Writer Wednesday
Happy Wednesday! Today I will not be doing the regular old me talking on and on about writing. I am going to be asking you guys questions for you to answer in the comments. I'm doing this to hear from your point of view to help me. I want others opinions on things related to writing.- Should The Lost Island be the last book?
- Should I make a follow-up diary series for all of the characters in The Secret Sister Series?
- What book should I work on next, Haily Benton and the School of Secrets, a third book in the Secret Sister Series, or a Diary series?
- Do you have any suggestions for my books?
- Do you have a book coming out? (If so, I can feature it on my blog.)
- Do you have any writing questions for me to answer in a Writer Wednesday?
Thanks for reading! I will be doing a giveaway soon for a chance to be a character in one of my books, so stay tuned for that!
-Ayla❤
I think you should switch to a different book series so you don't get tired of writing about the same characters.
ReplyDeleteHere's a question for you. Can you tell everyone how different it is to write a sequel as opposed to the first book in the series?
Hi Ayla, I'm so happy to have found your blog. I think that this is a wonderful idea for a writer. I'll be looking forward to hearing your thoughts and sharing some of my own.
ReplyDeleteI would love to read a third book in the Secret Sister Series. But, I somewhat agree with your mom that if you are getting tired of writing about the same characters you should move on to a new series; however, as a reader I love trilogies and following the same characters through new adventures.
Hello! I just found your books on Smashwords. I haven't read them, yet, but they look promising. Your blog looks good from what I've seen so far.
ReplyDeleteHmm. You asked for suggestions, so—the number one thing I look for in a book is family-friendly-content (that's more important than the book being good; it's really hard to find squeaky clean stuff these days). So, my suggestion is to focus on that. You'd fill an important niche, for sure. But yes, make your books good. Aiming for family-friendliness tends to require creativity, I've found. It's a good mental exercise.
I'm a writer, too. I didn't always try to write squeaky clean stuff. I mean, there was a lot of violence and stuff in my first two books. It was pretty hard to stop doing that, but it definitely paid off.
Some other things I look for are things like these:
• As you get older, my advice is not to try to write like an older person. A lot of what makes a book good is what young people are already good at. Yeah, you want good grammar and stuff like that, but you don't particularly need to worry about upping your reading level to a higher grade (easier reading is generally preferable, because more people can understand and enjoy it; you probably don't just want college professors and scientists to be reading your books). I used to be troubled when I noticed that the reading level of my books was actually going down the longer I wrote, but not anymore. When you embrace stuff like that, it's awesome, and inspires confidence (which helps a lot). Look at the good in what you have to offer, whatever you have to offer (don't fret). This can help a writer to use those skills /better/ and turn what was perceived as a weakness into a strength.
• Love (it doesn't have to be romantic love, but in my opinion, it really helps a story when people care about each other, when they're nice, when they're respectful, and stuff like that; it's not just wholesome; it makes the story better)
• Fantasy elements (I like those, as long as they're not things that don't mesh well with my religion; I like books without fantasy elements, too, though)
• Lack of horror elements (I don't like horror; a lot of people do, but, please, no)
• Other uplifting content, in addition to love (if it makes me feel good, that's awesome; if I feel terrible after it's over, then not so much)
Anyway, these are suggestions. You're free to choose, of course.
I've written four novels and I'm currently writing another. Thanks for mentioning the possibility of featuring my work. I'm not ready for it, yet, but I really appreciate it. That's very kind and thoughtful of you.
(I'm the same anonymous person who wrote the previous comment.) Oh, wow. I looked around more. You do book signings and everything. Great job. :)
ReplyDeleteSo, I didn't answer your last question. My question for you is, have you ever written a story with someone else (such as your mom)? Are you interested in this sort of thing? Anyway, my brother continued the first story I wrote after I stopped. It was a very good experience (even if I didn't always like what he wanted to do to my story!) I've craved writing with other people ever since.