Who’s Ready for NaNoWriMo?!

Saturday, October 31, 2015
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with National Novel Writing Month, fondly known as NaNoWriMo, since my first attempt in 2009. Tomorrow, November 1st, will mark the start of the 17th annual event in which writers worldwide attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in just 30 days. No need to pull out your calculators because I’ve done the math for you: that’s 1,667 words per day. My initial...
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Friday Speak Out!: Just Turn it Off

Friday, October 30, 2015
by Elizabeth Joyce I haven’t written in three months. My addiction to social media is to blame. It started from logging on once a week to frequent checks throughout the day. I write on a tablet which has a removable keyboard. The accessibility of switching from Word to apps in seconds lured me into making a purchase. One day the tablet wouldn’t turn on. “This can’t be happening!” I thought,...
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Four Tips for People Who Want to Write for Children

Thursday, October 29, 2015
That fake-o smile over there? It looks like the one I give people who chat me up about children’s writing and then make the big reveal. “I normally write for adults/teach/climb mountains but I want to do something quick and easy and make some money out of it.” Nine times out of ten, I wish them luck and make my way to the punch bowl. They don’t want to know how to write for children, but you’re...
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Build Your Network

Wednesday, October 28, 2015
© Tuulum | Dreamstime Stock Photos  Do you ever have days where you feel like you’re floundering in your writing career? Like the small steps you take each and every day to generate ideas, polish your work, hit the send button and earn those freelance paychecks are getting you no closer to paying the mortgage or any other substantial bills? Believe me, I’ve been there. But...
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Interview with Cheryl Eichar Jett: Spring '15 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Meet Cheryl Eichar Jett: Cheryl Eichar Jett is a historian, author, and blogger. Currently working on her sixth nonfiction book for Arcadia Publishing, she is also a regular contributor to several regional publications including a monthly column “Along Route 66,” in the paper-plus-online www.thebuzzmonthly.com. She blogs about her adventures at www.route66chick.blogspot.com as the Route 66 Chick,...
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Three Steps to Get You Closer To Publication

Monday, October 26, 2015
Last month, my first published books arrived! They were English books written for the Korean educational market. Not surprisingly, my kidlit writer friends have asked how I came to write books for the Korean educational market, and usually, I say it was just luck. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve come to see that it wasn’t “just” luck. There were a couple steps I took along the...
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We Would Like to Hear From You: Success Stories and More

Sunday, October 25, 2015
We would love to hear from our readers. We need some success stories for a newsletter that is hopefully coming out this week. What have you been up to this fall? It can be a contest win, a published book, a new blog, a writing goal you met--what success have you had since the kids went back to school? Please leave it in the comments below in 100 words or less. It would be helpful if you wrote it...
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Uneven Pavement - a flash fiction piece

Saturday, October 24, 2015
It's taken me awhile to embrace this TimeHop feature on Facebook. At first I really enjoyed looking at the old photographs and it helped put things in perspective (as far as how much life can change in a short amount of time). Many of my WOW! Women on Writing book blog tours have appeared as memories and it's been fun to revisit some much loved authors, blogs, and posts. Recently, one of my own...
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Friday Speak Out!: Practice, Practice, Practice

Friday, October 23, 2015
by Michele MacKinnon Back in April I started a four-week class which blended “low-impact art exercises” and writing about each exercise. The class description grabbed me: “Are you stuck?” “Yes,” I answered silently. When invited to write about my reasons for attending the class I scribbled “I feel I am starting a transition to something new, to something that allows me to experience joy more often.”...
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Pay Attention to the No

Thursday, October 22, 2015
Interested in writing for a specific magazine, I asked an acquaintance involved with it if they were looking for freelance contributors. I was treated to a rant on his horrible experiences working with freelancers and the subpar quality of freelance work. So... Fast forward two years. Two years that I ignored this market -- because they didn't want freelancers, right? Last week I ran into the magazine's...
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6 Tips for the Aspiring Creative Writer

Wednesday, October 21, 2015
When students, friends, or family members tell me they want to be published creative writers, there are 6 tips and resources I provide. Image courtesy of Stuart Miles @ at FreeDigitalPhotos.net 1. You’ve got to sit down and write. That’s kind of a no-brainer. 2. You’ve got to read. See how others are writing so you can decide what works and doesn’t work. This includes reading within...
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Meet Chaynna Campbell, Spring 2015 Flash Fiction Runner Up

Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Chaynna Campbell lives in the quiet town of Orange, Massachusetts with her fiancé, Michael and her mischievous cat, Toothless. Her love for writing and finding ways to inspire others has always been a positive outlet for her creativity. Chaynna also takes great pleasure in planning her annual Random Acts of Kindness birthday list. When she’s not writing, she’s collecting donations for the charity...
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Writer’s Retreat: Little Cabin in the Big Woods

Monday, October 19, 2015
This weekend, I drove out to a cabin in the woods in a Missouri state park. Long before I had a book due tomorrow, my group planned this event – Friday mid-afternoon through Sunday noon and nothing but writing. And food. And maybe some walking in the woods. Why did I take the time to do this when I have a book due tomorrow? Because it is a retreat with my fellow writers and no one holds you...
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The Courage to Be Who You Are

Sunday, October 18, 2015
This past week, I ventured out on a Monday night to go to a concert. As I get older, I hesitate to do that unless it’s a weekend, but I decided to go for it. (I did have to brew an extra pot of coffee the next day.) A musician I greatly admire was the opening act, and I had no idea when he would come through the area again. He did not disappoint, and we decided to stay on and watch some of the...
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Facing the Sewing Moment

Saturday, October 17, 2015
Here it is mid-October and I don’t know about you but for me, the whole year seemed to zoom by! Still, there’s a chunk of time left to get those 2015 goals accomplished. But. But what if you are one of those writers who struggle to accomplish your writing goals? To accomplish any writing goals? To even find your list of writing goals? For the third year in a row. It might be time for you...
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Friday Speak Out!: Walking the Talk!

Friday, October 16, 2015
by Jennifer Brown Banks A few months ago, in an effort to build my writing portfolio and my bottom line, “this little piggy went to market.” Though I have publications to whom I submit on a regular basis, I was seeking more opportunities to reach new and larger audiences with my work, and meet income goals established. Boy was I surprised. I discovered that though the Internet has exponentially...
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Social Media and Critique Groups

Thursday, October 15, 2015
by Wonderlane (Flickr) I've written about my critique group on here before--the Lit Ladies. You know I'm very fond of these women and forever grateful that they keep me moving toward my goal of someday becoming a bestselling author. But we are also busy women with a lot going on in our lives, and we also live all over Missouri and Illinois. So it is hard for us to: Find time to write Find a...
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Book Review of Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Book Review by Crystal J. Casavant-Otto Reading Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert was such a welcome break during what is essentially an incredibly busy time of year on our dairy farm. To give you an idea of what I mean by busy: Last week, I saw my husband for 20 minutes and most of those he was falling asleep sitting at the counter attempting to eat something I reheated for him for supper. It was...
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Interview with Carrie Hatland, Spring 2015 Fiction Contest Third Place Winner

Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Carrie Hatland lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with her husband, two sons, foster sons, and a menagerie of family pets. Carrie’s passion for reading and writing was instilled in her by her grandmother, Ina, who exposed her to the classics at a very young age. Her short story, The MS Lord Selkirk, earned an honourable mention in the 2015 Soul-Making Keats literary competition and placed as a...
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Managing Your Online Reputation

Monday, October 12, 2015
With review sites like Amazon, Google, Yelp, and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram--even GoodReads--both positive and negative reviews can spread like wildfire. So what can you do to make sure your online reputation is positive and the best for your brand? That's what I'm talking about today over at Franchise Gator, in the post, 5 Tips for Managing Your Franchise's Online Reputation....
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Rough Draft: The Down and Dirty Draft from Hell

Saturday, October 10, 2015
Are you thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November? I have a deadline so I’m going to miss NaNoWriMo, but I often have to write and polish a book draft in 6 weeks. To succeed, I had to adjust my attitude about that first draft. Start with an outline. I’ve heard a lot of writers say that an outline kills spontaneity. I keep my outline spare, but it gives...
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Friday Speak Out!: Voiceless in Storyland

Friday, October 09, 2015
by Elizabeth Harris Imagine you’re in a mixed-gender group of writers and we’re talking about omniscience. I suggest that you each write the first page of a story as an omniscient author who openly expresses his/her own views of it—Jane Austen’s kind of omniscient author. My totally unscientific prediction—from experience—is, about a third of writers will inadvertently write from a different perspective,...
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Good Idea, Bad Idea

Thursday, October 08, 2015
I was a big fan of the Animaniac cartoons. (Um...yeah. I spent hours watching them while writing up this post. Still a big fan.) The humor was subversive and super funny, and one of my favorite bits was called, “Good Idea, Bad Idea.” As in Good Idea: Throwing a penny into the fountain to make a wish. Bad Idea: Throwing your cousin Penny into the fountain to make a wish. So as I head out to a...
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