Let me tell you what I’m excited about at the moment: two memoirs I recently edited, which are two of the best manuscripts to come across my desk in a long time. “Diamond” is such a page-turner that I’ve passed it on to the producer I work with. That’s one of the perks I can offer my clients–exposure of their novel or memoir to a New York film producer if I think it checks all the boxes for a great movie.
Read MoreAsking Editors for Free Samples–Good Idea or Bad?
Is asking editors for free samples a good or bad idea? Most of the time, it’s a bad one, for several good reasons. For one thing, …
Read MorePresent Tense or Past Tense? First Person or Third? Which to Use for Your Novel or Memoir
You’re getting ready to write your novel or memoir. How do you decide which tense you should use: past or present? In the case of a novel, you also need to decide whether to write in first person or third. These are common dilemmas and ones worth exploring, because selecting the right tense and point of view from the start will save you getting stuck part-way into the writing, unable to make that choice work for the remainder of your story.
Read MoreDo You Torture Your Metaphors? The Problem of Self-Conscious Writing
Do you torture your metaphors, linking unlike things in outrageous comparisons? Do you manufacture odd phrases and invent “words” in an attempt to seem “literary” and “sound like a writer”? If so, you probably don’t even know you are doing this, yet the pretentious writing that results is one of the marks of an amateur writer.
Read MoreThe Flattery of Friends Doth Not a Writer Make
I just finished critiquing a story for an aspiring author who was very surprised at the feedback he received. In contacting me, he said he had written several novels he hadn’t yet tried to publish. He wanted to add some polish to one before sending it out to agents, hence his decision to reach out. I read the first chapter, ... Read More