Why Be a Beta Reader?
One of the most important parts of my writing process is to find beta readers. Oh, there’s different types of beta readers and all of which I use for different reasons. They are indispensable in the process of getting your writing in shape. YOUR STORY AND THE READER’S Oh, yeah, there is always more than [...]
How to Speed Write
Nano (National Novel Writing Month) runs from November 1st-30th. It’s the writing frenzy where you kick out a large number of words to hopefully finish a novel in record time. Many people start the challenge and end up with a sizable number of pages by the end. Some are inspired to start writing for the [...]
Five Quick Tips To Avoid Weak Writing
How many times have you read a novel and felt in the action? Great novels spike the reader’s fear, anxiety, anger, laughter–even hormones. It may even keep the reader up until the wee hours, glued to the pages. Stephen King and Nora Roberts make the big bucks for good reason. Painting a picture with words [...]
Seven Mistakes That Will Get Your Novel Rejected
As a writing coach and book editor, I’ve seen too many novelists, with the very first line they write, destroy their chances of ever getting published. A good novel will grab the reader’s attention with its first words, create characters the reader wants to know, create a situation the character must resolve, create suspense, create [...]
Write a Novel – The Difference Between Voice and Tone
One of the best ways to understand something is to provide different treatments of the subject. Thomas Mann’s eight stories in the popular Vintage imprint with DEATH IN VENICE as the lead title is ideal to work from, since each story is written in a different voice. Yet his masterpiece, THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, depicts his [...]
Write a Novel – How to Get Published
To write a novel that will be appealing to a major royalty publisher involves more than just talent and hard work. It requires creating a plan from the outset and the discipline to follow it. Everybody Has a Story Worth Telling If you have begun reading this article, there’s a good possibility you have either [...]
Write a Novel – Point of View and Techniques for Effective Shifts
The first question some people might ask is why any writer would need to learn techniques related to Point of View. Doesn’t POV automatically synchronize with the character’s thoughts as soon as these feelings are expressed by the writer? And isn’t the POV of a scene easily identified by an attribute or obvious implication? If [...]
Writing Tips For Novelists – Inserting Dialogue to Improve Narrative Pacing
It would be nice to relate that few writers ever have pacing issues, but as any novelist knows, the story’s tempo is often–as it should be–on the forefront of an author’s mind.In the writing workshops I facilitate that are sponsored by the Palm Beach County Library System, budding authors often ask about ways to better [...]
Writing Novels – Dialogue to Enhance Characterization
It is important to recognize all of the various writing components that can be utilized to develop and enhance characterization. Yet while dialogue is definitely one of these elements, it is often reduced to a lesser status. Here is a typical textbook definition that, via the specific omission of dialogue by name, diminishes this writing medium as a [...]
Book Agent Query Letters – Finding the Right Agent For Your Novel
Many Agents Do Not Accept Unsolicited Material In the fiction area of the book-agenting arena, other than some agents/agencies now requesting or requiring submissions via E-mail, the rules for presenting preliminary material have not changed appreciably in the past 15 to 20 years. What has changed is the number of agents who no longer accept [...]
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