Friday, September 16, 2011

Fictionpress Friday

Okay, first off, I apologize for my usage of cheesy alliteration.  But I love it.  I think it's clever as well as cheesy.

These posts probably won't be as long as the writing or personal posts because these are merely tips.  I figure you might be here to read about writing, possibly to read about me (I hope I'm not boring you too much), but some might want to learn how to break into Fictionpress.  As you may (or may not) know, I'm a writer on Fictionpress.  All of my stories (besides my one-shots) have over two hundred reviews.  My goal has always to be a published writer.  To be a published writer, you need to be able to sell your books.  Fictionpress is a good way to practice that so I'm here to offer tips that have worked for me.  I hope they help!

Tip #1:  Have a good story.  Common sense, right?  But you'd be surprised how many stories out there that aren't great or understandable or just plain unrelatable.  Some of my stories are original - I come up with the plot, characters, and everything else.  Some of my stories are modern takes of classic stories so my plot is already outlined, my characters are defined, but I have to give them my voice.  And some of my stories take certain plots or characters from movies and I tweak them in the way that I want.  I don't have to worry about keeping them "in-character" because I'm not writing fanfiction, and I try and give them my own unique spin.

A way to write a good story is to take your favorite fairytale and write it with your voice.  Modernize it.  Switch sexes.  (Instead of Cinderella meeting her prince, maybe a guy on the wrong side of the tracks meets a spoiled rich girl who's more than just a pretty face.)  Be creative.  It's your story.  And since the theme is universal - and there's romance - people will relate to it.

But you won't get hits if you don't have a well-written stories, well-rounded characters, a hook for a summary, and a catchy title.  We'll talk about those later on, though.  For now, choose a story/fairytale/plot you want to explore and write!

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