What’s the Best Way to Write a Book? Here’s How to Write the Best Way for You There are as many answers to that questions as there are authors. And while no answer is inherently better than another, a few examples should serve to set the aspiring writer on a successful course to completing his…
Engage Your Characters in Their Setting How to make your characters engage and interact in their surroundings and create real a world setting in your book. When you’re characters interact through dialogue, make them interact as well with their surroundings. There should be a continual interplay of character and setting. Examine your dialogue sections to…
The Three S’s – Scene, Setting, and Senses How to know if your book novel manuscript is ready to be published or sent to an agent. Stories don’t occur in a bubble. They have to be set in a real and believable place. And what makes a scene or setting, is detail. And what makes…
You’ve Written “The End” – But Is Your Book Ready? How to know if your book novel manuscript is ready to be published or sent to an agent. Okay, so you’ve finally reached the magic words, The End. But is it really? Are you done? Have you really finished your book? Chances are, you haven’t….
Harmony THEORY-PRACTICE: The history of music is replete with songwriter/performers who – technically speaking – didn’t know squat about music. But through creative genius and a good ear, they were able to create songs that inspired millions of people the world over. So while “THEORY” isn’t essential to make good or even great music, if…
A song can be broken down into four constituent elements. 1) Words – or LYRICS – which are sung along to a: 2) MELODY – which is the part of a tune you hum to yourself because you can’t get it out of your head. Melody is overlaid with: 3) HARMONY – and harmony consists…
HOW TO WRITE A SONG – PART TWO “A” – LYRICS AND THEME When writing lyrics, the first rule is never to take yourself too seriously. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking all your lyrics must be deeply profound or meaningful to be considered worthy. To disabuse yourself of this notion, all you have…
IMAGERY IN SONG WRITING – Songwriters use flowery or descriptive imagery in place of the actual things they describe. Think Bob Seger in “Like a Rock”, Or Poison’s “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn”, or Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield”. Beware of tortured or awkward sounding metaphors or similes. He was like a dog with…
How often should you post on Social Media There are a lot of different opinions regarding how often to post on social media, but one of the things I’ve found is that there are a lot more factors to keep in mind than just a number. Here are some tips to keep in mind: The…
Obviously you want to post content on social media that creates interest in your book and builds your audience. But how do you know what to post? First, you want to be sure you’re posting daily on your social media networks – SEE LINK TO How often should you post on Social Media Secondly, be…
What type of content should you post on your author blog? If you’re an author of children’s books – you don’t want to be posting things on your blog such as how to publish your book, where the best places to market your book are, or where to get a good illustrator. These things may…
Getting traffic to your website isn’t luck, a magic formula, or any other such myth. Every aspect of your business, product, and yes, getting traffic to your website requires applying the necessary skills, and yes, work. You have to take the steps to get your links where people will see them, and then have them…