How To Submit Your Work To—And Get It Published In—Literary Journals In 2024!
If you’re reading this blog post, you’re probably a creative or literary writer looking to share your work with the world! Whether you’re a seasoned author or debut writer, literary journals (also called literary magazines) are a great way to get your work out there! Literary journals are periodicals that are committed to publishing the work of writers at all stages of their careers. Most literary journals publish poetry, prose, flash fiction, and essays, but many of them publish photography, paintings, and other visual art as well!
With 2023 wrapping up and the new year just around the corner, I thought it would be helpful to share some amazing resources for writers looking to submit their work in 2024! Many literary journals are still accepting submissions into 2024 and there are plenty of publications looking for high-quality writing for their next issue! Below is an in-depth guide for submitting your writing as well as a list of my top Oklahoma-based literary journals that I’d recommend submitting to!
Hi readers and writerly friends!
I hope you’re staying warm and enjoying the holidays! If this is your first time visiting my blog, thanks for stopping by, and if you’re a returning reader, thanks for coming back! I haven’t posted in a while due to obligations in my life outside the blog, but I am hoping to post more in 2024! That being said, let’s get into the post!
You’re going to want to get your bookmark button ready because there’s a ton of useful links in this post! 🔖
If you’re reading this blog post, you’re probably a creative or literary writer looking to share your work with the world! Whether you’re a seasoned author or debut writer, literary journals (also called literary magazines) are a great way to get your work out there! Literary journals are periodicals that are committed to publishing the work of writers at all stages of their careers. Most literary journals publish poetry, prose, flash fiction, and essays, but many of them publish photography, paintings, and other visual art as well!
With 2023 wrapping up and the new year just around the corner, I thought it would be helpful to share some amazing resources for writers looking to submit their work in 2024! Many literary journals are still accepting submissions into 2024 and there are plenty of publications looking for high-quality writing for their next issue! Below is an in-depth guide for submitting your writing as well as a list of my top Oklahoma-based literary journals that I’d recommend submitting to!
Know Your Market
First off, do your research! The next couple of points go hand-in-hand with this idea, but to ensure the best possible chance at success with your submissions, please, please do your research rather than submitting blindly. As per Poets & Writers, “Your publishing success rests on one axiom: Know your market.”
I recommend starting with Poets & Writers’ wonderfully thorough guide to Literary Journals and Magazines where you can find details about the specific kind of writing each magazine publishes and in which formats, as well as editorial policies, submission guidelines, general expectations, and contact information. They also have an amazing database of nearly one thousand literary magazines and journals, as well as a helpful submissions tracker so you can easily keep track of which journals you’ve submitted to, how many times you’ve submitted a poem, story, or essay; the amount of money you’ve spent on fees; the status of your submissions; and how much time has passed since you submitted your work all in one place online.
Poets & Writers’ Literary Journals and Magazines Guide (🔖Bookmark this!)
Poets & Writers’ Literary Journals and Magazines Database (🔖Bookmark this!)
Most writers get the attention of editors, agents, and other writers by first publishing their writing in literary magazines or literary journals. (Many literary magazines and journals will offer you a modest payment for the writing they accept, sometimes by giving you a free copy, or contributor’s copy, of the issue in which your work appears.) Before beginning the submission process, it is essential to research the market to determine which publications are the best venues for your writing. Your publishing success rests on one axiom: Know your market.
—Poets & Writers
Some other useful resources courtesy of Poets & Writers include:
Poets & Writers’ List of Open Reading Periods: Journals and Presses Ready to Read Your Work Now (🔖Bookmark this!)
CLMP ‘s Directory of Publishers (🔖Bookmark this!)
New Pages’s Literary Magazines Guide (🔖Bookmark this!)
Heavy Feather Review’s Where To Submit List (🔖Bookmark this!)
Duotrope - An amazing paid resource with SO many useful features from a publishing database with over 7,500 active publishers and agents, news pages, publishing statistics and reports, a submission tracker, theme and deadline calendar, and interviews from editors and agents that can provide insight into specific publications.
Along with the aforementioned guides and resources from Poets & Writers, I also recommend Writer’s Market, Poet’s Market, and Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, all published by Writer’s Digest Books, and give detailed contact information and submission guidelines.
Submission guidelines and other things to consider
When researching your literary magazine presses, be sure to keep in mind the following questions:
What kind of work is being published?
How often do they publish?
What are their submission guidelines?
Do they allow simultaneous submissions?
Do they require previously unpublished works?
In what ways does this publisher “pay” contributors for their work—cash reward or free copies of the finished publication?
Does this journal offer awards to high-quality submissions?
Can you purchase additional copies or is there a limit per contributor?
Where and how does this journal accept submissions?
What is the contact information for this publisher in the event that you need to withdraw your submission?
What experiences have other contributors had with working with this magazine? Is the communication clear and open?
What is the turnaround time for approval and rejection letters?
Does this journal offer alternative publishing options such as online exclusives or in weekly newsletters?
These are just a few questions to keep in mind when submitting your work to literary journals. I personally try to keep a variety of large and small journals, and those that accept submissions year-round (rolling submissions) or multiple times throughout the year, on my calendar.
Literary Market Place (Book-mart Press) has larger publisher and literary agent listings, and The International Directory of Little Magazines & Small Presses (Dustbooks) is a print directory you can find on sites like Amazon. You can also utilize their online database.
Finding the right publisher for your writing
Not all publishers are created equal and not all books are “big five” books. What I mean by this is that not every book—or piece of writing—will get published by one of the big five publishers and not every book is going to be on one of The New York Times’ bestsellers lists. But this isn’t inherently a bad thing. Some books are best suited for bigger publishers while others are best suited for smaller publishers and publishing your work with the right press is critical for success in the publishing industry. The same is true for literary magazines. Not every work is suited for The New Yorker or Poetry Magazine.
There are many pros and cons to publishers of all sizes, but the primary difference is that big publishers often have more resources and a wider audience reach, but they are often far more selective when it comes to which books they publish. On the other hand, smaller publishers may not have the clout that big publishers do but they often are more intimate and personal when it comes to submissions, communications, and the publishing process. Additionally, big publishers usually have bigger marketing budgets, while small publishers often allow greater creative control when it comes to decision-making in the publishing process. Alternatively, there are medium-sized publishers that tend to have the best of both worlds and fall somewhere in between. If you’d like to read more about the pros and cons of publishing houses of all sizes, check out this fantastic article from Publishers Agents Films.
That being said, I think you should absolutely shoot for the stars when submitting and querying. I can’t help but think of the Wayne Gretzky quote, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
A screencap of Michael Scott from The Office, courtesy of NBC and Katherine Arnold.
And Gretsky is 100% correct. However, when it comes to the publishing industry, success doesn’t happen by accident or luck alone. Writers must be selective and strategic in their submission process, just like publishers. It is important to be realistic about what kind of publishers will be the best for your work—it’s just a matter of good fit.
Below are some great articles about working with small versus large presses.
“Small Press Vs Big Press: What Is The Difference?” by Winnifred Tataw of Win’s Books Blog
“The New York Times Bestseller List.” by Seth Godin of Seth’s Blog
“The Big Five US Trade Book Publishers.” by Ali of The Critical Thinker
“Big Six Publishing is Dead–Welcome the Massive Three.” by Kristen Lamb
Publisher tiering and simultaneous submissions
Once you understand the benefits and drawbacks of small, medium, and large presses, one way to prepare for submissions is by tiering prospective publishers. I first learned about this process from Clifford Garstang, author of Oliver’s Travels and other novels, and editor of the acclaimed anthology series, Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet.
Tiering is an aid to simultaneous submissions that groups the best magazines together in the top tier, somewhat less prestigious magazines in the next tier, and so on. It is advisable to submit work to the top tier first, or at any rate within the same tier, so that an acceptance by one, which requires withdrawal from the others, won’t be painful. (If you get an acceptance from a lower-tier magazine while you’re still waiting to hear from a higher-tier magazine, that could lead to a difficult withdrawal. Withdrawal is ethically required, but what if the higher-tier magazine was about to accept the piece?) So, I decided to rank literary magazines—first in fiction, because that’s what I was writing, but later in poetry and nonfiction because many people requested that—to help me decide where to submit. In theory, I would aim toward the top of the list and work my way down until someone finally accepted my story.
—Clifford Garstang
Garstang meticulously prepared a wonderfully helpful ranking chart for 2023 Literary Magazine Rankings. I have no doubt these rankings will look quite similar, next year as well, but until we have an updated list, I’ll be going by his 2023 list.
Calendar blocking submission deadlines
Another great way to prepare for submitting your work in 2024, is to block out submission windows for all the presses you’re interested in submitting to. I typically keep my favorite fifteen literary journals' submission windows in my Google Calendar and a master list of many other potential magazines' submission windows, organized by date, in a Google doc. That way, I keep the top fifteen literary journals I’d like to publish with at the forefront of my mind and I can easily find other publishers throughout the year. I’d recommend researching literary magazines at all levels in your desired category—poetry, prose, essays, and visual art and making your own master list that is tailored to your work. Making a specific list based on your work will prove far more useful to you than simply going by my list.
Pro Tip: You can either block out submission openings AND closings or just the openings. In the image below, you can see that I usually just block out the opening dates and assume any blocks of time without that event means they’ve closed.
A screencap of Submission Calendar Blocking in Google Calendar. Photo by Payton Hayes
A photo of Nimrod International Journal Fall 2023 issue, Awards 45 on a wooden side table. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Keep a consistent submission schedule and carve out time for rituals
In addition to tracking submission deadlines, it is also a good practice to make and keep a consistent submission schedule for yourself. Once you’ve got a couple of pieces that you feel confident in publishing (and have been edited and proofread), start sending out a couple of submissions each week. I also suggest creating some sort of rejection ritual. You will inevitably face rejections, but instead of letting them get you down, let them be part of the process. Whenever you receive a rejection letter, print it out and burn it or tape it to your writing desk as motivation to keep writing and keep submitting. Likewise, come up with some kind of acceptance ritual—some way to celebrate each of your accepted submissions. No matter the amount of rejections you receive, don’t get discouraged! It just takes time and perseverance. The more you submit, the easier the whole process will get, I promise.
Besides, sometimes even if you don’t get accepted, you still get a freebie out of it in the end and who doesn’t like free stuff? I submitted to Nimrod International Journal in 2023 and while none of my submissions were accepted, they still sent me a free copy of the issue I submitted to. If I’m honest, I wasn’t expecting them to send me a free copy—they send one free copy out to all contributors, but since I was rejected, I didn’t think I counted as a contributor—and it sort of felt like a tiny slap in the face. But after some time passed, I realized it wasn’t personal and was grateful to have the free copy.
Oklahoma Literary Journals
As a writer and editor based in Oklahoma, I’m pretty familiar with the literary scene here in the scissortail state and I’d like to take a moment to share a few of my favorite literary journals that I’ve personally had the pleasure of working with.
New Plains Review - January 15 for the Fall 2024 issue and July 15 for the Spring 2025 issue
New Plains Review, a student-run literary journal at the University of Central Oklahoma, proudly receives hundreds of submissions from all over the world. Keeping with the University of Central Oklahoma’s goals of both excellence and diversity, it is our mission to share with our readers thought-provoking, quality work from a diverse number of authors and artists around the world. We are eager to help these creators broaden their audience and reinforce the importance of the arts in our everyday lives.
1890: A Journal of Undergraduate Research - September 15
The purpose of 1890: A Journal of Undergraduate Research is to provide undergraduate students the opportunity to demonstrate their interests and abilities in various disciplines by accepting works of research, creative writing, poetry, reviews, and art. New Plains Student Publishing uses 1890 to encourage, recognize, and reward intellectual and creative activity beyond the classroom by providing a forum that builds a cohesive academic community.
The Central Dissent: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality - Opening summer of 2024
The Central Dissent: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality is an interdisciplinary academic journal produced by New Plains Student Publishing and sponsored by the UCO's Women’s Research Center as well as the LGBTQ+ Student Center. Being the first and only academic journal focused on gender and sexuality in Oklahoma, our mission is to gather and disseminate quality research, poetry, and academic reviews that explore gender theory, gender identity, as well as how race, class, and ethnicity shape society’s expectations of the individual both currently and historically.
Pegasus - Opening in early 2024
Pegasus is the annual literary journal of original art, poetry, photography, personal essay, and fiction by Rose State College students, faculty, and staff. 2024 Submission deadline to be announced.
Nimrod International Journal of Poetry and Prose - January 1 to October 1 for general submissions in prose and poetry and January 1 to April 1 for the Nimrod Literary Awards contest
Nimrod International Journal welcomes submissions of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. We publish two issues annually. Our spring issue is thematic, with the theme announced the preceding fall. Previous themes have included Writers of Age; Range of Light: The Americas; Australia; Who We Are; Islands of the Sea and of the Mind; The Arabic Nations; Mexico/USA; and Crossing Borders. The fall issue features the winners and finalists of our annual Literary Awards. In most cases, both issues also contain work accepted as general submissions throughout the year.
Literary Magazines currently accepting submissions into 2024
Erin Duchesne of Make A Living Writing has compiled a fantastic list of 18 Literary Magazines Accepting Submissions in 2024 so I figured I’d include a condensed version of it here as well as a link back to the article for your convenience.
Literary journals with submissions open year-round:
Asimov’s Science Fiction - Rolling Submissions
Harper’s Magazine - Rolling Submissions
Narrative Magazine - Rolling Submissions
The Sun Magazine - Rolling Submissions'
The New Yorker - Rolling Submissions
Literary journals with one submission deadline:
Ploughshares - June 1 to January 15
POETRY Magazine - September 16 to June 14
The Sewanee Review - September 1 to May 31
The Georgia Review - August 16 to May 14
The Kenyon Review - September 1 to 30
Literary journals with multiple submission deadlines:
AGNI - September 1 to December 15; February 14 to May 31
The Iowa Review - August 1 to October 1 for fiction and poetry; August 1 to November 1 for non-fiction
The Gettysburg Review - September 1 to May 31; graphics accepted year-round
New England Review - September 1 to November 1; March 1 to May 1
Swamp Pink - September 1 to December 31; February 1 to May 31; prize submissions are accepted in January
The Paris Review - March and September for prose; January, April, July and October for poetry
Granta - March 1 to 31; June 1 to 30; September 1 to 30; December 1 to 31
Literary journals with submissions opening soon:
One Story - Opening in early 2024
Although this list is a great place to start for literary journals that are currently still accepting submissions going into 2024, I still highly recommend you research your market and put together a tailored list for journals you plan to submit to in the coming year.
And that’s it for my guide to all things literary journals and magazines! This is by far not a comprehensive list, but I tried to be as thorough as possible! What did you think of this guide? Let me know in the comments below! If you know of any amazing resources not listed here, please leave me a comment to and I’ll get them added to this post! Thanks for reading and supporting my work!
Bibliography:
Arnold, Katherine and NBC. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take – Wayne Gretzky – Michael Scott” – The Campus Activities Board.” Lanthorn Website, November 25, 2019. (Wayne Gretzky quote/Michael Scott meme from NBC.)
Hayes, Payton. “A photo of Nimrod International Journal Fall 2023 issue, Awards 45 on a wooden side table.” December 18, 2023.
Hayes, Payton. “A screencap of Submission Calendar Blocking in Google Calendar.“ December 18, 2023.
Hayes, Payton. “A photo of several literary journals and an antique typewriter on my home bookshelf.” (Thumbnail image), December 18, 2023.
Related topics:
Book Marketing 101: Everything Writers Need To Know About Literary Agents and Querying
Find Your Exact Genre, Find Your Lifelong Book Ambassadors by Shayla Raquel
How To Organize Your Digital Life: 5 Tips For Staying Organized as a Writer or Freelancer
The 4 Most Useful FREE Apps for Writers in 2022 (Sync Across Multiple Devices, Not Only iOS)
Recent posts:
—Payton
Find Your Exact Genre, Find Your Lifelong Book Ambassadors by Shayla Raquel
Hi readers and writerly friends!
This week in Freelancing, Shayla Raquel is taking over the blog to tell you all about how to not only grow your audience but how to transform readers into lifelong ambassadors of your book! This post shows you exactly how to gain a clear understanding of your genre and target audience to grow an enduring, loyal readership! Be sure to leave her a comment and check out her website and other socials!
A best-selling author and public speaker, Shayla Raquel teaches people the ins and outs of writing, publishing, and marketing their books. Her in-person and online classes focus on author branding, self-publishing, book marketing, and the craft of writing.
She is the author of the Pre-Publishing Checklist, “The Rotting” (in Shivers in the Night), The Suicide Tree, The 10 Commandments of Author Branding, All the Things I Should’ve Told You, and “Savage Indulgence.”
In her not-so-free time, she studies all things true crime and obsesses over squirrels. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and three fur babies.
Shayla Raquel, best-selling author, public speaker, and book editor.
Why do I need to know my genre and target audience?
Investing time and money into social media, email newsletters, Amazon ads, podcast interviews, and blog posts will net you very little ROI if you do not know your precise genre.
Because if you don’t know exactly what book you wrote, then, my friend, you don’t know your audience.
And if you don’t know your audience, what good is all that time and money you’ve put toward marketing your book?
My goal today is to teach you how to determine your exact genre as a novelist so you can pinpoint your target audience. Once you do that, you can have lifelong book ambassadors: people who fangirl over your book and tell the world about it.
Amazon Kindle Categories. Photo by Shayla Raquel.
So, What Is Your Genre?
If I ask an author, “What book is your genre?” and they reply “Fantasy,” I get a little worried.
Go to Amazon.com and toggle the search bar from All Departments to Kindle Store. On the left-hand side of your screen, select Kindle eBooks. (We don’t need the newsstand or singles or anything like that.)
Next, select Categories. It’s easy to miss sometimes because Amazon doesn’t make it prominent, but it’s usually under the search bar or off to the left-hand side.
Next, for this purpose, select Science Fiction & Fantasy. Narrow it down once more by selecting Fantasy. There are over 50,000 e-books in the Fantasy category alone. That’s a lot of competition.
Now you have to determine where your novel fits in the world of fantasy. Before I explain, I have a very important note: I desperately wish authors would do this exercise before writing their novels. If they did, then they’d ensure their story fit within the expected storylines of, let’s say, Gaslamp Fantasy or Arthurian Fantasy.
Next, select Fantasy. Photo by Shayla Raquel.
My point: Your novel will be difficult to sell if you wrote it without knowing its genre. You can figure it out, but it’s a little bit tougher because there’s a chance there are several genres packed into one story. (I did this with my first novel, so don’t be like Shayla!)
Okay, now that you have a warning to heed, let’s move on to subgenres.
So here you are in the Fantasy genre for Kindle e-books with all this competition. Where does your book fit? If your subgenre is Action & Adventure, that’s more specific than just saying Fantasy, but could you niche it down even more by mentioning the types of characters? (Amazon gives us a handy checklist for various genres.) If you have Elves or Fae, that officially means you’re only competing with 1,000 e-books now!
Elves. Photo by Shayla Raquel.
Your genre would be, let’s say, Fae Action & Adventure Fantasy.
Let’s shift to Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. If you’re going to find your niche, I suggest looking into Moods & Themes (another handy checklist). If I write Crime Fiction (50,000 e-books in this genre), I have several subgenres within that too:
Heist
Kidnapping
Murder
Noir
Organized Crime
Serial Killers
Vigilante Justice
Crime Fiction. Photo by Shayla Raquel.
But I have the opportunity to get super specific by selecting a mood or theme, such as Action-Packed. Therefore, it would be: Action-Packed Heist Crime Fiction.
Action Packed. Photo by Shayla Raquel.
It gets better! I can also look into Settings (beaches, islands, mountains, etc.) and Characters (amateur sleuths, British detectives, gay protagonists, etc.) on the Amazon checklist.
Setting. Photo by Shayla Raquel.
Characters. Photo by Shayla Raquel.
If your story has some love in it, you would go to the Romance category and narrow it down to, maybe, Time Travel. On the left-hand side, take a look at Romantic Heroes and Romantic Themes (originally called Tropes). By narrowing the genre down to Viking Time Travel Romance, I have certainly found a very specific group of readers!
Vikings. Photo by Shayla Raquel.
Now What?
Now that you know some tricks for finding your exact genre, you have a foundation for marketing your book to the right audience. And marketing it well.
But how do you get book ambassadors to see your book?
It depends on the platform, of course. If you label your categories and keywords properly through Amazon KDP and Amazon Author Central, you’ve just made your life way easier. (To learn how to request 8 additional categories and how to find keywords, read 5 Freakishly Helpful Amazon Tricks Every Author Should Use.)
Outside of Amazon, your blurb (back cover copy and Amazon product description) must reflect your genre. In addition to a steller book cover, a blurb helps sell your book. It’s your big flashy billboard: it’s meant to suck the reader right in.
When writing a blurb, follow these steps:
Drop the Hook — A hook is meant to entice the reader to bite. I love this hook from The Martian by Andy Weir: “Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.”
Dangle the Characters — Reel them in with intriguing characters.
Dive into Conflict — Show them what this book is all about. What’s the plot? Why should the reader buy this book?
Determine the Consequences — What hangs in the balance for your characters? Formula: Conflict (“Character must do this”) + Stakes (“Or this will happen”) = Consequences.
Dine on the Big Question — End your blurb on an intriguing question or a point of tension—something that will convince the reader to take a chance on buying your book.
For the complete how-to, read Writing Compelling Book Blurbs.
If you’ve got these things down (genre, Amazon, and blurb), you need to spend quality time putting your book in front of people on various platforms to determine where you get the most bites (from readers who want to chow down on your genre). It could be through any one of these avenues:
Social media (especially TikTok)
Email newsletter (your own)
Podcasts (interviews specifically)
Book promotion newsletters (Book Gorilla, Many Books, Book Rebel, etc.)
Amazon ads
Social media ads
Book reviewers (YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are full of reviewers)
Blogs
Some platforms work better than others for a variety of reasons, but you won’t know until you try and stay committed long enough to determine if it’s worth the ROI. If you write sexy stories, there is a community with 4.2 billion views on TikTok called SmutTok just waiting for you. If you want your book to be reviewed, there are loads of BookTubers on YouTube ready and willing to geek out over your book.
If you will do the hard work of determining exactly what you write, it will be smoother sailing when it’s time to find your readers.
Best of luck!
Thanks for reading Shayla’s guest blog post! I hope you enjoyed it and found her advice useful and actionable! If you liked this post, please leave us a comment below and don’t forget to check out the other posts on the blog!
Bibliography:
Further reading:
Related topics:
Book Marketing 101: Everything Writers Need To Know About Literary Agents and Querying
Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them
Book Writing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Dialogue
Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters
Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)
25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas
Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing
Check out my other Book Writing 101, and Freelancing posts.
Recent blog posts:
—Payton
How To Write Poems With Artificial Intelligence—Using Google's Verse by Verse
Hi readers and writerly friends!
Today in Artsy Things, we’re going to explore writing poetry using artificial intelligence (AI). I heard about this from an article a few years ago —I tried to find it, but so many others have come out discussing the same topic, I haven’t been able to. However, I have linked some particularly interesting articles at the end of this post for further reading. All other articles quoted in this post will be linked at the end as well.
Artificial intelligence
Before we can create poetry using artificial intelligence, we must first understand what the term means in definition as well as what it means for the future of humanity. Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world in ways no one can yet fully predict.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) of Oxford University Press defines artificial intelligence as:
“Noun. The capacity of computers or other machines to exhibit or simulate intelligent behaviour; the field of study concerned with this. Abbreviated AI.” (OED 2008)
Artificial intelligence can also be described as the theory and development of computer systems that are able to perform tasks such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, translation between languages, and other tasks that normally require human intelligence. Initially, AI included search engines, recommendation algorithms such as those used by YouTube, Amazon, and Netflix, computer programs that could play games like chess with users. In the last decade, we have seen an emergence of AI applications that can complete a myriad of tasks that typically require human intelligence. These applications include understanding and responding to human speech (apps such as Siri and Alexa), self-driving cars (such as Tesla), and even art making and poetry writing programs (such as the infamous Lensa app and Verse by Verse by Google).
In his article, “Can AI Write Authentic Poetry?” cognitive psychologist and poet Keith Holyoak explores whether artificial intelligence could ever achieve poetic authenticity. In the article, he makes the comparison of AI to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein:
“On the hazier side of the present horizon, there may come a tipping point at which AI surpasses the general intelligence of humans. (In various specific domains, notably mathematical calculation, the intersection point was passed decades ago.) Many people anticipate this technological moment, dubbed the Singularity, as a kind of Second Coming—though whether of a savior or of Yeats’s rough beast is less clear. Perhaps by constructing an artificial human, computer scientists will finally realize Mary Shelley’s vision.” (Holyoak 2022, par.6)
Despite the bleak predictions of how AI may one day replace all human activity, the reality is that this technology is simply not there yet. While AI can simulate human intelligence successfully in many tasks, it is still lacking in the poetry writing department and requires humans to be the editors and final decision makers in the outcome of a poem. Holyoak explains this current iteration of poetry AI being a system that “operates using a generate-then-select method” (Holyoak 2022, par.10).
In his article, Keith Holyoak ponders the validity of AI poetry, functionalism, the Hard Problem of consciousness, and the critical essence or subjective experience within poetry. I have linked his article at the end of this blog post, and I highly encourage you to read it if you’re even remotely interested in these topics.
Users can select up to three poets to serve as their muses. They will provide suggestions as you write. Photo by Payton Hayes.
So, what is Verse by Verse?
Verse by Verse, is a powerful poetry writing AI created by Google, that produces suggestions line-by-line inspired by famed classical poets such as Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The tool allows users to select up to three poets they want to mimic from a list of twenty-two classical poets.
Google’s about section on the Verse by Verse demo page says this of the software:
Verse by Verse is an experiment in human-AI collaboration for writing poetry. We have created a cadre of AI poets, trained on the poems of many of America's classical poets, to work alongside you in writing poetry.
Each poet will try to offer suggestions that they think would best continue a poem in the style of that given poet. As such, try working with different poets to see whose style best meshes with your own.
Explore what works best for you when composing the poem. You can try using the poets' suggestions (including editing them to better match your style!), or write your own inspired by what they suggest. (Google)
I conducted a little more research to gain a better understanding of how the AI operates and how best to use it for writing my own poetry. The article “Google’s ‘Verse by Verse’ can help you write poetry” by Aditya Saroha provides insight into how the muses provides suggestions based on classical poets. Saroha said, “Google explained that Verse by Verse's suggestions are not the original lines of verse the poets had written, but novel verses generated to sound like lines of verse the poets could have written. To build the tool, Google’s engineers trained models on a large collection of classic poetry. They fine-tuned the models on each individual poet’s body of work to try to capture their style of writing” (Saroha 2021, par.8-10). So, the poetry that the tool’s muses provide the user with were not actually lines crafted by classical poets, but rather inspired by their individual bodies of work.
In the article, “Google’s ‘Verse by Verse’ Lets You Imitate Writing Style Of Your Favourite Classical Poet” by Rudrani Gupta, provided quotes from one of Google’s software engineers, Dave Uthus where he explained how the AI was trained to write like classical poets. She said, “The suggestions of the new verses are possible because the tool has been ‘trained to have a general semantic understanding of what lines of the verse would best follow a previous line of verse,’ said engineer Dave Uthus. ‘Even if you write on topics not commonly seen in classic poetry, the system will try its best to make suggestions that are relevant,’ he added” (Gupta 2020, par.4). By training the AI in this fashion, the tool allows modern poets to write about modern topics, themes, and concepts, while imitating classical style and voice.
While this software can prove to be a useful writing too, it isn’t intended to replace talented poets. Saroha concludes his article by noting that the tool is meant to aid poets rather than replacing them. He said, “Through the tool, Google aims to ‘augment’ the creative process of composing a poem. Google said Verse by Verse is a creative helper, an inspiration and not a replacement” (Saroha 2021, par.11 ).
Google’s Verse by Verse, an AI poetry-writing tool. Photo by Payton Hayes.
I first tried using Verse by Verse in 2020
I was first introduced to Verse by Verse in 2020 and I tried it just to see how effective it could be. At the time, I was really getting into my own religious deconstruction and exploring overt sexuality and expression. As a result, my writing at the time certainly reflected my interests and spiritual journey. I typed in words such as holy, prayer, pleasure, love, lust, sex, worship, devotion, god, and church. The poets I selected as my muses were Whitman, Emerson, and Poe and as I wrote each verse on the left, they provided me with inspiration from the column on the right.
I do not have the original poem the AI created when I first did this exercise in 2020 however, from that, I ended up with the following poem:
PRAYER
"Oh God," she says, hands clasped together, fingers entwined, knees bent.
He doesn't answer; he does.
he answers with earnest, continued, devoted worship
head bowed, eyes closed, his mind devoid of all else but this
—this soul-shaking, earth-shattering pleasure, this blessed communion between man and woman,
the Holy Spirit an undoubted voyeur through the candlelight,
this holy practice wherein they do some of their finest praying. (Hayes 2020)
Revisiting Verse by Verse in 2022
To show you how this AI writes poetry and how it’s suggestions can be effective for your own poetry writing, I decided to give it another go in 2022. Below is a gallery of screenshots from the tool as I entered each verse/line at a time. As you can see, my muses Emerson, Poe, and Whitman all provided me with interesting and unique suggestions to include in my poem.
I used words and phrases that came to mind, without rhyme or reason. I typed out ten verses and my chosen muses produced three lines each to help inspire my poem. Below are the twenty-seven lines from each poet in the right column (totaling eighty-one lines among my muses).
Ralph Waldo Emerson Muse
Tides of the hands of the bold,
Tides of the North wind, and to woods
Tides of the hands of the snow;
Hearing a weary weary voice at happy eve,
Hearing a happy poet recount
Hearing a weary poet high
Whilst upper wits, and for their memory ave
Dwarfed for thy harp to willing hand;
Victor over war’s enchanted lid
Spreading their scent through a ian gold;
House in for the blood of their delight,
Bright with homage to their well-known delight!
Wield these young honey wine for their delight:
Escort and beauty for their sick delight:
Their shining beauty to each youthful lamp
Knew that their roar and pulse of kindred air:
Wield these first tones that shine through speak;
Bright with homage to their well-known delight!
Soothes with their shining sorrow;
Mixed with sand by other true delight.
Scent with thy summer horn.
Spreading their scent through fancy and desire;
Stream through thy friendship to the upper air,--
Beer and cup from every cottage beams–
Freedom and beauty for a delicate beams.
Strewed the wide wave with their enchanted maids;
Mixed with sand by other true liberty.
Walt Whitman Muse
Entering my feet over the prairies,
Wherein each stands or sweeps in the though,
Entering my feet upon the prairies
Splashing the waves with a yellow light,
Splashing the waves over the beach at night,
Splashing the river with a mystic midnight light,
Gave up the mighty and diverse hand
Rose the old drunkard, with a long side,
Making the young land tremble for the soul;
Wherein I feel so certain and happy,
Wherein all women pass from the world,
Encircled by a servant at hand;
Encircled by a servant at hand;
Making a song of a open air;
E’er lashes and clothes without wealth.
Thunder on stride on stride on lean words:
Rich greenish drift and the measureless light;
Wherein I understand each breath and the age;
Encircled by a delicate mouth and hand.
Mighty and perfect pour through the night.
Perfume the white arms of the summer night
Rich with ample forms and barbarian words,
Rich and perfect play for other globes!
Light the world with a mystic motion;
Encircled by a world in other bay;
Encircled by a perfect float in the air;
Encircled by a perfect float in the air:
Edgar Allen Poe Muse
Which fall’st into this world like rain
When in an happy Runic rhyme,
Wherein my youth and dreams and words,
Light as the lavas of summer air
Drowning a wild feeling with the sound
Tempting and dreaming in this passionate light
Filled with deep thoughts of thee.
Brought a silver, silken rest.
Brought a silver silken veil of light,
Beside the dames that gilded each bright noon,
Filled with light of life and light!
Brought down the world to me with their delight;
Put my own solace to a golden light,
Brought a silvery silken veil of light,
Hold about my fingers with their delight,
Divulge this secrets of that lovely isle!
To breathe those voice of thine. The lovely light
Nor ask the riches of the summer air;
To breathe those kisses of the summer air.
Sorrow with its own light eye.
Filled with light of many eyes.
A fountain of light. No living light
Hold about my fingers with their delight
Hold about my fingers as a crown.
Brought on a throne in their elysian air;
To breathe those kisses of the jewelled air;
To breathe those voice of thine.The lovely light
So, the muses definitely wrote…something. It’s not necessarily poetry —yet.
From those lines, I narrowed them down to my favorites in the following lines:
Wield these young honey wine for their delight:
Their shining beauty to each youthful lamp
Splashing the river with a mystic midnight light,
Wherein I feel so certain and happy,
Encircled by a delicate mouth and hand.
Light the world with a mystic motion;
Tempting and dreaming in this passionate light
Brought a silver silken veil of light,
Put my own solace to a golden light,
Brought a silvery silken veil of light,
Hold about my fingers with their delight,
To breathe those kisses of the summer air.
Here, you could put these lines back into the AI to see what you get. I decided to rework them myself to make them less abstract. The lines crossed out above, I ended up using below. I kept my first verse, “feminine beauty dressed in light” and used that as the first line for the poem.
Feminine being dressed in light
To breathe those kisses of the summer air
Held about her fingers my delight
Washed softly away my every care
Encircled by a delicate mouth and hand
Wherein I feel so happy and certain
Her shining beauty imprinted in the sand
She is most deserving of devotion
You don’t have to use all of the lines the muses provided you with. As you can see, I have only used a handful here. This poem isn’t complete, but you get the idea. I’m going to set these lines aside for use with another poem later. The suggestions from the muses in the tool may not have been completely sensible or eloquent, but its a great starting point for poets who may be stuck. It’s also a great way to practice mimicking your favorite classical poet’s writing style if you’d like. Although AI cannot yet write poetry that is indistinguishable from human poetry, it can certainly serve as a useful tool in your own poetry practice.
The next time you find yourself stuck on a line, try using AI to help you finish out your poem! If you try this, leave your work in the comments below! What was your favorite line the muses came up with? Let me know below!
Thank you for reading this blog post and if you’re interested in reading more about AI poetry or delving deeper into the sources I mentioned above, check out the bibliography and further reading sections below! Additionally, if you’d like to read similar posts, check out the related topics section. Lastly, if you want to read more posts from me, check out my recent blog posts.
Bibliography:
Further reading:
Hart, Matthew. “Google’s New AI Helps You Write Poetry Like Poe.” Nerdist article, November 24, 2020.
Related topics:
Recent blog posts:
—Payton
Info-dumping in Sci-fiction and Fantasy Novels by Breyonna Jordan
Hi readers and writerly friends!
This week in Freelancing, Breyonna Jordan is taking over the blog to tell you all about info-dumping in science-fiction and fantasy novels! Leave her a comment and check out her website and other socials!
Breyonna Jordan loves exploring new frontiers—underground cities, mythical kingdoms, and expansive space stations, to be exact. As a developmental editor, she relishes every opportunity to help world-builders improve their works and learn more about the wonderful world of writing. She enjoys novels that are fresh, far-reaching, and fun and she can’t wait to see your next book on her TBR list.
Breyonna Jordan is a developmental editor who specializes in science-fiction and fantasy.
What is info-dumping?
When writing sci-fi or fantasy, there’s a steep curve on how much the audience needs to know—a world of a curve in fact.
You may have pages and pages of elaborate world histories that readers must be filled in on—the current and past ruling monarchs, failed (or successful) uprisings, how natural resources became so scarce in this particular region, or why a military state exists in this country, but not in the surrounding lands.
Alternatively, you may feel the need to include pages of small details concerning the settings and characters your readers are exploring. While it’s important to include specific details in your writing—the reader can’t possibly know that the night sky features four moons unless you convey these details—oftentimes, the excess exposition can be overwhelming to readers.
This info-dumping can be a pervasive problem in fiction, maybe even the problem that stops you from finding an awesome agent or from obtaining a following on Amazon.
So, below I’ve offered some tips for spotting info-dumping, reasons for and the potential consequences of info-dumping, as well as several tips for avoiding the info-dump.
How do you identify info-dumping in your manuscript?
A section of your work may contain info-dumping if you find:
you are skipping lines while reading (Brotzel 2020),
the paragraphs are very long,
there is little action and conflict occurring,
your voice (and not your characters) has slipped in,
that it looks like it was copied directly from your outline
To help you get a better idea of what excessive exposition can look like, here are two examples of info-dumping from the first chapter of a sci-fantasy manuscript I worked on:
“Hawk was guarding the entrance to the cave while Beetle went for the treasure. These were not their real names of course but code-names given to them by their commander (now deceased) to hide their true identities from commoners who may begin asking questions. Very few people in the world knew their true names and survived to speak it. Hawk and Beetle knew each other’s true names but had sworn to secrecy. They were the youngest people on their team. Beetle was seventeen with silver hair and had a talent for tracking. Hawk was twenty-one with brown hair which he usually wore under a white bandana. He was well-mannered and apart from his occupation in burglary was an honest rule-follower. Beetle and Hawk had known each other since they were children and were as close as brothers.”
“It is one of the greatest treasures in the entire world of Forest #7. This was thought only to have existed in legend and theological transcripts. This Staff was powered by the Life Twig, a mystic and ancient amulet said to contain the soul of Wind Witch, a witch of light with limitless powers.”
Why do writers info-dump and what impacts does info-dumping have on their manuscripts?
As a developmental editor who works primarily with sci-fi and fantasy writers, I’ve seen that info-dumping can be especially difficult for these authors to avoid because their stories often require a lot of background knowledge and world-building to make sense.
In space operas, for example, there may be multiple species and planetary empires with complex histories to keep track of. In expansive epic fantasies, multiple POV characters may share the stage, each with their own unique backstory, tone, and voice.
Here are some other reasons why world-builders info-dump:
they have too many characters, preventing them from successfully integrating various traits,
they want to emphasize character backstories as a driver of motivation,
their piece lacks conflict or plot, using exposition to fill up pages instead,
they are unsure of the readers ability to understand character goals, motivations, or actions without further explanation,
they want to share information that they’ve researched (Brotzel 2020),
they want readers to be able to visualize their worlds the way they see them
A Hobbit house with wood stacked out front. Photo by Jeff Finley.
Though these are important considerations, info-dumping often does more harm than good. Most readers don’t want to learn about characters and settings via pages of exposition and backstory. Likewise, lengthy descriptions:
distract readers from story and theme,
encourage the use of irrelevant details,
make your writing more confusing by hiding key details,
decrease dramatic tension by boring the reader,
slow the pacing and immediacy of writing,
prevent you from learning to masterfully handle characterization and description
Think back to the examples listed above. Can you see how info-dumping can slow the pace from a sprint to a crawl? Can you spot all the irrelevant details that detract from the reader's experience? Do you see the impact of info-dumping on the author’s ability to effectively characterize and immerse the reader in the scene?
Info-dumping is a significant issue in many manuscripts. Often, it’s what divides the first drafts from fifth drafts, a larger audience from a smaller one, a published piece from the slush pile.
What techniques can be used to mitigate info-dumping?
That said, below are three practical tips to help you avoid and resolve info-dumping in your science-fiction and fantasy works:
Keep focus on the most important details. You can incorporate further information as the story develops. This will allow readers to remain engrossed in your world without overwhelming them. It will also help you maintain a robust setting in which there’s something new for readers to explore each time the character visits.
Weave details between conflict, action, and dialogue (Miller 2014). This will allow the reader to absorb knowledge about your world without losing interest or becoming confused. An expansive galactic battle presents the perfect opportunity to deftly note the tensions between races via character dialogue and behavior. A sword fighting lesson can easily showcase new technology (Dune anyone?). A conversation about floral arrangements for a wedding can subtlysubtely convey exposition. Just make sure to keep the dialogue conversational and realistic.
Allow the reader to be confused sometimes. Most sci-fi and fantasy readers expect to be a bit perplexed by new worlds in the earliest chapters. They understand that they don’t know anything, and thus expect not to learn everything at once. Try not to worry too much about scaring them off with new vocabulary and settings. They can pick up on context clues and make inferences as the story progresses. handle it. If you’re still concerned about the amount of invented terminology and definitions, consider adding a glossary to the back matter of the book instead.
Of course, this all raises the question…
Is it ever okay to info-dump?
You might think to yourself, “I want to stop info-dumping, but it’s so difficult to write my novel without having to backtrack constantly to introduce why this policy exists, or why this seemingly obvious solution won’t end the Faerie-Werewolf War.”
If you’re a discovery writer, it might be downright impossible to keep track of all these details without directly conveying them in text which is why I encourage you to do exactly that.
Dump all of your histories into the novel without restraint. Pause a climactic scene to spend pages exploring why starving miners can’t eat forest fruit or how this life-saving magical ritual was lost due to debauchery in the forbidden library halls.
Write it all down…
Foggy woods illuminated by a soft, warm light. Photo by Johannes Plenio.
But be prepared to edit it down in the second, third, or even fourth drafts.
Important information may belong in your manuscript, but info-dumps should be weeded out of your final draft as much as possible.
Additionally, as I mention often, I am a firm disbeliever in the power and existence of writing rules. There are novels I love that use info-dumping liberally and even intentionally (re: Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams). Most classics use exposition heavily as well and they remain beloved by fans old and new.
However, what works for one author may not work for everyone and modern trends in reader/ publisher-preference regard info-dumping as problematic. Heavy reliance on exposition is also connected to other developmental problems, such as low dramatic tension and poor characterization.
If you are intentional about incorporating large swaths of exposition and it presents a meaningful contribution to your work, then info-dumping might be a risk worth taking. If the decision comes down to an inability to deal with description and backstory in other ways then consider reaching out to an editor or writing group instead.
What are some techniques you’ve used to avoid info-dumping in your story? Let us know in the comments!
Bibliography:
Finley, Jeff. “Hobbit House.” Unsplash photo, February 28, 2018.
Plenio, Johannes. “Forest Light.” Unsplash photo, February 13, 2018.
Miller, Kevin.“How to Avoid the Dreaded Infodump.” Book Editing Associates article. April 14, 2014.
Recent blog posts:
—Payton
My Bookish Resolutions For 2023
Hello readers and writerly friends!
Welcome back to my blog! If you haven’t read my latest two blog posts, they’re linked at the bottom of this page! This week, we’re discussing my 2023 bookish goals and resolutions. What are your goals for 2023? Leave me a comment below!
Some of these are repeat goals and some are new. Last year, my only goal was to read 22 books and I nailed it! This year, I decided I wanted to do more than just read, but I wanted to keep them simple and SMART —- specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. I’ve given myself 5 goals to strive for in 2023
My bookshelf filled with more knick-knacks than actual books. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Read all of the TBR books on my shelf in 2023
In 2020, I went through a book purge and got rid of almost 200 books! As a result, my bookshelf seems to be filled more with rocks, figurines, and knick-knacks, than actual books, but oh well. This year, my primary goal is to read all of the books on that shelf. I started chipping away at it in 2022, and as I completed a book, I either kept it or donated it to the library. There’s 36 books to be read on my shelf. If I can read 34 books in 2022, then this year, I can clear the shelf!
Finish the Wingbound Trilogy by Heather Trim in 2023
As you can see from my #shelfie, the series is waiting patiently on my shelf. In 2023, I plan to finish this series, starting with Wingspan in January!
Set up a cozy reading space in Winter-Spring of 2023
My partner and I just moved into our apartment back in August 2022, and we don’t yet have our living room furnished. In 2023, I hope to get some big furniture pieces that are comfy, cozy, stylish, and together make for a great reading spot as well as watching our favorite films.
Get a new bookshelf in 2023
Part of the furniture plan for 2023, is to get a new bookshelf. I think we’re going with a mid-century modern or industrial themed living room with cozy accents, so this shelf has got to go. Besides, I want to use this shelf to store our towels in the bathroom. Our current shelf is flimsy at best.
Read a 2023 release early in 2023
This may be tricky to get my hands on, but I definitely want to try and read Yellowface by R.F. Kuang asap! I have never read an early release and it didn’t seem possible to get my hands on a copy at the end of 2022, so maybe once it’s out I can snag a copy and write a review on it as early as possible! Keep your eyes out for that!
That’s all for my 2023 Bookish Resolutions! I hope you enjoyed reading this post! I know this goal list was far shorter than 2020 and 2021. It’s been a crazy couple of years! But now that I’m back in the practice of reading and writing daily, I hope I can achieve these goals and I am certainly looking forward to trying! What are your 2023 bookish goals or resolutions? Did you complete or make progress towards your 2022 goals? Let me know in the comments below and as always, thanks for reading!
Related Topics:
Past Blog Posts:
2022 End of The Year Book Survey
All the books I read in 2022! Photo by Payton Hayes.
Hi readers and writerly friends!
I am once again completing the End of The Year Book Survey created by Jamie from PerpetualPageTurner.com! Make sure you check out her post here and share it if you do decide to complete it for yourself!
Note: The survey is for books you read throughout the year, no matter when they were published, and is not limited to just books that came out in 2022! Previous years and related topics have been included at the end of this post!
2022 Reading Statistics
Number of books Read:35
Number of Re-Reads:0
Genre read from the most: Nonfiction, Mental Health
Best in Books
1. Best Book You Read In 2022?
I couldn’t leave any of these out. If I had to choose just one, I’d pick Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens. I couldn’t put it down!
Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens
Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness by Zack McDermott
The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller and Ruth Ward
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price
All of these books I had heard great things about, but personally didn’t enjoy as much as I thought I would based on the hype. I hoped they’d all be 5-star books, but was found a little wanting after closing their covers. The second two contained a lot of excellent information, but I just don’t think they lived up to the hype.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller and Ruth Ward
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens
The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller and Ruth Ward
I told everyone I know who reads to check out Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens but I am not sure that they have just yet. I mentioned The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller and Ruth Ward and Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness by Zack McDermott to my therapist and she wrote them down, so that’s something? A coworker and I got to talking about our most impactful reads this year and I recommended The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller to her and she recommended The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel and The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine. I then had coffee with an old friend from high school and to her I also recommended The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller and in turn, she recommended Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D | Key Takeaways, Analysis & Review: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, all three of which, I have added to my Goodreads “Want To Read” shelf.
5. Best series you started in 2022? Best Sequel? Best Series Ender of 2022?
The Wingspan Trilogy by Heather Trim was the only series I read in 2022 and I only read two out of three of the books. I really enjoyed this series and I hope to finish it in 2023!
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2022?
L.M. Montgomery
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
The Kid-Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook by Pamela J Compart and Dana GodBout Laake
I typically don’t read cookbooks as reading material, but I picked up and read several of them this year. I found this book the most informative and interesting because of the mental health information it contained as well as effective diets for neurodiverse people.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens
I just could not put this book down. The characters are just so interesting and the plot twist is fantastic!
9. Book You Read In 2022 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
Though this book disappointed me slightly, I think I’d pick it up again next year. I don’t have the best reading routine and with this book being a daily reader, I probably didn’t give it the best shot. I’d go days at a time forgetting to pick it up and then catch up later. 😅
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2022?
Wingbound by Heather Trim
11. Most memorable character of 2022?
Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2022?
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2022?
The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller and Ruth Ward
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2022 to finally read?
I think all of the books I read this year were picks from this year. I pretty much read whatever I felt like reading when I felt like reading it. I think that’s the main reason why I was able to read so many books this year compared to last year. In the past, I’ve put restrictions on my reading goals and this made it harder to motivate myself to read.
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2022?
Page 305 from The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
Virtue And Kindness
October 12th
ALWAYS LOVE
“Hecato says, ‘I can teach you a love potion made without drugs, herbs, or special spell —if you would be loved, love.”
—SENECA MORAL LETTERS, 9.6
In 1992, Barbara Jordan addressed the Democratic National Conventtion and railed against the greed and selfishness and divisiveness of the previous decade. People were ready for a change. “Change it to what?” she asked. “Change the environment of the 80’s to an environment which is characterized by a devotion to the public interest, public service, tolerance, and love. Love. Love. Love.”
Love. Love. Love. Why? Because, as the Beatles put it, “In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” Not just in politics, not just in tolerance, but in our personal lives. There is almost no situation in which hatred helps. Yet almost every situation is made better by love —or empathy, understanding, and appreciation —-even situations in which you are in opposition to someone.
And who knows, you might just get some of that love back.
—Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic, page 305.
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2022?
Shortest: Oh Hell No!:And Other Ways To Set Some Damn Boundaries by Chronicle Books
Longest: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) by the American Psychiatric Association
17. Book that shocked you the most
The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller and Ruth Ward
This book blew me away. It might have just been the most spot-on book of all the mental health books I read this year, and ever. I felt noticed, called out, and understood while reading this book. At times, it felt almost offensive that some of the concepts were staring me dead in the face, like an unsettling reflection you can’t shake. It resonated with me deeply and I felt as if the author was looking into my soul.
If you have PTSD, grew up with authoritarian parents, put the needs of others before your own needs for most of your life, and felt like you haven’t met your full potential, then this book may be for you. It gives an explanation for how readers are the way they are, helps the reader understand why they wittingly and unwittingly put their trauma back on others, and gives the reader hope for the future with a new perspective on their childhood and past.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (You will go down with this ship!) (OTP = One true pairing if you aren’t familiar)
Kya Clark and Tate Walker from Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Anne Shirley and Marilla Cuthbert of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2022 From An Author You’ve Read From Previously
I did not read any books from authors I’ve read from previously this year.
21. Best Book You Read in 2022 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/ Bookstagram, etc.
Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens - Recommended by Mollie Tubeville from MollieReads
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2022?
I did not have any fictional crushes from the books I read in 2022. I read mostly nonfiction.
23. Best 2022 debut you read?
I really enjoyed Jeanette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died, and highly recommend you read it if you like reading memoirs.
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne Shirley’s imaginative, colorful descriptions of Avondale were so magical and reminded me of what it was like to play and imagine as a child. This book was so charming.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2022?
Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness by Zack McDermott
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller and Ruth Ward
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce
None of the books I read this year really crushed my soul. However, this book was such a disappointment that I felt like I’d wasted time reading it altogether.
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2022?
Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear by Carl L. Hart
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
My Blogging/Bookish Life
1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2022?
I started following @authenticallyryan on Instagram and I enjoy her bookish content there.
2. Favorite post you wrote in 2022?
For Content Creators and CEOs with ADHD: Strategies to Succeed Despite Overwhelm and Distractions
This blog post was very near and dear to my heart. I worked really hard on it and wrote from a lot of personal experience. I hope that it reaches the audience it’s meant for and helps anyone who reads it. 😊
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler and a jar of hibiscus tea on a wood tabletop. Follow me on Instagram for more bookish photos! Photo by Payton Hayes.
3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2022?
My photo of Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler and a jar of hibiscus tea on a wood tabletop. I took this photo after I finished the book. I think I liked the picture and cover better than I liked the book. I had high hopes for it but it left me wishing the character relationships had been a little more realistic and unique.
This photo is on my Instagram! Follow me for more bookish content!
4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, etc.)?
I haven’t attended any bookish events in 2022, but I’m planning attend at least two writing conventions, to attend a workshop or two with the Yukon Writer’s Society, and to host monthly workshops for the Oklahoma Writer’s Society next year!
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2022?
Surpassing my Goodreads Reading Challenge to read 22 books —I read 33!
6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?
It was really hard to get back into writing for my blog this year. 2020 and 2021 were rough years for me, like most everyone. My mental health declined and with it, my creativity and motivation to write. But I read a lot of books, went to therapy, did some soul searching, and fell in love with being creative again. It’s been a long, challenging journey, but I’m back and better than ever.
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
How To Write Best Friends to Lovers Romance - That Feels Realistic
This post was written in 2020 but it’s gotten 1.5k views in the last year. Best friends to lovers is a popular trope in romance.
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
For Content Creators and CEOs with ADHD: Strategies to Succeed Despite Overwhelm and Distractions
9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
I don’t think I’ve discovered any great bookish, non-book items this year. I did at a lot of new books to my TBR on Goodreads, though!
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
Yes! I completed my 2022 goal of reading 22 books this year! This was my Goodreads Reading Challenge for 2022 and I actually ended up reading 33 books!
Looking ahead
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2022 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2023?
Wingspan by Heather Trim
Next year, I hope to finish this series!
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2023 (non-debut)?
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, debuted in 2022.
3. 2023 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2023?
Winds of Winter by George R.R. Martin. He hasn’t said it’s going to be finished in 2023, but in a recent interview from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he mentioned that the book may be as long as 1500 pages and it's about three-quarters of the way complete.
Read more here.
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2023?
I hope to get more comments and engagement on my blog post. Every month, there’s hundreds and even thousands of views but no one leaves a comment. I’d love to get to know my readers and start some fun, bookish conversations!
6. A 2023 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):
I haven’t read any 2023 releases early, but I hope to read Yellowface by R.F. Kuang next year once it’s out!
And that’s it for my 2022 Bookish End Of The Year Survey! Make sure you check out Jamie at Perpetualpageturner.com and fill out the survey for yourself here! Leave me a comment answering one of these questions and if you do decide to fill out the survey, make sure to link it in the comments and share it with Jamie and myself so we can see your results!
Bibliography:
Related topics:
Recent blog posts
—Payton
2022 Book Wrap Up & Rating All The Books I Read This Year
Hi readers and writerly friends!
Welcome back to the blog! If you’re new, thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out all of my Bookish Things posts if that’s your cup of tea! This post is my 2022 Book Wrap Up! Share your 2022 Book Wrap Up in the comments below!
It has been a crazy couple of years. I could say that again.
I had high hopes for 2020 and ended up completing 0 of my 20 Bookish Goals For 2020. In 2021, I set 21 goals, naturally. I should have dialed it back a bit to account for the unexpected. However, I stubbornly set 21 goals for myself and again, completed very few in comparison to the amount of goals I set. I didn’t read 52 books. I didn’t finish a single series.
The goals I completed in 2021 include:
Read the House of Night Series by P.C. and Kristin Cast. (I read four books from this series and decided to finally put it to rest. This was my second or third time trying to get through this series and it just wasn’t for me. The writing was inconsistent —you could tell where one author stopped and another began, and not in a good way —and the story’s premise was just all too familiar: YA vampire school romance, bleh. I think I’ve seen enough of that trope to last me a lifetime. So I added the series to my DNF (Did Not Finish) list on Goodreads and let myself off the hook.)
Read More Classics In 2022 (I read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, so I think this one counts as completed!)
My other 19 goals for 2021 were left sitting on the shelf, covered in dust.
This year was different.
While many of my goals from 2020 and 2021 remained in the back of my mind, I set only one goal for myself in 2022.
Read 22 books.
That’s it! I set out to get less than two books a month for a year and I knocked that goal out of the park.
I knew I was capable of reading two books a month based on my track record for previous years — 16/52 books in 2021, 15/12 books in 2020, 22/20 books in 2019, and 2/12 books in 2018. But like I said, it's been a crazy couple of years. I learned my lesson the hard way, by setting unrealistic goals for myself, not completing them all, and feeling disappointed when the end of the year came and I had hardly anything to show for it.
My average rating of the 35 books I read in 2022 was 3.5 stars on a 5-Star Rating scale.
2022 Reading Statistics
Number of books Read:35
Number of Re-Reads:0
Average Rating: 3.5 stars
I’ve listed all the books I read this year in the order I read them below. Each book was given a 1-5-star rating for each book based on how much I enjoyed the book overall, how well I liked the writing style, and how useful the information contained within its pages was for me.
Rating the books I read in 2022
Sweet Bitter by Stephanie Danler ⭐⭐⭐
Smithsonian Makers Workshop:Unique AmericanCrafting, Cooking, Gardening, and Decorating Projects by The Smithsonian Institution ⭐⭐
Loving Someone with PTSD: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Connecting with your Partner After Trauma by Aphrodite Matsakis ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Never Use Futura by Douglas Thomas and Ellen Lupton ⭐⭐⭐
The CBD Beauty Book: Make Your Own Natural Beauty Products With The Goodness Extracted From Hemp by CICO Books⭐⭐
Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge ⭐⭐⭐
Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce ⭐⭐
Oh Hell No!:And Other Ways To Set Some Damn Boundaries by Chronicle Books ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness by Zack McDermott ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wild Edible Plants of Oklahoma by Charles W. Kane ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood ⭐⭐⭐
Pride: Celebrating Diversity & Community by Robin Stevenson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear by Carl L. Hart ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The “I Love My Instant Pot” Free Holiday Menu by Michelle Fagone ⭐⭐
The Forager’s Feast: How to Identify and Prepare Wild Edibles by Leda Meredith ⭐⭐⭐
The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller and Ruth Ward ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Kid-Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook by Pamela J Compart and Dana GodBout Laake ⭐⭐⭐
Foraging Cookbook: 75 Recipes to Make the Most of Your Foraged Finds by Karen Stephenson⭐⭐
The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot by Kathy Hester ⭐⭐
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wingbound by Heather Trim ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Courage To Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga ⭐
Consumer Economics by Wendy Reiboldt ⭐⭐⭐
A Radical Guide for Women With ADHD: Embrace Neurodiversity, Live Boldly, and Break Through Barriers by Sari Solden, Michelle Frank, and Ellen Litman ⭐⭐
Mastering Your Adult ADHD: A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program Client Workbook by Steven Safren ⭐⭐⭐⭐
How to Write One Song: Loving the Things We Create and How They Love Us Back by Jeff Tweedy ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) by the American Psychiatric Association ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dracula by Brahm Stoker ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Learning About Dance: Dance As An Art Form And Entertainment by Nora Ambrosio ⭐⭐⭐
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wingless by Heather Trim ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Buzzed: The Straight Facts About The Most Used And Abused Drugs From Alcohol To Ecstasy by Cynthia M. Kuhn, Scott Swartzwelder, and Wilkie Wilson ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday ⭐⭐⭐
All the books I read in 2022
Looking at this list, it's easy to say my reading interests have been aaaaall over the place. From cookbooks, to the DSM-5, to various mental health books, to classics, to textbooks, to fiction and everything in between, my reading habits this year have certainly been interesting and diverse.
I’m proud of myself for reaching my reading goal and expanding my reading horizons too. I even managed to get a new bookshelf (2021 goal 😂). Well, actually, I just repurposed another shelf for use as a bookshelf, so I still need to get a new one, but I digress.
All this to say, yes, life has been crazy for the last few years —it’s been hectic, full of ups and downs, and many learning curves — but it does get easier. The tide always goes back out and the sun always comes up. And it is possible, through some discipline, to break out of a reading slump and reach your bookish goals.
What were your bookish goals for 2022? How many goals did you achieve? What goals have you set for 2023? If you want to read more on this topic, check out the related topics and past blog posts below!
Related Topics:
Similar Blog Posts From Previous Years:
15 Misconceptions About Freelancing
Hi readers and writerly friends!
Welcome back to the blog! This week, we’re talking about freelancing. There’s a lot of stigma surrounding freelancing and the instability of working for oneself. Many people who aren’t freelancers or entrepreneurs have misconceptions about freelancing and I’m here to debunk them!
Many of the misconceptions surrounding freelancing are based in ignorance and I can understand how people looking from the outside in may have these ideas about freelance work. While some of these may be true for a portion of the freelancer population, they’re certainly not true for the majority. Every freelancing business is unique and comes with its own set of challenges. What makes some of these misconceptions truths and some of them myths is how freelancers handle those challenges.
This is not a complete list, but some of these misconceptions and myths about freelancing include:
You own your own business
You don’t have a boss
You can work whenever, wherever, (and however) you want
You only have to work on projects you like
Freelance work is always exciting
Freelancers make more money for less work
Freelancers make less money
There’s no job security
As a freelancer, you don’t have employee benefits
Freelancing is more stressful than a full-time job
Freelancers should work for free
Freelancing isn’t 100% legit
Freelancing hurts real businesses
All freelancers want to get a “regular job”
Freelancers are socially awkward
You own your own business/ You don’t have a boss
While this is true for many freelancers, it’s not necessarily true for all of them. Many freelancers are employed by other entrepreneurs and still have to report to a boss.Even if you’re a freelancer, running your own small business from home, you still have to answer to clients and colleagues whom you work with. As a freelancer, your boss is the client.
You can work whenever, wherever, (and however) you want / you only have to work on projects you like/ freelance work is always exciting
Freelance workstation in a coffee shop. Photo by Toa Heftiba.
Many successful freelancers have the freedom to pick and choose to some degree, the projects they agree to work on. However, when work gets low, and clients are sparse, the pressure to agree to whatever work comes your way is higher than ever. As someone working for themselves, freelancers typically have to work harder to deliver a quality product. However, it is true, to some degree, that freelancers can work where they please. As long as they’re working for themselves or if they have a lenient boss, they can work from home, a library, a coffee shop, or from the park; they just need a place where they can focus on their work and avoid distractions.
Likewise, freelance work is not always enjoyable or exciting. Freelance work can be tedious and grueling some days and often consists of administrative work and accounting. As mentioned in the next misconceptions below, many freelancers who are just starting out often have to take what they can get, and this means they can’t afford to be picky about jobs. As a result, a lot of novice freelancers end up taking hard or boring jobs to make ends meet and build out their portfolio for hopefully better-paying, more interesting jobs in the future.
Freelancers make more money for less work/freelancers make less money
Many freelancers charge less than the larger companies they compete with to give themselves an edge. Many other freelancers charge within industry standard and offer sample services to demonstrate their skills and quality of work. Many other freelancers charge above industry standard because their skills and services are worth the expense and they have the credentials and testimonials to back it up. Freelance pay depends on your field and how in-demand your skills/services are. Starting out, you may have to build a reputation and possibly accept lower paying jobs to build a strong work history. Testimonials, reviews, and referrals are excellent ways to boost client confidence in your abilities.
There’s no job security
While freelance jobs are known for instability or unpredictability, the idea that there is no job security in freelance work, is just false. It depends on what you consider job security and what level of security you’re looking for.
It can be argued that standard day jobs don’t have job security, because if you’re an employee working for just one company or organization, you could be fired, losing your only source of income. However, if you’re freelancing, and you’ve got a few different clients, losing one at a time, would not cost you your only income. Replacing a single client can be much easier than finding another full-time job. It seems finding clients is somewhat less competitive than applying for a job to which many other people are also applying.
As a freelancer, you don’t have employee benefits
The more savvy freelancers just might surprise you with this one. A freelancer might not have a traditional 401K but that doesn’t mean they don’t have great health care and long-term savings. Many freelancers also have the privilege to take longer vacations and more often. They often have just as many or more sick days at their disposal than typical employees and they can pick and choose their insurance benefits from a wide array of companies, rather than having to enroll in just what their employer provides.
Freelancers clutching her head in stress. Photo by Elisa Ventur.
Freelancing is more stressful than a full-time job
For some freelancers this is true. As mentioned above, freelancers who are just starting out may have to settle for challenging or boring/tedious jobs in order to cover their bases. And many seasoned freelancers still struggle with stress due to other factors such as family and lack of time management. However, many freelancers have figured out how to manage time, stress, focus, finances, and work-life balance which translates into lower-stress positions with more pros than cons. I think this one specifically is influenced by 1) the field and demand of services/skills and 2) the freelancer’s approach to work.
Freelancers should work for free/freelancing isn’t 100% legit
Yeah, right! Try telling that to the IRS! Freelancers are considered independent contractors and they are generally required complete a 1099-MISC or similar form for taxes. And freelancers often work long hours and produce thoughtful, quality work as a result and should certainly be paid for their services. Freelancers not delivering on their end of the bargain should be confronted and asked to rectify this. One way to avoid this is to provide sample work, testimonials, referrals, and reviews to demonstrate skills and services.
Freelancing hurts real businesses
You might be surprised to hear that the opposite is true, actually. Often, small companies that cannot afford to hire full time employees may rely on contracted work to keep their business running. They may sometimes collaborate with other freelancers to meet their needs on a budget too. Freelancing does not hurt businesses; it stimulates the economy and allows more consumers to participate in the free market. Freelancers also give the market alternative options to large corporations with a large price tag.
All freelancers want to get a “regular job”
While many people do freelance work to supplement their income, there are also many freelancers whose first picks would be freelancing because of the benefits and freedom it provides. Freelancing is especially appealing to the millennial generation, who are less productivity-focused and more meaningful-work -focused, non-traditional families, and entrepreneurs.
Freelancers meeting at a coffee shop. Photo by Brooke Cagle.
Freelancers are socially awkward
Another common misconception about freelancers is that they are socially awkward, are hermits, antisocial, or loners. While many freelancers prefer solitary work (for many different reasons including creative control, time management, and freedom,) many work alone simply due to the nature of freelance work. Some freelancers collaborate with other freelancers which helps them network and build connections with others in their field and related fields. Others don’t mind working alone and find they are able to focus better when not working as part of a team.
Freelancing isn’t for everyone and it's certainly not always easy or high paying. Learning the ropes, practicing and honing skills, building a portfolio and client base, networking, and working from the ground up is arguably more challenging, more daunting, and more physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing than just showing up to a 9-5. However, freelance work can be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling and it gives entrepreneurs the ability to make an impact on the world, and to enjoy what they’re doing.
That’s it for my list of 15 Misconceptions About Freelancing! Have you heard these misconceptions? Do you think they’re true? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!
Bibliography:
Cagle, Brooke. “Freelancers meeting at a coffee shop.” Unsplash photo, November 26, 2018.
Harris, Mikey. “Working from home.” Unsplash photo, June 5, 2020. (Thumbnail photo).
Heftiba, Toa . “Working Space.” Unsplash photo, August 16, 2018.
Venture, Elisa. “A business woman who is stressed and frustrated,” Unsplash photo, May 17, 2021..
Related blog posts:
—Payton
20 Poetry Projects Writing Exercise by Jim Simmerman
Hi readers and writerly friends!
Welcome back to my blog! I’m glad you stopped by! This week, I’ll be showing you how to write a poem from a bunch of nonsensical lines. 20 Poetry Projects is a creative writing exercise by Jim Simmerman, taken from The Practice of Poetry, Robin Behn and Chase Twitchell.
In my sophomore creative writing and poetry class, we did this activity and I had a lot of fun with it, so I figured I’d share it with you! Later in this post, I will do a second attempt at this writing exercise with a step-by-step look at my process.
My favorite example of this was “A Thousand and One Nights” written by Margo Roby for the literary journal, Lunarosity. I had this information in my files from school, and couldn’t find the webpage where Margo Roby posted the poem she wrote from this exercise, step-by-step. I did find it on her website so I’ll link that in my bibliography, but if anyone can find the other webpage, please link it in the comments!
20 Poetry Projects by Jim Simmerman
1. Begin the poem with a metaphor.
2. Say something specific but utterly preposterous.
3. Use at least one image for each of the five senses, either in
succession or scattered randomly throughout the poem.
4. Use one example of synesthesia [mixing the senses].
5. Use the proper name of a person and the proper name of a place.
6. Contradict something you said earlier in the poem.
7. Change direction or digress from the last thing you said.
8. Use a word [slang?] you’ve never seen in a poem.
9. Use an example of false cause-effect logic.
10. Use a piece of talk you’ve heard [preferably in dialect and/or which you don’t understand].
11. Create a metaphor using the following construction: The [adjective] [concrete noun] of [abstract noun]…
12. Use an image in such a way as to reverse its usual associative qualities.
13. Make the character in the poem do something he/she could not do in real life.
14. Refer to yourself by nickname and in the third person.
15. Write in the future tense such that part of the poem sounds like a prediction.
16. Modify a noun with an unlikely adjective.
17. Make a declarative assertion that sounds convincing but that finally makes no sense.
18. Use a phrase from a language other than English.
19. Personify an object.
20. Close the poem with a vivid image that makes no statement, but that echoes an image from earlier in the poem. (Simmerman)
I will use these steps when my brain is not behaving, when I have an idea and don’t know where to go with it. There are steps I ignore, but not many. Below is the final draft as published in Lunarosity, a now defunct ezine. I was going nuts while typing the drafts from my old notes. I kept wanting to fix things and get rid of verbs of being. I also had to decipher the original below my first revisions.
I am a concrete person with my writing. When I first tried this, I was sitting on our bed, in Jakarta, because that was my work space. I was feeling downhearted with life — I wrote the first line. I had a small Persian carpet next to me I was staring at while trying to figure out how to do this prompt — I wrote the next line…
1. I am a prisoner without walls
2. among the flowers of my Persian carpet vines/weeds are beginning to sproutOnce I had a focus, a direction, I found the exercise much easier to carry out. I don’t think I can write this exercise without knowing where I am going. It would be interesting to try, though. Randomness has merit. (Roby)
Steps with my first draft
1. Begin the poem with a metaphor.
I am a prisoner without walls
2. Say something specific but utterly preposterous.
among the flowers of my Persian carpet vines/weeds are beginning to sprout
3. Use at least one image for each of the five senses, either in succession or scattered randomly throughout the poem.
They twine and curl reaching for me pulling me down into the fields of silk and wool; as I slide through warp and weft I hear the rustle of thread grasses. My nostrils fill with the pungency of sheep and goats and I taste the dryness of dust.
4. Use one example of synesthesia [mixing the senses].
The dampness of a blue silk river runs through my ears.
5. Use the proper name of a person and the proper name of a place.
Nearby, Omar Khayyam sits writing under a date palm, the white minarets of Nineveh on the horizon.
6. Contradict something you said earlier in the poem.
If a carpet can have a horizon.
7. Change direction or digress from the last thing you said.
The hunt was on; turbaned caliphs on Arabian steeds, bows and arrows slung across their backs, chased a leopard peering forever across his shoulder.
8. Use a word [slang?] you’ve never seen in a poem.
Tally ho and an arrow is loosed never hitting its mark,
9. Use an example of false cause-effect logic.
suspended eternally in mid-air by silken threads.
10. Use a piece of talk you’ve heard [preferably in dialect and/or which you don’t understand].
A thousand throats can be slit by one man running.
11. Create a metaphor using the following construction: The [adjective] [concrete noun] of [abstract noun]…
The towering trees of thought stand in an expectancy of silence
12. Use an image in such a way as to reverse its usual associative qualities.
and I stand in the trap free of danger
13. Make the character in the poem do something he/she could not do in real life.
my arms sliding around the leopard’s golden ruff;
14. Refer to yourself by nickname and in the third person.
Ducky would have run
15. Write in the future tense such that part of the poem sounds like a prediction.
to be hunted forever through threads of colour,
16. Modify a noun with an unlikely adjective.
chased by frozen horses
17. Make a declarative assertion that sounds convincing but that finally makes no sense.
trapped by a web of patterns
18. Use a phrase from a language other than English.
another playmate in the Bokharan fields.
19. Personify an object.
The arrows hum through the staring trees
20. Close the poem with a vivid image that makes no statement, but that echoes an image from earlier in the poem
and I am trapped in a web of patterns.
With a draft to go on, I stopped worrying about the steps. I listed nouns and verbs that fit with Persian carpets and Middle Eastern fairy tales, circled words I wanted to look up for other possible meanings, and started back through this draft, trimming, adding line breaks, making the story active rather than passive. I got rid of lines that I had in only because the exercise asked for them.
I will use these steps when my brain is not behaving, when I have an idea and don’t know where to go with it. There are steps I ignore, but not many. Below is the final draft as published in Lunarosity, a now defunct ezine. (Roby)
A Thousand and One Nights
Among the flowers of my Persian carpet
vines sprout curl twine me into fields of silk
and wool. Sliding through warp and weft,
I hear the rustle of thread grasses, and
my nostrils fill with the pungency of feral cats,
I taste the dryness of dust, and the dampness
of a blue silk river runs through my ears.
A blend and blur of color mark the horizon
spots of russet and black resolving into a hunt
undisturbed by my addition to the scene.
Arabian steeds damp dark with silken sweat,
silent as Attic shapes, prance and wheel
through date palms and trees of fiery-fruited
pomegranate. Turbaned caliphs, bows slung
across their backs, chase a leopard forever
peering over his shoulder. An arrow loosed never
hits its mark eternally suspended by woven
threads. Trees stand in an expectancy of silence
as I move within zig-zags of light and shadow.
My arms slide round the leopard’s golden
ruff and I am bound by threads of color
to be hunted forever through fields of silk and
wool, chased by frozen horses, another
player in the weaving fields of Bokhara. (Roby 2014)
My 20 Poetry Projects poem from 2017
In 2017, my creative writing class did this writing exercise and below is my poem that resulted from it. In the next example further on, I’ve done this exercise again (2022) and I show you my writing process line-by-line like Margo Roby did with hers. This poem was published in Rose State College’s annual literary journal, Pegasus, 2017. It was inspired by Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. If you’ve read it, let me know if you catch all the references! (I have no idea who Caroline Janeway is, by the way.)
Angel
You were an angelbut feathers fall like bowling balls
when the air is missing from the room,
from your lungs.
You gasped when I called you out, a
baffled sound, surprised more so, only by
the startling sensation of your wings being torn off.
Though, that warranted bloodcurdling screams,
and rightfully received them.
You had us all fooled with silken lies,
but Caroline Janeway saw you in the back of Al’s
Pool Hall in Roseville, Minnesota, back in 1994.
And last I checked, heaven wasn’t in the back of Al’s Pool Hall.
She said that you were glued to the lips of some chick in a miniskirt,
that you looked like you’d had one hell of a time.
That’s when I put it all together: you weren’t an angel, you never were.
You’ve always been good at bending the truth, though.
Here I was thinking that you’d fallen from heaven,
but really, I’d just fallen for you.
Solitary walks through silent city streets seem to clear the air for me.
You needed to become a part of my past, but how
do I fix the damage that’s been done?
You had a broken halo and I, a broken heart.
I never knew you could be so savage.
The glittering look of endearment in your eyes was
lust and nothing more. I saw so much more.
You, Cupid, loose an arrow; though it sticks I can
no more than despise you, now.
I pluck it from my side, warm, sticky blood
running down in streams.
Janie would have fainted at such a sight.
I’d stand frozen, watching it all unfold before me.
Your bloodied, pristine, feathers litter the ground.
There I stood, trapped by a web of lies.
Yet, la mia anima è libera, my soul is free.
I feel more weightless, now, than any feather ever could.
Though, I suspect that they feel freed from you as well.
You were never an angel but you fell from grace.
I hand you the arrow, dried blood covering the silver tip.
(Hayes 2017, 61)
Revisiting 20 Poetry Projects in 2022
Steps with my first draft
1. Begin the poem with a metaphor.
My father is a rock. He is strong, stable, and enduring.
2. Say something specific but utterly preposterous.
My family stands trapped, smiling behind the glass.
3. Use at least one image for each of the five senses, either in succession or scattered randomly throughout the poem.
The jagged shards are sharp, threatening to cut me and the irony is not lost on me. Holding up the frame to my nose, it smells of old and the figures behind the cracks are quiet and stock-still.
4. Use one example of synesthesia [mixing the senses].
I could almost taste the film of dust around its edges.
5. Use the proper name of a person and the proper name of a place.
The Payton of San Antonio is not the Payton of Oklahoma City, though she takes their riverwalks with her.
6. Contradict something you said earlier in the poem.
My father is crumbling.
7. Change direction or digress from the last thing you said.
My mother is fluid like a river. Fluid, taking up the shape of any container she occupies
8. Use a word [slang?] you’ve never seen in a poem.
Some would call her flexible, others call her flakey.
9. Use an example of false cause-effect logic.
I’ve made it this far without a mother, I must be fine without her.
10. Use a piece of talk you’ve heard [preferably in dialect and/or which you don’t understand].
She was just ‘round the corner. Just ‘round the corner.
11. Create a metaphor using the following construction: The [adjective] [concrete noun] of [abstract noun]…
The fathomless abyss of my childhood trauma gapes before me.
12. Use an image in such a way as to reverse its usual associative qualities.
I stand at the precipice, intrigued by its enormity and dreadfulness.
13. Make the character in the poem do something he/she could not do in real life.
I dive like a heron, fishing in its depths for the panacea that will restore my soul.
14. Refer to yourself by nickname and in the third person.
Peaches desires more —ambrosia.
15. Write in the future tense such that part of the poem sounds like a prediction.
And the soul food she will soon get, but it’s not what she expects.
16. Modify a noun with an unlikely adjective.
Her just desserts have the gall to be simultaneously acidic and sweet. The second time around, the tequila feels more like a prison than an escape.
17. Make a declarative assertion that sounds convincing but that finally makes no sense.
Atlas reborn, she carries a burden that is far too heavy for her to bear.
18. Use a phrase from a language other than English.
Mi familia es mi fuerza y mi debilidad -my family is my strength and my weakness.
19. Personify an object.
The bottle gazes up at her from the floor.
20. Close the poem with a vivid image that makes no statement, but that echoes an image from earlier in the poem.
Rough draft, assembled
My father is a rock. He is strong, stable, and enduring.
My family stands trapped, smiling behind the glass.
The jagged shards are sharp, threatening to cut me and the irony is not lost on me. Holding up the frame to my nose, it smells of old and the figures behind the cracks are quiet and stock-still.
I could almost taste the film of dust around its edges.
The Payton of San Antonio is not the Payton of Oklahoma City, though she takes their riverwalks with her.
My father is crumbling.
My mother is fluid like a river, taking up the shape of any container she occupies.
Some would call her flexible, others call her flakey.
I’ve made it this far without a mother, I must be fine without her.
She was just ‘round the corner. Just ‘round the corner.
The fathomless abyss of my childhood trauma gapes before me.
I stand at the precipice, intrigued by its enormity and dreadfulness.
I dive like a heron, fishing in its depths for the panacea that will restore my soul.
Peaches desires more —ambrosia.
And the soul food she will soon get, but it’s not what she expects.
Her just desserts have the gall to be simultaneously acidic and sweet. The second time around, the tequila feels more like a prison than an escape.
Atlas reborn, she carries a burden that is far too heavy for her to bear.
Her family watches her, sip after sip, frozen behind the glass.
Mi familia es mi fuerza y mi debilidad -my family is my strength and my weakness.
The bottle gazes up at her from the floor.
Final draft
Trypophobia (Working Title)
My father is my rock. He is strong, stable, and enduring —a stone statue against the dawn.
I stare at the relic of a bygone family — shattered, they stand trapped, smiling behind the glass.
The jagged shards are sharp, threatening to cut me open and the irony is palpable.
Holding up the frame to my nose, it smells of old and the figures peering through the cracks are motionless, silent.
I could almost taste the film of dust around its edges.
The Payton of San Antonio is not the Payton of Oklahoma City, though she takes their riverwalks with her.
And now, my father is crumbling.
My mother is fluid like a river, taking up the shape of any container she occupies.
Some would call her flexible.
Others call her flakey.
I’ve made it this far without a mother, I must be fine without her.
She was always just ‘round the corner. Just ‘round the corner.
The fathomless abyss of my childhood trauma gapes before me.
I stand at the precipice, intrigued by its enormity and dreadfulness.
The liquid gold calls out to me, inviting me in with a false sense of courage.
I dive like a heron, fishing in its depths for the panacea that will restore my soul.
Peaches desires more —ambrosia even.
And the soul food she will soon get, but it’s not what she expects.
Her just desserts have the gall to be simultaneously acidic and sweet.
The second time around, the tequila feels more like a prison than an escape.
Atlas reborn, she carries a burden that is far too heavy for her to bear.
Her family watches her, sip after sip, frozen behind the glass.
She is swallowed up by the pit.
Mi familia es mi fuerza y mi debilidad —my family is my strength and my weakness.
The bottle gazes up at her from the floor.
As you can see from all the examples above, Jim Simmerman’s 20 Poetry Projects Writing Exercise provides an excellent framework for writing poetry. When you follow this process step-by-step, you end up with at least twenty lines to work from.
You may not necessarily keep them all or keep them in order. But surprisingly, this structured writing exercise allows creativity to flow freely. Once you have the rough draft, you can rearrange lines and edit the poem to your liking.
I always enjoy working with this exercise and I’m proud of both poems I’ve written using it.If you try this exercise, please let me know what you think of it in the comments! Thanks for reading this post and if you want to be notified when new blog posts come out, subscribe to my newsletter!
If anyone can find the webpage with Margo Roby’s post with her process on the exercise and poem, A Thousand and One Nights in Lunarosity, or information on the 2004 edition of Lunarosity, please let me know!
Bibliography:
Hayes, Payton. “Angel” Pegasus. Midwest City: Rose State College, 2017. (61)
Krukov, Yan . "A Man in Long Sleeves Writing on a Notebook while Sitting on a Chair." Pexels photo, Feburary 13, 2021. (Thumbnail photo).
Roby, Margo. “A Thousand And One Nights” Lunarosity, 2004.
Roby, Margo. “A Thousand And One Nights” Margo: Roby: Wordgathering. (Blog).
Related topics:
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—Payton
Screenwriting for Novelists - How Different Mediums Can Improve Your Writing
Screenwriter writing at a desk in a library. Photo by Ron Lach.
Hi readers and writerly friends!
Welcome back to the blog! If you’re new here, thanks for stopping by!
This blog post features the benefits of screenwriting and how it can broaden your horizons as a novel writer, resources for screenwriting, and a screenwriting format sample page. All references are located at the end of the post.
Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. However, novelists can benefit from practicing screenwriting as well. One way to keep the writing process interesting, exciting, and motivating is to change the format of your writing from time to time or project to project. If you’ve been writing novels for the last few years, consider trying your hand at poetry, screenwriting, or nonfiction and vice versa. Rotating formats and writing styles can help keep the writing process refreshing and can strengthen your skills as a writer.
“Novels, Screenplays, and The Writers Who Do Both” by Annie Ward
In her article, on Crimereads.com, “Novels, Screenplays, and The Writers Who Do Both,” Annie Ward explained how Screenwriting and Novel writing can come together to make you a better writer. She started out writing screenplays but novel writing changed her perspective on writing in general:
“I discovered that by combining what I’d learned from the craft of traditional screenwriting with the freedom of fiction, I was writing more descriptively with an emphasis on thoughts and feelings, and yet managing to remain structured and succinct. My screenwriting training had forced me to learn to reveal story through dialogue and action. It had reigned in my life-long tendency to digress. I could hear my instructor’s voice whispering in my ear, “Get to the point. Show don’t tell. Where is the conflict? Keep it moving.” (Ward 2022)
Although Ward says the reverse, the structures within different types of writing and mediums force writers to explore different avenues of creativity. Sometimes having confines such as a limited word/page count or having to work within certain themes can actually free the writer from their own mind and give them a starting point to work with. I found it challenging but invigorating to write sonnets because the structure of the sonnet itself gave me a framework around which to weave my creative vision.
“4 Differences Between Writing a Screenplay and Writing a Novel” by Dan Brown
In his article, “4 Differences Between Writing a Screenplay and Writing a Novel,” Masterclass Instructor Dan Brown explained that the 4 key distinctions between screenwriting and novel writing are format, dialogue, length, and pacing. In regard to format, he said screenplays are structured using the three-act structure, with direct, concise paragraphs and adhere to the beat sheet in Blake Snyder’s book Save the Cat.
“There are more rules for the industry standard screenplay format than there are for novels. Script format dictates that the page should be full of white space, with each new scene clearly introduced with a scene heading. Screenwriting software is essential for both aspiring screenwriters and professional screenwriters and will help you quickly format your first draft” (Brown 2021).
With regard to dialogue, Brown said:
“Novels typically rely heavily on an omniscient narrator or on the inner thoughts of a main character. Script writing involves a heavier reliance on spoken dialogue….In a movie script, dialogue appears under a character’s name, sometimes preceded by a parenthetical describing the character’s feelings or gestures. In a novel, the speaker is often implied through context” (Brown 2021).
Regarding length, Brown said that novels are typically hundreds of pages longer, and this is true. Novels have many pages and passages for description and scene-building.
“Screenplay page count will vary depending on if you’re writing a short film, TV-show, or feature, but spec[ulative] scripts are typically around 90 pages long—approximately one page per minute of screen time” (Brown 2021).
In regard to pacing, Brown said:
“The pacing in both films and novels can vary wildly—a thriller, for example, will generally be more quickly paced than a character study. Compared to novels, screenplays for major Hollywood films will be faster-paced with more action lines, engaging the audience from fade in to fade out…” (Brown 2021).
Naturally, different mediums have different structures and formatting which will inherently change the way it is written, the story length, and creative freedoms the storyteller can take. It can be argued that novelists can “waste more time” on details and screenwriters cannot. If you find that your writing style is more suited towards short descriptions, and action, try scriptwriting. If you find that a script cannot contain all of your creativity and you need more space for descriptions and scene development, consider novel writing instead. It can be beneficial to try both. Writers can use the same story for both as an experiment to see how the two writing forms differ and how they overlap.
Go to the movies
Look at a variety of movies from various genres and with different formats to see different methods of storytelling via screenwriting. The new Dahmer series on Netflix, although opinions are mixed, is an example of non-linear storytelling with film. The Lord of The Rings films are examples of the classic hero’s journey tale and trope often seen in fantasy.
Screenwriter writing at a desk. Photo by Ron Lach.
Read, Watch, Write
Compare how film adaptations change stories and how moving from one medium can influence the telling of the story. Reading books, watching their film adaptations, and comparing and contrasting them can serve as a useful skill for writers who want to take a different approach.
For example, the post-apocalyptic novel Bird Box written by Josh Malerman, demonstrates how the mode of storytelling has changed and with it, the story as well. On the 39th the episode of the No Thanks, We’re Booked Podcast, the hosts Katie and Mollie, and guest Riley Sager discussed how the book was scarier than the film adaptation; that’s because the book forces the reader to imagine the horrors the characters see rather than providing definitive descriptions. The film displays the characters seeing these horrors without showing the audience what they look like. “… [Josh Malerman] takes away…the description…because the characters can’t see, you can’t see as a reader so, it’s left to… your imagination more so than usual when reading…” (Sager 2019). There’s something about invisible monsters that is just terrifying and the fact that the reader can imagine them to be as horrific as they want, is even more effective than the film.
For your next writing project, find a story that’s been adapted for the screen and fits your genre —then read the book, watch the film, and write from what you’ve learned about the two different mediums of storytelling. Consider the amount of time spent in pages compared to minutes on-screen and observe how that influences your pacing.
Watch Interviews With Screenwriters Discussing Their Craft
There are many screenwriters and actors who often direct as well and their advice and discussion of their own work can be useful for your own screenplays and other types of writing. They often offer inside looks at their process, how they direct actors for effective storytelling rather than just acting, and how they convert two-dimensional books and scripts into visually compelling three-dimensional films.
Interviews from Christopher McQuarrie, Aaron Sorkin, and other big name directors such as Peter Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielburg, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, and Alfred Hitchcock can be especially useful and insightful for writers of all genres.
Videos from the YouTube channel, Lessons from the Screenplay. Screenshot by Payton Hayes.
Lessons from the Screenplay
This is an excellent YouTube channel that produces video essays on storytelling through the medium of film and television. The host, Micheal, deep dives into the various aspects of storytelling and provides clear, concrete examples. He analyzes films and TV shows and weaves in relevant, important key information from craft books such as John Truby’s Anatomy of Story to link it to the film and back up his claims.
The Q&A Podcast with Jeff Goldsmith
Backstory Magazine publisher and host, Jeff Goldsmith interviews writers, directors, and actors about their latest films. These podcasts are interesting and insightful and can provide screenwriters with tons of helpful, actionable, information on storytelling.
The Good Place Podcast
Holy motherforking shirtballs! With a podcast episode for every actual show episode, the Good Place Podcast is a great look into the writing, directing, acting, and filmmaking of the hit NBC series, The Good Place. The podcast features weekly behind-the-scenes stories, episode and performance insights, and funny anecdotes. Hosted by actor Marc Evan Jackson (Shawn) with a rotating slate of co-hosts and special guests, including actors, writers, producers, and more, this podcast takes a deep dive into everything on- and off- screen. The episodes featuring Michael Schur are especially useful as a writer.
Scripts.com
Scripts.com is one of the largest collections of movie scripts, screenplays and transcripts which is run by a community of amateur and professional writers. This is an excellent place for screenwriters, playwrights, and novelists alike to practice their craft, post their pieces online, and get feedback on their work. You can also use their free scriptwriting tool, but be sure to double-check all of your formatting to ensure there are no errors.
Studio Binder
Although they’re advertising their service, Studio Binder has a comprehensive guide to writing and formatting scripts.
The basics of script formatting are as follows:
12-point Courier font size
1.5 inch margin on the left of the page
1 inch margin on the right of the page
1 inch on the of the top and bottom of the page
Each page should have approximately 55 lines
The dialogue block starts 2.5 inches from the left side of the page
Character names must have uppercase letters and be positioned starting 3.7 inches from the left side of the page
Page numbers are positioned in the top right corner with a 0.5 inch margin from the top of the page. The first page shall not be numbered, and each number is followed by a period (Studio Binder 2019).
That’s it for my blog post about screenwriting for novelists. Do you write screenplays? Do you write novels? Have you done both? Which do you prefer? Please let me know your thoughts in the comment below!
Bibliography:
Lach, Ron. “Writing Notes on a Document.” Pexels photo, May 27, 2021 (Thumbnail).
Lach, Ron. “Woman Working of Her Work Desk with Books on Top.” Pexels photo, May 4, 2021.
Snyder, Blake. Save The Cat. California: Michael Wiese Productions, May 25, 2005. Amazon.
Ward, Annie. “Novels, Screenplays, and The Writers Who Do Both.” Crimereads article, March 24, 2022.
Further reading:
Goldsmith, Jeff. The Q&A Podcast with Jeff Goldsmith, accessed November 14, 2022.
Jackson, Marc Evan. The Good Place Podcast, accessed November 14, 2022.
Michael “Lessons From The Screenplay“ YouTube Channel, Accessed November 14, 2022.
STANDS4 Network “About.” Scripts.com, accessed November 14, 2022.
Recent blog posts:
—Payton
Experimentation Is Critical For Creators’ Growth —In Both Art and Writing
Hi readers and writerly friends!
Experimenting as an artist, creator, or writer, is a crucial step in your creative career. It’s important to practice experimentation, early on and regularly throughout your life as an artist to keep your work fresh, innovative, unique, and interesting both for you to create and for viewers to observe. Aspiring or amateur artists should not commit to any one specific style until they’ve had time to experiment with different styles, themes, and mediums. And once they’ve landed on a signature style they enjoy, it is wise to continue experimenting from time to time.
An experiment is a scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact. In science, this is true, but it is also the case for art and for writing. When creating art, there are many aspects of the artistic process that can be changed or played with to provide different results.
Vandy, in his article “Should Artists Experiment?” said “In the world of art, often when we say experiment we think of a psychological process of working out what we like and don’t like about the act of making art and the final result” (Massey 2020).
For example, in resin art, the artist can use alcohol ink, watercolor, acrylic, pigment, glitter, guash, sharpies, beads, charms, cabochons, or just about any material between each layer of resin or submerged inside the resin. This example alone shows how much creative freedom we have with just one medium. Consider how you can experiment with different tools as a painter or sculpture. In what ways can you experiment with different colors, saturations, inversions, scales, and shading? How can an artist experiment with the same picture or subject across multiple mediums? How will an artist’s concept change from pen and paper to digital drawing on a tablet? The possibilities are truly endless and every artist’s experiments will naturally be unique.
I’ve been making art since 2010 and writing since well before then, and I still experiment with my work. Although I now have a style I tend to stick with, that wasn’t always the case, and for most of my artistic practice, my works looked as if each one came from a different artist —you’d never know my hands had created them just by looking at them.
Experimentation helps encourage creativity, freedom to try new things, and broadens your perspective as an artist and creator.
In her article, “Why Artists Must Experiment,” Kathleen Kralowec said “Recognizing an act as an experiment releases it from a lot of seriousness, a lot of demands of perfection. The outcome of experimentation is knowledge, and failure is just as valuable as success, because one has expanded one’s awareness of one’s own abilities, one’s deeper ideas, the potential of a media, a process, a genre, an art-form” (Kralowec 2019).
Art studio filled with canvases and murals done in many different styles. Photo by Matthieu Camoy.
Experimenting with Style
Before committing to a signature style or aesthetic, experiment with a wide array of different styles. Try experimenting with patterns, colors, shapes, themes, mediums and styles. No two artists' works are the same and even derivative works can be unique in their own way. Do style studies to practice working with styles that you admire or are out of your comfort zone. For example, try drawing the same sketch ten times, but base it off of someone else’s style to familiarize yourself with different styles and techniques.
Below are a few examples of the Style Challenge artists have been partaking in across social media. The challenge is for an artist to draw something in their own style and then replicate it several more times in other popular animated art styles such as anime, Disney, cartoons, and comic books styles.
Never settle on a specific style; instead continue to always experiment, innovate, and evolve your art, whilst retaining an underlying current of your own style.
ART STYLE CHALLENGE
“draw different styles” by p0kky.
“Style Challenge” by emzdrawings.
“Hijabi” by XenoPurple_Art
“Art Style Challenge” by erinleedani.
Experimenting with Themes
Art studio filled with colorful canvases depicting different styles and themes. Photo by Dom J.
Consider using different themes and subject matter in your work. If you typically write about nonfiction topics, consider writing a short story or poetry. If you usually paint realistic animals, try painting people or still-life paintings instead. If you usually draw geometric forms in your work, try experimenting with realism or surrealism instead. If you typically write comedy, consider painting something with a more political message behind it. If you typically draw geometric or abstract sketches, try drawing something inspired by another work you like such as a Swan Lake ballet performance or a video game character. Experiment with various themes and messages and see how art with similar concepts is translated across different mediums.
Experimenting with Techniques
A myriad of techniques can be used across many different art styles and mediums. Creatively mixing and matching techniques with different styles, mediums, and themes, can result in interesting, unique, and engaging art. It also strengthens your skills and creativity as an artist —having to try new things, troubleshoot, and make creative decisions to reach your desired outcome.
In her blog post, Rebecca of the Rebecca Art Tutor blog explains how she instructed students on a variety of techniques and required they use them to illustrate a textured object in a new and interesting way, leaving the creative decisions up to the students. She said, “We had learnt layering paint, dry-brush, different types of brush strokes, scratching into, lifting off, splatter, dots, impasto and more. We then did an exercise where we had to select a textured object (wood, fur, feathers etc.) and represent it with a painting technique….Although still slightly confused by the idea that …[the student] had the answer to ‘how to do fur’... [and] started representing fur with the fan brush in a very effective way…. I had taught the general techniques but allowed the learner to make the connection of how these techniques could be used.” (Rebecca 2022)
This is a fantastic example of how experimentation can result in effective use of techniques to produce interesting and unique outcomes.
Experimenting with Size
If you’re an artist who typically paints large-scale works such as signs, murals, and backdrops, consider downsizing to practice your hand at details. Both large and small scale art has it’s upsides; small scale art focuses more on details and large scale art focuses more on the big picture. Experiment with size and shape in your work and you’ll find you prefer one over the other and its freeing to focus on other aspects of an art piece from time to time.
Artist looking through her canvases depicting many different themes, styles, and subjects. Photo is a still from a video by Antoni Shkraba.
Experimenting with Mediums
If you’re a sketch artist, try working with watercolor, ink pens, markers, colored pencils, or crayons. If you’re a sculptor, try creating sculptures from mixed media such as plastic, wood, metal, paper, paper mache, yarn, or stone. If you’re a novel writer, try experimenting with poetry, nonfiction, or screenwriting. If you’re a digital artist, try your hand at video editing or animation. The examples are endless, but the advice is the same: experiment across different mediums to see what you enjoy using and to strengthen your skills as an artist.
Kralowec said that by experimenting, we can learn what kind of space we work best in, learn what kind of daily practice, pace, or goal-structure we thrive in, learn about the rules and how to effectively break them, and we can stumble on new genres, approaches or styles: the creation of something truly new.
In my sophomore year of college, I did an art capstone class, where the final project was to produce a large fine art piece that could be sold in a gallery. One crucial step of this project process was to produce a test piece prior to working with our fine art materials and larger-scale canvases. The pieces I submitted for the final grade were 2ft (L) x 2ft (W) (test piece) and 3 x 2ft (L) x 4ft (W) (final project triptych). I was working with ink and wood and it was essential that I do a test piece to ensure my materials worked well together. After all, the test piece came out better than the actual final project, in my personal opinion. But I learned a valuable lesson in art through that project; art has a mind of its own and all the planning in the world can still result in the unexpected. Experimentation frees us from the turmoil we feel when our creative visions do not turn out quite like we’d planned.
Experimentation and innovation in art is an important skill to build for any creator. Artists should not box themselves into any one style or medium and instead look for new ways to breathe life and intrigue into their work. They will become a stronger, more diverse, artist for it. Writers should do the same. Writers should challenge themselves by working across different storytelling mediums, genres, and styles whilst retaining their own unique voice between the lines.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about experimentation in art. This advice can be applied to any creative skill and is encouraged for artists of all genres, mediums, and walks of life. If you already do experiment in your work, let me know in the comments below!
Bibliography:
Comoy, Matthieu. “Art studio with wall graffiti.” Unsplash photo, July 26, 2017.
Dom J “Horse and figure paintings.” Pexels photo, October 5, 2017.
bodobe “Paint supplies” Pixabay photo, September 2, 2015 (Thumbnail).
emzdrawings. “Style Challenge.” Deviantart post, Jul 24, 2019.
erinleedani. “Art Style Challenge.” Instagram post, accessed November 7, 2022.
Kralowec, Kathleen. “Why Artists Must Experiment” Medium article, June 12, 2019.
Massey, Vandy. “Should Artists Experiment?” Vandy Massey Studio blog post, August 5, 2020.
Mcseal. “Style Challenge.” Medibang.com, ArtStreet post, 2019.
p0kky. “draw different styles.” Deviantart post, June 21, 2019.
Shkraba, Antoni. “Woman looking at paintings. “Pexels photo, June 2, 2020.
Yulaukira. “Art Style Challenge.” Medibang.com, ArtStreet post, 2021.
—Payton
Writing Exercises from Jeff Tweedy's Book, How To Write One Song
Hi readers and writerly friends!
Welcome back to the blog and if you’re new, thanks for stopping by!
Today, I’ll be showing you how to write a poem or song from a bunch of common words. By unlocking our subconscious and letting go of predictability and perfection, we can create unique and interesting lyrics.
“Why words? Because I believe all words have their own music and along with that music, I believe words contain worlds of words and meanings that are more often than not, locked beneath the surface.Poetry is what happens when words are opened up and those worlds within are made visible, and the music behind the words is heard.” (Tweedy 2020, 65)
I first heard this concept from Logan from vib3.machine on TikTok who explained using Jeff Tweedy’s ladder method from his book How To Write One Song. It’s called the Ladder Method because of the way you write out the words and link them together on paper.
Keep the words simple
I’m not talking about expanding your vocabulary. I mean, that’s always a nice thing to do in the name of self-improvement, but fancy, multisyllabic words aren’t going to make a lyric better.They’re very often the thing that breaks the spell being cast by the melody being cast when I listen to music….In fact, I would say that most of my favorite songwriters consciously stick to common, simple, and precise language, but they don’t use it in a common and simple way within a song or melody. (Tweedy 2020, 68-9)
He gives John Prime as an example of someone who uses concise, simple, language effectively, that he “didn’t use a log of big words or flowery language and when he did, he always stayed true to the song and what needed to be said over any desire to make himself sound smart or poetic.” (Tweedy 2020, 69)
Word Ladder - Verbs and Nouns
The 6 Steps For Songwriting Using The Word Ladder
Step 1: Come up with a label or word for a specific job
Step 2: List out 10 Verbs to describe the label or job
Step 3: List out 10 nouns you currently see in the space around you
Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected
Step 5: Write a poem with these connections
Step 6: Rearrange and edit the lines to your liking
Jeff Tweedy’s Word Ladder
Step 1: Come up with a label or word for a specific job.
Tweedy picked “physician” for his example. He listed out ten verbs to describe a physician and then listed out ten nouns from objects within his line of vision.
Step 2: List out 10 Verbs to describe the label or job
Examine
Thump
Prescribe
Listen
Write
Scan
Touch
Wait
Charge
Heal
Step 3: List out 10 nouns you currently see in the space around you
Cushion
Guitar
Wall
Turntable
Sunlight
Window
Carpet
Drum
Microphone
Lightbulb
Jeff Tweedy’s word ladder. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected.
Examine→ Lightbulb
Thump→ Microphone
Prescribe→ Cushion
Listen→ Window
Write→ Sunlight
Scan→ Carpet
Touch→ Turntable
Wait→ Drum
Charge→ Wall
Heal→ Guitar
Step 5: Write a poem with these connections.
“Now take a pencil and draw lines to connect nouns and verbs that don’t normally work together. I like to use this exercise, not so much to generate a set of lyrics but to remind myself of how much fun I can have with words when I’m not concerning myself with meaning or judging my poetic abilities.” (Tweedy 2020, 73)
Jeff Tweedy’s first draft:
the drum is waiting
by the window listening
where the sunlight writes
on the cushions
prescribed
thump the microphone
the guitar is healing
how the turntable is touched
charging in the wall
while one lightbulb examines
and scans the carpet (Tweedy 2020, 73-4)
I find it almost always works when I’m finding a need to break out of my normal, well-worn paths of language. (Tweedy 2020, 74)
Below is Tweedy’s revision of the poem. He says, you don’t have to use every one of the verbs and nouns or put any restrictions on your writing at this point. The goal of this exercise is to warm up your creative muscles.
Tweedy’s revised poem:
The drum is waiting by the windowsill
Where the sunlight writes its will on the rug
My guitar is healed by the amp charging the wall
And that's not all, I’m always in love (Tweedy 2020, 74)
“That’s still a little awkward, but it's enough to jumpstart my brain to where words and language have my full attention again.” (Tweedy 2020, 75)
Logan’s (Vib3.machine) use of the Word Ladder
Step 1: Come up with a label or word for a specific job.
The word Logan picked for his example was “astronaut.” He listed out ten verbs to describe an astronaut and then ten nouns from objects in his room.
Step 2: List out 10 Verbs to describe the label or job.
Explore
Discover
Float
Wait
Voyage
Travel
Learn
Fly
Land
Journey
Step 3: List out 10 nouns you currently see in the space around you.
Basket
Letters
Books
Art
Kitchen
Camera
Floor
Watch
Fan
Bike
Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected. In his captions, Logan said, “Having your subconscious constantly finding creative unique phrases while you aren’t actively TRYING is super powerful. It’s a habit [I’]m [trying] to develop.” (00:45-1:00)
Logan’s word ladder. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Logan connected his verbs and nouns like this:
Explore → Basket
Discover→ Kitchen
Float→ Floor
Wait→ Fan
Voyage→ Books
Travel→ Letters
Learn→ Bike
Fly→ Watch
Land→ Art
Journey→ Camera
Step 5: Write a poem with these connections. Don’t worry if it still doesn’t make sense. Right now, we’re just writing; we’ll edit it soon!
Logan says in regard to lyric writing, to make it as conversational as possible because it’s more relatable. (Logan 2022, 1:30-1:45)
Here was the poem he came up with from those connections:
I explored your basket
And discovered us in the kitchen
We floated on the floor
And waited next to the fan
You voyaged through this book
And traveled every letter
So I can learn to bike
And fly through this watch
You landed in my art
And the camera we journeyed (Logan 2022, 2:36-2:50)
He said, “I know this sounds like nonsense, but we just wrote something without thinking about it.” (Logan 2022, 2:30-2:35)
Step 6: Rearrange and edit the lines to your liking. For full-length songs and longer poems, continue the process with each stanza. Consider sticking with a common theme, for your first 10 words each time you start the process within one poem or song, but change the words you use for this process with each stanza. Try to avoid unintentional repetition. For poems, see if you can create a rhyme scheme with the words and themes present and make use of the elements of poetry.
I wrote a poem using the Word Ladder
I was substituting for a high school drama teacher when I tried this exercise so, you might notice a theme.
Step 1: Come up with a label or word for a specific job
I picked “Actress”
Step 2: List out 10 Verbs to describe the label or job
Perform
Practice
Dance
Project
Articulate
Memorize
Act
Pantomime
Smile
Transform
Step 3: List out 10 nouns you currently see in the space around you
Podium
Mirror
Pen
Curtain
Piano
Spotlights
Screen
Tape
Carpet
Garbage
My word ladder. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected
Perform→ Spotlights
Practice→ Tape
Dance→ Carpet
Project→ Podium
Articulate→ Piano
Memorize→ Spotlights
Act→ Garbage
Pantomime→ Mirror
Smile→ Curtain
Transform→ Screen
Step 5: Write a poem with these connections
The performance begins with the spotlights
The practice tape is peeling up as I
Dance across the carpet
My teacher projects from the podium and
The piano’s keys articulate a melody
I’ve memorized my position beneath the spotlights
Inside, I hope my acting isn’t total garbage
My classmate pantomimes in the mirror
I plaster on a smile as the curtain opens
We transform from stage to screen
Step 6: Rearrange and edit the lines to your liking
The performance begins with the spotlights
The practice tape is peeling up from the stage
Dancing on the painted wood is nothing like the carpet in our classroom.
For a breath, I think back to rehearsal —the director projecting ques from the podium
The pianos keys articulate the melody of the opening coda
I’ve memorized my lines a million times beneath these spotlights
And still, I hope that my acting isn’t total garbage
The other actors pantomime one another like reflections in mirrors
I plaster on a smile as the curtain opens
We transform from students on a stage to actors on a screen
Here is my final poem:
ACTRESS
The performance begins with the spotlights
The practice tape is peeling up from the stage
Dancing on the painted wood is nothing like the carpet in our classroom.
For a breath, I think back to rehearsal —the director projecting cues from the podium
The pianos keys articulate the melody of the opening coda
I’ve memorized my lines a million times beneath these spotlights
And still, I hope that my acting isn’t total garbage
The other actors pantomime one another like reflections in mirrors
I plaster on a smile as the curtain opens
We transform from drama students in a classroom to actors on a stage
As you can see this process is easy, effective, and creatively freeing. It takes the pressure of your shoulders to create something perfect, especially with the first draft. Having this skill is a great resource for writers both new and seasoned because it gets the words out of our heads and onto the paper and it gives us something to work with. You can edit a bad page but you can’t edit a blank page.
Exercise 4: Word ladder variation using adjectives
“Don’t let adjectives make you think you’re being poetic. An “impatient red fiery orb loomed in the whiskey-blurred, cottony-blue sky is rarely going to hit me anywhere near as hard as “I was drunk in the day.”...Of course, it’s strange how adding words to paint a clearer, more specific image often muddies the image you’re trying to expose. The problem is when they are used to spice up a vague verb or noun instead of replacing that with precise language….”I was extremely frightened by the very large man behind the counter” versus “I was petrified by the colossus working the register.”” (Tweedy 2020, 86)
Step 1: Come up with a location
Step 2: List out 10 adjectives to describe that location
Step 3: List out 10 nouns in your line of vision or that pop into your head (and aren’t related to the location you picked)
Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected
Step 5: Write a poem with these connections
Step 6: Rearrange and edit the lines to your liking
Step 1: Come up with a location
Tweedy selected “outer space” for his location.
Step 2: List out 10 adjectives to describe that location
Circular
Distant
Ancient
Haloed
Cold
Vast
Bright
Frozen
Silent
Infinite
Step 3: List out 10 nouns in your line of vision or that pop into your head (and aren’t related to the location you picked)
Ladder
Kiss
Daughter
Hand
Pool
Summer
Lawn
Friend
Blaze
Window
Jeff Tweedy’s word ladder variation. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Step 4: Connect the two sets of words in a way is unexpected
Circular→ Summer
Distant→ Hand
Ancient→ Blaze
Haloed→ Daughter
Cold→ Kiss
Vast→ Pool
Bright→ Window
Frozen→ Ladder
Silent→ Lawn
Infinite→ Friend
Step 5: Write a poem with these connections
Tweedy’s poem came out as:
there is a distant hand
on a frozen ladder
climbing through
a bright window
a vast pool waiting
beside a silent lawn
where a daughter haloed
lives a circular summer
one cold kiss
from an infinite friend
away from an ancient blaze (Tweedy 2020, 87)
“It’s not a perfect poem, but it took me only about fifteen minutes to complete, and I really do enjoy some of the imagery that emerged. I actually found a few bits of language that I’ve been looking for to complete a song I’ve been working on.” (Tweedy 2020, 87)
Exercise 2: Steal words from a book writing exercise
This is the second writing exercise in Tweedy’s book. It’s a bit more free-form than the first exercise and can be helpful for getting you used to working with lyric fragments. (Tweedy 2020, 77)
Step 1: If you have a melody, keep it at the forefront of your mind as you read
Step 2: Skim over a page and see what words jump out at you
Step 3: Highlight the words that strike you
Step 4: Keep going until you have a collection of words that sound right with your melody
Step 5: Use an anchor word if one strikes you and pair other melodic words you find with it
Tweedy explains that this process helps put his ego securely in the backseat and forces him to surrender to a process that puts language/words in front of his creative path and he feels free to find them as though they’ve come from somewhere else. He feels more free to react with surprise and passion or cold indifference than he is able to when his intellect begins treating his lyrical ideas like precious jewels. (Tweedy 2020, 78)
He recommends using anchor words if any jump out at you and to find words that go well together sonically. He uses “catastrophe” as an anchor word and uses it to create the following lines:
wouldn’t you call it a catastrophe
when you realize you’d rather be
anywhere but where you are
and far from the one you want to see?” (Tweedy 2020, 79)
Tweedy advises “overdoing it” in terms of coming up with lyrics you like. “Coming up with more than you need is almost never going to make a song worse. Sometimes every good line doesn’t make it into the song you’re working on. But that doesn’t mean you have to throw those lines away. I go back and look at the pages of lyrics I’ve written with this process…and find things I love, even ones I never used, frequently. It helps for there to be some length of time between when they were written and revisited, especially for it to be long enough for the initial melody to have faded. At this point you’re not committing yourself to anything. You’re just creating building blocks. (Tweedy 2020, 79-80)
Exercise 3: Cut-up techniques
“Grab something you’ve been working on and write it all down on a legal pad. Or if you have access to a printer, print it out double-spaced… The easiest cutting strategy is line by line, but word by word or phrase by phrase can provide equally interesting results. Once you’ve cut up your text, you can either put the strips in a hat or turn them over and pull each line/word/phrase randomly. Then scan your chosen poem construction for unexpected surprises.” (Tweedy 2020, 81)
Tweedy says he almost always finds “at least one newly formed phrase or word relationship” that “moves” him or makes him “smile.” (Tweedy 2020, 81)
“Another way to use your cut-up strips is to forget about trying to make random associations and just use them as moveable modules of language. It’s always fascinating to me how much more alive lines I’ve written become when I’m able to have a simple tactile experience reorganizing the order and syntax of the lines and phrases.” (Tweedy 2020, 81-2)
Tweedy provides a comparison of the initial order and finalized order of a set of lyrics from his song, “An Empty Corner”
Version 1:
In an empty corner of a dream
My sleep could not complete
Left on a copy machine
Eight tiny lines of cocaine (Tweedy 2020, 82)
Version 2:
Eight tiny lines of cocaine
Left on a copy machine
In an empty corner of a dream
My sleep could not complete (Tweedy 2020, 83)
“[The second] version is so much more powerful and better overall that I can’t believe I ever tried to sing these lyrics in any other order…Take the time to play with your words. Allow yourself the joy of getting to know them without being precious about directing everything they are trying to say.” (Tweedy 2020, 83)
Exercise 5: Have a conversation
In Chapter 12 of Tweedy’s book, he advises trying another liberating writing exercise. He says to record yourself and someone else having a conversation to see what lyrics can emerge from common conversational language. He shows two examples of this exercise in action and it’s actually brilliant. For the sake of brevity, I’m only including the steps for this exercise but I highly recommend you try it.
Step 1: Record a conversation or rewrite it as accurately to life as possible
Step 2: Take the important and surprising snippets from the conversation
Step 3: Arrange those snippets to amplify or give them new meaning
Step 4: Read it aloud
Step 5: Rearrange and edit as necessary
Other poem and song writing exercises in the book
Some other exercises Tweedy recommends in his book include playing with rhymes (in an unexpected and new way) and pretending to be someone else and channeling their essence when writing songs or poems, which takes the pressure to be vulnerable and perfect off the writer’s shoulders. He also recommends songwriters collect pieces of music, either in the form of mumbled songs, hummed tunes, instrumentals you play yourself or digitally, or music from other artist’s songs and advises songwriters to learn other people’s songs like the back of your hand, so you can take them apart and create something new with those parts.
Additionally, he advises writers to “steal” elements of songs such as themes, lyric fragments, chord progressions, and melodies from existing songs and make them your own. He strongly advises writers to loosen their judgment and allow the creativity to flow freely.
He explains writer’s block as he sees it and provides four conflicting tips for combatting the “stuck” feeling that comes with being creatively blocked: “1) start in the wrong place, 2) start in the right place, 3) put it away, and 4) don’t put it away.” (Tweedy 2020, 144-49) By all of this, he means rearrange song parts until they sound like a good fit for that part of the song, work on fragments or start from the end if the beginning is stumping you, walk away from the piece if its just not working and “keep punching” until you push through to the lyrics you’re looking for.
That’s it for my guide, on writing a song or poem using writing exercises from Jeff Tweedy’s book, How To Write One Song. I hope you enjoyed it and that this process inspired you to try this in your own writing. If you do try this method, post your work in the comments below so I can see how it helped you! Make sure to check out Jeff Tweedy’s book and Vib3.machine’s TikTok for more information on songwriting! Thanks for reading!
Bibliography:
Hayes, Payton. “How To Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy.” Thumbnail Image, November 6, 2022.
Hayes, Payton. “Jeff Tweedy’s word ladder.” Image, November 6, 2022.
Hayes, Payton. “Logan’s word ladder.” Image, November 6, 2022.
Hayes, Payton. “My word ladder.” Image, November 6, 2022.
Hayes, Payton. “Jeff Tweedy’s word ladder variation.” Image, November 6, 2022.
Related topics:
Screenwriting For Novelists - How Different Mediums Can Improve Your Writing
Experimentation Is Critical For Creators’ Growth —In Both Art and Writing
Recent blog posts:
—Payton
8 Reasons Why Having Writing Community Matters
Two writers working on their projects together. Photo by Windows.
Hi readers and writerly friends!
When we hear the word “writer,” the image that comes to mind is that of a hermit holed up in their office or writing room, hunched over their desk, writing at all hours, alone. However, this is often not the case when it comes to successful writers. While writing itself is often a solitary activity, there's a lot of other people involved in the publishing process from mentors, to beta readers to editors, to critique groups, to agents and publishers. The process of writing, editing, and publishing a manuscript isn’t done alone.
However, many writers still forget this crucial part of writing. Writing partners and critique groups serve as excellent sources for feedback, critiques, and writing advice. Many writers avoid writing communities and try to do it all alone. Without other writers around to encourage you, support you, and hold you accountable, it’s easy to give up on your goals.
Support
A writing community can provide essential support to both seasoned and aspiring writers alike. I am part of a couple of Facebook writing and editing groups and just scrolling through their posts provides me with an abundance of motivation and support to keep doing what I do. It feels amazing just seeing what everyone else is working on and reading supportive comments from fellow group members. There are many stages of the writing process where writers give up. The difference between an unfinished draft and a published book is a strong writing community.
2. Accountability
A writing community can hold you accountable to your goals. If you’re already great at meeting objectives and reaching your goals, then maybe you can show someone else how to. Many writers still struggle with meeting deadlines and achieving their goals. Having a writing community to fall back on is immensely helpful. Even when you don’t feel like writing, their commentary and advice is motivating and inspiring.
3. Feedback
We’ve all gotten feedback from friends and family, and it’s just not as helpful or constructive as advice from other writers. They don’t understand the genre, demographic, subject matter, or other story elements and provide biased feedback when asked their thoughts. Having a writing community means you have access to constructive, actionable, relevant feedback and in turn, you can provide the same for your fellow writers.
4. Advice
Much like feedback, useful writing advice is essential, and non-writers aren’t equipped to provide it. Writers can recommend books, blogs, guides, YouTube videos, speakers, podcasts, and tons of other useful content to each other through their writing communities.
5. Reaching Readers
Writing communities do not have to be exclusive to just writers; readers are a big part of writing communities too. Take beta readers for example —they enjoy reading novel drafts and providing readers with feedback relevant to their genre. Readers can provide vital advice and critiques to writer’s works without the writer’s lenses. A community of dedicated readers or your target audience can be extremely beneficial to you as a writer, especially during the marketing phase.
6. Inspiration
Group of writers cheering each other on in the library. Photo by Yan Krukov.
Inspiration is an important part of the writing process and watching your fellow writers grow and succeed in their craft can serve as crucial motivation and inspiration to keep you on track with your craft as well. The same reason writers read books from their genre or works from their favorite writers, they can also take feedback from their writing community as inspiration.
7. Helping Others
Helping other writers learn and grow in their craft is a wonderfully rewarding feeling. If you’ve got experience writing, you can share it with your writing community and maybe teach someone something they didn’t already know. Writers often post questions in community forums or groups on Facebook seeking advice for specific struggles in the writing process. Helpful answers from fellow writers can be more useful and actionable than simply asking a friend for their opinion or having to sift through a long blog post to answer a quick question.
8. Tribe
Last but not least, having a writing community means that you have a tribe to belong to. Writers from all walks of life come together for a common goal: to write a book, leave a legacy, and make their mark on the world. Having a connected, empowering, inspirational, constructive community is essential for writers of every genre and level of expertise and having a tribe to belong to is important for anyone regardless of if they are readers or writers.
I’ve included some examples of writing communities that I am a part of below.
Oklahoma Writing Communities
Below are a few of the editorial communities in Oklahoma:
Writer’s Societies at UCO
Below are a few of the writer’s societies I am a part of at the University of Central Oklahoma:
Golden Ponies Creative Writers Guild
Facebook Writing and Editing Groups
Below are a few of the editorial groups I am a member of on Facebook:
Bibliography:
That’s it for my 8 Reasons Why Having Writing Community Matters. Do you have a writing community? How has it helped you in your writing practice? Let me know in the comments below!
Recent blog posts:
—Payton
NaNoWriMo 2022 - Write Your Book In One Month! 25 Killer Tips! + UNDATED Free Binder Printables🗡️
Hi readers and writerly friends!
We didn’t just come here to win NaNoWriMo—no, we came to slay it. Okay, maybe that line is for the horror writers, but I’m serious when I say I am slaying NaNo this year. 2022 is not only a new year, but it’s a new beginning. In 2022, we start and finish our novels, we reach our goals, and we don’t stop for anyone!
I’ve prepared this guide months in advance so you can get prepared too! You should be prepping all of October—er, prep-tober for the biggest, baddest, bestest NaNoWriMo ever! And okay, maybe some of those aren’t real words, but we can pretend, and we can still get psyched! Hooray for reaching our goals and stuff!
This blog post covers everything from background information on NaNoWriMo, to how to prepare for the writing challenge, to emergency solutions for that nasty writer’s block, to FREE printables and more!
I discovered this concept from Shayla Raquel from Shaylaraquel.com I took inspiration from her guide which you can check out here!
The NaNoWriMo Crest. Image by NaNoWriMo.
What is NaNoWriMo?
In my opinion, there’s only two valid reasons for asking this question: 1) you’re a writer and you’ve been living under a rock or 2) you’re a non-writer. Either way, I am here to serve and inform. *Bows graciously* NaNoWriMo is an acronym that stands for National Novel Writing Month. It begins every year on November 1. Participants have 30 days to write a 50,000-word novel. It comes out to 1,667 words a day.
How do I participate?
To get started, simply head to NaNoWriMo.org, click the Sign Up button, and fill out your profile. Once you’ve set up your profile, you can announce your novel, add buddies, and start prepping your book.
Is it free?
It’s free. In fact, NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit. However, if you’d like to support them, you can always donate to their organization.
Are there any local events for NaNoWriMo?
Although people all over the world participate in NaNoWriMo, you can go to their Regions page, find your specific region, and see if there are any Come Write-Ins available.
NaNoWriMo’s Come Write In program connects libraries, bookstores, and other neighborhood spaces with their local NaNoWriMo participants to build vibrant writing communities.
For example, the Yukon Writers’ Society in Oklahoma has four official Come Write-Ins. NaNoWriMo sends out official swag and signs so people know where to go.
How do I win NaNoWriMo?
You must reach your goal of 50,000 words by November 30. To receive your official certificate and get the winner badge on your profile, you must update your word count daily and make sure the word count reaches 50,000 words by November 30, 2020. Here’s their how-to guide.
Download Free Novel Binder Printables
Got a binder handy? Fill it with these beautiful printables and add the necessary information.
Here's what you'll get when you download the free PDF:
Binder title page with name plate
At a Glance — overview of your novel
Character List
The Protagonist — three pages for character details
The Antagonist — three pages for character details
To-Do List—you can fill the list with my NaNoWriMo To-Do List (scroll down!) or make your own!
Story Outline — three pages detailing the parts of a novel as per the three-act story structure
Word Count Tracker—with NaNoWriMo daily word count goal and space for your daily word count reached
I suggest tossing these fantastic freebies into a lovely, matching blue binder! Scroll down to download!
NaNoWriMo To-Do List:
1. Grab some coffee—this is going to be so fun!
2. Set up your NaNoWriMo account
3. Fill out your author bio and add a profile photo.
4. Announce your novel.
5. Add your buddies. (Add me too!)
6. Find your region and see if there are any local Come Write-Ins.
7. Print my free novel binder templates and prepare your binder. (Scroll back up!)
8. Tell your social media friends about NaNoWriMo. Tag NaNoWriMo and use hashtags.
9. Tidy up your writing space and add some inspirational NaNo swag. Or make your own! You can also add a candle, some motivational quotes and pep talk books! (Scroll down!)
10. Put together a NaNo board. This is the fun part! Grab a corkboard or dry erase board and display your outline, character photos, book cover sketches, inspirational quotes—anything that has to do with your book. If you prefer digital vision boards, start a Pinterest board.
11. Download my emergency writer’s block kit for when the dreaded writer’s block inevitably strikes! Don’t let lack of motivation or inspiration slow you down or keep you from reaching your NaNoWriMo goals! (Scroll down!)
12. Create a reward sheet. When you hit 10,000 words, you should get a reward—like a weekly coffee stop for reaching your goals each week or bigger rewards for bigger milestones such as every ten thousand words! Write a list of rewards that go with each big milestone you hit. If all of this motivation fails you, your rewards will keep you on track, believe me.
13. Print the Word Count Calendar (scroll down!) and pin it to your NaNo board!
14. Add official Come Write-Ins to your schedule if you found any (#5).
15. Looks like your cup is empty…coffee break?
16. Create a NaNo playlist. Don’t forget game soundtracks and Ambient Mixer!
17. Set a certain time to write then tell your family/friends/neighbors/pets you are writing for X amount of minutes/hours each day. Be proactive in stopping distractions. Consider postponing plans with friends and family until you’ve met your goal each day.
18. Draw pictures of your characters or Google pictures of what you think they’d look like. I like to have a few photos for every character, including headshots, full-body shots, and photos that accentuate their style. You can add them to your NaNo board!
19. Look at book covers. Obviously don’t steal someone else’s book cover but find a few that you think would represent your book well. Keep them to refer to when NaNo hits. Add to your NaNo board!
20. You think we’re busy now, but wait ‘til we’re really in the trenches. Speaking of being busy, I think it’s time for more coffee—gotta keep the productivity levels up, right?
21. Prepare the manuscript. This is actually really fun and can make you feel like a bona fide novelist. Write your title, table of contents (if you have one), acknowledgments, prologue, and so on. Get the novel looking fancy!
22. Find your accountability buddy now. Get together with them and discuss both of your books! When NaNoWriMo is in full swing and you’re feeling stuck, you can hit up your NaNo buddy for instant support—or a kick in the pants, whichever.
23. At the end of NaNoWriMo grab a celebratory coffee—for winning or for simply participating!
24. Consider donating to NaNoWriMo.
25. If you finish your novel, then great! It’s now time to edit. If you still have some writing to do, stay on the writing train with 1,666 words a day until it’s finished. By participating in NaNoWriMo, you’re building the habit of writing every day and it’s much easier to maintain the habit than to pick it back up if you let it go. Keep writing and you’ll reach the ending before you know it!
Keeping up with word counts
Download my free NaNoWriMo word count calendar so you can keep track of your writing goals and work count all month long!
Cackling over calendars
Don’t like my calendar? That’s okay! Try this one on for size! Humor helps pass the time! @hermiejr157 on DeviantArt designed this hilarious, quirky, and painfully true calendar that accurately describes NaNoWriMo for most writers!
“NaNoWriMo Desktop.” by @hermiejr157.
Worried about writer’s block?
Download my free NaNoWriMo writer’s block emergency kit!
Need more inspiration? Check out these NaNo-inspired articles!
Grab these books and get reading before NaNoWriMo!
Books shown above are:
Ready, Set, Novel!: A Workbook by Lindsey Grant and Chris Baty
You can find all of these and more on my Payton’s Picks Page
Get involved with the writing community to build connections and find buddies before NaNoWriMo!
Social Media
Facebook Groups
Use NaNo hashtags to find NaNoWriMo related content
Most social media out there allows you to post hashtags, and often up to at least 30 per post! You can comment even more hashtags on the post to increase visibility! Here are 50 different NaNoWriMo hashtags for you to use with your content!
#1667wordsaday
#amediting
#amwriting
#authorlife
#book
#bookish
#bookishthings
#booklove
#booklover
#booklovers
#bookstagram
#bookwormforlife
#bookworms
#characters
#creativewriting
#fantasy
#fiction
#fictionbooks
#iamawriter
#igbooks
#ilovewriting
#inktober
#inspiration
#instawrimo
#nanoprep
#nanowrimo
#nonfiction
#poetry
#preptober
#procrastination
#scrivener
#stylewriting
#wip
#write
#writer
#writerscommunity
#writerscorner
#writerslife
#writersofig
#writersofinsta
#writersofinstagram
#writing
#writingchallenge
#writingcommunity
#writingeveryday
#writinglife
#writingofig
#writingprompt
#yabooks
#yacontemporary
#yalit
Bibliography:
hermiejr157. “NaNoWriMo Desktop” Deviantart post, November 4, 2008.
NaNoWriMo. “NaNo Prep 101.” NaNoWriMo website, accessed October 18, 2022.
NaNoWriMo. "NaNoWriMo Logo.” Image. Accessed October 18, 2022.
Raquel, Shayla. “100 Plot Ideas. “ Shaylaraquel.com blog post, October 16, 2022.
Reedsy. “What is NaNoWriMo? And How to Win in 2022.” Reedsy blog post, October 5, 2020.
Steve. “Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo.” Storyist blog post, accessed October 18, 2022.
Recent blog posts:
—Payton
For Content Creators and CEOs with ADHD: Strategies to Succeed Despite Overwhelm and Distractions
Hi readers and writerly friends!
someone with severe Adult ADHD I personally know how this neurotype can affect one’s personal and professional life. ADHD is a neurodivergence, not a disorder, and worth looking into whether or not you have been diagnosed with it. Readers and writers, I’ve created a list of tips and tricks (ADHD friendly) that can help you in your business whether neurotypical or neurodivergent, like myself. If you’re in a rush, check out the headers and sections in bold to get the most out of skimming this post.
Note: Some of the advice in this blog post is from my own personal experience, tips and tricks from other people I know who have ADHD, and the book, Mastering Your Adult ADHD: A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program, Second Ed. Client Workbook by Steven A. Safren. Any quotes from the workbook are cited in-text and at the end of this post (Safren 2017)
Rearrangeable Corkboard Calendar. Photo by Monica Sauro.
Calendars, Planners, and Daily Task Lists
As per the workbook and my own experience, having a toolkit of simple, practical, sustainable, and daily organization and planning tools is key to combatting prioritization-confusion, time-blindness, and forgetfulness in general. This is true for people with and without ADHD. Having a 3-step planning system ensures consistency and employs repetition —a useful tactic for remembering important tasks day-to-day, week-by-week, and month-to-month. I’ve been using this system for three months now, and it has changed how much I can get accomplished in a single day. I’m not advising you go overboard with adding tasks to your plate and burn yourself out. But you’ll be amazed at the productivity and action you can achieve by employing a simple planning routine that can be scaled up or down and modified in many ways to fit many different lifestyles and stages of life.
How to execute this planning strategy:
Use a Calendar for a monthly view. This can be paper or dry-erase calendar, but make sure its simple and big enough to write 1-3 important tasks, appointments, or events in each day’s space.
Use a Planner or weekly agenda for keeping up with tasks throughout the week. Realistically plan your days so that you can get your professional and personal work done in a timely manner without overworking yourself. Unless you can consistently produce quality results, stick to no more than 3-5 tasks a day until this becomes a habit. Pick out a planner that you like and avoid choosing frills over functionality. The more space the better. I prefer just a plain planner with a calendar view for each month and a few lines for each day of the month in an agenda format. Ensure the planners size can accommodate your handwriting as well as portability, because this will be your middle-man between your home calendar and task list as well as your point of reference when away from home.
Use a Daily Task List for daily task planning and organization. Again, limit your responsibilities to reflect your true capability and slowly add more tasks onto your plate when you feel comfortable doing so.
Pro Tip: Use the same color-coding system in your planner and task list as you do on your monthly calendar. Get colored pens that match your expo markers so that you can peek at either tool and read it at-a-glance, ensuring ease of understanding and consistency. Only use a color-coding system if it will benefit you, though. If you’re worried it will become too complicated, take too much time to set up, or you’ll get hung up on perfectionism, opt for 3 colors max, or skip this step altogether.
For Digital Planners: I would love to be more eco-conscious and go paperless, but the repetition of writing plans down 1-3 times helps me remember when and what I’ll be doing each day. This process also helps me to catch any discrepancies between one of my planning tools and I can catch mistakes (such as an event written on the wrong day of the month) much easier and usually before the event. However, if you’re really not one for writing things down and would prefer to go the digital route, there’s a few tools you can use to achieve the same 3-step planning system mentioned above.
Tablet displaying a virtual weekly planner. Photo by Jess Bailey.
Pick a good virtual calendar such as Google Calendar. Color-code events as needed and try to keep colors consistent across all apps and devices.
Use a good digital planner as well —below, I mention Notion as a great resource for note-taking but it can also serve as a fully-customizable virtual planner/agenda as well. If you’re overwhelmed by the customization, there’s a ton of other free and paid virtual planning/productivity apps out there!
Use a simple virtual notes app or list app such as Google Keep Notes or Google Tasks. Notes has more formatting options but Tasks has a satisfying check-off function for when you’ve completed tasks.
If you’re going the virtual route, use digital alarms to help you stay on track! The Pomodoro Technique is a great strategy for getting both quality work and breaks done in a timely manner. If you’re not going digital, keep hand-held timers around your house or at your desk in the office to use to help with time management.
The workbook provides some rules for effective use of the calendar and task list:
Rules for the Calendar and Task List
The calendar and task list system replaces ALL pieces of paper
Pieces of paper just get lost.
Instead of keeping an appointment slip, a business card, or anything like this, copy the information onto the task list or enter it directly on your calendar.
Phone messages from voice mail or other places go on the task list.
Log every phone message (from voice mail and so forth) on the task list as a to-do item.
If you date when you have completed the task, you will then have a record of having done it in case anyone asks you about it in the future.
All appointments go on the calendar.
No appointment slips that can easily get lost!
All tasks must go on the task list.
Task list items should be looked at EVERY DAY, and revised accordingly.
Do not obsess about trying to get a perfect system.
Many individuals want to have the perfect calendar and task list systems. Do not fall into this trap! This will just result in not having any systems.
If you cannot decide on the “best” system, then just use a simple calendar and task list system.
Remember it’s important to give your system a fair shot! This means keeping one system for at least three months, long enough to get used to it.
Use a system that is within your comfort zone.
There are many options for calendar and task list systems—including paper systems, applications on smartphones or tablets, and multiple computerized applications. Many of our clients ask us which is the “best” system, and this is not really a question that we can easily answer. The question for you to ask yourself is this: “What’s the best system for me?”
— (Mastering Your Adult ADHD, 29-30)
Manageable chunks
Downsize overwhelming parts into manageable chunks. Make step-by-step processes for tasks that seem daunting and go one step at a time. This will help you manage overwhelm, anxiety, and, unnecessary busy work. Make a list of items and order them according to due date or priority, and try to get them done as soon as possible. Do not wait until the last minute, no matter how tempting that next episode of Orange Is The New Black may be. Make a reasonable, executable game plan for your goals or project, and proceed one step at at time. Don’t get hung up on the details or perfectionism, just start.
“A good plan executed right now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” —George S. Patton.
Woman looking through her weekly planner. Photo by Covene.
Prioritization with the A,B,C’s
Now that you know of an effective and sustainable planning strategy and you know to break overwhelming tasks up into more manageable steps, it’s time to prioritize. As mentioned earlier, without prioritizing tasks, its easy to get caught up in busy work. Getting a lot of tasks completed and crossed off your to-do list feels good, but is it really getting you closer to your goals? By being overly productive with mundane tasks, are you actually getting any important work done?
That’s where the A,B,C’s come in. I learned this strategy in the workbook as well:
List all of your tasks. Then assign an “A,” “B,” or “C” rating to each task:
“A” Tasks: These are the tasks of highest importance. They must be completed in the short term (like today or tomorrow).
“B” Tasks: These are lower-importance, longer-term tasks. Some portions should be completed in the short term, but other portions may take longer.
“C” Tasks: These are the tasks of lowest importance. They may be more attractive and easier to do, but they are not as important.
Be very careful not to rate too many items as “A”!
Practice doing all of the “A” tasks before the “B” tasks and all of the “B” tasks before the “C” tasks.
— (Mastering Your Adult ADHD, 34-36)
When first going over this concept, my therapist put it this way: “A” tasks must be done on the day they’ve been assigned to. “B” tasks can be moved to other days but not move more than a week away from their original date. “C” tasks can be infinitely moved and do not require a defined date/time. An “A” task might be going to a doctor’s appointment. A “B” task might be getting your car’s oil changed. A “C” task might be finishing a book you’re reading for pleasure. This prioritization strategy will look different for everyone, especially at different stages of life.
Just remember the priority: “A”= Highest importance, “B”=Medium importance, and “C”=Lowest importance. Avoid overwhelm and burnout by strategically spacing “A” tasks throughout the week if possible. Try to limit “A” tasks to no more than 1-3 things a day until you feel comfortable with this system.
Color-coding tasks instead: If you’d rather use a color-coding system for prioritization, traffic light colors Red, Yellow, and Green make a great color-combination for action! Red= Stop what you’re doing and do the most important tasks first. Yellow=Be cautious of time and complete the lesser-important tasks next. Green= Go! on tasks of lowest importance once you’ve completed Red and Yellow tasks first!
“Eat the Frog” or “Start”
Have you ever heard of someone eating the frog when it comes to content creation, their personal to-do list, or professional positions? This means to start with the hardest item or most difficult item on the to-do list. This item is typically something that requires research, planning, and time to execute. It is a task that requires more energy and time to complete. Often these tasks are called ”frogs” because they’re hard to swallow, or hard to get done and often include a lot of planning and/or procrastination. By getting them done early, one can look forward to the “downhill” slope throughout the day/list. Get the hardest task out of the way and it will be easier as the day goes on.
If you’re more of a “work your way up” to the hardest task from the easiest tasks, that’s okay too! Not everyone feels comfortable starting with the “frog".” Just make sure you’re not doing busywork or deluding yourself with a false sense of productivity. Ensure your actions and “warm-up” tasks are actually moving the needle, and getting you closer to your goals.
Make use of versatile apps and devices
I’m saving for an iPad and Apple Pencil so I can do digital artwork, digitize my existing physical artwork, and start creating unique animations for my YouTube channel. I’ve seen some pointillism artists doing dotwork with tattoo guns on paper, saving their hands the trouble and repetitive stress. Utilize the technology we have today to save time tomorrow.
Clickup’s Blog has tons of great resources for productivity and combatting ADHD. Greg Swan’s post “10 Best Mind Mapping Software (Pros, Cons, Pricing)” explains how mind-mapping can be a useful tool for productivity and breaking tasks down into actionable steps:
Mind map software lets you create a diagram or flowchart of your ideas. This helps you easily illustrate the relationships and hierarchy between concepts.
Most mind mapping tools come in different sizes to suit various needs, offering other functionality. Generally, your average mind map maker falls under one (or more) of these categories:
Diagramming: a technical diagram such as engineering flowcharts, architectural designs, network diagrams, etc.
Brainstorming: problem-solving sessions to organize and present an idea visually
Business intelligence: visualize data as charts by importing it from business applications
Software development: prepare site map diagrams, software wireframes, etc.
— (Swan, paragraphs 5-8)
Checkbox to-do list on paper. Photo by Thomas Bormans.
Take notes
When it comes to conventions, panels, educational videos, courses, classes and other avenues for creative information, remember to take notes —and not just cover vocabulary. Let’s get honest for a second, aesthetically pleasing notes make studying that much easier, for sure, but it’s not a necessary effort. As long as your notes are legible and cover important topics that will likely come up later (or for students, will be in the exam) then you are good to go. Feel free to digitize or edit your notes later. First, focus on jotting down as much information as possible.
Pro Tip: If you don’t feel confident in your ability to type as fast as the professor or speaker talks, then feel free to record the panel or discussion. Make sure you get permission/clearance before recording someone else. When you have time, type up and refine the notes into easily-digestible, succinct, effective, and at-a-glance notes. Put them on the wall, your vision board, or bathroom mirror to see them frequently until their concepts and advice is cemented solidly in your brain. Then, file your notes away in an organized fashion and make sure to refer back to them regularly.
Notion and other note-taking apps
I genuinely enjoy this app and the features it provides users. Notion has an almost overwhelming number of features and useful elements. I personally use the application to create lists, blog post rough drafts, flesh out poems, and to tack down other ideas, but this barely scratches the surface of Notion’s versatility. This post is not sponsored by Notion, nor am I affiliated with them.
Celebrate milestones, big and small
Don’t forget to celebrate hard work and milestones. Go out every once and a while to celebrate and acknowledge the hard work you’ve done. If the work is online, it can be especially hard to quantify successes or measure productivity, so go out every now and again and celebrate the small and big wins! Don’t. Skip. On. This. Even if you don’t drink, are veggie, or have a tight curfew, make sure you allow time for you to, celebrate both the small and big wins and really soak it in. When your supervisor gives you a compliment, treat yourself to a nice coffee, or when you meet a work or personal creative deadline early, grab that chocolate-chip muffin as treat (as long as your not on a diet, lol —look into other rewards systems if you’re alcohol-cruelty-gluten-free, etc.!”
FAQ pages
For entrepreneurs and creatives with websites, this page can save you a lot of time and trouble. Although it’s pretty self-explanatory, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) page serves as a buffer between you and your reader’s repetitive, previously answered/address queries. Link the FAQ page in the footer or contact section of your website and put 5-20 of the most frequently asked questions there, to help avoid repetition and wasted time re-addressing the same questions over and over again.
Lead magnets
Sometimes called freebies, lead magnets are the little juicy bits of content that readers subscribe to your content in order to access. For cooking blogs, it may be a 20-page mini cookbook. For writing blogs, it may be a short guide for combatting writer’s block or a writing checklist. Just about any website can have a lead magnet and it’s the easiest, most automatic way to obtain an email address from a visitor to your site. Lead magnets are powerful, effective, enticing marketing tools and they’re very easy to create. Design a unique, actionable, useful piece of downloadable/printable content with an editor such as Canva and upload it as a downloadable file into your newsletter block on your website. Once the reader enters his or her email into the box and hits the subscribe button, they’ll be prompted to download the content they signed up for. Now you’ve unlocked another potential customer who you can market to, straight to their inbox, and they just gave you that access!
Minibatch and time-batch tasks
Similar to prioritization and chunking tasks into more manageable steps, minibatching tasks can serve as a useful strategy for planning, organization, optimization, and execution. To do this, break your larger tasks down into smaller, doable steps, then put those smaller tasks onto your calendar or planner, according to the type of activity required to complete the task. For example, if your car needs several maintenance tasks done, schedule a time to look at and order car parts, make appointments to the alignment shop and oil-change shop, and plan a day to get all the car work done. Another example, if you need to record videos, take photos, or hop on webcam, schedule these tasks all on the same day if possible. You’ll save yourself the time and trouble of getting ready for each individual appointment and get the most wear out of your outfit/makeup/hair-styling too!
Have frequent co-working sessions
Schedule in regular co-working sessions with friends, partners, and colleagues. These sessions are for working collaboratively on projects and brainstorming and are an amazing resource for creatives and office-workers alike. Friends can help you pick paint samples and the interior design of your living room, while colleagues can help you come up with new strategies for success in the workplace. Who says you can’t have coffee in the morning with a client in the morning and meet up with your bestie for lunch in the afternoon?
Schedule “people days”
Much like the time-batching tasks, schedule all of your face-to-face appointments, coffee-shop meet-ups, conferences, phone calls, and co-working sessions in the same day, when possible. This will save you time getting read for each appointment and once you’ve made it through the first meeting, you’ll be ready to tackle the next meeting as your confidence and productivity high snowballs you throughout the day.
ADHD management and CBT therapy
Regardless of if you’ve been diagnosed with ADHD or not, these tips can be useful for anyone who gives them an honest try because they’re practical, scalable, sustainable, effective, and simple. However, these tips may not be enough if your life is a hot mess like mine was in 2020-21. After having done my own ADHD management program and CBT program for PTSD, I can truly say it has changed my life for the better. I would recommend anyone struggling with ADHD symptoms to reach out to your primary healthcare provider and discuss options for treatment with them. Depending on the severity, you may require therapy, management, medication, or lifestyle changes in order to manage any debilitating or annoying symptoms you may have. I’m not a doctor —I just know this process helped me understand and embrace myself and gave me the patience and grace to work through my challenges without shame, fear, or judgement. Please do not diagnose yourself. If you feel you may be struggling with ADHD, contact your doctor or counsellor and have a formal assessment and diagnosis done.
Thank you so much for reading this blog post! If you liked this post, let me know what you thought of it in the comments below, and please check out my other posts! If you have any other actionable tips for productivity as a creative with ADHD, drop a comment below!
Bibliography:
Bormans, Thomas. “Free Pen Image.” Unsplash photo, August 30, 2020.
Notion Labs Inc. “Notion - notes, docs, tasks.” Google Play Store, accessed 11, 2022.
Sauro, Monica. “Brown calendar photo.” Unsplash photo, May 16, 2019.
Swan, Greg. “10 Best Mind Mapping Software (Pros, Cons, Pricing)” ClickUp Blog. October 13, 2022.
Further Reading:
How To Organize Your Digital Life: 5 Tips For Staying Organized as a Writer or Freelancer
8 Ways To Level Up Your Workspace And Elevate Your Productivity
The 4 Most Useful FREE Apps for Writers in 2022 (Sync Across Multiple Devices, Not Only iOS)
Recent blog posts:
—Payton
Active Reading Vs. Passive Reading - Using Pscyhology-Based Critical Reading Skills To Increase Information Absorption
Hi readers and writerly friends!
This week in Reader Life, we’re discussing the concept of active reading for comprehension and concept retention. This article is all about helping you ensure you’re actually absorbing what you’re reading and will able to put into application, the information you’ve read or listened to, rather than it simply going in one ear and out the other.
Passive Reading
Passive reading is when one reads quickly, skimming the material and not really taking it in effectively. This most often occurs when readers are cramming with little time to read, reading amidst distractions such as loud music, noises, or voices, or listening to books while doing some other activity that pulls their attention away from the information they’re trying to absorb.
To avoid passive listening, limit your multitasking and have a pen and paper close by so you can jot down any important notes as needed. If you must do something while listening to an audiobook or recording, combine that mental activity with a physical activity of low mental energy such as working out, going for a walk, bathing, or doing some other simple, automatic/repetitive task that won’t pull you away from the material. Where you can, try to have a copy of the physical book to read along with the audiobook for extra focusing power and immersion.
Active Reading
Active reading is the method of reading material by which you are fully engaged and able criticize concepts as they are presented to you, comparing what you are learning with that which you already know. By active reading, you are absorbing the information you are presented with and thus able to apply it moving forward.
How to read actively:
When reading chapters in text books or curriculum material, read any questions BEFORE reading the passage so you can know what key information you’re supposed to be looking for.
Where you can, read the passage three times and review the questions between each pass through. This will help you to cement the information in your brain and will ensure you’re becoming extra familiar with the material, introducing any key concepts you might have missed in the first pass through.
Underline and search any unknown words, subjects, concepts, or ideas referenced, that you might not be familiar with. This will avoid any confusion during the reading process. Write these terms and their definitions down so that you can reinforce your understanding of them.
Pay attention to headers and sub-headers as they typically provide clues to the main idea of that section. As you move through paragraphs, jot down a few words in the margins or in your note, to describe the main idea of each paragraph. This is especially helpful when writing a summarization or response paper for passages.
As you read, highlight or underline any concepts that may be relevant to the reading questions you reviewed before and between reading sessions. When it comes time to answer the questions, go back to the highlighted sections for easy and accurate answering.
As you read, take any notes on concepts, terms, or subjects you will be quizzed on later or save any ideas you will want to come back to. There are all kinds of ways to take notes, but opt for simplicity and efficiency. Notes do not have to be gorgeous or frilly to be effective. Legible handwriting, underlining, capitalization, and a few different color pens will go a long way. If you prefer, handwrite your notes and then type them up on your computer for extra studying power and better legibility.
The benefits of active reading
Active reading ensures you absorb the material you’re reading, you retain more of what you read, and you remember the information for years to come. It’s a skill that takes time and practice to build but after a few sessions, you’ll have this useful skill in your toolkit forever. This skill is especially useful for students and educators but anyone who considers themselves an academic or lifelong learner would benefit from practicing this skill.
Active reading using the SQ3R Method
According to the American Psychological Association, the SQ3R method is “a study method developed on the basis of research in cognitive psychology which promotes enhanced learning of reading material (APA, 2020). The acronym SQ3R stands for the five steps in the reading process: Survey, Question, Read, Remember, and Review. This process is effective for reviewing previously visited material as well as reading passages for the first time. According to the Marbella International University Centre, the SQ3R method was proposed in the book Effective Study (1946) by Francis P. Robinson, a prominent American educational psychologist (Marbella IUC 2020).
Survey: Skim through the text quickly to get an overall idea of the subject matter. Pay close attention to section headers and sub-headers.
Question: If you are reading the passage for a particular purpose (for example, to answer an assignment), ask yourself how it helps. Ask these additional questions of the text: Who? What? Where? When? How?
Read: the text in a focused, and fairly speedy way. Take breaks between long passages to allow your brain to refocus and absorb more material.
Remember: Test your memory - but don't worry if you can't remember much. Flashcards are a great way to test your memory. Work with a friend or colleague or use Quizlet to create your own virtual flashcards to quiz yourself.
Review: Read the text in more detail, taking notes. Summarize and paraphrase important concepts. Being able to accurately rephrase content in an easily-digestible format demonstrates your understanding of the material.
Take your reading a step further with the SQ4R Method
According to Weber State University, there are some other terms you could insert for a SQ4R method instead. Below are the optional R’s that can be used as a fourth step in this method and will take your reading, memorization, and application to another level.
Relate and Reflect: Making a meaningful, personal connection between yourself and the material will help cement concepts in your mind. As you read each chapter or section, try to create ties between the new concepts and the information you already know. How can this material apply to your life
Rewrite: Reduce the information to easily-digestible notes by rewriting and paraphrasing. Take notes that are both concise and complete, and double check your own version against the text. For your reference, include page numbers in your notes, so you can quickly trace the information back to the source text if needed.
Record: Retain essential information and key concepts either by literally recording yourself read aloud, saving bookmarks or timestamps in an audiobook, or adding sticky tabs to the pages of your physical text. Create a list of terms and concepts that you know will be on the test and write the page numbers from the source material as well as your notes so you can quickly and easily find the information you need while studying.
Repeat and Read Aloud: As with the Record option, you could read aloud your material. Studies have shown that reading aloud improves comprehension as well as memory. As per the Neurobehavioral Associates, a 2017 study from the University of Waterloo confirmed the production effect, or the “distinction experienced when words are read aloud, versus reading words silently. The speaking of the words is more active than silent reading, and therefore aides in the production of our long-term memories” (Neurobehavioral Associates 2018).
The ninety-five participants in the study “were asked to read silently, listen to someone else read aloud, read aloud themselves, and listen to a recording of themselves reading. While hearing a recording of themselves did show a small benefit, the greatest benefit to memory was, overwhelming, found when the participants read aloud” (Neurobehavioral Associates 2018). Try reading aloud to help retain important information and read along with your own recordings for even stronger concept retention.
Respond: As you read, write the answers to the questions you read before diving into 3R/4R part of the method. As necessary, ask yourself additional questions and write them with the answers in the margins or in your notes. When you go back to answer the actual test questions, double check that your answer is correct and include the page number with your answers if you have the space.
Active reading starts with the reader. It is the act of engaging deliberately with the material and absorbing it effectively. Readers can practice reading more actively with a few simple steps and by doing so will increase their information absorption and reading comprehension.
That’s it for my article on how to practice active reading! Have you ever heard of this practice before? In what was has active reading helped you study smarter? Let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading!
Bibliography:
Kang, Jaeyoung Geoffrey. “Assorted-title-book lot photo.” Unsplash photo, July 31, 2019 (Thumbnail).
Weber State University. “The SQ3R Method.” PDF found on Google.com, accessed September 12, 2022.
Further reading:
—Payton
Updates Coming To The Website: New Brand/Site Name, New Site Styles, New Content, and More!
Big changes are coming to Wonderforest.net —or should I say, Paytonhayes.com! You read that right. New brand name, new URL, new content, and more. I decided I wanted to save Wonderforest for another project and I wanted my editorial biz under my own name for simplicity and few other reasons. Read more here.
Hi readers and writerly friends!
I hope you all are well. It’s reaching peak temps this summer in Oklahoma, where we’re seeing highs get into the 100°s. I’ve been in the process of moving and preparing for back-to-school but in my free time, I’ve been making some changes to my website and brand, This blog post details the current and upcoming changes to this site in 2022.
This post is for informational purposes. I get steady traffic to my website, and I’d like to make the transition as smoothly as possible for all my readers. Likewise, for learning and transparency, I’d like to keep track of the changes.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please reach out.
Upcoming changes for 2022 include:
New Site/Brand Name
New Logos and Site Media
Blog Page New URL slug
New Blog Post Formatting
New Blog Content
New Newsletter Content
Features
Shop Product Logos
Broken Links (temporary)
Wonderforest Landing Page
Photo Formatting
Chicago Style
Other Changes
New Site/Brand Name
First and foremost, Wonderforest/Wonderforest LLC/Wonderforest.net/www.wonderforest.net will be changing to Payton Hayes Writing & Editing Services/www.phwritingservices.com. After a lot of consideration, I’ve decided to rename my editorial business to something that is more relevant, succinct, and appropriate for my work. The new name is relevant, practical, and straight to the point. I will be changing all the site media to reflect this change.
New Logos and Site Media
As mentioned above, the logos, pictures, photos, artwork, and other media on www.phwriting.com (formerly www.wonderforest.net) will change to reflect the brand’s name change. In an effort to maintain brand uniformity, the logo’s color palette remain the same. Below is a comparison of the old logo alongside the new logo. Logos were made with Canva.
Blog Page To Merge With Home Page
Previously, the Blog hub page (where all my blog posts could be accessed, not just recent posts like on the Home page) was called “Blog” with the url slug “https://www.paytonhayes.com/blog-feed/”. This slug will be changing to “archives” and will look like this: “https://www.paytonhayes.com/archives/.
Tip: To return Home at anytime, simply click the logo at the top of the screen.
Additionally, images will not be edited to contain lens flares or sparkles anymore. These edits are hard to keep uniform from photo to photo and often distort the images they’ve been applied to. This was an aesthetic I’d decided on in the early stages of the blog’s creation and honestly, it’s time for a change. I will try to swap out all the edited photos for uniformity, but that will take time. For now, all cover/thumbnail photos will no longer contain these elements, and the rest of the site will follow shortly.
New Blog Post Layout
As the previous paragraph states, the Blog will be getting renovated and that includes blog posts as well. Blog posts will not always contain an image and will no longer be concluded by a photo of myself with a byline. Blog posts will follow a casual, conversational, AP Style Column-like style.
New Blog Content
I’m hoping to have a more steady creative schedule in the upcoming months so hopefully you’ll see more posts here soon. I plan to finish the Book Writing 101 Series this year and I’ve got a few book reviews in the works. If you’d like to see me cover a particular topic or review a book, please reach out. I am hoping to get the Features page up and running with content sometime this year as well so keep an eye out for that.
New Newsletter Content
Following suit with the changes coming to the website and blog content, the Newsletters will be seeing some cosmetic changes as well. A new newsletter will be coming soon, along with the new blog content and Features.
Features Page
The Features page will now be part of the Blog Page.
I am looking for writers, artists, and fellow creatives who are interested in guest blogging for my website. I get a fair bit of niche traffic but I am wanting to expand beyond writing advice and editorial content.
I'd like to start an e-zine with a focus on OKC and articles in the following categories:
Nonfiction: education, health, beauty, fitness, arts, entertainment, business, travel, lifestyle, diet, and culture.
This is a non-profit, collaborative effort to give other artists and creators a voice and help my colleagues gain more journalistic writing and editing experience.
Diversity and inclusivity are two of the most important elements of this project. Writers who identify with a marginalized community are strongly encouraged to get in touch.
Please reach out if you’re interested. Serious inquiries only.
Shop Product Logos
The Wonderforest-branded content that will not see changes are the products listed in my online shop. The WF logo will remain as part of the merchandise designs and will be included in the finished products. Changes to these items and their listings may come at a later date but will remain the same for now.
Broken Links
Many of my “Read More” or “Related Reading:” links will be temporarily disabled. You can search articles straight from the website. Further reading lists already contain the exactly titles of other posts, so simply copying and pasting should pull them up for you. I hope to get these up and working again asap, but if you need help finding anything, please let me know.
Wonderforest Landing Page
Lastly, but certainly not least, you might come across a Wonderforest landing page to help redirect traffic from the old URL to the new one. Again, the old URL is www.wonderforest.net, and the new URL is www.paytonhayes.com. I still own the URL for Wonderforest and will not be retiring it anytime soon. I have plans for it in the future, so keep your eyes out for that! In the mean time, this site (www.paytonhayes.com) will be the place for bookish content, writing and editing advice, and editorial services so make sure you bookmark it for reference later!
Photo Formatting
Photos will no longer have lens flares or other extensive editing. I will also try to include more of my own photos rather than generic stock images. Additionally, I will be adding captions and bylines to photos in blog posts with links tracing back to the photographer for credit. Thumbnail photo credits will always be at the end of the blog post.
Chicago Style Blog Posts
This change may not be immediately observed, but moving forward, my blog posts will now follow Chicago Style formatting. Previously I was using a mixture of styles, but being a book editor, I’d like to demonstrate my knowledge of and experience using the Chicago Manual of Style by ensuring my posts align as closely as possible to Chicago Style. I will not be using superscript for my notes or putting endnote/footnotes at the end of blog post sections as this will take way too long to edit using HTML and will break up the blog posts in a distracting way. Instead, blog posts will feature in-text author-date citations and a bibliography section at the end of the post. Thumbnails will also be credited in the Bibliography. Older blog posts may or may not be updated to reflect this change, but all posts from 2022 and onward will follow Chicago Style.
Other Changes
Other items that will see changes include: Wonderforest social media, contact email, terms of use page, other policy pages, and business cards.
Thanks for reading! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please reach out.
—Payton
How to Read More Books in 2022
A stack of books I want to read in 2022. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Hi readers and writerly friends!
Welcome back and if you’re new thanks for popping in! This week in Bookish Things, I’m going to be sharing all of my tips and tricks for knocking out those reading lists and other bookish goals!
Just to give you guys a little bit of backstory and help remind you that despite all of my bookish content and strategizing I do here, I am still human and I also struggle with finding time to read and keeping up with my yearly reading goal. I also catch myself falling into reading slumps from time to time so don’t feel like you’re alone, because there’s millions of readers out there who have to actively work towards their reading goals!
In 2018 I did not meet my reading goal (2/12) 😬 but in 2019 (22/20) 🎉 and 2020 (15/12) 🥳 I did. In 2021, I fell way short of my extremely ambitious goal of reading 52 books, of which I only read 16. I look back at these recent years and my reading goals, and the life events I experienced stick out very clearly to me. This reflection serves as a great reminder that sometimes life does get in the way of reading and that’s okay. Don’t feel bad if you’ve been slacking in your reading goals. Let’s get back on track together!
Start by creating a reading plan
Why do you want to read more? Considering this question will help you firmly define your “why” and make it easier to keep on track with your reading throughout the year. Perhaps you’re reading for educational purposes or to better yourself? Maybe you want to read more novels to escape from stress and practice self-care. Maybe you want to be more well-read and explore the written word over modern media. No matter your reason, its always a good idea to read regularly as long as you’re doing it for you and you know why.
Additionally, you may want to ask yourself a few more questions to help clearly define your reading goals for 2022. How long will you read for each day? How many books do you have on your To-Be-Read (TBR) list? Is there a series you’ve been meaning to get into or a classic author you want to check out? How many books a month do you want to shoot for? What genres most interest you right now? What genres do you find yourself shying away from? Do you want to schedule your reading and plan out each months books? I personally prefer making an annual loose TBR list and choosing I can what to read as I go. Other readers enjoy making a reading schedule with specific books for each month or planning seasonal reads as the year goes on. I always try to read horror or spooky-themed books in October! Map out a book timeline that makes sense for your lifestyle, interests, and reading goals.
1. Keep track of your books by using Goodreads
This tip isn’t new, especially around the bookish community, but its worth mentioning to start, especially for anyone new to the reading scene or anyone just getting back into it! You might also be a reader who has never kept track of their reading habits before so this might be a great strategy for you to remember what you’ve read, keep your eyes out for new books, and stay focused on your yearly reading challenge.
Goodreads does a yearly reading challenge which can be a great resource for reading inspiration and motivation. Sign up, add a few books to your “Want To Read” shelf, set a reading goal for yourself, and get reading! You can also share your reviews and recommendations with other readers and authors on the app!
2. Make your reading goals public for external accountability
To make use of external accountability, consider joining a local book club or reading group, joining online reading communities, and sharing your reading goals, updates, and reading lists to your own social circles. Having a tight-knit group to share books with and discuss stories can be just the thing to get you back on track with your reading goals!
Kindles are also great for cutting down on book storage and readers can make use of the “Read Sample” prior to purchasing digital copies of books they’ve yet to read. Kindle Unlimited also offers access to millions of books every month.
4. Use a designated device solely for reading
I understand some bookworms here are still ballin’ on a budget, but if you can afford to, splurge on a tablet purposed only for reading. This separation of activities can be crucial in helping you rewire your brain for reading time. Avoid reading on your phone to eliminate distractions from social media and texts.
5. Multitask with audiobooks
You do not have to physically read a book to absorb the important and useful information contained within its pages. Many readers make use of audiobooks for the convenience, portability, and multitasking ability they have. Read a book while you cook, read a book while you walk, read a book while you clean or workout, read a book during your commute to and from work and on your lunch break —there’s a number of activities you can do while listening to an audiobook!
6. Read more than one book at any given time.
Now don’t let your “Current Reads” list get too full of unfinished books, but it can be refreshing to read more than one book at a time, especially if you alternate between fiction and non-fiction and read from different genres to avoid reading slumps! I personally enjoy having an e-book and audiobook, as well as a hard-copy on hand at any given time. This is especially useful in keeping concepts, themes, and characters separate across multiple novels.
7. Put down any books you’re not enjoying anymore.
If it’s no longer serving you or bringing you joy, feel free to let it go. Everyone can rant and rave about how good a book is but you don’t have to like it just because everyone else does. If you’re done with a book, feel free to move it to the “Read” shelf in Goodreads, leave a review if you’d like, and move on to the next read. Don’t let your disillusionment of a book you had high hopes for put you in a reading slump or worse, ruin your love of reading and learning.
8. Read for 15 minutes a day
Set a short timer to go off at the same time everyday and read for 15 minutes. This could be a really effective strategy for making regular reading a successful and sustainable habit.
9. Bring a book with you everywhere you go
Find yourself bored standing in line at the store or waiting on your oil to be changed? Bringing a book with you can help you avoid awkward queues and chip away at your TBR.
10. Get the main points of the book without having to read for 5+ hours
If you’re wanting to get into the reading scene but are feeling held back by your reading ability or lack of time for reading, consider getting the bare-bones content, main information, or essential ideas from an app like Blinkist. (If you’ve ever heard of Sparknotes, or Cliffs Notes, this app provides similar content.) Blinkist offers key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours. While its debatable how much material you’re actually absorbing via condensed methods such as this, its certainly a low-barrier-to-entry option and might work better for busier readers with less leisure time on their hands.
11. Enroll in a library membership
Much like joining book clubs and reading groups, signing up with your local library can be a great reading resource and method of external accountability, especially if you can find others to read and discuss books with. Library memberships are usually free to the public
12. Romanticize reading and make it a ritual
Not only should we be romanticizing reading, but we should also make it a ritual rather than a chore. If you enjoyed reading in the cozy chair by the window with a cup of coffee beside you, you might want to make that part of your reading ritual. Some daily readers will opt to get their 15 minutes in just before bed, making it a nighttime ritual that helps them wind down and relax, while other readers will avoid reading in the bedroom altogether. Designate a time and space for reading and it will be easier to get into the practice of reading daily. Ensure your reading environment, snacks, music, and other possible distractions or reading aids remain consistent throughout your reading practice to help further reinforce the habit in your daily life.
13. Organize a reading list that you will actually enjoy reading
As mentioned with the first step in this guide, it’s incredibly important to get a strong sense of what you enjoy reading, what your reading goals are, and what you want to read for 2022 to help you get started with your reading plan. Think about which authors and genres you’d like to read from. Consider diversifying your reading list so that its not all fiction, non-fiction, a single genre, or books from the same author.
14. Gather book recommendations influential people and other authors
Still not sure what to read? Follow your favorite authors and influencers on Goodreads and see what they’re reading each month for some inspiration. You can also check out BookTube and Bookstagram for thousands of book recommendations from other readers. Some of my favorite reads were recommended to me by the people I follow, so don’t limit your reading content to what you’ve heard of —take suggestions too! Whenever I am looking for recommendations, I ask my friends and Bookish Facebook groups what they’re reading and that usually gives me a pretty wide variety to pick from. You can also check out the New York Times Best Sellers List for the hottest reads.
15. Broaden your bookish horizons
Reading isn’t just good for intellectual growth; it can be a great avenue for personal enrichment in many areas of your life. You might not enjoy every book you read this year but you can learn at least one thing from them. Read from authors you normally don’t gravitate towards, explore genres you’ve never read from before, pick up a craft book, zoology book, a book about how to build a computer, or how to do your taxes yourself for practical reading, or read a hefty tome of a novel and lose yourself in the world-building —the options are endless!
16. Pick up a daily reader
While daily reading isn’t for everyone, its a surefire way to make steady, measurable progress towards your reading goals. Daily readers such as the Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, or The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz are all great examples of popular books with a page-a-day reading pace. Check out more from the Daily Readers Goodreads shelf here.
17. Set up a rewards system
Yes, Bookish People, this is your permission slip to go buy more books. (But only if you’ll actually read them!) Set up monthly incentives to help motivate you to pick up your current read each day! This could include a new book for every book you complete, an afternoon at a local Bookish coffee shop, cute bookish socks for each completed read, or a new bookshelf at the end of the year if you complete your challenge! Whatever you decide to implement as a rewards system, ensure that it is sustainable and makes sense for your lifestyle, environment, and budget. I like to check out books from the library and for every 3 I read, I’ll get a new book. This helps me keep from overbuying new books and it helps me tailor my personal library to only the titles I truly love and will reach for again.
18. Don’t compare your reading progress to others
It can be fun to have a little friendly reading competition, but don’t let someone else’s reading challenge overshadow your own reading progress. Read for you, celebrate the completion of your goals, big and small, and make sure you’re reading for your own enjoyment and enrichment and not for the opinions of others. In the long run, the former is more fulfilling and the latter will leave you stuck in a reading slump.
19. Visualize your reading goals with a habit tracker app or printable reading tracker
If you’re not into Goodreads, that’s okay! You might find keeping a reading list in your planner or a cute printable reading tracker taped to your fridge is the way to go for you! You can download my free printable tracker by clicking the image on the right. Pintrest also has tons of printable reading trackers and book lists too!
20. Be flexible and leave room for more reading
Don’t overwhelm yourself with an overly-planned reading list if you’re just getting into reading or getting back into it after a while. Be gracious with yourself and remember that its okay if you don’t read every single book on your list cover-to-cover or if you miss some of your reading goals this year. If you manage to read one book a year, you’re still learning and growing, so try to take it one book at a time. Leave spaces open throughout the year for new books to join the rotation and be prepared to “Do-Not-Finish” (DNF) a book if its not meeting your expectations.
Those are my 20 tips for reading more in 2022! Are there any other bookish tips you have for reaching your reading goals? What books are you planning to read this year? Let me know in the comments below!
Bibliography:
Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations, London: Penguin Classics, 2006. Goodreads.
Cliffs Notes. “Homepage.” CliffsNotes.com, accessed April 6, 2022.
Goodreads. “2022 Reading Challenge.” Goodreads.com, accessed April 6, 2022.
Goodreads. “Daily Readers Books.” Goodreads.com, accessed April 6, 2022.
Holiday, Ryan. The Daily Stoic, London: Portfolio, 2016. Goodreads.
Sparknotes. “Homepage.” Sparknotes.com, accessed April 6, 2022.
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—Payton
The 4 Most Useful FREE Apps for Writers in 2022 (Sync Across Multiple Devices, Not Only iOS)
Though it may seem counterintuitive from a notification/distraction standpoint, there are many great tools for both readers and writers readily accessible from multiple devices. If you want to knock out your book challenge or level up your writing game for 2022, keep reading to find out what apps might help you reach your bookish goals this year!
Hello readers and writerly friends!
Though it may seem counterintuitive from a notification/distraction standpoint, there are many great tools for both readers and writers readily accessible from multiple devices. If you want to knock out your book challenge or level up your writing game for 2022, keep reading to find out what apps might help you reach your bookish goals this year!
Wonderforest is not affiliated with any of these apps mentioned below. These are my genuine recommendations. All of these apps listed below are free-to-use or have free versions available.
Google Docs
Notion is widely versatile and is very user friendly. Photo by Filip Baotić.
Although its an obvious one to start, most writers and editors will suggest MS Word before Google Docs. However, for someone who values accessibility and security over an abundance of professional editorial features, the cloud-based word-processing app might be the way to go. You can access Google Docs from your desktop, laptop, phone, or tablet and autosave is always one. Writer’s can rest easy knowing their precious drafts are safe in the cloud.
2. Notion
Regardless of whether you’re a creative individual or not, Notion is a fantastic multi-functional app with accessibility across multiple devices much like Google Docs. Notion is described as a project management and note-taking app, but to some, it’s the ultimate productivity station. Notion is truly an all-in-one platform for tracking, project management, note-taking, planning, lists, databases, and so much more. It can be as minimal or maximal as needed and its adaptive to the user’s needs. This means users can complete a wide variety of tasks within a single platform, thus decreasing distraction and increasing workflow.
3. Evernote
Readers and writers alike can benefit from using Evernote because it is designed for note taking, organizing, task management, and archiving. Readers who enjoy taking notes over the books they’ve been reading and writers trying to keep track of their project notes can all make use of the features Evernote has to offer, which include but are not limited to:
Sync and Organize. Keep your notes handy.
Web Clipper. A save button for the web.
Tasks. Bring notes & to-dos together.
Calendar. Connect schedules and notes.
Templates. Create better notes, faster.
Document Scanning. Go paperless with Evernote.
Search. Find exactly what you need.
Plagiarism Checker by Grammarly. Screenshot by Payton Hayes.
4. Grammarly
While Grammarly is more of a writer tool, non-writers from students to teachers to business professionals can all benefit from checking their work for plagiarism. When it comes to written content, it’s immensely important to ensure your work is unique and that you’re not taking someone else’s words. Double check that your words are fresh by running them through Grammarly’s plagiarism checker. It’s as simple as uploading a file or copying and pasting.
Honorable mentions
These apps and software didn’t make the cut above because a) they either weren’t free or didn’t have free versions available or b) weren’t available across iOS, Android, and Windows. However, these apps are incredibly useful and are definitely worth checking out!
Living Writer
Scrivener
Final Draft
Storyist
MS Word (MS Office 365 Subscription)
That’s it for my top four most useful apps for writers in 2022, and they’re all free! Do you use these apps for your writing? What did you think of this list? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks for reading and make sure to check out my recent blog posts!
Bibliography:
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—Payton
Book Review: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Hi readers and writerly friends!
This is a spoiler-free review.
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager reminded me of American Horror Story’s Hotel season, where patrons of the hotel go suddenly missing under mysterious circumstances. The Bartholomew was an entity and character of its own and I couldn’t help feeling like I simultaneously wanted to visit the spooky hotel and stay a million miles away from it forever. The unsettling events that occurred behind closed doors were absolutely chilling to the bone. I found myself wishing I could shake the main character and tell her, run Jules, run!
This heart-pounding, breath-catching, page-turner of a thriller kept me hooked start to finish. I listened to the audiobook version of this novel and I was completely enthralled the entire time.
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager follows a young woman whose new job apartment sitting in one of New York’s oldest and most glamorous buildings may cost more than it pays
No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan's most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.
As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story . . . until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.
Searching for the truth about Ingrid’s disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew's sordid past and into the secrets kept within its walls. What she discovers pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building’s hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent (Sager 2019).
The entrance to the Dakota where John Lennon was shot. Photo by Encircle Photos.
The Dakota as seen from Central Park west. Photo by Michelle Young.
Something Riley Sager is known for in his books, is the central plot twist—a storytelling element he does very well. I didn’t see the major twist coming and when my original theory was flipped on its head, I was astonished. However, the twist made sense, once all the clues he laid out beforehand were explained.
Sager employs a history, both real and invented to weave a thrilling tale that feels equal part as urgent and realistic as present-day and equal part ancient and enchanting as The Dakota, the upscale apartment building in New York upon which the elegant Bartholomew is based! Lock Every Door is an intoxicating tapestry that is every bit as disquieting as the bizarre wallpaper in Jules’ apartment in the Bartholomew and the unsettling events it has witnessed.
“I wanted the building to be seductive yet sinister, elegant yet also creepy…I wanted people to really want to live there but at the same time, to be terrified while they’re living there.” —Riley Sager on Lock Every Door.
The Bartholomew, the setting of the story, a character as much as the people in the story, evolves as the story progresses, observed initially as sophisticated and whimsical, and eventually becoming increasingly more sinister and mysterious. From elegant, gilded cage elevators that carry patrons from the top floor to the bowels of the building, to watchful gargoyles perched on the exterior, elements of the setting grow more and more unsettling and oppressive as Jules uncovers one dark secret after another.
This story is a gripping read cover-to-cover that teeters precariously between thriller and horror and stupefies readers with a chilling plot twist that doesn’t come completely from left field.
“There’s plausibility in a thriller. No matter how weird they may get, it’s something that could potentially happen in real life… It never gets otherworldly, so to speak…it is always grounded in some sense of reality. With horror, it seems like there’s a tear in the fabric of reality and that inexplicable things are going on and that just makes it even more frightening...I like to walk that fine line between the two.” —Riley Sager on Lock Every Door.
The quotes from Riley Sager about his book is from the “Interview with Best-Selling Author of Lock Every Door: Riley Sager” on the No Thanks, We’re Booked Podcast Hosted by Mollie from Mollie Reads and Katie from Life Between Words. Check out the rest of the interview here.
“Move over Rosemary’s Baby, urban paranoia has a deliciously gothic new address.” —Ruth Ware
This book makes me want to a) read more of Riley Sager’s writing, b) read Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin, and c) get into more urban paranoia.
In July of 2019, Paramount Television, Sugar 23, and Anonymous Content announced plans to adapt Lock Every Door into a television series, and I am so stoked to see how it turns out. I cannot wait to draw comparisons between the film adaptation and AHS: Hotel.
And that’s it for my review of Riley Sager’s Lock Every Door. Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Have you read any of Sager’s other works? I cannot wait to check out Final Girls by Riley Sager to see more of Jules’ story and where it goes from here. Will you be watching the film adaptation? Let me know what you thought of this book and this review in the comments below!
Bibliography:
Hayes, Payton. “Lock Every Door Audiobook on Google Pixel.” (Thumbnail photo), September 19, 2021.
Sager, Riley. Lock Every Door. New York: Dutton, 2019. Amazon.
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