A B Keuser

Rest
Now that you’ve got a first draft done…. Walk away.
This is the part a lot of people hate, but I cannot stress this enough:
PUT THE BOOK DOWN.
Wait a month (or at least a week if you’re really that impatient) before you look at the ms again. The book needs time to rest; your mind needs time to rest. If you jump back into the book now, you’ll end up reading what you think you wrote, not what you did. Give your mind a break from the book. Forget the story, so when you read it again you can come at it with a red pen afresh.
I distract myself at this point by going back to the beginning and starting something new… I guess you could say I write books like you would sing a round.
But seriously…. step away from the book, give it time to settle and then, return to it with a fresh mind ready to slice it to bits.
Self Editing At this point, you’ve got a draft that is ridiculously befitting its title of “sloppy copy.” Personally, I think I’m awful at self-editing. Mostly because myself edit…

Write I know that seems like a silly thing to say, but let’s face it. All the planning and scheming in the combine multiverses won’t get you any closer to a complete draft unless you put your butt to the chair and your pen to the paper (or fingers to the keyboard). If you want to write a novel you have to actually write it. And yes, I realize this might sound silly to some of you, but it’s the truth. So, get to it. Write something. Do it now. I’ll wait for you to come back.
Write Some More Already have something down? Or are you back from that little jaunt? Honestly, it doesn’t matter. You need to write and you need to do it consistently. Don’t get me wrong. If this is your opus, and if it takes 10 years, that’s great… but it’s no way to turn being an author into a career (just saying). So, sit down. Write. Find the time: in the wee hours of the morning, on your lunch break, after you’ve put the kids to bed. But write. Do it every day. I don’t care if you get in 100-words, 1,000-words,…