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Social Media Minute—Hashtags 101 for Writers

By on February 25, 2014 in Edie Melson, Learn the art of Social Networking, Social Media Primer

Hashtags can be a confusing concept, so today I’m sharing Hashtags 101 for writers. I’ll give you a list of popular hashtags and teach you how to use them effectively.
First, lets back up and evaluate the reason we’re all working at building an online presence. We are looking to deepen existing relationships and build new ones. But building new ones can be difficult if the only people we interact with are those we already know, either online or in person.

We can get a little bit of exposure to new folks by our existing connections introducing us, but that’s a time consuming way to go about it.

What if there was a way for someone to search a given social media network by topic and find new, interesting people to interact with? That would be a great way to grow our connections.

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Social Media Minute—Top Blogging and Social Media Mistakes Authors Make Online

By on February 11, 2014 in Edie Melson, Learn the art of Social Networking, Social Media Primer

Collectively speaking, I’ve seen a lot of improvement in how authors interact online. That said, there are still some common mistakes. These things are affecting your blog, making readers click away before they finish a post and even unsubscribe altogether. The funny thing is that most of them are minor and easily correctable. So take a look at the list, and see if you can improve your interactions with just a small change!

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Extreme Book Makeover: Help! Why would someone pick up my story?

By on February 10, 2014 in 1. Discover your story, 2. Create Your Story, Crafting a Strong Premise, Extreme Book Makeover, How do I create a Storyquestion and Stakes for my story?, How do I Pitch my Book?, Susan May Warren

Make your reader care with the Story Question!

Why should someone pick up your story and read it – all the way to the end? We talked the last two weeks about having Story Stakes – or a reason your character should care about your story by giving your character something to lose. Last week we dissected the difference between High Concept and Low Concept stories (and how tell the difference), noting that High Concept stories are driven by high public & personal stakes, whereas Low Concept stories are fueled by the characters’ inner journeys, or the private stakes.

This week, we’re going to add another potent ingredient to the mix…the fuel for the inner journey of your character, the Story Question.

The Story Question is that question your character is asking as the book opens, ignited by the inciting incident and lingering in their mind throughout the second Act of the story. All the tidbits of truth your character discovers along the way contribute to the answer they discover at the Aha! Moment of the story, or the epiphany.

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When Is It Time To Have A Craft Partner Review Your Manuscript?

By on January 22, 2014 in Alena Tauriainen, Beth Vogt, Brainstorming Strategies and Tips, Edie Melson, Editing Basics, Next Step on the Writing Journey

I’m so thankful for friends like Beth Vogt and Edie Melson who took the time to answer my “newbie writer” questions on craft/critique partners.

Here’s the first question for this segment.

(AAT) Now we’ve got this fast draft and we have a craft partner. We have an established relationship with a craft partner. When is a good time for someone to look at your work-in-progress?

(BKV) When I fast draft I usually like to set it aside for a couple of weeks. I’m usually worn out and it’s good to give distance for a couple of weeks. Then when I get together with my craft partner, I usually let them know what I’m looking for.

As far as I’m concerned there’s two ways to critique a book.

You can be looking for big picture edits. You just want to know; Is this scene working or are you feeling the emotions? Or you can be looking at fine-line edits, where you are really trying to polish a scene. You have to let your critique partner know what you are looking for. There have been times where I’ve gone into a critique group and said, “Your welcome to read this scene. I want you to know I’ve had a rough week, and I really don’t want feedback from you all.” I have been that honest with them, because I couldn’t even handle them telling me a word was misspelled. It was just that bad of a week. I think that in a really good critique group you can be that honest with them. They’ve gone ahead and read it and said, “Loved every word of it Beth.” They just left me alone for that week.

(EM) I like to be able to brainstorm before I start a book and get things laid out. I generally have an idea and it sparks my creativity to do that. When I’m in a midst of a first draft, its not a time I want craft partners chiming in. I have to have a big picture of the whole book before I start listening to other people’s suggestion, even good suggestions. I need to get my arms around it first. I do what Beth does and let it sit for a couple of weeks before I go back in. Yes, there have been times where I’ve said. “Look guys, if you can’t say something nice don’t anything at all.

(AAT) Do you think you should have two partners, one person to help brainstorm your plot and someone else to help with critiquing? What does your process look like?

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