Monday, March 5, 2012

Ten Crazy Ways to Improve Your Writing

There are a gazillion books on how to improve your prose, but I bet you haven't seen my list before. Well it's Monday and I felt like being silly, so I thought I'd throw in a few of my favorite one-liners on how to improve your writing. I hope they bring a smile to your face, and help motivate you to not only write good well, but to enjoy life.

Ten  Crazy ways to improve your writing:
  1. Talk to strangers
  2. Travel more.
  3. Do something that you've always been afraid of. 
  4. Ask for forgiveness when you don't feel like it. Study your feelings and the receiver's response.
  5. Sit in the mall and study everyone you see.
  6. Go to the Library and spend an afternoon reading travel books.
  7. Spend an afternoon visiting a retirement home and ask the residents to tell their story.
  8. Read a chapter of your favorite book, and hand copy a few pages.
  9. Walk through your town or city and study the streets and alleyways and sounds.
  10. Sit in Starbucks and create character sketches of everyone who walks in!
Well I hope that was a fun list. No rules. No time constrains. Just simple and creative methods to help you understand people, visualize details, and to spark some ideas. 

Oh, and by the way, The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe is NOW available in print. In fact it is so hot off the press that the product description isn't posted yet. I hope you get a copy because it is so pretty and I worked really hard on the interior layout. I even used really cool boxes for you to check whenever you follow a step.

And guess what? You do not have to be an indie author to glean its wisdom. The Indie Author's Guide is for any writer, published, indie or not.


PS~ How do you like my new SEXY Twisted Vengeance cover? If you like it, will you tweet it for me?  If you do, I'll send you a free copy of Creepy. Just contact me via my email box and let me know, or DM me on Twitter @TweetTheBook. Thank you!


Jeff Bennington is the author of Twisted Vengeance, Reunion, and Creepy and now...
The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe is only $3.99 in the Kindle Store.

 

14 comments:

  1. I like #2!

    Bought your Indie Guide on amazon yesterday. Thank you for sharing your tips & tricks with the rest of us!

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  2. @Grapesot~Thank you! Glad you stopped by.

    @Delilah~Appreciate the enthusiasm.

    @Nikki~Thank you, Nikki. Please let me knoe how it helps you.

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  3. I noticed your new cover yesterday for Twisted Vengenance. It looked outstanding.

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  4. @Neal ~ Thanks buddy!

    @Guyanne ~ I here ya. It's been while since we now have a Keurig.

    @DBT ~ Thanks, Anthony. I'm making all my books 99¢ tomorrow, and then start a whole new round of KDP Select promos. From there, I'm hosting a freebiee every 3 days for the next 90 days.

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  5. I like all your idea, but especially #5 - sitting in the mall and people-watching!

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  6. Thank you, Gloria. One of these days I'm going to piss the wrong person off. I love people watching. Thanks for joining the conversation.

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  7. #7 is also very rewarding. I used to deliver food to an elderly folks home and they have amazing stories to tell.

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  8. Very funny list and well worth seeking out!!!!

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  9. Hey, I'll tweet your cover for the free Creepy! Also, I will read & review any or all of the books on my blog, goodreads, & Amazon.. Just started reviewing... I am a cover designer & illustrator, but love reading & hope to help any writers by reviewing, tweeting etc.

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  10. Great idea! Here are a couple more. If you actually live in a culture other than your own, don't miss the opportunity to get stories from people there. Life experiences can be a world apart. In our multi-cultural world, you can get some of that cross-cultural information by getting to know people who came here from somewhere else.

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