I question I get at least once or twice a month by email is “I’ve written book, how do I get it published?” or similar variations.
It’s a question I covered on my Facebook page live “Ask the Editor.” For those of you who don’t follow my FB page, I thought I’d offer it here.
If you have a question you’d like to have answered via live FB video, leave it in the comments.
Precise verbs are important to every great book, be it fiction or non-fiction. In fact, where preciseness is concerned I can say that about nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and . . . Okay, all parts of speech. During the draft process, you are focused on getting the ideas out of your head and into the…
Point of view. Think about those words and it will help you. From whose perspective are you viewing your scene? Whose feelings and thoughts are being expressed in the scene? Example from my present WIP: Chase stared at Karl with what he hoped was a questioning, please-continue look in his blue eyes, but Karl just…
There are a number of businesses that offer to help you obtain your copyright registration—for a fee, of course, and often an exorbitant one. The process is not difficult, not costly, and generally not that time consuming either. You can accomplish it either online (costs $35) or by submitting paper forms (costs $65). Here’s how:…
Outlining. It’s one of those touchy subjects among writers—should you outline your story or not? But like my recent post “Are You Crippling Your Creativity?” there is a certain misconception about outlines many beginning writers have that I hope to dispel today. Most of us grew up being taught the traditional outline.
Omniscient point of view, the god-like view where the narrator knows all/sees all, has plagued me for a long time. I just couldn’t quite grasp how to write it. Omniscient was the POV of nineteenth-century books. Later, as third-person limited came on the scene, omni-POV fell out of favor with publishers. I hear that it…
We’ve all met them: Miss Sunshine, Mr. Easy Going, Mrs. Bossy, and Ms. Perfectionist. We often chalk it up to “that’s just who they are,” but these titles describe specific temperaments. If you’re not careful, they can become stereotypes. The Merriam-Webster Unabridged Collegiate Dictionary defines temperament as “characteristic or habitual inclination or mode of emotional…