GUEST BLOG
So You Wanna Write a Book
By Barbara Oliverio
Hmm. It’s a headscratcher. I certainly don’t have THE magic formula, but
I can share the steps I follow that seem to work for me.
Research your genre. Whether you are going to write
mystery, paranormal, young adult or any other genre, you need to know what the
genre looks and feels like so that you can know how to reach your target
audience. I chose to write romantic comedy for my debut novel Love on the Back Burner, not because it
is the only genre I read, but because it fit well with the story I wanted to
tell. While preparing to write it, I must have read thousands of romances to
understand the ebb and flow. I knew that I was going to concentrate on comedy
and dialog, so I also watched romcom movies to study that dialog. Eventually, I
could map out the rise and fall of a plot and it was ingrained in my head.
Interview your characters. I create a
“persona” sheet for each of my characters. On it I give a physical description
and list everything I know about them. I list their favorite colors, movies,
books and tell what their hobbies and interests are. I write down where they
went to school and have them tell me about their favorite memory. Usually, I
also find a photo of a celebrity who the character would resemble. (In Love on the Lido Deck, I reviewed the
web for photos of blonde actresses with extraordinary green eyes to base the
character of Keira). Does all the information make it into the book? Probably
not, but if I have a solid background on each character, I am better able to
have them move through the story organically and stay in character.
Know how characters are related. I take a big sheet of paper and draw a circle with the name of my main
character smack dab in the middle of it. Then I draw circles near her depicting
the people that she is directly connected or related to. At that point, I draw
straight lines from people who know each other directly, and dotted lines from
people who only know “of” one another. What I end up with is a map that assures
that one character can’t comment about someone they don’t know and upset the
continuity of the story. You can do the same with index cards on a corkboard
and different colors of yarn connecting them.
Outline – but don’t get stuck on it. I know. That sounds contradictory, but it works for me. I make a broad
sweeping outline of the plot of the story because, after all, if you don’t know
where you are going, you’ll never get there. I’m never afraid to let my
characters lead me down a different path occasionally. They sometimes have
better ideas than I do! I do reserve the right to reel them back and get them
on my path if where they go doesn’t work. (Note: I do have some author friends
who outline meticulously and others who don’t outline at all – I’m just telling
you what works for me.)
Set a schedule. We’ve all seen the movies and seen
the writers stricken by the muse. That’s the movies. In real life, writing is a
task that needs to be scheduled. I give myself a number of words per day.
(Usually, I go over that number). Even if you think you are blocked, and the
words that you write look awful at the moment, you will have written SOMETHING.
You can always delete and start again the next day, or edit, or save the bit
for somewhere else.
I do all researching, etc., before I
even write the first word in Chapter One. Folks are surprised when I tell them
how quickly my writing flows, but I attribute it to all of the planning and
research I do. I guess it’s a version of “measure twice, cut once” and I’m
pretty sure that my little papa taught me that as I tagged along while he did
projects around the house. Hey! Who knew that building a bookcase and building
a book had so much in common!
ABOUT THE BOOK
When she gets a game-changing opportunity to organize a major
event on a luxury Caribbean cruise, Keira turns to best pal chef Alexandria
D'Agostino to help recruit famous chefs who will offer classes for foodies
looking for fun in the sun as they gain cooking know-how. The cruise becomes a
rollicking adventure for Keira, her sassy assistant Juliet, the entire
D'Agostino clan, Keira's mother and other surprise guests. And has Keira meet
her match in charismatic Cruise Director Brennan McAllister, who could have
something more than keeping everything shipshape on his mind?
AN EXCERPT
I picked up the phone and punched in
a number I would never forget.
“Maeve Graham,” answered the
familiar voice.
“Mother, it’s me.” My mouth curled
into a smile thinking of my mother probably just getting back from a charity
breakfast, slipping off her impeccable heels to put on the comfy pink slippers
I had knit for her when I was eight and going through my crafts phase.
“Keira, my sweet”—I heard the love
in her voice— ”I was just thinking about you. Can you come over for tea and let
me show you the new mare we’ve gotten in?”
My mother lived on the 35-acre
estate that my father had inherited in tony horse country right outside the
city. It was where I grew up, and the word home to me always conjured up the
sounds of horses in the background. The stables were not as full as they once
were, but she still had a number of our own horses as well as some that she
boarded.
“Sorry, Mother, but I am slammed
with work.”
“Oh.” I heard the disappointment in
her voice. Then she brightened. “That’s okay, I’ll see you at the Witheroe
wedding this weekend, won’t I?”
“Mother, you’ll see me there but as
the event planner, remember? Not as a guest.” Although she had been the source
of most of my first leads when I started my own event-planning service in
Denver, my mother sometimes forgot that I was the hired help now.
“Of course, dear,” she paused.
“Mother, is something wrong?”
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