On the recommendation of the wise Karen Strong, I’ve been reading The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell. It’s a brilliant little book inspired by Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Bell is honest about the difficulties of writing and publishing, but he’s also full of helpful advice. 
Here are a couple of his gems on storytelling:
The reader has to wonder what is going to happen next. To people. That creates the page-turning effect, and it applies not just to commercial fiction but literary as well.
Readers want to suspend their disbelief. They start out on your side. They hope your words will lift them out of their lives and into another realm.
And here’s a great bit of advice for those of us who tend to get a tad obsessive about a particular project:
You learn most about writing a full-length novel by actually writing a full-length novel. It is much more valuable to do this repeatedly than to hover too long over one unfinished (or unpolished) manuscript.
One thing that really stood out to me in this book was Bell’s attitude about being a writer. He sees nothing wrong with being neurotic, as long as you use it to your advantage:
If you’re not insecure about your writing…you’re either mailing in forgettable stuff or somebody else is writing it for you. You will worry if you are a writer. Turn that worry into writing.
I read that part aloud to my husband. “See?” I said. “Being a worrywart is part of being a writer.” He smiled and nodded. Poor guy.
I could go on and on about this book and I’m not even halfway through it yet. I’ve been reading a few pages a night, savoring its wisdom. As I’ve been practically drowning in revisions the past few weeks, it’s been nice to have James Scott Bell’s calm, authoritative voice telling me that it’s all just a part of the process.
So what are beta readers? They’re essentially test readers, people who take your manuscript out for a spin. Often they’re used in later stages of writing, so that they’re among the last people to see the manuscript before it’s sent off to an agent, publisher, etc.
n the past year I’ve had to cut out three major characters from two manuscripts. Each time I was resistant and pouty. But when I finally did it, I realized my story didn’t miss the characters at all. In fact, it was stronger because they were gone. However, it can be hard to step back and realize that your characters need to be cut. Here are a few scenarios to look out for:


After I was done with the synopsis, I stared at it for a while, wondering when on earth I’d have time to work on a new project. I wasn’t about to put aside my revision for a shiny new idea (though it was tempting). But could I possibly find the time to work on both at once? Finally, I made a deal with myself. On days when I make significant progress on my revision, I can go ahead and work on the shiny new idea. But I’m not allowed to focus exclusively on the new idea until the revision is done. It was a hard bargain to agree to, but I think it’s a necessary one.
When I’m just starting a story, however, or trying to decide what to work on next, I tend to read up a storm. It often helps me gather momentum and inspiration for my upcoming writing. Because I love reading, it feels odd to be so turned off to it every once in a while. But I guess it’s all part of the mysterious creative process.