Tag: authors

Discovery Writing for Outliners

How do you discovery write with an outline?

In the writing world, there are typically two types of pre-writing techniques that people discuss: planning and pantsing. Planning, or outlining, means the author takes the time to plan out each part of the book, every plot point, subplot, and character arc. Pantsing (writing by the seat of your pants), or discovery writing, as Brandon Sanderson puts it in his Writing Excuses podcast, is writing without planning out what you’re doing.

And then, of course, there is a hybrid of the two, which is usually about where I fall. So how does one plan and also discovery write? Well, I’m glad you asked. That’s the topic of today’s post!

Planning

To discovery write as a planner, you of course need to start with some sort of plan. What that looks like may vary from person to person, but here is the basic idea:

  1. Plotting your story beats. Story beats are the points in the story when major things happen, such as your inciting incident, midpoint, and climax. I follow K.M. Weiland’s Helping Writers Become Authors method for this, with a 3-act structure, for many of my stories. In general, having these mile posts provide a loose structure and goal posts for your writing, giving you direction for your writing. For me, they also give me how many words I should have at each point so I can get closer to my final target word counts (which is good for marketing and querying).
  2. Plotting out the beginning and end. Another method of pre-planning is to just explain what happens in the beginning and what happens at the end. Nothing else, just where you start and where you’re going.
  3. Plot the character arcs. This is one other way you can pre-plot: you figure out where you characters start and where they are going. This might be more applicable for perhaps a contemporary story or character-driven fiction.

Discovery Writing

After you have something small plotted and your milestones in place, the next part is the fun part: you get to just write to see what happens. And it’s perfectly fine to have ideas for scenes already in your head as you start, too! But this will allow for more flexibility to grow your characters and your world, as you’re not constrained by your outline.

I have found when I use a combination of outlining and discovery writing that I develop richer stories with deeper meaning. Take the next Seasons of Magic release, All That Glimmers, for example. I started this book with a simple outline highlighting the main character’s need for academic validation.

And then, as I was writing between my outline points, I discovered that my main character was grieving. She had lost one of her closest friends. And she was desperate to get her back.

By allowing myself this flexibility, I provided the space to develop a deep theme and push my characters with intense motivations that ultimately led to a better story than I had imagined when I started.

And, to me, that’s the beauty of this hybrid method.

Disclaimers and Final Thoughts

Every author approaches their writing process differently, and everyone I’ve ever talked to has gone through a different writing process for every book until they find something that works for them. And that’s both okay and expected. Every person’s brain is different, and what works for one will not work for all.

That said, this is a method, found through trial and error, that works well for me! Using a hybrid, I have a road map that allows me to keep pushing toward each smaller goal, which is much less overwhelming to me than just pushing to the ending. But I also get to just have fun with the writing.

And I will tell you, I have tried both methods to the letter. I over-outlined early on…and broke the outline almost immediately because my new ideas wouldn’t fit. I’d wasted so much time creating the first outline, then making a new outline, then another new outline when I broke it again. I’ve also written a book entirely by pantsing, starting with nothing more than a character. Well, that book is still on a shelf waiting for a full rewrite. Because I figured out important points that completely changed the story as I wrote, and the beginning of it is no good anymore. And I will never pants a story with no outlining every again.

But you know what? This is the beauty of being a writer. It’s experimentation and creation. It’s trying new things and finding things you love. It’s creating the way you work so you can create beautiful worlds and stories.

So, even if this method doesn’t work for you, chin up my friends. You will find your methods. Just keep trying new things. 🙂

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What is your writing process like? Do you consider yourself a plotter, pantser, or hybrid writer? Let’s talk in the comments!

The Best Books I Read This Winter (2020)

Read any good books lately? I have!

I don’t know about you, but my e-reader is filled to overflowing from the generosity of so many authors out there! And so far this year, I’ve managed to complete 29 books ranging from contemporary to nonfiction to fantasy. So I figured why not have a recap of which books I’ve really enjoyed so far?

And by the way, I am offering my Rapunzel novella, “Of the Clouds,” free to newsletter subscribers, along with a contemporary fantasy short story titled “Queen of Mist and Fog.” You can pick those up here, and don’t worry…you can unsubscribe at any time.

Now on to the books! (And you can see EVERYTHING I finished this year here!)

Fantasy

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

This is a young adult contemporary magic realism that takes place largely in Taiwan and follows the aftermath of the main character’s mother committing suicide. It’s a beautiful exploration of depression, suicide, and the people left behind . One of the most beautiful books I read this year for sure. You can learn more here.

Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon

This is another young adult fantasy, and it is also beautifully written. It’s a debut for a duology that’s finishing in October 2020, and it’s a unique world where two sisters are torn apart by the customs of their people: one who is desperate to redeem her healer father’s reputation, and one who was chosen to die with their leader and accompany him into the afterlife. It’s amazing lore, great intrigue, and fascinating worldbuilding…and the author is also pretty nice and will chat with you on social media. 🙂 You can pick up a copy here (and take note of the AMAZING cover).

The Earth Magic Rises Trilogy by A.L. Knorr

I finished this trilogy this year, though I read book one last year. It’s a fantastic expansion of the Elementals world starring Georgie and the beautiful Scottish landscape, and it’s a nail-biting adventure of magic and discovery. Scary, atmospheric, and intense…I loved every minute!

Contemporary Young Adult

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

This was such an amazing book of friendship and PIZZA. Sydney is learning who she wants to be after her golden-boy brother is incarcerated for hitting someone when driving drunk one night. Now her parents’ attention is all on her as she copes with the guilt over what her brother did. A beautiful coming-of-age story. You can check out more here.

Sadie by Courtney Summers

This was a really well-done story…and might I just add that it’s worth listening to the audiobook? This book bounces back and forth between Sadie searching for her missing sister and tracking down the man she KNOWS is responsible for her disappearance and the podcast exploring the disappearance. And the audiobook really does this justice. You can learn more here.

Manga

Hakumei & Mikochi by Takuto Kashiki

This year, hubs bought me a new manga to try for my birthday. And he picked so well! Hakumei & Mikochi is an adorable story of two forest-dwelling spirits. It has everything I love: cute things, food, and all things tiny! You can learn more here.

Children’s

Floral Frolic by Cari Corene and Amanda Coronado

I don’t read too many children’s books, but I’m on the lookout for good ones now that I have a nephew and hubs and I are thinking about starting our family. This is a gorgeous book with watercolor art and foxes (two of my favorite things) and tells a really cute story involving flowers. Definitely a pretty, pleasant read for the young ones AND you. You can learn more here.

Nonfiction

Dear Author by Laura A. Grace (Illustrated by Hannah S.J. Williams)

I read a few different nonfiction already this year, but this one is definitely the best! It’s an encouraging and inspiring collection of letters written to their favorite author in a way that any writer can relate to. I found it to be so motivational, heartwarming, and inspiring for my own writing. Every author needs a copy of this book! You can find out more here.

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So what about you? How are you doing on your reading goals? Do you have any standout favorites for the year yet? Share below! 😀

Underwriting vs. Overwriting: Which Are You?

Do you write too much? Or not enough? And what does that mean for traditional publication?

There is so much advice floating around out there about how important it is to follow the expected and established word counts in the industry. For example, many agents, editors, and publishers will not consider works that fall outside of expected word count ranges, and it may even be a reason to reject the work.

The reason is pretty simple: these word counts have been established based on audience and genre, and falling outside these ranges can be indicators of serious deficiencies in the novel (or that it may not be a novel at all, but rather a shorter story) or a lack of knowledge of the industry by the author.

And honestly, with such an overcrowded market, some agents will look for any reason to reject manuscripts, just because they have so many submissions (at least that’s what I’ve heard… please, feel free to hop in the comments and correct me if I’m wrong!).

So it becomes necessary for those of us seeking traditional publication in any form to pay attention to our word counts. And that can identify your writing tendencies.

Underwriting is when a writer will finish a first draft with a lower word count than they need. So, for example, Sea of Broken Glass was only 74k words at the end of the first draft. For reference, a typical young adult fantasy (the genre for SoBG) is expected to be between 80 and 100k words. Once again, anything outside of that range, and traditional publishers or agents may reject it for not conforming to industry standards.

But when I finished at 74k, SoBG was missing a lot of scenes and details that were needed to pull the story together. And when I rewrote it (draft 2), I ended up adding over 20k words. Right now, while it’s with betas, it’s a little over 96k words long, by far the longest thing I’ve ever written.

It just didn’t start that way.

And then there’s the opposite problem, overwriting. In overwriting, a writer will write WAY more words than needed for a book. So let’s take an example from a friend of mine. She had a YA fantasy that clocked in at near 200k words… twice as much as most agents and publishers will allow. So when she went back to editing, instead of bulking it out, she had to find ways to cut her word count by a lot.

Every writer has their own style when it comes to drafting and editing, and even specific books by the same writer can be different from a writer’s “normal.” But in general, the more works a writer writes, the closer they may get to their target word counts after draft one and the more they will recognize where they tend to fall on the scale.

So that’s me! Underwriters unite!

In the next couple of weeks, we will discuss a few ways to resolve either of these issues, first for the underwriters, then for the overwriters. Hopefully with a few tips and tricks up your sleeve, you can figure out how to drag your novel closer to its target word count.

Until then, let’s talk in the comments! Where do you fall on this spectrum? Do you follow traditional word counts for your works?

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NEWS!

Of the Clouds releases next Saturday, so Friday’s post will be moved to Saturday, and this blog post series will continue after that! Hooray!!!

Pinterest for Writers

Confused how Pinterest can help your writing? Read on!

If you’re anything like me, you love to save things. Pictures, old notes, that weird looking rock you found on a trail that one time.

But did you know there’s a digital way to make that work for your writing?

Yup, I’m talking Pinterest here. Digital hoarding. Er… digital collecting.

You may already be familiar with Pinterest, but if not, basically it’s a place where you can save (pin) pictures linked to websites, or just pictures you upload yourself. It’s just like the corkboard you might have over your desk, but you can also use it to link back to websites you want to remember.

And that opens up worlds of possibility for us as writers. But what ways can we make this work for us?

To start, we can create boards with subdivisions… basically the way I handle it is to create a board for a book or topic, then subdivide it into things like the world, specific characters, etc. I did this a lot for my WIP, Sea of Broken Glass. Check it out!

By using it this way, you can give yourself ideas for how to describe a certain character or things to place in your world. For me, it helps me to flesh out each element of the world. It helps me organize my thoughts and ideas (in conjunction with my handy story notebook).

When I’m researching, I can add or create pins with information I may need later, like statistics. I did this when I was working on Life After College, an adult mainstream book that I have on hold right now.

And beyond that, it helps me set the tone for my writing. It gives me feelings and inspires my mood to set me in the right mindspace for the world and the characters. It puts me there.

And that’s another way you can use Pinterest boards. You can create mood boards, like I did for This Cursed Flame which include elements that are simply meant to inspire you and place you in the world, rather than just help you with worldbuilding.

And if you look at that mood board again, there’s another thing we writers can use it for: marketing and sharing our work.

Once I complete a work, I make sure to include an image of the cover with a link to purchase it in the board. I also use Pinterest on occasion to share bits of my blog or pictures I’ve made for writers.

Really, there are tons of possibilities. All you have to do is sit down and start scrolling and pinning. There’s plenty of time to organize and pare it down to make it be the board you need it to be. And I do want to be clear here: I am not getting paid to endorse Pinterest. I am simply sharing it as a tool I use and have heard other authors lamenting their confusion. Hopefully this clears that up and gives you some ideas to kick-start your own work!

Happy writing!

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Your turn!

Do you use Pinterest? Do you use it for your writing? What are your feelings on it? Has it helped you? Or is it more of a distraction? Tell me in the comments!

Three Ways Author Behavior Drives Away Readers

I talked about something like this a little bit before, but I want to approach your author image from a different angle today.

As authors, we already know that our name is our brand. And that means the way we communicate is directly linked to our name…and our sales.

You see, I’ve been observing other authors online for a long time now, following stories of authors behaving badly, and reading posts like this one about how your behavior affects your sales and connections to readers. I’ve seen authors who get their fans to attack people who don’t like their work, authors directly attacking readers who leave bad reviews, and authors who do nothing but lament about their lack of sales and complain about all the reasons why they think their book isn’t selling (hint: those authors usually blame everything outside of their control).

Unfortunately, what some authors fail to notice is that their behavior is directly affecting how potential readers view them and their work…meaning they are losing sales by the way they are presenting themselves.

Let’s take a look at some of these examples.

1.Authors getting their fans to attack the “haters.” This is when an author will lament about how someone’s poor review or disinterest in their work personally hurt them, and their fans jump to their defense.

The problem with this is that they are manipulating the system. They give themselves plausible deniability, but everyone can see the melodrama and their behind-the-scenes approval of this behavior as their fans rip people to shreds.

For potential readers, this is incredibly off-putting. It can be downright scary. I’ve stopped reading authors and gotten rid of all their books for behavior like this. And so have plenty of others.

2. Authors attacking readers who leave bad reviews. Much like point #1 above, this is another case of authors behaving badly. Many times, these authors have a sense of self-importance, thinking that the reader couldn’t possibly have understood the bigger, deeper message they were trying to portray. Sometimes they even personally attack the person.

But the truth is that the author is unwilling to admit they may not have a perfect book. They would rather argue with their “haters” than admit any shortcomings in their writing.

There’s a reason authors are told not to read reviews. Besides the potential for reviews to be completely demotivating to an author, it’s really hard not to defend yourself. But when you respond to these kinds of comments, you may be opening yourself up to an argument.

Nothing good can come of this. The reader walks away, but the author is left just looking bad.

And it is never okay to personally attack anyone when critiquing a piece of writing, including a book review.

3. Authors constantly lamenting their lack of sales or success on their public platforms. This one drives me nuts. By constantly complaining, you are giving your followers a negative view of you and your brand.

Don’t let on if you aren’t selling well. Let people think everything is normal. When you constantly complain, you’re creating an atmosphere of guilt and pity from the reader, and even if they buy your book out of that, they are probably prepared to hate it…or they may never read it. They may start to feel manipulated by you into buying a book, and that can lead to resentment or loss of followers.

Act like you’re a success, whether you feel like one or not. You wrote a book! You published it! That IS a success! Be positive, have an optimistic outlook in your interactions with readers, and generally be kind, and people will follow you. And the more people follow you, the more likely they are to buy your book.

And even if you are seriously upset about your success or feeling like a failure in your writing…don’t say so. You can say that in the privacy of your personal relationships, but don’t complain to your fans. That’s not why they’re there.

They are there because they want to interact with you. And they will leave if the interactions are draining, negative, or a waste of their time.

Long story short, readers follow authors online and leave reviews because they want to. How we as authors interact with readers can really boost us or it can ruin our fanbase.

So don’t let yourself get in the way of your success. Remember that you are a professional. Make sure that everything you say online reflects that. Because, and this is so cliche by now but still fits, the internet is forever.

Make your social media accounts positive experiences for your followers. Don’t engage with negative comments.

And absolutely keep writing, friends.

Don’t Trick Your Readers

Today I want to talk about something I don’t think I’ve discussed before. How writers can fulfill the promises they make to readers… and just how they make those promises.

You see, every reader will enter into a story with some kind of expectation, whether it is regarding the genre, the target age, the tone of the writing, or the level of maturity (think gore, sex, and language). They form those opinions based on a number of things, and if we as writers do not fulfill those expectations, the reader is likely to become angry, feel betrayed, and walk away from our writing. Sometimes for good.

But what promises are we making? What promises are readers seeing? Let’s take a closer look.

The Cover

The first and biggest glimpse a reader will get into your story is through the cover. That’s right, readers DO judge books by their covers!

The purpose of a cover is twofold: grab readers’ attention and convey to those readers what they can expect.

First, we want our covers to be eye-catching. We want it to make readers stop scrolling through options and click on that link or that cover to find out more. It’s their first chance to learn about our story.

But the cover’s content will also determine which readers will stop on your book’s page. For example, a reader interested in clean fantasy is unlikely to stop on a book with two half-dressed people kissing on the cover. They will more likely stop on a cover with a castle or a dragon.

You see, the cover you give your book sets the mood for the story and, if it’s doing its job, tells readers about the genre. This is why it’s so important to be aware of what other authors’ book covers in your genre look like, because this is what readers are expecting. If you give them a cover that seems like it might be one thing when the story is really another, you may find yourself the not-so-proud owner of a one-star review. You will have unwittingly tricked the reader.

Your other work

While there are other ways you can make promises to readers, such as how you market the book, I only want to focus on one more today: your other work.

As an author, you may have already heard that your name is your brand. The things you write, the topics and themes you pursue, and the content and maturity level of your writing all influence what a reader will come to expect from your new works. This is why so many authors only publish in one genre… or do they?

Actually, this is one reason pen names exist. Readers will absolutely associate your name with the books you have already written. But if you want to write something completely different, they may expect it to be along the same type of work you’ve already done. Often, the solution is the creation of another pen name to associate with the new works.

Personally, I have one pen name, and that is the only name under which I share my work. But there may come a time in the future that I need to compartmentalize into another name, such as if I move from YA into adult or fantasy into fiction. And that is a possibility I know is open.

One good example of this is Mira Grant. Mira Grant is the pen name for an author who writes zombie fiction, specifically YA zombie fiction (The Newsflesh books). I found out a few years back that she is also the same author who writes one of the urban fantasy series I like, the October Daye series, under the name Seanan McGuire (who also penned some other fantasy reads). Readers have very different expectations from these two distinct names, and for that reason, she compartmentalizes her work into multiple names.

How do we fulfill these promises?

First and foremost, be cognizant of the way you present your work. Don’t misrepresent it, and do your research on how other authors in the same genre are presenting and marketing their work.

Second, make sure you aren’t breaking promises you’ve made through your other work. At a minimum, let your readers know when a book is different from what you’ve previously published. If it’s a minimal difference such as the level of maturity or how clean a read it is, you may not need anything else, particularly if it’s still in the same genre and age category. And if it’s very different, perhaps consider starting a new pen name and letting your current readers know, in case they want to follow along.

Finally, pay attention to your readers. If they are confused or you seem to be getting a lot of negative reviews along the lines of “this wasn’t what I expected,” then you may need to evaluate changing your target audience for the work or rebranding under a new name. Be open to the changes and listen to the advice of others (but of course, use that advice to make your own decisions).

Your Turn

These are the things I’ve come up with about times I’ve felt tricked by a cover or an author, but I know there are so many other examples, such as false advertising (Example: get this free book! Just kidding, it’s just a sample.).

Usually, it’s not intentional. Writers don’t want to trick their readers (except for plot twists!). But we still need to keep the possibility in mind and be sensitive to what our readers are telling us.

And now I want to hear from you. Was there a time you felt tricked by a writer or a book? How did it make you feel? What are your suggestions and other experiences for fulfilling promises to readers? Tell me below!

Interacting with Authors 101

Ever wonder how (and when) to contact an author? Wonder no more.

Okay, so this week I had a lot of feelings. Maybe it was because I turned 30 (that milestone of birthdays). Maybe it was the stress at work (hello, mountains and hours of data analysis!). Maybe it was things I read online (isn’t that everyone?).

One of those things I read online was an article articulating all the things I have been observing online for years, but to an extreme degree. You see, a writer friend sent me this article by Jesse Singal. You should definitely give it a read. And as a result, this blog post happened. There is so much fear in the YA writing community that people can’t express any kind of dialogue regarding diversity or the witch-hunting mentality at work for fear of losing their fans or careers. If they do, swarms of angry internet users descend on them.

Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t call out problematic things when we see them (and I’ll come back to that in a bit). But I am saying that this bullying behavior is dangerous and toxic. It is a suppression of ideas when books should be making us think, making us question things. It is censoring the spread of ideas and information and killing the opportunity for open discussion and growth. And it doesn’t solve the problem; it only serves to foster hurt feelings and bitterness.

Is that really healthy? No.

But how do we interact with authors in productive, healthy ways?

First, let’s start with things to remember about authors:

  1. Authors are people, too. They have just as many feelings as everyone else. They really exist, and the things people say about them and their work really do affect them.
  2. Most of the time, they’re doing their best. Yes, sometimes they don’t succeed. But that is an opportunity for growth, just like every other mistake or less-than-perfect attempt out there. They grow and learn with every book they write. If they’re given the chance.
  3. Authors are not the books they write. Their characters do not necessarily represent their personal views of the world, and their stories may not have the meaning you think they do (though half a book is the reader’s experience, so that does matter, and hopefully the author has taken that into consideration during edits).
  4. Authors, and their books, are not perfect. They do everything they can to make it shine and polish it up, but there is always going to be something that someone will hate or disagree with. And that’s okay. We seem to be stuck in a climate where disagreement is obscene, and it is leading to an atmosphere that stifles creative and personal growth as well as diversity.

Now, there are a few different situations in which a reader may want to interact with an author. Let’s start with the simplest scenario.

You read a book. You fall in love with it. And you just can’t keep it to yourself.

Should you contact the author? YES!

It is incredibly encouraging to authors to hear positive feedback on their writing! This is a good time to let an author know you’ve enjoyed it, and it will put a smile on their face, guaranteed. Spread the positivity!

You read a book. You hate everything about it. You didn’t click with it, the story was derivative, and you frankly could have written something better yourself.

Should you contact the author? NO!

Why? Because they are people. Sure, leave your review as you see fit (as long as it’s about the book and not the author… don’t make it personal), but don’t tag an author or otherwise direct their attention to this negative review. They don’t need to see it. It doesn’t encourage them, it can hinder their creativity, and it can do a whole lot more harm than good.

And finally, the idea that brought me to this post in the first place…

You read a book. It has problematic elements that are pretty insensitive and offensive.

Should you contact the author? MAYBE.

Let me explain.

If you feel you can discuss the matter with a calm, level head and have an open discussion, then by all means, contact the author. But if you can’t, leave it to someone else. Write your review, do NOT tag the author, and move on.

And if you do contact the author, here are some tips:

  1. Contact them privately. Do not make a public post to shame or call them out. Oftentimes, the problem you see may be unintentional, and the author is more than happy to hear the feedback and fix the problem, or to correct it in their future writing if the book has already been published and can no longer be changed.
  2. Remember you could be wrong… and accept it if you are. I have seen people shaming and tearing apart books and their authors when they think it has crossed lines of culture and history when in reality it had nothing to do with the problems these hunters are shouting about.
  3. Be kind and tactful. Instead of yelling at the author or shaming them, which can automatically put a person on the defensive and make them less receptive to what you have to say, use phrases like, “I liked your story, but I think [this particular element] may be offensive to some people. Would you be willing to talk about it?” Be honest, but don’t let that make you rude or hurtful.
  4. Offer to be a beta reader or sensitivity reader. Obviously, if you are not in the demographic for which the problematic element is problematic, do not offer to sensitivity read. But you can still suggest that sensitivity readers will strengthen the book. Either way, continue to remember to be kind.
  5. Don’t make it personal. This is about the story, not the person. An author is not their book.

But what if the author is not receptive to your feedback? What if they’re downright mean or argumentative?

  1. Do not engage. Thank them for their time, then stop responding. Some authors just will not be open to a discussion, and it’s better to walk away than to try to argue with a fool.
  2. Leave your review of the book. Don’t make it personal, just like I mentioned already. Keep it focused on the book. Call out the problematic elements or what you didn’t like. But keep it professional.
  3. Don’t start a mob. There is so much mob mentality on so many of these topics online, particularly Twitter and Tumblr. It’s so easy to get caught up in it, but it’s not productive and only hurts more feelings. Again, keep it professional. Even if the author looks like a fool, make sure people can’t mistake you for one, as well.

If you remember nothing else…

…just remember that authors are people with feelings and failings, just like you and everyone else. Treat them that way, the way you would want to be treated if you were in their shoes. And keep in mind…

Someone else’s behavior never gives you permission to be cruel.

Now, I want to hear from you. Are you an author? A reader? What are your thoughts? Tell me below, and let’s talk about talking.

Until then, happy writing and happy reading!

Drowning in Books

Drowning in books? I am. But I’m happy about it. Are you?

Did you know that the TBR is never-ending?

There was once a time when I thought my TBR pile (TBR: “to be read”) would possibly be completed, but I have since come to realize the plight of almost every reader everywhere: TBR piles never shrink. They only grow.

We live in an age where people (like me, next spring!) can publish without the help of an agent or a publishing house, leading to a large number of books being released that may not have ever been available to the public even ten years ago. Indie publishing is a huge market, and this means that there is an overabundance of books I want to read.

So now I have over 400 books on my ereader, of which I’ve read less than 50.

And then there’s the physical books, the ones I usually buy to keep up with the publishing industry, since I plan on querying also (side note: having both independently and traditionally published books makes someone a hybrid author… and that’s my end goal). It’s vitally important to a writer/author to keep up with the current market by reading new releases. Otherwise you can get left behind.

So my TBR shelf at home, a literal shelf in my library, is sagging under the weight of so many books, bought with the best of intentions and left until I get around to them.

And my digital TBR list on Goodreads is well over 700 books now.

And for a long time, this seemed really daunting. It made me sad to think of all the books I would never get to read.

But recently, I heard it put another way, which is in line with the thoughts I am starting to have about my TBR: don’t be afraid to keep adding to your list. Yes, maybe it seems overwhelming, but if you limit yourself because of what you haven’t read, you may miss out on your new favorite book. And every book you buy, even if it’s a free copy through Amazon or a giveaway, supports the author and encourages them to write more. (Check out K.M. Robinson on Facebook to see this post… she’s a great author to follow, too! And she discusses how the TBR affects authors in particular.)

And then there’s one other point I’d like to make. Having a lot of unread books isn’t a bad thing because we all go through seasons in our lives where we need something different. Personally, I cycle through genres depending on how I’m feeling or what I’m feeling like reading that week. Or month, as is usually the case with my physical books anymore. So having these books in your own personal library, whether physical or digital, gives you the opportunity to read the thing you want to read right now. You don’t have to worry about not having a fantasy when you want fantasy or a contemporary when you need fluffy. You just have to go get it off your shelf. And reading becomes a much more enjoyable experience and escape as a result.

So yes. I’m drowning in books. But you know what? I’m happy about it.

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What about you? Do you feel overwhelmed or overjoyed about your TBR? Does anything I’ve said above make you think a little differently? Let’s talk in the comments!

Reminder time!

1. I’m releasing a book soon! You can subscribe to the newsletter to hear all the most up to date information. Hint: I’m working on a special newsletter bonus right now, and subscribers will be the first to get their hands on it!

2. I opened a business! If you’re a writer in need of editing, consulting, or maps for your book, come talk to me! You can find out more on the Services and Testimonials pages. 🙂

Translating Writing Jargon

Are you a new writer? Old writer? Somewhere-in-between writer? I don’t know about you, but when I started writing, all the acronyms and writer/publisher-specific terms confused me like nothing else. They would swirl and dance around my head every time I tried to read something new. I’d have to stop and take a break to figure out what the writer was talking about in the first place. And I never did find someone who took the time to sit down and explain it all.

Well, friends who may still be confused, you are in luck. Today, I am giving you a not-comprehensive guide to jargon in writing and publishing for beginners. I am listing off every acronym and writing term I had to learn (that I can think of).

Let’s start with some common acronyms:

  1. WIP: work in progress. This refers to the piece(s) of writing you are currently creating.
  2. POV: point of view. This is the perspective the writing is from, usually referring to a specific character.
  3. MC: main character or protagonist. This is the main person you are writing about.
    1. Along the same lines, FMC and MMC mean “female main character” and “male main character” (thanks to Hannah on Twitter for this!)
  4. OC: original character. This is something I see more commonly online, like on Tumblr, but it may come in handy to know in the future.
  5. CP: critique partner. This is a person you will hand your work to (often in exchange for theirs), typically after a round or two of editing and revising. They will (ideally) provide feedback on the development of your world, characters, and plot, as well as other detailed feedback on your manuscript as a whole.
  6. ARC: advanced reader copy. These are copies of a book that come out ahead of publication and are given to different readers and influencers (like book bloggers) to gain reviews on sales platforms like Amazon and Goodreads. These copies are not to be resold.

Okay, that’s the acronyms. But what about other terms?

  1. Alpha reader: this has been defined many ways, but the way the sticks out in my head is that an alpha reader is a person within the writing profession (a professional) who reads your work, often before you have done extensive editing work on it. They are typically not paid.
  2. Beta reader: this is kind of like an alpha reader, but a common definition is that these are readers in your target audience who read the story ahead of release after many revisions have been completed. They will offer you feedback, depending on what you ask for, and they are not paid.
  3. Advanced reader: this is a person who reads the book ahead of publication for review.
  4. Filter words: these are words that act as middle-men in your writing, such as “thought”, “saw”, “smelled”, etc. They can place a buffer between the reader and the writing (again, thanks to Hannah! She explained it so well!)
  5. Query: this is part of the publishing process in which a writer will compose a “query letter” and send it to an agent or small publishing house. I could go on and on about this, but that’s the gist of it. We’ll save the detail for another post.
  6. Agent (or literary agent): this is a person who works with authors to take their book to publishers. They must be queried, and the agent must accept the work and sign a contract with the author. They should NOT charge you. They may also work with you to continue editing your work, though you should only present them with something you have polished and completed (non-fiction is the exception, but that’s for another day).
  7. Agency: this is a company full of agents.
  8. Publishing house or publisher: this is a company that produces and sells books.
  9. Traditional publishing: this is the type of publishing many people are familiar with in which books are sold to major publishers by an agent and are released to bookstores and online sales platforms.
  10. Indie (or self) publishing: this is the type of publishing in which the author is responsible for taking the book from concept to available for purchase. They may or may employ the help of editors and designers along the way. This may also be known as independent publishing.
  11. Small press: this often refers to the type of publisher who does not require an agent to submit work. Authors can directly query their work to the publisher.
  12. Hybrid publishing: this is when a writer publishes using both an indie and traditional publishing formula. They have multiple books with at least one in each type of publishing.
  13. Freelance writing: this is work that is done for pay in which the author is self-employed or is writing without a long-term commitment to the company or person publishing the work.
  14. Book launch: this is the process of publishing a book. The launch date is the same as the release date, and the book launch is the work and promotions the author (and any other involved party) puts into generating interest and sales for the release, whether it is pre-sales (before the release date) or after release.

And what about social medias? Spend enough time on any of these platforms, and you’ll find plenty of people in these communities:

  1. Bookstagram: this is a hashtag on Instagram where readers post all about books.
  2. Booktube: likewise, this is anyone posting about books on YouTube.
  3. Authortube: and anyone posting about writing or author-related content on YouTube.
  4. Booklr: this is the Tumblr book community.

Whew! That’s a lot of things. But I am sure I didn’t include everything you may have questions about or experience with. So, help me out!

What other author, book, and writing jargon can you think of that I didn’t mention here? What terms did you have to learn when you started writing? Share them in the comments, and tell us what they are! Or, if you have other questions, let me know and I will do my best to answer them!

My Four Favorite Writing Tools

As writers write more, they eventually start to settle into patterns. This may include how they research, how (or if) they outline, what kind of background work they do before starting, and what order they write in. But one other thing that writers tend to develop as they go is their arsenal of writing tools. Note: I do not mean resources, like websites; that will be a different post.

Today, I wanted to share some of my favorite tools of the trade. These are things I use specifically for each of my projects (some more than others), and do not include reference materials.

Let’s dive right in!

  1. Writeometer: This is an app I keep on my phone that lets you record all your word counts. It’s been incredibly helpful to me during slumps to keep me going, adding motivation and a reward-based system for hitting your goals. Another part that’s super helpful is the ability to track how long it will take to finish a project… and compare it to a deadline, either self-imposed or given to you. Highly recommend!

    Image result for writeometer
    The nifty little logo for Writeometer.
  2. Google Docs: So, it used to be that I used Word for all my writing. Then I tried Scrivener, but I couldn’t quite get the hang of it. Now that I travel back and forth between computers all the time, I’ve found that Google Docs is my favorite place for drafting new stories. They’re easy to share with critique partners and betas, and it has all the functionality I really need. Once I’m ready to put the submission manuscript together, I’ll migrate it to Word, but until then, Docs is perfect.
  3. Pen and Paper: Yup, this one is easy. More specifically, notebooks! I tend to do a lot of research for my stories, and so I need an organized place to take my notes. For every project (as I’ve mentioned before), I pick up a new notebook, one that I love, that I would want to carry around, and that inspires me. Pro tip: I picked this idea up from Alexandra Bracken’s newsletter… if you don’t get that, she’s amazing and shares her own writing tips and progress there. She’s also super nice and down-to-earth. You should sign up!
  4. Pinterest: Finally, one of my first go-tos is a new, fresh, clean Pinterest board for all my projects. I love creating a place with visual inspiration for what I’m working on; it definitely gives me an aesthetic and a mood (like an actual mood board, but digital) for when I need a boost to jump into the world. It’s also a pretty great place to save information and ideas I find online. I’ll share some of my personal boards with you, so you can get an idea of the kinds of things I save.

Pinterest boards for stories:

Pinterest boards for things I might write one day:

Finally, Pinterest boards with writing resources:

  • Things for Writers, or resources the help writers with blogging, general writing, useful websites, etc.
  • Writing Reference, or guides that might come in handy for creating worlds and stories

5. Coffee: …just kidding. But I do love coffee!

So there you have it: my four favorite writing tools. One of these days, I’ll finish compiling my list of favorite writing resources and share it with you. But until then, enjoy these boards and ideas. And share your favorite writing tools with me in the comments!