Write Now! Workshop Podcast: Write A Book, Change The World

Seth Godin wrote a book called Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us nearly ten years ago. Since then, "tribe" has become a common part of our lexicon, especially among writers, entrepreneurs, and online business people.It is so exciting the first time you meet up with people who get you, your people, your tribe! You finally feel like you're not odd or on the outside. No one thinks you're weird!When you find your tribe, you can find encouragement in your interests that other people don't understand. And you can encourage others as well. I encourage you - go find your people, if you haven't!And stay tuned for Tuesday's episode when I give you several ideas on where and how to find your tribe. :-)

Award-winning and bestselling author Lauraine Snelling has over 80 books published. She writes inspirational adult novels about real issues centered on themes like forgiveness, loss, domestic violence, and cancer in both contemporary and historical genres. Today, she's talking to us about creating amazing characters, one of her favorite topics.Two of her favorite books as she got started writing were by Robert Newton Peck - Fiction Is Folks and The Secrets of Successful Fiction. She shows us an example of how she teaches writing classes using one of Peck's ideas.Lauraine believes all stories are character-driven, even "plot-driven" stories need a character we can root for to keep us engaged. Listen in as she shares years of experience in how to create characters readers will adore.You can follow her on Facebook at Lauraine Snelling Author, and check out her website to see where she's going to be speaking and to see a list of all of her books. A Breath of Hope, book 2 of the new Under Northern Skies serie

As I was emailing my accountant this week, it occurred to me that it is a good time to talk about taxes for writers. Today I offer a few tips to help you get started or to remind you of things to remember.Always get a receipt, keep them together so you don't lose them, make sure you've clearly marked the business receipts as "business," and when meeting for a drink or a meal, write the name(s) of the people you met with and the reason for the meeting.If you mix business and personal when shopping or during a trip, like a conference, be sure to separate the elements that are personal from those that are business expenses.When purchasing books or other physical items for resale, find out if you need to have a sales tax license in your city/county/state/province/country. And if you get a sales tax license, you can get a reseller's certificate so that you don't have to pay sales tax on items you'll resell.When purchasing books or other physical items for resale, if you give any away as gifts (not review copies, b

Today I share the big news that's been building for months! :-) I even picked up a Krispy Kreme hat to wear while I share my thoughts on why life is sweet! (You can see my ridiculous self on my YouTube channel.)If you're going through tough times, hang in there - better times are surely on their way. If you're going through good times - celebrate! Focus on all the things you're grateful for. And keep working hard. It's true that the harder you work, the luckier you get. ;-)

A retired California police officer, Janice Cantore writes suspense novels designed to keep readers engrossed and leave them inspired. When writing, she draws from her 22 years of experience to make her books feel realistic.There's not a lot of difference, Janice says, when writing about police officers in one state versus another. (Some of her books are set in California, some are set in Oregon.) Police face a lot of the same challenges, and the basic foundation of police training is officer safety, so no matter where the story is set, a lot of the "how" is going to be the same. If you aren't extremely specific, that can be enough to make your novel believable.The kinds of things that throw readers out of a story are things like calling it a police station when it should be a precinct, or not knowing an area has constables, etc. Be sure to look up these sorts of details.In general, the state police or state highway patrol would have jurisdiction over the entire state. The sheriff's departments are responsibl

Two of the things writers seem to need most are accountability and encouragement. That's probably true of almost anyone who is working on something really important to them.Sometimes when we're at the start of a new project, we get caught up in thinking we want this book to be our best yet, or to win a big award, but those thoughts can make the blinking cursor on the page feel daunting. If we can focus on the fun story in our heads, and not what we hope to accomplish with it, we'll write a better first draft.Now some people do so much editing as they write that by the time they reach "The End" for the first time, they have a first draft that may be the equivalent to another writer's second or fifth draft. If that's your modus operandi, great!Many of us, however, do better to get the first draft down first, then come back and fix it. We get frustrated when we're starting something new because we can picture bits of the story in our heads, but we can't find the right words. However, letting your editor-brain ge

Hope is such a big part of our lives - and a lack of hope makes a huge difference. For instance, at the time this episode airs, I will be visiting Europe for the first time - exciting! I have so many hopes for how this trip will turn out!Yet only a couple years ago, my husband and I hit a real low and felt almost entirely hopeless.What does this mean to us as writers? I think that part of our job - no matter what we write - is to share hope with others. Perhaps we're giving someone encouragement about life having a happy ending, or belief in good triumphing over evil, or hope that they can learn a new skill to improve their life.There's a movie on Netflix (at least the U.S. version) called Unconditional that I love. (If that link doesn't work where you live, you can see what the movie is about on IMDB.) Lynn Collins and Michael Ealy star in a story about a woman whose husband was murdered and how it almost destroys her - until an old friend helps bring hope back into her life.It's a fabulous story, and one of

Comedian Robert G Lee is well-known as Hollywood's top warm-up comic on such shows as The New Adventures of Old Christine, Just Shoot Me, Becker, and The Drew Carey Show. He just released his latest comedy project, Wisenheimer, and recently finished Can I Get a Witness Protection?, a faith-based screwball comedy feature film he wrote and directed.Bob shares his journey from stand-up comic to award-winning feature film writer. He reminds writers that no matter what media you're writing for, everything has an opening, a middle, and a closing. Stand-up comedy just truncates it into a short joke. Comedy is about misdirection, about leading the audience one way and then flipping it over. It can also use a lot of simile - this is like that.You have to find something that's universal, that everyone can relate to, but special enough that they haven't heard it a thousand times. Use your life experiences. Then use exaggeration. Use setup and payoff. It's like being a magician in that you're always misdirecting the audi

In this second of two parts, I talk about ways to show your readers some love - because it's near Valentine's Day! :-D You can:Ask their opinion, create a surveyOffer a free autographed book to a random winner of those who answered the surveyAsk if readers want to be on your beta readers team and/or your ARC teamCreate a private Facebook group or a separate email list for those teamsCreate a private Facebook group linked to your Facebook author pageTalk to your readers! Reply to emails, shout-out in your newsletterConsider inviting local readers to coffee at a cafe near youDo a Facebook Live video, or a recorded video for your readersI also answer some podcast listener questions near the beginning of the show.

Unfortunately, we're all too familiar with waiting. Whether we're waiting in the longest grocery line ever, or waiting to hear from an agent, or waiting to see what the reviews will be like on our newest release, waiting is rarely easy.But when we choose active waiting over passive waiting, we can change how we feel during the waiting - and maybe even help someone else! Can we "wait on" something - doing something for someone else as we're waiting? Or we can "wait with" someone so we're supporting each other during the wait. It may make the waiting seem less tedious.Even as I share my experiences with you, the waiting is easier because I hope I'm encouraging you in your journey as well. Maybe you can encourage someone else today and help them in whatever they're waiting for. Have a great day!

Our guest today is Jacqueline Diamond, author of over 100 novels as well as How to Write a Novel in One (Not-So-Easy) Lesson, a book of lessons and helpful tips to help writers create better stories.A former Associated Press reporter and TV columnist, Jacqueline Diamond has won a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times magazine, has finaled twice for RWA’s prestigious Rita Award, and has hit bestseller lists including Waldenbooks and USA Today. She has written in genres from romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and Regency romance to mainstream mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. She offers monthly specials for your Kindle on her website, jacquelinediamond.com, and her Facebook page, JacquelineDiamondAuthor. You can also find her on Twitter at @JacqueDiamond, and follow her on Amazon.Jackie begins by explaining point of view, the different types, and when they are most likely to be used. She warns to be careful not to engage in "head hopping." Among other things, you

Since it's nearly Valentine's Day, I thought it would be fun to talk about how to show the love to your readers over the next two weeks. I always suggest creating and consistently sending out a newsletter, but many people struggle with what to say.Here are a few ideas:Offer a free ebook or short story to everyone on your newsletter list. You can easily send it using BookFunnel.Offer a free ebook or paperback book to one person on your list. It could be one of your books or an author you think your readers would like.Put a book on sale and tell your newsletter subscribers first on the first day of the sale.Play a game - post a funny meme in your newsletter where readers create a new name (superhero, fairy, etc.), or a "Finish this sentence" game, or ask them to share their best or worst story on a topic, like Valentine's Day.Ask them what they're reading! Readers love to talk about the book they're reading now.You could use the last two items to get people over to your Facebook page or group. Give them the lin

Some days you just aren't feeling like interacting with other people, but depending on your job, you may have to. You might have to be "on" whether you feel like it or not.And sometimes those days will make it easier for our insecurities to surface. We don't feel like we look good enough, act nice enough, or are as funny as someone else. What can we do to get out of the funk?One thing I do is find positive quotes or thoughts to focus on. I did a Google search this week on "insecurity in the Bible" :) and found several great verses reminding me of tools to get through tough days. I read them aloud and commented on them in the episode.Forcing our thoughts into positive, upbeat topics will do a lot to improve our outlook. And, as I found while recording this episode, helping others will almost always make us feel better!

Paranormal mystery author Mary Castillo wanted to get her books into audio, but the cost of hiring a narrator was prohibitive. So she did some research and decided to try it herself. She recorded one chapter a week of Lost in the Light and posted each chapter as a podcast episode. To her surprise and delight, listeners loved it!Today, Mary shares with us the tools she uses and gives us tips for recording. She bought a Neewer microphone and lined a box with an old pillow and some acoustic foam. She records and edits on Audacity (it's free). Originally, she purchased hosting on SoundCloud, but now she knows she can put the files on her WordPress site.The most important thing, she says, is to read ahead in the book so you're once again intimately familiar with the story and the characters. You also need to learn to do a proper warmup for your voice before each day's narration session. Mary found voice-over warmups on YouTube specifically for narrators as well as YouTube videos to help her use a British acce

One thing we really need to know when planning any kind of production schedule is - how long will it take us to write the next book?If you've written and finished one or more books, you can probably figure out a good estimate on how long the next one will take. If you haven't finished a book yet or you're like me and trying something new (I'm going to try to dictate - technically, transcribe - my first drafts this year), then you'll have to use some guesstimating as well.If you haven't read it, try Rachel Aaron's 2K to 10K book on how to get your brain to compose your story faster. I love this book!If you're interesting in learning more about dictating your writing, check out Scott Baker's books on the topic as well as his online course. Fool Proof Dictation by Christopher Downing is also super helpful.In this episode, I explain how to break down your book into chunks in such a way that you can estimate how long it will take you to start and finish your book.

Thinking back over the difficult times I've gone through, and how it has affected my writing, and then thinking about the good times, I started thinking about how life is an ebb and flow. Of course, that would explain why my writing good times and hard times also have an ebb and flow.Knowing that life has a cyclical nature helps us to keep going during a tough time because it's almost certain that the tide will change at some point.Maybe we should consider what we can do with our writing that is similar to how we save up money during good times to have something to live on during tough times. Maybe we should be kinder to ourselves when we're not accomplishing as much knowing that things will turn around and we'll get a lot done in the next phase.Food for thought. :)

Fantasy writer Stephanie Shackelford is our guest today explaining how Toastmasters helped her become a better writer. She realized one day that what she learned about making better speeches was spilling over into her writing.While Stephanie has found that it's in the rewrite process that she's seen these improvements, I was listening to her and thinking about changes I could make in my plotting before or while writing the first draft.An even more obvious choice is to see how your nonfiction might improve when you learn these speechwriting lessons. Join us and see what you think!Stephanie can be found at both her personal blog and at SaRose Design where she designs book covers and other graphic design projects. If you'd like to contact Stephanie, you can reach her at Stephanie.Sarose@gmail.com.

When thinking of the short list of well-known science fiction writers of our time, when thinking about some of the most prolific writers of our time, Ray Bradbury's name is bound to come up. I saw a presentation he did in 2001 in this YouTube video and he presented an exciting challenge to writers.Write 52 short stories in 52 weeks.Wow! At first, it boggles the mind. But Ray gives so many examples of topics you could write about that soon you begin to believe you might be able to do it.Last week, I suggested four ways you might choose which story to write next. This week, I suggest taking Ray Bradbury's writing challenge to generate more ideas - and more creative ideas - for you to choose from. The ideas might be all fiction, or all nonfiction, or all poetry, or any combination of whatever you feel like writing.Try making this challenge work for you and see what happens!

Sometimes we are so busy trying to be polite, trying not to get too full of our own achievements, that we miss out on the simple joy of accepting a well-meant compliment. Or we're worried about having offended or irritated someone and we can't seem to accept it when they say they're not offended or irritated.This is a particular problem when we writers refuse to accept that a friend or a relative or our editor likes our book. They give us compliments and we dismiss them verbally right to the person's face. Sometimes we're masking our own insecurities with misplaced modesty. Sometimes we're thinking on the inside, you're just saying that to be nice.Maybe it's time to tell ourselves - and tell the people around us - that we're going to take people's words at face value. If you say you like my book, I choose to believe it. And I'll say thank you, I'm glad you like it! If you dismiss people's genuine compliments, you dismiss their kindness and enthusiasm as irrelevant to you. Think of how you feel when you give s

James Scott Bell is a Christy Award-winning and International Thriller Writers Award-winning author in several fiction genres, and a beloved and sought-after writing teacher. He has written many nonfiction titles on the craft of writing, including several for Writer's Digest Books.In today's episode, Jim talks about how he got the idea for his craft book, Writing From the Middle. He wanted to write a book that would have helped him earlier in his career. So he went to his favorite books and movies to find out why they work so well. And more to the point for this book, he looked at the midpoints of each story, trying to figure out exactly what happens there.Jim discovered "a moment" that these stories have in common, regardless of genre. Join us for this fascinating discussion!Follow James Scott Bell on Facebook and Twitter, and join him and other writers as they discuss the craft at Kill Zone Blog.