Category: NaNoWriMo

NEW WORKBOOK FOR NONFICTION WRITERS

Hello there.

I’m excited to announce my new workbook for nonfiction writers!

White Rose Writers Etsy Shop


WHAT IS CREATIVE NONFICTION?
“A factual narrative presented in the form of a story so as to entertain the reader.” –Wikipedia

Have you ever read a historical book or a contemporary article that was simply full of facts but had you dozing off after the first few pages?

I created this workbook for writers who want to write a nonfiction book from a creative perspective and offer a factual story that doesn’t put their reader to sleep.

I hope it will help you as an author to write your fantastic book with confidence and have fun too. The workbook/planner is a download that you can print out and use for all your nonfiction writing.

Included in the workbook:

  • Ideal Reader Profile
  • Genre List
  • Crafting Your Premise
  • Crafting Your Summary
  • Chapter Ideas
  • Genres
  • 5 Inspirational Posters for your workspace
  • Character Profiles
  • Character Development
  • Setting Worksheets
  • Scene List Worksheets
  • Story Arc
  • Research Worksheets
  • Author Bio Worksheet
  • Checklist
  • Creating a Book Cover
  • Launching, Marketing & Promoting and more…

Not sure if your book idea fits the Creative Nonfiction genre? Here’s a list from the workbook. It may surprise you to see your story idea in there.

Nonfiction Genres that can be written creatively

  • Biography – a narrative of a person’s life as told to someone else or from research.
  • Autobiography – when the author is also the main subject, and the book spans many years.
  • Memoir – a true story focused on particular events—usually the author’s own stories.
  • Narrative nonfiction – factual information about a significant event presented in a format that tells a true story.
  • Personal essays — expressing a subjective opinion about a topic.
  • Literary journalism – personal diaries or career logs.
  • Self-help book  – informational to help readers solve personal problems and could lend to being written with a memoir aspect.
  • Textbook – a how-to book teaching a specific subject with personal experiences in creative form.

I have a series of workbooks in my White Rose Writers Etsy shop that help writers who want to write a nonfiction book–

The From-To Writing Method — which show how to use social media platforms you may already have to create your books using a quick and easy method. They include a writing schedule for writing a nonfiction book in just 10 hours or a novel in 30 days.

  • From Blog to Book
  • From Muse to Memoir
  • From Post to Published
  • From Pin to Print
  • From Tweet to Tutorial

And here’s a handy 15% OFF COUPON if anything in the shop interests you.

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment or message me at the shop.

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

Lynne

A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing

If you followed my work during NaNoWriMo 2019, you’ll maybe remember my novel was about lies and deception in a small Canadian town. The story follows a middle-aged woman (my unlikely hero) and the local church community. Hence the title of my blog A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing. I published my novel last October.

I’d like to share with you the talent of my wonderful artist, Gustavo Ruiz, who created the perfect expression of my antagonist. Just look at those eyes! This image is one of the introductory pages of the novel.

A wolf in sheep's skin
art by Gustavo Ruiz

“ABUNDANT LIFE” is now available on Amazon.

Want to read some of scenes from the first draft? They’re in Book Bites. In the rough. Unedited or revised.

Til next time, know you’re loved by the One who created you in His image.

~ Lynne

Book Launch Giveaway

Watch for a Giveaway coming next week!

My new novel is ready for launching. I’m so excited.

It’s a contemporary suspense about lies and deception in a small town. I blogged about it last year in Book Bites as I was revising it from a previous NaNoWriMo challenge.

I’ll be posting teasers and gems as a Launch Countdown each day next week and doing a draw on the 29th.

2 winners will receive a signed copy of my new book.

Be sure to follow me on my Facebook Author Page for a chance to win!

And ‘like’ this blog for a second chance to win!

And remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

~ Lynne

Opening a box from Amazon

Writing A Memoir

We all have a story to tell. Some write a story about a fictitious character or an historical person. Then there are those who write their own story, their autobiography about their own personal experiences, usually in hopes of their story helping someone else in some way. These are the writers of Memoirs and I have a new workbook for you if you’ve ever considered writing your own memoir.

A young woman sitting at a desk writing her memoir.
From Muse To Memoir
by Lynne Collier

Write Your Memoir in 4 Weeks

This is a downloadable/printable workbook (no physical product shipped) filled with easy-to-follow worksheets for writers who want to turn their memories into a published autobiography — in only 4 weeks!

It’s a 49-page PDF workbook that will show you the “From-To Method of Writing” which uses your own social media content to create a digital or print book. But you don’t need to already have a vast amount of online material. You can create that as you write your book and gain followers who will be interested in your book when you’re published!

Here’s a peek at what you’ll work on in From Muse To Memoir:

  • Scheduling time for your writing
  • Brainstorming and defining your book’s outline
  • Creating Social Media ‘Gems’ so you have something to promote online before, during and after your launch.
  • The White Rose Writer’s method of turning your memories into a book.
  • A look at some of the steps you need to take for publishing your book.
  • Guidance on how to create a noticeable author brand so you stand out from the crowd.
  • Marketing Ideas for your new book.
  • Worksheets for each of the above to keep all your ideas in one place.
  • Printable inspirational posters to spur you on …and more!

This is an easy way for you to divide your life experiences into single chapters for a series of ebooks or a collective full-length book spanning your entire life (so far).

If you follow my workbook to write your memoir I’d love to hear about it in the comments. And watch for my other 3 books coming early next month!

My Other Workbooks

Take a browse in White Rose Writers Etsy Shop where you’ll also find my first workbook From Blog To Book which shows you how to expand on your blog posts to write a book in just 10 hours!

Woman writing at her desk
From Blog To Book

And coming soon –

  • From Pin To Print — use your Pinterest boards to write an ebook
  • From Tweet To Tutorial — use Twitter to write a tutorial or workbook
  • From Post To Published — use Facebook to write a novel in 4 weeks! (Nano anyone?) 🙂

Til next time, remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

~Lynne

5 Easy Ways to Create Income From Writing

Want to know 5 easy ways to create an income from writing?

After two years of little in the way of sales from my first book, I was wondering if anyone actually makes a decent income from writing. I realize if I could just write more, that would increase my income, but who’s got time to write more?

 

Income From Writing
How Do I Create An Income From Writing?

  

Here’s how I did it – I took what I’d already written on my social media and made it into a book!

Seriously. That’s what I did. All my blogs about writing, my posts about my life, my tweets of writing tips and coaching, my pins about my interests, all became tidbits to expand and form into a book! It was a lot of fun, and I’m using these methods to write more books. So, I wanted to let you know how to use what you’ve already written and get started with that income too. Still with me but wondering how the heck I did that?

Here’s How I Used These 5 Simple Ways to Create Income From Writing 

  • From Blog To Book – The Novel Author’s Workbook I created an Etsy downloadable 99-page workbook from blogs I’d written over the course of a year on how to write fiction, as I was doing the research. It takes the author from the beginning premise and outline of a novel, through to publishing and marketing.
  • From Pin To Print/Nonfiction — Hosting a Shire Party is a simple ebook about a cosplay party I had. I wrote about creating easy costumes, food, and games, as I pinned the photos from the party.
  • From Tweet To Tutorial – Your Write Voice For His Kingdom is a course I wrote from tweets about my workshop notes as a Christian Life Coach and writer’s coach. I coach students through the decision process of becoming a writer and how God has equipped them to write for His purpose.
  • From Post To Published – Life at White Rose Shire is an ebook in-progress of a collection of devotionals which I’ll be posting on my blog under a sub-heading and later publishing as a Kindle devotional book.
  • From Muse To Memoir — Raising Benjamin Frog – A Mother’s Journey With Her Autistic Son is a print book from notes I wrote originally for my earlier blog posts on Autism. It chronicles my son’s journey from birth to age 29, and his success as an author.

And that’s how I used 5 simple ways to create income from writing– from ebooks, print books, and tutorials.

A simple way to get to that 50,000 word count for NaNoWriMo!

If this is something you may be interested in doing, I’ve explained all the social media methods in my business school at  White Rose Writers School.

 SIGN UP  to get news on all the new courses as well as exclusive cheatsheets, writing tips, resources, and other insider goodies!

Another Way to Create Income From Writing —

Ann-Margret Hovsepian has a full-time income from her writing and engagements. She shares her success tips on her blog ‘You Asked Me’:

https://annhovsepian.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/you-asked-me-5/

 

I hope you found something useful here. Let me know.

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

-Lynne

Resources

Devotionals

White Rose Writers on Etsy

Middle Earth Party on Pinterest

Collier Christian Writing Academy

White Rose Writers School

 

NaNoWriMo – Dec 4

 

Dec 4th Well, here I am with my NaNoWriMo winner’s certificate! I started out on November 1st with a rough idea for a story, but I hadn’t done the outline or decided on character names or anything. When they said, ‘Write an entire novel in a month”, I took it rather too literally and hadn’t prepared anything! Along the way I discovered I needed an outline. All I had was a beginning idea and an ending. I had no middle. The middle is the entire story – what was I thinking?! But I read a very important coaching tip and decided to just keep that front and centre as I plodded on; Just Write. I tried to ignore the editor in me who sounded a lot like my English grammar school teacher, and I wrote, and wrote, and wrote… The final day I was so tired, but as I neared the finish line I was super excited to see the prize so close. I watched the word count click 49, 999 – 50,000. I felt like I’d run a marathon, but I stayed awake long enough to print out my certificate. It’s a great feeling, to reach the finish line in whatever you set out to accomplish, whether it’s a novel or a new recipe for chocolate brownies.

When I got to the middle part of the novel I just kept going. I started researching names at first, for my main characters, but the rest of them in the middle got the first name that came to mind – just write! Some of them will need to have a name change as I revise, or I’ll find myself in trouble with the first name of an antagonist being someone I know! It’s funny how that works. As they say, “Don’t tick me off. I’m a writer and you may end up in my next novel – and I may just kill you”. The plot unfolded all on its own and my characters became real. For my first try at fiction, I am actually proud of my attempt. It will have to wait for now, though.

The novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo is one of a series of novels I’ll be publishing starting in Spring 2016. Before this book is published, I hope to have two more short non-fiction works published and a fantasy. So maybe, if God has this in His plan as I see it in mine; I’ll have this novel published just in time for the next NaNoWriMo.

Thank you to all who supported me through this endeavor, especially my family who ate goodness-knows-what some nights, lots of fast ‘food’, had to put up with dirty dishes in the sink all month, and me endlessly talking about NaNo. You’re all the bestests!

Signing off on my NaNoWriMo posts till next year. God Bless,

Lynne

IMG_1248
My first NaNoWriMo winner’s certificate

NaNoWriMo Day 30 – I DID IT!

NaNoWriMo Winner!
NaNoWriMo Winner!

 

I made it! I wrote 50,000 words in thirty days and validated my novel at 5pm. I am officially pooped and I’m going to make a cup of orange tea, and pet my cat – and also watch The Walking Dead again because I don’t remember half of what happened last night I was so exhausted!

I will give you the run-down on my last day tomorrow. Thank you all for the words of encouragement here and on Facebook and Twitter.

Have a great night. Word count to date – 50, 075

Lynne

NaNoWriMo Day 29!!!

coffee-149719_640
I can do it – I can do it – I can do it!

Day 29 Sorry I’ve been MIA for a few days. As I posted in an earlier blog, I had to take Friday off to go out of town for an appointment. Yesterday I just wrote like crazy, trying to get my word count up to at least 45,000 so I wouldn’t have too much still to do tomorrow. Today is my Sabbath day, so I took it off for church and family and didn’t write. (That took a lot of discipline!) I hope to get to bed on time for a change and start tomorrow early. I have a lot of words still to write!!!!!! Thanks to Sandy Hall and others in the NaNoCoach forum, I know it doesn’t have to be pretty – it just has to be. I will take a half hour for breakfast and a half hour for lunch, but I will probably not break for dinner until I’ve verified my novel and won this challenge. I’ll let you know on Tuesday how I did and what time I finished.

So, I promised you more tips on this blog. Here goes;

Writing an Outline for Your Novel

This is the outline I found easiest to follow, taken from several writer’s magazines.

Act 1    The Status Quo. Your hero’s everyday life.

The Catalyst. A call to action.

Denial. Hero rejects the opportunity.

Guru. The hero gets a mentor.

Acceptance & Action. First threshold of change.

Act 2   Trials. Finding friends and foes.

Edge of the Abyss. Decision of second threshold.

The Plunge. Faces the greatest fear.

The Pay-Off. Hero gets a reward of some sort.

Act 3    The Way Through. On the way home. Maybe being chased.

True Test. Hero proves they learned their lesson.

The New Normal. Returns home, transformed.

I hope that helps some of you who are like me and just starting out on the fiction journey. There are a lot of good magazines available for writers. I usually find mine at Chapters. I love flipping through the magazines and deciding which to buy – don’t you?

Well, tomorrow’s the day. I’m at word count 43,950. Just over 6,000 words to write tomorrow before the verification deadline! (Must remember to stop to eat, and pet the cat. Wait – no, she’ll remind me).

Lynne out till Tuesday.

 

Finding Love in Unexpected Places

Ben and new friend. using as blog post for HACwC scavenger hunt

Ben with a new friend at the Toronto Zoo

Dancing on the Bus, a short story I wrote about finding love in unexpected places, was accepted to be included in a recently published book called, Hot Apple Cider with Cinnamon, the third in a series of short stories and poems.

My story is about being accepted and loved as a child, by total strangers. Later, as a mother, I saw that same love and acceptance for my own children. (Side note here; the picture is of my son from the story, showing love and acceptance to another child he met that day for the frist time. Paying love forward never fails).

On Nov 27th, 2015, I will be one of the hosts for the Virtual Book Launch of Hot Apple Cider with Cinnamon. If you read this post in time and can join us, the launch is from 12-11pm, Ontario time. I will be ‘live’ from 8.30-9.

Secret Word for the scavenger hunt is: FAILS

Lynne

PS – Although the launch has passed, you can still view it on Facebook using this link.

NaNoWriMo Days 23 & 24

Battle Day for my Superheroes!
Battle Day for my Superheroes!

 

Day 23 How do you organize your outline? I asked a few colleagues that question and received several different responses from them all. I didn’t organize my outline before I started writing (Pantser) and that slowed my writing quite a bit. As I mentioned earlier, I had to go back over some segments to cut and paste so I could keep track of who was where and doing what. So the suggestions I received were very helpful in trying to help me do just that. Sticky notes seems to be the favourite, with spreadsheet close behind. But my favourite, and the one I’m now using, is to list my chapters in order with titles before I start writing. This tip was given to me by my NaNoWriMo writing buddy. Thanks, Melanie! I admit I’m a little late doing this, but since I gave my chapters headings, I’ve been able to stay on track with my story. I also wrote out my characters’ names and pertinent information on file cards and stuck them on the office bulletin board. If you haven’t started your novel yet, I’d like to suggest you at least put your outline somewhere handy where it’s easily accessible. I wasted a lot of time rummaging through my manuscript to find out where my supportive characters live! Do you have a tried and true method to organizing your writing?

Lynne

Day 24 I just finished writing my final battle scene – phew! I’m exhausted and I didn’t lift a single sword. I basically wrote about fighting ALL day. I fed the cat, made a conference call to one of my pastors, fed the birds, talked to my son for a bit then wrote about blood and guts the rest of the day (and into part of dinner time). Once my husband went to bed I took up the final battle scene once more (my writing that is) to get it finished. Total word count to date: 35,816. That means if I still take Sunday off, and I have to take Friday off to go out of town with my daughter all day and do a virtual book launch in the evening, I’ll need to write at least 3,500 words each day including the final day on Monday! I know from recent experience I need 7-8 hours of sleep to work at peak performance. Trust me – your brain won’t work well if it doesn’t get enough sleep and people will think you’re a zombie – not good. Tomorrow is the part referred to as The Payoff part of the novel. A nice change from today. Sleep well and long.

Lynne

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