I apologise for the long break between posts. I’ve reblogged a couple of interesting posts lately, but have not put up any of my own. The main reason for this is that my mother passed away in September. I’ve been dealing with that and trying to get back into my work proofreading and converting books, … Continue reading A long break – and NaNoWriMo!
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The thing about procrastination
Life is short, people. Stop putting things off. You'll run out of time. If you've always dreamed of learning how to play Stairway to Heaven on the violin, just do it! But seriously, I’ve always had trouble with me procrastinating about something. I don’t know why, but sometimes it’s just too hard to make a … Continue reading The thing about procrastination
The truth about PLOT and STORY
My eyes have been opened! I just watched a YouTube video from Just Write called “What Writers Should Learn From The Lord Of The Rings” and what he says about plot and story is amazing! He talks about the difference between plot and story and includes things like the character arc in his definition of … Continue reading The truth about PLOT and STORY
Said is NOT dead
I hear people on the Internet, especially on YouTube, say that their English teachers had told them that “Said is dead”, meaning, don’t use the word “said” when writing a novel or short story. I don’t remember my teachers saying that specifically, but they did insist that we use more “interesting” words to describe speech. … Continue reading Said is NOT dead
No warmups – just write!
There is a lot of advice out there about preparing to sit down and write your book. Some people tell you to free write or journal beforehand. They say to just write about anything that comes to mind. I’ve sort of tried this and it’s okay. But I guess I didn’t love it, or I’d … Continue reading No warmups – just write!
Don’t fall for the free ISBNs!
You may be aware that for a lot of online book distributors, you don’t need an ISBN to publish your ebook. If you want to publish a print copy or an ebook with Apple’s iBooks, you need an ISBN. I think you should get an ISBN anyway, even if you don’t have to get one. … Continue reading Don’t fall for the free ISBNs!
How to write your book faster
There is lots of advice out there on how to write faster and be more productive. They tell us to be more organised before we sit down to write. Plan ahead. If you only have an hour a day, or even less, make sure that you know ahead of time what you need to write, … Continue reading How to write your book faster
It pays to learn the craft first
Are you new to writing? Have you been writing for a while? I’ve been writing for a long time, but it wasn’t always full-time and I would go for long periods of time where I would be too busy with life to write. I went through some rough patches which eventually led to me getting … Continue reading It pays to learn the craft first
Short stories are NOT good practice for writing novels
I’ve heard that a lot of people who want to write a novel think that they should write short stories first as “practice” before diving in and writing a full-length novel. There’s a major flaw with that plan. Writing short stories is very different to writing a novel. The structure is different. This means that … Continue reading Short stories are NOT good practice for writing novels
Music to write to and for inspiration
A lot of authors on YouTube in some of the recent videos I’ve watched have been talking about using music as inspiration for writing. I love music and have something playing nearly all day every day and I’ve gotten some ideas for stories from songs, so I think what they’re saying is so spot on. … Continue reading Music to write to and for inspiration
TechSavvy Author - Susan McKenzie 