To engage with your audience there’s no tool quite like an author website. Even if your social media presence is strong, it pays to have your own home on the web, and this week Nancy Fields of Fields Graphic Design is here to talk us through everything from how to set up a site, to what to put on each page.
::LINKS::
Nancy’s site: https://fieldsgraphicdesign.com
Writing Prompt: https://storyaday.org/wow-taste
Bluehost: Julie’s Referral link (current offer: from $2.95/month)
This month is all about encouraging you to engage with the setting of your story by using your senses. Last week I asked you to use sounds in your descriptions; the week before that we explored the close association between smell, memory, and emotion.
This week your story is going to explore taste.
At a key point in your story, your main character is given momentous news, over dinner.
This week I invite you to think about why you do the things you do in your writing life…and how you can make some quick changes that yield big improvements.
::LINKS::
Leave a comment: https://storyaday.org/episode202
Get the 202-episode Podcast Table of Contents: https://storyaday.org/podcastlist
Should You Buy The Next Book/Course Flowchart: https://storyaday.org/shiny-objects/
Writing Prompt: https://storyaday.org/wow-sound
Last week’s prompt encouraged you to describe everything in terms of smell. It was tough, wasn’t it? But I’ll bet you discovered some things about your go-to style of description and how you could branch out a little.
This week is, I think, a little easier, focusing as it does on sound. It’s a sense that we often see represented on the page, but I’m going to encourage you to move beyond cliches like ‘rolling thunder’ and ‘the squeal of tires on asphalt’.
Your protagonist is hiding from someone. The stakes are high. They must not be discovered.
One of the first questions people ask me, as new writers, is “how can I get some feedback on my writing”. In this episode I argue that might be the wrong question…
Also: a writing prompt about one of the senses.
::LINKS::
Get the critique group primer: https://stada.me/vulnerable
Writing Prompt: https://storyaday.org/wow-smell
One of the most common (and most overlooked) pieces of writing advice is to use the five senses.
This month I’m going to use the five weekly writing prompts to encourage you to get more sensory detail into your writing by focusing on one sense per week.
Write a story in which a non-assertive character is stuck in a situation with other people who know less than they do and keep proposing the wrong solution to a problem. Make as many of your descriptions and metaphors smell-based as possible.
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!)
I look back on 200 episodes of this podcast and pull out lessons for every creative person and endeavor.
Plus, a writing prompt with a pep talk.
::LINKS::
Podcast On-Demand Table of Contents – get it now
I know, people feel really strongly about whether or not to outline, but today—whether you’re a planer or not– I’m going to encourage you to think of your writing session as a road trip.
Road trips are fun, but usually we have a destination in mind. When, in the middle, with whoever is in the backseat complaining, and the last of the sandwiches eaten, it helps to know the answer to the question “are we nearly there yet?”
Traditional, western narrative stories have a structure, and here is a model for that.
Using the framework to brainstorm your story will help you both get to the end and, just when you’re getting sick of the story, figure out if you are indeed ‘nearly there yet’.
Give it a try.
Download the Short Story Framework and brainstorm a story
If you share you story somewhere (and here’s why you might not want to) post a link here so we can come and read it.
Leave a comment to let us know what you wrote about today, and how it went!
In keeping with this month’s theme of Achieving Wins and Celebrating, limit yourself to 1000 words for this story and just get it done.
Write a story that starts at the end. The story must include a flower.
If you share you story somewhere (and here’s why you might not want to) post a link here so we can come and read it.
Leave a comment to let us know what you wrote about today, and how it went!
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