#writingtips – Page 15 – Jean's Writing

What name should you publish under?

Published on September 6, 2017September 14, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell2 Comments

If you are planning on self-publishing a name is important.

One of the first things I did was to set up a publishing name. Second Act Press. This has a personal meaning to only me and gives my books a bit of publishing weight.

Second Act Press - Jean M. Cogdell

With a purchased ISBN you can publish under your name or a DBA (Doing Business As) name. However, if you use one of the free ISBN offered through Createspace or another company, their name will appear as publisher.

Have you considered a publishing name?

Or have you not thought about one?

If you are writing a book, start thinking. It’s a big decision.

Want more tips? Keep reading.

What to name your publishing company by Rob Bignell

Leave me a comment and let’s talk.

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Jean M Cogdell

Do you know how to drop an Emoji in comments?

Published on September 4, 2017September 14, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell10 Comments

Love or hate them, Emoji are here to stay.

Me, I love them and think they are lots of fun. But, I don’t always remember the right combination to get the correct Emoji.

Yay! Here is a cheat sheet for you and me to drop an Emoji in WordPress.

Writing with Emoji.

I know there is a plugin for WordPress.org. But I use WordPress.com, so if anyone out there has an easier way let me know.

Do you use Emoji?

Do you think you might start adding them now?

Leave me a comment and let’s talk. ❤

Please stop by and say “hey!” I’ll leave a light on.

How to recognize your fingerprints in a story

Published on September 1, 2017September 14, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell8 Comments

If someone dusted your story, would they know it was yours?

Fingerprint and keyboard

All writers have a unique pattern of word usage.

That’s right. Take a look at your writing. Do you use a certain phrase or word over and over? I gotta admit, this is something I haven’t thought about before. Sometimes I overuse words in a draft and will toss them out later. But, I’ve never given much thought to what words or phrase identify me.

Until I read an article by Ben Blatt.

Writers are creatures of habit and have a singular voice they will not or cannot change. We don’t like change any more than any one else. If we are comfortable with a word we use it like sprinkles on ice cream. What I discovered from Mr. Blatt is using a word often is not always bad. Famous authors all have a “tell”.

Now as with all things there is an app for that. LOL

Keep reading!

Can You Identify an Author By How Often They Use the Word “The”? By Ben Blatt

Authors leave a distinctive hidden fingerprint in their stories.

Do you know yours?

Want to find out?

Thanks to Mr. Blatt you now can!

MoWa Literary Fingerprint – Author Identifier By Ben Blatt

Can’t wait to play with this!

What about you? What do you think?

Leave me a comment and let’s talk.

Please stop by and say “hey!” I’ll leave a light on.

Starting a story need not be hard

Published on August 30, 2017August 21, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell5 Comments

Writing prompts make starting easier.

If you’re new to my blog, I love writing prompts.

But not all prompts are created equal. That’s why I was so excited to find this blog post.

Ten Minute Writing Exercises by Practical Creative Writing

What’s so different about these prompts? The prompt is not a word, picture or one sentence. No, there are three. Three questions to ask about one situation. I think this exercise could be applied to a WIP. Hmm… (I’m thinking.)