If you have a critique partner, you’re a lucky writer. Truly. Not every writer has someone willing to dedicate the hours it takes to read a hot-off-the-press draft and offer thoughtful, constructive criticism. Having a critique partner is like having an accountability buddy and an early warning system for weak spots in your story. But […]
February 26, 2014 by 47 Comments Editing Your NovelCritique Partners: When to Listen and When to Push Back
November 22, 2013 by 26 Comments Writing Life5 Myths and 4 Realities About Getting Your Book Published
There it is! The cleanly printed manuscript you have slaved over for years while squirreled away in your attic with the kids are screaming downstairs or bleary-eyed at the breakfast table at three a.m. with five cups of killer coffee already in you. It’s done! But you aren’t. In fact, although the contractions are coming faster, the […]
November 8, 2013 by 20 Comments Editing Your Novel5 Key Ways to Choose the Right Word (Without a Thesaurus!)
Figuring out how to choose the right word is probably only the second most difficult writing trait to master (right after ideas). Your word choice is a crucial part of your writing that directly correlates with your readers’ reactions to your content. Sure, you could have a spectacular idea, but without the appropriate words, you’re […]
September 13, 2013 by 16 Comments Writing Life7 Tips for Shaping Your Writing Career
Seven tips that have helped shape my writing career—and may help you with yours too! 1. Engaging passion To be an author you must have something to say, a story you believe in, passionately. Nothing less than passionate belief in your subject will carry you through periods of self-doubt and dejection. Once you have decided […]
July 14, 2013 by 28 Comments Editing Your NovelCrowdsourced Editing: The Future of Self-Publishing?
Sites like Kickstarter, IndieGogo, and other “crowd-funding” platforms have been all the rage lately. Without ever leaving your home, you can tap into your networks of friends, family, and followers, and raise startup capital for things like your fantasy board game idea, a local food truck, and even an initial print run of your fan-fiction […]
June 28, 2013 by 23 Comments ProseHow to Make Adverbs Work for You
This post is by Janice Hardy (@Janice_Hardy). We hear it all the time: never use adverbs in your writing. Sound advice, but if we follow it to the extreme, we could miss out on their very useful properties. As bad a rep as adverbs have, they’re actually pretty handy during a first draft. They allow us to […]
June 19, 2013 by 14 Comments Editing Your NovelSmart-Edit Software Video Tutorial
Today, I want to introduce you to a fantastic little program—Smart-Edit. I have never been impressed with the idea of using a program to edit your book for you. Editing involves too much creativity to be left up to the mechanical algorithms of a computer program. But Smart-Edit is different. It doesn’t edit your work, but what […]
June 9, 2013 by 132 Comments Editing Your NovelHow I Self-Edit My Novels: 15 Steps From First Draft to Publication
As an author constantly striving to enhance your craft, one crucial aspect is the ability to self-edit your novels. The process of refining your own work not only sharpens your writing skills but also ensures every word on the page contributes to a compelling and polished narrative. E. B. White declared, The best writing is […]
April 26, 2013 by 16 Comments Writing LifeRecognizing Lazy Writing Habits
You’ve already laid the foundation for your story and given birth to intriguing characters. Some are people you knew needed to be in the novel from the beginning and some are strangers who unexpectedly appeared in Chapter Four and never seemed to leave. No matter how they were created, you need to make sure they […]
March 29, 2013 by 20 Comments Dialogue2 Steps to Streamlining Your Dialogue
This post is by Don McNair. Not long ago I was a guest at a writing group’s critiquing session. Five members distributed pages they wanted critiqued and, one by one, read their submissions. When the third reader started, I glanced over her pages. Every piece of dialogue was at least eight to ten lines long, and some reached a […]
