paranormal author

How Success Raises the Stakes…in Our Life

May 16, 2013 Over-Achieving Perfectionist
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In writing, we always want the stakes to increase over the course of a story. The problems get bigger, the risks get bigger, and the reasons the characters need to succeed get bigger. The same concept can apply to real life. When we first start a blog, it doesn’t matter if we fall flat on our [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, blogging, dreams, Jami Gold, Jami's rants, paranormal author, perfectionism, risk, self-doubt

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Does Good News Make You Worry?

May 14, 2013 News
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Being a writer can often feel like living on a rollercoaster, with huge hills and dips around every curve. Writer’s block, rejections, low sales figures, pirated books, and other bad news can make us feel heavier than gravity itself. We might wish we could sink through the floor and disappear. On the other hand, good [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, happiness, Jami Gold, Jami is insane, paranormal author, self-doubt, writing contests

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Is This the New Breed of Vanity Publishers?

May 9, 2013 Writing Stuff
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A few weeks ago, author David Mamet announced he’ll be self-publishing his next book through his literary agency. Some think this is big news, some don’t, and some wouldn’t call David’s plan self-publishing at all. Regardless, this news means we’re seeing the second wave of self-published authors. While the first wave was comprised of early-adopting, [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, ebooks, epublishing, Jami Gold, Jami's rants, paranormal author, print on demand, self-doubt, self-publishing, traditional publishing

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Do You Want to Be a Famous Author?

May 7, 2013 Random Musings
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Every once in a while, I come across an article about figuring out our goals as an author. Heck, I’ve written posts along those lines. As we learn more about the industry and grow as authors, our goals might change, so it’s smart to revisit the question occasionally. But there’s a Step Two to that self-analyzing process that [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, dreams, happiness, Jami Gold, Jami is insane, Kristen Lamb, paranormal author, self-doubt, self-publishing, traditional publishing

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Three Tips for Better Storytelling

May 2, 2013 Writing Stuff
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Last time, we talked about how good storytelling can salvage even a poorly written book. As I mentioned in that post, storytelling skill is different from writing skill. Many people have a hard time defining what makes good storytelling—and that makes it difficult for us to improve. Yet I’d argue that storytelling ability isn’t as [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, cause and effect, Jami Gold, page turning stories, paranormal author, premise, risk, story seed, story structure, theme

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Why Is Storytelling Ability So Important?

April 30, 2013 Writing Stuff
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What makes some poorly written books fall flat on their face while others succeed despite their flaws? One common answer is “storytelling ability.” But what is storytelling? The concept can seem vague and immeasurable—rather like “voice.” A recent experience with two poorly written books gave me insight into how a deeply flawed story can still [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, cause and effect, emotional heart, Jami Gold, page turning stories, paranormal author, premise, story structure, tension, theme, writing contests

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Why Do You Enter Writing Contests?

April 25, 2013 Writing Stuff
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A couple of weeks ago, someone (I won’t name who because I don’t want to embarrass her) asked me what score I’d received in a writing contest. I didn’t want to answer at first. I worried about making her feel bad or seeming like I was bragging. Yet I could understand her question. She’d noticed I [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, agents, dreams, editors, feedback, Jami Gold, paranormal author, risk, RWA, self-doubt, writing contests

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What Soap Operas Can Teach Us about Writing

April 23, 2013 Writing Stuff
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I don’t watch soap operas, but a bizarre conversation tangent (in other words, a perfectly normal conversation for me) triggered my thoughts comparing soap operas to novels. On the surface, they seem very similar. They both have characters, tension, and conflict. However, the more I thought about it, the more I saw differences. And those [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, information dump, Jami Gold, page turning stories, paranormal author, setting and description, story openings, tension

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Ask Jami: WordPress Questions and Answers

April 18, 2013 Random Musings
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My two WordPress workshops are next week, so this is the last time I’ll mention them here on my blog. Try to contain your disappointment. *grin* Today, I’m summarizing the questions and answers from the Facebook chat about WordPress I did last week with Lisa Hall-Wilson. Facebook makes looking through old posts a hassle, so I wanted to [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, Ask Jami, blogging, Jami Gold, Lisa Hall-Wilson, paranormal author, perfectionism, programming, Tech Guy, website, website creation, WordPress, workshops

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How to Use Character Flaws to Develop a Plot

April 16, 2013 Writing Stuff
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Last time, we talked about using our characters’ strengths to develop their flaws. But I didn’t get a chance to talk about how we could figure out the matching flaw for a character strength. Many of you are probably familiar with the Myers Briggs test, a well-known test that labels people with a four-letter abbreviation for [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, antagonist, character archetypes, character flaws, Jami Gold, listening to characters, Michael Hauge, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven

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