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| What motivates you to write your type of stories? ☕️ ♥️
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March 11, 2022
Oakland, CA
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| | Why do you write the kind of stories you write?
What motivates you to write these specific kind of stories?
I write science fiction mysteries featuring space station investigator, Janey McCallister.
Many people think that the justice system sucks. Seems like people get away with all kinds of things. But when former science teacher and tech-enhanced Janey McCallister dives into the hunt, there is no escape from justice.
We reveal our beliefs through our fiction. We reveal what's important to us.
In our fiction, we're solving problems -- well, our characters are solving them.
What problems do you write about? How do you have your characters resolve them in your story? What is the solution you’re providing to your readers?
Each genre works to solve problems. These problems overlap between all the genres, depending on your focus, and how closely you adhere to genre expectations.
Here's my take of some of the issues each genre addresses, from the characters' perspective. Perhaps you'll agree with me or you'll have a different perspective.
- Mystery, Suspense, and Thrillers -- correcting and healing injustices
- Romance -- losing and finding love
- Women's Fiction -- self-discovery and re-connection
- Fantasy and Science Fiction -- who we could be and who we want to be as humans
- Horror -- disempowerment and empowerment
Your Turn - Identify the problems you're solving in your story.
- Pick one and show how your main character overcomes the problem.
- Write that out in 2-4 sentences, as I did in my example above.
Share this with your readers and potential readers to see how they resonate.
The goal is to communicate the emotional power of your story and attract your right readers.
Hit reply and let me know if you have questions. And let me know how the experiment goes.
Lastly, if you want to see how I framed the problems my character faces in my upcoming novel, Red Running Deep, check out the Kickstarter here: only 4 more days! |
| | | | | | SMASHWORDS SALE
All 5 of our Writer's Fun Zone books are on sale at Smashwords until Saturday, March 12, 2022. - Plan Your Novel Like A Pro
- 7 Essential Keys to Planning Your Novel
- Twitter for Authors
- Writer’s Adventure Guide
- Overcome Writers Block
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Have a happy and creative week! Happy Writing!
All my best,
Beth
PS. Page Turner Awards are open for 2022!
Receiving an award for your fiction can validate your efforts, offer you recognition from strangers, and be a great feather in your cap for marketing.
I'm a sponsor of this contest (and a former winner!) and am giving away 2 prizes this year: - For published authors: the Branding for Authors course bundle, plus 3 months of one-on-one support
- For unpublished authors: Edit Your Novel course, plus 3 months of coaching and manuscript review.
Contest open until 31st of May 2022.
All the details and how to enter here:
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| I stand for peace and for freedom. I stand with the people of the Ukraine. A great great grandmother was from Odessa, a great great grandfather was from Chernivitsi, both immigrating to the United States in the 1880s. I also have a Russian Jewish great grandfather who immigrated to the US in the early 1900s. And most of my other ancestors were from other parts of Eastern Europe -- the area being most affected by the over 2 million refugees fleeing the war zone.
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| | | Recent Posts on Writer's Fun Zone blog- Showing Off by Catharine Bramkamp
- Author Q&A with Denise Dwyer D’Errico (poetry, stories, recipes)
- Tied In Knots: Writing Tie-in Fiction by Bobby Nash
- Are Author Websites Still Necessary in 2022? by Dave Chesson
- Author Q&A with Claire Stibbe (dark, domestic suspense novels)
- Should You Become a Part-Time Proofreader as a Writer? by Thao Nguyen
- Take Time to Celebrate by Nevada McPherson
- Storyboard Your Tale by LA Bourgeois
- Author Q&A with Shannon Lawrence, featuring her book The Business of Short Stories: Writing, Submitting, Publishing, and Marketing
- Author Q&A with Amanda Krill, featuring her book, Feisty & Non-Compliant
- Write The Story As You Want To, Not How Others Tell You To Write It by Janelle Riley
- The Power of No by Lisa Towles
** Write for us and gain experience and clips, and share your wisdom! ** |
| | | | | You have been reading the Creativity Sparks Newsletter!
Now in its 16th year, this newsletter is a service of my coaching and consulting business, helping genre fiction writers write, market, and publish their novels to the delight of their readers.
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| ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany is creativity coach for writers, a teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker, who helps fiction writers experience clarity, so that they can write and polish their novels, and proudly publish them to the delight of their readers.
Beth speaks to groups locally, online, and internationally. For more details and how to book, go here.
Owner of the Barany School of Fiction, an online training hub, Beth takes great interest in how humans learn, create, and grow, and includes all her students’ life experiences, including the ancestors, into the moment.
Want a course to help you prepare to write your novel? Discover the comprehensive Plan Your Novel course here to help you vision, brainstorm, and plan your next novel. Planning for panthers, who want some structure but no too much. A road map to guide you on your way to writing your novel. By the time you're done with this course, you'll be ready to write because you know where you want to go and are excited by it.
Beth Barany is also an award-winning novelist and writes magical tales of romance, adventure, and mystery to empower women and girls to be the heroes in their own lives.
Uncover her Henrietta The Dragon Slayer series here (YA Fantasy), her Touchstone series here (Fantasy/Paranormal Romance).
beth@bethbarany.com
Barany School of Fiction
Writer's Fun Zone blog
Photo Credit: by c. 2018 Ezra Barany
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| I sit in the territory of Huichin, part of the stolen land of the Chochenyo Muwekma Ohlone, the successors of the historic and sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. |
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