How Printing Your Book Draft Improves Your Editing
Writing has changed significantly in the last few decades. Where once people pulled out pen and paper, or even a typewriter, we now click away on keyboards as digital letters appear on our screens. Authors jot entire chapters into their phones or tablets, allowing autocorrect to fix whatever mishap we create. Even editing has become simpler with online tools like Grammarly correcting spelling, grammar, and verb usage.
But there is something vital about taking your draft from digital to print.
Voice of the Action: Choosing POV for Your Novel
I love writing. There are so many ways to tell a story and bring characters to life. And it all starts with POV.
Pretty sure it was grade school when I learned why every book sounded a little different. POV, or point of view, determines if your character is I, me, or Lucy Garinn. It decides how deep in your character’s headspace we get to go or how many heads we get to hop between. POV isn’t so easily defined by writers because all we need is the principle; we know what we need to know in order to finish our novel.
What Daily Writing Decisions I’m Making in the New Year
Happy New Year everybody! Need to mark the occasion because, if not for changing paper calendars, I’d still be writing “2024” on all my journal entries. Work stays the same (minus a few changes), tv shows keep rolling, and dinner needs to get made. But this year, I’m making a shift when it comes to writing.
New year’s resolutions are notorious for getting broken once January ends. And in my case, all habits have a shelf life determined by my fickle headspace. Well, all habits except Bible reading. Whether I feel up to it or not, I rise from my pillow and open my Bible to read a few verses and do a devo. I sneak through the house to grab a pen from my desk and scribble my findings in a journal. Very rarely do I miss a day, and if I do, I don’t skip next time.
How to Beat NaNoWriMo and Other Personal Writing Goals
November has ended and I’ve achieved the rank of NaNoWriMo Master for the third year in a row. With GREAT DIFFICULTY. If you follow my story highlights on Instagram and Facebook, you know I had no word days when the suggested minimum to reach 50k is about 1.5k. All writers get busy with regular life or get stuck in a tricky section of a book. Lack of energy, focus, or desire can make challenges like NaNoWriMo feel impossible.
Idea to Novel: Developing a Cohesive Narrative
I probably couldn’t name the numerous ideas and story lines that cross my mind in a given period of time. While most stay in my daydreams, some of them make it to paper. That’s actually where my two novels started, a single chapter I cobbled together at age 13. No real plot or character depth, just a scene. A moment that inspired a novel.
Pacing: Crafting Tone with Words
I get a lot of inspiration from music. Sometimes I’ll listen while writing, though I do get distracted when a Latin mix dances into my ears. Over time, and hearing much praise and critique, I realized there’s a major similarity between music and novels. Just as a song has a tempo that gets you moving, novels need good pacing to keep readers engaged and connected to the scene.
Reader Syndrome: Letting the Story Tell Itself
I love our world, mainly because it’s filled with people with various perspectives. Our brains are wired in different ways so we might see something that our neighbor doesn’t and vice versa. That’s where this post comes into play, giving you guys insight into how I tell a story.
Novel writing can become formulaic. Get a plot, throw in some characters, do a little editing, and once you’re done, publish it on Amazon. Easy. I followed this pattern (minus publishing) up until my recent book. Foresight presented a problem: I need more story, but I’ve said everything that needs to be said. Writer’s block was imminent when I fell into what I’ll call “Reader Syndrome.” This is where you’re no longer the writer but a witness, a reader experiencing the story for the first time.
Dialogue: Writing Snappy Conversation for Story Development
I love characters. Can’t have a good story without them. Subsequently, I love dialogue. The banter between lovers, the squabbles amongst siblings, the mourning of lost comrades. Good dialogue connects a reader to the characters, showing them their personalities, how they relate to others, and sometimes providing vital information.
Editing: The Many Methods for Finessing a Story
I feel like I’ve talked extensively on editing, and the number of links in this post will probably prove as much. However, as I FINALLY wrap up my book, I’m realizing just how many ways you can edit a story. It’s more than grammar and spelling. There’s content to consider, word counts for publishing, tone, pacing…
Yeah, I’m getting a headache trying to sort these out too. Editing is the one aspect of writing I despise. Which is why I spend so much time talking about it, to convince myself to sit down and just do it. There are a few methods I’ve come across that I don’t totally hate, so I’d like to pass these on to all the writers like me who’d rather write for an eternity and never edit a sentence. But first, we got some ground to cover in regards to the main components of editing.
Story Arc: Refreshing the Basics
Why am I writing a post on story arcs? Am I bored, looking for something to write about?
I wish. As much as I think I know novel writing, I find myself learning new things and relearning the importance of old lessons. As of late, I’ve been bombarded by movies and books with very little direction. They have all the right elements, yet lack an arc that takes you from uncertainty to triumph. Perhaps I’m simply making myself feel better that I know how to write properly, but hopefully this refresher helps you as much as me.