Of Note (June 7th, 2014)

Weird Tales

Everything listed here are articles I find of value. There is plenty information to look at and these are just a few I happen across. I highly recommend that if you like any information down below, you should follow and subscribe to their websites or writers. For more of these posts, click on the tag Of Note.

Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers

Stephen King is a pretty popular guy when it concerns writers, in fact, some of us may hear so much from him that we’re tired of hearing Stephen King advice. These people are wrong, or course. Stephen King is a fountain of incredible information and here is more in an easy to read list.

Are you in danger of losing your readers’ suspension of disbelief?

A large number of factors can affect a reader and their suspension of disbelief. Thankfully, we can put some out of our mind right away. A genre somebody doesn’t like. They won’t like it and never will like it. Bad dialogue. A good editor should be able to catch most of those. Stupid names. Well, that’s just not nice, is it?

It is always best to be aware of how to nurture the sense of disbelief, and so the article is present. If anything kills a story for me, it’s this issue.

5 Things You Should Never Do On Your Author Blog

First off, I don’t like number four. My blog has comments turned off for plenty of reasons. I have a hard enough time replying to emails, let alone being updated on over one hundred articles. I don’t need to “look” busy, I am busy. Writing three books a year and juggling a job, that’s a metric ton of work. And at the end of the day, not so nice people lose an avenue to try and harass me.

Number one is good, except I kind of go against that bit of advice. I’m more than happy to let people know I’m a beginner and to follow me through this journey. It gives a bit more credence about this venture and my opinions. And for others, and there a lot out there, it allows them to know that they’re not alone and that it is possible to achieve their dreams.

Also don’t be negative. People are surrounded by negativity all day. They search for the opposite, so be positive when you go out into the world.

Stanford study finds walking improves creativity

I run several writing groups. Last meeting, I stopped writing and went outside for ten minutes and walked. A certain character scene was giving me some trouble in how to proceed. The characters needed to bond in some way, as well as give the necessary exposition of what has been taking place behind the scenes. A tough juggling act for anyone, so I went out for a walk, and it clicked. The next hour was me putting the pieces together, proud that one block is being put together at a time.

How to Self-Publish Your Book Through Amazon

It’s around this time of year I get a number of new members joining my local writers’ group, and many of them don’t know much about self-publishing. They either think of vanity presses or awful local publishing houses when they think of indie authors. This is a fantastic article for those who are new and not experienced with this particular avenue.

A Writer Has Three Heads

There are many facets to a writers that many people do not see, or they don’t understand. A writer is many people battling it out in a no-holds-barred slaughter for dominance. It’s eerily similar to Valhalla, where warriors eat, drink, battle, get killed, then eat, drink, battle, get killed on repeat. Whenever a writer is positive they’ve vanquished a bad habit, be sure of it, all the trait is doing is eating and drinking its fill until the next fight.

Three Shocking Truths about finding your audience

The subject of this article is advice we all know, we roll our eyes and say we know, and every couple of months, we know we need to be reminded of it. We chase the dream of the author. A powerful role that can cause people joy and sorrow at a moment’s notice. When we attempt to reach that goal, the reality sets in, and it sets in hard. There’s no shortcut, no easy tricks, just the grind of writing and seeing nothing for a long time. It’s sort of like a nightmare.

Indie Authors: Stop Promoting to Other Indie Authors

I’m of the belief that no one can actually promote themselves to success on social media. People can be active, yes. Whenever I write a new blog post, put up a new Flashcast, or upload a vlog on my author channel, I’ll jump to Twitter and Google+ and announce it. Activity is more of showing a reliable and somewhat consistent history. It’s other people who create a success for you, and I think that thought scares people.

In life, we have little control in anything, so it’s natural for us to want to show control when there is none. We like to show others that I did it. I made the right choice. I achieved what others wish they can do. And that’s a lie. Anyone can go out and do something, but it’s in others where success is found.

 

All of these links I compiled through my Google Plus and Twitter accounts. If you liked these, and want to stay up-to-date with what is happening, subscribe to whichever is convenient to you, Google Plus or Twitter.