For Writers
Writing is a solitary art, isn’t it? It’s a discipline that takes place when you close off your mind to the world around you and mentally enter the world you have created. It happens silently and in a place of relative isolation. Thank goodness there are so many resources at our disposal to network with each other, encourage each other and grow in our skills as communicators.
Susan Meissner’s editorial service: NOVEL RENOVATONS
If you’re a novelist or aspiring novelist and you have a manuscript in need of a structural remodel, I offer a two-tiered editorial service that encompasses both content critique and content editing. Click here for all the details.
If you are wondering how to launch your writing career, the best way to see if your manuscript or idea is ready for the marketplace is to surround yourself with other writers and get some feedback from knowledgeable peers.
Join a writers group to get some feedback from the veterans. Get involved with a critique group so that you can get an idea of how your concept comes across to readers. If you are not ready for critiques, you are not ready to be published. You won’t agree with every observation made by the members of your critique group, but you do need to consider every observation. And for you to truly consider an observation, you have to be able to hear it. If there is no critique group near you, join an online critique group, like those with American Christian Fiction Writers.
Attend a writer’s conference so that you can share your concept one-on-one with editors and agents. There are many conferences to choose from. My favorite ones are the The Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference (held every year the week before Palm Sunday) and The American Christian Writer’s Conference, held every third week of September. Both of these conferences are top-notch events, loaded with workshops to supercharge your writing. You can also sign up for 15 minutes of face-time with editors and agents at these conferences.
Subscribe to Writers’ Digest or another writing magazine that offers timely advice, interviews, and skill-building articles.
Read as much as you can that is similar to your project. Don’t think for a moment there is nothing else out there like your project. That is not necessarily a good thing. If there truly is nothing else out there like your book, that might be because there is no market for it.
Keep writing. Writing is something you can always do and no one can stand in your way. Getting published is a little different. Lots of things can stand in your way. But you can always write. Write while you wait for big things to happen. If write while you wait, you will become better at both!