Posted on by Caroline · 24 Comments

How to Gain Interest in Your Blog

I’ve been asked to do a blog post on this to provide a little advice on how to get followers for your blog (I’m very flattered don’t you know!)

So here goes!

I think there are five main really important strategies to help gain interest in your blog and you need to be doing all of them to stand a real chance of getting lots of followers:

1) Engaging with the Blogging Community 

One of the best ways to gain interest in your blog is to be interested in other blogs! Search through blogs that are tagged with subjects that you’re interested in and which you personally blog about yourself. One of my personal favourites is the YA tag. It’s a broad subject and there are loads of blog posts relevant to me! So spend time following other blogs, as well as liking and commenting on them to start conversations with your fellow bloggers. The more time you spend looking at other blog posts and engaging with them, the more you’ll see people taking the time to look at your own blog!

2) Writing Interesting Blog Posts 

It seems obvious but your blog posts have to be a great read otherwise why would anyone read it? (I mean, would you spend your time reading about watching paint dry? Maybe you would……maybe that’s what you’re into!)

Spend time thinking up things you could blog about but also use techniques such as lists, bullet points and pictures to grab people’s attention.

3) Tagging Your Posts Correctly 

Don’t tag every word you can think of that might vaguely relate to your blog. Be specific and tag only appropriate words. A good rule is to never tag more than ten words then you will be reaching a more specific demographic of people who will want to read your posts in the future.

4) Blogging Regularly 

You don’t need to blog every day but you should aim to write one or two a week minimum to keep interest in your blog. Consistency is key!

5) Having Fun 

Enjoy blogging! Have fun with your posts – experiment and see what works! I’ve found some of my quirkier posts to gain a lot of interest so I try to use that style regularly because I know they work. 
Tip – don’t link your blog website when you comment on other people’s post. If you’re truly interested in what they have to say then comment honestly on their writing and they may decide to look at your blog and follow you back. If not, don’t sweat it! There’s plenty more bloggers in the blogging sea!

Posted on by Caroline · 4 Comments

The Writer’s Slump

Writing takes a lot of time, concentration and an engaged mind but due to being human that just isn’t attainable 100% of the time – if only we could all be vampires! then we’d get a lot more done!

Some days you’re just too tired, distracted, busy, or even just hung-over! And you can’t summon the energy to write…

Okay, I admit it! I have found myself in this situation over the last couple of days…and I’m naming it ‘ The Writer’s Slump’

I had a busy weekend and have had little time to write and now it’s Monday I’m plain exhausted!

So what can you do if you find yourself in this situation (yes, I’ve been here before…)  ?

1) Acceptance – whatever the reason may be, some days writing just isn’t going to get done. The quicker you accept this, the better because otherwise you’ll spend you’re day feeling guilty for not getting anything done and you don’t need the grief! Give yourself a break and, when you are ready to write again, you’ll be fully recharged.

2) Don’t Force It – if you try and write when you’re in one of these moods the quality is invariably going to be downright terrible. So don’t sweat it! Just take this time to do something else – for example, write a blog post about how you feel (it’s working for me!)

3)  Make a Plan – Put a plan together for your writing when you are feeling up to it in the next day or two. This way, you will be ready to go all out writing ninja when you’re feeling in the mood but relax in the meantime!

4) Have Fun – While your not in the mood for writing don’t fret! Do something enjoyable – maybe you’ve put off doing something recently to spend time writing? Watch a new film, bake something tasty, read a book or play a game on your playstation or xbox (you must have a game sitting there that needs finishing!)

Posted on by Caroline · 12 Comments

Naming Your Novel (What Really works? And Does it Even Matter?)

I think novel names are either intuitive (spring into your mind in a eureka moment!) or depressingly hard to come up with…

Thinking through some names that I love I think that best ones somehow sum up exactly what the book is about with just a few words.

Take A Game of Thrones for example – I mean wow! That tells you just what you’re getting into! It’s a genius name!

But then on the other hand there are abstract names like Twilight which works just as well but, to be honest, doesn’t say much about the story…

But does it really matter? If a book is popular it’s going to be whether it’s called ‘Flutter’ or something that gives more away like ‘Dancing with the Fallen Fairies’ ( Both could be the same book!)

What’s in a name? Would you choose a book because of a name or is it the cover what draws you? Or do you disregard all of these things and judge it based on the blurb and reviews?

Does the title of your book have to imply the genre?

If so then….

– Beautiful Creatures sounds like a book about pretty animals

– I Am Number Four sounds like someone waiting in line for an argos purchase

– The Giver….well it depends how filthy your mind is here…

– Fifty Shades of Grey…if you pick this up expecting a colour chart then you’re going to be in for quite a shock

However, I think people know something about a book before they pick it up because of what I believe to be the biggest promiting factor; word of mouth.
So is a book name important?

Yes, but…it needs to be combined with sveral other factors to be effective: cover, blurb, and most important of all content – the book has to be a great read and then, whether it’s called Poo Bucket or A Game of Thrones, it’s going to do well!

Posted on by Caroline · 7 Comments

How to be a Successful Writer (Using the Hogwarts’ Houses Method)

Writing takes a combination of skill, determination and passion and I think this can be broken down using what I like to call the Hogwarts’ Houses Method (that’s right!)

The first thing you need to be as you begin your writers journey is brave!

 
Yes! No writing will get done until you switch off that little voice inside your head that tells you that you can’t do it. Forget the fear of being judged and Gryffindor the hell out of that first draft! 

If you want to (and I bet you do) think of that evil little voice as voldemort….and who does he think he is anyway?!

Now you’ve got to have a few brain cells to rub together to get down to business with the rewrite (don’t worry just a few!) So this is the part where you can stroke your chin thoughtfully and take a leaf out of Rowena Ravenclaws book. Take your time and perfect the writing to the best of your ability!

  
Once you send your work off to Literary Agents you may find yourself in the place that most writers do; rejected. So we need to be extra Hufflepuff here people! They aren’t phased by anything and are suuuuupppppper patient. These are qualitites that you’ll need to succeed ultimately. You need to play the lonngggg game but, with a bit of hufflepuff loyalty to your writing, it’ll be more likely to pay off!
  
And some people mock Hufflepuff so I thought I’d give this little reminder…

 
Finally! You’re allowed to go a little Slytherin (gasp!) that’s right, even they have some qualities you’ll need. Just a little sprinkle of cunning…

  

No I’m not saying go write your name in blood on the walls near the chamber of secrets! (But that sure would be one hell of a promotion technique if you did!) I’m just saying you need to be imaginitive to help achieve what you want. If you wana get your book out there through traditional means or self-publishing you have to find creative ways to promote yourself! Connect with people! Make other cunning little friends and help them to achieve their goals in return! But please people let’s not become death eaters about it…
  
Whisper in people’s ears! This might work for you. Or better still, tweet, blog and network!

And remember, there’s thousands of free ways to promote your work so don’t splash out too much money on this – you’ll only get muggled off….

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by Caroline · 11 Comments

Getting Published is like Volunteering for the Hunger Games

Okay MAYBE I mean this more metaphorically than physically but, think of it this way:  you’re competing against a whole hoarde of other amazing writers, all of whom are at least equally good as you are and each of them have specific skill sets that are going to help them in the publishing world (just like the contestants of the hunger games! – but their skill sets lie mainly in killing people…)

So you have to go all Katniss first of all. Publish your book? Holy crap! This is gonna be scary but…..you’ll have to volunteer to do it or you’ll never get anywhere…

  
Then you have to submit to Literary Agents. They have so many submissions to get through so what’s gonna make yours stand out?  And how do you do that? The same way you win the hunger games of course!

  

So you carefully phrase your query letter trying to sound confident, friendly, competant, and super likeable and you click send…It’s done. It’s too late to back out. It’s all left to fate now…

  

Your mum goes all Cinna…

 
And you go all Katniss…

 
You don’t hear back from an agent for literally weeks! If only they’d say something ANYTHING!

 
And then you get a response! They liked your work (yay!) they think you have potential (double yay!) but they’re unable to offer you representation at this time…your intial response is to go a bit Cato…

  
But you pull yourself together and remember that, one way or another, you will be published! Whether it be traditionally or self-published you’ll get your novel out there because you love to write! And that’s what really matters after all….
So the moral of this twisted hunger games/publishing tale is to persevere and never give up hope! 

  
Because Katniss Everdeen wouldn’t have won the hunger games if she had and you won’t get published if you do!

Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour…
 

Posted on by Caroline · 11 Comments

Imagination Vs Reality

  

I am a shameless daydreamer, book reader, and story maker-upper and I need my fix of escapism to get me through the day!

I had a thought when I was writing this morning – how strange is it that all of these characters are just coming out of my head? Imagination is a strange and powerful thing, don’t you think?

As far back as cavemen painting on walls, humans have had a fascination with story telling and escaping from reality! We are captivated by fictional tales of heroism, tragedy, love, loss and all other manner of human emotions – despite these stories not being remotely true! 

Does that mean our lives are so dull that we are coming up with (or distracting ourselves with) lightning scarred wizards, sharp-toothed love interests who like to eat people, a teenage battle to the death in a screwed up dystopia, and sexually messed up rich guys (oh my!) ?

Yes and no. Our lives aren’t all bad, right? (RIGHT!?) but humans have an ingrained setting to always look beyond their own reality for something better. We like to explore our feelings through characters and read about unrealistic scenarios to wonder how we might fair in the same stiuation or simply to marvel at the main character’s ability to overcome adversity or fall in love against all odds etc. etc.
Here’s an odd question for you to ponder…

Would you rather know (don’t ask me how just accept that you do) that all the books you loved actually existed in some other reality but it could never affect your life OR would you prefer books to be just the way they are, wonderful, beautiful fiction?
Thanks for reading!

Posted on by Caroline · 9 Comments

This Sentence Has Five Words

So I came across this little piece of brilliance today and thought I’d share it with you:

  
What a simple, fantastic and clever way to show how sentence structure can alter the way a person feels when reading! 

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the content of your writing (which of course is super important too!) but how easy it may be to forget the importance of how that content is formatted!

Sing for me writing! Sing!

Posted on by Caroline · 10 Comments

A Good Night’s Sleep Can Make All the Difference

Last night I was struggling with my writing (I’ve now reached 56,163 words in the third book of my fantasy YA series! Woohoo!) but I came to a halt and couldn’t find my way forward. So I went to bed (my brain was pretty frazzled from a busy day!) and this morning a voila! The problem I was struggling with had somehow been worked out in my mind.

Perhaps it was just getting a little persepective, or maybe it was just a well rested brain that was ultimately the key but either way a good night’s sleep can make all the difference!
 
What helps you when you get stuck writing?
Thanks for reading! 

Posted on by Caroline · 8 Comments

Inspirational Quotes Just for You!

I have a little pinterest board devoted to inspiration quotes for writing (isn’t pinterest the greatest?). 

Some days I just feel so hopeless about my work (I’ll never be published! No one will like my novels anyway! A slug could literally write better books! Why world why!? ) – these kinds of days are pretty damn depressing  

So I thought I’d start sharing some of my favourite quotes with you and hopefully they’ll inspie you as they have me…

Today I share with you three of my go-to quotes for those days when I’m holding a flaming lighter beneath my work and a little voice says “Hey you, do you really wanna burn three years worth of notes?”

And I scream, “YES! Burn suckeeeer!”

But they hold up their little paw (I imagine this friend as a furry little creature – and yes, I am crazy) and point me towards my quotes page on pinterests

So here they are (I’ll display them as a countdown to my favourite to build some tension…drum roll…):

3)

 
Thank you Ben Franklin for this fantastic, simple piece of advice. I try to live my life this way. I wittle away the days writing frantically and then I plan adventurous holidays where I can strtech my own metaphorical wings and live life to the full and see incredible things. Life is worth living and experiencing and writing is there to turn these experiences into stories that might just resonate with others one day…
2)

 
Beautiful, wonderful W.B Yeats really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to writing. A lot of his work was inspired by heartache and unrequited love – the poor guy! But what a gift he has given to us all by turning his pain into words and inspiring us to use our own personal experiences to make our writing more powerful. 

And finally…

1)

 
Okay so this isn’t a quote about writing I apologise! And I also apologise for alienating the men from this quote but I have a personal attachment to this one. I visited the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis last year and spotted this quote on the way out emblazoned across all kinds of merchandise. I didn’t actually purchase anything because it was the end of my trip and I was tight for cash but I’ve regretted it ever since because that quote just stuck in my mind. 

After the emotional rollercoaster that is the museum (and I can’t recommend it highly enough if you ever get the opportunity to go) but as a woman this quote just hit home with me and reminds me every day of the struggles women have faced throughout history (and still do in many countries).  It’s shocking to think that, not even that long ago, women would have been looked down on for writing and authors like Mary Ann Evans (with well-known pen name George Eliot) wrote an essay entitled ‘Silly Novels by Lady Novelists’ to make sure her work was taken seriously (deep breath girls). 
Even J.K Rowling said that she abreviated her name on the cover of the Harry Potter books so boys wouldn’t be put off of reading it! I think JK put the end to that nonsense! But that was only, what, fifteen years ago?

So ladies write for all the women who couldn’t! And show the world what they were missing!
As always, thanks so much for reading! I always love hearing your feedback so even if the only thing that pops into your mind as you read this is ‘I really fancy tacos for dinner…mm yeahh with salsa, sour cream, guacamole. Oh, do I have guacamole? I’m sure I do…yeah definately’ pop it in the comments box!

Posted on by Caroline

Today I Have a Little Helper…

  

This is Ozzy the tiny German Spitz!

He’s been curled up on my lap while I’ve been writing on my ipad today. I have now reached 42,937 words in the third book of my upcoming YA fantasy series: The Rise of Isaac. Yay! (Is this due to Ozzy’s presence? Maybe! Maybe he’s the source of all knowledge, or maybe he’s just a fluffy little dog with a lot of attitude. I’ll leave it up to you to make your interpretations from the photo.)

I sometimes jokingly refer to Ozzy as my ‘muse’. I’m not sure he really inspires my stories but he sure is cuddly and good company for an afternoon of writing!

How about you? Do you have a pet or item that is often close by when you write or read?

Thanks for reading!