Suffering from writer’s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your routine.

To that end, try this tip: Stories consist of many different bits: dialogue, the main character doing something, that character’s thought, another character doing something to the main character, a description of the setting, just to name only a few. Take a story you are stuck on and write a potential next line using each of these five approaches. Does one of them give you a good idea about how to take the story forward?

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks:

A whole group of writers seem to misunderstand the significant difference between these two similar-sounding words.

A core is the central or most important part of something: The puppet government was corrupt to its core.

A corps, however, is a division of military personnel, usually those who have a specialized function: The Marine Corps landed on the beaches shortly before dawn.

A good way to remember this is that corps, because of its s, look like it’s plural, hence a group, while core has no s and so looks like it’s singular, hence a lone, single axis at the center of a larger thing.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks:

“There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” – Red Smith, sportswriter

“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” – Elmore Leonard, novelist and screenwriter

“The wastebasket is a writer’s best friend.” – Isaac Bashevis Singer, author

“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it, and the writing will be just as it should be.” – Mark Twain

“A writer’s mind seems to be situated partly in the solar plexus and partly in the head.” – Ethel Wilson, fiction author

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks:

Authors who haven’t published often like to think of themselves as an “aspiring author,” an “aspiring novelist,” or an “aspiring writer.” They act as if by not being published they are somehow lesser than someone who actually is.

The truth is you’re an author the moment you commit ink to paper or keystroke to computer screen. You don’t have to be published to be a writer. You just have to be published to share your writing with people you don’t know.

Often those who claim to be “aspiring authors” don’t appreciate, value or accept their own writing. They lack confidence in the quality of what they’ve written.

Because such authors don’t fully approve of their own writing, they need outside validation to feel good about it. That validation comes in being published.

The world of publishing – even self-publishing – largely is not a standard of what is good, though, but of sales rankings. Corporate publishing houses primarily select the authors they’ll carry based on the potential of book sales. Print of demand companies will publish anything, and the ones we hear the most about are those that sell more than otehrs, which often occurs because of good promotional efforts. Indeed, much of the what today are considered the greatest works of literature never were bestsellers in their day.

As an author, you shouldn’t view publishing as the barrier that must be broken to prove that you are capable of writing well. If you adhere to that myth, your writing never will measure up. You always will feel that you need permission to be considered a good writer.

Instead, accept publishing for what it is – the commercial sharing of your writing. Not that there’s anything wrong with trying to sell your writing, by the way. Kudos to you if you can make money by doing what you love.

But don’t equate the ability to make money off your writing with quality. Doing so simply is fallacious and self-destructive.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks:

The day has finally arrived: Your first book reading and signing! No doubt your stomach is aflutter, not just with excitement but with a little apprehension. What if you mess up in the reading? What if you can’t think of what to say when someone answers a question? What if the crowd finds you boring and starts to leave?

Don’t worry. None of that is likely to happen at all. And with a little preparation, you can take the edge off these fears while decreasing the chances of something going wrong.

Some tips:
• Know what you’ll read – If doing a book reading, select in advance which passage you want to read. Practice reading it out loud a couple of times. You don’t have to memorize the text, just refamiliarize yourself with it. Make sure it doesn’t go any longer than 10-15 minutes (If reading a short story from an anthology, just go with a single story.).
• Think about questions in advance – Attend a few book readings by other authors and get a feel for what kind of questions your audience might ask. Then think of some answers to them. After you’ve done a few book readings, you’ll discover that the same questions keep getting asked.
• Dress appropriately – You don’t have to be dressed to the nines but look professional or at least match the part. For example, if you’ve written a nature book, show up in a nice pair of jeans and a button-down shirt; an outdoorsman don’t wear a suit and tie when on the lake, after all.
• Stroll around until you feel at home – Get to the location where you’ll be reading and signing books a bit early. Walk around to get a feel for what the place is like. Familiarity breeds comfort.
• Win over the crowd – When answering questions, get involved in a conversation with the audience. They’ll sense that you care about them and will be more interested in you (and your book!).
• Bring books and pens – Take with you more books than you expect you’ll need (you don’t want to leave any fans disappointed). Sign a few copies in advance. Carry a couple of additional pens in case the ink runs out.
• Remain good humored – If you do misread a passage or use the wrong name, be self-deprecating and good-natured about. It was an honest mistake, and so long as you don’t get defensive, your audience and host will overlook it and maybe share a laugh with you…and the latter is a good thing, by the way (But don’t deliberately make a mistake to get a laugh – it will appear inauthentic.).

Usually the book reading follows a simple format: Introductions by a host, a few introductory words by you, you reading your book aloud, an audience Q&A with you, and then the book signing. When done with the Q&A (because people will begin to leave after that), be sure to thank the audience for coming and the host for having you. When you get home, send the host a thank you letter. Your graciousness will be remembered the next time you have a book to promote.

Finally, don’t forget publicity before and after the event. Plug your book reading/signing with press releases sent to local media and posted on your website/blog/social media pages. Make sure the location hosting your book reading/signing has a placard or bulletin board plugging the event; if you have to create one for them, do so. After the event, send pictures of the reading/signing to local media and post them on your website/blog/social media pages.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my book marketing guidebooks:

Once you’ve asked someone to write a review for your book, you might be peppered with a few questions: How long should it be? What do you want me to say? When do you need it by?

Consider handing them a copy of the instructions below, particularly if they’re writing a customer review that appears on Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble’s websites or writing a recommendation or Goodreads:
• Length – Any review longer than 250 words is too long if appearing online. Most readers won’t wade through text that is any longer. If a reviewer does write that many words, have them break it up into at least a couple of paragraphs as a large block of text can be hard on the eyes.
• Structure – Write a paragraph like your eighth-grade language arts teacher taught you: topic sentence; three supporting points; an example for each supporting point; conclusion sentence. It’s that simple.
• Content – Focus on the book’s content. That means no profanity, no defamation of the author or other people, and no book ordering information. The first two are in bad taste while the last already is given on the page and so wastes the reader’s time. By the way, don’t give a plot spoiler either.
• Headline – Readers often select which reviews they’ll look at based on the headline. So make it catchy. Use a subject-verb-direct object format as in ‘Twin Identity’ takes reader on tear-jerking romp (‘Twin Identity’ is the subject, takes is the verb, and reader on tear-jerking romp is the direct object.). Avoid using articles (a, an, the) and conjunctions (and, but, or).
• Typos – Don’t write the review in the little box where it is posted on the website. Instead, use a word processing program and run the review through spell check. Then paste it into the box and upload.
• Rules – Be aware of the website’s rules for writing and posting reviews (certain fields must be entered, such as giving the book a rating); others have a minimum age for who can write a review.

A final note: Don’t tell bloggers or mainstream media how to write your review. They already know and more importantly, they have house guidelines – both for writing style and professional ethics – that limit what they can and cannot do.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my book marketing guidebooks:

Suffering from writer’s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your routine.

To that end, try this tip: Journaling often best unveils truths about oneself when it answers a thought-provoking question. If you’re uncertain what to write about, try these questions to kick start your entry: What have I given up on? When did I last step out of my comfort zone? If I could give a newborn one piece of advice that would stick with him/her forever, what would it be? Note: What you write also might become the kernel for a great book idea!

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks:

If only some writers would make this mix-up go away – a long, long way away.

Farther involves physical distance. For example, Chicago is farther away from Los Angeles than Denver is.

Further is all about distance in time or as an abstraction. To wit: The further in time we move from the Vietnam War, the fewer the number of people who know anything about it.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.

Check out some of my writing guidebooks: