Writers On The Move

A New Year Gift

Today is the first day of the rest of your life and the beginning of a new year - make it all it can be!

HAVE A HEALTHY, HAPPY, AND
PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

Karen and Writers on the Move

Here's a useful gift for the New Year! Just click the link:

Content Marketing in to 2015 – Top Six Strategies

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2014 Coming to a Close – 2015 Just Before Us, Bright and Shiny

Tomorrow is a New Year that brings amazing things: opportunity for a fresh start, renewed hope, possibilities, and even new beginnings.

Mark Twain said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.”

Make 2015 a year of action rather than procrastination.

To start the New Year, I tried to find quotes I haven’t shared before, or at least ones I haven’t shared recently. Below are 10 I find inspirational. Hope you do to.

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
~ Lyndon B. Johnson

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” ~ Wayne Gretzky

"For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday." ~ Dale Carnegie

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
~ Will Rogers

“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
~ Christopher Columbus

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”
~ Stephen Covey

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” ~ Warren Buffet

“If a man empties his purse into his head no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” ~ John C. Maxwell

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To add to these motivational quotes for the New Year, I have a powerful goal setting and achieving ebook for you. It's free and you can (and should) share it. It’s absolutely worth reading. Here's the link:
A Simple System to Achieve Your Goals

Stop on by tomorrow also. They’ll be another gift for you!

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Networking: A Writer's Greatest Gift

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

Imagine settling into a cozy cabin, sparkling clean with bed made and fridge stocked; prepared

expressly for you so that you may be free of distractions and focus solely on your writing.There is a schedule to keep. Of workshops and informal discussions presented by some of the dearest, most talented and successful children's writers of our time. Delicious meals to enjoy, lovingly prepared by a most welcoming and friendly staff. It's not a dream. It's a Highlights Foundation workshop.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving
So much is reaped from this experience it cannot be fully described in one sitting (See the links to my posts below). Your presence at a Highlights Foundation workshop is a gift to give yourself at any stage of your writing journey, from beginning to publication. To this day I continue to benefit from the "Books that Rise Above" workshop I attended in October 2012. Priceless is the information gathered and wisdom shared. But, it is the people I met who have made all the difference.

The very first participant I met was Rob Sanders, http://robsanderswrites.com/HOME.html, a creative writing teacher for K-fifth grade whose first picture book, Cowboy Christmas, had just been released by Golden Books-Random House. Two of his latest picture books, Outer Space Bedtime Race and
Ruby Rose on Her Toes, will be released in 2015 and 2016. Rob asked me if I had ever heard of Joyce Sweeney. Joyce is an award-winning author of fourteen novels for young adults and one chapbook of poetry. She has had numerous poems, short stories, articles and interviews published, and is involved with live theater productions as well. Rob said that Joyce has a unique approach to writing for children that she explores and shares in several online courses. He suggested I get in touch with her and see what she has to offer. I've been working with Joyce ever since and have had the pleasure of attending one of her workshops and having lunch with her on a recent trip to Florida where she lives.

Come get your Confidence here!
I have taken two of Joyce's online courses, Fiction Writing Essentials and Picture Book Essentials. To give you an idea of what can be learned from Joyce's courses, she has agreed to allow me to share one part of her philosophy, a most important part, that offers a writer a way to rise above the details and see the big picture of his or her work. It is a way to recognize a writer's strengths and weaknesses. Once identified and understood, a writer can build on the strengths and study the weaknesses in order to make them stronger. The four parts of concentration are Concept, Voice, Plot and Structure.

Concept: The idea of your book. You should be able to articulate the concept of your book. If you're slow, face it, you have a concept problem.
Voice: All aspects of the way you use language. You can dazzle your readers if your voice is good. If you think everyone else sounds better than you, then your voice needs work. Work at it, refine it, don't give up too soon.
Plot: A series of (mostly external) events that happen to the mc. Most writers are bad at plot. Things need to happen to your mc, things that test him or her. Plot is what stories are all about. Your mc needs to go through something that is valuable and important. Read The Heroe's Journey, described on this website: http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm. Watch movies and take notes.
Structure: Delivery system. Structure is the vehicle that carries the reader through the story. Examples of structure: Point of view, Time sequence, Length of chapters. To be good at structure you need to know how to show.

Put your Stories to the Test
Joyce says that every writer needs to ask the question: What am I good at? What needs work? Her weakness was once Plot. When she realized that she took the time to study plot and she improved. Here's an idea: Take a good, honest look at your rejections. Decide what is missing, what is weak. Then work to improve it.

Bottom line: There is always something to work on, always something to improve.

To Market, to Market?

Marketing could be a problem, too. If rejections mount up, it's likely that you've gone to market too soon. You need to work on your craft more.

Do this:

Work harder
Revise more
Study more
Make draft upon draft until you come up with something that's DAZZLING--a work no one can resist
Remember: It takes years for the best of writers to get published. There is always work to be done.

Personal note: Joyce's courses offer a wealth of knowledge. Take the knowledge she so graciously and enthusiastically shares and run with it. But the most valuable thing I learned from Joyce is to respect myself as a writer, to take pleasure in my humble attempts, to view my mistakes as stepping stones toward my goal and to revel in them for my mistakes are my teachers. I had heard this before but what Joyce gave me that no one else could is reassurance, reassurance that my efforts aren't in vain and that if I stick with it and don't give up I will succeed.

Give yourself a gift this holiday season and check out Joyce's plot webinar that can be purchased and downloaded, the next round of Fiction Writing Essentials that starts in February, and much more by visiting her website: http://www.sweeneywritingcoach.com/.

Part One: Two Ways to Hook and Keep Your Reader
Part Two: Nouns Need to be Concrete and Appear More than Once
Part Three: Tent Pole Structure
Part Four: Leonard Marcus: Maurice Sendak, Storyteller and Artist
Part Five: Leonard Marcus: Let the Wild Rumpus Start
Part Six: Behind the Scenes with Deborah Heiligman
Part Seven: Deborah Heiligman's Casual Scream
Part Eight: On the Same Page with Betsy Bird
Part Nine: Patti Lee Gauche's Concluding Thoughts: Have your Own Standard of Excellence

Photo courtesy of: http://ewallpaperhub.com/free-winter-desktop-wallpaper/

Linda Wilson, a former elementary teacher and ICL graduate, recently completed Joyce Sweeney's online fiction and picture book courses. She has published over 40 articles for children and adults, six short stories for children, and is currently developing several works for children. Follow Linda on Facebook.

Break Up the Routine, Write Something New

Here we are at the end of another year. As usual, we wonder, where did the time go?

Photo credit: Unhindered by Talent / Foter / CC BY-SA

It is typically a time to reflect on our successes and get ready for a new year with fresh goals.

Before you start scheduling for 2015, I would like to throw an idea at you that will help break up the monotony that comes with routine. It could be a fun idea to spark creativity and show you there is more in you than you thought.

I'm finishing up a free online course through the University of Iowa, "How to Write Fiction". Even though I rarely write fiction, I thought it was worth my time to try something new. I learned to be challenged and stretched in areas that were not familiar - kind of like snorkeling or yoga for the first time.

One lesson was on constraints and styles. The assignment was to write a scene of 10 sentences and include a numeral in each sentence (and continuing with patterns of 20, 30 sentences if desired). Or, write a scene with sentences containing the same number of words.

I chose the latter. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed doing this assignment!

It happened that day I was aware of how it looks when colorful, autumn days suddenly shift to cold, blustery weather. It ended up having a poetic feel and totally out of my writing style.

Lost
Kathleen Moulton

Brown, shrunken mums in containers. Soggy jack-o-lanterns with misshapen faces.

Skeletal remains lost their splendor. Faded jewels of red and gold.

The man tries to collect. Let the wind take them!

Queen Anne shivers and shrivels. Canada goose watches the sky.

Pull back the royal curtain. See the river once hidden?

Happy dogs walk with women. Knitted hats and mismatched scarves.

The sun has a secret. It is cloaked in mystery.

Drops of rain turn white. Mums are hideous remnants lost.

And jack-o-lanterns seem to cry. The man’s leaves are gone.

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Try something new this year. Let yourself get side-tracked just a bit. You will find there is more inside of you than you thought. If it doesn't develop further, the process will definitely clear out the cobwebs!

Have you had an experience similar to this? When you were pleasantly surprised with something you wrote?

After raising and homeschooling her 8 children and teaching art classes for 10 years, Kathy has found time to pursue freelance writing. She enjoys writing magazine articles and more recently had her story, "One of a Kind", published in The Kids' Ark. You can find her passion to bring encouragement and hope to people of all ages at When It Hurts - http://kathleenmoulton.com

A Gift From Writers on the Move to You

Another year is coming to a close and at this time we at Writers on the Move would like to THANK YOU for being a part of our online lives, for following our authors and writers, for commenting and sharing our work, and for subscribing to our site.

To show our appreciation, we created an ebook of writing and marketing tips as a gift. It's filled with great information and we hope it helps and guides you in your writing and marketing endeavors in the New Year.

And, as a bonus, you can share this ebook. You can offer it as a gift in your newsletter, on your website, as a bonus to a gift or product you’re offering, or for some other incentive. Please though, be sure to keep it intact.

Click the link to download Writers on the Move: Winter 2014 Writing and Marketing Tips and Strategies

Have a Happy, Healthy, and Safe

Holiday Season and New Year!

The Business of Writing

Writing is a business. If you are a writer, what kind of business background do you need?

I have a college degree, but I took only two business classes. Decades later, I am a college student once again. I am not pursuing a degree, but a certificate. There are a number of business classes I have taken or still need to take. Some of them are: business taxes, accounting, Microsoft Office 2013, management and marketing. I am halfway to being “finished” but I plan to continue enrolling in classes. There are other related programs to pursue, and enough to keep me busy for at least the next few years.

Of course, I have also enrolled in writing classes, but those are through other entities. I need to learn more about how to write better and I enjoy learning from other writers.

What business classes have you invested in? How did they help you? What other classes would you enjoy or find useful?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Debbie A. Byrne has a B.S. in Mass Communication with a minor in History. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is working on her first children’s book.

Gifts for Writers

It’s time for my annual gift list for writers. If you haven’t finished your holiday shopping consider one of the gifts below.

An online writer’s workshop from Writer’s Digest -- Writer’s digest offers affordable online writing workshops. These workshops are taught by experts in the field and cover a wide range of topics (e.g. memoir writing, blogging, query letters).
Books – A perfect gift for any writer.
A subscription to writer’s magazine -- I have a digital subscription to Poets and Writers for only$2.50 per issue.
365 Affirmations for the Writer by Jane Hertenstein – A kindle book chocked full of inspiration for any writer.
The 2015 Writer’s Market – If you know a writer getting ready to submit their work, the Writer's Market is an invaluable tool. This compilation of information about publishers is a perennial on my annual gift list.
A Journal – Even if the writer you know generally works on a computer, give them a journal and they are sure to write in it. Check out Cafepress.com for a wide selection of journals.
Scrivener - A great application for managing complex writing projects or keeping track of the research for that next project.

All writers need readers. So, here’s a few of the books I’m giving this holiday season.

Picture Book: Before You Came by Patricia MacLachlan Charest

Middle Grade: Bird by Crystal Chan

YA: Pig Park by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez

Cross over: Where’d You Go, Bernadatte,by Maria Semple

Non-Fiction: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Do you have any favorite gifts for writers? What books are you giving this holiday season?

Mary Jo Guglielmo is writer and intuitive life coach. For more information check out:

http://DoNorth.biz/events.htm

http://facebook.com/DoNorth.biz