Writing

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

Wordle – A New Way To Market Your Writing

Late last week, I came across a website called Wordle. This website allows you to make word clouds out of any text you input into box on their website. I tried it out and I was very impressed. When you visit the website you go to the create section. When the page loads you have a text box to add your text or you can choose the second option which is to add a website URL. For my first attempt and to see what the fuss was all about, I decided to use the text from a new short story I was working on.

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Who’s Your Writing Inspiration?

No matter what type of a writer you are, there is likely to be someone that has inspired you along the way. I love to write fantasy and inspirational pieces and have many people to thank for my love of this work. When I think of fantasy I think of books like The Never Ending Story which was one of my all time favourites. I loved the magic and the message that came across in the book. The little boy who was being told to stop believing in fantasy and to keep his feet on the ground. I loved how the author told of the “Nothing” which was tearing Fantasia apart. This “Nothing” was actually children no longer believing in magic and dreams.

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There’s More To Life Than Work

One of the biggest lessons I have learned over the past ten years is that balance is essential.

As a writer, my brain never seems to shut down. I am always writing or thinking about what I am going to write. It is like a non-stop merry-go-round. I am not just an author, I am also a freelance writer which means that a lot of my time is spent on client projects (these pay the bills). The problem with this however, is that I find I am always looking for time to spend on my own writing projects. The day goes by, the client work gets done, but there is no time left for my own writing. This is what has happened with my blogs and the half finished manuscripts sitting on my laptop.

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Getting Your Author Platform Working For You

Author Platform

Author Platform

Every writer knows that in order to succeed they have to become known. It really is a fact, if people have never heard of you it is going to be rather difficult to sell your book to them. Gone are the days when you could just write your novel and leave everything else in the hands of your publisher or agent. Today, writers need to become marketing experts too. They need to create visibility and the best way to do this is through their author platform.

Now before I jump into explaining the author platform, I feel it only fair to mention that it will require some hard work and effort on your part to make it work.

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What I Learned From NanoWriMo

NaNoWriMo Image

www.nanowrimo.org

NaNoWriMo as you are probably aware stands for National Novel Writing Month and it takes place for the month of November every year. Writers from all over the world scramble to write as quickly as they can and churn out 50,000 words or more in the space of a month. It’s quite a challenge, but it can also be very rewarding.

This year was the first year that I really set myself the goal of competing in NaNoWriMo. I read all the tips and guides and geared myself up for what was going to be a very busy month. The week before the month long event was to kick off, I grabbed a notebook and began plotting out the novel I was going to write. I wrote out my character profiles, chapter synopses, ideas and more. I was fully prepared or so I thought.

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Writing Competitions And How To Win Them

How To Win Writing Contests

How To Win Writing Contests. Image from: http://www.writers-village.org

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Free Ebook On How To Write Fiction

Image: http://www.freelancewriting.com

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