Make Your Characters Come Alive
Creating a Character Backstory is a companion book to How to Write an eBook in 40 days (or less ). It provides all the tools you need to create characters with an authentic personality, a consistent voice, and that are so real they will continue living in the heads of your fans long after they finish the last page. Using the 20 exercises found inside these pages, you will decide on virtually every detail of a character's life, going beyond the superficial details and exploring their motivations for every decision they make.
Designed for beginners who are just starting to write fiction, this book is an organized approach to exploring the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your character. Beginning with deciding on the purpose your character will have in the story you're writing, to mapping out the problems facing that particular character, you'll then move on to exploring who they are, what they believe, their daily routines, their fears and dreams, their talents and skills, their strengths and weaknesses, and the secrets that they hide. After this, you'll delve into the relationships in their lives beginning with their first and current loves, their best friends, their enemies, and their family members. You'll also map out what life was like for them at home when they were growing up. It's all part of creating that complete picture of your character that makes them so real to you that you can make others believe they are real, too.
Overcome Writer's Block
As you work to create the backstory, you'll find a wealth of information that you can call on whenever you get stuck. You'll have secrets that can be revealed, characters from the past who can show up to help out or make life more difficult, weaknesses to be exploited, strengths to be displayed, fears to overcome, and dreams to realize. By creating a character sheet for each of the eight character roles for your story, you'll have a whole host of problems to solve and potential interactions that can provide inspiration to move your story forward. The work you will do is well worth all the effort you'll be putting into it.
Based on the author's own experiences
These exercises are all things that the author used to overcome her own writing challenges, providing you a short cut to writing success. They can be done one a day for 20 days as part of preparing for a 40 day novel writing session, or can be done as part of a writer's workshop in 2-3 days. It's a system that's flexible enough to allow you to operate on your own timeline while still ensuring that meaningful progress is made toward creating the story you've always dreamed of writing.

How to Write an eBook in 40 Days (or less ) is part motivational technique and part helpful guide, but 100% useful for first-time authors looking to meet the challenge of writing a manuscript in 40 days. Written based on the author's experience as a three time winner of NanoWrimo, as a professional ghost writer, and as a regular blogger, this book presents the methods she personally used to overcome such hurdles as finding the time to write, finding the motivation to keep going, and even covers what to do when you fail to achieve your goal.
Warning: This book is not a shortcut to writing.
The author does not pretend to offer a writing shortcut to anyone. Even when the manuscript is finished, readers should be ready to devote time to rewriting and editing the manuscript. However, this book will help readers:
come up with ideas for non-fiction book topics and create a basic outline; create a main character for a fiction novel and a backstory to go with it; map out the amount of time available to work on this book and set appropriate goals based on that time; form a group that will provide support for the writing effort; fight off writer burnout and stay motivated.
Warning: This book does not offer a get-rich quick scheme.
Writers purchasing this book should not expect to create the next Harry Potter series in 40 days, nor should they expect their writing to wind up on the New York Time's Best Seller's List. What this book will give the reader at the end of 40 days is a diamond-in-the-rough which can be shaped and formed into something suitable for publication. What readers will get out of the time they devote to writing is a guaranteed sense of accomplishment, a working manuscript, and the ability to claim the title author at any cocktail parties, family reunions, or high school reunions they might attend.
Warning: Not responsible for Compulsive Writer's Disease
Those who suffer from Compulsive Writer's Disease (CWD) frequently experience serious changes in their lifestyle including: loss of time spent playing video games, decreased reaction times in first-person shooter games, increased awareness of proper usage of grammar and spelling, and loss of interest in watching T.V.
CWD presents itself in the following symptoms: an obsessive need to write daily; viewing of friends, relatives, co-workers, and complete strangers as potential characters for a book; notebooks and hard drives filled with ideas for the next book; writer's cramp and carpal tunnel syndrome. The author and publishers of this book are not responsible for any writers who may manifest these symptoms after reading this book.