This week we take a look at the publishing industry, your goals, and how you can become endlessly inspired and creative…
Learning about the realities of the publishing industry can free you to create your own definition of success (that may or may not include traditional publishers). Step 1 towards success is to imagine your vision. Step 2 is to turn up for your writing, something the new StoryAWeek newsletter can help with!
For industry perspective: Jane Friedman’s The Hot Sheet: https://hotsheetpub.com/
Leave a comment about this episode: https://storyaday/episode259
Learning about the realities of the publishing industry can free you to create your own definition of success (that may or may not include traditional publishers). Step 1 towards success is to imagine your vision. Step 2 is to turn up for your writing, something the new StoryAWeek newsletter can help with!
For industry perspective: Jane Friedman’s The Hot Sheet: https://hotsheetpub.com/
Leave a comment about this episode: https://storyaday/episode259
Step into endless inspiration and creativity with StoryAWeek: https://storyaday.org/StoryAWeek
This week I talk about the creative boost I got from my recent travels, and how you can get a similar boost in your writing life, without even leaving home.
This week I talk about the creative boost I got from my recent travels, and how you can get a similar boost in your writing life, without even leaving home.
I also tease some of the upcoming events at StoryADay as we look towards the change in seasons.
Want more?
Join me at the Writer Unboxed OnConference 2022: https://writerunboxed.com/2022/08/05/writer-unboxed-onconference-community-focus/
Get the StoryADay Short Story Framework: https://storyaday.org/framework
It’s that time again: time to make your commitments to your writing for the coming month. Join us!
Welcome to the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group!
Post your goals for this month and let us know how you got on with last month’s goals.
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.
(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)
Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.
And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!
Download your SWAGr Tracking Sheet now, to keep track of your commitments this month
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Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months
So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)
(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends!)
Crafting a writing life isn’t all about knowing where to put commas and how to develop characters. It’s also about engaging with other humans. This week I’m in conversation with Larissa Sjarbaini, a high performance coach, about how to do that and why you might want to, even if you’re an extreme introvert. And stay tuned for an opportunity to develop your own game plan for a writing life
LINKS
Set Yourself Up For Success sign up now!
This week I get a little vulnerable and share what I’m doing to get back to being a more prolific writer. I think you’re going to enjoy this!
I get vulmerable and make a confession, in this episode. Can you relate?
LINKS
Critique Week: https://stada.me/critique
3-Day Challenge: https://storyaday.org/3dc
I’m through caring about what publishers want. Instead, I want us to focus on writing stories that matter. And, as you might expect, I have some thoughts on how we go about doing that.
LINKS
I’m through caring about what publishers want. Instead, I want us to focus on writing stories that matter. And, as you might expect, I have some thoughts on how we go about doing that.
LINKS
The 3-Day Challenge: https://storyaday.org/3dc
It’s that time again: time to make your commitments to your writing for the coming month. Join us!
Welcome to the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group!
Post your goals for this month and let us know how you got on with last month’s goals.
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.
(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)
Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.
And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!
Download your SWAGr Tracking Sheet now, to keep track of your commitments this month
****
Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months
So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)
(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends!)
Vacations can give us a much needed fresh perspective, as writers and creators, but you don’t have to cross an ocean to see things a-fresh.
LINKS
StoryADay.org/episode254
Take the 3-Day Challenge: StoryADay.org/3dc
Writers don’t just write for themselves, we write to be read, and with that we leave a legacy. in this episode I tell the story of two writers who left an impact on me, and invite you to think about your legacy
LINKS:
The 3-Day Challenge – https://storyaday.org/3dc
I, WRITER Waitlist – https://stada.me/iwriter
Music credits: Alan McPike, https://standardstrax.com/
Video credit: (Tony Conaway) Gary Zenker, Main Line Writers’ Group (full video https://youtu.be/1R0rqla54hk)
It’s that time again: time to make your commitments to your writing for the coming month. Join us!
Welcome to the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group!
Post your goals for this month and let us know how you got on with last month’s goals.
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.
(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)
Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.
And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!
Download your SWAGr Tracking Sheet now, to keep track of your commitments this month
****
Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months
So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)
(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends!)
I hate interviews where authors say things like, “I simply have to write, it’s like breathing.”
I don’t know about you, but I find it pretty easy to not-write.
I just sit there. Or I eat more. Or I doomscroll.
It feels easier, in the moment, to not-write, because writing can be hard.
Vulnerable.
Scary.
But what’s the real cost of not writing?
Gnawing envy when some other writer succeeds?
Growing older and slowing down, with your stories still buried inside?
Never again experiencing the thrill of soaring on the updraft of inspiration?
Forgetting who you are?
Being forgotten?
Not living as an authentic version of you?
Are you really willing to pay that cost?
What’s Your Legacy?
One evening at university when I should have been reading a dry history text, I instead lounged in a threadbare armchair in my rented apartment, reading a paperback historical mystery about Richard III. My friend walked into the room and did a double-take.
“Oh!” she said. “That’s my great-aunt’s novel!”
The author, Josephine Tey, is long departed and I haven’t seen that friend for more than 20 years, but I can never hear anything about the Tudors (and I’m a history buff, so this comes up a lot for me) without thinking of my friend, and her great-aunt. They live alongside each other on a shelf in the permanent collection of my memory.
That’s Josephine Tey’s legacy.
I treasure the memory of my friend Tony, big voice booming out at a local open mic night, trying out stories that might never be published, making me laugh and, later, being generous with his writing advice. It makes it feel like he’s still here with me, even as I miss him.
I’m glad he took the chance on all the stories he wrote.
That’s Tony’s legacy.
Who might be grateful for your legacy?
(Hint: it starts with you, but it ripples out from there to the people who love you and the people who will never meet you, but stumble across your story at exactly the right moment in their lives.)
Your stories will never be perfect. They don’t have to be. They just have to be told, to make an impact. On you and on others.
If you’re ready to take a chance on yourself and your writing, I have the framework that will support you. You’ll find it in the I, WRITER Course.
Starting June 4, 2022, your legacy begins.
What story will someone tell, one day, about the day they discovered your legacy?
Join me in the I, WRITER Course
Registration ends today. And your new story begins.
My personal theme for my StoryADay Challenge stories this year was ‘love’. It didn’t always work out, but let’s give it another shot today…
Write A Love Story
There are many types of love, and it manifests in as many ways as there are humans in the world (and imagined humans in our stories).
You can write a romance if you must, but I’m going to encourage you to write a story that shows us an act of love more unexpected than that.
It might be:
Remember to show us what’s happening in your story. Paint me a picture. Make me laugh, make me cry, make me feeeeeel the lurrrve.
Julie Duffy is a hopeless romantic in all senses of the world. A cock-eyed optimist, and a writer who loves stories that paint the world we want, not just the one we have. Invite her onto your podcast to talk about how stories change hearts and save the world.
This week I bring you three stories from the writing world that bust the myth of the lone genius writer
Episode 252 – This week I bring you three stories from the writing world that bust the myth of the lone genius writer (now, doesn’t that make you feel better).
LINKS
Sign up for the free Your Writing Life Masterclass now: Join the free Your Writing Life class from StoryADay
Orget started on a mini challenge with the StoryADay 3-Day Challenge
You’ve been asking and it’s finally here: the 2022 Participant Swag.
Show your StoryADay pride with pillows, notebooks, t-shirts, cups, buttons, phone cases and more!
It’s not just your protagonist who must change!
In a story your protagonist faces the possibility of change before they can solve the problem they face, win their true love, or defeat their enemy…in short, achieve their heart’s desire.
Funny thing is: as writers, we face that moment of decision too.
That’s what I’m talking about on the podcast this week.
This week’s #StoryADayBingo winners are…
| This year, as an added incentive to keep you writing during StoryADay May, I posted a bingo card and tokens on each prompts. It’s ridiculous how motivated we are by stickers and how much fun it is to do a little arts’n’crafts at the end of a long day! For those of you who’ve been playing along, well done (especially those of you who got inventive on days when I forgot to post the official piece!) I promised that, if you posted your bingo card on social media (or left a comment on the blog saying you pinkie-swear you’ve been checking in every day), I would draw winners to receive a special something in the mail from me. This week’s winners are: Michele Reisinger Faith Canright Brenda Rech SpiritGrind7 (Rory) Wendy Blunty Stephanie Darla Jessica If that’s you, email me at julie at storyaday dot org with your mailing address and I’ll get you prize in the mail to you. (I will not share your address with anyone) If that’s not you, don’t worry, this is a new week, and you can start posting your bingo card now (any social media, use the #storyadaybingo so I can find you, or, if you don’t do social media, pinkie-swear in Saturday’s comments!) What will the prizes be? Remember those old Mastercard ads? “Priceless” is probably the best word 😉 If you haven’t been keeping up with the challenge as well as you’d hoped, now is a great time to consider what is getting in your way, or how you might want to update your ‘rules’ for the rest of the month, to make it more realistic, but still push you to do the writing you long to do. If you have been writing but not posting the bingo card, please know I salute you, just the same! Keep writing, Julie P. S. Download your bingo gameboard here |
StoryADay May 2022 is underway and it’s time for a recap of what hundreds of writers have been up to this week.
LINKS:
StoryADay.org
StoryADay.org/3dc
Replay of a live Q&A session with the community, recorded 30 April 2022
Links:
StoryADay.org
We got together this morning for a writing sprint and to get some questions asked and answered, about the challenge.
Watch it now:
I know it was too early for some of you, but I opened up a Q&A session about StoryADay May this morning and recorded it, so you don’t have to miss out.
Some of the questions answered:
You can watch me, and some veteran StoryADay writers, tackle these questions in the replay here or, if you’re subscribed to the StoryADay Podcast the audio version of it should show up in your feed today.
If you haven’t yet signed up to participate in the Classic Challenge or the Fun-Size Challenge, you can do that here.
(If you have signed up already you would have received a “Day 0” email from me, yesterday. No need to do anything further.)
If you don’t sign up, I can’t send you daily emails during the challenge, but you’ll still get my weekly(ish) notes of encouragement.
Still have questions? Post’em below.
Haven’t signed up yet? Get on that!
Are you excited (nervous?) about StoryADay May? I have an invitation that might help settle you into your writing chair.
I know it’s last minute, but if you’re around, I’d like to invite you to join me live on Saturday, April 30 for some writing and Q&A
When: 9:30-11 AM (Eastern US)
Where: Zoom (link will be emailed an hour before the meeting)
Over the next month I’m going to be sending you lots of prompts, to help develop your writing practice.
But for any of that to matter, you have to really believe that you can be a writer and can fit it into your life.
I’d like to invite you to start that process tomorrow morning.
If you can, I’d love for you to join me on Zoom for a Q&A session, and stay for a writing sprint, where you’ll have a chance to stretch your writing muscles, and get warmed up before May starts.
You can work on your Creative Challenge Workbook or your Story Prompts, even your Short Story Framework brainstorming, or you can read some inspiring short stories or work on your first, warm-up story.
Q&A will start at 9:30 AM (Eastern US) CHECK YOUR TIME, and we’ll get down to some quiet writing, in community. (If you’ve never been to a Zoom writing sprint, you’ll be amazed how productive you can be, writing quietly in the presence of others!)
You don’ t have to stay for the whole thing. Come and go as you please.
I’ll send another email tomorrow morning around 8:30 AM with the link.
Until then…here’s a little gift for you. Save this picture, cut it out, stick it to your notebook or your laptop, because you are, an official StoryADay Writer! Congrats!
Leave a comment and let me know if you’ll be there
If you’re the type of person who likes to plan, and get all their ducks in a row, my Creative Challenge Workbook can help set you up for success during the challenge.
Keep writing,
Whether you’re easing back into a writing routine, need a break from your magnum opus, or just want to inject a little fun into your day…
YOU ARE INVITED TO SIGN UP FOR THE STORYADAY MAY CHALLENGE
This year, for the first time, I’ve created a Fun-Size StoryADay challenge—one month, one story—to ease you (back) into a daily writing practice that fits your life.
Imagine opening your email each morning of May and finding an encouraging note, writing prompt or tiny task that will start you off on the right writing foot.
No guilt, just an invitation to let your inner writer come out and play.
Each day you’ll receive a tiny task to lead you through the process of writing one story during the month
PLUS anyone who signs up will have the option to enter the ‘review lottery’ and may get feedback on their writing, live on a group call.
By the end of the month you will have a draft of a story that didn’t exist 31 days before.
Perhaps you, like StoryADay writers Gabrielle, Marta, Kim, and Lex, will have created the draft that gets you your first, second or fiftieth fiction publication.
Or maybe, like Laura, or E. Rankin, you’ll make your first paid sale.
And how great would it be if, at the end of May, you are like StoryADay writer Michele who finally created “that daily writing habit”, or Robin who says “I have become a real writer”? Or Jeff, who says “every day, I have that desire to put in a little time with my writing and I’m confident that will always be there for me, now.”
Even if you need to take a day or two off, the tasks are manageable enough that you’ll easily be able to keep up. Importantly, you’ll keep making progress towards your goals, throughout the month.
(And don’t worry, for all you hard-core challenge fans, the classic 31 days, 31 prompts, start-and-finish-a-story-every-day version is still an option, with new writing prompts every day, and a lively community to keep you going!)
If you’ve been looking for a way to break through your blocks, fight the fear that comes with perfectionism and high expectations, and simply have some fun with your writing again, join us this May for the free StoryADay May challenge.
Why should you sign up for StoryADay May, and what happens once you do? This episode is full of trips and tricks to help you get the most out of the upcoming month of creativity, including details of the new Fun-Size Challenge
LINKS
Sign up! https://storyaday.org/signup
keeping one foot in each world—living up to your obligations to other and saying ‘yes’ to your need to write—-takes time and practice.
I took a week away from my writing. And I want to tell you why, and why it might (or might not) be a good idea for you to do the same.
It’s not like the timing was perfect…I’m two weeks out from putting on the 13th StoryADay May challenge, and this year I decided to make it easier (on you, not me) by creating a whole new Fun-Sized Challenge. (Have you signed up yet?)
But frankly, the time is never right. Not for vacation, not for a crisis, and certainly not for you to become a writer.
So what are we to do?
Continue reading “A Foot in Both Worlds”What if you could slide up to your desk, knowing that you were going to have a good time, with your writing?
What if, when you sat down to write, the words just flowed? What’s the secret ingredient that makes this possible?
LINKS
Introducing a kinder, gentler challenge for busy writers
Every May writers challenge themselves to write a story a day, to stimulate their creativity and create lots of new drafts. This year for the first time, the founder of the StoryADay May Challenge, Julie Duffy, is issuing a new ‘fun-size’ challenge for people who would like to write, but find the idea of writing 31 stories in a month intimidating.
Continue reading “New! StoryADay ‘Fun-Size’ Challenge Debuts this May “Some early details about the new flavor of StoryADay May I’m introducing this year, and my note from the AWP 2022 Conference – and my thoughts on the state of the short story
::LINKS::
3 Day Challenge: StoryADay.org/3dc
It’s that time again: time to make your commitments to your writing for the coming month. Join us!
Welcome to the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group!
Post your goals for this month and let us know how you got on with last month’s goals.
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.
(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)
Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.
And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!
Download your SWAGr Tracking Sheet now, to keep track of your commitments this month
****
Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months
So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)
(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends!)
Write a story just for you
When I was working for the first company to help authors publish using digital print on-demand tech, I talked to a LOT of authors,
Publishing is a business, and it’s hard to get picked, and it’s hard to stay lucky.
And if you want to ‘be published’ traditionally, you must convince someone that there is a large enough audience waiting for it.
But what if that’s not what you’re writing? Should you just stop?
The only qualification to be a ‘Superstar” is a desire to write and support your fellow writers.
A supportive group of committed writers, who meet virtually, support each other’s efforts, and inspire each other.
Registration for 2024 open now-June 8, 2024
The only qualification to be a ‘Superstar” is a desire to write and support your fellow writers.
A supportive group of committed writers, who meet virtually, support each other’s efforts, and inspire each other.
Registration for 2024 open now-June 8, 2024
A 6-part journey through the short story.
Starts July 28, 2023
