writing tips

#Writing and Revising Tips to Take Away from Hugh Howey on #Amazon Insights

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writing tips

 

I came across this fantastic series on writing and revising by Hugh Howey. For those of you not familiar with Hugh, he’s one of the pioneer indies who got picked up by a traditional publisher after publishing as an Indie and despite his fame, continues to write articles for Indie writers to learn and keep up with the world of self-publishing.

 

Recently, Hugh wrote this fantastic 4 part series on Amazon AuthorInsights.com. about the Three-Part Revision Process.

 

Here are just a few of his tips from this series:

 

“Write lean not fat to build upon later.”

“Write away from the keyboard.”

“Use your voice, not flowery words that don’t represent you.”

 

Here are a few habits of my own I use when writing my books:

 

  • A great trick I use when revising is similar to Hugh’s, to highlight a sentence I know I need to work on or add more to the subject, so I can continue moving on writing without losing my train of thought while stumped on a passage.
  • I tend to write my final chapters first to encompass the essence and summation of my stories. Of course it gets edited later to fit the finished stories.
  • Do proper editing before sending to betas – a lesson I learned with my newest book.
  • Realize that after first, and perhaps, second and third drafts, some scenes will require complete re-writes, not just revising.

 

Visit these 4 articles by Hugh Howey for a complete rundown from his experience on writing books:

 

Part 1 – Becoming a Writer

http://amazonauthorinsights.com/post/165774835635/writing-insights-part-one-becoming-a-writer?ref_=aai_fp_wr

 

Part 2 – The Rough Draft

http://amazonauthorinsights.com/post/165775323870/writing-insights-part-two-the-rough-draft-by?ref_=aai_fp_wr

 

Part 3 – The Revision Process

http://amazonauthorinsights.com/post/166010723153/writing-insights-part-three-the-revision-process?ref_=aai_fp_wr

 

Part 4 – Publishing Your Book

http://www.hughhowey.com/writing-insights-part-four-publishing-your-book/

 

I also highly recommend you visit Amazon’s author insights blog for so many interesting and helpful tips on everything self-publishing.

www.amazonauthorinsights.com

 

 

 

47 thoughts on “#Writing and Revising Tips to Take Away from Hugh Howey on #Amazon Insights”

  1. This post couldn’t have come at a better time for me, Deb! Thank you for introducing Hugh Howey’s work, I’ve never heard of him. I will be reading all of these articles and finding him on social. I’ve had a hard time getting back into my editing since I was away. The time change is killing me LOL. Gotta get back to work. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  3. Like Lisa earlier, this post came at a pivotal time in my writing. I found some great nuggets from Hugh’s storehouse of tips, especially this one: “Details turn stories into works of art. Details make us believe the stories we’re told.” In my latest revision, I’ve strived to add credible details. Then I shipped the manuscript draft off to another “beta” reader. Wheeow!

    You are a gold digger in the BEST sense of the word for us your readers, Debby. Thanks! 🙂

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    1. Thanks for the compliment Marian. I’m so glad to hear you find my findings useful. Yes. can you tell I live on the computer? Lol. Always investigating! Happy to share helpful things I find. 🙂 x

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      1. Oh! I’ve been meaning to tell you, after reading Conflicted Hearts, I dove into Writing for Bliss and started writing my career memoir. My goal is for it to publishable, possibly for new social workers, someday. I am excited about it and thinking about taking a memoir course online. You inspired me. Much gratitude!

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      2. Oh wow Bonnie, or double wow! First I wasn’t aware you read my book. But I’m thrilled to hear that it helped to inspire you. I’m humbled! And just goes to show the power of books! I wish you so much luck! Keep me posted!!! 🙂 And if you get the chance, you should read P.S. I Forgive You, the sequel. 🙂 x

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      3. Oh, yes, I have P.S. on my list.
        I loved Conflicted Hearts! I will check but I think I wrote a review on Amazon… I mean to do that with all books, now that I understand how much it means to authors. I hope you’ll keep writing your inspirational life story.

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      4. Aw thanks again Bonnie. P.S. is a lot more intense, learning to let go of my fears of my mother. It was a real awakening, better late than never. 🙂 And if you can find the time, reviews are so crucial to authors. They are worth more than the mere pittance we make on our books, lol. My newest book will be published later this week!!!! 🙂

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      6. It’s uncanny, and sad really. how many people have this familiarity. I suppose that’s the beauty of books, we can relate and resonate and feel we’re not alone. 🙂 ❤

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    1. You are welcome Olga. And go figure, out of all the books you’ve read, none by Howey? Well since you’re a champion reader, I’ll let you read one and wait for your review! Lol. 🙂 xx

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  7. I’m with you on 1,3,4. I don’t write the final chapters first though I wonder if I should. So far, I let it grow from the story. Unfortunately, that’s not happening too well in my current WIP.

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  8. Howey is brilliant!. Thanks for telling us about him, Debbie… Excellent post and I love how you organized it, keeping in mind the writing process itself… Love & best wishes 😀

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  10. Very useful – thank you Debby. I never thought of using the highlighting technique to help me go back to something I’ve written in a chapter that I need to remember for a future chapter… or to edit/change. Excellent idea!

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      2. Yes! And I did find it it spam! That happened a few times this year to me. You have to report to Askimet and they clear it up. 🙂 x

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  12. I have never read Hugh’s books, but I keep telling myself I have to. This post is a good nudge! Thanks for sharing, and I voted for your book too! I loved it so, and I think it totally deserves a win. 🙂

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  13. Thanks for sharing these links, Debby. I’ve bookmarked them for reading later. It sounds like his process of “writing away from the keyboard” agrees with yours. 🙂

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  14. Thanks for sharing, Deb. I read the first part some time ago (it came up on an Amazon email, I think?), then forgot to go back and read the rest – great advice in there, I have bookmarked it to go back and read again. Howey is one of the superstars of the Indie Revolution, and I can quite see why.

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      1. I so wish I’d caught on earlier, it was a much smaller pool of authors then, and easier to get noticed. Not to say that the quality was any lower, it was just the right time to get into the scene.

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  15. Thanks for sharing these tips and insights, Debby! I will check out the links to Hugh’s articles when I’m back at my computer, since I’m sure I will want to bookmark them. 🙂

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