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How To ReStart Writing After A Prolonged Break

July 12, 2023 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as , ,

How do you restart writing after taking a prolonged break? Do you jump in to a daily quota right away or start slowly one time a week working on your manuscript? Do you spend time reading what you wrote, first? Or, do you start writing a new scene to work with something fresh? Do you start a completely new project, or go back to the one you were working on before?

Blog banner titled how to restart writing, after taking a break by Denise M. Colby

I don’t think there is a wrong way to restart writing, but there may be ideas we can use to help us get back into strong habits right away. I’d love to hear what you’ve done. Share them in the comments below.

As I am writing this blog post, I’m facing this very thing, restarting writing. I took a few months off to enjoy my sons’ graduations (college in May, hs in June) which I wrote about in last month’s blog post, and now I’m ready to write and edit again. As I started working on a few scenes over the weekend, the time flies. And I need to it to be quiet around me, which is hard to do with everyone home. All of these thoughts made me realize I need a game plan. And I couldn’t remember what I did before.

One thing I’m truly thankful for is my critique group. With a possibility of a weekly submission, I have a built-in deadline to help me complete a task. This is a huge motivator to restart writing.

Next I need to figure out when everyone will not be home, or I need to go somewhere to write. I love my large monitor, but maybe getting out the house will be exactly the best approach.

Denise is writing a western historical series set in 1869 California. She’s in the middle of editing the first book in the series, a full-length novel as well as a fun rom-com novella, with a few side characters.

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The Brand Challenge; Adding Book Pages To Your Website

May 12, 2023 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as , , ,

I talked about a brand challenge a few months back to encourage you to try something new on your website to help you build content and SEO to support your brand. In this post I’m going to dive deeper with my suggestion to add book pages to your website.

Blog Header titled the Brand Challenge; Adding Book Pages to Your Website by Denise M. Colby

First, were you able to do anything on the list from the first brand challenge? I’d love to hear about it. Let me know in the comments below.

Whether you did or did not, let’s try again!

It doesn’t have to be a lot of something, just one thing. Sort of like taking a small bite of the elephant. You don’t need to eat the entire elephant at one time. Many successful websites were not built in one month. They started somewhere first. Then changed or added pages or content later.

Last post, I gave generalized ideas, including adding book pages on your website. For this post, I’m going to expand on this idea. 

What type of book pages do you have on your website?

Similar to a blog post, having a page that is focused on one main idea, allows you to use it as a link in other content. This isn’t usually something we think about when building our website pages. Deep linking is adding links that direct the reader to a specific page, not just the front page of your website. The faster they click to the content they want, the happier they will be.

Ideas for pages on your website include a series book page and individual book pages on each book you publish. You can add where to buy for that specific book on the page, but there’s so much other content that can be connected to these pages.

Where to deep-link your book and series pages for brand building

Create a social media post or a blog post on any of the content below and include a direct link to the book or series page it represents.

You can also add some of this content onto the book page itself to give additional context for your readers who choose to want to know more. It’s a way to connect with your readers or potential readers besides just the book.

Another option is to share research gathered for your stories. This could include research you weren’t able to add to your book but you’d like to share. Such when I learned about the first school-teacher who was trained from the school my heroine came from. So I wrote a blog post titled Harriet Bishop, First Public School Teacher in 1847

Frequent small steps add up over time

I know branding and dealing with your website can be challenging, I hope some of these ideas spark something for you to work with. Remember, your content doesn’t have to be perfect. It can even be something you decide to change later on. 

I encourage you to do one thing on this list above to help build your brand. It may not seem much. It may seem overwhelming, or underwhelming. But if you do one thing this month, and then another thing next month. Pretty soon, you’ll have many months of blog posts and content that you didn’t have before.

Sometimes we feel this urgency to hurry up that adds extra stress we don’t need as we are busy writing our next book. I’m hoping these ideas help propel you forward in your Author career. 

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Love & Romance Disney Couples Style

February 12, 2023 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as , ,

I’m a Disney nerd. I love everything Disney, from the movies, the characters, to the parks. A few years ago I wrote a February post titled Dating Lessons from Wall-E. It was one of my funnest posts to write. I decided this February to try and find some other Disney couples to write about.

Blog Post Header reads Love & Romance Disney Couples Style by Denise M. Colby with black Mickey heads and white hearts on a red background

But first, I googled Disney Couples

Did you know there are a lot of Disney couples? I found two lists with vastly different names on them. Some had duplicates, but some did not. So I decided to create my own list. How many of these couples are you familiar with? Do you know their love story?

  • Aurora & Phillip
  • Snow White & the Prince
  • Belle & Beast
  • Wall-E and Eve
  • Rapunzel & Eugene
  • Anna and Kristoff
  • Lady and the Tramp
  • Jack Skellington and Sally
  • Ella and Kit (from Cinderalla 2015)
  • Meg and Hercules
  • Mulan and Shang
  • Ariel and Eric

Of course there are these main Disney couples

  • Mickey & Minnie
  • Donald & Daisy

Do you have favorites? Can you can identify which movies these couples are from? Do you know other Disney couples I need to add to my list?

Thanks for playing along with me today. If you are interested in some other Disney-related blog posts on my website, check out my Disney mugs are fun post, or my Christmas & Disney post.

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My Word for 2023 is Change

January 12, 2023 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as , ,

My word for 2023 is change.

blog post titled word of the year 2023 is change written in purple on wooden looking background by Denise M. Colby

Why change?

This year will be some big changes in our family. And I hope to make some changes of my own.

What type of change?

First our family changes. With our youngest in his senior year of high school, we will be done volunteering and being involved with high school activities come June. I will miss it. Supporting all the kids, cheering at choir, theater, and other events, and hanging out with other parents. Three kids and 10 years at the same school (for our 3 sons), it will be weird to say goodbye. 

But with goodbye, is the opportunity to spend more time on my writing endeavors. To change my writing process, my manuscript, and my writing time. And hopefully do a little more travel and exploring with my hubby. I’m super excited about that. 

Researching My 2023 Word Change

I like to explore and research my word, finding quotes and phrases that support why I chose the word I did. What I found encouraged me even more that this was the perfect word for me in 2023.

Change begins at the end of your comfort zone

Roy T. bennett

I’m at a place where I know I need to change things in my manuscript to take it to the next level. And I’m ready to do it. After a lot of work (my word in 2022), reviewing and evaluating the entire novel, I know what I need to work on. And embracing change instead of being fearful of it, is how it’s going to get done.

Here’s to a year of change!

Denise M. Colby loves to choose a new word each year and then share what she learns about it. She wrote about her 2022 word, work, in her latest blog post, and created a highlights page for her 2020 word of the year courage on her website.

Taylor Swift quote in neon pink on sparkly teal background, This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change. for my 2023 word change this year.
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Choosing a Focus Word for Next Year

December 12, 2022 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as ,

I’ve written several posts about choosing a focus word each year and work hard (my word is WORK after all, this year) to find ways to study it, learn about it and share throughout the year. Over the past few years, I’ve had my word scream at me by the end of October. This year, it’s a little more subtle and I’m not sure what to choose. Have you picked your word yet?

Wood panels in background with the words Word of the Year 2023 and question marks supporting the question of what Denise M. Colby will pick for a focus word in 2023

How do you start to choose a focus word?

My word of the year journey began in 2015, when I decided to choose a focus word that I could cling to in my writing. I quickly realized that my word applied to all areas of my life, not just writing. And I have found it to be something I love to incorporate in my social media and discussions with people throughout the year.

You can introduce your word of the year in social media, take pics when you find your word, and share quotes and verses which include your focus word.

About a year ago I figured out each word builds on the previous word and a true indicator of my overall writing journey. Now I just have to figure out what my 2023 word will be. 

Here are the words I’ve selected since I’ve started.

synonyms of wisdom block 1
I love to look at all the synonyms of my focus word to see different angles of how to apply it

I have a short list for next year already, I just want to look up verses and see if there’s enough quotes to support and encourage me throughout an entire year.

Do you have a process you use to select your word? Or if you haven’t ever chosen a word, I wrote this blog post on the Wisdom of Selecting a New Focus Word Every Year

If you’ve already chosen a word, I’d love to hear what it is and why you chose it. Please write in the comments so those of us who have not picked a word yet, can find some inspiration!

In the meantime, I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas.

Blessings,

Denise

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