I came across the post of 101 Bumper Stickers for Writers and thought I’d share. Several of them gave me a chuckle.
I really liked these:
I get paid to talk to the people in my head.
Easy reading is damned hard writing.
Instant writer. Just add coffee.
I saw this question somewhere recently and it really got me thinking about all my favorite books. And the ones I’ve read way more than once. Do you do that? Or do you read ‘em once and get rid of them?
Which book(s) could you read over and over?
For me, there are a lot of Harlequin Romances I read when I first started reading romance. And any time I need a pick me up, I go back to them and reread. There are a few Susan Mallery books that always make me happy, no matter how many times I’ve read them. And pretty much any of the dark hunter books. They’re so complex there’s always something new to learn.
How about you?
I wrote this post back in early May and for whatever reason, didn’t post it. But I still think it’s worth mentioning as we all experience ups and downs. The good news, I’m back in the Ups and have found my faith again. ~ Alice
Faith…it’s something I find myself wavering on lately. Regardless of your religion (or lack there of) you probably have some sort of faith. Perhaps it’s faith in yourself. I’ve had faith in myself my whole life, thanks to an incredible family who always told me to follow my dreams.
Life is funny. In that sort of ha-ha, laugh so you won’t cry way. No matter how well prepared you think you are, life always has a curveball. Sometimes you’re ready to catch it. Sometimes it sails right by.
It seems like I’ve been struggling with faith lately. It’s just a phase, I’m sure. But such a sad one. I would describe myself as an eternal optimist. And yet I find myself fighting off the pessimism every single day.
Maybe the economy has finally gotten to me. Perhaps I’ve let all the snark in my industry get to me. It could be professionally jealousy, because hey, we all have our moments. Even me.
Whatever -it- is, I’ve got to shake it off and get back on the horse. Laugh it off, as mom would say. Let go of the stress, the chaos, the pessimism, find my lovely optimistic self, and keep the faith.
Last year I attended Moonlight and Magnolias, a conference by the Georgia Romance Writers in October. I attended a workshop given by Stephanie Bond. Stephanie is so career focused and her topic was about… your career. She said that she uses the National RWA conference as a bench mark for where she is in her career. She uses that point to look at her contracts, her covers, to see where she was and where she is now.
I decided to use the October conference as my benchmark and my goal this year was to submit to an agent.
Well, good golly. It’s July. Have I submitted to an agent yet? No. Why not? I guess I’ve let myself get distracted.
So, I’m renewing my effort to make that benchmark. Starting today!
Wish me luck,
Alice
PS. Hope all my American friends had a great 4th of July.
Morning All!
Long time no see. I know I’ve been neglecting the blog for a while. But I’m back. At least occasionally. I’m taking the summer easy and focusing on my fiction and freelance writing.
I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle some things today. One thing that I’ve been meaning to do is write a 5 Year Goal/Plan. I picked up a book recently about the founder of WalMart and he says having a 5 year plan is important. It’s not like that’s the first time I’ve heard this. 
But five years seems so far away. And yet, my husband and I have been in our house now…for five years. It’s longer than you think, and shorter too.
I’m going to go ahead and list some 5 year goals. Where I’d like to be in five years. Then break those down into action items. What needs to happen first second and third, etc.
Wish me luck.
Ally
Can I just say ouch?
Now, before you start snickering, here me out… I went to the dentist today. For a root canal. Are you trembling yet? You should be.
While the root canal wasn’t that painful, it was scary. I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to my teeth (like you aren’t…) so for me, it’s more the vibration and the sound of the drill. Ick. Ouch. Ug.
Unfortunately, dentist wasn’t able to complete the root canal. Through my numb brain (they had to inject me 6 times) I heard something about calcification…whatever that means. And oh, by the way, you’re headed to a specialist.
Remember what I said about being a wuss? All I could think of at that point was oh heavens, please let them just carry me over there in an ambulance right now so that I’m still numb when I get there. The drilling was rather traumatic. Not to mention all those injections.
No such luck. Two unanswered phone calls to the specialist and a two week wait before I can get this puppy finished.
So today, I’m camped out on the couch, working as much as possible, day dreaming about the one medicine I know will cure this poor tooth. Romance novels. Seriously… there’s something about a good, upbeat, optimistic novel about love and family and forever that totally lifts my spirits and for a while eases all worry and pain.
As much as I love apples, I’m thinking a romance novel a day would really keep me in top shape. Between you and me, kisses help too. Now if my darling husband would just finish work for the day. My cheek needs a kiss. And I need a good book.
Off to the library.
A timely reminder in my inbox today…
The folks over at RWC (a yahoogroup for writers) are discussing writing as a business. It’s not just a job, it’s a career.
Such good advice. A good reminder that all the time, energy, education, practice, networking…it’s not in vane. It will pay off. It’s just like going to college all over again.
Are you new to this whole writing business? Welcome. So glad you’ve joined me on this crazy train. Don’t worry, you get a badge and complimentary margaritas.
Chances are you’ve got lots of questions. I know I did. Guess what? There are thousands of writers on the internet and I’m willing to wager they can answer many if not all your questions. You just need to know where to look, right?
Well, let me start by blowing my own horn a bit. I hate to brag, but I have made a habit out of helping other writers for the last (lets see here) 10 years or so. So have a look around my website and blog.
Next, head over to the website I maintain for writers, www.catauniversity.com. We have an associated email group where you can meet other writers and ask questions. Sign up at: groups.yahoo.com/group/CataNetwork-Writers/
If you write romance, I recommend joining RWC, another email group: groups.yahoo.com/group/RWClist/
Stop by RomanceDivas.com for lots of support from other romance writers. Their message boards are always hoppin.
No matter what you write, I recommend signing up to this group, JustWriteIt: groups.yahoo.com/group/justwriteit/ and signing up to the message boards at www.absolutewrite.com.
It’s important to make sure the publishers and agents you’re interested in doing business are on the up and up. So check out Preditors and Editors before you send anything anywhere! pred-ed.com/
Also, check out writersmarket.com or the associated book (it’s huge) for lots of info on how to submit and who to submit to. There’s information on magazines, agents, and publishing houses. If you write children’s books, there’s an associated book full of information just for you.
In closing, if something sounds too good to be true, don’t do it. Look before you leap. Never send anyone money to read your book. And only self publish if you honestly know what you’re getting into. In other words, read this book first. Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to meet other writers. And do your research! There’s SO much information on the internet.
A few weeks ago I tweeted about this article on copy blogger: Are Vampire Words Sucking the Life Out of Your Writing? www.copyblogger.com/vampire-words/
It’s worth a read if you’re a writer because I think all writers have their own vampire words they need to watch out for. This is where a critique partner comes in really handy. They can spot these words that you over use, and words that drain your writing. (No pun intended.)
As far as finding over used words, I’ve heard from other authors that you should only use “rare” words once every hundred pages or so. I’m pretty sure Sarcophagus would be a “rare” word, depending on your story.
I use a program called yWriter (it’s free) and it gives me a list of all the words in my book, and how many times I’ve used those words. I find that really handy. Another good idea is to use the find feature on your word processor and search for common problem words, like the ones in the copyblogger article. Also, look for was -ing words. “Was running” = bad. Ran = good. Jogged = better.
All of these rules of reducing weak words became crystal clear recently. I’ve been working on a new project with Hubsters and he wrote the first round of the website copy. Who knew a man could use the words “just” and “merely” and “simply” so many times in five pages of text?
Upon reading (and fixing) those glaring issues (oh, my eyes!) I vowed to never use them again in my own writing. I should mention that to my critique partners and beta reads so they can hold me accountable.
Ever wonder if there’s an easier way to write a novel or screenplay? There could be. While Word is a standard, there are other options including Open Office, Wordpad, yWriter (a favorite of mine) and not to mention, pen and that old thing we like to call paper.
Yes, it’s still possible to write on paper with a writing utensil. Shocking, right? (Don’t forget to type all that long hand into your computer and print out a nice sharp hardcopy to send to the editor/agent!)
If you’d like to give writing software a try, check out Gabrielle Luthy’s list of possibilities. It’s fairly comprehensive and even includes pricing info.