Outside feedback is vital to the success of your manuscript. 

As I’ve quoted many times before on my YouTube channel, according to Terry Pratchett, “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”

Our first drafts are imperfect translations of the perfect story in our minds. This version of the story isn’t ready for the eyes of the reader. But in order to improve the weaknesses in our story, we first need to be able to locate them. That’s where critique partners (CPs) and beta readers come in. 

Before we get into where you can find CPs and beta readers, let’s first talk about what they are.

Critique Partner Vs. Beta Reader

Critique partners are writers who provide feedback on your work, usually by request (to exchange chapters or full manuscripts).

Beta readers are people who read your manuscript as a reader first (rather than a writer). Most of the time, beta readers are not writers.

A good CP will:

• Be kind and professional when providing any kind of feedback
• Be timely in their feedback and maintain agreed-upon deadlines
• Be attentive to the feedback you are looking for (such as big-picture editing vs. grammar)
• Find any faults or shortcomings in your writing (that you may have overlooked), including world-building holes, wonky pacing, pointing out when a character is two-dimensional, and much, MUCH more
• Show you the worst and best of your writing to help you to reach your full potential
• Provide specific recommendations for areas of improvement (without telling the writer how to write their story), and not simply “I don’t like this”
• Encourage you to write the best version of the story you want to write—and not the story they want to see

A good beta reader will do many of these things as well. However, since many beta readers are not writers, their feedback will not be as in-depth. For example, common feedback from beta readers might be something like: “I was bored in this section.” Then it’s up to you, the writer, to determine where your pacing lagged and how you can make that scene or chapter more engaging. (Unless, of course, you meant for the pacing in that chapter to slow down.)  

Finding a Critique Partner or Beta Reader Is a Lot Like Dating

I will be the first to tell you that finding CPs and beta readers, especially when you are first starting out, is exceedingly difficult. It’s a heck of a lot like dating—where you put out feelers to see who would be interested in swapping chapters. If it’s not a good fit, then you amicably part ways and start again. If you find someone who clicks, you have to continue to channel your inner chill and ask if they want to swap manuscripts. (Or whatever process works best for you.)

Personally, I’ve probably worked with an upwards of fifty CPs over the course of the last ten years, and I’ve now found my humans. It’s not going to take everyone nearly as long, but be prepared that the first CPs and beta readers you connect with might not be your tribe. 

Where Do You Find Critique Partners and Beta Readers?

First and foremost, you must put yourself out there. You can’t wait for them to come to you. Below are a few places where there are writing and/or reading communities and you can potentially find CPs and beta readers.

TWITTER 

• If you see an interesting pitch in a Twitter pitch contest, tweet at that person and ask them if they are looking for a CP.
• Follow writing hashtags, such as #amwriting, #writingcommunity, and so on. Start chatting with writers and see if anyone there wants to swap stories. 

INSTAGRAM

• Similar to Twitter, follow the writing hashtags to see who is currently writing a book and might be looking for feedback. Be a friendly, normal human and engage with them in the comments. When it feels natural, ask them if they want to swap stories. 

YOUTUBE

• I’ve said this in my iWriterly videos, and I’ll say it here. There are writing communities on YouTube. Don’t be afraid to jump into comments on my videos (and other writing videos) and ask other writers if they want to exchange chapters with you. AuthorTube is a great place to connect with writers, especially in the comments. But respect the person if they say no. 

FACEBOOK WRITING GROUPS

• There are many writing groups on Facebook, some of which are dedicated exclusively to beta reading. Do some research, ask your fellow writer friends what they have used, and see what happens!

GOODREADS 

• Unlike the other recommendations I’ve offered thus far, Goodreads is a community of readers (vs. writers). This may be where you find more beta readers than CPs. However, definitely check out some of the groups on this platform for beta reading. There are lots of voracious readers!

LOCAL WRITING GROUPS AND SOCIETIES

• Depending on what age category and genre you write in, you might want to check out some local chapters for writing societies, such as SCBWI. 
• If you’re unable or do not want to pay the annual fee to be a part of writing societies, you could also check out places like Meetup, which hosts a number of different groups.  

One thing I recommend to all writers looking to find CPs and beta readers is to post on whatever social media platforms you are most active on, saying you are looking for volunteers to read your book and provide constructive criticism. However, if you have an existing author platform, it’s much easier to call for beta readers and have folks interested in reading your story (than if you have no platform at all). Still, I do think it’s worth trying—in addition to proactively putting yourself out there in the handful of communities and places I’ve recommended above. 

Best of luck finding your writing tribe! 

MEG LATORRE

Meg LaTorre is a writer, YouTuber (iWriterly), creator of the free query critique platform, Query Hack, co-host of the Publishable show, blogger, and she formerly worked at a literary agency. She also has a background in magazine publishing, medical/technical writing, and journalism. To learn more about Meg, visit her website, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, sign up for her monthly newsletter, and subscribe to her YouTube channel, iWriterly.

The post How to Find Critique Partners & Beta Readers appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Writing a novel is flipping difficult. It often takes years to complete your first novel (and even more years after that to write a good one). You heard that right — writers’ first books are usually a hot mess. That is because, as untested authors, we don’t yet know how to write a book. 

On average, most writers pursuing traditional publication write four novels prior to getting a literary agent. In other words, it takes most writers writing a few books to get the hang of things. 

If you are reading this, you are likely curious about how you can shorten your learning curve and write a better book more quickly. Let’s talk about the eleven ways you can improve your novel-writing skills today. 

1. Acknowledge That You Don’t Know Everything and Your Writing Isn’t Perfect

One surefire sign of a newbie writer is thinking your writing is perfection. Nothing anyone can say is applicable because if they have a critique, it means they don’t understand your story. (And not that your story needs improving — certainly not that!) 

I was there, friends. Once upon a time, I thought my books were the next NY Times bestsellers and ready for publication — often after completing the first draft. 

As I’ve said many times before on my YouTube channel, iWriterly: first drafts are not final drafts. According to Terry Pratchet: “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”

Therefore, be open-minded to the fact that while you might have a lot of great elements within your story, you have many drafts ahead of you to polish your story and get it ready for the eyes of readers. 

2. Research How to Write a Good Book

As newbie writers, we can’t hope to figure out how to write a book on our own. Or, at least, most of us can’t. Therefore, you will want to do some research to learn about how to write a good book. (HINT: It’s about more than just grammar!) For example, some topics you might want to research include:

• Plot structure
• Character arcs
• How to give a character a unique voice
• Pacing 

Here are a few resources you could check out: 

• Nonfiction books about how to write a novel
• Free articles and blogs
• YouTube: iWriterly, for example, is in a niche called AuthorTube where aspiring and published authors talk about how to write books
• Online courses (Writers Helping Writers has a list of recommendations in the Online Learning Centers section of their Resources for Writers page)
• Formal education at a college or university 
• Fiction books by the greats in your genre

Keep in mind that many of these options are free. You don’t have to immediately pull out your wallet. However, if you are going to pay for a product or service, always research whether or not the person teaching the course has applicable experience and is an expert in their field. 

3. Consider Outlining Your Book before You Write It 

(One Stop for Writers Story Maps)

If you haven’t yet heard of plotters and pantsers (or architects and gardeners), allow me to enlighten you. A plotter (also called an “architect”) is a writer who plans out their story prior to writing it. A pantser (someone who “flies by the seat of their pants” — also called a “gardener”) is someone who doesn’t plan prior to writing. They write and see where their muse takes them.

There is no right or wrong way to go about writing. However, a pantser has a lot more work to do in the editing phase because they didn’t plan out anything in advance, such as big plot beats. Therefore, consider checking out things like beat sheets or different types of plot structure prior to writing your book. (Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and Jami Gold’s blog have a lot of beat sheets writers use.) You don’t need to plan out your novel in advance, but it might be worth jotting down the big plot points you want to reach at certain places in your story. 

4. Work with Critique Partners and Beta Readers 

Critique partners and beta readers provide feedback on unpublished manuscripts. However, their roles are slightly different.

• Critique partners are writers who provide feedback on your work, usually by request (to exchange chapters or full manuscripts).
• Beta readers are people who read your manuscript as a reader first (rather than a writer). Most of the time, beta readers are not writers.

Without outside feedback, we can’t improve the stories. This is due to a writer’s blindness to our own story’s flaws from being too close to it. We can see it so perfectly in our heads, but it doesn’t necessarily translate well onto the page. It’s the job of a good critique partner and/or beta reader to read a story and provide feedback and suggestions for areas of improvement — thereby helping us make the best story possible. 

For more information on finding critique partners or beta readers, check out Critique Circle or look for local groups via the blogs for different genres, such as SCBWI or RWA.

5. Be Open to Critiques/Feedback on Your Work

It’s not just about getting feedback from critique partners and beta readers. If you are not open to making changes to your story, then getting feedback is a pointless exercise. Do your best to look at your story objectively and listen to what critique partners and beta readers are saying. 

6. Look Closely at Your Weakest Points

Did your critique partners and beta readers seem to have a consensus about what aspects of your writing could be improved? Those are most likely your “weak spots” as a writer.

For me, I’ve always struggled with info-dumps. Most recently, I’ve struggled with too much internalization (vs. dramatization). Simply knowing where you aren’t strong as a writer is helpful so you can teach yourself to spot the issues — perhaps even before you make them. 

Listen to what the consensus is for feedback. There is always the outlier — one critique partner or beta reader who has a completely different take on your story — but if there is a consensus, pay close attention to it. It more than likely is an issue you will want to address.

7. Edit the Book on Your Own MANY Times

As I mentioned earlier, the first draft isn’t the final draft. Most authors edit their books dozens of times before it gets to the version you see on the bookshelf. Personally, I edit my manuscript two to five times (front to back) by myself before sharing it with critique partners. After that, I work with critique partners and beta readers through many drafts (and self-edit in between).

Consider working with more critique partners and beta readers after you have edited your book and implemented the previous round of feedback. Ideally, you will want to work with them on several drafts of the book. The exact number of times beta readers and critique partners read the manuscript is going to be up to you and them. 

8. Brush up On Grammar

While good grammar doesn’t make a good story, bad grammar can pull readers out of one. As such, you will want to be able to write with proper punctuation, sentence structure, spelling, and so on. 

9. Read Books by the Greats within Your Genre

Dissect the books you love. Try to determine what it is you enjoyed about them and what that author excels at. In addition, think about ways you can emulate (or perhaps imitate) some of those skills in your own writing (without plagiarizing!!). 

10. Write Often to Sharpen Your Skills

According to Malcolm Gladwell, it takes 10,000 hours (or approximately 10 years) of practice to become an expert. While you don’t necessarily need to be writing books for 10 years before you are deemed “ready,” you do need to put in the time to practice your writing skills in order to become a better writer. 

11. Write the Next Book 

Going along with our previous point, the best way to be a better author is to write many books. That is because the more books you write, the better you will get at it. 

From my experience, writing a book isn’t something you can teach. Sure, you can learn the principles of writing a good book or learn how other authors write theirs. But you must learn how you as an author operate through the process. How you do it is going to be different from other people’s process. Therefore, the only way to glean that knowledge is through experience. 

Happy writing, friends!

MEG LATORRE

Meg LaTorre is a writer, YouTuber (iWriterly), creator of the free query critique platform, Query Hack, co-host of the Publishable show, blogger, and she formerly worked at a literary agency. She also has a background in magazine publishing, medical/technical writing, and journalism. To learn more about Meg, visit her website, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, sign up for her monthly newsletter, and subscribe to her YouTube channel, iWriterly.

The post Improve Your Novel Writing: 11 Tips For Newbies appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Have you self-published a novel you had originally intended to send to literary agents (to see how it did)? Or, did you self-publish a novel, decide that publishing path wasn’t for you, and now want to send that book to literary agents?

Let’s talk about why sending previously self-published books to literary agents (or publishers) may not be the best idea.

As you are probably aware, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to go about publishing. Meaning, you can self-publish books, send unpublished manuscripts to agents, you can publish with an indie press… There are so many (great) publishing options in 2019 that weren’t available in previous years.  >> Check out my previous blog, How Should I Publish My Book?, to learn more about the publishing paths available to you.

In addition, with so many high-quality books being self-published, the stigma around this publishing path has been slowly fading over time. Though, I wouldn’t say it’s gone away entirely (yet).

However, there is one persistent question I see in the comments for almost every YouTube video I publish, and that is: “Can I query a book I’ve already self-published?”

The short answer is: No. Or, I don’t recommend it.

The long answer is one I’m going to attempt to get into today.

When I worked at the literary agency, the authors who queried me with a self-published project usually were querying that manuscript because the book didn’t sell well.

If a book didn’t sell well—meaning, readers had a chance to check out the story and decided they weren’t interested in it—why would industry professionals be interested in that book (again, if readers weren’t)?

The role of a literary agent is to find books they think they can sell to editors at publishing houses. Agents only make money when an author does. Once a book is sold, agents take a fifteen percent cut of what the author makes. (And good agents earn that fifteen percent!)

The role of an editor is to find books they think they can sell to readers. They want to find a fantastic story that they think they can edit, package, market, and hopefully make a profit on. If publishers don’t make money on the books they publish, they will have to downsize or eventually close their doors.

Therefore, if you have previously self-published a book that didn’t sell… well, most publishers won’t be interested in it for that very reason. 

The typical response I get to this is: “BUT BUT BUT I’m not good at marketing. If this book had been traditionally published and had marketing support, it would have sold better.”

Perhaps. But, then again, perhaps not.

While a good marketing strategy can absolutely help spread the word about a book, it’s not just about marketing.

Publishers considering whether or not they want to purchase a book will look at: 

1. The quality of the writing: Because, obviously!
2. The uniqueness of the story: Has it been done in a similar way before? If so, how is this story unique?
3. The marketability of this book: Do readers want to read this type of story?
4. Trends in the marketplace: Where do they think the market will be in two+ years?
5. Whether or not the publisher can make a profit

Most publishers also want rights to first to market. Meaning, they want to be the ones to introduce a story to the world. By an author previously self-publishing a title, the book has lost its “newness.” People have had a chance to see it. If they didn’t purchase it before, why would they purchase it in two+ years after a publisher has published it? 

In addition, even if a book is published traditionally, authors are still expected to participate in the marketing efforts. A common misconception writers have about traditional publishing is that they only have to write stories and the publisher does the rest (including marketing). While that may have been true in the past, it’s no longer true today. Therefore, if the book didn’t sell well before (with your marketing efforts), why would publishing it now be any different?

Now, if a book performed well and sold many copies, you will likely have agents and/or editors knocking at your door (without having to query them). Don’t forget that publishing is a business. Publishers are always looking for books that will earn them a profit. If a self-published book is selling thousands of copies, all bets are off for everything I said before. Again, if a title is doing well, industry pros will likely be coming to you (rather than the other way around).

An alternative approach to querying a previously self-published title would be to write a new manuscript and query that. You can always write another book and send it to literary agents in the hopes of getting it published traditionally (should that be the publishing path you’d like to pursue). Just because you previously self-published books doesn’t mean you can’t traditionally publish titles later on. (Hello, hybrid publishing!)

It’s always going to be sticky territory (and likely a big fat “no thanks”) if you try to garner interest from a literary agent (and ultimately a publisher) on a title that has already been published.

*Please Note: This conversation doesn’t apply to self-published authors who work with literary agents for foreign rights and sub rights. Everything mentioned above is geared toward authors who want to remove a book from the market (for example, North American, English rights) and try to sell those rights to a publisher. 

MEG LATORRE

Meg LaTorre is a writer, YouTuber (iWriterly), creator of the free query critique platform, Query Hack, co-host of the Publishable show, blogger, and she formerly worked at a literary agency. She also has a background in magazine publishing, medical/technical writing, and journalism. To learn more about Meg, visit her website, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, sign up for her monthly newsletter, and subscribe to her YouTube channel, iWriterly.

The post Why Writers Shouldn’t Query Self-Published Books appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Do you aspire to write a book and be a published author one day? If so, you are not alone.

According to Joseph Epstein, author, essayist, short-story writer, and editor, “81 percent of Americans feel that they have a book in them.” However, not every single person with the desire to write a book can do so.

Going off those statistics, approximately 265 million Americans aspire to be authors (with 327.2 million Americans as of 2018). But according to William Dietrich, Novelist, Naturalist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist, there are a mere “145,900 American ‘writers and authors’ counted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a quarter of them part-time, two-thirds of them self-employed, and with median earnings of $55,420.”

In short, becoming an author isn’t for the faint of heart. And it shouldn’t be for those seeking fame and fortune. Becoming an author in today’s day and age can be a difficult path, and the options seem to change from year to year.

Which paths are available to the modern writer?

Traditional Publishing

As of early 2019, the big five publishers—whose names you have likely heard of many times before—are Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, and Simon and Schuster.

If you want to be published through the big five or through another traditional publisher, you need to have a literary agent. Many people call literary agents the “gatekeepers” to the traditional publishing industry. Whether or not that’s true, writers have to pitch their unpublished manuscripts to agents via a query letter, which is essentially a professional cover letter all about your book.

Traditional publishing can take years before your book hits the bookshelves, including the months or years it takes to secure literary representation, go on submission with your agent to editors at publishing houses, and then the average two-year publishing timeline once a book is acquired (if the book is acquired at all).

In addition, authors are often expected to have a platform (even for fiction) and assist in marketing efforts. On the plus side, many traditional publishers offer authors advances as well as royalties (once the advance is met), and authors are not expected to pay anything upfront to publish their book. Traditional publishers also have fantastic distribution and connections within the industry that can help to spread the word about a book.  

Indie Presses

An indie press (or independent press) is a publisher that is independently owned. The majority of small presses are independent publishers and separate from the big five publishers.

Indie presses are not the same as self-publishing (which we will get to). The phrase “indie author” usually refers to a self-published author, while the phrases “indie press” and “indie publisher” typically refer to a small, independently-owned publisher.

Indie presses often only publish a few titles per year and (usually) do not offer their authors advances. Otherwise, they often operate similar to a traditional publisher, utilizing in-house staff to edit, format, and publish a book on behalf of the author. In return, the author signs a contract to give the indie press certain rights to their book.

For authors who elect to publish their books with an indie press, one upside is often the press’ ability to take chances on authors and titles that a larger publisher might not (such as genre-bending manuscripts). Since indie presses aren’t driven by shareholders like the big five, they have the freedom to take more creative risks.

Self-Publishing

Authors can choose to publish their own books through platforms such as Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), iBooks, IngramSpark, Lulu, Barnes and Noble Press, Kobo, Smashwords, and more. In doing so, authors retain the rights to their books (rather than giving them to a publisher) and have complete creative control of a given manuscript. However, authors are also expected to do all of the tasks a publisher would typically do, such as book formatting, creating a cover, hiring an editorial team (developmental, copyediting, proofreading, etc.), marketing the book, and so on.

It’s important to note that authors can choose to publish a book without having worked with an editor, which is where the (unfortunate) stigma around self-publishing books being lower quality comes in. Self-publishing has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years, and the stigma surrounding self-publishing has lessened over time due to many professional indie authors publishing high-quality work.

According to an article in Publisher’s Weekly, “[t]he Big Five traditional publishers now account for only 16% of the e-books on Amazon’s bestseller lists.” In addition, “[s]elf-published books now represent 31% of e-book sales on Amazon’s Kindle Store.”

Vanity Publishing

DON’T PUBLISH YOUR BOOK WITH A VANITY PRESS. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about why.

If you aren’t aware of this, writers who want to traditionally publish are not expected to pay anything. One of the benefits of this option is that the publisher invests in you, thereby paying for things like developmental editing, copyediting, proofreading, book layout, book cover design, etc. The same goes for indie presses. They, too, will pay for all expenses. In return, you (as the writer) will give them various rights to your book and story.

For self-publishing, the author has to foot the bill. All of the above to-dos the author is expected to pay for themselves. However, the royalty rate is usually significantly higher for indie authors as a result (meaning, you make more money per book you sell—and hopefully earn back the money you invested into the book at the front).

Vanity publishers, on the other hand, will publish your book for you and they expect you to pay them. Essentially, they often claim to be a publisher and that they are able to do a bunch of wonderful things for your book (which they often cannot fulfill). In short, the vanity publisher expects the author to pay them to publish their book… and they may try to take some of the author’s book’s rights as well in a contract. STEP CAUTIOUSLY, FRIENDS.

Anytime a publisher asks you to pay to publish, consider that a MASSIVE red flag.

*Note: There are companies, such as Book Launchers, that you can pay to assist you in the self-publication process. Other sites, like Draft2Digital and PublishDrive, upload your book files to different distributors in exchange for compensation. However, with these services, you still retain your rights and have access to the behind the scenes of all of the platforms your book is available on.  

Hybrid Publishing

This is what many consider to be “the best of both worlds.”

Typically, when someone says they are a “hybrid author,” they have self-published their own work and also either published traditionally or with an indie press.

No matter which path you choose, carefully consider what success looks like for you. What are your ultimate dreams for this book as well as for your author career? If having complete creative freedom is most important, then self-publishing might be the route for you. Or if you are unable to financially invest in publishing a book, traditional publishing might be best.

There is no one right way to publish a book. So, go forth, write your stories, and do your due diligence in determining which publishing path might be best for you.

MEG LATORRE

Meg LaTorre is a writer, YouTuber (iWriterly), creator of the free query critique platform, Query Hack, co-host of the Publishable show, blogger, and she formerly worked at a literary agency. She also has a background in magazine publishing, medical/technical writing, and journalism. To learn more about Meg, visit her website, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, sign up for her monthly newsletter, and subscribe to her YouTube channel, iWriterly.

The post How Should I Publish My Book? appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Querying writers have quite a few hurdles to jump through to secure literary representation. For those of you who don’t know what a query is or what I mean by literary representation, let’s go over a few of the basics to start.

There are a few ways to publish a book, one of those being traditional publishing. As of early 2019, the big five publishers—whose names you have likely heard of many times before—are Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, and Simon and Schuster. If you want to be published through the big five or through another traditional publisher, you need to have a literary agent.

Many people call literary agents the “gatekeepers” to the traditional publishing industry. Whether or not that’s true, writers have to pitch their unpublished manuscripts to agents via a query letter, which is essentially a professional cover letter all about your book.

There are certain formats and pieces of information that are expected to be within your query letter, but we won’t dive into that today. To learn more about querying, be sure to check out iWriterly’s Query Hack series, where we critique queries.

Essentially, writers are expected to pitch their book (via a query letter) to one literary agent per agency. Many represented writers have shared that they queried an upwards of 100 literary agents before they signed their contract with their current agent. On average, most writers write an average of four books prior to securing literary representation. That means, they likely wrote several books before writing the book that landed them an agent.

If you do the math, a writer could potentially send out 400 queries (assuming they sent approximately 100 queries per manuscript) before signing a contract with a literary agent.

Now, imagine you write a book that no agent is going to want. You spend a year or more writing and editing the book—both by yourself and with critique partners and beta readers—prior to sending out your 100 queries. You are beyond excited for this book, and you think readers are going to be as captivated about the story and character as you are… if only agents had fallen in love with the first book in the series.

One less known fact about literary agents is that most will not consider representing subsequent books in a series. That means agents need to fall in love with the first book in a series first. If they don’t want to represent book one, they aren’t going to want to represent the whole series.

Therefore, the months—or years—you spent drafting and editing the sequel will not assist you in your goal to land a literary agent. In fact, some might consider having written a sequel a waste of time. Personally, I think that any book written is never a waste of time because it teaches you to hone your writing craft. However, this sequel will unfortunately not be able to assist you in your goal to get literary representation, which is a main stepping stone to becoming traditionally published. In addition, even if you are picked up by an agent, if the agent can’t sell a series to a publisher and only sells a one-book deal, then there is nothing you can do with those sequels.

Instead, once you finish the first book in a series, consider going on to write a new book in a different series (or a standalone). Try to write these books as standalones with series potential. Meaning, a reader can read the first book and feel completely satisfied with where the story ended. There aren’t any glaring cliffhangers to the main plot or conflict. However, there might be little threads that the author could pick up later to write subsequent books in the series.

By writing several first books in different series, you are increasing your chances to secure literary representation—and, eventually, securing book deals with traditional publishers.

MEG LATORRE

Meg LaTorre is a writer, YouTuber (iWriterly), creator of the free query critique platform, Query Hack, co-host of the Publishable show, blogger, and she formerly worked at a literary agency. She also has a background in magazine publishing, medical/technical writing, and journalism. To learn more about Meg, visit her website, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, sign up for her monthly newsletter, and subscribe to her YouTube channel, iWriterly.

The post Why Querying Writers Shouldn’t Write Sequels appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

With so many stories bouncing around in a writer’s mind, it likely comes as no surprise that most writers seek to write more—or to be more efficient in the time they have to write. In the month of November, known as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) to the writing community, thousands of writers endeavor to write 50,000 words in a single month.

To give you perspective, 50,000 words is roughly 200 manuscript pages (at approximately 250 words per page). For non-writers, that number is probably akin to a month of torture. For writers, it may feel that way, too. Yet, it’s a delightful torture we do to ourselves… every year.

But regardless of the month of the year—whether it’s NaNoWriMo season or any other month—how can writers more efficiently put words onto the page?

1. Make a writing schedule and track your progress

It’s important to make writing a routine. Depending on your lifestyle, such as if you’re a nurse, you may not be able to write daily. Find what works for your schedule and make it a routine. Meanwhile, track how much you write to keep yourself accountable.

2. Determine when your peak creativity is and plan your days around that time

Some people like to write in the morning, some at night. Assess your daily habits to see when your creativity blossoms throughout the day. If it’s in the morning, adjust your schedule so you go to bed earlier. If it’s at night, try putting your kids to bed earlier (if you have kids) so you have more time to write.

Whatever your circumstances are, adjust your schedule so you are available to write during your peak writing time.

If your peak creativity is at a time when you are at work, for example, and can’t make time to write, I have unfortunate news for you. You will likely need to write at a time when you don’t “feel” creativite. Part of the difficulty of being a writer is you can’t only write at the times you feel like it. Learn to be creative through discipline.

3. Restrict your writing time to only writing

Don’t use social media or anything else that might be distracting while you are writing. Allow your writing time to be strictly that: a time to write. If that means going to write where there’s no WiFi (and therefore no temptations), do it. Also, consider leaving your phone in the other room when you write.

4. Utilize the Pomodoro Technique (also known as  “writing sprints”)

If you have ever gone on the online writing community, namely the communities on Twitter and YouTube, you will likely have heard of writing sprints. In short, it’s a designated amount of time (often ranging from 10 to 40 minutes) where writers will write as much as they can in that allotted time.

Recently, I stumbled across the Pomodoro Technique, which is similar in theory to a writing sprint. Essentially, it’s a time management method created in the 1980s by Francesco Cirillo where you work in timed intervals, usually 25 minutes in length, and it’s separated by short breaks.

I’ve found the following schedule works for me:

• Write for 20 minutes
• Rest for 5 minutes
• Write for 20 minutes
• Rest for 5 minutes
• And so on

During the 20 minutes of writing, I write as much as I can. In the five minutes of rest, sometimes I will read over what I’ve written or my outline for the remaining/next chapter, or I might hop on social media or do some other menial task and let my mind rest until the five minutes are over.

Test it out to see what works for you. I highly recommend setting a timer on your phone (or another device). There are also Pomodoro Technique apps.

Compared to having an hour and saying to yourself, “I’m going to write for an hour,” and then writing for 20 minutes and fidgeting on social media for the other 40 minutes, the Pomodoro Technique encourages single-tasking and efficiency.

5. Avoid editing as you write

This is a tip you will hear everywhere, but I think it’s great to voice one more time. Your first draft is supposed to be an imperfect retelling of the perfect story in your head. Allow yourself to be messy, to have typos, and so on as you write the first draft of your manuscript. Only put your editor hat on when it’s time to edit that first, completed draft (or section of the book).

If you’re an edit-as-you-go writer (which is totally cool), NaNoWriMo or speed writing may not be the thing for you. Or, perhaps, allow yourself to speed write a chapter before going back to edit it.

As always, take my advice (or any writing advice) with a grain of salt. Experiment to see what works best for you!

6. Ignore all other shiny novel ideas

Got a fantastic novel idea for your next novel? Does it somehow—rather suddenly—seem so appealing to explore? That’s your brain trying to avoid working on your current book—something it likely sees as stressful or hard work. Our bodies and minds are wired to want to be the most efficient and take the path of least resistance. However, fight the instinct to divert your creative attention. Instead, write these shiny new ideas down and explore them at a later time.

7. Have your computer/notebook handy

You never know when you will have downtime. Consider using any spare minutes in the car between appointments, before a doctor visit, etc. to jot down a few words or book ideas. If you know you will have free time during your day, such as while you are at the airport, bring your computer or notebook to write. If you don’t want to bring your personal computer while you travel, download the Google docs app (or a similar writing app). That way, you can open up your Google docs on your work computer or on your phone and write whenever you have free time.

8. Write in different places

Whether you are a creature of habit or you like variety in your writerly routine, consider the place you write as yet another contributing factor to your productivity. Do you have a favorite place to write at home? A desk or office, perhaps? Write there. If the words aren’t flowing onto the page, however, consider swapping locations: kitchen table, local library, couch, bed, coffee shops, a local pub (if you are of age), and so on.

9. Write when others are sleeping

Whether you are a parent or live in a busy household, consider writing when others are sleeping—either late at night or first thing in the morning. The hours before the world wakes up or after it goes to sleep are some of the most productive hours, as there are less distractions or other obligations vying for your time.

10. Remove distractions

Turn off your WiFi, put your phone in another room, or remove any other distractions that might tempt you to do something other than write during your writing time. For me, it’s tinkering on my website. As a result, I will turn off my WiFi and only allow myself back online when I’ve hit my daily word count goal.

11. Find an accountability partner

I hesitate to include this tip. From what I’ve seen, many writers will place the responsibility on their accountability partner to keep them writing. But, in my opinion, that responsibility falls solely on the writer, themselves. Therefore, consider finding a fellow writer to touch base with weekly or every now and again. Encourage each other to keep going, and don’t be afraid to bounce book ideas off them if you are stuck. But do not count on these people to remind you to write every day. That’s what calendar alerts are for.

12. Outsource non-writing tasks

As many of you guys know, I’m a mom. And goodness knows my to-do list is about as monstrous as my TBR (to-be-read) list. During the month of NaNoWriMo or any other month you are looking to pump out some extra words and increase your productivity, don’t be afraid to ask for help in non-writing tasks (that might otherwise take away from your writing time).

If you have a spouse or partner, ask them if they wouldn’t mind doing the dishes or laundry that week. If you are at school, ask your roommates if they could go grocery shopping for you. If you live at home, ask your parents or loved ones to chip in as needed. You would be surprised how your family and friends will go out of their way to help you if it means supporting your dreams.

13. Say no to non-writing activities

Unfortunately, you won’t have time to do everything. If you’re invited to a barbeque that’s during your writing time, you may have to say no to get that next chapter down. Look at your schedule. Decide if you can (or have) hit your goals with your remaining free time that week. If not, consider saying no.

14. Give yourself deadlines

Sometimes, simply saying, “Write 50,000 words in a month” is a little too vague for our writerly brains to grasp (and ultimately attain). Instead, consider giving yourself weekly deadlines, such as writing 12,000 words by Sunday night each week. Most importantly, use these deadlines to keep yourself accountable!

15. Make a long-term plan with short-term goals

Similar to the first point in this blog, make short-term goals for your writing. Write down attainable goals that are within your power. For example, a goal within your power is to write 50,000 words in a month. A goal not within your power is to get a literary agent in the next year.

Track your progress throughout and adjust your timeline as needed.

With these short-term goals in mind, consider how this will impact your future. Do you want to have a published book within the next five years? If so, you will want to factor in other things to your timeline, such as the time it takes to research agents, query, go on submission, etc. To accomodate for these things, which are outside of your control, you may want to give yourself a deadline to complete draft one, another deadline for self-editing, another deadline for exchanging chapters with CPs, and yet another deadline for beta readers so you have extra allotted time for the time it takes to get literary representation and then go on submission.

Time moves faster than you think; so consider where you want to be in your author career in the coming years.

16. When all else fails, use bribes

If looking into your future and thinking about having your book on a bookshelf in five years is just too darn far away to motivate you to write right now (vs. binging a television series on Netflix this very evening), you may want to utilize my favorite writing productivity technique: carbs.

I mean, bribes.

It may not sound flattering, but humans aren’t all that different from animals. Classical conditioning (also called Pavlovian conditioning) works on us, too. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, discovered in his research in the 1890s that dogs began to salivate at the presence of the technician who normally fed them, and not salivating at the presence of food. In short, he discovered dogs could be trained over time to respond to a stimulus and associate it with food.

Similarly, we can learn to associate hitting 2,000 words per day with a well-earned bowl of pasta. Just saying.

MEG LATORRE

Meg LaTorre is a writer, YouTuber (iWriterly), creator of the free query critique platform, Query Hack, co-host of the Publishable show, blogger, and she formerly worked at a literary agency. She also has a background in magazine publishing, medical/technical writing, and journalism. To learn more about Meg, visit her website, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, sign up for her monthly newsletter, and subscribe to her YouTube channel, iWriterly.

The post How to Write More Words, aka, Winning at NaNo appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.