Hi readers and writerly friends! 

I hope you’re staying warm and enjoying the holidays! If this is your first time visiting my blog, thanks for stopping by, and if you’re a returning reader, thanks for coming back! I haven’t posted in a while due to obligations in my life outside the blog, but I am hoping to post more in 2024! That being said, let’s get into the post!

You’re going to want to get your bookmark button ready because there’s a ton of useful links in this post! 🔖

If you’re reading this blog post, you’re probably a creative or literary writer looking to share your work with the world! Whether you’re a seasoned author or debut writer, literary journals (also called literary magazines) are a great way to get your work out there! Literary journals are periodicals that are committed to publishing the work of writers at all stages of their careers. Most literary journals publish poetry, prose, flash fiction, and essays, but many of them publish photography, paintings, and other visual art as well! 
With 2023 wrapping up and the new year just around the corner, I thought it would be helpful to share some amazing resources for writers looking to submit their work in 2024! Many literary journals are still accepting submissions into 2024 and there are plenty of publications looking for high-quality writing for their next issue! Below is an in-depth guide for submitting your writing as well as a list of my top Oklahoma-based literary journals that I’d recommend submitting to! 

Know Your Market

First off, do your research! The next couple of points go hand-in-hand with this idea, but to ensure the best possible chance at success with your submissions, please, please do your research rather than submitting blindly. As per Poets & Writers, “Your publishing success rests on one axiom: Know your market.”  

I recommend starting with Poets & Writers’ wonderfully thorough guide to Literary Journals and Magazines where you can find details about the specific kind of writing each magazine publishes and in which formats, as well as editorial policies, submission guidelines, general expectations, and contact information. They also have an amazing database of nearly one thousand literary magazines and journals, as well as a helpful submissions tracker so you can easily keep track of which journals you’ve submitted to, how many times you’ve submitted a poem, story, or essay; the amount of money you’ve spent on fees; the status of your submissions; and how much time has passed since you submitted your work all in one place online.

• Poets & Writers’ Literary Journals and Magazines Guide (🔖Bookmark this!)

• Poets & Writers’ Literary Journals and Magazines Database (🔖Bookmark this!)

Most writers get the attention of editors, agents, and other writers by first publishing their writing in literary magazines or literary journals. (Many literary magazines and journals will offer you a modest payment for the writing they accept, sometimes by giving you a free copy, or contributor’s copy, of the issue in which your work appears.) Before beginning the submission process, it is essential to research the market to determine which publications are the best venues for your writing. Your publishing success rests on one axiom: Know your market.

—Poets & Writers

Some other useful resources courtesy of Poets & Writers include:

• Poets & Writers’ List of Open Reading Periods: Journals and Presses Ready to Read Your Work Now (🔖Bookmark this!)

• Poets & Writers’ List of Small Presses 

• CLMP ‘s Directory of Publishers (🔖Bookmark this!)

• New Pages’s  Literary Magazines Guide (🔖Bookmark this!)

• Heavy Feather Review’s Where To Submit List (🔖Bookmark this!)

• Duotrope - An amazing paid resource with SO many useful features from a publishing database with over 7,500 active publishers and agents, news pages, publishing statistics and reports, a submission tracker, theme and deadline calendar, and interviews from editors and agents that can provide insight into specific publications.

Along with the aforementioned guides and resources from Poets & Writers, I also recommend Writer’s Market, Poet’s Market, and Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, all published by Writer’s Digest Books, and give detailed contact information and submission guidelines.

Submission guidelines and other things to consider

When researching your literary magazine presses, be sure to keep in mind the following questions:

• What kind of work is being published?

• How often do they publish?

• What are their submission guidelines?

• Do they allow simultaneous submissions?

• Do they require previously unpublished works?

• In what ways does this publisher “pay” contributors for their work—cash reward or free copies of the finished publication?

• Does this journal offer awards to high-quality submissions?

• Can you purchase additional copies or is there a limit per contributor?

• Where and how does this journal accept submissions?

• What is the contact information for this publisher in the event that you need to withdraw your submission? 

• What experiences have other contributors had with working with this magazine? Is the communication clear and open? 

• What is the turnaround time for approval and rejection letters? 

• Does this journal offer alternative publishing options such as online exclusives or in weekly newsletters? 

These are just a few questions to keep in mind when submitting your work to literary journals. I personally try to keep a variety of large and small journals, and those that accept submissions year-round (rolling submissions) or multiple times throughout the year, on my calendar.

Literary Market Place (Book-mart Press) has larger publisher and literary agent listings, and The International Directory of Little Magazines & Small Presses (Dustbooks) is a print directory you can find on sites like Amazon. You can also utilize their online database.

Finding the right publisher for your writing

Not all publishers are created equal and not all books are “big five” books. What I mean by this is that not every book—or piece of writing—will get published by one of the big five publishers and not every book is going to be on one of The New York Times’ bestsellers lists. But this isn’t inherently a bad thing. Some books are best suited for bigger publishers while others are best suited for smaller publishers and publishing your work with the right press is critical for success in the publishing industry. The same is true for literary magazines. Not every work is suited for The New Yorker or Poetry Magazine. 

There are many pros and cons to publishers of all sizes, but the primary difference is that big publishers often have more resources and a wider audience reach, but they are often far more selective when it comes to which books they publish. On the other hand, smaller publishers may not have the clout that big publishers do but they often are more intimate and personal when it comes to submissions, communications, and the publishing process. Additionally, big publishers usually have bigger marketing budgets, while small publishers often allow greater creative control when it comes to decision-making in the publishing process. Alternatively, there are medium-sized publishers that tend to have the best of both worlds and fall somewhere in between. If you’d like to read more about the pros and cons of publishing houses of all sizes, check out this fantastic article from Publishers Agents Films. 

That being said, I think you should absolutely shoot for the stars when submitting and querying. I can’t help but think of the Wayne Gretzky quote, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” 

A screencap of Michael Scott from The Office, courtesy of NBC and Katherine Arnold.

And Gretsky is 100% correct. However, when it comes to the publishing industry, success doesn’t happen by accident or luck alone. Writers must be selective and strategic in their submission process, just like publishers. It is important to be realistic about what kind of publishers will be the best for your work—it’s just a matter of good fit.

Below are some great articles about working with small versus large presses.

• “Small Press Vs Big Press: What Is The Difference?” by Winnifred Tataw of Win’s Books Blog

• “The New York Times Bestseller List.” by Seth Godin of Seth’s Blog

• “The Big Five US Trade Book Publishers.” by Ali of The Critical Thinker

• “Big Six Publishing is Dead–Welcome the Massive Three.” by Kristen Lamb

Publisher tiering and simultaneous submissions

Once you understand the benefits and drawbacks of small, medium, and large presses, one way to prepare for submissions is by tiering prospective publishers. I first learned about this process from Clifford Garstang, author of Oliver’s Travels and other novels, and editor of the acclaimed anthology series, Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet.

Tiering is an aid to simultaneous submissions that groups the best magazines together in the top tier, somewhat less prestigious magazines in the next tier, and so on. It is advisable to submit work to the top tier first, or at any rate within the same tier, so that an acceptance by one, which requires withdrawal from the others, won’t be painful. (If you get an acceptance from a lower-tier magazine while you’re still waiting to hear from a higher-tier magazine, that could lead to a difficult withdrawal. Withdrawal is ethically required, but what if the higher-tier magazine was about to accept the piece?) So, I decided to rank literary magazines—first in fiction, because that’s what I was writing, but later in poetry and nonfiction because many people requested that—to help me decide where to submit. In theory, I would aim toward the top of the list and work my way down until someone finally accepted my story.

—Clifford Garstang

Garstang meticulously prepared a wonderfully helpful ranking chart for 2023 Literary Magazine Rankings. I have no doubt these rankings will look quite similar, next year as well, but until we have an updated list, I’ll be going by his 2023 list.

Calendar blocking submission deadlines

Another great way to prepare for submitting your work in 2024, is to block out submission windows for all the presses you’re interested in submitting to. I typically keep my favorite fifteen literary journals' submission windows in my Google Calendar and a master list of many other potential magazines' submission windows, organized by date, in a Google doc. That way, I keep the top fifteen literary journals I’d like to publish with at the forefront of my mind and I can easily find other publishers throughout the year. I’d recommend researching literary magazines at all levels in your desired category—poetry, prose, essays, and visual art and making your own master list that is tailored to your work. Making a specific list based on your work will prove far more useful to you than simply going by my list.

Pro Tip: You can either block out submission openings AND closings or just the openings. In the image below, you can see that I usually just block out the opening dates and assume any blocks of time without that event means they’ve closed.

A screencap of Submission Calendar Blocking in Google Calendar. Photo by Payton Hayes

A photo of Nimrod International Journal Fall 2023 issue, Awards 45 on a wooden side table. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Keep a consistent submission schedule and carve out time for rituals

In addition to tracking submission deadlines, it is also a good practice to make and keep a consistent submission schedule for yourself. Once you’ve got a couple of pieces that you feel confident in publishing (and have been edited and proofread), start sending out a couple of submissions each week. I also suggest creating some sort of rejection ritual. You will inevitably face rejections, but instead of letting them get you down, let them be part of the process. Whenever you receive a rejection letter, print it out and burn it or tape it to your writing desk as motivation to keep writing and keep submitting. Likewise, come up with some kind of acceptance ritual—some way to celebrate each of your accepted submissions. No matter the amount of rejections you receive, don’t get discouraged! It just takes time and perseverance. The more you submit, the easier the whole process will get, I promise.

Besides, sometimes even if you don’t get accepted, you still get a freebie out of it in the end and who doesn’t like free stuff? I submitted to Nimrod International Journal in 2023 and while none of my submissions were accepted, they still sent me a free copy of the issue I submitted to. If I’m honest, I wasn’t expecting them to send me a free copy—they send one free copy out to all contributors, but since I was rejected, I didn’t think I counted as a contributor—and it sort of felt like a tiny slap in the face. But after some time passed, I realized it wasn’t personal and was grateful to have the free copy.

Oklahoma Literary Journals

As a writer and editor based in Oklahoma, I’m pretty familiar with the literary scene here in the scissortail state and I’d like to take a moment to share a few of my favorite literary journals that I’ve personally had the pleasure of working with. 

New Plains Review -  January 15 for the Fall 2024 issue and July 15 for the Spring 2025 issue

New Plains Review, a student-run literary journal at the University of Central Oklahoma, proudly receives hundreds of submissions from all over the world. Keeping with the University of Central Oklahoma’s goals of both excellence and diversity, it is our mission to share with our readers thought-provoking, quality work from a diverse number of authors and artists around the world. We are eager to help these creators broaden their audience and reinforce the importance of the arts in our everyday lives.

1890: A Journal of Undergraduate Research - September 15 

The purpose of 1890: A Journal of Undergraduate Research is to provide undergraduate students the opportunity to demonstrate their interests and abilities in various disciplines by accepting works of research, creative writing, poetry, reviews, and art. New Plains Student Publishing uses 1890 to encourage, recognize, and reward intellectual and creative activity beyond the classroom by providing a forum that builds a cohesive academic community.

The Central Dissent: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality - Opening summer of 2024

The Central Dissent: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality is an interdisciplinary academic journal produced by New Plains Student Publishing and sponsored by the UCO's Women’s Research Center as well as the LGBTQ+ Student Center. Being the first and only academic journal focused on gender and sexuality in Oklahoma, our mission is to gather and disseminate quality research, poetry, and academic reviews that explore gender theory, gender identity, as well as how race, class, and ethnicity shape society’s expectations of the individual both currently and historically.

Pegasus - Opening in early 2024

Pegasus is the annual literary journal of original art, poetry, photography, personal essay, and fiction by Rose State College students, faculty, and staff. 2024 Submission deadline to be announced. 

Nimrod International Journal of Poetry and Prose - January 1 to October 1 for general submissions in prose and poetry and January 1 to April 1 for the Nimrod Literary Awards contest

Nimrod International Journal welcomes submissions of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. We publish two issues annually. Our spring issue is thematic, with the theme announced the preceding fall. Previous themes have included Writers of Age; Range of Light: The Americas; Australia; Who We Are; Islands of the Sea and of the Mind; The Arabic Nations; Mexico/USA; and Crossing Borders. The fall issue features the winners and finalists of our annual Literary Awards. In most cases, both issues also contain work accepted as general submissions throughout the year.

Literary Magazines currently accepting submissions into 2024

Erin Duchesne of Make A Living Writing has compiled a fantastic list of 18 Literary Magazines Accepting Submissions in 2024 so I figured I’d include a condensed version of it here as well as a link back to the article for your convenience.

Literary journals with submissions open year-round:

• Asimov’s Science Fiction - Rolling Submissions

• Harper’s Magazine - Rolling Submissions

• Narrative Magazine - Rolling Submissions

• The Sun Magazine - Rolling Submissions'

• The New Yorker - Rolling Submissions

Literary journals with one submission deadline:

• Ploughshares - June 1 to January 15

• POETRY Magazine - September 16 to June 14

• The Sewanee Review - September 1 to May 31

• The Georgia Review - August 16 to May 14

• The Kenyon Review - September 1 to 30

Literary journals with multiple submission deadlines:

• AGNI - September 1 to December 15; February 14 to May 31

• The Iowa Review - August 1 to October 1 for fiction and poetry; August 1 to November 1 for non-fiction

• The Gettysburg Review - September 1 to May 31; graphics accepted year-round

• New England Review - September 1 to November 1; March 1 to May 1

• Swamp Pink - September 1 to December 31; February 1 to May 31; prize submissions are accepted in January

• The Paris Review - March and September for prose; January, April, July and October for poetry

• Granta - March 1 to 31; June 1 to 30; September 1 to 30; December 1 to 31

Literary journals with submissions opening soon:

• One Story - Opening in early 2024

Although this list is a great place to start for literary journals that are currently still accepting submissions going into 2024, I still highly recommend you research your market and put together a tailored list for journals you plan to submit to in the coming year.

And that’s it for my guide to all things literary journals and magazines! This is by far not a comprehensive list, but I tried to be as thorough as possible! What did you think of this guide? Let me know in the comments below! If you know of any amazing resources not listed here, please leave me a comment to and I’ll get them added to this post! Thanks for reading and supporting my work!

Bibliography:

• Arnold, Katherine and NBC. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take – Wayne Gretzky – Michael Scott” – The Campus Activities Board.” Lanthorn Website, November 25, 2019. (Wayne Gretzky quote/Michael Scott meme from NBC.)

• Duchesne, Erin. “18 Literary Magazines Accepting Submissions in 2024.” Make A Living Writing, accessed December 18, 2023.

• Garstang, Clifford. “2023 Literary Magazine Rankings: Overview.” Clifford Garstang.com, December 19, 2023. 

• Gus. “The Pros & Cons of Working With a Small or Large Publisher.” Publishers Agents Films Website, October 30, 2014.

• Hayes, Payton. “A photo of Nimrod International Journal Fall 2023 issue, Awards 45 on a wooden side table.” December 18, 2023.

• Hayes, Payton. “A screencap of Submission Calendar Blocking in Google Calendar.“ December 18, 2023.

• Hayes, Payton. “A photo of several literary journals and an antique typewriter on my home bookshelf.” (Thumbnail image), December 18, 2023.

• Poets & Writers staff. “Literary Journals & Magazines.” Poets & Writers website, accessed December 18, 2023.

Related topics:

• Book Marketing 101: Everything Writers Need To Know About Literary Agents and Querying

• Find Your Exact Genre, Find Your Lifelong Book Ambassadors by Shayla Raquel

• When Writing Becomes Difficult 

• How To Organize Your Digital Life: 5 Tips For Staying Organized as a Writer or Freelancer

• The 4 Most Useful FREE Apps for Writers in 2022 (Sync Across Multiple Devices, Not Only iOS)

Recent posts:

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

This week in Freelancing, Shayla Raquel is taking over the blog to tell you all about how to not only grow your audience but how to transform readers into lifelong ambassadors of your book! This post shows you exactly how to gain a clear understanding of your genre and target audience to grow an enduring, loyal readership! Be sure to leave her a comment and check out her website and other socials!

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A best-selling author and public speaker, Shayla Raquel teaches people the ins and outs of writing, publishing, and marketing their books. Her in-person and online classes focus on author branding, self-publishing, book marketing, and the craft of writing.

She is the author of the Pre-Publishing Checklist, “The Rotting” (in Shivers in the Night), The Suicide Tree, The 10 Commandments of Author Branding, All the Things I Should’ve Told You, and “Savage Indulgence.”

In her not-so-free time, she studies all things true crime and obsesses over squirrels. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and three fur babies.

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Follow Shayla

Instagram | Twitter | TikTok | Goodreads | LinkedIn | Website

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Shayla Raquel, best-selling author, public speaker, and book editor.

Why do I need to know my genre and target audience?

Investing time and money into social media, email newsletters, Amazon ads, podcast interviews, and blog posts will net you very little ROI if you do not know your precise genre. 

Because if you don’t know exactly what book you wrote, then, my friend, you don’t know your audience.

And if you don’t know your audience, what good is all that time and money you’ve put toward marketing your book?

My goal today is to teach you how to determine your exact genre as a novelist so you can pinpoint your target audience. Once you do that, you can have lifelong book ambassadors: people who fangirl over your book and tell the world about it.

Amazon Kindle Categories. Photo by Shayla Raquel.

So, What Is Your Genre?

If I ask an author, “What book is your genre?” and they reply “Fantasy,” I get a little worried. 

Go to Amazon.com and toggle the search bar from All Departments to Kindle Store. On the left-hand side of your screen, select Kindle eBooks. (We don’t need the newsstand or singles or anything like that.) 

Next, select Categories. It’s easy to miss sometimes because Amazon doesn’t make it prominent, but it’s usually under the search bar or off to the left-hand side. 

Next, for this purpose, select Science Fiction & Fantasy. Narrow it down once more by selecting Fantasy. There are over 50,000 e-books in the Fantasy category alone. That’s a lot of competition. 

Now you have to determine where your novel fits in the world of fantasy. Before I explain, I have a very important note: I desperately wish authors would do this exercise before writing their novels. If they did, then they’d ensure their story fit within the expected storylines of, let’s say, Gaslamp Fantasy or Arthurian Fantasy. 

Next, select Fantasy. Photo by Shayla Raquel.

My point: Your novel will be difficult to sell if you wrote it without knowing its genre. You can figure it out, but it’s a little bit tougher because there’s a chance there are several genres packed into one story. (I did this with my first novel, so don’t be like Shayla!)

Okay, now that you have a warning to heed, let’s move on to subgenres.

So here you are in the Fantasy genre for Kindle e-books with all this competition. Where does your book fit? If your subgenre is Action & Adventure, that’s more specific than just saying Fantasy, but could you niche it down even more by mentioning the types of characters? (Amazon gives us a handy checklist for various genres.) If you have Elves or Fae, that officially means you’re only competing with 1,000 e-books now! 

Elves. Photo by Shayla Raquel.

Your genre would be, let’s say, Fae Action & Adventure Fantasy.

Let’s shift to Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. If you’re going to find your niche, I suggest looking into Moods & Themes (another handy checklist). If I write Crime Fiction (50,000 e-books in this genre), I have several subgenres within that too:

• Heist

• Kidnapping

• Murder

• Noir

• Organized Crime

• Serial Killers

• Vigilante Justice

Crime Fiction. Photo by Shayla Raquel.

But I have the opportunity to get super specific by selecting a mood or theme, such as Action-Packed. Therefore, it would be: Action-Packed Heist Crime Fiction. 

Action Packed. Photo by Shayla Raquel.

It gets better! I can also look into Settings (beaches, islands, mountains, etc.) and Characters (amateur sleuths, British detectives, gay protagonists, etc.) on the Amazon checklist. 

Setting. Photo by Shayla Raquel.

Characters. Photo by Shayla Raquel.

If your story has some love in it, you would go to the Romance category and narrow it down to, maybe, Time Travel. On the left-hand side, take a look at Romantic Heroes and Romantic Themes (originally called Tropes). By narrowing the genre down to Viking Time Travel Romance, I have certainly found a very specific group of readers!

Vikings. Photo by Shayla Raquel.

Now What?

Now that you know some tricks for finding your exact genre, you have a foundation for marketing your book to the right audience. And marketing it well. 

But how do you get book ambassadors to see your book? 

It depends on the platform, of course. If you label your categories and keywords properly through Amazon KDP and Amazon Author Central, you’ve just made your life way easier. (To learn how to request 8 additional categories and how to find keywords, read 5 Freakishly Helpful Amazon Tricks Every Author Should Use.)

Outside of Amazon, your blurb (back cover copy and Amazon product description) must reflect your genre. In addition to a steller book cover, a blurb helps sell your book. It’s your big flashy billboard: it’s meant to suck the reader right in.

When writing a blurb, follow these steps:

1. Drop the Hook — A hook is meant to entice the reader to bite. I love this hook from The Martian by Andy Weir: “Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.”

2. Dangle the Characters — Reel them in with intriguing characters.

3. Dive into Conflict — Show them what this book is all about. What’s the plot? Why should the reader buy this book?

4. Determine the Consequences — What hangs in the balance for your characters? Formula: Conflict (“Character must do this”) + Stakes (“Or this will happen”) = Consequences.

5. Dine on the Big Question — End your blurb on an intriguing question or a point of tension—something that will convince the reader to take a chance on buying your book.

For the complete how-to, read Writing Compelling Book Blurbs.

If you’ve got these things down (genre, Amazon, and blurb), you need to spend quality time putting your book in front of people on various platforms to determine where you get the most bites (from readers who want to chow down on your genre). It could be through any one of these avenues:

• Social media (especially TikTok)

• Email newsletter (your own)

• Podcasts (interviews specifically)

• Book promotion newsletters (Book Gorilla, Many Books, Book Rebel, etc.)

• Amazon ads

• Social media ads

• Book reviewers (YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are full of reviewers)

• Blogs 

Some platforms work better than others for a variety of reasons, but you won’t know until you try and stay committed long enough to determine if it’s worth the ROI. If you write sexy stories, there is a community with 4.2 billion views on TikTok called SmutTok just waiting for you. If you want your book to be reviewed, there are loads of BookTubers on YouTube ready and willing to geek out over your book. 

If you will do the hard work of determining exactly what you write, it will be smoother sailing when it’s time to find your readers.

Best of luck!

Thanks for reading Shayla’s guest blog post! I hope you enjoyed it and found her advice useful and actionable! If you liked this post, please leave us a comment below and don’t forget to check out the other posts on the blog!

Bibliography:

1. Raquel, Shayla. “Find Your Exact Genre, Find Your Lifelong Book Ambassadors.” Blog Post article and accompanying photos. February 3, 2023.

2. furkanfdemir. “Classic wooden shelves with assorted books in store.” Pexels photo (Thumbnail), December 28, 2020.
   

Further reading:

• Raquel, Shayla. “Writing Compelling Blurbs: Book Descriptions to Entice Your Reader.” Shaylaraquel.com, blog post. June 28, 2022.

• Raquel, Shayla. “How Not to Launch a Self-Published Book: 7 Easy Steps for Indie Authors.” Shaylaraquel.com, blog post. October 18, 2022.

• Raquel, Shayla. “Bad Book Marketing: Three Things Authors Need to Stop Doing Immediately.” Shaylaraquel.com, blog post. March 20, 2022.

• Raquel, Shayla. “5 Freakishly Helpful Amazon Tricks Every Author Should Use (2022).” Shaylaraquel.com, blog post. January 17, 2022.

• Check out all of Shayla’s blog posts about book marketing!

Related topics:

• Book Marketing 101: Everything Writers Need To Know About Literary Agents and Querying

• Book Writing 101: How To Write A Book (Basics)

• Book Writing 101: Starting Your Book In The Right Place

• Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them

• Book Writing 101: How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel

• Book Writing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Dialogue

• Book Writing 101: How To Achieve Good Story Pacing

• Book Writing 101: How To Name Your Book Characters

• Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters

• Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)

• 25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas

• Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing

• Check out my other Book Writing 101, and Freelancing posts.
  

Recent blog posts:

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

This week in Freelancing, Breyonna Jordan is taking over the blog to tell you all about info-dumping in science-fiction and fantasy novels! Leave her a comment and check out her website and other socials!

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Breyonna Jordan loves exploring new frontiers—underground cities, mythical kingdoms, and expansive space stations, to be exact. As a developmental editor, she relishes every opportunity to help world-builders improve their works and learn more about the wonderful world of writing. She enjoys novels that are fresh, far-reaching, and fun and she can’t wait to see your next book on her TBR list.

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Follow Breyonna

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Breyonna Jordan is a developmental editor who specializes in science-fiction and fantasy.

What is info-dumping? 

When writing sci-fi or fantasy, there’s a steep curve on how much the audience needs to know—a world of a curve in fact.

You may have pages and pages of elaborate world histories that readers must be filled in on—the current and past ruling monarchs, failed (or successful) uprisings, how natural resources became so scarce in this particular region, or why a military state exists in this country, but not in the surrounding lands. 

Alternatively, you may feel the need to include pages of small details concerning the settings and characters your readers are exploring. While it’s important to include specific details in your writing—the reader can’t possibly know that the night sky features four moons unless you convey these details—oftentimes, the excess exposition can be overwhelming to readers. 

This info-dumping can be a pervasive problem in fiction, maybe even the problem that stops you from finding an awesome agent or from obtaining a following on Amazon.

So, below I’ve offered some tips for spotting info-dumping, reasons for and the potential consequences of info-dumping, as well as several tips for avoiding the info-dump. 

How do you identify info-dumping in your manuscript?

A section of your work may contain info-dumping if you find: 

• you are skipping lines while reading (Brotzel 2020),

• the paragraphs are very long,

• there is little action and conflict occurring,

• your voice (and not your characters) has slipped in,

• that it looks like it was copied directly from your outline

To help you get a better idea of what excessive exposition can look like, here are two examples of info-dumping from the first chapter of a sci-fantasy manuscript I worked on: 

“Hawk was guarding the entrance to the cave while Beetle went for the treasure. These were not their real names of course but code-names given to them by their commander (now deceased) to hide their true identities from commoners who may begin asking questions. Very few people in the world knew their true names and survived to speak it. Hawk and Beetle knew each other’s true names but had sworn to secrecy. They were the youngest people on their team. Beetle was seventeen with silver hair and had a talent for tracking. Hawk was twenty-one with brown hair which he usually wore under a white bandana. He was well-mannered and apart from his occupation in burglary was an honest rule-follower. Beetle and Hawk had known each other since they were children and were as close as brothers.”

“It is one of the greatest treasures in the entire world of Forest #7. This was thought only to have existed in legend and theological transcripts. This Staff was powered by the Life Twig, a mystic and ancient amulet said to contain the soul of Wind Witch, a witch of light with limitless powers.”

Why do writers info-dump and what impacts does info-dumping have on their manuscripts?

As a developmental editor who works primarily with sci-fi and fantasy writers, I’ve seen that info-dumping can be especially difficult for these authors to avoid because their stories often require a lot of background knowledge and world-building to make sense. 

In space operas, for example, there may be multiple species and planetary empires with complex histories to keep track of. In expansive epic fantasies, multiple POV characters may share the stage, each with their own unique backstory, tone, and voice.

Here are some other reasons why world-builders info-dump:

• they have too many characters, preventing them from successfully integrating various traits,

• they want to emphasize character backstories as a driver of motivation,

• their piece lacks conflict or plot, using exposition to fill up pages instead, 

• they are unsure of the readers ability to understand character goals, motivations, or actions without further explanation,

• they want to share information that they’ve researched (Brotzel 2020),

• they want readers to be able to visualize their worlds the way they see them

A Hobbit house with wood stacked out front. Photo by Jeff Finley.

Though these are important considerations, info-dumping often does more harm than good. Most readers don’t want to learn about characters and settings via pages of exposition and backstory. Likewise, lengthy descriptions:

• distract readers from story and theme, 

• encourage the use of irrelevant details,

• make your writing more confusing by hiding key details,

• decrease dramatic tension by boring the reader,

• slow the pacing and immediacy of writing,

• prevent you from learning to masterfully handle characterization and description 

Think back to the examples listed above. Can you see how info-dumping can slow the pace from a sprint to a crawl? Can you spot all the irrelevant details that detract from the reader's experience? Do you see the impact of info-dumping on the author’s ability to effectively characterize and immerse the reader in the scene?

Info-dumping is a significant issue in many manuscripts. Often, it’s what divides the first drafts from fifth drafts, a larger audience from a smaller one, a published piece from the slush pile. 

What techniques can be used to mitigate info-dumping?

That said, below are three practical tips to help you avoid and resolve info-dumping in your science-fiction and fantasy works: 

1. Keep focus on the most important details. You can incorporate further information as the story develops. This will allow readers to remain engrossed in your world without overwhelming them. It will also help you maintain a robust setting in which there’s something new for readers to explore each time the character visits. 

2. Weave details between conflict, action, and dialogue (Miller 2014). This will allow the reader to absorb knowledge about your world without losing interest or becoming confused. An expansive galactic battle presents the perfect opportunity to deftly note the tensions between races via character dialogue and behavior. A sword fighting lesson can easily showcase new technology (Dune anyone?). A conversation about floral arrangements for a wedding can subtlysubtely convey exposition. Just make sure to keep the dialogue conversational and realistic. 

3. Allow the reader to be confused sometimes. Most sci-fi and fantasy readers expect to be a bit perplexed by new worlds in the earliest chapters. They understand that they don’t know anything, and thus expect not to learn everything at once. Try not to worry too much about scaring them off with new vocabulary and settings. They can pick up on context clues and make inferences as the story progresses. handle it. If you’re still concerned about the amount of invented terminology and definitions, consider adding a glossary to the back matter of the book instead. 

Of course, this all raises the question…

Is it ever okay to info-dump? 

You might think to yourself, “I want to stop info-dumping, but it’s so difficult to write my novel without having to backtrack constantly to introduce why this policy exists, or why this seemingly obvious solution won’t end the Faerie-Werewolf War.” 

If you’re a discovery writer, it might be downright impossible to keep track of all these details without directly conveying them in text which is why I encourage you to do exactly that. 

Dump all of your histories into the novel without restraint. Pause a climactic scene to spend pages exploring why starving miners can’t eat forest fruit or how this life-saving magical ritual was lost due to debauchery in the forbidden library halls. 

Write it all down…

Foggy woods illuminated by a soft, warm light. Photo by Johannes Plenio.

But be prepared to edit it down in the second, third, or even fourth drafts. 

Important information may belong in your manuscript, but info-dumps should be weeded out of your final draft as much as possible. 

Additionally, as I mention often, I am a firm disbeliever in the power and existence of writing rules. There are novels I love that use info-dumping liberally and even intentionally (re: Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams). Most classics use exposition heavily as well and they remain beloved by fans old and new. 

However, what works for one author may not work for everyone and modern trends in reader/ publisher-preference regard info-dumping as problematic. Heavy reliance on exposition is also connected to other developmental problems, such as low dramatic tension and poor characterization. 

If you are intentional about incorporating large swaths of exposition and it presents a meaningful contribution to your work, then info-dumping might be a risk worth taking. If the decision comes down to an inability to deal with description and backstory in other ways then consider reaching out to an editor or writing group instead. 

What are some techniques you’ve used to avoid info-dumping in your story? Let us know in the comments!

Bibliography:

1. Brotzel, Dan. “Get On With It! How To Avoid Info Dumps in Your Fiction.” Medium article, February 12, 2020.

2. Finley, Jeff. “Hobbit House.” Unsplash photo, February 28, 2018.

3. Plenio, Johannes. “Forest Light.” Unsplash photo, February 13, 2018.

4. Miller, Kevin.“How to Avoid the Dreaded Infodump.” Book Editing Associates article. April 14, 2014.

5. Gililand, Stein Egil. “Beautiful Green Northern Lights in the Sky.” Pexels photo, (Thumnail photo) January 7, 2014.

Recent blog posts:

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

Welcome back to the blog! This week, we’re talking about freelancing. There’s a lot of stigma surrounding freelancing and the instability of working for oneself. Many people who aren’t freelancers or entrepreneurs have misconceptions about freelancing and I’m here to debunk them!

Many of the misconceptions surrounding freelancing are based in ignorance and I can understand how people looking from the outside in may have these ideas about freelance work. While some of these may be true for a portion of the freelancer population, they’re certainly not true for the majority. Every freelancing business is unique and comes with its own set of challenges. What makes some of these misconceptions truths and some of them myths is how freelancers handle those challenges.

This is not a complete list, but some of these misconceptions and myths about freelancing include:

1. You own your own business

2. You don’t have a boss

3. You can work whenever, wherever,  (and however) you want

4. You only have to work on projects you like

5. Freelance work is always exciting

6. Freelancers make more money for less work

7. Freelancers make less money

8. There’s no job security

9. As a freelancer, you don’t have employee benefits

10. Freelancing is more stressful than a full-time job

11. Freelancers should work for free

12. Freelancing isn’t 100% legit

13. Freelancing hurts real businesses

14. All freelancers want to get a “regular job”

15. Freelancers are socially awkward

You own your own business/ You don’t have a boss

While this is true for many freelancers, it’s not necessarily true for all of them. Many freelancers are employed by other entrepreneurs and still have to report to a boss.Even if you’re a freelancer, running your own small business from home, you still have to answer to clients and colleagues whom you work with. As a freelancer, your boss is the client. 

You can work whenever, wherever, (and however) you want / you only have to work on projects you like/ freelance work is always exciting

Freelance workstation in a coffee shop. Photo by Toa Heftiba.

Many successful freelancers have the freedom to pick and choose to some degree, the projects they agree to work on. However, when work gets low, and clients are sparse, the pressure to agree to whatever work comes your way is higher than ever. As someone working for themselves, freelancers typically have to work harder to deliver a quality product. However, it is true, to some degree, that freelancers can work where they please. As long as they’re working for themselves or if they have a lenient boss, they can work from home, a library, a coffee shop, or from the park; they just need a place where they can focus on their work and avoid distractions.

Likewise, freelance work is not always enjoyable or exciting. Freelance work can be tedious and grueling some days and often consists of administrative work and accounting. As mentioned in the next misconceptions below, many freelancers who are just starting out often have to take what they can get, and this means they can’t afford to be picky about jobs. As a result, a lot of novice freelancers end up taking hard or boring jobs to make ends meet and build out their portfolio for hopefully better-paying, more interesting jobs in the future. 

Freelancers make more money for less work/freelancers make less money

Many freelancers charge less than the larger companies they compete with to give themselves an edge. Many other freelancers charge within industry standard and offer sample services to demonstrate their skills and quality of work. Many other freelancers charge above industry standard because their skills and services are worth the expense and they have the credentials and testimonials to back it up. Freelance pay depends on your field and how in-demand your skills/services are. Starting out,  you may have to build a reputation and possibly accept lower paying jobs to build a strong work history. Testimonials, reviews, and referrals are excellent ways to boost client confidence in your abilities. 

There’s no job security

While freelance jobs are known for instability or unpredictability, the idea that there is no job security in freelance work, is just false. It depends on what you consider job security and what level of security you’re looking for.

It can be argued that standard day jobs don’t have job security, because if you’re an employee working for just one company or organization, you could be fired, losing your only source of income. However, if you’re freelancing, and you’ve got a few different clients, losing one at a time, would not cost you your only income. Replacing a single client can be much easier than finding another full-time job. It seems finding clients is somewhat less competitive than applying for a job to which many other people are also applying. 

As a freelancer, you don’t have employee benefits

The more savvy freelancers just might surprise you with this one.  A freelancer might not have a traditional 401K but that doesn’t mean they don’t have great health care and long-term savings. Many freelancers also have the privilege to take longer vacations and more often. They often have just as many or more sick days at their disposal than typical employees and they can pick and choose their insurance benefits from a wide array of companies, rather than having to enroll in just what their employer provides. 

Freelancers clutching her head in stress. Photo by Elisa Ventur.

Freelancing is more stressful than a full-time job

For some freelancers this is true. As mentioned above, freelancers who are just starting out may have to settle for challenging or boring/tedious jobs in order to cover their bases. And many seasoned freelancers still struggle with stress due to other factors such as family and lack of time management. However, many freelancers have figured out how to manage time, stress, focus, finances, and work-life balance which translates into lower-stress positions with more pros than cons. I think this one specifically is influenced by 1) the field and demand of services/skills and 2) the freelancer’s approach to work. 

Freelancers should work for free/freelancing isn’t 100% legit

Yeah, right! Try telling that to the IRS! Freelancers are considered independent contractors and they are generally required complete a 1099-MISC or similar form for taxes. And freelancers often work long hours and produce thoughtful, quality work as a result and should certainly be paid for their services. Freelancers not delivering on their end of the bargain should be confronted and asked to rectify this. One way to avoid this is to provide sample work, testimonials, referrals, and reviews  to demonstrate skills and services.

Freelancing hurts real businesses

You might be surprised to hear that the opposite is true, actually. Often, small companies that cannot afford to hire full time employees may rely on contracted work to keep their business running. They may sometimes collaborate with other freelancers to meet their needs on a budget too. Freelancing does not hurt businesses; it stimulates the economy and allows more consumers to participate in the free market. Freelancers also give the market alternative options to large corporations with a large price tag. 

All freelancers want to get a “regular job”

While many people do freelance work to supplement their income, there are also many freelancers whose first picks would be freelancing because of the benefits and freedom it provides. Freelancing is especially appealing to the millennial generation, who are less productivity-focused and more meaningful-work -focused, non-traditional families, and entrepreneurs.

Freelancers meeting at a coffee shop. Photo by Brooke Cagle.

Freelancers are socially awkward

Another common misconception about freelancers is that they are socially awkward, are hermits, antisocial, or loners. While many freelancers prefer solitary work (for many different reasons including creative control, time management, and freedom,) many work alone simply due to the nature of freelance work. Some freelancers collaborate with other freelancers which helps them network and build connections with others in their field and related fields. Others don’t mind working alone and find they are able to focus better when not working as part of a team. 

Freelancing isn’t for everyone and it's certainly not always easy or high paying. Learning the ropes, practicing and honing skills, building a portfolio and client base, networking, and working from the ground up is arguably more challenging, more daunting, and more physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing than just showing up to a 9-5. However, freelance work can be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling and it gives entrepreneurs the ability to make an impact on the world, and to enjoy what they’re doing. 

That’s it for my list of 15 Misconceptions About Freelancing! Have you heard these misconceptions? Do you think they’re true? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Bibliography:

1. Cagle, Brooke. “Freelancers meeting at a coffee shop.” Unsplash photo, November 26, 2018.

2. Harris, Mikey. “Working from home.” Unsplash photo, June 5, 2020. (Thumbnail photo).

3. Heftiba, Toa . “Working Space.” Unsplash photo, August 16, 2018.

4. Venture, Elisa. “A business woman who is stressed and frustrated,” Unsplash photo, May 17, 2021..

Related blog posts:

—Payton

Screenwriter writing at a desk in a library. Photo by Ron Lach.

Hi readers and writerly friends!

Welcome back to the blog! If you’re new here, thanks for stopping by!

This blog post features the benefits of screenwriting and how it can broaden your horizons as a novel writer, resources for screenwriting, and a screenwriting format sample page. All references are located at the end of the post. 

Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. However, novelists can benefit from practicing screenwriting as well. One way to keep the writing process interesting, exciting, and motivating is to change the format of your writing from time to time or project to project. If you’ve been writing novels for the last few years, consider trying your hand at poetry, screenwriting, or nonfiction and vice versa. Rotating formats and writing styles can help keep the writing process refreshing and can strengthen your skills as a writer.

“Novels, Screenplays, and The Writers Who Do Both” by Annie Ward

In her article, on Crimereads.com, “Novels, Screenplays, and The Writers Who Do Both,” Annie Ward explained how Screenwriting and Novel writing can come together to make you a better writer. She started out writing screenplays but novel writing changed her perspective on writing in general: 

“I discovered that by combining what I’d learned from the craft of traditional screenwriting with the freedom of fiction, I was writing more descriptively with an emphasis on thoughts and feelings, and yet managing to remain structured and succinct. My screenwriting training had forced me to learn to reveal story through dialogue and action. It had reigned in my life-long tendency to digress. I could hear my instructor’s voice whispering in my ear, “Get to the point. Show don’t tell. Where is the conflict? Keep it moving.” (Ward 2022)

Although Ward says the reverse, the structures within different types of writing and mediums force writers to explore different avenues of creativity. Sometimes having confines such as a limited word/page count or having to work within certain themes can actually free the writer from their own mind and give them a starting point to work with. I found it challenging but invigorating to write sonnets because the structure of the sonnet itself gave me a framework around which to weave my creative vision. 

“4 Differences Between Writing a Screenplay and Writing a Novel” by Dan Brown

In his article, “4 Differences Between Writing a Screenplay and Writing a Novel,” Masterclass Instructor Dan Brown explained that the 4 key distinctions between screenwriting and novel writing are format, dialogue, length, and pacing. In regard to format, he said screenplays are structured using the three-act structure, with direct, concise paragraphs and adhere to the beat sheet in Blake Snyder’s book Save the Cat.

“There are more rules for the industry standard screenplay format than there are for novels. Script format dictates that the page should be full of white space, with each new scene clearly introduced with a scene heading. Screenwriting software is essential for both aspiring screenwriters and professional screenwriters and will help you quickly format your first draft” (Brown 2021).

With regard to dialogue, Brown said:

“Novels typically rely heavily on an omniscient narrator or on the inner thoughts of a main character. Script writing involves a heavier reliance on spoken dialogue….In a movie script, dialogue appears under a character’s name, sometimes preceded by a parenthetical describing the character’s feelings or gestures. In a novel, the speaker is often implied through context” (Brown 2021).

Regarding length, Brown said that novels are typically hundreds of pages longer, and this is true. Novels have many pages and passages for description and scene-building.

“Screenplay page count will vary depending on if you’re writing a short film, TV-show, or feature, but spec[ulative] scripts are typically around 90 pages long—approximately one page per minute of screen time” (Brown 2021).

In regard to pacing, Brown said:

“The pacing in both films and novels can vary wildly—a thriller, for example, will generally be more quickly paced than a character study. Compared to novels, screenplays for major Hollywood films will be faster-paced with more action lines, engaging the audience from fade in to fade out…” (Brown 2021).

Naturally, different mediums have different structures and formatting which will inherently change the way it is written, the story length, and creative freedoms the storyteller can take. It can be argued that novelists can “waste more time” on details and screenwriters cannot. If you find that your writing style is more suited towards short descriptions, and action, try scriptwriting. If you find that a script cannot contain all of your creativity and you need more space for descriptions and scene development, consider novel writing instead. It can be beneficial to try both. Writers can use the same story for both as an experiment to see how the two writing forms differ and how they overlap.

Go to the movies

Look at a variety of movies from various genres and with different formats to see different methods of storytelling via screenwriting. The new Dahmer series on Netflix, although opinions are mixed, is an example of non-linear storytelling with film. The Lord of The Rings films are examples of the classic hero’s journey tale and trope often seen in fantasy.

Screenwriter writing at a desk. Photo by Ron Lach.

Read, Watch, Write 

Compare how film adaptations change stories and how moving from one medium can influence the telling of the story. Reading books, watching their film adaptations, and comparing and contrasting them can serve as a useful skill for writers who want to take a different approach.

For example, the post-apocalyptic novel Bird Box written by Josh Malerman, demonstrates how the mode of storytelling has changed and with it, the story as well. On the 39th the episode of the No Thanks, We’re Booked Podcast, the hosts Katie and Mollie, and guest Riley Sager discussed how the book was scarier than the film adaptation; that’s because the book forces the reader to imagine the horrors the characters see rather than providing definitive descriptions. The film displays the characters seeing these horrors without showing the audience what they look like. “… [Josh Malerman] takes away…the description…because the characters can’t see, you can’t see as a reader so, it’s left to… your imagination more so than usual when reading…” (Sager 2019). There’s something about invisible monsters that is just terrifying and the fact that the reader can imagine them to be as horrific as they want, is even more effective than the film. 

For your next writing project, find a story that’s been adapted for the screen and fits your genre —then read the book, watch the film, and write from what you’ve learned about the two different mediums of storytelling. Consider the amount of time spent in pages compared to minutes on-screen and observe how that influences your pacing.

Watch Interviews With Screenwriters Discussing Their Craft

There are many screenwriters and actors who often direct as well and their advice and discussion of their own work can be useful for your own screenplays and other types of writing. They often offer inside looks at their process, how they direct actors for effective storytelling rather than just acting, and how they convert two-dimensional books and scripts into visually compelling three-dimensional films. 

Interviews from Christopher McQuarrie, Aaron Sorkin, and other big name directors such as Peter Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielburg, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, and Alfred Hitchcock can be especially useful and insightful for writers of all genres.

Videos from the YouTube channel, Lessons from the Screenplay. Screenshot by Payton Hayes.

Lessons from the Screenplay

This is an excellent YouTube channel that produces video essays on storytelling through the medium of film and television. The host, Micheal, deep dives into the various aspects of storytelling and provides clear, concrete examples. He analyzes films and TV shows and weaves in relevant, important key information from craft books such as John Truby’s Anatomy of Story to link it to the film and back up his claims. 

The Q&A Podcast with Jeff Goldsmith

Backstory Magazine publisher and host, Jeff Goldsmith interviews writers, directors, and actors about their latest films. These podcasts are interesting and insightful and can provide screenwriters with tons of helpful, actionable, information on storytelling. 

The Good Place Podcast

Holy motherforking shirtballs! With a podcast episode for every actual show episode, the Good Place Podcast is a great look into the writing, directing, acting, and filmmaking of the hit NBC series, The Good Place. The podcast features weekly behind-the-scenes stories, episode and performance insights, and funny anecdotes. Hosted by actor Marc Evan Jackson (Shawn) with a rotating slate of co-hosts and special guests, including actors, writers, producers, and more, this podcast takes a deep dive into everything on- and off- screen. The episodes featuring Michael Schur are especially useful as a writer. 

Scripts.com

Scripts.com is one of the largest collections of movie scripts, screenplays and transcripts which is run by a community of amateur and professional writers. This is an excellent place for screenwriters, playwrights, and novelists alike to practice their craft, post their pieces online, and get feedback on their work. You can also use their free scriptwriting tool, but be sure to double-check all of your formatting to ensure there are no errors.

Studio Binder

Although they’re advertising their service, Studio Binder has a comprehensive guide to writing and formatting scripts. 

The basics of script formatting are as follows:

• 12-point Courier font size

• 1.5 inch margin on the left of the page

• 1 inch margin on the right of the page

• 1 inch on the of the top and bottom of the page

• Each page should have approximately 55 lines

• The dialogue block starts 2.5 inches from the left side of the page

• Character names must have uppercase letters and be positioned starting 3.7 inches from the left side of the page

• Page numbers are positioned in the top right corner with a 0.5 inch margin from the top of the page. The first page shall not be numbered, and each number is followed by a period (Studio Binder 2019).

That’s it for my blog post about screenwriting for novelists. Do you write screenplays? Do you write novels? Have you done both? Which do you prefer? Please let me know your thoughts in the comment below!

Bibliography:

1. Brown, Dan. “4 Differences Between Writing a Screenplay and Writing a Novel” Masterclass, August 27, 2021.

2. Lach, Ron. “Writing Notes on a Document.” Pexels photo, May 27, 2021 (Thumbnail).

3. Lach, Ron. “Woman Working of Her Work Desk with Books on Top.” Pexels photo, May 4, 2021.

4. Snyder, Blake. Save The Cat. California: Michael Wiese Productions, May 25, 2005. Amazon.

5. Sager, Riley, Mollie Tubeville, and Katie Ziegler. “Episode 39: Interview with Best-Selling Author of Lock Every Door: Riley Sager.” No Thanks We’re Booked Podcast, August 7, 2019 (17:40-20:00).

6. Ward, Annie. “Novels, Screenplays, and The Writers Who Do Both.” Crimereads article, March 24, 2022.

Further reading:

• Goldsmith, Jeff. The Q&A Podcast with Jeff Goldsmith, accessed November 14, 2022.

• Jackson, Marc Evan. The Good Place Podcast, accessed November 14, 2022.

• Michael “Lessons From The Screenplay“ YouTube Channel, Accessed November 14, 2022.

• Studio Binder “How to Write a Movie Script: Screenplay Format and Examples.” Studio Binder blog post, September 1, 2019.

• STANDS4 Network “About.” Scripts.com, accessed November 14, 2022.

Recent blog posts:

—Payton

Two writers working on their projects together. Photo by Windows.

Hi readers and writerly friends!

When we hear the word “writer,” the image that comes to mind is that of a hermit holed up in their office or writing room, hunched over their desk, writing at all hours, alone. However, this is often not the case when it comes to successful writers. While writing itself is often a solitary activity, there's a lot of other people involved in the publishing process from mentors, to beta readers to editors, to critique groups, to agents and publishers. The process of writing, editing, and publishing a manuscript isn’t done alone.

However, many writers still forget this crucial part of writing. Writing partners and critique groups serve as excellent sources for feedback, critiques, and writing advice. Many writers avoid writing communities and try to do it all alone. Without other writers around to encourage you, support you, and hold you accountable, it’s easy to give up on your goals.

1. Support

A writing community can provide essential support to both seasoned and aspiring writers alike. I am part of a couple of Facebook writing and editing groups and just scrolling through their posts provides me with an abundance of motivation and support to keep doing what I do. It feels amazing just seeing what everyone else is working on and reading supportive comments from fellow group members. There are many stages of the writing process where writers give up. The difference between an unfinished draft and a published book is a strong writing community.

2. Accountability

A writing community can hold you accountable to your goals. If you’re already great at meeting objectives and reaching your goals, then maybe you can show someone else how to. Many writers still struggle with meeting deadlines and achieving their goals. Having a writing community to fall back on is immensely helpful. Even when you don’t feel like writing, their commentary and advice is motivating and inspiring.

3. Feedback

We’ve all gotten feedback from friends and family, and it’s just not as helpful or constructive as advice from other writers. They don’t understand the genre, demographic, subject matter, or other story elements and provide biased feedback when asked their thoughts. Having a writing community means you have access to constructive, actionable, relevant feedback and in turn, you can provide the same for your fellow writers.

4. Advice

Much like feedback, useful writing advice is essential, and non-writers aren’t equipped to provide it. Writers can recommend books, blogs, guides, YouTube videos, speakers, podcasts, and tons of other useful content to each other through their writing communities.

5. Reaching Readers

Writing communities do not have to be exclusive to just writers; readers are a big part of writing communities too. Take beta readers for example —they enjoy reading novel drafts and providing readers with feedback relevant to their genre. Readers can provide vital advice and critiques to writer’s works without the writer’s lenses. A community of dedicated readers or your target audience can be extremely beneficial to you as a writer, especially during the marketing phase.

6. Inspiration

Group of writers cheering each other on in the library. Photo by Yan Krukov.

Inspiration is an important part of the writing process and watching your fellow writers grow and succeed in their craft can serve as crucial motivation and inspiration to keep you on track with your craft as well. The same reason writers read books from their genre or works from their favorite writers, they can also take feedback from their writing community as inspiration.

7. Helping Others

Helping other writers learn and grow in their craft is a wonderfully rewarding feeling. If you’ve got experience writing, you can share it with your writing community and maybe teach someone something they didn’t already know. Writers often post questions in community forums or groups on Facebook seeking advice for specific struggles in the writing process. Helpful answers from fellow writers can be more useful and actionable than simply asking a friend for their opinion or having to sift through a long blog post to answer a quick question.

8. Tribe

Last but not least, having a writing community means that you have a tribe to belong to. Writers from all walks of life come together for a common goal: to write a book, leave a legacy, and make their mark on the world. Having a connected, empowering, inspirational, constructive community is essential for writers of every genre and level of expertise and having a tribe to belong to is important for anyone regardless of if they are readers or writers.

I’ve included some examples of writing communities that I am a part of below.

Oklahoma Writing Communities

Below are a few of the editorial communities in Oklahoma:

Oklahoma Writer’s Society

Yukon Writer’s Society

Writer’s Societies at UCO

Below are a few of the writer’s societies I am a part of at the University of Central Oklahoma:

English Society At UCO

Golden Ponies Creative Writers Guild

Language Society at UCO

Facebook Writing and Editing Groups

Below are a few of the editorial groups I am a member of on Facebook:

• Authors and Writers Helping Each Other Grow

• I Need A Book Editor

• Ask A Book Editor

• Women Writers, Editors, Agents, and Publishers

• Writers Helping Writers

• Developmental Editor Connection Group

• #WriteTip： Writing Tips, Tricks, Tools, Techniques and Theories

• Proofreading and Editing Services

• Business + Professional Development for Editors

• Find the Editorial Associations I am a member of here.

Bibliography:

1. Goodman, Jason. “five person by table watching turned on white iMac photo.” Unsplash photo, March 14, 2019 (Thumbnail).

2. Krukov, Yan. “Group of People Smiling and Standing Near Brown Wooden Table Raising Hands.” Pexels photo, June 3, 2021.

3. Windows. “3 women sitting on chair.” Unsplash photo, April 22, 2020.

That’s it for my 8 Reasons Why Having Writing Community Matters. Do you have a writing community? How has it helped you in your writing practice? Let me know in the comments below!

Recent blog posts:

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

We didn’t just come here to win NaNoWriMo—no, we came to slay it. Okay, maybe that line is for the horror writers, but I’m serious when I say I am slaying NaNo this year. 2022 is not only  a new year, but it’s a new beginning. In 2022, we start and finish our novels, we reach our goals, and we don’t stop for anyone!

I’ve prepared this guide months in advance so you can get prepared too! You should be prepping all of October—er, prep-tober for the biggest, baddest, bestest NaNoWriMo ever! And okay, maybe some of those aren’t real words, but we can pretend, and we can still get psyched! Hooray for reaching our goals and stuff!

This blog post covers everything from background information on NaNoWriMo, to how to prepare for the writing challenge, to emergency solutions for that nasty writer’s block, to FREE printables and more!

I discovered this concept from Shayla Raquel from Shaylaraquel.com I took inspiration from her guide which you can check out here!

The NaNoWriMo Crest. Image by NaNoWriMo.

What is NaNoWriMo?

In my opinion, there’s only two valid reasons for asking this question: 1) you’re a writer and you’ve been living under a rock or 2) you’re a non-writer. Either way, I am here to serve and inform. *Bows graciously* NaNoWriMo is an acronym that stands for National Novel Writing Month. It begins every year on November 1. Participants have 30 days to write a 50,000-word novel. It comes out to 1,667 words a day.

How do I participate?

To get started, simply head to NaNoWriMo.org, click the Sign Up button, and fill out your profile. Once you’ve set up your profile, you can announce your novel, add buddies, and start prepping your book.

Is it free?

It’s free. In fact, NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit. However, if you’d like to support them, you can always donate to their organization.

Are there any local events for NaNoWriMo?

Although people all over the world participate in NaNoWriMo, you can go to their Regions page, find your specific region, and see if there are any Come Write-Ins available.

NaNoWriMo’s Come Write In program connects libraries, bookstores, and other neighborhood spaces with their local NaNoWriMo participants to build vibrant writing communities.

For example, the Yukon Writers’ Society in Oklahoma has four official Come Write-Ins. NaNoWriMo sends out official swag and signs so people know where to go.

How do I win NaNoWriMo?

You must reach your goal of 50,000 words by November 30. To receive your official certificate and get the winner badge on your profile, you must update your word count daily and make sure the word count reaches 50,000 words by November 30, 2020. Here’s their how-to guide.

Download Free Novel Binder Printables

Got a binder handy? Fill it with these beautiful printables and add the necessary information.

Here's what you'll get when you download the free PDF:

• Binder title page with name plate

• At a Glance — overview of your novel

• Character List

• The Protagonist — three pages for  character details

• The Antagonist — three pages for character details

• To-Do List—you can fill the list with my NaNoWriMo To-Do List (scroll down!) or make your own!

• Story Outline — three pages detailing the parts of a novel as per the three-act story structure

• Word Count Tracker—with NaNoWriMo daily word count goal and space for your daily word count reached

I suggest tossing these fantastic freebies into a lovely, matching blue binder! Scroll down to download!

NaNoWriMo To-Do List:

1.      Grab some coffee—this is going to be so fun!

2.      Set up your NaNoWriMo account

3.      Fill out your author bio and add a profile photo.

4.      Announce your novel.

5.      Add your buddies. (Add me too!)

6.      Find your region and see if there are any local Come Write-Ins.

7.      Print my free novel binder templates and prepare your binder. (Scroll back up!)

8.      Tell your social media friends about NaNoWriMo. Tag NaNoWriMo and use hashtags.

9.      Tidy up your writing space and add some inspirational NaNo swag. Or make your own! You can also add a candle, some motivational quotes and pep talk books! (Scroll down!)

10.  Put together a NaNo board. This is the fun part! Grab a corkboard or dry erase board and display your outline, character photos, book cover sketches, inspirational quotes—anything that has to do with your book. If you prefer digital vision boards, start a Pinterest board.

11. Download my emergency writer’s block kit for when the dreaded writer’s block inevitably strikes! Don’t let lack of motivation or inspiration slow you down or keep you from reaching your NaNoWriMo goals! (Scroll down!)

12.  Create a reward sheet. When you hit 10,000 words, you should get a reward—like a weekly coffee stop for reaching your goals each week or bigger rewards for bigger milestones such as every ten thousand words! Write a list of rewards that go with each big milestone you hit. If all of this motivation fails you, your rewards will keep you on track, believe me.

13.  Print the Word Count Calendar (scroll down!) and pin it to your NaNo board!

14.  Add official Come Write-Ins to your schedule if you found any (#5).

15.  Looks like your cup is empty…coffee break?

16.  Create a NaNo playlist. Don’t forget game soundtracks and Ambient Mixer!

17.  Set a certain time to write then tell your family/friends/neighbors/pets you are writing for X amount of minutes/hours each day. Be proactive in stopping distractions. Consider postponing plans with friends and family until you’ve met your goal each day.

18.  Draw pictures of your characters or Google pictures of what you think they’d look like. I like to have a few photos for every character, including headshots, full-body shots, and photos that accentuate their style. You can add them to your NaNo board!

19.  Look at book covers. Obviously don’t steal someone else’s book cover but find a few that you think would represent your book well. Keep them to refer to when NaNo hits. Add to your NaNo board!

20.  You think we’re busy now, but wait ‘til we’re really in the trenches. Speaking of being busy, I think it’s time for more coffee—gotta keep the productivity levels up, right?

21.  Prepare the manuscript. This is actually really fun and can make you feel like a bona fide novelist. Write your title, table of contents (if you have one), acknowledgments, prologue, and so on. Get the novel looking fancy!

22.  Find your accountability buddy now. Get together with them and discuss both of your books! When NaNoWriMo is in full swing and you’re feeling stuck, you can hit up your NaNo buddy for instant support—or a kick in the pants, whichever.

23.  At the end of NaNoWriMo grab a celebratory coffee—for winning or for simply participating!

24.  Consider donating to NaNoWriMo.

25.  If you finish your novel, then great! It’s now time to edit. If you still have some writing to do, stay on the writing train with 1,666 words a day until it’s finished. By participating in NaNoWriMo, you’re building the habit of writing every day and it’s much easier to maintain the habit than to pick it back up if you let it go. Keep writing and you’ll reach the ending before you know it!

Keeping up with word counts

Download my free NaNoWriMo word count calendar so you can keep track of your writing goals and work count all month long!

Cackling over calendars

Don’t like my calendar? That’s okay! Try this one on for size! Humor helps pass the time! @hermiejr157 on DeviantArt designed this hilarious, quirky, and painfully true calendar that accurately describes NaNoWriMo for most writers!

“NaNoWriMo Desktop.” by @hermiejr157.

Worried about writer’s block?

Download my free NaNoWriMo writer’s block emergency kit!

Need more inspiration? Check out these NaNo-inspired articles!

• “A First-Timer’s Guide to Prepping for NaNoWriMo.”

• “NaNoWriMo Advice: 30 Tips for Writing a Book in 30 Days.“

• “How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo: Your 4-Week Success Plan.”

• “100 Plot Ideas.”

• “Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo.”

• “Writing a Novel in a Month: 10 Tips for Plotters and Pantsers.”

• “What is NaNoWriMo? And How to Win in 2022.”

Grab these books and get reading before NaNoWriMo!

Books shown above are:

• Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo (Novel and Creative Writing Book, National Novel Writing Month NaNoWriMo Guide) by Grand Faulkner

• The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression (Second Edition) (Writers Helping Writers Series Book 1) by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman

• Write Your Novel From The Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between by James Scott Bell

• Ready, Set, Novel!: A Workbook by Lindsey Grant and Chris Baty

• No Plot? No Problem! Revised and Expanded Edition: A Low-stress, High-velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty

• Your First Novel Revised and Expanded Edition: A Top Agent and a Published Author Show You How to Write Your Book and Get It Published by Ann Rittenberg, Laura Whitcomb, and Camille Goldin

• You can find all of these and more on my Payton’s Picks Page

Get involved with the writing community to build connections and find buddies before NaNoWriMo!

Social Media

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nanowrimo/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NaNoWriMo/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nanowrimo/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/nanowrimo/

• Tumblr: http://blog.nanowrimo.org/

• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nanowrimo/

Facebook Groups

• NaNoWriMo

• 2020 NaNoWriMo (Support & Encouragement)

Use NaNo hashtags to find NaNoWriMo related content

Most social media out there allows you to post hashtags, and often up to at least 30 per post! You can comment even more hashtags on the post to increase visibility! Here are 50 different NaNoWriMo hashtags for you to use with your content!

• #1667wordsaday

• #amediting

• #amwriting

• #authorlife

• #book

• #bookish

• #bookishthings

• #booklove

• #booklover

• #booklovers

• #bookstagram

• #bookwormforlife

• #bookworms

• #characters

• #creativewriting

• #fantasy

• #fiction

• #fictionbooks

• #iamawriter 

• #igbooks

• #ilovewriting

• #inktober

• #inspiration

• #instawrimo

• #nanoprep

• #nanowrimo

• #nonfiction

• #poetry

• #preptober

• #procrastination

• #scrivener

• #stylewriting

• #wip

• #write

• #writer

• #writerscommunity

• #writerscorner

• #writerslife

• #writersofig

• #writersofinsta

• #writersofinstagram

• #writing

• #writingchallenge

• #writingcommunity

• #writingeveryday

• #writinglife

• #writingofig

• #writingprompt

• #yabooks

• #yacontemporary

• #yalit

Bibliography:

1. Baty, Chris. No Plot? No Problem! Revised and Expanded Edition: A Low-stress, High-velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days. California: Chronicle Books LLC, 2014. Amazon (Image and link).

2. Faulkner , Grand. Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo (Novel and Creative Writing Book, National Novel Writing Month NaNoWriMo Guide). California: Chronicle Books, 2017. Amazon (Image and link).

3. Grant. Lindsey, and Chris Baty. Ready, Set, Novel!: A Workbook. California: Chronicle Books, 2011. Amazon (Image and link).

4. hermiejr157. “NaNoWriMo Desktop” Deviantart post, November 4, 2008.

5. McNulty, Bridget. “Writing a Novel in a Month: 10 Tips for Plotters and Pantsers.” Now Novel blog post, accessed October 18, 2022.

6. NaNoWriMo. “NaNo Prep 101.” NaNoWriMo website, accessed October 18, 2022.

7. NaNoWriMo. "NaNoWriMo Logo.” Image. Accessed October 18, 2022.

8. NY Book Editors. “A First-Timer’s Guide to Prepping for NaNoWriMo.” Blog post, accessed October 18, 2022.

9. Puglisi, Becca, and Angela Ackerman. The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression (Second Edition) (Writers Helping Writers Series Book 1). JADD Publishing, 2019. Amazon (Image and link).

10. Raquel, Shayla. “100 Plot Ideas. “ Shaylaraquel.com blog post, October 16, 2022.

11. Raquel, Shayla. “NaNoWriMo 2018 Novel Binder Printables.” Shaylaraquel.com blog post, September 30, 2022.

12. Reedsy. “What is NaNoWriMo? And How to Win in 2022.” Reedsy blog post, October 5, 2020.

13. Rittenberg, Ann, Laura Whitcomb, and Camille Goldin. Your First Novel Revised and Expanded Edition: A Top Agent and a Published Author Show You How to Write Your Book and Get It Published. Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 2018. Amazon (Image and link).

14. Scott Bell, James. Write Your Novel From The Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between. London: Compendium Press, 1707. Amazon (Image and link).

15. Steve. “Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo.” Storyist blog post, accessed October 18, 2022.

16. Strawser, Jessica. “NaNoWriMo Advice: 30 Tips for Writing a Book in 30 Days.“ Writer’s Digest article, October 6, 2015.

17. The Write Life Team. “How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo: Your 4-Week Success Plan.” The Write Life blog post, October 3, 2022.

Recent blog posts:

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

someone with severe Adult ADHD I personally know how this neurotype can affect one’s personal and professional life. ADHD is a neurodivergence, not a disorder, and worth looking into whether or not you have been diagnosed with it. Readers and writers, I’ve created a list of tips and tricks (ADHD friendly) that can help you in your business whether neurotypical or neurodivergent, like myself. If you’re in a rush, check out the headers and sections in bold to get the most out of skimming this post.

Note: Some of the advice in this blog post is from my own personal experience, tips and tricks from other people I know who have ADHD, and the book, Mastering Your Adult ADHD: A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program, Second Ed. Client Workbook by Steven A. Safren. Any quotes from the workbook are cited in-text and at the end of this post (Safren 2017)

Rearrangeable Corkboard Calendar. Photo by Monica Sauro.

Calendars, Planners, and Daily Task Lists

As per the workbook and my own experience, having a toolkit of simple, practical, sustainable, and daily organization and planning tools is key to combatting prioritization-confusion, time-blindness, and forgetfulness in general. This is true for people with and without ADHD. Having a 3-step planning system ensures consistency and employs repetition —a useful tactic for remembering important tasks day-to-day, week-by-week, and month-to-month. I’ve been using this system for three months now, and it has changed how much I can get accomplished in a single day. I’m not advising you go overboard with adding tasks to your plate and burn yourself out. But you’ll be amazed at the productivity and action you can achieve by employing a simple planning routine that can be scaled up or down and modified in many ways to fit many different lifestyles and stages of life.

How to execute this planning strategy:

• Use a Calendar for a monthly view. This can be paper or dry-erase calendar, but make sure its simple and big enough to write 1-3 important tasks, appointments, or events in each day’s space.

• Use a Planner or weekly agenda for keeping up with tasks throughout the week. Realistically plan your days so that you can get your professional and personal work done in a timely manner without overworking yourself. Unless you can consistently produce quality results, stick to no more than 3-5 tasks a day until this becomes a habit. Pick out a planner that you like and avoid choosing frills over functionality. The more space the better. I prefer just a plain planner with a calendar view for each month and a few lines for each day of the month in an agenda format. Ensure the planners size can accommodate your handwriting as well as portability, because this will be your middle-man between your home calendar and task list as well as your point of reference when away from home.

• Use a Daily Task List for daily task planning and organization. Again, limit your responsibilities to reflect your true capability and slowly add more tasks onto your plate when you feel comfortable doing so.

Pro Tip: Use the same color-coding system in your planner and task list as you do on your monthly calendar. Get colored pens that match your expo markers so that you can peek at either tool and read it at-a-glance, ensuring ease of understanding and consistency. Only use a color-coding system if it will benefit you, though. If you’re worried it will become too complicated, take too much time to set up, or you’ll get hung up on perfectionism, opt for 3 colors max, or skip this step altogether.

For Digital Planners: I would love to be more eco-conscious and go paperless, but the repetition of writing plans down 1-3 times helps me remember when and what I’ll be doing each day. This process also helps me to catch any discrepancies between one of my planning tools and I can catch mistakes (such as an event written on the wrong day of the month) much easier and usually before the event. However, if you’re really not one for writing things down and would prefer to go the digital route, there’s a few tools you can use to achieve the same 3-step planning system mentioned above.

Tablet displaying a virtual weekly planner. Photo by Jess Bailey.

• Pick a good virtual calendar such as Google Calendar. Color-code events as needed and try to keep colors consistent across all apps and devices.

• Use a good digital planner as well —below, I mention Notion as a great resource for note-taking but it can also serve as a fully-customizable virtual planner/agenda as well. If you’re overwhelmed by the customization, there’s a ton of other free and paid virtual planning/productivity apps out there!

• Use a simple virtual notes app or list app such as Google Keep Notes or Google Tasks. Notes has more formatting options but Tasks has a satisfying check-off function for when you’ve completed tasks.

If you’re going the virtual route, use digital alarms to help you stay on track! The Pomodoro Technique is a great strategy for getting both quality work and breaks done in a timely manner. If you’re not going digital, keep hand-held timers around your house or at your desk in the office to use to help with time management.

The workbook provides some rules for effective use of the calendar and task list:

Rules for the Calendar and Task List

The calendar and task list system replaces ALL pieces of paper

• Pieces of paper just get lost.

• Instead of keeping an appointment slip, a business card, or anything like this, copy the information onto the task list or enter it directly on your calendar.

Phone messages from voice mail or other places go on the task list.

• Log every phone message (from voice mail and so forth) on the task list as a to-do item.

• If you date when you have completed the task, you will then have a record of having done it in case anyone asks you about it in the future.

All appointments go on the calendar.

• No appointment slips that can easily get lost!

All tasks must go on the task list.

• Task list items should be looked at EVERY DAY, and revised accordingly.

Do not obsess about trying to get a perfect system.

• Many individuals want to have the perfect calendar and task list systems. Do not fall into this trap! This will just result in not having any systems.

• If you cannot decide on the “best” system, then just use a simple calendar and task list system.

• Remember it’s important to give your system a fair shot! This means keeping one system for at least three months, long enough to get used to it.

Use a system that is within your comfort zone.

• There are many options for calendar and task list systems—including paper systems, applications on smartphones or tablets, and multiple computerized applications. Many of our clients ask us which is the “best” system, and this is not really a question that we can easily answer. The question for you to ask yourself is this: “What’s the best system for me?”

— (Mastering Your Adult ADHD, 29-30)

Manageable chunks

Downsize overwhelming parts into manageable chunks. Make step-by-step processes for tasks that seem daunting and go one step at a time. This will help you manage overwhelm, anxiety, and, unnecessary busy work. Make a list of items and order them according to due date or priority, and try to get them done as soon as possible. Do not wait until the last minute, no matter how tempting that next episode of Orange Is The New Black may be. Make a reasonable, executable game plan for your goals or project, and proceed one step at at time. Don’t get hung up on the details or perfectionism, just start.

“A good plan executed right now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” —George S. Patton.

Woman looking through her weekly planner. Photo by Covene.

Prioritization with the A,B,C’s

Now that you know of an effective and sustainable planning strategy and you know to break overwhelming tasks up into more manageable steps, it’s time to prioritize. As mentioned earlier, without prioritizing tasks, its easy to get caught up in busy work. Getting a lot of tasks completed and crossed off your to-do list feels good, but is it really getting you closer to your goals? By being overly productive with mundane tasks, are you actually getting any important work done?

That’s where the A,B,C’s come in. I learned this strategy in the workbook as well:

List all of your tasks. Then assign an “A,” “B,” or “C” rating to each task:

• “A” Tasks: These are the tasks of highest importance. They must be completed in the short term (like today or tomorrow).

• “B” Tasks: These are lower-importance, longer-term tasks. Some portions should be completed in the short term, but other portions may take longer.

• “C” Tasks: These are the tasks of lowest importance. They may be more attractive and easier to do, but they are not as important.

Be very careful not to rate too many items as “A”!

Practice doing all of the “A” tasks before the “B” tasks and all of the “B” tasks before the “C” tasks.

— (Mastering Your Adult ADHD, 34-36)

When first going over this concept, my therapist put it this way: “A” tasks must be done on the day they’ve been assigned to. “B” tasks can be moved to other days but not move more than a week away from their original date. “C” tasks can be infinitely moved and do not require a defined date/time. An “A” task might be going to a doctor’s appointment. A “B” task might be getting your car’s oil changed. A “C” task might be finishing a book you’re reading for pleasure. This prioritization strategy will look different for everyone, especially at different stages of life.

Just remember the priority: “A”= Highest importance, “B”=Medium importance, and “C”=Lowest importance. Avoid overwhelm and burnout by strategically spacing “A” tasks throughout the week if possible. Try to limit “A” tasks to no more than 1-3 things a day until you feel comfortable with this system.

Color-coding tasks instead: If you’d rather use a color-coding system for prioritization, traffic light colors Red, Yellow, and Green make a great color-combination for action! Red= Stop what you’re doing and do the most important tasks first. Yellow=Be cautious of time and complete the lesser-important tasks next. Green= Go! on tasks of lowest importance once you’ve completed Red and Yellow tasks first!

“Eat the Frog” or “Start”

Have you ever heard of someone eating the frog when it comes to content creation, their personal to-do list, or professional positions? This means to start with the hardest item or most difficult item on the to-do list. This item is typically something that requires research, planning, and time to execute. It is a task that requires more energy and time to complete. Often these tasks are called ”frogs” because they’re hard to swallow, or hard to get done and often include a lot of planning and/or procrastination. By getting them done early, one can look forward to the “downhill” slope throughout the day/list. Get the hardest task out of the way and it will be easier as the day goes on.

If you’re more of a “work your way up” to the hardest task from the easiest tasks, that’s okay too! Not everyone feels comfortable starting with the “frog".” Just make sure you’re not doing busywork or deluding yourself with a false sense of productivity. Ensure your actions and “warm-up” tasks are actually moving the needle, and getting you closer to your goals.

Make use of versatile apps and devices

I’m saving for an iPad and Apple Pencil so I can do digital artwork, digitize my existing physical artwork, and start creating unique animations for my YouTube channel. I’ve seen some pointillism artists doing dotwork with tattoo guns on paper, saving their hands the trouble and repetitive stress. Utilize the technology we have today to save time tomorrow.

Clickup’s Blog has tons of great resources for productivity and combatting ADHD. Greg Swan’s post “10 Best Mind Mapping Software (Pros, Cons, Pricing)” explains how mind-mapping can be a useful tool for productivity and breaking tasks down into actionable steps:

Mind map software lets you create a diagram or flowchart of your ideas. This helps you easily illustrate the relationships and hierarchy between concepts. 

Most mind mapping tools come in different sizes to suit various needs, offering other functionality. Generally, your average mind map maker falls under one (or more) of these categories:

• Diagramming: a technical diagram such as engineering flowcharts, architectural designs, network diagrams, etc.

• Brainstorming: problem-solving sessions to organize and present an idea visually

• Business intelligence: visualize data as charts by importing it from business applications

• Software development: prepare site map diagrams, software wireframes, etc.

— (Swan, paragraphs 5-8)

Checkbox to-do list on paper. Photo by Thomas Bormans.

Take notes

When it comes to conventions, panels, educational videos, courses, classes and other avenues for creative information, remember to take notes —and not just cover vocabulary. Let’s get honest for a second, aesthetically pleasing notes make studying that much easier, for sure, but it’s not a necessary effort. As long as your notes are legible and cover important topics that will likely come up later (or for students, will be in the exam) then you are good to go. Feel free to digitize or edit your notes later. First, focus on jotting down as much information as possible.

Pro Tip: If you don’t feel confident in your ability to type as fast as the professor or speaker talks, then feel free to record the panel or discussion. Make sure you get permission/clearance before recording someone else. When you have time, type up and refine the notes into easily-digestible, succinct, effective, and at-a-glance notes. Put them on the wall, your vision board, or bathroom mirror to see them frequently until their concepts and advice is cemented solidly in your brain. Then, file your notes away in an organized fashion and make sure to refer back to them regularly.

Notion and other note-taking apps

I genuinely enjoy this app and the features it provides users. Notion has an almost overwhelming number of features and useful elements. I personally use the application to create lists, blog post rough drafts, flesh out poems, and to tack down other ideas, but this barely scratches the surface of Notion’s versatility. This post is not sponsored by Notion, nor am I affiliated with them.

Celebrate milestones, big and small

Don’t forget to celebrate hard work and milestones. Go out every once and a while to celebrate and acknowledge the hard work you’ve done. If the work is online, it can be especially hard to quantify successes or measure productivity, so go out every now and again and celebrate the small and big wins! Don’t. Skip. On. This. Even if you don’t drink, are veggie, or have a tight curfew, make sure you allow time for you to, celebrate both the small and big wins and really soak it in. When your supervisor gives you a compliment, treat yourself to a nice coffee, or when you meet a work or personal creative deadline early, grab that chocolate-chip muffin as treat (as long as your not on a diet, lol —look into other rewards systems if you’re alcohol-cruelty-gluten-free, etc.!”

FAQ pages

For entrepreneurs and creatives with websites, this page can save you a lot of time and trouble. Although it’s pretty self-explanatory, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) page serves as a buffer between you and your reader’s repetitive, previously answered/address queries. Link the FAQ page in the footer or contact section of your website and put 5-20 of the most frequently asked questions there, to help avoid repetition and wasted time re-addressing the same questions over and over again.

Lead magnets

Sometimes called freebies, lead magnets are the little juicy bits of content that readers subscribe to your content in order to access. For cooking blogs, it may be a 20-page mini cookbook. For writing blogs, it may be a short guide for combatting writer’s block or a writing checklist. Just about any website can have a lead magnet and it’s the easiest, most automatic way to obtain an email address from a visitor to your site. Lead magnets are powerful, effective, enticing marketing tools and they’re very easy to create. Design a unique, actionable, useful piece of downloadable/printable content with an editor such as Canva and upload it as a downloadable file into your newsletter block on your website. Once the reader enters his or her email into the box and hits the subscribe button, they’ll be prompted to download the content they signed up for. Now you’ve unlocked another potential customer who you can market to, straight to their inbox, and they just gave you that access!

Minibatch and time-batch tasks

Similar to prioritization and chunking tasks into more manageable steps, minibatching tasks can serve as a useful strategy for planning, organization, optimization, and execution. To do this, break your larger tasks down into smaller, doable steps, then put those smaller tasks onto your calendar or planner, according to the type of activity required to complete the task. For example, if your car needs several maintenance tasks done, schedule a time to look at and order car parts, make appointments to the alignment shop and oil-change shop, and plan a day to get all the car work done. Another example, if you need to record videos, take photos, or hop on webcam, schedule these tasks all on the same day if possible. You’ll save yourself the time and trouble of getting ready for each individual appointment and get the most wear out of your outfit/makeup/hair-styling too!

Have frequent co-working sessions

Schedule in regular co-working sessions with friends, partners, and colleagues. These sessions are for working collaboratively on projects and brainstorming and are an amazing resource for creatives and office-workers alike. Friends can help you pick paint samples and the interior design of your living room, while colleagues can help you come up with new strategies for success in the workplace. Who says you can’t have coffee in the morning with a client in the morning and meet up with your bestie for lunch in the afternoon?

Schedule “people days”

Much like the time-batching tasks, schedule all of your face-to-face appointments, coffee-shop meet-ups, conferences, phone calls, and co-working sessions in the same day, when possible. This will save you time getting read for each appointment and once you’ve made it through the first meeting, you’ll be ready to tackle the next meeting as your confidence and productivity high snowballs you throughout the day.

ADHD management and CBT therapy

Regardless of if you’ve been diagnosed with ADHD or not, these tips can be useful for anyone who gives them an honest try because they’re practical, scalable, sustainable, effective, and simple. However, these tips may not be enough if your life is a hot mess like mine was in 2020-21. After having done my own ADHD management program and CBT program for PTSD, I can truly say it has changed my life for the better. I would recommend anyone struggling with ADHD symptoms to reach out to your primary healthcare provider and discuss options for treatment with them. Depending on the severity, you may require therapy, management, medication, or lifestyle changes in order to manage any debilitating or annoying symptoms you may have. I’m not a doctor —I just know this process helped me understand and embrace myself and gave me the patience and grace to work through my challenges without shame, fear, or judgement. Please do not diagnose yourself. If you feel you may be struggling with ADHD, contact your doctor or counsellor and have a formal assessment and diagnosis done.

Thank you so much for reading this blog post! If you liked this post, let me know what you thought of it in the comments below, and please check out my other posts! If you have any other actionable tips for productivity as a creative with ADHD, drop a comment below!

Bibliography:

1. Bormans, Thomas. “Free Pen Image.” Unsplash photo, August 30, 2020.

2. Covene. “woman in white long sleeve shirt, holding pen, while writing on paper.” Unsplash photo, May 21, 2021.

3. Fernandes, Nuberlson. “Man in white crew neck shirt wearing black framed eyeglasses.” Unsplash photo, February 27, 2021 (Thumbnail).

4. Notion Labs Inc. “Notion - notes, docs, tasks.” Google Play Store, accessed 11, 2022.

5. Safren, Steven A. Mastering Your Adult ADHD: A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Program, Second Ed. Client Workbook. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

6. Sauro, Monica. “Brown calendar photo.” Unsplash photo, May 16, 2019.

7. Swan, Greg. “10 Best Mind Mapping Software (Pros, Cons, Pricing)” ClickUp Blog. October 13, 2022.

Further Reading:

• How To Organize Your Digital Life: 5 Tips For Staying Organized as a Writer or Freelancer

• 5 MORE Ways to Stay Organized as a Writer or Freelancer

• Get Things Done With The Pomodoro Technique

• 5 Reasons Most Writers Quit

• When Writing Becomes Difficult

• Self-Care Tips for Readers and Writers

• 5 Healthy Habits For Every Writer

• 8 Ways To Level Up Your Workspace And Elevate Your Productivity

• The 4 Most Useful FREE Apps for Writers in 2022 (Sync Across Multiple Devices, Not Only iOS)

• 20 Tips and Tricks for Email Newsletters That Don't Suck

• View my FAQ page for inspiration for your own!

Recent blog posts:

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

This week in Freelancing, we’ll be covering everything from querying basics to how to find a literary agent and land a book deal in 2021, when more than 75% of books published by the big five New York presses get sold by literary agents. Literary agents are experts in the publishing industry and can be career-long mentors and managers and there’s plenty of reasons why writers both new and experienced alike could benefit from hiring an agent.

Agents are market experts and can secure the best possible book deal for their clients as well as negotiating fair contracts, protecting the writer’s rights, ensuring clients are paid accurately and fairly as per industry standards, and ultimately serve as the middleman between the author and publisher.

In 2021, more than 75% of books published by the big five New York presses get sold by literary agents. Literary agents are experts in the publishing industry and can be career-long mentors and managers.

Do I need an agent?

Honestly, it depends on the commercial viability of your book. If you want to be published by one of the five major New York publishing houses, (i.e., Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Hachette) then you’ll need an agent to be sure. However, if you’re instead writing for a niche market (i.e., time period fashion) or wrote an academic or literary piece, then perhaps you don’t need an agent. Agents take on clients based on the size of the advance they think they can for the project. If your book doesn’t command a decent advance, then the project may not be with the agent’s time and you’ll have to sell it yourself. Unfortunately, most writers have a difficult time being honest with themselves about their work’s potential. We all want to see our names on the New York Times Bestseller’s list, but that’s just not a realistic expectation. It comes down to this: not every book is cut out to be published by a New York house, or even represented by an agent.

There are different levels of commercial viability in the publishing industry. Some books are “big” and are suited for Big Five traditional publishing houses, while others are “quiet:” books and are suitable for mid-size and small presses. If you’re realizing your work might not be a good fit for one of the major publishers, don’t despair. There are many mid-size houses, independent publishers, small presses, university presses, regional presses, digital-only publishers who might be thrilled to have you work —you just need to find them.

These types of books typically are suitable for a major traditional publisher:

• Genre or mainstream fiction, including romance, erotica, mystery/crime, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, young adult, new adult

• Popular nonfiction you’d see stocked in Barnes & Nobel —contingent upon a strong premise and existing author platform.

Major New York publishers usually won’t sign a nonfiction book unless it realistically anticipates selling 10,000 to 20,000 copies minimum.

To better understand what sells, consider picking up a month-long subscription to PublishersMarketplace.com and study the deals that get announced. It’s a quick and inexpensive education in commercial publishing. I’d also suggest taking a peek at the agent database at Literaryagencies.com

When to query

Naturally, the easy answer is once the book has been completed. Truthfully, there is no one size fits all approach to figuring out when you should query your novel, but the query questionnaire below might help you determine based on the state of your manuscript, feedback you’ve received, and your experience with the writing process, whether or not you’re ready to query.

What stage is your manuscript in currently?

If you are still in the preparation phases of the writing process, consider checking out my Manuscript Basics guide for some quick tips for formatting your manuscript for editing or submission.

How to find an agent

When it comes to actually selecting agents to query, you definitely should do your own research. Look into as much as you can find on current releases, popular titles, publisher names, top/mid-tier agents, authors, and trends in your genre. Finding a literary agent for your book is like finding a spouse —it’s a learning process and period of research best conducted by you and there is not one-size-fits-all approach to securing an agent.

PublishersMarketplace.com is the best place to research literary agents; not only do many agents have member pages there, but you can search the publishing deals database by genre, category, and/or keyword to pinpoint the best agents for your work. Some other resources to consider include QueryTracker (free and paid versions) and Duotrope.

If you really prefer to hire someone to find appropriate agents for you to submit to, try Copy Write Consultants.

Consider attending writer’s conventions and getting involved in editorial associations to build connections and organically network with industry professionals. Local writing workshops and bookstore/library events (such as indie author signings/readings) are great ways happen upon literary agents in the as opposed to seeking them out from behind the screen!

Assuming you’re ready to query, there’s a few common materials you’ll likely be asked to provide:

• Query Letter - a one-page pitch letter that gives a brief description of your work

• Novel Synopsis - a brief summary (typically no more than one or two pages) of your story from beginning to end

• Nonfiction formal book proposal - complex proposal documents (Roughly thirty pages worth) to sell nonfiction books to publishers

• Novel proposal - your query letter, a synopsis, and perhaps the first chapter. There is not an industry-standard definition of what a novel proposal is.

• Sample chapters - the first two to five chapters of your manuscript. (Always start from the beginning of the manuscript; don’t select a middle chapter, even if you think it’s your best.)

Keep these questions in mind when researching agents in your genre:

• What’s the agent’s sales track record? Examine their client list and the publishers they’ve recently sold to and determine based on your genre/category and your own sense of author identity if they’d be an appropriate fit for you and your project.

• Does their communication with you and other writers inspire confidence?

• Do they seem genuinely interested and enthusiastic in you and your project?

Additionally, you may want to keep these optional extra steps in mind if you’re waiting to hear back from queries:

• Author media kit

• Author/Book website

• Author newsletter

New authors with an existing reader base are highly desirable to literary agents and publishers. Putting your work out into the world and building a fan base beforehand can easily give you a leg up over competing writers in your genre. (I’ll have a blog post discussing exactly how to do this in a future post so subscribe to know when that comes out!)

Hook, Book, and Cook Query Sandwich Formula

If the idea querying, marketing, selling, and putting yourself out there makes your skin crawl, then think about it this way: it’s much easier to sell to one person than to ten. If you have an agent, they will do all of the gross publishing heavy lifting so you can focus on writing and connecting with your reader base.

The three main ingredients of a great query sandwich are as follows: the hook, the book, and the cook. To start, the hook is the query —or the pitch, as mentioned earlier.  Next, the book is the book itself (what key information about the book should you divulge to the agent on first impression). And lastly, the cook is the writer —you. In keeping with the sandwich metaphor — the “hook” and “cook” sections are the slices of bread and the “book” section is the meat of the sandwich — the slices are the least important part of the query and should take up the least amount of reading time in comparison to the meat. 

Hook

You can probably guess why the first section of this metaphor is called the “hook,” but as expected, this section is specifically the pitch to the agent and it’s what “hooks” or demands their attention as a reader. Queries serve to sell the agent your story and the hook’s sole purpose is just that. It’s at most, a few lines to grab the agent’s attention and make them invested in your story and you as a potential client. If the agent reads the hook and finds their interest piqued, they might then read the description of the book and become even more interested to read more, (at which point you’ve “hooked” an agent and opened up connections for potential book deals).

Book

Center around character and work in subtle details about the world rather than info-dumping or over-worldbuilding. Your query isn’t the place for overly flowery vocabulary or backstory either. This section of your query should give the agent just enough of a taste to make them interested in being invested in the story, but not enough to give the plot away or disinterest them before they can even read it.

Be sure to keep storytelling elements character, conflict, and stakes at the forefront of your mind. This section of the query is designed to make the agent care, so show them enough character to make them make a connection and then weave in the conflict and stakes so that not only does the agent now know who the characters are, what they want, and what will happen if they don’t get what they want, but they’re also emotionally invested in the story, which is what will drive them to read it for themselves.

Pro tip: Don’t open the “hook” or “book” sections with rhetorical questions as a cheap grab at the agent’s attention. It’s overdone, comes off as try-hard, and doesn’t deliver the effect as intended so it’s better leaving them out altogether.

Example: “Can Clara save the world and still make it to the school dance by 8? Keep reading to find out!”

Cook

Two women talking at a conference table. Photo by Amy Hirschi.

While the “cook” section of your query is technically about you, don’t give the agent your whole life story or try to cultivate any specific perception of you as a person other than being a writer. This section is your time to showcase your knowledge and experience as a writer and make the agent confident in your abilities. Consider any certifications or degrees you have earned, any workshops, courses, or masterclasses you’ve attended, or any writing clubs or critique groups you’re involved with and how you can use these connections to demonstrate that you’re a capable, competent, writer who is serious about sharing their work with the world.

Additional errors to avoid include mentioning side characters or love interests that do not critically pertain to the prevailing plotline, bogging down descriptions with hard-to-pronounce proper nouns and/or stylistic spellings. Likewise, remember the KISS method —keep it simple, sweetie.  Simplicity, clarity, and subtlety are the keys to a great query.

Personalize your query

Some optional personalization to your query email includes introductions, genre comparisons, and any additional important/useful information about your novel/series as it pertains to the agents and marketing side of publishing.

One example of a great introduction/connection in action is when a friend of mine attended a writing conference where she unknowingly met her agent. She had never given agents much thought beforehand, but after attending a panel where several literary agents spoke about the book marketing process, she realized she needed to reach out. When she finally completed her book, she was able to break the ice in her query email simply by mentioning they’d attended the same conference and how her advice had helped her.

Don’t include that you’re a first-time or new author; your agent will assume unless you include any relevant published works or previous agents, that you are a new author. The “cook” section of the query is an excellent place to mention relevant writing/marketing experience.

You might also consider providing some comparisons for other books in your genre. Genre comparisons demonstrate to agents that you’re well-read in your niche genre and that you’ve done your research and understand the market you’re writing to. Genre comparisons can also provide a lot of marketing information such as where it might sit on the shelf, what demographic the book might appeal to most, what tones, themes, and tropes are to be expected from a book of any given genre. However, make sure you don’t outright put down other authors or genres when providing comparisons. You’d be surprised how many stories I’ve heard about writers who have included “my book is like so and so’s book but better” when the writer simply means they’ve put an interesting new spin on an old storytelling element.

Additionally, it might be wise to mention that your book is standalone or intended as part of a series. While we might know where the story is headed as the author, it’s ideal for a novel to both be able to stand on its own as well as having series potential, so try not to have your plans set in stone.

Check agent guidelines before submitting

At the end of the day, every agent conducts business differently and their submission guidelines may vary from one agent to the next. Ensure you’re doing everything in your power to result in a successful query by double checking your agent’s submission guidelines prior to submission. When it comes to personalization, some agents enjoy getting to know more about the writers that send in submissions while others prefer you simply leave it out. Checking guidelines before sending your query through will ensure you don’t push potential agents away by making careless mistakes.

Additionally, if it takes some pressure off, remember that if you simply take time to research your genre and potential agents, proofread and put effort into your query, and ensure that it follows agent guidelines, you will be a step ahead of your competition. Just by chatting with other editors and agents, I’ve learned that the general consensus is that most people just send a query off without a second thought and if you put even just a little extra energy into your query, that time and effort will shine through.

Note: Almost no agent accepts full manuscripts on first contact. (This is what “no unsolicited materials” means when you read submission guidelines.) However, almost all agents will accept a one-page query letter unless their guidelines state otherwise. (If they do not accept queries, that means they are a completely closed market.)

Wait on your query for 24-hrs before sending it

Once you’ve drafted the perfect query email, save it as a draft in your inbox for at least 24-hrs before sending it. When that time is up, sit down and re-read your query for any missed typos. I personally struggle with this and it’s why I always say everyone can benefit from a second set of eyes, even editors. Grammar, usage, and spelling are unfortunate errors that conceal the quality of your work, so thoroughly proofread your query before hitting that send button. Read it out loud or consider having a mentor or critique partner give it a second set of eyes. If you’re your only proofreader, get some distance from your query by literally stepping away from it and coming back with a fresh perspective so that you can catch any errors you might have missed in your previous revisions.

Do I need an editor before querying an agent?

It’s completely up to you and how you feel about the state of your manuscript. Whether or not you hire an editor to polish your manuscript, your submission should be 100% complete and in its best version prior to querying.

Sara Megibow of the Nelson Literary Agency said “In general, too many submissions come through our slush pile that aren’t ready. In my opinion, an editor could have helped many of these books get to the next level. However, I acknowledge that hiring that person is expensive. If you are going to get an editor, don’t skimp - hire someone with credentials and client referrals in the genre of work that you are writing” and suggests that writers “read 3-5 books in your genre, published in the past 2-3 years, preferably by debut authors and published by major publishing houses” if they believe they need professional editing but can’t afford to hire an editor. (Megibow 2021) However, I think this advice is excellent for familiarizing oneself with their given genre. Inversely, you could find agents that represented your favorite books and research their work as well.

Close out your query concisely

Once again, keep it simple, here. Consider closing out your query email with a classic “Thank you for your consideration” and a “Sincerely, YOUR NAME.” Sign your email with your legal name (and if writing under a pen name or pseudonym include “YOUR NAME, writing as YOUR PEN NAME HERE” as well). Avoid statements such as “I look forward to hearing from you soon,” or “Will send manuscript upon request” because these are automatically assumed as part of the agent intake process. After closing your email, include your contact information and relevant social media links (author/public pages.)

Never mass email agents

The writer to agent intake process is inherently an individualized experience and should be treated as such. As writers with a vast overwhelming competition, it’s easy to see how mass-emailing could be tempting since getting a book deal seems like such a numbers game, but it’s more delicate than that. Agents are humans who make connections to stories just like our readers do and thus, you want to ensure you’re doing your research and finding an agent who will be a good fit for you. Querying an agent is a lot like cold emailing in business — it’s harder than most other forms of communication because you typically lack any prior relationship with your audience and you lack non-verbal feedback so you can’t modify your approach in real time, but it doesn’t have to be cold, per se. Much like with editors, writers can and should be encouraged to make a real, lasting connection with your agent and truly, your writing, book sales, and reader base will all benefit from having that genuine writer-agent relationship. Another way to add some warmth and attention back into your cold queries is to always address agents by their name (never “Dear agent,”) and ensure their name is spelled correctly. Additionally, if you decide to use pronouns to regard your agent, ensure in each instance that the correct pronouns are being used.

Use a professional email address and profile picture for your query email

This seems like a no-brainer, but don’t put in all that work to come up with the most amazing query email only to have it flop on the transmission level of the process. As an author, you should have a professional email for all your writing business needs, but if you get a lot of traffic in your inbox already, consider creating an account designated solely for query submission. Ensure the email address itself is self-explanatory, easy to read, write, pronounce, and remember. yournamequeries@gmail.com is simple enough. For your profile photo, consider a professional business-style headshot photo or a company logo if applicable. If you want to show some personality through your profile picture, try to avoid obscene or offensive imagery.

Don’t respond to rejection emails

Don’t waste your time by sending responses to rejection emails. It might be tempting ask them to elaborate on any feedback they gave you or to thank them for notice of rejection, but it’s just not necessary at the query stage. Agents can provide incredibly useful feedback when appropriate, but in response to a rejection email is not the place to seek out further feedback. Delete the rejection email, move that agent’s message history to your archives, and move on to the next query email.

Smart query

Smart querying is the perfect combination of querying best practices, batch querying, and cold email marketing tactics that serves as the single most effective strategy for landing literary agents out of thin air.

Create a diverse, yet genre-specific agent pool

Once you’ve done some market research and you feel like you have a decent grasp on publishers and agents that deal in your genre, start building a pool of agents who you can smart query and query again later. To establish a truly effective agent pool, come up with a mixture of middle and top tier agents as well as agents who typically are known for responding slower/faster to query submissions. It’s generally a good idea to have a healthy mix of different kinds of agents for your genre (as opposed to all top-tier or all quick-responding agents) because you may want options. A wide variety of stable, established agents as well as emerging agents with potential, is essential to successful and smart querying.

Test batch queries

One key element of smart querying is “test batch querying” where like the name suggests, you send out query emails in strategic batches. Unlike just mass-emailing, agents test batch querying allows you to essentially test-run your query before putting all your eggs into baskets. To batch query, choose 3-5 agents from your pool who respond quickly to queries (leave your dream agents out of test batches) and send your query to them first. If you get 1-2 interested responses (they’re requesting the full manuscript for review) then your query is working, and you can open it up to the rest of the agents in your pool. If you find that agents are getting to the manuscript and losing interest, your manuscript may need more attention first.

Pro Tip: When building your pool of agents to query, do your due diligence on social media. Research your prospective agents on and off the page and ensure your values and work ethic align to avoid any creative differences in the marketing process down the line.

Feedback

I didn’t want to spend too much time on this topic but remember to take any and all writing-related advice and feedback with a grain of salt, of course. Literary agents, like editors, like writers, are all just readers and book lovers at the end of the day, they too are looking for the next story to fall in love with. They make real, meaningful connections to characters and events, so the main goal of a query letter isn’t to sell your story to the agent, but rather to make your story matter to an agent.

After you send out queries, you’ll get a mix of responses, including:

• No response at all, which means it’s a rejection. Don’t sweat it—this is normal. Move on.

• A request for a partial manuscript and possibly a synopsis.

• A request for the full manuscript.

If you receive no requests for the manuscript or book proposal, then there might be something wrong with your query. If you succeed in getting your material requested, but then get rejected, there may be a weakness in the manuscript or proposal. You might occasionally receive personalized feedback regarding the state of your manuscript but it’s not standard practice.

And that’s it for my extensive guide on literary agents and querying! Thanks for checking out my blog post! Did you find any of this helpful? Please let me know and don’t forget to share your experience the comments below!

Bibliography:

1. Copy Write Consultants. “Literary Agent & Publisher Research.” webpage, accessed September 11, 2021.

2. DuoTrope. “Homepage.” Duotrope website , accessed September 11, 2021.

3. Hirschi, Amy. “Woman in teal t-shirt sitting beside woman in suit jacket.” Unsplash photo, (Thumbnail photo) March 5, 2019.

4. Megibow, Sara. “Should You Hire an Editor Before Querying? Agents Weigh In!” Adventures in YA Publishing, July 6, 2014.

5. Publishers Marketplace. “Home.” Publishers Marketplace website, accessed September 11, 2021.

6. QueryTracker. “Home.” QueryTracker website, accessed September 11, 2021.

7. The Directory of Literary Agents. “Find USA Book Agents Looking for New Writers | List of Literary Agents 2022-2023.” Literaryagencies website, accessed September 11, 2021.

Related topics:

• Book Writing 101: How To Write A Book (Basics)

• Book Writing 101: Starting Your Book In The Right Place

• Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them

• Book Writing 101: How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel

• Book Writing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Dialogue

• Book Writing 101: How To Achieve Good Story Pacing

• Book Writing 101: How To Name Your Book Characters

• Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters

• Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)

• 25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas

• Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing

• Check out my other Book Writing 101, and Freelancing posts.

Recent blog posts:

— Payton

Hi Readers and writerly friends!

This week in Freelancing, we’re discussing dialogue tags and how to properly format them. Consider this as your new intensive, all-encompassing guide for doing fictional dialogue well.

No matter what genre you write in, learning how to write dialogue effective is an essential part of any writer’s toolkit. Poorly-written dialogue can be distracting or worse —it could cause your readers to close the book in disgust. However, dialogue that is done well can transform your characters into truly believable people and you readers into satisfied, lifelong fans. Of course, the best kind of dialogue isn’t just believable conversation between characters. Good dialogue provide exposition, involves distinct language true to the voice of the speaker, and most importantly, helps move the story along. Dialogue is directly tied to pacing, plot, and tension, and can make or break your story just as much as lame characters or a sagging plot.

This guide is separated into three parts for your convenience: 1) Dialogue Basics, 2) Punctuating Dialogue, and 3) Dialogue Tags—and is filled with cheat sheets, quick-reference-guides, examples, and more to help you with your writing! (This post took me a long time to write, so if you found it helpful, please consider leaving a comment and sharing this with your writerly friends!)

Of course, this is just my own experience as well as examples of other writers who have done dialogue well, but this is by no means a rulebook for dialogue. I’m simply a proponent of the idea that if you know the rules of the writing world well, you can effectively break them well.

Dialogue Basics

Enter late, leave early.

If you’ve been around the writing world for a moment, you might have heard this phrase tossed about when discussing scenes, pacing, and dialogue. It’s a helpful saying for remembering to start a scene at just the right time instead of too early or too late.

Alfred Hitchcock once said that “drama is life with all the boring bits cut out.” Hinging on that, you could say that good dialogue is like a real conversation without all the fluff, and one of the best/easiest ways to cut out that boring fluff is to enter the conversation as late as possible.

Think about it: How many times have you heard someone in real life or in media say, “I hate small talk.” It is the same for your readers. They don’t want to be there for every single “Hi, how are you doing today?” or “I’m doing great, how are you? Thanks for asking. The weather is lovely, isn’t it?” This is a fine and good, but its not interesting dialogue, and it’s highly unlikely that this would move any story’s plot along in a meaningful way. The same goes for other kinds of small talk that usually occurs at the beginning and end of a scene. In order to avoid this kind of slow-paced dialogue, simply enter late and leave early.

Keep dialogue tags simple.

Dialogue tags are the phrases in writing that indicate who is speaking at any given time. “I want to write a book” Layla said. In this case, “I want to write a book” is the dialogue and “Layla said” is the tag. Of course, there are plenty of other dialogue tags you could use besides “said,” such as “stated,” “exclaimed,” or “declared” and so on. When writing dialogue, you generally should keep these elaborate tags to a minimum. Think of it this way, to the reader “said” is boring and simple, but its virtually invisible. Readers expect you to use “said” and because of this, it isn’t distracting to the reader.

Remember the KISS method —Keep It Simple, Sweetie? Remember that for dialogue tags. It’s always better to air on the side of caution than risk potentially distracting your reader with overly complicated, elaborate or convoluted dialogue tags.

As American novelist and screenwriter Elmore Leonard put it:

“Never use a verb other than ‘said’ to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But ‘said’ is far less intrusive than ‘grumbled,’ ‘gasped,’ ‘cautioned,’ ‘lied’” (Leonard 2021).

“Intrusive” is the operative word here. You want to bring readers into your scene and make them feel like firsthand observers, like one of the characters in the background, without drawing attention to the fact that they’re reading a book. Wordy dialogue tags are a surefire way to yank your readers out of the immersion of a story and snap them back to reality. When you raid your thesaurus for fancy dialogue tags, you risk taking readers out of the scene for a fleeting display of your verbal virtuosity. This is true for any writing where you use convoluted language where you would be better served using simple language instead. If it serves a purpose to use uncommon or elaborate verbiage, then by all means, do so, but if its just for the sake of using big words, the practice of using “wordy” language is best avoided.

Additionally, in some instances, dialogue tags can be removed altogether. If there are only two or three people present in a conversation, dialogue tags aren’t always necessary to keep track of the speaker, especially if their voices are distinct convey a character’s personality to the reader.

Descriptive action beats are your friend.

Action beats are descriptions of the expressions, movements, or even internal thoughts that accompany the speaker’s words, and are included in the same paragraph as the dialogue to indicate that the person acting is the same person who is speaking. Action beats help illustrate what’s going on in a scene, and can even replace dialogue tags, avoiding the need for a long list of lines ending in “he said,” or “she said.”

Check out the fourth part of this guide for an example of how to use action beats to strengthen and vary your dialogue structure.

Character voices should be distinct.

Another key aspect of writing realistic and engaging dialogue is make each character sound distinctly like “themselves.” This employs the use of a number of different linguistic elements, such as syntax and diction, levels of energy and formality, humor, confidence, and any speech-related quirks (such as stuttering, lisping, or ending every sentence like it’s a question). Some of these elements may change depending on the circumstances of the conversation, and especially when it comes to whom each person is speaking, but no matter what, there should always be an underlying current of personality that helps the reader identify each speaker.

Example: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

In the very first piece of dialogue in Pride and Prejudice, readers encounter Mrs and Mr. Bennet, the former of whom is attempting to draw her husband, the latter, into a conversation of neighborhood gossip.

“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”

     Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.

     “But it is,” returned she; “for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.”

     Mr. Bennet made no answer.

     “Do you not want to know who has taken it?” cried his wife impatiently.

     “You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.”

     This was invitation enough.

     “Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it, that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.” (Austen 2002)

Austen’s dialogue is always witty, subtle, and packed with character and is never simple or convoluted. Readers instantly learn everything they need to know about the dynamic between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet from their first interaction: she’s chatty, and he’s the beleaguered listener who has learned to entertain her idle gossip.

Develop character relationships.

Dialogue is an excellent tool to demonstrate and develop character relationships throughout your story. Good dialogue establishes relationships, but great dialogue adds new, engaging layers of complexity to them.

One of the best ways to ensure your character’s dialogue reflects their personalities and relationships is to practice some dialogue writing exercises. It’s likely that you won’t actually end up using the products of these exercises in your writing, but they’re an easy, low-pressure way to practice developing your characters and their relationships to one another.

For this kind of practice, I’ve found that exercises like “What Did You Say?” are particularly helpful.

Pretend three of your characters have won the lottery. How does each character reveal the big news to their closest friend? Write out their dialogue with unique word choice, tone, and body language in mind.

If the lottery isn’t interesting enough, consider changing things up. Maybe three of your characters have a role to play in a murder investigation. Each one knows a different take on what happened. Lottery or murder investigation aside, developing your character’s relationship will teach you more about your characters themselves, their stories and circumstances, and how to write dialogue that best fits within that framework.

 Find similar exercises here.

Developing character relationships alongside and through dialogue is an excellent opportunity to work on both simultaneously. In this exercise, there are a number of characteristics that will affect how each character perceives and delivers the news that they’ve won the lottery (or that they’ve been involved in a murder investigation).

These characteristics might include whether a character:

• Is confident and outgoing vs. shy and reserved

• Takes things in a lighthearted manner rather than being too serious

• Has lofty personal aspirations or doesn’t

• Couldn’t care less or wants to help others

• Thinks they deserve good things or not

Carefully consider each of your characters and which of these categories they fall into. This should help you determine how they all relate and react to each other in the context of such news.

Show, don’t tell.

Much like the “enter late, leave early” saying, you’ve probably seen or heard this phrase making rounds throughout the writing world. It’s a sliver of advice that creatives like to use as a buzzphrase in writing communities, but there may be a golden nugget of wisdom to be found in it.

Readers enjoy making inferences based on the clues the author provides, so don’t just lay everything out on the table. This doesn’t mean be cryptic —on the contrary. It basically means you should imply information rather than outright stating it.

Take the dialogue below for example. Even if this is the first instance the reader encounters of Jones and Walker, its easy to deduce that they are police officers who used to work together, that they refer to each other by their last names, and that Jones misses Walker — and possibly wants him to come back, despite Walker’s intentions to stay away.

 Hey, Jones. Long time no see.”

“Heh, Yeah, Walker, tell me about it. The precinct isn’t the same without you.”

“Well, you know I had good reason for leaving.”

“I do. But I also thought you might change your mind.”

However, cloaking this information in dialogue is a lot more interesting than the narrator simply saying, “Jones and Walker used to work together on the force. Walker left after a grisly murder case, but now Jones needs his help to solve another.”

Of course, sometimes dialogue is a good vehicle for literally telling — for instance, at the beginning or end of a story, it can be used for exposition or to reveal something dramatic, such as a villain’s scheme. But for the most part, dialogue should show rather than tell in order to keep readers intrigued, constantly trying to figure out what it means.

Bounce quickly back and fourth.

When writing dialogue, it’s also important to bounce quicky back and forth between speakers, like in a tennis match. Consider the ping-pong pace of this conversation between an unnamed man and a girl named Jig, from Hemingway's short story, "Hills Like White Elephants".

It might seem simple or obvious, but this rule can be an easy one to forget when one speaker is saying something important. The other person in the conversation still needs to respond. Likewise, a way to effectively break this rule is to intentionally omit the other character’s response altogether if the plot warrants it. Sometimes, leaving the other character shocked proves to be just as effective on the reader. 

On the other hand, you don’t want lengthy, convoluted monologues unless its specifically intended and needed to drive the plot forward. Take a close look at your dialogue to ensure there aren’t any long, unbroken blocks of text as these typically indicate lengthy monologues and are easily fixed by inserting questions, comments, and other brief interludes from fellow speakers.

Alternately, you can always break it up using small bits of action and description, or with standard paragraph breaks, if there’s a scene wherein you feel a lengthy monologue is warranted.

Try reading your dialogue out loud.

It can be tricky to spot weak dialogue when reading it on the page or a computer screen, but by reading out loud, we can get a better idea of the quality of our dialogue. Is it sonically true to the characters’ distinct voices? Is it complex and interesting, conveying quirks and personality beyond plot? Does it help drive the plot in a meaningful way or is dialogue being used to fill space? If it is the latter, it should be removed, but more on that next.

For instance, is your dialogue clunky or awkward? Does it make you cringe to hear it read aloud? Do your jokes not quite land? Does one of your characters speak for an unusually long amount of time that you hadn’t noticed before, or does their distinct "voice" sound inconsistent in one scene? All of these problems and more can be addressed by simply reading your dialogue out loud.

Don’t take my word for it, take John Steinbeck’s! He once recommended this very strategy in a letter to actor Robert Wallston: “If you are using dialogue, say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.”

Remove unnecessary dialogue.

Dialogue is just one tool in the writer’s toolbox and while it’s a useful and essential storytelling element, you don’t have to keep all of the dialogue you write in your first or second drafts. Pick and choose which techniques best tell your story and present the interior life of your characters. This could mean using a great deal of dialogue in your writing, or it might not. Carefully consider your story and the characters and whether or not it makes sense for them to have dialogue between one another in any given scene. Just because dialogue can be brilliant, doesn’t mean it’s always integral to a scene, so feel free to cut it as needed.

Format and punctuate your dialogue properly.

Proper formatting and punctuation of your dialogue makes your story clear and understandable. Nothing is more distracting or disorienting within a story than poorly formatted or improperly punctuated dialogue —well, except for an excess of wordy dialogue tags instead of “said,” but I digress! Likewise, knowing when to use quotation marks, where to put commas, full stops, question marks, hyphens, and dashes will make your text look polished and professional to agents and publishers.

How to format dialogue:

• Indent each new line of dialogue.

• Put quotation marks around the speech itself.

• Punctuation that affects the speech’s tone goes inside the quotation marks.

• If you quote within a quote, use single rather than double quotation marks.

• If you break up a line of dialogue with a tag (e.g. “she said”), put a comma after the tag. However, if you put a tag in between two complete sentences, use a period.

• Speaking of tags, you don’t always need them, as long as the speaker is implied.

• If you start with a tag, capitalize the first word of dialogue.

Avoid these major dialogue mistakes.

Tighten up your pacing and strengthen your dialogue by avoiding these common dialogue issues. Although the differences in some of these examples are subtle word choice, usage frequency, and arrangement play a big part in dialogue delivery. Consider how these small changes can make a big difference in your writing.

Too many dialogue tags

As you might have guessed, the most contradictory advice you can receive and most egregious errors you can make when writing dialogue have to do with dialogue tags. Do use them. Don’t use them. Don’t use “said.” Do use “said.” Do use interesting tags. Don’t use too elaborate tags. How does the lowly writer win?

Consider this: good storytelling is a delicate balance between showing and telling: action and narrative. So, how does one do dialogue well? Craft and maintain a sustainable balance between action and narrative within your story. I can’t tell you when and when not to use elaborate dialogue tags or when  to cut tags out altogether, but I can suggest that when you examine your dialogue, keep this idea in mind and consider it when you sense the balance of action and narrative has skewed slightly (or dramatically) to one side or the other.

Constantly repeating “he said,” “she said,” and so on, is boring and repetitive for your readers, as you can see here:

So, keep in mind that you can often omit dialogue tags if you’ve already established the speakers, like so:

One can tell from the action beats, as well as the fact that it’s a two-person back-and-forth conversation, which lines belong to which speaker.  Dialogue tags can just distract from the conversation — although if you did want to use them, “said” would still be better than fancy tags like “declared” or “effused.”

Lack of structural variety

Much like the “too many tags” issue is the lack of structural variety that can sometimes arise in dialogue. It’s an issue that most commonly presents itself in narrative but can occur in dialogue as well. Not sure what I’m talking about? Take a look at these sections again:

Now, action beats are great, but here they’re used repeatedly in exactly the same way — first the dialogue, then the beat — which looks odd and unnatural on the page. Indeed, any recurrent structure like this (which also includes putting dialogue tags in the same place every time) should be avoided.

Luckily, it’s easy to rework repetitive structure into something much more lively and organic, just by shifting around some of the action beats and tags:

Another common dialogue mistake is restating the obvious — i.e. information that either the characters themselves or the reader already knows.

For example, say you want to introduce two brothers, so you write the following exchange:

This exchange is clearly awkward and a bit ridiculous, since the characters obviously know how old they are. What’s worse, it insults the reader’s intelligence — even if they didn’t already know that Sherri and Kerri were thirty-five-year-old, twin sisters, they wouldn’t appreciate being spoon-fed like this.

If you wanted to convey the same information in a subtler way, you might write it like:

This makes the dialogue more about Indiana Jones than the brothers’ age, sneaking in the info so readers can figure it out for themselves.

Unrealistic smooth-talking and clichés

In your quests to craft smooth-sounding dialogue, don’t make it flow so smoothly that it sounds fake. Unfortunately, this is a weak point of sounding your dialogue out aloud because even though it may sound good, it may not sound believable. Consider reading dialogue with a friend or critique partner to see if it sounds believable coming from someone else. If it doesn’t sound any better read by your friend, it might be an indicator that your dialogue needs some work. It can also be helpful to record dialogue (with the participants’ permission, of course) and study it for natural speech patterns and phrases. (Feel free to leave out any excess “um”s and “er”s that typically accompany authentic dialogue.) Authentic-sounding written dialogue reflects real life speech.

Likewise, you should steer clear of clichés in your dialogue as much as in the rest of your writing. While it’s certainly true that people sometimes speak in clichés (though this is often tongue-in-cheek), if you find yourself writing the phrase “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” or “Shut up and kiss me,” you may need a reality check.

For a full roster of dialogue clichés, check out this super-helpful list from Scott Myers.

Disregarding dialogue completely

Finally, the worst mistake you can make when writing dialogue is… well, not writing it in the first place! Circling back to one of the first points made in this guide, dialogue is an integral part of storytelling. It’s an important element in any story, no matter the genre because it provides exposition, indicates, personality, and character relationships, and can even be used to reveal a major plot twist during the climax.

So, what do you think of this guide? I will be adding to it periodically, so make sure to bookmark it and join my newsletter to get notifications when updates go live! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Bibliography:

1. Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Penguin Books, 2002. Amazon.

2. Du Preez, Priscilla. “sihouette of three people sitting on cliff under foggy weather photo.” Unsplash photo (Thumbnail photo), March 5, 2019.

3. Leonard, Elmore. “Elmore Leonard: 10 Rules Of Writing.” Fs blog post, accessed June 27, 2021.

4. Myers, Scott. “The Definitive List of Cliché Dialogue.” Medium article, March 8, 2012.

5. Reedsy. “A Dialogue Writing Exercise.” Reedsy blog post, accessed June 27, 2021.

Related topics:

• Book Writing 101: How To Write A Book (Basics)

• Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them

• Book Writing 101: Starting Your Book In The Right Place

• Book Writing 101: How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel

• Book Writing 101: How To Name Your Book Characters

• Book Writing 101: How To Achieve Good Story Pacing

• Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters

• Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)

• 25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas

• Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing

• Check out my other Book Writing 101, and Freelancing posts.

Recent blog posts:

— Payton

A stack of books with different points of view. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Hi readers and writerly friends!

This week in Freelancing, we’re discussing how to choose the right POV—Point of View—for your book. This refers to not only the way your story is told but also who is telling your story. The point of view is the lens through which your readers connect with your characters and having the right POV can make your story while having the wrong point of view can certainly break it. There’s no real wrong or right here, but sometimes certain viewpoints just make sense for certain stories. We’re going to look at the definition of POV, the importance of POV, the four different POV’s, what POV’s are popular in what genres, how to know when the POV you’re using is right/wrong for your novel, the top POV mistakes new writers make, and how to execute POV well so that it acts as the perfect vehicle through which you tell your story.

Point of View Definition

Point of view is (in fictional writing) the narrator's position in relation to a story being told, or  position from which something or someone is observed.

The point of view, or POV, in a story is the narrator’s position in the description of events, and comes from the Latin phrase, “punctum visus,” which literally means point sight. The point of view is where a writer points the sight of the reader.

Note that point of view also has a second definition.

In a discussion, an argument, or nonfiction writing, a point of view is a particular attitude or way of considering a matter. This is not the type of point of view we’re going to focus on in this blog post, (although it is helpful for nonfiction writers, and for more information, I recommend checking out Wikipedia’s neutral point of view policy).

I also enjoy the German word for POV, which is Gesichtpunkt, which can be translated as “face point,” or where your face is pointed. How’s that for a great visual for point of view?

Note too that point of view is sometimes called “narrative mode.”

Why is Point of View so Important?

So, why does point of view matter so much? Point of view filters everything in your story. Every detail, event, piece of dialogue, person, and setting is observed through some point of view. If you get the point of view wrong, your whole story will suffer for it.

One writing mistake I see often in my editing work is when writers use the wrong point of view for their stories. As the writer, it can sometimes be hard to tell when your story is written in the wrong point of view, but for readers it sticks out like a sore thumb. These mistakes are easily avoidable if you’re aware of them and I’ll go over just how to do that later on in this blog post.

The four different types of POV’s

• First person point of view. First person is when “I” am telling the story. The character is in the story, relating his or her experiences directly.

• Second person point of view. The story is told to “you.” This POV is not common in fiction, but it’s still good to know (this POV is common in nonfiction, such as blog posts like this one).

• Third person point of view, limited. The story is about “he” or “she.” This is the most common point of view in commercial fiction. The narrator is outside of the story and relating the experiences of a character.

• Third person point of view, omniscient. The story is still about “he” or “she,” but the narrator has full access to the thoughts and experiences of all characters in the story.

First Person Point of View

In first person point of view, the narrator is in the story and is the one who is telling the events he or she personally experiencing. The easiest way to remember first person, is that the narrative will use first-person pronouns such as My, Me, Myself, and I. First person point of view is one of the most common POVs in fiction writing. What makes this point of view so interesting and challenging, is that all of the events in the story are experienced through the narrator and explained in his or her own unique voice. This means first person narrative is both biased and incomplete, and it should be.

Some things to note about first person point of view:

• First person narrative is mostly unique to writing. While it does appear in film and theater, first person point of view is typically used in writing rather than other art mediums. Voiceovers and mockumentary interviews like the ones in The Office, Parks and Recreation, Lizzie McGuire, and Modern Family provide a level of first-person narrative in third person film and television.

• First person point of view is limited. First person narrators observe the story from a single character’s perspective at a time. They cannot be everywhere at once and thus cannot get all sides of the story. Instead, they are telling their story, not necessarily the story.

• First person point of view is biased. In first person novels, the reader almost always sympathizes with a first-person narrator, even if the narrator turns out to be the villain or is an anti-hero with major flaws. Naturally, this is why readers love first person narrative, because it’s imbued with the character’s personality, their unique perspective on the world. If I were recounting a story from my life, my own personal worldview would certainly color that story, whether I was conscious of it or not. First-person narrators should exhibit the same behaviors when telling their stories.

Some novelists use the limitations of first-person narrative to surprise the reader, a technique called unreliable narrator. You’ll notice this kind of narrator being used when you, as the reader or audience, discover that you can’t trust the narrator.

For example, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl pits two unreliable narrators against one another. Each relates their conflicting version of events, one through typical narration and the other through journal entries. Another example is Rosie Walsh’s Ghosted, where the main narrator conveniently leaves out some key information about herself and her missing lover which could change reader opinion of her, had it been presented earlier in the story.  Once it finally is presented, readers can’t help but feel they were deceived by the narrator and wonder who they should trust at the end of the story.

Other Interesting Uses of First-Person Narrative:

• Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird is told from Scout's point of view. However, while Scout in the novel is a child, the story is told from her perspective as an older woman reflecting on her childhood.

• The classic novel Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is actually a first-person narrative within a first-person narrative. The narrator recounts verbatim the story Charles Marlow tells about his trip up the Congo river while they sit at port in England.

• Many first-person novels feature the most important character as the storyteller. However, in novels such as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the narrator is not Jay Gatsby himself but Nick Carroway, a newcomer to West Egg, New York.

"I lived at West Egg, the — well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard — it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby's mansion. Or rather, as I didn't know Mr. Gatsby it was a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name. My own house was an eye-sore, but it was a small eye-sore and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn and the consoling proximity of millionaires — all for eighty dollars a month."

—F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

2 Major mistakes I often see writers make when using First Person Point of view:

• The narrator isn’t likable. Your protagonist doesn’t have to be perfect, and in fact, that’s generally frowned upon because people want to connect with characters and no real human is perfect. They don’t have to be a cliché hero nor do they even have to be good. However, your main protagonist must be interesting. Your audience won’t stick around for even a hundred pages if they have to listen to a character they just don’t enjoy. This is one reason anti-heroes make fantastic first person narrators —they may not be perfect, but they’re almost always interesting.

• The narrator tells but does not show. We’ve heard this phrase “show, don’t tell” thrown around a lot in the writing community, and while it’s often used as a buzz phrase, and requires some elaboration to make sense, it’s especially true with first person narration. Don’t spend too much time in your character’s head, explaining what he or she is thinking and how they feel about the situation. The reader’s trust relies on what your narrator does, not what they think about doing. It’s all about action. To build on that, first person is the absolute closest a narrator can get to a reader’s personal experience—by that, I mean readers will make the most connection and feel the most represented by first person narration, as long as it is done correctly. Everything the narrator sees, feels, tastes, touches, smells, hears, and thinks should be as imaginable as possible for your reader. It needs to be the difference between looking at a photo of a field of wildflowers and actually standing in the field (mentally.)

Second Person point of view

While not often used in fiction —it is used regularly in nonfiction, web-based content, song lyrics, and even video games — second person POV is good to understand. In this point of view, the narrator relates the experiences using second person pronouns such as “you” and “your.” Thus, you become the protagonist, you carry the plot, and your fate determines the story.

Here are a few great reasons to use second person point of view:

• It pulls the reader into the action of the story

• It makes the story more personal to the reader

• It surprises the reader because second person is not as commonly used in fiction

• It improves your skills as a writer

Some novels that use second person point of view are:

• Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure series? If you’ve ever read one of these novels where you get to decide the fate of the character, you’ve read second person narrative.

• Similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure series, there was a really interesting and unique interactive game based on Josephine Angelini’s Starcrossed Trilogy that could be played from the Figment website. It was based in Angelini’s modern-day world and surrounded the main character Helen Hamilton, who is gradually revealed to be a modern-day Helen of Troy. The game was a playable maze that took place in Hamilton’s dreams —she would wake up each night after having the same nightmare of being trapped in an endless labyrinth.

• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern takes place primarily in third person but every few chapters, it shifts to second person which pulls the reader right into the story.

The opening of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern:

ANTICIPATION

The circus arrives without warning.

        No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentioned or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it wasn’t.

        The towering tents are striped in white and black, no golds and crimsons to be seen. No color at all, save for the neighboring tree and the grass of the surrounding fields. Black-and-white striped and sizes, with and elaborate wrought-iron fence encasing them in a colorless world. Even what little ground is visible from outside is black or white, painted or powdered, or treated with some other circus trick.

        But it is not open for business. Not just yet.

        Within hours everyone in town has heard about it. By afternoon, the news has spread several towns over. Word of mouth is a more effective method of advertisement than typeset words and exclamation points on paper pamphlets or posters. It is impressive and unusual news, the sudden appearance of a mysterious circus. People marvel at the staggering height of the tallest tents. They stare at the clock that sits just inside the gates that no one can properly describe.

        And the black sigh painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, the one that reads:

Opens at nightfall

Closes at dawn

        “What kind of circus is only open at night?” people ask. No one has a proper answer, yet as dusk approaches there is a substantial crowd of spectators gathering outside the gates.

         You are amongst them, of course. Your curiosity got the better of you, as curiosity is wont to do. You stand in the fading light, the scarf around your neck pulled up against the chilly evening breeze, waiting to see for yourself exactly what kind of circus only opens once the sun sets.

        The ticket booth clearly visible behind the gates is closed and barred. The tents are still, save for when they ripple ever so slightly in the wind. The only movement within the circus is the clock that ticks by the passing minutes, if such a wonder of sculpture can even be called a clock.

        The circus looks abandoned and empty. But you think perhaps you can smell caramel wafting through the evening breeze, beneath the crisp scent of the autumn leaves. A subtle sweetness at the edges of the cold.

        The sun disappears completely beyond the horizon, and the remaining luminosity shifts from dusk to twilight. The people around you are growing restless from waiting, a sea of shuffling feet, murmuring about abandoning the endeavor in search of someplace warmer to pass the evening. You yourself are debating departing when it happens.

        First there is a popping sound. It is barely audible over the wind and conversation. A soft noise like a kettle about to boil for tea. Then comes the light.

        All over the tents, small lights begin to flicker, as though the entirety of the circus is covered in particularly bright fireflies, the waiting crowd quiets as it watches this display of illumination. Someone near you gasps. A small child claps his hands with glee at the sight.

        When the tents are all aglow, sparkling against the night sky, the sign appears.

        Stretched across the top of the gates, hidden in curls of iron, more firefly-like lights flicker to life. The pop as they brighten, some accompanies by a shower of glowing white sparks and a bit of smoke. The people nearest to the gates take a few steps back.

        At first, it is only a random pattern of light. But as more of them ignite, it becomes clear that they are aligned in scripted letters. First a C is distinguishable, followed by more letters. A q, oddly, and several e’s. When the final bulb pops alight, and the smoke and sparks dissipate, it is finally legible, this elaborate incandescent sign. Leaning to your left to gain a better view, you see that it reads:

Le Cirque des Rêves

        Some in the crowd smile knowingly, while others frown and look questioningly at their neighbors. A child near you tugs on her mother’s sleeve, begging to know what it says.

        “The Circus of Dreams,” comes the reply. The girl smiles delightedly.

        Then the iron gates shudder and unlock, seemingly by their own volition. They swing outward, inviting the crowd inside.

        Now the circus is open.

        Now you may enter.

—Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

There are also many short stories that use second person, and writers such as William Faulkner, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Albert Camus that played with this point of view.

2 Major mistakes I often see writers make when using Second Person Point of view:

• Breaking the fourth wall completely. Some writers, such as Shakespeare often broke the first wall within their writing. However, this must be done correctly, otherwise, it yanks the reader straight out of the story and leaves them feeling distracted and often causes them to cringe at the poorly executed technique. In the plays of William Shakespeare, a character will sometimes turn toward the audience and speak directly to them. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck says:

“If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended, that you have but slumbered here while these visions did appear.” —William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Breaking the fourth wall is a technique of speaking directly to the audience or reader (the other three walls being the setting of the story/play.) Another way of looking at it is this: it’s a way the writer can briefly use second person point of view in a first or third person narrative.

• Unintentionally alternating between first and second person. This only works if it was done intentionally and makes sense within the context of the story. I am interweaving first and second person in my blog post because I, the writer, am sharing my personal experience with you, the reader. This works and is most common in web-based content, social media or non-fiction, and it can be tricky to pull off in fiction writing.

Third person point of view

In third person point of view, the narrator is outside of the story and is relating the experiences of a character. The central character is not the narrator and in face, the narrator is not present in the story at all. The simplest way to understand third person narration is that it uses third-person pronouns, such as he/she, his/her, they/theirs.

There are two subtypes of third person point of view:

Third person omniscient – The narrator has full access to all the thoughts and experiences or all the characters in the story. This subtype of third person narration is not limited by a single viewpoint.

Examples of Third Person Omniscient:

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (Read my Review Here)

• Atonement by Ian McIwan

• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Atonement is a 2001 British metafiction novel written by Ian McEwan. Set in three time periods, 1935 England, Second World War England and France, and present-day England, it covers an upper-class girl's half-innocent mistake that ruins lives, her adulthood in the shadow of that mistake, and a reflection on the nature of writing. McIwan makes clever use of story order, tense, and third person POV to tell a story from multiple points in time, and due to its nature as a metafiction, the story recognizes itself as a work of fiction that likely could not be achieved in any other point of view.

Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasizes its own constructedness in a way that continually reminds readers to be aware that they are reading or viewing a fictional work.

Third person limited – the narrator has only some, if any, access to the thoughts and experiences of the character in the story, often just to one character. It is not uncommon for dialogue to be the primary mode of storytelling in this point of view because if the narrator has little to no access to the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters, the reader might not get that information from a third person limited narrator.

Some examples of third person limited:

• Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

• Ulysses by James Joyce

• 1984 by George Orwell

Should you use third person omniscient or third person limited?

The distinction between third person limited and omniscient point of view is unclear and somewhat ineffectual.

Complete omniscience in novels is rate—its almost always limited in one way or another—if not because the human mind isn’t comfortable/capable of handling all of the thoughts and emotions of multiple people at once, then it’s because most writers prefer not to delve that deep into each character anyways.

To determine which subtype of third person point of view you should use in your story, consider this:

How omniscient does your narrator need to be? How deep are you going to go into your character’s minds? How important is it to the story’s pacing, plot, and characterization that you reveal everything and anything they feel or thing at anytime? If its not absolutely necessary, consider leaving some parts out in order to build intrigue in your readers.

2 Major mistakes I often see writers make when using Third Person Point of view:

• Blurring the line between omniscient and limited. This happens all the time because writers don’t fully understand the very, very thin line between the two subtypes. While it can become confusing at times, there certainly is a distinction to be made and you should take great care to ensure you use one or the other in your writing, but not both at once.

• Giving readers whiplash by alternating between two characters POV’s too quickly. This happens all too often with omniscient narrators that are perhaps a little too eager to divulge all the character inner workings. When the narrator switches from one character’s thoughts to another’s too quickly, it can jar the reader and break the intimacy with the scene’s main character. Drama requires mystery, intrigue. If the reader knows each character’s emotions, there will be no space for drama.

Woman sitting at a table in the foreground with a man smoking in the background. Photo by cottonbro.

Here’s an example of third person omniscient that is poorly executed:

Meredith wants to go out for the night, but Christopher wants to stay home. He’s had a long day of work and just wants to relax, but she resents him for spending last night out with his friends instead of her.

If the narrator is fully omniscient, do you parse both Meredith’s and Christopher’s emotions during each back and forth?

“I don’t know,” Meredith said with a sigh. “I just thought maybe we could go out tonight.” She resented him for spending the previous evening out with his friends when he had to work yesterday as well. Was it such a crime for her to want to spend time with her partner?

“I’m sorry Mere,” Christopher said, growing tired of the nagging. “I had a long, crappy day at work, and I’m just not in the mood.” Why couldn’t she just let it go? Didn’t she realize how draining his work was? He felt annoyed that she couldn’t step outside of her own view for even a moment.

Going back and forth between multiple characters’ inner thoughts and emotions such as with the example above, can give a reader POV whiplash, especially if this pattern continued over several pages and with more than two characters.

The way many editors and writers get around the tricky-to-master third person omniscient point of view is the show the thoughts and emotions of only one character per scene (or per chapter.)

Some examples of third person omniscient done well:

In his epic series, A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin, employs the use of “point of view characters,” or characters whom he always has full access to understanding. He will write an entire chapter from their perspective before switching to the next point of view character. For the rest of the cast, he stays out of their heads.

• Gillian Shields expertly switches between her characters viewpoints by chapter and by book. In her Immortals series, the first book takes place from the first person POV when told by the main character and switches to third person omniscient when told by the supporting characters. The second book is told the same way. The third book instead is told by one of the supporting characters. The fourth book is told by another.

• Leda C. Muir’s series, the Mooncallers is a fantastic example of excellent execution of third person omniscient point of view as well.

How to choose the right POV for your novel

So, now that we’ve discussed the different types of POV, examples of them executed well, and the top 2 mistakes for each type, let’s discuss how to select the best POV for your story.

Firstly, there’s no “best” or “right” point of view. All of these points of view are effective in various types of stories and there are always exceptions to these “rules.” However, it is true that some POVs are often used in certain genres and some are just better suited for certain types of stories.

• First person – Most often used in YA Fiction in all subgenres, but especially in coming-of-age stories and romance. Often used in Adult romance as well. Romance stories typically alternate between main character and love interest, switching every scene or every chapter.

• Second person – Most often used in nonfiction including but not limited to: cookbooks, self-help, motivational books, entrepreneurial, business, or financial books, and interactive narratives such as Choose Your Own Adventure.

• Third person limited – Most often used in all fiction subgenres for all reading levels. This is the fiction go-to. The third person limited POV is fantastic for building tension because the narrators viewpoint is limited.

• Third person omniscient – Most often used in high fantasy or heavy science fiction.

Of course, like I said, there’s always exceptions to the rules. If you know the rules well, then you know how to break them well.

If you’re just starting out with writing, I would suggest using either first person or third person limited point of view because they’re easier to master. However, you can always experiment with different points of view and story tenses and by practicing them, you improve your ability as a writer. Good, prolific writers learn to master different points of view because it opens their writing up to a greater audience and allows more people to feel included in their writing. Of course, we haven’t even discussed inclusivity, works by authors from a marginalized community, or sensitivity writing, but that’s topic for another day. (I’ll probably cover that in this series so keep an eye out for that.)

Whatever you chose, stay consistent.

The number one issue common to all of these different points of view is that new writers often mix them up or unintentionally alternate between multiple viewpoints within one story. As mentioned under the section covering major mistakes with third person omniscient, the other points of view can suffer from unplanned interweave of multiple viewpoints. The main takeaway here is that you should pick one and be consistent. If you do choose to alternate, consider only alternating between a handful of characters and use only third person limited or first person with each one. Whatever point of view choices you make, be consistent.

There are writers who effectively and expertly mix narrative modes because they might have multiple characters who the plot revolves around, but these kinds of switches generally don’t take place until a break in the text occurs, perhaps at a scene or chapter break.

And that’s it for my blog post on the points of view and how to identify and use them! What is your favorite POV to write in? What is your favorite POV to read in? What is your least favorite POV for both of these? What POV do you struggle with most? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to check out this week’s writing challenge!

Writing challenge: Your mission this week is to write for fifteen minutes while changing narrative modes as many times as possible. Post your writing practice in the comments and take some time to read the work of other writers here.

Related topics:

• Book Writing 101: How To Write A Book (Basics)

• Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them

• Book Writing 101: Starting Your Book In The Right Place

• Book Writing 101: How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel

• Book Writing 101: How To Name Your Book Characters

• Book Writing 101: How To Achieve Good Story Pacing

• Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters

• Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)

• 25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas

• Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing.

Check out my other Book Writing 101, and Freelancing posts.

—Payton

Freytag’s Pyramid from Serious Daring by Lisa Roney. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Hi readers and writerly friends!

This week in Freelancing, we’re continuing the Book Writing 101 series with the 3rd part of the series, How to Achieve A Good Story Pacing. If you’re looking for the rest of the series, it will be linked at the end of the blog post!

What is story pacing?

In literature, pace, or pacing is the speed at which a story is told —not necessarily the speed at which the story takes place. The pace is determined by the length of the scenes, how fast the action moves, and how quickly the reader is provided with information.

Story pacing is the momentum of the story and it’s what keeps readers turning pages

Pacing is an element of storytelling that seems to trip up many new writers. It can be hard to pin down. What is a good pacing for a story? Well, to get a better idea of good story pacing, we have to look at bad story pacing first.

Pacing is also tension. It’s how you build out the rising and falling action of your scenes. When I reference “action” in this blog post, rising and falling action is what I am talking about. This may be literal action scenes, conflict, events, plot points and pinch points, and other peaks and valleys of plot.

If you read my blog post about where to start your novel, then you might remember this next bit. That post (linked at the end of this blog post) is specifically for starting a book, but it serves as a great reminder for starting/ending you scenes and chapters as well.

Pacing is also how you enter and leave scenes and chapters. It’s how you open a scene and keep the momentum all the way through to the “turning point” of that scene or chapter. It’s how you close that scene/chapter and lead into the next one. Think about the “enter late, leave early” rule when trying to achieve goo pacing within your story, and how events in your story drive the plot forward.

Bad story pacing

This usually occurs when a story is told at a pace or speed that is either just too fast or too slow for the plot and the events that happen within the story. Story pacing that is just too fast almost gives the reader narrative whiplash in that, everything is being presented so quickly that the reader just can’t seem to keep up and is lost in confusion. Story pacing that is just to slow usually ends up boring the reader and making it hard for him or her to stay motivated to finish the book.

Story pacing really has more to do with the amount of information being presented and the intervals at which it is being presented. Books that have too-fast story pacing often just bombard the reader with information faster than they can process it. For example, a thriller writer may leave things out of the story in an attempt to build intrigue but as the plot progresses, the reader will be come increasingly more confused. In fantasy, too-fast pacing usually arises when the writer drops in a ton of names in rapid succession without really giving the readers time to orient themselves.

However, on the flip side, too-slow pacing can arise in fantasy in much the same way as well. Taking entirely way too long to establish backstory or info-dumping is a great way to slow the story down and bore the reader. And truthfully, this isn’t unique to fantasy; this issue can manifest itself this way in all genres.

Pacing that is too fast: Too much information is presented too often.

Pacing that is too slow: Not enough action is presented often enough.

I know, it looks like I said the same thing twice. But the truth is, story pacing is all about balance. There is a very delicate balance between action and information that even seasoned writers struggle to master.

Identifying pacing issues with word count

This might only be useful if for writers who have critique groups, agents, or editors but essentially, you can identify bad pacing by looking at the word count of a novel. If your editor says “the word count is too low for your genre” then they’re essentially saying, your pacing is too fast, and you’ve not spent enough time building out the story and included too much action. If your editor says “the word count is too high for your genre” then they’re saying your pacing is too slow, and you’ve spent too much time building out the story and not including enough action.

Sentence structure can make or break pacing

Long, drawn-out, convoluted sentences, word paragraphs, big, pretentions words, and overly descriptive purple pose will absolutely kill your pacing. Think about these things and keep in mind that if it doesn’t add to the writing style, voice, tone or drive the plot, then you don’t need it. Characterization should be dropped in here and there, and not done in page-long descriptions with wordy backstory. Big words and extensive vocabulary should only be used if it makes sense for the voice and tone of the story, and not just for the sake of making your writing “sound smart” or upping your letter count.

This doesn’t mean that shorter and more direct sentences are key either. Like I said, it’s all about balance. The secret to achieve this balance and good story pacing is varied sentence structure. Look at the sentences below.

Sarah wanted to read a book. She got up out of her chair and grabbed a book off of her shelf and sat back down. She opened the book and began reading.

Sarah yawned, sleepily remembering it was reading time and stretched as she rose out of her chair. She slowly ambled over to her expansive bookshelf, not sure what to read next, now that she’d finished her last novel the day before. She lifted a heavy blue book with an ornate cover and carried it back to her chair where she cuddled up and began reading.

The first series of sentences is very stale and boring, and it presents the action too quickly by simply telling the reader what is happening. However, the second series of sentences is entirely too colorful and takes too long to get the info across to the reader. Look at the series of sentences below.

Sarah yawned and looked out the window, realizing the sun was setting and it was reading time. She rose out of her chair and moved to the large, oak bookshelf, filled to the brim with hardcovers and paperback in every color. Thumbing through the first few pages of several books, she found one that had intricate illustrations for ever chapter and decided that would be her next read. Sarah settled back into her cozy reading chair and opened the hefty fantasy tome, eager to begin her next adventure.

In the third paragraph, you can clearly see how varied sentence structure makes the scene more interesting. This is the key to achieving balance between action and narrative and achieving good story pacing. Mastering this writing technique will help you keep this delicate balance no matter what genre you write in because sentence structure is part of every kind of writing. I even use it in my blog post writing.

In addition to this, consider what the purpose is of your chapter or scene and if it isn’t providing the reader with key information, moving the plot forward, or making space for characterization, then perhaps you don’t need it. Scenes that serve no real purpose for the story should be cut from the manuscript because they only drag out the story and slow the pacing. Typically, all scenes should be meeting these three criteria and it’s certainly all about balancing out the time each one takes to achieve their individual purpose.

Story structure can help you with pacing

Much like sentence structure, story structure can be a great way to determine the pacing of your story and where you might be doing really well in terms of tension and pacing and where your story might be sagging a little. The 3-Act Story Structure is just one (popular) example.

I think a lot of writers have a hard time with pacing because many of us grew up learning about the 5 elements of plot with a very set-in-stone triangular structure, but I like to think of plot as more of a bell curve. In the graphics below, you’ll see the 5 Elements of Plot versus the Plot Bell Curve (based on the 3 Act-Story Structure) and how pacing looks with each of these story structuring methods.

The issue with the Elements of Plot is that this structure allows entirely too much time to pass between major plot points. This is where many writers’ issues with the “sagging middle” originate from. Look at the bell curve, where tension is kept evenly from plot point to plot point. Instead of a terribly slow and steady incline, the rising action builds tension right from the inciting incident and falling action slows tension from the midpoint to the confrontation.

So, to recap:

• Story pacing is the momentum of the story and it’s what keeps readers turning pages.

• It’s how you build out the rising and falling action of your scenes.

• Story pacing is all about balance. There is a very delicate balance between action and information

• Varied sentence structure makes the story more interesting

• Scenes that serve no real purpose for the story should be removed

• Try using the plot bell curve instead of the elements of plot to see how it affects your story’s pacing

And that’s it for my blog post on how to achieve good story pacing. I hope this post helped you and if it did, make sure to comment below and check out the related topics for more Book Writing 101 posts!

Related topics:

• Book Writing 101: How To Write A Book (Basics)

• Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them

• Book Writing 101: Starting Your Book In The Right Place

• Book Writing 101 - How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel

• Book Writing 101: How To Name Your Book Characters

• Book Writing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Dialogue

• Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters

• Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)

• Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing.

• 25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas

See all posts in Freelancing. See all posts in Book Writing 101.

—Payton

Hello readers and writerly friends!

Three friends sitting on a rocky hill at sunset at Joshua Tree. Photo by Cynthia Magana.

What’s in a name? It’s a question Shakespeare asked and many other writers today find themselves pondering because sometimes character names are a very crucial part of creating compelling characters. A name can make or break a character’s believability and so, authors should always chose carefully when selecting names for their characters. However, this isn’t something to get too in-your-head about. While there’s many factors that can influence a character’s name, it’s really up to you to chose something you feel best represents that character. If you’re just starting your novel or still in the first draft phase, consider using [Main Character], [Supporting Character 1], and [Main Antagonist] as placeholder names while you get the first draft completed. Names aren’t something to interrupt the writing process over. You can always come back to your characters later and change their names during the editing phase.

If you’re in the editing phase, this blog post is for you so, let’s get into it!

So, what actually is in a name?

As mentioned, there’s a lot of different parts of picking a name for your characters from etymology, to genre, to time-period, etc., and its easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer research you must do to carefully curate names for characters that you want to be compelling and memorable. Names are incredibly important because they tell the reader a lot about your story—cultural background, genre, influences and worldview, time-period, setting, and identity. However, picking a name that doesn’t suit your characters can do a lot of harm to your story, from distracting the reader, to losing relatability and connection between the reader and characters, which is ultimately the most important part of storytelling—the reader-character-connection.

Parents, experience, upbringing, and worldview

I go into this a little bit in my blog post, “How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters” but when crafting a character, you have to take a lot of external factors into consideration including family trees. If you have a female main protagonist in your story, its important to note that her parents are going to have a direct effect on her name, her upbringing, and her worldview.

If you’re trying to determine a name for this character you might ask yourself the following:

• Does she have both or only one of her parents and what is their situation like?

• What are their names (if you have picked already)?

• What kind of upbringing did they have?

• What kind of names would they name their daughter?

• What is the setting like and what kind of names would be prominent in this setting?

• When was the character born?

This information is all, lower portion of the iceberg and doesn’t necessarily have to make it onto the page, as long as you know the answers and how they inform characterization. These kinds of questions should be at the front of your mind when considering what to name your characters.

Genre

Contemporary, historical, and time-period pieces

First on the list, let’s look at genre as a starting point for coming up with names for characters. If you’re writing a contemporary novel or historical fiction, for example, you could use a baby name website, or modern name generator to try and spark inspiration for names. Essentially, contemporary works would encompass anything that seems realistic and plausible today and the names should follow that. Historical fiction would require some research —such as looking up popular names in certain countries during a specific year to get an idea what names were in use in the setting of your novel.

Science Fiction, High Fantasy, and invented names

I think a lot of the naming struggle comes from writers who’s works fall into the science fiction and fantasy category because they feel as if they have to completely make up new names from scratch for world building and immersion and that can be really overwhelming to both new and experienced writers alike. While you can pull names out of the air, its typically easier to base your characters and cultures off of real-world people and cultures and use real names as a starting point. For example, in short story, The Sieka of Sahn’Jatar, is set in the middle-east in Terrae Forrh and this setting is based off of the Sahara desert and the middle-east on Earth and the cultures are also based off the cultures of those locations, i.e., Iran, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Sudan, Morocco, and India. Names, appearances, mannerisms, language, and accents are inspired from these cultures as well. However, the Nelnaiian elves in the southern part of the continent are inspired by France and their language is mildly derivative of both French and Spanish.

Essentially, if you had to compare your fantasy/sci-fi characters and cultures to that of the real world, which ones would the be most like? Once you determine this, research the language and names of that real-world culture and see what minor twists you can put on existing names to tailor them to your world while keeping with a general theme for consistency’s sake.

For example, if I wanted to name a young elven girl that would have lived in Sahn’Jatar, I might pull names from Syria. One I found was Amira. To make this more suited for my fantasy world and less like I found it in a baby names list, I might add or remove vowels/consonants until I have something new. Aamira or Amiira could work. Or I could even use Ammira or Amirra.

If I wanted to keep the pronunciation but change the spelling, I could use Emira or Amire. If I wanted to make the name or masculine I could tack an “o” to the end of the name or change out the “a”s for “o”s such as in Amiro, Omiro.

I could swap letters around altogether to end up with Imiro, Omira, Imira, or Amiri.

Pro tip: Always double check that your result isn’t something that exists or is widely popular in your inspo culture or another culture. For example, if my result from the name exercise above was Omar, then I’d simply be back at square one. It would be okay to use this name because of its origin in Muslim culture, but I would have to be cognizant of the fact that this is a real name/word/concept in an existing culture. It might be better to tweak it again if I didn’t want readers to think “Hey, that’s my name!” or that I simply pulled it out of a list. Instead, I might use Omaar and so on. Just know, that you might have to go through this process a few times to come up with the most perfect, original names. Certainly, cross-check your work.

The main takeaway here is that you’d use existing names and cultures as a starting point and tweak them until the become x) as original as possible while y) fitting the characters and setting of your story.

Consider these things when trying to invent your own character names:

• What language and culture are the from? What are they inspired by?

• How are vowels and consonants pronounced?

• Are male and female names/words conjugated differently?

• Are their honorifics such as with Korean or Japanese?

• What do your names suggest about society, class, and privilege?

Use the answers to these questions as a rule-system for naming your characters, so that you can ensure consistency and uniformity among members of specific societies, groups, and kingdoms. Of course, there will always be exceptions to the rules, especially if you have regions that are sort of melting pots of culture.

And on the other hand, you do want to be careful when using real-world cultures as inspiration for your invented world. Try to avoid using stereotypes in your fantasy if they’re offensive, or harmful to the culture you drew inspiration from. For example, in my short story I mentioned earlier, the Saabuli, a warband and reigning power over Sahn’Jatar is inspired by militant Muslim culture, however I try my absolute best to avoid including stereotypes or mention of terrorist themes in the story. Just be mindful of whatever culture you’re drawing inspiration from and make sure to do your research.

Additionally, ensure your names all fit well together. Make sure your first names and last names both look aesthetically good together as well as sonically work well with one another. Take time and care to ensure your all the names in your entire cast of characters make sense together against the backdrop of your setting and genre. You wouldn’t have a high fantasy story where all the characters have intricate names except one, who’s name is Jerry, right? And of course, the same goes for Sci-Fi.

Naming places

As mentioned in my blog post about creating compelling characters, the setting/world is also a character in a sense, and especially in Sci-Fi and fantasy where a lot of worldbuilding takes place, it’ quite common to have to come up with names for universes, galaxies solar systems, worlds, continents, countries, regions/provinces/states, counties, cities, towns and infrastructure/landforms. I would argue that naming places in Sci-Fi and fantasy is pretty similar to coming up with names for people. The only differences are a) there may be several words/spaces/punctuation in the name, and b) infrastructure and landforms may be included in the name.

An example from my own writing— a river in Terrae Forrh is called the Lae’ir’nali river. There are also some tepuis in Terrae Forrh, a singular one called Kuketi Tepui, and a mass of tepuis, upon which a city has been formed, is called Asyanir, The Tabletop City. Another name for tepui is table-top mountain. So, you can see how I used the different landforms in their own names.

History and Culture

All names are rooted in history and culture and as mentioned before it’s a good idea to take inspiration from existing history and culture as a starting point, even if you’re not trying to make up your own names from scratch. Your challenge as the writer, is to come up with a fairly concrete historical and cultural basis for your names.

Of course, if you have various cultures represented in your book, consider how their names might sound different. I wouldn’t expect my French-derivative names to sound anything like my Syrian-derivative names. It all has to do with characterization, worldbuilding, and ultimately identity. If you’re writing a Sci-Fi story that takes place across multiple planets with different races, consider what various naming conventions may be used to give characters their names and how they fit in with those races and cultures.

Name trends

Something to keep in mind when naming characters is that names do rise in and fall out of popularity over the years and names do go through trends, especially first names, since last names are usually passed down through the family line or are adopted/dropped with change in marital status. First names are often affected by gender and tradition. Male names are often passed down in patrilineal fashion whereas girls may be named after a grandmother, aunt, or godmother instead.  If the names in your book have been passed down through your fictional families’ bloodlines, consider how and where they got those names and why they would pass them down. Additionally, you should consider the religious and traditional aspects of inherited names as well.

US map showing states where the names Ashley and Jessica were the most popular in 1992 based on data provided by the Social Security Administration.

Graph showing the popularity of the name Ashley between 1970 and 2012, with prevalence peaking in 1988 at roughly 50,000 children with this name. Data provided by the Social Security Administration.

Names not only reflect culture, but they reflect character

It’s a sort of chicken versus egg cycle when it comes to characters and names—the name becomes the character, and the character becomes the name. Whether we realize it or not, our name is very much a part of our identity. Think about how characters might behave differently if they had a unique/hard to pronounce/read/spell name as opposed to having a common easy name. My name for example, is Payton and I was at least fourteen before I ever encountered anyone else with that exact same spelling and they were a guy! It was a relatively uncommon name when I was growing up and people would always ask me “Oh, is it Peyton with an e?” and I’d have to correct them. So, as an adult, I naturally have a complex about my name and the way its spelled. I take pride in knowing my name is somewhat unique, but I know I may never find my name on a Coke bottle and that’s just how it is. I am just as befitting of my name as my name is a part of my identity.

However, I grew up when the name “Ashley” was very, very popular and likely knew over 20 different Ashley’s throughout K-12, including one of my best friends and my older sister. I decided I was so sick of hearing that name in all my classes and with friends, I would never name my daughter that if I had one. I remember I had a music class one year where there were three different Ashleys in that class. We had to call them Ashley C., Ashley T., and Ashley H just to tell them apart.

Consider how names might influence your characters’ personalities:

•  Are they self-conscious about their name?

• Do they feel like their name suits them?

• Do they get picked on in school because of the spelling?

• Do they have a thick skin because they’re used to people butchering the pronunciation?

• If their name is really common, do they hate their name for it’s lack of uniqueness?

• Do they get confused with other kids in their class (Such as with the Ashley example above)?

• Do they change their name or go by a nickname to establish some sense of identity and individuality?

• How are your character’s perceived and then treated because of their names?

Because of the “which one came first?” nature of the naming/character process you can really work backwards or forwards. That’s why I suggest writers use placeholder names while they get their first draft done. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a plotter or a pantser, or green or experienced with characterization—the naming process can be tricky for any kind of writer. It’s a very experimental process with a lot of playing around with words and culture and language to see what works and what doesn’t.

Additionally, remember to do research within your genre to determine if the “popular” name you’ve chosen for your main protagonist is not the same or at all similar to other books in that genre. After you’ve gone to the trouble to find the perfect name for your character, it would be a shame for readers to just get him/her mixed up with another character from a completely different story by an entirely different author.

Examples of bad names

Anachronistic names

Nothing severs the reader-character connection faster than a name that distracts or annoys the reader or is so forgettable that the reader has to flip back through earlier pages just to remind themselves of the main character’s name. Try to avoid names that are just absolutely outlandish for your setting and genre. If you’re writing about a time in which you did not live through personally, do your due diligence and conduct as much research as you can to ensure your names fit the time period about which you’re writing. Names that stick out as being unrealistic for the time period are a dead giveaway that the author lacks experience in said time period. For example, if I was writing a story set in England in the 1800’s I might give the name Matilda to my main protagonist, but if I named her Maylee it would be a clear sign, I didn’t do my research on the time period. You just can’t give names that were popular in 2007 to characters that were born in 1943.

Distracting names or names that just don’t make sense

Likewise, names that are distracting in other ways—such as Jev, Patch, or Vee Sky in Hush, Hush, has always been distracting to me. I never felt like any of these names suited the characters they were given too and wondered if Fitzpatrick could have spent a little more time naming her characters. In the same vein you don’t want names that are going to be completely unpronounceable (ornate names are often best left for fantasy and sci-fi, but even then they need to be pronounceable and relatively easy to read.)

Forgettable names or names that sound too alike

Additionally, names that are forgettable or easy to mix-up with others are just as bad. When I read the Angel series by L.A. Weatherly, I found myself often getting the side characters names mixed up or forgetting them altogether. The supporting angel killer characters all blended together and the angel’s names—such as Paschar and Bascal—were very hard to tell apart (and imagine listening to those names on audiobook, you’d never remember the difference between them!) Likewise, you want to make sure that you don’t have too many characters with names starting with an “a” if the main character’s name starts with an “a”. Don’t be afraid to have some diverse names.

Resources for coming up with names and how to save names

As I mentioned earlier, for fantasy, I like to derive invented names from existing cultures, but how/where do I find these names? And what if you want to use names that do exist for a contemporary work, where would you go to find them?

Baby name websites and random name generator sites are key here. I wouldn’t use the fantasy name generator because it pulls fictional names from existing works which can be plagiarism if you’re not careful and aware of this. Additionally, you can use naming books such as LLewellyn’s Complete Book of Names.

If you’ve found some names you’d like to keep for later, I would suggest making a digital list somewhere, be it in Microsoft Word, Evernote, Google Docs, Scrivener, Pages, or what have you, keep a running list of Female First Names, Male First Names, Non-binary names and Surnames.

Also, on the topic of Non-binary and unisex names, consider the history of names that originally were male names but became popular for females and vise versa. Also consider how you can put a new spin on a traditionally binary name to breath new life into it and use it in a way it has never been used before. And while writing niche is important because you do want people to have some specifics to make connections to, you should consider if its possible to use unisex or non-binary names in your stories because they are more inclusive and will help a wider audience of readers connect with your characters and their story.

Naming Miscellany

Naming Villains

When naming characters, and villains especially, double check that your “perfect names” don’t actually exist in the world. This serves as a final pass on your part to ensure that no accidental libelous writing can be found in your book because your villain’s name is almost entirely made-up by you. I always Google my villain names just to ensure that no one is going to come knocking because they ended up as the bad guy in my book.

I had a friend who was named Katniss Everdeen (no, I swear I am not making this up.) and when Suzanne Collins’ dystopian trilogy, The Hunger Games came out, it was an absolute nightmare for her. She said she couldn’t travel or get pulled over without having TSA and Police grill her about her supposed fake name. She said she considered changing her name, but she doubted the process would be any less grueling than day-to-day life because wherever she went to change her name, they didn’t take her seriously. Finally, almost a decade after the hype blew over, she has found a little peace, but people still ask her about it to this day.

Four friends watching the sunset. Photo by Helena Lopes.

Using your friend’s names

Feel free to pay homage to you friends, family and people who have inspired you but using their names in your stories but try to limit it to only one of their names as opposed to full names, and again, don’t used these names for villains or characters painted in a bad light.

Taking inspiration from existing works of fiction

Be very careful when taking inspiration from existing works. Some works of fiction are just so, SO popular that the names of the characters in these works are just as famous as celebrities. It is very apparent when the name Edward shows up in a new writer’s work, that they were obsessed with Twilight growing up, or the name Jace for the love interest of the female, main protagonist, after Jace Wayland appeared in the fan-favorite Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.

And that’s it for my guide to naming fictional characters and places! This was the fourth installment of my Book Writing 101: How To series. Let me know what you think of coming up with names and if this blog post helped you, leave me a comment down below! At the end of this post is a list of related topics including a link to my Story Binder Printables, and the first 3 parts of this series. See you next week for part 5!

Related topics:

• Book Writing 101: How To Write A Book (Basics)

• Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them

• Book Writing 101: Starting Your Book In The Right Place

• Book Writing 101 - How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel

• Book Writing 101 - How To Achieve Good Story Pacing

• Book Writing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Dialogue

• Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters

• Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)

• Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing.

• 25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas

• LLewellyn’s Complete Book of Names

• Babynames.com

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

The How-To Series continues! This week, in Freelancing, we’re going to discuss how to come up with story ideas and what to do with them! This is normally where I’d direct you towards a useful, related blog post, but we’re gathering quite the list already, so I’ll just leave that bit at the end of this post for your convenience!

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming!

So, where do book ideas come from?

Book ideas can come from anywhere. That’s it. Blog post over. We can all pack up and go home. Right?

Well, yes, book ideas can come from practically anywhere, but it takes more than just a juicy theme or a compelling character to make a book. You certainly need those elements present to make a thrilling novel, to be sure, but its so much more than that. However, we’re not here to discuss the elements of a novel —no, we did that last week. (Check the links below!)

While novel ideas can come from just about and where and anything, you can also brainstorm novel ideas. Think about your favorite novels and see how you can create a mashup of two or more stories that would fit well together and put your own twist on it, such as Alexa Donne’s Jane Eyre in Space —Brightly Burning, or Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, (the same writer who did Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter!) for example. While the latter is a literal mash-up, the former is more like a mash-up or genre-bender with Donne’s own twist on the original premise.

So, think about how you can put your own spin on your favorite tales!

How would x-story be different if it were…

• set in space? in the center of the Earth? on another planet?

• told in another genre?

• told from the opposite gender or a non-binary narrator?

• told from someone with 30-years age difference?

• told from the perspective of an animal?

• mashed-up with your favorite movie?

• told from a different POV or story tense?

 Write the book YOU want to read

These are just a few ways to put a refreshing spin on old stories to make them feel new. You can also consider what kind of book YOU want to read. How would your favorite story be better? How could you change it to include certain elements you feel it is lacking, but with a whole new cast of characters, a new theme, and a fresh new setting? How can you rework and existing story to include more representation for a minority?

Explore fun websites to spark inspiration

I have an interesting little blog post that does just this! (It’s listed at the end of the blog post too!) Essentially this post is a long, organized list of fun websites that you can read or interact with to spark inspiration for your next book. If you already know what you might like to write about, try some of these sites out to see how you can put a new spin on it to make it your own story that has never been told before. For instance, I might like to try rewriting Hush, Hush, but instead of the typical plot points that occur throughout that story, I might swap the genders of the characters, and set it in 1943, where an asteroid shower has been happening for the last 30 years. See how that immediately changes the whole story? It might not be the best example, but you get the idea! Consider reading articles on news sites from Buzzfeed to the New York Times to get inspiration from the crazy every-day lives of other people, like Florida Man. Sometimes, the truth can be stranger than fiction and can spark even the most outrageous novel ideas that eventually become great stories!

Read bad books!

Ever heard of BookTube? Well, if not, then bless you! It’s what book YouTubers and others in the community like to call the little corner of the video-streaming service that is dedicated to all things bookish!

Consider looking up scathing reviews of books you may or may not have heard of and see how you can rewrite them to succeed in the areas they failed. Obviously, none of this advice is suggesting you plagiarize, by any means. However, it is okay to take an overly broad and vague story premise, mold it, and make it your own. How can you turn this book that is absolutely loathed by the Bookish Community into a novel that readers everywhere will love simply by reimagining the things they went wrong with? For instance, there are plentiful mixed (and mostly critical) reviews for Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings Zenith. 

Here is the description from Goodreads.com:

Most know Androma Racella as the Bloody Baroness, a powerful mercenary whose reign of terror stretches across the Mirabel Galaxy. To those aboard her glass starship, Marauder, however, she's just Andi, their friend and fearless leader.

But when a routine mission goes awry, the Marauder's all-girl crew is tested as they find themselves in a treacherous situation and at the mercy of a sadistic bounty hunter from Andi's past.

Meanwhile, across the galaxy, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two.

Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous, soul-testing journey that could restore order to their ship or just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. As the Marauder hurtles toward the unknown, and Mirabel hangs in the balance, the only certainty is that in a galaxy run on lies and illusion, no one can be trusted.

—Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings, Zenith

This book has a 3.11 average rating and is most known for its unconvincing worldbuilding, lack of original vocabulary explanation (the author drops in made-up words without explaining what they mean beforehand and leave the reader to remain confused, since there is a lack of a glossary in the book as well?) sci-fi elements that simply don’t make sense —such as impenetrable glass spaceships (with metal defense covers?) and golden, double-trigger revolvers— characters that are lazily thrown together and also do not make sense, poor-quality writing, overwhelming number of clichés present throughout, and—I’ll save you the rest because I could go on and on. The point is that this novel was incredibly overhyped, and fans of Alsberg’s YouTube videos were sorely disappointed when the book did not deliver.

So, as a writer, how could rework this story to succeed where it failed? How can you take extra time and immense care to ensure your characters are compelling and are actively evolving throughout the story? What kind of research can you do to verify that your story keeps in line with traditional sci-fi elements, while managing come across in a refreshing, interesting, and new way? How can you make sure your readers thoroughly understand the vocabulary and systems present in your book? What do you personally wish had been done differently? These are the types of questions you have to consider when brainstorming, because if you think you have the skill to rework a very poorly received influencer novel such as Zenith, then you just might have a story idea on your hands. I would suggest reading books that have overwhelmingly terrible reviews and seeing if you can distill the poor, unfinished, low-quality work into something fresh and new that you too would want to read.  You can also do this with movies, TV shows, plays, music, and any other art form that leaves you feeling underwhelmed or unsatisfied once you’ve finished consuming it.

One fantastic example of a writer who reworked a story they were unsatisfied with is Claudia Grey’s Defy the Stars which she wrote after seeing the movie Prometheus and being dissatisfied with how the movie’s producers portrayed David 8. She was inspired to rework the story and write her own book about an android the way she wished it had been told.

In an interview for Nerdophiles on Twitter, Grey explained how she got the inspiration for Defy the Stars from Prometheus:

How did you come up with the idea of writing Defy the Stars?

You know, the actual genesis of this story came a few years ago when Prometheus came out. A lot of it had to do with Michael Fassbender’s performance as David 8. He just walked right into the uncanny valley and stayed there and it was great.

One area the movie didn’t really explore much but that was really interesting was the fact that Elizabeth Shaw was trying to really evaluate how much of David is machine. It’s this very tiny thing but I thought that was a really interesting thing they should have played with more. They have this person who has this other mission – her job is not to analyze this guy – but who spends time trying to figure out if she’s working with a machine or if she’s working with somebody. And that’s not going to be a question that has a really solid answer.

That idea then took root and became the idea of Defy the Stars.

—Claudia Grey, Nerdophiles

Read more from this article in the link below!

Another great example of a story premise that was reworked is “Errant” by Diana Peterfreund.

As per Goodreads.com:

In 18th century France, a noble family prepares to celebrate their daughter's arranged marriage by holding a traditional unicorn hunt. But when an unusual nun arrives at the chateau with her beloved pet to help the rich girl train, nothing goes as expected. Starring hunters, fine ladies, fancy frocks, and killer unicorns.

—Diana Peterfreund, Errant (Killer Unicorns #0.5)

This short story is not only a historical reimagining of arranged marriages with never-before-seen traditions, but it’s also a fantasy. With KILLER UNICORNS. It’s exquisite.

Don’t be afraid to look to other media where narratives left you feeling dissatisfied and consider how you can tell them in a new way that succeeds where these stories failed. And on the flip side, look at where your favorites succeeded and consider how you can channel that into your story idea.

Take inspiration from your own hobbies and interests

Are you a gamer? Consider writing yourself into the world of your favorite video game and then change it to make it your own. Are you a chef? Consider how you can reimagine cook-books to find balance between overly chatty blog posts and old-school recipe-only cook books that lacked that certain something something. What kind of morbid curiosities can you dive deeper into to pull a story from? I personally have a morbid curiosity with true crime and sinkholes even though they both creep me out. Maybe I could write a thriller about people adventuring into the world’s deepest sinkhole only for the trip to go awry and lead to murder, mayhem, and mystery as the characters grow increasingly desperate to survive being trapped inside the belly of the earth?

Yeah, no I wouldn’t write that. Not ever. Not even if you paid me. Sinkholes and caves are the worst!

But you could! You could write about LITERALLY ANYTHING.

What weird thing are you obsessed with? Can you turn it into an interesting, new, dark, fantasy? How can you weave that topic into a novel?

Examine events and people form history to spark inspiration

What is your favorite time period to study? I personally love the Revolutionary war and the romantic period in literature. What chunk of history fascinates you? (Leave a comment below!) How can you take your favorite elements of that time period and either modernize them or convert them from history to fantasy?

Subscribe to writing prompt websites and social media pages

There are TONS of writing prompt profiles on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram and not to mention the plethora of other websites on the world wide web. You can find story ideas on reddit or on Wattpad too! I personally am subscribed to @redditvoice, @reddit, @mr.reddit and @writing.prompt.s on Instagram and I am signed up to receive daily writing prompts from Storyaday.org (they also have a great list of where to find story prompts). Likewise, you can purchase writing prompt books or even play around on your favorite meme sites to spark inspiration. You can also take inspiration from fanfiction as well!

Those are just a few ways to come up with ideas, but they can truly come from anywhere. The truth is, the more media you consume and the more life experiences you have, the more avenues you have open for story ideas to just waltz into your life. Watch some movies, read a few books, go out and catch a local play and then sit down for a good ole brainstorming session and see what you can come up with.

How to keep your story ideas once you’ve been inspired

MS Word document with New Story Ideas. Alternatively, you can use Pages or Google Docs. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Just like with writing, there’s a ton of different methods of jotting down your story ideas. You can keep them in a notebook or binder. You can make an ongoing Google Doc or Microsoft Word Document. You can store them in Scrivener or Evernote. It really doesn’t matter what you use. Just make sure you keep them organized and include enough information so when you come back to them, you remember your ideas vividly and know where to pick them back up. I prefer to keep my fleeting ideas in a single Microsoft Word document titled “New Story Ideas” where everything is in a bulleted list.

 Sometimes, the ideas a fully fleshed out while others are simply one-liners because that’s all I could think of when I was writing it down for later. Figure out what works for you and keep it in an easy to reach place so you can access it whenever the creative spirit strikes you! If you can try to write a brief synopsis for your book ideas so you can come back to them and know exactly what you were talking about 1, 2 or 5 years later. Additionally, don’t be afraid to let your story ideas ferment within that list and feel free to add to them over time when you get more inspiration for them.

And that’s it for my blog post on how to come up with story ideas and how to keep them once you’ve gotten them! Brainstorming is such a personal process and can be different for every writer. How do you come up with ideas? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to check back next Friday with another installment of this Book Writing 101 Series! Part 4 will be out next week!

 Related topics:

• Book Writing 101: How To Write A Book (Basics)

• Book Writing 101: Starting Your Book In The Right Place

• Book Writing 101 - How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel

• Book Writing 101: How To Achieve Good Story Pacing

• Book Writing 101: How To Name Your Book Characters

• Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters

• Book Writing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Dialogue

• Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)

• Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing.

• 25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas

• Nerdophiles Interview with Claudia Grey

• Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Tales of Paranormal Love (Errant by Diana Peterfreund)

See all posts in Freelancing. See all posts in Book Writing 101.

Thumbnail photo by Jason Goodman.

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

I’m so glad you’re here and I can’t wait to get back into this series! (I may have gone on a  mini vacation/camping and I have been playing a lot of WoW lately! Hello, Shadowlands!)

In any case, after a long-awaited return, the How-To Series is back and this week in Freelancing, we’re going to discuss where to start your novel. Make sure to if you haven’t yet read my blog post, “Book Writing 101: How To Write A Book (Basics)” ! It’s a great first step to writing your novel. If you’re ready to start bringing your story to life, just keep reading to learn how to start your book in the right place!

The importance of starting your book in the right place

You might have heard this phrase —I think you might have started this story in the wrong place— before from a friend or critique group or what have you. It’s actually a very useful and critical piece of advice because the start of your novel is arguably the single most important part. From the very first page/scene, readers get an idea about your voice as a writer, what the story will be about, what the characters are like, and more. The first page just might be the most important part of your book. But don’t fret! It’s doesn’t have to be as dramatic or as daunting as it first may seem. The key to a good opening scene is one that introduces character, conflict, setting, and ideally, stakes. The opening scene should establish your main protagonist (or if you’re writing with flashbacks, it can introduce your antagonist too!), introduce the main conflict/themes of the story, present the setting as both where and when the story takes place (and what rules/systems/cultures and other aspects exist there), and should reveal the stakes of the story. 

Achieve balance between action and introduction through pacing

This of course, is going to require much of you since there is a lot to accomplish in the opening scene, to be sure. However, the secret is in the pacing. Whenever someone says “I think you might have started this story in the wrong place” it has to do with pacing more than the actual location in the plotline. For example, if you start your story too early or too late, that simply means you haven’t given enough time to establish all of these aspects of a good opening scene: a) character, b) conflict, c) setting, or d) stakes. If you start your story too early, then you will end up with a pacing that feels slow or takes entirely way too long to get the proverbial ball rolling. However, if you start your story too late, then your story will feel rushed and the reader will feel confused and as if they have no clue what is going on. The former usually presents itself in a “waking up” or “weather scene” which is typically irrelevant and will bore your reader, while the latter presents itself typically in action scenes, where the reader is dropped into a situation where there is just not enough information to assess said action.

Start just before the inciting incident

A helpful tip I always try to tell new writers is that they should start their story just before the inciting incident. This doesn’t necessarily mean, fifteen minutes before the action, but it can. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the story will start five minutes before the action, but it can. It really depends on your story and the plot you have created, but you should always try to start your story just before the thing happens that sets the story in motion.

For instance, if you’re writing a YA Highschool Paranomal romance— where a girl discovers she’s a vampire while she’s at school and everyone makes fun of her— you wouldn’t start the story with her waking up. Instead, you might start with your main protagonist sitting in class when she starts feeling unwell. Thoughts are racing through her mind as she struggles to pay attention to her instructor. She can hear her heartbeat drumming her ears, but wait—its not her heartbeat she hears, its her classmates’ and she can hear their blood pumping through their veins as well. Suddenly, she gets up and rushes to the bathroom just to get away from it. When she looks in the mirror, she’s horrified that there’s no reflection. Another girl comes out of the seemingly empty stalls behind her and comments on how pail she looks. Her best friend rushes into the bathroom after her to check on her at the request of her teacher. They look at her in awe as they realize she’s just begun to transition from human to vampire. And to top it all off, the popular girl group comes into the bathroom…

Of course, this is a really overplayed and cheesy cliché, but I’m sure you understand my point. I wouldn’t start a story like this with the weather or someone waking up, or going to sleep, and neither should you, although many, MANY stories seems to start in this fashion. In this example, the inciting incident is the main protagonist transitioning into a vampire. However, you could start this story with her sitting in class when this physical transformation comes on.

Get to the party late, leave early

This advice might not be the best for real life situations, but it works wonders for writing stories. The first part of this saying suggests you should open your story with a social gathering of some sort, or the party. All kinds of different people might find themselves at a party (or other social event, it doesn’t have to be a party. Consider how the event might be different if it were set in a fantasy story or murder mystery!) Think about what groups might attend this party and how your cast of characters fit into this backdrop. Consider where the party might take place and how you can use this sub-setting to establish your story’s greater setting. Present the stakes of the story by introducing the relationships among characters and how they interact with one another. If you haven’t read my blog post, “How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters,” you should check it out. I discuss how setting can even be a character of its own and how characters drive the plot. 

The second part of this saying refers to when your characters actually get to the proverbial party, i.e., when does the story start in reference to the inciting incident. As mentioned previously, you don’t have to start the story right before things change and set the story in motion, but it’s always good to start it as early before this as you can. Likewise, the latter part of the saying —leave early, reminds writers to close the scene early. Don’t end things prematurely, but definitely move on before things start to peter out and get boring for the reader. If your characters are at a party, don’t write until they’re standing around trying to say goodbye for half an hour after everyone else has already left. If it’s not interesting or crucial for character development, and doesn’t drive the plot forward, you don’t need it.

The Hush, Hush Saga by Becca Fitzpatrick. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Let’s talk about prologues

Prologues are great for some books and story-killers for others. For sci-fi and fantasy novels, prologues are typically told from an alternative point of view and/or story tense, i.e., third-person, past-tense. They serve as a great way to throw in extra worldbuilding lay the groundwork for systems and other aspects of your story. However, prologues don’t always give an accurate portrayal of what your book will be about, for this reason. Likewise, an unfortunate occurrence in the reader world, is that many readers just skip over the prologue entirely. One way I have found to get around this is to write a flashback/repeat prologue — where you start with a scene that will occur later in the book but will not make complete sense until the reader reaches that point in the story and puts the puzzle pieces together for his or herself. This can be tricky, however and depending on your plot/genre it might not make sense for your novel. If I do end up writing a prologue, I prefer to do it once the story is completed. Naturally, your story should be able to stand on its own without a prologue. I would check out prologues from popular stories in your genre or review prologues from your favorite books to get an idea of how to execute a successful prologue.

• If you are going to write a prologue, here are some general tips.

• Keep it short and sweet, but not too short of course.

• It should align with the tone and themes of your story If it is told from a different tense or point-of-view, make sure its not a stark contrast from the rest of the storytelling so readers can get an accurate idea of the narrator’s voice for the rest of the story. 

Prologues naturally slow down the pacing of a story, so consider whether your story really needs to have one. If the answer is yes, consider what information will be present and how you can weave it into the story later, to avoid readers missing crucial story details if they do decide to skip your prologue.

Examples of good openings:

Example 1: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I’m going to start with my all-time favorite series —you guessed it, Hush, Hush, by Becca Fitzpatrick. (And you thought I wouldn’t, tsk, tsk tsk.)

Hush, Hush does have a prologue, but after that it starts off very domestic, or day-in-the-life but quickly grabs the readers attention on page one. I personally like to think of the first chapter as the true starting point of the story. While the elements in the prologue come back around later in the story, it could also do without it.

I’ve included this entire chapter for educational purposes only. All credit goes to Becca Fitzpatrick and Simon and Shuster Publishing.

1

COLDWATER, MAINE, PRESENT DAY

At my side, Vee Sky said, “This is exactly why the school outlaws camera phones. Pictures of this in the ezine would be all the evidence I’d need to get the board of education to axe biology. And then we’d have this hour to do something productive— like receive one-on-one tutoring from cute upperclass guys.”

“Why Vee,” I said, “I could’ve sworn you’ve been looking forward to this unite all semester.”

Vee lowered her lashes and smiled wickedly, “This class isn’t going to teach me anything I don’t already know.”

“Vee? As in virgin?”

“Not so loud.” She winked just as the bell rang, sending us both to our seats, which were side by side at our shared table.

Coach McConaughy grabbed the whistle swinging from a chain around his neck and blew it. “Seats, team!” Coach considered teaching tenth-grade biology a side assignment to his job as varsity coach, and we all knew it.

“It may not have occurred to you kids that sex is more than a fifteen-minute trip to the backseat of a car. It’s science. And what is science?”

                “Boring,” some kid in the back of the room called out.

                “The only class I’m failing,” said another.

                Coach’s eyes tracked down the front row, stopping at me. “Nora?”

                “The study of something,” I said.

He walked over and jabbed his index finger on the table in front of me. “What else?”

“Knowledge gained through experimentation and observations.” Lovely. I sounded like I was auditioning for the audiobook of our text.

“In your own words.”

I touched the tip of my tongue to my upper lip and tried for a synonym. “Science is an investigation.” It sounded like a question.

“Science is an investigation,” Coach said, sanding his hands together. “Science requires us to transform into spies.”

Put that way. Science almost sounded fun. But I’d been in Coach’s class long enough not to get my hopes up.

                “Good sleuthing takes practice,” he continued.

                “So does sex.” Came another back-of-the-room comment. We all bit back laughter while Coach pointed a warning finger at the offender.

“That won’t be part of tonight’s homework.” Coach turned his attention back to me. “Nora, you’ve been sitting beside Vee since the beginning of the year.” I nodded but had a bad feeling about where this was going. “Both of you are on the school eZine together.” Again I nodded. “I bet you know quite a bit about each other.”

Vee kicked my leg under our table. I knew what she was thinking. That he had no idea how much we knew about each other. And I don’t just mean the secrets we entomb in our diaries. Vee is my un-twin. She’s green-eyed, minky blond, and a few pounds over curvy. I’m a smoky-eyed brunette with volumes of curly hair that holds its own against even the best flatiron. And I’m all legs, like a bar stool. But there is an invisible thread that ties us together; both of us swear that tie began long before birth. Both of us swear it will continue to hold for the rest of our lives.

Coach looked out at the class. “In fact, I’ll bet each of you knows the person sitting beside you well enough. You picked the seats you did for a reason, right? Familiarity. Too bad the best sleuths avoid familiarity. It dulls the investigative instinct. Which is why, today, we’re creating a new seating chart.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Vee beat me to it. “What the crap? It’s April. As in, it’s almost the end of the year. You can’t pull this kind of stuff now.”

Coach hinted at a smile. “I can pull this stuff clear up to the last day of the semester. And if you fail my class, you’ll be right back here next year, where I’ll be pulling this kind of stuff all over again.”

Vee scowled at him. She is famous for that scowl. It’s a look that does everything but audibly hiss. Apparently immune to it, Coach brought his whistle to his lips, and we got the idea.”

“Every partner sitting on the left-hand side of the table—that’s your left—move up one seat. Those in the front row—yes, including you, Vee—move to the back.”

Vee shoved her notebook inside her backpack and ripped the zipper shut. I bit my lip and waved a small farewell. Then I turned slightly, checking out the room behind me. I knew the names of all my classmates … except one. The transfer. Coach never called on him, and he seemed to prefer it that way. He sat slouched one table back, cool black eyes holding a steady gaze forward. Just like always. I didn’t for one moment believe he just sat there, day after day, staring into space. He was thinking something, but instinct told me I probably didn’t want to know what.

He set his bio text down on the table and slid into Vee’s old chair.

I smiled. “Hi. I’m Nora.”

His black eyes sliced into me, and the corners of his mouth tilted up. My heart fumbled a beat and in that pause, a feeling of gloomy darkness seemed to slide like a shadow over me. It vanished in an instant, but I was still staring at him. His smile wasn’t friendly. It was a smile that spelled trouble. With a promise.

I focused on the chalkboard. Barbie and Ken stared back with strangely cheerful smiles.

Coach said, “Human reproduction can be a sticky subject—”

“Ewww!” groaned a chorus of students.

“It requires mature handling. And like all science, the best approach is to learn by sleuthing. For the rest of class, practice this technique by finding out as much as you can about your new partner. Tomorrow, bring a write-up of your discoveries, and believe me, I’m going to check for authenticity. This is biology, not English, so don’t even think about fictionalizing your answers. I want to see real interaction and teamwork.” There was an implied Or else.

I sat perfectly still. The ball was in his court—I’d smiled, and look how well that turned out. I wrinkled my nose, trying to figure out what he smelled like. Not cigarettes. Something richer, fouler.

Cigars.

I found the clock on the wall and tapped my pencil in time to the second hand. I planted my elbow on the table and propped my chin on my fist. I blew out a sigh.

Great. At this rate I would fail.

I had my eyes pinned forward, but I heard the soft glide of his pen. He was writing, and I wanted to know what. Ten minutes of sitting together didn’t qualify him to make any assumptions about me. Flitting a look sideways, I saw that his paper was several lines deep and growing.

“What are you writing?” I asked.

“And she speaks English,” he said while scrawling it down, each stroke of his hand both smooth and lazy at once.

I leaned as close to him as I dared, trying to read what else he’d written, but he folded the paper in half, concealing the list.

“What did you write?” I demanded.

He reached for my unused paper, sliding it across the table toward him. He crumpled it into a ball. Before I could protest, he tossed it at the trash can beside Coach’s desk. The shot dropped in.

I stared at the trash can a moment, locked between disbelief and anger. Then I flipped open my notebook to a clean page. “What is your name?” I asked, pencil poised to write.

I glanced up in time to catch another dark grin. This one seemed to dare me to pry anything out of him.

“Your name?” I repeated, hoping it was my imagination that my voice faltered.

“Call me Patch. I mean it. Call me.”

He winked when he said it, and I was pretty sure he was making fun of me.

“What do you do in your leisure time?” I asked.

“I don’t have free time.”

“I’m assuming this assignment is graded, so do me a favor?”

He leaned back in his seat, folding his arms behind his head. “What kind of favor?”

I was pretty sure it was an innuendo, and I grappled for a way to change the subject.

“Free time,” he repeated thoughtfully. “I take pictures.”

I printed Photography on my paper.

“I wasn’t finished,” he said. “I’ve got quite a collection going of an eZine columnist who believes there’s truth in eating organic, who writes poetry in secret, and who shudders at the thought of having to choose between Stanford, Yale, and … what’s that big one with the H?”

I stared at him a moment, shaken by how dead on he was. I didn’t get the feeling it was a lucky guess. He knew. And I wanted to know how—right now.

“But you won’t end up going to any of them.”

“I won’t?” I asked without thinking.

He hooked his fingers under the seat of my chair, dragging me closer to him. Not sure if I should scoot away and show fear, or do nothing and feign boredom, I chose the latter.

He said, “Even though you’d thrive at all three schools, you scorn them for being a cliché of achievement. Passing judgment is your third biggest weakness.”

“And my second?” I said with quiet rage. Who was this guy? Was this some kind of disturbing joke?

“You don’t know how to trust. I take that back. You trust—just all the wrong people.”

“And my first?” I demanded.

“You keep life on a short leash.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re scared of what you can’t control.”

The hair at the nape of my neck stood on end, and the temperature in the room seemed to chill. Ordinarily I would have gone straight to Coach’s desk and requested a new seating chart. But I refused to let Patch think he could intimidate or scare me. I felt an irrational need to defend myself and decided right then and there I wouldn’t back down until he did.

“Do you sleep naked?” he asked.

My mouth threatened to drop, but I held it in check. “You’re hardly the person I’d tell.”

“Ever been to a shrink?”

“No,” I lied. The truth was, I was in counseling with the school psychologist, Dr. Hendrickson. It wasn’t by choice, and it wasn’t something I liked to talk about.

“Done anything illegal?”

“No.” Occasionally breaking the speed limit wouldn’t count. Not with him. “Why don’t you ask me something normal? Like … my favorite kind of music?”

“I’m not going to ask what I can guess.”

“You do not know the type of music I listen to.”

“Baroque. With you, it’s all about order, control. I bet you play … the cello?” He said it like he’d pulled the guess out of thin air.

“Wrong.” Another lie, but this one sent a chill rippling along my skin. Who was he really? If he knew I played the cello, what else did he know?

“What’s that?” Patch tapped his pen against the inside of my wrist. Instinctively I pulled away.

“A birthmark.”

“Looks like a scar. Are you suicidal, Nora?” His eyes connected with mine, and I could feel him laughing. “Parents married or divorced?”

“I live with my mom.”

“Where’s dad?”

“My dad passed away last year.”

“How did he die?”

I flinched. “He was—murdered. This is kind of personal territory, if you don’t mind.”

There was a count of silence and the edge in Patch’s eyes seemed to soften a touch. “That must be hard.” He sounded like he meant it.

The bell rang and Patch was on his feet, making his way toward the door.

“Wait,” I called out. He didn’t turn. “Excuse me!” He was through the door. “Patch! I didn’t get anything on you.”

He turned back and walked toward me. Taking my hand, he scribbled something on it before I thought to pull away.

I looked down at the seven numbers in red ink on my palm and made a fist around them. I wanted to tell him no way was his phone ringing tonight. I wanted to tell him it was his fault for taking all the time questioning me. I wanted a lot of things, but I just stood there looking like I didn’t know how to open my mouth.

At last I said, “I’m busy tonight.”

“So am I.” He grinned and was gone.

I stood nailed to the spot, digesting what had just happened. Did he eat up all the time questioning me on purpose? So I’d fail? Did he think one flashy grin would redeem him? Yes, I thought. Yes, he did.

“I won’t call!” I called after him. “Not—ever!”

“Have you finished your column for tomorrow’s deadline?” It was Vee. She came up beside me, jotting notes on the notepad she carried everywhere. “I’m thinking of writing mine on the injustice of seating charts. I got paired with a girl who said she just finished lice treatment this morning.”

“My new partner,” I said, pointing into the hallway at the back of Patch. He had an annoyingly confident walk, the kind you find paired with faded T-shirts and a cowboy hat. Patch wore neither. He was a dark-Levi’s-dark-henley-dark-boots kind of guy.

“The senior transfer? Guess he didn’t study hard enough the first time around. Or the second.” She gave me a knowing look. “Third time’s a charm.”

“He gives me the creeps. He knew my music. Without any hints whatsoever, he said, ‘Baroque.’ “ I did a poor job of mimicking his low voice.

“Lucky guess?”

“He knew … other things.”

“Like what?”

I let go of a sigh. He knew more than I wanted to comfortably contemplate. “Like how to get under my skin,” I said at last. “I’m going to tell Coach he has to switch us back.”

“Go for it. I could use a hook for my next eZine article. ‘Tenth Grader Fights Back.’ Better yet, ‘Seating Chart Takes Slap in the Face.’ Mmm. I like it.”

At the end of the day, I was the one who took a slap in the face. Coach shot down my plea to rethink the seating chart. It appeared I was stuck with Patch.

For now.             

—Becca Fitzpatrick, Hush, Hush.

Fitzpatrick, Becca 2009. Hush, Hush, 7-17. New York, Simon and Shuster.

Sorry in retrospect for the long excerpt, but I just had to include Hush, Hush. How could I not?

Anyway, this opening scene absolutely nailed it in all the areas it needed to for it to be an interesting, gripping, and memorable start to one of the most well-known romantic thrillers.

✔️ Established compelling characters

Nora, Vee, and Patch are the prevailing main characters here. They all have interesting and unique personalities that not only set them apart from one another, but even in this short first chapter, the reader can tell these characters are going to be entertaining to watch interact with one another.

✔️ Outlined the story’s core conflict

Nora versus Patch —that is, as far as the reader knows, the story’s main conflict. Nora is creeped out by her new class partner, who seems to know so much about her and refuses to shed any light on himself.

✔️ Introduced the setting for the story

This story takes place in Coldwater, Maine, and is set in the present day. The reader quickly learns that the story is currently being told from the setting of a high school classroom. Based on the supporting characters, tone, and how the students interact with the coach, readers can infer that this story takes place in the 2000’s or later, thanks to the dialogue. It is likely many readers themselves can relate to this type of Sex-ed class setting and I for one, can certainly connect with the idea of having a high school sports coach double as a professor as that happened to me more often than I would have liked.

✔️ Presented the story’s stakes

Nora doesn’t want to fail this assignment and she seems to think Patch doesn’t care either way. The stakes are high because Nora doesn’t want her grade to drop but Patch gets under her skin so easily. Him leaving his phone number on her hand, acts as an open invitation to see what he’s all about. Will Nora bite, just for the sake of her grade? This question is what drives the reader further into the story.

It’s dynamic, interesting and ultimately pushes the reader further along in the plot in a way that feels organic. ✔️

Example 2: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Another example of book that opens at just the right time is Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. While I don’t particularly enjoy dystopian fiction, I can’t deny I was hooked from the first page of the series. I’m not including an excerpt for this one, because it is very likely we all know how this story starts out.

Here’s a recap:

Hunger Games opens with main protagonist Katniss Everdeen on the morning of The Reaping. It all starts out very domestic and day-in-the-life as Katniss gets is getting ready and taking care of her family. It demonstrates the level of poverty they are living in and sets the tone for the YA dystopian fiction. As the story progresses, we learn more about this world, how the systems inside this setting work, the characters and their relationships and ultimately, how they are impacted by said systems. Katniss eventually goes out hunting, and her interactions with Gale —them discussing their concerns about The Reaping and their desire to protect and provide for their families —really introduce these characters and their values. This is a series of scenes that lay out the story for the reader and very neatly drive them towards the Reaping. By the time the reader reaches that point in the story, he or she already knows the characters, their values, the oppressive nature of the world they live in, and when everything happens with the reaping, it evokes an emotional reaction from the reader. When Katniss wanting to do whatever it takes to protect her family conflicts with her sister being selected to fight in the Hunger Games, the reader can’t help but wonder where the story can go from here. The fact that the Hunger Games are so terrible that Katniss is willing to take her sister’s place, but she trembles with complete fear as she volunteers as tribute, absolutely tugs at the readers heart strings and forces them to keep reading to see how it all plays out.

However, it might not evoke such a strong emotional reaction had the story started say, in the months or weeks leading up to the Reaping because the story’s pacing would have been too slow to keep the reader invested. Likewise, it could have turned the reader away out of confusion if it had started right with the Reaping or the Hunger Games instead, because there isn’t enough information on the characters or their situation to make the reader care.

Example a of lackluster opening scene from my writing

In this excerpt from a short story I am working on, I have a pretty solid start to an opening scene. It has compelling characters, introduces immediate conflict while also providing backstory to the characters and their struggles. However, this story opening lacks stakes and it happens too quickly. While this is a work in progress, I can already tell that I am going to have to add more to make it more convincing and interesting to the reader.

1

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, PRESENT DAY

My knuckles are snow-white, clasped around the small paper cup of airport coffee in my hands, as I strive for some sense of warmth and normalcy. I hold it together until the last person passes through the airport terminal and break down only once I’m in the relative privacy of the car park.  I slump onto the cold, steel bench, set my coffee beside me, and drop my head into my hands, sobbing.

I’ve just been through something so crazy that I’m still shaken up over it, three days and a flight later. I lost someone I cared about deeply, all because of my own emotions getting the best of me, and by lost, I mean literally.

My name is Stephanie Powers, and no, the irony of my last name is not lost on me -we’ll come back to that later. I’m twenty-four years old, brunette and blue-eyed, and I’ve just landed my first real job after graduating with my Bachelor’s in Mass Communication a year ago. Sounds normal, right? Well, my new normal is going to make this look boring.

 ***

The alarm clock blares for the fifth time and I’m about ready to throw it out the window when switch it off for good this time. I’ve been up for an hour now- I woke up on time and somehow, I’m still running late, and obnoxious alarm clocks aren’t making me get ready any faster. I shimmy into a pair of matchstick jeans and grab my sweater from the pile of clean clothes growing in the chair. I’m walking out the door when I realize I’m missing shoes, which I run back into my room to find. At this point, my room is looking like a tornado came through and showed mercy on absolutely nothing- clothes everywhere, makeup and hair products strewn about on any and every previously open surface available, and on the floor, there’s a graveyard of empty water bottles that unfortunately didn’t make it into the trash bin. I catalogue the damage and make a mental note to tidy up later, but it’s unimportant now. After finding my shoes, I grab my sweater and bag and race out the door, smacking into him.

“Fox!” I shriek, stumbling backwards through the doorway, almost landing on my rear. Fox catches me, with that familiar, yet sinister smile on his face, and pulls me to my feet.

“What are you doing here?” I say.

“Good to see you too, Steph.” Fox says sarcastically.

I pluck a rogue strand of hair from my lip gloss and stand up straighter.

“Good to see you too,” I say, “Not to be rude, but I’m running a bit late.”

“For?” he asks.

An impatient sigh escapes my mouth before I can stop it.

“It’s my first day at the paper, and I want to make a good impression.”

He looks me up and down briefly then smiles wider. “You’ve made a good impression on me, so far.”

“Yeah? Falling on my ass, does it for you?” I say.

He rubs his chin as if considering this. “Yeah, your ass does it for me.” He said, then winked. Actually winked.

Fox Wilder has been my neighbor and childhood friend for as long as I can remember. He’s a whole head taller than me, with blonde shaggy hair and a tan that reminds me of a stereotypical surfer dude. Throw in a shell necklace and the look is complete. Growing up, he lived three doors down from me and we went to all the same schools together, including Washington State University. 

I move to check my watch and realize I’m not wearing it, so I pull my sleeve up over my wrist and tuck my hair behind my ear.

“I have to go.” I say looking around him to my 98’ Volkswagen Jetta, parked in the driveway. His Avalanche was boxing it in. Taking the hint, he fished his keys out of his pocket and went to move his car. I shouldered my bag and climbed into my own, then turned the keys in the ignition. The engine sputtered several times before dying. I tried again, to no avail.

“Great, just great,” I say, “as if I needed any more bad luck already.”

Fox raps on my window and I roll it down manually.

“Car problems again?” he asks, knowingly.

I sigh. “Yeah. At this rate, I’ll never make it to work. Impression: not good.”

“I can take you.” he offers with a smile.

“Really?” I say, almost too enthusiastically.

His smile widened. “Yeah, hop in.” He gestures to his car and a wave of relief washed over me. I might make it to work on time after all. He backs the Avalanche out of the drive and makes for the highway.

Of course, I was grateful, but I couldn’t help thinking, Fox saves the day, yet again. Adding to my mental to-do list, I vow to take my car into the shop after work. I’d get a ride with Fox for the next few days if I could and then be back behind the wheel in no time.

— Payton Hayes, “Stockholm Heroes, a Work in Progress” 😂

Glad we’re done with that part, whew! But do you see what I mean? The short scene at the beginning launches readers into the action with a very fly-by type of introduction to the main character. This scene is really more of an info dump, something which you should really avoid during the exposition. Readers can smell them from a mile away and they absolutely kill pacing. The second scene is where some magic happens. Readers learn about the characters, their immediate struggles, and the setting. However, once again, its too short. Everything happens so fast, and then is over with the snap of a finger. While this scene is so visually appealing and relatable, it might not make sense to start in either of these parts in the story’s timeline. Instead, I should pick one or the other to start with and spend more time fleshing it out.

Go with your gut

It all comes down to your story and the plot that you’re working with. There’s truly no one-size-fits-all approach to writing an opening to a novel, but if you go with your gut and think about your story and what kind of pacing you’ll need to deliver it best, you can come up with a fantastic opening scene at just the right time. Think about slice-of-life scenes that you can use to introduce your characters and think about the events leading up to the inciting incident so you can select the best time to drop the reader into the story. Develop a scene that shows off character, setting, conflict, and stakes. Consider different ways to achieve this without massive info dumps and inorganic dialogue.

There is of course, always exceptions to the rules, but this is how I go about writing opening scenes in my novels. It’s certainly not a hard-and-fast—rules approach but these are just a few guidelines for creating an organic and enthralling opening scene that will keep your reader turning pages. I hope this blog post helped you and I’d appreciate it if you’d leave a comment with your thoughts below! At the bottom of this post, helpful/related blog posts are linked for your convenience.

Related Topics:

• Book Writing 101: How To Write A Book (Basics)

• Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them

• Book Writing 101 - How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel

• Book Writing 101: How To Achieve Good Story Pacing

• Book Writing 101: How To Name Your Book Characters

• Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters

• Book Writing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Dialogue

• Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)

• Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing.

• 25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas

• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick on Amazon

• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

See all posts in Freelancing. See all posts in Book Writing 101.

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

This week in Freelancing, we’re going to start a new series: Writing How To’s and today, we’re starting off strong with what is essentially Book Writing 101 —how to write a book. We talk an awful lot about editing, writing, publishing, marketing, and everything in between but we’re going to be bringing it right on back to the basics. How do you actually write a book? It’s a badge of honor for some and a checkbox for others, but one thing is certain: writing a book is not easy. It’s a feat of strength, really. It requires a lot of planning, months and even years of writing, and dedication from start to finish.

There’s really no set way to write a from the first word to the last. The truth is, the writing process varies from writer to writer. In this guide, I will explain the basics of writing a book and a general order to follow, but of course, experiment, try different methods and figure out what works for you!

So, how do you actually write a book? What goes into it?

Research, brainstorm, and come up with an idea

Think about what you might like to read and or write about and even look up what is selling in that genre. For instance, if I want to write a murder mystery for young adults, I might check out some of the popular books that are out at the time and see what the hype is about for myself. Reading is a great way to improve your own writing and familiarizing yourself with your desired genre will only help you.

I will have a more in-depth post for this next week when we cover book brainstorming, but essentially, you want to try and come up with a compelling premise that you can write roughly 50,000-75,000 words around, depending on your genre. Don’t get too bogged down by the word count, right out of the gate; this is just a simple guideline to shoot for. So, do some brainstorming and see if you can come up with an idea that will yield roughly 50,000 words. If you don’t think you can stretch your story idea to book length, consider writing it as a short story or a novella instead. If you believe you do have a solid story idea and you think you can write an entire book from it, consider if your idea is somewhat original. Of course, none of us are out here doing new things under the sun per se, but you can put a new spin on old ideas and resurrect dead story tropes by breathing new life into them with your unique voice, writing style, and twist on clichés.

Establish your prevailing theme and subthemes

I wish someone would have given me this advice when I started out writing. It’s one thing to come up with a premise and a plot, but themes are the driving force in a story and every good story has at least one important theme at its core. Consider your story idea and what the main theme of it is so you can write that into your outline in the next step.

Writer taking notes. Photo by lilartsy.

Outline/Develop your plot

Some people prefer to plan out their novel with an outline while others enjoy writing as they go. I used to be the kind of person who would just write as I went and often my story would become jumbled and confused as the consistency slowly melted away. Now, I sit down with a firm outline and I know exactly where the story is going start to finish, even if I jump around and write out of order. Even if you prefer not to get to crazy with the outlining, I would at least suggest outlining the key plot points according to the 3-Act Story Structure. This is a tried and true plot outline that is present in almost all successful works of writing and if you only used this to outline your novel, it will make all the difference in your consistency. That being said, if you’d like to try the pantser route as opposed to the planner route, you can try writing freely and taking some notes as you go, to try out the alternative process and see how it works for you. A pantser is someone who, “flies by the seat of their pants,” meaning they don't plan out anything, or plan very little. For some writers, the thrill of telling themselves the story as they write it is part of their creative process and what making writing fun for them. If you do decide to go the pantser route, I would suggest that you come up with at least a vague idea for how you want the novel to start and end and then plant yourself somewhere in the middle and write from there. Instead of going from point A to point B to point C, you’re considering point A and point C while you write point B and then connecting them all as you go. At the end of the day, find out what works for you and stick with it.

Develop your characters

As mentioned previously, there’s really no set order to follow when writing a book. For some, the characters are what sparks the inspiration for a novel idea, whilst for others, the premise or the theme inspires characters along the way. Either way, you must have a clear idea of who your characters are and what they are like when writing a book. Characters are the lens through which the story is told and writers must create compelling characters for their readers to connect to while reading. Consider your main character(s), supporting characters, antagonists, and background characters as well. Think about how they will come into play with one another to drive the plot, how their unique personalities both move them forward and backward in their goals, and how it makes sense within the realm of your premise, theme, and genre. Put simply, who is your main character, who is getting in that character’s way, and does it make sense with your story idea?

I have an in-depth blog post for How To Write Compelling Consistent Characters here, so make sure to check that out if you want to know more!

Establish the setting

Book with a view. Photo by Kourosh Qaffari.

Piggybacking on the idea that the story idea can come from anywhere, sometimes, establishing the setting is the first step in the process. Try to imagine all kinds of different terrains and zones and see what stories emerge from these places. I got the idea for my short story, The Sieka of Sahn’Jatar when imagining a vast desert in the greater setting of my ongoing fantasy series. I was just imagining the windswept sand dunes one day and the idea struck me. Suddenly, it wasn’t just a desert I was seeing —no, it was a girl dashing through the dunes, being chased by a warband mounted atop camels against the backdrop of the setting sun. Its crazy how stories can just come to us like that.

So, if you’ve already got your story idea in mind and don’t really need the setting for inspiration, consider where you want to set the story. Consider whether or not worldbuilding is something you’d like to do, or how realistic you want your story’s setting to be. Sometimes, the setting can even be a character all on it’s own, depending on how much of a role it plays within your novel. If you’re writing realistically, do you research, look at maps, and if you can visit the place you’re writing about, so you can write it accurately.

Break out the writing tools

Now, I know what you’re thinking —Payton, what writing tools do I need? I have a laptop.

And you’re totally right. While some people do enjoy writing their first draft longhand with pen and paper, most of us write digitally. However, I’m not just talking about the physical writing implement; I’m talking about you’re writing environment, your word processor (the program you physically write with), your writerly resources, and more.

For starters, where do you write? Do you write at home, locked in your bedroom with a tea and mood music? Or do you prefer to write at your favorite coffee shop with your trust headphones and a croissant nearby? Think about where you can get your best writing done and make it happen.

On that note, I have a helpful blog post on 8 Ways to Level Up Your Workspace And Elevate Your Productivity. It’s really more geared for freelancers and those working from home during the pandemic, but I think it has some great information on how to tailor a space that is both comfortable to work in and also is conducive to productivity.

Next, what kind of word processor will you use to write your novel? Do you use Mac or Windows? If you’re a Mac user, you might want to use Pages, but if you’re a Windows user, you might want to use Microsoft Word. (I think you can use MS Word for both, but that’s besides the point!) If you’d rather keep all of your writing in the cloud, maybe Google Docs is better for you. Perhaps none of these options sound quite right so here are a few more to check out: Scrivener, Apache OpenOffice, LibreOffice Writer, or Word Perfect. There are many others out there, so make sure to try them out and see what works best for you and your writing needs.

Following the word processor, the next tool you will need in your writerly toolkit is a note keeping system of some sort. I hear many people use Scrivener, Notion, or Evernote for keeping their novel notes organized and in one central location. If you’d rather keep the notes tactile and not in the digital realm, consider using a Story Binder to keep all of your hand-written story notes safe and organized.

Next, figure out what other real-world items you’re going to need when you sit down to write your novel. Of course, this might be a figure-it-out-as-you-go-along kind of thing. I personally always need some kind of soft music in the background while I write to help keep me in the headspace of my story. I have a blog post on Get Immersed With The Five Senses, but I think it’s also applicable to writing because it can help you stay de-stressed and inspired throughout the process. Likewise, I highly recommend you make a playlist for your novel so you (and your future readers) can get into the right headspace for your story as easily as clicking play. Additionally, consider what snacks, drinks, and other items you might need to write effectively. I’ve also linked my Yoga For Writers post here, just in case you need a little writing break.

Lastly, prepare your accountability tools. This could be a writing partner, a critique group, your editor, a friend, or even a writing schedule. If you know you will need some external accountability source to keep you writing on the days when it gets tough, then get that ready well before you sit down to write. Consider joining a writing group online if you are having trouble finding a writing community in your area. Maybe NaNoWriMo is just the thing you need to keep the forward momentum going in your writing. Whatever you decide to use, have that accountability crutch ready beforehand so you can lean on it when you need to.

Create a writing schedule

This might be the single most important step in your entire writing career because if you don’t establish a habit of writing regularly, it might not bode well for you as a writer. However, it is likely also the hardest step in writing a novel, because many writers struggle to find the time to write. The truth is that if you want to write, you have to make the time to write. This is a special, designated time where you sit down and write, for however much time or however many words you decide and you do this consistently to progress your project and better your writing skill.

Writer planning her schedule. Photo by Marissa Grootes.

If you can, write every day. Some writers will tell you that you absolutely must write every day, while others will advise writing once a week. If you can, try to write a little every day, and if that’s just not possible for you and your schedule, try to write as often as you can. Don’t use being busy as an excuse for not writing. Ultimately your writing, your writing career, and your novel’s success is on you, and if its truly important to you, then make it a priority in your life. Writing is just like anything else in life that requires exercising a skill and practice. You must work your writing muscles to improve your writing in the same way you have to work your upper arms to get better at push-ups.

Like with the writing space, you can use the 5 senses to trigger yourself into what I like to call “writing mode.” This is the headspace you get in when you write, and it becomes easier and easier to trigger this mindset shift with time and practice. It’s a lot like Pavlov’s dog, in that, with time, effort, and practice, you will subconsciously train your brain to expect that when it’s writing time, you will sit down and write and nothing will get in the way of that. For example, as mentioned, I like to have tea and music when I write. For some, that might be a certain candle or aromatherapy or dimming the lights in your writing space. I personally like to set an alarm for my designated writing time and the alarm itself is actually the music that I listen to while writing. This immediately gets me in the mood for writing and like the dog mentioned earlier, drooling for some black tea.

There are many ways to make writing a habit for yourself and while it will take some self-discipline and patience at first, it certainly is doable. You could even use a incentives or a rewards system top keep you motivated to write. Whatever you decide works for you, just make sure that you are writing regularly and making consistent strides to better your craft and make progress on your projects. Th reason a writing schedule is so crucial to the writing process is because writers will have to learn to push through when the writing process becomes difficult. We can’t always write just when we want to or wait, twiddling our thumbs for the creative spirit to strike us. It is great when we have those moments for sure, but the reality is that most days, writing is hard. There’s going to be so many moments when writing is difficult and you won’t feel like writing, but if you’ve created the schedule and the habit, you’ll write anyway. Writing when it’s hard, or when you don’t feel like it, or when the words just won’t flow is what enables you to push through, finish the book, and accomplish your goals.

On a similar note, don’t try to force yourself into a box or create unrealistic expectations for your writing habits. If you work two jobs and are a mother of three, it might not be realistic to expect yourself to sit down and write for four hours out of the day. Many people recommend writing first thing in the morning, but if you’re not a morning person, this simply will not work for you.

I’m raising my hand over here. I’m actually a night-writer and I prefer to write during the ungodly hours of the night, but I can see how that is an unrealistic schedule for many writers who have day jobs. The point is, just go with what feels right with you and what fits feasibly and realistically into your schedule.

Set realistic goals and a deadline

Of course, this ties in with your writing schedule, finding what works for you, and building the writing habit, but having something to work towards can really help you when you’re first starting out with writing. Having loose, but clear goals can help you plan your writing schedule and celebrate milestones as you encounter them. This will also help you in breaking down the daunting process of writing an entire novel to smaller, more manageable parts. For example, if you want to write a 50,000 word novel, and you want to try and write 500-1000 words a day, then if you wrote every day, you can expect to finish your novel in 100-50 days. Write as much as you can as often as you can but if you find that you really just cannot bring yourself to write 1000+ words a day, that’s okay, do what you can. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon and you don’t want to burn yourself out trying to reach these impossibly unrealistic goals. Likewise, you can reverse-engineer this method by setting a deadline first. Maybe you want to participate in NaNoWriMo? If you’re writing a 50,000-word novel for the National Novel Writing Month Challenge, then you know you’ll have to write an average of 1,667 words a day to meet that goal. Some people like to write one chapter a week while others will write one a day. Some books take a month to write while others take years to write. No matter what this looks like for you, setting deadlines and loose, yet realistic goals can help you stay on track throughout the novel writing process.

Writer feeling stressed. Photo by Energepic.com.

Be kind to yourself throughout the writing process

This is probably one of the most overlooked parts of writing and I believe many writers could stand to practice some self-care throughout the writing process. Remember, writing a book is insanely hard to do and most people never accomplish this feat of strength. It’s not meant to be easy. As mentioned, writing can get really tough sometimes and its important that you exercise patience and kindness with yourself when writing. You will feel like the words just aren’t working or everything you write is an absolute dumpster fire, or you can’t pull yourself to the desk to write because you know these next scene is going to be really hard to bring to life. It’s okay. Breathe. Forgive yourself for writing garbage writing. Forgive yourself for not meeting your daily word count goal for that day. Forgive yourself for struggling because writing is a process.

I have a blog post for When Writing Becomes Difficult that goes more in-depth into this topic, but for the most part, just be kind to yourself and take the process one day at a time. Eventually, if you keep at it, you’ll have yourself a book! Following through and finishing the book is the hardest part of actually writing a book, but trust me, there is no better feeling that finishing a book.

When writing gets tough, check out these articles I wrote for some grace and self care.

• 5 Reasons Most Writers Quit

• When Writing Becomes Difficult

• Self-Care for Writers and Readers

And that’s it for my guide on How To Write A Book! Remember, this is going to be a 20-part in-depth series, so stay tuned for the next one. These blog posts will be coming out every Friday from now on, so make sure to subscribe to my newsletter if you want updates when the next part of this series is out! Good luck to all of you aspiring writers out there! I believe in you! Thanks for reading and don’t forget to write!

Related topics:

• Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them

• Book Writing 101: Starting Your Book In The Right Place

• Book Writing 101 - How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel

• Book Writing 101: How To Achieve Good Story Pacing

• Book Writing 101: How To Name Your Book Characters

• Book Writing 101: How to Develop and Write Compelling, Consistent Characters

• Book Writing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Dialogue

• Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)

• Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing.

• 25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas

See all posts in Freelancing. See all posts in Book Writing 101.

Thumbnail photo by Kelly Sikkema.

—Payton

Friends holding each other at sunset. Photo by Helena Lopes.

Hi readers and writerly friends,

Today, I want to talk about how to write and develop compelling, consistent characters. Characters are the beating heart and soul of any story. Books with lackluster writing or major plot holes can get away unscathed (mostly) if they at least have believable, loveable characters—not that writers should cut corners, though. Readers will follow these types of characters anywhere which is why Fanfiction is such a big interest to many readers. Writers can really bring a story to life with vibrant, relatable characters. The first half of this blog post that covers creating compelling characters is geared towards writers who are still in the drafting phase while the second half that covers writing consistent characters is more geared towards writers entering the revising and editing phase, so just keep that in mind as you go.

So, first, let’s discuss how to develop characters.

Character development

This is always the fun part, right, dreaming up your ideal characters, giving them names and backstories and building a fictional life for them? But this is also where a lot of key, fundamental, foundational work goes into your story and the characters within it. This part of story-building is crucial. There are so many more factors that come into play that will make your characters seem realistic and yet enchanting or cause them to be one-dimensional, forgettable, and poorly thought out. There are many things you’ll want to consider when developing characters that make sense.

Character backgrounds and worldview

What racial background do your characters come from? What gender background, religious background or economic background do they come from? What kind of upbringing did they experience? What kinds of views were they raised with? What kind of experiences did they face during their most critical stages of development as children and teenagers? What familial background do they have? What kind of education levels do they have?

Consider yourself for a moment. You are the culmination of all of your experiences, memories, backgrounds, and external and internal influences, up to this very moment. This is called your worldview. Everything you’ve ever experienced has come together to bring you to this moment in space and time. And that even started before you were born. Think about how your parents factor into this or even your grandparents. Everything that happened to your grandparents brought them together so they could bring your parents into this world, and thus, you. So not only does your upbringing influence your story much like the characters’ upbringing influences their stories, but you literally might not be here now if things hadn’t worked out just the way they did. This worldview is a critical element of each of your characters whether or not they ever make it onto the page. Consider your characters parent’s worldviews and goals and how they might influence your characters.

For example, if your character’s mother wanted to be a ballet dancer as a young girl, but her mother never let her, maybe she might push your character into ballet other extracurricular activities to make up for the lack of experience with such things in her life. Another example, if your characters grandparents were insanely rich and the character’s parents realized how all the money could corrupt people, they might chose to cut themselves off from the rest of the family and struggle through life instead of allowing themselves to succumb to wealth and the vapid nature of the parent’s family.

Consider character goals

Piggybacking on that last point, you want to consider your characters goals both internally and externally. Consider what goals they might have and how the interact with plot points. Consider what kind of self-imposed and external expectations might come attached to these goals. Consider what is at stake for failing to complete these goals and how that failure might make your character feel. Consider how one character’s goals conflict with the goals of another character in your story. Basically, determine what are your characters greatest desires and deepest fears and what lengths will they go to, to achieve the former and avoid the latter?

Perfect characters are boring

There is no such thing as perfect—not in real life and not in fiction. One of the biggest selling points of vibrant characters is the level of relatability the reader has with those characters. Characters should have both good and bad qualities as well as character-specific, unique quirks that set them apart from each other. Think about the things that make us human and figure out how you can weave that into your characters. Perfect characters are unrelatable and boring so leave those unrealistic expectations out of your writing. A fun way to figure out character personality traits is to write as many of them down as you can. Then close your eyes and point to a random one. Do this a couple of times to see what kind of character trait combinations you get. Then see how you can write these traits into your characters.

Icarus and The Sun artwork by Gabriel Picolo.

Strengths and weaknesses

Branching off from writing perfect characters, we need to talk about character strengths and weaknesses because it’s quite closely related. Since we know there is no such thing as a perfect character, then surely your characters must have some flaws you can work with. See how their strengths interact as well as how their weaknesses interact. Is one character really insecure but another has enough self-confidence to cover for the both of them? Are two characters toxic people towards one another but madly in love with each other and unstoppable when they’re together?

I like to think of Gabriel Picolo’s (@_picolo on instagram) Icarus and The Sun comics, where the sun is a radiant woman with so much passion and love to give, but her flaw is that she’s selfish and she will treat Icarus poorly until he leaves her and she starts the cycle again. And Icarus is so painfully lonely that he welcomes the toxic relationship back into his life again and again even though it is literally and figuratively killing him every time.

Consider the characters’ strengths and weaknesses and how these traits can either be steppingstones or roadblocks for completing their individual goals. Additionally, many times, a character’s greatest weakness can also double as their greatest strength. Much like in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, where Percy has struggled all his life to read and focus and chalked it up to dyslexia, but that weakness proved invaluable when it turned out he could read fluent Greek without and previous practice and it eventually saved his life. So, as you’re writing your characters, consider how their strengths and weaknesses can interact and either help them with or keep them from reaching their goals.

Character interaction

Now that you’re thinking about character strengths and weaknesses, you can start to figure out how characters interact with one another and how all of these character traits interact as well. If you start with your main character, how can you cast characters that play off the strengths and weaknesses of him/her? What kind of traits do they need to have to make a believable, relatable, and irresistible relationship between one another? Consider writing Foil characters, or characters that exists solely to frustrate and derail the protagonist’s goals. What kind of strengths would a foil character have if he/she existed purely to stop your main protagonist from completing his or her mission? In addition to character strengths and weaknesses interacting with one another, writers should consider what quirks, hobbies, interests, activities, and preferences their characters might have.

For instance, it might make sense that the bully in a YA boarding school fiction is a bit stronger than the main protagonist because she has played lacrosse for as long as she can remember and the main protagonist is more of a reader. But that might also make sense as to why the main protagonist is smarter or more cunning in a tight situation because she’s spent all her time reading and quickly formulate a plan for escape. This example is from Gillian Shield’s Immortal series and its just one of  millions of examples of how to write character trait interaction and it really does boil down to just what worldview, interests, background, and strengths/weaknesses your characters might have.

Of course, you want to limit these traits to only a few per character and make sure they truly do make sense. Characters with too many dislikes, talents, hobbies, quirks, or what have you, are just not dynamic or believable—instead they are just too much. Pick a handful of traits that make sense for your characters and the plot and go with those. Additionally, it would be better to sprinkle these things in throughout the story instead of info-dumping on your readers all at once. Keep in mind that some hobbies are passive and might not make sense for your character or story as a whole—such as with reading. It made sense for Evelyn Johnson in Immortal, but it might not make sense for your story, so really consider how each character’s hobby fits in against the backdrop of your story, specifically.

Character hobbies and setting

Consider what your characters enjoy doing in their spare time and how that hobby reflects the world around them. Some settings/stories are easier to develop hobbies in such as Contemporary because anyone in that genre could just as easily (and believably) be doing the same activities any of us do, such as reading or playing video games or anything else we do in 2020. However, designing character hobbies for a futuristic story set in 3059 might be harder to do because you have to think about what people might actually be doing in that setting.  The same thing goes for historical fictions, where you absolutely wouldn’t be reading about characters playing World of Warcraft or making videos for Tik Tok (rip Vine) because it just wouldn’t make sense for the setting and story. Likewise for Fantasy where many things that exist in our world might not make sense for a fantasy story, especially not high fantasy. The list goes on and on. Just think about how your character’s hobbies reflect the world about them and how they fit in with your setting.

Character relationships

Another element of compelling character design that ties into everything we’ve already discussed is how characters interact with others and what kind of relationships are present in the story. Something has to drive the plot forward and that is usually likes, dislikes, talents, hobbies, or relationships. Relationships are often the driving motivation for a character and can really move the plot along in an inconspicuous way to the reader. Such as, in Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush where on the first day of school, Nora’s coach and Sex Ed professor assigns a seating chart and forces Nora to be partners with the new transfer student, thus putting her in an awkward position and potentially jeopardizing her grades if she can’t get her partner to cooperate on assignments. There’s all kinds of tension here from Nora missing sitting next to her best friend Vee, to her reluctance to engage with the intimidating transfer student, Patch, and to the stubborn teacher who refuses to change the seating chart at Nora’s request. This immediately creates some kind of relationship between Nora and Patch whether they want it or not and that’s exactly what drives the plot along until the real plot points are revealed.

There are many tropes in which something happens to a characters relationship with another character that drives a plot forward. For one, the trope of the character who must save their sibling (or a lover) from a terrible fate so they go on their quest. For two, there’s the trope of a character’s family member dying and the angst, rage, and confusion propelling them into their quest. Character relationships directly impact character motivations. For example, why does the villain always capture the superheroes’ love interest? Answer: because they know the hero will come running to the rescue of said love interest. That’s one of the most blatant uses of character relationships as plot devices.

When you’re crafting characters think about all of the characters in your story as an entire cast and plan them out as a whole. When you’re developing a cast, consider each relationship and how everyone relates to one another, what function they serve, and whether or not its dynamic. However, much like the issue of having too many hobbies or talents, steer clear of having too many characters. You really only need enough characters to drive the plot and then have a few extras here and there to make your world seem bigger/believable as needed. Try to avoid veering into Martin territory where there are just so many characters that all of them are disposable and even the readers know not to get their hopes up since they will all die anyways. Some stories warrant a large cast of characters such as with Tolkien, Martin, or Riordan where there are complex subplots and worldbuilding at play. As you can probably gather from these examples, massive casts of characters are best left to fantasy and mythological fiction. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, but air on the side of caution and avoid creating a character soup, where there’s just so many characters that their details get muddied and confusing. 

Character names

This very well might be the single most fun items on the list, yet but I implore you dear writer, to take time and care with choosing your character’s names. There is so much readers can learn from a character’s name. Names truly do inform a large part of a person’s identity—they serve as markers of racial or cultural backgrounds, family names carry centuries of history, certain names carry with them certain connotations and ultimately names can impact how people are treated, so select your characters names with care. Consider why the character’s parents might have picked that name for them, what it says about them, how other characters might treat them because of it, and so on.

Pro tip: One of the easiest ways to get started with believable names is to look up a culture your character might be based on and try to find names that might have been popular during the time you’re writing your story. Obviously, this might be difficult with fantasy or futuristic stories, but for those, you can get extra creative by adding in vowels or consonants, changing spellings, and weaving elements of different languages into the name. Such as with some of the names/words in my fictional language in the world of Avyiien which pulls inspiration from Xhosa, a Nguni Bantu language that uses tongue clicking, and French which uses a lot of excess letters.

Ultimately characters are like icebergs—this is an analogy we see used a lot for plot and it works well there, but it works well for characters too. The visible tip of the iceberg is the written information about your character that is present in the book and the other 80% below the surface is what you use to inform the way you write your characters, but doesn’t necessarily always make it on the page. This is exactly how you write vibrant, rich, compelling characters that readers just can’t get enough of. These are the kinds of characters that find themselves in fanfiction and beyond.

And now, lets talk about how to maintain a consistency among your character’s their unique voices, worldviews, quirks, hobbies, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and relationships. If you’ve spent all this time designing rich, deep, believable characters, you want to ensure their actions throughout the story align with them as people and make sense to the reader. This is typically a revisions/editing issue so if you’re still working on that first draft, don’t get too bogged down by inconsistencies early on—simply write and go back to iron out the details later.

However, these are all important points you should take into consideration if you’re looking to write consistent characters across chapters and/or multiple books. In order to avoid giving readers emotional whiplash, it’s the writers job to ensure a character’s actions align with their personality. Failing to do this can result in confusion and distraction for the reader, which we of course, want to steer clear of. Its perfectly okay for characters to do things that are our-of-character for them as long as it makes sense for the story and has the proper set up beforehand, thus it no longer becomes out of character for them. Potential Spoiler: Such as with my short story, the Sieka of Sahn’Jatar, where one character has plans to kill another for profit, but after a series of events, changes their mind and decides to work with the person they’d initially planned to kill. This shift in character makes sense because of the shift in events leading up to this conflict. As a writer, you can choose to keep the plot points that conflict with the personality of your character so long as you’re willing to tie them together and make it make sense. Otherwise, it might just be a better move to cut it out and change directions altogether.

Inconsistent main characters are the worst

Of course, all that has previously been mentioned concerning inconsistent characters thus far, has pretty much only had to do with supporting characters or antagonists but if you’re finding inconsistencies with your main protagonist, you have some fundamental discrepancies with your book that will absolutely need to be worked out for you to achieve believable, relatable characters. Inconsistent main characters can potentially create a lot of distance between the characters and the reader. This can end up causing some serious issues for your story because it deprives the reader of that emotional reading experience, and since the characters are the vehicles by which the story is told, having that disconnect can really break a story. That being the greatest of your worries, having inconsistent main characters or POV or what have you, can cause frustration, confusion, and anger in your reader. All of these issues are just distractions for your readers and ultimately something you as the writer, should be trying to avoid.

So, how do you solve an inconsistent character? Well, you have to bring it back to the basics. Consider what that character’s fundamental motives are. Think back to everything we’ve covered in the first half of this blog post. What goals does he or she have and how do their (inconsistent) actions fit in to those goals? If they don’t fit, how can you write them so that they do? What other background information and characterization can you supply that will make these actions not so far fetched for your character? If these actions aren’t necessary for that character, can you write them for another character? Can you cut them out entirely? If they are necessary to the plot, how can you change your characters to fit around these inconsistencies? Consider how your characters would organically respond and react to the actions of the other characters and how they all fit together.

This is where you have to do some serious soul searching and determine whether or not these character actions are integral to your plot and story as a whole. Like I said, if it’s a deal breaker, you might have to recast that character or sprinkle breadcrumbs throughout your story, so their inconsistent actions don’t seem so out of character for them. If it’s not a deal breaker, how can you change those actions to fit your carefully crafted characters and make their actions and reactions believable? As you can probably tell, this is why its critical to make sure you have your first draft completed before digging into inconsistencies and rewriting because you just get stuck in a vicious rewriting cycle and it’s just not pretty. If there’s discrepancies throughout your writing, a finished draft will allow you to make decisions on how you can solve those issues, but if you’re just rewriting, it can quickly get confusing and hard to know where your story will even end up.

Characters are incredibly important and should serve the plot just as much as the plot serves them. Characters must be well-rounded and balanced and everything they do should make sense within the framework of your story. Compelling, consistent, and loveable characters are the backbone of any great story and can often carry a sub-par plot if they are believable and relatable enough and if their actions match their personalities. However, writing enchanting characters is easier said than done and it’s why a lot of writers struggle with character development.

And that’s it for my extensive blog post on writing and developing compelling and consistent characters. What are your favorite and least favorite parts of character development? What do you think about character backstories and names? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Related Topics:

• Book Writing 101: How To Write A Book (Basics)

• Book Writing 101: Coming Up With Book Ideas And What To Do With Them

• Book Writing 101: Starting Your Book In The Right Place

• Book Writing 101 - How To Chose The Right POV For Your Novel

• Book Writing 101: How To Achieve Good Story Pacing

• Book Writing 101: How To Name Your Book Characters

• Book Writing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Dialogue

• Story Binder Printables (Includes Character Sheets, Timelines, World-Building Worksheets and More!)

• Payton’s Picks —40+ of my favorite helpful books on writing and editing.

• 25 Strangely Useful Websites To Use For Research and Novel Ideas

See all posts in Freelancing. See all posts in Book Writing 101.

— Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

This week in Freelancing, we’re discussing a little something that hit close to home for me and that’s when writing becomes difficult. Writing is hard. Full stop.

I get it—trust me. I just came back from a writing hiatus and while I wish I didn’t take that time away from writing, it’s hard to picture me where I am now without it. So, as we get into it, let’s think of this as a group therapy session.

Deep breath in and out. It’s going to be okay.

Now, let’s do this.

Woman covering her face with her hands. Photo by Anthony Tran.

Writing is hard. No matter how many times I say it, it doesn’t make the process any easier. Writing can be really, really, reeeeeally difficult sometimes. Most of the time, in fact. It’s a process that makes you swoon, cry, cringe, hyperventilate, and want to tear your hair out at every turn. It’s frustrating when you want to write but you just don’t feel motivated or inspired enough to do so. It’s frustrating when you feel motivated and inspired but you just don’t feel like writing. It’s frustrating when you don’t want to write but you have internal and external pressures on yourself that make you feel like you should be writing when you’re not, and that doesn’t feel good either.

And even if you managed to get past those hurdles, writing can be hard for a plethora of other reasons as well. It’s frustrating when the words just aren’t working on the page, or when you just can’t seem to iron out the kinks in your plot so that it makes sense.

I’m raising my hand here.

Writing is not an easy feat and it’s not supposed to be. Writing is a trial. It requires bravery and vulnerability, and a willingness to be consistent. It feels incredibly gross sometimes—like when you know you need to just sit down and crank out that first draft, but you keep self-editing your previous passages out of fear of inadequacy.

But I assure you, if you’re feeling the burn, you’re heading in the right direction. Writing is a process that is meant to make you want to pull your hair out sometimes, to make you feel like you’re going insane. (And if it’s any consolation, tons of famous writers were nutty.)

This hair-pulling, however is meant to help you grow as a writer. The frustration you feel is the fuel you need to burn through your writing struggles. When you’re feeling frustrated with how nonsensical your plot is, you’re forced to decide to scrap the idea or go down the rewriting path. This teaches writers about story structure and revising and self-editing.

Cumpled up paper. Photo by Steve Johnson.

The frustration you feel with creating unique, believable worldbuilding and setting that’s rich and just as complex and enchanting as the characters that dwell there forces you really understand your characters and the space you’ve created for them. It teaches writers how to really step into those worlds in their minds and envision themselves actually standing there. It forces you to travel to distant lands and capture these incredible places on the page because otherwise, no one but you would get to enjoy them.

The frustration you feel when writers block hits you like ton of bricks forces you to take a step back from your writing, to take a breather, and return to it with fresh eyes. This teaches writers to have a healthy relationship with writing. It teaches them how to take a break when things just aren’t working out and to return after mulling it over for a while. Your writing will be all the better for it.

There are many frustrations that come with writing and they’re exactly why writing is difficult. It’s not meant to be easy. But then again, nothing ever worth it is. Writing will test your patience, often. It doesn’t mean you should stop writing. It means you should find a solution to the problem you’re facing and then continue writing. Writing is a lot like horseback riding—the writing is the horse, you are the rider, and this incredible beast just keeps throwing you. But you get back up, again and again and again. Because writing isn’t a race. It’s a marathon. It’s a process.

Writing is for most, a passion. It’s an epic, tumultuous love. And if you’re feeling down and out about your writing, maybe all you need to do is rekindle your love of writing. You need to fall in love with writing again.

Single red rose on pages. Photo by Annie Spratt.

Think about what made you love writing in the first place:

• Did you fall in love with writing because it was the best/only way to express your emotions?

• Did you fall in love with writing because you had a burning story inside you, just itching to be told?

• Did you fall in love with writing because your wild and uncontrollable Imaginate just couldn’t be contained?

• Did you fall in love with writing because it helped you get through a difficult time in your life?

• Did you fall in love with writing to escape or to feel free?

• Did you fall in love with writing because of the way it made you feel?

• Did you fall in love with writing to connect with yourself or someone else?

Why did you fall in love with writing? Does that reason still hold true today? What if anything, has changed for you? Because something, somewhere once drew you to writing and somehow you’ve lost sight of that. So, go back and fall in love with writing once again.

It doesn’t matter if your why has changed. It only matters that you still love to write. That’s what makes a writer. A love of writing is at every writers core.

• If you need some help with inspiration, 500 Writing Prompts can help you to brainstorm some new ideas.

• If you’re stuck on the details of your novel, try getting organized with The Novel Planner.

• If you are still struggling to pick up the pencil, consider starting a journal or morning pages. This is a practice created by Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist’s Way and its basically a daily brain dump. Just write everything you can, the good, the bad, and the ugly. No one is meant to read this stuff so let all your reservations go and just write. This will help ease you back into writing, even if your journal/morning pages have no structure whatsoever.

And that’s it for my sappy thoughts on when writing gets difficult. I know it can get really tough sometimes. Just try to fall in love with writing and never let that little fire go out. It sometimes helps to have writerly friends who can inspire you and cheer you on as well. Let’s get a discussion going in the comments. What’s the most difficult thing about writing for you? What made you fall in love with writing? Let me know down below!

Related topics:

• 5 Reasons Most Writers Quit

• 20 Things Writers Can Learn From Dreamers

• Self-Care Tips for Readers and Writers

• Yoga For Writers: A 30-Minute Routine To Do Between Writing Sessions

Read more from Freelancing!

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

While it’s easy to want to write and book and even easier to come up with an idea for a book, sometimes the follow through just isn’t there. Sometimes it’s hard being a writer—I get it. Sometimes we get writers’ block and sometimes we just don’t feel like pulling up to the computer and cranking out 1200 words a day for the month of November, or ever for that matter. It’s a rough balance between doing what you love and having the discipline to stick with it long enough to see your stories come to life. This week in Freelancing, I’d like to talk about five reasons why most writers quit and how you can avoid giving up when life gets in the way.

1.  As mentioned, ideas are easy.

Ideas are cheap—a dime a dozen or less, honestly. And just about anyone and everyone can conjure up some kind of book idea. From prompt to full fledged plot is the hard part. I hate to say that some people just aren’t made to be writers because I believe everyone has a book inside of them. But the truth is, the difference between fleeting thoughts/short bursts of inspiration and fully-developed, rich, enchanting stories is the process of transporting the idea from your brain to the page—a process that’s just not for the faint of heart. There’s a reason why some people end up as prompt writers and others get six-figure book deals. It really just depends on whether or not you really believe in your story and if you have the drive to bring it to life.

Writer feeling stressed. Photo by Energepic.com.

2.  Writing is hard

Touching on that, writing is hard. Trust me, I totally get your pain. I mean, hello—fellow writer here! But really, writing can be hard. Some days, we may feel like writing, but the creative juices won’t flow. Sometimes we force ourselves to write but the sentences just aren’t working out. There’s a lot of moving parts in the writing process and it takes a lot of time, effort, and energy to get all of those elements lined up just right. Not to mention, a book is a lot of words. That’s a lot of writing. Between writing the grueling first draft, revising, editing, cutting out the fluff, trying to balance storytelling elements with pacing, crafting compelling characters and designing enthralling worldbuilding, writers have so much more to do than just writing. The writing process in general is just a lot, okay?

Next week, I will have an article out about what to do when writing is hard, but for now, just take a step back, take a break, and do something that rekindles that passion for writing. Don’t let yourself get burned out, but don’t take a break for so long that the creative fire burning inside just goes out either. Know when the process isn’t working, step away, and come back to with with fresh eyes. Your writing and sanity will be all the better for it.

Cumpled up paper. Photo by Steve Johnson.

3. Writing can be and often is a full-time job

Piggybacking off of that second point, writing is a lot of work. Writing is a job. And for many writers who haven’t yet made it, it’s an unpaid, thankless job. Sometimes, writing can even be the job that money can’t inspire you to do. I know several writers who have turned down certain writing jobs because their heart just isn’t in it or because it might get in the way of their passion. For others though, it can truly be a lifelong career. And while sitting at a desk, typing and chugging coffee doesn’t seem so bad, its more of a mental and emotional labor that is taking place and it can be an intense job for most writers. It makes sense that most writers struggle to get even just one book out, much less a second or third or regular writing as a career (such as with blog writing or technical writing).

4.  Writing comes with rejection.

Rejection unfortunately is heavily woven into the writing and publishing process and it’s never-ending. There are possibilities for writers to face rejection at every turn—from their own self criticisms during the actual writing, to finding an editor, to finding an agent or publisher and so on. It happens at every level of the publishing game and can still be a tough pill to swallow from even the most seasoned writers with years of experience. If you think big name writers such as Veronica Roth or J.K.Rowling don’t still face rejection today, then I’m here to tell you you’re wrong, because even after they’ve left the writing rat race, they still can be rejected by their own readers and critics.

The solution to the cycle of endless rejection is to simply let it roll off your back and use it as the fuel to your fire. If your first book gets picked up but your publisher rejects the second, consider how you can improve your book so they might pick that one up too, or do some looking into other publishers in case your current press turns out to not be a good fit for the next project. If you’re getting a lot of negative criticism online, first determine whether its hate or truly constructive feedback and if it’s the latter, see how you can use the information your critics are giving you to improve your writing next time. Writers must learn to protect their sensitivity and creativity with a tougher, stronger outer shell. I know building a thicker skin is easier said than done, but it’s required for the writing biz, because you’re putting your words, thoughts, and book baby out there for the world to see. You’re making your creativity vulnerable to even the most ruthless of internet vultures and that requires bravery. I commend all of the writers out there for doing this, one step at a time. Eventually, it does get easier. Sooner or later, the good begins to outweigh the bad and you remember that because you’re doing what you love, none of the rejection really matters if its not going to help you in some way.

Cash on a laptop. Photo by Pixabay.

5. Money is a problem for writers too

Coming back around to number 3, there is never enough money. This mostly goes for writers who have made it into the full-time/part-time writing game and are getting paid in some way for their writing. Fiction writing unfortunately is not known for paying especially well, unless you make it so big, like J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins, but the chances of making it that big simply just aren’t fair for the average writer. Many writers take up side gigs as teachers or doing some other non-writing related job to make ends meet while working on their passion, but the sad reality is that writing can easily get pushed to the back burner when life gets in the way.

Some crafty writers have figured out how to employ multiple income streams so they don’t have to spend so much time working, and they can focus more time and energy on their writing. It really just comes down to how much you love writing and how worth it writing is to you. If it really means everything to you, and its your lifelong dream to be a successful, full-time fiction writer, you’ll find a way to make that dream a reality, one way or another. What separates the writers from the dreamers is the work a writer will put in to make their writing dreams come true.

And that’s it for my five reasons why writers often give up on writing and some advice/solutions on how to combat these sad writer realities. Hopefully, these opened your eyes to the darker side of the writing world and reminded you that it’s okay to be down about your writing process sometimes, just as long as you pick it back up. On a more positive note, this week in addition to this post, in Current Faves, I have a post called “20 Things Writers Can Learn From Dreamers” and next week in Freelancing, we’ll be covering “When Writing Becomes Difficult” so be sure to check those posts out!

And take it from me, a fellow writer, self-proclaimed coffee addict, and mother to a still-growing 15+ year old book baby, I understand the writing process is difficult and being a writer can be hard sometimes. Just take a deep breath, maybe treat yourself to a coffee, give yourself a hug (I see you rolling your eyes. Just do it, okay?) and know that YOU CAN DO IT. I believe in you and there’s thousands of eager readers out there ready for you to present your novel to the world. Just keep at it, take care of yourself, and remember to be a writer and not just a dreamer.

What do you think about the writing process? What do you think of this list? What writer struggles just make you want to pull your hair out? Let me know in the comments below!

Related topics:

• When Writing Becomes Difficult

• 20 Things Writers Can Learn From Dreamers

• Self-Care Tips for Readers and Writers

• Yoga For Writers: A 30-Minute Routine To Do Between Writing Sessions

Read more from Freelancing!

—Payton

Hi readers and writerly friends!

Now that we’ve wrapped up everything to do with college (for now) we’ll be discussing competition and the importance of befriending your competitors. There’s a lot a new writer/editor can learn from seasoned professionals and there’s a lot of fresh perspective that rookies can bring to the table as well. Making connections in the bookish world has proven invaluable to me as both a writer and an editor. Keep reading if you’d like to see why its so important for new creatives to befriend their competition.

Monopoly car parked on the “GO TO JAIL” board spot. Photo by Suzy Hazelwood.

So, there you are, out in the wilderness of the publishing landscape you spot a competitor. You have three options. You either a) cower in fear, hoping they don’t see you, b) assert your awesomeness, hope they do see you and they cower in fear, or c) you outdo them in some way, therefore establishing creative dominance. It’s your turn, what do you do?

Okay, hold up. If you picked any of these answers, just stop. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. You lose.

You can learn from your competitors. If they aren’t being stingy with their knowledge, then most everyone you come across (whether or not you are in the publishing industry) would be willing to share some sort of advice. The #1 biggest misconception about competition in ANY industry is that competition is bad or that your competitors are inherently your enemies. This is simply just not true. There is so much you can learn from your competitors, and instead of treating them as your nemesis, consider befriending them for a mutually beneficial connection, and better use of your energy.

This awesome quote from John Barrows comes to mind:

“You can learn something new from everyone and every situation.”

 —John Barrows

He’s exactly right. This goes for people in and out of your respective industry. You can learn something new from every person you meet. You can learn something from your competition as well. Learn from them so you don’t have to make the same mistakes that they do. Follow in their footsteps and take notes on what works and what doesn’t. I’m not saying to copy anyone, but people who have been in the biz for years have tried and true formulas that guarantee results and you can use their established methods to get you ahead.

Additionally, your competitors are full of knowledge, resources, and tips and tricks. Of course, the mentors that come to mind are my colleagues, fellow writers, and the Developmental Editors Connection group on Facebook. Honestly, if I had a dollar for every time I went to them with a question, I’d not only have tons of incredible advice, but I’d also have enough money for double the cappuccinos each week. I can’t imagine all the times I might have gone wrong without their help. The same goes for a few of my writerly friends who started out as competition for me. I would know about a fraction of what I know now by ignoring the obvious opportunity to make a valuable connection with someone else in the industry. I’m eternally grateful for all of the editors and writers who have taken time to guide me—even in the smallest of ways such as quick questions about the CMOS or Microsoft Word issues.

You can collaborate with one another. Just imagine getting to work with your competition to create something amazing. How awesome would that be? There’s a reason YouTube collabs are so popular—it’s a group project that benefits everyone involved. And the same goes for industry collaborations. And often, by working together, you can trade information and produce double the content in half the time.

They can guest blog for you. I see this all the time in the online publishing sphere. Newer freelancers ask to guest blog for bigger content companies and more established freelancers help the newbies get their own content rolling by writing for them. Much like the collaboration thing, guest blogging for one another can help you can your competitors expose your writing to broader audiences. For example, if you guest wrote for my blog, my readers would find you and if I guest blogged for you, your readers would find me. (And if you’re worried about oversaturation being a thing, don’t worry—it isn’t. Click here to read my blog post about it.

You reciprocate with one another. Touching on the guest blogging, collaboration, and knowledge comments I mentioned above, having a friend in your competitors allows you to reciprocate advice, knowledge, help, ideas, and friendship to one another. Being friends with your competition gives you someone to bounce ideas off of, share resources with, and lend an ear or advice to each other. I love being able to recommend my favorite industry resources or current faves to my writerly friends and fellow freelancers. Likewise, its fun to compare services, prices, and styles with other freelancers. I mean, just imagine if someone asked me for advice regarding rates and I had to tell them, “Well, I’d love to help, but you’re kinda my competition. We’re in the same line of work, you know. We’re both editors…so I’d better not.” Ugh, isn’t that just the worst? Total jerk move. You’re losing absolutely nothing by helping your competition out. You get the chance to throw someone a bone, so take it.

Monopoly money, player pieces, and dice. Photo by Suzy Hazelwood.

They can help you get jobs. One of the biggest complaints I hear from freelancers concerning their competition is that they will lose customers/clients to the competition. This one makes me laugh out loud because I can’t tell you how many clients have come to me straight from people I might have considered my competition—editors just like me. There’s enough work and enough clients to go around. If you’ve heard the saying, “Everyone and their mom is a writer,” then it makes sense that everyone and their mom will also need an editor.

I’ve had several clients referred my way by word of mouth from my fellow freelancers and it’s a great feeling knowing I have such an amazing network of colleagues to work with. And the thing is that, as a developmental editor with very specific genre preferences, I don’t want to edit every manuscript ever. My editing skills are best suited to certain types of fiction, so of course, I’m not going to edit a piece of medical writing. But, I know other freelancers who do edit that type of material. And they know they can always refer fiction clients my way in turn.

They love writing as much as you do. This goes without saying but this fact doesn’t just apply to writers. How cool is it to have friends that love the same things you do? This is what got me so exited about college, because I really enjoyed talking with my fellow writers in my English classes. I can’t talk to my dad about the gothic elements in Edgar Allen Poe’s “the Fall of House Usher,” or gush about the homoerotic elements in Walt Whitman’s poetry. But you know who I can nerd out about literature with? That’s right—my editor friend and mentor Kris! We go crazy for the oxford comma, coffee, and cats. We swap poems with each other and workshop them in our free time. She just gets me. And when I’m editing a particularly gnarly manuscript, I can vent to her about it. She not only understands my pain but sends me writing memes to cheer me up.

It teaches you good sportsmanship. You can’t get all the clients and you can’t edit all the manuscripts. This also applies to any other industry with competition, such as sales. Sure, there’s been instances when my fellow editor friends and I are going for the same client. So what do I do when I don’t get the client and my colleague does? I just cry and give up. It’s the end of the world. I might as well pack up shop and give up forever because I’ll never make another sale ever again. Woe is me! Yeah, right. I say, “Good for her/him” and remind myself to step up my own game for next time and move on. It’s really not the end of the world. Like I mentioned before, there’s plenty of work to go around. Don’t get hung up on the one or two or ten missed sales. There’s just as many clients for you.

You cheer each other on. Similar to the previous point, you can celebrate your competitions wins and be there for them during their losses. We’re all in the writing game together. As a team, (if we’re continuing with the sports metaphors) its important to surround ourselves with likeminded individuals who will be rooting for us. And it’s nice to be able to congratulate others on their wins as well. If there’s enough work to go around—and there is, I assure you—then we can all take part in enjoying the process together. I know how much work goes into promoting my own editing biz so its really great seeing my fellow freelancers land new clients. I get to congratulate them and I know they’ll do the same for me in return. It’s a give and take, and I’d have it no other way.

You give love and get love. It’s such a good feeling when I have people coming to me about resources, industry hacks, friends using my blog post to answer someone’s question about newsletter marketing, or readers thanking me for how helpful my freelancing basics blog post was. You remember that friend, Kris I mentioned earlier? She told me her mother read my short story, “The Sieka of Sahn’Jatar” and enjoyed it immensely. I beamed when she told me this. It’s also fun when she and my other writerly friends send me funny writing memes or jokes about grammar, saying “this reminded me of you,” or “I thought you might like this.” I like getting messages like that and I love being able to share that love with them as well.

And lastly, everyone could use another friend. If you’re seriously so worried that you’ll lose business to someone just because their in the same line of work as you, then I think you’ve got a bigger issue on your hands. I don’t know—maybe we just view the world differently, but personally, I want to make even more friends with people that do the same thing I do. It’s not putting me out, endangering my business, or negatively impacting me in anyway to make friends with my competition and I can only see it as a mutually beneficial relationship. And besides, to quote Lady Gaga, “my biggest enemy is me.” It’s true. You can worry all day about your business failing to the competition but the only person you’re truly hurting is yourself. Instead, see if you can befriend your competitors and make some friends along the way.

Challenge: Readers and fellow freelancers, I challenge you to make connections with your competition this week. Find three people in your field who do what you do and reach out to them. Just ask them how they’re doing. Break the ice. Talk. Communicate. Build connections.  We got to check up on our fellow writers during these crazy times. And you never know—you might find a new writerly friend out of it!

And that’s it for my blog post on the importance of befriending your competition. What do you think about making friends with your competitors? Do you agree or disagree? Can you think of a time when you befriended your competition and it worked out in your favor? Tell me all about it in the comments below!

Read more in Freelancing!

Thumbnail photo by Jopwell.

—Payton