A writing tribe, Collaborating with other writers

Do you have a writing tribe?

4 Comments

 

Who is in your writing tribe? Do you hang out with other writers? Do you talk shop, critique each others works or have a writing pow wow? Many of us have the support of family and friends Some sadly do not. Regardless of where you fall a tribe should be in place.

Trying to write a book by ourselves with no outside help is hard and even harder for your book if the only time anyone sees it is when the book is released.

We need a tribe for a few reasons such as:

critique: This is a good way for other writers to go over our chapters through their eyes to help find errors that we don’t see no matter how often we read our WIP. They help find loopholes, tell us what works or don’t work and a host of other things. We need critiques to help improve our manuscript and get it in the best possible shape.

editing: To some extend a tribe can help with our editing but don’t lean on them for them to do 100% of it. That is what an editor is for. Make sure you find a good editor. If you are fortunate to have one include them in your arsenal aka your tribe.

writing: Writing alone is not always fun. Hanging out with fellow writers to just write is very motivating. Especially when we toss out, “Does this make sense?” or “What word fits here?” or “Is this plausible?” or a host of other things that can come up. Heck my tribe has been naming my books since the beginning.

hanging out: Just hanging out with like-minded people does a whirl of good. It gets us out of the house and we don’t have to annoy friend and family as much when it comes to our writing.

These are just a few of the reasons to have a writing tribe. If yo don’t have one already think about forming one.

Blog content: finding it, Reposting your own posts

Writers: Is it okay to repost your own stuff?

2 Comments

 

 

I did a blog post on how or where do we come up with blog content. There are some weeks the idea comes to me other times I have to sit down and really think on it. But what came to my mind a day or two ago was is it okay to reuse a post I have written in the past? After all with new subscribes to my website not everyone will have seen all the post. Not everyone, including me, will go back and see what a particular person has written since their website was created.

But is it cheating or being smart to reuse something already posted or just being resourceful? Some posts in the pasts were received really well and were pertinent to the craft of writing. Some information never gets old and are as useful now as it was when first posted.

Like with most anything, the craft of writing includes always learning to improve yourself. So reposting something could be beneficial. But could this be another way for me to be lazy and justify using old post? I can see how that could be as well. Fresh content does help one’s creative juice flowing with coming up with something new which is awesome.

Still pondering this out.

Uncategorized

How to get rid of a body: Author style

1 Comment

 

You gotta be careful when you are out in public and writing, especially when you are with other writers discussing different scenes.

Three of my writer friends met with me at a local Chinese restaurant. After sitting down we started talking about our craft. My friend Gina, who was next to me, started to discuss a death scene. She mentioned how the man was in a tub full of chemicals that would dissolve a body. This was before Breaking Bad had this very same scene folks.

Looking at her, and not realizing or paying attention most likely to who was around me, I told her that it all depended on the size and weight of the man and what chemical she was using for if she was not using the right amount or the right chemical she would have a hot mess.

My friend Adrianne started to say, “Guys, lower your voices.”

We ignored her and continued. I told my friend Gina that if she used the wrong chemical there could be a chance it would eat through the tub and the floor and it would fall to the first floor.

Again, my friend Adrian said, “Guys, lower your voices,” as she pointed to her right.

Again good ole me ignored her and continued. As I did so I just happened to look over. Sitting next to us were four officers, two of which were listening to me.

We quickly explained we were writers, honest, and was discussing a scene. I continued to tell them that my degreed was in Chemistry to which they smiled. But we quickly moved on to a different topic.

So now I need to carry a sign like the one above. #Writerproblems

The Musings of A New Englander