Jennifer Probst - Write Naked: A Bestsellers Secrets to Writing Romance & Navigating the Path to Success

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Cincinnati, Ohio

Tribe (noun). Definition via the Oxford Dictionary: A social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader.

This book is dedicated to my tribemy fellow writers.

In my tribe, there is no leader; there is only a group of talented, brave, creative, beautiful souls who believe in the art of writing, and want to make a difference through words. Published, or unpublished, your stories are precious, and the world needs them.

Thank you to the authors whose work Ive read in the dark of night. You have comforted me, pushed me, and helped me be brave enough to keep trying; to believe in myself. You have made all the difference.

This book is for you.

Being asked to write a Foreword for a book by Jennifer Probst on writing is a pretty sweet gig. Everyone coming into this is just as excited to be here as I am. Writing is the best!

... And also sometimes the worst!

But in those impossible moments when it feels like youre squeezing blood from a brick, or knitting a scarf from a spider web, the amazing writing community reaches out and takes your hand. In this case, the writing community is now placing this resource directly in the palm of your hand.

We consider Jen to be one of the absolute best humans in publishing, so I want to personally high five each of you for being smart enough to pick up this book. She has the gift of entertainmentin person, and in her writingand this guide on craft is no exception.

When she emailed Christina and myself, asking if we would be willing to write a foreword, the conversation went like this:

Jen: Hey, you two! Would you

CLo: Yes.

Jen: But, I havent

CLo: Doesnt matter. Were in!

Jen: Im asking you to write a Foreword.

CLo: We love Forewords! Forewords are better than cupcakes. Everyone reads the Foreword and remembers it intensely. In fact, were already writing and its basically a love letter to you, and were all three-way married now.

Its funnyshe only communicates through her attorney now.

Now, obviously, we could go on about why she is perfectly suited to write this book. But, if you are a writer (which I assume you are), you likely came here not for accolades and wedding announcements, but for answers to the very common writerly questions, like:

1. Help me?
2. Who let me do this?
3. How do I word?
4. Why does the middle of my book make me sleepy?
5. Why do all my characters sound like me?
6. What are book?

And as such, I can be pretty confident that everyone is wisely skipping my words to get straight to Jens, because she will answer these questions, and I will not.

And since no one is reading this foreword anyway, I am confident in using this space as a confessional and saying that I was a published author several times over before I ever picked up a book on craft. I like to think that it wasnt hubris so much as an understanding that there is no one way to write a book (a belief thats been validated many times in my experience), and I didnt want another process worming its way into my confidence. If the words are rolling, why change anything? (She said with confidence, at the time.)

I started writing Days of Our Lives fan fiction at the age of fourteen, bad poetry at the age of eighteen, andafter the dark years of graduate schoolreturned once more to fanfic. I didnt study writingever. So, much like my son noodling on his guitarhe does different things to his instrument to see what sound comes outI learned how to write by noodling. Christina and I wrote a book together, and then another, and it sold. People liked it, and so we wrote some more. Books on craft? Pssh!

For a while, it seemed to work just fine.

But then I hit a point where the words werent rolling. Same with Christina. It seemed like we plucked the low-hanging fruit from the Idea Tree and all of the fruit from the Word Tree, and there was nothing left.

So, to no ones surprise, the next book we wrote had a terrible ending and a middle as mushy as a cranberry bog. Our editor said, You are both lovely people and make amazing pecan pie, but this book requires a few key strokes: First, Ctrl and A. And then, delete.

So, we picked up On Writing by Stephen King, and proceeded to devour every craft book we could get our hands on. Theyre so much more than Heres How You Write Real Good. Theyre: Heres How to Think Like a Writer; How to Find Ideas in the Tiny Cracks of Life; How to Put Depth and Dimension in Your Characters; How to Take That Bare Flicker of a Plot Arc and Make It Into a Star Or, At the Very Least, a Really Bright and Useful Flashlight.

Jens awesome book wont tell you how to write The End in the one specific manuscript youre struggling to complete. But you dont really want that anyway, because what youre toiling away at is your book. What Jens book will do is give you a tool chest you can internalize and use when youre starting, when youre stuck, when youre editing, and when you just hate every word youve ever written.

There may be sections in here you dont need right now; there may be sections you need but dont realize it yet. There may be advice that validates your current process (because your process is and should be fluid), and I hope that in those moments you take the time to do an air-kick-celebratory-karate-chop combination because youve earned it, badass. There may be chapters that you return to so many times the pages become dog-eared, or your e-reader has been well trained to open to the right page when the app loads. But regardless, this book is here, forever, for you.

Look, youre already way ahead of me, because youre reading and seeking guidance, answers, and ideas. Just remember: its never too early or too late to dive into your craft. Whether you are writing your first book or your fiftieth, youre doing it. Writing can be isolating, but were all in this together, and Im excited for you right now. Its how I feel when anyone tells me theyve never watched Alias, never read The Captive Prince, or never eaten a Sprinkles triple cinnamon cupcake, because I can say, You have this wonderful experience ahead of you!

You, lucky writer, have this wonderful book ahead of you.

(Your own book, and the one youre currently holding in your hands.)

Go forth, and conquer!

xoxo

Christina Lauren

The creator made us creative. Our creativity is our gift from God. Our use of it is our gift to God. Accepting this bargain is the beginning of true self-acceptance.

JULIA CAMERON, THE ARTISTS WAY

This is not a book that will help you earn a million dollars with your writing.

This is not a book to teach you how to edit your writing, publish your book, gain tons of followers on Twitter and Facebook, or crack Amazons top 100.

This is a book for writers. For all writers. Whether you write full-time, part-time, as a hobby, or even if you simply dream of writing one day, this book will strip down the layers of this fascinating career, examine all aspects of writing, and try to help you blast through any blocks you have about writing.