High Quality Content? I’d Love a Bowl of Peanuts!

Writing for peanuts

Annette Young - Authorby Annette  Young

Every now and then I feel the urge to stick up for writers everywhere and to tell potential clients to pay up if they want high quality content. You’d think it would be obvious.  You get what you pay for you don’t you? Apparently, in the world of freelance writing, top notch writers are still getting lumped in with those who can hardly string a sentence together. Quite frankly, it’s not the reason I went into writing, and I’m sure many freelance writers out there would agree.

I really get sick when I see job adverts that express the importance of hiring someone with excellent skills and yet want to pay them peanuts. In fact, for some of the payments offered, I think a writer would struggle even to buy a large packet of peanuts from their wage. It’s ludicrous that a professional writer is expected to write for next to nothing. I suspect that for some people, their earnings per hour is less than the national minimum wage. Scandalous.

I’m not greedy. When I quote for writing projects, I put in a fair offer and ok, sometimes do reduce my rate, it depends on the job – little research, very quick job, or if it gives me a new string to my bow, but my low side, compared to a lot of writers, is vastly different. So come on clients! I can appreciate that the economy is tough right now, I’m a business woman, I know that the figures have to tally but if you want good quality writing, then please pay up.

I’m lucky, I get repeat work from clients and I don’t work anymore for people who are rude, who let me down or, who keep me waiting for my payment. I am not keen on hourly rates,  because if I feel like taking longer and slowing my pace, then I’m not over-charging my clients. I do not write manically for anyone. I do not apply for jobs that say ‘ Fantastic Job! We want 400 articles and pay an AMAZING 800 USD! What? Then the others that say, LOW BUDGET but MASSES of  WORK! Are we supposed to be grateful that we can work for very little but get to juggle our little shirt buttons at the end of it?

I have written about this topic before, moaning at writers about getting some self-respect and charging what they are worth, but I see that nothing is changing.

So this time, my heartfelt plea goes out to clients the world over, please, please, please consider that you are hiring professionals. You are hiring someone who can make a huge difference to your own financial income by writing books, web content or articles for you. Don’t advertise for a high-quality writer but say, ‘It’s an EASY Job and expect to pay little. If it’s easy, why are you NOT DOING IT?

Don’t offer a writer revenue based on sales thereafter, because if the marketing is not good following on after the job is completed, sales will be next to nothing. Instead, do the decent thing, pay a reasonable wage, one agreed by both and look after your writer, even if you are only working on minimal projects together. Decency and kindness goes a long, long way and you can be confident that the writer will work even harder for you if you appreciate their skills.

I firmly believe that you get what you pay for. You may be lucky and pick up a good writer who happens to have a low self-esteem and does not know their own worth, but what are you going to do when they burn out through writing long and hard and not being able to pay their way?

I know that businesses are struggling right now, but if you wanted to get a receptionist or a secretary, wouldn’t you have to pay the going rate?

Sometimes writers don’t have a voice, so I’m standing up on their behalf. Look after your writers and they will create the high-quality content that puts your business on the map.

 

 

 

 

 

Writing Success – Imagine It, Touch It, Feel It.

Writing success

Author Annette Youngby Annette Young

Do you dream of being a successful author imagining your very first book signing or, about clasping that first copy of your book in your hands? Perhaps you just want to see your name in print or to win your first writing competition? Everyone who engages with the written word creatively has some idea of where they want their writing abilities to take them, and writing success is possible if you can imagine it with conviction.

I know that when I started out, I wanted to become published, I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to write, in fact, I tried just about everything. Going from one project to the next, ideas cascading in as I devoured each writing technique, hoping that with each new skill-set and a bit of luck, success was bound to be mine. Naive I may have been to think publishing success would drop gift-wrapped into my lap but, determination kept me striving forward.

Some of you will relate to that inner drive, that integral something that makes you need to create imaginary scenes, and dynamic and charismatic characters. I know that almost all my actions translated into how to conjure up scenes that were not only imaginable but that seemed real.

Visualising your goals is so important. It has to seem real to you before you can even start to make it happen. If you have doubts about your own potential, then you are as good as slamming the door in your own face. Everyone has doubts that holds them back but you have to put it into perspective. How much do you want writing success? As a creative writer, your imagination must be strong, you have to be able to picture success so acutely in your mind’s eye that it becomes almost a tangible thing. The more you see it, the more you can feel it and want to taste success.

What equals success for you? Everyone’s journey on the creative path is uniquely different but every obstacle is surmountable if you can approach it with determination. I used to see these stumbling blocks as a way of testing my resolve and that certainly worked for me. I surpassed my earlier goals but each day, week and month, I create new creative goals and imagine them becoming a reality too.

There is always a way to achieve your dreams, be it a book, a story or a film script. It might not be the easiest path but the harder the route, the more satisfying the taste of success.

 

 

Writing – When Less is More

The fiction writer

Annette Young - AuthorBy Annette Young

There’s no escaping from the fact that writing well means writing regularly. The craft of writing needs input but funnily enough, sometimes writing for a very short period of time can make you more productive. Blank page syndrome can often scupper your best intentions to have a productive day at home and it’s just typical when you have carefully arranged time to write, that those are the moments when the well of creativity dries up, packs up and leaves.

Of course it only returns when it is too late to try again.

If this sounds familiar, or, if it’s just impossible to invest too much time in your writing currently, do yourself a favour and keep inspiration afloat by setting up ultra fast, highly pressured mini-sessions. It doesn’t matter where you are either, find ten minutes before work, in your tea break or at lunch time, simply watch the clock and then write furiously for ten minutes until you run out of time.

Initially, your writing might not be as free flowing as you would like. It might be a little disjointed or less than perfect, but that doesn’t matter. You will be amazed at how much you can get done in just ten minutes and you are training yourself to respond creatively on demand. It works because you  know you only have a limited period of time to perform and that’s it.

Of course you can adjust the time to suit your schedule but everyone can manage ten minutes, whether on the train, on the bus, in a cafe or before collapsing into bed at night.

Incidentally, these little writing sessions can really boost your connection with the written word too.

 

Writing Tips – What To Do When Your Brain Says Go Away!

Brain

Annette Young - Authorby Annette Young

I love writing for a living. It’s not always the easiest job, but for me, it is the most satisfying. Even on those days when the words fail to come, I know it’s just a temporary lull in my creativity. There are days though when you may start to wonder whether a stick of dynamite might be the only thing that will explode your brain into operating again. I know from experience that there are a number of things that can stop productivity – too much stress, too much alcohol, not enough sleep, and, perhaps surprisingly, a lack of deadlines nipping at the heels.

There have been times when I have pinned myself to the chair, gazed in desperation at my blank screen, rubbed my head furiously, and even growled at myself a few times, all to no avail. Eventually, I have moved away from my desk, resorting to a last method, relinquishing the hoover from its cupboard prison, preferring the mundane action of cleaning, to the desperation of trying to write.

So sitting down waiting for the words to come, is not really the answer. It’s not writers block per se, it’s as if the brain is taking time off, but often when you need your creativity the most. Like today, I knew today was going to be tough. I woke up with a headache, I didn’t feel energetic or creative but I had so much work to get on with it, I wasn’t even sure where to start. I hate days like this when even the slightest task is like climbing a mountain.  Annoyingly, I even turned down the chance for a day out in the French countryside because I  needed to get my head down and to get on with it. In reality, the day out would have probably done the trick, but I knew that I couldn’t spare the time.

My tricks of the trade to overcome that fuzzy, foggy headed feeling include this selection of writing tips:

  • Switch projects, choose a different writing task and this will free those words.
  • Write a to-do list. Works well if you are overwhelmed with the workload.
  • Edit. If you are writing a book this is easy. Spend time editing a previous chapter and this will have you buzzing with ideas in no time.
  • Drink water. You might be dehydrated and fuzzy minded as a result. Have a bottle of water next to you on your desk.
  • Get outside. Just a change of scenery can click your brain into gear, breathe in some fresh air and let the oxygen revitalise your brain.
  • Exercise. When I can’t think, I go out onto my terrace and practise my yoga and switch off the creative process, when finished, I feel better, more in control.
  • Pick up the hoover, nothing will make you want to write more than having to do a bout of cleaning.
  • Read. Flick through a magazine, look at the reader’s letters, imagine writing a reply or actually do so if it gets those words onto paper.
  • Write down all the reasons why you love to write. By the end of your list, you will at least have remembered your attachment to the written word and feel more motivated.
  • Watch the news. Write a torrent of words that describe how you feel about the latest atrocity.
  • Visualise.  Think about your story, your article or your book, try to bring it all to life, but don’t think about writing.

You will find that once you have stopped the, ‘ I can’t think’ thought process, the words will come. Sometimes, the brain just needs oiling so that you can get those words out. Your brain might say go away, but you need to try to trick it to make it perform.

You may  have many more tricks to overcome those stagnant writing moments, feel free to share them in the comments section.

Winning Writing Competitions – Yes You Can!

Competition Success

Author/Editor Annette Young

By Annette Young

Writing competitions – they are a unique way of firing up your enthusiasm for the written word and sending your skill level to crazy new heights. Receiving notification that you have won a writing competition is pretty special. It’s like having your Christmas and birthday presents wrapped up in one sensational moment. You feel good. No, you feel great. More than a boost to your self-esteem, more than an eureka moment – what am I going to spend all that cash on? It’s confirmation that your writing skills are pretty good.

You can be a prolific writer and you can have the best technical writing skills in the world but it doesn’t mean you are going to win any writing competitions – why? Because to win writing competitions, you have to enjoy it. You have to look at the competitions that are on offer and think wow, I really want to have a go at that. Those with a theme are often easier if you are just starting out, or, if you just like having a trigger to springboard your creativity to new heights.

Having a passion for the written word is vital. Enjoying that brain pulsing moment when you take an idea and run with it and find out that hey, it’s a pretty good idea, well, that’s a great moment. You have to be able to live and breathe writing. To stand at the sink tackling the washing up when really, your mind is far away solving mysteries in the Caribbean, or enjoying an illicit preview of your characters clandestine affair.

But more than excitement, you have to be prepared to knuckle down and actually do the work. You have the ideas, you’ve narrowed them down, then you need to find your starting point. Depending on your word count allowance, your starting point might be very close to the end, but decide on this first of all and then let the words flow. Make the opening sentence dynamic. Choose your words carefully, make every one count. Just because you are a competition writer, it doesn’t mean you don’t embark on the whole re-writing element of the game. Change it, shine it, polish it. It represents you but don’t sit on it, doubting it until after the closing date.

Entering writing competitions enables you to put yourself out there. You are endorsing your work and saying, here I am. This is what I am about. Although your work undergoes a judging process, you, the writer are not judged. We know all about the writing journey and often, it starts with writing competitions like ours. The main element to winning is to enter in the first place. It’s as simple as that. You will never start to know how good you are until your work is circulating, doing the rounds. If faced with rejection, take another look at your submission. Could you have improved it? If yes, tweak it, save it and then submit it to another writing competition -assuming the story-line fits. When you write with determination and dedication, you will see  your work progress in leaps and bounds.

So can you win writing competitions? Yes, you can, you just have to dream up a captivating idea, enhance it, write it and then send it.

Marketing Your Author Website

SEO

Author/Editor Annette Young

by Annette Young

As an author, it is imperative that you have a website and start building your brand, but it’s easy to fall foul of unscrupulous marketing practices if you are not 100% certain what you are doing. Having fresh content added to your website regularly is important and will help keep your dedicated readers coming back as well as ensuring that Google and other search engines will start to notice your site.

For any author, there is no getting away from social networking and as many authors are going the indie-route these days, any marketing falls solely at the feet of the author. Even with traditional publishing now, the more the author can do to get the word out the better.

As an author myself, I know the importance of having a popular website. Take the Creative Competitor site for instance, in the last few months, visitors have trebled. I am sure this is because I promote the site and content regularly and I always try to make the articles and posts informative. If you are designing your author website, think in terms of simplicity. Marketing and design are both important but I know authors who have spent a fortune on having the most whizzy of designs but in user terms, frankly, it’s too annoying to wait for pages to load. Think always of the user experience. This will also stand you in good stead for search engine placement. Why? Because Google, (who let’s be honest runs the show) change their algorithms regularly with the visitor in mind.  So, fresh content, easy to read and informative equals quality in their eyes.

If you have searched the web in recent years you may well have come across poorly written articles all geared up towards high density keyword placement and it ruined the articles. If you are not sure what high density keyword placement is, good. Don’t bother. Just write your blog posts with your readers in mind. Keep it fresh and entertaining. Some people will mention back-links to you and will offer you their services, do not fall into this trap. Some savvy but not so honest marketers went the way of the paid back links but they were not genuine links and Google soon saw through this new little ploy to beat their latest rules.

Also worth considering is whether people can view your site easily on their mobile devices and tablets, so if you are looking for a website theme currently, keep this in mind. Mobile access is likely to exceed  access via the traditional desktop or laptop devices.

For 2014, Google has specified that good quality content written by authors with specific expertise will be a main focus (my words, not theirs) so in which case, become an expert in  your area and, if necessary, pull in the services of other experts to write pieces for your blog.  Content always has and always will be king, but fresh and quality content will always beat tired, old recycled articles- even if they are well-written. When you have your website in place, make the decision to add new content several times a week. If you start with a dedicated plan of action, write blog posts, or add excerpts from your books and do this each week, your site popularity will soon build. It doesn’t have to be just blog posts or articles of course, use video, PowerPoint and social media clips to keep the content fresh.

Never forget why you are setting up your website and what you are offering to your visitors. You are a writer, so enjoy the craft of writing for your readers. SEO – search engine optimization is important, but just as important is having your vision and providing tantalising snippets of information that will keep your readers coming back. Make your site a popular one and you can bet that the search engines will find you.

If you need help promoting your books, ask us. We provide a professional but affordable marketing service for authors globally.

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late

Author/Editor Annette YoungWith the sad demise of actor/comedian Rik Mayall recently, it got me thinking about how we conduct our lives and play out our dreams. We think that we have all the time in the world to achieve our goals but the harsh reality is that we don’t. Although it’s easy to see that Rik Mayall more than achieved in his 56 years, many of us don’t and we need to question why.

Some people have a passion in life and strive forward determinedly, others may have opportunities presented to them but even so, the secret to success is that these people clutch those opportunities with both hands and do not let self-doubts or time restraints hold them back.

We are all guilty of procrastination. There are times when I feel the urge to do anything bar write. Tiredness, stress or even the enjoyable social aspects of life can actually all get in the way of our true path. This post isn’t a stark reminder of our mortality rather, a reminder that if you have a dream, don’t wait, get on with it.

There is nothing more painful than regret and knowing that you could have done so much better. Although my passion is writing, the message here can relate to all goals in life. No-one knows what lies ahead of them. Life is rosy and longevity may seem certain when your health is good, but health and circumstances can change rapidly. As much as it will be terribly painful for Rik Mayall’s family, he leaves behind a multitude of visual reminders and he will stay alive in the memories of all who admired him, what aspects of your life will you leave behind? How would you want others to remember you? If you have a dream, writing a novel, a play, or even getting a short story published, don’t think about it, or dream about it, do it. Start now and know that you put your heart and soul into something that is important to you.

None of us want to think ‘if only’ when our time is up.

Calling All Competition Writers

Winning a prize in a writing competition
As much as we hate to burst the bubble of creativity, here is a heartfelt plea to all competition writers everywhere. Please, please, please do read the rules. We see some wonderful submissions but of late, many do not adhere to the rules. We try to keep the rules as basic as possible but they are there for a reason. They provide a level playing field for all writers irrespective of publishing experience – so that everyone has the same chance.
This is just a reminder that the full rules are published on each competition page, please do check that you have read them before even starting your entry. We often provide you with photos for inspiration or, have a tricky little word count to adhere to, but whatever the rules, they are there to be followed and we hate having to exclude well-written submissions.

 

We advertise our competitions across the Internet including on social media sites such as Twitter, so if you have stumbled across one of those adverts, you may find that only partial rules are added. This is dependent on the information requested from the website and so, we are unable to always provide every bit of information. On Twitter for example, it’s impossible to say much, but we always, provide a link directly to the relevant page, so don’t miss out on a prize simply through not checking.

 

We know that time can be limited and you might have to rush to meet a deadline, but please do give your submission a fighting chance and not let it fall at the first hurdle.

Writers – Why You Should Sweat the Small Stuff

Author/Editor Annette Youngby editor/author Annette Young

As a writer, you have to build up a vivid picture for your reader. You might have a definite plan in your mind, but unless you can transfer those thoughts and paint those images with words, capturing them forever within the plot, your reader will not grasp the story as comprehensively as you would like.

I am lucky where I live in that the Pyrenees Mountains provide a huge source of inspiration for me. I look out of my window and I see snow-capped mountains, I turn my head in a slightly different direction and I see the rising tower of a church spire peeking from the green shrouded scenery of a small French village opposite me. I am surrounded by the picturesque scenery that provides me with the inspiration I  need, someone else might become inspired by being surrounded with people, or dynamic architectural designs that form complex concrete structures. It doesn’t matter where you are or the things that you see, being able to immerse yourself in your own environment is the most important aspect as is, having the technical skills to relay this information in a compelling way to those who read your work.

I went for a walk the other day, climbing higher into the foothills and I followed little roads that meandered through farmland and valleys. Having re-developed my love of bird-watching, my idea was to see as much wildlife as I could but as typically happens when I walk, I start think. I think about new characters, settings, possible locations and create descriptive scenarios in my mind. At one point, mesmerised by the clusters of striking flowers that adorned the hedgerows, I thought about the work that goes into creating just a small passage in any book. Importantly, it has to be accurate and revealing. There’s no point my just writing about yellow flowers, it means nothing to the reader really, I would have to say the clusters of vibrant flowers that rose on stalks from the rough and tumble grasses and how the Great Yellow Gentian draws the eye to its significant form.

A writer should always check their facts too.Find out what month a particular flower blooms and to ensure that they do actually grow in the location chosen. It’s important because someone is bound to know and as a writer, you can lose credibility if you get it wrong. Similarly, if I say I watched as a kestrel hovered high over the freshly cut crops hunting for prey, I have to ensure that in my area, kestrels are resident. Although this is a fairly safe bet, there will be examples that are revealed as obvious mistakes if you are not careful.

This is especially important if you are writing about a particular place. I remember providing published novel samples to my writing students at college one day. The excerpt was  from one of my favourite authors and I loved her descriptive passages that held the power to conjure up balmy summer nights, or dreamy beach scenes in tropical island paradises. At least I did until one student said that those particular flowers described did not bloom during those months. She knew the area well and was adamant as a gardening enthusiast that she was right and who am I to argue the point? It certainly gave me food for thought. Creative licence goes a long way but for a little bit of research, a fictional novel can still be accurate and actually come alive for the reader.

So do I think writers need to sweat the small stuff? Absolutely, especially if they want their work to seem credible. We all want to possess the writing skills needed to paint vivid imagery with our words, so why not take inspiration from the world around you, or at least, do the necessary research if you are writing about an area that is unfamiliar to you? It can make all the difference.

Want to Publish? Then Publish Something Good

Author/Editor Annette YoungI have been known to rant a bit, but then I believe passionately in writing and those wonderful feelings of satisfaction achieved after writing and publishing something worthwhile.  Being an author is not easy. Your best work is often the result of laboured productivity where you have to wrench painful, emotional or difficult experiences from deep within and to share them with the world. You put your heart and soul on the line every single time you have something published.

Writing is hard work, you face rejection, you feel the brunt of reader feed-back, you are filled with doubts at times about your own skill-set, oh and the road to making a million is a long and trying one. In short, there are mistakes and set-backs waiting to be made every step of the way.

Self-publishing is a wonderful resource and although some still shy away from self-publishing, I say accept and embrace every single opportunity to get published that you can. If you make mistakes, accept them but don’t stop writing or publishing your books. There’s a global audience just waiting to read your words.

It’s important to be clear however that indie publishing is not a ‘get rich quick scheme’ or, a way to haphazardly create books that have not been created with love, care and attention. If you are going to publish, then publish something good. Why would you not spend the same time and effort with an ebook as you would with a traditional book? The only difference might be that you have a smaller word count with an ebook, the quality of words should be the same.

Understanding why you want to write as well as who you are writing for will certainly help you to have a definite plan of attack. If it’s just some fuzzy idea of being an author, then forget it. Have some pride in your work. Plan your book, live and breathe those words, and have a definitive message to share.

Having work published is akin to leaving a part of you behind long after you have given up your grip on life.  It’s a way of being alive forever, at least in the eyes of the reader who will want to know more about you. Just imagine your book being read 50 years from now, new dedicated readers who desperately wish you were still able to write….or not, depending on the quality.

So think about the end result. Do you want the reader to put your book down and think wow? Do you want them to feel informed and satisfied by the content? If you think about your book from start to finish then they will. If you are an author who thinks that using indie publishing is just a way to churn out any old rubbish or to make a bit of cash then you will simply leave the reader feeling disappointed and cheated.

What type of author do you want to be?

Writing Success – Ten Minutes A Day

successful writingby Annette Young

Ten minutes a day, that really is all that is needed for writing success. In fact, I would say that the more time you have, the less productive you may be. I know it can be difficult to juggle work and family demands, I did just that for many years. I had a husband (ex now) who was grumpy if I disappeared into another room, laptop tucked under my arm and, who did not (would not understand) my need to write.

I had a full-time job and a part-time job teaching and I had already taken the first tentative steps towards writing professionally. I also had a disabled mother and as you can imagine, there were times when I had to drop everything to be with her as her health fluctuated up and down. Believe me when I say that I juggled profusely to fit everything in.

This is why I can honestly say, hand on heart, that ten minutes a day will do wonders for your writing. If you are a morning person, get up that little bit earlier and write then. I did my ten minutes during my lunch hour. I would get away from my desk and eat my sandwiches sometimes in the grounds of Salisbury Cathedral. I would spend a few minutes first absorbing the life that moved around me. I soaked up the atmosphere of the ancient building, I relaxed in the beautiful grounds and I would shrug off the stresses of the day. Then, I would write as fast as I could, timing myself to see how many words I could capture.

Were those short paragraphs perfect for publication? No, of course not. Sometimes I even struggled to read my own handwriting.

On rainy days, I used to try to find a quiet corner at work and to blot out the noise of a busy office environment and to let ideas flood through me. Sometimes the words were like a hard knot in my head, at other times they poured in fluidic motion out onto paper and I felt creatively satiated.

The point I am trying to make though is that a mere ten minutes a day of concentrated writing will be enough to train your brain and to make you ultra productive when you need to write. On those days when you sit at home and have hours at your disposal to write, isn’t it typical that those are the times when words do not come? Do you imagine them deliberately resisting your desperate pleas, knowing that the more stressed you become, the less likely that they will appear. Ten minutes of successful writing is worth more than an hour of hair pulling, head scratching and lots of screwed up efforts in the waste-paper bin.

If you find that ideas do not come on demand, write down a few enticing titles the day before, even allow your mind to mull over the words, teasing out new ideas and creating a series of what-if scenarios. Spend your ten minutes writing opening paragraphs to exciting new stories and then the following day, continue to write the next paragraphs and so on. Keep your brain challenged and don’t be afraid to push yourself creatively. If you can find just ten minutes a day to write, you can be successful. You just have to make yourself work at it.

“Image courtesy of [David Castillo Dominici] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

Book Marketing for New Authors – Jump, Leap and Bound Across Common Pitfalls.

book marketingby Annette Young

Writing is hard work. We all know that but when you have toiled away for such a long time perfecting each word and are finally ready to burst upon the scene as a newly published author, it makes sense to avoid certain pitfalls. Book marketing is as important as the writing process. You can have the most wonderful attention – grabbing book but if no-one reads it, then your wonderful words are simply wasted.

The following tips are all simple but important steps if you are writing your book and looking to publish anytime soon:

  • Don’t skimp on the cover. Think about the covers you see on traditional books. Aren’t you attracted by the cover in the first instance and the title too? These days, digital covers can be fairly affordable but it is certainly worth putting time and effort into this aspect of your book.
  • Even in this digital publishing age where it is so easy to publish your book, do not skimp on any editing and proofreading, you will regret it if you do. I see a great many published books these days littered with errors and it reeks as being unprofessional plus, when you publish digitally, you may receive some horrible reviews that will impact future sales. Why waste a lot of time on book marketing if you have a poorly edited book?
  • Authors need to have a website. It doesn’t have to be ultra technical, it just has to promote you. It’s important to start building your own platform transformation as soon as possible. Make it personal, make it interesting, reach out and connect through your site. Authors typically are not known for their networking ventures, many prefer to simply dig deep and pull out those compelling words that make readers want to immerse themselves into richly woven plots. These days however, authors have to be visible and have a website presence.
  • Start a blog about your book. Let your readers share your everyday frustrations, give them snippets about your book, talk about your characters as if they are real. You can start this from the very first chapter.
  • Utilise professional book marketing services if you are overwhelmed. Go to a well-known and trusted company and especially important, those who understand the needs of a new author.

If you want a list of our author services to start planning  your book marketing campaign then click here,  this should give you plenty of ideas, but it’s always a good idea to start your book marketing campaign long before your book is even finished as this enables you to build up plenty of followers first and followers equal sales.

“Image courtesy of [basketman] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

Writing Success – The Long and Winding Road

be a successful writerWhen I first realised that I wanted to be a writer, I didn’t expect instant success. I knew that there was a big learning curve awaiting me before I could write as a professional, I knew that experience would also play a part in my success and as a young writer, I wasn’t that worldly. Every experience, every rejection, every success all added to my determination to be the best writer that I could be. The journey wasn’t always easy, but it was worthwhile.

You can’t write with sincerity if you have not lived. I found that out. I was shutting myself away after work, feverishly typing away on an old typewriter (it was 30 odd years ago) and capturing thousands of words on paper. I thought they were good but not good enough. Turns out I was right. Publishers rejected them. It was soul-destroying.

To combat the hurt following a series of rejections, I turned to poetry and allowed all that inner angst to come out. Words flowed, inspiration peaked and it was like creative therapy. The hurt of rejection led on to other things, my interest in psychology and view of others, my passion for nature and the way progress often meant exactly the opposite in the real world. When I began writing about things I cared abut and had experienced for myself, my writing became much stronger, I had intent and belief. Then it dawned on me, my focus had been on writing about love and romance, and it was not really me. Sure, it was a fantastic market with lots of potential for publication but was I trying to write short stories just for publication? I realised yes, I didn’t really want to write about romantic love, as someone in their late teens, I hadn’t ever experienced real love for myself -not truly.

So instead, I started trying out different genres but putting my own slant on it. Plots became more evolved, I added layers to each story and sometimes those layers had sub-layers. I wasn’t creating a story, I was creating a micro world where I could construct fictional elements based on my own perceptions and desires. In short, I was adding a little bit of me into my writing.

Those rejections were a turning point for me. I grew up creatively speaking from that point.  It was still some years before  I decided I was ready to send out more manuscripts and I’d like to say that I instantly got published, but I didn’t.  But suddenly, it all started happening. I began to win or be placed in writing competitions, poetry that I had written with passion was suddenly accepted and I got my article writing break for the big national magazines.

For many writers, it is a long and winding road towards writing success. Many stumble and fall along the way. Some pick themselves back up and dust themselves off, others give up writing. The real writers among us never give in, even when rejections are like a proverbial slap in the face. We just keep going, mildly chuntering about the unfairness of the rejection and we learn from it.  I still learn even now and yearn to try out different writing techniques and wondering how to stretch my creativity still further. I don’t think I have achieved my best work yet and even though I am successful – I write full-time and I love my job, I know I can be better and write something amazing.

Goal setting never stops and once you push through fear of rejections, absorbing techniques and life along the road, success will happen. But you have to approach those goals with true resilience and dedication.

 
“Image courtesy of [stuartmiles] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

Write Little and Often – Even if You Have to Nail Yourself to the Chair

make yourself writeby Annette Young

Nailing yourself to the chair is a kind of extreme way of making yourself write, although there have been times when I would have almost considered anything to try to make myself get into the writing mood. I do know how important it is to keep the flow of words coming even on those off -days when a writing task that might take one hour usually could easily treble to three. Without doubt, there will be times when the last thing you want to do is to be creative, you are tempted with a million reasons to do anything but write and yet, you can’t give into this mental lethargy. You have to do something to get those words out of your head and onto paper .

I got up this morning, went into my office, took one look at the ever rising pile of paperwork and almost walked straight back out. My brain felt muddled, I couldn’t think about the workload and the deadlines, in fact, they were probably the reason why my brain said no -not happening today. If I had forced myself into the chair and started working, progress would have been very slow. Instead, trying to look marginally awake, I headed straight out in the hopes that it would spark up some sort of creative thinking.

It worked. Scurrying clouds lined in silver gave way to glorious sunshine and a golden glow to everything, the flowers, the blossom,even the grass developed a more vibrant shade of green. Instead of thinking, I just allowed myself to become a part of the scene. I took the pressure off myself to perform and instead, just inwardly absorbed.  I carried on walking for a bit and cleared my mind,  mentally dusting off cobwebs from my brain.

I watched a plane fly overhead cutting a trail through the clouds and imagined just for a moment where those people might be going, then, giggles broke the silence, and I watched a young girl chasing after her dog as it scurried down a quiet lane enjoying the game. As I turned I saw an old man, his face lined, eyes kind, sitting quietly, contemplating life and observing. He seemed comfortable in his spot, relaxed.

This is what we have to do sometimes as writers.

Sure there is a time to sit yourself down and go through the pain of writing when the words won’t come, but at other times, escape, just for a little bit. Tell yourself that this is part of the writing process. We may live in our imaginations but sometimes, we have to take a deep breath and touch base with all that is around us.  Then when recharged, we go back to our writing space and we sit and let words flow, even if the words mean very little and are disjointed. We have to write little and often and then we can usually beat the creative slump, and the words flow suddenly thick and fast. But on the days where it is impossible, go outside, and take ten minutes to connect with the world, take a few deep breaths and remember that as writers we capture the essence of all that is around us. When those all important minutes are up, we get back on the creative track and we let the words out.

Remember Writing for Pleasure?

Author, Editor Annette Youngby Annette Young

Many freelance writers, who write full-time, will agree that to survive within the publishing world, there are constant pressures to seek out new publishing outlets and to continually strive for the regular publication of new articles.

To the outsider looking in, life may seem sweet, with hours to suit, no trudging to work in the wind and rain, or working at a job you despise, however, freelancers vary rarely work the traditional 9-5 and working a five day week is almost unheard of. There are no steady hours in the freelance writer’s world. Any time off is often spent researching new material, absorbing daily events or at least mentally planning for the next interview. Even time spent away on holiday cannot prevent the Freelancer from planning the next travel article and taking notes and photographs of places of interest-just in case.

Professional writers work long and sometimes unsociable hours, in their attempt to make a living. Life is governed by possible rejections, disappointments and extreme highs when an article is finally accepted for publication. Freelance writers these days have to not only be creative, inventive, and resilient, but are expected to be experts in niche areas and able to market themselves to boot!

Although, most established freelance writers would not swap their existence for a steady 9-5 job, it is easy to see how some writers buckle under the severe pressure, living life by their wits, having to constantly budget their money for months ahead. They can become jaded with this continual pressure. The very source of their writing essence can dry up, leaving them struggling for both ideas and direction.

Freelancers become so used to writing for deadlines, targeting a specific house style, and then double-checking their facts that sometimes, it is easy to forget that writing can and should be fun.

For any writer who has been in this situation, then take heart; the all-important batteries can be recharged. Just take a step back momentarily and cast your mind back to the good old days. Writing stories or poems then were a labour of love, you wrote from the heart or from your soul, because mood dictated and not because you needed to make a profit.

It is time to tune in to good old inspiration.

Writing can be therapeutic; it can channel anger and sadness, releasing bottled emotions, allowing the tension to slip away as you become immersed within your story line.

In this day and age, freelance writers cannot afford to write for pleasure very often. Time becomes very precious, with rigorous schedules in place to enable them to succeed in a competitive market; ambitions often drive them to breaking point. But every now and then, it is important to re-evaluate their values and write purely for pleasure, for release and for satisfaction.

Think back to the moment when you realised you wanted to be a writer. What was it about writing that attracted you the most? Was it the unique opportunity to be able to glimpse into a different world or see life through another’s eyes? Did the lyrical qualities of poetry inspire you to put pen to paper or did you feel untapped creativity surging through your body as inspiration come to life?

When we write for ourselves, we do not need to worry about word count or house style, our tensions evaporate as we become one with our subject. When our creative juices are exhausted, we feel contented again. These words are not wasted, even if they may never be published, they are just ways of channelling your feelings and they enable you to remember, why you became a writer in the first place.

Hone your skill, perfect your art, but when life gets too much, take time out to lose yourself in your creativity and just write for pure pleasure.

Writers – Create A Dream Diary

dreaming creative successBy Annette Young

How many times have you forced yourself to sit in front of a computer and waited for inspiration to strike?Most of us have done so at some point, whether just starting out or even an experienced published writer have suffered from the proverbial writers block or have struggled to kick-start their creativity.

Sometimes ideas just flow and writing our article or story is easy. Inspiration flows over us like waves and the subsequent finished piece is almost word perfect and requires very little editing. But for those times when inspiration is on holiday or worse, on strike, help yourself to master those off -days by creating a dream diary.

If you are one of those unfortunate people who believe that they rarely dream or at least have trouble remembering them, a dream diary is obviously going to be a problem.But you can train yourself to remember your dreams in the mornings, but this may take time and practice.

Try leaving a notepad by your bed or invest in a Dictaphone, so at least if you do wake up during or after your dream, you can leave instant notes for yourself. Just in case on falling back asleep, you eliminate all memory of this wonderful plot.

Even nightmares can be a useful aid to creating a masterpiece, so next time you experience one, look to the positive, and tell yourself that this is going to help you get work published. For those interested in the meaning of dreams, invest in a good book, and not only can you create a great story but you can also work out what made you dream this particular scenario in the first place. It may well provide answers to questions in your everyday life.

As a child, I had the same recurring dream where I was in my back garden and a dinosaur type large red bird, chased me from one length of the garden right up to my back door, and I only just managed to slam the door shut and lock it with only seconds to spare. Scary? Of course…but the experience helped me to be able to pace my stories and to link tension into the right places of my plot.

I have often wondered what psychologists would make of my numerous and often odd, dream sequences and it is probably just as well that they have never been analysed by anyone other than myself. Although your dream may be vivid and almost overwhelming in its clarity, in the cold reality of daylight, many flaws can be seen with creative enlightenment. But remember, your dream is there to prompt you with a possible story line, it is not set in stone and you do not have to copy it, stage by stage.

Use it to express yourself in a new and different way. It may also be useful to close your eyes and to see if you could try to re-live your dream in your minds eye. Remember what you felt, sights, sounds, familiar scents, allow yourself to forget the present and immerse yourself back in your dream.

You will be amazed at how much you find you can remember and new scenarios may well fall into place as you practice this gentle meditation.I once dreamed a whole episode of Star Trek, complete with regular cast, a few new characters thrown in and of course, I took the lead role in the drama. I have never attempted to write an episode for television and one for a program, which relies on much sci-fi jargon would probably not be for my first attempt, however, the plot (if I say so myself) was exceptional and it is recorded in my dream diary for future use.

Whilst there would be very few changes to the initial plot, I was surprised by the amount of technical knowledge sustained which proved to me just how much information our subconscious thought process retains and then subsequently uses in the course of our nightly shenanigans.If you are lucky and your creative tact needs no prompting, you will not need to refer to your dream diary all that often, however, it can be interesting to read back over your entries over a period of time and ascertain just how far your imagination has taken you.

Just remember, in your dreams you are not restricted by earthly ties and you can let your imagination loose in the knowledge that inspiration is guiding you.Using a dream diary allows you to access your creative zone deep in the dark recesses of your mind and to harness that creative power. Do not waste this opportunity to provide original thought provoking ideas, just remember to record them carefully.

Ideas are gold dust and could, one day earn you a great deal of money as well as providing an insight into a side of your personality very rarely seen.

 

 

“Image courtesy of [graur codrin] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

 

 

Writing Ideas – Stimulate Your Inner Creativity

creative writing ideas

 

By Annette Young

Writing ideas are needed in abundance if you are planning to become a professional writer at some point. For many would-be writers, it is not their ability to write well and with passion that is the difficulty but the ability to generate good, solid writing ideas and this of course is paramount to success. Acquiring this ability is not too difficult; it is merely a matter of changing your mind-set so that you can view the world and its contents through different eyes and once you are able to do this, writing ideas should flow.

Writing ideas come in all shapes and forms and inspiration can strike in the strangest ways such as a flippant remark, a TV ad, a photo or maybe even a song lyric. To start stimulating your inner creativity so that you can generate many writing ideas, begin by studying the following:

– Practice people watching, people really do and say the funniest things, there is just so much human interest and untapped potential all around you that you may as well make use of it. Be discreet however.

– Keep a writing journal. Whenever you do get an idea, make sure to note it because even if it is not relevant currently, at some point, it could be just the idea you crave.

– Go for a long walk. Fresh air and beautiful scenery is wonderful for clearing flagging creativity. Writing ideas need stimulation and by experiencing natural beauty all around, you are bound to become inspired.

– Meet up with other writers. Writing can be such a lonely and isolating occupation that by meeting others it is possible to become inspired through conversation with others who share your passion for the written word. Join a local writing group or attend a college course or join our FaceBook group and interact. These suggestions will help you to be able to focus on the areas of improvement you need.

– Practise writing ‘what if’ scenarios. These are quick and easy writing tasks which require one or two paragraphs relating to a person, conflict or a theme and this can help break down writers block and open up the creative channels.

Providing you keep an open mind and a natural curiosity for the world around you, you will start to rediscover your potential for discovering fresh writing ideas.

 

“Image courtesy of [renjith krishnan] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

Freelance Writing – From Low Budget to Healthy Budget

Editor, Author Annette YoungFreelance writing is difficult. It’s hard in the current climes. There are several reasons for this. Clients have less money in their budgets to pay and even if they don’t, they see that writers are prepared to work for next to nothing. There is another reason too. There are more writers out there. Writers at varying levels of experience, and some who may be forced into the industry to look for paid work. I know many people who have dusted off their laptops and started writing to help supplement their own waning income.

These writers will understandably charge less and their need to do so is because they desperately need to boost their income. Fair point. For many, life sucks in terms of business, bills and the constant drain on their money. So, assuming that these writers can hold their own in a competitive marketplace – welcome, dip your toes in at your ‘slightly’ reduced rate, have a paddle, gain some great writing credits and then join the ranks of those who charge a fair price for their work. After all, you will have earned it.

But cutting your teeth in freelancing terms is not always easy. When I started, I didn’t know anything about pricing my work and probably got ripped off, spending hours slaving away when I didn’t need to, but of course, you soon learn. What I did find though that sometimes charging a little less when actively seeking out a new area in which to write, worked well. I will give you an example. Many years ago, I was working as a writer/trainer and had been quietly chalking up published writing credits in my free time. In the health arena, I could command a decent rate and I had credits to prove it. Then one day I spotted an ad for someone wanting martial arts articles and the price per article was lower than my usual rate but, I really wanted to get the job. I love martial arts and in my youth, yes, many, many, many years ago, I used to belong to a martial arts club and seriously lived and breathed it. So, writing about it was for me an enjoyable venture.

Writing was not my main income but it enabled me to have a good quality of life and I got to cherry-pick the work I did. It was great. I got the job writing 10 articles and even though, I charged a bit less than for my health articles, it was worth it for me. I hasten to add it was not the 1 USD per article rate that I rant about.  Dropping my rates worked at that point because the client loved my enthusiasm and the quality of work and I received a great deal of work from him for over a year. That one little job really boost my income in the coming months and I went on to write about topics that I didn’t even know anything about. It was great for me as I built credits up in a lot of new areas and, I got good pay as the time went on and great feedback.

Sometimes, I can see how writing for a little less can be  a good thing. But it is important that you always aim for a healthy budget if you are freelancing. Do what feels right for you, unless it is working for next to nothing. Stop it. Think about your end goal and the time it takes you to do a job. Even now, I miscalculate the length of time for a particular job. So learn from  your mistakes but always tell yourself what your financial writing goals are and work steadily towards them.

If you are a low budget freelance writer, re-evaluate today. You don’t need to be. I know that writing is a competitive world at the moment but there is good paid work out there. Sometimes you need to consider your options. What are your areas of expertise? Write about those and carve out a nice little niche for yourself. Have several areas of expertise? Great. Two areas where you can earn extra money.

No-one should have to have a low wage and just scrape through but I am a firm believer that you create your own opportunities. Don’t just rely on job sites, get the word out there about your skills and back it up with quality writing. If you can’t write well, then get out of the freelance writing game. Don’t muddy the water for those who need to earn a living from the written word. Instead, learn the craft, take a writing course, study, write, study until you are proficient. Then come back and test the waters.

This way, you can command a healthy wage and actually enjoy the whole writing experience.

Writing Professionally – Have Some Self-Respect

Editor, Author Annette YoungI have been writing professionally for many years. My first tentative steps into the creative writing and freelance writing arena taught me a lot. It taught me that this is a tough profession with ever-increasing demands but as such, you have to treat it like any other work stream and you have a pride in your work. Work hard, work smart and be professional.

Over the years I have noticed a decline in the respect that writers give their work, and worse, a decline in the respect given to professional writers by clients. Quite simply, it makes my blood boil because we, (professional writers everywhere) have collectively allowed it to happen. If you have some skills as a writer, you should get paid for your work. It’s that simple.

I am not talking about people who write creatively because they just love the written word. I am not talking about those who are trying to build up their brand as a writer and dipping a toe in the professional writing arena, and I am not talking about those who are creating their own websites and producing content for it. I worked hard and without pay on my creative competitor site in the early days, but that was for my own purpose. I am talking about those who provide a professional service for clients, writing articles, web content, eBooks or even creative writing.

I am seriously sickened by the fact that writers work for peanuts or less.

If it’s their choice because they wish to target a new niche to add to their writing portfolio, well, ok, sometimes it is a stepping stone. But I am seeing writers accepting 1 USD for a 500 word article.

1 USD for a professional article?

Now, granted, many of these writers are living in countries where the conversion rate is so much better, and for any writer living in an Eastern country, 1 USD is worth vastly more than 1 USD for American, Canadian and British writers or in fact, anywhere where the conversion rate is small. But even so, it belittles the job. I know that financially times are tough, but we have to turn this tide around. Don’t betray your professionalism just for the sake of picking up a job where the client does not appreciate or value your worth. It’s the principle that I am getting at.

I’m a professional writer but I also have a long list of academic qualifications in addiction and stress management and even as a professional, I was offered 3 USD an hour to write a book on stress management. Needless to say, I turned it down rapidly. I am sure the client found someone willing to do it for peanuts but for that amount of money, I really hope he didn’t get a professional writer. I just want ALL writers to get paid for a decent job.

I may be using this as a platform to rant but come on, writers worldwide, let’s unite. We all have to take work that is paid less than what we think it is worth sometimes. Hell, I’d happily double my rates, but as long as I have a fair price for my work, that’s fine. But, unless as writers collectively, we say no to low paid jobs, this industry is going to truly crumble. We all have to live and we should aim for quality of life, not merely scraping by on the basics that clients are prepared to give us.

There is a minimum hourly wage for workers in Britain and yet I know some professional writers who don’t even get that. Writers – I don’t care where you come from, or what your circumstances are, if you can write and with quality, get paid properly. Why work like a slave to achieve a basic wage? Ask for $10 or $15 for a short article at least and get 15 x the money for the same job. Take some time out then with your family, have a quality of life,  but above all, get some self-respect. Show that you care about your writing and you have faith in yourself. Up your rates and sell yourself through your words, not through a pitiful proposal. Get repeat custom by doing a good job, show that you are worthy of a decent paycheck.

Once upon a time, writing was a revered industry, now those days are gone, and sadly, we are letting it.

Where Do You Like To Write?

where do you like to write

by Annette Young

When I was searching for photos for the website, I came across this one and it immediately made me think about places where writers gain inspiration. Now, I have never gone as far as sitting in a tree to type but I do tend to have my laptop glued to me and it is literally a case of ‘have laptop, will travel’.

I love sitting in cafes and absorbing life around me. Somehow the constant noise and hustle and bustle is both soothing and inspirational. Even the clatter of spoons and the whirring sound of the coffee machines are not a distraction.

I think this is because writing is a lonely occupation. It is only when you work as a writer on a full-time level that you can see just how isolating it is. Most of your work – whether fiction or non-fiction comes from deep within and so, breaking away from the home environment is a great way to recharge those all-important creative juices and just indulge in a little slice of life.

I regularly travel so it’s not unusual to see me with my laptop out and working while on the train. I have traveled extensively through France and the UK and inevitably have my laptop  or notebook with me so I can quickly type up an article or blog post. People watching while on the train is always interesting. Everyone is lost in their own little world of captive boredom. For a writer it can be inspirational and easy to make up stories about the passengers. Who are they? Where are they going and why?

It’s also fun to make note of mannerisms, character traits and even accents and a tone of voice does not fail to come under scrutiny. Importantly, being away from the desk and in the middle of a group of people allows you to think about things that you would not normally perhaps. I have also written on buses and coaches although you really do need a small laptop and an ability to bend your body into a scrunched position to succeed.

I have even taken my small laptop with me on walks in the countryside and picnics so that I can still fit in some writing. Perhaps capture the beauty of flowers nearby, or to describe the sound of flowing water over rocks. I remember even sitting on a clifftop once, looking out over the jagged edges to the sea, where the sky and ocean met in a band of blended blue and dolphins jumped elegantly from the rising waves. What better way to capture life on paper than to view it and then relay it instinctively?

So this all made me think about where you like to go and write. Do you have a favourite spot where you can indulge your writing passion? Why not share it?

Scroll down to the comments box way down at the bottom of the page and tell us about your special spots and why. They don’t have to be weird or wacky but let’s break the isolation of writing  a little by sharing with others who are also passionate about the written word.

 

 

 
“Image courtesy of [just2shutter] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

Writing the Murder Mystery – The Power of Emotion and Realism

writing the murder mystery

 

 

 

 

When I started writing my murder mystery book – Who Killed September Falls? I embarked upon a crazy challenge to complete it within one month and while this was a self-inflicted deadline, I didn’t want to lose the essence of it being a good novel either. My preparation was to focus on the characters and to have a fair idea of the plot. For me, the characters are pretty much the most important aspect of any book; I knew that they would have to drive the plot forward and that some aspects of my story might change as a result. So I was prepared to be flexible and to amend sections as I wrote, if that was needed.

I was aware that I had to consider the needs of the reader too, engaging them meant creating vivid scenes and planting strategic hooks that would keep them turning the pages. I wasn’t just writing for my own pleasure, but for the reader too. Creating powerful characters is important irrespective of genre and for me, it was vital that I created a powerful and unbreakable connection between Arianne and September.

For those who have not read the book, it starts with the murder of September Falls, so the plot unfolds with her best friend Arianne Tawnison desperate to find out more about the senseless killing so that she can come to terms with it. As with any fatal crime, those that are left behind experience their own sense of hell and Arianne could not move on after the death of her childhood friend. There were too many unanswered questions and a killer still on the loose.

My idea was that through the eyes of Arianne and other characters that had been closely linked to the victim, September’s personality and traits would come to life but often in conflicting terms. In real life, our perceptions of people and events change substantially. It made sense to me that Arianne would discover a great deal more about her friend following her death and from very different viewpoints. I was really keen that the reader would feel the connection between the two friends but also to experience the sense of bewilderment that must come from experiencing a tragic loss. Human emotion was the key to my connecting with the reader and because I was writing the story often with tears in my eyes, I wanted the readers to feel that rawness too.

So not only was it important to bring the emotion to life, but to also plant the seeds of doubt in the readers’ mind too. This meant really getting to know my characters and understanding what made them tick. I planted little red herrings that I hoped would make the reader think and would lead them astray but I also planted genuine clues. I wanted to create the mystery and tension and suspicion that would occur if you are investigating a dangerous situation. Arianne knew that she was taking risks but having received and read the personal journal that September had sent to her just days before her death, it was as if her friend was directing her from beyond the grave.

So, I had characters that interacted and that forced the story forward, I had emotion and I had intrigue and mystery and I also had a fairly grisly murder to start the whole thing off. I was pleased with the novel and its subsequent success, and there is nothing like receiving personal feedback as to how the story had gripped those who read it. I learned a great deal from the process and I will take a slightly different approach with my next murder mystery book – the sequel Who Killed Kendra Laine? But the essence will always remain with character development.

Watch the book trailer here.

Who Killed September Falls

 

Buy the book here – Amazon UK  or Amazon US

 

Silence Self-Limitations

screwed up paperby Annette Young

We are all guilty of allowing self-limitations to hold us back. We might not think about them, we might not even want to admit that we hold back from our creative dreams but the chances are that these self-limitations perform a stranglehold on our publishing aspirations.

I know I was guilty of this when I picked up my first professional writing job many years ago. I kept looking at the project overview and experienced real moments of panic wondering why on earth I had said I could write. At that moment, my instinct was to backtrack from the project quickly and to tell the client I could not do it. Fighting back those feelings of doubt, I managed to start and finish the project and yes, I even enjoyed it.

Thank goodness I managed to silence my own self-doubts and banished those self-limiting thoughts because my life would have been very different I think if I had not persevered.

So if you think that you might be guilty of not going all out for your publishing dream, you may be wondering what you can do to overcome these inner shackles.

1. Imagine how productive you might be if you could approach every writing project with supreme confidence and to know that you could not fail. Although even the most professional and successful of writers have doubts, they don’t let those insecurities stop them from relishing their creative moments.

2. You might want to be a writer, but are you really passionate and totally committed to your writing? If yes, it is easier to just enjoy the creative process and to worry later. To be successful, you have to be prepared to just go for it and this means making mistakes and learning from them.

3. Do you believe that you could be a successful writer? You might know that there are grounds for improvement, but deep down, can you picture the moment you gain publication or win a writing competition? You need to keep that image dangling in front of you as it will keep you striving forward.

4. Plan your writing times wisely. Work at those times when you feel the most creative but make no mistake, you have to be able to channel your creative thoughts at times which become available to  you suddenly. If you can do this, you will also sharpen your mindset and really start to believe in yourself.

5. The next time that you start to doubt yourself, write down all the reasons why you want to be a writer. When you have finished, write down all the reasons why you might not want to write and the chances are that one word will be prevalent – fear. The best way to deal with fear is to acknowledge it and to face it head on. It is the best way to silence those self-limitations.

 

“Image courtesy of [gubgib] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

The Biggest Mistakes Competition Writers Make

Annette Young - Author, Editor, Writerby Author/Editor Annette Young

Competition writers take note. It’s sad but true that  quite a few great submissions have to be  discarded from our competitions when we get to the judging stage because many people have not adhered to the rules. Although it pains us to do so, we have to adhere to our own rules and not let these great submissions get through. Why?

Well, we like a level playing field. We are not swayed by the name of the writer, former publishing credits or how friendly and enthusiastic the writer is. We are only swayed by great writing that shows the writer has not just checked out the rules but listened to them otherwise what is the point in having rules?

Common mistakes:

Entering but not paying the relevant fees – Over the years we have seen quite a few people trying to sneak their submissions in, even stating they have paid by PayPal when they have not. We wish we could give you all free entry but prizes have to be covered and the better the prizes, the higher the entry fee. We also get people entering twice but only paying once. This costs us time and effort in checking and then contacting the writer.

Ignoring the word count – if we say 600 words including the title, we do not mean 601 words. Yes, that sounds harsh but if other writers have managed it, then so can all. If we say less than 40 lines in a poetry competition, guess what? We mean less than 40 lines.

Receiving an entry that is nothing to do with the theme – we love it when you get creative and are inspired by our themes or the images published, but, your submission has to be connected to the theme in some way. Just because your brain has taken a gigantic leap from reading the rules to an amazing, alternate story-line, does not mean that we can connect the dots in some way. It depends what we have said within the rules. For example, if a photo shows a woman looking into a mirror, we would hope that there be some reference to the woman and the mirror even in a tiny way. It could be a current or sub story-line, be used in a flashback, a dream, or referenced in a secret and long forgotten journal. The tiniest reference would be sufficient and let’s be honest, sometimes there is a leap of faith. But you get my drift – become imaginatively inspired by all means but let us see that you have linked the rules with your submission. This of course only applies if we state that you must be inspired by the photo. Sometimes we add a photo only for aesthetic reasons – so yes, read the rules.

Sending after the closing date – sorry, but we do have to have a cut-off point. We know that life can be manic and with so many demands on your time, it is hard to keep up with day to day pressures let alone creative writing ones but, if you want to enter and win, get your submission in on time. We inevitably receive submissions a day or two later but have even had submissions turn up a month later! Get smart – make a note of the closing date and link to the website page. Download the PDF list version of our competitions, at least you have a reference point.

We don’t like to play tough. We do try to keep the rules as simple as possible and we love reading your submissions and helping the winners to receive money for their troubles and publication. But help us to help you, and this way, you can also increase your chances of winning. Don’t let your creativity go to waste, simply because you didn’t check out those all-important rules.

Editing and Proofreading Special Offer 2

manuscript editing and proofreading

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to our first official Creative Competitor ‘Special Offer‘. If  you are a writer and are looking to have your manuscript professionally edited or proofread, then you are in luck.

This offer commences from Thursday September 26th and closes Saturday 28th September. 

The offer is now live. Simply enter your name and email address in the sign-up area below and you will activate the offer and receive a voucher code which entitles you to £50 off the full price and enables you to have your manuscript edited or proofread by our professionals.

Once you have entered your details and received your voucher code, the offer is live and you have up to one month from the date of sign-up in which to use the voucher code and to pay for the remaining fees. After this time, the offer is void, so please note the date carefully.

During the one month period, send your payment via PayPal direct to [email protected] or contact us at the same email address confirming the number of pages and we will invoice you through PayPal.

Attach your manuscript  and add the offer code in the subject line of the email.

Don’t forget! If you can’t see the sign-up box below, then the offer is not live yet! Come back and grab your voucher code as this is a fantastic offer.

Please note that this offer code can only be applied to one manuscript and the word count must be 65000 or more.  The offer is for either the editing OR proofreading service. If you wish to have both services we can do so for an extra charge.  Full details will be sent to you along with the offer code. We will also discuss your requirements in full so that we provide you with the service that you are looking for.

Open to writers worldwide.

 

We will not pass on your contact details to any external companies or individuals.

Fancy £50?

 

 

Stranger than Fiction

couple having problemsLife is stranger than fiction and provides a whole array of intrigue and fodder for the inventive writer.  You simply have to look around you and to bear witness to the complexities of life. Love, crime, suspicion, intrigue, death, blackmail and heartbreak. It’s all there and if you can tap into this real-life resource, it makes life a lot easier of course.   But when you write about something that is or was important to you, it can add a greater dimension to the content too.

For example, recently I was asked to ghost write a romantic fiction novel for a client. My brief was to create powerful, dramatic scenes laced with erotica and to ensure that it was character based, with the characters both believable and compelling. My client also wanted there to be a passionate affair throughout and some intrigue. Now, I enjoy creating characters and usually spend a lot of time creating character profiles and writing detailed timelines. However, for this project, time was of the essence so, instead, I decided to use specific elements of people I knew well so I could add a greater depth of character to my antagonist.

I set the story in Scotland and then France, two places that I know very well and then started to consider my characters. Luckily the lead female became instantly real to me; it took very little time to conjure up her family background, her experiences –which were less than worldly, and to imagine her in a scenario with a passionate man from a very different culture. This would immediately add conflict and tension to the plot. I then began the process of creating the character who would be her husband and began plotting his demise romantically.

My main problem was that I had to gradually start turning her away from the husband she loved, creating believable tension and suspicion so that she would find herself unhappy and vulnerable to attention from any other man. With limited time and word count, my answer was to place her in a situation where her husband became almost a stranger to her. Nothing shakes the foundation of a relationship than the realisation that the person you love deeply is actually very different.  I wrote the story with each chapter revealing more information about her husband, stripping away the loving facade showing a very different and almost sinister persona hidden underneath.

I fully endorse using characteristics from real life people in the same way that you use your experiences writing about places you have visited or events that you have become embroiled within. Why not make use of certain mannerisms of those people who are in your life? Capture the shy smile from the neighbour across the road, the flirty woman who cannot resist attention from her male colleagues, or the furtive glances from the shy, introverted man who rarely interacts with others.  Think about an endearing quality of your friends and gradually add certain aspects to create a whole new persona albeit a fictional one. You are not copying the whole person; you are taking vital elements that can build up the layers of a new character who will eventually become larger than life.

Life is stranger than fiction and when you start looking at the characteristics of those around you, you can tap into this ready-made material and utilise aspects that will add believable qualities and that will hook the reader in the process.



“Image courtesy of [marin] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

Creative Writing Events

Want to take your writing to a new level? Then why  not join one of our creative writing events? We provide carefully created writing projects to inspire the creative process, there are targetted presentations for you that provide you with an abundance of writing techniques and writing tips, plus we are on hand for a Skype call to answer any questions.

Bookmark this page and check back regularly. We will also announce all of our upcoming creative writing events in our free newsletter creative competitor news.

Want to be a Successful Writer?

Be a successful writer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Annette Young

So you have dreams of being a successful writer but just don’t know where to begin. You spend hours writing anything and everything but you know you are getting nowhere fast, so what do you do?

First, you need to understand what makes for a successful writer. Is it someone who makes their fingertips bleed day after day by typing articles and short stories one after another or do you want to be someone who writes smart?

To be a successful writer, try clearing your brain before you even get started writing for the day. If you can identify what you need to achieve that day, you are more likely to complete your goals but you must not get distracted. When you have a creative mind and ideas flow consistently, it’s a hard thing to rein in those ideas but it’s all about learning to control your thought processes and putting all of those wonderful imaginative ideas to one side whilst you work.

You can do this by learning basic meditation techniques which can help you to still your mind and one such technique is to mentally imagine yourself placing all those ideas in a memory box. Identify the idea and then visualize it being placed inside. You will be surprised how much you will remember of these ideas but you can for a period of time, remove the thoughts from your conscious mind.

Alternatively, you can write the good old to-do list but have a page put aside for all of those creative ideas that bombard you. Once you have captured them on paper, you can happily put them out of your mind for the duration of your more important work. Try it; you will see just how much it frees up your mind.

A successful writer learns how to turn on and off the creative process at will. This is important otherwise you are at the mercy of your creativity kicking in when it feels like it and you will miss out on opportunities and productivity. Once the clutter has been cleared from your brain and you can focus on the areas of importance, you are one step nearer to becoming a successful writer.

Some people find it hard to know what they want to write about and they try to write everything which comes to mind and this results in most projects being left unfinished or discarded. This is a ham-fisted approach to becoming a writer and it will not gain you success. Writing with a clear vision does not mean leaving creativity behind, in fact the opposite, it simply means you put the non-essential projects on hold and focus 100% on those projects that could build your brand and earn you some well-deserved cash for your efforts.

The key to being a successful writer is all about writing smart.

 

Want to improve your writing skills? Take a look at our professional and affordable writing courses.

Image courtesy of [Samuiblue] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Create a Dramatic Start to your Short Story

by Annette Young

When writing short stories, do you ever find yourself struggling to fit the entire plot into your designated word count?  This is a really common mistake and one that most writers make initially. Many publications and competitions place restrictions on the total word count, so if you are going to be successful, you need to make sure that you start your story in the right place by creating an effective and gripping opening paragraph.

Think back, when you started writing your story, did it seem as if you had masses of words to play with and yet suddenly, the word count was blown apart and you were still only halfway through the story? If this sounds familiar, you might find that you are starting to write without a clear direction of the plot.

Think about it. A short story has to be written so tightly that it carries the reader along at a great pace. Every word should be relevant and not there to simply pad the story out. If you have descriptive passages, they really need to paint a strong visual picture or create a vivid atmosphere. If you have dialogue, is it meaningless conversation or will the reader be informed as to something crucial to the unfolding story?

A short story does not need a sub-plot. If you only have a few thousand words to complete your story, then there is no time for a sub-plot anyway. You should start at a gripping point and provide a climatic ending that keeps the reader thinking about the outcome for the protagonist. Great fiction is about providing conflict and how the characters can resolve the situation. The reader doesn’t need to watch the characters going from A to C via B. They just need to know that the characters do.

There is no need to start your story at a point where the character is simply getting up in the morning unless it is vital to the storyline.

Here’s an example of two opening paragraphs and you can choose the one that is the most gripping:

Melissa opened her eyes slowly. Warm sunlight bathed her room in a yellow glow. It was time to get up. The alarm had not sounded yet but she knew if she turned her head to the side that it would in just a matter of minutes. Yawning, she swung her legs out of bed, feeling a little dizzy as she sat on the edge of her firm mattress. Today was going to be important. There was something she had to do although she couldn’t remember what.  She walked slowly across the room and opened the curtains wide. The neighbours were in the garden watering their precious prize winning plants. She didn’t like them, or their roses. Horrible things completely covered in bugs. Plus roses signified love and she no longer had a place for that in her life.

 

The dead body slumped in the corner of her bedroom seemed to gaze accusingly right at her when she swung her legs out of bed. The memory of her actions the night before came flooding back and she felt a twinge of remorse followed by angst. Now what the hell could she do with his body?  If her nosy neighbour hadn’t of caught her spraying weed killer on his precious prize winning roses late last night, she would have never had to kill him. His mistake had been to threaten to call the police and she was here to rebuild her life and not to get into more trouble. Melissa had been surprised by the ease at which she knocked him to the floor, winding him. The weed killer sprayed easily into the back of his throat and although he had gagged, she had kept his mouth firmly closed until the liquid ran down his throat. It had taken him quite a long time to die; he had lain on her path convulsing as she had watched. Finally, she had dragged his puny body into her house whilst the poison did its thing and he had twitched and pulsed begging for help as the poison ravaged his insides.

 

If you can get your starting point right, you will find that it makes it much easier to complete your story in any designated word count. In addition, if you start your story on a dramatic high note, you will hook the reader much more readily. The first paragraph eases into the story very slowly. By the time the reader gets to know about the murder, the word count would be exhausted. The second story plunges right in and although it starts at the same point in time, it reveals a whole lot more than the first paragraph.

The next time you write your short story, play about with several openings and see which one would lead the reader much more quickly into the storyline. Keep the momentum going throughout and use the extra word count for creating a highly visual and entertaining story that is not rushed, but is just effective.

Image courtesy of [Againstar] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Creating Mood

 By Chrys Fey

Beneath a sky bruised with black and purple clouds, a woman limped down an alley where only criminals or the very desperate would venture. The pavement was slick with slime. Broken bottles and crushed beer cans littered the ground. Every now and then she stepped over a used syringe.

The air in the alley carried the stench of stale alcohol with a pleasant splash of raw vomit and human urine. Graffiti marked the walls; there were gang signs spray-painted in blood red, vulgar words scribbled in anger, and pornographic drawings.

The farther down she went, she realized why the alley was known as “The Valley of the Shadow of Death”. There were several ratty clothed individuals ambling about lifelessly. Their skin was as grey and pasty as the skin of a corpse, their eyes were dark hallows, their lips were cracked and bleeding, and their bones stuck out of their deprived bodies. They looked like they belonged in graves.

Mood is the atmosphere created by the setting and actions of the characters in it. The teaser in the beginning is an excerpt from the first book in my series and an excellent example of mood created by setting. In the excerpt, I depicted a dangerous alley where low lives go to drink and do drugs. The mood is dark and mysterious because I do not introduce or reveal the woman’s identity; it is also pitiful in regards to the state of the inhabitants of the alley.

Mood also relates to how the reader emotionally responds to the setting and the action of characters. One example for how a reader can emotionally respond to mood would be while reading the passage in Dave Pelzer’s book, “A Child Called It” when he is cleaning the infected, puss-filled stab wound on his side. Reading that would make a reader grimace in pain, feel disgust at the ordeal this child had to go through, and even nauseous.

To create mood depict vivid settings, give detail to the actions of your characters, and use emotion. You can do this with force like in Dave Pelzer’s book or subtly by describing a summer afternoon that makes your readers recall the dry, sweltering days from their youth when they would float in a lukewarm pool in effort to stay cool. The mood for such a writing could be happy, leisurely, and nostalgic.

Decide what type of mood you need for your book and become that mood!

Chrys Fey created Write With Fey, a how-to blog about writing a novel. Every Tuesday there is a new post containing tips, inspiration, insight into her series, and much more. http://www.writewithfey.blogspot.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Creating-Mood&id=7536760] Creating Mood

Bring Characters To Life

By Chrys Fey

We don’t just read books for the plots, but for the characters. We are following their lives, listening to their conversations, and even intruding on their most intimate moments. We befriend them and sympathize with what they are going through. Sometimes we laugh at them or we cry with them. Every now and then, we even fear for them. That is why you must treat the characters in your novel as though they are real people in your life. (If they live in your head, they are as good as real.)

Characters are the breath in a book so they must breathe! And for them to breathe, you have to bring them life!

All of the characters in your novel need personalities and quirks. Is one of your characters sweet and shy, or mean and dangerous? Bring it out in your writing. For example, a shy character can blush fuchsia, and a mean character can grind his teeth in aggravation.

I gave the butt-kicking female protagonist in my series many of my personality traits like my “god-like” anger and lack of patience -especially when she’s trying to catch a criminal. Could you give your main character a few of your charming (or less than charming) traits?

Your characters also need appearances. After all, you are creating people. Give them hair/eye colors and body structures, but be creative when you are describing them in your book and let your creativity for words shine. Don’t just give a character green eyes and blonde hair. Instead, say they have green eyes the color of fresh cut grass and 24-karot gold hair.

Project: Grab a few sheets of paper and a pen. At the top of the paper, write the characters name and make a profile for them like so:

Age:

Hair color:

Eye color:

Body Type:

Personality:

Occupation:

Other details you may want to consider when you’re creating your characters is their past. Does their past influence the story you are telling? Do they have fears and/or weaknesses that can come into play later in your book? What are their flaws? You can’t create perfect characters, because we are, after all, not perfect.

Add any other relevant information, but don’t forget to have fun!

You also need to figure out what each of your characters is going to do in your novel. What is their purpose? Their purpose can be as simple as being comedic relief to being the villain. I have a character in my series whose purpose is to be funny, witty, and sexual. But she also has an important role as the medical examiner.

Chrys Fey created Write With Fey, a how-to blog about writing a novel. Every Tuesday there is a new post containing tips, inspiration, insight into her series, and much more. http://www.writewithfey.blogspot.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Bring-Characters-To-Life&id=7533913] Bring Characters To Life