Spoiler: word count isn’t one of them. Happy New Year!
This is the time when writers look at the new year and think in terms of numbers. The number of books one will read in a month. The number of newsletters that will be sent to subscribers. The number of books published. And the most important goal of all: the monthly/weekly/daily word count goal. That’s all in the past. In 2019, I started unpublishing over twelve books under two pen names I had written/published in 2018/2019 as I chased the “rapid release” publishing craze. The publish-once-a-month or write-three-books-in-a-series-and-release-them-all-at-once and allow the Amazon algorithm momentum to carry you into the mystical glory of full-time authorship. Didn’t quite work out that way for me. Some of those books earned a healthy number of page reads and royalties while others languished despite positive reviews. During my audit, titles, blurbs, and editing (paid) were recurring items of what I could readdress moving forward. Out of those twelve books, one needs a new cover, three required fresh titles (already fixed), and all stories will receive a revision, edit, and updated blurb. For 2023, my author business focus word is RESTORE. While many authors focus on growing their businesses, I want to better position myself to grow; to fix foundation issues before tackling the rest of the remodel. No need to have a daily word count goal. I have hundreds of thousands of words written that require revision, re-editing, and republishing. Yes, I’ll write daily; I have a book for my MFA to finish. Yet for 2023, it’s time to take stock of the books I have available and reintroduce them to the world. Second time’s a charm? 2023 Author Goals
There are four additional books to release that I’ll sprinkle into my schedule as time allows. Hello, 2023. I’m ready for RESTORATION.
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My top three tips!
I started my low-residency MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) with Drexel University in Sep 2022. Drexel's quarter schedule is a rapid pace. It wasn’t long before I realized the amount of work could overwhelm me despite only taking six credit hours. I still had a full-time job, and I was revising manuscripts for publication. I put the following tips into practice early on and kept my stress at a manageable level. 1. Prioritize the Work Almost every week, we had readings and teaching videos in both classes. Additionally, for the fiction workshop, we had to draft a short essay and write critical responses to two other students. The professors scheduled Zoom meetings every couple of weeks and although they were recorded for later viewing, if you attended, you were expected to participate; you had to be prepared to discuss readings and your current work. Did I mention the ten-page critique assignments? Starting in week four, and every week after, we had to read, provide in-line comments, and complete a critique questionnaire on two or three ten-page writing pieces. Students noted overwhelm they experienced due to the sheer amount of work we had to accomplish. There’s no way around this. If you don’t schedule the work as a daily key action — and arguably complete it first — you’re likely to have difficulty getting ahead of the work. I went a step further and turned off the television after dinner (at one point I had to shorten my dinner time!). I like to fool myself into thinking it’s background noise that doesn’t distract me, but the truth is I accomplish more at a faster rate without noise. I listed schoolwork as one of my top three to daily four key actions that must be completed to see forward progress toward my goals. With weekly due dates for school, I planned when I had to complete my readings (by Monday), and I gave myself two days to write my essays. The rest of the week was free for responses and reading critique pieces. 2. Find Feedback Buddies The cohort is a built-in critique group; however, not everyone is able to offer additional feedback above the graded assignments. Also, it can be difficult to receive criticism about your work from writers for a number of reasons I won’t go into here. While at the first in-person residency, I made close connections with a handful of writers with whom I had great rapport, and we were in the same mental space regarding our writing and future publishing goals. Throughout the quarter, I was able to count on them to provide quick responses to questions about my writing and they offered regular responses to my essays. In return, I responded to their essays and was available to review their work outside of class. Knowing I had a few people I could send a quick text to about ideas and issues boosted my confidence as I worked; they are invested in my success. Although this tip adds work to your overall plate, the benefits will far outweigh the momentary increase in the long run.
3. Reach Out to Your Professors This shouldn’t have to be said, but the advising team stressed the importance of talking to our professors. They are here to help us get through the program. Not sure if there is a stigma about tapping into this resource, but I know I feel if I must ask the professor something, that means I don’t know what I’m doing (ridiculous thinking, I know). If you were having issues completing the work on time, talk to your professor. Confusion about the material? You could chat with the professors. Want clarity on a professor’s line of thinking with their feedback? Don’t stay confused; talk to your professor. When I reached out to my professors, it was to discuss their feedback on my writing and how I could improve my work. Remember, professors must be available to other writers in the cohort and other classes, so I recommend asking specific questions that get to the heart of the matter so you can get a prompt answer. Prioritizing the work, making feedback buddies, and talking to my professors allowed me to get through this first quarter without overwhelm and with a stronger sense of community. What were my grades? A+ in both classes. That’s a 4.0!
I started my MFA in Creative Writing with Drexel University in September and had my first of three in-person residencies earlier this month. It's been a whirlwind getting back into the groove of of school (I last graduated in 2009), re-editing and republishing work on Radish Fiction (surprise announcement! I'm on Radish publishing serialized fiction), and planning my schedule for the rest of the year. I'll be finishing an editing project and will query it starting in January. I'm also waiting to hear about two submissions and I hope for some good news in the next 60 days.
I've also received a disappointing rejection on a full manuscript and it boiled down to the agent not being passionate enough to represent the story. She wrote positive feedback about my voice and story craft; I will be sharing about agent responses/rejections in a future post. I'm working on background information for my graduate project. Are you thinking about your next story? Use the below free worksheet on WHY (the message of your book) from my writing course and let's make progress on our projects together.
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What am I reading this summer? A number of fiction and nonfiction books have been on my list. Reading a variety of books makes me a well-rounded editor who can help a variety of genre authors (even literary!). See the below images. Have you read any of these? Which are your favorites? Which ones do you loathe?
I enjoyed Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. I guessed right about who would be the last one standing (before the epilogue), but not who did it. So good! F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby had me laughing out loud. The prose was so sharp; I could really hear the personalities. Lisa Cron's Wired for Story was excellent. I'm sure Story Genius will be gold. Currently Reading:Finished Reading:Future Reading:
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This series is on mistakes I've made in my own writing as well as what I've seen as an editor. Simple fixes will elevate your writing. If you *want* to write bad, then follow these tips. ;-)
Warning: You may not agree. MAKE ROBIN THE REAL DARK KNIGHT: Let's face it, who would Batman be without Robin? Yup; just another bat. But in writing, sometimes authors forget who the hero is. What does this look like? Suddenly, you go from following Batman's story arc to following Robin with Batman fading off into the shadows of the Batcave. I mean, who didn't like Chris O'Donnell as Robin? As an editor, I've seen more than one secondary character supplant the hero. This can be jarring to the reader and they will be confused; they won't know who to root for the most. Remember, the reader is going on their own hero's journey by following the hero. Not staying focused means the reader's vicarious experience gets splintered. EASY FIX: Read through your novel and take note of how much page time you've given to both your hero and the secondary character. Review the character arc for your hero and go to the last choice he had to make to see where you went off track. Sometimes, the secondary character is the "solution" to a hero's problem or starts to drive the story by making major choices. Strip your secondary character of that superpower and give the choice to your hero. Reconnect with the changes your hero has to experience in order to complete the story and write from that perspective. Your secondary character can have an arc, you'll spend less time exploring it on the page. You can also give the secondary character his own story. Robin does have his own comic. ANALYZE YOUR WRITING: 1. Which character arc resonates with you the most? Make that the story as your passion will come through in the writing. 2. Is your secondary character making choices or solving all the issues your hero needs to make/solve? Make it stop!!! 3. Does your hero have more page time than the secondary characters? Why or why not?
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This series is on mistakes I've made in my own writing as well as what I've seen as an editor. Simple fixes will elevate your writing.
Warning: You may not agree. CREATE A SHADOWY VILLAIN WHO NEVER EMERGES FROM THE SHADOWS: Simply put, this is another way to create false conflict/tension. This looks like mentioning a villain/antagonist (usually not the main one) who could lay waste to your hero's plans. He gets closer and closer to the hero, ramping up the tension...and then your hero never encounters him because your hero wasn't in the right place at the right time to get taken out. Even if you write in a good reason why this conflict was avoided, it leaves the reader unfulfilled. Would the hero have succeeded in a fight against this villain? Did the hero have the tools necessary to win (usually not, and the author knows this and then would have to deus ex machina the hero out of it.)? EASY FIX: Pare down the villain (whatever that conflict looks like). If you start writing the villain in the shadows, he'll take on a life of his own and loom large in the reader's mind. Then when your hero successfully avoids this conflict, the reader won't feel like they've missed out. Remember, shadows can be much larger than what they represent. Or have your hero face something in relation to this new conflict--and win. For example, your hero needs something from the General Store. There's a mob of zombies around it and he has to get through them (seems easy enough). Perhaps he takes out a few and avoids the rest and gets into the store the back way. If you write your hero needing to get past the zombies in chapter 1, 2, 3, but in chapter 4 he decides to go to the Piggly Wiggly on East and Third (safely away from the zombies), it just feels like there really wasn't any danger to the hero to begin with. ANALYZE YOUR WRITING: 1. Is this villain (again, whatever it is) necessary to move the hero forward in the story? Are you creating tension with no effort to resolve it? Shine some light on it. If not needed, then get rid of it. 2. Take a second look at your conflict(s). Are any of them too much for your hero? Think about what your hero needs to do to move forward and write that into the story so he's prepared. Don't deus ex machina your hero out of a problem. 3. If all conflicts are necessary, make sure your hero actually experiences the conflict (on some level).
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This series is on mistakes I've made in my own writing as well as what I've seen as an editor. Upgrade your writing by avoiding these pro tips on bad writing.
Warning: You may not agree. *If you've never seen the The Office (US version), then you won't get the humor. Trust me, that scene is hilarious. BE MICHAEL SCOTT. START A SENTENCE AND HOPE YOU FIND IT ALONG THE WAY: This is a little more involved than writing the occasional run-on sentences. This is when a writer starts a sentence, loses focus, and then keeps writing until they realize the sentence has to end. Eventually, the end of the sentence has taken the reader on such a journey that they have no idea where (or when) they started. Even worse, the entire novel is written this way. The reader has to go back and reread, which they don't want to do. Often times, these long sentences are trying to inject different topics or emotions that aren't focused on what the scene is about and what the POV character is experiencing in the moment. If your POV character is thinking about cooking dinner, stay in that train of thought unless it makes sense for the character. EASY FIX: Return to the focus of your scene. What emotions do you want to convey? Have you considered how time is passing during the scene (is the "clock" ticking or are your characters in a rush or slowing down?)? Once you start writing, be conscious and vary your sentence lengths. ANALYZE YOUR WRITING: 1. Read your writing out loud. Can you hear the natural ebb and flow (rhythm) of your writing? 2. Take a paragraph or two and look at each sentence length. Choose sentences you can shorten or add length. Think about the emotional impact you want to have when readers read each sentence. With purpose, change the sentence lengths.
This series is on mistakes I've made in my own writing as well as what I've seen as an editor. Upgrade your writing by avoiding these pro tips on bad writing.
Warning: You may not agree. EVERY DETAIL EVEN DOWN TO THE LENT ON THE FLOOR: When your character enters the scene and you describe everything in the space. I've edited writing where characters would enter a room and the reader would know every detail about everything in the room. I understand this; you want readers to feel immersed in the scene. True immersion involves the character's experience with what is in the scene, not just a description. The issue is after pages of description, the character interacts with almost nothing in the space. What is the point of a reader knowing the type of fabric draping a chair the character obviously hasn't sat in and has nothing to do with the book the character needs from the bookshelf on the other side of the room? A second issue is how an abundance of description can slow the pace of the scene. If your character is in a hurry, the reader cares not about the color of lent on the floor, unless the hero is forced to vacuum before getting back to the quest. Employ your skills of description on what matters in the scene and how it affects your character. EASY FIX: Consider what is in the scene your character needs to interact with and what emotions it can draw out of your character. Don't forget the air! The smell or how it feels and how it amplifies what your character is experiencing. ANALYZE YOUR WRITING: 1. Do you have pages and pages or paragraphs and paragraphs of description that you can chop? 2. Pick three things in the scene that your character can interact with to display emotion, add to the atmosphere of the scene, or move the story forward. Chop everything else. Want to write a novel?
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This series is on mistakes I've made in my own writing as well as what I've seen as an editor.
Warning: You may not agree. *You could probably point out a couple additional things wrong with the below example, but it's the mirror's time to shine. LOOKING IN THE MIRROR: Where a character sees themselves in the mirror so the writer has a chance to describe what they look like (for the reader's sake). Example: With her book bag slung over one arm, Trina rushed out her bedroom. She wished she had packed her lunch the night before, but she didn't foresee sleeping through her alarm. As she hurried to the front door, she paused at the mirror hung over the foyer table. One last look. She ran her fingers through her long, straight dark hair, frowning at the lack of body. She patted at the slight smudge of lip gloss over her full lips. She always managed to get one cattail longer than the other, but she couldn't fix the eyeliner now. Good enough. Trina yelled goodbye to her roommate and left without locking the door. EASY FIX: From this POV, incorporate action that would naturally show this character to the reader. Show she's in a rush by having her mess up a cattail. Maybe her hair gets awkwardly caught in part of her book bag's zipper as she flings the bag over her arm. ANALYZE YOUR WRITING: 1. Do you like using mirrors to "show" description? 2. How do you show your character to the reader?
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Welcome to the series about what you probably shouldn't put in your novel. I hope these quick snippets help bring clarity to your manuscript and tighten the story. This first post deals with what isn't on the page: actions, reaction, emotions... and then your POV character guesses (read: tells the reader) what every character is thinking.
Deanna Troi: Knower of all your emotions
Who is Deanna Troi?
She was a character on Star Trek: The Next Generation. She was the Enterprise's counselor. Half-human, half-Betazoid, Deanna sensed people's emotions to determine their desires. She helped Captain Jean-Luc Picard know who he was dealing with on the other side of the screen.
How does this translate into your writing?
This usually manifests in a POV character who knows what the other characters in the scene are thinking or feeling without any prior actions or dialogue from those characters--and often without confirmation. The character is now omniscient. The writer is telling the reader about thoughts and emotions in an effort to connect that POV character to others in the scene. But it's a false emotional connection. You know that one person who assumes everything? Yeah, they're annoying because they're often wrong. Super simple example. Tara walked into her daughter's room and saw Monique still in bed. "Monique, it's time for school. Get up or you'll be late." Monique groaned and pulled the covers tight over her head. She wants to lose weight. Tara sympathized with her daughter's struggle. Wait...what?
It might not be as glaring to the reader as the above example, but I wrote it that way on purpose. It's often more subtle; it's a thought that could be inferred, but so could a number of others depending on the scene setting.
But Tori, this is fiction! Yes, but is that conclusion (Monique wants to lose weight) reeaallllyy a reader's number one choice? Think like a reader; they don't know what you know. If it's not on the page, it doesn't exist for them. Monique could be tired. She could be avoiding a test she didn't study for. See what I mean? How do you solve this problem? Two ideas:
Dialogue.
Have your characters speak. Think about what information needs to be revealed and how to do so in conversation.
Action.
Have your POV character observe an action from the other character that clarifies what that character is thinking/feeling. Your POV character can now infer what was clearly implied (unless you're working with a unreliable narrator, which we'll cover in another post). Search and Destroy
Now you can read through your manuscript and rework those scenes where your POV character told the reader about emotions and desires that the other character hadn't revealed.
Have fun with this! What actions can you show? What conversation can these characters have that would show the different sides of these characters?
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