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Articles about craft.

Quick Link: Copyediting: When Little Changes Matter

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Little differences can add up to big change. This is especially true with editing your story. On Jami Gold’s site, guest author Misti Wolanski provides some great tips for getting down into the nitty gritty of copy editing your manuscript. I am bookmarking this one for references later!

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Copyediting: When Little Changes Matter — Guest: Misti Wolanski

March 31, 2016

Portrait of smart girls making word ‘school’

Jami Gold, Misti Wolanski

I’ve spoken before about the different types of editors. Each type of editor and/or editing pass helps us strengthen a different aspect of our work: the storytelling, the writing itself, and the grammar of our sentences.

As a developmental editor, I focus a lot on the storytelling aspect of writing craft in my posts here: character arcs, plots and subplots, stakes and motivations, etc. But any peek at Amazon reviews reveals that the common “needs editing” complaint usually refers to copyediting.

That is, complaints about editing quality from readers usually focus on grammar and word choice and usage. (In contrast, storytelling issues are usually revealed through complaints about characters and plot holes, and writing issues are usually called out with complaints about voice, clarity, or “weak writing.”)

That copyediting-style focus makes sense. Most of us think we learned the basic rules of grammar and mechanics in school, so that’s the level of editing most of our readers feel qualified to judge and call out as bad editing.

That potential of being called out in reviews is just one reason why copyediting is so important. The changes copyeditors make often seem small, but they add up over a story’s pages, and sometimes the wrong usage of a word or punctuation mark can change the meaning of our writing.

Today, my friend—and one of my copyeditors—Misti Wolanski (also known as Carradee) is here to help me out while I’m still struggling with vision issues. (My doctor initially misdiagnosed the problem, but I’m hopeful the follow-up tests this week nailed down the problem—and the fix.) Thank you, Misti!

For an in-depth look at how some of the smallest words can have a big impact on how readers interpret our work, please welcome Misti Wolanski! *smile*

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Do You Need “a” Word or “the” Word?

Let’s say you’re writing something—a blog post, a story, a comment somewhere—and you start out with, “The problem is that nobody listens.” Solid sentence, right. You have a subject, verb, dependent clause…

But which nobody are you talking about? Nobody in a particular place? Nobody in a particular demographic?

And what, exactly, is nobody not listening to?

So you revise your sentence to be more clear, and you say, “The problem is that people listen to what they think you’re saying rather than what you’re actually saying.”

Read the full post on Jami Gold’s site

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: How Your Character’s Failures Can Map A Route To Self-Growth

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Every story has a problem that the characters must overcome, that is what makes the story interesting for readers. But what if your character doesn’t succeed?  Angela Ackerman shows us how having your character fail,  actually allows for them to grow. Lessons learned and all that. Head on over to Writers Helping Writers and learn the different types of failures and the type of growth associated with them.

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How Your Character’s Failures Can Map A Route To Self-Growth

Man with curly hair covers his face with handsMarch 2, 2016
by Angela Ackerman

So, failure. Ugh, right?

Well, I was feeling like a failure today, like I’d let the team down because an idea of mine went sour. It sucks when that happens, but that’s how it goes sometimes. I found myself retracing my steps, looking at how I got from A to B to C, to what I should have thought of to avoid where things ended up. It comes down to a lack of knowledge, and I’ve learned from it. This led me to think a bit more about failure, and our characters.

Failure is something no one looks forward to or wants to experience. It doesn’t feel good to fight for something and fail. A knot of emotion (frustration, disappointment, anguish, anger) can quickly escalate to darker feelings (shame, self-loathing, humiliation, bitterness, disillusionment, and even jealousy and vengefulness).

However, failure can also lead to positive traits like determination, persistence, resourcefulness and a higher level of discipline. And once on that route, it will lead to change. To evolution. To inner growth, and finally that thing everyone seeks: success.

How each of us deals with upsets, disappointments and failure can say a lot about who we are deep down, and it is the same with our characters. Not only that, but their go-to coping strategies can also help us pinpoint where they are on that path of change (character arc) and open a window into where their weaknesses lie, and what attitudes need to shift to get them on the road to achievement.

Coping (or Not) With Failure

Here are some of the ways I think people (and therefore our characters) tend to react when it comes to failure. Have a read and see which rings true for your hero or heroine.

Blaming Others

For some, failure triggers the blame game. Rather than look within to what they might have done differently or take responsibility for their actions and performance, the blamer makes it about other people: What they did to cause this result. How they let one down. How it was rigged from the start. How one was held back, not helped, how others didn’t play fair.

The lesson that must be learned: be accountable, and be responsible. Whatever comes, whatever the result is, face it and take ownership for your own actions and choices.

Read the full post on Writers Helping Writers

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Falling in Love on the Page: Writing Convincing Romantic Relationships by Anna Campbell

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

They say relationships take a lot of work. This is true even for fictional characters in books. Where should you go to learn about developing great literary relationships? Head on over to Romance University, where  has some great advice to make your character’s love affairs realistic while still making reader’s hearts beat faster. 

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Falling in Love on the Page: Writing Convincing Romantic Relationships by Anna Campbell

Couple in embraceMarch 7, 2016

Anna Campbell

She’s smitten. He’s besotted. But that’s not a story. Award-winning author Anna Campbell shares her insight on creating believable romance for your characters. 

As a romance writer, I spend my life watching characters fall in love – it’s a fun way to make a living.

But how do you make those tumultuous romantic relationships believable to the reader? I’m sure we’ve all picked up books where the hero and heroine come together at the end, and our principal response is “huh?” or “they’ll be in a divorce court within a year.”

Not how you want people to feel when they reach the last page of a book you’ve written – whether a romance or a story with romantic elements.

Here are a few thoughts on making those falling in love moments convincing – and irresistibly powerful.

Physical attraction is essential in a romance. That doesn’t mean that all your characters have to be model material with flawless faces and bodies. In fact, often it’s more interesting if they are normal people. But there needs to be a spark. Perhaps your hero notices your heroine’s beautiful eyes or saucy strut or lovely hair, or your heroine thinks the hero has a nice smile or broad shoulders. The attraction needs to be invincible and inescapable, because when your characters clash, this sexual link makes it impossible for them to break away from each other and seek an easier option.

How you write that physical attraction depends on your characters – and your story. Do you want an instant flare-up, or the slow build from interest to love? Or do you want a coup de foudre moment when your characters finally see what’s been under their noses for so long? Do you want to write a transformation story – always a popular theme – where the ugly duckling hero/heroine undergoes some sort of makeover and suddenly appears in all their glory to dazzle their admirer?

Read the full post on Romance University

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Editing seminar snapshots: How much should you budget for editing your book? And how should you choose an editor?

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Roz Morris on her blog, Nail Your Novel, wrote a great post about how to choose an editor that is right for you.  Check it out, and let us know what tips you have for finding quality people to work on your manuscript.

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Editing seminar snapshots: How much should you budget for editing your book? And how should you choose an editor?

March 6, 2016

Ready to get publishedRoz Morris

This very good question came up when I spoke at the Writers & Artists selfpublishing summit a few months ago. And my answer… deserves a post.

First, there seem to be two modes for charging: by the hour and by the wordcount or page. With the wordcount, writers can be quoted a fixed price, so everyone knows where they stand. With an hourly rate, it’s much more difficult for the writer to know how much they’ll be spending.

The convention seems to be that developmental editing is quoted by the wordcount or page, and other phases are priced by hour. Here’s a post that describes the different editing processes and the order to use them in.

Second, editors set their own fees. Does a low price indicate good value? It might if the editor is starting out and doesn’t yet have a reputation. But might they also be lacking in experience? Indeed, might they be a complete amateur?
Conversely, if an editor’s charges are high, does that mean they’re good?
I think everyone can see it’s a buyer beware situation.
How do you tell? Here’s how to navigate the maze and spend your ££$$ wisely.

Establish that the editor is right for you.
For developmental edits, you need a specialist in your field. I would be useless to a fantasy author because I don’t read fantasy. But I can edit its close cousin, magic realism. I can’t edit genre romance of the Mills and Boon variety, but I can edit any number of stories that feature a romantic relationship. So find out what if their tastes are in tune with yours.

Read the full post on Nail Your Novel

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Getting in Character—Deep POV Part Two

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How can you not love Kristen Lamb, she wears a viking helmet! On her blog, she write a humorous but well thought out post on improving your writing by going deep into your character’s point of view. You know the whole “show, don’t tell” thingie but taken to a different level.   This is part two in a series, but can be read alone. You can find part one here. And don’t worry Kristen, I loved Tropic Thunder too!

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Getting in Character—Deep POV Part Two

March 13, 2016

KnowledgeKristen Lamb

Yes today is odd. Posting on a Sunday. We are headed into Spring Break and yeah…hard to maintain my usual schedule. Today we’re going to dive deeper into deep POV and then, later in the week, I am going to bring you guys an expert on deep POV 😉 .

Will be fun.

To accomplish “deep POV” yes, there are style changes we can make, like removing as many tags as we can and ditching extraneous sensing and thinking words. But deep POV is more than just tight writing, it’s also strongly tethered to characterization. Good characterization.

It is essential to know our cast if we hope to successfully write “deep POV.”

KNOW Your Cast

There are all kinds of ways to get to know our characters. I often write detailed character backgrounds before starting a story so it doesn’t become a fish head.

Why we need to know our characters is that deep POV is a reflection of the inner self, how that character sees the world, responds, evades, processes, etc. It is also a reflection of personal history and relationship dynamics.

*cue brain cramp* *hands paper bag*

It’s okay. Breathe. We’re going to unpack this.

Reflection of the Character

Back when I used to run a weekly workshop, I had writers do a little exercise to help them learn POV and also strengthen character-building skills. I gave this scenario:

We have a family of four—Mom, Dad, a grandparent (either gender) and a teen (either gender) who has spent a year saving for a family vacation. On the way to their destination, the vehicle breaks down. What happens and tell it from the perspective of EACH family member.

Every week, writers showed with the perspective of one of the four. We had ASTONISHING creativity.

Read the full post on Kristen Lamb

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Inner Conflict in Fiction

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Having depth in your characters makes them more believable and having them face conflict makes them more interesting.  At Live Write Breathe, Janalyn Voigt gives us examples of conflict that will help you develop your characters and then throws in a little psychology too. Check out the whole series!

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Inner Conflict in Fiction

Inner Conflict in Fiction (Conflict in Fiction, Making it Real Series, Part 4)

Comforting patientUnderstanding the dynamics of inner conflict in psychology can help you create believable characters who tap into emotions common to us all.  Portraying inner conflict believably in fiction requires that we understand its ways and means. In this article, we’ll cover the four models of inner conflict in psychology, with examples from my own writing.

This post is a continuation of “Tap the Psychology of Conflict in Your Fiction,” which I recommend reading first.

1. Choosing Between Two Positive Outcomes

Your character needs to choose between two equal desires that are mutually exclusive, resulting in tension. The stronger the opposing desires and more serious the consequences, the harder the struggle.  Giving your character traits that deepen the conflict will make it even more compelling. ‘You can’t eat your cake and eat it, too’ is an expression that perfectly frames this sort of problem. In psychology, this is called the approach-approach conflict.

Example

Such a dilemma arises in DawnSinger (Tales of Faeraven, book 1) because the hero, Kai, who has sworn to protect the High Queen of Faeraven, will be freed from his pledge at her death. Since that event seems imminent, both Kai’s parents press him not to bow his knee to the heir of Faeraven who will take over the high throne at his mother’s death but to take over the responsibilities of heir to their kingdom in the absence of his missing older brother. The consequences of refusing them are that his parent’s kingdom is likely to be absorbed into a neighboring one.

The new High King will be an untried youth, and Kai’s loyalty to the High Queen, love of the life he leads in her service, and drive to fulfill his duty, sometimes at the expense of relationships, makes this a gut-wrenching decision for him.

Read the full post on Live Write Breathe

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing Contests

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Have you ever entered a writing contest or wanted to? Over on his site, Jerry Jenkins explores the benefits of entering writing contests and then gives advice on how to find legitimate ones.  Let us know if you have ever entered a writing contest and what your experience was.

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Your Ultimate Guide to Writing Contests

books-with-trophy_MyBXDLu_Posted

Regardless where you are on your writing journey—from wannabe to bestseller—you can benefit from entering contests.

Why?

Because the right contest can tell you:

  • Where you stand
  • How you measure up against the competition
  • What you still need to learn

To get you the complete lowdown on everything you need to know about writing contests I consulted the ultimate expert. Dr. Dennis Hensley is chairman of the Department of Professional Writing at Taylor University, Upland, Indiana.

It’s because of Doc that I unequivocally refer to Taylor as having the best university writer training program in the country, bar none. Ever since I heard him speak more than 30 years ago, I have never hosted a writers conference without inviting him to keynote and teach. Doc is always a favorite and never disappoints.

His students don’t just learn to write and sell and publish. They’re in the game every day, pushed to query and propose and market their work to real publications. So Doc isn’t preparing them to be professional writers when they graduate; he’s thrusting them into the action now.

Besides having students sell their writing, Doc pushes them into contests too. He’s turned out  enough productive writers over the decades to tell me that what’s good for them has to be good for you and me.

So I asked him:

Why are you such a strong advocate of writers’ contests?

Contests force writers to hit deadlines. That means they have to finish, and finish on time. It’s hard to beat that kind of training.

Read the full post on Jerry Jenkins

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Making Magic: 6 Steps for Creating A Magical System

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Wave your magic wand and read these tips from Carol Gray, from the website Dead Darlings, on how to set up a magical system that makes sense in your literary world.

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Making Magic: 6 Steps for Creating A Magical System

Happy Girl In A Witch'S Costume And Witch'S Broomstick

March 1, 2016

 

Conjure, enchant, shape-shift, or summon—endless possibilities exist in the world of magic. Cast a spell, fight a dragon, wave a magic wand, but don’t forget the ruby slipper, the mermaid, and the unicorn. And then there’s time travel and scrying and divination—the options can easily overwhelm. Luckily, the talented Mark Fogerty, in his GrubStreet class on Worldbuilding, offered six steps to creating a magical system that can help manage all these choices. Here’s my version of Mark’s list.

1. Define the Magical System. What is your magic and how does it work? Now don’t panic. It’s okay to be vague at this point. Think about the Force in Star Wars. Obi-Wan Kenobi described it as “an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.” 1 This sounds good but does anybody really know what he’s talking about?

According to Rainbow Rowell, it’s okay not to fully understand your magic. In talking about her latest book, Carry On, she said, “I would get stuck and have to remind myself that I don’t really know how the magic works in my favorite fantasy stories. I don’t really know how the Force works . . . I get really confused if I talk specifically about the magic in Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings. I try not to get too bogged down about how it works . . . I just try to be consistent.” 2

Read the full post on Dead Darlings

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: 3 Tips for Seamless Scene Setting

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Today we travel to Writers In The Storm, where not only do they have a great blog name but Sonja Yoerg cheekily shares tips on using your environment to help bring depth to your character.

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Hikers at sunset3 Tips for Seamless Scene Setting

February 17th, 2016

Sonja Yoerg

Lost in Space. Remember that TV show? No? Sigh. It aired in the 60s and featured a family in Jiffy-Pop space suits roaming the galaxy in an attempt to return to Earth. I mention it because, as fun as that show was, you don’t want your characters lost in space. In fact, you want to pin them to a specific spot on the map, put them in a headlock and give them a noogie while you’ve got them there.

Settings aren’t just hang-outs for your characters. Let’s talk about ways to put your fictional places through their paces.

1. Relax your reader.

First and most obvious, readers will relax once they know where they are and what sort of a world to expect. Nail down the location with few accurate strokes and you’re one step closer to being able to lead your reader by the nose. (And that’s what you want, after all: dominion over readers!)

Unless the mystery of the setting is part of the story, it’s best to bang the stake in the ground right away. These words appear in the first paragraph of my latest novel, Middle of Somewhere: “Yosemite, wilderness, backpacking, adventure.” Yeah, I’m subtle like that.

Read the full post on Writers In The Storm

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

3 Major Types of Rewrites, and the Big Mistake to Avoid with All of Them

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Do you know the different types of rewrites needed for a successful story? Lauren Sapala does a great job of explaining the three major types and how to manage each of them on her blog. Check it out and let us know if you have any hints or cool hacks for rewrites.

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male writer journalist pen paper shield3 Major Types of Rewrites, and the Big Mistake to Avoid with All of Them

One of the first things a writer learns is about the power—and the challenge—of the rewrite. For those writers who assume that everything Ernest Hemingway wrote flowed perfectly out of his pen on the very first try, the illusion is shattered. The more experience a writer gains, the more they know that rewriting is part of the process for all writers. But that doesn’t mean that rewrites still aren’t confusing, overwhelming, or just plain difficult. They most definitely can be all of those things. What can really be helpful is for writers to back up, look at a map, and make sure they’re not going in the wrong direction.

After you finish your first sloppy draft, you can expect to move through a few different phases of rewriting. Here’s a quick overview of the Big 3:

Cutting/Fleshing
This type of rewrite will benefit the most from critique group feedback or editorial suggestion. Your beta readers can pretty easily tell you which character descriptions were a bit skimpy, and what passages went on and on…and on…and ended up being way too verbose. Fleshing out characters and scenes can be fun, and cutting can sometimes be painful. This is where that old saying for writers came from: “Kill your darlings.” It means that sometimes there will be sections you fell in love with, but that just don’t technically work, are redundant, or don’t align with the rest of the narrative. Regardless of your love for these particular lines, if multiple beta readers are pointing out the same issue and suggesting you cut them, they probably need to go.

Read the full post on laurensapala.com

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Under Development: Writing That First Novel

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On her site Fiction University, Janice Hardy,  has some great basic advice including point of view, structure, and plotting as well as what not to sweat. I know I learned a lot. This article is a great overview, but she also offers deep cuts on the subjects you want to learn more about. Well worth your time! What advice would you give to newb writers?

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Under Development: Writing That First Novel

 By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Work In Progress Sign Held By Construction WorkerThis week’s Refresher Friday takes an updated look at what to worry about (and not) when writing that first novel. Enjoy!

Writing can be a daunting task, but it can be even more daunting for those who know they want to write, but just aren’t sure how to start. What do you focus on first? Should you worry about how publishable the idea is? What’s the fuss about query letters, and do you need to write one?

It can make you crazy.

Here’s my advice for anyone who’s brave enough to pick up the pen and start writing. These elements can help you build a strong foundation on which you can develop your skills. They also applies to those who are still trying to get their writing legs under them.

Read a Lot

One of the best ways you can develop your writer’s ear is to read widely, both in your genre and market and without. You’ll start seeing (and hearing) how to put together sentences and what makes a great dramatic scene. It’ll also familiarize you with your genre, let you see what else has been done, and make it easier to spot cliches. When you find a book that particularly wows you, analyze it and figure out why it appeals to you so much.

(Here’s more on analyzing our favorite books)

Write a Lot

The only way to practice writing skills is to write. Don’t worry about how good or bad the work is, just get it down. You have to start somewhere, and while you skinned your knees learning to walk, you’ll make mistakes and fall down as you learn to write. But every time you put words together, those words get better and you grow as a writer.

Now for the more specific stuff, because that’s what you really want to know, right?

Read the full post on Fiction University

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

How to Write a Fight Scene (in 11 Steps)

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They say write what you know but what if you are doing something that you have no experience with? For example a really intense fight scene, because all fights scenes should be intense. On the Better Novel Project, breaks down what makes a good fight scene. What are your tricks for a gripping fight scene?

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How to Write a Fight Scene (in 11 Steps)

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I recently received this e-mail about fight scenes:

Do you have any advice for creating a fight? I am writing an action/fantasy novel, and I am inexperienced with this particular type of scene. Thank you for any advice you may have! -Sara

Thanks for the question, Sara! I agree that its tough to “write what you know” when most of us have never been in a life-or-death physical brawl with a fantasy villain.

Let’s lay out the blow-by-blow action in these three fight scenes to see what similarities we can find:

  • Harry Potter’s fight against Quirrell/Voldemort in Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone (Ch. 17).
  • Bella Swan’s fight against James (the tracker vampire) in Twilight (Ch. 22).
  • Katniss Everdeen’s fight against Clove (District 2 girl tribute) in The Hunger Games (Ch. 21).

What Actually Happens in a Fight Scene

Read the full post on Better Novel Project

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Seducing Your Readers

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adds some serious heat over on Kill Zone. You might be familiar with the story being broken up into three acts: Set-up, Confrontation, and Resolution? Robert asks why not look at it as Seduction, Foreplay, and Climax. I think my monitor is melting after reading his post.  Hubba hubba!

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Seducing Your Readers

Lips Showing Nervous WomanLet’s talk about sex.

Those of you who are uncomfortable with the subject, feel free to bail out now. I’m likely to get pretty raunchy.

Still with me? I thought so.

When we make love, most of us have a particular goal in mind: that moment when your entire body seems to stem from one central point, when every nerve-ending tingles wildly as fireworks assault your brain. That moment, of course, is orgasm, and anyone who has experienced one (or two or three)— especially with a willing and enthusiastic partner (or two or three)— knows that it can be an exquisitely pleasurable sensation.

But are all orgasms created equal? Of course not. The quality of our orgasms is directly related to the quality of the fun and games that precede them, not to mention our emotional bond with our partner, and our willingness (or unwillingness) to surrender ourselves fully to the moment.

So what, you’re probably wondering, does any of this have to do with writing?

YOUR WILLING PARTNER

Writing is an extremely intimate act. In his book, On Writing, Stephen King describes it as a form of telepathy. You put your thoughts on paper, and days, months, or even years later, someone reads your mind.

Think about it. With a simple arrangement of words, you have the potential to pull your audience into your mind where they can be stroked and fondled and toyed with— sometimes gently, sometimes rough. The result is often a partnership so strong and emotionally satisfying that neither of us ever wants to let go.

Who of us here can forget those times when we’ve read a book we didn’t want to end? And when the end did come, we felt drained, elated, and thoroughly satisfied, much like we do after a night of unbridled passion.

Getting to that place wasn’t an accident. The writer of the book—at least in most cases—didn’t merely fumble his way toward climax. If he (or she) did his job, every step was carefully choreographed to lead us around the third act corner toward the final pay-off. And the quality of that pay-off is related to one important thing:

Read the full post on Kill Zone

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Meet your ideal reader: Who they are and why you need them.

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Your ideal reader represents the core person who will buy your book. While you want to sell as many books as possible, getting your title in front of the people who will actually read and buy your story is the real goal. So sitting down and setting up an ideal reader profile or profiles can help you in many ways. Such greats as Stephen King use them and he talks about using ideal readers in his book On Writing.

By identifying and figuring out who your ideal reader is, you can then focus your story and your marketing to that target audience.  Yes, you should have an ideal reader while you are writing.  A hot sex scene would not do well in a story that is written for a fan of young christian romance. Knowing who you are writing for helps you to keep boundaries, which improves your writing.

Raising Llamas for Profit - Chapter one - Watch out for spit!
Raising Llamas for Profit – Chapter One – Watch out, they spit!

So someone who only likes gritty noir detective stories will not be the right person for your regency bodice ripper romance beach read, nor will someone who is looking to raise llamas for profit. What seems obvious in that example becomes more difficult in real life.  So how do you narrow your ideal reader down.

What is your genre?

The first step is to know what your general genre of book is. You probably already have an idea, but you should still go to Amazon and looked for books that are like yours in terms of content. Scroll down the book details page until you find “Look for Similar Items by Category”. That category is your genre.

You want to balance becoming too specific in your genre search vs too broad. Romance is a perfect example. The romance genre is so broad that it could mean a wide variety of choices. You have everything from dinosaur shifting romance (yes that is a thing), to step brother fantasy (yes still a thing), to innocent sweet valley high romances. But by going down a category level on amazon you can narrow it down. So paranormal romance is better than general romance, but don’t make your focus so narrow that you block readers. If you only focus on velociraptor shifting love stories, your ideal reader pool is going to be pretty small.

Non-fiction vs fiction vs kids

There is a difference with your ideal reader profile depending on if your title is non-fiction, fiction, or kids.

Kids books are more defined by age than genre, at least until you get to young adult. Your ideal reader might be male or female or not be gender based at all. Your ideal reader could also be an adult who is trying to get the child to bed, or to learn how to read.

With non-fiction titles, you are generally looking to solve a problem or focus on a particular subject. How-to books are a good example for solving problems. For example a how-to on setting up a budget is solving a problem. Instead of your ideal reader being someone who needs a budget, try focusing it a little more. So your ideal reader is a small business woman who is trying to manage both her personal and business finances. That would provide a better focus. A biography is a good example of a focus on a subject but is too broad a category. Narrowing your ideal reader down to someone who likes to read about politicians is a good compromise, while narrowing it down to corrupt politicians in New York during the during the 1860s is going too far.

Because fiction encompasses such a large variety of stories, doing your research can really help define who your ideal reader(s) are and help you to stay focused.

Research

Once you find your genre, you can try to google your broad genre and demographics. For example, if my genre is romance then I would google “Romance demographics” and I find the Romance Writers of America Romance Reader Statistics.

You can also go back to Amazon and find the books that are similar to yours. Go down and look at the reviews and the reviewers. You can get a general sense, for example, on how many reviewers are men vs women. Click on the individual profiles for more details. Most of the time there is not a lot more information, but you can see what other books the individual feels passionate about enough to write a review.

Check out the author. Do they have their own author site? If so, go look and see who they are marketing to, and check the comments there. Do they have a Facebook page or Twitter account. Who follows them there? All of this will give you a general idea of who your ideal reader(s) are.

Brainstorming

So now what? Write it down! Compose a couple of sentences on one or a few different ideal reader types. You can make it as simple as writing the demographics down, or even create personas with names.

Are they male or female? How old are they? What is your core story? If you had one minute to talk about your story what would you say to get the gist of your story across? Who would that appeal to?

You don’t need to worry about blocking a reader out if they don’t fit your general demographics. If there is a gentleman who loves Christian romance, he will still find you if you write for the demographics for that genre.

sketched-girl-and-guy-vector-flat-design-elenments_f1IjHgwu_LUsing Your Ideal Reader

In your writing – If your story is about a plucky woman who is in charge of a military campaign in space but studied and applies the theories of Sun Tzu in great detail then you might have a few different ideal readers. They could be sci-fi fans, military fans or even history fans. Address your ideal readers needs. Perhaps you put a quote from “The Art of War”  in every chapter header, provide campaign maps, and have your protagonist get more conquests and less romance.

Targeted marketing purposes – By knowing your ideal reader you can then find out where they are located and can talk directly to them. With our example above, you could start by looking at historical military groups, science fiction fans, or strategy buffs. When you write your copy, you can address their particular needs. This way you are focusing your valuable time and attention on the people most likely to become your fans and buy your book.

Another bonus is that if you decide to find an agent or sign with traditional publisher, they are going to want this information and will be impressed that you already have it figured out.

By finding and addressing reader needs, you improve your writing but also improve your ability to focus your marketing on the people most likely to become your fans and buy your books. We are told that writers should write for themselves, but the real satisfaction is finding a true fan to share your story with. Ideal reader profiles help you to recognize who it is you are writing for and increase the chances of finding your true fans.

10 Writing Lessons I Learned While Creating Self-Editing Success

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Today I am sharing with you a post from The She’s Novel Blog by Kristen Kieffer, who can’t take a bad picture. Kristen shares with us some insights that she gathered while doing research for her next course. Full disclosure Kristen and I have no relationship, I just really liked this article and thought you would too.  While reading the one insight that stood out for me is number 3 – The Importance of Publicizing Your Progress.  I know that I should and it would help me be accountable for big task. Read the article and let me know what you think, or if there was one insight that stood out for you.

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10 Writing Lessons I Learned While Creating Self-Editing Success

Emergency jobHey, friends. Long time, no see.

It’s been just over a year since I launched She’s Novel, and in all that time I don’t think I’ve ever been away from the blog for so long. Three weeks, y’all. How crazy is that? I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve missed it.

But where have I been? In full-blown creation mode, that’s where!

As many of you know, my first full-length e-course–Self-Editing Success–launched for pre-sale last weekend (hurray!). Since that time, I’ve spent every waking hour creating content for the course.

With 6 modules, over 35 videos, and countless worksheets, I’ve hardly had a moment to spare. But today, I’m back! And so I thought I’d get a bit more personal than usual here on the blog and share with you 10 different writing lessons I learned during the creation of my Self-Editing Success e-course.

You see, I didn’t just take the information in my head and slap it onto a bunch of slides to create the course. I spent months researching different editing topics, analyzing bestselling novels , and chatting it up with you lovely readers to make sure I included everything you need to know in order to revise your manuscript for success.

And along the way, I learned so much about writing for myself. New techniques, truths about the editing process, and mistakes and myths that far too many writers believe. Today, I want to share all of those things with you so we can both continue to grow as writers.

So let’s get started!

In the process of creating Self-Editing Success, I actually learned three new techniques for completing productive edits and holding yourself accountable. Let’s talk about that.

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1. The Two Approaches to Editing

From the planners vs pantsers debate alone, it’s painfully obvious that there is no right way to write a novel. Even if they follow certain patterns, every writer has their own unique process for bringing their stories to life.

One thing that never occurred to me though? That some authors don’t edit their manuscripts linearly!

My experience with editing has always been to start at chapter one and work my way through the entire manuscript, making changes to either the story or the writing itself depending on my current draft. This was a lengthy process of course, often taking me six months or more, but it was always worth it in the end.

But while chatting it up with some writers on Twitter back, I was surprised to learn that not all writers edit in such long drafts. Some choose to focus on a single issue at a time (e.g. fixing plot holes or eradicating flowery language) and jump around to make those edits happen.

Read the full post on The She’s Novel Blog

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.