Cate Russell-Cole's Blog, page 18

Taming Your Piles of Files and Procrastination Stoppers!

When I was researching the Write Your Life Story course, I read as many how-to-write books on writing as I could get my hands on. Below are the great practical suggestions that apply to writers of any genre. Some of them are also great procrastination stoppers!

~ Set up a workspace and shelving where you can leave things undisturbed.

~ Be well stocked on stationary so you don’t have to search for materials.

~ Use a manilla folder filing system, or folders on your computer, for themes or life periods, years, events, however you decide to divide it up to be manageable.

~ Use a computer, typewriter or handwritten manuscript, whatever you are comfortable with.

~ Recycle abandoned wastepaper for use in drafts – it keeps the costs down and saves wastage.

~ It’s a good idea to keep rejected or reworked pages for a long time so you can go back to them. Put them in a box specifically for that purpose When finished, use them as scrap paper.

~ Keep two backups of work on two DVDS or portable hard drives.

~ Number each page before you start writing on it, or set up numbers in the footer of your word processor. That way you won’t get the pages mixed up when printed.

~ Put in dates, places. If you don’t write them down, readers won’t know where or when they took place. This is particularly important if you are doing a family history.

~ If telling a former way of doing things, e.g. grandma making butter, write down the steps that were taken to do it.

~ If you write like you talk, you’ll automatically take care of sentences and punctuation.

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2014. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. The featured image from this post comes from the web site linked to above.

Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

 

Filed under: The Memoir Project, Writing Resources Tagged: author, autobiography, Cate Russell-Cole, ideas, inspiration, life story, memoir, organisation, resource, safety of data, workspace, writer, writing

Mark Your Diaries: IndieReCon

Reblogged from Hunting Down Writing:

Mark your diaries - IndieReCon is back in February, still free to attend online, and this time around the Indie Writing conference features chats with Barry Eisler and JA Konrath. Go here to bookmark the IRC webpage.

Read more… 11 more words

An online writers conference for Independent Authors... I like it! Thanks Hunter. Also don't forget:



The two day online conference runs from noon to 8PM on Friday, February 21st and Saturday, February 22nd. Conference hours may change a bit to allow for more workshops. (WANA time is New York, USA)

Once again, the lineup of presenters and topics look good. These include Kait Nolan, Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, Gabriela Pereira and many others. Topics range from the normal how to use social media, to revision and healthy living for writers.

More information and signup here.

Is Your Blog Trapping You or Helping You Fly?

I’ve been looking at this debate for some time, as I see more and more bloggers talking of burnout and writers starting to rebel against the endless demands of what you must do to succeed! To settle the matter, I took a few hours out to read and properly absorb both sides of the argument. It is complex when it comes to the publishing industry. At the end, all I could do was make up my own mind about what was right for me. I have placed as many of the arguments here as I can (without this post being novel sized) so you can also make up your own mind. Don’t follow the herd: do what works for you!

A full discussion of the arguments for and against blogging can be found in “Phoenix Thriving: Conquering Stress and Burnout in the Blogging Life.” Phoenix Thriving is free with for a limited time if you buy a copy of “Phoenix Rising: Conquering the Stresses of the Writer’s Life.” See below for details. In the meantime, these are the clear warning signs on when you need to stop and rethink blogging.

When you find yourself filling in posts with anything, as you just want it done  and are tired, drained and over it!
Having no direction: which is sometimes apparent in writers with multiple blogs, unless they are for multiple purposes… but watch how much time that takes up!
Letting your self-esteem be dictated by reader statistics.
If it is an excuse for social media interaction which may be a sign you need to find a better answer to loneliness, or other tasks you are avoiding.
When you are investing too much time, and other higher priority tasks are going begging as a result.
Getting involved in blog challenges which run you into the ground with time demands and leave you wrecked.
When you have made such a hash of a blog that is screams lack of quality, poor commitment to your writing, or stands as testimony to an attitude that makes you cringe!
When your content is too personal and can do you damage in the future with potential relationships, employers or contacts in publishing and promotion.
Taking on guest bloggers, cover reveals and other sharing initiatives where you are used and not supported or thanked.
When the amount of effort invested is not getting you the results you need long term. If you are losing followers, not growing and this has been going on for at least six months, maybe it’s just not the medium for you…

… and you know something? That’s alright: you don’t H.A.V.E. to be a blogger. Do what is right for you. Write what you have in your heart and be true to yourself. Follower numbers aren’t everything.

Inside “Phoenix Rising: Conquering the Stresses of the Writer’s Life,” next to the CommuniCATE Resources for Writers blog link, there is a code. Buy the book, find the code (it’s easy, it’s in the first few pages) and email me at the address in the image below. I will send you a copy of the new book.

Please allow 2-3 working days for book receipt (and if you’re outside of Australia, remember I am a day ahead of you, so my Saturday is your Friday. Please allow for that.) Your email address will not be collected, used for a mailing list or misused in any manner. That would be downright rude. Once I am free of Kindle Select, the book will no longer be free.

Available from Amazon Kindle in the United States and United Kingdom. For other countries, go to their Amazon site and search for “Cate Russell-Cole” to find the books, or search by title.

Phoenix Rising was never intended to be a series, but the need to support writers has become so great, it has become one. I chose the image and title of the phoenix rising from the ashes in response to the battles writers face. I personally relate to the need to choose to rise upwards: away from the fire and into a clear sky to start again. If your creative energy is low, your word count flagging or the downsides of being a writer are taking away your joy, I hope this book will give you new strength and hope with which to spread your wings and find new freedom.

Chapters Include:

Measuring the Value of Your Work in a Digital Age
Healing Creative Injuries
Creative Dark Matter: Clear Out What’s Holding You Down
Bomb Proofing Your Writer’s Ego
Handling Criticism
Moving Ahead in Small Steps: Why Revolutions Rarely Work
Fat Free, Guilt Free Blogging Goals
Escaping Mental Quicksand: Your “Time of Readiness”
Is Your Writing Life Stuck Under Your Mouse?
Balancing the Blogging Load
Writers and Depression: Debunking the Stereotypes
Writers Should Be Bathed in Blue: Boosting Your Productivity
Which Wins? Creative Pleasure or Word Count?
Petwrification: A Health Warning for All Writers

This article / blog post is Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2013. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

Filed under: Author First Aid, Blog Building and Promotion, Blog Taming Month: Feb 2014, Book Marketing, Writing Resources Tagged: blog, blogging, books, creativity, failure, goals, motivation, passion, promotion, stress management, support, writer, writing

Keeping Social Media Running With Minimal Effort

I share resources for writers. The trouble is, there is so much great stuff out there and I have so little time on my hands, what is the most efficient way to do it? It’s a problem all bloggers and social media users have. How do you keep your streams running and avoid spending too many hours online?

Late last year I discovered a gem called IFTTT (pronounced like gift, but without the g and it is a gift…) It’s a free service where you can automate blog posts, status updates, photos, replies, anything online you can think of, through simple “recipes.” Used in moderation it’s brilliant. Overused, beware you may fall foul of Twitter’s policies as you will look like spam. Be wise!

As all I need it for is to auto-share six of my favourite blogs to Twitter, I believe I am quite safe. Say for example, if you want to share Kristen Lamb’s ”Warrior Writers” blog posts (which I frequently do), you make a recipe including Kristen’s RSS feed and your Twitter log in that looks like this:

You can add messages, hashtags: whatever you want to do. You can automate your own material the same way. In short, it means I can take days off and Kristen’s work is still being shared. I am less stressed because I have less tasks to juggle. I am not a fan of automation that replaces people and is impersonal, but for regular link sharing, it’s a sanity investment.

Getting the feed for most sites is easy. For any WordPress.com blog is is simply the page address with /feed/ on the end. Done! On other blogs, look for their RSS logo and click on it, copy the page address from the address bar. Done. You don’t NEED Feedburner etc., only the feed address.

Please check out the IFTTT site. There are 76 social media channels you can send info back and forth from. You can share photos from Instagram to Facebook and Twitter etc., auto text your family to say you are on your way home, have weather alerts emailed to you… have emails sent automatically… it is worth seeing for many reasons. This particular one is simply my current favourite.

For daily recipes, follow this account on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IFTTTRecipe or follow IFTTT for tips and recipes.

If the recipes are making your head spin, go to Youtube and watch demos there. That helped me get the hang of how to do this easily. It is very simple, efficient and a life-saver if you want time to yourself occasionally.

This blog post by Cate Russell-Cole is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You are free to share and adapt it.

Filed under: Blog Building and Promotion Tagged: Bitly, blogger, Buffer, Buzz, Craigslist, Delicious, Dropbox, email, ESPN, evernote, Facebook, Feedly, Fickr, Foursquare, Free Service, Google Reader, IFTTT, Instagram, Linked In, Pocket, RSS Feed, sanity, sharing, social media, Soundcloud, Tumblr, Twitter, Vimeo, wordpress, Yammer, Youtube

Ebook Sales Downturns: The Answer Is Outside Your Box

This year quite a few posts and predictions have circulated, saying that ebook sales are declining and thus Indie publishing is no longer viable or popular. This is worrying authors who self-publish. Take a moment to look with me outside the narrow confines of the publishing world and see what is really going on.

1. Here in Australia, like the rest of the western world, we have been going through an economic downturn for the past five years. Many, many businesses have closed; Governments have laid off obscene numbers of workers to cope financially. Services are cut, the cost of living has gone up. It is due to the long-term, poor global economic situation. Low sales are occurring among many sectors.

Low ebook sales are highly unlikely to only be caused by a publishing trend.

2. Slow economic growth means people have less “disposable income” to spend on things, such as ebooks. Cheap as they are, when you are paying a high rent, or a crazy mortgage, have insane petrol prices to battle, food costs more and you care for kids… there are precious few dollars left for luxuries.

3. This impacts the publishing industry: print and electronic. It is a **luxury home entertainment industry, especially when the coffers get to survival level. If consumers are struggling financially, readers will grab the many free ebooks, instead of paying. In the same way, consumers buy less clothes, electronics, don’t take holidays, cut back at Christmas, don’t upgrade to a bigger house and have hassles paying for the kid’s college fees.

This isn’t just about Indie / ebook publishing. Economies go through lows and highs all the time. It will come up again. Just wait it out and stay calm.

How to Cope:

Keep writing and wait it out. It will end. Just don’t panic!
Build your following.
Limit spending on non-essentials and advertising. Don’t go beyond what you can afford.
Hone your craft. This is the time to write, write, write and publish when conditions are more favourable.
Stop free periods on books. Make consumers buy and we will all do better. (Controversial, I know.)
Have hope!



For those who like a more technical explanation:

Go to the site of the International Monetary Fund where they state in a 2013 report: “Global growth is in low gear, the drivers of flows and currency depreciations that help attenuate activity are changing, and downside risks persist. China and a growing number of emerging market economies are coming off cyclical peaks. Their growth rates are projected to remain much above those of the advanced economies but below the elevated levels seen in recent years, for both cyclical and structural reasons… Looking ahead, global activity is expected to strengthen moderately but the risks to the forecast remain to the downside… Some new downside risks have come to the fore, while old risks largely remain. At the time of writing, a political standoff in the United States has led to a shutdown of its federal government. The projections assume that the shutdown is short, discretionary public spending is approved and executed as assumed in the forecast, and the debt ceiling––which may be reached by mid-October––is raised promptly. There is uncertainty on all three accounts. While the damage to the U.S. economy from a short shutdown is likely to be limited, a longer shutdown could be quite harmful. And, even more importantly, a failure to promptly raise the debt ceiling, leading to a U.S. selective default, could seriously damage the global economy.” (Thankfully, it was short.)

“Policymakers have shown their determination to keep the global economy away from the precipice. Aside from new cliff events, a growing worry is a prolonged period of sluggish global growth… Forestalling the plausible downside scenario or the advent of new crises requires further policy efforts, mainly in the advanced economies. Old challenges to be addressed include repairing financial systems and adopting a banking union in the euro area and devel- oping and implementing strong plans, supported by concrete measures, for medium-term fiscal adjustment and entitlement reform in Japan and the United States.” http://www.imf.org/

** United Kingdom Retail Growth 2013: More is being spent on food due to inflation, so area sees an increase in growth. The same has occurred in Australia. The United Kingdom is admitting to a recession.

“The biggest loser in 2013 will be the home entertainment sector, with declines in books, news & stationery of 2.8% and a steep fall of 6.3% in music & video. The lure of online away from brick & mortar retail is due largely to cheaper prices, as well as the increasing traction towards digital formats in place of physical items in these sectors, owing to streaming services and e- readers/tablets meteoric rise in popularity. “  http://www.sas.com/offices/europe/uk/downloads/retail/retail-predictions2013.pdf

This blog post by Cate Russell-Cole is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You are free to share and adapt it.

Filed under: What's On Tagged: ebook sales, global economic situation, publishing, publishing industry

How to Read Like a Writer

One of the best workshops a writer can take is found between the covers of books, and if you have a library card and return your books on time, it doesn’t need to cost a penny. Of course I’m talking about reading, often, widely, and deeply. Reading the work of others fires your imagination, and exposes you to myriad voices and ways of expressing thoughts and opinions.

Before I give you tips on how to turn your reading time into your own personal writer’s workshop, please heed this caution: Reading the polished prose of successful writers can put your Inner Critic on steroids. “I can never write that well,” it screams into your brain, hiding behind the first person pronoun as a disguise. “Why bother? My life is so dull, and my writing plain as dirt. I don’t know grammar and forget to run spellcheck. Nobody cares anyway. Why should I bother?”

Here’s what you shout back to that Inner Critic, out loud if nobody’s listening or you’re holding a cellphone to your ear: “I’m a student. I’m learning. I write better today than I did last (year, month), and next year I’ll be even better. If you look at the details, my life is amazing, and I’ll use this book to find a way to show that to other people.”

You don’t have to stick to reading memoir. Well-written novels, mysteries, travelogues, and other topical non-fiction books are also useful. Here are tips to make them do double duty for you:

Take notes. Since I generally read library books, I don’t make notes on the page, but I do stick in Post-It flags when I find an especially delectable description or a section that lights my fire. Right now I’m reading Christina Baldwin’s amazing book Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story. This book is like rich chocolate to me, so I’m taking my time with it. I’m only about a quarter of the way through, and it already looks like a porcupine, with pink quills sticking out the edges. Later I’ll sit at my computer as I go back through and transcribe notes from those sections. That works better for me than taking notes longhand on paper, but you’ll find your own system.

Ask the same question about the book as a whole. What did you like? What didn’t work as well? What questions are you left with? Why would you or would you not recommend this book to a friend?

Analyze. When you find those glowing sections, ask yourself what grabs your attention? What makes this section work especially well for you? Jot down the answers and create your own text or checklist to use when you are writing.

Review it. Write a review of the book. This may be a long and detailed or a few sentences. Post your review on Amazon if you feel brave and have an account. The process of writing the review helps you hone your writing skills and practice putting random thoughts in logical order.

Discuss it. Join a book discussion group, at your library or bookstore, or start your own. You can also find online book discussion groups. You can learn even more from hearing how other people experienced the book.

Books are indeed a powerful workshop, but I also encourage you to sign up for occasional classes, workshops and writing groups. Books can inspire your ideas and help you craft your content, but they will never supplant the value of feedback from compassionate and insightful readers. You’ll also benefit from reading books about writing, participating in teleseminars and listening to podcasts about writing.

Write now: write a short review of the last book you read. If it’s been awhile, visit the library and check out a few. Bring home several. You don’t have to read them all, but it’s helpful to browse through them and you’ll help the library by keeping circulation stats high.

This post is Copyright Sharon Lippincott 2009. All Rights Reserved Internationally

Filed under: Posts by Sharon Lippincott, The Memoir Project, Writing Resources Tagged: author, autobiography, ideas, inspiration, life story, memoir, reading, resource, Sharon Lippincott, writer

And on the Nth Day, God Created a Writer

Writing has never been hard for me. I loved English when in school and took every English elective there was available. Even Greek Mythology. I know, I’m probably not making many friends by making this statement. There are those out there who work very hard every day to learn how to write.

I applaud you and wish you tonnes of good luck.

God gave me the gift of writing. He probably looked down on me after He created me and said, “what the heck is she going to do with her life?”

Because He didn’t think I’d have a clue what to do, and He was right, He gave me the gift of writing. I thank Him every day.

I’m not physically fit.
I am not a mathematical genius.
I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler and a pencil.
I got a D in Home Economics.
Sports or games of any sort evade me.
I even got a degree in Computer Science and instead of programming I became a Technical Writer.

How about that?

I love to write. I love how to make words fit together to create sentences and then paragraphs and then stories. I adore creating stores. So much so, that I published nine novels and novellas.

I could have written more, however I ended up with a silly disease. It wrecked my ability to create novels. I have four 4-inch binders full of story ideas. Maybe I should donate them to a writer I know who will use them. But, then, maybe they won’t see the same idea for a story that I did.

What is the disease, you ask?

**Bipolar Disorder. Not only that, but medication resistant Depression. Along with Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, OCD, and PTSD, and XYZ. I threw in the last one just to fool you. There’s no disease titled, “XYZ,” but if there was, I’m sure I’d get it. (Links for more information and help with the disease are below.)

I give back to the world the only way I know how. To help other aspiring writers become authors. Great writers. I give so they can become more than they ever thought possible. I coach writers. I enjoy coaching writers for the fun of it. Although, getting paid is fun too!

I love to see them improve their writing skills and learn to write faster, and better, and stronger. I absolutely go into giggle spasms when a writing client taps into their own creativity and realizes they have what it takes to make it as a writer.

When I watch a timid, insecure writer become strong and confident, it makes me proud. I was a part of that change. I helped make it happen. And my awkward little caterpillar flies off into the world to become a beautiful writer.

Isn’t that what it’s all about? The circle of life. God created me, a writer. I help create authors from writers who never knew they had the ability inside them. And the circle continues.

I love writing. I hope you do as well.

Vicki M. Taylor is a writing coach for Your Writing Coach, at http://vmt-yourwritingcoach.blogspot.com

She is also an author and workshop presenter. She’s been writing for twenty-five years professionally, and for nearly fifty years as an amateur. She thanks God for her gift, and her grandmother for helping her discover it. She lives in Florida with her husband and pets: a dog and a parrot.

Follow Vicki on Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Google Plus

**For information on bipolar disorder, please go to: SANE Australia or the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

This post is Copyright Vicki M Taylor 2014. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Vicki’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using his work if it is for a commercial venture. 

Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Vicki M Taylor is the attributed Author.

Filed under: "Writing Lessons from the Writing Life" Tagged: author, Bipolar Disorder, books, creativity, depression, encouragement, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, goals, inspiration, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Attacks, post traumatic stress disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, success, Vicki M Taylor, writer, writing, Your Writing Coach

Steampunks, Stand & Be Counted!

Reblogged from Lisa Walker England:

"Steampunk, in its many forms, brings people together in an inclusive and helpful network of similar mind. From sharing book and music review opinions, to playing the newest games and sharing DIY information on fashion and props, the steampunk community easily and comfortably brings together people ages eight to eighty in ways not often seen in other communities." - Steampunk Hands Around the World…

Read more… 561 more words

Come on Steampunk writers, get involved in Steampunk Hands Around the World, this February. This will be a treasure trove. I am in! Many thanks to Lisa Walker England for this post.

February is Blog Taming Month on CommuniCATE Resources for Writers

Blogs are high maintenance creatures! They require time, technical know-how and survival skills which would serve you well in any military Special Ops Unit! February has been devoted to giving you posts which address these areas and will give you a hand getting organised, calm and successful.

Topics coming out include:

How to tell if your blog is trapping you and needs to be cut loose!
Content writing issues.
Handling needing time off for holidays or a brain-break.
Keeping to your writing goals.
Tips on overcoming Facebook’s timeline hassles so your posts get noticed.
Blog following services above and beyond the Blogger and WordPress built-ins.
Coding cheats so you look professional and don’t have to learn web code.
Micro-blogging as an option to consider.

The usual “Write Your Life Story Memoir Project” posts will also come out once a week.

Don’t forget to grab a copy of ”Savvy Blogging for Time Starved Writers,” a free pdf e-book containing the best blogging posts which have appeared on CommuniCATE Resources for Writers in the past two years. It places them together in one handy, downloadable volume from this link. There is no sign-up, no catches. It is a straight, virus-free download.

You are welcome to pass the book onto anyone, as long as my Copyright remains intact! This is an ISBN registered work and I own the rights Internationally.

Contents include:

Blog Treasures Hidden Within Plain Sight
Get Yourself a Second Brain
Identifying Slack, Fake and Egocentric Followers
Blog Post Promotion on Social Media: Instantly Hooking Attention
Sometimes, It Just Goes Wrong: When to Ditch!
The Best Kept Editing Secret
10% on Top: Being a More Efficient Writer
Professional, Effective Author Sites
Reader Engagement and Content Value in Blogs
Guest Posting As Advertising
Writing and Marketing As You
Faulty-Tasking
The Road to Success is Paved by Free Sharing

No cats or bloggers were harmed in the making of the month’s logo.

All book covers, concepts and contents are Copyright Cate Russell-Cole 2013 and 2014. All rights are reserved Internationally. You may not reproduce it in any form, in part of whole, without Cate’s prior written permission. That includes usage in forms such as print, audio and digital imaging including pdf, jpg, png etc. A fee may be requested for re-using her work if it is for a commercial venture. 

Link sharing and Pinterest pins are most welcome as long as Cate is the attributed Author.

Filed under: Blog Taming Month: Feb 2014, What's On Tagged: blog, blog maintenance, blogging, goals, ideas, organisation, planner, planning, resolutions, success, survival, tasks, writer, writing

Forget the 6pm News: the World IS Full of Good People… Especially Authors

Over the last week I have been totally blown away by the response to my post on author, Rags Daniels who has suffered a stroke. I have never seen so many re-blogs, tweets and shares. It has had me in tears quite a few times. When we look at the rotten we see represented in media, we forget that aside from the few bad eggs that get the publicity, there are millions of kind and generous people out there who do no harm. They are the every day, normal people who sadly, the narrow-minded media finds too boring.

Thank you so much everyone who has helped out. There is no new news on Rag’s Facebook page, neither on his son’s, but undoubtably they are busy helping Rags heal. Social media has it’s place, but at times like these, the greatest gifts are friends and family.

If you need a reminder of how generous the writing community can be, here is one: 680 shares, (500 still queuing up to go live on Twitter) and zero “No Shares.” This is just a slice of what I have seen.

Please keep passing the word around! Original post with Rag’s story and book details: https://cateartios.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/ragsappeal/

God bless you all.

Please follow these fellow bloggers who have kindly re-blogged my post.

Filed under: What's On Tagged: Appeal, author, Facebook, Google Plus, Rags Daniels, stroke, thank you, Triberr, Twitter