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Emmi Lawrence

~ MM Fantasy Romance Writer

Emmi  Lawrence

Tag Archives: editing

Coffee & Conversation: What to do with your Nanowrimo novel?

06 Monday Dec 2021

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Coffee & Conversation

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advice, answer, author, editing, essay, nanowrimo, non-fiction, nonfiction, Novel, prose, question, reading, writer, Writing, writing advice

What to do with your Nanowrimo novel?

Or any other novel that you may have written in a short span of time.

No matter how well we write or how many hours we’ve spent on something, when we work on a project in a condensed period of time, we’re very liable to miss things. We’re simply too close. We know what words should be there. We know what the descriptions are trying to say. We understand what the dialogue is referring to. We know. Because it’s all in our heads and not just on the paper.

The best thing to do is set the story aside for a time. Put it in a drawer, label it draft one and give yourself a specific date when you can take it back out. I recommend something between 4 to 12 weeks. During that time, work on other projects, get your brain away, far away, from the project you just finished. That way, when you come back, you’ll be fresh.

Another really good piece of information to know is that agents and editors are often a little wary about the influx of stories they receive in December and January, thinking that these new novels/queries are messy Nanowrimo novels. So it’s best to give yourself a little time and space away from that bias.

Once you’ve come back to the story, do a thorough edit. You should have forgotten the words by this point and be reading things fresh, allowing you to catch descriptions that aren’t clear enough, words that could be read in two different ways, plot threads that end up not going anywhere, characters that switch personalities, etc.

After your edits, you can send out to your beta reader if you want, get a critique, do more edits, craft a pitch and a query, etc. Do all the things to liven up your novel and get it ready for submission (or publication).

One thing you don’t want to do is forget about your novel. Don’t let it sit forever. Make sure you have that date to go back to it. Make sure you open it back up knowing that it will need work, but that it isn’t awful and anything wrong can be fixed. That you do have something worthwhile in your hands. Don’t abandon it.

~Emmi

Coffee & Conversation: First Quarter Update 2021

05 Monday Apr 2021

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Coffee & Conversation

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answer, editing, FAQ, goal, goals, progress, question, reading, social media, Update, Writing

First Quarter Update 2021

I wanted to give you an idea of where I am and what I’m working on.

In the past three months, I’ve gotten more work done on Canvas Blues and the body count is racking up behind the scenes. In fact, i don’t think I’ve ever written anything with this level of death, yet such a long drawn-out light tension before. Usually tensions run high with that much death going on.

Next, I finished all the things for Lost Isle and got it out into the world. Woot!!

I’ve written many, many blog posts.

I’ve quite a twitter game I attempted to start. Well, actually, I’ve mostly quit twitter completely because I just can’t keep my endurance up over there, not while doing everything else I’m doing.

[On my non-romance name, I’ve written six short stories, three on submission, one already semi-sold (no contract, just word of mouth), one needing edits; wrote a ton of blog posts for over there (mostly rec posts); slush read over 200 stories; critiqued a bunch of friends’ work; began a novel and a novella (no relation to one another because I’m a masochist)]

I’ve gotten on the schedule with a cover artist to get Shatter by Glass a cover. And I’ve finished formatting that book for paperback. Ebook still needed, however it looks to be on track for a Jun/July rerelease.

I’ve also been striving to read more, though this has been more short stories than novels.

Oh, and I’m in the process of moving.

So that’s about where I’m at. For the next three months, I’m working on keeping up with blog posts, getting Shatter by Glass fully ready, adding words to Canvas Blues, and doing a lot of prep and work on Scorched Isle. Plus words for my other name. Shall update again in three months to see how far I get :)

~Emmi

Coffee & Conversation: What do you like to discuss with other people?

03 Monday Aug 2020

Posted by Emmi Lawrence in Coffee & Conversation

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Tags

answer, editing, FAQ, question, reading, writer's block, Writing, writing advice

I like to discuss difficult or erroneous plotting or character issues. Though discuss might not be the best term for what I like to do when I run into trouble. It’s more of a talking-at someone.

Here’s what I’ll do:

1) Get the person caught up with all the characters and setting and what’s been happening and what might have happened or what kinds of things are going to possibly happen and who the people are and what kinds of things they’re motivated by, and so on and so on… [This is usually answered with confused stares that attempt to look polite.]

2) Answer questions that all my pronoun usage, non-linear narrative babbling has caused.

3) Pitch my problem and all the reasons why it’s a problem. Usually I’ll state somewhere in there that my story is a mess, that it’s unsalvageable, that I’m a horrible writer, etc. All the boring, melodramatic stuff that spills from our mouths when we’ve hit a figurative wall. Continue reading →

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CANVAS BLUES
Vignettes Regarding the Artwork of Brendon Kotes

A serialized novel begun Jan 29th 2020. Here you can find links to the beginning and the most recent additions.

I: Prologue
II: Present
III: Yesteryears
IV: Yesteryears
V: Present

……….

L: Present
LI: Yesteryears
LII: Yesteryears
LIII: Present
LIV: Yesteryears

New chapters published every Wednesday!
Next up: Jul 7th 2021

FREE SHORT STORIES

THE BAYWATER & THE HURRICANE
(fantasy M/M)

WHAT SECRETS MIGHT REMAIN
(fantasy M/M)

TALL, DARK & HANDSOME
(contemporary M/M)

THE IMMORTAL LOVER OF LAKE PHANTA
(fantasy M/M)

ACROSS THAT OCEAN OF SAND
(fantasy M/M)

MY LIFE, HIS BREATH
(contemporary M/M)

POET’S BANE
(fantasy M/M)

What’s Up!

  • Canvas Blues – XCV: Present
  • Canvas Blues – XCIV: Present
  • Coffee & Conversation: How to keep your plots/stories from being repetitive?
  • Canvas Blues – XCIII: Yesteryears
  • Coffee & Conversation: How to critique someone else’s work?
  • Canvas Blues – XCII: Present

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