Revise: Remember the 4 Sources of Conflict

Conflict, the type that motivates and moves a plot, comes from four sources.
Yesterday, an editor asked for revisions on a very short piece which was meant for a kindergarten or first grade audience. The editor didn’t like the competitiveness between siblings. But when she contemplated taking out that conflict, she correctly understood that the story [...]

Shrunken Manuscript Reveals Novel’s Strengths and Weaknesses

Shrunken Manuscript Technique Helps Visualize Problems
Following my directions for shrinking, marking and evaluating a novel, here are some recent examples:

Revise Second Draft

UnBlinded: Revising the Second Draft
419 Specific Comments
I’ve just gotten back two critiques on the second draft of my WIP novel. 419 specific comments. I’m excited.

Larger concerns. Each critique was accompanied by a letter with larger concerns. Both are still concerned that the characterization needs work. One would like a stronger opening and one thinks a [...]

2 Types of Feedback

Feedback on Story or Best Way to Tell Story?
I’ve always considered the first draft of a novel as a time to get the story down on paper. The second draft is a time to consider the best way to tell that story.
So, when I’m looking at feedback from a reader, a critique of a draft, [...]

5 Reactions to Novel Feedback

Yep. You gotta get feedback on your novel and you gotta act on it. On everything? Yep. But what if. . .
Yes! Oh! No? Uh-oh! Huh?
Okay. Here are five reactions I’ve had to recent feedback: Yes! Oh! No? Uh-oh! Huh?

Yes! It’s great when

Line Editing

While we were traveling last week, I didn’t get any new scenes revised, but I did do some line editing.
3 Line Editing Strategies
When I line edit, I’m trying to balance three things:

Smooth, easy to read. First, I want the text to be smooth and easy to read. I try to read aloud or

October News & Links

Oliver News and Let Me Solve Your Writing Problems

Oliver News. Since The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman has come out in paperback this year, it has been featured in many recommended book lists. For example,

Nail Your Novel

Review of
Nail Your Novel by Roz Morris
British author and writing teacher Roz Morris has a new book out just in time to help you with that first draft of your new novel. You know, the one you’re going to write in November for National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo.
Hiccups in your [...]

Scene Tweaks

How to Tweak a Scene
When revising a novel, it’s essential to check each scene and tweak it so the reader stays interested. Here’s an example.
Scene: Choosing Paint Color
In this relatively minor scene the Main Character (MC) comes home to find Mom and the Painter choosing paint colors. Painter has been making minor repairs and it’s [...]

Character and Plot

I’ve been working on my plot this week – which means I’ve been working on character.
I’ve been struck again by how interwoven these two are. We artificially separate them out to talk about them, but in practice, you can’t work on plot without considering character.

Conflict. For example, when I tried to decide on what conflict [...]