Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published
Last week I excitedly told you about Chris Fox’s book 5000 Words per Hour, and how I had added 914 words to my fiction WIP through 7 five-minute micro-sprints.
This week I wanted to bring you an update.
I upped my writing sprints to 10 minutes, and added another 1675 words.
One thing I found as I did my sprints is that if I only have a vague idea of what’s going to happen, I don’t know what to write. And my words per hour (wph) [Read more…] about Pantser, Plotter, Producer—Which One Are You?
Challenge.
Does that word strike fear and trembling into you or get you pumped?
Perhaps it’s my Marine Corps training or just part of my DNA, but I love learning. And I challenge myself to continually improve professionally and personally.
A few weeks ago I was listening to the Novel Marketing Podcast episode “How to Write 5000 Words an Hour with Chris Fox.”
Five thousand words an hour! Yeah, right, I thought. But I listened anyway. Something productive while I was washing dishes.
[Read more…] about Challenge your writing routine and discover new methods
As an author/business owner what deductions can I take on my taxes?
In the coming months, I’ll be going through my all my paperwork, ensuring I have listed all my income and all my expenses, ready to submit to my certified public accountant (CPA).
If you’re like me, you cringe at all this number-crunching stuff and whether you’re doing it right for the IRS.
An accountant friend, as well as my own CPA, advised I use the IRS Schedule C (Form 1040) to guide how I track my business revenue and expenses. It is the same advice I’m giving you, along with some added details.* [Read more…] about As an author, what expenses can I deduct?
You never know how someone else might use you as an example.
I want to relate a quick story that I hope encourages you in your journey.
My daughter lives in another state, but she calls on a regular basis to visit. Earlier this year she called to tell me how she had shared my story with a man who wants to be an author. This man was struggling with believing his dream of published writer was possible. My daughter shared [Read more…] about Reaching for Your Dream – It’s Never too Late
Though I’ve never asked, I can’t imagine anyone considering sentence structure in their every day conversation. They just say what they want to say.
However, writers (and public speakers) must consider sentence structure because poor structure impacts the readers’ ability to comprehend the message, as well as their enjoyment of your story.
Defined, “sentence structure” is how you construct your sentence. Proper grammar is a part of that, but also includes length and complexity.
Keep reading to learn how your word choices and sentence length and complexity affect your story. [Read more…] about How to Use Sentence Structure to Make Your Story Better
Based on the nonfiction submissions I get for freelance editing and those I receive at CrossRiver Media Group, it seems as though a lot of people are writing nonfiction these days.
People read fiction for varying reasons, though entertainment leads the list.
However, I doubt most people read nonfiction for [Read more…] about A Checklist of 6 Basic Steps for Self-Editing Nonfiction
If there’s one thing in the writing community that seems to cause overwhelm and confusion, it’s self-editing one’s manuscript.
Many new writers have the false belief that the first draft of their story is supposed to be publication ready, clean of errors and a gripping read—a home run, a slam dunk, a touchdown (plenty of sports analogies for you to pick).
Let me squash that belief right now.
Dead.
Like a bug.
Your draft is just that, a draft, the first writing of your story with your inner editor turned off. Some people call it [Read more…] about A Checklist of 10 Basic Steps for Self-Editing Fiction
I’m a homemade cookie kind of grandma not really a pop culture grandma. Nonetheless, I was among the thousands of comic con fans, cosplayers, podcasters, and vendors who descended on the Mid-America Convention Center on July 13, 2018, for Omaha, Nebraska’s O Comic Con.
My first ever comic convention brought a culture shock similar to my move to Germany—a whole new world.
What drew me there? [Read more…] about The World of Comic Con: Grandma Befriends Klingon