Ksenia Anske's Blog, page 8
October 30, 2018
Collect paychecks or connect hearts?
What's driving your writing?
You can choose to focus on making money. Or you can choose to focus on connecting with your readers. On connecting hearts.
What was it that you wanted to do as a kid? What was it that made you jump out of bed, all excited? Can you recall that feeling? That dream? That image in your head?
Do that. Find a way to do it. Find a way to fund it.
After all, when you're on your deathbed, what is it that you'll remember with the most fondness of heart? How much money you mad...
October 29, 2018
Show your authority
No one wants to read a story written by a writer who is unsure. Unsure of everything.
Your voice must show authority.
You can’t be wishy-washy, you can’t doubt what you write. The reader will sniff it out in no time. You must write boldly, believing in it. Standing behind it.
YOU MUST WRITE WITH AUTHORITY.
Of course, it’s easy to say this, and it’s very hard to do. It takes years of practice to develop your voice, and even more years to start believing it.
And that is your task.
Write every day,...
October 28, 2018
Mystery or suspense?
A little trick for you to use in your writing.
Decide BEFORE you start writing down your story on the balance between mystery and suspense.
The idea is simple.
You must, absolutely must always always ALWAYS keep the reader either ahead of the story, or behind it. The moment you let the reader catch up to the present, they lose interest and put the book down.
How to keep them interested?
Mystery is when the readers are behind the story. They're on their toes and don't know what's going to happen...
October 27, 2018
Money or love? A third alternative
There will be a moment in your writing career when you’ll stop at the crossroads, wondering which way to go.
Do you write for money? Or do you write for the love of writing?
What’s putting the food on your table and paying your rent? Are you making a living as a writer? Or are you fed up with not making a living as a writer? Or are you tired of working three jobs to fund your writing?
I believe there is a third alternative that encompasses both money and love. And that is: Your readers. Your tr...
October 26, 2018
How language turned to trash
This is not so much a writing tip, as it’s a rant, and in that it's a tip to move away from distractions to be able to write.
The other day I was walking down the street, and I was practicing mindfulness. That is, I was aware of every breath I took, every step, and I worked on being in the present moment, looking at the sky and the trees and the people around me, the buildings, the road.
Then I stopped, struck by a revelation.
Everywhere I looked was a command, written in big letters and demand...
October 25, 2018
Someone will always hate your writing
You can't please everyone. If you try to do this, you'll end up pleasing no one.
Write what feels true to you. Write as if you weren't afraid. Write for that little girl or boy inside you who has always wanted to tell stories.
No matter what you write—it could be the cutest children's fairy tale—someone will hate it.
Let them.
It's not about you, it's about them. You stirred up something in them.
GOOD.
That means you did your job.
Carry on.
October 24, 2018
Quitting is not an option
Yes, I know. I recently told you to quit, if you must.
But it’s all part of the same game.
When you commit to writing, you don’t commit to a job. You commit to a lifestyle.
It’s not easy for other people to understand how you can spend so much time alone, thinking, dreaming. It’s not always that they’ll forgive you missing birthday parties or forgetting to show up for dinner, or disappearing for days on end, with your phone off and your head elsewhere.
It’s a sacrifice you’re making, to share yo...
October 23, 2018
They just figured it out before you did
You’re brilliant.
You know how to write an awesome book—a book that everyone will want to read.
The difference between you and those who sell books by the millions is simply that they’ve figured out how to do it before you.
You’ll catch up, if you simply follow their steps and do what they do, and learn what they’ve learned.
You’ve always been brilliant. You’re just a little behind. They figured it out before you did, that's all.
You have all the time in the world.
You’ll get there.
YES, YOU WILL....
October 22, 2018
Write about what you're afraid of
I often get asked, “How do I decide what to write about?”
And I often answer, “Write about what you’re afraid of.”
“What do you mean?” they say?
And I explain, “Write about the stuff that gives you nightmares. Write about what you haven’t told anyone. What hides in the dark corners of your mind. What you’re terrified to visit."
"Why?" they ask.
And I say, "Because it'll lighten you up, and it’ll show someone out there—someone who is as afraid as you are—that it’s okay to write about it. And toget...
October 21, 2018
How to cold-pitch your writing: It's not about you, it's about them!
We writers have the hardest time pitching our books to our readers. It can also be something else, like pitching the services we offer (editing, proofreading, etc.) or the interviews we’re interested in (inviting people to guest blog, to take part in our podcast, etc.) or the jobs we want (cold e-mailing publications or news outlets or places that are hiring writers).
Here is the thing.
Most of the time we do it wrong, and it’s because we’ve never been trained in the art of selling, and have a...
