I read at least three proposals every week, sometimes more. In many of these proposals, I notice common writing errors, and I’d like to point these out so you can check for them before submitting your work to editors and …
Fiction
Your Unique Brand Identity
Blogger: Mary Keeley
I often talk to writers who are confused about the necessity of author branding and what goes into determining their unique brand. The quick answer is that the best way to guard your author identity is to …
Broken Book Structure
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
A book (either fiction or nonfiction) with strong structure sustains a reader’s interest, but broken book structure confuses the reader, bores the reader, or causes the reader to toss the book across the room.
Recently I …
10 Tips for a Clean Manuscript
Blogger: Mary Keeley
Writers have so much craft or technique to master. If you are a novelist, you’re consumed with things such as adding more tension or deepening the character development. If you write nonfiction, you’re concerned with organizing your …
An Author’s Unique Voice
Blogger: Mary Keeley
I had the blissful pleasure of reading two novellas on the drive to visit out-of-state family over the weekend. What else does one do sitting in the passenger seat while husband extraordinaire is at the wheel and …
A Writer’s Toolbox
Blogger: Mary Keeley
When we consider the basic tools a writer needs today, there really aren’t that many anymore. Technology has greatly altered the items in a writer’s toolbox, but the intangible tools necessary for the writing life will always …
Ending Well
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Over the last several months a number of long-running TV series have broadcast their finale, and a couple are about to broadcast their grand ending. Because the majority of them didn’t end well, this seems like …
Avoiding Sagging Middles
Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Shakespeare wrote, “There’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.” How true when it comes to writing. You might start your manuscript off with a bang and know that the conclusion is solid. But …
Agents Are Not to Be Feared
Blogger: Mary Keeley
Next week I’ll be at Book Expo America (BEA) in Chicago. This annual trade show is the general market’s equivalent of the Christian market’s International Christian Retail Show (ICRS). BEA is the largest book and author publishing …
Best Use of Story Flashbacks
Blogger: Mary Keeley
I was talking to a new novelist recently about where to begin her story and the best way to introduce important backstory information about her main characters. It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about anything craft …