@taylorclogston
active 3 weeks, 2 days ago
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic Perfectionism vs. writing in the forum General Writing Discussions 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Fantastic advice from @bama-rose .
My productivity increased when I started setting deadlines for myself.
If I have eight total hours to edit this draft, then I sit down, start my timer, and work at it for however long. When I’m done with a session, I log my time in a spreadsheet. When that time adds up to eight hours, I’m done with that draft…[Read more]
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Taylor Clogston posted a new activity comment 2 months, 4 weeks ago
@e-k-seaver Excellent! I sent the beta application.
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Taylor Clogston posted a new activity comment 2 months, 4 weeks ago
@e-k-seaver I saw it! Thanks for getting back to me. I made a similar sheet to your content page:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-laezYu2QuF0HVt1Jf1a4WBUlM71FFn1iEXsaWNPhWY/edit
If you’re comfortable and interested enough in that, let me know and I’ll fill out your beta application. Have a good night!
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Taylor Clogston posted an update 2 months, 4 weeks ago
@e-k-seaver Hey, I saw your beta request thread. I have a lot of critique experience and could have your critique finished by the required date. I’d need you to be able to commit to critiquing about 90-100K of a trilogy of fantasy novellas after I was done with your critique, though. Before I go into any more detail, is that something you’d be…[Read more]
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Yes, I do believe it is something I’m able and willing to devote time toward– however, could you provide me with more information on your stories before I commit to anything?
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@taylorclogston, not sure if you could see that last message without me tagging you.
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@e-k-seaver I saw it! Thanks for getting back to me. I made a similar sheet to your content page:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-laezYu2QuF0HVt1Jf1a4WBUlM71FFn1iEXsaWNPhWY/edit
If you’re comfortable and interested enough in that, let me know and I’ll fill out your beta application. Have a good night!
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@taylorclogston, your story sounds really interesting! I’d be happy to read it!
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@e-k-seaver Excellent! I sent the beta application.
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Taylor Clogston joined the group Sci-fi Writers 2 months, 4 weeks ago
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic A Little Help with Free Marketing? in the forum Publishing and Marketing Nerds 3 months, 1 week ago
@hobbitchild I want to warn you that what you’re describing sounds like one of the most classic definitions of spam—you’re promoting your work in communities where you aren’t already ingrained. That goes double for commenting on blog posts asking people to download. In fact, most spam filters exist specifically to remove that kind of c…[Read more]
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic My Writing YouTube Channel in the forum General Writing Discussions 3 months, 2 weeks ago
@josiah Thanks, Josiah. Yeah, it’s dim line with blurry boundaries. I might need new glasses.
@writergirl101 Thank you! What’s your story about?
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic Which Comes First… in the forum General Writing Discussions 3 months, 2 weeks ago
@zee Great question!
I usually start with a mood, build that into a setpiece (usually the climax or very beginning of a story) with arbitrary placeholder characters, and then try to reverse engineer a plot in both directions. As I write the characters into scenes, they take on a life of their own.
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic My Writing YouTube Channel in the forum General Writing Discussions 3 months, 2 weeks ago
@daeus-lamb Thank you! Trying to figure out what I should have done better after beta-ing for you was a huge part in making it.
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Taylor Clogston started the topic My Writing YouTube Channel in the forum General Writing Discussions 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Some of you may remember that I used to upkeep a YouTube channel focused on writing critique. A few Story Embers members kindly submitted first chapters and short stories for review. After submissions dried up, I turned toward other topics when I felt like it.
Today, for the first time in over a year, I posted a new video containing three…[Read more]
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic Impactful Books in the forum General Writing Discussions 3 months, 2 weeks ago
The Redwall books by Brian Jacques have been the most impactful to me. I’ll be the odd one out and say Lord of the Rings hasn’t been very impactful to me, because they bore me to tears and I’ve never properly read all of Return of the King =P I love the Hobbit and Children of Hurin, though.
The Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer, the Dark is…[Read more]
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic Connecting to Villains in the forum Characters 3 months, 2 weeks ago
“…I pretty much based my character [in God’s Not Dead] off of these guys that I see who are just angry — they’re just filled with anger and hatred.” -Kevin Sorbo, who wasn’t a very good villain
“Once you know what people really want, you can’t hate them anymore. You can fear them, but you can’t hate them, because you can always find the same d…[Read more]
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Taylor Clogston posted a new activity comment 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Well, the Lord has seen it fit to let me enjoy writing again. Hopefully I have a few more years in me before the next absence. I tried a few stories for the contest, but they all ended up being outpourings of my frustration with people and not necessarily stories of God’s amazing power of salvation. So I wrote one story that I think is very good,…[Read more]
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic The Disappearance of Best Friends in the forum Characters 3 months, 3 weeks ago
@zee Thank you so much for that paraphrase! Something clicked for me when I read it. You reminded me of The State of Affairs by Esther Parel, which attributes some of our modern issues with infidelity to our demands that our spouses fill not only our romantic needs, but the social and spiritual needs which for most of human history have been…[Read more]
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic The Disappearance of Best Friends in the forum Characters 3 months, 3 weeks ago
This made sense, don’t worry about the rambliness =P It’s an interesting topic. Your initial distinction got me thinking:
“I’m not talking about the always teasing each other and giving each other a hard time, even though we’re pretty close. I’m talking the I love you so deeply, and I’m not afraid to say so, because honestly I would die for you.”[Read more]
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic How has the writing community impacted YOU? in the forum General Writing Discussions 3 months, 3 weeks ago
My local writing group keeps me humble and gives me the frequent opportunity to critique work from people I’m emotionally invested in. I’ve found that regular practice more useful than any craft book.
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic Too cliche? in the forum Characters 4 months ago
It sounds like you’re squeezing a very important element into a story where you made no room for it. If your character’s faith is so unimportant that you don’t even know what he’s supposed to believe or what he should end up believing, you’re not doing God, the story, or yourself any favors by shoving Christianity into it.
When you use either of…[Read more]
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic Publishing questions in the forum Publishing and Marketing Nerds 4 months, 3 weeks ago
@rebekah-elizabeth Thank you for taking it well =P You do seem serious about writing, for whatever it’s worth.
I just want you to know I did the exact same over impulsive publishing thing. I published mine after a bunch of years of casual writing, without learning anything about doing it properly, let alone marketing. I put out a too-short book…[Read more]
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic Publishing questions in the forum Publishing and Marketing Nerds 4 months, 4 weeks ago
@rebekah-elizabeth No worries regarding sounding like you’re in it for money. If you create a product, it’s not wrong to want money for it. It just means you value your time and effort.
Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here XD
- Middle grade is an infamously difficult genre to publish in, especially for self pubbers. Middle grade books get read…
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Taylor Clogston replied to the topic Publishing questions in the forum Publishing and Marketing Nerds 4 months, 4 weeks ago
@rebekah-elizabeth Hey, congrats on putting your work out there.
First and foremost, Amazon does advertise for you. As people buy your book it appears in the “other people also purchased” section of similar books. So long as you are serving a sub-genre faithfully, this is pretty good advertising. You are absolutely right that KDP ads are not a…[Read more]
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