What’s this? Another DIY MFAÂ article already? đ
It’s been a while since I last took part in DIY MFA’s weekly #5onFri series; and with Maria V. Snyder’s guest post on Tuesday, I wasn’t able to promote it here until now. So, here’s last Friday’s #5onFri post, where I shared a little more of my “beta-reading preparation” stage by sharing five of the questions I posed to my beta-readers to get specific feedback on aspects of my novel.
Chronicling The Craft is a series where I share my experience with working on my YA fantasy novel THE KEEPER’S CURSE, which is now in its third draft. These articles alternate between a) progress updates and fun “TKC-related” content, and b) revising / editing tips. Today it’s the tips-oriented post to celebrate 80% completion of Draft #3.
I had trouble thinking of a subject to cover this time. The past three tips-driven Chronicles (word-cutting strategies, planning changes to one’s writing routine, and wrestling writer’s doubt) were inspired by challenges I experienced at different points during Draft #3. Lately, though, no one single “issue” with editing has stood out to me. Yet I’ve started giving serious thought to the next stage: beta-reading.
Yes, that terrifying yet exciting phase of sharing your writing for feedback is the topic of today’s Chronicle. I’ll share lessons and advice based on my past experience with beta-reading for other writers. I’ll also touch on how to decide who might be a good beta-reading candidate, and give you a peek inside my plans for my WIP’s beta-reading stage. So, let’s dive in!
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Beautiful People is a monthly blog meme hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In. Every month they pose 10 questions for writers to answer about their writing and give readers the opportunity to learn more about the writer’s characters.
This month’s Beautiful People isn’t so much about our stories or characters. Instead, it’s about the writers themselves! We’ve been asked to share our writing-related goals and resolutions for 2016. I sort of did this already for my Happy New Year post. However, the following questionnaire will reveal more details for those plans, as well as other insights such as beta readers and critique partners, which character I’d like to get to know better, and which craft book I want to read this year. So, let’s get to it! đ
(Visit the Beautiful People category page to catch up on past BP posts.) Continue reading
Welcome to the latest edition of Time Flies! It’s my version of a monthly update, where I recap the past month’s accomplishments and articles, share news and random things from my offline life, and hint at what may be coming in the month ahead.
Hope you all had a wonderful May! This past month proved to be just as busy – if not even busier – as others have been this year, even with a “stay-cation” halfway through. So let’s get right to the recap, starting with what happened at the blog:
Itâs not every day that you meet someone who shares your first name and last initial. Itâs even more rare to meet someone with those commonalities and with uncannily similar writing passions and aspirations. I met British-born writer Sara Litchfield (who now lives in New Zealand) during WANACon this past February, and right after having joined Twitter. Since then, sheâs buckled down on revisions and edits for her debut novel The Night Butterflies â all while working as an accountant and maintaining her own editing business. (And drinking lots of tea to help!) I was privileged to beta-read The Night Butterflies during that time. Told from the perspectives of two children and three adults in the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse, the story chilled me with its harrowing plot and inspired me with its message of hope, friendship, and humanity.
Now that The Night Butterflies is out (YAY!), Iâd like to introduce you to Sara and (creatively speaking) her bundle of joy. Find how Sara handled her first flight through NaNoWriMo, why she chose to self-publish The Night Butterflies, how moths inspired the title for her book, and much more. Please give Sara a warm welcome, and check out The Night Butterflies at any of the links shared below! Continue reading
Chapters Completed: 21
Chapters In Progress: 6
Chapters Not Started: 7
âChronicling The Craftâ is an article series where I share my experience with writing my current work-in-progress (WIP), which is a fantasy novel. Every 5,000 words, I let readers know what Iâve accomplished since the previous article and share advice, discoveries, techniques, etc. Besides the word count in each article title, a âchapter tickerâ at the top also tracks my progress as I use the skip-around / âwritercopterâ method to write the novel. Todayâs installment celebrates the book reaching 85,000 words in length.
After seeing my October schedule fill up, I took advantage of whatever free time I had in September to write, write, write. In some ways it was easy, since not much was going on offline. In other ways, however, it wasnât. One weekend in particular left me ready to yank out my hair. Between an important bit of world-building Iâd previously overlooked and revising a scene Iâd previously written because its tone (not so much the content) needed to change, progress slowed to a crawl for two sessions. But thatâs behind me now. Itâs time to celebrate the new milestone â and then get back to work!
So, whatâs happened with the WIP since the previous Chronicle? Continue reading
Sara Letourneau 