Ksenia Anske's Blog, page 62

5 rules to writing a novel in a month, or how to conquer NaNoWriMo

Photo by Joel Robison

I 've never done NaNoWriMo, so I don't know if I qualify to write this blog post, BUT I BADLY WANT TO, ONE YEAR, WHEN I HAVE TIME! So, here are my qualifications for this post, before you start throwing rotten tomatoes at me. I typically write my first drafts in 6 weeks (8 weeks if I'm really taking my sweet time), so I suppose with the whole idea of writing a book in a month, I can totally dish on how to make it work in 4 weeks, because 6 weeks is, after all, ALMOST...

Writers, connect with your readers already!

Photo by Sarah Ann Loreth

Please pardon me for shouting, but I will shout it here once more. WRITERS, CONNECT WITH YOUR READERS ALREADY!!! It's easier than ever, with the million gazillion social media networks out there. Still not convinced to get on Twitter, and Pinterest, and Google+? (I'm assuming you're on Facebook already). Why not? The benefits are huge. Let's use me as a sorry lab rabbit here. A year ago, I started out by quitting my career to write full time. Who am I? A nobody. W...

How to get back to writing after a break

Photo by Joel Robison

Life happens. Sometimes it happens a little, sometimes it happens a lot. Sometimes it's the goods stuff, sometimes it's the bad stuff, and sometimes it's utter shit. But no, you can't just simply be interrupted, your writing is sacred. So you struggle against it, you keep writing. You don't sleep, you don't eat, you keep doing it. You keep doing it until your body turns around and says: "You know what? Fuck you. I quit." And then you have to stop. You have to interrup...

If a writer won't help a writer, who will?

Photo by trini61

It's been a while since I wrote a marketing post, and I've never actually touched on the subject of writers supporting other writers when it comes to marketing books, AND to encourage other writers to keep writing. Because if a writer won't support another writer, who will? Of course, there is the reader's base, the fans, but when you're only starting out, who is there to support you? Other writers. They know what it's like, they've been there, they're the only ones who wi...

Writing IS therapy

Photo by Laura Zalenga

I'm writing this blog post on the go, while riding Moscow metro, while sitting with my mom in her hospital room, while camping out on a windowsill in some government building from where I haven't been kicked out yet (I marched in as if I belong here, smiling, and am sitting on this windowsill because it is directly over the heating element and it keeps my butt warm). I'm also writing this while an elderly lady is trying to tell me her problems, her bladder problems,...

A short story is a valid art form

Photo by Sara Anne Haas

I'm far away from home and my typical writing routine, staying here in Moscow to take care of my mom after she had a heart attack and a stroke, so it feels very weird to attempt to wrestle my brain into writing about writing, but I shall. And the topic this time is something that Stone Crowns Magazine asked me to dish on, namely, how writing short stories is a valid art form and not just something to practice your hand at while prepping to write a novel. I've only w...

An update on my mom, and on letting go

I decided, I will do 2 blog posts at once, since I had an amazing and difficult day with my mom yesterday, and I simply have to write it out, to keep my sanity, plus folks expressed interest in the story of my adventures, raising money for me to be able to travel to Moscow, after I learned that my mom had a heart attack and a stroke and was in the hospital. If you want to read the post on short story being a valid art form, go here. If, however, you want to read an update on my mom, I'm warn...

My mom had a stroke and a heart attack. PLEASE HELP ME GO SEE HER.

First of all, I wanted to thank all who donated WHILE I was writing this. I already got $780 from 24 backers, THANK YOU!!!

This post is sort of like a mini-fundraising campaign one would do on Kickstarter, but I'm doing it on my blog because I have no time. Yesterday my cousin sent me a Facebook message that my mom, whom I just have seen on my trip to Russia to get my son back (a whole another story) has been admitted to the intensive care with both a heart attack and a stroke, and that her...

How sometimes our writing scares us

Photo by Sarah Hoey

I'm just fresh off reading THE SHINING by Stephen King (started part 3, The Wasp's Nest) in preparation for reading his new novel DOCTOR SLEEP, and after chit-chatting with folks on Twitter on what to blog about next, fellow writer Laurie Lyons gave me this brilliant idea to write about how our writing scares us sometimes, because folks said (somebody somewhere said) that Stephen King was scared to do edits on THE SHINING, having to mentally prepare himself for it. And...

Does your age affect your writing?

Photo by Brooke Shaden

The reason I'm writing this blog post is because one of my readers, Zandile Funde, wrote me this awesome loooong email that was sort of a review of SIREN SUICIDES, sort of a commentary on writing in general, and it had one very important question:

"...the reason I brought up being a student (I'm turning 22 in 2 months) is that earlier this year, you wrote a blog post about how you feel that writing at a young age should rather be avoided (that people should live longe...