Lee Rene's Blog

When the publishing dream falls apart

Author, Jenny Milchman, was on top of the world when she signed her contract with Ballantine. She been writing for years, had eight unpublished manuscripts under her belt and wondered if her dream would ever become a reality. It did! Within a span of three years, Ballantine, an imprint of Random House, published three of her novels, Cover of Snow, and then As Night Falls, and finally Ruin Falls.





Her story was a writer's dream, three books in three years in print from a top 5 publisher and another on the way. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Ballantine did not renew her contract and declined to publish her fourth novel.

Jenny wrote about in the entire ordeal in an excellent post from the Thrill Begins blog, a cautionary tale for anyone who aspires to a life in print. Read it here:

http://thrillbegins.com/2017/05/09/ho...

Eleven Ways to Boost Your Creativity

Written by Caitlin Jans

Caitlin Jans is a poet, novelist, and the editor of Authors Publish Magazine. You can find her writing in The Conium Review, The Moth, Labletter Literary Mama, and can follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/caitlinjansa...

If you have writer’s block, this list should be this list should be extremely helpful. If you don’t believe in writer’s block this list should be extremely helpful.

I am a big believer in this quote by Pablo Picasso: “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you extremely helpful. If you don’t have writer’s block, working”.

I am not currently a writer who writes daily, but I have been. I am however, a writer that writes regularly, regardless of whether I feel inspired to do so.

One of the interesting things I have discovered over the years is that the writing is generally of better quality if I am feeding my creativity through other ways as well. Some of these directly interact with writing, but others do not. However, all of them should give your writing a new energy, new focus, and new direction.

To read the entire article on Authors Publish Magazine, please go to:
http://www.authorspublish.com/11-ways...

Character Motivation Entry: Being The Best At Something

By Angela Ackerman

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is written well, readers will identify fairly quickly what the overall story goal’s going to be and they’ll know what to root for. But how do you know what outer motivation to choose?

If you read enough books, you’ll see the same goals being used for different characters in new scenarios. Through this thesaurus, we’d like to explore these common outer motivations so you can see your options and what those goals might look like on a deeper level.

Character’s Goal (Outer Motivation): Being The Best at Something

Forms This Might Take:

* Winning a local competition (best chili in the city, prettiest garden display, best home brewed beer, etc.)
* Winning an election (Being chosen as prom king, elected to student council, winning a seat on city council, becoming mayor, becoming a minister or judge, etc.)
* Being awarded a scholarship (for an art competition, for one’s prowess in math, for an essay one wrote, etc.)
* Being profiled in one’s local paper for an accomplishment or accolade
* Coaching the winning team
* Being chosen for the Olympic team
* Being on a winning team at the champion level
* Having one’s business win a prestigious award
* Being acknowledged for being the one to put on the best parties or events
* Being chosen (to act in a commercial, winning a part in a movie, being given a spot in an orchestra, etc.)
* Being the best parent, grandparent, teacher, boss, etc.
* Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): esteem and recognition

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal:

* Reading up on the activity one wishes to master or the issues of importance that one should know
* Observing (in person, watching video footage, etc.), studying one’s competition
* Studying as necessary to become more proficient
* Practicing one’s communication (written, verbal, etc.) and charm to “win over” those who may be in a position to help
* Being open to trying new things, adding more “tools” to one’s toolkit
* Seeking out mentors or coaches as needed
* Practicing obsessively
* Dedicating oneself to the area of study, cutting out distractions
* Researching past winners and studying their methods
* Understanding the risks and be willing to take the ones that make sense
* Understanding one’s judges or the people one must win over to better deliver exactly what they need
* Buying whatever equipment or services that might give one an edge
* Putting in more effort than one’s competition
* Practicing affirmations and positive self-talk

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal:

* Giving up one’s free time
* Friendships that grow strained because others aren’t supportive of one’s passion
* Spending one’s savings on training, equipment or other things needed to be the best
* Relationships that become damaged because of competition
* Losing out on family time
* Having less energy and focus for other things
* Dropping the ball in other areas of one’s life because of a singular (possibly obsessive) focus on one’s goal
* Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 
* A health crisis (either one’s own or that of a family member) that requires time, money, or both
* A financial crisis (losing a job, a sudden expense like needing a new car, etc.)
* Deepening family problems that must be addressed, requiring one to refocus one’s time
* A move due to work
* A talented competitor with better resources and support
* Sabotage
* Not having the knowledge, talent, or experience to be the best (needing to be more seasoned)
* Realizing this goal will not bring fulfillment (as it is a false goal and a deeper need is at the root)

Possible Fallout For the Protagonist if This Goal Is Not Met:

* Crippling disappointment
* Losing the respect or esteem of family or friends for not succeeding
* A negative outlook
* A future laden with underachieving
* Low self-worth

Begin at the Beginning

A helpful post from Author Jack B. Strandburg from his All About Writing blog

Perhaps the most popular piece of advice for writers is to begin the story in medias res (in the midst of things). Start with a significant event, something exciting to draw the reader into the story so they can’t wait to read what happens next.

Mystery writer’s typically open their story with a victim, usually a dead body, perhaps floating on the river or buried in a shallow grave in the woods. Romance writers might open their story with the discovery of a sordid affair. Science fiction writers might describe in great detail the explosion of an unexplored distant planet.

Readers want more than anything to know what happens to the main characters. They want to identify with the main character(s), love the protagonist, despise the antagonist, feel their pain and sorrow, and share in their joy. Memorable characters make or break a story and often an author’s success hangs in the balance.

Character’s lives are formed and affected by events, both historical (before the story starts) and ongoing (what happens during the story). An author might have the most interesting characters in the world, but if nothing happens, there is no story. It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George and Jerry pitch an idea to NBC for a show about nothing.

Coming up with a story idea and an effective opening which entices the reader to sit up and take notice isn’t usually difficult. A murder, an explosion, a car accident – throw in a character or two and you have a solid opening to a story.

It’s what follows the opening that sometimes bogs us down. Even more, it’s what comes before the opening, the events leading up to where your main character(s) find themselves that sometimes offers a greater challenge and often leads to the writer’s most feared adversary – writer’s block.

Most writers experience writer’s block at some point in their quest to write the Great American Novel and it comes in all shapes and sizes. You might draw a complete blank and cannot get started; staring at a blank page for what seems like hours until you finally surrender and turn on the TV. You might have a solid story line but struggle to organize your scenes and chapters. Or you know what the story is about, have a number of interesting characters standing by waiting to be cast into your imaginary world, but can’t decide what they do, and when, how, and where they do it.

Try doing a biographical sketch of your characters. They all had a life before the story began and thousands of events to draw upon. You don’t need much detail but deciding on the most significant events for your main character will allow you to brainstorm how your character dealt with, say, an abortion or a death in the family. Perhaps he or she was robbed at gunpoint or saved the life of a friend. Maybe they were bullied in elementary school and later on in the story meet one of their tormentors. Memorable events like these shape your characters and influence how they deal with life’s challenges.

I suspect most writers agree conflict is necessary to present an entertaining and hopefully unforgettable story. By brainstorming the life’s events of your main characters (by main characters I mean those contributing to the story), you can determine when and how these characters in conflict first meet and how their lives become intertwined.

I find the biographical sketch method useful in a number of ways.

1. Provides the background story necessary to keep the timeline accurate.
2. Brings your story to the point of your in media res.
3. Encourages a natural reaction to ask What if?
4. Helps to determine character motive.

What will emerge from this process is a timeline for the major characters.

For example, let’s assume your story begins with the protagonist getting death threats from person or persons unknown. Your biographical sketch reveals a few years ago he or she intervened in a hostage situation. The perpetrator was shot by police, arrested and served time, but died violently in prison. A biographical sketch of the scene determines who was there, what happened, and how the other characters will contribute to the story. You might decide a relative of the perpetrator was an accomplice during the hostage situation, was not caught, and seeks revenge on the protagonist.

From the time a person is born (the birth itself might be a memorable event) they meet people, go to school, fall in (and perhaps out) of love, experience death, travel to faraway places, and work a variety of jobs, all of which will not only provide ideas for an entertaining story but reduce the odds of the invasion of writer’s block.

My Author website:
http://jstrandburg.wordpress.com

Punctuation Errors

From Daily Writing Tips - The following sentences demonstrate a specific type of error involving internal punctuation, usually involving a problem with a comma.

1. Misplaced Punctuation

This approach requires an effective model risk governance program, and crucially, validation of the model by an independent party.

A comma is needed after program only if what follows is an independent clause. In this case, the rest of the sentence is merely the rest of an extended compound predicate. However, crucially is a parenthetical, and a comma is required before as well as after it: “This approach requires an effective model risk governance program and, crucially, validation of the model by an independent party.”

2. Missing Punctuation

Specifically her portfolio did not include the required number of samples.

An adverbial introduction must be set off from the main clause by a comma: “Specifically, her portfolio did not include the required number of samples.”

3. Unpaired Punctuation

The survey found increasing demand for customer experiences that are difficult, if not impossible to deliver with legacy systems.

Related to the misplaced and missing examples above, this sentence is flawed in that the parenthetical phrase “if not impossible” is set off only in front, not behind as well: “The survey found increasing demand for customer experiences that are difficult, if not impossible, to deliver with legacy systems.”

4. Extraneous Punctuation

Knowing which sensitive data need to be highly protected, where this information sits within the organization, and what security mechanisms need to be applied, are all key considerations for a sound information security risk assessment.

A comma should not precede a verb unless it is the second of two commas bracketing a parenthetical phrase: “Knowing which sensitive data need to be highly protected, where this information sits within the organization, and what security mechanisms need to be applied are all key considerations for a sound information security risk assessment.”

5. Excessive Punctuation

Consumers have the right to speak out or complain, and to seek compensation—payment or a replacement item—or redress—have a wrong corrected.

Excessive punctuation often occurs when a sentence is cluttered with commas, and a sentence should be recast or divided into two or more sentences if more than a few commas appear (and semicolons are not included to assist in sentence organization). But when dashes are used to set off parenthetical phrases, no more than one pair should be used, because readers may have difficulty at first recognizing which parts of the sentence are being bracketed. Either revise the sentence so that only one pair of dashes is needed, or replace dashes with parentheses, which because the open and close parentheses are shaped differently, clearly indicate what is contained within them: “Consumers have the right to speak out or complain and to seek compensation (payment or a replacement item) or redress (have a wrong corrected).” (Note, too, that the sole comma is superfluous.)

6. Inconsistent Punctuation

Last year a man agreed to give up his drone system and promise not to fly a drone for three years. . . . Last month, the FAA announced there are now more registered drone operators in the United States than there are registered manned aircraft.

If an optional punctuation mark is used in one sentence in a piece of content, it should be used in any similarly constructed sentence; see the consistent inclusion of a comma after the short introductory phrase in both sentences: “Last year, a man agreed to give up his drone system and promise not to fly a drone for three years. . . . Last month, the FAA announced there are now more registered drone operators in the United States than there are registered manned aircraft.” (Note that “last year” and “last” month serve the same adverbial function as specifically in the second example, but such brief introductory phrases do not require punctuation, though for consistency, it is recommended.)

7. Incorrect Punctuation

One person had to be airlifted off the site after the structure collapsed Monday night, the rest were treated at an on-site medical facility. Because this sentence consists of two independent clauses, they must be separated by a semicolon rather than a mere comma: “One person had to be airlifted off the site after the structure collapsed Monday night; the rest were treated at an on-site medical facility.” (A period is also appropriate, but the close relationship of the two clauses allows for a semicolon.)

Ridiculously Simple Steps for Writing a Book

A post from author Jeff Goins

The hard part of writing a book isn’t getting it published. With more opportunities than ever to become an author, the hard part is the actual writing.

For years, I dreamed of writing. I believed I had important things to say, things the world needed to hear. But as I look back on what it took to actually become an author, I realize how different the process was from my expectations.

To begin with, you don’t just sit down to write a book. That’s not how writing works. You write a sentence, then a paragraph, then maybe if you’re lucky, an entire chapter. Writing happens in fits and starts, in bits and pieces. It’s a process.

The way you get the work done is not complicated. You take one step at a time, then another and another. As I look back on the books I’ve written, I can see the way I wrote these woks was not as glamorous or as mysterious as I once thought.

In this post, I’ll teach you the fundamental steps you need to write a book. I’ve worked hard to make this easy to digest and super practical, so you can start making progress.

And just a heads up: if you dream of authoring a bestselling book like I have and you’re looking for a structured plan to guide you through the writing process, I have a special opportunity for you at the end of this post where I break the process down.

Let’s look at the big picture. What does it take to write a book? It happens in three phases:

• Beginning: You have to start writing. This sounds obvious, but it may be the most overlooked step in the process. You write a book by deciding first what you’re going to write and how you’re going to write it.

• Staying motivated: Once you start writing, you will face self-doubt and overwhelm and a hundred other adversaries. Planning ahead for those obstacles ensures you won’t quit when they come.

• Finishing: Nobody cares about the book that you almost wrote. We want to read the one you actually finished, which means no matter what, the thing that makes you a writer is your ability not to start a project, but to complete one.

Below are 10 ridiculously tips that fall under each of these three major phases plus an additional 10 bonus tips. I hope they help you tackle and finish the book you dream of writing.

Phase 1: Getting started

1. Decide what the book is about

Good writing is always about something. Write the argument of your book in a sentence, then stretch that out to a paragraph, and then to a one-page outline. After that, write a table of contents to help guide you as you write, then break each chapter into a few sections. Think of your book in terms of beginning, middle, and end. Anything more complicated will get you lost.

2. Set a daily word count goal

John Grisham began his writing career as a lawyer and new dad — in other words, he was really busy. Nonetheless, he got up an hour or two early every morning and wrote a page a day. After a couple of years, he had a novel. A page a day is only about 300 words. You don’t need to write a lot. You just need to write often. Setting a daily goal will give you something to aim for. Make it small and attainable so that you can hit your goal each day and start building momentum.

3. Have a set time to work on your book every day

Consistency makes creativity easier. You need a daily deadline to do your work — that’s how you’ll finish writing a book. Feel free to take a day off, if you want, but schedule that ahead of time. Never let a deadline pass; don’t let yourself off the hook so easily. Setting a daily deadline and regular writing time will ensure that you don’t have to think about when you will write. When it’s time to write.

4. Write in the same place every time

It doesn’t matter if it’s a desk or a restaurant or the kitchen table. It just needs to be different from where you do other activities. Make your writing location a special space, so that when you enter it, you’re ready to work. It should remind you of your commitment to finish this book. Again, the goal here is to not think and just start writing.

Phase 2: Do the work

5. Set a total word count

Once you’ve started writing, you need a total word count for your book. Think in terms of 10-thousand work increments and break each chapter into roughly equal lengths. Here are some general guiding principles:

• 10,000 words = a pamphlet or business white paper. Read time = 30-60 minutes.

• 20,000 words = short eBook or manifesto. The Communist Manifesto is an example of this, at about 18,000 words. Read time = 1-2 hours.

• 40,000–60,000 words = standard nonfiction book / novella. The Great Gatsby is an example of this. Read time = three to four hours.

• 60,000–80,000 words = long nonfiction book / standard-length novel. Most Malcolm Gladwell books fit in this range. Read time = four to six hours.

• 80,000 words–100,000 words = very long nonfiction book / long novel. The Four-Hour Work Week falls in this range.

• 100,000+ words = epic-length novel / academic book / biography. Read time = six to eight hours. The Steve Jobs biography would fit this category.

6. Give yourself weekly deadlines

You need a weekly goal. Make it a word count to keep things objective. Celebrate the progress you’ve made while still being honest about how much work is left to do. You need to have something to aim for.

7. Get early feedback

Nothing stings worse than writing a book and then having to rewrite it, because you didn’t let anyone look at it. Have a few trusted advisers to help you discern what’s worth writing. These can be friends, editors, family. Just try to find someone who will give you honest feedback early on to make sure you’re headed in the right direction.

Phase 3: Finishing

8. Commit to shipping

No matter what, finish the book. Set a deadline or have one set for you. Then release it to the world. Send it to the publisher, release it on Amazon, do whatever you need to do to get it in front of people. Just don’t put it in your drawer. The worst thing would be for you to quit once this thing is written. That won’t make you do your best work and it won’t allow you to share your ideas with the world.

9. Embrace failure

As you approach the end of this project, know that this will be hard and you will most certainly mess up. Just be okay with failing, and give yourself grace. That’s what will sustain you — the determination to continue, not your elusive standards of perfection.

10. Write another book

Most authors are embarrassed by their first book. I certainly was. But without that first book, you will never learn the lessons you might otherwise miss out on. So, put your work out there, fail early, and try again. This is the only way you get better. You have to practice, which means you have to keep writing.

Every writer started somewhere, and most of them started by squeezing their writing into the cracks of their daily lives. That’s how I began, and it may be where you begin, as well. The ones who make it are the ones who show up day after day. You can do the same.

The reason most people never finish their books

Every year, millions of books go unfinished. Books that could have helped people, brought beauty or wisdom into the world.

In one way or another, the problem is always the same. The author quit. Maybe you’ve dealt with this. You started writing a book but never completed it. You got stuck and didn’t know how to finish. Or you completed your manuscript but didn’t know what to do after. But here’s what nobody told you:

The secret to finishing a book is having a process you can trust.

As a matter of survival, I’ve had to create a clear book-writing framework for myself, what I call the “five draft method” which helps me get a book written and ready to launch. This is the part that I never learned in any English class:

Before you can launch a bestselling book, you have to write a bestseller.

In other words, the writing process matters. You have to write a book worthy of being sold. And if you want to maximize your chances of finishing your book, you need a plan. Writing has changed my life. It helped me find my calling and provided an opportunity to make an impact on the world and a living for my family.

Need some help staying motivated? Here are another 11 tips to help you keep going.

11. Only write one chapter at a time11.

Write and publish a novel, one chapter at a time, using Amazon Kindle Singles, Wattpad, or sharing with your email list subscribers.

12. Write a shorter book

The idea of writing a 500-page masterpiece can be paralyzing. Instead, write a short book of poems or stories. Long projects are daunting. Start small.

13. Start a blog to get feedback early

Getting feedback early and often helps break up the overwhelm. Start a website on WordPress or Tumblr and use it to write your book a chapter or scene at a time. Then eventually publish all the posts in a hardcopy book.

14. Keep an inspiration list

You need it in order to keep fresh ideas flowing. Read constantly, and use a system to capture, organize and find the content you’ve curated. I use Evernote, but use a system that works for you.

15. Keep a journal

Then, rewrite the entries in a much more polished book format, but use some photocopies or scans of the journal pages as illustrations in the book. You could even sell “deluxe” editions that come with photocopied versions of the journal.

16. Deliver consistently

Some days, it’s easy to write. Some days, it’s incredibly hard. The truth is: inspiration is merely a byproduct of your hard work. You can’t wait for inspiration. The Muse is really an out-of-work bum who won’t move until you do. Show her who’s boss and that you mean business.

17. Take frequent breaks

Neil Fiore, the author of The Now Habit, says, “There is one main reason why we procrastinate: It rewards us with temporary relief from stress.” If you’re constantly stressed about your unfinished book, you’ll end up breaking your schedule. Instead, plan for breaks ahead of time so you stay fresh: minute breaks, hour breaks, or even multiple day breaks.

18. Remove distractions

Try tools like Ommwriter or Byword or Scrivener to let you write in a totally distraction free environment. That way, email, Facebook, and Twitter won’t interrupt your flow.

19. Write where others are writing (or working)


If you’re having trouble writing consistently by yourself, write where other people are also working. A coffee shop or library where people are actually working and not just socializing can help. If you’re in a place where other people are getting things done, then you’ll have no choice but to join them.

20. Don’t edit as you go

Instead, write without judgment first, then go back and edit later. You’ll keep a better flow and won’t be interrupted by constant criticism of your own work. And you’ll have a lot more writing to edit when it’s time to do so.

And now, let’s get writing

Most books go unfinished. That’s the reality. If you want to be different, you’re going to need a plan. I’ve tried to share that with you in this post. But maybe you want to not only get your book done, but you want to make sure it’s something worth selling.

What do you do, then?

Remember: Before you can launch a bestseller, you have to write one. Fortunately, I’ve broken down that process piece by piece and can share with you exactly what it takes to write a bestseller.

How to Evaluate a Publisher for Your Book

Caitlin Jans, authored this post. Caitlin is a poet, a novelist, and the editor of Authors Publish Magazine.. Find her on The Conium Review, The Moth, Labletter, Literary Mama, and elsewhere. You can also follow her on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/caitlinjansa...

When you’re finally ready to submit your book for publication, it can be overwhelming. There are so many publishers out there. There is so much information about some of them and so little about others.

How can you check the legitimacy of a publisher if you don’t know much about the industry?

Even if a publisher is legitimate, how do you know that they will do right by your work?

All of these are complicated questions, but knowing how to evaluate a publisher, and knowing your own personal standards should make it relativity easy to find publishers that work for your needs.

This article gives you concrete steps to answering these complicated questions.

How to make sure A Company is Legitimate

I have spent quite a lot of time evaluating publishers for reviews in our weekly newsletter.

Sometimes I have already read several books printed by a publisher I am reviewing, sometimes they publish in a genre I have never read, such as romance, and I don’t know a thing about the publisher before going into the research.

This lack of initial knowledge has actually proved very helpful and taught me a lot about publishing, and a fair amount about the romance genre.
The first time I encountered the phrase “Heat Levels”, I was deeply confused. Now it just part of my knowledge base.

Now, within two minutes of being on a publisher’s website, I usually know if they fit our standards for a review or not.

One or more of the following things usually eliminates a publisher in the first three minutes of visiting their website.

There is a mention of fees of any kind

Some legitimate publishers are charging reading fees now, but that doesn’t make it ok. If they mention a fee for editing or anything like that they are eliminated. Some companies talk about a cooperative payment approach. If they do that, run in the opposite direction.

They are trying to sell you something else (and it isn’t a book)

I have no problems with publishers encouraging interested authors to buy a book the publisher has already published. That is a good idea. But what I do have a problem with is a publisher whose website that is really pushing or promoting additional services of any kind. This website is a good example of what to avoid.

They have been around for under a year

Most presses fail in the first three years, so over three years old is ideal, but if you are a new author you sometimes have to take a risk on a new publisher. Sometimes these risks pay off, but there is no reason not to monitor that press, and not submit to them, during the first year.

They have been around for two years and have published less than one book

This is usually an indicator that they are 1) disorganized, and 2) struggling financially.

They have not published anything in the last year

If an older publisher has not published anything for a full year it is not generally a good sign.

If they have only published a few books, I make sure these books are not just written by the publisher themselves.

Many writers set up companies just to make it seem like they are not self publishing. Some of these grow into legitimate publishers, some do not.

Their website is not functioning properly

I don’t think I need to elaborate on this point.

The Next Steps

If a publisher makes it past those first easy to check hurdles I check the Writer’s Beware thumbs down list to make sure they are not listed.

I also Google them. This often is not helpful, but sometimes equals good information. If there is ever a listing from Glass Door on the Google list, make sure to read it. These reports are usually made by employees of the company, such as editors, not authors themselves, but if employees are unhappy, this is generally not a good sign.

If I was actually submitting to this company I would make sure that they publish in the same genre I write in.

How to Make Sure It Meets Your Personal Standards

Would you be happy if the publisher you submitted to chose to publish your book?

This might seem obvious, but often times writers get so nervous or start to think it is a numbers game in terms of submissions out, that they submit to publishers that are legitimate but do not meet their personal standards.

For example I know someone who submitted to an eBook only publisher and their work was accepted and they signed the contract. The only problem with that, was that they didn’t want eBook only. They wanted an actual physical book and were not happy.
I cannot set your personal standards for you because I do not know you, but I think it might help you to see mine, just to get a good concrete idea about what I am talking about:

I am only interested in a print publisher with good distribution.

If they have good distribution, I usually know because they mention the distribution company, or I see their books in bookstores all the time.

That clearly eliminates many publishers, even a lot of the ones I have reviewed, but at least I know that. That helps me eliminate even more potential publishers, even quicker.

For every author the standards are different and the preferences are different. Just make sure you are submitting to companies you actually want to publish your manuscript.

22 Writing Tips

This article, one of the oldest and most popular posts on Writing Forward blog, dates back to 2007. I couldn’t find the name of the original writer but it’s still one of the most-visited posts on the blog. These writing tips cover the basics and the most important aspects of writing and I hope you find them useful.

1. Do it. Write.

2. Read as much and as often as you can. Remember, every writer is a reader first.

3. Keep a journal or notebook handy at all times so you can jot down all of your brilliant ideas. If you’ve got a smartphone, make sure it’s loaded with a note-taking app. A voice-recording app also comes in handy for recording notes and ideas.

4. Make sure you have a dictionary and thesaurus available whenever you are writing.

5. Be observant. The people and activities that surround you will provide you with great inspiration for characters, plots, and themes.

6. Invest in a few valuable resources starting with The Chicago Manual of Style and The Elements of Style.

7. Grammar: learn the rules and then learn how to break them effectively.

8. Stop procrastinating. Turn off the TV, disconnect from the Internet, tune out the rest of the world, sit down, and write.

9. Read works by highly successful authors to learn what earns a loyal readership.

10. Read works by the canonical authors so you understand what constitutes a respectable literary achievement.

11. Join a writers’ group so you can gain support from the writing community and enjoy camaraderie in your craft.

12. Create a space in your home especially for writing.

13. Proofread everything at least three times before submitting your work for publication.

14. Write every single day.

15. Start a blog. Use it to talk about your own writing process, share your ideas and experiences, or publish your work to a reading audience.

16. Subscribe to writing blogs on the Internet. Read them, participate, learn, share, and enjoy!

17. Use writing exercises to improve your skills, strengthen your talent, and explore different genres, styles, and techniques.

18. Let go of your inner editor. When you sit down to write a draft, refrain from proofreading until that draft is complete.

19. Allow yourself to write poorly, to write a weak, uninteresting story or a boring, grammatically incorrect poem. You’ll never succeed if you don’t allow yourself a few failures along the way.

20. Make it your business to understand grammar and language. Do you know a noun from a verb, a predicate from a preposition? Do you understand tense and verb agreement? You should.

21. You are a writer so own it and say it out loud: “I am a writer.” Whether it’s a hobby or your profession, if you write, then you have the right to this title.

22. Write, write, write, and then write some more. Forget everything else and just write.

11 Grammatical Mistakes that Instantly Reveal People's Ignorance

Reading these mistakes in e-mails, tweets, or even memos drive us insane, yet many people, including writers, seem blissfully unaware of their proper usage. Thank you, Abby Jackson for posting this on Business Insider!

All it takes is a single tweet or text for some people to reveal their poor grasp of the English language. Homophones — words that sound alike but are spelled differently — can be particularly pesky.

Regardless, you should never choose incorrectly in these nine situations:

1. 'Your' vs. 'You're'

"Your" is a possessive pronoun, while "you're" is a contraction of "you are."

Example 1: You're pretty.
Example 2: Give me some of your whiskey.

2. 'It's' vs. 'Its'

Normally, an apostrophe symbolizes possession, as in, "I took the dog's bone." But because apostrophes also replace omitted letters — as in "don't" — the "it's" vs. "its" decision gets complicated.

Use "its" as the possessive pronoun and "it's" for the shortened version of "it is."

Example 1: The dog chewed on its bone.
Example 2: It's raining.

3. 'Then' vs. 'Than'

"Then" conveys time, while "than" is used for comparison.

Example 1: We left the party and then went home.
Example 2: We would rather go home than stay at the party.

4. 'There' vs. 'They're' vs. 'Their'

"There" is a location. "Their" is a possessive pronoun. And "they're" is a contraction of "they are."
Use them wisely.

5. 'We're' vs. 'Were'

"We're" is a contraction of "we are" and "were" is the past tense of "are."

6. 'Affect' vs. 'Effect'"

Affect" is a verb and "effect" is a noun.
There are, however, rare exceptions. For example, someone can "effect change" and "affect" can be a psychological symptom.

Example: How did that affect you?
Example: What effect did that have on you?

7. 'Two' vs. 'Too' vs. 'To'

"Two" is a number.

"To" is a preposition. It's used to express motion, although often not literally, toward a person, place, or thing.

And "too" is a synonym for "also."

8. 'Into' vs. 'In To'

"Into" is a preposition that indicates movement or transformation, while "in to," as two separate words, does not.

Example: We drove the car into the lake.
Example: I turned my test in to the teacher.
In the latter example, if you wrote "into," you're implying you literally changed your test into your teacher.

9. 'Alot'

"Alot" isn't a word. This phrase is always two separate words: a lot.

10. 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Use who to refer to the subject of a sentence and whom to refer to the object of the verb or preposition. Shortcut: Remember that who does it to whom.

Example: Who ate my sandwich?
Example: Whom should I ask?

11. 'Whose' vs. 'Who's'

Use "whose" to assign ownership to someone and "who's" as the contraction of "who is."

Example: Whose backpack is on that table?
Example: Who's going to the movies tonight?

Ten eye-opening tips to add impact to your storytelling

English author, editor, and writing coach, Roz Morris gives simple suggestions on how to shake-up your writing.

When I work with a writer on their first serious novel manuscript, there are certain aspects they usually get right on instinct alone. There’s the content – a believable story world, characters with solid backgrounds and stuff to do. They usually write fluently too. But there are other, more hidden levels of craft that they usually haven’t noticed in good books, but will make an immense difference to the quality of their work. So here are a few.

1 Keeping the reader’s curiosity

When we’re kids, we’re taught we must finish any book we start. Like eating every morsel on the plate, even the detested Brussels sprouts. A reader will not persevere with a book out of politeness. So, writers have to be relentless showmen (within the expectations of their particular genre, of course).

Curiosity is the name of the game. Compelling writers will prime the reader to be curious about everything they show – a character, story development, back-story or historical context. How do you learn this? Read with awareness. Analyze what keeps you gripped in books you enjoy. (Often when I point this out, the reply is; ‘I get so swept up that I don’t give it a thought’. QED. I don’t want to spoil your enjoyment, but learn to read with primed antennae.)

2 The beginning has to grab attention …. But it also makes a promise to the reader

Don’t start with a thrilling piece of action if the rest of the book doesn’t contain that kind of action. lf you do, you’re wooing the reader under false pretenses. Instead, find an intriguing scene that is representational of the entire tone of the story, its themes and concerns. That’s quite tricky and you might try out many beginnings. Indeed, you often don’t get the beginning just right until you’ve written the end.

3 Descriptions come to life if you add humans

You might describe a tidal wave by saying it was the height of a house. Or the earthquake split the town hall in two. These specifics are good, but they’re lifeless. For real impact, try showing how it affected the people in its midst. Just as photographers or painters might use a figure of a person to show scale, you can convey the power of disasters by including humans – cowering, trying to run away with a cat under their arm, filming it on their phone while a friend yells at them to flee.

4 Show not tell

Show not tell is one of the trickiest storytelling techniques to learn. In a nutshell, it’s about creating the experience for the reader. Instead of writing ‘fear was on everyone’s faces’, show us what the characters did that would make you conclude they were afraid.

5 Decide what you want to emphasize

Sometimes you can tell, not show. If you want the reader to feel the impact of the experience, write it in a way that ‘shows’. If the experience doesn’t really matter, you can ‘tell’. Sometimes you can write ‘She had a terrible voyage’ and that might be enough for the purposes of the story. At other times, you want the reader to share the terrible voyage.

6 Don’t wait too long before telling us your main character’s rough age

You don’t have to state it explicitly or numerically, just give us enough to figure out whether we’re looking at a pre-teen, a teenager, a person in their 20s, 30s, and 60s. I’ve read many manuscripts where I can’t fathom that out and it interferes with my ability to interpret the action. A person in their 20s who yearns for adventure or love is very different from a person in their 40s or 70s.

7 Home isn’t just a geographical location

It’s a place that owns us – we want to return to it, escape from it, inherit or disown it. If your characters talk about home, what does it mean to them? Take time to let us know.

8 Don’t accidentally create a passive main character

Many writers fall into this trap. They create a central character thrown into trouble by the actions of other people. Other characters push the protagonist from one crisis to the next. The pressures mount causing anguish for the central characters, but do they do anything about it? No, they wait for the next piece of trouble. That might be lifelike – many of us would prefer to avoid difficult situations. It makes for a frustrating read (unless the passiveness is a deliberate choice). Otherwise, readers prefer a character who in some ways creates their difficulties and adventures – perhaps because they are restless, or a control freak, or because they succumb to temptation or yearn for something new.

9 Don’t forget to conjure the set-up at the start of each scene

Many writers forget these essential orientating details at the start of a scene – where we are, who is there. Indeed, they often don’t realize an author is doing it every time they load a new location. Even if it’s an ordinary room or an ordinary street – although once you’ve made an environment very familiar to the reader you can use shorthand such as ‘I sat at Mary’s battered piano’.

10 You can’t set the scene through dialogue alone

Although dialogue can help establish the scene, it can’t do it all. Often writers try to, and end up with artificial-sounding lines such as ‘Hand me that glass from the mahogany table’. Prose is a medium of description as well as dialogue (unless you’re aiming for a deliberately abbreviated style). It’s an environment and you want the reader to experience your scenes with all their reading senses. Include the last rays of sun slanting over the roofs. The family unloading children and picnic hampers into a cluttered hallway. The tinkling of crockery as a meal is prepared.