This is more of a rant, so if you’re looking for advice, you can skip this post.

Have you ever seen or read about a character that at some point in the story encounters an issue that he was neither the cause of nor at fault with… yet when he’s confronted, he says nothing… for no apparent reason?

It’s especially frustrating when the person who confronted him later finds out that the character wasn’t at fault… but for some reason doesn’t ask why that character didn’t tell him the truth.

In cases where the character is standing up for, or defending, someone else, it’s understandable. However in other cases where there is no logical reason for it, the character keeps his mouth shut, thus incurring the wrath for something s/he isn’t guilty of.

So my question is why? Why does a character do this? All the writer accomplishes by having their character do this is getting the audience mad and making them yell at the screen/book saying, “What are you doing? Defend yourself! It wasn’t your fault!”

Am I missing something here? Let me 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 multiple 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

A good friend and writing colleague of mine recently asked me for advice about writing good romance into a story and it got me thinking…

A dangerous passtime…

Yeah, I know, but I thought I’d share some of my advice here…

So you’ve got two characters. They’re getting close… very close… but you don’t want this to become a romance novel. So how do you bring a romantic element into the story without it going fully over to the romance side of things…

Well honestly… make it an element, a plot point, just don’t make it the major point of the story. If the romance is anything more than a side mention, you’re doing something wrong.

The way I see it is that you can approach this from two ways; passively, which is what I do if I want it hinted that my characters like or love each other, but don’t want a major romantic element.

So let’s say you’ve made your decision. You know the characters are going to end up together. You want the readers to want these characters together. You want the mush, you want all that… so how do you prevent it from completely taking over the book like it so easily can?

Well first of all, donate one or two scenes to it. Don’t bring it up over and over. Let the characters experience everything once and then move on.

Second way… downplay it! In some of my more recent novels, I make the characters out to be friends, casual daters or… sex buddies at most. It’s not until the end of the story where one character reveals that they love the other… and honestly it’s only at this point that the romantic sub-plot has it’s effect.

Third way, keep the romance in hint only. What do I mean by that? Don’t come right out and say anything. Let them show affection for each other, but not like outright romantic affection. Let them connect slowly, compliment each other, work well together, and don’t even use the word ‘love.’

In any case, those are the ways I typically use. Let me know what you think 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 multiple 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 Jim,

HELP!!! I’M TRYING TO WRITE A SEQUEL, BUT I CAN’T COME UP WITH ANYTHING! I JUST DON’T HAVE THE SAME INSPIRATION WITH THESE CHARACTERS AS I DID IN THE FIRST BOOK! I GET HALF WAY THROUGH, AND JUST CAN’T SEEM TO GET THROUGH IT BECAUSE IT BADLY CHANGES THE CHARACTERS PERSONALITIES AND THE DYNAMIC OF THEIR RELATIONSHIPS!

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE???

THANKS,
KHIMBAY

Hi Khimbay,

First of all, you don’t have to shout. Do you know how many internet etiquette laws you’re breaking by typing in all caps? You’re breaking one; Do Not Type In All Caps!

Okay, on to your question… I’m in the same boat. I know that there has been a lot of people asking about Soul Siphon’s sequel and I tried to give the audience what they wanted. However I couldn’t get anywhere with it…

What was holding me up? Well for starters, I spent a lot of time writing Mary Kelly. I was very careful to portray her in a way I think would be like who the actual historical MK was… if she was resurrected and lived for another 130 years. However I couldn’t replicate that in the second story. Why? Because all the mystery behind her was gone. We know about her soft side now, we know that her bitterness was shield against her own problems. I kept trying, but I wasn’t happy with how she was coming out.

The second issue was writing the devil. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get her (yes, HER) right. I wanted her to be flamboyant, outgoing, and an all-around like-able character,  but that came off too much like a certain TV show we all know and most of us love.

So I tried again with the devil, trying to make her lose her memory so that the one lacking her previous history isn’t even and the group is left with the moral conundrum of what to do with the devil, who may not actually be the devil. Again, it went nowhere and I couldn’t get her right in a way that would have made people like her.

So… sorry everybody, the Soul Siphon series is… at this point in time, defunct. Will I revisit the universe at some point, yes. I still have things l’d like to do there, but I doubt it’ll be in the form of a direct sequel.

So… unfortunately Khimbay, I can’t help you as I don’t have an answer to this problem either. My solution is to simply wash my hands of the whole situation and simply say ‘That’s it, no more direct sequels.’

This is something I did with Damnation. I refused to drag the characters from Divinity back out into another adventure when the characters already been possessed, beaten, one had been tortured, raped, and murdered, while the others had been put through LITERAL Hell. I know they’re characters that I just made up, but to me, that’s just cruel, and I’ve honestly seen how mean-spirited writing hurts a story.
However, I knew I wanted to do a follow-up to show the effects of what happened in Divinity and needed to find a way around that. So I created new characters and wrote a whole new story around the events of the previous novel. Yes, a few of the old characters made appearances, but they were strictly cameos.

I’m actually planning on doing the same thing with Drakin: The Story of Raiya after its published. There will be other stories (hopefully many) that take place in the same world. Yes characters from  The Story of Raiya may make appearances (if they survive), and will get honorable mentions, but the follow-up stories will not be about them. A post-apocalyptic world where humanity is recovering from literal decades of bloodshed to the point where they were facing extinction, opens up the possibility to a plethora of stories that can be created. The potential is there and the characters are waiting to be written… and I personally can’t wait. I plan on spending a lot of time in that world. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a familiar face or two along the way.

So that’s my advice to you, Khimbay and I apologize for going off-topic a little. If you don’t want to write a direct sequel, but do want to do a follow-up? Write a new story in the same universe. It’s technically still a sequel.

Hope this helps, but maybe our readers have other ideas, so I’ll open it up to the floor. What does everyone think? Do you have advice for Khimbay? Let me 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 multiple 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 Jim,

I have a rather unusual one for you. I’m trying to write a romance story dealing with two completely different species. However one of the characters who is going to be part of the relationship is only about 13 years old. Her race essentially reaches maturity at six years old, though they still look physically young and only live for about 40 years. I can’t retcon this because I’ve written previous books dealing with this race. I’m concerned that people may find this story to be promoting pedophilia. Do you have any advice on what I should do or how to write the characters?

Thanks,
(Name omitted by request)

Hello Anonymous,

Oh jeez… I’m afraid you’ve got me at a bit of an impasse here. On one hand, I am a strong advocate for freedom of expression and to write whatever you want outside of threats and incitement, but I’m also a huge child welfare advocate. So this posses a bit of a problem for me. Let’s see…

I mean technically you can write whatever you want, that’s your freedom, but you’re going to want to be aware of some things…

1. If your book gets any level of notoriety, be prepared for some blow back. Fire Emblem Awakening got it with Nowi. There will be accusations of pedophilia and things like that. Like it or not, even if that’s not your intent, you will get some people being icked out by things like this.
2. I STRONGLY recommend you check into your local laws. Several states/countries have decency laws that could take issue with what you’re writing. I’m not a lawyer nor a law professor, but this is something you definitely want to be aware of.

All in all, its your story, so write what you want. Several series have tackled unorthodox relationships in the past, Kes from Star Trek Voyager for example. This is why I’ve said that you should just write what you want to read instead of worrying about what others want. Keep in mind, you wouldn’t be the first to write something like this. There are movies, video games, books, etc. that cover this topic as well.

So as long as you’re not breaking any laws, I’d say write your story, see how it comes out and then determine how you want to go forward with it. You’re going to get critics whether you like it or not, so just be ready for it.

I’m sorry if this isn’t very helpful, but this really goes along with what I’ve said all along; Write what you’d like to read and then let your audience decide if they enjoy it. That’s really the best way to write.

Readers, do you have any advice?

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

Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

So you’ve finished writing your book (Congrats btw).

It’s taken you weeks, if not months. You’ve gotten all your thoughts down on paper, arranged everything coherently, and added more description and metaphor to your story.

Now you’re done and the book is in the hands of your editor. Now what? Well you are going to be doing some writing when the editor get’s back to you with each chapter, so don’t stress too much. However, now you’re not writing consistently every day. You thought that once you finished, you’d be filled with a sense of relief, but instead you’re sitting there not knowing what to do with yourself.

This can understandably be a very stressful time for a writer, mentally. You feel like you should be writing. The stress you usually feel when you’re not able to work on your book during the normal time you would is still with you. Your brain apparently hasn’t caught up with reality that YOU’VE FINISHED! So what do you do? How do you handle it?

Keep writing, duh!

No… not really a good idea. One, don’t add more to your book. If you weren’t done with it to your satisfaction, you never should have handed it off to the editor. Most of us could keep working on the same book until judgement day, but that is not healthy. Your book is done. It’s in the hands of the editor now and once the edits are complete, the next step is publishing. Let it go.

Starting on another writing assignment right off is also a bad idea. Writers are not immune to burnout and often any writing done now will suffer the effects of rebound. Painful though it may be, you need a break.

As a writer, you sacrifice a lot of time staring at a computer screen. No doubt you’ve lost out on some time with your family… and likely have put on a little weight. It’s normal as writers tend to get a little consumed. Normal, but not healthy.

Get out of the house, get some exercise, make up some lost time, do some of the things you enjoy. That keyboard will still be there when you’re ready with a new idea and you’ve had enough time to destress and detox.

This is also healthy because, in addition to allowing your mind to relax, once you’ve had a chance to detox, your mind will be wide open and receptive to new ideas. Going out and experiencing the world will give it new sensations to absorb and before you know it, you may have another story to write.

In short, yes writing is time consuming… if not life consuming, but once you’ve finished one piece, taking a break is so important. I’d say give it 3-6 months AT MINIMUM before writing something new.

Readers, how do you detox your mind after finishing your writing? How long do you take off? Let me 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 multiple 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