Writing

Writing tips and advice from some of indie authors, publishing specialists, marketing professionals, and more.

Editor Interview – Lynda Kirby Answers My Questions

Editor interview

Today on my blog I am delighted to bring you an editor interview with Lynda Kirby. Lynda is a good friend of mine and also a member of Oldcastle Writers’ Group. Lynda is also my go-to person when I am looking for editing work. As you all know, I am getting my new novella “Finding Forever” ready for publication and in my last post I talked about the value of finding beta readers. The next step in my process was of course editing and I thought what better than to interview an editor to get some inside information. I hope you all enjoy the interview and the information Lynda has supplied. If there are any further questions, be sure to put them in the comments and I will make sure she sees them.

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Finding Beta Readers and Why You Should

Finding Beta Readers and Why You Should

Today I wanted to talk about finding beta readers and why you should. As you know, I finished writing my first novella, Finding Forever, back in September 2016. Taking the advice of all the editors I know, I let it sit on my computer for at nearly two months before I went back to begin editing. After my first round of edits, my inner critic was on overtime constantly whispering in my ear about how bad it was, how no one would like it, how I would fail, etc. I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew I could rely on the members of my writers’ group to read and comment on my work, but was that going to be enough?

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My Year in Writing 2016 – Here’s What I Wrote

my year in writing 2016

This post is dedicated to my year in writing 2016. I have to say, this was a great year for me, especially my personal writing. In fact, I’m a little bit blown away by the amount of writing I have completed. I’ve always dreamed of being a writer but never got around to giving this dream priority.

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Editing for Writers in 5 Simple Steps

Editing for Writers

On the 18th of September, 2016, I finished writing my novella. Actually, it’s probably better to say that it is a novelette coming in at just under 20,000 words. Today I wanted to talk about editing for writers and the process I used.

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Stinkwaves Magazine: My Latest Publications

Stinkwaves Magazine Fall 2016Stinkwaves is a PG-13 literary magazine and where my latest publication can be found. I discovered this magazine when I was looking for child-friendly publications for a spooky poem I’d written for a Halloween last year. The poem was part of a Spooky Stories night that I was attending and it had been sitting on my laptop ever since.

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Visual Verse An Anthology of Art and Words

Visual Verse: An Anthology of Art and WordsVisual Verse is a collaboration. An anthology of art, poetry, short fiction, and non-fiction. They supply a compelling image and invite writers – published or unpublished – to submit a piece in response. There is a catch though and you must write it within one hour and it must be between 50 and 500 words.

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Writing Challenge – A Page A Day For July

writing challengeI can’t believe it is August already. The year is really flying by. For the month of July, I decided to do the Page a Day writing challenge. This is where you commit to writing one page each day for the entire month. At the end, you should have 31 pages of new writing.

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A Step Back in Time with Oldcastle Writers Group

A Step Back in Time with Oldcastle Writers' Group

As part of Oldcastle Writers’ Group, I was delighted to be able to take part in this wonderful event that we organised. The night was all about our stories and as you know from reading my blog, I wrote the story “The Curse of Johnny Murphy” which you can read on my blog in three parts.

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Public Speaking For Writers

public speaking for writers

Public speaking for writers can often come with fear and dread. Well in my case anyway. I love writing but public speaking terrifies me. Even reading my work aloud is a chore. When I started with my writing group back in March I couldn’t even read out loud to the other women in the group and I would often ask one of the other ladies to read what I had written.

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Wildflower Muse Submission Guidelines and My Published Poem

Publishing Success Wildflower Muse

Today I want to talk about the Wildflower Muse submission guidelines and share my wonderful publication news with you all. I came across Wildflower Muse while browsing through Duotrope. It was actually the first journal that I submitted poetry to when I began my journey back in April. I sent three poems on the 21st of April and received an email on the 26th of April to say that they would like to publish my poem “Mornings”. To say I was thrilled is an understatement. I was absolutely over the moon, and it reinforced my desire to see my work in print.

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