Nancy Christie's Blog, page 39

31 Days of Rut-Busting Tips For Writers—Day 19: Call for Critiques.

Day 19 — Call for Critiques.

Beta readers can be one of your most valuable sources for critiques.

Whether you seek them out through online resources or ask for help from members of your writing group, you will get the feedback you need to improve your work.

To benefit the most from the feedback, however, you must be open-minded and be willing to consider the critiques you receive. That’s not to say you have to accept everything the beta readers say and change your work to comply with their comme...

31 Days of Rut-Busting Tips For Writers—Day 18: Nix the Negativity.

Day 18 — Nix the Negativity.

Are you in a negativity rut?

It’s easy enough to fall into, especially after a series of rejections for your writing.

Get enough of them and you start believing that the odds are against your ever achieving anything with your writing—either because you doubt your own ability or because you believe that the writing world is prejudiced against you.

You believe it and you say it until it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because you stop trying.

I once knew a writer wh...

31 Days of Rut-Busting Tips For Writers—Day 17: Switch Your Style.

Day 17 — Switch Your Style.

Feeling a little stale, creatively speaking? Maybe it’s time to switch your style.

While having a comfort zone when it comes to our writing—the same place, the same time, the same type of writing—can make getting into the mood easier, it can also lead to the “same old, same old” feeling.

We get the uncomfortable feeling that what we wrote today sounds a lot like what we wrote yesterday. Or last week. Or last month.

As Robert Frost said, “No surprise in the writer, no ...

31 Days of Rut-Busting Tips For Writers—Day 16: Combat Complacency.

Day 16 — Combat Complacency.

Complacency is a dangerous disease that may infect any writer, especially after having a fair degree of writing success.

When that happens, you can start feeling a little smug or self-assured or even cocky—until your work is rejected because it just doesn’t meet the editor’s or client’s expectations.

Why? Because you haven’t been improving your skills or developing better techniques. In short, you haven’t stepped up your game and instead have fallen victim to creativ...

31 Days of Rut-Busting Tips For Writers—Day 15: Fight the Fear.

Day 15 — Fight the Fear.

There’s no denying that putting your writing, and by extension yourself, out there can generate a great deal of fear.

That’s why I listed it as one of the top three ruts in my “What’s Your Rut?” chapter in RUT-BUSTING BOOK FOR WRITERS.

Writing is like being on a tightrope. You can see the end, but between that and the first step stretches a very long, very skinny rope. And you find yourself standing there on the ledge, thinking about giving it a go, but never really move...

31 Days of Rut-Busting Tips For Writers—Day 14: Do Your Research.

Day 14 — Do Your Research.

Unless you are writing for an audience of one (yourself), you need to do your research so you can create a list of target markets for your work.

This can be a list of agents and publishers (for books), editors (for articles) or clients (for corporate work).

Writing a book and want representation? The Safest Way to Search for an Agent and How to Get a Literary Agent for Your Book both have great tips for authors looking for representation. And frequently check the Manus...

31 Days of Rut-Busting Tips For Writers—Day 13: Know Your Peak Times.

Day 13 — Know Your Peak Times.

Do you know your peak times for writing?

I’m a morning person and can be found in my office at 5 AM just about every morning. This is my creative writing time.

I work on new stories, blog posts, essays—what I call “my work” versus client projects. By 9 AM, I’ve shifted into client mode, working on paid assignments that keep my bank account in the black.

Other writers I know are night owls. They are at their most creative when the stars are out and can easily work u...

31 Days of Rut-Busting Tips For Writers—Day 12: Be Professional.

Day 12 — Be Professional.

If you want to be taken seriously as a writer, then present yourself as a professional.

Your website, social media presence, and marketing and promotional materials should all reinforce your identity as a professional practicing your craft. This is true whether you’re a freelance copywriter or an author promoting your work.

Start with your website. It should be easy to navigate, clearly describe who you are and what you write, and provide contact information. If you’re ...

31 Days of Rut-Busting Tips For Writers—Day 11: Stretch Your Writing Muscle.

Day 11 — Stretch Your Writing Muscle.

Is your writing muscle a little soft? Are your skills a little flabby?

Maybe it’s time to challenge yourself creatively.

Some of the ways you can do this is by taking a class or signing up for a writing challenge like the 52-Week Writing Challenge, The 30-Day Writing Challenge: An Alternative to NaNoWriMo for Writers Who Fear Commitment or those suggested in Try These 30-Minute Writing Challenges.

Or do any of the following:

Analyze your abilities. What are...

31 Days of Rut-Busting Tips For Writers—Day 10: Fuel Your Passion

Day 10 — Fuel Your Passion.

Are you having a difficult time working up your enthusiasm and passion for the writing project at hand?

Or maybe you just received a rejection for a piece that you were sure would be accepted.

Depressing? Of course! Disheartening? Beyond a doubt! Does it make you doubt your reason for writing in the first place? Possibly.

So what should you do? Put aside the project or the rejection and instead, focus on the act of writing and your reason for engaging in this creative...