Saturday, February 27, 2016

Keep Your Writing Up!

   So, I've been "missing" these last couple of weeks because I've been studying for midterms (which are finally over, thank God) so I haven't blogged, written, or have read much outside of school. In response, I thought it would be fitting to write about keeping up writing despite business.

 Writer's block or the problem of where there aren't enough hours in a day can interfere with writing. Maybe you work or go to school all day and, when you get home, all you feel like doing is going to bed instead of sitting down to write. It's understandable. We all do it at one time or another (more than once or write...or over a dozen times).

 But you need to get those creative juices flowing and sit down and write! Even if it's just for a few minutes. There have been dozens of times when I've sat down, only intending to write a few words, and then end up writing pages because I can't tear myself away from my work.

Write a little bit everyday, even if it's only a few words. You might not have time to immerse yourself in your novel for a few hours or have the ability to write a couple of pages--it's understandable. We all have those days where we just can't find the time. But you should at least write a few words. Set aside a few minutes to get a paragraph in (no, a sentence doesn't count), you will feel better for it.

Setting (weekly and monthly) goals for yourself can help with this. I find this very helpful. Don't make this an absolutely-set sort of thing, otherwise, you will get stressed, and stress and writing don't mix well. Unless if your character is in a tense/stressful situation, then by all means, get yourself hyped. Setting goals can help you get time in to write.

Do something that usually inspires you to write. Listen to music, read a few pages from one of your favorite books; just do something that will get you excited and inspired and cause you to feel that need to write! But don't spend too much time trying to get inspired. You could get distracted and decide that you don't have the time or don't feel like putting down that book that you're reading.

 I haven't been able to keep to these tips so maybe I'm not the best person to hear this from but I am generally pretty good about keeping to my writing schedules. I'm just trying to adjust to going to college while working. I'll have it figured out soon (I hope) and get back to writing and blogging regularly, but that's all for this week! Get writing!

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Thursday, February 25, 2016

I'm Sorry

Sorry I haven't been around in the past few weeks but I just haven't had the time to blog. I haven't written outside of blogging or have read much either so it's not because I'm lazy; it is legitimately because I haven't had time. I've been taking quizzes and exams for multiple classes these last few weeks and have just finished taking mid-terms so--hopefully--I'm back!

I have a few draft blog posts but I'm not sure what kind of blog posts I want to do so I'm open to some ideas! Comment below what you would like me to blog about, or Tweet me @ashleyc_earley

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Saturday, February 6, 2016

Transferring Word Count to Pages

   Here are some general word-count ranges that you can work by when writing your book. Depending on the genre of your book and age group, the word count will be different, as each genre has a specific word count requirement.

Adult novels are roughly 80,000 - 90,000 words in length.

Young adult novels are roughly 50,000 - 80,000 words in length. Even 80,000 is kind of pushing it so I would keep it a bit lower than that.

Middle Grade is 20,000 - 55,000 words, depending on the subject matter and age range.

Children's picture books are roughly 500 - 600 words. If you get too close to 1,000 words, publishers and agents will shy away.

Nonfiction books are usually 5,000 words.
50

But how does this transfer to paper? Well, it will depend on the format of your book document and the font, but if you have the margins arranged as 1 and the line spacing set for 1.5, then 60,000 words will be roughly 170 pages. So, that's about 353 words per-page.

Good luck with writing this week! <3
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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Reader Copies


Guest Posts & Interviews

I love guest posts and interviews and would love to participate in either if available! Please contact me at ashleycearley@gmail.com for availability.


Advance Reader Copies

 For a chance for an advance reader copy, email me at ashleycearley@gmail.com

***Please note: at this time I am no longer accepting requests for physical copies. But I would be happy to send you a PDF version or an e-book in your preferred format.


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