Tag: Writer

Novel Writing, Writing Prompts

Free novel idea: Three-Quarter Classified

Mandy Webster
A Novel Idea
Let me lend you a novel idea. | A Novel Idea (Photo credit: Jennifer Pickens)

I don’t know about you, but I get far more novel ideas than I could ever hope to write in one lifetime. I get so many story ideas, sometimes I just let them fly by and disappear into the never-written without ever bothering to stop and write them down. This morning, while reading a blog post on generating story ideas, I couldn’t help wondering if someone out there might one day be interested in taking one of my extra ideas and running with it.

Right now, I have four different novels in progress that I am determined to complete before starting any new projects. My notebook of new ideas is filling up as fast as my novel notebooks are. I couldn’t possibly write all of these novels, even if I lived three extra-long lifetimes. So, why not share some of my extra story ideas? Continue reading “Free novel idea: Three-Quarter Classified” →

Digital Marketing, Novel Writing, Publishing

Writing is your business: justify the investment

Mandy Webster
BLACK BALLOON SALESMAN ON SOUTH SIDE CHICAGO'S...
Zemanta offered this image up in response to my blog post. I love it! Could anything (even writing) be more fanciful than selling balloons on the street? How is that somehow more acceptable than investing in a writing business? | BALLOON SALESMAN ON SOUTH SIDE CHICAGO’S 47TH STREET MANY OF THE CITY’S BLACK BUSINESS OWNERS STARTED WITH… – NARA – 556217 (Photo and description credit: Wikipedia)

Did you know 50 to 70 percent of small businesses fail within the first 18 months? I am curious as to how that statistic stacks up in the entrepreneur–writer world. How many would-be writers give up within the first 18 months?

Have you ever considered taking time off work to write? Did you then decide not to because you couldn’t “afford it?” How do you justify the time spent on an activity that may or may not pay out in the long term? Well, let me ask you this: How do most small business owners justify the time and expense sunk into the more than half a million small businesses opened in the U.S. each year? When you consider the odds, how can anyone believe they can afford to open a small business? Continue reading “Writing is your business: justify the investment” →

Blogging

Keeping tabs on my online activity

Mandy Webster
Coloreando en Amistad
This picture has nothing to do with tabs. Zemanta suggested it. I thought it was pretty. There you go. | Coloreando en Amistad (Photo credit: PatWH)

Author Charlotte Rains Dixon recently ran a blog post in which she listed all of the tabs she had open on her internet browser. I thought it was interesting to see what all she has open for research and such, so I thought I would do a “my tabs” post of my own. So, these are the tabs I have open in my browser at this time:

Editing, Publishing

What do you mean, you’re looking for an editor?

Mandy Webster
handwritten manuscript
It’s going to take a lot of effort to turn this handwritten manuscript into a published novel.

Do you need to hire an editor to clean up your manuscript before self-publishing or querying agents? You may be tempted to skip this step to save a few bucks on publishing costs. However, forgoing the editorial process may cost you dedicated readers in the end. Poorly edited books garner terrible reviews, which then decrease the likelihood that anyone will want to purchase your books in the future.

When determining whether you need an editor, it is essential to understand exactly what an editor does. While attending a recent self-publishing seminar, I overheard a fellow writer discussing his need to hire someone to edit his manuscript. At first, I was tempted to offer my services. However, after listening to him talk for a while, I began to get the idea that what he was looking for was a proofreader, not an editor. The more he talked, the less I wanted to work for him. Continue reading “What do you mean, you’re looking for an editor?” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

It’s time to wrap up our summer writing challenge!

Mandy Webster
a picture of an apple pie
As summer draws to a close, it’s time to start thinking about apple pies and second drafts. Time to harvest the fruits of our labor!

Today is the official last day of summer. The time has come to wrap up the Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge. I don’t know about you, but I am feeling *super* productive after completing this challenge.

For those of you who did not complete your first draft, that’s okay. Did you keep writing anyway? That’s the important thing. As long as you keep writing, you will get there eventually. Keep at it!

A few of you have contacted me to let me know when you did complete the first drafts of your novels. Congratulations on a job well finished!

If you are like me, Anne Lamott, Stephen King, and a myriad of lesser-known writers, your first draft is probably… WELL… “Shitty.” Continue reading “It’s time to wrap up our summer writing challenge!” →

Book Reviews, Novel Writing, Random Writing Rants

When it is bad to get feedback on your writing

Mandy Webster
Stolen A Letter to My Captor by author Lucy Christopher
I recommend this book for any writer who would like to study the art of taking a reader on a journey without the reader knowing where she is going until she arrives.

I have said it before, and I will say it again. I do not believe that you should share the first draft of your novel with anyone – ANYONE — until it is complete. The more I learn, the more I believe this to be true.

I just finished reading Stolen: A Letter to My Captor by Lucy Christopher. I can’t help but picture myself in a writer’s critique group with the author, bashing her work and ensuring this novel never comes to fruition. I wouldn’t kill her darling for her on purpose. But not being able to read through to the end of her story, there is no way I could possibly understand what she was attempting to do as she wrote this novel. Continue reading “When it is bad to get feedback on your writing” →

Novel Writing

It is time to get back to the writing

Mandy Webster
Books
It’s time to write a book! | Books (Photo credit: vasta)

Last week was my first week back to teaching after having the summer off. I needed to take a little break from writing to get my sh*t together so I can make a living. I have now made it through week two of classes and am about as settled in as I am going to get. Sure, I still have lesson planning to accomplish each week, and soon I will have composition papers to grade as well. However, all of my front-end preparation is complete, and I am ready to get back to writing.

These past few weeks, I have felt as if I was holding back a dam of words. I tried to squeeze in a few minutes of writing here and there, but life was pretty busy. It’s like, once I had gotten into the habit of writing every day, it was hard to stop. Now I am faced with the fact that I have written little for two weeks, and now I have to get back in the habit. Continue reading “It is time to get back to the writing” →

Education, Essays, Novel Writing

Make teaching and learning part of your writing process.

Mandy Webster
The Longman Writer: Rhetoric, Reader, Research Guide, and Handbook (8th Edition)
This semester, I am teaching out of The Longman Writer: Rhetoric, Reader, Research Guide, and Handbook (8th Edition.) You can buy a copy here.

This semester, I am teaching one section of English Composition I at my local technical college. This is not a course I particularly care to teach. The first semester I taught it was a disaster. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I definitely didn’t know the material well enough to teach it. It was a horrible experience for everyone involved. This semester, I finally feel like I kinda know what I am doing. And it’s having a positive impact on my writing.

Tuesday was our first day of class, and I killed it. I was well prepared, I knew what I was talking about and best of all, the students were engaged. I left class that afternoon thinking, “Where the hell did that come from?” Continue reading “Make teaching and learning part of your writing process.” →

Novel Writing

You need to write a cheap, crappy novel. No, seriously. I mean it.

Mandy Webster
English: penulis = writer
Writers write. It’s that simple. | English: penulis = writer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lately, I have been feeling hopelessly stuck on the *Great American Novel* I have been writing for the past year. I wasn’t getting anywhere, and I wasn’t writing much of anything. I was feeling like I should stop referring to myself as a writer since I wasn’t writing anything. Then I decided to take a break from my *real* novel and knock out a cheap piece of crud just for the fun of it. I needed to write SOMETHING.

And so, I spit out a 16 chapter teen/dystopian story in 16 days and called it a finished first draft. As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s only 22,935 words, so it’s full of holes and pretty crappy. But I think I can pound it into something worth reading at the beach. It may not be the Great American Novel, but it feels like a win to me. Continue reading “You need to write a cheap, crappy novel. No, seriously. I mean it.” →

Blogging

10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge: Day 6

Mandy Webster

Day 6 - 10-day-write-blog-challengeDay 6 Prompt: For today’s prompt, I decided to use the alternative prompt, as I have already profiled my most-read blogs. Here’s the alternative prompt: Share a personal interest or hobby that you have aside from writing – how has this inspired and impacted your writing? Required: at least one photo!

My personal interest/hobby is Nature, for sure! I liken the composting of old growth and kitchen waste in my garden to the composting of ideas that must take place in my mind in order for me to write a good story. Continue reading “10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge: Day 6” →