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Five Ways To Make Your Story “Good”
Unfortunately, that descriptor "good" is a vague one. We may not even know what we're asking when we ask it. We may not want anything from the person we are asking except a nod, and maybe their dinner order. We really only want validation that our creative efforts aren't wasted and that maybe that MFA degree wasn't a waste of money.
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What To Do With Your Nanowrimo Project Now
You now have 50,000+ words of the most hare-brained, rabbit-traily, blathering nonsense the literary world has ever seen. You may have loved it on November 30, but now it's really a mess.
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Does Your Backstory Make Your Readers Stabby?
ou've written thousands of words of backstory! You know how his parents met, how he got that scar on his pasty white tuckus, and why he gets all shaky and whiny when he's served enchiladas. This is all-important stuff you told yourself as you dumped it out into the first chapter of your work-in-progress. It sets the stage! The readers can really know him! This will make the story richer! But your character's backstory may be have bored your reader to tears. Here's what to do instead.
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Thirteen Mistakes You Could Be Making In Narrative Voice
The narrative voice is the voice of the point of view character that tells the story. With a well-drawn point of view character, a story can be rich and interesting. You want to take the time to get this right.
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Six More Requirements for the First Pages Of Your Bestseller
Last week, this blog suggested five requirements for the first few pages of your bestseller. This week, we present six more!
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Five Requirements for the First Pages Of Your Bestseller
The first pages of a book are like opening a door. When your reader, agent, publisher or reviewer opens it, you really want them to be so interested that they can’t put it down. To make sure this happens, consider these five requirements for the first few pages.
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Eight Awful Beginnings You Want To Avoid
Will it be a good beginning or a bad one? Within reading the first two sentences, you've already made a decision on whether or not you'll keep reading. Your reader has too. If they have picked up your novel, they may be turned off by what they read if you have one of these eight awful beginnings.
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Ten Questions To Ask Your Beta Readers
You can use beta readers early in your writing journey, say, after the first draft. Or you can wait for several drafts into it and then let trusted people read it. Either way, you may find it helpful to give them specific questions to answer about your manuscript.
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Why Story Structure is So Important
One of my favorite writing books is Story by Robert McKee. I love it because it is a heady, thorough, and challenging explanation of exactly how to tell a story. While it’s designed mostly for screenwriters, I imagine every novelist would find value in it.
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Seven Reasons Why You Should Read Your Manuscript Out Loud
I'm completely convinced that you'll make a lot of notes. I'm convinced that you'll hear far more errors than you'll ever see. Reading aloud reveals everything.
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Top Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation Resources for 10 Minute Novelists
Don’t let your lack of knowledge or skill intimidate you. You are not a failure if you have trouble with any of these issues. Real writers, successful writers, don’t let their weaknesses keep them from pursuing their dreams.
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Top 10 Signs You’ve Given TMI & Need to Cut The Dickens Out Of Your Backstory by Katharine Grubb 10 Minute Novelist
You are not Charles Dickens. As much as you may want to be Victorian, champion for the London’s most needy, and father 10 children, that doesn’t give you the right to overwrite your novels. That is, if you intention is to sell them in today’s market, you may want to reconsider how much backstory you have and how you may want to cut it. In today’s market, there are general guidelines for genres. Writer’s Digest has a nice article that breaks it down for your use. But these are general guidelines. Anyone who self-publishes can basically do whatever they want. And if you look hard enough, you’ll find exceptions to nearly ever…
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Beginning Badly: Eight Awful Ways To Start A Novel
In the beginning . . . It’s the first page of a brand new novel. Will it be a good beginning or a bad one? Within reading the first two sentences, you’ve already made a decision on whether or not you’ll keep reading. Your reader has too. If they have picked up your novel, they may be turned off by what they read if you have one of these eight awful beginnings. Your main character is asleep, dreaming. Why is this bad? Sleeping is passive. Unless the action of the entire novel is based in dreams or sleeping frequently, this is an amateur move. Take out the dream sequence completely and…
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Does Your Backstory Make Your Readers Stabby?
Backstory? Oh yes, you’ve been working on that character’s backstory for months! You’ve written thousands of words of backstory! You know how his parents met, how he got that scar on his pasty white tuckus, and why he gets all shaky and whiny when he’s served enchiladas. This is all important stuff you told yourself as you dumped it out into the first chapter of your work-in-progress. It sets the stage! The readers can really know him! This will make the story richer! Your character’s backstory may have bored your reader to tears. They left after the second or third page. They want a story: they don’t want genealogical report or long-winded…