Writing Advice From A YA Author Powered By Chocolate And Green Tea
You know that meme where writers name their files "Final Draft", "Final Draft 2", "Final Draft 3", "Really Final Draft", "Really, Really Final Draft", "Seriously Final Draft" etc. I get that. I'm currently working on the sixth draft of an MS I literally named "Final Draft" three drafts ago. Past-Me probably thought it would be. Present-Me …
There are a few writer-world problems you can have. The muse taking an extended break. Losing a month's worth of progress to backup failure. Realizing the "unique" book idea you've been working on for five years was just published by someone else. Then there's writer-problems you can fix. Learning how to show and not tell, …
You've got to be a lot of things when you're a writer. Not only do you need to craft characters and worlds from nothing, bring together a cohesive story, and take hundreds of random words and arrange them into sentences that make sense, you also need to check those sentences for mistakes. But when you've …
Every writer has either a desk drawer or a folder on their computer with a manuscript they started but never quite completed. It might be because the idea was only good for two chapters, they could never dig their way out of a major plot hole, or life became more important than writing the final …
Continue reading Signs You’re Afraid of Finishing Your Manuscript
There’s a reason it’s a good idea to not show anyone early drafts, and that’s because it’s usually full of writing that should be cut. And these cuts aren’t darlings—writing that’s good but doesn’t fit with the story—they’re the parts of your MS that will make it stronger once you’ve removed them. They are the weak …
Continue reading 8 Early Draft Cuts For A Stronger Manuscript
As mentioned in last week’s blog post, I’ve spent most of this year in editing hell, working through an MS that has been through re-writes, new beta readers, and a total show, don’t tell overhaul. As my edits for that MS wound down, I returned to the next MS in the series (book two), which …
They say writing is re-writing, and until you’ve sat down to write a book and discovered this, you don’t realize how true it is. Tangled up in all that writing and re-writing is editing: that lovely process where you read your MS so many times, the thing you love becomes something you hate. Editing can …
If you’ve read a book where the ending or big dramatic twist is the culmination of all the clues, moments, or hints in the book, then you’ve encountered The Payoff. The MC finally getting what they want. The villain losing (or winning). The end of a war.The start of a love story. The payoff could be any of …
Ah, show, don’t tell. One of the most spouted pieces of writing advice, and one of the most confusing. When I first heard of it, I had no idea what it meant. Surely writing that my character “rose from her chair and walked across the room” was showing? Yes? No? Maybe? No. It’s a no. …
