We had a great prompt group this morning—I wrote about some unsettling characters that continue to tug at the corners of my mind—and we spun off into an interesting discussion about the writing process, how on the first go-around, our words often seem so dull, and our ideas and situations feel so clichéd. That can be a roadblock. Revision, of course, is one answer, we decided, and a reframing of the issue: it’s not a cliché, but a universal truth—you’re tapping into something deeper because it’s something that affects all (or many) of us. The trick is then to make that universal truth yours in the telling. In the end, only you can tell the story YOUR way, from the unique and individual view of your life, life experiences, and perspective.
One prompt was two beautiful pieces of artwork, not mine, so not translatable here on the blog, but the other prompt was a fun one that generated some good stuff:
FAST CARS
*****
And on the business side of the writing life, here’s a great piece about what an author website should accomplish, with specific tips and action items. (Thanks for the link, Lori!)
Many authors have a website simply because they have been told that they should have one as part of their online marketing strategy. The problem is, there is very little strategy involved at all; rather they build a site without really knowing why they’re doing it.Without truly understanding why having a website is necessary—or what its full potential is—a site will collect virtual dust. In some cases having a bad website can be worse than having no website at all!