Writer’s block. Some say it exists. Some say it doesn’t; it’s all in your head. Pointedly, both sides are right. Everything about story writing is in your head. Until it moves to your fingers to the rhythm of a swishing pen, or the clickety-clack of keys on a keyboard. Author Peggy Lantz posted about herContinue reading “Advice for when writers struggle”
Author Archives: Lara Zielinsky
Going Serial
Some writers start at the beginning of their writing plans and know that they want to write a series. Others have a vague idea. Still others, however, may not realize they are writing a series until either, they near the end of the draft of the first book, or they get feedback and reviews fromContinue reading “Going Serial”
Holiday (stories) editing sale
Today is the beginning of summer in the U.S. and it is the perfect time to write a winter holiday novel for publishing in December. It is also the perfect time to secure a space with your editor. I have a deal for you… LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS: Theme: The story should have a holiday settingContinue reading “Holiday (stories) editing sale”
More authors books now available
I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. I am a reader as well as an editor, and I do not get involved in editing stories I can’t see myself getting behind wholeheartedly. That said, many clients have published the books which I edited for them since I last updated a couple months ago. SoContinue reading “More authors books now available”
More thoughts on character building
Characters are so crucial to storytelling that there is a lot of advice about how to build them. There’s D&D style charts, and there’s Meyers-Briggs personalities. Some writers use zodiacs, and some use tropes. When you have a trait, or a trope, what can often happen when you get down to the actual writing isContinue reading “More thoughts on character building”
Building Writers’ Resources
You may have noticed a new menu item at the top of the page titled “Resources.” I’m going to populate this area of the site with resources to help writers with some phase of the writing (such as beginnings, middles, and ends), crafting plots, subplots, scenes, and editing, avoiding and fixing info dump, pacing, activeContinue reading “Building Writers’ Resources”
When to type “The End”
(by the way, it’s not actually good manuscript formatting to type “The End” at the end of your manuscript. Yeah. Really.) “How do I end my book?” “Is this a good ending?” “Should I use an epilogue?” I’ve heard these in my writing group numerous times. I’ve heard this from developmental editing clients. And yes,Continue reading “When to type “The End””
New titles roundup
Been a bit of a hectic period, and while I’ve taken a few moments during that time to update the client book list, I thought I’d share a blog post talking a bit about each of the new titles that client authors have published since I last posted about their books in November 2021. TJContinue reading “New titles roundup”
Proofreading
Today is National Proofreading Day. I thought I’d talk a bit about what proofreading actually is and where it fits in the process of getting your manuscript ready for readers. Prepublication’s final step The first thing to begin to understand about proofreading is that it is the last editing step before publication. Proofreading is doneContinue reading “Proofreading”
more about story goals
When discussing how long a scene should be, I mentioned a concept called a scene goal. The scene goal is a step toward achieving the overall story goal. The story goal is the main character’s goal. It’s a situation or outcome they want and are convinced they need in order to be happy. There canContinue reading “more about story goals”
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