writing

Beta Readers

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As I recently mentioned, I have one of my novels currently out with beta readers.

What are beta readers?

They’re only one of the most useful tools that you can have as a writer. Beta readers are people you send your finished draft to look over – not for editing or grammar errors, but for things like plot holes, pacing, setting, etc. A beta reader makes sure that your story makes sense, and that you haven’t made any huge blunders that readers or editors will mercilessly point out later. Beta readers can clarify any points that are confusing, if you’ve left something out, or put in something that is impossible because of the rules of your universe. They can also tell you if you’re going too fast and losing readers along the way or going too slow and the pace is dragging and becoming boring.

Who make good beta readers?

Other writers. One of my best beta readers is my good friend J.K. Pendragon, who not only gives good advice on which parts of my story need fixing, but can tell me different ways that I might be able to fix it. J.K. also knows that the editors of any publishing house will put my draft through the wringer, so when offering critique, knows not to hold back out of some form of sympathy. Writers need to develop a tough skin fast and be able to take critique from their beta readers.

People who do not make good beta readers:

Your relatives. They will praise everything you do just because it is by you. Feel free to give them a copy of your book after it is published, because by that point, the praise will be warranted. Also, if you are sending it to a friend, pick that person carefully, because that person might also hold back criticism simply because it is you who wrote it.

Where are you supposed to even find beta readers?

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Other writers are fairly easy to come by, usually. The internet makes this process somewhat simpler. All over the internet, especially on platforms like Tumblr and WordPress, there are writing blogs and groups that you can follow or join. One of the best places to find a beta reader is actually – and you may be surprised – in a fandom. Getting involved in a fan community turns up lots of writers and readers who would gladly beta for you.

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All in all, a beta reader is someone who is fair, and will tell you not only where you need to fix your story, but also where your story is really working. A beta reader will make your story that much better, so make sure you find good ones!

I’m on Wattpad

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I recently signed up with Wattpad.

I’ll probably be adding writing odds and ends on there. Little drabbles that don’t make it into my novels, outside POVs, things like that. Maybe I’ll even do a full-length story on there, but for now, I’m still working on a novel I want to submit to Riptide Publishing for their submission calls.

So, just short stories and drabbles for now.

Anyway, that’s the latest news.

The Power of Organization

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Hey everyone!

I recently started a new job as a Social Media Assistant for an English school in Vancouver. But that’s not what I wanted to tell you guys. They use this online tool called Trello that does wonders for organization, and it’s been so easy to use that I’ve started using it at home as well as in the office.

It’s great for organizing a new project.

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See this? This is a board. You can create as many boards as you like for different projects. Each board is sorted into lines, as you can see in this pic, they are Basics, Intermediate and Advanced. You can call them whatever you like, and you can also make however many you need. Each line has different cards for different tasks you need to do.

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This is what a card looks like when you click on it. You can describe what the task is that you need done. If you look along the side, you can also see what else you can add to the card to keep it organized, including adding a checklist, a due date and other members if they also use Trello. You can also put in info like pictures, word docs from Google drive and links.

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This is a checklist so you can keep track of what you need to do and what you’ve already done.

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See? I’m using it for my July Camp NaNoWriMo project. The best part about it is that it’s absolutely free for what I’ve just shown you. I love it, because I’m terribly disorganized, and I always leave stacks of notes, need to always re-look up research and can’t keep track of characters. This has helped considerably. I thought about buying Scrivener to help with it, but Scrivener is over $40 and this is free.

Happy writing (and organizing)! Here’s the link again in case you don’t want to bother scrolling.

Camp NaNoWriMo July

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Hey everyone!

I’ll be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo in July, which is pretty awesome. I know, NaNoWriMo didn’t work out too well for me last November, but you know what? I still got almost 45K words in just one month, and now that project is at 60K. So, I think that challenging myself to writing never really backfires.

Anyway, this has more of a summer camp feel. November NaNoWriMo is certainly a difficult month for writing, especially if you’re a student. But with all the cafes and sunshine of the summer months, I think I’ll end up doing a lot of writing.

If anyone else is planning on participating, you should tell me what your story is about!

Finished!

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I breathe a deep sigh of relief, because I’ve finished my first draft of Sky Knights, which is my writing project for the Damsels in Distress collection call with Less Than Three Press.

Right now, the length is about 25 650 words, which will probably end up going down as I revise and edit. I don’t think I’ll need to add any scenes, but I have yet to go through my first editing run-through, so I could be wrong. I am the type of writer who ends up using too many words, so I’ll likely axe quite a few.

Also, I seem to have a fondness for the word “but” and also the word “so” which are really unnecessary words most of the time. Also “and” when it’s at the beginning of a sentence. Anyway, editing will take care of that. I’m usually good for words usage and tone.

Yes, editing is so exciting. We all love editing.

Good luck to all the writers out there on your current project.

Summer Writing Projects

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I did a Spring writing project post, and I decided it needed updating, since three months have passed since then.

Projects fully completed since last time:

1. My trans girl unicorn story was submitted and accepted by Less Than Three Press. It ended up being 10.5K, which isn’t that long, but hey, whatever. It was finished, and I finally have a trans* story in my (soon-to-be) published work.

2. My short story Insanity Girls is now available in the Rocking Hard Volume 3 anthology in print format.

What I am working on currently by priority:

1. My submission for Less Than Three’s “Damsels in Distress” f/f collection call is just over 20K words in to a 25K word project, so almost done. I have a beta for that one.

2. I completed my nanowrimo novel (I know, it’s May and I started it in November) and need to revise and edit it before submitting. That one is m/m and almost 60K.

3. I seriously need to keep working on Weekend Girl, which is an m/m story with a British university student studying in America who is cross-dressing in order to get a job as a waitress in a pub. It’s fairly ridiculous, but I don’t give a flying fuck. Cross-dressing.

4. I want to write a story about wendigos eating people. People can tell me that it’s not romantic when people are dismembered, disemboweled and decapitated all they like. Wendigos.

That’s all for now, but once I get a few of these projects finished, I can clear space for some bigger projects. Yes.

Weird Unicorn story

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So I’m almost finished my trans girl unicorn story. It’s probably going to end up being between 10-15K words, so it’s not too long. I feel like I should have been able to finish this one a long time ago, but between chaos at work and general stress, it’s been rough going. Not to mention, I’m just a procrastinator. I’m going to have to do a really quick editing job, which isn’t ideal, but it’s better than sending in a rough draft.

My very first story with Less Than Three was a rough draft, and you could definitely tell. My entire manuscript was returned for editing absolutely covered in revisions and cross-outs. The more you edit it before you send it in, the less you need to do after! I’ve learned much better by this point, and I’ve never sent in anything that was just a rough draft ever since.

15K isn’t a big deal to edit and revise, though. I am looking forward (NOT) to editing my 50-60K cyberpunk story that needs a lot of revisions (according to my beta reader, and we must always listen to our betas) and a lot of editing (according to me, because when I get tired I put in too many excess words).

Anyway, my trans girl story with unicorns is for an anthology, so it doesn’t need to be too long. My cyberpunk is going to be submitted for general release, however. It’s going to be interesting. I usually go with collection calls and anthologies so that I have a deadline to finish things by. But I have miraculously almost finished the cyberpunk story, so that seems like a point in favour of general release, right?

Anyway, my writing life really needs to step it up. I feel like I haven’t really accomplished much these past few months. Anyway, I will write again when something interesting happens. Such as my next story comes out with Less Than Three (very soon, actually).

Badass Ladies

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So I’ve finished my outline for the story I have planned for the Damsels in Distress anthology.

I might have explained this before (possibly, because ladies in goggles and bomber jackets are my favorite) but my story is taking place in a fantasy AU during WW2. My main ladies are both pilots for the Soviets, specifically night bombers – the legendary Night Witches.

The thing about these Night Witches is that they’re actually witches, just to make things more interesting. I know, more interesting than lady pilots doing death-defying aerial stunts in the dead of night? I know, you can tell I’m excited.

I’m even more excited, because they’re not the only badass ladies to show up in this thing. I’ve also got one of my MC’s younger sister who is a radio comm officer near the front lines as well as a nurse who’s rescuing injured soldiers.

What can I say? Russia had some interesting women.

Reasons to Write for an Anthology

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As a writer, I started off in the publishing industry by writing for anthologies. There are a lot of publishers out there that do submission calls for anthologies a few times a year. Writing for an anthology is a great way to start off or provide cushioning for your writing career, and here’s why:

  1. Anthologies are looking for new authors. It’s like getting a foot in the door in your chosen writing field, and once your story is accepted at an anthology, the publisher will usually accept submissions for longer works from you. This is important for publishers that don’t accept unsolicited work.
  2. Anthologies are usually themed. If you’re a writer that has problems coming up with new ideas or really want to know what a publisher or a reader is looking for, anthologies usually tell you exactly the kind of story they want. Take note that if you’re writing for a theme, don’t write the same, overdone trope. Try and put some sort of new twist on the theme, something that makes the reader think to themselves “that was really clever.”
  3. Anthology stories are usually either short story or novella length. This way, you can get a taste for getting something published and all the other editing, revision and proofreading that goes into it.
  4. Author print copies of anthologies are going to give you writing samples from lots of other authors writing in the same genre as you. You get an example of other writing styles and get a good look at the quality of writing your publisher is looking for. Do your research. If there’s an author in your anthology that has a lot of their other works published, take note of what makes their story exemplary.
  5. It gives your writing resume a boost. Other publishers both in the same genre and out will want to know if you have past publications. Having an array of different story styles will show off your diversity.
  6. Anthologies are fun and the publisher is probably really excited about it, so if you’re excited about it too, you’ll all be happy.

Oops

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So, you know how, as a writer, you have a list of projects that you know you need to finish in a certain timeframe and you have a plan on what order you’re going to do it?

Yeah, I accidentally might have started a random project in the middle of all of them.

One of my friends gave me a prompt a long time ago for yet another Less Than Three collection call, and I may have started it spontaneously. This one is for the Geek Out collection call that’s looking for stories about trans characters.

The prompt was for a MtF person who has an obsession with unicorns. Sometimes people give me crack prompts to be funny and then I actually find a way to write them somewhat seriously. This is one of those times. Well, I say serious, but an actual unicorn has made an appearance and has kidnapped my MC, so we’ll just see how this goes.