Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Writing Fiction: An Easy Way To Keep Your Plot Moving

Problems? Writing fiction is easier when you focus on your characters

Here’s what I suggest to my students. Whenever you’re writing fiction, and you’re stuck, ask yourself: who wants what, and why?

What your characters want will change over the course of the novel. Usually a “want change” happens at a turning point in the novel.

What your characters want changes over the course of your novel

For example, the inciting incident (the event which starts the main action of the story) will change what your main character wants.

Let’s say you’re writing a mystery. Your sleuth is a detective (Bob), who has major challenges. Not only has Bob missed out on promotion, his wife has packed up and left him, and he’s discovered that his boss is in the pay of the local crime boss.

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Social Media Common Sense: Write Books, Do What Works

Do you spend too much time on social media? Are you more productive because of social media, or less?

Photographer Nick Fancher posted an interesting article, Why I Deleted All of My Social Media and 60,000 Followers.

He makes an interesting point:

…social media trains creatives to be inauthentic. At the least, social media trains us to stay within the lane of our “brand”.

via www.justwriteabook.com

The Professional Ghostwriter: Questions About A Wordsmith For Hire

Over the past few months I’ve received a slew of questions about ghostwriting, such as: “Who hires a professional ghostwriter?”

Other questions included:

• How much do ghostwriters make?
• If I wrote (something) for my client as a ghostwriter, can I do… (fill in the blank) with it?

I thought I’d answer the questions about professional ghostwriting in an article.

Firstly, let’s look at our definition of a “professional ghostwriter.” He or she is a writer or author who’s hired by a client to write something, under a work done for hire agreement, or a specific ghostwriting agreement.

Whatever the agreement is, once the work is created and paid for, all copyright in the product devolves to the hirer.

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Writing Fiction: 3 Tips For Building A Bigger Novel

Writing fiction: does your novel need to be bigger?

“It’s short,” my friend said. “Can you take a quick look?”

So, I did. She’s writing in one of those “big book” genres, and is concerned that her completed novel will come in at around 50K words. After reading half the novel, and skimming the rest, I though it was great. The story pulled me in, and I loved the main characters.

My friend still wasn’t happy. She wanted to build out the novel, so I shared some of the tips from our writers’ group which might help her to extend it.

Two tips are easy; the final tip is a little challenging.

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Copywriting Pro: Become An Expert Promoter Of Your Own Writing

Blog readers have questions about copywriting. A common question goes something like: “I write fiction, will I have time to write for clients?”

It’s a good question, because writing for clients takes time. One of the reasons I love copywriting however is because it takes less time than blogging, for example. Most copywriting commissions are short, and will take you around four to five hours maximum.

Even if you charge low rates, and take just one commission a week, that’s an additional $500 each week.

There’s a benefit to Copywriting Pro even if you don’t want to become a full-time copywriter.

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Book Marketing: Covers, Colors And Branding

Several authors were planning their covers for upcoming releases, and a couple of questions came up:

• What are the best colors for book marketing?
• How do you find great colors for a cover?

Book marketing: branding with colors

Colors are an easy way to brand your website, as well as your covers. It’s a struggle however. Your designer needs you to decide on colors, and you may even create a mood board, but the consensus of our group was that choosing colors is hard, and mood boards don’t help much.

You need tools. Luckily, members shared some excellent tools which can help.

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Enjoy Writing Short Stories? Write Serial Fiction

Should you write serial fiction? I get lots of questions about serials, so let’s cover the basics.

You may be wondering just what “serials” are. In a nutshell, they’re entertainment: ongoing stories, which are released serially.

Serials: storytelling in many forms

Serials were hugely popular with readers and viewers up to the 1950s, when television arrived.

They were published as books by authors like Charles Dickens. Many other authors published their serials in magazines. Once a serial was complete, it was published again in book form, in one, or several volumes.

Movies were released as serials in theaters, again up to the 1950s. From the 1950s onward, serials flourished as episodic TV series.

Today, serials are as popular as they ever were, with companies like Netflix releasing their shows as serials.

You may be thinking that that’s wonderful… but can YOU write a serial and publish it?

via www.justwriteabook.com

Creativity Sells Your Writing: 3 Fast Ideas To Try Today

Last October I consulted with a writer who seemingly did everything right — and well. So why weren’t his books selling? Why wasn’t he getting more clients for his blogging services? I had two words for him: creativity sells.

He needed to free himself from the “rules”, and unlock his creativity.

Creativity sells when you do what YOU want to do

Today, more than ever before, you need to allow your creative self full rein. “Writing” per se — self-publishing, blogging, web content creation, etc. has become commodified. When you create material that’s just like everyone else’s material, you’re not only selling your self short, you’re selling your creativity short.

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Copywriting For Beginners: Top 5 Money-Making Tips

Copywriters write to persuade, so copywriting involves salesmanship, whether of a product, or a point of view. Vital: you’re selling to a specific audience, one person at a time.

You must understand your audience’s desires, and how to tap into them. If you can do this creatively, so that you’re on your audience’s wavelength, you’ll write successful copy which makes money.

What your client wants is just as important as what your audience wants, so the first question you’ll ask your client is: “What do you want the copy to do: what response do you want?”

It’s your job to get that response. These five tips will help you to do that.

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Writing Fiction: 3 Tips To Boost A Sagging Novel

How do you avoid the horrid slump which can occur somewhere between the 25% and 70% portion of your novel?

Recently I started reading Dennis Wheatley, who was a bestselling author from the 1930s to the 1960s. Someone in our writers’ group recommended him as a classic author who knew how to plot. He does — not a sagging middle in sight.

Wheatley:

• Confounds you. You think you know where something is headed. You don’t;
• Differentiates all his characters, even the minor ones;
• Expertly intertwines the threads of character, and plot.

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Marketing For Writers: Who Buys Your Writing? Why?

There’s a lot involved in selling your writing, whether you’re selling writing services, or are a self-publisher.

Firstly, let’s look at the “4Ps” of the marketing mix:

Marketing is simplistically defined as ‘putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time.’

Marketing for writers: product, price, promotion and place (4Ps)

For many writers, marketing begins (and often ends) with “buy my stuff!” There’s a whole world of marketing beyond that. So, whenever you’re creating something to sell, it’s worthwhile asking yourself questions and answering them. (Write down the Qs and As.)

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Self-Publishing Success: 3 Vital Tips For 2019

A week into the new year, I chatted with a self-publishing author who’d decided to go back to freelance writing.

“My book sales tanked over the holidays,” she said. “I’ve tried everything, and I quit.”

I asked her what self-publishing success might look like to her. She responded with a grin: “That’s easy. Success would be if I sell ten thousand copies of every book I write… every year.”

She waited for a moment, then went on, “and without spending a fortune on advertising too!”

Self-publishing has changed over the past few years. Although it’s very easy to publish, it’s hard to get traction.

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Social Media For Writers: Increase Your Sales In 15 Minutes A Day by Angela Booth

Discover…

• How to get results on social media to win followers and fans.
• Simple advertising strategies used by authors who sell.
• How to sell more of your writing, starting today.

You’re a writer. You know that there’s a market for your words, right around the globe

But how do you tap into that market? It’s challenging, but social media makes sales for businesses both huge and tiny.

Chances are that you’ve tried social media, with minimal results. You believe that “social media doesn’t work.”

That’s not so. It works, but you need to know how the huge social media networks, and the various advertising networks, operate to use them to your advantage.

via www.justwriteabook.com

My latest release. Enjoy. :-)

Copywriting Class: Start Your Own Six-Figure Copywriting Business

Copywriting made simple, powerful and practical

I’ve been teaching this class in one form or another for years. I’m thrilled that students have gone on to develop successful copywriting practices, or to corporate marketing gigs.

Over the past couple of years I’ve been updating the class to include social media copywriting, as well as other marketing developments. The fundamentals of copywriting always remain the same.

How the class works: open enrollment

Copywriting Pro: Build Your Copywriting Business In 10 Weeks has open enrollment. This means that you can enroll when you choose. You download the first lesson immediately. You’ll receive another lesson each week, for a further nine weeks.

As always, there’s a prelaunch offer; this offer’s available until February 20, so do take advantage of that.

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Writing To Sell: 3 Tips To Help You To Be Original

In days gone by, when getting published meant getting a publishing contract via an agent and an acquisitions editor, originality didn’t sell.

Publishers wanted “the same, but different.” If you insisted on originality, you were (everyone shuddered) a literary author, and everyone knew that literary authors cost everyone money, rather than making money.

An author asked me “how to be original” and I though it was a wonderful question. The short answer of course is: be yourself.

Writing to sell? Be yourself

Being yourself is more challenging than it appears.

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