Frequently Asked Questions Frequently Asked Questions By Megan Cutler | May 26, 2025 | Comments 2 comments I do a lot of shop talk during my streams. Whenever someone enters the chat with a question about craft or publishing, I want to do my best to help. But the reality is that my stream time is also my work time. Which means a significant amount of it needs to be devoted to focus. So I’m not always able to devote as much time to craft discussion as I’d like. It was also pointed out to me recently that I get a lot of the same questions. Especially involving the basics of self-publishing. And while I do keep the VoDs of many of my streams, I don’t always know which ones contain previous iterations of a conversation for ease of reference. A member of the community suggested I create a Frequently Asked Question section for my blog to make up for the times I have to stay focused rather than offer thorough answers in chat. I thought it was a great idea, so I dug through the archives for all the blog topics I’ve already covered. (This isn’t the first time a conversation with my Twitch chat has spawned a blog post.) It turns out, I’ve actually written quite a lot about both writing and self-publishing. More than enough to warrant a full-time spot on my website. So without further ado, here is the big list of topics I’ve already covered. If there are any I’ve missed, feel free to leave a comment or drop into my Twitch chat to ask your questions. To the best of my ability, I’ve organized them according to topic. But I do apologize if some are a bit out of place or difficult to find. I will keep this list up to date and revise as needed. Writing Process Questions What are the basics of World Building? What are the dangers of underdeveloped or badly developed worlds? How do I make imaginary objects make sense and feel real? How do I create a unique magical system? How do I get into my character’s head? I also have an example of how I apply these techniques. How do you manage your novel’s pacing? What aspects of the story should I focus on while plotting or planning? What are the bare minimums I need to start writing a novel? When should you start writing? What is Draft Cycling and how is it helpful? How do I choose what perspective to write from? How do I develop deeper character perspective? How do I choose what tense to write in? (Forthcoming) Why does it always feel like my writing sucks? How do I write strong female characters? How much does a book change between drafts (and what does it look like)? I have two examples for this one. The first involves Dreamers Do Lie. The second involves Symphony of the Stars. Should you write every day? Editing Questions What are the punctuation basics? What are the best practices for comma usage? What are the benefits of studying plot structure? How do I self-edit my work (and when should I)? How do I edit for impact? How do I prune passive voice (and why should I)? How do I chose an editor? What is ‘saggy middle syndrome’ and how do I avoid it? What do I do if a story feels stagnant? Why do I need secondary characters (and how do I properly use them)? Cover-Related Questions How do covers contribute to branding and marketing? What should you consider when developing your cover concept? What’s it like to work with a cover artist? What information should you provide to your cover artist? (Forthcoming) How do you make your own covers? What should you do if you need to re-brand or change your covers? Self-Publishing Questions How do I know if self-publishing is for me? How do I get good beta-reader feedback? How do I format my e-books for release? How do I format my own paperback books? Share this: Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email