of the changes.

One of the benefits working with P&L is that we try to make things easy for our authors. When you call, you will talk with a live, breathing, friendly person. Have a great week, and …

Write Creatively.