Answering Readers' Questions

This month, I wanted to do something different. Since September 2008, nearly two years ago, I began posting articles here at APOOO based on subjects that I wanted to cover, and for this month, I’m responding to questions that concern you as writers.

Every day, I receive questions from writers. Some of them just want a quick answer, and some have become good friends through constant communication. I never have a problem with answering a question from a writer. If I have the answer, I’ll willingly give it. If I don’t have the answer, I will often go find it and come back to the writer with the answer. It’s about paying it forward, about helping those behind, before, and ahead of me in any way I can.

With that said…here are three questions that writers have recently come to me with. I hope the answers help you out, too.


I find it hard to write every day, but I've read that it's important to do so. I always hear "Writers write." So, if I'm not writing every day, is that a problem?

Quick answer: No, it's not a problem. Yes, writers write, but that doesn't mean a writer writes every day. All writers are not the same. Each writer needs to look at her/his life, examine all the things that must get done in that life, and organize a writing schedule that is conducive to getting the writing done. What's important is not how many days you write, but how productive you make the writing experience. Just as you schedule other important to-dos, you should schedule writing and make sure you shut away all other things while you are writing. Regulate your schedule so that you develop a rhythm for it.


How do you keep up the energy to write after receiving so many rejections and disappointments with trying to get published?

I had to initially laugh at this question because the writer just assumed I had received a lot of rejections and disappointments! Truthfully, I have, and I'll put it out there and say that there have been times when I just stopped writing. I thought, What's the point? No one will ever read it. The stories will sit on my computer forever. And then somehow, some way my love for writing returns, and I manage to forget the heartbreak of literary disappointments. So, how do I keep up the energy to write? My most important asset is my band of writer friends. These are people that I talk to every day and gather encouragement from. I met many of them on Facebook and Twitter, and others from interviewing them, then befriending them. We tend to do writing jags together, share pieces of each other’s writing for quick critiques, and act as drill sergeants to make sure the writing gets done. Another asset I have is keeping writing goals. I try not to let much time lapse between writing projects. You know the saying, "An idle mind is the devil's workshop," right? Well, when the literary mind is idle, it's easy to fill that mind with negative thoughts--the rejections, the disappointments. By keeping your mind ON the writing, you keep OUT the thoughts that will diminish your energy. At first glance, this next asset might not relate to writing, but believe me, it does; I live life. The unlived life births unlived stories. Living life and doing what you love will fill you with an energy that can push out thoughts of rejections and disappointment and keep you writing.


I absolutely hate writing synopses. Any advice on how to jump in and just get a rough draft of a synopsis done?

This is not the first time I've been asked this, and I'm sure it won't be the last. These days, the synopsis gets a bad rap. And because so many people tend to confuse it with other writing forms, like book back copy, it's going through an identity crisis, too. I talk about synopsis writing in another APOOO article (http://www.apooobooks.com/writing-synopsis-shonell-bacon/), but here's some advice on writing a quick-and-dirty synopsis. It can take you four steps to get a draft you're proud to call a synopsis. First, go through each of your chapters and ask, "What happens in this chapter?" Write about a paragraph or two, summarizing the major plot points of each paragraph. Once you have that done, go through the document, making sure you bring your main characters into the synopsis, illustrate what their wants/desires are, initiate the conflict, and take us through the rising of tension and the climax and resolution (essentially, the story arc). After this, go through the document again, making sure you develop the major plot points and eliminate those parts of the story that are not necessary for an agent or editor to see the overall story arc. Finally, go through the document, making sure it's written in third person. Try to think of the synopsis as a short story version of your novel. Let it have voice, character, style. A synopsis should not be a dry reporting of your story. It should have as much kick and energy as you can develop within it.