The Content Goldmine Hiding in Your WIP (And How to Mine It While You Write)

This is something I've done for a while (and probably not exactly a revelation for most writers), but have you ever considered keeping a running “quotes list” while drafting?

If you haven’t, you’re missing out on an incredibly easy way to make your life a million times easier when it’s time to market your book. Whenever I’m drafting a new story and a line hits the page that makes me pause—usually a hook that reveals a juicy trope, sets a moody vibe, or just packs a serious punch—I copy and paste it straight into a separate document to use later.

Look, the concept isn't exactly mind-blowing. It’s simple. But it gives you a treasure trove of raw content to work with when you start the inevitable, exhausting process of promoting your book.

Personally, I love sharing these tiny snippets with my readers while I’m still actively drafting. I always drop them with the caveat that hey, this is raw text and it might not make it into the final, polished version of the book. (Though, let’s be honest—if a line is good enough to make the quote list, it usually survives the editing shears).

It is such a fun, low-pressure way to build buzz and get potential readers invested in your story world before the book is even finished. If you follow me over on Threads, you already know I do this all the time.

And if you’re someone who actually creates TikToks or Reels to push your work to readers? These short, punchy quotes are absolute, pure gold for text-on-screen videos.

Now, full disclosure: I totally suck at creating video content. It's just not my jam. So this is definitely a case of me preaching a strategy that I don’t do enough myself. Learn from my mistakes! If you have the energy for short-form video, take your quotes and run with them.

How to Find Your Best Snippets

If you’ve never done this before and have no idea what lines are worth pulling from your work-in-progress, don’t overthink it. Look for three specific things:

• Lines that scream your book's tropes.
• Lines that instantly establish the story's vibe.
• A cliffhanger line that leaves a reader wanting more.

To show you what I mean, here are a couple of snippets I pulled from my standalone novel, Ghost in the Attic:

“You have nothing to fear from me. If I didn’t attack you when you were bleeding out in front of me, smelling like the most exquisite feast, I’m certainly not going to now.”

If you have a soft spot for vampires, wouldn't you immediately want to know what the hell is going on there?

Or, if you want a line that establishes the darker, high-stakes vibe of the book:

"You need to understand something, Angela. Vampires don’t ask for permission. They take. They own. And if you walk into that party alone, you’ll belong to someone before the night is over."

See how that instantly sets expectations for the reader?

Here’s one more example, this time from my latest release, Nightwinger's Lethal Lullaby:

“A witch who cannot trust her own power is a witch who can be led. By the hand. Into the dark.”

Creating a document like this takes ten seconds while you’re already writing, but it saves you hours of staring at a blank screen later trying to figure out what to post. Or if you haven't done this while you're drafting, it's not too late to do it while editing.

Open up your WIP, find what works for you, and start sharing those little breadcrumbs with your readers.