Self Publishing Advisor

FLASH-WRITING

Back in the day, when prose and poetry readings were encouraged at coffee houses—and listeners snapped their fingers instead of applauding—editors from publishing houses frequented many of those dark rooms.  A “literary renaissance” was “happening” as individual writers stepped into church basements and back-alley saloons to give their work a voice.  Some of those we still read today were published by forward-thinking, yet mainstream, publishers.

Today’s writers live in a New Universal Renaissance—the flow of actions, events and concepts that even the Internet cannot contain.  The cultures of our world’s populations are being developed—positively or negatively—even as I write this blog.  People, politics, mega-business, health industries, Faith centers and yes, even sports, create an ebb and flow that seems to carry the world away.  Who can possibly make sense of it all?  Writers!  You and me!  And we no longer have to scribble our writings on coffee-house napkins and see them disappear.  We have a much better option!  Self-publishing!

Sitting beside the advantage of self-publishing is the necessity to write well.  I’ve talked about being organized and researching and writing from the heart—and each of those elements are essential.  But HOW do we start? WHERE do we find that one thing worth writing about?  It comes from Flash-writing, of course!  Some folks—from the 60s—might call it stream-of-consciousness writing, and the concept is similar, but not quite the same.

The similar part looks like this:  Find a comfortable spot—maybe in a favorite room and/or chair—and set your coffee, tea or Bailey’s beside you.  If this place happens to be an inspiring location, that is even better (a park, library reading room, art museum).  Setting up beside a large window-with-a-view is also a good option.  Then grab your preferred writing tool—paper and pencil, laptop, or iPad and WRITE!  Write anything that comes to mind.  Doodle.  Draw.  Scribble.  Scrawl.  PLAY with words.  If a person (character) pops into your thoughts, write about them.  If you’ve always wanted to travel to Mars, start planning the trip.  Write…write…and write some more!  That is the basic stream-of-consciousness method.

My adaptation: DO all that in 15 minutes or less!  This is Flash-Writing, and I’ve had more success, personally, by exercising my creativity in flashes than from hours of trying to force stream-of-consciousness thoughts.  Have you seen a YouTube clip of a Mob Flash-dancing?  What FUN!  And fun is exactly what writing is all about.  When the fingers are moving and the ideas are racing, we are having fun!  And the most fun of all comes when we hold our completed book IN our hands.

Did you know that some of the most well received movies/films came from short (in some cases very short) stories?  There is a 640 page book by Stephanie Harrison—a university professor—telling the true stories of some of these authors who became famous by “flash-writing” their ideas and developing them into Short Stories.

SO…GO HAVE FUN!  Let your voice be heard!  Write a short story!  Write several short stories!  Make a collection of them and GET THEM PUBLISHED!

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene Doyle is a Ghostwriter with Outskirts Press, bringing more than 35 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their writing projects. She has worked with both experienced and fledgling writers helping complete projects in multiple genres. When a writer brings the passion they have for their work and combines it with Royalene’s passion to see the finished project in print, books are published and the writer’s legacy is passed forward.