So many of us are pushed for time these days.  Families demand our attention as do our civic commitments.  We get up early trying to get one extra thing done.  We stay up late trying to finish just one more thing from our ever-extending to-do list.

We need more time we groan.  And it’s true, we do need more time.  But…how much time do we manage to waste in a day?

The first thing you need to know is when is your most productive time of the day?  Early morning? Mid afternoon?  Late at night when even the mice are sleeping?

Second, limit the number of items on your ‘to-do’ list to four or five of the most CRITICAL items.  If you absolutely MUST pay your utility bill or be shut off, that becomes a critical item.  Forwarding on the latest Maxine cartoon is not. (more…)

Congratulations, you got your first book contract and now the publisher wants you to go out and talk about your book. Where do you go? What do you do if you are a new author just starting out and don’t have an advance?

I found myself in this position a few years ago and discovered innovative ways to get my name out there. I looked for free places to go to chat with readers, introduce myself and “pimp” my book. I also talked to established authors on marketing ideas and made up a ton of free promo items at home off my computer like bookmarks, post cards and other items to send to review places/conventions as promotional items to get readers interested in my work.  

Blogs are great, yahoo loops, interviews, spotlights, a professional looking website and more all help get your name out to the readers. I try to do a blog spotlight a month and a few interviews or chats a week if possible. I go on loops and start asking reader questions, use my signature line with links for readers to go to.  I just started using Twitter, which I’v heard helps readers get to know you better.

It doesn’t have to cost a ton of money for you as a beginner author to get your name out there. All you need is perseverance and a little ingenuity to make your name known.

~*~*~*~

Raine Delight is the author of the Devon Falls series now available at Aspen Mountain Press

Seach in google for blogs with similar content/themes to your work and writing genre. Send emails to the owners and ask if they would consider letting you blog.  They usually will because people are always looking for content.

Announce your blogs daily ( a day or two before…you don’t want to make people sick of you, but you don’t want them to forget either) on the social networking sites like FaceBook, Twitter and MySpace.

Leave comments to get your name out there and you will find people sending you invitations, especially if your post is reasonably intelligent, not insulting, and is as free of errors as you can make it.  Don’t be afraid to get together with another author; don’t be afraid to brainstorm all sorts of possibilities and then search.  You may be very well surprised by what you find.

If you really want to make your writing stand out, you need to actively hunt for clichés in your prose.  Clichés are tried and true, yes, but they are also boring and lazy.  You are a writer who wants to tell the best possible tale…do so by hunting those cliché’s down and killing them.

This may require another author’s eyes.  A critique partner, even a beta reader if you tell them in advance that you want them  to look for clichés.

What are some clichés you can look for?  Here are a FEW.  There are thousands, if not more.

A breath of fresh air.

Dumb as a rock.

Dog tired.

Dog days of summer.

Fresh as a daisy.

Sardines in a can.

Sharp as a tack/pin.

Played like a violin/Stradivarius.

As cold as ice.

Better late than never.

Time flies/time flies when you’re having fun.

Old hat.

No bones about it.

Like the pot calling the kettle black.

Dead as a doornail.

Stiff as a board.

Bored stiff.

Bored to tears/death.

I think you get the idea.  These things creep into our writing without us being aware of them.  Frequently, it takes another set of eyes to reveal these clichés. 

You can take some of these and turn them on their head.  What if you said, “Dead as a zombie”?  This is fresh.  This gives you a different picture of someone that may be dead and just extremely tired.  If you are writing a zombie story, this would be a phrase we’d identify as a thematic phrase because it echoes what your tale is about…zombies.  And, of course, if you use this phrase, you get a very different sort of picture as zombies aren’t entirely dead.  Your character could be telling another character that this person who is dead as a zombie isn’t really dead.

Have fun killing clichés.  Doing so will improve your writing and make it fresh and memorable.

This came from a handout I got not too long ago.  I don’t know if they truly are Barbara Kingslover’s 10 Rules of Writing Fiction, but there is some good advice in them.

1. Your first sentence or paragraph makes a promise that the rest of the story or novel will keep.

2. Give your reader a reason to turn every page.

3. Keep a very large trash can beside your desk. (I follow these faithfully, though I’ve updated the wastebasket to a recycling box.)

4.  Show, don’t tell.  Everybody knows this rule, and most of us still break it in every first draft. Be ruthless. Throw out interior monologue.

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For those of you interested in marketing, you might want to take a look at this article:

10 Rules for Advertising on Facebook that is available at www.BusinessInsider.com 

…and I got no privacy…ooo uuu ooo

I used to think that song was a touch on the creepy side, but these days, you don’t know just who is watching you.  (more…)

Before I get distracted (again) by emails, promo, and my latest book, I thought I’d tell you about my new office away from home.
 
Ever since my DH lost his job, I lost my peace and quiet, not to mention time in my home office. He follows me everywhere out of boredom when he’s not actively looking for work. Needless to say, my writing has slowed to a crawl despite my ever-increasing “talks” with him about leaving me alone for a few hours.
 
Desperation began to seep into my brain. Crazy schemes like drugging him into somnolence, killing him and burying him under the vegetable garden, and booting him out of the house were hatched and discarded.
 
More viable plans like getting up early (my best bio-rhythm is for morning hours and working late at night is hopeless, trust me) failed. He’d awaken, feel the empty place next to him, and come find me!
 
I don’t know about anyone else, but my income has been affected by the sluggish economy. I have to work to pay some of the bills. I can’t just take time off. I have deadlines to make, but can’t afford a leased office space, not even a shared one. (more…)

A lot of fiction writers are rejected for simple things.  I’ll be posting here little tidbits to help you improve your chances of receiving an acceptance letter.

If you want to improve your writing you really, really need to nail this skill:

Keep a scene to one point of view, view the action through one set of eyes. (more…)

Character emotions remain some of the trickiest writing there is.  All too often authors fall prey to cliche phrases and dilute their writing by telling us what emotion we are supposed to be experiencing, rather than showing us what the character is going through.

In Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood, authors are provided with a new way of expressing character emotions.  How?  Ms. Hood gives practical exercises drawing upon the author’s memories of experiencing the emotion being discussed.

The book is organized by emotions and then three poor examples are given with an explanation of why they are poor.  The author then follows up with three good examples and explanation.  Finally, she provides the reader with three exercises to write so the reader can create fresh writing for the emotion. (more…)