Another year has come and gone. And I must say, quite a bit has happened in that one year. I finished up my junior year and I am now struggling through my senior. And I have am looking at graduate schools. I do not know where I am going or how I am going to get there. To be completely honest, I am feeling so overwhelmed. But I persevere! This is my last heavy semester. The next will be just be a few capstones. Nothing too intense. A top of that I would like to make the unofficial official announce that I have launched a business. A proper business with an LLC and taxes and all. It's called Kada's Bookstore. There I will selling exclusive books and planners, and soon something very exciting will appear there. I can't really talk at all right now. It's still in the very very very early stages. But by this time next year it will be out and ready for everybody. We just have to wait for another birthday. Setting all this up has been a stressor in it and of itself. There is so much that goes into running a business! I mean that's pretty obvious... but I didn't think that I was fully prepared before I started. I mean, I don't even sleep now. No seriously. I go to class and do homework all day and all night I write and work on my website. I just keep telling myself that it will pay off. Just another year. And at this point just another semester (plus six more). Then I'll be exactly where I want to be! I'm so tired and motived and stressed and excited! Anyway, happy birthday to me!
0 Comments
I am not as strong
As you think I am Nor am I as brave I’m not kind or clever I just smile and wave I don’t know where I’m going And I have nothing to say I just have to keep moving So meet me on my way It would be nice To hold your hand And take you with me This could be something We both get to see But I don’t where I’m going I only know the way I just have to keep moving So come with me on my way BooksFeeling a loss of inspiration? Telling yourself your novel is hopeless? Writing feels boring or useless? Then you, my friend, have writer's block. Yes! Writer's block is real. It's not an excuse or a break. It's a real problem. So I've devised a couple cures to get those fingers moving again. I know at least will help you.
1. Keep writing! I know. It sound a bit counterintuitive. But sometimes the only way to get through is to push through! Get to the end of that book— after all, writing the ending is the most satisfying part. Then later on, while re-writing, you'll have a chance to make the middle a bit more interesting for readers. 2. Take a break. There may be no point in trying to write if you’re only going to get frustrated. When you're writing, the whole point is express yourself. If you have writer’s block then there’s no point in trying to push a story out . Walk away for a few days. Gather some new inspiration for your story. Try taking a hike or reading some other books. I know a good selection! Or trying doing something you love! I hope this helped a few through their writer's block pains! Until next time! For anyone considering publishing a book, I know that are a million questions and a million different things to do and a million different options. But starting with this quick guide is a sure fire way to start off on track.
1. Editing is Everything The most important thing after finishing your manuscript is a thorough edit. Yes, getting people to buy it is pretty important but once readers have they're hands on it they defiantly need to be able to read it. After finishing your manuscript, wait a week or two before you start editing. Give yourself some space from it to gather a fresh look. Then start with the plot. Read through your entire book and take notes with big-picture elements in mind. Check out the Four Phases of Editing to help out your process. 2. Memorable Title At this point you might already have your book’s title. Or maybe now you want to change it after all the editing. That's fine. You always want to make you take your time in finding the right title. So here are a few tips: Keep it short. Titling your book “The Blanks” is a classic for a reason: it gets the idea across in a quick and easy way for readers to remember. Make it intriguing. Short titles are naturally intriguing. They call upon the imagination. But when in doubt, add a layer. Add a little bit of description with an extra word or two. Don’t copy anyone. While it’s good to use a tested formulas, you don’t want your title to make people think of a different book. 3. Professional Formatting Now that the writing is exactly as you'd like it, it's time to format your book. That means chapter headings, aligned text, and page numbers. Again, this is a critical step. Sending your book to agents and publishers, you need to format your manuscript in a standardized way. And if you're looking for a formatter, I will be providing that service here on my website pretty soon. Hopefully just in time to finish your book. 4. Perfect Cover The next thing you’ll need to successfully publish your book is a strong cover. Your cover provides readers with a visual of your work. Which means it has to let them know that this book is for them. Try something: Eye-catching. Whether photo-based, illustration-based, or typography-based cover, it must be interesting enough to catch someone's attention, yet not too busy that it's overwhelming. Genre-indicative. Readers tend to look for certain cover design elements of their favorite genres, so you should match these expectations too. 5. Book Description Your book description is major factor in getting someone to buy your book. Start by hooking your readers with a headline. Your headline should get readers invested right away. Then introduce the plot. DON'T summarize! Give a brief description of the main conflict. Leave them wanting more. End on a question, or hint at a twist. Make it impossible for readers not to preview your book. 6. Marketing Now your book is published! But your work isn't done yet. After everything is said and done, it's time start marketing. The hype from your launch will have created a lot momentum. But here are a few more steps to take: Connect with other authors. Appear for blog tours and guest posting to promote your book. Reach out to relevant blogs, especially to other authors to cross-promote. Make price promotions. The price can always be better for customers. If your downloads are slipping or you haven’t run a price promotion in awhile, try it out. Third-party promotional services. No good at self-marketing, don’t have the influence you’d like? Book promotion services can help out. I hope these essential steps helped you with your book launch. And soon I'll have an even better way to help with the Self-Publishing Guide, expected to be released November 2022. Stay tuned! I can say no to anyone but you
Places I don't want to go People I don't want to see Things I don't want to do If you want me to Because I can say no to anyone but you I don't edit my own books. I do the author editor but I do get another editor for my books because I want new eyes that are objective to look through it. I know what I want it to sound like and my brain is going to automatically correct it to sounds that way. But if someone else reading it doesn't hear it that way, it doesn't sound correct. So I get an editor.
And this book, that I'm writing now, I want to get beta readers. For the first time, I'm getting beta readers. Anyway the editing process. What I like to do for my own books, is I have five different rotations and beta readers are now incorporated. So the first stage is the Preliminary Reading where I just read the whole book once. I don't make any edits. I just take notes on everything I want to change, everything that needs to be changed, from these anything be big to minor details all the things that I think that I should be aware of. I'm talking from dialogue to setting to plot details all of it. Anything that stands out to me or makes me think about it a little bit or something lingered in my head. Then I will do what I call Phase One edits which is the big picture phase. Here I will be looking at the story and the plot the character and the and setting. Bigger picture stuff that needs to flow throughout the entirety of the story. Phase One is just the whole book. Does it make sense as a whole? Plot beginning to end make sense? I also look in the notes from my preliminary reading too. Then I offer my first meeting with an editor. I'll let her do her thing and I'm I will make the note that I'm looking for bigger picture stuff right now. She'll probably also do editing and content stuff but I am specifically looking for big picture things. Then I will go into my Phase Two edits which I call the Scene Phase where I simply looking at individual scenes to make sure those scenes makes sense from beginning to end. I'm looking that the dialogue makes sense. How the setting transitions from the classroom to the hallway to the parking lot, does it that makes sense? Does the scene as a whole makes sense from the beginning of end? That's what these edits are for. And then off and away to my editor again. And now I'm going in with a magnifying glass to make sure that sentence by sentence makes sense. This is Phase Three. If I read this to a 6th grader, will they know that I mean. And looking into another editor who specifically does line edits. Before I was looking at more content type of editors and but now I'm sending it to go through proper punctuation, grammar, all those things. Once I get those back I'll do another quick run through. I don't plan own editing anything, I don't mind doing it if something else comes up. then I sent it to the beta reader for some final feedback and it's all set. I do have this whole system set up a format and it’s all there. Go to my newsletter and subscribe, you'll get access to this process. You believe
That people are weak That no one is brave That people can't change And you believe That pain is pride That hurt could help That the sky will die But I believe That I could fly So high, so high So far away To somewhere safe To somewhere free Where we could be Just you and me -- Inspired by Above the Clouds - Amies I haven't been writing. I joined camp NaNoWriMo because I thought it was going to help motivate me to reach my writing goals, but I haven't done any writing. I've done a minimal amount, but I've barely finished the second chapter. And that's the big deal issue. You know, I've barely gotten started is what I'm saying. So I blocked out April 22nd to be a writing day after I had breakfast, two hours later I still hadn't done anything. I forgot that I had to work.
So a couple of days later, I still haven't done any writing. I don't know. I can't remember what I did. I started writing and maybe got like a couple sentences and maybe a paragraph. But now you know my writing process and why it takes me so long to finish books. I procrastinate like no other. I don't have any excuse. So I did do a lot of work then. Really. I worked. I got 1000 words in but then. I got maybe 200 then next day. I don't have the actual count, but I doubt it was even 200 words. So I did not have the greatest most productive weekend. I didn't have the most productive week either. My productivity, for me personally, it kind of revolves around my state of being and as of late I'm not in the great state of being and I think writing this book had been the longest so far. I started back in January and now it's May and I'm still working on the second chapter. So it's shaping up to be like a 2-year project which it hasn't taken me that long since my very first book when I didn't think I could actually publish it. Now I have a system and I can't follow it and that's just like my whole life and mental state right now. But I would like to know your tips. You know, like how you get out of your funk or back into writing. That's all I have for now. Bye! There's a ghost living in my empty bedroom
And I think I'm sadder than even she |