Five Minute Friday - Bare

It's time for the "Five Minute Friday" blogging post. The inspiration comes from Lisa Jo Baker. 

What you do is set your timer for five minutes and write whatever you want according to the prompt Lisa places on her blog every Friday. Then you go back, link your blog and give support to those who posted before you. And, we connect on Twitter with #FiveMinuteFriday. 

So, today's prompt word was "BARE".

"I bare my soul every time I put words on paper. The essence of my life streams from my thought to actual words, sentences, paragraphs, until eventually they become stories.

With each word I seek in desperation another slice of my soul is shredded for my reader. I thank God that my soul is self-healing, and his love is all encompassing, otherwise, nothing would be left of me after I completed a book. Thank you, dear God, for letting me lean on you while I pour my bare soul into these books for my readers.

Dear reader, I give my all when I write for you. I hold nothing back. I bare my soul and extend it forward for your taking. My words are your words. My thoughts are your thoughts. My imagination is replaced by your imagination of the world I have created for you."

Until next Friday,

Everything I learned about writing by reading Stephen King

I have to tell you, my all time favorite author and my "mentor" is Stephen King. I have read and re-read so much of his work that it has taught me nearly everything I know about writing. Every writer should have his book ON WRITING sitting on their desktop or close at hand.

• Show the story.
• Use the reader's imagination.
• Give few details, let the reader fill in the rest.
• Streamline your story.
• Always leave your readers wanting more.

Show the Story:
It doesn't get more straightforward than this. Show vs. Tell is a topic every writer should be aware of and must understand the basics before they can write. Use action verbs. Stay away from adverbs. Be flawless in your writing and the readers will notice.

For example, I received this quote for my latest book, GOOD INTENTIONS.

"Flawlessly written and heartbreaking, you won't soon forget this story."
Sammie Callahan


Use the Reader's Imagination:
Draw a vivid image inside the reader's imagination using the words you create. Let the reader free flow along with you as you create your story. Use your words to give the reader the chance to see the images in their mind and create the "movie" inside their head.


Give few details, let the reader fill in the rest:
Don't go overboard on description and background information. Don't fill pages with words the reader will probably skip over, anyway. Stephen King is the master at this. He uses a few words, a bit of detail and all of a sudden, you, the reader have the entire description inside your head. It may not be the same for the next reader, but that's okay. It works for you. It works for them. Make it work in your next writing project.


Streamline your story:
Keep your story lines fluent and easy to follow. Don't get all convoluted and try to be tricky. Write a good story and your readers will appreciate you for it.

For example, I received this quote for NOT WITHOUT ANNA.

“Ms. Taylor's writing style is clear, without frills, and so streamlined that her story flows and flows and flows, without taking a break, to its satisfying conclusion. ”Maeve of Tara 


Always leaving your readers wanting more:
End your stories with a bit of a question still floating in the reader's mind. Give the reader only what you want, never more. Have them come back to you and ask, "Yes, it ended, but what about...?" That's the sign of a good story. Always leaving the reader wanting more.

For example, I received these quotes for my novel FOREVER UNTIL WE MEET.

“It is one of those stories that you just want to keep going and going - even after the last page has been reached. ”Kristie Leigh Maguire  
“I look forward to seeing more of this author's writings. ”Linda Strong    

"The art of a good storyteller is giving the reader what they want and knowing what not to give the reader so they can use their imagination." -- Vicki M. Taylor
Happy Writing,

March Madness is FREE

For the next five days, just in time for gift giving to your favorite reader, you can get my romantic suspense novella, March Madness free at the Kindle store on Amazon.com

It’s the college basketball finals and someone’s killing the girls in the Bellair Landing apartment complex and leaving unusual calling cards – a mascot doll from the losing team.

Laurel goes undercover to break the case but she finds more suspects than she can count and not enough clues. With an overprotective captain breathing down her neck and looking for any excuse to pull her from the case, Laurel doesn’t have time for a relationship. Just her luck, she ends up with not one, not two, but several suitors. Which one is the killer?

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My gift to you!

Merry Christmas!

--

Vicki