Write Now Editing

Writing Longhand by Patty Hall

by Leave a Comment

I write all my books longhand.

I can imagine what you look like about now. First, your eyes widen in shock that someone in this technological age is still using the antiquated art of longhand. Then once the surprise wears off, you’re left wondering why anyone would waste their time, doing such a thing.

When I first started writing, computers were still relatively new. The only way to get on the internet was dial-up, there wasn’t anything like scrivener or Goggle docs, and we saved everything on a piece of plastic called a floppy disc. I didn’t even know how to work one, nor did I care until the night Princess Diana died and I wanted to read the London newspapers.

Still, I wrote my first book on my newly acquired laptop. And rewrote it. And wrote it again. Seeing my work on the screen was a problem for me. Once it was there, I wanted it to be perfect, so I’d switch a sentence around. Or I’d try different taglines. Or I’d change my character’s emotion. My first book took me six years to finish. You read that right—SIX!

I finally threw the floppy disc into a drawer and started another manuscript. This time, I wanted to be smarter. I needed to figure out a way to silence my internal editor and get the story down in a reasonable amount of time. First, I tried an AlphaSmart (for those of you unfamiliar with this, it’s basically a word processor.) I figured if it didn’t have a screen, I wouldn’t expect perfection.

Wrong. Though I did get the work down quicker, I still had a big problem. I’m a sucky typist. A writer who can’t type. When I had typing class (you know, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), I was too busy flirting with the cute boy next to me to actually practice. After all, I wasn’t going into any field that would require me to type.

 Yeah, God is still laughing about that one.

Then I read an article on the positives of writing longhand. First, it slows down your thoughts which for someone like me who has 22 tabs open, most of the time that’s a good thing. Secondly, it helps curb that nasty internal editor. Plus there are those people who find writing longhand helps them to study or memorize a piece.

So, I tried it and found I surpassed my previous daily word counts. Writing longhand helped me get the first draft down, and that pesky internal editor that had hounded me for years was silenced. With the introduction of the iPad Pro and Apple pencil, I can now write longhand, then translate my writing into text that goes into my word file. By the time it’s to this phase, I’m ready to edit my work or as I tell my family, ‘pretty it up.’

Another thing (and this is important) if I write my story longhand, I find that when I edit, it makes the process go a whole lot faster. For me at least, writing puts it to memory which makes my second and third edits a breeze. Results don’t lie—since changing over to longhand, I’ve written four novels, ten to fifteen novellas and dozens of magazine articles and devotionals.

So, if you’re having trouble getting words down, give writing longhand a try. Personally, I use Vera Bradley notebooks (you can get 550 words per page) and EnerGel pens in navy blue, but a notebook and pen from the dollar store work just as well.

Trust me, it works!

Multi-published author Patty Smith Hall lives near the North Georgia Mountains with her husband, Danny, her two daughters, her son-in-law, and her grandboy. When she’s not writing on her back porch, she’s spending time with her family or reading on her back porch.

Dr. Joshua McClain is heading west but first stops in Hillsdale, Michigan, to break the marriage contract his late mother arranged between him and Katie Clark. Years ago, Katie left him behind in Charleston after the tragic death of her mother. But after a train crash, he comes face-to-face with Dr. Kathleen Clark, his childhood friend all grown up. When Josh shows up in town, claiming they’re betrothed, Katie refuses to consider an arranged marriage. She’ll marry for love or not at all. Besides, he’s headed for Kansas Territory; her practice is here in Hillsdale. Then why are they both finding it hard to break their betrothal and say goodbye?

Improve Your Writing: Read Other Genres

by Leave a Comment

Are you feeling stifled in your writing? Uncreative? Blocked?

Or maybe you’re afraid that your story is too much like everyone else’s. Too formulaic. Too predictable.

Don’t worry. You can work with that. Instead of diving deeper and expecting more from your manuscript and your genre, try taking a break.

Read other genres.

Why? Because you need a break. Your brain needs a break. And sometimes stepping outside of your comfort genre will expose you to characters, plots, twists, and subplots you’ve never considered before. You’re not going to steal someone else’s story idea, but getting out of the fantasy bubble and picking up a romance novel might unexpectedly delight you. Or bore you. Either way, you’ll leave with an idea of something you like or don’t like (and maybe a spark of inspiration).

This is my challenge to you—read at least two books outside of your genre this year. See what else is out there. Find out what other people are doing. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find something you love.

Interview & Writing Tips with Denise Weimer

by Leave a Comment

We’re going to try something a little different here this year, and I’m introducing some author interviews. These interviews, however, focus more on the craft of writing: how do people do it and what have they learned through the publishing process. I hope this will encourage you as well as give you an inside-look at what it’s really like!

Kicking off our interviews is author and editor Denise Weimer.

Denise, thanks for your willingness to appear on my blog! I’m looking forward to sharing your knowledge and advice with the rest of the world (at least with the small portion of it that follows my blog). What genre do you write? How did you pick it?
I’m a hybrid genre writer, having published contemporary and historical romance as well as time slip and romantic suspense novels, mostly set in my home state of Georgia. I was a huge history buff and living historian as a young adult, so it was natural that I’d start writing historicals. At one point, my agent encouraged me to try a contemporary romance since those often prove easier to place. My main story in my dual time period Restoration Trilogy had been modern, and I’d enjoyed writing it, so out came Fall Flip (September 2019), Spring Splash (March 2020) and Traces (March 2020).

What are your favorite genres to read? Why?
Historical eastern frontier romances. What a thrilling time for America. I often imagine the virgin forests, the native peoples, the early wars for ownership, and the many challenges of surviving and thriving in the nation’s backcountry. The conflict is right there, ripe for many stories!

How long did it take you complete your first manuscript (published or not)?
I wrote my first published novella, Redeeming Grace, when my younger daughter would take naps. Not long after, I began The Georgia Gold Series, four historical fiction novels set in Northeast Georgia and Savannah in the mid-1800s. I researched a year before I started writing. Then it took me about three more years to write what would become four novels of the series.

Have your follow-up novels been easier or harder to write? Why do you think that is?
Thankfully, easier, because I learned how to focus my research and know when to stop and start writing. I’ve since been trained and now work as an editor, which has really helped tighten my writing in early drafts. My last historical was researched and written in six weeks. That astonished even me.

What’s surprised you the most about the book-publishing process?
How vital authors are to each other. From endorsements to shared promotions to collections to introductions, they are key in opening doors and providing support.

What’s been the most challenging part of getting a book published?
Finding the path that could put my work in front of traditional and larger publishers. For me, it involved group blogging that led to participating in a collection that led to an agent. Now that I have several individual books out with houses recognized in Christian publishing, the next challenge has been building social media connections and sales numbers. Marketing is always a daunting task.

What’s your favorite part of the publishing experience?
Possibly the cover design process. It’s such a thrilling moment to see your book cover for the first time, like putting a face to a name. I love that LPC gives authors some input into their covers. When it all comes together, the cover reflects several elements of your story and offers an enticing package for potential readers.

For learning the writing craft, which do you prefer – books or conferences?
If you could recommend one writing conference, what would it be?
If you could recommend one writing book, what would it be?
If I may answer the three questions above in one … My path has been a little different where writing craft books and conferences have been concerned. Instead of either, my pattern became learning from mentors: my first publisher, Wendy Dingwall of Canterbury House; my agent, Linda S. Glaz of Hartline Literary; other authors and editors; and finally, my senior-ME, Pegg Thomas at Smitten Historical Romance, and editing training with you, Karin, at the PEN Institute.

That said, Pegg and I do recommend books on self-editing and writing deep POV to budding authors who submit to our historical imprints, and conferences are wonderful. I’ve attended and gotten to be on faculty at the North Georgia Christian Writers’ Conference. While finances have needed to be directed elsewhere in our family up to this point, I hope to attend the Blue Ridge Conference in the near future. And maybe when it comes closer to Georgia again, ACFW!

If you could pick any of your novels to be made into a movie, which one would you pick? Who would you want to play the lead roles, and why?
I’m not very good with assigning actors and actresses to roles from my novels, but if I had to pick a novel to be made into a movie, it would be my novella in the Backcountry Brides Collection, Across Three Autumns. My heroine, Jenny White, is a strong frontier woman who holds off British and Native Americans from her home during the Revolutionary War. And my hero, a Scottish scout for Elijah Clark, is swoon-worthy.

For a full-length novel, that historical I mentioned above as having been written in six weeks, working title Bent Tree Bride, would make a great movie. It’s about a mixed-blood lieutenant in the Cherokee Regiment who struggles to reconcile the scholar and warrior within him while fighting Red Stick Creeks during the War of 1812—and trying to avoid falling in love with his white colonel’s feisty daughter. But first, I have to pray it finds a home with the right publisher.

Thank you so much for appearing on my blog! Have a blessed day!
Thank you for having me!

Spring Splash: When an injury sidelines college swimmer Anna Callaway, her dreams are crushed. She pours herself into her sports marketing practicum, helping a local special needs organization promote their athletic event. What she doesn’t expect is a swim team ripe for the Special Olympics—and their handsome but stubborn coach.

Craig Holt has dealt with eager and ignorant volunteers before. No matter how determined or persuasive uptight Anna might be about coaching his team to the Special Olympics, he has no intention of allowing her to raise the hopes of his swimmers, his sister, or his guarded heart.

Then Anna herself gets a second chance at becoming a champion. Will she pursue her lifelong goals or make room for a new dream?

Traces: When a failed romance and a $500,000 prize lure Kate Carson into participating in the reality TV show, Traces, the least she expects is to pick her partner. After all, she’s the PR spokeswoman of the company that derived a thirteen-lens, rotating camera from military use and installed it atop Atlanta’s tallest skyscraper. But she never would have chosen to evade techno hunters for twenty days with “G.I. Joe.”

Stoic, ex-military Alex Mitchell is the sort of man she always vowed to avoid, while the shadows of Alex’s past cause him to spurn emotional involvement. When Kate’s insider knowledge makes her a target of someone more threatening than game show hunters, Alex offers her only hope to reveal the dark plans of proponents of The Eye.

Connect with Denise here:
Monthly Newsletter Sign-up
Website
Facebook
Twitter
BookBub

Know What You’re Writing: Novel Lengths

by Leave a Comment


Writing Tip: most agents and publishers will reject a 100,000 young adult novel without ever reading it.

Why?

Because it’s too long. Without reading a word, we know it’s too long. The fact that an author is submitting it suggests a few different things:



  • The author is too wordy and the book hasn’t been edited for length.
  • The book has been edited for length and the author didn’t listen.
  • The author has doesn’t his/her homework to understand the genre.

Let’s take a look at that last one. That one has nothing to do with the quality of your work, and it’s super easy to fix; there’s no reason any author shouldn’t do it before submitting.

Novels in similar genres are never exactly the same length, but there are guidelines that will at least help you get past the literary gate keeps by providing an appropriately sized book for your target market.

Here’s what Writer’s Digest has to say about acceptable manuscript lengths (with a few personal comments added):

  • Commercial and Literary Adult Novels: 80,000–100,000 words
    • 70,000–80,000: might work, but might be too short
    • 100,000–110,000: might work, but might be too long
    • Less than 70,000: too short
    • More than 110,000: too long
  • Fantasy/Science Fiction (and some historical novels): 100,000–115,000 words
  • Upper Middle Grade (12+ years): 40,000–55,000 words
  • Middle Grade (young adult style with middle grade themes): 20,000–55,000 words
  • Middle Grade (style and themes): 20,000–35,000 words

You’ll notice young adult novels aren’t listed separately because it depends on who you’re targeting. If you wrote a YA fantasy novel with 18-year-old characters that could be read by an adult audience, you can probably get away with 100,000 words. If, however, you’re writing it for the 13-year-old set, you might want to go shorter. The best way to know how long to make it? Check the publisher’s website and guidelines!

Is this list finite and absolute? Of course not, but now you have a good idea of whether or not your 30,000-word historical romance is ready to submit (hint: it’s not, unless you plan for it to be a novella).

What genre do you write? Let me know if you have specific questions about the length of your book!

5 Ways Realism Ruins Good Fiction

by Leave a Comment

Let’s be honest—unless it’s vital to a plot, most people don’t want to read about a character’s bowel movements, mouthy kids, or hangnails. Often authors include mundane details to make their characters seem more realistic, but that realism doesn’t always come across well in books. Today we’re going to quickly look at five things you can reduce/eliminate from your manuscript to help strengthen your story.

  1. Small talk. If you were raised before cell phones, your calls probably started like this:
    “Hello, this is the Van Burens.”
    “Hi, is your mom there?”
    “May I ask who’s calling?”
    “Mr. Smith from the insurance agency.”
    “One moment, please.”
    It’s polite and informative, but in a book, it takes up too much space and slows down the story. You don’t necessarily want your characters to be rude, but you don’t need a hello/goodbye in every conversation either. And unless the weather is important to the plot, you don’t need to show people discussing it.
  2. Introspection. Most people overthink things, be it every decision they make or only those related to a specific subject. That’s normal. But it doesn’t work well in books. It’s okay—even expected—to have characters reflect on situations, but after they do it once, move on. You don’t need to remind your readers over and over again of a character’s ideas, nor do you need to show the characters thinking about every situation they experience. When you repeat thoughts/scenes/reactions, you give readers a reason to skip pages. Once they start to skip, they’ll keep skipping (so don’t give them a reason).
  3. Well, so, okay, etc. Just because people say it in real life doesn’t mean it needs to appear in your dialogue. It’s amazing how many times well and so appear in manuscripts when authors start their sentences with them—they can show up hundreds of times! That’s a lot of words that could be used to show something more important to the plot. The same is true for filler words such as like, okay, um, uh-huh. Leaving them out won’t make the dialogue feel unnatural but including too many of them will slow the pace and stand out as unnecessary.
  4. Step-by-step instructions. Every morning I wake up, let the dogs out, feed them, pack my husband’s lunch, then start breakfast. Not many people care, and they shouldn’t. It’s boring. So is explaining how to put the key in the ignition, start the car, throw it into reverse, pull out of the driveway, and slide it into drive before heading into town. Whether we want to or not, we live orderly lives—you often can’t do one thing (drive into town) without doing another thing first (starting the car). Readers don’t need to see each of those steps though. If it’s important to show a character’s nighttime routine, show it once. Then trust your reader to remember it and move on to other important details of the story.
  5. Repetition. Similar to #4 but slightly different, readers don’t need to see character repeating themselves. Yes, we’ve all had experiences where we had to tell the same story over and over again, but you don’t want to do that on the page. Remember #2? When you start repeating things, readers are tempted to skip pages. Don’t give them a reason! Find creative ways to convey what’s happening in a scene without actually repeating every detail. Your readers will thank you.

Yes, you want your characters to be realistic, but too much realism can slow down a story and kill the intensity. When you look for and cut back on these five things, you’ll naturally tighten your story without sacrificing characterization.

My sophomore novel—Practically Married—releases October 2019! Sign up for my monthly newsletter and you’ll receive sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes stories, and pictures of my cats and dogs. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for writing tips, updates on Guiding Light, and more!

ABOUT ME

Editor. Teacher. Novelist.
A passionate lover of fiction, Karin doesn't just write novels, she helps others write their best stories! A certified substantive editor with the Christian Editor Connection, her goal is to help authors to put her out of business by equipping them with the tools they need to become better writers.

Connect

Copywriting

Karin understood my advertising and marketing writing needs and accomplished the project in record time. She asked all the right questions up front to equip herself with enough … [more]

Editing

Substantive Fiction Editing: A substantive edit looks at the big picture. Start here to tackle the big issues before moving on to the nit-picky details. Substantive edits not only point out … [more]

Author Page

Lover of all things fiction, I also love University of Michigan football, the Detroit Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings, kayaking, gluten-free cupcakes, and my husband.

Resources

Press Release Tool Kit Stop waiting and hoping for people to notice you and your organization! With this Press Release Tool Kit, you’ll learn to apply the step-by-step process I use to … [more]