Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

The Fountainhead of Creativity

While it is always wrong to make absolute declarations and sweeping generalizations, it is undeniable that there are three types of people in the world:

1. Those who are good at math, and

B. Those of us who aren’t.

The easy conclusion is that people who are good at math are organized, logical thinkers. This may be true—the old left-brain/right-brain thing. I can never remember which is which. That may mean I am the third of the two types. However, I think there is a reason the people who are not good at math tend to be the more creative types—artists, writers, thespians, short-order cooks.

The very simple and obvious explanation is that we had to think up reasons we did not have our math assignments ready to turn in. This forced us to turn on our creative juices to move beyond the old trope of “the dog ate it” to the more entertaining (if no more credible) mitigation of epic singularities such as alien abductions, evil twins, foul play, espionage, talking rabbits who are late for parties, and inter-dimensional portals opened by the magnificent correctness of a formula you calculated (which sadly resulted in its theft by miscreants from another galaxy). Continue reading “The Fountainhead of Creativity”

What I did today

Sometimes, work is plain fun.

The Perth foothills

Exhausting, demanding … but you get a blast. That’s what happened to me today. I was facilitator at a workshop organized by the KSP Foundation at their Writers’ Centre in the hills, at the edge of the Perth metropolitan area. Because this blog is read by an international audience, it’s necessary to describe some stuff in more detail than I otherwise would. So let me describe how the Perth foothills – visible for quite a few miles away, and which surround the coastal plain where the city stands – rise from the plateau, and seem green-grey and hazy from a distance. Continue reading “What I did today”

Developing Long-term Relationships for Constant Success

“How do I get people excited to buy my book?!”

It’s a marathon, not a sprint

If you have a book out there, or, if you have a book that will soon be released, I’m sure you’re asking yourself this over and over.

We’ve all been there. In March I wrote an article here at Indies Unlimited on having others promote your book—how to get reviews. In the post, I even offered you my spreadsheet of blogger reviewers and all my little notes and results. Many of you took me up on that request. I hope you were able to make sense out of it. The offer still stands—if you want it, contact me and I’ll get it to you. I still believe that this is a viable option for marketing your book.

Today, I say, “Whoa, Nellie.”

That March post was good and right on the money—IF you are looking to find the short-term answer to a long-term problem. You see, there is no “one-way” to do anything. In our world of self-publishing and indie writing, we have to incorporate some sprint training (the former post) into our marathon training—today’s message. Stay with me until the end where I’ll give you a step by step plan. Continue reading “Developing Long-term Relationships for Constant Success”

A Helping Hand…that annoying little…semicolon

rainbow punctuation-787593_640Yes, he’s very annoying. You don’t want to use him, you try to ignore him, but darn him, he’ll muscle in at every opportunity. So much so that he confuses you and drives you absolutely bonkers. And he has the absolute gall to wink at you…

; ; ; ;

Yes, I’m talking about the semicolon – a period and a comma, stacked up nice and neatly but seem to confuse and perplex so many people.

In fact, the instances in which the semicolon is used are comparatively few. Just remember two basic rules and you can’t go wrong. Continue reading “A Helping Hand…that annoying little…semicolon”