Guest Post -

17Apr 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

The Writer’s Poison

Today's post is a guest post written by one Joelle Fraser. Please give her a warm welcome. Last month, I became a published author for the second time. You’d think I’d feel successful, wouldn’t you? I have two books with prestigious houses, both of which received excellent national reviews; I’ve been anthologized and gotten awards, been flown by Random House on book tours and chauffeured around by media escorts, been interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air. And yet, like every other writer in the world, I can name a thousand others who’ve achieved more. Much, much more—whether it’s money, fame, acclaim, awards, or a combination thereof, there’s always someone who leaves you in the dust. Success, I learned with my first book, The Territory of Men, is a moving target that…

03Apr 2013 by Jordan Clary

Travel Writing From Home

Guest Post

by Jordan Clary Travel writing might conjure up images of exotic resorts, luxury cruises or riding across sand dunes on a camel, and while, travel writing can, indeed, open up some of amazing experiences, it’s not necessary to travel far or even travel at all to write and sell articles. You can start with your own city, neighborhood or even backyard to find ideas for travel stories. Every place is a destination for someone and you are the best expert on your area. Learn to look at your own town with new eyes. What might a visitor like to do? What are the local products? Are there any specialized niches you can fit into? Most of the ‘rules’ for travel writing are the same as for anything else. A well-written,…

23Jan 2013 by Brianna Soloski

Brianna Soloski on Becoming a Freelancer

Guest Post

Today's guest is another Musaling, this time an editor and freelancer to bring you a totally new perspective. Please give Brianna Soloski a warm welcome. * * * * When I was little, I wanted to be a teacher or an author. I went to school for education, but ended up not going into that field. I was working at a preschool, but was laid off in 2008. I floundered for two years after that, moving a few times, not working, unsure what I wanted to do. Summer 2010 found me in Seattle working at a summer camp. It also led to a long chat with my cousin about what I really wanted to do with my life. She suggested I go back to writing, since I’d always enjoyed it…

24Oct 2012 by diannagunn

One Cannot Be Ready for Everything by Allison Cosgrove

Guest Post, Nanowrimo, Novels, Workshops, Writing, Writing, Writing: The Process

Today's author is Allison Cosgrove, several time Nanowrimo winner, former word war captain, mother of three, hard worker and recently published author. I've already interviewed her here and am currently reading her mystery novel, Sacrifice of Innocence, which I'll be reviewing sometime in the upcoming months. Today she's decided to do us all the honour of sharing her realization that none of us are ever truly ready for Nanowrimo. * * * * One thing I have come to realize, as a long standing WriMo Veteran, is that in preparing for the wonderful thing that is NaNoWriMo is that we are never truly ready for it. I mean there are things we can prepare. We can plot and outline and make notes for just about everything, pre-cook and freeze meals,…

10Oct 2012 by diannagunn

Robin Burks on Character Development

Guest Post, Inspirational, Nanowrimo, Writing

Today's author is debut novelist Robin Burks, whose novel, Zeus, Inc. began as a Nanovel. I hope you'll give her a warm welcome and enjoy her thoughts on character development. * * * * What makes a good character in a story? Character development is something every writer has to think about. A good character is key in readers enjoying your work and a good character will keep readers coming back for more of what you write. But where to begin when creating a character? I tend to look at my own personal characters from an actor's perspective because of my background in theatre. I ask myself about their motivations and I put myself in their shoes and try to react to situations in a way that I would if…

03Oct 2012 by diannagunn

Plotting in Three Parts

Guest Post, Nanowrimo, Novels, Writing, Writing: The Process

Today I'd like to introduce Anne Marie, author of La Dame a La Licorne, brought to you by Musa Publishing. This will be her ninth year participating in Nanowrimo. Lucky for those of you scrambling for ideas and trying to figure out how you're going to outline a novel before November first, Anne's got some ideas of her own about outlining which I hope you'll enjoy. For the past eight years I’ve participated in National Novel Writing Month (aka: NaNoWriMo or NaNo). Every year I’ve tried a different approach to writing. I wanted to prove to myself that there isn’t one way to tell a story, and the methods outside my comfort zone might actually work better. Besides, what’s comfortable about writing 50,000 words in one month? Answer: everything when…

11Apr 2012 by diannagunn

Karina Fabian on Surviving the Submission Process

Guest Post, Novels, Preparing to Submit

Today I'd like to welcome Karina Fabian, author of several ebooks across different genres. I've interviewed her here before and today she's joining us with a guest post to discuss the submission process and celebrate her latest novel, Live and Let Fly, to be released on April 20th. I hope you enjoy. I’d like to thank Dianna for hosting me on the Live and Let Fly book tour. I’m especially excited about this one because it was a long time coming, and when she asked me to write about the submission process, I’m not sure she knew what she was getting into! Live and Let Fly features a snarky dragon detective, Vern, and his partner, the magic-slinging nun, Sister Grace. I’ve told many of their adventures in short stories and…

28Mar 2012 by diannagunn

Guest Post: The Submission Game–Overcoming Rejection

Guest Post, Novels, Preparing to Submit

By Stephanie Campbell The submission game is one of the toughest things that writers have to face. You pour your life into your book—hours and hours of time spent to tweak the words into submission. You find a literary agent or a publisher and you send the manuscript in, waiting with bated breath. You feel like you are going mad, waiting for the reply. Then you get it. It goes something like this: Dear Writer, Thank you so much for taking your time to submit to publisher XYZ. While we appreciate your submission, it is not a good fit for us at this time. Best of luck to you and your writing endeavors. Sincerely, Editor X Heartbreak. Instant shattering. No, I am not just writing that to be poetic. I…

09Mar 2012 by diannagunn

Blogs that Pay for Guest Posts

Blog Stuff, Guest Post, Writing

Today, as I've spent the last week and a half frantically looking for freelance writing jobs in light of a recent decision to move in with my boyfriend, I've decided to break from the norm and mention three blogs that pay for guest posts. Most of the blogs I've found that pay for guest posts are in the computer programming/website design/gadgetry fields. Here are three that aren't: Make a Living Writing pays $50 per guest post and is looking for posts about writing. Read Learn Write also pays $50/post and is looking for blogs on the topics of reading, writing and learning. Writers' Weekly pays $60/post. When writing a blog post, think 'is this blog post going to help writers make money'? If the answer is yes, odds are that…

08Feb 2012 by diannagunn

Guest Post: Martin Bolton on Co-Writing a Novel

Guest Post, Writing

Today I'd like to welcome Martin Bolton, my second guest poster here at Dianna's Writing Den. I hope you'll find this post as interesting as I did. On Co-Writing a Novel When my good friend, David Pilling, and I decided to write a novel together we had no idea where to start. We had both written plenty of stuff individually, but how do you coordinate a dual effort? Before we could think of the actual story, we had to decide how we would both contribute to a book without it being disjointed and difficult to read. After a few decent ales and a good chat, we came up with the idea of a story with two main protagonists who are born on opposite sides of a world, have never met,…