Learn about the pressure – maybe it’s more polite to say intense conversation – among The Society of Authors, The Authors’ Guild, and Amazon senior executives?
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Tag: #writerslife
7 Steps to Editing Like a PROfessional!
Editing is part of every writer’s job. Finding the time, and more importantly, making that time count is how the PROfessionals edit. Read on for the 7 editing tricks to enhance your writing. 1) Find your editing groove. For some this is EARLY when eyes are the sharpest and focus is the clearest. For others their peak time might be mid-to-late afternoon. Caffeine kicks in, morning rush dies down and – again, this is about focus – the brain settles into a rhythm. I caution against late night editing. Eyes are slower from all the image bombardment of the day. Eagle eyes are needed for effective editing. If, however, evening is the ONLY quiet time … Read more
A Writer’s Magic – as close as fingertips!
Harry Potter used a wand. Bewitched twitched her nose. Harry Dresden wielded a staff. Writers come with their own special form of magic. Whether it’s pen to pad, stylus to tablet, or keyboard to PC . . . a writer’s magic is as close as fingertips. New writers often feel that they must pursue fiction writing as they don’t carry a bag of non-fiction writing tricks. Don’t allow the concept of non-fiction writing to intimidate. Consider the 3 easily defined categories: Educating: How-to-manuals, directions, historical explanations, or scientific explorations fall into this category. Influencing or persuasive: Every sales brochure, each editorial, even academic critiques are designed to persuade the reader to a certain conclusion. Narrative: … Read more
Marketing Plan of Action – how to start simple and build to great!
Tim Grahl, author of Your First 1000 Copies and founder of booklaunch.com believes that Marketing doesn’t need to be a ‘eew’ prospect. So, I’ve read over a few of his techniques and decided to break-it down into a Plan of Action. New Year . . . New Goals . . . and all that. More importantly, it’s about finding a way to market that doesn’t make the author in me cringe at the idea. READ ALONG & SEE IF YOU AGREE According to Tim, MARKETING is about creating long-lasting connections. I’d say this is sound business whether you’re selling books, artwork or cars off the used lot. None of us want just the ONE-AND-DONE customer. … Read more
A Warlock Under The Mistletoe by S.S. Bazinet – book review
Are fantasies and fairy tales required for a happy ending? Or is true love the only necessary magic? In S.S. Bazinet’s Christmas release, A WARLOCK UNDER THE MISTLETOE, heroine, Pippa sets out to prove to co-worker and friend, Adeline that real heroes are more than just a fantasy. Readers, world-wide, will identify with Pippa, a heroine who believes in romance of the heart and has her very own true love: Chester. Chester . . . Chester???? Can you really make a HERO out of a ‘Chester’? If you’re author, S.S. Bazinet you can. For doubting-Thomas readers, who believe there’s no conflict if the heroine and hero are already a matched pair, S.S. Bazinet proves that … Read more
Snapping Photos?? Breathe LIFE into Writing . . .
I’m old enough that Kodak still means cameras to me. Instant camera was our phrase from the 60s & 70s. Of course, considering today’s technology, it’s ludicrous to think those were instant pictures. 1) First to film – The lucky owned a 35MM, which meant loading the camera was always a treat. Lining it up – perfectly – to catch the leading edge of the film reel (and hoping like crazy that you’d really accomplished that feat so you’d be taking pictures instead of just turning the hand crank). For the novice photo buff, it started with a Kodak Instamatic: a pop-and-click camera. 2) No do-overs — As you shot the roll of film, it … Read more
Teaching an Old Dog (writer) New Tricks. Secrets to Better Writing.
The Donovan Legacy (HARM’S WAY – current release) actually started with a prequel. CHASING DESTINY CHASING DESTINY was written a year in front of HARM’S WAY and then promptly buried among all my floppy disks. Yep, that long ago. Having recovered my earlier works, I realized the characters of CHASING DESTINY (Garrick & Jaycee) deserved their own release. To that end, the rewrites began. The process has been enlightening: good & bad. And that tenuous, often painful, process deserved to be shared as well. Producing better writing is hard work. Short cuts are not generally the answer, but you can learn to be a smarter writer by following some of these writing tips. New eyes … Read more
Writing It Right with Wordle.net
Breathing new life into an older manuscript (Chasing Destiny) brought me to Wordle.net Writers . . . do you want to know your most commonly used words in a chapter? Writers . . . Do you know your most common words in your blogs, newsletters, query letters? Here’s how to find out: DIRECTLY FROM THE WORDLE WEBSITE: ‘WORDLE is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, … Read more
Secrets to Writing THE PERFECT PHRASE
Writers should be voracious observers. Listen carefully. Read anything, everything. Watch behaviors. Stare at the sky, the horizon, your backyard, the local park, the grocery store, the mall. Nuggets of WRITING gold can be mined from the most unusual & USUAL places. I watch America’s Got Talent. Sometimes to prove how out-of-sync that I am with the rest of the population. More often, because I’m continually awed by the gifts of so many. AGT comedians who entertain the most are the ones who focus on the mundane, the everyday life. The ones that truly earn my out-loud guffaws are those who keep it every day simple . . . say a grocery store adventure. Not … Read more
Grammar – A necessary evil to writing well.
I have been re-reading ‘Eats, Shoots & Leaves’ by Lynne Truss. Glutton for punishment? Hardly. Like most authors, I must constantly refine my skills. There is no ‘quick grow’ method to sound writing. No short-cut or easy season. Study time, butt-in-chair effort to learn basic and advance grammar is the most effective method for a good crop of sentences. As to EATS, SHOOTS, AND LEAVES: if you haven’t read Lynne’s witty take on grammar and its sad decline, you are in for a treat. She entertains and educates – no easy feat. If you’re new to writing, then best advice: learn the grammar rules. A past critique partner, albeit a brilliant woman, continually brought her … Read more
