A quick re-cap: Larry Brooks' fantastic resource, STORY ENGINEERING, defines 6 Core Competencies for novelists and screenwriters. Those are: Concept Character Theme Structure (Setup) Scene Execution Writing Voice Today, I’m going through two main definitions: PP1 First Pinch Point FOUR-PART STORY STRUCTURE / THREE-ACT … [Read more...]
Recently an author asked me: What should I know when choosing editing for my book manuscript? What a great question! Following are six key factors that affect the quality of a book edit. Identify which style manual should guide the editing and whether the editors have expertise in applying that style. The Chicago Manual of Style is the … [Read more...]
Careful attention to detail and timing goes in to making a wine that people will want to drink or a book that readers will want to read. Self publishers who are too willing to take shortcuts and make compromises in the editorial process tend to produce books that leave a bad aftertaste—if they get read at all. When amateur winemakers learn … [Read more...]
This article is a continuation of my “Best advice I’ve learned” series. You can catch up on my other posts by clicking the links below. The competencies I cover here are my interpretation from my favourite fiction-writing book: Story Engineering by Larry Brooks. A re-cap: Story Engineering defines 6 Core Competencies for novelists and … [Read more...]
As an author or prospective author you’re sure to keep a good dictionary handy, right? I thought I was doing pretty well in this area until a friend pointed out that my favorite dictionaries were all several decades old and oodles of new words and new definitions have cropped up since they were published. I sniffed and griped and grumbled at the … [Read more...]
This article is a continuation of my “Best advice I’ve learned” series. You can catch up on my other posts by clicking the links below. The competencies I cover here are my interpretation from my favourite fiction-writing book: Story Engineering by Larry Brooks. A re-cap: Story Engineering defines 6 Core Competencies for novelists and … [Read more...]
Do you writers seriously think your editor doesn’t know how you really feel about him or her? Oh sure, most of you are polite enough when interacting directly with editors. But I’m not delusional. I know what you’re really thinking when it’s you and your heavily marked-up manuscript that you’ve just received. Many writers who have had … [Read more...]
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