Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Writer Wednesday: Nothing Is One Size Fits All


Something I've discovered in this industry is that there is no such thing as one size fits all. What works while drafting one book, may not work for another. I've written some books completely out of order and had to piece them together. Others I've written linearly. The same goes for revision. Some books make me want to pull my hair out during revisions because I have to track so many things and keep lists to make sure there aren't inconsistencies anywhere. Other books go so smoothly during revisions that I get a little worried because I feel it should have been more difficult.

And even after the writing and revising stage, things still aren't one size fits all. What works for one author while promoting a new book may not work for another. I'm talking about the exact same efforts yielding very different results. So how do we know what to do? Honestly, I think it's all trial and error. We have to try new things and old things to see what will work for that particular book. Time consuming? Absolutely! Frustrating at times? Absolutely! Necessary? Absolutely! Well, unless you don't care if your books sell or not, but let's be honest. We ALL care. ;)

Have you ever experienced very different results from the same strategies?

24 comments:

  1. Very frustrating. But yes, when it happens its rewarding too! All the best Cherie!

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  2. Definitely, Kelly. It's all just a crapshoot.

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  3. All that reworking is a total pain but when I get it right it's well worth the effort.

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  4. I'm in the frustrating stage and hoping to find the reward. I know it's out there. It's just hidden at the moment.

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  5. I agree with you that a lot of the writing process is trial and error. Sometimes you don't know if something is right or wrong for you unless you try. :)
    ~Jess

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    1. Yeah, it's try and try again until something works.

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  6. I really don't have a system at all and that seems to work best for me. I guess my mind isn't orderly--probably a lot like my sock drawer. Chaos.

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  7. For sure! And as far as promo approaches it changes all the time. With some novels I can blast right through a draft. With another (like the one I am working on now) I have to do it slowly, and carefully.

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    1. My last draft was slower than usual because I had to put it aside two different times to tend to other projects under contract. I found I like returning to a draft that's partially written, though. Knowing I only have 40K to go as opposed to 80K is nice.

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  8. I tend to write linearly for a book- because it works for my genre, though on occasion I write something for myself, a passage for another book down the line, because I want to get it written down. By the time I get to that book, it might well have changed.

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    1. Oh yes, I know the whole "getting ideas for another book while drafting your current book" thing quite well.

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  9. It's kinda annoying. I follow all these tips that are supposed to lead to more engagement on social media and sell more books and nothing happens. Like you said, we gotta keep trying.

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    1. It can be annoying. I agree. I wish there was a formula for success. That would be SO nice!

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  10. We all care, even those who claim they don't do. A lot of writing and marketing is trial and error. We learn from those mistakes and keep our fingers crossed that we make the right marketing decisions for the next book.

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    1. Very true. And even those same good decisions can have different results. That's the truly frustrating part.

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  11. yup, going through this now. My on sub book I FLEW through and loved revising, the one I'm doing now I'm in love with, but it's taking a lot longer. I think maybe I learned a lot from the first time around, so I now know all the elements that need to be in place, hence it taking longer...or maybe it just really changes MS to MS...crazy biz lol

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    1. I think every manuscript is different. Some I breeze through. Others are like pulling teeth. Some I have to walk away from for a while. It really just depends on the book and whatever else I'm trying to juggle at the moment.

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  12. So far I go through phases in revisions, where it's great and easy, and then it turns to hard and slogging. But then eventually back to great and easy! Thank goodness.

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