First of all, in case you missed my post from two weeks ago: one of my pet themed poetry collections is now available in audio. Yes, "My Friends Of Fur And Feather" is now available as an audio book, narrated by Carol Weakland. You can click on the post I just linked to for full details, as well as for purchase links in all available formats, but
here's the book's Audible page, in case you just want to go there and grab a copy.
If you grab a copy, I hope you enjoy it. Also, if you could review it, either where you buy it, on Goodreads, on your blog, or wherever else you review books, that would be great. Reviews help authors sell books, after all, and are a great way to support your favourite authors, of which I hope I'm one. *smiles*
In other news: despite procrastination, genuine things cutting in to my writing time, the need to file my taxes twice because being blind is apparently no longer a valid reason to have someone else sign the paperwork for you (even if they have legal authority to sign when you ask them to, and have been allowed to do so for the last six years) and temperatures both recently and a couple of months ago that were hot enough to require me to wear sunscreen just so I could sit at my desk - oh, how I wish that last one was a joke - the end is finally in sight for my pirate themed adventure story. Yes, that's right, "Voyage Of The Crimson Sail" is coming! In fact, the Crimson Sail is even now sailing on to the virtual shelves! Jacob sent me the covers last week, and I finally finished the editing on the weekend, so I spent most of Monday formatting and uploading the eBook manuscripts to Smashwords and Amazon. I've set it up to release next week. I usually prefer to set up a pre-release a couple of months in advance now the option to do so exists, but since this one has been so long in being completed that I haven't published anything new in over a year, and Talk Like A Pirate Day is next week, I decided I wasn't going to make you wait longer than that. People have been waiting long enough for this one already. At least, I hope those people who were eagerly awaiting it when I first mentioned it are still out there waiting for it...
Alright. Enough about me... Let's talk about you. So... How's your writing going? Is it going well? Do you need to throw away your writing to-do list?
This just in: you can love writing and also find it hard.
~V.E. Schwav
No matter how your writing is going, and whether your writing is blog posts, stories, poetry, or something else, here are some potentially useful productivity tips. They're officially aimed at blogging and promoting your blog, in particular if you work full time. However, they could work for blogging of any sort, and some of them could potentially be useful for writing in general too, whether you work full time, work part time, or whatever. Also, here's what I don't have time to write that sometimes means, and a post about how you're totally wasting your writing time doing these things.
Regardless of how your schedule works, and how good you are at time management, if you're a blogger - especially, though not exclusively, if you're an author blogger - here's some advice on how to keep on blogging, as well as some tips for keeping your author blog fresh, and ideas for ending an idea drought.
Also, if you're a writer with a blog, and if it's stories you write, you might want to check out this post on writing for books vs writing for a blog. Writing stories to post directly to my blog isn't something I'm considering doing myself, but you might be considering it, so I thought I'd share the post.
No matter how you publish it, if you're considering using some kind of transformation with some - or all - of the characters in your story, check out this post discussing the different schools of body transformation, and another containing some tips and advice for when your characters are going to be transforming objects.
Next, here are some tips for if you need to de-enthasize characters, which you may want to make use of if your story contains too many of them.
Whoever's in your story, here's a suggestion for keeping up to date with the events in your story.
Everything you can imagine is real.
~Pablo Picasso
Next, here's some advice for when you hate your own writing, because it happens to everyone sometimes.
Remember: it's really hard to have a dream, but you should keep dreaming anyway. Will you ever be the great writer you've always hoped to be? Maybe, maybe not. Whichever is the case, just do the best you can, and be proud of whatever you achieve. Most importantly, never forget that it's OK if you don't want to write for a living, so if your dream is to write, but you want to just do it for yourself, that doesn't make you any less of a writer. Plus, whether you write for yourself, or publish what you write, you don't even have to write every single day to call yourself a writer. Regularly, yes. Every day, no.
Are you still struggling with self-doubt? Or, perhaps, it's the topic of the story that has you scared? Either way, don't forget that to write a masterpiece, you must first make a mess. Then, check out these tips for how to love (almost) everything you write, writing through your fear, and how to write stories that scare you. After all, writing is a performance, and the show must go on! So, rise, hustle, repeat.
Remember though: the wand chooses the wizard!
Don't listen to people who tell you that very few people get published and you won't be one of them... Keep writing, keep faith in the idea that you have unique stories to tell, and tell them.
~Robin Hobb
Now, here's a bit of advice on how to find your voice.
Whatever your writing voice may be, I'm going to assume you plan to publish your book once you've written it, so here are some book marketing tips for effective authors, and some more things to consider for book promotion and building your author brand. You might also want to check out this post about setting up your Amazon author page, as well as this one on being part of the Goodreads author programme. Oh, and you might also like to take a look at this simple timeline for holiday sales, especially with the holidays coming up fast.
Why doesn't anyone tell you about the pressures that come with being an unknown writer? I don't know. But one thing I do know is that the post I just linked to is right: it's hard, but all you can do is your best, and remember you're not alone.
Commit yourself to the process, NOT the project. Don’t be afraid to write badly, everyone does. Invest yourself in the lifestyle ... NOT in the particular piece of work.
~Frank Conroy
So, you need to write a blurb for your novel? Then check out the post I just linked to for a few tips.
No matter what stage of your writing you're at though, check out these tips to improve your writing.
Finally - and most importantly - remember that a writer can't always be on, so you should take some time to rest and recharge. You can do that however you like, but make sure you do it. You need it.
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