Friday 7 December 2012

Aussie author Jennifer St George shares 5 tips on revolutionising our writing! Kittie Howard launches Rings of Trust!

Hello all who have come by today!

Today I'm hosting Aussie author, Jennifer St George, who is on a promo tour for her novel, The Convenient Bride, published by Destiny Romance. Jennifer has some awesome tips to share to revolution our writing. We can always learn a little more about our craft.

Over to you Jennifer: 

Five Things That Revolutionized my Writing
Recently I developed a workshop concept with my fellow Destiny Romance author Louise Reynolds for the 2013 RWA conference to be held in Fremantle, WA in 2013. It made me think about the key concepts or ah ha moments that changed my writing for the better.  These are my top five: 
1. Getting My Writing Style Right!
I’m a planner.  Always have been but my writing style was true ‘pantser’.  It didn’t feel right, but I didn’t know how to fix it.  First Draft in Thirty Days by Karen Wiesner gave me the keys to unlocking the natural planner in me.  I credit this craft book with enabling me to write much more efficiently. 
2. I Want to be Just Like Her!
I ventured into my first RWA conference in Brisbane a few years ago and didn’t know a soul.  At the Awards Dinner, I watched as unstoppable Kylie Griffin scooped award after award.  I thought, I want to be just like her.  During a break I asked her was there any one thing that had made a big difference to her writing.  Enter Margie Lawson’s the EDIT system.  This logical, practical edit system shows things in your writing you might otherwise never see.  It can be tricky to master but stick with it.
3. The simple GMC
Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation, Conflict is a wonderful tool for writers and I use it before I begin a book. However, my lovely friend, Desire author Rachel Bailey gave me a shorthand version that I keep ‘front and centre’ whilst I write.  Why not this woman for this man and why not this man for this woman?  So simple, yet so useful.
4. Emotional Order is Important
The talented Nikki Logan calls it the natural order of things, that is, how a character reacts to stimuli.  It’s important to have the order right starting with the visceral leading to the subconscious and ending with the conscious.  This is how we react in every day life. For an author, it is important to capture this on the page, or the reader may feel something is not quite right.
5. Always Finish the Book
The very first craft workshop I attended was given by the phenomenal Melanie Milburne. She taught me so many things that I’ve used everyday in the years since in developing my writing skills. One piece of advice that really made an impression was, always finish the book.  Again, sounds so simple, but without that advice I probably would have begun many different books without actually finishing them.  As she said, how do you know how to write ‘the middle’ and ‘the end’ if you’ve never done it?
Combined, these five concepts progressed my writing to a higher level.  Perhaps some of these ideas will provide other aspiring writers with that wonderful ah ha moment!

 Find Jennifer on the web:
Website                Facebook        Twitter          Author Page

Buy Her Book:

Destiny Romance              Amazon       iTunes 

The Convenient Bride
Sienna De Luca will do anything to save her family's hotel, and ruthless Italian businessman Antonio Moretti knows it. With problems of his own, he proposes a marriage of convenience and plans to use Sienna to secure his next business deal. But things don't go quite according to plan.

In keeping with her part of the bargain, Sienna travels to Venice to be with Antonio, who introduces her to a life of great luxury and opulence. As befits the fiancĂ©e of the famous Antonio Moretti, Sienna is given a new wardrobe of designer gowns and outfits and instructed exactly how to behave when out in public. But after thinking he can manipulate her at his will, Antonio begins to realise he has seriously underestimated Sienna, her intelligence, her skills, her courage – and her beauty. Unexpectedly, Sienna gets too close and when she discovers his dark secret, Antonio's perfectly planned life begins to unravel.


I will be giving a Kindle copy of The Convenient Bride to one lucky commenter here today!

Denise here!

The Convenient Bride sounds fabulous.

Another book was just launched yesterday by my lovely American blogger friend Kittie Howard. Check out Kittie's site for more details. Kittie just told me that Rings is already Amazon #24,486 on out-of-popular-genre-arena books. Go Kittie!

In "Rings of Trust," fear reigns along a sleepy bayou road in rural South Louisiana in 1953. The Civil Rights Movement has taken root in the consolidated South. Not everyone wants to return to the shadowed past the Ku Klux Klan espouses.

I hope you will support both authors in their new ventures!


35 comments:

Trisha said...

Fremantle, WA?? May have to look into attending this :)

Denise Covey said...

Well you won't have far to go Freyo Trisha!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Excellent tips, Jennifer! I do finish what I begin.
And very excited for Kittie!

Denise Covey said...

Jennifer, lovely to have you on my blog today with some very helpful advice.
Kittie, I hope your novel continues to sell well.

Jennifer St George said...

It's going to be great, Trisha. You should definitely have a look at the RWA website and check out all the info posted so far.

Jennifer St George said...

Thanks Alex. I found finishing each book taught me so much about the process of writing!

Jennifer St George said...

Thanks so much for having me here, Denise!

Unknown said...

Finish the book is what struck me, I need to do exactly that. So thank you for this write up. I also wish you great success...

Denise Covey said...

Ghazala, don't we all need this advice?

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Some good advice!

Jennifer St George said...

Thanks Ghazala. I know ' Finish the Book' is such simple advice but so important to actually do it.

Jennifer St George said...

Thanks L. Diane.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

ha, yep, I used to be a pantser too and am now a planner. I can't imagine writing without planning first now and it saves so much time in the revision stage.

Jai Joshi said...

Jennifer, nice to meet you! And great advice. I've been a planner since I was 20 and I'll never turn back. Congratulations and good luck on the launch of The Convenient Bride!

Jai

Jennifer St George said...

I'm exactly the same, Lynda. I used to throw out so many word before - thousands. Not anymore!!

Jennifer St George said...

Thanks Jai. I'm so glad I'm now a planner, has made the difference to the quality of my stories. I nail the conflict and story arc first, so the story flows so much more naturally when I actually write it.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant inspiring advice and one of them I must start following is 'always finish a book'. Guilty. Great advice. Thank you and congrats on your own successes.

Charmaine Clancy said...

Jennifer gives us some great advice there, I especially like the part about having focus on the goal, motivation and conflict before you start writing. While I don't write romance, I can still steal that idea and ask, 'why not this undead dog for this boy?' :)

Congrats to Kittie on releasing Rings of Trust.

Denise Covey said...

Hey Maddy. Good to see you. We all are guilty of so much unfinished novel business!

Jennifer St George said...

Thanks Charmaine. I found GMC so helpful. Sounds like you've got a fascinating premise!!

Jennifer St George said...

Thanks Madeleine! Finishing the book can be soooo hard sometimes!

Theresa Milstein said...

All sound advice. Always finish the book is so important. I'm amazed how many people jump from project to project without finishing. Then it's hard to learn how to write a book from beginning to end and go through the revision process.

Talli Roland said...

Wonderfully practical advice. I find goal-motivation-conflict so helpful.

And congrats to Kittie!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

I'm totally on board with the premise of this book! I love reading about the 1% lifestyle and Italy sounds like a great setting for lamborghinis, Georgio Armani, and all things rich. Gimme Gimme Gimme.

Kittie Howard said...

Since we went to Venice last summer, I've gotta read Jennifer's book. Great tips, too, especially about leading to the conscious.

And thank you, Sweet Lady, for your lovely shout-out. I'm sooo appreciative of your support.

Jennifer St George said...

I know lots of people like that too, Theresa. Start lots of things and never finish. I'm so grateful to Melanie for all the good advice she's given me over the years!!

Jennifer St George said...

Thanks Kittie. I wouldn't write a book now without starting with GMC.

Jennifer St George said...

Thanks Michael. Yes, it is a little bit of escapism into the world of luxury and glamour!!

Jennifer St George said...

Wow Kittie, the premise for Rings of Trust sounds very good!!!! I hope you enjoy The Convenient Bride.

Denise Covey said...

You are always welcome Kittie. I know you will love Jennifer's book.

dolorah said...

Those all look like awesome books on writing.

Congrats to Kittie :)

.....dhole

Jennifer St George said...

Those writing books really helped me, Donna.

Scarlet said...

Thanks for the tips and feature ~ Interesting to observe the process of writing a book ~

Jennifer St George said...

I'm always learning new things about the process of writing, Heaven. I always find posts about the way author's go about writing a book really interesting.

Jennifer St George said...

And the winner of The Convenient Bride is Lynda R Young. Lynda, if you could please visit my website - www.jenniferstgeorge.com and fill out the contact form, I'll send you a copy. Thanks everyone for commenting. Thanks Denise so much for having me! Happy Holidays everyone.