Friday, January 13, 2017

FOOLPROOF WAY TO GET PUBLISHED

I have a secret to share…
What I’m about to tell you…
Will guarantee you a successful writing career.
In the next few sentences…
 I will give you important information…
That I’m only sharing on my blog.
This information…
Will result in you writing a “bestseller”…
But this will only happen…
If you follow what I’m about to tell you.
And that’s not all…
After I give you this writing secret…
I will also share…
How to market your manuscript…
So that agents will be begging to represent you.
Soon you will be on the NY Times best selling list…
Making millions and becoming famous!
Do I have your attention?
***er…uh…eeeee***
Sorry to tell you this but you were just pranked.
BUT WAIT!!!
ME TOO!!! MANY TIMES...
By intriguing Internet videos….
That promised me everything from…
How to survive a financial collapse...
How to prepare for the apocalypse…
To making “him” fall instantly in love with me.
I willingly gave up my precious time…
Watching these videos…
Listening to a compelling voiceover talent…
Who promised me...
Wait! 
Promised me?
Ah HA!! That’s the secret—a promise!
These videos hooked me by promising me something…
And I couldn’t wait to hear more...
And more, and more, and more. 
Hmm? 
We authors should do that too, no?  
We must provide a promise to the readers…
By crafting each word, paragraph, and chapter…
Into a compelling story making it so enticing…
That the reader just can’t wait to turn the page.
But if you’re a writer you already knew that, huh?
So?
Ever get hooked into Internet videos?
If so, did you ever get to the end of the video? 
And have you ever considered your story a promise to the reader?

Always, 
Em-Musing

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

UNLIKE-KING ME



This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by the one and only, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of insecure writers, please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month. 
This month’s prompt is: What writing rule do I wish I’d never heard of?


Hmm?
What writing rule do I wish I’d never heard of?
I have to say it's Stephen King's #1 rule in his 20 rules for writing from his book,On Writing.

1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience. “When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.”

And I liked that tip when I first read it, I really did
But after an editor told me my manuscript
While unique and interesting, rambled all over the place.
I went on to rewrite the whole monster of my first draft.
But if I had been thinking of the audience first when I wrote
I wouldn't have included all those unnecesssary scenes,
All the verbosity 
And **hanging my pen in shame** the adverbs!
Truth be told 
While writing my first draft
My head knew I was writing too much
But my heart (ego) kept saying
“Write for me, write for me!” 
Oh, Stephen
Sorry to drag you into my IWSG blog today 
But you have to know your book, On Writing is still the best! 
And I'm sure you don't suffer from insecurity now, do you?
So?
What's the worst writing tip you were ever given?

Always,
Em-Musing