Are you having trouble sticking to your writing goals for the year? Here are some tips and tricks to help keep you moving along.

1. Make a schedule. Try to set a specific time to write, whether it’s the same time every day or not. Carve out time and don’t let anything get in your way except a true emergency. Train your friends and family to treat this time just as if you were at a “normal job” where you cannot be interrupted.
2. Take notes. Your best ideas probably won’t come to you while you’re writing. Use your phone’s notebook app or carry a small journal and pen with you to jot down those ideas that spring up at odd moments.
3. Have some sort of outline. Even if you don’t write out a formal outline for your work, have a firm idea of what’s going to happen when, and how everything’s going to turn out. Jumping in with no clue at all is a recipe for writer’s block.
4. Set a writing goal. Figure out when you want your work to be completed, then decide how many pages or words per day you’ll need to accomplish that goal. Don’t set yourself an impossible goal, though – you’re probably not going to be able to churn out several books in a year like some experienced authors do – just make a reasonable attempt at a timeline. You can always adjust the goal as needed.
5. Use your search engine. The internet is a fantastic resource for writers. You can visit the places your characters visit and have a far more detailed setting in your book. You can research something like “green eyes” and click the “images” tab to see some example photos that might spark your imagination for character ideas. You can even “surf” your way to new ideas by typing in a question or keyword and just clicking links to see where that idea leads.
6. Use a beta reader. Find someone who reads the sort of work you write and ask them to read over your work and offer constructive criticism. A beta reader is invaluable, especially for new writers, and can really help improve your work.
7. Look for additional ideas. Try checking Amazon.com for examples of works in your genre. Use their “Look Inside” feature to actually skim through part of that book and see what others are writing in your genre. You can also read reviews to see what your readers are looking for – what things they like and don’t like.
8. Don’t write and edit at the same time. This is something we’ve already talked about, but it bears repeating. When you’re writing, don’t stop and go back to “fix” something. Just jot down a note and keep writing until you hit your goal. After you’re finished writing, you can put on the editor’s hat and go back over what you’ve written, but if you try to do both, you’re never going to finish that work.
9. Try a name generating website for your characters. If you’re having trouble with character names, try one of those name generators or even a baby name website. Another good place to find names is the credits screen of any movie.
10. Back up your work. This can’t be repeated often enough – don’t just depend on one computer for your back-up. Use an external hard drive, Dropbox, or email your manuscript to yourself. Have a back-up that you use frequently and you won’t be devastated if an emergency arises.

Nobody likes editing. We’d all rather be writing 24/7 but editing must be done in order to produce a finished work. Here are some quick tips to get you started.

1. First Pass: Spelling

Make one run through your work and check just for spelling. You can use a spell-check program or do a quick read-through. A read-through will also catch words that are spelled correctly but used incorrectly, such as your for you’re or two for to.

2. Second Pass: Grammar

This one’s a bit tricker, since you do have to read through the work to catch incorrect grammar. If grammar is your weak spot, this would be a good time to pass the work along to a professional editor. Check for verb tense, dangling participles and other common problems.

3. Third Pass: Word Repetition

Make a pass for one common problem we all have: our favorite phrase. If you don’t know what that is, you might try plugging your text into a tag cloud generator. That’ll show you any words or phrases that show up the most often. If anything jumps out at you, do a search/replace and root out all those repetitions. You might also check for pronoun repetition – paragraphs with too many “he’s” or “she’s” and not enough names (I tend to have that problem).

4. Fourth Pass: Dialogue

Read through your work, focusing on your dialogue. Does each character speak in a unique voice? Can you tell which character is which without looking at name tags? Are your educated characters using longer words and longer sentences than your less educated characters? Make sure your dialogue is believable and logical.

Once you get past that fourth draft, your work is going to be pretty much ready for a professional editor to look at. (Bet you thought I was going to say “ready for publishing” didn’t you?) Never send your work out without having a professional look over it!

Here are some tidbits I picked up from the conference in Portland this week.

“If you have good pacing, you can write about paint drying and make it interesting. It’s all in the timing.”

~Irene Goodman, literary agent

“Here’s a cheap trick: if you want to make a point, start a new paragraph.”

~Selden Edwards, author of The Little Book

“It’s not my job to find that literary kernel and nourish it. It’s my job to find something that’s pretty much ready to publish now.”

~Lucia Macro, editor

“You can’t just get a great opening sentence and then relax.”

~Irene Goodman

“If there are three things you want to tell, leave two of them out at first.”

~Selden Edwards

“Everything’s been done – what matters is the twist, the spin you give it.”

~Irene Goodman

Next: Creating a Big Book Campaign on a Not-So-Big Budget, by Kristina McMorris

Editors for Hire (Chantelle Aimee Osman)

Once you’ve written “the end,” the journey is only half over. You must put out the best book you can – if it’s not, you might sell it, but they won’t come back for more.

A clean, polished manuscript can make all the difference – a copy editor is a must if you’re self-publishing and even if you’re going the traditional route, I recommend having your first 5-6 chapters gone over by a professional.

How much editing do you need? Most professional authors might get by with only one edit. Some people need 4-5 edits.

Do a read-only edit yourself before sending it to the editor – catch major errors and over-arching story problems before you send it off for a line edit or line and content edit.

 

The thing everyone is looking for is your passion on the page. Never write just for a trend. Write what you love to read, what you love to write.

Know your genre – don’t write a zombie vampire YA mystery with Western overtones.

The first two and last two chapters of your book are the most important – have a hook at beginning to make them need to turn the page – no backstory.

Style issues:

• awkward phrasing, repeated phrasing
• do not try to have a unique voice – just write your way and the voice will show through
• the tighter, the better – cut unnecessary words
• preaching is a no-no
• watch for changes in tense or POV

 

“good dialogue is one of the most difficult and challenges a writer has”

Dialogue problems:

• fake dialogue – not using contractions, very formal, awkward
• dialogue to obviously advanced the plot “radio drama dialogue”
• forced dialogue – do your research
• too many trendy words date your work
• show, don’t tell
• make sure characters have distinct speech patterns
• Read your dialogue (and everything else) aloud

Descriptive problems:

• using the protagonist’s senses to relate information is a better way to show instead of description
• avoid general descriptions (beautiful, nice, etc)
• avoid laundry lists
• watch out for repetition – favorite phrases and images, sentence structure – “crutch words”
• combinations of words with the same meaning
• a set of fresh eyes are valuable in catching these things
• adjectives and adverbs – don’t use too many, never more than one together
• cut 10-15% of your words
• watch “to be” – try to avoid if possible (passive sentences)
• no qualifiers like very or really
• cliches (that also includes cliched descriptions and situations)
• wrong word choices (towards instead of toward, affect/effect, etc)
• watch for sentences with more than two commas – maybe two sentences instead
• now it’s one space after a period
• double check for possessives and plurals

“Punctuation is like a throw-pillow.” Doing the job without calling attention to itself

Errors in character:

• characters must be unique, bring the readers back
• know your characters well, give them clear motivation
• must have goal and clear reason to work toward that goal
• characters must grow
• no stereotypes
• outlandish names – names often paint a better picture than descriptives – you don’t want something that reader must stop reading to figure out how to pronounce it
• misplaced or overly long backstory

Plots:

• if characters just go along without anything interesting happening, there’s no emotional attachment
• every book should have basic essential question (who/what/where/how/why) – know what that question is and be able to resolve it in the end
• don’t write about something you don’t know about
• know your genre!

The End:

• almost as important as the beginning – what’s going to sell the second book
• resolution must make reader feel something
• don’t keep readers wondering in a bad way (forgetting a plot point)

Now you’ve just started on your journey of queries, rejections, edits, cover designs, etc.

Social Media 101 for Creative People (Alison Sky Richards):

3 Points:

1. Website (your store front)
2. FaceBook (your billboards)
3. Twitter (your conversation)

There are around 328 highly utilized social media sites – around 600 total

 

FaceBook:

1. Create an author (or book) page
2. Create an author voice

Twitter:

1. Be careful who you follow/allow to follow you – spambots and trolls
2. Build dialogue and communication – look for your favorite authors and create communication
3. Hashtags #amwriting, #amediting – scroll past photos to get to # feed at bottom of screen

Grab your author name on major social media sites – and URL

Websites:

1. Responsive design – allow for different devices
2. Visual design – images get 10% more response than text
3. Appearance – NO Comic Sans! Need an easy to read font like Verdana or Arial – nothing too trendy or crazy. Use tinted background instead of plain white – easier for most people to read. Red is also very visually attractive, but not fire-engine red
4. Have your social media integrated
5. Search Engine Optimization – takes a lot of work! Need to get a lot of people to look for a specific phrase and click on the website.
6. Constantly re-evaluate your website. Check content for freshness and readability – average reading level is 8th grade – recommended website level 6th. Rebrand website to be most effective.

Goodreads is an author’s Number One social media – or it should be! If you’re still a bit confused by the site, here are some tricks to help you succeed as a Goodreads Author.

 

1. Focus on your reviews. Goodreads syndicates its reviews to a lot of big-name literary sites, so you want to increase your numbers. Here are some tips on that:

• Post excerpts of your book on your Goodreads page
• Link your blog to your Goodreads page – and don’t hesitate to make a blog post stating that your book is available for review!
• Make sure your website has a Goodreads widget (available on the Goodreads site)
• Join some Groups
• Host a Giveaway

2. Maximize your profile. Make sure you’ve got everything filled in that can be filled in. Make sure you’ve got a link to your blog. Add a video if you have one – this is a great place for book trailers. Use your best professional photo.

3. Join an active Group and participate. Here are some tips for Groups:

• Participation is key – join in on the polls and roundtable discussions. Nobody’s going to notice you if you just sit on the sidelines
• Most groups have a bookshelf. Once you’ve established yourself as a contributing member, ask about adding your book to the shelf
• If the group has freebie days (days when you can announce your giveaways), then participate – don’t make any sales announcements unless they do, though
• Once you have an established readership, you can host your own Featured Author Group for your readers

4. Stay active. Don’t just set up your author page and vanish. Once a week, you should:

• Add a book to your shelf – one you’ve read, are planning to read, or something that inspired you
• Write a review for something you’ve read – and if you want to be a real darling, cross-post that review to Amazon!
• Rate a book – you just give a book a “star” rating. Simple, right?
• Update your blog or your Goodreads profile. If you don’t blog weekly, you can add a favorite quote or book passage to your profile. The key is to keep your profile active
• Post something to your group – either a new topic, a comment or a response to something else
• Add friends – find people in your group you want to follow, or reviewers, or other authors

What are your favorite tips for Goodreads?

HERE’S a good link to some writing tips and tricks you can use.

Sandi Ault is a great teacher! This session shared some of the tricks and tips of the screenwriting trade which can translate to novel writing.

There are four design elements you need to start your story with:

1. WHO: an intriguing protagonist/premise/cause/theme
2. WHAT: an opposing premise, antagonist or battle that creates conflict
3. WHY: a goal; something the protagonist wants, something your idea or premise seeks to achieve or highlight, an objective to be achieved by the work or the characters within it
4. WHAT IF: the stakes – what’s at stake if #3 isn’t achieved?

Next, build up some “beats” around these four pillars:

• Premise or Dramatic Theme Stated – dramatically defines the theme of your work
• Flesh-out or Set-up –  introduces additional characters, ideas, premises, key facts, etc.
• Catalyst or Trigger – the event or idea that changes everything
• Upward Momentum – advances the theme/plot/premise and introduce additional obstacles that must be overcome
• The Post-Catalyst State – when the event or idea changes everything, what are things like now?
• Raise the Stakes – the idea/premise/concept/dramatic theme heats up even more and the arc of th work advances sharply upward
• The Wolf at the Door – design the platform for the worst0case scenario and people it with your antagonist or oppositional ideas
• Christ on the Cross – the moment when it’s all over, or seems to be – your idea/premise/protagonist seems to be totally defeated
• Redemption – the solution!
• Finale – change has (or will) occur, obstacles have been overcome, and everything is tied up

You can also have a false redemption, where things seem to be resolved, but actually get worse – or a cycle of false redemption/raise the stakes leading up to the wolf at the door scene.

With NaNoWriMo upon us, many of you are thinking seriously about your daily word count. Here are some tips to maximize that total.

• Get an early start – If you wait until the end of the day, you’ll be racing your clock to get those words down, and that can pile more stress on an already stressed writer. Set your clock half an hour early and sit down to put some words onto your pages.
• Carve out some time – keep a notebook and pen with you at all times. Waiting for that latte? Get a few words down. Does that roast take half an hour to cook? Write! You can transcribe to the computer on your day off. Just get those words onto the paper.
• Be a little Type-A – schedule your writing time. Yes, I mean actually make out a daily schedule and put “writing” on your calendar! If it’s written down, you’re less likely to blow it off or find other things to do with that time.
• Ask and ye shall receive – let your friends and family know that you’re trying to finish that book. Ask them to respect your schedule and give you the time you need.
• Silence your internal editor – this should go without saying during NaNoWriMo, but it’s good advice any time at all. When you’re trying to get the words out, ignore that Doubting Thomas voice in your head that says it’s all crap, that it has to be perfect, that you’ll never finish. Just keep plugging away. Edit later!

And here’s a Bonus Tip: everything that comes into your head is fair game for a NaNoWriMo word count! If you’re plugging along, and suddenly realize that you need to know more about rattlesnake milking for your character’s new hobby, then write down “I need to know more about rattlesnake milking – do some research here!” Bold that section and come back to it later, when you’re not busy writing.

HERE’S a whole page full of tips and tricks to help you survive NaNoWriMo!

HERE’S a good tip sheet to see if your characters make the grade!