11) Short Stories

Short stories.

Short stories are a growing trend among all authors, new and published alike. While old publishing methods arguably did not favor production of short stories, new publishing practices with the advent of the eBook market (Here's lookin' at you Kindle/Amazon) are enabling all writers to produce and distribute short works to a massive audience. Here are some benefits of short stories:

Earning Potential: With the ability to put out multiple short stories within a short length of time, and sell them at a price that most full length novels are being sold for. Shorts offer a great way to make quick income. Per word, a short story can make more money than a novel. Shorts also offer multiple selling options. You could sell: Short 1, Short 2, Short 3. Three options right? Well consider a 4th option which won't cost you anything but a few extra minutes, sell a collection of the first three shorts as a value bundle. More often than not a reader will pick up the first short, and if they like it purchase the collection instead of individually buying the other two -which works out great for you, if you stop to consider what is actually taking place.

Bridge Between Novels: Alright, so you wrote Novel 1, and are getting to work on Novel 2. Meanwhile your loyal fans and ravenous readers are chomping at the bit to get at more of your work. To see other aspects of your world, and to be taken on more adventures. You can use short stories to sate the hunger of your followers while you type away at Novel 2, whether its to include short side stories or introduce other characters.

Networking: Short stories offer a great way for you to network with other writers and readers. You can use it to hook new readers onto your work, or to develop writing skills. Plenty of websites like Figment, and Wattpad service thousands upon thousands of new writers and offer readers looking for the next big thing a source to scour. (Shameless plug: Check out our new wattpad where we will be sharing shorts/flashfiction randomly. http://www.wattpad.com/user/WordsmithsFoundry)

Now go forth, and forge your story!
-Matt

If you liked this post, and like the blog, help us grow! Like, comment, share, tell everyone you know about this great blog and be part of a growing writer community. Follow each of us on Twitter! (@MattTaylor1776 and @derekdyer_WF) and NOW on Wattpad! http://www.wattpad.com/user/WordsmithsFoundry

2) Tasteful Dialect in Dialogue /*Writing Prompt*/

There is a time for all writers where we will encounter a new territory with new speech patterns. Be it from putting our beloved characters into a foreign country, or a made up area of our choosing in which we are not familiar with portraying through dialogue. If yer in the South 'er the midwestern part of the U.S. , or quite possibly in the fertile green rolling fields of Great Britain which are an absolute beauty to behold, there is a possibility that you are emphasizing your characters dialect in such a strong manner that the reader can find it annoying, or even humorous. I am very much a firm believer that dialect can be overdone and is only necessary to include under very specific guidelines. If yer character is a doggone good fer nothin' pistol tootin' outlaw found anywhere but where you would expect to find him, (and we all know where we would expect to find him) then you should have built your world and setting adequately enough for the accent to be implied to the reader. That is, hopefully the reader is already hearing their voice in their head with the correct accent. However, Small dribbles of dialect can actually add to your setting. For the example of the southerner, somethin' a bit lighter may be of better service. There are times as writers where we will do exactly this. We will blow our characters completely out of proportion. We will ignore all laws of literate speech and put our characters somehow above what is considered an acceptable form of communication, and send our dear readers into a fit of cacophonous laughter until they close the book and admit defeat. (hopefully your book won't collect to much dust until finding the hands of a reader who enjoys this kind of thing.) Much like a steak is seasoned, it is important we are mindful of the seasoning of our character's individual dialect.

With all this being said, I do still believe that as writers we are inclined to make our own choices as to what is appropriate, and what is not. Such is the beauty of writing. This is not a rule, but an observation based on what MY personal palette prefers as a reader. (and how I personally like to write) Think of it as constructive criticism. If you fall into the category of blowing dialogue out of proportion, (akin to Michael Bay's use of explosions) then go ahead, let this be your style.Just make sure you are comfortable with it. Find your scope, find your perspective, sprinkle in as many dialects as you see fit, and for God's sake go forth and forge your story!

-Derek

Do you agree or disagree? Don't forget to comment below and follow/share! Twitter : @derekdyer_WF

/*Writing Prompt*/

Write a scene three times using a character with an accent other than your own. Once with a conservative amount of dialect, again with an absurd emphasis on their dialect, and a third time somewhere in between.

1) Writer Networking: Twitter

An essential part to success as a writer (if you are aiming to make any profits off your work) is networking, and growing your "base". There are many ways to network with other people who share your writing and reading interests: blogs (like this one), twitter, facebook, google+, figment, etc. My post today will be focusing on one key tool for networking, if you read the title you probably can already guess, Twitter. With millions of users active every. single. day.

Twitter provides a way to connect and grow your social network. By having a larger network, you improve the number of people who will see you talking about your work, be able to offer insight on writing, as well as insight on other activities you may enjoy.

The essential part to Tweeting is to keep your tweets relevant. If you are making a twitter to promote writing, make all of your tweets about writing. There are exceptions to this, you can always say "happy birthday" if you know it's someone's birthday. Or "Merry Christmas" around Christmas time, but you want to try and stick to your purpose for the "Twitter Machine" as much as possible. Oh, and follow EVERYONE. the more people you follow, the more followers you will get. Most people stick to a code of "follow for follow." Which is exactly how it sounds, you follow me? I follow you!

Now you may be wondering, "Matt, how do I get people I don't know to see these tweets?!", that is where the infamous 'hashtag' (#) comes into play!

There are a series of hashtags the writing community has developed to connect with other writers and readers. I have compiled a list of common ones for writing. You can simply add it to the tail end of one of your tweets. ie: "Tweet tweet tweet other bird noises tweet tweet, #1k1h #amwriting" -yes, it is that easy. If I can do it, you can too!

Here is the list:
#1K1H (write one thousand words in one hour)
#AmWriting
#AmEditing
#AmRevising
#CopyWriting
#EditGoal
#Editing
#IndieAuthor
#MyWANA (writer’s community created by Kirsten Lamb)
#NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month is held every November)
#RomanceWriter
#ScriptChat
#WIP
#WordCount
#WriteChat
#WriteGoal
#WriteMotivation
#WritersLIfe
#WriterWednesday
#Writing
#WritingBlitz
#WritingPrompt
#WritersBlock
#WroteToday
#WW

By following this simple piece of advice, you will be able to help grow your network and "base" easily, as long as you stick to it. Don't just do one tweet a month, try and stick to a schedule, like one or more every other day, or better yet everyday. This is really all I have to say about this! I am still learning new things everyday, and will be happy to spread the advice to all of you when it comes to my attention!

If you found this helpful, share it! Link it to your Facebook, blog, random forum, moms fridge, and your Twitter.

Add Derek and I while you're at it! I promise, we will follow back!
@MattTaylor1776
@derekdyer_WF

If you have any questions or your own insights to share, feel free to comment below!

Now go forth, and forge your story!

-Matt

P.S. I'm going to propose we start our own hashtag! just for the Wordsmith Foundry community! #Wordsmithing