Fight Your Censor

Intuition: that tiny voice that speaks from your gut.
Recently, I made a goal of trying to slow down and listen to my gut, listen to that voice that speaks to me about all manner of things that are good or bad for me. What have I found? The voice of intuition is much quieter that that of my writing censor.

My writer's censor is easy to hear. She comes to me loud and clear as I'm working on a first draft. Generally, she throws phases at me like: That's awful! Who would read that? That's stupid. You're not good enough!

It seems her "job" is to stop my headlong progress. It's a battle where the lines are text and I must be armored if I am to win. My censor also is present the next day, when I review my previous day's work. Once again, she gives her thoughts, none of which are positive, most are not even helpful. Sometimes she almost dares me to throw my the work away and start over.

As writers we all have that voice in our ear - the one that tells us to stop writing, that our words are not worthy. But as writers, we also have a story to tell. That story is in you, and your job is to get it down on paper. So in thinking about goals for 2013, perhaps one could be to listen to the story in you, armor yourself against your censor and get the words on paper. There will be plenty of time later to refine your work during the editing process. Fight back.

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D. Jean Quarles is a writer of Women's Fiction and a co-author of a Young Adult Science Fiction Series. Her latest book, Flight from the Water Planet, Book 1 of The Exodus Series was written with coauthor, Austine Etcheverry.

D. Jean loves to tell stories of personal growth – where success has nothing to do with money or fame, but of living life to the fullest. She is also the author of the novels: Rocky's Mountains, Fire in the Hole and, Perception. The Mermaid, an award winning short story was published in the anthology, Tales from a Sweltering City.  

She is a wife, mother, grandmother and business coach. In her free time . . . ha! ha! ha! Anyway, you can find more about D. Jean Quarles, her writing and her books at her website at www.djeanquarles.com

You can also follower her at www.djeanquarles.blogspot.com or on Facebook

The Many Hats of Writers

With fewer traditional publishers willing to publish new authors and the overall publishing industry getting harder books published, today's writers must wear many hats by necessity.

Today’s writer has two options, DIY or outsource. Outsourcing can become expensive and some writers may not be able to afford outsourcing, so that leaves DIY.

The hats of DIY that writers must wear.

1. Writer
2. Editor
3. Proofreader
4. Publisher
5. Promoter
6. Marketer
7. PR person
8. Video Creator
9. Retailer/Wholesaler
10. Booking Agent
11. Web Designer
12. Content Creator
13. Web Manager
14. Content Manager
15. Social Media Manager
16. Networking Manager
17. Shipping Manager
18. Bookkeeper
19. Entrepreneur
20. Record Keeper

So much for time to write. If you want to be a writer, you’ll find the time to write. No one ever said the writing is easy in today’s writing market.

Writing take dedication and hard work to be successful, whatever that means to you. Only a few writers make it big, the rest work hard and with some luck and hard work can make some money writing.

Writing is a calling, not a way to get rich unless you come up with the next “Harry Potter”, which rarely happens. There is a good deal of luck in making it big. J. K. Rowling the author of the “Harry Potter” series, was rejected 12 times before a friend of her daughter read it and told to her father about how good it was. He took a chance on publishing it, we know how well that went.

If you are a writer that must DIY everything because you just don’t have the money for a literary agent, which can cost thousands of dollars, if you can find one to take a chance on your book, you will have to wear many hats and learn what you need to get your book in front of readers.

This article is to enlighten you about the uphill battle you face as you work toward publication, and getting your book into the reader’s hands.

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer/Blogger/Editor/Proofreader/Reviewer/Marketer

http://www.authorsden.com/robertmedak

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/freelancewrtr

The Gift of Feedback

Feedback, otherwise referred to as constructive criticism, can make the heart beat a bit faster. Each of us, in our lifetime, have been subjected to this feedback, yet society doesn't tell us either how to give or receive feedback well. Consequently, even when our intent is to help another, the feedback we give feels hurtful or mean. With writers, too often, this "constructive criticism" may stop a person from writing.

Some suggestions: When giving feedback:
1. Ask for permission first. "May I make a suggestion . . ." This gives the person the option of saying, "no."

2. Use "I" statements. "I have found . . ."

3. Remember that even though you may appreciate and accept feedback well, others may be more sensitive to criticism. Keep that in mind and adapt your comments to reflect how they may be received by someone else.

4. Do not say something to someone on-line that you would not say if that person was standing in front of you.

Some suggestions: For receiving feedback:
1. Resist the urge to become defensive. Remember, it is difficult to give feedback too!

2. Take a deep breath. You are not perfect. No one is. We all have things we can work on. This is not about whether you are liked or not.

3. Listen. Then find the truth. Okay, so we are all not perfect. We all have things we can work on. Somewhere in the criticism there will be a suggestion that will allow you to take your writing to the next level. The message might be filled with untruths, but somewhere, trust me, will be something that can be taken and used. So consider and evaluate the criticism. Then decide how to act.

4. Ask for help with your writing challenge. If you need it, ask. Trust me, there are people who want to help.

Finally, thank the person who have you a gift, the gift of believing you are worthy of feedback.

_____________________________________

D. Jean Quarles is a writer of Women's Fiction and a Young Adult Science Fiction series. Her latest book, Flight from the Water Planet, Book 1 of The Exodus Series was written with her coauthor, Austine Etcheverry.

D. Jean loves to tell stories of personal growth – where success has nothing to do with money or fame, but of living life to the fullest. She is also the author of the novels: Rocky's Mountains, Fire in the Hole and, Perception. The Mermaid, an award winning short story was published in the anthology, Tales from a Sweltering City.  

She has also compiled a collection of short inspirational material for writers in The Write Balance, Journaling the Writer's Life.

She is a wife, mother, grandmother and business coach. In her free time . . . ha! ha! ha! Anyway, you can find more about D. Jean Quarles, her writing and her books at her website at www.djeanquarles.com

Her novels are available in electronic format here, or print format here. 

You can also follower her at www.djeanquarles.blogspot.com or on Facebook
  

New Business Logo Design for A Writer's World Ezine

Creating a business logo design for your writing, especially if you offer services or products is an essential part of marketing.

Taking this into account and listening to my writing coach, I've been working on creating a focused platform for my writing and writing services and I think I finally came up with something.

Above is the new logo for The Writing World newsletter.

I've done a poll on the logo design, you can check it out HERE, but after getting emailed feedback, I decided on a more unique logo.

Now I know I'm taking a risk with the 'old world' feel of this design, but once anyone reads my posts or other content, they will quickly realize my writing is current, informative, and professional.

While you do need acquire and analyze input from others when deciding on a logo, unless you can hire a professional you'll have to go with your gut for the overall design. And, remember, you can't please everyone. Some people will 'get' what you're conveying and others won't. That's the nature of things.

Also, when promoting your newsletter, or now some marketers are calling it an ezine, you need to have a FOCUSED landing page for the opt-in.

What? Why?

Simple, today's readers are usually scanning what they read and looking for more information. This will likely have them scanning your site, if the information they read is valuable, for other articles or offers. THIS IS DISTRACTING.

If a reader lands on a page that ONLY tells them WHY they should OPT-IN to your ezine or newsletter, and your copy is effective, they will be focused and be much more likely to SIGN-UP.

You can check out my new OPT-IN page at The Writing World Newsletter
(In regard to the url for the site, I tried to get the domain name awritersworld.com, but it was taken.)

Another tip for promoting your ezine is to always offer something of value - a free gift. The gift should relate to what your site is about and be something the reader can use.

That's about it, except I'd love your feedback on the new logo. PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.

Oh, if you haven't signed-up yet, PLEASE DO! Want to know why you should? Check out
The Writing World.

If you have the inclination to sign-up NOW, there's an opt-in on the sidebar, right on top!


Thanks!

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Visit Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing for more writing and marketing information.

For more on logos, check out:
Logos for Writers

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