Be Productive During This Time

Happy Friday! For those that are working, I know you are excited that this day has come. To those who are home with pay or just at home, this blog is for you. I go back to work on Monday ( from home), but I am a little mad at myself that I wasted 2 whole days watching YouTube and sleeping, lol. Granted I am getting over being sick, but I could have more productive. How, you ask? Well, I have so many books that I need to finish writing and finish reading.  If you read yesterday’s blog, you know I want to blog every day! I’m proud to have stuck to day 2 of consistency.  Nonetheless, my point is to take the time to do some things that you didn’t have time to do because you were working.

If you wanted to start a business, now is your chance! Want to write that book that you’ve been putting off? Do that to. We can’t allow this situation to put fear in us from continued living. I’m going to continue writing and figure out how I can be paid to do just that as a side hustle. Learning is re-learning. Always remain teachable  and the sky is the limit. Taking action steps to do the unthinkable shows not only character, but that you don’t give up. Tell me, what is one thing that you enjoy doing that you would do it for free if it still brings you joy? Whatever that is, figure out how to bring in income doing just that. It just maybe your calling. I know I am. Be Productive. Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

Well, I’ll be damned. Paint me yellow and call me a cab!

Good afternoon, readers! 

I hope that everyone is having a fabulous thursday! Me, on the other hand, it’s just going. I’m trying to smile to keep from crying. Don’t worry, I’m okay. At least I am physically and mentally. But, emotionally and internally I have  taking yet another blow to the heart. Yes, you guessed it, I didn’t make it to the quarterfinals of yet ANOTHER screenwriting contest. This one was Scriptapoolza TV. I entered a reality show treatment into this one. I just knew that I had it in the bag. I guess not! This is how I feel right now.

If you look closely you will see my head banging against that wall. Well, picture a black woman with glasses in the picture. LOL… Results were suppose to come out tomorrow, but I guess they decided to be gracious and tell me that I didn’t make it a day earlier. Granted this was my first year entering screenwriting contests and I have only won one. It was the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival and I swear IT was a joke. The entry was free ( for a limited time) at the time and I entered two screenplays, ” If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It and ” Coming Out Of The Dark”. Months later, both screenplays were in the finals which is a great thing. However, when me and the  other person won the contests, we only got recognition via Facebook and Twitter. The website stated that winners would receive cash, prizes and more. We got NOTHING. But, I do have the recognition that I won. That is what I will use as my certificate.

When writers get the boot…

This is an upsetting feeling. But, I won’t harp on it. I’m glad that the winners who did win, will have their lives changed for the better. It will happen for me. When, I have no clue. I will say, that one thing about me, I am not a quitter! Quitting is not in my vocabulary. I am very persistent. Okay, enough of the sob stuff, my next plan of action is to continue to write killer screenplays and books! I am so determined more than ever to make it as a successful writer.  The best thing to do when you didn’t meet your goal or win a contest is to keep writing! If you can write more than ever.

Getting ready for school…

I can’t express enough how excited I am to be starting school on Sept.2nd. It is going to be so fun!! For those that don’t know I am going for my PhD in Psychology. When I tell people what I am going to school for, they are impressed, but wonder why i am not working a really good job. I smile and inside I wonder the same thing, lol. The economy is all that I can say. I know that I will be getting a good job soon. I am most excited about learning more about psychology. I always passed all of my psychology classes with A’s. Learning about the way the mind works has always been fascinating to me. I am NOT looking forward to writing my dissertation. Well, I can’t really say that because it maybe fun to research and find information on something. I don’t know my topic yet, but I have an idea. I do know that I want to do a qualitative study and not a quantitative study though. My topics to pick from are 1. How creative writing can help with burnout at work or 2. How bipolar students can live the normal college life. I need to work on them to make it more fitting. I am very excited to learn. Now, I will be staying up late night getting work done. This excites me, but I don’t want to be stressed out with work either. If I get the teaching job like I hope I do ( or just work at a school period) I don’t want work to effect my school work. I will work really hard so that it doesn’t happen.  I am so excited for this milestone in my life. PhD here I come!

Fear of writing, do you have it? IWSG Blog Hop

Good morning readers! 

 

 

It’s the first wednesday of the month and it’s that time for Insecure Writers Support Group Blog hop by my buddy, Alex! If you would love to be involved check out the details here.  Alex is cool. I am glad to be apart of this blog hop.

Today I want to talk about the fear of writing. There are many writers who will not write because they are afraid of the outcome. This was me once upon a time. But, I eventually said to myself, ” I will not know of my work is good unless I write.” So, I started to write a little at a time then I gradually got better. When I published my 1st novel, I was on edge. A couple days went by and NO reviews. By the third day, I had 6 reviews. Most of them were good and some of them were bad. None the less, it was progress. I was no longer afraid to write. Of course this happened with every other novel that I wrote as well! What can I say, I am a work in progress. I did my best and as a writer it is all that you can do.

Why are YOU afraid? 

Fear likes to show its ugly head in all parts of life. For a new writer it shows up even more. You start to think:

1. What if they don’t like my cover?

2. What if my writing is not mature enough for its audience?

3. What if the story makes no sense?

If all of that happens, so what? There will always be someone who will not like your work. You can not please anyone. Readers of this blog and my fellow writers in this group, you will be okay! You have to start somewhere so why not start now. I know that new things can bring overwhelms and anxiety, trust me, I have been there, but it will also bring a feeling of accomplishment.

Once you have conquered your fear…

When you have finished that big project that did not seem possible, a feeling of calm will consume you. I mean, you will be ready to celebrate and throw up and the same time. LOL…I know it sounds funny, but once you have something published, the show is not over. You have to promote, market, and now let the world read what was once an idea in your head. This can be scary, but it is more therapeutic and fun too. Embrace the fact that you have done something that many only wished of doing. I would be rich if I had a dime for people who have said that they always wanted to publish something. But, you do it, and you did it well! Congrats to you! Never let the fear of writing stop you from even starting! Keep writing and you will always have support and a cheerleader in your corner. I am only a blog, a tweet, or a Facebook page away! Now, go write as if your life depends on it, because, basically it does!

My book is completed, now what?

Happy Saturday!

You have now finished your manuscript. The hard work that you have done is now complete. The sleepless nights, hearing your characters in your mind, sitting in front of the desk typing or writing away has now come to an end. First off, breathe, take a bow and soak it in that you have finished a novel. There isn’t many people that have accomplished what you have done. I know it can be a long process. Trust me, I get it.

What’s next?

Well, now you still have a long road ahead. First on deciding which route you want to take when it comes to publishing. I wrote a blog about traditional and self-publishing and I talked about my experience with it. In another blog I discussed trying to go into traditional publishing as well. Once you have decided which route to take, you have to do different things for each one.  Some people may want an agent and have them shop your new manuscript around.

Tip#1

Agents- Agents may not like your work. It doesn’t make that you aren’t a good writer, but agents will choose you if they think your story will sell and make them money. It’s very hard today to get an agent. I’m still on the hunt for one.

Tip #2

Query Letters- Sending query letters can be a pain in the behind. Back in the day, companies wanted snail mail, but now they prefer email. Beware: Some companies only prefer to deal with the agent first before they talk to the author.

Tip #3

Results- No matter which way you go about publishing your work make sure that you have a plan. A marketing and  business plan. If you are with a traditional publishing company, this will be provided for you. But, if you are self-publishing, you have to do this on your own. Sure, it will be a lot of work, but it may be worthwhile in the end.

I remember watching an episode of True Life on MTV and an author was self-publishing his book. He had his ex-girlfriend edit his book and do the cover too. The proof of the book came in and he was so critical about it. He ordered so many book and went to his first signing. He sold 100 books out of 135 that he ordered. Not bad, right?. I thought it was good being as though it was his first book and his first signing. He was still upset that he didn’t sell out. But, I mean, bro, it’s your first book, many authors don’t sell half of what he did for the first time. At my first book signing, I sold 5 books. The author was writing his second book and looking for a traditional publishing company.

This business is very hard to deal with at times. You feel you are in competition when you don’t even try to be. Especially, for Indie authors. Now that people can publish their own book, getting into the publishing world is no longer completed. I have had my share of self-publishing. I’ve had success from it and I’ve failed at it, too.

Spreading the word…

Now that you have decided which route to take, you now have to spread the word in order to get sales coming in. Now, some people will be happy for you and buy your book, some will say they are buying it and they don’t, some will ignore you. With everyone easily able to be an author, ther is no hype about it anymore. This is just MY opinion. Being a writer is no easy feat, but with e-books, getting out there is easy. In order to spread the word successfully, you must do something to spread out from the rest. Me, personally, I don’t add authors to my pages. I add readers. I want readers following me, not authors who will just like a status, re-tweet a tweet, or just be there. Granted, there are some authors that I do support by purchasing their work and sharing SOME of their works, but I don’t make it a habit. It’s nothing personal, but I need sales, not like’s and re-tweets. Plus, authors are all trying to make it in this industry, so why have authors on your page when you are all doing the same thing, trying to make sales. I do have a promotion day on my pages where other authors can promote their work on my page for a day. But, that’s it!

Congrats on your accomplishment

Take the time to celebrate. Go to dinner, movies, or hang out with friends of your accomplishment! Your true fans and supporters will be in your corner when you write 1 book or 20 books. If they believe in you, they will always stick around and be willing to help you. LOVE those people dearly! I hope whatever method you decide, you are most successful in! Congrats on finishing your novel!

I’m sending my readers and writers an invite!! #IWSG

Good evening readers!

I’m sorry to be having the blog late today, but I had a doctors appointment that last a long while today. Anyway, I am inviting ALL of you to a 30 day writing challenge that writers in my group are having.  One of the members by the name of ” La Love” who happens to go to my film school that I graduated from FullSail University thought of the idea!

 

I invited all writers of this blog tour too!

Here is what says:

Hey writers,

I want to be a contributing member of this society. I was thinking would you guys like to join me on a 30 day writing challenge? What this entails is everyday for 30 days you will complete a writing project (script/film/TV, Plays, books, etc). Now this is intense and will require discipline (that I don’t possess) but I am willing to embark on this journey if we could do this together! I’m excited because I honestly think that with all the craziness we have in our lives we could really pull this off, if we stick together! So are you all down? We will worry about the rewrite later on.

Upon reading this…

I felt super motivated already. I’m going to write tonight and get started. We will do daily writing springs in the morning, noon and afternoon for an hour. Starting at 8am, 12pm and 6pm. But, tonight we are starting at 7pm. I hope you guys can join us!

Here is the link and I will accept you joining the group!  ]https://www.facebook.com/groups/592846174098081/[/embed] If the link doesn’t work the Facebook group is called ” The Writing Process”.

Hope to see you there!

Now that is done…

Today was a hectic day with the heat! I went to the doctor’s office and read my book, ” Writing Down The Bones” and I swear I was in there forever! I had to get some tests done, but I know they will come back negative. Anyway, I wanted to talk about my book. This book gives a lot of great writing tips and I wanted to share them with you.

1. Write three pages a day about anything! I know this may sound weird, but it’s suppose to get you in the mood of writing everyday.

2. Talk about your current writing piece to people. The more you talk about it, the more excited you will be to writing it. ( I’m trying this method and I’m still like ” Ugh, I have to write it now, lol).

3. Don’t force writing. Let the writing come to you. As stated in the book, when you get the urge to write, write! When you don’t feel like it, don’t write. This is easy for some people, but I actually feel guilty if I don’t write everyday. LOL.

 

So to get more tips you gotta get the book!