Tips for Nom de Plume

Some authors choose a different name other than their own to publish books. Stephen King is also Richard Bachman. Ben Franklin originally wrote articles under the name Silence Dogood, but also Richard Saunders. Charles Dickens wrote under the single name of Boz.

Why bother with a writer’s pen name?

One reason is to change genres. Your reputation as a horror writer can be shadowed by a new name for writing something like fantasy or thriller.

Explore writing from a personae. Ben Franklin wrote under his many pen names with different styles as well as opinions. Silence Dogood wrote from the point of view of a widowed, when at the time, Ben Franklin was a teenage boy.

Your given name might not be easy to remember, spell, or doesn’t sit well with your novel. My last name is Poffinberger- lengthy, difficult to spell correctly (given that we have a Poffenberger road in our local area), and it just doesn’t roll of the tongue. If I select another name, something memorable or one that sparks curiosity in a reader, a pen name offers marketing for an author. The name itself becomes a marketing ‘brand’.

How to find your Nom de Plume? Here are some tips;

Family names. Go through your family history to find names. You can pick and choose the first and last at random, or honor ancestors in a subtle way.

History, local or world. From places to people, you can find tons of ideas by going through history. You can change letters around (as people in the past often misspelled names due to illiteracy).

Change letters or pronouncement of your current name. Stephan Colbert of the Colbert Report(pronounced col-bert, changed it to the French version to col-bare). 

Change the culture spelling or adding something to the name. The last name of Henry can become O’Henry, (which was the nom de plume of William Sydney Porter). You can add or drop syllables, such as McClaren becomes Claren. My maiden name of Ward originally was ‘werd’ meaning marsh.

What are your thoughts or experiences? Will you use your own name, pen name, or consider future incarnations of writer names for other books? Post in comments.

nom de plume,pen name,writer,authors,publish,marketing,tips

Killing darlings

If you’re familiar with the two authors, you’ll understand the joke. JK Rowling, of the Harry Potter series, is quoted as having problems killing off her characters. R.R. Martin, of the Game of Thrones series, seems to enjoy the slaughter.

Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Firefly series, and Avenger movie fame, is so well known for killing characters there’s jokes at his expense.

I remember watching the series, Castle, where the author Richard Castle kills off his main character of his thriller so he can start a new series (based on a female detective, influenced by Kate Beckett whom he ‘researches’).  In the show, Castle admits “Writing Derrick used to be fun. Now it’s like work.”; the reason why he killed him off.

So this leads me to think on the reasons to kill characters;

-Their death impacts other characters, to move the story along. The revenge-of-the-death-of-friend/lover/family is a common theme. The death of parents impacts a child to become a hero or criminal, (Batman comes to mind).

-You want to tug on the reader’s emotional strings. Personally, I feel manipulated if the author does this- don’t kill a character you spent chapters upon chapters getting me to like him/her…just, don’t.

-An act of sacrifice is required for the story. What better hero sacrifices themselves to save others?

What do you think? Do you kill off your characters?Difficult? Enjoyable? Have you already done this with regrets? Or not? Write in comments.

Technorati Tags: characters.,plot,authors,writer,rk rowling,rr martin,publish,novels,thriller,story

Writer’s New Year Plans

Well, we made it through another apocalypse. Not that I worried at all; I don’t believe in end-of-the-world fear-mongering, and already understood that the Mayan ‘prophecy’ meant a new era- not the end of the world.

That being said, this means we still need to plan for the year ahead.

My 2013 Writing Goals;

1. Write Daily. I’ll be taking the first moments of the early a.m., sipping my Hazelnut coffee, while plotting to take over the world new storylines. I’ve since given up on the idea that I need evenings to write. I can do strive for evening writing moments, but I recognize the goal is to get words to page and do whatever it takes to get there.
2. Write productively. What I mean by this goal is to focus on writing-for-publication. My writing needs to lead me somewhere, not just entertainment value. This might mean less blogging and journaling, and more writing stories and articles.
3. Less time wasting. Pinterest and Facebook are biggest time suckers in my life right now. I intend on using them in small increments, using a timer, if necessary, and to  limit my time on them (and other sites).
4. Learn and implement marketing. As authors, we need to understand marketing, whether we print publish or publish electronically. Getting oneself read should be as important as producing a book.

What are your goals for 2013? Post in comments.

Source: Google.cz via Almara Shop on Pinterest

Prompt: If you could re-do a New Year’s Eve resolution, what changes would you make? How do you suppose successful resolutions impacts our lives? Write about past versus future goals.

 

Technorati Tags: goals,writing,author,publish,new year’s eve,marketing,prompts

Wednesday Writer: Diary of Ehmdav

I happened upon this blog post concerning Fallout 3, which I enjoyed playing a year ago. The author makes a valid argument to the creative sparks that fly when you play videos games, provide you do a bit of roleplaying.

I admit the post caught my interest since I enjoy playing Fallout 3 myself. I agree, wholeheartedly, that playing video games often spark story ideas, or allows me to wonder on the storyline in the game, perspective of the non-player characters, or asking many ‘what if…?” scenarios, as well.

Many posts bring up interesting topics, written in a witty style;

What, Exactly, Is a Career Woman?

The Sims 3: A Good Game for Writers

Technorati Tags: diaryofehmdav,writer wednesday,authors,blogger,links,publish,fictions,storytelling,gaming

Blogs to books

I was surprised to find that some bloggers end up publishing their blogs into book format, and finding some success with that.

What a cool and fun way of getting a book out there! I like the idea, but not sure if any of my blog can reach that level of worth. I feel my posts are  bit too disjointed and rambling, and the idea of trying assemble the information into any semblance of book format is daunting.

But let’s explore this topic;

Self publish your blog. At any time, you could import your blog entries into a word processor, freshen it up, edit formatting, and publish through any number of avenues on the Internet. Ideally, you’d want a book deal with a publishing company. To get that; you need to get thousands of hits to your blog. Even a self-published book requires a hefty following to make it worthwhile.

With any writing, consider your audience. With this blog, my readers are would-be writers, or authors who are just starting out. My Moon and Shadow blog appeals to those interested in the earth centered religions, with a focus on faith and spirituality. I post topics that I think the audience would enjoy, to share things that might interest them or maybe entertain them.

Blogs can lead to book deals. Some authors find they are approached by publishing companies or agents interested in a book deal. You find books such as Julie Powell’s Julie and Julia , or ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income are just two examples of how bloggers turned into books.

From Blogger To Author (video)-

Blog to Book Deal, by Problogger

What are your thoughts? Would you want to publish your blog to a book? Have you read any of the books written by a blogger? Post in comments.

Technorati Tags: a writer’s journey,blog,booksavers,novels,publish,editing,problogger,julie and julia,julie powell,book deal,agent

Free e-story- The Monster

 One of my fellow writers, Roxanne Crouse, published her story, The Monster, on Amazon Kindle Singles, and today you can get it free.

If you enjoy paranormal, horror you’ll like this story. Don’t forget to post a review.

 

Technorati Tags: amazon kindle singles,author,blogger,writer,publish