A celebration and an offer

by Shelly Brown

I read too much nonfiction for this crowd. I know I do ;)

I read about such topics that might not interest anyone but myself...

like blogging.

Yes, I read about blogging when I'm not blogging.

I am THAT exciting.

But if you're already here I wanted to share with you something that I've learned.

Leo Babauta 

(of the A-list Blogging, Write to Done, Zen Habits fame) 

talks again and again about the power of guest posting.

When he first started his blog he realized that he needed to get people there

 and he started with guest blogging. 

He gives these pluses for guest posting on someone else's blog.

-Increased Traffic (link back to your blog)

-Increased Exposure (people will know who you are)

-New Readership (connect with people who don't run in your circle)

-Great Advertising (trying to sell a book, anyone?)

Well all of this is set up for a celebratory announcement

Writing with Shelly and Chad has reached

200 blog posts

(actual picture of Shelly and Chad throwing confetti into bloggerdom)

and to celebrate we want to open the blog up to you

Anyone want to guest post?

Just leave your email address (unless it's attached to your profile) and you'll get a day on the blog :)

Don't let our celebriti-ness intimidate you ;) You can even just post a joke, a funny picture, a sentence of encouragement, or something else that is simple. So come on and join us!

Plotting, Plotting, Plotting Along...

I'm guest blogging today on Heather Cashman's blog

Better off Read

(Can't help seeing John Cusack every time I hear the name of that blog)

Here is a taste of the post

and click below for more tips on plotting.

Plotting, Plotting, Plotting Along…

Nothing ruins great characters like a bad plot.

If I was to ever speak at a writers conference I think the title of my class would be “My Story Sucks. Now What?” because this is the topic that I am the most familiar with.

I can’t count the number of times I have come to a point in my story where I said, “Why, oh why does this suck so bad?”

So, I am here to tell you what I have learned.

It’s the plot.

At least with my stories, I need to tighten the plot.

Easier said than done.

Can I share with you some of the ways that I have discovered what in the plot needs fixing?

CLICK HERE TO FIGURE OUT WHY YOUR STORY SUCKS ;)

Four Hot Tips for Sweet Romance

The lovely Christine Bryant, The Day Dreamer, has graciously allowed me to guest post over on her blog on such an embarrassing topic as romance. Oh great, now I'm blushing.

Four Hot Tips for Sweet Romance

(even if it’s just a subplot)

At the LDStorymakers Conference in May 2011 Sarah M. Eden (Courting Miss Lancanster) presented on romance in novels. A lot of what I am going to share with you today came from her. If you ever get the chance to take a class from her (like say next years LDStorymaker’s Conference), DO! She’s hilarious and comes highly recommended.

Romance: The Basics:

Girl meets Boy. Eventually they fall in love and have a happy ending. (At least modern readers insist upon a happy ending. Perhaps there are too many unhappy endings in our own lives right now that we don’t want to read about them in our spare time.)

The Story Question: Will they end up together?

Story Answer: Yes! Always, yes.

This is what stretches the romance writer’s imagination: figuring out how to make your love story original when it has the same story question and answer as everyone else’s.

If this is not your STORY question, but one of the elements to your book, then you would not fall under the genre of romance, but that’s cool. All the info below is just as relevant to romantic subplots. 

Click Here for: The Four Tips