The MSSW

New Writers: When requesting quotes from literary professionals, offering the exact word count of the piece can help them give you a more accurate estimate. Pages don’t mean much because a different number of words can be on any given page. It’s not going to be exactly the same throughout the entire piece.... Pages can also be formatted differently (margin size, trim size, font size, etc.), changing how many words end up on each page. Someone can say they wrote 100 pages, but those pages could hold anywhere from 100 words (at one word per page) to 25,000 words (at 250 words per page) or even more. Chapters are even worse when it comes to accuracy. Imagine someone says they have five boxes of apples. There's a lot of missing info in that phrase. How big are the boxes? Are they all even the same size? How big are the apples themselves? How many are actually contained in each box? The phrase five boxes of apples tells us next to nothing. Five chapters is similar. When you tell someone you’ve written X chapters, that doesn’t give them an accurate idea of the size of your manuscript (or the amount of hard work you’ve done!). Yes, most professionals will respond to your query by asking for a word count so that they don’t give you a number that is unrealistically low or frighteningly high. However, providing an accurate word count at the first contact saves both of you time. You can find your word count in the bottom left corner of your Word interface when your work-in-progress (your book file) is open. Most word processors (Scrivener, Dropbox Paper, etc.) have the word count of your piece available somewhere, though it may not appear automatically. You might have to use the app or site's menu to get your word count. For example, in Google Docs you’d need to press the 'CTRL,' 'SHIFT,' and 'C' keys all at the same time to get your word count to appear. You could also use the menu to select 'Tools' and then click on 'Word Count.' If you aren't working in a word processor that is this sophisticated (such as a memo app on your phone or an email draft), there are websites where you can copy and paste your content to get a word count. Just do a web search for "word counter" and choose the site you want to use. Open your manuscript, select all of the content (pressing 'CTRL' and 'A' at the same time will usually do this for you), copy it all ('CTRL' and 'C'), go back to the word counter site you chose, and paste ('CTRL' and 'V') your content to see your word count. Knowing your word count can help you save time and money, as well as help you track your progress in a more precise manner.

New writers: The next "How to Publish a Book" free class takes place this Thursday night, January 6th, at 7:00 p.m. EST. WriterwerxUniversity.com #writingcommunity #writing #publishing

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Don't abandon your first draft. Just because something needs time, care, and effort to be developed into a stronger piece, doesn't mean it isn't worth putting that work in. I don't know if I've ever, in over a decade of helping people develop books and screenplays, run across a concept that was "unsalvageable" or "unworkable." It may be true that YOU have hit a wall and can't come up with options for moving the story forward. But that's why the concept of 'collaboration' exi...sts ("Two heads are better than one!"). Get in touch with the smart, talented, problem solvers in your critique groups and social circles. You can even hire a professional to give you their perspective on how you can take your piece to the next level (screenplay coverage, manuscript evaluation, etc.). But to do so much work to finally finish your first draft and then say "This didn't fall out of my brain perfectly developed, so I'm gonna trash it," is a waste. Remember that writing is work, not happenstance. You get out of it what you put in. Create that first draft and then groom it. If it's really as bad as you think it is, it can only get better with each round of revisions. Just as you wouldn't ( in theory! ) toss a puppy in a dumpster because it was born not knowing how to control its bladder or keep itself warm or avoid danger, don't toss out your first draft just because you haven't put in the work to build it into something you like. You CAN do this! See more

Join us at How to Publish a Book next Thursday night!