One of the great things about attending writers conferences—or any conference in your given industry—is the ability to meet with experts who know more than you and learn from them. At this year’s Florida Christian Writers Conference, I enrolled in a four-day fiction workshop taught by Ramona Richards of Abingdon …
What’s Not Helpful in a Critique
Last time I wrote briefly about how to give and take critique. To go a little deeper, we have to understand that the role of critique partner is different from the role of editor. A developmental editor often will help a writer shape the theme or concept of a manuscript. …
How to give and take critique
The second item on my list of The Three Best Things You Can Do for Your Writing Career was “Join a Writers Group.” Not all writers groups offer critiques, but even those that don’t usually provide a forum where, once you get to know people, you can invite some of …
The Three Best Things You Can Do for Your Writing Career
You know I’m not usually one for these “Number of Things” articles, but this is something I repeat so often—because I really believe it—that I figured it was an appropriate follow-up to the Elements of Fiction series. You’ll find plenty of advice about how to improve your writing craft. Read …
Q&A: When to hire an editor
Q: I took your Elements of Fiction seminar and read the blog posts and I’ve gone through the checklist. Now what? How do I know when to hire an editor or writing coach? A: When you feel stuck, or when you’re ready to go. If you’ve worked through the …
Know when to stop editing
We’ve made our way through the whole Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist. Now there are two vastly different errors writers can fall into. The first is thinking you’re done. If you are working on your first—or even second or third—novel, one or even two passes through your manuscript will not …
In writing, style isn’t about your clothes
Style is one of those words that has too many meanings to keep track of. I once narrowly avoided attending a conference workshop on “personal style” when I found out that it was actually about clothing and makeup and such. Style as part of your appearance and branding. I had …
Yes, spelling counts in novels also
You may write the most brilliant story with the most sympathetic characters, but if your manuscript is full of spelling errors and typos, you will struggle to find readers. ☐ Spelling is correct. English spelling is notoriously difficult. It is rarely phonetic, as Spanish is, and is not consistent, as …
Beware the nonrules
Last time I noted that there are lots of misconceptions about what constitutes “grammar.” There are also lots of misconceptions about what constitutes “rules” of writing. Adverbs modify verbs is a rule. Don’t use adverbs is a nonrule. You may use adverbs, as long as you do so judiciously.
Get your grammar in line
Most writers are, by nature, very good about their grammar. But there are lots of misconceptions. ☐ Grammatical errors have been eliminated. Grammar, contrary to popular belief, does not include punctuation or spelling, as we often see on lists of “common grammatical errors,” which usually contain things like misplaced commas …