Here's something simple you can do to level up your writing & your author career:

Read what's being published in your genre. Not bestsellers from decades past—contemporary authors in your own cohort.

Here’s why this is so important & why many successful authors prioritize it 🧵 It’s important for you to know what's going on in the current book marketplace because that is the landscape you will be selling your own books in.

Reading what’s currently being published in your genre helps you understand your audience & competition.

An attention-grabbing premise can improve your querying success, since agents & publishers often talk about looking for “high-concept” books.

But what exactly makes a book “high-concept”? Is it something you should strive for? A 🧵: A high-concept book has an engaging premise that can be summarized succinctly, often in a single sentence. Because the plot is so easy to grasp, these books essentially pitch themselves & immediately make someone want to pick them up.

Here are some examples:

You can have strong characters & a solid plot, but readers won’t connect w/ your story if it’s missing this key element—& many stories are.

This is one of the most misunderstood concepts in fiction writing (& one of the most common elements I discuss w/ writers as an editor): 🧵 What is this essential ingredient that so many mss are lacking?

Character interiority. 

Interiority is what’s going on in your POV character's head: their thoughts, feelings, emotional reactions, memories, inner conflict/debate, opinions, etc.

As a dev editor, it’s my job to point out when a certain character or plot element isn’t working in a ms & pose ideas for how to make the narrative more effective. 

But how to determine when it’s worth reworking a storyline vs. cutting it entirely? Here’s my approach (🧵): When I come to an element that’s not working, I make a note to return to it after I'm done w/ the story. Sometimes, something later in the ms will illuminate what needs to be done w/ that element, so I don't want to jump the gun & suggest a revision until I've read the entire ms.

Editing your own writing can feel as painful as pulling teeth. As a developmental editor, I have a few tricks up my sleeve that can make the process so much smoother & more efficient. 

Here are some of my favorite self-editing hacks that many of my clients swear by. A 🧵: 1. Read your work aloud. It will help you identify awkward turns of phrase, redundant language & areas that are unclear. You’ll pay much more attention to the nuances & flow of your language, & it’s going to surface things that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Here’s one of my favorite tricks that can help you fix almost any issue in your draft: reverse outlining.

If you haven’t heard of it, it’s when you create a very detailed outline/summary of everything that happens in your novel—AFTER you’ve already finished your draft. A 🧵: Whether you create a bullet list of chapters & scenes in a Word doc or make a detailed spreadsheet, you’ll end up w/ a high-level summary of your book that you can use as a cheat sheet to spot & correct many issues in your WIP.

Here are just a few things it can help you with:

It’s one of the most common pieces of writing advice out there: “show, don’t tell.” But it’s not quite that simple. Both “showing” AND “telling” have their place in effective storytelling.

The key is to know how to recognize & use both. A 🧵: This writing “rule” is meant to encourage writers to immerse the reader in a specific, revealing moment (“show”) rather than provide a general summary or a description (“tell”). It’s a means of closing the narrative distance — making the reader feel closer to the story.

No writer wants to hear that the story they’ve invested months or years of work in feels unoriginal, overdone or cliché.

But it’s not game over for your story. If this is feedback you’ve gotten or something you’re worried about, keep this in mind (🧵): “Overdone” can be subjective. What feels cliché or overdone to one reader is not necessarily the same for another.

You know what is unique and special about your story. Are you highlighting it in your hook/blurb? Can you bring it more to the forefront?

If you’re considering traditional publishing, you’ve probably heard a lot about the “Big Five” publishing houses in the US.

But who are the Big Five, & what do you need to know about them? A #publishing 🧵: The Big Five publishers in the US are the 5 companies responsible for the vast majority of trade publishing. Trade publishing differs from academic publishing, which includes anything that has an educational lens (i.e., textbooks & research journals).

It’s a scary step for many writers: Sharing your story w/ others.

I totally get why it feels so vulnerable to let people read your work, but you need to face that fear if you want to grow your skills & reach your writing & publishing goals. An #amwriting 🧵: First, a caveat: If you're writing for personal reasons, such as in a journal to document your life, it’s fine to keep it private! But if you’re reading this, you likely want to get your story published eventually, & in that case, sharing your work is a necessary step.

As a developmental editor, I most often work w/ authors on early drafts, and the same issues come up again and again.

Here are the top 3 mistakes I see in 1st drafts, so you can catch & correct them in your own WIP (an #amwriting 🧵): 1. Inappropriate word count. Ideal book length varies, but many 1st drafts are too long/too short. Your novel should be the exact number of words the story warrants & can justify.

If the pace lags, you may want to trim the fat. If it feels rushed, you may want to deepen areas.

It’s a great debate in the #writingcommunity: should you write a prologue or not?

It’s a particular concern for authors who are querying, considering the 1st 10 pages or 1st chapter are typically what you submit to agents. So, to prologue or not to prologue? (an #amwriting 🧵): Many #amquerying authors fear that their MS will be automatically rejected if it includes a prologue. If you have a prologue as part of your sample pgs, you may be wondering if it’s going to be received well or if you should just hack it off (or begin w/ the first chap instead).

When it comes down to it, #amquerying is a numbers game. So, it makes sense for authors to ask, “How many agents should I query?”

To help you optimize your querying process, here are my tips for determining how many agents to reach out to (a 🧵): First, we have to consider how many agents there are. I usually look to QueryTracker for this info, as it’s the most widely used database in the industry.

Currently, they have more than 1,700 listings for agents (mostly based in the US, but also in the UK & elsewhere).

Your novel blurb may be the most powerful part of your query. A good blurb makes the agent eager to read your sample pgs & hopefully request your full MS.

Want to nail yours? Here’s what to do — and what to avoid (an #amquerying 🧵): Do: Introduce the protagonist. Usually, you’ll do this in the opening line of your blurb. If you have multiple protags/shifting POVs, try to include them as well.

This sets the expectation for who the agent will meet in the novel & gives a sense of whose story it is.

If you’re an #amquerying author, you’re probably familiar w/ the emphasis on choosing good comparable (or comp) titles. But why are comp titles so important? Do you REALLY need them?

I always suggest including comp titles if you can, for a few important reasons (a 🧵): 1. They help agents understand your MS. Comps can immediately paint a more specific picture of what your book is like than genre alone can.

Ex: Wolf Hall & A Gentleman in Moscow are both historical fic, but w/ v different styles & audiences.

There’s a reason why so many people start books & never finish them. Writing a book takes time, energy & stamina, & it’s common to run out of steam.

If you’ve been struggling to get to the end, here are a few strategies for FINALLY finishing that WIP (an #amwriting 🧵): 1. Make it a priority. It’s easy for writing time to get pushed out of your day due to work & family responsibilities, but reframing it as something you MUST fit into your schedule can help you reach the finish line. Any time counts, even if it’s just 30 mins before work or bed.

Self-editing is a crucial part of the #amwritingprocess — esp. if you want to make your story the best it can be.

I know many writers find it grueling, but there ARE some simple, painless tweaks you can make to your own work before getting external feedback (a 🧵): 1. Check tenses. It’s surprisingly easy to unintentionally switch btwn past & present tense within the same scene, paragraph or page.

You can spot this in your own draft by looking closely @ ea verb used in the scene & making sure it’s the correct tense.

It’s a question nearly every writer has asked at some point: Am I a good writer? It’s difficult to answer, not just b/c you are so close to your writing, but also b/c art is subjective. That said, there are some signs you’re on the right track (an #amwriting 🧵): 1. You understand writing vs. storytelling. Good writers can convey a thought thru a string of words, but great writers know that’s only one piece. You also have to have a clear story to tell. Writing allows you to communicate; storytelling is how you touch & move readers.

Your opening pages may be the most important in the entire MS. After all, they determine if a reader (or agent) will get invested in your story or put it down. No pressure!

Stressing over your first scene? Here are 3 ways to write an effective opening (an #amwriting 🧵): 1. Use a character detail. Hook readers w/ an interesting bit of backstory, an intriguing personality trait, or an interesting action that your character is taking.

This method works b/c it establishes an emotional connection w/ your char & gets readers invested in their story.

Becoming a bestselling author is a dream on many writers’ bucket lists. I won’t sugarcoat it — it’s an extremely tough thing to accomplish. But it IS possible, even for debut authors.

If your goal is to write a bestseller, here are 5 tips to help you get there. An #amwriting 🧵: 1. Read a TON. Reading in your genre is critical. You should know what’s going on in the literary landscape if you want to become a bestseller.

This will help you understand your audience & competition & can spark ideas & strategies for your own books.

Getting feedback on your MS is essential to making your book the best it can possibly be. But should you seek feedback from beta readers or a pro book editor?

Both can help you strengthen your story in important ways, but there are a few key differences (an #amediting 🧵): Note: if you plan to query literary agents, it’s not necessary to work formally with someone in an editorial capacity prior to seeking representation. Some authors choose to, while others rigorously self-edit or work with trusted writing partners. Every journey looks different!