Tag: Writing tips

Take a NaNoWriMo Break with Me!

Niccole "DNC" ColemanLeave a comment

Sometimes you literally have to stop and smell the roses or take in the sunrise, or people watch in the city, or whatever musing fits your mood.

Life doesn’t stop moving but we can take a moment, or two, to take it all in. Musing for me is much like meditating and reflection. I’m able to breathe in where I am or where I’m going and exhale where I’ve been and what I’ve learned. I analyze what I see and how it may or may not affect me and I reflect on what I’ve seen and how different things are now.

On my channel, I’m putting together several moments of musing where I hope you can stop and enjoy the view with me.

vlog-muse-backyard-tube

I know we are on Day 14 of NaNoWriMo, and you have a word count to hit but why don’t you take a moment to muse just a little bit. Step outside, look out the window or click on the video above. Take it all in to get even more creativity out.

With passion,

DNC

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Did You NaNoWriMo Yesterday or Naw?

Niccole "DNC" ColemanLeave a comment

So how did your first day of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) go? Did you hit your word count or naw? For me, it’s “or naw” and here’s why…

Instead of trying to hit a daily word count, I’m adjusting my strategy to a weekly word count. To be exact, approx 2,000 words a week. Want to know why, because I’m a realist. I have too many other roles that I have to stay on top of in life, so I can’t allow myself to be stress out daily that I didn’t hit a goal.

What else am I doing differently? I’ve actually plot planned with notecards to help pull out details surrounding the storyline. I don’t like doing outlines, so this allows me to organically hit the areas I feel like writing about when I want to write about them. It also helps to ensure that I’m always supporting my overall plot.

My NaNoWriMo goal is to knock out three chapters for my book focused on my childhood in St. Louis.

What’s your goal and how did your first day go?

If you’re having trouble getting started, grab a little #fridaymotivation from my YouTube channel.

spur-snapshot

With passion,

DNC

How to Support Your Favorite Indie Writer

Niccole "DNC" ColemanLeave a comment

As an indie author, or independent author (i.e. I do everyone myself when it comes to the business and writing aspects), I’ve been asked by several people how they can support my journey and other indies. Outside of buying our work, there are several ways that you can support your favorite self-published author. Here are four ways to love on them.

  1. Buy their book, preferably directly from the writer and don’t wait for a discount. One of the hardest things a writer can do is get paid for their craft, directly. When I say directly, I mean without something or somebody taking a piece of the pie (after taxes that is so IRS don’t come after me). Choosing to buy directly from that starving creative guarantees that they see more than 50 percent of the revenue. This may seem a bit confusing seeing that we keep also sell our books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other platforms but to be honest, we have to. Everyone won’t see this blog and for those who prefer to go through a larger distributor, we have to spread our words as far and as wide as we can. But for those of you who are reading this…ditch the big distributor and reach out to the writer.
  2. Leave a review or tell a friend. Another reason we must put our books on large distribution channels is to encourage and streamline reviews. Reviews are one of the most important actions you can take as a reader to support an author. We need honest and specific reviews to encourage others who you can write or even talk directly to take a chance on our book.  Word of mouth changes the game for all companies and it’s the same for indie writers. Pass the word around.
  3. Follow them on their channels, including social media. This is an easy, quick and free way to support your favorite wordsmith. The great thing, and at times annoying feature to social media, is its like/share algorithm. When you follow or like someone’s post, the platform creates an algorithm to share out what you liked or shared with others in your community. In other words, like away and don’t forget to comment.
  4. Give the book to someone who could help. As I stated before, word of mouth is a powerful promotional effort. If you are able to get your favorite author’s words into the right hands, it could change that author’s life forever.

So, help an indie author out. We love what we do and if they are like me, we won’t stop because it’s our purpose.

Don’t have my book but want to read or support? Visit my Passion-fy Bookstore and pick-up Untraditional or/and my poetry collection Like. Love. Lust.

 

Back at it…YouTubing that is

Niccole "DNC" ColemanLeave a comment

Do you ever run out of stuff to write about…yeah me neither but sometimes, I get tired of typing so I’m restarting my channel on YouTube. Yep that’s right, I’m sharing spur of the moment thoughts about all things pertaining to a writer’s life in hopefully under three minutes!

Check it out. Subscribe or just like a video or two. I hope to inspire you to keep pushing and letting the words flow. And maybe make you laugh a little along the way.