Tag Archives: writing tip

Writing Tip: Get out of Balance

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It’s good to have a balance in all things, right? Like a well-balanced diet – not too much protein, not too many carbs, lots of vegetables. Or a good work-life balance – yes, you want to advance your career and make money, but not at the expense of neglecting your family.

Balance and moderation are good things usually. We could all probably do with more balance in certain areas of our lives (like finding that perfect balance of staying connected on social media without letting kitten pictures on Instagram or trolls on Facebook suck up all of our time and mental energy).

Anyway, as lovely as balance and moderation are, sometimes you have to get out of balance to achieve a goal or to grow yourself in a certain area. For example, one of my goals for 2017 is to get out of balance with my dedication to writing. Continue reading →

New Year, New Goals

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I always like to start out the new year with a list of goals and a renewed vision. I prefer the term “goal” rather than “resolution,” because to me a resolution sounds like something so permanent and inflexible that if you mess up just once, you’re done. A goal, on the other hand, is something that you are always progressing towards. A backwards step is okay, as long as you take another step forwards again.

One of my goals for this year is to blog more. I’ve been blogging regularly once a week for several years now, but I want to do more. So every Monday, I will be sharing a picture, a quote, or a track of music to help inspire you and get your week off to a positive start. Whether you’re looking for story prompt ideas or just an encouraging word first thing in the morning, check out my blog every Monday for my #MondayMotivation!

On the story writing side of things, I’ve got a plan in place to publish several works this year. I just sent my sci-fi novella off to an editor (my first time hiring a real editor! Whee!) I’ll also be rewriting the historical fiction I drafted last year, and also releasing some short stories. Stay tuned for more info as I progress with these stories!

Last year, I got through less than half of my intended reading list (although I did read a few books that weren’t originally on the list). This year I’m going to be more diligent about reading, because every good writer is first a good reader.

So those are my goals for 2017. What are some of your goals for this year? Write more? Read more? Subscribe to my newsletter? 😉 Please share!

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 →

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!

Are you an Aspiring Writer?

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I hear many people say they are an aspiring writer. I read a lot of blogs – by writers, written for writers – that talk about being an aspiring writer. But I disagree with that term, and here’s why.

To aspire to something is to reach for it, hope for it, dream about achieving it. There’s nothing wrong with aspiring to greater things in life – in fact, everyone should have at least one or two things they aspire to. Otherwise you have no goals and dreams, and frankly, life’s pretty bland if you’re just existing.

So what if you’re wanting to be a writer? Well, let’s break this down. Do you want to be a published writer? Do you want to be a full-time writer (as in you’re published and selling enough to quit your day job)? Do you want to be a successful writer? (This means different things to different people. For some it might mean getting one story published in a magazine, for others it might mean having a book on the NY Times Bestseller list). Continue reading →