Let’s start at the very beginning. What are the things a great listener is doing differently than “normal” listeners?
One of the things is the focus. It seems many people are concentrated on what they will say, they forget to listen to what the other person says. Thinking during listening isn’t very helpful. Writers know how to focus. They know how to concentrate on the most important things, and they recognize a story and its thread.
But what do great listeners differently? They keep their mouth shut, they listen without judging, their entire body language is turned to the speaker, their facial expression is interested and open, only to name a few. Of course, now the important part starts, listening and taking in. By asking questions in our own words, to make sure we are interpreting the speaker’s words correctly, we are showing we absorbed the given information. Additionally, there’s one more thing: consciously memorizing.
Let’s say: we are listening to someone who tells us a story and we’d like to repeat it at some other occasion, we will memorize it. If the speaker is our friend and entrusts us with a problem or secret and asks for help and support, we will memorize it to give it some thought and come back later with a solution.
“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” Ernest Hemingway
I think it’s significant these words were spoken by a writer.
I’ve always been a very helpful person. It came naturally to me to listen to my friends’ problems, support them, help them. I was trained in memorizing what bugged them to be of the most effective help I could be. The best listener cares.
But being a writer taught me to listen to more. I’m taking in as much sound and noise as all the other people around me. But instead of blanking out some of the ‘noise’ I start concentrating on it. Occasionally I ‘threw a look’ over to the speaker who waved me over and included me into the story as an additional listener. And that’s what I do. I listen, I take in, I separate ‘nonsense’ from ‘maybe useful’ and I memorize.
I’m not only talking about ‘conversations,’ or ‘secrets’ I pick up. I’m as well listening to descriptions, of people, of landscapes, of personalities, even of cars. I never know when it comes in handy. Imagine one of my characters driving in some sports car; I might be using the description I heard of how the driving feels like.
I’m listening because I’m interested. I’m interested in people; I’m interested in helping. I will never use what I hear to expose someone. Not all experiences I hear are of interest to me. I’m writing fantasy and paranormal romance. Maybe an author of love stories or thrillers can use more of what he listens to. You might tell us below in the comments.
Sometimes Empaths can experience one of the ‘hard sides’ of listening. The emotional toll it takes on them. I was going through that before. Occasionally it still happens to me, even though with age I became more and more able to shield myself from that painful side effect of being helpful. So, good listeners might be aware that listening isn’t always about hearing secrets, problems, good stories or jokes. Sometimes listening needs guts!
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Winston Churchill
Kristen Lamb, expert in writer’s and author’s support and teaching, talks about 5 reasons why our novel is breaking down. Another very educating and humorously written blog post. Thank you very much Kristen!
If you’ve been writing any amount of time you’ve been there—STUCK. Stuck is the place we never want to be, but goes with the job.
Every writer at one time or another has experienced the literary doldrums. We hit a spot that, no matter how hard we try, we just cannot seem to move our story forward. Every word we write feels like pulling frogs’ teeth and we wonder why we ever thought writing a novel was a good idea.
Some call this ‘writer’s block’ while others claim ‘they’re only in a dry season’ or ‘going through a rough patch.’ Regardless what name we give this feeling, it all feels a heck of a lot like being STUCK.
Many writers, particularly new writers, see being stuck as a sign that they may be writing in the wrong genre. When they get stuck, this is a perfect opportunity to start working on something NEW. Story gets stuck, and this is SURELY divine evidence that the book really should have been a SERIES, not a standalone or a standalone and not a series.
Whatever.
From personal experience combined with my experience with thousands of writers the process from Start to Stuck can look like this.
I’m very proud that the list of these 15 most successful blog posts on my blog is a healthy mix of different posts I wrote through the time.
It contains a couple of poems, a few posts about writing and book marketing, Author Spotlights and the posts I wrote for August McLaughlin’s ‘Beauty of a Woman’s Blogfest.’
To me, this tells me, that every post on ‘Writer’s Treasure Chest’ was worth the time and efforts, the thoughts, the worries and the smiles invested.
Thank you all for being part of my blogging adventure.
When I started my Indie career, I realized one of my most useful skills was my experience with Internet marketing. But I constantly wished I was experienced in legal matters, too. Which is why I was so excited to meet Lucy Taylor, a legal expert at LY Lawyers. Luckily for us, Lucy is also an avid blogger who enjoys sharing her tips and suggestions with her online readers. Lucy often helps people dealing with legal problems, addictions, and crime. Today, Lucy will share with us some useful tips for writers.
7 Most Useful Legal Tips for Writers
Whether you’re writing a blog post or the next great novel, there’s a responsibility that comes with publishing any creative work. Many people don’t realize it, but there’s quite a bit of legal navigation that comes with being a writer, both in protecting your own work and respecting the rights of others. Here are…
Ted of iceCube Marketing guest posted on Nicholas Rossis’ blog on how to build a landing page that markets you as an author. A great post to re-blog. Thank you Ted and Nicholas!
This is a guest post and infographic by Ted of iceCube Marketing, a digital marketing agency in Singapore that helps local small businesses acquire leads from channels such as Facebook and Google. It offers a wonderful examination of what a successful author home page may consist of and can even serve as a great checklist for you when you design a new one or update yours.
How to Build a Landing Page that Markets you as an Author
Title
The title of your landing page is important. It serves as a hook to grab visitors’ attention. It also gives them a reason to look deeper into your website. The title of your landing page may or may not be the same as that of a book. Either, have a title that is benefit-driven and arouses curiosity.
Your First Impression
The first thing visitors should see is an image. The image…
If you are active online, negative people and criticism are a fact of life
Your blog, your books or your presence on social media are all open targets for a negative person.
