Ryan Lanz's Blog, page 4

Writing as a Transformation

In Cinderella, a fairy godmother transforms a pumpkin into a coach and mice into horses. (History fails to record the opinion of the mice so transformed.) Almost all stories involve transformations of some sort. In some cases it’s a character arc, in others, the movement of plot from one state to another – frequently both. […]

How to Avoid Becoming Jealous of Other Writers

Jealousy.  It’s enough to make you mad in both senses of the word. It rears its head at unexpected times, and social media seems to be a good place to foster it these days. And let’s face it–we’re always on social media. Jealousy-provoking content is impossible to avoid. In five minutes of scrolling through my […]

3 Ways to Escape a Writing Slump

Sometimes, writing doesn’t come easy. For example, I realized a while back that I was in a slump, and I just couldn’t muster the energy to write. I thought, “Is there something wrong with my writing?” “Am I doing this wrong?” It took a toll. But then I realized that I could use this slump […]

The 13 Types of Responses Writers Get When Querying Agents

Or, Tales of a Form Rejection Connoisseur When you’re querying agents, unless you’re both very skilled and very lucky, you’re likely to get a collection of… letters, before you get an offer. And most of that collection will be form rejection letters. Why Form Rejections? You’ve spent months to years hard at work, polishing your […]

Automatic Writing: A Cure To Writer’s Block

As writer’s, one of the most difficult things we have to deal with is the deadly writer’s block. I’ve written many times about my personal frustrations with it, along with different tips and strategies to combat writer’s block, but today, I offer you another solution. Automatic writing. Traditionally used to get in contact with your […]

10 Lies About Writing That Might Be Holding You Back

1. Once you decide on a writing goal, you can never change it. 2. You should never tell other people about your ideas. 3. You need to have an advanced degree in writing or a related subject to be successful. 4. If writing is a struggle for you, it must not be “for you.” 5. […]

9 Terms All Querying Authors Should Know

The road to traditional publication is a long one. Once you (and your beta-readers) have taken your novel as far as you can, it’s as polished as you can make it, and you’re ready to share it with the world, the next step is typically finding a literary agent with a process known as querying. […]

Rapid Release, Churn, and Going Above the Trends

I want to talk today about a strategy that lots of self-publishing authors, particularly in romance, might feel pressure to follow for themselves, but that I feel can be really detrimental for the writer and for our industry at large. The rapid release strategy makes it look like authors are dominating Amazon charts and collecting […]

Common Writing Mistake #2: Writing Yourself Into the Story

Believe it or not, this happens a lot to new writers. When they’re trying to come up with a character to carry their book’s plot, they unwittingly (or purposefully) insert themselves into the main protagonist spot. Why would you do such a thing? Well…it’s easy, really. Instead of having to create a character from scratch, […]

When an Idea Breaks Your Manuscript – 4 Ways To Fix It

I am a huge fan of serendipity. That moment when you realize something about your world or your character or your setting that makes what you’ve been planning and your story all seem inevitable. This post isn’t about that. This is about when you realize everything is wrong. Sometimes, it’s a huge plot hole, when […]