define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true); define('DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', true); November 2013 » Page 2 of 5 » My Book Therapy

Archive | November, 2013

How Do We Appreciate You? Let Me Count the Ways!

By on November 23, 2013 in 4. Writer’s Life, Inspiration and Life Coaching, Encourage Me!, Life Coaching, Nurturing Creativity, Nurturing the Soul, Reba Hoffman, Writer's life, Writing Life, Writing Life Coaching

Thursday night at the Team Member webinar, I ended the broadcast by telling our team members how special they are to us and how we appreciate them. Afterwards, my email inbox filled up with members thanking me, many saying they were brought to tears.

As writers—and human beings—we need to know how much we are appreciated. And what’s more, you’re so important to us, we could tell you every minute of every day from now until eternity and it would still fall short of expressing how much you mean to us.

With that truth in mind, I thought I’d tell you just a snippet of how much we appreciate each of you. As we sit down at the Thanksgiving table and bow our heads, we’ll give thanks for you. Here are just some of the reasons:

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Story World, Setting, Time and Space

By on November 21, 2013 in Book Therapist, Rachel Hauck, Story Crafting

We talk a lot about story world here at My Book Therapy.

And many of you have mastered the craft “tool” creating a story world.

We define story world as the “place and space” where your characters live.

You have to set their world so the reader can picture the scenes and setting, get a feel for the protagonist’s environment.

But story world is so much more.

Story world must permeate your novel.

Story world is the time of day when a new chapter starts.

It’s the place, the sights, the sounds, the fragrances of where your protagonist was when he launched his story journey.

I’m not talking about over describing a living room or the walls of a town hall meeting — unless it’s significant to the story — but creating a world is which your characters live.

Old school writing doesn’t give a lot of time and place.

The protagonists simple go to “the next day.”

Or, “Gina met Tom at the diner for lunch.”

When? The next day? A week later?

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What Is The Best Place To Find Craft/Critique Partners?

By on November 20, 2013 in Alena Tauriainen, Editing Basics

Are you busy working through MBTWRIMO?

Pretty soon you will have a first draft. Where will you go from there? Where do you find someone who can understand writing and all the necessary components to make a great story?

We’ve tackled that question today.

I’m back with my absolute favorite editors, Edie Melson and Beth K. Vogt.

If you would like to watch this question and answer session, click here.

If it’s easier for you to read, read on!

Where do you find craft/critique partners and what’s the difference?

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One Thing Marketing: When to take a marketing break

By on November 19, 2013 in Melissa Tagg, One Thing Marketing, Platform-building

This blog series is all about marketing. But is it ever okay to take a mini marketing hiatus?

You bet.

In fact, sometimes it’s more than okay. Sometimes it’s just plain smart.

When should you take a marketing break?

1) When you’re spending more time marketing than writing.

This is always a no-no. You’ll hear experts give all ranges of ratios and percentages about how much time you should spend marketing versus writing. And feel free to go with the ratio of your choice. But I don’t think you’ll ever hear someone tell you to spend MORE time marketing than actually writing. (That is, unless you’re in that 2- to 3-month window around a book release. In which case, just ignore this. 🙂 )

If you’re spending way, way more time marketing than writing, your writing may be suffering. So take a break. Whether for a couple days or a couple weeks, you need to reevaluate how you’re spending your time and come up with a plan to make sure marketing isn’t overshadowing your writing. After all, without good writing, you don’t have anything to market.

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