Courtney Wendleton's Blog, page 26
October 5, 2016
What Self-Pubbing Authors Need to Know About Getting the Best Book Cover
by Lauren Sapala
Studies have proven again and again that humans make purchasing decisions based on emotional factors. This probably happens most frequently in the glittering online jungle known as Amazon.com. I read recently that Amazon is the only search engine people use with the mouse in one hand, and a credit card in the other.
For me, a regular Amazon customer, I don’t even need my credit card. The site has my payment information recorded and it’s as simple as one click to send a new book to my Kindle.
If you’re a writer, and a reader, I know this is true for you too.
Emotional decision making + split-second purchasing power =
You better have a damn good book cover.
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When Side Characters Become Interesting
by Teagan Berry
A little more than a year ago, I was hard at work on a novella about a main character from my in-the-process-of-editing book trilogy. This main character made new ‘friends’ (if that’s what you call cellmates in prison) who were required to help push the plot along. One of these side characters sparked an interest in me and then poof! All of a sudden there was a whole life story to explore.
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5 Ways to Brainstorm Story Ideas
by Tonya R. Moore
Brainstorming is generally the first step of the writing process. When planning a story, brainstorming helps to spark creativity and helps us to come up with new and original ideas or maybe even put news twists on old ideas.
Here’s a list of 5 ways I generally go about brainstorming story ideas:
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Why Writing is Hard
by Meg Dowell
Writing is hard.
You know this without having to convince yourself it’s true. You may love it – it may be your art; your love; your baby – but that doesn’t mean there are days it doesn’t take all you have left in you to drag yourself to your laptop and write something. Writing isn’t easy. Sometimes it feels like the words are flowing from your fingers and they’ll never stop – but not long afterward, you’re staring at your empty coffee cup, in a daze, as if you can’t believe you just wrote 2,000 words without thinking twice about it.
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Writing With a Full Time Job
by Lindsey Richardson
Whether you’re working full time at an office or a full time parent, it gets even more complicated when you add writing into the mix. And whether this is your first novel or fourth novel, it’s likely to still be a daily struggle. But that doesn’t mean that it’s at all impossible or a dreadful task.
Let’s face the reality of it: it takes a lot to write full time. And some of us just aren’t there yet, but that doesn’t take anything away from the work we do. As many of you know, I work full time and write as well. It’s been that way every day since I graduated high school.
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October 1, 2016
Inktober is here! Day#1
I’ve decided to try really hard to follow through this time for Inktober! So I’ll be posting a drawing everyday, accompanied by a quote! Here’s the first one!
When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence.
– Sri Aurobindo
September 29, 2016
Do You Know How to Develop Believable Characters?
by Jean M. Cogdell
I confess, I don’t–not always.
Sometimes, just when I think I’ve written a real-life character who walks and talks like flesh and blood, boom I’ve created Frank.
You know, that pieced together, patch quilt looking monster that walks like he’s got a stick up his ass. Right, that Frank.
I’m in the beginning stages of a new YA novel, I hope. And fleshing out the characters is more of a challenge that I anticipated.
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Don’t Even Think of Publishing Unless You’ve Done These 4 Things
by Rachael Hanel
Whenever I give writing workshops or teach a writing class, I always end with “going from here.” Now that the students have learned something (hopefully!), what do they need to do to get their work published?
I say, don’t even think about publishing until you’ve done the following:
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So I Wrote a Children’s Story
One of our assignments recently was to write a children’s story. I was so excited to finally get an assignment that would demand a combination of two of my most favourite things in the world – Writing and Drawing. The illustrations herewith are primarily sourced from freepik vectors but I have modified them (quite a lot). My teacher even told me that I could try and get this published!! I’m elated!
Let me know what you like about the story. The cover looked like this! So precious❤
Surviving Writing Slumps – Everything You Need to Know
by Elethwyn
Salutations, fellow elves and writers! Elethwyn is here today to share her thoughts, ideas, and tips for overcoming writing slumps.
Writing slumps – also known as writer’s block, also known as writing depression, also known as the-reason-future-Newberry-winners-gave-up-writing – is something all writers face. It’s when we lose that spark to write and find ourselves in a deep pit (or slump) of un-inspiration. Writing slumps can be a hard, somewhat depressing time when writers feel absolutely hopeless.
How on earth do we overcome it?
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