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The Trouble With Writing

20 Monday Feb 2017

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It’s Monday, so let’s get back to looking at what the trouble with writing is. This week, we’re looking at marketing.

Marketing. That’s a dirty word, isn’t it? Or is that just me? It’s something I have struggled with since I started writing Days of the Kill. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, so I really just kind of avoided it as long as I could even though my publisher and my editor said that I should be getting the word out about my book well before it came out. Oops.

Let’s just say when Days of the Kill came out, I had done very little marketing. I was going, “Oh, crap. Nobody knows about this book. I should probably have let more people know about it.” Then again, someone bought it the day after it came out, so I was also going, “Hey, posting on Facebook is all I need to do!”

Yeah, no. It doesn’t work like that.

I’ve been working more on marketing lately, and not just throwing ads at people. I’m trying to share meaningful things. Instagram has actually become my favorite source of connecting, which is odd since I used to avoid it at all costs.

That’s the trouble with writing though, isn’t it? Most of us have no idea what we’re doing when we write, and that’s why most of us don’t make enough to not have a day job. A lot of times, one we hate. Or maybe that was just me.

I’ll talk more on how to market on Wednesday. Until then, what do you do to market your book? Comment below!

The Trouble With Writing

25 Monday Jul 2016

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Well this is certainly an unfamiliar sight. I haven’t done anything with this series in a long time. Well, I’ve actually been away from blogging for a month, but that’s besides the point. So sorry!

Unfortunately, I will not be doing blog posts for a couple weeks after this, but that is because I will be out of town. I’ll be in Hawaii!

Anyway, today we are looking at the trouble with writing again, after so long of being away from this. This week, we’re looking at editing.

Oh, editing. I can’t stand it. Well, I mean, I tolerate it because  a lot of writing is editing, but it doesn’t mean I actually have to like it.

Currently, I am focusing on a major rewrite for one of my manuscripts. Ugh, right? I mean, I’ve already done a major rewrite of this manuscript once. I hate the fact that I have to do it again. Life of a writer.

The fact is, sometimes it seems like we are writing a whole new book (or is that just me?). It’s a pain, but it’s all for the betterment of the book. And this is before the editor gets ahold of it!

I’m guessing it’s for the betterment of the book, anyway. I’m just hoping the editor doesn’t tell me to put everything I’ve cut out back in! The beta readers have said a lot of negative things about those chapters, so I guess that’s something.

But don’t pay much attention to that last part. It’s late and I’m tired and my mind is everywhere.

Anyway, sometimes we feel frustrated with our manuscript, but we can’t give up. It will be all worth it when we get that book out. I would know!

Well, I guess I’m off to maybe get some sleep now. Maybe I’ll feel rested enough to write on the plane! Until then, keep on writing.

The Trouble With Writing

18 Monday Apr 2016

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Hello, everyone. We’re back to another Monday to look at what the trouble with writing is. This week, we’re looking at writing when you’re just not sure what to write.

Not that we’re doing this because I honestly have no clue what to write today. Nope, not one bit. Okay…fine. That’s exactly why we’re looking at this today.

Sometimes we just get into this rut and we have no clue what to write. We get stuck. Some may call it writer’s block.

Now, personally, I don’t believe in writer’s block because there’s always something to be written. We just haven’t discovered it yet. When it’s not discovered, we get stuck.

Once in a while, we have to force out the words. Just a fair warning, it’s more than likely going to be terrible. That’s okay. That’s what editing is for. At least you have words on paper.

Something I’ve noticed that helps is if I get stuck, I just bang out some words on my laptop and don’t let myself stop for a while. Say…ten minutes. Somebody famous suggested that. I don’t remember who it was at the moment, but I’ve seen it on a site that I frequent. It was credited to that famous person. Yay famous person that suggested it. You are a life saver.

I really should look up who that was. Maybe I will and let you all know on Wednesday.

Anyway, I seem to have gotten off track here.

What do you do when you don’t know what to write about? Writing is my therapy, so I can’t just push everything aside for a while. I have to force it.

Feel free to let me know what you do in the comments!

Writer Block

The Trouble With Writing

11 Monday Apr 2016

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It’s Monday, so it’s another time to look at what the trouble of writing is. These can be quite entertaining.

This week, we’re looking at being so close, yet so far away from the end.

If you’ve been following me on either site for any length of time, you know that I have been hand-writing a draft. I know it sounds insane, but with changing it from first person to third and having a lot of different plot changes…it sounded easier than the daunting task of switching screens back and forth all the time, or making a lot of use out of the backspace. I do that enough already!

I’m getting so close to the end. I have less than 20 pages left (finally!), and I have no doubt that I can get it done fairly soon. Then of course I’ll have to type it…but I’m not ready to think about that yet.

We all get close to the end. Maybe the end you’re facing is the end of a draft, or maybe you’re getting close to the final draft of your manuscript before you publish it. Whatever it is, the end can be an exciting time. The only problem is getting there.

Why does it seem like every single time we get close to the end, there are more distractions than ever? It sure does get frustrating, doesn’t it? Maybe a family member needs you. A friend needs you. Those things are understandable. But every once in a while, there are some that just are not acceptable. You get distracted by the internet, maybe (been there, done that).

I’m not saying the use of the internet isn’t acceptable. How else are you going to research (okay, I know there’s encyclopedias, but when you’re already sitting down in front of a computer…)? Research is important, but so is writing. Don’t get distracted so close to the end.

Okay, I think I’m done ranting about it for now. Wednesday may be a continuation about this. See you then!

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The Trouble With Writing

04 Monday Apr 2016

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Hi, everyone. Look at what  I’m finally getting back to! I guess it helps that I had my laptop turned on for other things, but I’m fortunate that I had enough time to do this, too.

Anyway, time to look at the main reason for this post. Writing is troublesome sometimes. And by that, I mean all the time (even though we love it!).

This week, we’re looking at promotion.

What? Promotion? You mean to say that the publisher actually doesn’t do all that for you?

Sorry, but no. I know, I was disappointed when I first found that out as well. If you want your book to do well, you have to promote it yourself. And take it from someone who just had a book released: It’s hard.

I admit to not promoting anywhere near as much as I should. I’ve had a family emergency going on, and promotion has mostly been the furthest thing from my mind. But now that things are finally starting to slow down, I started thinking, “Oh, hey, I’ve got a book out. I should probably promote it at some point to let people know about it… Good thing I’m a guest on a couple shows that were scheduled way before this whole thing happened.”

I know. Excuses, excuses.

Things happen. I get that. Promotion isn’t always going to be the first thing on your mind. Having just experienced it first hand, I know what that’s like. Family should always come first, and nothing is ever going to change that. But if you think about it, why not just post something up on social media right quick about your book? Give it a little thought.

What it the most effective way you’ve found to promote? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

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The Trouble With Writing

22 Monday Feb 2016

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Hey all, I’m back to a regular schedule with this series. I’m hoping to get back to prompts this Friday. I haven’t done them in several months and I miss them!

This week, we’re talking about getting motivated to write.

Recently, I started talking to someone that hasn’t written since high school. They found their passion in eighth grade, but due to certain circumstances, hasn’t written since graduation.

This saddens me.

If you find a passion, you should chase after it. It’s what you love. It’s what you need to feel alive. It’s something that just might turn into an actual career with you.

Now, I understand that writing may or may not turn into an actual career, but you never know if you don’t take a chance. You miss one hundred percent of the chances you don’t take.

Now, on to the actual subject: How do we get motivated to write?  We all go through a time when we don’t feel motivated to write, and we don’t know what to write, or anything. I would know, I’ve gone through a month at a time of that. It’s not easy.

So how do we find that motivation? One thing that helped me was to join a writing accountability group on Facebook. In that group, the first post I saw was that someone had written about 2000 words, and saying that it wasn’t a lot. I kind of got the impression that if you don’t write and post up often, I would be kicked out of the group, so I made sure to do so every day. I soon realized that it wasn’t true, but by then I was in the habit of doing so. I don’t do near as much anymore, but I still try to do so every so often so I know I’m writing and editing.

That has worked for me, but what has worked for you? Let me know in the comments!

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The Trouble With Writing

19 Monday Oct 2015

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Hey all, so sorry for not posting in almost a month. Things have been crazy lately. Last week I took off for my birthday week (turned 21 on Saturday!), but other times…eh. I couldn’t make myself do anything. So I didn’t.

But for now, I’m back to posting. For a while, I hope.

Today, I want to talk to you about getting things done. I know I’ve touched on this before, but I just have to rant, mostly about myself. Today is just one of those days.

You know how some days you’re actually feeling motivated and so you think you’re going to get a lot done? But then you’re dragged off somewhere and you have to leave your laptop at home? Yeah…that happens to me. Like a lot.

This weekend, I was hoping to get a few days ahead in my editing than what I set my goal to be. That way I’m not totally freaking out and trying to get things done at the last minute. Well, that didn’t exactly happen. I got a total of two pages written a day…my goal is five. This is all hand written to turn first person into third person, mind. Good thing I started before my actual start day, which was Sunday.

I can’t say everything was bad about this weekend, though. I loved celebrating my 21st birthday. I even went to a concert and got a picture with two of the guys from one of my favorite bands ever, Sidewalk Prophets!

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Writing is difficult, but it can be done. Try not to get too down on yourself when things don’t quite go as planned.

The Trouble With Writing

31 Monday Aug 2015

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It’s Monday again, so it’s time to look at what the trouble with writing is. This week, we’re talking about just one single day.

I actually got this idea because of yesterday. It was an exciting day, but it suddenly became very chaotic. It’s amazing how my to-do list exploded!

Yesterday, I went to go see my sister’s family. They live about three hours away, so we went spent a good part of the day on the road. Oh, and we went there and came back the same day. So yeah.

Anyway, we’re getting off track here. We’re all entitled to go anywhere we want. But sometimes, your career explodes when you’re gone for just a single day, just like mine did yesterday. My inbox was exploding all day for beta reader stuff and my first ever author interview! (yeah, that was exciting. Check it out here: https://authorsinterviews.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/here-is-my-interview-with-s-courtney-killian/).

I’m not saying never go on vacation. Sometimes, vacation is a good thing. But sometimes, things will explode while you’re gone. I know it did for me, for once. But what an exciting explosion it was!

Hopefully things will keep going the right direction for me. I will definitely keep you updated.

When did your day suddenly become busy when it comes to writing? Let me know!

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The Trouble With Writing

24 Monday Aug 2015

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I’m back and not skipping a week. Well, this week, anyway…

Where was I? Oh, yeah. It’s Monday, so it’s time to take a look at what the trouble with writing is once again.

I actually have an editor that I can afford now. Crazy, isn’t it? All these months you’ve put up with me saying that Days of the Kill is on hold, and now I switch editors after I talk to a publisher (another big change!) and now, I have a much less expensive editor to go to. Talk about relief!

Here’s the thing, though: I looked through Days of the Kill again, and well, I guess you could say that there were more things wrong with it than I thought. Don’t get me wrong: I’m totally loving the fact that I have an editor now, but I spent yesterday pounding out the big wrinkles that were really bothering me. I know it won’t be anywhere close to perfect, but might as well get what I can catch, right?

I think that’s a problem with every writer. We get to the point where we send it off to a professional, but then we obsess over it who knows how many more times thinking we can make it perfect before the professional sees it. That’s not how it works. Try leaving your manuscript alone before the editor sees it for a little while… Easier said than done, I know.

From talking to the editor, it sounds like she will be taking a look at it either at the end of this week or the beginning of next week. We will see, and I will definitely keep you posted. Until then, I think I’ll keep obsessing over it just a little bit more.

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The Trouble With Writing

17 Monday Aug 2015

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Hey all. I apologize for not posting last week. I was insanely busy.

It’s Monday, so we’re back to talking about what the trouble with writing is. This week, we’re talking about wanting to write

We all have those times when we want to do anything but write. I know that feeling. I’m currently experiencing that. I know, I’m big on writing no matter what. But keep in mind that I’m also only human.

We all struggle with not wanting to write every once in a while. I have on multiple occasions recently. I’m kind of at a standstill with my editing anyway, so it doesn’t hurt to take some time off, though I guess I do have other manuscripts to edit…

It’s hard to get in the mood sometimes. We all have to do different things to get to writing. It’s a lot harder than people would think. I usually just have to take some time off and then force myself to open one of the manuscripts and work on it. Some days I really get into it after a while, and other days…I don’t. It just won’t work no matter what I try. Sometimes, my brain just doesn’t cooperate.

There are things that everyone does to get to wanting to write and edit. What do you do? Let me know in the comments.

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