How to Create Your Own Conference from Home

January 10, 2015October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

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This is the year,” I said. The year I will attend a writers conference. Certain I’d walk away with valuable knowledge and new friends, I circled the dates, in red ink, on my calendar. Instead, life happened, reality set in, and the conference became a repeat item on my wish list. Some conferences were too costly, too lengthy, too far away, or personal and family obligations got in the way.

I turned green listening to other attendees talk about their experiences, and the authors and agents they met. I wanted to garner their newly acquired wisdom and enthusiasm for my own.

As much as I believed in the value of conferences, I realized they weren’t the only resource. So I developed a backup, my own lists of resources to utilize as my own home conference. Here are my top five.

Conference from Home: The internet provides a treasure trove of writing resources. Written by agents, authors, and writers, of all genres, they are, with the stroke of a key, available to everyone. Articles, instruction, workbooks, checklists, critiques, podcasts, online classes, and free downloads are yours for the taking.

Live Write Thrive – C.S. Larkin’s website rates top on my list. She offers a wide selection of articles and focused series aimed at helping writers succeed. Her most recent series is 12 Key Pillars of Novel Construction. In addition, you can download a number of items including, Fiction critiques and First-page checklists for novels. Two excellent examples.
Write Better Stories – Jennifer Blanchard offers an array of articles and services, including free downloads for her new guide and workbook, How to Write Better Stories. Her First Plot Point Worksheet is also available.
Writer’s Village Academy – In easy layman’s terms and with an array of examples, Dr. John Yeoman is a tremendous source of succinct information on writing. Currently, Dr. Yeoman is offering the first four weeks of his Master Course in Creative Writing – FREE!
Women on Writing is an awesome site with numerous articles, classes (paid), and referral sites. Here you can find a smorgasbord of resources from classes like, Writing a Novel with a Writing Coach: One-on-one Instruction to sections on Character Research and Books for Writers. WOW, also sponsors one of my favorite contests.
Udemy Online offer classes and courses on a variety of subjects, including writing. The courses are often discounted and sometimes free, as in the case of the course I’m taking, Outlining Your Novel: The Hollywood Secret Exposed (all about outlining a whodunit-mystery-novel).

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While not the hands-on conference I aspire to, I find these the next best thing, providing me the opportunity to hone my craft from the comfort of home.

I’d love to spend a few days at a writers conference, but until the stars align and I can, I’ll utilize the resources at my fingertips.

What about you? What do you do in lieu of conferences?

What Are Your Goals?

October 22, 2014October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 8 Comments

Blogging 201: Set Three Goals
First things first: let’s set some goals and plan for success.

I’ve just begun another course from The Daily Post, Blogging 201. Our first assignment is to review our blog with a critical eye and set three goals.

I began blogging in 2009 after the death of my best friend. Friendship of a Lifetime, became a place to journal thoughts and opinions related to friendship and loss. As I began to write, I decided it was a great opportunity for me to share my journey and thus, Cow Pasture Chronicles was created.

At the time, followers were not my focus, but learning and growing in the craft of writing. I shared things I thought would be helpful to other writers, as well as some of my own fiction, essays and opinion pieces. I was thrilled when I began receiving ping backs, mentions, followers and comments. Now I would like to sharpen focus (brand) of Cow Pasture Chronicles. To begin this process I have written three goals:

1) Post weekly. In the past, I haven’t been consistent.

2) Establish a regular feature by the middle of November. Blogging 101 suggested this, but I haven’t decided which feature I want. Right now, it’s between a weekly feature on, Writing (how-to’s), Opinion pieces (based on current affairs), or a Fiction Gallery (Showcasing not only my fiction but others who wish to share).

3) Network and connect more with my followers by reading and commenting. I have been working on this since Blogging 101, but I can do better. I believe successful networking and communication with other bloggers will foster more traffic and additional followers.

I have additional goals, but this is a good start. Have you set new goals?

Ways We Sabotage Our Own Writing Success

September 1, 2013November 14, 2015 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 7 Comments

Writing is not for the faint of heart. It takes hard work, dedication, a thick skin, and perseverance. Submitting that first piece of work is like standing naked on the stage of American Idol for all the world to judge.

We know, intellectually, constructive criticism and rejection will be part of the creative writing process, yet we are often unprepared. In addition, juggling everyday responsibilities and establishing a solid writing schedule amid time constraints can lead to disorganization, resulting in sabotaging the very success as writers we seek.

Sabotaging ourselves is easy. With its many disguises, it insidiously creeps up in the form of revisions, platform building, tutorials, tally counting, and discouragement, to name a few.
If you have ever found yourself doing any of the following, you might be sabotaging your writing success and perhaps it’s time to reevaluate.

Obsessing over a story or chapter–Revising to the point you can’t seem to move forward.
Obsessing over a rejection or critique–Taking it personally rather than learning from the experience
Obsessing over another’s numbers – Number of stories or novels published; the number of Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest followers they have compared to you. As a result, you spend more time on social network sites than writing.
Obsessing over learning rather than doing – Reading or attending every how-to-write-the –best-novel book, class or seminar without ever translating the knowledge into a story or novel.
Obsessing over time – Constant complaining over not enough time, schedule interruptions; lack of planning, no set schedule, timetable or goal.
Obsessing over a blank page – Writer’s block or missing muse.
Obsessing over the negative rather than the positive – Allowing discouragement, resentment, and anger to sap your creative energy.

Each one of us has chosen our path in life and defined our own success. However, to achieve our dreams and goals we must recognize the obstacles in our path, including the ones we often place ourselves.

Patterns of sabotage can lead to talented writers throwing their hands up in frustration or never seeing their dreams come to fruition. However, once recognized these patterns can be changed and success is but a keystroke away.

What do you think? Do writers sabotage themselves? Have you? I’d love to hear your comments.

“…Finally… never quit. That is all the secret of success. Never quit! Quitting, I like to believe, has not been a striking characteristic of our family, and it is not tolerated in our college.
If you can’t win the scholarship, fight it out to the end of the examination.
If you can’t win your race, at least finish—somewhere.
If your boat can’t win, at least keep pulling on your oar, even if your eye glazes and the taste of blood comes into your throat with every heave.
If you cannot make your five yards in football, keep bucking the line -never let up—if you can’t see, or hear, keep plugging ahead! Never quit! If you forget all else I have said, remember these two words, through all your life…”

John D. Swain novelist and screenwriter; The Book of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood (Manuscripts & Archives, Yale University)

Time is relative, write?