Where Do Your Ideas Come From? – Written By Don Massenzio

Don is a very gifted author who is generously sharing his experience and wisdom with all of us. Thank you so much, Don Massenzio!

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As I look at my writing notebook (you should consider carrying one), I see the dozens of story, setting and character ideas that I have collected and I’m both inspired and anxious.

There are many ideas that I want to turn into stories. It’s hard to write one at a time. At any given time I have a book and some kind of serial or short story going at the same time. This is tough with a 50 hour per seek day job and 45 weeks of travel per year, but I somehow manage to squeeze in some writing.

As I looked at these ideas, I began thinking about where the ideas that I’ve recorded come from. It though that telling you some of my sources might help you look at some idea generation possibilities you might not have thought of.

Characters

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Where Do Your Ideas Come From? – Written By Don Massenzio

Author Don Massenzio asks us where our ideas come from. Let’s read what he has to say about this subject. Thank you very much for all your hard blogging work for us, Don!

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As I look at my writing notebook (you should consider carrying one), I see the dozens of story, setting and character ideas that I have collected and I’m both inspired and anxious.

There are many ideas that I want to turn into stories. It’s hard to write one at a time. At any given time I have a book and some kind of serial or short story going at the same time. This is tough with a 50-hour per week day job and 45 weeks of travel per year, but I somehow manage to squeeze in some writing.

As I looked at these ideas, I began thinking about where the ideas that I’ve recorded come from. I thought that telling you some of my sources might help you look at some idea generation possibilities you might not have thought of.

Porcelain cartoon characters during the planning concepts. 3d illustration.

 

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Using the KISS Method in Your Writing – Written By Don Massenzio

Don Massenzio provides us with a great post about using the KISS method in our writing. He gives great examples and explains clearly what to do. Thank you, Don!

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I remember 9th grade English. This was the year where my high school began to concentrate on expanding the vocabulary of students. I remember the vocabulary workbooks where we had to focus on the spelling, definitions and usage of words.

We were encouraged to use these newly learned words in our daily conversation and, especially, in our writings.

I learned words like:

Dotard – A person, especially an old person, exhibiting a decline in mental faculties; a weak-minded or foolish old person. (I’m sensitive to this one these days).

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My Blogging Strategy – Part 2 – Written By Don Massenzio

Don Massenzio provides us with his excellent blogging strategy. This is the second part of it. I think he does a phenomenal job. Thank you so much for sharing, Don!

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This is a second installment in my series on my blogging strategy. As I relay the things that I’ve learned and that seem to work for me over the past five years that I’ve been blogging, it’s important to note that I’m not an expert and that my blogging process is a continuing series of trial and error.

My first post on this topic talked about how I’ve evolved my usage of blogging statistics over time. If you want to check it out, you can find it HERE.

In this post, I’m going to dig into my reading schedule and how I select posts from other bloggers to be shared.

Daily Review of Posts:

I currently follow 120 blogging sites. (118 if I remove my own two sites). This sounds like a lot but, as I review posts daily, not every site posts every day. This results in about 35-40 blogging sites that I check out every morning on Monday through Saturday.

To read the entire post go to:

My Blogging Strategy – Part 2

 

More Challenges Faced by Indie Authors – Written By Don Massenzio

Don Massenzio provides us with a second post on challenges faced by Indie authors. Of course I am re-blogging this one too as it’s informative, helpful and shows Don Massenzio’s experience and knowledge. Thank you, Don!

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This is the second in a series of posts centered on the challenges faced by indie authors as we try to compete in the vast ocean of competitors/cohorts that is filled with sharks and other predators. Here are more that I’ve come up with to get you thinking and to foster a discussion:

The Stigma of Self-Publishing

I refrain from calling what we do self-publishing. I am an independent author. My publisher is Amazon. Instead of having services provided to me by a traditional publisher, I outsource them to providers that fit within my budget and style.

I recall trying to join a local author group and being refused because I was “one of those self-publishers”. Truth be told, I had essentially published more books than the total of all of the authors in the group. Many of them were waiting for some big publisher to say yes. Of those that had been “fortunate” enough to land a publishing deal, my sales were much higher then any of them. The reviews I’ve received for my books were also very positive.

To read the entire blog post go to:

https://donmassenzio.wordpress.com/2019/02/19/more-challenges-faced-by-indie-authors/

As an Indie Author – What are your challenges? – Written By Don Massenzio

Don Massenzio informs us on his blog about the challenges we Indie authors permanently face. Thank you very much for sharing the information, Don!

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As an author, there are significant challenges. Finding original ideas and turning them into something interesting is a significant challenge. If you are a traditionally published author, you have to not only find an idea that interests you, but it has to interest your publisher as something marketable and viable so that they can make money. You also have to please your agent so that they will push your work on a publisher.

As an independent author, coming up with ideas, in my opinion, is the smallest hurdle to be faced. Because we are independent, we are free to publish whatever interests us and then take that work directly to the readers. One thing that indie authors discover quickly through social media, there are niche reader markets for just about every genre you can think of. If you like to right paranormal zombie western romance erotica, there will be a group that will read it.

To read the entire blog post go to:

https://donmassenzio.wordpress.com/2019/02/14/as-an-indie-author-what-are-your-challenges/

 

Endings – How Important Are They? Do They Have to be Happy – Written By Don Massenzio

Don Massenzio asks us how important endings are and if we think it’s important they need to be happy. Check out this blog post, it’s fascinating. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Don.

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In the past days , I’ve talked about book openings and middles in my posts. This post talks about the other end of your book, the ending. It will briefly discuss the types of endings and the importance of choosing the right one for your book.

Leaving the reader hanging – is it a good idea?

Many sources will tell you not to end your book with a cliffhanger. The reader needs some satisfaction or a happy ending to complete their reading experience. In my opinion, the answer to this is not quite that simple.

As someone who has written a series, I strive to make each book capable of being read as a standalone story. There is, however, a backstory arc for my main character that continues from book to book. What I like to do is resolve the current story within the book but provide a lead in to the next book.

To read the entire blog post, please go to:

https://donmassenzio.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/endings-how-important-are-they-do-they-have-to-be-happy/

Do Your Research – The Devil is in the Details – Written By Don Massenzio

Don Massenzio published a phenomenal blog post about research, facts, and details. I had thought for a second that writing fantasy books is easier – a little magic and you can turn things the way you need them, right? – Wrong. I tried that once – and screwed up the entire following chapter. Don is right – do your research. Thank you for your valuable advice, Don!

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In my first book, Frankly Speaking, my main character, Frank Rozzani, notices someone has broken into his home. He reaches into his glove box for his Glock and proceeds inside with caution. Sounds right, doesn’t it. That’s what other characters in books, television, and movies do.

In my original draft, however, I had him making sure the safety was off. When I let an author acquaintance of mine, who is a retired police officer, read the book, he came to that part and let me know that a Glock doesn’t have a safety. I had no idea. I didn’t know a Glock from a hole in the wall.

This taught me a valuable lesson. I went back through that book and looked for other things. For instance, I used GPS and satellite phone technology in the book and I researched the use of these things extensively to make sure that it was accurate.

To read the entire blog post go to:

https://donmassenzio.wordpress.com/2019/01/30/do-your-research-the-devil-is-in-the-details/comment-page-1/

How do you keep the passion for Writing Going? – By Don Massenzio

Don Massenzio provides us with excellent suggestions on how to keep our passion for writing going. Thank you so much for your supporting and encouraging advice.

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After publishing ten books with another in the wings, I suppose my passion for writing appears healthy. There are those days, however, when the words won’t come and I struggle to even write original posts for my blog. You can call it writer’s block, but there is also an element of frustration and discouragement that factors in.

What I’ve tried to do is turn the negatives into positives and maximize the positives. It’s not always easy, but it works.

Here are some of the negatives I’ve been working through:

Continue reading the entire blog post here

https://donmassenzio.wordpress.com/2019/01/26/how-do-you-keeping-the-passion-for-writing-going/

Choosing a Book Title – Be Smart – Written By Don Massenzio

Don Massenzio provides us with his advice. Thank you very much for your help, Don. I think your book titles are very artfully chosen!

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When I wrote my first novel, I wanted the main character to be, like me, and Italian American. There are many Italian-sounding first names I could have gone with, Tony, Johnny, Carmine, etc. I decided to go with Frank. Frank is a name that is common among Italians, but it also gave me the opportunity to be clever with the title. I went with Frankly Speaking. There were other books with this title, but none in the genre in which I was writing. It was a good title in that it seemed to work and not adversely affect sales.

Continue reading the entire blog post here