Writability: writing tip

Showing posts with label writing tip. Show all posts

Vlog: 4 Questions Every Pitch Must Answer

Whether you're working on a query, proposal, back cover copy, or just need to be prepared to talk about your book, there are four questions every pitch must answer. Do you know what they are?

Does your latest pitch answer these four questions?

Twitter-sized bite:

Working on a query letter, elevator pitch, or back cover copy? @thegabecole talks about 4 essential questions every pitch must answer. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: You Asked, I Answered 5!

How do you write description with close POV? What do you do when you aren't sure how to get your story to go where it needs to? Today I'm answering these questions and more!

Twitter-sized bite:

How do you write description with close POV? What do you do when you aren't sure how to get your story to go where it needs to? Today Gabe (@Ava_Jae) is answering these Qs and more! (Click to tweet)

Vlog: How to Write Romantic Subplots

You asked, I answered! Today I'm discussing romantic subplots and how to put ~feels~ into a book that isn't strictly romance.

RELATED VLOGS:

Twitter-sized bite:

How do you add romantic relationships to a book where romance isn't the main focus of the plot? Gabe (@Ava_Jae) talks writing romantic subplots. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: You Asked, I Answered 4!

You asked, I answered! Today I'm talking about themes, the future, software, writers groups and more!

RELATED VLOGS:

Vlog: Help! My Book is Too Short!

You asked, I answered! Today I'm talking about what to do if your WIP is coming up short—literally.

RELATED VLOGS:

Twitter-sized bite:

What do you do if you've finished your first draft and it's way too short? Gabe (@Ava_Jae) shares their top tips for fleshing out a draft. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: When You Get Stuck in the Middle of Your WIP

You asked, I answered! Today I'm talking about what to do if you get stuck in the middle of your WIP...and you don't like to plot.

RELATED LINKS:

Twitter-sized bite:

What do you do if you get stuck in the middle of your WIP and you don't like to plot? Gabe (@Ava_Jae) shares one strategy to get out of a rut. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: How to Write Third Person When You're Used to First

You asked, I answered! Today I'm talking about the easiest way to think about writing third person when you're used to writing in first.

RELATED VLOGS:

Twitter-sized bite:

Want to dabble with third person but have only ever written in first? Gabe (@Ava_Jae) shares some tips on trying out the new perspective. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: About Showing vs Telling

You asked, I answered! Today I'm talking about the common advice "show don't tell" and whether that *really* means you should absolutely never tell. (Spoiler: it doesn't.)

RELATED VLOGS:

Twitter-sized bite:

Does "show don't tell" *really* mean you can never tell? Gabe (@Ava_Jae) breaks down what this common advice means about telling in your writing. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: On the Implicit Promise

You asked for more info on the implicit promise, and I am delivering in a longer-than-normal vlog. Today I'm talking about the implicit promise at length—with examples from two great books.

RELATED LINKS:

You Asked, I Answered 2!
Where to Start Your Book?
THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE by Mackenzi Lee
HISTORY IS ALL YOU LEFT ME by Adam Silvera

Twitter-sized bite:

What is the implicit promise and how can you implement it? Gabe (@Ava_Jae) breaks down this great opening enhancer YA examples. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: How Do You Know When You're Ready to Write Your Book?

You asked, I answered! Today I'm talking about how to tell when you have enough of a plot to write an entire novel.

RELATED VLOGS:

Twitter-sized bite:

How do you know when you're ready to write your book? @Ava_Jae talks brainstorming & plotting a new WIP idea in today's vlog. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: On Book Ideas and Organization

Answering more related AMA-week questions! This time on idea generation and keeping track of ideas for your WIPs.

RELATED VLOGS:

How do you keep track of your ideas?

Twitter-sized bite:

How do you keep track of your ideas? @Ava_Jae shares their strategy in today's vlog. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: On Finding Motivation to Finish Your WIP

Got two related questions during AMA week on one important topic: how do you stay motivated to finish writing a whole book? So let's talk first drafts and making it to The End.

RELATED VLOGS:

Where do you find motivation to finish your manuscripts?

Twitter-sized bite:

Struggling to find the motivation to finish your WIP? @Ava_Jae shares some thinking that helps them reach The End. (Click to tweet)

While working on The Rising Gold revisions, as you all know I am doing, I decided to try something a little different. I was going to do my revising in passes method, as I usually do, but I wanted something a little more concrete than my usual Evernote list to help guide me through the different issues I had to focus on.

So I pulled out my flashcards.

On each flashcard, I wrote down the main issue I needed to fix, then the way(s) I intended to fix it. So, for example, one flashcard might say:

THIS IS A PLOT HOLE

Fix scene A by xyz
Add scene B where abc
Cut mentions of THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE

Except, you know, with specifics to the manuscript and what, exactly, I'm fixing.

Once I had a stack, I organized them by difficulty. So the most difficult issues I needed to fix—the ones that required multiple steps to fix—I put up top to tackle first, and the easy issues I put at the bottom. How you prioritize is up to you—sometimes I like to put easy ones first to ease myself into the revisions—but this time I wanted to get the more difficult things over with so they weren't hanging over my head as I worked.

As I made adjustments, I'd check off each bullet point, and eventually when I'm completely done tackling the issue I'll check off the whole card and start a done pile. Then I'll get to watch my issues pile shrink while my progress pile grows, which I think will be nicely gratifying.

I haven't used flashcards like this before, but I like it so far. It was the extra little something I needed to visualize my revisions and feel prepared enough to dive into the work.

Have you ever used flashcards for revisions in a similar way?

Twitter-sized bites:

Not sure where to start with revisions? @Ava_Jae suggests planning with flashcards. (Click to tweet)

How to Use Isolation with Revisions

Photo credit: https://toolstotal.com/

Once upon a time, back in 2015, I got editorial feedback from my critique partners and was—shall we say—a little overwhelmed with just how much work I had ahead of me. So I sat down and started my journey of revision refinement, in which I tweaked the way I revise my manuscripts, until now, three years later, it's become an expected part of my revision process.

I've been thinking about that again while processing the editorial letter for The Rising Gold.

I still revise in passes. And while I do sometimes still draw up my categories the way I did three years ago whenever the occasion calls for it (by character, plot, world building, etc.) I now also go even more deeply than that and tackle things issue by issue.

That is, I look at whatever problem I need to fix, then go through the manuscript and only fix that problem, in however many scenes require altering, and I don't fix anything else until I've finished addressing whatever problem I'm isolating.

The issues I use this method on, of course, are larger-scale issues. Inconsistent characterization, or a large plot problem, or a gap in world building—something along those lines. And it works well with the way my brain works—I like to be able to focus on one thing at a time, and this forces me to do exactly that.

Then, when I'm done fixing one problem, I take a deep breath, smile, and move on to the next problem.

How do you tackle large-scale revisions?

Twitter-sized bite:

How do you tackle large-scale revisions? @Ava_Jae shares their isolation method to avoid overwhelm. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: All About Binge Writing

What is binge writing? And how do I use it to fit book stuff into my overly-packed schedule? Today I'm talking about momentum, time, and figuring out what works best for you.

RELATED VLOGS:

Are you a binge writer?

Twitter-sized bite:

What is binge writing? And how does @Ava_Jae use it to fit book stuff into their packed schedule? #vlog (Click to tweet)

How Many POVs Are Too Many?

Photo credit: Ram Balmur on Flickr

Judging by the various critiques I've done over the years, point of view, it seems, trips a lot of writers up. It's easy enough to understand why—when you come up with a great cast of characters, it can be tempting to think the more perspectives in the story, the more readers will connect with characters—and therefore, the story. Furthermore, exploring different character perspectives can be a great way to get to know the characters, which then makes it much easier to write them as fully realized people in your novel.

Only problem is too many POVs in a novel can make a story confusing, unfocused, and leave writers connecting with no one at all. But how many perspectives are too many?

The truth is, there isn't a magic number, because it's going to vary novel-to-novel. But the key to figuring it out is answering this question:

Whose story is this novel?

This requires paring down to the core of your story. It means thinking about what the story is really about and who the story is really about. Usually the answer will be one, maybe two characters, but sometimes the answer will be a little bigger than that. That's fine, the key is to just be honest with yourself when you answer the question.

Remember, when it comes to novel-writing, readers rarely need the perspectives of various periphery characters in order to understand the story. Sometimes—I'd wager many times—a minimal approach really works best.

How do you determine who your novel is really about?

Twitter-sized bite:

How many POVs are too many? And how can you tell? @Ava_Jae breaks down this common WIP problem. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: Are Writing Classes Necessary?

Do you need to take writing classes to get published? Are they even helpful? Today I'm sharing my experience with creative writing in academia.

RELATED VLOGS:

Have you ever taken a writing class?

Twitter-sized bite:

Do you need to take writing classes to get published? Are they even helpful? @Ava_Jae shares their experience w/ creative writing in academia. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: Writing a Synopsis Before First Drafting??

What is a synopsis, why do so many writers hate it, and why in the world would I write one *before* the first draft? Today I'm sharing the plotting tool I never expected to like.

RELATED VLOG:

How I Plot

Have you ever tried writing a synopsis before the first draft?

Twitter-sized bite:

Writing a synopsis before the first draft is a thing? @Ava_Jae vlogs about the plotting tool they never expected to like. (Click to tweet)

Discussion: Do You Know Your Writing Weaknesses?

Photo credit: jvleis on Flickr

When working on Beyond the Red back in 2013 and 2014, if you'd ask me what my number one writer weakness was, I'd have answered without hesitation: world building.

"This book needs more world building" was a critique I got for my second draft, third draft, fourth, fifth—god knows how many drafts but right up until the end, more world building I became all too familiar with. And it's a good thing, too, because, well—those drafts absolutely needed more.

I think, however, going through that process taught me a ton about world building, because more world building has now been tattooed to my soul, and I've become much more aware of my tendency to go lighter on world building and description in earlier drafts, and so it's something I think about much more actively while first drafting and doing initial revisions. I can almost pre-empt some of the questions my CPs and agent will have and fill in many of those gaps before I send it out.

So I wouldn't say world building is still a weakness for me, not anymore, and that's a pretty cool thing. Because it's a great reminder you can (and should!) always grow as a writer.

Of course, now I have new weaknesses to look out for. Every time I eliminate one crutch word, I find another (or rather, my CPs find another), and I've been challenging myself to be more aware of avoiding passive or fully reactionary characters earlier in the plotting process, so I can avoid that issue while I'm ahead. But I think the most important thing is to be aware of your weaknesses—or at least be on the look out for them—because that's the only way you can strengthen those problem areas both in the manuscripts you're working on and in yourself, as a writer.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Twitter-sized bite:

What are your writing weaknesses? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: When Should You Hire a Freelance Editor?

When should you hire a freelance editor? Do you even need one? Today I'm answering those questions and more, from the perspective of a traditionally published author...and freelance editor.

RELATED LINKS:

Have you ever worked with a freelance editor?

Twitter-sized bites:

When should you work with a freelance editor? @Ava_Jae talks critique partners & working with professionals when self or traditionally publishing. (Click to tweet)