Ashley Ormon's Blog
July 21, 2017
NEW WEBSITE: ashleyormon.com
Thank you everyone who has subscribed to my website, and follow it also.
My website has grown, but more than that, so has my freelance business. I guess you can say this blog is 鈥渁ll grown up鈥 now and has it鈥檚 own domain.
So, please continue gaining tips on writing and wisdom nuggets where I鈥檒l be writing for now on:
I can鈥檛 wait to see you there and talk about bookish and writerly things.

February 18, 2017
Self-publishing: The Editing Stage
Lesson One for Self-publishing: your book is not finished after you have written it.
Writing your book was the hardest part, but your manuscript is far from done. The second stage in getting your book published is having it professionally edited. This stage is necessary regardless of how great a writer you are. But, I鈥檝e already talked about
[image error]
What editing is notEditing is not you reading over your book searching for errors. Yes, you should do this and...
February 15, 2017
How Stephen King and Mark Twain became authors
The Hunger Games, 50 Shades of Grey, Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, and Mob Dick. 聽
You know what all of these titles have in common?
[image error]
They鈥檙e books. Great books 鈥 as culture has said 鈥 but more than being 鈥済reat,鈥 they all started the same: a single word written on a blank page.
I guess it takes the glamour out of things. The idea of a writer coming up with this magnificent idea, wanting to be published since his or her childhood. The glorious moment of their manuscript being accepte...
February 9, 2017
So you want to self-publish?
Sitting at a round-table two seats away from me, a lady lifts her head and thumb from her phone saying, 鈥淚 could write a book! Everyone has one now.鈥
鈥淵ou think so?鈥 I ask interested.
鈥淥f course,鈥 she responds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy. You pick a topic, write some words, print it, and there鈥檚 your book.鈥
[image error]
I sighed. She made it sound so easy. If only it was that easy.
Well, it can be if you skip the basic stuff; you know, finding an editor to correct all of those grammatical mistakes your reader will notic...
September 14, 2016
The difference between amateur and professional writers
Art is a discipline. It is a skill. It is a craft. It is something which you must work at regularly, and struggle through the challenges by overcoming one word at a time. Professional writers know this. Amateurs, however, will often say they 鈥渨rite when the muse visits鈥 them.
[image error]
The different between amateur and professional writers
Art is a discipline. It is a skill. It is a craft. It is something which you must work at regularly, and struggle through the challenges by overcoming one word at a time. Professional writers know this. Amateurs, however, will often say they 鈥渨rite when the muse visits鈥 them.
You see, the writers we most admire: journalists 鈥 who pen words beautifully 鈥 are required to write weekly, on a daily basis. When the muse visits, they write. And when the muse has veered to a foreign, hidden place th...
August 25, 2016
How to Prepare You (and Your Book) to be Edited
Congratulations. You have written your manuscript (or article) and have found an editor. This is an exciting process as you become closer to having your work in the hands of readers. However, let us keep first things first. Here鈥檚 a quick list of how to prepare for this next stage in your writing journey.
Now before you tell me I am contradicting myself, because I , hear me out. Before sending your roug...
Why Even Good Writers Need Editors
You can be a writer and an editor. You just can鈥檛 be both for yourself.
It鈥檚 hard to catch your own mistakes. You know how your work is supposed to sound, read, and what emotions you want it to capture. So when you go to edit yourself you still have all these things in mind. You鈥檙e too attached to your work and aren鈥檛 able to look at it with a different set of eyes.
Who could use an editor?Everyone: bloggers, journalists, students, authors 鈥 both those traditionally published and self-publi...
July 5, 2016
Protected: The Writer鈥檚 Questionnaire
This post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading.

December 20, 2014
The boy I saw on the 2 train
I鈥檓 on the NYC subway taking the 2 train from downtown Brooklyn to Times Square. It鈥檚 a week from Christmas on a Friday night. The man sitting across from me appears to be half-drunk, although I know he isn鈥檛.
He is smiling and I see his speech is a direct result of his almost toothless mouth. Still, his words doesn鈥檛 always make sense. His mind isn鈥檛 altogether and I鈥檓 wondering how he got that way.
But my heart is breaking for the boy who鈥檚 sitting at the very end of the train cart with his h...