As I prepare for the upcoming writer workshop, I realize that I currently have a novel in every single phase of the process we are going to talk about. It’s like cooking with a pot on every burner. You stir one, then check on the next, then really focus on another as you add the final spices. Some pots are so big they take up multiple burners. Eventually dinner gets done, though if you cook anything like me, its sometimes a challenge to keep everything hot all at once. That one pot that’s done first sometimes gets a little cooler, and you have to warm it back up before you serve it.

I could go on with that metaphor for a while, but that is totally the writing and publishing process. The challenge is to keep stirring so each pot is equally delicious, and each course is ready at just the right moment.

Want a sneak peak of the workshop? Here’s the core phases I broke the writing to publication process down to:

• Brainstorming
• Creation
• The First Read-Through
• Critique Partners
• Applying Feedback
• Final Read-Through
• Making Publishing Decisions
• Hiring an Editor
• Formatting
• Cover Design
• The Blurb
• Publication!

I think we all might need bigger stoves.

I am looking forward to the workshop on February 11 at the Orwigsburg Library! We have a good group signed up so far, and still have room for more. If you are interested in attending, please email me at authorjastein@gmail.com. See you soon.