Archives for April 2012

One Surefire Way to Improve Your Writing

Staring at a blank sheet of paper or Word document as you start an article, a blog post or your book is a scary thing. It stops the flow of creativity in even the most talented writer. As for newcomers to the process, it can kill the dream at the start.

Published writers, editors and publishers offer much advice about what you should do before you write your book. Most say you should create an outline or put pressure on yourself by announcing your plan to the world.

One thing that is extremely helpful to authors as they are writing their book is market research. You may have heard this term used as it relates to consumer research for marketing services and products, but it is also a very relevant practice for writers, too!

One of the best kind of “market research” is studying an author you admire.

There are three good reasons for this.

1. Inspiration

The mere fact that a favorite author has successfully shared her ideas in print is encouraging, especially at the start when your first words seem out of reach. Observing the author use words you can understand to unfold concepts before your very eyes will give you encouragement and often call forth your ideas that until now were too shy to reveal themselves.

2. Guidance

It is very instructive to turn an analytical eye to the work of an admired author or even the top authors in your genre, whether you admire them or not. You can learn about writing, structuring and publishing all in one place.

First, pay attention to how you approach the book as a reader: check out the title, author’s name, quick scan of front cover, flip over to back cover looking for proof that this book will keep the promise of its title and solve your problem or fill your need.

Second, go inside the book to see how the author delivers on his promise. How does he begin, develop and end the chapters? Is the book light-hearted, humorous or serious, with lessons and activities? Are there quotes, stories, illustrations, and if so, do they add to the message? Are there examples to make key points clear or does the author pose questions and leave you to reflect?

3. Direction

After you have read, examined and analyzed the book, you will begin to see gaps in what and how the author wrote his book and how you want to write yours.

You will notice omissions, ideas she didn’t cover or information glazed over that you’d like to explain in more depth in your book.

You will begin to see missing evidence you would set forth to support ideas in your book that somehow the author in question neglected.

In this phase you will begin to see your book emerge as distinctive. Even though it may be on the same or similar topic or style and isn’t even written yet, you will begin to see the gap your book will fill in the literature.

You will be able to visualize the books currently on the bookstore shelf moving closer together making just enough space on the shelf for your upcoming book to join them.

There are two more very practical reasons to study another author or authors in your genre:

You will be able to return to them when your confidence wanes along the way (and it will).
If you plan to approach a literary agent or submit directly to a traditional publisher, this will be a required part of your proposal, without which they will not even consider your manuscript.

Using these techniques and tips will keep you moving forward on your path to writing your articles, blog posts or your own book. Start putting them into action today!

Filed Under: writer's block, writing a book, writing inspiration

A Critical Mistake that Will Keep You Buried in Your Niche

By Flora 12 Comments

All your efforts to attract clients, build your list and distinguish yourself from your competition will miss maximum benefit if you are making one critical mistake: neglecting to write a book.

Your niche is loaded with skilled, talented and successful experts. You are one of them. While writing a book may be on your bucket list, you are making a big mistake if you don’t move it up to the top of your to-do list today.

You may be lulled into procrastination by thinking that writing a book is not that significant anymore. After all, with the popularity of self-publishing and sites like Amazon and their company, Create Space, it’s easier than ever to write a book. Perhaps you think there’s not much likelihood that you will shine as an author.

Not true.

Whether you are a coach, entrepreneur or speaker, when you write a book sharing your slant on your niche, you will not only stand out, but you will kick butt. Whether networking on and offline, as an author you will rise to the top of your niche, bolster your own confidence and set the stage for creating multiple streams of income.

One of my clients is finishing up the rough draft on her book for helping Christian entrepreneurs, and she already is putting in place workshops, coaching and audio products.

While another client is eagerly waiting for his book on AIDs survival to be delivered, he has already presold copies, lined up two speaking gigs and is increasing his visibility by participating in a bike ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco to raise money for AIDS research.

The best thing about being a coach, a blogger, a speaker, or a pastor, is that you already have content. Unlike the average person who dreams of writing a book one day without any idea of what he wants to write about, you (and you know who you are) already have the ingredients for your book (actually more than one.)

As an entrepreneur you also already have a platform, a list (no matter how small) and are probably active on social media. This means that you have fans who already like what you offer and will become the first wave of buyers of your book, not to mention evangelists for spreading the word.

So why should you write a book if you already have all these great things going for you?

Your book is going to get your transforming message out to a wider audience and fulfill the purpose for which you went into business. While you can reach a throng through your blogging, speaking, and other forms of communication, it’s no comparison to what your book can do.

You can’t even imagine the reach of your book.

It reminds me of a time when I spoke at a workshop and took some of my books for sale. One lady who came up to my table didn’t want to buy my book. She already had a copy and wanted me to sign it. When she handed her book to me I noticed that she had little colored post-it tags sticking out throughout her book from top to bottom. She had read my book thoroughly and thanked me so much for making a change in her life. She was not on any of my lists, had never read my blog nor heard my radio show. But she had read my book.

As an author you will have an unfair edge over your colleagues because your book can work on your behalf when you are resting. It will

demystify your niche for your potential clients, endearing you as the go-to person in the field
introduce your product/service to people of influence who can become joint venture partners
establish your credibility as an expert in your niche
put you at the forefront of meaningful interaction in your niche
enable you to command higher fees
help build a team of devoted fans and even evangelists

Now that you know the critical mistake you’ve been making in your niche, it’s a good time to correct it. And if you’ve always promised yourself that you’d write your book someday, I have a special gift for you. Download it here

Filed Under: bloggers, coaches, entrepreneur, getting visibility, standing out in your niche, writing a book

How to Make Money from Your Writing

By Flora Leave a Comment

It’s very tempting when you’re excited by a new writing project to believe that surely the world will rush to your door with wealth overflowing. After all, you have a bestseller in the making! You’ll have an urge to put all your hopes on your new project and be tempted to quit your job that is taking time away from your writing.

All successes are preceded by failures, setbacks, twists and turns. So, unless you have prepared for this early period with sufficient savings, keeping your job is strongly advised. I speak from experience.

Back in the 1960’s, one of my brother-in-laws asked me, my two sisters and his sister to sing the demo for a song he had written. We were invited to Motown Studios in Hollywood, CA and were first asked to sing one of their current hits a cappella in front of one of the executives. We were all so excited and sure we were on our way to superstardom!

When we finished, the executive said, as kindly as he could muster, “Keep your day jobs.” I think that was the first time I heard that advice directed at me.

When starting on a new venture, it’s helpful to be able to eat and have a place to sleep while your idea goes through its developmental stages. It’s so much easier to create and survive setbacks when you’re not hungry. Besides, writing your book may turn out to be something you enjoy as a sideline or hobby, but not necessarily as a career and the primary source of your income.

If you decide to self-publish you are committing to shoulder all the publishing costs. That certainly requires ready capital, often provided by a steady job or savings or willingness to use your credit cards.

If your book is accepted by a traditional publisher, you may receive an advance, but you will likely want to eat again before your first royalty check arrives possibly a year or more later.

But what if you don’t have a job or just lost a job and writing a book is part of your plan to support yourself? Then you will have to treat writing your book like a job and speed up getting your manuscript published.

Essentials for Making Money from Your Writing

You may find a sponsor to invest in you, but you will definitely need to create set hours for yourself, and commit to aggressively marketing your book even before it is published.
Many savvy authors publish chapters of their book in a blog or as ebooks on Kindle and other digital stores. Digital versions can begin to bring income fast if you create topic that grabs readers’ interests. Announcing your ebooks availability to your mailing list and social media followers will help speed this up.
You will need to dig deep into learning about writing and marketing your book, mining the Internet for all the free help you can find and investing in the best paid help you can afford. Then you will need to implement what you learn.
You will also need to build a following of people who enjoy the type of writing you are doing and eventually will be willing to pay for it. The Internet has made it easy to find these folks through the groups within Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites.
For very little cost you can even make short videos with content about your subject and post them on YouTube or other such sites so you can attract subscribers who will again be interested in buying your book when it’s published.

Social media has opened up so many avenues for writers today that enable you to make money from your writing faster than ever before. Do the writing, do your homework and market your work in places where buying readers will find it, and you are well on your way to becoming a paid writer.

Filed Under: self-publishing, writing an ebook, writing tips

What to Write? Capture Your Memories While You Can

By Flora 4 Comments

Whenever my husband would balk about taking time to shoot photos of the kids in their many activities and milestones, I reminded him that we were creating memories. Those wonderful day-to-day activities that we take for granted and that seem that they will last forever, won’t. Someday photographs, letters, your book, a blog or a journal may be the only remaining witnesses of your life. Your activities and relationships that are so present, so tangible right now will fade from memory or die with you if you don’t capture them now.

Many years ago I had the unhappy experience of putting my mother in a nursing home shortly after she was diagnosed with dementia. The doctors never called it Alzheimer’s, but the damage was just as upsetting. She was about 88 and had been in good health all her life. She never wore glasses, had no physical ailments, and had a memorable sense of humor and joy for life.

She had played the piano and organ since her adolescence, playing for churches and accompanying many singers all of her life. She had a wealth of songs in her head from gospel to popular, from blues to classics. Even though she read music, she also had that rare ability to “play by ear,” meaning you could start singing a song and she would find the key you were in, pick it up and give you a full piano accompaniment.

At the nursing home she was able to go the recreation room where she could play the piano whenever she wanted. One day when I was visiting her I convinced her to go to the piano to play Happy Birthday since it was my birthday. I knew she didn’t remember that, but I thought playing the piano would give her some comfort. But it didn’t. When she couldn’t remember the whole song she banged on the keys in frustration. I urged her to just play something else. She began playing “Danny Boy,” and when she couldn’t finish that went to “The Canadian Sunrise,” songs I had been hearing her play for my entire life.

When I couldn’t hold back my tears any longer, I dashed out of the room. I didn’t want her to see me cry. Once in my car, I sat on the parking lot and burst into tears, just as I did every time after visiting her.

When she died at age 92 I was heartbroken, but also relieved. I never knew what to say or what to do with the stranger her vanishing memory had left behind. Later when I went through her papers and notes, I spotted an appointment book that she had used as a journal and a to-do list. She had posted various reminders or checkpoints to herself throughout like “It’s 3:00 pm.” which makes me think that she knew her memory was slipping away and afraid to disclose it to anyone. She was desperately trying to cling to it.

Since then, I’ve had the unsettling experience of calling to speak to friends who had slipped into Alzheimer’s only to be told by their caretakers that the patient didn’t know anyone by my name, and therefore didn’t want to speak to me. Does that make sense? Why would the caretaker even ask an Alzheimer patient if they remembered a given name? I had to check on their conditions through relatives who still remembered me.

With these things in mind I urge everyone to record your memories in writing, photographs and telling your kids and grandkids stories of your upbringing. When they are young these stories may not be that exciting to them, but they will cherish them in years to come.

In addition, I also urge us all to live life to its fullest, follow our dreams and not wait another minute to start pursuing whatever bodacious thing we want . We may not all succumb to dementia or Alzheimer’s , but we will all leave this Earth. How sad it would be to die with our rich stories and memories inside of us.

No matter what type of writing you do, you can record memories within it in many ways. If you write nonfiction, you can illustrate your points by sharing personal experiences or anecdotes. If you take loads of pictures, you can use those to illustrate your blog, populate Pinterest or create greeting cards.

Even serious business writing can be enriched by using your memories as metaphors. Read this blog post by Jon Morrow, blogger extraordinaire to see how he used a very personal story to stress the main point of his blog post.

If you want to write your memoir and want guidance, join memoir writers and teachers in groups such as the National Association of Memoir Writers founded and headed by Dr. Linda Joy Myers. They offer loads of information, guidance and resources from active writers, editors and more in this genre. Check out their free monthly roundtable call and other events.

Any means of capturing your memories will work. Just get started now.

How are you capturing your memories?

Filed Under: capturing memories, memoirs, National Association of Memoir Writers, pinterest

Your Writing Journey: What to Pack

By Flora Leave a Comment

Starting to write a book is like starting on a journey. You have to have a destination in mind, a purpose for your trip and at least a starting route. As you travel you may be lead to stop to rest, take a side trip or even end your trip early because you found a destination better than the one you envisioned.

Like any other trip, you will need to pack a few things for your writing journey.

If you are the type who packs light, just a pencil or pen and stack of yellow pads may be enough for your writing trip.
I wrote my language arts textbooks on loose leaf notebook paper and No. 2 pencils.

For some writers, the tools have be exact: a college-ruled spiral notebook, a PhD pen and a hardback chair facing east on the back porch.

Then there are the colorful writers who insist on a fist full of markers, highlighters, post-its, and index cards to plot out their characters and scenes. I can remember that notecards were very important for organizing my thoughts and keeping track of my sources when I was writing my dissertation many decades ago.

What writing software is best?

Nowadays most writers probably compose on computers creating documents with Microsoft Word but there are many other choices. There are fancier writing tools if you’re so inclined to pay the price of money and time to learn. Here’s a list in reverse order lined up by Michael L. Martin, Jr., mostly with fiction writing in mind. You’ll get a kick out of watching his video. Even though it was created a few years ago, it’s still timely with his rationale and explanations for the software his lists.

5. Google Docs
http://docs.google.com

You can edit on this free tool anywhere.

4. Office Word 2007 (now 2010 is available)
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/FX102464491033.aspx

Great formatting, but is pricey. New PCs come with free trial, but
at the end of that period, you’ll need to have $299 ready, unless you’re
college student and get a bit of a discount.

3. PageFour
http://www.softwareforwriting.com/

Lightweight program for fiction writers, costs $39.95.

2. yWriter
http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html

Created by author Simon Hayes is great for outlining and different point of views
This is free and has great support.

1. Scrivener (was MAC only, but is now also available for PC)
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

Does it all. They have a 30 day trial. Costs $40.

What is your favorite tool for your writing journey?

Filed Under: writing software, writing tools