Clay’s Printed Success Points
Clay’s Printed Success Points
Focus on What’s Important to You
For most writers, success is measured by big events: book sales, great reviews, financially exciting contracts, unexpected sales rankings, a won award. These things are certainly not meaningless, but they’re transitory. They come; they go. They happen; they don’t....
The Necessary Shape of a Story
We all have to anchor our stories to get the best responses from readers, and one of the best ways to do that is to establish a clear beginning, middle, and end. How you go about it, whether you outline or not, is your business. How it turns out is the readers’...
Define What is Sacred to the Characters
One of the most powerful ways to deepen anthropological realism in literature is to determine what your characters consider sacred. If you think about it, the answer to this question is what rules our lives; why should it not guide the characters you write? When I say...
The Dream and Its Price
Americana literature is storytelling that captures America’s character through its people, landscapes, struggles, traditions, and shifting dreams. The genre reveals America’s identity through lived experience rather than abstract or academic philosophy. One of the...
Foreshadowing That Pays Off: How to Plant What Matters Without Giving It Away
One of the tell-tale signs of a master storyteller, as opposed to a competent one, is not what is revealed in a story, but when it is revealed—the icing on the cake. Advanced writers understand something newer writers usually do not: the most powerful moments in a...
Inserting Natural Action into a Scene
One of the fastest ways to inject life into a scene is action. Not noise. Not chaos. Action. Few tools change a scene’s energy as quickly as a sudden physical altercation: a shove, a punch, a grab, a chair tipping backward. Used correctly, a physical altercation...
Write Dialogue Actors Can Say Naturally
One of the most important lessons a writer can learn about writing good dialogue, especially dialogue meant for actors to speak, is simple: dialogue must sound natural when spoken. Dialogue, if properly written, isn’t found on the page; it’s found in the air, spoken...
Accountability Begins with Intention
Most people think about accountability only after a project begins—such as showing up, meeting deadlines, providing progress reports, and doing check-ins to gauge your status. They consider the consequences if you fail to show up. But true accountability doesn’t start...
The Habit of Forward
I didn’t realize when moving forward stopped being a conscious decision and became an ingrained habit. Initially, forward motion felt like discovery. Each new task I completed, each small success I achieved, fostered the sense that movement was shaping my future. I...
The First Momentum
The first time effort changed my world, I felt it before I understood it. It wasn’t a dramatic moment; it was an impulse. We had few neighbors during my boyhood, but as I walked down the road, I saw wild onions growing in their yards. Someone had mowed their spring...
The Quietness Beneath the Striving
In that quiet moment, I realized I was no longer striving. For most of my life, I chased something I could never quite name. I moved against the ticking of an internal clock only I could hear, always aware that time kept moving forward. No actual Big Ben was telling...
When Being Seen Was Costing Me My Voice
I had been visible for years before I realized I was disappearing. My name appeared on programs. My work circulated in rooms I wasn’t in. I was introduced, quoted, and invited back. People recognized me in hallways and said kind, even effusive, things about my...
Meeting Myself Later Than Expected
I realized I had become someone I didn’t recognize. It didn’t come with an announcement. It was a transformation unfolding in the most ordinary circumstances. I was standing in a doorway, of all places, listening to someone speak harshly to me about a matter that, at...
On Time
Who can turn the world on with her smile? I grew up watching The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, so I was bouncing off the wall, as a young screenwriter, when Mary Tyler Moore’s MTM Enterprises (co-owned with Grant Tinker) wanted my script. Mary...
Limits
I was raised to believe that when I came to an obstacle, it was a personal shortcoming if I did not push through, a personal failure if I did not succeed, and a personal cowardice if I gave up. Those beliefs inhabited the marrow of my bones and festered in the...
Listening
I always believed that human glory and life’s meaning were found in the senses: what I saw, touched, felt, heard, smelled, and tasted as I sped down the passing lane of accomplishment. These things provided the richness of living, complementary to the mountainous...
The Chair is Still There
Mostly working from home for the majority of my life, there was no boss to meet, no comptroller checking my clock-in for work, no meetings I had to be on time for, only me, waking up and stretching in bed, thinking of how I envisioned my day to play out. Most days...
Making It Before It Has a Name
There were periods when I began something simply out of interest, long before I understood why, and, oddly, the not-knowing at times unsettled me more than the effort itself. I am, by nature, a planner and a builder, and to be the best at that, one needs to know from...
Working Without an Echo
There are stretches when work and life carry on, yet the world goes strangely muffled, and I’m left facing a reflection I don’t repetitively acknowledge. The first time I became aware of this was after years of working in the collaborative arts of television, film,...
The World Got Wider
For a long time, I believed that anything worth pursuing should come with a clear signal, some sign, momentum, or external confirmation that I was moving in the right direction. I think I was waiting for the circus to come to town. Looking for that exterior...
Patience: The Invisible Skill That Builds Every Writing Career
Every writer wants to move faster. We want to hurry to finish our current draft, to sign a deal with an agent or publisher, to see our book on the shelf, to build a colossal number of social media followers, to make it on a bestseller list, to win an award, our list...
Build a Platform: Developing a Presence That Connects
Many writers and marketing experts think of a platform as a box a writer stands upon and shouts from. Nothing could be further from the truth. A platform is simple. Its full extent is the bridge between your work and your potential reader. Whether you are an emerging...
Show, Don’t Tell: Use Sensory Details to Immerse Readers in Your Story
By nature, we see what happens in a story and hear some of it in the dialogue. But every reader also wants to feel the story in the emotions, to also hear the footsteps in the attic above in the empty house, to smell the oncoming rain in the ozone, then smell the...
Write a Strong Synopsis: Practice Writing Effective Summaries of Your Work for Agents and Publishers
A synopsis is often misunderstood as a summary of a story. That’s not its purpose. Its point is to prove to someone else (agent, editor, publisher, bookseller, reader) that you understand story, not specifically the story, but how to build a story. It’s a preview...
Reading to Write: Why Great Writers Are Always Great Readers & How to Be Both
Writers tickle our senses and imaginations across space and sometimes time. This is how writing and reading work. For most, it’s a sensory and passive experience. For writers who are reading, it should be more. Every page we turn—good writing, bad writing—can teach us...
Use Writing Prompts to Reignite Creativity
Every writer, regardless of their experience, occasionally looks at a blank screen and the words just don’t come. I used to think writing prompts were a silly waste of time. I’ve since learned differently. Anything that can get you typing and your brain cells firing...
Discipline: Commit to Writing Consistently, Even When You Don’t Feel Inspired
Discipline is the quiet, unglamorous engine beneath the hood of every writer’s life. Inspiration is always fun and welcome, but it’s like lightning: you can’t get it to strike on schedule or make it hit you. A career writer can’t expect to build a solid body of work...
Understand Copyright Laws
Writers have many misconceptions about copyright and copyright law. Whole college courses have been designed just on this subject. What I’d like to do is distill the most common aspects of copyright law here, so at least you have a working knowledge of the...
Know Your Audience
Almost everyone who writes something and sees it published wants someone to read it. For example, I would like you to read this blog. Everything we write that we share exists in a relationship: you and the reader. A writer who does not have an audience or does not...
‘Why’ You Write Is ‘Why’ They’ll Keep Reading
In this essay, I want us to reconnect with our core intents. Every writer hits that moment: the plot stalls, the characters go quiet, the pages stop piling up. And, if you’re honest, pantser or plotter, it’s not just the book that is stuck. You’re stuck! How could...
Why I Rewrote My First Chapter Six Times
I’m going to take you behind the scenes with this essay. This morning, I rewrote the opening of my new book—again, for the sixth time. I think I’m getting close. I don’t usually count my rewrites, but this one is different. The first chapter has been a thorn in my...
Crafting Strong Protagonists That Hook Readers Instantly
If your story feels like it is stalling right from the first page, your problem might not be your plot. Before you rush off to rewrite the progression of the first chapter or maybe insert one of those unnecessary prologues, take a moment and look at your protagonist’s...
Deadline-Driven Drama: How Time Pressure Shapes Story Stakes
I’ve written plenty of scenes that felt technically perfect. I’m not patting myself on the back, but they had good pacing, good dialogue, perfect structure, and everything progressed and developed as it should. And the scene still didn’t work. I used to try to fix...
The Anatomy of a Perfect Title: What Every Writer Should Know
Have you ever stared at the top of a blank page, not looking at the story but looking at the title, and felt like a complete idiot because you can’t put a name to the thing that it took you 120,000 words to write? You’re not alone. In my consulting work, titles stop...
Writing the Wind: Capturing the Soul of the Your Landscape
We are all writers from somewhere. For me, it is the South, and more specifically, Appalachia. It’s my culture, just as your culture is yours, and it makes up who I am and what I express as a writer. As I write this essay about my place and time, think about your...
Why Values Matter: Writing Characters Whose Morals Shape the Plot
Have you ever written a scene that looked good on paper, but there was just something about it that didn’t have…something? Maybe it felt hollow. Perhaps the characters said all the right things, yet…Maybe the setting was vivid, and you described it perfectly,...
Beyond the Message: Why Advanced Writers Must Let Theme Emerge, Not Dictate
As writers, we often feel this burning need to say something important. We’ve lived. We’ve lost. We’ve witnessed. We’ve studied the human condition, wrestled with pain, and collected moments of truth we feel everyone should know. We feel impassioned. We want to take...
Writing for Actors – How Clear Objectives Make Characters Irresistible to Actors Wanting to Perform Your Work
I’ve been a professional actor, and I’ve written for actors, and I can tell you that when actors read a script, they’re not looking for beautiful words; they’re searching the script for a purpose, a purpose aligned explicitly with the role they are interested in...
Mastering the Ticking Clock: How Urgency Drives Scene Momentum
One of the most powerful tools a writer has in his pocket is urgency. When you think about the last great book or movie you read or saw, the one you couldn’t seem to move fast enough through because it was so incredible and you had to rush forward to find out what...
The Silent Promise: Why Writing is a Commitment to Yourself
If you’re like me, writing isn’t just about putting words on a page. It’s about writing something with meaning. It’s a promise. Every time you write, you make a silent contract with yourself that your thoughts, stories, and ideas are honest, fair, and worth capturing....
Success Point of the Day: Why Writing is a Business: Balancing Creativity and Profitability
When we think of writing, we think of sitting at a keyboard or with a pen and composing our thoughts. Sometimes, some of us will expand our thinking and include writing as part of the reflective time when relaxing in the evening or taking a walk to decompress (though...
How Layered Writing Engages Readers and Elevates Your Story – Writing Tips from Clay Stafford
Writing Tip of the Day: Introduction to Layered Writing — What Is It and Why Should You Care? Layered writing sounds pretty much like it is. It involves weaving multiple narrative elements into the same passage or scene, such as plot, character, theme, emotion, and...
Writing Is a Habit, Not Talent: How Mindset Shapes the Writer’s Journey
I don’t know how often someone has told me about their idea for a book, and I’ve told them they should write it only to have the next line out of their mouth be, “I would if I had the talent.” Talented writers love to say it is about talent, but I’ve known some...
How to Intentionally Create the Perfect Day—Everyday
This essay is crazy talk. Yesterday was the perfect day, a snapshot of what every day could be like in my ideal world. We all know that life interferes. That’s what life does. I used to think that these sorts of days, the perfect ones, were anomalies, but over the...
What Writers Can Learn from Thomas Perry’s The Butcher Boy
I’m interviewing writer Thomas Perry in a few days, and I thought it might be fun to return to his first book, The Butcher’s Boy, his first novel and the winner of the Edgar Award that year. It’s easy to see why it separated itself from the competition. It exemplifies...
Brand Yourself Before Someone Else Does It
I’ve always liked to create. I’ve always wanted to teach and inspire. I’ve always wanted to work in any medium I wanted. I wanted to work in any genre I wanted. I was so firm in my beliefs that I declined awards because I thought they would categorize me. I still...
Show, Don’t Tell: The Power of Sensory Details in Writing
In my years of teaching at universities and conferences, lecturing on podcasts, and conducting instructional panels and presentations, I have encountered the phrase “Show, Don’t Tell” as one of the most basic yet often misunderstood phrases and pieces of advice and...
Timeless Storytelling Lessons from Hadestown: What Writers Can Learn from the Broadway Hit
How Hadestown Uses Timeless Storytelling to Captivate and Inspire Writers As I left the performance of the Broadway touring production of Hadestown at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC), it left me thinking about the storytelling techniques that made it such...
The Business of Writing: Why Writers Must Think Like Entrepreneurs
Writing Is More Than Just Art—It’s a Business People are attracted to writing because of numerous things: crafting and exploring great characters, shaping and developing new or familiar worlds freshly visited, and telling stories with compelling plots, subplots, and...
Storytelling Lessons from A Trip to the Moon by Méliès
Why A Trip to the Moon Still Matters for Writers In graduate film school, I first watched Georges Méliès’s short 1902 French film A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune). At the time, I didn’t really appreciate all it had to offer. It’s a classic, for sure, often...
Writing Guest Blogs: Understanding the Blog’s Audience
As I repeatedly mention, we writers all want to satisfy the end-user, the reader. When we get invited to write a blog for someone else’s website, we have another person to please: the website owner. As a writer, I believe I am in the customer service business, so when...
Screenwriting: Making Connections
You’ve heard the phrase: it’s not what you know; it’s who you know. I’m not sure I’d agree with it. Knowing “what” is crucial for anyone to do their craft, vocation, profession, or job. However, you can have the best skills or offer the best product in the world, and...
A Writer’s Business Plan: Mission, Vision, Goals
We all need a business plan…even writers. Maybe, especially writers. We write because we love it. But how are we supposed to pay our bills? It doesn’t happen by accident. We, like anyone else in business, need a business plan. It’s essential in doing the work we love....
A Look at Traditional Publishing: Cons (Part 3 of 3)
While traditional publishing offers credibility and support, it’s not the perfect fit for every writer. The process is slow, competitive, and often demands compromises. Potential drawbacks from collaborating with a traditional publisher could affect the writer’s...
A Look at Traditional Publishing: Pros (Part 2 of 3)
With the rise of self-publishing, some writers may wonder if traditional publishing still holds the same value. The answer is a resounding yes—for the right author and the right project. Traditional publishing offers unparalleled benefits, from professional editorial...
A Look at Traditional Publishing (Part 1 of 3)
In my years of working with writers, much has changed. There used to be only two book publishing methods, both of which I utilized many decades ago. One was to work through a traditional publisher. The other was to do the prep work of the traditional publisher and...
Sagging Middles: Deepen Character Motivations by Introducing External Pressures
Deepening your characters’ motivations in the middle section of a story is vital to increasing the narrative's momentum. The middle section of your story, rather than sag, should be dynamic. It should further complicate the plot and use those motivations to create a...
Writing for Video Games
I was asked to be a guest speaker at Comic-Con about adapting written works into video games. It was an incredible conference experience, with lots of energy, a standing-room-only crowd of inquisitive minds, great networking, and a boatload of shared information. I...
Tunnel Vision Is Your Friend: Embrace the Focus
You only see what you are looking at. You can only scrutinize what you are intensely focused on. That is part one of what I discuss here. Part two reads like this: According to Growth Law firm, 80% of car accidents are caused by a driver being distracted. Two percent...
Memoirs: Writing a Good One
You’re not writing an autobiography; you are writing a memoir. So, what’s the difference? A lot. An autobiography tells about your life. A memoir is a narrative work where you reflect on a particular time of your life, an experience, or maybe a theme of a specific...
Screenwriting: Competition and the Reality of Script Submissions
From my position as a speaker, consultant, writer, filmmaker, entertainment CEO, and founder of Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference and the Killer Nashville Network, I often feel authors are near-obsessed with getting their books made into films,...
True Crime: These Cases Are Real
I’m a fan of true crime. I founded a writers' conference (Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference) partly because of my desire to explore it, learn more about forensics and law enforcement, and hang out with writers who spend their lives looking through...
The Four Ps of Marketing: How It Applies to You (Part 2 of 2)
In the last essay, we discussed an overview of the Four Ps to create an effective sell-through plan for your books or services. In this essay, I’d like to apply those principles directly to writers and speakers. The last essay was an overview; this essay focuses on...
The Four Ps of Marketing: An Overview (Part 1 of 2)
Marketing is a pivotal aspect of the journey for a successful author or entrepreneur. To grasp the fundamental marketing elements, we will delve into the Four Ps in this essay. These four pillars are crucial. Every writer should comprehend from the outset how each of...
Writing Early Readers
As many of you know, I’ve written a collection of children’s books. One of the companies I worked for is a massive producer and distributor of board books, picture books, early readers, and chapter books. For those of you who, like me, write for different age groups,...
For the Love of Graphic Novels
I’ve never written a graphic novel. “Why, then, are you writing about them?” you might ask. Because I love them. Sometimes, I think they get a short shake in the literary world. Because I’ve seen the smirks from my academic colleagues when I saw I love reading them....
Public Speaking: Defining Your Niche
I do a lot of public speaking, probably one event per week. I’ve been doing it for decades. I speak to a wide variety of groups, including presentations for Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference, Bouchercon, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Chongqing...
Writing Lyrics and Music: Start with Authentic Emotion
I usually write about aspects of literature, but today, I will veer a bit. Several out there seem to be songwriters or budding songwriters and have asked for some songwriting tips, knowing I’ve had a little musical background, including writing, producing, and...
Writing Guest Blogs: Know Your Goals
I often get asked to write guest blogs, and I’m sure you do, too. Or maybe writing a guest blog is something that you are thinking about but don’t know the best way to go about it. From my experience, understanding your goals is the best result for you when writing a...
Live Purposefully Every Day
My daughter showed me something yesterday that filled me with pride. It was a list of what she wanted to accomplish in 2025. She’s fourteen years old. It made me wonder how many adults put together such a list, how many adults want to live their life that...
Where the Mountains Speak: Writing the Essence of Appalachia
Because of my background, much of my writing is centered around the southern Appalachians as a setting, a setting I often view as a dynamic character in my storytelling and certainly an equal participant in coaxing out the secrets of my characters. The areas close to...
Public Speaking & Interviews: Understanding Your Audience
Speaking to groups and participating in interviews or presentations is not just a task, but a joyous opportunity to connect with new people, share my passion, and increase individual awareness in the community. If you're not yet involved in public speaking, I highly...
What is Americana Literature?
You don’t hear much about Americana literature. It’s a subgenre that fits well into other main genres. It’s what I write. I like to work on it the most in my script and manuscript consulting with studios and publishers. Americana literature, which has its roots in the...
The Difference Between a Personal and Academic Essay
There are seemingly erudite writers who not only publish writing we expect, such as novels, nonfiction books, and short stories but also write essays. I used to wonder what an essay was and how to write and sell one. After years of playing with this and publishing...
Tie Up the Loose Ends
It drives me crazy when things are left unfinished, including story endings. An excellent story ending includes many things. It is not simply the plot but also character resolutions and thematic finality. Tying up loose ends leaves me with closure and emotional...
Creativity is Living in the Now
“You’re very creative.” You said it before to someone. Probably several people have said it to you. People collectively think of creativity as something we are born with. That’s probably partly true. But no matter how well I was born to shoot basketball hoops, if I...
The Skinny on Writing Children’s Chapter Books
Because I’ve had some decent success writing for children, I often get asked about various aspects of writing for that demographic. It’s a fun demographic. I love seeing younger people excited to read. As a writer, I always try to envision my reader when I’m writing,...
Define and Create Your Life: The Value of Mission Statements and Vision Statements
I am, at heart, a writer and an entrepreneur. One of the best things I have found for both aspects of my work is creating clear mission and vision statements. You might say my vision and mission is to be a full-time writer. That’s not enough. You might say my vision...
The Game Board Four: Mechanics, Story, Interaction, and Dynamics
I have never created or written a board game before except for little awkward things I drew on paper pre-adult. I’ve been asked to write one. Because I know about board games? No. Because I’m a writer and, throughout my career, I’ve been asked to write some crazy...
Great Beginnings—The Core Attributes of a Strong Protagonist: Clear Goals and Complex Motivations
Great beginnings hook readers, but before them, they hook agents, editors, publishers, script readers, directors, actors, producers, and studios. When you think of great beginnings, one of the best ways to start your story is with a strong and memorable protagonist....
How to Get Your Book Made into a Movie: Why Some Books Don’t Make Good Movies
Hollywood has an allure, and I am often asked, in my consulting work and at conferences such as Bouchercon and Killer Nashville, “How do I get my book turned into a film?” The first answer to the question is straightforward but not always easy to accept. Do you have a...
Creating Writing Accountability for Self-Discipline and Productivity
Writing, unlike many other professions, is a self-employed endeavor. This unique aspect of our craft necessitates cultivating writing accountability for self-discipline and productivity. Every day, the responsibility is solely yours. It would be best to find...
Self-Empowerment: The Key to Getting Things Done
We just finished an election season. Thank God that’s over. It never ceases to amaze me that many elections are held around the premise that someone else will fix our problems. They are not. Ever? Never. We fix our own problems. Bringing this home to writers, it's...
The Next Time You’re Feeling Down…Write
I’m all about reading, but I’m also all about writing. Answers are not necessarily found in self-help books, in fixing everything that “is wrong with you,” or staring out the window thinking about how things could be better. Sometimes, our self-reflection seems...
Perfectionism. Really?
My daughter caught my attention. “But I want it to be perfect.” It was a moment of awakening. My daughter's innocent desire for perfection echoed my own inner struggle, a battle I’ve been fighting for years. The realization that this ideal of perfection was already...
Empowered, Value-Driven, Purposeful Living
Sometimes, achieving success can feel like a maze. Decisions that don’t work out, choices that make us unhappy, shots in the dark that make us look foolish; all these outcomes keep us on edge. But there is a solution: be yourself. I’ve always felt, still feel, and...
The 4 Steps to Get What You Want…In Less Than 30 Seconds
A friend of mine, a buyer for a major bookstore chain, told me that when book sales reps come into her office, the rep has around thirty seconds per title to sell her a book title. First, as a writer, that’s frightening, but I started thinking about that. Thirty...
Why Recognition Is So Important
As writers, recognition is not just a mere acknowledgment. It’s a profound emotional need. I had a poignant realization during one of my weekly Thursday lunches with my wife. As we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed a young man holding a sign by the side of the...
How to Write Offensive Characters
Conflicts are one of the central features of a writer. Unfortunately, or fortunately, conflicts run amok in the real world, and writers, as painters of the natural world, are left with a canvas that must be filled. But how? You write about all the complex characters...
Unveiling the True Creative Self
Sometimes, who we think we are as writers is not who we are. The self-image we construct as individuals and creators is often shaped by what we want to see or believe we should be. However, our authentic creative selves lie much deeper and are frequently at odds with...
We All Have the Power to be Leaders – And We Should Take It
Leadership is a universal concept. Whether you're a boss, an editor, a writer, or even self-employed, you're not exempt from it. There's always a hierarchy in sales or any form of human interaction, even for those at the top of the ladder. This universality of...
Mastering the Three-Second Window: How Writers Can Break Through Digital Noise
We, as consumers, are constantly bombarded. Every day, around 60 billion messages are sent through various electronic channels. Many of these messages find their way into our inboxes, social media feeds, or recommended content personalized just for us. The average...
Fixing Education
I’m an educator. I have been for decades. I’ve taught in high school. I’ve taught college. I have guest-taught everyone from pre-school to Ph.D. candidates. I beat to my own drummer. I listen to those I teach and meet them at their level, not the level dictated (and I...
Navigating the Writing Labyrinth
Being a writer often feels like wandering through a labyrinth. Every path offers possibilities, but not every path leads to success or fulfillment. I know; I’ve been there. Writers who contact me sometimes feel overwhelmed and paralyzed by the complexity of career...
Choices Have Consequences
Everything has consequences, from ethical considerations to long-term goals. Every choice we make, from what we eat to how much activity we get in the day or how much we write each day, is a short-term choice that affects long-term goals. Life is not a tidal wave; it...
Don’t Forget the “Why?”
Writing is not about adding more subplots, making things complicated, adding a boatload of characters, or using some sort of gimmick. Writing – no matter what you’re writing – is about developing stories that resonate with readers, address the reader’s needs, and...
Navigating Discipline, Distractions, and Desires
A friend of mine is down on his luck. He feels he lives in a life of broken promises. Name a subject (home, work, career, dreams, family, finances), they have all disappointed him. He had a time when things were going great for him. Now, it seems, everything has...
Embracing the Rollercoaster: Navigating the Ups and Downs
It's comforting to delude ourselves that our lives and careers should follow a steady upward trajectory, like a climbing line on a graph. But in reality, they resemble the unpredictable zigzag of the stock market, with its ups and downs. This fluctuation is not a sign...
Mastering the Morning: A Time for Productivity and Focus
When it finally hits us, we wonder why we didn’t realize it all along. You’ll laugh when I say it. But after you think about it, you’ll realize that this might be your reality. It is this: Great things don’t happen to you. You make great things happen. It sounds...
5 Common Misconceptions About the Writing Business
Professional writing, like anything professional, is a business. For those who want a career as a writer, business requires daily attention, just like writing. Remember: if you are not growing daily, you are getting worse. There is no stasis, stagnation, or limbo in...
Embrace Marketing Joyfully
Some writers write purely for the joy of it, for the sheer pleasure of expressing themselves. Their interest doesn't extend to publishing, and that's perfectly fine. Their satisfaction lies in writing itself, which makes all the difference. Others write because they...
17 Qualities of a Leader
As a speaker on leadership, I often address diverse groups, not exclusively writers. However, it's crucial to recognize that writers are indeed leaders. They are the driving force behind their teams, the origin of all creative endeavors. Today, I want to delve into...
Brainstorm
Embrace the joy of brainstorming. It's a process I love, filled with cool ideas that may not all work out, but some are definitely keepers. And even the ones that don't stick around forever can lead to even more fantastic ideas. It's a constant process, and I...
Plotters or Pantsers: You Are a Multitude
Plotter or pantser? I am not fond of those terms. I am not fond of those discussions. I was on a panel discussion at Bouchercon last week, and my answer is that we are both. If you ask a professional writer if they are a plotter or a pantser, you’ll probably see them...
Regardless of Results, Don’t Lose Your Focus
At Bouchercon this weekend, I had the opportunity to connect with several writers who, like many of us, have encountered some bumps in the road. These setbacks, whether it's a timing issue with the release, distribution hiccups, or a lack of expected coverage, are all...
Build Your Personal Brand
The big question I received today as Guest of Honor at Bouchercon is: How do I sell more books? I especially got this question as I spoke with all the authors participating in the Discovery Zone individually. It is a great question, but I will dart a little around...
Prioritize Your Writing
I am humbled to be a Guest of Honor at Bouchercon 2024 this week. So, in honor of all the wonderful authors I am meeting this weekend, I’ll share with you the common questions I’m getting from writers as I appear on panels, walk the halls, and generally interact with...
Inspire Yourself to Improve Your Skills
So, writer, you are your boss. And what is it that a boss might have that an employee who is told what to do every day might not have? Self-discipline. You must put your butt in the chair, as some say—every day. I'm getting asked many questions as we go through Killer...
Find Contentment in Your Creativity
We don’t have to know how the gas stove works. We use it. It has its function. But it is not the same with our mind and our life. We don’t want to use our life (and we certainly don’t want someone else to use it). We want to enjoy it. We want to experience it. We want...
Incorporating Business Practices into the Creative Writing Process
I knew little about business when I started my first company at fourteen years old. Surprisingly, I made money at it. I had a camera, a sound recorder, a manual typewriter, and a heavy imagination. I traveled to businesses, telling them I’d like to make commercials...
Fundamental Principles for Effective Marketing and Publicity
As a former owner of a successful publicity and marketing company, I've accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience. Recently, I've been reflecting on some fundamental principles that I used to guide my team. These principles are not only essential but also have...
The Power of Storytelling: Shaping Our World
What is a story? Stories, with their profound ability to shape our understanding of life, are the very essence of our existence. Stories help us understand the world. From early infancy, stories are a part of our world. It is how we learn. Stories are more than just...
Six Common Questions About a Writing Career
So, you're considering writing a book or becoming an author, but you're unsure where to start. Let's address some of the most common questions I receive as the founder of the Killer Nashville International Writers' Conference; the #1 voted writers’ conference in the...
Guarding Time and Building Relationships: The Essence of Modern Marketing
We have two things we should guard: time and health. We are all super busy in a world where technology is supposed to make everything easier. Technology opens opportunities and bombards us with offers. It overwhelms our time, distracts our attention from important...
The Nature of Creativity: From Mysticism to Self-Expression
Throughout history, there have been differing beliefs about the source of creativity. In ancient times, creativity was believed to be a gift from the gods, beyond human capacity. The Renaissance shifted this belief, attributing creative power to individual human...
Finding Yourself
It's important to remember the following: It's easy, perhaps too easy, to let our egos grow in the writing business. When readers, agents, or publishers praise our work, or when we receive a great review or sell a million books, it's natural to feel elated. However,...
Understanding the Service You Offer as a Writer
When it comes to writing and being an author, it's important to remember that we are essentially in the business of offering a service. Therefore, we should ask ourselves what kind of service we offer and how well we provide it. In my early days of business, I made...
Embrace Creativity in All Areas of Your Life
Why should we care about creativity? Because it's not just a concept, it's a tool that can give our lives meaning and expression. In the end, it is our life. Creativity is a broad term that we often overlook. It's not just about art or music, it's about the unique...
Yes, You Could Be a Self-Employed Author
What if you could have no cap on your dreams or your income? It’s hard for us to think about that sometimes, and it's effortless to limit ourselves. Writers often have employers who give them a paycheck. That’s good; otherwise, we’d all live on the street. But...
Crafting Your Unique Brand Image
Have you ever taken a moment to reflect on how you present yourself, not just as an individual but as a brand? This is a critical part of promoting yourself, your products, and your services. The good news is that you can shape and manage this image. Every interaction...
Put Yourself First
I’m sure you’ve heard that you need to work harder when things aren’t going your way. I’m sure you’ve heard when you work harder, someone has the sage advice that, no, you need to work smarter. When you’re working smart, everyone suggests that you keep an eye on the...
Forget the Rules. Just Write.
When I started studying writing, I thought there were rules. There are not. There are good practices, but there are no rules. If you are following rules right now, they are holding you back. When I started writing, like the Greeks, I thought there was some Muse, some...
Create Something Wonderful Today.
Yesterday, a friend told me, “Oh, I’m not creative,” to which I replied, “Oh, yes, you are.” We are all creative. Some of us use it more than others. Some of us have developed it more than others. Some of us give ourselves permission to “look silly” more than others....
Seven Common Questions I Get About Writing Full-Time
If you're aspiring to have a career where you write full-time, it's crucial to understand that it's not just about the writing itself. It would be best if you also grasped the business side of it. I aim to equip you with the knowledge to achieve that balance. To be a...
Crafting a Custom Marketing Plan
Has someone ever mentioned creating a marketing plan to you? Have you done it? Sometimes, when I tell authors they need to develop a marketing plan, their eyes either glaze over or they go into fight or flight. It doesn’t have to be that way. Marketing plans are...
Seeds: Life’s Lessons
You had a bad experience. You spent all day writing and turned up with nothing. You had an interview, and it didn’t go well. You sent your manuscript to an agent; they sent it back with a preprinted “no thanks.” The movie deal fell through. The publishing deal fell...
Tell the Truth and Tell It Well
One of the most difficult parts of writing is telling the truth. When you sit down to write, you think of an idea, an occurrence, a story, a portrayal that happened, and something in your mind says, don’t write about that; you were told never to mention that; you are...
Writing Poetry: From Childhood Limericks to Published Works
I’ve always had an interest in poetry even though much of my life I’ve tried to figure out 1) what it is and 2) three-quarters of the time trying to figure out what deliberately abstruse poets are trying to say, if indeed they are trying to say anything other than...
Incorporating Gothic Elements into Your Writing: Here Are a Few Themes
I am a gothic writer. It is my interest, heritage, and culture. One of my hopes is that, if you are not a fan of gothic literature or know very little about it, you’ll travel with me here as I explore it with you. You’ll find that many things you love about literature...
Stagecraft: The Art and Joy of Writing Plays and Musicals
As a kid actor, I grew up in the theater, so it is natural that I should be attracted to writing plays and musicals. You may have never thought about it. It’s rewarding, even as an exercise. In plays, you have the visual of what is happening onstage and the spoken...
On Being a Writer: Overcoming Doubt and Getting Started
It’s odd that many of us who are accomplished in various fields do not consider ourselves authoritative enough to discuss our work or how we do it. We might consider ourselves hobbyists, but we never take ourselves seriously as professional writers or as people who...
The Allure of Crime
Crime is rampant and always has been. You think we’d be sick of it. Instead, we’re fascinated, maybe in the same sense as seeing a train wreck. And it is not a recent development. The first homicide on record happened 430,000 years ago to a poor Neanderthal man who...
23 Checklist Items to Write a Great Mystery
Since I founded a conference based on literary genres (the #1 vote writers’ conference in the U.S. according to The Writer magazine), it might be fun to look at some of those genres. The first, with a conference named Killer Nashville International Writers’...
Creating Buzz Using Social Media Headers
Most websites have a header, and your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other accounts also have headers. Instagram posts can also pose as headers. What does all this mean? You have free billboards all over the web. Use them. If you know you will use headers, make...
How Acting Benefits a Writer
So, yes, I was an actor most of my life. I remember my first audition vividly: the nerves, excitement, and adrenaline rush. It’s a good gig for a person who likes to perform, likes to put on the skins of other people, likes to tell stories, and for a person who likes...
Easy Southern Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe
Everyone who knows me knows that I love to cook. One of the most popular posts I’ve made with some of my creations is my Southern biscuits. These biscuits are a labor of love, a recipe passed down through generations in my family. They're not just a breakfast staple...
Creative individuals are anomalies. Embrace it.
When you reveal your identity as a writer, you notice a shift in the atmosphere. The curiosity in their eyes is palpable, and as you delve into your craft, their interest only grows. “Have I come across your work?” they inquire. But as the conversation veers towards...
The Power of Strategic Thinking
Almost everything I’ve accomplished has been a result of strategic thinking: positioning myself in opportune moments, aligning with partners who can elevate me, introspecting on my unique perspective, and uncovering what sets me apart, even from AI. The possibilities...
Latest Social Media Stats
Communication used to be slow, though personal. I would tell a friend something and say the same thing to another friend. They might tell another friend if it seemed tragic or humorous enough to share. Social media changed all that. With a few clicks, we can tell...
Proactivity vs Reactivity: The Power of Self-Direction
Our self-perception is a potent force, one that can shape our lives. It’s not always an accurate reflection, often a blend of what we think others perceive. But it’s crucial to tune out these external voices and focus on our self-perception. This shift in focus is...
I Guess It Is Simply Luck
A friend of mine told me I was lucky. We went to college together as undergraduates, majoring in music composition and arrangement. His goal was to become famous, and he wanted people to remember him three hundred years from now (his words). My goal was to make a...
Success Has Three Moveable Parts
Extensive research on beliefs has consistently shown that our perception of a situation or beliefs about a problem significantly influences our success in achieving our goals. This means that our views and opinions about writing, editing, publishing, art, the...
Choose Your Life; Don’t Let It Be Chosen
We either live our lives or let others live their lives through us. Life is a constant series of choices: Do we assert our authority, or do we relinquish that power to others, institutions, or philosophies that do not align with our true selves? As I grew up, societal...
The Myth of the Starving Artist
I firmly reject the notion of the starving artist. As artists, we embark on a journey of apprenticeships, paying our dues, and equipping ourselves with formal and informal training. This is not a struggle, but a part of our personal growth and development. Isn’t this...
The Power of Personal Branding: Building Relationships and Reaching Global Audiences
You must think of yourself as a brand. Branding is letting people know about you, your accomplishments, offerings, likes, and maybe your dislikes. I think of branding in a different mindset than marketing. Or PR. I owned a marketing and PR firm that was quite...
Write and Don’t Look Back
Exceptional writers are often hindered not by their lack of talent or skill but by their self-doubt. We frequently convince ourselves that our work is inadequate and our thoughts are not worth sharing. In our pursuit of security, we overlook that genuine security in...
Creativity: The Conflicts in a Writer’s Head
Creative people have messy minds, which is one of the reasons I include posts about helping you get organized. My mind is a mess; if you’re creative, I’m pretty sure yours is, too. We need all the organizing help we can get. Messy minds are desired. That means we have...
Churn Your Passion into Profit: A Call to Pursue Your Dreams and Live Your Best Life
Much to the chagrin of my parents, I refused as a teenager to work for money. I worked on what I loved. Even today, my wife will tell you that money has never motivated me. It has always been about my work, which has always been about expressing myself and encouraging...
Will and Honesty: The Key to Success in Pursuing Your Dreams
This concept has been discussed many times, but it came back to me when a writer with immense potential informed me that they were considering giving up. When someone with such talent and potential says that, it’s a moment that calls for reflection. I don’t encourage...
The Seven Stages of Editing: A Comprehensive Guide for Writers
They say writing is in editing. Contrarian as I am, I’d say writing is in the writing whatever you’re doing, but that point aside… Let’s talk about editing. Editing, like writing, has various stages. I will look at all of them here, from the widest angle to the...
Empowering Your Creative Team: The Importance of Leadership and Collaboration in the Entertainment Industry
Writers need a team to help foster their creativity. We must develop a successful team and business and support a creative culture in an industry marked by the bottom line (if we view writing and entertainment as a business). What I've learned from building my own...
Finding Fulfillment in Doing What You Love: A New Approach to Life and Work
You already know this, or if you don't, you'll learn it soon enough: our lives do not simplify the more successful we get. The more successful we get, the more things come at us and at an alarming speed. As I've mentioned before, our society thrives on productivity,...
The Two-Headed Beast of Publishing: Quality Books and Marketing
There have been many changes over the past decades in publishing, and maybe even the last centuries, but none to me are more notable than the understanding of the shift between the control of the staff of editors at a publishing house and the now powerful grip of the...
Embracing Challenges: A Philosophy for Artists and Creatives
In the four noble truths of Buddha, we learn that life is suffering. So, often to the point that we sometimes turn a bit negative and think of suffering as a form of normalcy in a career in the arts. It’s not. It’s an opportunity for growth and success. If we follow...
Writing One Book A Year: You Need Your Cake and Eat It Too
An agent friend of mine who teaches seminars for writers strongly advocates that writers produce one book per year to build their brand but then laments that when their writers start doing this, the quality of the books often goes down. The agent makes me laugh (in a...
Embrace Your Imperfections: Some Thoughts on Overcoming Self-Doubt and Unleashing Your Creativity
My daughter is in seventh grade, which is Middle School. At this age, there is a lot of judgment and self-criticism. Some people believe that this behavior is just a teenage thing, but I disagree. I think it continues throughout life but just takes on different forms....
Navigating the Creative Process: Reflection, Patience, and the Value of Time
Feeling uncertain and emotionally insecure at the start of a creative project is not only common but also a sign that you're embarking on a new and exciting creative journey. This feeling, though it may seem daunting, is a part of the process that even the most...
Marketing Your Writing: How to Sell Your Work in Conversations
With over two million books published each year, as writers, we do not simply need to add another book from us to the pool on the market. What we need is a book sold. We’ve all been in that situation where someone we don’t know comes up to us and asks, “What do you...
The Art of Being a Collaborative and Supportive Team Leader
Good boss? Bad boss? Which do you want to be? I come from three collaborative fields (filmmaking, publishing, and publicity and marketing). In all these, I have worked as a team member or leader. I have had occasional arrogant and self-centered team members (who were...
The Twenty-Five Year Rule: A Traditional Path to Becoming a Great Writer
Writing takes time. Attendees, when I do presentations, look at me with a cross-eyed effect when I tell them I think it takes about twenty-five years of constant study after one simply learns the basics before one knows what they are doing. There are exceptions, of...
Finding Happiness and Creativity Within: A Personal Journey
Some of my friends spend their lives unhappy, working on their books, lamenting that they are not selling more books, trashing their industry for the way it works, and all the time, they keep plowing discontentedly in their field of choice, never satisfied, never at...
Plan Before You Act: A Simple Technique for Achieving Business Success
To succeed in anything, it is important to know where you are and where you want to go. This applies to driving across states, building a business, growing your family positively, or helping your community or religious organization grow. Action is essential, but...
Speaking or Training: Opportunities to Give Back and Boost Your Career
Looking for a way to make a difference and enhance your personal growth? Consider becoming a speaker or trainer. If you have a wealth of knowledge to share and a passion for improving others’ lives, there are countless opportunities to give back to a profession or...
Unlocking Success as a Writer: The Power of Knowing Why
Most writers know how to write. They think through that. The successful writer, however, knows why he does certain things because—as we all reluctantly know—there is more to a career as a writer than writing. Knowing why, always asking why, will cultivate a mentality...
Rewriting: The Key to a Remarkable Manuscript
A remarkable manuscript is not a well-written one. Shocked? It’s true. A remarkable manuscript is a well-rewritten one. That’s what makes all the difference. Numerous demands and requests for rewrites will occur throughout the publishing or production process. The...
Bullet-Proofing Your Serious Conversations: 10 Tips for Handling Difficult Situations with Grace and Respect
There are times when you must have serious conversations. These might be with your agent, manager, accountant, editor, publisher, bookseller, spouse, or even kids. It’s not the conversation that turns out to be the problem; it is how you handle it. What you need is a...
The Power of Direct Connection: How Authors Can Build Their Own Audience Without a Publisher’s Help
Like many of us “old guys,” we have lived through multiple changes in how books are published, delivered, and, most importantly of all, how we connect with potential buyers of our products.It used to be that publishers and their publicity departments were the...
In Things That Matter, We Do Have Control
Talent is what we do naturally well. It is what we seem to be born with. It is what, as young children, we play using. We have control of our play.A forgotten part of talent is keeping with it.A dreamer dreams. A writer writes. I have found talent is not as uncommon...
Creativity is Transcendence
What does it mean to be creative?Part of being creative is establishing an individual world perspective distinct from our animal selves and our cultural expectations. Still, we can’t do that without constantly viewing ourselves simultaneously within the context of the...
It’s Your Thing
Writers need to have that serendipitous thing. But what is it? We know that thing when we see it, hear it, and read it. This thing is different from how we choose to write (longhand, Goodnotes, desktop, laptop, Apple, PC). It’s not what edition of thesaurus or...
Social Media: Use it Correctly
Social media serves one purpose: interacting. Within interacting, it can serve four functions: learning about other people, allowing other people to know about you, learning how different people can share you with others, and learning how all of you can serve each...
The Seven Traits of Success
I’m going to give you a list of seven things that make a major difference in the success or failure of your career and life: motivation, hard work, talent, ability, presentation, luck, and opportunity.This will be short and sweet, but as we look at these, evaluate...
The Myth of Innate Writing Talent: Why Anyone Can Learn to Write
I firmly believe that writing, like any craft or art, can be taught. If I had not thought this, I would never have devoted decades of my life to teaching at universities, speaking events, and creating the Killer Nashville International Writers Conference [...
Think Big to Be Big
SUMMARYWriters (or anyone) must aim for big goals and take bold actions to achieve them. Success results from thoughts and actions; we all need to think and act more extensively to achieve more. Setting outlandish goals and creating actionable plans to achieve them...
Seven Marketing Essentials for Modern Authors
SUMMARYThis post is about the seven things a modern author must have and the four things an author's website must do. It emphasizes the importance of having a website and making it easy to navigate, with quick loading times and updated content. The post also provides...
Discovering Your Passion: How to Make a Living by Doing What You Love
SUMMARY It is vital that you do what you love and not settle for a job you do not enjoy. Success is simple: know your strengths and do what you are good at. However, if what you love is not what you are good at, there are three options: do what you are good at and...
Realistic Writing: The Art of Implying and Suggesting
SUMMARYBoth fiction and nonfiction works are illusionary and do not represent the complete reality of the subject matter. However, this does not make them any less of a mirror of truth or a proper examination of a subject. Writing should reflect the seen story world,...
The Burden and Courage of Creativity
SUMMARYCreativity is essential to human nature and brings new ideas into existence. However, creativity can threaten some societies that may not appreciate change or innovation. Expressing creativity requires individuality, which is more prevalent in democratic and...
Perennial vs Bestseller: The Writer’s Dilemma
SUMMARYThere is a difference between bestsellers and perennial books. Bestsellers are often books that are popular only for a moment and forgotten soon after. In contrast, perennial books address the state of human nature in universal terms that can apply to humanity...
The Importance of Marketing in Writing and Promoting Your Book
SUMMARYMarketing any product or book is essential, but what are you really marketing? Although most of us are not trained in marketing, we must learn it ourselves. When it comes to writing, we need to think about marketing before writing, and we must have a promotable...
Time Management: The Key to Creating Beautiful Days
SUMMARYTime is essential, and we should structure our lives to have internal motivation and control. Setting meaningful goals and achieving them efficiently is the key to creating beautiful days. To take control of our lives, we must prioritize and focus our time on...
The Endless Possibilities of Plots: Breaking Free from Limitations
SUMMARYSuggesting a limited number of plots to create a story is formulaic and restrictive. Plots are not to be confused with genres, style sheets, or themes. Plots need to be original and creative, and they should capture the complexity of life, relationships,...
The Art of Creativity: Breaking Rules, Finding Precedence, and Sharing Stories
SUMMARYLet’s look at creativity and its role in the creative process, emphasizing the importance of breaking established rules and recognizing the advancements made in the discipline. To be creative, one must know precedence and cultural influences. Writing itself may...
Four Ways to Develop a Value-Oriented Mindset
SUMMARY Writers can develop a value-oriented mindset and create wealth by providing value to their readers. This is achieved by going against the status quo, being willing to fail, seeking value in mentors, and making yourself and others wealthy through creating...
Understanding Not Only the Idea of Marketing but, More Importantly, the Goal
SUMMARYNote the differences between the idea and the goal of marketing. The concept of marketing involves reaching the target audience, while the goal of marketing is to create an executable plan that focuses on a specific timeline, an integrated campaign, and ideal...
Making Time Management Work
SUMMARYTime management is the key to making important things happen. Being busy is not the same as being productive. Successful time managers focus on objectives rather than activities and set their own priorities instead of those of others. Delegation is a great art...
Protagonists Don’t Have to Be Likeable; They Have to Be Unforgettable
SUMMARYA protagonist doesn't need to be likable, but rather they need to be unforgettable. The protagonist is the one who moves the action forward and is the person in action. We don't have to like the protagonist, but we need to be enamored by them. The protagonist...
Don’t Give Up on Your Creativity
What excites us and that we want to create as artists is our defining trait, the unique thing that only our voice can express. What we want to create sometimes can be at odds with what others want us to create or what we feel we ought to create. I want to urge you to...
There is No Fuzziness in Success or Failure
There is no fuzziness between success and–I hate to say the word but–failure. The precise form of a goal’s outline is as sharp as a child’s drawing, where the silhouette is three times darker than the shaded coloring of the interior. We call that ‘drawing within the...
How Social Media Enriches
It isn’t easy when you Google your name and find yourself on page nine of the search and wonder how many people (you feel none) are going to click through nine pages of Google entries to get to you and your books when they don’t even know to look for you and your...
Three Ways to Keep Excitement Going
Ever had that great idea and thought, ‘This is going to be a wonderful book’ or ‘This book is going to change my career,’ and then sometime after that, maybe six months from that moment, two months, even two days later, the idea becomes lackluster and dies either a...
Writers Beware: There is No Formula for Writing
As someone who runs a writers' conference (https://www.killernashville.com), teaches classes, speaks before groups (https://claystafford.com/contact), and interacts with writers at social events, I’ve noticed that many writers, especially beginners, seek out rules or...
Have Courage to Be Vulnerable
Perfectionism is a killer. Creativity cannot flourish without allowing shortcomings shored with courage. We need to give ourselves permission to fail. This means encouraging ourselves to become vulnerable.Vulnerability is scary, but it is also the essence to our true...
Not selling? Take a Look at Your Marketing Plan
When we start out, and sometimes even after we reach a certain level, we can’t seem to grow, or we hit a plateau, though we seem to work harder. It may not be our books. Instead, I would look at your marketing plan.One of the ways to kick-start where we are is to...
First, Create a Product Worth Marketing
One of the best marketing tools ever? Have a product worth marketing.I can think of dozens of expensive media book and film campaigns for stinkers that hardly sold any books or theater tickets. It’s no surprise. Word of mouth is the savior or destroyer.Once word of...
Let’s Be Our Own Creative Revolution
One of my favorite quotes is from Napoleon in referring to the end of the French Revolution. Bonapart proclaimed boldly: “I am the Revolution.”As successful people, we need to become the definition of success rather than strive to fit into a definition of success. We...
Why Not Write as You Think?
What have you written today? Have you been inspired?There are two types of writers: those who talk about being writers and those who actually write. There is a bit of old-school, old-time romance in saying that you are a writer. And you can always say it and get ohs...
Increase Your Working Memory
How do you remember all that stuff? Well, writing is not a passive activity. Like any business, it includes the three stages common to all commerce: research and development, production, and sales.In this blog, I want to address the first of the three: research and...
Don’t Compare Yourself
Mental health – good mental health – is one of your greatest assets as a writer. Did you know the stresses and the perceived demands and competition associated with being a writer equal those of the most powerful company executives or political leaders? According to a...
Create a Marketing Plan Your Publisher Can Support
If you are the average author reading this blog, publishing companies do not have the financial or staff resources to market your book. Your editor will lobby to get a promotional budget for you, but more than likely they will be salmon swimming upstream. Do not blame...
Embracing the Climb
Writing as a profession can appear challenging. It can seem never easy for anyone. We all find ourselves either striving to secure a place on the charts, or constantly glancing behind at those eager to surpass us on those same charts. There are hordes of contenders....
The Power of Growth
We will never possess complete knowledge of the craft of storytelling. At best, we might acquire a fraction of it eventually. This should not discourage us.Each book, film, play, or short manuscript created represents a distinct narrative. Every story portrays a...
The Happiness in Being Creative
Creativity brings happiness. Whether it is writing a short story or cooking a new meal that we enjoy experimenting with, both are valuable creative acts. Our hobbies are expressions of ourselves, showcasing our abilities and intellect. They reveal something to us. We...
Master Time for Writing Success
Time is invaluable; wasting it equates to wasting your life. Taking charge of your time means taking charge of your life. This does not entail constantly watching the clock or seeking ways to accomplish as many tasks as possible in the shortest amount of time. It...
Building Trust through Transparency Marketing
Many individuals I work with view marketing as a way to sell a product or service. For me, nothing could be further from the truth. I don’t want sales; I want relationships. In fact, ultimately – if I may be so bold and brazen - if I can, I’d like to better someone’s...
Transforming Self-Perception: Unlocking Writer’s Happiness
Too many writers are too often unhappy with their level of writing success.Today, I would like to address those who are making a living as writers, as well as those who are diligently striving to make a living as writers, and a commonality I have seen in both. I’d...
The Power of Writing: Understanding Yourself
At its most basic, writing is nothing more than putting words in order. The order of those words will depend upon you: your skills, your training, your innate ear, and ultimately when you have mastered all your skills, your voice.Writing takes us places we never...
Unveiling the Messy Path to Creative Writing
An article in the Creativity Research Journal states something that most of us already know: a writer’s mind is a messy place, sometimes even scary (this last observation is my own).The report calls the writing process a “voyage of discovery” that begins with a “seed...
How to Succeed as a Profit-Oriented Writer
Business owners make a legal, financial, and personal commitment. You need to think of yourself as a business owner, as an entrepreneur. You need to run your operations as a business. You need to make money. And you need to know how to keep the most of your money....
Word of Mouth Marketing Comes from Changing Other People’s Lives
Word of mouth is the best marketing tool you have. I’ve seen companies and individuals go from nothing to having over four-million visitors per month to their site. I’ve seen companies and individuals double their annual sales easily using marketing tools designed to...
Don’t Let Fear Keep You Down
Sometimes as creatives, we don’t try because we don’t want to fail. But the truth is, if we try, we don’t have to fail and are not likely to fail, but if we don’t try, we do fail by default. Not trying for fear of failure is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s all how we...
Writers are Both Born and Made
I’m a believer in the concept of psychological nature/nurture. A friend of mine who is a psychologist puts the ratio at fifty-percent nature (the traits that we are innately and genetically born with) and fifty-percent nurture (the life lessons and environment we...
Creativity: The Transformative Power of Getting Lost
To be creative, one must become totally lost in his work. It’s almost a type of trance or hypnosis where you go to a place that is distant and beyond where you are in physical time and space. The obsession remains as long as the creative work is unfolding. Once it...
The Importance of Leadership to Writers
Everything starts with the writer. You might not think of it that way, but many people’s lives and livelihoods depend upon you, or will. An assistant, agent, editor, publisher, bookstore, or film studio cannot make a living without you. Readers have nothing to read,...
Master Your Speaking Skills for Added Success
One of the best ways to promote yourself is to speak before groups. So let me walk you through the three basic steps: being able to speak, developing a program, and marketing yourself as a speaker.I’m not going to get into how the number one fear of most people is...
Transition from Calling Yourself a Writer to Truly Experiencing It
Uttering the word “air” won’t fill up your child’s birthday balloon; neither can saying “O2” improve your loved one’s breathing.The simple truth here is that words are merely expressions.It’s the actual experience of air, its existence, and our interaction with it...
Creating Engaging and Active Literary Experiences
A work of writing (whether it’s a novel, nonfiction, poetry, short story, essay, film, or play) that is interactively told serves as a portrayal of an experience (emotional, physical, real) on the part of the writer. It becomes a literary blueprint for the reader to...
Don’t Be Afraid to Venture into the Zone
Okay, let’s get a little weird. Let’s talk about something intangible: creativity.True creativity is not easily understood. It doesn’t chase riches; instead, it thrives on ideas and emotions. For creative individuals, the act of creation itself is something that they...
Mastering Interpersonal Skills for Writing Success
Relating to and getting along with people (agents, editors, publishers, producers, other writers, reviewers, interviewers, readers, the list goes on forever) is one of the hardest parts about being human, if not the most challenging part of being a writer. One wrong...
Offer Limited-Time Discounts, Not Free Books
Everyone wants a good deal, but at the same time, everyone wants value.I’m going to deviate from the crowd here and provide a contrasting opinion on book sales and free books: offer limited-time sales, but forget about giving away books for free.Free books convey a...
The Importance of Pursuing Writing Passion
In a study I read from the University of Chicago, in the past decade, the percentage of people who say they are “very happy” has dropped from thirty-six percent to only nineteen percent. Only one-fifth of the population is happy. Not to joke, but that’s quite...
Unlocking the Reader’s Mind: Control We Wish We Had
If writing were mathematics, then only half of the equation would be in the writing itself. The other half lies within the reader. We can write what we want the reader to know, but when they are reading it, the big question is: do they get it? Not always. I’ve been in...
The Importance of Community in Writing
Every day I wake up with a passion for writing, driven not solely by the words I compose, but rather by the community of people with which I share my world. Unlike many writers who find the craft of writing to be a solitary and lonesome pursuit, my experience of...
Unleashing Your Authentic Potential as a Writer
Many people have the misconception that the smartest, most talented, or most degreed individuals make the best writers. However, this belief is fundamentally flawed. While abilities, curiosity, and a strong grasp of the basics are certainly important, the ability to...
Create a Unique Marketing Plan to Attract Your Ideal Readers
When it comes to marketing, many new and experienced writers still have a common misconception. They tend to observe what other writers are doing and copy their strategies, regardless of whether they're applicable or not. This approach is flawed because marketing...
Boost Your Brainpower with Writing
As writers, it is crucial that we not only focus on our writing skills, but also on building and improving our brainpower on a daily basis, just as an athlete does with their body. The potential for intellectual growth is infinite, and it is essential that we take the...
Improve Your Writing Skills with Practice
Have you ever experienced having a brilliant idea in your mind, writing it down, and then feeling disappointed with how it turns out? You're not the only one. Oftentimes, we are able to visualize our thoughts vividly, but fail to convey it effectively when committing...
Unleashing the Mysteries of Creative Expression
The craft of writing is undeniably a form of creative expression, but what exactly does it mean to be creative?True creativity stems from both internal and external sources, as the mind's capacity for creative thought is constantly being influenced by the surrounding...
Write What’s Important
Life is too short.In our fast-paced world, time is a commodity that we can never get enough of, or even get back. This is especially true for creative individuals who have countless ideas and limited time to execute them. It's easy to get sidetracked and lose focus...
Marketing is About Building Relationships
Writing is a craft that offers a platform for writers to share their stories, but the literary world is highly competitive.To truly shine, a writer must possess marketing expertise. It is essential to don the hat of a marketer in addition to being a writer, as without...
Harnessing the Power of Words: Igniting Progress and Change
Many writers withhold their genuine thoughts, opinions, and beliefs in their stories and nonfiction, fearing the consequences that might ensue. However, as writers and thinkers, aren't we supposed to be the moral compass of our generation?Our words hold immense power...
Creating Captivating Books
As an avid reader and reviewer, I peruse countless books and manuscripts seeking publication while also indulging in literature for my own enjoyment and enrichment.Amidst my hectic schedule, I must prioritize my time and seek ways to lessen my responsibilities to...
Boost Creativity and Productivity with Daily Exercises
Centuries ago, creativity was not something that human beings were capable of. The muse was given to us by the gods.Times have changed. As romantic and divine as the previous notion was, if we make creativity a part of psychology, we’re still talking about a unique...
Optimizing Your Writing Business for Success
We’re no longer an in-person profession when it comes to connecting with others. Like all businesses – and writing is a business – the digital age has transformed the way we buy, sell, and connect.Multiple platforms for doing business, marketing, and publicity have...
Don’t Forget to Self-Market
I read an eclectic mix. I bet you do, too. I bet you have several books (fiction and nonfiction) with bookmarks holding the spots where you stopped, maybe a book (or two) of poetry, and maybe – for some of us – a screenplay and stage play or two?The world of writing...
The Power and Influence of Writers
If I had to choose between the two most powerful professionals on the planet, I’d choose teachers and writers, and both could be one-in-the-same.Writers carry and claim a matchless influence and leadership with their ability to distill the essence and values of...
Overcome Writer’s Block: Type Twenty Words
Ask any writer.Writing anything – a novel, a poem, this blog – can be a stupefying undertaking.First draft?Second draft?Words sometimes won’t come. So ofttimes we choose to find ways to keep them from coming at all.Anything we do will work: sweeping the floor, getting...
How Marketing & Publicity Can Set You Apart As A Writer
With the number of books published every year, being a selling author requires more than simply being an incredible writer. Even before your book hits the bookstore, you need to perfect the art of marketing and publicity. Wait, what? Yes, you read that right. For...
Unleash Your Potential and Thrive
Sometimes we feel like everyone has power other than us. In the publishing and entertainment worlds where I work, those forces could be agents, editors, publishers, distributors, the buying public, the critics, the list goes on. In other careers, there are similar...
Get Your Characters a Job
I was reading a story recently about a character who had a job doing a certain thing. Beyond that, I had nothing. There was no tie-in with his life, the plot, any of the other characters. It got me to thinking.We all have jobs. So do characters. It can be president of...
Let’s Make a Plan
It’s 2024. First days. Already we’ve made our resolutions (that we’re probably going to break). So, offering a solution to that, I want to help you keep your writing and career resolutions intact for 2024. (The weight loss, gym membership, and painting classes are on...
Three Considerations for a Marketing Plan: Book, You, and Brand: Part 1 of 3
Authors want an easy fix for marketing their book. Preference is usually for someone else to market it. But both desires would be naive. There is no easy fix, and no one is going to ever market your book better than you. Books don’t sell by themselves and at...
Vikings Did Come To America (Dispelling Yet Another Mistruth I Was Told As A Child)
Decades ago, I read two books on how Vikings had come to America long before any other Europeans. I saw blurry photographs of structures and tools that were said to be associated with the Viking’s visit. My friend Jeff and I pretended to be Eric the Red and hit each...
9 Ways To Ensure You Write Every Day
In our current situation of the Great Resignation, I see the effects of great stress. Some are quitting their jobs. Some are being asked to expand their jobs because others have quit. Burnout is high. This is affecting writers. I’m seeing it in colleagues of mine....
Welcome To The Clubs
I was fortunate as a child: I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It wasn’t anything that anyone would consider noteworthy. Some might have found it interesting. I think my parents, family, and teachers (all to some degree) found it horrifying. I wanted...
Lolita And Vladimir Nabokov
I pulled Lolita off my shelf, thinking I might read it again after seeing it was listed on Time’s List of the 100 Best Novels, Le Monde’s 100 Books of the Century, Bokklubben World Library, Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels, and The Big Read. Not to mention it was a...
How Hard Is It To Get An Agent?
At www.KillerNashville.com, attendees come looking for an agent because getting an agent is so hard. I’ll disagree to some degree. Selling a book to the public is difficult. Getting an agent is easy IF you have a book that’s worth selling and a built-in platform to...
If You Want To Write A Page-Turner
Every writer should seek to tell their story in the most exciting and dramatic form possible. Fast-moving stories, no matter how deep, are entertaining. I lump this all together as action/adventure. I know, I know, action/adventure should be a genre unto itself, but...
The Writer Challenge
It’s easy to think of ourselves as storytellers, writing a good story, article, or poem, and leave it at that. Job well done. Maybe not.We need more.We live in a crazy world right now. It’s not the first time the world has been crazy. It won’t be the last. Literature...
Three Considerations For A Marketing Plan: Book, You, And Brand
Authors want an easy fix for marketing their book. Preference is usually for someone else to market it. But both cases would be wrong. Books don’t sell by themselves and at www.KillerNashville.com we spend an incredible amount of time teaching authors how to get the...