My husband and I have both been going a bit stir-crazy trying to work on our respective writing projects at home ... so today, I've been working at my local pub. They're doing a "Pub Desk" deal (unlimited soft/hot drinks, plus lunch) for £10, along with plug sockets and wifi, and the pub is quiet enough during the day that it feels safe even during these Covid times.
If you're struggling to write at home, could you get a change of scenery? Your local pub might not have anything similar going on (though you could suggest they start something) ... but you might have a friendly local coffee shop where you can linger with your laptop for a few hours, or a local library with desk space.
As well as finishing off a freelance piece, writing another 1,000 words of my novel (yay!) and dealing with some emails, I've been digging into some of the resources in the massive Write Publish Profit 4.0 bundle. There's some fantastic stuff in there.
My three favourites so far are:
1. The "Shadow Journal" ebook by Britt Malka. I'd not come across the idea of a Shadow Journal before, but I love the concept. The basic idea is that you write (not necessarily at much length) about what your characters are doing while they're off-stage. What's your villain up to? What about those characters who don't get any
POV scenes? Britt suggests this is a great way to add more depth to your characters and to get to know them better, as well as potentially being a way to come up with material you can use on social media or as novel promotion.
2. The "Rapid Release Roadmap" course by Carissa Andrews. I've only just started on this, but there are three things I love about it straight off. One, Carissa has five kids (yikes, I find just two a handful!) so I know straight off that her tips will be manageable around family life. Two, she says upfront that quality and integrity come first: this isn't about just publishing as fast as possible regardless of quality. And three, her
course has transcripts, not just videos. I prefer to read rather than listen, so I really appreciate that.
3. The "How to Plot a Series That Rocks" by Bonnie Johnston. This is a 3.5 hour webinar, so I haven't dug into it much yet, but I really like the premise of it and the fact that it covers different types of series. Plus, the worksheets look super-helpful.
Bonus mention: "How to Rock Self Publishing" by Steff Green. I already have this course (because I'm one of the bonus speakers for it) and it's super, plus it has transcripts. I'd thought that Steff's other course, "How to Rock Your Novel", was going to be included in the Write Publish Profit 4.0 pack, but it looks like that got changed (I'm not sure why!) Still, "How to Rock Self Publishing" is a fantastic course that I'm really excited to
see included, because I think it'll be super-helpful for both new and more experienced self-publishing authors.
If you think any of these sound good or if you want to check out some of the (many, many) other things included, then check it out here:
It's just $49 for products that would normally sell for a combined total of $8,301.56 (!) ... no scam, just a great deal from the organisers (Infostack) plus a bunch of people in the writing/self-publishing world coming together to share some of their best stuff. :-)
Note: If you're in the EU or UK, you're likely to have to pay VAT on top of the $49. For me in the UK, it worked out as an additional $9.80. Annoying, I know, but it's still a really good deal.
