Becoming a professional writer involves far more than just crafting compelling sentences; it requires a deep understanding of the publishing world, the book market, and self-promotion. Successful authors treat their writing career as a small business, mastering skills that move their manuscripts from concept to bestseller lists. Think of these skills as your literary toolkit, critical for success in today’s competitive landscape.

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Essential Business Skills for Writers

These skills, vital for running any successful operation, translate directly to the life of a professional writer, helping transform creative passion into a thriving career.

1. Communication Skills

Effective communication forms the bedrock of a successful writing career. You must present yourself and your work clearly, whether you’re querying an agent, pitching an editor, or speaking to your readers.

• Pitching and Querying: Your pitch to an agent or editor demands precision and clarity. Details in a submission package, including your query letter, synopsis, and manuscript sample, must be accurate, formatted correctly, and compelling to save the agent time and provide clarity about your book’s market viability.
• Receiving and Applying Feedback: A writer’s growth hinges on the ability to receive and implement editorial feedback. Establishing a clear communication channel with your editor or critique partners about the type of revisions expected drastically improves the final product.

A. Leadership

A writer exhibits leadership by taking charge of their career and the direction of their book. Using tools—like a spreadsheet or database to track submissions, contacts, and marketing results—helps direct operations. This eliminates the confusion of forgotten deadlines or lost contacts, allowing the writer to concentrate on generating new material.

B. Negotiation

Negotiation, for a writer, often involves making decisions to organize a publishing plan. This isn’t just about hammering out a contract; it’s about strategy.

• Contract Discussions: Discussing advance amounts, royalty splits, or subsidiary rights with a publisher requires the writer (or their agent) to understand the book’s value and hold firm on important terms.
• Marketing Strategy: Discussions with a publicist about which book promotion tactics drive the best results, based on past sales reports and market attainment, guides future book marketing efforts.

C. Emotional Intelligence

A writer must know how to handle the inevitable pressure of deadlines, rejection, and critical reviews. Prioritizing writing tasks based on urgency and importance—like finishing a manuscript draft versus approving cover art—shows emotional intelligence in managing a complex and often stressful creative endeavor.

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2. Business Management

Managing your creative output and the tools used to create and sell it are central to a writer’s business.

A. Asset Management

In publishing, an asset is your book—its function, genre, and associated marketing or production needs. This requires tracking several factors:

• Sales Data: Monitoring sales figures across different retailers (Amazon, B&N, etc.) to understand performance.
• Metadata: Knowing how long a book description (the “PM” or maintenance) should take to write and ensuring the title and subtitle include time-saving elements like keywords so a potential reader quickly finds your work.
• Intellectual Property: Understanding the copyright and rights associated with your work, all tracked in your personal business system.

B. Inventory Management

A writer’s inventory includes their actual books (physical and digital stock) and marketing materials.

• Stock Levels: A self-published author must track quantities of printed books and their location (Room>Shelf>Bin) if stored personally.
• Pricing and Promotions: Knowing your initial quantity and tracking usage—how many copies move during a sale—will affect future printing and pricing decisions. This should include whether a book is a critical spare (a guaranteed backlist seller) or a substitute (a short story used as a reader magnet).

C. Work Order Management

This involves the organization of the actual writing and production process.

• Scheduling and Dispatching: Setting deadlines for drafting, editing, and cover design and ensuring those tasks are assigned and completed on-time.
• Checklists: Using a digital checklist for each stage of production. A basic checklist confirms a task’s completion (“Send manuscript to copyeditor,” then “Approve final proofs”). An advanced checklist includes specific data fields for revision notes or word counts.

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3. Project Management

At its heart, this skill handles the movement of a book from an idea to a published product. Quality organizational tools allow a writer to process special projects, anything from designing a new website to organizing a multi-city book tour. Labor (your time) and material costs (editor, designer fees) must receive input into the system.

A. Planning and Networking

These sub-points relate to the scheduling of the book’s production and development of contacts. Networking is a wonderful skill; it encourages good communication and relationship development with agents, editors, publicists, and fellow authors. Investing in a company or service (a professional editor, a book designer) that provides special features and options for your operation is essential.

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4. Financial Skills

A writer must practice cutting costs, trimming the fat (of unnecessary expenses), and getting the most value from assets, inventory, and labor. Everything a writer does is judged for cost efficiency and effectiveness.

• Reporting: The best benefit of using a business-focused approach is the reports available on book sales, earnings, and expenses. Your system should allow enough variables or filters to generate the specific report needed for tax purposes or sales analysis.
• Integration: Consider integrating a sales dashboard with your personal accounting software.

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Embracing the Author-Entrepreneur Mindset

A career in writing calls for an entrepreneurial approach. By adopting these business skills, you move beyond the role of a mere creator to become a proactive participant in the publishing industry. This focus on practical, career-level competence secures your footing in a constantly evolving market.

Last week, we started a series I’ll throw into the mix from time to time, using letters of the alphabet for certain words that I’ll relate to writing. I started with A (naturally) and the word was alignment.

Let’s review the points from last time and see how they relate to my books.

Story Alignment

The discussion revolved around theme and plot and how they should align.

If you look at A Cold New Year, Sabastain Habeck tries to understand the world around him, the fast pace of everything, the technology, and the fact that his life is a mess with alcohol and smoking and an ex who still feels for him, but wants him to change for what she thinks is better. Meanwhile, he works on two cases where he sees the mess others have made of their lives. In this way, the two or three sets of “troubles” align.

Character Alignment

We looked at Want and Need and a mistaken belief.

When considering The Peace Tree Mystery, Grace wants to live her own life and doesn’t need her grandfather trying to instill her Indian heritage. Her mistaken belief is that she can live without understanding or accepting her ancestry.

Justin Clay plays the foil to her wants and needs by romancing her and showing her how mistaken she is. After several adventures, she finds herself caught up in the mystery and seeing the importance of family and ancestry.

Dialogue Alignment

Again, using The Peace Tree Mystery as an example, the collaborative group had difficulty with each of us writing multiple characters. In a few first draft chapters, Wildcrow either sounded like a bad version of Tonto or he had excellent diction.

We knew that had to be aligned. When I took over the project in 2021, I made sure his voice was consistent throughout.

Series Alignment

Let’s look at Night Shadows. I would like this to be a series. Harry Reznik and Lori Campisi investigating different supernatural events. Last week’s discussion suggested an ongoing conflict or mystery that would run through the series. You see this in Sparkle Abbey’s Pampered Pet series with the two cousins stealing a brooch from each other. In Elaine Viets’ series about the woman going from job to job and finding murder in each one, the character has a problem with her evading the law for a crime she thinks she’s committed.

With Reznik and Campisi, the ongoing conflict will be their constant battle to work together, with Reznik the ever-skeptic and Campisi’s staid and Vulcan-like personality grating on him. I envision future stories with them being more comfortable with each other, but Reznik will still grouse.

What alignment do you see with specific books you read?

Get It Together: How Alignment Makes Your Writing Shine

As we start the new year, let’s throw in a series of discussions that may relate to the craft of writing—as in how to make this better—or may shed some light on aspects you might not think about when it comes to writing. As usual, I’ll try to insert some personal experiences with each topic.

So where do we start? Creating the story. You’ve got a fantastic idea—a sprawling world, a complex character, a sizzling plot—but sometimes, when you put it all down, something just feels off. Like the gears aren’t quite meshing.

The fix? It’s all about Alignment.

Think of a car’s tires. If they’re misaligned, the whole ride is bumpy, you burn through gas, and you might even crash. You’ll certainly purchase new tires sooner than expected.

In writing, alignment is the secret sauce that ensures every part of your story works with the others, creating a smooth, powerful, and focused experience for the reader. Proper alignment means fewer “repairs during the rewrite/editing phases.

Let’s break down how this works across different levels of your storytelling:

1. Story Alignment (The Big Picture)

The biggest question you have to answer is: What is this story really about?

Alignment here means your plot and your theme are driving toward the same destination.

• Bad Alignment: You write a story about a character searching for a lost treasure (plot), but the theme you try to force in is about the importance of family. The search for gold constantly pulls against the family message, making both feel weak. Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t have a sub-theme about family. For example, working together and the dangers of greed. This type of theme might work if you look at the story behind the plot.
• Good Alignment: You write a plot where a young woman tries to escape a repressive society. The theme is freedom and self-determination. Every chase, every sacrifice, and every choice she makes reinforces the central theme. The action and the message are perfectly aligned.

2. Character Alignment (Internal Cohesion)

A character achieves alignment when their internal life matches their external actions. We call this the Want vs. Need dynamic.

• The Want: The thing the character thinks they need to be happy (e.g., to win the championship).
• The Need: The thing the character actually needs to be complete (e.g., to admit they can’t do everything alone).

For great character alignment, the pursuit of the Want must be the engine that forces them to confront their Need. If your protagonist’s main action scene has nothing to do with their inner wound, you’ve got a misalignment that leaves the character feeling flat and unbelievable.

You also have to remember the “mistaken belief” the character has, how that will affect the progression of the story, and the effect it will have when the character realizes the mistake.

3. Dialogue Alignment (Voice and Purpose)

Every word a character speaks must align with two things: who they are and what they want in the scene.

• Personality Alignment: If your character is a gruff, street-smart mechanic, they shouldn’t suddenly start using flowery, academic language. Their voice should be consistent.
• Scene Alignment: Dialogue isn’t just chatting; it’s action. A character who desperately wants information will use sharp, probing questions. A character who wants to hide something will use evasive, vague, or aggressive language. The words they choose should actively work to get them closer to their immediate goal.
• Subtext: This is a great mechanism for creating tension and pulling in the reader to what lies beneath the surface.

4. Series Alignment (The Long Game)

Writing a series? Alignment is your lifeblood. It’s how you ensure books one through five feel like one massive, coherent journey, not five random trips.

This is achieved by establishing a Core Conflict or Central Mystery that runs through the entire series, even as you solve smaller, book-specific conflicts.

For example, in a detective series, the Core Conflict might be the detective’s personal quest for justice in a corrupt city. Every case they solve (Book Conflict) must contribute to their growing understanding of, and confrontation with, that systemic corruption. This creates a compelling narrative that pulls readers from one volume to the next.

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When your Theme aligns with your Plot, your Character’s Actions align with their internal Need, and your Dialogue aligns with the speaker’s Voice and Goal, you aren’t just writing a story—you’re building a seamless, immersive, and unforgettable experience.

Next week, we’ll look at how I handle these aspects.

Find Your Calm Through Writing

Writing doesn’t just capture ideas—it shapes your mindset. Putting thoughts on paper slows your mind, clarifies emotions, and gives you control over stressful moments. As Bobby Hull said, “You can’t score from the penalty box.” Similarly, you can’t act effectively if you lose composure. Writing provides a safe space to plan, process, and respond.

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Why Writing Builds Focus and Self-Control

Stress hits in unexpected ways:

• A child throws a tantrum.
• A meeting spirals out of control.
• You face a public presentation that makes your heart race.

Writing acts as a pause button. By jotting down feelings, options, and steps, you stay grounded and think clearly. In self-defense, staying composed can mean the difference between safety and harm. Writing develops that same habit of assessing situations logically before reacting.

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Communicate Confidence Through Your Words

Words reveal your mindset and tone. Thoughtful writing reflects calm thinking:

• Swap “would” for “could” in requests.
• Include “please” and “thank you” to maintain respect.
• Use clear, structured sentences to project authority.

Like body language, writing signals confidence. Readers notice clarity, intention, and focus, just as they notice posture and gestures in a meeting.

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Writing Strengthens Leadership

Leaders stay composed by collecting facts before acting. Writing naturally enforces this:

• Document observations and outcomes.
• Analyze options before making decisions.
• Plan your next steps with clarity.

Teams notice leaders who act deliberately instead of emotionally. Humor or storytelling in writing can also reset moods, keeping everyone focused without escalating tension.

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Composure in Everyday Life

Writing improves more than work tasks:

• Journaling reduces anxiety.
• Drafting scenarios prepares you for unexpected challenges.
• Reflective writing releases mental clutter, keeping you calm and collected.

Daily writing habits create a rehearsal space for your mind. You anticipate problems, think strategically, and act with control—whether at work or home.

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Small Writing Practices That Make a Big Difference

• Morning journals: List top priorities for the day.
• Evening reflections: Note wins, frustrations, and lessons learned.
• Scenario planning: Write out potential responses to stressful situations.
• Email drafts: Compose before sending to ensure tone and clarity.

These simple practices build a calm mindset and improve communication over time.

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Writing Sharpens Calm and Control

Composure grows naturally when writing becomes part of your routine. Recording thoughts, planning responses, and analyzing situations trains your mind to respond instead of react. Over time, writing enhances focus, emotional control, and confidence—skills that carry into work, leadership, and everyday life.

Part 4: Marketing & Promotion – Building Your Platform, Not Just Selling a Book 📣

Welcome back, wordsmiths! We’ve covered the crucial stages of creation, editing, and querying, emphasizing the power of preventive maintenance. Now, let’s talk about the often-overlooked, yet increasingly vital, aspect of an author’s life: marketing and promotion. In today’s crowded publishing landscape, simply writing a great book isn’t enough. How you present yourself and your work can make all the difference, and a preventive approach here is your secret weapon.

Reactive Approach: The “Launch Day Panic” 🚨

Many writers approach marketing like a last-minute chore, something to worry about only when their book is about to launch or has already launched. This reactive strategy often leads to stress, missed opportunities, and disappointing sales.

• Building an Author Platform Last-Minute: They create a social media profile a week before their book comes out, frantically try to set up an author website overnight, or start thinking about an email list only when their book is already available. This is like trying to build an audience for a concert after the tickets have gone on sale and the band is already on stage. You have no pre-existing community to share your news with, and your efforts feel rushed and inauthentic.
• Spamming Sales Links: Their entire marketing strategy revolves around posting “Buy my book!” links everywhere, without engaging with readers or providing value. They might join Facebook groups and immediately drop a link, often violating group rules. This is akin to a salesperson knocking on every door in town and immediately launching into a hard sell without any attempt to build rapport. People quickly tune out, or worse, get annoyed.
• Ignoring Analytics and Feedback: They launch a book, see low sales, and feel defeated, without ever looking at what might be working or not working. They don’t track website traffic, social media engagement, or review feedback to adjust their strategy. This is like driving a car without a speedometer or fuel gauge; you’re just hoping you get to your destination, but you have no idea if you’re on track or about to run out of gas.

The result of this reactive marketing? A feeling of exhaustion, minimal impact, and often, the lament that “marketing doesn’t work for me.” You’re constantly trying to catch up instead of laying the groundwork. You’re throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks, rather than preparing a well-thought-out meal.

Preventive Approach: The Proactive Platform Builder 🏗️

A writer embracing preventive marketing understands that building an author platform is a marathon, not a sprint. It begins long before the book is finished, let alone published.

• Early Platform Development: You start building your author platform as soon as you get serious about writing, even if your first book is years away from publication. This includes creating a professional author website, establishing a presence on relevant social media platforms (where your target readers hang out), and starting an email list. You consistently share snippets of your writing journey, insights into your genre, and engage with other writers and readers. This builds a community that will be genuinely interested when your book is ready. For example, if you write fantasy, you might share articles about world-building, discuss your favorite fantasy authors, or post snippets of your own creative process on Instagram, drawing in readers who appreciate those topics.
• Providing Value, Not Just Selling: Your content strategy focuses on providing value to your audience. This could involve blog posts about writing craft, behind-the-scenes glimpses of your creative process, discussions about your genre, or simply engaging in genuine conversations. When you do have a book to sell, your audience already trusts you and is more likely to listen. Instead of just “Buy my book!” you might share an exclusive excerpt, offer a bonus short story to email subscribers, or host a Q&A about your characters. This creates an investment in you, the author, not just the product.
• Strategic Networking and Collaboration: You proactively connect with other authors, reviewers, bloggers, and influencers in your genre. This involves genuinely supporting their work, commenting on their posts, and building relationships. When your book launches, these connections can become powerful allies, helping to spread the word. Imagine collaborating with another author on a joint giveaway, or getting a shout-out from a popular book blogger you’ve consistently supported. These organic connections are far more impactful than paid ads alone.
• Understanding Analytics and Adapting: You regularly review your website analytics, social media insights, and sales data to understand what’s working and what’s not. This allows you to adapt your strategy proactively. If a particular type of social media post gets more engagement, you create more of those. If your website traffic is low, you look into SEO or promotional opportunities. This data-driven approach means you’re always optimizing your efforts, not just reacting to poor results.

By adopting a preventive approach to marketing, you transform yourself from a hopeful author into a visible and connected one. You’re not just selling a book; you’re building a brand and a community around your writing. This foresight lays the groundwork for a sustainable and fulfilling writing career. Whether it’s your first book or your tenth, a proactive mindset toward marketing keeps your writing journey on track, fueled, and exciting. Keep writing, keep learning, and keep building!

Part 3: Querying Agents & Publishers – Sending Your Best Shot 🎯

Alright, wordsmiths, we’ve explored how proactive measures can strengthen your story from conception to polished manuscript. Now, let’s talk about the nerve-wracking, yet incredibly exciting, stage of querying agents and publishers. This is where your hard work meets the gatekeepers of the publishing world, and your approach—reactive or preventive—can significantly impact your success.

Reactive Approach: The “Spray and Pray” Method 📩

Many writers, after pouring their heart and soul into a manuscript, rush into the querying process with a reactive mindset. They’re often eager to get their work out there, but this haste can lead to common pitfalls.

• Generic Query Letters: This writer uses a one-size-fits-all query letter, sending the same generic pitch to dozens, even hundreds, of agents without tailoring it to their specific interests. They often include too much plot summary or not enough about why they are the right author for this story. This is like sending out hundreds of resumes for jobs you’re not qualified for, or don’t even want, hoping one sticks. Agents receive hundreds of queries a week; a generic one immediately signals a lack of effort and research.
• Ignoring Agent Guidelines: They skim the submission guidelines on an agent’s website, missing crucial details like preferred genres, submission formats (e.g., “first five pages only,” “no attachments”), or specific instructions for the subject line. When a submission gets immediately deleted because it didn’t follow instructions, that’s a reactive loss. This is like trying to enter a competition without reading the rules – you’re disqualified before you even start.
• Submitting Before Ready: Driven by impatience, they send out queries for a manuscript that hasn’t been thoroughly edited or polished. They might still be unsure about the ending or know there are lingering plot holes. This is like trying to sell a house with a leaky roof and broken windows. You’re hoping someone will overlook the flaws, but most buyers will walk away immediately.

The consequence of this reactive approach? A stack of form rejections, a lot of wasted time, and growing discouragement. Each rejection feels like a personal failure when in reality, it’s often a failure of preparation. You’re playing whack-a-mole with rejections, rather than building a strong submission strategy.

Preventive Approach: The Strategic Submitter ♟️

A writer who embraces preventive maintenance for querying treats it like a strategic campaign. They understand that success comes from careful research, meticulous preparation, and a personalized approach.

• Targeted Agent Research: Before writing a single query letter, you spend considerable time researching agents who represent your genre and have a track record of selling books similar to yours. You read their interviews, check their Manuscript Wish List (#MSWL), and even look at the “acknowledgments” sections of books you admire to see who represents those authors. This proactive research helps you identify agents who are genuinely interested in your type of story. For example, if you write YA fantasy, you wouldn’t query an agent who only represents adult historical fiction. This prevents wasted time for both you and the agent.
• Crafting Personalized Queries: Each query letter you send is tailored to the specific agent. You reference a book they’ve represented that you admire, mention something specific from their #MSWL that aligns with your story, or explain why you believe your manuscript would be a good fit for their list. This shows you’ve done your homework and respect their time. “I saw on your #MSWL you’re looking for atmospheric historical mysteries, and I believe my novel, The Clockwork Conspiracy, with its intricate Victorian London setting and strong female detective, aligns perfectly with your interests.” This kind of personalization gets attention.
• Polished Submission Package: You ensure your entire submission package—query letter, synopsis, first pages, and full manuscript—is meticulously polished and adheres to every single one of the agent’s guidelines. This includes proofreading everything multiple times, formatting correctly, and confirming word counts. You treat your submission like a professional business proposal, because that’s essentially what it is. This careful preparation prevents an immediate “no” due to technical errors. It’s like submitting a pristine, well-organized portfolio for a job interview.

By taking a preventive approach to querying, you significantly increase your chances of securing an agent. You’re not just throwing darts in the dark; you’re aiming for the bullseye. Even if you receive rejections, you know they’re not due to easily avoidable errors, allowing you to learn and refine your approach.

Next week, we’ll delve into the world of marketing and promotion, exploring how proactive strategies can build your author platform and connect you with readers long before your book hits the shelves!

Part 2: Editing – Polishing Your Gem or Just Wiping Dust? ✨

Welcome back, fellow wordsmiths! Last time, we talked about building a strong foundation for your story through preventive planning. Now, let’s tackle the often-dreaded but absolutely vital stage: editing. This is where many writers shift from creation to refinement, and the choice between reactive and preventive maintenance becomes even more stark.

Reactive Approach: The “Fix It Later” Mentality 😬

Many writers view editing as a necessary evil, something to rush through or even pawn off entirely. Their approach is often a desperate scramble to fix problems that should have been caught much earlier.

• Spot-Checking for Typos: This writer skims their manuscript, searching for glaring typos and grammatical errors. They might use a spell checker, but they rarely delve deeper into the structural or stylistic issues. This is like only cleaning the visible dust off your car’s exterior, ignoring the rusty undercarriage or the engine that’s making strange noises. You might catch “teh” instead of “the,” but you’ll miss repeated words, awkward phrasing, or inconsistent tense.
• Ignoring Feedback until It’s Too Late: They might receive feedback from beta readers or critique partners, but instead of analyzing it deeply and considering the underlying issues, they address only the most obvious surface-level comments. “This scene is confusing” gets a quick rewrite of a single paragraph, rather than an examination of why the scene was confusing in the first place (perhaps due to poor pacing or a lack of character motivation).
• Hiring an Editor as a “Fix-All”: Some writers treat professional editors like magicians who can wave a wand and fix every problem. They send a first draft riddled with structural issues, character inconsistencies, and plot holes, expecting the editor to magically transform it into a masterpiece. This is expensive and inefficient. An editor can help, but they are most effective when working with a relatively clean manuscript that just needs polishing, not a complete overhaul. Imagine taking a car with a blown engine to a detailer and expecting them to fix it. They clean it, sure, but it still won’t run.

The result of this reactive editing? A manuscript that, despite some surface-level improvements, still feels clunky, uneven, or unprofessional. Readers pick up on these subtle flaws, even if they can’t articulate exactly what’s wrong. You’re constantly patching holes in a leaky boat instead of building a sturdy vessel from the start. This can lead to rejections from agents and publishers, or negative reviews from readers.

Preventive Approach: The Meticulous Craftsman 👩‍🎨

A writer embracing preventive editing understands that editing is a multi-layered process, beginning long before a professional editor ever sees the manuscript.

• Self-Editing as a First Pass: Before even considering outside eyes, you take multiple passes at your own manuscript, focusing on different aspects each time. One pass might be dedicated solely to plot consistency, another to character voice, a third to pacing, and a fourth to sentence-level flow and word choice. You proactively identify repeated words, weak verbs, clunky sentences, and logical inconsistencies.

For example, during a self-editing pass for pacing, you might realize a scene drags on for too long and proactively trim unnecessary dialogue or descriptions, tightening the narrative before anyone else points it out.

• Utilizing Beta Readers Strategically: Instead of just handing over your manuscript and asking, “Is it good?” you give your beta readers specific questions and areas to focus on. “Are the character motivations clear?” “Does the plot make sense?” “Are there any parts where you got confused or bored?” This proactive approach helps them provide more targeted and useful feedback, allowing you to address systemic issues rather than just surface-level comments.
• Hiring the Right Editor at the Right Stage: You understand that different types of editors serve different purposes. You might hire a developmental editor early on to tackle big-picture issues (plot, character, structure), then a line editor for stylistic improvements, and finally a copy editor for grammar and punctuation. This phased approach ensures that major issues are addressed before you get to the finer details, saving time and money in the long run. It’s like having your car’s engine rebuilt by an engine specialist, then getting the bodywork done by a body shop, and finally having it detailed by a professional. Each expert tackles their area, leading to a superior final product.

By adopting a preventive approach to editing, you transform your manuscript from a rough draft into a polished, professional piece of writing. You’re not just fixing mistakes; you’re elevating the entire work. This meticulousness pays dividends when your manuscript lands in front of an agent or publisher.

Next week, we’ll shift gears and discuss how these reactive and preventive strategies apply to the often daunting but crucial stage of querying agents and publishers. Get ready to learn how to make your submission stand out from the crowd!

Is Your Writing a Well-Oiled Machine or a Breakdown Waiting to Happen? 🛠️

Hey there, fellow word weavers! Ever think about your writing career like a car? Some folks wait for a flat tire to fix it (reactive), while others regularly check their tire pressure and rotate their tires (preventive). The same philosophy applies to our creative endeavors. Are you constantly putting out fires in your writing life, or are you building a sturdy, fire-resistant structure from the ground up? In this multi-part series, we’re diving deep into the world of reactive vs. preventive “maintenance” in writing. We’ll explore how these two approaches impact everything from the initial spark of an idea to the thrilling (and sometimes terrifying) world of marketing your masterpiece. Get ready to supercharge your writing process!

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Part 1: Crafting Your Story – Building a Solid Foundation 🏗️

Let’s kick things off at the very beginning: the creation of your story. This is where preventive maintenance truly shines. Think of your story’s foundation like the blueprint of a house. A shoddily drawn plan leads to cracks in the walls later on.

Reactive Approach: The “Just Write It” Mentality 🏃‍♀️

Many writers, especially new ones, adopt a purely reactive approach to story creation. They get an idea, sit down, and just start writing, hoping the plot will magically untangle itself. This often involves:

• Plot Holes Galore: You write 50,000 words, only to realize your main character can’t possibly be in two places at once, or a crucial piece of information was never revealed. Now you’re scrambling to patch things up, often awkwardly inserting exposition or retconning entire scenes. Imagine writing a thrilling chase scene where your hero suddenly has a grappling hook, even though he’s a librarian who never showed any prior skill or equipment. That’s a reactive fix.
• Character Inconsistencies: Your protagonist acts brave and defiant in one chapter, then suddenly becomes a timid mouse in the next, with no explanation for the shift. You find yourself rewriting dialogue and actions to fit a consistent personality, often after the fact, causing ripple effects throughout your manuscript.
• Wandering Narrative Arcs: The story meanders, lacks a clear goal, and leaves readers wondering what the point is. You’re constantly trying to inject tension or direction into a story that was never structured for it, like trying to force a square peg into a round hole.

The problem with this reactive method? It leads to a lot of wasted time and energy. You’re constantly backtracking, unraveling plot threads, and trying to force square pegs into round holes. It’s like trying to fix a leaky faucet with duct tape instead of replacing the faulty washer. You might stop the drip for a bit, but the underlying issue persists.

I’m not saying it can’t work, and I’ve seen numerous authors who are these types of writers. Pantsers is a common term. However, the more of Lisa Cron’s book The Story Genius I read, the better I like her approach. I think it helps me think deeper about any story.

Preventive Approach: The Architect’s Mindset 🧠

A preventive approach to story creation involves front-loading the effort, planning and outlining before diving headfirst into writing. This doesn’t mean every detail needs a rigid plan; there’s always room for organic discovery. But it means having a strong framework.

• Robust Outlining: Before writing a single word of your manuscript, you spend time outlining your plot, character arcs, and world-building elements. This could involve a simple bullet-point outline, a detailed “snowflake” method, or even a beat sheet inspired by screenwriting. By mapping out major plot points, character motivations, and potential conflicts, you identify potential pitfalls before they become massive headaches.

For example, if your outline shows your protagonist needs to escape a locked room, you can proactively think about how they’ll achieve this, perhaps by giving them a specific skill or an item in their possession from an earlier scene. This avoids having to magically give them a lock-picking kit later on.

• Character Profiles and Arcs: You develop comprehensive character profiles, detailing their backstory, motivations, fears, and how they’ll change throughout the story. This ensures consistency and authentic growth. Instead of realizing halfway through that your villain’s motivation makes no sense, you’ve already established their past trauma and how it drives their actions.
• World-Building Bibles: For fantasy or sci-fi writers, creating a “world bible” – a detailed document outlining your world’s rules, history, magic systems, and cultures – prevents inconsistencies and plot holes. If your magic system has clear limitations from the start, you won’t suddenly introduce a deus ex machina spell that contradicts everything you’ve established.

By investing time in this upfront planning, you save countless hours of painful revisions later. You’re building a sturdy, well-engineered structure that can withstand the inevitable stresses of the writing process. It’s like a mechanic performing regular oil changes and tune-ups; they catch small issues before they become major engine failures. You’re not just writing a story; you’re designing one. This mindful approach creates a stronger, more cohesive narrative, making the drafting process smoother and more enjoyable. You’re less likely to hit a wall of writer’s block because you know generally where your story is headed.

Next week, I’ll discuss how this preventive vs. reactive mindset plays out in the crucial stage of editing your manuscript. We’ll look at everything from self-editing to working with professional editors, and how to avoid those “oops, I wish I’d caught that earlier” moments!

Last week, we shone the spotlight on Mallory Petersen. Let’s switch detectives to a recurring character in several of my books.

Harry Reznik

Reznik first appeared in Night Shadows (which, like the MP series, has seen a few incarnations, currently published through Black Rose Writing with an audio version available).

One night when I was working the 11p-7a shift at the Super 8 in Oskaloosa, I heard a Coast to Coast AM radio program. The talk show discusses subjects such as science, metaphysics, has touched upon medicine, diets, but the main topic is the weird and unusual. UFOS, aliens, ghosts, Bigfoot et al. This particular night, the topic was shadow creatures that people claim to see hovering at the foot of the bed or lurking outside the second-story window. My creative mind jumped on it and thought, “What if the creatures stated killing people?”

And Night Shadows flowed from me. I wanted a bit of an X-Files theme with an FBI agent who investigated supernatural events – Lori Campisi. I paired her with a Des Moines Homicide detective – Harry Reznik.

I set the story in May. Reznikis married to a newly pregnant wife. He’s thirty-five, average height and build, dark hair. I imagined him resembling and with a grousing-type personality as Nick Nolte in some of his detective movies.

Reznik is cynical, doesn’t play police political games, and calls the bad guys punks. He enjoys the job, though, and is reluctant to partner with Campisi, especially as she has issues of her own (not knowing her true identity as she can’t remember anything before the age of twelve and has developed a quiet, reserved personality).

My “world” of detectives and investigators is set within two years (so far). Night Shadows takes play in May. The sequel (being shopped to publishers and agents) is set in August. I want the third in the series set in December.

Meanwhile, Reznik shows up in Alpha, set in October, and other Mallory Petersen stories.

I wanted Reznik in a straight police procedural series, so I created another partner for him in the form of Tafari Selby, a black man whose parents were murdered when he was a teenager. Dum Blonde takes place in September between the supernatural and Petersen stories. Future stories will take place the next February and March and onward.

In the Reznik/Selby stories, I have Reznik still cynical and resisting a partner, and having to resolve issues with Selby. Also, in this series, I want to give Reznik another romantic interest with a coworker. I also have plans to show the deeper, emotional side of the character in both the romance and the job.

We’ve been discussing detectives and investigators throughout the last month. Who are your favorites and why?

We’ve been discussing the wide world of private investigators, with a highlighting of a progression from Holmes through the noir detectives, the offshoot investigators, and the amateur sleuths.

But I often like to discuss how the characters came into existence.

Mallory Petersen

Back in the 1991, I lived in Oskaloosa. Late that summer, I saw a sign for two weeks of free classes at the local taekwondo club. I attended, joined the club, and thirty-four years later, I’m still active in the organization with which is was associated.

Before that time, I had been writing a few stories and text for a comic book series that went nowhere. In 1995, the writing bug bit me, and I developed a character I named Mallory Petersen. She was going to be the female version of me. Left-handed, enjoyed Dr Pepper, martial artist, tall, blonde, etc. I made her twenty-nine years old. She had joined taekwondo as a teenager. I placed her house in Pleasant Hill, her private investigation business in downtown Des Moines, and her martial arts school on the south side.

I wrote a 40,000-word story, which turned out to be a very amateurish first draft. I wanted a theme for the series’ titles, so I settled for the Greek alphabet and thought I’d use each letter within the story somehow. For example, Alpha was used as an alpha male. Beta would be the old beta-type videocassette. And so on.

For this first book, I had the idea to use names all starting with the same letter. Of course, that notion changed on the rewrite, and the only name that stuck around was Edward Brougham, III, who has shown up in several of the books.

I also had a lame idea that Mallory was well-known around the country and friends with other well-known fictional investigators. That idea was deleted in the rewrites.

Around 2000, an author from Des Moines came to town to promote his book at the local library. Through him, I learned about a critique group that met at the Barnes and Noble in Des Moines. I still remember the night I proudly read the first chapter or two of Alpha, and received a load of critiques which told me I knew nothing about writing, or at least very little.

By then, the idea for Beta had bothered me, so I dropped the first book to concentrate on the second.

To not extend this history too much further, five of the MP series have been published at various times since 2009. Unfortunately, I’ve had issues with publishers closing because of health-related and other reasons (Three have died. Yeah, ask me about that sometime.) Currently, none of the books are on the market, even though you still see old versions still on Amazon (because once something is on that site, it’s there until Jesus returns). However, good news: Ozark Hollow Press has picked up the series, so look for release dates.

Back to Mallory. With the new publisher, I’ll be strengthening her character. She’s adventurous, quirky, loyal, determined, dedicated, uses some vulgarity at times, and finds herself in both unusual and humorous situations as well as some serious and dangerous cases.

Part of the fun of writing about her is creating new fight scenes using her martial arts. Yes, she carries a North American .380, but has used it in only a few books.

However, using her martial arts to defeat the bad guys also poses a challenge because I can’t have her use the same techniques all the time. I give her other weapons (knives, long staff, etc.) so that adds some variety.

Sue Grafton set her alphabet series with Kinsey Millhone in the mid-eighties and progressed only a few years. For my books, I’ve kept them all within about one year. I like this concept because I don’t have to age her too much, and because the arcs and character developments can stay tight. If years passed between books, readers might wonder what happened during the interval. I also like this format because in upcoming books, she goes through trials and tribulations that make her question her continuing in the P.I. profession.

Anyway, enough about Mallory. Just rest assured, she’ll return soon.

Next week, let’s move to another detective, who’s paired with a couple of partners.