Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
Posted on August 30, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
Tribes and Our Role as a Writer
If you’ve been following my blog lately, you’ve probably read more about me than you have in a long time. While there’s a lot of reasons why I wanted to open up more, some of which will relate to my upcoming publications, there’s another one that I wanted to explain to you.
You see, even though [...]
Posted on August 18, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
Pendants, Pentacles and Inspiration
One of the things that I like to collect are different pendants. This habit started when I was in college because I have a challenge wearing cheap jewelry due to metal allergies. So, to save money and change my look, I have a jewelry box full of pendants in different shapes, sizes and symbols. Some of these hail from the furthest corners of the world, and each one of them usually has a story behind it. Often, I will wear different pendants because they inspire me to write for different reasons.
The pendant I’m wearing today is one that I usually wear under my shirt, because I have a tangible fear associated with wearing it out in public. The intricate design is of a pentacle intertwined with a crow and, as you might imagine, there is a story associated with how this pendant came to be in my possession.
Posted on August 14, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
Politics, Gaming, Feminism and Persona
When I first started my blogging presence, I knew I wanted to take a more professional tack on it because of my career goals. I had been using LiveJournal for years, but didn’t really start thinking about a persona until I landed a job at an SEO consulting firm. It seems like it was just [...]
Posted on July 12, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
Top 10 Misconceptions about Writers
Like many artistic professions, writers often encounter challenges as we pursue our careers. It seems as if every time I touch base with another writer we all seem to be facing the same, exact issues at one point or another in our lives. One of my friends joked that we should all have punch cards [...]
Posted on July 6, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
Dare I say that I wrote Fan Fiction for a Charity Contest? Read it here.
I had first heard about the contest that authors John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton were sponsoring through Twitter. Dubbed the “Wil Wheaton/John Scalzi Fan Fiction Contest to Benefit the Lupus Alliance of America,” writers were asked to provide a short story about a particularly odd painting. The winners of this contest would then be pooled together into a charity anthology that would be published through Subterranean Press. After seeing the painting, I just had to enter. For your enjoyment, I’m posting a picture of the painting by artist Jeff Zugale and my contribution entitled THE CONTRACT.
Posted on June 23, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
You Don’t Have to “Do” Anything…Other Than Write
One of the things that I find so frustrating with advice for writers, is the sheer volume of task lists, buzzwords, and blog posts that infiltrate every corner of the space telling writers what they “should” be doing. You need to have a writer’s platform. You need to offer your work for free. You need [...]
Posted on May 31, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
Inside VioletWar.com
One of the things that I’m always conscientious about is providing an image that is both professional and creative at the same time. While I enjoy writing and sharing posts with you on my blog, it’s not the same as what I write for VioletWar.com. There, I can be more personal because people are investing [...]
Posted on May 25, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
A Noise Detox
If you’ve been following my blog, you may have read some of my posts about writing and depression. One of the things I talk about there, is that writing is a solitary activity that is part and parcel to a writer’s ability to focus on what they’re doing. As you know, depression can be caused [...]
Posted on May 17, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
Don’t Give Up
The following message is dedicated to any writer who has ever felt discouraged and depressed.
Hey, you! Listen up. Yeah, you. Why the long face? Oh, I get it. You’re depressed because either:
a) you don’t have any readers
b) your book isn’t selling
c) you haven’t been published
d) your peers are surpassing you
e) you have no idea how [...]
Posted on April 20, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
My Guest Post at SFWA: An Overview of Writing for Print vs. the Web
As a writer, I’m often asked to describe the difference between writing for a print publication and writing for the web. This month, I had the chance to write an in-depth article for SFWA.org that provides you with some insight as to why writing for an online publication is so different from writing for print.
Here’s [...]
Posted on April 15, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
Guest Post: Why Mixing Content is a Bad Idea
For today’s post, I’d like to turn my blog over to Jonathan Bailey, a copyright and plagiarism consultant and CEO of CopyByte. Be sure to read is bio after the post below.
In the music or video world, remixing can often be a very good thing. People take short samples of music or short clips of [...]
Posted on March 30, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
Emotional Connection and Writing
Last weekend at my writer’s group, we were discussing how necessary it is to develop an emotional connection with the reader through your work. In fact, a strong emotional connection between the reader and the character can translate to a best-selling book that many of us might not think is all that “good.” It can also translate to the proverbial nerd rage when someone doesn’t like the same book, character, movie, game or comic that someone else love with all their heart.
Those common emotional experiences can range from love to hate and everything in between.
Posted on March 17, 2010 - by Monica Valentinelli
Is Blogging and Social Media Affecting Your Ability to Write What You Want?
If you’ve been following my blog, you may have seen my earlier post about Write First, Sell Later where I express how I feel it’s important to separate your promotional time from your writing time.
One of the things that I’ve found is that a timer isn’t “enough” to discipline me to get off of social media or blogging channels to write, write, write. Why? Well, blogging requires one mindset for me; social media requires another. In many ways, blogging requires a “voice” which may vary depending upon the blog.
My Recent Releases
The Queen of Crows
Download THE QUEEN OF CROWS e-book at DriveThruHorror.com
Watch the Promo Video
Family Games: The 100 Best
Order through Amazon.comThe Bones
Available at Gameplaywright.netRecommended Writing Music
Violet War
Click for Literacy!
