Dear Purposeful Prose, I’ve been working on my book for a few years now, giving it space and returning to it when I’m ready to write again. At this point, I feel as though I’ve written all I can write and that it is a full first draft. Now that I have a first draft, how do I move forward? What do I do next? Do I self-edit? Do I immediately go to an editor or beta readers? This question is more common than you might think. The first draft can feel like solid stone, and since y

Dear Purposeful Prose, I’m going through feedback I received from beta readers last week, and I’ve noticed that most of them have found errors in point of view. I will be fixing them, but I’m frustrated with myself, and I need some outside perspective. What are some ways that I can fix point of view errors in my writing and how do I avoid running into this problem again? Inconsistencies in point of view is a very common issue, and mitigating it requires a delicate hand, espec

Dear Purposeful Prose, I see a lot of different kinds of writing advice on the internet about getting editors, having writing groups, getting beta readers, and things like that. I recently saw a piece of advice that resonated with me a little bit, and I want to know if it’s true. The post talked about how so many writers who have become household names today never had the need for beta readers or editors, and we should ignore the naysayers who tell us that we can’t get publis