Mastodon
Close

advice for writers

Should We Use a Blog Commenting System?

Stick figure with speech bubble and text: Who Wants Comments?

I’ve mentioned before that I wish I could change how comments work on my blog. I’d love for readers to easily see when someone replies to their comments here or provide the ability to subscribe to comments for a post. A system like that often encourages more interaction on a […]

Pin It

July 2, 2013

Read More

Stuck in Your Book? Try a Brainstorming Warm-up

Car stuck in the mud with text: Stuck in Your Story?

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I’ve started drafting a new story. The first week, my word counts were rather lame, but this past week has been going much better. Each day finds me getting into my writing groove more easily. I joked to my family that I’d […]

Pin It

June 25, 2013

Read More

Using CreateSpace as a Learning Experience

Open book with text: Practice Print Publishing with CreateSpace

For many writers, we long to see our name on a book. Even better is seeing our name on a book in print that we can hold in our hand. I got to have that experience for the first time this past weekend. Sort of. No, I’m not published yet. *smile* […]

Pin It

June 18, 2013

Read More

Need to Decide on a Path? Know Your Goals

Separating railroad tracks with text: Our Goals Dictate Our Path

I’ve written several posts about how we have to figure out our goals. Do we want to be famous? How can we prioritize fast, cheap, and good? How important are bookstores to us? I touch on the subject a lot because we can’t figure out the right publishing path for us until […]

Pin It

June 13, 2013

Read More

Ask Jami: Can This Story Be Saved?

Puzzle missing a piece with text: Can a Broken Story Be Saved?

I do a lot of beta reading for friends, and sometimes they come to me with a question along the lines of: “I’ve really struggled with x aspect of this story, and I’m wondering if I should just abandon it. Can you take a look and see if this story can […]

Pin It

June 4, 2013

Read More

Handling Bad Reviews: Lessons from Amy’s Baking Company

Kitchen Nightmares logo with "Kitchen" crossed out and "Author" added in

On Facebook a few weeks ago, my friend Angela Ackerman dared me to order a pizza from Amy’s Baking Company and send it back (and to record the confrontation). Not one to create drama, I declined. *smile* But then I had to know what prompted her dare. The details were even […]

Pin It

May 28, 2013

Read More

Amazon’s Fan Fiction Model: Is It a Good Idea?

Kindle Worlds logo with text: Good Idea? Or Bad Idea?

The internet exploded yesterday with Amazon’s introduction of “Kindle Worlds,” a new publishing model for writers inspired to write fan fiction (fanfic). Everyone and anyone has been commenting on this development, often with gnashing of teeth. Some see this as a win for the fanfic authors, and some see this […]

Pin It

May 23, 2013

Read More

Four Tips for Beta Reading in Other Genres

Close up of knothole in a fence with text: Beta Reading Outside Your Genre? 4 Tips to Breach the Genre Borders

Recently, a good friend of mine asked for my help in identifying the issues with her story. She’d struggled with it on and off for years and was wondering if she should just chuck the whole thing. I offered to take a look at it, even though her story’s genre […]

Pin It

May 21, 2013

Read More

How Success Raises the Stakes…in Our Life

Graph line going up with text: How Success Raises the Stakes...in Our Life

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 […]

Pin It

May 16, 2013

Read More