Blog
What Is a Manuscript Diagnostic? (And How It's Different From a Developmental Edit)
You can feel something isn't working in your novel, but you can't see what. A manuscript diagnostic is how you find out.
A Writer’s Guide to Fiction Genres (and Why They Matter More Than You Think)
Identifying a genre is solidifying your promise with your readers. It sets expectations about the kind of story you’re telling, the emotional ride the reader is about to depart on, and the ultimate narrative destination.
Whether you’re deep in your first draft or polishing your query letter, understanding genre will make your creative choices sharper and your publishing path clearer.
A Writing Commitment You Can Keep When Life Gets Busy
This is for all the writers (and hey, all the humans) who do that supremely human thing once the bloom has left the rose of the shiny new project: we stall out. The momentum flags. Writing falls to the bottom of our to-do list, below laundry, weeding, and cleaning out our email inbox.
Like many of us, I have big energy around the shiny new things and set out, totally gung ho, with plans and the best intentions. And then life and the real world intervene, and it gets harder to sustain. Streaks get broken. Those unanswered questions now need answers and they’re not easily found. I fall down my beloved research rabbit holes.
Don't Agonize Alone! Make and Maintain Connections to Other Writers
Why writing community matters and where to find it: coaching, critique partners, and writing organizations, with links by genre.
It Feels So Real, Can You Taste It? Using the Five Senses in Fiction
Today I want to talk about one of the most underrated aspects of writing (imho): sensory details.
It’s easy for this kind of writing to get lost, because we can rightly get focused on bigger issues of plot and character development. But starting from a sensory detail can be a great way to spark your imagination and bring new life to the page.
Because of That: A But/Therefore Test for Your Novel’s Plot
I once wrote about 145,000 words of “and then this happened.” My protagonist’s life, event after event, in order. Every scene was fine on its own. Together they added up to a very long list.
What finally helped was a test I now use on my own work and with the writers I coach. Between every pair of scenes, you should be able to put one of three connectors: because of that, therefore, or but. Each one means the first scene caused or complicated the second. If none of them fits, and the only honest link is “and then,” you have a sequence, not a plot.
Who Do You Think You Are? (the important character questions to ask)
Who is telling the story?
The simplest answer is your main character, right? But that’s not always the case. Plenty of books have multiple point of view characters, by which I mean the reader gets to experience the story through the eyes of more than one character. This is often, but not always, done by switching point of view (POV) from chapter to chapter.
So there’s your first choice: are you going to tell the story through multiple points of view or just one?
More Powerful Questions to Answer About Your Novel
Five questions to answer about your novel at any stage: your genre, plot, timeline, where the narrator stands in time, and the world of the story.
Three Important Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Novel
Did you make your November writing (or revising) plan? Have you blocked out time on your calendar and told your friends and family that this time is non-negotiable? If you did, AWESOME! If you didn’t, get after it. There’s still time.
As promised, this week we’re going to take a look at a tried and true planning tool that I use in both my own writing and my coaching practice: the Blueprint for a Book.
You Haven't Failed: What to Do When Your Writing Plan Falls Apart
One of the things that plagues most of us at some time or another is that we’re afraid we’re not sticking to the plan or meeting expectations. Every one of my clients has at some point apologized to me for not getting ‘enough’ done, not meeting a deadline, or for taking a break when they need it.
Why September Is My Real New Year
Commit to a writing practice, whatever that looks like for your life.
Very few of us have the luxury of devoting hours of time each day to writing. We have to fit it in amongst all our other obligations. We do it because we love it, because we have something to say that we want to share with the world, and because we feel like words and stories are important.
4 Ways to Keep Working on Your Book When You Can’t Write
I know there are people who thrive in the heat. I am not one of them—when the temp rockets into the 90s (and with the attendant humidity soup we get here) I wilt like an unwatered plant and it can be hard to squeeze any good words out of my brain.
So I thought it might be useful to share some ways to keep working on your book without actually working on your book, if your creative juices have sizzled away on a day like today…or anytime the muse has fled and you’re feeling frustrated or stuck.
How Project Management Frameworks Can Help You Plan - and Finish! - Your Novel
Greetings from Project Management-land, where I lived much of my life last month. While glancing longingly at my WIP Scrivener file as I sorted through prerequisite tasks, scheduling hours, and figuring out if I could clone some co-workers, I also thought a bit about the role of project management in a complex writing project—like, say, writing a novel?!
Stick with me - I’m going to talk a tiny bit about PM work and then relate it to writing.
There are two project management major frameworks (at least in the digital world that I inhabit): Waterfall and Agile.
Is a Writing Conference Worth It? A Case for Going, Even If You’re an Introvert
Project management-land has swallowed me up lately but fortunately I had a quick break in order to celebrate book things with my friend and fellow coach Samantha Skal at ThrillerFest in NYC.
4 Project Management Tips for Finishing Your Novel
I’ve been thinking a lot about project management lately. As you may know, I accidentally fell into PM work as part of my editorial job way back in the day and as it turns out, there are a lot more opportunities for project managers than there are for editors. Go figure!
When I first started my book coaching business, my mentor Jennie Nash encouraged me to lean into these skills as part of my coaching toolkit. I had left my full-time PM job in 2016, being totally burned out on the gig (despite loving the company I was working for). Even 4 years later, I wasn’t ready to dip my toes back into those waters, no matter how much it might have helped me.
I Admit: I've Been Cheating On My Book.
When another book about my protagonist was announced, my revision stalled. What I learned about breaks, setbacks, and finding joy in writing again.
You’re Not Ready to Query
Put your best book forward! How to make sure you're ready to query
One of the most common things I have heard (and read) from agents is that a huge percentage of the work that comes across their desk, especially from the slush pile (which is where we all go unless you have some direct line or special introduction), is that the work just isn’t ready.
Let’s back up a second to look at the process:
(If your goal is to self-publish your book, or work with a vanity or hybrid press, or if you’re writing for the sheer pleasure of it, you may think today’s post is not for you but most of this advice is just as valid—it’s just not quite as critical because you have more control over the process.)
6 Ways to Fall Back in Love With Your Novel
I confess, the idea behind this came from a writing class I took with the wonderful Michele Ferrari, and when she shared it with us, it hit me particularly hard (in a good way).
Very broadly, we probably consider our works-in-progress in one of two ways
As work, a project that we have committed ourselves to and are determined to see across the finish line because of that commitment
A hobby, a creative pastime, something that we’re doing for the joy of itMaybe it’s just me, but before Michele shared this idea, I had never thought about the fact that I was in a relationship with my novel. And like any relationship, there would be ups-and-downs. It would need to be cultivated, nurtured. I would love it, I would hate it.
Beware the Bland Book on the Back of the Door
This takes me back, all the way to 2018, when I had what I was sure was the final iteration of my outline. 🤣🤣🤣 To paraphrase Leslie Knope: Kerry, you beautiful tropical fish.
No one gets it 100% right the first time. Writing a novel is a process, not an event.
What I really had, I know now, was a bunch of plot points. Their only connection was that they tracked the events of my protagonist’s life. There was no real meaning, nothing juicy–just the dreaded ‘and then this happened’. And, friends, I wrote 145K words worth of ‘and this this happened’. Blerg.
Are You a 'Real' Writer?
Have you (or anyone you know) ever said this? “Yes, I’ve written (or am writing) a book, but I’m not a real writer.”
Bullshit. Friends, this makes me mad. If you have a writer friend who says this, please, gently and with compassion, tell them they are full of it. If you say, or even think this about yourself, please STOP.