Bethany Henry: Writing & Wellness

Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon (one of my latest nonfiction reads) is a short, to-the-point book chock filled with truth and fun doodles for creative people everywhere. I enjoyed this book immensely and plan to refer to it regularly as a guide to keep me on track when writing and creating is hard. Because let’s face it, writing is hard! Having guidance, encouragement, and reminders of truth along the way is critical. Steal Like An Artist walks us through “10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative.” All 10 are great truths and I recommend you track down a copy of the book if you get the chance! Today we’ll look at 2 of Kleon’s points from the book that stood out to me this week (numbers 5 and 6, for those of you reading along). 2 Creativity Truths from Steal Like An Artist Truth 1: Side Projects and Hobbies are Important Are you a writer but also love to paint? Are you a mechanical engineer who plays piano? Do you find yourself with several passions instead...

Today I am super excited and honored to be guest posting over at  Fiction University ! Fiction University is a blog hosted by Janice Hardy that is chock filled with information, great advice, and a million resources for writers. In my post  5 Tips on Writing with Small Children , I’m sharing some writing mindset and time management strategies I’ve developed with the help of my two little girls. Whether you have children in your life or other forms of chaos that make writing a challenge, I hope you find these strategies helpful! 🙂 So please check out  my post ! And definitely check out  Fiction University  and all the great stuff they have going on over there. Originally published May 17, 2019 on Bethany-Henry. com.

Why worry about character motivation? Our characters are critical to bringing our story to life and in keeping readers engaged. Which means we need characters that are real, that entertain, and that aren’t shallow. We don’t want our characters to just be pretty good, we want  great. To create great characters we need to dig deeper than hair color and surface questions. Character motivation is the key here. And no, their motivation can’t just be to fulfill our plot needs and to do what we tell them. That makes for an easier job for us as the writer but a frustrating read for anyone else. Every single character in our story should want something. Even if they just want things to stay the same, that’s still a motive. What a character wants will influence their actions, what they say, and ultimately the shape of our story and plot. 2 Questions to Ask For Each Character 1. What does this character want? What are their dreams, goals, and plans? What do they want in the next five minutes?...

As writers, it is a good move to have some sort of a website in place. Today we’re looking at ways to make money with our websites. Having a way to make some money through our website can be great, especially for us writers and artists who maybe aren’t raking in millions (yet anways 😉 ). But is it really possible to make any significant money? And how hard and confusing is it for people (like me) who aren’t super tech savvy? The good news is, there are lots of options available. And if you’d like to make some money off your blog but aren’t sure whether you want to pursue that because it just seems a little, well, slimy and salesy-  I hear you . And honestly, I’m glad that’s on your radar. No one likes over the top self-promotion and our readers aren’t going to appreciate aggressive sales tactics that don’t provide value. The key is that there is a beautiful middle ground here: It is possible to both help other people AND make money at the same time. That’s our sweet spot. Tod...

So. Asking for help is hard. Asking for  anything  is hard. I’m not particularly good at it, and you know what? I’m not alone. This fear of asking overflows into our work as writers. The writing process involves creating stories and asking people to read them, to review them, to love them. When we are afraid to put ourselves out there and ask people for what we need and want, it can seriously hinder our work. For myself, I think asking for help is hard because I’m afraid people will think I don’t “have it all together” (whatever that means). I’m afraid people will be inconvenienced and unhappy with me. My fear of failure shows up and tells me no one wants to read my work anyway. Enter The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer. The Art of Asking is part memoir and part advice-giving, along with plenty of song lyrics. (For anyone thinking of giving it to your children, you may want to take a read yourself first. It does include swears and some sensitive su...

Sometimes I catch myself being super negative, especially when I’m hungry or haven’t gotten enough sleep. It’s a dangerous, slippery slope because once I start being critical, suddenly I see fault in everything. Which is why it’s so powerful to practice thanksgiving. For a bit now I’ve been trying to regularly stop and take time to list something I’m grateful for. Spoiler alert: It’s not always something big or fancy. Hot beverages show up a lot on my lists haha. It can be anything that brings me joy or that I recognize as helpful. And you know what? Even just writing down one thing a day has been changing my mindset because I start to look around me for things to be thankful for. I’m essentially working to train my brain to be more positive. Which I love! I want to be a person who is thankful, gracious, and full of joy even on hard days. So this is a part of my journey to be that person. If you want to try it out with me, just try jotting down something you’re thankful for each day. N...

Today we’re moving beyond basic website setup to look at a few things that can really make your site work well for you. These details and functions will enable your site to do more to connect you with your ideal audience and to save you time in the long run. This is part 3 of the Website Building series. If you haven’t already, check out my earlier posts on identifying your website’s purpose and a step by step guide for putting together a basic website. Topics we’re looking at today are: Email Sign Up Privacy Policy SSL & Security SEO Social Media Pictures Branding Header and Logo Any of these items could be a blog post (or series) completely on its own so keep in mind this is just a quick overview. I’ve tried to include helpful links with more guidance. Email Sign Up With an email list you can share new information and products with your audience, as well as develop a more personal connection. Lots of people say this is one of the most important pieces to includ...