Please help me welcome my friend, Liz Tyner. I LOVE this girl so much!! She’s talented and sweet and funny and smart. What’s not to love? She has some excellent advice for us today. PLUS, she’s giving away a prize!! One lucky commenter will receive a copy of her book, Wallflower Duchess and a Swag Surprise Gift from RWA17.
https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9780373629053_the-wallflower-duchess.html
Ten Things I Learned On My Writing Journey
- A novel is a series of mini stories. Little scenes, one leading to the next.
- Each scene should move the story forward. You can test that quickly by summarizing, in one sentence, what happened in the scene. Those sentences, read in order, are a novel’s plot.
- Something in the scene should make it real or individual. For instance, a character takes a bite of an orange and grabs a napkin.
- A scene should have a “sense” included besides visual, such as the taste of the orange, the feel of the juice sticking on the face or the sound of a napkin box falling to the floor.
- Usually, the minor characters shouldn’t pull attention from the main characters or plot, but background is very important to create reality for the reader. Try to point out a bit of individuality in each background character and each scene. A chipped tooth on a smile. Straightening a picture of the leaning tower of Pisa.
- Boredom is bad. Imagine how many times you walk by pictures on the wall in your home, and no matter how much you liked them at first, you ignore them. Put new art up, and it’s fresh for a while, but then you start ignoring it again. Push yourself to put freshness throughout each book.
- No matter how stunningly wonderful your story is, it’s not going to appeal to most people because most people only read one book on average per year. They prefer other things. You’re writing for a select group of people, and one in particular—yourself.
- If you want people to read your book, plan to market. With millions of books to choose from, a reader who would like to read your story simply cannot find you without help. Marketing creates a road map to the location of your book. A chance to tell someone who is searching for that style of story where they can locate it.
- Don’t compare yourself to people quickly volunteering information about sales and income. People “spin” their writing lives. Most multi-published authors are a “bestselling author” or “prize winning author” in some form or another.
- The paperwork on a writing business is a pain, and grows as the business grows. You’re going to have expenses. If you’re serious about writing, you’ll have income taxes to pay. Plus the social security tax is around 15%. Add an agent, and a good rule of thumb is to halve your royalties by 50%. In other words, an agented author with a major publisher will most likely only net about half an advance.
- (Bonus) Writing is hard, but most important journeys are And copyrights are scheduled to last about 70 years longer than the life of the author. Which feels good. Now—imagine how many free books those authors starting 100 years from now will have to contend with…
Wow…fabulous, Liz!! Very helpful info. I’m definitely going to keep this handy. Thank you so much for joining me today!
BIO:
I’ve had six novels published, which in today’s writing world, is a small number. But I’ve had editions published in ten countries and my author copies arrive with the Harper Collins imprint on the box. My last novel, The Wallflower Duchess, hit a bestseller list. (See point number 9. Immediately.)
Excerpts:
“Capt’n. There’s yer mermaid.”
–First sentence in A Captain and a Rogue.
“I don’t eat hearts,” Bellona inserted, directing a look straight into the vile man. “Only brains. You are safe.”
–Forbidden to Duke
“My husband confessed to me that he’d only married me because his parents hated me so much—and that they’d been right.”
—The Notorious Countess
An unmarked grave would not fulfill her dreams.
—The Runaway Governess
“The two of you are not to fight. Brothers must be kind to their sister.”
“I am. She likes hitting me with the doll and I like calling her names.”
—Safe in the Earl’s Arms
Author Alicia Dean 
All good advice! Congratulations on your bestselling book.
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Thank you!
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Love your “list” and plan to emulate! Nice post and good luck.
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Glad you liked the list! Good luck with your writing!
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Great tips and I’ll definitely bookmark these, as well. And so loved reading your first lines, Liz! Congrats on your release!
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Thank you! So happy you liked the bits from my stories!
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Fantastic tips, Liz. Thanks so much! I love the excerpts, especially the last one between the brothers and sister. Made me chuckle!
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I’d wondered about including the last one since it had nothing to do with romance at all. Glad it made you chuckle. 🙂
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All so true!
Good luck and God’s blessings
PamT
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Thank you for the good wishes!
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Clear concise advice with a sense of humor ❤
You know how much I love you, Liz, and your writing. And these tips are amazing! This is true–I was cracking open a pistachio with my front teeth just as I read your words, "a chipped tooth on a smile." I immediately ran my tongue over my teeth and used my fingernails to crack the next nut. 🙂 I also enjoyed your first lines, and looking at your gorgeous cover. Great interview choice, Alicia Dean.
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Thank goodness you didn’t chip a tooth!!! I so appreciate your kind words and more importantly, your friendship!
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Great tips! Thank you for sharing! Loved the excerpts. 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed the excerpts! Thank you!
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What a great post—short, sweet, and immensely thoughtful. And I love your original way of supplying quotes from your books.
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Thank you so much! I wasn’t sure how the quotes would work out. 🙂
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Wow! These are great tips. I enjoyed reading the different lines from your books, as well! Good luck!
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Glad you liked the tips and excerpts!
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Love the advice, and LOVE the snippets. Thank you for the giveaway!
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It was fun picking out the snippets. So happy you liked them!
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Wonderful list. I appreciate the reminders to include things I might skip.
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Thank you!
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Wow, You nailed the list. Great post!
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I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!
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