How do you keep writing through life’s big changes? New houses, new jobs, new babies, even new puppies can throw a wrench into your writing life. It’s so easy to get distracted, run out of time, and lose your writing motivation.
Change is inevitable. It messes with our lives, turns our world upside down. Even through these changes, writers have to write. It’s easy to say you’re distracted, that you can’t write right now. You’ll pick it back up when things have settled down.
But the longer you go without writing, the less likely you are to pick it back up. So what to do?
Does it really matter what other people think of your art? When should you seek advice, critique, and opinion—and when should you trust your voice?
In this episode of Character Test, I talk with author and designer James Victore about what happens when you stop seeking the opinions of others and start making art you believe in.
Imagine The Shining taking place in a shopping mall. Or the movie Se7en set in sunny Florida. It just wouldn’t work. Setting plays a vital part in the success of these stories, and it should in your stories, as well.
I work with a lot of writers, and by far the most frustrated, disappointed, and confused writers I work with aren’t the ones chasing after the publication of their first book.
It’s the ones who have already published their first book.
How do you publish your book and sell your first 1,000 copies?
I was recently reading a story in development and found myself irritated with the main character. Why? I thought. They have a good plan, they care about their goal, and their dialogue is engaging. As I kept reading, I found myself wanting to shout, “Get on with it already!” Suddenly I recognized exactly what the problem was, and worse, I realized I do it too.
Every great heroic story has that moment. It’s the deep breath before the plunge. The calm before the storm. The quiet before the calamity. In the Hero’s Journey, it’s the Approach before the Ordeal.
It’s an essential moment you need to plan for and build around as you draft your story. And to do it right, you’re going to need to figure out three key elements.
What does it actually take to make it as an artist? Especially if there’s no clear path to success? Whether your art is storytelling or magic, you’ll enjoy this wisdom from Nate Staniforth, a magician who’s spent his life figuring it out.
Are you wondering what Dan Brown’s MasterClass is like and if signing up would be a good move for you? Do you want to learn how to craft a thriller that works or add suspense to your writing? I recently had the opportunity to take a MasterClass from the man who wrote one of the world’s best-selling novels, The Da Vinci Code, and I’m here to share my thoughts about the experience and give you a peek into what I learned.
Sometimes getting your writing into readers’ hands can seem like a long, arduous process. You might feel lost. You might feel like the “gatekeepers” in the publishing industry are out to get you, hate your work, or are just plain mean.
In this interview, we’re talking with Iseult Murphy about her writing journey, her decision to self-publish, and the power of connecting with other writers.
What does it take to write a happy ending? Better yet, what does it take to live a happy ending? A novel about the Great Depression might seem like a strange place to look for happy endings, but this historical fiction author has a few tricks up her sleeves to make sure her characters get the endings they deserve.
Have you ever wonder how to market a book? You spend months, maybe even years writing, editing, then rewriting your book until it’s a masterpiece (or at least finished). Now what? How do you turn all that hard work into sales and, if it’s not too much to ask, money!
There are hundreds of things to discuss when it comes to how to market a book, but what are the first steps you need to take, if you’re starting from scratch? That’s what were going to talk about in this article. Ready to get started?
Every writer knows that writing the middle of a story is tough. But it doesn’t have to be. The Hero’s Journey, an age-old story structure theorized by Joseph Campbell, provides a clear path to take when constructing the middle of your story.
What does it take to be a writer? How do you go from working in an uninspiring job and not writing to building a thriving career as an author? That might sound impossible and out of reach—but it’s not. Bestselling author Joanna Penn shares the five steps she took to make the leap, and how you can too.
I had a writing friend ask me last week, “How do you write through the boring parts of a story?”
Here’s my short answer: Cut them.
Of course, that’s all predicated on recognizing boring writing in the first place. Not sure where to start? Here’s some help with finding those parts to cut!
For years, I didn’t know how I was ever going to sell books. I’m painfully shy and, unfortunately, have a complexion that tends to redden easily. Like lava-covered-tomato red. The idea of calling someone, sometimes even people I know, gets my heart racing. The idea of standing in front of a small group of people and talking is my worst nightmare. And don’t even get me started on going to conferences and the like. Oh, the terror.
None of this is really news for writers. “Writer” and “extrovert” don’t often appear in the same sentence. Day-to-day our hermitic proclivities aren’t really a problem. We happily plug away at our keyboards in a dark room somewhere and don’t have to deal with another soul.
Why do you write? What message do you want, even need, to share with the world? That core message is at the heart of your creativity—and it’s the way your writing will have the most impact on the world.
What do readers demand from the stories they read? They expect to be entertained, to learn something, to be intellectually challenged, charmed, or tickled. Readers want to have questions raised and answered and they love action, chases, and puzzles. But above all, readers read to feel something, to be stirred emotionally.
That’s why learning to craft an emotion-baited hook can be one of the most powerful tools in your toolbox. So let’s take a look at how to do that.
How do you sell more books? This is a question I hear frequently from authors in our community. When you’ve done the hard work of writing a book, when you’ve even managed to get your book published, it would be nice to be able to get your book into the hands of readers. But anyone who has published a book knows that selling books isn’t simple.
That’s where Publisher Rocket, a powerful piece of book marketing software, comes in. What is Publisher Rocket, and will it help you in your book writing and marketing efforts? In this post, I’ll be sharing my Publisher Rocket review. I’ll also talk about how I personally use the tool.
In order for your hero to embark on an epic journey, they must first cross a threshold and leave their ordinary world. In fact, the fifth stage of the Hero’s Journey is Crossing the Threshold. Here’s how to master this pivotal scene.
Have you ever doubted your skill, your talent, your ability to write great stories? Self-doubt is a normal (if frustrating!) part of the writing process. If you focus on that doubt, you’ll become too discouraged to create—so bestselling author Rea Frey found a bold way to overcome doubt and write.
