Writing

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

Jun212016

Publishing Success – Mused BellaOnline Literary Review

publishing success

Today I am celebrating another publishing success. My poem titled, “The Book” has been published in the Summer 2016 edition of the Mused BellaOnline Literary Review. This was my second time to submit to this magazine and I am delighted to be featured alongside some great writers.

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Jun172016

Dolores Keaveney Childrens Author and Artist

Dolores Keaveney Children's Author & Artist

Yesterday evening as part of Oldcastle Writers Group, I had the privilege of meeting Dolores Keaveney children’s author and artist. It was a wonderful night and this lady is such an inspiration. Dolores is a self-published author and her books are beautiful. She told us all about the self-publishing process from start to finish and even read from one of her books. It really was eye opening and I hadn’t realised there was so much to do when it comes to writing and publishing a children’s picture book. You have to write the book, design a front cover, create the book in InDesign, print a mockup, edit, edit, edit, and then have print copies done for reviews. There really is a lot involved including getting your ISBN from Nielsen, a UK company. You also have to find someone to do you a bar code if you are self-publishing too.

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Jun162016

Memoir Writing Course With Lynda Kirby

memoir writing course

In April of this year, I took a memoir writing course with Lynda Kirby. This was a six-week course that ran for two hours every Friday evening. Lynda is the chairperson of the Oldcastle Writers Group that I am also part of and a friend. I have, to be honest, the idea of a memoir writing course scared the crap out of me. Delving into memories is not something I enjoy and anyone who has read my book “Surviving Suicide” will know that my father died from suicide when I was thirteen. Reliving these memories is not something I wanted to do and the idea of a course on writing about memories wasn’t exactly exciting, to say the least.

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Jun132016

Facebook Addiction – A New Disorder

Facebook Addiction

Today I want to talk about social media and how distracting it can be. More to the point, I’m want to talk about Facebook. So here goes. I’m Amanda and I’m a Facebook Addict. God, just typing that makes me realise just how much of my time is wasted on this social media platform. Take today for instance. I turned my laptop on just after 9am when the kids went to school. I was just doing my normal check, looking at notifications, posting to pages, and my writer group. Yep, that’s what I said to myself anyway. It’s a lie. Facebook is my number one procrastination tool. It’s always there and always at hand whenever I want to waste some time. In recent months, it seems to have escalated though and when I found myself still scrolling at 12.20pm, I knew it was time to make a change.

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Jun122016

Submitting To Literary Magazines – Why It’s Important To Buy Them

submitting to literary magazines

Over the past two months, I have been submitting to literary magazines and taking more of an interested in my personal writing. There is nothing nicer than seeing your name in print but it’s not as easy as you think. Each literary magazine will have their own editor or editors and you have to impress them with your writing.

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Jun122016

Do What You Love and Enjoy It

do what you love and enjoy it

Following on from my last post about handling criticism today and want to talk about doing what you love and enjoying it. I love to write and I enjoy doing it too but that doesn’t mean I go for my dreams and goals all the time. I’m learning though and that is the main thing. Sometimes it’s all about focus and mindset and this has been a stumbling block for me. One negative criticism and I found myself ditching my writing and sitting down in front of the TV watching mind numbing crap. Why? I felt I wasn’t good enough. I shouldn’t be spending my time writing fiction or poetry because I’m no good at it. I’m sure many of you can relate. When that little voice inside gets a hold, your dreams can wilt very quickly.

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Jun102016

How To Deal With Criticism

how to deal with criticism

Today was the first day in two weeks that I put pen to paper and wrote something new. The reason, I was learning how to deal with criticism. I decided a couple of weeks ago to get a professional critique on two of my poems. These were poems that were rejected for publication so I thought they would perfect to send off. My reason behind the professional critique was that I really want to have a book of poetry published by an Irish publisher. I love poetry and for me it is one of the easiest things to write. I can pen a poem in a matter of minutes and I really love it.

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Jun042016

How To Stay Motivated When You Work From Home

How to stay MotivatedToday I wanted to talk about how to stay motivated when you work from home. First off I have to say, working from home is amazing. I am my own boss and I have the freedom to work when I want. There is however one downfall to all of this and that is staying motivated and getting everything done. There are so many distractions. There’s the housework and of course there’s Facebook, that all-consuming time waster. I have on occasion browsed Facebook for hours just because I could.

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Jun032016

Take The Time To Celebrate Your Accomplishments

celebrate your accomplishments

I have taken the day off work today to celebrate.  My daughter, Emma, aged 12 attended an awards ceremony this morning and I have to admit, I am beaming with pride. Emma and her entire class took part in the Navan Education Centre Write A Poem 2016 competition along with other schools from Co. Meath and Co. Louth.  She won the female entry for her school and we were invited to attend the award’s ceremony this morning where she was presented with a certificate and a copy of the published anthology that features her poem and the picture she drew to accompany it.

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Jun022016

Why Making Time For Your Passion is So Important

Sun Smiling

image credit: clipartpanda.com

Today as I am writing my blog post, the sun is shining, and the church bell is chiming to let me know it’s 12:00. The thought of sitting inside writing all day is deflating. I can hear the school children, cheering each other on – it’s sports day today and I have promised my children I will come across to the football field to watch them at lunch time. It is on days like this that I hate the fact that I have to work. I know I work for myself and can take the time off, but I just seem to be so busy lately.  It happens every now and again and I feel it building, the resentment, the boredom, and the longing to be working on my own writing. Today though I have to put those feelings aside and catch up on the work that pays my bills.

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