How many of you have beta read for someone and received a thank you from the person even though your suggestions caused her to do massive rewrites? How many of you received, instead, a nasty email telling you how wrong you are?
We’ve all heard the sage advice that you should wait at least three days before responding to a critique. What you don’t want to do is criticize the person who beta reads your book and undermine her opinion. If you don’t agree with it, then simply ignore it.
I recently sent feedback on a novel I was beta reading. For the most part I had been enjoying it, but there were a few clichés and aspects that I felt were cruel or hurtful to certain teen readers. Also, there was a character type I’d seen in the teen movie Easy A (who came off as a cliché/stereotype even in the movie). The similarities between the two were too close for comfort. I emailed the writer to warn her. Unfortunately, the writer felt it necessary to send me a nasty email. Once it became insulting, I stopped reading it, for both our sakes.
Fortunately, I’m not a vindictive person. If her book is published, I’ll still buy it to support the author. But not everyone is like me. What would happen if her book was published one day, and it had been someone else who received the nasty email? Remember, what happens in Los Vegas doesn’t always stay in Lost Vegas. You don’t want your unprofessional attitude to someone’s feedback to hurt you down the line.
The other problem is that if you keep berating your beta readers you disagree with, you’re setting yourself up for learned behaviors that are inappropriate when you are published. You’re more likely to respond to negative reviews in a non-professional manner, which is something you want to avoid at all costs.
So remember, if you want your beta readers to only gush about your book, great. Just warn them first. And if you don’t like what they have to say, then just thank them and ignore it. Don’t justify why you did something a certain way, unless you’re hoping for additional feedback.
Believability is extremely important when writing fiction. Characters, plot, actions, concepts, fantasy elements all have to be believable if you want your reader to read the book instead of hurling it across the room in disgust.
But how can you make sure everything is believable? Research.
Why do it?
I’m going to use my novel, Lost in a Heartbeat, as an example why it’s important to do the research. The story deals with a seventeen year old who was raped by a guy she met at a party. She never tells anyone what happened (for numerous reasons).
I was sexually assaulted as a teen. I never told anyone. It was late at night and I was coming home from work. I knew if I told my parents, my mom would force me to quit my job. I didn’t want that to happen because I was saving to go to Finland the following summer. That was my motivation to keep silent. That, plus I was humiliated enough as it was without telling them.
In addition to my own experience, I know several females who were raped or sexually assaulted as teenagers. Each had a different story. Each dealt with it differently. I also did tons of research on rape and post traumatic stress disorder.
A few things I discovered:
• The majority of rapes don’t happen in a dark alley with a strange. Most of the time the female knows the individual (e.g. date rape, abusive relationship)
• Depending on which stats you’re looking at, between 50-80% of survivors of rape and sexual assault don’t report it.
• Some females develop trust issues when it comes to guys. They don’t want to date or be intimate with anyone (including their boyfriend or spouse).
• Some females figure sex must be all they’re good for, and start to seek it out just to prove themselves right.
When you create your character, it’s important that you know the facts to make sure she’s believable. Remember, you’re not writing for the reader who’s never been in the situation. You’re writing for the reader who has. She knows what’s believable. You don’t want to alienate her because you wrote your story and characters based on your assumptions.
Beta Readers
This leads me to my next point: beta readers. I had a beta reader who told me it was unrealistic that my main character never told her parents. The individual assumed because she would have told her parents everyone else would, too. This same issue occurred with an instructor through a writing course I was taking at the time. And let's not forget the critique of my query, during a contest, that resulted in this post. The benefit of researching the topic first was that I was able to prove that it was realistic for my main character not to tell her parents.
If you’re beta reading a project and you question the believability of the character’s actions, definitely mention it. Unless you know for certain the writer’s done the research, you might point out something she was fudging, hoping it was right. This will force them to do the research. And maybe they have done it, but they need to strengthen this element in the novel.
Credibility
It doesn’t matter what your story is about, make sure you’ve done your homework. You never want to assume anything. If you do and you’re wrong, you’ll lose credibility. And in the publishing industry, it’s something you don’t want to lose.
It’s official. I now have well over 500 followers. So, it’s time for a celebration.
In addition to those 500 or so who hang out on my ‘followers’ widget, over 550 people subscribe to my email (though I suspect some of those individuals are widget followers, too). And let’s not forget those individuals who follow me through Google Reader.
Because of this, I’m going to make the rules for this contest slightly different than for the typical blog giveaway. You don’t have to follow my blog in order to participate. Hopefully, though, you think it’s a kick-ass blog because of my writerly (and photography) posts, and you are delighted to follow me regardless. *grins*
Prizes
1. Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook (2 copies): If you want to know why I love the workbook and how I’ve used it in my revisions of my WIP, then check out the appropriate links to my past posts.
2. First chapter critique (3): This also includes the form I filled out when I was a judge for a recent RWA (Romance Writers of America) Chapter contest. If your novel is YA, then I’ll fill in the full form; otherwise, the form will be modified.
How to Enter
You get one entry for each of the following:
• Filled in the entry form • Follower (widget) • Left a comment (I love comments) • Tweeted about the contest (include @stinall in your tweet) • Blogged about the contest (include post link)
Depending on the popularity of the giveaway, I will increase the number of critiques being offered. My WIP is about to go out to my first round of beta readers *waves at beta readers*, so I’ll have plenty of time to critique first chapters (I’ll need to do something to keep me out of trouble busy). However, if your first chapter isn’t ready at that point, you can send it to me whenever you want to. There’s no time limit.
The giveaway is open to international entries.
Contest ends Sunday May 29th at 11:59 EST. I’ll announce the winners on Wednesday June 1st.
A year ago, I received a rejection on my full in which the agent suggested I hone my writing skills some more (okay, more like a lot more). Within 24 hours, I had signed up for two writing courses (one focused specifically on YA) from a reputable online organization.
The advantage was that the instructor in each (along with my fellow students) would provide feedback on the assignments. While I did learn a few things I didn’t know, most of what I learned wasn’t new to me. Actually, I learned a helluva more by reading blogs—for free.
So what about the feedback? Wasn’t that worth it?
Let’s just say I’ve had way better crits from beta readers than I got from my instructors and classmates. Again, for free. After receiving feedback on my first chapter during the class, I sent it in for the critique at the LA SCBWI conference last year. Shortly afterwards, several beta readers read it and gave me much better feedback (especially on how I could tighten my writing). Even Ellen Hopkins had a lot to say about it. Things the instructor should have pointed out. #epicwritingcoursefail
Recently I took an online workshop for writing love scenes. Too bad I’d already read Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Erotic Romance. The class would have be great if we could have had feedback on our work (or at least on some students' work), but that didn’t happened.
Fortunately not all workshops I’ve attended have been a complete flop. A lot of the workshops at the LA SCBWI conferences have been awesome, and I’ve heard great things about the workshops/conferences held through my local RWA chapter (which I’ll be going to this year). And WriteOnCon (the free online conference) is awesome. If you haven’t already, check it out from last year. The organizers will be announcing the 2011 conference dates soon.
If you’re looking at taking an online writing course, here are some things to consider:
Who’s teaching the course? Have you read any of the author’s books? Some instructors (like in my ‘writing love scenes’ class) spend more time patting themselves on the back than teaching you anything. Warning: This happens at conferences, too.
Will there be an opportunity for feedback?
How many people are in the class?
Is the class for beginners? (This might affect the level of feedback you get or the level of information you’ll receive.)
What kind of time commitment is expected from you?
Is the class being held by a reputable organization? (Not that it helped me.)
For those of you who want to take your writing to the next level, my suggestion is to read as much as you can. This includes blog posts (hence why I do Cool Links Friday) and non-fiction books on writing fiction. Adventures in Children’s Publishing compiles an extensive list each week on blog posts pertaining to writing and publishing. It’s a must read, no matter what genre you write.
For feedback, check out forums such as Absolute Write, the Query Tracker Forum, and Verla Kay’s blue boards (for kidlit and YA writers). They are all free.
Has anyone else had good/bad experience with writing courses? Any other recommendations to help a writer hone his skill?
Theme and internal conflict are important for all genres. But have you dug as deep as you can go with your WIP? Until recently, I thought I’d figured out my WIP’s theme and the internal conflict of my main character. But when I sent it out to my beta readers, one kept asking me questions about these two elements. Fortunately, I had put a lot of thought into it so I could answer them. But as my awesome beta reader kept asking more questions, because she wanted to figure out the universal feeling I was going after, we both realized (okay, she realized it first), my theme and internal conflict weren’t quite what I’d originally planned. Yes, my story was still about how revenge is never as clear cut as it seems, but when I dug deeper, that wasn’t the true inner conflict or universal feeling I was apparently going after (wow, who knew?). The one my story dealt with had to do with control, or rather, the feeling of lack of control, something many teens can relate to. So, what is universal feeling (okay, I’m not sure if this is the real term, but since this is my blog, I can call it whatever my beta reader wants)? Think of Percy Jackson from The Lightning Thief. Percy’s inner arc is that he has to come to terms with being a demigod and that his father is Poseidon. This isn't your typical inner conflict for a teen. But what is typical is that teens have to figure out who they are and embrace their strengths. That’s the universal feeling of the book. So my challenge to you is to dig deep. Ask yourself if you’ve really captured your character’s inner conflict, and see if you can identify the universal feeling you’re after (or do you need to dig deeper?). Warning: digging might cause your story to unravel to the point it’s no longer workable. This is why it’s important to dig BEFORE to plot your novel. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I tried adding two and two together, I kept getting five. Now I’m no mathematical genius, but even I know that’s a big #mathfail. Lucky for me, while having a shower yesterday, the answer finally hit me on how I could rework the story. *does happy dance*
(A huge thanks goes out to my CP extraordinaire, Christina Lee, for all her brilliant suggestions and cheerleading while I banged my head against the wall. And to Laura Pauling (the beta reader) for asking all the painful throught proking questions. You two rock!)
Do you hear voices in your head when you write? I’m not talking about your characters (though mine definitely won’t shut up) or your internal editor.
I’m talking about your critique partner’s or beta reader’s voice.
It’s happening to me. Last week I was editing a chunk of my manuscript to send to my crit partner (okay, she thinks she’s a beta reader, but she’s more awesome than that). In my head, she was telling me that it was too convenient that this guy just happened to show up (convenient for me, not my main character). This stemmed from a comment she had made on a previous chunk on my WIP. Naturally, I listened to her voice and fixed the problem. And I’m glad I did. The story is much better now and the change increased the level of suspense.
So has this happened to you? Has you crit partner/beta reader told you something in your head while you’re editing, or does my crit partner has some paranormal abilities I don’t know about?
Note: The picture DOES NOT look like any of my fabulous crit partners or beta readers. It’s the look I get when I hear the voices. :)
A couple of months ago, I was lucky (extremely lucky) to win a full manuscript evaluation from Angela Ackerman, the genius behind The Bookshelf Muse. Among a number of errors I was making, she pointed out something that weakened my writing, which she referred to as “echoes.”
What is an echo? Basically, it’s exactly what the name implies. A repetition. It can be as simple as a word that you overuse. For me, it was “race” (among others). My protagonist used to be a competitive swimmer. She had to give it up even though she didn’t want to. So when I wanted to imply that she went from point A to point B quickly, I tended to use “race.” I thought I was being *cough* clever. I did use run, sprint, bolt, and rush, too, but not as much as race.
Before Angela read the novel, a beta reader pointed out my abuse of the phrase, “Are you okay?” Having people ask my protagonist if she was okay was fine, but I needed to add a little variation to the question. With my rewrites, though, most of these were deleted since they were no longer necessary. There were other phrases, too, that I tended to overuse without realizing it (until Angela pointed them out).
The third type of echo I used was explaining why my main character gave up swimming and how she felt about it. I keep mentioning it again and again in her inner thoughts. I didn’t need to do that. The reader already got it the first time. I did vary what was said. I just didn’t clued in that it was all saying the same thing. Sad, huh?
To avoid the dreaded echoes, try to read through your manuscript in one sitting (or over a short time frame) and preferably out loud. You’ll notice them if you do that. If something seems like you’ve already repeated it a few times (especially a word or a phrase), jot it down and do a search later on with the FIND function. Your beta readers and crit partners will hopefully point them out, too. Do this, and your writing will be much stronger.
Self publishing is negatively viewed by the masses, and rightly so. This is because many authors still believe that investing in professional editing is unnecessary. If the story is good, they reason, that should suffice. Look at Fifty Shades of Gray. The writing is not great, yet the novel is a best seller.
Last week, I downloaded a New Adult (NA) novel (not the one in the picture) after a friend told me the price had dropped to $0.99. The potential for a great read was there, but the author chose to skip on professional editing. It was ridden with typos (e.g. We had a picnic, though she didn’t each much), missing words, confusing sentences. While I enjoyed the story, the lack of line and copy editing* left a bad taste, and I won’t buy anymore of the author’s books.
But it seems I’m alone in this believe that self-published books need to be properly edited. The book (which is $3.99, again) received 111 five-stars, 29 four-stars, 5 three-stars, and only 1 two-star rating on Amazon. When I wrote this post, it was ranked #178 in paid Kindle books (# 6 in Teen Romances). On Goodreads, the average rating was 4.29 stars (4121 readers rated the book). I was shocked. It seems that most people who read the book didn’t care that the level of editing was well below the standard of NYC.
What saddens me is that this might be the new standard for all our books, now that NYC is starting to compete with the self-published e-books on pricing. With the reduction of price, there will be the reduction in the time spent on editing. This level of editing could be the wave of the future.
Do you care if a book is poorly edited, just as long as the story is compelling? If you self publish, do you hire a professional editor to ensure your writing and story is the best it can be? Do you expect to see poorly edited book from NYC, now that they’re trying to complete with the pricing of self-published books?
*Six or seven beta readers were listed in the back of the book. The Secret of Ella and Micha byJessica Sorensen is also $0.99 and the writing is solid. Jessica obviously takes great pride in her books and craft. As soon as her new book (The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden) was released this week, I downloaded it.
Every writer, especially the chocoholic variety, knows chocolate is a necessity. Whether you’re battling plot issues, dealing with a character who has different plans than you, waiting to hear back from your crit partner/beta readers, or querying, chocolate is a basic survival food. So make sure you include it on your Christmas list, and then hide it if you have kids like mine. Otherwise, you won’t have it when you really need it.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . Tons of yummy chocolate, AquaNotes, so you can brainstorm in the shower, And Margie Lawson’s awesome lecture notes.
(Now, aren’t you glad I didn’t turn this list into a singing vlog?)
Social networking is a wonderful thing. It enables us to make new friends, find beta readers and critique partners, keep up-to-date with new books and publishing news. But when misused, the outcome can be frustrating for all.
We all hate spam. Some authors believe that as long as they aren’t telling you to buy their book, they aren’t spamming. But what about the following?
Thanks to the sales of my book, my kids can now go to college.
My book is #17 on Amazon and still climbing.
I love it when fans write to tell me they adore my book.
When a dog is abducted by pirates . . . . [link to Amazon inserted here]
Translation: Buy my book Buy my book Buy my book Buy my book
Once in a while these tweets aren’t bad. Authors have to promote their books after all. But if someone checks out your profile and the majority of your tweets are like the above, the person might not follow you. One of my friends saw tweets similar to these by one author. She ended up unfollowing the author. Why? Because she felt the person was self-absorbed.
During WriteOnCon, agent and YA book blogger Pamela van Hylckama Vliegsaid, "1 out of 10 tweets should be self promo. No more!" Numerous people on the forum agreed with her. They unfollow authors who violate this unwritten rule. Remember, never underestimate the intelligence of your follower (like in the case of the above tweets). The moment you do, you've lost them.
For examples of authors who use Twitter wisely, check out: MaureenJohnson JohnGreen JaniceHardy
Is there anything that you’ve seen authors do on social network sites that irritates you?
Welcome to my porch. Isn’t it a beauty? This is what happens when poor craftsmanship and the wrong materials meet Canadian winters.
The same disaster can happen to your story if you don’t take time to do things properly, and if you don’t bother to learn the skills of the trade. There’s no point querying a story that would be better off lining your hamster cage. You’re only setting yourself up for frustration. If the structure is weak, the characterizations lacking, and the protagonist’s emotions don’t create any stirrings in the reader, it doesn’t matter how pretty your words are, the story will fall apart.
Fortunately, unlike my porch, the cost to make your project beautiful both inside and out is not expensive. Workshops, craft books, and awesome critique partners and beta readers will help you make your story strong. Maybe, like my porch, the story needs to be demolished and rebuilt. Maybe you need to send it on a world cruise and tackle it again in the future, once you’ve gained new skills.
Do you have a story you’ve temporarily shelved that you plan to eventually revisit? If you’ve written several stories, do you find your skills have been improving over time, and you can’t believe you once thought your first project was ready for the world?
You’ve been querying agents and you landed a revision request. Now what?
First, celebrate. A revision request means the agent saw something in your writing (i.e. it doesn’t suck like you had originally feared), and she wants to see if you can make the story stronger. She also wants to see if the two of you will mesh well as a team.
Take the time to make sure you understand what she is looking for, and that you both share the same vision for your story. Once you’ve finished the edits, have beta readers go through it and edit it if need be. Don’t rush to send it out and skip this step in your haste to get it back to the agent. You don’t want to blow this one chance she’s given you.
If you land a revision request, consider pulling your material from agents who have requested it, and explain why. Let them know you would love to resent it to them once you’ve finished the revisions. I did that for two agents, and received emails saying they would love to see it when it’s ready. My friend did the same and got a similar response. The agents appreciated that we didn’t waste their time with a manuscript we felt could be stronger, thanks to the professional feedback we had received. Of course, having another agent interested enough to offer a revision request no doubt helped, too.
In my case, I knew it would take a while to do the edits, which is why I contacted the agents. If you don’t contact them first, you can try sending the revised manuscript to them when it’s ready, assuming they haven’t gotten back to you in the meantime. (For more info on that, check out this post.)
And remember, just because an agent sent you a revision request, it doesn’t mean she’ll end up loving your book. More often than not, writers put in all the extra work only to land a rejection. But on the bright side, you now have a stronger manuscript for when you start querying again.
Have you had a revision request before? Do you have any suggestions?
(I know the cartoon had nothing to do with the post, but I couldn’t resist it. *grins*)
(I didn't take this photo.) Are you ready to get your butt ready for bikini season manuscript in peak shape for querying?
Are you ready to sweat and feel the burn?
Then I have the workout for you. It’s guaranteed* to whip your butt manuscript into shape and leave agents drooling. And a drooling agent = The Call.
First, you’re going to need some equipment:
• Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook. You don’t have a copy, you say? Then stay tune. It will be one of the prizes in my upcoming contest to celebrate reaching 500 + followers. (note: if you don’t want to bother with the workbook (though I highly recommend it), you can still do some of the workout. Adjust accordingly).
Workout
Warm up:
1. Characterizations
2. Outline
Some people (also known as pansters) prefer to skip the warm up. I’m not going to make you do twenty push-ups if you do. Just remember, you may need to do more work to get your manuscript into shape compared to the outliners.
Donald Maass’s workbook has some great exercises to do for the warm up (found under Character Development and Plot Development). However, I did them after I finished the first draft of my current WIP. With my next project, I’ll do them during my preplanning, to make sure my characterizations and outline are properly warmed up before I start my first draft.
Light Aerobic Exercise:
1. Write your first draft. I don’t care if you speed through it or if your internal editor is peeking over your shoulder (like mine). Just do it!
2. Read through your manuscript and write notes about things you want to fix (like inconsistencies) or things you’re questioning. Go back and deal with them now if necessary.
Intense Aerobic Exercise:
1. Go through your WIP using the exercises in Donald’s workbook under the section Character Development. With my WIP, I went through the entire manuscript doing this step.
2. Go through the remainder of the workbook (Plot Development and General Story Techniques), completing as many of the exercise as you can. Some will have to wait until you analyze the WIP at the scene level (next step).
3. Now we’re going to do interval training. Divide your WIP into chunks, each containing about three chapters (depending on the length of the chapters). Why? Because after each chunk has gone through the interval training, it’s send off to your CPs. Of course, you don’t have to do it this way. But this is how I did it.
a. Go through each scene doing the exercises in the workbook (under Plot Development and General Story Techniques). Not all exercises will be necessary for each scene. Only you can decide which ones apply to a given scene.
b. After editing the scene according to the above step, do a dialogue pass. I talked about this last week on my Query Tracker Blog post (Strengthening Dialogue).
c. The final step is to Toss The Pages. Okay, I don’t actually toss anything. I randomly select the pages. But the main point is I don’t edit these pages sequentially. This enables me to focus on the writing and not on the story. I also use the RWA handouts list under ‘equipment’ during this part. Doing it this way helps me deepen the layers of the story (setting, emotion, etc). Check out the handout, From First Draft to Final Manuscript, and you’ll see what I mean. Really push yourself on this step. Don’t gloss over it, thinking the page is fine. I bet you can make it better.
d. Continue the above three steps then read through the chunk of chapters you were working on and edit if necessary.
e. Send to CPs (optional but recommended). Edit based on their suggestions.
f. Repeat steps a-e for next chunk of the WIP.
Cool Down
1. Once finished—and after you’ve given it some distance—read through your manuscript and deal with any areas you feel could be further improved on (like pacing).
2. Send to beta readers. Edit as needed.
Celebration
(I didn't take this either)
Yay! You are now ready to query. Just make sure you’ve put your query and synopsis through their own intensive workout.
Good luck!
Any other suggestions? How do you usually edit?
* Fine Print: 1. I’m using this workout with my current WIP, so I don’t actually know if it will work when it comes to querying it. But it has made MAJOR improvements in my manuscript, hence why I’m sold on it. Of course, both the writing and a unique concept are important too. This workout won’t help you there. Sorry. 2. I lied about it being a twenty-minute workout. But it got you to look, didn’t it? ;)
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE IT when published authors share their writerly wisdom with aspiring writers (though I’m sure other published authors appreciate it, too).
Janet Gurtler has a YA contemporary novel coming out this month from Sourcebooks, so I asked her if she would share with us her favorite writing tips. In addition, I have a copy of Janet’s book, I’m Not Her, to give away (OMG, I so want this book, but I'm going to have to wait until my copy is shipped to me). Just let me know if you want me to enter your name, and include your email address in the comments. Sorry, this is only open to Canadian and US addresses.
Okay, Janet, my blog is now yours . . . .
I’M Not Her
“For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel envy…”
Blurb: Tess is the exact opposite of her beautiful, athletic sister. And that’s okay. Kristina is the sporty one, Tess is the smart one, and they each have their place. Until Kristina is diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly Tess is the center of the popular crowd, everyone eager for updates. There are senior boys flirting with her. Yet the smiles of her picture-perfect family are cracking and her sister could be dying. Now Tess has to fill a new role: the strong one. Because if she doesn’t hold it together, who will?
<<<3
Confession. I find giving writing advice a little tough because I think every writer has their own way of creating stories. Some writers need to plot and outline and develop graphs and story boards with different color highlighters before they even begin their first drafts. Personally the thought of doing that gives me hives. If someone told me I had to do that, I would get a stomach ache and run away.
Not hard to guess then that I am a panster. Usually. The book I`m currently working on, I’ve done more outlining and plotting than others. Mostly I come up with ideas usually characters first, and then start to write. Plot as I go. My method would probably give many writers hives. So I guess that leads to my first piece of advice.
1. Try to work out what kind of writer YOU are and then be true to that. Don’t let other people tell YOU what you have to do. If you want to storyboard and plot, do that. If you want to sit down and write do THAT. But pay attention to what works for you and keep an open mind to new techniques or strategies. Take what you can use from books and other but listen to your gut. Guts are usually pretty honest with us.
2. On the other hand, be flexible with your instincts. I’ve found that some books come out different than others. Some books need hours of research, some books need more revisions and plotting. Some books are really hard to write. Some fly on the pages. Learn to trust each book’s individual process.
3. Read. Read within your genre. Try to see what other writers have done to make things work. Read for pleasure but also read with a writer’s eye. Why does something in a scene or a character resonate so well with you? How does the author use pacing etc. to heighten the reader’s experience?
4. Try to write every day. Make it a small goal if that’s what suits your lifestyle. I make it a goal to write 500 words a day. 2 pages. It doesn’t sound like much but it keeps me inside a story I’m working on. And for a 60,000 page book that’s only 120 days for a first draft. (And yes. I did have to consult a calculator to figure that out) On days when you’re in a good writing groove or involved in a particular scene and want to write more, that’s perfectly acceptable too.
5. Try not to edit as you go. It’s usually better to get that first draft on the page and go back and finish it after. That said, I usually re-read at least a few pages before I continue on so I can get my head back in the story. And I did hear one author speak who basically edited the entire thing as she went along so by the time she was finished-- it was a final copy. But in general, getting out the first draft is the most important part. Revision comes next.
6. Find someone (or someone’s) you trust to read your story before you madly send it off to an agent or an editor. I have patience issues and one of the mistakes I made (over and over) when I first started writing was being in a hurry and sending my writing off too soon. Even with an agent it’s still a good idea to get feedback from trusted beta readers before a manuscript goes off. I believe that critiques are really important from someone you trust. Another set of eyes can see things that you are too close to see.
7. This leads me to the next piece of advice. You don’t have to take every piece of advice you receive from someone critiquing your work. Someone else can give you outside perspective and help to pinpoint pacing problems or plot flaws or weaknesses. You also have to learn to trust yourself and your gut feeling about your story. Try not to let others have TOO much influence. Don’t let others re-write for you. Stay true to your own voice.
8. Use craft books and take from them what works for you. My favourite book is still Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel workbook. I love the hands on exercises and usually use the book after I’ve finished a first draft. Another book I found really great was, The Weekend Novelist by Robert J Ray and Bret Norris.
9. If you can afford it, go to conferences or workshops. If you can’t afford it, don’t stress over it. The online writing community is blooming with writing advice. Agent blogs, author blogs, editor’s blogs, they all contain a wealth of the information.
10. Nurture your inner writer. Talk to other writers. If you don’t know writers, try to find some in your community. Seek out groups like the SCWBI or try to connect on The Blue Board. Most writers are pretty passionate about the craft and man there’s nothing quite like sharing writing experiences with people who truly GET what you’re talking about. It`s hugely rewarding and great for your motivation.
Finally remember there are always exceptions to every rule. Try to remember it`s not a race and it`s not you versus another author. Each of us has our own journey, our own path to publication. Someone is always going to get an agent faster, or get a better agent, a quicker book deal or a bigger advance. There`s not one way to get to the finish line. And anyways, who even knows what the finish line is.
It`s hard, but try to enjoy your own process. In the end, the only thing we truly control is the writing. Have fun with it!
Janet lives close to the Rocky Mountains, in Calgary, Alberta with her husband and son and spends most of her days with her laptop on her lap.
I’M NOT HER is her first YA release with Sourcebooks Teen Fire. It will be followed by IF I TELL in October, 2011.
