​Think about your current work in progress, or your last book or story if you’re in between projects. What was the setting of your story? Your book or story might have several settings. To be clear, by setting let’s consider the standard definition. Setting is the time and place where your story happens. The setting you choose for your story is a vital element. You might be writing across more than one time or place but you can’t tell a story without a setting.

There are different ways to lay out the setting of your story. You can write it in a descriptive form or you can let the characters unveil the setting through their dialogue. With dialogue you don’t have to be too descriptive or detailed. You can let a conversation flow between characters exposing just enough to let the reader use their powerful imagination.

For example, you don’t have to give the exact time, weather report, or location when you use dialogue. “It’s a hot one out tonight, isn’t it Margaret? How about a cold beer for me and my friend?” Maybe something simple like this paints the picture better than a long description: Sweat began to moisten the collar of her t-shirt. She ducked into the Red Pony Saloon for a quick meal and stiff drink. It beat sitting at home tonight. At least their air conditioning worked!

Some writers prefer the long description of setting to supplement the dialogue. Stephen King is well known for his long descriptions. Precise description is found in some of the greatest poetry. Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass is a perfect example. The great thing about the element of setting is that in great fiction it can actually take a deeper meaning. If you watch some classic movies you’ll find that setting can also be a metaphor for the times in which they lived. In literature you’ll see a perfect example of that in Steinbeck’s Cannery Row.

How do you best use the vital element of setting in your writing? Have you used it as a metaphor in your own work? It’s worth deep consideration in order to learn more and improve at the craft of writing. In great fiction, the setting can make all the difference. 

Photo via Pexels

 
A Writer's Guide to Building an Audience
 
If you're a writer, the key to your long-term success is finding your audience. The first step in finding your readers is getting your work out into the world. The good news is that modern technologies like the internet make it easier than ever to publicize your writing and nurture a following. Today, Josie Holfman of 4 Day Work Week outlines some steps for getting your work out there and for nurturing a connection with your readers once you find them.
 
Create a comfortable space where you can write in peace 
Before you can share your writing, you've got to get words down on the page. Having a quiet place where you can write at home will help your productivity. Invest in a good desk, ergonomic furniture, and add good lighting and a few houseplants. Make sure to keep a record of any structural updates you make, such as adding a skylight or changing the windows. These renovations increase home value, which is important to advertise if you later sell the property.
 
Save money on your promotional efforts by setting yourself up as a business 
When you take steps like renovating your house, you're going to spend some money. Ideally, you will be able to write off these expenses as tax deductions. One thing you can do to make this easier is to set yourself up as a business. Register a legal entity, like a limited liability company (LLC) to manage your writing work. Shopify explains that this model offers

ownership and management flexibility, and can also help streamline important paperwork, like your tax filing.
 
Set up a website to draw in readers 
A writer website is the easiest way to showcase your writing and credentials. IngramSpark has a guide to what you should include, such as your author bio, books, blog, and mailing list sign-up. You can gather email addresses to create your own newsletter and then email your followers whenever you have new work to publish. A blog is also a helpful addition, as it will help your website get found by search engines, increasing visibility.
 
Use social media to reach new people 
Once you have your website set up, create social media accounts that you can use to push people back to your website. Use eye-catching infographics to spruce up the look of both your social pages and your online platform. Instead of hiring an expensive graphic designer, make your own graphics with the help of an infographic maker. Take these free templates and customize the colors, background, text, and other design elements.
 
Check out online platforms and literary magazines to share your work 
There are many online communities that invite writers to share their work. This can be useful in a few ways. First, you can share works in progress and get feedback from other people.
Second, you can share completed works and use them to attract new readers. Writer's Digest offers a list of websites writers can use to share their writing, including Camp Nanowrimo, Critique Circle, Critters Workshop, Fictionaut, and Internet Writing Workshop.
 
Enter contests to promote yourself further 
Contests are another great way to raise your profile as an author. Plus, if you win a contest, this will be a fantastic addition to your resume. Some contests even award prize money— another great perk. Australian Writers’ Resource points out that there are many types of writing contests to accommodate all genres, from science fiction to memoirs. Examples include the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest, the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, and the St. Francis College Literary Prize.
 
As a writer, your success depends on your readers. By taking steps like creating a website and social media and populating them with eye-catching infographics, you can promote your work easily. You can then build up a loyal following that will support you for years to come.

​Do you ever find yourself staring at the computer screen with no motivation to write? I’m not talking about writers block. There are ways to work through that. Sometimes the motivation to write just isn’t there. I guess that is the equivalent of a lazy person’s procrastination. It’s not uncommon to go days or even weeks and months where the motivation to write has abandoned you. It’s kind of like that old country song cliché where the girl left you and took the dog and your truck with her. Having no motivation to write leaves me feeling sad. I guess that analogy is kind of old school. I guess in a few years we’ll hear country songs about how the self driving truck left on its own free will. I suppose there’s no stopping technological advancement.
 
I’ll toss this out to our AAG members and hope to get some feedback in the comments below: How do you stay motivated as a writer? How do you keep writing when you’re uninspired?
 
If you’re going through something like this, one thing I have found helpful is to jot down my writing goals and keep that handy on my desk. I want to see it the entire time that I have blocked for writing on my current work in progress. During times of procrastination and lack of motivation, it has been helpful to have smaller writing goals. Having a goal of finishing a new novel in six months is daunting. Actually, it has discouraged me from writing when I’m already lacking in motivation. I might make a smaller goal of writing a six page short story instead.
 
If you want to get into shape and drop some pounds, you don’t start one day one jogging ten miles, do you? That would make no sense. I’d drop dead if I tried that! But if you start out walking a couple of miles and work up to jogging that distance a little bit at a time, that makes a lot more sense. Writing works the same way. Maybe start out with a writing prompt or two, spend ten or twenty minutes a day on those. Smaller writing tasks are much less daunting than trying to come up with the next great American novel. During that time it is also a good idea to revisit your old writing projects and reflect on why you starting writing in the first place.
 
What works for you?

​National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo, will be here soon. For those not familiar with NaNoWriMo, it is the challenge to write 50,000 words on your current novel in the month of November. That’s a hefty goal by any measure, but it can be achieved if you break it down into smaller goals.
 
How do you prepare for National Novel Writing Month? This is a worldwide event and countless groups have been formed to encourage each other to meet the challenge. In fact, they feel more like social networking groups. You can find them on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook as well as other platforms. After some web research, I’ve learned that groups meet up online daily to chat about their progress, assess their goals, and cheer each other on. Some groups go a step further and actually get out of the house. They meet at coffee shops, diners, and libraries all around the country to work on their novel alongside their fellow writers.
 
NaNoWriMo isn’t until November but I wanted to post this blog early. I wanted to give everyone in the guild (and non-members) a chance to think about what they want their next novel to look like, to give you time to do some prep work leading up to November. Consider reaching out to a few of your fellow writers, even the ones you may have never met, and see who would be interested in forming some groups within the group in November. It could be a lot of fun and it just might be the most productive month you’ve ever had with your writing. There’s only one way to find out.
 
If you’re all in for NaNoWriMo, please leave a comment below. Even if you don’t want to be a part of a group during the challenge, let us know if you’re working on your novel. I’m in! Who’s with me?

Good luck!

​At this month’s AAG meeting at Shoney’s in Abingdon, we tried something a little different that I think most of our members would find beneficial. Member Jason Houghton recommended that we dedicate some time to our own work at these meetings. A few brave members volunteered their work for discussion, critique, and suggestion. Those volunteers were kept anonymous from the group on hand and we took turns reading from the submissions.
 
The results of this meeting were more than we could have hoped for. After each reading, we spent time discussing the sample, sharing both positive and negative comments. Those comments were noted and left with our guild leader to pass along to those brave enough to submit. It was a great exercise in noting what our strong points are and what we need to work on. To be fair, this kind of meeting requires some thick skin. It’s probably not meant for the writer with a brittle spirit. However, the amount of feedback and perspective can be incredibly valuable if you’re willing to share your work for a group critique.
 
There are some obvious benefits to being a part of a critique circle. For starters, you need this kind of feedback long before you get to the publishing process. The last thing you want to do is put out work that you will regret later. It’s best to catch any problems your work may have with style, pace, and plot before you put it out there for the world to judge. It’s important to note that if you are a part of a group like this, it is important to remember you are devouring the food, not the chef. In other words, critique the writing, not the writer. There is a difference and sometimes that line can get blurred. It’s important to lay down some ground rules before holding a meeting for critical review of a fellow writer. Our AAG group was incredibly thorough in their reviews, but also very sensitive and professional. We’ve all been there and in some ways we were all passing along our reviews the way we would hope to receive honest feedback about our own work.
 
Be on the lookout for future meetings like this. I encourage everyone to join in sometime. If you can’t make the meetings, it might benefit you to connect with a few fellow writers in your area and do the same. It may very well help everyone improve their work. After all, isn’t that our ultimate goal?

A phrase we often hear tossed around about the art of writing is that “rewriting is good writing.” There’s a lot of truth to that statement. First drafts are so rough that even when we try to correct as many mistakes as we write we’ll always find countless mistakes in our spelling and grammar. We’ll spot holes in our story that need to be filled. Editing for content is just as vital as editing for grammar. Between our rough draft and our final draft, there is so much work that goes into the process that the reader never sees.
​
One very effective part of the editing process is what is often called a cooling off period. Although some writers prefer to jump into the editing process immediately, it can be more beneficial to your story to step away from your rough draft for a period of time before you revisit it. Give yourself some distance from your story for a few days or a few weeks. When you come back to your project, you’ll be able to see your work with fresh eyes. Self editing is hard enough. Taking some time away from your work before you start editing may make it easier to catch your mistakes and add needed improvements.
 
The benefits of a cooling off period is that you can see your work from a fresh perspective and better see where you need to make improvements or changes to your tone, to see if it is consistent across the entire book or story. Also, it allows you to create some emotional distance from your story. Taking some time away can help you discover better ways to phrase certain sentences or entire paragraphs to better resonate with your readers. Reading your work out loud is also a good way to spot those confusing sentences and phrases as well as spelling errors. 

​As writers, we are always in search of a good story to tell, something with a lot of moving parts and conflict that relates to our readers. We use our words and our themes to build a connection with our audience. We want that bond to be strong so that they tell others about our work and they keep coming back for more. In order to do this, we need to approach our writing like we would approach cooking our favorite dish. To make it come out just right, we need to put the right ingredients into the mix, and to just the right measure. There are a few key elements we need to toss into our mix to tell the powerful stories that we want to tell.
 
First, your story has to put a face on the theme or issue you are writing about. Having a strong character that represents or stands for something that your reader can relate to is a powerful weapon in your arsenal. Wield that weapon with purpose. When your reader relates to the character in such a way, then that character and their aim also represents them, in a way. If you can touch a reader in such a way, you might have a fan for life.
 
Second, a great story has to tap into emotions. Your story has to trigger some kind of deep emotional response from your readers. You may be looking to incite empathy, sadness, or envy with some scenes. Events that evoke emotional responses weigh heavy on readers and stick with them. A touching heartfelt story is a hard one to forget. For example, if you’ve ever read Tuesday’s With Morrie by Mitch Albom, I’d bet a vital organ that you still remember that powerful story. It is so easy to relate to and nearly impossible to forget.
 
A great story will also connect us to the message you’re trying to get across and make it vitally important. In other words, it hooks us on the level of importance and humanizes us in that way. You may write a story about political or corporate corruption, but you use conflict and action to tug at the better angels in us all. In the end, we may not focus on that corruption but instead we see the need for honesty and integrity, and revisit the values that make us good people. It gives us a peek into our own souls about who we are and what we value. That is powerful indeed. 

​Writer’s block is never fun. The worst part about it is that it usually causes us to procrastinate. That doesn’t help move our story ideas forward. Using the excuse “I’m just too busy” doesn’t cut it anymore either. Let’s face it. Many of us have felt burned out with the craft from time to time. When that happens, writing isn’t as fun and exciting as it used to be. Let me rephrase that. Writing isn’t as fun and exciting as it should be. It’s a lucky thing for us writers that feeling that way doesn’t have to be permanent. There are a few tricks that we can use to make writing fun again. The first thing we have to do is put away everything that we’ve been working on that made us feel this way in the first place.
 
One trick is to put some of our writing into pictures. It doesn’t matter if you can draw or paint, or even if you are not a professional photographer. Have fun with it. After all, we are visual creatures, are we not? Maybe the story you were stuck on takes place in an old house in the middle of nowhere. Well, we are in Appalachia. There are plenty of old houses in the middle of nowhere around here. Take an afternoon to drive down some seldom traveled roads and take photos of the landscape, of old houses, and even a selfie or two. It might remind you of the passion you had for that story when you started writing it.
 
If your current topics have become stale, maybe it’s because you just don’t enjoy the topics so much anymore. That’s okay. We all change and grow. Maybe it’s time to move past that unfinished project. Write something personal instead. Do you have a passion and love for animals? Write about that. Write about how you spent your last vacation. You can also try random writing prompts to spark your spirit. Maybe start with a prompt about why you feel burned out and bored with writing. If you discover through your writing what the root cause is then you can tackle the problem with a lot more clarity.
 
When all else fails, go back to the first thing you ever wrote. Remember how good that felt. What inspired you to put pen to paper? The love of writing is in there, sometimes we just have to work through those slumps to find it again. Even if it means taking a couple of weeks off. It’s like riding a bike. When you haven’t done it in a while you may be rusty, but you never forget that feeling. 

​One of the biggest challenges a writer faces is presenting their work to the public. It’s not easy getting our work out there in front of an audience. There are so many challenges involved, and it’s not the most comfortable thing for many of us to do. In fact, being your own sales team is a scary and daunting task.
 
Many of us just stick with social media and share links to our work, telling people where they can buy it. It’s a lot easier to publicize when you can hide behind a computer. Some of us are comfortable enough to schedule book signings, but even that can be a bit intimidating at times. It’s hard to draw attention to ourselves at a fair or festival. After all, we’re writers. Not carnival barkers!
 
Another venue for our self promotion is radio. However, it’s not easy to get on radio. In fact, I’ve reached out to countless radio stations to promote Revelation Calling. Out of over 500 total contacts, I ended up doing only two radio interviews. It took a lot of time to make that many contacts. In other words, I wasted a lot of time. Video is a great option if you like to use YouTube but there are no guarantees that you’ll get views. Most of mine have had less than ten views despite how many times I’ve shared the videos on Facebook.
 
There is another great option for independent writers, however. (You didn’t really think I was just going to write a blog complaining about the issue, did you?) It might be well worth your while to consider going onto podcasts to talk about your work. For those not familiar with a podcast, it is nothing more than someone that wants to do their own radio show online. There are thousands and thousands of them. Take some time to search for podcasts geared toward writers, especially independent writers or writers in your genre. There are many Appalachian themed podcasts out there. They are just as eager to find guests to come on their shows as you are eager to tell others about your work! Check out the links below. This is from Appalachian Shine and features some of the members of this guild.
 
https://appalachianshine.podbean.com/e/christian-author-connie-wohlford/
 
https://appalachianshine.podbean.com/e/jonathan-swift-and-the-swift-silver-mine/
 
https://appalachianshine.podbean.com/e/kari-kilgore-and-her-connection-to-the-shining/
 
https://appalachianshine.podbean.com/e/appalachian-author-tammy-robinson-smith/
 

The devil is in the details as the old saying goes. Well, for us writers, that is true maybe a little more than half the time. We have it drummed into our heads that when we write we should show, not tell. Why would we write something as simple as “The woman was tired.”? We wouldn’t. We would write “Elizabeth stretched back in her seat and tried to fight back a yawn to no avail.”
 
Telling a story takes a lot of focus. It requires being detailed enough to keep the reader engaged and excited about the pages yet to be turned. However, once we finish our first draft, we quickly realize that although it is important what we put in our story, it is also just as important what we cut out of it. It’s not always easy to decide what to cut out of our story. After all, you may have spent countless hours researching for your book and you’ve learned so much. You want the reader to feel like they’ve learned, too. There’s only one problem with that. Maybe your reader doesn’t care about all of those details.
 
I’ve read my fair share of mysteries and adventures. Although some detail about a gun may be relevant to the story, I don’t care when that gun was invented, what major battles it was used in, or anything about the manufacturer. I also don’t really care for a political opinion on gun rights that the main character inserts. I only care about the details relevant to the scene that make it exciting and keep me wanting more. I’ve seen too many details about guns inserted into so many books that I roll my eyes whenever I see this flaw in storytelling. The details don’t advance the story. It’s nothing more than the author showing off his or her knowledge. It doesn’t even have to be about guns. It can be about anything such as the French Revolution, gardening, or even the proper way a private investigator conducts surveillance. Too many mundane details are irritating to a reader.
 
As we review our work, we can dwindle down these mundane parts by asking ourselves two simple questions. What facts elevate the scene and story? What details distract from the scene and story? Too many of the wrong kind of details can weigh down your story.