Writerly bottom

Here are some of the tips for cutting 1,000’s of words from a manuscript that I learned at the conference (I definitely need this for Shenandoah’s Daughter, and I’m sure I’ll need it to a lesser extent for Comanche Lost): Does your story start in the right place? (Most prologs aren’t necessary. If you’re relying … Read more

Some How-to’s of Fiction Writing Mystery to Me  –  Crutch Words  –  Unique Voices  –  Romance Beats  –  Character Flaws  –  How to Start a Novel  –  Synonyms for Very  –  Fix Fluff #1  –  Fix Fluff #2  –  Story Stall  –  Building Blocks of Scene –  Satisfying Ways to End a Story  –  What, But, Therefore  … Read more

I asked K. M. Weiland, “In the flat ARC, is there a ‘dark night of the soul’?” Her gracious reply: Dave, Thanks for your note! In storytelling terms, I equate the Dark Night of the Soul with the Low Moment at the Third Plot Point. This will occur in all types of arcs (to varying … Read more

Flip the Question – Jane Friedman 5  good ways Is this chapter too long, too short, or just the right length? Beta Readers – Why You Want Them, Why You Need Them

Here are five I chose to re-read first.  Re-reading Writing Books – by Edie Melson– My mood reading applies here. I’ll pick up whichever one jumps out at me and read them in the order that feels most natural. But I’m excited to dive back in and see what they have to teach me. 1. On … Read more

Hire an Editor? “Perfect to Me”: How Self-Editing Can Take Your Novel to the Next Stage Now that you’ve hired an editor: Best practices for working with an independent editor From Jack Cunningham – Tisha Martin – Editing – From Susan Count – Brilliant Cut Editing Another site you can go to for editors is upwork.com … Read more

How do you stay accurate to the time period?

– from Elijah?

– Will I?