Stepping Stones: Level-up your writing

I follow many different blogs on writing. During my self-publishing journey, one of the most important things I’ve discovered is there’s a lot to learn about writing and writing well.

If you’re a writer, you probably know Chuck Wendig’s blog is always good for a swift slap in the writing-chops and a reality check on publishing. I follow him and if you don’t, you should.

There are also other fabulous blogs on writing and publishing, too many to name here, that offer really good advice. And when I say good advice, I mean as soon as I’m finished reading the article, I’m not only sharing it on social media, but jotting down notes for my current WIP.

Sitting up yet? Good. Below are links to three of the bloggers I follow and the articles they’ve posted which have greatly impacted my thought process lately.

• K. M. Weiland aka Helping Writers Become Authors, is a fantastic resource. Her recent article, “Your Fiction May Be Failing for One Simple Reason: You’re Note Being Honest,” is a wonderful article about finding the emotional truth in your writing. Another article she posted recently, “Foreshadowing and Misdirection: Use Them Together to Empower Your Fiction,” had the lightbulbs going off in my head immediately. These are must reads.

 

• Martha Alderson aka Plot Whisperer, is another great resource on craft. Her recent article featured on Jane Friedman’s blog, “The Fundamentals of Writing a Scene,” spells out exactly what each scene should entail to keep the reader wanting more. Great for getting rid of the dreaded soggy center.

 

• Ally Bishop aka Upgrade Your Story, is a writer and editor, and always great for information on the reality of publishing and craft. Her recent article, “Does Your Vampire Romance Matter? The Impact of Genre Fiction,” addresses what us genre fiction writers all need to be reminded: “Every word you write… you have the opportunity to influence a reader…Write something that matters.” We can entertain, but also educate, enlighten, and influence minds at the same time, in any genre. Good stuff.

These ladies and their insight into the craft have been extremely helpful to me and my writing. I suggest following via Twitter, Facebook, etc., and I believe all of those links can be found on their blogs.

I hope these articles get your writer juices flowing. For me, the insight and information these bloggers share are just the stepping stones I need to reach to a new level in my writing. Always learning. Always moving forward. Up and onward.

Do you follow a blog that has shaken up the way you write? Feel free to comment and share. Let’s all level-up our writing. (Ally, you’re an editor. Can I use level-up as a verb?)

Happy reading.

I was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, and have a husband and two children. Music is an addiction. I can often be found in the car, singing along at the top of my lungs to whatever is playing. I work full time, and I split my spare time between family, reading, blogging, and writing. I’m a habitual quoter. Lines from films and TV shows constantly pop into my head—my kids are the only ones that really get it. I’m an only child, and so of course I married a man who is one of ten children. Other than English, I speak Spanish, Moroccan, and a little French. I love to travel, but don’t do enough of it. Reading has been a passion for most of my life and I now love writing. I’m klutz, and in my own mind, I’m hilarious.

Find me at http://www.yoursweetandspicyromanceauthor.com/

Signup to join My Dream Team: http://eepurl.com/bjAzz1

 

Writing changed my relationship with social media

Years ago, when MySpace was a thing, I contemplated creating an account. I can’t remember if I ever did. Facebook was next and I signed up. I used it to share photos with my long distance friends, but not for much else. Twitter was something I didn’t understand at all and stayed away from for years.

Then I became a business owner. I created a website and created events on FB to share upcoming events happening at the business. This was before I even knew I could have a business page, and so I just shared them from my personal page.

Fast forward a couple years later and I was no longer a business owner and only logging onto Facebook once every few months.

Then I became a writer. Good GOD! I can now officially say that I spend more time on social media than anyone I know, including my 22 year old daughter.

I discovered a whole network of writers online and have been engaged with them ever since. I use social media every day. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest have all become tools I use for my writing. I now have complete understanding of what the term “Social Networking” means.

Facebook is where I’ve met all my writer friends. It’s where my writing group meets. Twitter is great for following hashtags like #youknowyouareawriter #amwriting #amediting etc. and engaging in conversations. Pinterest is an awesome visual tool and useful to use as an idea board and for research.

I’ve also used social media to spread the word about my books. When a book releases, I post. When I run a sale, I post sneak peeks and teasers. But I also know when enough is enough. Lately, my Twitter feed has become an endless stream of advertisements. This is unfortunate, because even though I use Twitter and Facebook to advertise my book releases and sales, that’s not all I do there. I want to engage with other writers. I want to network with other readers. I want to hear the latest and greatest from bloggers.

Social Networking is like networking in person. You don’t walk around the event saying, buy my product, hire me, or pay me and I’ll tell you something interesting to every person you meet. No. You engage with people and discuss common interests. You make connections. These connections may lead to business in the future, but the goal in networking is the connection. When that connection comes to you, looking for your product, that’s when you make the sale.

So, notwithstanding my occasional slip ups during sales or releases, my goal is to make connections on social media. I’ve made some invaluable writer friends and connections so far. Social media is how I network.

What about you? How do you use social media?
I was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, and have a husband and two children. Music is an addiction. I can often be found in the car, singing along at the top of my lungs to whatever is playing. I work full time, and I split my spare time between family, reading, blogging, and writing. I’m a habitual quoter. Lines from films and TV shows constantly pop into my head—my kids are the only ones that really get it. I’m an only child, and so of course I married a man who is one of ten children. Other than English, I speak Spanish, Moroccan, and a little French. I love to travel, but don’t do enough of it. Reading has been a passion for most of my life and I now love writing. I’m klutz, and in my own mind, I’m hilarious.

Signup to join My Dream Team: http://eepurl.com/bjAzz1

Find me and my books at http://www.yoursweetandspicyromanceauthor.com/

 

What do writers think about?

Writing changes everything. At least for me it has. It’s changed how I see the world, what I notice in movies and other books, and how I think in general.

Now, when I’m on the commute train, or have a few uninterrupted moments to myself, I’m not thinking about what to make for dinner or what chores are waiting for me when I get home. Nope. Those things are unimportant. I figure dinner out, if my husband hasn’t already, once I get home. And the chores get done when I have time. When I’m on the commute train, I’m either thinking about a scene I want to write, listening to dialog around me, or catching up on social media.

So far, most of my writing has been done by working with an outline. Right now, I’m working on the third book in my series, and even though I have a general outline and idea of the main plot and how I want the story to flow, the story itself has been coming to me out of order, scene by scene. This is new for me. I haven’t ever written anything that wasn’t in chronological order. I know there are writing tools like Scrivener that allow you to do this, but I haven’t ever needed to try them out. I’m still using Word to write. Lately, I’ve been writing in my notebook again, instead of straight into the computer, writing the scenes down as they come to me, out of order. So when you see me gazing out the window on the commute train, I’m not looking at the traffic. I’m thinking about a scene; how best to compose that scene. At some point, I will string all these scenes together into a hopefully cohesive story, but for now, I’m still in the developmental stage.

I also use my time on the commute train to observe people and what they say. Sound bites of conversations that pique my interest usually get shared on Twitter in the form of commute train quotes of the day. Other times, I’m following the advice of my editor by observing the flow of conversation between two people. This helps when writing dialogue.

Lastly, I use my spare time to catch up on social media. Social media is one of the biggest ways for an author, other than writing a fantastic novel, to connect with potential readers and network with other writers.

What does this all mean? Writing has changed my down time to writing time. It’s time to brainstorm story ideas, time to network with others in the business, and time to observe human interaction.

In what ways has writing changed your down time?

 I was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, and have a husband and two children. Music is an addiction. I can often be found in the car, singing along at the top of my lungs to whatever is playing. I work full time, and I split my spare time between family, reading, blogging, and writing. I’m a habitual quoter. Lines from films and TV shows constantly pop into my head—my kids are the only ones that really get it. I’m an only child, and so of course I married a man who is one of ten children. Other than English, I speak Spanish, Moroccan, and a little French. I love to travel, but don’t do enough of it. Reading has been a passion for most of my life and I now love writing. I’m klutz, and in my own mind, I’m hilarious.

Signup to join My Dream Team: http://eepurl.com/bjAzz1

Find me and all my books at www.jennifersenhajiauthor.com