Everyone has setbacks.

It’s true. They’re what shape us into the writers we’re meant to be.

In the moment, it can feel like these are the tragedies destined to end our dreams.

They’re not. Let me show you why.

1. Giving up on a project you’ve been working on for months

After weeks or more of constant frustration and dragging your feet — avoiding the inevitable, perhaps — “giving up” might seem devastating. And in many ways, it is. It hurts. It probably feels wrong.

In actively deciding to put something aside, though — either for now or forever — you’re making a conscious choice to move on. You have enough self-awareness to realize it’s not the right thing for you at this time, and you’re allowing yourself to direct your creative energy where it can better be used.

2. Getting rejected by your dream publication/employer

Rejection hurts, especially when…

Commas are my personal nemesis.

Those tiny little marks on a page can completely change the sense of a sentence, as per the fantastic book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. 

But how do we make the most of punctuation? 

Rachel Stout   from New York Book Editors explains in today’s article.

Continue reading HERE

Welcome back to my Ingredients for Storytelling series where I will be talking about some of my favorite elements of great stories both on the page and onscreen. As you can see from the title, today’s post will be dedicated to discussing how details can often enrich an already strong storyline.

Why do details matter in the first place?

1. Setting: In my experience as an avid reader and viewer, details about the world characters inhabit as well as details about the characters themselves can make the story itself more relatable and believable to the audience. Take for example, the wide film genre of anime. Anime does an enchanting job of taking ordinary scenes from our everyday lives and re-illustrating them in such a way as to make them seem like beautiful landscapes (e.g. a rainy street corner, the inside of a crowded train station). Yet what makes them so…

By the end of this post, you will hate me for doing this and kick yourself for not thinking of this earlier.

1. Always leave likes, no matter what! Doesn’t matter if you read the post or not, the mere fact that you laid your eyes on it warrants a like. Just make sure you don’t like a lot of the same person’s posts in succession, that would make you look like a tool. Just like a couple of posts and move on, that’s enough to get your name on that coveted notifications list and also to suggest that you read the posts.
2. The above point has a drawback though. After a few “like campaigns” WordPress temporarily bans you from liking any posts for a few hours but there’s a workaround to this. Do the good ol’ blog hopping and start liking comments. This is a bit of a danger area…

I’ve been taking an on-line course that is suppose to help me become a standout writer. Knowledge is power. I spend as much time reading as I do writing, and I’ve learned a lot. Mainly, I’ve become more aware of my own writing. I also notice things in other peoples writing. I use to enjoy reading for pleasure, and I still do, but I see errors that I never noticed before. I guess I’m turning into an editor 🙂

You can’t improve if you don’t see the errors you are making. You would think something like the overuse of certain word: adjectives, adverbs, and one of my favorite- ‘ing words’ would jump out at you, but they don’t.

If you follow my blogs, you know I have a problem with the words ‘had’ and ‘so’.  There may be others at times, but these are definitely the most obvious. You probably…

Ricci Wolman of Written Word Media recently published a detailed post on “Also Boughts.” As the post explains, Amazon is using every trick to increase sales. A particularly powerful one is Also Boughts; the list of items people who bought something also bought.

Examples:

• People who buy baby formula also buy Diapers
• People who buy a bathing suit also buy suntan lotion
• People who bought Jurrasic Park by Michael Crighton also bought Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

You see this play out all over the Amazon website in the Also Bought items that appear on every product page on Amazon.

How Can This Help Your Book?

First of all, you want to make sure your “Also Boughts” are aligned with your specific genre so your book is targeted toward the right kind of reader.

A common mistake (from Amazon’s point of view) people make is to ask friends…

Do you believe the eyes are windows to the soul?

Whether you believe this cliché or not, eyes are important. How you describe the eyes of a character can reveal a lot to the reader.

“Eyes that sparkled like sapphires glanced my way.”

This sentence tells us only that the person is blue-eyed.

BUT…

“Cold, blue eyes locked with mine. A chill rippled down my spine.” 

Tells us the character has blue eyes and may be dangerous.

“Her blue gaze froze me in place.”

Lets us know the character is a woman and she ain’t happy.

“Lines crinkled at the corners of her sapphire eyes as they danced with mischief.”

This last one, again indicates the character is a woman and she may be laughing at or with another character.

If a body part is as important as William Shakespeare contended, we need to make certain our readers see into the heart…

Writing is incredibly rewarding, but it can also be extremely challenging.

Every artist is unique and every writer has their reasons for wanting to write, yet there are some pieces of advice that hold true for all creative spirits.

Whenever you find yourself at a low point, reminding yourself of this advice may be the motivation you need to get back to writing!

So for those of you who so nobly chose to be writers, there are three pieces of advice you should never forget.

Enjoy, and stay motivated!

Continue reading HERE