Tag: strategic writing

Categories
Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap for August Part 1

Writers Chat Recap

Writers Chat, hosted by Johnnie Alexander, Brandy Brow, and Melissa Stroh, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!

“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”

Disclaimer: The opinions and viewpoints presented by the co-hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and viewpoints of Writers Chat or Serious Writer, Inc..

AI: What’s the Use? With Brandy Brow

AI. The word elicits strong reactions. Visions of ChatGPT, Midjourney or DALL-E, evoke fears of abuse with creative works used to feed their machines. In this episode of Writers Chat, co-host Brandy Brow will lead a healthy discussion about generative and corrective AI, what they do and what possibilities they pose for the future.

Watch the July 30th replay.

Brandy Brow, Writers Chat co-host who freelance edits and writes flash fiction and short stories for the general market, plus articles and devotions. Her fiction explores the highs and lows of human nature and ranges from normal to strange. She loves to help writers improve their craft.

The Strategic Author

Jonathan Shuerger, CEO of The Strategic Author, indie author, and a Marine veteran, knows that most writers love to write and hate to market. As he says, writers want to “write words, not keywords.” In this episode, Jonathan talks about how his experience with NSA targeting and analysis in the Marine Corps against ISIS targets informs his marketing strategies and how his approach benefits authors struggling to be seen in a saturated digital market.

Watch the August 6th replay.

https://youtu.be/qg-xZwSPqak?si=3eppgeiEOG7Ywt9x

Jonathan Shuerger is the author of the Shades of Black series, The Exorcism of Frosty the Snowman, and the upcoming MilSF novel Semper Die. He is the CEO of The Strategic Author, a service that conducts strategic level analysis that helps authors succeed in their business. He also runs a podcast of stories for his kids, Stories With A Marine Corps Dad, and a podcast for book marketers called The Strategic Author. He is a United States Marine Corps veteran, 3rd-degree black sash in Temple Chinese Boxing, dad of (currently) 4 little girls, and husband to a very loving, very patient wife.

Is Podcasting God’s Next Best Step for You? with Linda Goldfarb

Audio is the future of every writer, and knowing our options clarifies our next step. Yet, not every opportunity to share our gifts and talents is God’s open door. In this episode of Writers Chat, international speaker, award-winning author, and podcaster, Linda Goldfarb, shares insight into the world of podcasting to help you discern what element of podcasting is God’s next best step for you. It’s all about God’s will, God’s way, and God’s timing.

Watch the August 13th replay.

Linda Goldfarb is an international speaker, award-winning author, and podcaster. As a board-certified Christian life coach, Linda helps women move from being stuck or splattered to discovering God’s next best step in their personal and professional lives. Linda is recognized for having a voice that makes you feel welcome, safe, and seen. When she shares her energy, experiences, and expertise during interviews and from the stage, screen, or in her writing, you lean in—not wanting to miss a single word. Linda says, “My life is far from perfect, and that’s where Yeshua met me, loved me, and saved me. For Him, I’m eternally grateful.”

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET
on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: http://zoom.us/j/4074198133

Categories
Fantasy-Sci-Fi

Strike the Earth

Any gamers in the house? I’m a huge fan of games: the creativity, the challenges, and the competition, of course. I love testing my wits and resolve in unpredictable settings and it’s fun to surprise my kids when I play one of “their” games. I may be a grandma now, but “Grannies are pernownin noobs!”

I started playing Dwarf Fortress after my hubby had been talking it up forever. It’s been around for over twenty years, and was one of the major inspirations for Minecraft, but much more complicated. He watched YouTube tutorials and Twitch streams and conferred with our sons as they all anticipated an upgraded release on Steam. I couldn’t avoid learning about it and was, eventually, hooked.

But Dwarf Fortress is HARD. You are expected to lose your colony several times, regularly even, so much so that one of their mottos is “Losing is Fun.”

Hmph. I didn’t like the thought of that but tried anyway. And I lost. And tried again. And lost again. But with each new try, I started with more experience under my belt, and I developed my own motto: “If at first you don’t succeed, just look how much you learned.”

“I never once failed at making a light bulb.
I just found out 99 ways not to make one.”

Thomas A. Edison

Growing as an author is like playing a new game. Unknown possibilities lie before you, but the path is untraveled. How and where do you start?

Choose Your Game

Do your tastes run more towards a first-person POV solo quest (like first-person shooter,) or an ensemble adventure (mmporp-massively multiplayer online role-playing game)? Are you a minecrafter (world builder,) puzzle solver (mystery,) or do you love Stardew Valley? (Sounds cozy to me.) Whatever you land on, make sure you love your story/world. You’re gonna spend a lot of time there.

Once you’ve chosen your adventure, you need to learn how your game works. Study the craft—query a friend who’s had some experience. Or search out tutorials. Don’t just visit the same old sources, but find out where the players are, whether Twitch, Substack, or Kindle Vella. Check out new sources for fresh takes on familiar obstacles.

When I play a new game, I want to know what the goal is and how do I reach it. In the writing game, this means I consider my goal–is this a first draft? Is it a brainstorm session or contest submission? Self-pub or a traditional publisher? Sometimes I’m competing with the game, and sometimes I’m just trying to improve my personal best.

I adapted some tips from this Wiki Walkthrough that should serve you in the writing game.

  • Stay calm—don’t panic. The challenge may seem overwhelming but if it were easy, you’d be bored already. Try something new, and don’t be discouraged if you falter. Starting over doesn’t set you back to square one. Each restart comes with new understanding and new skills.
  • Configure your controls the way you like them—your desk (standing or curled up on the sofa), keyboard (clicky?) or notebook with special pens. Then throw in some yummy snacks, good lighting, and a supportive chair. I like to have dark chocolate and mixed nuts in easy reach, as well as a supply of lens wipes. The key is, make your setting work for you.
  • Learn the environment—Where are attacks most likely to come from? Pay attention to the feedback that urges you forward or sets you back. What activities distract you, and which renew your resolve?
  • Communicate—Whether you’re playing solo or among strangers, you need a party. Not the balloons, cake, and disco ball kind, but that small contingent of trusted folks who are committed to watching your back and helping you stay on mission.
  • Practice—Gamers rehearse keyboard strokes to build muscle memory, striving to improve their APM (actions per minute.) Word sprints, writing prompts, and flash fiction are fun ways to strengthen your author game. Learn the rules for your genre; the conventions, expectations, and the tropes, so you can bend—and even break them when it serves the story. Havok Publishing is a great place to read and write flash fiction.
  • Develop your style—know your voice. Bob Hostetler’s writing wisdom, “God has given you a story that no one else can tell,” set me on this journey years ago.
  • Join a team—find your tribe. Don’t sequester yourself completely, even if you write in solitude. Find community that challenges and encourages you, the ones that inspire you to start, and start again. Groups like Writers Chat, Realm Makers, and the 540 Writers Community have been a huge encouragement for me.

Strike the earth. No matter how much you prepare, study, and research, you need to commit. To act. To enter the fray.

In Dwarf Fortress, you wield your pickax to break ground. Wield your words. Start your story. Write. This is the first win.

Sophia L Hansen is an author and editor with Havok Publishing and loves to write In Other Worlds. She’s lived on a tiny island in Alaska, the bustling cities of New York and Boston, raised kids in Tennessee, and now resides just outside Birmingham, AL. After 30+ years of marriage, seven children, and numerous pets, Sophia still fits into her high school earrings.

You can follow Sophia’s words and worlds at https://www.sophialhansen.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.

Categories
Talking Character

Pros and Cons of Character Questionnaires

Good writers know that developing well-rounded characters is critical, and one technique for creating such interesting characters is to create in-depth bios using character questionnaires. The point of these tools is to stretch you to think about your character in ways that might not have occurred to you.

[bctt tweet=”How well do you know your character? #amwriting #characters”]

Some examples:

  • As a kid, what did he want to be when he grew up?
  • What is her happiest memory?
  • What does she think makes a person successful?
  • What three words would be on his tombstone?
  • What superpowers does he wish he had?
  • Does she hate her middle name?

The internet offers sites with links to dozens of questionnaires, from basic to comprehensive. I even discovered a random question generator. (Is this akin to Paul’s discovery of an altar to an unknown god? And perhaps just as useful?)

Strategic character building

Running through a few of these questionnaires can help you build a more rounded character, but they might also lead you down rabbit trails that will later complicate or sidetrack your writing.

Wired for Story by Lisa Cron warns that character questionnaires can be “so all-encompassing that, ironically, they obscure the very info you’re looking for. Here’s the secret: you are looking only for information that pertains to the story you’re telling.”

If the fact that your hero is afraid of snakes doesn’t pertain to the plot, then including it does not add depth so much as reader frustration. They will wonder when the hero will be forced to face a snake, and disappointed when it never happens.

[bctt tweet=”Use character questionnaires with caution. #writetip #writer”]

Perhaps a question will spark insights into your character that will make your story richer, but beware of clogging the story with details that lead nowhere.