Writing Craft
Blog posts about the craft of writing: thoughts, resources, things to keep in mind, and more
Writers: Marketing Means Connections
Writers, stop thinking about marketing and start thinking about connections.
Intimidating and Overwhelming
The insecure, the nerdy, the introverted, the unproven writers among us (pardon me while I raise my hand for each of those) can find the concept of marketing to be intimidating and overwhelming, a mountainous thunderstorm of unknown looming in the distance, casting its ominous shadow over the our road we want to travel.
We hear “build a platform” to “market” your books. But maybe we need to rewire.
Marketing to Connections: Rewire and Rethink
Let’s rewire our brains. Every time you hear “marketing,” replace it with “connecting”. Or connections. Or connect. Or engagement. Or meeting new people. Or relationship. Or… you get my drift. Whatever word or phrase that helps you, that makes sense to you.
Connections: Be Intentional
And, let’s be intentional. You don’t have to blindly create a blog or post daily ramblings on Twitter or have a Facebook page or a presence on Goodreads or… whatever the next piece of platform advice tells you. It’s not about blogging weekly or tweeting daily. It’s not about joining every possible writing-related group online or journeying far to make a conference. It’s not about joining the “best” critique group or becoming a super-fan of the rock stars of our industry.
Marketing: Meaningful and Individual
It’s about doing whatever makes sense for you to connect with others who have something in common with you, with your interests, or with who you want to become. That’s your platform.
Your writing is meaningful and unique to you. Your marketing — excuse me — connections — will be as unique.
And that set of connections? It should be meaningful, as well.
Conclusion
Your time is precious. You want to spend the bulk of your available time writing, not blindly building a platform with pieces grabbed randomly on some pundit’s recommendation.
In the next post in this series, let’s talk more about being intentional. Let’s consider some of the factors in choosing connections.
The Three-Act Structure Visualized
Whether the three-act story structure is new to a you, or a favorite, take a visual tour.
May these different images and links of the different ways to think about the three-act structure spark your creative juices.
This post is part of a series on visualizing your novel.
Straight Plot Over Time
Different Views
Visualize Your Novel: Story and Plot Diagrams
If you are visually-oriented and producing a novel, take a look at different ways to chart your story — with plot diagrams and more. Story charts and plot diagrams can get the creativity train moving, so take a tour of the multiple-act framework, the wheel, and more.
Other posts in this series will cover other ways to visualize your story.
Multiple Acts
The three-act story structure predominates, but novelists also use the four-act, seven-act, and more variations on this theme
Visuals in the Round
The Hero’s Journey, aka the Monomyth
” In narratology and comparative mythology, the monomyth, or the hero’s journey, is the common template of a broad category of tales and lore that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed.[1] “
Stretch Your Brain
Freytag’s Pyramid
“A diagram of dramatic structure, one which shows complication and emotional tension rising like one side of a pyramid toward its apex, which represents the climax of action. Once the climax is over, the descending side of the pyramid depicts the decrease in tension and complication as the drama reaches its conclusion and denouement.“
The Hero’s Journey in 3 Acts
Visualize Your Novel: Mind Mapping
If you are visually-oriented and producing a novel, you may find this visual tour of ways to design and develop your story helpful.
Part 1 of this series covers mind maps, with examples and links to beneficial resources.
Mind-Mapping
Visually brainstorm story ideas, characters, plot, outline, and more, unconstrained by ordering or structuring