Continuing Education

Everything in this world could use some continuing education. You like to paint ceramics? Keep taking classes to find out new brush strokes or combinations of colors. You like to write scripts? Keep taking classes to keep up with what's in demand. You like making slime? Keep watching YouTube videos for what you can put inside slime that won't disintegrate.

And if you love writing books, well, you've a world of continuing education in front of you.

First of all, the book world is constantly evolving. "Never" is never used. Writers will "never" like they've "nevered" before. I love it. Second of all, market changes on a dime. Vampires are big. Now not so much. Buggy (Amish) are big. Now not so much. What's hot right now? Dark Romance. Reverse Harem. Women are ruling the world AND in-between the pages. 

What do writers do?

We educate ourselves.

I would advocate taking at least six courses/workshops/going to a couple conferences a year. This keeps you connected to the living breathing being that is the writing world and especially your genre(s).

I wasn't able to go to a workshop I registered for last week because I was watching granddaughters, but I caught up this morning. An hour and forty-five minutes on Planning and Brainstorming by Jen Graybeal. It was fantastic and FREE. If you ever get a chance, take one of her classes or workshops.

I have an Oklahoma Romance Writer's Guild Meeting at 2 pm. If you can join a group of likeminded individuals, please DO! This is ALSO free! Wonderful to have a supportive peer group.

At 3 pm, I'm attending another workshop. This one is "Secrets of a Bestselling Amazon Book Page" with Penny Sansevieri. I believe this one cost $10.

It's incredibly important to continue with learning your craft. Honing. Shaping. 

Learning never stops, guys.

If you're in love with what you do, then this is truly a labor of love. 💖

Always writing*

...or attending some writerly business...

Enneagrams

The Enneagram of Personality, or simply the Enneagram, is a model of the human psyche which is principally understood and taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality types.

Sounds a bit woo-woo, doesn't it?

But not really.

Any personality test gives a set of questions and narrows down answers into different personality traits. Makes sense. Then the answers are grouped together with a cool name that shows how these different personalities handle situations and how they respond in general.

I'm a sucker for these. 

But I hadn't thought about the enneagram much until a fellow author posted about reading Reclaim Your Author Career by Claire Taylor. Into the cart and onto the van it went.

Received it yesterday and am almost finished my first read-through.

Writers should also have Continuing Education. We need to keep our minds as well as our pencils sharp. You cannot keep cranking out books without also working on improving your craft. Writing evolves, and writers must evolve, also. Nothing in this profession is one and done. It's not a cookie-cutter business. Writers must keep reaching. Readers will appreciate the effort.

I'm excited to put what I've learned into my writing to make it better. And that, my lovelies, is ALWAYS the point. 💖

I'm a 5...apparently it's the most difficult, because of course it is...😶