How I Manage My Writing - Or How It Manages Me!

How I manage my writing day is by the seat of my pants! I have a WIP, as well as a monthly committment to write a newsletter, and weekly committments to write one flash fiction article, and one writer's blog (this blog). And I am a co-writer on another project that for now will remain under wraps. I also have a 9-5 that pays the bills. (The good thing about the 9-5 is that it is not 9-5 - I work for a phone line that allows me to log on and off at will.)

I have designated seperate days of the week for the flash fiction and this blog. Monday's are for this blog - I try to find topics that interest me, and that will interest other writers. Starting in March (next week) I will be following a pre-set schedule of topics, with each months topics being connected. Tuesday's are for my flash fiction (under 100 words). I find a graphic that I like, and work from that. I love trying to fit some semblance of a story into 100 words!

My WIP, and the project that I am co-author on, I work on during the weekends. Each of the four chapters that I am writing for the book that I am co-authoring has a pre-set topic, which simply needs to be fleshed out. My WIP already has an outline, and the beginnings of a bible, with work-ups for each of the major characters. One thing that I realized this past weekend is that my bible is going to have to reflect when major events happened, and where (there is a lot of reflection to the past).

My newsletter is a WIP on its own. It's purpose is to help me build a fan base for my mystery books, and to help connect me with other authors. I am fine tuning it on a monthly basis, offering snippets from my current WIP, a flash fiction piece that only appears in my newsletter, links to my existing work, and links to reference materials for writers. I occasionally showcase work that other writers have done. For my April newsletter, I will be featuring a book give-away, with a winner chosen from my subscriber's list.

Things that I am looking into doing are writing submissions for mystery short story contests, and writing pamplet sized books (around 20,000 words) on topics of interest in a wide variety of areas. 

For all of my writer friends - how does this compare with your writing days? Share how you handle your writing - we can all stand tolearn new tricks!

(c) February 2018 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.

Scheduling Blog Topics

Blogging has always been a chore for me - even when I enjoy doing it. I make a committment - as I have with this blog, and my flash fiction blog - and then find it difficult to follow through. My flash fiction blog is very spur of the moment, and I like that. It is what it needs to be. Looking back over the topics that I have covered here on my author's blog - they are all over the board! I am not happy with myself over that.

So I have decided to plan ahead - to pick topics that fit together, that make some kind of sense, and schedule them together. I am going to try and take a different theme each month, and develop content around that.

I started this blog to develop a following for my books, and I have to say that I have not done a good job at all. I am going to focus on my mystery writing, and target two audiences - other mystery writers, and readers of cozy mysteries. 

I am looking at defining a social media presence as a mystery writer, increasing my newsletter subscribers, and engaging my target audience. Publishing my blog consistently will increase traffic for each post. Adding links to my newsletter sign-up and to my personal/professional site will allow my target audience toget to know me a bit better.

Keeping to a set schedule for publishing my blogs will also allow me to see when and where I can use teasers for my upcoming work - whether it is a mystery novel, or a shorter book/pamphlet on a topic of general interest.   

Now I have an idea of where I want to go with this, and how to get there. I plan on using a calender to list blog topics, as well as teasers for upcoming work. I will also be able to look at holidays, and see how I can tie them into my work. 

Onward and upward!

You can sign up for my newsletter here: newsletter.

You can view the author's section of my site here: author's site.

(c) February 2018 Bonnie Cehovet

Blogging For Writer's

Blogging is a push button for me. I like to blog, because I like to get information out there, I like to keep my name known, and I like to promote my work. What I don't like is connecting to other writer's blogs, doing promotions with other writers, and the whole "blogathon" concept. For other people that may work - for me it does not.

So why do I encourage  blogging for writers? Because it is a way to help with promoting and marketing for our work - starting with our WIP's. What will make writers successful bloggers? Taking the content on their blog seriously - paying as much atention to it as they do to their WIP's. Chosing meaningful topics, and addressing them in a meaningful manner. 

Be creative! The content from your blog can also be used in other places. It can be used as a starting point for an article on another social media site, such as LinkedIn. You can write a series of blogs on the same topic, and publish them as a book (or booklet), or use them as a freebie for a sign-up for your newsletter. (Yes, we need to have newsletters too!)

Know the audience that you are writing for, and make it interesting for them. Make them want to follow your blog! Speaking for myself, my audience is those of all ages interested in cozy mysteries, recipies, and cats. Having said that, I do follow a few other authors blogs, authors that I respect and can learn something from. My hope is that as I get better at blogging, other authors will decide to follow me too.

Some of the things that need to be taken into consideration when blogging are consistency (how frequently you decide to blog), blog content that is related (with strong headlines that show what the content is all about), your bio (which needs to reflect both you and your writing), and whether or not you are going to allow comments (and if you do, how you are going to moderate them).

The length of the content on your blog is up to you. IMHO, longer blogs are better. Also, use images. They draw attention, and can be usd to set the mood for a particular blog. 

Have fun with this! You will be blogging as long as you are writing!

(c) February 2018 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author. 

Please Pass The Guilt

I am currently rereading a book that I dearly love - "Please Pass The Guilt", a Nero Wolfe novel by Rex Stout. Due to lack of space where I was living, it had been in storage for eighteen years. It has a musty smell to it, and I had to scotch tape the cover where it was ripped. It has a permanent place on my bookshelves, along with books by authors such as Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Dorothy L. Sayers, Laurie R. King, Sue Grafton, Mary Higgens Clark,  and Erle Stanley Gardner.

Each of these authors has gifted us with not only unforgettable stories, but with unforgettable characters. I didn't have to read past page one to be back in the time of Archie Goodwin, Nero Wolfe, and the unforgettable Fritz. I could tell you how the house was laid out, where the orchids were, how the office was arranged, and that Nero Wolfe rarely, if ever, left the house. And that, for the most part, their finances needed to be augmented by a client or two.  

These are more than just pleasant memories for me, and this is more than a trip down memory lane. In reading these stories,  in remembering these stories, I find the bar that I need to set for myself for my stories. I need to create settings that are believable and memorable. I need to create characters that stand on their own, that interact well with other characters, and that lend themselves to a series. I want my stories to be stories that are read over and over again, for pure pleasure.

In the meantime, I will be going through boxes of books that are packed in my guest bedroom, set aside the ones that I am, keeping, and box up the ones that I will either not read again, or that no longer hold my interest. Yes, I did this before I moved here a little over two years ago. I did this again after I had been here for almost a year. And this may not be my last time, but I am fine tuning what I have around me book wise, so that what I surround myself with supports me. 

My questions to you would be: "What are you reading? What books are you surrounding yourself with? Do these book support who you are now, and what your current goals are?"

(c) February 2018 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission.