Tag: writing tips

Finding Time to Write

Finding Time to Write

by deannacabinian
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Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

The question I get asked most often, hands down, is how do you find time to write?

I think someone once said we have the same number of hours in the day as Beyoncé. And that’s true. She has the same hours we do. So how do you make time for writing when you have a full-time job, family, and other obligations?

Get up an hour earlier. This works. Do your writing before you do anything else. This is what currently works for me.

Break up a longer project into chunks. I used to write 1,000 words a day but find I can’t do that all the time. Still, I break up writing into smaller bits. For example, I tell myself I’m going to spend 2 weeks outlining (30 minutes a day). Or, I’m going to edit a picture book manuscript this week. Or, this week I’m going to chip away at a new novel knowing that it may take me 4-6 months to complete a draft.

Stay up an hour later, or write instead of watch Netflix. This was something I did earlier in my career. I would write instead of consume other media at night. Sometimes I wrote at 10 or 11 p.m.

Carve out time on the weekends. The weekend can quickly fill up with social gatherings, chores, and other errands. But if writing is important to you try to find an hour early Saturday or Sunday morning to work on your craft.

Always be prepared to take notes. I usually think of a way to fix a plot problem at weird times which is why I always have a writing instrument handy. I keep a notebook by the bed, pens in my purse, and take notes in my phone if I have to. The back of grocery receipts work well, too.

What time management strategies have worked for you when it comes to writing? Share your tips in the comments.

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How to Avoid Burnout as a Writer Part II

How to Avoid Burnout as a Writer Part II

by deannacabinian

Blog- stress

The first installment of my burnout series was so popular I decided to write a second. As mentioned before, here is my disclaimer that I am not a doctor, psychologist, or otherwise professionally certified to give advice. I’m just a regular person sharing tips on what has worked for me in my writing life.

My additional tips to avoid burnout:

Stop comparing yourself to others – in terms of writing, work, and other aspects of life. There is always going to be a twenty year-old who gets a book deal in one week. There will always be interns who are promoted after two months on the job where it might take four years before anyone recognizes your greatness. Only comparing you to you will help you stay sane.

Related to that, spend even less time on social media. Nothing encourages comparison-itis like having a newsfeed of every great thing that’s happening to everyone you know. Remind yourself that awesome updates are just a small part of someone’s life that they’re blasting out to the world. Everyone has problems, even people who come off as perfect.

Make eating healthy a priority. I love a good pizza as much as the next person, however (as much as I hate to admit it to myself) I feel so much better when I eat lean proteins, veggies, and fruit. I’m less tired and have more energy to focus on the things I care about, i.e. writing.

Make to do lists fun. Having so many things to do–writing, work, chores, family obligations–all the time can be overwhelming. My husband found these slightly inappropriate notepads that make crossing off tasks fun. Chores, projects, work, and all the things will always be there; might as well make it a little more enjoyable.

Over to you. Any tips to share that help you avoid burnout?

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Why You Should Edit Your Novel Backwards Plus Other Possibly Insane Yet Effective Editing Tricks

Why You Should Edit Your Novel Backwards Plus Other Possibly Insane Yet Effective Editing Tricks

by deannacabinian ♥ 2 Comments

writing blog post

I recently finished a major revision of a novel I’ve been working on since 2015. You read that right. I’ve spent almost three years with this novel, in which I’ve gone to hell and back. And trust me when I say that is not an exaggeration. I used several editing strategies with this novel that I’ve never used before and I’m convinced it has made me a better writer and editor. After 10 years of writing and working on multiple manuscripts here is my best editing advice:

Revise the manuscript backwards. Meaning, if you have thirty chapters in your book start editing Chapter 30 first, then Chapter 29, and on down. I don’t know why I’d never tried this before, but it is my new favorite technique. You see things going backwards that you don’t see when editing in a linear fashion.

Color code the thing if need be. Again, this is something I’d never tried before. My writing mentor said there wasn’t enough body language in my book. So what did I do? I printed the thing out and highlighted all the body language in orange. If there was no orange on a page or the color didn’t appear for several pages I looked at where I could add body language in. This was painful–VERY painful–but man did it work!

Map out chapters in Excel. Chapter length wasn’t something I took a serious look at before. I tracked the length of chapters in Excel as well as charted characters’ feelings to make sure they were changing. If there were too many or too few pages between chapters I looked at where an alternate break could be made.

What about you? What unique editing techniques have you tried? Share in the comments.

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P.S. I also wanted to share that I have an agent 🙂 I’ll write a longer blog post about how I did it, but I’m happy to say I’m now represented by Penny Moore of Aevitas Creative Management.

What Can a Writing Mentorship Teach You?

What Can a Writing Mentorship Teach You?

by deannacabinian

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I’m excited to guest post for YA Interrobang today! I talk about what I learned from my Writing in the Margins mentorship. Go here to check it out.

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Behind the scenes of a novel: One Love

Behind the scenes of a novel: One Love

by deannacabinian

Generic book photo

A lot of people ask me how long it takes to write and produce a novel. Here I’m going to break down step by step what I did to write and produce One Love.

  • September 2016: I started getting ideas for a sequel to One Night. I started writing two different potential sequels that I abandoned. The story lines weren’t strong enough and bored me, to be honest.
  • January 2017: I got a different idea and wrote a four-page outline for what would become One Love. The story structure template I’ve used for many years is the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet. Technically it is an outline for screenplays but it works great for novels, too. To order Blake Snyder’s book which details each part of the template go here.
  • January-March 2017: I wrote the first draft of One Love. I wrote roughly 1,000 words per day, five days a week (I take a break on weekends if I can).
  • April-June 2017: I did two revisions of the manuscript. This brought me to draft number three.
  • July 2017: I sent the book to my editor. It took about eight weeks for her to review. I also worked with a designer on the cover.
  • September 2017: I got the editor’s report back and spent two weeks making edits. I edited what I could on-screen then printed out the book and did one more edit. If you’re keeping track this would be version four of the manuscript.
  • Early October 2017: After I was satisfied I sent the book to a proofreader.
  • October 2017: I reviewed the proofreader’s changes then laid out the print version of my book which took approximately 4 hours.
  • November 2017: I ordered a print proof of the book. I read it, made minor word changes (I changed maybe two or three words) and updated the print file.
  • December 2017: I released the book. It would have been out sooner except I submitted the book for consideration to Amazon’s Kindle Scout program.

There you have it. I hope this takes some of the mystery out of the writing and production process.

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Writing from a guy’s POV as a female author

Writing from a guy’s POV as a female author

by deannacabinian

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I recently guest posted at Lil Book Lovers where I talked about How to Write From a Male Point of View as a Female Author. Go here to read the full post.

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One Night: Bonus book club content

One Night: Bonus book club content

by deannacabinian
  1. Thompson has a special place in his heart for Cap’n Crunch cereal. Make these tasty marshmallow treats using the cereal and share with your book club, friends, family, or just make them for yourself!
  2. The 2013 movie, The Way Way Back, shares a similar premise to One Night. Watch the movie and discuss how it differs from Thompson & Johnny’s story. Are the two projects making the same point or different ones?
  3. The idea of fate or destiny is prevalent in One Night. What is the novel’s take on these themes?

One-Night-Cover

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2016 Writing Accomplishments

2016 Writing Accomplishments

by deannacabinian

writing-blog-post

As writers it’s easy to focus on what we didn’t accomplish in the last year. With so many books being released and the amount of competition it’s sometimes hard to appreciate the small victories. Here’s a rundown of my wins from 2016. When I’m feeling unmotivated in 2017 I’ll look back at this post for inspiration!

2016 writing accomplishments:

I hope you all had a nice holiday and wonderful new year in 2017!

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How to make sure your manuscript is in great shape before sending it to an editor

How to make sure your manuscript is in great shape before sending it to an editor

by deannacabinian

writing-goals

One of the things that terrified me about self-publishing was working with an editor. Even though I was confident enough in my novel to go about publishing it independently I was still worried the editor would have some harsh words for me when it came time to read his evaluation of my manuscript. As I waited for my editorial letter I was sure it was going to say I should abandon the idea of publishing my novel and quit writing altogether. I was afraid it would say my story was stupid, filled with ridiculous characters and shoddy writing. Instead, my editor said, “The story world feels real, like it’s inhabited by real people instead of shallow caricatures…you don’t tell us what a character is feeling, you show us the symptoms of that significance or those emotions.”

Though there were loads of grammatical corrections, in terms of rewrites the changes I had to make were very minor and could be accomplished in an hour or two. I think the reason the letter was so complimentary was because of my relentless editing and vetting of my manuscript.

To ensure a smooth reception of your own manuscript, I suggest following the steps below:

-Self-edit as much as possible. This translates to: read the damn thing as much as you can without going crazy. I read my manuscript probably 12 or 15 times before I took it to an editor. I did specific searches in Word for show vs. tell, re-read the first and last sentences of each chapter, and changed the font a few times which let me see my manuscript with fresh eyes. I discovered something I wanted to change with every single read.

-Start writing something else. I got a good chunk of another novel completed while editing One Night. Even though I loved the characters in One Night it got trying at times, spending so much time with them. To get a break I started a new manuscript. Taking some time away from One Night also allowed me to look at the novel with fresh eyes when I came back to it.

-Employ the use of beta readers at different stages of the editing process. I used beta readers after I finished a first draft and again after I finished the third draft. It can be hard to find good beta readers—i.e. ones that are actually helpful—but they are a must if you want to improve your manuscript. Whether you send the entire thing to beta readers or a partial manuscript it will help you immensely. They will catch things you yourself don’t see. There are many people out there willing to beta read for free so I suggest you save yourself some money and recruit people who are happy to devote their time at no charge.

-Read your manuscript out loud. This is really a companion to step number one, but since it involves reading aloud I wanted to add it separately. Reading your manuscript out loud makes you aware of awkward phrases you can’t catch when you read the pages in your head.

-Have professionals vet your novel. Before I decided to publish One Night, I tried to get it traditionally published. In fact, I urge all of you who are thinking about self-publishing to try the traditional route first. I queried agents for nine months. The reason I decided to go ahead and publish One Night myself was because of the high request rate I had for the full manuscript. Without this I would’ve been hesitant. Moreover, the reasons for rejection were all over the board and subjective. If agents had rejected One Night for the same reason over and over I would have thought major changes were needed, but since they varied greatly in their reasoning and complimented my writing and the characters I knew I was onto something.

I wish you the best of luck as you work with an editor on your manuscript and hope you find these tips useful.

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How to edit your novel

How to edit your novel

by deannacabinian

writing-blog-post

Every writer has a different editing process, but over the years I’ve figured out what mine looks like and wanted to share it with you in case it helps you with your writing. There’s more than one way to edit a novel, but this is what works for me.

After I complete a first draft these are the steps I take to get it to what I consider a finished state:

  1. I do an initial read-through. In this stage I read everything on the computer and fix any glaring issues: grammatical errors, plot holes, add/delete scenes. Etc
  2. I add details/description. I have a tendency to underwrite on the first draft – leave out what someone looks like, what the setting looks like, etc. On this draft I add those details in.
  3. I print out the book and read it again. The whole time I am in these stages I am also developmental editing. Are there enough obstacles for the character? Are they changing enough?  Is the pacing ok?  Some writers do this as a separate edit but it’s always in the back on my mind as I’m editing.
  4. I edit for show vs. tell. Using this checklist usually catches all the culprits.
  5. I do another edit for the first and last sentences of each chapter. Those should be as compelling as possible and make the reader want to read more.
  6. Assuming I am satisfied at this point I show parts or all of the book to at least three beta readers or critique partners.
  7. I make edits if people are commenting on the same issue and/or I agree with their suggestions.
  8. I print the book out and read it to my dog. Usually there are errors that crop up when hearing the book out loud.
  9. I change the font of the manuscript, print it out, and read it again.
  10. I show the book to three different test readers than before.
  11. I make edits as I see fit based on their comments.
  12. I read the book on my Kindle. I feel like this is the only real way to mimic a reader’s experience. If anything jumps out at me I fix it in the manuscript.

As you can see, if you can’t find something to love on the fifth, tenth or twelfth read of your novel, perhaps you should move on to another project. Also, keep in mind all of this happens before the book goes to a professional editor.

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Interested in having me speak to your writing or school group to cover more techniques? Go here for more info.