{"id":23764,"date":"2020-12-03T11:00:01","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T19:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=23764"},"modified":"2020-12-11T00:23:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T08:23:20","slug":"you-dont-need-to-go-it-alone-to-edit-your-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/03\/you-dont-need-to-go-it-alone-to-edit-your-novel\/","title":{"rendered":"You Don\u2019t Need To Go It Alone to Edit Your Novel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This is post is about how you don\u2019t need to go it alone to edit your novel.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Since I was a little girl I wanted to write stories, but I didn\u2019t know how. It was painful — the gap between desiring and not knowing.<\/p>\n

I probably was in that pain for over 20 years until I finally decided to do something about it.<\/p>\n

I was about to be 30 and had applied to graduate school in journalism, but had gotten rejected. What a blow to my confidence to be rejected! I\u2019d always been able to succeed in school and here I was facing a big fat NO \u2013 we don\u2019t even want you.<\/p>\n

When I finally picked my broken pieces off the floor, I asked myself what the hell happened?<\/p>\n

I re-read my application essay and saw that I\u2019d told the school that I wanted to be a journalist because I wanted to be a novelist.<\/p>\n

OMG. I had told them in black and white precisely what I wanted.<\/p>\n

I guess journalism school had been like a consolation prize I\u2019d been reaching for without even trying to go after what I really wanted.<\/p>\n

I was stunned. Then I saw the truth of it and knew I had to decide: do I pursue my dream of being a novelist or do I set this dream aside and dream up a new direction in my life?<\/p>\n

Once I posed the question, it took me all of two seconds to realize that I\u2019d regret it forever if I didn\u2019t actively pursue my dream of being a novelist.<\/p>\n

Done. Decided. Now what?<\/p>\n

I knew what my next step was: I needed to join a group of like-minded people all working on their dream of being novelists.<\/p>\n

Groups were my speed, my way of learning best.<\/p>\n

You Don’t Need to Go It Alone<\/h2>\n

It was time to find that group. So I went to the hub of information: the local public library. Yep, this story takes place before the internet. I entered the Berkeley Central Library, a majestic historic building, and went straight to the community bulletin board. There it was on a 3×5 index card: an invite to a writers group at a local caf\u00e9 on Telegraph Ave. to sit and write.<\/p>\n

At the meeting, I got started on a story that just flowed out of me and \u2013 Boom — that was it. I was committed to the process, to the unknown that was unfolding under my pen, and to writing this book to the end.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what I did. In the interim I outgrew this group that got together to write, and found a group that focused on improving one\u2019s fiction\u2014a supportive critique group with experienced writers who knew how to give helpful and gentle feedback.<\/p>\n

And there I stayed, dug in, and faced what was next for me\u2014producing content and learning in the crucible of doing the writing.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to today: My husband and I publish our own novels \u2013 over 20 between us – and I run a business helping authors learn how to write, edit, and publish their novels.<\/p>\n

The Offer:<\/h2>\n

Go It Alone Together?<\/h3>\n

We have a 12-month group coaching program to help writers, like you, edit and publish their genre novels.<\/p>\n

We do require that you have at least your draft already written. That\u2019s okay if it\u2019s your first novel, or maybe it\u2019s your fifth and you have yet to share it with anyone.<\/p>\n

The Core Problem and Our Solution<\/h2>\n

Our program reduces the fear, overwhelm, loneliness, self-doubt in editing and publishing a novel and provides how to’s and a road map for editing, publishing, and marketing, and mindset shifts, so you can have the confidence and support to go from messy draft to completed book you\u2019re proud to publish for eager readers.<\/p>\n

Some questions you may have:<\/strong><\/p>\n