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Jesse Q. Sutanto

@thewritinghippo

Oct 17, 2022

How I wrote over 40K words in 72 hrs! 🧵

A lot of you asked how, and now that I’ve done it twice, I def have some tips and tricks to share:

First things first: This is not the time to switch up how you write. If you’re someone who likes to take their time making sure every

sentence is beautiful, then I wouldn’t suggest aiming for a monstrously high word count. Go at your own pace and write the way you always do. If you’re a pantser, keep on pantsing. The main reason the quality of the words I wrote during the retreat remained the same is bc I wrote

the same way I always do: in 15 min increments. So I wasn’t actually writing faster, I was just doing more.

1. I go on the retreat when I’m at the 40K mark in my WIP. At 40K, I know I’m not abandoning the MS. I’m fully committed. I also know that between 20K to 60K is usually

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Jesse Q. Sutanto

@thewritinghippo

Jun 8, 2022

How to approach feedback! 🧵

1. Always thank them first & foremost! Even if I find the feedback super harsh, I still thank them for their time and effort. Do NOT argue or try to explain even if you feel like they got something “wrong.” It’s not their job to get what you were

trying to achieve with the MS. You CAN ask questions for clarity or to brainstorm, but we’ll get to that later.

2. Decide if the feedback is actually helpful: Does it make you excited to get to work? Is your mind full of ideas on how to improve your work?

Or did it make you feel defeated and like your MS isn’t worth spending time revising because it’s so terrible? If it’s the latter, ignore it. I used to feel like I had to listen to everyone, but I’ve come to realize that my writing isn’t for everyone. Sometimes it’s just not a

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Jesse Q. Sutanto

@thewritinghippo

Mar 18, 2022

No one asked for it, but here's my best advice to preserve you mental health during debut year!

1. Accept that you're going to feel like a massive fraud. Or maybe you're not? If you're one of those well-adjusted people with a healthy self-esteem, you can skip this one, lol. But

if you're not and you feel like you got here thru sheer dumb luck, you're not alone! I promise you that many others feel that way and we're all secretly waiting for the book police to find us and tell us that our books are crap & they're canceling our contracts. Remind yourself

that it actually did NOT just take "one yes" to get here. In fact your book went thru a ton of obstacles to get here, and now it's here, you deserve it!

2. It's ok to feel sad or detached abt things you thought you'd be excited abt. Some things I used to long for years ago

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Jesse Q. Sutanto

@thewritinghippo

Feb 18, 2022

Thread abt critiquing:

I used to pride myself on having thick skin. I'd tell my readers that I wanted "brutal honesty", and I could take all the punches they threw my way. That was me the first...four to five years or so of my writing journey, and hey, that's great! But as the

years plodded on and the rejections piled up, my confidence was slowly worn down. I began asking my CPs to be gentle. Fast forward a few more years, and here I am with an actual publishing career. I thought that by this point, I would've gone back to the way I was, brimming with

self-assurance, but if anything, being pubbed only made it worse. While my reviews are generally wonderful, I have been tagged in really scathing ones, ones that said my book was so bad it cured their reading slump because they were hate-reading 😬. This isn't a thread abt

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Jesse Q. Sutanto

@thewritinghippo

Jun 11, 2021

How to Outline a Novel: A Thread.

(You don’t need to, and many awesome writers don’t! This is just one of many ways to write a book.)

I used to be a pantser, and I loved it and it was chaotic in the most glorious way. But over the years, I moved more towards outlining because

1. It made editing a lot easier
2. When I pantsed, I had serious pacing issues
3. I was often frozen for days because I had no idea where the story would go
4. I hate to say this, but if you’re traditionally published, it’s better if you give your editor a synopsis before

you start drafting, just so everyone knows what to expect and your editor is less likely to ask for major edits. One of my editors for example asked for pretty big changes to my synopsis, which is great! That’s what the synopsis was for. But if it had been a finished MS, then 💀

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Jesse Q. Sutanto

@thewritinghippo

May 2, 2021

Hey all! Here's what I've learned from my debut year + debut week + debut day. Hope some of you might find this helpful! How to survive...debut year:

1. Make a list of things you have achieved! It's totally normal to have moving goalposts. My goal used to be: Get an agent.

Once I got one, I had a new goal: Get a publishing deal. Once I got that, I had to update my goal. That's fine and healthy, but what isn't healthy is to forget how far you've come. Don't dismiss the past goals just because you've achieved them.

Make a list and refer to it whenever you feel bad, and trust me, because this is publishing, there will absolutely be times when you will feel bad.

2. It's true that social media isn't going to get you things that a publisher can, like placement at stores or libraries, but

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