My Writing Journey | Autumn Bardot

A segment of my Facebook Live interview with the CoffeeHouse Writers Group. Writing topics include: the writing process; traditional publishing; indie publishing; writing tips; writing advice; the writing journey; and more.

I never imagined my journey from writing my first book to querying, to being a published author would be such a crazy ride!

 #writingtips #writingjourney #authorinterview #writinglife

20 Rules for Writers

There are rules for writing and then there are rules for writers! Follow them and you will succeed as a writer and an author. Break these rules for writers at your own peril! Which writer rules are you breaking?

This episode looks at how the Rules for Life also apply to writers and authors. Yes, there is some author humor and writing humor. There’s also writing tips, author tricks, and writing inspiration. Write better. Write faster. Author with integrity and a generous heart.

  • 1. Marry the right person.
  • 2. Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent.
  • 3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
  • 4. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
  • 5. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
  • 6. Be generous.
  • 7. Persistence, persistence, persistence.
  • 8. Have a grateful heart.
  • 9. Discipline yourself to save money on even a modest salary. 1
  • 0. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
  • 11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
  • 12. Commit yourself to quality. Do the best work you can. Give 200%.
  • 13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power, or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
  • 14. Be loyal.
  • 15. Be honest.
  • 16. Be a self-starter. This is a biggie!
  • 17. Be decisive even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong.
  • 18. Stop blaming others.
  • 19. Be bold and courageous.
  • 20. Take good care of those you love.
  • 21. Don’t do anything that wouldn’t make Mom or Dad proud. Don’t piss off a potential reader!

 #writerrules #authorhumor #writinginspiration #writebetter

Character Arcs and Why You Need Them

A great story is all about character’s strengths, weaknesses, needs, desires, and how they are thwarted from getting it! Want to write a great novel? Write great characters.

This episode is all about character arcs and why you need them for a better plot, more conflict, and a great novel and story.

? Find all my books, social media links, and/or get new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot

 #characterarc #charactergrowth #writegreatcharacters

Color Symbolism

Color your novel fabulous!
10 colors and what they symbolize.

The magic of symbolism! I bet you can rattle off four different songs that have a color in the title. That’s because color is attached to a spectrum of emotions. Savvy writers know color can symbolize, reveal, and add irony. Color symbolism is fraught with ambiguity and duality, making it a vibrant way to add complexity.

Symbolism in novels matter. They bring layered, nuanced ideas, emotions, characterization, and more to a story. Does your novel or story have symbolism? Does it need symbolism to add depth and complexity? Symbolism is never ‘this means that.’ Symbols and their layered meanings act as a diving board into a deep pool of emotional, psychological, spiritual, cultural, and intellectual dynamics that YOU decide how to mold and manipulate. It’s just one more tool for your writing toolbox.

WARNING! Including symbolic language in an effort to sound literary adds nothing to your story. But when the story warrants it, the writer can open up their symbolism toolbox to add depth, nuance, and context to enrich characters, scenes, foreshadowing, plot, and emotions.

? Get my book The Magic of Symbolism: Enrich Your Novel with Hidden Meaning at https://www.autumnbardot.com/books/

? Get all my books, social media links, and/or new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot

Color Symbolism | Part 2

 The magic of symbolism! I bet you can rattle off four different songs that have a color in the title. That’s because color is attached to a spectrum of emotions. Savvy writers know color can symbolize, reveal, and add irony. Color symbolism is fraught with ambiguity and duality, making it a vibrant way to add complexity.

Symbolism in novels matter. They bring layered, nuanced ideas, emotions, characterization, and more to a story. Does your novel or story have symbolism? Does it need symbolism to add depth and complexity? Symbolism is never ‘this means that.’ Symbols and their layered meanings act as a diving board into a deep pool of emotional, psychological, spiritual, cultural, and intellectual dynamics that YOU decide how to mold and manipulate. It’s just one more tool for your writing toolbox.

WARNING! Including symbolic language in an effort to sound literary adds nothing to your story. But when the story warrants it, the writer can open up their symbolism toolbox to add depth, nuance, and context to enrich characters, scenes, foreshadowing, plot, and emotions.

? Get my book The Magic of Symbolism: Enrich Your Novel with Hidden Meaning at https://www.autumnbardot.com/books/

? Get all my books, social media links, and/or new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot

#literarysymbolism #colorlsymbolism #symboliccolors

 

Write a Great Villain

 How do you write a great villain? A memorable villain. A believable villain. Even a supervillain. What if your villain is the protagonist in the story? ( He is in one of mine.) What character traits make a great villain? Can you make a villain lovable or likable?

Villain tropes are boring. You need to add nuance and layers to your villain, bad guy, or antagonist.

In this episode, I share 14 ways you can add, nuance, complexity, and depth to the villain in your novel and story.

✅ My article on how I made, super villain Vlad Dracula a romantic lead in The Impaler’s Wife can be found at: https://www.thefussylibrarian.com/newswire/2019/05/29/character-study-how-vlad-the-impaler-became-a-romantic-lead

? Find all my books, social media, and/or get new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot depth and complexity to your villain. Give them some endearing traits.   

 

 

1. Give the villain an endearing nickname.

2. Make the villain intelligent, clever, and analytical. A thinker.

3. Make villain a good father/mother/pet owner/ etc

4. Have the villain be a kind lover.

5. Make the villain’s love interest be genuinely good.

6. Have the villain be reliable…mostly.

7. Make the villain spiritual.

8. Make the villain’s doing bad things about business. He’s just doing his job.

9. Give the villain hardships. Even better, trauma.

10. Make the villain be understanding or sympathetic.

11. Give the villain a tough childhood.

12. Make the villain’s quest be about returning home.

13. Give the villain the traits of a Homeric hero. The traits are: having/maintaining their honor; physical prowess; having minions; caring about the wellbeing of those minions, and being the best at something.

14. Make Good Person try to kill the villain first.

Mix & Match!

#writeagreatvillain #greatantagonist #villaincharacteristics

10 Traits Every Writer Needs

 Writing and authoring is hard work! A writer needs more than just creativity, imagination, and an idea to write a novel or story. These 10 traits will help you on your path to success! Which do you have? Do you have the traits and characteristics of a good writer? Which do you need to focus on or practice?

This episode shares the 10 traits writers need to help them do what they love most…write a story!

? Find all my books, social media posts, and/or get new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot #writelikeapro #writertraits #writebetter

 

10 Traits Every Writer Needs
1. Shows commitment: Make a schedule for writing and stick to it. Don’t make excuses.
2. Learn to wear many hats: Be prepared to learn many new skills.
3. Go the extra mile: Make your blogs and stories as awesome as you can.
4. Be a decision maker: Break BIG THINGS into little manageable bits.
5. Have passion and a sense of purpose: From the first word to the final revision, be passionate about your story.
6. Get organized: It’s a necessary evil that will pay off time-saving dividends in the end.
7. Be dependable: Create self-imposed achievable deadlines.
8. Practice effective communication: Think before posting/commenting. Be mindful of your tone.
9. Conscientiousness: If you’re going to do something, it’s worth doing right.
10. Have a positive attitude: Discouragement, frustration, plot setbacks, character conundrums, and agent rejections are part of the process. If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate. WRITE. KEEP WRITING! KEEP TRYING!

#writelikeapro #writertraits #writebetter

Scene Checklist

Every scene in a novel and story serves a purpose. A scene in a novel needs to advance the plot, provide characterization, and a whole lot more. Are you making the most of each scene? Many beginner writers write scenes that do nothing for a novel. Or the scene does too little.

Each scene should build upon the other. Write better, write smarter. Write a great book! This episode is about the elements you need to write a great scene. What’s missing from your scenes? What are you doing right? Let me know in the comments.

? Find all my books, social media, and/or get new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot the description box for a list of all the elements.   

#scenechecklist #writegreatscene #whatscenesneed

Writing Whines

Writers have a lot to complain about. Writing a novel comes with all kinds of problems. There’s so much we have to deal with, manage, learn, and figure out. Many writing and publishing issues we have no control over.

Admit it, writers like to whine. That’s okay. Sometimes a bit of whining and commiserating is good for a writer’s soul.

In this episode, I share some of the common writing complaints. What’s your favorite? What do you never complain about? What do you never complain about. Let me know in the comments. Also, I hope I made you laugh. Or at least smile a bit.

? oops! Did you catch the editing error? Somehow when I added one of the titles to the video, I didn’t delete ALL the letters from “title.” Sheesh. LMAO. I don’t know how to change it without deleting the video so I guess I’ll leave it up. Ah, the joys of editing.

? Find all my books, social media, and/or get new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot

writerproblems #writercomplaints #authorhumor #authoryoutube