Write The Villain Your Story Deserves

As I’ve discussed before, there’s a difference between an antagonist and a villain. Your story doesn’t need a villain, but if you’re going to have one, you should have a memorable one.

• Prince Humperdink/Count Rugen
• The Joker
• Voldemort
• Emperor Palpatine

These are the names and the stories that stick with us. And sometimes? We love them anyway.

But how does one create a memorable villain, worthy of one’s story? Here are some tips.

#1 – Avoid under-developed villains

Remember, villains have their own lives, outside of thwarting your protagonist. They need to be 3-dimensional characters with motivations that make sense — even if you disagree with their decisions.

#2 – If you must use a cliche, add a twist

The childhood trauma, the revenge on the government/mob/whatever, the delusion that they’re doing good…make sure you’re not following the formula too closely.

#3 –…

Gratitude ABC’s

Gratitude ABC’s can work wonders for a variety of situations including anxiety or panic attacks, urges to use drugs or alcohol, anxiety-inducing situations, feeling low, or even as a distraction method. It is simple to do and requires only your mind and ability to think.

All you have to do is say a gratitude for every letter of the alphabet.

Example:

I am grateful for…

• A is for my appearance
• B is for my big heart
• C is for my cat
• D is for my dignity

You just keep this up for the entire alphabet and go all the way to Z.

Now, some letters will be much easier than others, but try to come up with something for each letter. Get creative if you have to!

Give it a try and see what you think about it. I recently learned about this…

by Kathryn, TFR

Keeping in a similar theme with last week’s post about unique sources of writing inspiration, this week, I’m going to talk about finding sources of PRODUCTIVE background noise.

No, that does not mean pulling up your favorite show on Netflix or Hulu to listen to while you work (In the interest of complete transparency, I’m writing this after starting the fourteenth season of CSI. Do as I say, not as I do, people).

on Just Publishing Advice:

Surprising words Shakespeare invented that we all use today

William Shakespeare has been part of all of our high school days, and although interesting, his work was not always enjoyable for all.

There are some books where you have almost to decipher what you are reading.

We have to understand that at the time he wrote it was very different and the English language has changed a lot since then.

It is said that there are more than 2,200 English words in Shakespeare’s writing that were not in use in English until his time.

Continue reading HERE

Which social media do you use to promote your blog?

There are so many personalized reader/news websites, how do we choose? I can’t keep up with all of them. New ones, old ones, coming and going every day. It’s exhausting.

Flipboard, StumbleUpon/Mix, Medium, Feedly, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus,  Linkedin, Reddit, Tumbler, Pocket, Pinterest or…

• StumbleUpon. I loved this one until they changed. Every time I added my blog post to their website, I found other great writers.  Now that they’ve migrated over to Mix, I’m not so sure. Changes aren’t always for the better. At 40 million users, I can’t help but wonder how many will make the transition.
• Flipboard.  Another one I like. But, I don’t use it as often as I probably should. I find the format a bit intimidating and that easy to use. With over 100 million users, maybe I need to…

First the released my data to Cambridge Analytica. That led to having my identity stolen and my computer hacked. How many new ways can they find to become worthless?

FROM WORDPRESS:

You have probably gotten the same message via email, but in case you missed it or deleted it without reading it, you might want to read it. Many of us use Facebook for publicizing our blogs. This will stop the day after tomorrow. You can return to what I used to do: copy and paste your link into Facebook, especially if you have a fair number of followers on Facebook as I do. I already disconnected it from Publicize. I’ll probably manually post pieces as I see fit. I guess we will all have to make our own choices about this.

We wanted to update you about an upcoming change Facebook is introducing to their platform, and which affects…

on The Book Designer:

Feeling proud for persuading a local radio station to air a half-hour interview with you? Or for getting a two-page spread in a national magazine?

If you’re an amateur publicity seeker, you’re content with whatever you can get. If you’re a real Publicity Hound, however, you know the fun is just beginning. The challenge, of course, is to turn one media “hit” into multiple hits. It’s not that difficult. In fact, recycling publicity is like rolling a snowball downhill and watching it get bigger and bigger.

When you get publicity, here are 11 ways to let the world know – and sometimes get even more.

Continue reading HERE

I haven’t sent my work out to writing contests, but I know many unpublished authors have used them as a tool, and they can be an effective avenue for getting noticed.

If you have contemplated following this route, there are some things to keep in mind that will give you an advantage. Using contests the wrong way are a waste of time and money. Educate yourself on how to make them work for you.

Make sure only your best work leaves the house                                                                        Edit and reedit you work before sending it out to a contest just as you would with a literary agent or editor. It has to be as close to perfect as…