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 […]
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About Susan May Warren
Former Russian Missionary Susan May Warren is the best-selling author of more than 40 novels and novellas with Tyndale, Barbour and Steeple Hill, and Summerside. A Christy award and RITA winner, and multiple finalist for the RITA, Christy and winner of Inspirational Readers Choice contest, Susan currently has over a million books in print. A seasoned women’s events speaker and writing teacher, she is the founder of http://www.mybooktherapy.com an online community for writers, and runs a fiction editing service teaching writers how to tell a great story. Visit her online at: http://www.susanmaywarren.com.Author Archive | Susan May Warren
The 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 […]
Read the RestGive me a sample! (Sample Chapters)
Let’s talk just a moment about Sample Chapters. Every proposal package include sample chapters for the story you are proposing. Even if you are a multi-published author, you will have to write sample chapters for new contracts with new publishers, so it is wise to learn how to write them now. There are so many elements to writing decent sample chapters, and we’ve covered most of those topics over the past year, but I felt we needed to touch on them in order to fully cover the proposal package. When new authors read “Sample Chapters” in the submission requirements of an editor or publisher’s website, sometimes they are tempted to think… “I’ll pick my BEST chapters…chapter one, chapter eight, and chapter twenty-two.” Delete that thought. Editors DO […]
Read the RestHighlight it! Synopsis writing day 4
It’s Christmas decorating day here at the Warrens – I love it when our house goes from dreary to dazzle! We already have the red wall, and I jazz up the rest of the house with ribbons and ornaments and pine boughs, suddenly the season doesn’t seem so…filled with to-do lists. It seems, well, jolly. Color adds life! Yesterday, we talked about adding color WORDS to your synopsis. Today I want you to add actual color. When I first started writing a synopsis, it felt so…overwhelming. Weaving in all those threads, and helping my editor see the main plot, as well as knowing whether I’d sufficiently explained all the turning points and the black moment…arrgh! For example…through your synopsis, you should have three different story threads […]
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