Not with a fanfare

Another edition of Draft Mode for you, the newsletter for folk like you who enjoy exciting links to content that helps you improve, promote and publish your writing. I'm Iain Broome by the way, in case a) you are new here (👋) , or b) you quite reasonably forgot.

I'm slowly chipping away on the website where you can also find the newsletter archive and many other exciting future treats. What's new this week? Search!

Somewhat inexplicably to me, the otherwise lovely Ghost doesn't have search built in. So I have had to do some amateur coding to make it happen. You'll find a pretty little search icon in the site header and it seems to work quite well. (I need to sort the tags out. One thing at a time.)

That's it. It's hot here in the shed. Go enjoy the content below. 👇

Iain

PS I have never known what to do with the subject lines for these emails I send you. Super long and descriptive or short and slightly cryptic. Currently going with the latter. Feel free to reply and let me know what you prefer.

Links of the week

Every issue I collect and share the best advice, apps and other shenanigans that I find on my internet travels. Find something useful? Subscribe for free.

What Do Literary Agents Do?

An age old question, but a really important topic for aspiring writers to understand. I like this video because it goes into detail about the process of working with an agent and all the stuff they do that doesn't get talked about. From experience, a good agent is worth their weight in all the very caratiest gold.

What's it like to write a song?

A short and wonderful letter from the inimitable Nick Cave on inspiration, being a creative person and treating it like any other job.

The most important undertaking of my day is to simply sit down at my desk and pick up my pen. Without this elementary act I could not call myself a songwriter, because songs come to me in intimations too slight to be perceived, unless I am primed and ready to receive them. They come not with a fanfare, but in whispers, and they come only when I am at work.

Pretty good quote that, right? That last line is the truth.

Bookflow – a cloud-based tool for writers

An app that combines a few ideas, including daily writing prompts, goal setting, document management and you know, a place to actually write. I can't say this is for me, but it could be for you and there is always room for new ideas on the app front.

Oku – the companion app for your book shelf

I really like the look and feel of this app/service for tracking your reading. It's like Goodreads but without all of the nonsense. Super simple. Some interesting features in the pipeline. If you want to log and monitor your reading habits, seems like a winner to me.

Want To Write Faster? 13 Strategies For More Than 1,000 Words Per Hour

I'm always suspicious of these blog posts. There are very few reasons to write 1000 words an hour. But what you'll find here on the Freedom blog is actually a whole load of small tips for setting up your writing space, preparing for work and then getting stuff done. It's mostly pragmatic stuff. Which I can get behind.

Tweets of the week

Tweets are but bad seeds in a tomato filled with hate and lies. But some of them are quite good. You can follow @iainbroome and @unslush on Twitter.

Who goes there

Draft Mode is a weekly newsletter by Iain Broome, author of the novel, A is for Angelica. Join 1000+ subscribers and start receiving weekly tools and tips to help you improve, publish and promote your writing. Subscribe for free.