Building Author Brand Engagement
You’ve defined your author brand and found your target market, now let’s dive into how to build engagement with your readers through your author platform.
Listening to More Voices
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Last week we looked as some good advice writers would give their past selves, their pre-publication self. And this week, we’ll see even more of these tidbits of advice. What kinds of…
Author Platform: It’s About Name Recognition | IFW
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > One of the most alarming things to tell a new writer is that he or she needs platform. Most of us don’t know what that is when we’re early in our career…
How to Use What You Remember
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > In real life you can find constant fuel for your writer’s imagination. I’ve written articles, essays, and books triggered by things I’ve seen on television or read in magazines. I’ve used my…
Setting the Stage for Nonfiction Success
Nonfiction is a deep market, popular with readers, and well worth considering. Today we chat about what it takes to be successful in nonfiction for kids.
Hooking the Reader
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > With all the competition from Kindle Unlimited, self-published books, and traditional publishing’s blitz of new releases and re-releases, getting and keeping a reader’s attention has gotten difficult. You need to entice the reader from the very first line,…
Setting the Stage: More On Props
Using props in your setting can give your character interesting things to do and what your character chooses to do will tell the reader about their personality.
Choosing a Point of View
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > All stories are told by someone. Sometimes it’s a chorus of voices as the writer dips into the consciousness of more than one character, revealing their thoughts. More often it’s told by…
Elements of Setting
Lengthy descriptions of setting can feel slow and gratuitous, but we mustn’t throw away this essential, tool. Let’s talk about how to do setting well.
Setting the Stage: Scenes
Scenes are the building blocks of the story. A scene is simply the action and dialogue that takes place at a specific location in a specific time in the story.
Getting Unstuck
Here is the thing about writing. Eventually, no matter what else you do, you’ll get stuck. It’s uncomfortable and scary but here’s what you do to move past it.
Let’s Talk About Plot
Many writers struggle with plot. Plot has to mix and blend characters, theme, premise, and more. So, let’s break down the essentials of plot.
How to Avoid Writer’s Block
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > We spend months, even years, weaving characters and conflicts into a story. We cut, tweak, and rearrange. Yet if someone asks what our story is about, we might be dumbstruck. “It’s about a woman who inherits a cosmetic…
Breaking Through Writer’s Block
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Stuck Is a Symptom, Not the Cause Whether you write for fun or profit, you likely have had this experience: You feel the adrenalin rush about a story idea. It is so clear in our thoughts that it…
Yeah, It’s Work
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Writing is work. Now, I’m not one of those who think writing is suffering or agony. Honestly, if it were agony, I’d do something else with my time to make money for my family. But it is work.…
Character Arc and Conflict: You Can’t Have One Without the Other
For your main character to have a satisfying character arc, there has to be conflict. Without it, how does your character grow and change? Get these tips today!
Story Development: Writing to Market
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Why it’s important to write a marketable book When you first start writing, one of the most common pieces of advice you will hear is, “All you have to do to be successful is write a great book.” …
A Tale of Two Payments
There are two ways to be paid in children’s publishing: a traditional publishing contract and work-for-hire. Let’s talk about which one might be right for you.
Developing Your Story with a Plot Board: Part Three | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > In this three-part series, we go over how to set up a plot board to develop your story from an idea into a tailor-made synopsis that is as detailed or sparse as you want it to be. A…
Planning Your Story
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Things you should know before you start your novel Before you can make the most of your writing time, you need to know where you’re going. Planning what you’re going to write can be as easy as saying,…
