by Carly Cantor Agents are inundated with submissions. Technology has made it easy for people to write and then submit what they’ve written to agents (or directly to publishing houses), hopeful their work will be recognized as a gem. But there’s an enormous mismatch between the number of people who think they have a publishable …
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. …
Part 2: Too Much of a Good Thing Isn’t So Good By Editor John David Kudrick In the first installment of this series, we looked at how head-hopping (abrupt POV jumps within a scene) can damage the intimacy between a reader and the story. In this second part, I want to cover another major problem …
Part 1: Head-Hopping Hurts Readers’ Heads By Editor John David Kudrick Even in our fast-paced digital age, readers are still looking for stories that encourage, engage, and entertain them in the midst of a changing world. What makes a good story hasn’t changed, and on the flip side, what ruins a good story hasn’t changed, …