Show them vs. telling them
I have been in this communication accelerator course with two fantastic coaches Brenden K and Vamsi. I learned in writing that you must show the feeling instead of just saying, “CJ felt like she was falling.” But when it came to speaking, you need to do the same. I am becoming a better writer by becoming a better communicator all together. When you find yourself using the word “FEEL,” that should be your cue to look up how to conceptualize the word. What hand movements does one make when falling, eye movements, facial expressions, sounds. These are some ways you can replace the word “FEEL” with the action of falling. This will help your readers get a visualization of what is happening. Sometimes it is good to let them imagine on their own, but there will be times in your book that you need to help them along.
Before reacting, ask yourself these three questions.
How does it benefit you – if your reaction helps you, then react. If not, then what is the point. Will you waste the next 20 minutes to a week sometimes just reacting to something or someone who wasn’t worth your time?
How does it help someone else – Does your reaction help someone else? We often want to jump to someone else’s defense, but it could hurt them. Think twice before helping someone when our actions could be to their detriment
How does it make you a better person? – This should be something you strive for every single day. By the time you get to this question, you have calmed down by now, which is good. You have had time to rationalize whatever you would react to instead of flying off the handle. Now, will your reaction, or lack thereof, make you a better person?
Writing Prompts
I’ve recently started working with writing prompts to author short stories. I discovered them through Reedsy Discovery, and I am in love with the process. Before, I waited for the stories to come to me, but now I allow the writing prompts to elicit stories. I am having a lot of fun. I said all that to help you realize that sometimes you can use these prompts to guide you out of your writer’s block. We get so focused and funneled on the current project that we say we can’t go down another rabbit hole. The thing is that as creatives, we must go where the flow is taking us. If we box ourselves in, that is when the writer’s block, self-doubt, and depression start to hit. If we are creating, that is when happiness strikes us.
Newsletters
I hear people all the time say, “I don’t need a newsletter.” Okay, don’t have one, but that is an entire audience all for you. It’s not social media where thousands of people are scrolling through the thousands of friends they have on their feed. That is a personal inbox of an individual who chooses to sign up to hear from you. Not to mention, it is the only thing that a person owns basically. How many of your friends have been banned from social media because of their views? Well, if they take down social media, what do you have? You need multiple means of communication. I have seen people with a list of 10K or more. Couple that with 5K friends list on Facebook, then Twitter, then Instagram. Why would you leave a newsletter out when it’s a personalized letter you can send to people who are personally going to open your email? It’s more personal and pointed just to you and your art.
Websites
Your website and its appearance are essential. I can’t tell you how often I come across a website where the brand/company or the author is excited to tell you all about themselves. They don’t even try to provide you with anything of benefit to the visitor. The thing is, we are all self-serving in the end. When you go to a website, you want to know why you should be there. It’s essential to market yourself effectively on a website, which comes with images, design, and the right words. @Jared Ledbetter does this better than most people I know. His company, Carbon Digital is revolutionizing the industry by building your website in 1 day. The thing is, understanding brands is his thing. As an author, you must stand out amongst thousands of other authors and their websites. Wouldn’t you want to be connected to the best?