Writers Horoscope September 15: The publishing world is against you. It seems.

evil editor-dasher of dreams captionEver had that submission spur an immediate rejection?

We’re talkin’, ‘Click ‘send’ and within minutes, boom! your inbox has a ‘Thanks, but…’ message. It’s almost as if that evil editor, assistant or, in 2017, maybe an automated script, has been just waiting for your query letter or sample chapter.

Time to give up, right?

Uhhh, no.

Jordan Rosenfeld, author of A Writer’s Guide to Persistence: How to Create a Lasting and Productive Writing Practice, offers these tips.

No, I have not yet bought her book, but for almost a year, I’ve followed her Twitter feed, which abounds with inspiration and advice for writers.

So hang in there and move on to the next potential client.

 

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Prewriting Course Components

Greetings.

I’ve been sharing components of my prewriting mini-course and will continue to add to this page. So far, I have posted the ‘using a concept list’ video, with two samples, and a 23-point ‘James Patterson on outlining’ PDF.

I will be combining them all with additional resources in my Teachable course, but for now, if you’re interested…

https://wordinventions.blog/prewriting-course/

This page can also be found by clicking ‘Menu’ in the upper right corner of this page.

Let me know if you have questions: th@inventwithwords.com .

For now, it’s time for:

dog mug  and  muffin with frosting drizzled

Writers Horoscope September 14: You’ve given in to distraction. And now…

it’s crunch time.

gratisography girl writer surrounded by crumpled up pages and typewriter deadline

You lost out in the eternal tug of war between what you’re supposed to do and what you prefer to do.

It’s now crunch time and you need to focus.

Seriously–focus. And focus some more. [I know, I know, I do see the irony of launching you further away from your work, but these tips should prove helpful in the end. And now…back to the cat videos. ;->]

gratisography focus eyes wide open hair straight up

 

images courtesy of gratisography.com

 

 

 

Writers Horoscope September 13: You need a new identity.

gratisography secret agent banana gun

No, you’re not going into witness protection. And don’t expect CIA recruiters anytime soon.

You’ve taken control of your other writing projects.

But you’re feeling a little stale.

Maybe it’s time to create a new Web presence.
Explore a new topic of interest.
Give it time to evolve into something of greater value–to you and your readers.

image courtesy of gratisography.com

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What is a ‘concept list’ and how might it help me as a writer?

Greetings, fellow writers.

I will be sharing various resources here from my mini-course on prewriting.

Here is my concept list with a ‘surprise/unexpected/amazement’ theme, along with a video of how it might be used to develop a story.

I hope it helps. Feel free to pass along this post to writer friends.

And, let me know if…

  1. you would like me to create other concept lists that might be helpful to you.
  2. you’re interested in the free prewriting mini-course.

Okay, here is today’s content…

Surprise-The Unexpected-Amazement Concept List July 2017

Writers Horoscope September 12: Keep a low profile today.

Stay true to yesterday’s ‘watch your temper’ advice,

Yes, counter to August 27: Your reclusiveness serves no one. , today IS STILL a good day to be a shut-in. Your editor wasn’t in a compromising mood, so the embers are still smoldering and the deadlines still loom. 

No, you don’t have to totally insulate yourself.

gratisography-wrapped in foil-insulate bad temper

But give it another day before you get a handle on the workload.

image courtesy of gratisography.com

 

 

Writers Horoscope September 11: Your temper might be an issue today.

gratisography-squeeze face bad temper

Yesterday’s merciless ‘overwhelm’ endures.

The editor shoots you a ‘Where’s your draft?’ email.

You want to show him what you’d like to do with the email.

But the garbage disposal isn’t disposing. 

Can you find a tolerable medium?

How about–you’ll do the rewrite if he gives you an extra week?

It’ll at least give you time to get the disposal fixed…in case of future editorial spats.

image from gratisography.com

Today, September 11, is a national day of service, as requested by people who lost family in the 2001 tragedy. Here is a link to publicgood.com.

Writers Horoscope September 10: You may experience ‘overwhelm’ today.

wave and stick figure

So many ideas, so little time.

So many projects, so much self-doubt.

It will be tempting to let it wash all over you.

Go ahead, give it an hour.

Call it a short-term pity party.

Then pull out your notebook, audio recorder, laptop, hammer-and-chisel [and acceptable hard surface]–whatever!–and churn out a few words.

Writers Horoscope September 8: Be sure to celebrate your successes.

Even if it’s that chapter you finally finished yesterday, despite concerted efforts from a family member. If you finished it, that’s success.

Just don’t overdo it. A sugar-high can be an ugly thing.

gratisography-pig and binging on cake celebrate your successes

Success is a journey, not a destination.
The doing is often more important than the outcome.
*Arthur Ashe*

A book I like on success and ‘getting stuff done’: The One Thing by Gary Keller. [No, I don’t always heed the advice, but it serves to get me back to the essentials.]

Image by Gratisography