Blog
To add blog posts click on Posts – Add New in the WordPress Dashboard
Welcome to Smooth Draft
Smooth Draft can write, edit, or proofread your fiction or non-fiction. We’ll take your rough draft and smooth it out. Whether you’re a published author, a self-published author, aspiring to have your first work published, or an academic, we have the skills and experience to help you. Run by EM Lynley, a published novelist, with over ten years of experience writing and editing financial reports and fiction, and previous experience editing both financial and technical documents in Japan, Smooth Draft can handle a wide variety...
read moreWe got hacked… and we’re still cleaning up the mess.
Unfortunately the Smooth Draft site has been hacked several times. I decided to move to a brand new web host and move files one by one. The result is that some files had to be deleted and for some users their virus detection software may not be updated to reflect that the site is now completely clean. Some pages/links may not work until the site is completely restored. If you can’t access some information you want, please email me directly: em AT smoothdraft.com Thanks for your patience while we make the site as clean and safe as...
read moreFREE with #kindleunlimited, the ultimate #NaNoWriMo planning tool
Plan Your Novel in as Little as One Day NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month is an annual event for writers around the world. It offers participants an opportunity to write a 50,000-word novel with the support of others. It may be just the motivation you need to get writing. The key to NaNoWriMo is planning–not outlining–your book before you even write a single word. Have you been dreaming of writing a novel for years and didn’t know how to tackle the daunting task? This book is for you. Have you attempted NaNo and found your...
read moreHow to Blurb — pre-order now from Amazon (#selfpublish #writetip)
Hate writing blurbs for your book? Join the club. But, there is a magic formula for writing blurbs and I’m going to show it to you. In fact, I’ll show you several “fill in the blank” templates if you need them, as well as discuss why each element is crucial to selling your book. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, the book “blurb” or description is the second most powerful tool to sell your book. (A knockout cover is #1). We’ve all been there. We’ve finished the book, edited it, got it ready to publish, and now...
read moreRevising the #NaNo Novel Workshop (8 Weeks to Transform & Polish Your Draft)
It’s mid-December. By now, NaNoWriMos fall into several categories: You haven’t looked at your story since November 30. You’ve been tearing your hair out since December 1 and you still aren’t happy with the story after multiple rounds of revisions. You started reading it again and gave up after a few pages or chapters because you think it’s awful. You don’t have a clue what to do with it now. You already revised your story and sent it off to at least one publisher or agent, or have self-published it. You haven’t finished your story yet....
read more#NaNoWriMo at the 10k mark — Assess your villain
It’s November 6. Just past the 20% mark for the month. How are you doing? If you’re getting in your 1667 words per day, you should have hit 10,000 words yesterday. Maybe you haven’t quite gotten there. I give you a huge congratulations if you have written anything! For some of you, this may be the first time you’ve gotten a lot of words down in a concerted effort. For others this is old hat. Let’s take a step back and see what we’ve written and what we’re planning over the next few days. How Bad is Your Big Bad? For a story to keep...
read moreCountdown to NaNoWriMo: What’s Holding You Back?
It’s the end of September. You’ve got about a month until NaNoWriMo starts. Seems like plenty of time, right? Some of you are wondering why I’m already talking about NaNo when it doesn’t even start until November 1. Because writing and finishing a book takes more than just the 30 days you’re planning to spend writing it during November. If this is your first time considering doing NaNoWriMo, or you’ve tried before and didn’t quite make your 50k, stay tuned because I’ll be sharing with you my tips, advice and some tricks to help you be ready...
read more#NaNo 2013 Novel BOUND FOR TROUBLE released! #rewriting
As many of you have been following my NaNoWriMo progress and looking for NaNo tips, it’s long past time to offer an update on my own NaNo novel. I shared my blurb and my Story Planning Worksheets during the writing process. Here’s the finished novel, published by Dreamspinner Press in June 2014. Daniel “Deke” Kane is a broken man, facing the end of his career in the FBI. He’s on desk duty after a botched drug raid left the suspects and two children dead. He’s got one chance to prove himself, or the only thing he’ll be investigating is...
read morePacing 1: The Right Mix of Tortoise and Hare
In my survey of your biggest rewriting challenges, many of you indicated pacing of your story among the most difficult. What is Pacing? Pacing refers to how slowly or quickly time passes in the story: the pace of time’s passage. It’s important to realize that pacing is not constant over the course of a story or novel. You may want to speed up time in some places or slow it down in others. The first challenge is knowing where to do so. The second challenge is showing the correct pacing. Fast Pacing You’ve...
read moreMarch Tax Workshop for Authors — still time to register #taxtip #writing
The March workshop is the last one before taxes are due on April 15. As some of my readers know, in RL I’m a tax and finance professional, and I’ve been using that knowledge to teach my tax workshops. Whether you like it or not, it’s time to stop procrastinating on your tax return. We have a lot of new authors here who may be filing Schedule C for the first time and probably have a ton of questions. New self-publishers may also be wondering how that will change your tax return. I know how many questions I had even after my first year of...
read moreHow did #NaNoWriMo 2013 go for you? (poll)
If you got a contract or self-published, congratulations! Please leave a comment about where/when your book is coming out! If you’re still working away at it, or have given up, this should be a great motivator to keep writing! Considering signing up for the Newsletter to get tips and information on how to finish and revise your novel. How did NaNoWriMo 2013 go for you?Here’s another poll, about revising and rewriting Share...
read more