There’s an innate disconnect in the way we approach our memories that may affect our ability to tell our impactful stories in a way that best connects with readers: Who we are today is not who we were when these events happened, but both voices have equal claim to the narrative. How do we reconcile your pre- and post-enlightenment perspective when writing your memoir?
We talked a few weeks ago about the purpose of beta readers and why they’re an important step in the writing journey. But how do you find these elusive readers?
Beta readers are a great resource for getting feedback from enfranchised readers (people who are well immersed in the genre and type of content that you’ve created) on how market-ready your book is in its current form.
You’ve got a heart-pounding plot and a rich world…but something’s still not right, and you think it might have to do with your main character. Your beta readers have said they “can’t connect” with her, or that they’re having a hard time caring what happens to her. You’ve deepened her backstory, given her some great side characters to bounce off of, but you’re still hearing the same feedback. What’s going wrong? You may have a case of “Passive Protagonist.”
Congratulations! You’ve finished your first draft. It’s not perfect, but here’s a trade secret…no one’s first draft is. Sometimes, when you look at all those pretty words you just wrote, you can’t imagine that any of them need to be edited, moved around, or (gasp!) cut. But, that’s the true process of writing a fiction novel. It takes rounds of revisions, of restructuring, refining, and tweaking, until your manuscript is in its final form. So, where do you start?
Behind on your word count goal? Feeling like you haven’t reached any major milestones lately? These are exactly the times when you need to celebrate the writing achievements you have completed.