Writability

Vlog: On Dealing with Rejection

Rejection is a tough, but inevitable part of being a writer. Today I'm talking the different stages of rejection and how to deal with them.

RELATED LINKS:

How do you deal with various forms of rejection?

Twitter-sized bites:

"The truth is, when you're a writer, rejection is inevitable." #vlog (Click to tweet)

Nervous about or struggling to handle rejections? @Ava_Jae vlogs about this inevitable part of being a writer. (Click to tweet)

Fixing the First Page Giveaway Winner #18!

Photo credit: looking4poetry on Flickr

Super quick post before I get the vlog up (which I am currently working on—stay tuned!) to announce the winner of the eighteenth fixing the first page feature giveaway (and final one of 2015)! Yay!

*drumroll*

And the winner is…

LUKE MOY!

Woohoo! Congratulations, Luke! Expect an e-mail from me shortly.

Thank you to all you wonderful entrants! If you didn't win, as always, there will be another fixing the first page giveaway next month (the first one of 2016—ahhh!), so keep an eye out! :)

Discussion: How Do You Decide Which Books to Read?

Photo credit: Simon Cocks on Flickr

Given that I currently have 309 books on my Goodreads TBR—and that’s after removing a bunch I’ve realized I’m probably never going to get to—I’ve been thinking about what makes me add a book to my TBR shelf and what makes me prioritize one book over another in terms of deciding what to buy when.

I’ve found that especially over the past year or so, books with representation—especially representation I haven’t seen a whole lot of—have become insta-adds. Right now, books with nonbinary characters and chronic illness are a top priority to me as well as characters with other disabilities, but I also keep an eye out for books with non-het protagonists especially in non-Contemporary settings and books that tackle mental illness. I also make note of when books have PoC characters, especially in non-Contemporary settings.

This year, #ownvoices books have also become a top priority for me—and it’s something I’m going to continue to focus on when choosing my reading material for next year.

Of course, all of these elements have to work alongside a very important qualifier, namely that the premise sounds like something I’d really enjoy. I’m not too picky about premise, given that I read across genres pretty widely, but there certainly have been plenty of books out there that sound like they have great representation but the premise just doesn’t sound like something that’d really grab me.

What gets me to move a book from TBR to “bought,” however, is the writing. And the author.

If I’ve already read the author’s books before and really enjoyed them, then I’m more likely to pre-order without sampling. If I haven’t read anything from the author, however, then most of the time I’ll read a sample to see if I like the writing first. If the book doesn’t grab me, then chances are likely I’ll remove it from my TBR.

There have, of course, been exceptions, because this year for the first time I pre-ordered two books without sampling from debut authors because I’d heard so many good things from readers I trust. Luckily, they were both fabulous books so I didn’t regret it.

But this sorting is basically how I decide what goes on my TBR and what I buy. Naturally, I still add (and read) books without representation, but in terms of what I’m going to prioritize first, the books I read usually go through this sorting. And it’s been working out pretty well for me so far.

How do you add and prioritize books on your TBR? And how do you decide what books to buy or borrow next?

Twitter-sized bite:

How do you decide what books to read? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

Line Editing: What to Look For

Photo credit: tsuacctnt on Flickr

So now that it is nearly 2016 and Beyond the Red edits are coming to a close, I've entered the stage of editing that once upon a time as a newbie writer I thought was the only thing writers needed to do in terms of editing: line edits.

As I have reiterated here many, many times, my baby writer self was hilariously wrong: line edits should be the last round of edits you do—not the first and only. But! After all the other more significant edits are worked out, there does indeed come a time to focus on the words on the page in a micro-sentence level.

I actually really enjoy line edits, especially when it's someone else's work (though I don't mind it in mine, either). And as I know many of you have enjoyed seeing me line edit with fixing the first page critiques, I thought I'd share some things I look for when line editing.

So in no particular order! Here we go:

Filter phrases. I've written about filter phrases in depth, so I won't rehash everything here. But if you're finding phrases like "I thought," "I saw," "I heard," "I felt," "I remembered," etc., then I highly recommend you take a look at that linked post to learn how to strengthen your writing.

Unintentional repetition. Sometimes, repetition can be used stylistically and can actually be a good thing—which is something that I like to do in my writing. But when it's done unintentionally, it can call attention to the word or phrase that was repeated and distract from the story. I find that reading your work out loud can be a good way to catch accidentally repeated words and phrases—and it's also not a bad idea to keep track of your known word crutches and do a search to hone in on those words specifically. (But remember—don't be afraid of using "said"!)

Confusing/murky sentences. Sometimes a sentence that made sense in your head while you were writing doesn't make sense at all while you're reading. It happens. Writing, for me at least, often happens quickly and when I'm in a zone so to speak, and sometimes when I read back what I've written, I have no idea what my brain was trying to say. Line editing is the time when you clarify these awkward sentences so they don't slow your readers down.

Voice specifications. This is very specific to the manuscript, but line editing is when you want to pay close attention to the voice. Does the character sound the way they should? If you're dealing with multiple POVs, does each character sound distinctive? Does the voice fit the genre and category that you're writing in? Would that specific character really say that specific word? This is when you really want to dig in and ask yourself if what's on the page is really how your character would speak and think. (For more help with voice, check out this post.)

Showing vs. telling. If you've been writing for more than a day, then chances are extremely likely you've heard "show don't tell." When you start line editing, this is where you really want to pay attention to this rule and ask yourself if you're showing when you should be and telling when you need to (because there is a time when telling is important, too!). While reading, make sure you're able to picture the setting and what's happening in the scene based solely on the words on the page (because, remember, readers don't have access to the image you have in your head while writing—all they have are the words). And similarly, when you see something told to the reader, stop and ask yourself if there's a way you could write that more vividly by showing the readers whatever you're telling them.

Interrupted/awkward flow. This is a little harder to describe, but you know it when you see it. When the flow of the writing is interrupted or gets awkward, it's often because of one of the problems above, but it's basically any time you have to slow down while reading because something in the sentence tripped you up. When this happens, it's helpful to reanalyze the sentence to figure out what it was, exactly, that forced you to slow down so that you can fix it.

The point of line edits is, in a sense, to make the writing invisible. Any time a reader stumbles over a word or phrase, or gets confused about something that wasn't explained clearly, they get pulled out of the story to re-analyze the words for clarification. Line editing should help you smooth the reading out, so that readers can stay completely invested in the story without getting distracted by an awkward turn of phrase on the page.

What do you look for when line editing?

Twitter-sized bites:

Not sure where to start with line edits? Author & assistant editor @Ava_Jae shares some elements to look for. (Click to tweet)

What do you look for when line editing? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

Discussion: What Would You Like to See More Of?

Photo credit: manoftaste.de on Flickr

So as of this moment, including this post, Writability has 832 posts (and they are all organized in the directory). From writing tips, to social media, to publishing, editing, the writing life, character development and more, this blog has had a LOT of posts. A lot a lot. Like, assuming each post is roughly 400 words, that's over 300,000 words worth of posts.

And so, as the year is ending and we're looking toward 2016, I'm curious about what topics you guys have found the most useful. What would you like to see more of? Are there any topics I've neglected that you have questions about? Anything you'd like some clarification on, or a different spin on an existing post you'd like to see? Do you have a writing/publishing/blogging-related question that I haven't answered? Now's the time to let me know!

My ears are open. Let me know what you'd like to see more of, and I will do my best to accommodate. :)

So today I'm putting the spotlight on you: what should I write more about going forward?

Twitter-sized bite:

Have a writing, publishing, or book-related question? @Ava_Jae is taking blog topic suggestions! (Click to tweet)

Vlog: What Authors Control

When it comes to related-to-the-published-book things, it turns out authors have less control than you might think. From movies to cover design, I break down what authors have influence over.

RELATED LINKS:

Have you ever been surprised by what authors do and don't control?

Twitter-sized bite:

When it comes to cover design, movies & more, how much control do authors have? @Ava_Jae breaks it down in her vlog. (Click to tweet)

Fixing the First Page Giveaway #18!

Photo credit: katerha on Flickr

Incredibly, we are one day away from the halfway point in December! Which means, due to a slightly accelerated/thinking ahead blog schedule because of the holidays, it's time for the last Fixing the First Page giveaway of 2015!

You guys, the next giveaway will be in 2016. 2016 is almost here. I just. How?

Anyway...

For those who’ve missed it in the past, the Fixing the First Page features is a public first 250 word critique. Using the lovely rafflecopter widget, anyone interested in winning a PUBLIC (as in, featured in a post on this blog) first page critique can enter.

For an example of what this critique will look like, here's the last Fixing the First Page post.

Rules!

ONLY the first 250 words will be critiqued (up to finishing the sentence). If you win and send me more, I will crop it myself. No exceptions.

ONLY the first page. I don’t want 250 random words from your manuscript, or from chapter 3. If you win the critique and send me anything other than the first 250 words of your manuscript, I will choose someone else.

I will actually critique it. Here. On the blog. I will say things as nicely as I can, but I do tend to be a little blunt. If you’re not sure you can handle a public critique, then you may want to take some time to think about it before you enter.

Genre restrictions. I'm most experienced with YA & NA, but I will still accept MG and Adult. HOWEVER. If your first page has any erotic content on it, I ask that you don’t enter. I want to be able to post the critique and the first 250 in its entirety without making anyone uncomfortable, and if you win and you enter a page with erotic content, I will choose someone else.

You must have your first page ready. Should you win, you need to be able to submit your first page within 48 hours of my contacting you to let you know you won. If 48 hours pass and I haven’t heard from you, again, I will choose someone else.

You’ll get the most out of this if it isn’t a first draft. Obviously, I have no way of knowing if you’re handing me a first draft (though I will probably suspect because it’s usually not that difficult to tell). I won’t refuse your page if it’s a first draft, but you should know that this critique will likely be of more use if you’ve already had your betas/CPs look over it. Why? Because if you don’t, the critique I give you will probably contain a lot of notes that your betas & CPs could have/would have told you.

There will not be a round 2 (unless you win again in a future contest). I hate to have to say this, but if you win a critique, it’s NOT an invitation to send me a bunch of your revisions. I wish I had the time available to be able to look at revisions, but sadly, I don’t. If you try to break this rule, I will nicely say no, and also remember to choose someone else should you win a second contest. Which would make me sad. :(

So that’s it! If you’re okay with all of the above and would like to enter to be the eighteenth public critique on Writability, do the thing with the rafflecopter widget below. You have until Monday, December 21 at 11:59 EST to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway