Jaire Sims's Blog, page 5

Learning To Embrace Revisions In Your Own Writing

Writing can be challenging. Everyone has their own challenges with the writing process, but I find revising the most frustrating. Revising any of my writing can be difficult, but it is particularly challenging when revising an entire novel. I learned this after revising my debut novel, and I’m going through this experience again halfway through revising my second book. However, it is an inevitable part of writing. Anyone’s first draft is seldom their best work. To publish high-quality writing for your readers, you must make revisions. 

Writing Is Rewriting

Revision is not easy because it requires you to rethink, reconsider, and reconstruct your writing until you are satisfied with what you have written. When writing a novel, I find completing the first draft less challenging because I understand it is supposed to be flawed.

This applies to the first draft of any of my writing. But for writing novels, the goal is to write enough content to tell a cohesive story. Plus, letting my imagination and creativity run wild as I write and develop characters, dialogue, settings, plot, and more can be fun.

But once my story is complete, I must begin the inevitable task of polishing my work. If you are a perfectionist like me, you may revise your writing more times than you should. Revising is never a one-and-done experience for me.

Whenever I edit my writing, I always go back to ensure the changes I made make sense. If it doesn’t, I’ll make additional tweaks until I am satisfied. It can be a tedious and time-consuming process if you are genuinely passionate about what you are writing. When I revise my writing, I go all in because I want my readers to read my content with as much passion as I had while writing it.

Revising dialogue is one of my biggest roadblocks with storytelling. It’s challenging to write conversations that sound realistic and natural. Other times, I can’t find the right words for my characters to articulate.

It helps to read the dialogue between characters out loud to see if they flow smoothly together. It’s also helpful to have beta readers read your writing to see if your dialogue needs improvement.

The Truth About Writer’s Block

Another challenge I experience with revising my writing is dealing with writer’s block. Revising a story often requires deleting some of your writing, which can affect your word count. Some of the content I write in my drafts are not worth keeping. This can include dialogue, paragraphs, characters, details, and more.

Typically, if what I write doesn’t enhance the plot of my story, or I don’t like it, I will remove it entirely. However, eliminating content often means developing new ideas to replace my deleted work. It can be challenging to think of new ideas relevant to my story.

Taking short-term breaks helps me with overcoming writer’s block. Sometimes I need to let my mind think of something else other than writing for me to start fresh again when I do return. Brainstorming for new ideas helps me when I feel stuck in my writing.

Revising Takes Consistent Practice

Finding time to revise a novel can be just as challenging as finding time to write one. It took me at least a year to make revisions to my debut novel before I made additional changes based on the feedback from my editors.

I’m moving quicker with revising my second novel because I understand the process and know what works for me to make revising less time-consuming. It helps to write and edit simultaneously on certain days of the week. This consistency trains my mind and body to focus more on my writing and creates an environment for me to be one step closer to publishing quality work. 

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Want to Learn What’s in Store for Publishing Your Novel?

Once you’ve put in the time and energy of getting an editor to proofread your manuscript and make the necessary changes, it’s time to put your novel out into the world. It was April 2020 when my editor finished proofreading my manuscript, and I was ready to figure out how to sell my self-published book. They recommended a company they’d previously worked with called BookBaby as an excellent place for publishing a book.

As many of you readers know, I decided to self-publish because I wasn’t willing to wait for someone to give me an opportunity: I experienced enough of that during my employment searches over the years. For once, I wanted to create my own opportunity. If you’re looking to publish your work independently, like me, let’s go over the process involved when self-publishing.

Digital Proof & Book Cover

While going through the publishing process, I submitted my manuscript for BookBaby to create a digital proof, a PDF that I could review after their editor went over my work.

The company also saved me the trouble of finding a designer for my book cover by creating it for me. All they needed to know was how I wanted my book cover to appear and any images I could provide as references.

Once I submitted all of that, I had to wait about twenty days for them to create my digital proof and book cover. While I had to review the digital proof and make adjustments, BookBaby exceeded my expectations with my book cover design. I was immediately impressed by how beautiful their cover design was and how it would set the tone for my novel.

One of the costs of self-publishing comes with hiring editors and designers, but if you can find the right service to support you, they may have these things on staff, which they roll into the total cost of their support.

Revisions & New Additions

Though I was so impressed by BookBaby’s work, my digital proof and cover underwent many revisions before being submitted for approval. Some were due to noticeable errors, such as typos, odd formatting, and text spacing.

While other notes were requests for new additions that I wanted to make to my proof, including an endorsement page, copyright page, and an author bio page. For my cover, I had them add the BISAC category and three endorsement excerpts beneath the summary on the back.

Although I received my digital proof and cover in May, it took until July for me to submit them for approval because of the revisions and additions I requested. But that’s the power of self-publishing; you don’t have a giant corporation dictating the image and voice of your story for you. I enjoy having that creative control from the start to finish of the product.

E-book      

After I approved my digital proof and cover, I received my e-book conversion files the next day. They made all the revisions and additions I requested, so I made one final proof and submitted them for approval.

Publishing your novel as an e-book is a brilliant idea in the digital age. It only increases your reach as an author and doesn’t cost you much extra since you’re not paying for all the printing and shipping costs associated with physical (though it is nice walking into a brick-and-mortar store to see your novel on a shelf!)

BookBaby has a shop for both physical and digital prints but now includes distribution to Amazon KDP, Apple Books, and others that handle e-books. When looking at your options, you’ll want to check how connected a self-publishing house is to major storefronts.

Proof Book 

After I approved my e-book files, all that was left for me to do was wait for BookBaby to print out a physical copy of my final proof. The anticipation was a lot, but I received my proof in the mail only a week later.

I can’t quite describe the feeling that, after almost ten years, I finally had the physical form of my novel, Getting By, in my hand. I was, rather am, now a published author.

As I went through the steps and figured out how to sell my self-published book, I found that the hardest part of the publishing process was being patient. I was getting so close to publishing Getting By that all the waiting really weighed on me.

However, I knew it was best to take my time with the process and trust BookBaby’s thoroughness. Because in the end, with the help of the team there and my editor, I have published the very best version of my book.

Though I had a great experience with BookBaby, there are plenty of other options for independent authors when publishing a book, so shop around for the best fit for your novel.

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Should You Ask Your Friends and Family to Review Your Manuscript?

As I worked on Getting By, I never had friends or family look at my manuscript since I thought it was best for an editor to see it first. The work of my professional editors significantly impacted the shape of my debut novel. Does that mean the feedback offered by those closest to me wasn’t of value? Not entirely. When it comes to whether or not you should get feedback from your friends or family before you publish a book, the short answer is: It depends!

Reading As a Pastime

If you’re going to reach out to your friends or family to get a review, it’s vital that they be interested in reading in the first place. What’s more, you need to know if they are interested in the genre you’re writing for.

What good is getting notes on story structure from your uncle, who’s heavily invested in reading The Economist exclusively? Sure, he may be a wise and thoughtful person, but his feedback will be so subjective that its value on your young adult novel will be skewed and likely useless.

“But Jaire!” you may object, “Surely, if I can pique his interest, then fans of the genre are certain to appreciate my work!” Yes, that has some validity but mainly from the confidence boost.

It will be far more valuable to approach your friends and family actually in your story’s target demographic because you can get a meaningful insight about what is working for them, why they don’t think it’s a good fit and everything in between. As fans of reading such books, they will also understand story structure more, so they can offer some technical feedback.

Using Some Expertise

When it comes to speaking with an expert, I don’t mean avid fans or an experienced author you know of the genre you’re writing for (though the latter would be great!) The only time you’ll want to turn to your learned economist-minded uncle or, say, a girlfriend that went to med school is for their expertise in the subject you’re writing about.

Suppose you know someone that can help make your content and story more realistic with their knowledge. In that case, it can be useful to hear their opinion to address any plot holes due to misinformation or suggest credible sources to expand your research.

Connecting with a Peer

Reaching out to colleagues is a great way to get feedback on your manuscript, as other authors can offer a unique perspective on your creative choices.

If you know other writers or even professional editors willing to help you out, that’s amazing. But you still need to be discerning. It’s worth considering the genres they’re familiar with and their experience level.

A starting writer like you can certainly offer an opinion, but if they know little more than you do about the craft, it won’t put you much further ahead. Don’t let yourself fall into the trap of “any author will do!”

Before You Ask, Be Aware

If you decide to indulge in friends’ and family’s feedback prior to publishing your novel, I want to offer some words of caution.

Remember, you’re asking a favor

Be thoughtful and gracious when accepting their feedback. You don’t want to spoil relationships by being defensive and combative when they’re doing something nice for you on their own time. Say “Thanks!” and trust that their opinion is valid.

Remember to be specific

When you share your manuscript, consider who you want to review it with and what feedback you’re asking for from them. If you ask a general, “What do you think?” you’ll get equally general responses. So if you’re going to reach out to those experts discussed, be they experienced readers or academics, prepare some questions for them to keep in mind as they read.

Remember that they may not know what to say

That could lead to no feedback (and you need to be okay with that), or you might receive useless filler feedback if they feel put on the spot and just want to be helpful, ultimately ending up the opposite. That is the riskiest aspect when reaching out to friends or family because no feedback can drive you nuts and bad feedback can send you off making ineffectual revisions.

You Get What You Pay For

When you’re publishing a novel, reaching out to your friends and family is an attractive prospect because it’s often cheap or free. That’s not to say all of their feedback will be useless.

What I mean is that when you invest in working with a professional editor, who knows how to work with your genre and has years of experience doing what you’re asking for, there’s a better guarantee you will receive the best feedback your manuscript will need to improve.

They can also cover many more bases, like having them look at the technical aspects alongside the story structure and how compelling a read it is. In the end, it could be much more worth your time and energy to invest the money into hiring a professional.

However you get your feedback, it’s up to you how you apply it. You need to sift through the good and the bad, which is a skill in and of itself, and trust that if someone has a problem with your book, even if that person can’t articulate it, it’s worth reviewing the issue.

I go into more detail and have several resources in my course, and you’re welcome to reach out if you have some questions (though I can’t promise to review your manuscript for you!) Get in touch with me at jsims@jairesims.com and find me on social media to connect.

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Harness Your Enthusiasm By Finding What You Love About Writing

There are multiple stages of the writing process, including prewriting, planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing, with some being more enjoyable for writers than others. Me, I enjoy the prewriting and planning stage of writing a story the most because it helps me determine if I like my idea enough to turn it into a full-length novel. If I lack the enthusiasm to begin writing the first draft of my manuscript, the rest of the process will feel more or less like a chore.

So far, I’ve been passionate enough to turn two story ideas into novels: One Young Adult book, Getting By, I’ve self-published, and I’m currently working on revisions to my second novel. So let’s dive into how I like to begin the prewriting and planning process and see if it sparks the same thrill for you.

Prologue to Writing

Before I begin writing a novel, I like to note anything I could use as inspiration for my story. That can include song lyrics, real-life conversations, personal experiences, quotes, and dialogues from television series and movies. They may never be useful to me, but I try to keep a log of any material to reference as a source of motivation for drafting a story.

Who Is This All About?

With that material in hand, I can begin brainstorming. I start with creating the main character because they are the heart of the story, and everything else will build around them.

To do this, I prefer creating a character sketch and then writing a thorough, detailed overview of them, keeping in mind essential details, such as their physical attributes, personality traits, fears, likes and dislikes, insecurities, and anything else relevant to my story.

By putting in the work early to develop details to help create a main character, they can become multi-dimensional, likable, realistic, and relatable, giving readers someone to latch onto throughout a story.

Populate the World

Next, I create at least a few supporting characters I know will likely interact with my protagonist because, without them, the world of my story would feel empty. My approach with them isn’t as involved, though.

Instead, I wait for them to reveal themselves as I write my story. That way, they can appear organically throughout the novel instead of feeling forced into places for the sake of being there. Because you have to remember a supporting character must serve some purpose in the story. They’re there to facilitate growth in the hero or give them something to aid in their goals.

As my main and supporting characters develop, I begin imagining plot ideas and dialogue for them, mindful that conversations need to be concise and that I may drop half of my ideas on the cutting-room floor.

Building the World

After creating some of my characters, I establish my story’s settings. Preferring to write realistic fiction, I like to start with what I know first before I use my imagination and creativity to expand my storyline. Therefore, my settings will be approached from my protagonist’s point of view, enabling readers to dive deep into the world I’ve created for them.

Naturally, the world-building process will go into more detail once I start my writing first draft, as I love to let it all grow organically and discover new fits for the story. It’s important not to overdo it, taking readers to too many locations, so I ensure I focus only on detailing key settings integral to the plot.

Keeping Track of it All

Once I have enough material to write a manuscript, I come back to organizing my story idea. That begins with sketching a plan since I prefer to have an outline to keep my story organized. That said, I previously mentioned my preference to sit down and freewrite instead of meticulously outlining everything before I begin writing the first draft of my manuscript.

But writing and maintaining a brief outline has its merits. I like to ensure my story is cohesive and that I have the essential elements in place. When outlining my story, I make sure there is a beginning, middle, climax, and end, with a central conflict for my main character to deal with throughout.

So, while freewriting helps me get my thoughts on the page, outlining my story provides a road map I can reference through the process.

After writing two stories, it’s clear prewriting and planning are the best parts of the writing process, at least for me. At that stage, it’s thrilling to have all those new, exciting ideas swirling around in my head. There’s untapped potential that I can use to begin building the basic foundations of crafting a story.

Then it’s up to me to decide if I want to move forward with that idea and start writing a full-length manuscript or repurpose some thoughts for something else down the line. It’s also exciting to latch onto a concept I’m passionate about, as it makes it much easier to see the story through to the end (as you can imagine.)

There are enough obstacles authors need to overcome, so it’s important you find a part in your writing process that excites you because when you can harness that enthusiasm and work towards it, everything flows much better.

If you want to share your favorite part of the process or get into more details about how I prewrite, you can get in touch with me on social media and at jsims@jairesims.com.

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My Experience to Help You Find the Right Editor

With Getting By, I knew a crucial step I would have to fulfill before publishing a book: Editing my manuscript. Even though I had finished it a bit before, it was in December 2019 that I began searching for a book editor because it was the right time to hire one financially. But I didn’t know where to start, which meant research. It was a YouTube video where I learned about and was directed to visit the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), a national professional organization of editorial freelancers. Finally, my editing process could begin in earnest. Here is my experience with finding a book editor using the site.

Finding & Hiring A Book Editor

Using the EFA’s directory, I could find potential freelance editors to hire from their extensive list. Since I would be publishing a book that was a young adult fiction story, I specifically searched for editors who edited books for that genre. Then I compiled a list of editors I would consider hiring after completing thorough background research for each of them.

If you plan to go this route, consider what I researched. For each editor, I reviewed the types of editing they performed and what books they edited, and I also reviewed their resumes, websites, testimonials, and years of experience.

Thankfully, you can get much of this information from the EFA website, saving you time from web searching each person individually. Using my best judgment, I reached out to an editor that stuck out to me and eventually received a response by early January 2020.

We connected over the phone, and I asked further questions to learn more about the editor and the editing process for publishing a book before deciding to hire them (which I eventually did.)

The Editing Process: A Waiting Game

I had to wait about three weeks for my editor to review my manuscript. By late January, they had performed a developmental edit on my story. With that complete, I spent an entire month making revisions that would strengthen my novel, using my editor’s constructive feedback as guidance.

I sent the newly completed version their way, and, finally, my editor could perform a copy edit and then proofread my manuscript. From start to finish, upon hiring my editor, the entire editing process for my manuscript took about ten weeks.

Once my editor had finished proofreading my story in April, I was ready to begin the next phase of publishing a book (though little did I know I’d need to undergo another round of editing with my indie publisher!)

Overall, I was satisfied with my editor’s work. From the EFA website to working with an editor, the editing process for my manuscript went quite smoothly and efficiently. My biggest takeaway is that I recommend ensuring you’ll be able to work well with the person.

You’ll want to develop clear expectations for communication so that you understand their notes and can work as efficiently as possible together. Then you have the best shot of putting your best work forward for publishing a book. If you have thoughts or questions on the editing process, please reach out to me at jsims@jairesims.com and connect on social media.

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Ready to Self-Publish? 7 Great Sites to Make Your Novel Reality!

If you’re like me and want to seize control of your book’s destiny (as best as possible), then self-publishing is the way to go. It does involve extra work and expense, but in the end, you keep the profits. Thanks to the internet, it’s much easier for authors to go independent. I recently shared my insights on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, but there are so many other businesses you can turn to for support.

Why Self-Publish?

Aside from the financial benefits, you may want to consider publishing on your own to maintain creative control. While it is more expensive up front, self-publishing requires fewer concessions than you’d find with a publishing house.

So, while you have to pay for an editor, create your cover design, do all the marketing, and other ancillary details, you have the final say over how your novel creatively presents itself to the world.

What’s more, you’re not sitting around sifting through rejection letter after rejection letter, waiting to get your story onto shelves, digital or otherwise. Instead, once your manuscript is written and refined, and you finalize all the details with a self-publishing company, you can get your novel live instantly.

All of these were attractive qualities for me, though if you still want to try the traditional route, I’ve thoughts about that as well.

Selecting a Self-Publisher

These days, most self-publishing companies offer much of the same support. But there are defining factors that will set them apart, which is why you’ll want to do your research. Things like pricing, distribution reach, quality of printing, and customer service will likely be determining factors when you get down to it.

So take your time, do the research, and hopefully, you’ll find the best fit for your storytelling needs. While the list I’m providing here isn’t exhaustive, I hope it gives a basic idea of where you can start.

Lulu

A standout publisher online, Lulu offers creators a great deal of flexibility and return on their investment. You get 80% of every sale after printing costs and have access to global retailers like Barnes & Noble. To get your novel ready for retail, they provide access to vetted services for editing, promoting, and other needs for any genre or publication style. Their packages can be pricey, but the extras are welcome.

Blurb

Their claim to fame is more quality illustrated printing, like magazines and photo journals, but they offer services for paperback and ebooks and have a great eye for detail. They also offer competitive pricing options for bulk orders (though not as good as KDP) and don’t take any distribution fees for their decent access to retail prospects. They also provide access to professionals for everything from design and original artwork to editing and publicity, helping you get your novel its best chance at success.

Kobo

You may have heard of that other e-reader that isn’t a Kindle, and it’s probably the Kobo. Kobo is a fantastic avenue for ebook publishing, with straightforward options and setup like KDP. Plus, they have a big cut of the Canadian market and the in-born e-reader audience! Once you get the ball rolling with your published work, they have a robust set of analytics to help you track performance and make better decisions for the business side of your novel’s journey.

iUniverse

Another publisher that offers a bevy of options to create your ideal novel launch, iUniverse prioritizes quality. That said, you’re going to pay for it. They have a higher price tag than some of the other options in this list but with the features to match, like one-on-one support and peer connections, global distribution, access to possible rewards to boost credibility, and access to in-house designers and editors.

Smashwords

Another specialist in ebooks, Smashwords gets your book onto the shelves of a great collection of digital distributors, guaranteeing you a 60% return on your listing price (or 80% in their proprietary storefront!) They also offer access to audiobook production, a great way to get your book to people, as so many consume stories this way.

Another perk is access to literary agents if you want to take your writing career in that direction. While their list of services could be more appealing than some, the price is suitable for many indie authors.

IngramSpark

With a name nearly as old as printed books, Ingram is a great name to associate your novel with if you want to benefit from its clout and reach. They also give you control over what cut of the royalties you want, which can help you market to certain retailers if boosting your credibility is more important than earning. But they charge a setup fee, so if you’re looking for a budget option, this isn’t it.

Moreover, many complain that navigating their publishing options and setup is clunky, so you’ll need patience to overcome the learning curve. However, if you can, IngramSpark is one of the few options on the list that can compete with the reach of Amazon.

BookBaby

Last but not least is my publisher of choice. BookBaby is easy to work with and offers a great list of services like cover design, access to editing services (which I used for a second pass after my initial editor worked on my manuscript), marketing support, and audiobook recording, too.

They sit higher on the pricing bracket, but even as a young author, I found the bang worth the buck and was so happy dealing with them. They have an incredibly user-friendly interface and offer reliable customer service. You also get access to a big list of distributors (like Ingram’s!) to help you generate sales globally. I highly recommend them if you’re willing to invest a bit more in the process.

When deciding to self-publish, I didn’t want for options, as you can see. Again, this is a small taste, but you can find a publishing service to suit your price and needs with enough perseverance.

The most significant thing you’ll want to consider is distribution if nothing else, when deciding where to put your money. Because if people aren’t reading your book, then what’s the point?

If you find the self-publishing process overwhelming, I offer a great course (if I do say so myself) that you can check out to help you avoid some of the pitfalls I found. You’re also welcome to reach out to me at jsims@jairesims.com or connect with me on social media.

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How I Wrote My First Novel “Getting By” Part 3: Putting Myself Out There

After finishing the first draft of my manuscript, I made self-edits and revisions using Grammarly before seeking a professional book editor (I highly recommend you connect with one!) After spending some time researching to find potential editors to work with, I reached out to one I felt would be a good match for me and my book.

It took about three weeks for my editor to review my manuscript. First, they performed a developmental edit, after which I spent an entire month making additional revisions to strengthen the story while using my editor’s constructive feedback as guidance.

Finally, my editor performed a copyedit and proofread my manuscript. The entire editing process took about ten weeks from start to finish, but once my editor finished proofreading, I was ready to begin publishing my novel.

My editor recommended a self-publishing company that she previously worked with called BookBaby. As I’ve mentioned, I decided to self-publish because I didn’t want to wait for someone to give me an opportunity, having experienced enough of that during my employment searches over the years. For once, I wanted to create my own opportunity.

While publishing my book, I submitted my manuscript to BookBaby to first create a digital proof and a book cover. They saved me the trouble of finding a designer by creating a cover for me, and I could inform their design team about how I wanted it to look and provide images I found as references.

I decided to include key elements from the story for my cover. For example, Carver is interested in photography, so I wanted to see the same vintage camera he uses in the book on the front cover. BookBaby exceeded my expectations with the design, impressing me immediately with how beautiful their work was for my book.

That said, they didn’t knock it out of the park with the first go. My book cover underwent multiple revisions before getting the final approval. For instance, I requested they add a BISAC category on the top left corner and three endorsement excerpts beneath the book’s summary on the back cover. But once we worked all that out, I got the cover I have today.

My proof also underwent many revisions before submitting it for approval. Some edits were due to noticeable errors, such as typos, odd formatting, and text spacing, which is where my second editor came in handy. I also requested new additions to my proof, including an endorsement page, a copyright page, and an author bio page. That took two months before I could submit my cover and proof for final approval because of my requests.

But that wasn’t just for the physical print of my novel. After approving my digital proof and cover, my second editor sent over my eBook conversion files the next day. All of the revisions and additions I requested for my digital proof were included in the eBook files. So, once my editor proofed the files, I submitted them for approval.

With my eBook files approved, all that I could do was wait for BookBaby to print out a physical copy of my final proof, which I received about a week later by mail. It was thrilling! After almost ten years, I finally had the physical form of my novel in my hand. I was now a published author.

The hardest part of publishing my book was being patient throughout the entire process: I was getting so close to publishing Getting By that waiting was difficult! However, I knew it was best not to rush the process. Ultimately, it was well worth the wait and the satisfaction of having my first novel in print.

After I received my final proof, I ordered 36 copies of my book for myself (something to note, which may be the same when you publish, the proof had a matte cover, while the final copies were glossy over paperbacks.)

After that, I began the process of launching my book, which included redesigning my professional website, creating social media handles, and setting up Amazon author and Goodreads pages. I also started to work with some marketing services to build an email list and created multiple book promotion materials, such as a press release, book trailer, media kit, and social media content collateral.

I also ensured numerous online shops would sell my book, including Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, and Indiebound. Within a few months after ordering copies of my book, my debut novel launched in August 2020.

I received a lot of positive reviews for my book after publishing it because most of the plot is based on actual life events; it’s not surprising when people tell me the storyline is realistic. Now that I’m working on a new story, I intend to use the feedback from my debut when I publish again. I will also apply what I learned from self-publishing to have a stronger release for my next book.   

Now that people can buy my book, I want to ensure it reaches its intended audience! One of my goals is to have Getting By connect with as many readers as possible since it tells a story that we sorely need in our current world circumstances. I hope the novel will resonate with my target audience and leave a positive impression on those who read it (plus, I hope for increased sales!)

I’m currently working on marketing strategies to raise awareness of my book and get it in the hands of those who most need it. As any author needs to, I’m investing a lot of energy into my book and publishing efforts with the hope it will be successful and leave a positive impact on my readers and that my investment will pay off someday.

Until then, at least I can share that I am a published, award-winning author, and the journey has been a brilliant learning experience. Have you read Getting By and want to share your feedback, or have further questions about my process? Please get in touch with me at jsims@jairesims.com or reach out on social media as I’d love to hear from you.

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How I Wrote My First Novel “Getting By” Part 2: Finding Substance

In my last blog, I mentioned that I didn’t have a rigid strategy for planning my novel. Instead of preparing any outline or notes, I wrote whatever came to mind, starting the plot of my book from the beginning.

However, over time, I decided it was best to create an outline for myself while my story grew. It was a helpful tool for notes and plot ideas more than anything else, as I hardly relied on my outline to plan out my novel beat by beat.

But having a kind of outline with me did help keep my story cohesive and avoid inconsistencies and plotholes, which is why I’ve come to recommend them for new writers.

While writing, I knew I wanted my story to expand throughout Carver’s junior year in school. As a result, I had to develop several plot ideas to tell a full-length story within this specific timeframe. Now, because I was also a junior at the time of writing my novel, I could base some events on my real-life experiences in school.

For example, Carver’s uncertainty about his sexuality throughout the book comes from my experience as a teenager. I struggled a lot with understanding my sexual orientation then, and it wasn’t until turning 21 that I became absolutely sure. We differ in that Carver understands his sexual orientation a little sooner than I did, but not without going through plenty of uncertainty.

In the book, Carver has a romantic relationship with one of his female friends, but I never dated anyone as a teenager, so I had to use my imagination. I created a scenario of what could have happened had I dated a girl as an uncertain teen. That became a vehicle for Carver to come to terms with his sexuality, serving as one of the main internal conflicts throughout the book.

Another internal conflict is his struggle to understand his recent diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome. Carver being on the autism spectrum was a last-minute addition before publishing my book. His diagnosis is based on my own received at 21; however, I decided to have Carver’s diagnosis take place months before the events in the book.

I decided to include this aspect because I felt Carver displayed subtle symptoms of being neurodivergent, so I wanted to confirm it in the book specifically. Otherwise, readers likely could speculate that Carver may have some ambiguous disorder, distracting from the more significant points in the story.

Then there is the American College Testing (ACT), which serves as one of the external conflicts for Carver in the book. His ambition to score well on the ACT is, again, based on my experience with taking afterschool lessons to improve my test-taking skills for the same standardized test. As Getting By is a YA novel, most of my readers would sympathize with Carver’s struggle here, as it weighs heavily on the high school career of many American students.

The biggest external conflict Carver must deal with is bullying. While I experienced minimal bullying in high school, I wanted this predicament to create considerable tension and conflict for my protagonist throughout the book.

Because I was uncertain about my sexuality throughout high school, I never felt bullies targeted me because of it. However, my reserved, quiet nature and perceived lack of masculinity by others made me an easier target for teasing and bullying from certain peers.

Unfortunately, bullying is a common experience in school for many, so I want to emphasize it with my book because I feel it would resonate with many YA readers, especially those harassed because of their sexuality.

Since I base many of Carver’s traits and experiences from my own, he is essentially an Author Avatar (a fairly direct analog of the writer inserted into a fictional tale.) Most of his personality, physical appearance, attributes, views, flaws, and fears come from me. I make some distinctions between us, particularly some of his interests.

For instance, Carver is quite interested in photography, whereas I am not. Still, his knowledge of photography is based on what I learned from taking Darkroom and Digital Photography courses in college.

He also enjoys an interest in playing the acoustic guitar, and while I never got into playing guitar, I once learned to play the piano and clarinet a long time ago. I didn’t particularly like learning to play either instrument, so I had Carver play something I had no experience with learning.

However, an interest that we both share is our love for Disney and Western animation. I used to draw Disney and animated characters in my sketchbook in high school and college, so Carver did the same in high school.

As an African American, I wanted to create a lead character that deviates from stereotypical portrayals of Black men to show broader representation. Growing up, I didn’t see myself in most of the fictional Black male characters presented in media. So, I based Carver on so much of me to see someone like me in the content I love.

Even though I didn’t know much about writing fiction, I knew how stories are typically structured from what I’d learned in school. Stories usually have a beginning, middle, climax, and end.

I had an opening in mind when I began writing my novel, but it was challenging to conceive enough material for the middle. But I knew the middle of my book would serve as the rising action, so it was important to build tension, stakes, and obstacles for my lead character until the climax, where the central conflict would reach its peak.

For the ending, I wanted Carver to undergo a significant change compared to how he was at the story’s start. What ensued was a bittersweet conclusion shortly after Carver’s intense combat with his bullies. I felt a bittersweet end would be the most fitting and realistic approach for my novel.

When it comes to polishing and the finishing touches, I edit as I write, but it hardly impeded my progress with finishing Getting By. I kept in mind not to obsess over making everything perfect until after a professional book editor reviewed it. To this day, I simply edit until I feel the writing is good enough before moving on to the next scene.

Instead, the delay in finishing the novel was due to a shift in priority. When writing my book in my teens, I had to focus more on homework, my ACT, graduating high school, and applying to colleges. As a result, I took at least a year off from writing Getting By before going back to finish it. By the time I did, it had taken me four years to complete the first draft.

There are a lot of ways to approach your writing, and my process is just one of them. Perhaps my method resonates with you, or maybe it sounds too stressful. Either way, what’s important is that you write.

Doesn’t matter how you get to the end of your story, only that you do. But I’ll get more into that with the final part of this series next time. Meanwhile, if you have questions or want to share your writing progress, please email me or reach out on social media.

The post How I Wrote My First Novel “Getting By” Part 2: Finding Substance appeared first on Jaire Sims.

How I Wrote My First Novel “Getting By” Part 1: How It Started

Before I wrote Getting By, my only experience with writing fiction stories was in elementary school. Back then, I had a yearly assignment where students had to write short fiction stories for class. From third to eighth grade, I wrote six short fiction stories and provided illustrations with my drawings.

Students had the opportunity to earn awards for their writing, and while I don’t recall getting a reward for my writing skills, I did win “Best Illustrator” multiple times with my work. These days, I seldom draw anything. But back then, my drawing abilities came in handy when writing short stories for school.

Interestingly, writing short fiction stories in elementary school never inspired me to write my own book. It wasn’t until high school that I had the motivation to write and publish my work.

When I was a sophomore in high school, my English teacher had students read books during a set period in class. There were books for students to read, and one book I found was a YA novel titled You Don’t Know Me by David Klass.

As I’ve shared before, the title grabbed my attention, so I gave it a chance and ended up really liking the story. So much so that I felt inspired to write a novel of my own (which, as you know, I eventually did.)

Multiple teachers spurred me along, telling me I had excellent writing skills. Even though it was my academic writing, for which they praised me, I thought I was capable enough to try writing fiction. 

What’s interesting about my writing a fiction book is that I was not an avid reader of fiction stories before reading David Klass’s novel. Throughout my childhood, I didn’t enjoy reading fiction books, preferring to read non-fiction books about meteorology because I wanted to be a meteorologist then.

It was Klass’s novel that motivated me to seek out more fiction books without school requiring it. To this day, my favorite books are His Dark Materials, a trilogy by Phillip Pullman.

I didn’t know much about writing a fiction story. But thankfully, through reading the various fiction books required in school, I understood the core elements of a good story. When deciding to write my debut novel, I looked through some of the novels I had read to analyze them and further understand the structure of fiction storytelling.

I don’t feel you need to be a good reader to be a great fiction writer. But to be a great fiction writer, you need to read fiction books. 

I knew I wanted to write a Young Adult story from the beginning. At the time, I was within the target age range for that genre, so I thought I would be the perfect individual to tell a fiction story for YA readers.

Thankfully, because I wanted to write YA, it gave me some guidance on plot ideas I could work with. To start, the target audience for YA is typically 12-18-year-olds, and people in that age group usually spend most of their time in school, so I wanted my plot to focus primarily on my main character’s high school experience.

In addition, some common themes found in YA stories include self-discovery, coming of age, first love, and relationships, giving me possible material to explore for my first novel.

What worked best was to start writing what I knew first before using my imagination to take the plot and storyline further. As a result, I based some of my protagonist’s high school experience and teenage life on my own.

The goal was not to tell an autobiographical story but a fiction story with specific plots and events inspired or based on my real-life experiences from my teens and early twenties. It helped me decide on important elements, such as setting, locations, and characters.

For instance, I was a junior in high school when I began writing my book, so I wanted my lead character to be a 17-year-old African-American high school student. The fictional high school he attends, Auburn High, is based on the high school I attended in Auburn Gresham, a Chicago neighborhood. Because my high school was an all-black school, I had my lead character interact with mostly black characters. I was born and raised in the southwest side of Chicago, so I wanted my story’s primary setting to be in inner-city Chicago, with my main character visiting prominent locations in the city.

I began writing Getting By two weeks after I turned 17, using Microsoft Word as my primary writing tool for my story. I didn’t prepare an outline or notes beforehand. I am more of a pantser (someone that doesn’t use an outline) than a plotter, so I simply started to write whatever came to mind from the beginning of my story.

I wanted my novel to start at the beginning of Carver’s (my protagonist’s) junior year of high school. My hook for the first page is his vivid description of a park in its autumn setting, which could help my readers get a sense of the main character with his observant behavior.

Initially, my lead character’s name was John Goodman, but while researching names for African American men, I changed it to reference the last name of inventor and scientist George Washington Carver. I like the name and thought it would be a solid first name for my lead.

So I ran with it, writing my novel in progression from beginning to end. When I felt short of plot ideas, I turned to other forms of media to find inspiration. These were books, TV shows, movies, and some research on Google to come up with new plot points. For instance, I took inspiration from a few books in The Bluford Series that I read in middle school. This series showed me how I could write a teen/young adult fiction book that focuses mainly on Black characters.

I would also look at other authors’ works to study their approach, such as when writing dialogue. It helped develop my craft as I worked, and I’m pretty happy with the outcome of Getting By.

I plan to share more of my process in the coming blogs, but if you have questions, please email me or reach out on social media.

The post How I Wrote My First Novel “Getting By” Part 1: How It Started appeared first on Jaire Sims.

Being An Author on TikTok to Sell Your Novel

TikTok has been around since 2016 and according to backlinko, about 1 billion of the world’s population is actively using it. That’s pretty crazy. From what I know, much of that popularity exploded during the recent pandemic as people sought a new way to connect, giving rise to BookTok.

For me, the idea of capturing myself in short video clips doesn’t appeal (introverts represent). It took enough energy to present myself calmly and collected for my course and webinar recordings. That said, for those that like to perform and share themselves on camera, TikTok can be an excellent tool for marketing yourself as an author.

A Place to Connect

If you aren’t aware of it, TikTok is a neat social app where users can make short-form videos about anything. You get 15 seconds to make your mark, which forces a lot of folks to get creative with how they use it.

A large part of it is seizing trending soundbites from popular songs, memes, and other sound effects to ensure your content gets seen. So, as an author, it can become a valuable asset where you can build a rapport and connect with and grow your fanbase.

That, in turn, can likely boost your sales. How you go about it is up to you and your talents or interests, but it’s relatively flexible.

Authors Are People Too

One of the ways some of the most-followed TikTok authors, like NYT bestsellers Sabaa Tahir and Colleen Hoover, reach their fans is by giving insights into their lives. When you’ve got that level of success, fans like to know that the famous are just like them (which they are, mostly!).

It breaks down certain barriers and makes their idols relatable. And some people are really into seeing how others live their lives. It’s up to you what to share, but you can provide personal anecdotes (like I did above).

Or share the content you’re into, like the latest shows, comics, books, and such. If you’re really into food, share your meal prep. Whatever it is, it’s recommended you find a niche that speaks to you and stick to it instead of attempting to be everything all at once.

A Peak Behind the Wizard’s Curtain

“How do you do it?!” For non-writers, bringing words to the page seems mystical. Via TikTok, you can share your process, talk about how you got into writing, what inspired your first novel, why that title, and those sorts of things.

Talk about good writing days and what was working, or be open when you have bad days and how things got in the way. It all helps to keep you relatable to new and existing fans, can even inspire other aspiring authors, and is a less in-your-face way to market your book while you’re at it.

Putting on a Show

Entertainment is a big reason people scroll through most social media. If you like that kind of attention, there are many fun ways to interact with your audience on TikTok. I’ve read that Penelope Douglas reenacts scenes from her novel, much to her fans’ delight, which could be fun.

You can share books you like in this way as well. Maybe roll some of your craft work into this, like sharing your use of writing prompts or brainstorming methods and sharing the process and results in entertaining ways.

People love to watch people fail, especially if they can laugh at themselves while doing it. But at the same time, many want to see folks succeed, too. While showmanship doesn’t seem obvious for an author at first blush, there are some creative ways you could go about it.

Playing the Game

One of the crucial bits to keep in mind on TikTok is the trends. To stay relevant, you need to know what songs and sound samples are popular and integrate them into your content. But not too much! Moderation is key here. Enough to draw eyes but not so much to turn folks away as they see all the same stuff everywhere.

Also, hashtags are integral to being found on TikTok, so be sure you use them in your content. And, of course, promote your book! But again, not too much. The unspoken rule is to promote 20% of the time, or you’ll become too salesy. When all people hear is “buy my book, please,” they’re going to get annoyed with your one-dimensional content.

It’s clear that TikTok is here to stay, so establishing yourself on it is a good idea. With any marketing plan, you need to work with the tools you feel comfortable using. If TikTok holds an appeal, try some of the things I’ve suggested and work to find your own spin on it.

If you can build a solid following, you already have people who will likely buy your book. If you play your cards right, you can make reading lists on BookTok! Speaking of social media, you can track me down online for consistent updates or reach me more directly by emailing me at jsims@jairesims.com.

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