Writing – nikki diekemper

Winning Pitch

This year, it’s my goal to pitch and query my novel to literary agents. This is a skill I’m still developing, so I’ve been reflecting on my notes from previous writing workshops to help me craft the best kind. I thought I’d share some with you today. Back in 2020, one of the classes IContinue reading “Winning Pitch”

Tips from #PhillyWW pt. 2

Hey everyone! As you know I got to partake in the Philadelphia Writing Workshop last weekend. It was a two day event with lots of different speakers. I already posted some of the notes I took for the first day last Saturday and today I’d like to share with you my notes from day two.Continue reading “Tips from #PhillyWW pt. 2”

Tips from #PhillyWW

Hey everyone! I have the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Philadelphia Writing Workshop this weekend. It’s a two day event, so I just wanted to share my notes from yesterday’s sessions with all my writer friends today. There were quite a few topics discussed, so I’m going to share a few bullets points inContinue reading “Tips from #PhillyWW”

Wow! What a Word Count!

I like to believe every writer struggles with word count. Whether you don’t have quite enough words to fit your genre or you just have WAY too many. For my non-writer friends, allow me to explain: Word count is kind of a big deal in the writing world–especially for debut authors. Agents and publishers wantContinue reading “Wow! What a Word Count!”

The Gift of Books

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Tis the season of hope, joy, peace, and gift giving! Some people know exactly what they want to give to everyone on their lists, but others…well, we’re last minute shoppers. So, to help all of you scrambling to come up with ideas. May I suggest you buy them aContinue reading “The Gift of Books”

Querying; Notes from a Workshop

Hey everyone! I attended the North Carolina Writing Workshop over the weekend and I want to share a few of my favorite notes from the events. The event was set up by Brian A. Klems and hosted a lot of fabulous agents and editors. Brian’s pretty much the expert for getting these workshops running, soContinue reading “Querying; Notes from a Workshop”

#CarolinaWW

I know, it’s weird, right? I’ve never used a hashtag as my blog post title, but I assure you, there’s a very good reason why. This week is the North Carolina Online Writing Workshop and I going to attend. It’s super exciting! It’s a two day event and the class schedule looks like it’ll haveContinue reading “#CarolinaWW”

The Weight of Patience

Last week, I met with a friend of mine who I asked to take a look at my novel. Her dream job is to become an editor for fantasy books, so naturally, she’s gonna be someone with eyes for the page. Not to mention, she reads a lot, so she knows the market better thanContinue reading “The Weight of Patience”

Nothing Scarier…

All through childhood and even today, one of my favorite sayings is that “nothing is scarier than a blank piece of paper.” Now, I should probably add on “for a writer” at the beginning or end of it because let’s be real, there are some incredibly scary things out there (like ticks…and other bugs). So,Continue reading “Nothing Scarier…”

The Anxiety in the Query

It’s all typed up. You’ve gone through this a least a hundred times before. The query letter, the pitch, similar books, your bio. By now you’ve got them all saved on a word document, so it’s just a quick copy and paste with a few edits here and there to personalize it for every agent.Continue reading “The Anxiety in the Query”