Don't Bore Your Reader

There is a place in this world for all sizes of books. Don’t bore your reader with all kinds of filler pages to make your book appear to be larger than it is.

It is perfectly fine if your story is meant to be a short story. If your story has a lot of detail, action, suspense or drama it is fine for your book to be a larger novel. What is not fine is to fill your pages with nonsense to make it look like your short story is a novel.

Examples:
Your character wants a glass of iced tea.

Don’t do:
Mindy got out of bed and walked toward the kitchen. She stopped in the hallway after spotting a small piece of paper on the floor. She bent down to pick up this less than an inch piece of paper that she assumed had fallen from the notebook she was carrying the night before. She tossed in in the trash as she walked to the kitchen for a glass of iced tea.  Mindy got a glass from the cabinet and walked over to the refrigerator. She put four ice cubes in the glass and then closed the freezer door. Then she opened the refrigerator and got the tea container and filled her glass.

See what I mean? None of that is needed. The reader doesn’t care that she saw a tiny piece of paper on the floor and why it was there and that she picked it up and then she threw it away. The reader doesn’t need a step by step play by of all of that. None of it is even relevant to the story. She was going to the kitchen to get a glass of tea.
Next issue; The reader doesn’t need to know exactly how many ice cubes she put in the glass. All this stuff is filler nonsense to make the book and story look longer. The reader is going to skip over this stuff.

What you should do:
Mindy lay there on her bed with her mouth dry. She got up and walked to the kitchen for a glass of sweet ice tea. She knew that was exactly what she needed in the hot Summer night.

So instead of all these lines of filler stuff that has no relevance to the story at all. You said the same thing in just a lot less lines.  In these three lines you gave detail. You told what she wanted. You told how she felt and nowhere in the story did we need all these lines of filler stuff to make the book longer.



                                   
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TIZWVY6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p2_i3

Don’t write in clichés

Helpful tips ~

It’s a bad habit to write in clichés.  Here are some examples:

The character can’t seem to eat. Male or female. I’ve seen it done both ways. The character goes to take a bite and they miss and get a little food on their mouth and the love interest has to lean over and wipe the mouth. We all learned to eat when we were toddlers. LOL This isn’t romantic or sexy. It’s old and out dated.

Don’t have the woman running in the woods and fall down. Again, we all learned to walk and run a long time ago. Even being scared I think we can manage to run away from the danger. This is outdated. It doesn’t bring action in or suspense. It’s simply the same old same old and the reader gets bored.

Try to stay away from the age old things like this and be more original.



                   


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RG8GX2C?ref_=dbs_r_series&storeType=ebooks

Guest Blogger: James Moushon

                          

James Moushon has News!

New December 2019 Release – Operation Raging Bull from James Moushon

The holiday season is in full swing. It’s time to sit back and relax and read a good short story about terrorist. What? The CIA works domestically. We all knew that.

I’m announcing another Jonathon Stone Short Story Release.
JUST RELEASED: Operation Raging Bull

NOW AVAILABLE at Amazon for $0.99:  https://amzn.to/2EjTP4g

The price is right. Enjoy the Mystery and Action of a Jonathon Stone Mystery by James Moushon. READ MORE - https://tinyurl.com/ventjek

Karma Is A Bitch- FREE 12/20/19 - 12/24/19

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C55NDS8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p2_i11

FREE! 12/20/19 - 12/24/19

Karmas are immortals that kept the not so good people in line. They lived by the motto “Do bad things bad things will happen.” Tessa Waters was one of the best Karmas of the Karma realm. However, she wasn’t the fastest. She would watch over the realms, Earth, being her main realm. When she saw somebody not behaving she would send down a Karma punishment on that person. They were always funny and made the other Karmas laugh but she wasn’t fast enough. The head Karma thought it would help Tessa if instead of watching from a far she went down to Earth and passed out the punishments up close. Maybe that would make her faster. She could not return until she hit 100 Karmas. Tessa thought that would be no problem. Until the trickster of all tricksters, Loki, got in her way. How was she supposed to pass out Karmas if Loki was right in the way playing pranks on everyone? Now Tessa had to deal with the trouble makers and Loki. How was she supposed to hit her goal of 100 and make it back home?

Guest blogger: KC Sprayberry

Brad only wants to protect those flying from one place to another, to make up for not being able to protect his wife and daughter. They were on the first aircraft to strike the twin towers on 9/11. Cali seems to have it all—her most recent book gave her the celebrity status she once thought was so important but nothing can penetrate the grief she feels after losing her husband. Dex, the guy in high school that scored more than any other guy, seeks vengeance for all that’s gone wrong in his life.

Three individuals living life alone while the world whirls around them. Can they overcome their pasts and see a better future?

Blurb

Memories of the past and present take Cali Hinton on a special journey of discovery. She needs to release the past and reconcile with the present.

Dex Marino sees a woman and remembers her as a teenager. He has plans to renew their relationship, even if she isn’t willing.

Brad Mason still grieves the loss of his wife and child on 9/11. After meeting Cali, he learns how to release the sadness.

The holidays often bring the saddest of memories. Can Cali stop a predator from her past and prove her worth to her family? Will Dex understand the girl he nearly destroyed can no longer be conquered? Will Brad discover the magic of this special woman?

Brad only wants to protect those flying from one place to another, to make up for not being able to protect his wife and daughter. They were on the first aircraft to strike the twin towers on 9/11. Cali seems to have it all—her most recent book gave her the celebrity status she once thought was so important but nothing can penetrate the grief she feels after losing her husband. Dex, the guy in high school that scored more than any other guy, seeks vengeance for all that’s gone wrong in his life.

Three individuals living life alone while the world whirls around them. Can they overcome their pasts and see a better future?

eBook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0826VTQDX/

Print Book:

Excerpt

Brad Mason felt the gut punch of reality as he passed a store advertising the perfume his wife had loved. He inhaled the scent, a mixture of wildflowers and the ocean, and shivered from head to toe. More than eighteen long years had passed since two passenger jets had toppled New York City’s twin towers but he was unable to move past the grief and longing that beset him whenever important holidays came around.

Someday. I’ll be able to move past this one day.

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/LU30NTZXlVU

About K.C. Sprayberry

“I have a secret… a very special secret. Perhaps you’ve heard this one before… from the time I was a child, I wanted to write stories for people to read. “ K.C. Sprayberry

Former California native, K.C. Sprayberry traveled the U.S. and Europe before finally settling in the mountains of Northwest Georgia. She’s been married to her soulmate for more than a quarter of a century and they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren along with many other activities.

Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times and drives her to grab notebook and pen to jot down her ideas. Those close to her swear nothing or no one is safe if she’s smiling gently in a corner and watching those in the same room interact. Her observations have often given her ideas for her next story, set not only in the South but wherever the characters demand they settle.

Social Media

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/AuthorKCSprayberry/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/kcsowriter

Blog:

http://outofcontrolcharacters.blogspot.com/

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/collection/playlists

Goodreads:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5011219.K_C_Sprayberry

Amazon Author Page:

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005DI1YOU

Pinterest:

http://pinterest.com/kcsprayberry/boards/

AUTHORSdB:

http://authorsdb.com/authors-directory/5230-k-c-sprayberry

MeWe:

https://mewe.com/join/kcsprayberryauthor

Website:

http://www.authorkcsprayberry.com/

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGGHaiNhvTSsb6bXddR59iw

           

Authorgraph:

https://www.authorgraph.com/authors/kcsowriter

Email:

kcspray01@gmail.com

Christmas is coming!

With the holidays coming you might enjoy these Christmas stories.


                      
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GAGCMNG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i11
Bethany’s life is turned upside down when she lost the love of her life Tyson on Christmas. A year goes by when she is suddenly offered a chance to undo the past by Fate dressed up as Santa. Is this for real? Can she really make a wish on a star and get her beloved back or is somebody playing a mean trick on her?

Also included is a Bonus Story.
"A Surprise For Christmas"

                                 
Samantha wasn’t expecting what she got for Christmas this year. Her doorbell rang and there sitting on her porch was a baby in a basket. This changes her life for the good. But then something happens. The baby’s father comes for his child. How can Samantha convince him that she is the best thing for the child?