Story Genius by Lisa Cron is a great writing craft book to help you dig into the heart of your novel and find that magical “third rail” that keeps a reader engaged from page one until the very end. At its most basic level, the third rail is your main character’s internal conflict. This includes […]
Finding the Third Rail: The Greatest Showman Read More »
Recently my CP group and I have been reading Story Genius by Lisa Cron, and wow, is that book insightful! This novel on writing craft takes you through the steps of drafting a killer novel. However, the focus isn’t on the external plot, but on your main character and their internal struggle which drives what
How many times have I thought: “This is it! This novel is finally done!” The answer? Too many. First novels are definitely a learning experience. Months ago I thought my first manuscript, A Bargain of Fear and Desire was complete. I’d poured my heart and soul into it, written over 80k words, and my story
Sometimes a revision is in order Read More »
Writing the opening pages of a novel is hard. How do you set the right tone? What’s the best way to convey the main character’s wants, needs, appearance, age, etc? How do you get the plot moving from page one? Sadly there’s no magic bullet that will address all of these things for all manuscripts;
Advice for new authors – The pitfalls of fiction novel openings Read More »
If you’ve been following RevPit, then you’ll know by now that I was not picked by any of the participating editors as the one author/manuscript that they’ll be working with over the next few weeks. It’s a bummer, but I definitely didn’t leave empty handed. The RevPit community is truly amazing and supportive. Not only
RevPit – The Results Are In Read More »
104 hours have passed since I submitted my entry into the RevPit contest. Not that I’m counting or anything… I linger on in painful silence, waiting with baited breath for an email to confirm my wildest hopes–an editor is interesting in my manuscript. Each refresh of my inbox brings barely contained hope followed by hallow
RevPit – Wednesday Update Read More »
Submission weekend for the annual RevPit contest has finally arrived! Not sure what RevPit is? You can learn more about it on their website. Before we jump into submissions, let’s talk a little bit about my RevPit journey so far: I started participating in the RevPit community during their 10 Queries event earlier this year.
RevPit – Submission Weekend! Read More »
I loved the first draft of my novel. It had it’s flaws and the grammar needed work, but I was fully convinced that the story was solid and needed no major revisions. Once again, I was wrong. The main part that really struggled was my ending. Only, I couldn’t see that. If not for
Editing – The ending that wasn’t and never should have been Read More »
By November I’d finished my first manuscript. I loved it. I reveled in it. My beauty was finally on paper! I did not touch my manuscript for the entire month of December. A lot of people will tell you that it’s a great idea to take break after the first draft before you jump into
Editing – The wake-up call Read More »
I will be submitting to #RevPit this year, an annual contest where authors can win a full edit of their completed manuscript. You can learn more about the contest at http://reviseresub.com/. In preparation for RevPit, I’ve joined with other authors to participate in the RevPit blog hop! Be sure to check out some of