What's the "BUZZZZ" About. . .

HELLO FANS:

Lately, I've been having some interesting conversations with various people, and one, in particular, stood out from all the rest.  I realized quickly that one of the reasons why people like the stories I write, is because they love the dialogue between my characters.  It just occurred to me that not only do I pay attention to our human element, I pay close attention to what people talk about.

When you're looking for something interesting for your characters to talk about, think about the people you talk with and how everyone is contributing.  Follow the mannerisms of each person.  Take notice how you are reacting.  Some people speak with their hands.  Some speak with cartoon-'ish' facial expressions.  Some touch the other person they are speaking with, and some cross their arms across their chest.  Body language is everything.  Have you ever witnessed two people speaking, and without being able to hear, you can tell from the body language exactly what they are talking about?

After I chuckled to myself realizing this would be a fun post to blog about, I thought about the things people say to one another that create conflict.  I call them, "buzz words."  When a person starts off a conversation with, "I don't mean any harm, BUT. . ." or "Don't ever let anyone tell you you're (fill in the blanks). . ." or "Please don't take this the wrong way, (fill in the blanks. . .), BUT you're still a great person," or "You are very attractive to be (fill in the blanks), BUT I still think you're hot" or you've had a full conversation and the person states, "Honestly, though, in a manner of speaking. . ."  So. . . what are you saying, you were lying through the entire conversation, and now you're being honest?  My all-time favorite is, "For you to be. . . (fill in the blanks), I still like you."  Buzz words are another way of insulting a person, but the person doing the insulting considers himself to be paying you a compliment.  Yeah, right?

Just reading those buzz words immediately makes the blood boil a little.  When you think about the rude and inconsiderate comments people in everyday life say to one another, remember those feelings and use them when creating characters and dialogue.  It definitely makes for an interesting read, and your readers will be able to identify with the emotions that go along with them, which brings another topic to mind.

I read recently that some authors, including myself, have given advice to novice authors that they should write what they know.  And the article I read said this is the worst advice to give because in order to write make-believe, you don't have to know anything to write those stories.  Well, I totally disagree.  Novice writers struggle with creativity and keeping their stories flowing.  Unless you are truly gifted with the blessing of words, it does help to write about things you know because it promotes creativity.  I've written several short make-believe stories that were total fantasy, but knowing a little about the situations I created for my characters helped to create those stories.  Having a little knowledge in anything you do is key to what it is you're trying to create, which is why I always tell anyone writing, do as much research on different topics so you can create all the types of stories you wish to write.  The more knowledge you have, the more believable (whether fantasy or not) your story will be, and your readers will be able to believe the story and the characters.

I know this is true for me because so many of my readers tell me how real my characters are to them.  I've never created a film in my life, but my main character in SILENT KNIGHT is a film maker.  I did a little research on making films and watching documentaries which gave me more insight into how Clarence would do his film he created in the book.  For this writer, the more I know about anything, the better I am equipped to write my story, which is why my stories appear real (that also includes my fantasy stories).

So whether your characters are based off of people you know, or someone you made up in your head, think about how people interact with one another, and pay close attention to when people are speaking, so you can create interesting dialogue for your characters.  Try using some of those "buzz words," and I guarantee you, that will get some conflict building between your characters, and your readers will love it.

As always, Peace, Much Love and Write ON! writers.

Kimberly Ranee Hicks, Author/Poet

Write ON!:  http://www.kimberlyraneehicks.biz

Write ON!'s Blog:  http://mellojune.blogspot.com

Contact:  mellojune@kimberlyraneehicks.com



A MIGHTY PEN. . .

HELLO FANS:

In past blog posts, we've talked about various writing techniques such as building characters, story line structuring, being creative, taking notes, sticking to your writing schedule, etc., and this week we're going to focus on writing responsibly. You're probably asking, "what is that about?" Well, living in the United States, we have lots of creative freedom to think, speak and write whatever we want, regardless if others agree with our points of view, which is why many of us writers enjoy what we do, but there is a fine line to being creative and being responsible.

I remember one of my English teachers posed a question to his sixth grade class. "Students, is the pen mightier than the sword?" The children looked around the classroom with a look of confusion on most of our faces and some shrugged their shoulders, perhaps because they didn't understand the question, while others waited to see who would respond first. One classmate yelled out that the sword was mightier, as he demonstrated by standing up, swinging his arms and hands wildly, as if he were a ninja. Our teacher smiled and asked anyone else to respond. There was a bit of chatter among the students, and more hollered out the sword because it can take a person out.

Of course, there was no way I was going to agree with the rest of my classmates, so I raised my hand and said the pen is mightier. My teacher leaned back on his desk with arms folded in front of him. "Kimberly, why do you say that," he asked? My response, "the pen is mightier because what you write will last a lifetime, whereas if you use a sword to kill a person, once they are dead, that's the end of it. Words are lasting, the sword is not." The classmates were whispering and pointing their fingers at me, and at first I was afraid because I thought maybe I was wrong, but something inside me said to stand firm with my answer.

Our teacher looked at me and said, "Kimberly that's a great answer and very insightful." Needless to say, this opened up a debate in our English class. My teacher pointed out that my answer was correct and he divided our class up into sides and asked us to give examples of why we each felt either the pen or the sword was the mightiest. I always loved English class, and especially when we would have debate, such as the one I mentioned.

I knew very early in life just how powerful words can be. The funny thing about it, words are more powerful now than ever before because of the Internet and the way we socialize with one another. Everyone writes on a daily basis, through our social networks or texting a family member or friend, but make no mistake, words are a powerful source of communication. This is why I am always stating to my fans or anyone who will listen, be careful of the words you speak, and, more importantly, of the words you write, because once words are born, you cannot go back and abort them.

Pasted from BlackAmericaWeb.com

Case in point, recently an author named, Satoshi Kanazawa, wrote an article entitled "Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?," which sparked much heated debate among black women, and women in general.  He posted this article on Psychology Today.  The article goes on to say, Satoshi Kanazawa used Add Health methodology (a national, federally funded survey of over 20,000 teenagers that began in 1994-95 and has continued into respondent’s adulthood) to come to the dubious conclusion that black women are the least attractive women among white, Asian and Native American women, but that black men are the most attractive among the same ethnic groups. The reason, according to Kanazawa? Black women and men, descendants of Africa, have more testosterone. The “good news” is that black women are not less attractive because of weight or their potentially lower intelligence, just their excess masculine hormones. (Black men may be cheered by the fact that despite THEIR implied lower intelligence, their testosterone makes them much more attractive than all other men.)  To read more on this ridiculous article, go to Black America Web.com.   Hmm, do you think Mr. Kanazawa was being very responsible when he wrote that article?



Pasted from Wikipedia.org



Are you still not convinced that the pen is mightier?  Do you remember when Mommie Dearest, the movie, came out back in 1981 starring Faye Dunaway, based off of the book written by Joan Crawford's adoptive daughter, Christina Crawford? I always enjoyed watching Joan Crawford's movies on TV and thought what a beautiful woman she was until Mommie Dearest came out.  Christina definitely proved that the pen is mightier than the sword because, even if everything she wrote were lies, which I believed everything she stated, her words will always live on, and she has tainted Joan Crawford's reputation with them.  According to Christina, her mother didn't leave her anything in the Will, but look at the legacy she left on the world, not to mention, she gained wealth.  I hate to admit it, but I certainly changed my view of the movie starlet, after reading the book and seeing the movie.  I gained a whole new respect for the written word.  Mommie Dearest.

So, fellow and future authors, we have a certain amount of responsibility when we are creating. Whether what we are writing is fiction or fact, your words impact others tremendously, and I caution you to think about that when you are writing. I realize some writers put stories out for shock value and to gain readership, some do it to change your views and opinions, but no matter what the reason is you are writing, remember, once you put it out there~~there is no turning back! Writers have a tremendous amount of power, more so than some may realize, then again, most writers do recognize this and use it to his/her own advantage. When creating characters or story lines, based off of people you know, be careful that you're not hurting those you care about. I am often asked by friends to put them into one of my stories, but I am cautious when doing so because I may paint a character differently than what my friend may think of himself, and it can cause hurt feelings.

Write responsibly, and have fun! Until next time, Peace, Love and Write ON! writers.

Kimberly Ranee Hicks, Author/Poet
Write ON!:  http://www.kimberlyraneehicks.biz/
Write ON!'s Blog: http://mellojune.blogspot.com/
Email:  mellojune@kimberlyraneehicks.com

CHARACTERS WELCOME. . .

HELLO FANS:

Lately, I've given you tips on ways to be creative and to write, and today we're going to examine how to build characters for your stories. For me, characters have never been a problem to create because I have all sorts of interesting characters who plague my mind all the time, as I have mentioned to you before. And the nice thing about them is, they show me who they are, so it's easy for me to write what I see, but this isn't always an easy thing to do for some writers.

One thing you must do to be a good writer is to observe all of your surroundings. What may appear to be insignificant to some, is a great deal of importance to me, as a writer. An easy exercise to follow is to sit outside and watch what is going on around you. Make sure you have a notepad or a laptop or electronic tablet with you, so you can write what you see. How are people interacting with each other? From observing their body language, what is it telling you? Are these individuals happy or sad, confused or worried, angry or upset? What type of clothing are they wearing? What do they look like? Are they tall or short? Thin or fat? What kind of features do their face have? What physical ailments do they have, if any? You get the general idea. Just write what you see, and worry about the notes later. Remember, these are your personal notes, so you don't have to make them neat and orderly--all of that will come later. You'd be amazed at what you can learn from just watching people and gain a better understanding of the human element.

When you're alone at home, you should open a window and sit, with eyes closed, and listen to what you hear? Are there birds chirping? Do you hear cars driving up and down the street? Can you tell the difference in what type of vehicles you hear? SUV or car, possibly a motorcyle or bike? Is the engine noisy or is it smooth and quiet? Do you hear children? If so, are they yelling, laughing or screaming at one another? Can you tell how they are feeling from what you hear? Do you hear leaves scraping against the ground? Is it raining, and if so, what are the sounds you hear? After you've sat for about five or ten minutes, write down what you heard. Again, these notes will be used later.

After you've completed the above exercises, you need to have some kind of idea of what it is you would like to write. If you're not sure, it's okay because this is why you took the notes. When I try to write something and not sure what I'm going to write, my notes are like a Bible to me. I use them to build the characters I plan to create, and the more you use your notes, the better you will become at creating interesting characters for your stories, and the nice perk about that is sometimes it will open your mind and a story will almost create itself without you having to put forth much effort. Before you know it, you have a general outline for the beginnings of a novel.

What I just described to you is exactly how I wrote Silent Knight. I had no idea where that story was going or where it planned to take me. I wrote down what my characters showed me, and when I examined my notes, I was lost. I literally sat at my desk, with fingers brushing the keyboard of my laptop, and Silent Knight just fell out of my mind. I was shocked because I really didn't plan to write exactly what I wrote, but again, you get the idea.

I can't tell you how many times when I'm out and about and see things happening between people, my husband will say to me, "I know that will end up in one of your books one day." I usually smile and think to myself, he's absolutely right. Each night that I sat down to write the novel, I would laugh at what my characters were doing. Creativity for writers takes on different forms, and some of what I say to you may sound weird, but it's how I create. Another key element to creating characters is knowing them. I'm sure I may have mentioned this to you before. I know my characters so well that when I slip up and write dialogue that I meant to use for another character, right away I know it's not something that particular character would say. You need to be as intimate with your characters as possible so they come across as believable, and more importantly, your characters will entrust you with the story you are building.

Some of you may be thinking, "well Kim is talking like these characters are people she personally knows?" The short answer to that is, some of my characters are based off of people I know, so yes, I do know some of them pretty well. However, on the other hand, just observing people and taking great notes, I get to know them--that is, if they didn't pop up on my silver screen in my mind. As I will state again, and I cannot reiterate enough, practice makes perfect. The more you do these exercises, the better you will be. My mind is like a sponge. I soak up as much information as I can and spill it out on the laptop, as soon as my sponge is full. When I go back over to review the last few chapters I've written, I'm always surprised at what I read. It's like someone else is writing the words, and I'm just a book lover looking in.

This is why I stress to you always, you must never, ever, ever give up writing, if it's truly something you love doing or are aspiring to become. Writing is not easy to master, even for those of us who have been kissed with the gift of words. Even your well-known authors have to stay on top of their A-game. You can never learn enough, when it comes to writing. Also remember, it's good practice to read lots of books and see how well-established authors write. I don't mean for you to copy their style, but find books you enjoy, and see how their work flows. That, too, will give you great insight on how to develop and find your own writing style.

As always, stay focused, practice, keep to your writing schedule, research material and do your homework, read, read, and read some more, and when your sponge is full, release it onto your computer and see where your story takes you. Writing is meant to be enjoyable, so most definitely have fun with your characters and storylines! Remember, Peace, Love and Write ON! Writers.



Kimberly Ranee Hicks, Author/Poet
WRITE ON!: http://www.kimberlyraneehicks.biz/
BLOG: http://mellojune.blogspot.com/
Email:  mellojune@kimberlyraneehicks.com



A NEGATIVE POSITIVE. . .

HELLO FANS:

First, I'd like to thank all the indie authors, thus far, who have contacted me and expressed their interest in my new website featuring our work on WRITE ON!  It is really taking off, and I can't thank you enough.  Keep those contacts going.  I have several authors lined up for the coming weeks, and if you'd like to be featured, please review the "Author SPOTLIGHT" tab at the top of this blog.

Now, what I really want to blog about today is something I've been seeing on many blogs and social media networks and that's how to deal with negative criticism.  Before I get into how I handle that, it's important for me to advise that criticism is a necessary evil, if you will, and it helps us to expand and grow artistically.

Of course, no matter what your talent is, which I truly believe each and every human has something special and unique they do, there are going to be those who enjoy the work you do and there are going to be those who absolutely hate it, and you know what, IT'S OK!  Since I believe in keeping it real, I'm not going to sugarcoat what I'm about to outline here.

Criticism is never a pleasant experience.  I don't know anyone who loves being criticized.  Have you ever seen a person who developed a project and say, "hey, talk about it all you want?"  Aaah, no, so criticism is hard to accept, but it's something we must learn to deal with.

When I first wrote Mello & June, not every review I received was glowing.  I had some people who said it was too graphic (the love scenes, that is), and it turned them off.  I was told that I shouldn't have made the love scenes so detailed between my main characters.  I immediately got agitated by those who made these comments because I'm like is the sex all they saw in this story?  My whole problem with those critiques was that I work hard to always give my stories a powerful message for my readers to come away with, but not everyone saw the story that way. 

Then I had those who said they absolutely loved the love scenes and liked that it felt real.  The point I'm trying to make to you is, again, some loved what Mello & June was about, and others didn't.  Instead of getting into a debate with these not-so-glowing reviews, I thanked them for their honesty and for reading my book.  Sure, I could have said what the hell is wrong with you, don't you know how hard it was for me to write this book, and how many countless hours I spent writing an actual storyline, and the story wasn't about sex, there were only three love scenes in the entire book, but instead, I just chilled, which is what anyone calling themselves an author should do.  You should NEVER speak nasty to any reader and go off on that individual because they didn't agree with something you've written.  No respectable author would ever behave in that manner.

What you should be asking yourself when you receive a not-so-glowing review is:  Is there any truth to what the reviewer stated?  Is there something I can learn from the criticism?  For me, those are the first two questions I ask myself when I receive negative criticism.  And truth be told, I did learn something from those critiques, which is why my writing in, SILENT KNIGHT, was stronger.  Plus, the more you write, the better you should become, which is with anything you're fine tuning. 

The bottom line is every author wants every reader to love his work, but the truth of the matter is, everyone isn't going to like what you write, and you have to be happy with the work product you produced and learn to move on from it.  There are some reviewers who are extremely harsh and knit-pick every single sentence you write, and some will go as far as to attack the author personally.  Unfortunately, I've dealt with that type of criticism too, and again, when I receive those types of negative comments, I ignore them.  What I find is many reviewers, or those who consider themselves a reviewer, secretly wish they could do the very thing it is you're doing, and that's writing.  Not all reviewers behave in this manner, but you will run across a few, and again, it's okay.  Ask yourself if their critique has any merit, and if it doesn't, do not allow those types of critiques to rent space in your memory bank.  Never allow a negative response from a reviewer to erect a building on your real estate (your mind).  Take what you need, if you find you need it, and if not, keep it moving.

I have had a few young authors ask me about how to deal with criticism, and I hope my answer suits them.  Everyone judges the work of others, that's what makes the world go around.  You must always stay true to yourself and what you stand for and never allow others, sometimes bad behavior, determine how you are to respond.  No matter what, negative or positive, you must stick with writing.  I mention that all the time.  You may never quit, because that is not what real writers do.  If you stop writing based on a few negative responses, you were never a writer to begin with, and, you will never perfect your writing.  The only way you will get better is to keep on writing.  Practice makes perfect, something my mother has instilled in me ever since I was able to comprehend what that meant.  Never, ever, ever give up!  And that not only applies to writers, but to anyone with a dream they want to see become a reality!

Remember, the only thing standing in your way. . .is standing in your way!  And when you allow others to take the lead over you, you'll always be second best!  Stay focused and keep on point with your goals.  You can do whatever your heart desires, but you've got to get it together and just do it!  As always, much love, my fellow and future authors, and WRITE ON! writers.



Kimberly Ranee Hicks, Author/Poet
Web Mistress of WRITE ON! http://www.kimberlyraneehicks.biz/
WRITE ON!'s Blog: http://mellojune.blogspot.com/
Contact:  mellojune@kimberlyraneehicks.com