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I have known Martin Smith for quite a few years now. Martin has done the Write for a Reason course and participated in various challenges, but most importantly, has gone on to have three books published!

Here are the details of his books:

Treasure Tree by Martin Smith ISBN 978-1907509964

Mystery Tours with Treasure Tree by Martin Smith ISBN 978-1788157100

Both of these books are published by Onwards and Upwards.

The latest book is Crew in Crisis by Martin F. Smith ISBN 978-1398419179 published by Austin Macauley.

Do take a look at Martin's books - and be encouraged. If Martin can do it, so can you!

Until next time, keep writing,

Janet

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Who are you writing for?

We’ve touched on this a little bit before, but it’s so important, I’m bringing it up again:

Who do you want to write for?

This may sound like a daft question, but you need to know who you want to write for, BEFORE starting your novel.

You can have what we think is a brilliant idea for a story, but you need to check that it will resonate with your target readers.

I have been asked more than once to read a story, to see what age of readers it would best suit. Unfortunately, this is completely the wrong way round. We need to write the story for our readers, not the other way round.

There’s another issue, too… What was relevant when we were younger might not be relevant now. Times and culture change, along with fashions and even names (I am of the Janet era – you can pretty much guess how old I am by my name!).

So if you want to write for ten-year-old boys, find out what they like, what they hate, what they spend their time doing, what they would spend their time doing if they could (important difference!)... then write a book with characters, a plot and a setting they will find compelling.

Don't know what they like? Ask them! It will help you keep your novel relevant and fun.

Trust that’s a useful tip. Don’t forget, only you can write your story, and someone’s waiting for it. So don’t give up...

Until next week, blessings abundant,

Janet

P.S. Don’t forget to share these writing tips in writing groups you belong to. This is the link to the Write for a Reason website. There are sharing links galore, for you to share to all the different platforms you belong to. Thank you. Sharing is caring!

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Voices for your Characters

One important element of creating good dialogue is to make sure that each of your characters has his or her own voice.

Just for fun, in the Write for a Reason course, one of the assignments is to imagine telling a group of your family/friends some astonishing news (e.g. that you have bought a new car or are going on holiday to the Seychelles) and write a dialogue based on their different reactions.

It makes fascinating reading!

In just the same way as people respond differently to the same news, you need each of the characters in your novel to have their own voice. There's nothing worse than reading dialogue where all the characters sound the same, use the same tone, have the same reactions.

So, make sure you get to know your characters really well as individuals before you let them loose on your readers! Study how they think, how they feel, how they express themselves. Remember, too, that characters will respond differently depending on:

• Their relationship with other characters present. For example, a teenager might express himself different way to his mother and his friends. :-)
• Their dominant characteristics. Angry people will be angry, jealous people jealous, kind people will be kind...
• How open they feel they can be. A partner might wait until guests have gone to say what he/she really thinks!
• Their interests. If talking about a favourite hobby, even the quietest person can become animated.

Here's an exercise for you to try:

Get out your writing journal, and write a dialogue between a lad from a privileged background and a working class boy, about a mutual hobby. This will help you to remember when you are writing your novel, to give all your characters a distinctive voice!

P.S. Did you find this helpful? If you did, please pass on to a friend who would benefit, and encourage them to subscribe for themselves. Let’s share the blessing!

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Freewriting is a technique where for a set period of time you sit down and just write. It's a great way to:

• begin if you don't know where to start
• practice writing (practice makes better!)
• gain confidence
• get disciplined
• write from the heart
• get used to writing from your own experience
• finish your first draft.

Try and write for at least ten minutes every day. This will flex your writing muscles!

One thing you must not do during your allotted freewriting time is to correct what you have written.

You have to turn off that internal editor and allow your creative side to get into the flow of writing.

Be warned: what you end up with will probably look like a mess. That’s OK though – you can go back and edit your writing as many times as you want.

If you haven’t got a writing project on the go at the moment, or if you fancy a change, here are some suggestions for practice subjects:

• a time when you were frightened
• a favourite place
• how you feel about your church
• your ideal home
• a childhood memory.

Why not do each of these in your writing journal – ten minutes each should do it! It’s brilliant practice for when you come to write your novel.

Let me know how you get on – I’d love to hear from you! Have you done freewriting before? Did you enjoy it? Did it help you get in the flow?

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Should you ask friends and family to review your newly finished manuscript for you? Writers are often advised against it, because those who are close to us are likely to be more polite than honest, and may not have the necessary knowledge to make comments on the technical aspects of story writing.

However, although they are unable to advise on characterisation, plot, narrative voice and dialogue, does that mean that friends and family have nothing of value to offer? I would suggest they do!

Here are three things you could ask for comments on (carefully choosing people who will be both encouraging and honest, of course!), which would be useful feedback on your newly finished manuscript:

1. At what point did they put the story down? As writers we are aiming to write stories that are so gripping that readers are unable to put the book down. Of course readers may sometimes be obliged to stop and get on with some other activity, but if several reviewers mention the same place, it could be that you should look at tightening up some aspect of that particular scene. Perhaps you could move the plot on a bit faster, cut out a bit of dialogue or change the scene completely.
2. Was there anything in the story that didn't make sense? When you are so close to your story, and have perhaps worked on it for weeks or months or even years, it's easy to overlook sometimes glaring mistakes. These could be in timing, character, sentence structure or various other issues. A fresh pair of eyes could be useful in picking up these errors so you can sort them out.
3. What was it about the story that remained with you? It may be that your hero was an inspiration to your readers, or your theme shone through. That would be encouraging! If not, it could be worth your while thinking about how you could improve your story in some way, to make sure that you have achieved your purpose.

After this initial feedback from trusted acquaintances, and hopefully having received some useful comments and made any necessary changes, there's nothing like a professional manuscript criticism service... but at least you might have already corrected some obvious mistakes before you do.

Do you let your family and friends read your manuscripts? It would be great to hear your experiences!

Every blessing as you write,

Janet

P.S. I’d love you to follow me on twitter: @janetwilsonxxx and instagram: @janetfromwriteforareason. Hope to see you there – do say hi!

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I have a really quick, but important creative writing tip for you today...

How old should your protagonist be?

Getting this one thing right or wrong can make or break your novel!

Here’s the thing:

Children like to read about other children either their own age or a bit older.

They tend not to be so keen on reading about younger children – not as the main characters, anyway – they have already been there and done that!

So if you want to write for 8-11s, make your protagonist 11, or thereabouts. If you are writing for 12-14s, make your protagonist 14 or above. If you’re writing for young adults, you will probably want your protagonist to be in their late teens.

Oh, and girls will read about boys, but boys aren't generally so keen on reading about girls. Just saying!

Trust that helps!

Until next time,

Janet

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Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

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Theme and Purpose

Writing for pure enjoyment is a wonderful thing! God has given us all gifts, and if you enjoy writing for fun, that's great!

If, however, you want to write a story for a specific reason, it might help if you can ask yourself the following questions:

• Who am I writing for (we covered that last week, right?)
• What is the purpose of this story?
• What reaction am I hoping to get from my readers?

Here's an example: you may be thinking about writing a story for church children on the Good Samaritan theme. Your aim might be to help your readers to see that every person is a neighbour, even if other people don't like them. You may want your readers to respond by being friendly and caring.

Whatever your purpose, write it down. Be specific. Then while you are planning and writing your story, keep your readers and your theme in mind from the beginning right to the end. It will help you stay on track!

Oh, and don't forget that every story needs to have lots of fun and humour, and be exciting. As we’ve already said, even the most earnest of themes and purposes needs to be wound up in a thrilling plot. :-)

We go into theme and purpose in a lot more depth in the Write for a Reason Academy – if you’re not sure about the theme of your story, this will definitely help you. The Write for a Reason Academy is a ten week online writing course you can do anywhere in the world. It will transform your writing – that’s a promise! I set it up to give new writers everything they need to write a successful first novel. You can read more about the course here.

Love in Christ,

Janet

P.S. In the Academy we go through characters, setting, theme and purpose, stakes, conflicts, beginnings and endings, narrative voice (something a lot of novice writers get wrong) and lots more. There are videos, teaching and lots of assignments for you to get your teeth into. One of our students, Michaela, said, “I am now doing the full course and finding it incredibly valuable and useful.” Why don’t you give it a try? I know it’s an investment of time and money, but it’s excellent value (cheaper than a weekend away!)... and actually, you will be working towards something of eternal value. Feel free to check it out, anyway, if you think it might be useful. :-)

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Children love animals! Well, most of them do, anyway, and if you have an animal in your story, that can help to engage your readers.

If your animals can help to solve a crime, find a missing person or be an asset in some way, so much the better. Equally, if there is an animal in need - hurt, in danger, or otherwise at risk, this could also add emotion to your story.

Dolphins, horses and ponies, cats, dogs, elephants, parrots or monkeys . . . it doesn't matter really, as long as they help you to bring in lots of action and emotion!

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How many characters do you need for your story?

The answer is, as few as possible! If you can keep the number of characters in your story down to the bare minimum, it will make your writing less complicated, thereby keeping the action going at a good pace. If, for example, you have two main characters, let's say they are neighbours, and each of the children have several siblings, you could end up with eight or ten characters. Readers may quickly forget who is who and which sibling belongs to which family. There's nothing wrong with a one-child family, if siblings aren't part of the plot!

Another disadvantage to having a lot of characters is that you will need to use a lot of words to tell us all about them and how they come into the story. This can drag the story out and make the plot cumbersome.

Another quick tip about characters: children love to read how other children overcome obstacles, get the better of baddies and do all sorts of exciting, daring and dangerous feats . . . but they are not really that bothered about adults, so keep your grown-ups to a minimum.

Lastly, if you just have one or two main characters, you will have space for readers to get to know them really well, to get right into their hearts, their minds, their emotions. This will help us to truly engage with them and care about what happens to them. Always a good thing!

Trust that helps :-) Any comments, please do feel free to get in touch!

Thanks for listening! If you are looking for additional support with your writing, grab my free course on www.write-for-a-reason.com, which will help you grip your readers from the very first page of your story. Don't put it off – today is a gift to use wisely! Only you can write your story, and if you have been called to write, someone's waiting for it.

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 In these difficult days, children all over the world so badly need to hear the good news of Jesus. Every child is precious. If your story only touches one or two, wouldn't it be worth it?

So, on to today’s writing tip:

If we want to draw readers into our story, we need a great beginning. If we can make our readers' mouths drop open with a great opening paragraph, and if they love the first chapter, we have a good chance that we will keep them for the rest of the book!

So how do we do this? Here are some ideas:

1. Craft your first sentence and first paragraph carefully, with the intention of gripping your readers right from the start.
2. Giving a teaser is a great idea, to draw your readers in. For example, here's the first sentence from Beech Bank Girls, Every Girl Has A Story by Eleanor Watkins*: "I didn't really expect to enjoy the first day at my new school, Beechwood High, and I was right." Immediately readers will want to know who is saying this, why, and what happened. There's an element of intrigue.
3. Start with action – you can reveal any 'back story' later. Here's an example of a dull beginning: your main character and family sitting at table, eating dinner and discussing church. You need to start with something exciting happening.
4. Make your first chapter full of tension and drama – bring in the conflict. In the Beech Bank Girls book mentioned above, Annie is fearful of being bullied, and we see her fears and the way this expresses itself through her experiences at her first day at school.
5. Bring in emotion from the very word go. If you are writing a creepy story, bring in that scary atmosphere. The same goes for any emotion – excitement, sadness, tension...
6. Introduce us to the main character/s, and let us know what they are like by the way they act or speak. Make us feel for them. Anyone who has seen bullies at work will totally identify with Annie by the end of chapter one of the Beech Bank Girls. And readers will want to know what happens to her, because they care.

I trust that is helpful! If you would like to look at great beginnings in a lot more depth, feel free to take the free online Gripping Beginnings course. This is part of the Write for a Reason Academy, but is yours free. It’s a taster to the course, but also loads of value on its own.

‘Gripping Beginnings’ is really great for inspiring engaging starts to stories – I thoroughly recommend this brilliant, genuinely free resource.- Fiona

Let me know how you get on!

Every blessing,

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Oh, and do leave a review on your podcast app - it really does help a lot. Thank you! :-)