Now that Twitter has turned six, you probably know what to do with that little window. Fill it with 140 characters and send your virtual carrier pigeon aloft, right? But if your tweets plummet and die, you may have to work a little harder. Try these tips to write better tweets that get seen, clicked, and retweeted more often.
Continue reading “Tuesday Tutorial: Tweet-Crafting for Fun and Profit”
Author: Laurie Boris
Laurie Boris is a freelance writer, editor, proofreader, and former graphic designer. She has been writing fiction for over twenty-five years and is the award-winning author of four novels. She lives in New York’s lovely Hudson Valley. Learn more about Laurie at her website and her Amazon author page.
Does Your Novel Have an Expiration Date?
You loved that old TV show. You know the one. With the topical humor that once had you laughing your ass off and quoting the good lines to your friends at lunch the next day. Now you catch it in syndication and it looks a little…dated. The jokes fall flat, the hairstyles are embarrassing, and the whole thing kind of flops around like a dying halibut. You’d put a bullet in its brain if not for the gawking-at-a-car-accident vibe. Then there are other shows that may be even older, yet you can watch episodes over and over and the content still feels new.
The same goes for contemporary fiction. That dead fish, the curdled milk, the rancid orange juice could be your book. Sure, contemporary fiction is, in its essence, contemporary. So why do some novels hold up over time and some quickly get that “not-so-fresh-feeling?” How do you avoid stamping an expiration date on your work? Continue reading “Does Your Novel Have an Expiration Date?”
Presentation Skills for the Terminally Introverted Author
I don’t know if isolation is a requirement or a side effect of the indie lifestyle. I do know that I spend a lot of time alone. This tweaks up a whole crazy busload of quirks. I talk to myself. I answer my own rhetorical questions. At times, in my black, coffee-stained hoodie, I could be mistaken for a shorter version of the Unabomber.
And then I write a book and get it published. Sure, I could hunker down with my moldy coffee mugs, fingernails reaching Howard Hughes lengths, husband threatening to hog-tie me and drive me to the hair salon, where I’ll be forcibly pruned and sheared. But I’ve been told by professionals who know these things that a good way to sell books is to actually GO OUTSIDE and TALK TO PEOPLE IN GROUPS. Continue reading “Presentation Skills for the Terminally Introverted Author”
Assume The Position: Ergonomics for Computer Users
Yeah. I see you there, slumping in front of your computer. Or leaning back, one foot on the kitchen table with your compact computer-type device in your lap. Sitting like that for hours. Hurt anywhere lately? Neck, shoulders, back a little stiff? Hands? Do you order pain medication without child-guard caps ‘cause it hurts too much to open the darned things?
I get it. We’re writers. We suffer for our art. But along with doing the stretching exercises I wrote about here, you can reduce your physical pain and stress—without going broke—by modifying how you work. Aside from an active imagination and the ability to convert the words in your head into something people want to read, good computer posture over time can add years to your writing life. For instance: Continue reading “Assume The Position: Ergonomics for Computer Users”