Author: Melissa Pearl

Melissa Pearl is a Contributing Author for Indies Unlimited and author of multiple novels spanning a variety of genres, from YA fantasy and paranormal to romantic suspense, including award-winning novel, BETWIXT. For more on Melissa, visit her blog or her Amazon author page.

How Repost Helped Me Become An Instagram Fan

Repost Logo for InstagramFinding material to post on Instagram can be the hardest aspect of using the app. I had heard so many wonderful things about Instagram and I really wanted to get into it, but I was struggling to post daily because I just could not find enough things to take pictures of. I’m a writer — I work at my desk all day! There are only so many pictures of my fingers on a keyboard that I want to share.

But then I discovered Repost.

Yay for Repost!

It has opened up a huge door for me and I have turned from Instagram reluctant to an Instagram megafan. Now that I have more things to post, I am able to post two or three times a day and my traffic has gone from 20 – 30 likes per post to 180 – 300 likes per post. It’s awesome!!

So – how does it work? Continue reading “How Repost Helped Me Become An Instagram Fan”

Remember to Celebrate Being an Author

celebrate being a writer pixabay glasses-213156_640It’s so easy to get bogged down trying to earn money from our writing endeavors that we forget to celebrate the fact we are writers! That is an awesome thing, a huge accomplishment and something so easily brushed over.

Nowadays, authors don’t have the luxury of simply thinking about story structure and intelligent prose. Indie authors in particular have to wrap their heads around the entire business of writing — marketing, finances, taxes, promotions, working with editors and cover designers, getting reviews, staying on top of social media, figuring out good business practices…a whole plethora of things. I, for one, am not particularly good at some of them and it’s a real battle some days to sit down to spend time doing the necessary evils so that I can continue to write for a living. Continue reading “Remember to Celebrate Being an Author”

Realistic Dialogue – Things to Remember About Your Characters and What They Say

DialogueOne of the fastest ways to pull your reader out of your book and back into reality is to write unrealistic dialogue. When a character says or does something that is “out of character” it always makes me flinch or wince. So I thought it’d be helpful to share some of things to remember when writing or editing dialogue in your books.

One of the easiest ways to be aware of good dialogue is to think about how you talk to your family and friends. Do you go into detailed backstory when chatting to people who know you really well? Do you rehash details everyone in the room is already aware of? How often do you call people by their first name when you’re chatting to them? Continue reading “Realistic Dialogue – Things to Remember About Your Characters and What They Say”

Talking Heads: Dialogue Scenes in Your Book that May Lack Punch

talking heads figures-368751_640I hadn’t heard the expression “talking heads” before, but I just had an editor point it out to me. Suddenly I realized how guilty I am of writing scenes with talking heads. You know, the ones where the characters are chatting away in a blank space with nothing around them to ground the reader and transport them into the scene.

Yes — that is what “talking heads” means. Writing a scene with no anchors. Creating a sequence of dialogue between characters that isn’t placed in a vivid setting or surrounded with the right emotion.

As brilliant as your dialogue and physical beats may be, if they’re not placed in the right setting, they’re going to fall short. So, how do you create these anchor points and add that extra punch needed for a scene? Continue reading “Talking Heads: Dialogue Scenes in Your Book that May Lack Punch”