Writing Process Archives -

Find Your Way Back to Joy in Writing

January 11th, 2022Sarah Lovett0 Comments

A writing life can be challenging. Sure, there are blissful days (even weeks) when you fall into your stories like you’re riding a raft with a solid paddle and no leaks, and you don’t tip over and the shining sun makes glorious rainbows in the white water’s wild spray. But there are also those days author Anne Lamott notes, “…when it all feels pointless and pitiful, like Sisyphus with cash-flow problems.” (Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird (1994)) And keep in mind, Anne Lamott is kind and funny and truthful. So how do we face these ups and downs and keep …

The 3rd Person Viewpoint

November 3rd, 2020Sarah Lovett4 Comments

I confess I never stop thinking about the interplay of the macro and micro of story. My goal is always to provide the reader with clarity and meaning. Story development and structure arise out of and along with character development. And the story world connects inextricably to the inner life of each story’s viewpoint character or characters. Simply defined, the viewpoint character refers to the perspective and mind of the character through which the reader experiences the story. You might think of this character as your story’s eyes and ears and thoughts. When you use multiple characters’ viewpoints in a …

Writing Tips to Get Your Story On the Page

October 28th, 2019Sarah Lovett0 Comments

Use Rituals Writing tips can get you started! Some writers begin their writing day with a meditation. Others begin while they are still in bed and barely awake, and still others begin after walking a mile or doing pushups and crunches and drinking two cups of bitter java. Rituals are popular because they work—but not every time and not for everyone. That’s because there is often a larger undercurrent of ebb and flow to our creative process. But that doesn’t mean we should not encourage flow—we should! Set Goals & Embrace Messy When it comes to writing first drafts—set daily …

Your Characters’ Desires Drive Your Story

July 19th, 2019Sarah Lovett2 Comments

Whether you are writing a novel or a memoir, the most important question you must answer is, What do my characters want? You’ll begin with your primary characters–your protagonist and major antagonist–and work from there to other characters. Little Big “Wants” If “what they want” seems like an easy question to answer in your stories, think again. Sure, a detective in a crime story wants to catch the bad guy and close the case. The lonely widower wants to find love. The superhero wants to save the world or at least her corner of it. Those goals (aka desires aka …

The Beta Review Process

May 21st, 2019Cynde Christie0 Comments

When you complete your first draft and your substantive edit, the next step in the book writing process is the beta review process. What is a beta review? This process involves having a number of people read your manuscript in its draft form. At which point they provide the author and editor with very specific feedback on what worked and what did not work in the manuscript. In short, as I tell my authors, the beta readers find the holes that we can longer see. Preparing for the Beta Review To begin this process, I ask my author to choose …

Will I finish my book this year?

October 31st, 2018Sarah Lovett1 Comment

I finished my first draft and now I’m revising. Will I finish my book this year? Will I ever truly finish my book!? Dear Fellow Writer Yes, you will finish this second draft—your revision! It’s possible you can finish this year; of course that depends upon how far along you’ve come. If you’re just starting out, you might give yourself a six-month (ballpark) window for your revision. Some of the timing will be determined by where you put your focus, and, I guarantee, you still are discovering so much about your story and characters. (I keep learning through revision and …

Coaching Questions to Keep You and Your Story and Your Life on Course

September 28th, 2018Sarah Lovett0 Comments

As a writing coach and mentor, I work with writers to become conscious of their writing process, to become accountable to their writing spirit, and to identify and deal with resistance so it does not stop them from writing. I encourage my clients to name, clarify, and hone their goals. I also ask them to identify the meaning they attach to reaching those goals. I ask myself those same questions. When we understand what we want and why we want it, and answer truthfully, we don’t lose our way. We can use what we know to stay on course for …

How do I Organize my Chapters in Nonfiction and Memoir?

September 1st, 2018Cynde Christie0 Comments

First, you have a great idea for a nonfiction book or memoir. You’ve done the research, compiled the notes, or lived the life you want to share with your readers. Now what? Your chapters are in rough draft form, (hopefully you have been working with an editor so they are not too rough), but how do you know the best way to present this information to a reader so that they will get the most out of what you are trying to impart? How do you make the story or non fiction study flow? Do you start at the beginning …

How do I make the information in my book flow in an understandable way?

May 30th, 2018Cynde Christie1 Comment

Information in the Nonfiction World When you decide to write a nonfiction book, you generally have some information to impart. Whether your book is about teaching the reader how to build a better mouse trap or understand their deepest feelings, nonfiction books by their very nature, are about information. They are filled with facts of some kind. After all, if it was all made up, it would be fiction! The exception to this rule is narrative nonfiction, or creative nonfiction. This genre includes memoir and historical fiction based on factual events and people. While the book is based on fact, …

Sometimes You Gotta Kill the Witch: Break Through Extreme Resistance

February 27th, 2018Sarah Lovett3 Comments

My last post contained an array of tips for breaking through writer’s block, and they can be very effective for normal resistance, but sometimes you gotta kill the witch to break through extreme resistance! Get along with the voices inside of my head I can relate to Eminem’s song, The Monster, and after decades of writing, I’m pretty familiar with the myriad voices inside of my head. I know plenty of Creatives who count “The Monster” as their theme song. At least on darker days. Friends with the monster that’s under my bed And most of the time, those voices and I work well …