advice for writers

What Makes You Feel Legitimate?

February 2, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Last week, we had a great discussion in the comments about whether we call ourselves writers or authors.  In general, we agreed that while we don’t judge others by what they call themselves, we each have our reasons for what we call ourselves.  Many echoed the idea that we want to feel legitimate before we’ll [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, conferences, Jami Gold, paranormal author, professionalism, RWA, website, workshops

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What Is the Goal of Ranting?

January 26, 2012 Writing Stuff
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*sigh*  It’s happened again.  An author has insulted other authors and a huge percentage of readers.  Why do people do this? Between social media, the interrelationships of the publishing industry, and the permanent nature of the internet, news of negativity travels far and wide.  Sure, we can’t spout unicorns and rainbows all the time, but [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, Jami Gold, Jami's rants, paranormal author, professionalism, romance fans, romance haters, romance novels, social media

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Do You Call Yourself a Writer or an Author?

January 24, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Recently, the Awesome-Dipped-in-Glitter (TM) Kristen Lamb pointed out that “aspiring is for pansies.”  We are not aspiring writers. Aspiring: to have a plan, desire, or hope for something. Writer: a person who writes. If we put those together, that means an aspiring writer is a person who plans, desires, or hopes to write, but doesn’t actually [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, authors, blogging, branding, Jami Gold, Kristen Lamb, paranormal author, professionalism, risk, self-doubt, self-publishing, website

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What’s the Power of Your Network?

January 17, 2012 Random Musings
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Let me start by profusely thanking everyone who bravely participated in Pitch Your Shorts and everyone who helped spread the word about the pitch session.  I was out of town all last week for my grandmother’s funeral, and yet the pitch session was a great success because of all of you.  Thank you! (I’ll share [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, blogging, Jami Gold, paranormal author, pitch session, social media, Twitter

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How Tightly Do You Control Your Blog?

January 12, 2012 Random Musings
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We’re in the middle of the Pitch Your Shorts pitch session with Entangled Publishing.  If you have a 10-60K word story with strong romantic elements, check out that post for details on how to pitch to six(!) editors. During the pitch session, I’ve had to lock down comments to make sure things run as smoothly as possible. [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, blogging, branding, Jami Gold, paranormal author, professionalism, risk, website

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Pitch Prep: What Makes a Great First Page?

January 5, 2012 Writing Stuff
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It was a dark and stormy blog post.  *snicker* We’re continuing to prepare for the January 10-16th Pitch Your Shorts pitch session by tackling the issue of story openings.  (Check out Tuesday’s post for everything there is to know about pitching.) While the purpose of a pitch is to get a request, the purpose of a story’s [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, Edittorrent, feedback, information dump, Jami Gold, Janice Hardy, page turning stories, paranormal author, pitch session, story openings, tension

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Pitch Prep: How to Write a Pitch

January 3, 2012 Writing Stuff
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This week we’re preparing for the Pitch Your Shorts pitch session coming here January 10th.  Even if you’re not pitching this time, stick around.  Today we have The Ultimate Guide to Pitch Writing.  (Thursday’s post will cover story openings.) The Ultimate Guide to Pitch Writing Pitches fall into many categories, from loglines and elevator pitches to queries [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, antagonist, character archetypes, character flaws, Jami Gold, Janice Hardy, paranormal author, pitch session, queries

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How to Use Holidays in Our Writing

December 29, 2011 Writing Stuff
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*Quick Reminder: I hope you’re all getting a 10-60K story ready for the Pitch Your Shorts pitch session coming January 10th.* Most of us have a favorite holiday (or two).  Sometimes we love a holiday because of the meaning behind the day.  Sometimes we love a holiday because of the celebrations (fireworks, being with family, wearing [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, blogging, editing, Jami Gold, paranormal author, setting and description, tension

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How to Force a Story to Evolve: 6 Revision Tips

December 27, 2011 Writing Stuff
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*Quick Reminder: Don’t forget the Pitch Your Shorts pitch session coming January 10th.  Get your 10-60K stories ready.  More details to come.* I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season, no matter what holidays you celebrate.  While I’m enjoying some time with my family, I’ll share this post originally written as a guest post for [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, character flaws, editing, feedback, Jami Gold, paranormal author, point-of-view, theme

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Write Fiction? Why You Should Try a Short Story

December 22, 2011 News
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My regular readers know I typically write novel-length stories.  However, during one crazy four-day stretch, I wrote a long-ish short story/short-ish novella (novelette?).  For those of you following along at home, I’m referring to my story inspired by spam. I’ve blogged before about how the experience was a great way to stretch myself, but even [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, ebooks, editors, genre, Jami Gold, organized, paranormal author, pitch session, writing contests

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