@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: The difference between a villain and a monster can be a gray area. Generally, monsters have inhuman or supernatural qualities that make them unrelatable but the more human they are (the more you can relate to them), the more they are a villain.
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: Running to a shiny new project is fun! But if you never finish those other projects, you'll never get anywhere. And if you overcommit, you may end up shutting down and getting nothing done. And, yes, it is possible to overcommit just to yourself.
Into the Deep Dark Woods is up for pre-order, releasing July 21! (I have a story in it!) If you order through the @WordFirePress website, more of the proceeds will go back into funding the @WesternColoU 's MA Publishing program. https://t.co/Yb8t2SQUW1
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: Generally we only have limited energy each day that comes from/goes into being enthusiastic about something. If you spend that on making exotic dinner, going out with friends, or video games, you won't have much or any left to focus into writing.
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: To be a writer, you don't have to podcast, booktok, sell at bookstores, learn amazon marketing, figure out how to publish books, format them, edit them, or any of a thousand other things. But you have to write. Talking about writing is not writing
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: Podcasts are a great way to learn about the writing world but binging on podcasts can be incredibly overwhelming. You will hear a lot of venting of frustrations. Learn from them but don't internalize them. Don't become discouraged and self reject.
During the COVID lockdown, I did some backyard safaris where I found cool things my wife had planted or created and took pictures and posted them online. A lot of people enjoyed that. I enjoyed it, too. Something I want to compare that to is writers block. When you can’t...
think of anything to write, go do something different. It doesn’t have to be a real safari anywhere. Go to the park. Sit in the sand under the playground and dig for buried treasure. Ignore the people who stare at you and call the police when you...
@AuthorSamKnight 's #writingtips: You don't have to start writing your story with the first sentence. You can start with the last one. Or with cool dialog or action, then go back and fill in around it. A story isn't finished as soon as you write the words, it's finished in edits
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: ASINs are nothing more than an internal product listing for Amazon. Amazon Standard Identification Number. Having an ASIN for a book is NOT the same as having an ISBN and it does NOT apply anywhere except Amazon. You can't use ASINs anywhere else.
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: Some people think they don't have to read to be a writer. Consider this: Could you never have listened to music and write a song? Could you paint a pastoral scene if you'd never seen a painting? Sure you could! But do you think they would be good?
You know what irritates me more than the AI spam about how great my book was and they want it for something? The fact that there is no evidence a copy was purchased for the AI to have read and analyzed…
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: The "industry standard" is MS Word. I'm sorry to say that MS Word on Mac, Google Docs, and all others I know of are hit or miss. 99% compatible at best. You WILL run into problems with formatting and using edits and comments.
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: An editor's opinion is just an opinion. Hopefully an informed one. Whether you agree with them or not, look it up, figure it out, decide for yourself. Right or wrong, you'll be better off in the long run if you understand why they thought that.
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: Writing is hard. If you feel like you can't "hold it all in your head" to get a story down on paper, try short stories. Or flash fiction. A drabble (100 word story). Like jokes, a story has setup then punchline (ending). Doesn't have to be funny.
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: What's a pen name? Freedom. Burden. Confusion with others, association with things you didn't do, imposition on people with that name, a responsibility to not ruin that name. Think twice. Choose carefully. Maybe don't unless you have to.
@AuthorSamKnight's #writingtips: Inspiration is all around. What may not be is something that interests you. If you're suffering from writer's block, try randomly picking something and doing a deep dive into it. If you have an idea already, dive into that and learn all you can.