Tag: write life

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Beta Readers: Why you need them and what to expect

Hi, guys!

Last week was all about self-editing, and one of the steps I mentioned was beta readers.

For those who don’t know, beta readers read a manuscript after some editing has been done. Where people bring them into the process at differs. I send my work to beta readers roughly halfway through the editing process.

No, I don’t mean edit half the manuscript one time, then send it to them. That’s more like an alpha reader, someone who reads after a first draft. The only person who ever reads my first drafts, aside from me, is my husband.

I just mean after roughly half the rounds of edits have been done, I send it to my beta readers.

When you choose to send yours to beta readers is up to you.

After reading, they give the author feedback. You can ask them questions afterward to get more detail. If there are things that you know you struggle with, you can even ask them to go into it with those things in mind.

At its core, this phase is meant to get more eyes on your work. After going through your novel time and time again, your brain is going to fill in gaps. You know what’s supposed to be on the page, so of course it makes sense to you. But it might not be as clear as you think.

That’s where beta readers come in.

They tell you what works and what doesn’t, what needs explained more and what’s over explained. They can tell you where the book drags and which scenes kept them on the edge of their seat.

Pay attention to what they say.

If all your beta readers (yes, you need multiple) say that a specific scene was so slow they didn’t want to keep reading, you need to fix that scene.

If they all agree that a certain scene was riveting and had them gripping the book with their noses pressed to the page, maybe leave that scene alone.

If they find a typo or say something doesn’t make sense, fix it.

Because these are the opinions of readers.

AKA the type of people you want to buy your book later.

If one beta reader says something that’s completely subjective and the others gave the opposite feedback, consider it thoughtfully and make a judgement call.

Books are, after all, very subjective. Each person has a different experience with each book. That’s part of the magic of reading.

And beta readers clue you in to how readers perceive your book.

You need that, especially if you plan to self-publish, because you won’t have an entire publishing company full of experts and professionals guiding you in the right direction.

Now, you can find beta readers in a lot of places.

You can ask trusted friends or family members (if you can count on them for honest feedback), or you can ask writer friends in various writing groups.

Btw, if you’re not in writing groups, mingling with other writers…you need to be. You’ll learn a lot more than you think and form some amazing friendships with people who understand the trials of writing and publishing.

There are also countless groups across social media specifically tailored for connecting authors with beta readers. Literally, just type into the search bar on your preferred platform “beta readers.”

I know it can feel awkward asking, but think of it as practice for all the marketing you’re going to be doing later. Because whether you’re doing traditional- or self-publishing, you’re going to be marketing.

Now, what to expect from beta readers. Because let’s face it, not all beta readers are created equally.

I finally have a good group, but it took some time to get here.

There will be some that agree to read, then never speak to you again after you send them a manuscript.

There will be some that agree to read, then life shits on them, rendering them unable to read in the time frame you need.

Some give mean, unhelpful feedback laced with pettiness. You’ll have to sort them out and determine what feedback is actually helpful. Discard any rude, belittling comments for what they are: useless.

So if a beta reader tells you that your novel is garbage and that you’ll never make it because you’re a talentless hack, “thank” them for their feedback and never send another manuscript to them.

Crap comments like that won’t help you grow or learn or better yourself or your writing. It’ll only hold you back. You need constructive criticism and positive reinforcement. Not bullying.

So, grit your teeth and keep going. There are good beta readers out there. (I promise. I’ve found several.)

Some are wonderfully helpful and thorough. Some go above and beyond the call of duty, sussing out typos, continuity errors, inconsistent character behavior, etc., in addition to giving general feedback.

Obviously, those are the ones you want.

Now, prepare yourself. The feedback you get won’t always be positive. Sometimes, your beta readers will find flaws.

*gasp*

But that’s literally the entire point.

So keep your chin up, remember that every manuscript has flaws, and fix the fucking problems.

Your book will be much better for it, I promise.

If you’re worried about someone stealing your work, Microsoft Word has a watermark feature. Do that, then send it out. You hold the copyright as soon as you write the manuscript. In the US, of course, you can’t sue for financial compensation without registering it, but I’m fairly sure you can pursue a cease and desist.

Now, for my weekly progress report. I wish I had more to report, but some stupid cold/flu bug has done everything in its power to knock me on my ass this past week. (It did knock my legs out from under me once, actually. Coughing until you gag/dry heave so badly that you fall to your knees…not pleasant.)

Anyway, I finished my final edits of World for the Broken. I’ll be announcing the official release date this week! The cover reveal will follow, probably next week or the week after, depending on how long the formatting takes.

I typed a little (roughly 2,500 words) on my new WIP and planned (*gasp*) several scenes for later in the book. I even made a timeline.

I really was sick. Lol. I was plotting.

I never fuckin’ do that.

Anyway, hopefully this stupid sickness doesn’t come back for round three so I can actually get shit done.

Keep reading. Keep writing.

Later.

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How to make it as an author

Hi, guys!

Not only is it a new year, it’s a new decade. (Sick of hearing that yet?) Let’s start this shit off right.

Everyone has dreams. Or at least, everyone should.

But so many people give up on their dreams or spend more time fantasizing about the dream come true aspect than they do actually working for it.

Humans love short cuts and easy little tricks to cut the work load in half. We love the idea of things just happening for us even better.

But.

(Yeah, I know, I’m a terrible person for this next part.)

That isn’t how it works.

Not unless you’re in the 1%.

For the vast majority, making your dreams come true takes time and effort. It takes work.

That’s it.

That’s the big secret, the little trick.

Effort.

Actually. Fucking. Trying.

Some parts will be easier than others, of course. Some parts will be so hard that you want to smash something to bits.

But you still have to put in the time to get to the “dream come true” part.

Now, I’m not 100% there yet. I’m not living my dream, and I admit that freely.

But I intend to, at some point.

As such, even with family visiting for the past couple weeks and the stress/busy nature of the holidays, I’ve still spent time on my books.

I’ve made it through a third of the final round of edits of World for the Broken and put together promotional materials. I did promo stuff for The Gem of Meruna and rereleased it. I even managed roughly 3,500 words (idk exactly, I don’t remember what my word count was a couple weeks ago) on my new WIP and started working on a cover. I know that’s not a lot of words over two weeks, but alongside all the stuff for my other projects, it’s decent.

Basically, even through the holidays, an author’s work never sleeps. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love the worlds I’ve built for these stories and want to share them with you.

That means spending time in those worlds, in the minds of those characters. (Which certainly isn’t a bad thing.)

And eventually, that time and effort (spent doing something I love) will lead me to my dream of being a stay-at-home author. Yes, I’m going to daydream about what it would be like to already be there.

But I’m also going to do the work necessary to get there.

That means that when I want to relax, I explore the worlds of my stories more often than the worlds of the video games I used to sink months’ worth of play time into. When I get off a 12 hour shift on a Sunday night and want to go to bed, I still do my blog. Every week. So that I can post it early Monday morning before I go to sleep.

Your schedule will obviously be different from mine, and you can adjust it as need be. But the effort has to be there.

At some point, you have to stop talking about it, stop daydreaming, and just do. Take a step.

No tricks.

No short cuts.

Because that isn’t how life works.

So please, whatever your dream is, give it the time and effort it deserves. “Life” is not an excuse to set your dreams aside. Your shows will still be there after you do some shit to make your dreams happen. So will the closet you keep telling yourself you’ll clean out, so stop staring at it, thinking of what to do with it just to procrastinate. That won’t help you reach your goals.

Life is always going to happen around you. You just have to make things work.

Because when life steps aside, it’s too late for dreams.

Now, that got a little darker than I expected when I started this blog…but what the hell? That’s pretty normal for anything I write.

In short, don’t fucking slack. DO YOUR SHIT.

K, thanks.

Lol.

Keep reading. Keep writing.

Later. 

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Progress Report!

Hi, guys!

I’ve done something I maybe shouldn’t have. Or maybe I should have. Who knows.

At any rate, I’m excited about it. Lol.

I started writing a new story.

Yes, I should continue writing my sci-fi series, and I will. But it’s going back on the back burner for the time being. I’ll still add to it and work on it as I go, but this other story is calling me.

You see, I’m not a technology person. I’m a magic person.

I’d much rather plan out a magic system and create gods than calculate space travel times mid-writing session. There’s a reason most of my books are high fantasy.

I just love magic.

I love the idea of being more than just…human. That’s why the humans in most of my fantasy novels have access to magic or abilities. That’s why I write about humanoids (elves, orcs, and races I make up).

It’s also why this new story has NO HUMANS

.The characters are humanoids. They have pointed ears because I fucking love pointed ears. But they also have antlers and access to magic and all sorts of awesome shit.

I mean, these people redesign a fucking landscape, and I’m excited about it.
I know that doesn’t sound as epic as it actually is in the book, but I promise, it’s to die for.

Btw, after this book comes out, reread this blog. I promise that joke will hit differently. Lol.

You may think I’m a bit twisted for it.

But let’s be fair. If you read any of my books, you probably think I’m a bit twisted.

Anyway, the point is, sometimes you just have to write what you want to write. And this story is what I want to write.

I’m not condoning the abandonment of every project after it loses the “oooh shiny” effect of a new story. You do actually need to finish stories.

Which means actually writing them.

But I’m always worried that it’ll show through if I’m writing one story while my heart beats in another.

And I know I’ll knock this one out pretty quickly because it’s a fantasy romance story and I fucking love fantasy and romance. Plus, all the major scenes have already played through my mind.

I’m already 5,000 words deep (started handwriting eight days ago, started typing six days ago). The world is built, the Gods and magic system are in place, both mortal races have been created, and the main cast is assembled.

I have a title and ideas for the cover. I even made a little thing on Canva, stockpiling images I’m going to photoshop together for the cover. Lol.
And a kickass playlist is under way with songs specifically chosen for the story.

Basically, I’m pumped!

I’ve been in a loop of editing for months, trying to prep all my stockpiled manuscripts for release now that I’m officially self-publishing everything. I’ve done a round of editing on one story, then another, then another, then went back, and started the loop again, and then threw in a round of edits on a different one and…

Well, I’ve been feeling like an editor rather than an author. (Really, I’m a broke self-published author, which means I have to be an entire publishing company rolled into one person.)

But I was feeling like a fraud, like I wasn’t a real author because I was spending so much time editing and so little time writing.

I was even worried I wouldn’t be able to come up with anything or that I wouldn’t be able to write it if I did come up with an idea.

Yeah, I worked on The Regonia Chronicles off and on to keep the insanity at bay. (Seriously. Writing, creating worlds calms my anxiety. It gives my overactive mind something to focus on besides how terribly every aspect of my life could go wrong. ) The bits and pieces I wrote for Regonia, the chapters I added helped.

But the creative energy has been building.

And now, it’s all pouring out. Lol.

Don’t worry though.

I’m not screeching to a halt with my release prep. I’m still editing and all that.

The edits on Where Darkness Leads are pretty in depth, honestly. I wrote that one several years ago and I’ve learned a lot since I wrote it. Which is good for the stuff I’m working on now and for my edits.

But it also means that this round of editing is going to take some time.

Where Darkness Leads is going to take some serious work to whip it into release-ready shape, and…I have to write, too. I can’t just edit for months on end.

That ain’t me.

So, this super ambitious “release one of my stockpiled manuscripts every three months” plan I came up with (btw, I never officially announced that tentative release schedule, but that’s roughly what it was going to be) will likely have to be a bit more spaced out.

All beta reader feedback for Salt and Silver (to be retitled later, but this one has the wolf shifters and the demi-demon MC) has been received and considered. Necessary adjustments have been made.

I have all the swag I ordered for The Gem of Meruna, but I’m waiting for my book order to get here before I announce the giveaway. Holiday rush and all that means that the printing is slow and the shipping slower.

But it’s coming.

As with the giveaway when Soul Bearer released, winners will be chosen from Facebook, Instagram, and my email subscribers. And yes, there will be an extra prize for the winner chosen from my email subscriber list.

I’ll be officially announcing the new title for my post-apocalyptic story later this week. Once I do a final sweep for typos, I’ll be formatting, adjusting the cover size for final page counts, and revealing the cover to all you lovelies!

Keep an eye out for it. I’m pretty psyched about how it turned out (much thanks to my husband and my writing friends for all their feedback during the cover creation process, btw).

After that, I’ll have an official release date and set it up for preorder.

If you’ve been looking for a dark, dark, DARK post-apocalyptic romance novel, this is the one for you. Just saying. A book group I’m in requires a list of triggers on any book posts, so I was thinking through the list…and it’s almost all the triggers.

That wasn’t my intention when writing it, but that’s what happened. I didn’t even realize it until thinking through the list, either.

So…yeah. Readers beware, I guess? Lol.

Whew…that was a lot. As you can tell, I’ve been incredibly busy. They’ve been cutting back a little on overtime at work, so that’s helped me get stuff done. But it’s still been a hell of an undertaking.

But you know what?

I’m making my dream happen.

So I’m going to keep pushing and doing…all things bookish.

Just as you should do what you need to do to make your dreams happen.

Keep reading. Keep writing.

Later.

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The Importance of Being Self Aware as an Author

Hi, guys!

As writers, we have to do a lot of analyzing. Our characters, the worlds they live in, our plots…All these things are thrown under the microscope.

But we should probably analyze ourselves, too.

See, there’s this thing that happens sometimes in writing called wish fulfillment. It happens when writers don’t analyze themselves or their plots or characters, and end up blatantly writing themselves into the story.

A lot of the these types of stories end up being corny and either predictable or statistically unbelievable.

And usually…not that fun to read.

So look at yourself. And look at your characters.

Now, look at you.

And now your character.

Are you just looking at yourself repeatedly?

If you are, you might have more problems in your story than you currently think.

I’ll be honest, my first full length novel likely held a lot of this, but was mercifully swept away by electricity. Back before cloud storage was so prevalent (circa 2008), the laptop and the external hard drive the story was backed up on…both fried.

So I’ve been spared the horrors of my first novel. Lol.

Now, I’m not saying that you can’t give your characters experiences from your life and still have a good story. Often times, it helps, lending the story and characters a bit more realism.

But if your character is a carbon copy of you, you’re probably going to write a story that just bends to your whims, whether it makes sense or not.

That breeds plot holes.

A lot of them.

Because fiction has to make sense, and our little whims rarely consider logic.

If your character just happens to be the chosen one, okay. That’s a fantastic trope.

If everyone they know magically accepts them after hating their guts for literally their entire lives…eh…maybe okay. Depends on how much they need your chosen one. The stakes better be damn high.

But even then, there will probably still be some people who don’t like them.

The bad guy who’s been a bad guy for their whole life and completely outmatches your protagonist in every way isn’t going to change everything about themselves and bend to the whims of your protagonist just because it’s the end of the book and the romance tidied itself up so now you just want to resolve the other issues super quick.

Nah. Shit don’t work like that.

If they meet someone on their adventure and fall in love? Okay. I love a good story that also has romance.

If that person magically fixes literally all of your protagonist’s problems? Nah.

Life doesn’t work that way.

And unless you’re writing for Disney, that’s not gonna fly in your book.

People will pick that shit apart.

A good partner, a good love interest for a story will help them deal with things, help them see the good in themselves. But if they just magically fix all the problems in the protagonist’s life, that’s not realistic, and…is your protagonist even in love with them? Or are they in love with how easy that person makes their life?

A.K.A….How easy you wish someone would make your life?

So look at yourself and look at your story in reference to yourself.

If your book has a lot of things that are just too convenient but you like them…maybe you need to adjust it a bit.

Because the characters aren’t you. What you like and what you want in your real life has no bearing over the story.

So…maybe take a personality test? There are tons online. See if the results also describe your character to a t. If they do…maybe look a little deeper at the rest of your story.

Analyzing yourself will give you some practice for when you turn your critical eye on your characters.

Now, as for being critical…

I’ve been editing a lot. I finally finished the 3rd person to 1st person conversion of my post-apocalyptic novel. I’ll be telling you guys the official new title soon, perhaps with a little teaser of what the cover will look like.

Because the cover is designed, just not sized properly. I’ll have to make adjustments to it when I format the manuscript. (I won’t know how many pages it’ll have for each trim size until after that, and that affects the spine width. Just FYI, in case anyone was curious about how that little portion of publishing works.)

Anyway, to cleanse my palate a bit before making final tweaks to this one and doing formatting, I jumped into edits of Where Darkness Leads.

Anyway, I’ve kept you all away from your NaNoWriMo projects long enough. (Yes, that’s a hint.)

Keep reading. Keep writing.

Later.

Posted on

Sorry, Try Again

Hi, guys!

With the rerelease of The Gem of Meruna coming up, I thought I’d delve into the reason I’m REreleasing it, to begin with.

You’d think that after a book is out…that’s it. And, aside from a fuck ton of promoting, that’s true.

Unless you do it wrong the first time.

Then, you have to fix it. Or shove the book into a dark corner, write under a different pen name, and pretend it never happened.

I’m not going to lie to you guys. I seriously considered the latter option. It would’ve been easy. I published The Gem of Meruna under my maiden name, after all.

But it ties into my sci-fi series. Yeah, it’s a standalone, but it’s still in the same universe. And I intend to allude to it in the second book of the series, providing a bit more background.

So now I’m fixing a nearly six year old mistake.

There are a lot of ways to publish a book, and some of them…are downright scams.

The first time I published The Gem of Meruna, I knew jack shit about the publishing industry. I didn’t know what a publisher was supposed to do or not supposed to do. I had no idea how much work went into a proper book launch or how much of that was supposed to fall on me.

All I knew was that I’d written a book and wanted it published. A few google searches brought me to the publisher I went with (I won’t name them here).

When they said they’d publish my book, I was ecstatic.

When they said they’d need a payment of $600 (which they said was a deal, because that premium package would normally cost $1,500), I thought that was normal.

I didn’t know any better.

So I paid up.

Without hesitation.

I supplied the cover art (my husband did it for me, and I turned it over to them). I did the editing (though I knew next to nothing about proper self editing back then).

They formatted it, filed the copyright for me (under my name, thank goodness), and put it online. They’re essentially a self-publishing company that…charges exorbitant amounts of money for their “services.”

Now, they stated everything they were going to do very clearly and put it in the contract. It was all very legal.

But it was very much a “this author literally knows nothing” scam.

When it came time for advertising?

You guessed it.

Another bill. For subpar marketing. (The press release literally said that I was doing a marketing campaign. Like…duh. If a newspaper receives a press release, it’s pretty fucking obvious that there’s a marketing campaign going on…)

And then there’s all the phone calls…

They switched me from one marketing rep to another, hoping the new one would be able to talk over me enough to persuade me to buy another marketing package. The reps always had hard-to-pinpoint accents coupled with conspicuously American names.

They called again and again and again, on days that I told them I had to work, often calling until I gave up and answered (then complained about the noise of the factory I work in). When I worked overnights, they perpetually called on Friday afternoons (aka when I laid down to prep for a 12 hour overnight shift, aka a time that I told them not to call) For a while, I even blocked their number because I was tired of being talked over/talked down to.

And that’s a horrible way to go about your first book release. It’s something that should be celebrated, not regretted.

And once I realized my mistake, I was always afraid someone would find out HOW I got published. I was afraid that I wasn’t a real author because they’ll print anything, so long as you’re willing to pay them.

When really, I just got taken in by a company geared for that because I didn’t do enough research.

So listen up. If a publisher tells you that you have to pay them hundreds (or thousands, like another company told me) of dollars to publish your book, run as fast and far as you can. That is not self-publishing. That’s a vanity press.

*grabs spray bottle*

Get away from them.

*sprays water*

So let’s break it down.

Self-publishing requires a lot from the author. Everything (editing, formatting, cover art, publicity, etc.) has to be done or arranged by the author, but you get to decide everything. (Flipside…you have to decide everything. There are no experts telling you when you’re making a mistake.) You get royalties for every sale.

Traditional publishing requires a lot less of the author and is packed with experts who know better. But leaves you with less control and takes absolutely fucking forever to even get your book picked up. Like…years. You either get royalties for each sale or you get an advance and then royalties if you sell enough copies to out-earn your advance (not likely. They’re pretty good at figuring up how many copies will be sold).

Vanity presses take your money.

That’s literally it.

Yeah, they give you royalties for each sale, but given that most books never sell more than 200 copies…making back that ridiculous sum of money that you paid them isn’t likely.

And unless you pay the vanity press even more, all the responsibilities of a self-published author will fall on you. So you either have to do all of those things (editing, cover art, publicity, etc.)…or pay someone else to do them.

So don’t publish with a vanity press.

Learn from my mistake.

Now, almost six years later, The Gem of Meruna has been polished to the standard it should’ve been published at originally, and will be available on New Year’s Eve. I’ve been working hard to finalize everything this past week.

For those who read it when it was published the first time around, thank you. The story hasn’t changed. So, unless you want the new cover, you don’t need to buy it again.

I also finished another round of edits on After (soon to be renamed) and got back to writing on my Sci-fi series. Thank goodness.

Not writing was driving me a little batty. October did more than enough toward that end without the whole not-writing- thing.

For now though…

Keep reading. Keep writing.

Later.

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Really…What are you waiting for?

Hi, guys!

So, I’m sure that, of the people here, the majority of you found your way here from Instagram or Facebook.

Which means that you likely saw the Shatner/Captain Kirk meme about novels not completing themselves. If not, don’t worry because that’s the gist of it.

Novels don’t write themselves.

There’s this problem called procrastination, though. It seems to get the best of everyone, at some point or another.

But it doesn’t have to.

Now, the first problem here isn’t actually the procrastination. It’s why you’re procrastinating.

Are you afraid your work won’t be good?

Here’s a hint, it can’t be good if you don’t write it.

Maybe you don’t know where to start.

Maybe try outlining.

I don’t do it, but it helps a lot of people.

Just don’t get so hung up on all the tiny details like the birthday of the MC’s fourth cousin three times removed, who plays no role in the story, but you feel like you should have everything lined out before you put a single word of prose into a document, when really you’re just procrastinating again.

Maybe you’re procrastinating because secretly you don’t want to write, but don’t know how to admit that to everyone you’ve already told that you’re a writer. (If that’s the case, you need to address why you’re afraid to be honest with those people.)

No matter what, you need to figure out why you’re procrastinating.

Then, you need to cut the bullshit.

Quit pretending all those DVDs need re-alphabetized, or whatever you’re doing to avoid writing.

If you don’t want to be a writer, that’s a different matter altogether. You have to come to terms with that.

But if you do, if you want to be a writer, then at some point…

You have to write.

That’s literally all it takes.

So get out of your way and write.

If you’re afraid that it’ll be bad, type one terrible sentence, just to get your fingers on the keys, then just don’t stop. It’s not like you’re going to write a bunch of stuff worse than that first sentence.

And if you do?

So fucking what.

First drafts aren’t perfect. They aren’t meant to be.

They’re just meant to be written.

You’re going to go through multiple rounds of editing, anyway, be it self-editing, having a friend who’s a grammar nut go through it, or hiring a professional.

And if you’re not editing anything, if you’re self-publishing your first draft, you’re doing this wrong.

That’s about the only thing in the writing world that can, without a doubt, be judged as right or wrong. Everything else is subjective as hell.

But if you’re not editing AT ALL before publishing, you’re doing it wrong.

So lighten up.

Get over yourself.

Your first draft will not be perfect.

And that’s fine.

It doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be written.

Get rid of all the pressure of getting it perfect and write something.

Anything.

Even if you delete the entire scene from the final story.

So long as you’re writing.

Now, I’ll step off my soapbox. Lol.

This past week, I completed my last round of pre-professional edits on The Gem of Meruna. It’s going off for proofreading in October, at which point I’ll likely announce the official re-release date.

I made huge headway on editing my post-apocalyptic novel, formerly known as After. I’m changing the title because I don’t want my story to get lost beneath the pile of other stories called After.

I came up with a new title and put together a mock up for the cover, which I really like. It got a positive reaction from my husband, who knows a thing or two about art/design, and I’ll be asking some writer friends for their opinion soon.

I also decided to change the title of Salt and Silver to avoid clashing titles with a fellow writer, and even came up with a new one. And a potential cover design idea for it.

And…super exciting…I ordered the copies of Soul Bearer that I’ll be giving away! They should be here within a couple weeks, at which point I’ll plaster pictures of them all over the internet and announce the official rules and prizes.

And I started reading Bird Box. And made it like halfway through. I’ll post a review when I finish it, of course, but so far I’m enjoying it. I’m definitely glad I watched the movie first, thus avoiding the inevitable “I can’t believe they left that out, now I’m angry” moments.

Holy crap, guys.

I didn’t realize how busy I’ve been. Lol.

For now, though, I need some sleep. Work dragged on today, and I am exhausted.

Keep reading. Keep writing.

Later.

Posted on

Writing with Style

Hey, guys!

So, I’m in several writing groups, and the big one on facebook (Fiction Writing, 90,000+ members) has had a lot of posts asking a pretty similar question, here lately. “I have an idea for a story, but there are already so many stories like this out there. Should I even bother writing it?”

Such a loaded question, but a very simple answer.

As long as you’re not just straight up stealing someone’s work, write your story. It won’t be like the other stories, because it’ll be yours, written with your voice, in your style.

Who gives a fuck how many werewolf stories there are, or how many accidental baby with a billionaire stories have been written. If you have an idea about an accidental baby with a billionaire werewolf, fucking go for it.

Because your individual writing style and voice will change it, and make it unique.

Individual writing styles vary so much that it’s insane. Some writers even use different styles for different types of stories.

So, as long as you have a clear style and voice, you can write whatever you want.

Seriously.

Whatever you want.

Writing style let’s you get away with some serious shit.

Hell, at one point in his short story, “The End of the Whole Mess,” Stephen King forsakes spelling, punctuation, and every rule of grammar. And without that section, the story would’ve been…meh.

With it?

The story was phenomenal. I think back to it frequently, even though I read it like 5 months ago.

I’m not going say why he does it, or when, because it’s a pretty major plot device. It MAKES the story.

But it happens. Every basic writing rule…gone. And because of the style the story was written in, not spelling anything properly or bothering with punctuation…it enhances the story rather than taking away from it.

Side note…the shit you want to get away with has to be intentional. Don’t just bury your head in the sand, and refuse to learn about writing. Don’t pretend rules don’t exist or apply to you.

Don’t be that cocky.

If you’re gonna break a rule, don’t just say, “That’s how I write,” and expect everyone to think it’s awesome. Lol. You need to have a reason, and an understanding of how it affects the story.

Now, if you want an example that doesn’t seem so unattainable (because Stephen King is pretty high up there), my personal writing style is meant to be like you’re in the mind of the character. It reads sorta like a mixture of thought and direct experience, even when I write in third person for the sake of clarity when switching points of view.

Therefore, it’s rife with sentence fragments and occasional repetition. Because people don’t think or experience things in perfectly composed sentences.

I use curse words and sarcasm. Since I write very naturally, it makes sense. People curse. People get snarky sometimes. It happens.

I use enough description to get the point across, but no more, and only stuff the character would notice. Writing the scenes in such a direct way means that the character isn’t going to pay attention to the type of fabric every other person’s clothes are made of, or the type of trees in the careful landscaping at someone else’s house. Not unless they’re a seamstress or landscaper. Maybe not even then, if their mind is otherwise occupied.

And I pack the stories with emotion and dark subjects. If the story calls for gore or violence, well, it’s gonna be in there.

Not everyone wants to focus on trauma or battle scenes. Not everyone wants curse words. (Clearly, I don’t mind them. Lol.)

The book I’m currently reading (Winterhued by E. H. Alger) is in a genre that I write in a lot (fantasy romance), but is nothing like my books.

It begs to be read in an old English accent. It’s got beautiful, flowery writing and rich description. So far, it’s stayed away from heavy battle scenes, and focused more on the interpersonal goings-on of a besieged castle.

Had I written about a besieged castle with knights and a princess and ladies-in-waiting, it would have been a very different book aimed at a different audience. But Alger wrote it, using a different style, and a different voice, and different ideas.

Not writing it because other people have written about castles and knights would’ve been silly and sad.

It’s beautiful, and there’s no substitute. The author’s voice, the author’s style, and individual spin on things are what make the book unique.

So, to sum up, if someone else wrote about a vampire that used to be a viking and is also an angel (yeah, seriously, it’s been done. It’s a seven book series by Sandra Hill) that doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t.

Because it won’t be the same story.

Write what you want, even if someone else wrote a story about the same general principal.

So. Keep reading. Keep writing.

Later.

P.S.- I haven’t read that series by Sandra Hill, but I love the title for the last book. “The Angel Wore Fangs” is catchy as fuck.