Rose Lawrence

1. What genre(s) do you write?

 

Rom-com, romantic suspense, epic fantasy/scifi (that trilogy is fantasy until the end when you’re like wait…. Was this scifi all along?! ;p but that is in the drawer so…) I’m genre-fluid at this point. ;p
 

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2. Are there any other social media links, websites, or other places to learn about you that we should add?

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3. What is your favorite part of being a writer?

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Hmm this is hard… Seeing what comes out of my brain when writing. Like, oh, I didn’t think I thought that? I often start with an outline or an idea, but after a sentence or so it’s like my fingers just go for their lives. But also, I love editing down what I’ve written and crafting it into something more beautiful. And especially… I LOVE eliciting emotions in readers (especially tears, but also heart squeezes and laughs etc)

 

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4. Are you going the self-publishing or traditional publishing route? And why?

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Ask me again in a few years ;P. I started out thinking about self-pub. Writing was my way of getting creative in a totally fresh way (before I’d done music and art and got quite perfectionist/self-critical etc). So I thought, remove the need for approval and self-publish. I’m also very self contained and up for making my own covers etc. However, the longer I’ve written, the more I’ve thought actually I would like to query, at least to know. But also because working in a team is much nicer. It’s hard to put yourself out there, but even from my beta group experience I can see that having other people championing you and working with you makes your work much better and the experience less isolating.

Recently I’ve been thinking I should give myself a timer for trying self publishing, because I have a habit of creating in a vacuum which I would like to break. We shall see!

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5. Are you a part of any writing communities?

 

My beta critique group.

Just starting on substack and it feels very supportive and old school like the early days of blogging.

6. What one editing rule do you live by?

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Listen. To. Nel. 

No… ok… hmm. That if I feel resistance to changing something, it’s almost always because I’ve done it the easy way and the harder way is probably going to be better, so just try it and quit whining.

But also (ok I know this is more than one rule): Read out loud as I edit to check for awkward sounding words/construction.

7. What are the benefits of being a beta reader/ having beta readers?

Being a beta reader:

• Improves your ability to read critically (and you can apply it to your own writing)

• Helps you feel less alone - it’s lovely to feel part of a team, and that you might actually help another writer to make their story the best it can be.

• It’s a great exercise in disconnecting the writing brain and connecting the editor/reader brain:  You aren’t invested in the manuscript in the same way the writer is, so it’s easier to be objective and spot writing ticks/plot holes etc. The more you practice, in theory, the easier it is to do it in your own work.

Having beta readers:

• You get used to writing with your voice narating, but everyone reads with their own lived experiences and internal voice, so it’s useful to see what characters/scenes/sentences just don’t land how you expected.

• Great to have people from different countries/cultures/genders reading to pick up small things. e.g. If your book is targeted for an American audience but you’re using British slang, it might not work. Just like if you were writing for a British audience ‘Gosh Darn it’ on a British character would sound really odd and American to a British person.

• You feel less alone in the project!

• Fresh eyes and ideas

• Seeing how your work affects people, and getting objective feedback on what you’re doing well as well as things to work on.

 

8. If you could give any advice to a new writer/author, what would it be?

 

Don’t be afraid of criticism. You get to decide what your story and MS is… it’s great to have beta readers etc, but you don’t have to listen to EVERYTHING. Be vulnerable with yourself and learn to notice whether your resistance to comments is ego, or if you’re right to dig in. It’s your story. You get to choose.
 

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