RITA ® Award-Winning Author of Fantasy Romance
//On knife-throwing and yoga – and why the process is the most important part, not the goal. Also, “rules” for submitting to traditional publishing, talent vs. discipline, gardening, and having the bandwidth to take on new projects.
//More cats-will-happen-drama in my life. Also, traditional publishing, why an agent is such a great asset, and how it never gets easier handing edits and critique, and how deciding how/if to incorporate suggestions is a spectrum.
//Owning your process and still being open to learning from what others do to sustain productive creativity and aggressively refill the well. Some data on BookBub Featured Deals and release strategy, too.
//Advice on how to understand and become a part of the writing and publishing ecosystem, including how to know who’s giving good advice and a bit on understanding traditional publishing and the associated math.
//Some advice today for newbie writers on writing your first book, including the importance of finishing and keeping it simple. Also, different muscles we use for writing and how approaching a work with various strategies exercises them.
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This week at the SFF 7, we’re asking what is the website you use the most while writing?
I’m going to answer this a bit contrarily. While writing – that is, while drafting – I don’t use any websites at all. I do my best to stay entirely offline while drafting. Anything I feel I might need to look up, I put in square brackets and save for the revision stage. On my most recently completed book, TWISTED MAGIC, I had nearly 200 square brackets when I stopped drafting and started revising, which was at about 75% through.
(Sometimes I draft all the way to the end, then revise; with other books I stop at some point and go back to the beginning, revise from there, then go to the end. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. Each book is different. But that’s another topic.)
Now, when I’m revising the website I use the most is… Plain Ol’Google.
(What a world we live in now, where I can write down Google search as an old-fashioned method.)
Now, my Google-fu is strong. I use [word] + etymology a lot to find better words for what I’m trying to say, or that word in another language. I look up specifics on things I want to research more. I look up names. I stay away from rabbit holes, even while revising.
For me, the internet is anti-writing, so I steer clear. Maybe that’s true for you?
//Why being selfish is good, refilling the well, and other thoughts on the variety of people who listen to this podcast, why Cats & New Mexico Weather is a thing. Re-reading DEERSKIN and realizing not everything must move the plot forward.
//About “rules” – on publishing and on creating worlds and magic systems – and how to know when to ignore what other people have to say. Also, the perils of being clever: just… don’t.
//My bizarre story about mistaken identity and the revelation it gave me on how we talk to each other and – most importantly – how writers communicate with agents. Also, highly recommend the Willamette Writers Conference!
//A round-up of what I’ve been reading lately, including several excursions from my normal reading. I’m thinking about female/femme narratives and how we center those (or don’t) in terms of stories about men.
