VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

You're sitting at your desk, staring at a blank sheet of paper or a blank word document on the computer screen. You actually want to write, but just can't bring yourself to it. You have no clue what to do with your characters next, and they don't seem eager to tell you. Or perhaps you have a deadline, but you're aimlessly typing random letters on the page, none of which seems to make sense, and you're getting more and more frustrated as every minute passes. That deadline that you have in two weeks seems to be coming round very quickly and, at this rate there is no way you are going to make it! Whether you are experiencing this for the first time or for the hundredth time and you're at a loss as to what you should do, don't despair. You can consider yourself as having a case of writer's block or being stuck in a rut; it can and does happen even if you haven't been neglecting your work. Other writers experience this too. Your muse needs to be fed

If you've ever struggled in coming up with creative ideas, welcome to the club. For most writers, discovering new writing projects involves conscious pursuit of their thought trails. But where do start on our quest for inspiration? Here are a few places you can find new ideas for writing: 1. The world around you. Just like a photographer, you must start looking at life through your own personal lens. You will get a tremendous amount of writing material if you start filtering your own experiences. Soon you will start noticing ideas everywhere around you. Very often the muse will come at strange times and from unusual sources, so be prepared. The world is full of surprises that can materialize in your next book or article. 2. Writers’ associations and networks. If you are a professional writer, you probably belong to an association or writer's group. Generating new ideas will feel much easier after meeting other members or attending writing workshops and conferences. You

I wanted to turn the tables a bit this week and instead of doing an interview on one of the SFC Team members or a fellow writer, I thought I should be the one to be questioned. So to get things started, I’ll answer a few questions I normally ask my guest interviews and then I’ll open it up for you to post questions in the comments section to me. I’ll check in all week to answer them as best I can. So to start things off, how many children do I have and what are their ages? I have three wonderful children. My oldest is my son, age 15, will be driving sooner than I would like. LOL. My youngest, a baby girl, is almost 16 months and keeps me on my toes. My middle is also a girl, age 6, and is our little monkey/drama queen. Nice combination if you ask me. J   As a mom, what do I do to help balance my writing life with my family life? I tend to ask this question a lot not just, because I’m a writing mom, but also because this is the most asked question I get as an editor/author. You know

Many writers and illustrators ask me, "Is it really important to have a book trailer for my upcoming book?" My answer is "YES!" Book and Event trailers are a lot like movie trailers. They catch viewer interest if done right. I don’t know if you have noticed, but many BIG publishing houses have discovered the importance of book trailers. They believe in them so much that you can catch them as television commercials. Something you didn’t see 20, 10 and even 5 years ago! Book and event trailers are fast becoming the future in marketing, promotions and school events. Similar to a movie trailer, a book trailer is a marketing tool to assist authors, illustrators and publishers in promoting their work by creating a viral marketing campaign online. You may even have noticed event trailers or home videos making it on the home pages of places such as Yahoo.com. Why is this? Because people are spending more and more time online, and they are looking for entertainment. Wh