Lovelyn Bettison

Paranormal Horror and Suspense

Blog

Write What You Love

Stop doing what you think you should be doing and start doing what you want to do. I can end this post now, but in case you need more convincing I think I’ll it explain a bit further.

Are you living for the weekend?

Most people settle in life. They go to jobs they don’t really like and spend their entire day there. Then they come home feeling physically and emotionally exhausted and watch television for a few hours. They go to bed and start the whole thing over again in the morning. They live for the weekends, but what kind of living is that? Is this the way you’re living your life? Are you doing what you really want to do?

How does this apply to me, I’m a writer?

Maybe you’re thinking, Lovelyn, how does this apply to me? I’m a writing of course I’m doing what I love. I’m writing. That’s great, but I wonder what you’re writing? Are you turning out the next a paranormal romance book featuring vampires because that’s what you think is hot right now? Or are you writing a paranormal romance featuring vampires because you think vampires are sexy and you love paranormal romance? I’m just asking you to check yourself.

Writing for the market might make you a few bucks, but is it your authentic contribution to society? What is your passion? There must be stories bubbling up from deep inside of you that you really want to tell. That’s why you decided to have a go at this whole writing thing.

Tell that story.

Don’t waste your time and everyone else’s trying to write an action packed thriller if you aren’t really into that. Don’t sit down with the intention of writing literary fiction if your heart is really in horror. If you like brain munching zombies write the best zombie book you can write. Include lots of brain munching in it too.

Write what you love.

Don’t get so caught up in the business of writing that you lose sight of why you wanted to become a writer in the first place. Yes, marketing is necessarily especially if your indie. You have to promote yourself, but first and foremost you are a writer and writers write. Writer’s preferably write what they love.

Life is way too short to run around trying to be someone you’re not. People will recognize your true self and they’ll love it or hate. More people will love it than hate it. So put yourself out there. The path to true success is lined with risks. You may feel more comfortable holding back, but you know what? Holding back will just hold you back.

Picture by Sukanto Debnath

How to Find and Build Your Personal Brand

Wordle: Untitled

When I first started my online life I knew nothing of personal branding. I didn’t even think about it. As a result when my name was searched all types of things that I’ve tried online would show up. That eHow account I started when I first started writing online was always the first in the search results. Search your name. What are the first results? Do they give a good first impression?

How to determine your personal brand.

The first thing you need to do is decide what your brand is. Sit down with a piece of paper and do some brainstorming. Write down as many adjectives as you can that describe your writing. Now write down adjectives as you can to describe your personality. Like it or not, as authors part of what you’re selling is your personality. What stands out to you? Do any of the same words appear on both lists? Which words reflect the image you want to project?

The next question you should ask yourself is what your goal is? Yes, you want people to read your books, but why should they? What do you have to offer the reader? This isn’t all about you. You should make it about your reader. How can you help the person who comes to your blog? How does your book add value to someone else’s life?

Once you determined these things you’ve found your personal brand. This is the image you want to project online. This is the message you want people to get when they interact with you. Think of a short concise sentence that sums up the idea you’ve gotten from the list of words you’ve made. That’s your personal brand. That’s your theme.

Reassess your online presence.

Not that you know your personal brand you need to determine whether or not your online presence reflects that brand. Do you have a blog or website? If you don’t you really really need one. It’s not that hard to do.

Look at your website. Does it reflect the idea that your brand is trying to get across? If it doesn’t you need to start making changes. Whenever you put something up on your site you should have the idea of your brand in mind.

Your brand should be reflected in your bio, what you tweet on Twitter, your Facebook Fan page, and everything else you do online.

Knowing your brand and keeping it consistent will help your target audience find you.

If you write in a variety of different genres you may want to consider using pen names to keep you brands seperate. Many authors use pen names for this very reason.

It’s never too late to build your brand.

That eHow account I mentioned at the beginning of this post is from a long ago life and has since been buried beneath all my other more recent online activities. If like me you didn’t start your online life with branding in mind, don’t worry about it. Eventually, you’ll be able to bury the links to embarrassing things because you’ve put up so more recent content online.

Get started today building your brand today.

Are You Trying or Doing?

I watched an Anthony Robbins video the other day that really hit home. (Yes, I am a Tony Robbins fan.) In it a woman was telling him about how terrible her marriage was and about how she’d been trying for years to fix it. When talking to her Tony put a lot of emphasis on a particular phrase she kept using–“trying to change.”

After some discussion he asked her to try to pick up the chair she had been sitting on during the conference. When she bent over and picked up the chair he said, “I didn’t tell you to pick it up. I told you to try to pick it up.”

She responded by putting the chair down and standing there looking confused. Then he said, “Now you’re just standing there. I didn’t ask you to stand there I asked you to try to pick up the chair.”

This interplay continued until he got her to bend over and strain like she was attempting to pick up the chair, but not actually picking it up. Doing this was uncomfortable and frustrating.

How often in our lives do we find ourselves doing something similar? When you say you’re trying to do something what are you really doing?

I have been doing this very thing with my latest novel. I’ve been calling myself trying to write a novel, but having some difficulty. Actually what I’ve been doing is turning on MicroSoft Word and surfing the net instead of writing. It’s lame and I know better than that, but I’ve let myself get sucked into a pattern of behavior that isn’t useful.

There is a difference between trying and doing. Often times when someone says they’ll try to do something that’s code for not being ready to do that thing at all. Either you do it or you don’t.

Trying is sometimes used as an excuse for not accomplishing something you don’t really want to take the necessary steps to achieve. Spending your time struggle to have enough willpower to do it is the same as procrastinating. When I say I’ll write and then I surf the web, I’m saying that I’m not willing to work hard to acheive my goal.

When you watch television instead of starting the novel that you say you’ve always wanted to write, you’re telling yourself that the moment of gratification you get from watching a television show is worth more to you than the deeper satisfaction of writing the novel you’ve dreamed of writing. All it takes is a subtle shift in thinking to change trying into doing.

Once you make that mental change you’ll be able to steer your life in the direction you truly want to go. You have the ultimate control over your destiny. You chose to write or not, exercise or veg out, eat right or pig out on junk, treat yourself with honor and respect or not. So what are you doing? Are you doing or trying?

Photo by crsan – christianholmer.com

The Ocean

Yesterday I sat out here all day as the sun took its afternoon stroll across the sky. The dampness from the ground soaked through my blue jeans, but I didn’t care. As long as I was hidden carefully out of sight nothing else mattered. The cornstalks are taller than me now. Green and straight they sway gently in the wind to acknowledge my father’s calling. Their height makes this a perfect place to hide. Today I’m not hiding though. Today I am simply listening.

When I was seven, Uncle Jim came to visit us from a place called Ocean City. I imaged an entire town on the ocean. Each building and house floating in a kind of giant boat firmly anchored.

My Uncle Jim from Ocean City smelled like cigars and caramels. When he laughed it seemed to erupt from some place deep inside the plaid covered belly that spilled out over his rodeo belt buckle.

When I was seven he came to visit Dad and me amidst tears and confusion. At that time he gave me a special present.

“Georgia, this is for you,” he said as he pulled the white and gray spiraled shell from the crumbled paper bag he was carrying. The shell’s inside was delicate and pink like a wound. When I reached out to take it, it was heavier that I expected. “Hold it up to your ear. You can hear the ocean.”

Lifting the shell’s cold wound to my ear I felt anxious and frightened half expecting a giant claw to reach out a pinch me. Nothing did. Instead of the pain I expected, I heard vast space and endless time; like everything that ever happened or ever will happen rolling over and over each other.

When the wind blows like this it reminds me of that day. I like to close my eyes and listen. I like to imagine that I’m at the ocean. I can’t even begin to imagine what the ocean would look like. The bigness of it seems impossible, but one day I plan to see it and feel its waves licking my ankles. I think that it must be like the sky turned upside down.

There must be an ocean in Heaven where the angels wear swimsuits instead of wings. When we die we go to the shore to lie beneath a forever-blue sky and ride the rolling waves. I imagine my mother there, lying on a pink beach towel with her eyes closed. I remember the way she was when I was small, before my father’s throat became thick with anger. She was whole and youthful.

I am stuck in time, waiting for a glimpse of her coal colored eyes. Eyes I can no longer see. I listen to the wind imitating waves and know that I am hearing what she is hearing.

Photo by Johan J.Ingles-Le Nobel

Reading Helps Improve Your Writing

I read a book about writing a long time ago that recommended that you read for at least an hour everyday to improve your writing. How many authors are really doing that? I freely admit that I’ve let my reading fall by the wayside in the past couple years.

When I was a kid and even a teenager I read all the time. I had my favorite authors, but I wasn’t afraid to try something new either. The library was one of my favorite places. I loved wondering through the stacks and randomly pulling out books. I’d look at the cover–covers are extremely important–and decide whether or not I wanted to read the blurb on the back. If it sounded interesting, I took the book home.

I discovered some of my favorite authors that way. I remember being in the Atlantic City Public Library and pulling Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami from the shelves. The cover was bright with outlines of people dancing on it. That’s all I needed to see before deciding to read the book.

I also read some terrible books. There were books that I struggled to finish and books that were so bad I just couldn’t finish. All these experiences helped me discover what I do and don’t like.

Recently, my reading habits have died off a bit. I’m terribly busy or at least that’s what I tell myself. I have no time to read a novel on an average day. When I really think about it though that just isn’t true. I watch television for about an hour daily. I could easily substitute my television watching for reading, but why would I want to?

Learn Grammar and Vocabulary

You could buy a grammar book and study all the rules. You could open the dictionary and start memorizing a page of new words. Honestly, who wants to do that though? Reading is a fun way to improve your language skills. The usage of grammar and words sinks in subconsciously as you read. You don’t even have to be aware of it. Your brain will notice and absorb vocabulary and sentence structure.

Discover Style

As you read you will find authors that you like and don’t like. Read multiple books by the authors you like and try to figure out what you like about their style. As you find more and more books that you enjoy you’ll develop a better understanding of what makes a good story. This knowledge will help you refine your own writing skills.

Enjoy

Reading is tons of fun. Why did you decide you wanted to become an author in the first place? It probably had something to do with some good books you read in your lifetime.

Life is good and you’re living it now. Don’t ignore the simple pleasures that are part of living. Pick up a good book and get lost in the world it weaves around you. How can you expect others to find time to read your writing if you as a writer don’t even have the time to read?

Photo by Easa Shamih(eEko) P.h.o.t.o.g.r.a.p.h.y