By Floyd Largent “Now my own suspicion is, the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.” – J.B.S. Haldane, British biologist. One of the greatest advantages of science fiction is that it’s the literature of ideas—that it’s not limited in ways that other types of fiction can be, especially …
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 Ali Williams “He left the theatre, contemplating his own intensity.” – line in a recent manuscript Last week I edited a sample chapter from a dystopian chick-lit manuscript. The author thought my advice was spot on and my open time slot fit her deadline. I quoted her 2.5 cents per word for a developmental …
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 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 David A. Cathcart As I noted in my previous post—which laid out five arguments for why you should outline your novel, short story or non-fiction project—I’m a big fan of outlining for the same reason I enjoy planning anything in life. I like to have a clear sense of where I’m going before I …
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 …
The Little Things Do Matter in Finishing Your Book By Editor John David Kudrick A close friend of mine recently told me he wanted to get serious about writing again, with the ultimate goal of finishing his nonfiction book. So I sent him some basic tips that come from an author I know personally, because …
By: David Alan Yes, I’m going to explain how to write a book in 750 words. After writing more than seventy books myself, I feel I can boil down the book-writing process to several simple tips. Note that I said book-writing process. Before attempting to write a book longer than Goodnight Moon, a person should …
By David A. Cathcart Knowing when to start a new paragraph in a novel or short story should be a simple matter, but for many writers—especially beginning writers—it’s anything but. Like most aspects of writing, when it comes to paragraphs, there are rules, and then there are interpretations of the rules. So there’s definitely some …
By Editor John David Kudrick If you’ve read even a little about the craft of writing fiction, or had an editor like me review your story, then you’ve no doubt had someone tell you, “Get rid of those adverbs! They only weaken your story!” But we all learned how to use adverbs in grammar class …
By Kelly Lynne Sometimes the first look at an unpublished manuscript forms a negative opinion, especially if we editors only get to see a sample of 25 pages before deciding to work with an author. If our pocketbook gives us little choice about taking on a project, we are forced to look deeper into writing …
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 …
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 …
Friends and Family Love Your Book And Now You Just Want An Editor to Red-Pencil It? (Why you might benefit by first getting a different kind of “second opinion”…) By Mark Orrin, Senior Editor/Authors’ Mentor If you’re like many authors I’ve helped over the years, you’ve worked hard to build your book, often while you’ve held a full-time …
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 S. Maness You’ve been writing your dissertation for 3 years … You just finished writing your proposal and have been told it’s a mess … You haven’t been able to get even chapter 1 approved … Wherever you are in the process of writing your thesis or dissertation, you may find yourself needing the …
by Christine D. Tomei, PhD Thesis and Dissertation Coach, Content Editor, Advisor I am writing this following a spate of literature review problems and in answer to the question: Is it better to use a dissertation consultant before or after the writing of this chapter? There seems to be a wide array of dissertators who …
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 …
by Marie Valentine, Book Editor and Proofreader Fiction is a narrative told in prose form about events not true to life. Many books include disclaimers that the work is made up solely by the author’s imagination, and any similarities the tale bears to real events are coincidences. Forms of fiction range in style, length, and …