Join us on Sunday so we can discuss the difference between a task and a goal and why each are important because I don’t think a goal can exist without its Tasks.
Author Archives: Sally Franklin Christie
Submission Strategies for the New Year
2019 is almost here. Many of us wrap up the year by taking a sort of inventory of progress we made during the year and making promises to do it better in the future. As a writer, writing and sending submissions out into the world creates the task of managing them.
Celebrity Sunday Presents Penny C. Sansevieri
She is the author of fourteen books, including How to Sell Your Books by the Truckload on Amazon and Red Hot Internet Publicity, which has been called the “leading guide to everything Internet.”
Submission Tracking
After market research I would take out another photocopied sheet and I’d note the who, what, when and where to send it. I’d put together a query letter with a paragraph to clearly show I had looked through past issues of their magazine. Sometimes I would mention an article well done. I’d put a note on the sheet of paper as the submission and SASE dropped into the mailbox. This is how I tracked my submissions. I’d make a note to myself when time ran out and I assumed I ended up in slush and went to the next publication on my list.
Goal Setting
I admit I am not good at long term goals but I am pretty good at breaking things into steps. Each step leads to another and if I celebrate each step I will eventually get to the first floor landing.
He Said, She Said
What makes dialogue believable? Strong dialogue often makes the difference between stories that catch an agent or editor’s eye and those that don’t. You want your dialogue to be among the best, which means you need it to be believable. Join us on Wednesday and we discuss 5 TIPS ON WRITING DIALOGUE While you are […]
Settings
Even if it only shows up in your notes there are some things to consider in your settings.
Plotting
When I begin a short story or a novel I like to have a firm idea of the plot in my mind. Once my imagination is pre-loaded I flesh out characters and work through various outcomes. I do best when I have the rough draft of six major scenes. If I do not know some key things going into a story I usually fail to connect enough to finish it.
Interviewing Characters
The Interview often unlocks a story. Just the simple ‘what’s up?’ is enough to get things started again. You may discover your ‘helper’ character is clueless about your ‘main’ character’s motives. Your ‘antagonist’ may be blissfully unaware of the ‘protagonist’s’ intentions.
Characters & Scenes
This post contains some downloadable files. They were virus free going up but I would run them through a virus checker before opening them.