Angela Booth's Writing Blog

3 Easy Writing Tips To Get Things Done In 2018

2. Be happy: accept

I started the Follyjohn Gossip series of Regency romances on a whim, and I’m enjoying this series because it’s fun.

At our group, we discussed all the plans we have for our writing, and how much our expectations get in our way. In 2018, I’ll accept whatever I happen to write, whether it’s a sentence, a scene, or a snippet for a blog post… I’ll let my muse decide.

via peneloperedmont.com

Write A Book: 3 Simple Ways To Get Nonfiction Ideas Readers Love

Write a book that people want to read

Recall that you’re not just writing a book, you’re writing a book that people will want to read.

When I started my writing career, more years ago than I care to remember, a savvy editor suggested that if I wanted to sell, I write about: diets, romance, and money. That trio of topics will always be popular, because: human nature.

Let’s look at ways you can get ideas and write books that readers will love.

via www.justwriteabook.com

Plotting Fiction: 3 Tips To Rescue A Tired Plot

So please DO NOT:

• Start your novel or short story with your character getting out of bed (unless there’s an earthquake, and that relates directly to the story question);
• Follow your main character through an average work day — unless he’s planning to embezzle from his employer (and even then — don’t show ordinary stuff. Who cares?) ACTION is everything;
• Create “problems” for your characters which can be solved with a phone call. Remember the story question, and narrative drive.

via www.fabfreelancewriting.com

Write To Sell In 2018 With Content Witchery

Want to write to sell? WRITE!

Writers write, and part of your writing should be for promotion.

Some of the benefits:

• The more people who know you, the more will hire you;
• When people read your writing, they check out your books, and sometimes buy them;
• Serendipity happens: you’re offered opportunities from people who’ve noticed your name.

via www.fabfreelancewriting.com

Writing Fiction: 5 Ways To Rescue A Novel Gone Wrong

Writing fiction: keep writing, even when it isn’t working

Keep writing. Sit at your desk, or on the sofa, or wherever you normally write, at the time you normally write. Writing is a habit. So is not-writing.

Every single novel — or novella, or short story — you ever write will hit the wall at some stage. If you stop writing, your project will join all the other projects you started and didn’t finish.

Now let’s look at how you can rescue your novel.

via peneloperedmont.com

New Novelist: 3 Tips For Creating Great Fictional Characters

For readers to care, your characters must care.

Here are three tips which will help you to create wonderful fictional characters.

1. Create a character who will help to solve the story question

Before you create any characters, know your story question. You don’t need to know details, a story seed is fine:

• A stalker hunts Character A. Who is he, and what does he want? When she discovers what he wants, will she give it to him?
• Character A’s son vanishes. The young man drove away to start college, but never arrived. Law enforcement won’t help. Will Character A find her son?

via www.justwriteabook.com

Author Marketing On Facebook: Is It Doomed?

Author marketing on Facebook: pay up

So, what’s happening? The latest changes affect authors who are currently marketing on Facebook, and of course those who want to include Facebook in their marketing in 2018.

One change which will be appreciated by many is that Facebook has decided to control clickbait. Unfortunately, the primary algorithm change which directly concerns authors who are advertising on Facebook is the withering of organic reach.

via www.fabfreelancewriting.com

5 Content Secrets For Writers: Sell Your Services And Books

Done well, content both makes you visible, and helps you to sell

Lack of visibility is the curse of freelancers and self-publishing authors — and of traditional authors too, of course.

That said, you can BUY visibility with advertising. Unfortunately, the cost of advertising on LinkedIn and Facebook will bring tears to your eyes. Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) ads are less expensive, but Amazon’s reporting is woeful. AMS advertising takes a lot of time too, as well as patience.

Content, on the other hand, while it takes time to create, is less expensive and the results not only last longer, but are cumulative too.

So let’s look at some content secrets to help you to sell your writing services and books.

via www.fabfreelancewriting.com

3 Essential Creativity Tricks To Help You To Write A Book

1. Build a fence around it: limits make you more creative

Limits make you more creative, so set limits before you start writing your book.

For example, you might decide that your book will be about baking sourdough bread, rather than about “baking.” Or if you’re writing fiction, you might decide that you’re writing a cozy mystery with an amateur sleuth who has four children rather than “a novel.”

Even if you’re an experienced author, writing a book can be intimidating. You can choose to write about, and include, anything in your book. All those choices lead to indecision and procrastination.

via www.justwriteabook.com

Writing Goals: 5 Tips To Make 2018 Your Best Year Ever

Dream big: set Wildly Improbable Goals (WIGs)

My personal coaching students complete a ”goals” sheet before we begin working together. My own goal is to inspire them until their goals match their potential as writers.

None of these writers (that’s right, not a single one) have BIG, glorious goals, and it’s my aim to inspire them until they catch fire and create WIGs. You may never reach any of your WIGs, but that doesn’t matter. What counts is that your goals inspire you, so that you’ll achieve beyond your dreams.

Sadly, from the age of eight onward, we leave childhood behind, and slowly we leave our dreams behind too. Why not make 2018 the year you dare to dream again?

These tips will help.

via www.fabfreelancewriting.com

Yes, The Basic Short Story Template Helps You To Plot Novels

When you’re plotting it’s easy to become intrigued with a minor character, or a series of incidents. Glance at the template, and you’ll get back on track.

If you’re an outliner, you can brainstorm from the template. You’ll know what you need to cover in your novel’s plot. Just keep adding characters and obstacles — these will create a subplot or two. But don’t create so many “add ons” that you get confused. Keep the focus on your main character and his problems.

The template’s perfect for pantsers, so pants away. You can confidently head off into the wild lands of your imagination, using the basic template as a guide.

via www.fabfreelancewriting.com

Basic Short Story Template: Keep It Simple!

Short story template # 2

Update: December 8, 2017

I write this post way back in 2014. It’s proved to be one of the most popular posts on the blog. So I thought it might be fun to give you another way of handling the template. If you like, this is Short Story Template #2. 🙂

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Freelance Writing: Maintain Your Sales And Income Over The Holidays

Quick freelance writing and self-publishing tips for holiday sales

Perhaps you’re less organized. You’ve been too busy to think about the holidays. You haven’t sufficient commissions, nor have you published anything new recently.

Don’t despair. It’s not too late.

Let’s look at ways you can maintain your income over the holidays.

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5 Self-Publishing Tips To Build Your Business In 2018

So what’s on the horizon for 2018?

The biggest challenge for self-publishing authors in 2018 is what they should do about Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing Select program (KDP Select.)

Amazon has over 70% of the ebook market. Other retailers are small potatoes.

Basically you have three choices. You can:

• Go all-in with KDP Select. Many authors choose this route. Write a book, publish on Amazon, and you’re done;
• All wide: Amazon, and everywhere else too… Authors who choose this route hesitate to given Amazon an exclusive on their ebooks, and this is understandable;
• Enroll some ebooks in KDP Select; go wide with everything else.

Although the third option is the sensible choice, when authors choose this option they worry that they could be making more money if they went all-in.

via www.fabfreelancewriting.com