Keep readers inside your character’s head.
The novel’s opening chapter reminded me of the car commercial that promotes its lane-departure warning system. If the car drifts across the center line, it sounds a loud alert.
This prospective author could have used something similar for his novel’s point of view. Unknowingly, he kept drifting from his main character’s awareness.
In a scene with Miriam … Continue reading
That’s what the professionals do.
As I listened to an Evergreen Jazz festival performance by two top clarinet players, I glanced around the audience. One row in front, observing every nuance, sat Clark Burnside, the veteran clarinetist for another band at the festival.
That scene repeated itself throughout the weekend: one master of the craft listening and learning from another.
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Make sure your submission is dressed for success.
Once glance at the manuscript told me the author was at best a hobbyist—not serious about the craft of professional writing.
All that without reading one word of his novel.
Even if the story were great, any literary agent or acquisitions editor would begin an evaluation having already counted several strikes against it.
A … Continue reading