Tanya Lisle

Author: Tanya

  • Considerations for your target audience

    Considerations for your target audience

    One of the best ways to ensure that you are able to have someone who reads your book is to, well, write for someone who is looking for your book! Your ideal reader, or your target audience, should be the person you are focusing your content, your writing, and your marketing on. But have you considered some basic elements of a great target audience?

    Does your audience exist?

    This is a mistake I have absolutely made in the past. You can craft this ideal person that would read your books, but when you take a step back you realize that this is not an audience that actually exists. It’s always good to look and see if there is actually demand for your stories outside of your social circle and in the wider market. Do the themes and genre and topics in your stories resonate with a lot of people? Are you telling a story that can be enjoyed by a lot of people, and specifically enough people that it could sustain your career?

    Can your audience purchase your stories?

    Simply put, your audience should be able to pay for your stories on their own. It is much easier to find a new reader if they do not have to get approval for the purchase from someone else. If you’re writing young adult, for instance, those kids may not have the ability to actually support you, no matter how much your story might resonate with them.

    This isn’t to say you can’t write books for those younger audiences! It just means that you are going to have to be mindful that your marketing will be more about getting the parents and people in their lives with money to purchase your stories for them.

    What does that audience actually expect?

    This is a tricky question, but an important one to look at. When you have an audience that is seeking out your stories, it’s important to leave them satisfied and wanting more content when they are done. That means you need to fulfill their expectations, so it’s worth spending some time getting a good understanding of what they are actually looking for and, more importantly, why. That will give you the context to know if you want to try and subvert their expectations without making it a dissatisfying read.

    How does that audience find out about new stories to check out?

    This is so that you can let them know about your stories! If you know about your audience, and you know what they expect, then you should also know where they hang out and how they find new stories. Once you know where they are, then you can make sure you are also there, ready to help and possibly even give them a recommendation at just the right time!

    Write Your Story: Unlock Your Creative Potential

    Are you ready to embark on a journey into the world of storytelling? Look no further! Introducing Write Your Story, a comprehensive resource designed to fuel your imagination, enhance your storytelling skills, and bring your characters to life. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, a seasoned author, or simply someone who loves crafting stories, this workbook is your ultimate companion.

    This Workbook Contains:

    • Story planning spreads
    • Setting and location spreads
    • Character spreads
    • Writing session tracker
  • For the Wolf review

    For the Wolf review

    I don’t know why, but I thought this book was supposed to be related to that Red Riding Hood movie that came out a decade ago. I remember hearing that there was a book that would make that movie make sense, and for whatever reason I thought this was that book. It is not.

    This book follows Red, the Second Daughter1 who has to be given to the Wolf when she comes of age, leaving behind her sister to take over rule on her own when their mother dies. In this fantasy world, the wolf lives in the very dangerous Wilderwood, a forest that appears to be alive and with a motive of its own. Deep inside the forest, Red meets the Wolf and finds that much of what she’s been told about him and the history of their world has been a lie, but also that the Wilderwood is slowly dying and he is the only one keeping it alive so that it can continue to hold back the return of great evil.

    So, first thing to mention here. Despite the title and cover, this is a Beauty and the Beast story. The Wolf2 is a cursed man living alone in a castle and Red is a young bookworm who realizes that he’s not as terrifying as the stories she’s heard all of her life. Instead, he’s cursed, lonely, and only means well.

    I will note that I didn’t pick up on the romance aspect of the story until quite late in the narrative, which I like. Red has a whole lot happening, between figuring out her own ties to the Wilderwood, to understanding the truth behind the version of history she was told, to trying to see her sister again, that I just never picked up on it until the relationship was consummated. They got married and I didn’t pick up on the romance. I’m so good at this.

    It is also full of very intricate world building. There were times when I wondered if this was a third or fourth book in a series. There’s a lot of elements in it that I really enjoy, such as the contrast between the history told and the actual history that gets uncovered, but there is just a lot of context revealed throughout the story as if it were common knowledge. I’m generally okay with this, but it does make it a lot harder for me to talk about the story because there’s parts of the lore that I’m more interested in than others.

    Overall, I did enjoy it! It was an interesting read, and I haven’t done high fantasy in a while. It does some interesting things with the worldbuilding and the romance doesn’t overwhelm the narrative. If it sounds interesting, I’d say check it out.

    Get it now
    1. Proper noun! [↩]
    2. Who does have a name, but I cannot spell it from memory [↩]
  • Revising my life

    Revising my life

    Well. All those self help books are getting to me.

    After all these years of reading and having a lot of trouble liking self help books, I have finally gotten to the point where some of the high level ideas are sinking in. I have issues with these books largely because they are very prescriptive and give you that one thing that will make your life amazing. It’s one central idea that you have to adapt and a bunch of tools that will make everything come together.

    But my life is larger than one or two areas. There’s a lot of different parts of it, and a lot of different things that I want to do. Different things I want to be eventually. One idea isn’t really enough to encapsulate all of that.

    So naturally, I’m starting to put together a system of my own to work out something that actually works for me.

    Given that this has been a rough year for me, I’ve been doing a lot of self reflection and I’m starting to put together what I actually want out of life. I’m doing a discovery phase with myself, trying to decide what I think a great life would be like and where I’m at now. It’s a lot of discovery for the moment, but I’ll be documenting some of my process as I go and see if I can find something that works. I’ve read enough of these self help books! I’m sure I’ve absorbed enough to make this work.

    So stay tuned and I’ll talk more about the process, what’s working and what isn’t. It should be fun!

  • Organizing your Day review

    Organizing your Day review

    I am just leaning into this self improvement book habit at this point. And somehow I keep finding these ones that feel kinda dated with talk of pagers and rolodexes and talk of paper clutter, but here we are.

    This book covers the basics of organization. It’s structured to give you sections and areas of your life to focus on, from work to home, and encourages you to make changes piece by piece. The advice is pretty similar to other books of this sort, but there is a nice set of caveats that are added now and then accounting for people who may struggle due to things like health issues.

    I feel like this is good for if you are just getting started on getting your life together and needed a starting point. Some of the advice is solid, but I’ve been putting together my systems for a few years now. There’s nothing new in here that I could really incorporate, and the book is a little dated in the references. I don’t think it actually introduced any new concepts to me, at least.

    However, if you’re just starting out in trying to get your life in order, maybe this would work for you.

    Get it now
  • Writing reluctant heroes

    Writing reluctant heroes

    If you have read any of my books, you know I love a reluctant hero. There’s something about someone who did not want to save the day slowly coming to terms with the idea that they have to and accepting that for the greater good just hits me right.

    But how do you construct a character and a story like that? Well, here’s some things I like to do:

    They are uniquely qualified to deal with the problem

    One of the major questions that comes up in these kinds of stories is the question of “Why me?” If someone else can take over, then the question of why someone else doesn’t do it who is just as capable comes into play and it lessens that internal conflict. So make a character who has a specific skillset that makes them invaluable1 and removes that option for them to not be involved.

    They have some insight into what they are really being asked to do

    The character can see what the problem is, but ideally they also understand what it really being asked of them. Because problems initially introduced in stories2 are rarely the truth of the matter, the character should have some insight into3 or otherwise discover4 the truth of what they are being asked to do and be, for one reason or another, opposed to it.

    They actively avoid the problem

    If the character can spot the problem and understand why they do not want to resolve it themselves, they should do something to try and avoid interacting with it.5 Though these characters may want to do best by the people around them, they view the problem as attempting to pull them into something that is not or should not be their responsibility.6

    Their involvement happens as a result of something they think is unrelated

    For me, I do love watching a character try so hard to avoid getting involved, but accidentally falling into the role of saving the day. Either curiosity7 or getting mad at the wrong time8 or just getting close to people who are about to suffer if they do nothing,9 something that isn’t necessarily directly related to that thing they are avoiding dragging them back into the plot they were trying to avoid is a lot of fun to both read and write.

    Ultimately, the story is about self actualization and them accepting that they are the hero

    If you’re making one of the central conflicts of the story a hero that does not want to be a hero, I feel like self actualization in the form of accepting the role of hero, either on their terms or someone else’s, is the point of that character arc. Letting them understand that this is a role that they must play, even one they might want to play, and what the terms of filling it are, is just a natural ending of that story.

    Write Your Story: Unlock Your Creative Potential

    Are you ready to embark on a journey into the world of storytelling? Look no further! Introducing Write Your Story, a comprehensive resource designed to fuel your imagination, enhance your storytelling skills, and bring your characters to life. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, a seasoned author, or simply someone who loves crafting stories, this workbook is your ultimate companion.

    This Workbook Contains:

    • Story planning spreads
    • Setting and location spreads
    • Character spreads
    • Writing session tracker
    1. White Noise, Looking Glass Saga, City Without Heroes [↩]
    2. Or my stories, anyway [↩]
    3. Cloned Evil [↩]
    4. City Without Heroes [↩]
    5. City Without Heroes, Cloned Evil [↩]
    6. White Noise [↩]
    7. Looking Glass Saga [↩]
    8. Cloned Evil [↩]
    9. White Noise, City Without Heroes [↩]
  • Wire Wings review

    Wire Wings review

    It’s been so long since I’ve gotten something from a local author to read, but over the holidays last year I got to go to an event with Pulp Literature with a whole bunch of local authors and fill up my TBR! And, of course, I am only just now getting to reading this one.

    We follow Graciela, a young woman in a world where the metaverse is a reality. She spends her time in a virtual world, escaping from a complicated life of tragedy and complicated parental relationships. Her father has developed an AI that exists in the virtual world known as the Waves, and this creation of her father’s, who she has named Thomas, has been following her. While her father wants the AI back, but Gracie is torn between doing as she’s told and treating him like a fully formed person.

    The concept overall is interesting and, while it does have elements of “The digital world is a drug that’s harming our children” that sentiment is largely contained to the older characters. In the context of Graciela, it’s viewed more as a coping mechanism to give her the space to discover herself and give her space to deal with loss and isolation while building confidence.

    I did have a little trouble with the pacing. It’s a bit slow in the middle where she is spending more time in reality, and then everything feels like it happens in the last couple chapters. There were some things I felt could have used more setup and the tell about the truth about Thomas felt like she definitely should have recognized that a lot earlier.

    Overall, though, I really did like the story. It’s a look at what could be through the lens of someone who has not only grown up around the technology, but is using it in a way that makes sense for their own lives. If it sounds interesting, definitely check it out!

    Get it now

  • Do you want downloadable writing worksheets?

    I created the Storyteller’s Workbook and the Worldbuilding Workbook because these are resources I’d made for myself and wanted to share them. They are structured in a way that makes sense for me, at least, to use them to keep track of notes as I’m writing.

    But that might not be how other people use them! I worry that there might be too many worksheets in one section and not enough in another and, well, that it’s just not flexible enough for individual writers and their projects.

    So I wanted pro propose a question to you. Would you want the worksheets in a downloadable PDF so that you could make as many as you needed for each of your projects? Printable in the standard letter and A5? Editable in something like GoodNotes?

    Do you want this? And what would work best for you?

    Write Your Story: Unlock Your Creative Potential

    Are you ready to embark on a journey into the world of storytelling? Look no further! Introducing Write Your Story, a comprehensive resource designed to fuel your imagination, enhance your storytelling skills, and bring your characters to life. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, a seasoned author, or simply someone who loves crafting stories, this workbook is your ultimate companion.

    This Workbook Contains:

    • Story planning spreads
    • Setting and location spreads
    • Character spreads
    • Writing session tracker

  • Who Not How review

    My company has been talking about this book lately. About how the leadership teams and leads are all being required to read it, about how it’s so insightful and has so many great takeaways, and so I figured why not. It looked like a quick read.

    For some context, the five questions for the modern entrepreneur or startup or what have you are:

    1. Why is this a thing to do?
    2. Who will want this?
    3. What is the expected outcome need to change?
    4. What needs to happen in order to make this?
    5. How does it happen?

    This book focuses on the the second and fourth question, contextualized appropriately: Who is this for and who will make it happen? It pitches these as the only two question you will need and everything else will fall into place. Mostly because you have now outsourced the other three questions to those two groups, which makes sense in context.

    But I work as a product designer. So this is not remotely unique of a take to me.

    It also insists that none of this is exploitation at one point which… I have no idea what that was about. Did I miss the part where you said not to pay anyone? It felt so strange, like it was bringing up an issue that didn’t exist unless the author was implementing some very shady business practices.

    If you have not read many other business or entrepreneur books from the last decade or so, it’s going to give you some new information. But if you’ve read a bunch, then this is really just a different contextualization and focuses on a different part of the standard process that is preached by these books. So… if that sounds good.

    Get it now

  • One Year to an Organized Work Life review

    Once more I have found my way to the self help type books. I seem to have an addiction. Perhaps I’m getting to the point where they are going to actually do something. But hey, this one is supposed to focus on organization, and I do love planning and strategies to organize things, so let’s check it out!

    This book is, as implied, a year long guide to help you get yourself in order. It’s broken down into advice by month and making slow, incremental changes to what you’re doing in order to create habits that stick and keep you on top of your work. And, surprisingly, your personal life! There is quite an emphasis on also working on your home life, and making sure you are able to take breaks, stay healthy, and generally disconnect outside of work. Which is fantastic!

    One thing that threw me several times, though, was just how dated the book feels. There’s specific references to PDAs and electric pencil sharpeners that feels jarring at this point. It also feels very specific to a traditional corporate setting given the inclusion of gift giving in an office setting and the need to network in order to advance in your career.

    Overall, though, it is a surprisingly good read! The high level advice is pretty solid, even if the specifics might be industry specific, and the delivery of making it a slow progression over a year rather than all at once is good for foundational work. If you’re looking for some guidance on how to get your life in general organized, work and all, this might be a good starting point.

    Get it now

  • 4 types of editing phases

    If you have written a story and you’d like to improve it, either just so that your story is even better or because you’d like to do something with it like publish it, editing is something you are going to consider. Editing can come in a lot of different forms and phases, and here are four examples of them.

    Structural edit

    For some people, this looks like a rewrite. This phase focuses on the structure of the story, including things like the themes and pacing. This is where you can look at the story as a whole and decide if all of the events that happen in it are necessary, in the place that you want them to be, and if all the characters you have in the story need to be there.

    This phase typically involves large, overarching changes that will affect the narrative and get the story into a state where the story you’re telling is the one that you want to tell. It’s more high level and ensuring that you have the beginning, middle, and end in the places you want them to be, and that everything is appropriately introduced and wrapped up.

    Other people

    Getting another set of eyes on your work is a fantastic way to make sure your story is reading the same way to you as it is to everyone else. Having another person read your story at different points in the process means that they can bring their insight and make suggestions on how to improve your story. This can range from large structural changes, to catching where something is inconsistent, to maybe even just picking out places where you spelled a name wrong.

    This may take the form of beta readers or an editor, depending on what your intent is with this pass. Be sure to pick the right people for this phase based on what you want to get out of it.

    Line edit

    Line edits are a very detail-oriented type of edit. This is intended to make sure that all of your spelling and grammar are correct. This phase will check to make sure the details of the prose are correct, from placement of commas to ellipses, to ensuring dashes and em-dashes are being used correctly.

    This phase may be supplemented with something like ProWritingAid or Grammarly, which are both programs that will check your prose to ensure that it is grammatically correct.

    Read aloud

    Hearing your story read out loud is a great way to find small things that you might have missed in other editing rounds. Bringing it off of the page means that you will gain a different perspective on your work and it can help you to catch where things are phrased strangely, or where you maybe made other errors like missing when you changed a character’s name.

    You can read this yourself, have someone else read it to you, or even get a text-to-speech program to do it! So long as you are hearing your words, that’s all you need.

    What other editing phases do you use?

    Write Your Story: Unlock Your Creative Potential

    Are you ready to embark on a journey into the world of storytelling? Look no further! Introducing Write Your Story, a comprehensive resource designed to fuel your imagination, enhance your storytelling skills, and bring your characters to life. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, a seasoned author, or simply someone who loves crafting stories, this workbook is your ultimate companion.

    This Workbook Contains:

    • Story planning spreads
    • Setting and location spreads
    • Character spreads
    • Writing session tracker