writing advice – Erin McKnight

Know Your Genre: Guidelines for Authors

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Erin McKnight

Genre is a little word with big impact. Knowing the right way to categorize your story gives you insight into what it takes to make readers choose it over others on the shelf.

There are dozens of genres out there. Each one has its own standards and guidelines that set it apart. The most popular fiction genres are:

Fantasy
Sci-fi
Mystery
Thriller
Romance
Western
Dystopian
Contemporary

We can break each one down into countless subgenres. Check the link below for a more detailed list.

The Different Genres of Books (With Descriptions) | BookSummaryClub

Readers have set expectations for each genre’s length, tropes, and story structure.

The length of a novel can be a deterrent for readers looking for a specific genre. A romance novel, for example, is usually 50 – 75,000 words. An epic fantasy, on the other hand, can easily be 100,000+. Writing a romance novel the length of Lord of the Rings can make readers raise their eyebrows or even pass on the book. While there is no hard and fast word count rule, keeping your story within the standard helps ensure your audience doesn’t turn away from it without at least cracking the spine.

Does anyone else remember the Twilight craze? Please say yes. I don’t want to feel old. This set off a massive trend of vampire and werewolf romance novels in all shapes and sizes. Knowing what is popular in your genre is essential to ensure it sells. If you are writing a shifter romance, but everyone is reading Christmas stories, it may sell poorly. That doesn’t mean you can’t write it. You may want to wait to hit the publish button or submit it to an agent at a different time.

Every genre has elements that define it. Romance novels have to have a happily-ever-after (HEA). If it does not have a HEA, it’s not a romance. End of story. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy because they (SPOILERS) die at the end. It is a romantic story, but it is not a romance because of how it ends. If I didn’t know that was how it ended going in and snatched it off of a romance shelf at the store, I would be ready to go on the warpath at the end.

Genre is making a promise to your reader about what they can expect from your story.

6 Current Trends In Popular Fiction Genres in 2023 | Writer’s Relief – Writer’s Relief (writersrelief.com)–

Knowing your genre and understanding how it works will go a long way in crafting a story your readers will love. It identifies your audience and gives you a roadmap to follow along the way. Do your research, and you will make your life that much easier.

Setback or Comeback

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Erin McKnight

Have you ever noticed that everything seems to go differently than planned? You research, build the most beautiful color-coded spreadsheet, and then an unforeseen variable knocks it out of alignment. Setbacks can stop us dead in our tracks or motivate us to achieve new heights.

According to Psychology Today, less than 20% of people successfully reach a goal on the first try. That’s a pretty low number. So what happens to the other 80%? How do they find the motivation to keep going?

Feel the feels

Missing a goal sucks. You’re allowed to be disappointed. Eat that box of Girl Scout cookies. Binge-watch your favorite TV show for the millionth time. Give yourself one night to indulge in the feelings. It’s how you know it was important to you.

Learn from it

Step back and evaluate what went wrong. What caused you to miss the mark? Did you forget to do something? Underestimate the time it would take? Look at it as a learning opportunity. Find where you misstepped so you can do better next time.

Do it again

If at first you don’t succeed… Just because it didn’t work last time doesn’t mean you can’t do it. It means you need to change your approach. Take the things you learned from the previous attempt and do it again. Success is measured in tiny increments. We may only notice the final result, but the little steps along the way make those big shiny moments of awe possible.

Every setback is a setup for a comeback. Look at it as a learning opportunity to rise above the fray and become better than you were before. This is the start of your comeback story. And who doesn’t love those?

writer life

Take A Break: Even Writers Need A Vacation

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Erin McKnight

I’m the type of person who gives 110% to everything I do. It’s allowed me to accomplish some amazing things. The downside is that I hardly ever stop to take a break, running from one activity to the next with little time to recharge. That has been my pattern for most of my life.

Recently, I took my first vacation. Hold your applause. It’s awesome. I know. My BFF and I set off on a week-long Disney cruise. Sun, sand, food, and more relaxation than my little body could handle. I turned off all my phone notifications and let the world fall away. In a word, heaven.

I’d been so focused on my goals that I hadn’t realized how burnt out I’d become. Everything was focused on the next benchmark. Accomplishing the next goal. I knew I didn’t feel like writing. The thought of going over editor notes when I got back was paramount to torture. I could only see myself enjoying examining the back of my eyelids. That feeling vanished after I took the time to take care of myself.

Coming back to the real world, I was ready to tackle it all. I’d written about five pages of brainstorming ideas for my next novel while on the ship. I raced for my inbox to see if my editor had sent my manuscript back yet. I was ready. I went from dreading publication this fall to looking forward to it.

This brought me to one conclusion. Taking a break is every bit as important as putting in the work.

I’d heard many things about the importance of self-care and refilling your creative well, but I didn’t get it until now. I knew it was something I needed to do. I just didn’t realize how low the water had gotten.

If you’re feeling the burn and can barely look at your computer without envisioning setting it ablaze, consider this your invitation to put it all away. Unplug for a few days and let your mind rest. Not switch tasks. Rest. The way you will feel when it is over is beyond any sense of accomplishment you will get from trying to push through with your tank on empty. Believe me. It will be worth it.

writing advice

Writing at the Holidays: Keeping Momentum Going

Posted on November 26, 2022November 7, 2022 by Erin McKnight

The holiday season is here again. Bakers are baking. Shoppers are shopping. And writers, well, we are having an existential crisis.

Writing during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is hard. It’s easy to fall behind. So how do you keep things going when everything else is calling your name? There is no one answer, but here are a few things I’ve tried in the past to keep moving forward without losing what is left of my sanity.

Schedule Writing Time

I know I’ve discussed scheduling time before, but it is even more important during the holidays. It doesn’t matter how long it is. Maybe it’s 15 minutes right before bed or 5 minutes while you’re waiting in the school pick-up line. Even if it is only a few minutes, the work you get done adds up. It is better to do a small amount of work than lose all the momentum you worked so hard to gain.

Set Smaller Goals

You will not be able to get as much done as you usually do without losing your mind. It’s not going to happen. So, pull back on those lofty goals for a minute and set something a little more reasonable. Try cutting your goals in half, or even a third, until the Season of Giving stops trying to give you a migraine.

Give Yourself Permission to Take a Break

Okay. I know this is supposed to be about how to keep writing during the holidays but hear me out. Overly stressed people produce lower-quality work. While being Super Writer may make you feel more accomplished now, future you will pay for it. They will have to do twice as much editing. They may even burn out altogether. Let yourself say enough is enough and stop if you need to. Protecting your mental health and well-being will make you a better writer in the long run. Trust me.

The holidays are crazy. Don’t be afraid to make some adjustments to take care of yourself and keep what is really important in front of you. . . your loved ones.

Happy Holidays everyone!

resources, writing advice

What Is Voice?

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Erin McKnight

One of fiction’s biggest trends is having “voicy” characters. But what does that mean, and how does it affect the story?

Voice is not the same as Point of View (POV). Voice makes an author’s writing unique. It conveys attitude and personality. POV refers to who is telling the story. (i.e., 1st and 3rd person)

The two types of voice authors run into most in fiction are character and narrator. Even in 1st person, these are not the same. Character voice will deal with how the character speaks to others. The phrases they use. Favorite words. That kind of thing. Narrator is how they tell a story. While it may be similar, it’s not identical.

Developing both kinds of voice is crucial in developing your overall writing style. Some ways to get into your character voice are to write things as them. Write letters to other characters or journal as your characters. This helps you get into their headspace and understand them better.

Narration has a little more wiggle room. This is where authors can let some of their personality shine a bit more. Keep in mind, some genres have certain expectations. For example, fantasy novels tend to have a lot of descriptions. They have to build a new world in a way contemporary romance doesn’t have to. While world-building is just as important in both, we approach it differently.

One thing you can do to help define your narrator’s voice is to look at popular novels in your genre and see if there are any common themes or traits that pop up. Do they use colloquialisms? Is it shorter one to two-syllable words, or do they like to go for the fifty-cent words with four or more syllables? Whatever the case, your voice is up to you.

The biggest thing to remember with voice is to be yourself. Emulating your favorite authors is great, but if you aren’t true to yourself, it will show, and your writing will suffer.

resources, writer life, writing advice

Community Connections

Posted on September 2, 2022August 29, 2022 by Erin McKnight

Everybody needs people. Introverts, hold your horses. I know what you’re thinking. “No, I don’t. Introverts don’t need people.” I beg to differ. We all need a community that can rally around us and support us in reaching our goals. This is especially true for writers.

While writing is a solo activity, writers can’t succeed in a vacuum. We need people around us to support us in our journey. I don’t care if it is your first book or your thousandth. Having a group of fellow writers that can talk you off a ledge or help you work through the story issues causing chaos in your brain will get you a lot farther, a lot faster than trying to slog through it all on your own.

Writing communities are also a great place to find beta readers and street team members. We need people we can rely on to help us out. I can’t tell you the number of times someone signed up to be a beta reader or help promote my book and didn’t follow through, but do you know who has always followed through for me? Other writers.

We are all in the same boat. We understand how important these things are and will help each other reach our goals.

Fellow authors are fantastic resources. By networking with other writers, you can learn about the latest trends in your genre, best marketing practices, and much more.

The hardest part about a writing community is finding one, and even that isn’t difficult. Facebook has a wide variety of reader and writer groups. Doing a quick search will yield more results than you can shake a stick at. Look around and see if you find one that sounds right. And remember, just because you join doesn’t mean you have to stay there. Finding the right writing group is like finding the perfect pair of pants. Sometimes you have to live in them for a while before you find the right fit.

NaNoWriMo is another excellent way to find fellow writers. While the event may only be one month out of the year, several groups continue to interact all year long. They even offer home region groups that can meet in person if you do better with face-to-face interaction.

Speaking of face-to-face, don’t forget to check with your local library. See if yours has a writing group. Or even a book club. Telling an avid reader you are working on a novel and would like their feedback is like dangling a seal in front of a Great White. They will jump at the chance to be a part of the process.

There’s nothing quite like a kick-ass writing community to help you achieve your goals. They offer insight and feedback. They encourage you when you’re down, and they will party like there is no tomorrow when you get it right. Step out on a limb and connect with a community of your own. It is well worth it.

writing advice

The Power of the Skinny Draft

Posted on July 21, 2022July 19, 2022 by Erin McKnight

There are a thousand ways to draft a novel. They can be broken down by scene, chapter, character. The list goes on. They can be told in order or have scenes shuffled around like a deck of cards. A method I’ve learned about more recently is the skinny draft. A skinny draft is a complete draft that focuses on placing the plot elements in the correct order with minimum description. It can contain dialog and locations, but describing the setting and emotion is left at a bare minimum.

I know what you’re about to say. Erin, aren’t we supposed to use description and emotion in our stories? Of course we are. Those are the things that bring a story to life, but that doesn’t mean you have to have every possible detail in your first draft.

A skinny draft is designed to get you to a completed draft as quickly as possible. A lot of writers struggle with feeling discouraged because of the time it takes to complete their first draft. This method shortens that time and gives you a little shot of dopamine to help you stay motivated.

Another benefit of the skinny draft is the ability to learn more about your characters

and plot without having to sort through a massive word count. This can be doubly important for discovery writers or pantsers. Answering the “what happens next?” question can eliminate the need for as many drafts because the plot is solidified much faster.

While skinny drafts can keep you from writing a bunch of words that end up in the trash can, it is not a method that works for everyone.

I used the skinny draft method on my current WIP. It helped me identify issues a lot quicker, but I found that the overall process is going a lot slower for me.

I am an over-writer by nature. (Remember my friend’s wordy bitch comment?) My style tends to include a lot of fluff that must be cut later, but that is also how I learn more about my characters. It is much easier for me to take stuff out than put it in. Without those details early on, I don’t feel as connected to my characters. This makes it harder for me to keep working on it because I’m not as invested in their journey.

Regardless of your method, ensuring you get to the end is the most important part.

How do you do your first draft? Have you tried using a skinny draft? What method works best for you?

resources, writer life, writing advice

Lessons Learned: Book Signing Events

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Erin McKnight

One of the many things I never thought I’d have to do when I decided to become an author was public speaking. My mentality was that book signings are only for big-name authors. Nobody is going to want a signed copy from a debut indy author. They only want best-sellers. Boy, was I wrong.

I recently did a book signing at a public library near where I grew up. I loved every minute of it, but there were a few things I could have been better prepared for. Here are a few takeaways I have after being a part of my first author event.

BRING MORE BOOKS THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED
People love signed books. I thought that since this event was in such a small town, I wouldn’t need very many books. The library was packed to the gills. I could have sold twice as many books if I’d had them. Next time, I’ll double the number of books I take. Turning people away because you are out of books is a terrible feeling.

BE READY FOR SOME NON-BOOK/WRITING QUESTIONS
I’m a prepper. I spent time reviewing interview transcripts from authors I follow to try and see what kind of questions I would have to answer. I wasn’t prepared for the questions about me and my life. People find it fascinating that you were able to write a book and want to know about you. Not just your work.

HAVE SWAG AND TELL PEOPLE ABOUT IT
Everybody loves free stuff. Having a few free giveaways on your table is a must. This will help people find your book later if you run out, and it helps promote your brand. Just be sure you tell people you have it before they start coming up. The transition from Q&A to signing was so fast that I forgot to tell people I had bookmarks and pens they could have for free until they got up to the table. It does no good to have swag if nobody knows to take it.

DON’T FORGET TO TELL PEOPLE WHAT YOUR BOOK IS ABOUT
I feel like this one should have been obvious, but I totally forgot it. I introduced myself and gave a bit of my background, but it took somebody asking me what my book was about for me to give the synopsis. Embarrassing, I know. Maybe lead with that one next time.

Author events are a fun way to get your book in front of readers and interact with them. While no two events are the same, it’s always good to cover the basics. Do some prep work ahead of time to be prepared when that inevitable curveball arrives.

Walking Away Getting Space from Your Work

Uncategorized, writing advice

Walk Away: Getting Space From Your Work

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Erin McKnight

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Writing is hard. This is readily accepted, but what many of us never talk about is that it never really gets any easier. We expect more of ourselves as we gain experience and learn more about our craft. This can leave the door open for impostor syndrome to wreak havoc on our writing lives.

This is something I’ve been dealing with lately. My edits seemed to take my WIP farther away from where I wanted it to be. Every time I sat down to write, all I could think about was how god awful it was and how inept I was at fixing it. I was seconds away from setting it all on fire and walking away. That’s when I realized I needed some perspective.

On nearly every project, every writer will reach a point where they want to rip their work to shreds and call it a day. It’s the nature of the beast. So what do we do when we get like this? How can we possibly find a way to pick back up and move forward when we are convinced our work is a steaming pile of cow dung?

I reached out to some of my friends in the writing community for advice. I asked my personal circle and left messages on several writer community pages I am a part of. Everyone came back with the same basic answers. Space. Recharge. Critique.

I can’t resist a Supernatural reference.

Stepping away from a project is challenging. At least for me. I am one of those 100% completion kind of people. I will spend hours aimlessly exploring one tiny section in a video game. I make sure I find all the hidden items and mine as much XP from it as possible from the game. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it tenfold. There is no halfway. However, there are times when you just need to back away. Set the project aside for a while. And I’m not talking for a few hours. I’m talking days. Months even. It’s so easy for us to get wrapped up in the cycles of fruitless effort that we may as well just sit and bang our heads on our keyboards for as much good as it’s doing us. Getting some space from your work allows you to return to it with fresh eyes and see it in a new light.

I know I have referenced the spoon theory in previous posts, but I’m not sure if I’ve told you all about the “hamster wheel.” I often refer to my brain’s ability to function like a hamster wheel. When things are clicking, the hamster is running for all he’s worth without a care in the world. Those are good days. They are productive and leave me feeling accomplished. Then there are the days when I’ve exhausted the hamster. He’s just laying on the wheel, one little leg hanging off the side, gently rocking it back and forth just enough to keep essential bodily functions operational. Anything beyond that is simply out of the question. Don’t exhaust your hamster. Give it a rest and do something else to recharge your brain. Better yet. Try to do something that has nothing to do with books or writing. Watch a movie. SLEEP. Drink a cup of tea on the porch while watching squirrels chase each other. Whatever it looks like, let your hamster rest so he can get back on the wheel and keep running.

As authors, we spend a lot of time with our stories. It takes an average of three to five years to finish a novel. That’s a long time. Because we spend so much time in these worlds, our perspective of them can be a bit skewed. We know things about our characters and settings that never see the page. It may be useless drabble. Or it could be a crucial piece of their character that informs the overall plot. Regardless of what it is, we are too close to the work and need an outsider’s perspective. Finding a small group of fellow writers to read your work with a critical eye and provide feedback is invaluable. It lets you see where your story stands from a reader’s perspective while having a writer’s keen eye. They can help you brainstorm solutions to problems they find and pick you up along the way.

Regardless of the route you take, give yourself some grace. What you are trying to accomplish is not an easy task. It takes time. So give yourself some space from your work. Recharge your battery, and get some fresh perspective. It just might save your sanity and keep your WIP alive.

writer life, writing advice

Giving Up vs Getting Smart

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Erin McKnight

I think we’ve all heard the phrase “don’t be a quitter” at some point in our lives. Giving up has this negative connotation attached to it that I tend to agree with. Throwing your hands up in the air and saying “ta hell with it” because something is difficult is never the way to go. But what if you want to explore another path to the same destination?

That’s what I ran into with NaNoWriMo this year. The traditional goal is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I decided to go non-traditional and set a goal of finishing my first round of rewrites on the manuscript I won NaNo with last year.

It was going to be a heavy lift. I had to remove a POV, add a subplot, and fix a litany of general storytelling issues. The plan was to take the detailed notes I’d compiled during the drafting process and edit as I went. I knew the story well enough to start at the top and make the needed changes as I read through it. At least, that’s what I thought.

A week and a half into NaNo, I realized I was creating more problems than I was fixing. So I had two options; press on to win NaNo and fix it all later, or stop and take everything back to outline to get it right the first time.

I’m very goal-driven. The thought of not reaching a goal is crushing to me, so the idea that I wouldn’t win NaNo was devastating. I reached out to a fellow author friend of mine for advice, and they pointed something out to me. The only reason I was hesitating was NaNo. Not getting through the first rewrite in November wouldn’t impact my publishing timeline. In fact, forcing myself to keep going could do more harm than good because of the additional rounds of self-editing I would need. I wasn’t giving up; I was getting smart.

They were right. Not reaching my goal, while unpleasant, didn’t mean I was a quitter. It meant I was learning more about my writing process and what works best.

I learned that pantsing of any variety doesn’t work for me. Stopping a process that is not working in favor of a new one, does not mean you quit. It means you learned and adapted. As long as I keep working on my manuscript, I’m not a failure.

Changing course is not giving up. It’s allowing yourself to find the most direct route to your ultimate goal.