Many editors agree that an exclamation point is one medium for emphasis should be used sparingly. And some experts feel that exclamation points are the sign of a lazy writer, or worse–an amateur. Whether the rationale for either opinion is sound or not, there are well-grounded reasons for both.

An Exclamation Point can Support Lazy Telling and not Energetic Showing

To explore the first assumption, this forces the consideration of Showing versus Telling from yet another perspective. The line, John was shocked! eliminates what could amount to many pages (or at least a couple lines) of exposition describing what had contributed to poor John’s frenetic condition. While lessening the rhetorical load, without adequate support for its selection, an exclamation point will often weaken–perhaps even exponentially–the very gravitas the writer is trying to impart.

And what about when this sort of punctuation shortcut is taken with dialogue; such as, when John turns to Mary and says, “I am shocked!” True, a lot could’ve happened that the reader is aware of which brought John to this horrific revelation. But it’s when an exclamation point is not supported by antecedent material that serious writing deficiencies present themselves, and many experts agree that this applies equally to both exposition and dialogue.

Now for the Really Grisly Stuff

There is nothing much more disquieting than reading otherwise good material when it’s besmirched with punctuation overuse. And seldom is anything more disconcerting than when a writer feels he or she can make every page stand out by overwhelming the reader with exclamation points.

If anyone should be writing like this, please ask yourself: If on the first page of my manuscript I have affixed 4 exclamation points and continued my narrative in this vein, and my work is 300 pages in length, is it conceivable that I’ve honestly created 1200 mind-rocking events? And of perhaps even greater significance, after the first 3 pages (and now 12 scintillating scenarios have occurred), can I expect the reader to withstand 1188 additional mind-blowing experiences before finishing my story? and how much impact can I expect exclamation point 1199 to have over what I wrote that elicited, say, exclamation point 662?

There is an Answer, and It’s a Simple One

The example in the last paragraph was extreme, but I recently thumbed through a book that was very close to the exclamation point count I just described. And the author wondered why he’d never been published. There were other issues with this book, but it’s unlikely any reputable agent or bona fide royalty publisher would’ve finished the first page once this rampant misuse of punctuation glared at them.

Think One or Two Exclamation Points for an Entire Novel

A suggestion I’ve often heard, and agreed with, is to parse the completed draft of the novel and count the number of exclamation points that were used overall. If more than one exclamation point per 25,000 words, then it’s one too many.

This previous sentence is so subjective that it was hard for me to write. But from personal experience, I’ve commonly gone back and analyzed fleshing out a scene rather than leaving an exclamation point to emphasize the story component. And I’ve found adding to the narrative, and enabling this rhetoric to show the action–thus negating the exclamation point–to be the proper course of action in nine out of ten instances. If you find your material invested with abundant “exclaiming,” you might want to consider applying the same test.

Punctuation Never to Use in a Novel - The Parentheses

I opened this article declaiming the use of the exclamation point in fiction, but mollified my fervor with the reluctant admission that there were indeed exceptions. And, in some instances, even an occasional benefit if the mark is used judiciously. But the employment of the parenthetical expression in fiction is not afforded the same luxury. And for three very good reasons:

The Action of a Parentheses is often the Opposite of its Intended Function

The most problematic issue concerns the use of a parenthetical expression for emphasis, when the punctuation is designed as a means to express a derivative meaning or “aside.” In the instance of a writer wanting to accentuate the narrative, a dash or dashes should be utilized. Someone once suggested a simple check and balance for what to use in which circumstance: Consider a parentheses like two walls muting the text in between, while a dash, as in adding
a dash of spice to a meal, heightens the flavor of the textual bill of fare. Perhaps a hokey explanation, but one I never forgot.

There is another Issue with Parentheses in Fiction that goes much Deeper

Once more, the evil Showing versus Telling monster exposes its fangs, and long ones this time. This is because a parenthetical expression inherently tells of an action that could’ve and often should’ve been shown. Simply, if the writer deemed the “aside” important enough to set off with specialty punctuation, wouldn’t what fostered the exposition be worth detailing substantively for the reader? Ask again the critical question, was this rhetoric within the parentheses provided for modest purpose, such as clarity, or was it positioned within the punctuation to enhance the narrative? If the rationale is the latter, there is a distinct possibly that a valuable if not critical Showing opportunity in the crafting of a plot point was missed.

Then there is Patronizing the Reader

A large number of readers find nothing more grating than having situations or things explained to them via parenthetical supplements. If the reader can’t figure out the narrative because it is so weak that it requires reinforcement, this is often an indication the novel needs a serious rewrite, with a focus on Showing the scene or scenes which are being cloaked, and not Telling them. Many experts feel that parentheses have no place in the narrative of a work of fiction, and it might be wise for writers who wish to be published to heed this opinion.

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[tags]Writing a Novel, Write a Novel, Punctuation, Exclamation Point, Parentheses, Parenthesis, Writing,[/tags]

The first question some people might ask is why any writer would need to learn techniques related to Point of View. Doesn’t POV automatically synchronize with the character’s thoughts as soon as these feelings are expressed by the writer? And isn’t the POV of a scene easily identified by an attribute or obvious implication? If it were just this easy.

Shifting POV is Only a Problem When People Notice It

Some writers possess the skill to seamlessly shift from one person’s thoughts to another. As readers, we won’t give this the slightest concern–as long as we don’t realize when it’s occurring. But even some of the most well-respected novelists have at times jarred readers with ineffective POV shifts. So what is it that enables a POV change to be acceptable in one instance yet not in another?

A POV Shift Works When the Reader Finds it Desirable

Most writers make POV shifts in a traditional manner. They add a line space to signify another character’s thoughts, or go so far as to start a new chapter altogether. But some writers will elect to show multiple characters’ most intimate feelings–within the same frame–without the slightest hiccup. These adept authors are able to accomplish this for a reason.

POV shifts in the same scene are effective when we have become so involved in our characters that we want to know each of their innermost thoughts–immediately. Simply, the pacing and intensity of the storyline can eliminate what might otherwise create a problem for the reader.

So What’s a Writer to Do?

The ability to shift POV at will doesn’t mean its importance has lesser significance, but there might not be the need to worship its inexorably, either. There may indeed be that one instance in a novel, a hospital scene for example, when an accident victim is bandaged like a mummy, and the following could occur:

John Davis blinked and could make out a doctor standing next to his bed, staring at him with a stethoscope dangling from his neck as if it were being held by two tentacles. John’s thoughts turned to his wife. With his lips quivering through thin slits of blood-soaked gauze, John tried to ask about her condition, but no words came out. The physician wanted to leave, but realized by the anguish in his patient’s eyes that he couldn’t just walk away. He bent down to the broken man and said, “Mr. Davis,–”

Certainly, for consistent POV, the penultimate sentence might have read: John sensed that the physician wanted to leave, but something told him that he couldn’t. The doctor bent down and said, “Mr. Davis,–”

But is the scene as powerful if it’s left entirely in John’s POV? Or would the scene work better if the penultimate sentence began a new paragraph? I don’t think so, but this is an individual decision that is highly subjective, and anyone would be justified in disparaging the illustration.

A Final Thought

Many learned people and grounded writers feel that POV is right next to Showing instead of Telling as an inviolable principal. And in most cases this is undeniably correct. But there might be that rare occurrence, such as in the example I offered, when a POV shift within a scene might even be preferable. And I would hate to think that any writer would avoid providing the reader with insight into a another character because of POV convention. There are a lot of techniques available to enable the telling of a story and telling it well. And it’s obviously the choices that separate writers.

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[tags]writing a novel, writing a book, write, writer, POV, point of view, fiction writing, write, writer,[/tags]

To write a novel that will be appealing to a major royalty publisher involves more than just talent and hard work. It requires creating a plan from the outset and the discipline to follow it.

Everybody Has a Story Worth Telling

If you have begun reading this article, there’s a good possibility you have either been told this, heard this, or feel this way for your own reason(s). And while it may not be irrational to believe that each of us has a story worth publishing, doing so in a manner that is palatable beyond our family and closest friends is indeed what separates writers. But is the latter part of the preceding statement always true?

It’s Often Not a Matter of Ability

I don’t think it would be out of line to state that we’ve all read a novel which we’ve paid our hard earned money for and later shaken our heads in wonder and disgust at how the book every got published. You might have even said to yourself (and often) that you’ve written material much better than what you just read, but your story was rejected. So why did a writer’s inferior material attract a publisher when your superior work hadn’t?

Specific Manuscript Faults that Can Cause Rejection

Assuming that basic grammar and punctuation were not an issue, several factors can determine why a manuscript was never considered publishable. In no particular order, here are some of those reasons. And please note that all of these shortcomings are the result of inadequate editing.

- Certain plot elements seemed contrived
- The characters were not interesting
- The scenes were not fully developed
- There was not adequate conflict
- The dialogue was not realistic
- The pacing was slow
- The premise was poor
- Formatting was wrong for the genre
- Paragraphs and/or chapters were too long

These are some of the common reasons for rejection, yet you may have just read material from a major imprint that contained some if not many of the very flaws that are listed. How is this so? Read on.

The Not So Obvious Reasons Poor Material is Published

It is important to understand that today’s publisher is interested in readership potential more than ever, and an established author with a guaranteed readership is key. The penchant to print books that will assure a certain number of sales encourages the following:

- Books are written too fast, and this results in diminished quality
- Books are poorly edited, since many publishers do very little of this work any longer
- Some of the most successful authors do not write all of their material
- Some of the most successful authors do not write any of the material under their signature

The list is much longer, but the point is obvious. And this is why a plan is critical for an unpublished author or an already difficult task can soon become insurmountable.

Before you Commit the First Word to Paper, Formulate a Plan and Force Yourself to Follow It

For those writers who have the foresight to create a plan and the discipline to follow it, here are a few suggestions that will at least give each of you a fighting chance to have your novel considered by a quality agent and a bona fide royalty publisher:

1. Determine the genre or sub-genre in which you will be writing. If you should be having difficulty with this, go to the free agentquery web site for definitions.

2. Review current novels in your genre to determine the authors who are being published and by whom. Make a list of these authors’ agents (they are generally referenced on the novel’s Acknowledgments page). This will provide you with a group of agents to query, and you’ll likely find that some (or another agent in their agency) will accept unsolicited material.

3. More important than any of the issues in this list, it is imperative that you write your novel so it is an exact fit for the publisher’s definition of the genre.

4. Pay attention to word count, paragraph length, chapter length, and general layout. Avoid long runs of italics and all parentheses (the latter is purely a personal hang up of mine).

5. You can certainly take advantage of critique groups, writer’s workshops, and friends and relatives. But have a professional editor–whom you have thoroughly checked out–at least read your manuscript before sending it off. And if you do take my advice on this, find an editor who has experience with royalty publishers in your manuscript’s exact genre.

6. You will not get a second chance with an agent or publisher. And the list of good ones who are still accepting unsolicited material in both arenas is dwindling fast. So make your manuscript as perfect as possible in every way prior to sending it.

Put the Cart in Front of the Horse and Create Your Liner Notes First

This is the time to put two short paragraphs of your dreams for your novel on paper. Design beforehand what your liner notes (and ultimately your query letter) should look like when your manuscript is finished, and your characters will never be shallow and your scenes can never be weak. Now follow your dreams.

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[tags]write a novel, write, writer, writing, write a book, fiction writing, writing fiction, novel writing[/tags]

Writing sex stories is hard. We sex fiction writers have to handle issues that other writers don’t have to worry about, such as coming up with non-repetitive words for genitalia, making dialogue actually sound sexy, and scraping the bottom of our imagination for scenarios we haven’t used. But this article isn’t about erotic writing techniques; it is about something much more elemental.

When you’re starting a sex story, your mindset going in either works for you, or against you. If you take the wrong mental approach, you’re in for a ton of extra work. Fix the mindset, and all your technical challenges become much more controllable.

The trouble is, writers don’t think of sex stories as real stories. They think of them as erotic scenes strung together with a flimsy excuse for a plot, somehow exempt from the rules of storytelling just because they contain explicit material. You’re smart, you already know that there is no escape from the rules of storytelling, not for any story.

Erotic stories are still stories. The fundamentals still apply, just as they apply to horror, romance, science fiction, courtroom dramas, and all the other genres of fiction. You still need to do as much work on your plot, setting, pace, character development, and premise as though you were writing anything else.

If you are struggling with this concept, it isn’t your fault. It’s the way we’ve been conditioned to think about entertainment. Everything is rated as either “contains sexual content” or “does not contain sexual content.” General entertainment, and adult entertainment. NC-17, and other ratings. The trouble is, this division makes us focus on the sex to the exclusion of everything else. To most people, even erotic story writers, adult entertainment usually means all sex, all the time.

Movies and erotic romances do have some sexual material, but most of the time, it is not well integrated. These works are still created in sex-or-story mode; scenes are either sexual content or story, but rarely both. The sex scenes are not specific to the story; you can often substitute names and scenarios, and there won’t be much difference in who has the sex. This doesn’t serve the audience well, either, because audiences know when a scene doesn’t fit in the story well, and it feels like it was tacked on to earn a more mature rating.

We need to accept that these are not our only two options. What we really need is to start thinking in terms of “entertainment for adults,” not “adult entertainment.” This is a new field, a new way of thinking about sexual entertainment, but one that will yield great results if we push forward. Erotic romance was only viable as a genre in the last few years, but readers are ravenous for it. The popularity of erotic fan fiction, possibly the best example of integrated sex and story content, also suggests that readers are hungry for a change.

Because you are a serious writer, you probably want to know how to get past the sex-or-story split. I will freely admit that getting into the right mindset is more easily said than done, and you will probably need time to get used to the idea and develop your own philosophy. My advice is to do the following exercise. Get a good book on some basic aspect of writing, such as plot or character. Writer’s Digest has several good ones. Read it, and ruthlessly apply every idea to one of your old erotic stories.

You’re essentially doing a remix, so you may end up with a completely different story than the original. Don’t worry about style or fine writing too much, because that’s not the point of the exercise. The purpose is to help you see your sex fiction writing in a new way, and to help you gain more mastery as an adult storyteller.

Resident writing teacher and editor for Adele Journal, a website dedicated to promoting imaginative, story-based adult entertainment. We plan to post many more articles like this one, and you can join our site update list here: http://www.adelejournal.com/get-updates

[tags]writing, erotica, sex stories, sex fiction, fan fiction, adult[/tags]

If you are looking at writing an Ebook, then you should look at this as an area where you can make your own creativity. You will be able to speak your own mind, express yourself and control what you want people to read.

If you are a person like me who is looking at the different opportunities to earn money from the online environment and to make money at home, then writing an eBook is the ideal approach to earning some great money. This means you should look at writing and publishing your own ebook as one of easiest ways in generating extra cash from the online market.

Have you ever wanted to publish your own book? Self publishing can be a time consuming and expensive (not to say stressful) experience. However, there is a guide that tells you how to publish your own book. Before you read further, you should know that I am talking about how to write and publish your own eBook. An why not? They have a number of different advantages to traditional book and have literally no cost to setup.

When you are looking at eBooks, you should see them as information products, as these are full of content and highly accessible all over the internet. People have a need for information and if you crave the challenge to write and publish your own book, then taking this in the electronic form will be a great way to start. After you have had a reasonable amount of sales, you should be able to approach publishers and have your work printed. Being a great seller as an eBook will mean that you won’t need to look at the different tasks to complete as a self publisher; the publisher will take care of everything.

When you are able to write and publish your won writing, you can do it from wherever you feel the mosty confortable. If you think best in the mountains and snow; on the beach with a cocktail; or by the pool in the sunshine, you can write your books from wherever you choose. The key thing here is that you can write wearing what you want, being where you want, and being with who you want.

Already having a blog or website yourself will put you at a huge advantage, as you will be able to sell your own eBook from your site. If you choose to do it this way then you will need to put up a page to sell the eBook on as well as a download page where you will upload the eBook to for buyers to download after they have paid you. Receiving money from potential buyers isn’t all that hard either, as you can use a payment processor such as PayPal to handle any card payments that you will receive - making it easy to sell your eBook online.

You might not have a website or blog, but you shouldn’t be dismayed. You can sign up for a free site that will allow you to sell your eBook from their pages. You might not be that internet savvy of a person and just want to write your book and have someone else sell it for you, well there are a number of different online sites that will help you.

One of the larger sites is LuLu, which is an online and free publisher that will allow you to publish and promote your book and will print a copy when someone buys one from their website; they will also help you in the design of your from cover and will take a small percentage of each sale of your eBook.

After you have completed your book, go on and publish it. However, even if you have already published it online, it doesn’t mean that people will eventually come across it. You still have to advertise your product in any way you can. Promotion will definitely help you gain sales. And acquiring sales let you bring in the most cash from your ebook writing.

As a published writer, Ray knows the difficulties of writing and getting your work published, and individual will often ask him how to write and publish your own ebook. He is so enfused by people’s willingness to go the extra mile that he has setup a guide for people to learn how to write and publish your own ebook.

[tags]write your own ebook,ebook publishing,ebook writing,ebook creation,publishing online,ebooks[/tags]

I am about to tell you a major “secret” to writing better slash — or yaoi, m/m, whatever you like to call it. It’s not truly a secret because anyone can know it, but only serious writers will benefit from the knowledge. You have to do some work to apply it, and not everyone is willing to exert themselves. If you are willing, though, there’s a good chance that this “secret” will change the way you think about your sex stories.

How your preference for slash developed…

Let’s start with your experience as a slash reader. When you first got into erotic stories, you probably got a charge just to be reading graphic material. You were astonished that anyone could write such explicit stuff so boldly, and it all excited you. As you read more, you started to develop preferences. You moved from liking “anything with sex!” to resonating with certain situations or scenarios that generated automatic excitement. One of those situations, for you, was m/m.

Every erotic reader is like this. Everyone likes certain material over others, whether the preference is for male/male, student/teacher, dragons-n-swords sex, voyeur/exhibitionist, or maiden/tentacles. These inclinations are what make you want to write, they can also limit the quality of your storytelling. If you’re not watchful, you won’t develop your stories to be at their best because of this genre bias.

Is your love for m/m stories stopping you from writing your best?

When you read through your own drafts, you are naturally excited by your own ideas. If you don’t get past them, you won’t see the weaknesses in your work. Bad plots can seem strong, and tepid scenes can seem smoking hot, just because you’re in love with the idea of slash. Every writer is like this, but in my experience, erotica writers tend to fall prey to this worse than other writers.

Even readers who also have an m/m bias still want real storytelling. Good fiction technique makes everything better, even if you just want to write fluffy fanfiction. In the best derivative works, readers don’t have to rely on their prior knowledge of the characters because you fully develop them in the context of your story. The story world becomes new and fresh. Perhaps best of all, when you set your “jewels” — your sex scenes — within the proper framework, they become more arousing than if they just appeared by themselves. If you leave your stories half in the shell, only the people with a wild enthusiasm for slash will get as good of a story experience.

If you’re serious about writing, you won’t feel easy about leaving your stories underdone. You shouldn’t be comfortable with it — it’s a total cop-out. You know your job is to help as many people vividly experience your story as possible. This means looking beyond the m/m genre’s surface excitement. Chances are, you’re not interested in writing all possible m/m stories, any more than a shoe fetishist is attracted to all shoes. Your slash affinity makes you more open to m/m possibilities, but your ideas come from a combination of this affinity, specific characters, and your unique philosophy of storytelling.

Which fandom do you like best, and why?

As an example, let’s look at different slash fanfiction domains. Most writers concentrate on a few characters in one or two fandoms, not all slash pairings in all fandoms. People who write Harry/Draco stories from Harry Potter aren’t necessarily interested in writing Jim/Blair slash from The Sentinel, or Naruto/Sasuke yaoi from Naruto. Something about the Harry/Draco combination specifically interests them — not only because they’re two male characters, but because they are uniquely Harry and Draco. What’s more, Harry/Draco throws a different spectrum of possibilities than a combination like Harry/Ron or Harry/Snape. They’re all male/male pairs, but the personalities, the way they react to each other, their histories are all different. Of course they are going to generate different stories, but you will only be interested in a small selection of the possibilities.

If you concentrate on what’s different about your stories within the slash framework, you will start to see past your bias. You’ll be able to develop real stories beyond the m/m situational appeal that are vivid and arousing to many people, even ones who “don’t like slash.” And that should leave you with the satisfaction of a job well done.

This article is best followed with the free PDF, “9 Ways To Develop Your Erotic Character.” It gives you 9 focused exercises specifically designed to bring out the sexuality in your characters. Download it here: http://www.adelejournal.com/white-paper-library/

[tags]writing, fanfiction, fan fiction, erotica, sex stories[/tags]

Every writer has a different attitude toward fanfiction. Some authors encourage it, some are indifferent, and some think that fanfiction desecrates the original works, especially when the fan stories contain mature content. Whatever your own moral take is, any writer can learn something great from this amateur community’s positive approach to the craft.

Fanfiction authors shine because of their pure desire to entertain. They write because they love to tell stories, not because they want to get published or pump themselves full of literary self-importance. They thrive on direct feedback from their audience. All writers want people to respond to their work, of course, but it’s easy to get disconnected from readers when you have to get through an agent, editor, and publisher. When you go through a traditional publishing cycle, it’s also a lot harder for readers to reach you directly.

Fanfiction writers, though, are immediately connected to their readers, and this changes the game. They are more sensitive and responsive to the wants of their readers, and the more popular writers get almost immediate feedback when they post something new. Just as a motorcyclist can feel “one with the road,” fanfiction writers are one with their readers. It motivates them to write their very best for the people who are waiting for their next installment.

Many fanfiction authors produce in volume, regularly; their work ethic is better than many professional writers’ habits. A lot of this is due to courage, which these amateur writers have in abundance. They will post what they write in the spirit of learning, even if it is hardly a masterpiece. You will not find a group more fearlessly devoted toward improving their chops. Fanfiction authors don’t take their writing so seriously that they’re going to throw themselves off a building if they produce a bad work or get “flamed.”

They also love the process of writing. You will hear a lot of writers complain about how much they hate to write, but many fanfiction writers genuinely love the use of language. Their goal is to write the best they can, for its own sake, which results in an intense growing and learning curve — and very enjoyable stories for the readers. For that reason, readers have rated some fan works as better than the parent works.

But writers of original material should not feel threatened by fanfiction. Comparing the two is misleading, and authors who write both fan and original stories will agree that they require different skills. Writing good fan stories is far easier when the characters and world building are already done for you; that initial design work makes up more than half the labor of writing a story. Commercially-published authors also have many restrictions that fan writers don’t have to worry about, such as story length, genre obligations, and editors to answer to. Fanfiction authors are free to concentrate only on their stories. They are able to do whatever it takes to get the emotional response they want from their readers because they don’t have to worry about anything else.

Every writer should take note of the fanfiction culture’s enthusiasm for storytelling and writing. With too many authors, the focus is on “getting published” or “staying published,” sometimes to the detriment of the work. Authors are very businesslike these days, even the beginners, and their awareness of the publishing cycle sometimes tempts them to sabotage their own clear vision. Writers who feel feel boxed in should consider adapting the fanfiction community’s attitude of freedom, creativity, support, and sheer love of storytelling.

Resident writing teacher and editor for Adele Journal, a website dedicated to promoting imaginative, story-based adult entertainment. We plan to post many more articles like this one, and you can join our site update list here: http://www.adelejournal.com/get-updates

[tags]writing, fanfiction, fan fiction[/tags]

Any professional writer will tell you the foundation of success begins with putting your behind in the chair and writing. It’s that old adage: a writer writes.

And it’s true … once you see yourself as a writer.

At first thought, this may sound rather ridiculous. However, as with most roles we play in life (parent, driver, spouse, homeowner), the success we achieve is directly related to how we perceive ourselves in that role. If you struggle to see yourself living the writer’s life (with all the self-discipline, rejection, and uncertainty that comes with it), you’re going to have a far more difficult road to travel than if you have complete confidence as a writer.

So how does a beginning writer get there?

Here are some tips to keep in mind …

1. The Process

Every writer approaches his or her craft differently. In fact, while some aspects of a writing routine may be consistent, others may not. You may set aside a certain time of day for writing, but prefer to write on a computer some days or by longhand on other days. You may prefer to write in your office some days, or at the local coffee shop on others.

The point is this: you need to find your writing routine. It doesn’t matter when it is, where it is, or how it’s accomplished. It just needs to happen. And it needs to be comfortable enough that you look forward to doing it. So if writing in longhand on a park bench is distracting and difficult, find another approach.

2. It’s True - A Writer Writes

It doesn’t matter what form of writing you chose … novels, short stories, essays, blogs, articles … do the work. Don’t talk about writing. Don’t fantasize about being a great writer. Write. That’s all that matters … getting words on paper. The more you do it, the more comfortable it will become and the better you’ll get at it.

3. Submit What You Write

The sole purpose of writing is to communicate. If you hide your work in the bottom drawer of your desk and never send it out, you’ve effectively cut the lines of communication. It’s scary to submit your work. It’s much safer to share it with Aunt Trudy, who loves everything you do. But if you’re truly ready to call yourself a writer, then it’s time to send your work to someone who doesn’t know you, to someone who cares only if the story or the article will stand on its own.

Send your work out into the world to be discovered.

4. Learn From Rejection

You’re going to be rejected. Every writer faces rejection. Even a powerful, page-turning novel of intrigue can face rejection if it’s not in line with the goals of a publisher. So if you’re going to be rejected, take advantage and learn from the experience. If the editor offers nothing more than a standard rejection form, send your work to the next editor.

If the editor offers some advice about improving your work, honestly evaluate the comments. He didn’t have to say anything. The fact that he took the time to offer suggestions is a huge compliment. That doesn’t mean the suggestions are right, but it does mean they are worth paying attention to. If you keep encountering the same suggestions over and over, then you need to take heed and make some changes.

5. Be Persistent

Finished up a story or an article? Submitted it? What now?

Start the next project.

Don’t wait to hear from your editor, get busy. You want to be a writer … write. Never stop writing. Treat it as a business … the next product should already be in production.

Conclusion

These are the things writers do.

If you’re just starting out and you want to become a writer … do as a writer does.

It’s that easy.

And that hard.

Ready to get started on that novel you’ve been meaning to write? Take a short cut. Read reviews of our top recommended courses: Novel Writing Courses. Or discover more here: articles on writing

[tags]writing, write, writer, a writer writes[/tags]

You’re not ashamed that you write sex stories, but you do keep it a secret. You know that things would get hairy if certain friends — and especially certain family members — found out, and you’d rather not deal with that. For now, you’re safe, but it’s a small world, especially on the internet. You may be discovered. The question is, what will you do when that happens?

You can’t afford not to be ready, even if it never happens. Writing well can be nearly impossible when you’re facing criticism and emotional manipulation from the people around you. If you’re not prepared, a few choice words can zing past your defenses and cripple your creative drive for years, if not for ever. It’s happened to more than a few great artists. You owe it to yourself and your readers to power up your shields so that you can continue to produce, even when the most important people in your life are trying to bring you down.

All artists, not just those of us in adult entertainment, have problems with negative influences. Stating any kind of creative goal, producing any kind of creative output, makes you a target for criticism, jealousy, envy, and creative sabotage. Adult writers are no different from any other kind of writers, but they are often more vulnerable because of the nature of their subject. The truth is: people are touchy about sex, especially Americans. Even many erotic writers are still sensitive about it, but their desire for expression overcomes their shyness.

There is nothing to be ashamed of. The vulnerability comes from you; it comes from your doubts and your fear of being judged personally based on writing about a “morally questionable” subject. But what’s so questionable about it? You aren’t selling drugs, you aren’t killing people. With your stories, you are easing people’s boredom and loneliness, and helping them express their sexuality in a safe way.

Yet, some people will judge you. Some, especially uptight parents, will think that what you do reflects poorly on them, as though they are tainted by association. Some will think that you are sexually deviant in real life, though the reality is that most of us are pretty vanilla. Even though these reactions are completely illogical, you will not be able to prevent them. As a writer, you already know: it’s just the way people are.

The best defense is to get clear on your values and purpose as an adult entertainer. Really hammer out why you write erotic fiction, and why you know it is a worthy undertaking. Write a concise summary of your reasons, a kind of mission statement. For example, my own is: “To write (and teach others to write) imaginative stories that encompass the full adult experience, including sexuality and sexual expression, so that my audience may be entertained and live more vividly through my work.”

When you do this, your mental place of operation becomes a fortress built into solid ground. You are able to withstand any attacks, even the worst case scenario. When you are clear on your values and purpose, mentally rehearse what could happen with every important person who could make trouble, and use your mission statement to fortify yourself.

Your goal is not to convince other people of the validity of what you do; that will not happen. People will think whatever they want, and you never have control over that. No, your goal is to neutralize your own feelings of defensiveness, fear, guilt, shame, and self-consciousness, to minimize the emotional stress so that you don’t have to devote any energy to it. You will just keep writing and serving your audience because you are so steadfast in your purpose that it doesn’t matter what people think. You know that you are doing the right thing for you.

If you have some popularity and success, there is also a good chance that you will want to reveal yourself. It is very hard not to talk about your writing if it is a significant part of your life. Writers are lone creatures, but people are social; even the most introverted of us needs to get live feedback, to bounce around ideas, even if it’s just with people in line at Starbucks. It’s immensely freeing to be able to do that without worrying that word will get around.

Whether you are discovered or you decide to reveal your secret, there are payoffs, once the storm blows over. You don’t have to apologize or hide what you do. You may lose friends (especially if you use them in your stories) but you will also gain some. You will be able to meet with other people in the field by openly attending adult writers’ workshops and critique groups. And perhaps best of all, you will write better than ever because your are clear and shame-free about your purpose as a serious adult entertainer.

Resident writing teacher and editor for Adele Journal, a website dedicated to promoting imaginative, story-based adult entertainment. We plan to post many more articles like this one, and you can join our site update list here: http://www.adelejournal.com/get-updates

[tags]writing, erotica, erotic stories, sex stories, craft, fiction, adult[/tags]

In the Story Concept section of our discussion on how to write a novel, we developed a basic one-sentence statement for our novel concept. Something similar to:

When a middle-aged ad man who’s been coasting on his early success for years suddenly finds himself competing with a new, up-and-comer, he wages a life-or-death game of wits with his competition.

At this point, the idea will still be a little sketchy in your mind. Don’t let that worry you. Go a head and explore it from every angle until you feel comfortable with the basic premise.

Now, we’re going to focus on character.

Every good story hinges on character. Change the character and you change the story. For instance, if you take the concept stated above and change the character to a hard-working single mother with no formal education, you have a completely different story. See how this changes the way you interpret the story:

When a hard-working single mother with no formal education suddenly finds herself competing for her job with a new, up-and-comer, she wages a life-or-death game of wits with her competition.

So this is the next step, a very important step, of your novel development: defining your main character.

Who is this person your story is about?

How old is he? How does he see the world? Is he a positive person or does he always lament about how the world is working against him? What kind of childhood did he have? What kind of a family? And how does his past impact who he is today? What does he look like? What are his physical strengths and weaknesses? What are his emotional strengths and weaknesses? What are his psychological strengths and weaknesses?

What’s his greatest fear? What’s his greatest passion?

What does he want more than anything else in the world?

What’s his education? What does he do for a living? Is he happy with it or hate it? Is he married? Does he have children? Has he been divorced?

Not every question listed above is going to be important to defining your particular character. However, you do want to ask plenty of questions. You want to come away with a clear picture of who your main character is, what’s important to him, and how your story will grow around him.

Some authors like to use a form to help them discover their characters. Age. Gender. Education. Height. Weight. Eye color. Hair color. Weakness. Strength. Etc. You might also find it helpful to go through some magazines until you find a picture of someone who strikes you as what your character looks like.

Every author is different in approaching character development. Use whatever works for you. The important point is that at the end of the process, you should have a clear idea of who your main character is and the driving force that will carry him through your story.

Don’t want to wait to get started writing your novel? Discover more articles at The Successful Writer. Or sign up for your free Novel Writing Mini-Course

[tags]character development, main character, how to write a novel[/tags]