We wanted to get to know Robin Pool (NAIWE’s Sci-Fi/Fantasy Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here are some thoughts she shared with us.

You have a deep background in sci-fi and fantasy. What are the most common world-building mistakes you see indie authors make during a developmental edit?

My father is notorious for reading a half dozen guidebooks before he travels. He wants to know the details before he visits. Readers are not like that!

They are not reading a book to understand the history, socioeconomic system, recent secession crisis, outcome of the war, and environmental turmoil . . . before they even get to know the characters!

Indie authors often add details just to give their reader an overview, but that is not a good strategy, especially not early in the book! Imagine you got off a train in a strange city. What details would you discover first, and what would become clear later in your visit? Spin the details out slowly as they become germane to the story. Keep us in suspense. Save the bird’s eye view for the birds!

If it helps the author to have all of that written out ahead of time, put it in a separate preparation document so it’s not the first thing that comes out when you start the book.

Unless the beginning is already top notch, I advise authors to simply start writing the book wherever it seems right and come back and write a more dynamic beginning later. The beginning is so important that it should not be set in stone when you are just getting your feet wet with the plot or topic.

You can also lose readers by not connecting the details of the world to action or character growth or by setting too many world components against the character, taking away their “elbow room” to act. The world should be like one of those Ninja Warriors courses: plenty of challenges to help the character grow, but also a plausible way through.

 

How does your background in art history from Princeton influence the way you help authors visually map out or design their fictional worlds?

Before I studied art history, I thought the visual details in a portrait just set the general scene. But actually, they are carefully chosen. It’s not just a general flower, dog, or jewelry the artist wanted to paint; they’re specific images that would resonate with the intended audience. Visual details in a book should be the same.

Writers tend to write about what they think is interesting, or they want to give readers a general visual orientation. But it’s better to choose key details that support the reader’s experience. Don’t describe the wallpaper and the furniture and the lamps and the china. Describe how the delicate bone china teacup trembled in the daughter’s hand as the doctor carried the bowl of blood across the plush carpet of the drawing room. That creates tension and anticipation . . . and keeps the pages turning! Is the character wearing a fancy dress because she is a princess (boring!) or because the voluminous skirts allow her to hide a dagger underneath? Both can be true, but only one is worth writing about!

 

As a professional writing coach, what is the number one strategy you use to help an author overcome severe writer’s block or structural overwhelm

In my experience, if writer’s block cannot be alleviated by a couple of days off, a creative recharge, or a fresh perspective, there’s typically a deeper problem. My number one strategy is to ask questions to identify it.

Could be severe burnout, a mindset issue like perfectionism or excessive pressure, or even trouble getting back on the “writing horse” after a setback like a bad review.

Often, I find that writers don’t really understand their best writing energies. If writing is a good activity for you, there should be a way to make it pleasurable. However, most of us were trained in school to try to please others and keep grinding even when we didn’t like the work. If you don’t know how to make writing enjoyable, that’s where a professional writing coach can help! Don’t try to hammer down the door. Look for a key to open it.

Once people uncover the problem and retool their approach or mindset, severe blocks typically lift. That can take time, though, so it’s important to be patient with yourself and not cling to old assumptions and habits around productivity or performance. I encourage writers to get the support they need to find their happy writing flow.

——————

How do authors create characters with special abilities that readers can’t get enough of? Ever wondered why Latin incantations and super strength produce perennial best-sellers?

Learn to design compelling character abilities by using a simple 3-step process and avoiding a few basic pitfalls. For any Speculative Fiction genre (from Paranormal Romance to High Fantasy to Steampunk Sci-Fi, even Vampire Littles) this class will help you:

• maximize your writing gold for your ideal audience
• integrate abilities into genre expectations, character growth, world-building, and reader aspirations
• avoid “puncturing the mystery balloon” and “pasting postage-stamps”
• prevent abilities from feeling overpowered or overused
• craft inclusive language and avoid sensitivity “hot spots”

This hands-on training includes workshopping case studies and editing real-life examples. Takeaways include a 3-page PDF with Do’s and Don’t’s, a 5-Step Design Framework, and a Compelling Characters Checklist to help you create from scratch or troubleshoot during revisions.

Learn to write special abilities that get your readers to finish a book, start the next one in the series, and recommend it to their friends. Make your words work like magic…or super strength! No Latin needed.

You can join in this conversation on August 20 at 2:00 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on creating and developing characters and plots. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Nonmembers can join for $30. Register today!

 

Robin Pool loves the challenge and reward of sci-fi and fantasy. Take all the regular story hurdles – engaging plot, compelling characters – and add in an unfamiliar or even impossible world? That’s an uphill climb! But it’s so worth it! To get good at making the imaginary feel real, Robin has studied social, spiritual, and magic systems from around the globe, including learning Koine Greek and Arabic to read texts in the original. She is equally at home in story settings from pre-history to the speculative future. With decades of experience as a successful small business owner, Robin has coached over 3,000 clients to achieve their writing goals, including major publication credits, prizes, recognition, and readers. She is also an artist (blogging about creativity, knitting, and crochet @robinfpool on Substack), and she loves a good charity shop, especially if she can walk through a garden to get there.

We wanted to get to know Helen Armalas (NAIWE’s Style Guide Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here are some thoughts she shared with us.

Authors have praised your ability to deliver constructively critical feedback directly and honestly during initial video consultations. How do you establish trust and set realistic expectations during that first 30-minute discovery call?

Establishing trust in an initial client call requires professionalism (fundamentally respect), being proactive and prepared (by reading sample material and writing out questions and potential next steps beforehand), and actively listening to the client. Since many authors are not versed in the language of and the different types of editing, I always ask them what their expectations are for an editing project, what specific concerns they have with their manuscript, what level of editing they desire (which typically tells me how receptive they are to criticism), and what questions they have for me. Listening to the client’s needs and drawing certain information out of them through having an authentic, honest conversation and by asking questions helps to get us on the same page so that we both have a clear understanding of what my services would entail for their specific manuscript.

 

Many student editors struggle to balance accuracy with professional speed expectations. What exercises or habits do you recommend to help novice editors increase their words-per-hour efficiency?

To become a faster editor while still being accurate, become fluent in Word’s different features and keyboard shortcuts. Also, use checklists and do multiple passes through the manuscript concentrating on different common mistakes (e.g. number formatting, capitalization, hyphen usage, etc.). As you move through a manuscript, you will become more acquainted with not only the author’s style but their mistakes (and people tend to make the same mistakes over and over again until they become aware of them). You can then search and correct these mistakes all in one pass, speeding up tedious editing. Also, if you find an error that you are having trouble finding the solution to, bookmark it and come back to it later. Instead of wasting time agonizing over one detail, keep moving. Often the answer comes to you as you work through the manuscript.

 

——————

Style sheets are important tools that editors create while copyediting manuscripts. When done well, they serve as a useful resource to the copyeditor, author, proofreader, and (if applicable) in-house production team to track a manuscript’s stylistic decisions, words and terms, citation preferences, and, in fiction, timeline and character development. In this webinar, we will go over how to make a style sheet for both fiction and nonfiction books using The Chicago Manual of Style as a primary resource. While covering the importance of using the style sheet as an aide to ensure consistency and correctness in manuscripts, we will also go over different Chicago Manual sections as well as other resources that are often referenced when copyediting manuscripts.

You can join in this conversation on July 22 at 2:00 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on creating and using useful style sheets. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Nonmembers can join for $30. Register today!

 

Helen Armalas is a freelance editor currently residing in Chicago, Illinois. She provides a full range of editing services to traditional publishers, university presses, museums, independent authors, and business clients. A versatile editor, Helen edits nonfiction and fiction (adult and young adult), academic journals, museum-exhibition text, and really anything you throw at her. She is fluent in The Chicago Manual of Style, MLA, APA, AP, and the AMA Manual of Style. Before starting her own freelance editing business in 2023, Helen worked for over ten years in different professional service industries as an accountant and then executive assistant. Disenchanted with the business world, Helen quit her job and decided to pursue her lifelong dream of working with words and being her own boss. Helen has a BA in Art History, Theory, and Criticism from Columbia College Chicago and has completed the Editing certificate program, with additional coursework in medical editing and writing, from the University of Chicago. When she is not reading or editing, Helen is spending time with her two extra-spicy dogs, Louise and Jackie.

We wanted to get to know Ruth Thaler-Carter (NAIWE’s Networking Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here are some thoughts she shared with us.

What are the key factors for success in your specific niche?

My factors for success include responding promptly to client requests, doing high-quality work, looking for new ways to provide services, and using networking to enhance what I provide. I aim to provide more than the minimum for every assignment and request.

How can you update your offerings or roll out new phases of your business to reach more clients?

We can update our offerings and roll out new phases of our businesses by being plugged into what’s going on with colleagues and clients through networking, reading reputable publications for trends and to confirm facts, doing training to develop new skills and improve existing ones, and generally being proactive rather than reactive. Not everyone needs or wants to find more clients, but we can often expand our services to current clients as a way to expand our businesses.

Do you periodically contact everyone you’ve ever worked with to let them know you are available for new projects?

Contacting people we’ve worked with in the past is a great way to generate new projects. It’s also smart to let current clients know that we’re available as needed and to inform them of any new services that we provide.

——————

Many NAIWE members have been in business for several years, but nowadays, some might be feeling a little bored or burnt out, some have lost clients due to AI, some are experiencing stalemate, some seek new challenges — and all of us want to see our businesses not just survive but grow and expand. In our April webinar, longtime freelance writer/editor/proofreader Ruth E. Thaler-Carter will provide suggestions for taking an independent communications business to the next level and position ourselves for growth through new directions.

Ruth has been freelancing since high school and full-time since 1984. Over the years, she has expanded her writing business to include editing, proofreading, and speaking, and a diversity of topics. She has great insights into how to develop new skills and services to make an independent business go beyond static and toward sustainability.

She is the Networking member of the NAIWE Board of Experts, among several other association memberships, and will include perspectives on how active networking and membership can contribute to growing an independent communications business.

You can join in this conversation on April 16 at 7:00 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on developing and expanding your freelance business. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Nonmembers can join for $30. Register today!

 

Ruth Thaler-Carter has been a full-time freelance writer, editor, proofreader, desktop publisher, and speaker for more than 40 years. She has been published locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally in, and does writing, editing, and proofreading for, publications, associations, nonprofits, websites, service firms, independent authors, and businesses. She sold her first freelance articles when she was still in high school. Often called the Queen of Networking, Ruth is active in about a dozen professional associations, serving as a newsletter editor, webmaster, publication author, speaker/presenter, blogger, program host or planner, and chapter leader. In 2006, Ruth launched the Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer conference — now cohosted with NAIWE — to help aspiring and established freelancers find greater success. Ruth is also owner and editor-in-chief of the An American Editor blog and owner of the Publishing with Flair publishing business. Her honors include member of her high school alumni hall of fame, in part for her publishing work and networking services; Writers and Books Big Pencil Award for teaching adults and contributions to the literary community; EFfie awards for writing, editing, and newsletters; an APEX award for feature writing; the Philip M. Stern Award of Washington (DC) Independent Writers for service to freelancers; and IABC/DC Communicator of the Year and Silver Quills for magazine writing and newsletters.