Tag: authorship

50 Common Writing Problems-12 Days of Christmas

50 Common Writing Problems-12 Days of Christmas

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Over at my writing blog, www.thiswriterslife.com, I’m offering the 12 Days of Christmas,

For twelve days, I’ll be featuring a different workshop or workbook and offer a different discount.

Today it’s my 50 Common Writing Problems and how to fix them Workshop. It’s usually $29.95 and today there’s a 25% discount, use code writinglife and here’s the link-

https://flynnmedia.thrivecart.com/50-common-writing-problems-workshop/

All my workshops are self-paced, they never expire, and you can study when you want.

No More Rejections…

No More Rejections…

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Sorry, not for us.

A short sentence like the above on your returned manuscript is if nothing else better than a standard rejection and a step in the right direction. However, it’s not enough to offer insight into what you’re doing wrong and why that (or so you thought), perfect story keeps getting rejected.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if editors gave us some feedback into what we’re doing wrong?

The chances are that’s not going to happen but all is not lost.

Next month, I’m teaching a new class called Rejection Guaranteed.

We’ll go through all the common reasons for editors rejecting a manuscript and what you can do to turn these mistakes into a polished manuscript that ups the odds of a yes instead of a no.

It’s a four week class, the lessons arrive in your inbox so you don’t need to be present at any day or time.

Here’s the link for more details and how to sign up.

Hope to ‘see’ you in class.

Rejection Guaranteed
Have you thought about writing a romance novel?

Have you thought about writing a romance novel?

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Romance novels…

They are one of the best-selling genres, readers usually buy more than one book at a time…being a romance author is almost like being part of recession proof business.

They’re fun to write, but the downside is it’s a competitive genre and you have to include certain elements in order to write a great one that readers will love…and editors will want to buy.

I’ve just revamped my Writing Your First Romance Novel Workshop.

It’s a 12 lesson, self-paced class that you can read and do assignments any time you want. It’ never expires so you can use it for your current novel or future ones too.

Here’s a link to all the details and how you can get your own copy of Writing Your First Romance.

https://flynnmedia.thrivecart.com/writing-your-romance-novel-workshop/

My review (it might surprise you)….

My review (it might surprise you)….

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If you’ve been or are a student of mine, then you know I always give it to you straight.

Today is no different.

If you’ve thought about buying Writer’s Craft 4.0, then you’re going to want to read every word of this email…

I’m going to tell you EXACTLY what I think about this bundle of products, and I promise not to hold anything back.

First off, a little background: let’s talk about what Writer’s Craft 4.0 is and what it does for you…

Writer’s Craft 4.0 is a collection of premium products, curated to help creators with their content – from beginning creators just getting started, to experts who want system improvement so they can scale their businesses.

One of the stack’s top contributors really impressed me:

Michael La Ronn is the award-winning, bestselling author of over 80 science fiction & fantasy novels and self-help books for writers. 

He runs the popular YouTube channel, Author Level Up, where he publishes weekly advice videos for writers. Author Level Up has over 40,000 subscribers and nearly 2 million lifetime views. It was also voted one of Writer’s Digest Best Websites for Authors in 2022.

Michael has been featured on popular podcasts such as The Creative Penn and The Self-Publishing Formula, and he has been a guest speaker at 20Books Vegas, Inkers Con, and Writer’s Digest conferences, to name a few.

Michael’s book, The Self-Publishing Advice Compendium, packs over 500 practical and concise lessons, that will help you with writing, publishing, and marketing your book.

Micheal’s book stood out to me because of his credentials, but I’ve been through the lineup of partners in this Super Stack, and all of them were impressive.

BUT…

With so many products in this Super Stack, you might realize they aren’t all for you.

And that’s okay!

The point of this bundle is to give you an “all you can eat buffet” of creative writing tools, training, and resources…

You get to decide where you want to start.

To help you out, here are my suggestions:

***

Struggling with characters? Start here…

Fixing Your Character and Point of View Problems by Janice Hardy. Solve your character-related issues so that readers fall in love!

Create Compelling Characters by Devlin Blake. Learn how to develop characters readers can’t get enough of. This course shows you how to get to the heart of your character FAST, so you can go back to writing the fun part of your book.

The Essential Fantasy Writing Course by Richie Billing. Create lifelike fantasy characters that feel alive. This one is a MUST if you’re writing fantasy! Otherwise you can safely give it a pass.

A Bitesize Lesson on Crafting Complex Characters by Maame Blue. Write characters that come off the page with these writing exercises, top tips and a book excerpt that demonstrates the lessons.

And yes, a little shameless self-promotion here, a product by yours truly-

Time-starved? You’ll want to focus on these for fast results

Nailed It, Writing a Novel in 30 Days Planner and Workbook by Susan Palmquist. Anytime you want to write a story fast (eg. NaNoWriMo), this should be your go-to workbook.

WriteAway! By Sherry Ward. Go from writer’s block to writer’s flow and complete your manuscript with this game-changing planning system.

Finish Your Novel Faster – How to Gamify Your Writing Life by Greta Boris & Megan Haskell. Build a writing habit, get in the flow, and gamify the process so that your book gets written even if you struggle to find time and stay focused.

The Verdict

As you can see, you don’t need all 36 products in Writer’s Craft 4.0.

There’s an almost overwhelming amount of products in this bundle.

Fortunately, all you need to do is pick one or two to start with — and you can save the rest for later!

Without hesitation, I’d recommend Writer’s Craft 4.0 to any of my students. I only wish something like this had been around when I was a struggling writer.

And for just $49?

It’s a no-brainer.

Follow this link-full disclosure, it’s my affiliate one and I will be compensated if you make a purchase-

https://susiep2022–infostack.thrivecart.com/wc4/

Will you reach your goals?

Will you reach your goals?

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It’s that time of year again when retailers start bombarding us with ads for Black Friday sales. And just like every other year, we’re tempted to spend, spend, spend.

And while it’s tempting to take advantage of all the sales and buy a bunch of stuff we don’t really need, I want to encourage you to think about investing in something that will actually help you reach your goals in 2023 and beyond.

I’m talking about coaching, knowledge, and tools that will help you get ahead and make lasting changes in your life.

So before spending money on things you don’t need, consider investing in your writing craft. Take advantage of the Writer’s Craft 4.0 Black Friday bundle.

It’s the best investment you can make!

If you want to plan, organize, write and polish a book like a pro this year, this is your chance to get:

  • An advanced writing platform stuffed with tools to make your writing and editing easier and faster, plus keep your characters, story arc, and world organized so you can publish your book like a pro

  • Genre-specific writing techniques for fantasy, kidlit, non-fiction, to series writing, to screenplays and memoirs…

  • Lifetime access to 5 chart-topping writing craft books, 20 top-rated, comprehensive ecourses and masterclasses, and so much more

Follow this link to buy something that really can help you reach your goals in 2023

(full disclosure, it’s my affiliate link and I will be compensated if you make a purchase)

https://susiep2022–infostack.thrivecart.com/wc4/

P.S. If consistency is a struggle for you, you aren’t alone. MANY creators wrestle with it. Some of them have even perfected systems, and are sharing them with us for an unbeatable BF deal. Make sure you have a look at Writer’s Craft 4.0 because I know those experts will be able to help you.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

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I wanted to take a moment today to express my gratitude for you.

I know many people are going through tough times right now, and yes, been there, done that many times. However, did you know tough times can make your writing stronger, too?

And that’s why I’m so excited about Writer’s Craft 4.0.

This (kind of insane) Black Friday writing deal contains products that share insider secrets you won’t easily find anywhere else, including:

  • Donna Sozio’s Write a Better Book in Less Time. Learn insider publishing secrets that run the entire publishing, media, and entertainment industries. 
  • Megan Zavala’s Author Power Pack. Discover the #1 mistake that most authors are making without even realizing it (and what you can do to take your writing to the next level).

And there’s a TON more inside this bundle…

You just have to check it out for yourself.

Here’s to becoming a stronger writer.

Buy you copy here and yes, I’m an affiliate so I will be compensated if you make a purchase.

https://susiep2022–infostack.thrivecart.com/wc4/

Happy Thanksgiving,

P.S. Writer’s Craft 4.0 is only available for a limited time.

NaNoWriMo-Keep On Writing

NaNoWriMo-Keep On Writing

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NaNoWriMo is now in full swing. Are you taking part? If so, how are you doing?

I’ve taken the NaNoWriMo challenge a couple of times and happy to say I reached my goal…well, sort of and here’s a tip for you.

Don’t feel compelled to write all 50,000 words for the same story. One year I wrote a good chunk of three stories in my Western trilogy, Big Sky Cowboys. When I got stuck and couldn’t figure out what I wanted to write next in the storyline, I switched to another book and so on and back and forth.
By the time December 1st rolled around I had almost three stories in various stages of completion. One was almost 100 percent done, one about 75 percent and the other about 25% completed.
No, it’s not technically cheating because the goal is to reach 50,000 words and to teach you about keeping to a writing schedule and hopefully writing every day.

Yes, bottom line is that’s the one and only way you’re ever going to get a book finished and published.
Published writers aren’t any better writers they just stuck with it and crossed the finish line and you can do the same.

I’d love to help you along during this NaNoWriMo so drop me a line or leave a comment with anything you’re struggling with. If it’s a common problem I’ll even write a post about it.

And shameless self promoting plug here…I have a class on the topic over at Skillshare so I hope you’ll check it out.

Happy writing…yes, you can do it!

First Drafts Are No Place for Perfection

First Drafts Are No Place for Perfection

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NaNoWriMo is fast approaching and many of us will be sitting down to attempt no small feat. We’ll be writing a first draft for a story that will eventually become a perfect manuscript.

And note I’ve placed the word eventually in italics.

First drafts are rough drafts, sometimes very rough drafts. Many of mine have no resemblance to the stories they became. Plots got changed, characters who didn’t have a POV got granted a voice, and locations even changed.

What can stop you from writing and meeting your writing goals is trying to write a perfect first draft. There’s no such thing (well only for the lucky few).

When you tackle NaNoWriMo or sit down to write any day of the year, don’t be a perfectionist, be a writer and accept the only way to get a story written, finished, and maybe even published, is to get those words on the screen or paper.

Don’t worry about finding the perfect names for your characters, coming up with natural sounding dialogue. Don’t obsess over your spelling or grammar.

Write your story and then use your second, third or even fourth draft to make it perfect and ready to submit.

Stinging Critiques…Don’t Panic and Certainly Don’t Give Up

Stinging Critiques…Don’t Panic and Certainly Don’t Give Up

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I know lots of you enter contests so you can get critiques of your work and a few people have told me they’ve been crushed by the feedback they’ve received.

My response done that, had that happen to me. At one point it got so bad I thought about quitting.

If you feel that way, please don’t.

Not only is this just one or two people’s view of your story, remember fiction is very person specific. What one person loves another person might hate.

One other thing you should take into consideration is just who is the person doing the critiquing? Are they published? If so, in what genre? I know lots of contests let unpublished authors read and critique entries which I’m not saying is wrong but it’s something you should be aware of before you decide to send out your work. They judging you on something they haven’t been able to achieve themselves.

Also, what was the tone of the feedback? It’s one thing to tell a writer what’s wrong with their story or what they didn’t like, it’s another thing to show them how to correct the problems they’ve seen.
I had lots of judges tell me what I wasn’t wrong but no suggestions on how to put it right. Bottom line was the feedback from destructive and not constructive and it’s one of the reasons I decided to start my own critiquing and mentoring service.

So if you’ve recently received a stinging critique of your work, don’t cry, not give up, but be even more determined to get that story published because remember it’s just one person’s opinion.

Happy writing.
Want to Self Publish or Taking the NaNoWriMo Challenge?

Want to Self Publish or Taking the NaNoWriMo Challenge?

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Are you thinking about self publishing your book but not sure where to start or even if it’s for you?

Or are you taking this year’s NaNoWriMo challenge and want to get in tip top writing shape before November 1st rolls around?

I’m teaching a workshop on each topic and they both start on October 1st.

Here are the links if you’d like more info or want to register-

OIRW 2020 Workshops

http://www.marylandromancewriters.com/getting-ready-for-nanowrimo/