It’s summer in the Pacific Northwest.

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Aside from that blistering heatwave a few weeks ago (maybe you saw the images on the news of warping pavement) when I hid in the basement and even thinking about sweating made me sweat, the weather here has been glorious.

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Mid-70s. A little cloudy. A little breezy.

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Up here at 48 degrees latitude, most of the year can be the same gloomy wet twilight at 8 AM, Noon, and 3 PM.

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If you don’t get outside and enjoy the nice weather when it happens, it may be 10 months before you see blue sky again.

(Okay, 10 months may be an exaggeration nowadays. Let’s say 8. Shave off a couple for climate change.)

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I have this brutal childhood memory of a television adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s short story, All Summer in a Day, and thinking, “That’s like living here!”

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All this to say….

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Taking advantage of the sunshine means things link folding laundry, mowing the lawn, and writing newsletters, fall to the wayside.

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You may be finding you have a similar response with your own writing this summer.

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It’s not really writer's block, it’s more like... writer's summer vacation.

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Sit at a desk? Hell no. My writer self wants to be outside building forts in the woods, running through the sprinkler, staying up all night watching movies, and sleeping till noon.

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And then Jarvis appeared in my Facebook feed.

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I might have blown off my newsletter for a few more weeks, but letting an AI do the work for me? Why not!

(Isn’t this the beginning of most horror movies involving AIs? Because that never ended badly… )

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Take it away, Jarvis.

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Jarvis’ Newsletter

The Secret Reason to Write and Publish a Novel

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Many people want to write and publish a novel for many reasons. Some are trying to explore their creativity, others are looking for fame or fortune, and some just like the idea of being published. But there is one thing that all writers have in common - they need an audience.

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So you're doing NaNoWriMo this year? Great! You'll have a lot of fun, and no doubt finish a rough draft of something that could be a great novel. Then you'll edit and polish it into shape, and eventually publish and sell millions of copies, right?

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This is all very well if you're one in a million individual who managed to write one in fifty words every day during November. But what happens if you fell short of the target? Perhaps your passion for writing deserted you after day two? If so, don't worry – most people give up before they even make 10% of their word count.

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Writers don't just write because it's fun - writing needs readers as much as readers need writers.

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Writers create stories that readers can enjoy, so it is essential that you take steps to ensure your work gets into the hands of potential readers!

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It's all very well having an idea but if it has been done to death then no one is going to want that book! Nothing worse than reading something like Pride and Prejudice for the 10th time when they might have enjoyed something new instead!

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It's important for authors to find their audience and share their creative ideas.

* * * *

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Thanks Jarvis. I’m going to stop you there.

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So not totally terrible, but not great either.

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I once taught Romeo and Juliet to a bunch of 9th graders.

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One day, at the end of class I pulled one of the students aside. “So… this essay… it looks like you got online and copied and pasted a bunch of paragraphs from random essays.”

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“Yeah. That’s what I did. Cool, huh?”

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I feel like that student with my Jarvis newsletter.

If you’re looking for a shortcut to writing your novel, sorry, but you still got to do the work.

Hello!
My name is Jocelyn.

Story warrior, book lover, day dreamer, gardener, and creative. I help serious writers roll up their sleeves, get their novel ready for publishing, and reach readers. When I’m not elbow-deep in the story trenches, I’m outside world-building in my garden and battling weeds with my three criminal mastermind cats.