Tapping into your emotions

Tell Me A Story - Congratulations

Congratulations to Joe Mynhardt for his recent success. Joe - a fellow author on MWC had been talking on the forum about the best way of using emotions in writing. I put in my pennyworth and thought you might be interested as well.

"I think the secret of emotive writing is to tap into your own emotions and experiences, BUT apply them in a different slant.
Sometimes real experiences are too raw and we can't do them true justice on paper. In those circumstances it's better to write about something entirely different, yet still tap into the emotion we feel. In this way we give our work depth. For a greater feel for the subject read - The Fulfilling Fact - Emotional Influence.

Joe replied with - "Well said, AJ - and I guess I got it right, because I sent the story off yesterday and got an acceptance email today."

I wish Joe Mynhardt all the very best with his work. I love it when people find success. It gives everyone else encouragement too. So all of you out there still struggling, take heart. It CAN happen.



next post


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Without Reproach -a romantic mystery - try it.
Short Moments - 'Feel good' short stories

Making a living from writing

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Links on Tell Me a Story

• How To Describe - Mastering Descriptive Writing
• To Write A Story - 20 Ways To Write A Story Better
• Story Characters - 7 Cool Ways To Jump-Start Your Writing

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Anthony, I’m about to leave school and have always wanted to be a writer - I think I can make a living from writing fiction. Mum wants me to continue with higher education. Can you say something to help me change her mind?

• Wow, Izzy. I simply can’t do that. I’ve touched on this before. The problem is, the majority of writers make very little money and most of them don’t make a living, certainly not enough from writing to live in a comfortable manner.
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• Not Good Earnings
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• I pointed out in an earlier post, that Steve Weber in his book on book promotion and writing, tells us out of approximately 150,000 books published each year, 100,000 will sell less than 100 copies. These aren’t good figures I'm afraid.
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• Not Evenhanded.
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• I wouldn’t advise it as a career unless you have an independent source of money, or have been writing for years and already built up a following. Further data shows that 5% of authors earn 95% of all money from books. Not exactly evenhanded, is it? Yet it's little different to the music industry, where lots of good musicians get paid peanuts.
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• Please don’t stop writing, but treat it as a hobby until you’re certain that your earnings will support you. Not many people actually make a living from writing fiction - you could be the odd one out, but don't bank on it. Maybe look to journalism, or online writing, but fiction.....
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• Next post, Nino Ricci.