One of the best places to find affordable resources for writing is on Kindle. You can often find Kindle deals for less that $5. Please note that I am quoting the US Amazon store and that the price may change after the time of the posting. Also, I am not necessarily endorsing any book. They are affordable enough for you to decide for yourself.
Writing: Make Money Writing! by William Wyatt - $2.99
250 Things You Should Know About Writing by Chuck Wendig - $0.99
Writing Genre Fiction by Charles Christian - $0.99
Write in Steps by Ian Stables - $2.99
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Junior - $2.99
Don't own a Kindle? No problem!
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Monday, March 30, 2015
When Not If You Get Rejected
If you are just starting out on your writing career, I hope you are not aiming at never receiving a rejection letter. The only way to not receive a rejection letter is to never submit any writing.
So when you receive your rejection letter, take it as a learning opportunity. Instead of getting angry and ripping up the letter or firmly clicking on delete, ask yourself these questions.
When you get your rejection letter, take a good 10-20 seconds for a pity party. Then start asking these questions and use the rejection as an opportunity to become a better writer.
So when you receive your rejection letter, take it as a learning opportunity. Instead of getting angry and ripping up the letter or firmly clicking on delete, ask yourself these questions.
- Why did it get rejected?
- Was their a major problem with your article?
- Was it the wrong article for the wrong magazine?
- Did you look at the kind of articles that the magazine does publish?
- What could you do better?
- If you had the chance to resubmit it, what would you do differently?
- Are you going to submit the article to another magazine?
- Is there something that you can do to making it more likely to be accepted?
When you get your rejection letter, take a good 10-20 seconds for a pity party. Then start asking these questions and use the rejection as an opportunity to become a better writer.
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| Image by pixaby |
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Vampire Stories Don't Have to Suck
Count Dracula. Everyone knows the story of Count Dracula. Except a lot of people have not read Bram Stoker's Dracula novel.
I am just finishing reading it and I am absolutely loving it. I will confess that I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I am. I actually find vampire stories rather boring and I have not really enjoyed the Dracula movies that I have seen.
So why am I enjoying the original novel so much? It is actually a very fresh manner of storytelling. This novel is not a straight forward narrative. Rather the novel reads as a collection of diary entries, newspaper articles, letters and other reports arranged in chronological order. If someone in the story did not write the events down on paper, it does not make it into the novel.
This creative way of storytelling is helping me to enjoy the story more than if it was just put down in a traditional narrative style.
That is fine for Bram Stoker but what about you? I am not suggesting that you copy Stoker (although a story made up of Twitter tweets, Facebook updates and Pinterest images could be interesting). Rather I would like to encourage you to think (or write) outside the box. What fresh ways are available for you to tell your story? Don't jump straight into tradition. Plan out your plot and imagine what ways you could express this story to your readers.
I hope that you have found something in this post that you can sink your teeth into.
I am just finishing reading it and I am absolutely loving it. I will confess that I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I am. I actually find vampire stories rather boring and I have not really enjoyed the Dracula movies that I have seen.
So why am I enjoying the original novel so much? It is actually a very fresh manner of storytelling. This novel is not a straight forward narrative. Rather the novel reads as a collection of diary entries, newspaper articles, letters and other reports arranged in chronological order. If someone in the story did not write the events down on paper, it does not make it into the novel.
This creative way of storytelling is helping me to enjoy the story more than if it was just put down in a traditional narrative style.
That is fine for Bram Stoker but what about you? I am not suggesting that you copy Stoker (although a story made up of Twitter tweets, Facebook updates and Pinterest images could be interesting). Rather I would like to encourage you to think (or write) outside the box. What fresh ways are available for you to tell your story? Don't jump straight into tradition. Plan out your plot and imagine what ways you could express this story to your readers.
I hope that you have found something in this post that you can sink your teeth into.
Friday, March 27, 2015
5 Reasons Why Writers Should Blog
I personally find blogging to be very enjoyable. But what about writers who do not currently blog? Is there any point in starting to blog? I would like to share five reasons why writers should consider blogging. This is especially true for those just starting out but it is applicable to more experienced writers as well.
Are you a writer or do you want to be one? My suggestion would be that you start a blog. Even if you cannot blog every day, blog as consistently as possible.
- Blogging is writing. Don't take the attitude of sticking with "real" writing rather than blogging. Why wouldn't blogging be real writing? Is it because it is unpaid? I hate to tell you this but there are people who make way more money blogging than some others who sell to magazines or get their books published.
- Blogging is practice. Becoming a better writer requires practice writing. Imagine what that would do for your writing if you blogged every day.
- Blogging gives ideas for other forms of writing. Blogging requires you to think up topics for blog posts. You need to be doing the same thing for writing articles. You may find that writing a blog post gives you an idea that could turn into a more in-depth magazine article.
- Blogging gets your name out there. Your blog probably will get out to more people than many of the articles you write. At the very least it will get out to a wider range of audience. You may find more opportunities for writing through blogging. I have had magazines contact me through my blogging.
- Blogging provides a platform for your other writing. Imagine that you finally get your first book published. Wonderful. But where are the sales going to come from? It is not enough to just have copies in a warehouse somewhere. Publishers do some marketing but there is more and more expectation that authors will promote their work. Blogging is one of the best ways to do this.
Are you a writer or do you want to be one? My suggestion would be that you start a blog. Even if you cannot blog every day, blog as consistently as possible.
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| Image by pixaby |
Thursday, March 26, 2015
John Irving on Writing
For John Irving, the need for a daily ration of solitude was his strongest "pre-writing" moment as a child.
The First Step on Your Writing Career
So you want to be a writer but you don't know where to start. The starting point is actually the easiest part of the entire process. Are you ready for it? Here it comes.
Write!
It may sound too simple but that is really what it takes. You can read all the best books, attend the most amazing conferences and hang out with the most talented authors but if you never write, it is impossible to be a writer.
So what should you write? That is also an easy answer.
Write anything and everything!
Don't start by seeking out that top magazine or writing the next bestselling novel. Just write. Write letters to the editors. Write for local newspapers and magazines. Write for newsletters. Write book reviews. Write blog posts.
Just write.
The point is to hone your skills and while you are doing that, just maybe someone will read your stuff and be impressed and help you to the next level. The more you write, the better you will be able to write.
So your homework is to start writing. Find something and put pen to paper or finger to keyboard. Just write.
Write!
It may sound too simple but that is really what it takes. You can read all the best books, attend the most amazing conferences and hang out with the most talented authors but if you never write, it is impossible to be a writer.
So what should you write? That is also an easy answer.
Write anything and everything!
Don't start by seeking out that top magazine or writing the next bestselling novel. Just write. Write letters to the editors. Write for local newspapers and magazines. Write for newsletters. Write book reviews. Write blog posts.
Just write.
The point is to hone your skills and while you are doing that, just maybe someone will read your stuff and be impressed and help you to the next level. The more you write, the better you will be able to write.
So your homework is to start writing. Find something and put pen to paper or finger to keyboard. Just write.
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| Image by pixaby |
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