Monday, March 3, 2014

Music or Not? What do you need to write?

Remember This
by Kenya Carlton
an African American Romance

What do you need to write?

a guest post by author Kenya Carlton

My co-worker told me he needs complete silence to write; I’m the total opposite. I cannot fall asleep to music, but if I need to write a 300 page manuscript, the louder the better. The type of music is a toss-up. It must lend itself to whatever genre I’m plugging away on the laptop at the time. Lyrics seem to be a no-no for some authors, but I have no problem with them at all. Curious about what was the difference between silence and pumping it to ten dB’s, I dug around the world wide web and came up with completely useless information that some of you bibliophiles might find interesting.  

Dean  R. Koontz gives a music playlist at the beginning of his books. He also will edit the same page over and over until he thinks it’s perfect.  

Stephen King mentioned in the past that he plays music loud and proud, but has since changed his routine to silence. Oh, and he’s not a fan of outlines.

Jackie Collins needs a freakin’ pen! The woman writes her whole manuscript long hand on a legal pad, and then puts them in a leather binder for keepsakes. She says there is very little editing that needs to be done and she has lovely penmanship.

Tom Wolfe wrote ten pages every day no matter how long it would take. Sometimes he would get there in a few hours and other days would take him half of the day.

Sue Grafton uses journals for her series to see where she is at with the process during each book. She often goes back to see what she was thinking.

Jennifer Crusie does not write in chronological order. Cruise writes a first draft, then puts the pieces together afterwards. (WTF!)

J.K. Rowling would graph the Harry Potter Series with a paper and pen. She would then put it in grid form to keep each characters storyline straight.

The thing I noticed while digging for habits is that everyone is different and sometimes they even change.  I hunted through different genres and what I found is that writers take their work seriously. They mostly etch out a definite amount of time, usually an eight-ten hour window, then they put in the work. Oh! None of these authors I’ve written about in this blog, but quite a few in general, did cop to alcoholic beverages as their drink of choice. Yep! I’m talking the good stuff.

 Remember This Book Description:

Ex-ballerina turned rehab designer Cece Newman competes in a reality show that could give her fledgling company the boost that it needs. Assigned a relic of a house in a renovation challenge, Cece soon becomes suspicious of the producer’s intentions.  When she finds the house is one of many properties her ex-fiancé and baby daddy Brock Thorn owns, Cece is convinced that she is being set up for failure.  Ready to drop the project and what’s left of her career, Cece has to find a way to ignore the handsome athlete while she navigates around his kooky family.  Cece must also convince their daughter that mommy and daddy won’t be getting back together again, a job easier said than done—especially when the attraction between the two is hotter than ever.
The biggest hit Brock Thorn took on or off the field occurred when Cece Newman left him at the altar. Five years later, Brock is more determined than ever to get answers from his baby’s momma. Even in regards to joint custody of their daughter, Brock’s only form of contact with Cece is through her loving, protective sister Lily. Brock packs up his high profile life and digs his heels in at the crappy house he’s inherited—the very one Cece is set to renovate.  As he dodges cameras and uninvited family members, Brock must get to the bottom of his failed romance with Cece—especially if he has any chance of getting back the life that was lost when Cece left.

Buy Link:    AMAZON   

About the Author:

Native of Chicago, Illinois, Kenya worked in the Network operation Center for PBS and TLN television stations. Executive producer of her own production company Black R.O.K Productions Kenya produced a pilot for travel series Destination Everywhere, Independent short film Dawn shown at the Chicago Latino film Festival, and wrote and directed the documentary Our Africa. 
Writing titles available; Jaded, Sweet as Sin, Brazil re-issueDevil’s Play, and Remember This.

Contact Kenya Carlton at:
www.Kcbookcafe.com
Facebook at KC Bookcafe
Twitter @kcbookcafe

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