Articles on writing craft and publishing.
Self-Doubt Keeping You From Writing? Here’s How To Beat It
One of the biggest lessons I have learned since I first started to take writing seriously about five years ago is that to do good work—to do any work at all—you need the ability to get out of your own way. Every single day of a writer’s life brings fresh doubt and uncertainty. Some days that doubt and uncertainty are…
Writing Urban Fantasy To Market: The Truth
Before we begin, let me point out that this article is not intended to be some sort of blueprint for “How To Write A Bestselling Urban Fantasy Series”. The article merely outlines the research I did before I started writing the male urban fantasy series that I’m still hard at work on. As well as that, this article will delve…
Why Systems Beat Goals Every Time When It Comes To Writing Success
When most people think about success and the process of achieving things, most often they think in terms of goals. To achieve things, you have to set goals that will help you do that–targets to aim for, destinations to get to in specific time frames. The culture of self-help and business development that has been around for a few decades…
How To Embrace Boredom So You Can Be More Creative
If you are like most people nowadays, you probably avoid boredom like the plague. From a young age, we tend to be taught that boredom is a negative state. Consequently, we learn to become dreadfully uncomfortable with boredom as we do our utmost to fight it every step of the way. These days in the battle against boredom, social media…
Write What You Know (And Also What You Don’t Know)
Write what you know has become one of those well-worn rules of writing that has been bandied about so much now, it has become almost meaningless. So has the less used, but still worn, quote about writing what you don’t know. Besides being contradictory, these two pieces of advice don’t really help a writer much when they are trying to…
3 Tips To Overcome The Resistance That Stops You From Writing
Most of the work in being a writer does not come from the writing itself. It comes from actually getting started in the first place. The act of writing itself is usually pretty painless once you get going. Sure, there are days when it feels like writing is the hardest thing in the world and you have to force every…
On Failure And Taking Risks As A Writer
To grow as a writer you have to take risks. Calculated risks preferably, but risks none the less. And to take those risks, you can’t fear failure. Arguably, one of the most valuable lessons I have learned over the years is that failure is not something to be feared, but to be embraced. Fear of failure used to cripple me….
Thoughts On Being A Writing Junky
It occurred to me that I might just be addicted to writing, and probably have been since my early teens. Writing has always been something that I feel like I have to do, however bad I was at for years. Like most writers, I sucked when I started. If I re-read now some of the articles and stories I wrote…
Lead Generation And Email Marketing For Authors
If you have been self publishing for any length of time, or you know anything about online marketing, then you will no doubt have heard the oft worn phrase, “The money is in the list.” The list being referred to is, of course, an email list, and in marketing terms it is one of the best tools an author can…
23 Kickass Quotes About Writing Every Writer Needs To Know
We all need a little inspiration from time to time (in between working our asses off, of course). Inspiration is like the protein that feeds the muscles of creativity and our continued dedication to the craft of writing. One of the best ways I know to get inspired is to read the books of other authors. I get inspired when…
You Will Succeed At Anything If You Have These Two Things
If someone asked me what I thought the key to success was in any endeavor, I would reply: “Two things. Firstly, know exactly why you are doing what you are doing. Secondly, develop a thick skin.” Over the years, I have learned the vital importance of having those two key things in place. All else aside, those two things will…
Marijuana: Does It Make You A Better Writer?
I have a confession to make. For the last twenty odd years, I have been smoking weed every night of the week. I also confess to loving it. I don’t drink or do any other drugs (any more), so smoking weed is like my one “vice”, although I don’t think of smoking weed as a vice. I don’t really think…
Is There Any Real Value In Writing Down Your Ideas?
I’ve never really been one for writing down ideas in notebooks. I have tried to do so in the past, but I never maintained the practice. I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that it was a waste of time. In the brief periods where I have recorded some of my ideas, I found little benefit in doing so. For one…
The Best Way To Handle Criticism As A Writer
Sometimes I dread reading a review of my work for fear of what it might contain. No one likes to have their work torn to shreds by a reviewer who had a problem with, or blatantly hated, what you had to offer. Probably the most painful reviews to read are those that are the most critical, generally the three star…
5 Things That Help Me Stay Focused And Productive As A Writer
As a writer, I am more productive now than I have ever been in the past. The reason why I am so productive these days is because I have learned to focus. Staying focused is a daily battle for me, as it is with most people. At any minute of the day, there are always a ton of distractions waiting…
Encouraging Advice For Beginning Writers From Ira Glass
The other day, I came across a series of videos recorded by writer and broadcaster, Ira Glass. In the videos, Glass talks about the art and craft of story telling, and hands out quite a bit of advice on writing and the creative process. In one of these videos, Glass talks about the value of not giving up, of not…
Lessons Learned About Writing Dark Fantasy And Horror From Five Classic Horror Movies
As a writer of dark fantasy horror, my early influences where always going to be movies. Yes, I have read thousands of books within the dark fantasy and horror genres, many of which have influenced me greatly over the years, but it would be wrong of me to discount the influence certain movies have had on my writing. In this…
Shades of Gray: The Allure of Morally Ambiguous Characters in Fiction
Once upon a time in the land of fiction, I found myself captivated by the allure of morally ambiguous characters—those fascinating creatures who lurk in the shadows of good and evil, making every story they grace infinitely more intriguing. Let’s take a moment to appreciate these enigmatic beings who dance on the fine line between right and wrong, giving life…
Why Perseverance Is The Ultimate Key To Writing Success (And How To Cultivate It)
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about achievement it’s this: you have to keep going and persevere with what you are doing. More than anything else, perseverance will see you through to the end. Perseverance is almost like a skill and it contains a few different elements that you should be aware off in order to make the most of…
How To Be Original In Your Writing
You wanna mess up a writer tell them to write something original. See how long it takes them to freeze up and then fall to bits. What many beginning writers fail to realize to their detriment is that purposely trying to come up with wholly original stuff is folly and only results in one thing: writers paralysis. Writers paralysis is…
Your Subconcious Mind: A Brief Users Guide For Writers
Where would a writer be without their subconscious? What chance would a story have to be written without the help of the subconscious to tell it? Writers kid themselves into thinking that they are the sole architects of their creations, when really, they aren’t. Sure, a writer does most of the leg work, puts in the sweat and tears, but…
How To Tackle Writer’s Doubt And Double Your Productivity
Sometimes being a writer is the easiest thing in the world. Those times when ideas are clear and words seem to flow without effort—when the act of writing itself is pure joy—those times are awesome and they make you glad you chose to be a writer.
Other times being a writer is the hardest thing in the world. Those times when ideas are few and far between and what ideas you do have are woefully inadequate. Those times when the words refuse to come, when it appears you are suffering from a mental block that stifles your creativity.
While I can’t comment on which one of these scenarios you most find yourself in, it’s a pretty sure bet that all writers find themselves in the latter scenario more times than they care to mention.
But what causes this negative downturn? How do things go from good to bad seemingly overnight without any logical cause?
The answer to that lies in writer’s doubt.
The Secret To Being A More Productive Writer
In any creative endeavor, productivity matters. You can be as creative as you like, but that won’t matter if you don’t finish anything or get your work out there for all to see.
As a writer, if all you do is write and don’t publish anything, or worse, don’t finish anything, how is that being productive?
In my book, that’s about as unproductive as you can get.
But what is the main cause of being unproductive?
In a word: perfectionism.
It’s a curse that helps no one.
If you want to know how to beat it, read on.
How To Make Sure You Finish The First Draft Of Your Novel
Finishing the first draft of a novel for the very first time is for a writer akin to finally learning to swim.
You’ll have spent so much time struggling to complete a finished draft—floundering in a sea of confusion, frustration and procrastination—that when you finally finish it can seem like you’ve been saved from drowning.
You have learned to swim and you are now free to take yourself in any direction you want to go. Suddenly, it’s not about keeping yourself from drowning, but about staying afloat and swimming towards the goal of a fully completed novel.
The choppy seas have calmed somewhat, making it easier for you swim.
Once you know you are capable of finishing the first draft of a novel, things change. A mental shift occurs and suddenly you have the confidence to feel like a real writer.
You now have what it takes to write novels.
There’s no going back after that.
You’ve done it, you know you can do it and you will keep doing it.
It’s a milestone that every novelist has to cross in order to find success, which is why it is so important that you do all you can to insure that first draft gets completed.
If you still struggle to finish the first draft of a novel, don’t despair, all is not lost. It’s not as hard as you think and there are things you can do to make reaching that goal even easier.
4 Absolute Requirements For Writing Mastery And Success
It’s no great secret that people who have excelled in one discipline will often excel in another when they turn their attention to it.
Why?
They have learned the art of mastery.
The previously mastered discipline is not important.
What are important are the lessons to be learned from it.
For the purpose of this article, we are going to be looking at some of the lessons to be learned from mastering a particular discipline, then we are going to apply those lessons to writing.
Mastery is the same across all disciplines, whether in sports, the arts, science or whatever.
To master your discipline—in this case writing—there are certain things you must do in order to make that possible.
If writing means more to you than superficial success—and if you want to master writing and being a writer—learn and apply the following lessons.
Give Your Writing More Impact By Defining Who You Are Writing For
When it comes to writing for an audience, either through books or blogging, one of the biggest mistakes writers often make is that they try to write for too wide an audience.
Of course we all want as many people as possible to read our stuff, but in trying to please too many people at once you will weaken your writing and reduce the chances of your work connecting with people.
If you want your writing to have more of an impact, one of the best things you can do is to narrow the audience you are writing for.
By impact, I mean that your writing will be truly useful and valuable to a select group of people, the people that your content is targeted towards. These people already want what you have to offer, you just have to find them first.
Having little or no impact comes from people reading your work who don’t care about it, simply because they have no need for what you are offering.
It makes sense to target people who will give a shit, not those who won’t. The best way to reach those people is to define who they are first.
How To Deal With Writers Burnout And Stress
The old saying of it’s better to burn out than fade away may apply to rock stars and flaming celebrities, but it certainly doesn’t apply to writers.
There is nothing glamorous about burning out to the point where you stop production and loose your grasp on being a writer.
If you stop writing you are no longer a writer. Why would you want that?
You wouldn’t want that of course, but if you are not careful, that’s exactly what can happen.
In this article I’m going to show you how to spot the signs that indicate writers burnout is just around the corner, if not already there. That way, you can do something about it before it hits and causes real damage, otherwise you may end up writing your twisted memoirs on an imaginary typewriter in the wing of a mental hospital somewhere, and no one wants that.
3 Ways To Improve Your Writing Before You Even Start
Writing isn’t all about the craft. The craft is important yes, but so is the groundwork you lay in order to practice the craft of writing to its fullest extent.
There are things you can do before you start to write that will make a big difference to how you write once you actually begin.
It’s about the laying the proper groundwork so you can write at your fullest potential.
Read on to find out how you can give yourself the best chance of producing great work.
How To Tap More Of Your Potential As A Writer
If you could, would like to take your writing to the next level?
What I mean by that is, would you like to step up a gear as a writer, to tap more of your potential as a writer?
I’d like to think that you would. After all, we all want to be better writers, right? At least better than we are now.
I’m going to show you how you can tap more of your potential as a writer.
You may think you are firing on all cylinders at present but we can always do better.
Here’s how I managed to tap more of my potential as a writer, and how you can to.
How To Write Your First Non-Fiction Book And Get Started As An Indie Author Part 4: Creating Your Book Cover
Welcome back to another installment in this series on how to publish your first non-fiction book.
In part one of this series we discussed developing and researching your book idea.
Then in part two we looked at how to outline the structure of your book and the kind of material you needed to include in it.
In part three, we then discussed how to go about writing your book.
Now in part four of this series we are now going to look at getting your cover sorted.
How I Became A Professional Writer And How You Can To
I’m sure you’ve heard that said a million times before, to the point where it’s become so trite and clichéd as to be totally meaningless.
The fact is though, people give up on their dreams all the time, and it’s sad.
It’s sad when I meet people who have resigned themselves to a life of drudgery, people who have made their lives a creativity free zone. It makes me sad because I can see the sadness in them. They’ve let themselves get beaten by negativity or setbacks in one form or another.
When you suggest to some people that they should maybe start going after those dreams they once cherished so much, they just shake their head (sadly) and shrug. They tell you its too late, or that they are happy enough with how things are.
For the most part, these people just exist, they don’t live.
I only say that because I used to be one of those people, for a while anyway.
Then I caught myself on.
The ONE Thing You Can Do To Take Your Writing To The Next Level
Out of everything I have done to try and improve myself as a writer over the years, there is one thing in particular that I did which helped me take my writing and myself as a writer to the next level.
What is that one thing?
I created a good writing environment.
That’s right. I found a place that I could go to every day and write without any distractions.
Before that, I used to try and write anywhere. Mostly I wrote at home, late at night when everyone else was in bed sleeping. That worked for me for a while, but it got to the point where I could hardly concentrate at such a late hour. My mind and body was tired and I didn’t have the energy or focus to sit there and write for the hour or two it would take me to finish something.
Most writers do their writing at home. The problem with that is that most writers also have families and an infinite number of distractions to contend with. This can seriously slow down your progress.
How To Find Your True Writing Voice And Why You Need To
One of the hardest aspects of writing to pin down is “voice”. You probably hear all the time that writers need to “find their voice”, as if it is some mysterious thing hidden away in the subconscious somewhere.
A writers voice does come from their subconscious, but it is not something that lurks there fully formed and waiting to be found. A writer’s voice must be cultivated, and the writer must use their subconscious to do that.
But how? We are still being vague here. If a writer has any hope of developing a unique writing voice then we first have to try and define exactly what that is.
In simple terms, writing voice can be defined as not what you say, but how you say it.
The power of such a simplified definition means that for the writer, they can write about virtually anything as long as they write in their own true voice.
If you’re a writer (and I assume you are since you are reading this) you should find that liberating, especially if you happen to be a blogger or article writer.
How To Write Your First Non-Fiction Book And Get Started As An Indie Author Part 2: Outlining
Welcome back to the second part of this series on how to write and publish your first non-fiction book and start earning as an indie author.
If you followed the steps in the first part of the series you should now have a good idea about the type of book you want to write. You should have also researched the market for your book on Amazon.
Assuming your idea is good to go and there’s a market there for it, it’s time now to look at outlining the book in preparation for writing it, so let’s get started on that.
How To Write Your First Non-Fiction Book And Get Started As An Indie Author Part 1: Deciding What To Write About And Research
Welcome to the first part of my brand new blog series on how to write a non-fiction book and get started as an indie author.
There has never been a better time to be a writer and self-publisher. Thanks to Amazon Kindle and many other indie publishing platforms, the opportunity is there for people to realize their dreams of becoming a published author and making a living as a writer.
It is in that spirit of creativity and free enterprise that I present to you this comprehensive guide on publishing your very first non-fiction book. Even if you have already published a book, keep reading because I’m sure you’ll pick up at least a few tips to help you progress further on your journey as an indie author.
4 Steps To Becoming A Professional Writer
Writing and publishing is a long game. If you want to succeed at it, you have to be prepared to put in years of practice.
Many people who want to write for a living don’t like to hear that. It can be off-putting to know that you may have to slave away day after day for years, writing without any outward signs of success.
When I was a full-time martial artist, I came across people all the time who wanted to be like Bruce Lee or their favorite UFC fighter. I often watched in amusement as their faces dropped when I told them how many years of training it would take to get to that high standard.
Too many people want the glory and success without doing any of the hard work to get it. It’s the same across all of society, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. It’s like people want a magical solution that will whisk them straight from beginner to professional without having to bother with any of the steps in between.
Well, things don’t work like that. If you want to be even half-way competent in something, you still need to work your ass off. To be awesome, you have to work even harder.
It’s no different with writing.
Story Structure: A Fiction Writer’s Best Friend
Back when I started to write fiction, one of the things I struggled with was plotting my stories. I wasn’t alone there either. How to structure a novel is the single biggest challenge that I see most beginner and novice writers complain about, and with good reason.
The plot structure of a novel, more than anything else, will determine the success or failure of that novel.
You can have a cast of great characters, interesting settings and all the rest, but without a logical narrative structure to hang those elements on, your story will go nowhere, leaving anyone who reads it unsatisfied, if they even finish the whole book and don’t put it down after a few chapters.
3 Ways People Fail At Writing (And How To Make Sure YOU Succeed)
The single biggest lesson that I have learned on my self-publishing journey (and this includes blogging as well) is that as a writer you have to get out of your own way and go with the creative process.
What do I mean by that?
I mean that when it comes to writing and publishing (either through blogging or indie platforms like Kindle) many beginning writers never even get out of the gate because they don’t know how the creative process works.
Lots of writers when they start off will take an idea and try to develop it into a book or an article or a short story or whatever. They begin strong, full of enthusiasm, but inevitably they falter for various reasons and whatever progress they made comes to a stop.
Pen Names In Self-Publishing: Good Idea Or Not?
The decision as to whether or not to use a pen name is one that many self-publishers have had to make at some point.
It is something I debated for a long while when I first decided to move from writing non-fiction to fiction.
So in this first article for the blog, I would like to go over some of the pro’s and con’s of using a pen name. If you are at the stage where you are considering using a pen name, this article may help you with your decision.