WRITER'S TIP THURSDAY - Research

 Good morning, everyone!

I wanted to stop in quick this morning and talk about research. 

Can you do too much? How much should you include in your story? 

If you've been following this blog then you know I've really been hung up on the research for An Ozarks Homecoming. Will I include everything I've learned? Not even close. However, when it comes to the military, there are things you just can't screw up!

Courtesy of Pixabay photographer

I thought I had everything I needed until I realized my hero's internal struggle. I think, aside from the military stuff I had to get right, not knowing Marc's issues was the real dam holding everything back. I knew things weren't flowing but I hadn't located the dam.

Once I connected dots in my head and realized Marc was suffering from survivor's guilt I knew I needed to actually talk to a combat training officer. I was blessed to have made a connection with one guy from our local farmer's market. While he hadn't served in that capacity, he was able to put me in touch with someone who had. Jason is a retired combat training offer AND had mustered out from Fort Polk - right where Marc had the experience! 

While Jason doesn't talk about his military service, he did spend almost an hour with me on Tuesday answering my questions, filling in gaps and sharing a couple of stories about his own experiences. WOW!

I wish I hadn't been too tired to work when I got home but was after 9 p.m. by the time I got  home. For someone who gets up at 5:30 a.m., it was way past my bedtime. 

Will I include everything I learned from our talk? Not even close. Just having that background information is enough to help me tell Marc's story. 

Thank you, Jason, for your time and your service

All my best

~ Angela

WRITER'S TIP THURSDAY -

 

Lots of stuff going on the past couple of weeks. As a result I failed to post in this new series from Time To Write.

 I will continue to showcae author quotes from Kelly L. Stone's book TIME TO WRITE. Clicking on the title will take you to the book on amazon. I'm also checking in with Kelly about guesting here to provide her insite behind the book.

Here is this week's tip:

"Time to write was made by stealing it from other things, 

such as watching television,

reading or lunching with friends."

                                             ~ Jennifer Blake

                                                                                            New York Times bestselling author

All My Best

~ Angela

WRITER'S TIP THURSDAY -

 

With this Covid thing still hanging in, many of us are struggling for time to write, in spite of the fact we probably have more time than we ever have.

The truth is we all have the SAME AMOUNT OF TIME in any give day. Our problem is how we prioritize our tasks.

Today, I'm kicking off a series for Writer's Tip Thursday where I will be showcasing author quotes from Kelly L. Stone's book TIME TO WRITE. Clicking on the title will take you to the book on amazon. I'm also checking in with Kelly about guesting here to provide her insite behind the book.

Here is this week's tip:

"First of all, you have to set a schedule.

Whatever that is, you have to set it

and stick to it."

~ Karen Asp, freelance writer

Question for the day - 

Do you have a writing schedule?