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( mm / dd )


Writerly Advice

My favorite resources.

Adding Depth to Your Work

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have a series of books that I LOVE!!!!

Emotional Amplifiers is a free book – and I love using it when editing because let’s face it, you can only have your alpha male grunt his displeasure so many times.

One of their newest books is the Emotional Wound Thesaurus. It’s a fabulous book for delving into your characters and their motivations.

 

They also wrote a pair of books on positive and negative traits that I use when developing my characters. It helps when defining the conflict between the hero and heroine to have an idea of their personalities and how they’ll respond to the conflict. Plus… it’s fun to read:)

They have books on settings, and I just purchased one on urban settings – I’m not referring to it as much as I do the others.

The final book that I absolutely love is the Emotional Thesaurus

NaNoWriMoWorkshop - Embrace the Suck 😉

I had the pleasure of giving a workshop at Marshall University prepping for NaNoWriMo. How do you write 50,000 words, approximately 1700 a day, in one month? Embrace the suck! You can download my powerpoint and enjoy my wisdom:)

Embrace-the-Suck-MU-Presentation

Instagram Puzzle Templates

AND JPEG FILES

I took an instagram class with Alana Albertson and it was amazing. You can too,just click here!

In one of the first lessons she suggested we find what we liked on other people's instagram feeds and I LOVED the puzzle, that slowly reveals itself over posts to be one cohesive collage.

Creative Market sells many puzzle templates with great art you can add premade for you. But for you DIY's who enjoy being artsy and have time, I made three templates in photoshop and saved them as jpgs and I'm uploading for you to use. If you don't have photoshop, gimp is a free alternative.

The templates are 1x3 (one row on instagram), 3x3 (a 9-square box), and 3x4 (a 12 square box). I've highlighted green in a checkered pattern to indicate the cut off lines for each post to help with placement of your artwork. Using your favorite photo/art software, use the template as the background layer, create a new layer for your images, and then turn off the background layer (so you don't see the green boxes) when you save it as a .jpg.

Once you've created your collage and saved it as a .jpg, head over to: https://postcron.com/image-splitter/en/

Select which template you're using and upload your file. It will automatically divide it into the photo posts AND number them.

I'm excited. This is just ONE thing I learned in Alana's class. If you're interested in growing your instagram audience, definitely TAKE HER CLASS!

 

Click here to get: 1x3 Instagram Puzzle Template

Click here to get:3x3 Instagram Puzzle Template

Click here to get: 3x4 Instagram Puzzle Template

Want an example? Head over to https://www.instagram.com/tobi.doyle/

Or Google "Instagram Puzzle"

Outline Your Novel in 30 Min (Alicia Rasley)

I love this easy worksheet for doing some rough drafting of a plot. It's super for a planner, too. Just remember - what's your genre promise and did you fulfill it at the end?

http://www.aliciarasley.com/index.php/outline-your-novel-in-30-minutes-no-foolin/

 

Tobi's Down and Dirty Guide to Adding a Romance Arc to Your WIP

Thanks to S.G. Redling for inviting me to talk on Feb. 13, 2020 about adding a romance arc as part of Huntington's Art's Night Out. I'm grateful to live in a community that promotes and encourages artists!

The talk had handouts and I'm posting them here just in case I didn't make enough handouts (totally possible) or you stumbled upon this page and hoped there was a quick and easy starter guide to get you thinking about adding a romance arc to your work-in-progress.

Click here for the pdf Tobi's Down and Dirty Guide to Adding a Romance Arc into your WIP - it includes the why, what, when, who, how, and where!

Click here External and Internal Character Arc cheat sheet. This is a cheat sheet I use to MAKE SURE each scene is moving the character forward toward their goal. Because sometimes I get lost and create darlings that are like giant sink holes that suck me in and make me lose the story. The beat sheets have three columns for two main characters and antagonist. Yes, the antagonist NEEDS a plot line. Adjust as needed:)

 

Tobi's Down and Dirty Guide to Audiobook Narration

I've been narrating for over eight years, have worked on more than 50 titles, and I've put together a brief presentation on things you should consider about narrating your own audiobooks. Info includes equipment, software, money, and examples on the process!

Click here for the Audiobook Narration Presentation

Book Mapping - Be your own developmental editor!

I've uploaded my workshop on book mapping, a great way to start your self-editing process AFTER you've written your first draft. This workshop will help you identify issues with plotting, pacing, goals, motivations, conflicts and so much more! Available on my YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6QSKL_wSvQ

Internal and External Character Worksheet

EXTERNAL and INTERNAL CHARACTER ARC as a PDF just the arcs

External and Internal Character Arcs as an Excel File so you can add your characters.

If nothing happens when you click on the links, it could be that your pop-up blocker is preventing the download.

Emotional Wounds and Creating Characters Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts

Here's the handout for my Emotional Wounds and Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts to create compelling characters:)