Tag: writing

What Motivates You?

When my surroundings
become a little too cluttered,
I watch an episode of Hoarders.

That motivates me
to get rid of items
I no longer need
or want.

Before working on
my next story,
I often reread a story
I absolutely love.

That motivates
me to write.

Much of success in life
is figuring out
how our unique brains work
and
what motivates us.

Pay attention
to how you feel
and what you feel
driven to accomplish
after doing or watching or reading
certain things.

Use these motivators
to get sh*t done.

Envision The Ending

I love writing Romance Novels.
I suspect I’ll always write them.

But I also suspect
there will come a day
when I don’t publish them,
when I don’t engage
in the business side of writing,
when I ‘retire’.

I knew this from the start.

Which is
(one of the many reasons)
why I publish
under a pen name
(brand name).

I can sell that pen name
if I want to do that.
I can transfer it
and all my backlist (products)
to another writer or entity.

Will I do that?
That is doubtful.
I find that a bit
ethically challenged.

But by planning
for the end of my career
at the beginning of it,
I have given myself options.

Before starting your business,
think about all the possible ways
you could wrap up your business.
Build those possibilities
into your plans.

Value Honest Feedback

My editor told me
the story I submitted to her
dragged a bit in the middle.

That feedback hurt.
I never want to bore anyone.

But it was honest
and much needed feedback.

And my editor risked
our relationship
to give it to me.
She cared enough about the story,
about my branding,
about me
to do that.

I revised the story
and resubmitted it to her,
knowing she would tell me
if it remained boring.

I can trust her feedback.
And she can trust me
to value her feedback.

Honest, caring feedback
is rare and it is precious.
Treat it and the person giving it
that way.

The Right Kind Of Unsubscribe

Yesterday, I sent
a newsletter.
It contained an
exclusive-to-the-newsletter
bonus scene.

That bonus scene was
one of the best scenes
I’ve ever written.
It contained action and humor
and some of the other key elements
that appear in my stories (products).

32 people unsubscribed.

I was glad they did.
If they didn’t like that scene,
they certainly wouldn’t like my stories.

I was wasting money
keeping them on my list
and
they were wasting their time
by being on my list.

Newsletter unsubscribes
aren’t always
bad.
Sometimes, they are
a very good thing.

Simplify

I’m working on a second draft
of a story.
The biggest and the most important
task
of my second drafts
is to simplify the story,
to prune away scenes and characters
that don’t add to the main plot.
This allows the reader
to focus on the main characters,
the main plot.

There is a myth
that complex is better.
It isn’t.
Simple is key.
Many moving parts
means more parts that can break
and
it means more parts
that the prospect doesn’t understand.

In this bizarre world
we’re currently living it,
it also means
more parts conspiracy theorists
can investigate and use
to spread lies
about our products/services.

Simple is challenging to do
but it often leads to
a better product/service.
Don’t add complexity
if you don’t have to.

Limiting Your Effort

When I started writing romance,
I wrote short stories
for a small press publisher.

I was working the business gigs
and didn’t have a lot of time
to spend on writing
and publishing stories.

I also didn’t know
what would sell,
what I was good at,
or
what I was doing.

I used what I call
the spaghetti method.
I threw a bunch of
short, quickly written stories
at the wall (the market)
and saw what stuck
(what was successful).

I used partners
(like the publisher)
so I had time to write
more stories
to throw at that wall.

Then I developed
that best selling ideas.

Daniel Vassallo
shares
(this entire thread
is gold)

“Aggressively capping
your inputs
is important
for many reasons.
The most obvious is that
it gives you space
for more bets.
But it also helps
tremendously
with motivation.
It’s a lot easier to do
small things,
and the failures hurt
a lot less
when you haven’t put in
a big effort.”

If you don’t know
what will be successful,
consider
limiting your inputs
as much as possible
and trying more things.