Listening to Music While Writing

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about the pros and cons of listening to music while writing. I've seen a lot of authors ask on Twitter about whether listening to music helps others write.

Pros:

It can help you concentrate.

Some authors need some background noise while they're writing, as it can help them concentrate. Instrumental or video game music is especially good for concentration as it isn't too overpowering.

It can help with fight scenes.

I know I'm not the only one who imagines cool fight scenes while listening to music. Certain songs could help you envision how the characters move and react.

Creating a soundtrack can engage readers.

If you create a soundtrack for your book and tell your readers, they will feel more engaged with you. You are sharing a part of your writing routine that may help them feel closer to you and your book.

It will help with editing.

Editing is boring enough already. Having some background noise will improve your concentration and you might edit for longer than usual.

Cons:

It can be distracting.

Depending on what you listen to, you can get distracted easily. 

You'll spend ages looking for the perfect songs.

Any time spent doing this means that you'll spend less time writing. Even creating a list before you start has taken precious writing time away.

You might accidentally write song lyrics down.

When editing, you might find a sentence that randomly contains a song lyric. Listening to music will make it harder for your brain to focus on your ideas.

Coming up with ideas may be harder.

It can be hard to come with new ideas with someone singing in your ear, so you might find yourself turning the music off so you can think.

Personally I need silence in order to write. I've tried listening to music in the past but I always end up writing less than I wanted.

The biggest problem that I had when listening to music while writing is that I daydream too much. Although music can help some writers, it didn't help with me. Make sure you give yourself time to discover if it's right for you. Don't give up after one song because you haven't written anything good.

That's it for this week! Next Sunday I'm going to write about the pros and cons of writing your own blurb versus getting someone else to do it for you.

How My Cats Have Influenced My Writing

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about my cats, and how each of them has influenced my writing. While pets can be cuddly and fun to play with, they can inspire us in so many ways!

Normie.

Me and Normie, one of the few pictures of us together

Unfortunately I don't remember Normie that much because he ran away when I was little. Luckily my Mum managed to take a few pictures of us together when I was a baby. Although I don't remember him that much, I still wanted to honour him in Blood and Water. He is Hazel and Wes' pet, a tiny Siamese kitten who can communicate with the dragons. Because I don't remember him that well I've made him a new personality, in Blood and Water he is confident and loves attention. Despite not being with me for very long, I still love him dearly.

Rocky.

A rare picture of Rocky awake

After years of begging to get a cat my Mum finally relented when I was eleven. Rocky was only twelve weeks old at the time, and was a bit of a scaredy cat for the first few days. However he soon came out of his shell and we bonded quite quickly. For many years he was my main source of inspiration, every story had him as the main character. In one he was a cat spy, in another he could suddenly speak and he even lived in a forest in one story. 

Despite all the adventures I wrote about him partaking in, he's the opposite in real life. He's lazy, loves nothing more than to sleep and eat tuna. But, he's also very protective. Whenever I went outside he would follow me around the street, and wouldn't stop until I went back inside. For Blood and Water I took his protective aspect and made him Hazel's overprotective brother. He's a main character in the Elemental Dragons series, and I'm glad that I've finally found a story that he shines in.

Mishka.

Mishka, playing in her favourite cat tree

If you follow me on Twitter I quite often post pictures of the youngest member of my cat family. She's lved with us for just over a year, after we got her at eight weeks old. Unlike Rocky, she's loud, playful and doesn't think things through. She can be a pain sometimes, but I do love her dearly. My boyfriend and I did a cat IQ test for her, and she scored twenty points below the average for her age. So we quite often joke that her head is just like a wind tunnel.

I haven't quite managed to fit her into a story yet, I'm still trying to find the right one for her. However, she is the main influence for how the dragons behave in Blood and Water. To how they eat, play and interact with each other. Her silliness helps me figure out how dragons would behave if they were paired with humans.

Next week I'm going to make a blog post about an anthology I'm in, out on the 16th March, so keep your eyes peeled!

How I Write While Working Full Time

Hi all!

Although writing full time is the dream, most of us aren't in that position. We need day jobs to pay for bills, food and other expenses. I work full time as an administrator Monday to Friday, so I know how hard it is to fit writing around work. But there are little changes you can make throughout the day to improve your writing.

After working all day I know how tiring it is to go home and write, but it can be done, even if it's only 100 words a day. But there's also other things you can do while you're at work to plot, edit and write your manuscript.

Just to clarify, I do these things during my breaks, I do not work on anything to do with writing during work time.

I do the following before, during and after the work day:

Plot ideas on my commute to work.

I know not everyone can do this because of transportation, but if you can it does help. I get the bus to and from work which takes about half an hour each time, so that gives me an hour to jot ideas down or come up with character names.

Plot during breaks.

I write a lot in my lunch break, which keeps my mind whirring and enables me to plot more extensively as I'm putting time aside to do it. I've plotted all my books on my lunch break, and I'm constantly swapping between notes on my phone to change plot points. The last three Elemental Dragons books were all plotted on my phone in great detail, down to character descriptions and dragon markings.

Write query and synopsis.

Before I decided on self publishing I actually wrote the first draft of my query letter on my phone, it went through several revisions, of course, but it was nice to be able to get my ideas down while they were still fresh in my mind. I also recently wrote the synopsis for Venom and Earth on my lunch break, which meant when I got home I could focus on editing the manuscript itself.

Research.

I researched on the bus and during my breaks. Mostly character names and settings. I do the bulk of the research for books at home, for example: Egyptian Gods and pyramids.

Character designs.

This is the easiest part for me to do on my break, as I've already envisioned the characters a certain way. I make sure to write down their descriptions for reference just in case they have a sudden makeover halfway through the first draft!

Small edits.

I don't do any major editing, just a few passages here and there. A lunch break isn't really enough time to edit an entire manuscript.

Write blog posts.

A lot of my post ideas come to me during the week, so I list them on my phone and write a rough draft. I then use my laptop for the editing.

Doodle.

Visualising dragon markings helped me describe them better in Elemental Dragons, as I had the designs right in front of me. I'm doing the same for Bitten as well, working on designs for the antagonists. For me, seeing something drawn on paper helps me while writing.

Write short stories.

My short story, Circles, was written during a few lunch breaks on my phone. Once I was happy enough with it, I transferred it to my laptop for editing and started sending it out. I was over the moon when From Whispers To Roars published it in their first issue. I've also written two other short stories during breaks, Hesitation and Purpose, which I hope to offer to anyone who wants to sign up to my future mailing list (I'm working on it, don't worry!).

I just want to show people that even the smallest things throughout the day can contribute towards your writing, and you shouldn't feel bad if you're too exhausted to write much after work. It's normal. The last thing that I want to do when I get home is write, but those little things throughout the day propel me to do it. It shows I've never really stopped working on my books, so I have more time to actually write.

Next week I'm going to post profiles about the dragon characters in Elemental Dragons. I will probably do the human characters in the future, but I love so many of the dragons that I want to share some of their quirks and personalities with you all.

See you next week!

Tips For Hiring a Cover Designer

Hi all!

This week I'll be talking about cover designers. Whether you are self publishing or traditional publishing, you will work with a cover designer for your book. Although traditional authors won't have as much say in the process like self publishing authors do.

Unless you are a great artist or master of Photoshop, I would highly recommend hiring someone to do your cover instead of doing it yourself. It may be costly, but you've got to remember: your cover is the first thing potential readers see. As much as we like to think people don't judge books on their covers, they do. So you want to make this first impression as a good as possible to convince them to buy.

Research covers in your genre.

Make sure your book cover fits in with your genre. Don't stick a topless man on the cover if you're writing historical fiction, it doesn't really work.

Specify your colour scheme.

If you want specific colours on the cover, tell your designer. If they think the colours won't work or don't fit, they'll suggest others to use.

Don't have your name bigger than the title.

Unless you're an award winning multi-million selling author, don't have your name be the biggest text on the cover. That should be reserved for your title.

Pick a font people can read.

Although fancy swirly fonts look nice, they're a pain to try to decipher. Pick a readable font with a nice flair.

Specify the dimensions of your cover.

If you're having your book available in print this is very important, as there are different sizes depending on book size and length.

If you want an art cover, research carefully.

There are loads of artists out there to hire who can draw specific scenes, landmarks and creatures from your book. Just make sure you look around, look through their previous work and reviews and check their prices.

Specify what you don't like as well as what you do like.

This will help the designer know what to not add to your cover.

Book in advance.

Covers can be a lengthy process, make sure you book one with plenty of time before your launch date. If you have a series of books that need covers, book them all at the same time to be done on different dates.

Don't share any of the designers work before the final cover.

Unless you have their permission, it is for your eyes only. Don't post any sketches or designs before the final design has been sent.

Send them a synopsis.

Let them know what your book is about, the characters and their goals. It will help them understand what needs to go on the cover.

Listen to your designer.

Nine times out of ten they will know what's best for your cover. Don't immediately ignore them if you don't agree with their vision of your cover.

Research carefully.

There are so many cover designers out there. Shop around before picking one or ask published authors for recommendations.

That's it for this post! See you next week!

My Reading Quirks

Hi all!

This week I thought I'd talk about something different: reading.

As writers we all need to make sure we read a lot, especially in the genres we write in. Reading can improve your writing as you read different styles, characters and plots. 

Starting the book:

Most people read from the first to the last chapter.

I always read the last few pages before starting a book.

It's a habit I developed when I was younger and reading the Warriors books by Erin Hunter. I was so excited to read the ending that I would just read it first. I still do it now, I don't mind spoilers at all. Most of the time you don't really understand the ending until you've read the full book anyway, so it doesn't hinder my reading experience at all. It's just a habit to flick straight to the back and then start the book.

Bookmarks:

I also use scrappy bits of paper as bookmarks, such as receipts or random pieces of card. I've had proper bookmarks, but I've just never used them. To me it's easier to find my page with a receipt rather than a thick bookmark.

Book jackets:

I think book jackets are pretty, but I usually remove them when reading as it makes it easier. It also means I don't accidentally damage it.

Book spines:

I know I'm not alone on this one, but I hate bending the spines of books. I like them to remain in pristine condition for as long as possible!

Fussy:

Admittedly, I'm quite fussy with what I read. More often than not I've started a book, put it down halfway through and never picked it up again. I find it hard to find books that I can connect with. Luckily I didn't have any problems connecting with Blood and Water while writing it. I suppose I just need to find the right story.

Warriors was the best book series to me growing up, and I took a lot of inspiration from Erin Hunter. I wanted to create a universe that thousands of people love. It also has my favourite animal as the characters: cats. These books made me want to write for teenagers as they brought so many people together in the Warriors forums. I want people to love and be inspired by my writing like they are with Erin Hunter.

Finally, I'm going to leave some tips for readers:

Don't be ashamed of what you read! 

Always review the books you liked!

Tell the author if you loved their book!

Don't pirate the book, authors need an income to write more books!

That's it for this week, next week I'm going to talk about the importance of cover designers.

See you next week!

Tips for Twitter Pitch Parties

Hi all!

Since a lot of pitch parties are coming up on Twitter, I thought I'd share some tips with you all!

I have participated in a few pitch parties, and they're really fun! Not only can you pitch your book using hashtags that agents and publishers are looking through, but you can see everyone else's pitches too. The big thing to remember is that even if you don't get any interest from agents or publishers, that doesn't mean you can't query them anyway. They may not have seen your pitch, or didn't like the way you pitched your book. Either way, don't let that stop you from querying them if you want to.

Do:

Read the rules.

Make sure your book fits the genre and age group listed if there are any. Don't rule yourself out before you've even started.

Use the correct hashtags.

Make sure your hashtags are correct and fit your genre, other wise the agents you're looking for will struggle to find you.

Have four or five different pitches.

Twitter will delete duplicate tweets, so make sure you switch up the wording and hashtags in each tweet. Also, don't post the same pitch over and over. Mix it up!

Schedule your tweets.

When I participated in the parties I wasn't able to post the pitches all day because I was at work. So I used TweetDeck to write my pitches and choose a time of day for them to come out. Make sure you use a test tweet beforehand!

Retweet others pitches.

If you see a pitch you like, retweet it! That author will be grateful and may even retweet yours. If more people retweet your pitch then you're more likely to get noticed by agents.

Explain the main plot of your book.

I know it's hard to squeeze it into so little characters, but you can do it. Don't pick a subplot or minor character to focus on when your MC is off doing something else.

Research before you query.

Unfortunately, vanity publishers and fake agents love these events. Make sure you research carefully before sending anyone anything. There have been cases of fake accounts being set up to pose as agents and reject every author who queries them. Check their page, is it new? Does it have many followers? How many tweets are there?

Have fun!

Don't get disappointed if you don't get any likes from agents. Out off all the parties I participated in, I only got two likes. One was a vanity publisher and the other was a dodgy agency. Just enjoy yourself.

Don't:

Like others pitches.

It's in the rules, just don't do it.

Get angry if people like your pitch.

Not everyone knows the rules, just ignore it and move on. Don't call them out in a mean way, they just liked your tweet.

Bash anyone else's pitch.

It's rude, and it won't get you noticed.

Post duplicate tweets.

As I said before, Twitter will delete them. Switch up the words and hashtags every so often so your tweets stay up.

Schedule tweets to post exactly on the hour.

That's when most people post, go for a more obscure time like 13:21. It means that your tweet won't get lost immediately in the influx of posts on the hour. The less posts there are at that time, the more likely you are going to get noticed.

Use pictures.

Most pitch parties don't allow them as it's a way to sneak more words in. Check the rules to see if you can post pictures.

Participate in every pitch party.

There are so many, and some will not fit your book. If you're writing erotica, there's no point in doing #SFFpit. If you're writing fantasy, don't participate in #KissPitch. Make sure you participate in the correct ones.

That's it for this week! Hope you found it useful, and good luck to anyone participating in upcoming pitch parties!

See you next week.

Teenage Writers

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about writing as a teenager. I've seen a lot of stuff online that says this is an 'issue' and I want to prove otherwise.

I finished the first draft of Blood and Water when I was seventeen. I was curious how to go about editing and preparing it for querying so I read a lot of blog posts from other authors. These were very helpful to read as they taught me how to self edit effectively. However, some I came across were very much against teenagers publishing, or even writing.

Some argued that they are too immature, that they will wreck their chances in the industry before they have even stepped out the door. I think this is really unfair as I've heard of more older authors who destroy their chances by bad mouthing agents or not following submission guidelines. Teenagers aren't the only ones who do it. A lot are more mature than others give them credit for, they may have been writing since they were young and want to try to write a novel. It's what I did.

I wrote a lot of stories about cats until I was about thirteen, then I started writing Fanfiction. Both of these styles of writing helped me grow my writing abilities, but some authors were saying that teenagers should stick to Fanfiction until they are 'old enough'. I think this is really unfair, there is no age where you can start writing novels. If teenagers want to do it, it doesn't harm anyone. There isn't a minimum age you need to be to get an agent.

I also think it's a bit demeaning towards their younger fans, age is just a number. If they have an idea they want to turn into a novel, encourage them. There's no point in putting people down, it doesn't make you a better writer.

Why do some people think that teenagers writing is a problem?

If they want to write, let them. It doesn't effect your writing at all, so these people should just concentrate on themselves rather than worrying about everyone else.

I loved writing when I was younger, and to see stuff like that really put me down as I thought I wouldn't be taken seriously.
When I was researching agents I came across one who had a sixteen year old as one of her clients, which taught me that agents don't care about your age. They just want a good book.

Although I ended up not querying Blood and Water until January 2018, I don't regret putting it off. It helped my writing to grow and become better.

Now that I'm self publishing, I really want to inspire young people to write, no matter their age. I've tried to search for some of the posts as examples but a lot have been taken down. I'm not sure whether it's because they received backlash or their perspective changed. Either way, I'm happy they're gone. As writers we need to encourage each other, not put other people down.

Young people can write just as well as someone who is older, and as someone who writes for teenagers, I want to encourage them.

Erin Hunter inspired me when I was young, and I want to inspire young adults as she inspired me. I want them to have an escape, an opportunity to forget about everything and get lost in a book. One day I hope that Elemental Dragons or one of my other series will inspire someone to chase their dreams of writing.

That's what I hate it when people bad mouth teenage authors, we're supposed to inspiring and encouraging them. Writing about how 'immature' and 'unprofessional' they are will just put them off.

I would have been heartbroken if my favourite author and mouthed part of their fan base just because of their age. That's why I'll try my hardest to encourage young people through my writing. I want to give them the same opportunity for escape that I had.

That's it for this week! Next week I'm going to write about Twitter Pitch Parties, and how they can help you get an agent.

See you next week!

Why Self Publishers Need a Professional Editor

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about editors for self publishers, and why they are vital to self publish your book. I got Blood and Water edited professionally, and I am so thankful I did. She was wonderful, and she helped me fix things that I didn't even notice when I was editing it myself. I am hoping to go back to her to edit the rest of the Elemental Dragons series.

First off, the big question: if I can edit myself, why do I need an editor?

There are several reasons you need an editor, and if you want your book to be the best it can be, you're going to need at least one person professionally looking over your work.

They will not hold back.

Your book is your baby, of course you're going to be soft on it. I know I was with Blood and Water, I was too nervous to cut things that, in hindsight, I didn't need. Editors will not think about your book in this way, and they will critique it fairly.

They can spot things you've missed.

After reading your book and editing it over and over there are things you will miss, but that's okay. An editor is more likely to pick up spelling and grammar mistakes because they have never read your book before. Their eyes are not used to the words like you are.

It's a fresh pair of eyes.

As above, they can spot mistakes and suggest corrections better than you can. They can look at your manuscript with a clean slate.

Family and friends aren't enough.

Their feedback will be biased, no matter how they try to convince you other wise. You need someone who will give you truly honest feedback.

It will make your book more professional.

When selling a book it needs to be the best it can be, no-one wants to read a book full of spelling and continuity errors when there are thousands out there that have been edited. Don't shoot yourself in the foot before you've even started.

They can sort plot holes.

I didn't realise that Blood and Water had any plot holes left until I got my editor. I had completely forgotten that a dragon was supposed to be patrolling hallways as stated in the first chapter! So I quickly fixed that.

They can make suggestions.

My editor didn't like the ending to Blood and Water, so I revamped it. It was a huge cliffhanger, but she suggested I change it to something a little more subtle, so I did.

They can point out character flaws.

One flaw that I had was the relationship between two siblings, Hazel and Rocky. She thought some parts were a bit out of character and suggested I remove chapters that are in his point of view. I did, and it made the story flow so much better!

They're not all bad, they'll tell you what they love about your work too.

It's not all criticism, they will let you know what parts they liked and how to improve the rest of the story to reflect the good parts.

Of course, editors are expensive. But, they are so worth it. To get feedback on how to improve your work is priceless. You do have to pick the right editor of course. I picked mine because I felt that she corrected my test pages the best and was also in my price range. I looked her up and saw that she had a lot of experience of editing in my genre, which was great. You don't really want a sci-fi editor for your historical mystery, do you?

That's it for this week! Next week I'm going to write about writing as a teenager. See you then!

How to Query Correctly

Hi all!

As promised, this week I will be writing about querying agents/publishers. I hope you enjoy!

Before I decided to self publish I queried both agents and publishers for nine months. It's a gruelling process, as each company has different guidelines and interests. Some will get back to you, and some won't. Some will like your work, some won't. You shouldn't take any of it personally, it's a subjective business. 

As you can guess, I didn't get represented.

But that doesn't mean it was a waste of time for me, querying made me realize that traditional publication wasn't really what I wanted. Although I got loads of rejections, they helped me grow as an author.

Always follow their guidelines.

Don't ignore guidelines, companies use them for a reason. It will not make you stand out if you just do whatever you want, it will make you come across as incompetent. If you don't follow the guidelines, your query will be rejected without a glance. If they want you to use a certain font size, use it. If they want your query double spaced, do it.

For agents, address them by name.

Many agents prefer you to use at least their first name when addressing them in your query. It clearly shows that you want them to read it and possibly represent you. Make sure you spell their name correctly, nothing will turn an agent off in the first sentence if you can't even spell their name right.

Don't spam them with emails.

Once you've sent the initial query, don't nudge them constantly. If on their website they have a time frame they will often state that you can ask them after that date. It's usually eight to twelve weeks. If you constantly spam them a few weeks after, you will be rejected.

Don't submit to multiple agents in the same agency unless specified.

Most agencies in the UK state that a rejection from one agent is a rejection from the whole agency. Don't submit to another agent if they say not to because the agency will find out.

Don't submit to agents who don't represent your genre.

It's simply a waste of their time and yours.

If you get rejected, don't berate them on social media.

This is the fastest way to get you blacklisted from many agencies and publishers.

If you get rejected, don't email them back with nasty comments.

It isn't necessary, just because one doesn't want to represent your work doesn't mean that someone else won't. Don't destroy your chances because you couldn't control your anger.

You will get rejected.

It's natural, but as I've said in my previous post about rejection, don't let it get you down. Keep going.

Research.

Make sure you research who you query. Some companies might look legit but are actually dodgy. At least give them a quick search before sending.

Keep track of who you have queried.

Keep a list of outstanding queries and rejections, this will help you keep track in the long run. I used links for each website and put them in different files based on the query status.

Keep writing!

Don't stop just because you're querying something! Writing something else on the side can keep you distracted while also making sure those creative juices are flowing.

That's it for this week, hope you enjoyed it!

My 2019 Writing Goals

Hi all!

Seeing as it's now a new year, I thought I would tell you all about my writing goals for 2019! 

Publishing Blood and Water.

Yes, I will be self publishing Blood and Water this year. I'm aiming for a Winter release so then I have time to do all the research I can. I don't want to mess this up at all, I want this to be as successful as possible. However, I've done a lot of work already! So far I have:

- Had it edited by a professional editor (who is amazing!).

- Created a website.

- Created a blog.

- Grown my Twitter page.

- Created my Facebook page.

- Created a Goodreads page.

- Started MailChimp (though I'm still struggling with getting a P.O. Box, which is the only thing holding me back from creating my mailing list. I'm hoping to sort that out in the next few weeks).

- Looked up copyright.

- Hired a cover designer (cover reveal in May I hope!).

- Bought loads of books about self publishing.

- Researched thoroughly.

Despite all of that though, I've still got a long way to go. I started 2018 hoping to go down the traditional publishing route, but now I'm doing the opposite. It's terrifying, my anxiety keeps trying to tell me to stop but I'm not going to. Although it's going to be stressful, I hope it will be worth it in the long run. Writing is one of the only things I'm good at and I don't want to fail.

Write two books.

I'm setting a goal this year to write two books. One will be Nirvana, my YA sci-fi about a virus that doesn't kill you, but gives you the opportunity to bite more people to reach the afterlife. The other will be the last installment in the Elemental Dragons series: Cinder and Fire. Although I'm sad to have reached the end of this series, I'm so glad that I wrote it. Who knows, this might not even be the last book set in that universe!

Get Venom and Earth professionally edited.

The second book in my Elemental Dragons series need a to be looked over by an editor, so once I've done a bit more polishing I'll send it off.

Self edit Glass and Ice.

I haven't touched this book since NaNoWriMo, so it really needs some editing. I'm sure it's a terrible first draft but I'm hoping I can turn it into something great.

Decide which WIP to start next.

I have a bunch of ideas, and I'm hoping to decide which one to start once Cinder and Fire is done. Nirvana is the first in a trilogy so I'm going to continue that, but I also want another WIP to write on the side. So far my ideas are:

- YA Historical Fantasy trilogy.

- YA dystopian standalone.

- YA dystopian/sci-fi standalone.

- NA sci-fi standalone.

- NA paranormal mystery standalone.

As you can see I have a lot of ideas so you can expect loads of books from me! I have three series planned: Elemental Dragons (YA fantasy - four books), Damaged Goods (YA Historical Fantasy - three books) and Bitten (YA sci-fi - three books). So I'll be writing a mix of series and standalone, but I just need to decide which one to start next!

Take part in NaNoWriMo again.

I loved doing it last year, and I want to take part again this year! I'll probably be writing Cinder and Fire but it depends on whether I start it earlier in the year or not.

That's it for this week, I hope you all have a successful year with your writing! Stick around next week for when I talk about how not to query an agent/publisher. Just because I'm going down the self publishing route doesn't mean that I won't help those that want to be traditionally published as well.