Advice for aspiring authors by Chris Koehler – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Chris Koehler will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

1. Start now.

While classes can help, and advice is great, the only way to improve your skill in writing,
is to start writing. I know shocking, but if you wish to write, then write. Classes will have you do much of the same thing. You can figure out what you are doing good, and bad, and hone your skills by making flash fiction stories. I would say write stories that take place in five pages or less. Often this is hard because you need to introduce characters, setting, and conflict, and then resolve the conflict in five pages. But if you can do that, then you can make a novel or novella.

2. Read.

I know, shocking idea, writers should read, I hear your sarcastic comments. But it is not
just about passion, or knowing why you are doing it. It is also a way for you to see how others have done it. How have other authors written their stories? You can get an idea of style, how they approach conflict, and how they describe their sense. More than that, and even other forms of fiction can help here, you can be inspired. One post-apocalyptic story might inspire your own version of a post-apocalypse. Or perhaps a fantasy setting, or maybe a story about life on a distant world cut off from earth. Or one of many other ideas.

3. Take some classes.

While your teacher may have you doing the same thing, find a class on fiction writing.
Then take said class, you can probably find one at a community college, if not then you might find one online. With time and practice, they can get you up to speed. You will be better off for it. They can give you hints you might have otherwise missed. Figure out what kind of writing you can do best, and even give you some challenges. In a class I took one challenge was to bring in a picture, and then make a story about that picture. I did a story about a family on vacation from a tough life, others did a picture that they only wished existed or a final picture with the family.

4. Author support group.

I have said it elsewhere, and you may have heard it elsewhere, but an author support
group is important for any aspiring author. When I joined mine, my work went from ideas of publishing to real actual publishing. I won’t name any, as you might have different needs than I do, but they can help you in many ways. They will contain authors with expertise in areas you lack. They will help you with editing and drafting. They will get on your tail to “Do something”. And they will keep you from going insane. Find one that meets regularly, has some sort of schedule, and go to their meeting.

5. Don’t give up.

It will be hard. You will face rejection. You will be lost. You will wonder if it is worth it. As a new author myself, I still wonder if it is worth it. But you haven’t lost until you have given up. Giving up does not mean you keep trying to publish the same way, you might find a better way. Sometimes not giving up means redoing entire chapters, or rewriting an entire novel from the ground up, because you just got a better idea. Sometimes it means staring at a screen or piece of paper. But do not give up. It was drilled into me, so I will now drill it into you, keep trying, even when it’s hard.

Dr Avery Hutton lives in good times. All of humanity now lives under the Global republic, a democratic government that works hard to protect the rights of their citizens, expand orbital infrastructure and explore space. The last of which is helped by the relatively new Warp Drive, allowing probes to travel to and from the nearest stars over the course of a few years.

This is part of Avery’s job, helping organize the missions form the ground, his specialty being the analysis of microorganism form other star systems. But this most recent mission will change everything. For while every return mission previously had gone well, and few issues were observed, this time one of the returning samples is a bit… nastier than any previous sample. This time something has returned that could wipe out all life on Earth.

Enjoy an Excerpt

“You’re worried management has gotten complacent?” I asked “And this will be the one time it matters?”

Diane nodded.

“Also, the Beta Strain does appear to be particularly tough,” added Tone.

I nodded in agreement. It took an insane amount of effort to kill Beta Strain microbes. They just don’t seem to care, still active in environments where comparable Earth microbes might try to escape with suspended animation. They survived in suspended animation where Earth microbes, or the microbes of the other strains we found, died.

About the Author:I am a new author and this is my first book. I started working on this story around 2016 and have been refining it ever since.

I first got interested in writing years ago, I took part in a junior writing fare, and wrote as a volunteer from a teenage perspective at a local newspaper. My parents loved Science Fiction and Fantasy and passed on that love to me.

While this is my first book, I hope it’s not my last, I hope you enjoy it!

Buy the book at Amazon or Audible.

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