Taylor Swift

Today’s post is written by by Jennifer Blanchard of InkyBites.com.

As if you don’t already know, Taylor Swift is a country music sensation, with numerous hit songs, a growing fan base and even more on the horizon. But the reason she’s made it this far isn’t just due to her vocal and songwriting abilities, but also to her knowledge of what it takes to be successful.

She’s a marketing genius and an inspiration to all writers, whether she knows it or not.

Here are five things all writers can learn from Taylor Swift and her massive success:

1. Have A Story to Tell

Swift’s songs are like mini stories. Each one tells of love won or love lost or some other aspect of life. She draws her inspiration from her life and all the things that happen to her.

If you’re going to be a successful writer, you need to have a story to tell. You need to dig deep and write about things that have happened to you (remember, you can fictionalize, that’s what makes it fun). click to continue reading >>

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Excerpt Critique: “If: An Allegory”

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Please welcome today’s aspiring author, Jonathan Byrd, ready for a peer critique. Take a moment to read the excerpt, then please leave some thoughtful feedback in the comment section below. If you are a writer whose excerpt has appeared anonymously on Write It Sideways, and now you’d like your name to appear on your piece,

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In the Beginning: How to Draw in Your Reader

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Today’s post is written by regular contributor Susan Bearman. A story either leaps off the page or it doesn’t. Beatriz Badikian-Gartler once told our writing group that “Titles are a kind of promise you make to the reader.” Certainly, titles are important, but I think her point applies even more to the beginning of your

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Working Past Wordiness For Fresher Writing

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Today’s post is written by regular contributor Sarah Baughman. I’ll give you twenty seconds to skim these paragraphs and tell me which one exhibits stronger, more engaging writing: Paragraph A The hottest month in Ayemenem would certainly have to be May. Each and every day is long and exceedingly humid. The river starts to dry

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Excerpt Critique: “Follow Me,” YA Suspense

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Please welcome today’s anonymous aspiring author, ready for a peer critique. Take a moment to read the excerpt, then please leave some thoughtful feedback in the comment section below. If you are a writer whose excerpt has appeared anonymously on Write It Sideways, and now you’d like your name to appear on your piece, please contact

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What’s In A Name? Writing the Right Title

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Today’s post is written by regular contributor Sarah Baughman. Is anybody else out there a terrible titler? Naming pieces of writing is one of the hardest parts of the process for me. To give you an idea of just how hard, I offer this confession: in college I wrote a swath of poems as various

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