WRITING POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS IN 2020

By Nick Rolon

We are nearly 48 hours away from welcoming in the new year.  The clock will strike midnight, family and friends will embrace each other, toasts will be made with confetti streaming down, noise horns blown, and the singing of the iconic song Auld Lang Syne, “times gone by.” And yes – writing goals, resolutions for the new year.

Over the years, I have learned the importance of writing positive affirmations to help achieve your goals. The practice of writing positive affirmations is even more important during challenging periods in life. Writing gives us an opportunity to share our thoughts, recognize others, reflect on what we did last year and what we want to do in 2020. Sometimes, consciously or unconsciously, we make excuses for not focusing on affirmations and goals to make us better.  

In 2020, you can write positive affirmations that you repeat to yourself. These written words can help you describe a specific outcome you seek or who you want to be. It is important to understand that at first these affirmations may not be true. But with repetition of the phrases the affirmations will soon motivate you to building and achieving your goals. The two most powerful written words are, “I Am.” followed by, “I Can.” and, “I Will.”   Examples include, “I Am  strong in mind, body, and spirit.” “ I Am grateful for what I can do.” “I Am happy to be me.” “I Will Succeed.” “I Am Thankful for the love of my life.v” “I Can write this story.”

During a visit to my parent’s house, I observed m.y Dad writing positive affirmations on post-it notes and sticking them to the mirror in their bathroom. The positive messages were intended to inspire him and my Mom who is battling brain cancer. An example - “I can beat this.” “I am strong.” These positive affirmations helped during chemotherapy treatments, doctor appointments, and therapy sessions by providing hope.   

Some helpful tips to writing and using positive affirmations in the new year:

· Think of the positive outcome you desire and write it using, " I am, I can, I will."

· Write a weekly positive affirmation.

· Write the message on a post-it notes and place it in a visible location that you frequently use, - a refrigerator door, the mirror, a book marker.

· Write your affirmation and save it to your computer or cell phone home screen.

· Write your affirmation on a wall or desk calendar at the beginning of the week.

· Use a Dry Eraser Board to write your weekly affirmation statement.

· Text yourself your positive affirmations.

A positive affirmation from author A.A. Milne: “You are Braver than you believe, Stronger than you seem, and Smarter than you think.”  A message my mother sees daily next to her coffee table.

I would like to dedicate my blog post to Ginny Padgett, Kasie Whitener, and the entire Columbia II Writers Workshop members. Ginny, you welcomed me into the Columbia II Writers Workshop at a time I was looking to rekindle my enthusiasm for writing. You have shown me all the great attributes of a team leader - a communicator, a listener, a teacher, a professional, a motivator, but most of all – a caring, thoughtful person. Kasie, you helped me with my first blog a year ago. Your constructive feedback and insight into the disciplines of writing have been invaluable. Your passion for writing and helping others in our workshops, coordinating our Columbia II “Business of Writing” Workshop in April, and the tremendous talent that you demonstrate is inspiring. El, Sharon, Bonnie, Ruth, Dan, Sandra, Raegan, Mike, and all members, thank you. I have learned a lot from your incredible writing. I will miss everyone as I return to family in New Jersey.

Thanks, Nick

The FEAR of WRITING: Three Tips to Overcome the Beast

This is a recycled post from October, 2018.

By Jodie Cain Smith

I believe fear is healthy, for the most part. Fear prevents us from petting poisonous snakes, hugging sharks, and driving blindfolded over bridges. Fear tells us to read the expiration date on the milk carton and to put down the big, metal stick in the middle of a thunderstorm. Any fear that keeps me alive, physically intact, and free of food poisoning, I’m a’keepin’. However, one fear I must get rid of is the fear of writing.

What? Wait. Fear of writing? That’s dumb. Yes, yes it is, but it is an emotion I’ve experienced quite a bit recently.

My fear song plays out like this:  I get an awesome idea, a premise that sucks me in. For a couple of days I bask in my brilliance. I research the heck out of it, ensuring every detail is accurate, plausible. I imagine the cast of characters and setting. After all of this, there is only one thing left to do – write the story. This is when fear grips my throat and the lightning that is anxiety pulses through my veins. My idea is too complex. My writing game is subpar. If I attempt to write this and fail, my whole career is over. My fraud as a writer (yep, we all feel this at some point) will be revealed.

Over the course of the last three months, as I have pushed to finish two current projects, I’ve experienced this fear time and again. Through this experience, I was forced to design ways beyond it because, well, my fear of failure beats all other fears. So, if you find yourself in a secluded corner hiding under a blanket sure that the blank screen boogeyman is coming for you, here are a few defenses I have deployed to beat the monster that is performance anxiety. (Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about writing, perv.)

1. Listen to your character even if that little tramp has ideas that in no way fit into your original plot scheme. It’s her story. Let her be a part of it. Let her tell it.

2. Just write. Everyday. (Well, at least Monday through Friday. Even creative genius needs a day off.) If the words are awful, write them anyway. Tomorrow is for fixing. Today we write!

3. Don’t be afraid to abandon a story and move on to a new one. They’re not all winners. Sometimes “killing your darlings” means abandoning the whole thing.

Now, don’t we all feel better? And, no one had to pay a therapist.

THE LATEST ADDITION

Meet a New Columbia II Blogger

ALEXA BIGWARFE

Alexa Bigwarfe is a USA Today Best-Selling Author, an author coach, and a publisher. Through her company, Write|Publish|Sell, Alexa loves helping other authors through the maze, and oftentimes, the confusion of publishing and book marketing. She resides in Columbia, SC, with her husband, three children, dog, and a lot of characters in her head that are just waiting to make it to print.

Alexa's first post on this page follows.

REVIEWS MATTER

by Alexa Bigwarfe

I hear it from authors all the time. “I don’t want to think about all that marketing and publishing stuff. I just want to write!” Of course you do, but the publishing industry has changed, and if you want to be successful as an author, you have to start learning the business of being an author. Whether you are published by a traditional publishing house, or you self-publish or choose to go the hybrid route, there are things beyond writing you should be thinking about.

You’ve put a lot of time, effort and energy into writing a good book, why would you not want to also put in the efforts to make sure people can find and buy that book? 

There are many important elements that go into selling a book. You need a platform (ie, readers!), you need great meta data associated with your book, a marketing strategy, and you need a lot of reviews.

Oh, the dreaded reviews. Of all the things mentioned above, reviews are probably the last thing you want to think about as an author. However, reviews, and getting them, are one of the biggest hurdles an author will face. It can take a long time and a lot of marketing before reviews just start happening on their own for your book.

Most people in your inner circle have never published a book and have NO idea about reviews or what they mean. Take some time to educate your inner circle, your readers about the importance of reviews on your book so that you can get a large number of reviews, in an ethical manner.  

1. Book reviews are TRULY influential to future sales not only from readers, but also book buyers, librarians, people looking for speakers, etc. 
2. REVIEWS MATTER. The more activity on a book – from views, sales, and reviews, the higher the book will rank in both search results and in categories. This is critical for receiving organic traffic and book sales.
3. You may NOT give away copies of your book IN EXCHANGE FOR a review, per Amazon terms of service. You MAY give away as many copies of your book as you’d like prior to (and after) your launch. But it’s only in the hopes that these readers will love your book enough to share about it and go leave a review. Gently ask them to leave a review if they would like.
4. In order for a book review to be accepted by Amazon, the person must have done one of the following: purchased the book through Amazon directly or have left multiple reviews on other Amazon products in the past. This is important for your launch team to know. 

In summary, most people have no idea what you need them to do to best help you succeed with the publication of your book, unless they are also a published author. As you prepare for your book launch, take the time to educate your advanced readers. Let them know the importance of reviews, particularly within the first few days of launch. 

Reviews matter.

GET THEE a WRITER'S PLATFORM

By Kasie Whitener

Early in my writing career, I discovered Writer’s Digest and Robert Lee Brewer who had his own blog called “My Name is Not Bob” (MNINB). In April 2012, Not Bob ran a 30-day writers’ platform challenge.

My family had recently relocated to Columbia, and I had decided to make a go of this writing thing. I started with a blog, Life on Clemson Road, a public way for me to write about being a mom to a then-4-year-old, wife to a career tire guy, and unemployed corporate refugee.

Being new to blogging, I didn’t fully appreciate the brilliance of MNINB’s Challenge. The 30-day series means you’ll have readers visiting your blog every day for 30 days, leaving comments on every post, and providing evidence of traffic.

The MNINB Platform Challenge was made up of 30 tasks writers needed to do in order to build what marketers (and agents and publishers) called a digital platform. The platform is a spectrum of digital properties you use to connect with your readers.

In 2012, I didn’t have any readers. That was okay, the MNINB Platform Challenge told me. I would get them eventually. I just needed to build and cultivate my platform.

The Challenge started with registrations like “get a Facebook page” and “get a Twitter account.” Each day the writers participating would read Robert Lee Brewer’s advice on the value of these various platform elements, his quick instructions on how to do them, and then go and execute the prescribed action. Then leave a comment on his blog as evidence.

Some actions like, “Visit another blogger’s blog and comment on it,” were meant to help us explore the blogosphere. Some, like “share a blog to one of your social channels,” were encouraging reciprocal behavior. In any case, the Challenge actions were all meant to fully immerse the would-be writer into the digital world of selling books.

In conference after conference, we’ve been told that publishers are less likely to do your marketing for you. If they take on the expense of printing (editing, layout, cover design, printing), they really won’t market for you. We’re also told your platform is one of the ways you can endear yourself to publishers – encourage them to select your book.

When I finally landed a publisher (thanks, Chrysalis Press!) I already had a platform. I have a well-branded blog (Unapologetically X), a Facebook Author page, a Twitter account I use almost exclusively for a weekly tweet chat about writing (Tuesday’s #wschat), and a radio show with digital properties (podcast and show notes blog).

And yet I’d neglected some key parts of my platform. For example, my Facebook page needed about 175 more likes – friends I should have invited long ago. Even so, the show, the digital stuff, and a great party at a local bar earned me some early interest, early sales, and early reviews. I have a long way to go. Moreover, I have a full appreciation for the value of a digital platform. 

THE LATEST ADDITION

Meet a New Columbia II Blogger

JERRY D. PATE

Jerry D. Pate is a retired trade association executive and broadcast news director, reporter, anchor. He has written nearly 20 short stories and is working on a book about a South Carolina cotton mill and its people. 

Jerry's first post on this page follows.

MASTERING PLOT TWISTS

By Jerry D. Pate

This week’s contribution comes from Jerry Pate, new member to our Columbia II Chapter. He takes some lessons in character & plot development from “Mastering Plot Twists” by Jane K. Cleland (full citation below).

“A Three-Question Assessment Model Delves into People’s Longings:

1. Who longs for what?

2. What are those people willing to do to satisfy their longings?

3. Who or what opposes them? (Pp 22-23)”

“Actions and Reactions Propel Your plot:

Incidents exist in a vacuum until the people involved react. Once people care about a situation though, an otherwise benign incident transforms from ho-hum to captivating. If people don’t care, a conflict is averted but you have no story. If they feel passionate about an issue, the opportunities to create conflict abound  (Pg 25).”

“Homing in on the Relationships Between Key Elements:

      Once you know what a person longs for and what they’re willing to do to satisfy that longing, you can identify a worthy opponent –which, by definition will create a conflict. You can ensure that conflict is significant enough to carry your story by confirming it aligns with a prime motivator…

“Examining works you admire enables you to identify patterns. Adapting this approach to your chosen genre equips you to make informed decisions about your plot… (Pg 53).”

“CAPITALIZE ON PERCEPTION GAPS:

Whatever we believe, it rarely occurs to us that we might be wrong, just as it rarely occurs to us that other people, as fair-minded and principled as we are, might look at the same events or facts and reach different conclusions. Yet it happens all the time. I call this dichotomy a “perception gap,” and capitalizing on its potential reveal meaningful information about your characters is a reliable way to develop believable characters and intriguing plots….

“Perception gaps encourage readers to delve into your characters’ motivations, to become more involved in your story, and to place themselves in the incidents you describe… (Pp 73 & 74).”

“ICE DOWN TRDs FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT

TRDs = Twists, Reversals & Danger

“At their best TRDs tap into strong emotions. However, you can’t randomly select emotions to tap into. Only those emotions that ripen organically from your stories and characters will work…”

Cleland suggests using the acronym ICE as a guide:

· Intrigue. Your goal in developing TRDs is to create tension through the unexpected. The word intrigue combines two irresistible facts that drive readership: curiosity and appeal…

· Credibility. Credibility requires more than creating believable situations: credibility demands trust. Readers must trust you are revealing emotional truth through believing incidents, and those incidents must relate to your [overall] narrative question…

· Evidence. One of the most oft-repeated pieces of writing advice is to show and not tell. As Mark Twain put it: “Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.” Don’t report on events: present them. By consistently challenging yourself to provide evidence of what you’re describing, you’ll be certain to write episodes readers can see, hear, feel, smell and touch. It is these sensual references that bring your story to life…(Pg 152).”

Full citation:

Cleland, Jane K. Mastering Plot Twists. Writer’s Digest Books: 2018. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: ISBN-13:978-1-4403-52331.

WRITER’S BLOCK

By Sharon May

Either humorously or seriously, we all have claimed to have writer’s block. It’s a scary feeling, and the words sound deeply engrained and overwhelming.

Determining what causes one’s writer’s block is difficult for those of us who think we need a reason before we can fix it. Recently, I have felt blocked. Losing both my only brother and my youngest uncle in the last three months has depressed me. That’s to be expected.

My ability to write after a death has always varied. My maternal grandfather died while I was in college, and it made me feel blocked. A year later, a twelve-year-old cousin was killed in a car wreck, and I was extremely motivated and focused, writing, in a week, a draft of a 50-page story that did not focus on death.   

After my brother died in July, I was motivated. I guess I figured I have little time to screw around. With my uncle’s death earlier this month, I have no motivation to write though I get ideas all day long. You may say that drafting a short poem, a three-page scene for the novel, and this blog proves I’m not blocked at all. Not technically, but I feel a wall separating me from my words.

So, writing this blog has been interesting. I do remember when I volunteered some weeks ago, I had an idea, which I cannot remember for the life of me. It’s somewhere on a piece of paper whose location also escapes me. Not much can get through the fog in my shocked and angry mind. In fact, I had forgotten I volunteered for this week’s blog. Ginny’s reminder was quite a surprise. Believe me, I thought about begging off. But I usually try to fulfill commitments, and I figured the task might be good for me.

After thinking on it for a few days, I tried Friday night to come up with ideas. Told myself I had permanently run out of them, brainstormed with a friend, tried writing on one idea, while toying with another in my head. Got nowhere. No coherence or cohesion. Just words on a page. On Saturday, the task crossed my mind several times. No writing though. Come Sunday morning, I tried to avoid it by sleeping late and running errands. Finally, I decided I had to give it some attention.

I laid down on the bed, and a couple of our cats promptly joined me, my favorite scenario for thinking about a writing task. I asked myself what was on my mind, and of course, death was the answer. Write what you know, right? I didn’t jump up immediately. Instead, I tried to find the point I wanted to make. No luck with that. It was time to put words on paper.

The words came. Must be why writers recommend writing through the block, pretending it doesn’t exist. Denial is a great place to live.  

WHAT'S OLD IS NEW AGAIN

By Raegan Teller

Increasingly at book signings, I am asked if my books are available in audio format. I’ve said, “No, I’m sorry” so many times that I’ve been thinking about the recent resurgence in audiobooks. While this format still sells less than print or ebooks, audiobooks are the fastest growing segment of book sales according to multiple reader surveys.

Marketing experts will tell you this rise is due to one thing: multitasking. A reader can listen to a book while driving, doing the laundry, cooking, or just relaxing. Smart phones and tablets are all the equipment needed to listen anywhere. Audiobooks are especially popular with readers ages 25 to 34, a group known for its short attention span and proclivity to perform simultaneous tasks. While it’s hard to argue with market results, I’d like to respectfully challenge the notion that it’s all about multitasking.

As I’ve said in previous blog posts, storytelling is in our DNA. That assertion is backed by science and historians. And it all began with oral storytelling around 15,000 BCE. Stories were a way to entertain and to pass information along to others. For brevity, let’s fast forward from there to the 1930’s golden age of radio in the US. Listeners tuned in to hear soap operas, like The Guiding Light, crime dramas, like The Shadow, and science fiction, like The War of the Worlds, which was so realistic a panic was set off because listeners thought Martians had actually invaded earth.

Fast forward again to 2014: the podcast Serial was an investigative journalism story told over multiple episodes. Suddenly, everyone was talking about Adnan Syed. Was he guilty—or not? Serial podcasts helped rekindle the pleasure of having someone tell us a story. About a year later, audiobook sales began to surge. Coincidence?

Which brings me to another point: oral storytelling creates more of an emotional impact than reading. Research by the esteemed University College London summarized it this way: “The statistical evidence was very strong that audiobooks produced a stronger emotional and physiological response than visual storytelling mediums. This finding is consistent across different stories, and different participant ages and demographics.” Audible’s CEO and Founder, Don Katz proclaimed, “Audible was founded because we believe deeply in the impact that powerful listening experiences can have on hearts and minds.” In other words, the oldest storytelling format is new again.

But what does all this mean for writers? Some authors are now writing specifically for audio format, skipping print and ebooks altogether. Audiobook publishers like ACX and Findaway Voices are making entry into this field more accessible. However, hiring a good voice actor is not cheap. Acting a story, with different character voices and effective voice inflection, is an art unto itself. While most experts argue against authors reading their own material, I remember a few years back when they said, “don’t self-publish.” Since then there has been an explosion of successful, independently published books, so stay tuned and watch the audiobook trend. I know I will.

WHY THE WORLD NEEDS STORYTELLERS

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By El Ochiis

Recently, some influential economists have made a case for why we still need English Majors.  Now that seems an odd request since English majors are down almost 26% since the Great Recession of 2008, according to data compiled by the National Center of Education Statistics.

So, why would there be more students studying code than Chaucer?  Well, the answer lies in a three-letter word: J-O-B, prospects, maybe?  Of course, the more important reason would be parents who have to foot the bill for four years of college at an average cost of about $55,000 per year.  The exception would be me; as a parent, I encouraged my offspring to major in whatever fueled his or her passion.  The fact that one of my English major/writing offspring is now in tech valley is no fault of mine, so stop judging me Misters Tolstoy and Baldwin.

“Don’t you want your children to earn a decent paycheck?” grilled a woman at high school graduation with two sons headed to MIT.  “I want them to wander the world like I did, with no direction home, completely alone, on their own.”  I resounded, feeling guiltily giddy.  “Oh, stop quoting Bob Dylan and get real,” repudiated their dad. 

But, I was serious; the world needs the humanities, and, most specifically, English/Journalism/Writing majors who use figures of speech to:

Teach a history of a culture/to entertain/educate

Endow morals and principles on young people

Distract or divert our attention from the tough realities of life

Intellectually stimulate/Inspire (as in innovation, social change, etc.)

Predict/shape the future/Shape and change social prejudices (end bigotry, promote tolerance, etc.)

Give our lives meaning; and, express beauty

One can learn and remember far more about the judicial system and legal proceedings from Bleak House, Twelve Angry Men, Inherit the Wind and To Kill a Mocking Bird than any law school. In fact, it is Nobel Prize winner, Robert Shiller, who states, in his new book: Narrative Economics, that a history class he took on the Great Depression, as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, was far more useful in understanding the period of economic and financial turmoil than anything he learned in his economic courses.  When asked if he’s essentially arguing for more English and history majors, Shiller said, “I think so,” adding: “Compartmentalization of intellectual life is bad.” Philip Lowe, head of Australia’s central bank, urged his colleagues to spend a little less time on numbers and more time on being good storytellers. The whole point is, stories matter.

  

Sinclair Lewis’ The Jungle chronicled the plight of Jurgis and Ona, Lithuanian immigrants in Chicago and the conditions of the workers in the meatpacking yards of Chicago.  After reading it, President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned an investigation into Chicago’s meatpacking industry. Within a year, the Meat Inspection Act was passed, along with the Pure Food and Drug Act, which later paved the way for the Food and Drug Administration.

When Jacob Riis wanted to expose, to the upper class, who might not have known that a large group of people were living in squalid conditions in the slums of New York City, in 1890, he did so with photographs rather than words, in How the Other Half Lives – it was beautiful, heartbreaking, disturbing and groundbreaking.

Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of a Life of Frederick Douglass became one of the best-selling slave narratives of the period and continues to be probably the most widely read, first hand account of the brutality, depravity and injustice of American slavery. He became an orator whose influence played a big hand in helping to end it.

“So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War.” Was how, reportedly, Abraham Lincoln greeted its author, Harriet Beecher Stowe on:  Uncle Tom’s cabin, the second-best selling book of the 19th century and the first to sell a million copies.

Storytelling is what connects us to our humanity. It is what links us to our past, and provides a glimpse into our future. Since humans first walked the earth, they have told stories, before even the written word or oral language.

It provides a shape, so that our own lives have a beginning, middle, and an end, and we can feel like we've meant something, and left our mark on the world. If just one person can tell just one iota of our life story, then we have a narrative, and are the protagonists in our own life story. This is why we create stories, and this is why we NEED storytellers. Off you go, writers in dark, silent rooms - write on – tell us a really good story.