Pinterest is for tech savvy magpies distracted by the bright and shiny, unabashedly pinning, saving and stockpiling their coolest finds. Afraid of another time-sucking distraction? All you have to do is infuse a little order into this newest of online obsessions, and you too can use Pinterest to create, inspire, and network with other writers and readers.

SO WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

Pinterest is basically a virtual corkboard. You can add images or videos and quickly and easily find and bookmark your own cool discoveries as well as those from the people you follow, all in a pretty little picture-collection.

But how does the savvy writer use Pinterest to his or her advantage? Here are few tips on how to showcase your talent without being having to parrot “buy my, buy me, buy me.” (Because believe me…no one likes a chatty parrot. Especially not before their first morning cuppa joe.)

WELL-STACKED

First and foremost, you should create a board with your book covers and include links to information page(s). Don’t forget to include the dollar amount somewhere in the description (just type it in anywhere in the description box, dollar sign included) and a little price tag will show up on your pin.

Why? Items pinned with prices often get shown Pinterest-wide in the Gifts section. More eyes on your pin!

FEED THE MUSE

Troll the web for photos that inspire you or remind you of your characters, the clothing they would where, where they would live, your setting etc. Include videos of music that would make a good soundtrack to your manuscript.

Why? This works as both a vision board for you and a mood board for your readers, giving them a deeper glimpse into the world you are creating, and hopefully making them more excited for your release day.

CLIQUE CLIQUE

Search for other boards that are book/writing related and comment on those pins or repin items to your own boards.

Also, don’t forget to put your boards in the proper category (i.e. books and writing). You’ll get automatic traffic flow from other Pinterest users searching for those topics. Just click the EDIT button below your board and scroll down to the CATEGORY field to select the appropriate category for your pins).

WHY? Like all other social sites, Pinterest is about networking not simply touting your latest and greatest. And it’s fun to discover new finds and other cool pinners!

GET EMBED

Embed your pins on your blog or directly in your posts to create a direct traffic flow between the two sites.

This site offers 2 great tutorials on how to add your boards to your WordPress blog, as well as one to add a specific board instead of every pin you…well, pin!

MAKE IT EASY

Don’t forget to add the Pinterest button to your website! Grab the image from Pinterest, select the html code they provide and add it to your website or blog. Easy peasy!

OPTIMIZE IT

Include targeted keywords in your description that will help searchers find your content. Do you write books or articles? Write about zombies or cheap shopping tips? Include that in your pins so pinners can find your stuff in a snap.

WITH A LITTLE HELP

Join up with your writing buddies and contribute to the same board. You can help to cross promote, have fresh content, and create your own mini network. There is strength in numbers!

HOW? When you create a new board, simple select the “Me+Contributors” field under the “Who can pin?” heading, then enter your desired pinners in the text field.

Note: You have to be following at least one board of the person you want to add as a contributor to your board.

FANNING ABOUT

Create a board that your readers can also contribute to. Allow them to post photos, videos, reviews etc.

WHY? Word-of-mouth is one of the best marketing tools and it’s free! Your readers will feel engaged and having other people talk you up comes off as more genuine than you telling everyone how fabulous you are. (I mean, we all know you’re awesome. But when it comes to self-promotion, modesty is the best policy).

OFFER A HANDSOME REWARD

Create a board specifically for contests or book giveaways and allow readers to contribute. It’s a fun and interactive way to engage visitors, allowing you a way to instantly create a buzz and excitement about you and your books.

IDEAS!

• Need a face for your latest character? Post a description on your blog of his or her character traits, then ask readers to pin pictures to your board of what they think that character would look like
• Host a scavenger hunt! Hide images on your website then invite people to pin the pages they found them on!
• Make it a puzzle! Take an image (your book cover, or something that fits with your book’s theme), chop it up in your fave photo editing program then pin a new image each day. The first person to guess what the full image depicts wins!

MOST OF ALL, HAVE FUN!

There are so many ways to use not only Pinterest, but all social networking sites. It may be tempting to post links to every book you’ve written, every blog post you’ve ever penned, every interview, review or article about you, but don’t forget to get social. Interact with others, start conversations, and comment unselfishly. Your fellow magpies will not be able to resist flocking to you!

FOLLOW ME

I’m already on Pinterest! Stop by and say hello!

Photo: TreeFaerie

A little birdy told Miss Write that author Barry Napier has a fondness for the coupling of writing and music.

Check out my interview with this writer of dark fiction and how music inspires his writing routine.

Since I don’t listen to much music with actual beat (or words for that matter) while writing, this is a tricky one. I’ve gotten a Tycho kick lately. And as for as “shimmying and shaking” the newer Arms and Sleepers album is killer. Most of the stuff I listen to while writing doesn’t really induce movement, though. There’s not much need to dance about when listening to Robert Rich or Bohren und Der Club of Gore.

I mentioned this somewhere else recently, but I listened to the Carbon Based Lifeforms albums Interloper and Hydroponic Garden a LOT while writing this. But yes, I also did create a playlist on Spotify [username ghosts_in_(parentheses)] which I used quite a bit. I split it into two “moods”…one for in depth writing (a lot of ambient stuff here) and then music that would be fitting for action scenes. Listen to the Fuck Buttons remix of “If I Had a Heart” by Fever Ray to see what I mean.

Not sure…who is sarcastic? I’d say Tom Waits, but no one has that gravel to their voice, you know? I always try to make sure that even the most fantastical of elements is in some way grounded to the real world. This is tricky to do, but when it works, I think it can really help a story get its wheels. So as far as voice, yeah, I think maybe mine is a bit sarcastic with SOME gravel but not to the Tom Waits degree…maybe more like Leonard Cohen in his old age.

That’s easy. Dark ambient. Definitely. Or maybe doomjazz (look it up, it’s a genre).

Sadly, I am finding that “message” is more along the lines of what I try to sneak in from time to time these days. I used to try working with attitude, but if you don’t do this right, you can come off as being pretentious, I think. And theme is also important, especially in a series such as Everything Theory. But I don’t think you can approach theme with a pre-planned intention. I think theme sometimes presents itself when you aren’t expecting it and the story then gets built around it. So if I have a personal power chord, it would be one of those long droning ones that are being relayed through an effects pedal…something melodic and haunting at the same time…like out of a Hammock track.

If you want to read Barry’s books and see for yourself how his musical tastes influence his writing, check out his newly-released book, Everything Theory, or check out his other works.

And thanks again, Barry! Rock on!

Remember when I told you to Stop Saying It Sucks? You didn’t listen to me, did you?

Ok, sure. You batted your eyelashes and placated me for a while.

But slowly, you’ve allowed that nasty little habit of trash talkin’ your writerly self-worth to rear its ugly head.

Well, what better time than the start of a new year to kick that habit to the curb where it belongs?

Now, I’m not saying you should treat yourself like a delicate little wallflower. In fact, developing a thick skin is something we writers all need to do (Miss Write included).

So yeah, giving yourself a stern talking to is sometimes a necessary evil (like when you find yourself scarfing down Ho Hos in the middle of the night and penning nasty letters to the local cable station for their lack of spell-checking their t.v. listings when you really should be finishing that dusty manuscript you started a month ago).

But that doesn’t mean you should belittle yourself or your talent.

It’s a vicious cycle, my friends (kind of like how that 1 Ho Ho you were going to have turned into 3). First the negative self-talk. Then, the more you snark at yourself, the easier it is to believe. And soon you find yourself doing everything and anything you can not to sit down and write (or worse, not even making an attempt to write at all).

Believe me. Even your beloved Miss Write fell into this trap once upon a time. I spent a few years not writing at all because I was convinced everything I put to paper was shite. Let me tell you, I would take a month of bad days at the computer dragging the words out of my brain like a festering splinter than not writing at all.

If you’re like me, and not writing seems more painful than writing something that isn’t up to snuff, then now’s the time to get to it already.

Besides, isn’t that what 2nd, 3rd and 4th drafts are for? To polish your writing to a spit-shine? I swear, sometimes I have more fun during the editing process (it must be the masochist in me;)

So, what do you say? Save the shaming for those other suckas! Whenever you find yourself verbally chastising yourself, look at how you are picking on yourself and turn it into something you can improve instead.

Because if you believe your own bad press (even if it’s self-imposed), everyone else will too. It will show in your work. Your writing (if you are able to push past those self-erected barriers) will seem stilted, timid, lacking in passion. And soon, everyone else will start to believe those negative things too.

So, who’s ready to empower themselves and their writing in 2012?

You Say You Want a (Writing) Resolution? Well…what are you waiting for?

A new school year may seem like a poor man’s (or woman’s) New Year, but it certainly doesn’t have that same sense of excitement for most people.

No party hats, no hors d’oeuvres, no inappropriate champagne-fueled shenanigans (unless you’re a college or university student living in residence, and even then the most you can hope for is foamy keg beer in your red plastic cup).

Even if you graduated back when Hammer pants were cool (uh….), that doesn’t mean you can’t jump on the New Year bandwagon and rev up your writing enthusiasm.

Still wondering how to get psyched up for writing despite the post-summer slumber? Patience, Grasshopper.

Limber Up
Is your idea of a good workout spinning in your office chair? No wonder your butt is the size of Texas. But baby, it’s okay that you got back, because we’re not talking calisthenics here. We’re talking about cracking your knuckles and flexing your writing muscles, and the best way to do that? A few writing exercises.

Okay, so you may not be into breaking open a pack of loose-leaf and practicing your cursive, but getting back to basics is so easy, a caveman can do it.

The Quick & Dirty

• 5-minute fiction: short writing sprints allow you to get the pen moving without that perpetual self-doubt creeping in
• Roleplay: it isn’t just for the boudoir anymore. Get into the head of your characters by trying the ‘long woolen underwear‘ trick.

Writing exercises sharpen your skills and can give you the added bonus of new tools in your writing arsenal.

Make it Routine
If you can make time for daily Words With Friends trash-talking, you can set up a chunk of your day devoted solely to putting pen to paper. Or fingers to keyboard. Or ass to chair. Better yet, all of the above.

Sure, punching a virtual time clock may seem to take all the punk rock out of being able to set your own hours as a writer. But haven’t you heard that saying, “A year from now you may wish you had started today”?

The Quick & Dirty

• set up a writing schedule: daily, weekly, monthly – whatever suits your style. Even slackers need a routine
• Looking for an enabler? Check out Inkygirl’s Wordcount Challenges of 250, 500 and 1000 words a day

If you can’t even show up for your self-declared passion, you might as well pack up your pencil and take a job gluing googly eyes on stuffed animals.

Still not convinced? Picture the torture chamber that is the office cubicle…..I’ll wait…..okay, done? You’re welcome.

Start Smoking
No, we don’t want you to channel your inner Cancer Man. Pick up your pen and get it moving. Shimmy, shake, do the Hustle, the Cabbage Patch or strike up your own personal mosh-pit-for-one. Do whatever it takes to coax your unique writing voice out from under a summer of bourbon and BBQ.

Get your creativity pumped and poised to flow like gangbusters from your pen. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. After all, the sign of any good writer is tatted hair, with ink stains on his or her fingers (or at the very least, clawed carpal tunnel hands from keeping them poised over the keyboard for 8 hours) and under-eye circles the hue of bruises.

Spend Less Time With Family & Friends

You had all summer to hold hands and skip to your lou. Now it’s time to buckle down and get back to that manuscript that’s been gathering dust since June.

Think your Mom will pull a guilt-trip if you stop showing up for Sunday dinner in favor of getting a few thousand more words under your belt? You’ve got plenty of uncomfortable family gatherings coming up that contain a turkey/tofurkey/turducken. You can see your loved ones then. Embrace this opportunity to be a little selfish and think only about you.

Cuz no one else does! At least, not until you land a book deal and start making the big bucks. But the only way to do that is cut the apron strings and spill a little ink.

Don’t Pussyfoot

Take this opportunity to amplify your creativity again. Expand your horizons, try something new. Whether its a new genre, a different voice, a challenge like Nanowrimo or taking a writing class, step outside of your comfort zone.

And don’t just cross the line. Stomp, skank or strut your stuff and show ‘em what you’re made of.

Well, boy howdy! Stop yer fussin’ and fightin’. Here’s a heap of writin’ links for my favorite word wranglers!

How To Market Your Self-Published Book
Robert Stricklin (Feb. 2011) The Writer, pg. 37

Marketing a self-published book is akin to hitting the dating scene. If you want to woo readers, you’d better be prepared to put yourself out there and shake your tail feathers a bit.

This article in the February 2011 issue of The Writer offers tried-and-true marketing tips with advice on how independent authors can utilize them to get their name (and their book) out there. So, get pimpin’!

Writing Prompts For Everyone!
Stuck for an idea? Can’t think of a good opening? Sounds like you need a little nudge (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Author Lori Ann Bloomfield posts weekly prompts at firstlinefiction.blogspot.com, as well as periodic writing exercises, inspirational quotes and musings.

Write Addiction is another source for “daily writing prompts and prods” that will help you put your pen in motion.

The Long Woolen Underwear Trick
from Acting Out: two fiction exercises help writers get in character
Roy Sorrels (January 2011), The Writer, pgs. 10 – 11

Need a little help slipping into the skin of your characters? (Figuratively, that is. It’s not like you’re Hannibal Lecter or anything).

Try the ‘long woolen underwear’ trick. Imagine your character is standing directly in front of you. Close your eyes, visualize, and “put him/her on” one arm at a time. Then a leg. Then the body. Then, completely in character, write from your character’s unique voice.

Well, kiss my grits! That’s it for this week’s Writin’ Round-Up! But quit yer belly-achin’! I’ll be back next week with more tidbits to tickle yer Muse.

Got some slick writin’ links that’ll make me hoot and holler? Send ’em to me!

Later, y’all!

See Dick get emotional.

See Dick & Jane be vulnerable.

Boys and girls – let’s all be like Dick & Jane.

Tapping into your own emotions is the easiest way to inject life into your writing.

Without giving your readers the good, bad, ugly and everything in between of human emotion, you might as well just prop up a couple of cardboard cut-outs and maneuver your characters through your story.

Deny your audience the core of what makes you human, and they will find no thread of truth to draw them into your writing.

Whether you write fiction or non-fiction; articles or your memoirs – let your emotions spill onto the page unabashedly.

You don’t have to write Horror to use your pen for your literary bloodletting. Thing don’t have to always be gory. Just because you mainline a little fear, joy, anger, love or sorrow does not mean you are weak. It opens up a channel of bonding that can translate into an ongoing relationship between you and your readers.

Isn’t that why we all write? To connect? Isn’t that what all those solitary hours are about? To excite and delight and create a shared experience?

Whether you woo your readers with Romance, try to scare the bejeezus out of them with Suspense; or simply open up and share your life in Memoirs or inspirational articles, drawing from your own experience – flaws and all – does not make you weak. It shows your humanity.

It was a small location, but I spent hours thumbing through the stacks, looking for the next great read and remember many days sitting cross-legged on the floor, a book in one hand and the other twirling my dark brown pigtails as I read.

It wasn’t difficult to get lost in the words or to daydream about the fantastical places those books took me.

And that’s the problem (if you can really call it a problem).

Sometimes, I would get so wrapped up in the story that I would need to read it again and again and — well, I have a confession to make.

~leaning in closely~ Ready for it?

~eyes narrowing~ Are you sure?

~voice dropping to a whisper~ I perpetually brought my library books back late.

THERE. Cat’s out of the bag now. Here ~clasping wrists together~ You might as well cart me away right now.

Yup. It’s the truth. I know. I can’t even stand to look at myself in the mirror most days for the shame of it all.

This has haunted me for years. I wake up in a cold sweat out of fear that eagle-eyed librarians around the city sit clutching an age-enhanced photos of me in one hand while clenching a whistle in their teeth, prepared to blow on it the moment I step through their doors.

The thought of my mother getting The Call that I’ve been hauled away for fines from late-returned books from the 1980’s is almost too much to bear. I can’t even begin to imagine the exorbitant fees that have accrued on my dreaded permanent record in the more than 25 years since.

But you know what? I don’t care. YEAH! I said it! I don’t care! I wouldn’t have it any other way. For I don’t see this as a crime of thievery. I see it as being a true bibliophile. A lover of books right from the start. A bookworm from the very beginning.

It’s time to step out of the shadows and embrace my roots. To face the stigma that us book hoarders face every day from the moment we wake to the moment we go to sleep (after just one more chapter).

So for all of the other book lovers, who have ever borrowed a book from a friend but never gave it back; who read books under the covers with a flashlight when your Mom & Dad thought you were sleeping; those who have a book collection big enough to fuel their fireplace for the next 10 years but who perish the thought of ever doing such a horrifying act; even for the ones who loved books so much they gluttonously scarfed down paper candy in the 80’s — I’ll wear my Scarlet B proudly.

I’m a bookworm! A bibliomaniac! Bibliophiles unite!

You know those writers whose pen bewitches and enchants yet somehow it seems effortless? Aaron is one of those authors.

One of the things I like about Aaron’s writing is that on the surface, everything appears normal. It reminds me of those side-by-side comic strips where you have to compare the two and find the one thing that is out of place.

Aaron’s tales have that one thing that is askew, and he utilizes that one thing to entice readers; to challenge them to come a little closer, to peer a little more intently. And by the time the reader realizes things are not quite right, there is no turning back.

The important thing is – I don’t want to turn back. I can’t help but go deeper into the darkness Aaron has created.

Whether it is the pallid-skinned town folk living in the dying carcass of Broughton’s Hollow in In Hollow Fields; the scraping, slow-building chill a young boy experiences after an unexpected stranger appears in Shovel Man Comes Callin’; or the tainted and ravenous creatures whose obliteration of a group of friends in Grim Adaptations is just the beginning, these tales find their way under your skin and they don’t tickle so much as prickle and unnerve.

The Bottom Feeders is not hit-you-over-the-head horror. It is whispers in the dark; a creeping sensation up the back of your neck; dark things that cannot — or will not — remain buried. Like a bristling sliver, the frightening things found in The Bottom Feeders always make their way to the surface, and unveil the hidden horrors that lie beneath the places one least expects them.

Aaron’s voice will instantly draw you in no matter what story you read. And that’s where the slope gets slippery — because once you are just about to get comfortable and lose yourself in Aaron’s writing, that is when he turns the tables on you with his deftly woven prose that is steeped in subtle (and often skin-chilling) horror that is lyrical and poetic.

The Bottom Feeders is a strong collection. Each of the 14 tales interlocks with the next, allowing the uneasiness of the reader to build to a terror-pitch that will have you wondering about the hidden horrors all around you.

To pick up a copy of The Bottom Feeders (for only $0.99!), head over to Amazon or Smashwords (for the Bonus Edition which Includes 4 tales not found in the free edition–two previously unpublished).

For more information on Aaron Polson, his writing and his latest publications, visit his website.

Thanks for the nightmares, Aaron! I enjoyed this collection immensely.

But I think it’s time we all stopped saying our writing sucks.

I’m not saying we don’t write terribly adjective, adverb-laden pages that need a serious slashing from an editor’s pen from time to time.

But try looking at it in a positive light. Instead of declaring that your work sucks, recognize that it just isn’t ready yet.

Realize that the magic comes in the editing process, when you shape and mold your words, add depth and strengthen imagery, hoist your pen as if it was a Fender and thrashing out  the literary equivalent of the punk rock power chord.

If you have already decided that you are going to write just for the hell of it but you know it’s going to be crap, why bother? Why exert the energy you could be putting into something you really care about?

What do you think it does to your Muse when you say your work sucks? Or – if you are of the mindset that one having a Muse is a load of B.S., then just imagine what it does to your psyche. Those negative thought have a way of burrowing like a splinter and can only serve to fester and infect your confidence.

The thing is – that doubt? You can make it work for you. Not by completely denying that it exists, but by figuring out where it comes from, then using that as fuel for overcoming it.

That’s meat, baby. Full-fledged grist for the mill. Depth you can use in your writing and to give your characters their own flaws – not to mention fight. Human experience that your readers can relate to.

No matter what stage your writing career is in, the doubt will be there in some way, shape or form. But so will the faith. The key is not falling into the trap of bending fully to one or the other. You need to balance the scales between blind optimism and all-embracing despair.

Self-hatred is not a badge of honor one should covet. Sure, it’s all cool and magical and mysterious to be a self-loathing, brooding writer. But that’s so stereotypical. And so last season.

If you don’t have faith in your talent, why should anyone else?

Miss Write’s Exercise in Creativity

Ready to get schooled? Sharpen your pencils – Miss Write has suggestions for ways to use those not-so-stellar writing sessions to your advantage!

Loosen Up
Get in the habit of undertaking a 5-minute writing session at the start of your writing day.

Write gibberish. Vent. Or take a thought, idea, symbol or problem you are having with your WIP and brainstorm on it. Write quickly and without editing. Purge the noise in your brain onto the page so you will be clear-headed and ready to get down to business when you switch over to your WIP