Please Welcome Guest Blogger, Rachel Hauck ...

Rachel Hauck is a multi-published author living in sunny and sometimes hurricane plagued, central Florida with her husband and ornery pets . She is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a BA in Journalism. Visit her blog and web site at www.rachelhauck.com.




Last week, I stocked groceries in Freedom, Alabama. This week, I live in Nashville, Tennessee about to take the stage at the famous Bluebird Café.

Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Only one problem. I’m terrified to sing in front of people.

But after twenty-five years of being ruled by fear, hiding from my dream, I confronted my limited reality and left home. Forget the hometown hunk who wants to make me queen of his doublewide. Forget Momma’s doubt-inspiring tirade. I can make it in Music City… Can’t I?

God put the longing to write songs in my heart. If He’s for me, who can be against me? Not even my own fear can overshadow His love. So, I gathered my old guitar, my notebook full of songs and packed up my ’69 Chevy pickup. Look out NashVegas, the next hit songwriter is coming to town.

With the help of my cousin, and a few new friends, especially handsome contractor, Lee Rivers, my dream finds the light of day. As I face my first night at the Bluebird Café, I realize…

I might just do what comes naturally. Look for the nearest exit, and run!

Hi everyone. Thanks to Gina and Ane for giving me space on Novel Journey. I have a book coming out in November, Lost In NashVegas, about a small town girl overcoming her fears to make it in Nashville as a songwriter.

But today I’m going to talk about … the writing craft.

Ten Things I Learned On The Road To Publishing (in no particular order.)

1. Read. Read. Read. While pursuing writing, I stop reading. When I began to read again, I truly believe my writing improved. A lot.

2. Less is more. Writers write, right? We over write many times. I’ve gone through manuscripts and edited like crazy. Or so I thought. But later while reading the published copy, I found many other places where I could’ve tightened my prose. Find a way to state a story point in one finely crafted sentence, then let it stand.

3. Crit partners are nice, but … writing is a solitary job. Writing friend understand the trials we go through, but be careful not to lean too heavily on others. Honing the craft often means grinding out your ideas alone and making them work. Thinking through your story, not counting on others to fix it for you. Too much input can actually hinder the creative process and kill your confidence. Nevertheless, be humble and brave enough to reach out to others for input and help when the time is right.

4. Sitting too long in my chair makes my legs hurt. Don’t forget to get up and move.

5. God is the best writing partner. Develop stories ideas with Him.

6. Networking is key. Most of my major writing strides were made after attending a writers conference and making friends and learning craft. Take advantage of conferences or weekly writer’s meetings.

7. Using writing techniques like newspaper articles or email are good ways to give readers information and advance the story without a long narrative or dialog scene. Sophie Kensella does this well in the Shopaholic books.

8. Discipline your time. Whether you work, are busy raising children or are retired and have all day to write, nothing will happen if you don’t discipline your time. Writing won’t happen outside of sheer determination.

9. Contrasting a characters greatest fear with his/her secret desire is a great way to create inner and external conflict. For Lost In NashVegas, my heroine, Robin Rae McAfee wants to be a songwriter. But she’s afraid to sing in front of people. Her journey is overcoming her fears. It was fun to write.

10. People talk to me all the time about writing. “What do I need to do to get started?” My response? “Backside in chair. No way around it.”

Visit Rachel's website at: http://www.rachelhauck.com/

Ane here: If you leave a comment for Rachel, you will be entered in a drawing for her new book, Lost in NashVegas. To read a review of Lost in NashVegas, click here.