Taste of Cyn

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Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Refuges And Writing Caves

Family (Including Pets) Of Book Characters

By Cynthia Sax on August 1, 2020

My Awesome Mom is a cozy mystery reader. Many heroines in cozy mysteries have pets.

My Mom worries about these pets. This was a recent conversation I enjoyed with her.

***

Awesome Mom: (on the phone) The lady in this book has been away from her border collie all day. She’s going to return to an ‘accident’ on the carpet. That’s for certain.

Cynthia Sax: (grins) Dogs in books don’t tend to have ‘accidents.’

Awesome Mom: They might not say it on the page but you and I both know that border collie is leaving a ‘gift’ in one of her shoes.

LOL

***

We, as readers, tend to care about a character’s family members, including fur babies. As a writer, I care about them also.

It is one of the HUGE considerations when writing stories. The heroine might have found love with a hunky cyborg but what happens to her loving parents? Will THEY be happy with her daughter living on a faraway planet? Will the hero’s being-eating ‘pet’ be happy living on a crowded ship? Will the hero’s brethren accept the heroine’s newborn human female?

I not only look at their current happiness but I also consider their future happiness. What happens when the newborn becomes a toddler or a teenager or an adult? What happens when the parents get older or need help? Will the being-eating pet want a family of his own?

The hero or heroine would consider the happiness of their loved ones. As a writer, I do the same.

***

Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Testing Truth

A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.

***

Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts every call of adventure he encounters.

That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.

If they survive their current mission.

Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish to see another sunrise.

Pre-order Now:

Amazon US:

Amazon UK:

Amazon AUS:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/testing-truth/id1520415369

Apple Books:

B&N:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/testing-truth-cynthia-sax/1137237855

Kobo:

Smashwords:

Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Family (Including Pets) Of Book Characters

Pantsing, Plotting and Plotzing

By Cynthia Sax on July 29, 2020

Stock Art Crafted By And Indirectly Purchased From: grandfailure

There are three types of writers.

Plotters

These are writers who know the entire story before they sit down to write that first line. They are more likely to have elaborate plot diagrams and character interviews and other wonderful things. They know the goals, motivations, conflicts, where the turning points are, what type of words their heroine would use in sentences.

Pantsers

These are writers who write by the seat of their pants. They sit down to a blank screen, knowing nothing or only knowing that first scene. Their characters lead them. They type as quickly as they can and try to keep up with their characters.

Plotzers

Plotzers are a combination of the first two writers. They might know their characters but they don’t know the plot. They might have one line about every chapter but not much else. They might plot and then throw out that plot halfway through the first draft.

Which Type Of Writer Is Best?

There is no way of knowing, by reading a story, which type of writer wrote the story. There are best selling plotters, best selling pantsers, best selling plotzers. There are pantsers who write the most intricate 10 story series. There are plotters who only write standalone stories.

There ARE a gazillion books on plotting or explaining how a pantser can become a plotter. IMHO…if a pantser can become a plotter, she was likely either truly a plotzer or a plotter OR something happened that caused her brain to change (some of my writing buddies say this can happen during menopause, for example).

I can’t plot. Or, more specifically, I can craft a plot but then the story doesn’t get written or it deviates wildly from that plot or it has zero magic. The magic is in the pantsing for me. I can’t seem to find it with plotting (other writers can ONLY find the magic with plotting).

Why aren’t there a gazillion books on pantsing? Because pantsing is very challenging to explain to another writer and pantsing is also often different for each writer. I see a movie in my head (it is like dreaming). Some writers hear only dialogue. Some writers see text.

The Trad World Is Designed For Plotters

One of the reasons pantsers attempt to become plotters is because the world doesn’t understand pantsing.

Agents and editors, especially those associated with the big New York Trad Publishers, ask for things like partials, for example. Partials consist of the first 3 chapters and a synopsis detailing the ENTIRE story. A pantser doesn’t have this unless she has written the entire story. I would make sh*t up and then go through the painful exercise of refining a plot I knew I’d never write. (This is one of the many reasons I’m so happy to be Indie now.)

Stock Art Crafted By And Indirectly Purchased From: Ashrafov

Plotters Vs Pantsers And Writing Speed

Another reason pantsers attempt to become plotters is due to the myth floating around that plotters complete stories faster than pantsers.

That’s complete bullsh*t. There’s no correlation between the type of writer and writing speed. I, as a pantser, do one more draft than many of my plotting buddies but I also don’t take a week or more thinking about my plot and characters. It all evens out.

Do I throw away scenes? Yes, I do. But I learned things about my characters when I wrote those scenes. They weren’t wasted scenes. And, thankfully, words are plentiful. I don’t have to worry about running out of them. (grins)

Plotters throw out their diagrams after their books are published and that doesn’t seem to concern anyone.

Forcing yourself to write in an unnatural way also increases the likelihood you’ll get word constipation. If you’re not writing any words, you’re not completing stories quickly.

Which Type Of Writer Are You?

The best way to figure out which type of writer you are is to try a variety of writing techniques. Try plotting. Try pantsing. Try a combination of the two. Try different techniques. Read different books on crafting stories.

If you try 5 or 6 techniques and one way works best for you, use that technique until it stops working for you. Then consider going through the process again.

Pantsing And Craft

There’s a myth that pansters don’t need to learn craft (learning 3 act structure or GMC or turning points, etc). IMHO…I find it is the opposite for me. I need to know craft so fraggin’ well; I internalize it during the writing of the first draft. I also need to know it when my first draft doesn’t quite work. Maybe my structure is off. Maybe I have to look at my characters again.

Being a pantser is NOT a reason to ignore craft.

Do Whatever Works For You

Do whatever works for you. If a technique is working for you, if it makes you happy, pleases the muse, gets stories written, think before changing your technique.

If someone tells you there’s one ‘right way’ to write, smile and nod and then purge that feedback from your brain. They’ve found THEIR ‘right way’ for the moment and that’s awesome. I’m happy for them.

But their ‘right way’ might not be YOUR ‘right way’.

***

Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Testing Truth

A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.

***

Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts every call of adventure he encounters.

That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.

If they survive their current mission.

Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish to see another sunrise.

Pre-order Now:

Amazon US:

Amazon UK:

Amazon AUS:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/testing-truth/id1520415369

Apple Books:

B&N:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/testing-truth-cynthia-sax/1137237855

Kobo:

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Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Pantsing, Plotting and Plotzing

Book Brain And Writers Working Weekends

By Cynthia Sax on July 25, 2020

My goal for today is to complete the second draft of Warlord’s Return (releasing in November). That requires revising the last three chapters.

I have SEVERE book brain. The book is all I can think about. The Dear Wonderful Hubby knows there is no holding a logical conversation with me on days like this. I am useless for making decisions. He usually either makes dinner or he orders it…and he always has quite a bit of chocolate on hand. (grins)

It is Saturday and I woke at my usual 8 am and will likely work until 2am or longer. I don’t usually work THIS hard on a weekend, only when I’m completing second drafts, but I almost always do something writing-related.

Many writers work weekends. Writers who juggle a full time job in another field with the writing often devote their weekends to writing. We might not appear as much on social media or answer emails on the weekend but that doesn’t mean we’re not working.

Being a writer is, in my humble opinion, one of the best jobs in the world. When we love what we do, we tend to do it more often…and on weekends. (smiles)

***

Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Testing Truth

A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.

***

Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts every call of adventure he encounters.

That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.

If they survive their current mission.

Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish to see another sunrise.

Pre-order Now:

Amazon US:

Amazon UK:

Amazon AUS:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/testing-truth/id1520415369

Apple Books:

B&N:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/testing-truth-cynthia-sax/1137237855

Kobo:

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Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Book Brain And Writers Working Weekends

Story Ripples

By Cynthia Sax on July 23, 2020

One of the many things I love about writing in a (now) huge world like the cyborg series is I have the ability to see the ripples actions make throughout the universe.

Almost every story can be read on its own and that holds true for Testing Truth but the more stories you read, the more impact certain events will have on you, the more meaning they will have.

In Testing Truth, as one small example, the heroine’s planet had been occupied by the Humanoid Alliance. When the cyborgs rebelled, they took away the Humanoid Alliance’s fighting force. The Humanoid Alliance couldn’t hold the heroine’s planet. They retreated. The heroine and her subjects were freed.

(This is all relayed in the second chapter. It isn’t a spoiler.)

The actions in a story occurring 7 core stories ago impact this story. Truth wouldn’t have met his female in his story if the cyborgs hadn’t mass rebelled.

Every story changes the cyborgs’ world a little bit. The actions in Testing Truth will add more ripples to the world, especially for the Rebel cyborgs.

This is one of reasons I doubt I’ll ever get series fatigue. The world and the occupants of that world constantly change.

***

Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Testing Truth

A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.

***

Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts every call of adventure he encounters.

That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.

If they survive their current mission.

Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish to see another sunrise.

Pre-order Now:

Amazon US:

Amazon UK:

Amazon AUS:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/testing-truth/id1520415369

Apple Books:

B&N:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/testing-truth-cynthia-sax/1137237855

Kobo:

Smashwords:

Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Story Ripples

The Power Of Books During A Crisis

By Cynthia Sax on July 18, 2020

My Awesome Mom hasn’t left her small apartment since the middle of March. She hasn’t seen her kids or grandkids in person (except for my eldest brother who lives with her) since then. Being at high risk, she can’t allow anyone to visit her. Her beloved baseball has also been postponed. I worried she’d find all this challenging.

She is incredibly and marvelously happy.

Why?

One of the reasons she’s happy is because she has discovered large print cozy mysteries. She has been reading at least one of those a day. They give her an escape into another world, a world in which there is murder (grins) but that murder is always solved and there is no pandemic.

These books have not only given her joy but they have greatly eased my concerns over her emotional wellbeing.

Reading and writing stories during a crisis might seem like a trivial use of our time. In the movies, during times of crisis, people are constantly fighting to survive, battling the baddies. There’s no downtime. It is all action all the time.

This is reality, however, and we need downtime. We also need happiness. To experience moments of joy at a time like this, to have the ability to leave all our troubles behind and escape is essential. It is magical. It empowers us to handle everything else.

That’s not trivial. At all. That’s a gift, one we should cherish.

***

Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Testing Truth

A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.

***

Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts every call of adventure he encounters.

That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.

If they survive their current mission.

Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish to see another sunrise.

Pre-order Now:

Amazon US:

Amazon UK:

Amazon AUS:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/testing-truth/id1520415369

Apple Books:

B&N:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/testing-truth-cynthia-sax/1137237855

Kobo:

Smashwords: