Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

Do I Have to?

K. S. Brooks at the PACA Awards
K. S. Brooks at the PACA Awards

Yes, you do.

We all have to do things we don’t enjoy. Personally, I loathe the thought of personal appearances. I’m quite happy being a curmudgeonly hermit. It’s very safe here in my secret mountain lair. But sometimes an invitation comes my way – and I know I have to say yes.

Public appearances and events really don’t hurt that much. They can be tedious, and usually the amount of time spent in preparation usurps the event itself.  So why do them? Well, unless you’re famous – or extremely eccentric – you sort of “have” to. Continue reading “Do I Have to?”

Read-in-One-Sitting ebooks

A regular novel of about 90 000 words takes about five or six hours to read end-to-end. That is, if you count all the time you spend reading, that’s what it will amount to, which means a lot of reading and a lot to remember. Unless you choose some Read-in-One-Sitting ebooks to load onto your electronic eReader.

Read-in-One-Sitting books are those you can read on one train ride, say. Or one visit to a dentist’s waiting room. Or one stand in a long queue, or at a bus stop. Continue reading “Read-in-One-Sitting ebooks”

The Influence of Personality on Authorial Style

Part of the allure of being a writer is the ability to create another whole (albeit fictional) world. We might have very little control over events in the real world, but we can play God in the ones we invent. We choose what happens to whom, who lives and dies, every twist and turn, and we alone decide how it all shall end.

I wondered to what extent those decisions we make as the supreme beings of our story-worlds are influenced by our own personality type.  There are many formal ways to categorize personality types but, as with most things, I have my own way. I classify personalities as: Optimist, Pessimist, Skeptic, and Cynic. Continue reading “The Influence of Personality on Authorial Style”

Anthems for Authors – Every Day I Write the Book

Being an author can make for a lonely life. Other than each other, many times we have no one to encourage or praise us – or even validate our existence. So when I hear a song that makes me feel good about being a writer, I turn it all the way up and revel in the fact that someone wrote a song “for us.” Now I know many times the song writer was being metaphoric with the use of “writing,” but I choose to replace their reality with mine. That’s just how I roll.

While this video is outdated and corny, the words still ring true. My favorite lines are “Even in a perfect world where everyone was equal, I’d still own the film rights and be working on the sequel.” And now, Every Day I Write the Book by Elvis Costello.

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