Category Archives: Writings about Writing

Thoughts and tips about the craft

How to be a healthy writer

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The blogosphere is full of tips about how to write better, and full of tips about how to be healthier. But what about being a healthy writer? How can wise food choices help you write better?

I’m no doctor, but here’s what I’ve observed, just through personal experiences, and some amateur nutritional knowledge of my own.

Drink more water. Yes, as writers we live off of caffeine. I mean, how else can you survive NaNoWriMo without guzzling coffee or twelve million energy drinks? But caffeine is actually dehydrating. Just as the body functions better when fully hydrated, so does the brain – which is of course an essential tool for writers. Don’t like plain water? Improve the taste with drink additives (watch out for sugar and chemicals in some brands, though). Or keep it simple by adding a slice of lime or some sprigs of mint to a glass of water.

Take a multivitamin. But not just any multivitamin – you probably won’t get anything from a cheap brand of synthetic vitamin from your local big box store. Invest in your future – your future as a healthy person and a prolific writer – by buying a vitamin made from whole plants, and preferably organic. Even if your diet is full of all the right foods and none of the bad ones, you’re still probably not getting every mineral and piece of nutrition that your body needs to function at top performance. Feed your body the right foods with a plant-based natural multivitamin, and you’ll have long-term energy to keep you writing longer.

Exercise. I know – you’re too busy writing (and working, and just doing regular life) to exercise. But even a few minutes of extra movement every day can add up. Take breaks and move your body. Even mild exercise like going for a walk helps your blood flow better, your joints work better, gives your eyes a break from the computer screen, and can even help your brain work through that next scene that you’re totally stuck on.

Eat regular meals and snacks. Again, something that’s hard for anyone – writer or otherwise – to do. Crazy schedules beget crazy eating schedules. But if at all possible, figure out how to work in several small meals and snacks throughout the day rather than one or two huge meals and binge snacking. Eating smaller amounts frequently helps keep your blood sugar and metabolism steady, which results in less weight gain and better overall health.

Make the time. None of these things have to take much extra time – but they do take extra thought and discipline, at least at first. Make yourself drink some ice water during your after-dinner writing session instead of one more caffeinated drink. Set your vitamins out on the table the night before so you’ll take them with breakfast the next day. Get up from your desk every hour on the hour and take a six-minute walk. Sit down to write with a snack of raw veggies.

Put a sticky note on your desk or set a reminder on your phone – whatever it takes to make these changes into new habits. Your body and your writing will thank you for it.

Writing Updates – February 2014

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Happy new year! It’s still early enough in the year to say that, right? It usually takes me till about the end of January to stop dating things with the previous year.

For 2014, I set some reading goals and some writing goals. I set goals for last year, too, and missed just about all of them. But that’s okay, because at least I know where I stand right now. Without goals, it’s hard to measure your progress or results. I know what I did and didn’t do that caused me to come up short. So this I know what to change.

I’m still editing the first book of The Light-Whisperers of Kalevala fantasy trilogy. The critique group I’m part of has been of invaluable help in getting some pretty rough scenes into something readable. My goal for this year is to finish a full revision/rewrite of the book, incorporating the feedback from my critique partners for the parts that they have read.

I’m on the home stretch with the first draft of book two. This past year I discovered that I am a first draft lover. I’ll go out of my way to start something new just to avoid the rewriting process of something I’ve finished. This is not very productive if I ever want to get something published and have it be of decent quality. So that’s where goals (and discipline) come in.

In other news, I started a second job at the end of 2013. I’m working for a social media company called Helps2, writing and managing content for the Facebook and Twitter accounts of several of their clients. I love writing and I love social media, and this job has been a fun opportunity. And I’m basically getting paid to write. Always nice!

And talking of goals, I’m also planning on attending two writers conferences this year. One is the James River Writers conference in October – it’s pretty local for me, but I’ve managed to miss it for one reason or another the past couple of years. Not this year!

The other conference is not so local – it’s in Iceland. As most of my regular readers know, I love Nordic things, and I’ve been to Iceland before. This writers retreat in like a dream opportunity, and it’s the first of its kind. It’s a big (but worthwhile) expense of time and money to commit to going, and so I launched a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo to help me get there. Please consider donating if you can, and please share the page. Much appreciated!

So that’s how my 2014 is shaping up so far. Anyone else set any reading or writing goals for this year?

How to be Annoying on Social Media in Five Easy Steps

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I read a lot of blog posts and articles about how to properly utilize social media to share and promote your content. Since I’m a big user of social media myself (this fabulous blog, my Facebook, my Twitter, etc.), I thought I’d make a contribution to the how-to’s of social media etiquette – with a little twist.

So in no particular order, here are five sure-fire ways to annoy your followers and alienate your readership. If you’re tired of the decent or even excellent success you’ve been having with your social media, then try these tips to make everything worse.

  1. Write in ALL CAPS. All capital text is the type-written form of shouting, and shouting for no good reason drives people away by the hundreds. Why save all caps for only URGENT STUFF when you can confuse and irritate your fans by making EVERYTHING SEEM URGENT?
  2. Post at least once a minute. Posting every fifteen seconds is even more obnoxious, so try that. If your tweets are constantly in your followers’ newsfeed, or your emails filling up their inboxes, they’ll never forget your name – even if they now hate you.
  3. Send direct messages only. Direct or private messages on social media, especially to people you don’t personally know, is what all the best spammers do. No communication gets ignored faster than a DM (direct message) from a stranger on Twitter or YouTube.
  4. Never respond to comments or tweets. This lets all your fans know that you’re much too busy doing important stuff or other sorts of marketing to bother chatting with them in an informal manner.
  5. Never share other people’s content. You’re on social media to promote your product or service, right? Sharing posts from other profiles or websites lets your followers know that you value others’ content and enjoy learning from everybody. Make sure you let everyone know what a self-centered egotist you are by making all your social media posts all about you.

So there you have it – five simple ways to become that person that nobody likes on Facebook or Twitter.

Just remember that if you actually want to gain fans and make positive connections, do the opposite of these and you’ll be soaring high with your social media!

Writing as Therapy

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I wrote a guest post for the amazing Ashley over on her blog Journey out of the Abyss. Her blog is different from many that I follow, as it’s about her personal journey out of a life of abuse, addiction, and mental illness. She’s a great writer and has a phenomenal story to tell, so check out other posts on her blog if you feel led to. I’m honored to have a guest spot on her blog here!

The Nitty-Gritting of Writing: Fewer versus Less

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“Fewer” and “less” – I often see these two words used interchangeably. While they both have to do with amounts and numbers, they should not be sued as exact synonyms of each other. “Fewer” is used for plural nouns, and “less” is for singular nouns.

Here’s what I mean:

Fewer

“The lake was empty today – I saw fewer than ten boats all day.”

Boats is plural, and so the plural modifier of “fewer” should be used.

A way to remember this is to use the word “few” with the noun you’re wanting to modify. Would you say “There are a few boats on the lake today”? Yes – therefore, “fewer” is the correct choice rather than “less.”

Less

“We got less snow this winter than we did last year.”

The word snow, though it can be a collective or mass noun, is singular.

If you were to use “snowflakes,” however, the modifier would be “fewer,” because “snowflakes” is plural.

“Fewer snowflakes fell today than yesterday.”

“Less snow fell today than yesterday.”

In everyday usage, “less” is used for everything. Ever go to a supermarket and see the “10 items or less” express lane? Items is plural, so “fewer” would be the accurate word to use in these signs.

But as I like to remind readers – despite these grammar police posts that I do periodically, I understand that everyday conversational English is not the same as proper written English. If you’re chatting with a friend and you say something about “less emails,” don’t stress about it.

However, if you’re writing an article or a school paper or giving a public speech, check your nouns before you choose your quantitative modifier.

Remember, less is more.

And proofread so you have fewer mistakes.