Riley Adams's Blog, page 78

Taking Note

by James Mullen

Turner Field in Atlanta, June 1995, I scribbled a note on my knee just before the first pitch:

Mike Deveraux, former legendary Braves player, is sitting behind us. The man next to him asks him to extend his hand as far away from his body as possible so he can take a close-up photo of the finger that has his World Series ring. Deveraux is gracious, smiles, but asks the man if he wants a photo standing with him as well. The fan says no, he just wants a photo of the ring. Mike Deveraux was a big reason the Braves won the Series. I only hope the guy with the camera doesn’t see any adult movie stars during the game.

Red Smith, the legendary NY Times sports writer, reportedly said that writing involves sitting down with a typewriter and opening a vein. But before the bleeding starts, I think certain aspects of writing can be fun, and those aspects will be different for each of us. I hate outlining and knotting up the plot threads. You may love doing that. I enjoy diving deep into the settings and characters, and you may find that tedious or difficult.

Although it took two books for me to learn that story is paramount and everything else must service the story, I still like to spend some time outside the actual “bleeding” to observe day-to-day life, then writing down its quirks as things happen. I’m not Studs Terkel. I don’t write non-fiction. I’m not collecting people’s stories or observations as an end, but I’ve often thought that when I’ve read a beautiful piece of business like Dennis Lehane’s The Drop: “…it felt like heartbreak to him. Like a calendar page no one bothered to turn anymore.” Or James Lee Burke’s Burning Angel: “He pinched his temples with his fingers, as though a piece of rusty wire were twisting inside his head.” Or James Crumley’s The Right Madness: “…he walked like a man who had just discovered his feet.” Lee Child in Never Go Back spends two pages explaining how to know if the grill man in a diner is the establishment’s owner. I am a poor relation to those writers, but I can’t help but wonder. Did Lehane write that after looking at a calendar, and Burke from looking out the window at a wire fence from his Montana ranch? How often did Crumley observe people’s ambulation, and how much time did Lee Child spend in a diner?

It is interesting that writing is so interior, but much of its birth is formed from the outside. For example, I saw a man saunter into a North Carolina diner, sit on a stool, and ask for a “medium” glass of water. Not large, not small, not a glass of water, but one that was medium. A man of precision in thought and language? That may add a nice bit of texture to a story character. Several weeks ago I listened to a priest encourage us to “understand the mystery,” and this morning, a news correspondent reported that “everyone in the White House knew the secret.” Hmm, the opposites of my diner friend. A character using imprecise or confusing language may foster a misunderstanding that could lead to a confusing but interesting scenario?

I’ve found over the years a pen or pencil and a sheet of paper is best for writing down things on the fly. If worthy, I then log it into a notebook.  I’m not a Luddite, but I have found using computer files for the notes is time-consuming. With computers, I have mistitled, put ideas in the wrong files, and yes, lost files, so I have surrendered to the familiar piece of paper. Right now I have five spiral notebooks, listed by similes, dialogue, settings, names (yes, there really is someone with the first name of “Zipper”), and long and short descriptions. We’re all different. You may prefer the ease and portability of a Smartphone or IPad, but works better for me – I don’t have to back-up a spiral notebook.

People have amazing stories, and if approached with care, will sometimes tell them. Non-judgement, openness, and conversational trust has to be present. You wouldn’t walk up to strangers and ask first thing, “Do you like church?” or “Were you shot or blown up?” I have – respectively, at a church event and the waiting room at a Veterans hospital (it always pays to smile.)  If you question too aggressively or appear to be overly inquisitive, they may look at you like you’re a pickpocket seeking work. But most times, once you start talking, people are flattered you’ve shown an interest and will freely discuss their jobs, families, hobbies, and where they live. Many married couples, especially if older, will give wonderful, funny, and sometimes heart-wrenching stories on how they met. They find joy in the re-telling. Eventually, I will explain that I am a humble writer and ask permission to use those elements in a story – even if in a different form.

But you never know – sometimes a fun and interesting occasion will turn out differently. One afternoon I was on a flight from Boston to Chicago. I introduced myself to the man sitting next to me and engaged in small talk. After discussing sports and weather, I explained where I was going and why. He told me the purpose of his trip. He was on his way back to California, having failed to secure last-ditch financing for his energy consulting firm. He told me he would need to declare bankruptcy and dissolve the company, lay off his staff of twenty, and in all likelihood, loose his wife. He spoke with a calm voice, but he very methodically told me about his employees and their families, and the hardship the unemployment would cause. He talked almost non-stop, as if the words would burn through his depression and sense of failure. I just listened and didn’t ask questions. I didn’t take notes.

We exited the plane in O’Hare and went to our respective connecting gates.  I didn’t know what to say, but I whispered luck as I grasped his arm on the jetbridge. I realized that sometimes there are more important things than writing and taking notes. While on the journey to find words and ideas, that experience may change other things as well.

Thanks, James, for the post!  I’m always surprised how many ideas I get from the outside world (and I generally like staying at home!)  How about everyone else? Have you ever engaged in conversations to find  out others’ stories? Have you come across characters or settings that made it into your books? 

James Mullen is living the life of leisure just outside Raleigh, North Carolina. He is an author of two Boston based crime novels: Ketchum and Cobb and Boston Harbors Murder. With fits and starts, he is on a third one. His blog, Grumpy Gets Better, has been in existence since 2009.

 

 

 

 

Writer James Mullen on finding inspiration (and taking notes) on the go:
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Making the Most of Book Reviews

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I read a lot about the importance of book reviews to a book’s success.  There are tons of articles out there about how to get more book reviews or how to find and contact book reviewers.

But sometimes I think writers don’t do enough with book reviews, when we have them.  We allow them to sit statically on our Amazon book page.

I’m guilty of this, myself.  But I’ve made more of an effort lately to highlight my reviews, recognizing the importance of social proof.

Amazon Product Page

As I mentioned above, this is usually the repository of many of our reviews… at least, our customer reviews.  Although the focus when I first got published was more on reviews in publications like Library Journal and Kirkus, the importance of customer reviews to potential readers has become increasingly important.

But that shouldn’t be the only place on the product page where our reviews are listed.  A strategy that works for series is to add up all the 5-star or 4 and 5 star reviews and mention them under the ‘editorial review’ section on the page (we access that through our author central account).   That way you end up with something like “readers love Winston Pepperjack!  500 5-star reviews.

You can also create and format a list of your favorite reviews from other books in the series and list them on the editorial review page (Praise for the Winston Pepperjack series:  ___ ).

Back Matter

This is something that I’m trying soon.  I have all of my books listed in the back matter of each book (every book is linked to its own page on my website with ordering information for each retailer), but I don’t have any review snippets in the back matter at all.

If I include short reviews, I’m thinking it will help readers crossover from one series of mine to another.  I do have some readers who are very loyal to a particular series and reluctant to try another.  Reviews could help convince these readers to try something new.

Images

This is something new for me, although I’ve seen others do this really well.  Using a free design program like Canva, take part of a review and create an image with it.  This creates a little visual interest for your website.  I always feel like incorporating reviews on my site is a bit awkward, and the images help, I think.

I’m absolutely horrible at design, but even I was able to make a couple of serviceable images with the help of Canva.

Newsletters

We can also take the images we’ve created and include them in our newsletter with a link to the book in question.  That could be a good, again, for reader discovery.

Finding your best reviews

Some writers avoid their review sections at all costs.  But there are ways of finding your most flattering customer reviews without having to trudge through the one-star, discouraging stuff.  Just click on ‘5-star’ and Amazon will return the 5-star results.

What do you do with your book reviews?

Making the most of your reviews:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 45,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Business / Miscellaneous


Sometimes It’s Just Business: @bryngreenwood @WriterUnboxed


How to Hire an Editor: 5 Things to Consider: @brooke_warner @IngramSpark


How to Grow Your Writing Portfolio This Year: @RDCwrites


Book Coach Q&A: @DanBlank @jennienash


Sell Your Books From Your Own Website: @angee


Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous


7 Tips for Your Next Writers’ Conference: @bobhoss


PubTechConnect Conference: Innovation in Publishing: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration


Strategies for bringing yourself back to writing: @MichalskiLiz @WriterUnboxed


Think Outside the Blank Page: by Linda Wilson


Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers


Why is pop culture obsessed with battles between good and evil? @clnichols6 @aeonmag


18 Essential Classics to Read Before You Die: @Keith_Rice1 @SignatureReads


5 Types of Books Writers Should Read: by Lila Diller @DIYMFA


Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation


How handwriting improves creative productivity: @Peter_Rey_


Keeping Track of A ‘Done List’:

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing


Top 5 Tips to Be Productive: @BlairBabylon @JAHuss


Finding the Time to Write: @DanaNuens @WritersRumpus


Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly


Tips for keeping your mind on writing: @AuthorFalguni @WomenWriters


Creativity and Inspiration / Success


Illustrator Luke Pearson’s Graphic Series ‘Hilda’ Beats a Path to Netflix: @Porter_Anderson @thatlukeperson


Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life


Healthy Writer Tips: Improve Your Writing Workspace: @thecreativepenn


6 Simple Ways to Improve Your Writing Environment (and Get More Done): @aliventures


Healthy Things to Have with Your Writer’s Coffee: @colleen_m_story


How 1 Writer Found a Creative Cure for Loneliness: @bodywitmind @colleen_m_story


5 Tips to Overcome Butt-in-Chair Syndrome: @killzoneauthors by Debbie Burke


4 (Possible) Reasons Why We Write: @KMWeiland


How Writers Can Beat Imposter Syndrome: @kcrosswriting @lornafaith


Real Writers Power thru the Flu, Right? Wrong: @RosanneBane


11 Pop Songs for Literary People: @knownemily @lithub


Writing Multiple Projects: Pros and Cons: @Melfka @10MinNovelists


How to Beat Shiny-New-Idea Syndrome and Actually Finish Your Projects: @weems503 @write_practice


The Eleven Best Metal Songs About Literature: by Ben Apatoff @ElectricLit


Genres / Horror


Horror’s major subtypes: from Tropes are Tools


Genres / Memoir


The Memoir: Why YOUR Story is Better than Snookie’s: @KristenLambTX


Protecting Yourself and Others When Writing a Memoir: @LiveWriteThrive


Genres / Miscellaneous


5 Tips for Writing Powerful Inspirational Fiction: @JerryBJenkins @thecreativepenn


Genres / Mystery


Mysteries inspired by personal experiences: @mkinberg


Writing the Crime Scene: Winter Forensics: @repokempt


Sleuths who started out as juvenile delinquents in crime fiction: @mkinberg


Is Belfast Still the Most Noir Place on Earth? by Paul French @lithub


List of forensic websites for the crime writer (and other writing resources): @GarryRodgers1


Genres / Non-Fiction


Think Big: Tackling a Big Idea Nonfiction Story: by Shelley Sperry @StoryGrid


Genres / Romance


Sexual Tension on the Sentence Level: @AngelaQuarles


Writing Romance, Even on a Bad Day: @LovettRomance @DIYMFA


Genres / Science Fiction


Sci-Fi Doesn’t Have to Be Depressing: Welcome to Solarpunk: @TCassauwers @ozy


Nuclear Radiation for Writers: @DanKoboldt @RebeccaEnzor


Genres / Screenwriting


Script To Screen: “Dead Poets Society”: @GoIntoTheStory


Genres / Short Stories


Reboot Your Novel with the Short-Story Remedy: @LiteraryEllyMay


Genres / Young Adult


NA or YA? College-Aged Protagonists: @AuthorSAT


Promo / Ads


How to Rock a Free Day Promotion for Your eBook: @MyWordPub @JaneFriedman


Promo / Miscellaneous


How To Sell More Books Internationally at a Low Cost: @jkentauthor @BookBub


4 Affordable Ways to Master Book Marketing: @DaveChesson @JaneFriedman


Catalogs: A Marketing Tool for Indie Publishers: @FictionNotes


Promo / Newsletters


Author Platform: Newsletter Providers: @jillkemerer


Promo / Pricing


Don’t overprice your ebook: @NewShelvesBooks


Promo / Social Media Tips


10-pinterest-tips-for-writers: @CaballoFrances


What Kinds of Social Media Go Viral? @JennyHansenCA


5 Unique Book Marketing Strategies for Goodreads: @Bookgal


Promo / Speaking


Surviving an Author Reading: @tlecountmyers


Publishing / Miscellaneous


McGraw-Hill Opens Ebook and Textbook Rental Program: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Working for a Small Press – An Insider’s Scoop: @CDugmoreWrites @TheIWSG


On Ghostwriting: @GhostwriterBook @ReedsyHQ


Publishing / News / Amazon


“Activist-filmmaker Jill Soloway will have her own imprint at Amazon Publishing, Topple Books”: @pubperspectives


Publishing / News / International Publishing


Canada’s Education Sector Sues Access Copyright: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Rights Roundup: Eight Titles To Watch in the International Rights Trade This Spring: @Porter_Anderson


Offering Film Rights on New Novels in Germany: Twelve Books at Berlinale: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Agent Nermin Mollaoğlu: The French Market Is Beginning To Open Its Doors to Turkish Books: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Canadian Publishers Blast School Boards’ Lawsuit of Copyright Licensing Agency: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Ten of China’s January Top 30 Bestsellers Were Classics, Two Were Comics: @Porter_Anderson


Publishing / Options / Hybrid Publishing


Benefits of being a hybrid author: @AuthorFalguni


Nine Criteria for Reputable Hybrid Publishing From the IBPA: @Porter_Anderson @angelabole


Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing


Why indie authors should embrace the 5 traditional steps of book production – by @Roz_Morris :


Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing


An Agent Or Editor Is Interested: What Next? @jules_writes


Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying


The sales of your previously published books may cause agents to reject you: @Janet_Reid


Checklist for a Great Query: @DancingLemurPre


Publishing / Process / Book Design


Ten Steps to Perfect Cover Design: @RuthanneReid


Publishing / Process / Formatting


A Publisher’s Ten Tips for Getting Your Book Ready for Formatting: @DancingLemurPre @FrugalBookPromo


Publishing / Process / Translation


The new TA First Translation Prize is awarded to Soviet-American translator Bela Shayevich: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Writing Craft / Beginnings


Opening Action: how to make it work: @ml_keller


Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists


Ask Yourself, “What Does the Villain Want?”: @SPressfield


Writing Craft / Characters / Development


Your Character Will Fall Flat Without the Right Motivation: @lansi26


Fear, the Ultimate Motivation: @laurabenedict @killzoneauthors


Shame: The Driving Force for Your Character’s Actions? @SloanTamar


Writing Craft / Common Mistakes


Five Good Stories That Turned Creepy: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants


Writing Craft / Dialogue


Dialogue Tags: @WestofMars


Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story


How to Start and End Flashbacks Like a Published Author: @the_writing_pal


Tips for all forms of backstory reveals: @DN_Bryn


Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film


An Unconventional Way to Improve Your Writing: Watch More TV: @lgtarpley


Writing Craft / Miscellaneous


Nine secrets that will supercharge your novel or short story: @RuthHarrisBooks


Writing Styles: Transitioning from Nonfiction to Fiction: @EJ_Randolph @JamiGold


Woke Writing: @ElizabethHuergo @WriterUnboxed


The Problem with Perfect Characters: Mary Sues, Gary Stus, and Other Abominations: @TCKPublishing


Creating a Map for a New Storyworld: @JillWilliamson @GoTeenWriters


Ten Things Learned from Ursula K. Le Guin: by Karen Joy Fowler @parisreview


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting


What Does Your Protagonist Want BEFORE the Story Starts? @LisaCron


How to Start Writing a Book: Developing Rough Ideas: @nownovel


Writing a Novel With Too Many Options: @SnowflakeGuy


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Beats


IT Beat Sheet: @DonRoff @savethecat


Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar


When To Use A Semicolon: @debluskin


3 Examples of Confusion Caused by Missing Words: @writing_tips


3 Cases of Misuse of Dashes: @writing_tips


Redundancy in Our Writing: @ZoeMMcCarthy


It’s Okay to Use Adverbs: @Janice_Hardy


Writing Craft / Revision


Risking the Removal of Adjectives: @mcnelliswrites


Tightening chapters and avoiding empty scenes: @Ivan_Izo


Writing Craft / Tension


5 Tips for Creating Suspense in Your Story: @ariaemaher @_HannahHeath


Writing Craft / Tropes


Successful tropes: from Tropes are Tools

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Keeping Track of A ‘Done List’

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig 

Sometimes I go through patches where I feel as though I can barely catch my breath.  I’ll be wrapping up one book, trying to promote another, answering emails, and still trying to keep up with everything at home.

I’m a huge fan of lists and I make at least two lists a day, prioritizing what I need to work on next.  I think I’m a good list-maker: I do take large tasks and break them down into smaller, more manageable bits. I make sure that I don’t put too much on my list for one day.

But somehow, it can seem so overwhelming that I can complete a full day’s work and still feel as though I haven’t really made any inroads.

That’s when I review all the items that I’ve checked off my to-do list.  Since I use a digital list (on Notepad, which comes built-into Windows), instead of deleting tasks off my list, I put an asterisk by them to indicate that I’ve completed them.  Then I can easily see how much I was able to knock out.

I’d first read about keeping a ‘done list’ four years ago in a post by Janet Choi for 99U: “The Art of the Done List: Harnessing the Power of Progress.”  At the time, I’d been deleting completed tasks off the list.  I was only looking at work that faced me, not work that I’d finished.

In the article, Choi recommends going even farther and maintaining a completely separate list full of ‘wins’, no matter how small, that took place during the day.

Choi states:

“What did you get done today? Simply look back at your day through the lens of accomplishment. Answering this question becomes a quiet act of affirmation and celebration.

What did I make progress on today? Even on frustrating, seemingly unproductive days, you can almost always find one thing that you moved forward.

Your done list acts as a signpost, a manifestation of all that day’s hard work.” 

You can even take it a bit farther, again, and be more analytical about it, suggests Choi, asking yourself what factors played into your progress and considering how any setbacks can translate into progress the next day.

I don’t go that in-depth, I’ll admit.  It’s enough for me to look at what I’ve accomplished and feel less overwhelmed.  More about my list making in this post from December. 

Do you ever get overwhelmed with upcoming tasks?  How do you handle it?

Keeping Track of Accomplishments with a 'Done List':
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The Right Way to Make Excuses

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I think it’s really helpful to know your most productive time of the day.   That way, you can arrange your calendar (if you have that luxury) to knock out the most important things while you have the energy and the willpower.

For me, it’s very early in the morning.  A normal day for me is to get up, peek at emails on my phone while getting ready (I won’t allow myself to respond, though…no one’s really up at 5:00 anyway), go downstairs, let the dog out, and start writing.  After I meet my goal, I usually schedule social media.  Then my daughter is up for the day.

When my daughter leaves for high school at around 6:45, that’s when I also hop in the car, heading for the gym. This works out really well for me.

But my daughter was sick one day recently and I started making excuses not to go to the gym at my usual time.  She was parked behind me.  It was especially cold…perhaps it would be better to go to the gym when the sun had actually come up and it was warmer.

Then I started making excuses not to stay home.  The gym would be busy later on and I had a conflict that would keep me from going in the afternoon.  I didn’t want to have to wait for a treadmill or struggle to find a parking place.  It was then or never.

I’d basically talked myself into going.  I never enjoy going to the gym, but I feel good after being there.

Every once in a while something will happen that will disrupt my morning writing routine, too.  Writing is practically muscle memory at 5 a.m, but if I’m knocked off-track, it’s harder to drag myself back.

What helps the most is to make excuses not to check social media (or whatever else is to distract my attention away from writing).  That’s actually pretty easy to do:  I never feel better about life after checking Facebook. Or I know that I’m going to regret losing that 30 minutes on Twitter later instead of tackling all the tasks that are looming over me.

This is a very simple approach, but it works because I’m a pretty simple person.

For other posts on fitting writing into your day, check out: 

How to Write When You Don’t Have Time by September C. Fawkes  (a medley of ideas, including working smarter instead of harder)

Three Steps to Begin Tiny Habits to Help You Reach Your Goals by Lorna Faith (if it’s your fears that are holding you back)

Five Morning Habits to Add to Your Writing Routine by Emily Morgan (if you want to start writing in the mornings or if you want your morning writing habit to be more consistent)

Six Simple Tips to Create Daily Writing Habits by Pamela Hodges (an article that focuses especially on the fact that small goals can help us be more productive…a philosophy that I ascribe to)

How do you make sure that you knock out your writing?  Do you ever have to talk yourself into writing?

Making Excuses to Write:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 45,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

New Stuff to Try

Reedsy now has a free curated directory of 100+ writing exercises and prompts.    I have an entry there. :)

Here’s something a little different for anyone struggling with writer’s block or for someone who can’t move forward with a story because of a desire to edit.  Floor 23 (free for 2 weeks with no credit card needed).  Title your work, set a word goal for your session, and start typing.  The words fly away as you type…and are retrieved for you later after your session is over.  Created by Patrick Krabeepetcharat. 

Business / Miscellaneous


How to Quit Your Day Job to Write Full Time: @jasonbougger


Blockchain For Books: @IndieAuthorALLI


Looking for Professional Help with Your Book? Try Reedsy: @MJBowersock @ReedsyHQ


What’s a sample edit? Who does it help? And is it free? @LouiseHarnby


Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Terms Used by Writers: @KathySteinemann


How To Back Up Your Work Like An Author: by Paige Duke @standoutbooks


Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous


10 Things You Need to Know About Going to Conventions as a Writer: @johnhartness


London Book Fair Adds Authors Joanna Trollope and Jacqueline Wilson: @Porter_Anderson @FansofJWilson


Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting


Things to Know Before You Set a Goal: @10MinNovelists


Your Best Writing Year Yet: Getting Started and Staying Motivated: @writingthrulife

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration


One Essential Way to Boost Productivity: @JodyHedlund


100+ Creative Writing Exercises for Fiction Authors: @ReedsyHQ


Writing Prompts: 7 Inspirational Ideas to Spark Your Creative Writing: @DavidHSafford @write_practice


Story Ideas: The Complete Package or the Fragment: @SueBEdwards @womenonwriting


Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers


Tackling Your 2018 Reading Goals: @RDCwrites @RMFWriters


How to Read like a Writer: @DIYMFA


The 10 Best Places to Find Quality Short Fiction: @EmmanuelNataf @ReedsyHQ


Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing


How Famous Authors Stay Inspired and Keep Writing: by Global English Editing @AlexJCavanaugh @TheIWSG


Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block


Overcoming Creative Procrastination: @sarahlynnereul @WritersRumpus


Perfectionism and Procrastination: by Crystal Otto @womenonwriting


Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life


Taking Inventory of Your Creative Health: @FinishedPages


How to organize your books: @unclutterer


Where Do You Write? @denisebarnesuk @WomenWriters


7 Ways To Stay Positive As A Writer: @sara_crawford @thecreativepenn


Refueling Your Creativity–How to Plan in Recovery Time as You Write (and Finish) Your Book: @writeabook


Taking Writing breaks, especially when you don’t want to: @whimsicallyours


Getting into Editing as a Writer: by Alex J. Coyne @hopeclark


Becoming a Healthy Writer (podcast): @DanBlank @thecreativepenn


How Writers Can Stop Holding Themselves Back: @losapala


5 Questions to Help You Find Your Creative Writing Sweet Spot: @colleen_m_story


5 Morning Habits to Add to Your Writing Routine: @emi1y_morgan


Genres / Fantasy


Using Your Constructed Language Without Ruining Your Story: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants


History for Fantasy Writers: Barber Surgeons: by E.L. Skip Knox @mythicscribes


Genres / Horror


On the Trope of the ‘Final Girl’ in Horror Movies and Books: @riley_sager @SignatureReads


Genres / Literary Fiction


What Star Wars Learned From Literary Fiction: @mikechenwriter @tordotcom


Genres / Memoir


The 16 Best Books on Writing Memoir: by Meghan McCullough @SignatureReads


Genres / Mystery


Breaks in narrative in crime fiction: @mkinberg


The Secret of a Successful Mystery: Making the Reader a Participant: @SeptCFawkes


Character flaws as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg


Genres / Non-Fiction


Promote Your Nonfiction Book with Online Groups: @NonfictionAssoc


Genres / Romance


Keeping the Bedroom Door Closed on Romantic Scenes: @RayneHall


Genres / Screenwriting


How Google Is Killing the Independent Movie Industry: @cassianelwes @newsweek


What 1 Writer Learned About Writing Romantic Subplots from “I, Tonya” and “Downsizing”: @dougeboch


Promo / Blogging


How to find stats for your WordPress blog: @WordDreams


Promo / Book Reviews


Is There Such a Thing as a Good Book Review? @egabbert @ElectricLit


5 Creative Ways to Highlight Your Book Reviews and Sell More Books: @Bookgal


Promo / Miscellaneous


Improve Your Skill Set: Best Single-Strategy Marketing Books for Authors: @cksyme


8 Ways for Authors to Promote & Launch Their Books: by Marquis Williamson @theindiepubmag


Promo / Newsletters


Why a Newsletter is One of the Most Important Book Marketing Tools You Have: @Bookgal


Promo / Social Media Tips


11 Exercises for Introverted Writers Working on Promo: @CaballoFrances


Promo / Websites


How to Use and Understand SEO as a Beginner: @HelloMorganTimm @teachable


Optimum Author Website Content for Media Response: @BuildYourBrandA @BookWorksNYC


Publishing / Miscellaneous


France’s Arnaud Nourry and that ‘Stupid Product’ Description of Ebooks: @Porter_Anderson @ArnaudNourry


Self-Censorship in Publishing: World Industry Leaders on a Subtle, Growing Challenge: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Serial Box Has New Funding for Audio Bundling as a ‘Publishing Studio’: @molbarton @porter_anderson


PEN America Names Close to $350,000 in Literary Honors for 2018: @Porter_Anderson


Publishing / News / International Publishing


Readers to Choose the ‘Golden Man Booker Prize’: 50 Years of Winners: @Porter_Anderson @ManBookerPrize


The UK’s Republic of Consciousness Prize for Names its 2018 Shortlist: @Porter_Anderson @neilgriffiths


International Prize for Arabic Fiction Names Six 2018 Shortlisted Novels: @Porter_Anderson


British Book Awards Shortlist for Independent Bookshop of the Year: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing


Cover Letters: Advice from a Literary Magazine Editor: @gooddirt


Publishing / Process / Distribution


Updates on the Successes and Failures of Platforms and Formats:


Writing Craft / Beginnings


Flog a Pro: would you pay to turn the first page of this bestseller? @RayRhamey @WriterUnboxed


How to Lose Readers: Not Starting in Media Res: @byStevenRamirez


Real Life Diagnostics: Would You Keep Reading this Fantasy Opening? By Maria D’Marco


The First Act: Nailing Your Novel’s Opening Chapters: @kristen_kieffer


Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists


Five Underpowered Antagonists: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants


Writing Craft / Characters / Development


Personalizing Your Character’s Emotional Wound: @JerryBJenkins


9 Tips for Crafting A Large (And Well-Developed) Cast of Characters: @_HannahHeath


Writing Craft / Common Mistakes


5 Key Ways to Balance Internal Monologue with Pitfalls to Avoid: @JordanDane


Top 3 Risky Moves for Writers: @PaulaSMunier @CareerAuthors


How to Lose Readers by Abandoning Your Protagonist: @byStevenRamirez


Writing Craft / Diversity


How To Write Diverse Characters: @AlexAndersBooks @thecreativepenn


When Diversity Is Bad: from Tropes are Tools


Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film


Learning Narrative Structure from Video Games: by Sarah Maria Griffin @tordotcom


Writing Craft / Miscellaneous


Discovering your story: @ShanDitty


Internal Monologue: by John Gilstrap @killzoneauthors


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting


Tips for better subplots: @KayKeppler


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research


Writing About Eating Disorders: Bulimia Nervosa: @SloanTamar


3 Tips for Research Management: @RobinRWrites


Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar


3 Types of Redundancy to Avoid: @writing_tips


Writing Craft / Revision


10 Extra Ways To Proofread Your Writing Like A Boss: @LesleyVos @writerswrite


The Different Kinds of Editing: A Breakdown (with Examples): @jennienash


Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques


How to think laterally about editor feedback: @raimeygallant


Writing Craft / Series


Keeping a Series Interesting Twelve Books In:


Writing Craft / Settings and Description


Describing Food: a Worksheet: @EvaDeverell


Writing Craft / Voice


How Alice B. Toklas Found her Voice Through Food: @JustinDSpring


Writing Tools / Miscellaneous


Speech to Text: How to Use Dictation Software Like a Pro: @BryanJCollins


Writing Tools / Thesauri


Character Development: Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Animal Rescue Worker: @AngelaAckerman

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Keeping a Series Interesting Twelve Books In

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’m a fan of series…both reading and writing them.  As a reader, though, it really bothered me when my favorite series would get stale or if I felt as if the writer was recycling plots and other elements.

I published book twelve in the Myrtle Clover series in January and am planning a 13th release in the same series later this year.  This has caused me to be a lot more deliberate with my plotting and with the other ‘layers’ that I include in my stories.  The last thing that I want is to disappoint readers.

Thinking it through, I made a list of elements that I either appreciated from other long-running series, or wished that those series would have used to pique my interest.   Here’s what I came up with:

Use unique descriptions for staple characters and settings.  One thing I noticed in one of my favorite series is that the author seems to cut-and-paste the descriptions of her protagonist and other recurring characters from older books to the new one.  In some ways, this can be a fun inside joke (I loved Agatha Christie’s descriptions of Poirot as having ‘an egg-shaped head’, for example), it might be good to come up with fresh ways of describing characters and settings.

Offer up any details that have never been mentioned (and immediately add these details to your story bible).  I realized I’d never actually named the street that Myrtle lived on, for example, or talked about her sidekick’s family.  Incorporating interesting details can help readers stay interested.

Dig into the protagonist’s backstory.   While this is something that would likely be tedious in book one, you have the luxury of a reader’s interest by book 12 or 13.  It’s just important that we handle it in a way that we don’t lose their interest.  I’m exploring having a friend from a protagonist’s past reappear and cause trouble in a future mystery.

Can characters grow while still remaining consistent? One good thing about being this far into a series is that you really know your characters.  It’s possible to have a lot of fun with that by putting your characters in situations that make them uncomfortable…or just new situations, altogether.  They could start a new job or a new relationship.  The most important thing to consider is … does it feel forced or natural? Does it serve the story and the reader?

Related to the above, but a bit more external: Are there new elements (new characters, new situations, new setting, new setbacks) that can be naturally added to help the characters continue growing and help the readers discover more about them?

Specific to mysteries: Make the mysteries more complex.  Have two separate murderers, change the number of victims, increase the clues and red herrings.  Add or reduce the number of suspects.  Play around with locked room  or manor house set-ups.

The point is that we should make sure that the series is still satisfying for our readers (as well as for ourselves).   By putting a little extra thought into the process, it’s really not that hard to do.

Do you have a long series?  How do you keep it fresh?  As a reader, what has kept you reading longer series?

Tips for keeping reader interest in a long-running series:
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Updates on Platforms and Formats

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I thought I’d give an update on how things are going for various formats and platforms.

Wattpad

Wattpad is one of my favorite places to upload.  The community there is very supportive and encouraging.  If you’re one of those writers who feels as if you’re writing into a black hole, you might want to check it out.

Why am I there?  Has it led to more sales?  I know that it’s led to some sales, because those were self-reported by readers there.  Wattpad is free for readers, so there’s no direct income. The main reason that I’m there is to broaden my reader base and expose my writing to new and younger readers.

My demographics tell me this is working.

The second highest group (represented by the purple) is age 13-18, at 27% of my readers on Wattpad.

I also wanted more international exposure for my stories.  Although the US still represents the largest reader base, I’ve been able to build readership in many other countries:

More about putting your books on Wattpad in this post, here, and here.

Audio

Audio is a consistent income-generator for me each month, although the royalties aren’t as high as they were when I first started with ACX in 2013.  Still, I make steady income there (I will note that I have ten books available).   According to my dashboard at ACX, I’ve sold 4,461 audiobooks.  I will say this: audiobook ‘readers’ are dedicated.  When there is any delay at all in one of my books being available in audio, I get emails and messages on Facebook, asking about it.

It’s an incredible amount of work for a narrator/producer.  I’m lucky to have found a production company and narrator that were happy to take me on with a royalty share agreement.

More on getting your books on ACX in these posts: here and here.

Overdrive (Library sales)

Although I’ve noticed a winter slump in my Overdrive sales, this is, again, a no-brainer platform for me to upload to.  I upload it and then forget about it.  I always have Overdrive sales and I like having my books available as digital loans to libraries (and discoverable to new readers).  Although most of my sales are in the US, I’ve had Overdrive sales in Canada and the UK, as well.

More on getting your books into Overdrive here. 

International sales:

I’ll start off by saying that most of my international sales do come through Amazon.  A look at the last 30 days on the KDP dashboard shows sales in the UK,  Germany, France, Japan, Canada, and Australia.  (As I’m writing this, I had a release during this time period.)

IngramSpark (I use them for print, along with CreateSpace) also is responsible for a large chunk of my international sales.  More on uploading to IngramSpark here.

And other retailers and distributors also contribute to my international sales, as I’ll explain below.

Most of my international sales come from the UK, Australia, and Canada.  But it always makes me smile to see Italy, Germany, and other countries popping up on my sales map.

I use PublishDrive, Draft2Digital and StreetLib to distribute my books to international markets.

Looking at the sales results, I’m interested to see that my German sales are through PublishDrive’s distribution to Ciando.

Most of my StreetLib sales are through the Google Play Store.

Most of my Canadian and Australia sales are through Draft2Digital.

Again, although there isn’t tons of money to be made in international sales, it’s a no-brainer.  I upload to my aggregators and then can forget about it…and I certainly wouldn’t turn the money down.

More about expanding into international distribution here.

Translation

Here is my one disappointment on the list, although I’m unfortunately not too surprised.  I’d read about the difficulties that translations face, most notably covered in this article by Porter Anderson on the Authors Guild survey in 2017.  This covers the translators’ end of things, but the authors’ end is equally bleak.

I currently have a book available in Spanish and one in Italian.  Another book is being translated into Portuguese.

Although my Spanish title, La muerte teñida de rojo, was energetically promoted to my translator’s (the talented Alfredo “Freddy” Moyano-Barroso’s) Spanish-speaking base, the results have still been disappointing.

More disappointing is Babelcube’s platform.  The printed books are only distributed through Amazon and  the cost of purchasing them overseas is higher than if they were distributed through IngramSpark.   There is no audiobook option through Babelcube.

I believe that there would be a good deal more revenue generated if there was a better revenue-sharing platform (making it easy to pay authors and translators) and if we could upload in a variety of formats and retailers.

I don’t regret having my books translated because of the celebrated ‘long-tail’ in publishing. But I feel badly for my translators who had to put in all the effort and all the risk into this royalty-sharing venture.   My only cost was for the translated cover (and that was minimal).

More about uploading to Babelcube here and here. 

Hardcover

I’ve sold hardcover versions of most of my self-published titles this year through IngramSpark and have more than made back my investment in time and money (for hardback covers).   This means that I’ll be continuing the process this year.

I’m guessing these are libraries purchasing them, unless they are readers who prefer hardcovers for their favorite titles.

Another nice thing about the hardcover edition is that it does make the digital version look like a bargain: 

More about creating hardcover editions here. 

This was a long-read for my blog, but it was helpful for me to go through each format and platform and see what was working well and what wasn’t.

What formats is your book in?  Do you have international reach?

Elizabeth Craig takes a look at the successes and failures of different formats and platforms:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 45,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Business / Miscellaneous


Brazilian Ebook Market in 2017: Trends and Predictions: @publishdrive


Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous


Opening the 32nd International Publishers Congress: ‘Shout About What We Do’: @michielams @Porter_Anderson


Four Speakers’ Talking Points: Ahead of the IPA Congress in New Delhi : @Porter_Anderson @Bodour


Wales’ All-Hay-Festival’s Fellow Named for 2018-2019: @Porter_Anderson


New York’s Festival Neue Literatur 2018 Theme: ‘Insider | Outsider’: @Porter_Anderson


Creativity and Inspiration / First Novels


5 Tips for a Successful Debut Novel: @slipperywhisper @careerauthors


Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting


How to Set and Keep Your Writing Resolutions: @BJoycePatterson

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration


You are a Writer(Choose Yourself): @lornafaith


Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation


7 Ways to Boost Your Writing Willpower: @colleen_m_story


Harness Your Creative Momentum: @DIYMFA


Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing


How Not Writing Can Help Your Writing: by Diane Laney Fitzpatrick


Organizing Your Emotions For The New Year (So You Can Write More!) : @10MinNovelists


How To Create Space And Time For Writing: @StephMorrill


Ideas for New Writing Challenges for 2018: @WilsonTheWriter


The Daily Writing Routines of 20 Famous Authors (Infographic): by Sierra Delarosa


How to get back into writing after a break: @pubcoach


Making Progress on Tough Writing Days:


Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block


5 Tips To Eliminate Writer’s Block Forever: @angee


Creativity and Inspiration / Success


The 3 Fastest Ways to Improve Your Writing in 2018: @Wordstrumpet


Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life


How to Create a Healthy Working Environment Anywhere: by Phil Stamper-Halpin @penguinrandom


All Wounds Matter: Writing Better Stories: @KristenLambTX


Writers Need to be Amphibious: @jamesscottbell


Writing and the Fear of Failure: @ClaireFayers


3 Ways to Improve Your Writing Life: @kirsticall @WritersRumpus


Tips to Help You Concentrate While Writing: @MegDowell


The Writing Effect: How Writing Well Improves Your Life and Vice Versa: @LisaTener


5 Ways to Boost Your Mood Right Before Writing: @colleen_m_story


Genres / Fantasy


Creating a Fantasy Race: by Aaron Miles @FantasyFaction


Genres / Humor


5 Lessons on Writing Humor: @ChrisvonHalle


Genres / Mystery


Crime Writing: Cops: Fight Fair, Or Fight To Win? @LeeLofland


The aftereffects of gossip as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg


Crime fiction: lying to protect a friend who’s a suspect: @mkinberg


Genres / Picture Books


Writing or illustrating a picture book? A free Picture Book Creation Resource (including templates): @inkyelbows


5 tips for writing children’s books: by Margaret Meacham @TheWriterMag


Genres / Romance


Romance Publishers Who Accept Unsolicited Manuscripts – 2018: @BrynDonovan


3 Ways To Write A Better Sex Scene: by Robert Wood @standoutbooks


Genres / Short Stories


5 lessons learned about writing flash fiction: @JJ_Burry


Promo / Ads


How to Increase the ROI of Your BookBub Ads (+ a BookBub Fast Pass): @DianaUrban @WriterUnboxed


Promo / Blogging


How to Create a Bullet Journal for Blogging: @suzie81blog


Why Should Fiction Writers Blog? @annerallen


5 Tips for Picking a Blog Topic People Will Actually Read: @NathanielTower


Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting


Why Characterization Matters in Back Cover Copy: @AndreaWriterlea


Promo / Book Reviews


The 5 Worst Kinds of Amazon Reviews: @BrynDonovan


How to Jumpstart Book Reviews for Self-Published Books: @Wogahn


Promo / Miscellaneous


5 ways to use audio for book marketing and reader engagement: @LouiseHarnby


Promo / Pricing


5 Ways That Playing with Pricing Can Sell More Books: @Bookgal


Promo / Social Media Tips


Facebook Algorithm Updates and How to Survive Them: @kikimojo


Tips for the New Goodreads Giveaways: @ChrisDMcMullen


How to get kicked out of a Facebook group: @sandrabeckwith


Promo / Speaking


Broaden Your Speaking-Platform Potential with These 10 Tips: by Heather Brown @penguinrandom


Promo / Websites


WordPress for Authors – How & Why: @rachelmccollin @IndieAuthorALLI


An important tool for author websites: @KathySteinemann


Publishing / Miscellaneous


Publishing, Online Business And Tech Trends For Authors In 2018: @thecreativepenn


Newbery and Caldecott Medals Lead American Library Association’s 2018 Youth Media Awards: @Porter_Anderson


Publishing / News / International Publishing


The Prix Voltaire 2018 Is Formally Awarded to Gui Minhai in New Delhi (Currently Detained in China): @Porter_Anderson @angelagui_ @pubperspectives


A publisher who disappeared in China this year is awarded the Prix Voltaire. His daughter, @angelagui_ , on the freedom to publish: @Porter_Anderson


The UK’s Book Aid International Opens ‘New Worlds Through Books’ Campaign: @Porter_Anderson


As IPA Congress Closes in India, Norway’s Lillehammer Is Named 2020 Venue: @Porter_Anderson @michielams


The Netherlands’ Sweek Adds a Spanish-Language Contest: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Wattpad Studios Aims at Hollywood With a Pilot: ‘Cupid’s Match’: @Porter_Anderson @wattpad


Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing


Why Working With Small Traditional Publishers Can Be Beneficial: @KristineRusch


“How My Editor Became My Agent”: @NatalieIAguirre @LindaWJackson @ElizBewley


8 Submission Strategies That Get Results: @manzanitafire


Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Pitches


Creating the Perfect Elevator Pitch: @jennienash


Publishing / Process / Contracts


5 Book Contract Terms Authors Should Know: by Dana Isaacson @CareerAuthors


Publishing / Process / Translation


What Gets Lost in Translation Gets Transformed: by Jianan Qian @The_Millions


Writing Craft / Beginnings


Masterful Narrative Scenes: @LiveWriteThrive


Writing Craft / Characters / Development


Character Sheets: The Good, The Bad, and the Messy: from Lesya at Tropes are Tools


Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists


Are You Writing Your Hero Into the Dreaded Cliche’ Corner? @LeeLofland


Give Your Hero a Hero Speech: @SPressfield


Writing Craft / Conflict


Story is Conflict: @WritingForward


Writing Craft / Dialogue


Writing Movement and Action in Dialogue: 6 Tips: @nownovel


Writing Craft / Diversity


Native American Representation, Characterization: by Mod Lesya at Writing With Color


Who Gets to Write About Gentrification? @zafatista @lithub


Writing Craft / Endings


7 Ways End Your Novel: by Kris Noel


Writing Craft / Literary Devices


Can You Write to a Theme? @SeptCFawkes


Writing Craft / Miscellaneous


Chronicling a Non-Chronological Story: Writing a Dual Timeline Novel: @juliecardalt @WriterUnboxed


Insider and Outsider Viewpoints: @magpiemareth @mythicscribes


Thinking About Audience (with some classroom applications): @sshubitz


How To Write An Evergreen Book That Never Stops Selling: @FredBobJohn @standoutbooks


How to Write an Action Scene: @WriteToSell


Writing Craft / POV


Wrestling with Tense and Point of View: @jan_ohara @WriterUnboxed


Writing Deep POV: @Lindasclare


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining


Outlining and Organizing Master Post: @plotlinehotline


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting


Plotting a Novel: The Big Picture vs. Single Scenes: @Janice_Hardy


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research


Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa: @SloanTamar


Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar


3 Cases of Tense Errors: @writing_tips


3 Examples of Incorrect Use of Semicolons: @writing_tips


Writing Craft / Revision


How to Use a Word Cloud to Edit Your Draft: @lidywilks


An example of editing for pace: by Dave King @WriterUnboxed


3 Convincing Reasons to Read Out Loud During Revision: @the_writing_pal


5 Novel Editing Mistakes That Will Make You Pull out Your Hair: @RidethePen


Writing Craft / Special Needs


10 Literary Magazines Curated By and For People with Disabilities: @the_anamaria


Writing Craft / Voice


3 Creative Tricks to Find Your Character’s Voice: @Jffelkins


Writing Tools / Apps


Using Google Keep to Record Ideas:


Uncategorized


15 Wonderfully Wise Quotes From Judy Blume on Her 80th Birthday: by Caitlin Schneider @mentalfloss

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Making Progress on Tough Writing Days

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I read an interesting article by James Preston titled “How to Get to Carnegie Hall. ”  Preston used an old joke as the basis of the piece:  A tourist asks a resident how to get to Carnegie Hall and the resident replies “Practice, practice, practice.”

Preston goes on to list exercises that help him write on uninspired days,  including writing letters from the protagonist’s POV, and writing a paragraph about your character’s life before the time your story starts.

Sometimes a project seems so big and so overwhelming that it feels as though we must have equal parts inspiration to face it.  But this isn’t really true.  I’m usually uninspired when I sit down to my manuscript every day.  Inspiration usually only hits about five minutes into my story, when I become immersed in the story world.  I know what I do every day at 5:30 in the morning, however: I write.  It’s practically muscle memory at this point.

But some days start out chaotic (fortunately, these days are few and far between for me now) and we can’t write on our schedule: inspired or uninspired.  Kids can be sick, animals can be sick, we can be sick there are family emergencies, etc.  For those days, there’s nothing wrong in skipping writing altogether.

But if you’re worried that you’re going to mess up your writing habit from taking a break, there are things that we can do to make progress on our stories (practice, practice, practice), even on the toughest days.

Writer Jael McHenry mentioned in her post “Write Some Days” for Writer Unboxed, that she lets her story percolate on tough writing days: 

“Working out plot and character elements, and turning them over and over to consider all the possible ramifications and permutations, is better done without access to a keyboard.”

What I do on tough writing days is a sort of focused brainstorming.  When even brainstorming can seem too tough, focused brainstorming, in the form of making lists, can be an easy and productive way of working.  Top 10 ways for my protagonist to change during the story, 10 details of my story’s main setting, 10 possible endings for my book.

More on my method here in my post from 2010.

One important note: if you do skip a day or two or three of writing, don’t try to catch up.  It’s incredibly demotivating.  Just jump right in wherever you are in your manuscript and make that day’s goal.  Pick up where you left off.

What are your thoughts about taking breaks from your story?  Is it easy for you to hop back in?  How do you make progress on your book on the toughest writing days?

Tips for making progress on our books during the toughest days:
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