Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Creativity: Kidding Around is Powerful

Thinking like a kid helped introverts the most, because they're typically more inhibited.

Zabelina advocates applying a childlike mind-set to our daily lives. "It's about giving yourself permission to explore and free time to play. It would not just increase your creativity—it would also motivate you to create."

via www.psychologytoday.com

Want to be more creative and motivated?

Turn your work into play.

List five ways in which you could develop a playful mindset for your writing chores. (Tip: stop thinking of them as "chores.")

Book I Need: “How to Sharpen Pencils"

In a list of supplies that every serious pencil sharpener should have in his “toolkit,” he includes tweezers for collecting shavings. “It’s not hard,” he remarks, “to come by a good pair of tweezers; I use the ones my wife left behind when she moved out.”

via www.newyorker.com

“How to Sharpen Pencils” sounds like a wonderful book, judging by the above quote. It's going on my reading list... :-)

Believe in Yourself

“Believe in your idea, trust your instincts, and don’t be afraid to fail. It took me two years from the time I had the idea for Spanx until the time I had a product in hand ready to sell into stores. I must have heard the word “no” a thousand times. If you believe in your idea 100%, don’t let anyone stop you! Not being afraid to fail is a key part of the success of Spanx.”

via www.forbes.com

The above quote is from Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx.

I'd love to have it engraved on a card to give to all writers.

You don't need to have a big belief; it can be just an inkling. It's enough. It will help you to be creative, and prolific.

And if you're not bothered by failure -- if you welcome it -- your writing's success is inevitable.

Pen and Paper Can Help You to Write

Writing things down literally puts them in black and white. We can clearly see everything we are dealing with rather than trying to keep certain things in memory while using other aspects of our mind to work things out.

via www.dumblittleman.com

I'm big on using paper journals and notebooks. For a while, I tried the "paperless" office thing, but for me, it just doesn't work.

Nowadays I understand that I just think better with a pen in my hand; I get more written, and I'm less stressed.

Hilary Mantel, one of my favorite authors works this way too. She writes big, complex historical novels, and says: "I do extensive longhand preparation, which usually includes my notes on the facts behind each episode, my references and sources, and a few tentative drafts of each scene. Then I work from my files onto the screen."

What about you? Are you using paper and feeling mildly guilty about it?

Make It Happen

As part of Seth's publishing experiment, I began working with Derek Sivers to edit, publish, and market his book. Through this experience, I become intimately familiar with his "Hell Yeah" approach to decision making. It's stuck with me since and has proved to be a productive go-to framework for making things happen. 

via www.fastcompany.com

How good are you at making decisions?

I have to admit, I dither at times.

Love the #1 -- it really cuts through the mental fog.

Write Blogs, Make Money

Before you rush away and write your first blog post, think about your goals. You can have as many goals as you like, but focus on one clear goal for your blog and create a plan to achieve that goal.

If your goal is to turn your blog into a home business, do a little research online and see how others are doing it. There’s lots of advice online, from people who’ve been doing what you want to do — learn from their experience.

via www.fabfreelancewriting.com

Blogging's easy and fun. Hundreds of thousands of people are making great money blogging. Your blog can become a real home business.

I have many blogs, so I'm constantly asked how to write blogs for money. I wrote the above post a couple of years ago, and it sums up what you need to know.

Pay attention to #4. Decorating your blog may be fun, but when you're just starting out, it's like hanging wallpaper in your house before the house has a roof. Or plumbing, or... I've stretched this analogy as far as it will go. You get the idea.

Start your blog. Your life will change in three months.

Do What Only You Can Do

Make a list of everything that needs to be done and then mark what someone other than yourself can do. This usually means any type of task that you can explain quickly or describe once and someone can repeat many times. Then you can hire someone on a project basis, such as a virtual assistant, by getting a referral or searching online channels like odesk.com, elance.com, and craigslist.org. Or you can bring on an intern who can get class credit for the experience.

via the99percent.com

Are you making money from your writing? If you are, here's a secret: you can't do it all yourself -- only do what only you can do.

Writing is hard work. After four hours of writing, I'm wrung out. My brain is tired. I'm sure that you feel the same way, but...

That's too bad, because if writing is your business, there are many things you need to do beyond writing, although your writing comes first.

As soon as possible, get help. Build a team. Some members of your team may be paid. Others help you because you help them.

Read the above article, and stop thinking that you can do it all yourself. You can't. It's foolish to try.

Hilary Mantel Interview (Wolf Hall trilogy)

What was it about Thomas Cromwell that initially drew you to him as a way to write about the Tudor period?

It appealed to me because his character had never been explored properly in fiction or drama. Cromwell was the son of a blacksmith and brewer, and this stratified, hierarchical society, he rose to become the king's right-hand man and eventually Earl of Essex; you have to ask, how did he do it? Luck? Calculation? Both, surely, but what combination of the two? And what drove him? When you worked for Henry VIII, the stakes were so high. One slip and you were dead.

via www.librarything.com

I'm a huge fan of Hilary Mantel. If you are too, this interview gives some insights into how she writes her historical novels.

Always Have a Plan

I am convinced that the difference between this year and the past three is that I went into November not just with a plan for what the story was going to be, but with a plan for how I was going to finish it in the month. A story plotted out in 29 scenes. One scene per day, with a day’s worth of wiggle-room.

via www.plottopunctuation.com

NaNoWriMo is national novel writing month; it takes place every November. If you want to write a novel, give it a try. If nothing else, it will give you an idea of what the writer's life is like -- zero glamor, plus sore hands, brains, and rear end.

The big benefit of NaNoWriMo is that it gives you a framework. If you add a PLAN to that framework, and follow the plan, you'll succeed. There's no way to avoid success; it's inevitable.

What if you followed the framework/ plan strategy for your writing?

The framework can be the 20 minutes/ two hours (whatever) time you have to write each day. Plan that time in advance, and then follow your plan.

Your success as a writer boils down to your to do list.

Sounds simple, right?

You Know Yourself and Your Writing Best

You're an original -- be yourself

We tend to think others know better than we do.

Newsflash: they don't.

The biggest mistakes I've made in my writing career happened when I listened to others, rather than to my own intuition. I thought others (including two New York literary agents) knew better than I did.

It can take a long time to trust yourself, if you don't practice creativity daily.

via www.writingchallenge.net

The world has changed. Publishing's undergoing major changes, and the Web never stops changing.

How do you keep writing anyway?

You develop confidence in yourself and your innate creativity, and you allow your creativity to flourish.

It's an amazing time to be a writer. There have never been as many opportunities as there are now for writers to make great incomes.

Everything starts with your creativity.

Start A Writing Project

Just write whatever jumps into your mind, no matter how “stupid” it seems to you.

Remember that your creative self lives in your right brain, which isn’t verbal. It’s sending you messages constantly, in emotions and images, below your level of consciousness, which your hapless left brain tries to translate into words. Sometimes you have to wade through several iterations of “stupid” to get to “brilliant.”

via www.fabfreelancewriting.com

Can't get started on a writing project? It's easier than you think...

Indeed, it's better if you don't THINK at all, and just write.

Get Readers and Feedback

For writers, Wattpad is a creative, welcoming and completely free community to connect with readers from around the world. Writers can build an engaged fan base, share their work with a huge audience and receive instant feedback on their stories. Marketing happens through social engagement around great content not via big promotional budgets.

via www.wattpad.com

I'm working with a couple of new novelists, and I'm encouraging them to find early readers. Writing a novel can be a challenge if you're doing it alone.

Can't find anyone to read your chapters?

I've heard great things about Wattpad. Give it a try. It may just motivate and inspire you to know that people are reading what you write. :-)

Procrastinating? Get Your Copywriting DONE

If you’re not yet a full-time copywriter, you’ll do your clients’ work before you leave to go to your day job. If you’re working at copywriting full-time, you do your clients work immediately you turn on your computer in the morning, and you focus on that first.

via writinghacker.com

I love working with my copywriting students, and I’ve found that procrastination is a common challenge.

I used to be the Queen of Procrastination; it became a habit that was hard to break. Thinking about my values helped me.

What are your values?

Read the above article, and get more done.

Kindle Freebies: Great Reading, No Charge

The Easier, Faster & Smarter Way to Kindle!

eReaderIQ provides Amazon Kindle price drop alerts, watches your favorite titles to let you know when they are available for Kindle, and gives you a regularly updated list of all non-public domain freebies on Amazon.com. We also offer a superior search engine which not only lets you search the Kindle store by genre and keyword, but also lets you define the price range, reader age, language and more!

via www.ereaderiq.com

I spend A LOT of money on Kindle ebooks because I’m a huge, very fast reader and love having lots of books on my To Be Read pile. Reading is my only vice, and pleasure, so by and large it’s money well-spent.

In the past, when people talked about Kindle freebies, I restrained myself from rolling my eyes, not always successfully. After all, if it’s free, how good can it be?

That said… OK, I admit it, I was WRONG.

There are some very good books available as freebies. For example, I downloaded The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown. I love anything about the Tudors.

I’ve learned the error of my ways. I now keep an eye on what’s being offered for free. For this, I like eReaderIQ – it helps me to find great Kindle freebies.

Just in the past week, I’ve found two wonderful new-to-me authors I LOVE, and I’m reading my way swiftly through their Kindle backlists. Like most ardent readers, once I glom onto an author, I read everything. And pay for the privilege too – I enjoy spending money on GREAT reading…

Amazon Publishing Insights

Marketing people join editorial acquisition meetings because “we like to consider the whole arc of the publication process.” Kirshbaum’s office “triages what books we really want to go after, we look in our databases to see how either the author has been published before, or how the earlier books have done in the Amazon store. We also get Nielsen data.” Then “we do go to Seattle for approval before we make an offer.”

via paidcontent.org

The more publishers the merrier. In one sense, Amazon Publishing is just another publisher.

However, they have what no other publisher has: Amazon's massive database.

We live in fascinating times. With all the rapid changes, I can't even imagine what publishing will look like this time next year.