Writing Styles: Extroversion and Introversion

Story Empire

Hello SE friends, Gwen with you today, and together we’ll be exploring how extroversion or introversion affects our writing. Let’s begin with a story.

My husband and I are regulars at Panera Bread. With masks on and social distancing practiced, it’s a setting where we relax and chat about the latest crisis of the day. Whenever we go, I’m amazed to see a number of writers tapping away on their laptop – while music plays and people converse six feet away. It’s these writers who prompt my post today.

I’m fascinated by those who can write amid storms of any kind. These Panera colleagues sit with their coffee and breakfast roll, and when their phone rings, they laugh freely and enjoy the brief exchange. After goodbyes, they’re back to writing – unfazed. And when someone walks by, they often look up and say hello, and may even chat a bit…

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More Shakespearean Insults

Nicholas C. Rossis

Shakespeare’s Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, originally built in 1599

From the story of how Shakespeare died a nobody, then got famous by accident to a Shakespearean insults infographic, the Bard keeps fascinating me. Having died 400 years ago last week, as The Independent reminds us, the great William Shakespeare was quite creative when it came to insults.

“I was seeking for a fool when I found you,” says Jacques in Act 3 of As You Like It, and that’s probably the tamest of the Bard’s barbs. Here are some more for your enjoyment!

1. “Scurvy politician”

In King Lear, Act 4, scene 6, we find this gem:“Get thee glass eyes, and like a scurvy politician seem to see the things thou dost.”

Shakespeare’s scurvy means “contemptible” or “despicable”, while he used politician to mean a crooked plotter or schemer who, in this quote from King…

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Three Red Flags – Warnings From ‘Writer Beware’ Blog – Written By Victoria Strauss

Writer's Treasure Chest

The last three notifications from the ‘Writer Beware’ blog, by Victoria Strauss, left me shaken, like so many others she provided us with. I normally try to spread word about scam, fraud, and other warnings as good as I can, but I refuse to drown ‘Writer’s Treasure Chest’ readers in negativity.

However, I think, it’s important that, in particular new Indie Authors know what dangers they might face when putting their books and their work ‘out there’. I therefore decided to publish one post with links to all three of Victoria Strauss’ warnings. Thank you for your great work, Victoria!

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SCAMMERS TAKING BIG 5 PUBLISHERS’ NAMES IN VAIN: A GROWING TREND

I’ve been doing the Writer Beware thing for quite some time, and I Have Seen Some Shit. 
But this solicitation from a Philippines-based publishing and marketing scammer calling itself Right Choice Multimedia (among other names) is one of the…

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3 Simple Tips For Handling Self-Promotion

A Writer's Path

by Meg Dowell

Self-promotion, especially when you’re first starting out, is the ONLY way people are going to know you exist. You don’t have someone bigger and louder drawing people to you. You have to do all the work yourself. And let’s be real: Most writers are not trained marketing experts. So what the heck do you do?

Basically, you do what most of us do. You look at how other people are doing it and try to follow similar principles, figuring out by trial and error what is going to work for you and what isn’t.

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Writing Rules vs. Writing Fashion: Should Writers Follow Fashion Trends? – by Anne R. Allen…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Fashion. It sounds frivolous, but it has serious effects on us all.

Right now, women are getting beard-burn from kissing men who sport the fashionable romantic-hero three-day stubble. And mothers are stifling their disappointment when their golden-haired boys get the fashion-victim shaved-sides hairdo that makes them look like a cross between Kim Jong Un and the Last of the Mohicans.

And have pity on the people over 40 who are hunched over their computers trying to decipher text from the latest fashion in web design: a tiny, palest-gray font on a white background.

Alas, fashion favors the young.

Writing fashion is hard on us too. Fashion dictates a good deal of what gets published these days, and it’s constantly changing. Write like Thackery, Kipling, or Walter Scott and you’re unlikely to find a publisher or an audience. That’s because writing fashions have radically changed in the last two hundred years…

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New Release: Copywriting with Rayne Hall

Nicholas C. Rossis

You may recall my mentioning early this year a new release by Rayne Hall and yours truly titledCopywriting: Get Paid to Write Promotional Texts. This is Rayne’s Writer’s Craft Book number 34 (!) and, obviously, one of her best 😉

Seriously, though, working with Rayne was one of my best writing experiences. She’s a seasoned pro and a wonderfully supportive writer who’s often helped me with her tips and advice. I believe that the book will be an extremely helpful tool for anyone interested in freelance writing, distilling everything I’ve learned so far about SEO copywriting.

You can use this guide as a self-study course in copywriting. Each chapter contains information, professional tips, cautions about novice mistakes to avoid, and even assignments. If you do read it and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review.

Copywriting: Get Paid to Write Promotional Texts

Do you want to earn…

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5 Ways To Describe A Character Without Using The Clichéd Mirror Look

K.M. Allan

Just as book trends see certain genres fall in and out of favor, there are certain elements of books that once worked but now no longer do.

One such example is the clichéd mirror look, aka when the author has the MC look in a mirror and describe themselves so the reader knows how they look.

Yep, writers used to do this all the time, and when you’re a wannabe writer and you see this trick used in all the big-time published books, it works its way into your own writing.

But there are better options to get the physical description of your main character to the reader, as these 5 ways show…

1. Through The Lens Of Other Characters

This of course only works if your book uses multiple POV’s. If it does, have the other characters

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10 Common Writing Myths Every New Writer Should Ignore – by Derek Haines…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Just Publishing Advice:

It’s easy for a new writer to believe many of the writing myths you read about online.

However, most of them are untrue or are at least stretching the truth. If you are a new writer, a lot of the advice you read can affect your confidence.

Writing and publishing might not be for everyone. But if that’s what you have your heart set on doing, there’s nothing to stand in your way.

Forget all about the myths, and focus on your passions, strengths, and what you want to achieve.

Continue reading HERE

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Three Things Your Query Letter Needs to Stand Out – by Lucinda Halpern…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Anne R. Allen:

Today we have a guest post on writing a query letter from literary agent Lucinda Halpern. I realize many of our readers are indie authors or plan to publish independently. But these rules are important for any kind of query: to a reviewer, editor or blogger as well.

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Writers put so much love and labor into their stories, and literary agents recognize that. The same effort and attention is often required when a writer submits their query letter for an agent’s consideration. But all too often, the content in that query letter just doesn’t address what agents necessarily want or need to know, and therefore eludes response.

Continue reading HERE

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Can AI Content Generation Replace Human Writing?

Nicholas C. Rossis

Back in 2015, I wrote a hilarious post about artificially created romance novels, whence the gem below. So, how are things 6 years on?

Photo: Gizmodo

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made automation the norm in more fields than ever. In marketing, AI has transformed the way we communicate. The use of machine learning in profiling audience segments and running programmatic advertising campaigns is an example of how AI transforms the way we can engage the audience at different times.

AI and machine learning are also trying to tackle another big hurdle in marketing: content creation. As content—and content marketing more specifically—becomes a key instrument in digital marketing, a golden era for content creation is dawning. However, might AI content generation replace human writing, thus depriving writers of much-anticipated jobs?

An Advancing Technology

Let’s start by acknowledging how advanced AI has gotten this past decade alone. Machine…

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