#IWSG MARCH 4th Book Launches & Big Idea Challenge

 

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can't find you to comment back.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

The awesome co-hosts for the March 4 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, and Natalie Aguirre!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Remember, the question is optional! 
March 4 question - What elements do you include in your book launch? Or what do you have in mind for your future book launch? Or what advice do you have to offer to others planning to launch a book?

My answer: 
When Launching a Book, I Always Keep These Basics in Mind
When launching a book, I always remind myself that the work doesn’t end when the manuscript is finished. In fact, that's when a new phase begins—one full of excitement and hard work. There are some basic steps to keep in mind that can make the process smoother and more successful. Here’s what I’ve learned about launching your first book.

1. Know Your Audience
Before you even start thinking about a launch date, you need to understand who you're writing for. Who are your readers? Knowing your target audience helps you decide everything from your book cover to your marketing strategy. Whether you're writing for fans of romance, fantasy, or paranormal, identifying your audience early will shape the way you promote your book.

2. Set Your Date & Plan Ahead
Choose a launch date well in advance. I recommend giving yourself 2–3 months of prep time. A well-executed launch takes more than just announcing the release. It requires a lead-up, the right activities on the day, and post-launch follow-ups. The more time you have to prepare, the better!

3. Build Your Author Platform
This is the time to really show up online. Create or update your author website, social media profiles, and email list. I know it’s tempting to focus only on the writing, but your platform is just as important. Engage with potential readers, share updates, and build a community around your work.

4. Don’t Forget Goodreads
If you’re not already on Goodreads, it’s time to get there. Goodreads is a powerful tool for authors. It allows you to connect directly with readers, join relevant groups, and even host giveaways to get early reviews. The site has a built-in audience of book lovers who want to discover new books, so getting your book listed and engaging with readers there is essential.

5. Get Reviews Early
Speaking of reviews, start collecting them as early as possible. Reach out to book bloggers, readers, and influencers within your genre. Advanced reviews can help boost your book’s visibility on platforms like Amazon and Goodreads. The more reviews you have, the more likely it is that new readers will take a chance on your book.

6. Create a Launch Plan
A clear launch plan is crucial. Break down your timeline into pre-launch, launch day, and post-launch phases. Use a mix of social media posts, email newsletters, virtual book tours, giveaways, and even paid ads to spread the word. If you want to use paid ads, they can definitely help you, but you don’t have to go that route. There are other ways to get the word out that might be more affordable, though they may require a bit more work on your part.

7. Celebrate the Launch
Launch day is finally here—don’t forget to celebrate! Host a virtual party, run a special promotion, or do giveaways to keep the momentum going. Show your excitement and thank your readers for their support. They’ll appreciate the personal touch, and it helps to build long-term connections with your audience.
Launching your first book can feel overwhelming, but with these basics in place, you’ll be prepared. Focus on building connections, planning ahead, and using platforms like Goodreads to help get your book in front of the right readers. It’s all part of the journey, and before you know it, your book will be out in the world!

What plans are you making for your book launch?

The Novelty is offering the 
Big Idea Challenge, starting March 2.

During March, writers taking part in the Big Idea Challenge will receive:

• A live writing class with Booker Prize winner Yann Martel (Life of Pi)

• Weekly group study sessions

• Panels with New York Times bestselling authors

• A synopsis workshop with a Penguin Random House editor

• Our online accountability challenge group

When they sign up, they will get our new program, The Big Idea course, which includes 30 plot-building lessons and a one-to-one coaching session with a bestselling novelist. Plus they’ll get access to live classes and workshops for a full year.

Writers can sign up here at The Big Idea. 

Special incentives will be provided for the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

4 Tips For Creating Villains

Sacha Black 
4 Tips For Creating Villains

Everyone knows that a hero is the most important character in a novel… Or are they? It’s actually a common misconception because at the heart of all stories is change, aka the emotional arc the hero moves through. From ‘flawed person unable to defeat their obstacles’ to ‘heroic champion at the end of the book’, having overcome their issues. And driving that change is conflict, and who creates conflict…?

The villain.

That’s why the villain is JUST as important as the hero. It’s also why I spend as much time crafting my villain as I do crafting my hero. So here are four tips to creating sinister villains.

1.      Why is Everything

Humans do things for a reason, often because of past experiences and the emotional wounds we’ve gathered. For example, losing a limb or a loved one dying. These events actually shape our brain chemistry and change the way we see the world. They cement the way we make decisions meaning rational thought can plausibly leave a villain and they can do something immoral because that’s what experience has taught them.

The Lion King is a great example of this. The King, Mufasa, has a brother called Scar who grew up in his shadow, always second best. As a result, Scar becomes bitter and jealous. In his mind, he deserves the crown. Therefore, anything he does to get it is reasonable. His jealousy is the reason why there’s conflict, and that conflict over the crown drives the story.

2.      Positivity is King

It might sound odd to ask you to give your villain a positive trait, but positivity for villains leads to believability. Just like having a perfect hero is off putting (because no one is perfect in real life) having a purely evil villain is also unbelievable. In a villain’s mind, they’re the hero of their story, they don’t think they’re evil, so chances are, there’s something redeemable about them.

You could show them caring for a sibling or family member, or show them loving a pet. You could even turn their negative trait into a positive one temporarily. Showing some positivity will breed a much more complex villain who’s an awful lot more believable than one who’s 100% nasty.

3.      Make Your Villain Unbeatable

A story with a hero who gets it easy is boring. Nothing is a challenge, the obstacles fall away. That’s not going to grip your readers. What grips them is relating to your hero’s emotional journey and the trials and tribulations he faces. That means he needs to work hard for his win. He needs to defeat a huge villain shaped barrier that seems, for 85% of your novel, like it’s totally insurmountable.

How do you make the villain seem undefeatable?

Make your villain an expert at something — if your villain is an expert in amassing huge armies, your hero is going to struggle to gather a rabble of misfits big enough to defeat him. A good tip here is to link to your hero’s character arc to your main villain-barrier. For example, Thor from the Marvel universe movies is (at the start) arrogant and selfish. So his father curses Thor’s magical hammer—the only hammer that’s able to defeat the villain. Until Thor can change and prove himself worthy of the power the hammer wields, he’s royally screwed. Once he changes, he gets the hammer back and can defeat the villain.

4.      Consider a Twist

Once you’ve finished the first book in a series you could play a wild card and consider a villain redemption arc for the next book in your series.

A character arc defines the change a character goes through during your story. Typically, a villain will spend the entire plot descending into villainy, where eventually they’re defeated. But a villain on the path to redemption goes the other way, they climb their way out of villainy to redeem themselves.

A word of caution though:

It takes time. Just as a hero takes an entire novel to overcome her flaw, it will take some time for a villain to make this monumental change. Don’t let them yo-yo between good and evil — the change needs to build slowly throughout your story.

Foreshadowing is vital. Readers don’t like to be cheated. You need to drop breadcrumbs throughout your story to let your reader know subconsciously that the villain is going to change, otherwise, they’ll feel cheated. Foreshadowing is subtle and often doesn’t take a lot — the occasional soft glance from the villain, a nicely spoken sentence, an action that is ‘good’ rather than evil. Tiny clues are key here.

Like hero like villain. Don’t make it easy for your villain to change. Just like it’s hard for the hero to overcome her flaw, it should be hard for a villain to overcome his. A quick way to make it harder for the villain to redeem himself is to catch him between two of his values. For example, while this character isn’t a villain, it still illustrates the point: Ned Stark in Game of Thrones values loyalty and wisdom – his wisdom tells him if he helps his King it will inevitably lead to his death, and yet, his loyalty forces him to help the King anyway.

Don’t let your villain become a wuss. Villains are villains for a reason. Keep them authentic by retaining some of their sharper personality edges. Just because their actions are good doesn’t mean the whole of them will be.

The Write Advice

Did you just cringe at the blog post title? Are you contemplating it? Or do you just don't care? Guess what? All are okay. For it can be right to cringe over the wrong use of write. It can be right to think about it and see how it fits. It can even be right not to care and take it as it is. It can even be right to do all three. Come again?

Every person is an individual with strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, beliefs, and all kinds of other things. So what are you going to get? If you've been around a while you already know the answer. You are going to read conflicting advice, advice you disagree with, advice you agree with that doesn't work for you, advice you agree with that does work for you, and even advice you may think is nuts but works.

Writing advice is just that, advice. Or tips if you prefer that word. Either can be right. All can be right. All can be wrong. It all comes back to you.

You have to decide what works. You have to decide what doesn't. You have to decide for yourself. You have to do the work. Yep, there is no way around it. It all truly does come back to you. Thankfully, there are steps you can go through.

Step 1

Decide what you are looking for. Editing advice, marketing tips, etc.

Step 2

Search and gather that advice.

Step 3

Narrow what you have found down to the best 10. Or pick a number that is good for you.

Step 4

Decide what you want to learn and expand upon. Could do this sooner, but by seeing the advice collected, you could have a better idea about what you want to explore.

Step 5

Compare the advice to each other and your capabilities. Does it make sense? Are you able to do that or willing to give it a try? Does it fit in your budget?

Step 6

Fact check. There are many out there just after money or recommending useless things because they are an affiliate or something of the like. Double check anything that recommends a service. Scams and worthless so-called systems abound. You don't want to get caught up in those. Also, use common sense. If it sounds to good to be true, it almost always is. If you find anything guaranteeing sales or that you'll never have to edit a word after the first draft, better to turn and run the other way.

Step 7

Deploy the advice that you have gathered and remember that it is a marathon. Everything from writing to marketing takes time. You can't just go "poof" and have things done.

Step 8

Keep track of results. There is no sense in putting more money into an ad that did nothing the first time. There is no sense in following a writing schedule that you can't seem to follow.

Step 9

Adjust and continue to adjust until you find your groove.

Step 10

Rinse and repeat for the next aspect you are looking into.

Even this advice won't work for everyone, but you have just checked something else off that won't work for you. That means you are getting closer to something that may work. Only takes one tip or piece of advice to help you on your way and/or teach you. You just may have to wade through much to find what works.

And it should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway, completely ignore advice that sounds dumb. "Publish without ever editing" is just one such example.

Have you ever found any advice or tips that worked? Any that you thought would work but didn't? Can you spot the scams and crappy advice? Do you know anyone whose tips worked for them but not you?

Striving For Originality

We strive as writers to come up with original stories and to stand out from the crowd. For many of us, finding that plot seems impossible. We look at the millions of books out there and try to create a new plot, but it seems like everything has been done before.

And do you know what? It has.

Now before you bang your head on the desk, know you shouldn't worry about all those other books. Nope, not at all. When you tell your story, it won't be like anything else out there.

Plot and story aren't the same thing. You'll find the same basic plots in every book, but the telling of that story will always be different. It will have the author's quirks, experience, and imagination which is a unique blend to make the story unlike any other.

Not convinced? Think of it like this: imagine you're visiting a class of students. They're sitting on the rug listening to the teacher read to them. Let's use Hansel and Gretel as an example.

After the teacher is finished, ask each child to tell the story in their own way. They can tell it however they want to as long as it has the same plot. It doesn't even have to have the same ending. No story is going to be alike. Not one. Jean tells the story with both characters as girls. Bert decides to have a dragon instead of a witch. Arthur has the story take place in a city instead of a forest. They're all using the basic plot of Hansel and Gretel, but each story is different.

If you're still uncertain, here are three tips to help you:

1. Write about something you'd like to read. If that's vampires, don't listen to the people who say the market is too saturated. You need to write something you're passionate about. It will show in your writing.

2. Be true to youself and your story. Don't add something because you think readers might want it or that it fits a certain trope.

3. Connect with your characters emotionally. Make yourself vulnerable and put all those emotions onto paper or the screen. If you're feeling the happiness, sadness, and fear, then so will your readers.

Remember, your story has never been seen before. It is original.

Critique Group Etiquette - Mind Your Ps and Qs

One of the best things a writer can do to improve their craft is join a critique group. Yet as an insecure writer, it's scary. While it is a little easier to have critique partners online and hide behind the screen, meeting face to face can send some running for the hills. Looking someone in the eye as they evaluate your work is tough, but if you can push past that initial anxiety, you can learn a lot.

When I first joined my local critique group, I was petrified. I barely said anything the first three or four times. I drank a gallon of water and hoped I wasn't sweating as much. Yet just listening to them, I was amazed at how much I picked up about writing and how they valued my critiques. Every meeting, I grew a little more confident about speaking, and these days, I let my critiques flow freely as we discuss each story.

It's vital to remember these groups are built on trust and respect. People submitting their stories are trusting the group to be honest and helpful. As we evaluate them, we must respect that. This is why everyone should follow critique group etiquette.

Here are four tips to help critique group participants mind their manners:

1) When receiving a critique, sit back and make notes. Don't interrupt. The person has taken the time to read and evaluate your work. Listen attentively and save your questions or comments until later. You may not agree with everything they say, and that's okay, but hopefully it will help you see your story in a different way.

2) Don't be defensive. Writers can be fiercely protective of their work. I've personally seen it get ugly, but it helps no one when you react that way. Remember everyone joined the group to grow in their craft and to support others. You don't have to agree with a person's critique, but the important part is that you listened.

3) When giving a critique, point out the good and bad. Writers need to know what they're doing right as well as what is wrong. A constructive critique will encourage a person grow while a destructive one will break them down and ruin the trust in the group.

4) You are giving a critique on the writing not the writer. Don't comment on the person's skills. Focus on giving honest feedback of the story with specific explanations and suggestions. Mind your language as you do so. The difference between "your protagonist has no depth" and "more layers can be added to this character by doing this and this" is huge.

 Every critique group is structured differently, but all of them need to follow the basics of etiquette. With trust and respect, and a good dose of encouragement, we can nurture each other and our stories.

Do you belong to a critique group? Do you have any etiquette tips to add?