Ask the Author: V.J. Allison
Answered Questions (3)
V.J. Allison
I can work my writing schedule around real life - taking care of my son, housework, tripping over that silly cat of ours, and spending time with my husband. I mostly work weekdays during the school year, summers are generally spent with my family.
V.J. Allison
First of all, never stop writing. Write until you can't write any more, and keep writing.
Never ever think you have a best selling book on your hands. You'll be sorely disappointed if you do.
READ until you're blue, and keep reading. A good writer is also a voracious reader, and not just their chosen genre to write, other genres too.
Always, ALWAYS have beta and critique readers, especially if you're a newbie to the writing world. They will see things you don't, like inconsistencies, editing errors, proofing errors, and everything else.
If you keep getting rejections from publishers, stop sending it out and look over the manuscript. Maybe there is something wrong with it that you're not seeing. Try to take a few steps back from it, and see what everyone else is seeing. Are there passive areas? Any inconsistencies? Run-on sentences? Repetitive areas/things?... The list goes on and on. Don't assume they're missing out on a great book - they know what they're doing after all - assume it's on your end, not theirs.
Make sure your manuscript is almost perfect when you send it out to publishers, should you choose traditional publishing. Publishers look for a well written, polished and formatted work, not a first draft or poorly edited work.
Don't spend a full page describing something. Sometimes less is more, especially in the writing world.
Never ever think you have a best selling book on your hands. You'll be sorely disappointed if you do.
READ until you're blue, and keep reading. A good writer is also a voracious reader, and not just their chosen genre to write, other genres too.
Always, ALWAYS have beta and critique readers, especially if you're a newbie to the writing world. They will see things you don't, like inconsistencies, editing errors, proofing errors, and everything else.
If you keep getting rejections from publishers, stop sending it out and look over the manuscript. Maybe there is something wrong with it that you're not seeing. Try to take a few steps back from it, and see what everyone else is seeing. Are there passive areas? Any inconsistencies? Run-on sentences? Repetitive areas/things?... The list goes on and on. Don't assume they're missing out on a great book - they know what they're doing after all - assume it's on your end, not theirs.
Make sure your manuscript is almost perfect when you send it out to publishers, should you choose traditional publishing. Publishers look for a well written, polished and formatted work, not a first draft or poorly edited work.
Don't spend a full page describing something. Sometimes less is more, especially in the writing world.
V.J. Allison
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