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From the Editor, Issue #2 - June 2021

Step on the Stage and Shine

Before I get to this month’s topic, I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us in our launch. Seeing how the indie author community embraced the magazine reassures us that this is something we need. So thank you to each of you who came to our launch party, bought a subscription, or even shared on social.

This month, as we move through the life of a book, our theme is first drafts, and it is my hope that the information these articles contain will help you write your best book yet. First drafts can be the hardest part of novel writing. Whether it’s the accusatory blinking of the cursor on the blank page or the murky middle slowing you down, the task of writing 70,000 words or more can seem insurmountable.
But first drafts don’t have to be—they can be the stage upon which your story shines. To me, first drafts are the playhouse of the imagination, where anything can happen and there are no limits.

Even if you’re following an outline, there is room for creative freedom. Let the characters run free. Let the story flow from within you. Because that is how we write stories that are true. True to you, and true to the characters.
But books aren’t all magic and play. They take hard work and focus. Whether it’s developing a daily writing habit or amping up your dictation skills, I hope we can help you level up your writing.
Because the world needs your book.

Robyn Sarty
Managing Editor,
Indie Author Magazine

2021June8

Robyn Sarty

As a managing editor at Indie Author Magazine, Robyn Sarty brings over a decade of experience as an editor and proofreader. She is the author of two novels and several short stories, and manages her own publishing company. She loves helping other authors with their books and can often be found nerding out over story elements with her friends. She spent five years as a project coordinator for an international engineering firm, and now uses those skills to chase writers instead of engineers and hopes it will be good training for her first marathon. Growing up as a third culture kid, books were the one constant in her life, and as such, Robyn believes that books are portals to the magic that lies within, and authors are wielders of that magic. She also admits to being a staunch, loyal, and unabashed supporter of the Oxford comma.

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