In everyday life, people normally strive for as few complications as possible. We plan ahead. We prepare. We come up...
Editing & Writing Advice
Tactical Tuesday: Advice for Self-Editing
Deep point of view (DPOV) is the new trend in fiction. This is not to say that all authors will want to use this style, however, I don’t know why they would not want to at least infuse a bit of this element into their storytelling. It takes point of view (POV) to a...
Thursday’s Tips: Complications
In everyday life, people normally strive for as few complications as possible. We plan ahead. We prepare. We come up with menus and grocery lists, and wash soccer uniforms for Saturday’s game. We even worry, as if considering all the negative scenarios will help us...
Tactical Tuesday: Advice for Self-Editing
This week, I had a budding author ask me about the latest release by a bestselling novelist. She has read previous offerings from this author, and she had never noticed the problems she found in his current work. She has been studying the elements of storytelling, she...
Tactical Tuesday: Advice for Self-Editing
This week, I had a budding author ask me about the latest release by a bestselling novelist. She has read previous...
Tactical Tuesdays: Advice for Self-Editing
Clichés. We’ve all heard about them. Most writers cringe when an editor or critique partner points out a cliché line...
Bringing God Into The Story
Part of every Christian romance is the presence of the Lord. He is a third character, embued into the soul of our hero...
Research
I’ve long been a fan of American history and the Old West and enjoy reading accounts and memoirs of people from times...
Manuscript formatting tips for MS Word
I see a great many manuscripts come through where some fundamental--and some more advanced--formatting techniques have...
Conflict development: ensuring proper progression
Lately, I’ve been seeing a goodly number of manuscripts where there are conflict discrepancies. For example (Not from...
As A Woman Thinketh
Lately I’ve seen a recurring theme in some of the manuscripts I am reading. I have written about it before in the...
Covert Emotion/Building Character
I am a character-driven editor – give me a good, solid character and you will grab my attention from the beginning of...
Developing Relationship
In romance, the paramount part of the story is developing a relationship. Hero and heroine should meet quickly, have...
Editing the Middle
I see a lot of stories that start out showing potential--more than potential, in fact; I'm intrigued. The first page...
Show, don’t tell…
Show, don’t tell.How many times have you seen that written in a rejection you’ve received? What does it mean? When an...