Gale Stanley: 52 Weeks of Writing Author Journal and Planner by Mariëlle S. Smith #NonFiction #SelfHelp #AuthorInterview

BLURB:

‘A brilliant, supportive, challenging workbook, highly recommend.’ Jamie Sands

You, too, can become the writer you’ve always wanted to be!

The 52 Weeks of Writing Author Journal and Planner:

• makes you plan, track, reflect on, and improve your progress and goals for an entire year long;

• invites you to dig deep through thought-provoking prompts and exercises; and

• helps you unravel the truth about why you aren’t where you want to be.

Two years after publishing the first volume of 52 Weeks of Writing, writing coach and writer Mariëlle S. Smith brings you the updated third volume. Similar in style but reflecting the tweaks made to her coaching practice during the pandemic, 52 Weeks of Writing Vol. III is even better equipped to help you get out of your own way and on to the path towards success.

Ready to start living your writing dream? Order your copy now.

Excerpt:

WRITING PROMPT

Each writing prompt is optional. If, for whatever reason, it does not speak to you, let it be. Who knows? It might make more sense to do the prompt later in the process.

Most writers are introverts and dread the visibility that comes with success. This might not be you, but to some of us this fear is what stops us from finishing our work. Because what if people read it and want to talk to us about it? What if we're forced to leave the privacy of our desks and go out into the world, into the spotlight, with nowhere to hide?

If this resonates with you, know you're not alone. Grab your journal or open a new document on your computer and set your timer to ten minutes. Now list all the good that could come with success.

If this is a fear you recognise all too well, keep this list close once you've finished it.

Author Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I live in a seaside village on the island of Cyprus, in a teeny apartment with windows facing the sea and the mountains. I moved here in 2019 because I couldn’t stop writing when I first visited the island. There must be something in the water because I’ve published quite a few books since that move.

2. What do you do when you are not writing?

I volunteer for an organisation that traps, neuters, and then returns stray cats to where they were found. It’s called CopsCats. I don’t do a lot of trapping myself; I take care of some of the feeding stations in our area with a lovely team of volunteers. Together, we make sure the cats are fed, watered, and get the care they need in case they’re ill.

3. Do you have a day job as well?

I do, but it’s very much related to writing: I’m a freelance editor and writing coach, although I do a bit of translating here and there as well. Before moving to Cyprus, I taught at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, and the move was me taking the leap. I’d been working as an editor and writing coach on the side for years, in between teaching classes, but would I be able to turn it into a full-time business?

Turns out I was.

4. How did you choose the genre you write in?

I rather think my genres choose me! I’ve never consciously picked a genre to write in, I just get ideas that I have to write down immediately. Which genre(s) these ideas belong is something I don’t figure out until much later.

5. Where do you get your ideas?

While driving or in the shower, usually. And through listening to music, although that’s what I tend to do while driving or taking a shower. A bit of lyric can inspire a scene or even an entire new story. If you ever catch me sitting in my parked car, hunched over my telephone or scribbling away on an old receipt or envelope or something, I’m trying to write it all down before it flees my mind.

6. Do you ever experience writer’s block?

Yes, and it always has to do with fear. Fear that I won’t be able to bring across, commit to paper, what I have in mind. That my readers won’t get me, not this time.

7. Do you work with an outline, or just write?

I am a plotter through and through. I wasn’t always, but I have been since I started taking myself seriously as a writer.

8. If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you would change?

I was going to say ‘Yes!’, but then I thought: I’ve made so many mistakes when I first started publishing, but they have taught me so much. I did what I could then, with the tools and knowledge I had. Now I know more, I’ve started to update my earlier work and improve on things.

9. How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?

Aside from mentioning new work to my followers on social media and those who receive my monthly newsletter, the only marketing I do is through Amazon ads. I know there’s a lot more to be discovered when it comes to advertising, but I’m still figuring it out.

10. What project are you working on now?

I just agreed on a deadline with my French translator, which means 52 Weeks of Writing Vol I will be coming out in French somewhere this year. I’m also looking for a German translator for the same book, but I haven’t had any luck thus far.

11. Will you have a new book coming out soon?

I have most of the manuscript ready for the fifth book in a series of tarot spreads that align with the seven chakras, Seven Simple Spreads. All that’s left to write is the introduction, but that is, of course, the hardest part. Which is why the book has been shelved for the past few months.

12. Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?

Go your own way. Figure out where you want to go and why, look at what everyone else is doing, and then eclectically take from them whatever makes sense to you and use those building block to create your own habits.

13. Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

Thank you for reminding me what I’m doing it for. It isn’t always easy to keep going—and it especially hasn’t been over the past two years—but a few words from you and I’m back to doing my thing, with gusto.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Mariëlle S. Smith is a writer, writing coach, and editor. She lives in Cyprus, where she organises private writer's retreats, is inspired 24/7, and feeds more stray cats than she can count.

Contact Links

Website: https://mswordsmith.nl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mswordsmith

Blog: https://mswordsmith.nl/blog/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18455235.Mari_lle_S_Smith

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariellessmith/

Other(s): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnYOpjmj83mvMM2L348F1w

Purchase Links

All purchase links can be found on https://mswordsmith.nl/journal

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Weeks-Writing-Author-Journal-Planner-ebook/dp/B081Y6ZMPY/

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