Treat Your Writing Like Self-Care
December 2024 Newsletter
Hey, you!
The Novel Nest officially opened Tuesday, November 12, and it's been an exciting month!
Those of us in The Nest are making huge progress in our stories, adding thousands of words to our draft manuscripts because we're prioritizing creative expression, something that is easier for us to do today than it was in the past. We're dedicating ourselves to the task like never before.
As parents and caregivers, we often have a hard time prioritizing our creative pursuits as self-care. We have a tendency to put off our goals and dreams to raise our children and care for our homes, effectively putting ourselves last.
But this is an act of folly.
Your dreams matter just as much as the dreams you encourage your children and others to have. By unapologetically pursuing your dreams, you show your children how to pursue theirs, while uplifting and fulfilling your purpose.
Beginning something new takes time and patience, but if you show up, I know you will achieve your writing goals, too.
Ready? ➩ Fly me to The Novel Nest!
New Writing Craft Articles
Ambiguous pronoun-antecedent pairs hiding in your story may make the difference between reader immersion and reader confusion.
Make sure your story plot includes these key turning points, which move your characters through the story milestone by milestone from beginning to end.
Show your readers aspects of your truest self while giving yourself enough narrative distance and processing space to write yourself well.
Your character has done or revealed the unexpected. Learn how to navigate your story when the path no longer adheres to your writing plan.
Finding Your Future Readers
I know you're elbows deep in your writing now, but eventually you're going to want to have some readers. If you are not writing on Substack (or on another platform that allows you to build a reading audience), I recommend starting. Soon.
Platform building is not easy, and while social media is not required, having a platform on which to stand so people will notice you is critical. After all, readers won't discover your book unless you tell them about it. Probably lots of times because, like cats, people are fickle.
Don't wait to build your platform. Start now while you're writing. Talk about why you write, your habits and methods, the things you think about when your story keeps you up at night. Bring readers into your writerly space so when it's time to publish your work, folks will be already lined up to read it.
There are lots of ways to talk about your writing. Jane Friedman, an expert in the publishing field, has great resources on building your author platform. Here are some of her articles to get you started:
Special Rates for Editorial & Support Services
All paid members of The Novel Nest community have access to special (discounted) rates for editorial and coaching services outside the Nest. As such, I've added special booking links for one-off hourly story coaching and tarot readings for creativity to The Nest's documents section.
If you know you're going to want revision help, check out the listed fees for your budget planning, but know I'm going to scoop a lump off the top as a gigantic 'Thank you!' for being a Nest member.
See you in The Nest!
Until next month . . .
