by Beth K. Vogt, @bethvogt
Let’s be honest with one another: there are days we don’t feel like writing.
If we’re not proactive, those days can pile up into weeks, maybe even months, and we become writers who aren’t writing anything at all, weighed down by all our unwritten words.
There’s a simple cure to the I-don’t-feel-like-writing malady.
We need to write something.
I’m not suggesting you drag yourself to your laptop and stare down your manuscript. Again.
Writing something doesn’t mean you have to face the biggest hurdle – not right away.
Writing something means just that – s-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g. Just don’t spend another day writing nothing. What could you write when you don’t feel like writing?
- Work on your novel’s Story Question. Even if you’ve already started writing your manuscript, it’s never too late to develop a Story Question. Every novel starts with a “what if?” – What if my main character gets the one thing she never wanted? – but the Story Question is the “great what if” that asks a question of the heart and mind, tugging at readers’ emotions and fueling your story so it doesn’t stall out in the middle. (Search this blog for plenty of posts on Story Question.)
- Work on your book’s back cover copy. Some publishers ask authors to provide back cover copy. Sometimes editors write back cover copy and ask authors to look at it and make changes. Either way, it always helps for you to have worked on sample back cover copy for your upcoming release. That way, if you’re asked to submit something, you’re prepared. If the editor sends you something, you can compare their copy to yours and offer suggestions. And guess what? You can utilize your Story Question in your back cover copy.
- Work on your book’s comp titles. Most authors I know wail and gnash their teeth at the mention of compiling comp titles for their novels. But we all have to do it. Rather than waiting until the last minute, work on comps along the way. If there’s one book you know is similar to your book, plug it into an online book retailer. Then look at the “readers also looked at” feed to see if any of those titles are comps for your book. Or ask some of your author friends if they have suggestions. Remember, you don’t need an exhaustive list of comps. Work on a good cross-section of similar titles – think 4 to 6 books – and how your book is both similar and different.
- Work on your one sheet. There’s always a bit of panic around the time of writers conferences as attendees polish their one sheets, a.k.a. pitch sheets. And yes, I know a lot of conferences have be canceled or postponed. Sigh. 2020, right? Still … why wait until the last minute – or next year – to put together your one sheet?
- Work on your author bio. If you have an author bio, take a look at it and see if it needs to be updated or changed in any way. Does your author bio reflect your personality? If you don’t have an author bio, it’s time to put one together. And yes, everyone starts with a “beginner’s bio,” where we feel like there’s just not enough street cred. Relax, be you, and remember your author bio is where you’re a professional – so no talking about your love of cats or dogs or, um, llamas.
How can you choose what is right for you when your decision will break the heart of someone you love? Having abandoned her childhood dream years ago, Johanna Thatcher knows what she wants from life. Discovering that her fiancé was cheating on her only convinces Johanna it’s best to maintain control and protect her heart.
Despite years of distance and friction, Johanna and her sisters, Jillian and Payton, have moved from a truce toward a fragile friendship. But then Johanna reveals she has the one thing Jillian wants most and may never have—and Johanna doesn’t want it. As Johanna wrestles with a choice that will change her life and her relationships with her sisters forever, the cracks in Jillian’s marriage and faith deepen. Through it all, the Thatcher sisters must decide once and for all what it means to be family.
Beth K. Vogt is a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. Now Beth believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” The Best We’ve Been, the final book in Beth’s Thatcher Sisters Series with Tyndale House Publishers, releases May 2020. Other books in the series include Things I Never Told You, which one the 2019 AWSA Award for Contemporary Novel of the Year, and Moments We Forget.
Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. Her 2014 novel, Somebody Like You, was one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Books of 2014. A November Bride was part of the Year of Wedding Series by Zondervan. Having authored nine contemporary romance novels or novellas, Beth believes there’s more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us.
An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Learn How to Write a Novel and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers group and mentoring other writers. She lives in Colorado with her husband Rob, who has adjusted to discussing the lives of imaginary people. Connect with Beth at bethvogt.com.