Rob Bignell's Blog, page 309

Writing Inspiration: Writing heals my heart like no pill ever could

All too often in our modern day and age, we attempt to cure every ailment with a pill or capsule. That might be fine for our physical aches and for the most serious of mental illnesses, but it’s not so wonderful for the moments when we just feel down or stressed out.

Writers, though, know that for those pains a different kind of tablet than the one you pick up from the pharmacist is best for the soul.

Writing itself is a healing activity.

It allows you to detach. When the problems of the world or the heart threaten to crush you, sometimes you simply must toss off the burden. Writing allows you to let go by entering a new world, one in which the ex’s latest nasty words or the boss taking credit for the work you did all disappears. They pale to your main character struggling to solve a murder or to you telling the world about the one thing you feel so passionate about.

It allows you to rebuild your self-esteem. Writing is among your many strengths and talents. Being productive at something you enjoy and are good at is like salve on those deep cuts to your ego. Rather than feel defeated when you were passed over for a promotion at work or when your mother lays into you again about still not being married, get up and hit the punching bags with your creativity.

It allows you to have hope. In the world of your novel, you can entertain readers and ensure right wins in the end; through the pages of your nonfiction book, you can give people the knowledge they need to change their worlds for the better. That ability to help others while furthering your own future in turn will inspire you to greater heights.

So here’s the editor’s prescription, writer: 1000 words daily until next checkup.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Fort Worth, Texas, or a small town like Tightwad, Missouri, I can provide that second eye.

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Six great topics for authors to tweet about

Setting up a Twitter account to promote your books is easy enough, but once you’ve finished that, the real challenge begins: actually writing tweets.

Never mind that for most writers limiting oneself to 140 characters is a toughie. Still, with a little practice that obstacle can be overcome (You are a writer, after all!). The big problem is what to tweet about.

Actually, there’s a lot you can tweet about, even if you’re in the middle of writing books. The key is to tweet about topics that have wide appeal yet relate to your books and that invite discussion (and ALWAYS include links!).

Here are some ideas:
g Your blog headline – Did you just pen an entry about the latest talk in the self-publishing or book world? Tweet that blog entry’s headline, such as New survey says Twitter No. 1 social media for writers.
g Writing-related events you participate in – While these tweets won’t be highly read, they do help establish you in other’s eyes as a professional, serious writer. One way to make them more interesting is to find something unique in the event to report; for example, My fifth-grade teacher attends my book signing!
g Your interests and likes – Just finish reading a good book or thought about an old one you really enjoyed? Tell the world and invite them to share their likes: My favorite childhood book is Green Eggs and Ham. Yours?
g Topics related to your book – If you write about zombies, for example, almost any tweet related to that subject works: Excited about new zombie TV series, Dirty Dead Men. Have you seen trailers?
g Interesting news articles related to your book’s topic – Should you write science fiction novels about extraterrestrials and a new report comes out on the subject, then tweet that news article’s headline: Scientists predict first alien contact by 2050. Will they be right?
g Quotations touching on your book’s topic – If your book is about food, you might use a humorous quotation, such as: “My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor.” – Phyllis Diller

Remember that the goal of your tweets is to build readership by by connecting with people and in doing so bringing their attention to your books. The best way to do that is to not exclusively run promotional tweets like Do you want to read a great science fiction novel? with a link to your book’s Amazon page. Each of the above tweet topics, however, can build readership and hence sell your books.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

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Self-publishing tip: Revise by deconstructing

While analyzing y our own draft, try deconstructing the piece into the various elements of fiction (plot, setting, character, point of view, theme, style, etc.). This can be beneficial in determining what is missing. Revising the manuscript by focusing on one element at a time probably isn’t very workable, however. These elements work together to make an integrated whole, and so the story needs to be approached holistically.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Youngstown, Ohio, or a small town like Hogshooter, Oklahoma, I can provide that second eye.

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Tie the grammar knot: Fiancée vs. fiancé

Writers who engage in the use of these two words sometimes find themselves a little red-faced when their writing comes before an audience.

A fiancée is a woman who is engaged to be married while a fiancé is a man who is engaged to be married. The easy way to remember them as that “female” has two e’s in it, as does fiancée, while “male” has one e, as does fiancé.

Follow that simple rule, and you’ll get the spelling right until the day you die.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Seattle, Washington, or a small town like Uncertain, Texas, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing prompt: Sensuous dissection

Suffering from writer’s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your routine. To that end, try this tip: Pick one object in your story that you would like to write about. Spend 15 minutes writing a sensuous dissection of it. What does it look like? What does it sound like? Smell like? Feel like? Taste like?

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Portland, Oregon, or a small town like Papa, Hawaii, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing prompt: Open story with foreshadowing

Suffering from writer’s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your routine. To that end, try this tip: Foreshadowing is another tried-and-true way of opening a story and can be very useful if you’ve already brainstormed or outlined the story’s premise and characters. For example, if the book is about how far one has to go to defend themselves and others they love, you might write, “I’d never really thought about how I would kill someone though I’d certainly given plenty of thought to who I might knock off.”

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Charlotte, North Carolina, or a small town like Butts, Georgia, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations for Aspiring Authors

“The process of becoming a writer involves discovering how to use the accumulated wisdom of our guild, all those tricks of the storytelling trade that have evolved around the campfire over the past five or ten or fifty thousand years. Others can show what those tricks are. But only you can make a writer out of yourself, by reading, by studying what you have read, and above all by writing.” - Robert Silverberg

“Here are the two states in which you may exist: person who writes, or person who does not. If you write: you are a writer. If you do not write: you are not.” - Chuck Wendig

“The difference between wanting to write and having written is one year of hard, relentless labour. It's a bridge you have to build all by yourself, all alone, all through the night, while the world goes about its business without giving a damn.” - Shatrujeet Nath

“I've got a folder full of rejection slips that I keep. Know why? Because those same editors are now calling my agent hoping I'll write a book or novella for them. Things change. A rejection slip today might mean a frantic call to your agent in six months.” - Mary Janice Davidson

“Believe in yourself and in your own voice, because there will be times in this business when you will be the only one who does...in the end, only the strong survive.” - Jayne Ann Krentz

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Jackson, Mississippi, or a small town like Fleatown, Ohio, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing Inspiration: Others dream of writing a book – I am living that dream!

Almost everyone has a big dream, a fantasy of sorts in which they live the “perfect” life. Maybe it’s sailing the waters on a fishing boat, maybe it’s traveling around the globe, maybe it’s being an astronaut exploring the realms of space.

For writers, that big dream usually consists of writing a book that is a bestseller, allowing them to quit their day job and writing in leisure.

Many writers, however, never get past the first element of that big dream – writing the book. They find themselves bogged down with career or school, discover that family eats up their free time, settle for simply maintaining their home. For them, the dream is something they might get to later, maybe in retirement. Maybe...

If you’ve started your book or short story or poem, however, you’ve begun to live your dream. Sure, you haven’t reached the epitome of your dream, that day when a publisher hands you a million dollar advance and says, “Write whatever you want!” But that’s more of the fantasy element of the dream, anyway.

Suppose that your dream is to own your own business. The fantasy element might be to build it into a Google-sized company that you sell to another for billions. The actual dream, though - the part that matters most - is to be your own boss, to manage your company’s fate, to grow something that is a legacy to your family. Those who take the leap and become entrepreneurs are living their dream.

By writing your book today, you are just like that entrepreneur. You are managing your own literary fate, aare creating something so that your children and grandchildren will know you as “the author.”

Entrepreneurs who start building their own business put in a lot of hard work and thankless hours just to make their first dollar. A writer who’s penning a book is at the same stage.

The fruits of your efforts need not have been plucked for you to live your dream. After all, a man is a farmer as soon as he sows the seed, not when the harvest comes in. A woman is an entrepreneur as soon as she opens her doors for business, not when sales reach a predetermined number. And you are a writer the moment you start writing, not when you’ve sold your first book.

So keep living your dream – write today!

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Des Moines, Iowa, or a small town like Whynot, Mississippi, I can provide that second eye.

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How to select a great Twitter profile picture

When using Twitter as part of your author’s platform, perhaps the element to pay most attention, at least initially, isn’t your tweets but your profile picture.

The profile picture is the thumbnail that accompanies each one of your tweets. On both your home and profile pages, it is the prominent square photo that appears on the upper left of the screen.

This picture is important because it typically is the first visual one has of you as an author. The human eye almost always is drawn to an image before text. Because of this, with a simple glance at your profile picture potential readers of your tweets and the links they lead to gather quick, often subconscious impressions about you.

Due to this, there are three items you probably don’t want to use for your profile picture. The first is cute animals and your children. Of course, a cat, dog and baby, no matter how adorable, doesn’t say “professional writer.” Another picture to stay away from are those of objects that suggest writing, such as a pile of books, a bookcase full of books, a typewriter, a computer keyboard, a quill, etc. None of these say you are a writer (You could be a librarian or simply a bibliophile, after all), either, and all are better used in your header photo. A third picture to avoid is that of your published book’s cover. The thumbnail that accompanies your tweets is simply too small for the cover to be readable and hence recognizable.

Instead, use a professional-looking picture of yourself. It should be a close-up of your face, as the whole body will get lost in the tiny thumbnail. Ideally, the picture will in some way be memorable, not just another mug shot, so if you have a signature killer smile or way of locking on someone with your eyes, go for it. In addition, a thumbnail should be of high resolution with a bright, high contrast so that the foreground (your face) stands out from the background.

Once you have a profile picture, stick with it for some time, perhaps a couple of years. This allows readers to become familiar with your photo and to instantly associate your tweets with you.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, or a small town like Cluttsville, Alabama, I can provide that second eye.

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Frontlist, backlist mean little in self-publishing

After you’ve self-published several books, you’ll likely encounter a couple of terms that categorize your writing: frontlist and backlist.

In corporate publishing, frontlist refers to your new titles that have just been released. The backlist are older books that are steady sellers. Often, corporate publishers would look at an author’s backlist and no longer print those that didn’t sell well. The only way for readers to get copies of books removed from the backlist would be to borrow from a library and scour used book stores.

In self-publishing, your book never goes out of print unless you personally decide to remove it from sale. That’s because the book actually isn’t printed until someone orders it, hence there’s no need to store unsold copies in a warehouse, the cost of which was a primary reason corporate publishers decided to remove books from authors’ backlists.

Still, the terms are somewhat useful in differentiating your newly released material from your older books. For example, your marketing and promotional efforts will focus on your new releases, or your frontlist.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Denver, Colorado, or a small town like Dewey Beach, Delaware, I can provide that second eye.

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