Still need to catch up on the first book in the Chloe Stewart Novels?

Few of us are divinely inspired enough to have the very first novel we write - or attempt to write - be a hit. Heck, most writers’ first novels may not even be a good idea. It’s still a good idea to write a “practice novel” or two before working toward publishing, though. The experience of simply writing and completing a WIP is very valuable. 

I’m in a nostalgic mood, with American Thanksgiving so close at hand, so let’s walk down memory lane and review my “practice novels” that got away from me for various reasons.

How do I stick with the current WIP? I have a few different methods I use to keep myself on track.

Last chance to check out some free short, scary stories before the event ends on November 1st!

A few of us in this world are blessed with perfect health, but most humans struggle with some kind of a health-related challenge in their daily life, and I am no exception. It’s been one of the biggest obstacles to my creativity making it to any kind of fruition, and it’s been a thing for me since I was a teenager who my family thought just snored really loudly. I have sleep apnea, and it’s a bitch.

It's time to support some indie authors and get a chill in your bones at the same time.

There is a lingering perception in the publishing world that self-pubbed authors “couldn’t make it” at getting trad-pubbed. That the only reason you would self-pub is if your book is bad and trad pub isn’t an option because it keeps getting rejected by agents due to being bad.

And let’s be real, maybe your book IS bad. But that’s not the only reason agents feel they can’t sell a manuscript, and therefore your book is not worth their time.

There's a fresh-off-the-grill free short story available for new subscribers to my newsletter!

When you ask a writer what their least favorite part of the job is, nine times out of ten, the answer isn’t taking criticism, or writer’s block. It’s having to market yourself. Now, if you’re strictly a hobby writer and don’t care if anyone reads your stuff, that’s one thing. But if you want people to know your book exists, and pay money for it, then you have to market yourself.

One thing I’ve learned on this writerly journey of mine is that attitude is a huge part of what makes people stick it out and Do The Thing, or quit in frustration. Writing is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and a poor mindset will sink you faster than a dark matter particle aboard the Titanic.

Get The Case Of The Cheap Suit Plot for only $2.99 on Smashwords during July!

There’s a lot of not-so-great advice being regurgitated over and over because someone else said it a long time ago. Certain things, like the rules of grammar or story structure, are not really negotiable, of course. But today I want to go over a few writing “rules” that don’t work for me, and probably don’t work for a lot of other writers, either.

I thought today I would go over some of the things I did to cut a hefty chunk out of my book, bringing it down to the slim, trim 119k words it is today. Yes, I cut a novel’s worth of words out of my novel. So, let’s take a look.

So. Tomorrow, my debut novel, The Case Of The Cheap Suit Plot, is officially released. It’s been on pre-order for some time, but starting tomorrow that bad boy gets downloaded to readers’ devices of choice, and those who want a physical copy can get the paperback as well.

At my day job recently, a co-worker asked me, “So, the day your book comes out, are you going to have a party?”

Hahahaha…no.

I know a lot of authors will often talk about their influences. If you’ve been following me a while you may have noticed that I don’t. At least not as much as other authors. This is because somewhere in the back of my tiny little mind, I worry that folks will somehow figure that my entire writing style/stories will be like the books and authors I name.

Logically I know it’s not true. I know most readers will not assume that of me and my work. Every once in a while I need to remind myself though. Thus, today I figure I’ll talk about three books that had a tremendous impact on me and my writing…

I’m a writer with ADHD. And some days, I sit down at my computer with about 12,000 ideas on the tip of my brain, ready to make those satisfying clack-clack-clacking sounds on the keyboard as I unleash my genius. Other days, just getting to the computer chair feels like wading through molasses.

I can in no way rely on being *~inspired~* in order to write with any consistency. The reason I’ve finished a novel, and then finished two more that are ready for beta readers, and then finished a draft of one more, over the last year and a half is because I made myself write. I sat down, most days of the week, and said, “I’m going to write. It may not be good. I may delete all of it tomorrow. But I’m going to write.” For me, routine is everything.

So, today I thought I’d talk a little bit about what I need around me to get in the headspace for writing. These are the five indispensable items I cannot be without.

There are a million guides on how to structure your plot out there. The Hero’s Journey, Save The Cat, The Rollercoaster Method, etc. But all of them have a few basic components. You have to start with a little exposition followed by an Inciting Incident. Then, well, more stuff happens. This eventually leads to a climax, followed by tying up any loose ends.

So what goes in that part of the book in the middle, between the Inciting Incident and the climax? That’s the bulk of the story, after all. Heck, for my book, that’s Chapters 3 through 34, out of 36. Well, there are a whole host of things you can put in the middle of that book, and some of it will depend on the genre you’re writing and/or the structure model you’re following. But one thing I feel is an important addition to nearly any story is a “win”.

A topic I’ve seen brought up with frequency in the writing community is, “How can I trust beta readers, critique partners, and/or editors not to steal my ideas and release my book under their name?” I personally think this fear is blown out of proportion, for a few reasons.

Two weeks ago, I wrote a little bit about what I like to see in a book’s first chapter. I also touched on the Inciting Incident, and I want to expand on that topic in this blog post. Personally, I’d never heard the term before I started trying to write professionally, but it’s a cornerstone of any work of fiction – whether you know it or not.