Most authors are aware of how important it is to avoid plot holes and inconsistencies. But sometimes the little discrepancies bedevil us more than the large ones. You’d think, as authors, we would be so close to our own stories we would instantly realize the error of calling a minor character by a different name […]
April 24, 2011 by 54 Comments Editing Your NovelWhat Is a 50-Page Edit… and Why Will It Rock Your Story?
Whether or not you edit as you go really isn’t the bazillion-dollar question. The real questions you should be asking yourself are “What’s the 50-page edit?” and “Why am I not taking advantage of it yet?” Okay, so it wouldn’t take a genius to answer that the first question. The 50-page edit is pretty obviously […]
March 27, 2011 by 41 Comments Editing Your NovelWhy Writers Should Trust Their Story Instinct
Have you ever found yourself wishing for a writing mentor—someone with the savvy, experience, generosity, and overall story instinct to reach down and guide you in your own writing journey? Well, today’s your lucky day! I’m about to introduce you to the wisest writing mentor you’re ever likely to meet. Yourself. Yep, you read right. […]
March 6, 2011 by 56 Comments Editing Your Novel3 Things I Love Lucy Can Teach You About Writing Tics
Quick, what annoying trait do writers and I Love Lucy share? In the classic episode “In Palm Springs,” Lucy and her gang drive each other up the wall with their irritating habits: Ricky’s finger tapping, Lucy’s coffee stirring, Ethel’s noisy eating, and Fred’s key jingling. Writers aren’t much different. We tap, stir, slurp, and jingle […]
February 4, 2011 by 64 Comments Editing Your NovelThe 4 Most Common Mistakes Fiction Editors See
Wouldn’t it be great if nobody ever needed an editor? If all of our stories and novels appeared in readers’ minds just as beautifully and vividly and succinctly they do in our own? Wouldn’t it be great if the story we think we’ve told were, in fact, the story we’ve told? There are more aspiring […]
January 16, 2011 by 55 Comments Editing Your Novel10 Steps for Working Past the “This Stinks” Blues
You’ve spent months laboring over your manuscript. Long nights, early mornings, blood, sweat, tears—the whole ball of wax. This story is your darling. The words are more than just words; they’re the outbreathings of your soul. Sounds like a fairy tale—every writer’s dream come true—until one morning you boot up your computer, glance through the […]
November 21, 2010 by 9 Comments Editing Your Novel7 Tips for Editing Your Way to the Best Story on the Planet
I’ve decided to give myself the week off. Instead of today’s regular post, I hope you’ll enjoy the following collection of posts on the all-important topic of editing. With National Novel Writing Month winding down, I’m sure many of you are itching to start refining those rough drafts. Below, you’ll find some tips on general […]
August 29, 2010 by 76 Comments Editing Your NovelShould You Edit As You Go?
Authors are passionately divided on the subject of editing as you go. Should you write your first draft as fast as possible, dumping your creativity on the page while it’s still smoking hot, never stopping to tweak so much as a misspelled word until you’ve got it all safely down on paper? Or should you […]
July 11, 2010 by 7 Comments Editing Your NovelHow to Tell When Your Book Is Finished: 4 Signs It’s Time to Move On
We often complain that life isn’t as clear as it is in the movies. Unlike real life, stories offer definitive story arcs and concrete beginnings and endings. And, yet, ironically, it can often be difficult for writers to know just where that supposedly definitive ending point is in their stories. This ending point isn’t so […]
May 2, 2010 by 49 Comments Editing Your NovelWhen Your Story Doesn’t Turn Out Like You Planned
How many times have you come up with a brilliant idea—a story so dazzling, a character so real, a snippet of dialogue so scintillating that it knocks you breathless—only to have it fail to live up to your vision when you started putting it on paper? If you’re like me, then the answer is every […]
