A Moment With…Julie Cohen

This is it. Day thirty of National Novel Writing Month. Well done to all who have finished, good luck to all the people who are still going and if you didn’t manage it, you’ve still got words written that you didn’t have when you began which is fantastic. Today, Julie Cohen joins us to chat about her editing process (she uses Post-its and I have to say I like her style.)

After I’ve finished the first (very rough) draft of my novel, I usually have a list of all the things I want to change. I write it all down as instructions to myself.
After that, I often spend some time analysing what I’ve written. I find that Post-Its are really handy for this. I outline the entire book, event by event, using colour-coded Post-Its for each story thread. Then I arrange in them in order on the wall, or on paper.
This method lets me see all of the story at a glance. It can make it much easier to understand where you’ve got problems, and to see where new parts can fit, or irrelevant parts need to be cut.
Here’s a picture of one of my novels after it’s had the Post-It treatment. 

Julie is the best-selling author of Getting Away With It and Dear Thing and Where Loves Lies (which was released by Bantam Press on 31st July.) To find out more about Julie, visit her website: http://www.julie-cohen.com

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.