Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 43

February 27, 2021

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 58,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers. While you're there, check out the Writer's Digest award-winning Hiveword novel organizer.

Have you visited the WKB lately? Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox! Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

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Published on February 27, 2021 21:01

February 21, 2021

How My Creative Pursuits Inform My Writing

by Rhiannon Gelston

I consider myself a rather creative person. Not just in what I do, but in how I view things.

My mom is extremely creative and I do think that it is something that might just be inherent in me from her, but I won’t get into a big nature vs. nurture discussion. I do know I came from someone creative and so it was appreciated while I was growing up. I was exposed to creativity and given some freedom to develop that side of me. We were always making something. I wanted to be an artist and could lose myself (still can) in drawing, painting, coloring, and creating. All of the kids in my family, when creating, knew how to pay attention to the details that mattered and to let the other ones go.

In creating, there is a point where you just have to let go and do it. I also tend to be very in-tune with what is around me. I notice things. I try and make time to notice things. I think that is at the heart of all creativity – noticing things. Writing is just one expression of that, one way to capture those moments.

When I write, I throw myself into the moment I am trying to describe and let my imagination and senses take over. I see the colors, I hear the sounds, I feel all the feelings. I love art and the visually stimulating scenes that I see around me on a daily basis, whether on a canvas, or in mother nature. I love music and can lose myself in the sounds of a favorite song, or just as easily in the sound of one of my kid’s big belly laughs, which is also music to my ears. My senses are ready to soak it all in.

These observations of the senses are at the core of my writing. I think everything we do is a creative pursuit in some way. Whatever it may be, how we approach it, how we do it, how we interpret it, and how we remember it, it is all unique to the individual. All of these moments I have lived and noticed, both the big and the small, are the creative pursuits that inform my writing.

***

I’m delighted to be participating
in author Rhiannon Gelston’s blog tour for her latest release, LARK AND
THE LOON.

◊ Genre: Memoir with a Twist
◊ Publisher: WiDo Publishing (July 17, 2020)
◊ Print & eBooks
◊ Paperback: 284 pages
◊ ISBN-10: 1947966251
◊ ISBN-13: 978-1947966253

Lark and the Loon follows
the adventures of a tentative boy named
Lark, as he is catapulted out of all that he
knows, into a courageous journey beyond his wildest
imagination.

Upon receiving a special gift
from his Gramps, Lark embarks on a reflective journey of self-discovery as the
innovative story weaves the true-life memoir of his mother (the author) in with
a fantastical journey. With some special new-found friends, Lark travels back
and forth from a symbolic tree to his mother’s true memories of life and death
moments, and simple moments, found everywhere from wild Africa to their very
own living room. Lark and his friends must ascend this tree and gain the
important life lessons offered along the way if they ever hope to find their
way out. Within this journey, Lark finds these lessons, and ultimately himself,
in the space between imagination and truth in this wild tale.

The story explores friendships,
philosophies, and everyday challenges and joys, both from a child's perspective
and from a parent's perspective. This memoir with a twist results in a coming-of-age
story that ultimately leads to a new understanding of self, others, and the
world that surrounds us.

LARK AND THE LOON is
available at AMAZON * Barnes & Noble * WiDo Publishing. Also, be sure to add it to your TBR List
on Goodreads.

Meet the
Author

RHIANNON GELSTON loves to
lose herself in all things creative. She enjoys writing, painting, live music,
traveling, sports, being outdoors, exploring, playing, spirituality, and energy
work. She has a BA in English and an MS in Occupational Therapy with a
pediatric focus. Rhiannon just had her first novel published. It is a memoir
with a twist called, LARK AND THE LOON, available wherever books
are sold.

Rhiannon grew up on Spa Creek in
downtown Annapolis. Home for Rhiannon will always be the sound of the halyards
hitting the masts on a breezy day, a pile of crabs saturated in Old Bay,
raft-ups with friends as kids cannonball off of the stern, and time with family
and friends, in, on, and around the Chesapeake Bay.

She lives in Annapolis with her
husband, their five lovely and lively children, and their black lab, McNasby.

Connect with Rhiannon on Facebook and Instagram.

Writer Rhiannon Gelston on How a Creative Life Informs Her Writing:
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Be sure to enter the tour wide
giveaway. It ends May 3. The grand prize is a $25 Amazon Gift Card and an eBook
of LARK AND THE LOON. The second-place winner has to be a US
resident as the gift is a signed copy of LARK THE LOON. The third-place
prize is an eBook that two winners will receive. If the Rafflecopter widget
doesn’t work, you can still enter by clicking HERE.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by today.
Doesn’t this sound like an intriguing memoir?

Photo on Visualhunt

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Published on February 21, 2021 21:02

February 20, 2021

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Business / Miscellaneous Not making enough money, freelance writers? @pubcoach 7 Freelance Writer Website Examples to Help Create Yours and Get Clients: @dorakardoslatif @copyfolio_How To Write A Fiction Book Proposal: @alexadonne Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous How to Maximize Book Readings and Signings: @CathyFyock @EdieMelson UK: Rathbones Folio Prize Names Its 2021 Shortlist: @Porter_Anderson @RathbonesFolio @CalebFemi_ @elainefeeney16 @moniqueroffey @rachelnalong @carmenmmachado @aminamemory @DoireannNiG Wales’ 2021 Hay Festival Returns in an All-Digital Format: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives Publishing Scotland Announces £23,000 in New Translation Grants: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives @PublishScotland Venice’s Mauri School 2021: ‘The State of the Book’: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers Winter Sports as an Element in Crime Fiction: @MargotKinberg A Crime Reader's Antidote to Valentine's Day: @mollsotov89 @CrimeReads Crime Fiction: Reader Pet Peeves: @MargotKinberg Fiction to look out for in 2021: @ahmpreston @GuardianBooks The Skill List Project: Reading Voraciously: @jamesagard Nonfiction to look out for in 2021: @MsRachelCooke @GuardianBooks Enigmatic Characters in Crime Fiction: @MargotKinberg Accidental Snooping in Crime Fiction: @MargotKinberg Seven Cozy Poems of Winter: by Angela Yeh @DIYMFA The Best Loved Detective Agencies in Fiction: @Tess_Amy_ @CrimeReads Intense Crime Thrillers for Fast Reads: by Sarah Ciacia @BooksThatThrill On the Darker Standalone Novels from the Baby-Sitters Club Author: @NewberyTarts @lithub Why Classic Crime Fiction Was Obsessed With Fashion: @Tara_Moss @CrimeReads Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing “Nine Guiding Principles To Order My Steps As A Writer in 2021”: by Jeanine DeHoney @womenonwriting Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer's Block Resistance to Writing and Dreams: @SPressfield Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly How to Be a Writing Machine: @MichaelLaRonn Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life A Mindset Shift for Writers: @ChadRAllen How To GTD A Moleskine Notebook: Step-By Step: @BryanJCollins Story as Shopping: @annehawkinson @FloridaWriters1 5 Ways Journaling Improves Your Daily Life: by Jo Wnorowski @DIYMFA Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: The Six Word Test: @GoIntoTheStory Why You Shouldn’t Live with a Fictional Romantic Hero … During a Pandemic: @TaraSparling @annerallen All is Fair in Love and Noir: 10 Destructive Romances for Valentine’s Day: by Zach Vasquez @CrimeReads ‘I can cry just thinking about it': the most romantic moments in literature: @GuardianBooks The “Book Two” Syndrome: by Niki Kantzios @FloridaWriters1 How Building Your Self-Awareness Makes You a Better Writer: @writingcookbook “The Story We Know”. Reflections on a poem: @GoIntoTheStory A Semi-Colon Moment: @ThereseWalsh @WriterUnboxed Nutty Reader Emails: Writers Review Readers: @RuthHarrisBooks @annerallen Kwame Alexander on Learning, from a Young Age, to ‘Use His Words’: @kwamealexander @FirstDraftADOW @lithub How Your Writer's Intuition Knows Which Advice Works-: @LauraHighcove @DIYMFA Best Music for Writing: @mindofkyleam @ProWritingAid Writing: Finding Community and Support: @debluskin 7 Ways to Stay Sane When Working by Yourself: by Tom Meitner @ProWritingAid What Do I Do When My Story Isn't Going Anywhere? @10minnovelist Genres / Literary Fiction How to Promote Literary Fiction: @JaneFriedman @AuthorMedia Genres / Mystery What goes into a good cozy mystery novel: @ReadAlessandra @AuthorsAi Crime Writing: The FBI Does This, But Not That: @LeeLofland Crime Fiction: Characters Who Keep Being Pulled Back Into a Criminal Life: @MargotKinberg Genres / Screenwriting The Theology of Cinema: Grace: @GoIntoTheStory Screenwriting: Page One: ‘The Hateful Eight’ (2015) : @GoIntoTheStory Interview With the Vampire Shows the Strengths and Weaknesses of Adaptation: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants Screenwriting: Page One: ‘The Princess Bride’ (1987): @GoIntoTheStory Interview (Written): The Filmmakers of “Soul”: @GoIntoTheStory Pixar’s Soul Aims to Spark an Appreciation for Life: by Andrew Tejada @tordotcom Wonder Woman 1984 Is Bursting With Unfinished Thoughts: @use_theforce_em @tordotcom Genres / Short Stories A Short Story Writing Checklist: @cleemckenzie @TheIWSG Promo / Images Book Mockup Generators: 5 Free Tools for Promo Images: @Self_Pub_School Promo / Miscellaneous Book promotion tips: Promo Stacking: @DavidGaughran Create a Better Amazon Book Promotion with a Pre-Order: @Bookgal 20 Ways to Get Yourself Out There as a Writer: by Kelly D. Smith @TheRyanLanz Promo / Newsletters Author Newsletter: How to build an email list: @SmartAuthors Promo / Platforms Your platform is an experience to create: @DanBlank Promo / Pricing 9 Ways To Unleash The Power of Free In 2021: @DavidWalker1201 Promo / Social Media Tips Best Facebook Author Pages: 16 Examples That Inspire: @miblart 7 Things To Do When Social Media Frustrates You: @EdieMelson @SouthrnWritrMag Promo / Speaking Polish that PowerPoint Presentation to Perfection: by Rod Martinez @FloridaWriters1 Promo / Websites A Checklist to Update Your Blog and Website: @EdieMelson Publishing / Miscellaneous How to Get the Best Out of Your Publishing Team: @dkparsonswriter @SelfPubForm USA: Princeton University Press Opens Diversity-Driven Development Grants: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives @PrincetonUPress Coming in March: A New Platform for the Pubeasy Ordering System: @Porter_Anderson @rschild @nielsen @pubperspectives An Editor: “Asking the Question I Can’t Answer “: @noshingshiksa @brevitymag Publishing / News / International Publishing Rights Outlook: Books From Québec Flourishing in German: @oliviasnaije @pubperspectives Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying “How I Landed a Book Deal Via Twitter—Unintentionally”: @nerdseyeview @JaneFriedman Publishing / Process / Services to Avoid Pique Literary: Unmasking a Fake Literary Agency: @victoriastrauss Writing Craft / Characters / Development Limits of the Warrior Archetype: @SPressfield Writing Craft / Conflict Are Conflicts Based on Misunderstandings Always Contrived? by Chris Winkle @mythcreants Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film How Chekhov Cuts to the Heart in Uncle Vanya: by Jacke Wilson @lithub Writing Craft / Miscellaneous Quick Writing Tip: Accents: by Bucket Siler Five Ways to Build Your Storytelling Muscles: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants Utilize the Power of Breath Units to Write Masterfully: @LiveWriteThrive Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar Grammar Vs Syntax: What Every Writer Should Know: @BryanJCollins The Em Dash and I—A Love Story: @jamesscottbell Writing Craft / Revision A Story Revision Checklist: @LinWilsonauthor Writing Craft / Scenes Scene Dynamics: @ZaraAltair A 5-Minute Fix to Jump-start Your Scene: @Janice_Hardy Writing Craft / Series On Writing a Book Series: @PaulaSMunier @CareerAuthors Writing Craft / Settings and Description How to Fictionalize Your Town in Your Novel: @ZaraAltair Writing Craft / Transitions Nothing Like a Smooth Transition: @61647Edge @FloridaWriters1 Writing Tools / Miscellaneous How to Write More in Less Time with Voice Recognition: by Jenna Harte The Ultimate Guide to Tools and Tech for Indie Authors: @OrnaRoss @IndieAuthorALLI

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Published on February 20, 2021 21:01

February 14, 2021

How Building Your Self-Awareness Makes You a Better Writer

by Kristina Adams , @writingcookbook

Self-awareness helps us to recognise our positives and negatives without being harsh or judgmental. We know things are what they are, and we know that if we dislike something, it’s completely within our power to change it.

It can help us deal with stress, anxiety, depression, and even physical health conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. (I know this as a sufferer of all of the above for many years).

Some people are naturally more self-aware than others, but, like everything in life, it’s a skill that can be learned.

Sometimes self-awareness comes from trauma, counselling, or a treatment programme for a health condition. Occasionally it comes from a desperate need to improve ourselves.

But one important thing to remember is that you can’t think your way into becoming more self-aware. Reading tips on how to do it is a good starting point, but it’s the actions you take that will build your self-awareness.

Now, how does this all tie into writing?

Well, let’s take a look at how self-awareness makes you a better writer:

You’re more objective

One of the best things about self-awareness is an ability to pull yourself out of your own mind and see things more objectively.

Objectivity is a really helpful tool to use when facing our emotions, but it’s also helpful for facing our writing.

Editing can be an expensive and time-consuming process. When you’re more self-aware, you’re more open to the fact that your first draft (or even your finished book) won’t be perfect—there will always be things you can do to improve.

Not in a “your writing sucks” kind of way, but in a, “writing is a journey, and each book is a stop along that journey” kind of way.

When you view your own work objectively, you’re more likely to read it critically, like a reader, reviewer, or editor would. That makes it easier for you to spot plot holes, unintentionally flat characters, and overly used phrases. All these things make for a better finished story by the time you’re done.

You learn to spot areas for improvement

Everyone has areas they can improve on. If none of us did, our lives would be super boring.

There’s always a new skill we can learn, a new approach to an old technique, or a new way of looking at a problem. This endless sea of writing techniques is one of the great things about writing—it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been publishing for, there’s always something to learn.

Self-awareness means you don’t mind that you have areas to improve on. Your relish in those areas because they’re a new challenge.

Facing—and overcoming—new challenges builds our confidence, our resilience, and yes, our writing skills.

You’re comfortable in who you are

Nobody is perfect, but self-awareness means we’re not hard on ourselves for just being, you know, ourselves.

It’s really easy to get into a vicious cycle of self-hatred and self-loathing, especially when so many of us can’t go outside right now, but the more you ruminate on these feelings, the worse you’ll feel and the less you’ll get done.

And the further away you’ll push your writing, because you don’t feel worthy of doing it.

Self-awareness means you can identify these feelings, learn the ways to healthily pull yourself out of them, and face them faster.

It’s not about fixing your life’s problems—it’s about acknowledging that they’re holding you back, but you’ve totally got this. When you acknowledge problems—even ones outside of your control—it’s much easier to let them go.

You understand emotions

Well-articulated emotions are key to readers developing a close relationship with your characters. But to be able to write emotions in depth, you need to understand them.

If you’re constantly pushing your emotions away, bottling them up, or refusing to acknowledge that you even have them…how can you write about them?

Readers can’t get emotionally attached to characters they don’t know that well. The deeper you explore your characters’ emotions, the more your readers get to know them. They’ll then be more invested in your story and want to buy more of your books.

Some of my favourite authors do this suuuuuper well, to the point where I’ve almost been crying when the characters cry in the book. These deeper emotions make your reader feel like they’re living those emotions alongside your character—they’re in your character’s red stilettos or scruffy Converse—and they just need a good cry. Or kiss. Or mystery solved. You get the idea.

You know your triggers

We all have triggers. Sometimes they’re triggers that stop us from doing the very thing we want or need to do; sometimes they cause a panic attack; sometimes they make our chronic pain flare up; sometimes they give us writer’s block.

You can’t overcome your triggers if you don’t know what they are. Noticing them, and acknowledging them, helps you to face them. You can train your brain to not associate exercise with pain, or a blank Word document with writer’s block.

We become who—and what—we think we are, and so the more we ruminate on things that we think trigger us, the more likely they are to trigger us.

When you offer yourself some comfort, whether that’s some time with a good book, your favourite TV show, or a walk with the dog, it calms your brain and stops it from associating an event with a specific feeling.

One way to comfort yourself, if you find yourself struggling, is to talk to yourself. Remind yourself that you’re OK, you’re safe, and you’ve totally got this.

It sounds bonkers, but I’ve used this technique many times and found it one of the best ways to deal with my anxiety, anxiety-triggered fatigue, and chronic pain.

You’re kind to yourself

Most of us are too hard on ourselves.

Self-awareness teaches you when you need to be kind to yourself, and when you can push yourself further.

Take my new exercise regime as an example. I’m incredibly unfit thanks to asthma and chronic pain. I tried to do ten minutes a day for three days in a row, and by the end of day three, I couldn’t walk. I hadn’t listened to my body’s protests as I walked down the stairs, when it was telling me I needed to lay off the exercise so that it could recover.

I ended up walking down the stairs swearing for almost a week.

Take two: I’m going to alternate exercise days, to give my body time to recover. And also alternate types of exercise—walking the dog is a lot less strenuous than weights or core.

The pain in my legs was my body’s way of telling me I needed to slow down, but I hadn’t listened to it.

Sometimes, when you’re stuck, it can be your brain’s way of telling you to rest. One of the ways I identify this, is when it feels like something is buzzing in my brain. Like there’s a bee there, and it won’t go away.

Other times, my eyes tell me by making the words on the screen blurry.

Or sometimes it’s my hands, when typing becomes painful during a long writing session.

Our body warns us to slow down in a variety of subtle ways; we just don’t always listen to it.

But take it from someone who’s burned herself out more times than she can count: you’ll achieve more by slowing down now, than by forcing yourself to keep going and hitting breaking point.

You know when to challenge yourself

While being kind to yourself is important, you won’t grow if you don’t challenge yourself. Self-awareness teaches us what those slow down warnings look like, so that we know when it’s actually a situation we can push ourselves through.

Many, many things in life are mind over matter. Ask any personal trainer and they’ll tell you that most people can exercise more than they think, but they’re scared to push themselves beyond their comfort zone and feel the burn the next day. Writing is similar.

Sometimes we’re afraid of writing about something that’s a new experience to us, or we’re afraid of going to that deep, dark place in our character’s minds. Since we have to go to that place in our own minds in order to write, and edit, it.

But when we tap into those places we’re afraid to go to, the outcome is amazing.

One of my friends is about to publish her first book. When she was editing it, she knew that it was missing how cold the main character needed to be for the story to work.

So I set her a challenge. I asked her to go to the darkest places in her mind and write about how angry past people and events made her. She was afraid of the exercise, but she did it.

And when she came out the other side, she felt like a different person. She was no longer afraid to tap into those dark places, because she’d done before and survived it. There were no repercussions to her exploring her full depth of emotions. She needed to know and accept that before exploring it in her fiction.

There’s no shame in feeling what you need to feel, nor is there shame in not being ready to face something that’s happened to you. But the longer you put off facing the inevitable, the harder it becomes to challenge yourself, and the further away you are from your writing goals.

Kristina Adams is the author of twelve books and too many blog posts to count. She helps writers overcome their creative obstacles on her blog, podcast, and courses, over at The Writer’s Cookbook. When she’s not writing, she’s inflicting cooking experiments on her boyfriend or playing with her dog, Millie.

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Published on February 14, 2021 21:04

February 13, 2021

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Top Writing Links From Last Week Are On Twitterific:
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Published on February 13, 2021 21:01

February 7, 2021

Making Your Blog Posts More Shareable

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

As someone who shares a lot of posts, I'm also someone who reads a lot of posts.

Blogs that are writer-focused instead of reader-focused usually need a few components to help them succeed long-term. They need to be useful, friendly, and easy-t0-read/understand.

Some posts start out with a lot of promise, but then tend to ramble a little or lose focus. Sometimes I'll miss perfectly good posts that should be shared to a wider community because the post's title didn't really reflect the content of the article.

If you're a writer who's hoping to share posts with a broader audience in the writing world, here are a few quick tips:

Five Tips for Writing More-Shareable Posts

Keep posts on a single subject. Sometimes writers share excellent information but cram a lot of material into a single post without really going deep on the subject. Instead, consider dividing the content into two or more posts.

Create a headline/post title that truly indicates what the post is about. I've read a lot of post titles that just didn't give any information about the content of the article or were confusing. Unfortunately, those are the ones that get skipped when I'm reading through my RSS feed reader. It's usually better, when reaching out to a wider audience, to keep headlines boring but specific to the topic.

Link to your social media platforms on your site so others know who to attribute the post to. When I share content online, I always attribute the author of the post, unless that information isn't available. Believe it or not, some blogs still only list a blogger's first name (a lot of them are on Tumblr: a site that drives me a little crazy). Your blog should have your first and last name on it. Bonus points if you also list your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or other social media platforms!

Make main points in bold or use lists to help with post readability and skimming. Most of us spend many hours of the day reading–either our own writing, books, or articles. It really can help when the points of a blog post are easily accessible and readable.

Consider social sharing buttons or plugins like Click to Tweet. I don't use these myself when I share content (I use Hootlet, an extension from Hootsuite), but lots of other people do. I use Click to Tweet here, which does seem to help a lot for sharing purposes.

Do you have any suggestions for making posts more shareable? What are some of your favorite blogs to read?

Five Tips for Writing More-Shareable Blog Posts:
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Published on February 07, 2021 21:01

February 6, 2021

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

The Top Writing Links From Last Week Are On Twitterific:
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Published on February 06, 2021 21:01

January 31, 2021

Fitting Platform Building into a Busy Life

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Although writing is the most important thing, there's always promo and platform building lurking in the background. And, for most of us, it's hard to find the time to fit it in when we're already juggling life and writing.

Obviously, if you have to choose between writing and promo, choose writing. At least, that's always been my choice. It definitely does help to have more than one book for sale.

But if you're able to do a bit more, here are some tips for fitting platform building into a hectic life:

Carefully pick social media platforms: Being on all the social media platforms is a rookie mistake, but one many of us have made. It's never good to spread yourself too thin. It's just too difficult to make an impact on all the platforms. Better to pick a couple that you really feel you could become at home on and focus your limited time on those.

Brainstorm social media content: Instead of leaving ideas up to the minute you're posting and then trying to force them, try brainstorming a bunch of post ideas at one time and keeping a list of them in a document. You can use posts like this one from Sandra Beckwith to help you plan.

Schedule social media: Schedule ahead so that you can stay on top of your social media during busier times. Use a free program like HootSuite to use a single dashboard for all your social media sites.

Batch tasks: I've learned that batching tasks is really helpful in terms of focus and productivity. When you have time to work on promo, try doing one particular task. Write five blog posts or create a couple of weeks worth of social media updates. Doing this helps to get into the zone and makes it go faster.

Assign certain tasks on certain days: Sometimes it's easier to keep up with platform building and social media updating if you put it on the calendar and try to make it particular days of the week. Maybe Wednesdays can be the day for creating social media content or Fridays can be the day you update your blog.

Put your website in your email signature: This is such a basic, small thing that it can be easily overlooked. But including your website in your email signature is a great, passive, way to let people know you're a writer and to offer an opportunity to learn more.

Keep Back Matter Updated: This is another passive way to get traffic to your book page. Make sure your back matter in your books includes a list of your books and your website and contact information.

This is how I keep on top of the chore of platforms and promo, but I'd love to hear how you fit it into your schedule. Any tips?

Tips for Fitting Platform Building Into a Busy Schedule:
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Published on January 31, 2021 21:01

January 30, 2021

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

The Top Writing Links From Last Week Are On Twitterific:
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Published on January 30, 2021 21:01

January 24, 2021

Quick Fix: To-Do Lists

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

2020 was a tough year for most of us and sometimes the writing didn't come as easily to me as it usually does. It didn't mean that I stopped writing and gave in to it, though. I tried different approaches (one of them, working in longhand, I talked about in this December post. ) Some of my favorite workarounds for getting stuck didn't work so well in 2020…getting out of the house and working in a coffee shop or the library, for instance.

One thing that did help me out was a very simple tool: the basic to-do list.

I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, since I'm something of a list fanatic. I use them daily for everything from taking care of the pets, running errands, and tracking word count and social media tasks. I've also used them for fitting writing into short periods of free time. Lists also help me with layering different book elements in or tackling revision. I've written about tips for better list-making, too.

Lists help me stay organized but they also help with overwhelm. And writing a book while handling everything life throws at us can definitely be overwhelming.

So I decided to apply my list-making to my story since I was feeling overwhelmed by it.

This wasn't like my outlining process. I already had a working outline that I was going off of. And it wasn't quite like my mini-outlines, either, that I use for picking up with my story quickly the next day. This was more like getting me through the next few pages and quickly covering what I needed to do to get myself there.

It looked a little like this:

Georgia finishes talking about Sterling and Fletcher.

Posy says things have been so quiet at home with Cork gone.

Bonnie comes in like a whirlwind and acts like her previous conversation with Beatrice didn't happen.

Transition occurs: Days pass. Wyatt is asked by Petunia's family to officiate at the funeral.

It was sort of like bullet notes on a to-do list. The problem it fixed is that where my outline may have vague spots, the above list gives more of a concrete direction for me to head in for the next writing session.

Have you worked through any writing issues lately? Any tips for the rest of us?

Using a To-Do List to Keep From Getting Stuck:
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Published on January 24, 2021 21:05

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