creative writing Archives - The Creative Writer

Book Review: Self-Publish and Succeed

Self-Publish and Succeed: The ‘No boring books’ way to write a non-fiction book that sells by Julie Broad

Thanks to Netgalley for my preview copy of this book

When reading a self-help book, it is always gratifying to see that the author has taken their own advice in the production of their book. Julie Broad is that author.

Whether it’s making the chapter titles interesting (tick), knowing your hook (tick) or even the important subject of choosing the right title and subtitle (tick, tick) Julie Broad has an opinion on all of these matters, and more importantly, she uses her own self-help book to prove why they are important.

Follows her own advice

Every chapter has something of value to the reader. Every chapter contains interesting nuggets of information and every chapter helps to build a full picture relating to the subject of the book. Julie shares stories of her first self-publishing venture and her second. By the third, she has learned a great deal and is able to share her wisdom to the benefit of non-fiction authors everywhere.

Not only did I find this book readable, helpful and interesting, but I found that what it had to say about self-publishing would also apply to fiction books in a lot of ways. Fiction books also need a good hook to keep the reader reading, an intriguing title and a ‘try me’ front cover. Any aspiring author will learn a great deal from picking up this book and reading it from cover to cover. The book also links with Julie’s website and business, so it helps to plug her business while demonstrating her knowledge of the subject matter.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, yes, I would. More importantly I would actually consider buying my own copy, I found it that helpful. Highly commended. Thank you, Julie.

Maintaining Mental Health as a Freelancer

My mental health is very volatile at the moment. One moment I am calm and enjoying the peace, the next, I am feeling sad, then angry in a never-ending circle. Mental health is a very important issue right now because of the unusual times we are currently living in. Pandemics happen approximately once every 100 years and the living conditions that they impose on those who are living through them are not easy.

Here are some thoughts about how you can help to maintain your mental health in lockdown times.

Attitude of Gratitude

Try to find the positive thought. Although for many people, normal life has been put on pause, this has meant that people have suddenly found the time to catch up on many things in life. People are putting this extra time, that they have never had before, to good use. People are spending time with their families, they are cooking more healthy food and they are taking more exercise than they did before, because to do so, means that they can get away from the four walls for a while. Be thankful for what you have. Do you have your family around you? Be thankful. Have you been able to cook more regularly? Be thankful. Have you saved some money because you no longer have to travel to work? That’s a good thing. We have been blessed with this time, so enjoy it.

Acknowledge the hurt

There are some families that have lost a lot during lockdown and it is important to acknowledge that and if it is within your power to help someone then you should do it. Whether it is sending a card to keep in touch, a gift to remember a birthday or for some other reason, it can help you to feel better about yourself and it can help someone else to feel better too.

Everyone is having off-days at the moment. The most important thing to do is to own the feelings and allow yourself to feel sad for a while. The second most important thing you can do is not to wallow in them. There will come a point when you feel better and take pleasure in something again. Finding ways to comfort other people will help your own feelings too.

As a freelancer, you may have lost some clients as the lockdown took hold. Believe that you will be able to replace them with better clients. Keep reaching out, sensitively to potential clients, keep networking and following up potential leads.

Enjoy the time off!

Craft your way to mental health

Our family have enjoyed finding time to try new crafts. Our daughter, who has had to deal with the abrupt end of her second uni year, has crafted a paper sloth, done some colouring and doodling and this week we have tie-dyed some T-shirts. We have enjoyed finding new things to try and found it peaceful to create some craft.

Home-schooling to suit your children

Children who have had to find new ways to do their school work, will not have been the poorer for it. It will help their independence as learners to work out which way to revise suits them best, to have to ask their teachers questions about the work required and to manage deadlines. Although the UK Government is hoping that children go back to school soon, the fact is that many will not go back straight away, because of the reduced numbers involved and the importance of keeping them safe. I have enjoyed working with my son and encouraging him to get his work done. It’s hard to hide at the back of the class when it’s one-to-one.

Find new ways to connect

One of the best things to come out of this time, is the way that we have found new ways to meet up with others. People who are very unconfident with technology have found themselves able to meet up in Zoom rooms, virtual pubs and virtual pub quizzes have become a thing and churches and other religious organisations have had to find new ways to connect. My parents have successfully navigated the world of online supermarket shopping, but they have not tried FaceTime yet – one thing at a time!

Which new ways have you found to connect with others? My book group have met more regularly during the lockdown. We just talk about the books we are reading at the time. The church I attend has prayer telephone conference calls and services for download on YouTube via the website. We can also hold deacons’ meetings on Zoom. I notice that both Facebook and Google have started offering meeting options – more help for us to stay in touch.

Get in touch with Mother Nature

One of the most amazing things about this lockdown has been the weather in the UK – it has been gorgeous most of the time. You have to ask whether it would have been quite so nice, had things been normal!

The lovely weather has meant that it has been quite pleasant to get out for a walk every day. I am lucky enough to have a garden and have enjoyed having some time to go in it and do some work there. But what if you don’t have a garden and cannot enjoy going for a walk because you live in a city?

There is some research to suggest that even houseplants can enhance your living space, so do some research and find a plant or two that you can live with.

Now that we can go further away to exercise (in England), find a green space to head to and enjoy. Look for the unusual places, look on maps for small paths and ways to exercise away from the crowd, find some new favourite spots to go to. Think outside the box and find canal paths, disused railways, ride a bike, go for a run.

Find a way out

Some people are finding it hard to be in lockdown because their home is not a safe place to be. If this is you, then find a way to reach out. People are aware that this could be the case. Find a way to talk to someone about your worries and try to find a way out.

Some UK numbers for you:

The National Domestic Abuse Network can be called any time, day or night, by all women or concerned family and friends:

0808 2000 247

You can leave a voicemail and a good time to call you back. There is also support information available on the website.

If it is an emergency, call 999.

Plan your next move

As a freelancer, you should always be planning what to do to keep the jobs rolling in, but it can be too easy to lose sight of this when you are just trying to get the work done. Many people have had some jobs cancelled or slowed, but this time is not going to last forever, so look out for courses to enhance your skills, overhaul your website and improve the SEO and make sure that you continue to network online.

Now could be a good time to change tack, change what you want to do in your business or plan to take it up a notch. Planning for your business can only enhance what you offer and help you to reach your business goals.

My transformation through 30 days’ blogging

30 days ago, I was not quite at the beginning of my 30 day blogging challenge. You see, it has taken my longer than 30 days to reach 30 posts. I was at Day 7, thirty days ago, but it has still been a transformation.

I love writing, but producing content for my own blog is a struggle. Sometimes I have lots of topics and can write easily, but at other times, ideas come more slowly. Signing up for 30 days of consistent blogging is a test of faith, but I managed it with my trusty editorial calendar by my side!

I have really enjoyed creating the round-up posts and the weird titles they create. Both round-ups consisted of a wide variety of subjects which probably best reflect my brain and the way it flits around! I found that people still commented on the round-ups, even though they had had the opportunity to see the post first time round.

The blog post that got the most attention was Blogs Interrupted, which was the week the world changed. The schools closed, most people were told to stay at home and stuff got real! None of us have ever known a time when the world as we know it changed so dramatically, and I got behind on my blogs for a few days as we learned to deal with our new reality.

Blog with a group

I wanted to join the blogging challenge in March, because I could see that lots of people were signing up for it and I wanted to be part of a group. It’s no fun blogging in isolation, you need people to take part. So many of the people I was blogging alongside, inspired me. People like Vaishakhi, who created Beads of Hope and Regina Byrne Coaching as well as Melina Abbott and Dale Darley. The people you meet while taking the challenge are wonderful and you get to read so many different types of blogs.

You learn so much on this challenge. Some of it I knew and had forgotten, other pieces of knowledge were brand new. Each email arrives jam-packed with information, things to do and actions to take. I learned how to use Canva (and pick the free images), I installed Yoast (and I still have arguments with it on SEO vs my style) and relearned the art of the round-up post (bit difficult to do when you post so infrequently but easy when you have 30 days’ worth of blogs).

Do Yoast & I have a future?

So, what of my future plans? Obviously I plan to blog more and want to work on a content series. I hope to continue with a mix of topics, completely confusing Google and I look forward to reading even more diverse blog posts on the 30 day blogging challenge group. I also intend to take the challenge again some time in the future, but possibly not yet! Yoast and I will also try not to break up, but just be like that annoying warring couple that everyone knows and tries to ignore.

Should you take the 30 day blogging challenge? Absolutely! It will hurt as you stretch your writing muscles, but it will feel so good after! Go on! You know you want to!

7 retro blog posts you might like to check out

When you’ve put a lot of effort into writing your blog posts, it can be difficult to lose them off the top page and awkward for visitors to your page to find and read them, unless of course, they found them through searching a specific topic in Google. So it is good to occasionally write a blog post review to search through your blog and find some of the highlights that may enjoy seeing the light of day again.

I have enjoyed searching through my blog and finding some of my highlights from recent years. Many of these were from a 30 day blogging challenge I undertook in 2016. Definitely think it’s time for another one!

Great Hero Character Names

In this blog post, I wrote about some of my favourite character names in novels and why I liked them.

2. My Top 10 Fictional Villains

What is a hero without a villain to try to foil them? These are some of my favourite villains, but I know there are many more.

3. Writing Prompts, Story, part 1 and Story part 2, and Editing a Story

I’m cheating here – there are actually 4 blog posts in one go: writing prompts and parts 1 and 2 of a story. I had fun creating this. Then I wrote a further blog post, explaining how I might edit the story, having read it back and analysed what I had written.

4. Procrastination and the Writer

This blog post was one of the most popular on my blog at one point. I think it chimes with most people who want to be writers.

5. 30 Ways to find Blog Post Ideas

For those days when procrastination is at its highest…

6. Six Girl BFFs in Fiction

I love a story with a really good girl BFF in it and here are some of my favourites.

7. Ten of the Best Bromances in Fiction

You can’t leave the boys out! Here my top ten bromances in fiction too.

7 Ways to Find that Next Blog Post

Blog post ideas can come from anywhere if you just look.

There are times when writing a blog comes so easily. Then there are times when it becomes more difficult. It seems that every subject that you want to write about, has been already covered many times before, by more esteemed writers, in such a better way than you could ever write.

What’s the point?

Surely, when it has been said before, there is no point in rehashing old ideas, old arguments, boring anecdotes and yawn-worthy lists. No one can possibly have any interest in what you have to say.

Well, possibly not, but do you really speak for the whole of the global population? In these days of the internet, absolutely anyone could come across your blog and read your next post. And this could never happen, if you hadn’t written it. You see, writing something, anything has to be better than writing nothing. At least then you have something to show for your time.

So, assuming that you are not going to give in to unworthy feelings, here are some ideas on where to start when all inspiration for the next blog post has left you.

Read a couple of favourite blogs. Find out what other bloggers are talking about. This is not so that you can copy what they are doing, but one possible blog post is to acknowledge another author’s post and answer it, or give your own twist on it. It can be helpful to see what others are talking about. Read critically and an idea may pop into your own mind. If two or three ideas come along, then jot them down. It is always useful to have some ideas on the go.
Look at news in the niche that you want to find a blog post for. You may find some inspiration in what others have been achieving. There is nothing stopping you contacting someone to ask for more information, or even an interview for your blog if you wish. Most people like the idea of some self-promotion.
Are there any authors who have books coming out linked to the topic you blog about? Reach out to them and see if they would like to promote their book on your blog. You can email an interview if you prefer not to interview in person. This can also be a great way to network.
Answer a question. This could be a question asked in a forum, a question that you have been asked, or even a question that you, yourself have asked in the past. If it is your own question, then research the answer and give the best two or three replies. Chances are that someone has answered it, somewhere.
Write a book review. Is there a book that you have found really helpful, or that you enjoyed reading? Let others know your thoughts.
Write about something controversial. Put forward your arguments, or even debate the rights and wrongs of the situation. However, be prepared that you may get some attention over this, possibly even the wrong kind of attention. It’s a good way to get yourself noticed, though!
Write about a problem you are having. Explain how you solved it, including the steps you took to get there. It may strike a chord with other people.

These are just seven ideas for how to find a blog post to write when you feel as though you have written it all before. Hopefully you have found something there that will work for you.

How do you come up with new blog posts to write? Do you have periods of time where you find it difficult? Share your tips below.

Where Do Writers Write?

Writing on a mailbox desk by Julie Jordan Scott

Roald Dahl famously had a chair in a hut at the bottom of the garden where he wrote his wickedly funny stories. Ernest Hemmingway wrote standing up as did Victor Hugo, the creator of Frankenstein. Charles Dickens wrote at a desk that he was so attached to, that he had it shipped away on holiday with him.

Jane Austen sat at a very small table to write at. You can see the table at the Jane Austen museum in Bath. It is not much bigger than a small side-table but then all you really need is somewhere to rest a pad of paper and a pen. Not for Jane the towering pile of notes to one side. She may also have been interrupted frequently by her family when writing.

Mark Twain wrote the first book on a typewriter. Such new-fangled technology it must have seemed! George Eliot had a small ornate writing desk that has sadly been stolen from the museum where it was kept. Agatha Christie used a typewriter to write 80 books! A picture of Virginia Woolf’s writing desk shows a small square table placed on a terrace, overlooking a view while Jackie Collins has a huge desk, shiny and polished, surrounded by beautiful and probably expensive things. Then there’s the cafe in Edinburgh where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book in longhand pencil.

Some writers surround themselves with books: Nigella Lawson has been pictured in a room where books rule the roost – tall shelves surround her, but there is still not enough space and piles of books are under and around the desk she works at too. The late great Terry Pratchett was pictured a few years ago with six screens on his desk although in recent year his illness had meant that he needed to dictate his work.

Where do I write?

The best place I have ever written was on holiday in the Isle of Wight. I had something I wanted to finish and took my PC away with me. The chalet overlooked cliffs and the sea was in the distance, the weather was balmy and to just sit at that small table and write was heaven…

More usually, I have taken over what used to be known as DH’s study. I still call it that, but it’s now mostly consisting of my notes, my books and my odds and ends. It is a sunny room and on hot days I can open the back door to the garden and enjoy the weather.

Feel free to share where you write in the comments below…

The Creative Writer Interviews Kathleen McGurl, UK Author

Kathleen McGurl lives near the sea in Bournemouth, with her husband, sons and cats. She began her writing career creating short stories, and sold dozens to women’s magazines in the UK and Australia. Then she got side-tracked onto family history research – which led eventually to writing novels with genealogy themes. She has always been fascinated by the past, and the ways in which the past can influence the present., and enjoys exploring these links in her novels.

When not writing or working at her full-time job in IT, she likes to go out running or sea-swimming, both of which she does rather slowly. She is definitely quicker at writing.

You can find out more at her website, http://kathleenmcgurl.com/, or follow her on Twitter @KathMcGurl .

Name: Kathleen McGurl

Writer Alias (If you are willing to share) I don’t have one

Rough Idea of where you live: Bournemouth, UK.

1. What is the first piece of writing that you remember doing?
As a child I was always writing stories, often for my own amusement. I
remember starting a novel when I was about 11, which was to be about a
highwayman’s daughter who became a highway-girl herself. I don’t think it
got very far. As an adult I started writing a novel when on maternity leave,
20 years ago, but then my son was born and took up all my time. But I knew I
was always going to be a writer some day. Eventually, when the kids were
both at school, I started writing properly and have not stopped since.

2. Has there ever been an unusual way that a story has occurred to you?
Ideas come from anywhere and everywhere but probably the most unusual was
one which occurred to me while I was swimming in the local pool. What if, I
thought, there was a ghost at the bottom of the pool in the deep end? By the
time I’d completed 40 lengths I had the full story planned in my head. I
sold that one to a woman’s magazine and also included it in my book Ghost
Stories and How to Write Them.

3. What is the best story title that you have never used? Is there a worst?
I am terrible at titles so I can’t say I’ve ever thought of a good one and
not used it. My books tend to have to put up with temporary titles until
they’re almost finished. The Emerald Comb was called The Next Novel for a
long time while I was writing it!

4. Which story would you love to have written?
Anything by Kate Morton. I love her books, especially The Secret Keeper.

5. What is the one tip that you would give aspiring authors?
Keep writing. If you want to be a writer, make sure you prioritise writing
over everything else.

6. What is your current project?
Having just finished my second novel for Carina UK – The Pearl Locket – I
have three more novel ideas to flesh out. At the moment I am not sure which
one I will start writing next, but it’ll definitely be another dual timeline
book as I love writing them!

Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Sarah!

Author Interview – Meet Carys Jones

This week Carys Jones, author has agreed to answer my Author Interview questions. Carys has written three books about attorney Aiden Connelly in her Avalon series and Prime Deception. She is also about to branch out into Young Adult fiction with her first book, Dare to Dream due out soon. You can find synopses of Carys’ books at her website and they are available at Amazon. Name: Carys Jones Rough Idea of where you live: I live in Shropshire, England, UK

What is the first piece of writing that you remember doing?

When I was about five or six I used to make little magazines about a stick character called Pod. He’d walk his dog, go to the shops, nothing too exciting but it was my first attempt at storytelling and I used to bind the pages together with staples and charge my poor Dad ten pence for each edition!

Has there ever been an unusual way that a story has occurred to you?

A couple of my stories have occurred to me following a dream. I keep a notebook in my bedside drawer so that if I wake up from a particularly vivid dream I can hurriedly scribble down the details for future use.

What is the best story title that you have never used? Is there a worst?

Some of my story titles have changed once the books were published which probably means that they weren’t the best titles originally; Not All Stars Sparkle became First to Fall and Maggie Trafford Dreams of Armageddon became Dare to Dream

Which story would you love to have written?

It has to be Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews. It is one of my all-time favourite books and is just so powerfully written. The great stories are always the ones which are most evocative, those which stay with you long after you’ve read the final sentence.

What is the one tip that you would give aspiring authors?

Write. Write as much as you can as often as you can. There is no better way to learn about yourself as a writer than to write.

What is your current project?

I’m currently writing the 4^th book in my Avalon series, Fourth to Run, and editing my YA novel Dare to Dream prior to its release later in the year.

You can find out more about Carys at:

Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/CarysJonesWriter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tiny_dancer85

Website: https://www.carys-jones.com

Blog: http://carysjonesauthor.blogspot.co.uk/

Thank you, Carys, for taking part in The Creative Writer author interview.

Subscribe to the newsletter for up-to-date information on this blog. If you would like to take part as an author/freelance interviewee then email me at sarahthecreativewriter[at]gmail.co.uk

Freelance Interview with Sarah Arrow of Sark e-Media

Sark e-Media Logo

Sarah Arrow of Sark -Media has agreed to be my next interviewee. I hope you enjoy her answers as much as I did.

Name: Sarah Arrow

Writer Alias (if you are willing to let us know)

I have several, including Sarah Stanton, Danielle Stanton, Danielle Field and few others that I’d rather not mention.

How long have you been a writer?

Erm, I’m not sure. I’m not sure that I even like writing at times! However I just can’t seem to leave it alone long enough to allow something else to take over! Rough idea of where you live: I live in Essex approximately 12 miles from London. Which is close enough to love the City, but far enough away to breathe. My house is on a golf course and in the summer I write in the garden, watching the golfers play. The 8^th hole is at the bottom of my garden, so the last 10 feet of it is a no-go zone when they play. Sometimes I sneak to the fence and throw a ball back onto the green when they’re not looking.

Are your clients local, global or a mix?

My clients are a mix of global and local. The power of the internet means we can do business anywhere that speaks English.

1. What is the first piece of writing that you remember doing?

My first piece (that I can recall) was an article on Henry VIII. I grew up in East London which is rich in history from the Tudor period. Roads are named after his first two wives and many of the landmarks are related. I found it compelling, yet gruesome to be a Queen in those times and I was thankful to be born now. I still have a fondness for Katherine of Aragon, and I often wonder how England would have looked if she’d have had a son. Did you know she was Regent of the country for a while and she martialled an army to repel Scottish forces? She won.

2. What made you realise that you wanted to write for a living?

It crept up on me! One day I was on maternity leave and playing with the children, the next day I was a blogger! I write prolifically as I’ve found when you do something more you get better at it.

3. How did you get your first client?

My first client came from a blog post and that fascinated me, I wanted to pick apart why that post worked, why the person contacted me to work with them… The rest they say is history.

4. What do you wish that you had written?

Where do I start! Harry Potter (for the money), I wished that I’d written that. I love how children worldwide started to read again with Harry Potter, proving that they don’t need dumbed down writing, but books that make them feel, and understand those feelings. I’d also loved to have written Philippa Gregory’s books, she writes very readable historical fiction. There are so many wonderful women writers, and I’m going to read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel next and by the end of it I’m sure I’ll wish that I’d written that as well! If it was a non-fiction book, then Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. It’s the book I read the most, I have it on audio and I pick it up at least once a day. I have a handbag edition, a car edition and an under-the-bed edition (for when I lack motivation). To write this book, I’d have had to live a full life and then share my wisdom, and that’s part of the reason I love it so much.

5. What is the one tip that you would give aspiring writers?

To keep writing. The words are no good if they’re in your head. So write them down, type them.. Just get them out of your head and onto the page. Don’t be scared to experiment, don’t think you can’t self-publish as that’s not real writing (look at E.L James she did it and now lives in the centre of London in a fab home), you can do anything you want to do, but if you keep the words locked up… No one will ever know your brilliance.

6. What is your current project?

Aside from my 30 day blogging challenge, I’m writing an alternate history book about a famous English battle. I’ve mapped the book out, the characters and the basic plot and I’ll soon be ready to start filling the pages!

You can find Sarah at her blog, Sark e-Media where she is currently running a 30 day blogging challenge.

Thank you, Sarah for agreeing to be on my blog. There will be more author/freelance interviews soon so keep checking this page for more details.

Subscribe to the newsletter for up-to-date information on this blog.

If you would like to take part as an author/freelance interviewee then email me at sarahthecreativewriter[at]gmail.com

You Got a Writing Job – Now What?

Celebrate! You Got a Writing Job! — Photo on Flickr by Camera Slayer

The answer came back to your carefully crafted email, letter, query etc and it was positive. You have got a writing job!

Now what?

The natural reaction may to be panic! You’ve achieved the first step on the rung of a very long and high ladder, but now you have to fulfill your promise and do the work.

You are welcome to run round in circles, punching the air or any other kind of victory dance that you may wish to do. When the first excitement has died down, turn your focus onto what it is that you will need to do.

The first thing to do is to make contact with your new client. The contact may be through phone, Skype or email. It is fine to make the first contact – they chose you for the job which means that they must want you to do it.

Try and think of any questions you may have. This first contact is important. You need to know what your client is expecting you to deliver. You need to clarify deadlines. You need to clearly understand what the job will entail. Approach any phone call with a notepad and pen to hand.

Once you have spoken to your client and understood the work, then plan out what you are going to do and when. You may have to do a small sample and send it back to your client to check that he is happy with what you are doing.

Once you get your client’s OK, then you can begin. Do your best work and try to impress them to keep any ratings high and enable you to receive recommendations from them.

You may have to send regular status reports if you got the job through a bidding site, but this is generally just giving the client an idea of where you are up to with the job so that they can be satisfied that you are getting on with your work.

Once you have finished your writing work, give it a final proof-read and polish before sending it in. Make sure that you are finished well before the deadline to allow yourself time to check it thoroughly.

Once you’ve sent your work in, be prepared that there may be small changes that the client wants to make. This is where you may have to be a little assertive.

Some writers will allow small changes or one rewrite, but if a client is getting too fussy then it may be best to negotiate an extra rate. This involves talking to your client and keeping them updated on your progress.

It’s time to invoice your client. Work through a jobs board will have a set up where invoices are generated automatically. If you use a system like Escrow, then the funds have already been made available and the system will release the funds to you once both parties are satisfied with the work.

It is a good idea to set up a Paypal account as this is easiest to administer when dealing with clients through other countries. Many of the jobs boards deal in US dollars when paying contractors.

Finally remember to keep track of your jobs and earnings using a spread sheet for tax purposes.

Photo Link: Fireworks#1