The start of a new year has most of us reflecting on the previous year and making grand plans for the coming year. I don’t make resolutions. To me, they’re empty wishes. I set goals. And each year, I think of one word that will guide me through the year and keep me on track [...]
What word will guide your writing life in 2017?
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Rules for a Successful Writing Life from Maya Angelou
Photo credit: Emily’s Quotes – http://bit.ly/2e6jcwF
Today I’m thinking about the people who inspired me on this writing journey.
There are the usual suspects… My mother, who encouraged my constant scribbling. The 6th grade teacher who put my essay up on the wall with a shiny gold star. Countless friends and teachers, in my home [...]
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#WITS1000 Millenium Celebration at Writers In The Storm!
We have a surprise for you today – our 1000th post happened this week and we’re celebrating big time. That means we’re celebrating you, our amazing readers. We’re more than a little bit misty over this, as we never expected to get this far when we started our little blog back in 2010.
Thank you, [...]
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Helpful Hacks to Build a Strong Online Brand
Our current brave world of publishing demands that an author “build a brand.” What does that mean exactly?
Simply put, your brand is the picture that pops into people’s mind when they hear your name. Your author brand is how your fans identify you.
How do you figure out what to talk about online? [I can hear [...]
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The Personalities of Social Media
Last month I did a post on how to build a strong online brand and the two most popular questions surprised me. The most common was: “What do I talk about?” Remember, that’s what your 100 word cloud is for. (Click that link in the first line if you don’t know what I’m talking about. We’ll [...]
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Summer Is Coming — Let’s Pimp and Promote!
Photo from Pixabay
Summer is coming up fast and here at Writers in the Storm we’re marking the occasion with a little “Pimp and Promote.” Of course, this always costs us some money, because we have to go out and buy lots of books. But there will be awesome “beach read” sales in next few weeks, [...]
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5 Things The Family Roadtrip Taught Me About Editing
Many of my fellow writing parents tell me that the summer school break is a menace to their writing schedule. There’s no denying that it’s a challenge that takes juggling and creativity. I’ve already completed the first road trip of the summer, and here are the five benefits I’ve found (so far).
1. The importance [...]
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Achieving Writing Life Balance — A Story of Balls
During those weeks when you’re juggling a lot of commitments, especially for writing parents whose kids are out of school, writing-life balance is freaking hard to achieve.
I got some perspective from a very unexpected source recently. I got my epiphany at work.
One of my day job hats is adult education with [...]
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How To Channel Your Creative Badass
You know those perfect writing days, where you float to the page with your creativity on overdrive, and the words just flow? Yeah, me either. I wish I did, but I schlep to the desk and throw myself in the writing seat like everyone else.
What does kick that creative keister to The Chair? How [...]
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Writing Secrets from a Television Great
We can all remember that first moment we felt like we might understand “how to write a story.” The excitement, and the thirst to know more more more. The writing advice moment that turned the key for me came from the late, great mystery and TV writer, Stephen J. Cannell.
Trust me, most of you [...]
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The WITS Team Shares Writerly Thanks
Today at Writers In The Storm we’re giving thanks for the “writerly” things that help us put words on the page. We’re also opening the door for our readers! Share your gratitude for things large and small down in the comments.
Fae Rowen
I am grateful for learning how to effectively edit my writing—to [...]
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Social Media Habits that Support Your Brand AND Your Life
With people all over the world are averaging at least three to four hours each day online, social media marketing is something we just can’t get away from. People use their phones and mobile devices for more than half their time online and 90% of that time is spent in apps. They are browsing, cementing [...]
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What word will guide your writing life in 2018?
I love the idea of a fresh start.
There’s something so appealing about a new beginning, an uncharted course, a do-over. It’s why every year, I make New Year’s resolutions and manage to keep many of them.
But for the last few years, I’ve also followed along with the idea of choosing a single word [...]
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Essential Writing Advice as You Begin the New Year
Every writer, whether they’re starting the journey or standing atop the bestseller lists, feels like a hack at some point. Like an imposter, a phony, a gigantic fakeball loser. It might happen once a month or once an hour. The point is, it will happen.
Woody Allen says “80% of success is showing up.” The other 20% of [...]
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What Kinds of Social Media Go Viral?
In last month’s post, I shared social media strategies that support your brand and let you have a life. I don’t know about you, but I like having social media be something I fit into MY life, rather than the other way around. The big question everyone wants to know is: “How do I get my [...]
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5 Writing Lessons from Groundhog Day
Today is Groundhog Day, when people all over the United States wait to hear if groundhog Phil’s shadow in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania is visible. We’ve been doing this since the 1800’s even though it’s an incredibly weird thing to depend on a rhodent’s shadow to predict when Spring will begin.
Still, when a writer hears about [...]
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Some Hearts and Flowers Love – Pimp & Promote!
Valentine’s Day is almost here, and at Writers in the Storm, we’re marking the occasion with a little “Pimp and Promote.” Of course, this always costs us some money, because we have to go out and buy lots of books. But let’s go for it!
How does this work?
To quote the genie in [...]
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10 Success Tips from J.K. Rowling
Over the last few years, I’ve been able to experience the joy of sharing the Harry Potter books with my daughter. We’re on Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) and going strong, so J.K. Rowling is a bit of a celebrity in our house.
She’s a celebrity to me as a writer. She accepted that [...]
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It’s Back! Write Up a Storm Returns on Friday, April 13
Writers in the Storm is having its annual “Writing Event” on Friday, April 13.
Write Up A Storm is a one-day sprint-writing bash on Facebook, designed to motivate and sustain your writing throughout the day. Even if that day job impinges on your time, you can participate before work, during lunch and after hours. [...]
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Write Up a Storm Today!
Happy Friday the Thirteenth!
This has the possibility for being a very good day for you, for me, and for all of us.
Hop on over to our Writers in the Storm Facebook Event Page to read about and participate in today’s event: Write Up A Storm.
You can write for an extended stretch or [...]
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