What to Do When You Finish a First Draft

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So this post isn’t actually so much of a how-to as the title might imply (sorry). It’s actually more of a “what I am going to do next now that I’ve finished a first draft of a novel.” If you can glean any helpful tips from this, please do – if not, then just stay tuned and I’ll put up a more useful how-to-write-better post at some point in the future.

The other night I finished the first draft of the historical fiction that I’ve been working on since last summer. This is a record for me: a full (albeit shorter than normal for me) novel draft finished in less than a year. So here are my next steps for the process:

Step 1: Celebrate. I finished writing an entire book. I created people out of my head, and gave them life for 60,000+ words. And I also gave life to a real person of the past and recreated a piece of history, because this book is historical fiction. Continue reading →

Way Out West

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It’s been a while since I’ve written a travel post, because it’s been a while (far too long) since I’ve been on a trip. But last week I finally went on another adventure to a new land – and this time, I actually stayed in my own country.

The farthest west I’d ever been before was Kentucky (I’m east coast born and bred, in case you didn’t know). Last week I ventured all the way to northern Idaho.

Evergreens, mountains, a mirror lake, and snow - what's not to love?

Evergreens, mountains, a mirror lake, and snow – what’s not to love?

Before the trip, when I told friends where I was going, Continue reading →

The Best Social Media Sites for Writers

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“Writers need to be on social media!” everyone says. I agree. You don’t have to be a social media expert, or spend 24/7 connected to your Facebook and Twitter apps, but you should have an online presence. A website is a good start, but if you want

to develop a fan base, the best way to do that is to be accessible. And social media provides the perfect venue for you to connect directly with your fans.

Here are some of my favorite social media sites that I believe are the best-suited to authors:

Facebook

Yep, Facebook is the big dog of social media. And despite its constantly-changing algorithms, and young millennials flocking away from it because their parents just signed up, Continue reading →

Using Slang and Curse words – How Much is Okay?

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I’ve seen this topic circulating around the writing community a lot lately: when is it okay to use curse words in your story? And on a related topic: how much current slang is okay?

I believe the short answer is: “it depends.”

By way of a long answer, these are some factors that I think every writer should consider when using slang and/or curse words in their stories:

Intended audience

This is the most important factor, I think.Obviously you wouldn’t put a lot of four-letter words in a children’s book or middle grade chapter book, but intended audience covers more than just children versus adults. Continue reading →