This is a guest post by Garima Aggarwal. Garima is an aspiring content writer working for TABSCAP. Coming from a journalism background, she has been into content writing for 2 years and is passionate about topics related to lifestyle, health, and digital marketing.
Reading is the key to learning
Books don’t just teach you good vocabulary, but a lot more than that.
As a child, I always found it hard to read books. I mean, who could read a thick novel containing difficult text and no pictures?
And yet, I was always been told that reading books is vital, especially for people interested in writing or those who have to interact with a mass audience on a regular basis. But very few people ever cared to explain to me why reading is important. The rather boring list of reasons they gave me included clichés like, “you will learn new…
This week was totally berserk. Every day had a twist that turned all plans on their heads and made me wondering what was coming next. Some of these incidents were caused by Covid-19, which I think is getting worse around here. At least, it feels that way because I hear about cases more often. Nothing has been shut down and everything is supposedly under control. Still, it leaves me wondering if New York is heading for another ‘lockdown’ or whatever that was earlier in the year. I don’t believe it will be as strict as before, but it really depends on how widespread the idiots are and how many take risks that turn out to be wrong choices. All I know for sure is that the last month of 2020 isn’t going to be any less stressful than the previous 11.
Thanksgiving came and went for me. Since we couldn’t have guests and my son was with his mom, it was just me and my parents. Meatloaf, potatoes, and squash straws were the feast. We had a real Thanksgiving dinner on Friday when my son was with us. Chicken, rolls, cornbread stuffing, green beans, yams, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. Great menu and my son, who has been having food issues since September, did an amazing job. He tried everything except one that was a failure earlier in the week and he ran out of room for the yams. Of course, the room was made for the pies. We got to do a little video chat with a new member of the family. Don’t think I have permission to announce anything beyond that here. It was fun, but a face-to-face meeting is going to be tough given the times we live in.
Speaking of meetings, I got to hang out with some old friends for a night. The high school crew doesn’t get together very often since we’re scattered. It really did remind me of old times since it was supposed to be an early night, but we chatted outside until after midnight. Oops. The good weather didn’t help because you usually can’t be comfortable outside in late November for so long. I think this was something I really needed this week because of the earlier chaos. In fact, this year has really taken a toll on my nerves, self-esteem, goals, and overall mental health. My psyche is a brutalized punching bag that is still dangling from the chain. Getting together with friends gave me a boost and helped forget my inner misery for a while.
Writing life saw some progress . . . I think. Do I Need to Use a Dragon? is my focus right now. I’ve finished 13 of 70 sections. Hoping to get another 3-4 done today, but I’ll be happy with 2-3. This project keeps catching me by surprise. I genuinely thought that I could use all of my notes to crank out sections and finish this with ease. Then, I ran into a problems. My anxiety is giving me issues on this. I never realized how much comfort I took from hiding behind characters. This is all me and the style of delivery is my own voice. I’m not trying to sound like a professor or an intellectual. It’s me as if I’m sitting on the other side of a table from the reader. There are snacks and drinks between us. The casualness may be a comfort for those reading it, but I’m noticing that I feel completely exposed. So, I need breaks more often than I planned. This has to be the most draining project I’ve ever tackled and it’s showing. I always thought that I could write sections at night after my son goes to sleep, but I might not be able to do that. Then again, I’m finding it easier to stop a section and come back to it later. We’ll see what happens as this week progresses.
I’m still toying with the idea of dropping all of my books to 99 cents in early December and keeping them there. Some people have understood the idea because I need exposure and sales more than money. Maybe asking for $2.99 for one book is too much since I’m a nobody and we aren’t living in great economic times. I was always told to price myself at what I think I’m worth, but ego shouldn’t be the only guide. I have to consider if I want money or readers as well as if people are going to be willing to take a chance on an indie author for $2.99. That’s really what I still am after all these years. I’m a risky investment instead of a sure bet when it comes to entertainment.
Since I keep talking about what I’m watching, I’ll keep that trend going. I got through the biggest storyline of ‘Yu Yu Hakusho’, which is an older anime. This would be the Dark Tournament story arc, which brought me to about halfway through the entire series. I needed a break and a trusted friend mentioned ‘Schitt’s Creek’. Yeah, I’m 5 years too late to jump on the bandwagon, but that’s how I roll. I never paid it much attention even though it has some actors that I always enjoy. Since I was barely able to function after the late night hangout due to being older than I used to be, I tried a few episodes . . . and ended up in Season 2 before I knew it. Obviously, I really like it and being able to watch the whole series is a good thing. I’m probably going to get into or through Season 3 by the end of the week.
This coming week is looking to be rather tame compared to the last one. Never know these days, so I won’t put money on that. I’m going to stay the course on this week. I have my son, so I want to spend a lot of time with him. That’s what this week is about, so any writing I do will be a bonus.
Goals of the week:
Time with son.
Work.
Writing if I can.
Watch more ‘Schitt’s Creek’.
Puzzle time if I need it.
Make a decision on the price drop.
Sleep.
Work on ‘Ruins of Zodiac Gods’ outlines when I have a break at work.
Write the mental health post for next Sunday. Jumping between poem or short post.
It’s difficult to be an author and carve out your own identity. There are industry standards, armies of gatekeepers, lengthy histories of each genre, and the constantly gnawing self-doubt. A negative opinion on our style can hit harder than 100 positive comments. Especially when we start, we find ourselves standing at the edge of a precipice that we pray we can walk away from. Here are some tips to help you take the first step and get away from that abyss.
Always remember that styles evolve over time. They might never reach their final form because you could always find something to add. We are constantly trying to hone our craft and make each story better than the next. So, a negative comment early on only means you, like all authors, have a temporary flaw to buff out of your style. Take it in stride and use it to evolve like a Pokemon.
Jumping on a bandwagon could help you get attention as long as you sacrifice the style you feel is more natural. This is a dangerous path. For one thing, that bandwagon is popular because somebody already took the driver’s seat and many others jumped into the front few rows to show there was more of a public desire. You may end up in the backseat and get just enough attention to succeed, but not enough to get a solid fan following that will carry over to when you try to write in your own style. This is where you have to weigh being yourself and struggling against following the trend and risking your author identity.
Similar to #2, DO NOT set out to be the next *insert famous author*. That claim means you’re stepping into the shadow of an established figure and those fans will take you seriously. Every aspect of your author identity will be put under a microscope, carefully dissected, and compared to the person you want to imitate. This doesn’t happen if you step up and claim you’re writing in your own style. Now, you can say you were influenced and inspired by that author. That’s different. You aren’t trying to claim the mantle (mantel?) and fandom.
Everybody makes mistakes with their style at some point. It can be early on when you’re still learning or later during an experimental phase. Authors are humans and we make mistakes. As long as you learn from them, you should be fine. Also, don’t forget to admit when you make a wrong turn. People can tell when others are lying in this arena.
Be wary of authors who try to help you with your style. Not with your writing, but with your style. Learning how to use commas, semicolons, and tenses is one thing. When another author that acts as a mentor starts pushing you to write in a way that is extremely different than what you started as, it may be time to think about it. They could honestly be trying to help you and not realize that they are eroding your own identity. They could reveal that their plan all along was to make a clone of themselves in the hopes of establishing their own school of writing style. (I’ve met those!) Solve the issue by talking it out and standing up for what you believe in.
Experimentation is fun. Never think that establishing your style means you can never try new things. It’s like eating out at a restaurant, but without someone at the table making enough substitutions to turn spaghetti and meatballs into a rather lacking Cobb salad.
Cherish the positive comments, but do not let them draw you into a state of staleness and egotism. People will love what you do and ignore your faults. Some may simply think it isn’t their place to point such things out. It’s the polar opposite of those who nitpick and try to destroy you. Both can cause trouble, so take them with grains of salt and open minds. That or ignore them while focusing on those that give you a more balanced opinion. Your choice.
I’m actually setting this post up in July. Hey, I should be in the middle of Grad School, parenting, working, and sleeping an hour a day, so it had to be done. Also, I’m curious to see how Thanksgiving works out this year. Will we even have it? Is this the year that turkeys turn on humanity and seek their revenge? Wouldn’t be surprised about that last question being true considering everything else that’s happened in 2020.
I stand at a crossroads
Unsure of the true path
Having thousands
Laying at my feet
Yet none of them
Feel right
*
I see many in the distance
Waving and calling
Saying their path is best
Created on their own
So they know it well
And crow its glory
*
I see a little
From other roads
A turn here
A brick there
Not enough to go
And claim the entire path
*
Gathering myself
I take my first real step
Unclaimed dirt meets my feet
Denied paths fade
And I will carry on
Writing my own way
Well, I did these for War of Nytefall and people seemed to enjoy them. Needing to give Teaser Tuesday a break, it might be fun to do my other series. Here we have 3 songs that make me think of Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero. Enjoy.
This one was an obvious choice. With Luke Callindor determined to be a hero like his ancestors, this was a song that I played a lot. He wants attention for it too, so the parts where people are being told to watch seem to work.
I went old-school for this one, but I really wanted a song about friendship. A big part of the story is Luke Callindor making new friends and them helping him with his adventure. He learns that he can’t do things on his own, which sets his mindset for the rest of the series.
I wasn’t sure about going for an anime song right out of the gate with these, but this one kept coming to mind. The anime is ‘My Hero Academia’, which involves a young man and his friends training to be superheroes. This is a song that the girl you see in the picture wrote and song for a festival to make the other students happy. It’s about being a hero and that really works for this book.
This is kind of carrying over from the ‘rules’ of writing posts from last week. It got me thinking about this blog and how people perceive it. Not the promotional stuff or the comedic things like Ye Olde Shoppe. I’m talking about when I do craft-based subjects like settings, characters, and world-building. Some people enjoy them and we have a good discussion. Others don’t pay it any attention because they think I only talk fantasy, so it doesn’t concern them. Like and move on with nary a second thought or even a full read at times. Is this the case?
I’m going to delve more into this in December with a few Monday posts where I show connections between fantasy and other genres. I’m doing Romance, Horror, Mystery, and Science Fiction. I’m still seeing if I can switch something else in for that last one because it’s usually paired with fantasy. The point of these is to show how there is overlapping between genres. Advice you get in regards to one genre could be modified to help with another. At the core, every story has the same focus and components:
Characters
Setting
Plot progression
World-building
Author style
For example, I may write a post about how you have to consider the weapons that a fantasy character will use. A halfling shouldn’t be carrying around a giant hammer without magical support and an ogre would look silly with a child’s dagger. You may look at this as it being only about fantasy and ignore it. Only this is really about character description and associated abilities. In a sports story, a really short guy probably can’t dunk a basketball. In a romance, a girl wearing heels would not be able to go charging after a taxi with ease, especially on a busy NYC street. Now, we’ve added location and setting to the mix. By taking the essence of my ‘character and weapon’ advice, you can see how any character requires that an author consider what they are physically capable of doing in a situation. It might be cool, but that doesn’t mean it will work.
That isn’t to say all of my posts can be overlapped with other genres. Magic is definitely a big fantasy thing and talking about how to design such a system is fairly niche. You can look at it as a way to create an energy/life force system in a science fiction story. Yet, you really can’t go much further than that. Again, it depends on the story. It can still trigger something that you might want to try out.
I guess a big piece of advice I’m giving, which kind of counters some stuff from last week, is that you should at least listen. Mull over what you’ve heard and see if there is anything that you can take for your own genre. Sure, your serial killer stalking Elvis impersonators won’t be hurling lightning bolts. She might be sneaking around in a way that requires building tension and suspense like one might create in a stealth or hunting scene. The suspense is for two different sides of the hunt (horror = those being snuck up on; fantasy = the one who is sneaking), but it can still be carried over. Heck, even those two things in the parenthesis aren’t true because you can flip the perspective. All I’m saying is that you never know where you’ll find a nugget of wisdom that will help you. Although, don’t assume every nugget is gold and you should add it to your basket. Some of them can be hardened mud balls.
So, what do you think about genre overlapping? Is it a thing? Have you ever taken something from one and used it for another?
Ivy Panda has created a World Map Timelapse of the spread of the English language from the 5th century to date. You can watch it in its entirety below or click on the links to jump to a specific time period:
Hello SErs. Harmony here. As promised, here is part nineteen in the post series dedicated to taking a step-by-step look at how to get your finished manuscript from your computer and on sale on Amazon in both ebook and paperback.
If you’d like to take a look back at the previous posts in this series, please click on the links at the end of this post.
So, here’s Part Nineteen: How to link your eBook and Paperback edtions.
There are two areas where you will need to link your book editions:
On your sales details pages
On your KDP dashboard
If you have the same information for both formats, then Amazon should link your book details (sales) pages automatically within a few days of publication:
I was going to do something more interesting. It was going to be about mental health and the current state of things. Just to think of others. Then, the week got rough and I didn’t have the mojo to delve that deep. Couldn’t decide on a poem or a prose post either, so I’m leaving it for another weekend. Instead, I bring you some funnies (all found by a Yahoo Image Search):
This is a guest post by Garima Aggarwal. Garima is an aspiring content writer working for TABSCAP. Coming from a journalism background, she has been into content writing for 2 years and is passionate about topics related to lifestyle, health, and digital marketing. 
Image courtesy of bigstock.com 
