Write Tired, Edit Awake: Lowering Your Inhibitions as a Writer

Once upon a time, a man named Ernest Hemingway gave the following advice. Write drunk; edit sober. The reason for this is probably because drinking causes people to lower their inhibitions. But like me, many people don’t drink alcohol, and for them the advice isn’t all that helpful. Or is it?

My own philosophy is like Mr. Hemingway’s. Write tired; edit awake. Now, this doesn’t mean that you should go to your computer and write after pulling an all-nighter.

When you are a little bit tired, your inhibitions are lowered. For this reason, the words might simply flow better. You'll be less self-conscious and more likely to try new ideas. When you’re awake enough, you can edit the story, and gut the truly unnecessary parts or parts that simply strike you as “too weird”.

Another way to lower your inhibitions when writing is to write for yourself. A lot of people open their document and begin writing with the mindset that this is for someone else to see. They already have it in their minds that they are going to publish this book. Therefore, they are already thinking about what others are going to think of their product.

Forget your audience for a moment and think about what you really want to write. Try this exercise. Open a document, and write a five-hundred-word story (or part of a story) which is only for you and that you have no intention of sharing. Perhaps, you will see a difference in your work.

What are your thoughts on writing tired and editing awake? Do you have any advice to help budding writers lower their inhibitions when writing? Please share in the comments.

11 Sites and Apps to Help Writers Get Organized

Websites

http://www.Finaldeadline.co.uk

Set a deadline. Fill out a questionnaire about your characters. Lots of other nice features.

http://www.WriteOrDie.com

Hit TRY in the lower right-hand corner of the black box to use this tool for free. Write or get a punishment (an annoying sound).

http://writtenkitten.net/

Don’t like negative reinforcement? Written Kitten uses positive reinforcement. You get shown a kitten as a reward for writing.

http://www.StayFocusd.com

Lock yourself out of all websites except the ones that will help you with your productivity.

http://www.Hemingwayapp.com

This app is a real life saver. Tells you about sentences that might be too long. Tells you about adverbs. Just in general, a nice editing app.

http://www.wordcradle.com/

Write stories, create characters, brainstorm, and set deadlines

https://www.truenovelist.com/

Organize your novel and save it to the cloud.

http://www.docs.google.com

I swear by Google Docs. I write all my first drafts here, just in case! If your computer randomly restarts or crashes or something else awful happens, your work will still be waiting for you in Google Docs.

http://www.3pages.fr/

Write 750 words (or 3 pages) a day. The site is in French.

Apps

WriteOMeter

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thinkerers.writeometer

Set deadlines and reward yourself if you meet the deadlines. Sends you reminders about your word count.

Character Story Planner

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lfantasia.android.outworld

Like WordCradle, but a phone app.

Did I miss a good one? Please let me know in the comments!

13 Crazy Promotion Ideas For Your Book!



 

I try to dream up ways to get a book noticed. I am thinking of them all the time. Here are a few things (not all are crazy) that I have thought up, some of which I've tried and some of which, I have not.

# Donate a copy to the library

# Request small or second hand book shops carry a few copies and share the profit. (This would probably work best with the smallest, personally owned book shops.)

Shops that carry my books

 

The Book Shop

AJ's Fashion And Beauty Supplies

Pets R Us

 

(Notice they're not all book stores? Not every place you approach has to be a bookshop!)

 

# Slip flyers, bookmarks, or business cards with your website/book name on them into similar books at the library. (For example, if you write mystery then slip it in a mystery book)

# Ask the library if you can do a reading. My local children's library likes to have people come in and read picture books to the children.

# Email everybody in your address book about your new book or your website

# Blog about it (Isn't this one mentioned way too much)

# Make trailers (using copyright free material) and post them on Youtube. I actually did this for Tokka Tuomela: Sixth Grader At Large

# Someone in this forum mentioned standing near a stop-light and selling books to passing cars. People in my town sell newspapers this way and I would consider also handing out flyers to passing cars (since it's quicker and flyers are free)

# Have an author website. If you don't have one you should get one. I use weebly as a host. They have a very user-friendly interface.

# Have an eBay auction with a signed copy of your book as the prize. You could also include other prizes such as related bookmarks and a signed photo of the author. You could include a better known book (and auction it off as a two book set). You could consider giving all or part of the money won to a charity.

 

#Consider Doing a giveaway with a noteworthy blogger. I did a giveaway of a signed Tell Me How You Say Good Night with Marilyn Panton of Storywraps.

# Ask local bookshops and your library to post flyers in their windows/on their bulletin boards. A lot of the places in my small town have bulletin boards full of flyers. In some small towns, especially where the internet is still not in every household, a flyer may be worth more than a website.

# Ask review sites/review blogs to review your book. It's better to go to the smaller, independent blogs. They have more time and are more likely to get to your book. They tend to have dedicated readers as well.

# Post a free sample chapter of each book on your website or blog.



10 Sites That Every Author Should Know About!

This list was inspired by a few author friends. So I hope you all enjoy it and find it useful!

 

First, I'll start off by listing the places that you need to catalog your books.

 

1. Shelfari, http://www.shelfari.com

 

Shelfari is great because not only can you catalog your book, but you can build up the value of sharing your book there by adding fun quotes from your book and facts about your characters. There is also a place to add related tags. Readers can edit your book's listing on Shelfari and add reviews as well as quotes or tags that they think are relevant.

 

This is probably one of the most important sites you will catalog your book on.

 

There is also a nice little forum where you can exchange writing advice, swap reviews, and hang out with authors.

 

Shelfari is fun because it's interactive in a sense, allowing the reader to add things they feel are important.

 

Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com

 

Goodreads is the other "most important site" to list your book on. You can list your book, add information about it, write a good description (just like the others), but you can also add your book to relevant lists. If there isn't a list that your book fits into, you can always create one.

 

Like Shelfari, Goodreads also has a forum where you can hang out with authors, exchange writing advice, and swap reviews. Goodreads' forums seem to be a little more active than Shelfari.

 

Jacketflap, http://www.jacketflap.com

 

Jacketflap is a great little place to list you book, because alongside your description, it also lists places your book is sold as well as the reviews you have received there. You can also add links to any site that has reviewed your books.

 

You can also share book trailers, readings, and interviews in the video section.

 

Bookdaily, http://www.bookdaily.com

 

Like the others, you can share the title and description of your book. But on bookdaily, you can also share a first chapter excerpt of your book. This is great, because it gives readers the chance to get hooked.

 

Bookdaily has a paid option (you don't have to us it), to promote your book to 50,000 readers for about $47 USD. This could be a deal, but I have never tried it so cannot vouch for it. If anyone has tried it and found it useful, please let me know in the comments!

 

Librarything, http://www.librarything.com

 

 

I can't say a whole lot about this one, because I need to investigate it some more. But it is a place to add your book, title, description, and some tags. It appears that you can add your books to lists on the site as well. It's worth at least listing your book on the site!

 

Wise Gray Owl, http://www.wisegrayowl.co.uk

 

You've heard the old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Get ready to ignore that advice, because the whole point of Wise Gray Owl. You are shown a selection of books and pick the ones you are interested in based on the cover. It's that simple! So go add your book.

 

One of the first books I saw when I entered the site was Our Poems For Kids by my friend, Melinda Kinsman

Second, places where you can lend your book out.

 

Book Lending, http://www.booklending.com

 

Book Lending is a virtual library, which I discovered the way I discover most great things, completely on accident. Booklending is essentially a virtual library where you can "check out" Kindle books. The way this works is pretty simple.

 

1. List books you own on Amazon so that others can borrow them.

 

2. Search for a book you want. If somebody owns it they can then "Loan" it to you.

 

3. You can keep the book for 14 days. Then is returned to its owner automatically.

 

The other virtual library,

 

Lendle, http://www.lendle.me

 

This "virtual library" has the same concept as Booklending, although there is a limit to how many books you can check out before you have to upgrade to a pro account.

 

Why add your book to a virtual library? A few reasons.

 

1. It's an easy way to share with someone who might be interested in reviewing it.

 

2. Just like a real library, it's a great way for new potential readers to check out your work. If they love it, they may just want to keep it for more than 14 days!

 

3. Having your book in any kind of library increases your exposure and the possibility of new readers!

 

Last, but not least, book trailers!

 

Youtube, www.youtube.com

 

This might be obvious to some of you, but probably not to all of you. Raise your hand if you didn't even think of creating a book trailer before I mentioned it. You should definitely consider creating (or hiring someone to create) a book trailer for your book.

 

It gives you exposure to a new audience (the video viewing audience which makes up a large part of the internet) and gives your fans an easy way to share your work with their friends without having to pitch it themselves, though fans are often better at that than the author!

 

Youtube is a good first place to upload your book trailer because of it's versatility. You can then easily share the trailer on many other sites (Facebook, Google +, Pinterest, etc)

 

Book Trailer Central, http://www.booktrailercentral.co

 

This is a site that is dedicated to book trailers. So far it's pretty simple and mainly about book trailers, sharing and watching them. I believe in the future they may have book trailers compete against each other. (Feel free to correct me if I'm thinking of the wrong site.)

 

 

And that's all I have to share for now. Those are some great links to get you started! Even if you're not a new author, you're sure to find at least one or two of them handy. So go check them out. And let me know if there are any useful, important, or in your opinion, completely necessary sites for authors to be on!

 

Till next time,

 

Teddy