Privacy Policy
I’m working on a novel and have just gotten a couple rounds of feedback from friends. Here’s what I noticed. They didn’t give me the answer I wanted! Be Open. I wanted them to say that this version was perfect, ready to send out. What they said was: Are you sure this should be chapter [...]
One project for this summer is to revise Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise. It’s the workbook for my Novel Revision Retreat and it’s also a “retreat in a book.” This year, there are four debut novels coming out of the retreats and three so far for 2012. (BTW, I”m booking retreats now for 2012, [...]
Amy Dominy, OyMG, YA, May 2011 Introduced first in 2007, debut children’s authors have formed a cooperative effort to market their books. I featured Revision Stories from the Classes of 2k8 and 2k9 and this feature returns this year with the Class of 2k11. Class of 2008 Class of 2009 MORE 2k11 HOW TO HANDLE [...]
Setting: “Where am I? And why should I care?” Readers ask these two questions at the beginning of every story. We often focus on the second question, how to hook a reader. But orienting the reader is just as important. They need to know the setting: this is a wider question than just the geographic [...]
I woke last night and wrote and rewrote endlessly the first line of my new novel. Yes, it is an important line, but it’s not important enough to stop me from writing a first draft of the first chapter. Place Holders I like the idea of place holders in fiction. That is, you write something–a [...]
Amy Holder debuts with THE LIPSTICK LAWS Introduced first in 2007, debut children’s authors have formed a cooperative effort to market their books. I featured Revision Stories from the Classes of 2k8 and 2k9 and this feature returns this year with the Class of 2k11. Class of 2008 Class of 2009 MORE 2k11 Guest post [...]
Writing is recursive. I heard this some time ago, but it’s being brought back to me this month, as I circle back on things. Looking at old drafts, looking back at what I wrote yesterday, last week, last month, last year, 5 years ago. The writing process is plastered everywhere by now: prewriting, drafting, revising, [...]
Bettina Restrepo Debuts with ILLEGAL Introduced first in 2007, debut children’s authors have formed a cooperative effort to market their books. I featured Revision Stories from the Classes of 2k8 and 2k9 and this feature returns this year with the Class of 2k11. Class of 2008 Class of 2009 Guest post by Bettina Restrepo Recently, [...]
Do you look at your old drafts? Save! Obsessively, I save old drafts. I number the versions of my manuscript, untill I finally decide to name it something different. I create folders for OldDrafts. But I rarely LOOK at these old drafts. Somehow, it doesn’t seem necessary. Looking Back or Finding What Worked This revision [...]
Scenes and Narrative Summary While I’m working on ideas for a new novel, I’m also spending a couple hours a day revising an old one. For this revision, my goal is to make sure each scene is working. Some of the feedback I’ve gotten is that there’s still a bit too much Telling-instead-of-Showing. Sigh. I [...]
Privacy Policy