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You have a deadline approaching. You need to finish a draft of your manuscript, but you can’t get it right. You’ve been at it for weeks, working endlessly. You have to drag yourself to your desk, but once you’re there the words just don’t come to you. You’re running out of time and things are only getting worse. Does that sound familiar? That’s just one example of how burnout can creep up on you. It happened to me at the beginning of the summer, and I tried to white-knuckle my way through it. Spoiler alert: that doesn’t work.
Burnout occurs when you exceed your emotional and mental limitations for too long. A cheetah’s heart and lungs would give out if she tried to sprint 75 mph constantly. The same goes for you and me. We can’t maintain a mental or emotional sprint indefinitely. Let’s take a minute to talk more about burnout—what it is, what causes it, and how you can cope with it. I’ll focus on burnout from a writer’s perspective, but this can happen to anyone in any profession. What causes burnout?
In mid-July, I found myself rattling off long lists of things I was doing wrong or even just not improving at fast enough. I felt like I didn't have control over anything and didn’t have the energy to fix it. How do you cope with burnout? If that sounds like you, too, don’t worry. There are ways to address burnout.
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Every writer dreams of creating the next bestseller. We all want to write an edge-of-your-seat, un-put-downable story that hooks readers from the very first page and takes them on an unforgettable journey. But how do you achieve that? What is the magic formula that transforms a good story into a legendary one? Why do so few authors manage to create that spellbinding thrall? Story Genius by Lisa Cron offers a compelling answer to these questions. Cron explains that humans are evolutionarily hardwired to crave stories. We seek answers to help us understand and navigate the world around us. Stories are the solution. They provide a safe and controlled setting for our minds to explore the possible outcomes and answers to our problems.  What I Loved About Story Genius
Summary
Story Genius by Lisa Cron combines wit and humor with a science-based method to create captivating stories. It’s not just another educational primer for writers; it's an engaging read that made me laugh while providing valuable insights. I highly recommend this book to any writer looking to take their work to the next level. Additional Resources
A Guide for Indie AuthorsTo all of my indie authors: buckle up. In the 2nd part of my blog series on book cover design, I'm going to give you some high-level tips on creating the best covers for your books. Let's dive in. 1. Find a Cover Designer I know it’s tempting to make your own book cover. You can get the right software fairly cheaply (or for free), and with a few Youtube tutorials, you’re on your way. But I recommend against that. Hiring a good book cover designer can make all the difference in how well you attract potential readers.
Finding the Right Fit: Choosing the right book designer can be tricky, but it’s important to get it right. Your designer should have experience in your genre and a design style that resonates with you. Here are some tips on how to find the best designer for you and your project:
The Search in Action: Hollen the Soulless by Denali Day
3. Test and Perfect Your Design
Your designer will send you mockups of your cover to review. Don’t be afraid to send critiques, but remember to be polite and professional. Provide Specific Feedback: When you’re reviewing your cover, it helps your designer if you can specifically pinpoint what does and doesn’t work for you. Try breaking the cover down into components that you evaluate individually, such as the title, author name, foreground, and background. Get Other Opinions: It may help to share mockups or early versions of your cover on social media, in writing forums, or with beta readers to gauge their reactions and identify areas that need improvement. Pay attention to feedback on visual appeal, clarity, and alignment with genre expectations, and be willing to iterate on your design based on constructive criticism. Conclusion: I hope you found this guide helpful. For more information, check out these resources:
We've probably all heard that saying a thousand times since childhood. Right now, I’m picturing the librarian at my old public library whispering that to my friends and me as we picked out our books. I get what she meant: don’t judge, don’t make assumptions. It’s an important life lesson, but when it comes to choosing the right cover design for your book, don’t judge a book by its cover is completely off the mark. The cover of a book is the first thing people see of your story. The job of a book cover is to be judged. It is the first interaction the world has with your book. That's why it's absolutely critical that you get the best book cover for your masterpiece. What makes a good book cover? That's a hard question to answer. It’s so difficult, in fact, that I’ve decided to break up the answer into a multi-part series to cover it all. In this set of posts, we’ll cover the role of a book cover, the basic design elements, and special considerations for indie vs traditionally published authors. I’ll also provide some additional resources along the way, so you can get the most out of this series.
.First, let’s break down some of the elements of a book cover: Imagery: This may be obvious for some people, but what imagery do you want on the cover? To figure that out, you first have to ask yourself this: what is the biggest driving force of your story? If your story is character-driven and has a strong central protagonist, maybe he or she should be on the cover. If your story is about an enchanted sword or a haunted pirate ship, those would make great cover images, too.
Tone: The tone of a book cover is the feeling it gives you as a whole. It considers the imagery, the artist style, title font, color scheme, etc. You may have noticed that a lot of genres have tone patterns that they usually follow. Mysteries, thrillers, and horror stories often have darker colors and sharper lines. Romance novels tend to have softer, warmer tones, while comedies and children’s books often have brighter colors and more whimsical font styles. Keep in mind, these aren’t hard and fast rules, but if you follow themes that fit your genre, your potential readers are more likely to recognize your book’s genre from first sight
Cover font: The style of font you use for your title and your author name can say a lot about the content of the book. For example, romance novels might use a curling script or a soft-style font, but non-fiction books may rely more on structured fonts that give the reader a reliable, professional feeling. Open a word processor, like Microsoft word, and take a look through the fonts for inspiration. Keep in mind, though, that a professional graphic designer may have access to more font styles than you do, so you may have more options when you hire a designer
Here's an example of a book cover that I thought did a great job selling the book:
If you're interested in Hollen the Soulless check out:
That's it for Part 1 of this series.
If you're interested in learning more about book covers, here are some resources that I recommend:
Writer's block has hit and it has hit hard. You can't string together a single interesting, compelling, or coherent sentence. Your writing sounds like garbage. Your character's are flat, and your action is boring. You've rewritten the same page 6 times. Your garbage can is filled with discarded drafts.
Does any of that sound familiar? We've all been there, I promise. In fact, I’m there right now. No writer is immune to bad days and rocky writing. The key is keeping yourself moving until you get back on your literary feet. You can try the obvious tricks: Take a break, switch topics, or let the project sit for a few days. Those things can help sometimes, but not always. What about charging head-first into your writer’s block? Have you tried that? Just lower your head like an 800 lb bull and charge right through that block. Turn off that critical voice in your head and just write. That's it. Just. Write. Your writing doesn't always have to be elegant or earth-shattering. Anything is better than a blank page, even if it looks like someone handed a typewriter to a gorilla. Bad writing—done with purpose and direction—is a foundation that you can revise and polish. Finishing a novel is about progress, not perfection. Perfection will come later with editing and Beta readers. For now, just do what you love: write. Check out these links for more resources:
Follow me on social media! If we’re not already social media friends, reach out and say hi. Twitter: @JenAldenbooks Facebook: Jennifer Alden Instagram: @jenaldenbooks Your writing, especially a first draft, does not have to be perfect. I know that feeling when you’re reading a polished, published book and you realize that you’re drafts are weak, ugly, bumbling things in comparison. You need to remember (and I do, too) that a first draft is worlds away from a published book that has been through many rounds of edits and review. As you’re writing, keep this mantra in your head. Write it on a sticky note and stick it on your computer or pin it over your writing desk.  The goal of a first draft is to bring your story to life. It’s meant to be rough and raw. The first draft is your chance to turn your tiny spark of inspiration into a real, tangible story. Your imagery doesn’t have to be crystal-clear and vivid. Your action doesn’t have to be heart-stopping. Your prose don’t have to be evocative or world-changing.
Just write. Set aside your internal critic and just get your story out. That is a true first draft. If you’re looking for motivation to get that first draft finished, there is still time to sign up for NaNoWriMo! Here’s the website to join: https://nanowrimo.org  Wellness AlertIt's time to step back from the computer and take a break.
This week, rather than posting about writing or reading, I’m switching gears to overall wellness. I just had to start going to the chiropractor because my neck, back, and shoulders were constantly tight and sore. And the cause of my pain? Bad posture. Apparently, I lean forward and hunch my shoulders in when I’m sitting at my desk. I spend a lot of my time at the computer writing, either for my day job or for my fantasy books. Sometimes, I sit properly, but more often than not, I find myself hunching over like a gremlin. The pain isn’t too bad. It doesn’t stop me from living my life, but it can distract me from my writing. Stop what you’re doing right now and pay attention to yourself. Are you sitting right? Are your shoulders back and down? Is your chin up? If you're looking for a nudge, here it is. Get up from your computer and move around. Go for a walk. Drink some water. Stop ignoring those tiny little pains and start taking care of your body. Yoga and stretching are my go-to exercises when I’ve been sitting at my desk too long. They’re also great ways to unwind and refocus my mind when I’m having some writer’s block. If you're interested in giving it a try, I recommend Sean Vigue Fitness on YouTube. He’s fun to listen to and he seems very knowledgeable. He also has a ton of videos for all different experience levels. Here are links to my favorites:
Picking comparable titles, or comp titles, for your query letters can be frustrating and overwhelming. It took me a long time to find mine. For Oreia's story, I chose Song of the Forever Rains by E.J. Mellow and Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep. Here are the rules I used to choose my comp titles:
To wrap things up, here is a video that I found very helpful when I was preparing my query letter:
Alyssa Matestic - How to Choose Strong Comparable Titles for Your Query Letter: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_NpQGC4azM  Are you using a pen name, or have you thought about writing under a pen name?
I personally use a pen name. Jennifer is my real first name, but Alden is not my last name. There are a lot of reasons someone would want to use a pen name. For me, anonymity was not a real concern. I decided to use a pen name because in my opinion my real last name is a little too rigid and abrupt for a fantasy author. I thought Alden sounded more lyrical and whimsical. Alden is also a maiden name in my family that got lost through the generations, so I decided to bring it back to life. Here are my top tips for choosing a pen name:
Final thoughts: I picked my pen name early on in the process so my email, Twitter, website address, and Facebook accounts are all under the same name. As an author, your name is your brand. It's important to pick your pen name, if you're using one, and keep it consistent throughout your marketing and branding. If you're interested in more information about picking your best pen name, check out these links:
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JenNifer AldenWelcome to the Untold Stories, my fantasy writing blog! Categories
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