I have a 112,000-word discovery draft sitting on my desk, and I’ll be honest with you — the thought of revising it is a little terrifying. I know what needs work. That’s not what terrifies me. I keep asking myself the questions that make any writer spiral: What if there are too many changes? What […]
“Something came up.” “I had to put out a fire.” How many times have you said that as a reason for not getting to your to-do list? If I had a nickel for every time those words have come out of my mouth… It’s the same for your creative project, too. You know, that writing
I was on my third novel when I realized that I had something. The setting was vivid. The characters wouldn’t stop talking. My writing group had great feedback… and then the suggestions started coming. Open later. More cave scene.Dead body in scene one.More police procedural.Less cave scene. (Sigh.) So I went back and tried to address
Last month I touched on the importance of identifying your ideal reader for your work in progress. The simple truth is that not every reader will want to read your book… and that’s exactly how it should be. The readers most likely to pick up your novel are the ones who already love books like
One of the best things a writer can do for their story is to take a step back and think about where their book will land in the marketplace. Yes, even before you’ve written the first draft. And especially before you head into revision. For a long time, I would’ve said my ideal writer looks
