Passion In Writing

Susan Reichert

I have heard it said when you are writing a book, make it a labor of love.

Thinking about that remark made me wonder who would write if they did not love to write?

Writing is wonderful, yet it takes effort, from the beginning to the end. Sometimes the words flow other times authors pull and tug, even dig for the right words. But when all is said and done, they love it.

William Faulkner said, “If a story is in you it has got to come out.” And I believe that. For there are times our brains will not shut off until we get up and write what is going on in our brain.

I believe writing is a passion. The compelling emotion is you must write.

Sylvia Plath, author of The Bell Jar, said, “I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be still.”

But the question that needs to be answered is how do you put passion in your words, so your reader feels passion as they read the story?

Using sensory words is a definite help. You want your reader to feel, picture, and experience what you are writing. You want them to be transported into the story.

One of my favorite quotes is by Robert Frost who said: “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”

Do your characters energize you and unfold the story to you as you hasten to keep up with them, putting to paper what they are saying, doing, and showing you?

Are you personally involved in the story? Is your enthusiasm, growing? Remember, enthusiasm is contagious. Your reader can catch it.

Everything we write in our story matters to the reader. It can be a key, or a steppingstone.

Your story must come to life for the reader. 

Susan Reichert, Author of Storms in Life, God's Prayer Power, Author of Nine Anthology Book Short Stories as well as writing for Southern Writers Magazine.

Retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Head of Collierville Christian Writers Group, President of Southern Author Services.

She lives in the Memphis area with her husband. They have four grown daughters and three grandchildren.

Choosing A Cover?

Susan Reichert



When I was almost finished with my book, I started thinking about what cover would be perfect. I must admit, I was having a hard time deciding what would look good. I knew the cover had to be one that would grab a reader, but would also, give the reader an idea of what was inside of the book.


I want bore you with how many photos I searched through but will tell you it took a while. Finally, I found a couple that caught my eye...but by then, confusion was rampant. So, I narrowed it down to three I liked, and sent them to one of my daughters. She picked one, and it was perfect.


So, I bought the rights to it, but still something was missing. I called Kristie Koontz of KK Designs and told her I had my cover, but I also needed a sword to go on the cover. And she found it, a perfect sword.


Sometimes it takes more than one person to find the perfect cover for the book you are writing. I am glad before I started looking, I prayed about it. If I had not, I would have probably missed the perfect one and not included my daughter's opinion and Kristie.


Through the years of being with Southern Writers Magazine, I have seen a lot of book covers. Some were terrible, some were okay, but now and then you would see one that would grab you. Looking at those covers (by the way, some of those not-so-okay covers were from the traditional houses) I always tried to put myself in the shoes of the reader, wondering whether or not the cover would catch their eye, enough to pick it up and at least read the first paragraph.


Most of us are sensitive to what something looks like–be it a dress, color of hair, a house, a car, and yes, even a book cover.


That is why it is most important than an author do their best to make sure of two things: The cover of the book and the title. Those are the first two things that are going to grab a reader.


Happy choosing!!!

Retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Founder  of Collierville Christian Writers Group, Owner of Southern  Author Services, Gallery of Stars, and Suite T. Author of Storms in Life and just released book, God's Prayer Power. 

Igniting Your Book Launch (Part 2 Continued)

DiAnn Mills  @diannmills

Expect an Adventure

Continuing from May 20 on Igniting Your Book Launch . . . 

What does a writer do for a street team?

My mission is to do more for my street team than I ask from them. Frequent communication is vital and shows we care, but don’t be a pest. Send a weekly update with a quote, humorous happening, or a devotion. Be creative. Update the team on what is happening in your professional life. Be loving and transparent. This is business, but it can be personal. Let them know where you’ll be speaking or teaching. Share new book covers and exciting pre-release information to them before anyone else. Your street team is your “First to know” group.

What Thomas Payne Said.

Susan Reichert   @SouthrnWritrMag

                                 Photo by QuotesGram

Thomas Payne said, “These are the times that try men's souls.” His statement fits the time we are in right now.

For the first time many of us are “sequestered in our homes” and don’t know how long that will be. Let us use this time wisely to love our families and friends reaching out and letting them know we miss them.

Maybe it is a time to get to know our families again; clean out closets (not my favorite thing) and do things around the house we don’t get to do because we work. Try those hobbies we've put off until we retire. Write that story that is playing in our heads.

We miss our family and friends. I am most thankful however that we can by electronic devices, talk and see each other by Zoom and other programs. Check in bPayy phone and emails.

My prayer is that God will be with us all and bring us through this a stronger people, more grateful for our families and friends and for what we have.

Abraham Lincoln said, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”

The American people have pulled together during national crisis throughout our history. This is no different.

May God bless all of you, stay well and be in health.

Susan Reichert is the Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazne.

Her company promotes authors and their books and have been doing this for nine years. Promotions are on the Gallery of Stars and Suite T, seasonal catalogs and special editions.

www.southernwritersmag.com

A Novel Way to Promote Your Writing (Part 1)

Judith Nembhard   

A Passionate Fiction Writer    



Here’s a piece of writing advice: promote your book, but promote it slant (with apologies to Emily Dickinson), and the way to achieve this slanted book promotion is by doing a workshop. In our quest for tips on how to promote our books, we writers often pore over the pages of Writer’s Digest and other magazines on writing, read books such as Guerrilla Marketing for Writers, and attend writing conferences. From all of these sources, we often get information that is of interest, some of it actually useful. One promotional avenue that you may not have read about, however, is a workshop. You attend workshops to learn new techniques and to brush up on old ones. Well, how about giving a workshop yourself?

Change is Good

By Susan Reichert     @swmeditor

Editor in Chief Southern Writers

We are making a few changes at Southern Writers, Suite T and the Gallery of Stars.

We ask for your patience.

Change is good even though many times we don’t like change. But change is always

happening in the world and for the most part it is always better.

Our March/April magazine will be a special edition we are sure everyone will love. The authors

showcased in this have a lot to share with writers. They are successful authors and love to help other

writers.

Our Suite T will have a new face lift soon and the authors who post will be telling us about their writing journey.

If you are like me, you want to know the paths the author used when writing their new book–– the ups and

downs and their successes and failures. All the things that give us the encouragement we need for our own writing.

We all know, regardless of how much we enjoy writing, it is work. And for some, it is hard work. There is so much we can share with each other in writing. Maya Angelou said, “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”

Authors are in a wonderful place to be able to help other writers. As we know it can be a lonely profession, but when you read an author telling about his/her journey, it helps us to feel a part of…to know there are other writers out there going through the same things we are.

We want Suite T to be a place you can talk about issues in writing, and expect answers from other writers sharing with you their experience and suggestions that might help you. Charles Dickens said, “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”

Writers can do this for each other.

Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief Southern Writers Magazine for
nine years, which includes our venues such as Suite T, The Gallery of
Stars, Newsletter, Seasonal Promotional Catalogs for Authors.

TWEETABLE

"Change is Good" by Susan Reichert (click to tweet)

Plan an Ego Trip

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine

It's ironic that authors who have no problem writing a 100,000-word manuscript on a deadline will freeze up when faced with writing their own author bio. Much like a resumé, the idea of encapsulating one's life and times into a few paragraphs is the stuff of anxiety and self-consciousness.

Whether it's for your Amazon author page or the "About Me" section of your website, here are some time-tested tips to help you craft a credible characterization.

You is kind, you is smart, you is important.
Taking a cue from 2012's The Help, come into the process with a positive self-image. This is the time to own what you've accomplished and to share it with pride. If you don't, who will?

Write in third person.
Unless you're going for a friendly, folksy platform, it's common practice to write your bio as an objective third party. Not only does it lend an air of endorsement, it gives you more liberty to tout your accomplishments without guilt.

Just like your novel, grab attention with the opening line.
Instead of "John Q. Author has been writing novels since 2011", how about "After breaking both legs falling off a ladder in 2011, John Q. Author spent his recuperation time writing the first draft of his first novel." You can come up a creative first line without hurting yourself.

Tell it like it is.
What are your interests and achievements that led you to writing what you write? Do you write science fiction because you once saw a UFO?  Do you have a degree in medicine that propels your medical mysteries? Even a stint as a Walmart greeter is prime fodder if customers inspire your characters.

Don't forget to include any awards your writing has received, as well as any writers organizations you're a member of.

Note to fiction writers: If you have an interesting background, include that, even if it isn't related to writing. The fact that you spent five years living among apes may have nothing to do with your cozy mystery series, but it would make me to want to see what you've written.

Note to nonfiction writers: No need to get that personal.  In this case, the reader mainly wants to know how they'll benefit from your work. Dwell on what they'll get out of it and why you're the best one to teach it to them.

In both cases, don't stray so far from your chosen genre that you confuse readers. If they seek you out as a historical romance writer, does it serve your purpose to say you collect DC action figures?

Project the platform personality that fits you.
Jeff Goins, author of The Art of Work, says there are five basic personality types for author platforms. While this breakdown is designed for bloggers, it can help you pin down your bio personality as well.

The Journalist: Someone who seeks answers and asks questions of experts. By sharing those answers they establish themselves as experts too.

The Prophet: A critic who feels things can be better, and promotes solutions. This controversial role is not without its dangers, as everyone has an opinion and those who disagree can be alienated.

The Artist: Someone who creates art, music, photography, short stories, etc and shares their work, perhaps even works-in-progress.

The Professor: Someone obsessed with details, data, and the way things work, taking complex things and breaking it down, usually with a takeaway.

The Star: Celebrities whose platforms are built on charisma or reputation. You may not think of yourself as a "star", but if people seek you out as the go-to person for your specialty, don't write yourself off too quickly.

One of these Jeff Goins categories may have spoken to you immediately; if not, you may be a combination, in which case you can morph them into an even more individualized persona.

When it comes to bios, Southern Writers has a particular fondness for the authors who appear in our own Gallery of Stars, where you'll see a bunch of bios and may find inspiration for your own.

Readers like to know who they're reading, so don't overlook this opportunity to let your little light shine. Take an ego trip, and pack your bags with confidence. You're not bragging if it's the truth.