Posts by Kate S.
I agree with most of the other posts on this topic, but I have a little bit to add: I think the answer will be different depending on whether you're an established, experienced writer having a dry...
Use your imagination. I mean, your imagination should be informed by experiences you've actually had and remembered, but you expand and explore and combine these experiences using your imagination,...
I'll refrain from standard cautions about the advisability of prologues vs. weaving the back story into the main story and assume that you've definitely decided a prologue is the way to go. With th...
If you've already got a printer for the book, and a distribution plan, what else are you looking for? Do you know how to format an e-book? It's a bit finicky, but not that difficult - I really lik...
Start a notebook. Jot down ideas like that, let them ruminate and meet up with your other ideas and have idea babies, and then when you're stuck for inspiration, read through the notebook. Or, ...
I would be careful about being too specific with slang for teenagers. There are huge regional variations, and what may sound natural to teen readers in one region (or even part of town!) could sou...
I don't think this is really a problem with the story being in first person. Regardless of the POV you use, you need to be able to really understand your characters, and you need to present that u...
John Smithers' advice is good, but I'd add a few details (and leave it for longer than three weeks!) Before you put the MS away, make a first pass at your query letter, as well. This is good beca...
Strunk and White's Elements of Style gets a lot of love, although it's also been getting some criticism, lately. But it's more about style than pure grammar. I enjoyed Eats, Shoots and Leaves, ...
I've been thinking about this site lately, and I think this question is one of the ones that illustrates why the site isn't totally satisfying to me. Because the answer to this question, as to so ...
Characters. You have to make us care about the characters. If we really care about the teacher; if we believe in the passion of the person trying to get the teacher fired; if we see the effects i...
A lot of it is just convention. Most people seem most accustomed to reading past tense, so it tends to not be noticed by the reader. There are exceptions to this, however. YA, especially, has ...
I can totally relate to this. I have five published novels, NOW, but it took me years to get around to writing the first one. I went through the same thing you did. I thought I wanted to write, ...
Opening with a dream is a technique that I've seen get a lot of criticism. I think there's a few reasons for it. One, if you're using the dream/vision to immerse your readers in a world, it's ask...
It's hard to be too specific without seeing your writing, and I certainly have nothing close to an algorithm for you, but I was caught by your idea of reverse-engineering an outline. Does that mea...
Is what you're doing working for you? Like, are you achieving your goals following this method? If so, then I'd keep doing it. If not, I'd switch. I know that's a bit vague, but I think it migh...
To whom is your character speaking? You want your character to use "the correct words" - I'd say the most correct words are the ones that will convey the most meaning to the listener. So if your ...
I was reading on the meta site that someone thinks we're hostile to self-publishing, and I read over some old questions looking for evidence. I didn't really find signs of hostility, but I certain...
I'm starting to look at my next novel, and I'm trying to decide whether I should tell it from one POV or two. I've used both techniques in the past, so I'm aware of the basic advantages/disadvanta...
