10 Heart-Warming and Heart-Wrenching Scenes for your Romantic Thriller

Hi writerly friends!

Welcome back! This week, we’re talking about five heart-warming and 5 heart-wrenching scenes to write into your romance novel! I can’t remember where I first heard of writing different/alternate scenes to get you unstuck from a difficult scene, but I figured I’d put my own spin on it! You don’t actually have to include these in your story but they’re excellent writing prompts to set within the realm of your own story and it makes a great writing exercise if you’re stuck in the middle of a scene.

Lock them up ❤️😂

While this sounds more like a heart-wrenching scene, I have seen some pretty funny scenes come out of characters being locked in a room with one another. Consider what dialogue you could use here and how this memory will help build their character prior to the story.

Kill someone 💔

I don’t mean literally! But kill your characters to see how their leaving the story changes the outcome. Consider how the other characters would react if the main character died. How would the story go from there? How would it ever get told?

Photo by Rodolfo Clix.

I wouldn’t exactly do this if the story its told in first person and in the POV of the character you chose to kill, but consider how the story would be different if he remaining characters had to carry the story to completion after the death of your MC.

What could go wrong? ❤️😂

As yourself this question when writing a scene you’re stuck in the middle of and then write exactly what can go wrong. I did this in one of my short stories and it worked wonders. This is especially great for best-friends-to-lovers stories where comical situations only bring the friendship even closer.

Their pet escaped 💔

This can go either really well or really badly depending on how you write it. Pretend as if of your characters pet has escaped and they enlist the help of their best friend of love interest to rescue it. This can come out very Cheetah Girls, or dog runs away for good. The point of this is to put your characters in an emotionally demanding situation to see how they’ll react under pressure.

It’s their wedding day ❤️

If you know two of your characters will end up together, write out their wedding day down to all of the nitty gritty details like dress sizes, color palettes, types of flowers, menu and everything in between. Vividly write it out and include the character’s stress of trying to have a perfect wedding day along with the immense joy of getting married to their soulmate.

Kidnapped or runaway? 💔

Write an entire chapter where your main character gets kidnapped and its up to their friends, family, or love interest to find and rescue them. This can be an especially heart-wrenching scene if the kidnapper gives them a ransom or time limit. This can be an especially heart-warming scene if the character in question isn’t in fact kidnappe, but rather they run away and their love interest is the only one who can convince them to come back. If the love interest runs away with them to make sure they’re safe, it will be extra sweet!

They’ve been drugged ❤️😂

Again, this sounds like a heart-wrenching scene, but I promise, it’s not. Remember the part of Stranger things when Steve and Robin were drugged by the Russians and they were so loopy and useless to their friends? Write your characters into the exact same situation and see what kind of hilarious dialogue comes out of it and how they get to know each other better. One rule though, don’t re-watch Stranger Things until after you’ve done this so that you won’t accidentally plagiarize! Not cool!

They’ve been framed 💔

Write an entire scene where your main character just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and they were framed for a terrible crime in their hometown. Write everything from their emotions and thought process to how their friends and family would prove their innocence. If they have any enemies, write how they’d help stack the cards against them. If you want, you can even write them going to jail and document their experience.

Talent show contestants ❤️😂

Write your characters into a good old-fashioned high-school-style talent show. Write out their process for figuring out their talents and deciding what they’ll do for the show, the actual show, and everything afterward. Consider what would happen if they messed up on stage and if their friends or love interest would step in to save them from embarrassment, or if they’d run off stage, sobbing. What would it take your main character to win the talent show?

Dreams and nightmares 💔❤️

While this works for both heart-wrenching and heart-warming categories, write what kind of dreams your characters would have. Write about what their subconscious shows them and describe them in vivid detail. If they have nightmares, write the wild things they see and if they have happy dreams, show us what kind of dreams would make them stay in bed longer.

And that’s it for my five heart-warming and five heart-wrenching scenes to write when your stuck in the middle of a scene. What did you think of these prompts? Do you like writing about other scenes to get yourself unstuck? Are there any other prompts I could have included? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and as always, thanks’ for reading!

—Payton

Author Interview: Melanie Martins (Author of Blossom In Winter)

Melanie Martins Blossom In Winter Press Kit Photo.

This is a spoiler-free interview!

Hi reader friends, meet Melanie Martins, author of Blossom in Winter, on romantic thrillers, the writing process, becoming an author, and upcoming news!

Melanie Martins has been quickly gaining attention and avid readers within the bookish community and specifically, the romance community for her spicy, controversial, and heart-wrenching romantic thriller, Blossom in Winter. Known by many as one of the most followed Luxury Travel Influencers on Instagram, Melanie flipped her corner of the internet on it’s head by changing her career path so dramatically—from travel blogging to novel writing—that’s quite a leap!

She did an interview with Thrive Global that gave us insight into the change in her career path, self-publishing and so much more. Now, I’ve gotten the incredible opportunity to sit down with her and discuss her debut novel, Blossom in Winter, which has earned her a 4.7/5-star rating on Goodreads and 4.1/5-star rating on Amazon. Considered on Goodreads as a “real page turner”, “engrossing and addictive” and a “damn roller coaster”, Blossom in Winter is definitely a must-read for Romantic Thriller enthusiasts everywhere.

Blossom in Winter very clearly falls into the Romantic Thriller genre.  What do you think of Romantic Thrillers both as a reader and a writer? Have you ever written in this genre before?

Blossom in Winter is actually the first novel I ever wrote. I did write a short novel in Portuguese when I was seventeen but it was just for fun and it never saw the light of day. Although it also had an age-gap and a judge in it. I personally love writing thrilling love stories full of mystery, secrets, and twists and turns—it makes the story-line so much more engaging and different than the usual romantic plots which only focus on the development of the relationship between the main characters. As a reader, I feel much more hooked and entertained when there is an underlying plot going on, leaving me on the edge of my seat, which is probably why I’ve a hard time to connect with a predictable romances that only focus on the relationship with no real external conflict.

Do you think you will write more Romantic Thrillers?

Yes, Blossom in Winter is the first book of a series and the second book “Lured into Love” will have even more thrilling events, twists, and difficult choices our main characters will have to make. Actually, the second book will be even more unpredictable and my goal is to make sure no reader will figure out the ending. 

What do you think makes a compelling Romantic Thriller?

The build-up of events that take unexpected turns is definitely a must, along with creating some mystery around a particular character, event, or situation. This is something we see a lot in Blossom in Winter, especially around the Van Dieren’s family. In sum, when the reader thinks she’s got everything figured it out, and the unexpected happens leaving the reader surprised (and sometimes even shocked) is what makes, in my personal opinion, a great thriller. 

Can you tell me a little bit about where you drew your inspiration while writing this book?

Romeo & Juliet, first and foremost. It’s by far my favorite story because of the eternal question “How far would you go for Love?” We may question if it was Love or pure lust, but in my opinion, Shakespeare wanted to explore, on a deeper level, the human nature and how far we can go for what we believe in and care about. I adapted the story to fit a contemporary romance, but there are a lot of resemblances—from the forbidden relationship between Petra Van Gatt & Alexander Van Dieren and all the external events that make it even more forbidden, to the ending. The quote from Elizabeth Elliott at the beginning of the book says it all: “There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for.” which would’ve been the perfect opening quote for Romeo & Juliet too.

What is your writing process like?

I always start with creating a board with the story-line, the external conflicts, the inner-trouble/worries, the characters’ personalities and bios, and how the ending is going to be. When it comes to the writing itself, I never wrote from start to finish, but rather by scenes. I might do the Prologue first and then jump to write a scene on Chapter 15. Since I knew the story-line and how it would go, I wrote the most important scenes first, and then the connecting ones. 

Is there anything you’d do differently with your writing process next time?

Not with the writing process itself but rather with the post-writing, which is when the first draft of your manuscript is done. 

In an interview with Thrive Global, you advise aspiring writers to write for their readers as opposed to themselves, but I’ve heard quite the opposite from many other writers. I know by this; you mean all works of writing can benefit from a second set of eyes. What did you learn from working through various stages of editing and how do you think it made you a stronger writer?

I worked with 3 editors; my development editor is a creative writing professor at the University of New York and former-executive editor at Harlequin, and the two others worked at Penguin and Simon & Schuster, and even today I’d consider myself an amateur. The best way you learn is actually through your readers and by reading in your genre. And by readers I mean your paying readers— those who pay to read your work. This is where I received the best advice ever. They were cold, harsh critiques but important nevertheless, to improve and become a better writer. I believe editors are great, but sometimes they don’t tell you all the harsh, cold truths you need to hear (they might not even know about them themselves). The more your novel is read, the more opinions you can gather and some of them can be as valuable as the opinion of an editor (and sometimes even better).  

I’ve heard you are planning a launch for February. Can you give me any details about that?

I did what is called a soft launch on October 28, which is when you launch the e-book first. The idea of a soft launch is to gather as much feedback as possible and make any necessary adjustment before it goes to print (this is when you do offset/traditional printing of your book, not print-on-demand). On Valentine’s Day, I’ll have the 1st Edition of Blossom in Winter available on paperback which is an offset print. As a new self-published author, I’m a firm believer on gathering as much genuine feedback as possible before it goes to print and the best way to do so is by readers who [willingly] paid to read your work.

I know you made quite a career shift, from travel blogger to self-published author. Now that you’ve taken the plunge into writing, do you notice any overlap? Will you continue to do Luxury Travel Influencing or is writing your focus for now?

Photo by Melanie Martins.

I’m actually a writer at heart. When I was nineteen and a Law school student, all I wanted was to travel to exotic places (think Morocco, Egypt, Maldives, French Polynesia, Seychelles, etc.) and escape my rather boring college life, so becoming a travel blogger seemed the right path to achieve it. My boyfriend and I purchased a camera and we started to create content for hospitality/travel brands allowing us to travel and build my personal brand out of it. However, writing fiction is what I enjoy the most. Eight years ago, I would’ve never been able to write a novel in English since my level was quite basic (I’m French and Portuguese, English is my fourth language). For now, writing and the business aspect of self-publishing is what I want to focus on, but I will definitely continue to collaborate with some of my favorite brands such as the Four Seasons, the Ritz-Carlton, etc. in the future. 

What advice would you give to new writers?

First, find your writing style. I realized after finishing my first manuscript of Blossom in Winter (a 125k words manuscript) that I hated reading it on the 3rd person and past-tense. It was so impersonal that I had to change it. I changed from 3rd person to first person but something was missing. Then I changed the past-tense to the present-tense and that was my eureka moment. Multiple first-person points-of-view became my writing style. Second, plan your story. There is nothing worse than not having a planned story-line; you will get stuck and not know what to write about. I wrote my first manuscript in three months because I had everything figured it out beforehand. Third, once you have a first draft, hire a development/line-by-line editor. A development editor will check everything from plot holes, pacing, characters development, etc., and might even do some copy-editing (if it’s a line-by-line editor). Your first manuscript is always horrible, believe me. Once you have a revised version, hire a copy-editor and lastly, a proofreader. It’s an investment, but if you are serious about your writing career, you should do it. Also, read as much as you can in the genre you want to write about.

What book are you reading right now? Do you have a favorite?

I’m currently reading The Kiss Thief (an arranged marriage novel by L. J. Shein and it’s the first time I’m reading from this author). I read mostly dark erotic romances, so one of my favorites is The Dark Duet series by C. J. Robert (for the plot—not the writing style, though). An easier read for me was Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas, but both of them explore Stockholm syndrome which I find fascinating.

Click here to view The Kiss Thief by L. J. Shien on Amazon

Click here to view Captive in the Dark (The Dark Duet Book 1) by C. J. Robert on Amazon

Click here to view Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas on Amazon

Photo by Melanie Martins.

Where can readers find and keep up with you?

I’m mostly active on my Facebook group Blossom in Winter (by Melanie Martins) but they can also find me on Instagram and Facebook under @melaniemartinsblog.

Click here to view Blossom in Winter by Melanie Martins on Amazon

Click here to view Blossom in Winter by Melanie Martins on Blossominwinter.com (Free worldwide shipping)

In closing, I’d like to include my own Amazon review of the book. I’d highly recommend it to every romance reader out there and especially if you enjoy reading Romantic Thrillers.

Click here to view my review of Blossom in Winter on Goodreads

And that’s it for my author interview with Melanie Martins. Have you read Blossom in Winter? If so, what did you think about it? And if not, why not? Get on with it already! I know you’ll love it! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Click here to view Blossom in Winter by Melanie Martins on Amazon

Click here to view Blossom in Winter by Melanie Martins on Blossominwinter.com (Free worldwide shipping)

Thanks for reading my interview with Melanie Martins! If you’re looking for her contact links or where you can find the book, you’ve scrolled a bit too far. No fear though, just scroll up to the section above these pictures ^ and you should find it!

—Payton

How To Write Best Friends to Lovers Romance That Feels Realistic

Hi writerly friends!

I’m back this week with another romance writing guide. Next week we’ll be discussing how to write believable hate-to-love romance, so I thought it’d be a great warm-up to show you guys how to writer believe best-friend-to-lovers romance. This is obviously a steppingstone and acts as the middle ground between enemies and more-than-friends in hate-to-love romance, so as you might expect, you can’t have one without the other.

However, your characters don’t always have to start out hating each other, they can indeed go from friends to lovers in a single story. Funnily for us, and embarrassingly for your characters and readers, it’s not exactly a straight shot, no—it’s a pretty rocky ride from best friends to lovers and it can be a tricky-to-write trope.

It’s unsurprising that the characters will have a bumpy time getting from one side to the other, as one is decidedly platonic and the other is decidedly romantic, and the transition from friends to lovers can be tough to read, even tougher to write, and often employs tons of awkward exchanges and cringe-worthy moments.

So, how do you write best-friends-to-lovers romance that is realistic and believable to the reader?

Step 1: Embrace The Weirdness

 As you might expect, writing best-friends-to-lovers romance stories is going to feel weird, because plot twist, going from best-friends to lovers is weird! Not unearthing any best kept secrets, her—everyone knows it’s a weird shift, especially if you’ve known each other since childhood. So, when writing this trope, don’t shy away from all the weirdness, awkwardness, and embarrassing, gross feelings that happen, because it’s completely natural and these feelings should be present in the story. In fact, the reader should be able to pick up on these feeling and feel weird about it too. Secondhand embarrassment is a thing, and it’s something we want our readers turning pages to get to a point in the story when everything makes sense again and the awkwardness has died down a bit.

However, don’t go so far as to make it unrealistic. Yes, at times the uncomfortableness of the transition should be almost palpable to the reader, but keep the balance between rising and falling tension so that readers stay on the edges of their seats and grit the teeth at all the right moments.

Step 2: Determine Whether the Love is Mutual or Unrequited?

Before we get into the story structure for this trope, ask yourself whether the love between your characters or if it’s unrequited. This is very important to how the story will play out and what choices your characters will make based on their emotions, especially towards the resolution. Both routes can be delicious and heart-wrenching in their own right but know which one you’re going to go with in your own writing, will make the process a lot easier.

Jonah Hauer-King as Laurie Lawerence and Maya Hawke as Jo March in Little Women (2017) Photo by PBS.

To make it easier to chose which path your story will take, I’m going to give you a couple of examples, the first being Little Women  by Louisa May Alcott, and the second being Emma by Jane Austen, (and no, I didn’t just pick these two because they involve someone being gifted a piano, but man isn’t that romantic?)

In Little Women, Laurie’s love goes unreturned when Jo tells him she never saw him as more than a friend. This sends him to Europe to avoid his heart break. When he returns after falling for Jo’s sister, being rejected again, and being inspired to do something with his life, he asks Jo to marry him. She rejects him again and ends up marrying someone else, but this story is a prime example of a best-friends-to-lovers romance that took a turn when the love was unrequited.

On the flip side, Emma, by Jane Austen Emma is startled to realize after everything, she is the one who wants to marry Mr. Knightly. When she admits her foolishness for meddling in the romances of others, he proposes, and she accepts. This is a great example of friends who become lovers where the love is returned.

Step 3: Follow The Structure

Alright, now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about the parts of the BFTL story structure (at least that’s the acronym I’m giving it because that’s just way to much to type every time, sorry, not sorry.)

Whether or not you go by the 3-Act Story Structure, every best-friends-to-lovers romance typically follows this basic format:

• Foundation

• Set-up

• Aha moment

• Conflict

• Decision

• Resolution

• Foundation

The first part of the structure for this trope is the foundation, where we are introduced to all core story elements, characters, setting, premise and theme. Here, the reader will get to know what exactly the story they’re reading is.

Set-up

The second part of the structure is the set-up. This is where the meet cute would occur in romance, and for best-friends-turned-lovers romance, it is no different. Introduce the characters, their relationship at this point in the story, and begin laying the groundwork for the transition from best-friends to future lovers.

Click here to read my blog post for creating the perfect meet cute.

While your story might be set preceding or following the formation of your characters friendship, it is important to know how and when they became friends, because if they become lovers later on, this will be an important part in the evolution of their relationship.

Aha Moment

This part of the story is when the characters first realize they are in love with each other. If you chose to go with the unrequited love path, then here, they would learn that one likes the other and decide they don’t feel the same way in return. Consider what path you take for this part because it will really determine how the rest of the story plays out.

 Does the one who is rejected continue pursuing their friend romantically, or do they give up on the first try? Does the one who only views their friend platonically have a change of heart and end up with their friend after all? Is it a messy back and forth that never really ends with the two friends becoming lovers? Is the timing ever right? These are all important questions to ask yourself during the aha moment, because it directly drives the following course of the story.

Conflict

Remember the questions I just asked you in the aha moment section? Those questions should be asked and answered in the conflict of the story. Here we see the true feelings come out and the characters will understand the scope of the situation before them.

Decision

Saoirse Ronan as Josephine "Jo" March and Timothée Chalamet as Theodore "Laurie" Laurence (2019). Photo by Wilson Webb .

In the decision part of the best-friends-to-lovers romance, readers will see what choice the characters make based on everything they know at this point and their emotions. They might decide to get together or break up as friends, for good. Everything that has happened has led to this moment and how they react will change the course of their friendship forever. If the love is unrequited, maybe they just stay friends, but it is likely things will be weird and they’ll have to go their separate ways, like Laurie and Jo in Little Women. Perhaps they do end up getting together and marrying with a happy ending such as Emma and Mr. Knightly in Emma.

Resolution

Where do your characters go from here? How does the friendship grow or die after the decisions are made? Is there room for growth as friends and lovers or have they done irreparable damage to a good thing? Unrequited love stories are especially juicy and heart-wrenching in the resolution.

And that’s it for my guide on how to write best-friends-to-lovers romance stories that are believable and realistic. What do you think of these types of stories? Did you like Little Women and Emma? Do you prefer writing mutual or unrequited love? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and as always, thanks for reading!

Further reading:

• How To Write The Perfect Meet Cute

• How to Write Hate-To-Love Romance

• The Top 10 Worst Romance Tropes EVER

• 5 Supernatural Romance Reads for February 2020

• 5 Contemporary Romances Everyone Should Read

• Classic Romance Reading Challenge for February 2020

—Payton

How To Write The Perfect Meet Cute

Glen Powell as Charlie Young and Zoey Deutch as Harper in Set It Up. Gif by Payton Hayes.

Hello, writerly friends!

Today, we’re discussing the meet cute. What the heck even is a meet cute anyways? Well, according to Google, is an amusing or charming first encounter between two characters that leads to the development of a romantic relationship between them.

Of course, the way you do the meet cute is completely and totally up to you—it can be cute, funny, or disastrous and comical. How you do a meet cute is completely subjective and can be created in a number of ways, but today I am going to show you how to make a meet cute even cuter—like the cutest it could possibly be.

When the reader sees the meeting coming, characters do not

While you can craft a meet cute where both the reader and characters do not see it coming, I think it’s extra interesting when the reader does, because it’s like this little secret between the writer and the reader. I really love meet cutes that do this. It’s like the sense of rising dread you get when you’re reading parts of a story with building tension—except that it’s a good kind of dread because you want the characters to end up meeting. The reader knows something good will come out of this chance encounter, only they know it’s coming, and the characters do not.

Flinn is surprised when Rapunzel hits him with a frying pan during Disney’s Tangled’s meet cute (2010).

A great example of this kind of meet cute is in Disney’s Tangled, when Flynn Rider is running from the law and seeks refuge in Rapunzel’s conveniently hidden tower. We already know Rapunzel is inside and he definitely climbed up the wrong tower. The scene that follows does not disappoint, when Rapunzel smacks him in the face with a frying pan for climbing through her window. I would consider this a comical meet cute, but it works extra well because the viewer knows what will happen before the characters and it builds for extra spicy first meeting.

Joe Bradley wakes a sleeping Princess Ann in Roman Holiday (1953).

Another example of a meet cute where the viewer/reader knows of the meeting before the characters actually meet is Roman Holiday, when Princess Ann shirks her royal responsibilities to see Rome for herself and eventually ends up falling asleep on a street. When the scene shifts to Gregory Peck playing cards with the guys, viewers just know the two are going to meet. After his night out, we see him walking down the same street Ann has fallen asleep on and we’re already anticipating their meeting.

Milo Ventimiglia as Jess Mariano and Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore in Gilmore Girls (2000).

Another example of a meet cute where the characters don’t know they’ll be meeting it is in Gilmore Girls, Season 2, Episode 5. Not only does this episode include Jess' first appearance, but it's also the first episode that Rory and he meet. He steals her copy of Allen Ginsberg's "Howl," only to return it to her later in the episode with notes in the margins because Ginsberg is love, you guys. Ah, Jess Mariano — you book thieving-and-annotating bad boy. When Jess swipes Howl from Rory’s room during that ill-fated dinner hosted by Lorelai, and then returns it filled with margin notes, Rory was definitely impressed. (And so were we.) This scene effectively sets up the characters before they even know each other, themselves and shows us that there’s more than meets the eye, both for the mischievous Jess and their tumultuous relationship down the line.

This kind of meet cute makes the reader feel smarter because they know something the characters don’t. This is why it feels like a special little secret between the reader and the writer because the reader feels like he or she has already figured the story out. This is especially effective if you have plot twists and turns later on in the story, because the ground work for the surprises will already be laid out for you.

Characters don’t know they’ll be seeing a lot of each other

Piggybacking on the idea that the characters don’t know they’ll end up together, another meet cute that works really well in many stories is when the characters don’t know they’ll be seeing a lot of each other and/or aren’t too thrilled about it. This is especially fun for awkward situations where the character thinks “oh well, I’ll never see them again anyways,” and then come to find out that they will be seeing them again, and a lot more at that. Awkward is cute, writers.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Dido Elizabeth Belle and Sam Reid as John Davinière in Belle.

Pro tip: a sense of awkwardness or secondhand embarrassment is a fantastic feeling to give the reader. It’s as strong as , if not stronger than fear or desire, because its such a vulnerable emotion and it’s one we go out of our way to avoid. If you can invoke this in your reader, then congratulations, you’ve effectively written something that makes people feel.

A great example of this type of meet cute is in the movie Belle, when Dido and John run into each other on her late-night walk. She is startled at first when she finds that he actually came bringing news for her uncle and even more so when she discovers her uncle is John’s tutor and they’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.

Another example of this type of meet cute is in Jane Eyre when Jane first meets Mr. Rochester, he doesn’t tell her who he is, but later when she returns home, she recognizes his dog and realizes the true identity of the man she’d met on the road, earlier that day.

This kind of meet cute is really great because not only does it introduce a whole new level of awkward! but it also allows us to get to know the characters before they know each other and makes their relationship down the road, a lot cuter.

Irony, or something happening that would never happen later in the story

Megan Follows as Anne Shirley and Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables (1985).

This is probably one of the most powerful, yet hard to pull off versions of the meet cute, but if you can nail it, it can prove for a really effective first meeting and adds dept to the relationship later. Using irony in your meet cute makes the meeting 100x better because when these two characters are in love some day and they look back on their relationship later, it will be so funny to look back and think about how ironic their first encounter really was.

One great example of the use of irony in a meet cute is in Anne of Green Gables when Anne Shirley breaks Gilbert Blythe’s slate over his head out of temper when he teases her repeatedly. This was a very effective and ironic meet cute because the two characters would never behave in such a way after they’d gotten together but it really makes for a memorable first meeting.

 “I've loved you ever since that day you broke your slate over my head in school." Oh Gil❤️

The second meeting is even more awkward

Okay, the only thing better than making your reader feel the palpable awkwardness is making them feel it twice! (Or three times if you’re gutsy enough!) This kind of meet cute is incredibly effective, especially if you tie it in with the first two where 1) only the reader knows they will meet and 2) they don’t know they’ll run into each other a lot more following the first meeting. This makes for a really, really strong meet cute where the characters and the reader are almost swimming the awkward emotions and the only way to move past it is to keep reading and see how it plays out.

The first meeting happens and once it’s over and done, you can bring it back around for the second meeting which is filled to the brim with potential for even more awkwardness, shyness, embarrassment and dramatic meet cute goodness!

An example of this meet cute is in Downton Abbey when Mary Talbot  and Matthew Crawley meet for the first time, she walks in on Matthew saying some offhanded things to his mother. He is talking about how he will likely be shoved into an arranged marriage with  one of the Talbot daughters since their parents had heard he was a bachelor. She says she hopes she isn’t interrupting anything but of course, that proves to be the case when they meet again later and its super awkward.

Callback to the meet cute

Megan Follows as Anne Shirley and Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables (1985).

All of these are great ways to effectively nail the meet cute for your characters, but you get bonus points for bringing it back up later on in the story. It’s really fun to see the characters in love reflecting on their embarrassing first meeting and makes for a great treat for the reader. A callback is a really effective literary device where something happens in the beginning of the story and is later referenced towards the end of the story in another context, essentially calling it back to the reader’s memory.

Audrey Hepburn as Princess Ann and Gregory Peck as Joe Bradley in Roman Holiday (1953).

Some particularly cute examples of this callback to the meet cute is in Anne of Green Gables when Gil calls her Carrot, endearingly, in Roman Holiday when Princess Ann says “So happy, Mister Bradley,” in reference to her muttering “So happy” in her sleep on the street, and in Jane Eyre when Mr. Rochester says, “You always were a witch” to Jane in reference to their very first meeting when he’d said “Get away from me, witch!”

These are just a few really well-done meet cutes and you’ll find it’s always the little things that make these meeting iconic, memorable, and downright adorable.

That’s it for the secrets to the perfect meet cute. Try using them all and let me know what you think. Do you prefer to use one version over another or do you like using them together? Do you ever call back to your meet cutes? What is the most important element of a meet cute? And what are some of your favorite meet cutes? Let me know in the comments below!

Further reading:

• How to Write Hate-To-Love Romance

• How To Write Best Friends to Lovers Romance - That Feels Realistic

• How To Write Love Triangles - The Right Way

• The Top 10 Worst Romance Tropes EVER

• 5 Supernatural Romance Reads for February 2020

• 5 Contemporary Romances Everyone Should Read

• Classic Romance Reading Challenge for February 2020

Thumbnail photo by Natalie.

—Payton

Classic Romance Reading Challenge for February

Hello readers and writerly friends!

If you’re a returning reader, welcome back and if you’re new to the blog, thanks for stopping by! In this shorter blog post we’re talking about classic romance reads, since it’s February and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner!

I am giving you guys a romance reading challenge for the month of February! If you’ve ever heard of Booktober, when every year during October, the bookish community participates in various spooky reading challenges to get in the Halloween holiday spirit. Instead of reading horror or thriller, we’re going to be reading romances, with a twist—we’re reading classic romances! Not only will we start the year off strong with popular classics but this list will keep our heads and hearts in the right places as Valentine’s day draws nearer. Let’s get reading!

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, a young orphan under the care of her cruel, wealthy aunt attends the Lowood school where her life is less than idyllic. She studies there for years before taking a governess position at a manor called Thornfield, where she teaches a lively French girl named Adele.  There, she meets a dark, impassioned man, named Mr. Rochester, with whom she finds herself secretly falling in love with. However, this classic romance transcends melodrama to portray a woman’s passionate search for a wider and richer life than that which Victorian society traditionally allowed.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I could go on and on for days about Austen’s Writing and she definitely has the novels to support that loving rant, but I’ll save you guys the sifting and just say that if you’re going to read Jane Austen, why not read her quintessential romance novel, Pride and Prejudice. It has all the elements of an amazing romance novel and is one of, if not the greatest romance novel of all time. It’s a witty comedy of manners that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

An American classic that inspired one of the most influential movies of all time, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a classic romance that opens with the unnamed narrator meeting for the first time, Holly Golightly. The two are both tenants of an apartment building on Manhattan’s upper, east side. As the story progresses, the reader learns more and more about Holly and the relationship between her and the narrator as he recounts fondly their memories and finds himself quite enamored with her curious lifestyle. She, a country girl turned New York Café Society, works as an expensive escort (not prostitute) and hopes to marry one of the wealthy men she accompanies one day.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Another novel from the other Bronte sister, this wild, passionate romance story of the intense and almost obsessive love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted by Catherine’s father continues to strike readers today. The story is one of, if not perhaps the most haunting and tormented love stories ever written and tells the tale of the troubled orphan, Heathcliff and his doomed love for Catherine.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

What list would be complete without a little Shakespeare and especially, his most famous story, Romeo and Juliet. Though anyone who has actually read it will tell you that the story doesn’t have a particularly happy ending. Romeo and Juliet is classic tale of forbidden love that showcases one of the most important questions humanity has ever faced, and that is: how far will one go for love? Elizabeth Eliot said, “There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for.” which eloquently and succinctly describes Romeo and Juliet.

Try reading these in order of most romantic to least romantic to start the month out with a really romantic read and finish it out on a little reader heartbreak. Or, read least to most romantic to end February with a happy ending.

What do you think of my February Classic Romance Reading Challenge? Have you read any of these stories before? Which of these five is your favorite and which is your least favorite? For me personally, I really enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and I look forward to rereading it this month, however I’d say Romeo and Juliet is coming in at on my list. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Bibliography

• Mental Health America (MHA) (@mentalhealthamerica). “Couple on a Date at a Park.” Pexels photo, July 23, 2020 (Thumbnail photo).

Further Reading

• Click here to view Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte on Amazon

• Click here to view Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen on Amazon

• Click here to view Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote on Amazon

• Click here to view Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte on Amazon

• Click here to view Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare on Amazon

Related Topics

• 5 Contemporary Romances Everyone Should Read

• 5 Supernatural Romance Reads for February

• Do We Really Need to Read the Classics? 

• Young Adult Fiction Myths Debunked! 3 Massive YA  Misconceptions That Need Clarification

• Everything Young Adult Fiction Gets Wrong About College

• 5 Unpopular Bookish Opinions

• The Top 10 Worst Romance Tropes EVER

• 10 Times I Was Attacked By The Five Senses While Reading

• 10 Times A Book Made Me Hungry

• My Top 5 Must-Read Motivational and Entrepreneurial Books

Recent Blog Posts

Written by Payton Hayes | Last Updated: March 20, 2025

4 Romantic Writing Retreats For February

Photo by Nathan Dumalo.

Hi writerly friends!

Today we’re discussing Romantic Writing Retreats. What are these, you ask? Well, with most Romantic retreats, couples go off on a sort of mini-honeymoon to rekindle their love for one another and become acquainted with the romantic side of their relationship. However, since this is a romantic writing retreat, its going to go a little different. Of course, you can bring your partner, and kill two birds with one stone—not your partner, duh!—by revitalizing your romantic passion with each other, and renewing your passion for writing with this list of romantic writing retreats!

Photo by Valeriia Bugaiova.

Exotic getaway

Of course, staying in Thailand or Morocco is great, and if you can then by all means. But you don’t have to break the bank to have a refreshing and inspirational vacation. One way you can bring a little of the unknown into your writing space is to design your home with themed décor to match your destination or take a mini-staycation to a themed hotel. According to Daily Break, there’s at least 14 themed hotels to check out and they’re more entertaining than the local sights they’re build around. Unexpectedly, my favorite on the list is number 12, the Library Hotel Love Room in New York, New York, but unfortunately, I’d probably get more reading done there then actual writing, if I’m being honest.

The good thing about exotic getaways, mini-staycations, and mini-honeymoons as a writer is it gets you out of your everyday writing space and gives you a change to welcome new inspiration from your environment.

Writing in the woods

In a few weeks, I’ll have another blog post called “10 Rules for Writing in the Woods” and I’ll be sure to link back to it from here, but until then, consider planning a mountain hike or woodsy afternoon trip to do some deep thinking (and writing) with nature. Be sure to charge up your laptop all the way and don’t forget the bug spray!

Writing on the beach

Similar to writing in the woods, I already have a blog post called “10 Rules for Writing on the Beach”  which you can read here. The beach, especially in the cooler months, can be such a lovely and inspirational place to get some great writing done. Rejuvinate your love for the written word by writing wave-side for a few hours. Just don’t forget the sunscreen.

Photo by Nadia Valko.

Rainy Day Writing

If you’re like me then, you identify as a pluviophile, or someone who loves rain more than sunlight and enjoys the peace of mind and refreshing nature of rainy days. What’s better than writing, for us, than combining our two loves—writing and rain? Take a trip to Seattle in the fall or take the day off when the next rainy day happens in your city, and take the time to write in the rain. Throw in a cozy blanket and a cup of coffee and I think you’ll have found writer heaven!

And that’s it for my romantic writing retreats for February 2020! I know it’s not much, but changing up your writing space just  a little, or getting out into nature for a bit does wonders for the creative process. It will prove to be an inspiring mini-adventure (how many times can I combine the word “mini” with something else in one blog post?) and will help you to rekindle and refresh your own love of writing along the way.

What do you think of these tips? Have you ever gone on a romantic writer retreat? Have you ever gone on a solo retreat? Of course, you can bring your partner, but if you really want an effective writer retreat, consider going it solo and see how much time you enjoy spending writing with the trees or from the comfort of a fun hotel room! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and thanks for reading!

Further reading:

• 10 Rules For Writing Your Book In The Woods (COVID-19 Social-Distancing Safe Summer Vacation Ideas!)

• Spring Break For Writers: 10 Rules For Writing Your Book On The Beach

—Payton

Reading Slump Emergency Kit: 15 Surefire Ways To Break Out of a Reading Slump!

Do you find yourself stuck in reading slumps often? Are you caught in one now? Would you be found Googling “how to get out of a reading slump?” This handy-dandy guide will help you to break out of that nasty reading slump and get back to reading right away!

There's a couple of things to keep in mind before you crack open the emergency kit:

Learn to let go

First and foremost, if the book just isn't working out, learn to let go and read something else. Take the pressure off yourself to finish any novel that isn't bringing you joy or fills you with dread when you think about reading it.  I did this last year with a novel that just couldn't keep me hooked no matter what I tried. I had to let it go

Don't set unrealistic expectations

Most of the unnecessary pressures we put on ourselves as readers comes from out lofty reading goals that we take on each year. However, these goals aren't meant to bog you down or make you feel like a failure when you don't reach them—they're just for fun! So don't set unrealistic reading goals and instead, set a few, manageable and achievable goals and just have fun with reading.

Without further ado—onto the list!

Make special time for reading

If you're really loving the book or reading in general, but you just can't bring yourself to sit down each day and read, then you need to intentionally carve out time for reading. This 30 minutes to an hour should be sacred. Figure out where you can cut down time on other activities to read. (Don't forget to take the dog out and feed the kids, though!)

If you're a mood reader

I used to think I'd never be someone who reads daily, that I was a mood reader and if my life was stressful, I would have a hard time sitting down to read and keeping my mind engaged. I think this is true for everyone—it can be hard to get immersed when your life is tumultuous. If you're not able to read for escape then combine the first trip, reading every day with this: set the mood. Make a playlist of songs that remind you of the book your reading or the people, places, or things contained inside it. Play the playlist every day before you scheduled reading time, and you'll start to train your brain to want to read regularly.

Try different genres

My go-to when I get stuck in a reading slump is to put my book down (if I am currently reading one) and pick up another in a different genre, specifically romantic thriller or horror. Even though fantasy is my favorite genre to write in, it can be so hard for me to read fantasy because it's a genre that is typically not very fast-paced.

However, the exact opposites are romantic thrillers and horror novels. These are usually short, action-packed, page turners that kick the pacing up a notch and are usually all I need to pull myself out of a reading slump. When I plan my reading goals each year, I make sure to leave room for the emergency thriller novel after every fantasy novel, just to keep myself on track.

Try reading differently

If you normally just read in silence, I urge you to try out immersion reading—the act of reading a tangible, hard copy book (or e-book) and listening to an audiobook simultaneously. This employs two senses—sight and sound and can make a world of difference in your reading experience. Likewise, you can listen to that playlist you made on page two, or you can listen to ambient sounds from YouTube or websites like Ambient Mixer!

Re-read an all-time favorite

Do this especially if you have an all-time favorite series. This will help you build up the habit of reading while you get back in touch with a familiar story. Every fall, I whip out Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. It never gets old, and it always keeps me reading. (And what do you know—it's a romantic thriller!)

Turn off your phone

I know this can be easier said than done for most in the digital age, but just hear me out. We do TONS of reading daily on our phones, but it's lazy, cheap writing that doesn't provide us with any literary gains. Swap out phone reading time for proper book reading time and see how easy it is to maintain a reading schedule when your phone stays out of the way.

Swap fiction for non-fiction

This is similar to tip number 3, but next time you find yourself stuck in  a reading slump, try reading the opposite of the (overarching) genre you read most. If you typically reach for fiction, switch it up by grabbing a self-help novel or memoir. I really love reading contemporary entrepreneurial books when I need a break from fiction. These books are super inspiring and motivating and they help me in the creative parts of my life when I just feel like spending time in the real world for a while.

Skip the TBR pile and grab something else

If you have more than one bookshelf filled with books you've never read, perhaps you should skip this tip, but if you find you aren't reaching for books on your TBR shelf, look elsewhere for your next read! Check out books from the library so you don't have to feel bad if you don't finish it (the way you would if you'd spent money on it). Or if you're not in immediate danger of TBR-Mount Everest, stop by a new bookstore and pick up a new book that speaks to you. Sometimes, we just get tired of saying we'll read the same books every year and not following through, and all it takes is a fresh face—or well, cover to encourage us.

Do some easy reading

Even if it's a super short book, graphic novel, or magazine, reading something—anything at all can steer you back in the right direction for reading. No matter how easy the read is, the sense of accomplishment you get from completing the read is usually enough to keep you reading and inspire you to tackle bigger reads.

Watch a bad movie adaptation

Sometimes stirring up a little righteous indignation is all it takes to get a reader back in between the pages. Watch the reeeeally crummy ones and remind yourself why books are usually always superior to their movie counterparts.

Get connected

Okay, trying really hard to not contradict myself here, but phones are permitted for this step. Get engaged with the bookish community online or join a book club in real life! Being around like-minded individuals will only encourage you to level-up your reading game and re-inspire your love of books.

Create a cozy reading nook

Of course, don't make it so cozy that you'd fall asleep there, but create a special space away from other activities so that you can read comfortably, without distraction. By doing this, you're assigning that task a specific location which helps the brain understand, when I'm here, I read.

Reorganize your bookshelves

If you're a bookish individual, then you know bookshelf porn is definitely a thing! There is something so powerfully motivating about having a gorgeous, aesthetically pleasing bookshelf to story all your little bookish babies. You can organize them by author, alphabetically, by color, genre, or whatever organization method you chose! You can also decorate your shelves with flowers, dragons, crystals, action figures, or any other gadgets or gizmos that bring you joy!

Click here to download the Reading Slump Emergency Kit.

And that’s it for my 15 tips to break out of a reading slump! Comment your thoughts below and don’t forget to download the free PDF so you can be ready when the next reading slump strikes!

—Payton

7 Amateur Writer Worries That Keep You From Taking The Plunge (And Ultimately Don't Matter)

Sometimes amateur writers get hung up on concerns when their worries really aren’t warranted and never end up taking the big plunge into writing. Some writers worry about their craft and the writing process while others worry about the business side of things. Whether its in my writing circles or in online groups, I see novice writers fretting about these seven things constantly, even though they’re not topics that new writers should be concerned with. These seven things hold many aspiring writers back, but once you learn to let these worries go and just write, your craft and career will come much easier.

Idea stealing

First and foremost, this is the single biggest concern most new writers have, especially when it comes to releasing their writing to online social media platforms or self-publishing.

Here’s the thing—ideas are a dime a dozen and when it comes down to the value of an idea versus the value of writing, it is always dependent on the execution of said idea. Most ideas, when it comes to pitching or marketing, are remarkably similar. However, it’s the writing that sets you apart from everyone else. Your worldview and experiences are going to shape the way you tell the story and execute the idea, and that alone is going to make your story vastly different than mine or another writer’s.

While there are some unscrupulous individuals out there, that is a very, very small minority compared to the rest of the creatives in the writing community. If you do encounter someone who is stealing your ideas there are two likely outcomes: 1) the thief likely won’t finish/see the idea through or 2) the thief won’t execute the idea as effectively as you will. If you do have a brilliant idea and any decent writing skill, you shouldn’t worry about hack writers stealing your ideas because the odds are more in your favor—that whatever you write will likely always be better than the writing of the person who is stealing your ideas.

Just a side note: your work is protected by U.S. Copyright law from the very moment you write it down. You can’t copyright ideas, but the expression and execution of these ideas are your intellectual property and they are protected.

Of course, this doesn’t excuse straight plagiarism. Nothing ever can excuse that level of creative theft. If another writer is stealing your words, they should be contacted and asked to remove the plagiarized work from their platforms and if they don’t comply, legal action should be taken. Copyright infringement is a serious offense and should not be taken lightly.  You can help keep the writing community free of plagiarism by reporting any instances of this that you see to the U.S. Copyright Office. You can also learn more about your rights as a creator here.

I could go on and on about this topic but TL:DR: idea stealing isn’t a real issue that novice writer should be too concerned about. If you’re really worried, just stay on the safe side and be careful who you share your work with. I wouldn’t post your entire manuscript online for the entire public to read with abandon but do your research and know that you can share your work with others. Critique partners and mentors are amazing for this purpose exactly. And remember, even if they steal the core premise, their delivery will be vastly different from your own. No two stories are the exact same, especially when writers have different experiences and worldviews.

Being original

This is another concern of novice writers—that they want their writing to be original. If you’ve heard the saying “There’s nothing new under the sun,” then prepare to love it, because I am going to tell you all about why novice writers should NOT be concerned with their work being original. It’s almost impossible to invent a new idea. There is this canon of stories, storytelling techniques, popular tropes, themes, character types, story beats, and other elements of storytelling.  With regard to these things, there is really no originality in most modern writing and classics alike. However, you can be original in your execution. No, I am not talking about killing people here—I am talking about the unique way you tell a story. Jeez—keep up, will you?

Anyway, it’s the execution that makes the idea original—you are putting your own spin on the idea with your own writing style, combination of tropes and character types, and techniques. With that said, you should be conscious of being too derivative. If this is the case, go back to your outline and work more on the idea and its basic elements.

So yeah, there’s nothing new under the sun—big deal. There are tons of new things on the sun, around the sun, above the sun, inside the sun—you get my point, right? It doesn’t matter if the core premise is unoriginal, if the writing style, characters, and delivery is. These original elements can set you apart from the competition in ways that originality in ideas just can’t.

Perfection in the first book or first draft

This has to be one of the biggest hurdles for novice writers and that’s that their work won’t measure up, won’t be good enough, or won’t be perfect on the first draft. Let me tell you something: that’s absolutely right. So, stop worrying about trying to create perfect writing and just write. That’s why we call them rough drafts, right? They aren’t supposed to be your best work on the first try. No, that’s why we revise and edit.

Here are some ways novice writers get all wound up about perfection in the first draft:

• Editing the beginning of the book before you’ve finished writing it

• Sending out early chapters to alpha readers or critique partners and making changes before the work is complete

• Waiting for others to validate the writing

It really doesn’t matter how good or bad your first draft is, because you’re going to edit it. Editing and revising are natural parts of the writing process, so it isn’t worth getting all wound up over trying to execute a perfect first draft. Most new writers get upset because they compare themselves to successful published writers, but almost all books out there are not the first draft edition and have undergone a rigorous editing and revising process before publication. Also, odds are is that any given book is likely not the authors first serious work and is actually the culmination of years of trial and error, experience, and growth in the writing process.  Perfection is overrated. Write first. Edit later. The editing can wait, but the final product cannot, so tell your inner editor to take a hike.

Focusing on publication and marketing

Another thing I see many new writers spin their wheels over and get too concerned with is all of the stuff that comes after you’ve written the book—the publishing process, the querying, the marketing, the launch etc. None of these things matter unless you’ve finished the book.

I see a lot of writers get caught up in the fantasy of what comes after publishing—the dream essentially. The problem is, is that that dream can’t come true unless you execute and write the book first. You can use these things as motivation to drive your efforts, but don’t get caught up in everything that comes after, so much so that you lose sight of the important part and that’s actually writing the book to begin with.

Editors are (not) monsters!

Another concern I see among amateur writers is that they will fundamentally change your book—that your creative vision, your baby will be crushed and ruined by the system and this is why traditional publishing is bad.

1) this is probably one of the biggest myths about the publishing industry EVER. Editors can’t make you do anything and besides, they are there to serve as a handmaiden to the writer. Editors don’t force fundamental changes on authors. Editors don’t just make these kind of lateral moves. The publishing industry is collaborative in nature and no one is forcing writers to make fundamental changes to their manuscript. Professionals make suggestions and the writer makes the changes as his or her discretion.  

2) Writers have a lot of power in the writing and editing process. Aside from the technical and stylistic advice editors give, authors should take most editing advice with a grain of salt and use their best judgement when navigating critiques and editing suggestions. A lot of the editing process is subjective, and worldview can and will impact what suggestions an editor makes.

Take critiques constructively and not personally and see whether they add meaningful changes to the story or should be ignored. Ultimately, you have the say in the direction in which your story goes. Don’t let the fear of red pens and monsters in reading glasses keep you from telling your story. If you get wrapped up in the idea that your book is a sacred creative vision and you can’t stand the idea of others’ suggestions, then truthfully, you are afraid of criticism. This is a serious fear and it should be reckoned with because if you ever hope to publish and have readers, you will have to be able to take criticism, constructive or otherwise.

One way to rid yourself of this fear is to start thinking about your book as a commercial product instead of a sacred piece of art. Once you acknowledge that you are creating a product for consumers—which they will not only buy, but also read, then you will stop thinking of the book as a piece of art with holy, creative meaning. You won’t grow as a writer if you aren’t open to criticism. If you want to read more on this topic, click here.

Negative reviews

Of course, this goes hand-in-hand with handling criticism but to work in a creative and commercial industry, you must be able to accept criticism—both good and bad. If this just isn’t something you are comfortable with, then you aren’t ready to publish and you likely never will be. Stick to writing for yourself if you can’t come to terms with the fact that not everyone will like your work.

I always think of this Dita Von Teese quote every time I talk to a writer who is afraid of dealing with criticism:

“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s, still going to be somebody who hates peaches.” -Dita Von Teese

And the same thing goes for writing. Your book can be the best in the whole world, and there will be someone out there who hates it. We all have our own preferences and opinions and we’re all entitled to them.  You can’t please everyone, so stop trying to now. Write because it’s what you do, be willing to take feedback, and learn to grow from the criticism instead of getting caught up in the negativity.

On the literary side, you will be rejected by agents and publishers and on the self-publishing side, you’ll be rejected by negative reader reviews. It is easier to let go of negative reviews if you think of them as a consumer tool. They’re not for you, the writer—they’re for other readers. As a consumer tool, they have to exist on their own, in this space. Likewise, readers should not be offering craft advice to writers in this space.

Far future planning

The final and most ridiculous concern I see amateur writers getting all wrapped up in is planning waaaay too far in advance. These are the kind of writers that worry about their perfect agent or editor who will be the one to help them with the rest of their books down the line. Sometimes they envision the perfect publisher and spend entirely too much time looking for these things and don’t end up writing the book to begin with.

This is a complete waste of energy and time. The industry is so competitive and constantly in flux, so it is futile to try and plan everything out ahead of time. Focus on the short-term goals—writing and editing the book, creating a killer query for said book, finding an agent who will pick up the book in question, and the marketing for the current book.

Of course, writing ALWAYS comes first, but these are the short-term goals that you should focus on as a writer. You’ll have jam-packed months when the publishing process is in full swing and other, slower months when there is no book to work on or market. Don’t plan too far ahead; it’s a waste of time because you’ll find that nothing really ever goes exactly as planned.

It’s important to remember, you don’t have to stick with any one agent, publisher, or editor. It’s not uncommon to switch between agents or test-run editors before sticking with one for the long term. You need to find the agent that will sell your book NOW and only worry about the other projects when you get to them, down the line. The cold, hard truth about it is this: if you spend all your time planning for your future career and don’t work on finding an agent for your current project, you won’t have a successful career in the long run, and you’ll have just wasted time. This is one of the only instances where being shortsighted comes in handy.

That’s it for my list of the 7 common concerns of amateur writers. These are all things that just don’t matter and constantly hold aspiring writers back from the craft and ultimately, their dreams. These things don’t really matter, at least not in a meaningful way, and definitely not right now. Don’t put your writing career on the back burner out of fear or wasting time worrying about any of these issues, because they’re really not a big deal. It’s good to do a little planning and have a general vision and a strong why, but cross those bridges when you get to them and allow some flexibility to your plan.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Have you heard of any of these concerns before? What is your biggest fear as a writer?

—Payton

10 Tips For Planning Your Reading Challenge

Not into New Years resolutions? Think you’d do better with a challenge? Well the good news is there’s something that works for everyone! This list of 10 tips will set you on the right track for you 2020 reading challenge!

Photo by Ann Poan.

Make time for reading

First and foremost, carve out a special time each day to read. Even if it’s for only 30 minutes at first, you will find yourself more interested in reading that you initially thought possible. Us the pomodoro technique to read in 25-minute intervals, to break the looming task down just a little. The easy part is setting the goal and doing the planning, but the follow-through is where it really counts, and unfortunately that part isn’t quite as easy. Set alarms to go off when you’re supposed to start and stop reading and make sure your reading area is conducive to relaxation and enjoyment.

Pro tip: Don’t forget Audiobooks! They totally count as reading and are a multitasker’s best friend! You can listen to audiobooks at the gym, in the car, or doing little chores around the house, to name a few activities.

Outline your own reading challenge

Reading challenges appear in many different forms: monthly Bookish bingo challenges, pre-made monthly lists, or like the Goodreads challenge, a set number of books you will try to read by the end of the year! Pick an existing challenge to participate in and figure out which books you want to read in 2020. Make them their own little list or shelf and be sure to leave room for extra books that you might need to get you out of reading slumps.

Pro tip: I always read romantic thrillers or horror novels to get me out of reading slumps! Usually it’s fantasy that puts me in a slump (even though I love the genre to death). Figure out what your go-to genre is and line up an reading slump emergency kit!

Get creative with your goals

Just because Goodreads has the yearly reading challenge and helps you keep track of the amount of books you read, doesn’t mean your goals have to strictly be a number. Consider what other goals would be helpful for your growth as a reader or writer. For example, one of my goals this year is to write a review for every book (or series) I read. I want to get into doing book reviews regularly and this is an excellent way for me to build the habit while challenging myself in a new, fun way. Another couple of examples is to only buy a new book when you’ve read one you currently own, join and IRL book club, or to get into reading audiobooks by reading one each month!

Organize your TBR

We ALL have that one shelf where we’ve boughten all kinds of books that we may or may not have the intention of reading. Whether you’ve got an actual bookshelf or your Goodreads virtual bookshelf, your amazon wishlist, or a handwritten list of books, keeping your TBR organized is key to accomplishing your reading goals in 2020.

Join a read-a-thon in 2020!

Read-a-thons are reading challenges that happen year-round and are hosted by book bloggers, booktubers, bookstagrammers, and bookish brands such as Owl Crate and Book Box! Joining the bookish fun is a great way to get involved, stay motivated, and make new friends along the way!

Photo by Content Pixie.

Prep your shelves

If you are in fact hoping to reach your goal of reading a certain number of book in 2020, you’re going to need to not only plan out your reading list, but also your shelves. See if you can find a reading challenge you’d like to participate in and pair the books on your shelf to the prompts in the challenge. You’ll get a good idea of your reading challenge this way and if you’re having trouble matching books to the challenge, it might be a good sign it’s time to pick a different challenge.

Track your progress effectively

Find a tracking method that works for you. I find the Goodreads reading challenge to be a great motivator and a great way to keep track of the books I’ve read. Plus, it gives you all sorts of statistics at the end of the year , like what books you read, longest to shortest in page count, most and least popular from your books, and it even keeps track of your reviews! However, you don’t have to use Goodreads. You can take the old-fashioned route and design a pretty progress tracker for 2020 that will inspire you to complete it!

Pro tip: Pintrest is a fantastic resource for finding any kind of habit tracker out there! Just type in “reading tracker” or “book tracker” in the search bar and you’ll be met with a plethora of fun designs you can use to track your own reading progress!

I SO look forward to this goal all year long and it continues to motivate me each year, even when I find myself in reading slumps or lacking motivation.

Connect with the bookish community

Reading brings people together! Get involved in the bookish community online and in real life to build strong connections with like-minded people and keep yourself motivated throughout the year and the reading challenge. Having a bookish BFF is an awesome way to keep yourself reading all year long! There are all kinds of fun, bookish things you can do in real life as well. You can start a book club together, buddy-read, host silent reading parties, or trade book recommendations!

Pro Tip: Bookstagram and reading groups on Facebook are both great ways to get engaged with the online reading community! See if your local library or community college has a book club you can join or start!

Set up a rewards system that works

If you read my guide on how to cure writer’s block for good, then you might know what I am about to say. Don’t neglect your other goals (saving money, losing weight, quitting smoking etc) by rewarding your good bookish behavior with toxic behavior. Set up a sustainable rewards system that doesn’t interfere with your other goals.

For instance, I am trying to cut out sugar AND stop impulse spending. So, what kind of reward can I set for myself? Weekly watch time for my favorite shows, nights out with friends, and every time I hit a major milestone for my reading challenge, I’ll allow myself to get ONE new book. This doesn’t interfere with my goals of consuming less sugar or saving money because my smaller rewards such as the nights out or TV time, effectively get me to my bigger milestones and better rewards.

By setting up a tiered rewards system, you keep steadily increasing motivation to finish out your goals and reach those rewards, all year long!

Pro Tip: If you chose to track your progress with Goodreads, they show you all sorts of fun statistics at the end of the year! This on it’s own is pretty exciting for me!

Check in an evaluate your reading challenge

Keep your reading challenge flexible and open to change if needed. Set monthly reminders or as often as you need them, to check-in and reevaluate your reading challenge. Don’t be afraid to raise or lower your book count goal accordingly, if you realize the current one just isn’t a good fit. Sometimes I just don’t meet my goal and instead of feeling sad about it, I just scale it down to something more pragmatic. Sometimes I easily surpass the goal, and likewise, I have to scale it accordingly. Remember the main goal of the challenge is to have fun so don’t get hung up on goals and deadlines, and just enjoy reading.

If you made it this far, I have an awesome freebie for you! Sometimes reading slumps are inevitable, but you can pull yourself out of your next reading slump with these surefire tips! Click here to get your FREE Reading Slump Emergency Kit!

What are your reading goals for 2020? Did you make your Bookish New Year’s resolutions yet? Comment below and let me know what you thought of this list and if there’s anything you’d add to it!

Click here to read my 20 Bookish Resolutions for 2020 blog post.

—Payton

8 Questions Writers Should Ask Themselves When Setting Goals and Resolutions For The New Year

Setting goals and resolutions is an important part of getting ready for the start of a new year and new decade and asking yourself a few critical questions can get the creative ball rolling. Consider these eight questions when outlining your goals for 2020 and think about what achievements and improvements you made in 2019 compared to 2018 and how you’ll bring that momentum forward into the new year.

What is your single biggest priority as a writer in 2020?

Do you want to finally publish your  novel? Are you still writing the story? Are you in the editing phase? Will you self-publish or traditionally publish the story? What part of the process are you currently in and what preparations need to be made to make this goal a possibility in 2020?

Photo by Vlada Karpovich.

As creative individuals, writers often juggle a million different passion projects at any given time, but to effectively execute any one task, we must focus out efforts on one project at a time. What project makes the most sense for you in 2020?

Take it from me —someone who has been officially diagnosed with adult ADHD—when I say I know how hard it is to focus your energy on one thing, but it’s equally as important as it is difficult. I don’t necessarily believe in the Jack of All Trades, Master of None sentiment, but I know if you have too many irons in the fire, you certainly will get burned one way or another.

The truth is that we just don’t have enough time and attention to do EVERYTHING. So, I challenge you to tackle the biggest, scariest project this year, and better yet, early in the year,  to get yourself up over that dreaded hurdle and keep the killer momentum going.

How many books do I want to release in 2020?

This question isn’t just for traditionally published authors with book deals and advances. You know what they say about dressing the part? It’s the same with writing—if you want to be a published author with all those shiny book deals and advances, you must start acting like one now, and moreover, writing like one. If you can write an entire book, move it through several stages of revisions and edits and produce a polished, final copy that’s a feat of strength on its own, especially if you can do it in one year. Additionally, it’s even more incredible if you can do that a few times each year, but that’s what it takes to become a traditionally published and professional writer—consistency, dedication, patience, and perseverance. So, whether public or private, how many books will you release this year? 

How much time will I devote to my writing each day, week, or month in 2020?

Part of being a dedicated and consistent writer is building time into your schedule for writing. This is the key to conquering writer’s block and harnessing your creativity and it’s crucial for any writer wanting to turn their passion into a full-time career. Consider when and for how long you will write every day. It might be a trial and error process but try a few different schedules and see what works for you. You might not be a “Wake up to write at 5 am” person like Amy Landino, but you might be able to squeeze in an hour every night before bed or something similar and less intense. Start with just 20 minutes a day and gradually increase the time so that you reach your desired time block for writing while building the daily writing habit without throwing your existing schedule into chaos.

How much money will I invest in my craft in 2020?

Consider what route you will take and start doing research. Maybe you are self-publishing—one avenue that isn’t cheap. You’ll have to pay for editing, layout and cover design, and marketing. Perhaps it’s time you got you’re a writing services listed on a proper website rather than you’re your LinkedIn profile? Hiring a developer, or at the very least, a designer who will put together your site using  a hosting platform such as Squarespace or Weebly, will set you back a few hundred, depending on the complexity of the site. Maybe you want to learn more about writing by taking a few master classes. Add up all the different ways you can invest in your brand as an author and budget for these expenses so your creative growth in 2020 isn’t gated by money or lack thereof.  

What are my weaknesses as a writer?

Photo by Vlada Karpovich.

We all have strengths and weaknesses and there are a few different methods of determining what your weaknesses as a writer are:

• Have your manuscript professionally critiqued/reviewed.

• Open up your manuscript to beta readers.

• Participate in a critique group for feedback on your writing.

• Have a friend who is well-versed in your genre read your manuscript

Post parts of your manuscript on free reading sites like Wattpad (I wouldn’t post the entire thing for free. Consider posting the first third of the story and adjust visibility as needed. Even though your writing is protected by US Copyright Law, it can be hard to know when someone breaks the law if they aren’t caught. This will better protect your writing against plagiarists.)

Once you’re aware of the trouble areas in your writing, you can work to improve them in 2020.  Writers can have several strengths and weaknesses. Maybe narrative is your forte but dialogue…not so much. Maybe you need to learn how to employ the senses and imagery to create a more immersive and engaging reading experience. Maybe you need to improve your openings or endings. There are plenty of writing exercises to help you build your skill and strengthen these weaknesses.

What are my weaknesses as a marketer?

Many writers cringe at the thought of marketing their writing but it’s not really as scary as it initially seems. It just takes a little doing to get familiar with how marketing works but once you get it, it can be fun. To determine how familiar, you are with marketing what strengths and weaknesses you have, you can do the following:

• Hire a marketing professional or schedule coaching call with one.

• Join author groups online and in person and see how the other members market their work.

• Read books and articles on marketing and follow tutorials on YouTube.

• Research how other authors in your genre have successfully marketed their own novels.

How can I get involved in my writing community?

Photo by Canva.

While marketing is an important aspect of successful businesses in 2020, it’s also important to take care of yourself, both in an out of your craft. I’m not going to get all self-care-lecture-y on you, but you should, for your own sanity, get involved in the writing community both online and locally. I know it’s sort of become a mood to lock yourself away with your coffee and keyboard (or typewriter) and write all day long, but it’s important to have a constructive crew of like-minded creatives to surround yourself with. Other writers can act as sounding boards, sources of inspiration, and often, they have plenty of useful advice and information to freely give. Not only that, but by having critique partners, you strengthen each other’s writing because every manuscript can benefit from a second set of eyes.

Some ways to get involved in the local writing community:

• Join a local writing group

• Joining or forming a local book club

• Attending local or regional writers’ conventions, conferences, retreats, or workshops

• During NaNoWriMo, check for local Come Write-Ins in your area

• Some ways to get involved in the online writing community:

• Join Facebook writer groups

• Join Betabooks.co to connect with beta readers and become a beta reader yourself

Engage with writers and readers in your genre on Twitter and Instagram by using relevant hashtags and commenting frequently on posts you truly love/connect with.

How can I grow my tribe in 2020?

This shouldn’t come as a surprise but like marketing, growing your community’s engagement is going to take some doing. Remember it isn’t and should never be just about the numbers. You want to make real connections with people and develop a group or true fans that will support you. This is your tribe and if cultivated carefully and correctly, they’ll stick around for a long time, through the thick and thin. They in turn will help grow the tribe and the wonderfully vicious cycle repeats.

So how do you grow the tribe? Some ways to inspire engagement on your platforms are:

• Engage with other users on social media, especially in your genre and medium.

• Provide quality, valuable content to readers via newsletter marketing Read my blog post on Newsletter Marketing That Doesn’t Suck here.

• Pay for targeted adds through Facebook and Google (these are proven to be effective due to their highly skilled algorithms)

And that’s it for my 8 questions that writers should ask themselves in 2020. Of course these are just a few guidelines for narrowing down your goals for 2020 and it’s just a starting area. If you’d like to see more questions like these, and if you enjoyed this list, let me know! What are your goals and/resolutions for 2020?

Further Reading

• Spring Cleaning for Writers: 10 Things Every Writer Should Do Before 2020

• 5 Actionable New Year’s Resolutions For Writers In 2020

• 20 Bookish New Year’s Resolutions for 2020

—Payton

20 Bookish Resolutions For 2020

I know around this time of year EVERYONE makes new year’s resolutions, but I can’t stop myself from jumping on the bandwagon and neither can you. There’s something so fun about bookish resolutions and goals and how they take the pressure off writing goals. So without further ado, below are my 20 Bookish Resolutions for 2020. The first few items are specific books I want to read but I promise it’s not just a list of books. I have real resolutions here, people!

1. Read 30 books.

This year, my goal was to read 20 books and I read 23 so I think it’s safe to say I need a little more challenge in my life. However, I don’t want to make it too difficult that I fall into a reading slump—so 30 it is. Check out the books I read in 2020 here.

Photo by Payton Hayes.

2. Finish the Lord of The Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

In the summer of 2019, I started The Lord of The Rings Trilogy and burned through the first two books rather quickly. However, when it came to reading the Return of The King, I’ve gotten sort of stuck in the pages following the battle of the Pelennor Fields. I’d like to finish it early in 2020 to complete the series and officially check it off my list!

Click here to view The Lord of the Rings Box Set - $28.50 on Amazon

3. Read Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling

This is the year. This is it—I can feel it in my bones. I am going to read the whole Harry Potter Series this year. I’ve spent my life avoiding spoilers but this year I am going to read it a joint the wizarding world once and for all! I think I might also watch the movies—you know, for good measure.

Photo by Payton Hayes.

4. House of Night Series by P. C. and Kristin Cast

I have all the books and I’ve only read three. I think it’s time to cross this beast of a vampire series off my list as well. I remember enjoying the story but somehow, we got separated and I think it’s time to go back to it. It was particularly special because it’s set in Oklahoma, the state I currently live in, so it hits kind of close to home—in a good way.

Click to view The House of Night Series: Books 1-12 - Box Set for Kindle - $79.99 on Amazon.com

Photo by Payton Hayes.

5. Angel Fire Series by L. A. Weatherly

I started Angel Burn a while ago but have yet to finish it. The premise was awesome and totally up my alley—angels that have gone rogue, angel hunters, and a condition called angel burn—what’s not to love about that? It’s a new, refreshing take on the overdone angel story and I definitely want to read it in 2020.

Click to view Angel (3 Book Series)- Box Set for Kindle - $22.65 on Amazon.com

Photo by Payton Hayes.

6. Starcrossed Series by Josephine Angelini

Wow, can I just start this one off by saying her name is so perfectly fantasy? I mean if she was named that by her parents, then she’s super lucky and unique (what can I say, I love unique names) and she already fits in her genre, but if she came up with that name as a pseudonym, then I think she’s even more genius than we give her credit for.

Also, I would really love to read this series. I started it when it was more like a choose-you-own-adventure game on Figment.com. Yeah, remember that site? The good ole days. Anyways I already know I’ll love it because I’ve read part of it before and I hope to pick it back up in the new year.

Click to view Starcrossed (3 Book Series)- Box Set From Kindle - $19.97 on Amazon.com

Photo by Payton Hayes.

7. Grisha Saga by Leigh Bardugo

I have a love hate relationship with this series because 1) I genuinely do love it and 2) I hate that I’ve somehow manage to get all the way through the second book before realizing I was reading it out of order. No wonder I was so confused! Why do I keep doing this? I read the Barney the Bear-Killer series by Pat Sargent out of order in third grade and the Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan (mostly in order) in the eighth grade.  Even so, I’d still like to read this series because the world building and premise is so beautifully and expertly done.

Click here to view The Grisha Trilogy Boxed Set( Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising)$39.99 on Amazon.com

8. Classics

Photo by Payton Hayes.

Good, now that we’ve gotten through the particulars, I’d like to include some odds and ends. I plan to read more classics, starting with the ones I have on my shelf and was supposed to read in high school and college. Professors, don’t come for me, please. Anyway, I think there is a lot to learn from classics and controversial or not, I’d like to read more of them for my own growth as a writer.

9. Sarah J. Maas

I think it’s finally time I jump on the hype train and find out what all the fuss is about when it comes to Sarah J. Maas Novels. I’ve heard of the Throne of Glass Series and the Court of Thorns and Roses series and I just think it’s time to pick them up and give them a read. The covers are so lovely and there’s a badass female protagonist, so what’s not to love?

10. Review more books

If you’ve been around this blog for any period of time, you can tell my book review section on the book blog is severely lacking. In 2020 not only do I want to read more books, but I want to  review them as well. I think thinking critically about novels is important to understanding the bigger picture part of them and not getting completely wrapped up in the little parts of the story.

11. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I reeeeeally really want to read this series. I’ve been admiring it on other bookish people’s shelves for a couple of years now and I think it’s about time I  not only picked up the series but read it. The covers are stunning and the premise just gets me every time. I need to read this series now!

12. Killer Unicorns by Diana Peterfrund

Earlier this year, I read Errant by Diana Peterfrund from the Kiss Me Deadly YA Supernatural Romance Collection and I was blown away. Hello? Killer unicorns, badass girls in pants and skirts taking down the toxic men in their lives, and the theme of following your heart and standing up for yourself? These are all things I love in a YA fantasy novel, only I didn’t realize it until I’d read Errant. The story is phenomenal—the world building is so perfectly done, I felt instantly transported to Munich.

Click Here to view the 2 Pieces Lord Of The Rings Elven Green Leaf Earrings and Necklace With Jewelry Box

13.  Join an irl book club

I know there’s a psychology book club at my school but this might be the year I charter and star up the official book club there, or at least join a club if I can find one. I’ve always wanted to be part of a book club and be around like-minded individuals where we can just nerd out about books and reading.

14. Stay up-to-date on bookish current events

This year, I’d like to read more books that were recently published and better yet, 2020 published novels. I’d like to do  better job of keeping up with the current bookish trends and reading what everyone else is reading so I can be part of the discussion too!

Photo by Payton Hayes.

15. Get another bookshelf

As you can see, where I am lacking in books, I make up for it in dragons. If I am going to complete half of these resolutions, I am going to need another shelf and more books. The question is…where do I put it?

16. Read from a genre I don’t enjoy

Treading carefully around a reading slump, I’ll say this doesn’t exactly entice me, but I know it’s good for something. I’d like to read more from a genre I don’t particularly enjoy to broaden my horizons.

17. Give myself permission to leave a book unfinished

I don’t mean leaving half-read novels lying all over the place, but I think it’s important to know when to put a book down and to know it’s okay to do so. I haven’t put a book down since 2018, when I read Elusion by Claudia Gable and Cheryl Klam. I had to stop reading this book because after months, it just wasn’t pulling me in. I’d made several attempts to get into the story, but I just couldn’t. I don’t blame the authors—I know this is just a fact of the bookish world that we can’t love everything we read. I think this year, I’d like to take that freedom to let books go with me into my reading practice.

Click to view Game of Thrones Sculpted Dragon Egg Candles - $29.99 on Amazon.com

18. Read a book to buy a book

Okay, so maybe I got ahead of myself by saying I am going to need more books and another bookshelf because this year I’d like to read more books than I buy. I’d like to make a considerable dent in the bookshelf I currently have as well. I am notorious for having a mile-high TBR List and continuing to buy new books. In 2020, I’d like to set up a rewards system so every time I read a book I can buy a new one.

19. Participate in a reading challenge

I think it would be fun to take part in a reading challenge such as the gargantuan Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge, where you read the 339 books referenced in the early 2000’s TV show, or booktober where you read one spooky book every week throughout October.

20. Develop better reading habits

And last but not least, I’d like to develop a better relationship with reading. I want to get out of the mindset that I can only read when I am in the mood for it and I want to make time to read regularly. I’ve made peace with the fact that that means I might have to let some things go—move over, Netflix. But I genuinely do want to make reading a priority in my life in 2020.

And there you have it! Those are my 20 Bookish Resolutions for 2020. What do you think? Do you have any bookish resolutions for the new year? Comment below and let me know what you thought of my list!

Further Reading

• Spring Cleaning for Writers: 10 Things Every Writer Should Do Before 2020

• 5 Actionable New Year’s Resolutions For Writers In 2020

• 8 Questions Writers Should Ask Themselves in 2020

—Payton

5 Actionable New Year's Resolutions For Writers

1.Share your writing with others more often.

Photo by Ivan Samkov.

It can be hard as a writer to be vulnerable and open to criticism, but it is crucial to our growth and improvement to feel comfortable putting our work out into the world, despite what others say. Always use your best judgment when dealing with criticism to determine if it was constructive or just negativity. But by opening up and letting the world into our stories, we grow and gradually become used to having other eyes on our work. Coming to terms with this is essential for aspiring writers desiring professional writing work.

2. Try a new writing style or medium for telling stories.

Do you usually write in a certain POV or tense? Do your stories typically take on a humorous or satirical tone? What voice do you normally write in? Is your target audience the same every time? Change it up by writing new stories in different ways.

Another way to freshen up the writing process is to work with different methods of storytelling. Of course, audio-visual mediums can be used for storytelling and often are, but I’m specifically referring to the written word—poems, plays, short stories, novelettes, novels, articles, blog posts, and reviews. Consider writing in a different medium to explore and learn new techniques, styles, and practices.

3. Watch, read, and write stories in genres you’re unfamiliar with.

This one likely requires some research but by branching out into a new genre, you learn all kinds of different storytelling techniques and styles that were gated by your own genre. By stepping out of your comfort zone, you open up your craft to new growth. Diving into new genres can seem unappealing at first, but you’ll find all kinds of hidden gems in other genres and the challenge will breed new creativity.

4. Make creativity part of your everyday routine.

I written extensively on consistency and building in time for writing but the gist is this: writing every day makes you a better writer because a) practice does make perfect and b) it acts like exposure therapy by bringing you face-to-face with the fear associated with the writing process (fears of inadequacy or imperfection) often enough that you get used to it and overcome this obstacle.

Photo by Ivan Samkov.

As someone who was incredibly busy and believed in the idea that creativity strikes only at certain time, I used to think this was impossible, but I can assure you it is achievable. Consider one of the previous options such as writing in a new medium. By writing new blog posts for this blog, all the time, I am exposing myself to the writing process and therefore making it increasingly easier to write in my passion projects.

 The blog takes off the looming pressure of trying to achieve constant perfection and allows me to just write freely. Then, when I sit down to write fantasy, it’s easier every day, and since I’m all warmed up from writing blog posts, I can produce better quality work.

5. Learn to enjoy the writing process and not just the end result.

How does that quote go? It’s all about the journey, not the destination? Writing is EXACTLY like that. Our novels and stories are for others to enjoy and the process itself is for us to enjoy. It’s the intimate, scared process of bleeding onto the page, of pouring out our souls, and manufacturing stardust into the written word, and therefore it should be enjoyed.

Writers should completely and fully feel the fear, pain, sadness, confusion, satisfaction, happiness, excitement, and fulfillment, as well as all the other emotions that come with writing. They should wholeheartedly appreciate and understand the process of taking a fleeting thought and sculpting it into a living, breathing idea that takes root in the mind of others. They should value and hold dear the writing process because it is as integral to their being as air to the human lungs.

Photo by Ivan Samkov.

It’s never about the destination, the end product—because it’s not meant for us—it’s meant for our readers. It is however, about the process, the journey, the steps we take to get there and everything we experience along the way—the learning, the reckoning, the weaving of words to form a story. Most writers have a love hate relationship with the writing process and this is as it should be. However, we should also recognize the value and the wild, seemingly untamable beauty in the process.

Alright, let’s liven things up a bit, shall we? Sorry to get all mushy about writing on you there for a second. It’s something I hold dear to my heart so any chance I get, I am going to take the time to discuss the writing process.

That’s it for my 5 Actionable Writing New Year’s Resolutions for 2020! I really love all of these goals because they’re practical, actionable, and sustainable. I know those seem like buzzwords people just toss around, but I do really think these writing resolutions are ones that we all can stick to year-round!

What do you think of my writing resolutions? Do they overlap with your own writing resolutions? What would you add to this list? Comment below and let me know what you think!

Further Reading

• Spring Cleaning for Writers: 10 Things Every Writer Should Do Before 2020

• 8 Questions Writers Should Ask Themselves In 2020

• 20 Bookish New Year’s Resolutions for 2020

—Payton

Spring Cleaning For Writers: 10 Things Every Writer Should Do Before The New Year! (2019)

Spring cleaning isn’t always fun but it’s something we have to do if we want to start the year off on the right foot. This is also true for our digital lives and as writers we have a lot of important files to keep track of so maintenance and organization are imperative. I’ve prepared a list of 10 things you can do to spring clean as a writer! This list includes everything from organization to automation to social media and more!

Clean up your digital work space

Of course, you want to make sure your physical desk is tidy and neat before you get to writing—I mean, outer order is inner calm, am I right? (Gretchen Rubin fans, comment below!) But you also want to make sure your digital work space is organized as well to avoid loss and distractions.

Four things you can do to tidy up your digital work space are:

• Sorting through old files, organizing the documents to be kept, and emptying the recycle bin

• Using apps like Folder Colorizer to help better sort files and make certain folders easily recognizable

• Defragmenting your hard drive and updating your computer (only defrag if you have a Hard Disk Drive since Solid State Drives automatically do this progress regularly)

• Uninstalling old and unused/unnecessary programs

Back up all the important things

There’s nothing worse than spending weeks, months, or years on a project and losing it to bad back-up practices—trust me, I know—I lost 37 chapters of an early edition of my novel to file corruption. It’s discouraging, painful, and easily avoidable. Use the cloud or get an external hard drive to store important files so loss doesn’t set you back in your writing.

Update all your passwords and keep your accounts secure!

Pink rubber-gloved hand holding a red and yellow cleaning spray bottle against an aqua background. Photo by Jeshoots.com.

This is often given and often overlooked advice but it’s important to maintain at least the bare minimum when it comes to passwords and account security. As an author with a brand to protect, you should regularly be updating passwords, so malicious users don’t get access to your accounts and content. Also, make sure your passwords aren’t the same across multiple platforms! Most security breaches that make it past bank-level encryption usually happen because members use the same passwords for several accounts and spyware on the other sites gain access to sensitive information when they log in. Don’t be this person. Keep passwords separate and secure.

Update your social media and website!

This includes about sections and bios, photos, job history, and any other content that might have changed and should be updated. Surely a few things have changed since the beginning of 2019, so make sure you’re starting the New Year with up-to-date socials. Have made any accomplishments? What projects are you working on that you can share? Include fun little snippets of your life in your about and bio sections. Also, ensure your profile pictures are current. If you haven’t had a professional head shot taken in a while, consider hiring a photographer to get new photos for your social media.

Update pinned posts on Twitter and Facebook

Another part of updating your socials is ensuring your pinned posts/tweets are up-to-date as well. Check any Facebook groups that you manage, your Facebook author/business page, your Twitter profile, and anything else that allows you to pin content. When was the last time you pinned that post? Whoa—my pinned tweet was from 2017! There’s nothing  that screams inactivity like an out-of-date pinned tweet or Facebook post! Keep pinned content updated just like you would your profile picture or bio!

Unsubscribe from others’ emails.

It’s 2020 and there is no reason you should be stuck on someone’s email newsletter list if you don’t genuinely enjoy the content, you’re having delivered to you email inbox. Unsubscribe from all the stores you don’t want to get promotional emails from and all the people you don’t even know. Look at your email inbox with your editorial glasses on and unsubscribe from any emails that don’t offer you any value as a writer. If you signed up for a newsletter once and all that influencer is doing is sending you emails about products, then unsubscribe!

Pro Tip: If the unsubscribe button is not located on the email or you have to take a long, convoluted path to unsubscribing from the newsletter, then mark the email as spam. Influencers or brands that don’t have the decency to comply with the CAN-SPAM act don’t even deserve your email on their list to begin with. Unsubscribe, sister.

Update your own emails!

Update all of your automated emails from newsletter confirmations to deliverables and any other kind of emails so that your automated emails are up-to-date. Make sure your email signatures are updated and displaying accurate contact information and socials.

Aqua and yellow notebooks with green pen. Photo by Chimene Gaspar.

Check your newsletter open rates to see exactly how many of your subscribers actually open your emails.  How are people responding to your emails?  Do subscribers like the freebies and other content you’ve given them? Do they download said content?

Consider updating the media in your emails so that graphics, photos, illustrations, fonts, and other decorative elements are not only new and refreshing but they are consistent and uniform with other social media.

Pro Tip: Canva is an excellent tool for crafting high-quality vector graphics that can be used in a wide array of projects. I use Canva for thumbnails in my YouTube videos, blog post thumbnails, and site buttons! Click here to check out Canva.

Update your website’s contact form and email links!

You can save so much time by making your contact form work for you! Avoid tons of unnecessary emails by requiring answers to detailed, specific questions. This allows you to gain as much information about the person trying to contact you, all in the first email. It will give you a better understanding of his/her needs and how to address the situation.

Here are a few fields to include in your contact form to help you get the most information in one go:

• Ask specific questions about the project in question (if applicable)

• Offer options for the reason they chose to reach out

• Get a referral name—who sent them your way? How did they find you?

• Get their website URL

• Depending on your work—either writing or editing or something else, you might want to have different options for different guests who might reach out. You can include a check box for guest bloggers, literary agents, or fans, or you can set up links to separate forms for these different types of visitors.

Check out my contact form here to get an idea of what else you can include!

Keep track of your stats and watch the numbers grow!

From your email newsletter stats to Facebook groups to Twitter to your website, you should know your stats. Create a spreadsheet or write them down and keep track of them each month. Don’t take the numbers personally, they’re just a metric. Increases and decreases in subscribers or followers tell you all kinds of useful information—what’s working and what’s not, where you should back off, and where your content is thriving. Use these numbers to help you grow as a content creator. When the numbers start going up, you’ll find it’s quite fun keeping track of the steady increase!

Here’s where I keep track of my stats:

• Facebook Business Page

• Twitter

• LinkedIn Analytics

• Instagram

• MailChimp subscribers

• MailChimp campaign open rate

• Squarespace Analytics

• YouTube Analytics

Go over your goals for 2020 and make sure they’re specific, realistic, actionable, and sustainable. What did you do right in 2019? What big and small wins did you have in your creative field? What strengths and weaknesses do you have as a content creator and what did you learn from them? How can you improve in 2020?

Plan your attack for 2020

Have a serious conversation with yourself about what you’ve accomplished in 2019 and how you can use that momentum to do even more in 2020. Come up with an action plan based on your goals and needs. Take into account all of the resources you’re going to need to execute your action plan such as finances, education, support, time, preparation. Consider what you want your year to look like as a whole, from month to month, and over a week’s time and what you will need to make that vision a reality.

Spring cleaning is equally important digitally as it is physically and mentally. As a writer you should start the year off the right way by making sure your workspaces are organized, all of your online social media platforms, emails are up-to-date, all important content is backed up in the cloud or on an external device, your workstation is updated and passwords are changed regularly. These things will prepare you for 2020 and all the awesomeness the new decade has to offer your creative career.

That’s it for the 8 things all writers need to do before 2020 hits! What did you think about my Spring Cleaning for Writers list? Is there anything you’d add? Do you already practice these items? I’d love to hear your thoughts

Further Reading

• Read my 5 Actionable New Year’s Resolutions For Writers In 2020 blog post here.

• Read my 8 Questions Writers Should Ask Themselves in 2020 blog post here.

• Read my 20 Bookish New Year’s Resolutions for 2020 blog Post here.

—Payton

Read Like A Writer: What Analytical Reading Can Teach Us

When it comes to reading, most of us look at it as a passive activity, but as writers’ more than our imagination should be engaged while reading. Once you learn to read as a writer, it will kind of demystify and disenchant reading for you, but at some point, if you want to get good at your craft and specifically, your genre, you’re going to have to learn to read like a writer and not just a reader. This blog post was written to help you actively move towards your goal of becoming a better writer by becoming increasingly more cognizant of the standard practice in novel writing.

So, How Do You Read Like A Writer?

Of course, it will vary depending on the genre, story, and your experience with reading, but the elements are typically the same. First, you will obviously be taking a more active and analytical approach to reading than just for research or entertainment purposes. Second, you’ll notice parts of the story as pieces rather than the big picture or overarching themes. Third, you’ll understand how everything comes together and you’ll be able to pick out certain things in one story that appear in other stories.

Story Structures and Story Beats

You can read about story structure formally—reading craft books, watching videos, following industry guides, or studying beat sheets—or it can be informal such as with movies and tv shows. After you understand the three-act-story-structure, you will become more aware of its uses in fiction across multiple genres.

Most stories are based off the three-act-story-structure. Try saying that five times fast—whew! I won’t go into too much detail about it because I have an extensive stack of freebies that discuss this topic at great lengths. However, I will say that this method of organizing and outlining story beats appears in almost every fiction novel/series and follows almost always the same format.

Check out my in-depth series on the three-act story structure here.

Whether it is informally or formally, you begin to learn the different parts of the story. As you are reading, notate these different story beats and decide if you like an author’s particular style or method in crafting these story beats. What you will notice is not only how the parts of the story work together, but where these story beats occur and when. Understanding where the parts of a story take place is incredibly important in crafting a well-paced story with just the right amount of tension and the right moments.

 Key Turning Points In The Reading Experience

The next aspect of reading like a writer is paying close attention to changes in the reading experience and looking out for key turning points that suggest major plot/pinch points are just around the corner. Here, I am literally telling you to track the reading experience—whether it be page numbers in a hard copy or percentages on Kindle—watch where in the novel, these turning point occur. Being a conscious reader who pays attention to where these key turning points happen can make you a better writer because when you sit down to work on your own writing, you have a better understanding of the preparation that is necessary prior to these turning points—i.e. rising and falling tension and lead-up.

Analyze Author Choices

Consider thoughtfully the choices the author made in crafting the novel. Think critically about the POV—the lens through which the story is told, tense of the story, setting, balance of narration and dramatization, and other story elements. Consider what techniques the writer chose to employ, in what places, and how that affects your experience both as a reader and a writer. What techniques did you enjoy? What techniques did you dislike? Writers can learn a lot about effective storytelling by examining the techniques and elements they don’t enjoy.

Additionally, pay close attention to voice, tone, and mood to understand what choices the writer made to create that specific reading experience. Is he/she using a humorous or snarky voice? Is the voice buzzing with energy—so much that it keeps the pages turning? It the voice dry and dragging? Consider all of these elements when reading because you will need to consider them when writing as well.

Zone In On Bad Books

To reiterate what I said in the previous section, writers can learn a lot about effective storytelling by examining the techniques and elements they don’t enjoy. Is the story boring? If so, what about the pacing is dragging for you? Could it be that the writing seems stagnant, that the writer is info-dumping, that the characters are spending too long engaging in mundane activities, are the characters being annoying, is there no tension or is the tension continuously building without mini-climaxes?

Person holding brown ceramic coffee mug next to a short stack of books. Photo by Parth Shah

Are these elements conscious choices on the part of the writer or subconscious? Of course, we will always be able to pick out what we don’t like about novels since we bring out own worldview, biases, and experience to the table when reading, but it’s worth mentioning that by making note of what we don’t enjoy in other novels we can then avoid it in our own writing.

Consider how you would fix a bad book. An awesome story idea I once found was to take the parts of the story that you really do like and use those to inspire a new book that you then can make better by avoiding the mistakes the other author made in their book. (I don’t mean plagiarizing or paraphrasing—give credit where it is due—but feel free to take a broad, general idea and run with it.

If you’ve ever heard the phrase, there’s nothing new under the sun, then you know immediately after you hear it, you feel all sad and dejected inside—that is until you don’t, because you know that no one can tell the story the way you can, but I digress.

The point is you can take a story that has a really great premise and do it differently. It’s a seriously eye-opening craft exercise to see if the thing you don’t like about a book truly make it bad or if they just don’t work for you. 

Analyze Your Favorites

The final tip for reading like a writer is of course, to reread your favorite stories with your craft hat on! This is the part where reading like a writer really can ruin book for you so tread carefully. But examine one of your favorite works and consider why you love it so much and what the writer does in each part of the novel that makes reading it an enchanting experience for you.

What choices has the writer made and what elements are they using to craft the story? Consider what strengths and weaknesses you both have and see how you can learn and strengthen the trouble spots in your writing. For instance, if you’re just awful at dialogue but you really enjoy how Becca Fitzpatrick does dialogue, read her books closely and see how she does it differently. Is this something you can learn? Is it something you can emulate? Is this a concrete craft hack that you can figure out for yourself? 

While the magic of some writer’s styles can’t exactly be taught, most of the elements of good writing and the things that make writers great can be learned. It just takes time, studying, and practicing consistently to hone the craft. Most of these things can be emulated and molded to fit your own writing style and once you have the building blocks you can create anything.

That’s it for my tips on how to read like a writer and how it can help you in your own writing career. Analytical and critical reading can help us understand parts of the story, what we both do and don’t enjoy in writing, and learn to emulate other writing styles to grow as a writer. This post might ruin leisurely reading for you forever, but it will also improve your writing in ways you never thought possible. What did you think of these tips and have you ever tried them before? Let me know your thoughts in the comment below!

—Payton

Writing Every Day: What Writing As A Journalist Taught Me About Deadlines & Discipline

A photo of the newsroom, FA 115, Rose State College, 2018. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Hello readers and writerly friends!

If you’re a returning reader, welcome back and if you’re new to the blog, thanks for stopping by! In this blog post, I’ll be outlining how working as a journalist taught me that being successful a successful writer means maintaining a daily writing practice. Just like with playing sports or being an opera singer, writers have to put in the practice to perfect their craft. Basketball players practice shooting hoops and dribbling so they can control the ball when its game time. Opera singers practice their scales and warm up their vocal chords to keep their voices clear and strong for performances. Writers must write every day to work out their writing muscles and keep the creativity flowing. In this post, I will go into detail about how working as a journalist got me into the practice of daily writing and what it taught me about deadlines and discipline.

After working as both a social media coordinator and a features writer at a local newspaper, I learned the writing process isn’t as complex as some make it out to be. This job taught me that I don’t have to wait for the right moment for creativity to strike or for the creative muse to grace me with its presence. For years, I believed I could only write during ungodly late hours of the night, when I was in the writing mood, or when I was in the right headspace to do my best work. The truth is that I was a) just procrastinating writing and postponing the growth of my craft and b) was never going to create my best works on the first draft anyways.

The latter has to be one of the hardest concepts to grasp as a writer and I’ve made multiple blog posts addressing it because was probably the biggest hurdle for me to overcome as a creative mind. I don’t doubt that thousands of other writers out there, struggle with this same problem—that writer’s block will pass and when it does you will do your best writing. The thing is—perfection is overrated. Even established, best-selling authors can expect poor quality writing in their rough draft. Its just a fact of the craft that a writer cannot create a perfect draft in the same breath as their first draft. You can read more about this topic in my blog post about blank pages versus bad pages here.

Not only have I learned that I shouldn’t set such high expectations for first drafts and that I should just write instead of waiting for the right moment, but I have also learned that with enough diligence and patience, I can harness and master creativity in an everyday routine. Working at the newspaper required me to adhere to strict deadlines and write on a routine to ensure each step of the publishing process was completed in a timely manner so that the paper made it to the press on time. This was a demanding job, but it taught me a lot about the writing process, even if it was journalism. Journalistic writing often requires you to write way a head of schedule so multiple edits can be made, and fact checking can be done before print. Demystifying the creative process has helped me to overcome writer’s block and the fear that comes with writing. It is certainly possible to commit to creative deadlines and longer projects.

Being a successful, professional writer means you can and must write consistently. Publishers and agents are looking for writers who write because it’s what they do and not how they feel. If all the great American writers stopped writing when they felt writer’s block begin to set in, the list of the Top 100 Books Everyone Should Read would be much shorter than a hundred books.

Another thing is, that if you write every day, you will become a better writer. The more you write and edit your work, the more familiar you become with the writing process. This not only removes the fear that comes with writing, but it is exactly as they say—practice makes perfect. By consistently practicing writing, you are effectively honing your skill and making yourself a better writer.

Over the years, I've learned that writer's block takes two forms; it appears as the lack of motivation to write or the lack of inspiration. While these two forms sound incredibly similar, there's an important distinction—motivation is the reason someone feels compelled to do something while inspiration is the sudden, brilliant creative idea that person feel compelled to create or bring to life.

Lack of motivation typically comes from burnout, wavering between the writer and editor mindset, feelings of inadequacy, and procrastination. Lack of inspiration comes from stagnancy, lack of stimulation, and lack of challenge. The key difference between the two is this: a writer cannot be inspired and unmotivated simultaneously, because inspiration acts as an entity of motivation. When a writer feels inspired, they may push through these negative feelings in order to achieve their goal and see their creation to the end. A lack of feeling inspired might stem from an environment that isn't conducive to growth, lack of stimulation, and lack of challenge.

I was inspired to write the blog post because of the sheer number of comments I get from writers who claim they can only write when they feel inspired or in the right frame of mind, when that is simply not true. What any prolific writer will tell you is that they’ve achieved success because of consistency, patience and dedication. If you truly love your craft and the art of storytelling, you owe it to yourself and your writing to honor these values.

Bibliography

• Hayes, Payton. “A photo of the newsroom, FA 115, Rose State College.” March 26, 2018.

• Hayes, Payton. “Study Tips To Slay Finals, My Article From The 15th Street News, April Issue.” April 10, 2017 (Thumbnail photo).

Related Topics

• 5 Healthy Habits For Every Writer

• 5 Reasons Why Most Writers Quit

• When Writing Becomes Difficult 

• How To Overcome Writer’s Block

• Know The Rules So Well That You Can Break The Rules Effectively

• Blank Pages Versus Bad Pages: Overcoming Writer’s Block When The Editor Brain Is At War With The Writer Brain

• 7 Amateur Writer Worries That Keep You From Taking The Plunge (And Ultimately Don't Matter)

• 8 Reasons Why Having Writing Community Matters

• The Importance of Befriending Your Competition

• Self-Care Tips for Readers and Writers

• 20 Things Writers Can Learn From Dreamers

• Yoga For Writers: A 30-Minute Routine To Do Between Writing Sessions

• For Content Creators and CEOs with ADHD: Strategies to Succeed Despite Overwhelm and Distractions

• 8 Ways To Level Up Your Workspace And Elevate Your Productivity

• How To Organize Your Digital Life: 5 Tips For Staying Organized as a Writer or Freelancer

Recent Blog Posts

Written by Payton Hayes | Last Updated: March 17, 2025

20 Tips and Tricks for Email Newsletters That Don't Suck

Hello readers and writerly friends!

If you’re a returning reader, welcome back and if you’re new to the blog, thanks for stopping by! In this blog post we’re discussing the importance of not only utilizing email newsletters to convert clicks to cash, but also how to use them effectively to build a list of loyal, dedicated, and engaged subscribers. These subscribers should be more than happy to sign up for your newsletter, but they also should want to stay on your emailing list, well beyond receiving their freebies (aka sign-up incentives, which we’ll discuss in detail further on in this post). Newsletter emails should not be just another piece of junk mail to add to the trash pile. If you want your email newsletters to stand out, it’s all about delivering real value to your readers. Think beyond promotions—share helpful tips, interesting stories, or behind-the-scenes updates that people actually want to read. Consistency builds trust, so stick to a regular schedule.

In this post, I’ll go over all the aspects of effective newsletter marketing—such as how to set up an emailing list, building autoresponders and confirmation emails, strategies for developing compelling email campaigns, analyzing and understanding subscriber data with analytics, designing beautiful, mobile-friendly emails that drive traffic back to your website and boosts conversion rates, brainstorming newsletter topic ideas, crafting engaging freebie content that hooks new subscribers, sending test emails before releasing newsletters, and more! I also provide examples of good and bad email newsletters and include a list of resources for you to use when planning and preparing your newsletter email marketing campaigns. I’ve also included a printable checklist for you to pin up on your vision board or add to your marketing notes! In the “Further Reading” at the end of this post, you can find links to all the resources, content creators, and examples mentioned in this post!

Please note: In 2022, this website was rebranded and some of the photos present in this post may be outdated. These images still serve as great examples but keep in mind that they may be updated later.

Why Do I Need An Email Newsletter?

On paper, an email newsletter is a marketing campaign through which many corporations and entrepreneurs alike contact consumers and convert clicks to cash (okay, enough alliteration, I get it.) But in practice, it’s more complex and incredibly valuable. In the digital age, email marketing can be worth more than striking oil.

An email newsletter is a valuable tool that every entrepreneur, writer, editor or freelancer should have in their toolbox. Newsletters allow you to advertise products and promotions to recipients in ways other advertisements can’t—you can give your readers special VIP access to content, discounts, and so much more. But there’s more to it than copying and pasting your most recent blog post into your email box. No—that’s how you get readers to unsubscribe, real quick. It takes some doing, but newsletter campaigns are an important and valuable way to connect with your audience. When I send out emails to my subscribers, they’re getting content they won’t find anywhere else. There are some things to know before you jump off in the deep end of launching your first email marketing campaign, so keep reading to learn more!

Things To Keep In Mind

I always say authors should treat email newsletters like love letters, only not quite so romantic. You want them to be beautiful and actionable and you don’t want them to end up in the trash. Follow these basic guidelines as well as the extra mile tips to ensure your specially crafted newsletter translates to sales.

• Respect your subscribers’ privacy. There is nothing more annoying than getting emails you didn’t sign up for. Of course, coming by someone’s email isn’t always easy, which is why getting them to subscribe in the first place is the biggest hurdle here. But you should always be considerate of the fact that they agreed to subscribe to your email list on the promise that you will deliver relevant, useful content and use their email for nothing else.

• Don’t spam subscribers. Okay, maybe I lied before—the only thing more annoying than receiving emails you didn’t sign up for is getting your email inbox blown up. The number one reason I unsubscribe from an email list is when I get tons of irrelevant, non-useful, annoying emails. Subscribers don’t need to be updated 24/7 and you should be too busy to be sending out multiple emails a week anyways. If you need anymore convincing, its illegal to spam someone’s inbox, so at the very least, out of self-preservation, heed this advice: don’t spam.

• Be professional, even if you’re not one (yet). When it comes to email newsletters, you can get comfortable and friendly with subscribers, but be professional. You never want to send out unfinished, unbranded, unedited, or remotely incomplete emails. Additionally, typos, broken links, and content movement is inevitable. To avoid this, send out a test email. Test all the links, read your email carefully, and ensure it translates correctly to mobile. I always send my email campaigns out on my secondary, personal email account. This way, I can see exactly what my subscribers see.

• Be consistent. Subscribers are kind of funny in that they want routine, normalcy, and consistency in the content they consume. That’s exactly why YouTubers have upload schedules and TV channels air certain shows at the same time every week. This is important because when you reach out to your audience consistently, you build trust and recognizability with your audience and drive traffic to your site on a regular basis.

• Add value first, then call to action. This might be the single most important tip in this entire blog post, so if you take away anything at all, please, dear reader, let it be this. I always tell my clients that the single best way to separate yourself from the competition is to add value first, then call to action later. What do I mean by that? Don’t expect your audience to do anything for you if you can’t provide them with plenty of useful, knowledgeable, or actionable advice beforehand. You wouldn’t subscribe to a YouTube channel without first knowing that you either a) enjoy the personality/humor of the YouTuber for entertainment or b) have found their channel is loaded with helpful, actionable advice, tips, tricks that are relevant to you.

  This is no different for your subscribers. The easiest way to achieve this is to think of your experience, knowledge, and findings as your product. As an online content creator, generosity first is always the way to go. By providing value to your subscribers, first, you’re essentially giving them a sample of the widely helpful content found all over your website and other social media platforms. Think of the value first approach as the sample lady at Costco. She’s the best, right? We love you, sample lady. Anyways, she is doing exactly what you should be doing and that’s providing you with value you first, so you’ll come back for more, later. Too bad you can’t come back for seconds of the samples. But if your content is truly helpful and relevant to the reader, they’ll be more than happy to subscribe—or as far as our analogy goes—pick up the full-size product.

  So how do you do this? Consider using freebies—free, downloadable content that is filled with useful, actionable advice, field hacks, or exclusive content. Amy Landino entices readers (and listeners of her podcast) to sign up to newsletters by offering her list of seven tips for going after the life you want. Shayla Raquel does the same by offering her Pre-Publishing checklist via email for all new subscribers. Jorden Makelle, from Creative Revolt, offers instant access to her free marketing class for freelance writers upon subscription. As a copyeditor, I offer my Story Binder Printables Packet to my potential subscribers because most people that end up on my site are writers and content creators. See? if you offer useful, actionable, irresistible content you subscribers will gladly give you their email for access to it.

• Don’t repost your blog post in your newsletter. You’ll see way more about this as you scroll down, trust me. But if you make peace with it now, then you can laugh at all the times I included it in this blog post. (Some people just don’t get it, what else could I do?)🤷

Okay, now that you know the basics, lets talk about some of the creative, more exciting aspects of email marketing.

What Kind Of Content Should I Include In My Emails?

As a book editor, and fantasy writer, it’s unsurprising that most of these topics will revolve around the publishing world, but they’re relevant to any content creator.

First and foremost, do not just dump your entire most recent blog post in your newsletter. Just don’t. You can include an excerpt or snippet of the blog post to get subscribers to your blog where they can read the full story. Copying and pasting the entire blog post into your email newsletter is a great way to not deliver on your promise to provide an incentive for readers to subscribe. If they can just read the whole blog post online, what reason would they have to subscribe to your newsletter if it’s just going to end up in their inbox, where potentially hundreds of other unread newsletters go to die. Save the blog post copy for the blog and offer unique, valuable content in your newsletters instead. I’ve included examples of what not to do when it comes to teasing blog post content in emails further on in this post.

• Add anything that adds value to your emails and shows off your personality!

• Advanced reader book copies (ARCs)

• Behind-the-scenes as a writer/content creator

• Best tips and tricks that go with your content’s topics/message

• Book reviews or featured books (products related to your niche are great)

• Case studies that demonstrate how your information or service has helped someone

• Contests/giveaways

• Checklists

• Deleted scenes and alternate endings to your book (content creators that aren’t in publishing, you can send bloopers or reject photos from your camera roll that just didn’t quite make it to Instagram)

• Events

• Exclusive Email-only discounts

• Free, downloadable resources

• First book in your series (this is great when you have the series already completed)

• First chapter in your book (be sure you have formatted as a PDF, mobi, and epub)

• Helpful printables (character sheets, NaNoWriMo kits, budgets, planners, calendars, bucket lists)

• Hobbies and other interests (inside looks such as photos, videos, and writing that revolves around your hobbies, that might not be as well known on your website or social media)

• Inside looks and updates publishing process (budding authors are so eager for these sneak peeks!)

• Inside scoop on the research process

• Interviews

• Launch team invitation

• Lists (current favorites, sites, books, podcasts, tools, software)

• Motivational or inspirational advice that applies to your field

• Photos of people and places that inspired your book

• Playlists for your books (Abbie Emmons and tons of other writers do this to get in the right headspace for writing, but readers love getting inside looks into the process—and content around your novel, published by you is canon!)

• Printable poster (Natalie Brenner did this with preorders)

• Printable Christmas Ornaments (The Chicago Graham School did this with their Chicago Manual of Style)

• Round-up of most popular blog posts (fan favorites)

• Sneak peeks (book cover, teasers, excerpts)

• Upcoming events/book signings/readings/Facebook Live events

• Videos

• Video series (Amy Landino does this with her Secret Podcast on her Patreon)

• Your story (how you first got into writing, what inspired your recent book)

My “Free Edit Giveaway” Email Newsletter

A screenshot of the greeting and body sections of my “Free Edit Giveaway” email newsletter from 2019. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of the body section of my “Free Edit Giveaway” email newsletter from 2019. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of the body and footer sections of my “Free Edit Giveaway” email newsletter from 2019. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Alright, now that you not only know the basics, but you’ve got a pretty good idea of the kind of value you can deliver straight to your subscribers’ inbox, but how do you actually set up a newsletter campaign? Do you just send emails manually? Yikes!

Of course, it’s not that labor intensive, but it will take some work beforehand. Once you’re all set up, you can mass send emails regularly, like a pro! You can even automate emails to send out your freebies, confirm subscriber sign-ups, and unsubscribe emails, and more! I’ve organized the following sections into two lists—the first explaining how to set up the email campaign and the second that shows you simple, easy-to-execute ways to go the extra mile and stand out from competition.

How To Set Up An Email Newsletter

 Step One: Buy a domain name email address. It’s likely if you’re reading this that you already have a website and that’s how subscribers are signing up for your email list, but if that’s not the case, I want to know your secret! Also, you’re going to need a domain name and email address. Gmail and other email services don’t like it when email newsletters come from third-parties without a domain email address. These email platforms are much nicer to you when your third-party emails come from a domain email address. When using online marketing tactics, the path of least resistance is always your friend. In fact, back when I used wonderforestofficial@gmail.com Gmail would hide my email newsletters in spam folders. That is definitely not the goal here, so to make sure your special, handcrafted email newsletter doesn’t get thrown in the trash, use a domain email address. Purchase your domain email address from Google Domains and add the new address to the settings in your third-party email server.

Once that’s done, be sure to verify and authenticate your domain. Email authentication improves deliverability. It’s a sender identification tool that helps keep your emails out of subscribers’ spam folders. Think of it as shiny, metal name pin (as opposed to a sticker nametag). If there’s a second major takeaway from this blog post, it’s that you really, really need to verify your domain.

Step Two: Pick a campaign manager. If you use Squarespace, it might make more sense to use their built-in email campaign interface because it’s easier to work with but it can be quite limited with some elements. It currently does not support code injection, social icons, or file attachments. On the other hand, Squarespace email campaigns work seamlessly with your website.

Alternatively, you could use Mailchimp or another email campaign manager. These two are the most popular, but it’s totally up to you. Mailchimp is a little unconventional but it has a lot of capabilities.

Both of these options (and most others out there) offer free accounts with basic capabilities as well as different tiers for paid accounts with all sorts of additional features. Please note, automated emails are free with Mailchimp. Automated emails through Squarespace require you to purchase the $14/month plan. Free or trial accounts with both platforms do not allow you to hide their branding (the Squarespace or Mailchimp logos will be at the bottom of your emails).

A screenshot of Mailchimp’s logo in the footer of their free plan option. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of Squarespace’s branding in the footer of plans starting at $14 and under. Photo by Payton Hayes.

I have used Mailchimp, but currently, I use the Squarespace email campaign manager, so most of the tips in this guide will be for these two services. I won’t go too in-depth with the features, but I’ll include links to the respective guides.

A screenshot of my social sharing image that pops up when my website URL is linked on other websites and social media platforms. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Step Three: Enable social sharing images (Squarespace) or social cards (Mailchimp). Social cards allow people to show off an image, headline, and short description when they share your newsletter on social media. I’ve included a photo of a Facebook social card for my website so you can get an idea. Not only does this ensure the link back to your newsletter look professional, but it adds to the overall consistency of your brand and makes your newsletter look uniform with the rest of your branding. You can find a guide for adding social sharing images in Squarespace or social cards in MailChimp in the “Further Reading” section at the end of this blog post.

Step Four: Add click-to-tweet features to your newsletters. Your true, passionate readers want to help you, so make it convenient for them. Like I said earlier, the path of least resistance is key. If you say something inspirational or encouraging in your newsletter, then write it again in a bigger font and hyperlink it with the click-to-tweet link. Additionally, anything that is particularly clever or funny is gold for click-to-tweet links because readers are more likely to retweet something they found striking. Be sure to add your Twitter handle, the line of text you want tweeted, and the link for your current email newsletter and bam—easy, autonomous marketing! And the subscriber is none the wiser.

Step Five: Set up autoresponders. An autoresponder sends an email series after the subscriber has been put on your email list. Autoresponders go out even when you’re sleeping! Note that this is different a campaign. Set up a series to tell the reader more about you and give them that value (freebie) they willingly signed up for. Chances are, if they signed up, they already read something of yours they enjoyed and would like to learn more about you. Set it up so that it sends a couple of emails out over the following week to keep you fresh in the reader’s mind and build on that relationship.

Step Six: Create a promotional pop-up or cover/landing page and an opt-in page. The promotional pop-up is a dialogue box that pops up when users enter your site. The cover page is a simple one-page website that is connected to your site and acts as a flashing arrow to your newsletter. Be careful with the pop-up though, because it there is too much going on or if it’s too hard to get past it, subscribers will give up and leave. Whichever you go with, on your website, create an opt-in page where the entire emphasis is on signing up for your emails. By making it a page instead of just a newsletter block, you can easily add the link to Instagram or use it in Facebook groups. I always suggest this because it is much prettier and simpler than a) an ugly MailChimp link or b) saying, “Just go to my website, and on the home page, on the right-hand side, scroll down halfway. . .”

No—just no. Keep it simple, beautiful, and mobile-friendly. Redirecting new subscribers to your personal Facebook group allows you to engage with them better and form stronger relationships. One of my clients has a Facebook page set up for her book, where readers are directed so they can connect and share their thoughts on the novel. She often engages with her subscribers there and thus builds stronger relationships with them, not only as a writer, but as a person.

Step Seven: Deliver on your promise. If your subscribers gave you their oh-so-valuable email address on the promise that you would give them some kind of freebie, then you better deliver. I unsubscribe so fast from email marketing that is just there to make a quick buck and doesn’t deliver. If you say you’re going to give me the first few chapters of your book, then link several versions of it. If you say you’re going to give me a free e-guide, the download link better be there.

Like I mentioned earlier, Squarespace currently doesn’t allow code injection or file attachments to their emails. I get around this by including links in the email, to a secret landing page where subscribers can download their freebies in various formats.

A screenshot of a section in my newsletter where readers could click a button that would take them to a landing page where they could download the freebie in various formats. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of a section in my newsletter where readers could click a button that would take them to a landing page where they could download the freebie in various formats. Photo by Payton Hayes.

See? For my freebie, the Consistent Writer’s Checklist, I offered four formats to chose from. And in my automated email, I provided subscribers with a link to the landing page where they could download the packet various formats. I also clearly explained why my subscribers had to make so many clicks to reach the download, but hopefully Squarespace will support file attachments and code injection in emails in the future.

Make Your Newsletter Emails Stand Out

Use your name in the from field and the subscriber’s name in the email header. If you’re using your own publishing, website, or blog name, you might have more luck getting subscribers to open the email switching to your name (or for some authors, your pseudonym). I made that switch earlier in 2019, and it increased my open rate when subscribers saw emails coming from “Payton Hayes” rather than my company name, “Wonderforest.” This also made the transition from “Wonderforest” to “Payton Hayes Writing & Editing Services” much easier and more natural when I rebranded my business website and socials in 2022.

To address the subscriber by name in Squarespace, go into your email campaigns manager and begin a new email campaign. You can design it as you like, but for the purposes of this guide, I am going to assume you wrote “Hi,” at the top of the email. Follow “Hi” with an open curly bracket or “{“ to reveal a drop-down list of options. Squarespace has coded this so that your newsletter automatically pulls names from your mailing list and inserts them straight into your email.

Additionally, you can add a substitute name to call your subscribers if you already have a running list with subs that somehow didn’t add their name in the name field of your newsletter form. This way, it still has a personal touch. My default name value is “Writerly Friend” and this is particularly helpful for the subscribers that joined my mailing list before I set my newsletter sign-ups to require a first and last name from new subscribers.

To set the From Field as your name, open the email campaign > go to the “Email” tab> “Sender Profile” >and create a sender profile if you don’t already have one. Make sure your name is in the “Sender Name” field. When creating a new Squarespace campaign, simply type an open curly bracket or a “{“ (without the quotes) and a drop-down menu will appear. If you’re using Mailchimp, when you’re creating a new campaign, select the “Personalize the “To” field” option to personalize the email by adding subscribers’ names to the header.

A screenshot showing how to personalize recipients’ names in emails when using Squarespace Email Campaigns. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot showing how to personalize recipients’ names in emails when using Mailchimp. Photo by Payton Hayes.

If you use Squarespace campaigns, I highly suggest you add a secondary email to your newsletter list so you can clearly see what it looks like as a subscriber, since any email you send to your main email (that either sends owns the domain OR sends the newsletter out) will always say, “[Test Email]” in the subject line and and may not format the subscriber names correctly.

Email campaigns sent to your website’s main email, domain owner, or the email you sent the campaign with will always say “[Test Email]” in the subject line.

As you can see, subscriber the subscriber name (or in this case, my name) was not automatically ported into the name field. Instead, it defaulted to my back-up name, “writerly friend”.

What it looks like on your end:

A screenshot of my email greeting default value, “Writerly Friend” for subscribers that joined before my newsletter sign-up required full names. Photo by Payton Hayes.

What it looks like to your subscribers:

A screenshot of my personalized email greeting, that addresses subscribers by their first and last names. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Spend time on your headline. This is where my experience in journalistic writing is so handy, because as a journalist, the fastest way to grab or lose a reader’s attention is in the headline. However, you should keep in mind that certain words or phrases in email headlines automatically trigger emails and send them straight to spam—like “free,” “call now,” or “bonus”. Most modern email services are designed to help eliminate spam emails and there are so many things to be mindful of to ensure your newsletter doesn’t end up in the wrong folder.

If you’re following the rules in this blog post, you’re sure to land it in the inbox, every time.  For more reading on designing inbox-safe, compelling headlines, CopyBlogger has a fantastic guide. Another way to stand out (especially to millennials and younger readers) in your headlines, is using emojis or emoticons! I prefer the surprised face, the crying-laughing emoji, and the explosion emoji because they’re interesting, funny, and relatable. 😲 💥 😂 For the headline guide from Copyblogger check out the “Further Reading” section at the end of this blog post.

Add a short bio and photo. Just because someone subscribed once, (and likely just to get access to the freebies, let’s be real) doesn’t mean they always remember who they subscribed to. It’s nice to remind them who you are. This also helps subscribers build trust with your brand because not only are they getting to know a little bit about you along with the content, they are putting a face with the name and the brand. See how I introduced myself, directed them to my other sites, and told them what to expect from my newsletter and other social media? Do this to make your emails more personal and to help your readers put and keep a name with the face.

A screenshot of the end of my newsletter with my email signature image. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Speaking of which, you can also include a small profile picture or your signature to your email. I do not recommend using your real legal signature. Instead, use your author, artist, influencer, or business signature. Alternatively, you can create a custom email signature in Canva, like I did. In real life, I sign my documents with a little star, so I tried to keep that personality with the heart sticker I added to my email signature. For an email signature, I recommend using a typeface that looks like handwriting because it feels more personalized and adds a little extra flair. The typefaces below the “Artist Script” (left) and “Something Script” (right) are great examples of typefaces that resemble handwriting. These two typefaces are both available with a Canva Pro membership.

If you already have a signature design you’d like to use with your own handwriting, you can either sketch it out with a drawing tablet, or go old-fashioned by writing it out on a piece of paper and photo-copying it. I personally prefer creating logos and signatures with Canva because they’re vector-based images that can be edited without compromising the quality of the image. I am neither affiliated with Canva, no do I receive any kind of payment for promoting their platform. I have created over two-hundred flyers, graphics, and images with Canva and I use it for almost every project. You can find links to Canva and a helpful article about vector images in the “Further Reading Section” at the end of this post.

A screenshot of the signature I made using the “Artist Script” typeface which is available with a Canva Pro membership. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of the signature I made using the “Something Script” typeface which is available with a Canva Pro membership. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Keep design elements consistent and cohesive. As you can see (from this post and all other posts on my blog), I use my email signature image as a sign-off at the end of every blog post. This keeps it consistent across my posts and emails so that my content is uniform, familiar, and personalized. Much like using a logo, this signature image helps my readers remember me and my website. It’s a seemingly small detail with a massive impact. Keeping design elements and branding the same across your social media and other online platforms creates reliability and builds trust amongst your subscribers. So whether you decide to include a signature, logo, or both (I use both), keep it consistent with your other branding elements and carry it across all platforms and profiles.

Be a person first and a sale, second. Just because all the big creators are pushing book sales 24/7 doesn’t mean you have to. Thankfully, there are still some big authors who don’t do this. You’ll do a much better job of selling your products/services if you establish a relationship with your readers—not hound them to click the buy button. I’ll say it again for those in the back, action first, value later. Hey, maybe I should make that into a click-to-tweet for this blog post!

Don’t give people a reason to unsubscribe. In fact, make it nearly impossible for them to want to do this. If your headline tells them they’re going to get a free download, then make sure the free, downloadable content is there. Additionally, if you're emailing them constantly, it's going to get old quick. Same goes for using click bait—you’ll probably have some angry subscribers. Send every email with intention and think before doing it. Ask yourself, "Would this make me unsubscribe?"

Segment your email newsletter list. Emails are not one-size-fits-all. Certain emails will be better suited for your loyal subscribers and others might be better for the new subscribers. Set up one set of emails for the true fans and another set for the newbies. Additionally, segmented lists are useful in getting rid of subscribers who never read your emails.

Add your socials. Include links to your other social media accounts (with the proper branding), follow and share buttons to your newsletter. Don’t arrange them too close together because you’ll have too many call-to-actions in one spot. I like to keep my follow buttons at the top beneath me logo, and my share buttons at the end of the email. Like I mentioned earlier, Squarespace doesn’t offer this feature yet, so I just use good, old-fashioned links. I only link to the sites I have linked on my website (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Goodreads) in my emails, but you can add as many as you like! Just don’t let it get cluttered.

Pro tip: For adding links to a Squarespace email, use line breaks, or “|” between links to keep everything separate and orderly.

A screenshot of the social links at the bottom of my website. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of the social links at the bottom of my emails. Photo by Payton Hayes.

See? Not only keeping consistency via the social links I include, but also with my witty coffee comments!

Keep a close eye on un-subscribers and spam complaints. Don’t get too hung up on anyone that unsubscribes from your email list. It’s not a big deal, because you don’t want them on your list anyway if they aren’t reading the emails. Trust me, you don’t—numbers don’t matter if they don’t care. But if you get several unsubscribes after one certain email, then you might want to pay attention. Did you do anything that might’ve caused so many people to opt out?

As far as abuse complaints are concerned, that shouldn’t be happening unless you’ve opted them in without their permission, purchased lists, or hidden your opt-out link. These are all important parts of being a respectful newsletter email-er. Your opt-out link should be easy to find—either at the top or bottom of the email, in a normal, nondescript font. As far as willfully opting people into your newsletter list goes, Just. Don’t. Do. It. Seriously. It’s as bad as buying followers on Instagram—it complicates data and fills your subscriber list with a poor representation of your audience.

Unsubscribe people who do not read your emails. One of Shayla Raquel’s most effective campaigns was when she sent an email out asking a segmented list if they still wanted to write a book. “This would prompt them to either unsubscribe or respond to me. Once they responded, I asked them how I could help, which meant they were engaging again.” she said. Like I said previously, do not keep people on your list if they never read your emails. It skews your analytics. Either re-engage them or unsubscribe them—it’s as simple as that. Check out Shayla’s blog in the “Related Topics section at the end of this post!

Track your analytics. So why were the previous two sections so worried about skewing the data? That brings me to my final tip for sending effective email newsletters and that’s to keep track of reports to better understand your demographic. Mailchimp and Squarespace both have excellent information on your demographics, which you can then use to adjust your newsletter according. You’ll notice that you have subscribers across the globe, opening your newsletter at different times in different time zones! You can also see exactly what your subscribers are clicking on the most, which will help you narrow the focus of your content. Getting niche is important in the content creation industry because it helps you avoid falling into believing in oversaturation. (I have an entire other blog post on that here. Don’t even get me started.) You’ll begin to have confidence that you’re producing quality content and your subscribers are enjoying what you have to share with them. You can also use this information for other marketing strategies like Facebook ads, which are proven to be effective because of Facebook’s brilliant ability to accurately display relevant advertisements to potential subscribers.

Bonus Information

A screenshot of an email newsletter with almost five pages of blog post text copied into the body of the email. Photo by Payton Hayes.

1. How long should an email newsletter be? What’s the difference between a newsletter and a blog post? Can’t I just repost my blog post in the body of the newsletter? Should I keep the word count to a certain minimum? The truth is there are no hard and fast rules to writing email newsletters and that’s because they are often specific to the creator and the type of content being shared. I would recommend no more than a page and half, depending your topic and message. Use the KISS method—keep it simple, sugar.

Of course, the more relevant value you can add, the better, but don’t overload subscribers. Leave the long-form content to the blog. Look at the photo on the right. As you can see, this email is so long I had to zoom out more than 200% to see the whole email on one screen. That’s just too much. If you really must share that much content, include an email-exclusive download link to a PDF. Don’t forget the freebies!

However, do not, and I repeat: DO NOT REPOST YOUR BLOG POST into your newsletter. Why would I willingly give you my email for something I can find on your blog? The answer is no, I wouldn’t. If there’s somehow a third major takeaway from this post, it’s this: don’t repost content. Instead, you want to deliver irresistible, exclusive, and valuable content to your subscribers’ inboxes. It is okay to notify subscribers of a new blog post this way, but copying and pasting content is just awful. Don’t.👏 Do. 👏 It.👏

2. How often should I send out newsletter emails? Like I said in the section waaaay earlier about spamming, don’t send newsletters out too often. It’s annoying to go from a satisfying Inbox (0) to having a non-empty inbox in a matter of hours, every day. I can already think of a few companies that ruin this satisfaction for me. Now, naturally, I would be thrilled to receive an email from someone I happily subscribed to for valuable content, but the truth is I don’t want emails all the time and neither do your subscribers. If that isn’t enough of a reason—you shouldn’t need or want to create that many newsletter campaigns and that much exclusive content.

3. How can I make my emails sound more human and less like marketing copy? Let me tell you, this is not the time to whip out your clever marketing copy, not even a little. I’ve already touched on this topic in the section of tips for how to set yourself apart from competition, but here’s the main idea: Only you can be yourself, and only you have that uniqueness and advantage. Just carry that notion into your email newsletters. Talk to your subscribers the same way you would to a friend over coffee. Treat your subscribers like the VIPs they are and let them in.

Be your adorable, quirky, nerdy self and gush about the things you love and are passionate about (in my case, that is in fact, coffee and the Chicago Manual of Style) Kevin Kelly talks about having 1,000 true fans—that to be successful, you don’t need millions of followers, you just need 1,000 true fans. Your subscribers are your true fans, number one cheerleaders, and VIP’s so build true, meaningful connections with them.

Newsletter Q&A!

I asked some of my editor and writer friends for questions for this blog post and they came through! Below are some of the most asked questions and my answers to provide you with a little more guidance to email newsletter marketing. Check out the “Further Reading” section at the end of this post if you’d like to stop by any of the Facebook groups mentioned in this section of the post.

“I've struggled with doing a newsletter mainly from a time perspective and what I should talk about in it. So, I would love to see some suggestions on this :D” —Stephen Howard from the Developmental Editor Connectiongroup on Facebook

Above is an actual email I received in my inbox, just the other day. Seriously? There’s like five pages worth of blog post text pasted into this newsletter. You bet I unsubscribed after I got this email. I’d stayed on this creator’s mailing list for entirely way too long and after receiving several similar emails, I realized it was time to take my name off their list. You don’t have time for reading novels in your inbox, and neither do your subscribers. Your newsletter should serve as another lead magnet to pull traffic to your site. Include a snippet of your blog post to grab readers’ attention and provide a “Read More” link to the full post, should they want more. It would be better for the reader to spend more time engaging with content on your website than reading in solitude from their email inbox.

I’ve sort of addressed this in the beginning of the post, but I’ll expand on it. In addition to all the freebies, you should have some text in the newsletter and that will depend on your field, specialization, and personal interests. As an editor and writer with background experience in both art, computer science, and marketing, I have a wide range of topics to explore in both long and short form content. I suggest you explore your field and see what the competition is doing. See how you can do the same but in your own way and with more value.

Additionally, there is not a best frequency to send out emails. I suppose it depends on the type of content and how much you have to share, but I prefer at least once a month, and if I am doing a series or something special on my website, I will send out additional emails as needed. I know some people who send out bi-weekly emails and it’s really just up to you. See what volume of emails works best for your schedule, what makes sense for your content, and what response you get from subscribers so you can adjust accordingly.

 I feel like I'd instantly run out of things to say! Also, how to get people interested in signing up for the newsletter if you don't have something to offer in exchange like a downloadable? (Or should you just make sure you've developed some resource you can use to encourage subscribers?) —Laura Elizabeth from the Developmental Editor Connection group on Facebook

I answered this above, but there are millions of topics out there, so I’d suggest exploring the competition in your field and seeing what you can do differently. And yes, you should create something first so you can give your potential subscribers a reason to subscribe. I prefer to set it up so that the item in question arrives by email once they’ve confirmed subscription. I know from personal experience that if you deliver before they confirm their email, then your confirmation email just ends up in the trash.

Why email marketing? Why do I grow my subscriber list? How do I figure out what to write about? What’s the best time of day to send emails? How often should I send emails to customers? —Geoffrey Andaria Shivayanga from the Writers Helping Writers group on Facebook

Email marketing is an incredibly valuable and highly coveted asset in the digital age. Like I said, emails are worth more than oil, and while it’s hard to believe, it’s true and you can absolutely strike gold with your email marketing. An email is one of the most sacred spaces in the online world. It takes a lot of work to not only get into someone’s email inbox, but also to stay there and to get them to actually read your emails. It’s a personal way to connect with your audience and it’s one way you can be pretty certain your message will be read rather than scrolled past and forgotten like social media posts.

You should be nurturing and growing your subscriber list because it will ensure people are reading your content, following you and your work and ultimately supporting your business, buying your products, or booking your services. There is no best time to send emails, and like I said, you’ll notice your subscribers come from everywhere, which means multiple time zones. Pick a good time to send emails that’s practical and sustainable for you and send them out as often as it makes sense to do so for your goals and audience.

Examples Of Email Newsletter That Don’t Suck

Below is a few different examples of email newsletters I’m subscribed to that, in my opinion, don’t suck. These emails come from writers, editors, publishing industry professionals, content creators, and more! Links to the individual creators will be included in the “Further Reading” section at the end of this post.

Amy Landino’s Boss Notes Email Newsletters

A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter subject line. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 1. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 2. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 3. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Shayla Raquel’s Editorial Email Newsletters

A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter subject line. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter body 1. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter body 2. Photo by Payton Hayes.

William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers Newsletter

A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, header and body 1. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 2. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 3. Photo by Payton Hayes.

A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 4 and footer. Photo by Payton Hayes.

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Email Newsletter Recap

At least cover the basics

• Respect subscriber’s privacy. 🗸

• Don’t spam subscribers. 🗸

• Exercise professionalism with a personalized touch. 🗸

• Be consistent. 🗸

• Add value first, then call to action. 🗸

• Don’t repost blog posts in the newsletter. 🗸

Go the extra mile:

• Has a domain of their own. 🗸

• Has a campaign manager. (Not manually sending out emails) 🗸

• Enabled social sharing images. 🗸

• Add click-to-tweet features to your newsletters. 🗸

• Has set up autoresponders. 🗸

• Created an opt-in page or cover/landing page. 🗸

• Always deliver on promises. 🗸

• Personalize and customize emails. 🗸

• Use graphics, gifs, and emojis to grab attention. 🗸

• Spend time on the headline. 🗸

• Add a short bio, photo and/or signature. 🗸

• Be a person first and a sale, second. 🗸

• Don’t give people a reason to unsubscribe. 🗸

• Segment your email newsletter list. 🗸

• Add your socials. 🗸

• Keep a close eye on un-subscribers and spam complaints. 🗸

• Unsubscribe people who do not read your emails. 🗸

• Don’t send an email more than two pages long. 🗸

And when in doubt, use the KISS method—keep it simple, sugar. 💋

All of the creators that I mentioned above consistently meet not only the basics, but the extra mile as well, in every single one of their newsletter emails. While it definitely takes some research and preparation up front, email marketing can be effective, profitable, and sustainable, but it doesn’t have to suck.

And that’s it for my 20 tips for newsletter marketing that don’t suck! Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for the Q&A section! If you made it this far into the post, I appreciate you for sticking around and reading it all! Have you heard of any of these tips before? Are there any other excellent tips that I might have missed? Will you use email marketing now that you’ve read this blog post? What aspects of email marketing do you love/hate as the sender or recipient?  Which email marketing best practices are most effective in getting you to subscribe to a mailing list and actually read the sender’s emails? What email marketing faux-paus trigger you to unsubscribe the fastest? Let me know your thoughts in the comments at the end of this post!

Check out any of the resources or other creators I mentioned in this post in the “Further Reading” section below!

Bibliography

• Cottonbro Studio (@cottonbro). “White Printer Paper on White Table.” Pexels photo, Feb 25, 2020 (Thumbnail photo).

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of my social sharing image that pops up when my website URL is linked on other websites and social media platforms.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of a section in my newsletter where readers could click a button that would take them to a landing page where they could download the freebie in various formats.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the greeting and body sections of my ‘Free Edit Giveaway’ email newsletter from 2019.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the body section of my ‘Free Edit Giveaway’ email newsletter from 2019.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the body and footer sections of my ‘Free Edit Giveaway’ email newsletter from 2019.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of a landing page on my website where subscribers could download the freebie in various formats.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot showing how to personalize recipients’ names in emails when using Squarespace Email Campaigns.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot showing how to personalize recipients names in emails when using Mailchimp.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of my email greeting default value, ‘Writerly Friend’ for subscribers that joined before my newsletter sign-up required full names.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of my personalized email greeting, that addresses subscribers by their first and last names.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the end of my newsletter with my email signature image.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of an email newsletter with almost five pages of blog post text copied into the body of the email.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes Payton. “A screenshot of Mailchimp’s logo in the footer of their free plan option.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes Payton. “A screenshot of Squarespace’s branding in the footer of plans starting at $14 and under.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the social links at the bottom of my emails.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the social links at the bottom of my website.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter subject line.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 1.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 2.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 3.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter subject line.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter body 1.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter body 2.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, header and body 1.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 2.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 3.” December 15, 2019.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 4 and footer.” December 15, 2019.

Further Reading

• Click here to check out Shayla Raquel’s editorial blog and website.

• Click here to check out Amy Landino’s lifestyle and coaching website.

• Click here to check out Abbie Emmons’s author and writing advice website.

• Click here to check out Natalie Brenner’s lifestyle blog and website.

• Click here to connect with the Writers Helping Writers group on Facebook.

• Click here to connect with the Developmental Editor Connection group on Facebook.

• Click here to read Kevin Kelly’s essay, “1,000 True Fans” from The Technium, March 4, 2008.

• Click here to read Tim Stoddart’s article “How To Write A Headline That Drives More Clicks” Copyblogger, March 8, 2024.

• Click here to read Brian Clark’s article “22 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas that Work” from Copyblogger.com, March 23, 2021.

• Click here to read Sonia Simone’s article “10 Emotion-Based Headlines that Work” from Copyblogger.com, November 16, 2020.

• Click here to read Ruben Ramirez’s article “Advantages of Vector Graphics” Selfmadedesigner.com, accessed March 19, 2025.

• Click here to view The Chicago Graham School’s Chicago Manual of Style 17th ed. Christmas ornament printable.

• Click here to view The Chicago Graham School’s Chicago Manual of Style 18th ed. Christmas ornament printable.

• Click here to compare Canva’s pricing and plan features.

• Click here to compare Mailchimp’s pricing and plan features.

• Click here to visit Mailchimp’s guide to setting up Automation.

• Click here to visit Mailchimp’s guide to social cards.

• Click here to visit Mailchimp’s guide “All the Merge Tags Cheat Sheet.”

• Click here to compare Squarespace’s pricing and plan features.

• Click here to visit Squarespace’s guide to setting up Autoresponders.

• Click here to visit Squarespace’s guide to social sharing images.

• Click here to visit Squarespace’s email marketing templates.

• Click here to visit Squarespace’s guide to newsletter blocks.

Related Topics

• Find Your Exact Genre, Find Your Lifelong Book Ambassadors by Shayla Raquel

• How To Submit Your Writing To—And Get It Published In—Literary Journals

• Book Marketing 101: Everything Writers Need To Know About Literary Agents and Querying 

• 15 Misconceptions About Freelancing

• The Importance of Befriending Your Competition

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Written by Payton Hayes | Last Updated: March 19, 2025

Bucket List For Writers: 75+ Things Every Writer Should Do WAY Before They Kick The Bucket

I’m a writer! I love lists! I love buckets! Okay, that third one might not be quite so true—I mean who loves buckets? Apparently, Shayla Raquel, the editorial blogger I borrowed inspiration—and this list—from. Shayla says Catherine Smith of Sooner Not Later first came up with this idea and she even completed 52 bucket list items in 2015. Low whistle. 😏 Impressive.

A lot of the goals on Shayla’s list are actual goals I have on my own bucket list so I thought it would be fun to put my own spin on it by scratching out what I’ve completed and adding my own items as well. Check out Shayla’s list here. I’m going to have to get creative to cross off green eggs and  ham as a vegan!

Make sure to read until the end to get your free PDF version so you can start crossing off items right away!

Without further ado, here’s the list!

Travel

• Go on a writing retreat

• Take the train

• Visit Stratford-upon-Avon to see where Shakespeare lived

• Take a weekend getaway to Walden Pond and live simply for a while—no cell phones!

• Set off on a literary pilgrimage to a site where your favorite author lived or spent his/her time writing

• Visit a printing plant to see how books are made

• Go to a book signing and show support for a local author

• Visit a famous bookstore in another state

• Go to a writer’s convention

• Visit a bookstore or library in another country (like Dublin, Ireland’s “The Long Room”)

• Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• Spend a day in the Library of Congress

Experience

• Do something weird just to write about it

• Start a book club or writing workshop

• Use the 5 senses while reading a book

• Write an in-depth book review

• Get a little free library outside your home

• Complete the “100 Books Everyone Should Read” list from Bussiness Insider

• Start a personal library

• Go to the late show at the circus

• Create art out of books that are falling apart

• Read at least one book from every genre

• Cosplay as a book character and see if friends can guess it

• Read a ridiculously difficult book, like Ulysses (Not my line, but OMG! I’ve never read anything truer in my life.)

• Take a character quiz for your favorite story

• Start a savings fund for self-publishing

• Try editing a book

Bookish Buys

• Collect a series

• Buy old books at garage sales—and barter!

• Get an autographed book

• Purchase a real inkwell and quill

• Go to a book signing and get a selfie with the author

• Visit a library

• Buy a beautiful leather (or vegan leather) journal

• Pick up a vintage polaroid camera

• Have a movie marathon based on the books you love

• Buy a first edition copy of a bestseller

• Purchase a handmade book

• Buy a typewriter

• Go on a blind date with a book

Write On

• Win NaNoWriMo

• Get an article published

• Write under a pen name

• Write a poem

• Submit to Writer's Digest

• Write fan fiction

• Send fan mail to your favorite authors

• Write a comic strip or graphic novel

• Write 100,000 words for one project

• Guest blog for someone famous

• Write in a genre that you hate

• Write a letter to your future self

• Self-publish a book

• Send your ready-for-publication book to at least three traditional publishing houses

Personal Development

• Find a mentor

• Write an affirmation statement that expresses all your strengths as a writer

• Buy a book for a child

• Read The Elements of Style

• Donate any unused or forgotten books to a local library

• Donate copies of your book to a worthy cause

• Join at least three writing associations

• Mentor a teen who is interested in writing

• Create a productive writing space

• Trade manuscripts with a close writer friend and critique each other

• Subscribe to a "word of the day" email

• Tutor students in English

• Write a private self-help blog for yourself

Literary Eats

• Host an Alice in Wonderland tea party

• Eat a cake that’s designed like a book

• Try some fictitious dishes

• Make green eggs and ham

• Visit  a coffee shop you’ve never been to

• Have a midnight dinner like in the Night Circus

• Have second breakfast

• Throw a Great Gatsby-themed party

Does a Great Gatsby-themed/Roaring 20's themed prom count?😂

My friend Hailey and I at our 1920’s/ Great Gatsby themed senior prom. Photo by Hailey Donaldson.

It looks like I’ve still got some things to check off my own list! Have you done any of the items above?Comment below and let me know what you think of the list! Don’t forget, the concept goes to Catherine Smith and Shayla Raquel for originally doing this bucket list for writers! Check out Shayla’s list here and Catherine’s Facebook page for Sooner NOT Later here.

If you love this writerly bucket list as much as we do, click here to download the printable PDF version so you can start crossing off items right away!

And that’s it for my writerly bucket list! Have you crossed any of these off of your own bucket list? What did you think? Did I forget anything! Let me know in the comments below!

Thumbnail photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters.

—Payton

Book Wrap-Up: All The Books I Read This Year (2019)

2019 was the first year I participated in the Goodreads reading challenge, and I met my goal by reading 23 books (My goal was 20 books this year)! Below are the books I read with a few of my thoughts on each one. Comment below what you read this year and click the link at the bottom of this post to add me on Goodreads!

Night Circus by Eric Morgenstern

I found myself craving caramel corn the entire time I was reading this book, and I don’t even like caramel! I loved reading this story because it was so enchanting and played on the childlike wonder of the reader. There is something so dreamlike and marvelous about this story that goes far beyond magic and romance; it’s so much more than that. I love the use of the theme of breaking the cycle and moving on from family history in such a new and refreshing way. I highly recommend this read to anyone who likes to feel magically transported into a fantastic and magical romance.

5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins

I read this story because Amy Landino references it ALL THE TIME and now, I understand why.  Mel Robbins’ breakthrough in rewiring the human decision-making process is incredibly effective and has even helped me eliminate doubt and procrastination. The 5-Second Rule is brilliant, and the book is even more so. I enjoyed reading this novel because Mel is just so sociable and personal and connects with the reader on another level as she explains her thought process and how the rule helped her put her life back together.

Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

This story was so painfully thrilling, from the very first page to the last you’re wrapped up tight in a story of passionate love, unexplained disappearances, dark pasts and even more. It’s wild start to finish and is really telling of modern society and how it feels to be ghosted, excusable or otherwise. I really enjoyed this read and couldn’t put it down. The characters were easy to connect to and it genuinely hurt to understand why some things happened the way they did. The only thing I could think was: Oh yeah, I get it. 

Will it Fly? by Pat Flynn

Because I apparently couldn’t get enough entrepreneurial inspiration and self-motivation from the second and third books I read this year, I turned to Pat Flynn’s novel, Will It Fly, and was not disappointed. The story uses the comparison of paper planes to stat-up success and the metaphor continues throughout the story. This is a great read for anyone who needs to remember their Why.

Girl sitting with a cup of coffee, eyeglasses, notebook, and Brother by Ania Ahlborn on the floor. Photo created by Mockup Generator. Help support this site and the work here by picking up the Geometric Deer Head Coffee Mug!

Brother by Ania Ahlborn

Absolute chills. Enough said.

Okay, I’ll give my thoughts on this read, briefly because I have an entire review here. This story is insane, and that’s the only way to describe it, really. The dark themes, harrowing events, and deeply saddening realizations are horrifying and enthralling simultaneously. I couldn’t put this book down and sped-read it through the span of two days and it left me gaping in awe for a third day, afterwards. This story is not for the faint of heart, but those eager to brave their next horror story—you won’t regret it. But you might have to bleach your brain to get some of the grotesque imagery out.

Seed by Ania Ahlborn

After reading Brother, I knew I had to read more from Ahlborn, but I didn’t think she could blow me away again, and she did. Seed is truly terrifying and absolutely not the kind of reading you do just before bed. Think of the sleep paralysis demon on steroids—yeah…nope! While this story wasn’t quite as thrilling as Brother, it was definitely scary from cover to cover and once again, Ahlborn nailed the twist at the end.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

This was the first time I’d read any of Martin’s work and I’m definitely hooked. I watched the TV show, Game of Thrones before I read this and I don’t think that was a mistake since this 835-page, high-fantasy beast of a book took me a couple of weeks to get through. I’d recommend watching the show before reading the novels and since they’re still being written, you won’t completely spoil yourself. I read the first book this year, and I’d like to read more of the series in 2020!

Pile of books on a woven bedspread. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick

Because I couldn’t get enough of Fitzpatrick’s writing, I grabbed Dangerous Lies, which did not disappoint. The story reminded me of James Patterson’s Confessions of A Murder Suspect, but it was much better and even more thrilling. I read this book whenever I could and finished it in a few days. Also, I so did not see the twist at the end.

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

After I finished Dangerous Lies, I devoured Black Ice in two days and now, in January, I’m thinking of rereading it again, already! Black Ice a brilliant romantic thriller that truly kept me at the edge of my seat. Page-turner, indeed. It’s a story of unexpected love, survival, humans versus the elements, danger and dark pasts that swirls altogether in one big mess beneath a blizzard, bears and, badgers. This story is full of suspense and perfectly timed tension.

Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak

If you know me, you know I’ve been a player and big fan of the online MMORPG, World of Warcraft and its even greater Blizzard Universe with its extensive lore and backstories. I genuinely do love the characters and stories and Stormrage delivered. I’ve only read a few of the books from the WoW storyline—The War of The Ancients Archive (The Well of Eternity, The Sundering, The Dragon Soul) written by Richard A. Knaak and Before the Storm by Christie Golden. The stories surrounding Malfurion Stormrage, and his brother Illidan, Tyrande Whisperwind, Sylvannas Windrunner, and the dragons are all my favorites and Stormrage only deepens my love for this massive tale.

Kiss Me Deadly – A Collection of Supernatural Romance Short Stories

I read this collection just for the section from Becca Fitzpatrick that is set just before the Hush, Hush saga and found some new authors I’d like to read more from, particularly Diana Peterfrund after reading her short story, Errant (Killer Unicorns 0.5). I didn’t complete this novel because I found some of the other short stories a bit lackluster, but Fitzpatrick and Peterfrund delivered thrilling, expertly crafted stories and compelling characters.

Books and trinkets on a woven bedspread. Photo by Payton Hayes.

 The Lord of the Rings

(Fellowship of The Ring, Two Towers, and Return of The King (not yet completed))

I started this series at the beginning of the summer with high hopes that I’d finish it by the end of august and while that held true for the first two novels, I didn’t quite meet that goal, and likely won’t finish it by the end of the year. I blew through the first two novels and then the third one threw me into a reading slump just because of the pacing of the story. Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely do love the Lord of The Rings, but you can’t deny the books are a tough read sometimes. This was my first time reading the series and I’d seen the movies plenty of times beforehand but reading them has been a special experience for me. This is one of, if not my favorite story of all time. I read the books along with the audiobook which only made the reading that much more immersive and special, especially with all of the songs!

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

Imagine a horror at Hogwarts but with creepy, crawling wallpaper. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager is an enchanting, thrilling story about what people will do for money, the sacrifices one will make to keep their job and the consequences for looking too closely at the hotel Montgomery’s dark past. The story is jam-packed, suspenseful, and intense. I couldn’t put the book down and the twist at the end just made me think, whaaaaat?

Blossom In Winter by Melanie Martins

Blossom in Winter is a thrilling story of forbidden love, desire, dark pasts, and the lengths one will go to protect everything that matters most to them. This romantic thriller deals with the incredible satisfaction and happiness that comes with falling in love and the consequences of forbidden relationships. The story is fast-paced, engaging, and heart-wrenching from start to finish. The characters are all so unique and compelling and they really tug at the readers heart. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel -so much so that I devoured the entire 391 pages in less than two days. I honestly cannot wait for the sequel to come out so I can see what happens next to the character and where their choices take them.

Don’t forget to check out my interview with Melanie Martins.

Sins of the Son

This year I also read a book from one of my clients, Frank Lucianus, Sins of The Son and while I am not really at liberty to discuss the details of the project, I’d like to say that the story was  a brilliant wedding of 1990’s mafia madness, forbidden love, bad blood, and opulence. I couldn’t put the novel down and now I can’t wait to read the next book in his series.

Short Stories From Wattpad

I don’t want to go into too much detail about the books I read on Wattpad since you can read them for yourself, but I wanted to include them because they were pretty long-form and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Below are the short stories I read for 2019.

• Off Script by @ashleymariefiction on Wattpad.com - Click Here

• Jake the Panty-Ripper by @KanyeInterruptedMe on Wattpad.com - Click Here

• Cruel Temptations by @matemenot on Wattpad.com - Click Here

Cruel Temptations isn’t finished yet, so it’s safe to say that I’m still reading that one for a while, but of the three, my favorite was Jake the Panty-Ripper. It’s a steamy tale of two unlikely lovers—one a struggling, hardworking girl—and the other a motorcycle riding, panty-ripping, murderer. It’s thrilling start to finish and multiple parts moved me to tears. This digital short story rivals Hush, Hush for my number one read

And that’s it for my 2019 Book Wrap-up! What books did you read this year? Have you read any from my list? I’d love to hear about it so, comment below!

—Payton

Brother By Ania Ahlborn: My Book Of The Year (2019)

This is a spoiler-free review!

“We don’t have hardly anything.”

“We gotta make do with what the land gives us.”

— Ania Ahlborn, Brother

It left me Hungry for more…

Okay, maybe not the best way to start out a review over a book that deals with many dark topics such as cannibalism, abuse, abduction, and (thoughts of) necrophilia, to name a few. I am probably as astounded as you are to know this was my book choice for my favorite book of 2019 —I don’t know whether or not this says anything good about me as a person, but I couldn’t put the book down. (Okay, in some parts, I HAD to put the book down, especially when some of the more messed up scenes got a little too detailed.)

Brother by Ania Ahlborn is a brutal, bloody, beast of a horror novel that leaves readers considering bleaching their eyes and brains out after reading about some of the dark topics present in the story. (Amazon User Gorilichis)

While the subject matter itself is pretty heavy, the story is really about the relationship between two brothers who through no fault of their own found their way into a family filled with darkness — and their twisted obsession with cannibalism, abduction, and physical abuse. This story is not for the faint of heart, but I have to agree with Publisher’s Weekly in saying that it was nearly impossible to put the book down.

The thriller takes place in the 60’s in the Appalachian woods and is centered around the Morrow family and their youngest son, Michael who never really felt part of his dysfunctional family and their dark, twisted, practices. He desires normalcy and one day he hopes to see what the rest of the world has to offer. He meets a girl named Alice at the local record shop and they hit it off immediately. He almost forgets about his messed-up family and the monster he is, but his older brother Reb, is always there to remind him of the darkness following him in West Virginia.

I too, felt like I needed to cleanse my mental palate after reading some of the passages of this novel, but it was a truly enthralling story. Ahlborn’s ability to share and hold back just the right amount of detail at just the right time is what makes her a phenomenal horror writer. She expertly crafts scenes that make you jump right out of your skin (be careful, Brother characters!) and for good reason. All the awful things that happen in the story are made even scarier by the fact that they’re all completely possible events that could actually happen in real life. Yikes!

I also read Seed by Ania Ahlborn and Lock Every Door by Riley Sager and although they were also pretty creepy in their own rights, neither rivaled the astounding amount of horror, gore, and twisted events present in Brother. I’ve read quite a few horror stories in my life, and so far, this one takes the cake—or rather —the carcass. Too soon?

I would recommend Brother by Ania Ahlborn to anyone who likes getting really scared, but like I said, it isn’t for the faint of heart. I can’t watch surgeries without fainting and this was a rough read in some parts. However, it really is a brilliant psychological thriller, and I have to agree with the general consensus that the twist at the end will leave you saying, whaaaaat?!

And that’s it for my pick of the year—Brother by Ania Ahlborn! What do you think? Have you read this book? Did you have a similar reaction? Did it make it into your top 10? Let me know in the comments below!

Thumbnail created with Mockup Generator.

—Payton

Get Things Done With The Pomodoro Technique

25 Minutes On,  5 Minutes Off, 4 Times—It’s That Easy.

When I first learned about the Pomodoro Technique, I probably thought the same thing as you—the Pomodoro what now? But as I learned more about it, it became an incredibly useful tool in writing projects.

What is the Pomodoro technique?

The Pomodoro Technique is time management method first developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980’s. The technique employs a timer to break large workloads into intervals at 25 minutes in length separated by five-minute breaks. Each interval is called a pomodoro, or the Italian word for tomato. Francesco Cirillo used the word pomodoro because it was the name of the kitchen times he used as university student.

How does it work?

When you sit down to work, you set a time for 25 minutes and work as diligently as possible for that amount of time. When the timer goes off, you take a quick five minute break and then repeat the process four times. When you’ve completed your fourth pomodoro, you take a thirty minute break.

Why does it work so well?

This process has grown in popularity, especially in entrepreneurial circles, and that’s because it works. You wouldn’t expect something so simple and easy to implement to be so effective, but it really is. The reason is because by breaking your workload into smaller parts, you make bigger tasks seem less daunting. If you only have to really focus for 25 minutes, you begin to challenge yourself to see what you can complete in that time frame.

Using the Pomodoro technique for writing everyday

I don’t usually use this time management method in my editing projects because breaking my reading concentration slows me down, but I love using it when writing. Especially when combined with NaNoWriMo, the pomodoro technique is insanely useful for getting writing done. Often, sitting down to write a blog post such as this or work on my manuscript is still a daunting task for me, but by breaking it up into a measly 25 minutes of work, I know I can accomplish a lot more because by breaking it down, I am also removing the dread that comes with knowing I have to write so much.

I usually complete my blog posts in a much shorter amount of time because I work so diligently within my allotted 25 minutes, and when the times goes off before I’m finished, I take a break and I’m ready to jump back in and pick up where I left off, usually finishing up not too long after the break.

And that’s it for my how-to-guide for the Pomodoro Technique! Have you ever heard of this method of timekeeping? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!

Thumbnail photo by Anna Tarazevich

—Payton