P.H. Solomon's Blog, page 330

The Key to GOOD Writing is BAD Writing

PHS:

Thx for the encouraging post. I’m reblogging on Archer’s Aim!

Originally posted on Joshua M Swenson:

That’s right. The key to good writing is bad writing.

You’ve heard of Thomas Edison? That guy knew how to succeed. He also knew how to fail. Probably a cliché example but it’s a dang good one. We’ve all heard about how Edison was asked: “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times on the lightbulb?” And Edison replied: “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

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Tech for Writers: 7 Thoughts about Web Presence

Clip Art Image Copyright by Microsoft. Clip Art Used by Permission of Microsoft

In this tech tips post, I’m covering more than just how to approach technical aspects of being a writer in todays world. A web presence is essential for a writer since the web is now Main Street where people do much of their business and, essentially, window-shop. For this reason, it’s important for a writer to consider how to build a platform on the internet. It’s easy to simply rush into the process and make a site and use any old email address. But careful consideration should be made in order to present yourself, the author, and your writing products as a consistent brand.

Today’s writer must have both a comprehensive and cohesive web presence. A web site is necessary, preferably with a blog (more on this later), and social media.
Regarding a website, a writer must choose how to create a site which needs some forethought. First, you must consider your needs and tops on that list is a domain name that fits your name. Why? Because this is the sign for your business and the domain to where your readers will email you which is the second need. You need to have at least one email address where you can be contacted at a professional level. Take care to plan these aspects first since they will be the foundation of the site.
Next you need hosting. There are numerous hosting services available on the web. Shop around for what meets your needs for budget and control. Research what the offerings and services are available for each hosting service as well as the add-ons. Personally, since I didn’t want to initially sink a large sum of money into a long-term hosting contract, I went with a free hosting service and purchased my domain and got my email hosted over Google. However, I plan to move into paid hosting services in the future. Why? I will need more control than the basic services now allow me – such as custom themes and forms.
You also need a cohesive set of themes when you can afford it. At the moment, I am working with a cover artist on the cover of my first novel. As part of what I’m having designed there will be banners and themes based on my cover art that I can use on Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media. This will lead to consistent branding for the entire platform. I would rather have done this from the beginning but there were budgetary concerns so I decided to grow into this. Consistent branding is an important goal and will be a major milestone for my writing platform when reached.

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You need to be prepared to blog. Why blog at all? There are several reasons. First you can offer additional/parallel content to your main content (novels or books) via your blog. In my case, I’ve posted a serial prequel, “What is Needed“, for my novel. Additionally, you can blog about writing-related topics that interest you such as responding to opinions expressed by other writers. Bottom-line, a blog is a great way to gain traffic to your site and your products.
Social media presence serves to funnel interested readers to your site which represents your products. In this way you can grow your email list which will serve as a core of prospective readers who will be your word of mouth advertising. As noted above, when you have the means try to present a consistent brand across all formats that make up your web presence just like any other business.
Finally, you must update your web presence regularly. Most writers just want to write and put out their products. However, you must attract readers. To do this you must offer updated information on a regular basis. You need regular traffic to your site to sell books. Schedule the time to build to maintain your web-based writer platform so you’re not distracted into wasting time. Have goals when updating your web presence so that you set limits on both what and how much you will update.

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What are your thoughts on a web presence? Have you hesitated to build a platform? In the near future I’ll re-visit the topic by discussing the nuts and bolts of what I’ve done and why, as well as where I’m going with it. Share your thoughts, strategy and platform-building ideas in the comments section. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today!

Thanks for reading!

PHS

 

 

 

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The 3 Dimensions of Character

PHS:

Reblogging on Archer’s Aim – great discussion about character development!

Originally posted on Joshua M Swenson:

Have you ever walked out of a theater or finished reading a story and thought “Wow that character was so one dimensional?” If so, you probably left it at that and decided not to recommended the movie or novel to a friend. And if it was a movie, it would have likely gotten a “Rotten” score on RottenTomatoes (which should have warned you to not see it in the first place!). But I digress. The point is that Characters need to be like real people: they need to be multi-dimensional in order to grab our attention and guarantee a great story.

But what are those dimensions?

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Tech Tips for Writers – Scrivener

Screenshot of My Novel WIP – The Bow of Destiny

Many writers are using Scrivener to develop projects ranging from fiction to non-fiction varying in length from articles, blogs, short stories to books. So understanding that usage is high for this software, I wanted to share insights on usage in a short post.

Why you should use Scrivener if you aren’t already? Isn’t is just another writing editor with some tools geared toward writers? Is it a waste of money? The main reason you should put it in the budget or at least give it a try for free is one word: development (and here are additional reasons). Scrivener is a great tool to use for developing almost any kind of writing project. It is organized so that you can store all kinds of information related to the project all in one location. Likewise, you no longer need an outline since you can use the folders in the software as the outline. Using this method you can easily move pieces of your work around until you are satisfied. I’ve been using it for just this kind of structural re-organization of my novel, The Bow of Destiny, duing my current revision. Michael Sullivan discusses how he realized he could make use of Scrivener and even further developed his fantasy world. Troll River Publications posted a useful video for using Scrivener’s tools for outlining.

Editing for Deep POV

I especially like using this software for developing shorter projects like a blog post, article, paper, or even a short story. I used Scrivener to develop my blog serial – What is Needed and will use it in developing my longer projects. It has helped me re-organize my current novel but I’m still learning all the features for editing purposes. If I have trouble editing I get around this by doing a copy/paste from my novel into a temporary file in Microsoft Word to do my heavy editing and then copy/past back into Scrivener. Why do this? Because the whole book is organized in Scrivener which also allows you to compile the manuscript into a single Word document, PDF document or even an e-book. I look forward to expanding my skill with Scrivener and sharing more details about the features as I do. Regardless, I done with organizing and editing the “old-fashioned way” – perhaps you should consider doing the same if you haven’t already.

If you aren’t using Scrivener, why haven’t you tried it? If you are using it, please share your tips and ideas in the comments section. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today!

Thanks for reading!

PHS

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“In your choices lies your talent.”

PHS:

Reblogging on Archer’s Aim – This is excellent food for thought at the beginning of a new week!

Originally posted on angelomarcos:

You might not have heard of her, but you’ll definitely know of the legacy of Stella Adler.

She was one of the most influential and seminal acting teachers in the history of, well, acting.  Taking her cue from Stanislavski’s ‘method’, she taught among others Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Harvey Keitel, and Warren Beatty.

So she was, y’know, pretty good.

I’m not going to go into too much detail about her approach – although her life and work were fascinating – what I do want to do is highlight one of her most famous quotes.

“In your choices lies your talent.”

For me, this is a quote that becomes more insightful every time I think about it.

Our talents – and by extension our lives – really are about our choices.  It’s not enough to just have an ability or qualification or talent, it’s about utilising those things…

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4 Free Photo Sites – More Tips for the Fund Challenged Writer

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This is a follow-up to my blog post last week regarding inexpensive tips to the fund-challenged writer. If you’re like me you need access to resources but have little in the way of paying for what you need. The final tip from last week’s blog dealt with using a free source of clip art for your blogs. Here are more sources of visual media that offer free photos to use for your blog.

 Flickr - Yes, it’s a well-known site already but you can search for photos with various kinds of creative commons licensing. Be sure to read about attributions licensing to understand what you must do to cite your sources.
Dreamstime.com - This service offers both free and fee-based illustrations and photos. When you search make sure to choose the “Free” radio button.
morgueFile - Again, there are many free images to use on this site. As always read the licensing language and be aware you may be required by the content owners to contact them by email before using their work.
FreeFoto.com - Search this site for free content. Here’s their current license information.

For more discussions about free artwork see this blog posts:

Savvy Writers & e-Books Online: Where Can You Find FREE Photos and Illustrations?

Computer Hope: Where can I find free public domain images and pictures?

Articulate Network: How to Find Free Stock Photos and Clip Art for PowerPoint

Thanks for visiting the site and reading. Share your photo resources in the comments section. Please visit the News page regularly for updates. I’m planning a sale for The Black Bag during October but you can receive a free coupon for the e-book for download by signing up follow this site via email. Just submit your information above and I’ll send you the coupon.

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PHS

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Make POV Work for You: Writing the Male POV

PHS:

Reblogged on Archer’s Aim – great post and interested in the book!

Originally posted on KayeDacus.com:

This has to be one of the most popular topics amongst female authors at any conference out there. And the funny thing about it was that until I attended the 2004 ACFW conference in Denver, the first time that Randy Ingermanson taught this subject, I didn’t know anyone had trouble writing the male POV. I’ve actually always found the man’s POV easier to write in than the woman’s. And sitting in that class, though it was highly entertaining, I didn’t really hear anything I didn’t already know about men. I guess because I always found it easier to build friendships with guys growing up, I’ve done a lot more observing of them on a subconscious level than a lot of other women, who only look at them as “the opposite sex,” have.

Several years ago, my aunt Rinn introduced the women in our family to a fabulous little book that…

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Nonnie Jules in “WHO’S ON THE SHELF WITH NONNIE JULES?”

PHS:

Reblogging on Archer’s Aim!

Originally posted on Rave Reviews by Nonnie Jules:

Hello and welcome to “WHO’S ON THE SHELF?” with yours truly, Nonnie Jules!  Since we are a book club, you know we had to offer something that included a book shelf.  A lot of interviews merely cover an author’s work or an individual’s career stories.  Here on this “SHELF,”  we get down and dirty and ask the questions no other interviewer dare ask.  We ask the questions that you want to open up a book and find the answers to on your favorite authors and fellow book club members, but no one has dared to cover them.  WE get personal!  Because when you sit on the RRBC “SHELF,” YOU are an open book!

Today I thought I’d invite myself to sit ON THE SHELF.  I mean, I know how much you all want to know more about the person who writes such confrontational books as “SUGARCOATIN’…YES…

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Status of My Projects

Available at Amazon, Smashwords and All Major E-Book Vendors!

Here’s a quick update on my projects:

The Black Bag is due to go on sale for the month of October so get a copy for your Halloween reading next week!

The Bow of Destiny: I’m about to begin revision of the last third of the book but I’m slowing the pace down since my editor cannot take on the project until mid-late November. I expect to work with a cover artist during October as well after which I will announce a cover-reveal date so keep checking back or follow this blog via WordPress or by email.

For No Reason: I’m almost ready to submit this short story but I want to read it again and revise anything I find in need of changes. Again, check back for news on this story.

Longfingers: This is a dark fantasy short story that is begging to be stretched into a novella. I’ve begun an  outline to re-write this story.

Other fiction short and long: I intend to edit several short stories for submission in the

Photo used in The Bow of Destiny book trailer

coming weeks – check my short WIP page for news on these projects.

Thanks for reading and showing interest. Share your thoughts and questions in the comments section.

PHS

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Project Management Pt1: Learn to Juggle

As a writer there are many different hats to wear in addition to writing. These can range from aspects of platform management to advertising. If you have limited time per week but have many different tasks and projects to address life can be very confusing. You may find yourself accomplishing less and less when you really need to do more. Part of this problem comes from disorganization. Here are some tips to untangle the knots of work you want to accomplish by applying some analysis.

1. Analyze your time: Most writers these days are making a go of being a professional on the side. However, if you are unaware of how much time you have during the week you may be expecting too much or too little of yourself. Take a few minutes to calculate how much time you have in a regular week to use for writing. It is important not to be honest with yourself about your available time so you can apply the following tips. Over-estimating how much time you have may mean being frustrated that you are not completing writing projects and tasks as expected so be reasonable.

2. Analyze your projects and tasks: This seems straightforward but take time to really think this through. Perhaps you have a novel with a deadline, a short story or two that should be completed soon, blogs to post, social media to manage and any number of other writing-related jobs to address in a week. Assign priority to the items on your list at a monthly, weekly and daily level. Assign goals to your projects and be specific about what you expect – without specificity you only have good intentions. How many hours will your project take to complete? On what are you basing your criteria for priorities? Time? Immediate income? Long-term income? How much time do you need to spend on writing-related tasks? Once you understand this proceed to the next tip.

Editing for Deep POV

3. Compare time needed to time available: You know how much time you have per week and how much time a project and tasks need but how do they mesh together? Perhaps you have a novel to revise and estimate 50 hours of work. If your deadline is a month away then based on your weekly available time you know how much time is available to assign per week to the revision using a little math. Now you have a reasonable expectation for daily and weekly goals. But hold on there! You also have other tasks or projects during the week to address. In this case you should scale back expectations on the revision and assign how much time you need for these other jobs. Here’s where knowing your priorities comes into play. If you know your long-term, main priority is finishing the novel then it gets both weekly and daily priority, meaning it gets the lion-share of time applied to it. However, say you need to complete blog posts during the week. Since these are shorter and need regular attention your might assign time each day to blog. Or you might develop all of a week’s worth of posts in one day and then schedule them to be published. It’s up to you to divvy up the time that meets your needs according to priorities and available time. Regardless, you must make reasonable time for each item that needs your attention during the month/week/day in order to know what to expect.

4. Be very specific: Schedule your time with specificity in order to set your expectations. If you are vague then you will tend toward accomplishing less because you don’t know what you are doing. For example, rather than scheduling thirty minutes several times a day to edit/revise a project with the stated goal of “edit”, be more precise and name what you will edit, how much for the day and how you will accomplish this goal. In other words, thirty minutes of editing several times a day to reach a minimum goal of ten pages in your novel project until you reach your allotted time for the day (remember, you have allotted time to other duties such as social media management). This gives you focus. Since you know that you should apply three hours a day to this priority then you know how to schedule it and everything else for each day, week and month.

5. Be fluid/realistic: You will often fall off the pace if you are unrealistic. What do I mean by this? Simply that you will have real-life issues arise that need your attention so expect your schedule to have interruptions. Go into working your scheduling and project management with the understanding that you need to be fluid – willing to adjust. But this does not mean give yourself excuses for accomplishing nothing, after all, this is why you’re attempting to manage the project(s) better. You must schedule with flexibility either by lowering daily/weekly/monthly expectations or having a tolerance for problems and being nimble enough to adjust for interruptions. Regardless, you are the manager of the project and you must take responsibility for it to complete it.

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How do you manage your projects? Do you plan your time around a schedule? Do you know how long projects and tasks usually take? Share your comments and questions in the comments section. I’ll follow-up with more ideas on managing rather than dropping the ball on your projects. Remember to check the News page for upcoming announcements and follow this blog via email to receive a coupon for a free copy of “The Black Bag”.

 

 

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