I’m a great believer in accountability. In my role as a coach, I spend a lot of time encouraging clients to be committed to their future. In doing so, it is vital that they appreciate that there is no one coming to their rescue (except me, perhaps – more of that later*.)
Do protagonists have to be likeable? Of course, because how else can a reader bond with your hero? Of course not, because some of the most fascinating protagonists in literature are unlikeable, or indeed, hateful.
One of the most challenging projects writers face is promotion. How to describe our beautiful books? How to break down the book into effective social media posts? Why didn’t anyone mention this in the creative writing seminar?
I used to get into trouble in school for “daydreaming” and not paying attention. I liked school in general but sometimes I would sit and make up stories.
As a business writer, I came to writing articles late in life. Eventually, from 2004 to 2013, I wrote over 400 and posted them out there in the world — on my own blogs; on other peoples’ websites, and on article banks.
July 14th is the 11th anniversary of my business helping writers. I chose July 14th to file for a city business license on purpose, as I’m a Francophile and have lived in France twice....
Travel writing sounds so glamorous; get paid to see legendary places, sample unusual food, sleep in exotic hotels, all on a magazine’s expense account. Wow right?
I write books for writers, among other things. A Creativity Coach and Teacher, I work with novelists to help them create compelling stories, publish them, and be bold and true in their marketing.
A big shout out to Lynn Johnston, a fellow writing coach cohort, and friend. She’s got a new class up on creating character arcs. If “your character’s emotional journey IS the reader’s emotional journey,” as Lynn says, then you need to learn how to master writing a powerful character arc.
It’s nearly half-way through the year — a good time to reflect on how far you’ve come, and how far you’d like to go by the time you lift a glass of bubbly to welcome in the new year. Time for an assessment!
Writers write because they must, and it helps a great deal to be unswervingly optimistic as one writes draft after draft in an attempt to make the work better with each successive try.
The first thing to determine is how you see things. How does your brain work? Some people need everything on paper in a notebook where they can physically touch a page – while others like to store items on the computer. Do you need it to be accessible everywhere? Like in the cloud?
To make a big splash in today’s literary world, genre mixing is essential to a writer. Like a chemist, contrarian writers must mix many story elements to produce a powerful and fresh literary work. Premise and POV (point of view) must be chosen first, but then another critical choice awaits the writer.
Consistency has never been my strong point. I’ll say that up front. So the opportunity to write about how I manage to overcome this failing is something of a cathartic exercise for me.
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Beth Barany helps authors get their books completed and out into the world, into the hands of their readers.
Creativity Coach for Writers, NLP Master Practitioner, and Master Teacher, Beth Barany has been there and knows how hard it can be to take your idea and turn it into a real book, that people will actually be interested, and even yearning, to read.
She walks the talk, as her clients like to say. She is the author of the 2012 award-winning young adult fantasy novel Henrietta The Dragon Slayer, as well as the author of the bestselling nonfiction books for authors and aspiring authors.
Ready to finish your book but not sure how?
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