Skip to content

K.M. Allan

Writing Advice From A YA Author Powered By Chocolate And Green Tea

  • Home
  • Blackbirch
    • Blackbirch: The Beginning
    • Blackbirch: The Dark Half
  • Blogs
  • About
  • Contact

Tag: editing

4 Reasons To Listen To Your Own Book

4 Reasons To Listen To Your Own Book

On May 29, 2020 By K.M. Allan24 Comments

By the time you're at the tail-end of the writing process, you are so sick of your words you'll do anything to not read them again. This usually happens right around the time you have to read them, though, because you're getting your MS ready to query or publish. But instead of begrudgingly wading through …

Continue reading 4 Reasons To Listen To Your Own Book

How To Love Editing

How To Love Editing

On November 8, 2019November 8, 2019 By K.M. Allan32 Comments

The real truth of writing is that you will spend a lot of time editing. A. Lot. Of. Time. Hours, weeks, months, sometimes even years (or at least, what feels like years). When the rush of new ideas is gone. When the thrill of filling in plot holes and working out twists is over. When …

Continue reading How To Love Editing

Writing The Final Draft What To Check

Writing The Final Draft: What To Check

On September 6, 2019 By K.M. Allan49 Comments

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 …

Continue reading Writing The Final Draft: What To Check

6 Ways To Stop Overwriting Your Stories

6 Ways To Stop Overwriting Your Stories

On July 12, 2019 By K.M. Allan47 Comments

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, …

Continue reading 6 Ways To Stop Overwriting Your Stories

How To Be An Expert Typo Hunter

How To Be An Expert Typo Hunter

On March 8, 2019 By K.M. Allan44 Comments

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 …

Continue reading How To Be An Expert Typo Hunter

Signs You're Afraid of Finishing Your Manuscript

Signs You’re Afraid of Finishing Your Manuscript

On January 25, 2019 By K.M. Allan40 Comments

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

8 Early Draft Cuts For A Stronger Manuscript

8 Early Draft Cuts For A Stronger Manuscript

On December 7, 2018 By K.M. Allan44 Comments

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

Creating A Writing Style Sheet

Creating A Writing Style Sheet

On November 30, 2018 By K.M. Allan45 Comments

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 …

Continue reading Creating A Writing Style Sheet

8 Reminders About Editing

7 Reminders About Editing

On November 23, 2018 By K.M. Allan43 Comments

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 …

Continue reading 7 Reminders About Editing

Posts navigation

Older posts
K.M. Allan

K.M. Allan

YA writer and blogger. Author of The Blackbirch Series, The Beginning and The Dark Half (books 1 & 2) are out now! I'm also an identical twin, but not the evil one.

View Full Profile →

Follow Me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Goodreads

Search

Blackbirch: The Beginning

Blackbirch: The Dark Half

Follow K.M. Allan on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,250 other followers

Recent Posts

  • 3 Steps For A Productive Writing Session
  • 2020 Blog Roundup
  • Point Of View Errors! How To Spot And Fix Them
  • November 2020 Roundup
  • 7 Tips For Creating Awesome Characters

Top Posts

  • 3 Steps For A Productive Writing Session
  • How To Write In Deep POV
  • Synopsis Do's And Don'ts
  • 7 Tips For Creating Awesome Characters
  • The Do's And Don'ts Of Being A Good Beta Reader

Follow Me On Instagram

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
Cancel