Will your readers enjoy the journey?
The other weekend, I started reading two novels. I’d not meant to begin the second so soon, but after several attempts to engage with the first, I gave up.
They were both mass paperback international thrillers. Despite my interest in plot of the first, its prose reminded me of a bad gravel road.
I’d recently encountered such a washboard road … Continue reading
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
Three drafts are likely not enough.
How many drafts does it take to perfect a novel? According to one veteran writer, at least four.
In his Facebook post this past weekend, Ace Andrew Collins mentioned he has “signed contracts with publishers for 96 releases: 42 nonfiction, 28 novels, and 26 youth books.” So it’s fair to say he knows something about writing success.
A few … Continue reading