Working on a fantasy novel? Learn some tips and tricks from this interview with Astrid Scholte, the author of FOUR DEAD QUEENS
Writing about a personal cultural perspective? Learn from Sabina Khan, the author of THE LOVE & LIES OF RUKHSANA ALI in this writing focused interview.
Do you dream of walking into a Barnes & Noble and seeing your book on the shelf? If so, a literary agent is the key person who’s going to help you get there. Read on to find out what a literary is, how to get one, and what it’s like to work with them!
In my last newsletter, I told you guys to ask me questions so that I could write blog posts and record videos to answer those questions.
You guys sent in some really great ones that I'm excited to answer today! The first is about how to write when you have a demanding job and I'm excited to share the answer with you now!
In my last newsletter I told you guys to ask me questions so that I could write blog posts and record videos to answer those questions.
Here's an answer to my second question: how to separate good and bad writing feedback!
Pitch Wars is right around the corner!
Here's what me and Kit Grant (otherwise known as #TeamClaws) want to mentor this summer!
Pitch Wars is right around the corner and this writing competition changed my life! Click here to see four reasons why you should enter Pitch Wars today!
This is the one moment in my blogging career where I wish I made YouTube videos so that you guys could actually see how much I'm jumping up and down right now. I cannot wait for you guys to see and read the epicness that is THE LAST NAMSARA.
When we're growing up, books are just wonderful stories. We fall in love with them, we live inside of them, and we wonder what kind of genius it takes to create such brilliant worlds full of incredible words.
But when we grow up we realize how hard it is to actually write a book. Because of our own journeys as writers, we see how much blood, sweat, and tears each novel truly represents.
The more I've learned about publishing on my own writing journey, the more I've wanted to know about the heartache and drafts behind all of my favorite stories. I want this because each time I learn about another author's journey to achieving their dreams, I feel inspired to keep working towards my own.
For that reason I'm starting an interview series on this blog so we can all be inspired and learn about the awesome stories behind awesome stories.
In the last post in our revision series (The Best Way To Revise Your Novel), we discussed how the best way to revise your novel is to break it into pieces and revise each individual piece at separate times.
Today we’re going to cover one of the most intimidating pieces: plot.
We made it.
We got through the dumpster fire that was 2016 and finally reached 2017.
With each new year comes new year resolutions, but if you’re like me, most years your resolutions don’t last more than 30 days.
At the start of 2016 I wanted what most people want: to exercise, eat healthier, sleep more. You know, the usual things.
But more than anything, I wanted to become a published author.
So instead of making a scattered list of how to improve my entire life, I decided to just focus on writing.
I would read at least one published book a month. I would write almost every single day. I would connect with other writers who were on a similar journey.
I vowed to do everything I could to become a better writer and a published author. Now that a year has passed, I can see the results of those writing resolutions.
You did it.
After weeks, or months, or years, you finally finished that first draft. It was probably rough and there may have been a few tears, but you made it through.
Hopefully you took the time to celebrate and ordered your cinnastix from dominoes, because now the ugly part begins.
When you’re writing the first draft of your novel, you have one goal — get to “THE END.” It doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to be done. In the first draft you can get a way with “insert epic battle here” because it’s the first draft.
But when you’re revising your novel, your goal is to write the best version of your story possible and unfortunately that’s a million times harder than reaching “THE END.”
If you’re a writer, there’s a pretty good chance you want to share your stories with the world. You may not say it out loud, you may not even admit it to yourself—but deep down maybe you dream of seeing your book in a Barnes & Nobles, or watching someone read it on the subway.
For me, my publishing dream is seeing my novel in an airport bookstore. I know it’s kind of weird and specific, but ever since I was a kid, there was something so magical about the books in the Hudson News displays.
It took me a long time to admit I wanted to become a published author, but once I did, I had to research how. Nowadays there are two main pathways to share your original stories with the world, and I’m excited to teach you about both today!
Learn the exact system I use to outline and plot all of my stories. Using the techniques I'm about to teach you, I was able to plot, write, and edit a new book in 2 months that beat out 1,800 other books in a top writing competition!
If you're a writer who wants a bunch of awesome writing lessons to take your story to the next level, congratulations.
You just hit the writing jackpot.
I get emails from you guys all the time about how you don't think you can do it. You walk into the library or Barnes & Nobles and you never believe your story will sit on those shelves.
When you're stuck in that funk the important thing to realize is you're not alone. With every book you've ever read there was likely a time the author didn't believe that story would ever sit in your hands. As writers we all struggle with self-doubt - the important thing is to not let that self-doubt control you and stop you from going after what you love.
Over the past month I've gotten a lot of emails from my subscribers about tips on writing descriptions. Because descriptions are such an important part of our stories and tomiadeyemi.com is here to help you, I thought today would be a great time to write a post on it!
Now you and I both know there are a lot of different types of descriptions we need to conquer in our writing:
Each description above could easily be it's own blog post, so instead of trying to tackle the specifics of all of them I'm going to give you 5 tips you can apply to every description in your novel so you can master every description at once
When there's so much pain and tragedy in the world it's easy to feel helpless, but as writers our power comes from our words. That's why today I want to hear your words and your stories.
Sharing your story is important because it reminds you that you have power and you have a voice and you have the ability to help people see the world in new ways.
Hi Pitch Wars Participants!
My name is Tomi Adeyemi and I can't wait to enter this year's #PitchWars!
(I'll use this moment to upload one of the few headshots that doesn't embarrass me and makes me look like I have an interesting secret which you can learn if you keep reading)
Hey writer!
Last week I launched the first ever #WeWriteNow challenge for my subscribers. It was an experimental challenge to see if a group of writers could find a way to form a daily writing habit with their busy schedules.
Dream of being a best-selling author one day? Read this interview with Adalyn Grace, the New York Times Bestselling author of ALL THE STARS AND TEETH.