Monthly Archives: February 2019

A Writer’s Manifesto

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Imagine sitting down at your desk to write on a day when you’re just not feeling it.

You know you have to write this scene, or reach a certain word count, and it just feels like a grind. You light a candle, or sharpen your pencils, and begin to type, hoping to find that ‘flow’ eventually by dint of sheer will.

Now imagine sitting down at that same desk with those same goals.

You pick up a single sheet of paper and read it. Suddenly, you remember your purpose as a writer: why you wanted to do this, what you hope to achieve. You see the touchstones that shape and define your voice. You have a vision of your current project as one drop in the river that is your writing life, all of which is changing the world in a particular way. You remember what, at your best, you wanted that change to look like.

A little tingle of excitement begins to build. And you begin to type.

What was on that piece of paper?! And how can you get one?

Read on!

MANIFESTO OR GOALS?

A few months ago, I realized my writing journey had become like a clifftop walk where I was only looking at my own two feet and completely missing the amazing view all around me.

I lifted my head up and decided it was time to look beyond the next goal, the next deadline, and create a manifesto for my whole writing life.

That manifesto has helped motivate, target, and unify all my writing efforts, from the articles I pitch to the individual scenes I write. I helps me get excited about where I’m going, but also about where I am.

I’d like to help you create your manifesto, too.

WHAT IS A WRITER’S MANIFESTO?

A writer’s manifesto is a highly personal document that,

  • Is about your identity as a writer.
  • Gives you a unified sense of what you want to achieve in all your writing.
  • Transcends genres and projects.
  • Is more motivating than individual goals.

Here’s mine:

In my work and my life I will be

OPENHEARTED

OPTIMISTIC

Always looking for the HUMOR, even when it is dark.

SKEPTICAL, but not cynical.

FORGIVING of my work’s flaws.

PROLIFIC and POSITIVE and always producing the next thing.

Committed to the CRAFT (read lots, analyze and share, put into practice)

Committed to the COMMUNITY (past, present and future. Part of a lineage.)

UPLIFTING (this doesn’t mean Pollyanna-is. Remember my mentors.)

A BELIEVER that ART MATTERS.

I create worlds I want to live in, and inspire others to do the same (not just on the page).

Dated & Signed

Some of that won’t mean much to you, because it is so personal to me. In fact, it may make you cringe. Yours will likely look much different, and it should.

But looking that list, I remember the process of selecting each of those values and statements, and it takes me back to a moment when I was my best self. That’s what you should be aiming for, too.

HOW MY MANIFESTO HELPED ME WRITE A SINGLE SCENE

I had goals for my recent novel: I was to write a particular scene by the end of the week.

Only I couldn’t make myself do it.

My scene dealt with important issues and the mood of the piece kept skewing somber. I was depressing myself (and, I assume, my reader) and I kept stalling.

When I pulled out my manifesto the first three qualities were: ‘open-hearted’, ‘optimistic’, and ‘always looking for the humor’. My manifesto reminded me that, for me, art is a way to create the kind of world I want to live in. And that world is not somber.

No wonder I was stalling when I was trying to write a ‘serious’ scene. That realization gave me permission to write the scene in a much lighter way, which broke my block entirely.

For you, remembering your manifesto might give you permission to go deep, to make readers cry, or to scare the pants off them.

Or it might remind you that you have no patience for wasted time, so why are you trudging though this scene, trying to describe everything from the lighting to the drapes, instead of getting your character to the fight scene?

Likewise, when I pitch articles to magazines and blogs, or brainstorm podcast topics, my manifesto helps narrow down the topic areas and the tone each piece will take. It helps me focus on the work I love.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR MANIFESTO

  1. Make a list of your current favorite writers, artists, creative people , and note what you admire about them. (In my case I wrote: Amanda Palmer, for her commitment to making the art only she can make and finding ways to get paid for it, for her commitment to openness…Mary Robinette Kowal for her pursuit of the craft of writing and storytelling, for her willingness to share, and for her ability to keep turning out stories and books, building her audience; Nick Stephenson for his calculated open-heartedness; Kim Stanley Robinson for his unique style and optimism; Neil Gaiman for the same things, and for the literary family tree he grew out of; Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams for their quirky style, humor, big ideas, and the fact that what they offer I can only get from them).
  2. Make a list of the commonalities; the things your artistic godparents share. I quickly realized that ‘optimism’,’ humor’ and ‘open-heartedness’ belonged on my list, along with a commitment to the craft and to turning out work. I also saw a strong sense that art matters, that creative works can change the world, something I realized I believed too.
  3. Write: In My Work I Will Be…and then note down all the qualities that resonated most deeply with you. (I hand-wrote my manifesto, randomly capitalizing words that I wanted to stand out, and put it on my desk. You could be more or less artistic. Frame it, or simply jot it down on a post-it or in your phone. Whatever works to keep it on hand.
  4. Sign and Date Your Manifesto. This is your commitment to yourself that you are serious about creating a particular kind of writing life. The date is important too. You may find it useful to update your manifesto as you learn and grow and change. Some of the items will remain the same, but others may change.
  5. Use It. Whenever you sit down to write a new work, pitch a new idea, or continue a piece you’ve been working on, take a quick look at your manifesto. Remind yourself of what you’re trying to achieve, not just today, but in your writing life.

Since writing my manifesto, I have a feeling of comfort and confidence that I never had before. I may not know exactly what I’m going to write today, but I know how I’m going to write.

I’m no longer faced with the paralyzing tyranny of freedom: I am not free to write cynical, mean or perfect drafts. I’m no longer free to imagine I can be unique, but instead must acknowledge my literary lineage. Whatever I write today—from this blog post, to a scene in my novel, to the podcast I plan to record this afternoon—I have a roadmap for it. I know what I’m trying to achieve and the kind of mark I want my work to leave on the parts of the world it touches.

When you find yourself struggling, ask yourself how you want to be writing. Not what characters or stories or subjects you’ll tackle or how you’ll make this scene perfect, but what you want to achieve with your writing. Pick up your manifesto and ask how you can make today’s writing align with your values.

If you can do that, you’ll stay true to your own voice, and you’ll create a vibrant, coherent body of work that touches the world in a way unique to you.

By Julie Duffy

Source: writerunboxed.com

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How to Reduce Marketing Anxiety and Confusion

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Before considering new marketing tactics and platforms, authors should focus on understanding their goals and assessing their resources.

 

I’ll never forget a conversation I had years ago with a colleague who runs online courses for authors. He emphasized the necessity of teaching tactics: tangible, actionable steps that students can take toward their goals. If he focused too much on big-picture strategy or abstract theory, he said, he lost attention and course satisfaction.

He was right. Few things are more powerful in teaching than sharing a step-by-step process that leads to observable results. For better or worse, however, I often err on the side of strategy—which means that students always ask me how to apply said strategy. They want to know what specific steps to take. All of us, especially today, welcome such instruction in an increasingly changing publishing environment.

Before I explore this tension further, let me first offer an example of the difference between strategy and tactics. If you’re an author who wants to sell more books, you may want to learn how to advertise through Amazon Marketing Services or Facebook, how to be active and engaged on social media, or how to podcast. Learning best practices in these areas would provide valuable tactics, but doing so sidesteps larger, strategic questions that affect your success. For instance, what are your strengths as an author and what would you be able to execute well and repeatedly? Where can you gain early or easy traction with the resources available to you? What part of the market is best to focus on? Where are your best opportunities for growth and visibility?

Some tactics may seem essential—because everyone is using them and thus they are required to play the game. But always question and assess. Is Amazon advertising going to be effective for the book you’re trying to sell (factoring in your book’s pricing, packaging, and positioning)? Is social media a suitable tool for your genre/category, given the amount of time that you have to wait to see results? Do you know enough about your target readers to understand how they discover books to read?

For example, I’m repeatedly told that I should get into podcasting because it’s big and growing. But should I adopt that tactic when it would require me to stop accepting paid work or stop other activities that are effective and even growing? Possibly—but only an evaluation of my strategy would lead to an informed answer.

Strategy questions can be difficult to answer, and most of us like to avoid grappling with them. They also require awareness—an understanding of yourself and the market. And, while you may think you know your goals, when pushed and questioned, I find many writers aren’t clear on what they want. So consider the following:

What outcomes are you looking for in the short term and long term? Consider how the short-term outcomes play into the long-term outcomes. For example, getting a book traditionally published is usually a short-term goal that can have little in common with earning a living.

Are your outcomes specific? And do you know when you’ve attained them? The more specific your desired outcome, the better. “I want to sell lots of books” isn’t as useful as “I want to sell 1,000 copies through Amazon during the first year of sales.”

What are all the possible methods you can use to reach this outcome? List all the methods you know of, no matter how unlikely you are to use them. Then try to find methods that you might not know about yet. Consider which methods you are well prepared to execute and succeed at—and this is where you may need to experiment to know for sure.

For instance, many authors are advised to use social media as part of their book launches, but they establish accounts only for the purpose of book marketing. Such authors lack the years of experience and community building that are typically required to see sales results. If social media is a critical factor for reaching readers in your genre/category but you lack a social media foundation, then a more sensible tactic is to target influencers or VIPs who already have reach.

In a great scene from Lost in Translation, Bill Murray’s character says, “The more you know who you are and what you want, the less you let things upset you.” If I could customize that for today’s authors, I’d say, “The more you know who you are as an author and what readership you seek, the less confused you’ll be about marketing.” And the less you’ll be influenced by the crowd.

It’s easy to feel anxious about your progress when you see your peers engaging in new forms of publishing or marketing and you feel pressured to join. But the more you’re focused on your own long-term outcomes and how to wisely use your time and resources, the better prepared you’ll be to consider or experiment with new tactics, adopting or discarding them as you see fit.

By Jane Friedman

Source: publishersweekly.com

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The Daily Mindset Practice That Will Help You Achieve Your Writing Goals

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JH: Sometimes the things standing in the way of our writing dreams is our own doubts and fears. Jennifer Blanchard visits the lecture hall today to share tips on how to get our of our heads and back into our writing.

Jennifer Blanchard is an author, screenwriter, Developmental Book Editor, and the founder of The Feel-Good Life Center. Grab her FREE Story Secrets audio series here and start writing better stories.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook |

Take it away Jennifer…

I’ve always been a person who believes anything is possible if you set your mind to it. I proved that to be true over and over again in my life with the things I’ve accomplished and achieved.

But even with my positive attitude and outlook, I used to have a negative side. And I had lots of negative, limiting beliefs that were stopping me from creating success in my writing life.

The thing about success most people get wrong is thinking that it’s all about taking action. Yes, you do have to take action, but it’s only a small part of the bigger picture. About 10 percent.

The other 90 percent is your mindset. It’s how you think, how you believe, how you feel and the action you take because of how you think, feel and believe.

I didn’t start seeing the success I wanted in my writing life until I took control of my thinking.

Here is the daily mindset practice that I used to hit #1 in my category on Amazon three times, sell thousands of books, write and publish nine new books in one year, and more.

1. Clear The Mental Clutter

Your mind receives around 50,000 to 60,000 thoughts every day. That’s a lot of noise going on in your head!

In order to hear the good thoughts and the good ideas, you need to clear the clutter that blocks them.

My favorite way to do this is freestyle journaling. I handwrite at least one page, stream-of-consciousness, immediately upon waking every morning.

Doing this allows me to leave the negative stuff on the page and not take it with me into my day.

Some other clearing options include:

  • Morning Pages--created by Julia Cameron, these are three handwritten, stream-of-consciousness pages that you write immediately upon waking (similar to what I do).
  • Meditation–this allows you to clear your mind and focus on feeling how you want to feel as you go into your day.

 

2. Set Your Writing Intentions

After I clear out the clutter, I do an intention-setting practice where I grab my journal and write at least one page of positive, present-tense statements about what I want in my writing life.

So, for example, when I was focusing on becoming a Best Seller in my category on Amazon, I wrote in my journal every day: I am a bestselling author. I sell thousands of books every month with ease. Selling books is easy and fun. My community loves to buy my books, read my books and leave me five-star reviews.

The power behind the intention-setting and the repetition of doing it daily is what allows you to penetrate your subconscious mind and program these new beliefs into it.

When you believe something is possible for you, then you’re a lot more likely to act on the nudges or inspired actions that come to you every day. And you’re a lot more likely to be consistent with your writing habit and getting your writing out into the world.

By setting intentions and then taking action when I felt inspired to, I was able to achieve the writing goals I desired.

3. Visualize Your Writing Goal As If It’s Already Done

The final part of my daily mindset practice is visualizing my writing goals as if they’re already done. I focus my visualization specifically on the intentions I set in the second part of my practice.

The important part with visualization is that you not only “see” yourself achieving the goal, but that you also feel the emotion of having achieved it. Emotion is a big part of visualizing.

When it comes down to it, if you want to achieve a goal, you have to fully believe, not only that it’s possible to achieve it, but also that it’s possible for you to achieve it.

This is a very important point. It can’t just feel believable. It has to feel believable for you. You have to believe you can do it.

This three-part daily mindset practice will help you start to believe in yourself and create more confidence in who you are as a writer and in the writing you’re doing in the world.

Share in the comments: Do you have a daily mindset practice? What does it involve?

By Jennifer Blanchard

Part of The Writer’s Life Series

Source: http://blog.janicehardy.com

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