Tag: twitter

Twitter – Livetweeting

I usually share the posts I make here on Twitter, but this time I’m doing it the other way round. Just in case you might be interested in what I’m doing over there at the moment.

But first, some background. You all already know how important the Whyborne & Griffin series is to me, right? I mean, I’ve certainly mentioned it before (here and here, for instance). Well, the final book of the series was released a couple of days ago and, when I was about to start reading, I realized I wasn’t ready for the series to end.

Deosil preorder banner.

So I did the only thing I could do: I started re-reading the whole series. And because I had to do something with all those overflowing feelings, I decided to livetweet as I go.

It’s the first time I do something like this, because I’m always afraid nobody is going to be interested in what I think and people will find me annoying. But I’m trying to care less about what others think about me. I guess the important thing is to have fun and enjoy it myself, and that’s what I’ve been doing so far. However, I’m but a beginner, so feel free to tell me if there’s anything I could have done better.

If you want to check the thread out (I made a thread so it’s easier to mute for those who feel spammed), it starts here:

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

April 2019 Update

April has been a very busy month at work, which is why I was inspired to post Writing with Anxiety. I knew my anxiety would only get worse if I spent my few free hours writing, so I’ve tried to do the opposite of what I do at work: I’ve spent time with friends and nature.

Spring means some days are sunny and warm enough to spend by the river or walking through the woods, so I’ve enjoyed spending more time outdoors and taking lots of photos I may use in the future.

I’ve also been taking care of my Twitter account in Spanish, which is a thing that exists.

The threads I shared may look familiar to you:


https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

I’m glad I could help these books reach a small Spanish audience. Nothing makes me happier than helping others and sharing the things I love, so I’m thinking of writing another book recommendation post. If you’re interested.

What have you been up to this month?

Masterlist for prospective writers

I love masterlists and writing reference posts, so I thought I could make a short one to go with my “Tips for prospective writers” post. These are some links I found helpful as I followed these steps, so I hope they’ll be useful for you too.

  1. Read a lot
    Sometimes it’s difficult to find what you’re looking for, and sometimes you find it and it’s too expensive. For those times, I recommend doing this:
    -Find your favourite books on Goodreads. They probably belong to a list of similar books. See what other readers have added to the list and increase your Want-to-Read bookshelf. You can also check the most popular lists (and all the rest) here, but there are too many, so proceed with caution.
    –Here is another masterlist where you can find many sites where you can legally download books for free.
    -Do everything in this tumblr post: How to legally get cheap or free ebooks instead of pirating like a garbage person. If you’re an ebook-hater, some books won’t be available in this day and age, but authors and goodreads still organize giveaways for paperbacks; and bookdepository, already mentioned in that post, will always be your friend.
  2. Join the community
    You will have done it if you’ve followed the tips to legally get cheap or free books, but you can get more out of this experience if you’re a prospective writer, so:
    -Follow your favourite writers and publishers on goodreads, twitter, facebook, their blogs… Join their newsletters and read what they have to say. It’s always interesting!
  3. Don’t be shy
    Yeah, you people should be the ones telling me how to do it. I just try to reply whenever I have something to say and keep my fingers crossed, but if you’re following your favourite authors, maybe telling them why you love their books would be a good way to break the ice. You’d like that if you were in their place, right? And they’re human after all. Amazing human beings, for sure, but still human.
    -I don’t have links for this one, but please remember that being polite is always necessary when you talk to other people.
  4. Practice
    How you want to practice is very personal, so you may want to go look around the Internet and check what works for you. Here are some things that did the trick for me:
    -Lee Welch shared a post On ignoring writing advice that I found extremely useful. I have problems with anxiety and self-doubt, but now I’ve embraced the thought that my first book won’t be perfect and it doesn’t have to be. I’m also thinking about writing some short stories before I write a novel. It’s all an experiment, right? We’ll see how it goes.
    -Anyway, in order to ignore the advice, you have to read it first. And there are lots of places for that. I think I may make another masterlist about writing advice, but if you want to do some reading now, there’s a very complete list in thewritepractice.
    -You’ll also find lots of sites that will share prompts daily, like the popular Writing Prompts account on tumblr.
    -And, again, a good way to practice and receive feedback from readers is writing fan fiction. There are many places, but my favourite is Archive of Our Own.
  5. Beta-read
    There are many websites and books about finding beta-readers and learning how to beta-read. There are courses and a lot of information online, but a quick Google search gave me these ones that seem helpful enough if you’re not going to go professional:
    -“How to Beta Read” by Corrine Jackson.
    -“Five Commandments of Beta-readers” on Author Accelerator.
    -“How to Be a Good Beta Reader” on BookBaby.
    -“How Being a Beta Reader Has Made Me a Better Writer” by Jo Ullah.

That’s all for now, but please let me know if you have any favourite sites, or if you’ve written some posts yourselves on these topics. I want to read them as well!

 

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Writing Prompts’ Avatar

New avatar and domain

I finally decided what pic to use as an avatar! I will use something different in the future, but I hope this one is good enough for now.

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My new profile picture.

Do you like it? I’ve chosen this image (with assistance) because it’s a photo I took of the sky in Madrid. You can see the sun, which is “sol” in Spanish, together with the clouds and sky I like so much.

Dusks with beautiful colors are very common and popular in Madrid, all thanks to pollution (I wish I was joking), so I thought it would be good to have an image people could associate with my name and origins.

I have also updated my twitter account with the same profile picture and then embedded the twitter widget on the sidebar here.

Now I just need a new header, right?

 

By the way, it’s probably too early, but I just got a domain for this blog. It’s https://solverawriter.com/ and… we’ll see if it’s worth it!

Change of background and new Twitter

Hi, everyone!

Thank you for your support, as always.

Today I wanted to let you know that I’ve changed the color palette of the blog. I hope this one makes it easier to read! But let me know if you liked the previous one better, of course. For me it had an important issue: the default color for links was too similar to the rest of the text, and I couldn’t tell where they were. Did this palette fix that or do you have trouble seeing green text?

In other news (already spoiled by the title), I got a new Twitter account! This one is in English and will be related to this blog, so I hope I can use it almost daily. We’ll see, I guess. For now, feel free to check it out here!

 

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Twitter logo

And that is all for now. If you have any suggestions, complaints or pieces of advice, feel free to contact me here or on twitter!

 

Tips for prospective writers

As you know, I am a prospective writer myself (I also like the term unpublished writer),  so I don’t have much experience… but I’ve been at this stage for a long time and everyone’s journey is different. Sometimes it’s better to share your experience before too much time has passed, I think, so this is what I’m doing hoping it will help other people out.

  1. Read a lot.
    Especially in the genres you want to write. There’s no better way to know what the tropes are, what has been done before, and what the readers are going to expect and demand.
    You may realize that your original ideas have been done many times before, but don’t get discouraged. As a reader, you’ll know that every work is different and you’ll always want to read more of what you love.
    However, you may also notice that something is missing in your favourite genre and find a way to contribute by making it more diverse.
    Some people avoid reading in their genre while they’re writing, so as not to be influenced by other works. That’s fine, and reading other genres may help during those long periods of time, but I think it’s important to note that those writers have been avid readers before they started writing. Better not skip this step.
  2. Join the community.
    Thanks to new technologies and social media, now we have the opportunity to follow authors, editors, publishers and readers across all platforms. Take it!
    Your favourite writers are all over Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads… and some of them can even be found on tumblr!
    You can also follow their blogs if you prefer that, of course.
    Readers of your favourite genre will also have interesting things to say, and they’ll share a lot of helpful information. They also share reviews and related news… even more often than authors, who are usually busy writing and panicking about deadlines.
    I’ve learnt a lot this way, and I’ll share some useful links I’ve found if you’re interested.
  3. Don’t be shy.
    I know I should follow my own advice, since I’m terribly shy and have no self-confidence… but if someone like me can ask questions when in doubt, you can too!
    And the first thing I learnt talking to writers is that many of them are glad to talk to readers, help people and answer questions.
    Of course, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be polite. Please don’t send authors your work out of the blue and demand their opinion. It doesn’t work like that (sometimes editors and agents have free time and will read some first chapters and give their advice, in case you were wondering). I can’t fathom how some people think demanding things from authors is the best approach, but it’s apparently very common.
  4. Practice.
    If you’ve already read enough (it’s never enough, I know), remember that practice makes perfect.
    Well, nothing will actually be 100% perfect, so don’t become obsessed with perfection… but the more you practice, the better you’ll get.
    Fanfics are the most common practice nowadays, and with good reason.
    Some people prefer writing short stories and sending them to contests, but I am a fanfic advocate. You get lots of practice making short and long stories, get quick feedback, learn how to deal with critique and how to work with beta-readers… (And if you prefer contests because you have a chance to publish your story, remember that some fanfics have shared the same fate.)
  5. Beta-read.
    This is also related to the previous point. Good fanfics need a good beta-reader… and that could be you! Reading allows you to devise a goal, practice allows you to realize which are your most obvious mistakes… but all works need a second pair of eyes (at the very least!) and you can learn a lot from other writers. It’s easier to beta-read fan fiction, since there are lots of fanfics being written every day and you don’t need a resumé to apply. Seeing other people’s strong points and weaknesses will help you discover your own. It is an incredible chance you shouldn’t miss.

That is all I have for now, but I am open to suggestions! Which steps worked for you? Do you agree with any of these? Tell me what you think!

 

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The Archive of Our Own (aka AO3) logo. This is my favourite site for fan fiction.