Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Currently Reading: Gentlemen & Players

Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris.

This is comfort reading. I'm waiting for the Billy Bunter books to be republished - at a reasonable price. If you do a search on BookFinder, the prices are scary. $150 for a 1947 reprint?!

Technorati Tags: books

Freelance Writing Success By Showing Up in FFW Ezine

Want to know how to succeed as a writer? This week's article in Fab Freelance Writing Ezine is "Freelance Writing Success By Showing Up". Yes, showing up is essentially what it takes.

Each week, the ezine gives you a new article to help you to succeed as a freelance writer, as well as an exclusive writing resource, and a new writing tip that's available nowhere else.

The issue is out tomorrow. (Free subscription.)

Technorati Tags: freelance writing, get started freelance writing, make money writing

Affirmations work: try them for your writing goals

Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) has a lovely post on his Dilbert.Blog "Affirmations". He's a huge believer in them:

Prior to my Dilbert success, I used affirmations on a string of hugely unlikely goals that all materialized in ways that seemed miraculous. Some of the successes you can explain away by assuming I’m hugely talented and incredibly sexy, and therefore it is no surprise that I accomplished my goals despite seemingly long odds. I won’t debate that interpretation because I like the way it sounds.

There's nothing magical about affirmations, they're simply a way of getting your conscious and subconscious minds on the same page, so to speak. As Scott points out: "Writing affirmations takes effort. Perhaps your subconscious only allows you to spend that much time on goals that it feels you have a chance of obtaining even if your rational mind does not."

Give affirmations a try.

Technorati Tags: Motivation

(Mac) Pages templates you can download

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I love Pages. The program is easy to use - after a short learning curve if you come from the Windows world like I do - and you can quickly turn out professionally designed documents.

But the program does simple tasks well too. For example, my most-used Pages template isn't for a brochure or a newsletter. It's a template for a simple ruled page (above), which I downloaded free from the iWorkCommunity.com Template Exchange. I have a Cornell Notes template too, from the same site. The site is a great resource.

Technorati Tags: Mac, writers' software

NaNoWriMo QuickStart 10: Ready for takeoff?

In a few short days, you'll spend a month writing your novel.

Here are some long-project writing tips to help you to cruise through the month:

* Make writing your daily stint the FIRST thing you do each day (well, after the obvious comfort chores.) Get to your computer BEFORE you dress, while you're still close to your subconscious mind - in that not-quite-awake state;

* Read your writing before you go to sleep. Reading what you've already written allows your subconscious to work on your story as you sleep;

* Carry a small notebook with you throughout the day, so you can write down any sudden inspirations;

* Just WRITE. Forget your inner critic. You can bring your critic back after your NaNoWriMo stint;

* Remember to make writing fun for yourself. Write only what's FUN for you to write. Having fun is vital: if you bore yourself, you'll bore readers.

Good luck! :-)

Technorati Tags: fiction, NaNoWriMo, novel, Writing Tip

Freelance copywriting: how to get clients

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(Cross-posted from Fab Freelance Writing Blog) If you're a new freelance copywriter, or are an established copywriter and want to build your business, you need my "Special Report: How To Get Copywriting Clients".

In this ten-page PDF report, you'll discover:

* what you need to do first to ensure that you get an on-going stream of clients

* how and when to take action

* the top seven ways to get clients

* how to get all the clients you need, within a couple of days

* how to become known as an expert so that clients come to you

* how to get clients online

* how to build a thriving business FAST

I'll be publishing a series of Special Reports in the coming months to help you to make money from your writing, so watch for them.

Technorati Tags: copywriting, get started copywriting, make money writing, marketing your writing

Real literary life moves into Second Life

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Have you explored Second Life yet? This virtual world is now three years old. Writers and publishers are taking notice.

The Gardian's "Braving a new world" discusses the literary world of Second Life:

Recreating the legendary Parisian bookshop within a virtual world may seem like a bizarre idea but, somehow, it works perfectly. I walk through the doors and into a room lined with bookshelves filled with brightly coloured spines, armchairs and stools tucked into cosy nooks and crannies. The Shakespare and Co motto - "Be not inhospitable to strangers / lest they be angels in disguise" - is in pride of place above a doorway. It is arguably a little more tidy than the original, but then most things in Second Life are. It is also a bookshop with a sense of atmosphere, the kind where you feel that maybe you'd like to sit down, kick back and browse for a while. It conveys both warmth and purpose - features that many virtual world buildings lack.

Technorati Tags: books, publishing, virtual reality, second life

Writers: get discovered via your blog

I've been pushing the "get a blog!" barrow for writers for a while now.

Really - please do it, it's a way to get noticed in any profession, now just in writing.

From Fast Company's "How to Launch a Career With Your Blog":

Gone are the days of sending in clips or walking a portfolio into an office. Employers, like everyone else, are checking out potential hires on the Internet with a few clicks of a mouse. Writing a blog, could improve your chances as a candidate because an updated sites boosts your ranking in search engines and offers potential employers a full sense of who you are. "I have gotten a couple of freelance clients from my blog, simply because they liked my writing style," says Laina Dawes, a freelance writer and the creator of the blog, Writing is Fighting.

Technorati Tags: blog your writing, blogs, freelance blogger

Weekend writing roundup

Nothing to do this weekend? Spend some time writing. Here's a roundup of useful stuff from the archives:

* Writing and learning: get focused and energized

* Write brain dumps

* Use affirmations to support your writing

* Be a Five-Minute Writer

* Have an observation day

* Keep a log for your projects

Technorati Tags: be more productive, practice your writing, procrastination, productivity, time management, Writing Tip

Getting ideas: Tarot is the perfect brainstorming tool

I'm a Tarot aficionado, because Tarot is a perfect writer's tool.

I don't use Tarot as a fortune-telling device because I believe that you create your own fortune. However, divination is a great way to learn how the cards work - think "Zero Point Field", or Jung's synchronicity.

How to brainstorm with Tarot
You can brainstorm with Tarot in any way you wish. I usually just lay out a few cards, get into a meditative state, and start writing when the ideas start to flow.

Here are a couple of great information posts from TarotTools on brainstorming with Tarot:

* Visual Brainstorming: The Basics

* Top 10 Reasons Why Tarot Makes a Great Visual Brainstorming Tool

Technorati Tags: 100 ways to be more creative, creativity, images, write more, writing exercise, Writing Tip