3 Things You Need to Do When Your Hobby Begins to Feel like a Job

Posted on by LissyWrites in About Things, About Writing, Personal Posts

It’s been a long, long, long time since I’ve actually stopped and enjoyed the process of writing. It came to a point where I would put things ahead of writing time. I had to prepare for my promotion, then I had to train once I received the promotion, then I had school, then I had tests, etc. Those things do take priority, but even during downtime, when none of those things were even happening, I still found myself saying, “It’s okay, I’ll write tomorrow.”

I became the one person I always blogged about, trying to avoid. I am the writer who talks about writing, but never actually does.

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Coming Back from a Hiatus

Posted on by LissyWrites in About Things, About Writing, Personal Posts

How this all started

Stack of Books on "Coming Back from a Hiatus"

I was in my senior year of high school, and I was trying my best to be a writer when being a writer had never been so accessible. Self-publishing was booming, and I wanted to boom right along with it. I read so many blogs, books, and articles on writing and publication. All of them suggested creating and cultivating a social media presence.

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Writing Topics for Creative Writers

Posted on by LissyWrites in About Things, About Writing
Writing Topics - Notepad and Laptop

The struggle of every creative, fiction writer: coming up with new ideas. I constantly fear that the day will come where I have nothing new to write about, and while that is a valid fear, it probably won’t actually happen. There are countless blog posts with writing topics, story-idea-generators, and plenty of new fads that you can craft to fit into your own, unique universe. To help combat this fear, I am here with my own list of writing topics:

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6 Tips and Tricks for Strong Character Development

Posted on by LissyWrites in About Things, About Writing
Strong, Developed Fictional Characters from a Manga

I think you’d be hard-pressed to argue against the idea that characters can make or break a story. In most cases, if not all, they are our guide through a story. More importantly, sometimes the story is their story. Regardless, your characters need to be compelling, or at the very least realistic in some manner. Now, when I say realistic, I don’t mean they have to be human, but they need to have depth. Much like ogres, your characters need to be like onions; they have many layers. Now, “how,” you may ask, “does a character get so onion-like?” Never fear, here are some tips and tricks to consider when developing your little onions… er, characters:

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Finding Inspiration and Why It Won’t Help You

Posted on by LissyWrites in About Things, About Writing

Why Inspiration Won’t Help You

Inspiration is a fickle thing. It’s there one moment, but gone before you can even finish the first chapter that came from the inspiration to begin with. Inspiration is a great thing, but it is too unreliable to get your book finished. You should never wait for writing inspiration, just write. The hardest part is getting start, so if you just start writing, usually things will work themselves out. You’ll find a good rhythm and be much more productive in the long run.

However, I understand that inspiration is helpful. Inspiration is the lifeblood of creativity, after all. So, here is how to keep that inspiration alive:

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How to Be a Bad Writer, Then How to Get Better

Posted on by LissyWrites in About Things, About Writing, Personal Posts

What is a bad writer?

Not someone who isn’t sure where to put a comma, not someone who isn’t sure what the difference is between “effect” and “affect,” and not someone who writes in run-on sentences. No, none of these things mean that someone is a bad writer. No, no, in fact, it is something much simpler than that. You are bad writer if you don’t write.

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What “Death Mark” on the Nintendo Switch Taught Me About Writing

Posted on by LissyWrites in About Games, About Things, About Writing

What is Death Mark?

Nintendo Switch's Death Mark

Death Mark is described on the Nintendo store page as an adventure game, which it very much is. You play as a man with amnesia who finds himself drawn to a mansion he doesn’t recognize, with a mark, described as a dog bite, on your wrist. You don’t know how you got it, why you got it, how to get rid of it, or even who you are, but you do know that the answer is hidden somewhere in this mansion, and that is where our story begins.

Now, my opinions on Death Mark are pretty neutral. I didn’t love it, and I didn’t hate it. The Nintendo Switch title is pretty run-of-the-mill Japanese, adventure game. It’s text heavy, which isn’t a problem, usually, but the story really drags at points. The whole amnesia thing is pretty played out for me, but the horror is definitely present and well-done. So, it falls into my, “happy I played it, but probably won’t play again” pile. However, even if it wasn’t the best thing ever, there can still be a lot to learn about writing from this title, and here is what I learned:

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How to Deal with Hate Comments in Marketing and Writing

Posted on by LissyWrites in About Things, About Writing, Personal Posts
You Amongst the Hate Comments

So, I have been playing around with various ad managers out their (Facebook, Instagram, etc), to try and get more feedback on my blog, as well as just get more eyes on it. I tend to see pretty far reach, high impressions, a reasonable amount of clicks, but not very much engagement with either the ads or the blog post linked to the ad. So, I tried to go a bit more informal with my ad copy and just straight up asked people if they would be willing to check out something I wrote.

Well, I got what I wanted. I received a comment not long after I started my campaign. The comment was poking fun at my ad copy and how if that was any indication of my writing ability, they most certainly would mind reading anything else I wrote. It was the sickest of burns, to be perfectly honest, and had it been directed at anyone else, I probably would have laughed. However, because it was pointed at me, it felt like the worst possible thing to be said. I wouldn’t call it a hate comment, personally, but I could see how others might see it as one. Now, in that vulnerable state, there were many things I could have done, but I think I did what was probably best, and I want to share that process with you today:

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Entering a Writing Competition

Posted on by LissyWrites in About Things, About Writing, Personal Posts

I entered a writing competition

Writing competitions aren’t that different from submitting your work for general publication, but it just feels different. I feel like there is more at stake (though it could be that I had to pay a submission fee, which I have also never done before), and I feel that if I fail to win or place that it will just prove all of those insecure, internal voices right. Ultimately, though, if I ever plan to do anything more with my writing than just publishing one piece a year, I need to start taking chances, dipping my toes in bigger pools, and putting myself in more uncomfortable situations.

So here I am, I have entered a writing competition, and I am scared to death. The process itself wasn’t very difficult. I did the same thing I have done anytime I have submitted anything to anyone, expect I had to put in my credit card info, which felt really weird and wrong. Ultimately though, I shouldn’t be as worried as I am right now. At this point, though, you are probably wondering why this matters to you:

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