• Start a new paragraph every time a new character speaks.
• Put quotation marks around spoken words.
• Dialogue tags usually follow the sentence with a comma.
Example:
“I'm not going back,” she said.
Dialogue with a tag before the quote
Use a comma after the tag.
Example:
She said, “I'm not going back.”
Dialogue with action instead of a tag
Use a period after the action.
Example:
She crossed her arms. “I'm not going back.”
When dialogue continues after a tag
Use commas inside the quotation marks.
Example:
“I'm not going back,” she said, “no matter what you tell me.”
Questions and exclamations
Keep the question mark or exclamation point inside the quotation marks.
Example:
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I can't believe this!” she shouted.
Interrupted dialogue
Use em dashes when dialogue is cut off.
Example:
“But I thought you—”
“You thought wrong.”
Trailing off
Use ellipses when a character fades out.
Example:
“I just thought maybe…”
Dialogue with action in the middle
The sentence continues after the action.
Example:
“I told you,” she said, rubbing her temples, “this would happen.”
Internal thoughts (optional style)
Some writers use italics instead of quotation marks.
Example:
This is a terrible idea, he thought.
Long dialogue
If a character speaks for multiple paragraphs, keep quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph but only close them at the end of the final paragraph.
Common mistakes to avoid
• Writing multiple speakers in the same paragraph
• Overusing dialogue tags like exclaimed, ejaculated, declared dramatically
• Forgetting punctuation inside quotation marks
• Using action beats incorrectly as dialogue tags
I'm gonna tell you about how I wrangled my shitbird brain into being a terrifying word-churning engine and have written over 170K words in under a year.
I wanna be clear that before unlocking this Secret Technique I was a victim of my unmedicated ADHD, able to start but never finish, able to ideate but not commit and I truly and firmly believed that I'd never write a novel and such a thing was simply outside of my reach.
Now I write (and read!!) every day. Every. Single. Day. Like some kind of scriptorial One Punch Man.
Step the First
Remove friction between yourself and writing.
I personally figured out how to comfortably write on my phone which meant I didn't have to struggle with the insurmountable task of opening my laptop.
I don't care if this means you write in a Discord server you set up for yourself, but fucking do it. Literally whatever makes you write!
(if you do write somewhere that isn't a word processor PLEASE back your work up regularly!)
Step the Second
Make that shit a habit. Write every day.
For me, I allow myself the grace that ANY progress on writing counts. One sentence? Legal. Five thousand furious hyperfixated words? Also legal.
Every day, make progress. Any progress.
I deleted Twitter from my phone and did my best to replace doomscrolling with writing. If I caught myself idly scrolling I'd close whatever I was looking at and open my draft and write one (1) sentence until I made THAT a habit, too.
Step Two-point-Five
DO NOT REWRITE. If you are creating a first draft, don't back up or restart. Continous forward motion. Second drafts and editors exist. Firsts are for ripping the fucking thing out of your brain.
If you're working on revisions after an editor or beta readers or whoever has given you feedback, then you can rewrite that's OK (and it counts as your writing for the day!)
Step the Third
Now that you've found a comfortable way to write and are doing it every day, don't stop. Keep doing it. Remember, just one sentence is all you need. You can always do more, but if one lousy sentence is all you can manage then you're still successfully writing.
Remember: this is what worked for me. Try things until you find what works for you.
For anyone who has finished their draft and is looking into publishing, I highly recommend subscribing/following Writer Beware, who posts great information about publishing scams, predatory practices, editor scam artists, class-action lawsuits, and more!
Shining a small, bright light in a wilderness of writing scams
If your characters is going to get shot, remember, gunshots HURT. A LOT. They burn, they break bones. It is not a fun experience and even the smallest gunshots can be life-threatening.
Flesh wounds are not danger-free. They all hurt. They can get infected and cause issues. If you are going to write injuries in general, make sure you get familiar with the human body. How it can react to the more generic aspects of injuries.
Reminder:: Not everyone reacts the same way. But there are well documented ways on how the body reacts on a general term, so you can use that to make more believable descriptions.
A good resource I used was the following book: Violence: A Writer’s Guide (i am not paid for this advert BTW. I just can’t recommend it enough).
He goes into greater depth on guns, knives, etc. and gives good advice on how to go on about things better than I can. Also, if you can shoot a gun at a shooting range, do so. It will also help you feel what your characters feel when they use the common guns yours are using. (You don’t need to use the exact gun. You just need a ballpark idea. You can also talk to others and get more from that.)
PLEASE MAKE YOUR OWN COPY BEFORE TYPING OR USING! Important Notes The Hero’s Journey applies to almost every story–action, adventure, fantas
Includes
The Hero's Journey - Steps broken down, example of a movie broken down in those steps, and a template for you to break your own story down into those steps.
Three Act Structure - Steps broken down and a template for you to break your own story down into those steps.
Advice from Anne Lamott from her book "Bird by Bird." Includes tips for the first draft, tips for when you think your publishing ready, but have been denied, and more!
And more resources at the bottom of the document!
If you have anything that you think should be added, please email or DM me with your suggestions and recommendations.
navigation post get my book, Throne of Vengeance! TNV anthologies ToV community!
hi, fools! this was long overdue. forgive me—i got distracted. anyhow! welcome to the official guide to self-publishing, as requested by satoh (@@satohqbanana). i’m going to give you tips based on my own process, but by all means, feel free to deviate and add/remove steps for your own process. some steps are mandatory though. no skipping 😤
okay i’m not going to yamble too much, lets get into it.
1.0 finishing the draft
2.0 the editing process (copyediting vs line editing vs beta reading)
3.0 the latent period (!!!)
4.0 pre-publication marketing
5.0 the cover + blurb
6.0 the final read-through
7.0 pre-orders and marketing
8.0 publish!
1.0 finishing the draft:
stop procrastinating and write, dodohead. words on the page. it doesn’t have to be perfect. you don’t have to agonize over that one line for an entire afternoon. stick to the vision and get the words on the page.
if you’re wondering why i’m saying it doesn’t have to be perfect when we’re talking about publishing a (hopefully good) book, it’s because there’s still the editing process later down the line to worry about typos, grammar issues, beta reader feedback, and all that jazzy good stuff. right now, you need to have your vision and get it down. this isn’t your polished copy. but you need to have your draft completed before you go anyways. so stop moping over whether “elucidate” is the word you want to use in that sentence and finish the sentence.
lol. with love <333
2.0 the editing process:
now you can worry about elucidate and its purpose in the sentence. the editing stage has many sub phases. copy-editing and the line editing. you can hire someone to do this for you or do it yourself. maybe get a friend to help. doesn’t matter. you just have to be critical and thorough. no sugarcoating. no, “oh ill just let this slide” or “i don’t wanna be mean so i won’t give real helpful feedback” editors. proper editors who will say it as it is.
copy-editing (as i understand it) is big book concept editing:
are there plot holes? is the lore consistent? does it make sense? is it unclear? is the story even interesting? how’s the pacing? what about the characters? too many? not enough? the voices aren’t distinct? the style is inconsistent? none of the characters feel like separate or fully formed people?
this is the phase where all those questions are addressed. once the overall concepts and structure of the book has been editing, constructively analyzed, and you’ve gotten feedback for it, go back to step one and revise your draft based on the critique. you don’t move on until those big concept issues are addressed.
done? okay, now it’s time for line editing.
exactly as the name implies, you’re going line per line, word per word, and catching any typos, grammar errors, punctuation—all that jazzy good stuff. REALLY BE THOROUGH. get a fresh pair of eyes on it. hire someone. put it through an editing software like grammarly. but be THOROUGH.
do the words you use make sense? are you using british or american english? slang? are you writing too much purple prose? do the sentences flow? are you using too many commas (stop that. don’t be afraid of periods).
you really need to understand the grammar and syntax rules of the english language to do this step on your own. otherwise, get help. or learn. whatever works with your budget lol.
done line editing? great! send it to a beta reader/ a friend, a writeblr mutual, someone you hired—just make sure they aren’t dancing around feedback and they give it to you as it is. i had a friend straight up tell me one of my drafts was ass LOL because the characters voices were too blurry and she never knew who was talking. there were some slow pointless chapters and the pacing was inconsistent. thus, i went back to step 1 and revised based off her feedback and came back with another draft.
don’t be afraid of critique. you need it to grow.
3.0 the latent period:
this is where you take a step back from the draft, preferably for months, and avoid interacting with it to give your mind a break and reset your eyes. this is a huge stage because this is where i want you fools to get your copyright and isbns in order.
it costs ~$60 to make sure no one can steal your shit. this is nonnegotiable. do this.
i also got an isbn for my book so i could publish it with other services apart from KDP and expand the market. hence why some people were able to buy it off barnes and noble, for example. i highly recommend.
this is also the phase i started looking at platforms i wanted to publish on/with and reading the contracts. i’m being serious. read the contracts. make sure it aligns with what you want and what you’re comfortable with. don’t skim. don’t just accept. you’re putting your signature on that, bro. read it properly.
the publishing platforms i used were ingramspark and KDP. you’re gonna need to know your book dimensions too. so have an idea so you can estimate the printing costs.
the settings i did for mine were off white, 6x9 paper with the recommended gutter margins (used KDPs excel calculator to determine) and black and white ink (no colour) to get the lowest printing cost per book. ingram spark was similar. only thing with ingram spark is you need your page number to be even (no 575–it has to be 576) and KDP has a 600 page limit. so bear that in mind.
4.0 pre-publishing marketing:
you have to generate hype for your book. now that its copyrighted, its safe to share excerpts, little quotes, make edits for your characters or oc profiles to generate an audience. i did this mainly on tumblr vis tag games and whatnot, but honestly? that's the BARE MINIMUM lol.
don't be like me. i hate social media so i honestly did not market my book the way i know i should have (and still should). i still don't market my book because lol... i dont wanna 🥲
BUT! like it said--dont be like me. make an author website (a proper one. pay for the domain if you can, otherwise use the free domain, but make a professional author platform for yourself and your biography. you'll need this to set up a goodreads author account and claim your book on there). use instagram and make an author instagram profile (i technially have one here, but i never use it lol womp womp i just hate instagram sue me) and promote your book with the teasers. go on pinterest and make moodboards or "book trailers" through a carousel of images. USE TIKTOK. i know it's a plague platform (i dont like it, clearly), but it is where you will find the most fruits for your marketing.
this stage is all about generating hype for your book. why? so when you set your book up for preorder (and, yes, you will be doing that so you have a general idea of market demand and interest), you have people who are genuinely invested and want to buy your book.
marketing ideas because apparently i'm your free publicist:
oc edits
character moodboards
quotes and excerpts
that one trend on tiktok where you give the vibe of the book and a soundtrack // song to it
oc / book soundtracks
"would you read a book about..." [list the themes / enticing tagline elements of your story] -- it's a trend on tiktok
platforms to promote your book:
tiktok (#booktok)
instagram (#books, #readers, #bookstagram)
tumblr (#readers, #bookblr, #writers of tumblr, #reading, #writers, #book reccs; don't just use writer hashtags, is what i'm saying)
wix or the like to make your website
twitter (a lot of authors have official twitter accounts. once again, i never bothered OOPS)
youtube (making videos talking about your book--the ogs of this blog know LOL-- compiling playlists, etc)
also, don't be afraid to make or commission art for your ocs. speaking of which...
5.0 the cover and the blurb
you can't avoid it anymore. you need to make a cover and write a back of the book blurb // synopsis for your book.
YES i know its hard to describe your book in a non-spoilery, enticing way. work on it. struggle through it. get help. but get it done. you can't finish your cover until it is done.
NOTE! if you are making your own cover, the dimensions are only going to be .25" longer than your page dimensions if it is hardcover. ALSO you gotta make it a pdf file. one pdf file that contains the back of the book, the spine, and the front of the book laid out as one page. this is why you need to get the blurb down.
if you're making it by yourself: play around with fonts, use canva + photopea // photoshop. add chrome, but not too much chrome. use references and easter eggs of important plot elements for your visual pieces. current book trend is text-dominant covers with interesting font and stylistic elements. i.e. tov has the title "throne of vengeance" as the main eye-catcher, in a metallic, legible but stylistic font, BUT there is the dragon ouroborous ring and the iron-rose dagger on the cover as well. the colours are intentional. the entire cover is an easter egg for the book, almost like a spoiler for those who know. make it engaging. enticing. you wanna draw readers in, but also make fans hyperanalyze and interpret the elements you chose.
another thing--you'll need to know your page count to know how thick the spine should be. so bear that in mind.
commissioning an artist may be expensive. i actually did commission someone for tov. i probably wont for the remainder of the series since this was the most expensive part for me. depending on who you get, it can range from $300 - >$1000. so just keep that in mind. i queried a lot before i commissioned the artist for my cover. and she was very in tune with the books themes, the symbolic motifs, and the general aura of the story when she created the cover. that is a good cover artist. don't pay someone if they dont take the time to learn about your book before making the cover.
resources to use:
photoshop/photopea
canva
reedsy (for finding artists to commission)
i can't think of anymore on the top of my head oops. ALSO if you're gonna use images, pay attention to copyright. you can't use copyrighted pinterest images for your covers. just saying.
6.0 the final read-through:
it should have been some months by now. time to read through your own book, start to finish, and see how you like it. catch any last minute errors, see whether you're satisfied with the end product, make any final revisions. this is the draft you're going to submit for preorder. the pdf cover will be your cover. the blurb will be your blurb.
also, in this phase, add your dedications, your acknowledgements, and your author blurb. oh yeah babes you need a headshot. i just used a picture from vacation LOL oops i dont like taking headshot pictures i got lazy womp womp.
anyways, your author blurb should describe you in a tag line (G.K> Multani, otherwise known as Naveena Khedar, is a pre-med student with a passion for writing... or something like that). then describe your credentials. have you written before? doesn't have to be same genre, but you want to represent your portfolio. list other books, articles, or journals you've written. then you as a person--hobbies, interest, etc outside of writing. finally, list your socials or where people can find you.
7.0 preorders and marketing:
publish the draft on KDP and ingram spark for preorder. announce that your book is available for preorder. it should take about a week for it to be approved and the preorder link to go live. and then repeat the marketing steps from step 4, but this time with your cover and a link to shove down people's throats :)
8.0 publish!
the date it goes live, make it an event! host a live-publish session! do something fun! have a party! do a book signing! go buckwild go crazy!
i did a live-vc session and unboxing.
oh yeah, also... while we're here. go buy/read my book.
Throne of Vengeance Official Synopsis
Buy my book, Throne of Vengeance: Volume One
Read Throne of Vengeance: Volume One PDF
lol :)
--
okay i have to go back to studying for exams. let me know if i missed anything.
How to come up with a story based on vibes that (probably) doesn't suck aka how to come up with a plot
First, identify the vibes. Maybe you already know. If so, great! If not, well that's what I'm here for. What are books/movies/shows that have what you're trying to achieve? A song or an image? Come up with a list of as many things.
YAY now you know what vibes you want.
Then you are going to make a list about the things (or your favorites if you have too many). Look at themes, characters, genres, settings, style, etc. If you have no idea where to start, pull up their wikipedia pages and read them. Anything similar WRITE IT DOWN (you will forget, don’t lie).
Take that list and find your favorite/most common things. These will be what gives you your vibe.
Take this list and invent a little guy who lives in this list. YAY now you have a character. What does this guy want?
It wants to live.
Now look at me. No. Look at me in the eyes. Stare into my soul.
You’re gonna let him live.
Use your vibe list to create a little world. Do you mostly like horror/mystery? BAM this guy lives in a horror/mystery. Do you mostly like historical fiction? BAM this guy lives in the past. Do you like dystopian things? BAM this guy lives in a dystopian world. Do this with whatever genre you want.
Now what does this guy in this world want most?
And how are you going to do everything in your power to stop him?
