End of Year Countdown: 5 Top Fives

Photo credit: Rampant. Gaffer

With 2011 nearly over and 2012 around the corner, this is a time when many people pause to reflect on the last 365 days. I thought for a while about how I wanted to reflect without rehashing everything I said in my Celebrating 100 Posts post, and I think I’ve come up with a fun way of doing it.

The end of the year is a great time to share things that made this year special, and in terms of blogging I’d like to share with you five top five lists that basically sums up my blogging, writing and reading experience of 2011.

So! Here we go!

Top 5 Most Popular Posts (on Writability)

As determined by pageviews, these are my most popular posts of the year:

1. Why Writers Must Read

2. Klout: Why I Stopped Caring About My Score

3. 5 Reasons You Should Be Blogging

4. 10 Writing Truths (Part 1)

5. How to Write Quickly

Top 5 Most Active Commenters

I actually have a little widget on the side of the blog that keeps track of my most active commenters on Writability, and these amazing people are my top five of the year. I’m relatively sure you have to have a Disqus account in order for the commenting system to keep track of how many comments you’ve made (so for those of you who comment and don't have a Disqus account, you rock too, so thank you), but nevertheless these five people have consistently contributed to the community and for that they deserve a little recognition. Thank you! 

1. Daniel Swensen

2. Jennifer Bennett

3. Susan Sipal

4. Dasia

5. Tina Moss

Top 5 Favorite Blogs This Year (in no particular order)

This is purely subjective of course, but over the last twelve months I’ve found these blogs to be incredibly useful, inspirational and timely. If you haven’t checked them out before, I highly recommend them (and it’s not a bad idea to stalk them on Twitter, as well).

1. Jeff Goins, Writer

I think what attracted me to Jeff’s blog is his constant positivity. His blog is upbeat, inspirational and has some really fantastic tips with consistently great posts.

2. Tahereh Mafi’s Blog

I’ve mentioned before why I love Tahereh’s blog so much, but I think her writing was best described by Lisa Gail Green in the comments not too long ago—honest.

3. Michael Hyatt’s Blog

As the Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers and a motivational speaker, it’s not surprising that his posts are insightful and inspirational. Similar to Jeff Goins’ blog, I really love the constant positive message in his posts and the fantastic community he’s built there.

4. Nathan Bransford’s Blog

Nathan Bransford’s blog has been a source of fantastic insight for years and this year was no different. Even though he’s no longer an agent, his take on the publishing industry is insightful and interesting.

5. Write for Your Life

Iain Broome’s blog is yet another fantastic resource for writers. He provides both links to great posts he comes across around the web and original posts that make you pause and think. A great addition to anyone’s morning blog read.

Top 5 Favorite Books I Read This Year (in no particular order)

So I’ll admit I haven’t read a huge amount of books this year, however that doesn’t diminish how awesome these five books are. I highly recommend each and every one of them and hope you’ll check them out (links lead to my reviews).

1. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

2. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth

4. The Priest’s Graveyard by Ted Dekker

5. The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass

Top 5 Favorite Posts I Read (or Watched) This Year (in no particular order)

1. Ira Glass on Storytelling

So I know this technically isn’t a post, per say, but it’s still a fantastic video nonetheless and I’m sure most of you have seen. But just in case you haven’t seen it, you should definitely watch it. It’s a fantastically inspirational video for writers.

2. ON BEING A REAL WRITER by Tahereh Mafi

This post is so beautiful, I don’t even know what to say. Every time I re-read it, it brings a smile to my face. It’s honest, inspirational and a prime example of why I love Tahereh’s blog so much.

3. DON’T BE AFRAID TO WRITE A BAD BOOK by Tahereh Mafi

So maybe it’s cheating to include two posts from the same blog in my countdown but really guys, I just love the posts that much. And I think her message here is really important for writers.

4. We Just Decided to Go by Amanda Hocking

Short post with a great message spurred by a wonderful quote. A nice inspirational read.

5. Writing Worksheets and Other Tools by Elizabeth S. Craig

Elizabeth always gives fantastic resources and this is no different. The worksheets she links to are really fantastic, particularly the Novel Notebook. Definitely check them out. 

So those are my five top five! Hope everyone has a wonderful new year!

What were your favorite five posts, blogs or books this year?

Writing Quickly: A Secret Strategy

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I wrote a blog post about a month back in which I gave a couple of tips for writing quickly. This is not a repetition of that post, but rather an expansion.

You see, when I wrote that post I mentioned this thing I hadn't tried, but I'd heard a lot about called Write or Die. In short, Write or Die is an app meant to strip out all other distractions and get you writing. How? It's pretty simple.

Before your writing session you set the amount of time you'd like to write and what your word count goal is. As I've been combining Write or Die with #wordmongering sessions (more on that later), I usually set it to 30 minutes and 500 words.

After you've dictated your goals, you may choose four different "consequences" and three different "grace periods." The Web App looks like this:

According to the website, the consequences are as follows (and I quote):

"Gentle Mode: A certain amount of time after you stop writing, a box will pop up, gently reminding you to continue writing.

Normal Mode: If you persistently avoid writing, you will be played a most unpleasant sound. The sound will stop if and only if you continue to write.

Kamikaze Mode: Keep Writing or Your Work Will Unwrite Itself."

So Kamikaze mode sounds really terrifying and I'll probably never use it, BUT I've been writing on normal mode with a strict grace period (I'm thinking I may brave evil, just to try it) and it's been fantastic. (Quick note: After you finish your Write or Die session, copy and paste everything over to whatever word processor you use. I can't say for sure if the paid versions save your work, but the web app most certainly does not.)

Ok, so the catch? I don't just use Write or Die.

You see, also about a month ago, my Twitter buddy @surlymuse wrote about combining #wordmongering with Write or Die. If you ask me, it's pure genius.

For those of you who don't know what #wordmongering is, you can check out my #wordmongering post which basically explains its awesomeness or take a look at the the handy dandy #wordmongering website created by #wordmongering co-founder @notveryalice.

In short, #wordmongering is a Twitter hashtag where writers get together and have thirty minute writing sprints starting at the top of every hour. At the end of the sprint, you share your word count achievements with each other, throw some virtual confetti around and take a break until the next sprint. It's a fantastic tool with some great people that really gets you writing.

So when I read about combining Write or Die with #wordmongering, I was intrigued. Could it really work?

I tried it. In my first Write or Die/#wordmongering combination sprint, I wrote over 1,000 words. In thirty minutes.

That's a pretty big deal for me. In months of writing I had only breached the 1,000 word mark in a half hour maybe two or three times. My average was somewhere around 500 words (which is why I chose 500 as my goal when I set my first Write or Die session up) and it wasn't uncommon to drag along in 400 word thirty minute spurts.

No longer.

You see, Write or Die forces you to keep your fingers on the keyboard at all times. Even if you're only hitting the backspace and enter key to avoid that horrendous noise and scary red screen (which *ehem* I NEVER do or anything), something about keeping your fingers on the keyboard with the constant feeling of that timer about ready to go off at any moment when you stop writing makes you realize that it is most certainly possible to keep writing at all costs. More possible than you might have imagined.

Combine this with the support group and friendly competition of #wordmongering, and you have yourself a lethal strategy to getting those words down quickly.

So there you go. The secret is out.

Have you tried the Write or Die/#wordmongering combination?

Tension: A Valuable Tool

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As a writer, it’s your job to make life hard for your characters. Put simply, no one wants to read a story where everything is hunky dory and the characters cruise through life without a care in the world and life is so good it’s like Christmas every day.

In order for a story to be interesting, in order to keep your readers turning the pages, there needs to be constant conflict. On every page.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that someone needs to run in with a gun in every chapter or that you need constant high-action scenes—in fact, too much of the same thing, even something as exciting as gun fights and car chases will tire your reader out and, eventually, bore them.

So how do you keep your readers interested between those high-excitement scenes without exhausting them? The answer, my friends, is tension.

The definitions (via Google dictionary) for tension are actually pretty interesting, so I’m going to share them with you.

I especially like the first, third and last definition, but looking over them I think you can get a pretty good idea as to what tension really is.

Tension is like micro-conflict—it’s an underlying pressure that should build up as the plot progresses, water turning into steam in a kettle. When used correctly, tension brings your readers from the first plot point to the last, it sews everything together and keeps the pages turning.

So how is tension utilized in a story?

I’m going to use a couple of popular examples (without spoiling anything, I promise), because there’s a lot to be learned from best-sellers. So.

The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)—In the beginning of the book, Katniss and Peeta have to pretend to be friends, an idea that doesn’t sit well with Katniss as they will have to kill each other once the games begin. This is pretty brilliant on Suzanne Collins’ part, because it makes every action (even something as simple as eating breakfast next to each other) rife with tension.

Harry Potter and theSorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling) —Again, taking from the beginning of the book, when we meet Harry he’s living in a cupboard under the stairs with his hateful Aunt and Uncle who would rather pretend he (and his magic) doesn’t exist. Instant tension.

Shatter Me (Tahereh Mafi)—Without giving anything away, an imprisoned girl who can’t touch anyone without killing them wakes up in her cell to find a boy is now there. And a rather obnoxious one at that, who seems to have no problem getting terrifyingly close to her. Tension.

Tension is a valuable tool that you can (and should) use at every stage of your story—you don’t need to wait until a huge plot point to utilize it, in fact tension at the beginning of your novel is a great way to hook readers from the start. All of the examples I gave you come right from the beginning of their respective novels.

Don’t ride over any opportunity to use tension—it’s a valuable asset in your toolbox that can really hook your readers in right from the start.

Are you using tension in your novels? What other examples of great use of tension do you have?

Guest Posting: Every Reader Matters

Photo credit: George Deputee on Flickr

Hello everyone! Thought I'd publish a quick post to wish you all a very merry Christmas (and a wonderful holiday season to those who don't celebrate) and let you know that I have a guest post up about building an audience on the awesome @surlymuse's blog.

So you should check it out (and follow him on Twitter!), then let me know what you think. About the post, I mean.

Merry Christmas!

There is No Wizard of Oz

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I was thinking the other day about how we perceive others on the internet.

When we meet people in person, there’s something vulnerable about it—we can really see the person, look into their eyes and hear their voice. You can shake hands and see their smile and get a feel for what they’re like. We develop connections this way that we can’t do online.

Because online people seem untouchable. There’s a barrier between you and everyone else out there—a screen that stands between that personal connection. Even with video chatting and vlogs it’s not the same thing—sure you can see and hear the person, but you can’t shake hands. You can get a feel for the vibe they’re sending off or pick up on the little mannerisms the camera didn’t catch.

So it’s only natural, I suppose, that we sometimes view those online as something magical. I don’t necessarily mean random Facebook or Twitter friends (although I suppose the same could apply in certain cases), I mean bloggers. The ones that have developed some sort of authority in their field. The ones that give tips and tricks and people ask advice from. Those guys.

I want to clear the air. I can’t speak for everyone, but I can tell you with upmost certainty that there isn’t a Wizard of Oz here, and I have a feeling he doesn’t live behind other blogger pages, either. Because regardless of what they write about, most bloggers aren’t masterminds and geniuses in their fields—they’re normal people with quirks and favorite TV shows and they make mistakes and they’re learning along the way just like you and me.

They’re normal people.

No, I can’t speak for everyone, but I can speak from experience and as a blogger, I can tell you I’m learning right here along with you. I’m learning when I’m writing my posts, I’m learning when I’m attacking the manuscript in crazy #wordmongering sessions, I’m learning when I read other blogs and random books and tumbling sheer internet randomness.

There is no Wizard of Oz. At least, not here.

I say this because occasionally I get an e-mail. Not just any e-mail though, an e-mail from one of you amazing people. And sometimes I read these e-mails and it’s something really nice and I get all smiley and happy and throw hugs around like it’s nobody’s business.

But sometimes I get an e-mail that asks for advice and honestly? I’m not qualified to give advice. So I don’t. And it’s not because I don’t care and it’s not because I don’t think it’s worth my time or anything like that, it’s because I’m just like you. Learning. And I don’t have all the answers, nor will I pretend to.

Because like you, I’m figuring things out and learning along the way and the only difference between you and me is that I sit down and write about some of the things I’ve figured out three times a week. That’s it.

So if you ever write me an e-mail with advice-like questions and I don’t answer, I hope you know I’m not ignoring you. I hope you know that it’s not that I don’t care. I hope you know that I just don’t have the answers and I wish I could help, but sometimes I can’t.

And that’s all I have to say on the matter.

10 Writing Truths (Part 2)

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Continuing from last week’s 10 Writing Truths post, here are the final five of my ten writing truths:

The last five writing truths: 


6. Not everyone will understand your passion. This especially applies to those of us who aren’t published or have self-published. Family and friends won’t always understand why you spend your waking hours locked up with a computer, typing away at something that gives you little income in return. Strangers will smile and nod and pat you on the back when they realize that by writer you don’t mean published in a bookstore. There will be looks. There will be judging. There will be comments about getting a real job or spending your time on something fruitful.

They won’t always understand and that’s ok. That’s when you reach out to your writing community. Because we writers? We get it. We understand. And we know exactly what you’re going through.

7. Writing requires sacrifice. Maybe it’s sleep or a social life or television or video games or a plethora of a hundred other things you could be doing, but writing takes time. Time that you could be doing something else. Maybe it’s time in the morning that you could be resting instead of waking up early to get some words down before the day begins. Maybe it’s time in the afternoon when your favorite television show is on, but you’re holed up working on your WIP instead.

Whatever it is, writing takes time away from other things you could be doing. But if you’re a writer, it’s worth it—because writing? That's just what you do. 

8. You will need to be patient. If this list were in order of importance (it’s not), this would be way up there. Writers play the waiting game all the time—waiting for a manuscript to cool down before we start editing, waiting for a critique partner or beta reader to get back to us, waiting for an answer to that query letter, waiting for a response from an editor, waiting for your book to finally get published, waiting waiting waiting. 

It’s tempting to skip a step. It’s tempting to edit before you’ve developed enough distance from your manuscript or forgetting beta readers or bypassing editors or submitting (even publishing) manuscripts after just a couple of drafts.

It’s tempting, I know. But you need to be patient. This isn’t a race—not with yourself or with anyone else. These things take time and in the case of the writer, time is on your side.

9. You will need to be brave. Writing is a scary profession. There’s the fear of rejection—first privately, by agents or beta readers and critique partners—then publicly, by readers and reviewers. There’s the fear of disappointing your readers or not being able to live up to your expectations of a writer. There’s pressure and deadlines and terrifying fears every step of the way. You’re not going to be able to avoid the fear forever and that’s ok—we’re all afraid sometimes.

But you’ll need to be brave. You’ll need to step past the doubts and the nightmarish scenarios forming in your head and keep working and writing and editing and rewriting because you’re a writer and it’s time for you to be strong.

10. To be a successful writer, you must love to write. Period. Writing is not a profession for the faint of heart. It’s competitive, exhausting and at first, requires a lot of work with little return. Some authors spend years on a manuscript and you need to be prepared for that possibility. When years go by and manuscripts pile up in your drawers, you must continue writing. When you’ve written half a dozen drafts for your WIP and it still needs a complete overhaul, guess what? You need to keep writing.

That kind of perseverance can’t come just from sheer stubbornness. You must love what you’re doing every step of the way or you’ll burn out.

To be a successful writer, you must love to write.

So there you have it—my list of ten writing truths. Did I miss any? What do you think?

10 Writing Truths (Part 1)

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I remember writing my very first manuscript. I was young and naïve about what it really meant to be a writer.

I’d heard somewhere, that being a published author would mean a lot of hard work, that most writers write many, many manuscripts before they find publication, that books are written and re-written over and over again before truly perfected.

Someone had told me that being a writer was hard, but that didn’t deter me. Sure, I thought. It’s hard to write a book, but I’ve already started one. I’m doing the hardest part already.

Maybe it was just me, but I think a lot of writers start the same way: we hear things about writing, but we’re optimistic. It’s a new journey we’re about to embark, we’re disillusioned with Hollywood portrayals of instant successes and break out debut authors who seemingly appear out of nowhere with million-dollar ideas. We think, that could be me, and we largely ignore those unpleasant writing rumors that the profession we’re about to try to enter is actually excruciatingly difficult.

Over the course of seven manuscripts, I’ve learned ten writing truths that I’d like to share with you in two parts (because frankly, it’s way too much to cover in one post). They’re not always easy and fun to hear, but to me at least, they’re necessary.

The first five writing truths (in no particular order):

1. Rewriting really means rewriting. This one took me a long time to learn. I used to think that by rewriting, authors couldn’t possibly mean actually rewriting the entire novel. You mean that first draft was just a practice round? I actually have to relive the whole thing and write these scenes over and over again, scrapping what I first had?

In short? Yes. Yes you do. Sure, depending on how tight and polished your first draft is, some writers will have a larger percentage of first draft material in the final draft than others, but by and large rewriting means exactly what it sounds like. Write it again.  

2. Not everything you write will be (or should be) published. I’ve written a couple of blog posts about why gatekeepers are actually a good thing and how not every novel you write will be the one, so I’m not going to reiterate the entire thing again. I know it’s harsh and it’s definitely one of the more difficult writing truths to accept, but not everything you write is meant for the limelight. Every novel you write is a learning experience, a stepping stone to the dream—and those first ones you write? Chances are, they aren’t meant to be unleashed to the world and that’s ok.

3. Writing is a love-hate relationship. Guess what? I don’t feel like writing all the time and I have a sneaking suspicion, I’m not the only one. There have been days, weeks even when I open up a blank Word document or look at a WIP and die a little inside because I don’t. Feel. Like. Writing.

But that doesn’t mean you give up. It means you can take a break sure, perhaps a couple of hours or even a couple of days, but then you get back to work. And if you still don’t feel like writing? Too bad. You’re not always going to want to write, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and get those words on the page anyway.

Good news? Some days writing is wonderful. There will be times when you feel as though you could write literally all day, times when you’ll write until your fingers are exhausted and you’re making silly typos because you can’t feel your hands anymore and you still want to keep going. Those are the days when you know you’re a writer. When you know that this is what you were born to do. Those are the times you hold onto to get through the less-enjoyable spells.

4. Sometimes, your writing will suck. It’s true. There will be days when you feel like you’ve just written an entire chapter of crap. And maybe you have, but that’s why we have the first truth: rewriting.

5. Sometimes, your writing will be amazing. There are few things I enjoy more than looking over something I’ve written and thinking, wow. I actually wrote that? Those moments are truly gratifying—they make the crappy days worth it, and then some.

So those are my first five writing truths. Part 2 will be up on Monday, but until then…

What writing truths do you have to add to the mix?