ABNA

Tips for Writing ABNA Reviews

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When I used to teach Creative Writing classes, critiques were often one of the most daunting tasks for students. I know that some people have had questions about how to write a review and what to say. There are countless ways to review, I thought I’d provide a few helpful tips here.

Tips for Writing Reviews of ABNA Excerpts:

1. Don’t read other people’s reviews until you’ve written your own. It would be difficult not to be influenced by others’ words, and you want your review to be authentic.
2. Write down your initial reaction as a reader. Did you enjoy reading the excerpt? Were you drawn in from the first paragraph?
3. Give praise where praise is due. If an author has done something really well, let them know. It’s always nice to hear a little praise. Perhaps they have a strong narrator/protagonist. Maybe they are able to create a vivid setting or their dialogue is realistic.
4. Provide constructive criticism. Think about what did or did not work for you as a reader. What was a source of confusion or disinterest?
5. Don’t criticize the author, criticize the story. It’s all about the work.

Here are a few elements of a novel that you can think about and comment on:

General:
~Did you learn anything from the excerpt?
~Did you gain anything from the experience of reading it?
~Would you recommend this novel to friends? To family?
~Did you have a favorite character? Why or why not?

Plot:
~Is the story believable (according to its genre, obviously some genres ask you to suspend your disbelief more than others).
~Is some sort of conflict set-up. This can be an external conflict (woman versus mafia) or internal conflict (man must decide what to do with stolen diamond)?

Setting:
~Does the description paint a vivid enough scene for you? Are there not enough or too many details?
~Does the author rely on too many clichés: avoided her like the plague, eyes blue as the sky (or emerald green for that matter), easy as pie, chip off the old block, etc.

Characterization:
~Are the characters believable? Do they seem too flat and dull, or are they complex like real people?
~Are the details about the characters correct and consistent (if the story is set during the Civil War, do the facts check out)?
~If there is an antagonist, does he or she seem real enough?

Dialogue:
~Are the things that people say consistent with their description?
~Were the conversations easy to follow?
~Was the speech natural or did it sound fake?

These are just a few things to think about to get you started. For many of us authors, we welcome the chance to improve our writing nearly as much as we appreciate praise.

Thank you again for downloading my entry and for taking the time to review it. If you are an Amazon customer who hasn’t written a review yet, don’t be shy. Go to: , and download, read, and review!

I would love to hear what you have to say, and I also encourage you to view the other Semifinalist entries at:
http://www.amazon.com/abna

Valya Dudycz Lupescu
Author of THE SILENCE OF TREES
Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Semifinalist

Web site: www.thesilenceoftrees.com

The Silence of Trees on the Tarot Channel

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Author and Amazon Reviewer, Janet Boyer , was kind enough to post the following on The Tarot Channel.

The Silence of Trees – ABNA Finalist

Tarot figures heavily in The Silence of Trees, a story by Valya Dudycz Lupescu. Valya’s novel has made it to Amazon’s Breakthrough Novelist Award Semi-finals. You can download a free copy from Amazon.com here. If you like what you see, be sure to write a glowing review of the excerpt at Amazon.com!

To read a synopsis of the book, click here. To read Valya’s story behind the book, click here. To view Nadya’s Tarot spread and go deeper into the story, click here.

Good luck, Valya!

— Janet Boyer

To see the original, please refer to: http://www.madebymark.com/thetarotchannel/2008/01/the-silence-of.html

~Thank you, Janet!

Routines and writing shawls

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When I was pregnant with my son, I purchased a beautiful shawl handmade by a friend from handspun fibers. The colors are different shades of purple, highlighted with silver throughout. I love it. When I brought it home, my daughter loved it as well and wrapped it around herself for weeks.

My son was born in the summer, so the shawl was draped on my writing chair in my office for a few months until Fall came around, at which time it migrated down to the kitchen/family room where I would cover us both while he nursed. This is its fourth year it is in my possession, and I brought it with me to Frankfurt, Germany. It has resumed its rightful place on our rocking chair. During the day, it is well-loved and often used by the kids in make-believe play, as a dress, blanket, tent, and so on.

At night, when the temperature drops in the apartment, it’s my turn. I walk around wearing it, and when I write, it is wrapped around me. Like tonight, when I sit here with the shawl draped over my shoulders. It has become a part of my writing ritual, something I use to transform myself into my inner writer and transport myself into the fictional realms.

I pick up little elements that I add to my writing routine. With THE SILENCE OF TREES, I had a few cds that I would play over and over again, several of them Ukrainian folksongs. I liked to burn cinnamon incense or have cinnamon sticks nearby (the scent was important to my protagonist, Nadya); I also had a black river rock that I would hold (it was the inspiration for my protagonist’s lucky stone).

These kinds of talismans evolve from the visioning and writing process, and I’m a creature that craves these little rituals, like having the kids ring the Tibetan singing bowl at the foot of the stairs each morning. We brought that with us to Germany as well.

So this shawl has become tied to the writing process of my second book, and it will probably make an appearance in the book as well (that sort of thing always seems to happen).

It is also a part of my process for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. I wear it as I read my emails and write my posts. I like to think that it brought me luck for the semi-finals.

When I first saw the shawl, I could feel the love that went into its crafting; and each new memory I make while wearing it seems to make the colors brighter, the threads even softer. I know that with each year that passes, the shawl becomes more precious. I hope to someday have it wrapped around my shoulders when I am rocking in my chair with great-grandchildren gathered around listening to my stories.

I hope that each of you has something like my writing shawl to wrap around yourself, be it literal or figurative. A shawl, a sweater, a song, or a memory…something that makes you feel loved and safe and connected.