Tag: Author mentality

Seven Tips to Stay (Mentally) Healthy While You Crowdfund Your Novel

author claire patel campbellGuest Post
by Claire Patel-Campbell

You’ve decided to crowdfund your novel and you’ve snagged yourself a campaign page on a site like Unbound or Inkshares. It’s all looking great, you’re satisfied that your pitch video isn’t too embarrassing, and you’re already starting to see pledges come in. You’ve written the novel, so the hard part is over. It’s going to be a cinch, right? For the lucky few, maybe. I’m sure there are campaigns that can happily sit there, letting the pledges roll in, with very little effort.

Here’s what no one really tells you, though: for most people, it is going to be tough. It is going to be stressful. You are going to be doing a lot of this on your own. Getting your campaign off the ground is going to take up a lot of your time, at the expense of perhaps more pleasurable pursuits, including writing. It’s going to take a toll on your mental health, even if it was pretty good to begin with, and especially if, like me, you already struggle with issues like anxiety and depression. Continue reading “Seven Tips to Stay (Mentally) Healthy While You Crowdfund Your Novel”

Do You Need to Be Closer to More Writers?

author write-insIn real estate, they say it’s all about location, location, location. But, does the same hold true for writing? Not in terms of the state or country you live in, but in terms of whether your write alone or in proximity to other writers.

While we generally all have writer buddies from whom we ask for advice or critiques, do we have buddies we actually sit and write with? I mention this because my local writers group started a weekly “write-in.” During that time, group members meet at a public library and write together. No, not on the same project, just in the same vicinity as each other. Write-ins are fairly common during National Novel Writing Month.

When I first heard the idea of a write-in, I was a little dubious. Continue reading “Do You Need to Be Closer to More Writers?”

Storytelling: Possibly a Key Part of Human Brain Development

from ape to writerIn Melissa Bowersock’s article, Conflict: The Heart of Storytelling, she wrote, “Storytelling is as old as human DNA. As old as language. As old as Joe Neanderthal sitting around the fire at the mouth of his cave, telling the group what happened that day. ‘Me went hunting, threw rock at rabbit, killed it, brought it back. Good day. Ug.'”

As old as language. There are many theories about how language developed. As recently as April 2015, researchers at MIT said language developed rapidly. Human speech wasn’t a series of mumbles and grunts. Rather, humans combined two kinds of communication, one from birds and the other from monkeys. Continue reading “Storytelling: Possibly a Key Part of Human Brain Development”

Where Are YOU in Your Own Story Arc?

Lincoln by Howard MunnsThe other day I was being interviewed by a reporter at the local paper for a weekly column called A Day in the Life of …  These columns feature local, everyday people, from business owners to artists to worker bees to civil servants and volunteers. My particular column was to be A Day in the Life of a Writer. The reporter and I know each other, so the mood was casual, more a friendly chat than a grilling. He asked many of the questions I’ve fielded before: what genre(s) do I write, how did I get started, etc. Pretty much your basic interview. Suddenly, though, he asked me a question that poleaxed me. I sat there, mouth agape, brain churning, trying to figure out the answer to something I’d never thought about before. Continue reading “Where Are YOU in Your Own Story Arc?”