Robbi Sommers Bryant's Blog

HOMOPHONE: each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling, e.g., new and knew.

Since using the wrong homophone can completely change the meaning of your statement, it’s important to make sure you have the right word in mind.
Than vs. Then
Despite their single letter of difference, misusing ” and “then” can change a statement completely. “Than” is the word to use in a comparative statement, like “You’re a better writer today than you were yesterday.” Use “then” when describing a sequence of events, like “Write a good sentence, and then compose a great paragraph.”
To and Too
While “to” and “too” sound the same, remember that the former is while the latter is an adverb. “To” typically means “toward,” while “too” can either mean “excessively” or “also.” For example, you could say, “When you go to the beach, take me too.”
Your vs You're
Though it’s a common mistake, using the wrong version of this word can make your writing look sloppy. “Your” is always a possessive pronoun, so when you use this word, be sure you’re declaring ownership. For instance, you could say, “your book” or “your professional writing sample.” “You’re,” on the other hand, is a contraction of the words “you” and “are.” When using this word, check yourself by reading it with the words “you are” in place of the contraction to make sure it makes sense.
Threw vs Through
“Threw” and “through” may be different parts of speech, but they can be tough to keep straight. The first work in this homophone pair is the past tense of the verb “throw,” or the act of tossing something in the air. “Through,” however, is an adverb that implies movement through space or time. You could say, for instance, “The pitcher threw the baseball through the air like a pro.”Many writers confuse these since the only spelling difference is a single vowel towards the end of the word. 
Stationary vs Stationery
“Stationary” and “stationery,” however, have very different meanings. “Stationary” refers to standing still, while “stationery” refers to cards, paper, or other writing materials. Your stationery may be stationary, but never the other way around.
Seas vs Sees vs Seize
As if two homophones weren’t enough, you will find three spellings of this sound-alike. “Seas” is a noun that describes oceans and other large bodies of water, while the verb “sees” refers to looking or observing. Finally, “seize” means to take control. “She sees the opposing forces seize the seas” demonstrates the unique meaning of all three.
There vs Their vs They're
You’ll also find three of these tricky homophones. “There” refers to a general location or distance. When describing where you parked your car, for instance, you might say, “My car is in the parking lot over there.” “Their” serves as a possessive form for more than one person. When referring to the vehicles belonging to a group of people, for example, you would say, “their cars.” Finally, “they’re” is a contraction of the words “they” and “are.” Whenever you use this term, make sure that what you really mean is “they are.” For instance, you could say, “They’re parking.” If you’re really ready to show off your knowledge of homophones, try out the statement, “They’re parking their car in that lot over there.”
Homophones may sound the same, but their meanings are very different when you use them in writing. Study up on which words you need to use, and when, as many spelling and grammar checkers cannot correct for words that are spelled correctly but used wrong. (Lucky for you Grammarly can!)

By Lucy V Hay On February 20, 2015We’ve all been there. It can be a total nightmare for a professional writer who relies on their creativity for their bread and butter. The big question is how do we recognise if it’s  block and how do we overcome so that we can get our creative ideas flowing freely again?
1) DON’T think there’s only one right answerDo you ever stop to consider that there might be more than just one right answer? This is one of the biggest flaws in our rigid education system, they suppress our creative thinking by making us focus all our efforts on looking for the one correct answer. Instead, you should try looking at the issue from different perspectives and open your mind to different answers, after all, real-life issues are ambiguous.
2) DON’T blindly follow the rulesIf you’re following a set of rules, then seriously, DON’T! For a change, you should try breaking them and see what happens. Rules can be a really useful guideline of what to do and what not to do, but in terms of creativity they can often inhibit our innovative ideas. Just think about it like this – someone else has set these rules for you to follow and everyone is following the exact same set of rules as you.
3) DON’T stick only to your specialised roleNowadays our job roles are becoming more and more specialised which results in us looking inwards, rather than outwards. A creative person must look further afield than their immediate role, so start looking into other areas and broaden your knowledge. Knowledge is key to effective writing! The ad man Carl Ally once said, “The creative person wants to be a know-it-all.” So, observe everything you see and read as much as you can and take it all in.
4) DON’T work for hours on end without a breakOne of the biggest issues that can cause creative block is getting stuck your own thinking. You need to know when to take a break, or you will have the most unconstructive few hours of your life that you will never get back! When I say take a break, I don’t mean check your Facebook or Twitter and go back to it. Move completely away from your desk!  walk outside in the fresh air, read a book, watch a TV show by heaven play with your kids’ Lego!Also, during your break make sure you have some refreshments. Some people say that you should stick to water or natural fruit juices, but I find that a sugary tea does the job well done! The extra sugar will give you a well-needed energy boost and will help you to focus again greater clarity and creativity. Chief writer of   Jackpotjanebingo   said:  “I used to always think that I couldn’t take a break because I had too much work on my desk but then I found that by taking a break my productivity actually increased so no matter how busy my day is I always make sure that I take some time out and I make sure my staff do too”.
 5) DON’T get overwhelmed with work In a busy workplace, things can get a little to say the least! We often find ourselves overwhelmed with the amount of projects piling up, plus the day-to-day stuff that needs to be done.The easy solution to this is to make sure that you are well-organised and allocate a certain amount of time to each task each day. For instance, put two hours aside each day to respond to emails. If you try to answer them while you’re working on your next masterpiece it will only take your eye off the ball and you will lose your creative flow. You should also make sure that you take the time out of your day to sit down and process your creative ideas, to give them a chance to blossom.
6) DON’T wait for inspiration to strike … Grab it!A common problem for writers is hitting a brick wall as soon as you put pen to paper or finger to . It’s awful when you don’t even know where to start! You can spend hours upon hours pondering your thoughts and trying to come up with something to give your piece a kick-start.After reading this, you should now be able to recognise creative block and know how to deal with it effectively. I hope that these pointers work as well for you as they do for me. Now stop banging your head against a wall and get back to work!
All About Free WritingBeating Writers’ Block: 4 ExercisesMore writing inspiration, resources and free downloads, HERE.

Interpersonal SkillsI soon discovered that practical people skills, in person and on paper, were essential to an editor’s job. Copy had to be cajoled out of deadline-hating regulars; scruffy, hand-written notes had to be typed up into elegant prose; some changes had to be so subtle that the most precious writers wouldn’t notice the difference from their original submission; and feedback had always to be positive.
These interventions had to be performed without expectation of praise because, like a top tailor, a professional editor makes their clients look their best in the eyes of the world without drawing attention to themselves.
An Eye for ConsistencyWhen I returned to England eight years later, I worked as a freelance editor for and then became a writer and for television. One of my projects was a children’s series called Runaway Bay, which starred well as actors like Craig Charles, John Woodvine and Cathy Tyson. It was set in Martinique: three summers in the Caribbean were the best editing I’ve ever had!
But it was a French-English co-production, with half the episodes written by English-speaking French writers and half by British writers. The difference in quality, tone and style between the 18 scripts was vast, and part of my job was to bring consistency and compliance to the guidelines of both French and English Children’s TV broadcasting.
Respect for the Author’s VoiceA few years later, I began writing my first novel and was put in touch with an eminent editor who offered to go through my initial chapters. I was excited to see her improvements, but found in the returned manuscript that she had turned my style into bland ‘literary’ prose, removed anything contemporary sounding and all contractions, even I hadn’t set out to write a classic, but this convinced me I couldn’t write, and the draft got consigned to a bottom drawer – until I submitted the original version to Richard and Judy’s Novel Competition and it was then published by Macmillan, with almost no changes.
When I started to edit other writers’ fiction, I was especially careful to maintain their author ‘voice’, especially with writers who could tell a great story but had a tenuous grasp on grammar, punctuation and spelling. This could sometimes mean replacing/re-ordering/re-punctuating most words in most sentences to create a Standard English reading experience, without losing their style or momentum.Having done exactly this for one novelist, I returned her a ‘tracked’ edit and an ‘accepted’ version where she only saw the finished result. She totally ignored the mass of red inline edits in the tracked version and emailed me to say she was pleased to see, after a break, how good her writing was; she hadn’t been sure when she’d sent it off to me. I don’t think she ever understood how much work went into making her writing so good – or probably what she paid me for.I now use a team of freelance editors at Rethink Press, and when I’m checking out new editors, I look for these five qualities:Love, as well as knowledge, of languageConsistencyEmpathy (with authors)FlexibilityExperienceAs Roz Morris, an excellent and experienced editor, says:

“There’s more to editing than a zeal for rules and detail. Good editors need experience. Every author presents different challenges, and an editor needs to know where to be prescriptive, where to cut slack, and where to probe the author’s intentions before making suggestions. With copy editing, a good editor will judge when to bend to the author’s taste – should ‘hell bent’ be one word or two? And comma use – there are many acceptable variations, but some copy editors insist the author follows their own pet rules. You certainly don’t want an editor to make unnecessary corrections if you’re paying by the hour. And legalities – editors can save you from quoting material that may get you into copyright trouble, or naming trademarks that might result in solicitors’ letters, or libelling someone.”

When you’re looking for an editor, talk to them and to other authors they have worked with. If you and their other clients are confident they have these qualities, be prepared to pay them a decent fee for an incredibly valuable service.
http://www.selfpublishingadvice.org/what-makes-a-good-editor/

If you’re thinking of employing an editor for your novel, take a look at this detailed list to help you decide if the editor is worth it. Or not.Editorial by Jim Dempsey, Novel Gazing Jim Dempsey is an associate editor at NovelGazing.org. 
Recently, a few authors have approached Novel Gazing to ask us to work on novels that have already been edited. The authors had trusted these  and felt they had done a good job. But later, when they got feedback from other readers, the authors were told that the novels still contained many grammatical and consistency errors. The authors started to doubt the quality of the editing and also wondered whether this meant there were problems with their story structure and character development. These aspects were more important to the authors than a few missed typos, and that’s when they came to us for a second opinion.Authors often complain about editors. After all, we ask them to make changes to their precious work. A love/hate relationship is only to be expected. But we’ve seen more and more of these requests from dissatisfied authors in the last year or two. I won’t speculate on the reasons. It might just be a coincidence of circumstances we’re experiencing at our company. Regardless of the causes, authors need to know how to tell if an editor is any good. Or not.
The next time you’re looking for an editor, send a few sample pages of your manuscript first, then check their work for the qualities below. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but every good editor will do all of the following: 
Give Advice: No editor should demand that you delete or even rewrite whole tracts of text, or get rid of a character or insert a murder at the end of chapter three. Or any other chapter. They should never command or bully authors into making unwanted changes.Editors should, of course, correct typos and grammatical errors, but when it comes to substantial matters, such as plot structure, story flow and character development, they should only advise – and give good reasons – but they should never insist.Which brings me to…
Criticize Constructively: Good editors will never (OK, rarely) point out a problem without offering a workable solution. You should never see a comment like, “The pace drops here,” without at least one helpful idea for the author to consider in the rewrite. The editor could, for instance, mark a few lines of overly expository  in the preceding text and recommend cutting or revising them. Or suggest – never demand, remember – that the murder could come earlier in the story. At the end of chapter three, for example. 
Provide Explanations: While offering solutions applies more to substantive editing, explanations are more usual in copy editing and proof-reading, especially when an editor has had to make a significant change. This can happen when the meaning of a sentence is unclear or could be misinterpreted.For example, the author might write:
I saw a rat looking through the basement window.From the surrounding text, it’s clear to the editor that the author really  saw a rat when I looked through the basement window.It’s the kind of thing authors easily overlook and could even question why such a change was made since they already know what it’s supposed to say and have read that sentence a hundred times already without noticing a problem.In such a case, it’s good practice to add a comment with an explanation.This leads …
Practice and Preach: The comment attached to the above example could read something  changed this because the reader might think the rat was looking through the window.And  as  might think rat was looking thru window.A good editor’s comments and feedback will have no spelling mistakes, grammar or punctuation errors. We can’t ask you to give your best work if we can’t be bothered to give ours. (Although, I must admit that I have occasionally failed on this point, but I do try my best.)
Take Care: You really don’t need an editor to add errors to your manuscript, but it happens. Surprisingly often.The most common error an editor will leave behind is a double space between two words. When you get your edited manuscript back, use the ‘Find’ function in Word to search for double spaces. A good editor will have done this before sending it back to you, so you shouldn’t find any. (Note: this only applies to documents where all the changes have been accepted.)Another error to watch out for is inconsistency in spelling. There should be no organizations, for example, when you really want to have organizations.
Aim for Thoroughness: In this case, that means adding a few extra items to the list of qualities you’ll find in a good editor. Punctuality is one. An editor should always deliver their work on time.Politeness is another. They could ask you to “please check this is what you mean” rather than an abrupt, “Check this” (which could also be misinterpreted).And there’s nothing wrong with an editor who’s pedantic. They should look for every tiny error and check every little detail and fact. Was there really a full moon on Halloween’s night of 1957? (No, there wasn’t.)
Finally, good editors will be curious. They are always willing to learn and are keen to improve their skills. So tell me, what qualities do you think a good editor should have? Let us know what you think  the comments.Jim Dempsey is an associate editor at Novel G

So as I was driving off from my friend Vicki Mall's house, I saw a grasshopper sitting on my windshield wiper. I kept thinking it would leap off at every red light and stop sign. In fact I would shout, "Go little grasshopper." But nothing. I feared turning on the wipers as I thought it might crush it...leaving a horrible green/yellow streak across my windshield, let alone what it might do to the poor grasshopper. It was the entrance onto 101 at the Bicentennial where I thought the little fellow would blow off, but damn if it didn't hang on until I approached the College Ave exit. I looked at my windshield seconds later and he was gone. Another needless casualty. Moral of story: know when to let go.

We’re dropping commas more than ever because much of our daily writing now consists of quick text messages and hastily typed emails.Understanding when and when not to use commas can be very confusing. However, using commas correctly can take your writing to a higher level. And give it clarity.
Comma myths
Long sentences need a comma — a long sentence may be perfectly fine without commas. The length of a sentence doesn’t determine whether you need a comma.You should add a comma wherever you pause — different readers pause or breathe in different places. Where you pause or breathe doesn’t reliably indicate where a comma belongs.They’re impossible to figure out where they belong — most of the time, commas belong in predictable places. These rules will help you identify them.
When to use the commaThese six comma rules cover the ones you’re most likely to need in your everyday writing.There are many rules for comma usage, but if you remember just these six rules, you should be on your way becoming a master of the comma:
1. To separate words in a list or series — separating items in a list helps clarify largest banks in South Africa are Standard Bank, FirstRand Bank, Nedbank and Absa.
2. To separate addresses, dates, titles and names — just follow these special punctuation rules:His home is in Constantia, Cape Town.Her father was born on 13th March 1955, in Johannesburg.Johan du Pieter, are you going to the meeting?
3. To separate two or more adjectives — when using a string of adjectives separate the adjectives with a comma:We were prepared for his long, tedious, strained speech.
4. After an introductory word or phrase — yes, no, well, oh, okay, however, meanwhile, — are introductory words that comment on the meaning of the sentence. As they’re not part of the sentence they should be separated:Yes, I can make the meeting at 9:00AM tomorrow.An introductory phase provides background information or ‘sets the stage’ for the main part of the sentence:In order to do the job properly, the accountants will need an extra week.
5. To separate two sentences that use a joining word — there are simple sentences and complex ones. Simple sentences don’t need commas:The safe was supposed to be secure. The robbers still managed to break it open.By joining these two sentences together with a conjunction like ‘yet’ results in a complex sentence. Which needs a comma before the ‘yet’:The safe was supposed to be secure, yet the robbers still managed to break it open.conjunctions are: and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so, — and a comma should be used to separate the two independent clauses:Sarah can get you a ticket for a flight, or John could drive you in his car.
6. When inserting extra information in the middle of a sentence — the parenthetical sentence (also known as an aside) is part of the sentence that can be removed without changing the essential meaning of the sentence:John, the most intelligent manager in the department, was always late for work.Commas can be used in the same way you’d use a pair of brackets. But there’s danger with brackets, your writing can soon be covered with them, which makes it harder to read.The most common people make with parenthetical sentences is only using one comma. You wouldn’t only use one bracket would you?
Comma rules don’t have to be any more complex than that.
Keep your sentences short, 15–20 words on average, and you won’t need to worry about learning more.                                                                                  --John Hurfordhttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/comma-tough-master-easy-mess-up-james-hurford

You don't need to be a journalist. Or have a journalist degree. You don't need writing classes to become a better writer or blogger.You don't need to watch classes online. Or pay a fortune to people that tell you they will teach you how to write.No one can teach anyone how to write.You actually don't need any education as a writer at all. No piece of paper certifying anything. Everybody can be a writer. You. Me. The homeless guy on the streets.You just need to be literate. That's already about it.Everything else is just training and exercising your writing muscle over and over again. Writing doesn't have anything to do with talent. Or waiting for that inspiration. The muse. No. That's not what writing is all about.Writing is about sitting down. About working hard. Every single day.If you believe that you don't have enough time, ten minutes a day is already enough to get you started. Write on your commute to work. On your commute back home. On that Friday night when you friend's are out drinking.Nobody said that it's going to be easy. If stuff was easy everybody would be doing it...Now let's a look at the things that helped me to become a better writer. Maybe they will also work for you. Maybe they won't. I sincerely hope though...
# Be a copycat.Copy the hell out of your favorite authors. Write down the lines you love. Keep them at a safe place. And then once in a while use them. Use everything you can get. And then tweak it. Mix it up. Go crazy. There are no rules. No limits.
# Don't be an expert. No facts. Only stories.The moment you seem like an expert that boasts one fact after another you might loose your readers. It might work for some people but for most of us it won't. Try to keep it real instead, be authentic and be yourself. Tell your stories.Forget about stats, numbers or what not. This stuff bores the hell out of people. People buy newspapers when they want to read about boring stuff. Don't waste people's free time when they decide to break free. To spice up their lives.Be the person that spices up their free time. Don't be the person that bores the hell out of them..
# Go on Quora.Quora is like these shows back in the days where you could call in and ask all sorts of questions to the guy or gal on TV. They were some sort of psychologists or something like that. Now imagine this thing x 1bn and you'll get Quora.Everybody with an Internet connection can ask whatever he or she wants to (in a written form). And then millions of people can answer.It's a brilliant source of inspiration. Look for patterns. Look for questions that pop up over and over again. Write an answer. Then post it on your blog. And then on Quora. And then everywhere else...
# Idea lists.In her new book, Claudia Altucher teaches you how to become an idea machine. Ideas are the currency of our century. So write down ten ideas a day. Not sure how to do this? Grab a copy of this book here. It teaches you how to become an idea machine.The e-book is currently $0.99 on Amazon.And once you have ten ideas for a specific topic make a blog post out of it. That's how I come up with most of these “list posts”. That's how I came up with the content for this post.
# Post on every platform.I mentioned this already. But it's so important that I'll mention it once again.Once you published your answer on Quora and your blog, publish it on every other platform out there. Be where your potential readers are. Don't wait for them to magically find you. Show up where they hang out. Move. Be flexible. Be agile. Be everywhere.I call this customer service.You go where your customers are. Others might call it spam. Those are the people that wait for other people to magically come across their blogs. To choose them. Never going to happen.Here's the thing: most of my blog traffic comes from other platforms. Just the other day I published my post “Why we hate our jobs” on Quora. Apparently a lot of people hate their jobs on Quora. It got 30k+ views.And then a lot of people clicked through my blog. Signed up for my newsletter and so on...
# Be human.Don't try to wear a mask. Sooner or later people will realize that you're wearing a mask. That you're not being yourself. That you're trying to hide something from them. Instead, admit your flaws or it might backfire at some point. Be like Eminem.
# It's the title stupid.Learn how to write titles that kick ass. That practically force people to read the stuff that comes next. The best articles won't get read if the title isn't bad ass. Experiment with different styles. Use Twitter. See what tweets get more clicks. More retweets. Tweak.Do it all over again. And again and again.And then put the best stuff in your first and your last two lines. The first two lines is where 99% of the people drop out. It has to be brilliant. Otherwise people will stop reading.The last two lines are the make it or break it decision. If the last two lines are absolutely breathtaking people will share your piece of art.If not, they might only hit the like button. Or don't do anything at all.How do you do this? Go and check out your favorite writers or bloggers. Check their first and last two lines. Copy them. Mix it. Shake it up. And then come up with your own way of doing things...
# Screw your reputation.The moment you think your reputation is at stake you already lost.It will hold you back from writing amazing stuff. From telling fantastic stories. Stories that will excite people. Stories that might embarrass you. Your family. Your friends. Your colleagues.If you're not ashamed in one way or another about the stuff you just wrote, no one is probably ever going to read it...
# No alcohol.Every time I drink even just a tiny bit of alcohol my brain doesn't seem to function properly anymore. It's not that I magically turn stupid (even though it sometimes feels like that).It's more that I'm struggling very hard with getting started and staying focused.Getting up and writing stuff every single (or second day) is already hard enough. If you give your brain just a tiny piece of hope that it might be able to escape an exhausting workout it will hold onto it.You lizard brain will do everything to keep you away from writing.It's scared to death. It wants to survive. And the only way it can survive is to hold you back. Hold you back from an adventurous life. A life you care about. All it wants is you to live a life in mediocrity. Forever.
# Start now even though you suck at it.Don't wait until you become better. Start today. If you never start you will never get any better. It's as simple as that. If you tell yourself you suck at writing that's just an excuse. We all suck at things we just started.Michael Jordan sucked when he started. Steve Jobs was fired from his own company Apple in the eighties. I got straight Ds and sometimes even Fs on my writings.Get over yourself and accept the fact that you will wait your life away if you wait for better times. For times where you might magically be good at something. Unfortunately these times will never come...
# Screw grammar. Punctuation. Everything.Write like you talk. Talk like you write. Forget about everything you learned in school. That was for poets. People that are dead now. Nobody understands poets anymore these days. Or lawyers. No one understands what they're saying or writing. At least I don't.These days people understand maybe 5% of the stuff that's written in poems. Or laws.Make sure people understand your writing. That you speak the same language.
# Be heavily opinionated.Always have a very strong opinion about everything you write about. Be so heavily opinionated that some people will call you ignorant.There are billions of people that have weak opinions. Don't be one of them. Don't be part of the anonymous mass...
# Write down your ideas.Always have a piece of paper with you where you can write down your ideas. Or write them down on your phone. Or your tablet.It doesn't matter. Because one moment you might have the world's best idea and the next moment it might be gone forever. Happened to me many times already...Actually, don't take notes on your phone or your tablet. Stop using your phone all along. It will only distract you. Distract you from coming up with amazing ideas.Instead, give your brain a break from time to time. Give it some room to breathe. It needs space to rejuvenate. To recharge its batteries.
# Go for walks.A while ago I saw a picture on Facebook that said going for a walk will increase your brain activity by 100%. Maybe it was more. Maybe it was less. I don't know. I didn't read the article.If you go for a walk it's like back in the days when we were hunters and gatherers.The moment we go outside our brain starts to kick in. It starts to screen our surroundings for dangers. It's alert. Now you can go back to work...
# Writer's/blogger's block.Should you ever experience writer's or blogger's block I can highly recommend you to read this book: http://amzn.to/1z9Mj2Q
# Be selfish.Be the most selfish person on this planet.Don't read the stuff other people post on Facebook, Twitter or any other platform. The only thing that's going to happen is that you're going to drown. You're going to drown in the vast see of content pieces.Pieces that will take away your focus. That will obscure your vision. You won't be able to think your own thoughts anymore.Thoughts everywhere. No time to make sense of it all.Stop jamming your brain with meaningless pieces of content. Read books instead. Read stories. Not some predigested pieces of facts.
# Get your ass kicked.When people start kicking your ass you know you're on the right track. Every time someone reacts negatively to something you wrote, it means that you struck a chord. That deep down you pushed a button that person tried to hide. To run away from.That's where you want to end up if you want to write impactful stuff. But don't offend or hurt anyone...
#Reinvent yourself. Innovate. Always.This is a very important part, especially when you just started. Make sure that you reinvent your writing over and over again. Innovate. Surprise. Make your readers go “wow that was unexpected”. Write three pages long posts. One sentence long posts.. Heck, write a one word post.It doesn't matter. Everything that matters is that you find out what your readers really like.And once you found it go ahead and find something new they love. Never stop moving. That's the only way you might become (and stay) relevant...
# Don't try to be a fortune teller.Don't put an idea in the drawer “that's too obvious”. I can't write about this. This is not smart enough.What might be obvious to you might not be obvious to others. Sometimes the most obvious things I write about resonate the most with my readers. It's very strange...Every time I tried to predict a post's success I was taught a lesson. A lesson that taught me that I suck at being a fortune teller. That I don't know anything about people. Or my writing. Or anything else...
# Grow organically.Don't try to growth hack your way to success or traffic. Grow organically.Improve your skills with your crowd size. The better you get, the bigger your audience. If you try to hack your growth the thing that's going to happen is that you're going to get bad traffic.Traffic that consists of people walking away. Traffic that consists of people that are disappointed. People that expected great stuff but only got bad stuff. People that might never ever come back again.
# Write every day.If one post wasn't successful ignore it. Admit defeat. Be upset for a while (or even longer if it feels right) and then get back up again. Dirt off your shoulders. Do the unexpected. Write the next piece. And then the next.Do it as long as you have to. Do it until you struck a cord. And then write again. Be constantly creating. Innovating. Reinventing yourself. I know it's hard but that's the only way people will start taking you serious..And then maybe one day you might get a like from your favorite writer on Facebook or a retweet on Twitter. Then you can finally open the champagne and start celebrating. 
Go crazy. Enjoy life to the fullest.Or you can simply focus on what's most important to you... To me...Becoming a super writer...

Is Your Editor Worth It? Or Not?Read more by Guest ContributorJanuary 30, 2015If you’re thinking of employing an editor for your novel, take a look at this detailed list to help you decide if the editor is worth it. Or not.Editorial by Jim Dempsey, Novel GazingJim Dempsey is an associate editor at NovelGazing.org. 
Recently, a few authors have approached Novel Gazing to ask us to work on novels that have already been edited. The authors had trusted these editors, and felt they had done a good job. But later, when they got feedback from other readers, the authors were told that the novels still contained many grammatical and consistency errors. The authors started to doubt the quality of the editing and also wondered whether this meant there were problems with their story structure and character development. These aspects were more important to the authors than a few missed typos, and that’s when they came to us for a second opinion.Authors often complain about editors. After all, we ask them to make changes to their precious work. A love/hate relationship is only to be expected. But we’ve seen more and more of these requests from dissatisfied authors in the last year or two. I won’t speculate on the reasons. It might just be a coincidence of circumstances we’re experiencing at our company. Regardless of the causes, authors need to know how to tell if an editor is any good. Or not.
The next time you’re looking for an editor, send a few sample pages of your manuscript first, then check their work for the qualities below. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but every good editor will do all of the following: 
Give Advice: No editor should demand that you delete or even rewrite whole tracts of text, or get rid of a character or insert a murder at the end of chapter three. Or any other chapter. They should never command or bully authors into making unwanted changes.Editors should, of course, correct typos and grammatical errors, but when it comes to substantial matters, such as plot structure, story flow and character development, they should only advise – and give good reasons – but they should never insist.Which brings me to…
Criticize Constructively: Good editors will never (OK, rarely) point out a problem without offering a workable solution. You should never see a comment like, “The pace drops here,” without at least one helpful idea for the author to consider in the rewrite. The editor could, for instance, mark a few lines of overly expository dialogue in the preceding text and recommend cutting or revising them. Or suggest – never demand, remember – that the murder could come earlier in the story. At the end of chapter three, for example. 
Provide Explanations: While offering solutions applies more to substantive editing, explanations are more usual in copy editing and proof-reading, especially when an editor has had to make a significant change. This can happen when the meaning of a sentence is unclear or could be misinterpreted.For example, the author might write:
I saw a rat looking through the basement window.From the surrounding text, it’s clear to the editor that the author really meant:I saw a rat when I looked through the basement window.It’s the kind of thing authors easily overlook and could even question why such a change was made since they already know what it’s supposed to say and have read that sentence a hundred times already without noticing a problem.In such a case, it’s good practice to add a comment with an explanation.This leads nicely to…
Practice and Preach: The comment attached to the above example could read something like:I changed this because the reader might think the rat was looking through the window.And not:Changed as reeder might think rat was looking thru window.A good editor’s comments and feedback will have no spelling mistakes, grammar or punctuation errors. We can’t ask you to give your best work if we can’t be bothered to give ours. (Although, I must admit that I have occasionally failed on this point, but I do try my best.)
Take Care: You really don’t need an editor to add errors to your manuscript, but it happens. Surprisingly often.The most common error an editor will leave behind is a double space between two words. When you get your edited manuscript back, use the ‘Find’ function in Word to search for double spaces. A good editor will have done this before sending it back to you, so you shouldn’t find any. (Note: this only applies to documents where all the changes have been accepted.)Another error to watch out for is inconsistency in spelling. There should be no organizations, for example, when you really want to have organizations.
Aim for Thoroughness: In this case, that means adding a few extra items to the list of qualities you’ll find in a good editor. Punctuality is one. An editor should always deliver their work on time.Politeness is another. They could ask you to “please check this is what you mean” rather than an abrupt, “Check this” (which could also be misinterpreted).And there’s nothing wrong with an editor who’s pedantic. They should look for every tiny error and check every little detail and fact. Was there really a full moon on Halloween’s night of 1957? (No, there wasn’t.)
Finally, good editors will be curious. They are always willing to learn and are keen to improve their skills. So tell me, what qualities do you think a good editor should have? Let us know what you think in the comments.Jim Dempsey is an associate editor at Novel G

My greatest victory as a writer will, at first glance,
seem simplistic and lacking imagination. Why? Because my star achievement is
that I'm able to write. I was a
prolific writer between 1987-1997. During this time, a traditional publishing
house helped me to birth three novels, five short story collections and a
variety of articles and stories in anthologies and magazines.

My muse was alive and well. The burning passion to write
glowed continually. Did I take this for granted? You betcha! I'd simply sit
down, put my fingers on the keyboard and whoosh, words streamed onto the page. 
Day after day. Book after book.

Then, in 1997, the unthinkable happened. My twenty-one-year-old
son died. He was at a fraternity party, they were drinking, he passed out and
asphyxiated on his vomit. Unexpected and horrific, this news slammed me against
a wall, reached into my soul and robbed me of all passion. This included my
ability to write.

Pinned under a boulder of devastation, I felt
immobilized. I was able to scratch out a few poems about the dreadful loss and
then nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. 
My son was one breath away. Was it
that difficult to bring him back? One breath, one blink of the eye. When he
left, my heart and passion were stuffed deep in his death-filled backpack.

As my grieving meandered through dark nights and muddied
days, I sat under a large oak tree and watched muscular hawks soar across the
sky. A message from my son? Every white feather, every heads-up penny—messages?
I searched for him in my dreams, I sat by his grave and waited. Every day, the
same thing. No thoughts. Just empty waiting.

I covered his grave in rose petals. I searched for his
face wherever I went. I knew he was gone but the 'forever-ness' of it suffocated
me, drowned my ability to think beyond one question, "How can this
be?"
It seemed as though that one moment, when I first heard
that he died, blurred and slowly stretched until I looked up to realize that
two years, one relationship and all of my inspiration had disappeared. The
vacancy in my heart hungered for that creative flame that had promised to burn
forever. Like everything else, it had extinguished.

Some days, I'd pass my computer and stop long enough to
remember how it felt to write. The joy of stepping into a story and following
characters into the unknown had always appealed to me on a variety of levels. 
The act of writing took me away from my "self" and whatever the angst
of the week was, leaving me to wander in a world where consequence was simply a
matter of words.

Another year passed. An overwhelming numbness had
replaced my grief, making it clear that I no longer had any reason to step into
my computer room. I was emotionally anesthetized. On one hand, this was good.
Peaceful. Yet, the negative was that my imagination was behind a locked door.
The key had disappeared with everything else.

Every year, I had a small line tattooed on my wrist. Each
line represented 360 days without my son. It was hard to keep track, one second
becoming a minute. One hour becoming a day. Two lines and I closed the door to
my computer room. Three lines. Four. Numbness peeled into misery. I wanted to
write, but couldn't. Five lines. Six. 
 It's not that I didn't try. I have at least twenty first
lines of poems and the beginning sentence of six short stories. Soon, I
realized that I was completely blocked. Seven lines. Eight lines. I did
nothing. My computer room was loaded with underlying anxiety. It was better to
distance myself from the idea of writing.

 "I used to be
a writer," I would say, shaking my head. "But now, there's nothing
left." 

When friends would tell me to just sit down and write, a
fireball of unease would ricochet through me. The cycle of sitting in a chair,
writing one sentence, deleting it, writing another until I finally walked away
with nothing, sickened me. I understood, all too clearly, that the writer's
block consuming me could exile my muse forever. Every time I sat down to write,
I seemed to push her further away.

I was on the brink of the thirteenth year when it
happened. 
Deep within me, a faint glow from a tiny flame cast a thin light
across my spirit. Without thought, I opened the door of my office, sat down in
front of my computer and peeked at a manuscript that I had started fourteen
years before. I immediately saw a sentence that begged to be edited. Writers
know how this is. No matter how many times we edit our manuscript, we always see
more to change. 
 "The Beautiful Evil" was the first work
published after my thirteen-year writer's block. So far, it's won three
literary awards and has been number one in suspense on Amazon. My spirit
soared. To represent the newfound freedom, I had a bird in flight tattooed over
the thirteen lines. 
My newest work, "Dream," published, October
2012, has won its first award, 1st runner up in The LA Book Festival
Genre Category. I'm thrilled. I still have anxiety when I sit in front of my
computer, nevertheless, I overcome it by believing I can. 


When I write, "my greatest victory as a writer is
that I'm able to write," I'm dead serious. My tremendous struggle with
"forever-ness" albeit the loss of my son or the longing for my lost
muse fostered a depth in my writing that I hadn't thought possible. I endured.
I survived. I no longer take my creativity for granted. Each word I write is a
blessing; each sentence, a joy. 

Do you want to create your perfect dream? Perhaps you would like to dream about taking a relaxing stroll through the countryside, being able to fly, or lying on a sun drenched beach? Would you like to wake up feeling refreshed and happy? 
Then Dream:ON. From: www.dreamonapp.com
How does Dream:ON work?
Before going to bed you indicate the type of dream you would like to have and when you want to wake up. You then place your iPhone on your bed and go to sleep. Dream:ON then activates and begins monitoring your sleep pattern. 

When Dream:ON senses that you are dreaming, it plays a 'soundscape' that has been carefully designed to help create your desired dream. Whilst your chosen soundscape is playing, Dream:ON continues to monitor your movement and adjusts the volume accordingly to ensure you're not woken up."We have created a new way of carrying out mass participation experiments. We still know relatively little about the science of dreaming and this app may provide a real breakthrough in changing how we dream, and record and track those dreams." ~ Professor Richard Wiseman
The Science Behind Dream:ON
Not all sleep is the same.
Research has shown that most of our dreams occur during REM Sleep, and also that your mind is particularly alert to other senses during this stage of sleep. Dream:ON plays the 'SoundScape' to your subconscious during REM.

Almost everyone dreams several times each night. However, research suggests that people vary in their ability to incorporate the Soundscapes into their dreams and it may take several nights before Dream:ON is effective.
Dream:ON Features
Dream:ON includes a free and fully functional smart alarm that will gently sound before your chosen time in the morning, waking you up at the optimum moment in order to leave you feeling refreshed and happy.Dream:ON is also a social experiment - in the morning Dream:ON presents you with a graph of your movement during the night, allows you to tag any of your friends who appeared in your dreams via Facebook (just like you would when you tag a picture) and invites you post a short description of your dream to our experimental 'Dream Bank'. Creating the world's largest dream experiment.
DREAM ON at the APPS STORE