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Jo’s Journal

Author Shout Out: J.F.Penn

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This month I’m choosing a very successful author, both fiction and non fiction. J.F. Penn, also known as Joanna Penn is well known in the world of authors and readers.

I first got to know about Joanna’s fiction when my husband recommended reading the London Crime Thrillers. All three of these books have a hint of supernatural but set in the world we know. The balance made between fact and fantasy is very subtle and well handled. And, like many books that take my eye, the strong characters, in this case Detective Sergeant Jamie Blake and her unlikely sidekick Blake Daniel, a psychic, drew me into the story telling.

I then moved onto her Arkane Thriller series about a psychologist and government agent, again laced with the supernatural. Stone of Fire is the first in this collection and there are five more to lose myself in. The writing is fast paced, packed with intrigue and mystery and for me, addictive.

And I’ve just recently read her first book, The Map of Shadows, which is a fascinating dark fantasy with all the virtues of her other books with a little bit of romance thrown in. And, there will be more of the Map series… so no worries about running out of her stories to read!

On her website you will find articles about some of the places and items that have fueled her writing, and spends a lot of time and effort researching the places she writes about. This additional, personal insight into her writing process provides another level of intrigue to enjoy.

However, Joanna has another arrow for her already successful bow as she is highly regarded as a non-fiction author provided advice about self publishing and the writing process in general. You can find all manner of information on her blog, The Creative Penn.

Joanna is very successful and for me, a talented role model who shows that with hard work and determination – not to mention great writing – are the key skills for indie writers in the world of self publishing.

 

Monthly Goals: June

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Now as still I’m away travelling, I’ll be carrying over my goals from May. These goals were chosen as being the most realistic to achieve and I’ll report on my progress in the July.

 

🎯 Schedule all Social Media posts as far as I can up to end of June

🎯 Re look at Journals for Writers and plan relaunch (for my return in June)

🎯 Organise and clean up my One note Bujo (which is essentially my whole life) and Pinterest Boards

🎯Work on scene list and world building for Rainbow Chronicles

🎯Read, read and read!

 

Writing Tool Box: May Favourites

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As I’m away travelling at the moment in our cosy camper, Bobbus, I’ve dedicated this months toolbox to things that make it easier for me to maintain my writing momentum; three Apps and a website.

An App #1: Having made a concentrated effort to increase my social media profile, particularly on Instagram being able to schedule posts in advance is a life saver. One of my monthly goals was to create 3 months of social media posts which covered my trip away. The app Later has been my saviour and is so easy to use.

An App #2: I love to read, but when you are travelling long distances an audio book can help pass the time when getting from A to B. I don’t listen to audio books at any other time because I’m never in one place long enough and there are other distractions. Audible is the Amazon app we use and we always choose thrillers and mysteries which keep us alert for the driving as well as making a damn good listen.

An App #3: I’m a self confessed list maker and forever trying to be organised. I fell in love with the Bullet Journal approach a couple of years ago but taking and maintaining notebooks while your travelling can be a little taxing. I’ve used the app OneNote for years but just to collect information. Now I use it for my monthly, weekly planning (the daily stuff I still scribble down) it’s my recipe book and my project bible. Everything in once place accessible from any where… there will be a blog dedicated to this soon.

A Website: I’ve learnt in the three years that we’ve been spending a significant slug of time travelling in our camper, that I need to be clear about the writing tasks I can realistically achieve. Having spent the last month Snowflaking my next project I’m going to spend some time world building so that when I return in mid June, I’m ready to write that first draft. Eva Deverell provides loads of printable resources for writers of all genres.

 

 

Planner or Panster – The Snowflake Method

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It is said that there are two kinds of writers in terms of approaching a project. The Pansters  and the Planners.

Pansters are the kind of fly by the seat of your pants (hence the name) kind of writers who don’t know where their story is going to start. Or finish for that matter. They go with the flow which ever way it may take them. One of the disadvantages reported of this approach is the danger of becoming stuck because there is no plan and the danger of having multiple unfinished projects gathering dust on the shelf.

Planners on the other hand, are the opposite, naturally. They have a plan, know where they are going, what’s going to happen when, and for that reason find it easier to deal with writers block. However, the disadvantage is that the plans can become too rigid and leave little room for change without a lot of work re-doing outlines.

If you had asked me several years ago which camp I fell in it would definitely be the first. And yes, I had in excess of six, yes 6, manuscripts all gathering that proverbial dust. But, I’m not a natural planner either, my brain is not that organised to know what I’m doing before I do it and I like to make diversions where I can.

So I guess I’m the third kind of writer (a Planster?) who falls between these two camps and with the help of the Snowflake method, I’ve learnt how to create a successful approach for my projects. Remember… I don’t profess to have any right answers. I just share what works for me. The Snowflake method allows me to combine both Pansting – I’m not sure that’s a verb 🙂 – and Planning.

It starts from the most simple premise possible, a one sentence story summary. From there nine more steps combine both plot and character development, each building on from the last step, making it very easy to go back and change things that will affect the final outcome, a detailed scene list. The system is essentially about growing your story so that you have a template from which to work from and discovers and identifies the plot holes, flat one dimensional characters and arcs before you start. So the flexibility of being a free spirit with the ability to easily re-trace your steps. What could be more perfect?

What’s more, Randy Ingermanson the creator of this method, helpfully recommends how much time you should spend on each step. This is helpful in understanding how long it will take you before you start writing the story but also will indicate if you are spending too much time on analysis and need to buckle down and start.

To find out more about the step and this method here are some resources you can consult and make up your own mind…

 

Author Shout Out: Rachel Aaron

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So this month’s author featuring in my shout out is… Rachel Aaron.

I was first introduced to Rachel Aaron through one of her non-fiction books and I can honestly say it changed my approach to writing.

 

Her book 2,000 to 10,000 is a practical guide about increasing your word count. She identifies three important areas to think about, knowledge, time and enthusiasm and it’s these three points which are critical if you want to hit that target. Knowing what you are going to write, finding the time to write and understanding your best time to write. It’s a gold mine for planners and pansters alike, I dare you not to succeed if you follow the steps that Rachel outlines.

Just recently I’ve turned my writing eye to Rachel’s fiction books and have just finished the first book in her series the Legend of Eli Moonpress and read the Spirit Thief. It was a great read and her debut novel and she delivers it all through her main character, a cheeky thief called… Eli Moonpress. I was captivated from the start by his antics, it’s an honest to good read about someone who does naughty things but with great finesse and humour. I’ll definitely be reading more of this series. Rachel is writing another series, an urban fantasy about misfit dragons which sounds like fun too…

 

 

 

Writing Goals: May

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Last Month’s Goals (April)

A better month health wise and I think I’ve made great progress with my aim for getting ahead. As we leave for a six week trip in Bobbus, our camper van, on the 8th May I need to be prepared… as well as think about what I can achieve realistically whilst we’re away.

😛 Post four more chapters of Wolf Moon on Wattpad – yep, I continue to keep on target with Wolf Moon and most of all it’s helping me to get the edits done. All about accountability.

🙂 Market Short Story as a giveaway – well I’ve finished The Earth Dragon of Sassi and it’s now available here… as for marketing it, well I’ve given a little nudge but as writers we all find it hard to blow our own trumpet… but it’s finished and that’s a big thing

😕 Marketing Plan for Journals – this keeps being pushed back, but that’s okay. It’s one of the projects I might spend some time on whilst we’re away as it’s easy to pick up in small windows of time. I hit a brick wall because I have spent some time creating new covers but the format of the interior has gone all awol… and I’m not sure why

😎 Complete snowflake for the Rainbow Book 1 – I’ve had so much fun with this over the past four weeks and I’m so excited about the story. I’ve started the scene list and again it’s something I’ll dabble with whilst I’m away.

😉 Plan timeline for for the first draft of Rainbow Book 1 – well, I’ve not given this much thought but I shan’t be drafting it until I get back. So by the end of summer (2019 that is) I hope to have the first draft done.

So this month and half of June is going to be a little scatty in terms of goals. I don’t want to set the stakes too high, yet I do want to maintain momentum so these are my initial thoughts for this month…

🎯 Complete all edits of Wolf Moon – before I leave on 8th *gulp*

🎯 Schedule all Social Media posts as far as I can up to end of June

🎯 Re look at Journals for Writers and plan relaunch (for my return in June)

🎯 Organise and clean up my One note Bujo (which is essentially my whole life) and Pinterest Boards

🎯 Work on scene list and world building for Rainbow Chronicles