More Advice from Meg Cabot

Hello Fellow Writers!

My writing instructor, author Vinnie Dacquino, has finished reading my category romance "Snowed in With a Millionaire". He said he liked it even better than my previous romance "The Movie Star's Very Personal Assistant"! That gives me the confidence to submit it to Silhouette Desire once I hear back from then about "Movie Star".

My goal for the rest of the Advanced Writing Workshop is to write a query and a synopsis for "Snowed" and have it critiqued.

I am still working on my erotic romance "Taste of Candy". I'm finding myself doing anything I can to avoid working on it for some reason. True writer's block! But I do believe in the story I am trying to tell, so I will push through until I get the story flowing again!

I've read two more of Meg Cabot's "Princess Diaries" series. Those books are so much fun! Here is more advice for writers from Meg Cabot's website.

I have started lots of stories, but I can’t seem to finish them. What’s wrong with me?
It is always more fun to start a new story than it is to work on the one you’ve been working on for months. This is why publishers don’t pay writers their whole advance until they turn in the completed manuscript. Every writer feels this way. Just power through it, and remember that if you write a page a day—just ONE page—in three months you’ll have a hundred page story. And in six months you’ll have a two hundred page story. That’s almost a whole book. So don’t think about it like: "Oh my gosh, I have to write two hundred pages." Think of it like, "Today, I have to write a page." Trust me. It works.
I don’t know how to get started on a story. Please help.
The solution to this problem is very simple: Sit down. Start a story. Finish it. Put it aside. Start another story. There. Now you’re a writer.
I can’t think of anything to write about.
How about this: Who do you hate and why? Who do you love and why? What’s happened to you that you wish hadn’t happened? What hasn’t happened to you that you wish WOULD happen?
Write these things down. There’s your story.
Obviously you’ve got to create a plot and change your characters names so your friends and family won’t sue you. But that’s the fun part.
How many pages should my novel be?
Publishers go by words, not pages. Most adult books are about 90,000 words, and no longer than 100,000 words (unless you’re JK Rowling). Teen books are about 55,000 words.
How many words are there to a page? It depends on the font you are using, of course, but in general, 250-300 words per page. Therefore, a 55,000 word book should be about 200 manuscript pages. A 100,000 word book would be about 400. Editors like 12 point font.

I think it's interesting how Meg Cabot recommends writing at least a page a day. It's good advice! Right now I am sitting at Panera with several of my writing friends from NaNoWriMo. We are still meeting up on my free weekends to sit together and write.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers