Easy ways to up your literary game

I know I’m the one who is supposed to dispense advice around here, but I’d love to hear how you balance your writing time with all the other demands of life. Some weeks, despite my best planning and intentions, it just doesn’t come together.

As my friend and fellow book coach Terri Thayer has said to me, we do this by choice. We all sit down to write knowing that at times we’re torturing ourselves. I remind myself that I could be doing other things. And sometimes I choose to do those other things, and that is okay.

There are a number of ways that you can support your writing without actually putting words on a page or screen. For those times that the writing can’t or won’t happen, for whatever reason, these things can help keep your head in the game and also help you support other writers. Be a good literary citizen!

Find Support and Community

There’s a reason this comes first—it’s so important. For some of us, it’s easier than others. I’m fortunate to live in a city with a vibrant literary community, a nationally known writing non-profit, and lots of like-minded folks. In my coaching work, though, I’ve talked with plenty of writers who live in small towns or more rural areas that just don’t have that kind of network available to them.

If there is one silver lining to the pandemic, it’s that it brought so many of us together online and that’s where I’d encourage you to start.

Look for writing organizations that focus on your genre or audience. Here are a few. Many of these groups also have regional chapters to help make local connections.

• Women Fiction Writer’s Association (WFWA)

• Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)

• Sisters in Crime

• Historical Novel Society (HNS) 

• Romance Writers of America (RWA)

• Horror Writers Association (HWA)

• Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA)

Check out your local bookstore(s) and also larger independent bookstores. Even though we can gather in person again, plenty of places are continuing with virtual events or at least an online component. And don’t forget your library!

 I would love to hear from you about how you find support and community. The more we can connect with each other, the better, even if it is just an occasional check-in to vent about how hard this is.

Read Books

Lots and lots of books. Certainly read books about craft and the books that make up a ‘canon’ in whatever genre you are working in. But challenge yourself to try new things too—pick a genre you’ve never tried before, or get on the library waiting list for the buzzy new book that everyone’s talking about. Check out Hoopla and Libby.

And while you’re at it, think about how to diversify your reading list. The joy, the pleasure, the magic of reading is that it allows us to experience life from someone else’s shoes. Anyone with a reader’s curiosity will gain from bringing new perspectives into their world.  There are tons of lists out there that highlight books by diverse authors.

• Here’s a spreadsheet from @ReadInColour of releases by Black authors in 2023. This is a living document, so bookmark it to keep it handy. (She also has a sheet for 2022.)

• Electric Lit’s list of 62 books by Women of Color to read in 2023.

• Also from Electric Lit, the Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books of Spring 2023.

• From BookRiot, 22 Must Read Indigenous Authors

If you have other resources you’d like to share, please send them my way and I’ll add them to the list. (I know I’ve only highlighted a few here and there are many, many more!)

Stay Curious

That thing (or things) that your critique partners or coach keep calling out in the feedback? Yes, you’re allowed to get frustrated—you’re trying, damnit! 

But once you’ve indulged that snit, try turning it around. Ask yourself how you can get better at it? What resources are available to help you improve? I guarantee there are blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and books out there that can help you.

But Kerry, I hear you say, how many different things can someone say about how to craft a good scene (for example)? Yes, there’s a lot out there, but there are also an infinite number of writers, who all learn and process differently. I’ve seen it happen to writing friends, clients, and in my own work—a lesson could be repeated multiple different ways and only on the nth iteration did it finally click. The lightbulb moment doesn’t always happen on the first or tenth try.

Keep Learning

Granted, this is in some ways a restatement of the previous two, but it is bigger than that as well. None of us will ever know all there is to know about the craft of writing and the best writers keep working at it regularly. It’s not a defeat or a weakness to acknowledge that there are things you can improve in.

The same is true of being a good literary citizen. Maybe you’ve had a bad experience in a workshopping class or with a critique group. Maybe conferences are too overwhelming or energy-draining to contemplate. Maybe many of the things you’ve found are cost-prohibitive.

Don’t give up! Figure out what you need, not what you feel like you ‘should’ do. Try things and give them a fair shot but also don’t torture yourself when something isn’t working. Do NOT put up with anyone making you feel unsafe or making critique personal. You and your story are valuable and you have every right to take up space, be heard, and taken seriously.

OK, now it’s your turn! If I’ve inspired you to try something new, please let me know how it goes! And if you have additional resources to share, please email me–I intend this blog post to be a living, growing thing.

Reading Recommendation: We’re solidly in the February doldrums here in the Northeast, so I thought I would share a recent favorite, set in a much warmer locale: Vanessa Riley’s Island Queen. The protagonist, Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, started her life enslaved and rose to become the wealthiest female landowner in the Caribbean in the early 1800s and we follow “Doll” through it all. This book hits so many sweet spots for me - historical fiction based on the life of a real woman, non-linear timeline - not only in terms of what I love to read but also in terms of the book I am working on. Riley has several other novels, including other historical fiction and historical mysteries, that I’m looking forward to checking out.

What have you been reading? I would love some recommendations.

Cheers! ♥️

Kerry