Tag: book planning

All writers are pantsers when it comes to the finer grain structure of a novel. No one can outline down to the sentence level. All honest plotters will admit that at least some of their best ideas have come during pantsing bouts. You just have to dive in!

By using the emotions that come to the surface with a daily writing regimen, “method writing” will help your writing stay authentic, help you stretch your writer’s wings, and explore aspects of the craft that are way out of your comfort zone.

There's no getting around the fact that as a writer you must produce your craft either on paper or on a digital device of some kind. Even if you subscribe to voice recognition software where your dictation becomes your written work, there is time and commitment involved in creating all forms of writing. How, then, does the serious writer stay on task?

My traditional publishing background has helped me create a method to help you plan and outline your book – even if you're a pantser like me.

From avoiding typos to communicating what makes your book unique and compelling, here are 15 things to focus on when crafting a query letter for your book. It's worth reading the whole piece for details, but I thought I'd summarize his points below — just in case you're the skimming type: 1. An effective query letter does NOT have any typos, spelling errors, or grammatical/punctuation goofs. 2. An effective query letter contains all the basic information (book summary, quick author intro, why you're writing to this agent, etc.) 3. An effective query letter does NOT contain information that is irrelevant to your book or the purpose of your querying. 4. An effective query letter clearly states the genre of your book.

Some authors get a few chapters into their book before running out of steam. You don’t want to be in that position. Here’s how to plan your nonfiction book to set yourself up for success.