NO-VEMBER: a month of saying ‘No’
For November, I thought I’d tie my Instagram and Facebook content into a theme: what to say ‘No’ to when writing fantasy fiction.
It’s probably an obvious theme that many people have done before, but it felt right. After all, I’ve been working on a few manuscripts (my own included), where one or two common trends were jumping out at me, leaving me at my desk, shaking my head, and saying, ‘Oh dear, this is something to avoid’. I’m biased, I know. I have two degrees in Creative Writing, have been an editor for years, and devour the genre like there’s no tomorrow, so believe me when I say that I’m not criticising the writers for doing these things – in fact, not all of the topics I used as part of ‘NO-VEMBER’ were in the manuscripts I’ve worked on, but one in particular got the ball rolling in my head and had me asking myself, ‘What could I share with my followers that can help them remove some of the obstacles and elevate their novels?’
These were the topics of my ‘NO-VEMBER’ posts – ‘What not to do when’:
planning your novel
crafting your characters
working with subplots
making magic
building worlds
reflecting on your writing.
You can see the full posts at my Instagram here: @ivattedits
They’re not essays. They don’t list every little aspect for each topic, with easy-to-follow steps to make sure you never make these errors when working with fantasy fiction. They are, however, a guide. A starting point for writers to make sure that they give themselves the strongest foundation for their novel before seeking professional editorial support (if that’s what they want to do … I’m obviously biased, but I think you should if you can).
Over to you: Are there any ‘NO-VEMBERs’ you think would be good to cover? Drop me a line and let me know! While I eagerly await your suggestions with bated breath, a mug of tea and a fleece-lined blanket, here are my own personal ‘NO-VEMBERs’ that I’ve reflected on as a freelance editor, fantasy writer, and chronically ill individual.
What I’ve said ‘NO’ to this month
Overthinking social media – I am more than happy to admit that social media is not one of my strengths. There are so many platforms now, each with their own types of audiences, and preferred formats and tastes when it comes to their content. I tried TikTok for a while (not my cup of tea, I’m afraid), Threads and BlueSky, but have settled on good old reliable Facebook and Instagram, with a touch of LinkedIn for professional networking. On top of the usual pressures when promoting a business on social media, I have chronic fatigue syndrome (I may have mentioned it a lot), and so creating content can have a huge draining effect on my energy levels.
Worrying about things I can’t control or predict/negative thoughts – there’s no point to worrying, so why bother? It only makes me feel crappy and I have a chronic illness taking care of that.
Forcing myself to write every day – I am a hypocrite with a capital ‘H’. I tell all my writer friends, and my clients, that you don’t have to sit down every day and not eat or sleep until you’ve churned out half a chapter. Yet I’ll sit at my desk, absolutely knackered, with a blank page in front of me and tears of frustration because I can’t get a word from my brain-fogged brain onto this stupid document. It’s not healthy, it’s not realistic, and is a fast-track to imposter syndrome.
What I’ll say ‘YES’ to next month:
Posting what I want, when I want, and with my health foremost in my mind. This means that content will be less frequent (goodbye, once-a-day reels!) but more valuable (what do you want to know about writing and editing fantasy fiction?).
Planning my email newsletter and YouTube channel.
Letting go of the negative and embracing the positive.
Writing when the time feels right, but also not letting a week go by without putting pen to paper (even if I only write one sentence).
Summing Up
I didn’t expect November to be such a thought-provoking month for me, but it’s helped me rebalance and concentrate on what matters to me now that I’m living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I’ve realised that this condition has made me a better editor (more on that in a later post!) and that I not only love what I do, but I’m actually pretty good at it and it brings me great joy to help shape a writer’s work so that it tells the story they’re passionate about.
This year has been hard for me and my household, but I’m so proud of all that I’ve achieved. What I tried to do with my ‘NO-VEMBER’ posts, other than provide some editorial advice on how to tweak a few things to avoid bigger problems in a manuscript, is to say to my followers that they should be proud of themselves too. Writing is not easy, and I think sometimes we forget just how incredible an achievement it is to plan, write, finish or edit a complex fantasy novel.
Heather x
(Psst! I’m apologising now for my December content. It was a moment of madness, a possible lapse in my maturity levels, but it brings me great joy.)