I started Been Writing? over 10 years ago. TEN YEARS. In those ten years, I've had a rollercoaster of a writing career, but the one thing I come back to again and again, is my love of talking with other authors - talking through career choices, goals, and manuscripts. I've done this at writing conferences, … Continue reading MOVING!
Author: Jolene Perry
Dear Writer, You’re not Alone
It's past midnight and you're dying for sleep, but lie awake with your characters screaming to get out. Dear writer, you're not alone. You've created the story of your heart, and you send it into the world, only to earn a growing list of pass letters. Dear writer, you're not alone. You're tired and wonder … Continue reading Dear Writer, You’re not Alone
COMMON MISTAKES: The Big Picture Edition
I don't love framing posts about writing in a negative light, but honestly, this is the easiest way to talk about the things I see SO often, that I'll never be able to do them in my own writing again (at least I'd like to think so, but probably that's wishful thinking). I'd also like … Continue reading COMMON MISTAKES: The Big Picture Edition
The Crippling Possibility of Success
Here's the wonderful and terrible thing about creative work: YOU COULD MAKE IT BIG. One painting, one song, one poem, one video, one...book...could change your entire life. Twilight, Harry Potter, Where the Crawdads Sing, To Kill a Mockingbird, and so many others that I could go on for a LONG time. An author's breakout novel, … Continue reading The Crippling Possibility of Success
A Few Notes From a Freelance Editor
I've been editing for friends in exchange for other bookish favors for almost ten years. I've been doing freelance editing for about three, when I decided that I needed a day job that wasn't related to my creativity. The other day I ran across a book review where the reviewer was bashing the editor of … Continue reading A Few Notes From a Freelance Editor
Trying New Genres – What I Learned
I spent a few years ignoring timelines and ignoring the honest WANT to keep up with having books under contract, and I experimented. I wrote a thriller/horror with a supernatural/sci-fi style twist (think X-Files) and started another one or two in that same genre, and I wrote a MG novel with a hint of magic, … Continue reading Trying New Genres – What I Learned
Let. Go.
I've been in a few conversations lately that remind me how much writers treat their works like their children. I have a good friend who I'm sure will hit the publishing world in a big way at some point. There's a fantasy he's been working on for a long time. It's the first writing project … Continue reading Let. Go.
Things We Forget
I remember a moment of time before I signed my first publication contract when I would hear published authors say - All of you newer writers, enjoy this time of no deadlines, where you are writing purely for the joy of writing. Where you can shut out the world, deadlines, editors, and critics and just … Continue reading Things We Forget
Hone Story-Telling Skills Without Writing
I'm going to start this post with a short personal note. Over the past week I put a house on the market that I designed and built. I had my first surgery outside of wisdom teeth removal and have been stuck in bed. And while bed-ridden, moved from the house I built into a basement … Continue reading Hone Story-Telling Skills Without Writing
Manuscript Isn’t Selling?
The thing I hear most often at writing conferences is the following : I’ve edited and edited. Worked and worked. And I still can’t get an agent or publisher interested in my Manuscript. So, I paired up with MAKEREADY DESIGNS/QUIRKS & COMMAS to offer the following: A free read of chapter one (no more than 4k) – at … Continue reading Manuscript Isn’t Selling?
