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Jodie's Blogs

20 Helpful Books on Writing

 

This blog is rather lengthy, but I hope it helps anyone who is looking to get started in publishing a book. Traditional publishing or self-publishing, these books are what I consider being in the top of my list of the most helpful books. The exception is The Self-Publisher's Legal Handbook by Helen Sedwick, for obvious reasons that would be for anyone looking to self-publish.

 

The Anatomy of Genres: How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works; and

The Anatomy of a Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby

These two gems hit the nail on the head when you are trying to figure how to structure your novel and where it fits as far as genre. I had a heck of a time trying to decipher what type of book I had with The Gangster's Daughter, until an editor pointed it out.

 

The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Personal and Natural Places;

The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to City Spaces;

The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles Volume 1;

The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles Volume 2;

The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes;

The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws;

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression;

The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Stress and Volatility (A Companion to The Emotion Thesaurus);

The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Psychological Trauma;

The Occupation Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Jobs, Vocations, and Careers by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi

All of these books are a lifesaver when you are fine-tuning details in your novel. Trying to figure out what your characters do for a living, take a look at The Occupation Thesaurus? Trying to find the fine details in a specific scene setting, take a look at the Urban or Rural Setting Thesaurus? I recommend ALL of these suckers.

 

Make a Scene: Crafting a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time by Jordan Rosenfeld

You should never have a scene in your novel just for the sake of having a scene. When editing and having to cut a scene that provokes specific emotions as a writing sometimes hurts, but scenes need a purpose. Jordan Rosenfeld helps spell it out with scene types, elements and architecture. A must-have.

 

Between The Lines: Master the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing by Jessica Page Morrell

This is an all-around good one on all the elements of the novel, from backstory to foreshadowing to pacing to theme. Jessica Page Morrell touches on all of these in this book to turn your novel into a fantastic one.

 

Dynamic Characters: How to Create Personalities That Keep Readers Captivated by Nancy Kress

Anyone who knows me, and who has read my books, knows that I put a lot into my characters. This is just one of the many books I have used as a guide to breaking down my characters. Nancy Kress provides insight into what I need to know about each and everyone from basic statistics to physical descriptions to inner life.

 

Bullies, Bastards & Bitches: How to Writer The Bad Guys Of Fiction by Jessica Page Morrell

Again, characters. Everyone loves a villain. Don't they? Okay, maybe not. But we have to have them to make the story work. Sometimes, they don't need to be a person. It can be a character against the weather or society in general. But this is a good one to help shape your bully, bastard or bitch, likeable or not.

 

Self-Publisher's Legal Handbook by Helen Sedwick

If you are embarking on a self-publishing journey, I definitely recommend this one! Do not move forward with self-publishing without purchasing this book. There is some good advice in here. Copyrights, taxes, marketing, good advice, but don't think you have to follow it all. Not all of it will apply. Some of it is good to ask other published authors what they do!

 

Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success by K.M. Weiland

I'm a fan of outlining until it doesn't work for me. I did not outline the book I just finished. At all. It just didn't work that way. If you are a plotter, this is a good book to help guide you through a good outlining process. K.M. Weiland is a mastermind behind outlining, and she has some good tips.

 

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) by Jack M. Bickham

We all make mistakes, and we're going to do it as writers! Jack M. Bickham gives practical advice in this book about how to avoid our most common writing mistakes.

 

Master Lists for Writers: Thesauruses, Plots, Character Traits, Names, and More by Bryn Donovan

Bryn Donovan has pulled together a master list of plots, character traits, names, emotional descriptions, physical descriptions, and more. A handy tool.

 

Which books I don't recommend and why:

The 5 Day Novel by Scott King

First Draft in 30 Days by Karen S. Wiesner

Book in a Month by Victoria Lynn Schmidt PhD

 

There are some good things to pull from each of thesem, but I don't recommend trying to write a book in 5-30 days. You want to write quality, not quantity. I mean, if you can do it – good for you. I just don't recommend it.

 

Happy writing, and if you ever need help or just a bit of advice, please send a message through my the contact me on my website. I'd be happy to help.

 

Jodie Leigh Murray

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30 Places I Want to Go

 

When I first thought about this blog, I thought it would be easy to list 100 things. 100 things that I can't live without, or 100 things that I like. Easy, I thought. No. It's not so easy. I'm struggling to list even 20 things of anything! Here are my 30 places that I've always wanted to go or do. Also, these are not in any particular order.

 

1.      England

2.      On a camping trip to Texas (and I mean glamping)

3.      New York City

4.      On a train journey

5.      On an Alaskan cruise (preferably getting to Washington by train)

6.      To the beach on a tropic island

7.      Abroad for an entire month (preferably England)

8.      Anywhere that would require me to go somewhere for book research

9.      A writing conference

10.  Seattle

11.  Australia

12.  Italian riviera or countryside

13.  Greece

14.  Scotland

15.  Ireland

16.  Norway

17.  Iceland

18.  France

19.  Belize

20.  Southern California (again, was there for work once, didn't get to stay and enjoy it)

21.  Montana

22.  I'd like to go back to South Dakota to the Black Hills (I haven't been there since I was a kid)

23.  Canada (not in winter, thanks anyway)

24.  Alaska (I would consider winter-maybe two visits, one in summer and one in winter)

25.  Vermont

26.  New England

27.  New Orleans

28.  Key West

29.  Miami

30.  On a tour up the east coast

 

Happy traveling!

Jodie Leigh Murray

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Goals For The Upcoming Year

 

Resolutions for the new year are always tough. I can't think of a time that I've set them and actually followed through with any of them. Except once when I set a quit smoking goal. It took me until April 1 to do it, but I did it. This year on April 1 will be 12 years smoke free. Not a single puff from a cigarette, including e-Cigs, since I quit smoking.

 

Goal 1: Keep Writing

I might have this goal every year. If you've ever talked to me about profits, I always say that I'll keep publishing as long as I make enough money to pay my book expenses. This year, to say the lease, was a rough year. Sales were horrible this year. I'm still in the negative for profits, but I'm still cranking them out. I'm not sunk yet. Two more books are in the works right now, hoping for spring/summer releases with them. I might even eke out a third one!! How is that for a goal?

 

Goal 2: Get Fit

This doesn't mean I'm hitting the gym every day, although it would be wise. I can't really do that with a kid living in my workout area in my basement. So, I must wait until she's moved out again or we move. Whichever happens first at this point. I noodled with the idea of getting another membership at my local fitness center, which I think is the best I've ever been to, but we have been looking at a house and may be moving. It wouldn't be smart to take on a membership with enrollment fees if we're going to move within the next 2-3 months. I'll wait. In the meantime, I need to watch what I eat (and drink). I'll be turning 50 this coming August, and I want to be healthier when I turn a half-century old.

 

Goal 3: Be Positive

I have a tendency to be negative. Not to other people. My thoughts. When someone, usually my husband, says something to me, my brain usually goes straight to a negative thought. I need to change this. It's not good for me. Finances are one thing, but I know I can be a positive person. I should be. I should be grateful for all that I've accomplished in the last two years.

 

I'm not usually that person who sets new year's resolutions or goals and sticks to them from the first of the year. Why? They'll never happen. I wish I could take a lot of the advice that James Clear gives in his book Atomic Habits. Maybe I'll go back and read that book this year. Or finally buy Martin Meadows' 365 Days With Self-Discipline. That's what I need. In any case, I don't need something set in stone. I just need goals to reach for.

 

Happy 2025!

Jodie

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Deciding to Publish

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Deciding to publish your novel, short stories, poems, whatever you have written, is a big decision. Writing is the easy part, depending on what you're writing. The rest of it is hard. Formatting, uploading, all the stuff that you don't think about that goes into publishing that you have to do. That is difficult when you are not an expert at it.

 

Now that I've published four books, I'm getting good at the rest of the stuff that goes along with getting them published with my distributors, but that doesn't mean that I don't encounter issues.

 

The timing of this blog strikes me as funny. I've been helping a good friend publish her poems. I honestly can't wait until her book is available. Her poems are so good.

 

When I decided to write for publication

I made the decision to write for publication right out of high school, finishing a book and sending out dozens of query letters to literary agents. I got one back that requested the first three chapters, but it went nowhere. Looking back, my writing then was far too immature. I'm glad I waited. Fast forward X number of years (yeah, not going to admit how many years have actually passed), I've continued to write and never really finishing anything. Anytime I went somewhere, I would always bring writing stuff and my husband finally told me to publish my own work.

 

Why I decided to publish

As for the why I decided to publish, other than my husband's incessant badgering, I'd been looking into self-publishing and how difficult it would be to accomplish it. After filling in some gaps through my neighbor's cousin, I decided self-publishing would be the way to go instead of going back through the traditional publishing route by sending all those query letters out. So, I asked a few people to read the book I'd just finished. They loved it. And then I found out that I would need to hire at least a developmental editor, which could be at a cost of up to $6,000. I saw my dreams quickly spiraling back down. No way I could afford to hire an editor at that cost. But I researched more and sent out some requests for quotes and got some amazing responses. That's how I found my editor, Becky Wallace. I will never regret taking the self-publishing plunge, having Becky's expertise backing me up.

 

Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing

There are a good number of writers who go through traditional publishing because their books will get distributed in so many more places. That is true. It is still extremely hard to crack into it and get an agent. This market is tough. Extremely tough. It's so tough that there are a bigger number of writers like me who go the self-publishing route. Some have made it big, gotten signed on to a big publishing company, and good for them! I, however, don't know if I'd want to be swooped up by a big name. Yes, I want people to grab my books, read them, and love them. I want people to be waiting in anticipation for my next book to be published. But, and this is a big deal for me, there are two things that I do not want. I do not want someone telling me what to write or what to change in my books. I get that these big publishing houses and literary agents know what they are doing, and what sells, but these are mine. Offer suggestions, but don't say do it or else. That doesn't fly with me. The other is control. I control everything about my process, including how often I put out a new book. I average two books a year. Most self-published authors publish 2-3 books a year. I could probably eek out a third book if I didn't have a full-time job besides my writing career. Traditionally published books are a lot longer process with having to go through a large team of people.

 

I've given you the when and why I decided to publish, but I can honestly tell you it's rewarding for me to do this, even if I'm not profitable right now. As long as I have enough to pay each book's expense, which is around $2,500 per book, I'll keep writing. It can frustrate when things are not going my way, but I expect the issues in my schedule, and I work through them. There is nothing in the world like the feeling of getting your proof or author copy package delivered. It is a euphoric feeling that is out of this world and well worth the hard work you'll put into it, whether you traditional or self-publish.

 

Happy Writing!

Jodie

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Why (or why not) Write a Review?

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This is a sore spot for me. As a reader, I might read the reviews, but I don't put any stock into whether to get the book based on what the reviewer wrote. I read the book blurb and look at average star ratings the book has, but in the end I'm going to read it based on that book blurb. Especially if there are a lot of reviews that bash the book, ESPECIALLY those that have a DNF (did not finish). As a reader, it's very rare that I don't finish a book. I might set it aside for a later time when I can focus now, but I'm doing the writer a big injustice by not finishing it unless the writing is actually terrible.

 

There are books that are bad. Just bad. For someone who has been reading for a long time, probably their whole life like me, you know the story is going to suck by looking at the cover and reading the back blurb. It's rare that I've misjudged the book, and has happened only once or twice that I've hated a book.

 

Regardless, what I might like someone else may not. And the same goes for a book I might not like much. Someone else may love it. I picked up a book a couple of years ago based on a recommendation of this author and I can honestly say I didn't finish the book. Rare for me, like I said. If there was a plot to this book, I was quite a few chapters in and still didn't know what it was. And sex, sex, and more sex. That's all it was. At least give me a crappy plotline to go with that. Nope. That's all it was. I don't mind reading a racy book, but there has to be more than that. Please. I wrote a review for that book, an honest one with my opinion BUT I did also put in my review that what might not be for me, might be for someone else. And that is the truth.

 

As an author, reviews are extremely important. As an independent author, even more so. One person might love the book, another not so much. Giving me a horrible review because you didn't like it will hurt my sales. Someone will read that and not buy it. If the book is poorly written with a lot of errors (admittedly, my first one had quite a few), then yes–write that review. I deserve it if the book is all around bad. Reviews in Goodreads and Amazon will make my books, and other independent authors I know stand out. The more the reviews, the more we get to the recommended lists without actually having to pay to be there. As an independent author, money isn't in abundance, so having to pay to be noticed is tough when you have small margins, anyway.

 

Being two years into publishing my own books, I still have very few reviews and my third one that just came out earlier this year has only two. Two! Pretty sad, but I've asked for reviews, to no avail. That means either people really didn't like it, or people just don't want to write one. I don't even have hardly any star ratings for that one.

 

People don't like to write reviews. I am one of them, unless the book was a fantastic read and I want people to know that. Again, it's subjective. I might have thought the book was one of the best reads I'd read recently, while another person might not like it as much as I did. Movies, music . . . the same. I know many people who like country music. Me? Not my favorite. But I don't give it a poor reputation because I don't like it as much as I like hard rock.

 

So, there you have it. That is my opinion about writing a review or not writing a review. Do what is best for you. Just keep in mind that the author worked very hard on that piece of work, and like I said, if the writing is horrible along with a plethora of mistakes and make even a bad cover, I might make a few mentions but I would not under any circumstances give the author a bad review. It's just hurtful to someone who might try really hard. And what's more, anyone close to that person should be telling them honestly that the book needed more work to be put into it. Don't let friends publish bad stuff!

 

Happy Reading!

Jodie

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