My good pal, Editor Extraordinaire Susan K. Downs has stepped in to add her editor’s voice to Blog-a-Book! While Rachel, Sarah and I are Story Crafters (a Susie-ism that I’m claiming for Book Therapy!) Susan K. Downs is an award-winning editor who has worked for numerous publishers and most recently started the Spyglass mystery line at Barbour. We are priviledged to have her voice added to our project – and you’ll get now a look at LINE EDITING, and how each word works together. I’m still experiementing on how to post this, but for now, look at the footnote, and then scroll down to see her comments, and occassionally, mine in response. It’s a great way to learn ways on how to polish your manuscript. Oh, and I’m […]
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Chapter 1.2 with SMW comments to RH edits. =)
Great edits once again by Rachel! Note, especially, the thoughts on the HOOK, emotional layering, and dialogue. It’s hard for me to get the flow of it when it is pieced up like this – so I might make more tweaks before I post the rough draft final tomorrow (or Friday). As usual, if you have any questions, head over to VOICES and we’ll do our best to answer them in the Chapter 1 discussion. Note – the pieces I’m keeping are in RED type. The original is in black, without highlights. Chapter 1.2 Reverend William Archibald Lewis Alexander, the third, former pastor of the Normandy Ridge Bible Baptist church, decorated Vietnam Vet, widower husband of thirty-five faithful years to Miss Darlene Parker, and father of […]
Read the RestRough Draft Chapter 1.2 by SMW
So, here we have it, the rough draft of Luke Alexander’s scene. Poor Luke has a dark, riddled past, which we’ll uncover as we go along. But he’s also a hero, so although he is very uncomfortable with being around his deteriorating father, I wanted to also show that he is the kind of guy who will do the right think when needed. Since the inciting incident of the story has already begun with MacKenzie, I wanted to spend more time on normal world with Luke, show the kind of person he is. His journey will start when MacKenzie happens upon the scene. Here are the SHARP elements of the HOOK I started with: (for a class on these elements, go to the My Book Therapy shop and download I […]
Read the RestFinal Scene, Chapter One, Scene One
Susie & Rachel’s thoughts: A couple things we wanted to point out – first, note the changed hook. Neither Rachel nor I like starting a book with dialogue or a full name. First, with dialogue it often feels too jarring, we don’t know who is talking, and the reader feels like they can’t catch up. Also, when we’re in deep POV, no one really thinks of themselves (usually) with their full name. So, look for ways to work in the name, maybe by bringing another character on the screen. We did it via Twila, the talk show host. I hope you can see the difference in effect between the two pieces… Again, if you’re interested in how to write a HOOK, go and read the past HOOK posts, […]
Read the Rest
