Hey Jim,

Cheers.

Dacia

Hi Dacia,

Haven’t seen you comment on my posts in a while. Was starting to wonder what happened. Hmm… looks like we’ve got a multi-question one today… all right. Let’s take it one at a time.

First off, stalk away. I don’t mind frequent visitors, it helps my blog more than anything!

So beta readers… it’s tough. It’s really tough. First thing I would do when looking for a beta reader is document every exchange you have back and forth with someone if you don’t know them. Goodreads usually has some pretty trustworthy beta reading circles, but you still need to be careful. I tried to go through their a while back and honestly, got a bull assessment of my first chapter from someone who claimed to be a ‘speed reader.’ They wanted money to review the rest… and not a small amount either.

Look into the person you’re considering working with. Do they have other publications with reviews? What is their level of education? Are they an active member of whatever community you’re searching through? Don’t be afraid to ask questions and turn down offers if something doesn’t seem right.

The second thing you can do is try to forge a relationship on here with someone. That’s pretty much how I did it. I’d also recommend finding more than one person, two sets of eyes, one biased (yours), one not (a beta), are still likely to miss a few things. Multiple beta readers however will help you out a lot. So… I guess I’m volunteering if you’d be interested in doing an exchange?

That’s usually the best way to do it. An exchange with another author anxious to find someone who’s willing to sift through their work as well. Otherwise you’ll likely shell out $100-$300 for a college student to do the work… which is fine, they really do a great job, but when you’re spending $300 (min.) for a cover, $100 a piece for each ISBN needed, and $35 for the copyright fee, it adds up fast.

One piece of advice I’d give you before reaching out to people you don’t know is to REGISTER YOUR WORK! That’s right, get it copyrighted. It’s technically already copyrighted the moment you put pen to paper, but registering it guarantees that you’ll be protected and able to furnish proof against another writer who hijacks your book.

Finally, inspirational pieces with no vocals… that is a tough one.
I’m afraid I don’t work with much in the way of instrumental music, but I do have a few selections…

Since you mentioned classical, might I recommend checking into music from the Baroque era? I tend to like that a lot more with my writing. I don’t have any real selections for you as I wouldn’t be able to identify them. I usually just switch on baroque stations on spotify.

Anyway, hope this helps!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

(Heads up, this one is… sensitive. It may not be an easy read for… pretty much anyone with a heart. I already cleared it with the requester that it was okay to post this. To which she agreed on condition of anonymity.)

Hi Jim,

I’ve been trying to write a story about my husband’s life. He was died in the line of duty a year ago. The thing is… I’m having trouble. I don’t know how to convey how the world changed when he left us. I sit in front of the keyboard and scream because I just can’t get it out. He was the love of my life who was willing to put his life on the line to keep everyone he loved safe.
I think about how I had to put my kids to bed each night and they would ask me when daddy was coming home. I’d wind up not being able to sleep, instead sitting up wondering what to tell them. How do I permanently break the hearts of children that haven’t even reached double digit ages?
His death left me with a hole in my chest that I couldn’t fill and could never be repaired. I don’t know how to write about it. How do you express the hole left when someone like that just permanently vanishes from your life.

Any advice you can offer me would be greatly appreciated.

Hello…

Believe it or not, this is why I really hope no one ever asks me to write a eulogy. I can do it, but I’d probably hate it because no matter what I write, it will sound trite, contrived, and cliched in my head. No words will ever be enough. I really wish I had some sage advice for you… but honestly… I think you just did it. I had a hard time reading what you wrote. You conveyed how you felt, how it affected the people around you and how the world was different for you now.

That’s really all you have to do. You simply need to take what you wrote above and elaborate on it. Build on the feelings you’ve already expressed. If you have trouble finding the right words, ask around. Ask the other people who knew him to help you. Maybe have other people contribute or even write in quotes. Word articulation comes much easier to some people than others, especially if they aren’t grieving as badly.

I know it doesn’t seem like it, but you’re not alone. There are people out there ready and willing to help. You just have to make the big leap and… ask. You’ll be surprised how many people will come out of the woodwork if they haven’t already.

As cliche as it may sound, speak from the heart and readers will pick up on it. Write genuinely and people will pick up on it. Just put your feelings down on paper, all of them. Once you’re done, sort them out, or ask for help in organizing them into some semblance of coherency. Don’t worry about how it sounds, just get what you can down on paper. Trust me, once you start writing, the words will begin to flow. It takes time, but it will happen.

So on that note… I’m sorry… I can’t really help you any more than that, because honestly, you can write for eternity and never fully convey how wonderful a person is or how you felt. Every day is a different emotion worth a million words, probably infinitely more than that in your case.

Just don’t give up, write as much as you can until you feel that you’ve gotten out a satisfactory amount. Please feel free to email me back if you have trouble finding the right words. I’ll be happy to help!

All – please take a moment to thank our friend for her loved one’s sacrifice… and any advice or words of encouragement you can give her would be greatly appreciated. Don’t forget to support our men and women in uniform!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

Hi James,

I’m having trouble writing a character with a dual personality. Do you have any advice on writing a character that talks to themselves? I can’t seem to figure out a way to do it that won’t be confusing.

Thanks,
AJ

Hi AJ,

If the character has a dual personality, then we’re not necessarily talking about the character talking to himself. At least not as far as the character is concerned.

I actually tackle this one in Damnation with Xaphine.

In this story, we’re dealing with a fallen angel that has been corrupted by the powers of Hell. In order to keep her safe, the devil places her on Earth in the form of a human. He also completely wipes her mind. She doesn’t even completely remember her own name and chooses the name Xaphine for herself.
This is a bit of a spoiler alert, but I’ll do my best not to give away too much;

Because of extenuating circumstances, the angel, General Xaphan (now Xaphine) spends about a decade among humans, more time than anyone intended. She marries, has friends, and a life that she cherishes. When the devil finally comes for her, she puts up a fight. He eventually restores her memory but because he’s lost much of his power, he’s unable to remove… as he calls it, the human taint.
Because of this, the clash of her human memories with those of her angelic ones completely destroys her psyche. To compensate, her mind quickly separates both sets of memories and forms two symbiotic personalities, one is a confused mesh of her human traits, as well as her angelic persona, while the other is the darker persona combined with her angelic traits.

So how do I make that work when they need to confront one another? Well… I guess you could say that I make her hallucinate. Time freezes and she goes to an undisclosed location where her other personality exists when its not in control. They argue about what to do in certain circumstances.

So that’s pretty much how I handle dual personalities. I also name them differently. One is Xaphan, the other is Xaphine.

Otherwise, you’re pretty much just going back and forth saying ‘he said to himself’ and ‘he thought to himself.’

I hope this helps!

Readers, how do you handle this type of thing? Let AJ know in the comments!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim