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Author J.M. Kern

@j.m.kern

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fantasy and sci-fi with lit-fic energy 📚
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co-founder Atlanta Flash Fiction ✨
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this is the advice I would give myself if I could go back 3 years to when I started working on my current wip

hopefully, it's helpful to you ♡

1. project selection
there's no rule that says you have to work on the first idea you come up with... maybe that first idea is more complicated? maybe you'd be better served starting somewhere simpler?

which brings me to point 2

2. pick a story you can tell in 90k words
and I'm not just talking to those who want to trad publish their work.

90-95k is a reasonable length.

longer projects get increasingly complicated.

3. maybe don't...
have a huge cast of characters and send your protagonists all over the world?

4. writing schedule
super helpful! Lately, I've been writing from 8am-9am, but my writing accountability buddy and I are contemplating shifting to 7am-9am so we can spend more time in the groove.

5. find beta readers who get the vision
guys, this is so important.

please use your platform to talk about your work. Then when it comes time to look for beta readers, you can reach out to people who gave you thoughtful comments on your wip-related posts

for me, this has probably been the biggest benefit of being on Instagram

thank you to all the amazing beta readers out there ♡♡♡

6. read widely outside your genre
yes, read fantasy books but also read contemporary, mystery, horror, thriller, classics, etc. I promise you'll get the best ideas from books not in your genre.

˙✧˖° ✫ ⋆｡˚

fwiw, I ignored tips 1, 2, and 3 on this list... and I will still eventually finish writing my book. This is just the advice I wish I could go back and give my former self.

feel free to ignore all this if it doesn't serve you, but please remember to have fun

✫ ⋆｡˚˙✧˖°

the AI content label strikes again lol

AI content disclosure: idk, guys, I'm getting pretty tired of this... Canva edit features, Magic Layers.

🏷️: writing advice, writergram, writing community, writing a novel, writing process, writers of instagram, fantasy novel, fantasy writers, fantasy books, wip by @j.m.kern

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20 days ago

just so we're clear 🙃🙂

🏷️: writing a novel, fantasy novel, nature, writing community, writergram, writers of Instagram, wip by @j.m.kern

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2 months ago

one day we will all finish our unfinished WIPs... until then...

🏷️: writergram, writing humor, writing goals, writing community, writing a novel, writers of Instagram, booksta, bookstagram, bookish humor by @j.m.kern

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3 months ago

writing a novel = hard

the best news is my beta readers are amazing. Thank you SO MUCH to @kate.writes.a.book, @heatherdeiters, and @caroawrites for keeping me on track and helping me see a fresh perspective on this draft 💕🙏

the other good news is that I have found ways to substantially drop the word count. The original draft was 125k, and I'm targeting 105k. I am slowly, slowly mastering my overwriter tendencies 😄

I also have a vision now for the epigraphs (damnit, Mistborn – you were actually good for something). Thinking of making them their own continuous storyline.

good times ✨✨

🏷️: writing a novel, writergram, writers of Instagram, writing community, writing update, fantasy novel, upper ya, wip by @j.m.kern

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6 hours ago

some fantasy novels I think would be a great entry point to anyone trying to get into the genre

AI content disclosure: honestly no effing clue this time. In the picture at the end, I probably used Magic Eraser to remove my Garmin 😅

🏷️: book recs, character-driven fantasy novels, fantasy recommendations, bookish content, booksta, bookstagram by @j.m.kern

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2 days ago

✨ stuffs ✨

👉 coffee accoutrements
👉 sweet potato chips (family size, definitely)
👉 2021 macbook for drafting
👉 variety of houseplants
👉 flash fiction notebook and pouch of prompts
👉 pink nalgene I've had for forever because I refuse to buy a trendy new water bottle (my enneagram 8 is showing)
👉 books I will reread a million times
👉 variety of footwear (open question if I can spell footwear correctly)

what would be in your starter pack?

🏷️: writers of Instagram, writing a novel, writergram, writing community, bookish content by @j.m.kern

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3 days ago

doing it for her 🥹🥹

🏷️: writing a novel, writergram, writing community, writers of instagram, writing content, bookish content, booksta, bookstagram, wip by @j.m.kern

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7 days ago

you may be thinking I don't know what a trope is, and you may be right

🏷️: writing a novel, fantasy novel, romantasy novel, upper ya, writing community, writergram, writers of Instagram, bookish community, booksta, wip by @j.m.kern

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7 days ago

okay, back to silly lipsyncs it is

😄😄😅😅

🏷️: writing a novel, writergram, writers of instagram, writing community, wip by @j.m.kern

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8 days ago

writing a novel while holding down a 9-to-5 and trying not to turn into a shrimp is not for the weak

🏷️: writing humor, writergram, writing community, writing goals by @j.m.kern

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9 days ago

when you delete something you've written and then put it back, we call that a flip flop

🏷️: writing a novel, writergram, writing community, writers of instagram, bookish content, wip by @j.m.kern

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8 days ago

a little more info about these books and who should read them:

📕 The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley – read this to improve how you write interiority, creepy institutions, near future sci-fi, and secret yearning

📚 The Raven Cycle (including The Dream Thieves and Blue Lily, Lily Blue) by Maggie Stiefvater – read this to improve how you write vibey magic, complex relationship dynamics within a friend group / found family, contemporary fantasy

📕 Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield – read this to improve how you write dual pov, literary allusions, married life, creepy institutions, grief and loss

📚 The Magicians by Lev Grossman – read this if you want to improve how you write hard magic, frienemies, debauchery, and darkness

📕 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney – read this if you want to improve how you write siblings (specifically brothers), characters who don't fit in, slightly unconventional romantic relationships

📚 The Locked Tomb (including Harrow the Ninth and Nona the Ninth) – read this if you want to improve how you write complex narration, larger than life characters, multiple magic systems under one umbrella

heads up I did edit some of these quotes just slightly for brevity. For example, the exchange where Adam is sassing Ronan, "thanks for the white teeth," happens at the start of BLLB, so we get their full names and quick description of how they're laying in the grass, and I trimmed all that out.

🏷️: writing a novel, writing advice, book recommendations, book recs, writing community, writergram by @j.m.kern

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12 days ago