014: Writing Q&A, Part 1

In this episode, I’m answering your burning writing questions! I talk about improving your vocabulary, writing classes, self publishing vs. traditional publishing, and the best writing advice I’ve ever received.

- Click here for ways to work with me + a free character profile template: www.thekatiewolf.com/info

- The last Tuesday of the month is a Q&A episode! Submit your questions for me HERE.


- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@katiewolfwrites

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiewolfwrites

 

 

WRITING Q&A, PART 1

It's a q&a episode. I had something else planned for this week. But I was looking over my my list that I have for upcoming episodes. And I was like, you know what, screw it. I just want to do a q&a episode. So that's what we're doing. All of the questions that I'm going to be answering on this episode I got from people on Instagram. I posted something in my Instagram story saying, hey, give me your writing, publishing, editing, you know, related questions, and I'll answer them on a podcast. So if you are not following me on Instagram, make sure you follow me there at @theKatieWolf and that way you can see when I post stuff like this, where I'm you know, can answer questions that you have. Because I'm probably going to do a part two, I got a lot of questions. And there are a lot of really good ones. And so I wanted to make sure, if possible to answer them all. So I think in a few weeks, I'm going to do a part two. But yeah, so all of these questions are anonymous. I just compiled them, I wrote them down. And I don't have a username attached to them or anything. So we'll just go ahead and dive in.

All right, first question, how can I expand my vocabulary? I smiled when I read this question, because it brought me back to when I was first starting to write, started writing my very first short story, which is really the first thing I seriously sat down to write, you know, creatively. And I was suddenly very self conscious about my vocabulary. And I was like, oh, man, I really got to make sure I'm using like impressive words, and really amp it up. Because I think my writing style is a bit simplistic. So I don't know the context of this person asking this question. I'm not I again, I didn't write down who asked this question. But I'm going to give you some suggestions. But I'm also going to say like, don't let this hold you back from writing because you're afraid your vocabulary isn't impressive enough. Okay. So caveat with that. One of the best ways to expand your vocabulary is honestly just to read, I read physical books, I don't read on a Kindle or anything. But I have in the past, I had a Nook back when Nooks were a thing. And every so often, I'll check out an e book from the library. And what I love about those e-readers is that you can look up a word if it's something that you're not familiar with. So that's a great way to just be exposed to a lot of different words in different genres. So reading widely is one of the best ways that you can expand your vocabulary.

I also spend, it's gonna make me sound like such a dork, I'm aware. But I spend a lot of time on Merriam Webster's merriam-webster.com. Because when I'm copy editing, something that's my preferred dictionary that I use. So I'm constantly looking words up. And a lot of these sites have like words of the day that you can use. And I think there's even like email alerts that you can get where they will email you, and say, this is the word of the day and you can learn it. And you know, even if not all of the words stick in your brain forever, it's a good idea to just be exposed to new words kind of like with reading, they're also you know, calendars that you can get that have words of the day. But those are two places that I would start dictionary word of the day type things and also just reading.

Okay, question number two. What's the best writing advice that you've ever received? I'm glad I had some time to think about this one. Because this is one of those questions that immediately makes me nervous because I'm like, oh, I have received so much good writing advice. What if I forget something? What if I record this podcast episode and I give an answer and then two weeks later, I'm like, oh, shit, I forgot about this amazing piece of writing advice. What about this thing? So I'm gonna go with something that I heard early on when I took my very first writing class. It was a class on like, there was a workshop on how to write a book, how to write a novel. It was a couple years ago, it was probably 2000 let's see 2016 or 2017. And the instructor said, your first draft is going to be terrible, and that's okay. And something about the way that he said it completely changed my perspective on how I was thinking about my draft. I had been trying so hard to make every word perfect to make every sentence perfect to make sure that everything was great before I let myself move on in that manuscript, and it was taking me forever. And I couldn't figure out how people wrote books, I just, I couldn't wrap my head around actually completing a full book. And when he said that he talked about like, just get the first draft out, it's just for you, no one's going to see it. You can go back and edit. And something about that it was like, it almost gave me permission to just have a terrible first draft and to be okay with it, knowing that no one was going to see it.

So that's why I've shared that advice in some, you know, a few different forms on social media before. And I'm always very sensitive or prickly when people call that advice basic, because I didn't know that when I started writing. And so I'm very sensitive to the fact that there are probably a lot of people who have started writing who or who are in the middle of writing, who have never heard that piece of advice before. That's the thing about writing tricks and suggestions and teaching and writing advice. You know, if you've heard something before, you might think, oh, well, that's so obvious. But if you're just starting out, like maybe you've never heard that before. So I always want to be careful about calling something obvious or silly or whatever. Because it could be the first time that someone's hearing that information, and it could change their writing life, because that piece of writing advice changed my life, my writing life, for sure. Okay, how can I make my writing stronger, like taking a writing course, this person was looking for ways to make their writing stronger. So yes, taking writing, taking a writing course, is a fantastic way to do this. Like I mentioned, I took that first writing workshop, and I was hooked. And I've taken a ton of classes since then, both workshop style classes, where it's just a couple of hours one day, and then also multi week classes where we meet once a week for four weeks, or six weeks, or eight weeks, or whatever. Both are incredible, right?

There are so many ways to attend writing classes, you can do it in person if you live in a big city. But if you live out in the middle of nowhere, or you live in like a small town or a rural area, and there's not a writing center, or any place to take writing classes in person, it doesn't matter, you can just take them online. I live in Nashville, and "The Porch" is this amazing literary center that has classes and readings and everything. And they've switched over to Zoom classes during the pandemic. And I think a lot of writing centers have probably done that. So I would just go online and look at just Google like classes that you want to take. And a lot of Writer's Digest also has some on demand webinars that are like 70 bucks, 60 bucks, 50 bucks. So they're not always these really cost. You know, they're not, they're not always these really costly, like multi week classes, you can spend 50 bucks and get an amazing amount of value.

I think reading books on the craft of writing is also a good way to make your writing stronger. You know, there are a lot of good books that talk about like the craft and talk about writers who have have, you know, documented their own experience writing their books. A third way that you can make your writing stronger is to read. And when I say read, I mean read published books, but also see if you can read other writers works like beta reading for people or swapping with another writer say, hey, I'm working on this. I'm about halfway done. I need some feedback. Can we swap and just just read and see how people are approaching things how people write with different styles with different voices. My writing, I'm not the world's best writer like y'all. I in no way shape or form do I claim to be an amazing writer. But I can tell a huge difference in my writing when I started working with other writers as an editor. And when I joined a writing group being exposed to how other people were writing and how other people were approaching things, made me a lot more aware of how I was doing things.

I'm gonna I have an upcoming podcast episode about writing groups. So if you hear that and you're like, I don't know how to find a writing group. That's something I'm interested in. Just stick tight. I got an episode coming up about that. Yeah, so those are always the can make your writing stronger. And kind of a fourth tip I would say is to just give it time and practice. It's the kind of thing where right out of the gate if you're just starting to write like, you might not be amazing, but give it time, give it practice. It's the kind of thing where you'll, you'll be able to look back in a couple years and say, wow, look at all this progress that I've made.

Okay, next question. Should I self publish? Or traditionally publish? I really can't decide which route to go. Hmm. Okay, this is a good one. So I have a podcast episode that dives into the pros and cons of traditional publishing and self publishing and kind of gives you some things to think about with both of those routes. And that is episode number four of the podcast. I'll reiterate again, there is no right answer. There's not, it's going to depend on so many things, it's going to depend on your manuscript, your genre, how much creative control you want to have, it's going to depend on your personality, it's going to depend on just so many factors, that it's impossible to make a blanket statement and say, oh, this is better, definitely do this. So go and listen to that podcast episode, I would say, if you haven't already. And if you are truly torn, like you've made a pros and cons list, you're very aware, you've done your research on what it would take to get traditionally published as far as like finding an agent and everything. You've done your homework on what would be required, if you self publish, as far as marketing and doing a lot of your own, you know, publicity and stuff like that.

If you are truly still on the fence, one thing you can do is try traditional publishing first, start the querying process. See, if you find an agent, see if you find an agent who really understands your work, who understands you, and that you feel energetically good about working with. That can make the decision if you go through the process, and you're not having much luck, or you don't find an agent that you really click with, then maybe self publishing is the answer. And I don't mean to suggest that, oh, traditional publishing is best and self publishing is always a plan B. That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm only giving this advice to this specific person who's saying, hey, I'm really on the fence. I don't know which way is best. For some people, self publishing is the best answer right away. For some people, traditional publishing, trying to go that route is the best. But if you're on the fence, maybe it's a good idea to try for (judo) to traditional publishing, and see what the experience is like, and then, you know, self publishing. But, again, I wish I could be more helpful and say like, oh, this is definitely the best answer in this situation. But I can't it's just it's an individual decision.

Okay, so those are all the questions I'm going to answer in this episode. Like I said, I'll post again. And if I didn't get to your question on this episode, don't worry. I've got it written down. And I will try my best to address it on a future podcast episode. And maybe we'll even do like two more of these. I don't know. Y'all let me know what you think if you listen to this q&a episode, and you're like, Yeah, this was really valuable. I love this. Let me know, send me a DM on Instagram. Take a screenshot of the episode and share it, let me know your thoughts. Let me know what your takeaway was. That'll help me kind of, you know, judge if we should do like one more of these q&a episodes, or maybe two. So. Alright, have an amazing week, and I'll see you next time.

Katie Wolf