Posts by Standback
Google Docs is an extremely helpful tool for Beta reading, and is used by several writers of my acquaintance. It allows commenting on individual selections of text, so it's easy to comment on a p...
In writing a blurb (or a query letter), it's crucial to find the true core of your book. If you shoehorn your book as a high-octane adventure, that might draw in a different readership, but they're...
There are several risks you run with a character who mostly fails. Your character may feel incompetent. A protagonist usually needs to gain our sympathy and our respect. If the chain of failures ...
When a reader says "I'm reading (CHAPTER X), and I'm not interested", the first step to solving that is to ask: Wait a moment, what in (CHAPTER X) should be interesting? This is a crucial question...
A story should finish what it starts. You control what, exactly, you choose to start. If you're not going to be finishing a murder mystery with a solution, you need to be careful not to set the st...
I have several completed short stories, and I'm considering having them line-edited before I submit them. But I have no idea where to look for editors. How do I know who's any good? Where do I loo...
Lean into it. Don't treat it as shocking -- a reader too scandalized by your subject matter probably shouldn't be reading this book to begin with. Instead, use all the tools of worldbuilding and ...
"Avoid Clichés" is a guideline, not a rule It would be a mistake to understand that any use of any cliché is "wrong," as you humorously do in your question. Clichés have certain problems (and cer...
It's a balance. When readers look forward to the next book in a series, they're looking for an experience that's both new, and similar to the previous installments. That's a tough line to toe -- an...
Brace yourself for some serious realigning of your expectations. 5,000-word stories are their own form, and knowing what you've realistically got space for is crucial to using the form well. A goo...
If they do not accept reprints, that means they are seeking first publication rights -- they're only looking to buy a story if they can be the first to publish it. The thing is, any sufficiently p...
Here are a few principles I think can help you in your present difficulty: Research is great as long as it isn't blocking you from writing. Assume your first draft and your final draft are going ...
You needn't make that decision until you get an agent. You're quite right to identify this as a thorny situation, with strong considerations in both directions (and maybe additional options beside...
"Mom" and "mother" and the other variations are all common enough that alternating between them probably won't be disruptive. On the other hand, they are different, with nuances of formality and a...
As in many such cases, the answer is to do your research. Speak with people who are gay, and ask them the questions you need. "How did your understanding that you're gay form?" "Was there anything...
Amazon's content guidelines are notoriously nonspecific. Offensive Content What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect. I assume there are multiple reasons for this: ...
Vanity presses make money from authors, not from selling copies, so there's at least a decent chance you've kept or can get back your copyright. Unfortunately, if you didn't study your contract to ...
You almost certainly can. At very least, if this is a project that appeals to you, then you can try, and see how it goes. There have been stories and novels written in second-person future tense, ...
Fantasy and science fiction books have a major additional task that other genres can avoid if they wish: worldbuilding. A story of any genre can devote a lot of attention to description and detail...
You have understood correctly. From the Purdue Online Writing Lab: In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what is known as parenthetical citation. This met...
It's important to understand what NaNoWriMo can and can't do. In a way, NaNoWriMo is all about quantity, and not at all about quality. That's really important, because quantity is something a lot ...
There are few jobs that require only writing skills. Most jobs will want effective writing for some specific purpose, which requires specialization. Journalism Technical writing. Translation. (In...
Your character can be boring, but your story shouldn't be. Here's the golden ideal: every line of prose and every line of dialogue should serve a purpose. If somebody is saying a lot of boring stu...
After years of critiquing fiction as a hobby, I feel like I've gained some skill at editing. I'm now wondering how I can try my hand at actually editing fiction. While I've got a decent sense of h...
The pertinent question here is: what is it you're trying to show? In other words, you need to first understand what the focus and purpose of the planning scene is. Only then do you know what to sh...
