Why having honest feedback is so important

I'd be the first to admit, my writing is very close to my heart. It is a part of me, a way to communicate and showcase stories and ideas. What it isn't is polished and perfect without the help of editors, beta readers, and critique partners

Before anyone thinks of publishing their work, they should make every effort to ensure it is free of any errors or completed to the best it can be. The first step is having someone look at it with a critical eye. This is where writing groups and critique partners and groups come in.  They can give you the insight and feedback you need to make your work a cohesive and thrilling read.

No matter if you've been in the industry one year or ten or twenty, if you have one book or one hundred books. If you do not have the right people to give you the harsh truth of your writing you will struggle. Keep in mind a writing career is one where you must continually work toward improving your skills and connecting with your readers with stories which are fresh, exciting, and entertaining. 

How do you do this if you grow complacent, or perhaps you put on blinders and pretend you are doing great? 

You can't. 

Let's start at the beginning. You've written your book. Great. Are you ready to publish? No. You're far from it. 

So what do you do? What's the next steps? Edits? Revisions? What do they even mean? At  what point do you say you're satisfied? 

Your self edits and revisions are important, and should be done with care. You want to be thorough but let's be honest, you aren't going to catch everything. So, what you want to do is simple. Do you self edits, the revisions, work the book to where you're happy with it and then -- this is the scary part -- put it before your critique or writing group with a massive vat of red ink. 

Then you sit back with a notepad and wait. You may be asking for what? After all, you've spent weeks polishing this manuscript what could be wrong with it? What your readers will see may be different then you envision and as such, you have to be prepared for this. 

So allow yourself the chance to get your work the necessary feedback before it goes to the editor or publisher. Let your peers point out areas of weakness, of passive writing, of scenes which don't make sense or a character who is flat. Soak up their feedback and don't get discouraged. 

The critique or writers group you work with is a valuable resource. They will give you the honest feedback you need, not necessarily what you want. Having someone point out a weakness in your book before it hits the market can only benefit you. It was something I struggled with myself. I got used to having those around me who worked with me give me only positive feedback and when the chance arose to get a more in depth and critical look at my work came, I took it. 

I truly believe it was the best move I made because the book is growing, developing, becoming a much more intense story. It's becoming the story of two people who want the same thing but the deck is stacked against them. There's depth and a sense of recognition to the characters. Things I would not have seen if not for the tireless and brutal honesty of my critique partners. 

There is value in working with others to get your book ready for the next phase of the publishing journey. Your book will be all the better for it, your editor will love you and you may even find your readers are twice as eager to get into your book. 

Honest feedback is ultimately worth more than endless accolades from family and friends who only see the person they care about and don't wish to hurt.  

Reach further, put aside pride, and you will find your writing becomes the jewel you know it can be.  

My Nanowrimo this year

October is slowly ticking away as I prepare for Nanowrimo. For those who are unfamiliar with this wonderful annual event - it is a challenge. The concept is scarily simple - write a 50k novel in one month, this works out to 1,666 words per day for thirty days.

Lets be realistic though. Is your real life and maintaining your health during this challenge going to allow for you to write 1,600+ words per day? Probably not. From past events, I have found its often best to give yourself few days to write say twenty-five of them to write and recalibrate your numbers to best suit the new data. This allows you to have days where you may not even get on to write in the novel because of outside forces.

So with such thoughts in mind, this year I am aiming to write 50,000 plus words in the space of twenty-five days. Can I do 2k a day? I have done so in the past. There are factors which must be taken into consideration for me to ensure success on this project. Firstly, I need to have my notes, research, world built as best as I can before November 1. This will ensure I am able to simply able to sit down and allow the story to carry me away.

And what am I writing this year?

I am extremely excited to return to my historical romance roots. I will be writing a Celtic romance set in early 6 or 7th century Ireland. Sounds daunting I know but I have been researching the topic for the past couple of years. Learning all I could about the history of Ireland specifically, and reading titles featuring the era I'm looking at. I've also had some help with an friend who used to work at a Library and who is Irish!

I haven't titled the work other than "Celtic Romance" but it is the story of two young people who are from clans who are bitter enemies. The heroine is a strong willed, opiniated woman who is used to standing on her own two feet. She is the youngest of thirteen children with only one boy - who is her twin and ten minutes older. The hero is a minor chieftain - his uncle is the high king of their clan who has to find out what happened to his younger cousin. When the heroine's brother and the hero's cousin vanish it puts warring clans at odds and on the brink of war.

The truth however, is far more dangerous to the kings because it has far reaching consequences. Its also the second story playing out within the novel - but in the background. Amid treachory, youthful inpulsiveness, and forbidden love, the hero and heroine will have to find a way to stop their families from going to war - and stop those who would use their hostilities to seize power.

Research is invaluable in writing a novel such as this for a couple of reasons. I find inacuracies affect the story - for example if you're reading something about Elizabethan England and there's details from the Victorian era it makes one stumble. As well, have the mixture of details can make a reader question the author or editor of the piece even if they don't realize it. I'm not critisizing anyone, this is simply my opinion and why I am so criticial of my own researching ability.

But it definitely means I need to ensure my accuracy when I'm writing a period novel.

With my plans for Nano this year, I've dug out my workbook I created and am updating for patrons (It will be available later this month with a pledge for Distinct Author's Patreon! )

It's something I use when I'm short on time and need to keep track of things. It has multiple sections, pages, for everything from the correct spelling of names - with meanings - to space for cultural trivia, recipes, fabrics, and more. My workbook is formatted so you can print it off and tack it up to a work board, or manipulate it to show the high points or specific details you really need to keep at the forefront of your mind. I like to think its a handy tool to use with your plotting (if you plot) and handy if you're a pantser because you can do all your note take, research etc and have it in one place.
As well, there's a spot to put links and list your sources of historical details - you never know when someone is going to question where you got your details from. 

The Forsaken Series - Our Journey Began with a bang

The Forsaken Series has long been a baby of mine - and of co-author Ciara Lake. In 2010, when we first started talking about this project we had a vision of what we wanted it to look like. Unfortunately, for us, we had no idea where this project would lead us.

Ciara and I sat down and began to work on developing the series in its entirety. As we talked and plotted, and planned, we worked out a rough idea of what we were going to do. In our enthusiasm and eagerness, our vision was simple: Fill the rapidly developing, and smoking hot paranormal romance genre with a series of books. Sounds easy, doesn't it?




We discovered it wasn't quite that simple...or easy.

 Boy, did we have a lot to learn.



The journey itself has been filled with pot holes, self-doubt, frustration, anxiety, joy and euphoria. It hasn't always been an easy one, there have been learning curves, differences, and self-doubts. This project proved to be a challenge unlike anything we'd ever known, or anticipated. There were layers and layers of things we needed to do, tasks we had to master, and even when we thought we knew what we were doing. We have learned how to work as a team - even though we work independently - and overcome our own negative mentalities and egos.

I think we found the stories to be easier to write than we had anticipated, especially since both of us were familiar with writing. Ciara and I had already been published, and were familiar with the process in the sense we were comfortable with the story-telling. The characters were open and willing to allow us to tell their stories, and the worlds were fairly straight forward. It was only as we got further into the actual meat of the project where we stumbled.

However, that's for another post. As we near the release of book thirteen and the release of the second volume of our Boxed Sets, we are still learning, still developing our voices with each new book, each new character and really beginning to not only appreciate the journey for the journey's sake, but understanding the road we are on, is guiding us to yet another crossroad. As we near it, and stand upon the rocky ground, we can only trust ourselves to guide us on the next part of our journey...and we hope you'll come along with us.

When is The Best Time to Edit?

As an author, editing has become an old friend - one I think most of us have a love/hate relationship with. It's necessary regardless of what level of skill one has. Without the final stage of editing our work may not be as professional and polished as we would like. Which isn't to say it isn't a painful endevour, it can be.

Personally, its something I tended to start doing as soon as I opened the manuscript and started back at page one to get my mind into the writing. Since I know there just isn't enough hours in a day to do 70K, I often save and come back to the manuscript. As a pantser (I'll discuss in another post) I rarely have a map of what I'm writing. I usually start with the premise and go from there. So, I have to breeze through before I get down to writing the next chapter. This means often times I'll find things I question, leaving little notes on the side of the manuscript.

However, as I have found over time, editing as you go is not something I could do with the level of success I wanted to get. It often changed the story to the point where the idea was so twisted and moulded by the end it wasn't even what I'd envisioned. Am I the only one who feels like this? No, by no means am I alone in this. I've spoken to other authors who have said the same thing or variations of it.

Editing as you go is a destructive habit, in my humble opinion. If you can do it, kudos to you, but my brain won't work that way. I spoke to an author one time at length about this, and her words were profetic. If you're editing from the start every time you open the manuscript, how can you say you're finishing the piece? You spend so much time editing the first chapter(s) or pages and you lose sight of what is happening with the rest of the story.

The old adage of "You can't edit a blank page" is very true. To edit and polish, there must be something on the page, otherwise, you're not editing. But, when you think about editing, the last thing I'd recommend is editing as you go.

There are several reasons why I say this. Firstly, if you're editing as you go along, are you really gaining ground? The human brain is an amazing thing, we're able to do a lot of things because we have such a powerful inner computer. But, even the most experienced author cannot look at something they've just written and see anything wrong with it. Why? Because we see what we want to see when we're editing as we go along.

This isn't something we can change, though we can be a bit more aware of it.