It’s all kicking off in the world of self-publishing and ebooks.

The Kindle is now very affordable and the iPad is like the sexiest book in the world apart from a real sexy book that’s littered with filth and stinky sex talk. The times, quite frankly, are a-changing.

And I’m down with that. I really am.

In fact, I want to make it clear that this episode is in no way intended as an anti-self-publishing diatribe or a whistful longing for tradition. No. It’s about technology and pragmatism. That’s all.

Let’s get real

It’s hard to move around the blogosphere and Twitterverse without bumping into some post or another about the rise of ebooks and the changes taking place in the publishing industry.

I picked out a couple of articles on my other (brilliant, go and subscribe) blog, Broomeshtick.

Writing for Newsweek, in an article called Self-publishing: Who needs a publisher anymore?, Isia Jasiewicz quoted author, J.A. Konrath as saying:

“It’s an even playing field for the first time,” says J. A. Konrath, a thriller author (Whiskey Sour) who plans to release all his future novels as self-published Kindle books. “The gatekeepers have become who they should have been in the first place: the readers.”

And that phrase jumped out at me – level playing field – because it’s one I’ve heard a few times over the last couple of years as the e-revolution has gathered momentum.

This was my response:

I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s an even playing field at all. It’s only even if all writers have the technical will, knowhow and time to transform their manuscript into a sexy PDF. And then market the hell out of it. Some people, you know. Some people just want to write.

And I stand by it. In the UK we have 10 million people who still don’t have internet access. Of course, most of those are likely to be elderly, living in difficult circumstances or simply not interested.

But I bet some of them are writers.

My point is this: a level playing field is a place or environment where no one person or group of people has an advantage. In the world of e-publishing, e-people have an advantage. And a huge headstart.

The came Seth

You may have heard, but marketing guru and he-of-extremely-shiny-head-fame, Seth Godin, decided this week to only publish ebooks from now on.

Everyone was, and still is, talking about it and making some very good points. But my favourite article was this one: Publishing is dead, long live publishing by Shiv Singh on Going Social Now.

Here’s what he wrote:

Time will tell whether other leading authors adopt a similar model [as Seth Godin]. For an author, nothing is better than being able to get closer to your reader. The question is whether this model will work and whether other authors have the personal brand, the distribution platform and most importantly the courage to try something like this. I’d argue that if book publishers followed the model I outlined in this deck, they’d be less worried about what’s happening around them.

Leaving aside the fact that Seth Godin has a huge audience and the kind of platform that the rest of us can only dream of, I responded to Shiv’s article by saying:

There’s been an awful lot of fuss made about Seth Godin deciding to go digital only. In fact, advocates for self-publishing have been completely cock-a-hoop about it, heralding the move as some kind of tipping point for the publishing industry.

This article by Shiv Singh on Going Social Now brings a bit of sanity to proceedings, while still recognising Godin’s decision as significant, which I think it is.

However, for the overwhelming majority of writers, self-publishing ebooks creates more obstacles than clears paths.

Far from create the proverbial ‘level playing field’, it generates a whole new set of skills, both writing-related and technical, that the writer must have.

And that’s fine. One day we’ll all have those skills. Writers will know how to create a PDF. They’ll know how to set up a blog. They’ll know how to market their work through social media.

But this is a time of change. For the moment, we are learning. And we are not Seth Godin.

Which led me to this

So with all this in mind, I decided to talk a little more about this subject in this week’s episode. It’s a really interesting area and I think we should all be excited about what’s happening.

As I say at the end of this video, I think we online writers, those of us who already have technology as part of our everyday writing lives, have a responsiblity to help those writers who don’t.

Only then, when we’re all equipped with the necessary techno-knowledge, can we think about calling the playing field, or whatever the metaphor might be, level.

Share your thoughts

So what do you think? Does it matter that so many writers are ill-equipped to deal with the changing industry? How are you prepared for a world of e-everything? Let us know in the comments section!

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While Write for Your Life has been Write for Your Life since Write for Your Life began, I’ve meddled and muddled along with my personal site for some time.

Partly to learn about WordPress and other platforms and partly because the traffic was always low enough to experiment, it never had a permanent home.

Until now.

Introducing Broomeshtick

In this episode I officially launch broomeshtick.com, what I’m calling an online museum for writers, plus things I’ve made and done. That means it features links, images and information for writers interspersed with updates on my own writing.

I’ve been posting to Broomeshtick regularly for the last couple of months and there’s some great stuff on there already.

While Write for Your Life provides lengthy articles and in-depth chit-chat about writing, Broomeshtick is my own personal commentary on the publishing industry and what it means to be a writer.

And things are going well. People are subscribing in numbers and the traffic is pretty good. So, I urge you, head over to Broomeshtick now and either subscribe to the RSS feed or pop it in your bookmarks.

I like to think it’s the sort of place you can stop by and hang out every couple of days, just to see what’s going on.

Websites for writers is for sale!

After more than a year of showcasing the great and good of online resources for writers, I’ve decided to sell my other website, Websites for writers.

The reason is simple. I want to devote more time to my own writing and to expanding Write for Your Life, with its upcoming (and mildly exciting) membership scheme.

I’m biased, of course, but I actually think that Websites for writers is a great opportunity for someone. The site’s received more than 180,000 page views and, as I explain in the video clip, was receiving hundreds of visits a day before I slowed up with the posting.

That’s a reasonable amount of traffic that you can probably put to much better use than I have. If you want to make a few pounds or dollars, you probably can with a bit of hard work and intuition.

I’m not looking (and don’t expect) to make a fortune, so if you think you might be interested in purchasing the site, watch the clip and feel free to get in touch.

Technostuff

I’m still looking for a quick, cheap and viable solution for providing transcripts to these videos. If you have any ideas, or if you’d like to volunteer to transcribe an episode, do get in touch. So yes, transcript on its way.

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Earlier this year, I started reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.

The strapline for the book is “a course in discovering and recovering your creative self”, and it’s one of the best creative guides I’ve ever read (if you’re inclined to, you can buy copies of The Artist’s Way from Amazon for under a fiver – check for used copies, lots are in great condition).

I’d like to share one of the tools recommended by the book: the morning pages.

What are morning pages?

Morning pages (according to The Artist’s Way) are three pages of stream of consciousness writing that you do every morning. The intention is to clear your mind of all the annoying claptrap that buzzes around, getting in the way of your creativity.

The idea is to get it down on paper as a way of removing it from your mind. Here’s an example of the sort of rubbish that reverberates around my head on a daily basis, if it’s not shooed off with the morning pages.

Ooo! I need to: change the date the mortgage comes out/book my car to fix the bit that’s rusting off at the bottom/order more dog food/call mum/book time off for my birthday/pay in that cheque/do my accounts/book a haircut. Etc etc.

Though Cameron calls it the morning pages, it’s a practice that’s recommended in many other creativity guides, some that predate The Artist’s Way.

I did a Creative Writing Masters a few years ago and several tutors on the course recommended stream-of-consciousness journaling for at least an hour every morning before engaging in other creative work.

We need to get one thing clear though: the morning pages aren’t about journaling. Journaling implies creating a narrative, making sense of occurrences by putting them into words and threading them in words across the page.

Morning pages are intended to be jibberish. They jump from one thing to another like the random thoughts they are.

I’ve had days when I’ve been unable to think of anything to write, and just repeated the, phrase ‘I need to finish three pages / I need to finish three pages,’ until something else struck for me to write.

Morning pages include as much bitching and whining about anything and everything that you can muster. They are a useful way for you to exorcise any worries or problems before you embark on your journey through the day.

What about doing the morning pages in real life?

I’ve been doing the pages since January. It would be amazing to have the luxury of time to get up, sit around, sip a fresh ground coffee and let my consciousness fall on the page first thing in the morning, but unfortunately, I can’t function that way.

I prefer to stay in bed until the last possible second before I have to drag myself up and to work, so sometimes they get done at 8am, but sometimes at 11am, sometimes at 2pm, sometimes when I get home from work, and occasionally, just before I go to bed.

I’ve found it’s definitely better to do them in the morning if you’re planning to spend a day doing something creative, like focusing on your own creative writing.

And of course, it’s not practically possible to write them everyday. I got tonsillitis in March and was in bed for a week.

Obviously, during that time and for the recovery period, the pages weren’t top priority. I stopped doing them for about six weeks while I just concentrated on getting better.

The result? I got better – but was very, very crabby. Things got on top of me. I wanted to write, but had no ideas, no drive. For weeks. I started writing the pages again and things have been much better.

So be warned: once you start writing them, you might not be able to stop.

What if I can’t be bothered?

Athletes practice and exercise everyday. Runners might not run full marathons all the time, but they’ll certainly do stretches to prepare for those big events.

As a writer, your writing muscles need exercise too – and the more you write, the easier it will be to write good stuff – and the quicker those ‘a-ha’ moments will come.

The pages are like your stretching exercises. You may feel inspired to write them some days, and completely repulsed by writing them on other days.

Cameron says that the key is to keep writing, especially at those times when you feel least like it.

What can I expect to happen?

I can’t speak for everyone. I can only tell you what the pages have meant for me (through reading The Artist’s Way, my experience is fairly typical of the vast majority of people who work with morning pages).

I’ve emptied out my closet. I’ve overhauled my house and thrown away boxes and boxes of crap that was clogging up my closets that I don’t need anymore.

I’ve re-evaluated relationships. I’ve signed up for a sewing class and a carpentry class. I’ve made changes in my life over things that were bothering me that I got sick of whining about everyday in my pages.

Oh, sorry, you probably were more interested in what creative writing type stuff has happened.

How about this…

I’ve signed up to a literary agent. I’ve stopped working in the evenings and over weekends and started watching films and listening to music instead.

I set up a community art collective in Cardiff and we’re running a digital storytelling project collecting stories of people who live here. I’ve written a sketch for a kooky romantic comedy that’s probably going to end up as young adult fiction.

Not bad for a few months’ worth of writing jibberish, no?

Jennifer Blanchard wrote an interesting post on what she achieved during her two week experiment with the morning pages. I’m not sure I achieved as much as she did in two weeks, but it’s a great example of how the pages can motivate you to make changes.
Definitely worth a read.

Do I really have to write, longhand, in a notebook?

The Artist’s Way was first published in the 80s, when the core tools for a writer were notebook and pen (and occasionally typewriter), so she doesn’t tackle the issues raised by technology for the morning pages.

Personally I prefer pen and paper – something about the action of writing seems to encourage better stuff to come out than when I’m typing. But most of us can type faster than we can write longhand.

Plus there’s the added benefit of security with using online journaling resources – handy if you live in a house with nosey kids/spouses/housemates.

Online journals are also easier for most of us to access nearly all of the time. If I forget to take my notebook somewhere, chances are I won’t do my pages. I hate writing them on scrap bits of paper and then sticking them in later – it just doesn’t work for me.

If you work a desk job that means being attached to a computer for most of the day, why not dedicate the first 15 minutes of that day to clearing your mind?

If typing fits more with your daily schedule, then consider one of the following (free!) online resources. If you Google you’ll find there are many more, but the following have been recommended to me by users, which is why I’m recommending them to you.

Penzu

A friend of mine recently started private online journalling in Penzu, and she absolutely swears by it. Penzu is a personal journal and online diary resource.

There’s a great page called Why Journal?, which lists the many (many!) benefits of keeping a diary or journal. If that doesn’t convince you to get started, I don’t know what will!

750 words

This website was created specifically in response to the morning pages from The Artist’s Way. It’s a secure website (no public publishing like a blog). You log in and aim to type 750 words per day (given that the average page holds 250 words, so three pages = 750 words).

The nifty thing about this website is the stats – you can see how many words you’ve written to date. A month’s worth of morning pages at this rate will give you 22,500 words.

That’s a lot of words! Suddenly achieving 50,000 words in a month for projects like NaNoWriMo doesn’t seem quite so intimidating, does it?

In conclusion then…

I’ve been working with and really getting a lot out of the morning pages since I started writing them. Do any of you write morning pages? Do you find them helpful for your writing, or for life generally?

If you don’t write morning pages but are a little intrigued, then consider this challenge.

Try them out, just for two weeks (like Jennifer Blanchard did). Set aside 15 minutes every morning to write stream of consciousness (try not to be late for work).

Two weeks isn’t a massive commitment. I’d be interested to hear your results/changes/achievements.

Image: fhashemi

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“Receiving feedback is difficult. But giving feedback with grace is even more so.”
Casing Compliments | Bobulate via Broomeshtick

To grow and evolve as a writer you must offer your work to others for critique and editing. It’s one of those terrible truths you come to terms with, sooner or later. The thing about feedback though, it is reciprocal – like a rubber ball it will come bouncing back to you.

Why?

Quid pro quo. If you invite someone to invest time and effort in your work, at some point they will expect the same from you.

While writers will begrudgingly accept the need for un-biased opinion, most writers feel incredibly uncomfortable being the one giving that opinion. It’s like taking the uncomfortable feeling of sharing your work and turning it up to 11.

It’s not that you’re stingy, or don’t want to help. It’s to do with that feeling in your gut which warns you away from scary things. And let’s not beat around the bush – giving feedback is terrifying.

What could possibly go wrong?

What if you accidentally say something hurtful? Or you derail someone’s creativity or confidence with a misunderstood comment? What if they stop writing because of what you said? Or what you said was wrong!

It’s much easier to play safe and say nothing.

I can empathise. As an editor, and a writer, I have a foot in both camps, and I always find it far more difficult (and stressful) to provide rather than receive feedback. This is despite hangover sensitivities to critique after a bad experience as a young writer.

Agreeing to provide feedback is one of the best things you can do to improve your writing skills. Plus, being asked implies the writer trusts you to help them take their story from good to fantastic.

The good news is, you can provide feedback which is tough, gracious, thought-provoking and, dare I say, compassionate and constructive.

Here’s a six-part guide to critiquing etiquette.

1. It is only one person’s opinion

Always frame (and remember) your feedback is only your opinion – that’s all it is. And, it’s also just one person’s opinion. Others may have different thoughts or suggestions – including the author!

I have a codicil at the bottom of my feedback emails which states: please accept/reject/alter or ignore anything here as it is your work and this is my take on it.

2. Dialogue between two people

What people often forget about feedback is it’s a dialogue, not a monologue. Always offer to discuss your comments or suggestions with the writer.

Remember though, it is not gracious and far from professional, to be defensive about your feedback. It’s OK if they disagree with you. It is the writer’s work after all and they do get the final say.

Some of the most fulfilling editorial relationships I’ve had with writers have come about due to a lack of consensus. Disagreement opens the channels for discussion, and stories thrive in such hothouse environments.

If possible have these conversations live. You can ask questions and get new insights into a story when a writer talks about it in real-time.

3. Stick to Specifics

Useful feedback focuses on specifics. Always choose specific examples to illustrate your point/comment and give specific suggestions on how the writer may make changes. Be honest. Feedback, given constructively is more likely than you realise to give a writer an ‘a-ha!’ moment, even if it initially feels like a slap in the face.

Useless feedback is broad-sweeping statements or generalisation. It slaps the writer in the face and that’s it. Steer clear of these at all costs. For one, it gives a writer nothing to work with. It is also gives ample fodder for a writer to fill in the details (and they’re never positive, these fillers).

Most importantly, never critique or make comment on the author (this is why you should always stick to specifics). It is only, and will always only be about the work at hand.

For example, I was told by a writer-in-resident when I was 18 that my writing was naïve and I should go and live in the real world.
He mentioned nothing about problematic writing mechanics or narrative flaws in the piece I submitted.

I filled in the gaps with shame, believing I’d had the audacity to think I could write. I didn’t show my work to another soul for almost a decade!

4. Be Positive

Always, always, always lead off with something positive. Even the worst piece of writing has something good about it – it might be a brilliant idea which has been poorly executed on the page. Again – be specific!

5. Time is of the Essence

Be mindful of the turn around. Don’t leave people hanging for weeks waiting. The general assumption is, if people don’t get back to you in good time the your work stinks and whoever you gave it to is struggling to find the right words to tell you that.

Give yourself a deadline to return the feedback – or even better, get the writer to provide you with one. If you can’t in good faith provide feedback in that timeframe, don’t agree to take the piece.

6. Work from the brief

Ask the writer for a brief. This will assist you in doing your job. In this they should tell you:

• what kind of feedback they’re looking for
• what draft version they are sending
• where they are considering sending it (especially important if for a competition)
• the word count
• the due date for submission and the date feedback is required.

Stick to the brief. If they’re asking for general comments don’t return a file with massive tracked changed edits. If the writer won’t or can’t provide you with a brief, don’t do the critique for them.

Start small. Check your ego in at the door. Be truthful. Offer creative alternatives. And know, the more you provide feedback, the less excruciating it will become.

Image: Christmas w/a K

Share your thoughts

So what’s your take on it? Do you provide gracious feedback or are you a sorry-I-haven’t-got-round-to-it type? Can you add to Jodi’s list of tips? Let us know in the comments below.

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Does this situation sound familiar?

You wake at an indefinably early hour to sneak in some quality time with your manuscript. You brew the coffee, clear the inbox and gag that pesky inner editor. You apply the seat of your pajama pants to the seat of your desk chair. You insert 99% of the perspiration, as recommended, fingers poised over the keyboard – yet the pages only fill with drivel, or worse, remain lifeless and empty.

After 30, 60, or more dedicated minutes which feel less like writing and more like the medieval art of dentistry, you save your progress with a sigh and trudge to the bathroom for a shower.

An inconvenient truth

You’re halfway through your daily lather when it hits – the plot twist which, you realise, your entire novel is hinging on, or the exquisite article lead that you just spent the last hour trying to suss out.

You throw back the shower curtain and, snatching a towel to retain some shred of modesty, rocket toward the nearest scrap of paper and pencil. Frantically you press words into the paper’s safekeeping, water dripping from your barely toweled body onto the paper.

Breathless and shivering, you feel victorious. You are a writer, and you have created something worth finishing and – hopefully – worth reading.

It’s good to plan, but…

This type of scene plays out in my life more than I care to admit. I’m not complaining, though. As a writer, these flashes of insight are exhilarating. I just wish they occurred at more convenient and regularly scheduled times.

There is great value in sitting down before a blank computer screen or stack of paper and squeezing words into being one clenching syllable at a time. A regular writing routine is an excellent tool, as are world-building, outlining, and other brainstorming techniques.

Every writer needs to slog through some form of resistance eventually. Writing is not easy, we all know, and not for armchair authors whose literary dreams are more transient than, say, Lindsey Lohan’s hair color.

However, there is also something to be said for not writing, for choosing to step away from the page. Whether it’s because the words just aren’t working, the dog needs to be walked or the pile of dirty dishes accumulating in the kitchen has reached critical mass (ie there are no spoons left).

Life away from the act of writing happens. It has to.

I’ve found that those occasions when I’m explicitly not writing are often more helpful and productive than when I am.

Finding the ‘Ah-ha’ moments

One of the basic how-to tips doled out to beginner writers is to carry a notebook everywhere in the event that inspiration strikes. I do – at least, I try to. I’m still perfecting my proficiency with this trick of the writing trade.

I mean, there are only so many places a notebook can go (remember the shower?). But I try, and it’s paid off.

Some of my best “ah ha!” moments have come when I’m doing something that does not require my brain’s full engagement. Maybe it’s my subconscious mulling my story’s problems over, or maybe it’s the gods of writing sending me a freebie.

Regardless of the why, these zen moments pay off on the page. In addition to bath time, I hit the inspiration zone when I’m hiking with my dogs, driving (especially long distances), washing the dishes or working out. I wonder what my fellow gym-goers think is going on when I scrawl on my open notebook in the midst of a sweaty elliptical session.

Letting it happen

Not that I would care (much) if I learned that their opinions are less than flattering, because I am a writer. I haven’t bled for my craft – yet – but I am dedicated to improving my work, to telling my stories, to all the lonely yet wonderful joys of the writing life.

So sometimes I simply don’t write. I let the zen flow of not-writing trickle words and worlds into my imagination for when I return to the page, refreshed.

Image: brunkfordbraun

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A mind map is a means to visually represent ideas and their relationship to one another. It’s a brainstorming tool frequently used in education, the business world, and the entertainment industry – often in collaborative projects.

In principle it’s meant to more accurately represent mental associations than an outline can. Fiction writing is less frequently collaborative. But a mind map template can become an effective composition tool.

In my experience, outlining stories can be a big help, but writing an outline often frustrates my efforts to develop a story from scratch. They’re too linear for my associative thought process, end up full of gaps and feel less natural than a mind map.

Since a mind map is not linear, blank spaces are not only forgivable, they become compelling reasons to think more about the story you’re developing. Here’s a guide to how a mind map can be used as a composition tool.

Starting out

I start with general ideas and get more and more specific as my story develops. I have a template layout containing four elements that every story will involve. Whenever I open a fresh mind map, this is what goes up first:

I label these nodes like this because when I have an idea it involves at least one of these story elements. I can focus on what I have then start adding my story’s specifics as they occur to me. It means I don’t struggle through outline points that aren’t ready to be fleshed out yet.

Introducing and expanding ideas

Let’s take a specific example. Say a story occurred to me based on an argument between a stepson and his nosy stepfather.

I’ve got a single complete scene in which the stepfather asks the stepson’s friends about his girlfriend. Sensing there’s more to the story, I can use the template above to develop it.

I fill in all the elements of the scene that I know. In this instance, I’ve got my main players, their characteristics and the gist of the scene.

With this material on screen, some questions naturally arise.

How do we know the stepfather’s a liar and not just concerned? He should have someone to talk to.

How does the son demonstrate his narcissism? He should also have someone to confide in.

Now I’ve got two new characters and will need two new scenes. I should create two new nodes subordinate to ‘Plot’ and elaborate on the son’s character subordinate to the ‘pouty, narcissistic’ node.

Every node can be joined by siblings (like the two additional ‘Plot’ nodes) or beget infants (like the supporting details about the son’s narcissism). The beauty of a mind map is that it can continue expanding whenever a new element occurs to you.

The advantage of the layout I introduced in my first step is that it leaves open space on the other side of the mind map to fill in more details.

Crossing the map

I left ‘Setting’ and ‘Timeline’ blank on the opposite end of the map. Now that I have additional ‘Plot’ and ‘Character’ elements, they will help fill in those blanks.

Questions that will help develop ‘Setting’:

Where did the son’s encounter with his ‘friends’ take place? The yard.

Where did the stepfather’s conversation with his lackey take place? His study.

Questions that will help develop ‘Timeline’:

What happened before the scene I have? The son’s father died.

In what order do these events take place in the story? The step-father will talk to his lackey, the friends will quiz the son, the son will talk to his best friend.

What will I choose not to show? The stepfather asking the son’s friends to find out about the girlfriend.

Now I know where and when my three scenes take place. I like to use arrows to reinforce particularly important connections. I’ll insert an arrow using the colour of the region that inspired the thought, so I can keep track of where my ideas came from.

For instance, the son’s attitude towards his duplicitous friends influenced my decision to describe the yard in which that scene is set as ‘lifeless’. Since that description occurred to me as a result of what I wrote in the ‘Characters’ node, I used a red arrow.

You can see a fully expanded version of the mind map here.

Using the mind map, I’ve developed a lot of material from a single scene. I think using arrows is important because it reminds me that each node can lead someplace else. That this is an organic process and space that’s undeveloped is asking for attention.

My goal when using a mind map is to fill empty space as soon as possible. Images, links, symbols, and even sound files can be inserted into a map’s nodes to help you along.

Here’s an example of a short story that became the basis for the NaNoWriMo I finished last year – it displays the full screen of my completed mind map.

The column on the right gives me the options to easily insert pictures from Google Images and links to Google Maps into my “Setting” node. I referred to those pictures when I wrote the scenes that took place there. They were helpful references when I needed inspiration.

I use MindMeister (which offers limited free use and has a nice tutorial). You can also find a good list of alternatives on Wikipedia.

I hope this has been a helpful demonstration. But it’s just one example of how a mind map can be used when developing a story. There are so many other possibilities and you are only limited only by your imagination.

Share your thoughts

So how do you plan and structure your stories? Would you consider using a mind map like Paulo? Are you worried about what software to use? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

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Watch this video with captions
Download the transcript (.RTF 44.9KB)

Postgraduate writing courses have become hugely popular in the last 15 years and more and more English degrees feature creative writing as part of their syllabus.

These days it’s quite common to hear that an author’s first novel or debut poetry collection was created during their time on some university course or other. The idea of writers studying the writing process has gradually gained acceptance. There are fewer critics and those that persist seem to have a fading voice.

In this episode

Personally, I’m all for university writing qualifications. Well, not the qualifications so much, but the creative environment that the courses provide and the unique opportunities they present to us pen-twiddlers.

I suggest that writing courses give you:

• a fantastic writing environment
• advice from experienced, widely-published authors
• a better understanding of the literary canon.

Further reading

Here’s a few articles on writing courses that you might find interesting. Also, a couple of books. The first I’ve read and highly recommend, the other a collection of essays put together by one of my old undergraduate tutors.

• Former poet laureate defends merits of creative writing courses
• Genuine originality in creative writing will overcome all
• The rise of creative writing courses
• Kureishi slams creative writing courses
• The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry
• The Handbook of Creative Writing

Technostuff

If you’re reading this via an RSS reader or email and can’t view the video, you can head to the full post here on Write for Your Life or watch the clip on Vimeo.

Share your thoughts

So what do you think? Have you considered taking a writing qualification or do you think they’re a waste of time? Have you got one already? Tell us your opinion in the comments section below.

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One of the privileges of being a writer is the opportunity to share stories with, evoke emotions in, and connect to other people.

With more traditional storytelling platforms such as books, authors are not present when their audience is reading their work. Indeed they can still get feedback but the relationship is a more impersonal one.

When writing for the web, this gap is bridged somewhat. You can reach a wider and more diverse audience who can instantly give feedback on your work through comments on blog posts, forum posts, book reviews, user-generated content and social media.

This is a great advantage to using the web as your platform to share stories. Yet each medium brings with it constraints and challenges, and the web is no different.

Less time to engage

With traditional media, writers are afforded the luxury of being able to introduce characters, create settings, and build the story one chapter at a time.

On the web there is no such luxury. Typically, people want information fast (although this is not always the case) and studies tell us that users scan the page rather than digest each and every word.

That means that we have to be more selective about what we write on the web: every word counts. And yet writing less is usually harder than writing reams.

This is perfectly illustrated in the following quote from Blaise Pascal.

“I would like to have written a shorter letter but didn’t have the time.”

The key here is to know your story. What information is essential for your users for them to achieve the task that they’ve come to your website for? Once you know this, you can focus on communicating without too much fluff and unnecessary copy.

If you do feel that several paragraphs are necessary, make sure you segment your copy with headings to make it easier for readers to absorb.

Calls to action are also helpful. A button that says, ‘Register here’ is a standard web convention and there is little need to explain in sentences about registering. Lead users to a page where you have a new quota of words to share with them.

Tone of voice

There is an often quoted statistic that non-verbal cues make up 93% of what we communicate. Whether valid or not, the thinking behind that number is important. We don’t communicate through words alone, but through cues, imagery and our tone of voice.

We may lose the in-person interaction on the web, but that doesn’t mean we can’t convey a tone of voice through our copy. Some websites adopt a formal tone of voice and others more informal and chatty.

To decide what tone of voice is most appropriate for your website, you need to fully understand who it’s aimed at.

If you’re writing for a group of corporate stakeholders, chances are you need to write copy with a more formal approach. A website for a band would be better suited to a more jargon free, informal tone of voice.

Another way to find your tone is to read other websites. What do you like? What don’t you like? Can someone else’s tone of voice inspire what you’re doing on your own project?

Ultimately, it’s about knowing your story and the audience you’re writing it for. Only then will you be able to successfully write copy that communicates in the right tone of voice.

A picture paints a thousand words

Icons and images can sometimes communicate what it would take many words to say. They need to be used carefully and with consideration, especially cultural variants, but icons and imagery can quickly lead users through your site. Keep copy to a minimum and support your story.

Reaching the masses

This is a big plus for writing on the web. You have a potential worldwide audience at your fingertips. Cracking.

On the other hand, this means you are trying to communicate with many cultures and as language, colours and pictures have varying cultural significances, there’s a risk you will offend some people.

You won’t be able to appeal to all though, so you need to hone in on the key audience and write with them in mind. Perhaps there will be localised versions of the website where copy can be amended to suit, but in the first instance write for your core audience.

Bringing it all together

The most important thing is to always write with your audience in mind. Keep it simple, complement your words with calls to action, icons, colours and pictures and ensure that across all of this there is a consistent and appropriate tone of voice.

Above all though, and this applies to all platforms, be passionate about what you write. If you are then you are already half way there.

Share your thoughts

What’s your experience of writing for the web? Does it come natural or do you find you have to adjust what you do? Tell us what you think in the comments section of this post.

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So here it is, the redesigned, reorganised Write for Your Life!

First of all, if you’re reading this in an RSS reader or email, you should pop on over to the site. It’s very pretty and we have monsters. Lots of monsters!

You can also watch this short(ish) video, where I talk about the redesign and some of the exciting plans I have in store for the site, including a unique membership scheme and a series of online conferences.

Toot toot! Told you it was exciting.

So, what do you reckon?

Write for Your Life has been very lucky to gain a delightful readership (that’s you!) and your feedback is very important and much appreciated.

Please make yourself at home, take a good look around and get in touch if you see anything that seems out of place. Any whoops of delight or general comments can go in the comments section below, of course.

And feel free to spread the word using our new Retweet and Like buttons!

Thank you!

Of course, I’d like to say that I was entirely behind this lovely new look, but it would be extremely naughty of me. A huge thank you must go to Matt Pearce, the man behind the monsters, and Craig Shaw, who has worked tirelessly to build the site and cater to my every whim.

Cheers chaps. You’ve done a wonderful job.

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Of course, if you’re new to Write for Your Life and like the look of what you see, you can subscribe for free and get new posts delivered straight to your inbox.

As you may or may not know, I’m exceptionally busy with my own writing at the moment, both personal scribbling and of course, proper work. But fear not, the mist will soon be clearing and my attention will return to Write for Your Life in earnest.

I recorded this quick video to tell you a bit more about what’s coming up with the relaunch and to ask for contributors and volunteers. Watch the video for more information, but essentially I’m looking for delightful folk to:

• write brilliant articles
• transcribe our podcasts and videos
• sponsor our podcasts and videos.

If you think you’d like to contribute to Write for Your Life in any of these ways, please get in touch by emailing iain@writeforyourlife.net and we’ll get the ball rolling. We’re not in a position to pay you, but you will be rewarded instead with much acclaim and links back to your own website.

So that’s it for now. I hope the video explains what’s taking place at Write for Your Life towers at the moment and I hope it whets your appetite for the site relaunch.

I’ve learned a thing or two myself through recording this clip: that I need both a haircut and, more pressingly, some sleep.

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