Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

Writing – The Final Frontier

Please bear with me. I’m in a weird mood this week. Last week I wrote about a long-term outlook on this writing gig. You guys had some great comments on that post. The gist of what you were saying was 1) If I spend so much time getting other to notice me, I won’t have time to write, and 2) Duh, thanks for reminding me, I can’t get rich quick with this thing.

Our Message to Other Worlds

If you’re like me, writing is really important. I want to make a career of writing. I want to leave an imprint with my writing. I want to make people laugh, cry, think and dream. I’m not saying that I do, it’s what I strive to do. This past week I started to think about writing in the grand scheme of things. Get a load of this for a sec:

Continue reading “Writing – The Final Frontier”

From Minds Profound

“Innocent of what?” © Unforgiven (1992)

Previous articles on Indies Unlimited have established that writing rules are far from absolute, that they are best interpreted more as guides than anything binding. But far more effective than a plainly stated rule is the aphorism, that memorable quote that both entertains and teaches… something. I keep a running list of quotes in general, but those pertaining to writing have pride of place, and they can alternately act as impetus or inspiration when you’re flagging, as an alarm bell when you’re off track, as a way to stay humble when you become overinflated, or simply as a way to laugh at yourself when you happen to forget how absurd you are. I present to you my Top Twenty Awesome Writing Quotes, mostly written by other writers, but remember: whatever germ of a lesson they contain, it’s not a rule, okay? Continue reading “From Minds Profound”

Building Your Public Presentation Skills

The cloistered life of a writer can take a toll on your social skills. As an author, we all spend a lot of time in our own heads as opposed to interacting with other people. Social media doesn’t count. I mean the kind of people you actually might have to go outside your house to encounter. Real people—like the ones you see on television. The ones on television don’t count either.

Sooner or later, you will need those social skills because at some point, you will be asked to do a presentation of some sort. Perhaps you will be asked to speak before a book club, or at a library function, or (as in my case) to ask people in the grocery store if they’d like to try a sample of today’s cheese.  Continue reading “Building Your Public Presentation Skills”

Ed’s Casual Friday: After a colon…a hot mess.

And now for something completely different… I’m going to say a few words about grammar, and editors. And colons.

First-things-first for all you authors out there: You need an editor. I don’t even mean at the story/plot/character level, though a good editor is invaluable there, too. For my purposes here I just mean strictly as a proofreader. You may not think you do, but you do, and not because you can-t rite gud English. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: After a colon…a hot mess.”