By Amy Bennet So many times I have seen a promising science fiction, fantasy, or horror, story fall flat, because there’s no tension in the beginning. The author starts out describing the character, their history, and the history of their civilization in loving detail. But that in itself is not compelling. What is? Humans like …
By Marlo Garner One of the most important tenets of good writing you’ll ever employ is the “Show, don’t tell” rule. Basically put, writing has more power, creates more interest, and better engages readers when you let them draw their own conclusions. Showing allows the reader to experience the story through what they observe including …
by Ana Howard | Book Editing Services Many experienced authors will tell you that the first drafts of their novels are only the starting point of the writing process. In fact, many will say that their first attempts to tell a story fall short of their expectations. It is during the editing and revision stages …
Author and editor Stacey Donovan‘s fearlessness and introspection in her YA novel Dive beautifully demonstrates the power of telling the untold story inside of you. In this Q&A with Stacey, she shares invaluable advice she’s gained throughout her decades-long career—how not to agonize over the small stuff, how to write objectively, and what she’s looking for …
by Ali Williams What nobody tells you as an artist is that every project starts at the beginning. Not just the blank page, the empty stage, but that you have to re-establish your credentials and your quality every time. You can coast on reputation a little, but it doesn’t last long if you don’t deliver. …
by DJ Braxton Agents love character-driven novels. That’s because readers love them. Nothing anchors a book more than a well-developed character who we feel attached to, who we can identify or sympathize with, and who can be our guide in the world of the book that the author is created. Without this, readers tend to …
by Ali Williams While editing another author’s work this morning, I found myself wrestling with how to say, “You have 170,000 words, but you don’t have a story.” They are well-written words, they are good words, they are interesting words…but as Gertrude Stein wrote about Oakland, California, “there’s no there there.” Nothing is at stake. …
by DJ Braxton As you’re creating your characters (see also, my blog post Fiction 101: Characters Song and Dance), one of the most integral questions you can ask of them is what they want. Find out what’s standing in their way of getting it, and just what they’re willing to risk to get there. When …
by Carly Cantor, Editor Read Part 1 and Part 2 of this article. “Work the details in organically.” These are five words I often write in my critiques to authors. What many amateur writers tend to do is describe surroundings and physical traits of characters in a rather heavy-handed way, as though they are providing …
by Carly Cantor Read Part 1 of this article. The other really important task that narrative details accomplish is to help with characterization. Well-chosen descriptive details give clues to the personality of the characters and help you follow the golden rule of writing: Show, don’t tell. Thus, it might be fitting to describe the plunging …
Floyd Largent Book-Editing.com | Editing-Writing.com | BookEditingAssociates.com Floyd edits science fiction and fantasy, mainstream fiction, short stories, mysteries, anthropology, history, memoirs. His manuscript submission services include writing and editing book proposals and query letters. ************************** As you’ve no doubt learned by now, writing believable, consistent characters is surprisingly difficult. Like you, I’ve probably read enough …
Ana Howard | Fiction Novel Editor | Book Editing Associates pro·tag·o·nist noun \prō-ˈta-gə-nist\ : the main character in a novel, play, movie, etc. : an important person who is involved in a competition, conflict, or cause (Source: Merriam-Webster) One of the most common mistakes I see in aspiring authors’ novels is an underdeveloped protagonist. The …
by Amy Bennet Book Editing Associates Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror Writers’ block is a common experience where you feel like you can’t write. I see it as a symptom rather than a problem. Here’s some advice for getting past it. Remember that the world is not set up to support your writing. You have professional …
By David A. Cathcart I’m a big fan of outlining, probably for the same reason I enjoy planning anything in life—having a plan helps diminish uncertainty and, hence, anxiety about the future. It also reduces the chance I’ll get stuck or run into an unwelcome surprise along the way. That said, there’s the whole “best …
By Floyd Largent As an experienced fiction editor, I think I can safely say that most writers struggle with creating believable, well-rounded characters. As a writer, I know I do. Even in a short story, you want the main characters to be realistic and believable—no matter how escapist your literature is, or how avant-garde or fantastical. …
Adina Portman I’ve finished my first manuscript and I need an editor. What should I look for in an editor? It’s all about clear communication from the start, and it’s important that the writer and the editor get along. Sounds simple, and it is. You will want to check the editor’s background. If you’ve written …
Theodora Bryant Developmental Book Editing Services | Book Editing Associates There are three types of writers’ conferences: Retreats, where you as the writer have personal time with successful, seasoned, professional authors who are experts in particular fields, who coach you on how to write. These are usually small affairs set in inspirational environments designed to put …
By David A. Cathcart Structure is one area that beginning writers struggle with the most. We all know our stories should have suspense, surprise, drama, intrigue, and all sorts of other spicy elements. But how do we create a structure that delivers all of these elements? Over the years of working with writers …
By David A. Cathcart Right now I’m editing a novel by a writer who can’t seem to make up his mind regarding whether his story should be told in past or present tense. As a reader, I have a strong preference—past tense. As an editor, I have an even stronger preference—consistency! My personal frustrations aside, …
By David A. Cathcart Book Editing Associates When it comes to writing scenes for novels, writers would do well to behave like a good party guest—arrive late, and leave early. This is something we see all the time in film. We enter a scene as close to the climax as possible, and then leave either …
Caroline Hiley Book Editing Associates Editing any book on any subject involves the four C’s: clarity, consistency, choreography, and comprehension. Toward this end, professional editors a create style sheet to manage all the details; show the author what the editor has done on a macro level (vs. the micro level of in-manuscript changes); and give …
Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of editing quite a bit of short fiction. I’ve noticed a number of trends based on the manuscripts I receive and the questions that come along with them. Since I have long experience in submitting short story manuscripts for myself and others, I thought I’d take a look at a …
By David A. Cathcart Book Editor Recently, I’ve been working with an author who has written a fantastic sci-fi novel but who has no writer’s platform to speak of. The only other things she’s had published are technical manuals, and she has no profile to speak of on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or any other social …
by Marlo Garner Children’s Book Editor and Illustrator Well, I’m doing it. I’m throwing my two cents worth into the ring labeled “POV.” It’s something I’ve considered blogging about for a long time, as it’s one of the biggest, gangliest, toothiest, hairiest, wartiest, most frequent, and most significant technical issues I come across when I …
Review and interview by editor Marie Valentine From an early age, Clayborne Taylor, Jr. spent endless hours pursuing his interests in science and technology. That includes everything from hard sciences to reaching out in an effort to perceive possible technological advances in the future. Finally, electrical engineering provided the best fit to his thirst to …
by Stacey Donovan My life is blessed with ghosts. Those of my grandfather, my father and my uncle, specifically, all of whom wanted to be writers. My grandfather snagged the boat over from Ireland and became a Boston shoe salesman instead. My father ended up a stockbroker in New York City after foregoing his novelist …
by Marie Valentine, Developmental Editor Lots of editing types exist, from technical to business to poetry, and all styles in between (developmental, line edits, proofreading, and others). In this article, I briefly discuss editorial approaches to various arenas of writing. Editing and Proofreading Nonfiction Business editing requires copywriters who come up with the material. These clever folks know …
By David Cathcart Book Editing Associates Every form of fiction writing has its strengths and limitations—as do fiction writers. Therefore, it’s important to figure out your strengths and limitations and then match them with a writing style that plays to your strengths. Here are a few different forms of fiction writing. See which one appeals …
Review of Scenic Utah by Mike Bahl with author interview by Marie Valentine, Editor Mike Bahl and I became friends when I published two of his stories in a chapbook collaboration for a publishing festival in Milwaukee. I expressed admiration for Mike’s writing and offered to be his early reader and editor. He’s become …
By Theodora Bryant Line Editing Services / Manuscript Evaluation / Manuscript Critiques It’s true you can’t edit your own work, but you can be the first to evaluate your manuscript to find out if all the working parts are there. If you’re like most writers, you’ve studied a dozen or more experts on what should and …
Theodora Bryant Copy editor, manuscript evaluations Book Editing Associates No matter the number, it’s clear that the opening has to be a grabber in some fashion or your manuscript is dead in the water with agents, and according to those in the know, the buying public. Your opening, they say, holds up the entire …
By David A. Cathcart Something I run across constantly in the manuscripts I edit is an overuse of dialogue tags when no attribution is required. For example: Running over to the window, Stephen turned and said, “Look at that lightning!” Let’s ignore the present participle that begins this sentence for a moment and focus on …
By David A. Cathcart Book Editor: Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Editing Associates Editing-Writing.com Fantasy fiction always revolves around magic or some other kind of supernatural force. Thinking back to how I defined science fiction, you could say that magic or the supernatural is the “disruptive technology” of the fantasy genre. This power can …
By David A. Cathcart Book Editor Book Editing Associates Editing-Writing.com Character development is the driving force of any good story, and yet, this is one of the most misunderstood elements of fiction writing. We’ve all heard of “flat” or “two-dimensional” characters. But how do we avoid this fatal flaw? The first step is to …
Floyd Largent, SF/F and mystery editor. In the first blog entry on this topic, I discussed the literary stumbling blocks that writers face when they fail to listen to the old dictum “write what you know.” Western readers who write mysteries, or mystery fans who write SF (for example) can easily fall prey to old, …