Category Archives: Writings about Writing

Thoughts and tips about the craft

The Nitty-Gritty of Writing: Grammar Rules Matter

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I’ve written some posts before about those boring basics of writing, like punctuation, capitalization, and troublesome words like “it’s” versus “its.” In today’s world of texting abbreviations and rapidly-changing slang, it seems almost pointless to bother with proper grammar and spelling. But if you want to be a professional writer of any kind (or even just sell a few books on the side), this boring stuff matters.

Yes, that’s what editors are for. Us writers are the artists who construct heroic characters and amazing worlds, so why should we bother with accurate spelling and making sure the tenses match? Isn’t it an editor’s job to fix all that tedious stuff?

Well, yes, it is. Which brings up an excellent point: if you’re planning to publish a book – even self-publish – you should hire an editor. Getting your mom to glance through your manuscript, even if your mom was an English teacher back in the day, is not the same thing as having a professional editor go through your work line by line. Continue reading →

How to Be Effective on Social Media: The Holiday Edition

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For those of you who don’t know, for my day job I work in social media, both for a company, and independently as a social media coach for writers. So for this week’s post, I’d like to offer a few free tips on how you can use social media effectively to reach readers, gain followers, and boost your writerly brand.

First, a few quick do’s:

DO:

  • Share and promote your books, especially if you’re having a sale during the holidays. Books – both digital and print – make great gifts, so let people know what you have.
  • Keep tweeting, sharing on Facebook, writing blogs, etc. Whatever sort of social media strategy you’ve been working during the past few months, keep it up. I know the holidays can make your schedule crazy, but don’t disappear off social media for the month of December. If you’re at all serious about building and maintaining a brand, consistency is vital.
  • Share about what’s going in your life. Got invited to a swank Christmas party? Cat knocked over the tree? Just took the kids to see Santa? People want to know the real you behind your books! Be personable!

Continue reading →

5 Reasons I’m Thankful for Stories

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In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are five reasons why I think stories are important, and why I’m so very thankful:

Stories are entertaining. Some may say that there’s no real value in entertainment – it’s just a frivolity. While it’s certainly possible to sacrifice your responsibilities and productivity in the name of always seeking to be entertained, entertainment itself is not a bad thing. Entertainment can lower stress and raise happiness. Good stories do that, and I’m thankful.

Stories teach us. Whether it’s a true story or complete fiction, through stories we can learn about the power of the human will, good versus evil, what true love means. Anything can be taught through a story – whether it’s an elusive human value, or facts about history, science, or other cultures.  Continue reading →

The Artist and the Professional – Yes, You can Be Both

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For this week’s post, I’m sending you over to Helps2Media. For those who don’t know, Helps2 is a digital marketing and social media company, and it’s where I work for my day job. Last week I penned the blog post – it’s about how artists/writers/creatives of all types can be artistic yet still be professional online and (thus increase their reach and sell their stuff.) Check it out!