Tips & Advice

23 November, 2014

The Best Social Media Sites for Writers

Recently at one of the writing forums I’m a part of, there was a discussion about recommend social networks for writers, and the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook.

I’m not a big fan of treating social networks as promotional tools–I just goof around and make friends on all my social networks, it’s a lot more fun that way–but I still had some thoughts on the effectiveness of each network for connecting with others. Never one to miss a chance to share my opinion, I had a few things to say…

Facebook‘s an attractive tool for promotion because you already know a lot of people on it–friends, family, fellow writers–and most of them know how to share posts and like pages. But after you build a couple of hundred followers, Facebook becomes a self-destructive and expensive promotional market. As soon as you reach a high number of likes, Facebook starts throttling your views and charging you to increase the percentage of people who see your posts — they effectively hide you from your ‘likes’ until you pay. It’s good for building an audience in the early stage, but it comes back to bite you later.

So what else is there that I can recommend?

The best ‘self-promotion’ space will always your own a self-hosted website. It’s the only space YOU control, the only space you can predict. As long as you keep your bills paid and your site backed up regularly, there’s not much that can go wrong here. The terms over at Twitter or Tumblr could change any time to match Facebook’s throttling (Tumblr especially is one to watch since it’s owned by Yahoo! now and is evolving to suit its new owners).

If you can’t afford your own website, a WordPress.com or Blogger website is a good second-best. They both rank well in search engines, have full features without requiring you to fork out money, and they rarely have big shifts in terms or interface like Twitter and Tumblr often do.

I’d rank the social networks as follows, when it comes to ease-of-use and benefit to writers:

1. Your own website
2. Twitter
3. Goodreads
4. Tumblr / Pinterest (these cover some very similar ground, you can use both or just pick one)
5. Facebook

Pinterest is great for giving your written projects a visual side. It’s good in the brainstorming/first draft stage as a motivation tool, and good as a bonus for readers later — you can show them a little scrapbook of what inspired you. It’s not good for building an audience, really, just for entertaining your existing one.

Tumblr is good for strong visual projects, and for any content that’s of an ‘shareable’ nature. Potential for building an audience, but it’s easier if you have artistic skills. It can be a hard ‘market’ to break in to and there’s a bit of a learning curve to the site. It’s friendlier towards text posts than Pinterest is, and can be good for sharing short stories.

Pinterest and Tumblr cover a lot of the same ground, including sharing covers and fanart and sharing inspirational images. A lot of writers will only need one of these, but some writers find uses for both.

But be careful — Pinterest and Tumblr (all of the social networks, in fact) have the potential to be HUGE timesinks. Guard your time wisely and don’t let social media drain all your day away…

GIF: I haven't slept in 83 hours. — GIF: I haven’t slept in 83 hours.

Twitter is good if you have a chatty social personality, but steer away from too much promotion. Twitter is all about communicating with others, interacting with the community. Self-promo should be, at the absolutely MAXIMUM, 10% of your tweets. Strong potential for building an audience (or, y’know, just making friends) here because it’s a text medium and well-geared for writers.

It’s also beneficial for a writer to have a Goodreads page –– set up an author page, update it with books you’re currently reading, ensure you books have correct pages set up so that readers can add them…. but whatever you do, ignore the review section. Don’t even look at it. Avoid avoid avoid.

But wait, why are you telling writers not to read reviews? Alright, you got me, that’s a generalisation. Some writers can handle it and benefit from the feedback, but most don’t so I always advise against it. Our brains are programmed to remember negatives more than positives, which can be a dangerous hit on already fragile writer self esteem. Also, writers with perfectionist tendencies (*points at self*) will be frustrated and potentially discouraged because they’re receiving feedback on a work they’re unable to change.

BUUUTTT not everyone is like that. Best-selling awesome writer Maggie Stiefvater has an argument from the other side of the fence, and she raises some great points about how reading reviews can help you improve. So if that floats you boat, go for it.

Goodreads is an odd network because a lot of it (eg the reviews, the annoying private messages) is best left ignored, but having pages up for your books and running the occasional giveaway can have a long-lasting benefit. With Goodreads you can set up the starting details and let your readers take control from there — writing reviews, having discussions, adding the books to lists etc. After a push from the author it becomes entirely reader-driven.

As for YouTube, I can’t say much about it because I don’t use it for social networking (I mostly just glare at the comment section). If you have the personality and equipment to be a vlogger, it’s always worth giving it a shot, but most writers are more comfortable with words instead of a video camera.

So, writers, what’s your favourite social networks? Chime in in the comments!

29 January, 2014

Goodbye to January

And goodbye to sleep. I think this stayin’ up is exactly what I need.

WUW Winter Holly 1

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. It was created by created by Jaime and Erin. Want to join the party? Go right ahead, and remember to leave a link to your What’s Up Wednesday post in the widget on Jaime´s blog.

What I’m Reading

If you liked the cover of Laura Lam’s SHADOWPLAY in last Wednesday’s blog, you might like my honest back cover copy for the first book in that series, PANTOMIME.

I’m getting back into my beta reading queue this week, and finally making progress with the backlog. It’s nice to be discovering such great stories, though the pressure to be useful and have feedback for every single chapter can weigh heavy sometimes.

Still, I’m lucky to have some great authors entrust me with their work.

What I’m Writing

Turns out revising is much easier if you just go ahead and do it. Who’d have thought?

I’m working on the BROKEN THINGS revision just now, using a fairly simple process:

I’m reading the manuscript very quickly, skimming through it
As I go through scenes, I write an outline of each scene on an index card
I’m using the goal-motivation-conflict system for scenes, and reaction-dilemma-decision for sequels. Some info on that is here. Scenes that don’t fit this structure get rewritten or cut.
I’m revising lightly as I go, filling in blank spots, adjusting things to match the outline and changing tense.
Once this revision is done, I’ll read through the revision again with my full attention, looking for more changes and doing detailed tweaks such cutting the flab from sentences..

Writing advice is never a one-size-fits-all thing, but this method is geared towards one of my known weaknesses (pacing) so it’s working out well for me.

That said, it’s all experimental, so I might feel differently this time next week.

What Inspires Me

I’m living the zen life just now, spending most of my evenings reading books and drinking tea. It’s all good.

I’m fairly sure you can measure the quality of my life at any moment (and my stress levels) just by asking if I’ve had time to read recently.

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Anne Lyle had a good series post up about the ‘Getting Things Done’ method, which uses to-do lists to organize your goals. (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of her guides.) I’m already a big user of to-do lists so I’ve been trying to adopt this, to force my legions of to-do lists into a more ordered purpose. and I’ve had good results. I’m finally caught up on my inbox and have a clear idea of my goals for the rest of the week.

9 March, 2012

Neil Gaiman on Writer’s Block

Neil Gaiman: Reposted as something that can be reblogged. ON WRITER’S BLOCK.:

I’ve seem to be hitting writer’s block far too often now. My grade in my creative writing class is suffering because i don’t turn in anything because i’m never really satisfied with anything i do. all my good ideas seem to turn into bad ones once i write it down. How do you get pass writers block?

You turn off your inner critic. You do not listen to your inner police force. You ignore the little voices that tell you that it’s all stupid, and you keep going.

Your grade isn’t suffering because your writing is bad, it’s suffering because you aren’t finishing things and handing them in.

So, finish them and hand them in. Even if a story’s lousy, you’ll learn something from it that will be useful as a writer, even if it’s just “don’t do that again”.

You’re always going to be dissatisfied with what you write. That’s part of being human. In our heads, stories are perfect, flawless, glittering, magical. Then we start to put them down on paper, one unsatisfactory word at a time. And each time our inner critics tell us that it’s a rotten idea and we should abandon it.

If you’re going to write, ignore your inner critic, while you’re writing. Do whatever you can to finish. Know that anything can be fixed later.

Remember: you don’t have to brilliant when you start out. You just have to write. Every story you finish puts you closer to being a writer, and makes you a better writer.

Blaming “Writer’s Block” is wonderful. It removes any responsibility from the person with the “block”. It gives you something to blame, and it sounds fancy.

But it’s probably more honest to think of it as a combination of laziness, perfectionism and Getting Stuck. If you’re being lazy, don’t be. If you’re being a perfectionist, don’t be. And if you’re stuck, figure out where the story went off the rails, or what you got wrong, or where you need to go deeper, or what you need to add to make it work, and then start writing again.

Things I need to remember.

26 May, 2011

My Top 5 Writing Tips

I always feel a bit awkward offering tips for writers. I have endless reams of excuses: I’m not famous enough, I’m not good enough, I’m too flawed and I’m still trying to follow some of these tips myself…

But here’s the thing: I learn from my faults, and everyone other writer out there has moments of feeling flawed and not good enough.

So I’m going to stop hiding my head and start passing on what I’ve learned. Without further ado, here are my top 5 writing tips.

Keep writing. You can’t go anywhere until your novel is finished. Then you’ve got revisions, and your next work to start. Writing is the best way to learn how to write, so keep at it and don’t get distracted by your worries over the state of publishing, the querying, the cover art or who’ll play who in your amazing movie adaption.
Learn the craft. The art is writing is in the editing. Read up on editing and structure, then take your book and rip it apart. Shape and rebuild it until it’s close to perfect.
Learn the business. Read industry blogs, research agents, learn about queries and covering letters, learn how to polish your work and display it to agents in the most attractive way possible. You can also keep to grips with social media, but don’t get too sucked into it – if you’re writing fiction, keep the big social pushes until after your book is signed. (If you’re writing non-fiction, on the other hand, develop as big a prescience as possible beforehand).
Stay humble. Learning the business means putting yourself out there in the best way possible. You have to sell yourself, as cringe-inducing as that may be for if you’re a shy, bookish type like me. But whatever you do, don’t fall into the trap of developing an ego. There are very few things more disgusting than big-headedness. Stay confident in your work, but seek out criticism – find beta readers and honest friends who’ll help you see the flaws in your work. This will help prepare you for the world of editorial letters and reviews that will come once you ‘make it’.
Don’t stop reading. Reading is how you develop your writing, and as your develop your writing, craft and business sense books will take on new forms for you. You’ll be able to pick apart the structure, adore the voice, love the craft, smile at the savvy use of advertising. You become some crazy, telepathic hyperreader, seeing through the book to all the effort the author has but into it. You’re a telepath, seeing the thoughts that put it all together. You’re awesome, and best of all, you now enjoy reading even more.

Those are my favourite five writing tips, and they’ve served me well. I hope you find them useful as well.

26 June, 2010

Getting Published – The Process

Hey, I was wondering if you could give me any tips on getting published? I’ve done a few searches on the internet but it’s hard to know which sites are scams and which ones are actually for real these days. Many thanks :)

– Comment by Gord

Hi Gord! Okay, a quick overview of the publishing process for commercially published fiction. It works like this:

Finish the manuscript. This is the hardest step. Re-draft it, edit it, polish it up until you’re sure it’s your best work. Give it to people to read and give some honest critique on. Don’t rush anything, just spend all the time you can getting it as perfect as you’re capable of.
Get an agent. This requires sending out a query giving a summary of your work and any writing credentials you’ve got. There are lots of good sites for advice on writing a query – I recommend looking at all the links down the side of Nathan Bradford’s blog, and taking a long browse of Query Shark. Editorial Anonymous is pretty snazzy as well. You can find editors by browsing online, or picking up the latest Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook. Expect a huge amount of rejections at this stage – rejections in the hundreds isn’t uncommon, even in the thousands sometimes. With a bit of luck, you’ll have some agents requesting partials – the first few parts of the novel – and if they like it they’ll request the full story. With a lot of luck, they’ll then take you on!
Once you get an agent, they’ll set to work on finding you a publisher. Concentrate on whatever you want to work on next when this is going on, don’t get too hung up on it. The agent might ask you to tweak certain things in the book.
The publisher will give you either a single book-deal, or a multi-book deal – these deals are good if you’re doing a series of novels, as they mean you’ll definitely be able to publish the other books in a series even if the first book doesn’t do fantastically. Most sci-fi and fantasy contracts are multi–book deals.
An editor will work on the book before publication, and the manuscript will go back and forth between you and the editor until everyone’s happy. You’ll sometimes get sent cover ideas to look at, but authors generally don’t have much say in this. About a year to two years after you get your contract, it should be printed and ready to hit the shelves.
Once it’s out, you’ll need to spend a lot of time and energy doing interviews with papers, news programs and blogs as well as doing signings, workshops and school/library talks. This is all a key part of publicising the work and it can be costly depending on how much you want to help push the book, and how big the publisher’s advertising budget is. A published will usually send out a few copies to reviewers, maybe put a few adverts in magazines and posters up in bookstores, but if you’re a new author don’t expect too much. You can get paid a decent amount for doing talks and workshops, though
Once the book has earned back it’s advance – a lump sum given to you when you sign the contract which os usually nothing spectacular (working a normal job is far better financially) – you’ll start earning royalties depending on how well the book sells. These are a percentage of the book’s sales, varying according to your contract. If your book is sold to other countries you can make some decent money on the side as well and the publisher may take you on a promotional tour to do signings in that country.

Wikipedia has this to say on royalities:

Hardback royalties on the published price of trade books usually range from 10% to 12.5%, with 15% for more important authors. On paperback it is usually 7.5% to 10%, going up to 12.5% only in exceptional cases. All the royalties displayed below are on the “cover price.” Paying 15% to the author can mean that the other 85% of the cost pays for editing and proof-reading, printing and binding, overheads, and the profits (if any) to the publisher.

The publishing company pays no royalty on bulk purchases of books since the buying price may be a third of the cover price sold on an singles basis.

All you really need to know is that per book, it’s not much. If your profits don’t make up for the advance, you won’t get any royalties at all and the publisher will be a bit unhappy. I really can’t stress enough that for new authors, it’s not a high-paying job and you quite often need to keep at least a part-time job even after publication.

Very importantly, a publisher will never ask you for money up-front. Neither will an agent or editor. If they do, they’re not legit so get out of there quickly – legit publishing people make their wages through taking percentages of what you earn, you don’t have to pay them for anything. That’s the quickest way to tell if a publisher is a scam, and the Writer’s Beware! blog is excellent for catching out dodgy businesses as well.

For further reading, check out the latest “Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook”, Stephen King’s “On Writing”, or reader recommendation Carol Blake’s “From Pitch to Publication”.

Update: I’ve put up a brand new FAQ page to keep track of good questions like this.

Update 2: Added a few book recommendations after some good feedback from Brian (MyNairn/SFFChronicles).

6 June, 2010

3 Golden Rules To Avoid Writer’s Block

Hello Emma! I am in the middle of yor first book, and I have to say it is very interesting. I’m in the middle of writing my own novel, Im 14 and I’ve been writing mini stories also since I was around 10 also. I would like to have some tips from you on how to keep moving foward and what happens if you get writers block? Big Fan!

-Chris

Experiencing a ‘block’ – when you can’t think of what to do next or when everything you try to doesn’t feel right – is part and parcel of any creative career, from writing to music and art. Sometimes it lasts a day, sometimes it can last months. Sometimes you’ll get it once or twice, sometimes every other day.

It sucks, but there are a few ways to get through it. Here are my Golden Rules for Avoiding Writer’s Block.

Keep At It – There’s this little thing called the ‘inner critic’ that most authors have. It’s good in small amounts – being overly egotistical can ruin your work – but it usually comes in large amounts, which is when we need to switch it off.

When you’re writing a novel the first step is getting it done. It’s a big project, and if you’re stopping to change things around, to edit and re-edit your opening and ideas, to fix up continuity and perfect that one troublesome paragraph, you’re going to get bogged down and you will grind to a halt. If you find yourself getting stuck perfecting it all, just stop and keep on going.

If you’re not happy with a scene, mark it and leave it. Get the first draft done, and then you can go back and start working on making it perfect. If you don’t finish the first draft that perfect opening chapter won’t be much use.

Mix It Up – If your chapter just isn’t working out, skip to a scene that does work. When I’m working on a novel, I try to keep it linear, but if I get stuck I’ll start fleshing out that future moment that I know is going to be awesome. In the process, sometimes I’ll figure out something about the characters that’ll make that section easier to complete – either way, I’ll be one step closer to the finish line.

In a more extreme example, I used to have a habit of switching projects entirely – so I’d be working on entirely different stories at the same time. If this works for you, go for it. I do it sparsely now because it slows down my progress and can get confusing, but it was fun for a while. One thing to watch out for is that, if you’re enjoying a side project a lot more than your main work, sometimes it can be better just to put your current piece inside and write what you’ll properly enjoy.

There’s also switching mediums – I like to sketch out character designs and key scenes to break up the writing, but the more musically inclined might like to create their own soundtrack for their works.

Be Inspired – Take some time off and read some books, watch TV and movies, play video games and listen to music. Getting a good experience of what’s out there, what works and what your enjoy is essential to understanding how creativity works, and will help shape you into a good writer (as long as you don’t let it drain away all your time, I had to cut down on TV and gaming to have more productive hours). Not to mention going out there and being social – things like having a good ear for dialogue and writing convincing characters mean going out there and understanding how people work, and how they interact.

If you get ideas for your story from all of this, all the better. Plagiarism (lifting stories and ideas straight from other sources) is a no-go if you want any kind of success as a writer, but giving your own spin on concepts is what this career is all about. Writer’s don’t just pluck ideas out of the air – it’s a bit more like cataloging everything you see, hear or experience and using it to understand how to make characters and stories, before shaping it into your own ones.

Personally, I like to listen to songs with a relation to my work and play through scenes in my head that match the music – I get a lot of very visual ideas doing that. I’ll also watch some TV shows with similar themes, or read books related to the idea. Right now I’ve got I’ve got a big reference book on religious mythology to leaf through, and I’ve been reading some Stephen King for some help with writing clean, believable first-person narrative.

Last but not least, relax. There’s no such thing as permanent writer’s block, or ‘losing’ your talent. Maybe you’re just pushing yourself too hard, or there are some other factors in your life that are getting in your way – stress and illness can wreck your creativity, as odd as that may seem. Spend some time with friends and family and take some time off, it’ll all come back to you soon enough.