Publishing Lessons: We Cannot Do It All
Life happens. No matter our intentions or plans or dedication, things will go wrong, slip from the schedule, or get missed. This doesn’t make us bad or a failure. It makes us human.
Pin ItHow to Weave Story Elements and Avoid Info Dumps
Our stories consist of many elements—from backstory to dialogue—that each contribute to our story. Yet we can overdo those elements with an information dump. How can we include the different elements while making sure we don’t cross over into Info Dump Land? Let’s talk options…
Pin ItSelf-Care for Writers
A writer’s life can quickly shift from leisure time to impossible deadlines, which can interfere with our healthy habits. To maintain our health, we should occasionally analyze our self-care habits and routines—especially when we have time between the chaos.
Pin ItSelf Publishing? What’s Your Plan to Keep Readers?
Once we get a reader to check out one of our books, we want to hold onto them and keep them as a reader. Let’s take a look at our options for retaining readers…
Pin ItStory Conflict: Villains vs. Antagonists
Conflict is one of those words we all think we understand, but the writing-world meaning doesn’t have the same connotation as the non-writing meaning. Yet it’s only after understanding conflict that we’ll see the difference between antagonists and villains in storytelling.
Pin ItWriting Skills: Beginner vs. Advanced
I’ve spoken many times about our learning curve as writers. Not only can it seem endless, but we can also be skilled at one aspect and unskilled in another. So at what point can we stop thinking of ourselves as beginning writers? When will we be “qualified” for the advanced stuff?
Pin ItStory Description: Finding the Right Balance
For every aspect of our story, we have to find the right balance. One element many writers struggle with is description: too little leaves our readers floating without an anchor, and too much drags our story’s pacing. So how do we find the right amount and know whether we need more or need to cut?
Pin ItWorking for “Exposure”? Get the Most Out of It
We’ve been discussing when we might be willing to be paid in “exposure.” There are valid reasons for deciding that more exposure will be good for our long-term plans. However, we’d want to make sure that exposure actually materializes in a helpful way and works hard for us.
Pin ItShould We Work for Free?
Kristen Lamb wrote last week about how the “culture of free” is killing creatives. Too often, we’re expected to work “for exposure.” At the same time, I recently posted about how we can use free content as a pricing strategy. So which is it? Should we work for free or not?
Pin ItUsing Ebooks to Understand Story Structure
If we’ve ever had a friend ramble or go off on tangents when describing a movie, we understand how story structure can help make stories more enjoyable. In other words, good story structure is an important element of good storytelling. Here’s how we can learn to analyze the structure of stories…
Pin It
