Keep readers firmly 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
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 quick scan … Continue reading
Readers expect you’ll get your facts straight.
Writing fiction? Unless it’s science fiction or fantasy, don’t think you can make up everything.
No mater how exotic your setting, readers expect you’ll not only set the scene with vivid details, but also that you’ll get those details right. When my wife recently read a novel that had someone in Denver drive south on a … Continue reading