September Continues with our Writing Decisions

 June built the novel. July wrote it. August finished the manuscript draft and checked on pacing. Last week in August we looked at our writing self: method / discipline / story sequence and the best way to get disruptions from being ... well, disruptive.

September continues with the Biz decisions every writer makes.

While we let the manuscript cook, our brains gain objective distance by planning and implementing our writing business. We have a lot of decisions to make.

Yet we don't take the whole month for those business decisions. Luckily, September has 5 Wednesdays. On the 4th Wednesday, we touch the manuscript again with the Harvest Stage. Last week of the month, we enter the Publishing Stage. Yippee!

Be proud and be loud when you finish this month. First, you've done what many will never do: you've finished a novel AND published it. Second, you've done it in 4 months.

Now that we have a LOT of decisions made, now that we know what to do, we can use Preptober to prep for the National Novel Writing Month in November. In November, we can write the 50,000-word novel that every writer talks about for NaNo. Guess what? You may publish 2 books this year!

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September 1 :: Analysis C ~ The Writing Biz

Decisions, decisions :: 2 key ones that will affect your writing biz now and five years from now.

4 jobs that you must have done before you publish.

Sept. 8 :: Analysis D ~ Space and Time for Writers

Space :: your writing space and essential tools

• ·         Efficiency methods for writing
• ·         Tools to save your eyes
• ·         Methods to save your health
• ·         Avoid distracters / Encourage concentration

Time :: your writing schedule

• ·         Setting a writing calendar that you can maintain
• ·         Commitments and obligations (including overcoming guilt)
• ·         Jobs pay the bills
• ·         What to avoid when Bum in Chair

Sept. 15 :: Analysis E ~ the Double D's

Double D’s are Designers and Deadlines (No, that’s not calenders or writing goals.)

Cover designers are essential when writers don’t also have degrees in graphic design. The first of this week’s episode covers what to expect with a professional designer.

Numbers rule publishing. Yes, words are essential, but the words are based on numbers, even for those in self-publishing.

Sept. 22 :: the Harvest Stage

Harvest ~ Revision, Enhancements, Editing

Harvesting a manuscript takes more than a single week’s worth of work. What is our focus for the three areas above?

·         What areas does revision cover?

·         How do we enhance our draft? (Motifs and Literary Devices to explore)

·         Editing Rounds (several ways) with Corrections more than once

Sept. 29 :: Presence, Promotions, Publish, and Party!

4 Jobs to get that finished novel into the marketplace.

And celebrations are always necessary.

Beginning in October, new content related to challenges and Preptober.

Since you then!

Resources and Links

Discovering Your Novel, everything you need to know to write your first novel or to rescue those story ideas that never turned into completed manuscript. Designed to write your novel in a year and set up in a weekly format, with Charts!  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PYYM2LG/ 

    We've been pushing through our summer series. Sometimes--especially with demanding jobs--we have to work much more slowly. Discovering Your Novel takes 52 weeks, working through the whole year at a non-demanding pace. This Summer Series was definitely a demanding pace.

    If you have a manuscript that you don't know where it went wrong--but you definitely know it has, use this guidebook and start with each week's work to analysis problems and develop solutions. When you work through the Foundations / Envisioning / Pacing / Harvest stages, you can create a better manuscript that you won't fear to publish!

    Here's a Post on Writers Ink NonFiction that contains all the charts in DiscNovel, including the Analysis template and the Archetypal Story Pattern (ASP) chart as pdfs :: FREE! Discovering Your Novel ~ All Charts - Writers Ink Nonfiction 

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Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

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