Want to know the secret to becoming a best selling author? How to become a faster, better, stronger writer? Want to make millions selling your books to adoring fans?

I know the secret. I'll share it with you.

Ready?

Write more.

That's it. It's deceptively easy. You want to be a better writer? Write more. You want to make more money writing? Write more. You want to become the next JK Rowling? Write more (and have an incredible amount of luck).

Your first book will not be an international bestseller.* It will probably just sell to your friends and family, and maybe a few others. Why? Because no one succeeds at something hard on their first try.

So, write more. Don't stop and agonize over one book. Get it as good as you can and write another. And then another. And another. Practice makes perfect.

People are often surprised when I say I have 29 books published. I wish it were more. (I need to take my own advice) But I go back and read my first few books, and they suck. They're good books and I love them, but I see so many things that I can do better. I see ways to make the story tighter, the characters more vibrant, the problems bigger. I've become a better writer because I've written more.

So, WRITE MORE. Don't stop.

Just write.

*probably. There are always those lucky few that hit it big right out of the park. Good luck to you!

There are two schools of thought on how to write a novel.

Plotters: outline their novel. They plan it out.

Pantsers: Fly by the seat of their pants. They write the novel as it comes to them.

There are pros and cons to both.

Pantsers: the author is basically telling themselves the story as they write it. It's more exciting to write the story this way because you don't know what's going to happen next!

Plotters: They know where the story is going. There are no surprises.

I have a writer friend that is a dedicated pantser. She absolutely hates outlining a story because then she looses all interest in it because she knows what is going to happen.

However, she also stares at blank pages a lot because she doesn't know what's going to happen. She also has to rewrite a fair amount because she needs to clarify things that happened earlier and set up plot points that she made up on the fly.

I am personally a plotter. I LOVE having an outline. Sometimes, I'll basically make a first draft out of an outline. (I've written 20 page outlines…)

However, I also use the chapter by chapter outline as well. I write down the 30ish chapter points so I know where my story is going.

I like this method because I don't get lost. I always know what is going to happen next and I can write in the details needed to make it happen. My editing time is a lot less because I don't have to backtrack and fix things. I also don't stare at blank pages as much. (I still stare at them, but at least it's not because I don't know what I'm supposed to be writing about)

I also know someone that uses the “note-card” method. She writes down each big important scene on a note-card. Then she sticks them to her wall for a rough guideline of where she needs to go. It's not 20 pages of detailed outline, or even a chapter by chapter outline, but just a broad path of what needs to happen next.

As with all writing, find what works best for you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a pantser– as long as it is working. If you are spending all your time staring at a blank page, make a note-card outline. Make it work for you.

We love stories because they tell us what could be. They are the what-if that our brains are addicted to. As such, we crave drama in our stories. We want to know how to survive the worst possible outcome and stories give us that knowledge.

There are two ways to add conflict and drama to a story.

Internal conflict: This is all the conflict that happens inside a character. This is their thoughts, feelings, past experiences, and inner turmoil.

This is ANGST.

In Twilight, this is why Edward can't be with Bella. He has INTERNAL CONFLICT about not eating/eating her. His emotions get in the way and create tension between the characters.

As a romance writer, this is gold. Readers need this because it's usually the best reason why the hero and heroine can't be together. This is also where love stems from (as it can be a point of drama!). Internal drama is vital for romance.

External Conflict: This is what happens to the characters. These are the situations that they can't control. This is the asteroid coming to impact earth, the fire that destroys the hero's home, the dragon that is burning up the village.

In Twilight, this is the rogue vampires. Bella and Edward don't really have any control over them and what they're doing. They have to react and respond, but the conflict comes from outside of their emotions. It's also good for keeping Bella and Edward from drowning in their romantic angst. It moves the story forward.

For romance writing, external conflict is awesome for getting the plot moving. It makes the characters stop wallowing in angst and do something.

A good story will have a little bit of both. The internal conflict connects us to our characters. The reader with empathize and become emotionally attached to the story because of emotion. External conflict will keep them from getting bored.

This year I was Princess Peach and my boys were Mario and Luigi 🙂 Their Dad was a dinosaur (supposed to be Bowser)

I know we don't have very many years of themed Halloween costumes left, so I'm enjoying the ones I have. When my boys no longer want to match, my poor husband will have to be my Halloween partner. To be honest, I already have some Disney princess dresses in mind… (for me. Not him)

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween full of jump scares (you can see mine below) and candy! My kids don't like 100 Grand bars or Mounds/Almond Joys, so I have no guilt eating their candy. 😀

What were you for Halloween?

Come and play with us! There's going to be all sorts of cool games (like cover matching) and fun multiple choice questions to win amazing prizes!

I'm giving away the full series of “Billionaire and Brides” in eBook form as my prize, but there are so many other authors giving away books, gift cards, and really cool swag.

I'm super excited about this! Come play!