NaNoWriMo Day 3!

Alright, so we are three days into NaNo... everyone still breathing? Check your pulses. Stretch your legs. Brace yourself for more... MoMoWriMo (More More Write More?)

Anyway, I fell a bit behind due to Halloween. Derek needs more pressure into starting, I think he is scared, so tweet him words of encouragement! @derekdyer_WF

Comment below and let me know how your WriMo is going!

-Matt

Short Stories!

Short stories are a growing trend among all authors, new and published alike. While old publishing methods arguably did not favor production of short stories, new publishing practices with the advent of the eBook market (Here's lookin' at you Kindle/Amazon) are enabling all writers to produce and distribute short works to a massive audience. Here are some benefits of short stories:

Earning Potential: With the ability to put out multiple short stories within a short length of time, and sell them at a price that most full length novels are being sold for. Shorts offer a great way to make quick income. Per word, a short story can make more money than a novel. Shorts also offer multiple selling options. You could sell: Short 1, Short 2, Short 3. Three options right? Well consider a 4th option which won't cost you anything but a few extra minutes, sell a collection of the first three shorts as a value bundle. More often than not a reader will pick up the first short, and if they like it purchase the collection instead of individually buying the other two -which works out great for you, if you stop to consider what is actually taking place.

Bridge Between Novels: Alright, so you wrote Novel 1, and are getting to work on Novel 2. Meanwhile your loyal fans and ravenous readers are chomping at the bit to get at more of your work. To see other aspects of your world, and to be taken on more adventures. You can use short stories to sate the hunger of your followers while you type away at Novel 2, whether its to include short side stories or introduce other characters.

Networking: Short stories offer a great way for you to network with other writers and readers. You can use it to hook new readers onto your work, or to develop writing skills. Plenty of websites like Figment, and Wattpad service thousands upon thousands of new writers and offer readers looking for the next big thing a source to scour. (Shameless plug: My buddy and I who also run the blog "Wordsmiths Foundry" have made an account on Wattpad where we will be sharing shorts/flashfiction randomly. http://www.wattpad.com/user/WordsmithsFoundry)

Writing habits.

Alright, so I was just thinking about the habits I have when I go and write... specifically, I feel like I can only get good quality writing in either at night, or at the local coffee shop. Also, it seems to help if I have a nice drink such as some milk, tea, whatever.

I'm curious, do any of you have any writing habits you maintain? Do you find you only write well at X time of day? Or time of week? "I only do my best writing on Tuesdays... if I start at 12:05 pm." That's absurd but, hey, someone may have a habit like that... Its all mental... right?

Comment, share, and let me know what your favorite writing habits are!

-Matt

NaNoWriMo is coming up!

Alright,

Who here is getting ready for NaNoWriMo? When you will fill your month of November by frantically throwing words on paper until you hit your word goal, generally 50,000 words. Full disclosure here, I've never done NaNoWriMo from scratch. Last November I just started halfway through by counting a story I had already been working on... don't judge me!

This year. It begins.

I shall grab NaNoWriMo by the horns, wrestle it to the ground, and pummel it mercilessly until it cries for mommy -or it will be the other way round. (Here's hoping it isn't.)

Anyway, if you have any intention of participating in NaNoWriMo, comment below! How are you preparing? Doing world building now? Outlines? Just brainstorming in general?

http://nanowrimo.org/

Above is the link to the NaNoWriMo website! Check it out!

Good luck to all of you! Don't forget to share this blog, comment, like, whatever! It's a community and I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Happy writing, (Thats my new closing... sounds better than 'thanks!', right?)

Matt

Revisions update!

Alright, so the first short, "Heedless" is going through its second round of editing. Pretty exciting, although I'm not sure what more could be changed. If anyone is interested in reading it and giving some feedback that would be great. If there is an artist out there who would like to take the challenge of making a cover, that too would be great.

How's everyone doing? I hope you're all having a great week. I'm trying to find things to write while I go through revisions... easier said than done...

-Matt

A quick writing tip for today!

Alright,

I hope you are all well today! I just want to take a second to address an issue I deal with more often than I would like, and that you probably have all had to deal with. WRITERS BLOCK. *queue dreadful music*

Here is a tip that I have found works out pretty well. Figure out what WOULDN'T happen next in the scene. If you start to make a short list of what would not happen, then you will most likely figure out something that would be likely to happen, and therefore get yourself out of your block! Think it sounds crazy? Go ahead... try it out!

Two Writing Resources I Find Helpful! (Seriously, you may like them.)

Alright, some of you out there who are looking may be thinking about writing, or already write regularly, may find some of this stuff helpful —I know I have. 

Wikipad 

Wikipad is a very helpful tool I found out about through a podcast I regularly listen to (which is my second helpful item). It is essentially a personal wiki where you can create indepth documents to help with world building and thought organization. You can turn words or phrases into “wikiwords” which are words that also serve as links you can click on to navigate to a fresh page specifically about that item/topic/character. For example, if you have John Smith, you can turn his name into a wikiword and enable it so that when you double click “John Smith” it takes you to a blank page where you can fill out more details about him. This program lets you create a web of ideas and interconnects all of them for your own ease and lets you never lose track of something again!

You can download Wikipad here: http://wikidpad.sourceforge.net/

Writing Excuses

Writing Excuses is a podcast put on by: Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells. They release 15 minute long podcasts every Monday and cover a variety of topics related to writing, and have special guests on the show regularly. It is a very entertaining and informative podcast to answer any questions you may have!

Check it out here: http://www.writingexcuses.com/ Thanks for reading, Matt.