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“We have built cathedrals out of spite and splintered bone, of course they aren’t pretty, nothing holy ever is—”

— Brenna Twohy, from “To the Guy in the Back of the Room Complaining About Listening to Another Rape Poem,” Forgive Me My Salt

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Mahmoud Darwish, from Memory for Forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982 (tr. Ibrahim Muhawi)

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Mary Ruefle, from Trances of the Blast; “Abdication”

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The steps to traditional publishing

If you decide to pursue traditional publishing, what are the steps after you’ve written and self-edited your manuscript?

1. Querying

For traditional publishing, you’ll need a literary agent 90% of the time.

In order to get a literary agent, you need to query a bunch of them. It is also possible to secure representation at in-person pitch events or on Twitter events like PitMad.

For querying, it is important to compile a list of agents who are reputable and who represent your genre and age category. Then, decide in how many rounds you will query these agents.

Follow their guidelines!

For most agents, you’ll need a query letter - a one-page cover letter pitching your book. You’ll also need a synopsis, which sets out the entire work in a few pages. Some agents may also request extracts from the manuscript.

2. Getting an agent

If an agent likes your submission they will contact you. Most likely, this will be to request part of your manuscript, or the entire work.

If they still want to represent you after reading the book, they will offer you representation.

You will then sign a contract of representation and the agent will get a percentage of the proceeds of your published books.

3. Agent edits

Not all agents are editors, but most are. If you get an editorial agent, the agent will work with you to polish your novel even more.

This will take as many rounds of edits as is necessary for both of you to be satisfied.

4. Going on submission

Once your book is ready, your agent will pitch the book to editors at publishing houses.

This will usually take multiple rounds and a lot of time.

This is like querying, only more excruciating.

Once an editor shows interest in your work, this process comes to an end.

This also means that the power is back in your hands. Your agent will now let the other editors know that you have an interested editor and that they will have to respond within a certain period if they still want to represent you.

5. Acquisitions

Even if an editor wants to publish your work, they need the go-ahead of the entire publishing house.

This is what acquisitions meetings are for.

The editor will pitch your book to the rest of the company. The marketing, financial etc teams will then decide whether they think the book can be profitable.

6. Offer and auction

If the publishing house wants to publish your book, you will receive an offer from the publisher.

If more than one publisher is interested, the book will go to auction, where the interested publishing houses will bid to publish the work. The best offer will then be accepted.

7. Contract

Once you’ve decided to publish with a certain house, contract negotiations will begin.

Your agent will be in charge of negotiating on your behalf. However, it is probably a good idea to educate yourself on the things to look out for and to consult with an Intellectual Property lawyer.

Once you and the publisher are satisfied with the contract, you will sign.

You will receive an advance, which is the amount the publisher predicts you will earn in royalties from the book. The first portion of the advance is usually paid upon signature of the contract.

8. More edits

Then, you will have various rounds of edits with your editor to ensure that the book is the best it can be.

Once this is complete, you will probably receive the second portion of the advance.

9. Behind-the-scenes stuff

Your publisher is then in charge of certain procedures necessary for publication e.g. formatting and cover design.

The publishing house will also create a marketing plan, which you should supplement with your own marketing.

10. Publication

And, presto, your book is published.

The process from offer to publication can take anywhere between just under a year to 6+ years.

Should you earn out your advance, you will receive royalty cheques from your publisher.

So, those are the usual steps in broad terms. Some aspects may vary, but this is what you can expect when pursuing traditional publishing.

Reblog if you found this useful. Comment if you have further questions. Follow me for similar content.

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Marge Piercy, “Intimacy.” The Moon Is Always Female

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writing should be fun.

make oc playlists. spend hours on moodboards that have no purpose. write self-indulgent fluff that’s never going to be published. scribble three lines of poetry in the back of your history notebook. draw fanart of your own characters. write stupid dialogue that your publishers might hate. start new wips that you might never finish but write those three chapters that make you happy because if you don’t write them, who else will?

writing shouldn’t always be about “will publishers like this” or “i have to reach this word count” or “how do i get the most likes”.

have fun with your writing.

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You’re in my dreams a lot lately

always in the back of my mind,

Is this the only kind of forever

we were supposed to have?

-Revanth

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A   H Y M N   F O R   S E R P E N T S ; a wip by @serpentarii

❝How that pious God took a holy blade to Her hands so that we might know the revanchist thrill of magic. Though treason to betray the Orders, is it not blasphemous to deny Her? She calls us to take back our reign.❞

genre ; new adult, high fantasy, surrealism 

themes & tropes ; burning as passion & punishment, kyffhäuser, spiritual awakenings, green-eyed monster, dark shepherds, broken pedestal, draconian measures, seventh son of a seventh son

pov ; third person, multiple povs

status ; planning 

S Y N O P S I S

Accused of using witchcraft to awaken the Serpent Prince from his eternal rest, Maude Liebreich is set to be executed. Her life is vouched for and spared only under the promise that she is able to restore him to slumber. 

She is kept under watch as the new head of the once-lost Seventh Great Order. Having escaped the pyre once more, Maude works to discover not only the true nature of the Serpent Prince’s return but of her own birth. 

C H A R A C T E R S 

maude liebreich ; an adept at fleeing death residing in a small chapel on the outskirts of the kingdom. 

anja liebreich ; a witch under the sixth great order of conjuring, long believed dead after she was taken to the capital. 

siegmar vogt ; maude’s retainer under the fifth great order of kayserling and raised in the capital’s unhanded faith. 

heiko von eistier ; a count under the fifth great order of kayserling with megalomaniac plans to displace a general. 

T A G L I S T

(send an ask to be +/-) 

Keep reading

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Stakes

Getting the stakes, the “what’s at risk” factor of a story right is SO important. Will the world end? Will their mother die? Will they lose the love of their life? 

Whatever the stakes it’s important that a character can’t simply walk away. If “they might die on their quest” is the height of the danger for the character you’re not thinking deeply enough about what motivates a person. Okay, they might die, that’s some tension. But why would they go on a quest that might kill them? To do the right thing? That’s a bit vague, almost meaningless really. For a character’s motivation and stake in the outcome of the plot to really grab the reader with both hands it needs to be personal. 

That’s rule number 1: Make sure every character has something personal at stake. 

Keep reading

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Things I wished I knew before writing a novel

(tag @oriorwriter_ if sharing on Instagram)

Stories are my favorite thing in the world, in any of their forms. And now that I have a finished novel in my hands, I can finally say what it's been like.

1 - If you can't write something, it's usually because you can't visualize it. Get up and act it if necessary, or daydream about it.

2- You'll need to set deadlines, and be able to respect them but also adjust them in order to do everything the best you can.

3- Your english is actually good! (English is my 3rd language and I learnt it online :) )

4- Organization is everything.

5- You'll have to pay attention to every big thing, and especially to every little thing.

6- Forgive imperfection, but require progress.

7- If the writing feels odd, it HAS to be rewritten. You're not mysterious, you're confusing.

8- Finding your voice will make everything faster to write and better to read.

9- Prepare printing paper, ink, and tissues.

10- Take your time and never rush a scene. If you need more time, make it.

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sir that’s my emotional support story that I’ve been working on for five years that still has no conceivable plot

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hey. if you ever feel like your writing style isn't good enough, that your writing sucks, when you read a style that's different than yours that you think is much better, i'm here to tell you that's not true. there's nothing wrong with your style. no style is inherently better than another. the beauty of writing is how different it is from others'. your writing is wonderful, and there is no one right way to do it.

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Dialogue gone wrong.

1)Characters sounding too similar

Every character should have distinctions in their speech. Depending on their education, wealth, race, hometown etc, they've developed different accents, slang and mannerisms. They can have stutters or talk in long, rambling sentences, or they could talk sparingly, opting for meaningful stares. Up to you!

2) Excess filter words

Too many filter words (I guess, maybe, I think so.) Of course, people in real life pepper their speech with filter words and writers want their characters to be as realistic as possible. However, there's a line that you can cross, making dialogue annoying. Readers automatically skip over filter words to get to the heart of the dialogue. If eighty percent of your conversation is filter words, then it can get tedious to read.

It's similar to how I keep this post short and to the point. I could be using filter words left and right since all this isn't a rule, just a guideline! But I hope people see that as a given or simply preface it at the start or end of the post. If a particular character uses many filter words, increase it by one percent to let readers understand this. Don't go overboard.

3) beep-morb-zeep.

Your characters aren’t robots. Emotions and context are key. Weave it into the dialogue without keeping the words pristine and smooth.

Emotion. Tired characters tend to slur their words or talk in monosyllables because they just want to shut down. Characters head over heels in love would speark to their partner with patience and kindness reserved only for them.

Context. Injured characters can't talk without interrupting themselves with hisses and groans. Characters who are upset would try to speak, but their voices would crack. If characters are late to something, they'd probably talk in quick, to-the-point sentences.

4) Black and white

Writers can be too controlling by limiting the best dialogue to certain characters and handing out the dumb talk to others.

Even the funny guy can say something wise. The jock can be poetic, unintentionally or intentionally. The nerd can say something batshit crazy once in a while. It's not breaking character; it's giving a three-dimensional view of said character. Don't be too restrictive.

5) Dialogues aren’t descriptions

"The trees are moving from side to side as if they're listening to music we can't hear. Even their shadows dance with a certain lilt. What is this place?"

Do not make dialogue your second prose. Characters do not come up with metaphors and similes on the spot. Setting and scenery are best left to the actual prose unless the situation calls for it (a character giving directions, for example.)

6) Painfully obvious

"Haha, you're kinda touchy when you're sleepy."

Don't always let characters compliment, discuss or insult a particular habit. Make this kind of dialogue rare. Or just don't write it. If the habit is well written, it'll be plenty obvious with no need to spell it out. Let readers realize that character A is touchy after the fifth night of character B struggling to peel character A away from them to use the toilet.

7) Therapist talk

"I have commitment and trust issues. That's why I left so soon."

People are never self-aware to that extent (gen z excluded lmao.) They couldn't possibly know their 'issues.' Unless your characters have astronomical levels of awareness. Even if they did know, they'll probably never say it out loud— which brings me to my next point.

8) Too honest, tbh

"Why'd you lie?" she accuses character A for the first time, putting her fork down with a harsh clatter.

"I'm sorry, I was scared you were going to leave me."

The example above explicitly says that character A is being accused for the first time. However, they apologize with a genuine reason right on the tip of their tongue.

Dialogue is at its worst when characters say what they mean and mean what they say. Character A could have conveyed their apology in a million different ways! If this was an elongated argument and they were both reaching their ends, character A could spill the tea.

Lesson: don't let your characters say the first/true thing that comes to mind. Let them drown in the many ways it could be done and choose one depending on the context.

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The basics of swordfighting for writers

#1. Types of swords

Cavalry swords, two-handed swords, and cutlasses - these swords are used commonly for hacking and slashing - so they are swung in arcs or from side to side, not thrust forward.

Rapiers and small swords are one-handed weapons that are thin and light, but often quite long. They are used for thrusting and slicing, but as you can imagine they aren't much use in actual battle, but commonly used for sparring.

The third type is a mixture of the two - but less commonly found.

#2. Terminology

Fainting/Feinting - A false attack intended to create an opening for the real attack.

Parrying - When a swordsman uses his blade to deflect his opponent’s blade when he is being attacked.

Advance - A short forward movement

Fuller - A groove down the side of the sword to release suction when stabbed into a person's body.

Hilt - The base of the sword near your hands that isn't the blade

Pivot - Turning 180 degrees while keeping a foot planted

False edge - the "back" of the sword that isn't sharp and what you don't usually fight with.

#3. Common myths

A secret move that leads to victory - There is rarely such a "secret" move. Like chess, swordfighting is won through strategy and careful thinking, as well as physical prowess, not sEcRetT mOveS.

The Dramatic PauseTM - Nope, doesn't happen in real life. No one actually glares at each other in the middle of a swordfighting match when their priority should be, yknow, surviving.

#4. The Learning Curve of swordfighting

Unlike an ordinary learning curve where you slowly get better at something, in swordfighting, an untrained novice is much better than someone practising for a few months. This is because their actions are almost always wild and unpredictable. When a student receives training, their skill will actually decline over the next few months, because they will be trying to fight by the rules and are naturally not good at it. It takes at least two years to become a good swordsperson.

#5. The actual swordfighting itself

Footwork - Forward and back, in a line, in a semi-circle, a pivot. The basic goal of footwork is to give you a balanced center from which you can lunge, advance, retreat, attack, and parry. It also helps maintain the appropriate distance from your opponent and percieve.

Timing - How fast/slow is your opponent? How fast is your reaction time?

Every fighter has a different style. Some may naturally be inclined to use a certain move over and over, and have weakpoints in say, their reaction time. It is important that your character has a proper swordfighting style.

Predictability - How good are your characters/opponents at anticipating and learn each others fighting style? That determines the outcome of the fight!

Sources I used: https://kingdompen.org/writing-realistic-sword-fights/ // https://mythicscribes.com/miscellaneous/swordplay-for-fantasy-writers/ // https://lisashea.com/lisabase/writing/medieval/swords/glossary.html

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Sometimes I feel like I’m only good at creating interesting characters but once it comes to creating plot or giving them good enough goals, my mind goes totally blank. I feel so desperate to write a story but I my brain just fizzles when it comes to giving the characters something to do. Any advice on what I can do to improve this? Or is it just universe telling me I shouldn’t be a writer 😞

Can Come Up with Good Characters, But Not Plot

Characters and setting can be much easier to come up with than plot--so, no, this isn't the universe telling you not to be a writer. This is a thing a lot of writers struggle with. ♥

Stories have two types of conflict: internal and external...

When the story revolves around internal conflict, you have a character-driven story, where something's going on in the protagonist’s heart and mind, so they must formulate a goal in an attempt to resolve that thing.

When the story revolves around an external conflict, you have a plot-driven story, where something happens in the protagonist's external world and they must formulate a goal in an attempt to resolve that thing.

Literary fiction tends to be character-driven. Mainstream driven tends to be a combination of both plot and character-driven, with a lean toward plot-driven.

So... one of the first things you want to do is look at your character, their ordinary life, and the world they live in and ask yourself whether there's an interesting internal conflict here? Like, is this character stuck in a rut? Is their marriage about to end? Do they have some dream they're ready to chase? Do they have some internal belief they want to change or some question they need answered?

Alternatively (or maybe in addition to...) take a look at this world and ask yourself whether there's any obvious external conflict that could be going on. Maybe the company they work for is about to have some sort of big shake up? Maybe there's a disastrous weather event heading toward the town? Maybe your character just got a job researching viruses, so the worst thing that could happen to them is some virus starts turning people into flying zombies.

In other words, when you're stuck for a plot and you can't find an obvious internal or external conflict, sometimes the best question you can ask yourself is, "What is the worst thing that could happen to this character?" A lot of times, the answer is going to give you your plot.

I hope that helps get you unstuck, but here are some other posts that might also help! ♥

Want to Write but Can’t Come Up with a Plot Finding a Story in Characters and Setting Finding a Plot to Go with Characters/Setting Where to Find Story Ideas Coming Up with Ideas and Plot

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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manuscript search tag game

my hands are sticky and I got them on an open tag from @teriwrites :D 

my words are cover, night, rest, sleep 

cover (Dragonsong) (this was a fun comparison to make!) 

Being in a resident knight’s house was strange; the layout was nearly identical to her own home back in the citadel. She could probably have navigated around it blindfolded if asked: kitchen to her right, living area and a bed to the left, back room and laundry area down the corridor behind her. 

But when she’d walked in, that wasn’t the first thing that had struck her. This house was empty. Nothing on the walls, no clothes in the cupboards or papers spread across the table, the bedcovers untouched. It had been cold, too. Cold and empty and dead. Right and wrong all at the same time. She shivered. 

night + sleep (Hurricane) (sleepy boi Theo is one of my favourite Theos) 

Aella climbed down a rope, ‘walking’ down the mast until she was close enough to the deck to jump. It was surprisingly comfortable, as long as she kept the tension in the rope just right. The sun had risen a few hours before, streaking the dark purple sky with a soft orange. It was beautiful, but it had sort of lost its appeal now she’d looked at it for several hours. Still, she liked the early morning. She felt most awake at this time, most alive. The air still had the crisp coolness of the night, which it would lose as the sun got higher. 

She looped her rope around a hook near the base of the mast, then stretched, flinging her arms wide. The back of her hand hit something and she spun around. “Sorry!” 

It was Theo, looking better than yesterday but still half-asleep. “It’s alright. Good morning.” He gave a small smile. “I take it you’ve been up for hours already, and yet somehow you look more awake than I feel.” His hair was still rumpled, strands sticking up in several directions. 

rest + sleep (Dragonsong) (hey look! it’s Isi getting some sleep!) 

“Robin, what medication do you need?” SB unslung Robin’s bag from his shoulder. 

Sierra crouched by Isi. “SB, are there bandages in there? Can you chuck me a roll?” 

A small roll of white fabric flew through the air. Sierra grabbed it. “Thanks.” 

Isi leant her head back against the tree as Sierra undid the knot of her bandages and dabbed at the wound with a cold, wet cloth. Her body was heavy. 

“I’m taking first watch,” said Sierra. “The rest of you need sleep, and you need it now.” 

“I second that.” Robin yawned widely. “Thanks.” 

Part of Isi’s mind wondered if she shouldn’t stay awake a little longer, keep an eye on her friends and make more concrete plans for where to next. Make some kind of contingency plan for if they were found… 

The rest of her didn’t care enough. Her eyes slid shut. 

and a bonus sleep (Hurricane) (angst time!) 

[Aella’s] eyelids drifted shut. A thin line of fresh blood trickled from her eyebrow, snaking its way down past her eye and over her cheekbone. The pain in her ribs flared with each breath she took; she tried to keep her breathing shallow, letting it slow as she relaxed against the wall. Sleep was what she wanted. What she needed. Oblivion crept up on her, and she let it come. The fire inside her faded, its last sparks dwindling into nothing. 

She couldn’t beat him. She was just so tired. Climbing those stairs again seemed like it would be harder than climbing a mountain, and the thought of being in the same room as him made her blood run cold. She was in no shape to win; if she went back there, she’d lose. She would die. And she couldn’t bear to lose to him, not now and not ever. She couldn’t bear to fail. Her stomach turned over. 

I will tag @josephinegerardywriter @bloodywriter @zoya-writes @septemberliterature and anyone else who wants to play! your words are silence, stare, sound, sing 

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A Nanowrimo reminder

While it is really awesome if you reach 50,000 words, it is also really amazing if you wrote 500 words this month despite whatever life was throwing at you.  

The real win is that you have more words in your story than what you had before.  And that is something to be proud of.  

\^o^/