I Hereby Grant You Permission To Write

In the middle of the 20th Century “Art” because professionalized, to the point where we felt we didn’t deserve to tell stories unless a New York publishing house was slapping it between hardcovers, or an overpriced university program anointed us “Writer, MFA”.

This was an aberration; a moment in history that did not exist before and does not exist now.

Humans have always sat around and told each other stories, without the benefit of editors or tutors or anyone giving us permission. We told stories to audiences, and we gauged their reaction in order to make our stories better next time.

The success of the “amateurs doing things on TV” genre (American Idol, The Voice, Dancing With The Stars) along with the boom in indie publishing, indie movie making, indie everything making, are signs that the artificial workshop of creative professionals is over. Humans are taking back control of our own creativity.

Are you?

Tell your stories. Show them to people. Make them better. Write new stories.
That’s all there is to it.

You have every right to write. In fact, print out this certificate and write your name on it.

Permission To Write Certificate Thumbnail

There. You have my permission to write.

Can you give yourself permission to write?

What Are The Last Three Books You Read?

Sometimes, when it’s hard to pick a writing project, it can be useful to take inspiration from other authors.

Sometimes, it’s good to review what kinds of books we’re reading and ask whether or not they are helping us in our writing.

Sometimes, it’s just fun to challenge our friends.

So here’s my challenge to you: tell me about the last three books you opened

(Not your favorite books, not books you wanted to read, not books you think will impress me. What books did you open? And yes, this can be in ebook, audio or picture book form)

Share your #last3books on your blog or social media and/or in the comments below. Then post this challenge to your friends.

Magnificat Year of Mercy Companion

This is part of my challenge to myself to read a spiritual meditation every morning. I hope that this will continue all year (and if it does, I may ‘retire’ it from this list.)

A mixture of personal stories, poetry, reflections on scripture, lives of the saints and litanies, it’s a positive way to start the day. It makes me less selfish.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

I’m switching back and forth between the ebook and the audio version, because a, it’s looooong, b, it’s huge fun, and c, the narrator, Michael Page, is fabulous.

Set in a densely realized fantasy world, centered in one city, but so deeply developed that I have confidence there’s a whole universe around it. Locke Lamora is a lovable rogue, who, with his gang ‘The Gentleman Bastards’, tries to pull of the biggest scheme of his life and ends up in more trouble than even he could ever have imagined. There is magic in this universe but it is expensive, therefore it is sparely, which makes me happy. I prefer relatable tales of people getting in and out of scrapes on their own wits and training.

It’s an incredible feat, especially for a debut novel. The language is rich and earthy and witty (like Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s lovechild, if it had been abandoned and raised in a gutter). It is long though. I kind of wish it was a series of three shorter books, so I could enjoy one, put it down and sigh, and then look forward to he next one. There’s certainly enough story there, for that. But that’s not the choice they made, so I’ll be picking this on up for some time to come.

Unstoppable by Bill Nye

In spite of the negative connotations of the title, Bill Nye’s book about the mess we’ve made of our planet is far from a downer. In fact, the “Unstoppable” force he’s referring to is not climate change, but us: humanity.

With his trademark chatty tone and irrepressible optimism, he points out all the problems we face and encourages the next generation to be bold, and believe that they can come up with solutions, if only they care enough.

Great read.

So, those are the last three books I opened. What about you? Leave a comment!

Don’t forget to share the challenge. Here are some updates you might use:

What are the last three books you opened? Take the #Last3BooksChallenge https://storyaday.org/last–3-feb

Dare to share the last three books you opened? Take the #Last3BookChallenge http://storayday.org/last-3-feb

Beyond Word Count – Other Ways To Log Your Writing Progress

I’ve made a case for logging your word count to keep yourself accountable, to give yourself a pat on the back, to encourage consistency and good writing habits.

But it doesn’t have to be word count.

WHEN WORD COUNTS HELP

Setting a word count goal makes sense if you’re working on a novel and want it finished by X date.

It also makes sense if you want to become a faster writer.

WHAT IF THAT DOESN’T WORK FOR YOU?

It might not make sense to set a word count goal  if you’re still struggling to create a writing habit. Or if you’re writing flash fiction.

And what if you’re int he editing (or marketing) phase of a project, but still want to feel productive?

In these cases, you might want to to track the number of days on which you worked, to see how your writing practice is becoming part of your life.

HOW TO LOG YOUR DAYS

Set a goal for the number of days a week that you will Write Something (or Work on Project X).

  • Use the ‘butt in chair” column or the “hours spent editing” column in your StoryADay Writing Log.
  • Any day when you work, just type the number for the time spent, in that new column.
  • If you want to get fancy — set up conditional formatting to turn the cell green when it finds that text in the field).

If you like to keep your logs in a more tangible form:

At the end of the month, step back and gaze at the ‘heat map’ of your work progress. Hopefully there’ll be enough ’stickered’ days to make you smile. If not, make a commitment now to do better next month.

KEEPING YOUR GOALS REALISTIC

If you can make an unbroken chain of those days that’s great. But bewarE! Setting so high a bar can backfire. What happens the first time life gets in the way and you miss a day? You feel terrible. You get demotivated. You quit.

Rather, I’d suggest setting a goal to write on a certain number of days a week.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE INFORMATION

At the end of the month, look back at your log see how much you achieved and if any patterns emerge (are weekends good or bad for you? Do you write more when you’ve had more sleep? When the kids are in school?). You can see where you might make changes or improvements.

NO GUILT

Again, try to not use the log as a weapon to bludgeon yourself with guilt. Use it to analyze and study (and to face) what’s really going on.  Try to increase your goal a little from what you actually achieved this month (not some abstract and possible unrealistic ‘ideal’).

Whatever type of log you choose, use it to keep yourself accountable, spur positive changes, and reinforce good work habits.

Because all of these things get you closer to where you want to be: writing.

Are you logging your writing days or word count? What methods do you use, and how do you use it to help you progress? Share in the comments, below!

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How I Used Word Count Tracking To Write 100,000 Words

How I used the StoryADay Word Count Logging tool to write 100,000 words last year, and why you should be logging your progress too!

Do you log your word count?

I’ve been logging my word count (on and off) for the past couple of years. Last year, without really trying too hard, I managed to write 100,000 words of fiction. That was the end of one novel, several short stories (a couple published) and the first half of a second novel.

If I’m so productive, why bother logging my word count, you say?

Come closer and let me whisper into your ear…I’m productive because of the word count log.

Here are four ways  logging my progress helped me meet my goals: Continue reading “How I Used Word Count Tracking To Write 100,000 Words”

10 Books Short Story Writers Should Have On Their Wish Lists

This week’s Reading Room is a little different: 10 (+1) books to add to your wish list. Enjoy!

Short Stories & Essays (To Learn The Craft)


I buy this every year and it has yet to disappoint. Curated by high school students and founded by Dave Eggars, this is a collection that is both quirky and keeps me feeling young!

Yes, everyone but British writers (someone idiosyncratically defined, if the reviews are to believed) are excluded from this 2-Volume collection. But I like a little focus in my anthologies, don’t you? (Side note: you might want to complement this with something from the Best American series. I couldn’t, in good conscience, link to their “Best Short Stories” edition because it is so resolutely ‘literary’ and I usually end up hating it, but YMMV. Their Mystery one looks interesting, and I wish they had more fiction genres to choose from.)


There’s nothing quite like reading the well-crafted words of Smart People on Important Issues to inspire you to get back to writing. Lots of essays in here from diverse voices.

ENCOURAGEMENT TO EMBRACE CREATIVITY


This wonderful call to artistic arms was hugely influential in my decision to start StoryADay. Gentle and encouraging it definitely helps you if you’re struggling with the whole permission to write thing. If you think you NEED to be doing stuff for other people before REWARDING yourself with time to write, Ms. Ueland will set you straight….

I haven’t read this one yet, but … Elizabeth Gilbert! Have you seen her TED talk? And she’s fabulous fictioneer in her own right, so sign me up for a copy!


I really bought this to use with my kids, but it turns out it’s a Rescue Pack for adults who have forgotten how to play. There is nothing a writer needs more than to be an Explorer of the World and Keri Smith shows you tons of ways you can have fun out in the real world again, noticing all the little details that fiction requires.

Chuck Wendig at his trademark profane, hilarious, no-nonsense, encouraging best. Not to be missed.

PRODUCTIVITY AND THE WRITER


If you haven’t discovered this book yet, it’s well worth a read. It talks about resistance and why we need to break through it.


If you HAVE read “The War of Art” (above) and are sick of bloody Resistance and want to know WHY it’s kicking in and what to do about it…this is the book for you. I received a review copy from the author Mark McGuinness but liked it so much that I’ve bought it again three times to give away (you can enter for a chance to win a copy here). Seriously. Read it.

If I might be allowed a little self-promotion, this book has 60+ ways to break writers’ block and some REALLY nice reviews on Amazon (thanks, guys!)
What would you add to this list? Comment below!

Giveaway: Motivation for Creative People by Mark McGuinness

Hey, I’m doing a month of book giveaways: some of my fave inspirational and craft books for writers.

First up: Motivation for Creative People by Mark McGuinness. Fabulous look at all the reasons we avoid working, and how to change that.

Make sure you’re on the mailing list to hear about more giveaways this month!

Enter for a chance to win the paperback from Amazon, no purchase required (US residents only, sorry!)

 

NaNoWriMo Word Count Tracker

I know you lot are always up for a challenge. A significant portion of the crew here takes on NaNoWriMo each November.

So I have a gift for you.

A Month Without Math

NaNoWriMo Tracker from StoryADay.org

I’ve created a word-count tracker that dynamically calculates how many words you need to write every day to hit your targets. It works whether you faithfully write 1667 words every day, or whether you binge-write 5,000 then sleep for 48 hours before writing again. Just plug in your numbers and the spreadsheet will tell you your remaining daily average number of words required to hit the magic 50,000.

But That’s Not All

If you hit the minimum daily number of words required to stay on track, the spreadsheet rewards you by turning the ‘Words Today’ cell a happy bright green.

NaNoWriMo Tracker with green gold stars

When you hit the magic 50,000 words, all the remaining “Words This Month” boxes turn green too.

(It’s silly, but it is incredibly motivating to see those little green boxes stack up!)

Available Everywhere

(as long as you can access Google Drive, that is).

This is a Google Sheets document. That means it’s stored in the cloud and you can update it from anywhere you can log in to Google: on your phone, in the coffee shop, in bed, from your laptop, during meetings (ahem!)

Easy To Use

This comes with foolproof instructions including “Where to type” and “Where not to type” and “how to use this again next year/for other projects”.

NaNoWriMo Tracker instructions

Download a copy now, (DO NOT REQUEST ACCESS. INSTEAD, CLICK FILE/MAKE A COPY) to your Google Drive (you’ll need a free Google account) and use it with my best wishes for a frantic, fiction-filled month of creativity!

Good luck!

Julie

All About Amazon’s New Exclusive Rights Grab and Royalties Changes

I’m hearing a lot of outrage and panic about the new Amazon Kindle royalties announcement. I’m also hearing a lot of misinformation.

Before you grab your pitchfork, your flaming torches, your tar and your feathers, here’s what you need to know:

The Basics

THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO ALL KINDLE BOOKS

This agreement applies to books that are (voluntarily by the author) enrolled in Kindle Select — a program that is not required in order to put your ebooks on Amazon, but is an optional agreement that renews every 90 days until you tell it not to, to offer your ebooks ONLY on Amazon in exchange for some benefits. Those benefits include higher royalties in some markets, the ability to use Amazon’s custom-build promotional programs (like Countdown deals and advertising), and enrollment in the Kindle Lending Library and the Kindle Unlimited program.

In Short: if you chose to enroll you Kindle ebook Kindle Select, you offer Amazon the exclusive right to sell it, for 90 days. They make it available to people who subscribe to Kindle Unlimited and people who like to borrow (not buy) Kindle ebooks. [Back To Top]

WHAT IS CHANGING?

If your Kindle Direct Publishing titles are enrolled in the Kindle Select program, the way you are compensated will change ONLY for Kindle Online Lending Library borrows and Kindle Select purchase.

Instead of everyone being given the same amount for every title borrowed, authors will be compensated for the number of pages they wrote and their readers read, as a percentage of all pages read across the program.

That is, if people borrow and read 1,000,000 pages’ worth of content and 1,000 of those page are yours, you’ll get 1,000th of the Global Fund’s money. (Previously, everyone who enticed borrowers to read at least 10% of their borrowed title, got a flat fee, whether their book was five pages long or 500. If they didn’t hit that 10% mark, you got nothing.)

In short: You will receive more money if readers actually read your books, less if they don’t.

If your books are in the Kindle Online Lending Library or Kindle Unlimited programs you have already opted to make your e-books available exclusive at Amazon. This is not changing. [Back To Top]

WHY HAS AMAZON MADE THIS CHANGE?

According to their announcement it is in response to author feedback.

Authors who work hard on their books and produce useful/entertaining titles are (reading between the lines) miffed that they get compensated the same as authors who slap up any old rubbish, promote it well and get a bunch of people to download it, even if it is never actually read. Amazon has decided to incentivize authors to write good/useful books by rewarding them per page read.

[Presumably this will also help readers because lazy authors are not going to bother putting out books that don’t make money — totally editorializing here- JD] [Back To Top]

AUTHOR FAQs

WHAT’S ALL THIS ABOUT AMAZON DEMANDING EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO MY WORK?

They’re not.

You can use the Kindle Direct Publishing system (KDP) without giving up any rights. You grant them non-exclusive rights to distribute your title. You can publish it elsewhere too.

If you want the benefits offered by Kindle Select, then you may grant them exclusive rights (for 90 days) to sell your ebook.

This is not changing. [Back To Top]

WHAT IS KINDLE SELECT AND WHAT ARE THESE SO-CALLED BENEFITS?

Kindle Select is an optional program. You decide to give Amazon the exclusive right to sell your ebook for 90 days. In return they put your book into the Kindle Unlimited (KU) and Kindle Online Lending Library (KOLL) programs. In some markets you get access to a bigger cut of the profits on your sales (70% instead of 30%). You also get access to various promotional tools Amazon has built for their customers (Countdown deals, free promotions, best-seller lists etc.)

At the end of each 90 day period your agreement auto-renews unless you tell Amazon otherwise (mark it on your calendar if you plan on un-enrolling. I did!)

See the terms of service here.

This is not changing. [Back To Top]

WHAT IS THE KINDLE ONLINE LENDING LIBRARY (KOLL)?

Amazon has created a fund of money (currently $10m annually) that compensates authors every time their book is borrowed by an Amazon Prime customer.

[N.B. In 28 counties (NOT including the USA, where Amazon is based) Public Lending Rights compensate authors when their books are bought or borrowed from public libraries. Amazon brought this model to their online lending library, even though it was a new idea in the US. I applaud them for that. – JD]

You can opt out of enrolling your book in KOLL.

This is not changing, although the way you are compensated is. [Back To Top]

WHAT IS KINDLE UNLIMITED?

Kindle Unlimited is the newest of these programs. Think of it as Netflix for books. Subscribers pay a monthly fee and can download as many books from the Kindle Unlimited library as they want. Authors are compensated from the Global Fund.

This is not changing, although the way you are compensated is.

ARE MY BOOKS AFFECTED?

Did you sign up for Kindle Unlimited when you went through the Kindle Direct Publishing program?

No?

Then no, your books are not eligible for the Kindle Online Lending Library or Kindle Unlimited, so you are not affected.

If yes, your books are affected.

  1. You have three choices:
    Remain in Kindle Select and allow your books to auto-renew at the end of your 90-Day term (found in your Dashboard)
    Remain in Kindle Select for now and opt out at the end of your 90-Day term.
    Contact Amazon before July 1, 2015 to be removed from he program before the changes take effect. [Back To Top]

WHEN DOES THIS TAKES EFFECT

July 1, 2015

I HATE IT! LET ME OUT!

If you want to take your books out of the Kindle Select program before July 1, 2015 because you don’t want to be part of this new royalty structure (or for any other reason), you send the ASIN of your book (the unique ID in the Amazon store, found in the book info page) to https://kdp.amazon.com/contact-us and tell them to remove it.

In other words, you can get out of your current 90-Day exclusivity agreement now, if you want to. (I assume this is a one-time offer, because the terms may be changing mid-way through your current agreement — JD) [Back To Top]

WAIT, THIS KIND OF SOUNDS LIKE A WIN-WIN FOR SERIOUS AUTHORS AND SERIOUS READERS

Well, I think so. I laughed when I read the announcement. [Back To Top]

WHAT THE AGREEMENT SAYS

FROM THE AMAZON EMAIL AND WEBSITE ANNOUNCEMENT

Beginning July 1, 2015, we’ll switch from paying Kindle Unlimited (KU) and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) royalties based on qualified borrows, to paying based on the number of pages read. We’re making this switch in response to great feedback we received from authors who asked us to better align payout with the length of books and how much customers read. Under the new payment method, you’ll be paid for each page individual customers read of your book, the first time they read it.

Royalty payments under the new program will be different

As with our current approach, we’ll continue to set a KDP Select Global Fund each month. Under the new payment method, the amount an author earns will be determined by their share of total pages read instead of their share of total qualified borrows.

Here are some examples of how it would work if the fund was $10M and 100,000,000 total pages were read in the month:
The author of a 100 page book that was borrowed and read completely 100 times would earn $1,000 ($10 million multiplied by 10,000 pages for this author divided by 100,000,000 total pages).

The author of a 200 page book that was borrowed and read completely 100 times would earn $2,000 ($10 million multiplied by 20,000 pages for this author divided by 100,000,000 total pages).

The author of a 200 page book that was borrowed 100 times but only read halfway through on average would earn $1,000 ($10 million multiplied by 10,000 pages for this author divided by 100,000,000 total pages).
We will similarly change the way we pay KDP Select All-Star bonuses which will be awarded to authors and titles based on total KU and KOLL pages read.

You can enroll in KDP Select at any time by visiting your Bookshelf. If you no longer want your book(s) to be included in KDP Select you may unenroll from the program by contacting us with the ASIN of the book you would like to remove.

Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC v1.0)

To determine a book’s page count in a way that works across genres and devices, we’ve developed the Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC). We calculate KENPC based on standard settings (e.g. font, line height, line spacing, etc.), and we’ll use KENPC to measure the number of pages customers read in your book, starting with the Start Reading Location (SRL) to the end of your book. Amazon typically sets SRL at chapter 1 so readers can start reading the core content of your book as soon as they open it.

This standardized approach allows us to identify pages in a way that works across genres and devices. Non-text elements within books including images, charts and graphs will count toward a book’s KENPC.

When we make this change on July 1, 2015, you’ll be able to see your book’s KENPC listed on the “Promote and Advertise” page in your Bookshelf, and we’ll report on total pages read on your Sales Dashboard report. Because it’s based on default settings, KENPC may vary from page counts listed on your Amazon detail page, which are derived from other sources.

Reporting

After this change, you’ll be able to view your Kindle Unlimited (KU) and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) Pages Read in your Sales Dashboard report by marketplace and title.

We’ll continue to update this Help page with more information on your KDP reports, KU/KOLL royalties, and KDP Select Global Fund payouts as the changes roll out.

[Back To Top]

*WHY I’M QUALIFIED TO TALK ABOUT THIS

I’m not a lawyer and I’m not privy to any inside information…anymore.

BUT I was the first Director Of Author Services at the first company to offer print on-demand publishing AND ebook distribution directly to authors. My bosses tried to get two of the leading booksellers of the time to invest in our company (hint: one was named after a big river). This was wa-ay back in the late 90s, early 2000s — before Nook or Kindle or Createspace and certainly before we were big enough that any of the traditional publishers had to take us seriously or start dreaming up agency pricing.

Throughout that negotiation process I got a pretty good impression of the management styles of the two booksellers we were dealing with. One seemed all about the bottom line (which meant keeping traditional publishers happy) and the other seemed to genuinely want to make the world a better place for readers — to the extend that they did not invest in our company, in part I suspect, because we didn’t have that piece figured out yet.

I’ve thought a lot about indie-publishing in the digital world, read (and edited) and lot of publishing agreements, explained the new world of publishing to literally thousands of authors (from NYT bestsellers to newbie & wannabe authors). I’ve used these programs myself.

I currently use Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing — some of my books are currently enrolled in the Select program, some are not. I have also used Booklocker, Xlibris, Lulu and Smashwords. I’ve also sold e-publications directly from my website using e-Junkie to manage the shopping cart and potential affiliate relationships. I’m currently trying to interest traditional publishers in both fiction and non-fiction projects that I believe could benefit from the relationships and power of the traditional industry.

I’m a fan of Amazon but I’m an informed fan. I read this agreement carefully from the perspective of an author, a reader and someone who understands the new-indie models inside and out and has had access to some of the brightest minds in this space over the years. [Back To Top]

For an interesting, well-thought-out counter-argument read this article by erotica author Selena Kitt. (Erotica is a big seller on Kindle).
And here’s a look at the program and what people have been saying about it (this one comes out slightly in favor of it, I’d say).

So, what do you think? Have I missed anything? Do you think I’m misinterpreting things? Are you still worried? Comment below!

Guest Prompt from Gabriela Pereira – with submission guidelines

 Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 7.36.08 PMGabriela Pereira is the Chief Instigator at DIYMFA.com, the home of the do-it-yourself MFA in creative writing. In her new podcast series she has interviewed everyone from agents, novelists, writing teachers to marketing and networking guru Guy Kawasaki! You should definitely check that out!). She is hard at work on a DIYMFA handbook due out next year from Writer’s Digest Books.

This prompt is a little bit different today — and it comes with the possibility of publication.

Over at DIYMFA they’re launching an anthology and the only stipulations are that you write to the theme and use the custom-built Writer Igniter feature at DIYMFA to somehow spark your story. It’s a fun little slot-machine of a prompt generator that Gabriela had custom built for her site. It’s kind of irresistable…DIYMFA.com logo

The Prompt

The theme for the anthology is ORIGINS. The deadline is August 31, 2015, so you have plenty of time to brush up whatever story you sketch out today.

The rules are as follows: spin the Writer Igniter (no more than three spins!); take a screenshot of your result (ALT + Print Screen on Windows; CMD + SHIFT + 4 on Mac, then draw a box around whatever you want to capture); then write a story.

The finished story should be up to 2,000 words. See more guidelines for submission here.

Go!

How To Sign Up

To sign up to do the challenge, you only have to promise you’ll do it! You can write stories anywhere, post comments on blog entries and pat yourself on the back.

If you’d like to be part of the online community please send an email to editor at storyaday dot org and include the username you’d like to use and promise me you’re a real human 🙂

I’ll get you signed up as soon as possible.

(I’m being slammed by spam signups so have turned off the self-service signups for now. But YOU are more than welcome to join us! Just send me an email.

Julie

How Reading Short Stories Made Jacob Tomsky A Better Writer

Screen Shot 2015-04-28 at 7.31.05 PMAre you familiar with the Short Story Thursdays emails?

Every week for almost five years, Jacob Tomsky has been researching and sending a short story to an email list of rabid readers. He doesn’t write the stories (he’s a best-selling memoir writer and budding novelist), but he does curate them.

Driven by his mood, he plucks a story that speaks to him from the vast slush pile of Public Domain works, and sends it to thousands of his Internet friends.  Not only that, but Tomsky writes a passionate (and often expletive-laden) exhortation to readers as to why they should read this week’s story. If Tomsky’s ‘dispatches’ are the amuse-bouche of Short Story Thursdays, the stories are the meat.

Since he’s been doing this for four years, he must always really loved short stories, right?

“I actually hated short stories for a really, really long time. Maybe I still kind of do,” he laughs.  “I don’t buy short story books, I never did. I was never a fan. I love novels. That’s what I like to read and that’s what I like to write.”

How It All Started

So here’s how it all started: Tomsky had a full time job he hated, in a hotel.

Bored, he began printing out short stories from the web – using company paper and company toner– because it “would look like I was working, like I was just reviewing documents or something.”

When a similarly-bored bellman asked him what he was reading, Tomsky stumbled onto something that has kept him sending out his dispatches weekly, years after breaking free of the job he hated.

“This was not a man that you would consider being a lover of literature at all and he read it and said ‘what’s next?’” Tomksy said. “I really got joy not only out of the minor escape it gives you from work, but also the fact that I was exposing people to short stories that had never even considered it before.

“People were talking about literature and that was very exciting for me as a long time lover and a writer of literature. I was able to get people to read these short stories, [people] that had never read before.”

Why short stories? Well, apart from their utility as a good cover at work, Tomsky points out,

“Everything’s shortening, our attention spans are dropping. I don’t think it’s even a bad thing. Twitter’s 140 characters, Vine videos are 6 seconds. Everything is so short and people’s attention spans are rapid fire.”

Short stories seem like the perfect way to get people reading, “…and I pick really short ones. Really short. So it’s just something people can read on the train and not feel like they’re having to trudge through it.”

The Beauty of the Short Story

Because he’s posting stories mostly from public domain, Tomsky is rediscovering some older writers, some who have been largely forgotten.

“This week’s story,” he says, about a recent Dispatch, “is making people cry. I’ve had six people email me already and say this story made them cry… I couldn’t even find out any information abou this author. The fact that I get to breathe life into these forgotten authors is wonderful.”

Another advantage of reading older works is, “some of this langauge is just amazing. It’s not even antiquated, we just don’t speak like this. Some of these words have fallen out of favor. Phrases and just the tone of language has changed so much. To get to read something …that’s so different from any other sentence you’ll read in the rest of the week, has been wonderful.”

Of course, the short story form has evolved a lot since its invention, and many of the stories Tomsky finds irritate readers because they aren’t subtle or don’t  have the emotional impact of modern stories. And, a frustration for Tomsky is that the public domain collection is ‘a sea of white males’.

Still, Tomsky sees a a benefit to reading these stories week after week. “There’s been some great writing…and it’s kind of great to see what we expected from short stories in the past. Those were pure entertainment in the past. It wasn’t entertainment that was vying for attention with any other form of entertainment, you were just happy to be reading anything.”

He adds, “There have been some stories I’ve read on public domain that I think are better than anything I’ve read publishing now.”

Benefits As A Writer

Although the New York Times called Tomsky’s whose memoir is titled “Heads In Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles and So-Called Hospitality” ‘an effervescent writer’, he wasn’t writing humor before SST.

“I had three novels pior to that and none of them had a joke in it,” he says. “It wasn’t until I started ShortStoryThursdays that I started with the humor.  I think that really primed me for when I had to write a funny book about the hotel world.  I was totally ready because I had been practising.”

Another, unexpected benefit of writing to a group of strangers every week was a surge of confidence in himself as a writer, that came simply from turning up week after week.

“It took out the whole ‘bullshit inspiration’ crap. You just have to sit down and write no matter what. You kind of trust that…there’ll be quality in there.”

Even In The Middle of An Ocean

No-one’s better at coming up with excuses than writers (it stands to reason: we’re creative!). But Tomsky even kept up his weekly dispatches during a four-month stay in South Africa AND during a ten-day crossing of the Atlantic on a freighter from Liverpool to Philadelphia.

“So I told [everyone] I’d be missing a week,” but in reality he queued up a post and had a friend hit ‘send’. “Then, when I was in the middle of the ocean, it just dropped on them,” he laughs.

Track Your Progress

Another tip for boosting your confidence as a writer is to keep track of how much work you’re doing.

While working that hotel job that he hated, Tomsky started tracking his progress.

“I was like, I’m putting 50 hours a week into a job that I hate, that’s going nowhere. How much time am I putting into my art? So I used to clock myself and tape the papers up on my wall. That was very helpful.”

“It’s such a weird, ‘spooky art’. Any way that you can normalize it and bring it into some kind of standard reality, it’s helpful. And if that’s clocking it—like you would yoru time at work—that at least gives you a feeling of progress. Feelings of progress are extremely rare in this art.”

Just Write

So is he cured of the writer’s enemy: doubt? Tomsky gives a qualified ‘no’.

“It still happens every week. Every Thursday I’m like, f*ck I don’t know if I can write anything good, but I do it consistently, and somewhere in my head that helps me …Looking back on a rather successful string of SST dispatches really does give me the courage just to sit down.

“Definitely more writers should do that,” he says, equating writing practise with the benefits of going to the gym. “I always tell people tha—and not just to bring up the fact that I’m going to the gym! The more you do it, the easier it becomes and the better you get at it. It’s not even magic it’s just straight up practice.”

 

Two of Jacob Tomsky’s favorite short stories in the public domain:

Arabesque The Mouse by A. E. Coppard

The Inconsiderate Waiter by J.M. Barrie

 

Thanks, Jacob!

 

To sign up for a new short story in your inbox every week email: shutyourlazymouthandread@shortstorythursdays.com

And check back here during May 2015 for Jacob Tomsk’s Guest Writing Prompt!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrity Guest Prompts Are Coming

Writing prompts can be great: a way into a story without having to stare too long at the blinking cursor; writing exercises that force you to dig deeper; a way to support StoryADay May…

…But even better than that, writing prompts can sometimes be a peek inside the head of a successful writer.

Last year we had Neil Gaiman kick things off four us, joined by his fellow NYT Bestselling author Heidi Durrow, author and gracious host of Writer Unboxed Therese Walsh, illustrator and author Debbie Ohi, mystery novelist Elizabeth Spann Craig, WritersHelpingWriters authors Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman, Hugo award winning short story writer (and novelist) Mary Robinette Kowal and more.

2015guestprompters2

This year we’re back on the Hugo track with a Cambell Award Winner (the award for best new writer in SciFi) and multiple Hugo nominee Seanan McGuire (aka Mira Grant); New York Times bestseller and Happiness guru Gretchen Rubin; Bram Stoker and Edgar Award winning writer Joe R. Lansdale; novelist John Dixon (whose first novel Phoenix Island was the inspiration for the CBS series Intelligence); Writer’s Loft mentor and novelist Charlotte Rains Dixon; DIYMFA.com’s Gabriela Pereira; novelist and creative writing teacher at Rosemont College, PA, Gregory Frost; mystery novelist Meg Wolfe, paranormal mystery author Phil Guinta, and the NYT Bestselling author and host of the fabulous Short Story Thursdays email dispatches, Jacob Tomsky. And more to follow.

(Pause, for brief squeeeeeeeeeeee!)

These working writers have come up with some fantastic writing prompts for you (one or two of them scare me a little!).

These prompts will only be appearing on the blog, so keep checking every day for your look inside the brains of some of the most creative people working today!

oo0oo

If you’re not signed up to receive the daily prompts by email, you can do that by making sure you’re on the mailing list and selecting “Daily Prompts During the Challenge” as one of your options.

Dial-A-Story for Short Story Month

This is an awesome (and quirky) opportunity for you to have you story published during May. I spoke to organizer, Meriwether O’Connor by phone earlier this month and she told me she’s bringing back an old idea that worked really well when she was publicizing earlier novels. In the age of podcasts and on-demand radio, the idea of calling a telephone number to have someone read you a story has something of a charming, olde-time aire, doesn’t it? Submit now!! 

Appalachia North invites you to celebrate National Short Story Month with us by submitting a short, short story to appear on Dial–A–Story. Stories can be any length or genre but those with a reading time of not more than three minutes will have a definite advantage. Even if yours isn’t selected to be featured, you can still participate. How?!

One of the highlights of the project is breaking down the wall between performer and listener. With that in mind, callers are invited to respond with a spontaneous or written storyor tale of their own after listening to the featured piece. This way, the author or performer steps down to become the listener while the audience themselves steps forward to become creative and active as the performer or yarnspinner. You are also welcome to read your favorite short story out of a book in response if you prefer.

Our featured book of short stories for May will be Joe Potato’s Real Life Recipes: Tall Tales and Short Stories by Meriwether O’Connor. Nominated for a Weatherford and chosen Editors’ Pick by Story Circle Review, Joe Potato is a darkly humorous grit lit work with both an Appalachian and Texas flair. Bestselling author Carolyn Chute (The Beans of Egypt, Maine and Treat Us Like Dogs And We Will Become Wolves) said, “A strong writing voice like (O’Connor’s) is rare”. Submitted stories are not required to be in a similar genre as the featured book.

Please send your story or tall tale to appalachianorth@hotmail.com by midnight E.S.T.Friday April 24, 2015. If you snail mail, it needs to arrive by the same day at PO Box 57 East Dixfield, Maine 04227. Check back here later for the phone number to call during May, National Short Story Month, to hear or respond to the stories and tales presented on Dial–A–Story. Hope to hear from you.

 

As I understand it, there’s no payment for this venture, but it does sound kind of a fun way to celebration Short Story Month!  – JD

How Not To Guest Post At StoryADay

This email is an example of how to NOT get a guest post at StoryADay. And I’ll tell you why.

Here’s what I received:

——

Message Body:
Hello!
I was stumbling upon the internet when I found your blog and after looking into few posts that you have published recently I can say that the quality of content is very powerful.

I am a blogger who writes on similar topics. I have some content which you’ll be interested in. Currently I can offer you the article with infographics named: XXXX XXXX XXXX. I would like to publish on your blog as a guest contributor, mainly because you have wider audience which might be interested in similar subject.

Please let me know if it is possible for you and I will send you my piece for review purposes.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

——

Here are the things that got it sent to my spam folder.

  1. There is no greeting. It’s not hard to find my name on this site. Use it.
  2. “stumbling upon the internet” and “quality of content is very powerful” sound like English-as-a-second-language and, in particular English-spammers-use.
  3. “I am a blogger who writes on similar topics” – still very vague and spammy.
  4. “I can offer you the article with infographics named XXX” — doesn’t tell me what the article will do, teach my people or whether the infographic is something you made yourself or something you’ve ripped off from other people. Doesn’t tell me how long it is or give me any sense of your writing style.
  5. If an article has quotations, I want to know that you’ve read the original source yourself and chosen the quotes as I do with my Tumblr feed (with the exception of my outpouring of quotes the day that Maya Angelou died and I was pulling quotes that other people had posted. Even then I searched for more than one instance of any quote to sort-of-verify it was legit.)
  6. “I would like to publish on your blog as a guest contributor, mainly because you have wider audience which might be interested in similar subject.” You want to post here because I have spent over a decade building up an audience and you want those eyeballs?  No. Tell me what my readers will get from your post, not what you’ll get.
  7. There is no signature. Sign your name.
  8. There is no link to anywhere I can see your previous work, or your own blog.

Do not do as the “person” above did. Send me good pitches for great guest articles and I’ll be happy to share my blog’s eyeballs with you. Send me crappy pitches and I won’t reply, and you’ll end up in the spam folder. Sorry.

Short Story Reading Challenge

How to make the most of your reading time to boost your writing: create a short story reading log!

You know I love a challenge.

It’s going to be harder to write during the summer months, with boys underfoot and trips to here there and everywhere (bonjour, Bretagne!), so I’m going to spend my summer months feeding the creative monster.

I’ve been finding it hard to write recently, partly because my brain is begin pulled in fifteen different directions. I’m feeding it with information — about education, about fitness, about nutrition, about cognitive behavioural therapies, about music, about all kinds of practical stuff — but I’m not feeding it with the kinds of stories it needs to lift itself out of the everyday world and into the world of stories.

JulieReading

So I’m going back to the Bradbury Method of creativity-boosting. I did this last summer and it worked like a charm: I read a new story every day (and an essay and a poem as often as I could manage that) and found myself drowning in ideas. I had a burning urge to write; I sketched out ideas for stories; I wrote some of them over the next six months and released them as Kindle ebooks that have sold actual copies and generated actual profits. I have others that are still in various stages of drafting. But more than all that I was happy.

Follow Along?

So that’s what I’m going to do: Read and log as many short stories as I can this summer. I’m logging my activity at my personal reading log and you can do the same.

Short Story Reading Challenge Banner

Your Own Reading Log

I’m using Google Docs to log my reading.

Here’s a copy of the form that you can use yourself if you want to join in and you like Google Docs. Save a copy of this form to your own Google Drive and rename it.

If you click on “Tools/Create New Form you can create a Google form, which i find to be a nice, clean interface for entering info. It’ll update the spreadsheet automatically (no silly little cells to click on).

Here’s a screenshot of my form, for reference.

…and here’s how my ugly-but-useful spreadsheet looks:

Bonus Tip: Create A Handy Shortcut

If you’re an iPhone user, you can follow these steps to get an app-like link on your phone, to make logging your reading easier (I’m a big fan of ‘easy’)
Step 1:

Go to your form on in your browser (drive.google.com/)

Then:

20140611-114857-42537401.jpg

Then

20140611-114934-42574384.jpg

Then

20140611-115019-42619145.jpg

How it looks on your phone:

screenshot of app on iphone

Voilà!

Just make sure you save a copy of this document to your own Google Drive and don’t send me an email requesting permission to edit this copy, OK?

Big News and New Things

I have BIG NEWS.

Celebrity Guest Prompters

Firstly — and I have to put this first because otherwise my head will explode — our first Guest Prompter for the month of May is none other than rock star author NEIL GAIMAN!!!

He’s providing the writing prompt for May 1, so don’t be late! (You can sign up to getPrompts By Email, if you haven’t already).

There are lots of other published authors and writing teachers lined up to share writing prompts during this Fifth Anniversary StoryADay May, so don’t miss out.

A Month Of Prompts…Today!

 New this year, I’m offering you the chance to plan ahead, with the brand new Month Of Writing Prompts ebook for 2014!

The idea of sitting down to write a new story everyday, cold, is pretty terrifying. But it’s less terrifying with a bit of forward planning.

For the past few StoryADay challenges, participants have told me that it’s really useful to be able to peek ahead at the upcoming writing prompts. Last May and September I supplied a week’s worth of prompts at a time to people on thePrompt By Email list.

This time, however, you can get the whole month worth of prompts today. Use them this coming May, or at any time in future.

(If you don’t have a Kindle, you can get a free reading app for your favorite gadget, here. Also, the ebook will not have the celebrity guest prompts, only the 31 written by yours truly. You’ll have to come to the site for the guest prompts.)

To celebrate the launch of this new ebook, it’s going on sale today at $0.99. The price will  slowly creep back up to its list price of $6.99 by April 30, (this is an Amazon Countdown Deal, if you’re interested in that kind of thing), so get your copy sooner rather than later.

Are You Ready?

Now, before you let your nerves get the better of you, remember that YOU SET THE RULES for yourself. If you think five days a week, or one story a week is what you can manage, that’s fine. Come along for the ride anyway. Take advantage of the community (I’ll open up the site for new registrations on April 25. Mark your calendars!) and tell your friends, because peer pressure is a wonderful thing!

Don’t forget to grab your graphics to let people know you’re taking part and browse the resource section for inspiration.

Need to Warm Up?

If you’ve bought the Warm Up Course Home Study version before, now’s the time to dust off your copy. Or if you’d like your own copy, there is a 10-day accelerated version too, perfect for warming up before May 2014. I’ve opened a new group in the community for anyone who wants to go through the course now. Let me know if you need access and don’t have a username yet (julie@storyaday.org).

Here’s what the course does for you:

  • Start writing in small, manageable chunks that will boost your confidence,
  • Generate 45 Story Sparks that you can turn into short stories,
  • Learn to carve out time for your writing, and break through your fear and block, by writing straight away,

When the course is over you will have:

  • 10 completed stories,
  • More story ideas than you can use during the StoryADay challenge, so you never sit down to a blank page,
  • The confidence to know you can make writing an on-going part of your life,
  • Practice  and discovery of your best working habits.
Get access now

In the mean time, I apologize for the extreme fan-girling at the start of this email (but I’d do it again) and:
Keep writing,
Julie

Julie Duffy
P.S. Remember that all these tools (including the daily prompts) are optional. Access to the site and the community remain free, forever. StoryADay May exists to encourage you to give yourself permission to tell your stories!

A Month Of Writing Prompts – The eBook!

writingprompts2014coverlarge

A Month Of Writing Prompts 2014


Writing a story a day for a month is a crazy endeavour, but one that hundreds of writers have signed up for every May since 2010. During month of courageous creativity, writers learn how to write every day (not ‘someday’), how to craft a story, how to write in different forms, how to fail and dust themselves off, and write again.
Are you ready to join them?
The StoryADay Month of Writing Prompts book shares the daily writing prompts for StoryADay May 2014: 31 writing prompts, meditations, lessons and pep talks to accompany on your journey to becoming a more prolific, creative and fulfilled writer.
Use these prompts during the StoryADay challenge, or any time you need a creativity boost.


Writing Parent’s Interruption Flowchart

Please print this out and pin it to whatever door or wall space you use as a buffer between you and those loved ones whose sole purpose in life seems to be to keep you from your writing.

Updated! Feb 2016:

Interruption-Flowchart-2

(Right-click to save a copy. Pin it! Share it!)

 

Or you can have the original, hand-drawn version:

"Is Anybody On Fire?"

 

And here are some articles to help you with productivity:

Becoming A Better Writer: The eBook

One of my main aims with StoryADay.org was to get you (and me) writing again. It’s about productivity, creativity and becoming the person you were meant to be: a writer.

But after you’ve been writing for a while a new worry creep in. You’re no longer worried about making time to write, or whether you’ll be able to finish stories. You’ve proved that you can do that. You’ve probably found that you’re much happier when you’re writing than when you’re not.

Then comes that next niggling worry.

(And yes, it hit me too, after I’d first used StoryADay to jumpstart my own short story writing).

And what is that worry? All together now:

“What if my writing isn’t good enough?”

Facing Reality/Changing Reality

If you’ve been writing for a while now, you’ve probably sent a story or two away to a publication, a contest, a friend. Maybe you had some luck and got a good response. Chance are though, you to a ‘sorry but’, or an empty inbox.

It’s hard to know why. Maybe it wasn’t what that person was looking for. Or maybe it really wasn’t good enough. So now what?

As I see it, you have three choices:
1. Give up (but that’s not a real choice because you already know you want to be writing. So let’s forget I ever mentioned it.)
2. Never show your work to anyone again (but this isn’t realistic either. We write to connect. You WANT to find an audience for your work.)
3. Become a better writer.

Let’s Do It

Every writer has to face this reality, when the first euphoria wears off: we’re not as good as we want to be. Everyone. From Stephen King to Junot Diaz (who got a McArthur “Genius” grant this year. Think that’s going to make feel like he knows what he’s doing? Nope!)

It’s all just part of the process of becoming a writer.

So it’s noses to the grindstone again: write, read, revise, learn, do it all again. The only way forward is, well, forward.

A Free eBook For You

The StoryADay Guide To Becoming A Better WriterEarlier this year I posted a long series of articles on the subject of Becoming A Better Writer. They were so popular that I decided to expand them, compile them, and release them as an ebook: the second in the StoryADay.org Guides series.

It’s available now and, for this week only, it’s FREE.

 

This guide to becoming a better writer is packed with tips, techniques and exercises you can use to improve your writing–  even when you’re away from your desk. With StoryADay’s trademark brand of inspiration, practical help, and humor, this is your go-to guide for whenever your writing life needs a boost.

 

What’s The Catch?

Well, none really. You need to have a Kindle or download the free Kindle software from Amazon, and I’d love it if you’d leave a review so that more people can find the book next week when the price goes back up to $2.99 (Any kind of review helps. I think it potential readers like to see a balanced set of opinions up there) .

Which reminds me, it’s only free until Friday, July 19th, so get your copy today.

Why We Write

Today I have two things for you: 1, A quick rave about a great book for writers; 2, An fun announcement.

Why We Write

After we’ve been writing for a while — after you’ve succeeded in making writing a habit, even for just a month — it can lose its dreamlike appeal. It can become, well, work.

How do you reignite your DESIRE to write?

For me, it helps to read great writing by people whose style I adore.

But it also helps to read about the habits of working writers (yes, ‘working’ writers, meaning the ones who get paid for it. I ADORE my writing groups, online and off, but modeling my behavior on that of people a little further up the professional road, seems like a smart move).

I just finished my first read-through of Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How And Why They Do What They Do by Meredith Maran (I say ‘first’ because I know I’ll be going back to this one a lot).

The writers include Jennifer Egan, Isabelle Allende, Rick Moody, Sebastian Junger, Armistead Maupin, Terry McMillan, Sara Gruen and David Baldacci, among others, so it’s a wide spread of subjects and audiences they’re writing for. There is, quite literally something for everyone in this book: from authors who simply must write in one place all the time, with one set of music playing, to authors who hate routine, can’t write with music on; writers who write every day, and writers who ‘binge-write’ and then take months off.

Some common threads from the book:

Music

It was amazing how often the word ‘musical’ came up. An astounding number of the authors profiled talked about how important it was to ‘get the rhythm right’ or ‘make it sing’ or about how the language, when writing was going well ‘feels like music’. That sounded like a good way of talking about that moment when you just know the writing is working.

Fear

I don’t think there was one (highly-successful) author in the bunch who didn’t talk about how much fear they have: before, during and after they write. They are all insecure about every project, and that doesn’t go away after they get published. In some ways it gets worse. This is (I say, with some schadenfreude) immensely reassuring.

Persistence

Most of these authors said something along the lines of “I write because I can’t do anything else/I’m unemployable/I must”. And they talk a lot about the necessity of getting your butt in your chair, your fingers on a keyboard, a pen in your hand and WORKING at it. Just keep writing (whether you have a writing routine or you’re a ‘binge-writer’) until you are finished. When it’s hard. When it’s going well. When you don’t want to. When you’re scared. When you’re despondent. When you’re flying on the wings of inspiration. When you’re starting to wonder if maybe a soul-sucking corporate job might not be a better idea after all…Keep writing.

And they ALL said ‘it’s worth it’. Whether they were billionaire best-sellers or acclaimed literary types scratching out a living by teaching while they write. They all said: it’s worth it.

And now I have a little gift for you. Two gifts actually: an assignment (with a deadline) and a free webinar to guide you through it.

The 7DayStory

As you’ve probably noticed I’ve been working on a little side project called The 7Day Story(write, revise and release a short story in 7 days).

It’s like a graduation gift for people who have been through StoryADay: a little more time to work on a single story; a little more help with the ‘what now?’ after you’re finished your first draft.

I’m working with Gabriela Pereira of DIYMFA.com and we recently ran a challenge where we guided people through the process of writing, revision and releasing a story in 7 days. The feedback was phenomenal, so we’re running the challenge again, starting on July 1. You can sign up here.

But this time we’re previewing the whole thing in a free webinar, next Wednesday. Join us, live online, for the webinar, and we’ll take you through our week-long inspiration, drafting, and tiered revision process — a process that you can use over and over again to turn out polished short stories in next-to-no-time. We’ll take questions during the webinar, so do sign up if you have any questions to ask us about the process, or tips for first-timers. We’ll also be making a big announcement during the webinar that I think you’re really going to like (we’re putting the final touches to that right now. Shhhh!).

A little bit about my co-conspirator: Gabriela Pereira (who actually has a fancy, traditional MFA) has made it her mission to show the rest of us how to get all the good parts of a University-based MFA, without the time-wasting and crippling tuition bills. She has loads of enlightening things to say about the revision process, which really complement what I try to do here at StoryADay.org (which is mostly about inspiring you and empowering you to get those first drafts done). I’ve learned a lot from her already and, in The 7DayStory, we’ve put together a set of tools which take you that next mile along the writing road.

Join us for the 7DayStory webinar, on Wednesday, June 26, 2013, at 1PM (EST, GMT -5).

(If you can’t make it to the webinar, make sure you’re on the mailing list so you hear about our Big Announcement, when it’s ready!)

An Interesting Publishing Experiment

Our friend Simon Kewin[1. past participant and recent Guest Prompter] has just announced that the first six chapters of his new novel ENGN are being released free at Wattpad.com.

Over the next six weeks Simon and his publisher will be releasing a chapter a week and soliciting feedback from readers via Wattpad’s comments stystem.

It’s great use of the new publishing technologies to help writers find and interact with readers. Why not pop over and take a look?

Take The 7DayStory Challenge Today

The 7DayStory is a new short story writing challenge, from the creators of StoryADay May and the DIY MFA:

  • Write and revise a story over the next seven days
  • Use the hashtag #7DayStory to connect with other working writers.

Why Write A Story in 7 Days?

We believe that it is by writing that we become writers. But it’s not just by writing. It’s also by finishing, revising, releasing our work, and connecting with readers and other writers, that we become writers. So we’re encouraging writers to sharpen their writing skills by writing, revising and releasing short stories in seven days.

  • Finishing your first draft in a day or two, before you lose momentum
  • Revising the story over the next few days in several passes
  • Connecting with other writers to find sources of support and feedback.
  • Releasing the story to trusted readers, or perhaps even publications.
  • Repeating the process often, to learn from your experiences and reinforce the writing habit.

Sign up now to join the #7DayStory challenge and get daily updates to keep you on track through the writing and revision process






 



But That’s Not All

Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to stumble through this process alone? What if someone put together a guide for gathering ideas, writing that first draft and working through the somewhat overwhelming process of revising and releasing your story?

Coming Soon: The 7Day Story eBook7DS-Cover-Tangerine-LG

 

Write, Revise, Release, Repeat: Your Blueprint for Short Story Success

by Gabriela Pereira and Julie Duffy.

Join the challenge today!

What are you waiting for? Enter your email below and join the 7DayStory Challenge!






 



Take The 7DayStory Challenge

Just because StoryADay May 2013 is ending soon, don’t think I’m letting you off the hook. You’ve developed some great writing habits this past month and you shouldn’t let those go.

To encourage you to continue with your short story writing, I’ve teamed up with Gabriela Pereira of DIYMFA.com and, next week, we’re bringing you:

The 7DayStory Challenge

The 7DayStory

  • Write and revise a story in a week;
  • Check in online to connect with other people taking the #7DayStory challenge.


Why Take Part In The 7DayStory Challenge?

It’s an opportunity to:

  • Challenge yourself
  • Reinforce the good writing habits you developed during StoryADay May (or make up for what you missed out on!)
  • Connect with other writers.

Gabriela will also be sharing some of her DIY MFA revision strategies, which will be a huge help to us around here, sitting on piles of first drafts as we always are at the end of May.

The #7DayStory Challenge starts June 3, 2013. Check back here on Monday for details.

Half Way Through StoryADay May – Check In

We are officially half way through StoryADay May 2013.

Just think, if you write a story today, you’re over half way there!

Some Reminders

It’s Not Too Late | Courses & Books To Help | Prompt Preview Exclusives |

It’s Not Too Late To Start

OK, you meant to start writing at the beginning of May but you didn’t quite get there. Or maybe you started on May 1 and fell off the wagon at the first bump.

It’s not too late. Really, it’s not.

Just start writing today. Forget about the past, don’t worry about the future. Write a story today. Even if that’s all you do, you’ll still be one story ahead of where you are now. That’s one more story you can revise, and submit, or just point to and say “I did that”.

Then, if you want to, come to the site and brag — you can post an “I did it!” on each day’s writing prompt blog post, or you can register for the community and brag in The Victory Dance group.

Trust me, if you write something — anything — today, you will feel sooooo good.

Courses And Workbooks That Can Help

I have workbooks and courses and videos available to help you get over the hump, out of a slump, or whatever else you need (that ends in ‘ump’).

All are available instantly online. Check them out.

The 3-Day Challenge

Warm Up Writing Course (Home Study Version) – Now the I WRITER Course
Time To Write Workshop (included in the I, WRITER Course)
StoryADay.org Guide To Breaking Writers’ Block (Kindle edition, but you can download Kindle software for your computer/phone/tablet if you don’t have the gadget itself)
The Free Creative Challenge Workbook — don’t forget, if you went through this before the challenge started, go back now and look at your notes. Remember why you’re doing this, what it means to you and where you planned to find ideas (and time).

New Feature – Prompt Previews

Every year I provide writing prompts for the challenge. You can find them on the site or subscribe to receive them by email (they go out everyday at midnight in my time zone (GMT -5) for the next day’s writing).

This year I’ve introduced a popular new feature: The Prompt Preview.

If you subscribe to the Prompt By Email mailing list you get a sneak peek at the next week’s upcoming prompts, each Saturday. This seems to be helping people come up with Story Sparks in advance. No more panicking about what today’s story is going to be!

There are still two Saturdays left in this year’s challenge, so sign up now if you haven’t already.

And remember, the prompts are optional. You can use today’s, use another prompt from the past, or write your own story entirely.

I think that’s it for today.  Now excuse me, I have a story to write. Don’t you?

Keep writing,

Julie

The Art of Asking

If you’re worried about the business side of writing — about the point of doing this thing in an uncertain publishing future — I recommend this TED talk by Amanda Palmer. She’s talking about the music industry, but mostly she’s talking about art and connection, and it applies to writers as much as it applies to musicians. And it’s inspiring.

A Challenge — And A Gift

StoryADay September ’12 starts TOMORROW!

But more about in a minute.

First: I have a gift for you, and a favor to ask.

StoryADay September ’12 starts TOMORROW!

But more about in a minute.

First: I have a gift for you, and a favor to ask.

The Gift: Your Tools For Breaking Writers’ Block

StoryADay.org Guide To Breaking Writers' Block kindle edition coverThis will be my fourth StoryADay challenge. I’ve had to get pretty good at side-stepping writers’ block.

Now you can have 60+ of my best techniques for breaking through resistance, in handy ebook form, free until Sunday Sept 2, 2012

The StoryADay.org Guide To Breaking Writers’ Block

You can get your copy FREE until Sunday, Sept 2 just by clicking ‘buy’.

What’s Inside?

The tips are arranged by section:

  • Creativity Exercises
  • Physical Comfort
  • Goal-Setting
  • Accountability and Rewards
  • Examining The Problem
  • Boot Camp (Just Do It!)
  • Prove It To Yourself
  • Seeking Inspiration

You can read the book through once or dip in and out whenever you need a boost.

Why Free?

Honestly, it’s a blatant attempt to rise higher in the Amazon rankings and improve the visibility of my book. Every copy downloaded by you (or someone you tell about it) in the next few days, boosts its sales rankings and helps future, paying readers find it. This, in turn, helps me pay for StoryADay.org and keep it free to you. Oh, and it’s DRM-free, so you should be able to share it between devices freely.

Why Kindle?

Ebooks are easy and Amazon makes it particularly easy to get your book into the distribution stream. They offer 70% royalties, which was unheard of in the publishing world before they came along. And I love my Kindle.

Also, I’m researching the whole process and writing it up, and will release a report on it a few months from now. You’ll be able to use this report to figure out whether or not it’s worth your time to put together your own ebook (a collection of short stories perhaps?) and how to avoid making mistakes along the way. This report will be free to members of the StoryADay.org Advance Notice List.

What You Can Do

You are welcome to download the book and do nothing more. But I would really, really appreciate it if you would consider doing some of the following steps. It really helps.

  • “Buy” the book during the free promotion period (before Sept 2)
  • Share the link with writer friends and tell them to buy it while it’s free.
  • Repost the link at Facebook, Twitter, your blog, whatever other social media you use,
  • Leave a review at Amazon. 20 words is all it takes and it makes a huge difference tot he book’s visibility.
  • Read the book and get excited about your writing

Get Your Free Copy of the StoryADay.org Guide To Breaking Writers’ Block NOW

StoryADay September Is Almost Here!

Tomorrow. Can that be right? Tomorrow?!

OK, deep breath.

If you’re NOT doing the StoryADay Sept’12 challenge, no need to unsubscribe. This list will not be flooded with daily prompts or chatter about the challenge. You’ll have to get on the Daily Prompt email list or go into the community for all that stuff. You’ll just get a nice, helpful writing-related post now and then, and news about upcoming challenges.

But, even if you’re too busy with other projects, why not goad your writing friends and challenge them to take part? It’s not too late! 😉

If you ARE doing the September Challenge here are a few things you might want to be checking:

  • Have you subscribed to the Daily Prompt email? You don’t have to, and you certainly don’t have to write to them, but some people find it useful. If you don’t want a nagging, I mean “inspiring”, email in your inbox every morning, you can still find the prompts on the blog every day if you ever need them.
  • Have you joined the community? It’s a great place to check in and post your Victory Dance every day, or get encouragement from others when you are lagging.
  • Have you added your name to the blogroll? There’s nothing like a little publicity to keep you honest!
  • Are you collecting story sparks? Keep collecting them every day during the challenge and you’ll always have something to write about.
  • Have you downloaded your free copy of the StoryADay.org Guide to Breaking Writers’ Block? You might need it in ten days or so…

And that’s it from me, except to wish you luck, persistence and courage.

See you in the forums?

 

Keep writing,

Julie

Let Me Bust Your Writing Excuses

The last two blog posts were all about what to do when you don’t feeeeeeel like writing (wah!)

This time I’m on a mission.

karate boy breaking boards

Post your biggest writing excuses below (‘not enough time’, ‘my inner editor won’t shut up’, ‘my ideas aren’t original’, ‘my kids are eating me alive!’) and I’ll let my inner drill sergeant loose on them.

 

Ready to have your go-to writing excuse busted? Post them now: