The Brand Challenge Introduction
October 12, 2022 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Author Brand, Denise M. Colby, Marketing for Authors, The Brand ChallengeThis month, I’m introducing a concept called The Brand Challenge. It’s a way to encourage you to try something new on your website to help you build your brand.
Sometimes branding and dealing with your website can be challenging. The purpose of this challenge is to encourage you to just try. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It can even be something you decide to change later on. The idea is trying something new to keep propelling you forward in your Author career.
For a list to choose from, here are some ideas to help you with your Brand Challenge this month:
- Create a new blog post this month about a character, your story theme, or genre you write in
- Up your on-page SEO with each post and page (for help, I’ve created an On-Page SEO Checklist for you to download, and check out my past blog post Using a Blog SEO Checklist to Streamline Your Blog Post)
- Create a book page on your website for every book you have or are working on
- Link two or three pages on your website to one another using Anchor Text
- Design a social media post about the genre you are writing in, or a book you’ve read recently
Pick One Task A Month For This Brand Challenge
Again, I encourage you to do one thing on this list above to help build your brand. It may not seem much, or it may feel overwhelming. But just stick to one thing only for the entire month. Then do another thing the following month. Pretty soon, you’ll have many months of blog posts or content you didn’t have before.
I’m always amazed at how slow and steady can be the right way to approach brand building.
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’d love to hear other ideas that can help you build your brand. Do you like the idea of a monthly Brand Challenge? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Blessings,
Denise
0 0 Read moreConsistently Write In Order to Meet Your Writing Goals
September 12, 2022 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Denise M. Colby, encouragement, writing processEach week my progress feels limited, but add the work all up together (it’s the 37th Monday of the year) and I’m finding that consistently writing a small amount week to week is working for me. It’s fun to check in mid-year, or in this case, September, and take a peek at the goals I set for the year. Am I even close? Did I miss my mark this year? Should I give up writing?
And learn I HAVE made progress.
It’s just so hard to see when we are going word by word, page by page.
Be Encouraged to Keep Writing Consistently
I want to encourage my writing friends to not give up. Set realistic goals for yourself on a week to week basis and keep plugging along. Stay steady. Be persistent.
Have I reached all my goals? No. But the year isn’t done yet. And yes, I have some far-reaching goals that can overwhelm me if I try to hurry up and get them done all at once. But this is where breaking tasks into manageable chunks help.
Put in the work (my word for the year) and you will see results. If you are like me, figuring out what that work should be in each stage of the process can be challenging. I’m not able to focus on my writing full-time at this stage in my life, so my writing consistently has to be squeezed in between my day job and the family commitments.
How do I do that?
Find The Schedule to Help You Consistently Write
At first I selected a specific day and time, one day a week. But that fell through when other required events popped up. Then I tried to just touch my ms sometime during the week. Constantly touching your MS even if it’s one page at a time is better than no writing at all. But it was hit or miss how far I would get and there wasn’t any accountability to myself to keep going.
Then a door opened that was exactly what I needed (which is something that has happened a lot in my writing journey). A new critique group came along at the perfect time within one of my writing groups. Out of all the writing clubs I belong too, this was really where I needed to put in the time. But I was afraid of the commitment. Yet it’s the commitment to consistently write that helps us complete a book. So finding the way that works for you to do that is key.
So this critique group came along at the perfect time. Sure I wanted my MS completely edited and ready to pitch ASAP. But instead I’m focusing on a chapter a week, by relooking at the scenes, editing, submitting and getting great feedback. And learning how to provide feedback back to others. Which has helped in many ways as well.
Overall, this has helped me streamline my story and make it stronger. And I’ve become a better writer. The bonus with working on this one writing task consistently every week? By the end of the year, I’ll have gotten feedback on every chapter. This was the accountability I needed.
Choose Your Own Way to Be Consistent
I’m not writing this post to encourage you to join a critique group. Maybe a critique group isn’t for you at this stage. For each writer, what helps you consistently write can be different. So know yourself. And spend some time figuring out what you need to do at this stage in your writing. What you need can change. Allow it to change. There just needs to be forward momentum (which happens when we consistently write) in order for us to reach our goals.
It’s the consistently writing, however we approach it, that counts.
Denise M. Colby loves to write words of encouragement blog posts. She also loves to write about her word of the year she chooses each year. She’s been working on her first manuscript for a long time and hopes to publish soon, since she has lots of other stories in her head waiting to be put on the page.
0 1 Read moreWhen Our Confidence In Our Writing Wavers
April 12, 2022 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as confidence, Denise M. Colby, encouragement, writerslifeHave you ever had your confidence in your writing waver? Years ago I wrote something that really helped me in a very heavy doubt period. As I was discussing confidence in his artwork with my college-age son recently, I went and found this to encourage him to believe in himself. I needed the reminder as well. And I decided to share it with all of you too.
Originally published on denisemcolby.com on June 6, 2017
This morning I was reading in 2 Corinthians and the following verse made me stop and pause, so I wrote it down on my handy 3×5 index card for future reference:
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 2 Corinthians 3:5
I want to be a writer. Notice I said I want to, not I am.
I’ve only been writing things for over twenty years – either marketing copy or fiction stories. No matter which, the reality is I struggle with believing in myself. Having confidence in my writing. My takeaway from this verse is God’s telling me if I believe in him, I need to believe in myself.
After getting the kids off to school, I took a walk and the verse rattled around in my head. But for some reason the key word competence turned into the word confidence (I wonder who put that there?). As I mulled around thoughts about confidence, I knew I needed to come home and look up the word in the dictionary.
I love words. Definitions, synonyms – all of it. I also love seeing connections words have with other words. So here’s what the website http://www.dictionary.com says about
CONFIDENCE: full trust; belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance:
And I love the example they gave in a sentence: His lack of confidence defeated him.
Is my lack of confidence in my abilities as a writer defeating me?
I think about my writing and the nudges I have had over the past five years and I know without a doubt God wants me to do this, otherwise doors would’ve closed on me long ago. However I’m not fully doing what he wants me to do because I have not had the confidence to just do it.
I’ve been saying for a while now, I would like to write devotionals. I have this strong innate desire to share hope, encouragement and God’s Word with others. What I haven’t been sure about is the how and what. So I haven’t done it, period.
When I took my walk this am something clicked and I couldn’t wait to get back home because I needed to do this right now. God has confidence in me. He has given me the desire. He’s nudging me to do this. Why have I not done this? Why?
I’m afraid – that’s why. What am I so afraid of? Putting myself out there? Looking like an idiot? Is that confidence then? I know I’m not looking for accolades, not looking for stardom. I just want to write and share my heart. But I’ve been too scared to do that. I have lacked confidence to go for it.
Then I saw the Synonyms for confidence – 1. faith, reliance, dependence.
And the Antonym – 1. mistrust.
Wow!
My lack of confidence is holding me back in my writing
I’m not really trusting God then, am I? If I have faith, I should have confidence in what he’s asking me to do. And I need to depend on Him when I do it.
So here I am today. Writing a devotional and setting up a specific devotional page on my website. Only God knows what will happen. I just need to have the confidence to do it (already the nagging doubts are creeping in). I must rely on God with the rest.
But wait, there’s more. When I grabbed my Bible to write in the verse, I realized I made a mistake (was it really?) and the word was competence not confidence. Oh no! Do I scrap what I just wrote? Does it even relate? See maybe I shouldn’t be doing this after all. I paused for a moment then decided to look it up:
COMPETENCE: having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, experience, etc., for some purpose; properly qualified:
And the Synonym: 1. fit, capable, proficient.
No antonym. Interesting. There is no negative/opposite of being competent. You either are or you are not. I may not be the best writer, but I know I am proficient. So what am I waiting for?
Then I looked at 2 Corinthians 3:4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.
If God has given you skills – you are capable to use them for his glory. You just need to have the confidence through Him to do it.
What abilities (competence) has God given you? Where do you put your confidence? In your own efforts, schedule, skills, voices in your head? Or do you trust God? Do you have the confidence to put yourself out there with whatever it is?
God has given us all skills. We are all competent in something. Being competent does not need to mean you are the best at something.
Being competent means you are proficient. You can get the job done.
We should have confidence in our writing if we are proficient enough
We let our own voices tell us we are not competent because we think we need to be the best or someone does it better than us and we let it affect our confidence which in turn affects what we do.
Everyone’s path is different and God has one he wants you to follow. He has given you these skills for a reason. You just have to have confidence in Him that He is with you every step of the way.
God believes in you and I believe in you too!
Denise M. Colby loves to write encouraging words. You can read other posts by Denise in her archives here on A Slice of Orange
0 0 Read moreBeing Out of Balance Stifles Creativity
January 12, 2022 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Denise M. Colby, Word of the year, writers goals, writerslifeDo you ever feel out of balance in your life? Where you find your days lopsided in your to-do’s, and you aren’t able to dig into your well to do what you really want to do? Have you found yourself with the desire to create stuffed inside but no way to come out? Am I the only one who needed a mental and creative break at the end of last year?
When I say creative break, what I really mean is giving my brain a chance to catch up with itself. Taking the time to organize thoughts, goals, wins, and losses, and get out of the funk I found myself in.
Time to conduct a Sacred Rest Assessment
Susan May Warren added the Sacred Rest assessment in her 2022 Brilliant Writer Planner (that I love!). It’s a way to determine the rest you are lacking (and what you are not). It’s all about balance. And she organizes our needs into these buckets:
- Physical
- Emotional
- Creative
- Spirutal
- Social
- Sensory
- Mental.
When you find your life is out of harmony
For me, my mental and creative areas are sorely lacking. And taking time over the last two weeks to purge through some to-do piles, evaulate my year, and write out thoughts, made me realize I don’t schedule this type of downtime for my brain enough.
And that’s exactly what the assesment is supposed to do.
Help you figure out areas you should focus on this year.
For me, I like time to let my mind catch up with my inputs. Let my mind wander. With my scheduled life, I don’t get a lot of time to do that. Yet when I did recently, I found the creative juice I’ve been missing.
Ideas began to pop into my thoughts. Energy to dive in and get to work.
Finding Symmetry
And that what was so exciting, because WORK is my word for 2022. Something I chose because God isn’t finished with me yet. And I am not finished with this writing journey.
He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. Philippians 1:6.
Noun: exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something
Dreams don’t work, unless you do.
My manuscript is a work in progress
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart….Colossions 3:24-25
Which is exactly what I plan to do for 2022.
I process my thoughts by writing. I explore what’s in my brain by writing. And what I found myself not doing at the end of 2021 was writing.
It takes work to write. And I’m now ready to get to work.
Figuring Out Balance
In her Sacred Rest Assessment, Susie May asks three questions at the end
1. What areas do you need to focus more on this year?
2. Why do you feel you are depleted in those particular areas?
3. What activities can you pursue to refresh your life with Sacred Rest?
And just like that I figured out how and what to schedule (what I need to bring balance back to my life) into my week.
How about you? Are you in balance with your Sacred Rest?
You may want to schedule some time to assess to help you bring yourself back into balance this year and together, maybe we can help each other do just that!
Denise M. Colby loves to write words that encourage, enrich, & engage. Every year, she chooses a word to focus on. Her word in 2021 was Wisdom. If you’d like to see more of Denise’s posts on this blog, you can check out her archives.
0 0 Read moreFour Steps To Face Your Fears
October 12, 2021 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Denise M. Colby, encouragement, Writing Advice, writing lifeI wanted to write something encouraging this month and decided to repost one of my earliest posts from this blog titled Face Your Fear, which I wrote in 2017. I have found throughout my writing journey, I’ve had some type of fear hold me back, which manifests itself in taking a hit on my productivity and confidence in my writing. So I thought I would repost and share the four steps to help face your fears.
Because I truly believe taking time to understand your fears each time they rear their ugly heads, can help you overcome them.
And I need the reminder myself these days.
So without further ado, here is the post.
What’s your biggest fear as a writer? For some of you, it might be putting the ideas swirling in your mind into actual words on the paper. For others, it might be pitching your manuscript or creating social media posts. Whatever it is, we all have them. And all that fear causes anxiety, worry, tension, panic, despair…you get the idea (we all write characters who struggle with these, right?). If you’re anything like me, my fears prevent me from accomplishing or completing some of my writing goals.
Four Steps To Help Face Our Fears
First, you must identify it. Write it down. What’s your biggest fear? Stare it straight in the face. It’s not so scary once you look at it written out.
Second, define it a bit more. Add another layer of thought to it. What specifically about it makes you have fear. Is it the entire thing or just a part or two. And then ask yourself, why is it scary for you?
Third, debunk it. Discover counter arguments to your fear. Find out from other authors if they have experienced the same fear. Soon you might realize this is a normal reaction to the process and you might even learn ideas to overcome your fear.
Fourth, push through it. Do one task which causes fear. Ask yourself —what’s the worst that can happen? Find a writing partner who can encourage you and help challenge you to follow through. Note: You may have to do this part more than once.
My own experiment with facing my writing fears
Step #1
I decided to take a 4 x 6 index card and ask myself what my greatest fear was. What I wrote surprised me. In my mind, I had a general overall fear, but when I wrote it down I saw something more specific.
I don’t always sit my butt in the chair and on the surface I tell myself it’s because I don’t have time, but deep down I’m seeing now it might be because I’m afraid. What if I sit down for an hour session and it isn’t any better than when I started? What if I only edit through a 600 word block in that time? I will never finish. And so on and so on….
So, for me, my fear is getting it wrong. I want to hit the mark and soar with my writing. I’ve entered a lot of contests and shown my work, and although I get encouraging feedback, I’m still missing the mark. And I’m afraid it will always be that way.
Step #2
I had to ask myself what specifically about getting it wrong meant. Was it failure? Afraid of what people think?
I don’t think I’m afraid of what people think so much (although I want people to like my work), as I am wondering if what I write will ever be ready to publish. I have lots of ideas, but when I write them down, they don’t sound as great as I thought they were. And I’m afraid no matter how much time I put in, I may never achieve my goal of getting published.
All this fear and doubt affects what I do day to day. How I spend my time. My mental state when I’m writing. And I don’t want it to.
Step #3
Fight back. Who decides if it’s wrong anyway? And how do they decide? Look at how many published authors sent in their manuscript numerous times before it was accepted. It’s just part of the process.
See, by writing it down, I can find counter arguments to what my fear is telling me. And it helps calm down the panic that wants to creep in. It keeps me from letting my fear stop me completely.
Step #4
Step four says to do something to face your fear, so I need to take risks and not be so afraid of doing so. Write a blog post even if it’s not perfect and post it. Write a new scene and show someone. Get feedback and keep trying. If I don’t do any of these things, I let the fear win. There is always going to be more I can add, more to improve, so why am I waiting to hit send? Waiting doesn’t do anything but feed my fear.
Fear keeps us from our goals. Something none of us wants.
For fun, I came up with this acronym. As we know, fear is an emotional response. We need to stop reacting to our fear and work on ways to work through it. So, FACE your FEAR. Fix And Change Every Fear from Emotional to an Analytical Response.
All so we can meet our goals. We all have goals we want to achieve, right?
So take some time and write down what your fear is and then face it. You just might work through that writer’s block you’ve been struggling with.
Hugs & Blessings,
Denise
Denise M. Colby loves to write words that encourage, enrich, & engage. Every year, she chooses a word to focus on. This year her word is Wisdom. If you’d like to see more of Denise’s posts on this blog, you can check out her archives.
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