...And maybe you do too. So there comes a point where you as a writer have to decide that you're ready for professional help, and I don't just mean seeking out and agent or publisher. What I mean is professional help with your writing and editing. Yes, you might have been really lucky in the past to rope your friends or family members into giving your work a read-over and pointing out the glaring typos, but to progress as a writer, that's not enough. How do I know this? Well, I recently hired a professional editor to take a look at my latest work and let me tell you, it was worth every penny. A professional editor usually has two main attributes that most friends and family members are lacking: brutal honesty and experience.

That being said, professional editing services are not free, so you probably want to make sure that you have a completed work that is as polished as you can get it before you pay money for someone else to have a look. It would be a real bummer to shell out a few hundred dollars to get half a novel edited and never finish it! Anyways, since this will be my fifth novel, I decided it was time.

My editor is Ava Jae and she is a YA author as well as a free-lance editor. She offers many different editing choices from help on query letters to full manuscript detailed critiques at reasonable rates. She also hosts a very helpful writer's blog/vlog called Writability. I can highly recommend her services. Now, back to work! :)

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!

"You will never have more time to write than you do right now."

A very true statement, particularly if you are not making writing a priority. I know this because fall is my favorite time of year. There's football and cider and corn mazes and perfect weather; so many distractions! It's really easy to tell myself that once winter hits, I'll have so much more time to write. But then come the holidays and that's not really a good time and then after the holidays is that vacation to a warmer climate, and then the spring is just such a busy time of year, and then summer everyone wants to get together, and then we're right back to fall.

Remember: "If you aren't writing, then you aren't a writer."

And, squeezing in a few paragraphs during half-time doesn't count! This just confirms to your brain that writing is an unimportant activity. When it comes to being a writer it is all show, don't tell. Show your brain and yourself that you are a writer by sitting down for at least a solid hour and writing! You'll be glad you did, even if you miss the second quarter.

If you found today's advice helpful, then you should have been at Monday's Emerging Writers Workshop, "Living a Writer's Life" at the Westgate Branch of the Ann Arbor District Library. Authors Alex Kourvo and Bethany Neal had lots more great advice!

Next Events:
Monday, September 25th: Writer's Open House
Monday, October 2nd: Writing and Publishing Children's Nonfiction

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!

So, you've heard this before, I'm sure, but despite the millions of books on Amazon, the writing/publishing world is actually a very small place. I had a recent experience that highlighted this for me personally. I was participating on an author panel at the Barnes and Noble in Brighton and spoke with another author there who's friend is a literary agent. One week later, I'm attending an event for authors at the Ann Arbor library and who should be one of the featured speakers but the literary agent friend! I was like, "Hey, I know that guy!" Anyways, my point is two-fold: 1) Networking as an author is crazy important, and 2) Don't burn bridges!

Focusing on point one, getting yourself out of your sacred, sequestered writing space and meeting other authors can be incredibly beneficial. I'm not saying that you won't ever get published if you don't network, but becoming part of a writing community keeps you in the loop with what is happening in the publishing world both locally and globally. Also, once you get to know other authors they may be able to introduce you to publishers, literary agents, editors, cover designers, or other people that could be very helpful for your writing. It's also just a great experience to sit around with a group of other authors sharing in each others triumphs and woes, discussing what is happening in the publishing industry, and getting fresh ideas about things like marketing and staying in the creative zone.

Point two is that because the world of writing and publishing is so small, news spreads like wildfire. This can be a good thing like in cases where a certain publisher is screwing over their authors, but can also be a bad thing if you let your frustration on being rejected by one publisher dictate your Twitter post. Also, bad-mouthing other authors or their work gets around, especially if it's done on social media. Even though the internet seems like a huge ocean and one little rude comment seems like a drop of water, just one person seeing that post can lead to another and another and then eventually someone you might want to read your work. Disrespectful comments can bias a publisher or agent against taking you on as a client, so just keep that in mind and maybe hold your tongue.

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!

I am super excited to announce that my short story "Snick" will be published in Ghostlight, The  Magazine of Terror, this October. Ghostlight is dedicated to horror fiction, art, and poetry, and is published by the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers (GLAHW). This will be my first short story publication! "Snick" is a short story about the horrors of working retail and was inspired by my personal experiences. I'll post another link when the Ghostlight issue with "Snick" is live.

This post is late because we somewhat spontaneously drove down to Lima, OH today to pick up two kittens. The 4 hour round trip drive to Lima, plus the 2 hour round trip drive to my folks to pick up some kitten supplies, plus the time spent cleaning and rearranging our household to accommodate said kittens kinda threw our lives into a crazy spiral today. I hope you understand.

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!