Writing Unleashed with Laura M. Harkins

Source: blogs.voices.com The glory of completing my first novel, I fear, will be met with disappointment.  Why you ask?  My readership is abysmal.  Agents and publishers give contracts to sellable authors.  I can’t sell anything if I don’t have a trusted group of readers, and they don’t have the time or money to wait around until there is.  I'm constantly incorporating what I've learned to improve my blog and build a readership.  My blog statistics prove people visit, but they’re useless to me.  I don’t know who those people are or how they feel about my writing.  Michael Hyatt, the Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers , discussed unsuccessful blogs in “ Why I Stopped Reading Your Blog ” today.  I used his list of six reasons and a few of my own to revise my blog.  Here’s what I found out:      Titles As of right now, I am content with my blog and post titles, but I should love them.  An attention...

It’s New Year’s Day.  I am pleasantly stuffed with pork loin and sauerkraut in hopes of bringing myself wealth and prosperity in the New Year.  As the cliché goes, we say goodbye to our past and set down goals we hope to accomplish with our clean slate.   Although, I feel my past is important in making future choices, I welcome the opportunity to revise the past year and start fresh.  Last January, when I started this blog, I was very unhappy in my teaching career.  I’ve longed to write for as long as I can remember, so I resolved to take the year to write more; I hoped it would move me in a new direction, perhaps, a writing career. Well, I am no longer teaching.  I joined a writer’s group in Philadelphia, and I'm creating one with a fellow writer for the Buck’s County area.  I started a novel.  I interned with a college professor and a parenting magazine.  I wrote an article to be published in the Feb. issue of the magazine pending approv...

I just left Barnes and Noble in a frenzy.  They were closing up and I hadn't finished reading the magazine article from Poets & Writers.   Luckily, my smartphone (T-Mobile G2) has a Microsoft Office app, allowing me to write down all the new magazines I was perusing and online literary journals I wanted to check out.  Driving home in the car, a wave of euphoria passed through me and I couldn't wait to write.    The holidays proved to be more than my simple mind could handle.  Like every woman, I inherently posses the ability to multitask, but unfortuantely I reach maximum overload when I've gone over 20 tasks.  Then, my creative flow goes on strike.  I sit down to write and nothing comes out.  I avoid my computer, indulge in T.V. shows and movies, but the issue at hand always finds me. (Cue ominous music)  WRITER'S BLOCK .     The past month or so ...

I braved the cold and traveled into Philadelphia to the offices of MetroKids Magazine last Thursday. I’ve been interning for them for the past two and half months. Since most of my time is spent at home updating attractions listings, I wanted a chance to see how a magazine was put together for publication. Little did I know, everything is done on computers, and unless I was in charge of a specific section, I wasn’t going to learn much. When I emailed my interest to observe the production process, the editors told me to bring in the attraction listings and article I was working on because they were fully engaged in preparing the January issue. I was a bit nervous about bringing in my article on the 10 Family Movies of All Time , since I hadn’t made much progress with it. I couldn’t get a list of 10 movies for ages toddlers to teens to save my life. Another problem I ran into was determining what movies would not only entertain children, but their parents as well and offer disc...

Everything requires bubble wrap and warnings to avoid complaints and lawsuits when someone invariably gets hurt or offended by something they encounter in the world. The Internet immediately brings information to us when asked, and with the lack of restrictions comes the responsibility to ensure visitors are aware of the dangers and possible PG or higher-rated material. The following material (violence, sexual content, foul language, etc.) may not be suitable for you. I knew I might discuss controversial topics or use adult language on my blog, so I included a warning. Is this necessary? I believe it is and isn't. I wouldn’t want someone to stumble upon something only to have the disturbing images permanently burned into their memory, although, a little shock could do them some good (I am still battling with my public image). Living in a bubble causes damage as well, folks. And I certainly wouldn’t want children to see something that might possibly steal away the...

Word count: 37, 198 The Winner’s Circle. The adoring fans delight in the triumphant victory as they surround the winner. Cheers and confetti rain down, while the champion embraces their loved ones, accept gifts and gracefully bows to the acclaim. The glory to win NaNoWriMo, unfortunately, was not mine this year. Obstacles of work, holidays, a stomach virus, and exhaustion proved far more difficult than I anticipated. My typing and imagination stalled at 37,000 words and I bowed my head in defeat as the clock ticked closer and closer to 11:59 pm. An admirable attempt I think. I pushed myself to write a novel and I’m almost finished. F irst chapter tie down many writers for weeks, while I am riding the wave of the rising action about to clumsily type the climax and conclusion. In one month, I have come so far as a writer and now hold an almost complete first draft in my hands, soon to be revised. The pride I feel is comparable to the winners. What I learned abou...

Current word count: 24,051 The weekends. A time to sit down, shirk all other responsibilities and write. Let’s be serious. Melting into the couch with my boyfriend Kevin is far more appealing. Although, I found time on Saturday morning while he worked to update 13 more attraction listings for my internship and scribbled a few drab words for my much-neglected blog, but still no NaNo writing. My goal was to reach 20,000 words by Saturday so that I could get myself back on track, but I fell short of my goal. BUT, I did manage to make it up today by writing over 5,000 words! I’m a writing animal. 3,200 of those words were written in two hours at my weekly Write-In at Borders fueled by Alex’s (fellow Wrimo) yummy brownies and chocolate chip cookies that smelled like Christmas and cold-brewed marble mocha iced coffee. As the Write-In came to an end, we discussed our concerns and dilemmas with our novels. Alex asked me and one other participant, Greg, to p...