New writers are often in awe of writers who have written several full-length books. In their enthusiasm to achieve those same goals, they ask where and how those more-seasoned writers find inspiration. The truth is that inspiration is all around, it comes organically through the thing we call life.

Sometimes it's a story that you hear about–something that happened to a friend of a friend–or that you witness firsthand, and it lights the spark of your imagination. Current events are another source of inspiration. Surviving COVID, or the current Palestinian genocide, local or presidential elections, climate change, even the latest in pop-culture. Any of these can inspire you to write, either about the real-life situation, or fictionalizing it to explore the more intimate aspects of the issue.

Once an idea comes to you, it is incumbent upon you to get it down as soon as possible. If, for example, you’re in a traffic jam, and you get an idea of the perfect scene for an accident that brings together strangers from different parts of the city, and you imagine how their interaction could lead to a romance, or a murder, or expose family secrets, then you must record that idea in a notebook or on your phone. This way, when you are ready to expand upon the idea, you have that initial spark and all the thoughts that arrived with it, and you get off to a running start.

But what new writers sometimes fail to realize, is that those more-seasoned writers recognize that inspiration is not actually the answer to writing full-length books. The answer to writing a full length book is a consistent writing routine, not inspiration.

Inspiration is a fickle creature; it shows up at random times in random places, and although you can do your best to lure it forward, it may remain elusive for months (or years!) at a time. To be a professional writer, you must sit down and do the work even when there's no inspiration. You can not rely on inspiration, so if you choose to write only when inspiration strikes, you will be setting yourself up for failure.

If, on the other hand, you cultivate a strong writing habit through which you write every day, then you give yourself the best chance at finishing your project. Not only will you be making daily progress towards your long term goal, but eventually your brain will recognize that your writing is an act of creativity. Once that happens, your inspiration–which generally hides in the shadows–will be coaxed to the forefront, and you will have a higher chance of your daily writing pouring forth from a place of inspiration. Of course, maintaining a daily writing routine does not guarantee that your writing will always be inspired, mind you, but it certainly increases the possibility that it will be.

Your daily writing routine will mean that your writing will sometimes take precedence over other activities. You may need to decline outings with friends or family because you’ve already dedicated that time to your writing. And if you’re serious about your writing project, those who love you will understand how important it is to you, so they will respect your writing time and be understanding when you cancel or postpone plans.

Finishing a full length novel is about putting in the time and effort every day, including and especially when inspiration eludes you. Commit to your goal, put in the work every day, and watch your writing goals come to life!

As an editor, one question I hear over and over from clients is how to know when you’ve done enough self-editing and don’t need any more revisions. Writers tend to be perfectionists, so it can be challenging to know when they are finished self-editing and can move onto the next stage.

As a general rule, a piece requires at least three to five read throughs. These will include editing for content as well as editing for the writing itself.

Dealing with the content and other big picture elements, like structure, before jumping into editing the writing can help save you a lot of time. Consider you’ve written a scene, and you spend hours and hours editing the writing. It takes you days to get the scene exactly the way you want it. Then later, as you read through and continue with your editing, you realize that that scene doesn’t actually belong in your book at all!

It’s important to note that even though there will certainly be scenes or sections that you will end up cutting from your book, NONE of that writing time (or editing time!) is ever a waste. You learn from every section you write, and from every section you cut. Just like writing is a practice by which you improve, so is editing. With each scene you cut, you recognize and learn to avoid writing that DOESN’T work, a skill which is just as important as recognizing strong writing.

Some writers try to edit both the writing and the content concurrently, but I advise against this. Doing so will likely lead to overwhelm and cause you to overlook mistakes that you would have otherwise caught. It is more effective for you to zero-in on specific elements with each read through.

This takes us back to our question: how do you know when it's actually done? At what point do you say, “That's it, this piece is finished. I cannot make it any better than it is”? Especially when, with each read through, you’re still making changes here and there?

If the changes that you’re making are still related to content and structure, then you aren’t finished yet. If you are still making changes to the plot or cutting and pasting sections, or deleting sections altogether, then you are not finished yet.

Keep editing until the content and the structure of your book are solid. You’ll know you’re done if the writing is strong, and you are only making tiny tweaks. A minor change in word order. A change in word choice. Removing italics from a line. Adding an elusive comma. When all that's left is those tiny tweaks, then you know you're done.

With shorter works, like short stories and articles and pieces that are under about ten thousand words, probably three to five read-throughs will be more than enough. During those three to five rounds, you will be able to make all of the structural changes, content changes, and writing related, grammar, line editing changes that you need to make.

But when you're talking about something that is longer, like an e-book of around thirty thousand words or a full length fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty thousand word book, then It's probably going to take you more than three to five rounds. The truth of the matter is that most books that make it to the shelf have gone through so many rounds of edits, closer to ten, some even closer to twenty.

And yes, depending on which part of the process you prefer, this might overwhelm you. But if you remind yourself that this is what’s best for your book, that these rounds of edits make it a stronger story, and that this is how you will be able to put out your very best work, that understanding will help keep you motivated and stick to it until it’s finished.

The truth is that some feedback you’ll receive will be very useful--it will truly help you improve as a writer--and some will be utterly useless. And the truth is that *most* of the useless feedback is positive. For example, “This was a great book!” or “I love this author!” Those are wonderful sentiments, and every author LOVES to hear them! But while they are great for our egos, they do nothing for our writing.
Negative feedback, on the other hand, while it may feel like a punch in the face, is really the best thing for a writer. Here are some examples:
* The main character didn’t seem believable.
* The writer spent too much time describing settings/details.
* The secondary plot was underdeveloped.
* The order of events left me confused.
* The dialogue was realistic, but boring.

A writer can sit with each of these statements and analyze how she can make specific changes to improve her writing.

So don’t get discouraged if at any stage of your writing process you receive negative feedback. Know that, while it may hurt now, it really is in your (and your book’s!) best interest.
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@author.hend

Have you got a great book idea, but don’t know how to start? Have you started writing several manuscripts, but haven’t completed any? 

If you answered yes to either of these questions, then step into the light, my friend…

Let me share with you a few strategies that most published authors follow: 

1. Focus on ONE project. Decide which of the several manuscripts sitting in your drawer (or on your computer) you feel most passionate about, and forget about the rest for now. If ideas come up for the others as you work on this one, jot those ideas down, but do not spend your writing time fleshing them out. Dedicate any writing time you have to the one project you chose. 

2. Do some amount of planning before you jump in. For some, this will be a full outline. For others, it will simply be a set (or sets) of ideas regarding what the story is about and it’s general trajectory. If you’re writing fiction, determine your main plot points and spend time developing your characters. If you’re writing fantasy, spend some time world building. For non-fiction, sketch out the main points you will discuss, and any related subpoints. Putting in the time now, before you begin the project, will help you keep the details of your manuscript straight so you don’t get confused or distracted later on. 

3. Write down your intention for this specific project. Why are you writing it? Who will benefit from it? Keep this, your “why,” printed in front of you, so you can easily refer to it as you write. This will help you stay focussed when, as so often happens in writing, you find yourself veering off the path. 

4. Know that to be a writer, you must write EVEN when you are not inspired. Louis L’Amour is quoted to have said, “Start writing no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” This is one of my favorite writing quotes, because it captures the writer’s journey so perfectly. Who doesn’t want to feel inspired? We all do! But what distinguishes someone who will finish from someone will just continue to dream—what distinguishes a professional from an amateur—is that the first will remain committed to writing regularly, while the second will wait for inspiration... which may never strike. Commit to writing daily. This may be a minimum number of words, or a certain amount of “butt in chair” time. In either case, decide which, and stick with it! 

5. Don’t censor or edit as your write. If you do so, you run the risk of never finishing. Remember that this is just your first draft; it doesn’t have to be perfect right at the start. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be good; it just has to be written! You can work with a first draft. You can revise and rewrite it later on. You can’t, however, do anything with a blank page. So for now, focus on just getting this story written, getting it out of your mind and onto the page, even if you know it still needs work. 

Finishing your first draft is completely possible with some time and commitment. If it has always been your dream to write a book, follow the strategies above, and you WILL get there! 

If you’d like further guidance on your project, or you still feel overwhelmed by the process, contact me for a complimentary writing-coaching session so we can get you back on track.