The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

Debra L. Butterfield

Are you feeling overwhelmed with publishing your book?

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Dealing with overwhelm

Publishing a book can pile on the overwhelm. Let’s face it, there are a lot of things to be done besides writing the book.

Actually any project can seem overwhelming when we consider all that must be done and think we need to do it all at the same time.

A good method to deal with overwhelm is to break your project into smaller pieces. A supervisor I once had taught me this. She called it the swiss cheese method—poking little holes in the project one at a time.

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Morning Pages – Creative Dribble or Creative Genius

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The Artist's Way and doing morning pages

I recently started the practice of writing morning pages every day before I begin my work hours. I asked myself a time or two whether they were a useful tool or a waste of time.

You’re probably asking, “What are morning pages?”

They’re a tool created by author Julia Cameron. She discusses them in her bestselling book The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. The book is a 12-week course in creative recovery. She says morning pages are:

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Success, Comparison, and Jealousy

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I am a writer. Stop the comparison game.

Last month, one of my Tuesday tip emails prompted a reader to contact me. She asked if I’d ever written about jealousy. She was referring to the jealousy we might feel when we look at the success of other writers in comparison to our own.

When I discovered I’d never touched on the topic, I decided it was time.

The Comparison Trap

I can’t stress enough how unproductive and self-defeating comparing ourselves is. I struggled with this issue a lot during my childhood (having a twin sister made it easy) and on into adulthood.

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Structuring Nonfiction

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structuring nonfiction

Last month we looked at structuring your fiction story. This month we’ll look at structuring nonfiction.

While nonfiction has no plot, you still must ensure that your topic flows in an organized manner from beginning to end.

Does your subject matter fit a chronological arrangement? Perhaps it better fits a topical structure or even a step-by-step flow. Maybe there are overall themes that serve as sections/parts for your book and specific topics that fit under each theme.

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How to Identify Misplaced Modifiers

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self-editing locating misplaced modifiers

This month I’m discussing misplaced modifiers. Boring stuff, I know, but it can make for some comical—or embarrassing—reading.

I think everyone understands the definition of misplaced; however, modifiers might be a bit elusive.

Merriam-Webster Online Unabridged Dictionary gives this definition: “a word or phrase that makes specific the meaning of another word or phrase.”

Modifiers give more depth of meaning to a word that either precedes it or follows it. I think misplaced modifiers are often difficult to spot because 1) we know what we mean when we write it; 2) we tend to put things in the wrong order; and 3) we often speak them in a misplaced manner.

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7 Manuscript Formatting Programs

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Formatting programs for book publishing

Writers ask lots of questions, and the writing community pays it forward quite well.

I see many questions on a regular basis. One is “what program do you use to format your manuscript?” These writers aren’t talking about how to format their manuscript for presenting to agents, editors, or publishers, but programs to format the manuscript for actual book publishing.

Amazon accepts several file formats for ebooks. Here’s a list. Now that they accept epub files, writers don’t have to fret over converting their files to mobi. That makes things a lot easier!

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Are You Trying to Reach Your Goals?

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Person jumping from hill to hill. Doing rather than trying.

Do you have a vision of your book as a best seller? An award-winner? Many writers have these dreams, myself included.

You could write the greatest novel since Dean Koontz or James Patterson, but if you don’t market your book, you won’t accomplish best-seller status.

You could have the most amazing marketing strategy and plan, but if you’ve written a terrible book, you won’t accomplish best-seller or award-winning status.

And underlying all this is your mindset—your paradigm.

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Character Development, Draft and Revisions

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Character development, Picture of Yoda.

Late last year I completed the draft of a novel—the first novel I’ve managed to finish!

Fiction is my passion, but it seems at this point in my writing career I write mostly nonfiction. Not sure why that is. I’ve started as many novels as I have published nonfiction books. Those novels sit partially written, collecting electronic dust.

As I spent time in December 2019 seeking God’s plan for 2020, the one word I got was write. Actually I got write, write, write. I couldn’t be more delighted. I come alive when I write. And for a writer that’s how it should be!

My little fingers will flame with fiction this year—along with some blogging.

First on the list is my current WIP “Sally and the Cowboy.” I spent most of December 2019 doing revisions. I discovered the story needed deep revision not only to the plot, but also to the main characters. All drafts need deep revision…what mine needs is deeper than I anticipated. Ugh.

Character development is essential to any great story. For me, it’s part of what makes a story memorable and worth reading over and over and over.

My main character seemed depressing and complaining. Granted, at that point in my revision I had focused on developing her inner conflict, so maybe my perspective was a little skewed. Skewed perception aside, Sally needs major character development.

For help in the task, I’ve turned to Donald Maass book Writing the Breakout Novel—an excellent book and one I recommend often. Chapter 5 tackles character development. Maass states:

Conflict is the first principle of plot construction, and it is also the underlying secret of great characters.

I’ve been re-examining Sally’s…

  • Inner conflict (what is it, is there enough, too much?)
  • Story goal,
  • Story arc, (how will she grow as a person as the story progresses?)
  • History,
  • Personality,
  • Strengths, and
  • Weaknesses.

I read a few paragraphs from Maass, then I pick up pencil and paper and make notes, ask questions, and am drawing out from my imagination a more compelling and memorable Sally. Yes, I’ll be doing the same thing for the Cowboy.

Virtually all readers unconsciously seek out novels for an experience of human life that is admirable, amusing, hopeful, perseverant, positive, inspiring, and that ultimately makes us feel whole. ~Donald Maass, Writing the Breakout Novel

Does your fiction fit into that list anywhere? Do your characters possess any of these characteristics? Maybe not at the beginning of your story, but do they discover they have something on that list by the end of the story?

Within that quote from Maass is an aspect that I believe accounts for today’s popularity of superhero movies: an experience that is admirable, hopeful, positive, inspiring.

Don’t settle for surface-level revisions on your novel. Dig deep. Perform invasive surgery on that sucker.

  • Are your characters as memorable as those from your favorite novels?
  • Ask yourself if you’d enjoy reading your own story over and over.

Take your favorite novel and examine the protagonist and antagonist.

  • What character qualities does he/she have?
  • How has the author developed the character?
  • Use what you learn to revise your own protagonist and antagonist.

If you haven’t yet begun your novel, do this deep work ahead of time. You’ll be glad you did!

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