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Hot Take Tuesday!
- By RJ Garside
- Community Discussions
- 0 Replies
Authors, it’s time to weigh in, what’s your hot take on this writing debate:
“You have to write every day if you're serious about your publishing career (or finishing your book.)”
Do you agree or disagree?
Please tell us why in the comments! We want to hear your strongest opinions and best arguments.
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Announcements Instructor Spotlight: Adrienne Giordano and Misty Evans
- By RJ Garside
- Announcements
- 0 Replies
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Instructor Spotlight: Irene Roth
- By RJ Garside
- Announcements
- 0 Replies
Irene Roth has been presenting at SavvyAuthors for over five years. She presents forum-based workshops and also offers a monthly motivational writing support group.
How long have you been writing?
I've been writing for as long as I can remember. When I was 5 years old, my Dad bought my first journal, and I was glued. I have published a lot of books and ebooks. And I still find each of the books I write exciting.
What started you on the path towards publication?
What started me on the path of publication was my willingness to educate others on how to live their best life with chronic conditions. However, I am also an academic, specializing in Philosophy. So, the purpose of my writing is to help people live a good life that's not distracted and focused on being their best.
What's the biggest lesson you learned about writing?
The biggest lesson I learned about writing is that you don't have to sit down for hours to be successful. If you're having a busy week, month or year, writing even a little bit every day, or even a few times a week can add up to a lot of writing. I initially believed that I had to write for hours every day to be successful. That isn't correct at all. Slow and steady is the way to build confidence and resilience as a writer.
Why do you write?
I love teaching authors because I feel I have a lot of knowledge to share. If I can spare even one writer the misery and frustration that comes with not believing in oneself I would have fulfilled my purpose.
What is your core philosophy?
My core philosophy when it comes to teaching writing is that we can all be good writers. All we need to do is to believe in ourselves. And we become more confident by taking the time to write and develop ourselves as writers. Also, I try to teach the writers I teach not to compare themselves to others and that is not only the thief of joy but of success. No two writers are ever the same. We're all unique, and we should celebrate that.
How has your teaching changed your own work and perspective as a writer?
The way my teaching changed my own work and perspective as a writer is that it showed me that we are on different planes of development and that's okay. I initially believed that we traverse through different seasons in our writing career. Now I know that we can oscillate between beginners and mature quite often and that we never get to the point that we are completely excellent writers.
Bio:
Irene Roth is a writer and teacher. She loves to teach others the craft of writing and to help writers realize that they are all on their paths of success. She has published more than 150 books and e-books over the past 20 years. She also enjoys gardening, crocheting, sewing, and reading.
Irene Roth has a Facebook Group for writers called
Roth's Mentoring Group. It is at this link: (20+) Roth's Mentoring Group | Facebook
How long have you been writing?
I've been writing for as long as I can remember. When I was 5 years old, my Dad bought my first journal, and I was glued. I have published a lot of books and ebooks. And I still find each of the books I write exciting.
What started you on the path towards publication?
What started me on the path of publication was my willingness to educate others on how to live their best life with chronic conditions. However, I am also an academic, specializing in Philosophy. So, the purpose of my writing is to help people live a good life that's not distracted and focused on being their best.
What's the biggest lesson you learned about writing?
The biggest lesson I learned about writing is that you don't have to sit down for hours to be successful. If you're having a busy week, month or year, writing even a little bit every day, or even a few times a week can add up to a lot of writing. I initially believed that I had to write for hours every day to be successful. That isn't correct at all. Slow and steady is the way to build confidence and resilience as a writer.
Why do you write?
I love teaching authors because I feel I have a lot of knowledge to share. If I can spare even one writer the misery and frustration that comes with not believing in oneself I would have fulfilled my purpose.
What is your core philosophy?
My core philosophy when it comes to teaching writing is that we can all be good writers. All we need to do is to believe in ourselves. And we become more confident by taking the time to write and develop ourselves as writers. Also, I try to teach the writers I teach not to compare themselves to others and that is not only the thief of joy but of success. No two writers are ever the same. We're all unique, and we should celebrate that.
How has your teaching changed your own work and perspective as a writer?
The way my teaching changed my own work and perspective as a writer is that it showed me that we are on different planes of development and that's okay. I initially believed that we traverse through different seasons in our writing career. Now I know that we can oscillate between beginners and mature quite often and that we never get to the point that we are completely excellent writers.
Bio:
Irene Roth is a writer and teacher. She loves to teach others the craft of writing and to help writers realize that they are all on their paths of success. She has published more than 150 books and e-books over the past 20 years. She also enjoys gardening, crocheting, sewing, and reading.
Irene Roth has a Facebook Group for writers called
Roth's Mentoring Group. It is at this link: (20+) Roth's Mentoring Group | Facebook
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What Would You Title This? - chance to win a free workshop!
- By RJ Garside
- Community Discussions
- 0 Replies
Here’s a fun challenge to flex your creativity and storytelling instincts:
We’re sharing a mysterious (or intriguing!) excerpt below. Your job? Come up with the perfect title that captures the vibe, teases the story, or sparks curiosity!
Why participate? It’s a quick, fun way to sharpen your marketing and storytelling skills. Great titles are half the battle in grabbing readers’ attention.
Drop your best title ideas in the comments, the wittiest, most creative, or boldest titles might get featured in our newsletter or social media. The winner will receive a free workshop!
Ready to play? Let’s see those titles!
Excerpt:
Rain had been pouring for hours by the time Detective Zoe Hardt reached the old lighthouse. A solitary light flickered in the top window—strange, for a place that had been abandoned for more than a decade. The door creaked open with a nudge of her yellow ducky rain boot, revealing dust-swirled air and footprints too fresh to belong to ghosts. On the floor, a blue plaid scarf lay curled like a warning. She recognized it instantly. It belonged to the missing girl.
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Roll the Dice, Write the Story!
- By RJ Garside
- Community Discussions
- 0 Replies
Roll the Dice, Write the Story!
Ready for a fun, creative challenge? It’s time for our Roll-a-Story Game!
Here’s how it works:
Settings:
Twists:
Ready for a fun, creative challenge? It’s time for our Roll-a-Story Game!
Here’s how it works:
- Roll 2 dice (or use our online dice roller) to pick your
- setting and conflict from the list below.
- Use your combo to write a quick 100-word story or
- scene. Share your combo and your scene! We'd LOVE
- to see it!
Settings:
- Cozy coffee shop
- Rainy city street
- Beachside getaway
- Late-night library
- Sporting event
- On a boat at sea ⛴
Twists:
- Secret admirer revealed
- A chance encounter
- Forbidden love
- Unexpected reunion
- Winning the lottery
- Collaborating with a sworn enemy
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New member looking for authors who write urban fantasy and the fantasy genre
- By Bluetopaz
- Introduce Yourself!
- 6 Replies
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Announcements Did you know there are genre groups at SavvyAuthors?
- By RJ Garside
- Announcements
- 2 Replies
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Instructor Spotlight: Steve Shrott
- By alexj
- Announcements
- 0 Replies
What started you on a path to publication?
When I was going to school, I used to make my friends laugh, and I thought maybe I could write humor. So I sent jokes out to many comedy performers. Over time I sold a lot of material.
I wanted to expand what I could do so I began writing short stories. The first ones were just funny. But unfortunately there were few publications that published funny tales. Since I read mystery, horror and sci-fi, I decided to combine those genres with humor. That worked, and I’ve since sold a lot of those types of stories. as well as many serious ones. Eventually, I delved into other areas such as screenplay writing and novels.
What is the biggest lesson that you learned about writing or publishing?
I always thought that if you wrote something that one person loved, then that meant everyone would love it. But I soon learned this was not the case. Publishing is based on opinion and not everyone will have the same idea about what makes a great story. I remember a magazine rejected a tale I wrote and sent it back with many comments about what was wrong with it.I disagreed with most of what the publisher said so the next day, I sent it to a higher level publication. It sold!
What’s your core philosophy when it comes to teaching writing?
My core philosophy is that you learn by doing. Yes, you can read one of my lectures, and have some knowledge about a strategy that I teach. However, in my opinion, the way you really learn, is to do an exercises that I have at the end of each lecture. This will cement the technique into your mind, and also allow you to know if it’s useful for your future writing.
What can students/registrants expect to take away from your workshops?
I teach seven courses for Savvy Authors from, humor writing to, how to write a page-turning novel. My goal with every course is to make them as interesting and fun as I can. But I also try to make them practical.
I think a key element that students take away from my workshops is that if you want to improve you have to write a lot. The author, Malcolm Gladwell has said it takes ten thousand hours to be an expert at anything. To me, this applies to every aspect of writing. If you are trying to come up with ideas for a novel or short story, you should write as many as you can. Generally, the more creative ones will appear at the end.
The same holds true in writing short stories and novels. Try different versions of the scenes you’ve written, as well as the opening, and ending. Maybe you can make them better. Of course this idea of 'writing more,' also applies to the number of short stories or novels you write. When you do more of them the quality improves. If you examine the first novel of an author and a more recent one, you can definitely see the difference.
How do you approach giving constructive feedback without discouraging a student?
I never want anyone to be discouraged in my classes and I try to create a very positive atmosphere. Learning anything new is difficult so if someone just attempts one of the exercises, I feel it’s a win. When I review student’s work I always explain what they did right, and what might require a little improvement. Then I give them examples of how I might do the assignment.
Is there a common writing “rule” that you think is okay to break—and why?
To me, writing is about experimentation and rules can sometimes hold you back from attempting something different. On the other hand, I also believe that you shouldn't throw out rules just because you don't like them. One rule I personally don’t believe in is 'writing only what you know.' To me that is very limiting. How would we write a book about angels or what it’s like to be on a planet where everyone has six arms? Of course some stories do require you to do research. But, nowadays, with the internet, and the library, that’s easily done.
Website: Steve Shrott Mystery and Comedy Writer - Home
Facebook: Log into Facebook
Goodreads: Books by Steve Shrott (Author of Crime & Mystery Short Stories)
Steve Shrott is an award winning short story writer whose tales have appeared in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, and Black Cat Mystery Magazine. In Flame Tree Press's hard cover volume, Steve's story, The House, appears alongside tales by Author Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens. His work is also in the Anthony Award-winning 2021 Bouchercon Anthology, This Time For Sure, as well as in the recently released Malice Domestic Anthology, Mystery Most Humorous. Two of his comedic mystery novels have been published (Audition for Death and Dead Men Don't Get Married,) and some of his jokes are in the Smithsonian Institution. Steve has also worked in several other areas of the entertainment industry.
When I was going to school, I used to make my friends laugh, and I thought maybe I could write humor. So I sent jokes out to many comedy performers. Over time I sold a lot of material.
I wanted to expand what I could do so I began writing short stories. The first ones were just funny. But unfortunately there were few publications that published funny tales. Since I read mystery, horror and sci-fi, I decided to combine those genres with humor. That worked, and I’ve since sold a lot of those types of stories. as well as many serious ones. Eventually, I delved into other areas such as screenplay writing and novels.
What is the biggest lesson that you learned about writing or publishing?
I always thought that if you wrote something that one person loved, then that meant everyone would love it. But I soon learned this was not the case. Publishing is based on opinion and not everyone will have the same idea about what makes a great story. I remember a magazine rejected a tale I wrote and sent it back with many comments about what was wrong with it.I disagreed with most of what the publisher said so the next day, I sent it to a higher level publication. It sold!
What’s your core philosophy when it comes to teaching writing?
My core philosophy is that you learn by doing. Yes, you can read one of my lectures, and have some knowledge about a strategy that I teach. However, in my opinion, the way you really learn, is to do an exercises that I have at the end of each lecture. This will cement the technique into your mind, and also allow you to know if it’s useful for your future writing.
What can students/registrants expect to take away from your workshops?
I teach seven courses for Savvy Authors from, humor writing to, how to write a page-turning novel. My goal with every course is to make them as interesting and fun as I can. But I also try to make them practical.
I think a key element that students take away from my workshops is that if you want to improve you have to write a lot. The author, Malcolm Gladwell has said it takes ten thousand hours to be an expert at anything. To me, this applies to every aspect of writing. If you are trying to come up with ideas for a novel or short story, you should write as many as you can. Generally, the more creative ones will appear at the end.
The same holds true in writing short stories and novels. Try different versions of the scenes you’ve written, as well as the opening, and ending. Maybe you can make them better. Of course this idea of 'writing more,' also applies to the number of short stories or novels you write. When you do more of them the quality improves. If you examine the first novel of an author and a more recent one, you can definitely see the difference.
How do you approach giving constructive feedback without discouraging a student?
I never want anyone to be discouraged in my classes and I try to create a very positive atmosphere. Learning anything new is difficult so if someone just attempts one of the exercises, I feel it’s a win. When I review student’s work I always explain what they did right, and what might require a little improvement. Then I give them examples of how I might do the assignment.
Is there a common writing “rule” that you think is okay to break—and why?
To me, writing is about experimentation and rules can sometimes hold you back from attempting something different. On the other hand, I also believe that you shouldn't throw out rules just because you don't like them. One rule I personally don’t believe in is 'writing only what you know.' To me that is very limiting. How would we write a book about angels or what it’s like to be on a planet where everyone has six arms? Of course some stories do require you to do research. But, nowadays, with the internet, and the library, that’s easily done.
Website: Steve Shrott Mystery and Comedy Writer - Home
Facebook: Log into Facebook
Goodreads: Books by Steve Shrott (Author of Crime & Mystery Short Stories)
Steve Shrott is an award winning short story writer whose tales have appeared in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, and Black Cat Mystery Magazine. In Flame Tree Press's hard cover volume, Steve's story, The House, appears alongside tales by Author Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens. His work is also in the Anthony Award-winning 2021 Bouchercon Anthology, This Time For Sure, as well as in the recently released Malice Domestic Anthology, Mystery Most Humorous. Two of his comedic mystery novels have been published (Audition for Death and Dead Men Don't Get Married,) and some of his jokes are in the Smithsonian Institution. Steve has also worked in several other areas of the entertainment industry.
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