Slow Writing Memes

by J. Lea López

Uh oh... Guess what day it is?

Okay, I won't go there. (But I bet you just said it in your head, didn't you?) Today's post is just a little something fun to get you over those mid-week blahs. Who doesn't like a good meme, right?

My writing process is a little different than some other people. Aside from writing by hand, I'm a slow writer. Quick and dirty drafts don't fly from these fingers. It simply doesn't happen. But there's so many tips, tricks, snippets of advice, etc. encouraging exactly that. I bet you can name a few.

It doesn't have to be right, it just has to be done.

Don't think, don't edit, just write.

Pretty much anything you'll read on a NaNoWriMo message board.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great approach for plenty of people. But it's also a dreadful approach for others. I think it's high time we slow writers have a few sayings or memes of our own to give other slow writers a bit of support.

A lot of effort goes into every word. And I'm okay with that.

We all have to find what works for us with writing. We judiciously apply the writing "rules" because we come to realize they're guidelines more than anything; we find ways to strike a balance between things like genre expectations and the story waiting to be told; we experiment and learn which word processing software works best for us based on what we want it to do. The same goes for pacing ourselves with our drafts.

I've been working with a friend as she works on her current WIP. She's used to the hard and fast word vomit sort method of drafting and can churn out 100,000 words or more in an insanely short amount of time. But she's had trouble editing that down later into something cohesive. With her new story, she expressed some frustration to me about taking longer than usual to get the first draft written. However, she felt more confident about what she had written so far and felt more confident that she was going to avoid the massive wordiness that had plagued her previously. She'd never really considered the possibility that slower could actually be better.

When it comes time to give advice about first drafts, we've all apparently forgotten Aesop's famous moral: Slow and steady wins the race.

I would rather think a little longer and get it mostly right the first time than spit out a bunch of words I'll end up cutting later. Sure, it takes me twice as long, maybe even three times as long, to pen a first draft than some other writers. But I tend to write very clean first drafts. I don't say that to brag. I say it to make the point that it's ultimately the end result--the book--that matters. How you get there is a journey all your own. My pace might not work for you. Yours might not work for me, or for someone else. There's nothing wrong with that. If you're a slow writer, don't feel pressured into adopting a fast draft style if it's going to drive you nuts (which it would for me). I felt awful the first time I attempted NaNo because I couldn't achieve the high word counts the way some other people did. The next year I stopped beating myself up over it because that will never be my process and trying to force myself to do work that way is counterproductive. And guess what? I wrote twice as much that year.

Are you a slow writer? If you are (or even if you're not) hop on over to a meme generator and make some funny, encouraging, or silly writing memes and share them with us! Tweet them to us or share them on our Facebook page.

J. Lea López is a published author of character-driven stories that focus on relationships, from the platonic to the romantic, and never shy away from the bedroom. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

5 Reasons Authors Should Create Fun Book Memes

by +Jean Oram

First of all, what the heck is a meme? Basically, it is most commonly an image with some text on it which has cultural value. In other words, something shareable. And by shareable, I mean it is something people will want to pass on to their friends because it is funny, ironic, or hits on some cultural phenomenon.

If we really get down to it, often a meme is advertising in one shape, form, or another. Those funny ecards you see on Pinterest and Facebook--advertising. Those goofy ones George Takei shares/makes? Advertising. I know who George is now and I have a very good sense of his brand as well as his sense of humor and even what sort of things he stands for. That is a good use of memes. Plus, his memes get shared a CRAPLOAD. You might even care to toss the word viral in there to describe some of his memes.

How does that happen? The memes have value to the user which makes them want to share them. And by sharing them, they are sending his mini advertisements out in the world on his behalf whether they think of it that way or not. They think of it as sharing something others will like and get a kick out of--and will increase their online esteem in some way.

That is a good meme. And that is why authors should play around with them if it feels like something within their skill set.

Yep, it's a meme. Yep, it is shareable.

5 Reasons Authors Should Create Memes

1. They are fun. If you do it right, you should enjoy the challenge of making one, and readers should want to share them. Exciting!

2. They are free advertising. Free, my friends. Well, if you have your own images.

3. It gets your name and brand and book titles out there (of course, this depends a bit on how you create this meme and whether you include these things). It is said a reader has to see your name/title several times before they actually purchase.

4. They can go viral. Or well, at least get around on Facebook and Pinterest a ton (if they are good) and gain access to places you might not be able to pay to get to.

5. They are a visual way to cement what you have for sale in the minds of others. A picture is worth a 1000 words, right?

Quote, title, cover art, author name. But is it shareable?

What to Put in a Meme

1. Something (your) readers will like.

2. Something that speaks to your brand. Eg. Something about love and romance if you are a contemporary romance writer. (Not gory and dark.)

3. Something that will give the reader/viewer a sense of who you are and what your books are about in a more specific sense than your general brand. Eg. Maybe an image of your book's setting along with a book or author quote.

4. Something to draw it all back to you whether it is your website's URL in the bottom corner, your name and book title, etc. The purpose (at least in my opinion) is to get something fun out there that leads people back to you. You don't see Kellogg's out there giving away t-shirts without their logo on it, right? Brand it.

5. Cover art--if it fits your meme and your meme is specific to your book, characters, setting, etc. If you are simply quoting yourself on the meaning of love, then your cover art might not suit the meme. However, adding your name (attributing the quote!) as well as adding "author of TITLE" afterwards is smart--and still branding it!

Note: If you are quoting others be sure to attribute it! As well, be very very careful with images. Be sure to find out whether you have the rights to use the image in this way. You may have rights to use an image in your book cover, but check to see if you have the rights to use those individual images in different ways. Rights usage can vary and you may find you need to purchase an additional license to use a cover image in other materials or if distribution of that image reaches a certain threshold. As an author/writer it is ALWAYS best to err on the side of caution--even if it means falling off your wallet. The cost of an image is less than a legal suit. And they DO happen.

If you want to get into the nitty gritty of memes and the ins and outs and faux pas of putting together a meme, and what to do with one once you've made it, jump over to my website TheHelpfulWriter.com where I'm talking about memes in more depth and getting downright specific about what works and what doesn't.

Now that you've looked at memes from the write angle, what do you think of memes? What makes you share them? Have you ever created one? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Jean Oram is a meme creating fool. Okay, not exactly, but she has played around with making a few for her free ebook Champagne and Lemon Drops. Some of which you may see in this post (and are completely shareable)! Connect with Jean at TheHelpfulWriter.com--one tip a week to help make you a better writer. You can also find her here: JeanOram.com, Facebook, and Twitter.