Inking Hubris

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Top 5 Questions To Ask Your Next Potential Copywriter

Hiring a copywriter doesn’t have to be a daunting task. For many, the process has an unnerving aspect much akin to an interview. The right questions will go a long way. What you have to keep in mind is that like an interview or a first date, the selection process is a two-way street.

Asking the right questions is a two-way street. Not only do you need to ask the right questions, but you also need to answer the right questions. It should be a huge red flag if your potential writer doesn’t ask anything of you that has value. Over-eager candidates aren’t always a bad choice, but you should be careful when going after them. If they easily lower their rates or ask you up front how you can help them (give testimonials, reviews, etc.), you should take pause and consider what the actual goal is. The primary focus should always be on your needs and projects. While you may need to loosen the purse strings a bit, hiring a copywriter that values your projects and time over their own goals is worth the cost. Below, I offer you some questions that should make it into your interview with a potential copywriter. These questions aren’t geared towards making sure your project is done; they are designed to make sure you are compatible enough to work on any projects you may have. The goal, of course, isn’t to just find someone to write what you need doing right now, but someone able to handle any future projects that come up. One well-researched copywriter is worth far more to your time and budget than hiring a new one for each project that comes up. These questions will help you find that candidate.

What is your track record for meeting deadlines?

This question will almost always be answered with something like “I am prompt and always on time with any deadlines.” The idea here isn’t to get a truthful answer. No one will tell you that the constantly miss deadlines and pay little attention to your time frame. Instead, This question asserts that you have strict deadlines and they must be met. It puts the writer on notice of what is truly important: time management. We all know time is money. You need value for the time for which you pay.

Have you done any previous work in my industry?

Most copywriters will have some form of portfolio for you to look at. Those that don’t (ghostwriters, copyeditors under NDA agreements, etc.), will be able to point you to online articles or websites they have worked on. The true value of this question, though, is in the long answer. For example: even if I haven’t worked in your industry, I am an expert in it. I am not THE expert; YOU are. However, I am an expert in manipulating words, which is why you want to hire me. I can research what I need, read your previous projects, interview you or your employees and find out everything I need to know to be able to write compelling copy that matches your voice and expectations. Even if I can’t prove I have done work in XYZ industry before, I should be confident that I can. Be wary of answers that are short or don’t describe the ability to do the needed research for the project at hand. Don’t shy away from a copywriter that hasn’t done work in your industry before. There was a time when you hadn’t either.

Do you have any contacts in {target audience} circles?

Again, we aren’t looking for an exact answer (although there might well be some). Instead, the way the potential writer answers will let you know if the project warrants further investment. If you have a copywriter that has a foot in certain social circles where your target audience hangs out, it could benefit you. Allowing them to claim the work, for example, will have the writer talking about it to potential customers, who will end up on your site to read the boasted works. Likewise, allowing the copywriter to claim their work is generally less expensive than having them ghostwrite. Ghostwriters get to charge more because they don’t get credit and the fall back that comes with it (visits to their site from yours, links, a bio, exposure, etc.) Weighing the pros and cons are, of course, up to you. However, asking this question will put you on the right path to that final decision.

Are you comfortable with other deliverables such as images or infographics?

Even if you don’t plan to have infographics or other materials made for the piece, it is always good to know if your potential new copywriter has the capability to provide them.

What else can your copywriter do for you? You should make it clear if the project being interviewed for needs them or not. However, you might have future projects that do and knowing if your new copywriter can handle them is a bonus. While this question isn’t considered “crucial” as you are hiring a copywriter for words and expertise, it is still good to find out. It is a point-based question that could prove the final factor when deciding between two final candidates.

Are you talking to other potential professionals about similar projects?

This is an important question that doesn’t get asked enough. It isn’t straight-forward as asking the writer if he has time to take on your project. However, it serves the same purpose. If the answer is that they are not, or you glean that he or she has the time to devote to you and your needs, you have it in writing (or on a phone call) and can then hold them accountable for it. In most situations you won’t know about other clients the writer has, nor should you. However, if they have trouble with your deadlines and it comes up later that they are working too many jobs, it is almost too late to pull out.

We are all in this for the money

Writers want to make money and develop long-term contacts. Are you talking to other potential professionals about similar projects? The interview phase should be less nerve-wracking and more pleasurable. Getting both of you on the same page is a must. Asking the right questions will always help you make sure the potential writer and your tastes line up. If done correctly, the bond can last for years, making both of you quite happy. If you need a project completed and would like to ask me these questions, feel free to send me a note. Read the full article

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Why Do I Write?

When Asked Why I Write, I Answer: I don’t. It's the simple truth. I don’t write screenplays and novels. I give life to them. It's not merely putting pen to paper, I breathe life into a non-existent void. I expand realms of desire and practicality and push the void of predetermined physics. I don’t write. Nor do I have fictional characters that you watch scurry around a screen. I don't have two-dimensional appearances that you follow along with as you flip a page. I have friends and enemies. Each has a life, and came from somewhere, and are someone and love and hate and fear. They are not characters, they are people. They live as I live, they die as I die. My friends make me smile, laugh, play, hide, scream and cry. They disappoint with their own actions, speak in their own voices and go about their own paths.

Why I Write I Create I don’t write. Create? Yes. Ponder ever-expanding possibilities? Yes. Push your mind to its limits of emotion and draw you back with a single word? Of course. But I don’t write. Don't think you merely read; because you are engulfed, consumed. You pick a side and fight the battle with your own personal hero. You don’t read, you don’t watch. What do you do? You hold your breath in hope, let slide a tear out of fear. You don’t read, you live. Just as I don’t write. I live, too. Read the full article

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June 26 Writing Prompt

As we are now in the weekend, it is time to have a little more fun and a little less learning. But... You know me by now, and there is always some type of lesson here. So let's get into it and figure out what I've hidden this time. Because it is the weekend, and it is time to have fun while getting to work, I wont bore you with a long-winded explanation. Instead, I will leave the prompt, let you work on it, and then see if you can find the hidden lesson for yourself.

June 26

You are walking down the sidewalk when a super villain (of your choice) appears and begins a fight with you. At that exact moment you realize you have one specific special power. However, this "superpower" is completely worthless. Name your villain, describe your worthless super power, then write a scene of how you win the fight.

What is your pointless superpower? All I will tell you in this explanation section is that the super villain must be a real one. Real in the fact that it is one that you can find in a comic book. Lex Luthor, Skeletor, Thanos.. whatever. Other than the super villain and all of his (or her) powers, everything else is made up by you. Got it? Off you go. Read the full article

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June 25 Writing Prompt

Ahhh Friday, the final day of work before the weekend (unless you work weekends) and a chance to unwind for a long and tedious week. Unless you're a writer. In which case, you have a lot of work ahead of you. So let's get that mental push, rev our creative engines and then get to work, shall we? We shall! For today's writing prompt we will take something new and make it newer. I know. I am excited, too! Let's take a look at the prompt before I explain.

June 25

Use your favorite writing tools and create a brand new scene. It can be about anything, anywhere, but it must include a setting, at least 2 characters and have action, dialogue and pose a question to the reader. Then, start a new page and rewrite that exact same scene from memory, making it even more detailed. As you can see, you are creating something new. A new scene with new characters and locations and talking...the whole thing.

Tear it down, make it bigger, better, stronger The scene can be short or long, whatever you feel is needed. Then, when you are done with it, set it aside, start a new document or page and write the same scene over again. On your second attempt you will use the same setting, same characters and even the same dialogue. But your aim is to make the scene better. Make the setting more alive, give more depth to the characters, you can even make their discussion more intense. The idea here is to work your brain to be creative and create a new scene. Easy enough as you do this all the time. But now, you are forcing your brain to work even harder by not moving on and "fixing" that scene to the best of your ability. Call it... spot-editing. This little trick is a good practice session to train yourself to write the best scene possible as you write it the first time. Of course, it won't replace the red pen edit sessions between drafts, but it can minimize the amount of corrections and red ink you use. Give it a try and see what you come up with! Read the full article

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June 24 Writing Prompt

I don't really like you. In fact, I am fairly confident that if I gave it a moment's thought at all, I would hate you. There are no redeeming qualities. Always coming around asking for help. Making sure everyone around you knows that you are so high and mighty, but you aren't. A little keyboard warrior, yes? A telephone tough-guy. I can hear your screechy little voice now, begging me to part with my knowledge to help you, of all people, become a better writer. As if I have the desire. What gall you must have. Emotion. That is what today's writing prompt is all about.

Emotions and words, two powerful forces Whether you are writing anger, as the example above, or happiness, envy, rage, love, relief, contentment, surprise.. I could go on. Emotion is a huge catalyst for writing. Drawing your reader in, getting an emotional response and some sort of reaction, these are what we strive for. You can imagine if you and I were walking down the street and I just turned to you and said those words from above, you would be quite taken aback, no? You would probably go through a few emotions yourself. Confusion at first and maybe even anger as the words kept spewing from my lips. Eventually you may even land on depression, sadness, rage. You may run off, mad and confused, or you would become defensive and hurl angry words back at me. All of that, from a few spoken (or written) words. Words are powerful, if you know how to wield them. Let's practice exactly that.

June 24

Pick up your phone or open your browser and select your chat program of preference. Select three contacts from your friend's list and send them a message. One message will be happy, one angry and the third sad. Send a message and try to elicit those three emotions from the three contacts (one each) using only your words. You can send whatever message you prefer and keep it going as long as you like (though I wouldn't go very long as all three are powerful emotions). Basically, you don't want to let on what you are doing until you get a reaction. After the confusion, you are looking for that raw emotion. The fight or flight response. Can you, using only words, make someone happy? another person sad and a third person angry, all at the same time? You can, if you plan your words carefully. Just remember, you can use personal knowledge for this exercise, but try not to. You won't know your readers when they open your book, so stay away from things you know, pretend that contact is a complete stranger for an added challenge. Read the full article

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June 23 Writing Prompt

I can't believe it is Wednesday already. Mid week and the next to last Wednesday in the month. A week left before we hit July and start summer vacations, celebrations and whatever extroverts do outside. But, I digress. We have work to do, words to write and creativity to stoke. So let's get to it. I have recently found it disheartening to learn so many aspiring authors out there are waiting. Waiting on what, I do not know.

What are you waiting for? Just start writing already You can see this apprehension in the questions that are asked, and the advice that is demanded. And out of all of these delay tatics one of the biggest and most common goes something like this: "What is the best software or program to write with?" Allow me to answer this quickly. It doesn't fucking matter. Do you realize that you don't need anything specific? Do you understand how many millions of books were written by candlelight before we even had electricity? Those that came before you didn't ask which was the best quill or pen to use. If you have a story to tell, write it down. Use a pen. Or use a crayon. Use the most expensive software program on the most expensive computer ever made. Do you know why it doesn't matter? Allow me to demonstrate. Go to your bookshelf, pick up any book at random (I'll wait). Thumb through the pages. Read the blurb, pick a chapter at random and read it. Then tell me what program or device was used to write that book. You can't, can you? If it was really, truly and honestly that important, you would know. Sure some programs can help you organize, or color your text pretty or highlight things. You don't need any of it. Which brings us to today's prompt.

June 23

Open your WiP on your computer. Find the last thing you wrote and type out the next sentence. Then, get out a notebook and pen. Write the next sentence from your WiP on the paper. Continue to alternate sentences on the computer and paper. For a bigger challenge, add in different software to write new sentences on. If you follow along, you will have a paragraph or two written between two or more writing mediums. If you do follow this prompt, you will also see how pointless the prompt is. Which is exactly the point. Writing in several different areas and trying to keep it all straight is as pointless as worrying about which one to stick with. Prefer writing long hand? Do it. Do you prefer typing? Then do that. If you want to use a special program designed for novel writing, use it. Want a free text editor to handle your novel, fine. The point is to stop making excuses. Stop doing pointless things and just write. You started writing because it made you happy, or you had a story you wanted out. So do that. Worry about the stupid shit later. Stop waiting. Start writing. Read the full article

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June 22 Writing Prompt

Today's writing prompt is going to be a little different. The hidden lesson today is to remember to have fun. Writing is a hobby or a career and either one should be entertaining, fun and even exciting. Sure, boredom and the daily grind are going to get old from time to time, but you should be able to push through those times and make it exciting again.

Let's not get too bored, here One way to do that is to stretch your creative muscles. Push yourself to make something fun. Turn it into a game. That is what we will do today. While there are several different methods to gamify your writing, today we look at one of the easiest ones.

June 22

Open a new text document place the cursor at the start and then remove your hands from the keyboard. Lift them straight over your head and close your eyes. With your eyes closed, bring your right hand down and press a single key on the keyboard, then lift the arm back up. Repeat with the left hand. Repeat as many times as you wish, the more you do, the harder the task becomes. Once finished, open your eyes. The letters (or numbers/symbols) you types are now the first letter of a new sentence. Write a story using your letters as the start of each sentence. This "create your own prompt" method looks a little awkward when you are doing it, but it is fun. Now that you have your letters, you can restructure your text document to place each one at teh start of a new line, if it helps. Or, just start typing between them. The only catch is that you need to write correctly, grammatically correct, no run-on sentences, etc. Each letter you have on your paper is a new sentence and must go in order. When you reach the last letter/sentence you should be able to wrap up the story. Can you do it? Let's find out! Read the full article

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June 21 Writing Prompt

Today I want to cover a little part of writing that every writer, author or aspiring scribe should learn. How many actually do, though? About none of us. It is called the elevator pitch, and it is something you should learn to do at a moments notice. Imagine this, you are sitting at the table about to have a home cooked meal when someone turns to you and says "So, what do you do?" and you smile and reply, I'm a writer, I am currently working on a book." Then, they ask the most daring, politically incorrect and asinine question possible, "Oh really? What's it about?" How dare they! Don't they know you don't have an answer for that question? They should know that by opening that can of worms only two things will happen. You will either begin talking and dominate the entire dinner conversation making yourself look foolish, or, you will stammer and stutter your way through a tale that makes you look foolish. The audacity!

Tell your story in as little time as possible. Do it with confidence. But, you can get around all the awkwardness by knowing your elevator pitch. Let's look at the prompt before I continue the explanation.

June 21

Create your project's "elevator pitch" that will explain your story quickly and succinctly. Let's talk about an elevator pitch. Essentially the term comes from salesmen trying to get people, generally busy businessmen, to buy their stories, wares or whatever trinkets they are hocking. The idea came form "trapping" the potential customer in an elevator and selling them on your idea before you reached their floor where they were able to escape you. This meant you only have a minute or two to express your self, explain your story and make a connection or rapport with the potential client or customer. For authors, the idea is the same. You should be able to confidently and quickly introduce yourself, talk about your story and get to the point in just a matter of a few minutes. Most "experts" will tell you that if you can't explain your story in 10 minutes, you don't know it well enough. Personally, I think this is too long. Depending on who you are talking to, you can forget the introductions, and get right into the book. Our dinner table example from above, as a case in point. What is your story about? I should know the genre, the main characters, the antagonist and the basic plot line. And you should be able to tell me everything in 3 minutes or less. Go ahead. Write out a pitch, hone it down until everything you need to say is covered and then practice saying it out loud until it is under 180 seconds. Read the full article

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June 20 Writing Prompt

Today's writing prompt is a two-part lesson. In one aspect it is great practice in rewriting and "copying" from the masters. The second part is a lesson in creativity that we can all relearn from time to time. So how do we have a single writing prompt and two lessons contained within? Easy. There are two words you need and only two words: Public. Domain. I won't bore you here with all the details. But in short, the public domain is where all copyright materials, such as books, go when the copyright term is expired and can no longer be held by a single person or entity. Books have a copyright of up to 95 years. There was a change in the term length that resulted in books not being added to the public domain for over 20 years. In 2019, that 2-decade span ended. Now, on January 1st each year, thousands of books enter the public domain.

Some of the best stories ever penned can be copied. For free. What does this mean for you? It means you, as a member of the public, can now take the likes of The Great Gatsby, add a few dragons and write your own story. If you want to write a new case for Sherlock Holmes? You can now, without worry of legal action. With all of this in mind, let's take a look at the prompt.

June 20

Pick a story from the public domain, rewrite any scene you like, adding or removing details, characters or settings to make it your own. Rewriting a classic is always great practice for aspiring authors. Copying and rewriting master works is a technique used for years by those wanting to get better. Writing, copywriting, and other forms of art all use this (or similar techniques) to improve their skills and hone the craft. So the big challenge, then, becomes finding a book on the public domain. This is actually easier than it sounds. Books in the public domain are free to read and free to use. There are dozens of sites devoted to listing and even hosting the tomes on their servers. Project Gutenberg is one of the oldest and largest. If you like the novels there but wish for a more "pretty" appearance, you can try Standard Ebooks. Finally, you can also look up many books, albums, movies and much more through the Internet Archive. For this prompt (and building your eBook library) any of these resources will work. Find the novel or story you prefer, and then add in your "dragons" or zombies and make the story new, in your own way. Have fun! Read the full article

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When Characters Talk Back

When Characters Talk Back

You spend hours, days, even weeks creating characters to walk the lives you give them in the stories you create. What happens when your characters talk back to you, though?

Do you think the characters know what they are doing when they speak to you? Well, if you are like me you will most likely freak out. Just a tad. Maybe as much as screaming out loud. That was the first time though. I have gotten used to it after a time. You might get used to it, too. Yes. I talk to my characters. I have admitted many times before that when I write a story I talk to my characters. Sometimes I apologize to them before I write a scene where they get hurt or die. I also calm them down after a scene of intense stress. I tell them where they are headed and why and I generally carry on one-sided conversations with them. Every now and then, they talk back. Am I Crazy? Probably I know, I know. I am crazy. Insane probably. You can look at me like that, that's fine. I understand you might not grasp the concept. Ever talked to God? I don't know if my characters can hear me, and I don't know if they know if I can hear them. But I watch them run around my mind like some sim-city blockhead not knowing what to do next or why they are being attacked by that strange creature from the woods. The communication only goes on in my head, as per the norm, but it helps me write. My characters do so much more than come to life for the reader, they are alive. You, as the reader, get the feeling you really know them, wouldn't mind having a beer with them, or, if needed, running fast through the streets with sweat and snot dripping. You Should Talk to Your Characters If you don't already talk to your characters, I suggest you start. Character development is not only the greatest thing a writer can do, but it also builds a relationship with the reader they won't soon forget. Just make sure you take the time to listen, as well. They may very well talk right back. Read the full article

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June 19 Writing Prompt

Today is the start of a good weekend. It has a lot of potential, many words can be written. Of course, that includes Father's Day in North America and the official start of summer. What better time of year to think about going outside and having adventures? And what better adventure than going on a treasure hunt? Right. I couldn't think of one either. So that is what we shall to for today's writing prompt. Well, after a fashion. Treasure hunts are one of the few things that brings wonder and excitement to almost everyone. But in order to have a treasure hunt, there has to be a treasure hidden.

Buried treasure you say? I'm all in! So, we will work on the admin side of the treasure hunt and create our own. Let's take a look at the prompt.

June 19

Devise a place in your current story where you could bury a treasure. Write a short scene where the MC of your novel finds an old map, or a poem or some other clue-based item that sets them off on the hunt. No one knows your world better than you, and if you are going to hide a treasure in your make-believe world, who better to go find it than your main character? Start by figuring out where to bury the treasure and what that treasure is. It can be pirate treasure, or a simple locket. Whatever you want to hide for your MC to get excited about. Then, think of a way to portray the hunt to your MC. do they find an old pirate map like in the Goonies? Maybe there is an old poem that falls out of a book that is cryptic and hints at a vast fortune. Next, you want to do the actual map building. How does your MC find the treasure? What steps do they need to make? What clues need to be decoded? Once you have your "map" complete, give it to your MC in a short scene and then write about their hunting trip. Do they find it? Were your clues too hard? Read the full article

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June 18 Writing Prompt

This Friday we are once again looking at the end of a week, and continuing from yesterday's prompt, the end of our stories. This prompt is something I like to do when I near the end of a long book and don't really have anything in mind that excites me about starting a new one. Now, getting new ideas and writing a new novel isn't hard. Sometimes I don't have something lined up right away, though. When that happens, I like to take my time with the ending of my current project. This little trick keeps things exciting. Be warned, though, it has been known to cause a complete rewrite of a book. If you aren't prepared for that, you may want to proceed with caution. Let's take a look at today's writing prompt anyway. For the brave among you.

June 18

Reread the ending of your book. Then write down 5 alternative endings that span from logical to downright ludicrous. As you know by now (If you have followed along with the prompts), I enjoy mulitples of things. I find it fruitless to only do one or two things at a time. I'll come up with 25 titles, 20 different characters or other things that take me far outside my comfort zone. Here I am only asking for 5. To be quite honest though, when I follow this prompt, I go until I can't think of another thing at all. Often times I will fill three or four pages with alternate ideas. What you want to do is start logically. Create a new ending that fits what you already have. Maybe you only change a few things here and there. As you go on, though, you want to get more and more crazy. Add in elements that have nothing to do with your story. Perhaps you are writing a Rom-Com and your guy gets girl ending ends up with guy falls for other guy and leaves girl. Or Guy falls for a cow and leaves girl.

Boy finds girl, girl has cow, boy falls for cow. Push the limits of what is possible. Span your creative mind and find what lies on the outskirts. Really outdo yourself and make it as impossible and unexpected as you can. Maybe you will find that one of your ideas is more fun. Write it out and see what happens. It can't hurt. Read the full article

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Coffee At Night

Coffee at Night? Finding Out the Best Time to Write, for You

When you write is almost as important as what you write. (okay, I use the term almost loosely) It may seem like a simple question to answer: When do you write? Stop and think about it though. Humans are individuals amongst a group. Not everyone works the best at the same time. Some of us are early birds, some or wake-up-at-the-crack-of-noon, and others prefer the nightlife. The rest of us fall somewhere in the other 20 hours of the day.

Having your coffee with the sunrise or the sunset is a personal choice. Find your creativity clock and follow it, don't fight it. So where do you fit? Do you set an alarm to get up before anyone else in the house, brew a pot of coffee and get to work looking out the window for that first ray of the morning light? Maybe you put everyone to bed at night, turn the radio on low and burn the midnight oil. The truth of it is that it doesn't really matter. We all have a different creativity clock. Personally, mine goes off late at night and, as an oddity, whenever I am in the shower. I brew my coffee at night. I am okay with that. When You Have Time Vs. When You Make Time The difference between writing when you can and writing when you need to isn't so vast. First, you need to decide which type of writer you are.

Making the time to write should be focused around when you feel the most creative. If you work better at night, then that is when you need to concentrate on making the time. Likewise, if you rise early and write best in the morning, then that is when you stretch your daily calendar. Writing should never be a chore. The only chore should come when you need to move things around to make the time to write. Wake up earlier, stay up later, take a longer lunch break from work. Whatever you need to do, make it happen, then lose yourself in your writing. After all, that is what we write for. When are you at your most creative? Let us know in the comments below. Read the full article

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June 16 Writing Prompt

This week we are looking at oddities of adding to our stories. Yesterday, for example, we added sci-fi and fantasy elements to our other-genre stories. Today, I want to push things a little bit further. If you are seriously into world building, maps are an important part of the process. High Fantasy almost always has a map or two included in the book and we covered a new and different way to create a map from scratch. We also covered dystopian and utopian worlds a little while back. So what's left? Well, a lot, to be honest. The primary one that we look at today, though, is scene mixing. In scene mixing you take your outline and shuffle it. Keeping the start and ending the same, you look at the story progress with different routes through your scenes.

Shuffle up and deal Let's look at the prompt and then I will explain more.

June 16

Take some of your least popular or favorite scenes and write them on index cards. Move the cards around to look at different order of inclusion to find a better route through your story. This is a helpful trick if you ever get stuck in your story. Many writers have a plan of attack and start working with their outline. Eventually, though, boredom sets in and the writing stalls. Mixing things up can help a lot, and you don't even need to write many words. Pull out a stack of index cards and write the general idea of each scene on its own card. You only need to write enough to know the gist of what takes place in that scene. Now, you can spread out on the floor or a table and just start mixing things up. I find it helpful to have a notebook nearby. You want to reorder your scenes and read through them. Ask yourself what would need to change to make this new order work. Take some notes, and then shuffle the scenes again. If you repeat this process a few times you will start to notice that new scenes get developed, some you will probably be excited about. At this point you can either keep going and try to get a few more scene ideas, or get back to your project with teh ideas you already have. Either way, it is a quick and fun way to find where your story stalls and how to get it unstuck. Read the full article

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June 15 Writing Prompt

Another day and we are working this week on fantasy and sci-fi aspects of all writing. If you are unaware, fantasy and science fiction elements aren't limited to those genres. Also, unless your novel or script is primarily comprised of those elements, it won't change your genre. For example, Dean Koontz is a suspense and horror author. His books on Odd Thomas deal with a lot of supernatural and anthropomorphism but they don't change the genre he writes in. Similarly, King has Tommyknockers, animals coming back to life, talking inanimate objects and yet, still remains the "king of horror." Adding these elements may seem out of sort, but they are a justified manner of producing a needed outcome. Instead of relying on the Deus Ex Machina method, you can add in a little fantasy (elves, wizards, spells) or sci-fi elements to your works.

Where can science fiction elements take your story? How can it help you? We can sprinkle in tidbits here and there. Or, you can make it a much larger focus. The choice is always there and always yours. Let's take a look at today's writing prompt to learn more.

June 15

Take your current WiP and pick any scene or chapter. (If you don't have a WiP pick a book from your shelf and use that). Add in one instance of a supernatural occurrence and one instance science-fiction. It can be as outlandish or minuscule as you like. The idea here is to see what you can get away with without detracting from the story. What I have found in my personal ventures, is that about 70% of the time I do this, the change stays and gets incorporated into the book. This doesn't mean that every book I write has it, nor does it overpower the story. But there is generally some element of Sci-Fi or Fantasy in all of my works. Adding a splash of color, if you will, but using elements other genres are known for, can make your story even better. And who knows? You may end up liking it so much you decide to keep it, or even add more. Try the prompt and find out! Read the full article

[inkinghubris]

June 14

Over the last couple of weeks we have covered writing breaks and how to get back into the swing of things. We also covered a new editing technique for self-editing. This week, we will look at another continuing trend, anthropomorphization. Essentially, giving human characteristics to non-human things. You see this a lot in stories. Everything from science fiction to drama has some elements of the phenomenon. Talking animals, walking plants, integrated artificial intelligence and much more. Anytime you take an animal, plant or inanimate object and give it the ability to talk, feel, have emotions, or even walk, you anthropomorphize. The most common use is giving animals the ability to talk, like humans. Though any human features or abilities given to an item or object that doesn't have them naturally, fits the definition.

What if your morning cup of coffee actually said good morning? How will we use that power today? Let's take a look.

June 14

Write a small scene where an inanimate object is in a room with your MC. Then let the object begin to talk to your MC. This ability can come as a shock to your character, making them scared or startled. However, if you are writing a high fantasy, it may be the norm, and completely expected. This part, I leave up to you. Play around with it. Think about the benefits or drawbacks to this ability for inanimate objects to talk. What implications will have? What can it mean for your story? While writing your scene, think about the pitfalls (if it talks, it must be able to hear, and if it can do that, it must have a brain...). But also, think about the connections and abilities. How can this be used for good, or for evil? Suddenly, by taking a simple thing, like a talking trash can, you can enter a whole new world of story telling. Give it a go! Read the full article

[inkinghubris]

June 13 Writing Prompt

Another Sunday writing prompt and like yesterday, we are shooting for brevity. A quick, simple prompt designed to get you in the writing mode, ready to go and able to knock out your Sunday progress of your WiP. So, here we go:

June 13

Walking through the streets of downtown, you pass a garbage can. Inside is a shiny sword. When you pull it out there is a light glow from the blade and you can see an inscription.

What does your sword do? So, get to it. Write your story and then post it in the comment section if you would like to share or get feedback. Once you are all done, take your momentum and get back to your project! Good luck! Read the full article