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Juanita Collins

Book Coach, Editor, Author

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Posted on July 31, 2011July 31, 2011 by Nita

Old MacDonald’s Daughter – the movie!

Here I am dancing at Saqra’s Showcase in November, 2009 in Oregon. Enjoy!

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Oh my ❤️ This dog and this book. My two favour

Oh my ❤️ This dog and this book. My two favourite creatures. Honestly this book was such a beautiful read that sometimes I had to put it down. Does that make sense to you? That sometimes it was so painfully beautiful and I could not continue? The closer I got to the end, the slower I read. It’s checked out from the library on my e-reader and I cannot bear to return it, lol. #amreading #bookcoaches #literaryfiction #writerslife

Ship-ship-ship…what’s that noise? It’s Sam

Ship-ship-ship…what’s that noise?

It’s Sam, walking on the wood floor with a sticky note stuck to the bottom of his foot.

What does the sticky note say?

It’s a note to remind me of something about a character in my novel!

What odd-ball places have you discovered writing reminders?

The truth and beauty of this quote stopped me in m

The truth and beauty of this quote stopped me in my tracks and gave me goosebumps this morning.

I wanted to share it with all of you who love a well-written novel as much as I do….And to all of you who aspire to writing well enough that this could be said of you, too.

Do you aspire to writing with the precision of a poet and the imagination of a scientist? Because I do!

To get there, I will never stop practicing, never stop learning, never stop trying new things, never stop getting new eyes on my work, and never stop getting qualified editorial feedback. Just…never stop.

Today I did a thing! Before I even got out of bed,

Today I did a thing! Before I even got out of bed, I opened my laptop and enrolled in a group business coaching program with @dallastraversbizmentor called Client Surge. Why? Because I’m a book coach, not a marketing guru. Because I love working with writers on their fiction. Love, love, love it. And I have something to offer that will help writers who want feedback but are afraid of harsh criticism; or writers who are confused by all the rules and conflicting writing advice that’s all over the internet; or who maybe are tired of doing it alone and getting nowhere. Or maybe they just need some accountability and a friendly editorial ear. Heck, even a thorough developmental edit can be a game changer for a writer, am-i-right? And here I am with my respectable and hard-earned #authoraccelerator book coach certification, dying to help them...but because I’m NOT a business expert, I find myself in need of a coach to help me figure out how to get myself out there so I can get to work doing what I love to do. Phew! Was that long-winded or what?! It seems like a good way to start off the new year, to me. Putting skin in the game. What are you yearning to do and what’s holding you back? Let me know!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

Here’s one for your climate change fiction list.

Here’s one for your climate change fiction list. The biggest truths were in the smallest details in this beautifully written, atmospheric novel. I couldn’t put it down.

#readersofinstagram #readersofig #readersofinsta #amreading #climatechangefiction #amwriting #amwritingfiction #bookcommunity #bookcoach #bookcoaching #writinglife #novelist #writersofinstagram

I’ve been on a bit of a book-buying binge. This

I’ve been on a bit of a book-buying binge. This is only one stack. Which one should I read first? #amreading #literaryfiction #bookstagram #bookcoaches #amwriting #amwritingfiction #amwritingliteraryfiction

To write strong characters: “You’ve got to sel

To write strong characters: “You’ve got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly, the little experiences that you might tell at dinner.” F. Scott Fitzgerald.

It’s hard personal work, but very worth it. Don’t be afraid to go to the dark places. Don’t pull back. Your story will be so much stronger.

#amwriting #amwritingfiction #amwritingsciencefiction #amwritingwomensfiction #writingtips #writinglife #bookcoach #bookcoaching

It isn’t always the most productive use of my ti

It isn’t always the most productive use of my time to rework chapters that are written in the wrong voice and/or what sounds and feels like a different genre than I intend. How do you spell inconsistency? Lol.

The problem is with one or two of my characters and with me and the way I pulled back from an issue when I should have pressed forward with it. More on this in another post, I promise!

Anyway, the wisest thing for me to do at this point is to give it a good think and look myself in the eye and stop trying to make something fit that obviously just doesn’t.

Does it sting? You bet! It’s actually more like an agony. So much work to put in the drawer! Happily, though, I am experienced enough to know that there is no such thing as wasted writing.

My consolation to myself (and to any of you who find yourselves in a similar position when it comes to “darlings”) is that in the end, I’ll have a much stronger story for doing so.

I’m grateful to have learned the blueprint for a book method when I did my #authoraccerlator training and it’s going to stand me in good stead as I take a good hard look at what I need to do to turn this novel around.

I am also forever grateful to my own book coach & writing partner @lidijahilje for gently leading me to this realization so early in the game. Think how much worse it would be if I had 80,000 words instead of “only” 30,000.

Funny, how I can spot these things in everyone else’s work except my own, eh? Even coaches need coaches.

What about you? Have you felt the sting of cutting multiple chapters in order to do a full-on from-scratch rewrite? Tell me in the comments how you consoled yourself!

#amwritingliteraryfiction #amwritingfiction #amwritingwomensfiction #amwritingsciencefiction #amediting #writingtips #writinglife #bookcoach #bookcoaching #writersofinstagram #blueprintforabook

The computer is off! A huge developmental edit for

The computer is off! A huge developmental edit for a client is done! What’s next? Today I’m going to tidy my studio, put my reference materials back on the shelf, find a place for all the yarn purchases I brought back from my summer in the Yukon, dust, mop, & polish until the room is shiny and inviting again. While I’m doing this, I’ll be releasing my client’s story from the front of my mind to make room for my own. Because Tomorrow! Nanowrimo starts and I’m determined to finish 2022 with a full working draft of my next novel. I’ve piddled around with it long enough. For me, cleaning my living and working environment is a way of preparing both mentally and physically for what comes next, and November will be an emotionally consuming time for writing. How do you transition between projects? Do you have processes or rituals that move you through life?

I wrote a new scene in the novel yesterday. A flas

I wrote a new scene in the novel yesterday. A flashback. But this morning I realized I put it in the wrong place. It belongs somewhere else, only I don't know exactly where, yet. It's like most of this novel so far…I feel like I have the picture on the puzzle box in my mind, but before I can put the puzzle together I have to create the pieces. Of course this means that my scene isn't finished, after all. It will need to be adjusted once I know where it belongs. But I do know that it needs to exist. Of that I'm certain. It’s kind of exciting. I feel like I want to work on it some more today. 💕 What are you working on today?

I’m the kind of writer who has trouble producing

I’m the kind of writer who has trouble producing a shitty draft. I could spend months - years! perfecting chapter one, never getting to ‘the end.’ But since I’ve been sick, I’ve sort of just been doodling with words , writing vignettes instead of scenes and suddenly the story feels very clear to me. I don’t know, maybe it’s the fever talking...or maybe somehow being sick has forced me to let go of all those expectations for perfection. I mean...look at me, lol. Do you write when you’re sick?

I read Beartown by Fredrick Backman over the summe

I read Beartown by Fredrick Backman over the summer and I couldn’t put it down. In Beartown, Fredrick Backman examines courage vs fear, loyalty vs betrayal, right vs wrong, and individual responsibility vs groupthink, all against the backdrop of a junior hockey team and the town that has hung it’s future on the team’s success.

I read this book because I’m deep in the thick of writing my next novel. I’m reading everything I can get my hands on where community was the writer’s focus. Why? Because that’s the focus of my next novel. Does it matter that my community exists in a science fiction world on another planet? Not at all. How people behave is universal theme in stories. In fact, how people behave in this or that situation is ALL story is about, in a very broad sense.

I was interested to see how Backman used POV, how he showed the town as a unified being comprised of unique individuals. I was fascinated by the humanness of this book and I wanted to study just how he did it.

Instead, I found myself caught up in the characters and the story to the point where I was no longer “reading” - I was living in Beartown.

Of course this means that now I have to read the book again, this time with a yellow highlighter and a pencil to take marginal notes. Ha!

Beartown is an outstanding work of literary fiction…and that’s exactly the review I would absolutely die for to receive on my own novel someday.

So…read widely in your genre. Study how the true greats did it and let it rub off on you.

PS: there are some wonderfully strong women in this book. Something else I’m paying close attention to. :)

Celebrating 42 years with the love of my life toda

Celebrating 42 years with the love of my life today ❤️

On the road again and setting the intention to dri

On the road again and setting the intention to drive the long hours with ease, allowing the story I'm working on to marinate without judgement until I'm in a physical and mental place to get it down on paper. What's your intention for today? #amwriting #bookcoach #bookwritingcoach

I loved everything about this beautiful story. The

I loved everything about this beautiful story. The haunting resemblance to Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. The fierce and poignant relationship between the father & son reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. The wonderfully rendered science, with astrobiology, neuroscience, environmental science, accurate and mystical at the same time. There’s grief, joy, love, wonder, and a warning. I had to keep reminding myself that it was fiction. I could not put it down. What are you reading right now? #amreading #bookstagram #literaryfiction #writerslife

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