This Week in Favs…..

Playing on the MP3:  First Class from the X-Men: First Class Original Soundtrack <— If you’re looking for an awesome writing soundtrack, here you go!

This week we have a bit of an extra dose of ‘Favs’ – the writing blogosphere has been absolutely incredible over these last two weeks, so I could not resist sharing as many favorite posts as possible!  Here they are in no particular order (along with additional links at the bottom):

15)  “Laying Clues and Adding Twists to Our Story”, guest post by Elizabeth S. Craig on Paranormal Point of View.  Weaving clues has to be one of the hardest tasks that I’ve come across when it comes to my own personal writing experience, and that may mostly be because nobody seems to do it better than mystery writers and, of course, JK Rowling.  Elizabeth has really laid out some of the best tips I’ve read in regards to leaving clues for the reader: distraction.  She’s even laid out a bit of a ‘how to’ for her fellow writers so we can learn how to incorporate this technique ourselves.  This particular article is one for the ‘writing tips’ book!

14)  “Are You Playing to Your Strengths” by Jenny Hansen on Writers in the Storm blog.  I couldn’t tell you how excited I was to read yet another post on playing to your strengths and understanding that not everything you write is going to be publishing gold.  Jenny has written a well-post on those topics here and I really enjoyed how she used a corporate-world example in the beginning before moving toward how that relates to our writing – which is one of the best ways to convey a message such as this to everyone. 

13)  “7 Keys to Writing Without Stress” by Jurgen Wolff on Time to Write.  I’m sorry, but anytime you tell me how I can write without stress, I’m 100% IN!  The crazy thing is that most of these tips are things that we already know, we just fail to realize it when we’re in the middle of writing a difficult scene, or editing and/or re-writing part of a MS.  One of my favorite tips that Jurgen has listed here is, “Take a to-minute break before you start your writing session.”  <—Never thought of that before, but I’ve tested it out and you know what?  It actually seemed to help a bit – the words flowed a little better. 

12)  “The Twelve Most Dangerous Words for Writers” by Kim Wright on Writer Unboxed.  This is such a great article!  This one actually pertains to what we should be doing – besides writing – in regards to a publishing contract, contacts, and marketing.  So in regards to those twelve little words – no, there are other things we should also be concentrating on in this day in age.  Great read and I always enjoy hearing from other writers who have been there, done that, and are willing to share their experiences for the rest of us to learn from. 

11)  “25 Things Writers Should Know About Rejection” by Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.  This is why I love reading Chuck’s blog:  his lists are in your face and he tells is like it is.  Sure he’s a bit crass, but still, sometimes that’s how you need to hear it!  Well, at least for me, that is.  *wink*  Once again we’ve come across another great posting on how we should be handling rejection, ‘cause let’s face it, we’ve all been rejected and we’re still going to face a bit of rejection even after we’re published.  Great post, Chuck!

10)  “I Prefer My Rubber to Meet the Road” by Jan O’Hara on Writer Unboxed.  Just like Ms. Hansen in her post above, here is a real-life example and how it rings true to our writing.  In this case, her real-life example was one of surviving after an horrible accident and realizing what lessons that story has for our writing such as listening to you gut, staying healthy, and reveling in the simplest of joys as you’re writing. 

9)  “How Rebecca Skloot Built The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by David Dobbs on The Open Notebook.  How here’s an article to sink your teeth into:  Rebecca’s interview travels into story structure – how other books have modeled structure for her and how she handled the task of structuring her book.  This is thoroughly enjoyable and personally, I have taken a lot away from reading through her interview very carefully. 

8)  “10 Things I Learned About the Publishing Biz the Year My First Novel was Published” by Kameron Burley on The Night Bazaar.  What a great post!  Once again the writing community never ceases to amaze with how open and honest everyone is – from those just starting out in their writing journey, to those that have been published.  The best takeaways from this particular post would be that writing conventions are totally worth it, realizing that your family is a lot more supportive than you may otherwise think, and knowing when to fold.  Great read here!

7)  “How to Survive WAITING” by Natalie Lakosil on Adventures in Agentland.  Here are some great tips on how to keep your wits about you while stuck in the limbo otherwise known as waiting.  I don’t know about you, but I really do hate waiting.  I’m one of the most impatient people on the planet, and my husband wouldn’t tell you any differently.  With these great tips, I believe we can all learn and find a way to fill that time, such as starting a new project and being proactive. 

6)  “Killer Log Lines” by Stina Lindenblatt on QueryTracker.net.  Yes!  I love when queries, synopsis's, and log lines are broken down and sort of ‘made easy’ for us writers.  It’s not that we haven’t already attempted to write these on our own, but sometimes you can get stuck in trying to figure out exactly what is needed, what’s not really needed, and how to link it all together – especially when you feel as though you’re leaving out some of the best details of your story. 

5)  “10 Writing Truths – Part 1 & Part 2” by Ava Jae on Writability.  It’s always great informative fun to learn from fellow writers, isn’t it?  Ava’s lists of ‘writing truths’ are 100% right on the money in regards to what it truly means to be a writer – there’s the good, the bad and the ugly, but the love of the craft is what keeps all us going in seeing each story through to the end.  Ava’s definitely written two great enjoyable posts here, and I can almost bet that everyone who has either read it, or is about to read it, will be nodding their heads in agreement with each point.  If you’re not, you will be soon as you learn and grow in your writing journey. 

4)  “The Meaning of Persistence” by Rachelle Gardner.  Once again, Rachelle has written an inspiring post for all aspiring published authors out there.  This is, yet again, another article that I feel I cannot do justice for when describing why it is a favorite of mine, so I really really encourage everyone to get over there and read this particular post so you can inspired as well to keep trucking through the hard times.

3)  “Write Fiction?  Why You Should Try a Short Story” by Jami Gold.  What a great list of reasons for us to try our hand at writing a short story!  I’d never actually thought about doing this until recently, and here comes Jami’s post on that very topic.  What perfect timing, Jami!  Jami has pinpointed exactly why every fiction writer should give this a shot: we will understand, learn and strengthen our novel-length writing/planning/plotting in a way that possibly no other avenue could do so.  The best part about this particular post?  The editors from Entangled Publishing will be visiting Jami’s blog early next month to take pitches for short stories! Wee!!  What a great opportunity for everyone to start writing (or polishing) over the holiday break in preparation for a possible request! Get over there to read the details, and good luck!

2)  “Raising the Stakes” by Lynette Labelle.  I know most of us have heard this before from either our CP’s, Beta Readers, or even an agent in a response to a query:  “The stakes just aren’t high enough.”  Lynette has laid out exactly what stakes are and has explained, in plain writerly english, exactly how you can achieve raising the stakes in your own MS. 

1)  “Creating a Story Bible” by Suzanne Johnson on Roni Loren’s Writing Blog: Fiction Groupie.  Now here’s a must-read post on creating a bible to the world you’ve built so that they are easily accessible as you write further stories that take place in that world.  This is really great advice for those of us who write paranormal stories!  I’m going to be starting on my story bible next week, so thanks, Suzanne, for sharing your ‘lesson learned’ this week!

Here are some Friday giggles to start your holiday weekend off right – Enjoy!

Additional ‘Fav’ Writing Links from the past two weeks: 

• “How NOT to Bore the Reader” by Lisa Gail Green on Paranormal Point of View.
• “Celebrations in Story – Marking the Special Days” by Beth Hill on The Editor’s Blog. 
• “7 Steps to Taming Your NaNoWriMo Manuscript” by Mercia Dragonslayer on Write It Sideways. 
• “What is the Internet Missing?” by Jami Gold.
• “Aspiring is for Pansies – Tough Love & Being  a Writer” by Kristen Lamb.
• “There is No Wizard of Oz” by Ava Jae on Writability.
• “25 Ways for Writers to Help Other Writers” by Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds. 
• “Why I Don’t Call Myself an Author” by Amber West on A Day Without Sushi.
• “Guest Author Kody Keplinger: 3 Things to Consider When Writing Teen Romance” on The Other Side of the Story.
• “Them Goshdarned Characters” by John Hansen on The Incessant Droning of a Bored Writer.
• “Weed Out Author Intrusion” by Beth Hill on The Editor’s Blog. 
• “How to Hook a Reader and NEVER Let Go” by Kristen Lamb.

Happy Reading & Writing!!!


Melinda

This Week in Favs…..

Playing on the Zune (mp3): Canned Heat by Jamiroquai – Yes – my boogie is for realz :0)

10) “The Hailstorm Approach: Prep for Nanowrimo in Seven Days (or Less)” by Daniel Swensen on SurlyMuse AND “The NaNoWriMo Checklist” by Leif G.S. Notae on Wrimos FTW! and “NaNo Prep: Planning Your Novel” on The Other Side of the Story with Janice Hardy. I know what you’re thinkin’: “Holy cow! That’s a lot of NaNoWriMo links!” Well, guess what? This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to NaNoWriMo links. The blogosphere has been inundated with posts, articles and discussions about NaNo (yes, I’m shortening it since I’m tired of typing the whole thing out). These are the links from this week that I found most helpful. Oh, wait! One more: go check out Alexandra Sokoloff’s blog. She’s doing a series of posts on NaNo that are also super-duper helpful. Counting today, we have 4 days left to prep before we all start banging away on our keyboards with the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days hanging over us. 

9) “Ten Tips on Writing Characters with Accents” by Rose Lerner on Reader, I created him. Talk about a truly helpful post! I’m 100% Southern, so I am fully aware of my accent and how it may sound to others. With writing being an extension of ourselves (in most cases), I tend to include at least one or two southern-accented individuals in my writing. After this article, I now feel like I can project it a little better in my writing. These are extremely helpful tips and I encourage anyone who’s thinking (or has already) of writing a character with an accent – be it British, French, Southern, or Northern – to read this article and think on each tip as they put those characters together.

8) “On Underestimating Your Readers” by Ava Jae on Writability. This is HUGE! Thanks to Ava, I now realize just how focused on my characters’ eyes I tend to be with my writing. And she’s right – we don’t have to give the reader every single little detail about a character. Dark hair could mean either ash, black, dark brown, etc. The same is said about the eyes – bright eyes could mean any color the reader can think of; they’re just bright when set against the character’s skin tone. Ava, thank you so much for writing this post. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

7) “11 Ways to a Healthy Brain and Healthy Writing” by Mark Landen. I know, I know…the holidays are coming up and not many of us are thinking about health. I personally know that I’ve been thinking about green been casserole, turkey, ham and sweet potato pie. But if you read this article, you’ll realize by keeping your body healthy, you’re keeping your brain healthy, and in turn, you’re writing will flourish. The only issue I have with this particular post was the tip about circadian rhythm <—not something I’ve been able to accomplish since I can sometimes sleep 12 hours on the weekends (wow, I really just admitted that!). With NaNoWriMo coming up, these tips are incredibly important for all of us (including those that will not be participating this year).

6) “Creating Fear in the Minds of Readers” and “Making it Pay Off” by Lisa Gail Green on Paranormal Point of View. I thoroughly enjoy Lisa’s tips and pointers on topics such as this. Fear is what will hook a reader, and the follow-up is what will have them raving and ready for more. Read, print and insert these into your writing tips notebook – they will be more than helpful when you’re plotting and/or pantsing your way through your next MS.

5) “Soup and Layers” by Becca Puglisi on The Bookshelf Muse. Now I’m hungry again…darn it! Anywho, back to this wonderful nugget of the week. I think the best pleasure you can get out of a finished MS is the moment you look back and notice the layers upon layers of subplots, theme, character arcs, symbolism, etc. Becca did a wonderful job with this post and if we’re paying attention, our revision process should be a lot easier now that we have a handy little guide on what we should look for when fleshing everything out of our first draft.

4) “Drafting vs. Outlining” by Cynthia Robertson. Yes, it’s the age-old question with a new twist: Plotter or Pantser? But I enjoyed Cynthia’s take on the subject: “What some people call outlines are what other people call first drafts….What we choose to call it is just semantics. The method we choose is just preference.” Well, I think that pretty much says it all, doesn’t it? Even though I’m a pantser, I can totally look back at my last first draft and truly see it as really only being an outline. Especially after considering how much revision, re-writing and editing went into it in order to arrive at the fourth draft that I now have. This is a great, information read if you enjoy reading others’ opinions on the topic.

3) “Spice It Up!” by Stina Lendenblatt on QueryTracker.net. Isn’t the picture of the baby chef adorable? I’m not even going to pretend that I know how to pronounce the types of rhetorical devices that Stina has listed in this post, but I can say – without a doubt – is that this is a post that has definitely been saved so I can revisit it several times over the next several years. If you’re either not familiar with rhetorical devices, or have been looking to expand your knowledge on them a bit, this truly is a great article to do that with….I just hope that you have better luck than me when it comes to pronouncing them. ;0)

2) “25 Reasons You Won’t Finish That Story” by Chuck Wendig on Terribleminds. **Profanity Warning – Just sayin’** I do believe that Chuck has pretty much hit the nail on head and listed just about every single reason why some of us don’t manage to finish what we start – which is why this is an incredibly insightful, thought-provoking, entertaining read. Click over there, read it then print it out and think of ways that you are going to combat these reasons and finish your story…on time, I might add. 

1) “The Difference Between Your ‘Current Platform’ and ‘Future Platform’” by Chuck Sambuchino on Writer Unboxed. I wanted to add this link for two particular reasons: 1) there are some of us who are bit familiar with platforms, but tend to think that they are really more for the non-fiction writers, and 2) those of us who know that fiction readers need/could use a platform as well may not fully understand the elements of said platform, much less how to look at it for the future. With that being said, I came out of this article feeling a lil’ scared, but also a lil’ more educated.

And……here’s out bit of fun for the week!

This is a funny video that takes a look at how Harry Potter should’ve ended. Though I personally think it ended in the most perfect fashion possible, I still find this video hilarious (especially the one-second clip of Neville).

Enjoy!

Happy Reading & Writing!!

Melinda

CHALLENGE: Finding Similarities Between Writers & Famous Literary Characters

 I’ve written a guest post over at Susan Sipal’s blog, Harry Potter for Writers, entitled ‘Every Writer Has a Bit of Harry Inside ‘Em.’ It addresses what we as writers have in common with one of the most famous literary characters of all time: Harry Potter.

This got me thinking though….. what other famous literary characters out there have similarities with today’s writers?

I’ve picked my character, chosen 5 similarities, and explained how writers have so much more in common with the boy who lived than we may realize. Now, I’d like to hear from all of you! 


Here’s my challenge to you:

1. Pick a character from the below list.
2. In the comments, tell us who you’ve chosen and name one example of how that character is similar to today’s writer.

There won’t be a prize or anything like that. Instead, you’ll be showcasing your general awesomeness of knowing you share a characteristic with a famous character that lives forever inside the hearts and minds of readers across the world!!

Here’s the list of characters that landed in my brain the moment this question hit me (no book titles needed since I think we all know who these peeps are):

Huckleberry Finn
Tom Sawyer
Romeo and/or Juliet
Elizabeth Bennett
Jo March
Holden Caulfield
Sherlock Holmes and/or Dr. Watson
Anne of Green Gables
Sir Lancelot and/or King Arthur
Dracula and/or Lestat
Tom Ripley
Hannibal Lecter
Bella Swan and/or Edward Cullen and/or Jacob Black
Harry Potter
Katniss Everdeen

*You can pick more than one character if you like



Are you ready? Are you sure??


Let the challenge begin!!

**Note: I’m traveling again for work today, but I promise to pop in and check out everyone’s answers as often as I can. I can’t wait to read what everyone comes up with!   :0)

The Week of the Writer Guest Post: “Top 10 Tips of Writing I Learned from Studying JK Rowling”

Welcome to the final day of The Week of the Writer!

Buy the book here!

When I first ventured into the blogging and twittering (is that a word?) world, S.P. Sipal was one of the first to make me feel welcome – and she’s a NC native like me :)

Her posts on Harry Potter For Writers leave me speechless every time, without fail. I don’t know how she does it, but she’s able to dive deep into the world of JK Rowling’s creation, Harry Potter, and use the creator’s methods to teach us all how to be better writers. Almost every one of her posts have made it into the notebook of writing tips I’ve picked up from blogs, and I’m sure there’ll be many more to that will captivate, intimidate, render me speechless, and inspire me to be the best writer I can possibly be. And I don’t think I’ve really thanked her enough for that.

Thank you, S.P. Sipal for breaking down the creation and writing of JK Rowling and using it to teach us all how to be better writers!

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I confess.  Over the last ten years, I've had an unhealthy obsession with The Boy Who Lived.  I've written editorials, posted comments on fan boards, hunted out clues with the rest of the Potterheads, presented my workshop at conferences, started my own blog, and even published a Kindle book -- all with the goal of unearthing JK Rowling's secrets.

 

But what has been a bit on the obsessive compulsive side for me, is a good thing for you!  Other writers can benefit from my fascination with ferreting out Rowling's tricks.

 

So, here for your amusement or edification, not sure which, are the top ten tips I've learned from studying JK Rowling's phenomenally selling series:

 

10) Plot like you're Hermione about to face her boggart:

 

Hermione's biggest fear was for McGonagall to tell her she'd failed all her exams. And so she always over-studied, ensuring that she was prepared and would never have to face this horror.  J.K. Rowling, Hermione's real-life doppelganger, has stated that she is a heavy plotter, working out the details of each book before she writes, and having plotted out all seven when she was writing the first.

 

Now, I'm not saying that pansters are wrong.  Lots of good stuff comes out of free-flowing writing and it can be a great way to get ideas flowing or even write a first draft.  But before you even consider hitting send on a manuscript, at some point along the way you had better let your inner Hermione get hold of your work!

 

Certain types of books call for more plotting beforehand than others.  Works like Rowling's with their multiple subplots and intricate trail-of-clues mysteries would be very difficult to write by the seat of your pants.  

 

So, know your story and play to your skills.  But keep Hermione close at hand when you need to be sure it all makes sense.

 

9) Quirky gamekeepers can be captivating:

 

Who couldn't love Hagrid?  I mean, what's there not to love about a half-giant who hatches dragons in his fireplace and calls a three-headed monster Fluffy? 

 

Rowling is universally acknowledged for creating some of the most lovable and fun characters.  Fans just can't get enough of them! Which is why they create their own fanfiction and demand more and more details from the author.

 

So, how does Rowling do this? Her techniques for character development are too numerous to detail here, but one way is to create each character with exquisite detail and give each character their own quirky flair.

 

Pomona Sprout always has dirt beneath her fingers.  Sour and sneaky old Filch has an equally sneaky old cat he adores. The twins create candies that make students vomit. Mr. Weasley, who's a Muggle-lover, collects electrical cords.

 

A wizard who collects plugs?  Where does she get these ideas? These rich, interesting details are what make her characters come so alive to the fans. Make sure you've fully envisioned your characters, right down to your batty old cat-lady squib neighbor!

 

8) You've got to have a Snape:

 

And speaking of well-loved characters, there is no character in Potterverse more discussed and dissected than Snape.  Not even Harry.  Harry, the reader knows and understands.  Harry, for the most part, was always on the side of right.  But Snape....

 

Snape was a mystery, an enigma.  And beyond his mystery, he most definitely was a man of ambiguity.  Because the readers could never pin this gray Potions master down for sure, he captivated their attention.

 

Have you written a character who flits between your dark and light sides, whose backstory will not be fully revealed until the end, who is in every way an ambiguous anti-hero?

 

Explore all the depths of your various themes with characters who inhabit all facets of your fabulous shades.  And make sure you've got a gray Snape among the bunch!

 

7) The Dark Lord's in the Detail:

 

Through the 3 points we have discussed so far, and those that are yet to come, one of the recurring themes is the level of detail with which Rowling creates her world. I liken it to pregnancy when women are told to make sure every bite counts because every morsel that goes into your mouth contributes to the health of your growing baby.

 

Likewise with writing, every word you create should provide as powerful an impact as possible. Don't just toss words around.

 

Create your characters down to their leather boots that are the size of small dolphins (Hagrid).  Build your worlds right down to the stuffed gnomes on the Christmas tree (courtesy of Fred and George). Plan your plots right down to the loyalties of wands (the Elder Wand).

 

If you do your job right, you'll have more details than you can realistically work onto the paper.  You'll need these excess details fully fleshed in your mind to make decisions as you go along in crafting your story.  The details you choose to insert should be carefully chosen to carry the greatest amount of impact with the least amount of words. Because, like Voldemort, lack of interesting detail is truly a killer!

 

6) Challenge the reader as if casting your first Patronus:

 

For Harry, learning to cast the Patronus charm, which protected him from the depressing attack of Dementors, was one of the most challenging skills he had to learn.  But he learned it years before most other witches and wizards ever attempted to.  He learned it because he had to, because the dementors had such a terrible effect upon him.

 

If you're writing for young readers, and even if you're not, challenge them to go beyond their years.  Don't ever talk down to them.  J.K. Rowling didn't, and the kids loved her for it.

 

Can you imagine what a critique partner would have said about Order of the Phoenix? -- This will never work.  You can't expect a ten year old to read a 257,000 word book!

 

And yet...they gobbled it up and wanted more.

 

Many of these young readers also latched onto the layers of subtext and social commentary Rowling wove into her work.  She put it there because she believed in children.  She has stated this upfront. She knew they'd get what she was doing.  And they did.

 

Don't underestimate your audience.

 

5) Dive deep, like seeking your treasure in the Black Lake:

 

Subtext helps.  You don't have to lay everything on the line when writing a novel, even when writing for children.  As mentioned above, Rowling worked in rich layers of social commentary, clues toward her mysteries, and mythical allusions...all only hinted at above ground, but living like merpeople, rich and full beneath the surface of her work.

 

Death Eaters linked to the Nazis? Rowling did it.  Lupin ostracized like people who suffer from AIDS? Check. Clues as to who was to die next hidden in their names? Yes, she did. Mythical allusions to Horus, the original Boy Who Lived of ancient Egypt? Most definitely.

 

Yes, readers were all over this stuff. Even the youngest of fans. It's what kept them coming back, reading after reading. With each new read, fans could discover a detail, a layer they'd missed the first six times through.

 

Don't just write above the lines. Write all the way through them. You CAN do it!

 

4) Be like Dumbledore -- Withhold your backstory until the very end:

 

J.K. Rowling has said that if you were to put all the multiple drafts of the first chapter of Philosopher's Stone together, you'd have the whole story from the very beginning.  The fact that she got wise and so judiciously cut out all that backstory from the start is a huge reason as to why her novels became the phenomenal success they did.

 

Donald Maass, the great literary agent, says "Backstory is called backstory because it belongs in the back of the story."  J.K. Rowling intuitively aced this lesson.

 

What would Harry Potter fandom be without the search for what actually happened in Godric's Hollow? Who was Snape truly loyal to? And how would Harry defeat the greatest dark wizard who had ever lived?

 

All these questions were dragged out until the end of the series because they all involved backstory which had been withheld until the reader was dying to know.

 

Don't dump it all on your first page, your first chapter. Weave in enough backstory to keep your reader from getting confused, but then withhold it until they are begging for the knowledge only you can give.

 

3) Keep your mysteries hidden, like Pettigrew:

 

This point is similar to the one above, just not limited to backstory.  What happened to your interest after you discovered who shot J.R. Ewing (if you're old enough) or Mr. Burns (if you're not!)? And where did your interest go after Nanny Fine married Mr. Sheffield? Once a mystery is solved or questions answered, the viewer, or reader, quickly loses interest. Wanting to know a secret, to solve a mystery, to answer a question is what keeps the reader glued to the page.

 

Even if your story is not a genre mystery, it still must contain a lure of some sort to keep the reader hanging on.  Plot these threads and the release of information well, so that the reader must...keep...reading…until the very last Elder Wand owner is revealed!

 

2) Engage the Reader...like J.K. Rowling

 

J.K. Rowling so thoroughly engaged her reader that they brag about how many times they've read each book. Not only that, her have birthed several smaller spinoff: fanfiction, fanart, wizard wrock, theme parks (if you can call that small), and of course, we can't forget the movies.

 

Why all this action outside her text? Because in almost every aspect of storytelling JKR gave the reader MORE than they were expecting.  More fascinating characters, more complex plots, more mysteries that threaded throughout the series, more fascinating worlds to explore, more intriguing subtext. And each one of these categories invited the reader in to explore and interact with the story. By giving them more, and challenging their abilities, she engaged their interest.

 

Even outside the book, with her website and interviews, which continue now with Pottermore, JKR never broke form.  Her websites are interactive.  Her interviews were riddled with clues and hinted at mysteries to come.  She alluded to the myths that underlay her series.  All components to make the reader activate themselves in her text.

 

Do whatever you can to make your story interactive and engage your reader's interest, and this starts by giving them more than they are expecting.

 

1) Above all...Have fun like you're Ron (or the Twins)!

 

It is evident on every page of each story that JK Rowling was enjoying herself immensely crafting Harry Potter.  She played with her reader from The Boy Who Lived (1^st chapter of Philosopher's Stone) until The Flaw in the Plan (final chapter of Deathly Hallows), and they eagerly joined into her game.

 

I'm sure there were many down times (especially during the lawsuits) for Jo, but the stories stayed exciting and passionate.  Something like that can only come from an author thoroughly immersed in her world and characters.

 

Why are you writing if you're not having fun?  Enjoy yourself!  Take the time to refill your own well so that you will have the water of life to give back into your stories.  Chose your worlds and your people from an imagination full of stories only you can tell and desire passionately to do so.

 

Then do it with every skill and trick you possess!

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Published in fiction and nonfiction through articles, short stories, and a novel, SP Sipal is best known as an analyst of the Harry Potter series. She's spoken at numerous fan and writer conferences at the national, international, and online level and published articles dissecting the alchemical and Egyptian mythological allusions running through the series.

She continues to discuss with other writers how to improve our writing with Harry Potter as our guide at her blog at Harry Potter for Writers and
accompanying Twitter feed @HP4Writers.  She has recently started a
Pottermore Wiki and Forum for dissecting the newest fun from JK Rowling
at PottermoreforWriters.com!