Accepting Responsibility for Your Novel: Editing
When you write a novel, the chances are good that the publisher will hire editors to massage your text. There are problems with that, of course. Not all editors are as good as you’d like. Editors get tired. Editors don’t get paid enough. Editors have lapses of judgment. Your editor might not like your work. […]
Most Common Editing Problems
One time I taught a writing workshop in Salt Lake City and spent some time reading stories. In the past, I haven’t spent much time talking about stylistic problems, but I thought it would be interesting to bring up the six problems that I see most often: 1) Weak verbs. Very often, people will use […]
Performing Your Tale
Many writers will recommend that as you edit your tale, you do a final read-through so that you can see how the story sounds. After all, if you’re going to be doing readings in libraries or at signings, you want to make sure that your tale flows well, that it’s free of typos, and that […]
Writing the Big Fat Book
I got this question from Jim: “So much advice to writers is about suspense, or scene goals, or characters overcoming conflict. One published author told me to take out every unnecessary word from a manuscript. “Then how do we explain Larry McMurtry and the Lonesome Dove, or Commanche Moon, where he constantly interrupts the story […]
Getting the Niggling Details Right
Ernest Hemingway sometimes compared writing to a boxing match, and in a certain sense he was right. Whenever you step into a boxing ring, there’s an excellent chance that you’re going to get punched. In the same way, whenever you write a story, there’s someone who figures you need a beating. It might be a […]
Writing for the Holidays – NaNoWriMo Daily Writing Tips
The midwinter is actually my favorite time of the year to write. There aren’t many conventions or writing workshops in January and February, since organizers know that their customers are busy with family affairs, so I like to focus on work. But there are some things that you should know as a writer. First, this […]
What Does Your Story Accomplish? – NaNoWriMo Daily Writing Tips
As a judge, I’ve just finished my second pass through the Writers of the Future contest stories for the first quarter, and several times I have been reminded of something: Your story needs to accomplish a lot. Let me explain. Very often I get good stories that are told pretty well. With beginning authors, even […]
Writing Wretched Dialog – NaNoWriMo Daily Writing Tips
Recently I read a couple of stories where it felt as if the author was struggling to come up with bad dialog. So I thought I should give a few tips on how to do it properly. The easiest way to write wretched dialog is to use dialog for the wrong things. In other words, […]
Imagination – NaNoWriMo Daily Writing Tips
The first thing that I seek in a great story is originality. You may not realize it, but the most common problem with stories is that they’re tepid. The same ideas crop up over and over again. So I look for new and intriguing concepts, especially when I’m judging science fiction and fantasy. Very often […]
Fluttering – NaNoWriMo Daily Writing Tips
Have you ever watched a butterfly in flight and tried to figure out where it will go next? The butterfly will soar three feet in the air, veer left, drop, veer right. It will look as if it’s heading for a flower, then land on a rock. Of course, it is biologically programmed to do […]
