What We Do by Gail Pallotta

Writing is hard work, a challenge. Getting from one end of a book to the other sometimes seems like walking through a maze, especially when one is a pantzer at heart. However, even pantzers need a skeleton outline to follow. Once at a conference I heard James Scott Bell sum up his workshop on plotting by saying something along the lines of the following. I can’t recall his exact words, but the gist of it was: Remember, just when you work things out, here comes trouble. Work that out, and here comes more trouble.

And layer. A good book needs more than one problem going on at a time. Say the book’s a romantic mystery. Perhaps someone finds a dead body, so there’s a murder to solve, but that isn’t enough. If the two people trying to crack the case are attracted to each other, they can have a falling out and need to work through their ups and downs to find happiness in the end. If one of them deals with a personal problem, such as a fear of commitment or an abusive past, finding an answer adds to the plot. If we want to raise the stakes, we could give one of them a stalker, and let that person fear for his or her life. Also, let it be unclear if the stalker has anything to do with the murder. Throw in one of them facing a job loss, and we’ve probably gotten the reader’s attention. Then we only need to tie up the loose ends in an interesting way that satisfies the reader. Maybe I exaggerated, but that’s the idea.

Sometimes when I’m having trouble getting a plot as it should be and making my characters act in fascinating ways, I complain to my husband about how much I regret I have no talent for bookkeeping or another profession that’s exact. He always says, “But that’s what you do.” Those of us who fall into that category must keep writing, learning and adapting to the trends because that’s what we do. 

 

Getting from one end of a book to the other sometimes seems like walking through a maze, especially when one is a pantzer at heart. via @Hopefulwords #SeriouslyWrite

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Award-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. A former Grace Awards Finalist and a Reader’s Favorite 2017 Book Award winner, she’s published six books, poems, short stories and two-hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. She loves to connect with readers.

Connections:

Amazon page - https://www.amazon.com/Gail-Pallotta/e/B00IN9A640

Website - https://www.gailpallotta.com

Blog - https://gailpallotta.blogspot.com

Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsandMore

twitter - https://twitter.com/Hopefulwords (Gail Pallotta @Hopefulwords)

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gail-pallotta-b368b220/

Researching Like a Detective by Gail Pallotta

When researching, sometimes you need to dig deeper than just online and book resources. Author Gail Pallotta shares her suggestion to take your research to a deeper level. -- Sandy

Gail: I think of a researcher as I do a detective, the more he snoops the better. 

The internet and resources at the library offer material on most subjects. When a researcher keeps digging there, he often turns up a golden nugget to make a book shine. But what if he wants more? 

A good option—compose questions from research thus far and interview an expert. While recording the answers, make mental notes on topics to explore further. While the interviewee is talking, listen for what’s missing. This may be an oxymoron, but so often gaps occur in conversation.  If so, ask the expert for more explanation. It’s always a good idea to make sure the questions who, what, when, where, how and why are covered.

For example, someone being interviewed might say, “During World War II, I traded a piece of jewelry for a pair of nylon hose.” Today, some might think that was an unfair trade and ask why.

He or she probably would learn that hose were in short supply during WWII as a result of nylon rationing. Don’t stop there. Ask for the story behind the jewelry trade and if there are more personal anecdotes that can be shared.  

Two important aspects of research are curiosity and a yearning to know more.

Even though I have personal experience for my book about Chronic Lyme disease, Barely Above Water, I researched the science in it. Also, this book includes questions and answers in the back by two experts, David G. Lee, D.C., Ph.D., C.Ad., and Raphael d’Angelo, M.D., who’s also a holistic doctor.  

Have you ever had an experience when your research took a surprising turn when you consulted an expert?

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Award-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, Mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach

sunsets and getting together with friends and family. A former regional writer of the year for American Christian Writers Association, she won Clash of the Titles in 2010. A 2013 Grace Awards finalist, she’s been a best-selling author on All Romance eBooks. She’s published four books, poems, short stories, and several hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. Visit Gail’s web site at http://www.gailpallotta.com

Find Barely Above Water on Amazon.

David Lee, D.C., Ph.D., C.Ad., runs Wellness Revolution Clubs in Woodstock, Georgia, and Daytona Beach, Florida. To learn more about him visit http://www.pmadirectory.us/georgia/woodstock/health-practitioner/david-lee

Raphael d’Angelo, M.D., and holistic doctor, runs ParaWellness Research Program in Aurora, Colorado. To learn more about him visit https://www.alliance-aromatherapists.org/tag/dr-dangelo/

 

Memorable Characters by Gail Pallotta

Today's post from author Gail Pallotta spoke to me and had me brainstorming ways in which I could make the characters in my current project more memorable to the reader. -- Sandy

Gail: Does writing fuel the imagination, or does the imagination fuel writing?

Either way, there’s so much to create, especially in fiction. The plot, characters and setting, not to mention the hooks and raising the stakes. 

Fascinating characters breathe life into fiction. Who could forget Columbo in his baggy coat standing beside his near-wreck of a car? Or Superman, James Bond and the feisty Scarlet O’Hara. The list could go on and on. We probably all have our favorites.

More than likely there are as many different ways to create memorable characters as there are writers. Quirky habits, body language, dialogue, actions and even clothing can turn the words on the page into people we remember. A character’s emotions can add another dimension to a personality.

When one’s happy, his or her lips turn up on the corners; sad, the lips go down. Writers often use metaphors and similes to demonstrate the way a character feels inside. In a novel about a circus, a sad clown’s face might resemble rubber pulled down. Someone unhappy in that book could have tears the size of large ones drawn on the clown’s cheeks. Later in the story a happy girl or guy might flash a grin as big as one painted on a different clown’s face.

Courtesy of Photobucket – Sarge

Or perhaps a writer’s working on a young adult novel, and an overjoyed teen girl jumps up and down and claps her hands like a cheerleader. Could a disappointed young man’s countenance resemble that of a football player who dropped a pass in the end zone?

Animal expressions show emotions too. Often I read that someone looks like a lost puppy. It works on me every time. There are plenty of others, such as having someone grin as big as a horse showing its teeth. Another person may peer at something with raccoon eyes.

What do you like to use to illustrate your characters’ emotions? Also, do you think writing fuels the imagination or vice versa? 

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Award-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, Mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach Stopped Cold, finished fourth in the 16th Annual Preditors and Editors readers’ poll and was a finalist for the 2013 Grace Awards. She’s published short stories in “Splickety” magazine and Sweet Freedom with a Slice of Peach Cobbler. Some of her published articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. Visit her web site at http://www.gailpallotta.com

sunsets and getting together with friends and family. A former regional writer of the year for American Christian Writers Association, she won Clash of the Titles in 2010. Her teen book,

Blog - http://www.gailpallotta.blogspot.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsandMore

Twitter - Gail Pallotta @Hopefulwords