Posts Tagged ‘the writing show’

10
Jun

Challenge Yourself through Contests

   Posted by: Michell    in About Writing, Irreverent Muse

As a writer, I am always looking for a new way to improve my writing skills. I have done this by entering events like NanoWriMo and by doing things like my 30-in-30 short story self-challenge and I think I have attained a modicum of success doing them.

Still, I need to keep pushing myself or I will fall back into my bad habits of watching television, playing online games and generally wasting time instead of writing. The problem is, I don’t always have the ambition to come up with something new to try on my own.

That’s where writing contests come in.

I have entered a writing contest in the past, specifically the “Write a First Chapter” contest put on by “The Writing Show“. My story didn’t win, but I did receive several valuable benefits from the exercise:

a)      I have the first chapter to a new story finished. I believed in the chapter enough that it may grow into something one day.

b)      I received valuable feedback on the chapter; feedback I have already applied to other writing projects.

c)       I proved to myself that I could come up with a good story idea in a short period of time and write something decent (also in a short period of time).

d)      I put myself out there to be judged against my peers. Believe me, this was a big one; I proved to myself that despite my competitive nature, I can handle losing. This is a valuable trait for a writer to have.

e)      I made myself write in a genre that I had, to that point, avoided as being “Too hard” to write in.

No doubt, there were other benefits that I received that I’m not considering right now, but the point is, I think I grew as both a writer and a person by entering the contest. I think it is time to do so again.

The contest in question is “The Writing Show’s” Halloween Short-story contest. I’m really looking forward to writing this because I love Halloween. I also haven’t written anything that has a supernatural bent to it. So it has the benefits of being something I haven’t done much of on a topic that I like. It should be fun.

Personal Update

A couple things have occurred of note. The first is a panel discussion that I participated in for “The Writing Show”. The discussion can be heard at: http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2009/06072009.html.

I also queried the publisher to whom I sent my YA novel. She requested it March 12 (at which time I sent it) so it has been almost three months. I tried to be respectful of her time so I hope the query doesn’t come back to bite me, but darn it, waiting is HARD!

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3
Jun

Get Published, Episode 7 – What Types of Feedback are Available to an Author

   Posted by: Michell    in Get Published (Podcast)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Hello Everyone and Happy First Week of June! I am pleased to say that the weather has actually started to feel like summer. Since our summers are short to start with that is a major announcement, let me tell you.

In this episode I talk about the various opportunities you, the author, have for your work. I know I’ve asked myself many times if my work is good enough to publish. I hope some of the ideas I bring up in this episode will help you to get the answers you are looking for.

Show Notes

00:00 — Opening – Get Published, Episode 7

  • Everything has to start somewhere and this is the start of “Get Published”

0:14 — Introduction – Show #7:  What Types of Feedback are Available to an Author

Michell talks about what the future holds for ‘Get Published’ (and no, it is NOT pod-fading).

03:53 — Promos: War Promo (Mur Lafferty)

www.murverse.com

05:36 — Show #7:  What Types of Feedback are Available to an Author (continued)

  • Thank you to Noble Scry at www.brainwyrms.com for the pingbacks
  • Email podcast at michellplested dot com with your comments

06:59 — Promos: Weather Child

www.weatherchild.com

07:51 — Show #7:  What Types of Feedback are Available to an Author (continued)

What are the various ways to get feedback/critiques/reviews of your work? There are several:

  • Friends and family are not necessarily the best choice due to personal bias
  • Writing Workshops – many conventions have workshops, Odyssey, Viable Paradise
  • Writing Courses – local universities, online (Holly Lisle at http://howtothinksideways.com/)
  • Hire an Editor – I hear that Gabrielle Harbowy (http://www.gabrielle-edits.com) is pretty good
  • Writing Contests – ‘The Writing Show’ often has one or more writing contests per year as an example
  • Critique Groups – local writing groups or online. I use www.critters.org online personally
  • If you know any professional editors, publishers or authors who might be willing to read your stuff (agents too)

22:01 — Promos: Nina Kimberly the Merciless

http://www.ninakimberly.com

23:02 — Closing

Please send comments. Please, please, please! Questions too :)

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27
May

Don’t just exercise your writing muscles

   Posted by: Michell    in Irreverent Muse

It became painfully apparent to me this week that I’ve been spending too much time exercising my writing muscles and not enough with the rest. I started playing softball and found that I have no stamina and I was practically crippled from throwing a ball and swinging a bat. That’s the first time that’s happened to me.

I’m not sure what I expected. When I got laid off in October of last year I become a bigger computer potato than I was before. When I went back to work I didn’t restart my daily walks and I certainly wasn’t doing that at home. For that I have only myself to blame.

Now that I really stop and think about it, when I was out of work I was depressed. No real surprise there. After all your job defines you to some extent. But I have to wonder, how much better would I have felt if I had been more active.

More recently I have felt tired in the early afternoon. Also, lethargic and unmotivated.  I’ve been able to work through it but how much of that is because I need exercise?

The only way to know for certain is if I start getting back into shape (and yes, I know round is a shape. It’s just not the one I want to be). The unfortunate truth is I know of few ways to effectively write and exercise at the same time. That means I have to make exercise a priority and as much as I hate to take time away from writing and podcasting, it will be worth it in the long run.

How about you? Have you been in the same boat? Have you started an exercise program only to find that not only do you have more energy but you are able to get more writing done?

I’d love to hear what you have done that works.

Personal Update

The only thing note-worthy to report is I was part of a panel discussion on “The Writing Show” with PaulaB. The episode is set to drop sometime in June. Nothing new to report on the writing front I’m sorry to say.

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