As a developmental editor, I do the same stuff all editors do. I challenge word choice and track continuity and check for consistency in voice and clarity of meaning and errant punctuation. But my main task—and my true love—is to help you tell a good story. Since this is where any thorough edit should start, one might think it is also where a writer’s education begins. This is not necessarily so. I learned an awful lot about stringing words and paragraphs together for maximum punch before I learned anything about storytelling. In fact, I had to seek out my teachers in this regard, and I am humbled to now step up to the plate and pass along what I've learned to other storytellers. While the projects I assess vary greatly, I find myself recommending certain storytelling resources again and again. Since some of my favorite authors write about this topic, I thought I’d bust them here today. A summer spent studying these techniques would boost your storytelling skills. And if you ha...

Recently, I bought acclaimed author and teacher Robert McKee's book STORY . If you don't know about it or don't own a copy, get it QUICK here: [ link ]. Every person who is serious about writing should own it. Though McKee is focused on screenwriting, the book holds truths for ALL forms of writing. Something I read a few nights ago made me think about the Writers Boot Camp course I offer online. McKee states, “Of the total creative effort represented in a finished work, 75 percent or more of a writer’s labor goes into designing a story. Who are these characters? What do they want? Why do they want it? How do they go about getting it? What stops them? What are the consequences? Finding the answers to these grand questions and shaping them into story is our overwhelming creative task. “Designing story tests the maturity and insight of the writer, his knowledge of society, nature, and the human heart. Story demands both vivid imagination and powerful analytic thought.” In my ...