Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 50

Talk Your Way to Success – the Power of Positive Affirmations

Who are you? What do you want to be? A “real” writer? A published writer? A NY Times Best Selling author? I’m going to teach you (or remind you) about a secret power that you have. The power of the positive affirmation.

 

Repeat after me – “I am a successful writer.” Say it out loud in the mirror. Repeat twice a day.

 

This is a positive affirmation and watch out – it’s VERY powerful. An affirmation is a statement, repeated either verbally, mentally, and/or through writing. When we review the...

PROCRASTINATION: A Day In The Life…

I wake up with dread, knowing I have an ironclad this-is-really-it deadline looming. I’ve delayed long enough. The book is written, but other tasks MUST be completed. Final edits. Uploading files. Newsletter draft. Create ads. Schedule a blog tour. Secure beta readers. Update website. On and on. These tasks are not my strong points, but I must stay focused.

I routinely start my day with exercise, because good health is imperative. I never let anything—except bad weather or a good book—interfe...

Using My Kindle Fire to Proofread

After a three-year hiatus (the reasons why will be explained in another blog post), I had finally finished the next book in the Vista Security series, Edge of Trust, Vista Security book 3, which released in December 2015.  And I wanted to share the way I discovered that I think makes it much easier to proofread or do a little copy editing. A way that doesn’t include printing out hardcopy or staring cross-eyed at the computer screen for hours. And yes, I used it as well, on my upcoming release...

Processing your unique process

One of the parts of writing that I found the most difficult was understanding my process. There were plenty of people around who were glad to tell me how to write my stories. Outline, story board, character questionaires, exploratory chapters, the list goes on and on. Those are all good methods, but they didn’t help me understand what was going on in my brain. They didn’t help when I hit panic mode.

I wrote over twenty full length novels before I figured out panic is part of my process.

I wan...

Changes and Choices

As a writer I’m driven to understand the world around me through the lens of the storyteller. Why did that happen? Why do I feel that way? What’s the bigger picture? What are the possible outcomes?

Whether it’s how I’m hardwired or just something that’s evolved along with my writing as I’ve grown older, the world around me provides constant opportunities to wonder “what comes next?”

At no other time do we ask so many questions as when we’re in the midst of change. And while those periods can...

Writing in Series

I love romance series.  Reading them.  Writing them.  It seems even when I set out intending to write a stand-alone, by the time I get to The End I’ve got a cast of characters I can’t wait to come back to. 

The good news if you’re obsessed with writing series?  Series sell.  In the Data Guy presentation at last year’s national conference, it was clear that writers who wrote series were (on average) making almost twice as much from each book than those who exclusively produced stand alone titl...

Spring Holiday

Today and this weekend, The Rubies are renewing ourselves with our loved ones.  We’ll see you next week, but in the meantime check out the great blogs posted recently.

Have a blessed Easter or Passover. 

Jacqui Jacoby’s Friends By Choice

Friends by Choice.  Writers by Committal.

            I look at the clock now and wonder how it all went by so fast.  It was spring of 1996 when I answered an on American Online—then the premier internet service–and met up with two writers who would define the concept of “writing partners.”

            It started fairly typical: “I’ll look at your chapter if you look at mine.” The trouble with us, though, is after awhile the who did what of “keeping it even” disappeared.

            We calle...

The Great CP Search Is On! (Reprisal from 2011)

It’s not too late to post your CP profile, which can be added until late Friday night. 

If you’ve been a Ruby blog follower for a long time, you may recall my March 10th, 2011 article on critique partners — AKA cattle prods.   If you didn’t  read it, you might want to now as it’s relevant to this post.

During the RWA national conference we heard from many writers looking for a CP.  I won’t spout hearts and rainbows here and say finding a compatible CP is easy.  It’s not.  It’s a relationship...

Are Blogs History?

Recently, behind the red curtain, the question ‘if blogs are history’ came up and a great discussion followed.   It’s hard for us to know the correct answer, because our brick counter tells us we have between 650 – 1000 reads a day, which is pretty awesome. And some days, only sisters comment while on others the world speaks up. This same question arose at my local writers meeting this past weekend.  

Promotion is a big topic for writers, whether you’re traditionally pubbed or self-pubbed. Bl...