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Nita Collins Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach

@nitacollinswriter

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If you’re revising a novel or memoir and wondering what to fix first, this is for you.

My Novel Revision Checklist.

It’s the same tool I use as a book coach and developmental editor when evaluating client manuscripts. It shows you exactly what I'm looking for when I read your manuscript.

This free writing resource for novelists helps you focus your revision and strengthen your story from the inside out.

Download your own copy when you subscribe to my Substack.

Link in my bio.

🧡 by @nitacollinswriter

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6 months ago

If you’re wondering whether what you meant to write is what’s actually showing up on the page, you’re in good company.

It’s why I offer a special developmental edit package called the Your First 50 Pages. 💕

This is a substantive edit of the opening pages of your novel, designed to help you see what your story is actually doing on the page and whether it’s aligned with what you want it to say.

Before I read your pages, I have you complete a short questionnaire called the Mini Blueprint, developed by Author Accelerator. This gives me essential context: your intent as the author, the meaning you’re aiming toward, who your protagonist is, and the shape you believe your story is taking.

Why? Because you don’t grow from generic feedback. And I can’t offer useful guidance without understanding what you’re trying to build. 👍🏼

Once I have the context of your story, I read your first 50 pages through a craft lens (structure, character, momentum, clarity, voice), and through a story lens (arc, direction, coherence, promise).

Writers come away knowing:
✅what’s working better than they realized
✅what’s unclear, misaligned, or out of place
✅what to focus on next

If you’re mid-draft, or standing at the edge of a first-draft revision wondering how to proceed, this work is meant to help you see your story more clearly before you push it harder.

You can learn more about my Your First 50 Pages Developmental Edit on my website at the link in my bio.

And do stick around, because I talk about writing and revising a lot! by @nitacollinswriter

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6 months ago

Socially and environmentally engaged fiction asks the reader to think differently, which (of course) means writing it requires the author to think differently as well.

Critical thinking means asking the deeper question instead of assuming or going along with the flow.

In what way does language dictate attitudes? Can an alternative way of thinking be suggested by something as simple as a word choice?

Go deeper. Ask why. Ask yourself, how does that work?

Whether you want to weave a small message into an otherwise non-political story or write a full-on social or environmental justice-themed one, these are questions you need to think about.

This is what the saying Books Can Change The World means.

This is how you write the world you want to live in. 💚

My name is Nita. I’m a book coach and developmental editor for writers of socially and environmentally engaged fiction. The big work happens in revision. That’s my jam. by @nitacollinswriter

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5 days ago

I’m blogging over on Substack! I wish I could put a link here, but you know it’s in my bio. 💫

And if you follow me, you’ll get a bonus - my Novel Revision Checklist - the same checklist I use with my clients! 🧡 by @nitacollinswriter

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6 days ago

Every hand in this room went up, including mine!

Getting the message woven through character and plot organically, so the point lives inside the story instead of on top of it, is some of the most satisfying revision work I do with writers.

Follow along, or find me in the newsletter. Link in bio.

Write the world you want to live in 💚 by @nitacollinswriter

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14 days ago

If you watched to the end, this little video was made with you in mind 🧡

For the algorithm: I’ talking about the culture of youth, aging, what it means to be 65, and the loss of the sage. The wise woman. A call to action for those entering elderhood. by @nitacollinswriter

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14 days ago

Hi writers,
It’s tough out there in the query trenches. I’m in there with you, querying my own novel right alongside you.

I just want to say that I see you. 👋

Drop a comment and let me know how it’s going🧡 by @nitacollinswriter

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15 days ago

If you’re nodding your head, you’re exactly the kind of writer I’m making this space for.

I work with novelists who have something important to say, and who want their story to carry the message without the reader ever once feeling lectured to.

Getting there is part of the revision process, and that’s my jam.

If you want to think alongside a book coach and fellow fiction writer who takes that work seriously, my newsletter is a good place to start.

Link in bio.

💚 Write the world you want to live in! 💚 by @nitacollinswriter

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24 days ago

Readers can tell the difference between a story with a social or environmental justice message woven into it and one standing on a soapbox.

They may not be able to name it, but they feel it.

The moment the author’s hand appears, the spell breaks.

I help writers make sure that doesn’t happen.

Follow me here for more, or sign up for my Substack newsletter. Link in bio.

🧡Write the world you want to live in. by @nitacollinswriter

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24 days ago

Getting a message to live inside a story—to be woven in organically through character and plot instead of being announced from a soapbox—is a learnable craft.

It’s some of the most satisfying revision work there is.

That's what I help writers do.

Link in bio.

🧡Write the world you want to live in. by @nitacollinswriter

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a month ago

The question was: how many revisions does a book typically take before it’s ready to publish?

And the honest answer is: as many as it takes, which is super unhelpful, I know.

But I think the real question she was asking is: How do I know when my novel is finished and ready to go.?

In order to ascertain that, you to understand the difference between revision and editing.

A quick and dirty summation:

Revision is story work: plot and character arc, making sure the character’s motivations are believable and fit with the storyline. It’s theme and point. Pacing . Whether or not the ending delivers on the story promise.

Editing is scene, paragraph, and sentence work: improving the language, tightening scenes, fixing awkward phrasing, correcting grammar, and polishing the prose.

So. If you’re still uncovering issues with - or making changes to - character motivation, plot logic, pacing, theme, emotional impact, or the protagonist’s transformation, etc., you’re not done with the work of revision.

And If you’re mostly adjusting sentences, smoothing transitions, and fixing typos, you’re in the polishing stage.

A novel is rarely finished because you’ve run out of things you could change. (Show me a writer who can’t find a sentence they’d rewrite even years later!)

It’s finished when you’ve fixed everything to the point where any future changes will no longer meaningfully improve the reader’s experience of the story.

Your story is doing what you intended it to do.

Thanks for such a great question, Angela!

Friends, drop a question in the comments and I’ll do my best to help it make sense!

If you haven’t met me, I’m Nita , doing what book coaches do best … helping writers! by @nitacollinswriter

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a month ago

I love it when I finally finish a knitting project that I can show off!

Don’t get me wrong—I love being a writer,too, AND a book coach 🥰 but you can’t show off your accomplishments in quite the same way.

However, you can be sure that when my novel is finally published, I’ll be making a dress out of book fabric and knitting a sweater to match!

📚🥳👗🧶 by @nitacollinswriter

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a month ago