One of the biggest issues I see when editing manuscripts is the story starts out slow. So many authors struggle with where to start their story, and most people need to cut pages in the manuscript’s beginning during their edits. So how do you know where to start for the Read more
I’ve discussed pacing before, on a sentence-level and then scene-level, and now I’d like to look at it on a book-level. Whether you are planning to write a book or going back to one that’s already written, you’ll need to consider pacing so readers stay engaged. Too slow of pacing Read more
The other day, I was flipping through one of my notebooks where I’ve written down author tips. I came across a page that made me stop and go, “Wow, this is awesome!” Which is probably what I thought when I first found the tip and wrote it down. Unfortunately, I Read more
After years of critiquing and editing manuscripts for writers, I’ve learned there is one major piece of advice I keep having to repeat. It’s quite simply: progress the plot. Push the plot forward. Keep the plot moving. I’ve said it multiple ways, but it all means the same thing. Today, Read more
In this post, when I say scene, I’m not referring to a setting but to part of a sequence of events. A scene in a book is marked by breaks. These can be a chapter break or just a line break. These symbolize a jump in the story to a Read more