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28-Day Writing Challenge – Day 4

Welcome to day four of the 28-day book writing challenge. I have to confess that I did not get everything done that I wanted to get done today.

6-Figure Writing and Blog Post Suggestion

I want to tell you about something you can find on this blog, which is randycarney.com or randysblogs.com Either one will get you to the same place. If you go to the top of the page, you will see a tab that says “Writing,” and there’s a down arrow beside it. If you hover over that you will see “Six-Figure Writing” pop up. If you click on that, it will take you to a page about a course that you can get that will give you weekly lessons for writing.

Now if you go back one page and click on “Writing” again, go to the bottom of the page and click the arrow to the right to go back to about 3 pages. The best way to find the posts I’m talking about is to look for the dates. I’m recommending the blog posts from January 25 through March 2.

I suggest reading some selected posts from the writing section of my blog.
Suggested reading

They all talk about how you can come up with a writing plan for your book. They will tell you how to have a plan for each chapter in your book. I did not get that far along yet this time. If you are doing this 28 days following along you’ll have to do as I do. You will either have to spend more time one day beyond just the writing to catch up and finish out to writing plan.

But you need to at least get the first chapter planned out. Then Monday, whenever you write that chapter, you’ll spend a little extra time getting chapters two and three at least planned out. Or if you just have extra time or you could spend an extra hour and knock out a bunch of those chapter plans. How to do is found on the blog posts from January 25 through March 2. I would encourage you to go and read all of those, take notes, and get a grasp of how this is going to work.

My Progress

I would like to have had my whole book blueprinted out from here. A blueprint is just a chapter writing plan. But on this 28-day challenge, the goal is to be able to work about 75 to 90 minutes a day. Some days it will take two hours, some days you might have to have some catch-up days.

The Schedule

An overview of the schedule for the next few weeks.
A rundown of the schedule

We’re not writing 28 consecutive days in this challenge. We are doing four days as the first week, and then we will have four weeks of five days in the week. In other words, we started on Tuesday, January 18, 2022. So we have four days the first week. I’m not counting Saturdays and Sundays. So then the next four weeks we will have 20 days (5 days a week) so that will be 24 days, and then the last week will be another four days and that will finish up our 28 days. Not consecutive. I’ll be taking Sundays off and I’m going to be using Saturday for a catch-up and you can do that too. If you’re following along and you’re trying to do this, I pray that things are going well for you.

Heading into Day Four

So yesterday I talked about surveying the top 10 books in your category. I did the category of marriage in general and then I got more specific and I was surprised that when I typed in “valuing your spouse,” I did come up with several books. That phrase wasn’t in the title, but there were quite a few that were relevant to what I was talking about. So that was very good.

Brainstorming & Grouping Ideas

What I’m attempting to do today is brainstorm. I came up with the research from those books, I made notes from the table of contents, and I put in some quotes. Then after I did that, I came up with two pages of just brainstorming. So, we did the brainstorming,

Brainstorming.
Find a brainstorming method that works for you.

For today I was able to survey nine books. I wrote down chapter titles that stood out to me and a quote or two that were interesting to me. Then as I already mentioned, I brainstormed and filled up two more pages of ideas.

After that, I grouped those ideas using symbols (as I talked about on day 3), putting the ideas that were similar together putting a symbol by those ideas. I put a triangle by a number of ideas that were similar. Then I put a square beside a number of ideas that were similar, I put a checkmark by ideas that were similar. I did that until I got all the way through my list. I did have some that were outliers that didn’t fit into groups.

Chapter Length

So I could easily come up with ideas for about 10 more chapters. As I said I already had seven chapters. So this would make the book about 170 pages long. If I followed the strict way of doing this the older way of coming up with 10 pages per chapter.

However, as I’ve mentioned, the new idea is that books are shorter than they were in the past and that’s what is preferred by readers. So if I allow the chapters to be six to 10 pages long, the final result we can have somewhere between 130 and 170 pages.

That’s quite encouraging because I wondered if I would be able to even come up with the 100 or 120 that I was shooting for, to begin with.

Chapter Titles

Tomorrow I will be coming up with the chapter titles, and then a list of ideas that go with each chapter. (This is a summary of what you will find in those suggested blog posts) I will come up with keep putting ideas down until I get 12 to 18 ideas, then I will eliminate three. That means I will end up doing nine to 15 ideas to do the chapter plan.

Chapter ideas
Chapter ideas

I arrange those ideas in the best order and then turn each of those ideas into to a statement, a question, or a sentence. Having done that, then I go through the list again, and I make all of the ideas questions. Then I will write down three trigger words or ideas that will remind me of the answers to the question.

That takes some time, and it’s probably more than the allotted 75 to 90 minutes. But once it is done, it just makes everything else flow together so much more easily so I will be glad to spend the extra time either tomorrow or just extra minutes in the day.

Next Week

Next week is when I get started in earnest because I’m going to write my first new chapter. If you recall, I already have seven chapters, which I will tweak somewhat but I will be starting my first full chapter Monday.

That would possibly be the first chapter of your book.

So, I encourage you to go look at those six or seven blog posts from January 25. through March 2. That will show you what I’m attempting to do today and tomorrow and maybe for a few extra hours next week.

But once that outline, that plan is done then the rest of the time will just be spent spending 75 to 90 minutes on getting those things done. If I do shorter chapters it might just be 60 minutes on those. If you read the blog posts, you’ll better understand what I’m talking about.

Today’s Wrap-Up

Remember if you don’t already have a timer, I would highly recommend using one because it really works. It’s what worked for me; even in the brainstorming. You can spend hours and hours and be all over the place and the timer helps to narrow things down for you. You can always add things later. But it helped me to narrow things down.

I came up with 10 groups, although I haven’t named those groups yet, because they’re all very similar. Those could be for 10 more chapters as I look at it more closely. I may combine some of those and figure out which ones to eliminate.

That’s all for today. I hope you have a great day and remember: YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK!

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28-Day Writing Challenge – Day 3

Welcome to day three of the 28-day writing challenge. I’m glad you’re joining me today.

Yesterday we talked about the number of chapters that we’re trying to get our books to. In my case, I figured out that I had enough material I had already written for seven chapters. Now of course some of that will have to be tweaked, but I think I have that much material.

My goal is to do maybe five more chapters. Now that’s not set in stone. That will just bring me up to 125 pages. I can go as high as 200 pages if that’s what it takes to cover my topic. Right now, however, I’m looking for enough ideas for five more chapters.

Time Management

What I want to talk about on day three is time management. You typically want to set aside 75 to 90 minutes a day for working on your book. Some of you may be able to do this in 45 minutes or so, but that would probably be the exception. Generally speaking for me I’m thinking of 75 to 90 minutes every day. Of course, I do have to work around my other schedules.

A timer can help you accomplish your goals.
Using a timer helps with time management.

How are we going to accomplish this? In my case, I’m going to use my magic kitchen timer. What that does is it forces us forces me not to edit too much as I’m going along. This is not the final product, so nobody’s going to see this but me. So the timer forces me not to edit too much as I’m going along. I can allow some typos and spelling errors as I’m doing this because it’s all going to be rearranged before I get to the final product. The timer creates an artificial deadline and we respond to deadlines.

What’s Next?

Today, I want to do two things. One was going to Amazon and researching books that are similar to the ones that we want to write. Now, I will say that since my book is about valuing your spouse, I suspect I may have a little challenge in finding other books on that topic. I am writing about the importance of valuing your spouse and the importance of having similar values. Now there’ll be a lot of books about values and Christian values. So I’ll be looking at some of those as I’m going along.

Brainstorm!
Brain dump time!

The second thing: I’m going to set my timer for 15 minutes as I do this. I don’t know how much research I’ll get done in the first 15 minutes, but I will set it again and I may do it as many as three times.

But after that the times up, I’m going to take a sheet of paper and fold it over, and I’m going to just start writing down ideas. I’ll have the timer set for this also, probably for 15 minutes. I’ll fill up that side, flip it over, and fill up that side. If I need more room, I’ll get another sheet of paper. fill up the page. So that’s how I do what I call a “brain dump.”

Getting Organized

It’s time to organize your list.

Then if you have time, you can see in the above video, I have several different symbols drawn. There’s a checkmark, left and right arrows, up and down arrows, triangles, squares, and circles. You’ll have this big list of random ideas and you will use a symbol to group similar ideas together. So all of those that are similar under the checkmarks, and then other ones that are similar under squares, and so on. That’s how we’re going to do that. We’re going to do the “brain dump” and then classify ideas into groups.

These steps will be very helpful because the groups may end up being our chapters.

So that’s the plan for what I’m going to do next. Then tomorrow, we will create the plan for the writing of our books. In my case, I may only need five days in the 28-day plan we actually have 20 days. So if I get my five days to work the way that I want to, then I will have some time to do more editing of the book than I would have in a normal 28 Day Challenge.

However, if you are planning on 20 chapters, then you’re probably going to fill up the 20 days if you are using 75 to 90 minutes a day.

So today I will research similar books, I’m going to do a brain dump and I’m going to group those ideas. I want to set my timer in 15-minute intervals. Tomorrow I’ll talk more about how you can create a plan that will cry out to you to write your book and you will look at that and it will just say, “Write me!”

I hope you had a good day today. Remember, YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK!

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28-Day Writing Challenge – Day 2

Welcome back to day two of the 28-day writing challenge! I’m inviting you to join me as I begin work on my next book. I wonder if you have decided to get a start on your own book during this challenge. Either way, you can do it with me or you can just watch as I go through the process. Let’s see how we will do with this 28-day writing challenge-Day 2 project.

My Current Project

I’m writing a new book on marriage. married. I have two previous books on the topic. The first one is “21 Ways the Principle of Leaving Will Benefit Your Marriage: Why You Should Apply This Shocking Key to Marital Bliss.” Then the second one is “From Mountains to Molehills: Overcoming and Celebrating Your Differences in Marriage.”

Some Background

This third one that I’m working on now is the “V” in the acronym “LOVING”. I had previously written a book called “The Loving Way to a Successful Marriage” and “LOVING” is an acrostic. So leaving is the L, overcoming is the O, and valuing is the V.

So I’m going to be talking about valuing each other and also having the same values in your marriage and what benefit there is to that.

Where to Find Content

Developing a blueprint for your book can help organize your ideas.
Build a blueprint for your book

In my book “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death”, I talked about one way of setting a blueprint for your book. I also talked about two other ways of writing a book and one of them has to do with speaking your book, so I have been speaking some blog posts. I may be able to do some more of those as I go along. I also talked about using previous things that a person had written.

So in my first book, I had four chapters in the section that had to do with valuing, so I have four chapters under my belt already. Then looking through the blog posts that I’ve done so far that relate to this, I think I can come up with three more chapters and just tweak those. I spoke those out to a general audience and applied those more generally. I’ll need to adjust them a bit to apply them more specifically. That gives me three more chapters. So now I have a total of seven chapters up to this point.

Book Length

What I’ve encouraged you to do is to figure out a target goal for your book. How many pages would you want it to be? I recommend your book be between 100 and 200 pages. It can be as low as 90 and go as high as 250 without stressing yourself to death. I decided to shoot for 125 for this book. Shorter books seem to be a trend. People like shorter books so they can get the information and be able to read them more quickly. Some of the longer books, people don’t finish. I hope this one, at 125 pages, would be one that could be finished easily. I decided to aim for 12 chapters.

Do Some Research

Looking at best-selling books in your genre will help develop an idea of how long your book should be.
Searching for ideas

What have you come up with? What are you thinking about? If you’re trying to figure out the number of chapters, I suggest you look at similar books in your genre. Go to Amazon and look for the bestsellers in your category and see how many chapters and how many pages there are. I haven’t felt the need to do that this time, but if you’re new to writing, I strongly suggest you give this a try.

Also, looking at those titles and looking at the title chapters (we’ll talk more about that later) can be helpful, too.

Tomorrow I want to help you come up with the outline and blueprint for your book. We will do several sessions of brainstorming to be able to figure that out. In my case, I’m encouraged that I already have essentially seven chapters as a foundation. So I’m thinking that somewhere around five more chapters. That’s the encouraging thing for me: I will not need that full 28 days for the writing part of this particular book–if all goes well.

Information Gathering

I would like to do a survey for this book. I did that in the last book, “From Mountains to Molehills: Overcoming and Celebrating Your Differences in Marriage”, and it was very helpful. I would like to do that again for this book, so I’m going to go to Survey Monkey and create a survey. I would be glad for some of you to take that survey and of course, your results are anonymous.

Now the survey is not such a large sample as a scientific survey would be, but the advantage is that such a survey is very current and up to date. I’m looking forward to doing the survey.

Wrapping it Up

So by now, I would hope that you would have a working title. It doesn’t have to be set in stone. It doesn’t have to sound interesting to you. Just get to the title–what you’re writing about. My working title is “Valuing Your Spouse”. Of course, I want to come up with something more interesting before I finally publish this book, but that’s what I’m using for now.

So, come up with a working title. Figure out the number of pages you might be shooting for. If it looks like it’s less than 100 I would suggest you raise it up to 100 or 90 at the very least. If you have way over 250, you might want to consider cutting that down a little bit.

The number of chapters: generally a good number would be 10 to 20. Now it can be 21 or 22 or even up to 25. I guess you could go down as low as nine or eight. But, generally, you want somewhere between 10 and 20 chapters. If not you might want to rethink that a little bit.

Homework

Tomorrow we will go into that in more depth and I will give you more information about how you can do that. Also, I’ll tell you some of the things that I’m going to do with that too.

Some extra work, if you want.
Homework

If you want to do something before tomorrow, go to those best-selling books on Amazon that relate to your topic, and look at all those on the first page. I usually go with the top 10. Just do some research and some looking around. When you do that, you may get some ideas for chapters of your own. Of course, you want to put those in your own words. The exact words in the exact order are copyrightable, but you can get some ideas. Ideas are not copyrightable. It is the expression of those ideas that you can claim copyright to.

That’s all for this session. I’ll see you next time. Remember: YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK!

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28-Day Writing Challenge – Day 1

Time to start writing that book!
Getting Started

Welcome to day one of the 28-day writing challenge. I have written a book “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death”. Now, I’m inviting you to either create your own book and see if we can get it done in 28 days or you can just follow along with me as I write my next book. I am excited to begin the 28-day writing challenge ~ Day 1.

My next book is going to be a follow-up of the book “From Mountains to Molehills: Overcoming and Celebrating Your Differences in Marriage”. Actually, there’s a precursor to that. It is a book called “The Loving Way to A Successful Marriage: Six Keys to Marital Bliss” That book is now out of print. That book is divided into six parts. After the first book, I decided I wanted to do a series of books on marriage. So what I’m doing is taking each part and making a book out of each part of this original book. That’s my plan, anyway.

In this 28-day writing challenge, the first three days are going to be kind of vague for you if you’re just starting out writing your book. These first three days can all kind of run together.

Build a Foundation

A solid book begins with a good foundation
A solid book begins with a good foundation

Now, in my case, I have the foundation, around 40 pages. The first part of the original book was “Leaving: The Most Important Move You Can Make in Your Marriage”. Part two was “Overcoming: The Most Important Commitment You Can Make in Your Marriage”. That’s where the book “From Mountains to Molehills” came from.

The next section, part three, is “Valuing: The Most Important Attitude You Can Have in Your Marriage”. Leaving, overcoming, and valuing are the first three keys in the book “Six Keys to Marital Bliss”, and each one of those relates to the acronym “LOVING.” So, “The Loving Way to a Successful Marriage” will be the complete series..

So the first one is leaving, the second one is overcoming, and the third one is valuing each other. So I have valuing as the topic for part three (which is now book three).

My Process

Talking about valuing, what I wanted started on page 87 in the original book. In this, I talked about how men and women think. It’s one of my favorite things to talk about when I give speaking engagements. It also includes a section on having similar values. That section talks about how society’s thought patterns have influenced our marriages.

Part four is going to be “Intimacy: The Most Important Connection You Can Make in Your Marriage”. That will be the next book.

This book starts on page 87 and goes through page 120. So I have 37 pages as a foundation for my book. (I said 57 pages in the video. Ha! Math is not my strong point.)

In “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less” there are three different methods that are mentioned in writing that book. One of them is how to use your previous writing or previous blog posts and things like that. So in the book “The Loving Way to a Successful Marriage,” I have a section that’s related to valuing and that’s the foundation for my next book.

I have several blog posts that I’ve done in relation to that topic and I have also preached two or three sermons that would relate. Now the sermons are of course related to a wider audience than just married couples but I’m going to take those blog posts and hone them down more specifically to the idea of marriage.

Remember, you can write a book!
You can write a book.

So that’s how I’m starting. What you need to do in these first three days is to figure out a working title for your book. This does not have to be the final title, but your idea, your topic, your working title. Are you going to be pulling together things that you have done before or are you going to start from scratch? Another thing that we need to figure out is how long do we want our book to be? I recommend anywhere from 100 to 200 pages.

Since I already have 37 pages, I need at least 60 more pages. (Again, I am having to adjust the math from what I said in the video. That would be six or seven chapters if I were to write 10-page chapters. That’s how I’m getting started.

First Steps

What you need to do is come up with your working idea. Do you already have an idea of major divisions that would be chapters for your book? If you do then you are in good shape. If not, then you need to come up with what you think would be the chapters that you would have in your book.

So, the challenge today and tomorrow is to come up with ideas for anywhere from five to 20 chapters you would want to create for your book. If you’re doing fiction, then again you would want to figure out how many chapters you would want. You would probably want at least 20 chapters for your fiction book. So figure that out.

That’s how I’m getting started. . Have a great day. Remember, YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK!

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Start Writing Fiction – 5 Reasons Why

I’m so glad you’ve joined me. Today, I’m talking about writing fiction: five reasons why. In the video below, I mention four reasons, but you’ll discover that there is a bonus reason at the end!

The First Reason Why You Should Start Writing Fiction Is That You Can Exercise Your Creativity

Well, one of the first reasons for writing fiction has to do with the fact that you can exercise your creativity. Now whenever you are doing nonfiction, of course you can exercise creativity somewhat. But you can do it even more whenever you’re doing fiction. So you can exercise your creativity.

Creativity is a cornerstone of fiction writing.

Sometimes in nonfiction, I recommend that you put in some fictional items to illustrate your point. Or you could possibly have made up examples of what you’re talking about. So, the first thing is that you can exercise your creativity.

The Second Reason Why You Should Start Writing Fiction Is That You Will Enjoy Your Writing

The second thing is that you can enjoy your writing even more. Now I have to confess I do enjoy nonfiction writing, but you can enjoy it even more whenever you are creating a story. It’s fun to create stories. You can create your stories, and, as I said, you can put some of those fiction examples in with your nonfiction writing. Then, you’ll have double enjoyment, especially if your nonfiction writing is something that you are passionate about. When you add your stories to your nonfiction, it’s even more enjoyable.

Fiction writing can be very enjoyable.

The Third Reason Why You Should Start Writing Fiction Is That You Can Start with Short Projects as Well as Long Ones

The third reason is that you don’t have to write “War and Peace” right out of the gate. You can write shorter versions of articles. There’s even a genre for that in fiction: The short story. It is a long-established genre of fiction writing. So you can you can do something shorter. You don’t have to be writing a very, very long novel, just out of the gate.

The Fourth Reason Why You Should Start Writing Fiction Is That You Write an Endless Number of Projects

Another reason to start writing fiction is that you have endless possibilities with it. Whenever you do a lot of writing in nonfiction areas, it will be an area where you may be branded in that particular area, or something that you know a whole lot about, so you end up writing all about that. However, eventually you reach the limits of your knowledge about what you have started talking about. You can break it down further and you can have different steps whenever you’re doing it, and sometimes you can explain things in a different way.

But whenever you’re writing fiction, the possibilities are endless. You can just write story after story. You can create new characters. You can have new settings. You can just write write, write write, write a lot of fiction!

The Fifth Reason Why You Should Start Writing Fiction Is That All You Need Is an Idea in Order to Start

Finally, the fifth reason to start writing fiction is that all you need to get started is an idea. Now, in your nonfiction writing, you have to actually know the particular steps to do something or you have to know the description of whatever it is that you’re talking about.

An idea is all it takes to get started on that fiction story.

But in fiction writing, all you have to have is an idea. Of course, if you are going to talk about how certain detectives work, or maybe how the police would work, you’re either going to have to read a lot and be really familiar with how things actually work, or you may have to do some research in those areas. But even at that, you can start your story and continue your research. Once the research is done, you can go in and edit.

So, those are some reasons to start writing fiction.
1. You can exercise your creativity.
2. You will enjoy writing even more.
3. You can start with short writing and short stories and you might even be able to sell some of those to magazines.
4. The possibilities are endless.
5. All you have to have to start is an idea.

Well, I hope this has been helpful to you. Until next time, I want to remind you that you can get more tips like these by going to www.randycarney.com. Even better, you can follow the link to Amazon and get my newest book “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death.

Remember, you can write a book

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Writing the Fiction Novel – Four Things to Think About

Today I’m talking about writing a fiction novel. Well, you’d ask “Aren’t most novels fiction?” I guess that is true; however, you do have a genre of historical fiction, which includes elements of nonfiction history. Here, we will discuss “Writing the Fiction Novel — Four Things to Think About.”

Walking with Randy videos can be seen on Facebook, YouTube, and Rumble

I. Think of Your Characters

First of all, think about your characters. You are certainly going to have a main character. Your readers are going to be spending a lot of time with that character, so it should be someone you and your readers want to spend some time with. Also, as I mentioned in the earlier post (read it here), I think you should also give your character at least one flaw; something they struggle with to make it a little more interesting. (I mean, after all, Superman has his kryptonite, does he not?)

Good character development is important for a good fiction story.
Cast of characters

Then you can think about your other characters. They don’t necessarily have to be the kind that you would want to spend a lot of time with. In fact, if you can write a character that kind of makes you mad, that would be all right too. Your character should have personalities in contrast to one another.

II. Think of Your Stories

Next, think of your stories. Many novels have plots and subplots, or a main story and then a secondary story. If you decide to have a main story and a secondary story, you can flip back and forth between those two. At some point, the stories will probably intersect. So think about your main story and your secondary story.

Talking about the stories within the story: In the main story, you actually have two stories going on with that. You have the external story, which are the events that are taking place, Previously, I’ve written about how to start with a character’s real life, then he goes on a downward slope, hits rock bottom, or at least comes to a point of definite decision. It may be a point of no return. Then he starts on an upward slope, seeking his victory. There are obstacles along the way on the upward slope. Then finally there is victory and you tie it all together at the end. That is the outward story of your main story.

But there is also the inward story, and that is the emotional part that a person cannot see. It is where you will tell or show how the character feels as he or she faces those struggles.

Strong stories make for interesting reading.
Stories matter

So you have the external story, internal story and then you may have a main story and a secondary story, or maybe even some more smaller stories. At some point, your main story and your secondary story will intersect.

Even if you don’t have a secondary story, you still have stories within the main story. Because you have the outer story and the inner story, dealing with the events and the struggles the character faces.

III. Think of the Need to Get Something to Edit

Then think of the need to get something down. Think of the need to get the rough draft done. One of the ways to do that is to write quickly. I have just written a book called “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death.” When I say “your book”, in this case, I am defining the word, “book” as having a rough draft and your first round of editing done. In my book, I explain some techniques on how to do that.

Basically, write in five to 10-minute segments, and write as quickly as you can. (Have your story planned out where you can do that.) Think of the need of getting the rough draft done. Why? Because you can’t edit something unless you have something to edit.

I’ve talked about three things to think about so far: Think about your characters, think about your stories, and think about the need to get the rough draft done quickly and then we move on to the need to edit.

It's crucial to the process to get SOMETHING written, and then edit your writing.
Rough draft and editing are crucial steps.

IV. Think of the Need to Edit

Now, you need to go through and do your self-edit first. As you’re doing that, I would suggest that, if possible, you find places to insert more humor if you haven’t already. Go through and sprinkle more interest factors throughout. Go through and eliminate unnecessary words. Read and see where it is bogging down. Then maybe even add more cliffhangers to your story. Once you go through and edit yourself, it should be ready for a professional edit. You should have at least two rounds of professional edits.

There you go! You’re ready to have your novel ready to be published.

How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death
My newest book

Earlier, I mentioned my new book “How to Write a Book and 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death”. You get more great writing tips by following the link and getting the book.

I’m happy to say that when the Kindle version of the book came out it hit the bestseller list on the first day of the launch! I encourage you to go check it out.

It has been good to be with you and I want you to remember, “You can write a book.“

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Creative Writing Fiction: Eight Steps to a Good Story

Hello, everyone. I hope you’ve had a great Thanksgiving. Today I’m talking about creative writing fiction: eight steps to a good story.

Walking with Randy video

Character Traits

The first step to a good story is to give your main character all kinds of good traits. A little trick to spice things up a little bit and make the story more believable or more challenging is to give your main character a flaw. (Even Superman has his kryptonite.) It could be a habit that he has or something he’s trying to overcome or something that frustrates him or her.

Even the strongest characters have their weaknesses.
Even Superman has his kryptonite.

John was in a cave and it was really dark. He could hardly see his hand in front of his face. He fumbled around in his pockets, hoping they would not hear him. He didn’t hear anything. He found a match and he struck it. They didn’t know that he had a match. John knew that match would soon run out but he also knew that there was a branch with some leaves on it. He had seen it when he went into the cave. So he ran over and grabbed the branch and lit the leaves. They flamed up but he was worried about when the leaves were going to die out. But they finally went down and the wood caught on fire. Now he had a torch and moved around trying to find his way out of the cave.

Real Life/Exciting Trouble

You may want to start your story with the character’s regular life. Or, you also may want to start at a very exciting time or low point or a place of really exciting trouble. Then after that, you would come into the main character’s regular life You could possibly do that in a “flashback” sort of way

The Downward Slide

Next, you start on a downward slide. Things start to slow down or things get worse. Things could start heading toward a problem. So you start on the downward slide. There are some obstacles along the way.

Rock Bottom

The "point of no return" is a part of good story telling.
Rock Bottom

Then the next step is that the character comes to rock bottom. It may be what some would call the point of no return. So you start with the character’s everyday life, you have the downward slope and then the character hits rock bottom.

The Turnaround/Hope

Well, then you have the turnaround where there is hope.

John felt a little breeze coming toward him, so he made his way with his torch to a curve. As he stepped around the corner he could see what he thought was a little light in the distance, so he made his way toward that light. Now he had hope, and he was progressing toward that hope. However, not too far in his path, he found where the wall of the cave had fallen down.

So we had an obstacle to overcome. Now, this is the next step. So far, we have the first one which was characters. The second one was everyday life and exciting trouble. The third one was a downward slide. The fourth one was rock bottom. The fifth one was a turnaround and hope.

Upward Climb/Overcoming Obstacles

Now we are on the upward climb, and you keep climbing.

So in the case of John, let’s say he found a few more obstacles, but he overcame all of them and got out of the cave. Then he was on the upward slope. He wasn’t completely rescued yet. his captors may have come back and tried to find him. He didn’t know where he was. But, he found a house nearby and knocked on the door. The reaction of the people inside seemed a little bit suspicious to him. He decided that they were in league with his captors, so he quickly ran away. Soon, he got to another house. There he got a phone and was able to contact a friend who called the police. Then, before he knew it, he heard the sirens coming.

Victory

There is victory! The police showed up the bad guys were captured and we have the victory.

Tie Up Loose Ends

This step is towards the end as you want to tie up all the loose ends. If you’re writing a mystery or something like that, you will probably put some distractors out there that will lead people down the wrong path, and they will be surprised when they get to the end. Here’s where you can explain those distractors and tie up any loose ends.

Some great tips for writing fiction.

In Summary

Well, I hope this is helpful to you. Creative writing fiction: eight steps to a good story.
Here they are again:
1. Develop your characters and give that main character flaw or flaws
2. Describe everyday life and the exciting beginning
3. Go down the downward slope
4. Hit rock bottom
5. Turnaround and hope
6. The upward climb
7. More obstacles to be overcome
7. Victory
8. Tie up the loose ends.

I hope this will be helpful to you if you decide to write fiction. Even if you’re writing nonfiction, which is what I’m doing right now, you can still throw in some fiction stories (Like my story about John in the cave) to spice up your nonfiction. I hope you have enjoyed this.

If you would like to know about stress-free writing, click here.

Happy writing!

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WOW! “How to Write a Book” Took Off

It has been an amazing week. If you haven’t already heard, “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death”, my new book, hit the bestseller list on its release date of Monday, November 15, 2021. I am so excited for everyone to learn the secrets and tips that will help them on their journey to becoming writers.

I did an interview with Dave Farrow about the book. It’s just a little information about me and the book. You can watch it below. Dave is a memory expert, and as the interview progressed, we found that we had something in common in utilizing timed deadlines. He does it for focus, and I do it for fast writing to get in the flow for writing books. I recommend you check out his resources.

Some Recommendations

Throughout my various endeavors, I’ve met several people. I’m blessed to call many people friends. Below are a few of those friends talking just a little bit about the book.

The first is Tim Parton. Tim is the General Manager of 3ABN’s (Three Angels Broadcasting Network) Praise Him Music Network. He is in my own personal “Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame!”

Tim Parton

Next up is Ian Vandervalk and his wife, Angela. Ian and Angela also work for 3ABN in production.

Ian and Angela Vendervalk

Thank you, Tim, Ian, and Angela!

Another Deal

Last week’s Kindle release went so well, I decided to offer a similar deal on the paperback book. This week, beginning November 21, 2021, the paperback book will be half price. Instead of the regular $14.99, you can purchase it for only $7.49! How great is that? Just follow this link and order your copy today.

Thank you for helping to make the book a bestseller. Happy writing!

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Halloween: Fun, Fear, and Hope

“In the United States (and other countries), Halloween has become one of the most popular unofficial holidays. On the upside, retail sales boost the economy around this holiday” (Bodie Hodge – Answers in Genesis). – second only to Christmas!

“On the downside, the holiday has become a time of increased crime in many places (especially arson and other acts of violence) on Halloween night as well as the night before. Even the author’s house was robbed one Halloween by forced entry. So, although the retail industry loves Halloween, many police officers and insurance companies dread it! Of course, there is also a tremendous amount of occult activity associated with this holiday.

“Kids and even many adults love getting dressed up for Halloween.” Of course, they love the candy too. It’s just innocent fun, isn’t it—or is it? (Hodge)

Sermon Video, Ezra Church of God

A Little History Lesson

“The holiday, though, has roots reaching much further back. As for the origin of Halloween, some researchers claim that the holiday can be traced back about 2,000 years to the Celts of Europe, who occupied parts of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France. They held a pagan festival called “Samhain” (pronounced “sow-in”) that celebrated, more or less, the honor of the dead and involved the offering of large sacrifices of crops and animals.” (Hodge) You may have heard of the Druids. They were the pagan priests.

Many cultures observe a “Day of the Dead”. This celebration is very widespread and may have come even before the tower of Babel.

In 600 A.D., Pope Boniface IV started a holiday called “All Saints Day”. Originally, it was held in the spring. Pope Gregory III moved the date to November 1st. Perhaps it was to provide a Christian celebration as an alternative to the pagan celebration. Then, after the Reformation, reformers dubbed October 31st “Reformation Day.”

Fun

Halloween can be a fun time for children and adults alike.

Many people observe many fun activities around the time of Halloween: Hot dog roasts, hayrides, costume parties, sometimes not usually trick or treat – at least not the “trick” part, but some mischievous fun.

Rhonda (my wife) and I have been in churches that had Halloween parties, some that were completely opposed to any type of celebration around that time, and some that had alternative activities like fall festivals.

For many years, our focus was upon Rusty’s (our son) birthday and didn’t engage much in the other activities. Of course, if people came to our house dressed up, we would give them candy.

Fear

As we move from the fun to the fear we can see the bridge of superstition to real evil. Superstitions about ghosts, demons, monsters abound during this time. Those who celebrated the pagan festivals in the past thought the day was a bridge between the living and the dead.

This can move us from superstition, which is imaginary, to real evil.

There are definitely real forces of evil in this world. Demons and demonic activity are very real.

African cultures are familiar with evil spirits, and it seems to be more than superstition. Missionaries report seeing evidence of demonic activity.

The Bible mentions demons several times. It also talks about demon possession. For example, the Gadarene demoniac and Mary Magdalene.

There are real Satan worshippers. Some of them have been deceived by Satan. While they may talk about worshiping Satan, many of them today are really just secular humanists with an absence of God.

There are also the “old school” Satanists who seek to call evil spirits, perform incantations, and the like.

It has been alleged that some very high-level people have been involved in Satanic rituals.

The Bible speaks of Satan and his angels. Satan has an angelic origin himself. At any rate, he has a desire to be like the Most High and to displace God. Satan is pleased when people begin to dabble in the occult.

Often, people begin to explore Satanism because of a desire for power. But we can submit to God and resist the devil!

I Peter 5: 5-11 (WEB)

The first of two passages of scripture.

5 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your worries on Him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

The Devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. While a true Christian is not going to actually be possessed, Satan can still bring a lot of temptation to your life. He can bring oppression.

Don’t give Satan a foothold! Resist the little things. Remove bitterness. Fast and pray.

Revelation 20:1-15 (NKJV)

Satan Bound 1,000 Years

20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

The Saints Reign with Christ 1,000 Years

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for [a]a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Satanic Rebellion Crushed

7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where[b] the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Great White Throne Judgment

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before [c]God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second [d]death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Hope

What about those who have never accepted Christ? If you haven’t accepted Him, right now, you’re traveling with Satan and his angels, and you’re headed to the same destination as they are. Verses 1-10 above tell us this.

The cross offers hope!

Here is the hope! Jesus loves you so much that He went to the cross to pay the penalty for your sins.

That’s how you resist Satan’s temptation. The Bible says Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). You can come to Christ. I am sure about that! God said that He so loved the world that whoever believes in Him will be saved. God is not willing that anyone should perish. More than anything, He wants you to come to Him. But, you have to take that step. Otherwise, you will wind up with the Devil and his minions. If you don’t receive Christ, you will die twice; once physically and once spiritually. But, if you accept Him, you only die once, and then live forever.

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Next Step

I'm so excited to see where your journey will take you.

I’d like to start off by saying thank you. Yesterday, between 3 and 6 PM, “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death” hit the best-seller list! In order for a book to be on the bestseller list, it has to be above 100 in a category. (Above meaning toward the top of the list) the number needs to be less than 100. By 6 PM, it was at number 28, making it on the bestseller list.

I’m so grateful for every one of you who bought it. My hope is that it will help guide you to fulfilling your dream of becoming a writer.

A Little Help from My Friends

Now, I have another favor to ask. If you purchased the book yesterday (or today, or at any time), it would be so helpful if you went to Amazon and wrote a review. The more reviews the book gets, the better. It will help keep the momentum going.

Again, thank you for helping “How to Write a Book in 28 Days or Less Without Stressing Yourself to Death” reach the best-seller list on Amazon. If you haven’t gotten the book yet, you can find it here. It will download immediately to your eReader and you will be on your way!

Have a blessed day. Happy writing.