Review - Injustice: Gods Among Us Graphic Novel

Now, I haven't kept up with DC Comics ever since they launched the New 52. I read many of the initial comics that they released and was so unimpressed, I pretty much stopped reading anything DC put out. So, when my wife got me the Injustice: Gods Among Us graphic novel, I was a little hesitant to read it. I knew it based on the video game (and many comics based on games usually are little more than rehashing the plot of a game in hopes to promote it), which gave me even less of a reason to give it a shot.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the comic actually was. Now, I don't want to ruin anything for anyone who hasn't read this yet. So, I am only going to speak of what happens in the very early part of the comic. If you don't even want to know that much, I suggest stop reading now.

The essential plot of the story is, what would happen if Superman went bad. We are so used to seeing Superman as the unfailing, unfaltering, always do the right thing, hero. He shows up. He saves the day. He puts the bad guy behind bars. This story starts off that way, but only for the briefest of moments.

As our story begins, we see Clark and Lois in bed (yes, in this reality he is still married to Lois Lane, which DC erased in the New 52). Clark suddenly perks up as he begins to hear a second heartbeat coming from Lois' body. He is overjoyed as Lois runs off to get an exclusive story down by the docks. Clark flies off as well and even asks Batman to be the godfather. This, is where the happiness ends. Lois is kidnapped by none other than the Joker and Harley and they hide her from Superman, and when he can't find his wife, he goes in search of her, with the rest of the Justice League's help.  They finally locate the Joker with Lois in a submarine which Superman lifts from the water and places on the dock. They break in and find Joker performing some kind of surgery on Lois' body. Supes gets shot in the face with some Scarecrow gas laced with Kryptonite and he believes he sees Doomsday (shown above). He grabs Doomsday and flies him into space, while Batman and the others capture Joker and Harley.

Now, here's the twist and again, if you don't like spoilers, I suggest you stop reading. Doomsday turns out to be Lois, and when Superman flies her into space, he kills her. The Joker had implanted a trigger in her chest, attached to her heart so that when it stopped beating, a bomb would explode, destroying Metropolis. This is the part where you'd expect someone to come up with something clever to save the day. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen. Lois dies, as does the population of Metropolis.

Grief stricken, our boy-scout hero undergoes a change. He asks why psychotics like the Joker are allowed again and again to cause terror and death in those around him. Superman isn't content to let this go. He seeks out the Joker in his cell in Gotham and punches a hole in his chest, beginning the downfall of our once great hero.

I'll stop the description there, but essentially the story pits hero against hero in a Marvel: Civil War style war in which the question is simple - Should those with power be able to rule with an iron fist if it's in the best interests of the people?

The series is ongoing and I have since getting the volume 1 graphic novel, gone on to read the other 30 or so issues they have released digitally. The story is compelling, and at times I find myself rooting for one side or the other. I want Superman to win, and sometimes I want him not to win. Not to ruin anything, but many of your favorite heroes do show up at some point in this story, and not all of them survive.

This is a great alternate reality comic set on an Earth we haven't yet met in the 52 worlds set up by the multiverse (if there is even a multiverse in the New 52. Like I said, I still don't read it). It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and I really hope that DC continues this series until it's end - not just when they don't need to promote the video game anymore.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Volume 1 is written by Tom Taylor, and has several artists working on it. Even with various artists, the artwork in this volume is consistent and detailed. Taylor tells an awesome story, and manages to use many characters without the story getting too bogged down. This is a wonderful read for anyone looking for a fresh perspective on classic characters (or anyone tired of the doldrums of the New 52).

Review: Special Edition NYC - June 2014

I had the great opportunity to be one of the artists at the inaugural edition of Special Edition NYC, a mini-comic con at the Javitz Center in New York City.

For anyone who has been to New York Comic Con in the last couple years, you know that for the uninitiated, the experience can be a little scary. NYCC 2013 boasted well over 160,000 people, over the course of four days, and let me tell you, having experienced that, it is a little frightening.

Well, Special Edition NYC was anything but. With less than a quarter of the crowd of NYCC, it is a great place to start your con experience. This seemed to be the case for many of the people I spoke to last weekend. Many told me that this was their first comic convention ever.

Because Special Edition was in the space usually reserved for NYCC's Artist Alley, this con was a lot more low-key than many of the other cons I have been to over the years. With no celebrity guests, and no major publishers putting on spectacles for the crowds, this show was mainly about one thing: THE ARTISTS and CREATORS.

For a writer/artist, such as me, this is a good thing. It places more focus on the artist alley and allows more fans to see our work. I hope that in future years ReedPop keeps this aspect of Special Edition the same. Because while it is great to go to the big conventions with all the celebrities and such, it is nice to be a part of decent sized con that is about the comics and the people who create them, which so many of the cons have fallen away from in recent years.

This con was only two days, as opposed to the big on in October which runs for four. I would venture to say that this particular con could have actually been shortened to just one day. While the crowd was great on Saturday, the Sunday crowd left much to be desired. I'm used to having a lighter crowd on Sunday, but as we noticed, there were more people walking by with exhibitors badges on Sunday then there were people wearing Sunday badges. I don't know for sure, but I don't think ReedPop sold all that many badges for Sunday. Now, this could have been hurt by the fact that it was Father's Day, and if they switch the weekend next year, that might fix itself, I don't know. The only thing I can comment on was that the Sunday crowd was unusually light, and that was disappointing.

The other disappointing thing, that also effected the crowd I'm sure, was that Special Edition was scheduled at the same time as the Long Island Comic Con and the Westchester Comic Con. We are talking about three comic conventions literally within 50 miles of each other. Poor planning on this schedule I think hurt all three of these cons, because each con lost fans to the others. This would be another thing I would suggest ReedPop avoid in the future.

If you are into cosplay, you wouldn't have been disappointed with this con either. Like the crowd though, the cosplayers were very light. The pictures I've included here are a couple of the dozen or so pictures I took of cosplayers. Usually, I come out of a convention with 100 pictures. Not to say that this was a bad thing, because for the most part, the people who were dressed up wore high quality costumes, like the couple you see here.

Overall, I believe that Special Edition NYC was a great success! I enjoyed it thoroughly. I like doing the smaller cons as much as I enjoy doing the huge ones, and for the first year, I would say that this one has the potential to be one of the better small cons. Look for postings for next year's con, and if you have the opportunity, come on up to NYC for it in June (if it is in June again next year). Either way, come on down for the massive party that is New York Comic Con in October. I'll be there!

Graphic Novels - Some Helpful Tips

I have recently had several people ask me about turning their works into a graphic novel format as I have. I have been working for 2 years to finish the entire story of High School Heroes as a graphic novel (it will be two parts when it's all done) as well as working on an original graphic novel called The Poe Murders. 

They both present challenges. And as I have  absolutely no artistic ability, I must hire people to do my artwork for me. So, I am going to post my advice on this blog for any and all to see. I will probably make a couple of postings on this subject, this is just the basic advice to get started, so that you know what you're getting yourself into.

Now, I use 2 websites to find and hire artists for my work:

www.freelanced.com and www.elance.com

Now, each one has it pros and cons. Freelanced, will likely give you cheaper artists and you can tell them specifically what you wish to spend on your project. However, I have found some of the artists (not all) on this site to be unreliable (hence why I have now had 4 different artists on my High School Heroes comic). However, there are some that are quite good, like the woman who illustrated my children's book.

Elance, you put the project up with an approximate amount of what you'd like to spend and the artists will bid on the project. The artists I have worked with on here have never let me down (crosses fingers while knocking on wood). However, they are usually more expensive and you have to put money into an escrow account up front.

I will suggest black and white if you are paying for this by yourself, because keep this in mind...

Coloring can cost you an extra $10 - $40 per page. If you are going to do a standard 100 to 125 page graphic novel, that means upwards of an extra $1,000+ to $4,000+ out of your pocket. Not to mention that you will then have to pay for someone to letter the book (add in all the speaking bubbles and captions and whatnot) and the cheapest I have found for that is also $10 per page. (Now, I letter my own books, it takes me a good deal of time, but when you think of the money saved...) Then you will also have to pay an artist to do the cover and for a decent cover, that will also run you a minimum of $100. (I get around that by designing the cover myself and paying an artist just to draw a character for the cover for High School Heroes, The Poe Murders, I paid the full price).

When you consider that a black and white graphic novel of 100 pages is already going to cost you approximately $2,000 to $2,500 at minimum, all these extras can cost you money. Also, usually you will have to hire separate people to do each of these things. The person who draws, usually doesn't color and vice-versa.

I hope that this has been helpful to you. Check back in a couple of days when I discuss creating a script. 

On Heroes

 

When writing my stories for High School Heroes, I delved deeply into the world of heroes. But what is a hero, what do they do that makes them who they are? Why are we drawn to heroes?

And most importantly of all, how do we, as writers, create a hero that is believable?

I think back to the ancient heroes when I think of a hero. There is Beowulf, Odysseus, Achilles, Jason, King Arthur, among others. If you look at many of these heroes, they are perfect in every way except for having a tragic flaw. Beowulf had his pride, while Achilles had his rage. These things lead to their downfall.

This same concept can be applied to more modern day heroes as well. Superman has his Kryptonite, Hulk has in uncontrollable rage, etc. But are these the things that make them heroic?

No.

A hero is defined by their actions. A hero must do what is necessary in any situation. The hero must help someone or right the wrongs of someone or help topple an evil-someone to be the hero they must be.

The problem is, when writing a hero, many writers make them too perfect. After all, the hero needs to be a likable character, doesn't he or she? So, we shouldn't have them do anything unlikable, should we? The answer to this question is a resounding NO!

Like the heroes of old, our heroes we write should have some kind of flaw. Our heroes we write need to make mistakes. Our heroes need to be... HUMAN. No one wants to read about a hero that is too perfect. It is too unreal and frankly boring. A hero needs to grow. A hero needs to have real world problems just like the rest of us.

For Christine, the main character in High School Heroes, one of her biggest problems is dealing with the fact that she is a social outcast. It makes her more relatable than if I just made her go in and save the day. Through the story she makes friends, and loses them, all the while struggling with the question of whether she should use her newfound powers for herself or for others.

That is a hero.

So, if you're just starting out a story, or even if you're well within writing it. I suggest doing an outline, but not of the story, an outline of your hero. Talk about what makes them great, but give them an inner conflict - something that makes them worth reading about. You need to make your hero something that someone wants to succeed despite their flaws.

Just remember, as you write your hero, no matter if you want him/her to be larger-than-life like the heroes of old, or you want him/her to be a simple schoolteacher or taxi-cab driver, make them great, but don't make them perfect.

Now go and write!



 

The Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch can be summed up in a sentence, which is kind of funny, when you consider that's exactly what an elevator pitch is. It is a one or two sentence summary of your book that is meant to entice someone to learn more about it.

It seems like such a simple thing, and while it isn't all that complicated, it can be very easy to mess up. Either people make them too short with not enough exciting details, or they cannot think of how to condense a 300 page novel into a sentence and make the pitch too long.

The attention span of most adults is eight (8) seconds. So, you have that long (if even that) to grab their attention. Essentially, what I'm saying is that by this paragraph, if I haven't hooked you already, I'm never going to.

Conventionally, the target of the elevator pitch is usually an agent or an editor. Many writing conventions and conferences actually have special times set up for just such pitching sessions. They usually will give you a few minutes to present your work to agent or editor in hopes that they will say, "Sure, I'll take you on." But what about for those of us who are already published?

While I did many an elevator pitch before I had my novel, High School Heroes, published, I have made the pitch many, many more times since. I have actually said my elevator pitch so many times, that I have it memorized.

"High School Heroes is about a group of teenagers who desperately want to become superheroes but high school keeps getting in the way."

It's simple, to the point, and it always illicits a reaction--usually a chuckle and a comment. Now, this is the same pitch I used when I was looking for agents and publishers. This line was the first line of my query letter. This line I also use when I attend shows where I am sitting at a table and trying to get people to come over to my booth.

Depending on the show I'm at, I have seen as much as 50% of the people I say this line to actually come over to my table and pick up a book. Now, does that always turn into a sale--absolutely not. However, what my short and sweet pitch does, is entices a person to want to learn more. Now of those 50% that actually come to look at the book, somwhere between 5 and 10% buy it. While this sounds low, if you think about it, if I make the pitch 200 times, and I have 100 people actually come over to look at the book, I am going to sell between 5 and 10 of them. Generally, during a 6 hour show, I will make the pitch anywhere from 300 - 400 times. I'll allow you to do the math.

Now that I have explained the benefits of using an elevator pitch for something other than trying to get your book published, we can get into how to create one. There are a few criteria that every elevator pitch should have.

1. Keep it Short
Nothing will throw someone off more than having someone talk their ear off. Remember you have only eight (8) seconds (if that long) before someone tunes you out and moves on. Your pitch should ideally be one (1) sentence, but definitely no more than two (2). Look back at my pitch, it's only one sentence, but it captures the essence of my entire novel. Think about your novel and try to sum it up in a sentence.

2. Hook Your Audience
Just like your novel has to hook your audience on the first page (the first couple paragraphs really) you need to hook your potential editor, agent or customer with your elevator pitch. In other words, you can't just stick with your summary--it has to pop in some fashion. Again, I'll direct you back to my pitch:

"High School Heroes is about a group of teenagers who desperately want to become superheroes but high school keeps getting in the way."

That underlined part is the hook. No matter if they're 15 or 50, everyone remembers their high school days, whether good or bad. They remember how high school gets in the way of what a teenager wants to do. Like I said earlier, I usually get a chuckle when I say my pitch at shows, which is usually followed by a comment like, "Doesn't it always?" or "Yes it does." They want to find out how high school gets in the way, so the person comes over and looks at the book, which is our goal.

3. Tell The Genre
This is a tricky one, because you want to tell the genre of your novel without actually saying what it is. I could easily say, "High School Heroes is a young adult fantasy novel about..." But I don't. It isn't necessary. The simple fact that I have the words "teenagers" and "high school," tell me that this book is probably young adult, and the word "superheroes" tells me this is a fantasy. Saying that it is a young adult fantasy is adding extra words that is cutting into my few seconds of attention.

Now, what might happen is that your pitch will draw them in, and then they might ask for clarification of the genre. When this happens, I will quickly say, "It's a young adult fantasy." There's no problem there, because now the person I'm pitching to has engaged me and hasn't simply walked off, and I have a chance to continue the conversation.

On the flip-side, if I hear a pitch that talks about a "series of murders" I know that we're looking at a mystery, possibly a horror. If I hear the words, "space" or "starship" I know we're looking at a science-fiction. Think about the genre and what you can include in your pitch that will let someone know what it is.

4. Be Prepared to Talk Further
Once you have your person hooked, you need to give them something more. Usually, like above, the person will ask a question, and you need to have an answer for it. What I will normally do, is then direct the person I'm pitching to to look at something on the table--the back cover of my book, for example. The back cover has a lot more information about the book. However, if you don't have a book yet, you can always have this same description written down somewhere. While they are looking at it though, don't forget to add another little tidbit of information.

"The novel has gotten great reviews on Book Blogs and GoodReads."

Just one small thing to keep the person engaged and talking about... well, you and your book. And as always, have answers to some typical questions. For instance, the questions I always get asked is, "Who's the girl on the cover?" and "What are the kids' superpowers?" I can answer these questions quickly without even thinking about it.

The key is, keep them engaged as long as possible, because the longer they're engaged, the longer they are considering picking your story up.

5. Don't Be Afraid to Edit
Sometimes, even a well thought out pitch doesn't work. To be honest, I had three (3) other pitches before the current one. They didn't work, or at least, they didn't work as well as the one I have talked about through much of this blog.

The point is, we as writers can be stubborn. I definitely fit into that category. However, sometimes you have to evaluate what works and what doesn't. So, if your elevator pitch doesn't work, then you need to make some changes. Try it out a few times, and if you don't get a warm response, then go home and think of how else you can possibly say it. Think about where you can add some more active, exciting words. Think about where you are going wrong with your hook. Then change the pitch accordingly.

That's all the advice I can give, other than to just keep pitching and don't be discouraged when people still "walk on by". Remember, that no matter how well written your story is. No matter how many people you think will like your book, remember that it isn't for everyone and there will ALWAYS be people that will pass on it.

With that being said, I'm going to give you two other examples of good pitches for you to look at. Good luck writing your elevator pitch.

Harry Potter

Harry discovers that he has magical powers when he's invited to attend Hogwarts school for wizards, but the evil wizard who killed his parents is hiding at Hogwarts, waiting to finish the job.

Twilight

A girl falls for a sexy vampire--but the boy who falls for her is part of a werewolf tribe committed to defeating the vampires.

Ebook Publishing - Top Publishing Sites

So, in my last post I wrote about the benefits of ebook publishing. In this post, I'm going to tell you about some of the sites in which you can publish your materials. Three of the sites I am going to mention are the three sites I personally use to publish all of my material.

Now, before I begin, I just want to remind you not to expect immediate results. As I stated in the previous posts, my first months on these sites I only sold a few books each month. As my following started to grow however, and I published more books, my sales skyrocketed. So, don't be discouraged when you see your first month's sales as only 10 books.

So, without further ado, here are the sites:

Kindle Direct Publishing - Web Address
With Amazon.com being one of the top ebook sellers, it would be foolish not to have your books prominently displayed on their website. Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is run by Amazon.com and if you publish here your book will be published on Amazon's website.

The upside to publishing with KDP is that it is very easy to get it published here. There isn't a particular format you need to adhere to (although I suggest having your book formatted so that it reads like an actual book) and you can upload a DOC or PDF file of your book (I suggest DOC, because Kindle seems to have an easier time converting this for the device). Once you publish, and assuming that there is nothing in your book Amazon considers offensive (which I will cover in a moment), your book will be made available within 24 - 48 hours. In the last couple of months, KDP has become even faster and several of my books have been made available within 12 hours of my uploading them to the site.

You can also set your price, starting at 99cents and you can also set prices for sites around the world (just in case you happen to want to make the book more expensive in England or France). The problem with the 99cent books is that you only receive 35% of the price as a royalty (which translates to 35cents per sale). If, however, you set your price at $2.99, you will receive 70% per sale (or about $2.) Royalties are also paid each month, though you have to wait 2 months after the end of each month for the royalties. 

As far as the "offensive" items, from speaking to other authors, the only things that I have found that KDP won't publish are extreme sex acts such as rape, beastiality, violent acts. Other than that, unless you have stolen a work from someone else, there should be no problem.

Now, the down side with KDP is that if you do have a problem of any kind, you are pretty much on your own. Any question I have posed to KDP's help line has not only take several days to be answered (if at all) but the responses are not helpful at all. They will usually say something like, "I'm sorry you are having trouble, but there is nothing we can do about it on our end." So, if you require help with anything, I suggest trying to find it from anywhere but KDP.

Pubit at Barnes & Noble - Web Address
Like KDP, Pubit is exclusive to Barnes & Noble, so if you publish here, your book will become available on B&N.com. Like Amazon, B&N is a top ebook seller. These two sites account for more than half of the ebook sales in the United States and possibly the world. These are the two sites I started on before I expanded.

Like KDP, Pubit is very easy to use and is very easy going on the formatting. Pubit, however, is a little more strict about the cover images (mostly the size of the image), but as long as your book cover fits within the size range, you should have no problems.

Pubit has a flat rate for royalties, so no matter what you charge for your book you will receive the same amount, which at this time is 40% of the price. Now, while you will lose some money on the higher priced books, you will be getting more for those 99cent ebooks. So, it does balance out with Amazon's royalties. Pubit's royalties are also sent out each month.

While Pubit has guidelines for the content of your book, much like KDP does, from my conversations with authors, there isn't anything they won't publish (unless it is stolen). Like KDP, once you upload a book for publishing, you can expect to see it on their site within 24 - 48 hours.

As far as their customer service, Pubit has a much better one, though it can also take a couple of days to hear back from them, which can be frustrating. At least when they do respond, their advice is helpful and useful to you.

Smashwords - Web Address

When compared to other publishers, this site is a baby. But don't let it's age fool you, Smashwords.com means business and they are an excellent place to publish your book for several reasons. First, they distribute to ALL the major publishers including iTunes, Sony, Kobo, Deisel, and B&N (They claim to distribute to Amazon as well, but as of right now they are still not sending anything over to them). Second, by publishing through this website, you can get a free ISBN number for your book, which anywhere else can cost $100 or more (The ISBN is very important, because without it, you can't publish on sites such as iTunes and Sony).

So, why even mention KDP and Pubit, if this site will distribute to those sites as well? Well, Smashwords royalties are paid quarterly, so if you want that monthly check, you can forget it. It is also much, much more strict on it's formatting guidelines. As a matter of fact, Smashwords has a free downloadable book which is more than 100 pages long, which goes through step by step, how to format your ebook. Once you get the hang of it, you can format an ebook in 20 - 30 minutes, however, getting started, especially those without good computer skills, it can be a very daunting task.

However, Smashwords does offer a list of people who will help you formatting the book (for a fee). But upon emailing some of the people on the list, I have found their prices reasonable and they have a turnaround time of a couple of days (depending on the length of the ebook).

The length of time it takes to publish on Smashwords is a little long as well. While your book is placed on Smashwords.com immediately for sale, it can take upwards of 6 weeks (or more in some cases) to see your book appear on some of the other sites. When you consider the speed of KDP and Pubit, this is an eternity. 

I know I seem to be complaining more about Smashwords than the other sites, but I still highly recommend it. I tried putting my ebooks up on iTunes, and they make it nearly impossible for many people to get their work up there. First of all, as I stated earlier, you can't publish on iTunes without your book having an ISBN number, and those are very expensive, unless you get a free one from Smashwords. Also, I am a proud PC user, but in order to publish on iTunes, you must download a special program that is ONLY compatible with Mac computers. So, that's two dead ends.

It is similarly difficult to publish on Sony, and Deisel. As a matter of fact, when looking at the publishing guidelines on their websites, they refer you to Smashwords.com. So, if you want to have your books available on these websites (and you do if you want to make some good sales), Smashwords is the easiest and most convenient way to accomplish this. After you upload the book to them, they pretty much do the rest for you (though, as I stated earlier, it can take some time).


The choice is yours. But these are the top three sites for publishing your ebooks. So, get out there and get those books published!

Ebook Publishing

Before I write this post, I have to admit that at first, I was wary of ebook publishing from the start. I had questions like: How do I stop people from pirating my work? Is someone really going to pay for essentially nothing? How can I control my work?

To me, an ebook was an impractical thing, because essentially, in my mind, the only way worth reading a book was if the book was on paper in some kind of binding. That is a mindset, admittedly, that many people still have, but which is slowly growing more and more obsolete. This is proven by the massive amounts of ebooks being sold on the market each and everyday.

So, about a year ago, I decided to give ebook self-publishing a shot. I started with one of my short stories, The Collector, which I put up on Amazon.com using Kindle Direct Publishing. It didn't cost anything (other than the cost of some stock images to create the cover), and in that first month I sold a couple copies of the book. So, I decided to try another, this time I went with my story City of Darkness. Again, I sold a few copies, but what I found was that most people who bought one of my stories, also bought the other. So, I put another and another up, expanding also to Barnes and Noble's Pubit program, and now, a year later, I'm selling a couple hundred books a day.

Now, I'm truly kicking myself for not getting a start on this sooner.

I'm not saying you're going to strike it rich by doing ebooks. What I'm saying is, don't be afraid to try. The cost of self-publishing an ebook is miniscule when compared to printing. I pay for a photo for my cover between $3 - $6. With a little manipulating in Photoshop, I have an excellent cover. Compare that to paying a minimum of $5 per book for a novel to print it, and you're looking at practically no start-up cost.

Now, I've also played around with prices for a while, and I've noticed that any ebook over $2.99, unless you happen to be a New York Times best-selling author, isn't going to sell. I also found that the best price for any ebook is .99cents Many people are willing to take a chance on your work for only $1, and while you are only going to see about 1/2 of that price in royalties, consider what I said earlier - people that bought my first story, also bought my second, and my third and so on. So, while you're making only a tiny profit per ebook, when you consider that people are likely going to purchase more than one, you are actually going to be doing quite well.

My next post will have a breakdown of the best sites to publish your work on. Check back soon for that posting.

Dig Up Those Old Stories

I don't know about you, but I find that I have a lot of old stories that I wrote as far back as high school that I have saved. These stories, though something I would never think of publishing in their current state, are just sitting around collecting dust.

There really is no reason why these old stories need to lay dormant. As an author, I know that I have the ability to breathe new life into them.

I have actually dug up some of these old stories (mainly some sci-fi stories I wrote in college that no one in their right mind would ever try and publish) and at first I was disgusted with them. I think that many writers have this exact same impulse when they first look at their writing that is more than a couple of years old. The reason is that we grow as writers. Our styles change and we actually get better at writing the more we write. These stories I am speaking of now, were riddled with grammatical errors (which I mistakenly thought at the time my editor would fix for me), sentence fragments and a slew of other mistakes that I don't care to mention. As I said, my first impulse was disgust, and my second was to close the file and never look at it again.

However, the story of this first writing I looked at was pretty good, and I thought I could do something with it. The plot of the story was actually pretty simple: a young boy witnesses the last stand of his race against an alien invasion. So, I decided that I was going to attempt giving this a try.

As I read through the story (trying my best to ignore the plethora of grammar errors and whatnot) I noticed too, that I had never put any meat into the story. I noticed that the characters I created were as simple as the plot. I never mention who the boy really was, other than the fact that his parents were on the front line. I never gave a hint as to the culture of these people (were they humans in the future, or were they another alien race on some distant planet?). I found that in rewriting the story, I would have to do a great deal of new writing.

And so I have.

I will admit that it is a challenge and I have essentially had to start near the beginning and build this story from the ground up, however, what I have come up with on this story so far, I am very satisfied with. I have begun to turn a story that a week ago repulsed me and have turned it into a story I can be proud of.

I suggest you do the same. Dig out those old stories. Rewrite them and make them into something you can be proud of and try to get them published somewhere. Even if you don't try to reconstruct the story from the ground up like I did, going through your old writings might spark something in your mind and you can create a whole new story. Don't just let these old stories sit dead in a drawer (or in most cases on an old CD) collecting dust never to see the light of day again. Dust them off and make them into something new.

Creating Your Hero

 

When beginning an action story, one of the first things you need to create is your hero. Creating a hero is rather easy, but there is more to it than simply giving him or her a name. You need to make a character that is relatable to your reader otherwise they will have nothing invested when the hero falls into dangerous times. The way to accomplish this is by getting to know your character before you even begin writing your story.

Naming Your Hero
Creating a hero can be one of the most fun things about writing a story. You need to begin somewhere, and you should start with a name. There are two ways to name a hero. The first is simply finding a name that means something to you. This could possibly be an uncle’s, or a grandmother’s name you have a strong connection with who you’d like to base your character off of. There is nothing wrong with using a name in this fashion. The other fun way is by searching through a name database online and finding a name whose meaning matches the personality of your hero. Remember, a strong name will mean a strong hero. 

For help coming up with a name, I suggest a baby name book like one of these: 

http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/

http://www.babynames.com/

Creating a Personality
With a name, you now need to figure out what your hero is like. A good way to do this is simply taking out a piece of paper and writing your character’s name at the top of the page. Then, answer the twelve following questions about your hero: 1. What is the age of him/her? 2. What were his/her parents like? 3. How important is family to him/her? 4. What are his/her hobbies? 5. What is his/her education? 6. Where does he/she work? 7. What does he/she during free time? 8. Who is his/her best friend and why? 9. Who is his/her worst enemy and why? 10. What single event in his/her life has made him/her who he/she is today? 11. What does he/she like most about his/her life? 12. What reaction do you want your reader to have to him/her? If you notice, there is no mention of any physical characteristics. The physical description is best left for later and should be thought of as a separate entity as the emotional characteristics.

Physical Description
The first thing to do with the physical description is to go online, or flip through a magazine and find an image of someone who matches the picture you have of your hero in your head. When you have an idea, begin describing them. You can do this on the other side of the paper you used for the hero’s personality. Describe the hero’s hair, eyes, height, weight and style of dress. Also consider, do they have any marks on them that can identify them? Something like a tattoo, a scar, or even an unusual piercing can be very telling about a character, and you can create a whole story for the hero to explain why he/she has them. The physical description is not as important as the personality, but it is essential if you want your reader to be able to visualize the hero.

Lesson Learned
Before you begin writing your story, there is one more thing you need to decide on: what is your character going to learn during the course of your story. There are two types of characters, round and flat. A flat character is the same at the beginning of the story as they are at the end. You don’t want to make your hero a flat character. A round character makes some sort of change, usually for the better, through something they have learned during the story. The lesson can be something about him or herself. For example, the hero can learn to live for the first time without their significant other being there to help guide them. The lesson can also be about something external. For example, the hero can learn that even though it isn’t always easy to trust people, that sometimes you need to go out on a limb and let someone into his/her world. Think of a good lesson that the hero can learn that relates to the plot of your story. It is best to do this before you start writing because you want to give hints of this lesson throughout the story, so that when the lesson is learned at the end, the reader is not surprised.