I know how you’re feeling. You’re afraid to look at it. You’re afraid you won’t know how to fix it.
That draft. Yep, it’s a mess.
Plot holes, limp dialogue, caricatures instead of characters, and a shallow theme that plays like a bad soundtrack throughout the story.
This is impossible to fix, you think. You avoid it like it’s your snide mother-in-law, a Jehovah’s Witness at the door, or that colonoscopy you’re supposed to schedule.
Yes, your story could be bad. Maybe it sucks.
But is it beyond redemption?
No story is beyond redemption. “Drafts” (notice the word is plural) are called drafts for a reason. You will have multiple iterations of the same story. Accept it as part of the process. No one writes a perfect book the first time.
Instead of dreading your crude first draft, get excited about watching its evolution. Dig through your words and find the little pockets of goodness inside. Expand on them.
Stay curious. Ask your characters questions. Write down the millions of possibilities for them.
Read your draft over and over again (no matter how much it hurts) until something sparks against the flint of your mind. Sit quietly. Clear the inner badgering and follow your gut instincts.
It’s that time of year. Many of you have fingertips flying down the homestretch of NaNoWriMo. Some of you published authors are trying to close out the year with releases and sales. Other writers are revising and preparing to submit their work.
2020 has been a year like no other. That is why we are going to do something fun in the Writers’ Mastermind to go out with a bang.
Instead of releasing another masterclass, which I know all of us are overwhelmed as the holidays approach, we are going to create the first ever Writers’ Mastermind Read Your Story Mash-Up Challenge!
What is it?
Each member of the Writers’ Mastermind will read up to 5 minutes of their work on video. It can be a published work or an excerpt of a work-in-progress. Flash fiction, short stories, chapters of novels of any genre are all welcome (please nothing extremely graphic).
Recorded readings will be done on the live Mastermind Mash-Up Zoom call (date and time to be announced) or can be pre-recorded by the author and sent in to be added to the Mash-Up video.
Why do it?
Video is the best way to connect with your audience. They can both see and hear you and get to know your work on an intimate level.
Learning to read to your audience will prepare you for future publicity events (social media lives, book signings, etc.)
We know many authors feel uncomfortable putting themselves out there—not just on video, but in any form. By accepting this challenge with us, you will break the ice when it comes to promoting and sharing your work.
The mash-up will shared on our website, social media, and mailing list. It will also be advertised, giving you and your writing free exposure and opening you up to new readers, friends, and followers.
This is a great opportunity to have some fun, maybe step slightly out of your comfort zone, and become part of a collaborative project with all the other writers in the community.
Remember when you were a kid and being an artist was fun? Finger paints and imaginary friends. Silly costumes and play-acting.
We didn’t think about whether or not our creations and performances would sell or receive a good review on a trendy site. The reward was the simple act of creation, to make something that didn’t exists before.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” — Pablo Picasso
As we grow from the limitless imagination and wonderment of a child into adulthood, that sense of creative abandon is diluted. We are caged by rules. We become overly self-conscious, losing our own individual spark in our desire to fit in or be on top of the next big thing.
Before we know it, writing becomes a chore. What was a wild refuge where we could run free is now a cramped and stuffy cubicle. It happens slowly, like aging itself, when we wake up one day to look in the mirror and wonder, who the hell is this person?
Not only does our work suffer, it branches out into everything. If we can’t have fun with writing, we can’t have fun with publishing. Nor can we have fun with book publicity and marketing. It becomes contrived, rigid, cliché, or boring. We lose the passion that used to inflame us, and it all seems like work.
7 habits that kill creativity
1. Judging yourself too harshly
We writers worship our greats. We aspire to be like them, and maybe one day we will. One of the reasons I haven’t published the series I’ve been working on for eight years is because I thought it wasn’t good enough. It didn’t compare to the masterpieces of my writing gods, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Really? Did I think I was going to be the next Tolstoy? On my first book?
Perfect is the enemy of good. Don’t stall on a good story, waiting for it to become perfect. Our definition of perfection changes all the time So do the best you can, and then let it go.
2. Comparing yourself to others
So-and-so is a bestseller and you’re not. A writer who just got out of high school is getting nominated for a prestigious award while you have none. A comparative author has double the amount of followers you have. Either you feel like scrambling to catch up with them, or you become discouraged and depressed that you are so far behind.
This is a recipe for misery. You are your only competition. And you don’t know what those writers had to do to get where they are. Furthermore, their life may not even be as great as it appears online.
3. Trying too hard to make it happen
In trying to hard to make it happen, we rush, we get sloppy, we create self-imposed deadlines that stress us out. We forget the joy of writing when we are pushing too hard, and we can sound like simpering sycophants, braggadocios, drowning readers in purple prose. Don’t overthink it. Don’t pander. Just get into your natural flow. Trust your you-ness.
4. Setting unrealistic expectations
Goals are important, but so is their achievability. If you set a goal to write four novels in a year while working a full-time job and being a parent, you are setting yourself up for failure. Not meeting these goals will make you feel like giving up. You will feel stressed and frustrated. Make realistic expectations for yourself. Give yourself room to live life while you pursue them.
5. Rushing for success
If you’re aiming for success, great. We all want to become successful authors. But, contrary to popular belief, success doesn’t happen overnight. Most of the most popular authors slogged for years before getting recognition. If you’ve made up your mind to be miserable until you are a success, you could be miserable for a long time.
Learn to enjoy your ride. One day you might be ridiculously famous and look longingly back on these quiet days when there weren’t so many deadlines and life was less demanding.
6. Not learning anything new
One of my biggest setbacks was that I kept writing without ever having taken one class. Even if your talented, you need guidance and feedback to optimize your skills.
I finally took my first class in Sept. 2019 with amazing writer and human being, Richard Thomas. It was the catalyst for everything that is happening for me right now. Not only has it opened new pathways, but I also feel more confident in my abilities and know what I have to offer and who to offer it to.
Most of us are flying blind, but when you are aware of your weak points you can improve them. Learning keeps you growing. It keeps your writing fresh. It’s incredible how much more capable you feel when you own your gifts and know how to use them. Evolving as an artist is one of the most satisfying parts of being a writer. Get involved in this process.
7. Taking yourself too seriously
Do you dwell on mistakes? Lose hope after a failure? Maybe you got a rejection. Or your book launch flopped. Has a snarky reviewer ripped you to shreds? Yes. It sucks. There’s no denying that. You can allow yourself a half a day to mope around.
Then be realistic about it. Your work won’t get accepted one hundred percent of the time. Your latest book might not be the one that skyrockets you to stardom. Not every reviewer is going to get what you were trying to do with your story. Laugh it off and ask yourself, what can I learn from this, and more importantly, what’s next?
Amazing things have been going down at Let’s Get Published.
We had our Mixer Parties and finally had a chance to speak with those writers we’ve been texting, commenting, and emailing for years.
It’s truly remarkable to see all the faces and hear the voices of writers and bloggers we’ve been following for so long. It’s been especially important to connect over something we love in these times of pandemic and quarantine.
We also had two pre-launch Writers’ Mastermind chats, where wait list members joined on Zoom to discuss Turning Fear into Fiction and Having Fun with Writing Again. Something magical happens when we put our minds together and combine our ideas.
It’s time to support your fellow writers
We’re proud to say that our writers are making things happen. Stories are being published, books are being released, writing wisdom is being offered, submissions are opening. Have a look below and see what piques your interest. There is something for everyone.
David Antrobus’s “Vacation” is published by Storgy Literary Magazine
Vacation by David Antrobus – “The moment he throws the first jab, he’s conscious of a songbird out in the yard. As he feels the jarring impact and at least one of his knuckles coming apart, he imagines the bird trawling the very latticework of spring for a mate, indifferent to this uncoupling of some other kind of couple….” Read the full story on Storgy
Joe Sale comes out in Burnt Fur anthology, offers Epic Bootcamp to writers
Burnt Fur: Twisted Tails of Horror
Sit. Roll over. PLAY DEAD…
There are no good boys in this anthology, only twisted, deviant, and burnt encounters with animals, humans, and creatures that blur the line between the two.
The Epic Bootcamp is a course to help you tell bigger and better stories. Like Virgil once guided Dante through the circles of Hell, Joseph Sale will be your guide through the pitfalls of storytelling on a grand scale. With over 20+ books published (fiction under his name, and many ghost-written books), and years of academic and editing experience, you could wish for no better guide.
Mr. Sale will teach you how to:
create epic protagonists your audience root for
scale-up your stories and add depth to them
create visions of hell and lead your hero through the
and most importantly, how to end your stories in a way that will haunt your readers forever.
Ross Jeffery’s “Tethered” Available for Preorder, “Juniper” Nominated for Award
Available for Preorder
Tethered explores the fractured relationship of a father and son. Each story is told with unflinching and honest prose that is both hard hitting and heartrending. These stories delve into themes of toxic masculinity, love, hope, despair, domestic violence, sexuality, weakness and overcoming oppression. Tethered also asks the bigger question of ‘do we ever escape the harm our parents do to us; or do we go through life marred and influenced from our upbringing.
Tia Wojciechowski Signs with The Writing Collective for Hectrossippy
My Zoom co-host and sister, Tia Wojciechowski (aka Bia Bella Baker), has just signed with The Writing Collective to publish her pre-industrial YA fantasy Hectrossippy to be released September 2020!
Susan Holt’s The Heart Casts No Shadow earning 5 star reviews
Will Rhonwyn free her heart and her people, or become the pawn of the most dangerous man ever seen?
When her skill at a complex strategy game gives her a way into the palace, Rhonwyn becomes the eyes and ears of the Resistance.
She’s there to help bring down the evil King Risick – the man who seized control and forced her people into his mines. The man who killed Rhonwyn’s father before her eyes, breaking her heart and fracturing her sanity.
Everything changes when she meets a vibrant man who’s also trapped in the palace. Rhonwyn’s not so alone now and her soul begins to heal. But his dangerous secret forces Rhonwyn to choose between the freedom of her people and the love she’s finally found.
Lilyn George from ScifiandScary.com announces opens call for new body horror anthology
ScifiandScary.com is the go-to site for Sci-Fi & Horror Reviews, News, and More. READ THE LATEST REVIEWS.
Twisted Anatomy: A SF&S Body Horror Anthology
Sci-Fi & Scary is pleased to announce that we are opening submissions for our first charity anthology, with a goal of publishing in mid-February, 2021. Proceeds will be split between the Pulmonary Hypertension Association and National Domestic Violence Hotline.
For the details of submitting to this anthology CLICK HERE.
Dan Soule’s Neolithica on Sale for 99¢
99¢ on Kindle
Some things should stay buried…
The discovery of a young boy’s body, brutally murdered and preserved for thousands of years in a Scottish peat bog, brings with it more than a find of a lifetime for archaeologist Mirin Hassan. After the death of her husband, Mirin wants life to get back to normal for her and her young son. But media attention and professional rivalries become the least of her worries. Something other than cameras followed the corpse back to the university. A malevolent force grows unseen. The weather turns biblical. Violence and death spread beyond the university. Could it be connected with the strange discovery? The city grasps for a rational explanation, but time is up. Chaos has arrived, as Mirin realises some things should stay buried.
#PitMad is a pitch party on Twitter created by PitchWars.org where writers tweet a 280-character pitch for their completed, polished, unpublished manuscripts. Agents and editors make requests by liking/favoriting the tweeted pitch.
Every unagented writer is welcome to pitch. All
genres/categories are welcomed.
#PitMad dates 2020
March 5, 2020 (8AM – 8PM EDT)
June 4, 2020 (8AM – 8PM EDT)
September 3, 2020 (8AM – 8PM EST)
December 3, 2020 (8AM – 8PM EST)
For Official #PitMad rules and the list of category hashtags,CLICK HERE.
About Pitch Wars
Pitch Wars is a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions on how to make the manuscript shine for an agent showcase.
