A site of writings, musings, and geek culture, all under one domain!

August 1, 2021 + advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Science Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing

Writing Secrets Are Better Shared! #Writing #Author #Advice

Hi Jim,

I’ve been writing for some time now and was actually wondering what made you decide to give out writing advice on your blog. Isn’t that like giving away all of your secrets? Couldn’t you wind up giving advice to someone who may wind up outperforming you?

Just wondering,
Craig

Hi Craig,

Just kidding. Honestly, if that happens, great! If honestly I give someone advice that helps them become the next Stephen King, I’ll be happy! (Though a little recognition for it wouldn’t go unappreciated *hint, hint*)

Honestly, I don’t worry about it. No matter what happens, you’ll always have people who enjoyed your work and will always come back to read more as long as the writing keeps up. It’s not like you’re giving out advice to help them write exactly like you do, far from it. You’re just giving them a push in the right direction.

Finally, what is knowledge if it isn’t shared? Of what benefit is it? I struggled through the writing/publishing world with no foreknowledge of the industry because I didn’t know anything about it. So if I can help someone not make the same mistakes and experience the disappointments that I did early on, then why not help?

As to your other question ‘why’? Well there are a few reasons. For one, I like receiving emails from my followers/fans… though I may have shot myself in the foot by promising a personal response to all of them, but I feel I must also admit to a more selfish reason as well.

One of the few pieces of advice I was given when I started trying to get published was to get my name out there. Join a blogging community and contribute heavily to it. That’s how you get notoriety. So I figured the best way was to write about things I knew. I wrote about history, writing, social commentary (which i’ve now stopped unless it pertains to writing, because the world is already saturated with politics.), and fantasy. Before long, I started getting questions about my writing and decided to make an email to accept and respond to fanmail/ questions.
That’s when I found my niche; writing advice. I’ve been doing it ever since.

So while I’ll admit that my motives haven’t always been altruistic, and are a good way to promote my books, I’ve come to really enjoy answering questions and offering my opinion.

Readers, do you have any follow up for Craig? What are other ways you get your name out there?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have multiple published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

August 1, 2021 + advice, Inspiration, literature, Music, rules, Urban Fantasy, Writing

Inspiration? #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

So a lot of people ask me where my inspiration comes from. Where do I get my ideas, how do I decide what happens to each character?

Well it really depends on what day it is and what part of the story I’m writing about. I’ll explain a little bit more in-depth as we go…

First off, Lia’na, one of the most beloved characters I’ve ever written about was actually based largely on my wife’s personality. She can be feisty, independent, and very saucy at times, so I did the best I could to emulate that in my story. The result was a very multi-dimensional character that got pretty decent reviews. So character creation can really depend on experience and emulating the people around you, it’s not a must, but it is one way of creating their personalities.

Of course this basing them on people you know and love comes with it’s own set of problems. As the character grows and faces adversity, it can be hard to do anything that injures the character. This is because often times when you’re envisioning the character experiencing hardships, it’s not too much of a stretch to see the person that character is based on in the same situation. Without giving too much away, this is why I struggled so much with Tears of the Fallen. One of my cousins said basing that character off of my wife was an epic mistake… and now I see why. So all I can say is be careful and try not to let the person your basing the character on know that your basing it on them. It can lead to an uncomfortable situation if you put the character through hell.

So that covers character, but what about plot points?

Well to be honest, the main plot point: Love, tragedy, revenge, etc. I always have ready before I ever get started. I know what the story is going to be about long beforehand. Often it’s a different take on a plot I saw in a movie or a game I played, but just as often, it’s something that just randomly popped into my head. Once I have that, I can begin writing. I have a library of characters to work chose from that I’ve already created in my mind it’s just a question of whether or not the story will fit them (Tersa, your day is coming, I promise!!!)

So what about the secondary plot points? Say the death or dismemberment of a character, or a change of heart…
My answer there is music. Yup, it’s that simple, when I’m writing, I listen to a lot of music. To me it’s not the lyrics as much as the melody and the notes chosen by the singer…

Let me give you a few examples… (Warning!!! I’m a metal head!)

Rhapsody- March of Time

Listen to the opening female vocals and the chorus line. Listening to the overall mood and tone made me picture a bittersweet memory, like something you look back on fondly, but that also causes you a good amount of sadness. After coming to that realization, I made the decision to kill of a character in one of my stories and to put a lot of emphasis on how that person’s death affected the other characters. That alone helped set the stage for a third adventure that I hadn’t even counted on.
Into the West – Peter Hollins (I’m more partial to this version than the original.)

This is one of two songs that I listen to when I’m dealing with intimate moments. This song helps me write about loving care, like when a character is in pain and another character is trying to comfort them. See how it fits?
Russel Crowe – Stars

Okay, before anyone goes nuts, I know how people feel about Russel Crowe’s performance as Javert, and no, this is not my choice version of the story. I prefer the Irish rendition starring Jeff Leyton. That being said, there is something… touching about this version of the song. Ignore the lyrics, listen to the melody and the music in the background. To me, it sounds almost like a lullaby. I’m sure that everyone will think that this is crazy, but this is what I listen to when writing a part dealing with mentoring or parenting, and honestly, it fits perfectly.

Other songs I listen to for inspiration for things like fighting scenes or finales include:

From one of my favorite bands ever:

As well as a plethora of things like Dragonforce, Luca Turili, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Ancient Bards, and Fairyland. Things like:

So now that I’ve increased everyone’s playlist exponentially (you’re welcome), I have one more to show you. If you’ve read my explanation of where my inspirations come from and you’re still scratching your head (don’t worry, you’re not alone), then I have a little exercise for you:

This is, in my opinion, one of the most fantastic musical numbers that somehow no one knows about! Start at the 2 minute mark, close your eyes, and listen, just listen. See what pops into your head (aside from this scene from the movie). What do you picture happening? What does the song mean to you? When you hear the tone of the music, how does it make you feel and if you were to create a story around it, what would it say?

Anyway, I hope this helps and hopefully gives other writers or writing hopefuls out there a few more tools to work with!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

July 31, 2021 + advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Opinion, Science Fiction, Writing

Rooting for the Bad Guy #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

Hi Jim,

I was hoping you could give me a little advice on how to write perspective. The main character in my story is going to be a bad guy. When I say bad, I mean the story is going to revolve around the villain. I’m just really not sure how I can write that effectively. I mean typically you try to get people to relate to your main character and I don’t know about getting them to relate to a villain. Any thoughts?

Mike

Hi Mike,

Believe it or not, people tend to gravitate quite a bit to villains these days. Darth Vader, Maleficent, James Hook, and even Saruman of Many Colors, are all bad guys that often get rooted for by audiences.

It’s not hard to fathom, or in some cases find, stories where they are the primary character. Maleficent and Hook have their own movies, Darth Vader get’s as much screen time as anyone else in Star Wars and he has a full library of his own comics and books.

A lot of people do relate to the struggles of the villain. Why, because it’s not a huge stretch to see yourself being put into a difficult situation and either making the wrong decision or becoming the devil himself in order to protect something you care about. That’s just life sometimes.

I would just advise you to give your villain a good backstory, make them likeable in their own way, give them good vices, and then go from there. As long as you write a good character, people will love or love to hate that person. There really isn’t much more I can tell you without going into greater detail into your story.

Good luck! Readers, what do you think? Leave a comment and let’s keep the conversation going!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

July 31, 2021 + advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Opinion, Science Fiction, Writing

My Biggest Obstacle in Writing #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

Hi Jim,

I just started reading some of the advice you give out. I don’t really have a specific issue that needs to be addressed, but I was wondering what you consider to be the biggest issue you encounter when writing and how you overcome it. As a writer, I’m always interested in hearing about the experiences of other writers.

Thanks,
Lauraine

Hi Lauraine,

Always happy to share my experiences. So honestly, there are a number of issues that I encounter when I write. I can’t say that there is one particular recurrent issue that I encounter. Usually when I have an issue, I figure out a workaround that I can apply in future writing. However, I can give you an example of one I’m currently going through.

Between other projects, I’ve been working on a prequel to Magnifica. Whether or not I ever publish it, remains to be seen. I just really wanted to explore the story behind Toby and Lia’na’s parents and how their decisions landed their children in the middle of a struggle for survival. So the problem I’m running into is that I keep rewriting scenes that deal with norms of the 80s. It really hold me up from progressing further because I want to get the scenes perfect. I have very fond memories of the 80s and wanted to properly portray them in my writing. Sometimes when writing these scenes, I find myself willing to give almost anything to be back there again. This has unfortunately slowed the progression of that novel to a halt.

The only way to deal with it is to stop and either work on something else, or if I’m determined to get through the current chapter, sit back and flick on some calm music from that time period. Something that adds a little atmosphere to the nostalgia. It’s not perfect, and honestly that’s why this story has been ongoing for two years now, but it’s how I deal with the urge to constantly rewrite those scenes. Sometimes taking a break can also be helpful, but that only prolongs writing the book even further.

Anyway, hope this gives you some idea of what I encounter when I write. Readers, do you have a specific issue that you encounter when you’re writing that has proven to be a bane? Let me know down in the comments.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

July 31, 2021 + advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Science Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing

Beta Readers, The Do’s and Don’ts #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

Hey Jim,

I swear I don’t stalk your blog. It is just refreshing to see a familiar face everyday. (Someone that posts consistently)

Maybe you have done a segment on this..

What is your take on Beta readers? How do you find a Beta reader that A. will actually suffer through a horribly rough draft B. Wont steal your shit and C. Will provide useful and honest feedback on your writing style, story line, and character development?

BTW. I am not a metal fan by any means. Nor a country fan. Like I said before, I find vocals to be extremely distracting. I stick with classical relaxation music in the background and currently would appreciate a good “muse” in the form of music but have yet to find that medium. I can, however, appreciate your insight on the subject. Thank you for sharing your playlist.

Cheers.

Dacia

Hi Dacia,

Haven’t seen you comment on my posts in a while. Was starting to wonder what happened. Hmm… looks like we’ve got a multi-question one today… all right. Let’s take it one at a time.

First off, stalk away. I don’t mind frequent visitors, it helps my blog more than anything!

So beta readers… it’s tough. It’s really tough. First thing I would do when looking for a beta reader is document every exchange you have back and forth with someone if you don’t know them. Goodreads usually has some pretty trustworthy beta reading circles, but you still need to be careful. I tried to go through their a while back and honestly, got a bull assessment of my first chapter from someone who claimed to be a ‘speed reader.’ They wanted money to review the rest… and not a small amount either.

Look into the person you’re considering working with. Do they have other publications with reviews? What is their level of education? Are they an active member of whatever community you’re searching through? Don’t be afraid to ask questions and turn down offers if something doesn’t seem right.

The second thing you can do is try to forge a relationship on here with someone. That’s pretty much how I did it. I’d also recommend finding more than one person, two sets of eyes, one biased (yours), one not (a beta), are still likely to miss a few things. Multiple beta readers however will help you out a lot. So… I guess I’m volunteering if you’d be interested in doing an exchange?

That’s usually the best way to do it. An exchange with another author anxious to find someone who’s willing to sift through their work as well. Otherwise you’ll likely shell out $100-$300 for a college student to do the work… which is fine, they really do a great job, but when you’re spending $300 (min.) for a cover, $100 a piece for each ISBN needed, and $35 for the copyright fee, it adds up fast.

One piece of advice I’d give you before reaching out to people you don’t know is to REGISTER YOUR WORK! That’s right, get it copyrighted. It’s technically already copyrighted the moment you put pen to paper, but registering it guarantees that you’ll be protected and able to furnish proof against another writer who hijacks your book.

Finally, inspirational pieces with no vocals… that is a tough one.
I’m afraid I don’t work with much in the way of instrumental music, but I do have a few selections…

Since you mentioned classical, might I recommend checking into music from the Baroque era? I tend to like that a lot more with my writing. I don’t have any real selections for you as I wouldn’t be able to identify them. I usually just switch on baroque stations on spotify.

Anyway, hope this helps!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have multiple published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

July 31, 2021 + Heavy Metal, Inspiration, Metal, Music, Uncategorized, Writing

From My Writing Playlist #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

Yeah it should be no surprise to anyone when I add this song to the list. Written for Lord of the Rings, this is perhaps the best rendition of it that I’ve ever heard. Peter Hollens is an amazing vocalist who knows how to respect the material he’s working with.

When to Listen: … … well to be honest, I’m not really sure. I used it when one of my characters made a fateful decision; SPOILER ALERT!!! When Adalyn used the last drop of her angelic powers to set off fireworks at the end of Divinity, thus completing her transformation from an angel into a human and when Toby revealed to Lia’na that he’d used the last of his powers and magic was then and forever gone from the world.

So I guess use this if and when writing a story about the end of the mystical/fantastic and beginning of the modern time when such things were no longer relevant?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

July 30, 2021 + advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Opinion, Science Fiction, Writing

Characters First, Stories Second. #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

Hi Jim,

I was wondering if you talk a little bit about how you create characters for your book. I’ve got an awesome idea for a story, but I’m having a hard time creating characters to go along with it. Do you have any advice?

Thanks,
Kris

Hello Kris,

In my personal opinion, you’re doing this backward. You’ve got a great story, but no characters. I don’t believe that’s the correct way of going about this. I’m sure that many of my readers will disagree with me on this one, but I think that the best way write a story is to create a set of characters first, then create the story around them.

For me, I have a library of characters written out that I have not yet used. Actually, many of the characters for some of my more recent books have come from that library. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you have to create characters for specific plot devices in the story, but largely, it may be better for your main characters to be an independent creation.

I have characters that are elves, half-elves, dragonkin (half-dragons), Dragons that have the ability to appear in human form, dwarves, modern humans, medieval and prehistoric humans, fantasy humans, humans from other planets that evolved differently from ones on this planet, and several different vaguely-written backstories. They are all just anxiously awaiting their chance to take center stage.

When the time comes and I come up with a new story, I go back to that library and pick out the characters that I think best fit the story. Then I adapt their backstory to the world rules I established and go from there.

Think about it for a second. In life, do you think people are pre-written for an experience or do they simply adapt as they are put through it? There’s no wrong answer here, I just tend to believe the latter.

So I would say that the best thing for you to do would be to put the idea for your story on the back burner and just think about interesting people that you know in your life. Think about stories that have peaked your interest in the past and create characters based on those. Create their backstories, their races, and their appearances. Once you have around 10+ characters, think about the story you want to write. Then go back and pick out 2-3 characters that you think would fit.

Take a blank word document and fill in the following;

What’s this character’s name?

What’s their gender?

What’s their race/species?

Where do they come from?

Describe their physical appearance.

Describe their personality.

Describe their backstory.

Both the plot and the story can be adapted so that they suit each other as you go through, so don’t worry about that.

So that’s generally how I do things, but let’s open this up to my readers and keep the conversation going. I’d love to hear about how other people create characters for their stories. Do they write the story first and then the characters? Is it the other way around? Do you just write the characters as you’re writing the story?

Let me know in the comments!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

July 30, 2021 + advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Science Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing

Offsetting Off-screen Plot Points #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

I really don’t know what else to call this, but it applies to writing as well as film making. I’ve always found it quite vexing when something happens off screen like during the plot or between stories.

Too often, we see characters killed off between a movie and its sequel with little to no explanation. Usually in movies, this is done because either the actor who played the character died, or there were budgetary concerns, etc. I wouldn’t mind so much, but we see this happen in books as well. Too often there is a character or a major plot point that happens between the stories and we never get to hear the how or why.

It the book is intended to take the reader back in time to see how things got the way they did in a sort of flashback manner, that’s one thing. I get that, but too often that is not what we get. In other cases in movies as well, we see characters who solved mysteries, identified people, or came up with some new idea off-screen, and its never explained how that happened.

I love the idea of leaving some things up to the reader to figure out, but there’s a difference between pinholes and black holes. Don’t over explain, but don’t leave something in a way that it comes out of the blue with no precedence.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have multiple published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

July 30, 2021 + Heavy Metal, Inspiration, Metal, Music, Uncategorized, Writing

From My Writing Playlist #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

So I’m going to do something different today… It has recently been brought to my attention that a new Amaranthe album came out. So far I’ve only listened to part of it, but from what I’ve listened to, it’s pretty good.
I’ve added the entire CD to my playlist, so I’m passing it around for your enjoyment.

When to Listen: Honestly these be fightin words. Any major battle would suit most of these songs.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

July 29, 2021 + advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Science Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing

Talking to Myself and Writing It #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

Hi James,

I’m having trouble writing a character with a dual personality. Do you have any advice on writing a character that talks to themselves? I can’t seem to figure out a way to do it that won’t be confusing.

Thanks,
AJ

Hi AJ,

If the character has a dual personality, then we’re not necessarily talking about the character talking to himself. At least not as far as the character is concerned.

I actually tackle this one in Damnation with Xaphine.

In this story, we’re dealing with a fallen angel that has been corrupted by the powers of Hell. In order to keep her safe, the devil places her on Earth in the form of a human. He also completely wipes her mind. She doesn’t even completely remember her own name and chooses the name Xaphine for herself.
This is a bit of a spoiler alert, but I’ll do my best not to give away too much;

Because of extenuating circumstances, the angel, General Xaphan (now Xaphine) spends about a decade among humans, more time than anyone intended. She marries, has friends, and a life that she cherishes. When the devil finally comes for her, she puts up a fight. He eventually restores her memory but because he’s lost much of his power, he’s unable to remove… as he calls it, the human taint.
Because of this, the clash of her human memories with those of her angelic ones completely destroys her psyche. To compensate, her mind quickly separates both sets of memories and forms two symbiotic personalities, one is a confused mesh of her human traits, as well as her angelic persona, while the other is the darker persona combined with her angelic traits.

So how do I make that work when they need to confront one another? Well… I guess you could say that I make her hallucinate. Time freezes and she goes to an undisclosed location where her other personality exists when its not in control. They argue about what to do in certain circumstances.

So that’s pretty much how I handle dual personalities. I also name them differently. One is Xaphan, the other is Xaphine.

Otherwise, you’re pretty much just going back and forth saying ‘he said to himself’ and ‘he thought to himself.’

I hope this helps!

Readers, how do you handle this type of thing? Let AJ know in the comments!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have multiple published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

July 29, 2021 + Heavy Metal, Inspiration, Metal, Music, Uncategorized, Writing

From My Writing Playlist #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

Still convinced that this song was written in for 9/11. It was definitely a song of hope and remains one of my favorites of hers.

When to listen: Motivational. Run out of ideas? Running aground on a story? Ready to give up? LISTEN TO THIS SONG FIRST!!! The positive energy helps, trust me!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

July 29, 2021 + advice, blog, Opinion, Uncategorized, Writing

A Better Blogger #Writing #Author #Advice

by Jim

Can you give some advices about how to get traffic towards your blog? How do you get so many followers on this app?
By the way, your posts are really good😊!
–Simmone

Hi Simmone,

Great question. The best way to think about WordPress, or any other blogging page is to think about it as a community. The more you put in, the more you’ll get out of it. So the best advice I’d give is to explore the other blog posts, especially others that tag and categorize their posts the same way you do. Read, like, comment, reblog, and offer advice when and where possible. I’ll be honest, my blog only had about 500 readers before I started offering writing tips and advice.

Secondly, I’d network as much as you can. Got a Facebook page? No?? MAKE ONE. Got a twitter page? No??? MAKE ONE!!! Got a Pinterest account? NO??? Oh man! Make accounts on these pages and link them to your blog. You don’t even have to use most of them. WordPress will post all of this for you. This will gain you greater exposure.

Really though that’s all there is to it. If you build it and expose it, people will come to it. If they like what you have to say they will come and visit your blog. YOU need to give them a reason to.

Anyway, hope this helps. Readers, do you have any advice for Simmone? How do you get more readers?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

You can also add me on Twitter!

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim