K.M. Allan's Blog: K.M. Allan, page 8

The Secrets To Writing A Series (Part 1)

I’ve spent the last 22 years working on a series. That’s working, not writing, as there were plenty of years where I never put pen to paper, just thought about the story and characters in that way that we writers count things that aren’t writing as writing.

I then spent the last three years publishing that series (Blackbirch books 1-3 are out now. The fourth and final book will be released soon).

Does that make me an expert on writing a series? Nope. The best way to write anything is whatever way works for you. But I’ve learned what works for me and what doesn’t, so I’m sharing it here in case it’s helpful for anyone interested in writing a book series.

The Secrets To Writing A SeriesStart A Series Bible—And Keep It Updated!

When writing a series, there are a lot of details to remember. From the basics of what your characters look like, to remembering a line in book 1 so you can call back to it at just the right moment in book 4. Sometimes, you might be the only one who even remembers such references, but it’s those little details that help give a series the connections to each book and the characters. To keep track of everything, start a series bible.

Ideally, you’ll do this as you’re working on book 1 and remember to keep it updated as you go, so that by the time you pen that final book, you can easily refer to call backs, book events, and what characters were wearing when you need to.

I started one after the first book of my series, I didn’t keep it updated for the following books, and I regret it all!

Why did I not take my own advice? Simple. I thought I could remember it. Dear reader, I did not. Or rather, I remembered all the things I’d drafted but later cut from books. And you know what comes of not writing down little details across a series? Plot holes and incorrect information. They might not be huge. Some readers might not even notice or care, but you will.

Like the typos that haunt you at 2 a.m., the tiny details you messed up because you relied on your memory instead of what was on the printed page can sully the experience of your series.

So, start a series bible and keep it updated. Thank your past self when your future self gets to the last book and you have solid references to everything that you need.

Bonus secrets: 1. Keep notes (this picture is 22 years worth of notes, manuscripts, and feedback). 2. Gather items that inspire what you’re writing (crystals, amulets, cherry-tree rings, birds in trees, and magickal boxes—all items featured in my series that I now own). 3. Have fun with in-book world items and use them as prizes (merch from the fictional bookstore featured in Blackbirch I had made for a giveaway).Plan What You Can, Discover The Rest

If you don’t have a plan or idea of where your story is going when you write that first draft, that’s perfectly normal.

When I started my series, I had one clear idea of a girl saving a boy’s life with magickal powers. It’s not even a scene that’s in the first book, but something that happens in the second. I just wrote my way to that scene, and in the end, I had to create a whole first book to get to it. That wasn’t something I planned.

In fact, other than a few key scenes across the entire series, and knowing what characters I wanted to have, I didn’t plan much. I just wrote until it came together.

This is both a good and bad thing. Good, because writing like that gives you the joy of discovery. You don’t know what’s going to happen until you write it on the page, which I’ve found translates to readers also not knowing (in a good way) and being surprised by the events of your book.

But that kind of unorganized writing also means you could write drafts or whole characters that will later be cut. I have drafts, pages of whole book scenes, and ideas that never made it into the series (as pictured above).

Looking back on them, it’s like they’re not even part of the series, but I had to write them to discover what was. No writing is wasted. It all helps you to become a better writer. I may not have used those pages, but writing them taught me what works, what doesn’t, how to write exciting sentences, and how to shape my characters.

Even if no one else ever reads them, the knowledge of your fictional world and the characters that you build up for yourself does come across in your writing. Don’t dismiss the power of it or feel that it’s a waste just because it didn’t make the cut. It shaped your skills as a writer—and your book.

Pay Attention To The Standalone Story

This might sound obvious, to write each book like it is its own story while sprinkling in the parts that connect them all together and create the overall story, but it’s an easy rule to overlook.

As I said already, the initial idea for my series was a scene that doesn’t appear until the final chapters of book 2. I had to write book 1 to get to it, and while writing that book, I really just wanted to get to that scene.

That doesn’t mean I rushed book 1, but looking back now, I wish I’d taken more time developing it into its own stronger story instead of just getting through it to get to the book I really wanted to write.

Although each book in my series is a standalone story, I did always have in my mind that it was building toward an overall story and I do sometimes wonder if that helped or hindered what I put in each individual book. The secret? Get those overarching storylines going, but not at the cost of crafting a kick-ass standalone story. There is room for both in a series.

Bonus secret: Writing buddies make writing sessions fun. I’ve had three grace (aka walk all over/sit on) my writing desk as I’ve penned my books over the years. Slinky, Dash, and Luna. All are mentioned by name as easter eggs in my series.Do Some Outlining

While I am a total pantser when it comes to writing, I don’t just sit in front of a blank page with no idea what I’m doing. I might not outline anything before I write, and I don’t complete notebooks of character profiles and produce timeline graphics. At least, not initially.

I’m a big fan of taking the few chapter ideas, bits of dialogue, or the scenes I can see in my head and writing my way to them. After that, I will do the planning and outlining.

Reverse outlining is one of my favorite editing tools. It’s where you write the outline for the book after you’ve written at least the first draft. I’ve also learned to do chapter summaries and new outlines once I’ve reached the final few drafts just to get an idea of what the whole story is and to see what is missing or needs to be re-arranged.

This works for me. I also can’t deny that the fourth book in my series was not only the easiest and fastest book to write the first draft for, but also the easiest book to pull into a final draft. I believe this was because it tied up everything from the 3 books before it. By the time I started writing it, I knew what happened in the start, middle, and end, because I’d already been thinking and planning it for years.

Every time I finished a draft of the other books, every time I published them in book form, I knew what pieces of them had to be resolved in the last book. That made writing book 4 easy.

That’s not to say it didn’t take me 6 years from the first draft to the final 10th draft. There was also a time when I was so confused by certain parts of the plot that I wasn’t sure what was happening clearly, let alone my poor alpha reader who helped me sort out what I was trying to achieve. The takeaway from that experience is to plan and outline as much as you can, either to start or as you’re writing. It really helps!

And that’s part 1 of my secrets to writing a series. This post turned out bigger than I expected, so I’ve split it up, and the ramblings and tips will continue next time with part 2!

Until then, do you have a secret to writing a series? Let’s talk about it in the comments!

— K.M. Allan

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, and Goodreads.

You can also subscribe here to get my blog posts delivered directly to your inbox!

September 2023 Roundup

Welcome to the September 2023 roundup!

I started this month by taking a break from my current WIP. As you guys know, I sent it off to two beta readers, and even though I still felt some chapters needed work (don’t we always think that?), I purposely left them alone. Having worked on this draft non-stop for months now, I also need some distance so I can edit it properly. I know the words too well and have reached the stage where it’s hard to see what’s actually on the screen instead of what I think should be there.

With no WIP to write/edit, I felt a little lost, took a day or two to do nothing, and then got back into a routine, because that’s how I function. I worked more on my content plan for the rest of the year (something I started when I was on my alpha reader break), read books, sorted my bookshelves, and did other tasks on my end-of-draft list.

As for the rest of the ninth month of 2023, this is what else I got up to…

What I’ve Been…Writing

Blogs and Blackbirch 4 Front/Back Content – As well as drafting out more blogs, I worked on the front and back content of Blackbirch 4 (title page, dedication, copyright, etc., and some fun bonus content) so that stuff is ready to go. One of my two beta’s also sent me their feedback quickly, so I spent two days mid-month working through her changes before giving that latest version to my other beta to read. Now I’m waiting for his feedback to create my ARC draft to send to a couple of readers I have lined up.

Watching

Cruel Summer (Season 1)

Taking place across three timelines in 1993, 1994, and 1995, Cruel Summer dips into the lives of nerdy yet nice, Janette, and rich, beautiful Kate. Janette has always admired Kate from afar, never realizing her seemingly perfect life of popularity, a cute boyfriend, and the perfect family hides a tension-filled relationship with her mother. When Kate discovers her mother is having an affair, her life unravels, and the only one who seems to understand is the new Vice Principle, and Janette’s neighbor, Mr. Harris. When Kate disappears, supposedly running away after a fight with her mom, Janette steps into her life. She gives herself a makeover, drops her current friends for Kate’s, and eventually even dates Kate’s ex. Her life becomes what she’s always wanted. Then Kate reappears 10 months later, not a runaway, but a kidnapping victim of Mr. Harris. When Kate accuses Janette of knowing she was being kept prisoner, Janette’s perfect new life falls apart and the two girls go to court in a defamation case that unravels some shocking truths. This is where the twists of this series really come out, and the story gets flipped in some very surprising ways.

Cruel Summer (Season 2)

A new set of characters and story makes up part two of this anthology series. This time, the timeline goes from Summer 1999, Winter 1999, and Summer 2000. We know from the first episode there was a falling out between friends Megan and Isabella, and a body is found in the lake. When it turns out to be (spoiler) Megan’s best friend turned boyfriend, Luke, the rest of the season flashes back between the timelines to show how Megan and Isabella became friends and then enemies, and how Luke and Megan went from best friends, to lovers, and then to him being killed. Ultimately, the big reveal of the season is how he died and who was responsible. It was a perfectly good, surprising reveal, and then, just like in season 1, an extra twist was added on for shock value that (I felt) undermined everything. That’s not to say this season wasn’t entertaining, just that it had an ending that played well into the circumstances, behaviors, and lessons of all the characters involved, and then, for me, it just went that one step too far. I still recommend both seasons of Cruel Summer if you’re a fan of mysteries, and the soundtracks for both seasons are also worth a listen.

The Afterparty (Season 2)

The Afterparty is back with Aniq, Zoe, and their old detective pal, Danner! This afterparty happens after the wedding of Zoe’s little sister, Grace, to a tech billionaire. Already having doubts before the wedding, Grace is made the likely suspect when she awakens the next morning to find her groom dead. Zoe, Aniq, and Danner then spend the next ten episodes hearing the version of the night from every character, and like season 1, The Afterparty’s dedication to each character in their own episode and the way it takes on the theme of different movies and genres is why this series is so watchable. Highlights are a homage to Dirty Dancing and Hitchcock movies (complete with the gaslighting and a star turn from Elizabeth Perkins). The surprising murder reveal and the celebrity cameo ending also capped off another great season.

Futurama (Season 11)

Back again after last airing new episodes in 2013, Futurama is just as witty as ever. Proving its point as a comedy that knows how to poke fun at modern times are episodes where Fry tries to binge-watch every TV show in existence, Momazon trying to take over the world in a clever parody of Amazon, its same-day delivery service, and Alexa technologies, and an episode satirizing the pandemic that still isn’t over even in the 31st century. All the best characters are back, and it’s good to see they’ve kept Fry and Leela together this time, as their relationship is one of the highlights.

Reading

Match Me If You Can By Sandy Barker

When Poppy, who works for a secret match-making agency, gets a new client, she’s ready to do her usual professional best. The job involves a will-induced deadline of only a few weeks and a client who looks to be an eternal bachelor. But accompanying Tristan on a few match-making dates makes her realize she had him all wrong, and for the first time in her professional career, Poppy considers if her own romantic happiness is something she wants to put first. I absolutely loved this premise, and it is such a fun read with likable characters. While the story plays out exactly how you’d expect it to, that’s part of its charm. Sandy Barker imbues the right kind of snarky humor and always knows how to take tension-filled meet-cutes to all the right places. It’s just a feel-good read and a great introduction to the Ever After Agency series, with the promise of more match-making adventures to come.

The Rebels Of Mount Buffalo By Helen Edwards

Set in 1998, The Rebels of Mount Buffalo follows 13-year-old Clara as she’s dealing with the loss of her twin brother and the separation of her parents. When the fractured family takes a trip to Mount Buffalo for its centenary, Clara slips through time and ends up in 1893. Mistaken for a housemaid, she befriends her future idol, Guide Alice. Just a young teen at that point in time, and not the rebellious guide she’ll grow up to be, Alice helps Clara when they’re caught up in a dangerous situation, and with more time slip issues. Filled with lessons in Australian history, how to deal with grief, and being brave, Rebels is a fun middle-grade book with age-appropriate characters that is written with beautifully vivid descriptions from a talented debut author.

The Writer’s Digest Guide To Good Writing

A collection of essays from the 1920s through to the 1990s about the different styles and aspects of writing. It was interesting to see that the most basic writing advice is still the same, even across the span of decades. Highlights include, How To Write Mystery Stories, Plots The Triple-O Way, The Ten Deadly Sins, Write It Simply, and The Seven Beacons Of Excellent Writing.

Christopher Pike Books

Inspired by the Netflix series, The Midnight Club, I decided to spend 2023 re-reading the books of my favorite author, Christopher Pike. It was his books that put me on the path to writing for Young Adults, and it’s interesting reading them now as a writer rather than just a reader. For these books, I’m enjoying the nostalgia and reading for fun and not to review.

This month I read The Yanti, and Thirst 3: The Eternal Dawn.

If you’ve got any good book recommendations, let me know in the comments, or be my friend on Goodreads and share your books/recommendations with me! You can also find and follow my reviews and book recommendations on Amazon and BookBub.

If you’d like to add the Blackbirch books to your Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and/or check out the reviews, click the following links:

Blackbirch: The BeginningBlackbirch: The Dark HalfBlackbirch: The Ritual Taking Photos Of

Spring and Book Signings! It’s my favorite season, and Mother Nature did not disappoint with her start to Spring this year. We even had some sunny days, but as is typical of Victoria, it was back to cold weather just as quickly. When we were having a semi-sunny day, I popped out to a library event where I listened to Phillipa Kaye and Jodi Gibson talk about their publishing journeys and their newest releases, as well as grabbing signed copies of their books for my bookshelf.

On The Blog

In case you missed any of my posts, or want to re-read them, here are the latest blogs.

August 2023 RoundupEditing Tips: Getting Your Book Ready For A Beta ReaderWriting A Book: End Of Draft Break Tasks
Writing Tip Of The Month

#WritingTipWednesday posts are added to my social media feeds every week and here is the most popular tip for this month. It’s taken from my blog post, How To Give Your Characters Conflict.

Blackbirch Snippet Of The Month

This snippet is from Blackbirch: The Ritual and centers on Josh finding his way to the clearing, a mysterious place in Blackbirch’s woods that has been featured in all the books so far. In book 4, Josh will finally find out the history of the clearing, and why he knows how to find it without guidance.

If you’d like to read the books released so far or find out more about each novel, here are the links:

Blackbirch: The Beginning (Book 1)Blackbirch: The Dark Half (Book 2)Blackbirch: The Ritual (Book 3)

If you’ve read any of my books—and haven’t done so already—please consider leaving a review or even just a star rating. It really helps indie authors get their books noticed, and also helps fellow readers find books they’ll like.

Quote Of The Month

I hope you’ve enjoyed my September Roundup. What did you get up to this month?

— K.M. Allan

Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Threads, and sign up for my Newsletter to get my blog posts delivered directly to your inbox!

Writing A Book: End Of Draft Break Tasks

Recently, I’ve been working hard to complete the latest draft of my current work in progress, and because I’ve been so focused on my book, I’ve let other writer-related things slide.

They’ve been put aside for that mythical “one day” when we seem to think we’ll have all the time in the world to do everything we’ve been putting off.

While finishing a draft is a wonderful milestone to reach, we often want to jump right into the next project to keep the momentum going. While there’s nothing wrong with that, taking a break at the end of a big draft is good for you too.

Not only does a break let your tired writer brain rest (avoiding burn-out), but it also gives you that “one day” to get to that list of other writer things.

While this list will be unique to our own goals and lives, as fellow word-smiths, we share things in common that can be invoked when we have the time to work on them, such as the following…

Writing A Book: End Of Draft Break TasksSort Your Book Collection

If you’re a writer, it’s a given that you love books, which means you more than likely have a bookshelf or a place/room in your house that contains them.

As a writer, it’s also a given that you’ve spent so much time writing your own book, that you haven’t looked at your own bookshelves in a while. Luckily, you’re now on a draft break and can remedy that!

This task is on my break list because I’m currently re-reading the books of my favorite author, Christopher Pike. When I set out to do this goal, I realized there were books I was missing.

I try to collect both a hardcover and a paperback of Pike’s works, and when sorting them into a To Be Read Pile, I realized there were editions I’d always meant to buy, but hadn’t yet.

Thanks to eBay and Thrift Books, I added what was missing. And by added, I mean I got them out of the packages they were sent in and piled them onto my books/shelves to be dealt with another day.

Now that I’m on a draft break, that day is here, and one of my priorities was sorting my book collection.

I did this by pulling everything off the shelves, giving them a clean, arranging my books into hardbacks and paperbacks, and putting them back in chronological order.

My bookshelves! Before and after.

Pike books aren’t the only books I have, though, and I also organized everything else on my shelves and decided:

What to remove, I.e. books given to you that you know you won’t read, or have read and know you won’t read again, or books you have more than one copy of.Books to pass on to a relative or friend who you know will read them.Books to put in street libraries or to donate.

While re-arranging your books, it’s a good idea to start a running list of any you’re missing, such as book 3 from a 6-book series, or a special version or cover you always meant to buy but it slipped your mind.

Take your list and create a digital wish list at your favorite book retailers, or note it down somewhere that can be accessed by yourself or family/friends to cover future birthdays, Christmas, or random Tuesdays, because any day is a good day to buy a book!

Even digital collections can be curated and cleaned up. Fire up your Kindle and/or reading apps and clear out what you’ve read and then sort your digital books into categories or TBR collections so that when you’re looking for something to read, you can easily find it.

Digital Upkeep

While we’re organizing digital content, another task for your end-of-draft break can be sorting everything you definitely let slide while crafting your masterpiece.

The convenience of email and cloud storage means it’s easy to bury tasks in archived folders and not think about it for a while. Any writing email subscriptions with interesting posts I always intend to read when I’ve got a minute, sat in my inbox until opening my inbox gave me anxiety. I then marked all of those emails as “read later” and archived them in a folder that I didn’t see every time I opened my email.

It helped with my anxiety, but all those emails are still sitting there. I want to read them. I really do. And they are next to tick off on my break task to-do list.

I’ve also been getting notices about my cloud storage being almost full, and I know my laptop could also do with a big cleanup. Publishing 3 books in the last three years, 6 years’ worth of blogs, and a once-active newsletter means a lot of files, images, and graphics taking up space that can be cleared out via these steps:

Sort through files.Delete what’s not needed.Archive what needs saving, but isn’t something that’ll be accessed day-to-day, week-to-week, etc.Back up content, both digitally and physically, on a backup hard drive.

If you’re looking for more backup tips, the awesome Ari Meghlan recently penned a great blog called Declutter Your Digital Life: Tips And Tricks on this exact topic with some fantastic advice that I’ll also be using to get back on top of my backups.

Catch Up On Content

If you follow me on any of my social media profiles, you’ll know I regularly post content 5-6 days a week, and that I do quick check-ins. They need to be quick, otherwise, I spend all day on social media instead of writing.

This leads to bookmarked blogs sitting unread and more in-depth interactions not happening. While I am always working toward a writing routine that will allow time out of my day to be more present on social media, when I’m writing to a deadline, that falls away.

Writing is the priority in that case, as it should be, but it means missing out on supporting the wonderful writing community and the talented writers and friends I’ve met there. I have learned, though, that it’s never too late to like, comment, and share someone else’s content. So, an end-of-draft break is the perfect time to catch up on writing community feeds and do those exact things.

Read, interact, and share other writer’s blogs, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, and Pinterest posts.

After catching up on other’s content, don’t forget to take a look at your own. Spend some of your break making new promo images, reviews, snippets, and content for your social media channels. You can even learn how to do other things, like make videos, or book trailers. Or just give your website, blog, social media headers, and images a freshen-up.

Get ahead by making evergreen graphics and content so you have things to post no matter how busy life gets.Plan out upcoming content, such as the blog topics you’ll cover for the next month, so you have some direction when you finish your break.If you don’t know already, learn how to schedule posts, which will save you time when you get back into your regular writing routine.Have A break

Lastly, after working through these end-of-draft tasks, don’t forget to take an actual break and use some of your time to recharge your creative batteries in your favorite way.

Refill your creative well with the TV, movies, and books that inspire you or that have been sitting on your watch/TBR list for the last year.

It’s also a good idea to take a break from social media and your phone for a day/weekend/week/month.

It can be hard when you feel as if you should always be doing “something.” Writing, editing, hustling, and working toward your writing dream all take dedicated effort, but taking time away from that effort, whether it’s long or short, can be just as beneficial, if not more so.

Don’t forget to include this last job in your end-of-draft break tasks and enjoy it! You’ve completed a book, something not all writers achieve. You’ve earned a good rest.

— K.M. Allan

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Threads, and Goodreads.

You can also subscribe here to get my blog posts delivered directly to your inbox!

Editing Tips: Getting Your Book Ready For A Beta Reader

A few weeks ago, we talked about getting your manuscript ready for an alpha reader, and today, we’re covering betas!

While sending a work in progress to others is scary, you can make the job easier on your little writer’s heart by giving your beta the kind of copy that will make their feedback job as easy as possible, and these tips will show you how!

Editing Tips: Getting Your Book Ready For A Beta Reader

Now, how complete your beta draft is depends on the type of writer you are and when you need your feedback.

Some writers are comfortable sending a half-finished draft to betas, while some won’t show anyone anything that isn’t query or publishing-level ready.

While a beta reader draft doesn’t have to be perfect, to get the best feedback, it needs to make sense. Before sending anything to betas, you should have been through the draft a few times yourself, and have most of the plot sorted.

It’s okay to not have every little detail ironed out and on the page, but make your beta aware of what you haven’t completed yet so they can keep that in mind while reading.

Once you have your WIP at that stage, apply these final touches…

Grammar Program Run

Let’s start with a run through a grammar program. ProWritingAid, Grammarly, Word, or whatever your grammar checker of choice is, is a good place to start.

At this stage, you’ll probably still find typos, and these programs are good at alerting you to missing words and passive text. Just remember, however, they’re not a replacement for human editing, and some of their suggestions can be incorrect. Always go with what will make your sentences clear and readable, and trust your own instincts.

Character POV Edit

If your story is written from the POV of multiple characters, you’ll want any scene or chapter from each character to be consistent.

To ensure it is, select each character and do a POV edit.

This walks you through how they speak, act, and what they know. These are elements that are easy to get wrong or overlook when writing, so a concentrated POV edit is a must. For more details on how to pull one off, see the blog post: Writing A Book: Character Point Of View Edit.

Dialogue Punctuation Check

Despite your beta draft not needing to be flawless, you don’t want it full of simple errors that are going to pull the beta out of the story when you need them to be immersed in it.

Even something like the wrong punctuation in your dialogue can do this, so make it clear by enlisting the help of one of our favorite editing functions, the “Search/Find” option!

Use it to check…

?”
.”
,”
!”

This will allow you to zero in on your dialogue and make sure you’ve used a comma for speech, and a period/full stop for action.

Correct examples:

“Let’s get out of here,” he said.
“Let’s get out of here.” He took her arm.

“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked.
“Do you want to get out of here?” He took her arm.

“Let’s get out of here!” he said.
“Let’s get out of here!” He took her arm.

It might feel like overkill to make sure your punctuation is correct when the MS is still in the working/editing stages, but getting this right now will save you time down the line and give your beta a confusion-free read.

A Listen Out Loud

Rather than another read-through, which at this point you’ve likely done a million times, try listening to your book out loud.

Use a program that reads off the screen, or compile your book into an ebook and use an app to read it back with headphones on so that your words have your total attention.

A listen of your MS will pick up typos (yep, they’ll still be there) and is excellent for flagging longer sentences that might be fine when your eyes are in charge, but will come across differently when your ears hear how lengthy/awkward the sentence is.

Use your listen out loud to experience your book from the perspective of a reader and not as its writer, and reap the benefits.

Writing Style Consistently

Whether writing this manuscript happened in weeks, months, or years, you weren’t writing it first sentence to last in one go. That means your writing style is likely to be inconsistent.

The first few chapters are probably more tell than show as you raced through them to get things moving. There could be three chapters in the middle where you were totally on a roll and every sentence is beautiful, lyrical prose. Or your paragraphs could only be described as boringly uninspired because this was when you got stuck on a plot point for a month.

The final chapters could be where you found your writing groove for this book. Or it could be one character above all others that flowed right out and the read of their scenes is exactly how you want the rest of the book to be.

Now is the time to look at each chapter, flag any sentences that don’t sound how you want on the first read (and listen to your inner writer here, because it’s telling you what you know is true), and highlight them.

Color code what needs changing, and in a different color, highlight what is working so you know what to aim for. Refer to the highlighted parts that work, and rewrite the bits that don’t to get them to that same standard.

Organize Some Asks

When you have your MS ready and it’s time to send it on, consider asking your betas to be on the lookout for certain things when reading.

It may be if the villain reveal was a surprise, or if the discovery of the MC’s true heritage was the jaw-dropper you wanted it to be.

Organize all the things you want to know into a list to give to your betas, either ahead of time so they see it before reading (obviously don’t do this if your asks are spoilers), or a list they can go through after reading the whole MS.

Giving them asks not only allows your betas to be as helpful as they can be but will provide you with the feedback you know will make a difference in the next round of edits, which is a win for everyone.

Wordiness And Typos

While picking up wordy sentences and typos is one of your jobs as the first editor of your MS, they’re also what your eyes slip over as the only person who has read your sentences so many times.

Luckily, your beta won’t have that problem. Reading your sentences for the first time gives them the special ability to see those errors. With that advantage, kindly ask them to highlight anything they come across so you can fix/edit/address them.

While these tips might seem like a lot for a draft that isn’t the final version, getting your book this ready for a beta reader will pay off in the long run.

Applying these checks now means betas get a clean draft, which results in a quicker read/feedback turnaround for them, and less editing for you after you’ve received their notes.

If you’ve nailed the major elements of the story, and your betas only suggest minor tweaks and clarifications, the fact that you’ve run your words through a deep grammar and spell check, character POV edit, a dialogue punctuation edit, checked for writing style consistency, and fixed typos and wordy sentences, means there are very little edits left on your end.

That also means that the next step for your MS, whether it’s to self-publish, enter a competition, or send your MS off to the query trenches, is closer than you think. All thanks to some extra steps when getting your book ready for a beta reader!

— K.M. Allan

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August 2023 Roundup

Welcome to the August 2023 roundup!

August for me was very much the same as July. I spent the majority of it at my keyboard working on edits. It all felt a bit endless by the close of the month, but I’m still loving working on this manuscript, so it certainly hasn’t felt like a chore.

When I was writing the first draft back in 2017, I was querying Blackbirch: The Beginning and getting rejection after rejection. Book 4’s draft kept me inspired and going, and I still love it now, even on draft 9 . Hopefully, my betas will feel the same and help me take it another step closer to a final draft.

As for the eighth month of 2023, this is what else I got up to…

What I’ve Been…Writing

Blackbirch 4 – I’m happy to say I was able to finish draft 9, aka, the Beta Reader Draft. After incorporating my alpha reader feedback, I did a Character POV Edit, a spell/grammar check through ProWritingAid, and read through the book from start to finish, one more time, before sending it off to two betas. Now to wait and see what they think and to find out what changes still need to be made.

Watching

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Picking up where Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse left off, Across sees Gwen leave her own reality to work with other Spider-Persons to fix anomalies that are causing issues in the Multiverse. This opens the floodgates for a lot of Spider-Man cameos and references, including the Marvel live-action movies that we all know. It also connects her back to her old friend, Miles Morales, the only Spider-Man who isn’t a Peter Parker. The reason for that becomes known in a great little twist toward the end of the movie, and as usual, the animation is amazing.

The Other Two (Seasons 1-3)

The Other Two is about brother and sister duo, Brooke and Cary Dubek. They live in New York, him trying to make it as an actor, and her trying to find some direction in her life. When their 14-year-old brother, Chase, releases a song that goes viral, he’s turned into a global superstar (and a clever parody of Justin Bieber). Moving to New York with their mom Pat (who ends up Oprah-like with her own network and security detail), Brooke and Cary get swept up in the chaos of their family’s new fame. The best thing about this show is the fact they genuinely look after their little brother rather than being petty about his sudden rise to fame, and the fun this show pokes at celebrity, pop culture, and Hollywood. That’s where it really shines, as well as how it can make Brooke and Cary both narcissistic, yet turn them around by a season’s end. It’s fantastic character work and an easy 3 seasons to watch.

Nancy Drew (S4, Final Season)

The last supernatural show I watched that felt in the vein of Buffy, and Supernatural, Nancy Drew wrapped up its final season this month. With all the superior mystery stories used up in the earlier seasons, this one revolved around a lot of curses. Most of them needed outlandish cures that the Nancy crew were conveniently always able to get their hands on, and then tell the audience about it with what became a noticeable, heavy reliance on exposition. They did wrap up the storyline of a town sin eater well, however, and all the characters were given good closure to their storylines, and appropriate hints at what would be in store for them in the future, which is all a good finale really needs.

I’ll Be Gone In The Dark

This 2020 documentary only came to my attention this month and certainly grabbed it. While it focuses on The Golden State Killer, it’s also about author Michelle McNamara, who had been working on a book about the topic. After launching a successful true crime blog, and penning a piece for Los Angeles magazine, she had a contract for a book that was about the then-unknown killer, but also part memoir of her own life. She’d been working on the book for 5 years when given unprecedented access to the evidence collected on the murderer, and believing she could solve the case, spent days without sleeping in her research pursuits. When she did sleep, she’d have horrible nightmares and started self-medicating, which led to an accidental overdose at the age of 46.

The book was finished by her husband, actor/writer, Patton Oswalt, and other true crime writers. When it was released 2 years later, it became a bestseller, and only a few months after, TGSK was found and convicted. Highlighting the efforts of giving voices to victims and the work that goes into catching a killer, the documentary is also a lesson about being consumed. The fact that Michelle never got to personally finish her book, see it in print, or the TGSK identified and convicted, made it all very bittersweet, but worth the watch.

Reading

Reinventing Emily Brown By Jodi Gibson

When Emily Brown is left at the grocery store with no money to pay for her purchases, her husband’s gambling addiction is the final straw, and she leaves, carting her horrified teenage daughter with her to her hometown of Curlew Bay.

Crashing with her parents, and instantly back at war with her “perfect” sister, Emily flounders from one situation to the next, screwing up a variety of new jobs, and coming face-to-face with her high school sweetheart. He’s never forgiven her for breaking his heart. But the secret she’s kept from him all these years needs to come out, as well as secrets her own family has been hiding.

When Emily’s daughter throws more upheaval her way, she realizes the only way to get her life back on track is to reinvent it—and her actions will change everything.

Jodi Gibson’s latest is a fun, sentimental read, with a side of romance that is sure to appeal to fans of women’s fiction. Written with humor, full of likable characters, relatable situations, and home truths, it will also strike a familiar note with any mother who has put everyone else’s needs ahead of her own.

Bird By Bird: Instructions For Writing And Life By Anne Lamott

Part memoir, part writing tips, Anne Lamott’s book is an essential read for anyone who has dared to dream of being a writer. Borrowing lessons from the classes she teaches, and often told in hilarious, dark, no-nonsense bursts of info, Bird By Bird covers wanting to be a writer, the realities of publishing, impostor syndrome, jealousy, and how to dig deep to put your heart on the page. It’s honest, relatable, unvarnished, and written in a way that feels as if the secrets to the creative life are on the page. Highly recommended.

Christopher Pike Books

Inspired by the Netflix series, The Midnight Club, I decided to spend 2023 re-reading the books of my favorite author, Christopher Pike. It was his books that put me on the path to writing for Young Adults, and it’s interesting reading them now as a writer rather than just a reader. For these books, I’m enjoying the nostalgia and reading for fun and not to review.

This month I read Alosha, and The Shaktra.

If you’ve got any good book recommendations, let me know in the comments, or be my friend on Goodreads and share your books/recommendations with me! You can also find and follow my reviews and book recommendations on Amazon and BookBub.

If you’d like to add the Blackbirch books to your Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and/or check out the reviews, click the following links:

Blackbirch: The BeginningBlackbirch: The Dark HalfBlackbirch: The Ritual Taking Photos Of

Afternoon walks and Luna. Cold weather and a change in my sister’s work schedule saw us switch our morning walks for afternoons, and on August 16th, it was the 2nd birthday of my writing buddy, Luna, aka, the seat stealer who chews on my office plants!

On The Blog

In case you missed any of my posts, or want to read them again, here are the latest blogs.

July 2023 RoundupEditing Tips: The Fix ListWriting A Book: Character Point Of View Edit
Writing Tip Of The Month

#WritingTipWednesday posts are added to my social media feeds every week and here is the most popular tip for this month. It’s taken from my blog post, How To Give Your Characters Conflict.

Blackbirch Review Of The Month

This review is from Blackbirch: The Ritual, which was released a year ago this month, and has garnered nothing but 4 and 5-star reviews!

If you’d like to read the books released so far or find out more about each novel, here are the links:

Blackbirch: The Beginning (Book 1)Blackbirch: The Dark Half (Book 2)Blackbirch: The Ritual (Book 3)

If you’ve read any of my books—and haven’t done so already—please consider leaving a review or even just a star rating. It really helps indie authors get their books noticed, and also helps fellow readers find books they’ll like.

Quote Of The Month

I hope you’ve enjoyed my August Roundup. What did you get up to this month?

— K.M. Allan

Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Threads, and sign up for my Newsletter to get my blog posts delivered directly to your inbox!

Writing A Book: Character Point Of View Edit

If you’re writing a book that uses the Point Of View (POV) of multiple characters, there’s a lot to keep track of.

Each character is their own puzzle piece to fit into the overall story, and will all play their parts in creating a worthy read, so it’s critical to get the little details right.

One way to do that is by narrowing in on each character with a POV edit.

Writing A Book: Character Point Of View Edit

The best way to concentrate on one POV at a time is to select a character and then go through each of their chapters/scenes, one after the other.

Yes, that likely means you’ll be editing non-linearly. It’s baffling, I know, but this will let you focus on a specific character, and help highlight their journey without your brain getting caught up on other characters and the story of the book. Here’s how to do it!

1) Get Prepared

Gather a pen, paper, multiple highlighters, or use your favorite digital notes program. Assign a unique highlight color to each of your characters, and create this list:

Character name.Chapter and scene.Chapter/scene total.

Example:

Carla (green highlighter)

Chapter 3 – Scene 2
Chapter 16 – Scene 1
Chapter 24 – Scene 3
Chapter 31

Total POV chapters/scenes – 4

Once you’ve listed every character, their chapters/scenes, totaled them, and picked their highlight color, start at their first chapter/scene (in the example above, it would be Chapter 3 – Scene 2).

As for the totaling of the scenes, I do this so I can start at the characters who have the least amount. This breaks down the overwhelming task of editing an entire book into smaller bites. And by the time you get to the characters with the most scenes, you’ll be so deep in the editing groove that the process will be perfected!

When you’ve completed an edit for the first scene, highlight it in your chosen color to mark it as done, and move to the next. When all of the character’s chapters/scenes are highlighted, you’ve completed your character POV edit for them.

For some ideas on what to focus on in a character POV edit, check out step 2!

2) Get EditingVoice Consistency

While the style of writing across your book should be consistent, the “voice” of each character should also be distinct.

You want your readers to tell whose POV they’re in just by reading the first few sentences. If your character’s voice is strong, they’ll be able to do that.

To ensure that’s happening, use the advantage of this POV check walking you through every scene, one after the other, to ensure your character’s voice is consistent. If it’s not, edit until every scene for said character is in their voice.

Knowledge

Throughout a book, it’s likely that there are some characters that know certain things, while others don’t.

As the writer—you know everything. And it’s when you’re that all-powerful-knowing-person that you forget the lineage of the abandoned baby isn’t supposed to be known by the MC’s best friend.

They may allude to it in a sentence that you’ve read so many times already, the slip-up slides right past.

Or there was a version of the story three drafts back where they knew, but you changed it last-minute, and as you edit the book from start to finish for the millionth time, the info that is correct in your writer-brain but no longer correct for the character, gets overlooked.

Once again, the slip-up slides past, but when you’re doing a specific character POV edit, the chance to pick up those errors increases.

As you’re going through each POV, check what the specific character is and isn’t supposed to know, and make sure their knowledge (or lack of) is clear on the page.

Repeated Info/Emotions

As writers, we know new ideas pop up as we’re writing, even if you’re the strictest of planners, and especially if you’re a pantser or a planster.

Suddenly, your character having a skill like rock climbing hits you like lightning, so you mention it. You then mention it again five chapters later, and then again before they’re about to use that convenient skill in the finale to save the love of their life.

When drafting, info and emotions pop up, time and time again. As the writer, especially one who’s been drafting the story over a long period, you don’t notice all of this repeated info/emotions. They’re even easier to miss when the POVs are spread out across the book.

When you’re concentrating on just one POV at a time, however, it’s easier to notice that in four out of six scenes, your MC has mentioned that they know how to rock climb.

Use your POV checks to weed out the repeated stuff, and reduce it to the right amount of mentions, at the right time in the story.

The same goes for reminiscing, flashbacks, references, and memories. If you’re touching on these things too much, the POV edit is your chance to identify, refine, and eliminate.

Internal Thoughts/Deep POV

If you’re using Deep POV when writing your characters, a POV edit is the perfect time to make sure you’ve nailed it.

If you aren’t aware already, Deep POV is writing directly from the perspective of the character. Everything this character sees, feels, and thinks is on the page for the reader to experience. It’s a great way to really get inside the character, make them relatable, and form a bond with readers.

When drafting, we often want to move the scene along, so we’ll get down the dialogue, the action, and the staging, but we may not refine our Deep POV elements as thoroughly.

That is where your specific POV edits will come in handy once again. Use them to check that the scene reads as if coming from the POV character directly. Ask yourself as you edit, What are they seeing and feeling? Are there enough internal thoughts? And adjust accordingly.

You’ve done the hard work of creating unique characters. Imprint them on the page with every detail. Get the Deep POV, voice consistency, knowledge, and repeated info and emotions right, and you’ll ensure your characters are well-rounded and one of the best things about your book.

— K.M. Allan

Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Threads, and sign up for my Newsletter to get my blog posts delivered directly to your inbox!

Editing Tips: The Fix List

When it comes to writing, they say the real work is in the rewriting.

While it may take several drafts and years of your life to get to the point of having an entire book written, the work is not over after you type “The end.”

You then need to dig back into that manuscript, preferably after you’ve had an alpha or beta reader look at it, and square everything up.

This is likely the point where you’ll get so overwhelmed that giving up will be the more appealing option. After all, you’ve already put everything into the book. What more is there to do?

Well, depending on what your alpha/beta readers said, it could be a lot of issues or it could just be some minor tweaks.

I’ve had both kinds of feedback. The type that requires a whole book rewrite, and the type that is minor enough that it can be knocked out within a week. In either case, I’ve found the best way to tackle such edits is with a Fix List!

Editing Tips: The Fix List

While your Fix List and my Fix List will vary in terms of what will be required based on the uniqueness of your MS, the idea of this list is to put down in a tangible form the changes needed for the next draft of your book.

This should help you sort your editing into smaller steps, give you a non-overwhelming task list to tackle, and straighten out the story elements in your head.

I find going old-school the easiest way, with a pen, paper, and highlighters, but you can also do this digitally if you prefer.

On a piece of paper, write…

Fix List

Problem #1

Solution

Problem #2

Solution

And so on.

To give you an idea, my most recent Fix List was based on alpha feedback for my current work in progress.

It’s the last book in my YA series, Blackbirch, and my alpha was reading a draft where not every detail was worked out yet. In fact, I literally added in a new plot twist the day I sent the MS to them. That meant there was a new story thread that hadn’t been completely ironed out in my head, or backed up in early chapters of the book.

Naturally, when I got the feedback, that new twist had come across as confusing and convenient. Other feedback included aspects of the magickal system being unclear, the villain’s plans not coming across, and confusion regarding items the characters were using to try to defeat said villain.

That’s not great feedback to get, but the good news? It was fixable! Most of the issues came down to not having the right information on the page (it was worked out in my head, of course, but that doesn’t help the reader) or the info being clear to me as the writer, but not clear to anyone else.

That’s the stuff you want your alpha/beta readers pointing out. That’s what went on my Fix List, and here is a real-life example.

Fix List

Problem #1: The amulet. Alpha didn’t remember it from previous books and found current reminders about it unhelpful in jogging their memory. The significance of it in this book is unclear to them.

Solution: Search “amulet” and check the text for reminders about what it is, and how it works. Look at how it’s being used/written/talked about in the current WIP and ensure it’s clear on the page what the amulet is, how it’s been used in the past, and what it will do in this story.

I cannot overstate enough how helpful writing down a story problem is after having a think about it when someone else has pointed it out to you. It definitely allows you to see the issue from another perspective and where you may have confused your reader.

After you’ve written about the issue and explained what it is in your own words, attempt a solution too. It doesn’t have to be complete if you don’t have an idea yet. Sometimes it’s not until you’re back in your edits that the answer comes to you.

When you have all of your problems and solutions written down, start at #1, and edit your manuscript. Once you’ve addressed problem #1, mark it off with your highlighter, and continue until the Fix List is complete.

It may take only one Fix List to address the issues raised, or it may take an additional list that includes any fresh problems or ripples the first Fix List caused.

In either case, using a Fix List will highlight your problems so you know what to address, give you a clear plan of attack to follow, and gets you closer to a completed MS that should not only make sense to you but to readers as well.

— K.M. Allan

Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

July 2023 Roundup

Welcome to the July 2023 roundup!

It feels like I just wrote the June roundup, and here I am writing—and finally posting—July’s a little later than usual after frustratingly losing a day’s worth of words/edits thanks to WordPress not saving my progress correctly .

My July was a blur of blog posts as I used the waiting-to-hear-back-from-my-alpha-reader time to plan my content for the rest of 2023 and to draft out a few blogs to get ahead. I’m hoping this will allow me to finish and launch my fourth book by the close of this year with as little stress as possible, and to take a break for a holiday I have planned in November. Then, the last week of the month was spent going through my alpha feedback in preparation for creating a beta reader draft.

It was a lot of time at my keyboard, but I also managed to get out and about, and this is what else I got up for the seventh month of 2023…

What I’ve Been…Writing

Blackbirch 4 – I received my alpha beta feedback, along with a very helpful edit letter. With someone else finally looking at the MS that I’ve been working on since 2017, I was able to start draft 9 knowing what was working, what wasn’t, what is confusing, and where to tighten things up. This is a manuscript that has lots of overwriting, which is unusual for me. But trying to wind up a series and tie off some story threads from three different books means more chapters.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to repeat various event mentions, or character musings/reminiscing, as I draft, and then don’t notice I’ve touched on the same incident three times when once was enough. Thankfully, my alpha reader is awesome and helped flag everywhere I did that and then some. With her insights, I’ve been able to cut over 5,000 words and counting, and I’m hoping to give a polished-as-possible version to my betas for their feedback by the end of August.

Watching

No Hard Feelings

When Maddie loses her car, one of her jobs as an Uber Driver is under threat. She needs that work to pay property taxes on the house her mom left her, in the summer town she never left because she was too afraid to move on after high school. Now a 32-year-old with commitment issues, she answers an ad from a rich couple whose son Percy is headed to Princeton with no life experience behind him. They hire her to give him that experience, in exchange for a new car. This leads to a hilarious skinny dipping scene, the two forming an unlikely friendship, and a beautiful piano rendition of Maneater sung by Percy on one of their dates. This story may unfold exactly how you think it will, but the performances of Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman, and the growth of their characters, make it a comedy worth seeing.

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny

I thought it was worth seeing the final Indiana Jones movie with Harrison Ford at the cinema, and it was. Although not as good as the classic Indy movies, Dial of Destiny was a step up from the awful Crystal Skull. Set after that movie, Indiana has retired and is getting divorced when his goddaughter and fellow archaeologist, Helena Shaw, pops into his life to steal Archimedes’ Dial. It’s an artifact Indiana swiped from the Nazis in an opening sequence with a young CGI Indiana, which looks pretty okay for the majority of the flashback. Chasing Helena, Indiana treks around the world in a classic scavenger hunt for clues so the dial can be assembled, in a move that could change history. There are nods, references, and jokes made to the other Indiana films, and even though some action sequences could have been trimmed, the movie is worth checking out if you’re a fan of Indiana Jones and/or action-adventure movies.

Barbie

When Barbie starts experiencing thoughts of death, she learns a sad girl in the real world is playing with her and that she needs to cross over from Barbie Land to close their connection so life can go back to normal. When Barbie gets there, however, she learns that women aren’t treated the way she thought they were, and Ken, who has traveled with her, discovers that men are more than just an accessory.

These revelations have catastrophic consequences in Barbie Land, and with the help of some humans, Barbie sets out to fix things. This movie wasn’t what I expected, but that’s not a bad thing. The entire cast is great, especially Margot Robbie, who plays Barbie’s changing emotions with the subtle touch they need. As for Ken, I hope anyone who questioned why Ryan Gosling was cast changes their mind when they see it because I couldn’t picture anyone else playing the character. He nailed it, even the cringy-yet-hilarious musical number. Full of humor, but also heavy themes, there’s an overall message that will resonate with those who connect with it, and the attention to detail for Barbie Land is top-notch.

Silo (Season 1)

A slow-burn (and I do mean slow) sci-fi series revolving around a society where thousands of people live in a silo and carry out jobs based on which level of the silo they live in. The current generations don’t know how they came to be living there. For them, the outside world, which they can see from specific windows, is desolate and littered with the bodies of people who have volunteered to leave and died moments after stepping out. When the sheriff’s wife decides she wants to go out (called a cleaning), and then the sheriff follows a few years later, the new sheriff looks into their actions, and the actions of her boyfriend, who jumped to his death in the silo.

Believing his death is a covered-up murder that’s connected to the former sheriff and his wife, she discovers the truth about the silo’s origins, and what it means for everyone’s future. This series is full of big names, and the quality of the production, writing, and acting is right up there. It just moved a little slow for me when having to watch the 10 episodes week to week. I know I would have enjoyed it more watching it all at once and will be doing that for season 2, which will be coming off an intriguing season 1 cliffhanger.

Reading

Far From Harm By Naomi Shippen

A stunning debut that will have you turning the pages. When Theresa moves to a small town to write a book, the last thing she expects is the meet someone. Rick is older and a business owner full of different dreams every week. Dazzled by him and the life he promises, Theresa soon finds herself married and living at Rick’s farm, away from society while he uses her house to float businesses she’s never sure are turning a profit or sending them broke.

When Rick’s ex-wife supposedly abandons Rick’s daughter and flees the country, Theresa is now a stepmother dealing with a surly teen. But what really happened to Rick’s ex-wife, & can Theresa believe him when the only thing he’s told her is to tell the police she was with him, no matter the truth? Far From Harm is a suspenseful domestic thriller full of mystery, turns, and characters you’ll both love and hate. Beautifully written by author, Naomi Shippen, it’s a masterclass on gaslighting, manipulation, and the harsh truths about who you can trust.

2,000 to 10,000: How to Write Faster, Write Better, and Write More of What You Love By Rachel Aaron

Even by the end of the first chapter, I was ready to recommend this book. Written in an easy, conversational style by author Rachel Aaron, this book originally started as a blog post, and it was interesting to learn its history and then the secrets to Ms. Aaron upping her writing game. As she states, it’s not revolutionary, but a simple strategy anyone can follow, and I’ll be sure to apply it when working on my next manuscript.

The book also covers basics like the classic Three Act Structure. I’m not a fan of rigid structure formulas as I personally feel it sucks the creativity out of writing, but this book suggests that any big movie fan most likely subconsciously writes in this structure anyway (a theory I also believe) and talks about the three acts in an easy to follow way. There’s also a section on editing for people who hate editing. If you’re looking for a no-fuss way to increase your word count and learn a thing or two about writing along the way without being overwhelmed by rules and must-dos, this book is for you.

Blood Fever: A Daeh’s Private Investigators Story by Laurie Bell

When Mich Janelle, a former Hunter set up for murder, has to take a job as a private investigator, she’s teamed with Zeth Wen and Rel Charley, two partners with tough pasts who aren’t sure if they can trust her. When the case quickly evolves from trailing a dead smuggler to a plot that will kill millions, the three investigators need to work together to track down the source of a deadly virus before it’s released. With wonderful world-building that sets up the book universe and its characters for more adventures, and a plot thread left for the next book, Laurie Bell expertly pulls off this sci-fi story with interesting characters and the different mysteries that weave together in various layers until the epic conclusion.

Christopher Pike Books

Inspired by the Netflix series, The Midnight Club, I decided to spend 2023 re-reading the books of my favorite author, Christopher Pike. It was his books that put me on the path to writing for Young Adults, and it’s interesting reading them now as a writer rather than just a reader. For these books, I’m enjoying the nostalgia and reading for fun and not to review.

This month I read Hollow Skull, Tales Of Terror #2, Magic Fire, and The Grave.

If you’ve got any good book recommendations, let me know in the comments, or be my friend on Goodreads and share your books/recommendations with me! You can also find and follow my reviews and book recommendations on Amazon and BookBub.

If you’d like to add the Blackbirch books to your Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and/or check out the reviews, click the following links:

Blackbirch: The BeginningBlackbirch: The Dark HalfBlackbirch: The Ritual Taking Photos Of

A book launch! This month I attended the book launch for Far From Harm by Naomi Shippen and was able to catch up with a fellow member of the #6amAusWriters crew, KD Kells, and meet in real-life another writer I’ve been following for years on Instagram—Kelly Sgroi! It was a fun afternoon full of food, champagne, book excerpt readings, signings, and writing/publishing conversations.

On The Blog

In case you missed any of my posts, or want to read them again, here are the latest blogs.

June 2023 RoundupEditing Tips: Getting Your Book Ready For An Alpha Reader3 Ways To Eliminate Head Hopping When Writing
Writing Tip Of The Month

#WritingTipWednesday posts are added to my social media feeds every week and here is the most popular tip for this month. It’s taken from my blog post, 6 Ways To Make The Most Of Bad Feedback.

Blackbirch Snippet Of The Month

This snippet is from Blackbirch: The Beginning, and is from the POV of Eve Thomas, who is one of the most fun characters to write. She’s very much the anti-hero of the series and has become a reader favorite.

If you’d like to read the books released so far or find out more about each novel, here are the links:

Blackbirch: The Beginning (Book 1)Blackbirch: The Dark Half (Book 2)Blackbirch: The Ritual (Book 3)

If you’ve read any of my books—and haven’t done so already—please consider leaving a review or even just a star rating. It really helps indie authors get their books noticed, and also helps fellow readers find books they’ll like.

Quote Of The Month

I hope you’ve enjoyed my July Roundup. What did you get up to this month?

— K.M. Allan

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

3 Ways To Eliminate Head Hopping When Writing

Head hopping. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s when the reader is placed inside the head of one or more characters within the same scene. Why is this bad? Well, for starters, it’s confusing.

Jumping from one character’s inner thoughts to another within close paragraphs and sentences makes it hard for a reader to keep track of who is thinking and feeling what, and when it comes to writing, you don’t want confused readers.

Readers who are unsure of what is happening will put a book down without finishing it, one-star it, or tell others not to bother. You want your writing to be as clear as possible so your readers can follow the story, bond with the characters, and revel in your genius plot twists. Ensuring you aren’t head hopping is one way to achieve that, and here is how you can eliminate it from your writing.

3 Ways To Eliminate Head Hopping When Writing1) Pick A POV Character And Stick With Them

Whatever scene or chapter you are in, it should be from one character’s point of view (POV), and that point of view only.

Obviously, there can be other characters in the scene, interacting with the POV character, but everything from how the setting looks, feels, smells, and the internal reactions to what is happening in the scene should only filter through to the reader via the POV character.

Switching from the MC describing their shock at seeing a person hit by a car, to side character #2 describing how the same event is making them feel nauseous, means that you’ve head hopped.

Staying in the head of the POV character but showing externally how a different character reacts can be done without that head hopping, and that’s when you opt for elimination method #2—distance tricks!

2) Employ Distance Tricks

Since your POV is from one character, you need to use them to relay everyone else’s reactions.

Because you can’t directly show what the other characters’ internal thoughts are or what they’re feeling via their heads, use your POV character’s observation skills.

They can tell the mood of another character via dialogue, actions, and what the POV character sees and hears.

As an example, our POV character, Carla, asks the other character, Jenny, to help her move a large box.

Carla nudged the box with the tip of her sneaker.

“Jenny, can you help me with this?”

Her friend’s gaze narrowed on the box’s size, and Jenny crossed her arms.

“That’s a little too big, don’t you think?”

It was too big for Carla by herself, but surely, with Jenny’s help, she could bring it inside. “If you just grab the other end, we can pick it up.”

“Ugh.” Jenny stomped over, kicking the box with her shoe before letting out a sigh.

In this simple example, Jenny didn’t want to help and was annoyed by the size of the box. Instead of hopping into Jenny’s head to show this to the reader, we use the POV of Carla to get the same info across.

This is done via what she sees, such as Jenny’s gaze narrowing at the box, crossing her arms, and Jenny stomping over. Jenny’s annoyance is further displayed by what Carla can hear in Jenny’s dialogue and with Jenny’s sigh at the end.

With the viewpoint character, they can tell you everything they’re seeing, thinking, and feeling, but any other character needs to show it, via dialogue and audible cues like grunts and sighs, and with physical manifestations, such as jumping up and down to show they’re excited.

Another way to make the most of distance tricks is by having your POV character observe or hear an outside source.

A news report blasting from a TV in a café, a blog headline flashing on their phone screen, or a cryptic conversation overheard on the train during the morning commute all work just as well without you having to pop inside the head of another character.

3) Use The Highlight Method

Now, if you’ve already written your book and weren’t keeping track of head hopping, or are now paranoid that you’ve done it, you can check your text using the highlight method.

This involves getting your hands on some different highlight colors (either digitally or physically if you’re working from a printed copy) and assigning one color to the POV character.

With that specific color, highlight their name and everything in your words that point to them being the POV character, such as statements like:

She saw.She heard.She felt.She needed.She knew.Internal thoughts and observations.

Read the rest of the text again, and look closely at the sentences around the other characters in the scene. If you can use another highlight color to mark POV statements from anyone else, you’ve head hopped, and the scene needs to be rewritten.

While you might think head hopping isn’t one of the worst writer sins to commit, or that plenty of classic books pull it off, know that they’ve mastered the rules and broken them. You, more than likely, aren’t in that league yet, and eliminating head hopping will only benefit your book.

Besides taking out the confusion, no head hopping means more of an emotional impact for your scenes. Your readers get that by bonding with your POV character. If you’re switching from one character’s head to another in quick succession, they can’t connect with your POV character. Without that connection, they won’t want to follow them to the last page or the next book.

If you work on leveling up your other skills as a writer, head hopping isn’t needed, and you’ll see that there are better ways to gift your readers information, and in more creative ways that you will both appreciate more.

— K.M. Allan

Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Editing Tips: Getting Your Book Ready For An Alpha Reader

Congratulations, you’ve done it! You reached a point in your manuscript journey where it’s ready for other eyes.

While this is a significant milestone for any writer, it’s also one of the scariest. Someone else will read the words you’ve painstakingly bled onto the page for months, even years—and yes—they will judge you, because, well, that’s the job of an alpha reader.

If you’ve never used an alpha reader before, it’s the same as using a beta reader, only they will look at your MS when it’s in the very early writing stages, before big edits, and give you feedback to help you work out where to go next.

To make their job, and your future work, easier, the following tips will help you get your book ready for an alpha!

Editing Tips: Getting Your Book Ready For An Alpha Reader

As explained, an alpha reader is someone who will read your manuscript when it’s at an early stage.

Ideally, you would have completed more than one draft, but some alphas will read a first draft hot and fresh from your typing fingers.

If you can get at least two drafts completed before handing the MS over, I’m sure the alpha will appreciate it. Two drafts should mean that the basic story is down. After that, you just need to get your perfectionist/control freak heart on board with giving someone a draft that is far from polished.

Ensure You Have Your Big Picture Stuff In Place

Your first, and biggest step, is making sure most of the story is there—from start to finish.

You don’t have to know every little detail. There might even be some plot twists still missing. Minor things like timeline inconsistencies will be there, and you may have just finalized the details of the hero’s victory in your last pass, so you haven’t had a second look at the changes to ensure they’re solid, but that’s all okay for an alpha read.

As long as the big picture stuff is there, the alpha will take in the overall story and let you know what is working and what isn’t. They will be your crucial fresh eyes without the rose-colored glasses, who can look at what you have objectively and give you feedback.

You may want to ask them to just read and let you know their own feedback, either as comments throughout the MS, or thoughts at the end of the read in a separate document or email. You could even ask them for specific feedback, which brings us to tip #2!

Write Specific Feedback Questions

If your normal feedback process is to take whatever you can get, try to be more specific with your alpha.

Since they’re reading something that’s still first-drafty, it’s okay to ask them to pay attention to certain things straight off. At this stage, there will be specific information you’ll need to know to make progress on your next draft.

That could be knowing if you pulled off a certain twist, or if the reason the MC quit their job was clear so that you can confirm if what you’ve written passes as understandable or needs fixing.

Gather your specific questions in relation to your unique MS, and/or send them the following general feedback questions.

Is the overall story working?Are there any parts that are confusing?Pacing. Is it too slow in parts? Too fast in others? What is it like as a whole?Characters. What’s your first impression? Can any be cut? Are any missing? Do any do anything (in your opinion) that is out of character with what you expected as you were reading?

Hopefully, your alpha can give you as much usable feedback as they can on all aspects of what you’ve handed over, even if the draft is still far from complete.

If possible, a follow-up face-to-face catch-up or Zoom call with your alpha would be ideal. Talking through the draft should help you both, as your alpha can express their thoughts about what they read, and you can ask direct questions, and discuss what you plan to tackle in the next draft easily in an informal type chat.

If that’s not possible, just regular back-and-forth messages you’re both comfortable with should also do the trick. As your MS isn’t polished, you or your alpha will probably have a lot to cover, so ensure you find an alpha willing to do that, and don’t forget to return the favor for their next WIP.

Do One Read-Through

Before handing over your draft, it’s a good idea to have one start-to-finish read-through.

Even if you’ve been writing or editing solidly for weeks, and you know the story well enough by this point, you probably haven’t read it from the first page to the last in one straight shot for a while.

This check will allow you to see any inconsistencies your editing or last-minute tweaks may have introduced, such as the MC mentioning a plan in an early chapter that was no longer happening by the last.

When doing this read-through, you can still also edit bits and pieces, such as fixing a typo or dropped word, or making a sentence clearer, but don’t go overboard. This isn’t a full edit and doesn’t need to be. Your alpha will expect a draft that isn’t overly polished, and you will do your major editing after they’ve given you their feedback. Anything above and beyond now is possibly polishing whole chapters you’re going to cut, so do the one read-through, and then send it off.

Run A Basic Spell Check

Even if your MS is only a few drafts old, as a common courtesy to your alpha, please run a basic spell check. Nothing interrupts a reading experience more than typos every second sentence, and they can’t judge what’s happening if simple errors are making your paragraphs unclear.

If you’re using Scrivener, it has a built-in spell check that will work as you write. It’s not a grammar checker, however, so let your alpha know that the grammar will be checked more thoroughly in a later draft. If you’re using Word, its built-in spell and grammar checker is good to run through before handover.

You’re still so early in the drafting process, that a deep spelling, grammar, and punctuation check at this point is most likely going to be wasted on words that will be removed in the blink of a delete button press with your next round of edits. Stick to what will give you a clean copy in as little time as possible.

And with that, you now have some tips for getting your book ready for an alpha read!

I hope they help both you and your alpha make the most of your early draft, so it can be the best foundation for your final draft. Good luck!

— K.M. Allan

Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.