Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - Writing And Publishing

 

Writer? Then this site's for you. Publishing And Other Forms Of Insanity - aka, Published To Death. A blog run by Erica Varillo, it offers lots of resources and tips - and lets you know what she did wrong along the line. 

Articles, Links, resources you'll find it here. 

Reader? If you want a glimpse into the writers world and the world of publishing - come on in, you'll find it eye-opening and interesting.

Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity

Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - Get Your Free Images!

Hi folks - yep, you noticed - no blog post yesterday as is my custom - kind of got swept up in business and writing, but have no fear it will return next week. 

Meanwhile, enjoy this week's great site Where Writers Win - it's a blog for writers, but on it is the link to resources for free and nearly free images Wow! writer or not - what a great resource for free images. Check carefully to see if there are any restrictions on use and enjoy. 

Read, research and dig around - there are great resources out there for images for writers, folks who just love great pics, blog creators, website designers, pretty much everything under the sun!

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - Resources!

Yes, gang, it's true, I missed my post yesterday- but never fear, it will appear again next week.  Just got side-tracked working with guy who's going to in stall a complete solar system at our home!  Yay!

So for today's Writers & Readers Websites Wednesday I bring you 11 Useful Resources For Writers Check 'em out and see how helpful they can be to you.

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday

Found a fun site this week. Writer's Carnival

Here's what they say about themselves:

WE'RE A SOCIAL SITE FOR WRITERS!

A place to get together, make friends, try out prompts and chat in the forums. Somewhere to learn, grow, get and give support, and find inspiration. We aren't a place to find readership or a fan base. Rather, we're a community and a place to call home.

You can create an account and you can read their monthly magazine Writer's Carnival free. Info on resources,  prompts, contests and more.

Give it a visit and see if it's for you. 

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - Helping Writers

...forge Creative Writing Careers - that's Silver Pen's hope. So go ahead and check out Silver Pen for their resources, workshop and foum. A non-profit writing community.

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - Aerogramme Writer's Studio

Stumbled across this site on Books & Reading, News & Resources. 

Aerogramme Writer's Studio. Videos, tips, book news, you name it.  

Nice Site! Go visit and let me know what you think of it.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Paper Rater Review

Manon  Eileen offers a great review at her site on Paper Rater. She gives the ins and outs on how it works and how it can work for you. Whether you're a professional writer, a student who wants to improve writing abilities or a reader who'd like to play around with this tool for your own amusement, it's a great one. Read the review, then click on the link to Paper Rater and try it out.  A great writer's tool for Writer's Websites Wednesday. Did I mention it's free?

Writers Websites Wednesday - Story Starters

A bit hard to come up with an idea at times? Need a little kickstart?  The Story Starter is a fun site that kicks out random story starters. Over 2 billion of them!  Surely there's an idea in there somewhere that'll get the creative juices flowing.  Wander over and check  it out.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Mashable Tools for Writers

Are you a writer who makes full use of technology and the social media?  Then you just might want to visit Mashable fairly frequently and keep ahead of the curve on pretty much everything techie and web. Lots of cheap yet valuable tools for writers. Lots of info - but don't get lost in this vast sea of information.

The Beginning Writer

I just read an article by a writer I normally appreciate and agree with on many levels.  This time, I didn't.

Why?

The person in question was giving tips on how to get started in a writing career and how in order to begin the writer must not begin by writing books, but rather find other venues to begin with and to launch yourself.  Things like writing for magazines, swimming through the frustration, moving forward, dealing with rejection, and more.  Oh, and don't forget newspapers, she mentioned beginning writers write for newspapers.

Okay, now I'm not belittling her viewpoint as it is her own, but I don't happen to share it. 

By now you all know I'm a writer of books - books, and well, more recently screenplays.  And here's the thing.  I went totally against her rule.  I began writing by writing books. I didn't want to write anything shorter or to begin by writing articles or short stories for magazine.  That wasn't me. 

I took English courses in school, aimed at improving my writing. In high school and college I took English courses.  And I did a lot of self teaching. I dug into things, found help where I needed it.  Found ways to talk to other writers and I wrote.

I wrote a lot.

I wrote books. Novels. Fiction.

It seems a bit off the wall to me to take the position that a writer hasn't become a writer yet so therefore should begin writing with things that are not your forte or that bore you to tears. 

Do you need to develop your writer's voice?  Yes. 

Do you need to have the tools to put forth your ideas in clear and proper language?  Yes.

Magazines are fine IF you want to write for magazines.  And, yes, it might help you to earn some bucks if you can write for magazines, or newspapers, or other venues to help boost your writing abilities. 

BUT, that doesn't mean you should put your first writing love aside UNTIL you master the others.  If books; writing fiction is your first love, then write.

After you've written, proof it, edit it and pass it to others to get input.  That input may not always be good, but that is for you to decide.  Should you get professional editing? Probably. 

Here's the thing, from my personal experience, and I've published 15 books and optioned several screen plays, you must follow your joy. I've been side-tracked a number of times and have always regretted it.

One thing I have done though, is write for different genres, different venues such as articles, biography, even short stories, but most of that I did AFTER I'd had my book(s) published.

So here it is in a capsule.  

You need to learn to write tight (screenwriting can really teach you that) and your own ability to cut, cut, cut.

Learn to write fast.  This is one that really works for me.  Might not for you so much.  But the faster I write, the better.  Editing comes later.

Learn to research well. Doesn't matter what you write, you're going to have to research sooner or later, most likely sooner. So realize you have to research and learn to do it well.

Learn to listen to an editor.  Whether a pro you hire to edit and review your book or the one at the publishing house where you just sold your book. No, they're not out to get you or to make your life miserable. Generally they want to help you put out the best book you can. They're not always right, but they are always worth listening to. You can talk to them about your writing, really.

So, while having credits to show an editor is always good, it's doubtful a science fiction editor is going to do much more than glance in passing at your magazine article credits on gardening or cooking. Granted, those show you can write and meet a deadline, but they don't showcase your fiction writing abilities.

So, moral of this tale? For me it always has been and always will be, write what you love.  Follow your joy.  Oh, and if writing doesn't bring you the joy you thought it might when you started out, find something else you love. Writing should not be torture. Forgive yourself if you took a wrong turn. But if you love writing, then write what you love.

Writing Up The Little Guys - Creating Authenticity In Your World

Our world is full or people, places and things. So should the world your writing creates. If you want it to feel real, to draw the reader in (and I know you do) then you have to write to create a living breathing world.  Whether it's just down the street in your neighborhood or set in the distant reaches of space it is imperative that you fill in the details, make things real.

How?

Well for one thing, the world is full of 'walk-on' characters, people like waitresses, car mechanics, fast food servers, grocery check-out folks, bank tellers, pedestrians, security guards, cops, nurses - well, you get it. A good place to get a feel for this is the movies you like. Play a DVD or get a download online and pay attention to the background characters. Most are background, literally, you see them move around, but that's about it.  A few sort of cause something to happen or have a line or two of dialog, but are not a focal point in the story so they do what they do and then move on.  So with this in mind, remember your writing is going to reflect that as well.

You'll need to write in minor characters, sometimes important ones (as backdrop goes).

What about these people?

Well, they need no more than one or two lines of introduction. Probably they don't need names and just a bit of description is enough.

Focus on details.

Maybe the kid on the bicycle is skinny with a "TinTin" haircut and oversized jeans. Maybe the burger flipper is tall, skinny, wearing bright yellow and has dirty fingernails. The PTA mother could have flaming red hair and a temper to match. Maybe the baseball coach is revealed to be bald when he jerks off his cap and throws it into the dust in disgust.

You'll need to create these secondary characters with your writing so they form a backdrop for your main characters and don't steal the show themselves. They are actually more like 'things' than actual 'people' though of course they must be portrayed as real, not cardboard cut-outs.

All this means you need to strike a balance. Don't get carried away and write in too much punch for your minor characters. Through these characters give your readers taste of the environment they, and your main characters, occupy. Your minor character might even have a line or two of dialog, but what you're writing is to push the plot along.

And at times all you'll show through writing and words is a crowd scene, or a scattering of people with no real defining traits. More backdrop. If you're talking about a stadium full of people, a street scene or the opening run at Macy's bargain basement, you're not going to write descriptive passages about all the people occupying those scenes. Just the main characters and perhaps a minor character or two. The rest create a crowd and backdrop.

You might skim a couple of your favorite books with all this in mind and see how the writers of those books handled their lesser players. And if you'd like to read a bit more about creating minor characters click here.  But again, the article is about writing minor characters - not the ones who fill your written crowd scenes. 

Play with it, have fun. 

Writers Websites Wednesday - The Other Side Of The Story

I stumbled across Janice Hardy's blog, The Other Side Of The Story the other day and I must say, I like it. She offers over 500 articles on writing fiction along with online resource links, guest posts and of course info about her and her books. Lots of tips and helps in those articles and guest posts. Definitely worth a look. 

Writers Websites Wednesday - Character Personality Generator

Now here's something you don't see every day.  The Self Publishing Team offers some tools, and among them is the Mystery Thriller Random Personality Generator.  Go ahead, play with it,  have fun. Explore their site further as well.  There are other tools and tips.  Also info for those interested in self publishing.

The Well Written Path

Have you ever noticed what creatures of habit us 'people' really are? Oh, we try to fight it, we try to deny it, we give it a bad name saying we get into ruts.  Writers can be even worse.

But realistically, if you use it properly, routine is a good thing. They give us writers a path to follow and create a rhythm to our lives that leads to accomplishing things like writing books - you know, actually finishing what you began writing.
 
It's pretty damn tough, finishing writing a book.  Heck, it can be tough just posting this blog each week.  But if you get in the habit, if you create the routine in advance you'll breeze through the writing you wish to accomplish, get it done without the struggle common to so many.

And how do you do that; set a schedule, get things done? Well, the way I accomplish it is to set a time to write and stick to it. Give myself a goal and an assignment in my writing to accomplish each day and get it done.  Focus. I keep short lists of that day's writing-associated tasks by my computer. If I run up a self-imposed or outside-imposed deadline and something doesn't get done, that becomes the first thing on the list for the next day's writing assignments.

Part of the secret is to make writing part of every day.  I've found over the years if I attempt to clear a calendar day just for writing, if I make it a big deal, if I put a lot of pressure on myself to 'write' for that day, then progress is stunted and the words I produce are not as good either.  It's much better if I have my own little assignments for myself each day. Motivation can surge and evaporate. You have a book you want to get written, you're enthusiastic one day,not so much the  next.  If you have routines, schedules, little things in place to help keep you on your path and moving, you'll be much more likely to sit down and write.

A few years ago I had a student I was teaching in an online romance writing class and mentioned the idea of routines. She Emailed back that one of the things she did was to actually ritualize her writing time. She sat down, lit a candle, paused to clear her mind and then began. When she was done she blew the candle out.  Symbolic, no? It's a matter of incorporating into your day what you want to do. You might grab a cup of coffee, turn on your favorite creativity-inducing music and begin writing, then end with washing the cup. A quick entry in a journal to warm up might be your routine. Whatever works.

When I was a 'part-time' writer and held a full time job during the day, my ritual was to come home, eat a quick dinner with husband, take time to wash dishes, then skip TV and head over to my desk to write for two hours. Weekdays only. Weekends were 'us' time for me and my husband (only exception was if I got a plum assignment and there was a pressing deadline).

So put writing on your 'to do' list, give yourself an assignment, your overall goal and that smaller goal of what you want to accomplish in that small bite of time you've set aside for your writing and maybe ritualize it with some routine that signals you're getting down to writing.

Oh, and one more suggestion.  It can be tough to get rolling, get those ideas to flow when you first sit down at your computer to write so, when you're about to finish for the day, when you're still enjoying that flow of creativity in what you've written, that's the time to decide what you'll write the next time. Jot a few notes right there on the screen at the end of what you've written so you'll know what direction you were headed in and what you want to accomplish next. Make it a habit, yep, another routine.

Most writers know that finding time to write can be one of the hardest things to do. But, believe me, the more you do it, the easeier it will be.  And creating habits and routines to keep yourself on the writing path will be one of the best things you've ever done.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Author Resources

Yep, here's another website cram packed with them.  They say there's a 100 Author Resources here.  I didn't count them myself, but I believe them and no doubt you'll find a number of things here helpful to you and your writing. Marketing, self-publishing, selling, grammar support, free word processors and writer's software.  Lots to see here.  Dive in.

Adventures in Writers Rejections

Adventure?! You say, almost shriek at me.  Where's the adventure?  It's frustrating, depressing, demoralizing.  

Rejection isn't anything but bad, bad, bad.

Well hold on there a minute, partner, I respond.  I disagree and I've been published and rejected many times so I do have a platform from which to spout forth my opinions.

You just have to look at it the right way. It's hard to swallow at times, the feedback you might get from a publisher, editor, agent...and remember, Editors are busy people and most of the time don't send any real response so if one of them did it could be because they see potential in your work, or because you're so out in left field they're trying to help you fix your mistakes. Either way, they're trying to be helpful. Stop a moment and appreciate that. Learn from it.

For example, if you do your homework before submitting you'll avoid such form letters  as, "too short", "too long", "we don't accept unagented material", "we don't accept simultaneous submissions", "this is outside our genre". I mean why waste your time and theirs by not following the instructions they provide for authors?

You can prevent a response such as "numerous grammatical errors" by proofing your work thoroughly or hiring someone to do it for you. If you're going to do it yourself you better find some online grammar help or take a few courses to polish up your skills. This isn't like the 'old days' when some famous author or another tossed a haphazard heap of paper on an editors desk and strolled off leaving them to fix all spelling, grammatical, etc. errors (if that ever even really happened at all). That's your job.  Do it and do it well.

If you get a response from an agent such as "we aren't accepting new clients at this time," it could mean a lot of things.  The agency could be overwhelmed with clients.  It might be restructuring, deciding anew on what genres to represent or even about to go bankrupt and fold (I was repped by an agency that went belly-up many years ago and it wasn't fun).  This kind of response doesn't mean much, especially about the quality of your work, just move on and try another agency.

A response such as "This type of story has been done to death," doesn't mean that particular publisher has done it to death, but rather they perceive the market to be saturated. Not much you can do about this but go back in and rewrite; find a new angle to your story; make it fresh.  Yes, you can do another vampire book, but find a whole new way to do it. Get away from the 'same 'ol, same 'ol'.

If you're a blogger or you tweet about your writing or anything else that gets you out there and builds you a following you'll impress a publisher or agent, especially if you're doing it well.  There are lots of small publishers out there who can't afford to promote new authors, so if you do the promotion, let them know in your query letter that you're set up and ready to move should they chose to publish your book. If your writing is good to begin with, this could be the nudge that moves your book to 'sold.'

Remember these days too, self publishing is an option.  It's still frowned on by traditional publishers, but little by little it's expanding, especially on the Ebook front. It may not be for you at all, but it's worth giving some thought to. But remember, should you chose this route, it doesn't excuse you from good grammar, good spelling and good writing. If you don't put out a good book people aren't going to come back. And a truly bad (in the sense of loaded with typos, misspellings, punctuation and grammar errors) will make your name stick in people's minds for all the wrong reasons. 

Whether submitting to publisher or agent or considering self publishing, a well-written, well edited piece of work is a must. No short-cuts. 

Now get out there and remember to enjoy the adventure.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Search Engines for Writers

Here's a site for the writer wrapped up in research - of all kinds. It offers 60 great sites where you can find out almost anything.  Writers professional sites, research sites, reference sites, stuff for niche writers, books and more. Don't miss this one.  check it out.  I know there'll be more than one site you'll be glad you found. 

And as a side note, my book Cloud Dancer is available at 50% at Smashwords at http://bit.ly/mSefTW - use Coupon Code TX72S at check out for special price of $2.98 through March 28 along with half off my book, Stormrider, also at Smashwords at

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/15798 - use coupon code SL67D at check out.  Special for my friends reading this post here. Ebooks here are available in various formats including Kindle, PDF, Mobi, EPUB, RTF and more.

Writing, The Writer And The Block

Writer's Block. Hmmmmmm.

We all seem to get it sooner or later, even the ones who initially denounce the whole idea as ridiculous.

And there are all  manner and size of writer's blocks.  Some are huge and very difficult to overcome while others are more of a passing thing that will just go their own way after a bit.

And they can strike the writer at any time, when expected when coping with some difficult twist of life and unexpectedly when it strikes out of the blue when the writer is moving forward under a full head of steam, writing incredibly well - and suddenly it all stops.

What the heck is this?  Why? What is it that triggers writer's block? I mean it's kind of easy to figure out when it's obvious; your mother's very ill and suddenly the search for the perfect word becomes interminable, the horrible suspicious that what we've written is awful surges. That we  can recognize by the feelings of frustration, anger, weird food cravings (mostly sugar), anxiety. But what about when the writing is flowing like a crystal creek, crisp and clear and inviting - then suddenly, nothing?

Well, have you ever considered we have boundaries, us writers?  It's funny how we crave success and fear it at the same time.  How we love what we do and somehow, at some times fear it.  Some psychologists say we have inner limits on how happy we allow ourselves to be. On how much success we think we are entitled to.

When things are going superbly well and we feel nearly euphoric (oh heck, not nearly, positively euphoric), when things are going our way completely, it may well trigger the need to feel more like ourselves.  You know, a little less good. A little more down to earth, or possibly a full-fledged crash back to 'reality'. 

Now I don't want to go the route of a 'shrink' because I'm certainly not one, but I have been a writer for many years and have experienced that feeling of exhilaration when my writing flows fabulously to the point where I nearly don't know what to do with it.  At that point it's almost like a shut down switch has been hit and suddenly all I can think about is: did I turn the stove off in the kitchen? Is my husband, on the road for business, all right? The little rescue dog with the heart problem is not visible - did he have an attack without me knowing?  Or any other scenario that damps down the mood and brings the happy train to a stop.

So, if you find yourself in that dark place on the roller coaster ride of creativity and you find yourself busily telling yourself how bad your writing actually is and how you'll never get published and how you can't write your way through all those chapters before you, then try a couple of things I've found have worked for me over the years.

1.  Get yourself moving.  Get your body moving.  Get outside and take a short, brisk walk.  If you can't do that, do a few sit-ups or run in place or run up and down the stairs or invest in a treadmill and have that near your work space. 

Or put on some bouncy music and dance for a few minutes. Just one or two cuts from your CD should do it. Dance like nobody's watching - because you're alone and they aren't.

Or do something around the house briefly.  Your dog will love you for a tummy rub session. Your plants could use some water.  Maybe start dinner in a slow cooker so you can throw it all together & walk away.

You might run out to the store and buy something like the ink your printer is about to run out of, or heck that nice new printer you've been eying but putting off.

2.  Shake up your mind a bit.  Acknowledge all those fearful feelings and the anxiety that your surge of creativity  has triggered. It's not like acknowledging them will make them permanent.  In fact it will help you conquer them.

Then face your computer screen and write down your thoughts  and your feelings.  See if you can identify where that voice is coming from that's taking you down. Who's voice is demanding conformity, trying to convince you you can't do what you set out to accomplish? Flush your brain.

And here's one I love.  When my mother was dying a psychologist friend of mine suggested I go into an inside room of the house, windows closed (making sure the neighbors couldn't hear me and think there was a bloody murder being committed at my house) and scream. Throw your arms wide and just let go. Primal scream or encouraging, confirming words you yell at yourself, your choice. It's exhausting and cleansing.

You are a writer.  You deserve to feel joy in your accomplishments and the act of creating. Writer's block cannot last if you make the efforts to break through and don't bury yourself in cookies and potato chips. Acknowledge your self-imposed limits, then expand your boundaries and let yourself fly.

That 10 - 15 minute break could well be all you need to be back at work in front of your computer and ramping up to fabulous again.

Writers Websites Wednesday - A Publisher's Views On The Future of Print

This week I visited Joe Wikert's Publishing 2020 Blog. It was an eye-opening visit.  You might think of surfing over as well.  Joe Wikert shares his views on the future of print, online and other media. It's worth the trip.

Writers Sites Wednesday - 5 Open Source Apps For Writers

The title says it all.  Here's a site cluing us in to 5 Open Source Apps for Writers and Authors.  Check it out, hard-working shoe-string authors - there might be one here to give you a hand.  And check the comments below the Apps where folks offer info  on even more that are available.