Adam Croft's Blog, page 29

What should you do with writing criticism?

Other people criticising your writing can be hard to take, but it can also be a very useful tool for improvement. A couple of weeks ago, I took a look at why criticism can be good for writers – following on from that, here’s a look at some of the things you can do with criticism of your writing. Feel free to add your own thoughts and tips in the comments box.

Take it seriously. If someone has taken the time to read your work and offer feedback, it’s worth giving it a serious look even if you don’t agree with what they have to say. They must have thought those things for a reason.
Dismiss it. Of course, there’s always the option of dismissing the criticism. Sometimes this is the wise course of action, particularly if someone has clearly written something negative just to be spiteful. However, even if they have been helpful in their criticism, it doesn’t mean you have to take it on board if you really don’t want to. It’s your choice.
Get some other opinions. Constructive criticism from one person can be very helpful to a writer, but what do other people think? The more feedback you can get, the more you can see whether a consensus exists around that original criticism. If it does, it’s probably worth doing something about.
Take the tips on board. Useful criticism is often much more helpful to writers than blanket praise. It gives us an idea of what we need to work on, as well as ideas for improvement. Even if you don’t use the tips in your current piece of work, they could well end up being useful for something else.
File it away for future reference. Criticism hurts at the time, but it’s all part of being a writer. It shows someone cared enough to take the time to read your work, and one day you’ll be able to look back on it knowing you’re much better now than you used to be. Today’s knock backs could end up being tomorrow’s confidence boost – just look at the progress you’ve made.

5 reasons to ramp up your book promotion for Christmas

Last week, I took a look at a few of the reasons it’s worth trying to finish (and publish) your e-book before Christmas. This week, we turn our attention to promotions and why it’s a good idea to boost your book promotions before Christmas. We’ll assume you’ve already got a book or two out and are looking to make some more sales over the festive period.

The e-reader boom

As mentioned in last week’s post, plenty of people are expected to get a new e-reader for Christmas this year. It’s thought that last year, 1 in 40 got given one as a present, so if this year is similar there’ll be plenty more potential readers logging on to buy books in the near future. Make sure you’re in a good position to take advantage.

Presents!

This one doesn’t need that much explanation. People buy other people presents for Christmas. Wouldn’t it be good if one of those presents was your book?

Build momentum

Promoting your work now also helps to lay the groundwork for other work you want to do later on. This is a good time of year for (hopefully) giving your sales a boost, and that momentum can be very useful in the New Year when it comes to building on your success.

Party excuses

I imagine most of us will have at least one social engagement scheduled over the coming weeks that we really don’t want to go to. Staying home to work on your book promotion could be the perfect excuse not to go. You’re busy working on your career, you see.

Looming downtime

Finally, it’s worth doing as much as you can in the run up to Christmas because of the inevitable downtime most of us will probably have at some point over the festive period. If you know that you’re not going to be able to do as much in that week between Christmas and New Year, for instance, it’s worth having a publicity blitz now so at least you’ve done something.

What are your top tips for publicising your book over the Christmas period?

8 questions to ask yourself when editing

Editing is, without doubt, one of the most important parts of the writing process. It is often the time when you make sense out of the mess that is your first draft, or at least radically improve what you’ve already got. With this in mind, here are eight questions to ask yourself when editing. Whether you’re an independent publisher, a new writer, a seasoned professional or just having a bit of fun, the task of editing is important for all of us.

Does it make sense?

It almost goes without saying, really. Deciding whether or not what you’ve already got makes sense is one of the most crucial parts of editing. If it makes sense, wonderful. You’re already halfway there. If it doesn’t make sense, you know you’ve got a bit of work to do. Unless it’s meant to be nonsensical. In which case, mission accomplished.

Is it mad?

Not necessarily a deal-breaker, this one, but if when you’re editing you come across a section of writing that seems mad, it probably is. This is often a sign that either that particular section needs to change, or the rest of the draft does. It is often also a sign of ‘eighth cup of coffee’ syndrome.

Could it be better in any way?

If a passage could be improved in any way, however small, make sure you make that improvement. You don’t want any regrets later on. Make those changes while you have the chance.

Does it fit the story?

A common issue when editing is to have a passage of section in a book that doesn’t quite fit with the rest of it. Often we put these sections in in the first place because we like them, or had high hopes for how something might work. It’s frustrating and disappointing when they don’t quite come off as we’d hoped, especially when it relates to our favourite bits, but if it doesn’t fit the story it should probably be edited out. You can always use the material somewhere else.

Is the meaning clear?

Related to the question of whether things make sense is the idea of whether your meaning is clear. Could your sentences be interpreted in a different way? If so, is that what you want or do you want your meaning to be clearer?

What point in the story is this?

Look at where you are in the story and the information that the characters and readers have available at that point in time. Do they know too much or too little? Have you given the game away too soon, or are you expecting them to know things they actually have no reason yet to know?

Would changing it be an improvement?

It can be easy to assume in editing that if you change something, you’re making it better. Often this is true, but it isn’t always the case. Changing things can make them worse as well. If you think that making an alteration would affect the quality of what you’ve written, don’t do it.

Have you done enough?

Finally, when you’re at the end of the editing process and are gearing up to declare it done, ask yourself whether you’ve done enough. If the answer is a resounding ‘yes’, well done. If you’re unsure, don’t quit the editing just yet.

5 things they don’t tell you about writing

A bit of a light-hearted post today because, well, it’s Monday, and I think we all need a little light-heartedness on a Monday.

So here you go. 5 things they don’t tell you about writing (but they probably should). And of course by ‘they’ I mean the mystical ‘they’ we talk about when we don’t actually know who ‘they’ really is. Covers all manner of sins.

It’s addictive

Like coffee or wine, it can be habit forming. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when we first start out in writing I think many of us have quite a romantic view of it and the reality doesn’t always reflect that. It’s not a regular hobby or job. It’s a compulsion. A buzzy, druggy, wonderful, frustrating compulsion.

It drives you crazy

The mad writer might be something of a cliché, but I reckon there’s a bit of truth in there somewhere. Writing makes you go a bit loopy. The need to get your draft finished will send you mad. Or maybe we’re mad to begin with. That’s probably something that needs investigating. Is it that writers are a bit bonkers to begin with, or is it the act of writing that encourages the bonkers to set in in the first place?

Once you’ve spent several minutes contemplating that very question, this point (and this blog post) will start to make sense.

It makes you develop habits

And not just the habit of writing. In fact, the habit of getting writing done on a regular basis is, in many ways, just a happy by-product of the other habits you are likely to develop in your quest to be a writer. Habits such as making a cup of tea once an hour like clockwork, or rewarding yourself with a biscuit for every paragraph you write. Habits like Googling your name every day, just to see if there’s any change, or like checking Twitter once every five minutes as a shameless distraction technique.

It’s harder than you think

As any writer will tell you, writing is a hard business. It’s hard to be a good writer, and hard to make a career out of your work. We kind of all know this going into it, but it’s really one of those things that you have to experience.

You’ll always think you can do better

You may well have written a masterpiece. You may even be willing to admit that what you’ve written is quite good. But you’ll always think you can do better. There is always room for improvement, and the never-ending quest to be better is one of the best, most compelling and most bonkers-inducing aspects of writing.

What do you wish you were told about writing before you really got into it?

4 options for proofreading

Your book is nearly finished and there’re only a few things left to do – one of which is proofreading. It can be all too easy to overlook proofreading, or to rush it, but it’s definitely something that’s worth taking your time over. Even the smallest mistake in your book can give a reader a negative impression.

So what are your options when it comes to proofreading?

Rely on yourself

One option is to just do it all yourself. With any luck, as a writer, your grasp of spelling and grammar will be pretty decent, so you should be able to pick up on any mistakes as you go through the text. Also, even if you decide to go for a different proofreading option, it’s always worth having a read through yourself before finally declaring your book done.

Ask someone you know

If you know someone who’s good at spotting errors, you could ask them to proofread your novel for you. This is a cost effective option (friends and family can usually be bought off with booze and/or chocolate), and simply having a second pair of eyes reading through your work can help to detect mistakes you might have missed.

Back to the writers’ group

Just as writers’ groups are hugely useful in terms of getting feedback, they can also be very helpful when it comes to proofreading work. They’ll know the kind of mistakes writers tend to make, and the fact that they’re several steps removed from your work will help. Getting a few different writers to go over your work can also be good; they can give you different ideas and suggestions, enabling you to pick the option you think will work best.

Invest in proofreading services

You could choose to use the same professional who edited your book or go for someone different, but either way, professional proofreading services can be a good option. Making sure everything about your novel is as good as it can possibly be is always worth the investment, and a thorough proofread is certainly a part of that.

How do you go about proofreading your novels?

Different styles of editing

So you’ve finished a draft of your book, had a bit of a read through and decided it’s time to do some editing.

Editing is undoubtedly one of the most crucial stages of the writing process – for most of us, it’s the make or break stage, where we try and elevate our writing from adequate to amazing. It encompasses a wide range of issues, from the plot to style to characterisation, so it’s vital we get it right, no matter which editing method we eventually choose…

When to edit?

One of the first issues to think about, no matter how you decide to edit, is when you are actually going to do it. Do you want to go straight into the editing process once you’ve finished the draft of your book, or do you want to leave it a while before taking the plunge?

There is something to be said for keeping up the momentum of your writing project, but then again it can be useful to give yourself a bit of space and distance before starting to edit. Whichever you decide, make sure you make the right choice…

Tear it apart

One means of editing it to essentially tear the whole book apart. Now you’ve already got a draft done, you’ll have a good idea of what you want to achieve and how the story works, so you’ll be able to be brutal with what you’ve already got. This essentially means putting aside most of your work so far and almost starting again, but this time with the knowledge of what you need to do to fix the issues that plagued you first time around.

Dismantle the plot

Let’s say you’re quite happy with much of your draft, but have found some issues with your plot. This method of editing means spending some time making sure your plot is watertight – in a way, it’s like going back to the planning stage, but this time with the knowledge of where the weaknesses are. Then go back to your draft and carefully change what you need to, while leaving most of what you’ve got intact.

The line edit

A method of editing that can be very useful is to do a line edit – go through the text and highlight and make notes on things that you want to change. You can either do this on your computer, or print everything off and go over it with a red pen (this can be useful so you can physically see where the issues are when you’re going back over it). This is a particularly good method of editing if you don’t want to make major changes but rather just want to brush up on what you’ve got and make it as good as you possibly can.

Get a professional editor

You don’t always have to do the editing yourself. Often, the eye of a professional can offer insights that we’d never have ourselves, and they can provide structure and guidance when it comes to fixing those niggling issues. Using a professional editor isn’t for everyone, but once you’ve got as far as you can on your own, it can be worth it to take your novel to the next level.

What are your favourite editing methods and tips?

Different types of feedback that could help your novel

After yesterday’s looking at different styles of planning, today we turn our attention to feedback. It’s an important part of writing – seeing what other people think – and there are different ways of going about seeking and taking on board what others have to say. Here are some of the most popular, and do feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments box.

Do it yourself

Of course, if you’re shy about showing your work to others, there is always the option of showing it to no one but yourself. Try and pretend you have never seen the draft of your novel before, and imagine what you might say upon reading it for the first time. Does it hold up well? Does it work from the point of view of a potential reader?

Stick to loved ones

Getting feedback from loved ones – relatives and close friends – is always a popular option. There are two main choices here: go for those people who you think will give you a good review no matter what, or go for those you can rely to be honest no matter what they think. If you’re hoping for some constructive criticism, it’s definitely worth going for the latter.

Writers’ groups

Writers’ groups can be a particularly useful source of feedback on your work, not least because everyone there is likely to be in the same boat. You’re probably all there for the same reason: because you like writing and want to get better at it. Getting the opinion of other writers can also give you a level of constructive feedback that you’re unlikely to get from family and friends, and you’ll also get the chance to feedback on other people’s work, which is great for your own critical skills.

Online support

If the thought of face to face feedback sessions makes you a bit queasy, there are plenty of sources of support online. You could seek out forums where writers offer to critique each other’s work, or websites where you can post drafts for people to read and comment on. The web can be a really useful tool for feedback, but just be careful about keeping your work secure – don’t send it to anyone you don’t trust.

Professional feedback

You could also get some professional feedback on your work. There are plenty of professional editors out there who you could use. This isn’t always a cheap option, but in terms of the quality of feedback you’re likely to get, it can be a very good one. Just make sure you do your research first to ensure you get a quality service.

The ‘have a go’ approach

Finally, if you’re a fan of taking risks, you could always just put your work out there to see what people think. Publishing after just one draft is generally not a wise move, but online reviewers will tell you honestly what they think. Just bear in mind that publishing early just to see what people say can leave them with a particular impression of you when you come to publish your next piece of work.

What’s your favourite source of feedback?

Different methods of planning your book

Sometimes I think it’s a good idea to go back to basics and look at things that, on the outside, seem relatively simple and straightforward. It can easy for us, as writers, to get used to a particular way of doing things, with the result that we rarely try new options or methods of writing, getting stuck in a bit of a rut.

With this in mind, over the next few days, I’ll be looking at some of the most popular ways of going about different aspects of writing: planning, feedback, editing and proofreading. Today – planning.

No plan

Naturally, there is always the option of not having a plan at all. This works very well for some people, and not at all well for others. Just jumping in and having a bash at writing your book can be a fun way to do things, but it also means weighing up the risks of the potential to hit a wall somewhere in the middle – and ending up in a bit of a plot-based mess.

Spider diagrams/mind maps

Creating mind maps or spider diagrams is a useful planning method, particularly if you’re just looking to get down some key ideas and thoughts. It doesn’t really lend itself that well to detail (unless, of course, you make lots of diagrams – or a really giant, confusing one), but as a method of exploring key points, it can work well.

The start and end approach

Alternatively you could go for the interesting ‘start and end approach’. This is where you decide how your book is going to start and how it is going to end, but don’t come up with a plan for the middle. That comes as you go along, the idea being that knowing how you’re going to bookend your story will help you fill in the gaps as you write. It’s also quite useful if you like the idea of a bit of structure but not too much detail in your planning.

Lists of key scenes

Ah, lists, the writer’s best friend. In the same way a to do list is hugely satisfying when you get to tick things off, so it is with a list of the key scenes you need to include in your book. The good thing about this option is that it can be as detailed or basic as you like – you could have 3 scenes on your list or 300. Either way, the ability to see where you are and to tick things off as you go can help you feel like you’re on track and offer a decent structure when writing your book.

Notecards of varying detail

I’m a big fan of notecards with varying levels of detail on them. Some cards might contain big, general ideas about the novel, while others might be much more detailed – including chapter summaries and scene lists, for instance. Of course, it doesn’t have to be notecards, but there is something about the size of them that forces you to focus your thoughts so you can get everything you want to onto a single card, and that clarity of thought early on in the planning process can be immensely useful in the later stages of writing your novel.

Skeleton story

If you’re someone who likes to have every last little detail planned out before you begin properly writing your book, you might like the skeleton story planning approach. This might mean, for instance, having a computer file that contains not just a plot summary and scene list, but also the bare bones of your story already written – key scenes sketched out and extensive bullet points ready for you to expand on them and fill in the gaps when you come to flesh out your book.

What’s your favourite planning method?

3 reasons to get that e-book out before Christmas

It’s a bit of an odd time of year. On the one hand, things are starting to wind down for the festive season. On the other hand, there’s a mad dash to get work projects finished before the Christmas break, as well as (with any luck) plenty of social events to fill your time from now until the beginning of January.

It’s easy to let our writing slip at this time of year, either because we’re so busy getting in to the spirit of the season (or else frantically trying to finish that big work thing before a looming deadline) or because it’s too easy to give into the temptation to relax, thinking that we’ll get back to it in the New Year.

However, rather than letting things slip right now, we should really be ramping up our efforts to finish that book and get it published before Christmas. Here are three reasons why.

The mental space to think

If you’re one of the lucky ones who is now on a countdown to Christmas and not particularly busy at work, you’ll probably have more time than usual to think about your writing. If so, take advantage of it.

If you’re not so lucky, and are instead facing a packed, stressful schedule from now until December 24th, taking just a small amount of time each day to focus on your book and get it finished should be a welcome break from all those other things on your plate.

The goal of getting a book out by Christmas should be enough to focus anyone, and with any luck, it will make the time sail by.

All those Christmas e-readers

Loads of people got e-readers for Christmas last year, and it seems that this year will be no different. When all those people open their Kindle/Nook/some other e-reader on Christmas morning, it stands to reason that they will be eager to log onto Amazon and start buying some books to fill their new device.

Make sure your book is there for them to find. It’s a good opportunity to make some sales, so it’s certainly worth buckling down for a while to get that book done in time to take advantage.

Get the New Year off to the right start

Finally, it’s worth getting that book out before Christmas so you can get the New Year off to the right start. If your New Year’s resolution is to make 2013 the year you make a success of your writing, it will certainly help to already have a finished product to get you started.

Self-publishing: to print or not to print?

It is one of the big questions of self-publishing: should you opt for a print run for your book, or should you just stick with an e-book?

There is something to be said for going for print copies of your book. After all, it’s rather lovely to hold your own book in your hands, and there are still plenty of people who prefer print books to electronic ones.

It’s also nice, when you’re running promotions such as free giveaways, to be able to send people a free, physical copy of your book rather than just a download link. There’s something satisfying about print books.

However, we also can’t deny that they can add significant expense to your self-publishing costs, so if you’re trying to budget and keep all costs to a minimum, it’s definitely worth thinking carefully about the pros and cons of going for the print option.

Getting the design and formatting right on a print book is different to e-books, so you’ll need to evaluate the time and expense that will go into getting it just how you want it.

If you do want to print, you also need to think about how to do it. Which company will you go with? How will the books be distributed? One popular option is to use a print on demand service, which is generally much more cost effective than going for a massive print run straight away (it also means you don’t have to store lots of books in your house).

It also depends on where you think your market is going to come from. Do you think your readers will be the kind of people to opt for print books, or would they be happy with e-books? Increasingly, e-books are a good option no matter who you are trying to target, but it’s still worth taking into consideration when planning how to produce and promote your book.

Overall, print books can be useful, and a good option for many authors, but – in self-publishing at least – they are arguably not as essential as e-books. But what do you think? Do you think self-published authors should invest in printing their books, or do you think e-books are more than good enough?