How to Finally Write that Book this Summer, Even if You Haven’t Written a Word

How to Finally Write that Book this Summer, Even if You Haven’t Written a Word

by | Jul 22, 2020 | How to Write a Novel, Uncategorized, Writing | 0 comments

How to Finally Write that Book this Summer Even if You Haven’t Written a Word

 

In this summer of COVID, many of us may find ourselves with additional free time on our hands from fewer barbecues, farmers markets, or fairs. However, some would-be authors might overwhelmed by the size of a book-length project. 

How can you use this time to finally write your book? 

 

Here are some of my top tips from my writing coach archives: 

Write down your end goal. 

We’ve heard this one a million times. However,  if you don’t know what you want to accomplish, you’ll never get it done.

As Lewis Carroll famously wrote “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” 

 

Know what you want to accomplish. If you’re like most writers, when you start to untangle this “what I want” knot,  you’ll find it’s far more complicated than you first thought. 

For example, maybe your dream isn’t just a book, it’s a series, movie rights, and a worldwide book tour. Those are all great ideas, but one step at a time.

If you can hone in on the first step toward your dream, then you can break it down into actual action steps, moving it from nebulous dream to achievable goal. 

 

Choose a deadline. 

Choose a day you are going to have this project done. This step cannot be overlooked. 

While deadlines are a huge motivator, here’s a pro tip: Post your deadline out on social media.

Tell your friends, parents, and especially someone who intimidates you a little bit. Let these people hold you accountable and keep you motivated.

Once you set that deadline for yourself, you’re going to work backwards from that date to create your work plan. How much writing do you have to do each day to reach your goal, and how can you carve out the time to make it happen?

Remember that Creativity is Wonky.

Despite the best laid plans of mice and men (Thank you, Steinbeck and Burns) to write 5,000 words a day or a chapter an hour, creativity is not always a linear process. 

You may want to finish that chapter today, but your book and your brain have other ideas.

When our characters (or ideas) misbehave, they’re often right.

You may feel like you want the piece to take a certain shape or go in a certain direction. The brain is sending us a caution flag, though. When your creativity takes the lead, following it always bears fruit. I promise. 

Now, the piece you create today may not make the final cut for your book, but the information you garnered from the experience of following your creativity will always bring a benefit to the piece as a whole.

Find your best writer and be that writer 

All kinds of would-be mentors want to tell you that you have to do it one way in order to be a real writer. However, there are some rules, especially if you want to traditionally publish. 

That said, in the creative phase the most important consideration is finding your creative flow. 

Write with a pencil or a tablet, outdoors or in your bed, use an outline, or allow the natural flow of ideas. None of this fluff matters, but here’s what does:

 Find the place where you can be at your creative best to get that draft out of you. 

After all, you can’t publish until you have a book. And you can’t have a book until you get it done.

The biggest key to success I have seen in writers who finish and publish is that they find and embrace the writer they are, so they can write book after book with creative ease. 

Show up every day like it’s your job. 

My writing mentor, Julia Alvarez, wasn’t the first one to say it, but she was the first one to say it to me: Being a writer is 90% applying butt to chair. 

Write at the beach. Write in a hammock. Write on your lunch break. Whatever you do, make writing a habit, and you’ll see the results. 

You don’t get a dream body by going to the gym once, or even once a week. The same is true of writing a book. Show up. Do the work. Even when it stings. 

Remember that writing is art, and art takes time. 

Many writers get lost in the rabbit hole: Why is it taking me so long to finish my manuscript? This trap turns into self doubt. “I must not be a good writer.” “I’m never going to get it done.” Believe me, I’ve heard it all, and I’ve seen self-doubt and fear stymy project after project. 

What if you reframe this fear?  What if instead you say, “Writing is art and art takes time.” 

Consider the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo. It took four and a half years for him to complete that masterpiece, which–frankly, if you’ve seen the level of detail–you know it’s astonishing he completed it so quickly. 

What else?

The Washington Monument took thirty years to construct; thirty full years.

Let’s think about more writing-related references. 

It took Victor Hugo twelve years to write Les Miserables and Harper Lee spent two and a half years writing To Kill a Mockingbird.

Writing is art, and art takes time.  Completing your manuscript is not going to happen overnight, not because there’s something wrong with you, but because you are an artist.  Allow yourself to get into creative flow, and creativity will reward you with a cornucopia of ideas and finished pages.

Promise. I’ve watched it with my own eyes hundreds of times. 

Pace yourself. 

Working with the creative process and the brain’s natural function means you must be really honest with yourself about how much you can get done. It’s very admirable and ambitious if you say you’re going to get everything done today, but you also might be setting yourself up for failure. When you set yourself up for failure, you’ll feel yucky about yourself. You don’t want to come back to the project feeling like you failed. So, make reasonable goals for yourself and pace your project in a reasonable way.

 

If you’re ready to take the next step and follow these steps above, give us a call or book an appointment.

—

Annalisa Parent is a writing coach who has helped hundreds of authors to finish and publish well. She used neuroscientific principles to guide the writing process through her programs in the Writing Gym. To find out more, and to download her free e-book The Six Steps to Go from Struggling Writer to Published Author, visit www.datewiththemuse.com. 

Never Give Up on Your Writing

Never Give Up on Your Writing

by | May 28, 2020 | How to Write a Novel, Quality Writing Feedback, Writing | 0 comments

Never Give Up on Your Writing

 

Today, I am ready to feature Barbara Pattee, who has an amazing message about never giving up. Barbara is writing a romance novel, but one that dabbles a little in crime.

“I like romance that is a little more than ‘boy meets girl,’ or ‘girl meets boy,’ where everything ends happily ever after,” Barbara said.

Barbara joined the Writing Gym after years of writing on her own. For as long as she can remember, she felt compelled to express herself through her writing.

“I’ve always been a writer,” she said. “I used to write in secret, because it wasn’t considered an important career. I even learned how to do shorthand.”

Her writing has taken many forms over the years. She has done short stories, poetry, and memoir pieces–including one she put together from stories her father told her when he had fallen ill.

“He started talking about his childhood, I started writing notes, and I wrote a memoir based on what he said,” Barbara said. “I read it to him, and he loved it.”

 

As much as Barbara enjoyed writing, there was something about it that left her unfulfilled.

“I wasn’t happy,” she said. “I knew that I wanted more. I’ve wanted to write something full-length.”

Barbara knew she wanted to write a novel. However, when she sought feedback–professional writers, writing groups, etc.–she encountered a lot of resistance.

Yet Barbara wouldn’t allow this to deter her from her dream.

“I said I would never give up,” she said. “And I didn’t.”

Like many writers, Barbara has her share of horror stories about what can happen when you look for feedback in the wrong places. One professor, a professional writer herself, read one of Barbara’s stories and drowned her in a torrent of negative criticism.

“She hated it,” Barbara said. “But classmates came to me, some in tears, saying they loved what I wrote. So I was getting a mixed messages.”

The feedback wasn’t helping at all; if anything, it hurt. Then, at a writers’ conference, Barbara saw Storytelling for Pantsers. She felt as if the book had been written just for her.

“I started reading it, and I thought, ‘She’s talking to me. She’s saying what I’m feeling,'” Barbara said.

“I have dozens and dozens of books (about writing) that did not move me. But Storytelling for Pantsers spoke to me.”

The book spoke to Barbara’s aversion to outlining her stories. Finally, she had confirmation of what she believed:

She didn’t need an outline to write a good story.

“I’m a pantser,” she said. “I can’t do outlines. I had to do it in school and I hated it from the beginning.”

Reading the book inspired Barbara to get on a call with me.

“The call was very encouraging,” she said. “I liked that you don’t tell us we have to do something. What you do is you make suggestions, give us ideas, and ask us questions to answer.”

I invited Barbara to join the Writing Gym, and she accepted. Since then, we have been working together on her novel. Barbara enjoys the information and encouragement she get from the video modules on the Writing Gym website. She also loves the Salons, in which writers get together, write for 20 minutes based on a prompt, and share their writing with each other.

“There’s no negativity in Salon,” Barbara said. “And you also get feedback on what other writers hear in your story. Some things you may not think are that important wind up being extremely important and that encourages me as a writer.”

During one of the early Salons, Barbara wrote a piece that involved slavery, similar to the one her college professor had treated with disdain. As she shared it with the other writers, she braced herself for another barrage of negative feedback.

“I thought, ‘Am I going to get slammed again?’” Barbara remembers. “But I wasn’t. I was encouraged, and that was beautiful.”

Barbara said she has grown a great deal as a writer since joining the Gym.

Barbara’s writing is thriving. She credits her encouragement from me, and from her fellow “Gym Rats,” for helping her summon the courage to be vulnerable in her storytelling.

I have added a lot more emotion in my stories, which, as a child growing up I was taught that I had to hold back. But, as a writer, I have to look inside myself, think about what I am feeling.

In the Writing Gym, we talk a lot about the inner critic.

Listening to your inner critic can hold you back in your writing, and you have to learn to silence it in order to maximize your storytelling potential.

Barbara has wrestled with her inner critic for years. But now, she’s winning!

“My inner critic is upset, because she doesn’t have much to say now,” she said. “I’m smiling a lot more. Even my husband has noticed that.”

Barbara has been an amazing advocate of the Writing Gym; she recommends it to whoever will listen.

“I tell them about what it’s like being in the Writing Gym, and I’ve tried to encourage them to join,” she said. “I’m hoping that they will join even before my book is published. But after it’s published, I know they’re going to want to join.”

Barbara realizes that the Writing Gym isn’t for everyone. She knows it’s not a place for hobbyists.

“I think it’s really about deciding how serious you are,” she said about joining the Gym. “How much do you want to be a writer? Is it a hobby, or is it something you want as a career?”

Barbara has made her choice; she wants a writing career, and she’s willing to put in the work to get there. The more progress she makes, the more resolute she becomes.

“I will not give up. I’m going to continue.”

Thank you so much, Barbara! We love having you in the Writing Gym!

If you’re serious about your writing career, we’d love to chat with you. 

 

The Quickest and Easiest Way to get a Literary Agent even during COVID-19

The Quickest and Easiest Way to get a Literary Agent even during COVID-19

by | May 16, 2020 | How to Find a Literary Agent, Writing | 0 comments

The Quickest and Easiest Way to get a Literary Agent even during COVID-19

 

People in other writing groups on Facebook ask: “What are agents doing these days?”

And, like most writers’ groups, people who have never actually met an agent in their lives are weighing in with conjecture. Well, I talk to a lot of agents every day, and I’m here to tell you what’s actually happening in the publishing industry while we’re shut down, so to speak.

Many of us are stuck at home. What are the agents doing? Well, many are taking advantage of the opportunity to read more. A lot of the agents I talk to are thinking, “This is great! I’ve got more time to read!”

The other thing I’ve been seeing is an increase in contract offers. They’ve got more time to read and make offers. Many of them are working from home. They’re getting on the phone with authors and holding interviews. Did you know that that happens?

Before you get offered a contract, you get interviewed to see if you’re a really good fit. There have been a lot of those happening, and I’ve seen numerous contracts coming through in my circle , in my sphere of writers, and others that I know.

Recently, I was talking with Jeff Kleinman. You may have heard of him. He’s a co-founder over at Folio Lit, an agency every author would love to have represent them. Jeff himself has multiple New York Times best sellers on his list.

Here’s what happened during that conversation: one of our Writing Gym members, Aaron, has this great literary piece he’s put together. So right there, on the spot, I was able to tell Jeff about Aaron’s work. And Jeff said, “Great. Send me the first 50 pages.”

Are agents still looking for high quality manuscripts? Are they still making offers?

Absolutely.

Are publishing houses still making deals?

Absolutely.

I can tell you what happened for Aaron. Like most agents, Jeff Kleinman has one of those submission forms where you put your query, or whatever it is that they’re looking for, in and eventually you hear back. Aaron hadn’t heard anything in a while. Since I know Jeff, I was able to call him up and check in with him about the status of Aaron’s materials. It turns out that he wasn’t able to receive Aaron’s materials.

But guess what I can do? I can send the materials straight his way. And I did.

I reached out to Aaron, got a copy of his query that he had sent to Jeff, zipped it over to Jeff and, like, quite literally 19 seconds later — if it was even that long — he got a request for the first 50 pages!

So, that’s the power of the Writing Gym.

That’s the kind of thing we’re doing for our writers.

If you’re tired of spinning your wheels and not getting any results and being frustrated and wondering how you can get an agent, let’s chat. You can drop yourself right into my calendar and we’ll talk about where you are, where you’d like to go, and how you can get there.

Until next time: Happy writing!

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Do you speak Agent-ese?

Do you speak Agent-ese?

by | Apr 5, 2020 | How to Publish, How to Sell a Novel, Writing | 0 comments

Do you speak Agent-ese? 

I recently had lunch via Zoom with one of the agents I frequently speak with.

I know in this day and age, we’re doing a lot of digital meetings. It was funny, because she was telling me about negotiating rights with another person over Zoom. 

We are all dealing with the coronavirus right now. One of the positive things we can choose to see during these times is now writers have the time to write, read, and slow down a little.

And there is light at the end of the tunnel over in the Writing Gym. The publishing business has not slowed down despite the coronavirus. 

During my meeting with the agent, we strategized the careers of some of our writers who are in the Novel Selling U and are also on the Paths to Pulitzer. These writers have finished their novels, and they’re in the submission process. They’re creating that career. 

I want to highlight one particular member: Jeanne. The agent and I were looking at her synopsis and marketing angle. We asked each other: “Where are we going to place her novel in the market?” 

Imagine having access to an agent in the way that Writing Gym members do, an agent who can look at the whole picture and say: “All right, placement-wise, where’s the very best place for this and how can we position this so that this author is successful?”  

So, two pieces of good news;

One, agents are still looking for quality manuscripts.

Two, kudos to Jeanne and some of the other authors over in the Writing Gym for joining the Writing Gym and having created access for themselves to that kind of expertise.

The other thing that came up in the course of the conversation was the way agents reject manuscripts, and the things they say when they do.

It is not the agent’s job to tell you what to do with your manuscript when they reject it. But, they do have different ways of telling you they’re rejecting your piece. This particular agent I talked to said: “You might want to have some more people to read your work.” That was her way of saying that your manuscript just isn’t ready yet, but she won’t really tell you everything that you have to do.

Again, that is not the agents’ job. 

You might not understand this, because you don’t speak Agent-ese. The thing is, I speak to agents several times a week. I’m speaking to publishers and editors several times a week so that I can read between the lines when the writers over in the Writing Gym get those rejection letters. And because of that, we can interpret the letters. 

Remember when we were all still in school and we were graded with letters, from A-F? We can try to interpret your “grade” judging by the rejection letter. Is it an A or an F? What are they really trying to say with this language that they’re using?

At the Writing Gym, we have agents who have worked with us for a long time and, to be honest, 50% of the agents who I talk to are people I personally know. Because of that, we can get on the phone, call these agents up, and let them know that a manuscript has finally been revised. We can also depend on these agents to give us some meaningful feedback on the writing. This is really important.

Our Gym Rats aren’t stuck trying to deal with the confusion that comes with Agent-ese, such as asking unsurely whether it’s the manuscript itself or the query letter that has led to the rejection. 

Are you getting a lot of rejections and you’re not really sure what they mean? Or are you one of those authors who starts a novel and then starts it again and then isn’t quite sure what to do with it? Or are you someone who is confused about what genre your novel falls into? Let’s talk about it and clear up the confusion. Contact me here.

Happy writing. 

Are you looking to join the MAJOR LEAGUES of the PUBLISHING WORLD?

Are you looking to join the MAJOR LEAGUES of the PUBLISHING WORLD?

by | Jan 3, 2020 | Quality Writing Feedback, Writing | 0 comments

Are you looking to join the MAJOR LEAGUES of the PUBLISHING WORLD?

There are a lot of mistakes I see from people in Write to Publish, other groups on Facebook, and the writing world in general. If you make these mistakes, you’re going to have a hard time getting published, never mind selling your book once it is published.

My team and I at the Writing Gym come from a place of service to you all. Our goal is to get you  to a place where you’re able to achieve your publishing dreams. How have we helped writers stop making the same mistakes over and over?

 

 

First, we offer quality support.

Support includes giving feedback. Some of you have talked about peer-to-peer feedback, but if you are looking to publish and sell books under major leagues of the writing world, you need the right kind of feedback.

If I wanted to play basketball, having my neighbor’s kid teach m to slam dunk won’t get me into the NBA or WNBA. If I really want to learn basketball, I have to learn from someone who knows all the tricks. 

Despite this, writers who want to be in the major leagues of the publishing world go to their neighbor or the librarian for feedback. They are not going to give you the kind of feedback you really need to get to the big leagues.

In other words: drop those peer-to-peer feedback, the free writing groups, and the beta readers, because those are not helping you.

 

The bottom line: if you want the kind of support that’s going to get you to where you need to go, you need to hire a professional.

Those who try otherwise end up frustrated, and waste years of their lives getting the wrong kind of feedback. They want to keep working, to keep trying to get published, but they cannot go anywhere until they find the right kind of feedback.

You need to go with somebody qualified. Yes, it will cost money but it is worth investing in if you are really dedicated in pursuing your publishing dreams. 

We at the Writing Gym have been training writers for a long time and getting them published. We have seen what can kill their chances of getting published, selling books, and reaching readers.

A lot of writers may think that they’re on the right track and are making a smart decision, but they’re not.

It won’t catch up with them for months, maybe years. Then one day, they’ll end up frustrated, trying the same things over and over, but never getting better results. 

What we do in the Writing Gym is help clients do better than they’ve ever done before. We see writers from the VIP membership program finishing novels and moving on to the Publishing Mastermind, where they find agents from publishing houses. 

 

 

Second, you must realize publishing is a business.

Many of you have heard this fact and still refuse to participate, instead of going on the self-publishing route. Some of these authors find out really quickly that publishing requires you to sell books. It sounds obvious, but many writers don’t want to accept that publishing is a business in this way.

If you want people to read your book then it needs to get into their hands. How is it gonna get into their hands? You can give it away for free and lose money, or (if) you can sell it, you may make a small profit.

At any rate, you’ve got to get that book out there in order to get your message into the world, which is presumably why you want to write a book. You have a story to tell.

The bottom line: if you want to sell books, you need to acknowledge that publishing is a business, and you need to treat it as one if you want to be successful.

We know we’re treating something as a business when we’re ready to invest in ourselves and our progress. If we’re not at that point, we’re not going to reach our readers and our goals.

At the end of the day, investing in yourself, investing in the resources, and investing in a professional is going to help you reach your viewers, whether you want to self-publish or traditionally publish.

Publishing successfully is about having the best product with a great marketing plan, and platform your readers are interested in to hear your message and consider buying your book.

These are some of the helpful tips we offer in the Writing Gym VIP program. We help our writers finish and publish novels every single day.

We’d love to talk to you if you’re serious about getting published, and if you’ve got questions about your individual situation and what you can do about that. Click this link to book a free appointment. 

Do You Want LIFE-CHANGING Feedback on Your Writing?

Do You Want LIFE-CHANGING Feedback on Your Writing?

by | Dec 28, 2019 | Quality Writing Feedback, Writing, Writing & Neuroscience | 0 comments

Do you want LIFE-CHANGING feedback on your writing?

 I want to talk about what we do over in the Writing Gym and why we believe what we believe. 

I’ve talked to some of you about peer-to-peer feedback, while some of you have also asked me about beta readers.

Feedback is something I wrote a lot about in my book “Storytelling for Pantsers,” including peer-to- peer feedback and beta readers, and why those are not the best ways to get feedback. When I say this, people look at me like “what do you mean?” because so many writers use that technique.

 

Writers that rely on these types of feedback end up giving up and not finishing their manuscripts; they get confused because they get lots of different types of feedback. 

 

 When writers get the wrong kind of feedback, they oftentimes will give up their manuscript. People have been kicked out of writing groups, left writing groups, been insulted, and more. You wouldn’t believe the stories I’ve heard about frustration and uncertainty.

 

Mostly, what people end up getting from peer-to-peer or beta reader feedback is too many ideas at the same time.

 

One reader says, “Well, I think you should do this,” and another person says, “No, you should do the opposite,” and then there’s the author in the middle just confused. I bet you have a story like that, because so many writers have talked to me about it and how they feel frustrated.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

There is a method of feedback that’s actually effective and helps you to grow as a writer. You may have heard about or seen videos about the writing salons we do over in the Writing Gym.

A lot of writers say they are life-changing. 

These salons are based on the neuroscientific research that I did during my tenure as a teacher.

As a professor, I did some work at MIT’s brain imaging lab and some work on Harvard’s campus. The work I’ve one focuses on optimizing your brain’s function.  That’s what we do in the writing salon. You will get quality feedback, and it can be optimized to the way your brain is meant to work. 

People have said that their confidence increased, and they felt like a real writer after they attended a salon. There have been many incidents where people write non-stop for days. I had one person come to one of these writing salons, and after she wrote for the entire weekend. She has since published five books.

The writing salon is really, really powerful and I hope that you can join us there. 

To find out where you are, where you’d like to go, and how you can get there put yourself on my calendar: https://datewiththemuse.com/bookacall

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