It’s the first week, of the first year of a new decade and one of your resolutions is to complete your book on the paranormal or supernatural.
You may have been here before. But it just didn’t last. The experience has made you a little bitter about writing projects. They’re easy to start, but hard to finish, you think.
If this sounds a little like you, here are a few tips you can use to make sure you stay resolved throughout the year.
The inner editor is the writer’s best friend.
And worst enemy.
When your inner editor is working for you it can help you craft tight, accurate writing. When it turns on you, it can paralyze you and dry up that flow of inspiration. Some writers call this analysis-paralysis.
This two-face can twist around at any time and during any point of the project.
Before you start a writing project, your inner editor may laugh at your chosen subject and deride its chances of success. As you write, it may turn the word “mad”… to the word, “angry”… and back to “mad” again… and then back to “angry”… until you finally give up.
You may dwell on a punctuation dilemma: is it a semi-colon, or a comma?
Here’s how you can quiet this voice and make friends with your inner editor again.
Ignore it
It may take some willpower, but tell that critical inner voice to shut up. Even if it’s for only a little while.
Test it
If you begin to doubt whether a writing project has any chance of success, bring in some trusted friends and pitch them the idea. Input from a few editors sometimes drowns out that persistent inner voice of dissent.
Laugh at it
Kid yourself about the constant criticisms. And then push on with a word-count goal.
Laugh with it.
Make a game out of your self-criticism. Can you write an entire page without going back and re-working your writing? Can you write a hundred words without editing? Can you complete that novel despite those constant barrage of comments that it’s no good?
Work with it
Set aside a certain time or word count. After that point, let your editor go through the text you just wrote and go wild with the editor’s pen.
The balance between editing and writing is tenuous, but it’s a balance that can be managed.
Mel B. @ Flickr
First impressions are the most important ones. If you’re pitching your paranormal writing project, your query letter is that firm handshake and pleasant smile.
Whether your letter is aimed at a publisher or a magazine editor, here are some tips for a great query letter:
Grip ‘em Early. That first sentence should contain a hook that seizes the reader’s interest.
Add details. Don’t forget to add word-count estimations, genre, and key selling points of the book.
Don’t grovel or brag. Editors have told me that the surest way to have your query letter tossed in the circular file is to write a query with needless praise or posturing. Editors are like everyone else; they want to work with cool people.
Pitch yourself. Add a concise blurb about your writing career. (Just don’t get too long-winded.)
Proof. Double-check your letter for grammatical and stylistic errors. Tighten those sentences. Then, have a friend read it.
I was going to name this Scary Query Letter Tactics, but I got that funny feeling in my stomach that I normally get when I know one of my corny jokes is about to bomb. I get that feeling a lot.
But, in any event, whether you’re going to find an agent, pitch an idea to a magazine editor, or try to match your writing project with a publisher, you’ll need to write a query letter.
In some cases, the query letter is the cover sheet that will pull the publisher or editor into the rest of your proposal, a package of materials that includes marketing material, biographical info, sample chapters, etc.
While there’s no one right way to create a query letter, it usually includes the following elements:
One final tip. You shouldn’t be too cute–or cocky–with the letter. Query letters that get the best response are professional, but aren’t devoid of your personality
Ernest Hemingway was once asked the secret to writing. His insight: all good writing is re-writing.
There are a few reasons why Hemingway–and a bunch of other concurring writers–are right bout how important self-editing can be.
First, going back over your copy again and again is the best way to polish your material. You can cut needless words. Review the copy for grammatical mistakes. You might want to change perspective, or rearrange the sentence. With each pass, your words shine a little more.
Another reason why re-writing is important: it’s good practice because you’re able to learn from your own mistakes. Proofing your own material is incredibly difficult, but, like all skills, the more you practice, the better you become.
Finally, the editing process lets you go a little wild in your first draft because you know you can come back and touch up the material. Most new writers are scared to put down their first sentence because they’re afraid to make a mistake.
And, the worst mistake you can make as a writer is to never start.