One Minute Editor: Four Questions Every Author Should Ask


Got a Minute?

Introducing the One Minute EditorTM: Quick Tips for writing and polishing your manuscript from the editors at Pelican Book Group.

Here's today's OME by Nicola Martinez, Editor-in-Chief

Four Questions Every Author Should Ask About Every Scene



When it comes to polishing that finished manuscript, it’s sometimes difficult to cut through all the tiny imperfections so that the story can shine. Here are four quick questions authors should ask about every scene. If the answer is “no” or “I don’t know” it’s time to get out that proverbial red pen and rework the scene until the answer is a clear, “yes,”. . . or if a yes can’t be had, consider cutting the scene completely. One word of warning: the questions are quick…the editing may not be!

  1. Does this create conflict?

  2. Does this reveal something about the main plot? (i.e. the mystery, the romance, the spiritual journey, etc. — whichever your genre or plot dictates.)

  3. Does this reveal something about a particular character's motivations/fears/hopes/desires/dreams?

  4. Does this resolve a conflict?

If each scene has a clear purpose, your story will shine.

Gate Beautiful Radio Show

Last month, I had the pleasure of "meeting" with Marianne Evans and Jeane Wynn on the Gate Beautiful radio program. Listen as we talk about Christianity and Christian fiction, Christmas traditions, and the awesomeness (yes, I'm a little partial) of our new Pure Amore romance line...the first imprint to promote abstinence before marriage.





If you can't see the audio play, try visiting: the segment page.
To hear the entire Gate Beautiful podcast of 18 December 2014, visit Blogtalk Radio

Make-A-Story™ Monday - This Week's Writing Prompt

Writing to spec – you’ve heard the term. It means writing what the publisher wants. Can you do it? In our new feature - Make-A-Story™, we ask you to create a story with these elements. The story can be set in any time frame, any length, must adhere to our guidelines and have our standard Christian world view. 

Foreign money
A phone call
A mouse

The Throwaway and Overused Word List

A lot of editors have a list of words they prefer not to see at all, prefer to see as little as possible, or prefer to be spelled or used only in certain ways.  At PBG, our current list is fluid, simply because sometimes, the wrong word can be used the right way. 

A few of the throwaway phrases I tend to eye with suspicion, and then edit out (or not):

To tell the truth
Truth be told
According to
Hard to believe
Going to go
Along with the fact
Of all people
Anything but
What on earth
In the first place
In order to
In particular
Not to mention
No doubt
I’ve got to (and its buddies - We’ve got to, You’ve got to)
As well as
As it was
At least
That’s for sure
Not a word
So in truth
All along
Up to this point/At that point
After all
As far as
Like I said
A done deal
The whole thing
Hard to believe
Worked out well

Overused words I tend to glare menacingly at and then edit out (or not):

Instead
Actually
Almost
Although
Because
Really
Still
Though
Usually
Like – often used in place of ‘as if’

Spellings we agreed upon at PBG, despite American thesauruses (thesaurasii?):

OK
All right (not alright)
Sneaked (not snuck)

And if you choose to use British spellings:

Honour
Colour
Moustache
Neighbour
Rumour
Flavour

Another one I look at carefully is the word, ‘realized.”  Usually, when I see it, the sentence is passive.  One can activate the sentence easily.  Example:

As James turned the corner, he realized the house was in flames.

A better way:

James turned the corner.  The house was in flames.   


As with all things, writing and editing is subjective.  Should the phrase or word be perfect for the sentence, or the character, I will leave it in.  Such a phrase that often gets left in is “going to go.”  When it is written as dialogue, it is natural in American speech.  If it is repeated by two or three characters in speech, I sometimes edit one out for readability.  Used in a telling sentence, it’ll most likely be edited out. 

The ‘find’ function (under the edit tab) in MS Word can be quite useful in giving authors a chance to edit before turning in a submission. 

Make-A-Story™ Monday - This Week's Writing Prompt

Writing to spec – you’ve heard the term. It means writing what the publisher wants. Can you do it? In our new feature - Make-A-Story™, we ask you to create a story with these elements. The story can be set in any time frame, any length, must adhere to our guidelines and have our standard Christian world view. 

A camera
A glass of ginger ale
Llama socks

Make-A-Story™ Monday - This Week's Writing Prompt

Writing to spec – you’ve heard the term. It means writing what the publisher wants. Can you do it? In our new feature - Make-A-Story™, we ask you to create a story with these elements. The story can be set in any time frame, any length, must adhere to our guidelines and have our standard Christian world view. 

Christmas lights
A broken coffee pot
A wet puppy

Ten Reasons Abstinence Benefits Society

By Nicola Martinez

Fancy a football game? How ’bout dinner and a movie? Wanna have sex? We now live in a society where lovemaking is just another recreational activity used to pass a little time and have a little fun. Nothing wrong with having a little fun, especially if you’re not hurting anyone else, right? When it comes to pre-marital sex, the answer is a resounding, Wrong! Statistics support that the world might be better off if society took a step back and. . .waited. Let’s look at ten reasons in which abstaining from sex until after marriage benefits society.

Make-A-Story™ Monday - This Week's Writing Prompt

Writing to spec – you’ve heard the term. It means writing what the publisher wants. Can you do it? In our new feature - Make-A-Story™, we ask you to create a story with these elements. The story can be set in any time frame, any length, must adhere to our guidelines and have our standard Christian world view.

 Lipstick
A guitar
Oak trees