Novella

Novella

BLOG SESSION

July 2017

Good Afternoon Blog Readers, Followers, Visitors and Google+ Friends joining us for today's Blog Session!

Today we are going to be discussing the Novella.  Some of you may know exactly what a Novella is, and some of you may not have a clue as to what I am talking about.

Well, everyone is about to find out just what a Novella is, so grab your Journal for today's overview. . .

Journal Notes

In short, a Novella is a short novel or long short story.  Sometimes referred to as a Novelle ~ a story with a compact and pointed plot.

For those Writers following along today on the Blog, you may have discussed writing a Novella with other Writers in the past, and you may have been informed about just was a Novella was when you first asked about it.  You may have been told that a Novella was a work of fiction intermediate in length and complexity between a short story and a Novel.

A Novella has also been described as a short prose tale often characterized by moral teaching or satire.

If you are interested in writing a Novella, then you should know that you will have no problems finding lots of information about how to go about it.  Novellas have grown in popularity over the years.  The main reason for the popularity of Novellas is that people tend to have limited time to read like they would prefer, and since a Novella can be read in a short period of time, not only do Writers love to write them, Readers love reading them!

You should also know that most Novellas tend to be both historical and contemporary novellas.  A novella is typically a short novel, running from 20,000 to 40,000 words, and yet a novella can easily be a complete story of two people struggling through conflicts to reach a romantic happy ending for instance.

The shorter reads are usually placed into anthologies that are thematically based on location, pleasurable interests, camping, sewing, quilting, and the like, and they are enjoyed by people who dislike putting down a Novel, but who have time constraints and therefore turn to the Novella.  Therefore, you can quickly understand how a novella meets their need for a good book that can be read in a much shorter period of time.

Make a note in your Journal that Novellas are a manageable, versatile choice for self-publishing writers.

JOURNAL NOTE:  If you have always dreamt of writing a Novel, but you have never succeeded in finishing one, then perhaps you should consider the slimmer version of a Novel ~ The Novella!

Some of you may be wondering how exactly do Romantic Novellas differ from Novels?

Here are the major differences in Novellas:

• The hero and heroine often have some connection from the past—old friends, childhood playmates or have heard about the other through a friend or through a family member.
• The plot line limits subplots to either none or a minor subplot that enhances the relationship between the hero and heroine.
• The setting descriptions are mainly used to create a sense of place or to reflect the mood or emotion of the hero or heroine.
• The novella covers a shorter period of time than a novel, often no more than a month or two.  The story does not necessarily lead to a proposal or wedding, but allows the reader to assume that as time passes the couple will make a lifetime commitment.

What about the connection between the hero and the heroine?

Because a romance moves through three stages of romantic feelings -- awareness, interest, and attraction -- a novella does not allow the time to explore these three stages fully. Having a past connection between the hero and heroine allows the relationship to develop in a speedy yet believable manner.

Brief History of the Novella

Novellas (despite what their name might suggest) are nothing new.  Make a note in your Journal that Novellas actually predate Novels by a least a century!

Also, you'll find it interesting to note that the practice of bringing together shorter pieces to form a larger unified work is still common practice.

Just remember to make a note that Novellas are much easier to construct, more versatile, and suited to many different styles of storytelling.

In our next Blog Session

Discussion of the Types of Novellas

Friends, for those of you working on your Novel in Camp NaNoWriMo, until we meet back here for our next Blog Session, don't type yourself into a tizzy, take time to relax ...

Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - JULY 2017 - All Rights Reserved

FICTION BOOKS

BLOG SESSION

July 2017

Good Evening Writers, Authors, Aspiring Authors, Novelists, Creative Writers, Film Writers, Script Writers, Playwrights, Emerging Authors and Poets!  If I missed you, it is not intentional ~ Of course we have amongst us some very talented Research Writers, Documentary Writers, Short Story Writers, Journalists, and many others gifted Writers...

We're here on the Blog today to discuss Fiction Genres.  We'll get our Journals out to take notes for future reference.  Many of the Blog Readers here are writing their Novels and working on their Writing Projects for Camp NaNoWriMo.  The online writing Camp is wonderful.  If you have not had a chance to check it out or sign up, it is not too late.  Just click on the link to join many Writers like yourself who are taking the time during the month of July to work on their Novels.

If you write Fiction or are interested in writing Fiction, then take a look at some of the Genres . . .

For Your Journal Reference

Notes about Adventure:  An adventure is an event or series of events that happens outside the course of the protagonist's ordinary life, usually accompanied by danger, often by physical action.  Adventure stories almost always move quickly, and the pace of the plot is at least as important as characterization, setting and other elements of a creative work.

Adventure Fiction is fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement.

Action Adventure - "action" is the key element (overshadowing characters) and involves a quest or military style mission set in exotic or forbidding locales such as jungles, deserts or mountains.  The conflict typically involves spies, mercenaries, terrorists, smugglers, pirates, or other dark and shadowy figures.  Note:  Action Adventures tend to attract a male audience.

Classics are books accepted as being exemplary or noteworthy, for example through an imprimatur such as being listed in a list of great books, or through a reader's personal opinion.  Although the term is often associated with the Western canon, it can be applied to works of literature from all traditions, such as the Chinese classics or the Indian Vedas.

What makes a book "classic" is a concern that has occurred to various authors ranging from Italo Calvino to Mark Twain and the related questions of "Why Read the Classics?" and "What Is a Classic?" have been essayed by authors from different genres and eras (including Calvino, T. S. Eliot, Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve).  The ability of a classic book to be reinterpreted, and to seemingly be renewed in the interests of generations of readers succeeding its creation, is a theme that is seen in the writings of literary critics including Michael Dirda, Ezra Pound, and Saint-Beuve.

Fantasy literature is set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world.  Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds.

Fantasy is a subgenre of speculative fiction and is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the absence of scientific or macabre themes, respectively, though these genres overlap.  Historically, most works of fantasy were written.  However, since the 1960s, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music and art.

A numbering of fantasy novels originally written for children, such as Alice in Wonderland, and the Hobbit also attract an adult audience.

Ghost Stories - the term "ghost story" can refer to any kind of scary story.  In a narrower sense, the ghost story has been developed as a short story format, with the fiction genre.

Historical Fiction - A fictional story set in a recognizable period of history.  As well as telling the stories of ordinary people's lives, historical fiction may involve political or social events of the time.

Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust or startle its readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.  Literary historian J. A. Cuddon has defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length...which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing".

The above Genre descriptions are for your Journal Notes, and we will be back here on the Blog to continue sharing more genre descriptions in our next Blog Session.  Look forward to learning more about the remaining Fiction Genres that are on today's Listing:  Humor, Mystery, Romance, Sports, and Science Fiction!

What can you expect in our next Blog Session

that you will be happy to gain more knowledge about?

Up Next on the BLOG:

Learn more about Science Fiction

Friends, until we meet again back here on the Blog,

Keep Writing!

Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - JULY 2017 - All Rights Reserved

Journal your Writing Tips!

BLOG SESSION

July 2017

Writers, Authors, Novelists, Creative Writers, Poets, and Research Writers ~ We are back to share more Writing Tips for you to write down in your Journals.

For those Readers who were here in the last Blog Session, we made a note of Writing Tips that were shared so that you can use them for your Novels and other Writing Projects that you are working on for Camp NaNoWriMo during the month of July.

We're having a lot of fun writing our Novels.  If you have a Novel in mind, you should definitely go over to Camp NaNoWriMo and get started, because you have until July 31st to complete 50,000 words.  And, believe me, it can be done.  You'll be very proud of yourself for making an effort towards the completion of your Novel.

If you have your Journal ready, then you can write down the following Writing Tips to help you along your way . . .

KEYS

Writing Tips

IMPORTANT:  Make your story believable.

Make sure that your characters are believable, and make sure that your storyline is believable.  If you are writing a Fantasy Novel, you have room to make up some wild scenes, but for the most part even your Fiction Novel should be believable.

Never get discouraged and give up on your Novel.  No matter what, your Novel is crying out to be completed.  You may be tempted to give up, but don't.  Finish your story.  If you have to take a break, or read something that will inspire you, do so.  Also, never underestimate the power of music and relaxation while you are in the midst of writing your Novel.

If you have to work a little harder to revise your story so that you feel better about it, then do it.  Do your best to give your best, and get your story out there!

If your story gets rejected by Agents and Publishers, remember you'll be among some of the greatest Best Selling Authors and Novelists...

J.K. Rowling, the great literary success story, failed to sell Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to 12 different publishers until the daughter of an Editor at Bloomsbury Publishing took an interest in it.  Harry Potter is now worth at least $15 billion.

Dr. Seuss suffered through 27 rejections when trying to sell his first story.  He gave the credit for finally selling "And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street" to the sheer dumb luck of running into a friend who worked in publishing on the street.

H.G. Wells received a note in which the Editor predicted, 'I think the verdict would be, Oh, don’t read that horrid book.'  Nevertheless, "The War of the Worlds" was published in 1898 and has not since gone out of print.

Gertrude Stein’s poetry may be famously idiosyncratic, not to say esoteric, but it didn’t stop her from becoming a pioneering Modernist writer and a central figure of the “Lost Generation.”  Neither was she apparently hindered by the Editor who parodied her style in his rejection letter, telling her that “hardly one copy would sell here.  Hardly one.  Hardly one.”

Kathryn Stockett was turned down by 60 literary agents before she found someone willing to represent The Help.  “Three weeks later,” she says, “we sold the book.”  The Help later spent 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

George Orwell was rejected by no less than T.S. Eliot, then editorial director at Faber & Faber, who wrote in a letter in 1944 that Animal Farm could “keep one’s interest” but as political allegory it was “not convincing.”

Jack London, rather like Stephen King, kept his rejection letters impaled on a sort of spindle.  The impaled letters eventually reached a height of four feet.

Stephen King sounds downright proud of the number of times he was rejected as a young writer.  In his On Writing, he says he pinned every rejection letter he received to his wall with a nail.  “By the time I was fourteen,” he continues, “the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it.  I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing.”

The point being, just like Stephen King, if you get rejected by agents and publishers, do this . . .

"Place a spike in the rejection letters

and keep on writing!"

If you get rejected by agents and publishers, keep sending your Manuscripts out.  In the meantime, write another, and another, and another.

You are not in the Writing Business because it is easy, you are in the Writing Business because you are a Writer.

If it turns out to be a long tough road, it will be well worth it in the end.

Here is the last bit of advice for today . . .

Ignore the rules.

Everyone had a lot of grand advice to give you, and a whole lot of theories.  Many people will put you in a box and tell you what genre you need to stick to with all of its rules and conventions.  But, understand that the work of writing a Novel comes out much better when you decide to leave the madness behind.  You'll then find out that all that is left is to be TRUE to your Writing.

Believe in Yourself

Friends, until our next Blog Session

keep those stories going...

Peace, Love & Light,

 René

© Copyright - René Allen - JULY 2017 - All Rights Reserved

Writing Tips for the Novelist

Writing Tips for the Novelist

BLOG SESSION

July 2017

It's a new day, and we are back to share more writing tips for all Writers who are working on their Novels for Camp NaNoWriMo during the month of July 2017.

You'll need to get your Journal to take notes because we have plenty to share with you today, and you'll treasure these notes whether you are working online in Camp or not . . .

WRITING TIPS for your Journal:

First, you'll definitely need to focus on writing the story that you'd most want to read yourself.  Your story should never be written just to please someone else in your family or a friend -- that would be too narrow of an audience, and your story is meant to reach a larger audience.   Your story should make you really want to read it, and furthermore, you should be proud of writing it because it is an interesting and fascinating story.  You should think about all of the books that you love, and take a moment to focus in on why you love the books that grab your attention.  Is it because you can identify with the subject matter?  Is it because you can't put the book down because it is so good?

Second, hone in on the genre that fits your writing style.  Do you gravitate to Mysteries?  Or do you prefer Fiction?  Does a Historical Romance fascinate you?  Or do you prefer a quiet literary novel?  Maybe it has more to do with a certain type of story, or a certain voice that pulls you into a book.  Maybe it is certain characters that fascinate you about the books that you love.  The bottom line is -- write what you love.  Think about the things that you have passion about, and those things that make your heart beat with joy, and those things that stay on your mind in the middle of the night.  Do you happen to be obsessed with a certain subject matter?  If so, then maybe that is the direction you should take your writing.

Thirdly,  Think about one character in your story.  Make that particular character slightly flawed and believable.  Let the character live and breathe and give your character the freedom to make mistakes, have issues, and do surprising things that take the reader on a journey.  Your character should be able to take the story in a totally unexpected direction.  If your character does not surprise the readers, then you can bet that your character will appear flat.  Ask your character to tell you his or her secrets.  Sit down with pen and paper and make a list of all the things that your character never took the time to tell to anyone.  And do remember to write in the voice of your character when you make your list of secrets.

Fourth,  Be sure to give your character a compelling problem.  Your character needs to have something that will challenge him or her.  There should be an element involved that possibly torments or causes your character to move forward with action.  Remember, at the heart of every story is some sort of conflict -- whether that conflict is external or internal makes no difference, as long as the conflict is energy driven.  Whatever the conflict is, your character will be shaped by it, changed by it, affected by it, and changed forever because of it.

Do your Research

Fifth, be sure to do your Research on your characters.  Where are they from?  Where did they grow up?  What types of medical problems or mental problems do they have?  Are your characters from another country?  If so, be sure to research the background of the particular country and bring the details to life as you introduce your characters into your story.  Does any of your characters have a conflict with friends or family members?  If they do, what is the reason for the conflict?

Sixth, make things happen!  This is a very important key to any good story.  You can have the greatest characters in the world in your story, but if nothing exciting is happening that moves your readers, then your story will fall flat on its face.  The key is to have something important to the plot happening in each scene.  And, if you have a scene in your story that is not helping to move the story along in some vital way, then don't be afraid to cut the scene out.  Some scenes can't be revived.  If you find that to be the case -- cut it.

Seventh, As you do your editing, be sure to go scene by scene and write a single sentence on an index card that describes the action in the scene.  Then you will be able to lay the index cards out and have the bare bones of your story.  In this way, you will be able to see if your story is moving forward or not.  You'll need to see if you are throwing in enough twists and turns to make your story hop and pop!  If any of your scenes are not pulling their weight, you'll be able to identify which scenes those are.

Next Blog Session:

We'll be back with more writing tips!

Until we meet again back here on the Blog,

 writing friends keep those stories going ~

Peace, Love & Light,

 René

© Copyright - René Allen - JULY 2017 - All Rights Reserved

Are you thinking about what to write for your Novel?

Are you thinking about what to write for your Novel?

Blog Session

July 2017

Good Afternoon Blog Readers, Followers & Visitors!

We are back here on the Blog once again to talk about our fabulous Novels.  Many of us are participating in Camp NaNoWriMo online this Summer.  During the month of July, we are taking time to write the Novels that we have been talking about writing for a long time.  Some of us are working on other Writing Projects during the month of July in Camp.

If you have a Novel inside of you that you'd like to get down on paper, then checking into Camp NaNoWriMo may be just what you need to get going.  There's no need to continue procrastinating about writing your Novel.

Just for the record, just know that writing a Novel is really easy.  But, writing a GOOD NOVEL is hard.  If writing a good Novel was a very easy thing to do, all of us would be best-selling Novelists.  On the other hand, if you just take a leap and begin writing, you may surprise yourself!  

If you are writing a Fiction Novel, you must consider the design of the Novel.  Now you may ask, "How do you design a Novel?" . . .

Here's what you do to design your Novel:

1)  You start off small, then you build your story elements up until it resembles a Novel.  Part of this process is creative work.  You have to learn how to manage your gift of creativity.  Getting organized is about placing your story elements into a well-structured novel.

2)  Consider the fact that most people spend a great deal of time thinking about their Novel before they ever start writing.  The best thing you can do while you are "thinking" about your Novel, is to do some research.  Your research will entail such things as the location of the story; the particular job positions that your characters hold; family lineages of your characters; medical backgrounds if you have characters who have medical conditions; mental backgrounds if you have characters who have mental health disorders; and any number of other items that you need to do further research on so that your story comes across as believable.

3)  Take a little time to do some daydreaming about how your story is going to flow.  For some Writers, it would be better to say, do some "brainstorming" instead of "daydreaming", because people tend to think that "daydreaming" is playing.  However, I believe that stories are formulated from daydreams.  The point is, you want to begin to not only see your characters come to life in your head, you also want to start hearing their voices, and feeling their feelings.  In this respect, I believe that daydreaming about your characters helps you to pull them together and also helps you to actually get familiar with each of the characters in your story.

4)  Think about what your Novel is actually about.  What is the primary theme of your Novel.  Take a deep look into the central theme of your story.  This process is known as understanding the "essential elements".  This is the informal process of gathering the elements needed to compose your Novel.  Every Writer goes about this process differently, and in their own way.  Whatever feels comfortable to you is the way in which you should pull your primary theme into focus.  This pulling together of the essential elements of your story ideas in your mind is exactly what is needed so that you will be inspired to sit down and actually write your Novel.

~ Think about what your Novel is actually about ~

Writers, here is what you need to do next, if you have not done so already ~ GET ORGANIZED.

Before you start typing, try writing all of your wonderful ideas down on paper in a form that is useful to you.  Use a Journal so that you will have all of your writing in one place that you can go back to.  Remember, you will not be able to remember everything that you think up, even if you think you won't forget a certain idea that flashes in your mind that you think is perfect for your story -- trust me, you'll probably forget, and then you'll beat yourself up about it.  Worry not about losing your ideas, just get a Journal and write them all down inside, and place any pictures that you come across that help you with formulating your story inside your Journal by clipping them in, or taping them on pages inside.

Putting your ideas down on paper helps you to fill in any holes that you have in your story when you go back to read what you have written.  These holes will need to be filled in before you actually start typing your story.

Use your Journal as a Designer Writer document.  It is where you design your Novel before you type it up and input it in the word counter in Camp NaNoWriMo.

Would you like more tips?  Alright, we'll be right back after our Coffee Break . . .

Enjoy your Coffee Break,

and I'll see you back here shortly!

Peace, Love & Light,

 René

© Copyright - René Allen - JULY 2017 - All Rights Reserved