In romance, the paramount part of the story is developing a relationship. Hero and heroine should meet quickly, have an emotional reaction to each other, and create the capacity to further the relationship in a romantic way. Thirty pages of the heroine’s or hero’s past, told from her/his own and others’...
Editing the Middle
I see a lot of stories that start out showing potential--more than potential, in fact; I'm intrigued. The first page is a doozy, it's grabbed me with some awesome action, or intrigued me with a hint of some mystery or conflict to come, and I can't wait to read more. (These are the kinds of submissions...
Show, don't tell...
Show, don’t tell.How many times have you seen that written in a rejection you’ve received? What does it mean? When an editor asks for show, we’re basically asking an author to allow the reader to be a “fly on the wall” observing the story as it unfolds. Readers can’t “see” the past life of the hero...
Editing tip: Keeping track of POV
A year or so ago I wrote up a little article that gave some tips on how to spot errors in your manuscript during the editing process. Today, I have another. One problem that I often find in manuscripts is an out-of-place POV (point-of-view) switch. I’m not talking about continuous head-hopping, just...
Consider Your Reader
One of the hardest issues confronting writers today is our audience. They are, at the same time, our biggest fans, and our harshest critics. As Christians, we each have a mission in life. We are to love God and keep his commandments. Two of his commandments are to use our talents wisely, and to...
