Tag: writing tips

Tips and tricks

Who am I

Writers gather their characters from various places. Some look at people in their own life, some try to create ones opposite of the people they know.

By nature, a writer is a people watcher. It helps to get descriptions and ideas.

Personally, I think that people watching should start with the mirror. Who am I? Look into your own personality traits, character flaws, desires, and fears. That gives you an idea of how to write a character. Practice describing you. Do a “character” sheet for you. In an attempt to show you what I mean… Here is a character sheet for me.

Name : Patricia Lynn Harris

Nickname /preferred name: Patti

Eyes: Chocolate Brown

Hair: natural dark brown /nearly black though she often colors it in shades of purple. Wears it between short and slightly more than shoulder length.

Height 5’2

Weight 290

Body shape pear

{Here is where you decide how in depth you want the sheet to be}

Birthplace – _________

Home – ____________

{Obviously I don’t feel personally I need those}

Strengths: Intelligence, flexibility, resilience, creativity

Flaws: Lazy, chronically ill, sloppy, physical weakness

Fears: severely claustrophobic, mildly Agoraphobia, Acrophobia

Personal descriptors: pacifist, feminist, pansexual, ptsd

Abilities : program in c#, draw, write, paint, resin, jewelry design, digital art, cover design, crotchet, needlepoint, networking, computer literacy, storytelling, sewing, piano, teaching, editing, publishing

Yeah, this is all very dry information. It gives you a skeleton to work with. Then you can take it and create an image of your character. Here’s what I see…

She was not your typical shut in. Patti was creative, and used that creativity to test her boundaries. Her dark eyes sparkled as she made the characters come alive. Running her hand through the lavender hair, she grumbled her frustration about the story not coming easy.

Though she had other projects awaiting her attention, this story was pulling at her. The self imposed deadline gave a reason to avoid doing the housework that she so wanted to avoid.

See how a few dry facts turn into a short and interesting scene? Do that with you and see what you can do. Then expand until you have a good character collection to work from. It will make character development second nature. (Also remember… Villains are characters, too)

Friday Funday

Trying to do a writing based fun day.

Admittedly, some of them are writing tips. Some are word funnies. Hope that you enjoyed, and if you have one feel free to share it with me!

Prompts

I.)

If you could live in any place or time (or both) where/when would it be?

II.)

You stumbled and fell into a hole in the ground. You find yourself in a new time /place(the one from the question above). You are alone with nothing more than what is usually in your pockets /purse. What are you going to do? Where will you go?

III. )

Would you seek to return home? And why? Is it something or someone you want to return to?

IV. )

Lastly, what sort of adventure will it take to return home? What adventure if you stay? What changes will your presence cause in the timeline?

Good writing! 😍

Friday Tips

Today I am going to touch on something that I have trouble with… Marketing. This is a little bit of common sense, a little bit of psychology, and a whole lot of courage.

My mom once told me that anyone can be a top notch salesman, all that is needed is a true belief in what you are selling. That is where I falter in my marketing. I am not as confident in my art as I should be.

So I will tell you some simple things to assist with the marketing of your writing or art.

First thing… Think about how you feel when you see ads. What do you like when you are reading book ads? Do you tend to pay attention more to just the text posts with blurbs and links, or the ones that have pictures? Most people prefer pictures. Keep in mind that the pictures only snag the attention. The blurb and title have to be good enough to keep the attention. The blurb is your call to action.

You want it to capture both the attention of your reader and the essence of your story. You don’t want to give too much, but it has to give at least some idea of what the story is about.

Next thing if all that you do is market your books people will stop following you. Nobody likes seeing only ads. Mix it up. Give teasers, jokes, or just something fun. Yes you have to share links to get people to buy, but it cannot be all of what you share. You are more than just what you are trying to sell. Use your spark to engage conversation, then after you have their attention… Say btw I have this that you may be interested in.

Lastly, you are not just your sales. So if you do not make good sales to start with, it is not a sign that you will not ever. You will have good and bad weeks. You will get bad reviews. Those people are not your readers. Your readers will love the words you write. Love yourself enough that you can deal with the backlash from the ones that are not your readers.

Friday writing day

There is an abundance of writing tips on the net nowadays. It sometimes seems like everyone is a writer anymore. So many are offering the same advice over and over. I have been wracking my brain to make my writing posts more unique. (After all I want to give you a reason why my blog is worth your read.) I decided that writing advice should be in answer to questions asked. Prompts, while useful are often boring for me to write.

So I thought about how to fill this space. Yeah, I have topics that can be put on Friday. That is not the hard part. I think that I want to keep writing a Friday topic so to remind myself that I am more than just a poet or artist. Poetry, while a type of writing, has Monday.

My Tuesday post is now a set thing. I will be doing the Tuesday tunes thing from now on. Wednesday is for art. Thursday will be my random day. Friday is the hard one. I want to keep it mostly writing related. I will be doing prompts still. I will be doing reviews. I will be posting some stories and story ideas to see if they are worth doing. I may make posts about the technical snarls of writing, editing, and publishing. It should all fit nicely under the umbrella of Writing Day. I can add subtitles to clarify what each post is dealing with.

If any of you have questions about the writing process, indie publishing, editing, or anything else… Send me the question. I will do my best to see your questions answered. If I cannot personally answer it, I will try to find a guest blogger who can.

I am also thinking about adding to Monday. Doing something similar to what I did in April. Picking a favorite poet and talking about them and their poetry. Though I enjoy sharing my own poetry with you… Sometimes it feels like I am only feeding my own ego with this blog. I want to also teach, inform, and entertain.

Writing poetry

So, In preparation for this post… I searched Pinterest looking for ideas for what to tell you about writing poetry. I found a lot of technical information. And if you need that sort of thing it is easily found on Google. I didn’t want to be just another person telling you what you can easily find.

Instead, I think that I will talk about the stupid stuff that seems to be overlooked. The stuff that I had to learn. Yes, you don’t have to listen. Can you ignore this? Sure. It is just what I have picked up in a lifetime of poetry.

  1. Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to follow rules with poetry! Poetic license is a thing… However, I have found that you should at least know what the rules are. Still, poetry is the truest expression of who you are.
  2. Punctuation. When the reader is reading the poem, punctuation tells them when to pause. This increases the impact of the poem.
  3. Don’t be afraid to try new styles. I write free verse most often. However, that is not all of what I have written. It is good to challenge yourself to do more technical styles so your writing can grow.
  4. Write at least one per day. The more you write, the easier it becomes.
  5. Don’t be afraid of rejection. The other day I recieved one and a friend consoled me. What he said really resonates with me. He said that the lit magazine that I had submitted to was not good enough for my poems. You can have amazing poetry and the places that you submit to will not accept sometimes. It happens to all of us.
  6. You are the best writer that your poetry can have. You will know when it is done and what words to use.
  7. Spelling is important. Misspelled words and a lot of archaic words make the poem look unprofessional. Same thing with a bunch of slang(ie bae, yeet, on fleek) as these words are often not understood by everyone.
  8. Imagery is so important… However it is quite possible to do poetry with out similes or metaphor. It merely requires better imagery in the poem itself.
  9. Not everyone actually likes poetry. Seriously, it is such a wonderful form of expression… But there is people who just dislike it. Some because of how poetry makes them feel. Some because it seems too intellectual to them. That is okay. Your reader is not those people, even if they are people whom you love.
  10. You don’t have to share unless you want to. Poetry is often such a personal thing. Sharing feels vulnerable. So if you just wanna write for you? It is perfectly fine.

If you decide to write, and you decide to share.. Email me. I will be featuring the best on my Monday poetry posts.

Attack of the plot bunnies!

As with most authors… I have more ideas than I will ever be able to write. Sometimes having such a potent imagination is a bit of a curse. So, what is there to do when your mind is overrun with the bunnies?

First, I recommend that you keep your writing projects to no more than two active at a time. I realize that most people recommend that you keep only one active. I think that it is easy to burnout if you push forward with a project that is not flowing. By having a second project, you have a small ability to swap off as the need arises.

Second, keep a note of the ideas as they come. Yes, write them down! You will forget them. Trust me. I have been dumb enough to believe that I didn’t need to do this. Much to my regret.

Visit the ideas list periodically to find the next project. It really is that simple. I also tend to do that with poetry prompts. What will not work one day may work to inspire another day. Inspiration sparks different depending upon the day.

So, where do you hide your ideas? Mine are all on digital notes. 😊