Editing tip: Ensuring all quotation marks are in your manuscript

Quotation marks

You most likely know the definition, but here it is from Merriam Webster

Quotation Mark

noun

One of a pair of punctuation marks 

“ ” or ‘ ’ 

used chiefly to indicate the beginning and 

end of a quotation

So now that we have that out of the way . . . 

***

NOTE:  It was noted by Hitch on MobileRead forums:

What happens when you have a character using multiple paragraphs, for his dialogue? In that instance, you would always have more opening quotation marks then closing--and it would be easy to have an odd number.

In this instance, it is true that my double tap method below will not work.  I suppose I may be unusual in that I never allow my characters to have dialogue in two paragraphs.  I always intersperse actions and counter dialogue between.  If you write otherwise, than please do not use the method listed below.

***

When writing a lot of dialogue, it's easy to miss the occasional quotation mark, or even to add an extra.  When editing that dialogue, it's easy to miss it again.  In fact, more missing quotations can appear when you're rearranging sentences.

Readers tend to notice those missing and extra quotation marks, bless their little hearts.

While discussing this problem with a good friend, she mentioned a method to catch all of the mistakes with quotation marks.  It's a bit tedious, but highly effective.

ctrl-f, or the find function.

Here is a screenshot of my first book in which I have 4649 quotation marks (I'm currently re-editing it).  That alone is an indication that there's an error.  As you may have deduced, there should always be an even number of quotation marks.

So far, I've only found 2 missing quotations in the first 1000 words, but there will be more.  In my last 2 books, I had 23 errors in over 7000 quotation marks and 37 errors in over 6000 quotation marks.

How to perform the search

Now as you might imagine, 5,6, or 7 thousand is a lot of quotation marks to do a search on.  I developed a rhythm of double tapping.  That was better, but still not efficient enough.  I then developed a rhythm of multiple double taps.  taptap, taptap, taptap, taptap.  At the end of each double tap, I should be at the end of a sentence and the search number should be an even number.  If not, then I know I missed one or have an extra.  I go back over the last few sentences and fix it.

This is still tedious and takes a half hour to an hour to complete.  I switch from right hand to left hand about every 1000 quotation marks.

That's all there is to it.

It's fairly simple, but that's it.  It's the very last step I take before formatting and publishing.  It's one of those details that sharpens the quality of your book.  It will improve the readability and make it so the reader is less likely to put your story down and go off to do other things.


All my best,

John H. Carroll

5 years published

Becoming a writer

I self-published my first book, Rojuun, November 24th 2010 at the beginning of the Self-Publishing revolution.  I had high hopes and low expectations as to what to expect.  I discussed it with my wife and told her that self-publishing would likely ruin my chances to get a traditional contract.  However, the thought of going through years worth of rejections when I could put my book out there immediately just seemed foolish.  So I went for it.

I began writing Rojuun in January of 2010.  I had already written some terrible poetry and a couple of short stories.  I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I was doing, but the experience taught me a great deal.

2010 was a vastly different environment than now with self-publishing.  Everyone was trying new things.  Amazon hadn't figured out their algorithms yet, so when I put Rojuun free after finishing the next couple in the series, It took off with thousands of downloads.  Rojuun and a few of my other books are still free and those books draw new readers to my work every week.

Book 4 of the Ryallon Series: Rojuun FREE!

Print: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1475268254

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/31154?ref=johnhcarroll

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TXS0DI

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/rojuun/id409277486?mt=11

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rojuun-john-h-carroll/1029147189

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/rojuun-1

Five year plan

When I first published, I decided on a five year plan.  I would write as much as possible and do everything I could to succeed to a point where writing could sustain me.  I also decided at the time that if I turned out to be a complete failure, I would set it aside and focus on something else.

The reality is that neither of those happened.  I could have done some things differently along the way to create better success.  I should have reinvested some of my money into my books, but I used it to support my family instead.  My family comes before everything.  I would even give up writing to take care of them.  Also, the last few years have gone badly in many ways.  We've had to work through some very rough times, and continue to have to do so.  My last book took 2 years to write because of it.  That's a serious liability when publishing one's own work.  Optimally, I should be publishing 3 or 4 works every year.

That said, I've still achieved a fair amount of success, more than many have experienced.  I haven't counted my sales in nearly a year, so I can't give you exact numbers, but I've sold about 15,000 copies of my books.  I've made a reasonable amount of money, which has helped with the bills along the way.

And I've enjoyed myself. That's a big key right there.  I absolutely love writing. I don't write for others. If I did, then there wouldn't be so many emo bunnies in my books.  I write for myself. When I'm done, I share it with the world because it's cruel for an artist not to. The stories are still for me though.

What I've learned

There is a saying that you don't become a professional until you spend 10,000 hours doing an activity.  After doing some math where I included a lot of time in the past doing some game building for about 4 years where I wrote a great deal of dialog and story creation, I've far surpassed that.  I've also surpassed a million words of published work. I've completed 9 novels, 10 children's stories, 2 novellas, and 4 short stories. Does this mean I'm a professional?  Hard to tell, but it does mean I've put in the time. 

While writing all these books, I've learned to write.  It's a redundant statement, but it's real.  I've gone over and over every word I've written.  I've changed styles.  I've experimented with different techniques.  All the while, I've tried to write excellent stories about fascinating characters that stimulate the imagination.  I'm still learning with every book I write and striving to get better.

My current books won't ever reach the level of success of a JK Rowling or others like that.  I think I made too many mistakes along the way.  I developed a story line that was a little too large with too many characters to follow.  I should have focused down into some of the stories and developed them into adventure series.  It's something I will keep in mind for the future.

Where I'm at now

I just finished a re-edit of Dralin, which is the 1st book overall in the Ryallon Series.  I did one of those things where I wrote books 4,5,6 before 1,2,3.  However, the Dralin Trilogy is a much better prequel than some others that we'll avoid mentioning *coughstarwars123cough*

In doing so, I realized that I had lost some of my enjoyment and verve when it came to writing.  This book returns to the fun, banter and even silliness that my earlier writing had.  It's a blast and I love the characters in it.

 

Book 1: Dralin FREE!

Print: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1479286982

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/96981?ref=johnhcarroll

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005WFA4M2

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dralin/id478046022?mt=11

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dralin-john-h-carroll/1106721519

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/dralin-1

Currently, I'm writing my 10th novel: Cloudswept, Book 3 of the Wyvern Trilogy.  It's going very well.  I expect to have the first draft of this book finished in late February if too many more things don't go wrong.

What the future holds

After I'm finished with this book, I'm going to write books 2 and 3 of the Crazed Trilogy.  I'm afraid I left the characters in that trilogy hanging, along with some very frustrated readers!

I also need to write some more Stories for Demented Children.  It's not near as popular as the Ryallon series, but I have some devoted readers of those.  I have a few ideas down for stories there.  I intend to do another Zachary Zombie story and possibly even an Emo Bunny that Should sequel!

I'm not the best writer, but I'm a solid writer that spins enjoyable yarns.  The characters have become real to me and many of my readers.  I believe that I will at some point support my family with my writing.  In any case, I'll keep plugging away.  I truly love writing.

All my best,

John H. Carroll

Where to self publish your book

Publishing is fun and easy

Easy compared to spending years trying to get agents and publishers to realize how brilliant you are.
This is a list of where I publish my ebooks.  Other authors will do it differently, but hopefully this will give you insight in to what an author goes through in this new publishing world.

Before you publish a book, it's helpful to write it . . .  After that, I recommend editing it, then editing it again, having others edit it, setting it aside for a couple of months, then edit again a couple more times.  There's a good chance you'll still miss a thing or two, but the important part is that you polish it and publish a high quality product.  If at all possible, get a professional editor.

You'll also want a cover.  If you can afford a professional or semi-professional one, that's good.  Otherwise you can make your own with Photoshop, GIMP or some other editing software.  The better your cover, the more likely it will be noticed among the countless others.  The better the quality of your book, the more likely people will be to buy the next.

At the end of all my stories, I add authors notes with a brief description of me.  In it, I also add links to my blog, twitter, facebook and goodreads pages.  Then I add short descriptions to my other stories.  I have different copies of the author's notes for each store with links to that store.  In other words, I don't add Smashwords links to Amazon publications or Amazon links to Barnes & Noble publications.

Formatting

I write using Microsoft Word, which makes the formatting easy for me.  In addition, I write fantasy and don't have a lot of pictures, other things that make it easier.  I have a detailed formatting guide here if you need it http://ryallon.blogspot.com/2012/11/publishing-checklist-for-my-book-files.html


Publishing

Before I continue, I want to alert you to a company you should avoid.  Author Solutions and its many tentacles is a company that preys upon hopeful writers.  You can learn more about them here https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2014/06/03/the-case-against-author-solutions-part-1-the-numbers/

There are the places I publish my ebooks.  Others exist and you can look them up.

1. Smashwords.  I recommend using the Smashwords Style Guide to format your word document.  In fact, it's vital if you want to publish through them.  I distribute to Apple, B&N, Kobo, Scribd, and numerous other small bookstores through Smashwords.  Due to time constraints, Smashwords and Amazon are the only two I publish to at the moment.

2.  Amazon.  I make a copy of the Word Document that I used for Smashwords.  Then I add page breaks after the title page, copyright page and chapters.  After that, I save it as a filtered web document and then convert it using mobipocket.  Here is a more specific guide:  https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A17W8UM0MMSQX6

3. Kobo now has self-publishing platform though I use Smashwords. With Kobo, you transform your word document into html by saving it as a filtered web document. Then you use a program such as Calibre to transform it into an epub. You can find more info here: http://download.kobobooks.com/writinglife/en-US/KWL-User-Guide.pdf

4.  B&N has a Smashwords version of my novels, but you can publish directly with them if you like. Warning!!! B&N now partners with Authors solutions.  If you do publish with B&N, do not pay for any of their services.  It's just not a good value. With B&N, you just use the word document used for the others with the exception of specific author's notes and any publishing info.  You can find more info here:  https://www.nookpress.com/ebooks#

5. XinXii is a European competitor to Smashwords.  I haven't used their services, but from my reseach, I personally prefer Smashwords, http://www.xinxii.com/default.php/en

Print books

5.  Createspace is my favorite for print on Demand Books.  I only publish my novels in print, not my short stories.  Createspace is owned by Amazon and has been a dream to work with.  I make all of my covers to fit their guidelines, with a spine and a back cover.  https://www.createspace.com/

5a.  Createspace's biggest competitor is Lightning Source, and many of my peers use their service.  http://www1.lightningsource.com/

5b.  Lulu is the third company that does print on demand books.  I'm not certain how good their service is.  https://www.lulu.com/s1/paperback_b/r/site

Other

6.  Another lesser known place to publish is Scribd. http://www.scribd.com/  You can sell books in PDF form.  I distribute there through Smashwords.  The site has made vast improvements in recent years.  The biggest issue most writers have is its reputation of being a source for pirates to get material, though I don't know how accurate this currently is.

7.  There is also a site called Wattpad. http://www.wattpad.com/  They don't have a way for you to sale books as far as I know, but this is an excellent place to publish free books.  It's also a good way to get input on your writing, especially if you're willing to join groups and return the favor with other writers.  They only accept uploads in .txt, so you'll lose most of your formatting.  Links and tables of contents won't work. 

8. There is also a site called Obooko where you can put free books as well.  In it, you give the readers the right to print out pdf documents for personal use.  You can also supply .mobi (Kindle) and epub (everything else) for people to read on ereaders.

Note:  All of these sites enable you to retain your worldwide copyrights.  You are only giving them the right to distribute or sell for you.  None of them prevent you from distributing elsewhere.

Other opportunities

There are other sites out there where it's possible to publish ebooks.  Look very carefully at there terms and make certain that they don't have any sort of restrictions preventing you from publishing elsewhere, or exclusivity clauses.  Publishing your books is an endeavor where you truly want to read the fine print on everything.  I recommend hiring a contract lawyer if you're not confident about what you're agreeing to.

I don't publish to Google Documents because they have been known to reduce the price on all books, which means Amazon and the rest are going to price match.  This can really mess with your royalties.

Whatever your decisions, don't expect to hit it big right away.  Being a self-published author is a LOT of hard work.  Not only do you need to write quality books, you have to market them.  You can find some marketing tips here on my blog, but those are only a start.

All my best and good luck. :)

John H. Carroll

Notes on the Oxford Comma

Notes on the Oxford comma:

While reading my 'news' feed on Facebook, I cam across the picture below for about the millionth time.  I decided to respond.

1.  It's possible to write lists in such a way that it's not necessary.

Or you could say: We invited Washington, Lincoln and the rhinoceri.

2.  Sentences are understandable without it due to the fact that readers are accustomed to reading without it, thereby making making the rule unnecessary.

3.  I do not use the Oxford comma in my writing.  In 1 million published words, I haven't received a single comment saying something along the lines of, "I can only give this book 1 star due to the fact that there was no Oxford comma, leading me to unresolvable confusion."

All that said, everyone should write in the manner that works for them. The key is to understand the rules and make the writing understandable to as many people as possible.

And I will concede that it may be better to use the Oxford Comma than not.



All my best,

John H. Carroll

Habits in my writing I have from playing D&D

D&D and Writing

I used to play PnP (Pen and Paper) D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) where a group of us would sit down with our books and miniatures and have adventures, roll a variety of dice and nom much snackage.  It was a lot of fun.  We spent just as much time chatting about our lives as we did actually playing the games.

Please don't let that be a dragon.

Now I'm a writer having adventures without a group, books, miniatures and dice, but still plenty nomming of snackage.  . . . It's sort of like a lonelier version of what I used to do I suppose.

I shall do karate to it

But there are habits we used to have in playing those games that I find myself including in my stories when I write.

What do you do?

"You enter a room.  In the middle is a golden idol sitting on a pedestal.  What do you do next?"

It's a question DM (Dungeon Masters) ask.  The DM describes the scenario, the room, the enemies, whatever.  It's the players' job to decide what they do from there.  (In this instance, you grab it, run from the boulder and reluctantly turn it over to the Nazis waiting at the entrance.)

As a writer, I do the same for my characters.  I describe the scenario and let them decide how they would react based on their personalities.  It's usually something I didn't expect and I find myself trying to come up with new ideas to counter their actions, just like with D&D players.

What do I do?  I charge of course!!!

Pick up your weapons!

Another thing I do is always make sure the characters pick up their weapons and supplies.  Often, in battle, someone will drop a weapon or pack so they can fight.  In a book, I suppose you assume the character just does it, but in D&D if you don't pick it up, you don't have the sword for the next battle!  It's part of the "What do you do next" thing.  The proper answer is, "I pick up my sword that the dire rat knocked out of my hand when it scored a critical hit."  Then I glare at the cruelly grinning DM and pop another Dorito into my mouth.

I know I dropped that dagger around here . . .

Who goes first, who goes last?

The habit that made me think to write this particular blog post is that I line up my characters' marching order.  This is a paragraph I just wrote:

Shahben led them up an animal trail through the trees.  Ceval stayed with him and it was clear the two had become fast friends.  Teluith walked behind Reben while Evien followed her.  Everyone else followed, with the most capable acting as rear guard.

I honestly don't know if I need to do that in the book, but it's vital in D&D.  A DM has to know where everyone is so that he can tell who gets to roll the first spot check to see the ogre cleverly hiding behind an aspen tree.

You can't seeeeeeee meeeeeeee.

I find myself always describing marching order in my books, but I don't think I've seen it in many other books.  Perhaps in Stephen Nowland's Aielund Saga.  But he's a long time D&D player like me.  I'm going to have to go back and see if his characters always pick up their weapons too.

I wonder how the reader views the marching order, or if they even notice.  I personally couldn't tell you in any of the books I've read, though I do remember getting confused at times as to the locations of characters in some books.  Hopefully it helps in my stories and doesn't act as a distraction to the reader instead.

 

I'm curious as to what readers have noticed in my, or anyone else's books, about these habits.  I'm also curious if other writers have other D&D habits they include in their books.

*Note:  All miniatures are Reaper miniatures painted by yours truly.

All my best,

John H. Carroll

What goes into building a fantasy city

Rome wasn't built in a day.

Yes. I know, but I'm not trying to build Rome. I'm trying to build a city for my book.

Probably Rome

That must be a very impressive book if you need a city to house it in.

No, no. I'm not housing the book in a city, I need to build an imaginary city.

So that your imaginary emo bunnies have someplace to live?

*Sigh* You're just not getting the point. I'm writing a book. In it, the characters are visiting a city, so I need to describe it to the reader. That's what I mean about building a city.

And don't call my emo bunnies imaginary.

Sorry.

It's okay. So about that city I'm building . . .

Why do you need to build a city for your characters?

I'm glad you asked. Stories need settings. Does the book occur in a city, a desert, a forest? . . .

I don't know. It's your book, silly.

Quit interrupting. The point is that the setting needs to be developed for the reader. So I'm going to explain the process I go through in writing a city setting.

Neat!

Right? Okay. So I've decided I need a city in my current book.  I spent some time coming up with a name for it.  "Aest" (I originally named it Amarash)  I've also decided that it will be the capital city of the kingdom it's in.

So now I have to decide how much of this city to describe.  That depends largely on how much time my characters are going to spend there.  If they're are just passing by, I can say they saw the city in the distance and leave it at that.  If they're staying for the night, I have to tell a little bit more.  If they're going to interact with anyone or anything in the city, then I need to go into a fair amount of detail.

The city I've described the most in the world of Ryallon is Dralin.  The first book of the Dralin Trilogy is named Dralin, which gives a few clues to as to how much I had to explain it.  I went into great detail about the building styles, politics, people, dress, weather and just about anything else.  Dralin is its own character.

What does the writer need to know about the city?  What does the reader need to know?

You might think that the writer needs to know everything about the city, and many do.  I used to spend a great deal of time going over the details, but my writing style has changed.  I only figure out what I need in order to tell the story now.  It saves a great deal of time.  Occasionally, I'll figure out more details for my own curiosity, but I don't always share them.

Then I look at it from the character's perspective.  What's important to them.  What do they notice?  This is all the reader needs to know too.  They need to see the city from the characters' eyes.  They need to see the parts the characters interact with.

Aest

So I'm building the city of Aest and the characters are going to stay there for a few days, maybe a couple of weeks.  It's important to give a good amount of information.  These are some of the things I'm going to look at describing to the reader.

1. What does the city look like, sound like, smell like, taste like and feel like?  I believe it's important for a writer to communicate to all of the reader's senses.  There are a lot of details that goes into this.
2. What are the people like?  More than anything, this will tell the reader what the city is like.
3. What are the politics like?  This will go a great deal in influencing the reader's perception.
4. How powerful is/are the religion(s)?  This can have great affect on the city.
4. Is it at peace, war torn, or under the threat of war?  A surprising detail that establishes the mood of the people and affects the appearance of the city.
5.What is the weather like?  This is a detail that helps to establish mood.
6. What's the air quality?  An odd fact that can help add detail and mood.
7. Does it have a sewer system?  Vital for thieves guilds, assassins and secret entrances into anywhere.

Appearance

What does the city look like?  Start with how the buildings look.  Are they wood, stone, or possibly tree houses?  Are they run-down?  Are they well built? Does the city have a wall?  These details can tell the reader a lot.

You can also add whether or not there are parks or statues, a sign of wealth and concern for the citizen's comfort.  Are the streets paved?  

What does the city smell like?  Do people refuse to bathe?  Is the city thick with smog?  Is there trash in the streets?  Does it leave a bad taste in the mouth?

What does the city sound like?  Do people shout and yell at each other?  A marketplace is always noisy except at night.  Is there a low hum of noises?  Do children laugh in the streets?  Perhaps it's quiet because people are afraid to come out of their houses.

What does the city feel like?  You can tell the reader that it's grimy, or that the air is clean.  You can say that your readers get an uncomfortable sensation from walking down an alley.

These details really help immerse the reader into your story.  Don't over describe though.  Try to slip in a few details about it in between conversation if you can.

People

This will tell the reader more about the city than anything.  Try to establish this right away.  Have your character talk to someone that represents the average person.  The attitude of the people on the street will help to explain the prevailing mood.  People will be different at day than night.

Also, have your character talk to a guardsman or soldier of the city and use it to describe whether the people are oppressed or happy by the manners of law enforcement.  A guard that challenges the character makes the city hostile.  A welcoming guard makes the city friendly.

Innkeepers are one of your most useful resources.  They have all the information about the town, as do inn patrons.  Is the inn expensive or run down?

Shopkeepers are another good source of setting the mood.  Do they trade freely?  Do they haggle?  Are they honest or dishonest?

Probably people

Politics

Is the city a small town run by a mayor or council?  Does the military run it?  Is it perhaps the capital of the country, as in the case of Aest.

Is the government just or corrupt?  This is probably the most vital piece of information that will determine how the main characters are treated.

Religion

Religions tend to bring order to a city.  If there is a large religious presence, then a city is more likely to have strict laws and moral codes.  If there is no religion or system of belief, (like a monestary, or Druid grove) then it the town is likely to be lawless.  Too much religion can create a suppressive environment for the citizens and make it difficult for your characters to accomplish anything.

You can also have negative religions, like a death cult, or temple of trickery.  Those will add completely different flavors to your city.

War

If a town is at peace, it will likely have happy citizens that walk around freely, and children playing in yards.  Information will be freely given.  The weather is likely to be sunny and the season likely to be spring.  You'd be amazed at how much weather affects the opinions of the reader.  Flowers will grow and birds will sing in the tree.  Houses are likely to be painted and clean.

If the threat of war looms, people will be nervous and huddle in groups.  There will be lots of frowns.  Soldiers will patrol the streets and be suspicious of any newcomers.  The weather will likely be cloudy.

And if war has beaten the city down, there will be feral dogs and rats on the streets rather than people.  The citizens will be huddled in their homes or in taverns, worried that their drink may be the last.  Shadows will be everywhere and the weather is likely to be too hot or cold in the middle of summer or winter.  Buildings will be in disrepair.

Another side affect is cripples and homeless.  War leaves people broken.  A beggar's guild is very likely in a war torn city.

Weather

In the last section, I mentioned weather.  This doesn't apply to just cities, but every scene in just about every genre of book.

Sunny days show hope, but too much sun can beat down and oppress the characters.
Rainy days are sad, but a light shower can wash away worries and the day's heat.
Blizzards get people lost.  Utter cold drive despair into the stoutest of hearts.  However, a light fluffy snow can be fun for children to play in.

Weather is quite simply one of the most effective tools a writer can use to set the mood of a scene.

Probably weather

Air Quality

Here's something few writers think of.  Is it smoggy?  Are there a few chimneys with smoke.  Is it a nice, pleasant village with trees and pure air?  Dralin, in my world, is filled with pollution, both magical and mundane.  It clogs the air and even poisons people.  Air quality is an underutilized detail in writing often times.

Sewer system

Sewer Systems are very useful for hideouts, especially in D&D style stories.  But in addition to hideouts for thieves, rats and human waste, they also help to tell how clean the city is.  A good sewer system will allow trash and waste to flow from the streets.  A city or town without one can flood easy and is likely to have trash built up in the streets as London was in the dark ages.  As with London, that can lead to disease and plagues.

Probably a sewer

Conclusion

There are countless other details, but these are a good start for things to consider while city building.  As far as my city of Aest goes, it's a capital city with a castle, a university and a fair amount of adventure to be had. :)

All my best,

John H. Carroll

How to start a story

Beginning failure

Yesterday, I sat down at my computer and opened a document that already had a short story idea.  I had convinced myself that I would bust it out in a day or two.

Then I sat there, staring at the screen, wondering how in the world to write it.  Keep in mind, I've written 8 short stories, 2 novellas and 7 novels by this point.  Yet I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out how to write this one.  I mean, I knew the plot.  I knew the characters, I knew what was going to happen and everything.  But I didn't know how to write it!

This was very disturbing to me, to say the least.  So I've spent the last day trying to figure out what happened.  Why couldn't I write a story?

It finally came to me that I desired to just dump the entire story onto the page.  I just wanted the words there and magically delicious.  "Poof!" as Vevin (One of my characters) would say.

However, writing doesn't work that way.  It's like a fine wine that is best sniffed and sipped at first and then rolled across the tongue and savored over time.  I wanted to chug the bottle in one gulp. *sigh*

So I tried to figure out how I was supposed to start the story and then it hit me.

I said, "Ow".

Beginning success

Starting a story isn't really all that easy, but I have a method that's worked for me in everything else I've written.  However, I never realized before that that's what I was doing.  What is it you ask?  . . . Or perhaps you don't ask? . . .  Hmmm . . . I'll take a chance that you are asking.

I get to know my first character.  When I start a book, nothing else matters but that first character in the scene.  I begin by telling where they are and how they feel about where they are.  I find out if there's danger or a person to talk to.  I find out what the weather is like and how my character feels about it.  I find out why the character is there.

Nothing else matters, not the story, not the plots, not the ending; nothing.

Once I know who my character is and have a basic understanding of them, then I begin developing the story.  It really doesn't matter if I have an outline or an ending, because the character I've created may choose not to follow that path.  If I try to force the character along it, then I find myself losing interest in the story.

My characters are the most important aspect of my books.  Everything else is secondary. When I say character, it doesn't actually have to be a person or an animal.  In the Dralin Trilogy, the city itself is just as much of a character as the people within it.  It starts with a young couple named Sheela and Frath, but I'm introducing Dralin to the reader just as much as anyone else.

I have a few stories floating around, ready to write.  Now that I realize what my own method is, I'll be sure to remember to slow down at the beginning.  I won't worry about what's supposed to happen next, but instead, I'll get to know the character.  I'll let them tell me their story instead of me trying to tell them.

It's fun to write this way.  I think my characters become more real when I let them have their personality and be who they want to be.  Instead of working, I'm listening to a story and taking a journey.

Author's note:

Writers spend far too much time telling how things must be done to write a book (*cough*StephenKing*cough).  What I've told you here is merely how I write.  Perhaps something similar would work for you, perhaps not.  There are just as many methods of writing as there are writers, I believe.  I talk about my methods largely because this entire process is a journey for me. I often have revelations and like to write them down so I understand myself and can improve in the future.  If it helps others, well, that's just a bonus. :)

All my best,

John H. Carroll

Lighting in Fantasy Writing.

Cool title, huh?

Yes, it even rhymes!

Thank you.  I thought of it all by myself.

I'm very impressed.

So what's this about lighting?

Well, I was writing a description of a room as I do quite often in my books.  I got to the part about how the room was lit.  It's in a temple of the Goddess of Sunshine.  So the room is lit by globes of divine light.  Then I wondered how the globes stayed lit and realized I had no clue.  So instead of making up a technique, I had one of my characters muse about it.  This is what I wrote.  It's told from the viewpoint of Frath and it's in 'Pelya', the third book of the Dralin Trilogy.

Frath stared at one of the globes, wondering whether how the Goddess Reanna kept them glowing all the time or if Archpriestess Appana had some servant that secretly went around filling them with some sort of magical fluid.

That's a very good line.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

. . . Yeah, nothing comes after you're welcome, so you need to ask the next question.

Oh!  Sorry.

It's alright.

So, did this get you to thinking about lighting in writing?

Yes, yes it did.  Very insightful of you.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

So what about lighting in writing?

Well, I came to the realization that I have to know how every scene is lit.  It occured to me to wonder if other authors are the same way, or if it's just me.  In any case, I decided to list some of the ways I use to light areas.

That's very thoughtful of you.

I know, right?

Don't get cocky.

My bad.

Yes, yes it is.  So what are some of the ways you light areas?

I primarily write fantasy, so I like to come up with unusual, and often magical, ways for lighting.

What sort of ways?

Okay, now you're starting to interrupt with too many questions.

Sorry.

No problem.

Anyway . . . Shall we discuss natural lighting first?

Yes.

Outside during the day, it's pretty easy.  There's a sun shining (providing your world has a sun, which mine does.  However, I often adjust that light with clouds, fog, dawn, dusk, rain, snow and various other weather affects.  The climate and vegetation affect it as well.  Trees provide shade, sunlight is harsh in the desert, winter sunlight is less effective at keeping a person warm.  Those things can affect the mood of the daylight and alter the impressions of your readers.

Sun-dappled forest.

Nighttime has a lot of options for adjusting light.  My world has two moons, Siahray is blue-green and Piohray is red.  When both of them are full, they cast a lavender light upon the night.  I can adjust the mood of a scene by having one full or not there at all to create a specific mood.

Starlight when the moons aren't out is another good option for nighttime.  Patchy clouds covering one of the moons can make a spooky scene while covering them with clouds can make it very dark indeed.

How about artificial lighting like the mystical globes in the temple?

Well, the most common artificial in a fantasy setting is going to be fire.  A campfire in the wilderness or a fire in the hearth at home are very common.  The source of fuel, such as wood in the forest or cow patties in the steppes needs to be considered as well.  Fire will be less common in the desert where there is little easy fuel.

In cities, a torch, essentially rags on a stick dipped in pitch, is going to be the easiest light.  However, it doesn't last all that long and isn't very bright.  It's great for adding to mystery though.  The guttering flames (torches always have guttering flames) cast lots of shadows and allow for things to come out of the murk. (murk is the darkness beyond torchlight.  Icky things hide there)

Those flames are guttering

Another option is candles.  They are very dim and can be held for hope, always slim when you only have a candle.  They can be all colors and more of them will more light.  You can also add candleholders, which are a nice addition to decorating a room.  Candles flicker as opposed to the guttering of torches.




It's a candle. True story.

Lanterns and kerosene lamps are a more advance option of man-made light.  They use liquid fuel with a wick and can hold a light for hours. On lampposts in a city, they can give the impression of technological advancement or wealth. You can always put a candle in a lantern for a different sort of effect.  The glass of the lantern can help protect the candle from wind.  Oriental lanterns are often made of paper with designs on them if you'd like to add an Eastern theme to your story.

Kinda useless in the daytime.

In truth, these natural lights were rare in historical times in our world.  Candles and torches require materials and work to make.  Not all people had those materials or even had time to do the work involved.  When the sun went down, it was very dark.  The lack of light can be especially useful in creating fear.  I've found that I almost always give my characters light.

In modern times, we have electricity and many more options, but I don't have it in the world of Ryallon, so I'm going to skip it.

What about magical light?

Ahh, now that's the fun part.  Ryallon is a high-magic world, so I can create technology-equivalent lighting.  The civilizations in my world range from barbaric to near-Victorian.

I use magical or fantasy elements to generate different types of light.  I also have underground caverns that contain luminescent plants.  I'll list some excerpts from my books to show the different ways light is provided in Ryallon.

Liselle's flame, from "Rojuun":

He followed them into the vacant building, ducking along the wall after entering the doorway.  A small blue flame appeared from Liselle’s hand.  She lifted it into the air and let it float above them as they looked around the room. 

Bioluminescent plants, from "Anilyia":

The temperature became cooler as the party traveled deeper into the ground.  Soon plants began to appear on the walls and ceiling.  The plants were rich with oxygen, which made it possible to breathe the air.

Bioluminescent fluids creeped through the plants, creating light.  It was similar to the glowflies in the forest, but much more powerful.  They were different from plants on the surface.  Their powerful roots dug deep into the rock, but at the same time secured the stone so that ribs and braces were no longer needed to keep the tunnel secure.

Nectar Globes, from "Anilyia":

This is from a Druidic city in the forest.  One of my favorites.

Round globe lights hung from various trees to light the city at night.  He had asked one of the Druids how they were lit.  The Druid told him that a specific type of nectar, which attracted glowflies, was placed inside.  More of that nectar was added every evening and the glowflies would spend the entire night on their feast, lighting the city in the process.  Between the thickness of the forest and the clouds above, it was dim enough for some of the globes to give off a soft light while they waited for lunch.

Ship lanterns and bell on Aermoirre, from "Kethril":

Aermoirre is one my favorite characters.  I could feel this scene while writing it.

Two lanterns shone with a magical glow on the main deck and one on the aft deck to go with the gentle illumination of the bell.  The mild creaking of wood and flap of sails was soothing.  Tathan could see ocean below and the lights of a port village a short distance ahead through the light snow.

Distra's purple flamed candles, from "Dralin":

“The candles are lit.”  She pointed at iron candleholders lined along the wall and at tables with stepped shelves to either side of the statue.  They all had candles with violet flames that flickered dimly, making the shadows dance slowly.

         “No.  Those are always lit.  Distra’s divine power keeps them aflame.” 

Pink torches in the tower of a wizardess, from "Ebudae"

A mat was on the floor inside and he wiped his feet off to reduce the chance of bootprints.  Magical torches flickering with bright pink flames lined a long hallway.  Frath did not want to sneak around in a wizard’s house, but the shadows beckoned.  He observed that they always seemed more substantial when cast by magical light.

Ebudae's magical lighting of all the candles in Pallon Estate, from "Ebudae"

Ebudae stood and concentrated on a four-pillar candleholder above the fireplace.  Pelya recognized a spell was going to be cast and gave the wizardess space.  The spell was simple, barely rustling her silken locks, but choosing what candles to light took focus.  Ebudae whispered the words of a spell and made precise gestures with her outstretched hands.

Yellow-green flames came to life.  At the same time, candles throughout the manor lit with the same flames.  She left the bedrooms and storage rooms dark, but lit all the common areas.  Lady Pallon normally had servants light the lanterns to make it bright, but Ebudae loved the mysterious and eerie light filling the room and hallway beyond.  “There, now it’s not dark.”  She smiled triumphantly as she turned back to her guests.

Conclusion

Those are just some of the ways I use lighting in my stories.  Nearly every scene in my books use light to adjust the reader's opinion of what's happening.  I like variety in color and types.  Each wizard has their own preferred color as well.  Liselle is blue and Ebudae is yellow-green for example.

To my readers,  I hope this gives you a little insight as to how I do things.  To other writers, I hope you found this to be intriguing and possible even helpful.

All my best,

John H. Carroll

Time of day in writing

Time of day

As I write this, it's 2:02pm

What does that have to do with writing?

Absolutely nothing.

Well then, what is this post about?

It's about how the time of day affects the mood of scenes throughout the book.

This is going to be another one of those blog posts where you talk to yourself, isn't it?

Yes, yes it is.

*sigh*  Tell the readers about the time of day in writing.

Bossy aren't you?  Very well.  Here goes.

The time of day can have an important effect on the mood of a scene.  This is an invaluable tool for any writer.  As you write, think about what time of day it is in the story and how that might help convey a message of hope, despair, or even normalcy.  Certain times of the day are associated with different feelings.

The most obvious of these are day and night.  It's harder to be scared when the sun is out and there are people around.  On the other hand, nighttime hides danger.  People shrink in on themselves.  You can amplify these feelings by adding details on the time of day or night too.

How will dawn affect the scene?

I'm glad you asked. 

Dawn is generally associated with rising and hope.  It's a new day and all the bad stuff hasn't happened yet.  If you wish a scene to be filled with possibility, start at dawn.  This even works in horror.  It makes the fall into whatever bad stuff you wish to torture your character with even more terrible.

It's a great way to start a book too.  Have the person get up from bed, stretch and smell coffee, or someone cooking breakfast.  No matter how the story goes, you start out with a clean slate.

Dawn is also a great way to end despair and hopelessness.  If the previous chapters have been at night and things are going badly, you can bring dawn about to erase that despair.

On the rare occasion, dawn can actually bring an even greater hopelessness.  If things aren't better when dawn breaks, then you make the negative mood even more powerful.

"Rain Glade" begins at dawn.  You don't have to buy it.  If you want to see a sample, you can just look at the preview of the first page or two to see how I set the mood.

How will morning affect the scene?

Boy, you're good at asking these questions.

Morning is a great way to set the tone of the rest of the book.  The person has had time to drink a pot or three of coffee, they've gone to work, school, or sent the kids off for the day.  This is the perfect time to give the reader details about what's going to happen in the rest of the story.

Let me guess, you're going to tell us about noon next?

Good call!

This is when the gunfight happens.  The sun is beating down, it's hot, people are hiding inside.  Noon is almost always sunny.  Thinking about it, I can't ever remember a book where it was raining at noon, although I'm sure there's a few.  I have one that has steady rain for five days . . . so I guess I can think of a book, but we'll pretend I can't.  Noon is a good time for lunch scenes, obviously.

Anyway, noon is a great time for heat and hiding.  It's excellent for showing how characters are suffering under the whip of a slave master.  It's good to show oppression and tiredness.

What about midnight?

What?!!!  Midnight?  . . . Ohhhh, I see what you're doing.  You're trying to trip me up.  It's not going to work.  Ask me about afternoon instead.

If I must.  What about afternoon?

I'm glad you asked.

Afternoon is very versatile.  You can do just about anything with it.  It's a great time for action.  Something always seems to be happening in the afternoon.  It can be good, bad, or indifferent.  You don't really have to talk about what time it is either.

People have usually been at their routine for a while in the afternoon.  It's a good time to throw a wrench in their plans.  Maybe they don't get to go home.  Maybe there's a fight that's going to happen in the parking lot.

Let me guess, evening is good for dinner scenes, right?

Of course!

In addition to dinner scenes, evening brings the promise of night.  You can use it to create a sense of trepidation in the reader.  This is a great place to start a thriller book.  Something is going to happen, but you still have enough light to describe the characters and set the scene.  Build suspense by telling ghost stories around the campfire.

It's also when people get ready for parties or a night out.  Evening is a great time for discussions and dialogue.

Sunset.

Just one word?  That's it?  You're not even going to phrase it in a question?

Sunset?

*sigh*  Jerk.

Sunset is another excellent setting . . . (pun might have been intended, not sure)  Just as dawn is a great way to start a story, sunset is a great way to end a story.  We've all heard of riding into the sunset.  It works.  It's very romantic.

It's also a good way to add color to a scene.  Sunset has lots of reds, violets, golds and blues in it.  The bottoms of clouds can be pink or lined with silver.  This is a great romantic setting for a kiss.

Oddly enough, it's often as filled with hope as dawn is.

It's also a great time to turn off the lights and begin the scenes of fear in a horror story.

Night is when horror stories occur, right?

Well, Dracula certainly doesn't come out during the day.  He wouldn't want to sparkle . . .

Night is also a time of passion.  People can sneak away in the dark for a tryst.  If you want your characters to go to bed and get it on, this is a good time to do so.  I'll leave the details to you.

But yes, night is when the terror is easiest to write.  Monsters hide under the bed, or in the bushes at night.  You can't see them coming, and when they do, it's always behind you.  Empty parking garages are scarier at night with only the sound of high heels echoing through against the concrete.

It's good for campgrounds too.  The sound of crickets or wildlife can add to the affect.  Jason does his best work in campgrounds at night.  Teens also drink and do drugs, making them act stupid while being chased.

Does it matter if it's midnight?

Most definitely!!!

Midnight is a powerful time historically.  This is when rituals have historically occurred in many cultures.  It's great for moonlight ceremonies or sacrifices.  Any story about New Years must include midnight in it.

What about early morning?

I'm glad you asked. 

A common saying is, "It's always darkest before the dawn".  People are often tired during this time if they're awake at all.  This is when you sneak past the guards because they're not alert.  This is when the horror victim breaks down and cries because they don't think they're going to make it til morning.  It's when red-eye flights arrive if you want an empty airport scene.

It's also one of the least used times in books because most characters are sensibly sleeping during this time.

Would you like to recap?

Yes I would.  That's very considerate of you.

So if a scene just isn't clicking for you, think about what time you have it set in.  Perhaps you can make it stronger by changing the time.  It's always good to add how the light, or lack thereof, colors the scene at that time of day too.  You can add emotion that way.

Anyway,  that's all for now.  I hope you've had a good time. ;)

John H. Carroll

I have no idea what I'm doing

I'm clueless

To my readers and any writers that would be interested in my advice.  I would like you to know that I have no idea what I'm doing.

I really don't.

Not a clue.

I'm just making it all up as I go and hoping for the best.

Seriously

I like writing very much, and I think I'm pretty good at it.  I just don't know if I'm correct, or if I'm deluding myself.  I don't really care too much because I'm having a blast.

Writing is fun.  It's like daydreaming out loud.  I love daydreaming and always have.  I don't remember a whole lot about my childhood because I was constantly daydreaming.  It was much more enjoyable than all those classes or any chores I might have had.

I'm sharing my daydreams with you.  I've altered them a little bit, because in my daydreams, I'm always the hero, or emo kid watching the hero.  Yes, in my daydreams I'm emo.  It's a bit odd and I don't understand it.  I'm not in my books though.  Those are about other characters that are more interesting.

I don't know what I'm writing

My stories take a lot of twists and turns that I don't expect.  There are certain things that are solid and I know what's going to happen.  Everything other than that is a complete mystery to me.  I think the characters are going to go to one destination, but they end up somewhere completely different.

The worst thing is when I make up new friends for my main characters.  I introduce them and say, "Hey!  Check these guys out.  They're fascinating!"  And then my main characters end up having a problem with the new guys, or the new guys are complete jerks.  That sort of thing really pisses me off.

I don't know if my stories are any good.  I really don't.  I enjoyed writing them.  I really like the characters.  I did my best to get all the letters and punctuation in their correct places too.  There are some great reviews and a few terrible reviews of them, more good than bad.

All of the stories end up in weird places.  There is no save the world or happily ever after.  Each book is about an adventure and it ends when the adventure is done.  The characters go on living their lives and I may or may not write about future adventures.

To other writers

I really don't know what I'm doing.  I've been at this for two years now and I've achieved mild success in sales and downloads.  I've written a decent number of stories too.

Most of what I'm doing has been from reading what other Indies are doing.  However, I'm pretty sure they're just guessing most of the time too.  The ones that are successful are probably shocked about that fact, maybe even a little embarrassed, hoping that people don't realize that they don't know what they're doing either.

It really is fun though.  Each sale, each good review, each contact from a fan telling me how much they like my stories, is a thrill!  I would recommend it to anyone who likes to write.

I'll continue to share my experiences with self-publishing.  I'll tell you if I figure out something that helps me write a better book, or get a few more sales.  Just understand that I don't know what will happen in the future or if I'm even doing it right.

For all I know, I may be about to metaphorically drive off of a self-publishing cliff.  That's okay though, I like to pretend I'm flying.

In conclusion

It's a great time to be a writer.  Instead of gatekeepers choosing what we are allowed to write and instead of publishers keeping the lion's share of the income, writers get to write whatever they want and earn a good amount of each sale.

It's a wonderful time to be a reader.  You get to read whatever you want rather than being told what you're allowed to read.  You also have a limitless supply of stories.  To make things better, books are becoming affordable, even free in many cases!

So that's pretty much all I had to say.  I have no idea what I'm doing and just wanted to let you know.

All my best,

John H. Carroll