40. Real Answers for Real Writing Struggles

Today is another Ask Me Anything! Inside this episode I'm answering these five questions:
1) How to tell if you're over-revising your novel manuscript.
2) What to do if you've hit a wall and can't move forward.
3) How to consider social media and your author platform.
4) What to do when you're feeling sick of reading your own work.
5) How to tackle self-doubt.

Tune in to hear my tips and suggestions!
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Transcript

STEPS TO STORY EP 40 - Q & A Session

[00:00:00] Nicole Meier: Today is a Q& A session, because I know when I was penning my four novels, I really wanted someone who was going to be the voice of all things that was missing from my process.

[00:00:19] Nicole Meier: Welcome to Steps to Story, the show that helps aspiring authors turn their ideas into action and transform their dream of writing a book into a reality. I'm your host, Nicole Meier, multi published author and certified book coach. I spent the first part of my fiction writing career desperate for guidance that was unavailable to me.

[00:00:41] Nicole Meier: I wrote draft after draft, flying by the seat of my pants, with lots of passion but little guidance. Thankfully, there was a writing community that opened its arms and welcomed me. This community sustained me. But when it came to strengthening my novel writing process, I was determined to find a better way.

[00:01:02] Nicole Meier: One that didn't involve piecemeal strategies. and confusing courses. Now, more than a decade later, I'm serving my younger self, who yearned for support while writing a book. If you're an emerging author seeking guidance, this podcast is for you. Are you on the list to get my novel writing guide? I designed this workbook to take you through five essential strategies that will level up your novel writing process.

[00:01:31] Nicole Meier: Grab your free copy at NicoleMeyer. com forward slash crafting greatness. That's NicoleMeyer. com forward slash crafting greatness or at the link in the show notes.

[00:01:52] Nicole Meier: Hey novel writers, welcome back to Steps to Story. Today is a Q& A session. So my goal is to do these twice a year, and my purpose is twofold. The first is I want you to make great momentum in your work and progress. I want you to get bits of inspiration and keep going. Hopefully some of these answers to the questions are relatable and will give you good sources of insight.

[00:02:17] Nicole Meier: And then the second reason I do this is because it's important to me as a book coach and developmental editor to not only provide paid services so people can make big strides in their novel manuscripts Transcribed But also to give you free resources, free inspiration, free insight. Because I know when I was penning my four novels, I really wanted someone who was going to be the voice of all things that was missing from my process.

[00:02:45] Nicole Meier: So without further ado, today I'm going to jump into five questions that I've received. and give the answers. But I also have something I want to mention right here before I get into it, and that is I have a new page on my website, NicoleMeier. com. If you go to the podcasts tab, that page has a form on it.

[00:03:05] Nicole Meier: And in that form, I'm asking if anyone has topics they'd like me to discuss on the podcast. I'm asking if anyone has a question that they want me to answer on the podcast. It's really open for suggestions from listeners like you, so I would be thrilled if you jumped in there and submitted something you want me to talk about on a future episode.

[00:03:26] Nicole Meier: Okay, so, let's jump into the very first question, shall we? A writer asked me, how can I tell if I'm over revising my story or if it still needs work? Okay, holy cow, this is so relatable. I think everyone listening is nodding along. We have all been there. It's every artist's dilemma. How do I know when the work is done done or if I need to step away and come back and do more revisions?

[00:03:54] Nicole Meier: Because we could all revise until the cows come home, but really, we don't want to do what I call chasing good work with bad. We want to know when the story is strong enough that it can go on to the next phase, and the next phase could be going to some beta readers. The next phase could be going to a developmental editor for feedback.

[00:04:14] Nicole Meier: It could be going straight into the query trenches. Or maybe pitching a small press or publisher. Really we need to know when is it time, when am I ready. I've written this whole book, I love my story, but I don't know if I should keep working on it. So let me give you some suggestions. The first one is, I'm going to ask you to really get honest with yourself and say, is this about perfectionism?

[00:04:43] Nicole Meier: There's nothing wrong with perfectionism. In fact, it's a wonderful trait to have because it means you're putting purpose and intention behind your work. But when it gets in your way is when you're allowing it to be the excuse. I have writers come to me who sometimes write the first three chapters over and over and over without allowing themselves to move on because those first three chapters are not perfect enough.

[00:05:07] Nicole Meier: And that really stops them, it stifles their creativity, and it really gets in the way of them finishing a completed manuscript. So I'm going to use that example here and say, ask yourself, if you feel like you're not done or ready to release your pages to the next person. because it's about perfectionism.

[00:05:26] Nicole Meier: If it is, then you're going to have to do some work. I like journaling to get around this and decide, am I wanting to keep this to myself for the rest of its life? Or am I ready to release it into the world and get some nice feedback so I can reach that next step of my author career? So really do some work around that.

[00:05:46] Nicole Meier: My second question for you is if you would like to measure whether you're ready to move on or not, ask yourself, Does this story have narrative drive that moves forward and makes sense and informs your overall plot? So this is a really good exercise to ask yourself when you look at the major plot points of your book.

[00:06:05] Nicole Meier: Does one plot point move into the next and into the next? Or do some of the chapters or plot points do what I call treading water, where you're just kind of staying in place and it's not really informing the overall plot? This can be true for some of your plot points and maybe for not the others. But it's really good to take a step back and look at the narrative drive and ask yourself, Does this do what I intended it to do?

[00:06:31] Nicole Meier: The next sort of way to measure, if you will, is ask yourself, does your character or characters have a satisfying arc of change and come out more evolved by the end? So as we all know, when we open a novel, we want to see a character on page one in their status quo. Then very quickly we want that inciting incident when the rug is ripped out from under them and it sets them on a whole new path.

[00:06:56] Nicole Meier: They're just struggling to keep up with their new circumstances. They are going through obstacles, learning lessons about the world and about themselves, and by the time the story ends, we want to see that character or characters be more evolved. They have learned lessons and they're a new person. No this doesn't mean that the story is wrapped up in a neat bow.

[00:07:16] Nicole Meier: No it doesn't mean it's all a happily ever after. But yes, it does mean that they're not the same person they were on page one. So ask yourself, are they more of an evolved character? And if so, then you've done your job. And then finally, this is a big one for me because I think it's something that we ignore, is ask yourself, do you have any internal red flags?

[00:07:40] Nicole Meier: That you hope your beta reader or agent won't notice, but secretly you suspect they might be problem spots. I know we've all had something like this where maybe a timeline doesn't match up or a character makes a decision that's not entirely believable. Or some sort of twist happens that doesn't really make sense in the overall plot, but we're kind of hoping that the person who reads it next won't really notice in the way we're noticing.

[00:08:10] Nicole Meier: I'm here to tell you from experience, I've got four published books out there, if you're noticing it as the author, you can guarantee a reader will pick up on it and it will be a problem. If you have any internal red flags, go back and address them now. All right, before I move on to the next question, let's kind of recap my suggestions here.

[00:08:31] Nicole Meier: If you're worried about if you're over revising or wondering if you're ready to move on to the next step with your work. So first ask yourself, is this about perfectionism? Next ask yourself, does the story have a narrative drive that moves forward and makes sense informing the overall plot? Then ask yourself.

[00:08:51] Nicole Meier: Do your characters have a satisfying arc of change? And finally, ask yourself, are there any internal red flags that I'm ignoring? Once you do each of those four things, I feel confident you'll be able to answer whether or not you're ready for your book to move on to the next phase. Okay, let's jump into the next question from a writer.

[00:09:13] Nicole Meier: This person says, what should I do if I've hit a wall in my story and can't move forward? Oh my gosh, so relatable, right? We have all felt this too. We're not machines where we just keep writing forward for 350 pages with no problem. We will have moments when we feel stuck. And I have writers come to me all the time with these amazing premises, great story ideas, maybe the first third or half of their book is written and they've moved forward with this wonderful momentum, but then wham, they're hit with writer's block or self doubt and they cannot seem to move forward.

[00:09:51] Nicole Meier: So, I'm going to go over a few things that I think you can do, and these sound simple, but they are powerful. That's one of the things I like to say a lot, right? Sometimes the most simple answer is the most powerful. So first thing I want to say to you, if you feel stuck and you're frustrated with yourself and with your work in progress, is give yourself grace.

[00:10:15] Nicole Meier: It is okay. It's also okay to take a step away and to take a moment for yourself. The next thing I would suggest if you allow yourself this break It's to do something that's going to refill your creative well. So do some other form of activity or art or exercise. I particularly like to go for a long hike.

[00:10:38] Nicole Meier: Some people like to listen to music. You can go to a museum. You can watch a film. You can do some painting or drawing. You can do some physical exercise. You can go help friends with another project. Anything that will refill you, give you a sense of purpose, give you a sense of joy. And also let you tap back into the sound of your own voice.

[00:11:00] Nicole Meier: I think this is really powerful and as creatives we don't do this exercise enough. So refill that creative well in whatever way feels right to you. My third thing I would suggest for you is moving beyond mindset, right, because the first two things I offered to you are mindset options. This third thing is let's talk about the actual work.

[00:11:20] Nicole Meier: I would say strategically think about your roadmap for your story and start thinking about how you can brainstorm ways around these major plot points and major scenes. So if you've been listening to my podcast or if you've taken any of my do it yourself courses or if you've worked with me one on one, you know my most favorite thing to do when it comes to planning a novel with a writer is to do the seven point story arc.

[00:11:46] Nicole Meier: If you need a refresher on this, I've got a quick do it yourself course on my website that's called Map Your Story, but if you do know what I'm talking about, it's about addressing the major plot points, in this case there's seven of them, of your story that will give you a roadmap, a way forward. I love this approach because it's that nice blend between someone who plots everything out and someone who writes by the seat of their pants.

[00:12:13] Nicole Meier: It's a great way of blending that right in the middle so it doesn't feel too overwhelming, but it also doesn't feel too loosey goosey, but it's a way of giving yourself a roadmap of guiding you forward as you write. It still lets you mix discoveries as you write your story. It still gives you that creative freedom, but it also gives you a little bit of structure so you know where you're going.

[00:12:34] Nicole Meier: When people get stuck, I suggest they revisit their roadmap. I suggest they start making bullet points or mind maps or journal prompts or anything you want to do that kind of fleshes out some of the scenes that can move around these major plot points. So to put it very simply, I would say when you're feeling stuck, revisit your roadmap.

[00:12:58] Nicole Meier: Make some changes if you want that roadmap to evolve. Or, brainstorm some scenes or plot points that can go into that roadmap that might help you move forward in a way that you weren't able to before. Okay, so before I move on to the next question, let's recap the answers to this one. If you feel like you hit a wall, if you feel like you're stuck in your work in progress, let's think about these three points.

[00:13:22] Nicole Meier: The first is give yourself grace. Take a step back and walk away. The second is Think of ways you can refill your creative well and go do it. And the third is revisit that roadmap and either make revisions or additions in a way that will help inspire you to move forward. Okay, question number three is all about author platforms.

[00:13:48] Nicole Meier: This one's actually a really fun one for me because as many of you know, who've been following along, not only do I work as a book coach and developmental editor, but I recently launched a second business, which is all about author platforms and agent pitches. And that is called bookworks. co. And I run that business with my dear friend, who's an expert in branding.

[00:14:10] Nicole Meier: So this question is fun because it kind of addresses what we talk about over at bookworks. This writer says. Do I really need to be on social media? If so, what's the easiest place to start for writers? Okay, this is such a great question because we all struggle with it, right? Many of us, myself included, have a love hate relationship with social media in particular.

[00:14:35] Nicole Meier: But I'm here to say, and I'm happy to say, that author platforms in particular are not about social media. That is a tactic. It is not a strategy. And if you go back and listen to episode number 34 of my podcast, where we talk all about bookworks, we talk about the thoughts and the intention behind.

[00:15:00] Nicole Meier: Building author platforms, you will be pleasantly surprised to know it's not all about social media. There are so many other ways to build your readership, to hone your writer voice, to gain an audience, to reach the attention of people like agents or presses or publishers. So, yes, social media is great in terms of connecting with the writer and reader community.

[00:15:27] Nicole Meier: I particularly like threads right now because I feel like it's extremely positive and supportive and there are no ads yet, but I want the writers out there who are worried about building an author platform to know. Social media, first of all, can be great, but it doesn't have to be included in your author platform.

[00:15:45] Nicole Meier: There are many, many other ways to build your platform. And it's also what I call a tactic and not a strategy. So if you're curious at all about that, you can visit bookworks. co. And send us a question, connect with us, and we're happy to work with you on that. Okay, let's move on to the fourth question.

[00:16:06] Nicole Meier: Someone says, I'm in the revision stage of my manuscript, but I'm so sick of it. Again, relatable. Everything people have asked is so relatable. That's why I'm laughing along, because we're all saying, yep, been there, done that. So the writer asks, what do I do when it feels like I've read it a million times?

[00:16:24] Nicole Meier: Let's jump right into a few suggestions here, and I'm going to use myself as an example because these are the things that I did when I just was so tired of reading my own work. The first is I actually like to print out my work in a completely different font and font size, and I have a physical copy, I have a paper copy of it, and I take it somewhere new.

[00:16:46] Nicole Meier: So I'm either going to go to a different room in my house, I'm going to go to a coffee shop, I'm going to go to a library, or maybe a park. Anywhere that's a new environment, it's going to take me out of sort of my stale mindset, if you will. So I'm going to take that physical copy, I'm going to take maybe some colored pens or some sticky tabs, whatever kind of organizational products you like, and I'm going to go to that new environment.

[00:17:09] Nicole Meier: Read my work on real physical pages and start making handwritten notes. Sometimes I will make color coded tabs to know what color goes with what kind of intention. Maybe all my red tabs are about plot problems. Maybe all my yellow ones are about character believability. Whatever it is. And I'm really going to look at adding new things, editing things out, or just making some general revisions in a new, fresh way, in a new, fresh environment.

[00:17:41] Nicole Meier: So I would say that's a great thing to do. But if that all sounds like too much work and it still feels like you're not excited about reading your story one more time. then give yourself time off. Maybe you take three days off of writing. Maybe you take three weeks off. Whatever it is, you're allowed to do that.

[00:18:00] Nicole Meier: There's no rush, and it's actually smart if you give yourself a break. So hopefully those suggestions help you print out the work. Take it somewhere new and give yourself kind of that fresh perspective when it comes to reading it one more time. Okay, writers, the final question here is all about self doubt.

[00:18:22] Nicole Meier: So a writer has asked me, what's your advice for dealing with self doubt? I'm worried my story isn't good enough. My very first thing I want to shoot right back to this writer is how badly do you want to be an author? You really have to get honest with yourself. And another way of looking at this is if you were to give up today because self doubt just completely won, what would your life look like without being a writer?

[00:18:50] Nicole Meier: And every time I ask a writer this when we get on a call, I say, okay, tell me what it would look like if you just gave up and you never wrote and you never became a published author. Nine times out of 10, they all say, my life would be terrible. Like I would just have that yearning inside of me forever.

[00:19:07] Nicole Meier: I'd always wonder if I could make it or not. I'd always wonder, you know, what if I would have pushed forward and followed my dreams? Because if you are a writer, if you want this in your future, you cannot imagine a future without it. So yes, please know that each and every one of us has started with that terrible first draft.

[00:19:26] Nicole Meier: Sometimes it's messy, you know, for the first couple of years and that's okay. That's what art is supposed to be. If any of us went into a pottery studio today and the instructor said, I want you to grab a slab of clay, throw it down on the potter's wheel, and come up with a flower vase right now, none of us would be able to do it unless we'd practiced doing it before.

[00:19:50] Nicole Meier: It's actually a really fun exercise and I'm bringing up this example because I've done it before. I've gone to many pottery classes, which I adore, but I'm terrible at it. But I love the work. I love the idea of shaping something. I love the idea of being present and trying to mold something out of nothing.

[00:20:08] Nicole Meier: I love the idea of getting better and practicing and seeing what comes up at the end. It's the same thing for writing, accepting that it's going to be messy and terrible at the beginning, but knowing we can just keep honing our craft, perfecting it. Getting better, understanding our writing voice, understanding the story we want to tell.

[00:20:28] Nicole Meier: That is what shapes your story and that's what helps move you forward into that author career you want. So to get back to that original question is, what do I do when I'm faced with self doubt? The very first thing I would say is ask yourself if you gave up today, what would that look like and do you really want that for your life?

[00:20:49] Nicole Meier: If the answer is no, then you need to find ways to keep pushing forward. I would suggest finding a writer friend to trade pages with, and that can happen early on. Of course, you don't want to do it the very first time you've written the first five pages, but if you have three chapters, great. See if someone else you know in your writing community or as part of a writer's association or maybe part of your local library group would want to start trading pages with you.

[00:21:15] Nicole Meier: Or you can work with a developmental editor once you feel ready that your work is meeting that next phase of feedback. Or you can find some nice beta readers or critique group. My point in listing all of these kind of resources to you is find someone else you don't feel like you're working in isolation.

[00:21:34] Nicole Meier: Because A, it's going to remind you, oh, hey, they're going through self doubt too. I'm not alone. B, this is exciting because I get to share my work and also learn about someone else's process too, which might inspire me. And C, this is going to give me some great accountability if my pages are due to another writer friend, an editor, a critique group, or a beta reader.

[00:21:56] Nicole Meier: So I hope that these things will inspire you to keep moving forward. If you have a story on your heart that means something to you, I can almost guarantee it's going to resonate with someone else because that means it's worthy, it's important, it just needs to be worked on. And that's the beauty of writing, is that we can have this terrible messy first or second or third draft, but if you keep on practicing, if you keep on working on it, if you keep adding layers.

[00:22:25] Nicole Meier: You can really strengthen that story, and it will, in the end, resonate with another reader. Okay, everyone. I hope this kind of ad lib, answer a bunch of questions, kind of episode was helpful for you. I hope it sparks some new motivation and insight. And again, if it also sparks a question for you that I haven't answered yet, jump onto NicoleMeier.

[00:22:48] Nicole Meier: com, hit the podcast tab. Jump into that form and ask me your questions. I'm here, and I want to be of great support to you. Until next time, everyone, happy writing, and I'll see you at the next episode.

[00:23:06] Nicole Meier: If you want to check out my coaching programs for fiction writers, visit NicoleMeier. com. That's M E I E R. And if you liked this episode, I'd love you to take a minute to leave a rating and review for this podcast. This will help more writers like you to discover the show. and to get going on their writing journey.

[00:23:26] Nicole Meier: Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, happy writing, everyone.