Susan and I want to wish all of you a very, merry Christmas. We’ve had a blast doing the blog this past year and meeting with many of you at conferences, or chatting in email. Your individual notes and comments to us have been a great encouragement. Those who have been clients, we do appreciate you and pray good things for you writing! For everyone’s writing. The publishing industry may be making changes as the economy quakes, but our God is not surprised or caught off guard. He’s well aware and even better, in control. We cannot judge our publishing success or opportunities by the world, but by Him. He can make a road way in the wilderness, a river in the desert. Keep your heart and mind on Him, […]
Read the RestArchive | December, 2008
Strengthening a scene vs. rearranging words?
Now, what is the difference between strengthening a scene and re-arranging the words? Strengthening a scene is discovering the emotional significance to the scene, the way it will affect the overall book, and milking it for the reader. Using setting and dialogue and body language and disappointment and WORDS to cut to the heart of a character. Let’s take a look at the editing process in an actual scene. Below are three excerpts…the original, the edit, and the final product. See if you can see how I applied my editing checklist to strengthen the scene. This is the prologue from In Sheep’s Clothing. Prologue Five more minutes and she would be safe. Gracie Benson hunched her shoulders and pulled the woolly brown scarf over her […]
Read the RestEditing – finding that angel in the marble
I saw the angel in the marble…and I carved until I set him free… Michelangelo Editing, in my opinion, is the fun part of writing. You already have the rough draft nailed down, and now you’re going to hone it, add all those things that will make it sparkle – carve it until you see that masterpiece you’ve been trying to create. For me, there are three phases to writing a book: Creating – the Discovery of the story/senes. Again, keep a notebook of all the things you want to put in it later…during the… Revision phase – It’s the phase where I hone the theme and add special elements, like the five senses, or thematic metaphors. I draw out scenes that need to be longer, shorten ones […]
Read the RestThe Knock on the door: Query Letters!
Now that you are tying up your threads for your synopsis, and packing it with a punch, have written those amazing sample chapters…now it’s time to put it in a cheery, compelling package and knock on the agent’s door. Aka: the Query letter. A query letter is that first meeting, (unless, of course, you meet at a conference!), where you pitch your idea to an editor. It’s what will get your toe in the door, so it has to be something that makes the editor take notice, and shows them how your book will be the Next Hot Thing. What makes a good Query Letter? Let’s take it apart…. 1.. A compelling, succinct first paragraph hook 2.. A summary of your book in 2-3 sentences 3.. Where […]
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