Blogs also give you more credibility as an author and they make you an expert writer beyond your genre or published portfolio.

Also, blogging simply gives you an opportunity to be read by more people.  If you establish a blog that people follow for your useful or enjoyable content that is easy and a pleasure to read, these blog followers, readers and those who are newly introduced to your blog may one day convert to book sales.

If you are a freelance writer or new to the industry, creating and maintaining a blog is a great way to be noticed as a writer and to establish your portfolio. For established authors, blogging keeps you relevant in the minds of your readers and fans.

So what goes into a good blog?

Here are JUST a few things that I believe every blogger should consider.

•    After fashioning your blog, review it very carefully. Obviously grammatical errors should be eliminated. Above and beyond the obvious, be sure to eliminate redundant patterns of thought. Do not believe that people have 35 minutes to read your blog.

•    Use bullet points when you can; short paragraphs keep your blog moving. Consider changing your blog format during each post to add freshness.

•    Be creative and real about your headlines so your readers know exactly what to expect.

•    Being too formal can turn your blog from a pleasurable read to a real bore. Imagine you are sharing lunch with your reader. Be causal without being silly; be insightful while also being humorous and share personal experiences whenever possible.

•    Select topics that are important to you. However, be sure that others may also embrace it.  Writing about your weekend at the park is considered open content, but it should be done with style, should offer the reader a chance to learn something and maybe even have a few laughs along the way.

•    Another important aspect of blogging is to share interesting blogs of others. I regularly feature a guest blog on my web site in an effort to help promote others the work. Not only will they be inclined to reciprocate, this also demonstrates that you are not the only voice in the world and that you are inspired by the work and insights of others.

In this ever changing world, it’s quite simple: writing and sharing blogs give you increased visibility, which you may be otherwise missing out on if you haven’t yet adapted to the digital content era.

Wishing you a great day of inspiration! Now go start blogging and share that inspiration with others. After all, who doesn’t need to be inspired and given hope?

Wow! What a mission!

In business, knowing your competition is one of your best tools for creating a marketable product and placing yourself at the top of your field. Great doctors constantly read the works of other doctors for new insights into the latest trends, procedures and related news. I consult others for creative ideas for my book marketing, publishing and business decisions. I do this because the world of publishing and marketing has and continues to change and evolve. I want to explore the best options.

As with writing, I may have the blue print, characters, storyline and ability to write based on life experiences and skills that I have acquired over the years; however, to not learn from, be inspired by and actively be engaged in the work of others, I am isolating myself and stifling my ability to grow as a writer.

It’s simple: by reading the works of others, your writing horizon will be expanded dramatically.

When you read the works of others,  your creative mind will  open up to a whole new arena of vocabulary, character development, plot structure, tricks, deceptions, stylization and everything else that we as writers obsess over.

I’m not saying that you should plagiarize the work of others (for that would be professional suicide). However, knowing how other writers accomplished their literary goals will help you accomplish yours.

Writing can be at times a struggle; it can be a frustrating challenge to realize perfection and can drain you of your creative and motivational fuel. Reading, on the other hand, can be and should be a pleasure.  Plus, reading stimulates ideas and language.

Whether you read a sappy romance novel, a thriller or a technical manual, simply exercising your brain is great. It becomes a brain building, vocabulary strengthening and wisdom acquiring exercise that can help your words flow more effectively—perhaps in new and progressive ways you may have never considered before.

With all due respect to those who may not agree, being serious about writing and not about reading is like trying to be creative without wanting to learn how.

We may be the most creative and fabulous writers alive: yet, if we do not attempt to find inspiration from our peers, we will always believe our work is the only work.  Our representation of characters, plots and storylines becomes the only way. The lack of expanding our minds with other’s works may be why we never grow as writers.

We have all heard the mantra that to be a writer you must write. I would like to amend that to say, “To be a writer, you must write and be a voracious reader.”

For others, self promotion is easy and glides through Facebook like a bad virus. For the everyday family member, friend and fellow writer, the multiple postings and unreciprocated feedback can be distracting and downright annoying.

The key to promoting your book on Facebook is to let others do it for you, while you promote the work of others.

The number one rule of Facebook is to be Social, not self-centered. You cannot build meaningful relationships with fans or fellow writers by talking about yourself all the time.

That said, consider these points in regard to promoting literature on Facebook.

Announcements for book releases, awards and other literary achievements should be shared in a modest, yet effective, way. You on the other hand should also share the achievements of others within your network and groups. It’s so much easier for the Facebook audience to respond to a  “suggested reading” or  a “have a look at this new cover art” posting or “take a look at this new book trailer”  share in the form of a third-party endorsement. This represents a trusted friend recommendation, as opposed to a used-car salesman’s approach to self-promotion.

Are you getting the picture here? How many times have you entered a group and saw one random member monopolizing the posting thread with his or her own self promotion and thought,” OMG, he or she is at it again!”

Imagine the power in numbers if we writers took one modest, yet effective, post and shared it with our friends and fellow writers. That is the viral power of Facebook.

Over post about your own achievements and be ignored. Post modestly and at a reasonable and tolerable rate, and be admired. Share postings from others and they in turn will feel gratefully obligated to share yours.

We writers need to be active in promoting one another out of obligation to our industry and our craft, to show that we are socially engaged and interested in our fellow writers. Simply put, sharing and promoting others is what puts the “social” in social networking.

Think about what a pleasure it is to see your latest literary achievement, book cover or posting shared by your fellow Facebook friends. It’s magical!

I am not saying that posting your book sale or promotion is wrong; it is your obligation to get the promotion started. However, do not over post it. Do not assume everyone within your network admires your genre; do not assume that your book is the only literary achievement within your group or network. Put it out there; if it is shared by others, you gain access to other’s networks and potentially more readers who would admire your genre or theme.

Therefore, if we all made it our goal to promote two other posts for every one we posted, think of how much more audience we would all command. So writers, authors, poets and dreamers, let’s promote one another. From the shortest of poems to the longest of novels, from new awards to holiday sales, from children’s illustrations to medical text books, let’s spread the word about one another’s work often.

United we are promoted, divided we stand alone and ignored.

However, there are a lot of people out there in desperate need. Your local food bank could use a donation, for example. Ditto your local animal shelter.

I am still running my charity drive via Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, an organization that helps people living with this illness in all 50 states.

I am also donating ducks again via World Vision. So many people in developing nations have lost their livestock and livelihoods due to flooding. Ducks help solve that problem. They provide eggs for food (and sales) and ducklings can also be sold for extra income.

Perhaps instead of rushing around to big box stores and standing in insane lines for the latest electronic gizmo or game, a smaller sum can be used to provide help to those in need. Just a little food for thought during this season of giving.

About Sharon

Books by internationally published author Sharon E. Cathcart provide discerning readers of essays, fiction and non-fiction with a powerful, truthful literary experience.

A former journalist and newspaper editor, Sharon has been writing for as long as she can remember and generally has at least one work in progress.

Sharon lives with her husband and an assortment of pets in the Silicon Valley, California.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2962472.Sharon_E_Cathcart

Supplies Needed:

1) A variety of magazines (preferably different magazines or journals as opposed to multiple issues of the same one.)

2) A notebook and pen or computer.

3) Some quiet time.

Start by opening one magazine to the table of contents and scan down the titles. Do NOT look at the stories, just the titles. You are looking for a title that can easily be divided in half or a title with two clauses. Take half of one title and write it in a column in your notebook. It can be either the first half or the second half of the title. (Remember, titles are not under copyright protection, so you are doing nothing wrong here.)

Once you have an entire column of phrases, find a different magazine and start a second column with more half titles.  When you have your second list done, scan both columns. Take half of a title from one list and combine it with half a title from the other list. Then write the story.

For example, in Ladies’ Home Journal, I found the title “Science of a Streamlined Marriage”. I wrote down “The Science of”. Then in an issue of Parents, I found the title “How to Raise A Happy Child” and I wrote down “Happy Child”.  When I finished my lists, I chose these two to combine to make “The Science of a Happy Child.”  Then I wrote the article.

This exercise works no matter what genre you are writing. After you choose a title, be sure to keep your lists for future practice.

A similar exercise is to randomly select words from the dictionary, a magazine or other book. Then rearrange them to make a unique title. Happy Writing!

Sylvia Ney resides in southeast Texas with her husband, two daughters and miniature dachshund.

She is a published author who sometimes ghostwrites for others. She has published poetry, short stories, essays, newspaper articles and photography.

I found this fabulous article on Lynne Klippel’s Business Building Books and just had to share it.

Kathleen Ragan, a stay-at-home mother, loved reading stories to her young daughters. She took them to the local library every week to pick out fresh books and made story time an important part of every day.

Kathleen began to notice a disturbing trend. All the books she was reading featured male heroes. As she began to study childhood classics by Dr. Seuss, she noticed the only female characters were negative ones – lazy mothers, gossipy women, or colorless sisters who had no dialog. She then started to study fairy tales and other popular children’s books. There were few featuring girls who were brave, intelligent, or leaders. Instead, the books featured princesses who required rescuing, were evil step mothers, and were wicked witches.

These were not the role models Kathleen wanted for her daughters. She began an exhaustive search for folktales from around the world featuring female heroines. It took several years of exhaustive research including reviewing more than 30,000 stories.

This research led to her book Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters, published in 1998. The book features 100 stories from around the world with female heroines and are ideal for reading aloud to children.

Why is this story important to you?

Writing a book is a big job. It requires an investment of time, energy, and effort. In order to finish a book, you must have a passionate reason WHY you are writing that book. That passionate Why will pull you forward and give you the energy you need to complete your book.

Kathleen was passionate about providing inspiring stories for her daughters. Her passion propelled her to do whatever it took to create her book and share it with the world.

What about you?

Use these questions to measure your passion for your current writing project:
1.Do you enjoy learning about the topic of your book?
2.When you have extra time, does it feel like a treat to work on your book?
3.When you share your book idea with others, do you feel excited and exhilarated?
4.Have you clearly identified WHY you are writing this book?

If you notice that you are not feeling passionate about your book, don’t give up right away. You have two options. You can decide to select another topic which feels more exciting. Or, you can make your current topic more enjoyable to write by adding stories, fresh research, or taking a bolder stand.

One of the quickest ways to increase your passion for your book is to have some conversations with your ideal readers. Discover their needs and determine how your book can serve them. Reconnect with your passionate heart for helping others and you’ll find you’ve come home to the real reason why you started writing your book in the first place: to serve the world with your unique message.

Lynne Klippel is a best-selling author, publisher, and book coach who specializes in helping non-fiction authors write books that build their business and transform the world.

Darlene Foster is a Self-employed writer from Delta British Columbia. In her words:

“I am a writer, traveler, and dreamer. I am lucky to have a great family and wonderful friends. I believe “a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet.”

First recognized in 1947 by psychoanalyst Edmund Bergler, the term refers to a “condition” that can range from a complete lack of ability to write for years on end to a temporary inability to be creative to one’s satisfaction.

Writer’s block has been described in screenplays, novels, the news and in blogs.

Novelist Stephen King used it as a lynchpin in “The Shining.” Main character Jack Torrance was paralyzed by writer’s block, which eventually led to madness. Or did it?

Was it the lack of ability to write or was the sheer isolation of the Overlook Hotel that led Mr. Torrance to kill? Or, was writer’s block just another bit of fiction employed by King?

I feel that writers too often use writer’s block as an excuse for not doing what, at that moment, does not come easily. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of putting down one word at a time and allowing yourself the freedom to write badly until your muse comes to the rescue. At least this way, you have some material to build upon.

Yes it’s true, finances, family and spousal relationships, the wrong environment and other factors can affect your ability to stay focused on your work as a writer. But if every writer waited for  inspiration before putting pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard –  there would be little in the world to read. (And a lot of us would be very hungry!)

When I posted my opinion about writer’s block on Facebook and LinkedIn, I received a lot of feedback. Here’s some of what other  writers had to say about it.

“If inspiration doesn’t come to me, I chase it with a stick”

“I think writer’s block is a genuine experience. Although given such a label makes it sound like some kind of affliction. I have it myself from time to time … usually when I am stuck on the direction my plot should take. It doesn’t last long. I never stress about it. I write around the problem and return to it later.

I write full time, everyday, but there was period where I would go to my studio and literally just couldn’t find the words, or a plot to put down. The more I tried the harder it got. I didn’t believe in the existence of writer’s block until then. It ended the same way it began. I went to my studio and just started writing and completed my usual two-thousand words per day.

Neurology has proven that when an individual is stressed or threatened, a part of the brain stem called the Reticular Activating System will shift control from the cerebral cortex to the limbic system. Without significant input from the cerebral cortex, the individual is temporarily deprived of the ability to perform nuanced analyses and creative thought.  Moreover, the individual is rarely aware of this shift and often attributes the resulting inability to perform her or his usual creative thinking as lack of willpower, character or ability.

There is definitely a thing called writers block, but I believe that something in your life causes it. I have writers block, and mine is caused from someone close to me, offering his opinion on my grammar, and English “Over and Over again.”

I was full of creative ideas and was writing so good. I slowly began to think about my grammar, and correcting it, and finally, all I could think about was my English and Grammar so much, that I had no room in my mind to create a new novel. I now have writers block.

Discipline makes me write – sans the mood. Pen to paper and everything turns out alright.

While I do not claim to have all the answers, I believe that those who stop writing because of  “writer’s block” are left with only blank pages, rather than material to improve upon. Some of my best wok has occurred when I have forced myself to pluck out one word at a time. When I find my writing not up to my standards, I rewrite and rewrite until I am satisfied. Giving in to any temptation or excuse not to continue will only leave me with nowhere to go when I return.

For those who suffer from writer’s block, I sincerely wish you all the best. I encourage you to persevere and not give in. Imagine all those who go through life each and every day with physical and mental disabilities. They often overcome their handicaps, and I wish you Godspeed in overcoming yours.

WALKING THE TIGHTROPE

As in any good story, characters in a prequel must have flaws and challenges.  There must be tension and conflict in their lives and they must grow and learn from this experience. It is up to the writer to make that journey an interesting one by throwing the character into situations that will bring about the desired change.  The character must be someone the reader can relate to in some way and develop empathy for; this is no different from any other story we write. The difference comes in considering the fact that the reader may have already met this character The reader may  already know that our character will survive and prevail over whatever our antagonist is doing, so the dilemma is – how do we create that oh so important tension?

HAVEN’T WE MET BEFORE? YES, BUT NOT YET

We can start by considering the prequel as a stand- alone story, not a load of back story to be dumped down the reader’s throat. The story line in the prequel must be written as if the other story or stories don’t exist; it must draw the reader in and make him or her want to stay with our character through the end. There must be enough action and suspense to make the reader wonder what will happen in this story and how the character makes it out the other end to become the person he or she is in the next book.  If the reader has read one or more of my other novels, then he or she already knows the main character of my prequel survives the situation she finds herself in, but they don’t know how she does it. They know who she marries, but they have never heard the story of how they met and what drew them to each other. They know she has a past with another man, but they don’t know what happened to cause their breakup and the resentment he feels. Yes, while a lot of this could be considered back -story for the previous novels, it is also a story on its own. The book wasn’t written as a way of explaining what happens in any other novel, it was written as a stand -alone story that takes place in the main character’s past.

BUT WHERE IS…?

Another way of writing a prequel that is a stand-alone story and doesn’t just dump back -story is to include characters that are not in the other story/stories and also to make sure to NOT include those who are in the first story but would not have been involved in this particular storyline or timeline. I would have loved to include my character Paige in Webs of Fate, but according to what I had written in Webs of Power, she was not on the canvas when Webs of Fate takes place. My MC had not met Paige yet, so I couldn’t include her in the prequel. The character of Danielle Norman is the focal point of the intrigue in Webs of Fate, but she doesn’t make an appearance in Webs of Power or Twisted Webs. She may have honorable mention, but she is no longer on the canvas.

THE PAST IS THE PAST

The last point I would like to make about writing a prequel is that it can be used to give our readers a little bit of explanation as to why our main character turned out to be who he or she is. In Webs of Fate, the reader learns the story of my MC’s first fiancé and what twist of fate pulled him from her life. I only hinted at this story in my other novels; the memories are still with her in the first two novels and they are intrinsic to who she is as a person, so I thought Webs of Fate was the perfect time to bring that story to the forefront. I did not, however, make it the focal point of the book. It is a small piece of the puzzle that is my heroine and I explain this in the novel only because it is relevant to the situation in the prequel; not because I wanted to explain something to the reader that has no place in this storyline. The feelings it invokes in my MC are powerful and are part of the cause of her involvement in this storyline, so it was important to include that piece of the puzzle in the prequel.

GIVE ‘EM REASON TO RIDE OUT THE THRILLS

Not every bit of back story is important for our readers to know and not every bit is imperative to our prequel. It is up to the writer to figure out what the reader needs to know and what can be left to his or her assumption and imagination. That is the key to writing a prequel – don’t overload the reader with back- story; give ‘em just what they NEED to know and let them take the journey to discovery along with the main character. Every story is a rollercoaster – we need to make sure we don’t hand our readers the safety brake.

THE BACK-STORY ON BACK-STORY

As the authors, we know what happened before our published work; where our characters came from, what makes them do the things they do, why this one is afraid of the dark or that one has an aversion to apples…we created these personality quirks and the reasons behind them. A prequel does not have to be the “why” of the already published work. Honestly, just because one reader wants to know why John Doe flinches every time the doorbell rings, does not meant that EVERY reader wants to know the story behind that quirk. We need to ask ourselves, is our story idea compelling enough to interest a reader in spending his or her hard earned cash on a book? A prequel should be a standalone story that just happens to be inhabited by one or two (or maybe all) of the characters from our current novel. It’s not there to explain the entire back story; it can, however, support character traits or give  deeper insight into certain characters. So what’s all the fuss about prequels?

THE PROBLEM OF THE CART COMING BEFORE THE HORSE

Problem number one, as I see it, is the story map. We have a perfectly good published novel with a sequence of events that is set in stone. Now, here we are later, writing a novel that leads up to that sequence of events – we have to make sure we don’t contradict ourselves or send our characters so way off the beaten path that it’s just not a plausible story to bring them back. The sequence of events in the prequel must logically lead up to the sequence of events in the published work, even if the prequel takes place many years earlier when the main character is just a child (or in the case of Star Wars, before the main characters are born). For example, if in the already published story, our main character mentions that she lost her parents in a fire when she was 20, we can’t possibly have her ask her mother for advice in a prequel that takes place when she is 25. The story map must be consistent and lead the main characters to the path of the already published novel, or at least to a path that the readers can believe will put them upon the path they will travel in the published novel.

CHECK YOUR FACTS MA’AM

Facts must be checked and double checked; even the most seemingly innocuous comment made by a minor character in the first book must coordinate with the storyline in the prequel. If there is an inconsistency in even the minutest detail, we can be sure that a reader will notice it and it will become a thorn in that reader’s side. Every character counts; we need to make sure a minor character doesn’t push a main character off track. If the story line of the prequel is gleaned from an event the main character mentions in the published work, we need to make sure that any character mentioned in the existing work now exists in the prequel. For example, if our MC mentioned in passing that she had a college roommate named Donna at the time her parents perished in that fire and our story takes place during that time frame, we need to make sure Donna exists. No Donna – no continuity. Worse yet, we need to make sure we don’t call the MC’s roommate Rachel. Check the facts, check the facts, check the facts! Did I mention we need to check the facts?

DON’T TOUCH THAT ROCK!

As authors we must make sure that nothing in our prequel negates the novels that are already published—character traits and motivation must be consistent. However, in my opinion, in order to be a successful prequel, the story should be about our characters at an earlier time— a separate stand alone story that will captivate readers not just a pre-shadow of our other novels. When we are writing a prequel, we need to travel back and forth between the published work and the work in progress; making sure that the events occurring in the prequel do not deter the events of the already published work. Some may liken this to time travel stories where the characters are warned to not alter anything in the past because one little stone out of place can set a chain of events that changes the already established present and future. There is a lot of backtracking and double checking to be done when attempting a prequel; the webs must be woven carefully and delicately in order to create a consistent and believable storyline.

What other issues stand out when you think about prequels?

Prequels have been dealt a bad hand. For many writers, they are considered taboo – bad luck, the death of your series; other writers calmly advise avoiding them when possible. So what’s the “plague of the prequel” all about? For one thing, they can be boring filler if we are not careful; who wants to read something that is just background fluff about our characters? Prequels can throw our entire published series off track; if the actions of the characters don’t lead them to the path they are on at the beginning of our already published novel, then the already existing novel won’t make any sense. Prequels can render our already established characters unbelievable. Now that I have completely discouraged the writing of prequels, here’s a good reason to write one: the readers want one; they want to know what happened before our novel took place. Our readers are curious as to WHY our main character behaves the way s/he does; they want to know more about her/him; where s/he came from; who s/he is; what her/his life was like before the book they just read. If our characters are compelling enough and we are very, very careful, we can create a prequel that will knock our readers’ socks off.  So how careful should we be and what should we be so careful of?

USE THE FORCE, BUT DON’T FORCE IT

Since hearing from my readers that they want to know more about my characters lives before my first novel, Webs of Power, I felt compelled to write a prequel; but I was also determined to avoid dumping a boatload of back-story on them. I wanted to know all the pros and cons of writing a prequel so I did a little research online.  I have never read so much about Star Wars in my life! It seems the inconsistencies in the back-story are a huge disappointment to the fans; apparently Star Wars fans are extremely knowledgeable about the characters in the series and the inconsistencies they found in the characters and in the stories of the three prequels are a huge source of distress and complaint. Now granted, I am talking about a movie here, but the issues movie prequels face are closely related to the issues book prequels face:

1. The sequence of events must logically lead from the prequel to the established story and must be consistent with the already established story
2. The characters must stay true to who they are to become
3. The audience already knows where the character is going to end up, so the prequel not only needs to lead to this path, it has to make the journey interesting in itself

I want to address each of these issues separately, so the next several blogs will deal with the issues of writing a prequel as I see them.

What do you see as the problem with prequels?