writing advice Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Reetta Raitanen's Blog

The 2 Step Formula To a Truly Unique Brand by Mars Dorian (The brand examples are in the end of the post. The creativity tip is solid for writing and blog post ideas)

Become the Shining Signal in a Dark Ocean of Me-Too ness by Mars Dorian

Authorpreneurship 101: Shameless Self-Promotion vs. Shameful Self-Promotion by Lindsay Buroker

Know Your Audience: Secret To Writing Books That Sell by Jan Bear

Writers Write, Successful Authors Write a Business Plan by Deborah Riley-Magnus

Author Branding by Susan Kaye Quinn

True Marketing Power For Authors: Looking in a NEW Direction by Deborah Riley-Magnus

Why Only Focusing On Your Target Audience May Hurt You by Roni Loren

Making Friends With New Markets by Deborah Riley-Magnus

Five Ways To Guard Your Brand by Roni Loren

6 Common Mistakes in Developing an Online Community by Michael Silverman

Time Managament Tips For the Marketing Author by Deborah Riley-Magnus

5 Promotion Tips For the Shy Writer by Lindsey Bell

Promoting Your Self-Published Book by L.J. Charles

The Billboard That Can Make or Break Your Book’s Success by Jonathan Gunson

Publishing Is Broken: We’re Drowning In Indie Books and That’s a Good Thing by David Vinjamuri

Managing Expectations For Indie Authors: Or What Did You Think Was Gonna Happen by Christopher Starr

How Indie Publishing Has Changed My Thinking by Susan Kaye Quinn

Book Review: Amazon Categories Create Best Sellers By Aggie Villanueva (by Tony Eldridge)

If Printed Books Die, Can You Still Get a Publisher by Jonathan Gunson

A great example of a consistent and fun brand: Nerdfitness.com (Level Up Your Life)

Blogging

21 Ways To Increase Your Influence Online by Dorian Mars

How To Be Interesting Online (And Snap Some Sweet-Ass Attention) by Mars Dorian

The Copyblogger “Secret” to Creating Better Content by Sonia Simone

How To Create a Writing Style That Impacts People Like a Blazing Meteor by Mars Dorian

Being Vulnerable Online Rocks by Mars Dorian

Set Up Social Media To Give You Great Post Ideas by Douglas Lim

10 Steps For Writing a Blog Post in 30 Minutes or Less by Chad Pollitt

Is It Better To Guest Post or Post To Your Own Site? (Think Traffic) Read the insightful comments.

5 Tips for Great Content Curation by Steven Rosenbaum

17 Steps To Guarantee a Successful Guest Posting Campaign by Nick Thacker

Behind an Insane Single Day 50 Guest Post Blitz: the Strategy and the Results by Adam Costa

Finding Timely Images For Topical Posts by Sarah Arrow

My Favorite WordPress Plug-ins by Michael Hyatt

Be Your Own Blog Ambassador: A 5 Step Strategy to Building a Dynamic Blog Community by Diane Bjorling

Social Media

Women Are From Pinterest, Men Are From Google+ by Fiona Menzies

How to Promote Your Blog on Twitter: 7 Tactics for More Twitter Traffic by Garin Kilpatrick

Using Twitter To Promote Your Blog by Lindsay Buroker

15 Fantastic Twitter Marketing Tactics by Garin Kilpatrick

The Unconventional Guide To Expanding Your Social Network by Dorian Mars

How To Get Twitter Followers Without Using a Mass Following Tool by Francisco Rosales

50 Innovative Ways To Get More Twitter Followers by Garin Kilpatrick

The Best Twitter Directories For Expanding Your Network by Garin Kilpatrick

Why Every Social Media Tip is Keeping You From Becoming Successful by Mars Dorian

7 Ways To Thank Someone For a ReTweet by Angie Schottmuller

More Ways To Say Thank You On Twitter by Margie Clayman

10 Reasons Your Facebook Page Is Not Taking Off by Francisco Rosales

How To Create a Facebook Page Vanity URL by Ellie Mirman

How To Build a Pinterest Following With Facebook by Melanie Duncan

Stumbling On New Readers by Anita Brady

Goodreads vs. LibraryThing by Amanda Nelson

Collected Wisdom

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas

Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Writing Links of the Week by Roni Loren

Sunday Mash Up by Rhonda Hopkins

Deep Stuff

Minimalist Workday: 50 Strategies For Working Less by Everett Brogue

Playing To Your Strenghts by Jenny Hansen

Megamind: Is Praise More Powerful Than Criticism? by Marcy Kennedy

What Is a Good Man by Colin Falconer

Beware of the Counterfeit Man by Lisa Hall-Wilson

Why We Love To Hoard… and How You Can Overcome It by Tom Stafford

5 Ways You Don’t Realize Movies Are Controlling Your Brain by David Wong

Cover Trends in YA Fiction: Why the Obsession with an Elegant Death? by Rachel Stark

The Sweet Smell of Sex by Alessia at Kitsch-Slapped

How To Eat Healthy Without Breaking the Bank by Steve Kamb

The Beginner’s Guide to the Paleo Diet by Steve Kamb

Fun Stuff

How To Loan a Kindle Book to a Friend by Ben Patterson

Fiction Affliction: August Releases in Urban Fantasy by Suzanna Johnson

How To Read Someone’s Mind by Meredith Woerner

The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland – For a Little While by Catherynne M. Valente (short story)

In the Company of Wolves by Ash Silverlock

Who Were the Amazons by Lisa Hall-Wilson

My Name Is Hari, Mata Hari by Colin Falconer

And here’s a bonus Weird Stuff link:

Top 8 Unknown Bizarre Mental Conditions by Jeannie Campbell

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Aug 23, 2012 in Writer Wednesday | 8 comments

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 19 – World Building

Every writer needs world building (a.k.a. setting), regardless of a genre. Good setting creates and enchances the conflict of the story, and anchors your characters in their world. What characters want and need has no meaning without a context and history.

Hence a big part of the links this week focuses on world building. And well, also because it’s a favourite hobby of mine 😉

You can find the regular features (writing, author platform, deep stuff etc.) when you scroll down further. Happy browsing.

If You Have Time For Only One Thing:

More than Magic & Gadgets–Taking Science Fiction and Fantasy to Another Level by Kristen Lamb

World Building

How Much World Building Should You Do Before Writing the Novel? by Lynn Viehl

Building a World from Top-Down, Bottom-Up or Sideways by Sofie Bird

World Building Do’s by Lynn Viehl

World Building No No’s by Lynn Viehl

The Elevator Speech For Your Setting by Berin Kinsman(After the first paragraphs the advice might not be 100% applicable to writing since it’s aimed for roleplaying games)

Information Density, or, Cramming a Fifty Pound Sausage in a Five-Pound Sack (Swan Tower)

Creating a Story Bible by Suzanne Johnson

Your Writer’s Bible by Sofie Bird

World Building Questions by Patricia C. Wrede

Building Secondary Worlds by Mark Charan Newton

Using Tarot Cards to Create a World by Raeyn Barclay

Drawing Inspiration From Further Afield: Fantasy Set In Non-Western Cultures by Aliette Bodard

World Building 101 by Charlie Stross

World Building Heuristics by Charlie Stross

“The ratio of the near future is: 90% of it is just like today, 9% is stuff that is on the drawing boards, and 1% is unutterably strange and alien and unexpected.” – Charlie Stross

World Building: Psychology by Charlie Stross

World Building: The Unknown by Charlie Stross

Lost and Found: The Orphaned Hero in Myth, Folklore, and Fantasy by Terri Windling

Overused Tropes of Fantasy (Roleplaying Tips)

Medieval Demographics Made Easy. Numbers For Fantasy World

9 to 5: Character Jobs in Fantasyland by S.B. Stewart-Laing

10 Divine Concepts (Roleplaying Tips)

Magic? It’s Complicated (Old Words for Old Worlds)

Sanderson’s First Law of Magic by Brandon Sanderson

Sanderson’s Second Law of Magic by Brandon Sanderson

Magic Systems by Juliette Wade

How To Keep Your Story’s Superpowers/Magic Extraordinary by B. McKenzie

On Writing

Reading Like a Writer by Patricia C. Wrede

Making the Most of Ideas – The Fear by David B. Coe

Story Elements Checklist by Alexandra Sokoloff

Complicated Webs & Pacing by Patricia C. Wrede

Micro & Macro Levels of Writing by Patricia C. Wrede

Deep Characters For Plot-First Writers by Suzanne Johnson

6 Tricks Movies Use To Make Sure You Root the Right Guy by C. Coville at Cracked.com

Making Your Book Memorable: Creating Moments by Roni Loren

Michael Hauge’s Workshop: An Antidote To Love At First Sight by Jami Gold

Michael Hauge’s Workshop: Are These Characters the Perfect Match? by Jami Gold

5 Ways To Respect Your Writing by Krissy Brady

Why Write Short Stories by Sandra Wickham

Idea Prompt: Fairytale/Myth + Genre/Setting by Sofie Bird

Stand Out In The Slushpile: Some Basic Tips by Erika Holt

Author Platform, Blogging & Social Media

How To Create Your Own Brand & Find Your Voice by Marie Forleo (5:08 min video)

Digital Self-Publishing Checklist by Lori Devoti

Advertising Your Freebie eBooks by Karin Cox

Building a Following: The Four Types of Bloggers by Roni Loren

Why I Quit Blogging (and What To Do If You’re Struggling) by Jon Morrow

5 Ways To Systemize Your Blogging by Nick Thacker

How To Legally Use Your Own Photos On Your Blog by Melinda Van Lone

8 Ways To Grow Your Social Media Footprint by Jenny Hansen

How To Build A Rabid Following On Twitter To Promote Your Blog Posts by Jon Morrow (4:56 min video)

Facebook For Authors: Understanding EdgeRank by Chris Robley

Collected Wisdom

Twitterific by Elizabeth Spann Craig (August 12)

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas (August 10)

World Building Resources by Juliette Wade

(In case you are wondering, there are no links to Gene Lempp’s Blog Treasures and Roni Loren’s Friday Features this week because those formats were on a short break)

Deep Stuff

5 Important Things I Learned Teaching Autistic Kids by Jenny Hansen

Modern Heroes by Kim Vandervort

Sisterhood by Karin Rita Gastreich

Chasing a Storm & Finding One Inside by Lara Zielin

Fun Stuff

Behold Fantastic (Pinterest boards for lovers of history and fantasy)

Immortal Monday: Death Deities & Meg Cabot’s Abandon by Debra Kristi

10 Fantasy Must Reads by Patricia C. Wrede

When Giants Walked the Earth by Ash Silverlock

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Aug 15, 2012 in Writer Wednesday | 12 comments

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 18

Writing blogs are a great way to learn about the craft and marketing our work. Enjoy the posts I’ve hoarded, some older, some recent.

(Next week I’ll be doing something different. The Feast is dedicated to setting/worldbuilding. It’s an area that touches many aspects of writing, like characters, plot ideas and theme)

If You Have Time For Just One Thing

Raise the Stakes by Kara Lennox

On Writing

Parenting Tips For Writers by Janet Fitch

Writer and Parent? Tips For Finding Your New Balance by John Scalzi

5 Ways Your Brain Sabotages Your Writing And What To Do About It by Kimberly Turner

How To Effectively Create More Time To Write by Krissy Brady

9 Productivity Tips For Writers by Joanna Penn

Books Like Mine by April Dávila

Write About What Makes You Angry by Alexandra Sokoloff

Evaluating Your Ideas by Jill Kemerer

Give Your Protagonist an Anomaly To Generate Interest by Bob Mayer

The Ideal Setting by Carrie Vaughn

Transition As Metaphor by Chris Rosales

Tips On Subtext – What It Really Is by Shannon Donnelly

Race in YA Lit by Sarah Ockler

Revision Checklist (PDF) by Jill Kemerer

20 Common Grammar Mistakes Almost Everyone Gets Wrong by Jon Gingerich

Naming Your Characters by Jodie Renner

In Praise of Ripening by Marcia Yudkin

7 Excellent Reasons To Enter Writing Contests by Tiffany Jansen

The Top Ten Query Mistakes by Rachelle Gardner

Query Letter Tips – Advice From Writer’s Digest’s Chuck Sambuchino by Jennifer Jensen

My Querying Journey by Lydia Kang

Your Author Platform

Your Clear Message: Get Your Potential Reader Curious Now by Beth Barany

What the Heck Is a Voice? by Abby Kerr (4 illuminating examples)

Illuminating Voices – Part 2 by Abby Kerr (8 more examples)

The Slap-Your-Head-Simple Secret for Selling More Books by Toni at Duolit

Social Media: Your Shadow Career by Porter Anderson (if you have time, read also the comments. They have good insights)

Extra Ether: Shadowy Platforms by Porter Anderson

Why Social Media Isn’t the Magic Bullet For Self-ePublished Authors by Ewan Morrison

One Page Marketing Plan – PDF (Pro Business Writer)

10 Steps To Mastering Your Book Marketing Plan by Laura Pepper Wu

How To Market a Kindle Book (a wiki post listing the steps. Pick & choose the steps that suit you)

What Is The Goal of Your Home Page? by Brad Shorr

Buzz Doesn’t Sell Books, Community Does – Interview with Penelope Trunk by Matt Gartland

7 Things You Can Do To Right Now To Improve Your Author Website by Laura Pepper Wu

Writers Can’t Do It Alone by M.K. McClintock (3 sites helping authors & readers to connect)

Measuring Your Reach by Liz Schulte

A Book Launch Is an Investment in a Long-Term Career by Cynthia Morris

7 Deadly Email List Building Mistakes by Robert Middleton

Image Desperation: The Kiss of Death For a Self-Publishing Author (Book Cover Express)

(A Rabbit-Trailed) Book Rewiew: Michael Hyatt’s Platform by Ann Lynn Andrews

Blogging

Is Blogging a Waste of Time For Writers? by April Dávila (Why do you blog?)

Should Writers Blog About Writing? Some Answers by Yesenia Vargas

How To Find Your Passion by Amy Lynn Andrews

How To Find a Unique Angle in a Crowded Niche by Amy Lynn Andrews

Charles Darwin’s 12 Rules of Blogging Survival by Tom Treanor (Pick one and do that better than anyone)

10 Questions For Planning Out a Year of Blogging by Brandon Cox

How To Organize Your Blogging Time by Amy Lynn Andrews

7 Tips For a Balanced Blogger Life (Mom Advice)

9 Keys To Blogging Success From A-List Bloggers by Joel Friedlander

What Makes Readers Lose Interest in a Blog by Amy Lynn Andrews

10 Blogging Don’ts For Writers by Yesenia Vargas

105 Author Blog Prompts (Duolit)

Copywriting Essentials From A to Z by Ali Luke

Do the Wrong Thing: The Benefits of Unconventional Headlines by Ollin Morales

Long vs. Short posts (Pushing Social)

6 Tips For Creating a Good Call To Action by Amy Lynn Andrews

How To Make Your Blog a Pinterest Magnet (Mom Advice)

6 Ways To Recycle Your Old Content by Amy Lynn Andrews

How To Optimize Twitter Sharing On Your Blog by Amy Lynn Andrews

Why I Stopped Using Feedburner To Serve My Blog Subscribers by Jane Friedman

How Does Your Site Look On Mobile Devices? by Amy Lynn Andrews

Social Media

Where Should I Focus My Time? Tips For Social Media Use by Robert Lee Brewer

The 80/20 Rule: How To Promote Your Books On Social Networking Sites by Paula Margulies

10 Ways To Get More REAL Twitter Followers by Allison at Blog World

How To Embed Tweets & Ways To Use Them by Amy Lynn Andrews

The Ultimate Guide To Facebook Marketing by Andrea Vahl

How To Get a Vanity URL For Your Facebook Fan Page by Amy Lynn Andrews

Pinterest & Copyright by Amy Lynn Andrews (6 links with advice)

Writers, Why It’s Time To Renew Your Love Affair With Pinterest by Kristen Lamb

The Ultimate List of Pinterest Tips by Amy Lynn Andrews

Collected Wisdom

Twitterific by Elizabeth Spann Craig (August 5th)

Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp (August 4th)

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas (August 3rd)

Fill Me In Friday by Roni Loren (August 3rd)

Deep Stuff

A Story of Balls & Work Life Balance by Jenny Hansen

How To Journal: 5 Tips For Capturing Your Best Ideas by Cheryl Craigie

6 Common Diets That Cramp Creativity by August McLaughlin

The Practice of Stillness by Michael Hyatt

Talking To Children About Death by Julie Glover (thank you Jenny Hansen)

The Fat Friend by Allie Sanders (also found via Jenny Hansen)

Lets Talk Sex by C.C. MacKenzie

Ecce Orcus! An Argument For Humanizing the Orc by Mordicai Knode

Fun Stuff

Eyecandy (Aleksd has gathered a wide variety of cool Pinterest boards)

Bookshelf Porn (brilliant bookshelves)

11 Geeky Wedding & Engagement Rings by Jill Harness at Mental Floss

6 Most Accidentally Erotic Images of the 2012 Olympics by Adam Tod Brown at cracked.com

100 Best-Ever YA Novels (npr.org)

10 Instances In Which History Meets Geekery by Rebecca Pahle at The Mary Sue

5 Ridiculous Gun Myths Everyone Believes Thanks To Movies by Robert Evans at cracked.com

A Timeline of Future Events (as mentioned in sci-fi books) by Jane Hu at The Awl

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Aug 9, 2012 in Writer Wednesday | 11 comments

The Sweet Spot Map: A Secret To Creating Stories You Really Love

Do you want to write only stories that you love?

Want to write in more than one genre (or sub-genre), and bring your readers along?

Writer and teacher extraordinaire, Holly Lisle, has developed a technique called the Sweet Spot Map that helps you to achieve both of them.

She presents the technique in an eBook that’s one of the 29 lessons of her How To Think Sideways course. (The link leads to Amazon)

The Map explains why some of your readers adore one book or series from you but dislike another. They connect with the people, things and concepts in the first book but not with those of the second.

The Sweet Spot Map is a mind map. Six of them actually, clustered around words:

– I Fear
– I Need
– I Love
– I Hate
– I’m Drawn To
– I Get Shivers From

To create a Sweet Spot Map, start with one of the subjects that feels most natural to you. You need a separate paper for each map, preferably a big one. If you don’t have a big sheet, you can make on one by taping smaller papers together.

Draw your association clouds by hand. Writing long hand activates the right side of the brain and connects you better with your Muse. You can later make an electronic version of the map if you want.

When the ideas stop coming, take a break and do something else for a while. Or tackle another map and see if you still run dry. This is an eternity project and you should add to your Map every time you find a new shiney like or an icky dislike.

Some of the six maps might be easier to fill out than others. For some reason I found the negatives, fears and hates the easiest. My shivery area is still fairly empty. That’s where I put the things that make me feel giddy joy, awe, wonder and sadness.

In case you want to see an example, here’s a part of my I Need map.

One great source of Map items is your favourite books and movies. Go through them with a paper and pen. Every time you come across with something that makes you say “I like that”, “Cool”, “Wow”, “Eww”, “Oh no” and so on, that something belongs to your Sweet Spot Map.

Short version of this is to decide which scenes and images from the favourites are the most memorable to you, and add just them to the Map.

You can also go through blurbs of books and lift words, ideas and concepts from the back covers. Most genres have sites that list all new releases of the year or the next month. It’s helpful to see the blurbs in context. That’s when you really notice how some books hook you right away when others are just meh or lukewarm.

As for practical applications, the Sweet Spot Map is a goldmine for story starters, themes, character ideas, character motivations, fears and loves, character traits and cool scene elements.

I’ll be covering the uses more next week.

What did you think of the technique? What’s on your Sweet Spot Map?