Does your narration fit your POV character?
There was nothing wrong with the car’s fender: nice, shiny, and black. I’d not have noticed except the rest of the car was ivory.
That was much the problem with the narration in a novel I just critiqued. While the words and the sentence structure were fine, they sometimes didn’t match how the POV character … Continue reading
How do you encourage needed criticism?
Their names don’t appear in the masthead. They work as volunteers. But without them, the magazine I produce would miss its potential.
They serve as my proofreaders, but they do much more than catch typos. They alert me to awkward phrases or unclear passages. They tell me when I overuse words. They ask tough questions.
Most of the time, I agree. … Continue reading
Hang out where your readers do.
Since I’ve begun editing the magazine for a national organization, I’ve made a point each month to drive an hour-and-a-half one way to attend a chapter meeting. It’s not the club business that attracts me, but the conversations before and after.
They’re some of my best opportunities to connect with members’ concerns. If the publication’s going to scratch where they … Continue reading