Beth Greenslade's Blog, page 82

Ways To Boost Confidence In Your Writing Ability

Having confidence in your writing ability can not only help improve your writing it could, dare we say, even boost your chances of getting published. However, perhaps even more important than this, it will also make the whole writing process a lot more enjoyable too!

So what are the things writers can do to gain confidence in their writing ability?

Practice makes perfect

The more you write, the better you’ll get at it. If you write often, it will start to come naturally to you. We all know how difficult it is to try and start writing again after you’ve been a bit neglectful of it.

You feel uncertain about everything and full of doubt in your ability to get it done. While the first bit is pretty hard, the bit where you have to force yourself to get back into the habit of it if you persevere it will become just that, a habit.

Writing is a skill, and if you keep practising you will improve, get better feedback, and more positive reviews, and you’ll start to believe that you really have got what it takes -which is so much better and more productive than continually putting yourself down.

Misery loves company

Let’s face it; sometimes it’s just really comforting to know you are not alone. When you need a bit of a confidence boost why not remind yourself of all the other writers who got rejected, who were told they weren’t good enough? You can rest assured that some of the most successful and prolific writers of all time suffered from self-doubt and rejection, but they kept going anyway, and so should you.

Fake it until you make it

It takes time to feel confident in your writing ability. But the power of positive thinking can help get you there much quicker;y. The key is to keep telling yourself, and others, that you are a writer, that you can be a success and that you believe in your ability (even if you secretly don’t). If you keep doing this, you’ll eventually convince yourself. Being self-depreciating and not being able to talk with confidence about your work will end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you, the author can’t stand up and say ‘my story is one worth reading’ why would anyone else believe that it is?

Reach for the stars

Goal setting is important for any writer. Start with what you want, your ultimate dream, whatever that may be. Then work backwards figuring out what you need to do to get there. Break your workload down into realistic and challenging yet achievable goals, give yourself deadlines and each time you hit one your confidence will soar.

If you fall..get right back in that saddle

Rejection happens to everyone, and we all miss goals or procrastinate or don’t do our best work and feel bad about it. However, whatever happens, you must persist. Keep submitting your work, keep seeking out new writing opportunities keep finding ways to exercise your creativity. The more chances you give yourself to be successful the more likely you are to be so.

Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes, and if you do suffer from a lack of confidence in your writing ability, it may take time to start believing in yourself. However, remember that beating yourself up and being negative about your writing won’t get you anywhere, so it’s well worth trying to boost your confidence in your writing ability, the whole experience will be so much better if you do!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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Why You Should Start Meditating Today

Do you know someone who meditates? Or are someone who meditates yourself? Meditation is an art form that has been around thousands of years, yet most people don’t partake in the activity. They make excuses, saying they don’t have enough time in their day. If you can’t find five or ten spare minutes in your day, then we have a problem because if you’re not willing to spend that much time meditating how are you going to be successful in the other areas of your life?

You might believe meditation is out there or that it’s something only hippies do. You can think what you want about it, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t proven benefits from meditating. With where you are right now, I’ll take you on a 60-second meditation and if you don’t feel a little less stressed after it, you need not read any further. Breathe in for 4 seconds and breathe out for 8 seconds with your eyes closed. Does this on repeat for five times. I can guarantee you that you will notice a state change.

The number one benefit of meditating is you get to relieve any stress you have. It’s no secret we live in a world where stress is abundant. To help you cope with stress in a rational way, meditate. When you’re not as stressed, you gain greater clarity in your life. When you have more clarity in your life, you’re able to make better decisions that enable you to live a better life.

While there are many benefits to meditation, you just need to get started and feel them yourself. I recommend downloading the calm app on your phone. The app gives you a daily guided meditation, which I use each day. You don’t even need meditation cushions. I practice each day on my bed with my back against the wall. You’ll want to practice at the same time each day. I’d recommend you meditate to start off your day. It’s only a matter of time before you feel the profound benefits!

 Trevor Oldham

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The One Thing That’s Holding You Back From Your Success

There will always be something stopping you from achieving your desired success and until you acknowledge it, nothing will ever get done. This is the fear that you’re not good enough. Maybe while you were in school, you failed and that hurt your confidence and because someone told you that you’re not good enough, you start to believe them. You give into their rationalization and settle for a safe job and a mediocre life because you don’t want to get out of your comfort zone and fully explore what’s out there.

 

There are many fears you can have while you’re chasing your dreams. This can include the fear of failure, fear of success, fear of what others will think of you, if there’s a fear in the world, you can relate it towards becoming successful. Fears are excuses as to why you’re not successful. You’re the person who is believing those fears and almost always, they never come to fruition. I get it, trying to become successful isn’t going to be easy but you have to start somewhere. The second you decide to start, you will be further ahead than the person who is still letting their fears get to them.

Understand that when you put in the work, you will develop confidence. This is the confidence of you taking action. There’s no reason you should believe in yourself when you’re not taking action and it’s ludicrous to think you would. You don’t have to accomplish every task in the entire world. Your empire is built over time and not through the course of a day. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in one day. It takes time to become successful. It’s through the day-to-day grind that you become resilient to whatever fears you had beforehand. Next time you start to find yourself doubting yourself, take action!

 Trevor Oldham

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Is Rejection Really That Bad?

We’re all told that as writers rejection is one of the toughest parts of the job. There are countless pieces of advice on how to cope with rejection, how to pick up the pieces and to move on, but is that necessary? Rejection doesn’t have to be something that knocks us for six and takes time to ‘get over’ - in fact; it really isn’t that bad at all. Here’s why:

Rejection is inevitable

For writers, it’s death, taxes and rejection letters. Every writer gets rejected. It’s just going to happen. So there is no point in hoping that somehow it won’t happen to you, that you’ll be one of those lucky leprechaun writers who lands a huge publishing deal straight away. You won’t. The rejection will come. So what is the point of getting upset about something so utterly inevitable? Save your energy and emotion for something more worthwhile.

Rejection is valuable

Once you have cheerfully accepted the fact that you will get rejected, why not then turn your attention to how you might use it to your advantage? Sometimes rejection letters come with feedback; these are as valuable as gold. If you get rejected a few times this means something, so go back over your manuscript and your cover letter and synopsis, and think about how you can make improvements to give yourself a better chance of success next time.

Rejection is never personal

Remember when an editor decides to reject your work they aren’t doing it because they have some longstanding vendetta against you. It’s only business so keep it businesslike, stay professional and don’t immediately swear them as your mortal enemy.

Rejection doesn’t always count

Some rejections don’t mean anything. Each time you get a rejection go back and think about whether really, realistically your book ever stood a chance there. Sometimes we are all guilty of sending our work off to publishers that aren’t suitable. These rejections don’t count, ignore them and put more effort into your research next time.

Rejection is subjective

OK so there may be certain trends, or algorithms editors are using to decide whether your book will appeal to the masses. But at the end of the day, it’s still going to be down to personal taste. You also never can be sure of the circumstances when your book reaches the top of the pile. They may have read two other promising and similar stories that day, they might be in a particularly bad mood, they might have forgotten to eat breakfast and be distracted by their hunger. Any number of factors could influence their decision, and apart from writing the best book you can and giving the best pitch you can give, they are pretty much entirely out of your control.

Rejection isn’t that bad.

We are so often told that rejection is crushing, soul-destroying, heartbreaking and so on. It’s all pretty dramatic. It’s all too easy to be influenced by this, to get sucked in. But really what's the point? Getting overly upset about rejection is a waste of your precious time, so have some more respect for yourself and your work, and accept rejection for what it is, an opinion, that’s all.

Let’s face facts; we’d all prefer to get a positive response than a rejection. However, if we can be a bit more practical about it and face the fact that it’s going to happen, instead of having what seems to be the widely accepted reaction of immediately turning into a wailing wreck, and claiming we’ll never write again we could instead accept it.

Take rejection on the chin. Be a bit thicker skinned and you may just be able to use it to make you a better writer.

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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How To Stand Out From The Crowd

We all know that one of the most significant challenges any writer faces is trying to be original. There are so many books out there, so many stories, and we can’t help but be influenced and inspired by the things we have read ourselves.

Telling a genuinely original story is difficult, some might even say it can't be done. However, to make our stories successful, they do need to say something that hasn’t been said before. They need to have something about them that makes them stand out from the crowd.

So how can you make sure that you aren’t just writing the same old stories, ones that will get lost amongst the sea of the work that is already out there? Here are some tips and methods to try to keep your work fresh and original.

Use your intuition

There is nothing quite as powerful as your intuition to help you make the right decisions about your work. If you are following your gut and your instincts, you’ll know when you are being lazy or not pushing yourself creatively. Always listen to that and you’ll rarely go wrong and keep your work as unique and original as possible.

Don’t follow the rules

With every story, with every genre, there are sets of ‘rules’ that writers are supposed to follow. Be a daredevil and break a few of them - or at least push their boundaries, their limits. Do this cleverly, go too far off-piste, and you might confuse and upset your reader, but remember, rules were made to be broken after all.

Be honest

The more brutally honest you are with your writing, the more authentic it will be. Try keeping a journal to make notes of the things you have done, the conversations you have overheard, the things you have observed and use these in your writing. No one sees the world through the same pair of eyes as you do. Use your unique perspective to make your book different.

Ask yourself questions

Throughout the writing process keep asking yourself questions. Don’t let yourself rest or be average. Always push yourself. Ask yourself how you can make that scene, that conversation, that setting more interesting, more exciting, more attention-grabbing. Keep asking yourself how your characters could be more unique, more unusual, more relatable. Do this before you start writing, as you are writing and after you’ve finished too.

Be influenced, be inspired, don't copy

We are never going to get away from our influences entirely, and it is okay to ‘borrow’ some ideas from other writers. However, there is a very distinct line between letting what you’ve read and loved kickstart your writing and just stealing ideas from other writers. The former is OK, the latter is a massive no-no, and your readers will call you out on it every time.

Trying to make your work stand out can be tricky, and scary. It might involve pushing yourself, even going to places that make you a little uncomfortable and taking risks that may or may not pay off.

However if you aren’t willing to do these things your book may never get its chance to shine, so be bold, be daring and do everything you can to make your book stand out from the crowd, if you do the rewards could be incredible!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

 

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Kickstart Your Freelance Writing Career

A freelance writing career can be a lucrative way for writers to make money while still having the flexibility to follow their passions and embark on other writing projects too.

It might be that a freelance writing career appeals so you can find time to work on that novel, or simply because you love to write and know you’d enjoy being your own boss and setting your own schedule.

Whatever the reason, to start off on the right track you need to be willing to put the work in. You have to accept that everyone has got to start somewhere and you can’t expect to land big contracts or get paid well right away.

Here are some things you can do to kickstart your freelance writing career:

Write blog posts for free

In the beginning, you may well have to do some writing for free. While this may seem frustrating, it is worthwhile. Having a robust writing portfolio and links to actual published work will help other potential employers take you seriously. They’ll be able to check out your writing style and trust that you can do a good job.

Decide on your speciality

Do you want to be a ‘jack of all trades’ or focus on just one niche or speciality? The former is good for those who enjoy all forms of writing, and of course, the job opportunities will be wider. The latter means you can develop your expertise in just one area and become the go-to writer for that sort of work.

Some areas you might want to consider are:

Writing website copy

Newsletters

Social media

Resume’s and cover letters

Ghostwriting

Sales copy

Podcast transcriptions

Features

Editing

Make sure you can set up a great website and portfolio, so you have somewhere to direct potential employers to. Always ask those you have worked for if you can mention them on your site or if they’d be happy to leave a review. The more positive feedback and the more significant your portfolio, the more professional you’ll look.

Know where to look for work

When first starting out, take a look at Elance/Upworkk/Fiverr. They are great websites with loads of different job postings for all kinds of writing jobs. It’s also worth contacting bloggers, magazines and newspapers to see if you can do any work for them. If you know your niche, get in touch with relevant companies and explain the services you could offer them. It’s all about pushing yourself rather than waiting for the offers to come to you!

If you are serious about kickstarting your freelance writing career, there is lots you can do. The sooner you start, the more quickly you’ll expand your writing portfolio, get great reviews and begin to build a reputation for yourself, and before you know it you’ll have a rewarding, flexible career that hopefully does more than pays the bills too!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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How To Sell Yourself As A Writer

Promoting yourself as an author is not always easy. Not only can the number of ways and different avenues you are able to take seem somewhat overwhelming, but the idea of actually trying to convince other people that your writing is worth paying attention to when you are not even sure of that yourself can feel particularly daunting.

We all know that selling books is hard work, and if you don’t have a big publisher behind you or a massive budget for marketing, you are going to have to do the lions share of the work yourself.

Promoting your work is hugely important. You can't just post your book on Amazon and somehow hope that people will read it. The market is thoroughly saturated, and there are now more books than there are readers to read them.

Learning how best to sell yourself as a writer is the only way you can hope to stand a chance!

So what are the things you can do to help boost your author profile and get your book noticed? Let's take a look.

Get social media savvy

Nowadays no matter how much we might try to resist it, social media is key to building a platform, reputation and a fanbase. Open several social media accounts to tap into different niches and interests and find different followers.

Have a great and useful author website

Having a good author website is essential and a stable platform where you can promote your book. However, it is essential to make your author website not only unique, exciting and eye-catching, but also useful. Make it easy to navigate, make it easy for fans to buy your book. If you don’t do this, you might attract visitors but not boost your book sales, and that’s kind of missing the point.

Write a captivating bio and introduction to your book

Spend time and make a real effort to create an author bio that says something about you, that gives the reader a picture of who you are and what you are about. The same goes for your book blurb. This is the one chance you have to get potential customers interested in what you are selling, so make it the best thing you’ve ever written!

Get reviews

Keep making an effort to get reviews for your book. The more positive reviews you have, the more popular you’ll seem and the more new readers will trust that if they buy your book, they’ll be getting a good read.

Blog your heart out

Blogging is a great way to promote yourself as an author. Keeping a blog up to date takes time and effort, and needs promotion in itself. However, the long-term rewards of a successful blog make it so worthwhile. Every single time you create a new post you are boosting your Search Engine visibility and reaching potential new fans.

Behave like a professional

Promoting yourself can be tedious, disappointing and frustrating at times, but ranting and raving, moaning and griping or giving up before you have given it your all won’t help you or your book. Always stay calm and professional and remember that perseverance is key.

Selling yourself as a writer may not come naturally, but it is an essential part of any writers road to success, so follow the tips above and start selling yourself today!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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How To Be Happy, Healthy, and Successful

When you ask most people what they life want in life, they’ll tell you a combination of being happy, healthy, and successful. But what if you could achieve all three at once? It may seem impossible to most but it’s quite the contrary.

Most people aren’t happy in life because they gave up on their dreams. Because they gave up on their dreams, they decide to be unhealthy. When you’re unhealthy, you will never feel as though you’re totally successful.

Everything you want in life starts with following your dreams. When you decide to give up on your dreams, everything in your life won’t be the best it could be. You’ll never be happy, healthy, or successful when you’re a quitter.

No matter how many failures you endure, you will always feel better about your life because you know you didn’t settle. You didn’t let someone else tell you what to do. The component towards feeling phenomenal in all three areas is making sure you chase your dreams.

There will be millions of people who live and die every single day. Right now you’re living but someday you will die. That’s a fact. Do you want to go your entire life knowing that you settled, that you could’ve done more? I don’t think you want that to happen. You’re not the type of person who wants to look back with regrets. You weren’t put on this planet to not follow your dreams.

If you haven’t noticed, most people aren’t as happy as they could be. They always want more out of their life without fully appreciating everything they already have. When you chase your dreams, you can appreciate everything you have in your life because you’ll never live your life with regrets. When you want to be happy, healthy, and successful it starts with doing what you love and not what someone else tells you-you should love.

 Trevor Oldham

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Do You Have These 3 Traits Of Every Successful Person?

When you’re looking to achieve any aspect of success in your life, you don’t have to look far. It’s doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, there are common success habits of every person that you need to follow today.

Reading

Every successful person reads. And when they read it’s almost always more than two books per month. They read because they know it will give them an advantage over the people who don’t read. But it’s more than just reading, it constitutes that you apply what you’re reading to your life. Before you start on another book, you’ll want to work on applying the principles you learned from the book you currently had read. Try to spend at least one hour each day reading.

 

Wake Up Early

It isn’t so much that waking up early gives you an advantage, it’s that it gives you the opportunity to get work done before the rest of the world is up. If you get up at the same time as everyone, you will experience conflict in your day whether or not you see it coming. You’ll never have a predictable day and you shouldn’t expect it to happen. Because you can’t predict your day, you can have tasks planned to do that never get accomplished for no fault of your own. By getting up early in the morning, you can get work done before life intervenes.

Plan Your Day

The last trait of every successful person is they plan their day. If you never play your day, you will never accomplish what you want to. When you plan your day, you decide what tasks will get completed and which tasks aren’t that important. If you don’t plan your day, then someone else will play your day for you. I don’t think you want someone else planning your day for you. Take the top five tasks you need to accomplish and work on them that day. No more or no less than five tasks. You don’t want your day to be too easy or overly hard. Over time, your tasks add up and you’ll be where you want to be.

What’s your favorite success trait?

 Trevor Oldham

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How To Get Back Into Writing

We have all had those periods of time where we become a little, erm, more relaxed with our writing schedules, and do you know what? That’s OK.

However problems can occur when that ‘off day’, the one where you gave up a little early then becomes an ‘off week’ then you suddenly find other things begin to take priority, your whole writing routine goes out the window, and you suddenly find the very idea of sitting down to write extremely daunting.

The good news is you can get back into writing if you want to. It takes a little courage, a little patience, a little determination. But if you persevere, before you know it, you’ll be back to being productive and inspired to write once more.

So what are the things we can do to kickstart our writing again?

Routine is everything

Establishing a manageable but productive writing routine is the best thing any writer can do to get themselves back on track.

Only you know the times where you are likely to be more productive and where there are gaps in your schedule where you’ll be able to fit things in. Base your writing routine around that and force yourself to stick to it for a whole month. It will be difficult at first, but by the end of those four weeks you are sure to find it so much easier, and then you can tweak your routine to become even more productive.

Start little and often

Having ridiculously high expectations of yourself is just setting yourself up for failure. You are going to be a little slow getting started so aim for writing a little every day rather than setting unrealistic goals or ones too far in the future to mean anything.

No pressure!

Let’s face it; if you haven’t written anything for a while, you may well be a little rusty so don’t worry if your writing isn’t excellent to begin with. The more you practice, the better you’ll get!

Reward yourself

Incentivise yourself to keep on writing by giving yourself rewards each time you hit a goal or milestone. They don’t have to be huge rewards but don’t underestimate the power of rewarding yourself to keep you motivated.

Get feedback and encouragement

Joining a writing group can not only provide you with invaluable feedback and advice but will also keep you motivated to keep writing, even when you don’t feel like it. So consider joining a writing group to help keep you on the right path.

Getting back into writing might not be easy, but it is so worth it when you do, and you suddenly find that writing becomes an effortless part of your daily routine once more. So instead of sitting around and feeling guilty and beating yourself up about not writing, do something about it today!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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