Nancy Christie's Blog, page 75
June 7, 2016
Working With A Book Designer and Cover Artist
[Image from www.befunky.com]
There are those of us who have no problem at all formatting our manuscript for print or coming up with a visually appealing cover.And then there are … the rest of us: the ones for whom the conversion process is a nightmare, the artwork is beyond our capabilities and the finished product looks like a six-year-old did it.
(Come to think of it, a six-year-old could probably have done it better!)
For that group, I reached out to bo...
May 25, 2016
Wednesday Writing Inspiration for 5.25.16 from Elizabeth George
Do you write because someone told you you should?
Do you write for fame and fortune?
Do you write because you’re good at it?
Or do you write because you can’t imagine not writing?
We each have our own reasons for pursuing the craft.
For me, it was never a choice, any more than breathing was a choice.
I do both because, if I would stop, I would die.
May 18, 2016
Wednesday Writing Inspiration for 5.18.16 from Richard Selzer
Yes, we’ve had days when writing is hard, frustrating, disappointing.
Days (and nights, too) when we wished we had chosen any other occupation than this endless battle of finding the right words to put down on paper.
But for every day (and night) like that one, there are those golden moments when it flows like honey and every word is the just right word and we can’t imagine doing anything else other than writing.
Hold on to those times.
May 11, 2016
Wednesday Writing Inspiration for 5.11.16 from Stanley Karnow
It’s all well and good to go to writing conferences, belong to writers groups, even take writing classes.
But at some point, you need to be alone—just you and your thoughts—if you are going to get any serious writing done.
It may at times be lonely. It may at times be frustrating. But it’s necessary.
(image fromwww.befunky.com/)
May 4, 2016
Wednesday Writing Inspiration for 5.4.16 from John Updike
Maybe you know what you are going to write about. You sit down, plan it out and the words fit your outline.
But sometimes, what emerges on the page is vastly different from what you thought you were going to write—or even what you were thinking.
Don’t discard it.
Don’t fight it.
That’s inspiration at work.
Go along for the ride!
(image fromwww.befunky.com/)
May 3, 2016
Self-Publishing Insights and Tips
Lately, I have been toying with the idea of self-publishing. I’ve interviewed a number of authors on my blogs—this one as well as on One on One and Focus on Fictionones—who have gone that route, as well as talked to self-pubbed authors at conferences and meetings and, for the most part, they have been very enthusiastic about the experience.
That being said, there is a learning curve, as they all universally pointed...
April 27, 2016
Wednesday Writing Inspiration for 4.27.16 from Edna O’Brien
Find your writing place Writers live in two places. There is the “real world” with friends and family, the work and social environment that we inhabit on a daily basis.
Then there is the “writing world,” the place (literal or metaphorical) that we retreat to when we feel the need or urge to write. Even if that place is a crowded coffee shop, we still draw the curtainsaround ourselves as we scribble on the page or tap at the keyboard.
People come and people go and still we write, hidingin tha...
April 20, 2016
Wednesday Writing Inspiration for 4.20.16 from Sarah Jewett
Write for the world Who are you writing for? What influences your writing?
Your best writing is that that touches people from diverse walks of life, that reaches their hearts and minds, that strikes a common chord.
That is powerful writing indeed.
April 19, 2016
Ten Tips on Marketing Fiction: Guest Post from Heidi Angell
Fiction marketing 101 When I interviewed Heidi Angell for my One on One blog this past March, I was amazed and impressed with her book marketing prowess!
And, as a fiction writer and author, I wanted to pick her brain until it was bare as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard, because I knew there was more I could do to promote my work!
So I did—but then my better naturemade me realize that I shouldn’t keep her secrets to myself. Writers are, after all, supposed to help each other get ahead. So I asked h...
April 13, 2016
Wednesday Writing Inspiration for 4.13.16 from Anne Lamott
Always changing.. The beach changes with every tide, the waves bringing something new and different to the shore with each ebb and flow.
The same happens with writing. The work changes — and you change as well. But only if you allow it to happen.
