#what better way than to do that AND build readership

[thebibliosphere]

I saw your post about ingram, and out of curiosity, is there some advantage to going through the whole self-publishing thing with retailers when you're just starting out? like I mean the way that fandom zines work is that they don't even bother going through ingram or amazon or whatever. they just set up a social media site (usually twitter) to gain followers, open preorders (usually 1-2 months in length) to generate the costs of printing upfront, and then sell anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred copies of their books (usually artbooks, but anthologies exist too). I've seen some zines generate over a thousand orders. they're kind of like pop-up shops, except for books. maybe the sales numbers aren't so impressive to a real author, but the profit generated is typically waaaay more than the $75+ apparently needed for Ingram Spark, so I still feel like new authors could benefit from this method too, especially if they just need some start-up cash to eventually move to ingram if they want to for subsequent runs of their book. I think authors would also have to set aside some of the pre-order money to buy an ISBN number to have printed on their book, and I'm not really sure what other differences there are, but I just wanted to ask about it in case there's some huge disadvantage I'm missing!

So, popup zines work well for some people, and I know some authors who kickstart their work successfully. But for a lot, it's just not feasible as a long-term stratedy. Or even as a means to get off the ground.

Fanzines succeed primarily because an existing fanbase is willing and ready to throw money at something they love. They’ve got a favorite writer or artist they want to support. Supporting all the others is just a happy by-product. They also take a HUGE amount of short-term but intense planning that just doesn’t always jive with how some of us work.

I, for one, would never offer to organize a fanzine. I’ll take part in them as a creator, but I’d rather throw myself off a cliff than subject myself to wrangling that many people and dealing with the legal logistics.

When it comes to authors doing anthologies, it'svery much the same. The success of the funding often hinges on having other big-name authors involved whose existing fans will prop up the project. Or having a huge marketing budget.

Most self-pub authors have zero marketing budget. I’m one of them, and I’m under no illusions that my work would not be as popular and self-sustaining as it is if I didn’t have a large Tumblr blog.

When I thank Tumblr in my forewards, I am utterly sincere. Tumblr brought fandom levels of enthusiasm to an unknown work and broke the Amazon algorithm so hard, that Amazon thought I was bot sniping my way to multiple #1 spots and froze my sales rankings.

That’s not the norm. And while I could probably kickstart my own work as an indie creator, that’s because I’ve put literal decades into building up a readership. I’ve been doing this since I was 16 and realized people thought I was funny. I didn’t know what to do with it or if I’d ever actually write anything, but it meant the groundwork was already there (thank you, past-me). I basically fell upward into my success by virtue of never being able to shut the fuck up and wanting to make people laugh. Clown instincts too strong.

New or first-time authors trying to sell their work without that will find it infinitely harder.

All of that aside, even if an unknown author somehow gets lucky and manages to fund their work, there’s still the question of shipping and distribution logistics. Are you shipping everything yourself? Better hope you’re able-bodied and have the time for it. (for reference, it took me months to ship out 300 patreon hardbacks because of my disabilites. It damaged my back and hands. I couldn’t type for several weeks after I was done.)

Are you going to sell primarily at conventions? Better hope you’re able-bodied, have the time and don’t have cripling anxiety about being in large groups...

Also, will selling a dozen to a few thousand copies in one burst be sustainable in the long run as a career? Not for me. Doing things via Ingram and Amazon means I earn a steady trickle of sales for the rest of my life provided the platforms remain and so long as I keep working and can generate interest in the series, not just when I have funds to pay for physical copies to sell. The one-time (in theory) cost of $75 to distribute through Ingram gets paid off pretty quick that way. And it doesn't require the same logistics as doing the popup/crowdfund.

Ultimately, it comes down to what you are capable of but also the type of work you’re doing. If you’ve got an extended network of fellow creatives who will back you or you’ve got a large following elsewhere, doing it like a popup might work for you.

If you’re an exhausted burnout who can’t fathom the short but intense amount of organization that sort of thing requires, not to mention doing it over and over and over... Ehhhhh. No thank you.

[duckprintspress]

How to Write a Great Query Letter

Part 2 of a 2-part series of guest posts by Alec J. Marsh. Part 1, “Why Query Letters are Good, Actually,” came out last week; you can read it here!

Alec is also the author of Duck Prints Press’s forthcoming novella To Drive the Hundred Miles, about a young man coming home for the holidays and finding more than he expected. It’s coming out December 21st, 2022. They know what they’re talking about, as an author and about a writer-writing-about-writing, so read on and learn!

Now that you’ve read the first post in this series, and had a week to reflect on it… are you convinced yet? Are you ready to acquire the most important marketing skill of your career? Great! 

If you’re primarily interested in how to pitch to Duck Prints Press specifically, there will be a full post about that coming out in the near future. But I promise, these skills will help you whatever your writing aspirations are. 

1. The Really Boring Part

Most queries open with a paragraph called “metadata.” This is all the marketing stuff that you need to get out of the way so your agent/editor knows what kind of book it is. This includes 

Title: Self-explanatory 

Length: This is vitally important for traditional publishing. If you are a debut author and your story isn’t within the accepted range, you’ll get automatically rejected by most agents. There are very good industry reasons for that, but discussing that’s a different article. If you want to look at the averages, check out this link.

Genre and age range: This is practical for marketing and readership purposes, and it also puts the summary in context. 

Comparative (or Comp) Titles: This is a tricky one, and a full discussion on selecting appropriate comparative titles could easily be its own separate blog post, but the short version is that you should pick titles that your book can be compared to. That can be descriptive—"Supernatural but set in Eastern Europe"—or genre—"For fans of Tamora Pierce"—or even trope based—"Sunshine/Grumpy romance set in a world of danger and magic." There are a ton of options, but the main point is to position your story in the market and make it easy to pick up quickly. 

Logline: This serves a similar purpose as the comp titles do and is meant to sum up one cool part of your story. It doesn’t have to sum up the entire story. For example, Gideon the Ninth sounds wild if you try to summarize the plot, but I’ve been able to convince all my friends to read it by saying simply, “it’s about lesbian necromancers in space.” That��s all you need! In casual conversation, this is often called your “elevator pitch.” Imagine you’re at a convention and you get into the elevator with your dream agent, and you have only the length of the elevator ride to sell them your novel. What do you say? That’s your logline.

***Both comp titles and logline are technically optional, and you don’t need both of them. It’s better to write something unique than to waste the space putting something in just because you think you need it. 

2. The Biography

This usually goes at the end of the query. Don’t overthink it. If you have any credentials, put those in; relevant credentials can include past publications, editing jobs, or a creative writing degree. Then write one to two sentences that make you sound interesting. For example, I say that I like long walks in the fog (because I write moody fantasy) and have a history degree (because it inspires my fantasy world building). 

3. The Body

I left this until the last because it’s the hardest and most important part. A killer summary will make up for dull metadata and a lackluster bio. But if the body of your query letter is weak, no MFA in the world will save you. This section should be 300 words maximum.  

Your simplest formula for including what needs to be in this paragraph is four sentences: LEAD, OBJECTIVE, CONFLICT, TWIST. It’s simpler than you think to write the first draft. I promise. Let it be terrible, get it down, then edit it to a fine shine (much like you’ve already done with that novel!). 

Lead: This is your main character. Name them and describe them by including their profession, skills, or other plot-relevant details. 

Objective: What does your main character want? Try to make this as specific as possible. “Longs for  acceptance” is vague and generic. “Wants to be accepted into the Book Guild” is specific and gives a reader clues about their personality and the setting. You can put in some information about motivation here too. Maybe her father was also a bookbinder and she needs to redeem the family name. 

Conflict: Now we’re getting to the meat of it! Why can’t your main character get what they want? Again, try to be specific and don’t leave it to platitudes. If the bookbinders just don’t like her, that’s generic. If they don’t like her because they think she’s as corrupt as her father was and will bring ruin to them, that’s something a reader can really dig into. We have themes implied now! We understand this is a story about family ties, redemption, and preconceived notions, and you didn’t even need to spell that out. 

Twist: This is the most nebulous part of the query. The twist can be a real plot twist, like her discovering that the bookbinding guild also sells occult books. It can be a cool thing about the setting, like the bookstore being on an airship. It can be the romantic subplot, if she falls in love with her rival apprentice. It can be the historical inspiration, if the book is set in a fantasy world reminiscent of Renaissance Italy. In short, what makes your book special? What’s going to prompt people to shove it in their friend’s faces? It’s similar to the logline in that way. 

You can also put the twist at the beginning of the body paragraph, if it’s really cool. You can weave it throughout. You can put it at the end in a mic drop moment. Just make your book sound cool. That’s literally all this is! 

And those three sections…are basically it! Doesn’t sound so scary now, right? Oh wait, it still does? Okay, then, here’s some more tips to help you!

Write down everything you need in a query in whatever order works for you. I do it like a sad, clunky mad libs just so it’s all on the page. It’s a lot of pressure to include all this important information AND make it pretty in one go. 

Ask your beta readers to help! It’s hard to summarize your own stories when you’ve been living inside them for months. I’ve helped so many friends with their queries because they wrote something perfectly serviceable and technically correct that somehow still made their story sound frightfully boring. (This is not a condemnation of their skill as writers. The skills needed to write queries are completely different.) 

Don’t use rhetorical questions. This is mostly personal taste, but I think they’re a waste of space. “Will she follow her heart?” is sort of useless when 99% of stories are about people following their heart. “She must choose between her ambition and the chance at true love” is so much more clear and includes more conflict. 

The body of your query letter actually only needs to include the first 30-50% of the story in most cases—enough to leave the reader/agent/editor eager to know what happens next, and no more. This isn’t true if the twist is necessary to understanding why the story is exciting. Can you imagine trying to sell Gone Girl without including the twist that it was all a set up? That twist took the story from generic true crime to something truly original. So to some extent, you’ll need to use your judgment, but there’s rarely any need to try to fit the whole plot into that 300-word paragraph.

Above all, be specific. 

Do not shy away from giving spoilers (again: BE SPECIFIC). “She finds information that may change everything,” are seven words that tell you nothing. If you say what the information is (“she finds a note from her father that makes it clear he was framed”), you’ll leave the reader desperate to know what the outcome will be, begging for the rest of the story. 

Get the query competent and coherent, and then leave it for at least a week. This is good editing advice for any story, but it’s absolutely vital for a query. Because they’re so short and so much rides on them, every single word you write in the query has to be useful, and every sentence has to be clear, concise, and intriguing. Don’t rush this; it’s better to go slow and get it right then hurry along and face a pile of rejections. 

Have a query beta reader who hasn’t read your story. Make sure it makes sense with no context. Revise it again. Leave it for another week. (I’m sorry. But I’m not really.)

I know this sounds like a lot. Query letters are hard, and the pressure makes it harder. Writing culture loves to hate on them, for good reason. But you learned to write a novel, something that takes years to master! You can learn to write a query letter too. I won’t pretend it’s easy, but it is a skill you can learn, and it’s worth it! With a single page, you can convince people to buy your book, and that’s magical! 

-

You can learn more about Alec here; you can learn more about To Drive the Hundred Miles here, and read a teaser here. And, you can check out Alec’s two already-published erotica works Heart’s Scaffolding and Study Hall.

Who we are: Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher based in New York State. Our founding vision is to help fanfiction authors navigate the complex process of bringing their original works from first draft to print, culminating in publishing their work under our imprint. We are particularly dedicated to working with queer authors and publishing stories featuring characters from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

Love what we do? Sign up for our monthly newsletter and get previews, behind-the-scenes information, coupons, and more!

Want to support the Press and get lots of our stories? Consider backing our Patreon or ko-fi monthly at a level that includes free stories, and read your fill!

[maybankiara]

i was gonna write a proper essay but why when i can just say this: the main difference between original fiction and fanfiction is that, in most cases, fanfiction is written as what would be considered a filler chapter/episode. readers are familiar with the characters and they want to go out of their way to read more about them, to find different perspectives, to build on the character interpretation they have in their heads. 

this means that when approaching to fanfiction, you’re not limited by what is necessary and instead, your role tends to be to build upon what is wanted. if you keep writing tender moments with little plot, it’s adored, because that’s what people want to see. they want their characters to have a little break from everything going on in the plot, and just live and feel. not every scene needs to progress something. it could be just a snapshot, or a sweet moment of peaceful quiet, and people would love it just the same. 

in original fiction, scenes get cut because they’re not moving the plot/character development forward, whereas these scenes tend to be the essence of fanfiction. they’re usually more emotional and less eventful, focusing on characters rather than the plot, on feelings rather than action. it allows the reader to breathe and enjoy the character dynamics without having to necessarily consume the same amount or intensity of the canon plot. 

essentially, the readership is different. fanfiction writers are working with an already established fanbase who know the characters, therefore the connection between reader and the character doesn’t need to be established as much as simply reaffirmed, or adjusted. you know these characters, and here’s how they fit in this scenario/universe. the reader fills in the gaps, they care about the characters more than the plot, because they wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the characters. 

obviously, there is fanfiction written in the style of novels, but unlike original fiction, that is not a must. it’s a can. but fanfiction allows for the soft and the emotional and the “filler”, especially with the modern media approach of keeping the plot going with little to no filler episodes. it’s the freedom of approach that makes fanfiction a broader form in terms of creativity, narrative style, and general approach to plot. some forms work for fanfiction only and that is why it tends to be easy to spot a published author who used to write fanfiction. 

fanfiction, essentially, lets you do whatever you want -- as long as you’re good with the characters. you can bend the genre, subvert the expectations, try narrative styles that would have the publishing companies rolling their eyes at you, and with all that, there will be people thinking they’ve never read something better. 

[alittlebitofwonk]

A short list of ways to instantly improve your writing, from someone with a degree in writing. (Also this list is partly a reminder for me lol).

Also, some of these are beginner tips and some are more advanced, take them as you want!

Number one tip I can give you, every time— PROPER SPACING AND PARAGRAPH BREAKS. Purdue Owl is my go-to resource for formatting details, but the basics are this: break a paragraph at any new event, at scenery changes, or, and this is the most important, when a new character begins speaking in dialogue. Also, when dialogue is three words or longer, it should come at the end or beginning of a paragraph. Don’t sandwich it. Keeping your paragraphs broken and not creating text walls will immediately help retain readership.

Show, don’t tell. I’m guilty of this too, tbh. But here’s an example— instead of saying “the apple was crunchy” say “as they bit into the apple, it crunched beneath their teeth.” Pair a description with an action! Instead of “it was cold out” say “he shivered as the wind hit, tucking his hands deep in his pockets.” Also helps boost word count.

It’s okay to end your sentences. I’m guilty of this one a TON— instead of starting a new sentence, I’ll do a comma or semicolon or em-dash, and it’ll just… keep… going. It’s okay to break those sentences up completely with a period. I promise.

Don’t over describe. Some description is great, and helps your reader build a better image of what you’ve written. But too much is boring, and doesn’t give the reader the space they need to put the picture together in a way that is meaningful to THEM. Your reader is just as important as you are. Have some faith in them!

Take inspiration. As fanfic authors we do this with media all the time, but take inspiration from more than just your fandom— find it in other fandoms, find it in your own struggles, find it in the world around you. It’s there for the taking.

Practice! Practice writing when you can, and practice reading, too. You can only get better, I promise. I’ve come a long way with practicing my own writing and learning from others.

If you read deeper than the surface, you’ll write deeper than the surface. Be mindful of the content you consume, and what goes into it. Think about the Hunger Games, for example. Yes, it’s a book about dystopian America, but it’s also a heavy criticism of consumerism, the entertainment industry, and the lack of value we assign to our children.

And the antithesis, too— sometimes a blue curtain is just a blue curtain. Not every detail you put down needs to have some deeper meaning. Sometimes a character just has white hair because it’s cool— not because they’re stressed or a chosen one or something.

Finally— all the rules can and should be broken. Yes, even the paragraph breaks. Break the conventions as you please, so long as you’re mindful and intentional about it. If you aren’t breaking up dialogue breaks, why aren’t you? Is it because you forgot, or are you trying to make the dialogue frantic, trying to convey how difficult the conversation is to keep track of?

Anyway, that’s all I have right now, but my inbox is always open for more tips! Also, here’s some links to reference texts I particularly like that aren’t super dense. I’m particular fond of these two because you can jump between sections to find what you want rather than having to read the whole text. (Don’t read On Writing Well. It will come up as a recommendation with these two. It sucks. The author spends far too much of his time talking about the fact that he went to Yale.)

[morrak]

Untitled Wednesday Library Series, Part 95

OK, I think I’m back to normal operational capacity. This is not cognate to full capacity, mind — my engine knocks at the best of times — but it is approximately a good thing. Papers are finished and classes handled; I’m finally coming down off of such. I have a bevy (an absolute surfeit; a fucking embarrassment) of personal projects to crunch through in the weeks to come, but for now:

Stableford, B. (1999). The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places (J. White, illus.). [New York, NY]: Wonderland Press.

The How

A few days ago, I found on my stoop a thrillingly large box containing this book, some packing material, and a card from @girlfriendsofthegalaxy. Given the words written inside said card, I have made the leap of conjecture that the box, &c. were also from her. Alternate theories have been devised but stand unlikely.

The Text

The preface calls this a ‘dictionary of imaginary places devised by writers of science fiction’. It is that. It is also a kind of time capsule of the ‘sciencefictional’ universe and a map of the same — it makes an honest attempt to sketch the landscape of the contemporary genre, and (crucially) each entry is cross-referenced to three others. Description and annotation are not easy, especially when they draw on material this diffuse. These entries are generally 3 paragraphs each. There are over 350 pages of them. This is a project of spooky proportions.

I’m not personally moved by much of the content work, but I think a certain kind of person would be. I am, though, impressed by it. Sci-fi’s readership’s collective nostalgia has drifted somewhat since this was written, but shit and goddamn if this doesn’t capture its own moment well. It couldn’t be done without a good grasp of how the genre works, and Stableford’s preface does a very nice job of proving he’s got that. A little grand-philosophy-of-the-genre wanky, but well thesis’d. He likes the idea of chains of influence and collaboratively constructed conceptual infrastructure and language for it. I do too.

The Object

It looks like what it is, for better and worse.

The better: Jeff White’s illustrations fit perfectly, even (maybe especially) when they’re less than lush. The worse: these motherfuckers shouldn’t be trusted to set type. It’s hard to read, they can’t hit their baselines, and the fonts clash in ways that aren’t offensive but merely annoying, which is worse.

In terms of build, eh. The card calls this a ‘paperback of indifferent quality’. Kind of a weird choice for what might have been collector bait, but the original price-size ratio would’ve been quite compelling on the right shelves.

The Why, Though?

Kay gives good gifts is why, and anyway, this series is her fault in the first place. I just got a new and relatively inflammatory philosophy of biology book on the direct recommendation of a prof who used to work in knowledge management and taxonomy. That I spent my day with this and not that should say a lot about how charmed I am, both with it as a text and it as a present. It’s fun.

[izanyas]

Hi Ro! I'm a "long" time reader, not really in there grand scope of things, but I've been around since March 2020 and that feels like ages in social media time. And my question actually wants to address that if that's ok? Maybe it is not a struggle for you, but how do you manage keeping your artistic vision and taking time on your art? I'm sure there are people who started reading atc and by now are not even into danmei. I myself have a "long" fic (just over 100k words) that has taken me over two years and it's only around 70% done, and it sometimes gives me grief of how many people that would've been interested about it are not even now, or dropped it, or moved on with their lives. I write for me yeah, but I haven't found my "community" that likes what I write outside of ao3's comments. So sometimes it's discouraging. Sorry for the long ask and I may not be making sense. I love atc and know that whenever the story is concluded, I'll be there for it even if I'm not into wgxn anymore ❤️

hello, thank you so much for sticking with me for so long! ❤️

i think i understand what you mean. i'm not sure i have a good answer for this unfortunately... in truth, i'm not actively into mdzs fandom anymore and haven't been for several years, but it doesn't mean i can't write for it :) just like i haven't been following bsd in years but still enjoy writing fics for it. sometimes people go back to fandoms they've left behind (like me right now shoving fma fics into my mouth for weeks now lmao) and people who love your fics will not hesitate to come back and read them again, even long after leaving the fandoms they're for.

i don't know if there's any good trick to finding a community who likes your work specifically... but making this very blog that's dedicated to my fics has been such a nice experience! people will follow you for that if you give the link at ao3 because they want more of your writing :) and they can send you messages or otherwise communicate with you in ways they can't at ao3.

i think tumblr is better than twitter or discord if you wanna make a space for your readers to follow you and interact, since it allows for anonymous messages, and a lot of people are too shy to go out and say things openly. i can't guarantee that it'll be a huge success or anything but this blog is my favorite space online. make it strictly for fanfiction business (this one is a sideblog, my main blog @tahwan is where i do regular blogging) so you don't overwhelm your followers' dashboards with posts that aren't what they follow you for. allow anon asks. don't hesitate to post links to all your fics with proper tags and everything so more people on here can see them. or straight up post them on tumblr as well! there's no rule saying you can't post the same fic in 5 different places if you want to.

i hope this helps... i know it's very difficult to find a real regular readership for your work with fanfiction. i'm extremely grateful for all my followers here and how lovely you all are. but with time i'm certain that you'll find fans of your stories who want to read everything you write, even for fandoms they're not a part of haha, and who'll want to build a community with you.

[99fandomproblems]

My fandom worships BNF's, if you aren't a BNF you don't exist. How can I become a BNF?

Hi, Nonnie!

For those who don't know, ‘BNF’ means big name fan. It's a term given to blogs/accounts/fans with a lot of followers. 

Nonnie, there isn't a short answer for this. One might ask how do I write a bestselling book or a number one hit single? There's a mix of talent and good luck involved in all of those. 

I'll answer this in two parts, firstly addressing 'hit' fanfics and secondly addressing ‘BNF’ fannish culture. Hopefully some of this advice will help you out!

Tips for hit fics:

write what is popular: popular tropes, a popular ship, a popular/active fandom. Write what gets the most traffic. If a particular ship is popular for canon fics, write canon fics. If another ship is popular for au's, write au's. Hit all the favorite tropes. 

Building your readership: have a presence online, post often/regularly to build your readership, write multi-chaptered works or series so readers can subscribe. One-shot fics can often seem one and done, and readers move onto the next one-shot. If you write a multi-chaptered fic for example readers can subscribe to the work and return to it. Whether you write as you go or post with a schedule is up to you. Regular updates on a WIP really do bring in more hits and readers over time. It doesn't need to be that long, even two or three chapters is more chapters than a one-shot.

Engage with readers: reply to their comments, post about your work on your socials (Tumblr is good), share your work so new readers can find you. Don't rely on readers to promote your fanfiction, be proactive about it. 

That's about it for tips. 

You'll have to put in the work to create and write the story yourself. I'm only pointing out the obvious for advice here. Pay attention to your fandom and look at what is popular now. Fandoms go through trope trends, so don't be afraid to try something new.

Please bear in mind that there is no guaranteed winning formula, or we'd all be doing it all the time. You may do everything right with a fic and somehow the timing wasn't right, or the reader base was distracted by something else (the source material blowing up can do that!) and your work got buried. It happens. 

It happens to the source material too, I've seen amazing shows or movies fly under the fandom radar due to poor timing. Chance and luck does have a play in it, so all I can advise really is do your best, post it, then let it go. Move onto the next project and try not to obsess or dwell over it. Let it go, and move on. 

Next up, ‘BNF’s:

This can vary fandom to fandom, even ship to ship, but BNFs (big name fans) usually boil down to clique groups. So if you're asking me how do you get into a clique, the answer is you either do or you don't. Most cliques are exclusive by nature and they enjoy making outsiders feel jealous.

Falling in with a clique can actually hold you back. Cliques aren't much fun if you're in them as there's often a cycle of abuse, bullying, harassment, and minimising others inside the clique to uplift one queen bee. This is not the way to have fun. So stop looking at cliques.

No, really. Stop looking at them. 

Unfollow, mute, block, ignore. Unfollow those who keep sharing their posts, and don't join fan events that have cliques in or are run by cliques. 

If observing any clique from the outside is upsetting or triggering for you, remove them and their acolytes from your dash. Curate your own experience online. The entire point of clique culture is to make others feel small and excluded, even those within the clique not just those outside. Don't let them have that power over you. Mute their names, unfollow them, and forget about them.

In time you’ll feel better for ignoring them. 

And if you're in the clique yourself and you feel unhappy for any reason, leave it. Mute, ghost, distance yourself. Life's too short to feel this miserable for no reason.

In summary: 

The trick to enjoying online fannish spaces is to focus on your own joy.

Don't focus on other people, and don't compare yourself to them. Comparison only robs you of your joy, this applies to looking at other writer's stats or number of reblogs online. Stop looking, stop comparing.

Focus on yourself.

Find new friends.

There are fannish spaces that aren't exclusive, spaces that are inclusive and supportive. Seek those out. I promise you not every space succumbs to this BNF/clique mentality. You always have the power to curate your dash and unfollow or mute whoever you want. It makes for a more enjoyable and less stressful fandom experience.

Good luck, Nonnie! Focus on your joy, not stats!

[first-digi-add]

Effective Ways to Give Personality to Your Content

Introduction

When it comes to online marketing, content has always been king. However, one of the most important challenges that marketers have is finding approaches to keep their readers interested and engaged in what they’re doing. There are masses of approaches to move approximately doing this, but one of the unmarried most crucial and effective is to make sure you place personality into each piece you create. Incorporating the Best Digital Marketing Services. While it’s true that creating unique, compelling, and attractive content material isn’t constantly clean, there are some tips that you could hold in thoughts so that it will make matters a lot less complicated. 

Here’s an observe a number of the principal things to take into account.

Create Stories

Humans love testimonies, and we’ve been telling them to each other differently because we commenced taking walks Although it may seem natural for your content to be chock-full of documents, data, and statistics, doing so may hinder your story. Try to feature a story right here and there are the usage of your anecdotes is all it takes to keep your posts fresh and extra interesting. They can snatch attention, upload humor, and keep things extra relatable than just a string of numbers.

Get To The Emotions

When you elicit an emotional response out of your readers, you’ll make a miles bigger splash. A look at 7,000 articles found that proper news stories have been shared some distance greater often than horrific news ones. And those that triggered any type of emotional reaction get shared ways more properly.

To get to the emotional coronary heart of a put-up, try and preserve those hints in thoughts:

Use emotionally charged phrases that illicit a reaction clearly

Tell stories that are positive to cause emotions

Shape your complete content piece so its tone suits the emotion you need to enchant.

Know what kind of emotion you’re focused on, and then shape your paintings accordingly. It will bring massive consequences.

Use Rhetorical Questions

Often, whilst readers are studying your content material they are doing anything greater than simply taking in the data you’re providing. But while you pose a rhetorical question you pressure them to prevent and suppose for themselves for a second or. This, in flip, can assist them feel that your piece is extra compelling. You don’t want to use dozens of them, but simply one or rhetorical questions is a great plan – and you may even open a piece with them to drive domestic the factor of what you’re trying to mention.

Expand Your Vocabulary

Want to make an impact on readers? Build your vocabulary. Using words that human beings don’t hear frequently lets you upload a hint of character on your paintings and might even assist them feel like you’re more professional and skilled than others who are producing content.

Fascinate Them With Facts

There are two number one reasons to read anything – to examine, or to be entertained. That doesn’t imply that you may not craft content material that does both. If you entertain your readers whilst also educating them, you’ll get higher results out of your content. Try to feature thrilling, charming records in which you can impress readers.

Format Properly

Words are best a part of a web content piece. You also need to create something that is formatted nicely and that appeals to the attention. Some things that can assist include:

Bullet factor lists similar to this make it less difficult on the eye

Better paragraph spacing

Short paragraphs

Italics and bold formatting when wanted

Sub-headers

Most experts agree that the use of ambitious font subheaders is the most crucial part of powerful formatting. Pay attention to how you layout so you may be positive to get the first-class effects out of your readership.

Be Interested in What You Write

If you’re no longer interested in what you’re creating, that lack of passion is going to reveal via. Try to locate something that you're feeling is exciting approximately your challenge and then carry that side of it in your writing. The backside line is that in case your interest goes to exposed via something you create, you should create compelling content material that you’re inquisitive about.

Read Something Entertaining

One of the quality approaches to locating a proposal and affecting your writing is to read something exciting. Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, you’ll see how others can upload a little contact in their personality to what they write or how they could entertain readers. Then, you can follow that to what you do.

There are clean methods to try this read, study, and then read some more. Magazines, novels, brief tales, periodicals, newspapers, and even different blogs. Read a combination of genres and writers. Over time, your persona and style turn obvious and can be what keeps your readers coming again again and again.

Know Your Audience And Talk To Them

You should have a fairly stable know-how of who it's far which you’re concentrating on for your content. Knowing your target market way that you’re then capable of creating content material that speaks to them, the usage of language, jargon, and testimonies that they may be capable of apprehending and perceiving.

If you’re uncertain of how to method this, then consider sending out a quick survey asking them approximately subjects you’ll be protecting to your blog or your content platform. Look at their answers, but additionally examine how they reply the language they use, the phrases they reply with, and more. Get a concept of how they communicate so you can talk to them as a peer.

Conclusion 

Infusing character into your content material is not just about standing out in a crowded virtual panorama; it is approximately forging actual connections, building consider, and growing memorable experiences on your target market. By adopting those eight powerful strategies employed through high-quality digital marketing agencies, you may increase your content and set up a sturdy and proper logo presence that resonates with your target market.

[maqqy96]

A Daedra Named Desire Author Update

Things have been tough lately on the creative front for just about everyone I know. Between AI theft of work, N*F*T bullshit, and just about anything else that's happened in the past 5 years has all but drained any desire to work on just about anything for me.

Unfortunately, there's another layer to it that I don't think I ever put into words, so I'd like to do that here. Feel free to skip right on past all this, as it all has to do with surviving an abusive relationship.

Way back in the year of 2003, I started a webcomic. It was a horrible premises, had little to no cohesive plot, the art varied wildly, and the update schedule was even worse, but I was still so proud of it! Slowly, I started treating it as a real project rather than a lark. It got a little better, though it still had plot holes big enough to drive a bus through. I updated semi-regularly, and started building a readership. In 2006, I met a guy, and as time rolled onward into 2009, I married him. All seemed well. He knew I drew the comic, and he made enough at his job that he encouraged me to stay at home and work solely on my comics. I was thrilled and believed I was living the dream! So my comic became my full time work, and though it was still wonky and only had a small following, my readers were kind, encouraging, and above all, patient with my sometimes scatter-brain. I told myself there were no more excuses: I needed to pick an update schedule and keep to it. So I made it my goal to update M-W-F. And I did just that.

-Please note that I'm no saint and that I'm not trying to vilify him; we both did things that brought our relationship to an end. I missed a lot of cues because I was hyper-focused on my comic. This is just my viewpoint.-

Fast forward again. After a few years, our relationship was beginning to sour. He resented the fact that I sat on my ass all day and did 'nothing'. He wanted me to handle all the errands, cleaning, cooking, etc. I already was doing it, so I was a little confused, but I put more effort into it. Began meal-planning, cooking more, made sure the home was spotless, etc. I missed a few updates because of it, but again, my readership was patient. I started devoting the mornings and afternoons to doing the housework and errands, and spent evenings doing comic work. From the moment the sun came up to long after it went down, I was working. It was tough, but I loved the work and I loved him. I still made time for him, but most of the time he came home, ate dinner, and played poker games on the XBox until it was time to go to bed. The computer was set up not far from the TV, so we were together during this time and I saw no problems.

He did.

All of a sudden, he began claiming that I didn't want to spend time cuddling with him. When I pointed out he just played poker games or strategy games like Civ IV, which didn't interest me, he threw a fit. So we compromised and tried to have a movie night each Friday. Sitting on the couch cuddling and being together. But he only wanted to watch movies that interested him. If I put on a movie that I liked and he didn't, he'd eventually wander off or pull out his phone. Needless to say, movie night fizzled out and we went back to our routine.

Eventually, as our relationship began to strain, he brought up my comic. I'd been working on it over 10 years at that point; why wasn't I making money with it? I pointed out that I had sold at conventions up until the recession, and then that avenue dried up for me. Trying to switch to online sales didn't really work, since I had a store and nothing sold. He pointed out other webcomics that were making money at the time and how they updated daily. He accused me of being lazy. I resented it, and pointed out that each page took me 8 to 10 hours to complete. He became convinced that it was because I wasn't trying enough, and eventually comes up with the *brilliant* idea of us doing a joint comic. That's what we needed! I was hesitant, and decided to see how dedicated to this idea he was. So I told him, fine, you write me 5 pages of script, and I'd draw it. He starts telling me his ideas, I tell him to write it down.

Sure enough, he never wrote a single word, but would frequently accuse me of not loving him because why wouldn't I want to take his ideas and use them? They were GENIUS. I never replied when he got like that. However, as my comic continued to gain little attention and floundered along, the doubts he had raised took root in my mind. I began to try and push myself to work on it more, if only to get a backlog of comics so I didn't miss any updates. Missed updates would cost me in the end!

In the end, our relationship burned to the ground and motivation with it. I found out he had been cheating on me, moved back in with my parents, and began going through the process of a divorce. However, the updates to my comic just...stopped. I found all my ideas for it had died, and my motivation was completely gone. So much of that comic had gotten wrapped up in my now failed relationship that I couldn't, even with therapy, unwrap it. I felt like a failure, and my ability to do artwork fizzled and died. ~And now the Fan-Fic relevant info~

It's been almost 10 years since then, and I have barely recovered my ability to draw. Needing a creative outlet, I turned to writing, and found my old passion for it was still there. When 2020 quarantine hit, I challenged myself. Instead of sitting on my butt playing video games all day, I was going to play a little, then write something based on the gameplay. I came up with my current story: A Daedra Named Desire, and I enjoyed it. The first several chapters were witty and great fun. The whole thing was a blast to work on. Did I have a plot? Kinda, but I told myself it'd work out. I also told myself not to let this one fizzle and die; I wanted the joy of finishing a project! Cue three years of working on nothing but. While there are other projects I'd love to focus on, I told myself to finish this one. It'd be good for me in the long run. However, as I'd sometimes re-read the story, I noticed the drag in the middle. Chapters feel bloated because they are just THERE. I forced myself to keep an update schedule and hated myself when I missed one. Sometimes, you have to recognize bad habits and do something about them. As such, I told myself to stop draining myself trying to make a self-imposed goal. Don't post chapters unless you felt it was worthwhile. Right now, I'm stuck on the plot, so I'm trying to find inspiration rather than forcing content out of myself.

So to all those readers who look forward to my work: THANK YOU. You are not the problem; you're the reason I keep going! Comments and likes on my work are truly a balm to my mind on bad days, and I read every single one and love them. Even the more critical ones are appreciated (mean ones are just laughed at and ignored), since I sometimes make glaring mistakes, especially with Lore. At this point, I'm bound and determined to finish this story. Too often I've lost interest and let a story fizzle, only to regret it so much. But I need to stop hurting myself to create sub-par content. So I'm taking a break, stepping back, and giving myself the space needed to tackle this project again when I'm ready. And again, thank you kindly for sticking with me. If you have suggestions, comments, suggestions, or encouragements, please feel free to reach out! You never know when words will inspire someone!

[simplebloggingtips]

Simple Blogging Tips For Beginners

Here are some tips for people who are just starting to blog or are passionate about it. They will help them become professionals in no time. These tips are easy to learn and anyone can benefit from them. Bloggers from around the world often recommend these blogging tips for beginners.

Blog with passion

Be yourself. Here's your space if you are passionate about the topic you wish to write about. If you're not passionate about your blog then why would readers be?

You will need to change the way you think about blogs, whether you're a blogger who hasn't made money yet, or a novice that wants to learn the tricks and tips to create a profitable blog. It is easy to follow this new path.

Consistency is key in your blog

Patience and time are required to build a successful blog with a growing readership. Begin by making yourself accountable for blogging at least once per week.

Blog your expertise

Many people blog, but you must have a certain level of expertise to do so. Ask yourself: "What can I confidently and knowledgeably blog about?"

With a heart, write to your readers

It's vital that you have a message with a purpose, even if you are passionate and an expert.

Authenticity and authenticity is key

It might seem wrong to "be yourself" because it is so easy. It doesn't necessarily mean that you should publish an article without editing it for grammar or clarity. It's crucial to be honest.

Plan your schedule and make sure to include breaks

Bloggers with female espn resporters passion and expertise can still stumble. Writing is more difficult on some days than others, for whatever reason. Relax, think and invent.

Get social

Include ways for readers to share blog posts. If you are blogging about someone you love or a product you want to share, tag them on Twitter.

Re-purpose your blog posts

It would be a waste to let them die in your archives after spending so much time creating helpful and meaningful articles. It's important to channel it. You can record your information and make it available as a podcast that people can listen to while on the go. Tweet one-liners that encourage people to click on more information. You get the picture. Enjoy yourself.

You need to choose a topic or niche that is close to your heart if you want to create a successful blog. If you are passionate about the subject, it will be easy to blog over and over again. You can then focus on how you will make money once you have decided what you are going to blog about.

Take a look at some of the Big Guns to get a better idea of how they write. You will see what works in terms of style. Look at how they make money. Some people do this by promoting affiliate products and others use Google AdSense. Different methods are used to promote affiliate products. They will sometimes write a review that is informative about a product. Sometimes they'll write a post on their blog and tell readers that "Product A can help them achieve" what they wrote in the post.

These tips should encourage you to embrace the challenge that is blogging for your business. They will also help you to blog in a manner that will benefit you and your business.

[liukeegan78]

Stay Ahead Of The Game With These Internet Marketing Tips

Internet marketing is just what the name implies. Advertising products and services online. There are several types of online marketing, including search engine optimization, pay per click and social media marketing. This type of marketing makes it easier for companies and individuals to target specific advertisements to a defined audience. Delete any extraneous Flash or JavaScript on your website. The most important part of internet marketing is making your web page accessible to customers. aprende gratis that don't benefit your customers or add to your content, are not what your customers are looking for. In fact, it will probably just drive them away. Try using multiple domains with your website. This is especially helpful if your site covers multiple topics since search results generally preview one or two pages from your domain. This way can ensure that you can be found and that you attract more traffic. This can also help you get more listings via directories. To find the right audience, you can create a presentation that addresses a problem without really finding a solution for it. Mention the product you are selling as a possible solution. Make sure your audience has an easy access to more information about the product in case they decide to try it. If you are attempting to grow your business's web presence by using a blog, keep your updates short and efficient. Your regular updates should be about three hundred to five hundred words in length; if you have a special feature you can extend this out to a thousand words. Any longer and you'll likely lose the reader's interest before the end. As part of your internet marketing strategy, try to find a way to get involved with community service, and talk about that on your website. Consumers are attracted to businesses that are socially responsible. When they see that you are not just out to make money, they will respect and trust you more. Do not overdo it. Try to, at some point, be satisfied with the customer base you have. Do not stop working on optimization, but do not allow it to become your entire focus. You have readership that you need to satisfy, so you should always worry about quality of content over quantity of consumers. While you do need keywords to get a higher visibility, you need to make sure that you write the content on your site for your consumers first. The search engine bots are not going to buy your products. Only real people are going to buy your products, so you need to write for them. Besides a regular site map, intelligent webmasters build a properly-formatted sitemap.xml page. This is a carefully-organized reference page that search engines use when indexing a website. cursos online that includes all website content and has its format validated can provide a massive boost to a web site's search engine ranking performance. Don't try to sell a product you know nothing about. Purchase and use the product first. Use the knowledge and experience you gain to create original, compelling content about all the benefits of using your product or service. Set-up a review page on your website so that, when you make a sale, your customers can leave feedback about your product or service. Good feedback from satisfied customers is a great selling point. Find your selling point. Think from a customer's standpoint - what sets your business apart from your competitors? Perhaps you have better customer service, or can offer a guarantee. When you find your unique selling position, highlight it on your website. This will call attention to the areas in which you are strongest. An important tip regarding Internet marketing is to be sure that you test your site among the most popular Internet browsers in order to assure compatibility. The very least you should do if you find an issue that cannot be fixed is to write a script stating what issues can occur in specific browsers and what browsers your recommend. Although internet marketing can be much less expensive than traditional forms of advertisement and results can be measured quickly and accurately, some disadvantages do exist. A major problem is that some people refuse to purchase anything online and others just don't trust the internet. Personal information can be hacked and abused when held by online companies.

[meltonboykin62]

Stay Ahead Of The Game With These Internet Marketing Tips

Internet marketing is just what the name implies. Advertising products and services online. There are several types of online marketing, including search engine optimization, pay per click and social media marketing. This type of marketing makes it easier for companies and individuals to target specific advertisements to a defined audience. Delete shifter coupon or JavaScript on your website. The most important part of internet marketing is making your web page accessible to customers. Flashy animations that don't benefit your customers or add to your content, are not what your customers are looking for. In fact, it will probably just drive them away. Try using multiple domains with your website. This is especially helpful if your site covers multiple topics since search results generally preview one or two pages from your domain. This way can ensure that you can be found and that you attract more traffic. This can also help you get more listings via directories. To find the right audience, you can create a presentation that addresses a problem without really finding a solution for it. Mention the product you are selling as a possible solution. Make sure your audience has an easy access to more information about the product in case they decide to try it. If you are attempting to grow your business's web presence by using a blog, keep your updates short and efficient. Your regular updates should be about three hundred to five hundred words in length; if you have a special feature you can extend this out to a thousand words. Any longer and you'll likely lose the reader's interest before the end. As part of your internet marketing strategy, try to find a way to get involved with community service, and talk about that on your website. Consumers are attracted to businesses that are socially responsible. When they see that you are not just out to make money, they will respect and trust you more. Do not overdo it. Try to, at some point, be satisfied with the customer base you have. Do not stop working on optimization, but do not allow it to become your entire focus. You have readership that you need to satisfy, so you should always worry about quality of content over quantity of consumers. While you do need keywords to get a higher visibility, you need to make sure that you write the content on your site for your consumers first. The search engine bots are not going to buy your products. Only real people are going to buy your products, so you need to write for them. Besides a regular site map, intelligent webmasters build a properly-formatted sitemap.xml page. This is a carefully-organized reference page that search engines use when indexing a website. A sitemap.xml file that includes all website content and has its format validated can provide a massive boost to a web site's search engine ranking performance. Don't try to sell a product you know nothing about. Purchase and use the product first. Use the knowledge and experience you gain to create original, compelling content about all the benefits of using your product or service. Set-up a review page on your website so that, when you make a sale, your customers can leave feedback about your product or service. Good feedback from satisfied customers is a great selling point. Find your selling point. Think from a customer's standpoint - what sets your business apart from your competitors? Perhaps you have better customer service, or can offer a guarantee. When you find your unique selling position, highlight it on your website. This will call attention to the areas in which you are strongest. An important tip regarding Internet marketing is to be sure that you test your site among the most popular Internet browsers in order to assure compatibility. The very least you should do if you find an issue that cannot be fixed is to write a script stating what issues can occur in specific browsers and what browsers your recommend. Although internet marketing can be much less expensive than traditional forms of advertisement and results can be measured quickly and accurately, some disadvantages do exist. A major problem is that some people refuse to purchase anything online and others just don't trust the internet. Personal information can be hacked and abused when held by online companies.

[scottishhellhound]

Soooo....

I may or may not have made a Patreon for Godlings and Drakewytch, and other original stuff, and free writing tips and things.

So stay tuned for that I guess.

[kiingocreative]

The Structure of Story is now available! Check it out on Amazon, via the link in our bio, or at https://kiingo.co/book

.

.

.

I often feel that it took me thirty years to write my first book, No Pain, No Game. Not because I was physically writing it for that long, but because finally publishing my first novel felt like the culmination of three decades of bad writing, half-finished novels, random short-stories and a million mundane diary entries. It took that long to experiment with my craft, hone my skills, and master the fear of putting my work out there for all to see.

Exaggerations aside, it actually took me three years to write No Pain, No Game, from typing the first word on an otherwise blank page to having a fully-fledged, ready-to-publish novel. Those three years consisted of mostly undisciplined writing, sitting down to work on the story as and when the urge arose, sometimes not looking at it for weeks on end, and only getting back to it when inspiration hit. Only when I got serious about publishing did I put in the hours consistently, whether or not I was in the mood for it. The whole experience felt like not so much like long distance running, but more like a slow, often sluggish stop-start stroll, with a heart-pumping sprint at the very end.

I came out of having published the book revved up from adrenaline, soaking in the momentum, fretting for more and ready to do it all again. Out came the laptop again, the rush to get the first draft over and done with and the mad rush into editing-land.

It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint (and not interval running, and not a slow leisurely walk)

The thing with sprinting, however, is that if you do it for too long, you quickly run out of breath and I soon learnt that maintaining that level of effort over time was unsustainable. Somewhere in the middle of editing my first draft, I hit a wall.

A big, fat, hundred feet high brick and mortar monster of a wall. I never saw it coming, and I face-planted right into it. For weeks after that I couldn’t look at my manuscript or social media, and I had to take a proper break from it all to restore.

The break gave me a chance to introspect and take stock of what had happened. It felt to me that, if I wanted to keep on writing more books (which I did) I had to pivot from my disorganised style of writing to a more committed endeavour. There’s nothing wrong with a leisurely walk, or random bouts of interval running, but I realised it wouldn’t give me the kind of results I was truly after. I had to look at writing as a marathon, and build the sort of stamina and endurance I needed to do this many times over without burning out.

From Dilettante to Disciplined Writer

When I think back to writing my first book, I wonder if there’s some truth in the saying that ignorance is bliss. Because I was less focused on the outcome at the time, I was better able to enjoy the ups and downs of the process, especially because I only sat to work at it when I felt like it. I was also mostly unaware of the mountain of logistics that come with writing and publishing a book, so I’d be able to see the distance I’d covered, without worrying about the miles that still stretched ahead of me. Yes, ignorance was, most definitely, a little bit like bliss.

Reminiscing on her own experience, author Shamika Lindsay says that, with her first book, ‘the process felt so different and [she] almost felt the pen gliding across the paper but with [the sequel], it was like pulling teeth’. In fact, she adds, starting to write her second book from scratch felt like ‘such a chore and [she] was just so eager to complete it because [she] felt like it took so much from [her] to write than the first book’.

For R. G. Tully, author of the Ardamin series, who put greater emphasis on the editing stage when working on his second book, the process also took longer and wasn’t always enjoyable. ‘The editing grind was exactly that, a grind’, he confesses.

But you have to do it whether you like it or not, because the only way out is through. There are, fortunately or unfortunately, no shortcuts. Fortunately, because it’s the very act of going through that arduous journey that makes you a better writer in the end. And unfortunately, because there can be times it’s just not all that pleasant.

You’ll be surprised the amount of distractions that manifest themselves when you desperately need a reason not to work on your manuscript — it’s actually quite spooky. Treating writing with discipline, organisation and professionalism is exactly what will prevent you falling off tracks, and what ultimately gets the work done. And that’s the difference between a published book and one that’ll sit indeterminately unfinished somewhere in your archives.

A Tough Act to Follow

Unfortunately, there’s still a little bit more to writing your second book than just great discipline. Even when you’re able to get yourself to follow through and show up for your craft, giving your first book a literary sibling can come with its own challenges, especially because you have something to compare it to.

And it’s not only you, but your readers too, who will be expecting certain standards from your writing, especially if it’s a series. Though it shouldn’t come in the way of writing the book you want to write, the relationship of trust you’ve built with your readership through your first book still needs to be honoured, and this can cause certain amounts of pressure.

‘I felt a little pressure to keep the same feel about the story’, R. G. Tully says, ‘and to include more from my secondary characters, give them a little more depth’.

Stormi Lewis, author of the Sophie Lee trilogy, puts it simply: ‘It was a little hard to decide how to exactly start [with the second book]. At first I was worried and became overwhelmed because so many loved the first one. I didn’t want to let anyone down. I had to step back and come to terms that they loved it for being unique. And the only way I could stay true to the story and give them what they really wanted was to focus on the story and not so much about what I thought they wanted for the second.’

For others, the comparison can be more inward-facing, like author Tara Lake, who admits that writing the second book in her series has been a challenge, because she’s ‘struggled with comparison of the self: past Tara had a lot more time to devote to writing, present Tara has much less time with [her] kids being home full time from school during much of the pandemic’.

For others still, some of that pressure can be self-imposed. When writing her second book, Freya McMillan shares that ‘[she] put a huge amount of pressure on [herself] as [she] wanted it to be meaningful in a particular way to honour [her] dad, who died a few years ago. Once [she] stopped doing that, it was much less challenging to write’.

It Ain’t All Bad.

I do want to pause here and add that not everyone faces such challenges. There are authors out there who launched into writing their second book with more ease than the first.

Sabrina Voerman tells me that ‘[her] second book came a lot easier to [her] than [her] first book. The idea hit [her] so hard and fast that it took [her] aback, and [she] could do nothing but write it’, and the entire novel was written in a matter of weeks, whilst her first book took years to finish.

Same for Trevor Wiltzen, who says that writing the sequel to his first book went smoothly, greatly helped by the fact that ‘[he] wrote the second book immediately after the first, [so he] knew the characters really well’. He admits he ‘found it very freeing and really enjoyed the process’.

Even Stormi Lewis, who struggled at first, adds that ‘once [she] got started, [she] was fine’ and that ‘[she] felt the writing was solid and [her] best book yet, simply because [she] really got to develop more of the characters and the story’.

As with everything, we must then conclude, there will be as many types of experiences as there are writers out there. So how can we best prepare for what’s to come?

A Chance to Grow

Performance coach Tony Robbins says that the quality of our lives is intricately linked to the quality of the questions we ask ourselves on a daily basis. So if we need to face something that’s outside our comfort zone — starting again from scratch on your second book for instance — is it a punishment or is it a gift? Is it a curse or an opportunity?

I’m tempted to think that the level of discomfort that can come with writing your second book is a gift, because it gives us a chance to grow.

It’s a chance to take everything we’ve learnt from doing it the first time around and take our learnings for a spin to see if it makes the process easier. It’s an opportunity to improve, to work at our craft in new and wonderful ways.

It’s both daunting and incredibly exciting to face a brand new story — or a different side to the same story for those writing series — and to dare to plunge into the unknown of where it’s fated to take you. It’ll see you grow and evolve as a writer and, in turn, you’ll get to watch your writing morph into something more mature than it was before.

I say look at your writing like you do the passing of seasons: different times will have different qualities, different characteristics, different feels to them. You live and learn through each of them, and gather a wealth of experiences that eventually inform who you become. Maintaining the discipline to write through every single one of them is what will ultimately give your work all its depth and substance.

All it takes is that first word on the page.

And the second.

And the third.

And all the words beyond that.

[dadyomi]

Daf Yomi Week 115: I Need A Rest

Shabbat Shalom and welcome! Odd as it seems, the first passage of the Legends of the Jews is one of my favorite pieces of Jewish writing. A Torah in black fire on white fire, lying in the lap of the divine on a throne flanked by Paradise and Hell! Baller way to start a universe. 

Yevamot continues to be challenging.

I’ve been thinking about why I keep pulling away from it. I don’t like Yevamot, but there’s been plenty of content I don’t like in the Talmud and I’ve never had the urge to turn away before. I don’t like the idea of stopping reading Yevamot simply because I don’t want to look at historic Jewish practice I find offputting, but I’ve been wondering if that’s what I’m doing and I honestly don’t think it is. 

I don’t find the content practically relevant or even relevant in a spiritual sense. I’m not interested in the debate and I’m not interested in the thought the debate represents. But I find myself resenting Yevamot mainly for wasting my time. Which speaks to a larger fatigue that comes outwards from life and is being taken out on the Talmud rather than a fatigue the Talmud is causing. I tend to systematize life, to build little habits and rituals into my day, and I know myself well enough to be aware of when there are too many of those, when there’s too much on my plate because I thought I could handle more than I could if I plugged it all into a spreadsheet. Replacing daf yomi with some other systemic daily reading is not going to fix that problem, either. I’d be angry at whatever slotted into that place.  

So I need a nap, emotionally speaking -- to rest, wipe out a few rows of the spreadsheet and then rebuild in a way that’s more sustainable. Some things aren’t expendable, but much as I love daf yomi and the readership here, it is expendable right now, and walking away now will make walking back much, much easier. 

I don’t know if this will be all of Yevamot. I’ve got Ketubot marked on my calendar, July 8th; I’ll be back then regardless. I might be back sooner. For once I won’t have all that many responsibilities for Passover this year, and might revisit how I’m feeling then. But for now, in order to keep enjoying this eventually and take some pressure off other parts of my life in the meantime, I’m going to step back and rest instead. 

So we have 271 weeks to go; there are 15 weeks left in Yevamot, and I’ll see you at the end of those for Ketubot if I don’t see you sooner. In the meantime, everyone stay safe and I wish you better luck in the reading than I’m having right now. 

[copperbadge]

Your posts are always so upbeat and rational. How do you stay so sane with all that is going on? Asking seriously because this entire, everything, is just getting to be so, so much.

Oh Anon, I’m going to paraphrase Pastor Steve Furtick -- you’re seeing your behind-the-scenes, but my highlight reel.

Tumblr -- fandom in general -- is the place I go to have fun and be happy. Not everyone treats it that way and that’s okay; fandom can be many things to many people, and for some it’s not easy to be comfortable and happy here. But I’m upbeat here because I’m permitted to be. I have friends outside of fandom, or friends I found in fandom who are now also friends outside of it, where I can dump my insecurities and fears and negativity, and they’ll handle that because I handle theirs. (I should say this is not ALL I do, it’s just, that’s how friends function -- we share both the good and the bad.) When I talk about those things here, it’s because I’ve already processed them elsewhere, and I want to show people here that they aren’t alone but also that there’s a way around those issues. 

I also am, despite clinical depression and natural cynicism, just kind of an upbeat person. I consider it part of my job in fandom, especially as someone with a large readership, to make you guys feel happy and safe and loved, and that brings me great joy to be able to do. There’s a line in The Norwegian Civil War that I feel very deeply: “I must find joy in existence. If what I do brings me no joy, not even joy in a job well done, then it can't be part of your Mother's plan.”  

Joy in a job well done is a great deal of why I’m in fandom. You don’t have to always be happy and rational -- I just am in this space because it pleases me to be so, and when I’m unhappy I have other places I can take that unhappiness. Your situation may be different, and that’s okay too. Fandom isn’t a place where you always have to be joyful. 

It’s okay for everything to be so much. This is a really dark moment we’re living through. Don’t feel you have to be happy when the world is burning around us. But I urge you, once you’ve sat with that specific “the world is burning” misery for a while, to start thinking about ways out of it -- and if you can’t find a ladder, build one*. That might be bitching a lot or going to protests or signing petitions or making someone laugh or yelling along with angry music or writing porny fanfic, you have to find your own ladder, what works for you. But the first step in that is seeking it out. There are very few situations where a solution can’t be found if sought; it’s just a matter of believing there is a solution rather than believing the muck and mire is all there is. It takes practice -- but with practice, you reach a point where the urge to joy is an instinct rather than a struggle. Sometimes part of seeking joy is being sad, but knowing what to do with that sadness. Or not knowing but trying stuff until something sticks. 

* Some misery is chemical; I’m not suggesting people can think or smile their way out of depression. But if your misery is coming from an external source, you have a much greater ability to overcome it, and you only control that ability through thought and practice. 

Anyway, the upshot is that I come across here as upbeat and rational because this is the place I can be those things, both for myself and others, but it was a long fucking road to get here. I am still sad and angry and scared -- just in other places. 

Give yourself permission to feel every feeling you have and to spend some time thinking about how to fix the feelings you don’t like. I have faith in you! You’ll get to a better place, even if the world around us might lag behind.  

(Also on an incredibly petty note, there is literally nothing that annoys negative assholes more than aggressive positivity. Even if you don’t feel positive, meet negativity with joy and they lose their FUCKING MINDS. It’ll make you happy just watching it. :D )