Tag Archives: Writing is a Team Sport

Guest Blogger, Thoughts

Possible Blog Post Topics

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Writing is a Team SportAs part of my ‘Writing is a Team Sport’ uh… initiative (is that the word I’m looking for? It sounds awfully grown-up…) I’ve offered to host more guest blogs here than I had previously. And more than a few people have been in touch to take me up on that offer but frequently our conversation gets to the ‘But what am I going to write about?’ stage and then my potential guest gets stuck. Sometimes they get stuck to the point that the blog post doesn’t happen. >_<

In an attempt to help answer the ‘What do I write about?’ question, I’ve come up with this list of suggestions 🙂

Ten Possible Topics for Guest Posts On My Blog

  1. Write a scene from your story from a different point of view.
    • If the scene is a conversation between Bob and Betty and in your story it’s told from Bob’s point of view, tell it instead from Betty’s. Or show us how the cat sitting unobtrusively in the corner see things. Or–?
  2. Make a YouTube playlist that is meant to be used as the soundtrack to your story. Share a little bit about the overall feeling of the music or how it relates to your tale–no spoilers!
  3. Interview one of your secondary characters about their role in the story, or how they feel about the main characters. Or let the secondary character interview a main character. Or vice versa.
  4. Gather and share a collection of images which somehow relate to your story, or that exemplify your story’s aesthetic and talk about why you chose what you did. Again, no spoilers.
  5. Make a list. “Top Ten Things I Learned While Writing This Story/Book”. “Five Interesting Things About My Main Character”. “Top Three Reasons To Read My Story/Book”. Whatever. Be creative. Be interesting. Write something that you would want to read.
  6. Write about the ‘Why’ of something. “Why I Wrote Story/Book” “Why stories like mine matter”
  7. Write about one of your hobbies or interests outside of writing. Bonus points if you can relate it to your most recent story/book.
  8. Write about why you love books/reading.
  9. Share a drabble or bit of flash fiction (short, short, short) that is somehow related to your story/book.
  10. If you’re promoting a story (rather than a book) pretend you get to give it a cover just like a book. What would it look like? If it’s a book share some of the cover ideas/options that were considered but dismissed.

This list is not exclusive, it’s mostly meant to help get ideas flowing. I think the most important thing is to enjoy what you’re writing about (people can tell when you’re forcing it).

Oh. And bonus points if you include an image or two that I can run with your post. 🙂

 

If you’d like me to host a guest post by you drop me a line at rhonda.l.parrish@gmail.com and we’ll chat!

Just Stuff

Aurora Story Bundle

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If you’re looking for a great bundle of books to read have I got a link for you! Story Bundle has a bundle going on right now that contains 8 books which have won the Aurora Award. The Aurora Award, for those who don’t know, is an award for excellence in Canadian speculative fiction.

Check this out:

Our curator, Douglas Smith, has won the Aurora three times and been on the final ballot another sixteen. One of his goals when putting this bundle together, aside from offering the best books possible, was to have a gender balance in the selected authors. Mission accomplished. The bundle includes five female and five male authors. You’ll also get a great mix of SF and fantasy, adult and YA novels, as well as a selection of short fiction. The bundle also reflects the long history of the Auroras, with titles spanning over twenty years of Canadian speculative fiction.

Covers

Click Here to check ’em out

And for the record, I don’t have a book in this bundle, I’m just spreading the word because a friend asked me to and writing is a team sport 🙂

 

Giveaway, Goals, Just Stuff

Writing is a Team Sport

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I say “Writing is a team sport*” a lot, so I decided to dedicate this year to that idea, and to being a part of the team.

Our team includes (but is not limited to) readers, writers, editors, publishers, artists (and more) and the opposing team is negativity, depression, discouragement, loneliness and obscurity.

I’d like to host more guest posts here on my blog, and I’m going to try and signal boost more people, and basically just do what I can to support everyone else on my team. Because writing is tough. It is freaking tough and it is mostly a solitary endeavor. In the end it’s you and the story and the page. And that’s it. Sometimes there is eventually an audience, but what we do is largely done alone. So I want to provide support where I can.

The first thing I did, because I am who I am, is order swag. I won’t lie, what I really wanted was team jackets. You know, letterman jackets with patches and numbers and stuff? Yeah! I suspect this is largely motivated by the fact I didn’t get one in high school *sad face* but whatever… The budget said no. So I went with buttons.

And don’t get me wrong, they are spiffy buttons. They have the above design (by Cary Vandever, by the way) on them and they look like this:

Writing Is A Team Sport

(Crappy iPad photo because I’ve somehow misplaced every single memory card for my camera. What?)

Yesterday I offered subscribers to my newsletter buttons and today I’ve offered them to people who have ‘liked’ my Facebook page. You can have one too, if you’d like. I’ll be giving them away, while supplies last, with priority to my newsletter subscribers and Facebook followers. And if you have a writing or critique group let me know, I’ll send extra. And if you are attending a convention or other writing-related gathering soon let me know, I’ll send a lot extra 🙂

To get a button email me at rhonda.l.parrish@gmail.com with your snail mail address. I promise to only use your address for this and to destroy the email immediately after your package is in the mail.

But this isn’t all about buttons (though buttons, like bow ties, are cool!). I’ll be rolling out a couple more regular features on my blog as I get the details sorted in my mind. In the meantime, do you have a book launch or cover reveal coming up? Would you like a spot on my blog? Get in touch, we’ll work something out. Need a signal boost on social media? My presence isn’t huge but I’ll do what I can–let me know.

I want to help, because writing is a team sport and we’re on the same side.

*I recognise we could totally pick that phrase apart. If you don’t think I’ve done it a bazillion times already, well, you obviously haven’t met me, but can we not? I get it. It could say ‘Publishing is a Team Sport’, it could say ‘Art is a Team Sport”–I get it. I really, really do, but let’s just not pick at it okay? Because I think, really, you get what I’m saying. We’re all in this together. That is the idea I want to spotlight and highlight this year.

I’ll tell you what, if you can refrain from picking on my phrasing maybe I’ll make another set of buttons that say “Writing: We’re all in this together” or something… but for now — Writing is a Team Sport :-p