5 Ways Instagram Can Help Writers Reach More Readers

For a while now I’ve heard many writers include Instagram as a productive part of their social media platforms.

My reaction: Instagram!? Really???!!!!

It’s not that I don’t love Instagram. Who doesn’t like pictures of delicious food, sun-drenched hills clothed in golden wheat, or ... well, you get the idea. But Instagram is a VISUAL medium.

Writing ... not so much!

Writing IS visual, but those images are internal, subjective. They are formed from our thoughts and ‘seen’ only in the minds eye. But writers WRITE. We produce text, not pictures! So how could Instagram be a good medium for us?

That’s the question I set out to answer.

5 Ways Instagram Can Help Writers

It turns out that there are an enormous number of ways using Instagram can benefit writers. Here are the top 5 I've come up with.

1. Instagram can help writers get personal.

Many readers want to know something about their favorite writers. This doesn’t have to be ultra personal.

- Share pictures of your office. Many of your readers would be thrilled to know what your office looks like (or even just your writing desk).

- Share pictures of the books you’re reading. These needn’t be books in your genre, or even fiction books! I read a fair amount of non-fiction these days, mostly research material plus the occasional biography or cookbook (I LOVE cooking!!).

- Share pictures of your pets. What pets (if any) do you have? Share pictures of them! If you don’t have a pet, consider sharing a pic of a cute nicknack on your desk or perhaps a plant.

- Share pictures of nature around your home. Pictures from walks you’ve taken around your where you live. If these walks are close to where you live I would advise stripping out your geolocation. Also, you might not want to post pictures of anything that would uniquely identify where you live, unless that information is already in the public domain.

- Share pictures of you! Not everyone will feel comfortable with this, but (as I discuss below) you might think about putting up pictures of yourself that were taken at (say) a keynote speech you gave or a signing.

2. Instagram can help you grow your community.

- Share your new book cover. I love it when authors share their book covers, especially if they show a picture that almost made it to the cover. In general, I like it when an author gives me a peek behind the scenes, when they share a bit about the process of putting a book together.

- Use relevant hashtags. Including a hashtag with your image allows you to connect with readers as well as potential readers. I want to write more about this, but for now I’ll just include this list of writing related hashtags:

#author #writing #writer #write #amwriting #handwriting #fountainpen #handwrite #writingcommunity #quote #quotes #writinglife #writingprompts #creativewriting
#writingthis #poetry #poet #writersofinstagram #prose #book #books #blogger #firstnovel
#secondnovel  #thirdnovel #godmode

- Be social! Use Instagram to get to know other writers and readers. Like and comment on the pictures of others. Don't do this in a mechanical or spammy way, be genuine! If you're a writer then you're also a reader, so follow your favorite authors, get involved in discussions. Comment on photos that grab you.

- Let your readers help choose your artwork. Often writers create more than one version of a book cover. In this case it doesn’t hurt to ask your readers which book cover they’d rather have.

- Pictures of short passages from a book of yours. I love this! Composition and design is not my strong suit so I love looking at what other authors have done in this regard. Also, I have been inspired to read new authors and have not been disappointed!

- Pictures of your other creative endeavors. Do you draw? Doodle? Paint? Hike? Bike? Chances are you have many different avenues for expressing your creative drives. Writers are artists, indulge your creative self.

- Share your upcoming book signings and appearances. As I mentioned, only a few of your die hard fans will be able to make any one of your signings, but by sharing pictures of the event all your readers can share in the experience.

3. Instagram can help you nourish your community.

- Share images of what inspires you to write. The picture of a bead of rain on a green leaf. Of babies, puppies, kittens, your bookshelf, the stuffed toy poodle your mom gave you when you were five and that helped chase away nightmares. Or your dying cactus. Anything. Whatever inspires you.

- Share images which remind you of one of your characters and explain why. These needn't be photographs of people (though they often are). They could be of a pensive giraffe or a spectacular sunset or a happy kitten. Or perhaps something darker. The point is, it's up to you. You can see through the eyes of your character, you know what he/she would be drawn to.

- Share images of your book signings and speaking engagements. Most of your readers won't be able to attend any particular speaking engagement you have, so share pictures! Even better, share a video of the event.

- Share art for your book. This can be a book cover, or art for a book cover that wasn't used, but it could also be art that one of your characters created. It could be a picture of their goal, the object/person that they want more than anything else in the world.

4. Use Instagram to nourish your own creativity.

People who are creative in one area are often creative in other areas as well. Painting, drawing, designers, decorating, cooking, to name only few. Take pictures and share them! Often authors don't have any other outlet for these hobbies, but your readers would love to know more about you, about your other passions. Share them!

5. Create a contest.

Who doesn’t like a contest? This can be a fun way to engage with readers and—bonus!—it encourages your readers to share their own creative efforts with the world.

How do you set up a contest on Instagram? Good question! Instead of going into this process here, I’ll refer you to How to Run a Successful Instagram Contest by Krista Bunskoek over at Social Media Examiner.

After you’ve created a contest, it’s a good idea to set up a page on your website that spells out the rules of the contest, what prizes you’re giving out, instructions on how to enter, and so on.

For example, let’s say you create a contest that asks your readers to take photos of themselves while holding your latest book. Perhaps ask them to dress as their favorite character from the book. You could give out prizes for most creative costume, for best-dressed, and so on. If you do this, take a picture of yourself in costume holding your book. It will embolden others and act as a convenient example of the sort of thing you’re looking for.

Writers who use Instagram:

Looking for examples of how established writers use Instagram? Here are a few:

- Neil Gaiman (neilhimself)
- Lindsay Cummings (authorlindsaycummings)
- John Green (johngreenwritesbooks)
- Erin Morgenstern (erinmorgenstern)
- Ransom Riggs (ransomriggs)
- Kami Garcia (kamigarcia)
- Jane Friedman (janefriedman)

Reference: Posts about how writers can get the most out of Instagram:

Ten Authors And Publishers To Follow On Instagram, Tasha Brandstatter on BookRiot

Miranda July And 15 Other Literary Instagrams You Should Follow, by Claire Fallon at The Huffington Post.

Instagram for Writers, by Crystal King on Grub Writes.

Instagram Marketing: Top 6 Fan-Building Tips For Writers, by Web Design Relief Staff at Web Design Relief (WDR)

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Every post I pick something I love and recommend it. This serves two purposes. I want to share what I’ve loved with you, and, if you click the link and buy anything over at Amazon within the next 24 hours, Amazon puts a few cents in my tip jar at no cost to you. So, if you click the link, thank you! If not, that’s okay too. I’m thrilled and honored you’ve visited my blog and read my post.

Today I'm recommending a book I'm reading for the fourth time: Sparkling Cyanide, by Agatha Christie. I think this is one of Christie's most charming mysteries, equal parts love story and murder mystery.

From the blurb: "Agatha Christie's genius for detective fiction is unparalleled. Her worldwide popularity is phenomenal, her characters engaging, her plots spellbinding. No one knows the human heart-orthe dark passions that can stop it-better than Agatha Christie. She is truly the one and only Queen of Crime."

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That's it! I'll talk to you again on Wednesday. Until then, good writing!

Murder Mysteries: Open vs Closed

One of the fundamental distinctions between murder mysteries is whether the plot is open or closed. Today I explore this distinction, breaking it down into its constituent parts and focusing on its significance for the writer.

Open vs Closed Mysteries

Whether a mystery is open or closed depends on when the reader discovers the identity of the murderer.

If the identity of the murderer is unveiled at the beginning of the story without the reader having to do any work to figure out his identity—that is, if the identity of the murderer wasn’t a part of the puzzle for the reader—then the mystery is said to be OPEN. In most open mysteries the reader knows MORE than the detective for much of the story.

On the other hand, if the identity of the murderer is unveiled at the end of the story and if the murderer’s identity was the main mystery—the main puzzle for the reader—then the mystery is said to be CLOSED. In most closed mysteries the reader knows LESS than the detective (though the detective may draw conclusions from the evidence, conclusions he doesn’t immediately share with the reader).

Open Mystery

Lee Goldberg, scriptwriter for Diagnosis Murder and author of many of the Mr. Monk books, advises that if you write an open murder mystery make sure that both the murderer and the reader believe the perfect crime has been committed. What they read for, what pulls them through the story, is watching the detective find all the tiny—or not so tiny—flaws you didn’t notice.[1]

The knowledge gap: Notice that through much of the open mystery there is a knowledge gap. The detective mulls over clues the reader knows MORE about. This knowledge gap occurs because the reader knows everything the murderer does. What no one knows at the beginning of the book is what mistakes the murderer made. This is what the detective figures out by the end of the book, it’s what reveals the murderer’s identity.

The question: From what the reader already knows of the murder, and from the clues the detective uncovers throughout the story, will she be able to figure out where/when/how the murderer slipped up before the detective figures out the identity of the murderer?

The suspects: The detective interviews suspects but the focus is different because, often, the detective has a pretty good idea early on who the murderer is. The problem is proving it.

Closed Mystery

If, on the other hand, a closed mystery is more to your liking make sure the crime is confounding to both reader and detective. The clues don’t seem to single out any one person. In this case what pulls the reader through the story is watching the detective come to understand the connections—connections between clues, connections between people—that aren’t immediately obvious.[1]

The knowledge gap: Through much of the story there is no knowledge gap: the reader knows as much as a detective. Everything the detective discovers the reader also knows AND the detective is the reader’s only source of information, the reader doesn’t get to peek over the murderer’s shoulder as he does the deed. That said, the detective will know more than the reader after around the two-thirds or three-quarter mark, but this is only because he has drawn inferences from the clues he has found, inferences he doesn’t have to divulge to the reader until the denouement very end.

The question: Can the reader figure out the identity of the murderer before the detective does?

The suspects: The detective searches for clues that will help him determine each of the suspects MEANS, MOTIVE and OPPORTUNITY. The detective looks for inconsistencies between what he knows about the suspects—the available clues—and what any particular suspect has told him.

Examples of Open and Closed Mysteries

Open mystery:

- Columbo.
- Diagnosis Murder (some episodes).

Closed mystery:

- Agatha Christie’s stories.
- Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.
- Mr. Monk (some episodes).

Note:

1. To read more about open vs closed mysteries I recommend Lee Goldberg’s article: How to Write a Murder Mystery.

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Every post I pick something I love and recommend it. This serves two purposes. I want to share what I’ve loved with you, and, if you click the link and buy anything over at Amazon within the next 24 hours, Amazon puts a few cents in my tip jar at no cost to you. So, if you click the link, thank you! If not, that’s okay too. I’m thrilled and honored you’ve visited my blog and read my post.

The books I’m recommending today are Lee Goldberg’s Mr. Monk books. It has been a few years, but I’ve read each one of these and loved them! If you liked the Mr. Monk TV series and you love murder mysteries, give these a try!

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That’s it for today! Have a great weekend and I’ll talk to you again on Monday. Till then, good writing!

Purple Prose: What It Is and How to Exterminate It

The first time I heard the term “purple prose” I was puzzled. Exactly what mistake was I being warned against. For years afterward I felt I knew purple prose when I saw it but the injunction remained frustratingly vague.

What is purple prose?

Edward Bulwer-Lytton famously began his novel “Paul Clifford,”[4] with the sentence, “It was a dark and stormy night.” As wikipedia states, this phrase “is considered to represent the archetypal example of a florid, melodramatic style of fiction writing also known as purple prose.”[1]

Of course Leonard qualified his statement by saying that “If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways to describe ice and snow than an Eskimo, you can do all the weather reporting you want.”[5]

In other words, writing about the weather is fine as long as it’s either fascinating in and of itself or if it is relevant to something in the story. One way of making weather relevant is to write about a character's reaction to it. For example, is the weather preventing the character from accomplishing her goal?

Here’s an exception to the rule: One of my favorite books growing up was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. How do you think that book begins? That’s right! “It was a dark and stormy night.” I kid you not!

Which brings us to the nub of the issue: What makes purple prose undesirable? An important clue comes from the history of the term.

The history of purple prose:

The first mention of purple prose (literally, “purple patches”) goes back all the way to the Roman poet Horace (65 to 27 BC) who wrote:

“Weighty openings and grand declarations often / Have one or two purple patches tacked on, that gleam / Far and wide...”

In Roman times purple dye was expensive and therefore purple clothing was a sign of wealth. Folks who wanted to appear to have more money than they actually did sewed patches of purple into their clothing. Horace is saying that purple patches are a sign the writer is insecure about their writing and so attempts to prop it up—attempts to make it appear better than it is—by using flowery language. (An attitude which reminds me of Stephen King's injunction against adverbs! Namely, that their overuse comes from a writer’s own insecurity. See: Killing Your Darlings.)

The characteristics of purple prose:

In my opinion, these two mistakes lie at the colorful heart of purple prose:

1. Purple prose doesn’t belong. It’s markedly more floral than the prose around it.

For example, what would not be purple prose for Anne Rice would be purple prose for Isaac Asimov. Consider the the following examples:

"[T]he sky was never quite the same shade of blue again. I mean the world looked different forever after, and even in moments of exquisite happiness there was the darkness lurking, the sense of our frailty and our hopelessness." (Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat)

"Gaal did not carry out his promise. He was awakened the next morning by a muted buzzer. He answered it, and the voice of the desk clerk, as muted, polite and deprecating as it well might be, informed him that he was under detention at the orders of the Commission of Public Safety." (Isaac Asimov, Foundation)

So, to a certain extent, whether a particular passage is purple depends on the writer's overall style. His or her voice.

2. Purple prose is intended to distract the reader from the fact that nothing is happening in the story. 

The plot isn’t moving forward, it’s stagnant. The characters aren’t pursuing their goals. As a result the story is dull and dry. The extravagance of the writing itself is the only thing driving the story forward. So, of course, it fails.

As I mentioned, above, purple prose needn’t be awful. That is, purple prose needn’t itself be poorly written. In fact, it can be beautiful. The thing that makes prose purple undesirable is that it distracts the reader. Why? Because it’s unnecessary.

Examples of purple prose

“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” (Paul Clifford, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton)

“Grignr's emerald green orbs glared lustfully at the wallowing soldier struggling before his chestnut swirled mount. His scowling voice reverberated over the dying form in a tone of mocking mirth.” (The Eye of Argon, by Jim Thesis)

How to avoid purple prose

As we've seen, purple prose breaks the reader out of the story because it calls attention to itself. Purple prose is like a fairy tale king, dressed sumptuously giving a long flowery speech to plainly dressed commoners, a speech that holds nothing relevant to them, to their lives. His subjects would rather he just stopped speaking so they could get on with their day.

So here are 2 ways to avoid purple prose:

1. Kill your darlings. 

The advice to “kill your darlings” is, at least in part, an admonition against purple prose. Purple prose is, above and beyond anything else, unnecessary. If you removed a purple passage the story itself would not change. That’s the test.

The action of every character needs to have a goal, a purpose. It should either forward the plot or advance a character’s goal (and, really, these two are the same thing).

2. Minimize modifiers.

Instead of writing “Grignr’s emerald green orbs glared lustfully” write “Grignr glared.” The two statements express more-or-less the same thought.

Eliminate adverbs whenever possible. Instead of writing, “He crossed the street quickly,” go with “He ran across the street.” They say the same thing and the second one is clearer.

Recommended listening:

Writing Excuses: Beautiful Prose, Purple Prose. As I mentioned in a previous article (6 Inspirational and Informative Writing Podcasts), I’m a big fan of podcasts, especially writing podcasts, and Writing Excuses is one of my favorites. Recently they published an episode (see link, above) all about purple prose. Highly recommended!

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Every post I pick something I love and recommend it. This serves two purposes. I want to share what I’ve loved with you, and, if you click the link and buy anything over at Amazon within the next 24 hours, Amazon puts a few cents in my tip jar at no cost to you. So, if you click the link, thank you! If not, that’s okay too. I’m thrilled and honored you’ve visited my blog and read my post.

Today I’m recommending an anthology put out by the hosts of Writing Excuses: Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology.

From the blurb: “From the Hugo Award-winning hosts of the Writing Excuses writing advice show comes a collection of all-new stories of the fantastic, with beautiful illustrations and a behind-the-scenes look at each story’s creation.”

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That's it! I'll talk to you again on Friday. Until then, good writing!

Notes:

1. “It was a dark and stormy night” from wikipedia.org.

2. Writers On Writing; Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle, by Elmore Leonard.

3. Eye of Argon, by Jim Thesis.

4. “Paul Clifford,” by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

5. Here's an example of prose which doesn't at first seem to have a clear purpose but which, nevertheless, drew me in: "When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. The shape of it, to begin with. The very first time I saw her, it was the back of the head I saw, and there was something lovely about it, the angles of it. Like a shiny, hard corn kernel or a riverbed fossil. She had what the Victorians would call a finely shaped head. You could imagine the skull quite easily." (Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn)