It's back - The Ask the Editor Free-For-All Last month's Ask the Editor Free-For-All drew a terrific response from our readers, with corresponding great answers from our editors. I counted 68 comments in all. Hopefully, the tradition will carry forth, bringing us even more wonderful questions and answers. In case you're new to what's going on, this is where you get to ask those embarrassing questions you're dying to know the answers to, but don't want to sound silly asking them of an acquisitions editor or agent. Here's how it works: Today, and Every First Tuesday of the Month, The Blood-Red Pencil holds what we call the Ask the Editor Free-For-All. I scour e-groups beforehand, putting out a cry for likely guinea pigs; no, seriously, I mean candidates. Even if you don't see the call in one of my e-groups, you’re more than welcome to join in. I’m sure many of you have questions you’d like to ask editors. Maybe you’re submitting a manuscript or...

--> “Cowgirl up” is an expression that means to rise to the occasion, not to give up, and to do it all without making excuses. Once we’ve found the courage to write (see blog post March 1), do we then have the guts to share it with others? We know what kind of negative inner editors we have (“What d’ya mean, you think you can write, you can’t even spell?”) and how we have to overcome those voices in our heads. Once you put something down on paper and you’ve gone over it a few times, rewritten it, checked the spelling, grammar, etc., and think that maybe, just maybe you have something that is pretty good, now what? What if those “outer editors” say the same bad things? Writers have characterized the writing process as akin to giving birth, a painful but glorious process. Who wants to put your “baby” on display and have others call it ugly? Here are some tips on how to receive as well as give critique : It is important to know how to react to a critique of your wor...

Before starting to edit a novel, I remind myself that it’s not my story. I prepare for the author to have her own style, her own pace, and her own idea of how everything should turn out. I tell myself that my edits will likely be irrelevant to the book’s ultimate success or failure. In fact, even the author’s choices may turn out to be irrelevant. Connecting with the right agent or editor, at the right moment in his acquisition schedule, with exactly the right story is almost as much about luck as it is about talent, research, and editing. Every reading experience is subjective. If I read a scene in which an abused wife makes a choice to take a beating rather than fight back, I may think it’s about survival because I’ve been in her shoes. Another reader might see the character as weak and hard to bond with. Another reader might simply be sick of domestic violence stories. Every reader brings his or her own baggage to the narrative. Any suggestions I make to the author are subjective,...

One of the best ways we get to know characters in a novel is through their reactions to story events. Think of any fork in the road of your own life: you could take any number of paths. Will you face the conflict? Deny it? Work around it? Retreat and regroup? Which your character chooses to do speaks much of him. Note the word “do.” Perhaps representing this concept as “re-actions” will get my point across better: action takes place, and the character acts in response. I’m not talking about body-level reactions in which toes curl and stomachs churn and throats constrict and that vein in the temple throbs. Such clichéd biology eats away at the literary quality of your manuscript and can give the reader acid reflux after a while. But even these reactions are better than no reaction. The most common rookie storytelling error, I think, is to not let your character react. It usually goes something like this: “I stood there with my mouth hanging open.” “She froze to the spot, unable...

You may have found places in your story where perfect grammar doesn’t necessarily sound right, but choosing exactly where to use good grammar and when to drop into “conversational” style can be a tricky skill to develop. Knowing when your work will be more effective with a modification of your grammar depends on how well you understand good grammar to begin with. The Short and the Long of It All Although fragments and lengthy sentences are opposites, they can be used to create similar effects in fiction. They should be used sparingly if they are to have impact. Fragment Sentences Fragments are most commonly found in dialogue, which helps it sound more realistic. In the narrative, fragments can be used either to speed up the text or to slow it down depending on how you use them and the context of their placement. Fragments can balance complex sentences in action scenes, helping to draw attention to specific points in the scene while the rest of the action becomes a blur of act...

In an earlier post, we created leads for our articles. Today we draft the rest of the story. If you haven't already done so, begin by reviewing existing author pages. What kinds of information is included? How is it grouped under sub-titles? What kinds of external links (links to pages outside of Wikipedia) are included? What kinds of wiki links? What kinds of categories are used? Now look at the information you’ve gathered on your author. Can you organize it into chunks of related items? What heading (sub-title) would you give to each chunk of information? Organize the information that way in your document so you can cut and paste later. What is typical for authors? It depends. Take a look at Nevada Barr and Linda Barnes . They have the simplest form of article for authors – a lead and a list of publications. (Note there is no table of contents. That’s because there’s only one subheading – the list of books. We’ll learn tomorrow that Wikipedia automatically adds the table ...

Dialogue is two or more characters talking to each other. We can all talk. Writing dialogue should be easy, right? Well, yes and no. Here’s what dialogue is : Talk is an ACTION . An ideal, compact way to advance your story by having one character tell the other what’s happening—to reveal, admit, incite, accuse, lie, etc. It can speed up a scene. A way to define a character . The way someone speaks—accent, vocabulary, idiom, inflection—tells as much about what he is like as his actions do. And let’s us see him better than just using description. It can also reveal motive. One way to show emotion and set a mood . Characters reveal themselves when under stress or angry. Dialogue is used to create an emotional effect in the reader. Another way to show POV . Often used to get across what is NOT said . Example, if you want to show that someone wants to avoid an unpleasant encounter, you can show this by having them talk around the subject uppermost in their mind, but never quite touch ...

I’m a ghostwriter, and have been for more than ten years. For many years before that, writing was something I did “on the side.” It didn’t pay the mortgage or put my kids through college; that’s what my day job was for. I didn’t actually start making a living writing until I began to write for others. Now I no longer live on the sidelines of my own life. Ghostwriting is the vehicle I used to get in the game. Other writers ask me about ghostwriting, often with an undertone of sympathy, as if ghostwriting was a last resort. When I tell them I love ghostwriting, I don’t think they really believe me. But although there are downsides to ghostwriting, there are plenty of upsides. Here are ten of them. 1. You can make money doing what you love – writing. Now I must admit I’m not raking in the dough and getting filthy rich. But I am making a comfortable living, and I am hundreds of times happier than I used to be while making twice as much working for corporate America. There were a few lea...

Do you prefer writing or revising? Revising, no contest! I actually tend to revise as I go. When I'm a good girl and fulfill my word-goal for the day, I let myself work over the previous couple pages as a treat. I almost always discover they're better than I thought. It's like they cure overnight or something. ~ Sarah Miller Read more about this author and her thoughts on the writing process and publishing by clicking here .

In our January 25th post , I listed a sampling of upcoming conferences through April 2010. This month I’m taking a look at conferences scheduled for May through August. The list is representative of events across the country available to help you improve your writing skills and get feedback from editors and agents. You can find more information at Shaw Guides . For a series of informative articles about conferences from Writer's Digest editor Chuck Sambuchino, check out the Writers Conference category of his blog archives. The focus of these conferences is writing. The cost is minimal for some of the one-day programs. Pitch sessions are available at several. All of the information for each conference or workshop can be found at its official website. Click on the conference name and follow the link. May Florida Center for the Literary Arts Miami Dade College Miami, Florida May 5-8, 2010 Lighthouse Writers Workshop Denver, Colorado Ongoing workshops, retreats Mar...

Recently, I had the less-than-stellar experience of editing a manuscript for a first-time writer who believed her every word, every comma, every sentence contributed to her perfect book and under no circumstances should be changed. Emotions ran high, and reason ran out the door. Resistance became the word of the day, every day. A few years ago, I attended a seminar where we were told that our books are not our babies. However, books are birthed after months, sometimes years, of hard labor. That does suggest a kinship between the two b’s—babies and books. Let’s take that comparison a step further. What happens when our baby gets sick? Do we take it to the doctor? Yes. When the doctor writes out a prescription, do we fill it? Of course. We even get well-baby checks and follow a schedule of immunizations to prevent measles, mumps, chickenpox, tetanus, hepatitis, and other diseases. Why? We want our baby to be healthy, the best it can be. What about our manuscripts? When they are less...

Previously we looked at how to use a blend of pluperfect tense and past tense to integrate flashbacks. Today we will look at mixing past and present tense. Deliberately Mixing Past and Present Tense I've read some interesting stories using a mixture of tenses. One book involved a current investigation that triggered constant flashbacks for the protagonist to a previous investigation. The author handled this by separating the two stories and writing the main narrative in present tense, alternating full scenes of present tense and past tense reflecting the present and past respectively. It helped to clarify for which case clues were being processed. Another story was written in first person past tense in a confessionary style. When the narrator spoke of scenes that were emotionally "present" to him, he slipped into present tense narration. Take care with this technique, as you need to have a good handle on your own grasp of tense. Inadvertently Mixing Tenses Some writers f...

What is a “platform” when it pertains to a book? This can be confusing – with good reason. The confusion is because what used to be meant by platform has morphed into something more. In the past, when someone said you needed a platform for your book, they, first off, meant your nonfiction book. Only nonfiction books were required to have platforms. What it basically meant was that you, the author, were an expert on some subject others want to learn about. Expert + important topic = platform. Over the last few years, platform has come to mean more than that. It no longer is enough to be an expert on some subject people want to read about. You now have to have a built-in audience or a way to get publicity. Expert + important topic + ready audience = platform. The sad thing is this last part of the equation (the ready audience) has taken on great significance, so much so that it can be more important than the other two parts. That’s why you see so many celebrities writing books...

I’ve been a fan of children’s literature since writing and illustrating my first little book as a senior in high school, winning the art student of the year scholarship and award. Wow, that was a very , very, very long time ago. Over the decades, I collected children's literature for my own pleasure, and even worked as a trade rep at the Denver Merchandise Mart just so I could sell all the Random House imprints. What a marvelous time that was, getting boxes of new books every week. I was gifted with a tremendous selection, from classics to the newest contemporary, and before very long I developed an “ear” for a story that children and adults both could learn from and enjoy. It was an education through immersion. Of course, it didn't hurt that Dr. Seuss himself was the director of the Beginner Books division at the time. What could possibly inspire a fledgling writer more? Recently, Little Pickle Press caught my eye at Facebook just as owner, Rana DiOrio, was releasing the ...

This is another in our continuing series Ask The Editor. Normally I edit the questions, if need be, but decided to leave this one as is. Explanation will come later. The question comes from: Gregg Seeley Big Bobby Boom and the Marble Mayhem (Moose Hide Books 2009) Ages 9-11 buy link Goodreads Redroom Question : I am published under a small independant press and have recieved wonderful reviews on this book from Schools, journalists, reviewers and readers alike and am in the process of having more published that are terrifically favourable as well. My question is, How can I bring this book to the attention of a larger publisher or larger distributor in order that they consider it for purchase of publishing rights in order to give it international exposure and distribution? Please let me know if you are able to offer me advice on this and the other authors who are facing the same challenge. Answer : The stories of authors who successfully move from small press or self- publi...

Recently, I have been thinking about why we kill. Because that is what mystery writers do. We set up a situation with a variety of characters, and we kill one of them. Fun, huh? But if we’re going to do it right, we need to have a good motive. It can be one of the classics – lust, jealousy, rage, or greed (a form of lust) – but it has to make sense. If we’re going to respect our readers, we, as authors, need to come up with a good reason for one of our characters to die. I should explain, I write the kind of traditional mysteries (yes, sometimes called “cozies”) that are peopled by rational types, more or less. I do not write nor am I a fan of the kind of mystery or thriller in which the irrational is accepted. I don’t care about crazed serial killers/terrorists, alien invasions, or the like. (Yes, I do have the occasional ghost, but he’s feline.) I want to understand what is going on, and that means understanding the villain, too. Even if the villain’s motives are slightly off, the r...

Ah, it's conference season again. Writers everywhere are crawling from their winter writing spaces, blinking a few times, and sniffing the air: Time to meet with others of my kind. I admire these writers, who will plunk their money down to invest in a career that may still be one of their imagination. They will don their best "business casual" (clean and pressed—yes; over-eager—no; professional yet confidently relaxed and "I too could be on Oprah" is the image they seek) and stride through the hotel ballroom doors with a game face on because this is what they've been working for, what they can find nowhere else: the chance to sit down with an agent, editor or publisher, face to face, and advocate for their work. Are you one of them? If you too are gearing up to pitch to an agent or editor this conference season, and you write fiction or memoir, here are a few tips on how to put together your pitch. By now your manuscript may have swelled to 100,000 words...