What do you find fun about writing? Getting to know characters? Watching them extricate themselves from traps that disrupt their journeys? Letting their stories roll off fingertips that race to keep pace with mental images playing in the mind? Editing? Proofreading? Cover design? Layout? Publishing? Printing? Marketing? Courtesy of Godserv at morguefile.com An introvert by nature and a true wimp when it comes to selling my wares, I love the writing part, the developing part, the watching-them-grow part. I can do basic cover and interior design (not to be confused with or used in place of expert design). Nit-picky beta readers top my list of “go-tos.” Courtesy of click at morguefile.com However, lack of marketing skills, the weakest link in my writing chain, have regularly rained on my promotional parades. In the past, absence of stunning covers has diminished the face value of my books. I don’t want to be “a jack of all literary trades and master of none.” I love writing—...

How do I thank thee? Let me count the ways… (apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning) Here’s my “thank-you” list of all those who have helped me get my books out. Please share yours. • Beta readers • Editors • Cover designers • Book designers • Printers • Publicists • Readers • Fellow editors on BRP • Fellow authors on BRP • Commenters on BRP • Family and friends who grant time and space • All who encourage and support writing efforts • Anyone who brings a glass of cold water or cup of hot chocolate or fixes a meal Planting the seeds of a story, cultivating them through the arduous writing process, thinning them after editing storms, and harvesting them onto the printed pages hot off the press — this is what writing a book is all about. While it may grow out of long hours of lonely work, it is not a work that’s accomplished alone. Many or all the above people likely played a role in helping that seedl...

Photo credit: Clipartpal.com Thankfulness steps to the fore every year at this time. Busy people stop to reflect on reasons to be grateful. Formerly gobbling turkeys are gobbled up from tables laden with goodies and surrounded with family and friends. Thoughts of sharing come out of hiding to brighten short winter days. Shop-till-you-drop becomes the motto of gift buyers who seek extraordinary bargains in fiscally lean years. Ironically, a day dubbed “Black Friday” separates the time of thankfulness from the celebration of a birth that many believe will one day bring longed-for peace on earth. Stores beckon customers with midnight specials and wee-morning hours to move inventory from overloaded shelves to places under decorated trees. On this dark 24-hour period jammed between gratitude and peace, both qualities run short in the wake of get-there-first and get-yours-before-supplies-run-out attitudes. If someone suffers injury in the frenzied process, so be it. But wait! Let’s s...

I know you’ve done it: watched the Oscars, then fantasized that you were being honored in a similar fashion for your writing. Your sequined gown (or cummerbund) glistens in the spotlight as climb to the lectern and unfold your acceptance speech, written in 20-pt type so you can see it without your glasses. Who will you thank? We’re talking about teamwork at the BRP this month, and I’m sure a few obvious team members come to mind: your agent, your publisher, the husband who put up with you, the best friend who always believed in you, the English teacher who opened your eyes to literature, the group editing blog where all your questions were answered (woot!—thanks back at ya). That should cover it, right? Because writing is for introverts. We mostly work alone. I’d like to dispel that myth. Yes, we writers must tolerate stretches of time spent by ourselves—that's what it takes to apply our craft. But whether we write fiction or nonfiction, we pull our material from dramas pla...

I've often heard it said that writing is a lonely business, but when I really think about it, I know that it's actually a team effort. If you give it some thought, you'll likely agree. Consider all the members of your writing team: Online groups like Book-in-a-Week First readers Critique groups online and live Conferences Listservs Your family Group blogs Facebook Twitter Your readers Have I missed some? Leave us a comment if you think of others. The second half of this month, our theme here will be "teamwork", and we'll feature groups and ideas to help you in your writing life. Just in case you're lonely, you know? ~~~~~~~~~ No man is an island entire of itself...~John Donne