STEPS TO STORY EP 20 - Answering Your Burning Writing Questions
[00:00:00] Nicole Meier: What types of books and what types of endings do you like to read? What gives you the most satisfaction? Because again, there really is no wrong answer. I would say, listen to your gut and write the thing that you like to read.
[00:00:25] Nicole Meier: Welcome to Steps to Story, the show that helps aspiring authors turn their ideas into action and transform their dream of writing a book into a reality. I'm your host, Nicole Meier, multi published author and certified book coach. I spent the first part of my fiction writing career desperate for guidance that was unavailable to me.
[00:00:47] Nicole Meier: I wrote draft after draft, flying by the seat of my pants, with lots of passion, but little guidance. Thankfully, there was a writing community that opened its arms and welcomed me. This community sustained me, but when it came to strengthening my novel writing process, I was determined to find a better way.
[00:01:08] Nicole Meier: One that didn't involve piecemeal strategies and confusing courses. Now, more than a decade later, I'm serving my younger self who yearned for support while writing a book. If you're an emerging author seeking guidance, this podcast is for you. Are you on the list to get my novel writing guide? I designed this workbook to take you through five essential strategies that will level up your novel writing process.
[00:01:38] Nicole Meier: Grab your free copy at NicoleMeier.com forward slash crafting greatness. That's NicoleMeier.com forward slash crafting greatness or at the link in the show notes.
[00:01:59] Nicole Meier: Hi writers. So a couple of weeks ago, I sent out a call to action to all my followers and I said, anyone that has a question about their writing and publishing journeys, send it on into me and I will answer it on the Steps to Story podcast. So, you all did, you responded, I got some great questions, and I'm happy to say that they kind of have a nice range of topics when it comes to the questions, and I'm here to answer those today.
[00:02:28] Nicole Meier: So, if you have questions about your writing and publishing journey and you didn't get it answered today, you haven't sent a question in to me, I would say go for it. Email me at Nicole at NicoleMeyer. com. Send me your questions because I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn't the last time that I will be doing one of these episodes.
[00:02:50] Nicole Meier: Okay, so let's jump on in to the first question. Someone wrote in and said, I really want to know how I can outline my novel before starting so that once I start, I won't get any writer's block and continue my story till the very end smoothly. If you could please explain the format of outlining my novel with an example, it would be really great.
[00:03:12] Nicole Meier: Okay, this is a common question, and so the writer who sent this in to me, I want you first to know you're not alone, right? You're in good company, because what I have found as being both an author and a book coach in the world is that there are so many systems out there that it tends to overwhelm writers.
[00:03:32] Nicole Meier: So sometimes too much information is not a good thing. And what I mean by that are, there are craft books, there are courses, there are classes, there are webinars, all kinds of things telling writers how they should plot and plan and outline their books. You've got everything from Save the Cat Writes a Novel to StoryGrid to StoryGenius.
[00:03:54] Nicole Meier: To the three act structure, to the seven point story arc, and so on and so forth. What I see a lot of times is writers will come to me and they have tried to do more than one system. Usually they try to do all the things when they're outlining, and what happens is it paralyzes them. They have what I call systems overwhelm.
[00:04:14] Nicole Meier: They are trying to do all of the beats and all of the right structure and acts and all of the things. And what happens is that they get frozen and it's actually stifled their creativity because they're so concerned about not hitting each beat that they have been pulled out of the momentum of writing forward, they've been pulled out of the joy of writing, and it leaves them just feeling stuck.
[00:04:39] Nicole Meier: So I'm actually really happy to say that I have a solution. And the reason I'm super happy about it, the reason that I love to talk about it is because I have been. In my writing days, both a plotter and a pantser, so I have charted things out, I've also written by the seat of my pants. I found something that works right in the middle and it works for all genres.
[00:05:02] Nicole Meier: So what I'm talking about here is utilizing something called the seven point story arc. This was originally created by someone named Dan Wells. And it's something that I adore because it is that happy medium, it is not completely going into the depths of overanalyzing and overplotting and overplanning, but it is also not riding by the seat of your pants either.
[00:05:25] Nicole Meier: What it does is it utilizes the seven major plot points of your story, and it helps you to plan out your manuscript in a way that feels manageable. The reason why this is, is it asks you to first zoom way out on the macro level and look at the seven major plot points of your story. So, the second part of this writer's question is how they could avoid writer's block.
[00:05:52] Nicole Meier: Well, I'm going to say right up front that that is not a promise, that you won't come into some kind of a roadblock when you're writing and this could be a mindset thing or a craft thing. But what I can tell you confidently about the seven point story arc Is that it gives you a roadmap and this gives you a way to write forward.
[00:06:12] Nicole Meier: So if you're able to identify those major plot points of your story and create a kind of a map, when you do feel stuck or you're not sure where you're going, you can look back at this roadmap and say, what have I addressed so far in my manuscript? Where do I need to go? What are the scenes that will get me there and how do I think I can move forward?
[00:06:33] Nicole Meier: Okay. I'll wrap up my answer to this question with an offer. I have a self paced course that you can do in one afternoon called Map Your Story, and it walks writers through the what, why, and how of creating your roadmap using the seven point story arc. If you're interested, go to steps2story. com forward slash map your story or see the links in the show notes.
[00:07:02] Nicole Meier: Okay, let's go on to the next question that a writer sent in, and this one says, when do you know a book is done and ready for querying? Great question. So for those of you listening aren't sure exactly what this writer is referring to, they are asking about the process of querying a literary agent. Okay, so this question I really like because it's a difficult one to answer when you are the writer yourself.
[00:07:37] Nicole Meier: We often get so close to the work. We've worked on it and worked on it, revised and revised it, that it's really difficult for us to know, are we ready? So I'll give you kind of a list of what I think you should be thinking about when you're asking yourself this question. The first thing I would say is, is your manuscript draft complete?
[00:08:00] Nicole Meier: And yes, I know that there are a lot of people out there who say, but agents take months and months. I just heard of an agent that took two years to get back to a writer. Couldn't I keep writing while I'm waiting to hear back? Well, you could, but you're really going to gamble. And I'll share a funny anecdote.
[00:08:15] Nicole Meier: I think I've shared this on the podcast before is, Way back in my early days, before my first book got published, I was on Twitter, I was part of a pitch contest, and I sent some information to an agent who in turn asked for the full manuscript right away. Well the secret was I hadn't finished the manuscript and I still had a few chapters to finish.
[00:08:36] Nicole Meier: So I stayed up all night long, pounding out the final chapters of that draft. And what happened is it was kind of a mess, I didn't have time to polish it, I rushed, rushing never serves me, it probably doesn't serve anybody, and the agent wound up passing because I didn't really have time to flesh things out and make the manuscript as strong as it could possibly be.
[00:09:00] Nicole Meier: So the very first thing I'll remind you before you start querying agents is have a completed manuscript draft that you are happy with. And you're probably saying, well, how do I know if I'm happy with it? I'm going to point you back to the basic elements of story structure. I would not be my developmental editor self if I didn't call this out.
[00:09:23] Nicole Meier: So think about basic elements such as, is your plot clear? Does it have a clear arc? Have you fleshed out the character development? How is the pacing? Does it go along smoothly? Have you grounded your reader in place and time? Do you need to do a bit of world building or is that already complete? How do we have an ending?
[00:09:46] Nicole Meier: Is it satisfying? Do we see a full arc of change with the character? And so on and so forth. Once you realize that you have hit each of these elements and you feel good about it, then great, you can kind of move on to this next part of the list and see if you can check it off. So let's talk about some self editing.
[00:10:07] Nicole Meier: Think about story structure. I really like to print work out or put it in a different font on the computer when I'm self editing because I need to think about doing it in a way I'm not used to seeing the work. Okay. This could also mean moving into a different part of your house or moving somewhere else entirely like a coffee shop or a library.
[00:10:26] Nicole Meier: And see if you can do a little self editing. I also wouldn't shy away from reading the work out loud and making sure that things don't sound clunky, make sure things make sense when you're reading it out loud. All of these things will help in addition to looking at those basic story structure elements.
[00:10:44] Nicole Meier: And if you're good at it, think about line edits, think about proofreading, a little bit of copy editing. You want it to be polished enough. This isn't everyone's strength, which I get. And neither is editing. So in this regard, I will say if you feel like you need outside help, I would seek someone who is a professional and who is trained.
[00:11:05] Nicole Meier: So find a developmental editor who could do maybe a partial or a full edit. Or you could find someone who does copy editing or proofreading if that feels like your weakness. You don't have to do these things, but they can certainly help you if you feel like you need the help. Okay, now that we're talking about feedback, I would say another idea is to find a beta reader or two.
[00:11:28] Nicole Meier: Find someone that you trust, But don't make this your family member who always loves everything you do. You can ask if anybody knows someone in a book club who wouldn't mind reading and giving a bit of feedback. Start small, give them a few chapters and see if you have a good relationship and go from there.
[00:11:46] Nicole Meier: Feedback is great because like I said, we get too close to the work. Okay, the next thing on my list is I will think about Getting that whole manuscript draft polished, and then I would think about, okay, before I start pitching and rushing in, I need to research agents. I need to research how to do a query letter and synopsis, figure out how to write those, and polish them to the best of my ability.
[00:12:14] Nicole Meier: And then also look at my first three chapters, which are typically your sample chapters, and make sure they sing. Once you have confidence in your story, your query letter, your synopsis, your sample chapters, and you've really gone through all of the feedback that you can get, I would say you are ready. So go for it.
[00:12:35] Nicole Meier: And remember, any artist is going to tell you whether they're a painter or a singer or a writer, the work never really feels done done, but when you feel strong and when you feel happy, it's time to set it aside and walk away. Okay, writers, how's everyone feeling right now? Are you resonating with some of these questions or answers?
[00:12:56] Nicole Meier: Let's move on to the next question that was sent in to me, and this writer says, how do you feel about epilogues in women's fiction? My current work in progress ends with a resolution and the bare hint of better times to come, and I'm good with that. But I'm wondering if readers prefer the future happy wrap up chapter.
[00:13:17] Nicole Meier: This is not a romance, though there are some romantic elements. Okay, so let's talk about endings. I would say it doesn't matter what your ending is except for the genre of romance or rom coms, and this writer kind of hit that nail right on the head when they asked her questions. In the case of romance novels or contemporary romance or rom coms, there does need to be a specific formula followed, and what that includes is the happily ever after.
[00:13:49] Nicole Meier: We want to see the story kind of wrap up with a neat bow at the end. Now if you're not writing in this genre, I would say there is no wrong answer. But this writer's asking me how I feel about epilogues in women's fiction. So women's fiction, for those of you who don't know, can sometimes be called upmarket fiction, sometimes book club fiction, sometimes contemporary fiction, but it really just kind of follows the inner journey of the protagonist who's usually female or identifies as female.
[00:14:19] Nicole Meier: So I would say in terms of an epilogue or a wrap up or a happily ever after, I would turn this back to the writer who sent this question in and ask them. What types of books and what types of endings do you like to read? What gives you the most satisfaction? Because again, there really is no wrong answer.
[00:14:43] Nicole Meier: I would say listen to your gut and write the thing that you like to read. Put yourself in the audience's position. Because, if you want to leave it a little obscure or a little hint of something to come, I would say, gosh, me personally, I love to read books like that, so go for it. But if you yourself get frustrated with endings like that, then that's not the right answer for you.
[00:15:08] Nicole Meier: So, I hate to be vague, but I really want to give you freedom and say, there's no wrong answer. Let's move on to the next question. A writer sent in the following, I'm currently wrapping up revisions and developing a pitch package for my new manuscript, but I want to start working on my next project. Any advice on how to tackle and discover your next new project while finishing up a previous one?
[00:15:36] Nicole Meier: I love hearing things like this from writers because it tells me a. They are a creative soul who's probably multi passionate and B, they have multiple stories in them. So that's great news, right? Because if we want an author career, we don't just want to have a one off where we only write one story and only come up with one story idea.
[00:15:54] Nicole Meier: We always want to keep developing and writing new stories, not only for our career, our body of work, our pure joy of being a writer itself, but also because there will come a day. When an editor, publisher, or even reader will ask you, what else do you have? So you want to keep writing. I would say if this writer is in the process of querying agents or pitching small presses or publishers and wants to think about starting something new, start simple and start small.
[00:16:28] Nicole Meier: And what I mean by that is journaling. Set a timer, if this helps, do it over your coffee or tea in the morning, but start journaling and really use this as a free writing exercise. I always tell people when I journal, it's not a dear diary type of thing, it's more of what are my intentions? What are my intentions as a writer?
[00:16:50] Nicole Meier: What are my intentions for this next story? What are my intentions for this scene or this book? I think free writing exercises are great when you're just discovering a new premise. Thanks. Because it helps all of those things that are top of mind come spilling out. I will say when you journal, this is not the time to write as if someone's looking over your shoulder.
[00:17:10] Nicole Meier: This is not the time to self edit or question yourself. It's really just almost like a brain dump. Get everything out that's coming out of you and make sure that when you're doing this, you don't have distractions. And you can go anywhere with this. You can write down five different premises and do some bullet points under each one about how you might flesh these out.
[00:17:32] Nicole Meier: Or you could just think about one premise that's been on your heart that you really want to think about. Maybe write some character names, maybe write some bits of setting, or maybe a plot point or two that's coming top of mind. All of these things are great brainstorming exercises, and they will help you move forward with the next story.
[00:17:52] Nicole Meier: When you do have time, when you have focus, and you have a premise nailed down that you really want to follow through with, I would say go back to the map your story exercise or even jump into my self paced course that I mentioned earlier and think about creating your own roadmap in the form of a seven point story arc.
[00:18:13] Nicole Meier: Okay, let's move on to the final question for this episode. And this writer is thinking about her publishing paths. I plan to self publish, most likely on Amazon first. I would love to get some basic steps to get started with all that and the general guidelines. I have read some books and articles about the process, but I feel overwhelmed.
[00:18:36] Nicole Meier: Okay, I can totally relate and I think a lot of you listening are probably nodding along. The idea of taking on all the things by ourself does feel overwhelming. And when writers come to me and talk about the fact that they want to self publish their work, I first of all congratulate them because it's really exciting.
[00:18:57] Nicole Meier: I think self publishing is a wonderful publishing path, it's a wonderful option, it's not what it used to be, and there's a lot of exciting opportunity that comes with it. But I also tell writers, when you decide to self publish It is like opening a small business. You have to become the entrepreneur because you will be wearing all of the hats.
[00:19:17] Nicole Meier: You not only have to write the book, you have to do all the research, you have to figure out your platform, you have to figure out which publisher you're going with, the formatting, who's going to do the editing, who will do your cover art, who will do the marketing and the distribution and all the good stuff.
[00:19:34] Nicole Meier: But I want to pause here and say, despite all of that, all of the hats, all of the business, all of the things, you get to keep all the money. And there's so many exciting opportunities that come along with self publishing. You get full creative control and you get full proceeds. So just as I told the other writer in an earlier question, make sure your manuscript is finished and polished to the best of your ability.
[00:20:01] Nicole Meier: I wouldn't shy away from getting some beta readers and or a professional developmental editor to help you because we sometimes get too close to the work and it really takes that outside perspective. To help us figure out how we can make that manuscript even stronger. Being a book coach and developmental editor myself, I can tell you that a good editor does not want to change your story.
[00:20:27] Nicole Meier: They should want to help you strengthen what's already on the page. So in this regard, ask around, ask for references, find out if someone wants to be a beta reader or a critique partner or if they know a good editor that you could seek out and either have a partial or a full assessment. The next thing I would say is to think about publishing platforms.
[00:20:49] Nicole Meier: So you can think about Amazon KDP or IngramSpark. Or you could think about maybe some partner publishers like Greenleaf or Draft2Digital. Do your research. Make a list of pros and cons based on what you want for your author goals. Again, some people want full creative control and they want to wear all the hats.
[00:21:08] Nicole Meier: Other people want most creative control, but they would love a partner that would help them with some of the things like proofreading or formatting or cover art. Really do your research. The next thing I would say is to find a great community. There are wonderful Facebook groups out there, courses, coaches who will help you figure out the ins and outs of self publishing.
[00:21:35] Nicole Meier: This includes everything from uploading your book, figuring out if you want to be e book only or paperback, figuring out the marketing, do I want to do ads, Amazon ads, BookBub ads, etc. How do I want to reach my audience? These groups will help show you the way and they will help support you. The next thing I would say is while you're waiting for some of these things to be done, let's say you've handed your work off to an editor or someone who's working on your cover art, think about your author platform.
[00:22:07] Nicole Meier: Where do you want your readers to find you and find out more about you? And I would definitely say do not do all the things in this regard. Don't be everywhere at once. Think about the one platform that you enjoy and lean into it. For some people, that's Instagram. For some people, it's Substack. Other people, it might be threads or it might be a podcast.
[00:22:30] Nicole Meier: Really show up in one place so people know where to find you and they get to know, like, and trust you and get excited about your work and want to read your book. Again, I would just say continue to research, continue to reach out to people, join groups, read all of the forums that are out there. And if worse comes to worse and you can't find the right group for you, pick up a self published book that you adore, go back to the acknowledgments in the last part of the book, and find out who that person used.
[00:23:03] Nicole Meier: A lot of times they'll thank their editor, or their beta readers, or their cover artist. Or plain old just reach out to that author, send them a polite email asking if they wouldn't mind sharing either resources or a bit about their experience with you. In my experiences, writers like to support and help one another, so I have confidence that you'll be able to connect with somebody in this regard.
[00:23:27] Nicole Meier: That's it for this episode of Steps to Story, everybody. If you found something that resonated with you and you're liking this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you left me a rating and review. This helps other writers just like you get to discover the podcast and learn right along with us. So thanks for listening, everybody.
[00:23:46] Nicole Meier: I hope you're having fun creating and diving deeper into your work in progress. And until next time, thanks for listening to Steps to Story.
[00:23:59] Nicole Meier: If you want to check out my coaching programs for fiction writers, visit nicole meier.com. That's M-E-I-E-R. And if you like this episode, I'd love you to take a minute to leave a rating and review for this podcast. This will help more writers like you to discover the show and to get going on their writing journey.
[00:24:19] Nicole Meier: Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, happy writing everyone.