book

Writer’s Wisdom 86

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A Reader’s Game

At one point, you probably have asked yourself – “How do best-selling authors do it?”  “How do they keep their readers coming back for more?”

An easy answer to that question is with another question – What keeps us coming back to our favorite authors? 

However, part of their magic is that they know how to play the reader’s game – they challenge their readers.  They give them more of what they want, but at the same time, best-selling authors seem to know when to stop, and how to encourage readers to look for more inside the story.  They feed the story slowly, and they give the readers morsels of mystery and awe, of emotion and feeling, and the readers love the game.

But most important is that they seem to love the game of writing as well, they love what they do, they are true to the story and their characters, and they respect their readers.

Writer’s Wisdom 85

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Of Books and Movies

There seems to be two teams of authors when we talk about books and movies.  The authors who enjoy the process of working and collaborating in the making of their best seller into a movie, and the authors who will leave the process entirely up to the director and the movie industry.  However, there is one unifying and common opinion of both groups – both agree that movies are a complete different animal, and as long as the integrity of the story is kept, they can deal with any other changes.

I tend to agree with this.  If a movie where to be made exactly as a book was written, it would actually be boring on-screen.  A movie needs a soul of its own, and that is what Directors do best – they give a different kind of life to the written word, a reincarnation  (if you can call it that), a second incarnation for the book lovers where they can appreciate other levels and dimensions of the same story.

Writer’s Wisdom 84

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The Magic of Best-selling Authors

What is the key to enchanting writing?  What is the secret of best-selling authors?  I am sure that most of us, at one point, have been captivated  with a book from a favorite author – being that person a best-selling author or not.  How do best-selling authors get to captivate so many readers?  It seems natural to think that they plan their writing and target a certain section of the population to obtain readership.  Right?

This could not be further from the truth.  While being interviewed many best-selling authors have said that they write for themselves – as in the case of Stephenie Meyer or Lee Child.  They say that they are honest to the story when writing, and they keep honest to the reader.  They seem to be of the opinion that if you evoke feelings in yourself when writing the story, you will evoke feelings on the reader as well.  Another trend is that they also mention how blessed they feel to be doing what they love – to write.

So there is no big secret of best-selling authors.  It seems that they write with passion for themselves – and they love it.

Writer’s Wisdom 82

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Every writer is a writer.

At first glance this may seem as a sentence without much meaning or even much sense.  However, what prompted me to write it was that it occurred to me that sometimes we are quick to criticize other’s work without going deeper.  Some might stop reading at the first grammatical error they encounter, others at the first cliché.  I have read about a best-selling author giving an opinion on another writer (now a best-selling author) and saying that the author did not know how to write.  The author became a sensation overnight.  I guess my point is that we should not judge or ill criticize the writing of others just because it does not follow our style and common rules.  There are no Gods in the world of writing just writers.

One thing is to present a piece to the world that is poorly written and obviously, without much care – that shows in writing.  Another, is to write different from the masses.  We should work on improving our writing everyday.

Writer’s Wisdom 81

/ inkspeare / 2 Comments

What happens when writing does not meet your expectations?

There are many ways we can approach the answer to that question.  It is a matter of individual experience, and whatever your expectations are as a writer.  At one point or another we will ask that question to ourselves, to the writer inside, and we may or may not like the answer.  Or maybe, we might not have an answer at all – at least yet. 

Sometimes, you will work hard, and harder, but the results and rewards just don’t show up in a pretty package.  What then?  Do you beat yourself up?  Do you get discouraged and stop writing?  Do you take a break to clear your mind and find a new path?  Do you just ignore your feelings and keep writing anyway?  Maybe, you will think of another approach to your writing.

Whatever your answer, it is one that you must deal with to be able to find your way as a writer – I am still figuring that one.  If writing is your passion, keep at it.  If you have to try different approaches, then try them.  If you need to take a break and clear your mind, then do so.   Do what you have to do, and what you need to do to find your writing path.  For some it will take longer than others.  Look at the different life stories of best-selling authors.  For some it happened fast, while others took years figuring out that they belonged writing.

I guess my point is, a true writer finds a path.

Writer’s Wisdom 80

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Live and Write

If you are busy freelance writing, you may find that it takes most of your day, and sometimes, a few hours at night.  It may also take some of your weekends.  Assignments come and go, and the competition is fierce – you are lucky if you can grab it.  However, how much is too much?  You know you have to eat, right?  But at what cost?  Be thankful for the assignments you get, but also live your life.  Make time for your spirit, yourself, your family, your pets, and your friends.   If you don’t, you will find yourself in a less than perfect mood for writing.

Create a balance, and write.  Live and write.

Writer’s Wisdom 78

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Writing for Pleasure

You have deadlines to meet, and many writing projects awaiting you, but there are times when you just need to write for pure pleasure – just for you.  It is important to nurture this part of writing and give it a place in your hectic schedule.  If you only write because you want to get paid, you will be missing on this important aspect.

When you write for pleasure, you enter a realm of enjoyment, and you are opening the gates of inspiration.  When this happens, ideas can come from anywhere, and you will experience the power of the written word.  Many of us are so worried about making the deadlines and earning a living (out of necessity,of course) that we forget to take a bit of time to just relax and write for ourselves – just for the pure enjoyment of it.

From time to time, relive the early days of your writing career, and take a few minutes to write for the simple pleasure of it; recapture the magic.

Writer’s Wisdom 76

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Juggling Act

When you write for a living, you will probably cram your schedule with as much writing as you can, and many projects at once – some short-term, others, long-term assignments.  A lot of time can be spent in projects that do not generate enough income.  Learning to decide which projects to put aside and which ones to pick up is not as easy as it seems.

While a project may give you instant rewards, another will reward you much more in the long run.  Also, you may have to put aside your favorite project to handle a more profitable one.  Or you might have to cut a project to a few days a month, if that project is not generating what you want – and sometimes, cut it altogether.

This is why writing for a living is like a juggling or balancing act – you have to be balancing projects and deciding which ones to give a priority, which ones fit your needs at the moment, and which one to drop or revisit later.  Timing is also important, as a project that may have seem profitable initially, may not be, if you are spending more time in it than you originally planned.

Writer’s Wisdom 75

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Pricing your content

There is no right or wrong here, in my opinion.  It comes down to what works for you and the time that you are willing to spend on a project and at what cost.  As a freelance writer, and independently employed, it is up to you to choose the type of work you want to do, and price it according to your needs.  There is a lot of competition in writing, and sometimes, it comes down to grab the assignment that will put food on the table.  However, you have to decide the amount of time that you are spending on a project, and if it is worth it.  Is that time better used to get other assignments that will pay better?  I have seen very low offers for work – as low as 20 cents for a 100 words … It may not appeal to some, but to others, it will make a difference.  The time that you will spend writing that 400 word article (or any other project) at that rate, is what you should weigh.

When pricing your content, take your personal needs into account, as well as the going market price for writing projects.

Writer’s Wisdom 73

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About Private Level Rights packages

Mostly known as PLR packages or bundling, these are articles on a theme that are sold together, such as ten articles about gardening.  Due to the fast request and search engine hunger for content, these packages have become popular.  Many freelance writers will bundle a few articles and sell them as a package.  PLR packages can be packs of 10 -20-25 articles. 

Packaging your articles will allow you to sell them faster to interested buyers and also to play with the price, as it is easier to price a package than sell one article.  You may or may not discount the price, it is up to you.  If you feel that your single articles are not selling fast enough, maybe you should try bundling them instead.  This can also be applied to any other artistic material you may have such as photography or e-books.  Test the waters and see what best works for you as a freelancer.