10 Ways to Find Writing Inspiration

August 22, 2018October 10, 2018 F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

Being a writer isn’t as easy as some people think. It takes time. You have to come up with ideas. Then ultimately you have to write it down into a cohesive manner. After a while, you will find it hard to find inspiration. Inspiration has evaded me before, and there have been times where I had to make myself write. I don’t like feeling like I’m being made to do something, and I’m sure most of you are the same way. If you’re looking for some inspiration to help you get motivated to write, I’ve got a few tips for you.

Books

What better way to find inspiration that with a book. You don’t even have to go with inspirational books, but you can. Any type of book; fiction, non-fiction, young adult, fantasy, horror, whatever your favorite type of book is. That book might just hold that piece of inspiration you’ve been looking for. Stephen King’s book IT helped me figure out how I wanted to organize my book.

2. People Watching

This is my favorite. I’ve always been a fly on the wall type person. Or a wallflower. Whatever you want to call it. So sitting around and watching other people has always been entertaining, and it’s the perfect way to get inspired to write.

3. Brainstorms

Sit down with a pen and paper and start writing things down. Write the different ideas you’ve been playing. Don’t worry about organizing anything, just write. Something on that paper could end up becoming your next big success.

4. Writing Journal

This is great for any writer. It’s not something you have to write in every single day, but it’s there for you if inspiration strikes. You can write down quotes, snippets, plot twists, characters, or dialog. All you need is a simple spiral bound notebook.

5. Dreams

This may not be very easy, but keeping up with your dreams may give you some ideas on what to write about. There was one morning I woke up and I could remember a dream I had that night, and I wrote it down because I thought it would be a great plot for a story. I’ve not used it yet, but I still have it written down and ready if I ever want to write it.

6. Exercise

Breaking a sweet is a great way to find inspiration. There’s something about physical exercise that gets the brain working.

7. History

It’s amazing but looking back at history can give you inspiration. Look back at some of the greats like Leonard di Vinci, Helen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and Gandhi.

8. Nature

Tired of staring at a blank screen? Take a walk outside. Spend some time and nature and let your mind relax. Appreciate the things around you. Notice the beauty of a sunrise or sunset. You’ll be amazed at how well this will help you find inspiration.

9. Friends

Have real conversations. Spend time with people you like and just talk to them. You never know what’s going to come up, and it might just inspire something inside you.

10. Music

Find some music that inspires you and play it while you’re writing. This could be classical, hard rock, metal, whatever gets your mind working.

That’s my tips for you today. I hope some of these help you to find inspiration the next you are stuck. If you have some tips to help people find inspiration to write, please share them in the comments.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Stay Focused

February 13, 2018August 9, 2018 F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

I don’t know about you, but staying focused on my writing is my biggest problem. Focus is why it took me so long to write Loved By Death. I enjoy writing, spewing out all the words and feelings, but I am so easily distracted. Hell, I’m lucky if I’m able to focus long enough to write a complete chapter in one day. Ironically, when I am ghostwriting a book, I can have it written in a couple of days depending on the length and the material.

So, we are going to take a little class together today on how to keep yourself focused. Trust me, I’m learning just as much as you are. If you have any tips on staying focused on your writing, please share them in the comment below.

Work With Your Brain’s Schedule

Who knew that your brain had a schedule? Actually, that makes sense. My brain tells me when it’s time for coffee.

Chances are you have probably noticed the times during the day when you seem to be more focused. Most people tend to be the most distracted between 12 and 4 p.m. with the peak being around 2. The brain works the best during the late morning, meaning after 10 a.m. This is when the brain is fully awake. Use the hours between 10 a.m. and noon for some intensive writing, and then take a break about midday to refresh.

Reward the Brain

Your brain learns the things you do. This means that the more often you engage in a distracting behavior, like playing a matching game on your phone every time it says you have lives, the more likely you are to do it. Your mind has been rewarded in some way by these distracting behaviors. This means you need to break these behaviors by stopping them when you notice them happening. The harder it is for you to be distracted, the less likely it will happen.

Take Real Breaks

While work typically involves a constant stream of input: constant phone calls, emails, 20 tabs open, it doesn’t do much for your focus. Find someplace you can go for 15 minutes where you cannot be distracted. A quiet room, a place without wi-fi, somewhere you can let your mind rest.

No Multitasking

The fact is, nobody can actually multitask. The brain can only focus on one thing at a time. All you do when you multitask is switch between different tasks quickly. You’re not actually doing two, three, four things at once. The more often you switch, the more energy you use. Instead, make a list of what you need to do, and work down the list. One task at a time.

Do Something Engaging

Have you ever started working on something and then a few minutes later you are daydreaming?

When you don’t think what you need to do is worth your time, your brain will start to float around to other more stimulating things. You have to figure out if it’s you or the task. If the task isn’t currently engaging you then you should work on something else, and work on the less engaging task during the late mornings.

Chew Gum

This sounds completely crazy, but it works. Research has found that chewing gum will increase the oxygen flow to the attention part of your brain. It will also help your long-term memory and give a bit of an insulin boost. If you don’t really like gum then you can grab yourself a snack. This doesn’t mean you should eat something every time you’re distracted, that could start a bad habit.

The important thing for staying focused is to create an environment for focus. Help your brain out by not making it have to work as hard.

Like I said earlier if you have any tips for staying focused comment below.

The biggest challenge is to stay focused. It’s to have the discipline when there are so many competing things. – Alexa Hirschfield

7 Ways to Kill The Dreaded Author Bio

February 5, 2018October 10, 2018 F.A. Huffman1 Comment

I’m going to say something that may cause other bloggers to hunt me down.

I am by no means an authority in writing an author bio. In fact, besides the about me page on my site, I have only ever written one author bio. I can safely say that I literally just wrote my first author bio earlier today. One of my short stories was chosen for publication in Millhaven Press quarterly journal, and they asked for an author bio.

Now, if you have never written an author bio, like me a few hours ago, you probably have one of two thoughts running through your head. One, why do you make it sound like it’s so hard? Or, two, AHHHHHHHHHHHH! (BTW, I was the second.)

I have learned that author bios have the ability to make or break you. What you need your bio for will also have a large influence. Bloggers that guest writes for other websites, where they do need to be an authority on a subject, have to let the readers know they can trust them.

For example, if some blogger is asked to write an article for another website about investing, they would want to make sure the website’s readers trust their article. They may also be interested in driving some traffic to their own website. So, if you’re reading an article about investing and you get to the author bio and they tell you nothing about their experience in investing, you’re probably going to question their article. If their bio says:

Jane Doe has worked as a stay at home mom for 18 years and is now starting her own knitting business. She blogs regularly on imaknitter.com about her knitting adventures. She loves her three children aged 15, 12, and 2. Jane hopes you enjoy her post.

You’re going to look back at that article about investing and wonder what crap you just read. There is nothing about that bio that suggests she knows a damn thing about investing. (BTW, I’m not knocking knitters because I LOVE to knit.)

Now, if you are writing an author bio for something like I had to today, for a fictional story, it can be trickier (in my opinion). You still want to grab their attention, and you want to make them want to read more of your work. That’s a lot of information for a short bio. I’m going to do my best and give you a few tips at coming up with an author bio that people will like.

Prepare Yourself for Your Bio

Depending on what you’re writing about, your author bio is going to be different. If you are writing a romance novel, your bio is going to a lot different than if you are writing about investing. Think about who your audience is and what they are going to want to know. Do you need to prove to them that you know what you’re talking about, or would they be more interested in knowing where they can read more of your work? While you’re writing, make sure that you ask yourself, “Who am I writing this for?”

Write in Third Person

Unless the person you are guest blogging for asks you specifically to write in the first person, always write your bio in the third person. Yeah, it will probably feel weird, and self-congratulatory, but you’ll get used to it. One thing you want to make sure you don’t do is overuse he or she.

Keep it Short and Sweet

People just want to know a little bit about you. They aren’t looking to get your life story. Save all the extra information for your autobiography. You may have a bunch of information that relates to your story but only provides the most important and relevant. Think of it like a resume. You don’t write out ten pages of past employees on your resume. You use the most recent jobs and the ones that are more related to the job you are applying for.

Establish Truthful Credibility

If you have to establish credibility with your bio, make sure you do so truthfully. Don’t lie. In this day and age, people will find out if you are telling the truth. As a ghostwriter, it’s probably safe to say I wrote some books for people that had no clue about the subject matter of the book. Unfortunately, for marketing purposes, they are probably lying to establish credibility. You don’t want to be them. If you’re trying to prove to people you are a credible source for investing information, then you better have experience in the stock market, and preferably more than a year’s worth.

Be Personal, but Not Too Much

Depending on what your bio is for, your readers may not want to know you’re a cat lover or a coffee addict. Adding personal touches is fine so that your readers know that you are human. Make sure you don’t go overboard and take away from the actual bio. Throw in a fun fact sandwiched between the important info.

Don’t Worry About Bragging

It’s okay to brag a bit. Make sure you don’t go overboard, but you can brag. It’s not rude, you’re just proud of your accomplishments.

Don’t Make it Long

I said this in the keep it short and sweet tip, but it’s important, so I’ll say it again. DON’T MAKE YOUR BIO LONG. Nobody wants to read your life story, they just want to know they can trust you, or they’re looking to get to know you a little better.

If you follow these tips you should be able to create a great author bio. The three most important things to remember are: keep your audience in mind, write in the third person, and keep it short. Those three things will help you the most.

Half my life is an act of revision. – John Irving

These 5 Tips Will Help you Work Through Rejection

February 1, 2018October 10, 2018 F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

As a writer, you will have to face rejection at some point. This is especially true if you want a literary agent, and to have your book professionally published. What you write isn’t going to be everybody’s cup of tea. I may still be fairly new to the rejection game (I’ve spent most of my writing career writing, so far) but I have already gotten a few rejection letters.

Rejection isn’t something that people want to face, but it’s a fact of life. The best thing you can do is to learn how to handle it. Don’t let it destroy your life, and don’t take it personally. You’ll find somebody that likes your work. Let’s look at a few ways to handle rejection.

Learn From It

You won’t always get a personalized letter of rejection. A lot of them are generic “Thanks for querying, but blah, blah, blah.” There are a few that will give you their thoughts. Instead of throwing the letters out, or deleting the email, listen to what they have to say. There may be something in their letter that can help you improve your chances of finding representation. Now, if you receive criticism like, “You write like a child,” or a blanket statement like, “There is no potential audience for your book,” then, by all means, throw that away. Those statements aren’t helpful.

Remember Why You Write

Rejection will get you down, especially if you have heard no over and over again. Take some time to remind yourself why you started writing. Write yourself a letter that states why you write.

For me, I write because I like creating a new world that I can escape into. It’s a way to get out my feelings and plan things out the way I want them. It’s a situation that I can have complete control over.

Find Empowerment with Self-Publishing

A lot of people have worked through their rejections by self-publishing their books. If you think you have a best seller on your hands, then publish it on kindle or nook. There are lots of ways to get your book out there. Before you do that, make sure that your manuscript is clean. Sending it to an editor would be a good idea.

Take a Break

When you are working through rejection, you probably won’t feel motivated to write so don’t. Take some time for yourself and reconnect with the world. Then you can come back to your writing.

Be Friend with Writers

Having people who you can relate to will help you out. If you don’t have friends that write, join some online writing communities. Talking is a great way to work through feelings.

In the end, acceptance or rejection shouldn’t influence you as a writer. If you have a story that you want to tell the world, then tell it. It shouldn’t matter if people love it or hate; you shared your story, and that’s what matters.

“Was I bitter? Absolutely. Hurt? You bet your sweet ass I was hurt. Who doesn’t feel a part of their heart break at rejection. You ask yourself every question you can think of, what, why, how come, and then your sadness turns to anger. That’s my favorite part. It drives me, feeds me, and makes one hell of a story.” Jennifer Salaiz