THE RYW Blog
WRITING, SELLING, AND BALANCING YOUR LIFE
Are you trying to outrun winter?
In my last newsletter, I talked about the pursuit of "guaranteed success" and improving your odds, even as, again, you can't possibly control all elements. Some of you may have decided "well, I'm going to lean in to all the things that will improve my odds... and do...
How do I know my book is good enough?
This is one of the hardest, most heart breaking questions I get asked as an editor and a coach. For one thing, it is impossibly subjective. There is no scientific instrument where you pop your manuscript in, push a button, and after a few whirring minutes get a "GOOD"...
Romances don’t HAVE to have happy endings, do they?
In a word: yes. Yes, they do. If you're writing for the genre called romance, that is categorized as romance on a sales distribution site like Amazon or Kobo or similar, or that might be shelved in a book and mortar bookstore... then YES. You absolutely, positively...
We want the same… but different.
Ever run into this? Traditional publishing is notorious for wanting "new, fresh" ideas -- but also wanting it packaged in ways that they can recognize. Especially in ways that are currently selling. This is how you wind up with a publishing cycle in traditionally...
Ever feel like there’s too much to do?
Let's face it: there's a lot of advice out there if you want to be a "successful" author. You have to write a hook-filled, conflict-driven, character-driven, plot-driven, well-edited, cutting-edge, and unique story, that still fulfills recognizable tropes and...
If I had a nickel…
Quite often, usually at the beginning of the year or just before NaNo, I get a flood of emails from authors who want to work with me because they aren't where they want to be in their manuscripts. "I just need to get my act together!" they say. "I meant to have...
What project should you write next?
You’ve finished your book, and even the lingering celebration/book hangover from that project is gone. Maybe you’ve published it, or you’re querying, or you’re simply letting it sit before revisions. Now’s the time: you’re ready for something new! Only you’re...
Do you know what genre you’re writing?
You’d think this was a slam-dunk simple question. How hard can it be, to know what you’re writing? As it turns out – it’s pretty hard. A surprising percentage of the people I work with, whether that’s in coaching sessions or query package critiques, aren’t...
4 Tricks When You Don’t Know What to Write
Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser (or a plontser – somewhere in between on the spectrum of story planning), there are going to be times when you stare at the page or plot outline and think… I have no idea what comes next. Sometimes you’ll write a...