How to Get Published: Professional Story Editor Reveals Why Stories Get Rejected on Page One

December 12, 2020December 12, 2020 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

How to Get Published: Professional Story Editor Reveals Why Stories Get Rejected on Page One

I happened upon this golden nugget of wisdom on Reddit about how to get published. This bit of writing advice applies to fiction writing, short stories, novels, and books.

Some of the information you can find on Reddit is complete nonsense, but from time to time a real gold nugget pops out. This one was indeed real gold. I hope you enjoy it. 🙂

A professional story editor made a post recently where they revealed why stories get rejected on page one.

A quote from them, “I’m a professional editor for pro-rated magazines and contests. I read sometimes hundreds of stories a month and have noticed common mistakes that have held them back from moving out of the slush pile.”

1. To get published “Slow or vacant openings” won’t do

This is explained as an opening to the story where the reader isn’t given a hook. The author gives them nothing to sink their teeth into.

The writer spends more time setting up the setting and the characters than giving the reader some part of the plot that hooks the reader’s curiosity.

This advice does not just apply to grabbing a reader’s attention on page one. This advice lets us know that if we intend to hand our writing to an editor, they are going to decide within minutes whether or not our story even makes it out of the “slush pile” based on whether our page one hook exists and if it’s good.

This is huge for writers to know.

Know this, if you want to even get out of the get you have to develop the skill of creating a hook on page one and making it a good one.

Forget about description, word crafting, and world setting for a moment. How are your hook creating skills? Because apparently, they matter a lot.

There is a temptation to use amazing words and flare to start out your story and describe your world. Save this type of writing for the journals you make about your fictional world. When it comes to actually getting published, work on your hook. Make sure it drives curiosity and make sure it’s on page one.

If you want a quick study, open up any James Patterson book. Read the first page, or even just the first paragraph. You can learn a ton about quick good hooks just by opening five of his books and reading just the first page of each one.

This exercise will take you thirty minutes max and you will be better at writing hooks today.

2. Pay attention to why the reader is here

Why did the reader pick up your book? Why did they buy it? Why do they look for good stories?

Most readers didn’t go looking for a good story to read pages and pages of description and or someone showing off all the pretty words they know.

Most readers pick up books because they want to solve a crime or figure out a puzzle. They want to follow a great character on an adventure. They want to see a character fall into trouble and see if they find their way out.

Why is the editor even looking through what we’ve written? Because they want to see if readers will enjoy reading it.

So what have we done on page one to convince the editor that readers will enjoy what we’ve written?

If we want to get published or even considered we have to wrap our minds around why readers look for stories.

Are we giving them what they are looking for?

Now, I want to qualify here that no one is bashing a cool fictional world that readers can escape into and fall in love with and want to visit.

The thing is, the writers that made them made sure to move the story along and make the fictional story interesting as they described the fictional world, its rules, and fun artifacts that characters use to interact with the world and find solutions for their problems.

And that is one major key reason why certain books get published and others don’t. The writer found a way to create interesting problems for interesting characters in an intriguing setting in a fascinating fictional world.

If we want our stories to be considered even if they are short or novels, we have to keep this in mind.

Imagine you bought a movie ticket. You head in to watch a good movie you’ve been anticipating for months. You sit down with your popcorn and your soda and the credits start to roll and on the screen suddenly the director pops up and says, “We’re so excited you’re here! Before the movie plays I wanted to take a moment to describe the world and setting you’re about to embark into!”

You’d be thinking, “What the?! What’s going on? This is awful! I don’t want to hear him describe the world, I want to see it! I want to experience it through the story.”

Don’t do this to your reader. Give them what they want. Give them a good story and use the world and setting to tell it.

3. Don’t hold the cards too close to your chest

This would mean, if you want your story to be considered for publishing, don’t keep all the secrets and hidden things from your audience.

Figure out a way to give and take.

What do you mean give and take?

Give an answer, take a question.

Maybe it would be better to say give and drop. Give a solution to a clue and drop another clue that needs to be answered.

The editor shared something really important here though.

You have to earn your readers trust.

4. To get published you MUST earn your reader’s trust

How do you earn their trust?

When you create a question or a clue or a secret that needs an answer.

Be 100% sure that you eventually answer that question.

This is a major way that authors gain and lose points with readers.

Think about it.

You have your choice between reading two books.

Both are written amazingly. They both have great hooks, great worlds, great characters and really interesting plots.

The only difference is, one is going to create a bunch of teasing questions to peak your curiosity but will never answer all of them.

The other is going to answer ALL the questions they start.

Which one would you want to invest your time in?

If you are going to drop secrets on your opening page, make sure you also drop an answer so that your reader will instantly trust you to reveal your secrets.

This one fact usually makes the difference between an author we reread and an author we drop.

5. Best practice is to make sure you have character, setting, and a problem the character is going to confront right out of the gate on page one

Say what?!

You might think that’s crazy, but go reread the first pages of some of your favorite published books. Without fail, most of them will have done a good job of introducing a main character and a major problem right off the bat.

Being able to hone this skill will make you one of the best writers on the market.

If you can learn the secret of introducing these major story things on page one you will be well on your way to being published.

Whether it is short stories, novels, children’s books, YA fiction, or magazine contests, you must be able to give the readers and the editors exactly what they have said they are looking for. And do your best to give it to them quickly on page one.

Quote from the editor, “If you can fit it into the first line, you are a pro and people would literally kill for your skills.”

6. It’s not about the money, it’s about the time

These days readers don’t care as much about the money it costs to buy books, magazines, and other content.

They really care about their time and if you are going to waste it.

One way to prove to them right away that you aren’t going to waste their time is if you can deliver all the things discussed above.

This is especially true if you can give them a character, a story, a problem, and a problem solved all before lunchtime. If you can give them this in an expertly wrapped package, they’ll buy everything you can put out. Ask James Patterson who according to google is putting out at least 10 books a year.

Keep this in mind. Readers are constantly looking for a good story that is enjoyable and that they can tell their friends and family about. If you just give it to them, they’ll come back for more.

Don’t overcomplicate the publishing process and don’t try to rage against it. If it doesn’t fulfill your writing desires, that’s fine. Start a blog or a writing club and write for them, but if we really want to be published, this is the way we do it. By giving the readers what they want.

Don’t forget, as writers, we are in the entertainment business.

Don’t waste their time and they will 100% give you their money.

(And don’t get us wrong here. It’s not “all about the money.” The point is, “it’s not about the money.” It’s about not wasting your reader’s time. And at the end of the day, who are you trying to serve? Yourself? Or the reader?)

7. But my setting and world is really fascinating

Many writers fight back against this “get to the interesting part of the story fast” advice. They might say, “my world is super fascinating and everyone will love it. They just need to give it a chance and give me time to explain it.”

This may be 100% true. The world in your mind is probably awesome and readers really would love it.

The hard truth is, with all that is going on every day barely anyone will give you past page one (if even that much) to find out if your fictional world is worth publishing.

It has been said by a professional editor that they barely look past page one to see if we are going to give them an interesting hook to grab readers’ attention.

So while I totally believe you, that your fictional world is worth looking into I also have to give you good advice here.

Instead of focusing on how cool the world is, focus on giving them an interesting character and problem to solve and work on weaving the fictional world and how amazing it is in small bites over time in the story.

If you can use the world, the setting, the items, and characters weaving them into the story and making them work together in harmony you will not only give your reader a great story, but you will give them a really cool world they can love and enjoy.

8. Make your sentences DO more

What is meant by the writing advice “make your sentences do more?”

It means to choose each sentence carefully to carry your reader along in the story.

Avoid “exposition dumps” early in your story. If you want to do a big description, ask yourself, “do I NEED to do a big description section?”

In order to make our sentences do more, the only reason we would need to do a paragraph of description is because it matters to moving the story along.

In some circumstances there will be a time and place where describing will make more sense, but especially at the beginning of your story, make each sentence do more.

9. Learn how to blend your story, actions, characters with your setting descriptions

Many writers suffer from not knowing how to blend all these story elements in a way that carries the reader along in the story but also gives the reader a good view of the fictional world they are in.

Think of it like a trail you’re walking on in order to get to a beautiful view. Part of the trail has fun stops, but in the end, you are actually on the trial to see something amazing. You are there for the little parts of the journey, but you are mostly there for the climactic moment, the big view you are going to see at the end.

When you are starting a trek usually at the beginning you’re not stopping for much of anything. The beginning of the trail can be a little boring. In the same way, you want to give your readers something to look forward to at the beginning of your story and keep them moving forward toward the interesting stuff.

Remember just in like a walking trail you don’t stop much, you keep moving forward. With that in mind let’s take a look at reasons to stop. Sometimes you see a creature worth looking at. There might be a great spot to take a picture. But if you are trekking towards a greater view you won’t stop for long and you’ll keep moving toward the climax.

Along the way in our story we are going to be moving the story forward when we stop to show the reader an item that matters for the main character then we move forward. Then we show the reader a scene that the main character is seeing, but we continue to move forward. Then we show the reader a creature that the main character uses later on in the story to solve a problem, but we continue forward to the climax.

If we view our story as a trek that has the ultimate goal of making it to the climax and resolving the main world crisis or problem than we don’t run into as many problems by taking moments to explain scenery, objects, or creatures that are not just awesome, fun, and amazing, but that is in fact important to the story.

This is how we blend the story, characters, objects, creatures, and setting into one magical journey.

We need to view our story as a trail we are walking our reader through, not as a place or an excuse to explain our fictional world. They come expecting a good story in an interesting world, not just an interesting world.

Final Thoughts:

If you want to get past the “slush pile” and have a chance of getting published as an author whether in a magazine, children’s book, novel, short story, or fictional story:

Your opening is pivotal
No slow openings
Give the reader what they came for
Gain your reader’s trust quickly by answering some questions your create right away
Work on getting your character, setting, and major problem out right away. Preferably the first sentence
Don’t waste your reader’s time
Your fictional world is interesting, but use it to carry your story along
Keep moving forward

I think the professional editor actually summed these points up very well in their golden Reddit post by saying, “Using the techniques listed above and making sure to introduce your character, world, and problem/crisis within the first page will enhance your openings. This in turn leads to more sales, acceptances, and readers.”

If you want to be published you need to be the type of writer that knows how to entertain readers, editors, and publishers and you do that by paying particular attention to page one.

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Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

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How to Get Published: Professional Story Editor Reveals Why Stories Get Rejected on Page One

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How to Get Published: Professional Story Editor Reveals Why Stories Get Rejected on Page One

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Pen Name Generator

December 10, 2020December 10, 2020 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

Pen Name Generator

Finding the perfect pen name isn’t as easy as 1-2-3. With a pen name generator, it can make your decision much easier and you won’t be left staring at a blank screen alone with no hope in sight.

This resource is from Reedsy.com and we thought it was fun and handy!

“Pen Name Generator”

“Choose from over a million pen names

Kickstart your writing career with this pen name generator that boasts over 1 million fake names. Search through the pseudonyms using filters such as language, gender, or first letter until you find the right nom de plume for you.” -Reedsy.com

Source.

We wanted to make this awesome Pen Name Generator more easily available to our audience.

To see this name generator in action head over to the:

Pen Name Generator

This is a Reedsy.com tool and you will be able to use it on their site for free.

Shout out to Reedsy.com for making this sweet tool easy and free for everyone to use!

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

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Pen Name Generator

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Pen Name Generator

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List of Best 10 Uncommon Mythical Creatures

December 8, 2020December 8, 2020 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

List of Best 10 Uncommon Mythical Creatures

Every continent has its own list of mythical and legendary creatures.

Some are good and kind while others are terrifying and malicious. Some are more common but we would say that these are uncommon mythical creatures. Let us know which ones you’ve heard of and if you have used them in a story before or seen them anywhere else.

1Wendigo

Seen Supernatural anyone. This creature actually appeared in one of the first episodes of the show. It may have even been the pilot.

The Wendigo is a scary mythical creature. It is extremely fast, so getting away will be difficult. It is thought that the wendigo was once a human that fed off of other humans to survive and thus it has been cursed into becoming the nasty beast it is today that hunts down humans and feeds on them. It is very grotesque.

Source.

2Leshy

Some would describe it as a fairy. It appears in season 5 of Supernatural. It can be good or bad to run into one of these unassuming creatures. It can take many forms. If you are a bad person it may treat you badly and even feed on you. But there is also lore that it is kind to outcast and will lead them to safe haven.

Source.

3Lou Carcolh

This creature is thought to be of French descent, but don’t confuse it with escargot. It is a giant snake-like snail creature. It may not show up in many TV shows but it’s size is legendary for all snail-kind. And to make matters worse, it has tentacles for grabbing its victims.

Source.

4Peluda

Not much is known about the Peluda. It also hails from France. This beast is a mixture of creatures. It has the feet of reptiles. It has the neck, head, and tail of a snake, but it’s body is covered in fur. Some may even think it can breathe fire. Stay away from this mythical brute and definitely stay clear of its fangs.

Source.

5Caladrius

If you are finding yourself in Rome, look this Legendary bird up and keep it on speed dial. This creature can take your illness from you, essentially healing you. It then carries you sickness to the sun where the illness is burned away. Very handy if your health insurance has lapsed.

Source.

6Cadejo

It’s a 50/50 split on this legendary creature. It appears as a wolf. Half of the time it is good and will lead you to your desired safe haven if you are a traveller. The other half of the time it is evil and will lead lost travellers to their doom.

I think I would just stay away from this Central American creature and ask someone else for directions.

Source.

7Ghillie Dhu

This is a mountain spirit with a love for children. Not a creepy love but a benevolent care. This creature will appear to lost children and lead them out of the woods to safety.

Source.

8Baku

The Baku originates from Japanese folklore. It is a dream eater. It mostly eats bad dreams, but beware if you wake up while it’s around because it might get angry and decide to eat your good dreams too. Let it eat the bad stuff and leave. Pretend you’re still asleep no matter how loud the slurping noise is that it makes.

Source.

9Aqrabuamelu

These giants are the guardians of certain mesopotamian gods. They also serve as giant good creatures that warn weary travelers of danger. But if you happen to be that danger look out. One look from them can cause death.

Source.

10Kelpie

Is this a seahorse? Well, yes and no. These horses may ride underwater but they’re definitely not an ordinary seahorse. They are water spirits in Scotland. They can appear at any body of water and take you across quickly or even save you from drowning.

Source.

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Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

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Mythical Creatures | 7 Tips on How to Write Mythical Creatures

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This post:

List of Best 10 Uncommon Mythical Creatures

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Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

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Show Don’t Tell, But When Do I Tell?

December 7, 2020December 7, 2020 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

Show Don’t Tell, But When Do I Tell?

Show don’t tell is one of the most prominent cliches of writing advice.

If it’s a cliché, why does it keep flying around so much?

As with most clichés it sticks around and passes the test of time because it is powerful advice.

But when do we disobey this advice.

Aren’t there times in our writing when we tell instead of showing? Or is that unnecessary.

We believe it’s necessary to tell sometimes and we’re going to talk about when to tell not show.

1. Backstory Dialogue

Many times it will benefit us to have our character tell the backstory of an event, place, or person.

This is a moment where you mostly would tell not show.

Have you ever had a friend tell you a story?

It would be very similar to that.

They wouldn’t say, “and then the moonlight glistened off the glass as she ran away as fast as she could.

They would say things like, “Did you hear about Sharon?”

“No, what happened?”

“Well I heard the other night that she threw a baseball bat through her window in the middle of the night and ran away!”

“Ran away? Where did she go?”

“I don’t know! But nobody has seen her in a couple days.”

This is a perfect tell don’t show moment. In this way you can relay information from one character to another and to your reader without showing them the scene your character just described.

It would be absurd if your character started talking as if they were a narrator in a play or an author describing a scene. Instead they just tell events as they were told themselves. In a normal way.

2. Give it Less Priority

Telling something can give it less priority depending on what it is.

“Kelly grabbed the window sill with her right hand. She winced, cutting it on some broken glass. She carefully lifted her legs one after the other over the broken mess and placed her feet on the porch. More broken glass found her there but she kept moving forward until she could start to run.”

Or,

“Kelly cut her hand as she jumped out the window and started to run. The night was cold, but she didn’t even notice. She has no idea where she was going but she knew exactly where she was never going again. Back. Back there. It felt good. She felt free. She felt like her world was finally a blank page that she herself could write and it was the most beautiful thing she had ever known.”

Both of these scenarios are fine. They both do the job of showing our reader an important moment but each emphasizes something different.

One emphasizes description by showing the reader what’s going on as if they were watching it themselves.

The other doesn’t emphasize that moment to the reader but just glosses over it by telling it to them and instead emphasizes the characters thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

There doesn’t seem to be a wrong way here, just choosing what you want to be swirling around in the mind of your reader.

3. Whether You or Your Character is the Narrator

If you the author are the narrator, then you might do a-lot of showing as you narrate certain parts of the plot to the reader.

If on the other hand you’ve decided to tell the story from your character’s point of view then your character’s telling will emphasize a part of their personality.

You might say, “Kelly didn’t know it then but this was the worst decision she had made in her entire life. The road ahead was full of much turmoil and anguish.

If she had stayed she would have suffered too, but not as much as she was about to.

Or if your character narrated their own story,

“I don’t know it then, but that was the worst decision I ever made in my life. If I could go back, I wouldn’t have ran away that night. Maybe two or three days later, but not that night.”

Again both work, but it’s up to you how you want the feel of your story to be.

4. Some Action Should be Told Not Shown

Some actions are better told not shown. If we have a scene that has a lot of action the scene of self might get bogged down if we try to describe it all.

“As Kelly ran through the woods the wind was blowing enough to keep the leaves rustling. Sweat gleamed down her face as she never stopped. The moonlight was the only way she could where she was going and she ran deeper and deeper into more woods and brush. Thorns and thistles grabbed her skin on her legs and blood trickled down unnoticed by her.”

This is too much showing in my opinion. What we’re showing is not that important to moving the story forward and it doesn’t give the reader any extra enjoyment. It’s just extra filler, and almost pointless extra description.

You’d be better off to condense moments by telling more and showing less at the right times.

“Kelly ran for at least thirty minutes before she even started to think about where she was going. She finally noticed how windy and cold it was. She, for the first time, thought about extra food and clothing. Should she go back, grab some things quickly and then get out again? No. She kept running. Even though there was enough moonlight to see she still got scrapes and cuts from random brush. She looked like a tattered mess by the time she reached the first abandoned highway.”

Instead of over describing this part of Kelly’s story we create some more emotional thoughts and feelings so the reader can continue to get to know our character. We set up the way she looks just by telling our reader and we continue to move the story along.

Don’t waste words. Either be entertaining or moving the story along. You’re better off to try to always do both simultaneously.

Show Don’t Tell, But When Do I Tell?

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5. Move the Story Forward

We covered this in point 4 but it’s so important.

Don’t waste your reader’s time describing actions and scenes just for the sake of dramatic description.

If it makes the story better, if it makes sense, then describe more.

If you just want the satisfaction of describing it, you should question whether it’s important or not and consider just taking it.

6. Transition Moments

Point 4 is a good example of over description versus a good translational moment.

We could paint the picture of the woods, the sweat, the blood. ( all good things to describe at the right moments) Or we can tell them what’s happening and get them to the next part of our story “the abandoned highway.” (Even sounds like a chapter title.)

Which does the reader more service? Do we send them better by telling them all about the stuff that doesn’t matter to the story or do we serve them better by telling them some stuff that’s important and getting them to the next part that matters.

You might even say, by getting them to the next part that they actually care about.

When deciding what to shore out what to tell, ask yourself which is going to best serve the reader in this moment.

7. What are You Going to Bring Back Up?

Someone’s showing something to your reader instead of telling them is a good way to bring your reader’s attention to an important fact or object that you will bring up again later in the story.

This type of writing is clever and readers love it.

For instance what if something important fell out of Kelly’s pocket? We could create a nice hook if we describe it but don’t tell the reader exactly what it is yet.

“As Kelly ran, she didn’t notice but something slipped out of her pocket. It fluttered to the moist grass and tumbled away in the wind. If Kelly had turned back she might have seen it.”

Now we have something we’ve used “showing” to point out to the reader and they are now looking forward to finding out what it is.

You could also do this just by “telling.” And it might be even better that way.

“As Kelly was running, something fell out of her pocket. It was something very important. If she had known she had lost this she probably would have turned back that very night.”

No description, just telling and it may be more fitting for the moment. You can decide which you like better.

8. Telling Emotion

Sometimes it’s better to tell emotion rather than show it.

“Kelly finally stopped. She bent over with her hands on her legs and just breathed. Tears started rolling down her cheeks. She fell to her knees as tears flooded down her face. She sobbed until no more tears would surface. She looked up at the moon and it now glistened in her broken eyes.”

Or,

“Kelly finally stopped. She bent over with her hands on her knees and just breathed. Before she could help it tears started streaming down her face. She cried. Then she started to sob. She collapsed to her knees and just sobbed until she couldn’t anymore.

She felt empty and exhausted. She wanted someone, anyone to hold her and tell her it was over and everything was going to be alright now. She walked home. A place where she could find comfort and rest. A place where she could close her eyes without fear of creaking wood and footsteps approaching her.”

So instead of describing more of the scene take certain moments to tell more about your character and the thoughts and emotions they’re feeling.

Give your reader a reason to connect with them on another level. One that makes them actually care what happens to the character next.

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

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Show Don’t Tell, But When Do I Tell?

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One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire

December 2, 2020December 2, 2020 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire

If you could sit down and have a conversation with your character and try to get to know them, what would you ask? We’ve compiled questions from around the internet that we think could be very helpful.

Star this post in your favorites as it’s a massive resource and it may take you more than one go around to get all you can out of it.

Use this questionnaire to really get to know your character. Maybe you’ll even know them better than yourself!

We’ve searched the internet and brought together some of the best questions to help you really think who your character is, how they think, what decisions they would make on a daily basis, and why.

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: What are some normal questions?

Name?
What does your name mean?
How was your name chosen?
Does your name have an origin?
Do you have Nicknames?
What’s your height?
Do you have roommates?
Do you live with family?
Do you live alone?
Do you have neighbors?
Where do you live?
What is your residence like? Apartment? House?
Do you live in the country?
Do you live in the city?
What is your hometown like?
What is the culture there?
Who are your parents?
Are you married?
Are you single?
Are you looking for love?
Are you avoiding relationships?
Do you have a job?
What is your job?
What is your income?
What is your education?
What is your worldview/religion?
What is your level of devotion to your religion?
What problems do you face on a daily basis?
Do you have any enemies?
Do you have a best friend?
What is their personality compared to yours?
Do you have any major life goals?
Is there any underlying reason for that specific life goal?
Do you have any errands that you do daily or on a weekly basis?
Do you know you’re in this story?
Do you have specific goals for this story?
Seeing your story play out, do you learn anything by going through the story?
Do you change as a person?
Do you change your mind about deeply held beliefs?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Tell us about you before you were born. Tell us about your parents.

Where were your parents born?
Were they from earth?
Did they have good childhoods?
Did they have hard times growing up?
Were their parents poor?
Were they wealthy?
Were they athletic?
Did they do stuff that got them into the news?
Did they have a social class?
Did they grow up with a certain religion?
Were their parents’ religion the same as what they chose?
What was their level of education?
Did they have any traumatic events?
Do they have a medical history?
Did any major world change affect them?
Do you remember your grandparents?
Tell us more about your grandparents.

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Your Adolescence is very telling. Tell us more about growing up.

Did you move as a teenager or stay in the same place?
Has your life changed much during adolescence?
Did you fight with your parents in school?
What did you fight about?
Did you get along with your siblings?
Who are your friends?
What are they like?
Do you have a crush on anyone?
What is your school?
Who is your favorite teacher?
Who is your least favorite teacher?
Have any of your teachers surprised you?
Are you popular?
What is your sense of dress style?
Who do you admire at this time in your life?
What music do you like?
What books do you like?
What TV do you like?
What movies do you like?
Is there anything that happens during these years that forces you to mature more or less quickly?
During this time in your life what is your relationship to your parents or caregivers?
Do you live on your own?
Did your parents give you lots of freedom or were they more strict?
Do you feel like you are ready for adulthood?
Who do you love most during these years?
Do you have a favorite person?
Do you have your career planned out?
What are 5 incredibly important things that happened to you as a teenager?
What did you learn from these events?
What are you most afraid of during this time in your life?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Your transition into adulthood, tell us about that.

Did you complete your education?
Did you get a job?
What is it?
Has your life changed much since highschool?
Are you dating anyone serious?
Have you had any kids?
Do you hang out with the same friends?
Do you still spend time with your siblings?
Do you still spend time with your parents?
Are you more or less popular than in high school?
Do you have goals for your adult life?
Do you dress differerntly?
Are you in a relationship?
Have you ever been in love?
How have your relationships influenced you?
How do you see the world as an adult?
Is it different from when you were young?
What are 5 important events that happen to you as an adult?
How did they affect you?
What did you learn?
Do you see repeated patterns of behavior in yourself?
Are you independent?
Do you live alone?
Do you have children?
What is your bucket list for your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s?
Does your list change over time?
What have you already achieved on your list?
Do you have a life quote?
Do you live by a certain motto?
Thinking about your childhood, is there anything that has endured and matured during your life?
Do you have a greatest fear in adulthood?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: What do you always try to have with you?

What do you have in your pocket right now?
Why do you have that in your pocket?
Do you carry a backpack?
What do you keep in your backpack?
Are you wearing a coat?
What do you have in your coat?
Do you have a purse?
What do you keep in your purse?
Why do you keep these things near you?
What is in your closet?
Do you wear gloves?
Do you wear shoes?
Do you wear socks?
Boots?
Sandals?
Do you wear sunglasses?
Do you carry drugs?
Do you carry any over the counter meds?
Do you carry any prescription meds?
If you were in danger and you had to flee your residence, what would you take with you?
On a normal day when you leave your residence, what do you almost always take with you?
Do you have a possession you value extremely?
Is your possession valuable or a keepsake?
Do you have any possession that you have kept for a long time?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Why do you talk like that?

Do you speak loudly?
Do you whisper?
Are you quiet?
Do you say a lot?
Do you think more and speak less?
Do you like silence?
Is silence awkward to you?
Do you ask other people questions?
Do you talk about yourself?
Do you talk about others?
Do you take over the conversation?
Do you wait for others to speak?
Do you interrupt people?
Do you talk fast?
Do you talk slow?
Do others speak over you?
Do you have certain phrases you use often?
Do you curse?
When do you curse?
Do you use proper speech?
Do you often use slang?
Do you care about grammar?
Do you change the way you speak at work or school?
Do you speak differently at home?
What is your accent?
What is your pitch?
Do you have a high pitched voice?
Do you have a low pitch?
Is your voice raspy?
Is your voice smooth?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Let’s get deeper.

What are the 5 worst possible things to happen to you?
How would you get ready for a date?
Where do you start on research projects?
What would you do in a fight?
Do you prep for fights?
Do you carry a gun?
Do you train in a certain fighting style?
Do you carry a knife?
Do you carry any weapon?
What do you do when you’re bored?
Do you fidget?
What do you do when you’re waiting?
Do you read magazines in the waiting room?
Does anything embarrass you?
What is the first thing you do every morning?
Do you grab your phone?
Do you go for a run?
Do you take prescription?
If money was no object what would you do?
If you could teleport one time to anywhere and back, where would you go?
Do you have a favorite holiday?
Is it unique?
Do you have holiday traditions?
What do you spend most of your time doing?
Do you have a certain way you want to die?
What was your worst injury or sickness?

MASSIVE Character Questionnaire

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MASSIVE Character Questionnaire

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Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂

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MASSIVE Character Questionnaire

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Is Writing your craft? You might love this. Check out the 4,900+ reviews it has on Amazon to see if this might be what you’re looking for.

Optional: See if this FREE Amazon book will pique your interest. It is a part of Project Gutenberg. If you love Little Women, you should give this book a try as well.

Now back to the show: MASSIVE Character Questionnaire

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: What do you do when you experience conflict?

How do you react to a threat?
How do you react to danger?
How do you react to others being in danger?
Do you run toward or away from danger?
Do you fight with fists or words?
Do you have a weakness?
Do you get nervous around strangers?
Do you have phobias?
What do you hate?
Do you have a weapon of choice?
Do you walk away when your angry?
Do you confront your anger?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Tell us more about your personality.

What are your favorite phrases?
Do you display affection in a certain way?
Do you view your own personality in a certain way?
How do you want to be seen by others?
What would others say about your personality?
Is there anything you would change about yourself?
Why would you change anything about yourself?
Are you competitive?
Do you race to conclusions?
Do you rush to decisions?
Do you think through consequences?
Do you live for praise?
How do you react to criticism?
What are your craziest biggest secrets?
Do you have a certain philosophy on life?
When was the last time you cried?
Does it bother you to cry in front of others?
What keeps you awake at night?
What do you find important enough to fight over?
Are you outdoorsy?
Are you a morning person?
What sense do you rely on the most?
How do you treat others on a daily basis?
What quality do you value in others the most?
Do you think a certain life virtue is overrated?
Do like talking politics?
Do you like talking about Religion?
Is there any circumstance in which you would be able to kill?
Do you have to have a daily routine?
Do you shrivel if you don’t have freedom for spontaneity?
What is freedom to you?
Do promises mean anything to you?

Fill this list out:

Myers-Briggs personality type:
Alignment test results:
Character Archetype:
Strongest character attribute:
Weakest character attribute:
Pet peeves:

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Tell us more about your friends and family.

How big is your immediate family?
Do you have a famous family name?
How old are your siblings in relation to you?
Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
Do you have a good relationship with your siblings?
How big is your extended family?
Describe your parents in 100 words.
Describe your best friend in 100 words.
What are your feelings toward your family.
Do you have lots of friends?
Do you have an interesting family history?
Do you have pets?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: What do you think about relationships, dating, and marriage?

Do you enjoy any certain company?
How often do you spend time with your friends?
Are any of your friends potential dates?
How do you interact with other people??
What do your parents think about the people you date?
Do your parents like your spouse?
Who is the person you depend the most on?
Do you hang out with groups of people or prefer one on one?
What is the main quality or aspect you look for in a person?
Do you like people that are good at talking?
Do you like them attractive?
Do you like them smart?
Do you like them talented?
Do you like them secure and safe?
How does your ethnicity influence you?
How does your culture influence you?
What do most people misunderstand about you?
Do you give off a good first impression?
Does it take people a long time to get to know you?
What kind of people are attracted to you?
Do potential dates worldviews or religions matter to you?
How do most people see you?
What kind of company do you keep?
Are there any types of people you dislike most?
Are you dominant?
Are you submissive?
What is your reputation among your peers and dates?
How do you greet people?
How do you greet people you like?
How do you greet people you don’t like? Do you greet them at all?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: What are you really like? What do you do when no one is watching? What do you say when no one is listening?

Do you have vices?
Do you have virtues you must keep?
What is your demeanor when you are alone?
What do you act like around others?
Do you have any weird quirks?
What do you like to do for hobbies?
What tends to make you smile?
What makes you laugh?
What makes you tear up?
What makes you relax?
What makes you get excited?
What do you do when you feel sad?
What do you do when you feel angry?
What do you do when you feel upset?
What do you do when you feel stressed?
What do you do when you feel happy?
What are your good habits?
What are some of your bad habits?
Is there anything you can’t resist?
What do others not know about you?
Are you an expert in any skill?
What weather is your favorite?
If time were not an issue, what would you do all day?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Do you have a past? Are you willing to share it with anyone?

When were you born?
Where were you born?
Were you fired from a job?
What did you want to be growing up?
Do you have a greatest accomplishment?
Do you have major failures in your past?
What was the worst thing that happened to you growing up?
What is your most cherished memory?
Do you have regrets?
What are your most vivid childhood memories?
What was your favorite thing to do?
What did you dislike more than anything else?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: What do you look like? Are you even human?

What kind of creature are you?
Do you have abnormalities?
What is your physique?
Are you fit?
What is your hair color?
What is your hair texture?
What is your face shape?
How old are you right now?
How much of your age do we get to see in your story?
What colors do you wear?
What clothing do you wear?
What clothing do you avoid?
What accessories do you frequent?
How do you feel about the way you look?
What is your skin like?
Do you have health problems?
Do any health issues affect the way you look?
What are your movement habits?
What is your ethnicity?
What do you eat?
What do you drink?
Does what you eat and drink affect the way you look?
What do you smell like?
Do you wear scented things?
Would you change anything about yourself?

Copy this list and fill it out:

Weight:
Body type:
Hair color:
Hair texture:
Hair Length:
Eye color:
Type of clothes:
Nose shape:
Cheek bones:
Chin:
Ears:
Lips:
Skin color:
Freckles:
Eye shape:
Scars:
Birthmarks:
Physical handicaps:
Height:
Ethnicity:

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: What do you really Believe?

What is your philosophy on life?
Do you follow a moral code?
Where did your moral code come from?
Do you have a specific worldview?
Do you have a certain outlook on life?
What are your desires about life?
What do you want no onw to find out about you?
What causes you to worry most?
What are your phobias?
Do you have certain insecurities?
What do you really think about yourself?
Do you think you make good decisions?
What are your political beliefs?
What do you live for?
What is your occupation?
Does it align with your beliefs?
Where do you feel most comfortable?
Who is your hero?
Who do you despise?
When were you the happiest?
What do you think about emotions?
What do you think about showing emotions?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Did you get to grow old?

Did you accomplish your life goals?
How did your life change over time?
Did you get married?
Did you have children?
Did you have grandchildren?
What happened to your siblings?
Who are your friends?
What did your social status become?
What do you wear now?
Did you build strong relationships in life?
Do you have a strong family support system?
Who do you love the most in your older age?
Have you fallen into your parents’ footsteps in any way?
How do you want to be remembered?
How did you react to the effects of aging?
What do you think happens to you when you die?
What is your greatest fear in old age?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Did you die?

How did you die?
Did you have any regrets?
Did you get to speak to anyone right before dying?
Who did you leave behind?
How are you remembered by those you left behind?
What mark did you leave on the world?

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: What are your favorites?

What place would you fly to?
What is the most beautiful thing in the world to you?
What is your favorite song?
Who is your favorite artist?
Do you have a favorite work of art?
Do you have a favorite day of the week?
What is your favorite proverb?

Fill out this list:

Favorite color:
Favorite food:
Favorite animal:
Favorite place:
Favorite person:
Favorite book:
Favorite song:

Least Favorite color:
Least Favorite food:
Least Favorite animal:
Least Favorite place:
Least Favorite person:
Least Favorite book:
Least favorite song:

One MASSIVE Character Questionnaire: Even more questions…

How do you relate to authority?
Do you want to be the authority in the room?
Do you have a sense of humor?
What do you laugh at?
What do you find not funny?
Do you get offended by any kind of humor?
What makes you angry?
Are you Superstitious?
Are you organized?
What are your bad habits?
What are your good habits?
Are you arrogant?
Do you have high self-esteem?
Do you have low self-esteem?
What are you afraid of?
Are you blind to certain aspects of your personality?
Do you think it’s okay to lie?
Do you like to hurt others?
Do you like to protect others?
Are you an extrovert?
Are you an introvert?
Are you an optimist?
Are you a pessimist?
Are you selfish?
Do you look to do good for others?
Do you make emotional decisions or are you more logical?
Are you risk-averse?
Do you gamble?
Are you competitive?
Are you afraid of commitment?
Are you afraid of rejection?
Do you have any memories you are unwilling to share with others?
How well did you do in school?
Do you have a symbol?
What is your cell wallpaper?
Have you spent time practicing your signature?
Do you have a theme song?
What are the most used websites in your web browser?
What is your favorite web browser?
Is there anywhere on earth you hate?
What is your favorite kind of entertainment?
Who is your favorite celebrity?
Who is your most valued historical figure?
Who are your most recent texts from and what did they say?
What did you text last?
What were you doing before this story began?
What time period would have rather have lived in?
What kind of animal would you be?
Do you have any special powers? What do you do with them?
Do you hate any holidays?
What is your prefered method of transportation?

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

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How to Convince Your Readers that Your Character is Actually Smart | 7 Tips

November 30, 2020November 30, 2020 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

How to convince your readers that your character is actually smart.

There are no rules here.

Telling your reader that your character is smart is definitely a way to go.

Sometimes it’s as simple as saying their IQ and how many chess tournaments they’ve won.

But it can be more fun as an author to find ways to show their smarts in action or give them quick wit moments that are fun and memorable. And at some point, your reader is expecting to see their smarts in action and played out in a clever way to be an interesting plot point or focus of the story.

And don’t forget, the perfect character is almost always forgettable or unlikable.

So be sure to give your characters other flaws that make them less superhuman and more unique and interesting as a character with a following.

1. Create a problem and have your genius solve it.

One way to show off their smarts is to create a problem and have them solve it while your reader watches.

To pull this off you need to know the solution to the problem yourself and write it so that other characters were unable to solve the problem.

A movie to watch to help with this type of problem solving could be Good Will Hunting.

In the story Will is shown to be a genius, but not all at once.

In one key scene, he solves a math problem that even the college math students can’t solve and he doesn’t even go to college there. He’s actually the Janitor. In his spare time, he reads at the college library but nobody knows he exists or how smart he is till they catch him in the act of solving a problem they left on a board in public.

Thankfully for you and I, there are already problems like this in real life that are extremely difficult for anyone to solve. So all we have to do is have our character solve one of these math anomalies and we are on our way to having a genius character.

Create a problem that is impossible for your other characters, but your genius can solve it quickly. Click to Tweet

2. Use research to make your character spout out intelligent facts on the spot.

Not everyone has a genius recall when it comes to memory, but your character can.

All it takes is a little bit of Google and your character can quickly know any fact you don’t know.

What’s the 303rd number in pi?

How many cups of sugar does it take to get to the moon?

Who was the 12th President and what are they known for?

Think of any question that might be difficult for your reader and creatively place it into the story where your character needs to know it and use it quickly.

A great example of this is National Treasure.

Our protagonist is consistently using his profound knowledge of American history to solve puzzles, riddles, and clues to save his life and find the treasure.

Show how intelligent your character is by researching and writing what you find as knowledge they already know and have mastered. Click to Tweet

3. Don’t make your character a know-it-all.

We all know a know-it-all and how unpleasant they can be at times.

But the point here is not winning a popularity contest. The real point is not to make a character that just knows everything, and everything is easy for them, because that will become boring for your reader.

Choose to make your character a genius in one arena and show that they don’t know EVERYTHING in the known universe.

(Unless they are going to win Jeopardy of course.)

Do this by giving them characters around them that help them deal with their weaknesses and limits, whatever you choose them to be.

Side note: Truly you could make a “know-it-all” character that faces many social dynamic problems in life from being too smart and becoming an outcast because of it. Any character can be interesting as long as they have realistic and interesting problems to fight against.

If your character has no problems your reader might lose interest. Click to Tweet

4. You will most likely have to look up the different types of genius.

Pick your geniuses area of expertise.

In Good Will Hunting, he’s a math wiz. In National Treasure, he’s an American history buff. In The Queen’s Gambit, she’s a chess prodigy.

They aren’t all smart at the same thing but there is one life skill they are amazing at.

In this way pick the things your smart person is good at and run with it.

The most creative part is figuring out how this skill turns them into an interesting story with conflicts.

To make your character interesting, give them one area of expertise. Don’t make them good at everything. Click to Tweet

How to convince your readers that your character is actually smart.

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How to convince your readers that your character is actually smart.

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Optional: See if this FREE Amazon book will pique your interest. It is a part of Project Gutenberg. If you love Little Women, you should give this book a try as well.

Now back to the show: How to convince your readers that your character is actually smart.

5. Your genius might be at the top of their game, but where are they falling short?

To make your genius character interesting to your reader, choose weaknesses for them. Give them an Achilles heel.

Don’t make them win every single time. Allow them to lose and lose BIG at times to keep the stakes high and your reader concerned about what they might lose if they don’t succeed.

Some ideas for weaknesses:

– socially inept

– Alcoholic

– Gets cancer from smoking

– Bad home situation

– Has a traumatic experience

– Loses at their own game because of a mistake.

Just because they are smart, they don’t have to be right every time.

In fact, a miscalculation that leads to serious consequences could be just the thing to really bring extra intrigue to the outcome of their story.

Don’t make your character win every time. To make them interesting make them lose big. Keep the Stakes high. Click to Tweet

6. Be sure to give them some competition

Take this bit of advice lightly.

It depends on where you want to take the story and how intelligent your character actually is.

If you want a good portion of your conflict to come from rivals then yes you’ll want to be sure that your antagonists are of equal or greater intelligence.

On the other hand, your character could be the most intelligent in the room and this could cause serious problems for their mental stability as they realize there is no competition for them. That would ultimately become boring to them which can lead to emotional instability especially when others keep shouting their praises.

If you conflict comes from competitors, make your antagonist of equal or greater intelligence. Click to Tweet

7. Try not to copycat.

It’s tough in today’s story saturated world, but try not to do the same thing that’s been done over and over again.

The Sherlock syndrome: avoid making the Sherlock, the character that is so observant that it makes them look like they know everything.

This has been creatively redone several times and with great success, so there is a small window where you may be able to squeeze out something clever in the trope.

Examples are:

– any Sherlock film or series.

– The mentalist

– Psych

– Enola

This is just to caution you. Genius is used a great amount in story telling.

It can be done very well and be highly interesting.

But there is always a risk. The risk is creating a character that is too much like another genius character, and unless you meant to do so and you create it in a clever new way, you could lose your game right where you started.

So just a word of caution, creating a genius can be extremely fun, but watch out lest you unintentionally create a stereotypical character.

To make your character more interesting, avoid stereotypes and specifically overdone tropes. Unless you can find a unique twist. Click to Tweet

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

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Try Grammarly, The Free tool that should be in every writer’s toolbelt.

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How to convince your readers that your character is actually smart.

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Is Writing your craft? You might love this. Check out the 4,900+ reviews it has on Amazon to see if this might be what you’re looking for.

Optional: See if this FREE Amazon book will pique your interest. It is a part of Project Gutenberg. If you love Little Women, you should give this book a try as well.

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How to convince your readers that your character is actually smart.

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Optional: See if this FREE Amazon book will pique your interest. It is a part of Project Gutenberg. If you love Little Women, you should give this book a try as well.

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5 Hideous Fictional Creatures, You’ve Never Heard of

November 26, 2020November 26, 2020 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

5 Hideous Fictional Creatures, You’ve Never Heard of

Fictional creatures come and go, but we wanted to get creative and give you a few extra ones to work with to your creative delights.

You can write them as is or feel free to change and morph them for your story and whatever you need!

1. Lou Carcolh

This creature comes from French mythology. Imagine a giant monster snail with sharp fangs as long as swords. It doesn’t just ooze along the earth it has giant, sharp horn-like toes that dig into the earth.

One of it’s most terrifying features is its mile-long tentacles that it uses to drag victims to itself to ingest.

“Bon appetit!”

2. Nuckelavee

In the shadows, this creature would be quite deceiving. You would think a person riding a horse was coming towards you, but you would be sorely mistaken.

This is a skinless creature that has a humanoid feature attached to a horse. Its arms are long and drag the ground. Its breath is deadly. If you see this hideous abhorrent thing, don’t stick around to find out why just run.

5 Hideous Fictional Creatures, You’ve Never Heard of

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Now back to the show: 5 Hideous Fictional Creatures, You’ve Never Heard of

3. Camazotz

Ever seen a werewolf? Well, imagine a bat humanoid like that. It actually looks similar to something you’d see in Underworld. This creature has the head of a bat large fangs and the body of a man with wings attached to its arms.

What do they eat?

The blood of others of course. They hail from Mayan mythology.

4. Afanc

Mix a Crocodile with a beaver and make it ginormous.

Apparently this creature can cause floods with its tail it is believed to be so huge.

You can thank the Welsh for this one.

5. Inkanyamba

Imagine an electric eel with the head of a horse that can fly.

Where can’t this creature go to find you and electrocute you?

An African mythical creature that is mostly an aquatic threat but that can fly anywhere.

Use these hideous fictional creatures from around the world as writing prompts to make up your own stories about like the show “Supernatural” did.

Use them to get your own ideas of creatures that could be lurking in your fictional forest, desert, mountain, or sea.

Make them hideous but also give them secret advantages over other creatures that make them even more terrifying.

The more creepy it is the more your reader’s skin will crawl.

Hopefully, you can use these fictional creature descriptions to create and describe creatures of your own.

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

Another Post you Might like:

Mythical Creatures | 7 Tips on How to Write Mythical Creatures

Other Popular Posts you might enjoy:

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Resources:

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For Blogging AND More

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Inspiring Quotes Posts:

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99+ Good Night with Quotes

103+ Quotes About What is Love

This post:

5 Hideous Fictional Creatures, You’ve Never Heard of

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Need a Cheaper Plan? Try DreamHost.

Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Try Grammarly, The Free tool that should be in every writer’s toolbelt.

Try it for free now.

5 Hideous Fictional Creatures, You’ve Never Heard of

Check this out.

Is Writing your craft? You might love this. Check out the 4,900+ reviews it has on Amazon to see if this might be what you’re looking for.

Optional: See if this FREE Amazon book will pique your interest. It is a part of Project Gutenberg. If you love Little Women, you should give this book a try as well.

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5 Hideous Fictional Creatures, You’ve Never Heard of

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3 Writing Tips from Dan Brown During Hard Times

November 25, 2020November 26, 2020 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

3 Writing Tips from Dan Brown During Hard Times

We’re listening to a brand new live interview between Dan Brown and Masterclass.

This is on top of his already popular successful class that he has with them.

Love masterclass. Can’t recommend it more.

But more to the point can’t listen to Dan without being inspired to work on writing.

One noticeable thing Dan mentioned in the live stream so far is the utter importance on our process we set up for writing for ourselves individually as writers.

He says “protect the process”

Protect your writing process

Let’s expound on this thought.

He says, ” most writers think that writing a novel is 90% inspiration and 10% perspiration”

He says it’s the reverse: it’s 10% inspiration and 90% work.

It’s all about the routine you set up to write and how much you actually follow that routine.

Writing a novel is a huge undertaking and we need to take on the task daily if we realistically want to complete it.

He’s talking mainly about when you write and where you write.

He writes at 4 am on most days. He says it doesn’t matter what time it is as long as it works for you and you actually have the energy to get stuff down.

He also mentions that location is a big deal. Let’s talk about this.

Some of us get energized and in the zone by being around people. So being in a coffee shop with a lot of people walking around and making background noise might make sense and you can get in the zone there.

For others a pin drop is distracting and we can’t get anything done without total silence. Creating a place that is solitude and having noise-canceling headphones for an extra layer of silence is ideal.

We each have to figure out what works best for us and we have to make that a part of our daily writing routine if we are actually going to finish the project.

And don’t be worried about what you’re going to write as much as are you actually physically getting in the “chair” and writing. That’s the first and major battle.

He hammers the point “protect the process” and protect your writing routine.

The interviewer brings up an interesting question at this point. I’ll paraphrase “How do people protect their writing process amidst chaos in the world.”

Write from your hardships

That is so important in a time like this with Coronavirus.

And he gives some great advice.

He mentions something really interesting. He says that during his writing of “The DaVinci Code” the twin towers were attacked.

And he began to wonder how his story would be relevant to the world as it was chaotic and changing rapidly around him.

He learned at a chaotic time to use that chaos to inspire his writing. And that’s the same thing we should be doing today.

We should be paying attention to what’s going on around us like Coronavirus and using world events to help us make our writing come to life.

On a side note of being on lockdown in our country and around the world my wife and I have been watching “Colony” on Netflix. It’s been entertaining to watch and think about while being in a lockdown of our own.

Taking notes on actual world events can really help when writing Fictional stories to add real-life events to how they actually look, feel and happen to bring the story more depth for your reader.

3 Writing Tips from Dan Brown During Hard Times

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So use what you’ve got.

Look around you at real-life and write what you observe into your fiction.

“It’s easier to write in a bed of nails, than a bed of bonbons.”

The pun here is intending.

Dan expresses that when he was a starving writer and the rent was due it was easier to feel motivated to write. He had to to keep the lights on and eat.

Now that he’s successful and technically doesn’t need to write anymore it’s easy to be tempted to think “why am I doing this?”

So find a way to find purpose and importance in writing for your situation.

And furthermore, if times are hard, which, I can’t think of times not being hard for many people right now. Use the hard times to write inspiring stories. Let the hard times push you to write more and write better, more relevant stories.

If the news is discouraging, write about it. If the rent is hard, write about it. Write about the struggles because so many people can relate and want something to resonate in their life.

(Another fun side note about Dan writing the DaVinci code: he wrote it in his parents’ laundry room sitting on milk cartons with his laptop on an ironing board. He said a lot of times the washing machine was on and running next to him.)

He found a space to be able to write. It wasn’t ideal or luxurious, but it worked. Find a space that works for you.

Hope this helps!

“Protect the Process!”

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6 Thoughts on Life Vs Writing Where’s the Balance?

November 24, 2020November 24, 2020 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

6 Thoughts on Life Vs Writing Where’s the Balance?

I didn’t think much about it before I started working from home, but work-life balance is a REAL STRUGGLE when you don’t have a “clock-out” at 5.

I probably wrestled with a weird work-life schedule for months or even a year before I really feel I got the hang of it.

And don’t get me wrong there are still messy days but I think that’s to be expected.

But as a paid writer how do we find the right balance between putting enough time into our profession and neglecting the other important things in daily life:

– Relationships

– Family

– Friends

– Bills

– Chores

– Recreation

– Etc

Nobody is telling you when to start and when to stop so self-discipline is key.

This post is meant to help you think through and strategize creating a healthy writing Vs life balance.

When it comes to work-life balance nobody is telling you when to start and when to stop so self-discipline is key. Click to Tweet

1. Take out the garbage.

One of the most annoying chores in the world (besides the dishes) is the garbage.

It is so easy to just let it sit there and rot.

Day after day we see it but we think “eh tomorrow will be fine, I’ll just take it out later.”

Before you know it there’s a strange smell in the house.

What could it be?

Oh yea, the garbage.

What’s the problem? The garbage? Or my procrastinating?

Definitely the latter.

Same thing happens when working from home as a writer.

As we stare at the blank computer screen for days it doesn’t get smellier, but it definitely doesn’t magically come up with words on its own.

To help with our writing-life balance we must be self-disciplined enough to not put off writing.

It may seem daunting to start, but the more we put it off the more time we will lose in our regular life stuff when we have to tell friends and family we can’t spend time with them because we need to keep working.

To keep a good balance with important life activities procrastination needs to be taken out with the trash. (Pun intended)

To keep a healthy work-life balance, procrastination has to go. Click to Tweet

2. Be Done.

Schedule time to write everyday.

Do your best to keep that and end that time.

Don’t spend all day thinking about writing.

Keep your writing time separate from everything else and you’ll notice that you actually spend less time working on that post.

It’s when we try to watch TV, write, do the dishes, vacuum, make dinner, and create a painting that you find that you’ll spend all day trying to write and “nada.” Nothing comes of it.

If we want to write and get anything done we have to shut everything else out for however long you decide for your schedule and when you’re done. Put it down and don’t pick it back up again.

But what if I have an idea?

Have a place to write down ideas quickly and then put it away. I like using my phone for this.

It’s easy to write down an idea and then swipe away the app.

When you’re on you’re on and when you’re off you’re off.

The more we are able to do this the less time we will take away from our other priorities in life.

To have a better work-life balance, pick a time to be done, and just be done. Click to Tweet

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Now back to the show: 6 Thoughts on Life Vs Writing Where’s the Balance

3. Expect problems.

Yes, in a perfect world we would love to make a schedule for writing a book or a post, and every day the coffee smell brews as we slam out 500 words before our first sip.

That’s not real life.

Interruptions come. Kids make messes that need to be cleaned. We forget to do our homework and a million other things can happen that interrupt our writing time.

Just do your best.

If you have to step away for a moment or an hour just do your best to get back at it asap.

Even if nothing works out and you end up missing a day, don’t sweat it. Just move on to the next day and start fresh.

When working out your perfect work-life balance, every day won’t work out perfectly. Don’t sweat it. Keep working at it. Click to Tweet

4. Don’t overwhelm yourself.

This is important.

Don’t try to make up for days you’ve missed writing.

It will end up piling up on you and you will want to give up.

Also don’t try to tackle more than you can handle.

Expecting to write more than you have already been able is an unreal expectation.

Don’t do that to yourself.

5. No zero-days.

That means even if you can’t get in your scheduled hour, go ahead and write for 5 minutes.

At least you didn’t get zero done in writing.

If you can’t get everything you planned done, at least do something. No zero-days. Click to Tweet

6. Organization equals balance.

As mentioned before you will find that if you are able to sit down and cut out all distractions you will be able to spend less time writing and more time with other priorities in your life and you will see more work come out of your writing time.

Who doesn’t want that?

Who doesn’t want to put less time in front of the computer or paper and come out with more work to show for it?

It’s important to separate tone and space for you and your loved ones.

When we work from home it’s important to designate certain times as work times and not work times.

This will help you and those you care about to have clearly laid our expectations that you can respect and they can respect so that you can get more done and they can actually get more time with you when you’re not distracted from them and their needs and desires.

Having a writing Vs life balance means being able to say right now I have to focus on writing but in an hour I will be able to focus 100% on you.

This is an extremely important thing when working from home and being able to show those you care about that they are more important to you than anything else and getting the bills paid and what needs to be done finished.

Having a healthy work-life balance means being able to show those you care about how important they are to you. Click to Tweet

I hope this helps!

Happy writing!

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6 Thoughts on Life Vs Writing Where’s the Balance

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4 Tips and Tricks About Storytelling from Doris Kearns Goodwin

November 23, 2020November 23, 2020 ~ Jeremy ~ Leave a comment

4 Tips and Tricks About Storytelling from Doris Kearns Goodwin

If you had time to sit down and have coffee with Doris Kearns Goodwin, she might give you some advice. As a Historian she loves stories. Especially great and interesting stories about the past.

She might give you some advice that sounds like this:

“Take time to learn how to tell a great story about a loved one.”

“Allow time spent with them to turn into fun, funny, and inspiring stories that can be written or told orally to showcase some of their sparkling personality.”

Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin says, “Stories keep people alive…”

She has written Amazon favorites like (Affiliate Links):

She also appears in masterclass which I highly recommend if you love learning.

I’ve personally been enjoying it for years now and they keep getting better. I can’t recommend it more.

As a historian, she has learned not only the importance of storytelling but how it can accelerate your life and career as well as keep the memory of someone important to you and others alive.

Recognize the importance of storytelling and how it can accelerate your life and career as well as keep the memory of someone important to you and others alive. Click to Tweet

1. Understand who you are talking about.

Ask questions to find out about your ancestors and who they were.

– Where did they come from?

– How did they get here?

– Who did they let along the way?

– What challenges did they face?

– How did they overcome those challenges?

– What did they learn from those challenges?

These are all important questions that will lead to great bones for a story to be told to your kids and grandkids.

2. Have empathy.

What is empathy?

It’s the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person.

Empathy is a powerful tool in many settings.

It’s especially powerful in telling a story.

If I can understand what my subject is feeling and thinking, I can share that with my audience and, in turn, get them to understand what my subject is feeling and thinking.

If I’m not practicing empathy to understand others how will I be able to share that with my audience?

3. Dig out the gems.

Abraham Lincoln would say that all humans experience bad emotions: anger, malice, jealousy, revenge.

But he said these emotions were not good to dwell on. That it was better to use self-discipline to try to let these feelings go, so he had a certain practice he would use to fight against doing something foolish with his anger especially.

He would write what he called “Hot Letters.”

These hot letters would be to people that had made him angry.

In these letters he would really let them “have it!”

Saying everything he was angry about and why and maybe at times even “what he was gonna do about it.”

He would then put the letter aside and let time pass by.

He almost never sent these letters. We even have some to look back on.

General Mead failed to meet up with General Lee after the victory in Gettysburg.

Lincoln was furious with Mead and wrote one of these “hot letters” to him to tell him how if he would have listened to his orders the wear would be over but now it’ll dredge on for months or years because of his mess up.

Lincoln realised this letter would cripple his General so he never sent it.

Now I want you to realize that I just told you a story about Abraham Lincoln.

This is what you call “Finding a Gem.“

I found a piece of information about his life that is fascinating and also tells us as readers a lot about his character very quickly.

I didn’t have to tell you he was a man who tried to practice patience with others.

You got to see it retold in his regular practice of writing hot letters.

So now you understand Abraham Lincoln as a person a little better. You saw things about him that he thought no one would ever see. You saw the way he thought and felt about important things like emotions and how they affect self and others and even armies, wars, and nations.

And now that you’ve read this small gem about him, you can share it too.

“Find the Gems” and share them with others.

4 Tips and Tricks About Storytelling from Doris Kearns Goodwin

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4. The importance of relevance and timing.

Teddy Roosevelt once warned American citizens, whether in different cultures, states, races, or religions, that if we started to see each other as outsiders to what’s going on and not as all American citizens that our democracy would start to crumble.

He warned of a day when we would allow ourselves to judge each other instead of seeing everyone as equals and working together as American citizens.

This warning could be a warning against “labeling” and how it divides people and does not unite them to a common cause and benevolence (the quality of well-meaning and kindness).

Teddy used to dress himself up as a police officer and go into the streets to make sure the police were doing their job and this gave the country extra accountability and stability to know that it’s common citizens weren’t being abused by power and were receiving help and justice they were paying for with their taxes.

This story of Teddy Roosevelt and his leadership qualities is timeless.

But notice how even then, the President of the United States knew that he had to keep a close eye on the accountability for his police force to make sure they weren’t abusing their power.

At a time like this, this story is powerful and poignant.

Keep memories like this in mind and use their timeliness and relevance to bolster the power behind them. Use these insights to give your stories new life for your audience.

Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

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4 Tips and Tricks About Storytelling from Doris Kearns Goodwin

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4 Tips and Tricks About Storytelling from Doris Kearns Goodwin

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Is Writing your craft? You might love this. Check out the 4,900+ reviews it has on Amazon to see if this might be what you’re looking for.

Optional: See if this FREE Amazon book will pique your interest. It is a part of Project Gutenberg. If you love Little Women, you should give this book a try as well.

Now back to the show: 4 Tips and Tricks About Storytelling from Doris Kearns Goodwin

4 Tips and Tricks About Storytelling from Doris Kearns Goodwin

A break from 4 Tips and Tricks About Storytelling from Doris Kearns Goodwin to see if these affiliate offers might help you make more money with blogging.

Interested in starting a blog of your own (and making an extra $100-$600 monthly)? Check out Bluehost.

Need a Cheaper Plan? Try DreamHost.

Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Try Grammarly, The Free tool that should be in every writer’s toolbelt.

Try it for free now.

4 Tips and Tricks About Storytelling from Doris Kearns Goodwin

Check this out.

Is Writing your craft? You might love this. Check out the 4,900+ reviews it has on Amazon to see if this might be what you’re looking for.

Optional: See if this FREE Amazon book will pique your interest. It is a part of Project Gutenberg. If you love Little Women, you should give this book a try as well.

Now back to the show: 4 Tips and Tricks About Storytelling from Doris Kearns Goodwin

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