Sandra Yeaman

#6 Have you written a first draft?

Yes. Continue to #7. No. Check out Writing Your First Draft Resources. Featured image credit: Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

#5 Do you have an outline, summary, or synopsis for your story?

Yes. Continue to #6. No. Consider whether an outline will help you get started. If it won’t, skip this step and go on to the next one. But realize that at some point, when querying an agent for a fiction book, you’ll need a synopsis, and for a nonfiction work, you’ll need a book proposal;Continue reading “#5 Do you have an outline, summary, or synopsis for your story?”

#4 Is your book idea fiction, memoir, or creative nonfiction based on history?

Yes. Continue to #5. No. Explore requirements for writing nonfiction. *Tips from publisher and distributor IngramSpark may provide a starting point. *Josh Bernoff’s Without Bullshit website is an excellent place for nonfiction writers to get tips. Sign up for his newsletter. Continue to #16. Featured image credit: Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Saying No

Saying no has never been easy for me. While I have a hard time asking someone else for something, I have internalized that being asked is a gift that means the asker believes I can do what is asked. So I almost always say yes. Except when someone asks me for money. I have internalizedContinue reading “Saying No”

#3 Does your audience want books?

Yes. Continue to #4. No. Perhaps you should write blog posts, journal articles, ezines, short stories, flash fiction, poetry, op ed pieces, or you could create podcasts or YouTube videos. Even if your answer to this question is yes, you’ll probably have to complete many of these activities to market your book. So get aContinue reading “#3 Does your audience want books?”

#2 Do you know who your audience is?

Yes. Continue to #3 No. Do the research to figure that out before you commit to what you write. Again, you can write pieces while you try to figure this out, but consider that honing your skill. Check out Find Your Audience Resources. Featured image credit: Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

#1 Do you have a story or idea in mind?

Yes. Continue to # 2. No. Stay on this step, or come back to it now and then, until the answer is yes. You can write pieces while you figure this out, but consider it practice. You can read ahead in this list of questions to see what else you need to be prepared toContinue reading “#1 Do you have a story or idea in mind?”

I want to be a writer. Where do I start?

Most important—Don’t be fooled into thinking there is only one way. There is no single guaranteed path to producing a best selling book. Asking yourself a few questions before you start, after you start, once you finish your first draft, after your book is published, and in the years that follow may help you findContinue reading “I want to be a writer. Where do I start?”

Holidays Around the World: Canada’s Independence Day

Canada observes its independence day in the same month we do in the United States. Theirs is earlier, July 1. The date is only one difference between the significance of independence days of these neighboring countries. Where in the US, we observe July 4 as the anniversary of our announcement of independence from Britain, trueContinue reading “Holidays Around the World: Canada’s Independence Day”